While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 22
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US President Joe Biden (right) meets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in Washington, on Dec 21, 2022.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Biden tells Zelensky US seeks ‘just peace’ to end war
President Joe Biden welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Wednesday, as the Ukrainian President sought to firm up US support for Kyiv’s defence against Russia in his first trip outside his country since Moscow’s forces invaded.
Mr Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greeted Mr Zelensky on the White House’s South Lawn shortly after 2pm in Washington, as the Ukrainian leader began a whirlwind trip that will conclude with an address to Congress in the evening.
“300 days, it’s hard to believe,” Mr Biden told Mr Zelensky in the Oval Office, remarking on the length of time that has elapsed since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded.
“300 days of going through this as Putin has waged a brutal assault on Ukraine’s right to exist as a nation and the attack on innocent Ukrainian people.”
WHO says China may be struggling to keep tally of Covid cases
China may be struggling to keep a tally of Covid-19 infections as the country experiences a big spike in cases, a senior World Health Organisation official said on Wednesday, amid concerns about a lack of data from the country.
Official figures from China have become an unreliable guide as less testing is being done across the country following the recent easing of the strict “zero-Covid” policy.
“In China, what’s been reported is relatively low numbers of cases in ICUs, but anecdotally ICUs are filling up,” WHO’s emergencies director Mike Ryan said.
Elon Musk says ‘crazy’ cost cuts have saved Twitter
Elon Musk on Wednesday said that severe cost cuts at Twitter had repaired the company’s dire finances as he set out to find a new chief executive officer for his troubled social media platform.
The mercurial billionaire told a live chat forum that without the changes, including firing over half of Twitter’s employees, the company would have bled US$3 billion (S$4 billion) a year.
“Not good since Twitter has US$1 billion in cash. That’s why I spent the past five weeks cutting costs like crazy,” he told Twitter Spaces, a feature of the platform he bought for US$44 billion.
Brexit left the UK economy 5.5% smaller, report says
Brexit has left the UK economy 5.5 per cent smaller than it would have been and added to the squeeze on public services that’s behind strikes crippling the railways and National Health Service, a prominent research group concluded.
The Centre for European Reform said that slower growth is also weighing on the Treasury’s revenue and that the tax increases announced in the autumn fiscal statement wouldn’t be necessary if the UK were still in the European Union’s common market.
The findings are the latest to highlight the costs of Brexit, which are limiting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s effort to pull the UK economy out of a recession that may last until the next election. Mr Sunak is holding firm in his determination to limit pay increases for nurses, ambulance drivers and railway staff, who are walking off the job in protest.
Guardiola wants Champions League title to ‘complete’ City stint
Pep Guardiola has insisted his time as manager of Manchester City will “not be complete” if he fails to win the Champions League.
Guardiola has won nine major trophies, including four English Premier League titles, as City manager but he is yet to bring European club football’s most prestigious trophy to the Etihad Stadium.
The 51-year-old guided Barcelona to two Champions League titles when manager of the Spanish giants, having won the European Cup as a player with the club in 1992.