While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Nov 8, 2025
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
US President Donald Trump having lunch on Nov 7 with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (speaking), flanked by US Vice-President J.D. Vance (far left), and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
Hungary’s Orban makes case to Trump for Russian oil
US President Donald Trump heaped praise on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Nov 7 at a White House meeting that glossed over differences about Hungary’s use of Russian oil and its disputes with fellow members of the European Union about immigration and Ukraine.
Mr Orban, a long-time Trump ally, sat next to Mr Trump in the White House Cabinet Room for their first bilateral meeting since the Republican returned to power and explained why his country needed to use Russian oil at a time when Mr Trump has been pressing Europe to stop doing so.
Mr Orban said the issue was vital for Hungary, which is a European country, and pledged to lay out “the consequences for the Hungarian people, and for the Hungarian economy, not to get oil and gas from Russia.”
Mr Trump, who has been pushing Europe to avoid using Russian energy in order to put pressure on Moscow to end its war with Ukraine, appeared sympathetic to Mr Orban’s position.
Russia denies Lavrov has fallen out of favour with Putin
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Kremlin on Nov 7 dismissed speculation that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had fallen out of favour with Vladimir Putin after efforts to organise a summit between the Russian president and Donald Trump were put on ice in October.
Mr Lavrov, 75, a veteran Soviet-era diplomat known for his robust negotiating style, was absent from a big Kremlin meeting this week that he would typically attend, and Russia’s leader chose someone else to attend a G-20 summit in South Africa later this month, a role that Mr Lavrov has filled in the past.
For two weeks in a row, the Foreign Ministry has also not disclosed Mr Lavrov’s travel plans and speaking engagements for the following week.
James Watson, Nobel prize-winning DNA pioneer, dies
PHOTO: SUZANNE DECHILLO/NYTIMES
Dr James Watson – the Nobel laureate co-credited with the pivotal discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, but whose career was later tainted by his repeated racist remarks – has died, his former laboratory said on Nov 7. He was 97.
The eminent biologist died on Nov 6 in hospice care on Long Island in New York, announced the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory where he was based for much of his career.
Dr Watson was one of the 20th century’s most storied scientists for his 1953 breakthrough discovery of the double helix with researcher partner Francis Crick.
Woman harassed parents of missing Madeleine McCann
PHOTOS: GOGETFUNDING.COM, AFP
A Polish woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann, missing for nearly two decades, was on Nov 7 convicted by a UK court of harassing the girl’s parents, but acquitted of stalking them.
Madeleine was three years old when she vanished in 2007 from the apartment in Portugal where her family was holidaying. It triggered a massive global search and nearly two decades of unrelenting media attention, but the case remains unsolved.
Julia Wandelt, 24, from Lubin in Poland, began harassing Madeleine’s parents in mid-2022.
Lamar, Gaga lead 2026 Grammy nominations
PHOTOS: AFP
Rapper Kendrick Lamar topped the list of Grammy contenders for the second straight year on Nov 7 with nine nominations, outpacing the seven nods for pop superstar Lady Gaga in the race for the music industry’s top honours.
Lamar’s GNX and Gaga’s MAYHEM will compete for the prestigious album of the year trophy at the Grammy Awards 2026 ceremony in February.
Neither artist has won the honour despite multiple nominations in the category.
