2 The News The RGS Gazette Issue 12 July 2024 investigating Biden characterised him as “a wellmeaning old man with a poor memory”, and this impression will remain for many following the debate. In fact, many political commentators and highprofile Democrats have called for him to step down from the Presidential race, as questions remain over whether he has the capability to run for reelection. Despite this, the President has refused to consider stepping aside in the Presidential race. “I don’t debate as well as I used to”, he admitted, “but when you get knocked down, you get back up.” While Biden grapples with this age issue, his rival’s campaign has been dogged by his several legal issues. Trump has been fined $175m for fraud in New York, he has been found liable for sexual assault and faces three further criminal trials. His most pressing issue has been a criminal trial in New York in which he was found guilty of falsifying business records in May. Biden repeatedly attacked Trump on this in Atlanta, reminding him that he was a convicted felon. Trump is the first ever former President to be convicted, after he was found to have paid money to adult actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair. “You have the morals of an alley cat” Biden told him as he recounted the story. However, Trump’s campaign has barely been derailed by the conviction. This is because his supporters, and nearly all of the Republican Party, agree with his claim that this is a political prosecution. To his base, Trump is a martyr, who has been unfairly attacked, and the trial has just strengthened that notion. A majority of Republicans say they will still vote for Trump despite the conviction and in essence, this entire issue changes very little in the Presidential race. Those who opposed Trump beforehand, still do so now. Both his opponents and supporters have simply grown more vehement in their beliefs in the last year. Biden, on the other hand, still has a lot to prove to many voters who are concerned about his fitness for office and that task is all the more difficult now. Adam Franko (Year 9) looks at the recent opening of Hyperia at Thorpe Park and the issues with the rollercoaster’s development For the past oneandahalf years, the new tallest, fastest and most weightless rollercoaster in the UK was slowly being built at Thorpe Park, named Hyperia. At 236 feet tall, reaching speeds of up to 81mph, and having a total of 14.8 seconds of airtime, Hyperia was a coaster which was announced back in October 2022, but back then nobody could have anticipated what a brilliant coaster it would become. The idea for 'Project Exodus' as it was referred to during construction, led the media to go crazy and speculate what the future of Thorpe Park could look like. On the 5th October 2023, the official name for this recordbreaking coaster would be revealed – Hyperia as well as its goldwinged logo. Everyone was very excited for the coaster to open, with many people from all across the world following the construction updates online, and some enthusiasts even watched the ride being built from outside the park. Thorpe Park even hosted a challenge known as Club 236 where you could get a chance to win two front row seats on the very first public train when the ride opened. Soon Thorpe Park announced that Friday 24th of May 2024 would be the official public opening day for Hyperia, with a 'press night' held the night before for special VIP guests. Opening day turned out to be a huge success – people started queuing up at the gates from 6am to be one of the first to ride. There were plenty of shows, live music, a grand opening ceremony and even a flyover of 2 stunt planes to mark the opening of the UK’s new tallest and fastest rollercoaster. The day proved to be so popular that the maximum queue time for Hyperia was 300 minutes. On Saturday, the buzz around the coaster continued. Unfortunately, about an hour before opening, Thorpe Park announced that the ride was closed, “due to unforeseen circumstances”. While disappointing for thrillseekers, this wasn’t taken too Hyperia, the country's fastest rollercoaster, at Thorpe Park (2024) The Troubled Opening of Hyperia
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