While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 11
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Actor George Clooney has called on US President Joe Biden to end his faltering reelection campaign.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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Close ally Clooney says Biden must exit US race
Actor George Clooney, one of the Democratic Party’s leading fund-raisers, on July 10 made an impassioned plea for US President Joe Biden to end his faltering reelection campaign.
Clooney - a member of the Hollywood elite that provides key support to the Democrats - joined a growing list of public figures calling for Mr Biden, 81, to step aside, after his debate performance against Donald Trump in June.
“I love Joe Biden,” Clooney wrote in the New York Times. “I consider him a friend, and I believe in him... But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time.”
A self-described “lifelong Democrat,” Clooney in June co-hosted a star-studded fund-raiser with Mr Biden in Los Angeles, which also featured former president Barack Obama.
Israeli minister says 60% of Hamas dead or wounded
REUTERS
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on July 10 that 60 per cent of Hamas fighters had been “eliminated or wounded” in the Gaza war since the militant group’s Oct 7 attacks.
In a statement to Parliament on the first nine months of the conflict, Mr Gallant said that the military was “determined” to meet its goals of eradicating Hamas and bringing all hostages back from Gaza.
The minister praised Israeli soldiers for “performing their work with dedication, sacrifice and success” and said “the achievements are many”.
Astronauts stuck on ISS ‘confident’ of Starliner return
A pair of Nasa astronauts left stranded on the International Space Station without a clear departure date expressed confidence on July 10 that their Boeing Starliner spaceship will soon bring them home.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off on June 5 following years of delays and safety scares affecting Starliner, as well as two aborted launch attempts that came as the two were strapped in and ready to go.
They docked the following day for what was meant to be roughly a week-long stay, but their return has been pushed back because of thruster malfunctions and helium leaks that came to light during the journey.
In Rust trial, actor Baldwin accused of breaking gun rules
AFP
A New Mexico prosecutor on July 10 said Alec Baldwin broke “cardinal rules” for handling guns in the 2021 killing of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, while his lawyer said he was failed by the movie’s set safety experts who already have been convicted in the case.
The 66-year-old Baldwin, on trial in Hollywood’s first on-set shooting fatality in three decades, took notes at the defence table and listened calmly in his involuntary manslaughter trial. The prosecution is largely unprecedented in US history, holding an actor criminally responsible for a gun death during filming.
A New Mexico jury heard prosecutor Erlinda Johnson outline arguments Baldwin disregarded safety during filming of the low-budget movie when he pointed a gun at Hutchins, cocked it and pulled the trigger as they set up a camera shot in movie-set church south-west of Santa Fe.
Ollie Watkins winner sends England into Euros final
AFP
Substitute Ollie Watkins scored a stoppage-time winner to send England through to their second successive European Championship final on July 10, as they finally turned on the style to beat Netherlands 2-1 on a memorable night in Dortmund.
With the match looking set for extra time, Watkins received a pass from fellow sub Cole Palmer and fired a sweet strike into the far corner.
Xavi Simons had brilliantly put the Dutch ahead after seven minutes, with England equalising 11 minutes later with a Harry Kane penalty.
