While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 20, 2025
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says a meeting at the leadership level is needed to ensure lasting peace.
PHOTO: AFP
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Ukraine proposes fresh peace talks with Russia next week
Kyiv has proposed to Moscow a new round of peace talks next week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 19, hours after Russian strikes across Ukraine claimed more lives.
Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to result in any progress towards a ceasefire, instead yielding large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of killed soldiers.
“Security Council Secretary Umerov also reported that he had proposed the next meeting with the Russian side for next week,” Mr Zelensky said in his evening address. “The momentum of the negotiations must be stepped up,” he added.
Mr Zelensky reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face sitdown with Mr Putin. “A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace - lasting peace,” he said.
US races to build migrant tent camps after $58 billion funding boost: Report
PHOTO: REUTERS
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is racing to build migrant tent camps nationwide after receiving US$45 billion (S$58 billion) in new funding, aiming to expand detention capacity from 40,000 to 100,000 beds by year-end, The Wall Street Journal reported on July 19.
The agency is prioritising large-scale tent facilities at military bases and ICE jails, including a 5,000-bed site at Fort Bliss in Texas and others in Colorado, Indiana, and New Jersey, the report added, citing documents seen by WSJ.
"ICE is pursuing all available options to expand bedspace capacity," a senior ICE official told Reuters, adding that the "process does include housing detainees at certain military bases."
Druze regain control of Sweida city after Syria announces ceasefire
Druze fighters pushed out rival armed factions from Syria’s southern city of Sweida on July 19, a monitor said, after the government ordered a ceasefire following a US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention.
Fighting nonetheless persisted in other parts of Sweida province, even as the Druze regained control of their city following days of fierce battle with armed Bedouin supported by tribal gunmen from other parts of Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said that “tribal fighters withdrew from Sweida city on Saturday evening” after Druze fighters launched a large-scale attack.
South Korea pulls plane crash report after victims’ families protest
PHOTO: CHANG W. LEE/NYTIMES
South Korean officials on July 19 abruptly cancelled the release of an intermediate report into the deadly crash of a Jeju Air passenger jet, after relatives of the victims disrupted a news conference, saying that the report was inadequate.
The confrontational scene unfolded after officials had earlier briefed the families privately on the latest stage of the investigation. The officials were planning to publicly release some findings from an analysis of the engines on the Boeing 737-800 that crashed Dec 29, killing 179 of the 181 people on board.
A lawyer for the relatives, who saw the officials’ presentation in the private meeting, said the investigators had found no fault with the engines and instead appeared to blame birds – which struck the engines minutes before it made an emergency landing – and the plane’s pilots prematurely.
Olympic champion Zheng pauses WTA Tour after elbow surgery
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen said on July 19 she would take a short break from the WTA Tour after undergoing elbow surgery.
The 22-year-old Chinese player was eliminated from this year's Wimbledon tournament in the first round by Czech Katerina Siniakova earlier in July.
"Now begins the recovery journey," she wrote on Instagram. "Over the next few weeks and months, I'll be focusing entirely on rehab — doing everything I can to come back stronger and healthier."
