Plus, an owl's sea rescue.
 

The Beacon

The Beacon

By Kate Turton

Welcome back to the Beacon. This week we're looking at China, where a rocket launch is a night out for thousands of spectators.

This month, Reuters was on the ground on Hainan island to witness a Long March 7A liftoff, as huge numbers of residents lined the shoreline, cameras ready. That's a real shift from previous decades, where China ran its launches under tight secrecy from isolated desert bases.

It's not just about watching rockets go up, either. China's space milestones are woven into popular culture, inspiring pop-up tourist experiences built for social media and showing up in fiction, alongside more staid museum exhibitions.

Put together, these launches are turning into shared national moments, and they are as much a source of local pride and tourist dollars as they are feats of engineering.

What local or global good news have you read this week that you would like to share? Email me at beacon@thomsonreuters.com and I might share it in a future edition.

 

A man films with his smartphone from Qishui Bay Beach during a launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan province, China, . REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

In their own words

Fu Jinhua said: "Our previous generations would never have imagined sitting here, enjoying the sea breeze, watching our own country’s rocket launch."

 

'Baby Shark' boy returns to stage as a K-pop singer

Play 

The child star of the "Baby Shark Dance" video, the most-watched video in YouTube history, is returning to the stage as a K-pop singer a decade on by releasing his first digital single.

 

In other good news

  • Chile-led team maps Antarctic plant genome in a step towards climate-resilient crops
  • Fastest-known star zooms under Milky Way black hole's influence
  • Breaking's next move: escaping the long shadow of Raygun
  • Kerala's snake boat racers keep tradition afloat
  • Blind Egyptian entrepreneur's AI app helps others 'see' the world
  • The Milky Way devoured a smaller galaxy about 11.8 billion years ago
  • Moss-covered panels could offer air-cleaning cladding for city walls
  • Lithuania's corgi racers run at their own pace
 

Owl aboard - British Army sailors rescue exhausted stowaway 70 miles out to sea

Sergeant Mark Petherbridge and Captain Tom Court with Little Regina, aboard Fujitsu British Soldier, near Great Yarmouth, Britain. William Naylor/Handout via REUTERS

An exhausted barn owl was rescued 70 nautical miles from shore by a British Army sailing crew competing ‌in one of yachting's most demanding races.

The bird, since named Little Regina, boarded after failing to land on a crew member's head and tumbling from the mast into the ‌sea three ⁠times, then finally collapsing onto the deck where sailors secured it with a towel.

The incident sparked a rescue effort aboard the Fujitsu British Soldier during the annual RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race. The ⁠military sailors worked with multiple wildlife agencies to rescue the bird while the crew raced toward the finish line at Cowes.

Skipper Will Naylor reported to race officials: "We have an extra crew member for the latter parts of the race. An exhausted barn owl that we are nursing back to health."

 

Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website
LiveIntent Logo
AdChoices Logo