The "And in other news..." thread

[Calthrop]

The first article's repeated use of the expression "tomato factory", tends to disconcert me. Had always had the impression that tomatoes belonged to the plant kingdom -- thus, grown rather than manufactured... mind you, funny stuff happens on the food scene nowadays !

 

[USRailFan]

Has Churchill turned over in his grave yet?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy808e4p9j9o

UK and Germany sign 'landmark' defence agreement

Britain and Germany have signed what the UK government is calling a "landmark defence agreement" aimed at boosting security, investment and jobs.

Under the agreement, German defence company Rheinmetall will open a new factory in the UK to manufacture barrels for artillery guns – supporting 400 jobs.

Both countries will work together to develop drones and a new long-range missile.

German maritime surveillance aircraft will also periodically fly patrols of the North Atlantic from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.

 

[Gloster]

Has Churchill turned over in his grave yet? https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy808e4p9j9o

I don’t think he would have done. Unlike many in the current Conservative Party, he would have realised that times have changed. His loathing of communism and whatever you call the current Russian regime meant that he would be more than willing to make more than ‘a favourable reference to the Devil’.

 

[edwin_m]

Churchill originated or at least popularised the phrase "iron curtain" to describe the division of Europe between Western and Soviet influence, and was PM during some of the early years of the Cold War. So he was certainly aware of the threat.

As members of NATO the forces of UK and Germany have been working together for decades, and British troops were based there up until the fall of the USSR.

 

[Sun Chariot]

How on earth do you palm off 22 tonnes of Cheddar...

"Hundreds of truckles of cheddar worth more than £300,000 have been stolen from London cheese specialist Neal’s Yard Dairy."

More than 22 tonnes of cheddar stolen from Neal's Yard Dairy

Fraudsters targeted the high-value cheddar by pretending to be legitimate wholesalers.

www.bbc.com

 

[MotCO]

How on earth do you palm off 22 tonnes of Cheddar...

"Hundreds of truckles of cheddar worth more than £300,000 have been stolen from London cheese specialist Neal’s Yard Dairy."

More than 22 tonnes of cheddar stolen from Neal's Yard Dairy

Fraudsters targeted the high-value cheddar by pretending to be legitimate wholesalers.

www.bbc.com

The usual way. Wonder around a few pubs and ask, "Psst, do you want to buy 5000kgs of cheese?" (Or so I'm told.)

 

[Sun Chariot]

Or create your own cheese rolling festival, to rival the famed Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire.

Cheese rolling in Gloucester at Cooper's hill: the ultimate guide (2024) -

Cheese rolling at Cooper’s hill is a historic tradition, an example of England’s quirkiness and an extreme sport. The event runs in may each year at Cooper’s Hill near Brockworth in the county of Gloucestershire, which is near Bristol. Now attracting international visitors and featured in the...

livein10countries.com

That should make a wedge.

 

[Trackman]

The usual way. Wonder around a few pubs and ask, "Psst, do you want to buy 5000kgs of cheese?" (Or so I'm told.)

In a pub I used to go in there was someone we called 'Cheese man'. Selling blocks of Cheese, all funnily from the same supermarket and assumed stolen. He was banned and thrown out countless times since. I suspect he stole cheese because it was easy to do so.

 

[edwin_m]

If they catch them the courts will have to whey the evidence, and if found guilty decide what punishment should be in-curd.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

In a pub I used to go in there was someone we called 'Cheese man'. Selling blocks of Cheese, all funnily from the same supermarket and assumed stolen. He was banned and thrown out countless times since. I suspect he stole cheese because it was easy to do so.

Easy to sell on, rather than a more specialist line with fewer potential buyers.

 

[brad465]

Tossup between this thread and the Russia thread, but gone here as this is rather bizarre:

Russia fines Google more than entire world's GDP

The mind-boggling figure has been levied due to the company restricting Russian state media on YouTube.

www.bbc.co.uk

A Russian court has fined Google two undecillion roubles - a two followed by 36 zeroes - for restricting Russian state media channels on YouTube.

