While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 24

Singapore will do its full part to mitigate climate change, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pledged on Monday at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, where dozens of world leaders outlined what their countries were doing to confront global warming.

"But however hard we try, Singapore will not be able to stop climate change on our own. Thus, we are cooperating with other countries on this common endeavour," he said in a speech at the global conference in New York, where he will be until Friday.

Singapore, like many small island states, is vulnerable to the effects of global warming such as rising sea levels, said PM Lee.

He issued the same grave warning as he did in his National Day Rally speech in August, saying: "For us, climate change is existential."

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and US President Donald Trump on Monday renewed a key defence pact which allows American forces to use Singapore's air and naval bases, extending it by another 15 years to 2035.

Both leaders lauded the close relationship between Singapore and the United States as they signed an amendment to the 1990 Memorandum of Understanding Regarding United States Use of Facilities in Singapore, a landmark agreement which underpinned America's security presence in the region for almost 30 years.

Said PM Lee in brief remarks before the signing: "It reflects our very good cooperation in defense matters between the United States and Singapore, and also the broader cooperation we have in so many other fields - in security, in economics, in counter-terrorism, and in culture and education, as well.

British opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn won support for his Brexit strategy on Monday, fighting off a challenge by members who wanted him to immediately back remaining in the European Union before any election.

The vote at his party's annual conference in the English seaside resort of Brighton was the latest outburst of dissent over Corbyn's Brexit approach, overshadowing party officials' attempts to present Labour as a government in waiting.

To howls of protest from pro-EU members and cheers from Corbyn supporters, the chairwoman of the conference said the bid to force Corbyn to change tack on Brexit had failed - chaotic scenes that underlined Labour's divisions over Brexit.

Argentine Lionel Messi beat Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo to win the best FIFA player of the year award for a record sixth time on Monday.

Messi, who won the Spanish La Liga title with Barcelona last season as well as the European golden boot, last won the award in 2015.

His win is somewhat of a surprise with Van Dijk, a centre back who transformed Liverpool's defence on the way to the Champions League crown, having won the European best player award.

Part of the Jiuzhaigou National Park in south-west China's Sichuan Province will reopen to visitors on Friday on a trial basis, over two years after it was hit by a powerful earthquake, local authorities said Monday.

During the trial period, the park will open from 8.30am to 5pm daily and receive no more than 5,000 tourists per day.

Tourists will need to buy tickets from designated websites before visiting the area, according to the park's management bureau, with all visitors required to join a tour group.