While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 8, 2025
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US President Donald Trump speaking to reporters before departing in Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House on Sept 7.
PHOTO: EPA
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Trump ready for ‘phase two’ of Russia sanctions
US President Donald Trump said on Sept 7 he is ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia, the closest he has come to suggesting he is on the verge of ramping up sanctions against Moscow or its oil buyers over the war in Ukraine.
Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened Moscow with further sanctions but withheld them as he pursued peace talks.
The latest comments suggest an increasingly aggressive posture, but Mr Trump stopped short of saying he was committed to such a decision or what a second phase might entail.
Asked by a reporter at the White House if he is ready to move to “the second phase” of sanctions against Russia, Mr Trump responded, “Yeah, I am.” He did not elaborate.
Israel hits another high-rise in Gaza City push
PHOTO: REUTERS
Israel’s army said it bombed a Gaza City residential tower on Sept 7 after issuing evacuation orders, just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the military was “deepening” its assault on the Gaza Strip’s key urban centre.
Israel has not publicly announced the start of a major offensive to seize the city, which Mr Netanyahu’s Cabinet approved in August, but the military has intensified bombings and operations in the area for weeks, in a bid to step up pressure on the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The high-rise was the third such residential tower to be struck in as many days.
Footballer’s home destroyed in Russian attack
An apartment building where Ukraine international Heorhiy Sudakov lives was damaged in a Russian drone and missile strike on Kyiv, Sudakov and Ukrainian media said on Sept 7.
Russia launched its largest air attack of the war on Ukraine overnight, setting the main government building on fire in central Kyiv and killing at least four people, including an infant, Ukrainian officials said on Sept 7.
Midfielder Sudakov, who joined Portuguese club Benfica from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in the close-season transfer window, was away with the national team when the strike hit.
Trump receives mixed reaction at US Open
The US Open men’s championship match was delayed and thousands of seats remained empty when it finally got under way, as security checks related to President Donald Trump’s attendance caused confusion and slowed entry to the iconic New York City event.
Fans waited in long lines, some for well over an hour, outside Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, the largest tennis venue in the world with a nearly 24,000-person capacity.
US Secret Service and other federal security officers checked bags and ushered fans through metal detectors.
Alcaraz outshines Sinner to claim 2nd US Open title
Carlos Alcaraz ended the reign of Jannik Sinner with a 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 win to claim the US Open title on Sept 7 and tighten his grip on the era-defining rivalry between the torch-bearers of the men’s game.
In a perfect echo of the triumph that first propelled him to the number one spot in 2022, Alcaraz’s second New York title lifted him back to the top of the world rankings as the 22-year-old Spaniard displaced Sinner and took his Grand Slam trophy haul to six.
As grey clouds hovered over the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium, Alcaraz continued to deliver the sunshine tennis that has lit up Flushing Meadows over the last fortnight, consolidating an early break by faking a drop to hit a winner that wrong-footed Sinner.