In dollar terms that means the tech giant has been told to pay $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Despite being one of the world's wealthiest companies, that is considerably more than the $2 trillion Google is worth.

In fact, it is far greater than the world’s total GDP, which is estimated by the International Monetary Fund to be $110 trillion.

The fine has reached such a gargantuan level because - state news agency Tass says, external - it doubles every day it is not paid.

According to Tass, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted he "cannot even pronounce this number" but urged "Google management to pay attention."

The company has not commented publicly or responded to a BBC request for a statement.

 

[Trackman]

Tossup between this thread and the Russia thread, but gone here as this is rather bizarre:

Saw this earlier, I'd email them saying 'Can we pay in instalments?'

In fact, it is far greater than the world’s total GDP,

Cracked me up this!!!

 

[MotCO]

Saw this earlier, I'd email them saying 'Can we pay in instalments?'

A dollar a week?

 

[edwin_m]

Shouldn't they have rounded it up and fined Google a Googol?

 

[Trackman]

A dollar a week?

I wonder if someone on the forums can work out how many years it would take to pay off two undecillion roubles at a dollar a week? … Seriously!

 

[Trainguy34]

I wonder if someone on the forums can work out how many years it would take to pay off two undecillion roubles at a dollar a week? … Seriously!

Roughly 3.9517692307692E29 milleniums, so a while...

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I wonder if someone on the forums can work out how many years it would take to pay off two undecillion roubles at a dollar a week? … Seriously!

At a rate of 1 dollar -> 97.37 roubles, using the amount of days in a week to be 7 and the amount of days in a year to be 365.2421897, it would take roughly 3,936,605,798,765,068,000,000,000,000,000 (as unfortunate as the 15 0s are, the inaccuracy of the days in a year is probably causing more variance than a bit of rounding).

Either way that is a very long time, as the rounding creating the 000s is literally more than the expected lifetime of the universe (estimated but at this length, it doesn't really matter), it's basically forever at that point.

In short, no-one is ever paying that undecillion, even at a trillion dollars a second it would still take 6,508,938,159,333.778 years to pay off 2 undecillion roubles.

In the time we've been discussing it it has probably doubled to 4 undecillion now.

 

[edwin_m]

Not sure which comes first, Google paying their fine or the monkeys completing the works of Shakespeare...

'Infinite monkey theorem' challenged by Australian mathematicians

Australian researchers have poked holes in an old thought-experiment known as the "infinite monkey theorem".

www.bbc.co.uk

a new peer-reviewed study led by Sydney-based researchers Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta has found that the time it would take for a typing monkey to replicate Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and poems would be longer than the lifespan of our universe.

 

[class350desiro]

Tossup between this thread and the Russia thread, but gone here as this is rather bizarre:

Russia fines Google more than entire world's GDP

The mind-boggling figure has been levied due to the company restricting Russian state media on YouTube.

www.bbc.co.uk

The closer a regime is to its fall the stranger its laws get I think the saying goes

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I'll take a starter for ten:
Kippers hidden behind a heating pipe / radiator.

Seconded by:
Dead animal rotting out of sight eg a rat.

Bus station bosses apologise for 'terrible' smell

Transport bosses have apologised to passengers for a "terrible" smell which has been plaguing Leeds City Bus Station for nearly a fortnight.

Staff at the terminus in the city centre said the odour had been lingering inside the building for at least 10 days.
One bus passenger, Scott, 29, said he had stopped taking his children inside the bus station because of the "horrible" stench.
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), responsible for running the bus station, told the BBC the cause of the smell was under investigation.
Some bus passengers on Sunday were seen to be visibly affected by the smell upon entering the station.
Maths and physics student Tobias Cannon, 19, who had travelled to Leeds from Manchester to go to work, told the BBC the bus station "reeks".
"I walked in and was like, oh my days," he said.
"It's like fish. I don't know what that's all about."
Another passenger described the smell as "terrible", adding: "It smells like there are cows in there."
Meanwhile, passenger Has Samin, 32, said he was shocked at the odour when he got off a coach after having travelled from London to Leeds.
"It's very bad, very bad," he said.
"I was confused because I have never smelt anything like that."
A spokesperson for WYCA, which is responsible for managing the bus station under its remit covering transport in the region, said they wanted to "thank members of the public for their patience".
Its team was "working with partners and contractors to investigate the problem", they added.
"Further work is due to be carried out early next week and passengers will be regularly updated on its progress."

