Iraqi big bang

While British scientists were celebrating the flawless start to the "Big Bang" experiment in Geneva a team of British explosive experts detonated a significant quantitiy of abandoned high explosives in the desert north of the city of Basra.

In a series of explosions that shook the desert, more than 160 artillery shells were destroyed. The high explosives, ranging from 105 to 155mm artillery shells dating back to the Iran-Iraq war were discovered by a routine patrol north of Al Qurnah.