While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 18
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(From left) Mr Rishi Sunak, Ms Liz Truss, Mrs Kemi Badenoch, presenter Julie Etchingham, Mr Tom Tugendhat and Ms Penny Mordaunt in London, on July 17, 2022.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
British prime minister contenders clash over tax cuts in TV debate
The five Conservative contenders still vying to be Britain's next prime minister clashed over tax cuts in a second televised debate on Sunday (July 17), with the two frontrunners - Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss - stepping up their battle on the economy.
With no clear candidate to succeed Boris Johnson who is stepping down after a series of scandals, the battle to be the next leader remains unpredictable and increasingly fractious, exposing rifts in the ruling Conservative Party.
Ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak has emerged as the favourite among the 358 Conservative lawmakers, who will hold further votes this week to whittle down the field of contenders to a final two.
He said on Sunday evening his number one priority would be tackling inflation and not making it worse before he would deliver tax cuts.
Texas probe cites 'systemic failures,' poor leadership in Uvalde school shooting
Law enforcement officials outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, following the mass shooting on May 24, 2022.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
A Texas legislators' probe of the Uvalde school shooting that left 21 dead blamed "systemic failures" and poor leadership for contributing to the death toll, a report released on Sunday found.
The Texas House of Representatives committee investigation marked the most exhaustive attempt so far to determine why it took more than an hour for police to confront and kill the 18-year-old gunman at Robb Elementary School on May 24.
The 77-page report said 376 law enforcement officers rushed to the school in a chaotic scene marked by a lack of clear leadership and sufficient urgency.
Ukrainian President Zelensky fires security chief and top state prosecutor
The president said the top officials were fired because many cases had come to light of members of their agencies collaborating with Russia.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued executive orders late on Sunday sacking the head of Ukraine's powerful domestic security agency, the SBU, and the prosecutor general.
The orders dismissing SBU chief Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Zelensky, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who led the effort to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine, were published on the president's official website.
In a separate Telegram post, Zelensky said he had fired the top officials because many cases had come to light of members of their agencies collaborating with Russia.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are married: Reports
The glamourous duo got back together last year after almost 20 years.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Singer Jennifer Lopez and actor Ben Affleck have gotten married in Las Vegas, media reported on Sunday, after the celebrity couple rekindled a romance almost 20 years after they first got together.
The New York Post's Page Six said it had obtained a marriage licence from Clark County in the state of Nevada filed on Saturday that shows Lopez and Affleck are married.
Celebrity website TMZ also reported the news.
Golf: Cameron Smith storms past Rory McIlroy to win 150th British Open
Cameron Smith staged one of the greatest back-nine charges ever witnessed at a major championship, coming from four shots behind to win the 150th British Open on Sunday as Rory McIlroy saw another major slip through his fingers.
Smith, winner of golf’s unofficial fifth major, The Players Championship, earlier this year, carded a sensational final round eight-under 64 that included a spectacular run of five consecutive birdies from the turn to become the first Australian to hoist the Claret Jug since Greg Norman in 1993.
The 28-year-old Queenslander also became the first Australian man to claim one of golf’s four majors since Jason Day’s victory at the 2015 PGA Championship.
