The past few weeks have seen the world transfixed by a truly historic space mission, as Artemis 11 undertook the first manned flight to the moon in over 50 years. As someone who watched the first moon landing on TV in the school hall back in 1969, I vividly remember just how exciting it was for kids to see history being made. Indeed, we received an email from the Argos press team this week, confirming that sales of Lego space models have skyrocketed (pardon the pun) in recent weeks, while Google trend data apparently shows a huge rise in searches for ‘How to become an astronaut’ and similar questions.
This is undoubtedly a glorious moment for humanity, and it should have seen the US basking in the glory of this momentous occasion. Sadly, while Artemis 11 did manage to make headline news, the shine was taken off this incredible achievement by yet more bizarre developments in the ill-judged Iran conflict. A few weeks ago, I would imagine that 99% of people would have struggled to mark the Strait of Hormuz on a map. That might still be the case, but at least now everyone knows just how integral it is to global trade. And to complicate matters even further, it is currently being blockaded by both Iran and the US! Yes, having demanded “Open the Strait or else” just a week ago, the US has decided to adopt an “If you can’t beat them, join them” strategy and effectively introduced a double blockade. Unsurprisingly, following this tactical masterstroke, oil prices soared once again. Against this backdrop, there have been reports that jet fuel and diesel could start to run out in the UK in under a month, prompting fears of rationing and travel restrictions (and I very much doubt that Amazon delivery services will be classified as essential vehicles if these measures are implemented).
All of which once again leaves the world in limbo, wondering just how we ended up here. Frustratingly, everything else was looking pretty rosy – the UK economy even grew by 0.5% in February. Toy sales continue to be very healthy. Plenty of winners have emerged already this year, with more exciting prospects hitting shelves imminently. It seems almost paradoxical that business can be so good while consumer confidence is so fragile – yet here we are. Let’s hope this sorry situation can be resolved very soon, so we can get back to some semblance of normality and focus on the many positives that are all around us.
So, rather than dwelling on the crazy stuff, let’s do just that, with a round-up of some of this week’s good news.
Read the rest here.
