While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Jan 28, 2026
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Snow covers a street near the US Capitol building in Washington on Jan 27, two days after a winter storm swept across a large swathe of the US.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Winter storm in US kills dozens, as cold lingers
At least 38 people across 14 states had died as of Jan 27 from a powerful winter storm that left much of the central and eastern US gripped by snow, ice, and below-freezing temperatures, according to local officials and news reports.
The storm started to develop on Jan 23 and dumped snow across a large region over the weekend. The snow snarled road traffic and led to widespread flight cancellations and power outages before subsiding on Jan 26, leaving behind bitter cold that is expected to linger.
By Jan 27, cities were mobilising emergency responders and resources to ensure that residents, particularly homeless people, were safe, even as more than 550,000 homes and businesses across the country lacked electricity.
Ten of the storm’s fatalities were in New York City, where temperatures were the coldest they had been in eight years, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a news conference on Jan 27, when the low hit minus 13 deg C.
Russian strikes in Ukraine kill 11, target passenger train
Russian forces killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens in attacks across Ukraine that included a drone strike on a passenger train on Jan 27 in which four people died, authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the train attacked in the Kharkiv region was carrying more than 200 passengers.
“There is not and cannot be any military justification for killing civilians in a train carriage,” the president said on Telegram, adding that two people were also wounded in the attack.
TikTok settles social media addiction lawsuit
PHOTO: EPA
TikTok agreed to settle a landmark lawsuit on social media addiction on Jan 27, according to one of the plaintiff’s lawyers, the same day the trial was due to start against two remaining companies.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
TikTok is one of four companies, including Meta, Snap and YouTube, which is a unit of Alphabet-owned Google, facing allegations that their platforms are fuelling a youth mental health crisis.
‘Doomsday Clock’ set closer to midnight than ever
Atomic scientists set their “Doomsday Clock” on Jan 27 closer than ever to midnight, citing aggressive behaviour by nuclear powers Russia, China and the United States, fraying nuclear arms control, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and AI worries among factors driving risks for global disaster.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the clock to 85 seconds before midnight, the theoretical point of annihilation. That is four seconds closer than it was set in 2025.
The Chicago-based nonprofit created the clock in 1947 during the Cold War tensions that followed World War II to warn the public about how close humankind was to destroying the world.
Brooks Koepka nervous about PGA Tour return
Brooks Koepka is nervous ahead of his return to the PGA Tour this week after jumping to LIV Golf in 2022, wondering about his game and how fans will treat him.
The five-time major winner split with the Saudi-backed series in December and joined a Returning Member Program announced earlier this month by PGA Tour chief executive officer Brian Rolapp.
Koepka makes his 187th PGA Tour start on Jan 29 at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open.
