AUSTRALIA
Teen completes global flight
A teenager yesterday made history by becoming the youngest person to complete a solo circumnavigation of the world in a single-engine aircraft. Lachlan Smart, from Queensland, touched down at Sunshine Coast Airport, from where he took off on July 24. At 18 years, 7 months and 21 days, Smart is a year younger than the previous record holder, Matt Guthmiller of the US. “What a welcome,” Smart said after landing to cheers from supporters. “To actually be here, having flown around the world, for over 24,000 nautical miles [44,448km] is just a great relief.” The teenager stopped in 24 locations and 15 countries during his seven-week trip. He said the weather and communicating with foreign air traffic controllers were his biggest challenges.
MICRONESIA
Stranded sailors rescued
The US Coast Guard said two stranded mariners were rescued on Friday after crews saw their “SOS” in the sand on an uninhabited island in Micronesia, Hawaii News Now reported. A US Navy aircraft crew spotted the pair on the beach and gave their location to the coast guard in Guam. Hawaii News Now said the two, who had no emergency equipment, were picked up and taken to a patrol boat. The coast guard received a report about the couple’s 18-foot vessel going missing on Aug. 19. Hawaii News Now said the two departed Weno Island on Aug. 17, and they were expected to arrive at their destination, Tamatam Island, the next day. Hawaii News Now said that on Wednesday, a ship noticed flashing lights from the uninhabited Chuuk State island where the two were later found. The navy was alerted and spotted the survivors on the beach.
UNITED STATES
Postal workers to face trial
Federal prosecutors in southern California have charged dozens of postal workers and others with theft, fraud and other crimes — including a mail carrier who allegedly hoarded 48,000 pieces of mail. The US attorney’s office on Friday announced that it has charged 33 people with theft, possession of stolen mail, conspiracy, embezzlement, bank fraud, making false statements and use of stolen credit cards. One case alleges that a former Mail Handlers Union executive stole more than 150 mobile phones at a distribution center in the Moreno Valley and traded them through a Web site. Another charges that a Los Angeles mail carrier was involved in a scheme that created prepaid PayPal debit cards using stolen identities. Prosecutors said the scheme caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.
UNITED STATES
People hold up falling ride
Fire officials said several bystanders held up a children’s roller coaster that had begun to collapse in Georgia, allowing six children and one adult to escape. Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner spokesman Glenn Allen said the group on Thursday evening held the Oriental Express roller coaster in place until wood or cement blocks could be put in place to stabilize it. A video posted on social media shows more than a dozen people holding up the roller coaster at the Bartow County Fair in Cartersville. Allen said there were no injuries, and a track malfunction is likely what caused the accident. The ride has been dismantled. Allen said Florida-based company Carol Stream operated the fair’s rides. The company did not immediately respond to a telephone call.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the