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Euro 2024 and Olympics boost summer sports TV to defy business trends
There was an uncontested winner of the summer of sport, which concluded on Sunday night with the most magnificent Paralympics in living memory. The sport and how it consistently keeps so many of us watching - even when TV viewing stats resemble Tom Daley diving off a 10-meter platform. The stats were staggering: 23.8 million viewers across BBC and ITV watched England's Euro 2024 final defeat, the greatest UK audience of the year. The BBC's Olympics coverage led the rankings for 17 days, with 5 to 7 million viewers. Channel 4 also had Paralympic audiences that routinely exceeded one million.
Typhoon Yagi killed at least 59 people in Vietnam
Typhoon Yagi has wreaked havoc across the country, leaving dozens of people missing, a bridge damaged, and a bus carried away by water. At least 59 people have perished in Vietnam when the most violent cyclone in decades made landfall. According to Vietnam's disaster management office, dozens of individuals have gone missing, largely because of landslides and flooding caused by Typhoon Yagi.
Timor-Leste abuse crisis looms over Pope’s visit
Timor-Leste is the only Catholic-majority country Pope Francis will visit during his 12-day Asia-Pacific journey. Around 700,000 people, more than half of Timor-Leste's total population, are expected to attend an open-air mass that the Pope will hold near the capital, Dili, later on Tuesday. The Pope's visit is much anticipated, but campaigners are urging him to address a recent abuse crisis that has damaged the Church in Timor-Leste, formerly known as East Timor.
Apple to reveal iPhone 16 and ‘Apple Intelligence’ AI features
Apple is set to introduce its next iPhone and a flurry of other new gear on Monday at its largest product launch event of the year. The event, held at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, featured the tagline "It's Glowtime" and the company emblem encircled by a bright aura. Rumours suggest that new colours for the iPhone and other Apple goods will be released. Apple's fall product launch has become one of the company's most important yearly events. It introduces a slew of new devices and sets the tone for the holiday shopping season, which is Apple's busiest and most profitable period. These new items are frequently the subject of intense speculation both within the tech sector and among the company's supporters.
A body was discovered during the hunt for a rugby star’s missing wife
A body has been discovered during the search for Jenny Hastings, the wife of former Scotland rugby international Scott Hastings. On Saturday afternoon, police reported finding a woman's body near the Hound Point area of South Queensferry. Formal identification has yet to occur, however the Hastings family has been notified.
Two ISS astronauts remain as troublesome Boeing Starliner capsule lands empty
After a series of delays and failures, Boeing believed that their Starliner capsule could safely return Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), but NASA disagreed. Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which had been plagued with issues, has returned to Earth, leaving two men on the International Space Station. Six hours after taking off, the spaceship, which was on autopilot, parachuted onto the New Mexico desert.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney will vote for Kamala Harris
Former US Vice President Dick Cheney, a lifetime Republican, has announced that he will vote for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election. "In our nation's 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," Cheney said of the GOP candidate and former US president. Cheney, who was vice president under President George W Bush from 2001 to 2009, reiterated his support for Harris in a statement on Friday, saying Trump "can never be trusted with power again".
MI6 and CIA warn of Russia’s ‘reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe’
Sir Richard Moore and Bill Burns did not provide specific examples, but there have been several inexplicable sabotage and arson attacks on infrastructure in the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Baltics. Russia is pursuing a "reckless campaign of sabotage" across Europe, the leaders of MI6 and the CIA said in their first joint statement. Sir Richard Moore and Bill Burns also stated that the United Kingdom and the United States faced an "unprecedented array of threats" and that the global order was under the most serious strain since the Cold War.
Thousands protest Macron’s PM decision in France
Tens of thousands of people are protesting in France against the appointment of right-wing Michel Barnier as the new prime minister, following an inconclusive election in which the left won the most seats. Demonstrations are taking place in Paris, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, and Strasbourg. Trade unions and left-wing political organizations organized the rallies after President Emmanuel Macron rejected their nominee for prime minister.
Super Typhoon Yagi hits Vietnam, China, and Philippines with 145mph winds, killing 22
Yagi caused landslides and heavy floods in the Philippines earlier this week before hitting northern Vietnam on Saturday. A so-called Super Typhoon killed at least four people in northern Vietnam after also hitting China and the Philippines, raising the total death toll to 22. The storm hit northern Vietnam at around 1pm (7 am UK time) on Saturday, with gusts gusting up to 99mph (160kph) around its center.
No need to be scared off by Russia’s nuclear threats, says CIA chief
Western leaders should not be scared by Kremlin threats of nuclear escalation, the CIA director said on Saturday, amid a dispute over whether Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles should be deployed within Russia. Bill Burns, on a visit to London with the chief of MI6, said the US had dismissed a prior Russian nuclear panic in autumn 2022, indicating that Moscow's warnings should not always be taken seriously. "Putin is a bully. "He'll continue to saber rattle from time to time," Burns explained. "We must not be scared by saber-rattling and remain vigilant. The United States has provided great assistance to Ukraine, and I am confident that the president will consider more methods to help them."
How are Harris and Trump preparing for the US presidential debate?
On one side of the stage, the prosecutor will attempt to dismiss her opponent as a threat to democracy and a relic of the past. On the other side, the real estate magnate will accuse his opponent of being an ultra-liberal politician who will cause the economy to stagnate. Tuesday's presidential debate will be the first opportunity for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to meet face-to-face as they debate the future of the United States.
