June 3 Weekly Quiz: Space Invasion, Happy Brits, Fashion

Tungsten is A hard steel-grey metal (and the name of a popular color setting for digital photos). According to a Daily Mail report, Charles secretly nicknamed his daughter-in-law Meghan Markle 'Tungsten' as early as 2018 because she is resilient and unbending, just like the very strong metal.

On Friday, May 28, 2021, Nasa has released a new picture showing billions of stars and countless black holes at the heart of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The image comprises 370 photos taken over the past two decades by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which orbits Earth around 86,500 miles away.

While Cruella de Vil's original attire includes all of the above, the 2021 Cruella lacks the iconic cigarette holder featured in the original animated version of the beloved villain. “We are not allowed to smoke onscreen in a Disney film," Stone explained in a New York Times interview.

Water bears (or Tardigrades) are eight-legged micro-animals. They are among the most resilient animals and can survive extreme conditions—such as exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation.

Are there Water Bears in Space?

Hundreds of Water bears and baby squid were sent to space aboard a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station on Thursday, June 3, 2021. The creatures are part of experiments, including studying how water bears handle outer space, the possible effects of microgravity on symbiotic relationships, and more. It marked SpaceX's 22nd commercial resupply mission to space.

While all mentioned Prime Ministers are the subject of illegal donor-related inquiries, the one named “cash for curtains” in 2021 revolves around British PM Boris Johnson. The latter failed to disclose that a wealthy Conservative Party benefactor had paid for the redecoration of his official residence in London. Although Johnson later settled the bill, on Friday, May 28, a UK government ethics found that the PM acted “unwisely.” Johnson was, however, cleared of misconduct.

Boris Johnson Happy News Fact

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 56, has married his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, 33, in a small private ceremony held Saturday, May 29, 2021, at the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral. The marriage is Johnson’s third. The couple announced their engagement in February 2020, two months before welcoming their son, Wilfred, to the world. The British PM has at least five other children from previous relationships.

Since 2003, Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich owns British soccer team Chelsea F.C.

Bonus Facts:

American billionaire Stanley Kroenke owns English Association football clubs Arsenal F.C. and Arsenal W.F.C., along with a few American teams. Emirati politician Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan owns the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), which acquired Manchester City Football Club in September 2008. American businessman Joel Glazer is the owner of England's Manchester United Football Club.

News Fact:

Chelsea F.C. won the final 2021 UEFA Champions League game against Manchester City 1-0. It will next play the winners of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, Villarreal, in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup and at the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

The keffiyeh is a traditional Arabian headdress, which originated in Yemen and is worn throughout the Middle East region. The black and white chequered Palestinian keffiyeh became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the Arab Revolt of the 1930s.

Louis Vuitton's Keffiyeh Trouble:

Screenshot: Diet Prada ™ on Instagram

Louis Vuitton is facing Pro-Palestinian backlash for selling a blue and white "monogram keffiyeh stole" for $705, saying on its website that it's "inspired by the classic Keffiyeh and enriched with House signatures." The product has since been removed from the website. Blue and white are the flag colors of Israel (and also Greece, Scotland, Argentina, and Finland).

Talc is a clay mineral similar in structure to asbestos and often mined near it. Talc is used as a thickening agent and lubricant and is an ingredient in ceramics, paint, and roofing material. It is also the main ingredient in many cosmetics. In powdered form, talc is often combined with cornstarch and sold as baby powder.

J&J Talc News Fact:

Health concerns about talcum powders have prompted thousands of US lawsuits by women who claimed asbestos in the powder caused their cancer. On Tuesday, June 1, 2021, The US Supreme Court rejected Johnson & Johnson's request to review a $2 billion Missouri court verdict in favor of women who claim they developed ovarian cancer from using its talc products. The company denies that its talc products cause cancer and called the verdict in the Missouri trial "at odds with decades of independent scientific evaluations confirming Johnson's Baby Powder is safe." However,  a 2018 Reuters investigation claimed that Johnson & Johnson knew that there was asbestos in its baby powder for decades. In 2020 the company stopped selling its talc-based baby powder in the US and Canada, citing declining demand driven by "misinformation about health concerns." Jump to April 2023, J&J said in bankruptcy court filings that the costs of its talc-related verdicts, settlements, and legal fees, have reached about $4.5 billion. J&J's subsidiary LTL Management, which absorbed the company's talc liability, filed a lawsuit in July 2023 asking to force three researchers to "retract and issue a correction" of a study that said asbestos-contaminated consumer talc may cause mesothelioma.

The first versions of the rainbow flag were flown on June 25, 1978, for the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade. Artist Gilbert Baker originally designed the first rainbow flag with eight colors for the stripes, each color with its meaning (hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit). However, because of production issues, Gilbert removed the pink and turquoise stripes. Primary blue replaced the indigo, and the result was the recognizable six-striped flag (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet).

News Fact

The US Pentagon is reviewing a policy instituted last year that limits which flags can be displayed at military bases. If changes are made to the current policy, it could open the door to allowing the rainbow Pride flag to be displayed. In place last July, the current approach by former Trump-appointed Defense Secretary Mark Esper was part of an effort to ban the display of the Confederate flag and other potential hate symbols on military bases.

Pakistani activist for female education Malala Yousafzai, the Taliban shot, is the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate. She received the prize in 2014 when she was 17.

Malala Fact:

Vogue UK

Malala Yousafzai is British Vogue's July 2021 cover star. In an accompanying profile, the recent Oxford University graduate and TV producer, now aged 23, opened up about her faith, Twitter activism, and her new partnership with AppleTV+. Yousafzai wrote in a Twitter post that she hopes "every girl who sees this cover will know that she can change the world."

Burt Bacharach and Hal David won the 1969 Academy award for writing Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” B.J. Thomas famously performed the Oscar-winning song. The Grammy-winning singer died from lung cancer complications onMay 29, 2021, at his home in Arlington, Texas. He was 78.

The name of the ship captain on ABC’s 1977-1986 TV hit “The Love Boat” was Merril Stubing.

Love Boat News Fact

Gavin MacLeod, the veteran actor who achieved stardom playing cheerful Capt. Stubing on “The Love Boat” has died early Saturday,  May 29, 2021, at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 90.