Chances of US-Iran agreement remain uncertain 

An anonymous lottery player in southern Italy has successfully retrieved a winning ticket worth €1 million (£857,000) after accidentally discarding the slip into a municipal bin. The mix-up occurred at a local shop in Bitonto when a ticket scanner displayed a “non-payable” notification. Unaware that the message indicated a payout exceeding the shop’s cash limit rather than a losing ticket, the player threw the slip into a rubbish bin. Upon returning home, family members pointed out that the player’s chosen numbers, 2, 4, 8, 10, and 51, had indeed been drawn. After returning to the store, the family discovered that the bin had already been emptied by a municipal collection vehicle operated by local sanitation company SANB. The owner alerted SANB officials, who tracked down the specific bin lorry before its contents were transferred to a compactor or landfilled. “This story is nothing short of miraculous,” said Roberto Nicola Toscano, director of SANB, noting that because the incident occurred on a Sunday, the lorry’s contents had not yet been processed. Sanitation staff escorted the vehicle to a secure facility and spent two days sifting through a massive heap of municipal waste. On Tuesday morning, a refuse worker located the intact winning ticket inside a damaged bag. The lottery winner, who signed a formal agreement to cover the operational costs of the search effort, will receive the full prize sum following official validation.

A total solar eclipse is set to darken skies across parts of Europe on August 12, drawing millions of travellers to witness the rare event. Spain and Iceland have emerged as the top destinations for eclipse chasers this week. This marks the first time the path of totality has crossed mainland Europe since August 1999. The rarity of a total eclipse passing over such densely populated regions has sparked massive international interest. Hundreds of thousands of visitors have been flocking to Spain to experience the celestial event alongside local residents. What makes Spain’s viewing especially unique is that totality will occur just before sunset, with the Sun hanging low on the western horizon. As a result, millions across northern Spain, Zaragoza and the Balearic Islands will witness a dramatic “sunset eclipse”. This will mark the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Spain in more than a century. Spain’s Secretary of State for Science, Juan Cruz, expressed excitement over the milestone. He said he hopes the event inspires a new generation of astrophysicists, calling it a genuinely special moment for the country. Spanish authorities are preparing for roughly six million visitors travelling across the eclipse’s path. The scale of anticipated tourism reflects just how rare and significant this celestial event is considered. Iceland has also been swept up in the excitement, expecting around 80,000 visitors for the occasion. The path of totality will stretch across western Iceland and eastern Greenland, offering viewers a dramatic backdrop of rugged fjords under late-afternoon Arctic light. Visitors along Iceland’s westernmost coast will experience totality at 5:44 pm local time, as the Moon’s shadow moves steadily eastward. Those in the far western regions will see totality last up to two minutes and 13 seconds, while other areas will experience a shorter period of darkness. NASA is also playing a role in the event, deploying a high-altitude WB-57 aircraft from Iceland to track the Moon’s shadow. Additional NASA-funded teams will launch specialised weather balloons to study how the sudden darkness and cooling affects the lower atmosphere. With millions gathered across two very different landscapes, this eclipse is shaping up to be one of the most significant astronomical events of the decade.

The Canadian province of British Columbia has declared a provincewide state of emergency following a rapidly expanding wildfire that forced nearly 22,000 residents to evacuate their homes, with another 9,700 under active evacuation alerts. Over 100 wildfires are currently burning across the region, nearly half of which remain classified as out of control. The entire community of Summerland, comprising approximately 12,000 residents, received overnight mandatory evacuation orders alongside roughly 8,000 people in and around the neighbouring district of Peachland. Originating on Friday evening, the Bald Range wildfire expanded rapidly to cover roughly 50 square kilometres. The blaze swept through the rural settlement of Faulder before advancing approximately 15 kilometres towards Summerland at high speed. British Columbia Premier David Eby noted that an operational official characterised the rapid growth of the fire as being “like a bomb going off”. “I know many families are facing an unimaginable day today,” Eby stated. “People have lost their homes. And many people have been displaced. Others are waiting for news about loved ones.” Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations at the BC Wildfire Service, described conditions throughout the province as “explosive”. Due to fast-moving flames cutting off ground evacuation routes, officials dispatched firefighting helicopters to conduct aerial rescues for trapped residents. The declaration of a emergency grants provincial authorities extraordinary legal powers to enforce travel restrictions, secure emergency temporary housing for evacuees, and coordinate response efforts across affected sectors.