While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 19
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Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup trophy after Argentina defeated France 4-2 on penalties in the final on Sunday.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
World Cup: Lionel Messi gets his fairy-tale ending
The World Cup in Qatar was many things: The first in the Middle East, the first held during a European winter, the last to feature 32 teams. But after Argentina’s penalty shoot-out win over France in the final on Sunday night, it will ultimately be remembered as The Lionel Messi World Cup.
Draped in a bisht (traditional Arabic cloak) by the Emir of Qatar, Messi, the greatest footballer of his generation and owner of seven Ballon d’Ors, held the Cup aloft at the Lusail Stadium, capping his fifth and final appearance on the sport’s grandest stage with the sweetest prize.
That was the second time he had touched the trophy that night - just minutes earlier, he could not resist planting a little kiss on the dome of the 18-carat gold, 6kg, 36cm trophy as he collected his award as the tournament’s best player.
Naturally, the 35-year-old played a major role in an epic final for the ages, one that matched the astounding drama produced throughout this tournament in Qatar.
World Cup: Key moments of the final
REUTERS
Lionel Messi has finally won the most coveted prize in international football. The Argentinian made a record 26th appearance on his World Cup swan song and became the first player to score in all stages of the tournament.
It was a game of two halves with Argentina dominating the first and France hitting back in the second.
Argentina eventually prevailed 4-2 on penalties to help Messi end his World Cup journey on a high. The Straits Times highlights the key moments of this thrilling final in Qatar.
Britain is ‘resolute’ on nurses’ pay, senior minister says
REUTERS
The British government is “resolute” it will not budge on nurses’ pay, senior minister Oliver Dowden said on Sunday, ahead of a planned second nationwide walkout by the profession over an average pay offer of 4% while inflation runs at more than 10%.
An estimated 10,000 nurses in the state-funded National Health Service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland plan to walk out again on Tuesday after staging strikes on Thursday in protest over the pay increase they have been offered.
“We will be resolute in response to this because it will be irresponsible to allow public sector pay and inflation to get out of control and we owe a wider duty to the public to make sure we keep our public finances under control,” Dowden told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
Twitter to ban users from posting links to rival social platforms
REUTERS
Twitter announced Sunday it was prohibiting users from including links to other social media platforms in their posts, the latest move by the company and its controversial owner Elon Musk.
“At both the Tweet level and the account level, we will remove any free promotion of prohibited 3rd-party social media platforms, such as linking out (i.e. using URLs) to any of the below platforms on Twitter, or providing your handle without a URL,” Twitter said in a statement on its website.
The outside platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Post and Truth Social, as well as third-party social media link aggregators such as linktr.ee and ink.bio.
Biden comes under pressure over expected easing of US asylum rules
Getty Images via AFP
US lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, on Sunday pressed Democratic President Joe Biden to take action to manage an expected wave of asylum seekers at America’s southern border when Covid-era restrictions are set to end this week.
US border cities are bracing for an influx of asylum seekers after a US judge in November moved to strike down a policy enacted by the Trump administration in 2020 that has allowed migration authorities to rapidly send asylum seekers back to Mexico and other countries.
The policy, known as Title 42, is due to end on Dec 21, and thousands of asylum seekers have been lining up at the US-Mexico border ahead of the easing of restrictions.
