While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 19
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Trump says US shot down Iranian drone near Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump said the US shot down and "immediately destroyed" an Iranian drone that approached the USS Boxer near the Strait of Hormuz, the latest sign of escalating military tensions around the critical oil chokepoint.
The drone was a threat to the ship and its crew, Trump said at the White House on Thursday.
The president said he was calling "on other nations to protect their ships as they go through the Strait".
"The Boxer took defensive action against an Iranian drone which had closed into a very, very near distance - approximately 1,000 yards, ignoring multiple calls to stand down and was threatening the safety of the ship and the ship's crew," Trump said.
Trump disavows 'send her back' rally chant, many Republicans alarmed
President Donald Trump tried to distance himself on Thursday from supporters' chants of "send her back" at a rally where he blasted Somalia-born US Representative Ilhan Omar, as Republicans worry the incendiary mantra could set the tone for the 2020 campaign.
Omar shot back that Trump was "spewing fascist ideology" and Republicans expressed alarm that the inflammatory chant, building off of provocative tweets and statements by Trump, might become a theme of his 2020 re-election campaign.
"We cannot be defined by this," said conservative Representative Mark Walker, who added that Republican leaders in the House of Representatives discussed the potential political risks at a breakfast with Vice-President Mike Pence.
Illinois man receives life sentence for murder of Chinese graduate student
An Illinois man described by prosecutors as obsessed with serial killers was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for the kidnapping and decapitation of a Chinese graduate student two years ago.
A US District Court jury in Peoria, Illinois found Brendt Christensen, 29, guilty last month of all charges in the murder of Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
On Thursday, the same jury of five women and seven men told the judge that they were unable to unanimously decide between life in prison or the death penalty. Christensen was then sentenced to life imprisonment by default.
Football: Fans swarm Marina Bay hotel as Manchester United roll in for ICC
The Marina Bay area was flooded with red-clad Singaporeans, cheering and singing songs on Thursday evening.
No, this wasn't an unscheduled rehearsal for the National Day Parade, but rather enthusiastic fans welcoming the arrival of English Premier League Club Manchester United, who are in town for the weekend's International Champions Cup (ICC).
A crowd of about 100 fans eagerly awaited the Red Devils outside the hotel in the Marina Bay area, with some of them stationed there for about three hours before the team's arrival at 8.16pm, but denied entry into the hotel by its security.
Tom Cruise shocks Comic-Con with new Top Gun footage
Tom Cruise swooped into San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday to unveil the world-first trailer for Top Gun: Maverick, which he described as a "love letter to aviation."
The Hollywood A-lister arrived unannounced in the pop culture gathering's cavernous Hall H along with footage of the long-awaited sequel to the 1986 smash action film that made him a household name.
"You all have asked for many, many years... I travel around the world, people say, why don't you do another one, when are you are going to do another one?" he said to a rapturous crowd.
