While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 23, 2025
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting military commanders in Kharkiv, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on March 22.
PHOTO: AFP
Zelensky discusses talks with US officials, in visit to the east
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 22 that he had met top military commanders in the country’s north-east to discuss the front line in Ukraine’s war with Russia and meetings with US officials due to get under way in Saudi Arabia on March 23.
Mr Zelensky was shown on the media platform X with commanders in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, a frequent target of Russian attacks.
He said he discussed front-line sectors in Ukraine’s east as well as in western Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops remain seven months after a cross-border incursion.
“We also prepared for the meeting between the Ukrainian and American delegations, that will take place tomorrow in Saudi Arabia,” the president wrote.
Pope Francis to be discharged from hospital, doctor says
AFP
Pope Francis, who has been battling pneumonia for more than five weeks, will be discharged from hospital on March 23 but will need a further two months of rest at the Vatican, the head of his medical team said on March 22.
Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb 14 with a severe respiratory infection that became the most serious health crisis of his 12-year papacy.
While Francis will return to the Vatican on March 23, his doctors said it would take “a lot of time” for his ageing body to fully heal.
Tens of thousands protest against racism and far-right
EPA-EFE
Tens of thousands of people in Paris and other French cities on March 22 rallied against racism and the rise of the far right, some taking aim at the administration of Donald Trump in the United States and others carrying Palestinian flags.
Several scuffles between police officers and demonstrators took place in Paris.
The rallies took place amid the rightward shift in French politics, with the government pledging to tighten immigration policies and border controls.
Ten French police injured in dramatic Paris car chase
Thirteen people including 10 French police officers were injured and several cars damaged on March 22 after a driver refused to stop at the request of police in Paris, sparking an early morning chase through the south of the French capital, the authorities said.
The car chase spanning several kilometres ended with the driver losing control of his car and smashing into a traffic light, and three pursuing police vehicles hitting his vehicle, prosecutors said.
During a police check at around 5.45am in the 14th district in southern Paris, the driver refused to comply with police orders to stop, the police prefecture said.
Three dead, 15 hurt in New Mexico mass shooting
NYT
Three people were killed and 15 others injured in a late-night shooting at an unsanctioned car show in a park in New Mexico, police said March 22, adding that no arrests have been made.
The shooting happened at about 10pm on March 21 in Las Cruces, located about 120km south of Albuquerque, where about 200 people had gathered for the car show, featuring races and trick driving.
“The investigation so far reveals that there was an altercation between two groups of people, and that altercation escalated to gunfire between both groups. Several other people were also injured in the crossfire,” said Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story.
