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.
ANGER: A video shared online showed residents in a neighborhood confronting the national security minister, attempting to drag her toward floodwaters Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes, authorities said on Saturday. Two young girls — reportedly aged four and one — were missing after possibly being swept away by floodwaters in the wake of Friday’s storm. The deluge left hospital rooms underwater, turned neighborhoods into islands and cut electricity to swaths of the city. Argentine Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich said Bahia Blanca was “destroyed.” The death toll rose to 13 on Saturday, up from 10 on Friday, authorities
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
Two daughters of an Argentine mountaineer who died on an icy peak 40 years ago have retrieved his backpack from the spot — finding camera film inside that allowed them a glimpse of some of his final experiences. Guillermo Vieiro was 44 when he died in 1985 — as did his climbing partner — while descending Argentina’s Tupungato lava dome, one of the highest peaks in the Americas. Last year, his backpack was spotted on a slope by mountaineer Gabriela Cavallaro, who examined it and contacted Vieiro’s daughters Guadalupe, 40, and Azul, 44. Last month, the three set out with four other guides
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
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