While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 8, 2026
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The first meeting of leaders of US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace will be held on Feb 19.
PHOTO: AFP
US-led Board of Peace to meet for first time on Feb 19
The Board of Peace touted by US President Donald Trump will hold its first leaders meeting on Feb 19, a US government official confirmed on Feb 7, without offering further details.
The planned meeting was first reported by Axios, which said the gathering would also serve as a fund-raising conference for the reconstruction of Gaza.
“We can confirm the Board of Peace meeting is scheduled on Feb 19,” the official said in a statement to Reuters.
Further questions were referred to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Denmark still ‘not out’ of Greenland crisis’, says FM
PHOTO: REUTERS
Denmark’s foreign minister said on Feb 7 his country is now in a better position in regards to US President Donald Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland – an autonomous Danish territory – but stressed the crisis is not yet resolved.
“We are not out of the crisis, and we do not have a solution yet,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Greenland’s capital Nuuk, while adding: “We are in a much better position now, compared to a few weeks ago.”
The minister added that there “are no threats on the table, there is no trade war with Europe” and that everyone agreed the situation should be worked out in a “normal diplomatic way”.
Crypto exchange to reimburse users after $51b error
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb, which mistakenly distributed more than US$40 billion (S$51 billion) worth of Bitcoin on Feb 6, said it will reimburse customers who made losses when they sold their holdings in a panic during a brief but sharp sell-off on its platform.
Bithumb had intended to award 620,000 won (S$538) to winners of a promotion, but an employee keyed in Bitcoin instead of the South Korean currency, Yonhap News reported, citing people it did not identify.
The error led to the distribution of 620,000 bitcoin to 695 users at 7pm local time on Feb 6, a mistake that was identified within 20 minutes, the exchange said.
Duo reach Shanghai, completing year-and-a-half walk
Two French adventurers reached the end of an epic walk from their hometown to Shanghai on Feb 7, after nearly a year and a half crossing 16 countries almost entirely on foot.
Tired but delighted, Mr Loic Voisot and Mr Benjamin Humblot embraced as they stood by the river on the Bund promenade, the Chinese financial hub’s distinctive skyline glittering in the background.
Mr Voisot, 26, and Mr Humblot, 27, set off from Annecy in southeastern France in September 2024.
Von Allmen stuns Odermatt to win downhill gold
AFP
Swiss young gun Franjo von Allmen produced a stunning descent of the fearsome Stelvio slope to win the Olympic Alpine skiing men’s downhill on Feb 7, as illustrious teammate and race favourite Marco Odermatt missed the podium.
The 24-year-old von Allmen barely put a ski off line as he blazed down the sunlit piste at speeds of near 140kmh to win in 1:51.61, smashing Odermatt’s mark by 0.70 seconds.
“It feels like a movie, it’s crazy,” Von Allmen said after claiming the first gold medal of the Milano Cortina Games in front of hundreds of Swiss fans who had crossed the nearby border armed with flags and cow bells.
