While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 1
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Train carrying US Republican lawmakers hits garbage truck; one dead
An Amtrak passenger train carrying Republican members of the US Congress from Washington to a retreat in West Virginia slammed into a garbage truck on Wednesday in Crozet, Virginia, killing one person aboard the truck, authorities said.
The truck was on the tracks at a crossing when the crash occurred, Amtrak said. Video from the scene showed the battered truck afterward, with trash strewn around it.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who was aboard the train, said on Twitter that three people were in the truck and one was killed. Of the other two, Cassidy said, one sustained major injuries and one had minor injuries.
"There are no serious injuries among members of Congress or their staff," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.
Angelina Jolie urges Nato to tackle sexual violence in war
UN refugee agency special envoy Angelina Jolie called on Nato on Wednesday to help stop the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, as the Hollywood star broadened her international efforts to protect women's rights.
Jolie, who earlier this week visited a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, made her appeal to the US-led alliance's top decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, in Brussels, and later met Nato military commanders.
"Violence against women and children, particularly sexual violence, is an increasing feature of conflict," Jolie told a news conference at Nato headquarters alongside the alliance's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "This is rape used as a weapon to achieve military or political goals. It affects men and boys as well as women and girls," Jolie said.
German who bragged online of murdering nine-year-old boy sentenced to life
A German man who stabbed to death a nine-year-old boy, bragged about it online and then killed another man while on the run was sentenced to life in jail Wednesday.
Marcel Hesse, 20, committed the grisly crimes out of "bloodlust", dissatisfaction with his life, delusions of grandeur and "to satisfy his sadism and show off", prosecutors said during his trial.
The case shocked Germany when, almost a year ago, police learnt of the child's murder through images the killer had posted on the darknet - hidden websites only accessible using encryption technology that are notoriously used to trade illegal drugs, weapons and child pornography.
Apple questioned by US agencies about slowing iPhones
Apple on Wednesday confirmed it is fielding questions from US agencies about its move to slow down older iPhones as batteries weaken.
"We have received questions from some government agencies and we are responding to them," Apple said in an email response to an AFP query.
The reply came as comment regarding a Bloomberg report that the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether Apple broke the law by failing to disclose a software update that made older iPhone models function slower.
Football: Leicester reject Man City bid for Mahrez, says report
Manchester City failed in an audacious transfer deadline day move for Leicester City midfielder Riyadh Mahrez, British media reported on Wednesday.
The Leicester Mercury newspaper said the Foxes had turned down City's final bid of £65 million (S$120 million) plus an unnamed player for Mahrez, a deal that would have broken the Manchester club's transfer record.
The paper said the bid was below Leicester's valuation of the 26-year-old Algerian who reportedly put in a transfer request this week.
