While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 8, 2025
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Smoke rises from explosions in Gaza, as seen from southern Israel, on Oct 7.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Hamas says on war anniversary it’s serious about Gaza deal, but conditions remain
Hamas said on Oct 7 it wants to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza based on US President Trump’s plan but still has a set of demands, a statement signalling that indirect talks with Israel in Egypt could be difficult and lengthy.
Senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum set out Hamas’ position on the second anniversary of the Palestinian militant group’s attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, and one day after the indirect negotiations began in Sharm el-Sheikh.
The talks appear the most promising yet for ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated Gaza since the Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
Italy’s Meloni says she has been denounced to ICC for complicity in genocide
PHOTO: REUTERS
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Oct 7 that she and two of her ministers had been reported to the International Criminal Court for alleged complicity in genocide in connection with Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Speaking in an interview with state television broadcaster RAI, Ms Meloni said Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had been denounced, and “I think” also Roberto Cingolani, the head of defence group Leonardo.
“I don’t believe there is another case like this in the world or in history,” Ms Meloni said.
Trump’s threat to invoke Insurrection Act escalates showdown with Democratic cities
PHOTO: REUTERS
US President Donald Trump’s threat to invoke a federal anti-insurrection law to expand his deployment of military personnel to US cities has intensified his legal battle with Democratic-led cities over presidential authority, as hundreds of National Guard troops from Texas on Oct 7 prepared to patrol the streets of Chicago.
The president told reporters on Oct 6 he would consider utilising the Insurrection Act, a law enacted more than two centuries ago, to sidestep any court rulings restricting his orders to send Guard troops into cities over the objections of local and state officials.
“We have an Insurrection Act for a reason,” Mr Trump said. “If people were being killed and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I’d do that.”
Lebanon Christian leader says Hezbollah must disarm ‘as soon as possible’
PHOTO: AFP
Lebanon’s leading Christian politician, Samir Geagea, on Oct 7 urged Hezbollah to surrender its weapons to the state “as soon as possible”, warning the Iran-backed group it has run out of options.
“Hezbollah has no choice but to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state... because the state took this decision,” Mr Geagea told AFP in an interview from his residence in Maarab, north of Beirut.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has come under mounting pressure to give up its arms since it was severely weakened by Israel last year, after intervening on the side of its Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza war.
Tesla unveils lower-cost Model Y in drive to reignite sales
PHOTO: REUTERS
Tesla unveiled more affordable versions of its best-selling Model Y SUV and its Model 3 sedan on Oct 7 at US$39,990 (S$51,705) and US$36,990, respectively, as the electric-vehicle maker seeks to reverse falling sales and waning market share amid rising competition.
Tesla shares fell 2.1 per cent in afternoon trading. Chief Executive Elon Musk has for years promised mass-market vehicles, though last year he canceled plans to build an all-new US$25,000 EV, Reuters first reported.
Late last year, Musk said the vehicle would be priced below the “key threshold” of US$30,000 including US EV tax credits. In the United States, prices effectively rose by US$7,500 at the end of last month, when the credit ended. That helped goose quarterly sales to a record, but expectations are that they will slow down for the rest of the year, unless the affordable car comes to the rescue.
