While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 21
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Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama votes in favour as US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield vetoes a vote on a UN Security Council resolution to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
PHOTO: REUTERS
US again vetoes UN action in Israel-Hamas war
The United States on Feb 20 again vetoed a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas war, blocking a demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire as it instead pushes the 15-member body to call for a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Thirteen council members voted in favour of the Algerian-drafted text, while Britain abstained.
It was the third such US veto since the start of the current fighting on Oct 7.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield signalled on Feb 17 that the US would veto the draft resolution over concerns it could jeopardise talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Ukraine fights off Russian surge on revolution anniversary
Ukraine said on Feb 20 it was fighting off dozens of Russian attacks as Moscow claimed the recapture of a bridgehead, days after it seized a key town amid stalled Western aid deliveries to Kyiv.
Days before the two-year anniversary of the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Moscow was exploiting delays in Western military aid, calling the situation “extremely difficult”.
A heightened Russian offensive in eastern and southern Ukraine saw Moscow’s forces capture the key eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka last week, after months of battle.
Mystery surrounds death of Russian helicopter pilot
The death of a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with a military helicopter was shrouded in mystery on Feb 20, with Spanish authorities refusing to say if a bullet-riddled body found was his.
Maxim Kuzminov flew his Mi-8 helicopter into Ukraine in August in a brazen operation, saying he opposed Russia’s military offensive.
Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency released a video in September in which Kuzminov said he flew from an air base in Russia’s Kursk region to Ukraine at an “extremely low altitude, in radio silence mode” to avoid detection.
Musk says patient moves cursor with brain implant
Elon Musk says the first human patient with a brain implant from his Neuralink startup is able to move a computer mouse with thought.
In January, Mr Musk’s neurotechnology company installed a brain implant in its first human patient and on Feb 19, Mr Musk reported the experiment had been a success.
“The patient seems to have made a full recovery with no ill effects,” Mr Musk said, in an interview streamed on X, formerly Twitter.
Kuwaiti ‘death ship’ carrying cattle causes stench
A “death ship” carrying thousands of cattle whose foul smell caused a stink in top tourist city Cape Town is expected to continue its voyage to Iraq later on Feb 20, port officials said.
The ship, en route from Brazil and carrying an estimated 19,000 cattle, docked in Cape Town on Feb 18, bringing with it a nauseating odour that permeated the city centre.
Some residents thought a large nearby sewerage works had conked out or their nostrils were being assailed by domestic plumbing problems, a Reuters witness said.
