Hey everyone, welcome back to Flashback Friday, the segment where we wrap up the week that was. Let’s get right into it.

We’ll start once again with the World Cup. The 2018 FIFA World Cup is now coming to a close, with the Final just around the corner. The Quarters and the Semis are all over, and unfortunately for England, it’s not coming home. They’ve had a great run this year, but fell short right towards the end, and so did Belgium for that matter. Both teams had played so well in this year’s World Cup, and after 28 and 32 years respectively of waiting to play in a Semi Final, both teams made the Semis, but just fell short of the Final. Croatia will play in their first ever World Cup Final against France, making history for their country. England and Belgium will play for third place before them.

In some world news, and the 12 boys and their coach that had been trapped in a Thai cave for around two weeks have all been rescued and freed. The rescue operation was carried out earlier this week, with four boys being rescued each day over the space of three days. The coach was freed with the final four boys on Tuesday. The divers and the rest of the rescue team, inclusive of Australian doctor Richard Harris who continually assessed the boys health and decided which ones should be taken first, as well as being the one who decided to sedate them in order to keep them from panicking whilst they were rescued, were congratulated and should be highly commended for their efforts. Dr Richard Harris however came out of the cave to the tragic news that his father had passed away while the rescue was taking place. Our hearts go out to the good doctor at this time. He is credited with saving lives, and the boys and their coach would certainly appreciate what he has done for them, as well as their families and all those that were watching around the world. Without him, the boys may have not made it out. He was considered to be essential to the rescue operation due to his thirty years of cave diving experience, and his skills as a medical retrieval expert and anaesthetist. Labor Leader Bill Shorten has since spoken out praising him and backing him to receive a bravery award for his efforts. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke to the doctor directly over the phone, also praising him for his efforts in the rescue operation.

In more local news, One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has enlisted the assistance of former Labor and Opposition Leader Mark Latham in order to further her party’s campaign in the upcoming by-election in the seat of Longman. Latham has aided the One Nation campaign by lending his voice to a robocall, in which he encourages voters to vote for One Nation and the minor parties in the upcoming by-election. In the call, he also reprimands current Opposition Leader and Leader of the Labor Party Bill Shorten, referring to him as a liar, and telling the voters not to put their trust in him by voting for the Labor Party in the by-election. The robocall has gained a fair amount of attention, with opinions being divided. The seat of Longman is a key seat in the Super Saturday by-elections, with Labor holding the seat by less than one percent, and with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation having previously secured ten percent of the primary vote in the 2016 Federal Election. The by-elections will be held on Saturday the 28th of July, two weeks from tomorrow (Saturday the 14th of July).

And in some other news, the Japanese psychic octopus known as Rabio, who correctly predicted all three of Japan’s Group Stage matches at the World Cup this year, is no longer with us. The mollusc was caught by Japanese fisherman Kimio Abe, and was part of a paddling pool experiment in which he predicted Japan’s win against Colombia, their draw with Senegal, and their loss to Poland, although he wasn’t around to see his final prophecy come true. The giant Pacific octopus was, unfortunately, sent to market before his third and final prediction was brought to fruition, and ended up on a Sushi Train as Sashimi soon after. Rabio was not the first psychic octopus to correctly predict World Cup matches for their country however, with a German octopus named Paul correctly predicting all seven of Germany’s World Cup matches as well as correctly predicting Spain would win the Final back in 2010 in the South African World Cup. Paul unfortunately died in his aquarium in Germany later that year in late October. He was two and a half years old when he died, a normal lifespan for his species.

And that’s it for another week. I’ll be back with more in the coming days. Have a good one!

JJ