- Saturday, 23 August 2025
BBC
Australia crowned World Test Championship winners
Australia won the World Test Championship by ruthlessly dismantling India on the fifth day of the final at The Oval. India's slim hopes of reaching a world-record target of 444 rested on Virat Kohli, 44 not out as India began on 164-3, but the fans' hero was out for 49 in the seventh over of the day.
Children reunited with family after surviving 40 days in Amazon
Four children who survived weeks alone in Colombia's Amazon jungle have been reunited with relatives as they recover in hospital. The siblings, aged 13, nine, five and one, are "very weak" but "happy to see their family", said their grandfather, Fidencio Valencia.
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El Niño planet-warming weather phase has begun
A natural weather event known as El Niño has begun in the Pacific Ocean, likely adding heat to a planet already warming under climate change. US scientists confirmed that El Niño had started. Experts say it will likely make 2024 the world's hottest year. They fear it will help push the world past a key 1.5C warming milestone.
Four children found alive in Amazon after 40 days
Four children have been found alive more than a month after their plane crashed in Colombia's Amazon jungle, the country's president has said. The siblings, aged 13, nine, four and a one-year-old baby, were on board the plane with their mother, a pilot and a co-pilot when it crashed on 1 May.
Deadly Everest season puts focus on record permits
Climbers have also had to contend with warmer temperatures, that have melted glaciers and caused lakes to form. Scientists noted that due to climate change, temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau, where Everest is located, have increased by around 2C over 40 years since 1979. And when the snow melts, glacier ice loses its cover from the sun, causing it to either turn into water that goes down the slopes or vaporise into the air due to strong winds, according to research published in 2022 by the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute.
Misogyny helped jail a mother, science freed her
It was a case mired in suffering that created a media frenzy and saw Ms Folbigg's husband testify against her at trial. Ultimately it would be the advocacy of friends and new findings from scientists around the world - including Nobel laureates - that saw her freed.
Why do trains in India go off the tracks?
By Soutik Biswas, June 4: There are many unanswered questions on what exactly led to a deadly multiple train collision in India on Friday evening that killed at least 288 people and injured more than 800.Two express passenger trains and a freight train were involved in a "three-way accident" near a small station in the eastern state of Odisha, according to reports. One of them collided with the stationary freight train, and its coaches flipped over to a third track, causing an incoming train to derail. A preliminary report indicates that the accident was the result of signal failure.Only a comprehensive inquiry will help uncover the truth behind the incident. Yet it has once again ignited fresh concerns regarding railway safety in India.India's expansive railway system - one of the world's largest - carries some 25 million passengers every day across a countrywide network of tracks spanning more than 100,000km (62,000 miles). Some 5,200km of new tracks were laid last year, according to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Also, 8,000km of tracks were also being upgraded every year, the minister said.Vaishnaw recently revealed in an interaction that the majority of the tracks were undergoing upgrades to accommodate trains running at speeds of up to 100 kmph, a substantial portion was being enhanced for speeds of up to 130kmph, and a significant segment was being prepared for the high speeds of up to 160kmph.Clearly, this is part of the government's plans to run faster trains across the country - a genuinely high-speed line is separately being built between the financial capital of Mumbai and the city of Ahmedabad.Yet, derailment continues to be a "bugbear for the railways," a former Railway Board chairman, Vivek Sahai, told me. A train can derail for a number of reasons - "a track could be ill-maintained, a coach could be faulty, and there could be an error in driving".REUTERS, The Coromandel Express derailed and flipped over into the adjacent track where it was hit by an oncoming trainA government railway safety report for 2019-20 found derailments were responsible for 70% of railway accidents, up from 68% the previous year. (Train fires and collisions came next, responsible for 14% and 8% of the total accidents respectively).The report counted 40 derailments involving 33 passenger trains and seven freight trains during the year under review. Of these 17 derailments were caused by track "defects" - this could include fractures and subsidence of tracks.Only nine incidents of derailments were caused because of defects in trains - engines, coaches, wagons - according to the report.Railway tracks, composed of metal, undergo expansion during the summer months and contraction in winter due to fluctuations in temperature. They require regular maintenance - tightening loose track components, changing sleepers and lubricating and adjusting switches, among other things. Such track inspection is done by foot, trolleys, locomotives and rear vehicles.India's railways recommend that track recording cars meticulously evaluate the structural and geometrical integrity of tracks designed to sustain speeds ranging from 110kmph to 130kmph at least once every three months.A report on derailments by federal auditors between April 2017 and March 2021 had some disturbing findings:- There were "shortfalls ranging from 30% to 100% in inspections" by track recording cars required to assess the geometrical and structural conditions of the tracks, the report said.