UNITED KINGDOM
Lightning hits gas plant
A lightning strike on Monday hit a food waste recycling plant, sending a huge fireball into the night sky and cutting power nearby. Severn Trent Green Power, which runs the Cassington anaerobic digestion facility near Yarnton, England, said that the strike “caused an explosion in our biogas tanks.” The company said: “Thankfully no one has been hurt and we are working with the emergency services to make sure the site is safe so that we can assess the damage as soon as possible.”
UNITED STATES
Satellite owner fined
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday said that it has issued its first space debris enforcement fine, of US$150,000 for DISH, which failed to properly deorbit its EchoStar-7 satellite. The wholly owned unit of DISH Network admitted liability and would adhere to a compliance plan, the FCC said, adding that the company’s action “could pose orbital debris concerns.” DISH relocated its satellite at the end of its mission to a disposal orbit “well below the elevation required by the terms of its license” after launching it in 2002, the FCC said.
UNITED STATES
Plane kills mower driver
A woman riding a lawnmower next to an airport runway was struck and killed by the wing of a small airplane, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said on Monday. Samantha Hayes, 27, of Idabel died on Friday at Broken Bow Municipal Airport, police said in a report. James Baxter, the pilot of the single-engine aircraft, a Bonanza A36, told investigators he saw Hayes after touching down on the runway at about 2:30pm and tried to pull up and fly over her, but she was hit by a wing, police said. “We’re investigating whether any charges could filed against the pilot,” police spokesperson Sarah Stewart said. “Did the pilot do anything wrong or was this just unavoidable?” Stewart said other questions about the episode remained under investigation, including whether the woman saw the airplane.
UNITED STATES
Mummy to be buried
A mummified man known as Stoneman Willie would receive a proper burial after being on display at a funeral home in Reading, Pennsylvania, for 128 years. The unidentified man was an alcoholic who died of kidney failure in a local jail on Nov. 19, 1895. He was accidentally mummified by a mortician experimenting with new embalming techniques, Auman’s Funeral Home said. Dressed in a suit with a bow tie, the gaunt man is displayed in a coffin with a red sash across his chest. His hair and teeth remain intact, and his skin has taken on a leathery appearance. Because the man gave a fake name when arrested for picking pockets, Stoneman Willie’s identity was unknown for many years and local officials were unable to locate relatives. The funeral home had petitioned the state for permission to keep the body instead of burying it to monitor the experimental embalming process. However, Auman’s Funeral Home says it has now identified Stoneman Willie using historical documents and would reveal his name later this week when they lay the body to rest. “We don’t refer to him as a mummy. We refer to him as our friend Willie,” funeral director Kyle Blankenbiller said. “He has just been become such an icon, such a storied part of not only Reading’s past, but certainly its present.” On Saturday, he is to make his final journey through the streets of Reading and be buried at a local cemetery, where his real name will finally be inscribed on his tombstone.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
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