While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Jan 26

Saudi Arabia and Thailand agreed on Tuesday to exchange ambassadors in the first high-level meeting between the two countries since a row over a jewellery theft nearly three decades ago led the Gulf state to downgrade ties.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and visiting Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha agreed on the appointment of ambassadors "in the near future" and to strengthen economic and trade relations, said a joint statement on Saudi state media.

Saudi Arabian Airlines announced in a Twitter post on Tuesday that it would restart direct flights to Thailand in May.

Saudi Arabia downgraded relations with Bangkok after a diplomatic row over a theft in 1989 of around US$20 million (S$26 million) of jewels by a Thai janitor working in the palace of a Saudi prince, in what became known as the "Blue Diamond Affair".

Western leaders stepped up preparations for any Russian military action in Ukraine on Tuesday, with the United States focusing on how to protect energy supplies and Britain urging other European nations to get economic sanctions ready.

Tensions remained high after Nato said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets in response to a Russian troop build-up near its border with Ukraine.

Russia, which denies planning an attack, said it was watching with “great concern”.

The US Coast Guard launched a search for 39 people reported missing when a boat capsized off the coast of Florida in a "suspected human smuggling venture".

The Coast Guard in Miami said it had received a report "from a good Samaritan" who rescued a man "clinging to a capsized vessel". The survivor said the boat had left Bimini in the Bahamas on Saturday night but encountered rough weather and capsized.

 "According to the survivor, no one was wearing a life jacket," the Coast Guard said.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr on Tuesday apologised for remarks he made over the weekend in which he invoked the Holocaust while speaking at an anti-vaxxer rally.

At the rally on Sunday in Washington opposing vaccination mandates against Covid-19, the lawyer and son of the slain US Senator Robert F. Kennedy said, "Even in Hitler's Germany you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did."

On Tuesday, he tweeted, "I apologise for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors. My intention was to use examples of past barbarism to show the perils from new technologies of control. To the extent my remarks caused hurt, I am truly and deeply sorry."

French fashion house Chanel shook up conventions by sending a horse out onto the catwalk at its Haute Couture show in Paris on Tuesday.

The animal was ridden by Charlotte Casiraghi, a niece of Prince Albert of Monaco and a competitive showjumper who is also a Chanel brand ambassador.

Wearing a Chanel jacket made of black tweed and decorated with sequins, Casiraghi rode out at the start of the show, cantering several times around a catwalk designed to resemble a horse training ring.