While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 6

Kate Spade arrives at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards in New York on June 2, 2003. PHOTO: REUTERS

Fashion designer Kate Spade, 55, found dead in New York apartment; police confirm suicide

Designer Kate Spade, one of the biggest names in American fashion especially known for her sleek handbags, was found dead Tuesday (June 5) in her New York apartment after committing suicide. She was 55.

A police spokeswoman confirmed Spade had killed herself but told AFP the exact circumstances of her death were not yet clear.

A source close to the investigation said she hanged herself in her Park Avenue apartment and left a suicide note.

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China's ZTE signed preliminary agreement to lift US ban: Sources

ZTE Corp has signed an agreement in principle that would lift a US Commerce Department ban on buying from US suppliers, allowing the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker to get back into business, according to sources familiar with the matter.

ZTE ceased major operations and has been on life support since the seven-year ban was imposed in April on the company for breaking a 2017 agreement reached after it was caught illegally shipping goods to Iran and North Korea.

Commerce Department spokesman James Rockas said on Tuesday (June 5) that "no definitive agreement has been signed by both parties."

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Miss America pageant dropping the swimsuits and evening gowns


The Miss America pageant is dropping the swimsuit and evening gown competition and will no longer judge contestants on their physical appearance, organisers announced on Tuesday (June 5).

"We're changing out of our swimsuits and into a whole new era #byebyebikini," @MissAmericaOrg said in a tweet which featured a bikini vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of Miss America's board of trustees, outlined the changes to the 2019 contest on ABC's Good Morning America. "We are no longer a pageant," said Carlson, who won the 1989 Miss America contest and went on to become an anchor at Fox News.

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Russian man accidentally digs up bones of partner's murdered ex

A Russian man digging a vegetable patch in Siberia found human bones that turned out to be those of his partner's ex-boyfriend, whom she murdered 21 years ago, investigators said Tuesday (June 5).

Investigators opened a murder probe after the unnamed man found the bones in his partner's garden in the village of Luzino, around 2,200 kilometres east of Moscow, the regional Investigative Committee said in a statement.

"The villager, while digging over the earth in the vegetable patch to plant potatoes found human bones and a skull," investigators said.

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Mayweather heads Forbes money list, but no women in top 100


Boxer Floyd Mayweather reclaimed his place at the top of Forbes' annual ranking of the 100 highest-paid athletes on Tuesday (June 5) but no woman featured on the list for the first time.

Forbes reported that Mayweather, 41, topped sports highest-earners after banking US$275 million (S$367 million) from his cross-combat superfight against mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor in August 2017.

With an additional US$10 million in endorsements, Mayweather earned a total of US$285 million between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018, comfortably eclipsing the second-placed figure on the list, football star Lionel Messi, who made US$111 million.

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