A radioactive capsule that fell off a truck in the Australian outback – sparking a radiation alert and a search of hundreds of miles of road – has been found.
Western Australia’s emergency services minister said the silver capsule, which emits the isotope Caesium-137, had been located about two metres from the roadside.
Authorities were hunting for the 6mm by 8mm capsule and retracing the truck’s 870-mile (1,400km) route with radiation-scanning gear.
The military was checking the capsule and it was due to be taken to a secure facility in Perth.
Minister Stephen Dawson called it an “extraordinary result”.
How was the capsule found?
It took several government agencies six days to find the missing capsule.
The search involved Western Australia’s emergency response department, police, fire and rescue service, along with Australia’s Department of Defence, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, and the Australian Nuclear and Science Technology Organisation.
They retraced the capsule’s 870-mile journey along the Great Northern Highway and other roads in both directions using vehicles fitted with specialist radiation equipment capable of flagging up the isotope Caesium-137 inside.
The vehicles travelled at “slow speeds” and eventually detected the capsule as it drove past it at 43mph.
Niall Monaghan, senior physicist at Radiation Consultancy Services Ltd, tells Sky News it would have been easy to detect with a moving vehicle.
“It’s pretty radioactive, so you would see it pretty easily with a basic detector – even travelling at 40mph.
“Caesium-137 gives off Gamma rays, which penetrate more than X-rays.
“So at that intensity, the capsule would be easily picked up by a detector like a Geiger counter – the ones you see in films that crackle when they find something.
“If you were going really fast you might miss it, but it’s the same as if it was dark and you were looking for something that glows – you would still see it.”
Authorities previously said it would take five days to retrace the route, with minister Stephen Dawson describing the end result as “quite literally finding the needle in the haystack”.
“When you consider the scope of the research area, locating this object was a monumental challenge, the search groups have quite literally found the needle in the haystack,” he said.
The capsule was found when a vehicle with scanning equipment picked up radiation as it drove past at about 43mph (70kmh).
People had been warned of potential radiation burns, sickness, and damage to their immune and gastrointestinal systems if they came closer than five metres to the capsule.
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Driving past was described as much lower risk however, similar to having an X-ray.
It was discovered far from any community and it is unlikely anyone would have been exposed to its radiation, said Western Australia‘s chief health officer Andrew Robertson.
Image: The hunt for the capsule was described as a needle-in-a-haystack scenario
Image: The search area covered hundreds of miles of highway
The capsule is owned by mining firm Rio Tinto and is part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore.
Vibrations during transportation are believed to have caused screws and a bolt to come loose from the gauge, allowing it to fall out.
The search area was vast as the truck covered a distance longer than Britain on its journey from the Gudai-Darri mine, in the remote Kimberley region, to the Perth suburbs.
Police, the defence department and Australia’s nuclear agency were all involved after the capsule was reported missing on 25 January.
Image: An investigation will look at the handling of the gauge and capsule at the mine
They had been scouring the state’s Great Northern Highway as well as other sections of the route used by the road train – a truck pulling multiple trailers.
Some 410 miles (660km) had been searched by Tuesday.
Rio Tinto, which gave the capsule to another company to transport, apologised for the “very concerning” incident and said it had launched its own investigation.
Authorities are doing their own probe but under 1975 state laws the fine for mishandling radioactive substances is currently only A$1,000 – and A$50 per day the offence continues.
“That figure is ridiculously low,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“But I suspect that it’s ridiculously low because people didn’t think such an item could be lost.”
Police have looked at bringing potential criminal charges but have concluded there is no case to answer.
In a stark and direct intervention, Martin Griffiths, the former UN humanitarian chief, has described the situation in Gaza as genocide.
The statement, made during an interview I conducted with Griffiths on The World, marks one of the most pointed accusations yet from a figure known to be deeply embedded in the world of international politics and diplomacy.
“I think now we’ve got to the point this is unequivocal. Of course it is genocide. Just as it is weaponising aid.
“We don’t need to look behind ourselves to see that’s the case. That should encourage us even more because we, of course, all doubted whether it would come to that level of definition.
“We all doubted whether famine is actually there. I think starvation is killing people. That’s bad enough. We don’t have to worry about famine, which is obviously there lurking in the shadows.
“Also, genocide… of course that’s what has happened. We only need to look at the statements made. Prime Minister Netanyahuhas the virtue of being very clear about his objectives.”
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3:14
Ex-Israeli aide dismisses genocide claims
His choice of words is extraordinary – not just for its gravity, but because it’s Griffiths who is saying it.
A veteran diplomat with decades of experience navigating complex international crises, Griffiths is known for his calm and thoughtful demeanour – not for inflammatory language.
For him to use the term “genocide” in a television interview signals a significant shift in how some within the international system are now interpreting events on the ground in Gaza – 20 months since Israel launched its war.
