By Sabrina Collier and Mathilde Frot
This weekend marks 100 days of the presidency of Donald Trump. That's not the craziest bit of news this week. Read on for our weekly recap, full of aliens, flying cars and mysterious lights named Steve.
100 not out Yes, it's really been that long. 100 days has been the arbitrary marker by which US Presidents are judged since Franklin D. Roosevelt, and if you're Donald Trump, it doesn't look good. He's reached the mark with the lowest approval rating of a modern President, he's failed to repeal and replace Obamacare and there's still no big beautiful wall on the border with Mexico.
Alien day Trump’s new anti-immigrant hotlines were kept busy on Wednesday, after people all over the US called in to report aliens… of the UFO variety. The VOICE (Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement) initiative, which encourages people to call in to report crimes committed by immigrants, has been condemned by critics for unfairly stigmatizing non-white immigrants and giving legitimacy to racism.
Fly away If you're finding the news a bit too much, you might want to try getting away from it all on your very own flying car. Kitty Hawk, backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, this week launched the first footage of their flying car in action, gliding over a lake in California. The “all-electric aircraft” is designed to operate over fresh water and doesn’t require a pilot’s license to fly – so you can apparently learn to fly it in minutes. A retail version will be available by the end of the year. Kitty Hawk aren’t the only ones jumping on the flying car bandwagon, as Uber have revealed plans to partner with plane manufacturers to create and test a system of flying cars by 2020.
Winning with a wink The final stage of the presidential election in France will be contested by the far-right populist Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron. The latter is the heavy favourite at the moment, with both of France's mainstream parties knocked out before the second round. All smiles (and winks) during his first round victory speech, Macron has developed a bit of a reputation as an unlikely sex symbol. Can you see why?Ground-breaking ad Normally, adverts only tug at our heartstrings if they’re made by John Lewis and it’s Christmas, but this time, an unlikely advert from cough medicine brand Vicks has made us reach for the tissues. The Indian ad, which tells the true story of transgender activist Guari Sawant has gone viral, attracting 9.4 million views on YouTube. In it, Sawant's adopted daughter says: "Mom has faced so many problems in life. My civics text book says that everyone is entitled to the same basic rights. Then why is my mom denied them? That’s why I'm not going to be a doctor, I will be a lawyer. For my mom." *Sniffs*.
Meet Steve A group of Aurora photographers in Canada have discovered a new type of the light in the sky and naturally decided to call it Steve. The stunningly vibrant purple light was originally photographed in an album on the Alberta Aurora Chasers Facebook group last year, and was noiced by Eric Donovan, a researcher at University of Calgary in Canada. Some group members thought the phenomenon was a proton arc but it was found that the lights were actually previously unnoticed 16-mile wide ribbon of flowing gas. Why the name Steve? Apparently it's a reference to the 2006 kids film Over the Hedge, where characters give the name to a creature they’ve never seen before. Makes sense.
And finally... Some Londoners can be petty af. A woman living in the city has painted red and white candy stripes on her multi-million pound home after her neighbours objected to her plans to demolish and rebuild it. She was sent a letter by her local council notifying her to repaint it white, but a high court judge saved the day and ruled that her stripey paint was “entirely lawful.”
