While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 3, 2025
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A Maxar satellite image showing the site of Iran's underground Fordow nuclear complex, after it was hit in US bunker busting strikes on June 22.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Iran’s nuclear programme degraded by up to 2 years: US
The Pentagon said on July 2 that US strikes had degraded Iran’s nuclear programme by up to two years after destroying the three targeted sites.
Mr Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the estimate at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was “probably closer to two years.”
US military bombers carried out on June 22 using more than a dozen 13,600kg bunker-buster bombs.
The results of the strikes are being closely watched to see how far they may have set back Iran’s nuclear programme, after President Donald Trump said it had been obliterated.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs convicted on prostitution counts
PHOTO: REUTERS
Sean “Diddy” Combs was found guilty on July 2 of prostitution-related offences, but cleared of more serious charges, in a blow to prosecutors who had urged a jury to find him guilty of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
Combs was convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking, a partial win for the former billionaire known for elevating hip-hop in American culture.
After the judge dismissed the jury and lawyers for both sides, Combs knelt before his chair and appeared to pray. Combs then rose and faced the courtroom gallery.
US ex-student pleads guilty to four murders in Idaho
PHOTO: REUTERS
A 30-year-old man pleaded guilty on July 2 to murdering four students in the US state of Idaho in an agreement with prosecutors that allowed him to avoid the death penalty – and enraged some relatives of the victims.
Bryan Kohberger, a former criminology student, was facing trial in August for that rocked the small town of Moscow and made national headlines.
University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were attacked around 4am while they slept in their off-campus group house and stabbed to death.
Trump announces Vietnam trade deal with 20% tariff
PHOTO: REUTERS
US President Donald Trump said he had reached a trade deal with Vietnam, following weeks of intense diplomacy between the two nations and ahead of a deadline next week that would have seen higher tariffs imposed on the country’s imports.
“I just made a Trade Deal with Vietnam. Details to follow,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post on July 2.
The deal with Vietnam would be just the third announced following agreements with the UK and China as trading partners race to cut agreements with the US ahead of a July 9 deadline.
UK government backs FM after tears in Parliament
PHOTO: AFP
The British government said on July 2 that Finance Minister Rachel Reeves was “going nowhere” after she appeared visibly upset in Parliament as rumours swirled around her future.
Tears rolled down Ms Reeves’ face after Prime Minister Keir Starmer declined to guarantee that she would remain in place until the next general election, likely in 2029.
It came after Mr Starmer’s Labour government U-turned over key welfare reforms, wiping out a multibillion-pound boost to public finances and triggering speculation that Ms Reeves could lose her job.
