Well, S & N are just down the road from me!!
I don’t know if it makes a difference but I’m Windows.
My RM8 is also back today. UK, Windows 10. I had an email from S&N yesterday to say they were aware of the problem and looking into it together with Roots Magic.
UK version back working properly again today in France. Now opens immediately instead of about 25 seconds. Using Windows 11.
Are any other UK Edition Mac users having this issue or can you see the News feed now too?
I upgraded from my older MacMini to a 2012 MacBook Pro and from OS Sierra to Mojave, migrating all my files to the new computer and system. To my delight RM8 opened without fuss over licence, and connected to the internet at last. It let me update RM8 and then see my two family files that I use. So that big problem is over, although I have no idea why it was there.