While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 14
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(Clockwise from left) Ms Liz Truss, Mr Rishi Sunak, Ms Penny Mordaunt, Mrs Kemi Badenoch, Mrs Suella Braverman and Mr Tom Tugendhat.
PHOTO: AFP
Six candidates still in race to replace UK PM Boris Johnson; two eliminated
Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak won the most votes in the first round of voting on Wednesday to succeed Mr Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister, as two candidates were eliminated.
Mr Sunak scored 88 votes, ahead of junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt on 67 and foreign secretary Liz Truss on 50.
Finance minister Nadhim Zahawi and former Cabinet minister Jeremy Hunt were eliminated.
Lawmaker Kemi Badenoch received 40 votes, Mr Tom Tugendhat received 37 and Ms Suella Braverman received 32.
Ukraine grain exports deal to be signed next week, says Turkey
Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are due to sign a deal next week aimed at resuming Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, but UN chief Antonio Guterres warned there was still “a long way to go” before there would be peace talks to end the war.
Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar said the deal to be signed next week includes joint controls for checking shipments in harbours and Turkey ensuring the safety of Black Sea export routes.
Turkey would also set up a coordination centre with Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations for grain exports.
Scorching heatwave sparks wildfires in Europe
Nearly 20 blazes raged across Portugal and several burned in western Spain on Wednesday, menacing villages and disrupting tourists' holidays amid a heatwave that meteorologists expect to push temperatures into the high 40s Celsius.
In France, about 800 firefighters, supported by six water-bomber aircraft, were battling two wildfires in the southwest, which have already prompted the evacuation of thousands of campers, Gironde prefect Fabienne Buccio said.
In Santiago de Guarda in the central Portuguese district of Leiria, Albertina Francisco struggled to hold back tears as a cloud of black smoke billowed over the tiny village.
US judge rejects Amber Heard's demand for new trial in Johnny Depp defamation case
Aquaman actor Amber Heard lost a bid for a new trial in her defamation case with ex-husband Johnny Depp on Wednesday when a judge rejected her lawyers’ argument that one of the jurors had served improperly.
In June, Heard was ordered to pay Depp US$10.35 million in damages when a jury in Fairfax County, Virginia, ruled she had defamed the Pirates of the Caribbean star in a newspaper opinion piece.
Her attorneys had asked the judge in the case to throw out the decision and declare a mistrial, arguing that one of the jurors on the case should not have been eligible to serve because his summons was intended for his father, who had the same name and lived at the same address.
Netflix names Microsoft as partner for ad-supported subscription plan
Netflix Inc said on Wednesday it has selected Microsoft Corp as technology and sales partner for its planned ad-supported subscription offering, as the streaming giant looks to plug slowing subscriber growth by rolling out a cheaper plan.
Shares of Netflix rose 2% to US$178.06 on the news.
Netflix announced in April that it would introduce a new, lower-priced version of its service in a bid to attract more subscribers.
