While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 25, 2025
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A handout photo showing Russian delegation, advisor to the head of FSB Sergey Beseda (left) and Senator and former diplomat Grigory Karasin (centre) leaving a hotel after the talks in Riyadh, on March 24.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
US, Russia wrap up talks on proposed Black Sea ceasefire
US and Russian officials wrapped up day-long talks on March 24 focused on a narrow proposal for a ceasefire at sea between Kyiv and Moscow, part of a diplomatic effort that Washington hopes will help pave the way for broader peace negotiations.
Even as the meeting was under way in Saudi Arabia, where a Ukrainian delegation was present on the sidelines, a Russian missile strike damaged a school and a hospital in Ukraine on March 24, wounding at least 74 people.
The talks, which focused among other issues on trying to reach a Black Sea maritime ceasefire deal, were portrayed by Washington as a step in President Donald Trump’s effort to end the three-year-old war.
But there was no immediate word on whether an agreement had been hammered out or progress had been made.
Trump says auto tariffs are coming, but not all levies will be imposed April 2
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
US President Donald Trump said on March 24 automobile tariffs are coming soon even as he indicated that not all of his threatened levies would be imposed on April 2 while some countries may get breaks, a move Wall Street took as a sign of flexibility on a matter that has roiled markets for weeks.
At the same time, Mr Trump opened another front in a global trade war by aiming 25 per cent secondary tariffs on any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela, a directive that sent oil prices climbing.
At the White House, Mr Trump told reporters not all the new tariffs would be announced on April 2, and said he may give “a lot of countries” breaks on tariffs, but provided no details.
Trump admin sent journalist classified US plan for Yemen strikes
VIA REUTERS
A US journalist was inadvertently included in a group chat in which Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice-President J.D. Vance and other top American officials discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the White House confirmed on March 24.
President Donald Trump announced the strikes on March 15, but in a shocking security breach, The Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote that he had hours of advance notice via the group chat on Signal.
“The message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
Journalist among 1,100 detained in Turkey since Erdogan rival’s arrest
PHOTO: AFP
Turkish police have detained more than 1,100 people, including journalists, since the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival sparked the country’s worst unrest in years, a minister said on March 24.
The demonstrations began in Istanbul after Ekrem Imamoglu’s arrest last week and have since spread to more than 55 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, sparking clashes with riot police and drawing international condemnation.
The popular 53-year-old has been widely seen as the only politician who could defeat Turkey’s longtime leader Erdogan at the ballot box.
UN reducing international staff numbers in Gaza after Israeli strikes
PHOTO: REUTERS
The United Nations said on March 24 it is reducing its international staff numbers in Gaza by about a third after Israeli strikes in the enclave that have killed hundreds of civilians, including United Nations personnel.
US spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a regular news briefing the move was taken for security and operational reasons and would involve the withdrawal of about 30 of the 100 or so international staff currently in Gaza.
“What we’re doing is reducing the number of international staff members by about one third this week, maybe a bit more likely to come. It’s a temporary measure. We hope to have people return to Gaza as soon as practicable,” he said.
