While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Jan 13, 2025
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting US President Joe Biden at the White House in July 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Biden calls for immediate ceasefire in call with Netanyahu, White House says
US President Joe Biden spoke on Jan 12 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, as US officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Mr Biden leaves office on Jan 20.
Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu discussed efforts under way to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
Mr Biden “stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal”, it said.
Zelensky says he’s ready to exchange North Korean soldiers for Ukrainians held in Russia
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan 12 Kyiv is ready to hand over North Korean soldiers to their leader Kim Jong Un if he can organise their exchange for Ukrainians held captive in Russia.
“In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It’s only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others,” Mr Zelensky said on the social media platform X.
Mr Zelensky said on Jan 11 that Ukraine had captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region, the first time Ukraine has announced the capture of North Korean soldiers alive since their entry into the nearly three-year-old war last autumn.
Los Angeles faces little relief from fires as winds persist
Dry, hot winds will fan blazes in Los Angeles into midweek – and some forecasts show little relief from the gusts for the rest of January – as Southern California struggles with one of the worst starts to a year for wildfires.
While good progress has been made blunting two of the region’s smaller blazes, the largest were raging almost out of control on Jan 12 even as thousands of firefighters take on the infernos in what the city fire chief described as a “relentless air attack”. Firefighters from across the US, as well as Canada and Mexico, have converged in California to assist in battling the flames.
Los Angeles City Fire Department chief Kristin Crowley told reporters on Jan 12 that favourable winds overnight had helped to slow the spread of the Palisades Fire, but that evacuation orders and warnings remain in place.
Croatia populist president re-elected in landslide
Croatia’s populist President Zoran Milanovic was re-elected in a landslide, defeating his conservative rival in Jan 12’s run-off, official results showed.
Mr Milanovic took more than 74 per cent of the vote and Mr Dragan Primorac, backed by the centre-right HDZ party that governs Croatia, nearly 26 per cent, with more than 90 per cent of the votes counted.
While the role of the president is largely ceremonial in Croatia, Mr Milanovic’s wide victory is the latest setback for the HDZ and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic – Mr Milanovic’s political arch-rival – after a high-profile corruption affair in November 2024.
Bayindir the hero as 10-man Man Utd knock Arsenal out FA Cup
Altay Bayindir was Manchester United’s unlikely hero as the holders held out for over an hour a man down to knock Arsenal out the FA Cup on penalties after a feisty 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Jan 12.
United’s stand-in goalkeeper saved a penalty from Martin Odegaard in normal time and then denied Kai Havertz in the shootout as the wasteful Gunners had another day to forget in front of goal.
Bruno Fernandes had fired the visitors into the lead early in the second half before Diogo Dalot was sent-off on the hour mark for a second bookable offence.