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Just weeks earlier, Tom Fletcher, another respected former British ambassador and current UN humanitarian chief, came close to using the phrase during a UN Security Council session.
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He said: “What more evidence do you need now? Will you act decisively to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law? Or will you say instead: ‘we did all we could?'”
Whilst he stopped short, his tone showed a clear change in how leading international figures now view the direction of Israeli military operations in Gaza; staggering civilian deaths, and the statements made by Israeli officials prosecuting this war.
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Lawyers representing Israel against accusations brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice last year – accusing its actions in Gaza of amounting to genocide – called the claims “unfounded”, “absurd” and amounting to “libel”.
They went on to say Israel respected international law and had a right to defend itself.
Now 41.2% of Europe finds itself in some form of drought, according to the latest update from the EU’s European Drought Observatory, which covers 11 to 20 May.
It is most acute in pockets of south-eastern Spain, Cyprus, Greece and Albania, where the strongest “alert” category has been issued, as well as parts of Poland and Ukraine.
But broad stretches of northern and eastern Europe through France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine also drying up, sowing concerns about crop yields.
On Thursday, the UK’s Environment Agency officially declared a drought in North West England after river and reservoir levels were licked away by a dry spring.
Image: More than 40% of Europe was in drought as of 11-20 May 2025. Pic: CEMS / EDO
Image: Heat was record high in March in Europe. The image on the right shows the south of the continent was much wetter than average and the north much drier. Source: Copernicus Climate Change Service
Greece tourism is ‘unsustainable’
In Greece, “overtourism” from millions flocking to its beaches adds further pressure to water supplies, said Nikitas Mylopoulos, professor of water resource management at Thessaly University.
“The tourist sector is unsustainable and there is no planning… leading to a tremendous rise in water demand in summer,” he told Sky News.
“The islands have an intense problem of drought and water scarcity.”
Islands like Santorini and Mykonos are now forced to ship in water from Athens or desalination plants to provide for showers and swimming pools. In the past, many residents could make do with local methods like rainwater harvesting.
But agriculture is a far bigger drain on the country’s water, with waste rife and policies lacking, said Prof Mylopoulos.
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1:55
‘Tropical nights’ soar in European hotspots
Wildfire season could be ‘particularly difficult’
This year’s hot and dry conditions are also fuelling the risk of yet another fierce wildfire season in Greece.
Last week civil protection minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis warned of a “particularly difficult” summer.
He said a record 18,000 firefighters have been deployed and the drone fleet almost doubled in a bid to combat fires being fuelled by a hotter climate.
Droughts and their causes are more complicated, but scientists at World Weather Attribution say global warming is exacerbating drought in some parts of the world, including around the Mediterranean.
Image: A drought was declared in northwest England on Thursday. Pic: Reuters
The International Hydropower Association said drought and intense rain in Europe are pushing power plants to “operate at the limits of their existing equipment”.
Extreme weather costs the EU about €28.3bn (£23.8bn) in lost crops and livestock per year, according to insurance firm Howden.
Hayley Fowler, professor of climate change impacts at Newcastle University, said: “With global warming, we expect more prolonged and intense droughts and heatwaves punctuated by more intense rainfall, possibly causing flash floods.
“In recent years, we have experienced more of these atmospheric blocks, causing record heat and persistent drought, as well as severe flooding in other locations in Europe.
“Recent months have been no different, with prolonged dry conditions and heatwaves in northern Europe and floods in southern Europe.”
At least 117 people have died and others are still missing after heavy flooding in Nigeria, an emergency official said.
Authorities initially said 21 people had died but this figure has today risen significantly.
Media reports quoting local government officials said a dam collapse has worsened the situation.
Ibrahim Hussaini, head of Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said some 3,000 houses were underwater in two communities.
Videos posted on social media show floodwater sweeping through neighbourhoods, with rooftops barely visible above the brown currents. One clip shows a tanker floating through a town.
Image: A tanker is swept away by floodwaters
The chairman of the Mokwa local government area suggested poor infrastructure has worsened the impact of the flooding.
Jibril Muregi has appealed to the government to start “long overdue” construction of waterways in the area under a climate resilience project.
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Image: Water appears to be flowing over a dam behind the town
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In a similar occurrence last September, torrential rains and a dam collapse in Nigeria’s northeastern Maiduguri caused severe flooding, leaving at least 30 people dead and displacing millions.
Nigeriais prone to flooding during the rainy season, which began in April – and flooding is becoming more common and extreme as the climate warms.
Hotter air is thirstier and can hold more moisture – about 7% more for every 1C warmer – meaning it unleashes heavier flooding when it rains.
Violent rain, which killed hundreds of people in Nigeria during 2022, was made at least 80 times more likely and 20% more intense by climate change, analysis by World Weather Attribution found.