While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 9 edition

One dead, 9 hurt in Tel Aviv stabbings as Joe Biden visits

An attacker stabbed 10 people along the Tel Aviv waterfront on Tuesday (March 8), killing one, as US Vice President Joe Biden flew into the city for a visit to Israel, police and medics said.

The attacker, who was not identified, was killed by police.

Police said the attacker wounded three people in the Jaffa port area, a touristic zone in Israel's commercial capital, before going on toward a restaurant and stabbing four others.

READ MORE HERE

Donald Trump: 'Ridiculous' to compare pledge to Nazi salute

Donald Trump on Tuesday (March 8) brushed aside as "ridiculous" recent concerns that his call for supporters to raise their hands at rallies and swear allegiance to him evoked images of Nazi Germany.

At least three times beginning with a Saturday rally in Orlando, Florida, the Republican White House frontrunner has urged his backers to "solemnly swear" that they will vote for him for president.

Large numbers of supporters raised their hands and recited Trump's pledge.

READ MORE HERE

Mysterious extinction of prehistoric marine reptiles explained

One of the enduring mysteries of paleontology, the demise of a highly successful group of dolphin-like marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs that flourished in Earth's seas for more than 150 million years, may finally have been solved.

Scientists on Tuesday (March 8) attributed their extinction 94 million years ago to the combination of global warming and their own failure to evolve swiftly enough.

The research, the most comprehensive analysis to date of their disappearance, undercut previous notions that ichthyosaurs had been in decline for tens of millions of years and had been out-competed by other predators such as the fearsome ocean-going lizards called mosasaurs that were just arriving on the scene.

READ MORE HERE

Lengthy ban for Sharapova would be devastating: Bollettieri

A lengthy ban for doping would be devastating for five-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova but she would survive it, Nick Bollettieri, the man who discovered her, said on Tuesday (March 8).

Sharapova, 28, rocked the sporting world on Monday when she announced that she had tested positive for the banned substance meldonium at this year's Australian Open after failing to read an email saying it had been added to WADA's prohibited list.

She will be provisionally suspended from playing tennis on March 12 and could be hit with a four-year ban.

READ MORE HERE

Force awakens for 'Star Wars' with 11 MTV Movie Award nods

It may have been snubbed at the Oscars but the Force awakened on Tuesday (March 8) for the current "Star Wars"blockbuster with the film gaining a leading 11 nominations for the upcoming MTV Movie Awards.

Breakout British star Daisy Ridley, 23, led the way for"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," getting nods for best female performance, best hero and best fight in the Walt Disney movie that has taken more than US$2 billion (S$2.8 billion) at the worldwide box office.

John Boyega, 23, was nominated for best breakthrough and best action performance for his role as turncoat Stormtrooper Finn, and the movie will also compete for movie of the year and best cast ensemble at the fan-based awards show in April.

READ MORE HERE

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.