 

[High Dyke]

BBC News - Burrowing badgers cause £100,000 damage to road

Burrowing badgers cause £100,000 damage to Mablethorpe road

The animals have dug a sett under the A52 at Seaholme Road in Mablethorpe, the council says.

www.bbc.com

The mammals had dug a sett under the A52 at Seaholme Road, in the middle of Mablethorpe, according to Lincolnshire County Council.

 

[D6130]

BBC News - Burrowing badgers cause £100,000 damage to road

Burrowing badgers cause £100,000 damage to Mablethorpe road

The animals have dug a sett under the A52 at Seaholme Road in Mablethorpe, the council says.

www.bbc.com

It's not unusual for them to cause serious damage to railway embankments too.

 

[AndyPJG]

BBC News - West Yorkshire

Cause of mystery bus station odour revealed
The cause of a "terrible" stench plaguing passengers at Leeds City Bus Station has been revealed.
Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds' Message the Mayor, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said the odour had been caused by spilt milk.
Staff previously told the BBC it had been lingering in the bus station's main foyer for more than 10 days, with customers likening it to a cow farm and fish.
Ms Brabin said: "We got to the source and dealt with it. Hopefully over the next few days that smell will disappear."
"We know what that smells like in our own home," Ms Brabin said of the spilt milk, which was discovered inside a fridge in the building.
Ms Brabin, who oversees the management of the bus station as part of her role, apologised to members of the public for the aroma.
Passengers at the terminus on Sunday described the smell as "terrible".
Meanwhile, on Monday one person told BBC Radio Leeds: "It smells like something has died."
Another said: "The station shouldn't smell like this, especially when it's a major city station."

Edit; No use in crying over spilt milk?

 

[D6130]

Ah well! No use crying over spilt milk!

 

[AndyPJG]

BBC News - Beds, Herts & Bucks

Cold-call woe for workman as phone frozen in rink
A workman was left red-faced after his daughter's bright pink mobile phone became frozen within a newly formed ice rink.
The man put the device on the side of the rink while it was under construction in Milton Keynes.
But when 60,000 litres (13,000 gallons) of water poured into the structure - which will be home to the Willen on Ice experience - the phone became entombed in its chilly new home.
Rob Cook, director at Ice Leisure, said the phone would have to remain there for the next two months as digging it out could affect the structure of the ice.
A female skater with brown hair poses alongside a male skater. They are holding hands and looking to the camera. They are on the ice rink and in front of them is the pink smartphone, encased in the ice rink.
The phone will sit in its icy new home for the next two months, bringing a whole new meaning to "cold call"
It was not until the following day that one of the team spotted the bright pink object - borrowed by the worker after he misplaced his own phone - frozen in the middle of the rink.
It is not known if it got there by accident or through a prank by one of his colleagues.
Mr Cook said: “Unfortunately, there is no way we will be able to get the phone out of the ice now.
"If we were to dig it out, it would affect the structure of the ice so it’ll remain entombed for the next two months.”
Smiling man standing sideways in front of an indoor ice rink. The roof is lit up with bright lights. The man, who has short brown hair with a slight wave, is wearing a zipped North Face top which is black and blue. He has a lighter blue t-shirt underneath.
The sheepish workman, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “My daughter wasn’t happy at the start, especially as she has just bought the new phone case, but after a short time – and the promise of a temporary replacement phone – she cooled off."

 

[greatkingrat]

I don't believe a word of that! I reckon it is a deliberate publicity stunt by the people who run the ice rink.

