While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 3, 2025
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US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Mr Jared Kushner (both left), meeting at the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin (third from right) and other Russian officials.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Putin meets Witkoff, Kushner for over four hours
Russian President Vladimir Putin met US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Mr Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin on Dec 2 for talks on a possible way to end the deadliest European conflict since World War II.
Just before the meeting, Mr Putin warned Europe that it would face swift defeat if it went to war with Russia, and he dismissed European counter-proposals on Ukraine as being absolutely unacceptable to Russia.
Mr Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the war, but his efforts, including a summit with Mr Putin in Alaska in August and meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, have not brought peace.
A leaked set of 28 US draft peace proposals emerged last week, alarming Ukrainian and European officials who said it bowed to Moscow’s main demands on NATO, Russian control of a fifth of Ukraine, and restrictions on Ukraine’s army.
US has ‘only just begun’ striking alleged drug boats
The United States has “only just begun” targeting alleged drug-trafficking boats, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted on Dec 2, despite a growing outcry over strikes that critics say amount to extrajudicial killings.
Mr Hegseth and President Donald Trump’s administration have come under fire particularly over an incident in which US forces launched a follow-up strike on the wreckage of a vessel that had already been hit, reportedly killing two survivors.
Both the White House and Pentagon have sought to distance Mr Hegseth from that decision – which some lawmakers have said could be a war crime – instead pinning the blame on the admiral who directly oversaw the operation.
Former EU top diplomat Mogherini held in fraud probe
PHOTO: REUTERS
The EU’s former foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was taken into custody on Dec 2 as police staged raids probing suspected fraud over contracts to train future European diplomats.
Ms Mogherini, who was high representative for foreign affairs from 2014 to 2019, now leads the College of Europe graduate school, whose premises were searched along with the offices of the EEAS diplomatic service.
The 52-year-old Italian was arrested in Brussels along with the training school’s deputy head, and Mr Stefano Sannino, a senior EU official who was EEAS secretary-general from 2021 to 2024, according to a source close to the matter.
Sabrina Carpenter tells White House to stop using her music
US pop star Sabrina Carpenter on Dec 2 demanded that the White House stop using her music after the Trump administration featured one of her songs on a social media video showing ICE agents apprehending people.
The video, shared by the White House on Dec 1, features Carpenter’s 2024 hit song Juno.
It showed federal immigration enforcement officers chasing people and detaining them while bystanders recorded the activity on their cellphones.
Haaland fastest player to 100 Premier League goals
PHOTO: AFP
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland became the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals with his blistering left-footed strike in the 17th minute of their game at Fulham on Dec 2.
City winger Jeremy Doku crossed to the Norwegian who finished with a first-time shot, achieving the feat in 111 games, 13 fewer than the previous fastest centurion Alan Shearer, who reached the mark in 124 appearances.
Shearer holds the record for all-time Premier League goals with 260.
