News in 60 Seconds!

Stories that Inspire Ideas!

Southport Stabbing Causes Misinformation Frenzy: The murder of three young children by a 17-year-old man from Cardiff has given rise to mass far-right protests, with over 100 arrests. Anti-immigrant sentiment and Islamophobia were reignited after it was alleged that the attacker was a Muslim immigrant. Andrew Tate posted: ‘Illegal Migrant Stabs 6 Little Girls. Wake Up.’ In this case, a lack of factual information led to misinformation from sources such as Channel 3 Now, Telegram (known for its far-right tilt) and X.
Olympics Suffer Another Blow: A boxing match between a woman and a biological male didn’t go to plan. After just 45 seconds, 25-year-old Angela Carini from Italy left the ring in tears having received a painful blow to the nose by her opponent, 25-year-old Imane Khelif from Algeria. Khelif was not cleared to fight a previous match owing to elevated testosterone levels. The IOC has been called a ‘bloody disgrace’ with J.K. Rowling commenting: ‘What will it take to end this insanity?’
Will Flying Cars Deepen Social Inequality? The technology exists. A flying car would be a cross between a helicopter and an aeroplane, taking off vertically. It would also save space on our increasingly overcrowded motorways. So what’s the holdup? Costs, for one thing. At $300,000 you can soon enjoy a hybrid road-to-skies experience, compliments of Alef Aeronautics. Flying Ubers might be the cheaper alternative for most of us – though not for another 10-20 years.
Can Anything Fix Britain’s ‘Broken’ Water System? A culture of denialism and ‘obfuscation’ from water companies has been blamed for Britain’s rundown water infrastructure. Thatcher’s Water Act of 1989 privatised the struggling industry. In Spring 2024, residents of Brixham in Devon fell ill, a parasite was discovered and ‘boil it’ notices sent out. Since then, questions over accountability have been floated while water bills in England continue to rise.
Is Fringe Too Flamboyant? August is Fringe Festival month, originating in Scotland and celebrated around the world. However, not everyone agrees with its artistic license. Gov. Ron DeSantis cut $32 million worth of funding from Florida’s arts budget, affecting 600 arts and cultural programmes and 33 community theatres and museums, to stop money trickling down for local Fringe festivals that DeSantes has called ‘Sexual Festival[s].’
Why You Should Cut Food Waste: Globally, 3 billion tonnes of food gets thrown out every year. Fruits and vegetables are thought to be the most susceptible food waste items. But if we cut food waste through better habits, it’s estimated we can reduce human-induced greenhouse gas emissions by 6-8 per cent.
Is ‘Heat Stress’ the New Health Threat? Europe is getting hotter. Annually, 175, 000 people die from heat-related causes. WHO Regional Director, Hans Kluge, has warned that ‘Heat stress is the leading cause of climate-related death in the Region,’ urging countries to develop heat-health action plans.