 

[AndyPJG]

BBC News - West Yorkshire

Nervous dad forgets bride as he walks down aisle
So preoccupied with nerves about his father-of-the-bride speech, Neil Crossley forgot something crucial during a wedding ceremony when he walked down the aisle - his daughter.
"I was thinking, nothing can go wrong with this part," the 60-year-old from Barnsley told BBC Radio Sheffield.
"Little did I know what was about to happen."
Mr Crossley's daughter Amy Totty, 30, admitted she had also been feeling nervous on her big day, but her father's endearing error at the ceremony in Holmfirth in October helped break the ice for everybody.
"It's a special memory we definitely won't forget and will laugh about for years to come," said the Dodworth-based nurse.

BBC News - Leicester

Misspelt bus stops prompt call for 'grammer police'
Commuters travelling through part of Leicestershire have been left scratching their heads over two misspelt bus signs.
Outside Loughborough Grammar School, on Leicester Road, sits the ironically named "Grammer School" bus stop.

Meanwhile in the village of Quorn, the bus stop next to the entrance of the Quorndon Fox pub is labelled "Quornden Fox".
A post on Facebook highlighting the spellings has led to numerous tongue-in-cheek remarks.
One user wrote: "So we're getting da bus to Quorn den? Shame their 'grammer' isn't up to scratch!!"

A bus stop in Loughborough which misspells Grammar School as Grammer School.
(Image caption)

The signs are the property of bus operator Kinchbus, which said the misspellings were a result of "human error".
"We look after 1,000+ bus stop signs, so occasionally these things do happen," a spokesperson told the BBC.
"As soon as we were made aware, it was rectified as soon as we possibly could."
The signs were replaced with corrected spellings on Wednesday evening.
Alexa Derbyshire, from the Loughborough Schools Foundation, said it had not been aware of the misspelling.
She said the school had no plans to alter 500 years of history by changing its name to match the incorrect spelling.
"We have an excellent array of English teachers if anybody wants help," she said. "Our boys spell grammar with an A R."

 

[Sun Chariot]

This might be the wrong thread, but this clip made me smile:

BBC's Chris Harris (Top Gear etc) proves even a petrol head loves a good "grice"!
Chris and Luke (Francis Bourgeois) chase Black 5 44871 in a Merc - with train and car in parallel - and then Chris shows his inner enthusiast when he explores the Stanier's cab.

 

[AndyPJG]

BBC News - Essex

'Frightened' St Bernard rescued in icy conditions
A large brown and white dog sits on the tiled roof of a house. Windows, a satellite dish and and a flue can be seen. There is some moss on the tiles.
Image source,Essex County Fire and Rescue
Image caption,
Firefighters arrived in Pitsea at about 10:10 GMT to rescue the dog from the roof

St Bernard dogs are known for coming to the aid of people in the snow, but the tables were turned when firefighters had to rescue one from a roof in icy conditions.
An Essex County Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said a neighbour spotted it stuck "on the icy, slippery roof" of a house in Pitsea after it had got out through a small window while its owners were out.
A fire crew from Corringham arrived at 10:10 GMT, placed a ladder against the roof and used treats to coax the dog back through the open window.
Firefighters then securely shut the window behind it.

A wider shot showing the large brown and white dog standing on the tiled roof of a house. An open window can be seen, leading out on to the roof.
A satellite dish and and a flue can also be seen.
Image source,Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Image caption,
The dog got out on to the roof through a small window

Watch manager Geoff Wheal said: "This was a great example of teamwork to bring the situation to a safe conclusion.
"The dog was understandably frightened, but with patience and a few treats, we were able to guide him back inside without any harm."

 

[dangie]

Duct Taped banana ‘artwork’ sells for $6.2million in New York

I suppose art is worth whatever anyone is prepared to pay. But really…….

Duct-taped banana artwork auctioned for $6.2m in New York

The winning bidder says he will eat the banana in coming days as part of a "unique artistic experience".

www.bbc.co.uk