What’s been making the News?

4 Civilians sponsored by a billionaire, embarked on a SpaceX mission on board the Polaris Dawn for the 1st Commercial Spacewalk. The crew were able to unlock the hatch of their capsule for the civilian astronauts to go on a spacewalk!

 

Severe flooding in Central Europe led to casualties in Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. Deaths were reported in the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria. The Danube River overflowed adding to the problem in Slovakia. Storm Boris then moved toward the South of Italy in the Emilia-Romagna region and in South East Germany. Also, in the UK, there were flooding in certain parts of the Country. States of emergency have been declared and funds allocated for flood relief. In Nigeria, floods ravaged parts of the Country in Northern Nigeria.

 

A Court in Washoe County, Reno in Nevada convened to hear privately, a case led by Mr Murdoch’s children, James, Elisabeth and Prudence who decided to challenge their father’s decision to change the family Trust (estimated at £14.9bn & established in 1999 which gives the family 8 votes on the Board of News Corp and Fox news). The original trust gave equal share to the 4 siblings but their Dad now wants to change it and hand over control of his Media Empire to his eldest son, Lachlan whose values and right wing views align with his. Mr Murdoch, 93 yrs., owns News Corporation, which owns the Times Newspaper, the Sun in the UK and the Wall Street Journal in the US, and Fox News. The Court will decide a settlement but hasn’t reached any yet!

 

Israel continued its bombardment of Gaza and now parts of Lebanon, stating that it wants to rid the areas of terrorists so residents and citizens can get back to their displaced cities whilst, Iran is supplying Hezbollah with rockets that is striking Israel. Recently, it was reported that Hezbollah had advised its supporters and fighters to abandon the use of High Tech mobile phones for fear they are being intercepted and monitored by Mossad/IDF as some of their leaders have been targeted and killed. Using the low tech pagers and walkie-talkies they had imported, they realised that the products had been compromised with explosive materials and many exploded simultaneously, leading to serious injuries and death.

No one, organisation or nation has claimed any responsibility. Meanwhile, the product was traced to Taiwanese company Gold Apollo who said, they signed an agreement with BAC Consulting in Hungary for manufacture. The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has escalated with Israel calling on its reservists while the US and UK have sent out troops stationed in Cyprus and on standby for possible evacuation of citizens from Lebanon.

 

The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 0.5% to the range of between 4.75% & 5%, for the first time, in over 5years with the hope that it would help to stimulate the economy by reducing inflation, increase borrowing and the employment market.

 

Following the death of the previous owner of Harrods Store, Mohammed Al Fayed last year, there has been allegations that he was a ruthless and remorseless serial abuser of women. 150 people contacted the authorities over abuse claims. He managed to evade justice twice, after he was reported to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in 2009 & 2015 but they didn’t take the case forward due to lack of sufficient evidence/realistic hope of prosecution, according to reports. Unfortunately, the new Owners of Harrods store who took over in 2010, are now having to deal with the allegations and legacies. They are conducting an internal review to find out if any current staff were involved in any of the allegations, having admitted that victims were failed by the system and are willing to settle legal claims.

Our hearts go out to all the victims that were abused and hope they get the justice that they deserve, as well as, finding peace and happiness in their lives, going forward.

The US Open ended with Aryna Sabalenka winning the Women’s title while Sinner won the Men’s title. Europe narrowly won the Laver Cup 2024 having lost last year to Team World.