Lightning Bolt Made Me a Music Maestro

In 1994 Tony Cicoria was struck by lightning, and it had the strangest effect on him. Not only did he develop an insatiable desire to listen to piano music - something he'd never been interested in before - but he ended up composing his own sonatas. He tells Outlook's Daniel Gross his remarkable story.

When conflict broke out in Syria, people left everything behind - including their pet animals. But one man is on a mission to rescue as many as he can. Mohammad Alaa Jaleel runs a sanctuary for abandoned cats and dogs. He tells Jo Fidgen how he became known as "the Cat Man of Aleppo".

Of the thousands of bodies sent to coroners' offices in the United States every year, around 1,000 are still unidentified 12 months later. No one knows who they are, and their families don't know what has happened to them. In New York, forensic specialists are turning to an unconventional method to identify them - they're enlisting the help of artists. One of them is the Venezuelan sculptor Mario Palli. Outlook's Colm Flynn reports.

Image: Lightning strikes
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