While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 2
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US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon.
PHOTO: AFP
Austin says he should have handled cancer diagnosis better
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Feb 1 apologised for failing to tell President Joe Biden and senior staff about his recent prostate cancer diagnosis ahead of time, adding that the health scare was a “gut punch” that had shaken him.
Mr Austin, 70, also apologised for the way he handled his subsequent hospitalisation, which was kept secret from the public, senior staff and Mr Biden himself for days.
“(Mr Biden) has responded with a grace and warm heart that anyone who knows President Biden would expect and I’m grateful for his full confidence in me,” Mr Austin said, in his first press conference since his secret hospitalisation.
Mr Austin’s secrecy surrounding his condition and his Jan 1 hospitalisation caught the White House and Congress off guard, and even Mr Biden didn’t know Mr Austin was hospitalised during much of the first week of January. “I did not handle this right,” Mr Austin said.
EU leaders isolated Orban to seal Ukraine aid deal
AFP
To get Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to end his block on a €50 billion (S$70 billion) aid package for Ukraine, other European Union leaders teamed up ahead of a crunch summit to deliver a stark message: You’re on your own this time.
The veteran Hungarian leader, who maintains close ties to Moscow despite its invasion of Ukraine, has been adept in the past at finding enough support among his peers to drive a hard bargain in EU negotiations.
But in the days and hours before a Feb 1 special summit in Brussels, leaders - individually and in groups - told Mr Orban that the other 26 members of the union were united behind the deal and he would face consequences if he continued to block, according to EU diplomats and officials.
Ukraine says it ‘destroyed’ Russian warship off Crimea
Ukraine said on Feb 1 it had destroyed a Russian warship in the Black Sea off the occupied Crimean peninsula, which has come under increasing Ukrainian attacks.
Crimea – which Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2014 and which is home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet – has been extensively targeted by Ukrainian drones and missiles, putting Russia on the defensive.
“An enemy missile corvette was destroyed” during the night, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said in a statement online. Russia made no immediate comment.
Which dogs live the longest? Small ones with long noses
AFP
Small dogs with long noses, such as whippets and miniature dachshunds, live for years longer than large flat-faced breeds such as English bulldogs, new research said on Feb 1.
The study, which is based on data from more than half a million dogs across the UK, aims to help people planning to get a dog ensure they choose a breed that will have a long and healthy life.
Lead author Kirsten McMillan, data manager at UK charity Dogs Trust, said it was the first study to look at how life expectancy varies across such a broad range of factors, including breed, size, face shape and gender.
Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, Formula One’s most successful driver of all time, will race for Ferrari from 2025 after activating a release option in the Mercedes contract he signed in August.
The bombshell news, confirmed first by Mercedes and then in a one-line statement from Ferrari, came after a day of mounting speculation with the world awaiting news from Maranello and Brackley.
“Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract,” Ferrari said.
