While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 26, 2026

Desperate Venezuelans battled on June 25 to rescue loved ones trapped alive beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings after two major earthquakes that killed at least 188 people.

Buildings cracked and crumbled and residents fled into the streets after the quakes, which the United States Geological Survey measured at magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, hit northern Venezuela within a minute of each other on the night of June 24.

Offers of rescue support and aid flooded in as National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez said the death toll had risen to 188, with 1,520 injured.

Powerful aftershocks could still be felt on June 25.

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The UN International Maritime Organisation paused its operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz on June 25 after a vessel reported an attack, reigniting fears over a preliminary deal to end the Iran war.

The cargo ship said it was hit close to Oman by a projectile, British navy agency UKMTO said, hours after Tehran warned vessels against taking routes that it had not approved.

Two US officials told Reuters that Iran had fired on the ship, while Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which Tehran established to manage requests for ships to travel through the strait, said vessels outside routes it has set will not be guaranteed safe passage.

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Two passenger trains collided near the village of Bialosliwie in west-central Poland, a fire brigade spokesperson said on June 25.

The website of TVP Poznan reported that two people were injured in the incident.

Footage posted on social media showed people standing next to the tracks and derailed carriages.

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King Charles will not live at Buckingham Palace after its 10-year refurbishment finishes in 2027, royal officials said on June 25, ending nearly two centuries of the central London landmark serving as the British monarch’s primary residence.

Officials at the same time disclosed the king paid £12.9 million (S$22 million) in tax in 2024/25 – the first time the figure has been made public – placing him among Britain’s top 100 taxpayers.

Members of the royal family have promised greater transparency about their finances amid growing criticism following the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022.

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Apple raised iPad and MacBook prices on June 25, saying it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by the AI industry’s data centre build-out.

The move does not affect Apple’s main cash cow, the iPhone. But it would take the starting price of the Neo – its lowest-priced laptop aimed at winning market share from affordable Windows and Chromebook laptops – from US$599 (S$777) to US$699 months after launch.

The increase shows that even the world’s most valuable consumer electronics company, with supply chain relationships that are the envy of the industry, is not immune to a memory price surge that has dulled the outlook for smartphone and PC sales.

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