While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 24
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Yemen's Houthi-affiliated security forces stand guard during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza, in the capital Sanaa.
PHOTO: AFP
Yemen warring parties agree to ceasefire, peace process
Yemen’s warring parties have committed to a new ceasefire and agreed to engage in a UN-led peace process to end the war, the UN envoy for Yemen said on Dec 23.
The announcement by UN special envoy for Yemen, Mr Hans Grundberg, marks the latest step to end a deadly nine-year war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
It follows recent meetings by Mr Grundberg in Saudi Arabia and Oman with Mr Rashad Al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Saudi-backed presidential council and Mr Mohammed Abdul Salam, chief negotiator of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Yemen has been gripped by conflict since the Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, triggering a Saudi-led military intervention in support of the beleaguered government the following year.
Anguish grows for Gaza Christians’ families ahead of Christmas
Mr Khalil Sayegh lives in the United States and for days he anxiously awaited news of his family who had taken refuge in Gaza churches to escape the Israel-Hamas war.
A few days before Christmas, he learnt that his father had died due to a lack of medical care, Mr Sayegh said by telephone from Washington, DC, where he works as a political analyst. “I was told by a relative… who had learned it from a priest,” he said.
The news left him feeling shattered, he said, adding that he has yet to speak to other relatives stuck in Gaza, which has been under heavy Israeli bombardment since Hamas’ bloody Oct 7 attacks.
Drone strike hits ship off India’s coast, say maritime agencies
A drone strike damaged a ship off the coast of India on Dec 23 but caused no casualties, two maritime agencies said, with one reporting the merchant vessel was linked to Israel.
The attack caused a fire on board, said the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO.
Ambrey, a maritime security firm, said the “Liberia-flagged chemical/products tanker... was Israel-affiliated” and had been on its way from Saudi Arabia to India.
Rebecca Welch becomes first female EPL referee
Rebecca Welch became the first woman to referee an English Premier League football match when she oversaw Burnley’s 2-0 win away to Fulham at Craven Cottage on Dec 23.
Welch, a 40-year-old from Washington in north-east England, was working for the National Health Service when she began her refereeing career in 2010.
She rose through the officiating ranks and, in 2021, became the first woman appointed to referee a match in the English Football League when she took charge of the fourth-tier fixture between Harrogate and Port Vale.
Arsenal hold Liverpool to seal top spot at Christmas
Arsenal ensured they will spent Christmas Day on top of the Premier League as they held title rivals Liverpool to a pulsating 1-1 draw at Anfield on Dec 23.
Mikel Arteta’s side took an early lead through Gabriel Magalhaes, but Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level before the interval.
A draw was arguably the right result after both sides flexed their muscles to show why they have emerged as the leading contenders to win the title.
