While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 3, 2025
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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (right) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) arriving for a joint press conference in Copenhagen on Oct 2.
PHOTO: EPA
Russia looking to ‘escalate’ war, Zelensky warns Europe
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Europe on Oct 2 recent drone incursions showed Russia was looking to “escalate” its aggression, as he offered his country’s war-honed expertise to help counter the threat.
The warning came at a summit of European leaders from just under 50 countries, who converged on a conference centre in Copenhagen under tight security after mystery drone flights rattled Denmark in September.
The drone sightings in Denmark and high-profile aerial incursions by Moscow in Estonia and Poland have heightened fears that Russia’s assault on Ukraine could spill over Europe’s borders.
“The recent drone incidents across Europe are a clear sign that Russia still feels bold enough to escalate this war,” Mr Zelensky said. “It was never just about Ukraine, Russia has always aimed to break the West and Europe.”
France to try Chinese captain of ‘shadow fleet’ tanker
PHOTO: REUTERS
A French court is to try the Chinese captain of a tanker from Russia’s “shadow fleet” in early 2026 after it was intercepted off France, prosecutors said on Oct 2, in a move seen as a message to Moscow over its efforts to skirt Western oil sanctions.
The French navy on Sept 27 stopped the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin and blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia’s sanction-busting “shadow fleet” of ageing oil tankers, according to the public prosecutor’s office in the northwestern city of Brest.
The vessel was investigated over inconsistencies in where the tanker was officially registered while it was carrying a “large cargo of oil” from Russia to India, it added.
Trump eyes cuts to ‘Democrat Agencies’
PHOTO: PETE MAROVICH/NYTIMES
US President Donald Trump said he will meet with his budget director Russell Vought on Oct 2 to determine which “Democrat Agencies” to cut, as he looks to inflict pain on his political opposition in the second day of a government shutdown.
“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Mr Trump said in a social media post.
Mr Trump has already frozen federal transit and green-energy funding for Democratic-leaning states and has threatened to fire more federal workers during the shutdown, which began on Oct 1 due to a partisan standoff in Congress.
Fewer foreign students: US colleges feeling the pinch
PHOTO: REUTERS
DePaul University has told faculty it will immediately reduce spending following a 30 per cent decline in international enrollment this fall. The move is the latest by US colleges to cope with the disruptive education and immigration policies of President Donald Trump.
The amount of the reduction is to be determined, but measures could include a hiring freeze, executive pay cuts and discretionary spending limits, university president Robert Manuel wrote in a memo to faculty on Sept 30.
Overall international enrollment at the private Catholic university in Chicago decreased by 755 students compared to 2024, Dr Manuel said.
Musk joins conservative ‘cancel Netflix’ campaign
PHOTO: AFP
Elon Musk has urged his 227 million social media followers to cancel their Netflix subscriptions, accusing the streaming platform of promoting what he describes as transgender propaganda.
In his latest culture war campaign, the Tesla tycoon joined a trend launched by conservative social media account Libs of TikTok that cited the animated series Dead End: Paranormal Park and Netflix’s corporate diversity efforts as a cause for dropping the streaming service.
The show’s creator, Mr Hamish Steele, is accused of making social media remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September that were seen by conservatives online as disrespectful and led to the backlash.
