Another Election? You're Joking! Here Are This Week's Headlines

By Mathilde Frot & Craig O'Callaghan

This week was full of surprises. Some were good ones, like learning it's possible to win a tennis Grand Slam while being pregnant, some were bitter-sweet (Fox News host Bill O'Reilly was finally fired after countless accusations of sexual harrassment) and others just made us want to pull the duvet back over our heads (snap election, anyone?)

If you stayed in bed all week filling up on Easter chocolate, here's a glimpse of what you've missed in the outside world.

Election fever

Whatever I said, whatever I did, I didn't mean it "There should be no general election until 2020." "I don't think there's a need for an election. I think the next election will be in 2020." "I'm not going to be calling a snap election." 

Yes, despite saying all of the above, UK Prime Minister Theresa May decided to go ahead and break another promise this week by calling a snap election for June 8 this year. Nobody seems particularly happy that it's happening, and forecasters are already predicting a heavy defeat for Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party, so it's hard to see what's going to change over the next seven weeks.

Best reaction to the election Brenda from Bristol managed to sum up the mood of a nation after being told about the election by one reporter.

Across the Channel France goes to the polls this weekend for the first-round of presidential voting. With time running out, competition has become increasingly fierce with both the embattled Fillon and far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon making a late surge. So far, it's not enough to dislodge Marine Le Pen from a top-two place in the polls though, alongside Emmanuel Macron. The final major presidential televised event on Thursday night was overshadowed by an attack in Paris. A 39-year old Frenchman opened fire on a police van in the Champs-Elysees, killing one officer and injuring two before being shot down. France 2 had to interrupt its live broadcast of the candidates to report on the attack.

New life, new planet

Serena's having a baby Tennis superstar Serena Williams annouced on Snapchat this week that she's 20-weeks pregnant with her first child. Internet users quickly put two and two together and realised this meant Williams won her record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam eight weeks into her pregnancy, an absolutely astonishing feat.

Until a Man can win a championship while pregnant...Serena Williams will be hands down the greatest athlete of all time.

— IG:Oba_Ola (@IGOba_Ola) April 19, 2017

Aliens are out there A “super-Earth” has been found in a solar system 39 light-years away. The rocky planet is in a really good spot within its solar system to be habitable for life - it’s neither too hot, nor too cool - and is so far our best bet at finding evidence of alien life. Exoplanet LHS 1140b is also home to a magma ocean, which many suspect could have replenished the planet with water by releasing steam into its atmosphere.

via GIPHY

This week's idiots and villains

Bill O'Reilly The Fox News anchor was given the boot earlier this week, after a string of sexual harassment allegations motivated 50 advertisers to drop his show. Despite several women inside the company calling for his dismissal, the Murdoch family took their time deliberating over what to do before eventually firing O'Reilly while he was on holiday with his family in Italy. Still, it looks like O’Reilly’s going to enjoy a cushy year’s salary in severance pay…US$ 25million. O'Reilly maintains his innocence.

Zara It's not often a high-street fashion label manages to offend practically everybody, but Zara achieved this stunning feat by unveiling a denim miniskirt emblazoned with what looked suspiciously like the alt-right hate symbol Pepe the Frog. Zara has withdrawn the item from sale and insisted that "there is absolutely no link to [Pepe the Frog]" but let this be a lesson to all designers: maybe double-check you haven't drawn something offensive before you go ahead and make it?

Zara is really out there trying to sell a P*pe the frog skirt, apparently unaware (?) of its current implications https://t.co/gQ3bimsdg2

— meagan (@meaganrosae) April 18, 2017

Venezeulan government President Nicolás Maduro has faced widespread protests in Venezeula and earlier this week they took a tragic turn when three people were killed. Maduro's opponents are accusing him of moving the country toward a dictatorship, and security forces opened fire on marching crowds on Wednesday. A 17-year-old boy was among the victims.

Finally... There's actually less to say about President Donald Trump than normal this week, which is a relief. Instead, here's a photo of him poking his head in the door as Darth Vader appears on screen in Rogue One. Notice the similarity?

This photo of Trump and the first Vader scene in "Rogue One" is beyond iconic (:: Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/tjo2uLH1Al

— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) April 6, 2017