While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 17, 2026
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A Spanish Coast Guard vessel tows a fibreglass boat with migrants onboard to the port of Arguineguin, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, on March 5, 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
‘ICE-style enforcement’: Nearly 70 groups slam proposed EU migration policy
Nearly 70 groups hit out on Feb 16 at EU reforms to migration currently under consideration by the European Parliament, comparing them to US policy under President Donald Trump and calling on officials to abandon the text.
“This threat is real and immediate,” the wide array of associations, including European and national rights groups, said in a letter expressing concern over police raids of public and private spaces, and racial profiling.
“They want to oblige member states to ‘detect’ undocumented people – turning everyday spaces, public services, and community interactions into tools of ICE-style immigration enforcement,” they warned.
The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to deport millions of undocumented migrants from the United States.
Trump slams energy deal between California and Britain, calls governor Newsom ‘loser’
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
US President Donald Trump denounced a clean energy agreement between the United Kingdom and California Governor Gavin Newsom hours after it was signed on Feb 16, media outlet Politico reported.
In an interview with the outlet, Mr Trump said it was “inappropriate” for Britain to be dealing with the Democratic governor. Mr Trump, a Republican, also branded Mr Newsom “a loser,” saying “his state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.”
Mr Newsom is an outspoken Trump critic and has publicly mulled seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
France opens murder probe as killing of far-right activist stokes tensions
PHOTO: AFP
French authorities have opened a murder probe into the death of a far-right activist last week, a public prosecutor said on Feb 16, in a killing the government has blamed partly on the hard left.
Mr Quentin Deranque, 23, died after sustaining a severe brain injury when he was attacked on Feb 12 by “at least six” people on the sidelines of a far-right protest against a left-wing politician speaking at a university in Lyon, the western city’s prosecutor Thierry Dran said at a press conference on Feb 16.
No arrests had yet been made and authorities were working to identify the masked and hooded suspects in the killing, which is being investigated as an “intentional homicide” and “aggravated assault”, he added.
Godfather and Apocalypse Now actor Robert Duvall dead at 95
Robert Duvall, who played the smooth mafia lawyer in The Godfather and stole the show with his depiction of a surfing-crazed colonel in Apocalypse Now, has died at the age of 95, his wife said on Feb 16.
His death on Feb 15 was confirmed by his wife Luciana Duvall.
“Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home,” she wrote.
S’pore’s Faiz Basha battles tough conditions, places 35th in slalom at Winter Olympics
PHOTO: REUTERS
After enduring a difficult start to his Winter Olympics debut, Singaporean alpine skier Faiz Basha returned to the Bormio slopes with a vengeance on Feb 16.
On Feb 14, the 23-year-old saw his run in the men’s giant slalom ending prematurely with a DNF (did not finish) after he lost his right ski as he attempted to clear a gate.
Two days later, he had to battle through driving snow in his first slalom run at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio, Italy. But he powered through the treacherous conditions to clock a time of 2 minutes and 20.45 seconds across two runs to finish 35th.
