☕ The new space race, explained

It’s Friday!

Here’s some good news: several unseen stories by Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, will be published later this year. Lee is regarded as one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century. Now, readers will have the chance to see eight of her unpublished short stories, discovered in Lee’s New York apartment after she died in 2016, aged 89. It’s understood the stories were written before she became a household name for To Kill a Mockingbird, which was published in 1960. The collection of unseen Harper Lee works will be published on 21 October.

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Some headlines from this morning:

Tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports will be scaled back just a day after taking effect, following diplomatic efforts and sharp market declines. President Trump exempted Mexico first after a “productive” call with its president on Thursday, applying the same modification to Canada shortly after. While the move eased the market drop which followed announcement of the tariff’s, the uncertainty continues to unsettle investors.

The House of Representatives has voted to censure Democrat Al Green, with ten Democrats joining Republicans in denouncing Green’s continued disruption of President Trump’s address to Congress. Censuring is a formal and public reprimand of US lawmakers for misconduct. During the presidential address, Green continued to shout “you don't have a mandate” at President Trump and was removed from the House chamber after being warned by Speaker Mike Johnson to “maintain decorum”. Democrats who supported the action said they did so to protect the civility of the House Chamber.

President Trump may revoke temporary legal protections offered to 240,000 Ukrainian refugees by former President Biden. The President said his administration was still considering the move, telling reporters “we're not looking to hurt anybody, we're certainly not looking to hurt them, and I'm looking at that." The move would form part of the new administration’s cancellations of up to 1.8 million refugee visas and is indicative of increased tensions between US and Ukraine caused during US attempts to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to Saudi Arabia next week for U.S-led talks to end the war in Ukraine. It comes after a heated exchange between Zelenskyy, U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the White House last week. In a statement posted to Telegram, Zelenskyy reiterated his commitment to peace, and confirmed he will attend talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday. After that, a team of Ukrainian officials “will remain in Saudi Arabia to work with American partners,” he said. “The war must be stopped as soon as possible, and Ukraine is ready to work 24/7 with partners in America and Europe for peace,” Zelenskyy added.

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New Zealand, an island nation off the east coast of Australia, has fired their High Commissioner to the United Kingdom after he made comments critical of President Trump’s recent handling of Russia/Ukraine peace negotiations.

The comments require a bit of historical context - let’s get into it.

What did the High Commissioner say?

The New Zealand High Commissioner Phill Goff was speaking at a forum in London when he contrasted the controversial but highly effective World War II UK PM Winston Churchill with President Trump, saying: “President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?”

The comparison is a slight at the Trump administration’s perceived acquiescence to Russia’s demands. Churchill famously denounced his predecessors acquiescence to Nazi aggression in the 1938 Munich Agreement, which rewarded the Nazi’s with the annexation of Czechoslovakia and is believed to have led to World War Two.

Why did NZ fire him?

A High Commissioner is a Commonwealth country’s Ambassador, a top diplomat assigned to negotiate relationships with their host country on behalf of their nation of origin.

High Commissioners, when operating in their official capacity, speak on behalf of their nation's government.

New Zealand’s deputy PM called these comments “deeply regrettable” as they were not reflective of New Zealand’s position on the US-Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, saying they were left with no choice but to replace Mr Gogh.

The deputy PM added: “When you’re in that position … you’re not able to free-think; you are the face of New Zealand.”

The fallout

There has been no response from Trump officials or the High Commissioner himself, however a top former NZ politician has criticized the move saying similar comments were made at the recent Munich Security Summit.

NZ officials have confirmed they are working on a replacement.

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is preparing to cut over half of its 90,000 staff, reported first by the Associated Press. These preparations come as over 7,000 IRS probationary staff have already been let go. The further cuts will be achieved through firings, incentivised voluntary quitting and pressure to leave the organisation from White House and IRS bosses. Catch up on why these cuts are happening and how it will affect the organisation's effectiveness below.

How do we actually know there’s a space race?

Both Chinese and American space agencies have announced plans to place people on the moon again for the first time since 1972.

In late 2024 the Chinese completed its most recent successful unmanned mission to the moon this decade, collecting samples from its far side. NASA top bosses complimented Chinese efforts and warned US dominance in space was being challenged.

“I’ve been fairly pointed in my comments that we’re in a space race with the Chinese, and that they are very good,” said the NASA Ambassador last year.

Why is space important?

Dominance of areas immediately outside Earth’s atmosphere is important to countries who use satellites to provide services and surveillance to key infrastructure projects and military operations.

The far side of the moon is of interest for different reasons. The lunar south pole has large deposits of frozen water which could sustain life and be used in the construction and operation of further spacecraft.

If countries were able to build structures on this side of the moon and use its resources to launch further explorations into space the cost and time taken to launch deep space missions would be significantly reduced. This is of particular interest as Earth has limited resources and experts hope deposits of resources could be found in space and mined.

How is the US going in its space race?

The US has announced it will aim to put people back on the moon by 2026, however last year they announced a series of delays to schedule which put this deadline in doubt.

The US and China may be the major players in the current space race, however they are certainly not the only ones. 77 countries around the world are currently operating Space Programs.

Recent advancements in technology have also made it possible for private companies to put their hat in the ring, with major players like SpaceX and Blue Origin (as well as smaller start ups) making significant steps in the exploration of the final frontier.