While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 23, 2026
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US President Donald Trump speaking to the press before departing from the South Lawn of the White House on Oct 22 for a rally in Sioux City, Iowa.
PHOTO: EPA
Trump asks Musk to lift Ukraine Starlink restrictions: WSJ
US President Donald Trump called billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and asked him to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Starlink, the Wall Street Journal reported on Oct 22, citing US officials.
Trump later told reporters that Musk had restored access, but declined to comment when asked whether he had spoken to Musk about the matter.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Starlink system was working more normally on Oct 22, shortly after the Trump-Musk conversation, according to US and Ukrainian officials cited by the Journal.
Trump backs attack ad featuring Democrat’s estranged mother
PHOTOS: NYTIMES
US President Donald Trump on Oct 22 backed Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for Ohio governor, over an attack ad featuring his Democratic rival’s estranged mother, whose husband was charged with raping the candidate as a child.
Ramaswamy faced a firestorm of criticism over the ad featuring the mother of Amy Acton, who remained married to the man who the candidate says sexually abused her for years.
But Trump on his Truth Social network defended the “very powerful” advertisement and accused the media of a “well coordinated attack” aimed at getting Ramaswamy, a former presidential hopeful, to stop running it.
Monet’s Iris fetches €50 million at Paris auction
PHOTO: AFP
Iris, a monumental painting by Impressionist Claude Monet, sold for €50 million (S$70 million) including buyer fees in Paris on Oct 22, becoming the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction in France.
The 1.60m high and 1.8m wide work had never left the billionaire Schlumberger family’s mansion in Paris and was known only through a black-and-white photograph.
It was acquired by Jeanne Schlumberger (1889–1983), according to Thomas Bompard, co-head of the Modern and Contemporary Art Department at Sotheby’s France.
Actor Tom Skerritt, star of Alien and Top Gun, dies at 93
PHOTO: REUTERS
Versatile actor Tom Skerritt, who starred in Hollywood megahits including the sci-fi classic Alien, the war comedy M*A*S*H, and the action drama Top Gun, has died at the age of 93, his manager confirmed.
Skerritt, a Detroit native whose Hollywood career spanned from the 1960s to the 2020s, died on Oct 21 of natural causes, said ABC7, citing a statement from his family.
Known for his rugged good looks and ability to shine in a variety of genres, Skerritt delivered memorable performances in leading and supporting roles in film and television.
Sixteen authors try to write novel on one-day train ride
PHOTO: AFP
Sixteen writers – half French-speaking and half Japanese – boarded a luxury train in Kyoto on Oct 22, faced with the unusual task of collectively writing a novel in under 24 hours.
The authors, who include Muriel Barbery, are taking part in a project by “L’ecriture en mouvement” – Writing in Motion – a French association that promotes literary exchanges.
By the time the “Mizukaze” – their striking, bottle-green train in the Art Deco style – pulls into the western city of Matsue on the morning of Oct 23, they hope to have completed a 200-page story.