While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, May 22
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The pier has been met with hope and scepticism by residents in Gaza.
PHOTO: REUTERS
UN plans new routes for halted Gaza aid deliveries from US-built pier
The United Nations is planning new routes to distribute aid from a US-built pier in Gaza, a spokesperson said, after crowds of needy residents intercepted trucks, causing a halt to deliveries that continued for a third day on May 21.
The temporary, floating pier is meant to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, though aid workers say that only deliveries through land borders can ensure relief on the scale that is needed.
Operations at the pier began on May 17 and the UN said 10 truckloads of food aid - transported from the pier by UN contractors - were received at a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Deir El Balah in Gaza. But on May 18, only five truckloads made it to the warehouse after 11 others were intercepted.
Trump campaign deletes ‘unified reich’ video amid White House ire
EPA-EFE
Donald Trump’s social media account on May 21 removed a video showing fake headlines about a “unified reich” if he wins the 2024 presidential election, as the White House strongly condemned the post.
Trump’s campaign blamed an inattentive staffer for reposting the 30-second clip, which flashed a series of fictitious news stories painting a picture of American prosperity, with one including the term normally associated with Nazi Germany.
US Vice President Kamala Harris lashed out at the video, saying it was “appalling.”
Nine child workers die in Egypt as bus plunges into the Nile
EPA-EFE
At least 10 female farm workers, nine of them children, died in Egypt on May 21 when a minibus plunged off a river ferry and into the Nile northwest of Cairo, the health ministry said.
“The toll is at 10 and could rise,” ministry spokesman Hossam Abdelghaffar told AFP.
Reporting the accident, the state’s flagship Al-Ahram newspaper said the driver, who had released the handbrake, was arrested while trying to flee.
China warns Taiwan of reprisals over Lai inauguration speech
REUTERS
China on May 21 slammed the inauguration speech of new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te as a “confession of Taiwan independence”, and warned it would take “countermeasures”.
Earlier, Beijing said it had complained to the United States over Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulating Taiwan on Lai’s swearing-in.
China considers self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Djokovic backs Nadal for French Open title
EPA-EFE
Novak Djokovic on May 21 said Rafael Nadal was his favourite to win the French Open, despite the record 14-time champion struggling for fitness in the twilight of his career.
World number one Djokovic – who is playing on a wild card in the Geneva Open this week before the second Grand Slam of the year begins in Paris – said if Nadal was in the draw, he could not be ruled out, despite his injury problems and growing competition from a younger generation.
“This year is more open,” reigning French Open champion Djokovic told reporters at the Parc des Eaux-Vives grounds in Geneva.
