Author: Staff Contributor
A tunnelling expert involved in the rescue operation at a blocked Nepalese hydropower tunnel has described to the BBC how they managed to reach survivors. Arnold Dix has been advising Nepal’s hydropower authorities on how to dig through the blocked tunnel to Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, which was one of several stations hit by last week’s massive flash flood on the Nepal-Tibet border. “It’s like layer upon layer of miracles” that they found two men on Friday, he said, given the multiple challenges that they faced. The first hurdle was to locate the entrance to the tunnel, in a landscape…
Drivers in the US are paying more than ever for diesel at the pump as the US-Israel war with Iran continues to hit Americans’ wallets. In the US, diesel is mostly used by commercial vehicles, such as trucks, trains, boats, buses, farming vehicles and construction vehicles. The average price for one gallon of diesel in the US has hit $5.85, compared to an average of $3.71 a year ago and above the previous high following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). Fuel prices have soared since the Iran conflict began at the end of…
A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent has been charged with lying about the non-fatal shooting of a Venezuelan migrant in the state of Minnesota. Christian Castro, who was released from custody in Texas last week, faces federal charges relating to shooting on 14 January, according to the BBC’s US media partner CBS. The Department of Homeland Security initially said Castro fired in self-defence after being attacked by three Venezuelan illegal migrants with a shovel and broom handle. Minnesota investigators allege the agent fired through a closed door and shot the man in the leg. It is rare for…
Kenya’s President William Ruto has ordered a crackdown on foreigners operating small-scale businesses, saying local traders and hawkers need to be protected. His announcement comes amid growing debate about the increasing number of African migrants involved in Kenya’s vast informal economy. “From next week, all [foreign] traders doing those small businesses should close them,” he said, also promising to fast-track proposed legislation to preclude foreigners from certain areas of trade. Ruto said Kenya remained open to foreign investment, but argued that investors – including Chinese traders – should create jobs and expand production rather than compete with Kenyans in small…
The driver of a car carrying Anthony Joshua was attempting to overtake another vehicle when it crashed, killing two of the boxer’s friends, a courtin Nigeria has heard. Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, faces charges including causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a valid national driver’s licence. He denies the charges. The court was told that the group – who had been travelling to visit Joshua’s father in Ogun State, near Lagos in Nigeria, last December – were asleep when Kayode lost control of his Lexus SUV while he overtook a moving truck and collided with a parked lorry.…
The sheer size and noise of data centres are what people tend to notice first. Some say they sound like a jet plane about to take off, others complain of a high-pitched whine. When Lucy* puts her child to bed, she hears a constant humming. “I’ll hear it and think, ‘What is that? What is going on?’,” she says. And then she’ll remember that the noise is a data centre just 350m (0.2 miles) from her front door in the desirable suburb of Lane Cove, in Sydney’s lower north-shore. Another four are in the pipeline at the local industrial park.…
Gloria Steinem, who became a leader of the women’s liberation movement in the US, has died aged 92. In a post on Instagram, her foundation said she “passed away peacefully” at her home in New York City on Wednesday, “surrounded by many who loved her”. Steinem, who was a writer and magazine editor, co-founded the Women’s Action Alliance – a group dedicated to fighting sexism – more than 50 years ago. She started her career as a journalist in New York and went on to co-found Ms. magazine, one of the first publications to focus on women’s issues other than…
High prices have turned Americans against the economy, and they’re starting to unleash real consequences for Washington and the financial markets. Historic inflation led voters to oust Democrats from the White House in the 2024 election. Persistent high prices and a return of inflation have given President Donald Trump low approval ratings, and it’s threatening to turn Congress Democratic in November’s midterm elections. So you’d think America’s politicians would do everything in their power to get prices under control. Yet they keep doing the exact opposite. The one thing that seems to unite the left and the right nowadays is…
Nothing is more important to Tesla than its ambitious plan for self-driving “robotaxis.” But even as it hosts an event for its Cybercab service Thursday, it still has a long way to catch up to the competition in an industry where few have made any money at all. It’s a little unclear what, exactly, Tesla is launching Thursday, and the company is not saying much beyond its invitations to the private event. But the public first got a look at the Cybercab at a glitzy Hollywood event two years ago, and prototypes have been seen in cities across America since then. Even if the…
Adaeze Onejeme, a 28-year-old ad sales worker in Los Angeles, was visiting a night market in Hollywood with her sister in late August when she noticed something curious. Stall after stall, hawking loaded French fries or taquitos or smoothies, featured menus with pictures that at first seemed real — until she looked closer and noticed a too-perfect, almost rubbery aesthetic. “I was like, ‘Those don’t look like chicken nuggets. Those don’t look like typical food that we eat,’” Onejeme said. Describing what she encountered as an “AI flyer epidemic,” Onejeme filmed videos of some of the market stalls and she…
