While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 18, 2025
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When photos emerged of US President Donald Trump with swollen legs, it sparked internet rumours about his health.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Trump diagnosed with vein condition
The White House said on July 17 that US President Donald Trump is experiencing swelling in his lower legs and bruising on his right hand, after photographs emerged of Mr Trump with swollen ankles and makeup covering the afflicted part of his hand.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, reading a letter from Mr Trump’s doctor at a press briefing, said both ailments were benign. His leg swelling is from a “common” vein condition, and his hand is bruised from shaking so many hands, she told reporters.
The disclosure sought to put to rest a raft of internet rumours that the 79-year-old Mr Trump might be suffering from a serious ailment based on the photographic evidence.
After Ms Leavitt’s briefing, the White House released the letter from a US Navy officer who is Mr Trump’s physician, Dr Sean Barbabella. It said Mr Trump underwent a suite of tests about the issues.
Edge of space skydiver Felix Baumgartner dies
PHOTO: REUTERS
Austrian extreme sports pioneer Felix Baumgartner, famed for a record-breaking 2012 skydive from the edge of space, died on July 17 in a paragliding accident in central Italy, local police said. He was 56.
Baumgartner lost control of his motorised paraglider while flying over Porto Sant’Elpidio in Italy’s central Marche region, and fell to the ground near the swimming pool of a hotel. The reasons for the accident were unclear.
The Austrian made headlines around the world in October 2012 when, wearing a specially made suit, he jumped from a balloon 38km above Earth, becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier, typically measured at more than 690 miles per hour (1,110kmh).
Meteorite from Mars sells for record $6.8m at auction
PHOTO: REUTERS
A 24.5kg Martian meteorite that is the largest known piece of Mars found on Earth has sold for US$5.3 million (S$6.8 million) at Sotheby’s, setting a new auction record for a meteorite.
The auction on July 16 for the rock known as NWA 16788 sparked a 15-minute bidding war between online and phone bidders.
The fragment was discovered in November 2023 by a meteorite hunter in the Sahara Desert, in Niger’s remote Agadez region.
Druze elder humiliated in viral video found alive
PHOTO: AFP
The granddaughter of a Druze elder, whose humiliation at the hands of an armed man was captured in a viral video as Syrian forces entered Sweida this week, said he had been found alive following claims he was dead.
The widely circulated video showed Sheikh Merhej Shahin, 80, in front of his home as a man in military attire forcibly shaved off his moustache – a grave insult in the Druze community.
The family had desperately tried to contact Sheikh Shahin for hours after the video began spreading on July 15, his granddaughter, Ms Christine Shahin, told AFP, but his phone was ultimately answered by an unknown person who taunted them, saying the elder had “met his end”.
Pretty Little Baby singer Connie Francis dies at 87
PHOTO: CONNIE FRANCIS/INSTAGRAM
American singer Connie Francis, whose hits such as Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool and Stupid Cupid topped the charts in the late 1950s and 1960s, has died aged 87, her publicist announced July 17.
Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, Francis had found renewed popularity in recent months as her 1962 song Pretty Little Baby went viral on TikTok and other video-sharing platforms.
She was hospitalised earlier in the month after experiencing severe pain and had undergone a hip treatment, according to a post on her official Facebook page.
