
Power outage 'for matter of minutes' disrupts London Underground in rush hour
Multiple lines on the London Underground network were suspended or disrupted on Monday afternoon because of a power outage, the British capital's transport authority said.
The Transport for London website showed that at least three subway lines were suspended due to a power failure and there were severe delays and partial suspensions on at least six other lines during the afternoon rush hour.
The transport authority said it was working with the National Grid to determine the cause of the outage.
"Due to a brief interruption of the power supply to our network, several lines lost power for a short period earlier this afternoon," said Claire Mann, TfL's chief operating officer in a statement.
"We are working to get the whole network up and running again as quickly as possible."The National Grid said there was a "fault" on its transmission network in central London and that it was "resolved within seconds."Earlier, a Transport for London spokesperson told the PA news agency that there was a power cut in south London "for a matter of minutes," causing disruption in the subway network.British media reported that many stations in central London were completely closed.Last month, a power outage caused by a fire at an electrical substation in west London forced the closure of Heathrow Airport for almost a day, disrupting thousands of flights. — Euronews

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Arab News
29-07-2025
- Arab News
UK museum finds 4,000-year-old handprint on Egypt tomb
LONDON: British researchers have discovered a rare handprint on a 4,000-year-old Egyptian artifact, a Cambridge museum said. The ancient handprint was found by museum conservators on the base of an Egyptian soul house — a clay offering tray in the shape of a building which may have been used in tombs for laying out food offerings or as a dwelling for souls. The unique discovery was made after the piece, crafted between 2055-1650 BC, was examined by conservation staff in preparation for a new exhibition. 'I have never seen such a complete handprint on an Egyptian object before,' said Helen Strudwick, senior curator and Egyptologist at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The handprint was left by the maker of the soul house, when they picked it up before drying and firing the clay. 'When you see something like this, you feel very close to the person who left their mark on an object,' Strudwick said, describing the finding to AFP as an 'exciting moment.' 'You can see all the fingers, and also where the heel of the hand rested,' she said. The rare artifact will be on display at the museum's Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition which opens on October 3. The exhibition will focus on the makers of Egyptian artifacts such as jewelry, ceramics and sculptures. It is important to understand how the ancient objects were made 'in order to look after them properly,' the curator said. The museum in southeast England has been researching how the artifacts were created since 2014, but little is known about the potters that worked in Ancient Egypt. Since pottery was seen as having a low value, Egyptian potters may have been accorded a lower social status than other craftspeople. 'We can't really say anything about the identity of the person from the handprint. It is quite small — about the same size as my own hand,' said Strudwick. 'If this is a man's handprint, it's possible that — given the scale of it — he was a younger person, or it may be that a more junior person in the workshop was responsible for moving these objects out to dry,' she speculated. Strudwick says the history of Egyptian craftspeople was often overlooked by researchers. But with new research methods, 'we are able to know more and more about how they worked, lived and how they wanted to be remembered for all time,' she said. The exhibition will include a large loan of antiquities from the Louvre museum in France, the most significant of its kind to visit the UK in almost 20 years.


Saudi Gazette
22-07-2025
- Saudi Gazette
Meme-famous UK fighter jet stuck in India finally departs
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — A state-of-the-art British fighter jet that became a subject of jokes and memes after being stranded at an Indian airport for more than five weeks has finally left after repairs. The F-35B is now airborne and on its way to Darwin in Australia, an airport spokesman told the BBC. The jet first landed on 14 June at Thiruvananthapuram airport in the southern state of Kerala where it was diverted after it ran into bad weather during a sortie in the Indian Ocean. It then developed a technical snag. Its prolonged presence on Indian soil sparked curiosity and raised questions about how such a modern aircraft could remain stranded in a foreign country for so long. In a statement on Tuesday morning, the British High Commission confirmed the aircraft's departure. "A UK engineering team, deployed since 6 July completed the repairs and safety checks, allowing the aircraft to resume active service." The plane was part of the fleet of HMS Prince of Wales. Officials have not said why it was flying to Darwin, but it's most likely because the Royal Navy's flagship carrier is still in the region. For the past few days, HMS Prince of Wales has been posting updates and photos on X (formerly Twitter) from the joint exercises it has been conducting off the coast of Australia. After the plane was unable to return, engineers from the ship had visited it to fix it. But as they were unable to repair it, the UK ministry of defence said a fortnight back that they had deployed a team of 14 engineers "to Thiruvananthapuram airport to assess and repair the F-35B aircraft". There had been speculation that if the technicians failed to repair the aircraft, it would have to be partially dismantled and carried out in a bigger cargo plane such as a C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft. F-35Bs are highly advanced stealth jets, built by Lockheed Martin, and are prized for their short take-off and vertical landing capability. The case of the stranded $110m (£80m) jet was raised in the House of Commons. In India, images of the "lonely F-35B", parked on the tarmac and soaked by the Kerala monsoon rains, made it a subject of jokes and memes. One viral post joked that the jet had been put up for sale at an online site at a hugely competitive price of $4m. The listing claimed the jet included features like "automatic parking, brand-new tyres, a new battery and an automatic gun to destroy traffic violators". One user on X said the jet deserved Indian citizenship as it had been in the country long enough, while another suggested that India should start charging rent and that the Kohinoor diamond would be the most appropriate payment. Kerala government's tourism department also joined in the fun with a post on X that said "Kerala, the destination you'll never want to leave." The post included an AI-generated photograph of an F-35B standing on the runway with coconut palm trees in the background. The text joked that, like many visitors to the state famously dubbed 'God's Own Country' in tourism brochures, the jet too seemed reluctant to leave its scenic surroundings. On Tuesday, after it took off, X users posted messages saying "adios" to the jet as it left "after enjoying more than one month of holidays at God's Own Country". — BBC


Saudi Gazette
12-07-2025
- Saudi Gazette
Fuel cut-off switches activated moments before Air India crash that killed 260, says probe
NEW DELHI — A preliminary report released Saturday by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has revealed that the engine fuel control switches aboard the Air India flight that crashed last month in Gujarat were moved to the 'cut-off' position just seconds before the aircraft plunged into a hostel, killing 260 people. The UK-bound flight slammed into a medical college hostel in western Gujarat shortly after takeoff, with only one passenger surviving after reportedly leaping from the aircraft. The tragedy claimed the lives of 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. According to the AAIB, the aircraft reached a maximum recorded airspeed of 180 knots before both Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cut-off switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF within a second of each other, leading to an immediate loss of power. The report stated that cockpit voice recordings captured one pilot asking the other, 'Why did you cut off?' to which the second pilot replied that he had not done so. The incident suggests possible uncommanded or accidental engagement of the switches, although investigators have not drawn final conclusions. Following the switch-off, Engine 1's deceleration was briefly reversed and began recovering, while Engine 2 attempted to relight but failed to stabilize. Fuel was reintroduced multiple times to restart the engine, but the recovery proved unsuccessful. The Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) stopped recording shortly afterward. The AAIB emphasized that the probe remains ongoing and that additional evidence, data, and documents are still being collected from relevant parties. Air India, in a statement, said it is cooperating fully with investigators and is working closely with regulators and other stakeholders as the inquiry continues. This incident marks one of the deadliest air disasters in recent Indian aviation history and has raised serious concerns about potential mechanical or procedural failures in the moments before the crash. — Agencies