Sarah Brightman, the singer who once lost her heart to a starship trooper, has booked a trip to the International Space Station.
Brightman will become the first recording artist in space.
The world’s biggest-selling soprano, who had a hit in 1978 with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper, said that after a tour next year for her new album, Dreamchaser, she will spend six months in Russia’s Star City cosmonaut training centre.
She also hinted at the possibility of doing a promotional “space concert.” (AP)
Malaria kills zoo penguins
Six penguins have died after an outbreak of malaria at London Zoo this summer.
The birds contracted the avian strain of the disease from mosquitoes and died in August, despite the zoo taking extra precautions to prevent the killer infection.
Zookeepers increased the birds’ anti-malaria medication due to fears that the wet weather created the perfect conditions for mosquitoes to thrive. (PA)
Home concerts in Vienna
Vienna’s venerable Konzerthaus is bringing musicians right into its audience’s homes under the title “Rent a musician,” to publicise its new contemporary concert series this season.
For one night tomorrow, music lovers will be able to book a 20-minute “house concert” – at home or at the location of their choice – performed by members of the Viennese contemporary ensemble PHACE. The choices on offer include an accordion and clarinet duo, guitar and percussion, a trio of cello, contrabass and saxophone, and a solo piano performance – although the piano will have to be provided.
A small donation is enough to secure one of the 20 mini-concerts performed tomorrow night. (AFP)
Cut-price bank robbery
A man tried to rob a US bank of one dollar because he hoped to be sent to a nearby prison.
Jeffrey McMullen handed notes to staff demanding the dollar.
He apparently wanted to be prosecuted federally so he could be taken to the prison in central Pennsylvania. (PA)
Taj Mahal replica in Dubai
A replica of India’s world-famous Taj Mahal, four times the size of the original, is to be built in Dubai as what is to be billed as the world’s grandest wedding venue, one of its developers said.
It took the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan 22 years to build the marble mausoleum for his queen 360 years ago, but the copy, to be known as Taj Arabia, is expected to take only two years.
The billion-dollar (€767 million) project will be set in the heart of the 41 million square foot Falcon City of Wonders on Emirates Road in Dubai. (AFP)
Weathering the storm
A tourist attraction boss in Britain says he is considering legal action against a Met Office after “a series of overly pessimistic” forecasts which he says are threatening to bring the tourist industry to its knees.
Rick Turner, who runs an animal attraction in Devon, said he has contacted lawyers with a view to possibly suing the Exeter-based Met Office for damages.
The UK has endured one of the worst summers on record, and the wettest for more than 100 years, with many days blighted by downpours. But Mr Turner said his business, a tourist attraction, suffered when visitors were put off from travelling to the South West by “negative” medium-term forecasts. (AP)