While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 22, 2026
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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth testifying at a Senate hearing in Washington, DC, on July 21.
PHOTO: AFP
US war in Iran has cost $48b so far, Pentagon says
The United States’ war in Iran has cost US$37.5 billion (S$S$48.4 billion) so far, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on July 21, an increase of nearly US$8 billion since the last public estimate.
Hegseth told lawmakers at a hearing in Washington that the figure included certain aspects of the war as well as anticipated costs through Sept 30.
It was unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the US$37.5 billion figure.
A source told Reuters in March that President Donald Trump’s administration estimated the first six days of the war had cost at least US$11.3 billion.
Ukraine’s Zelensky sacks army chief after days of protests
PHOTOS: AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 21 sacked his Soviet-trained army chief Oleksandr Syrsky (left) following a political crisis triggered by the removal of a popular, young and tech-savvy defence minister.
The Ukrainian leader announced he was appointing joint forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty (right) in his place.
Syrsky, 60, had served in the role since 2024 and was among Kyiv’s most experienced commanders, having led the defence of Kyiv at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
New UK PM to spend ‘one day a week’ in Manchester
PHOTO: AFP
Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham will spend “at least one day a week” working from “No. 10 North” under his government’s flagship plan to move some operations from London to Manchester, his spokesperson said on July 21.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester in the north-west who took office on July 20, Burnham has made devolution of power from London to other regions a focal point of his agenda.
As part of this, he will move some jobs from Whitehall, the government’s offices in London, to the so-called No. 10 North – in reference to the prime minister’s residence 10 Downing Street in the British capital.
Godzilla actress Kaylee Hottle, 18, dies in US car crash
PHOTO: AFP
Kaylee Hottle, an 18-year-old actress who appeared in two Godzilla films, died early on July 21 in a car accident in the US state of Maryland, police said.
Hottle and another passenger were in a 1995 Honda Accord driven by a 19-year-old man when it veered off a two-lane highway and struck a culvert, according to Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.
“Excessive speed is believed to be a contributing factor in the collision,” said the force, which responded to the scene around 2.52am on July 21 (2.52pm in Singapore) and is investigating the crash.
Decomposed body in singer D4vd’s car was ‘unrecognisable’
PHOTO: REUTERS
The body of a teenage girl found in the trunk of US singer D4vd’s car had been decomposed to the point it was “unrecognisable,” a police detective testified in a Los Angeles court on July 21.
The 21-year-old D4vd - whose real name is David Anthony Burke - faces several charges including murder in the horrifying death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Her body was discovered in Burke’s Tesla in September 2025 within days of what would have been her 15th birthday.
