While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 14

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US grand jury indicts 12 Russian spies in 2016 election hacking

A federal grand jury on Friday indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officers on charges of hacking the computer networks of 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.

The indictment, secured by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election, was issued three days before US President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin for a summit in Helsinki.

It was the most detailed US accusation yet that Russia meddled in the election with the eventual aim of trying to boost Republican Trump's campaign. Russia denies interfering.

"The indictment charges 12 Russian military officers by name with conspiring to interfere with the 2016 presidential election," Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein told a news conference.

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May doing 'fantastic' job on Brexit, says Trump

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United States President Donald Trump said on Friday he looked forward to finalising a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain, marking an abrupt change from a newspaper interview when he said Prime Minister Theresa May's strategy would kill such an agreement.

In an interview published just hours before the two leaders held talks, Trump chided the "very unfortunate" results of the prime minister's proposals for Brexit and her negotiating tactics as Britain prepares to leaves the European Union in March next year.

However, Trump later said May was doing a "fantastic job".

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Man who encouraged attack on Britain's Prince George gets life in jail

A British man who suggested Islamist militants should target four-year-old Prince George - destined to be Britain's future king - was sentenced to life in jail on Friday.

Husnain Rashid, 32, from Nelson in north-west England, will serve a minimum of 24 years.

Rashid posted information on the messaging platform, Telegram, to encourage Islamic militants to carry out attacks around the world, along with information about possible targets.

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Scarlett Johansson pulls out of film over transgender casting furore

Scarlett Johansson has quit an upcoming movie role as a transgender criminal following an angry backlash against her casting, she revealed in an interview reported widely in US media on Friday.

The actress was to have taken the lead part in Rub And Tug, the story of Dante "Tex" Gill, a massage parlour operator and pimp who became a major crime figure in the 1970s and 1980s.

Born Lois Jean Gill, he identified as male.

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Tennis: Anderson topples marathon man Isner in longest-ever Wimbledon semi-final

It was a case of better late than never as Kevin Anderson reached his first Wimbledon final with a heart-stopping 7-6(6) 6-7(5) 6-7(9) 6-4 26-24 win over the sport's perennial ultra marathon man John Isner on Friday.

After being kept on the run for six hours and 36 minutes, the longest ever singles semi-final at the All England Club, how the 32-year-old was still standing was anyone's guess.

When it was all done and dusted, there were no wild roars, no fist pumping and no raised arms in celebration - all Anderson had left in him was to give Isner a sympathetic hug after he came out on top in the second-longest match ever contested at the All England Club.

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