Most Notable Newsworthy Events of June
Editor Zach Myers writes “One of Donald Trump's biggest allies became arguably his biggest enemy… the two controversial men have had a social media firestorm” (Jadyn Jacobs).
August 4, 2025
Zachary Myers, Editor
I usually never get interested in following up on the news. I never watch the news because nowadays it has become so untrustworthy and biased towards certain sides of the aisle (republican or democrat). What I usually do is read articles for anything interesting and I thought of something. Why not break down the most important/notable news headline of each week of each month? I will break down the news of the week based on the facts and offer my insight into them.
Sunday the 1st-Saturday the 7th:
One of Donald Trump's biggest allies became arguably his biggest enemy. Elon Musk, who is the CEO of X and Tesla, joined Trump as a presidential advisor heading the Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE. Recently, the two controversial men have had a social media firestorm, which started with Musk’s criticism of Trump's self-named “big beautiful bill” that was set to fund his agenda, and Musk claims will reduce DOGE’s goal to reduce government spending. While their initial X exchanges seemed juvenile, things reached a fever pitch when, in a Trumpian style without evidence, Musk accused the President of being on the Epstein list and being involved in child trafficking. While Trump and Epstein had a public friendship, the president has repeatedly denied being on the list. The remaining exchanges included personal digs at each other by both men and Musk’s continued criticism of Trump’s policies.
It is hard to tell whether or not to be encouraged by the feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The two men have been extremely controversial ever since the election, but it seems as if Musk has had a change of heart (thankfully). One would think that as a close presidential advisor, he would know more than anyone why Trump is doing what he is doing and why his policies are ludicrous. While he may not give off that energy, Musk is a smart man and likely knows how to get his point across. Hopefully, he comes out with the truth about Trump’s policies, and something is done about the sometimes insane actions by the administration.
Sunday the 8th-Saturday the 14th:
This year seems to be the year not to fly anywhere. On Thursday, an Air India flight headed to London, England, and crashed into a medical college after takeoff, killing 241 people, with only one survivor named Vishwashkumar Ramesh, who escaped with non-life-threatening injuries. The passengers who died consisted mostly of Indians and British, with a select number of Portuguese people and one Canadian. The cause of the crash is so far unclear, but a video showed the plane's nose pointing up and the plane crashing into a fireball on the ground. The plane involved was a Boeing 787, and while Boeing has been involved in many of this year's plane crashes, it is the first time this Boeing craft has crashed and will likely not hamper demand for Boeing aircrafts.
I don’t plan on getting on a plane any time soon (especially since I don’t yet have a real ID), but it is very disheartening to constantly hear about deadly or injury-filled plane crashes. Airplanes are still probably one of the safest ways to travel, but the number of publicized deadly plane crashes may steer those away. That being said, there needs to be some trust on our part to trust that pilots and engineers of planes can get us to our location safely. The trust can be dented with tragedies like this, especially since it can take a long time to figure out the cause of these crashes, even if it seems obvious. Hopefully, we get some answers to this event and regain some trust in airlines.
https://apnews.com/live/air-india-plane-crash-ai171-ahmedabad-london
Sunday the 15th-Saturday the 21st:
Similar to Palestine, Israel conflicts with another rival, this time the neighboring Iran. Israel started with attacks against Iran’s uranium enrichment facility in Natanz to target its nuclear program. Based on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments during the conflict, Israel is focused on targeting the top of Iran’s military, since their initial attacks have nearly killed some of Iran’s top military commanders. After an underground weapons facility was attacked, Iran retaliated by damaging Israel’s largest oil refinery with drones and missiles, with a state broadcaster and an elite military command center being attacked by Israel a day later. The conflict is far from over between the two rival nations, but as of now, over 220 Iranians have been killed and 1,200 have been injured, with at least 2 dozen Israelis dying from missile strikes.
Military conflicts that involve nuclear weapons are never good, especially for worldwide peace of mind. We’ve seen plenty of times throughout history where nuclear weapons have been used to terrorize the world, including the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the numerous close calls during the Cold War. The problem for a non-Israeli or Iranian citizen in choosing a side is that there are good and bad people on both sides. Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to have a justifiable motive based on the nuclear weapons Iran has, but he has also gotten flak for his handling of the Palestine conflict, so it may be hard for those not in the know to know who to support. What we do know is that this conflict will not be short-lived and will continue for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, for everyone’s sake, nukes do not get involved.
Sunday the 22nd-Monday the 30th:
Are there bigger news stories than the NBA Draft? Yes, but the significance of this draft to Maine makes me want to talk about this more. On draft night, Duke superstar Cooper Flagg, who is also known for being from Newport, Maine, was drafted number 1 overall by the Dallas Mavericks. This pick comes months after the Mavericks traded their supposed franchise star, Luka Doncic, to the Los Angeles Lakers. The fact that the Mavericks even had the pick was shocking, as they had only a 1.8% chance of getting the pick, the lowest for a team drafting 1st overall in history. Flagg joins a Mavericks team hoping to contend for the playoffs, with Kyrie Irving signing a three-year contract recently and Anthony Davis (who the Lakers traded to get Luka from Dallas), hopefully being healthy for a full season. For the Maine part of the draft, Flagg became the highest drafted player in sports history from Maine, breaking the previous record of #2 overall by Bill Swift of Portland, who was drafted in 1984 by the Mariners.
I am very excited to watch Cooper Flagg this upcoming season. I had gotten back into the NBA in the 2023-24 season when the Celtics won it all, but got out of it a little more this recent season. Having a Maine-born player in the NBA, especially one as good as Flagg is, gets me more energized to watch Mavs games, especially if and when he comes to TD Garden to play the Celtics. Flagg’s success, I believe, will be inspiring to athletes from Maine to attempt a career in professional sports, and that Maine athletics will gain more exposure.
