While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 18, 2025
· The Straits TimesUS Congress passes $1 trillion defence Bill
The US Senate voted overwhelmingly on Dec 17 to advance a US$901 billion (S$1.1 trillion) Bill setting policy for the Pentagon, sending the massive piece of legislation to the White House, which has said President Donald Trump will sign it into law.
The fiscal 2026 National Defence Authorisation Act, or NDAA, is a compromise between separate measures passed earlier this year in the House of Representatives and Senate.
It authorises a record US$901 billion in annual military spending, with a 4 per cent pay raise for troops, purchases of military equipment, and efforts to boost competitiveness with US archrivals China and Russia.
The Senate backed the Bill by 77 to 20, with strong support from both parties. The House passed the Bill last week.
White House plaques attack Trump’s predecessors
The White House has installed new plaques beneath photos of former leaders on President Donald Trump’s “Presidential Walk of Fame” at the White House that sharply criticise his Democratic predecessors.
The plaques are a striking addition because both Republicans and Democrats have traditionally viewed the historic building as a symbol of national unity. Mr Trump, however, has not shied from using the White House as a stage for his more combative style of politics and for rewriting history.
The plaque beneath president Joe Biden’s photo reads: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American history.”
US ‘pressuring’ EU not to use Russian assets for Kyiv
President Volodymyr Zelensky will be in Brussels on Dec 18 to convince European partners to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, despite Washington pressuring EU countries against the plan, a Ukrainian official told AFP.
The European Union has laid out a plan to use the frozen assets
to harness €90 billion (S$130 billion) for a loan to help Ukraine repel Moscow’s forces, with the money to be paid back by any eventual Russian reparations to Ukraine.
“The US administration is pressuring European countries to abandon the idea of using Russian assets to support Ukraine,” a senior Ukrainian official said on Dec 17.
Hydrogen plays part in global warming, study shows
Hydrogen has long been touted as a possible solution to the climate crisis, but it could also be a small part of the problem, a study warned on Dec 17.
Advocates of hydrogen hope it can be produced and used on a large scale in transport and heavy industries in the future, providing a clean alternative to fossil fuels as it only emits water vapours.
But the research published in the journal Nature found that hydrogen has played a part in rising temperatures by helping methane, a potent greenhouse gas, stay longer in the atmosphere.
Oscars to stream exclusively on YouTube from 2029
The Oscars will be available to watch exclusively on YouTube from 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Dec 17.
The new multi-year deal means Hollywood’s most prestigious awards ceremony will be viewable only on streaming for the first time, ending a decades-long relationship with US broadcaster ABC.
The annual Academy Awards, which celebrate the year’s top achievements in film and draw the world’s biggest A-list stars to a Hollywood theatre, are regularly watched by around 20 million Americans and millions more globally.