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A flight attendant caused 20,000 pounds ($54,160) worth of damage on a jumbo jet when her supermarket curry exploded in a microwave mid air. The flight from Heathrow carried on to Miami after cabin crew put out the fire, the Sun reported. British Airways insisted there was no threat to passengers' safety - although the Boeing 747 needed days of repairs. A memo emailed to all BA long-haul crews, entitled "Microwave incident", warns that grub needs special packaging because the ovens are twice as strong as domestic ones. (Source: www.ananova.com).
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A reader writes: "Google news currently has stories about the recent boy-racer death in the Sports section! No wonder teenagers don't consider street racing a dangerous pastime".
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The British interior ministry has issued 20 of its top public servants with video-playing iPods pre-loaded with training films to help improve their management techniques. The Times reported that the gadgets are part of a project aimed at providing a more flexible way for public servants to learn new techniques, rather than classroom-based instruction. The interior ministry said the iPods could hold the equivalent of three days' worth of classroom teaching material, and could be re-used by other public servants. "As with other modern learning aids, iPods provide the opportunity for flexible learning and the cost is extremely competitive compared with the rates for classroom training for senior staff," a spokeswoman said. Asked whether civil servants would be able to use the players for personal music or videos, she said: "As with all office IT equipment, the video iPods should be used appropriately, for work purposes, and will be monitored accordingly."
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Among the long-term disabilities that have been soaking up US Department of Veterans Affairs cash at a time when soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are meeting bureaucratic delays in getting their compensation for their injuries: haemorrhoids (124,000 veterans receiving monthly cheques) and venereal diseases (thousands of veterans since 1972 have been compensated to cover diseases that they contracted on their own time while on active duty. (Source: News of the Weird)
