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.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS