While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 13

Updated

Jul 13, 2024, 06:14 AM

Published

Jul 13, 2024, 06:14 AM

Judge ends Rudy Giuliani bankruptcy

 A US judge on July 12 ended Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy, allowing lawsuits for defamation, sexual harassment and other claims to proceed against Donald Trump’s former lawyer.

US bankruptcy judge Sean Lane in White Plains, New York, also banned Giuliani from seeking bankruptcy for one year.

Giuliani, 80, filed for bankruptcy protection in December after a Washington, DC, court ordered the former New York City mayor to pay US$148 million (S$200 million) to two Georgia election workers who he falsely accused of rigging votes in the 2020 presidential election which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.

The bankruptcy prevented the former Georgia election workers, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, from collecting on that judgment, while freezing other lawsuits stemming from Giuliani’s work for Trump, the former Republican president, as he sought to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.

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Russian, US defence chiefs discussed lowering escalation

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin held a telephone call where they discussed lowering the risk of “possible escalation”, the Russian defence ministry said on July 12.

The call, which was initiated by Moscow, comes as tensions between the two sides flare over Washington’s plan to deploy long-range missiles in Germany, a decision the Kremlin warned could spell a return to Cold War-style confrontation.

“The issue of preventing security threats and reducing the risk of possible escalation was discussed,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement on the talks.

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US FAA grounds SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket

 SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket was grounded by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on July 12, after one broke apart in space and doomed its payload of Starlink satellites, the first failure in more than seven years of a rocket relied upon by the global space industry.

Roughly an hour after Falcon 9 lifted off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on July 11 night, the rocket’s second stage failed to reignite and deployed its 20 Starlink satellites on a shallow orbital path where they will soon reenter and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

The attempt to reignite the engine “resulted in an engine RUD for reasons currently unknown,” SpaceX chief executive officer Elon Musk wrote early on July 12 on his social media platform X, using an industry acronym for Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly that usually means an explosion.

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‘Sweet’ greeting for new PM’s kids from former young residents

The children of Britain’s former finance minister, Jeremy Hunt (above), left welcome notes for Keir Starmer’s children at his Downing Street residence, a gesture that the country’s new prime minister said was “really sweet and thoughtful”.

Mr Starmer, who won a landslide election victory last week, has yet to move into his new home because he did not want to leave his children there while he and his wife were in Washington to attend the Nato summit this week.

“In terms of notes what I will tell you is this, it was very nice. Jeremy Hunt’s children left notes for our children coming into the Number 11 flat,” Mr Starmer told reporters, referring to the residence which is often used by the finance minister.

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Djokovic, Alcaraz to meet again in Wimbledon final

Novak Djokovic swept past Lorenzo Musetti on July 12 to book a second successive Wimbledon final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and move one win away from a record-setting 25th Grand Slam title.

Just five weeks after undergoing knee surgery, seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic reached his 10th final at the All England Club with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 win over the Italian 25th seed.

Alcaraz earlier defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to reach a fourth Grand Slam final.

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