Hi there. It's Friday, July 15 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news.
Let's start here
- After days of speculation, Sri Lanka's president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has emailed his letter of resignation to the parliamentary speaker's office.
- Mr Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday and travelled to the Maldives, before flying to Singapore overnight where he resigned from his role.
- His resignation comes amid mass protests over the country's economic and political crisis and has sparked widespread celebration in the capital city of Colombo
- The resignation is expected to be formalised at 7:30am local time (12:00pm AEST).
Something you'll be hearing about today
- Ivana Trump, the first wife of Donald Trump and mother of Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric has died at the age of 73.
- The former US president announced her death on Truth Social, saying "she was a wonderful, beautiful and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life".
- The Trump family have also released a statement paying tribute to her as "a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty and caring mother and friend."
News while you snoozed
- Kevin Spacey. He's set to face trial in June in the UK after pleading not guilty to historical allegations of sexual assault. Mr Spacey strenuously denies the accusations and remains on bail. He's expected to return to court for a pre-trial hearing early next year.
- Netflix. The streaming giant has struck a deal with Microsoft to deliver advertising on the platform so it can offer cheaper plans to lure subscribers back to the platform. Netflix lost around 200,000 customers in the first three months of this year.
- Russia-Ukraine war. A Russian missile struck a building in the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, killing at least 23 people, including three children. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, calling it "an act of terrorism".
What Australia has been searching for online
- Tiger Woods. The golfer had a less than stellar day on the green at St Andrews, shooting six over par. He's currently tied at 146 out of the 156 golfers in the field.
- Twitter. The social media platform suffered a major outage overnight, going offline for three hours. Outage tracking website Downdetector.com said it affected as many as 50,000 users at its peak.
One more thing
The four-legged stars of ABC TV's Muster Dogs series, Annie and Lucifer have swapped paddocks for the Montcler Nursing Home, much to the delight of the residents.
Grazier Frank Finger, who is a Clermont community stalwart, said he's hoping to make the visits to the aged care home with the celebrity kelpies a regular occurrence.
"I think [Annie and Lucifer] were accepting it — they probably don't know what it is but if we make these regular visits they'll probably look forward to it just as much as the people," he said.
You're up to date
We'll be back this afternoon with more.
ABC/wires
