While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 23
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, on Oct 22.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Israel needs to do more on Gaza humanitarian aid: Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Oct 22 that Israel has so far taken insufficient steps to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, and he asked it to work to improve the situation, a senior State Department official said.
Mr Blinken held “extended conversations” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza with Mr Netanyahu and other senior Israeli leaders, who committed to act upon the US requests, said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The top US diplomat is in Israel as part of a wider week-long Middle East tour. An Israeli readout on the meeting did not mention humanitarian issues.
In October, Mr Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote a letter to Israeli leaders, demanding they take more take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on US military aid. It was one of the strongest such warnings since Israel’s war with Hamas began a year ago.
Zelensky calls on allies ‘not to hide’ over North Korea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies on Oct 22 “not to hide” and to respond to evidence of North Korean involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
He said in his nightly address that Ukraine had information about the preparation of two units - possibly up to 12,000 North Korean troops - to take part in the war alongside Russian forces.
“This is a challenge, but we know how to respond to this challenge. It is important that partners do not hide from this challenge as well,” Mr Zelensky said.
Ex-Abercrombie CEO charged with sex trafficking
Mike Jeffries, the former longtime chief executive of Abercrombie and Fitch, has been criminally charged with sex trafficking and prostitution involving dozens of men.
The 16-count indictment was unveiled on Oct 22 by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn a decade after Jeffries left the retailer he built over 22 years into a popular clothing brand known for sexually charged marketing.
It followed a BBC investigation and proposed class-action lawsuit accusing Jeffries of baiting young men with the prospect of modelling jobs to lure them into travelling around the world so they could be sexually abused.
Over 250 women in talks with Harrods over Al-Fayed claims
Upmarket London department store Harrods on Oct 22 said it was in discussions with more than 250 women to settle claims of sexual misconduct by former owner Mohamed Al-Fayed.
The disclosure came as the daughter of former England footballer Paul Gascoigne said she was assaulted by the late Egyptian billionaire when she worked at the store as a teenager but was threatened about speaking out.
Fayed has been accused of raping and sexually harassing scores of women, earning comparisons with high-profile sex offenders such as the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and US financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Austria’s Grand Slam winner Thiem ends career
Austria’s Dominic Thiem, a former US Open champion, was swept aside 6-7 (6-8), 2-6 by Luciano Darderi at the Vienna Open on Oct 22, ending his career on home ground after battling a long-term wrist injury.
Earlier this year, Thiem had announced his retirement from tennis, giving up on his fruitless struggle to fully recover from the injury he sustained in 2021.
On the evening of Oct 22, his Italian rival, 22-year-old Darderi, did not seem to dominate at first, winning the first set in a tie-break.
