Loudspeakers

The first "adhan," the Islamic call to prayer, was recited in a Turkish mosque on Oct. 14, following Germany's Cologne Municipality's decision to allow the recitation of a call to prayer on Fridays from mosque loudspeakers.

The recital of the adhan from loudspeakers is now allowed in Düren and Raunheim provinces, while the practice took place for the first time in Cologne.

A woman whose headphones caught fire on a plane suffered burns to her face and hands, Australian officials said March 15, as they warned about the dangers of battery-operated devices in-flight.

The passenger was listening to music on her own battery-operated headphones as she dozed about two hours into the trip from Beijing to Melbourne on Feb. 19 when there was a loud explosion.