The "And in other news..." thread

[Western 52]

I'm sure Captain Beany is the definitive sauce on everything to do with beans.

 

[edwin_m]

Finland zoo returns pandas to China early due to cost

Inflation and debt are among the reasons Lumi and Pyry are being sent home eight years early.

www.bbc.co.uk

A zoo in Finland will return two giant pandas to China eight years early, saying it can no longer afford to look after them.

Local dogs are likely to be going into hiding.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Finland zoo returns pandas to China early due to cost

Inflation and debt are among the reasons Lumi and Pyry are being sent home eight years early.

www.bbc.co.uk

Local dogs are likely to be going into hiding.

Maybe it's a species swap..

 

[AndyPJG]

BBC News - Stoke & Staffordshire

Search for owner of boat dumped in street
Attempts are being made to identify the owner of a boat and trailer dumped on a pavement.
The vessel was "moored up" on Lightwood Road in Dresden, external on Monday and is posing a danger, Stoke-on-Trent City Council said.
The boat will be removed on Thursday and taken to a council depot - and if the "captain" cannot be identified it will be crushed, the authority warned.
"It's not very often you're driving up the road.. and see a large boat," said one local, describing the scene as surreal.
The vessel was "moored up" on Lightwood Road in Dresden
Another said he had seen the boat being "dragged" by a big van, and wondered whether the trailer's wheel had failed, so the driver had looked for somewhere to leave it.
"You expect to see cars dumped sometimes, but never a boat, not on the main road," added another resident.
Anyone with information should contact the council's environmental crime team.
Residents have described the sight as "surreal"

(Article with 3 photos of boat on trailer abandoned on footpath)

 

[edwin_m]

Police will launch an investigation.

 

[High Dyke]

With all this rain, perhaps they're waiting for the high tide?

 

[PG]

I imagine that locals are all at sea.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Not once but twice in the last 7 days in the snooker world, two players have reached the milestone of 1000 career centuries. First John Higgins and now Judd Trump.

 

[brad465]

As soon as saw this news I came in a jiffy:

Money paid to sperm donors rises as UK faces shortage

The £10 rise comes into effect in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1 October.

www.bbc.co.uk

Sperm donor compensation has risen from £35 to a maximum of £45 per clinic visit.
The £10 rise comes into effect in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1 October, when egg donor compensation also rises from £750 to £985.
It is illegal to pay someone to donate sperm or eggs in the UK so the money is to cover expenses such as travel and accommodation. Sperm donation can involve visiting a clinic once a week for three to six months.
The UK fertility regulator acknowledged a shortage of egg and sperm donors. But it warned donating was a "complex decision" and any child born had the right to contact their biological parents after reaching 18 years old.
One sperm donor, who the BBC is calling Joseph, said the £35 he received for each clinic trip did not compensate him "anywhere near enough" for his time and travel - but said his motivation was to help people.
"I'm a married gay man and we adopted our son so we didn't have the normal route that most heterosexuals couples will have had into parenting," he said.
"Going through the adoption process, you meet a lot of straight couples who have had fertility problems. So I wanted to help and give someone a chance to start a family, whether it's someone with fertility problems, a lesbian couple or a single person."
It is the first time compensation for sperm and egg donors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has risen since 2011.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which sets the amount of compensation, said the change was partly due to inflation being high in recent years, but it warned against donating sperm or eggs for the money.
"Choosing to become a donor is a complex decision, with implications for the donor and their wider family, the recipient, and any child born as a result," a spokesperson for the fertility regulator said.
"Donors will go through rigorous medical screening and must be comfortable with the fact that any children born from their donation can contact them when they turn 18," the HFEA spokesperson said.
Joseph said he was happy with the new compensation rate of £45 per clinic visit.
He added: "I think it's difficult to strike a balance between compensating somebody and then paying too much and then making it a financial incentive."
But there are groups who are concerned about the rise in compensation.
Helen Gibson, founder of Surrogacy Concern, a UK group which campaigns on issues relating to surrogacy and gamete donation said the organisation did not support "any payment for gametes".
"Donations cannot be called altruistic while money is exchanged," she said.
"Young people’s bodies are not resources to be mined for the benefit of older, wealthier couples and individuals. If there is a ‘shortage’ of donors coming forward, perhaps that reflects the fact that most people do not want their genetic children to be raised by others."

 

[Ashley Hill]

As soon as saw this news I came in a jiffy:

Money paid to sperm donors rises as UK faces shortage

The £10 rise comes into effect in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1 October.

www.bbc.co.uk

Hope you claimed your £45

 

[najaB]

As soon as saw this news I came in a jiffy:

You're supposed to use the little cup!

 

[MotCO]

You're supposed to use the little cup!

How do you know?

 

[Sun Chariot]

Regarding post #1690s topic:​

Sperm donor cash rises by £10 as UK faces shortage​

It gives a whole new meaning to "I've just come into some money."

 

[DarloRich]

Peanut farmer and former President of the United States Jimmy Carter has today turned 100!

Jimmy Carter celebrates his 100th birthday on Tuesday, making him the first US president to reach the milestone.

Carter, a Democrat who served in the White House from 1977 to 1981, has spent the past 19 months in hospice care in his home state of Georgia.

But the former peanut farmer, who first entered politics in the 1960s as a state senator, is "emotionally engaged and still having experiences and laughing, loving," his grandson, Jason, said in September.

And the centenarian still has political ambitions: "I'm only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris" in November's election, the humanitarian and Nobel Prize recipient said, according to his grandson.

