While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 30, 2025
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Members of the media raise their hands as US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at a joint press conference in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, USA, on Sept 29, 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Trump and Netanyahu agree 20-point plan to end war in Gaza
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had agreed to a 20-point plan designed to end the war in Gaza, casting it as a “historic day for peace”, though the prospects for peace remained unclear without the direct involvement of Hamas.
Mr Trump said the framework had the support of other leaders from the Middle East and Muslim majority nations during a press conference on Sept 29 alongside Mr Netanyahu, suggesting it could lay the ground for a broader peace in the region.
Still, the proposal – which mandates Hamas have no role in the future of Gaza – must be accepted by the militant group, which would need to agree to substantial concessions.
Hamas, which sparked the war with an Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel said ahead of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting that it had not yet seen the plan and would need to study the proposal.
Vance says US ‘headed to a shutdown’ after meeting with Democrats
PHOTO: EPA
US President Donald Trump and his Democratic opponents appeared to make little progress at a White House meeting aimed at heading off a government shutdown that could disrupt a wide range of services as soon as Oct 1.
Both sides emerged from the meeting saying the other would be at fault if Congress fails to extend government funding beyond a Sept 30 midnight deadline.
“I think we’re headed to a shutdown,” Vice-President J.D. Vance said.
1 dead, dozens injured after Indonesia Islamic school building collapsed
At least one person died and dozens were injured on Sept 29 after an Islamic school building collapsed on Indonesia’s main island of Java, a police official said.
More than 100 students had gathered to perform afternoon prayers when the multistorey building suddenly collapsed, state news agency Antara reported, citing a witness.
East Java police spokesman Jules Abraham Abast told reporters that rescuers evacuated at least 79 victims from the incident at the Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in the town of Sidoarjo.
Putin orders Russia’s biggest autumn military call-up since 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept 29 called up 135,000 men for routine military service, the country’s biggest autumn conscription drive since 2016.
Russia calls up men aged between 18 and 30 for compulsory military service each spring and autumn.
Conscripts are expected to serve for a year at a military base inside Russia, not to fight in Ukraine, although there have been reports of conscripted men being sent to the front line.
Video game maker EA agrees to $71b sale in largest leveraged buyout on record
PHOTO: REUTERS
Electronic Arts has agreed to sell itself in the largest leveraged buyout on record to a group of investors that includes a firm managed by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
The massive deal, valuing the video-game company at about US$55 billion (S$71 billion), is the latest effort by Saudi Arabia to diversify beyond oil into sports and gaming, a financially tumultuous industry that is increasingly at the heart of youth culture around the planet.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, along with Silver Lake Management and Kushner’s Affinity Partners, agreed to pay US$210 per share in cash, a 25 per cent premium to where EA traded before the talks leaked on Sept 26.
