While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Jan 14, 2026
· The Straits TimesTrump tells protesting Iranians ‘help is on its way’
US President Donald Trump urged Iranians on Jan 13 to keep protesting and said help was on the way, without giving details, as Iran’s clerical establishment pressed its crackdown against the biggest demonstrations in years.
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding he had cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until the “senseless killing” of protesters stopped.
Asked what he meant by “help is on its way”, Mr Trump told reporters that they would have to figure it out.
The unrest, sparked by dire economic conditions, has posed the biggest internal challenge to Iran’s rulers for at least three years and has come at a time of intensifying international pressure after Israeli and US strikes in 2025.
India hunts rampaging elephant that killed 20 people
Indian wildlife officers are hunting a rampaging wild elephant blamed for killing at least 20 people and injuring 15 others in the forests of Jharkhand, villagers and officials said on Jan 13.
The elephant, a lone bull, is reported to have gone on the rampage for nine days beginning in early January, creating panic in the rural West Singhbhum district.
“We are trying to trace and rescue this violent wild elephant that killed so many people,” government forest officer Aditya Narayan told AFP, confirming the toll of 20 dead.
Jewel thieves pose as soldiers in West Bank
Israeli forces arrested two Israelis and a Palestinian on Jan 13 after they allegedly posed as soldiers to rob a jewellery shop in the occupied West Bank, the military and police said.
Officers arrested the suspects “while they were allegedly fleeing the scene of an armed robbery carried out at a jewellery store in the town of Dahariya” in the territory’s south, Israeli police said in a statement.
It added that the suspects had arrived in the Palestinian town “in a vehicle resembling a security vehicle, including emergency lights, while wearing (Israeli military)-style uniforms, protective vests, helmets, and carrying firearms”.
Leaders drum up rapport playing K-pop after summit
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung played drums together on Jan 13 after their summit talks in Nara, the capital of her home prefecture, in a surprise event showcasing their amicable personal relationship.
The leaders played two K-pop songs – Dynamite, a hit tune by world-famous boy band BTS, and Golden from the US Golden Globes-winning animated film Kpop Demon Hunters.
Ms Takaichi led the session by showing Mr Lee how to play the drums, according to the South Korean government.
BTS to perform 4 shows in Singapore in December
K-pop boy band BTS will be back in Singapore after seven years for concerts on Dec 17, 19, 20 and 22, the most number of shows they have done here to date.
The venue has yet to be announced.
The upcoming Singapore concerts are part of the supergroup’s first proper tour since 2019.