While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, May 15, 2025
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US President Donald Trump speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, en route from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Doha, Qatar, on May 14.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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Trump says no golf, real estate talk in Saudi meetings
US President Donald Trump, whose family has major business interests in the Gulf countries he is visiting this week, said there was no talk of building a Trump Tower in Syria or golf during his meetings in Saudi Arabia that ended on May 14.
Mr Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa during his first stop in Riyadh on May 13 and 14 before heading to Qatar.
The president made a surprise announcement on May 13 that the US will remove longstanding sanctions on Syria. But he said on May 14 the possibility of developing a Trump Tower in Damascus, which a Trump supporter has said Mr Sharaa wants, did not come up during their meeting.
Mr Trump also said he did not know how the deal for a firm backed by the Abu Dhabi government to use the Trump family company’s digital coins for a US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion) investment in a crypto exchange came about.
Drop in overdose deaths marks progress in US opioid crisis
Getty Images via AFP
US drug overdose deaths fell sharply in 2024 to hit their lowest level in five years, offering hope in the nation’s long-running opioid crisis, new data showed on May 14.
An estimated 80,391 people died from drug overdoses in 2024 – a 27 per cent drop from the 110,035 deaths recorded the year before and the lowest level since 2019.
Deaths involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl – the primary driver of the current epidemic – also plunged, from roughly 76,000 in 2023 to 48,422 in 2024. Only two states, South Dakota and Nevada, saw increases.
Luxury retailer Dior says client data stolen in cyberattack
Bloomberg
French luxury brand Dior said on May 14 that cyberattackers had stolen data about its customers but insisted that no financial information was involved.
The key LVMH subsidiary is the latest in a string of big name European retailers to be hit by cyberattacks.
Dior released a statement after Le Monde newspaper said that clients in Asia alerting them to the information theft that was reported to have happened in January.
India travellers snub Turkey, Azerbaijan over Pakistan support
REUTERS
Indians are cancelling holidays in popular resorts in Turkey and Azerbaijan after the countries supported Pakistan during its recent conflict with New Delhi, two booking firms said.
Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived after a deadly attack in Indian Kashmir in April that New Delhi said was backed by Islamabad.
Pakistan denied involvement, but intense fighting broke out when India struck what it said were “terrorist camps” in Pakistan last week. They agreed a ceasefire on May 10 which has largely held.
Cruise dazzles at Cannes for Mission: Impossible premiere
AFP
Tom Cruise hit the Cannes Film Festival’s red carpet on May 14 to a live band rendition of the Mission: Impossible theme song as organisers pulled out all the stops to celebrate what may be the action star’s last appearance in the franchise.
Expectations had been high for Cruise’s return to Cannes three years after he had presented Top Gun: Maverick with a colourful jet flyover. He could be seen mouthing “wow” and “bravo” to the band during the performance.
Cruise, 62, greeted fans who had been waiting hours in the French Riviera resort town’s unrelenting sun before joining the other stars of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning to walk the carpet.
