While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 2, 2025
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US President Donald Trump said US forces carried out airstrikes in Somalia on Feb 1, targeting Islamic State militants.
PHOTO: REUTERS
US carries out airstrikes on Islamic State in Somalia
US forces carried out airstrikes in Somalia on Feb 1 targeting a senior Islamic State attack planner and other members of the militant group, killing many of them, President Donald Trump said.
“These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians.”
The Feb 1 strikes were carried out in the Golis Mountains and an initial assessment indicated many militants were killed, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said.
Ukraine accuses Russia of deadly strike in Kursk region
Ukraine accused Russia on Feb 1 of killing four people in a strike on a boarding school sheltering civilians in the Kursk region town of Sudzha, which Kyiv has occupied for over five months.
Kyiv launched a surprise cross-border offensive into Russia’s Kursk region in August 2024, seizing dozens of villages and small towns including the regional hub of Sudzha - home to about 6,000 people before the fighting.
“Russian aviation struck a boarding school in the town of Sudzha, Kursk region, with a guided aerial bomb,” the Ukrainian army’s general staff said on Telegram. “The strike was carried out on purpose,” it added.
US Democrats elect Ken Martin as their new leader
Looking to rebuild after the party’s election loss to Donald Trump in November, the Democratic National Committee on Feb 1 elected Ken Martin, the leader of the state party in Minnesota, as its new chair.
Mr Martin will be tasked with reversing the fortunes of a bruised and demoralised Democratic Party that not only lost control of the White House last November but failed to win either chamber of Congress.
Since then, the rudderless party has struggled to respond to Republican Mr Trump’s barrage of executive orders, many of which reversed former president Joe Biden’s policies.
Water supply disrupted after underground pipe bursts
Several residents in a housing estate in the Lavender area experienced a disruption to their water supply after a nearby underground pipe burst on Feb 1.
One of them, part-time Grabfood delivery rider Ramdhan Sab’an, said he was heading to his home in Block 811 French Road at about 9pm when he found water gushing from the ground near his block.
He said: “I asked my wife to check whether still we had water at home, but she said the supply was cut off.”
Controversial Salah penalty fires Liverpool nine points clear
Mohamed Salah’s controversial penalty put Liverpool on course for a 2-0 win at Bournemouth as the Premier League leaders moved nine points clear on Feb 1.
Arne Slot’s side took the lead in the first half when Salah netted with a penalty awarded after Cody Gakpo appeared to trip over his own feet rather than go down from Lewis Cook’s challenge.
Bournemouth were left outraged after referee Darren England’s on-field decision was upheld by the video assistant referee (VAR).