Author: Ximena Santiago
Uzbekistan. Local farmers of the Shaharteppa village in the Ferghana province were ordered to glue previously picked cotton back onto bushes in order to impress Uzbekistan Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev on his visit through the area. “Apparently the prime minister is coming, and we’re told everything should look good here,” one resident said. Farmers were seen putting glue onto bolls where the cotton would then be attached, all along the front and the most visible rows of the cotton fields. Others were seen sweeping the roads where the prime minister would be driving. “People were put through so much trouble,” an anonymous farmer said. “More than 500 people had to leave their work and come and glue cotton here.” Unfortunately, the prime minister switched his route Friday and did not pass through the village.
The Guardian
England. A British man had to move out of his home after he made an impulse online purchase of a seven-ton army tank. Jeff Woolmer placed a $14,000 bid on the military vehicle and won the online auction Friday. The purchase of the ex-Canadian military tank necessitated the move because Woolmer could not obtain a tank parking permit for his two-bedroom flat near Bristol. His idea to bid on the tank resulted from a conversation with co-workers in which they joked at the ability to purchase anything, including military vehicles, on the Internet nowadays. He placed a bid on the tank last Monday and “was pretty surprised … when I got a call at work telling me that I had just bought a tank,” Woolmer said.
CNN
United States. The National Geographic Channel has announced the network will air the first live brain surgery Sunday. The procedure will be performed on a waking patient whose identity has not yet been revealed. The two hour special, called ‘Brain Surgery Live With Mental Floss,’ will take place at the University Hospital Case Medical Center in Cleveland. “We hope to demystify brain surgery, diminishing the fear and stigma of this operation,” Dr. Jonathan Miller, a member of the neurosurgical team and director of the Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery at the medical center, said. The brain surgery will be filmed with robotic cameras in the surgical equipment and two handheld cameras.
Time
China. Chengdu, the capital city of the Sichuan Province, will begin setting up public trash bins with built-in WiFi aerials later this month. The trash bin tops will include solar panels to power the battery base. These high-tech metal boxes also have motion sensors, so as to open only when people approach them, and automated neutralizing sanitizers to disguise undesirable smells. Additionally, GPS systems are installed to notify street cleaners when it is necessary to empty out the bins. They are also fire and bomb resistant.
BBC News
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