While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, May 14, 2025
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
US President Donald Trump (left) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shake hands during an MOU signing ceremony on May 13.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Trump signs economic partnership deal with Saudi Arabia
US President Donald Trump signed a strategic economic agreement with Saudi Arabia on May 13 as the oil power rolled out the red carpet for him at the start of a tour of Gulf states aimed at drumming up trillions of dollars in investments.
Mr Trump punched the air as he emerged from Air Force One to be greeted by Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who later signed an agreement with the President which Saudi state television said covered energy, defence, mining and other areas.
The White House said Saudi Arabia was set to invest US$600 billion (S$783 billion) in the United States, including the largest defence agreement between the allies, worth nearly US$142 billion.
“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Mr Trump said during a meeting in Riyadh with the crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.
Trump to remove US sanctions on Syria in major policy shift
President Donald Trump said on May 13 he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the behest of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, a major US policy shift ahead of an expected meeting with Syria’s Islamist President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Mr Trump is set to say hello to Mr Sharaa on May 14 in Saudi Arabia, a White House official said, setting up an encounter between the president and the former Al-Qaeda commander who took power after Mr Bashar al-Assad was toppled.
Two Syrian presidential sources told Reuters that they would meet on the morning of May 14.
Israel’s Netanyahu vows to ‘finish the job’ of destroying Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s days away from ordering an all-out escalation of Israel’s war against Hamas, and even the release of more hostages would only pause the campaign to destroy the Iran-backed group.
Speaking to wounded military veterans on May 12, the Israeli leader said his armed forces are preparing to “finish the job” after 19 months of fighting in Gaza, and ready to attack “with full might”.
“Finishing the job means defeating Hamas,” Mr Netanyahu said, according to a transcript released by his office.
France ‘ready’ to discuss nuclear-armed planes in Europe
France is prepared to open discussions with other European countries on deploying French warplanes armed with nuclear weapons on their territory, as the United States does in certain nations, President Emmanuel Macron said on May 13.
“The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey,” Mr Macron told TF1 television. “We are ready to open this discussion. I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come.”
France is the EU’s only nuclear armed nation and discussion is growing after the Russian invasion of Ukraine over extending the French nuclear deterrent to its partners.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner reaches Italian Open quarters
Jannik Sinner came through the first true test of his comeback from a doping ban with a straight-sets May 13 win over Francisco Cerundolo which took the world number one into the Italian Open quarter-finals.
Italian Sinner bested 17th seed Cerundolo 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 in a match which was delayed by a couple of hours due to a torrential downpour to set up a last-eight clash with either Casper Ruud or Jaume Munar.
Cerundolo knocked out Sinner in the last 16 the last time he played here in 2023, but that was before the 23-year-old had became the tournament-winning machine he is today.
