While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, April 7, 2026
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US President Donald Trump speaking at a press briefing on the US-Israel war on Iran at the White House on April 6.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Trump ramps up threats to devastate Iran
US President Donald Trump said on April 6 he would lay waste to every bridge and power plant in Iran if it fails to bend to his demands, as he touted the high-risk operation that rescued two downed airmen.
Dismissing accusations that such a move would be a war crime, Mr Trump told a White House press conference that “the entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.”
The president gave lengthy opening remarks on the recovery of two F-15 crew members recovered from behind enemy lines in Iran, which he compared to finding a “needle in a haystack.”
But Mr Trump also doubled down on his threats of destruction before his self-imposed deadline for Tehran’s leaders that is due to expire on April 7 at 8pm (8am on April 8 in Singapore).
‘Historic day’: Astronauts break space distance record
The four astronauts embarking on NASA’s lunar flyby became on April 6 the humans to travel furthest from our planet, as they get set to view areas of the Moon never before seen by the naked eye.
The Artemis II team broke the previous record set by 1970‘s Apollo 13 mission, which they are expected to surpass by approximately 6,600 kilometres when they reach this journey’s furthest distance from Earth – 406,778 kilometres – later today.
The astronauts are journeying around the Moon for a monumental flyby, in which they will spend more than six hours analysing and documenting lunar surface features.
FAA proposes to hire 2,300 air traffic controllers
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on April 6 it is proposing to hire 2,300 air traffic controller trainees as it works to address a persistent lack of personnel.
The FAA is about 3,500 fully certified air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels.
At the end of September it employed 13,164 controllers – or 6 per cent fewer controllers than it did a decade earlier. Many controllers are working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks and the FAA’s air traffic control training academy faces serious issues with retaining students.
Wolf that bit woman in Germany released back into wild
PHOTO: PIXABAY
A wolf that bit a woman in Hamburg last week in the first such attack in Germany for decades has been released back into the wild, the local environment ministry said on April 6.
The animal was “fitted with a transmitter and successfully released” on the evening of April 5 and is being “closely monitored”, the ministry said in a statement.
If the wolf wanders near a built-up area again, “hunters can intervene immediately if necessary”, state environment minister Katharina Fegebank said.
Soccer has FIFA, Augusta has Thai amateur Fifa
PHOTO: AFP
In the same year the FIFA World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, a Thai golfer named after world soccer’s governing body will make his major championship debut at the Masters.
Fifa Laopakdee’s father, a devoted soccer fan, named his son after FIFA when he was born and that name will be on the tee sheet when the year’s first major gets under way this week at Augusta National.
“My dad is a huge soccer fan, and he was choosing between Fifa from FIFA World Cup and Uefa from UEFA Champions League,” Laopakdee said April 6.
