While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 1
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Admiral John Aquilino, who leads the US Indo-Pacific Command, held a meeting with a senior Chinese official in Fiji.
PHOTO: REUTERS
US, Chinese military officials met in Fiji in rare engagement
US and Chinese military officials met at a defence chiefs conference in Fiji last month, in a rare direct engagement between the armed forces of the two superpowers.
Admiral John Aquilino, who leads the US Indo-Pacific Command, held a meeting with a senior Chinese official at the event held Aug 14-16, the Pentagon said.
Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that General Xu Qiling, deputy joint chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army, met US representatives there.
Neither side gave further details on the discussions.
Ukraine tells critics of slow counteroffensive to ‘shut up’
Ukraine told critics of the pace of its three-month-old counteroffensive to “shut up” on Thursday, the sharpest signal yet of Kyiv’s frustration at leaks from Western officials who say its forces are advancing too slowly.
Since launching a much vaunted counteroffensive using many billions of dollars of Western military equipment, Ukraine has recaptured more than a dozen villages but has yet to penetrate Russia’s main defences.
Stories in the New York Times, Washington Post and other news organisations last week quoted US and other Western officials as suggesting the offensive was falling short of expectations. Some faulted Ukraine’s strategy, including accusing it of concentrating its forces in the wrong places.
Ex-Proud Boys leader gets 17-year sentence Capitol attack
NYT
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced former far-right Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs to 17 years in prison, after a jury convicted him of seditious conspiracy for his role in storming the US Capitol in a failed bid to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat.
The sentence handed down by US District Judge Timothy Kelly is below both US sentencing guidelines and far less than the prison term sought by federal prosecutors.
Judge Kelly said he was not “trying to minimise the violence” that occurred on Jan 6, but he noted that the event was still not on par with a mass casualty event and imposing a stricter sentence could create disparities.
Erling Haaland, Aitana Bonmati win Uefa prizes
EPA-EFE
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Spain’s World Cup-winning star Aitana Bonmati won the Uefa Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year prizes respectively at a ceremony in Monaco on Thursday.
Norway striker Haaland scored 52 goals in 53 games to help City win the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup, while Bonmati inspired Spain to World Cup glory earlier this month.
Haaland’s achievements in his first season at City after joining from Borussia Dortmund saw him take the men’s award, for which his club colleague Kevin De Bruyne and Lionel Messi were also shortlisted.
Taylor Swift announces film of massive Eras tour
Didn’t score tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour?
Never fear – the culturally defining juggernaut will hit movie theatres with a concert film released on Oct 13.
“The Eras Tour has been the most meaningful, electric experience of my life so far and I’m overjoyed to tell you that it’ll be coming to the big screen soon,” Swift said on social media on Thursday.
