While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 23, 2024
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US President-elect Donald Trump addressed growing complaints about the outsized role billionaire Elon Musk has so far played in his incoming administration.
PHOTO: AFP
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Trump denies talk he’s ceded US presidency to Musk
Donald Trump said on Dec 22 that he will be president of the US - not Elon Musk.
“No, he’s not taking the presidency,” Trump told a conservative audience in Phoenix, addressing growing complaints about the outsized role the Tesla boss has already had in his incoming administration.
“You know, they’re on a new kick,” he said. “All the different hoaxes. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk. No, no, that’s not happening.”
That Trump would be compelled to address Mr Musk’s power is testimony to the unusual influence that the world’s richest man has displayed in a second Trump presidency that won’t begin for another month.
Syria’s new leader says weapons to come under ‘state control’
Two weeks after seizing power in a sweeping offensive, Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Dec 22 said weapons in the country, including those held by Kurdish-led forces, would come under state control.
Mr Sharaa spoke alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, after earlier meeting with Lebanese Druze leaders and vowing to end “negative interference” in the neighbouring country.
Ankara-backed rebels played a key role in supporting Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which headed a rebel alliance and seized Damascus on Dec 8, toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital
Tens of thousands protested on Dec 22 in Serbia’s capital Belgrade to demand that leaders take responsibility for the collapse of a train station roof that killed 15 people in November.
For over seven weeks, the Serbian government has been under pressure from nation-wide demonstrations following the deaths in the northern city of Novi Sad, with many protesters accusing authorities of corruption and inadequate oversight.
The Dec 22 protest, which was organised by university students, started with 15-minutes of silence as tribute to the 15 victims in the incident, with protesters lighting up the square with their phones in the air.
Small plane crashes into Brazil tourist city, killing at least 10
A small plane with 10 people aboard crashed into shops in the centre of the tourist city of Gramado in southern Brazil on Dec 22, civil defence officials said, and initial reports indicated that there were no survivors.
“Unfortunately, initial reports indicate that the aircraft’s occupants did not survive,” Governor Eduardo Leite said, in a post on social media platform X.
According to the public security office of Rio Grande do Sul state, at least 15 people were taken to the city’s hospital, most of them suffering from smoke inhalation caused by the fire triggered by the crash.
Tiger Wood’s son Charlie hits his first hole-in-one
Charlie Woods is beginning to build an impressive list of achievements, and he added another one to the list on Dec 22, pocketing his first-ever hole-in-one at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.
Woods sank his drive on the 176-yard, par-3 No. 4 at the PNC Championship, establishing a high water mark for the 15-year-old at a PGA-sponsored event, and more importantly, lifting his duo into the solo lead at 17 under during the final round of the two-day, 36-hole event.
“It was a perfect 7-iron, so just kind of hit it,” Charlie Woods said, on the Golf Channel broadcast. “Down off the left, a little cut 7. It was awesome. I didn’t think it went in. I don’t believe anybody until I go up there and see it.”
