Barometer: The kamikaze pilot who retired after three missions

A kamikaze pilot at 80

The Japanese city of Minami-Kyushu was attacked for wanting to add the letters of 1,036 kamikaze pilots who died on suicide missions in the second world war to a UN archive. Not all kamikaze pilots died, and a few are still alive.
— Shigeyoshi Hamazono, who is now in his eighties, achieved the unique distinction of surviving three kamikaze missions.
— In the first two he developed technical problems with his plane and turned back. This did not lead to court-martial but to his being sent on a third mission.
— On this occasion he was intercepted by US fighters before he could find his target. They holed his plane but failed to cause it to crash. Instead, Hamazono limped home.
— The war ended before he could be sent on a fourth mission.

Big shots

Princes William and Charles began a campaign against poaching of endangered species. How many animals are being taken illegally?
Elephants: 50,000 out of 400,000 in the wild estimated to have been taken last year.
Rhino: 1,000 out of 20,000 in the wild in South Africa.
Tigers: 20 out of 3,200.
Source: CITES/Zoological Society of London

Wet wet wet

Chris Smith suggested that people should think twice about buying homes on the flood plain. How many properties in England are at risk from flooding?
— 5.2m homes fall within areas which can expect river flooding once in 100 years or from sea flooding once in 200 years.
— London has the highest number of properties in flood risk areas: 542,000.
— Since 2001, 208,664 new homes have been built on flood plains. Of those 38,026 are in serious flood risk areas.
Last year, 560 new homes were built in flood-prone areas in spite of objections from the Environment Agency.
Source: Environment Agency/Committee on Climate Change

Higher salaries

The government criticised university vice-chancellors’ pay.