While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 26, 2025
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) may visit Washington and US President Donald Trump on Feb 28 to sign a deal for Ukraine's rare earths.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Ukraine agrees on terms of minerals deal with US: Official
Ukraine has agreed on the terms of a minerals deal with the United States and could sign it as early as Feb 28 on a trip to Washington by President Volodymyr Zelensky, a senior Ukrainian official said.
US President Donald Trump had demanded that Ukraine give access to its rare earth minerals to compensate for the billions of dollars worth of wartime aid it received under Joe Biden.
The deal would see the United States jointly develop Ukraine’s mineral wealth, with revenues going to a newly created fund that would be “joint for Ukraine and America”, a senior Ukrainian source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“Now government officials are working on the details... As of now, we are considering a visit to Washington for Friday to sign the agreement,” the source added.
Ailing pope ‘critical but stable’, Vatican says
REUTERS
Pope Francis, who is in hospital with pneumonia in both lungs, is still in a critical condition but is stable and working from his sick bed, the Vatican said on Feb 25.
Catholics across the globe have been praying for the 88-year-old amid hope he may be turning a corner on what doctors warn could be a long path to recovery.
“The Holy Father’s clinical condition remains critical but stable,” the Vatican said the evening of Francis’ 12th day in the papal suite of Rome’s Gemelli hospital.
Doge staffers quit over Musk ultimatum to govt workers
EPA-EFE
Federal workers faced fresh uncertainty about their futures after Mr Elon Musk gave them “another chance” to respond to his ultimatum that they justify their jobs or risk termination - contradicting guidance from some Trump administration officials that the request was voluntary.
The confusing back-and-forth has rippled through the federal bureaucracy, with some agencies such as the US Treasury Department instructing workers to comply, while others such as the Pentagon have not.
Twenty-one workers resigned from his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in protest on Feb 25, saying in a letter that they refused to cooperate with the downsizing effort.
Britain’s Starmer boosts defence spending
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Feb 25 he would increase annual defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027 and target a 3 per cent level last seen just after the Cold War, a signal to US President Donald Trump that Britain can boost Europe’s security.
On the eve of his departure to meet Mr Trump in Washington, Mr Starmer told Parliament he was bringing the increase in defence spending forward to offer Europe more support as the US spearheads peace talks with Russia over its war in Ukraine.
With public spending already stretched in Britain, Mr Starmer said the increase from its current 2.3 per cent would be fully paid for by a 40 per cent cut to international aid, an announcement he said he was not happy to make but one which was necessary to offer Ukraine and Europe support in a “new era”.
Child rape trial surgeon like ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ says son
REUTERS
The son of a retired French surgeon accused of raping and sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients told a court on Feb 25 that Joel Le Scouarnec was a good father - but that the crimes he is accused of are unforgivable.
Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, faces charges of aggravated rape and sexual assault against 299 victims, most of them children at the time.
“It’s like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,” his elder son told the court on the second day of the trial, in reference to the 19th-century gothic horror novella about an outwardly respectable man who commits shocking crimes.
