Approximately 18,000 cows were killed in a blast at a Texas dairy farm earlier this week, according to local authorities. The explosion, at South Fork Dairy near the town of Dimmitt, also left one person in critical condition. Authorities believe that machinery in the facility may have ignited methane gas. Nearly three million farm animals died in fires across the US between 2018 and 2021. Castro County Sheriff’s Office said they had received a report of a fire at the farm at about 19:21 on Monday (00:21 GMT Tuesday). Photos posted by the Sheriff’s Office show a huge plume of black smoke rising from the ground. When police and emergency personnel arrived at the scene, they found one person trapped who had to be rescued and flown to hospital in critical condition. While the exact figure of cows that were killed by fire and smoke remains unknown, the Sheriff’s Office told the BBC that an “estimated 18,000 head of cattle” had been lost.(BBC)…[+]

US President Joe Biden’s aircraft has landed at Knock Airport as he returns to his roots in County Mayo. Mr Biden has links to the county through his great grandfather Edward Blewitt. The president is due to speak at a homecoming celebration outside St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina on Friday night. A crowd of up to 20,000 people are expected to line the streets of the town for the event. It is thought that the president will be presented with a brick from a fireplace that is the last surviving piece of his ancestral home in the town. The mayor of Ballina, Mark Duffy, said people were eagerly awaiting the president’s arrival. “This is a homecoming event, it’s a welcome home where he has family and friends in the area,” he told BBC News NI. “I hope there is respect given to that because they are true ties, they are sincere links, it’s not engineered, it’s not fabricated. “It’s meaningful for the president, it’s meaningful for the people here in town.”(BBC)…[+]

A major prisoner swap between warring sides in Yemen is under way, seen as part of stepped-up efforts to end the devastating eight-year conflict there. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said detainees were being flown from the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, to government-held Aden. About 900 prisoners are expected to be exchanged over the next three days. The war between rebels and pro-government Saudi-led forces has left tens of thousands of Yemenis dead. It has also created what the UN has called one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with some 80% of the population forced to rely on food aid to survive. The exchange – the largest since late 2020 – is seen as a confidence-building measure, following talks earlier this week in Sanaa between a Saudi delegation and Houthi rebels aimed at reaching a new and potentially permanent ceasefire.(BBC)…[+]