While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 7, 2024
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
An anti-Assad rebel fighter in Hama, Syria, on Dec 6.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Syrian rebels claim to reach key city of Homs
Syrian rebel forces said on Dec 6 their lightning advance reached the central city of Homs, which could position the insurgents to topple another town strategic to President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power.
“Our forces have liberated the last village on the outskirts of the city of Homs and are now on its walls,” the Syrian faction leading the sweeping assault said on Telegram.
Reuters could not independently confirm the rebels’ claim.
If the rebels capture Homs, they would cut off the capital Damascus from the coast, a longtime redoubt of Mr Assad’s minority Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base.
US appeals court upholds law forcing TikTok’s sale
A US federal appeals court on Dec 6 upheld a law requiring Chinese-based ByteDance to divest its popular short video app TikTok in the United States by early next year or face a ban.
The decision is a win for the Justice Department and opponents of the Chinese-owned app and a devastating blow to ByteDance. The ruling now increases the possibility of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks on a social media app used by 170 million Americans.
The ruling is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Zelensky slams Putin after strikes by Russia kill 11
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec 6 slammed Russia and its President Vladimir Putin over two aerial attacks that killed at least 11 people.
Moscow has ramped up its strikes on Ukraine as winter sets in, and Mr Zelensky said the attacks showed Russia has no interest in striking a deal to end its nearly three-year invasion.
Nine were killed in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, while two were killed in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, officials said.
‘Slapping therapist’ jailed in UK for manslaughter
PHOTOS: WILTSHIRE POLICE
An alternative healer was jailed on Dec 6 for 10 years in Britain over the death of a diabetic woman who stopped taking insulin and experienced medical complications at his “slapping therapy” workshop.
Xiao Hongchi, 61, of Cloudbreak, California, was convicted in July by a jury in Winchester, southern England, of manslaughter by gross negligence after he failed to get medical help for Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71.
He was charged in November 2023, following the death during an October 2016 session to help the victim with her diabetes.
London police make 500 arrests using facial recognition tech
London’s Metropolitan Police force said on Dec 6 that it had used facial recognition technology to make more than 500 arrests in 2024 for offences ranging from shoplifting to rape.
The force uses live facial recognition in specific areas of the UK capital, positioning a van equipped with cameras in a pre-agreed location.
The cameras capture live footage of passers-by and compare their faces against a pre-approved watchlist, generating an alert if a match is detected.