Jimmy Carter, former US president, turns 100

There was a flyover of jets in his hometown, and 100 people became US citizens at a naturalisation ceremony in his honour.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Strathclyder]

Peanut farmer and former President of the United States Jimmy Carter has today turned 100!

Jimmy Carter, former US president, turns 100

There was a flyover of jets in his hometown, and 100 people became US citizens at a naturalisation ceremony in his honour.

www.bbc.co.uk

Was just coming here to post this. Truly remarkable longevity. Hope he makes it long enough to vote for Harris as is his stated intention.

 

[brad465]

Was just coming here to post this. Truly remarkable longevity. Hope he makes it long enough to vote for Harris as is his stated intention.

He's also defied the traditional view of hospice care in terms of longevity: he entered it in February last year, so many assumed then he only had weeks to live. Sounds like he took a more proactive approach to hospice care which has allowed him to go on longer.

 

[AndyPJG]

BBC News -Cornwall

Lorry gets stuck in narrow village lane

The vehicle, carrying 40 tonnes of seed, took a wrong turn when making a delivery

A Cornish village is facing disruption after a lorry had to be abandoned after getting stuck in a narrow lane.
Residents of Forder, near Saltash, said the HGV was carrying 40 tonnes of seed when it took a wrong turn, becoming wedged between a house and a wall on Monday morning.
Devon and Cornwall Police said it would be closing surrounding roads on Wednesday as crews attempt to recover the vehicle.
A lorry became stuck in the same location in 2007, requiring a crane to lift it out.

 

[edwin_m]

Residents of Forder, near Saltash, said the HGV was carrying 40 tonnes of seed

If that's correct then someone's managed to get an artic down to 4 tonnes tare, or they could be expecting a visit from the law when they finally extricate it.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

If that's correct then someone's managed to get an artic down to 4 tonnes tare, or they could be expecting a visit from the law when they finally extricate it.

maybe it's simply 40 tonnes total, with the only cargo being seeds.

 

[edwin_m]

maybe it's simply 40 tonnes total, with the only cargo being seeds.

That's more likely.

 

[najaB]

Was just coming here to post this. Truly remarkable longevity. Hope he makes it long enough to vote for Harris as is his stated intention.

Early in-person voting starts on October 15 in Georgia, not sure about postal voting. actually, just found it. You can vote by post from 78 days before the poll, so he could have already voted!

 

[Western Lord]

Early in-person voting starts on October 15 in Georgia, not sure about postal voting. actually, just found it. You can vote by post from 78 days before the poll, so he could have already voted!

Presumably if somebody votes early but dies before election day their vote is not counted.

 

[MotCO]

Presumably if somebody votes early but dies before election day their vote is not counted.

I doubt if the counters would know about the death or know that the dead person had posted a postal vote. I think it's true that if a candidate dies before voting day, but the name is already on the ballot papers, then a dead person can be elected

 

[najaB]

Presumably if somebody votes early but dies before election day their vote is not counted.

I suspect that the rules are different state by state, but I'd be very surprised if that's generally the case since death records and electoral records are typically handled by different departments - hence why postal votes are often sent out to people who died months prior to polling day.

 

[GusB]

Truss's premiership has been commemorated with a blue plaque

‘Blue plaque’ at Walthamstow Tesco honours lettuce that outlasted Liz Truss

Star of Daily Star’s web stunt given fake heritage mark after proving itself less perishable than Truss’s premiership

www.theguardian.com

A fake blue plaque has been erected outside a Tesco in Walthamstow to commemorate the fact that the lettuce that famously outlasted Liz Truss’s premiership was bought there.

An iceberg lettuce in a blond wig and stuck-on smile beside union jacks and a glass of brandy
The Daily Star’s livestreamed iceberg lettuce.
Photograph: Daily Star
At the death of her 49 days as prime minister a wilting 60p iceberg lettuce from Tesco in a blond wig was declared the winner of a race to last longest as she lost her grip on power after her disastrous mini-budget, which led to her sacking the then chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng.

As it looked like her time in Downing Street was up, the Daily Star set up a webcam on the lettuce to see if it would have a longer shelf-life than the prime minister. After seven days it duly did.

 

[Gloster]

Truss's premiership has been commemorated with a blue plaque

‘Blue plaque’ at Walthamstow Tesco honours lettuce that outlasted Liz Truss

Star of Daily Star’s web stunt given fake heritage mark after proving itself less perishable than Truss’s premiership

www.theguardian.com

That…is…a…disgrace.

 

[edwin_m]

That Tesco sells cheese too.

 

[GusB]

That Tesco sells cheese too

If it's blue cheese, I'm not interested!

 

[Sun Chariot]

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the terrible Ladbroke Grove railway accident. I worked by Marylebone at the time and I still remember the acrid smoke from the burning rail vehicles.
BBC's article here describes the "...Lessons from Ladbroke crash 25 years on."

Ladbroke Grove rail disaster: 25 years on since the crash

It was one of the worst rail crashes of the last century killing 31 people.

www.bbc.co.uk

Next year, July 7th marks the 20th anniversary of the equally terrible London bombings. I was at the same office as 1999. I'd left Edgware Road H&C/C station and was about to cross Marylebone Road, when the bomb went off.

 

[High Dyke]

BBC Weather app forecasts hurricane force winds

"Don't be alarmed folks," says weather presenter Matt Taylor after a data glitch on the site.

www.bbc.com

A fault with the BBC Weather website and app is leading to incorrect forecasts of hurricane force winds in the UK and across the globe.