While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, May 25, 2025
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Chinese Premier Li Qiang being greeted by Indonesian officials upon his arrival in Jakarta on May 24.
PHOTO: AFP
China, Indonesia will promote ‘true multilateralism’, says Li
China’s Premier Li Qiang said on May 24 that China and Indonesia will promote “true multilateralism”, the official Xinhua news agency reported, as he landed in Jakarta on a two-day visit to South-east Asia’s largest economy.
China has intensified engagement with countries in the region since US President Donald Trump announced hefty import tariffs on its global trading partners earlier this year.
Some levies have since been delayed, while China and the US agreed this month to pause some of their tariffs.
Jakarta, whose biggest trading partner is China, has offered the US a number of concessions in a bid to soften tariffs against Indonesia.
At West Point, Trump rips diversity and inclusion policies
EPA-EFE
President Donald Trump ripped US diversity and inclusion policies, knocked Nato, and took credit for building up the military on May 24, in a campaign-style commencement speech at the prestigious West Point Military Academy in New York.
Mr Trump, wearing a suit and his signature red “Make America Great Again” cap, mixed advice to “work hard” with a list of his top grievances about cultural and political issues while speaking to a stadium filled with cadets, family members and a largely supportive crowd.
“The job of the US Armed Forces is not to host drag shows, to transform foreign cultures,” Mr Trump said. “The military’s job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America, anywhere, anytime, in any place.”
Rescuers say 9 children of Gaza doctor couple killed
REUTERS
Gaza’s civil defence agency said on May 24 that an Israeli strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed nine children from the same family, with the Israeli army saying it was reviewing the reports.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said civil defence crews retrieved “the bodies of nine child martyrs, some of them charred, from the home of Dr Hamdi al-Najjar and his wife, Dr Alaa al-Najjar, all of whom were their children”.
He added that Dr Hamdi al-Najjar and another son, Adam, were also seriously wounded in the strike on May 23.
Shannon Tan finishes second at Jabra Ladies Open
Tristan Jones / LET
A second-placed finish at the Jabra Ladies Open in France on May 24 has given Singaporean golfer Shannon Tan a boost ahead of the July 10-13 Evian Championship, her first Major of the 2025 season.
With both tournaments played at the Evian Resort Golf Club’s The Champions Course in Evian-les-Bains, the 21-year-old is excited to return to the venue after a creditable showing this week.
Her confidence stems from a remarkable comeback on the final day of the €300,000 (S$440,000) Jabra Ladies Open, as she carded a three-under 68 in the third round of the event for an eight-under 205 total, two strokes behind champion Sara Kouskova (67) of the Czech Republic.
Dissident Iranian filmmaker wins Cannes top prize
AFP
It Was Just An Accident by dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi won the Palme d’Or for best film at the Cannes Festival on May 24.
The highly political but wry film tells the tale of five ordinary Iranians confronted with a man they believe tortured them in jail.
Panahi, who has been imprisoned twice in his home country and banned from making films, used his acceptance speech to urge Iranians to work towards freedom.
