While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, May 30, 2025
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Moscow's peace settlement proposal has not been seen by either Ukraine or its allies, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his nightly video address.
PHOTO: AFP
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Zelensky accuses Russia of ‘another deception’ over peace
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 29 that Russia was engaging in “yet another deception” by failing to hand over its peace settlement proposal ahead of a potential meeting between Moscow and Kyiv.
“Even the so-called ‘memorandum’ they promised and seemingly prepared for more than a week has still not been seen by anyone,” Mr Zelensky said, in his nightly video address.
“Ukraine has not received it. Our partners have not received it. Even Turkey, which hosted the first meeting, has not received the new agenda.
“Despite promises to the contrary, first and foremost to the the United States of America, to President (Donald) Trump: Yet another Russian deception.”
Trump summons Fed’s Powell over interest rates ‘mistake’
REUTERS
US President Donald Trump called Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell to the White House on May 29 for their first face-to-face meeting since he took office in January and told the central bank chief he was making a “mistake” by not lowering interest rates.
Both the White House and Fed confirmed the two met at the president’s invitation, renewing a fractious relationship in which Mr Trump has repeatedly berated Mr Powell for not cutting rates as the president desires.
The Fed earlier this month left the policy rate in the 4.25 per cent to 4.5 per cent range, where it has been since December, and policymakers have since signalled they may leave it there for another few months as they wait for more clarity on tariff policy.
Ex-Goldman banker given two years in prison in 1MDB case
Bloomberg
Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner was sentenced to two years in prison by a judge in a New York court on May 29, after he pleaded guilty in 2018 to his involvement in a multi-billion dollar scandal involving Malaysia’s sovereign fund, 1MDB.
Leissner’s conduct was “brazen and audacious,” judge Margo Brodie said during sentencing.
While his cooperation with the government was taken into account, it did not make up for the harm caused by the corruption at the highest levels in several countries, the judge said.
UK police charge man over Liverpool victory parade collision
AFP
British police charged a 53-year-old man on May 29 after a car ploughed into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans during a victory parade earlier this week, injuring dozens.
Paul Doyle, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, was charged with seven offences including dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
He was arrested on May 26 and will appear before Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on May 30.
Plague bacteria became less deadly to last longer: Study
AFP
The bacteria that caused the plague evolved to become less deadly over time, allowing it to continue infecting people in three separate pandemics over more than a thousand years, new research said on May 29.
The first pandemic – the plague of Justinian – struck in the 500s at the start of the Middle Ages and lasted for around 200 years.
The Black Death began in the mid-1300s and would become the deadliest pandemic in human history, killing up to half of the people in Europe, western Asia and Africa, with outbreaks continuing for centuries.
