While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 9, 2025
· The Straits TimesWarner Bros fight heats up with $140.7 billion hostile bid from Paramount
Paramount Skydance on Dec 8 launched a hostile bid worth US$108.4 billion (S$140.7 billion) for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), in a last-ditch effort to outbid Netflix and create a media powerhouse that would challenge the dominance of the streaming giant.
Netflix had emerged victorious on Dec 5 from a weeks-long bidding war with Paramount and Comcast, securing a US$72 billion equity deal for WBD’s TV, film studios and streaming assets. But Paramount’s latest attempt means the jockeying for Warner Bros and its prized HBO and DC Comics assets will not come to a conclusion swiftly.
Paramount’s US$30-per-share cash offer includes financing from Affinity Partners, the investment firm run by Mr Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and several Middle Eastern government-run investment funds, and is backstopped by the Ellison family.
Mr Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest person, is the father of Paramount head David Ellison and has close ties to the White House.
Powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes Japan’s north-east
A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Japan late on Dec 8, prompting orders for about 90,000 residents to evacuate and tsunami warnings that hours later were downgraded to advisories.
The Japan Meteorological Agency initially said a tsunami as high as 3m could hit Japan’s north-eastern coast after the earthquake struck off the coast at 11.15pm local time (10.15pm Singapore time).
Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and tsunamis from 20cm to 70cm high were observed at several ports, JMA said.
Nvidia wins Trump’s approval to sell H200 AI chips in China
US President Donald Trump said on Dec 8 that he will allow Nvidia to ship its H200 chips to approved customers in China and other Countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong national security.
The US Department of Commerce is finalising the details, and the same approach will apply to AMD, Intel, and other US companies, Mr Trump said in a post on X.
Allowing the shipments could signal a friendlier approach to China, after US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping brokered a truce in the two countries’ trade and tech war in Busan, South Korea, in October.
US Supreme Court conservatives poised to back Trump in FTC firing case
Conservative US Supreme Court justices signaled on Dec 8 they will uphold the legality of President Donald Trump’s firing of a Federal Trade Commission member and give a historic boost to presidential power while also imperiling a 90-year-old legal precedent.
The justices heard about 2½ hours of arguments in the Justice Department’s appeal of a lower court’s decision that the Republican president exceeded his authority when he moved to dismiss Democratic FTC member Rebecca Slaughter in March before her term was set to expire.
The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has backed Mr Trump in a series of cases since he returned to the presidency in January.
Slot has ‘no clue’ whether rebel star Salah has played last Liverpool game
Arne Slot admitted on Dec 8 that he didn’t know whether Mohamed Salah will play again for Liverpool after the Egypt star was dropped for the Reds’ Champions League clash with Inter Milan.
Salah was left in England for Dec 9’s fixture at the San Siro following extraordinary criticism of Liverpool boss Slot which came after he was left on the bench for the third consecutive game in a 3-3 draw against Leeds.
The 33-year-old said he felt like he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club and no longer had a relationship with Slot, sparking reports that Salah could be on his way out in January despite signing a new contract in April.