While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 7, 2026
· The Straits TimesTrump demands Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’
US President Donald Trump demanded Iran surrender as the war on the Islamic Republic raged for a seventh day, with the impact reverberating across global supply chains and energy markets.
Washington does not want to negotiate an end to the conflict and will only accept “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on March 6.
Brent crude futures hit US$90 (S$115) a barrel for the first time in almost two years, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz at a near-total halt and energy exporters scrambling for routes out of the region.
Qatar warned that a protracted war could “bring down the economies of the world”, predicting that all Gulf energy exporters would shut down production within weeks, the Financial Times reported on March 6, citing an interview with the country’s energy minister.
Russia said to be giving Iran intel to target US forces
Russia is providing Iran with targeting information that includes locations of US warships and aircraft in the Middle East, the Washington Post reported on March 6, citing three officials familiar with the intelligence.
The extent of Russia’s support to Iran was not entirely clear but the Iranian military’s own ability to locate US forces has been degraded since the US and Israel launched strikes against Tehran last week, the Post reported.
The war has since escalated, triggering retaliatory strikes by Iran, and ensnared its neighbours as it seeks to impose a high cost on the US, Israel and their allies.
Tariff refund system ready in 45 days, says US agency
The US customs agency is readying a system within 45 days to process refunds on US President Donald Trump’s tariffs that were struck down as illegal and importers will not have to sue for them, a customs official said in a court filing on March 6.
The declaration by Mr Brandon Lord, a top Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official, came as government lawyers were meeting with a federal trade judge to hammer out a process for returning US$166 billion (S$212 billion) in tariff payments to around 330,000 importers.
The tariffs that were a central part of President Donald Trump’s economic policy were struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in February.
Pentagon taps former DOGE official to lead its AI efforts
The Pentagon on March 6 named as chief data officer a computer scientist who aided billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to overhaul the government in 2025 and who has boosted white supremacists and misogynists online.
In a social media post, the Pentagon said Mr Gavin Kliger’s new role “places him at the centre of the department’s most ambitious AI efforts,” focusing on “day-to-day alignment and execution of the department’s AI projects, working directly with America’s frontier AI labs to support the warfighter.”
Mr Kliger, in social media posts between October 2024 and January 2025, has voiced controversial views and reposted content from white supremacist Nick Fuentes and self-described misogynist Andrew Tate.
Paralympics open with Russian athletes booed
The Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics started on March 6 with an opening ceremony marked by Russian athletes being booed as they paraded behind their national flag for the first time since 2014.
Despite Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has allowed six Russian athletes and four from their allies Belarus to represent their countries, accompanied by their national flags, rather than competing as neutrals.
The move sparked a major backlash with Ukraine, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland all boycotting the ceremony in the historic Verona Arena.