- A study of 1,129 investigation reports of derailment accidents found that two dozen "factors" were responsible.- A major reason for derailments was related to the maintenance of tracks (171 cases), followed by "deviation of track parameters beyond permissible limits".- More than 180 cases of derailments were due to mechanical reasons. More than a third of them were due to defects in coaches and wagons.- "Bad driving and over-speeding" were the other major factor responsible for derailments.There has been a lot of talk about anti-collision devices to be installed on Indian trains, but the system is now only being installed on two major routes - between Delhi and Kolkata and between Delhi with Mumbai - according to a railway official. It is also not clear how such a system would have helped in the event of a derailment or a "freak" collision.GETTY IMAGES, In 2010 more than 150 people were killed when a passenger train derailed and collided with an oncoming freight train in West BengalIn 2010 more than 150 people were killed when a passenger train derailed and collided with an oncoming freight train in West Bengal. Investigators said Maoist rebels had sabotaged the track causing the Kolkata-Mumbai passenger train to derail, throwing five of its carriages into the path of the oncoming good trains. There has been no hint of sabotage yet in Friday's accident.According to the railways, there were 34 "consequential rail accidents" - collisions, derailments, fire or explosion in trains, road vehicles colliding with trains at level crossings - during 2021-22, up from 27 such accidents during the previous year. The Hindu newspaper reported on 31 May that the number of such accidents had risen to 48 in 2022-2023.Presciently, the report said the railway authorities were worried about the rising accidents and had asked their senior manager to "critically analyse long working hours of the crew, especially in East Coast Railway and South East Central Railway, and take corrective action urgently". Friday evening's accident happened in the busy East Coast Railway zone.
Solar panels - an eco-disaster waiting to happen?
Energy experts are calling for urgent government action to prevent a looming global environmental disaster. "It's going to be a waste mountain by 2050 unless we get recycling chains going now," says Ute Collier, deputy director of the International Renewable Energy Agency.
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More than 280 dead in India train crash
At least 288 people are now known to have been killed and 850 injured in a multiple train collision in India's eastern Odisha state, officials say. More than 200 ambulances were sent to the scene in Balasore district, says Odisha's chief secretary Pradeep Jena.
Artificial intelligence could lead to extinction, experts warn
Artificial intelligence could lead to the extinction of humanity, experts including the heads of OpenAI and Google Deepmind have warned Dozens have supported a statement published on the webpage of the Centre for AI Safety.
Three dead as tourist boat sinks in Italy - reports
At least three people have died after a boat carrying more than 20 passengers, including tourists, sank in strong winds on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, local media say. One person is still missing, according to reports.
Young boy among 11 dead in Pakistan avalanche
At least 11 people from a nomadic tribe, including a four-year-old boy, have been killed in an avalanche in northern Pakistan. The snow struck as the group crossed a mountainous area in the Shounter Pass with their goat herds.
Amazing pictures of new species found in Pacific Ocean
Underwater creatures: 5,000 new species found in the Pacific Ocean
Passenger arrested for opening plane door mid-air
A man has been arrested for opening the emergency door of an Asiana Airlines flight as it was landing in South Korea. All 194 passengers survived the flight, which landed safely at Daegu International Airport on Friday with its door open.
Mumbai thrash Lucknow by 81 runs in IPL Eliminator
Akash Madhwal had stunning figures of 5-5 as Mumbai Indians thrashed Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League Eliminator. Cameron Green made 41 from 23 balls and put on 66 with Suryakumar Yadav - who hit 33 from 20 - to set the five-time champions on their way to 182-8. Lucknow reached 69-2 in the ninth over of the chase but lost eight wickets for 32 runs to crumble to 101 all out.
