While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 25
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Police removing evidence from refugee accommodation in Solingen, Germany, on Aug 24.
PHOTO: AFP
Islamic State claims responsibility for knife attack
German police on Aug 24 arrested a second person over a knife rampage that killed three people at a street festival, an attack claimed by the Islamic State group as “revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere”.
The unidentified knifeman fled after striking in the western town of Solingen late on Aug 23, sparking a manhunt.
In a statement on Telegram, Islamic State’s Amaq propaganda arm said that “the perpetrator of the attack on a gathering of Christians in the city of Solingen in Germany yesterday was a soldier of the Islamic State”.
Islamic State said the attack was carried out as “revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere”, in an apparent reference to Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
SpaceX to return Boeing astronauts from space in 2025
Two Nasa astronauts who flew to the International Space Station in June aboard Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule will need to return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle early in 2025, Nasa said on Aug 24, deeming issues with Starliner’s propulsion system too risky to carry its first crew home.
The agency’s decision, tapping Boeing’s top space rival to return the astronauts, is one of Nasa’s most consequential in years. Boeing had hoped the test mission would redeem the Starliner programme after years of development problems and over US$1.6 billion (S$2 billion) in budget overruns since 2016.
Boeing is also struggling with quality issues on production of commercial planes, its most important products.
Zelensky touts ‘drone missile’, calls Putin ‘sick old man’
President Volodymyr Zelensky touted a newly developed Ukrainian “drone missile” on Aug 24 that he said would take the war back to Russia and scornfully derided Russia’s Vladimir Putin as a “sick old man from Red Square”.
As Ukraine marked 33 years of post-Soviet independence, Mr Zelensky said the new weapon - Palianytsia - was faster and more powerful than the domestically made drones that Kyiv has so far used to fight back against Russia, striking its oil refineries and military airfields.
“Our enemy will... know what the Ukrainian way for retaliation is. Worthy, symmetrical, long-ranged,” he said.
South Africa plans to ‘bomb’ mice that eat albatrosses alive
Conservationists said on Aug 24 that they plan to bomb a remote South African island with tonnes of pesticide-laced pellets to kill mice that are eating albatrosses and other seabirds alive.
Hordes of mice are devouring the eggs of some of the world’s most important seabirds that nest on Marion Island, about 2,000 kilometres south-east of Cape Town, and have started eating live birds, leading conservationist Mark Anderson said.
This includes the iconic Wandering Albatross, with a quarter of the world’s population nesting on the Indian Ocean island.
Trossard, Partey earn Arsenal gritty win at Aston Villa
Second-half goals by Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey earned Arsenal earn a hard-fought 2-0 win at Aston Villa on Aug 24, as Mikel Arteta’s side continued their perfect start to the Premier League season.
Villa did the double over Arsenal last season, defeats that ultimately cost the Gunners the title, and had plenty of chances to make it three successive wins at Villa Park, striker Ollie Watkins missing two gilt-edged openings.
However, Arsenal weathered the storm, taking the lead in the 67th minute through substitute Trossard, before Partey made sure of the three points 10 minutes later.
