Air France A330 lost in flight
Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled commercial flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France, that crashed on 1st June 2009 over the Atlantic Ocean with the confirmed loss of all 228 crew members and passengers onboard. The aircraft, an Air France Airbus A330-200, took off on 31 May 2009 at 19:03 local time (22:03 UTC). The last contact with the crew was a routine message to Brazilian air traffic controllers at 01:33 UTC, as the aircraft approached the edge of Brazilian radar surveillance over the Atlantic Ocean, en-route to Senegalese-controlled airspace off the coast of West Africa. Forty minutes later, a four-minute-long series of automatic radio messages was received from the plane, indicating numerous problems and warnings. The exact meanings of these messages are still under investigation, but the aircraft is believed to have been lost shortly after it sent the automated messages. After the aircraft failed to contact air traffic control on either continent, a search and rescue operation was initiated. This accident is the deadliest in the history of Air France, surpassing the crash of an Air France charter flight from Paris-Orly Airport to Atlanta on 3 June 1962, and the airline's first fatal crash since Air France Flight 4590 in July 2000

Bercow shuns court dress as he bucks tradition in first appearance as Commons Speaker
John Bercow made his first appearance as the new Speaker but pointedly did not wear the old-fashioned court dress of his predecessors. The Tory maverick presided over his first session in the House wearing a business suit covered with 'simple' robes instead of the traditional outfit. Like Michael Martin before him, Mr Bercow also did not wear a wig. His choice not to wear the court dress as well is a clear sign he plans to dispense with some of Parliament's outdated conventions. Mr Bercow, 46, won the job after a series of secret ballots despite commanding virtually no support on his own side.  His bid to become the 157th Speaker of the Commons was run by Labour MPs and backed by senior Cabinet ministers. 22nd June 2009

Virgin's 25th Anniversary Celebrations
Supermodel Kate Moss kicked off Virgin Atlantic's 25th birthday celebrations by dressing as one of the airline's flying pin-up girls. Flashing her long legs in a red, strapless playsuit and Yves Saint Laurent Tribute platform heels, Kate jumped into the arms of a willing Sir Richard Branson as they posed on the wing of a Virgin jumbo. The 35-year-old was aping the dress sense of the Virgin 'Flying Girls', who are painted on the side of the fleet in the style of Alberto Vargas's pin-ups in the 1940s. After their photoshoot, Branson and Moss boarded the plane, entitled Birthday Girl, to recreate the airline's inaugural flight from Heathrow to New York City. On board the special VIP 'birthday flight' were international cricketer Kevin Pietersen, Sir Ian Botham and entertainer Christopher Biggins, who was a passenger on the very first Virgin Atlantic flight 25 years ago on June 22nd 1984.

Momentous Murray wins late-night epic
Andy Murray kept his Wimbledon dream alive but only after an intense five-set thriller under the Centre Court lights. In the latest-ever finish at Wimbledon, 10.39pm, (30th June 2009) and with the famous hill still packed but in total darkness, the Briton needed the assistance of a partisan crowd and some raucous support from his mum Judy to defeat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The crowd witnessed the three hours and 57 minutes triumph of determination and desire for Murray, spectacular entertainment and validation of Wimbledon’s decision to spend around £80million on their new roof which had been put to its first use when showers halted the previous match between Dinara Safin and Amelie Mauresmo.