While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 8, 2025
· The Straits TimesHong Kong election defies expectations amid anger over deadly fire
Hong Kong’s election on Dec 7 saw a near-record-low turnout after the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years prompted anger against its China-backed authorities, but voter participation did not drop as much as some analysts had predicted.
The city government said the final turnout in the Legislative Council election was 31.9 per cent, versus 30.2 per cent in the previous vote in 2021, which was the lowest since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The fire had changed the “social atmosphere, making it a very difficult election for us to organise,” Mr David Lok, chairman of the Election Commission, told a press briefing early Dec 8.
Security was tight in the northern district of Tai Po, close to the border with mainland China, where the fire engulfed seven residential towers.
Kremlin says Trump’s national security strategy accords largely with Russia’s vision
The Kremlin on Dec 7 welcomed US President Donald Trump's new national security strategy and said it largely accorded with Russia's own perceptions, the first time that Moscow has so fulsomely praised such a document from its former Cold War foe.
The US National Security Strategy described Mr Trump's vision as one of "flexible realism" and argued that the US should revive the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Western Hemisphere to be Washington's zone of influence.
"The adjustments that we see correspond in many ways to our vision," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television reporter Pavel Zarubin when asked about the new US strategy.
Israeli PM Netanyahu says he will meet Trump to discuss second phase of Gaza plan
Israel expects to move to the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan soon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Dec 7, adding that he would discuss “opportunities for peace” with President Donald Trump when he meets him later in December.
“We very shortly expect to move to the second phase, which is more difficult, or equally difficult,” Mr Netanyahu said, speaking at a joint press conference in Jerusalem with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “We’re almost there.”
Under Mr Trump’s proposal for Gaza, troops from several Muslim-majority nations, including Indonesia and Azerbaijan, would join an International Stabilisation Force working with Egypt and Israel to help maintain order as the Israel Defence Forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip. The plan also envisions a transitional government to be set up under a “Board of Peace.”
Water leak at Paris Louvre Museum damages books at Egyptian antiquities department
A water leak in November damaged hundreds of books in the Egyptian antiquities department at the Louvre, underscoring the deteriorating state of the world's most visited museum just weeks after a daring jewel heist exposed security flaws.
Specialist website La Tribune de l'Art reported that around 400 rare books were affected, blaming poor pipe conditions. It said the department had long sought funds to protect the collection from such risks without success.
Le Louvre's deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, told BFM TV on Dec 7 the water pipe leak concerned one of the three rooms of the library of the Egyptian antiquities department.
McLaren’s Lando Norris cries tears of joy as he wins Formula One world championship
McLaren’s Lando Norris broke down in tears of joy on Dec 7, as he celebrated his first Formula One world championship title victory and ended Max Verstappen’s four-year reign with a nervy third-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen, winner of more races (eight) than any driver in 2025, triumphed in the season-ending race with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri coming in second.
But Norris, who became Britain’s 11th Formula One world champion, ended the season with 423 points to Verstappen’s 421 and Piastri’s 410.