While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 6, 2025
· The Straits TimesTrump document seeks to reframe US’ role in the world
The United States will reassert itself in the Western Hemisphere, build military strength in the Indo-Pacific, and possibly reassess its relationship with Europe, President Donald Trump said on Dec 5 in a sweeping strategy document that seeks to reframe the country’s role in the world.
The National Security Strategy, released overnight, 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.
It also warned that Europe faces “civilizational erasure” and must change course.
The document is the latest - and clearest - expression of Mr Trump’s desire to shake up the post-World War II order led by the United States and built on a network of alliances and multilateral groups.
US sets 2027 deadline for Europe to lead NATO
The United States wants Europe to take over the majority of NATO’s conventional defence capabilities, from intelligence to missiles, by 2027, Pentagon officials told diplomats in Washington this week, a tight deadline that struck some European officials as unrealistic.
The message, recounted by five sources familiar with the discussion, including a US official, was conveyed at a meeting in Washington this week of Pentagon staff overseeing NATO policy and several European delegations.
The shifting of this burden from the US to European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation would dramatically change how the US, a founding member of the post-war alliance, works with its most important military partners.
American architect Frank Gehry dies at age 96
Frank Gehry, whose daring and whimsical creations of leaning towers and sweeping sheets of curved metal such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, made him a superstar in the world of architecture, died on Dec 5. He was 96.
Ms Meaghan Lloyd, Gehry’s chief of staff, confirmed his death in an email to Reuters, writing that Gehry died “earlier this morning at his home in Santa Monica after a brief respiratory illness.”
Gehry’s most memorable and riotous creations often looked as if they had recently collapsed in an artistic manner or were in the process of doing so. They were lauded as works of genius or reviled as self-indulgent messes.
Police in Ireland investigate Zelensky visit drones
Irish police said on Dec 5 they were investigating the sighting of several unidentified drones in the skies as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plane landed in Dublin this week.
Europe has been on heightened alert as mysterious drone flights over airports and sensitive infrastructure have rattled the continent in recent months.
Concerns are growing that such disruptions could be part of Russian hybrid war tactics three-and-a-half years into its invasion of Ukraine, with Kyiv backed by European countries including Ireland.
US get dream picks in World Cup 2026 draw
The 2026 World Cup will kick off on June 11 with joint-hosts Mexico playing South Africa at the Azteca Stadium - iconic venue of the 1970 and 1986 finals - followed by South Korea against a playoff winner after the complex draw was made on Dec 5.
Mexico’s co-hosts the United States and Canada will join the biggest-ever World Cup party the following day.
The US, courtesy of their top seeding, got a dream draw and will play Paraguay, Australia and a playoff winner.