While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 8
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Britain's MI6 chief Richard Moore (left) and US Central Intelligence Agency director Bill Burns are interviewed at a Financial Times conference in London.
PHOTO: REUTERS
UK and US spy chiefs warn of threat to world order
CIA director Bill Burns and UK MI6 chief Richard Moore warned on Sept 7 that the world order was “under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the Cold War”.
Writing in a Financial Times op-ed, the two spy chiefs said “we have no more trusted or esteemed allies” than each other, adding that the partnership would be vital as they “face an unprecedented array of threats”, chiefly from Russia, China and in the Middle East.
The ongoing conflict is Gaza is of particular concern, and Mr Burns later told an FT conference in London that he was “working hard” with Egyptian and Qatari mediators to refine a framework for a ceasefire.
The United States and UK are among the leading financial and military supporters of Ukraine in its resistance to the Russian invasion launched in February 2022.
Trump looks to energise small-town base at Wisconsin rally
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sept 7 spoke at a rally in Wisconsin, a battleground state that could decide the election, as he tries to solidify support in a key part of his support base: working-class and rural whites.
The former president has seen his support erode among most demographic groups since his Democratic rival in the Nov 5 election, Vice-President Kamala Harris, replaced President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket over the summer.
Trump took to the podium in Mosinee, a town of about 4,500 people near Wausau, a small city of about 40,000, but hours from the state’s major population centers, namely Milwaukee and Madison.
High-security jailbreak sees five inmates escaping by ladder
Bloomberg
Five inmates including a Briton, an Argentinian and a Georgian as well as two Portuguese escaped from the Vale de Judeus high-security prison some 30km north of Lisbon, authorities said on Sept 7.
According to the Portuguese prison service, the men, aged between 33 and 61 years old, escaped at 10am (5pm in Singapore), “with external help through the launch of a ladder, which allowed the inmates to scale the wall and access the outside”.
Police had been immediately deployed to recapture the escapees, it added.
Carsley makes flying start, as England outclass Ireland
AFP
England began life after Gareth Southgate in convincing fashion on Sept 7, outclassing Ireland 2-0 in the Nations League with goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish giving interim manager Lee Carsley a debut win.
Carsley, who will oversee two games in September with a view to staying on through the autumn, represented Ireland as a player and it was the two of his team with Irish links - Rice and Grealish - who gave England an early lead that was never remotely under threat.
Rice played three games for Ireland before switching to the country of his birth, while Grealish played at under-age level for England’s near neighbour, who were also playing under new manager Heimir Hallgrimsson for the first time.
Almodovar’s The Room Next Door triumphs in Venice
AFP
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s first English-language movie The Room Next Door, which tackles the hefty themes of euthanasia and climate change, won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival on Sept 7.
Starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, the film received an 18-minute standing ovation when it premiered at Venice earlier in the week - one of the longest in recent memory.
Almodovar is a darling of the festival circuit and was awarded a lifetime achievement award at Venice in 2019 for his bold, irreverent and often funny Spanish-language features.
