UNITED STATES
Horse gets loose mid-flight
A cargo jet headed to Belgium from New York had to turn around mid-flight after a horse escaped its stall and got loose in the hold, air traffic control audio showed. The Boeing 747 operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic had just started its flight across the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday last week when the pilot radioed air traffic control in Boston and said that a horse on board had escaped its stall. “We don’t have a problem as of flying-wise but we need to return, return back to New York. We cannot get the horse back secured,” the pilot said on air traffic control recordings made by the site LiveATC.net and compiled by the site You Can See ATC. The controller cleared the aircraft to return to John F. Kennedy International Airport. The pilot said that due to the plane’s weight, he had to dump 20 tonnes of fuel before going back to New York. The controller confirmed and alerted nearby pilots about a “fuel dumping in progress approximately 10 miles [16km] west of Martha’s Vineyard.” The 747 pilot had one more request. “I do believe we need a vet — veterinarian, I guess you call it, for the horse upon landing,” he said. “Is that something you can speak to New York about?” The controller said he would pass it on. The flight landed at Kennedy, took off a short time later and successfully arrived at Liege Airport the next morning, according to the tracking site FlightRadar24.
JAPAN
Panic near Israeli embassy
A vehicle crashed into a temporary barricade near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo yesterday, and reports said police arrested the driver. The alleged motive and whether the embassy was targeted are not known. Protesters often gather against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, and the street near the embassy has been barricaded by police. Police refused to confirm the media reports. A man in his 50s believed to be a member of a right-wing group was arrested at the scene on suspicion of obstructing official duties, public broadcaster NHK and other media reported. An ambulance was dispatched to a nearby location when an emergency call reported one person was injured, the Tokyo Fire Department said. One police officer had a hand injury, the media reports said. Photographs and video footage showed a black compact vehicle crashed into a guardrail by the sidewalk, with debris scattered on the street. The crash site is near an intersection about 100m from the embassy, NHK said.
AUSTRALIA
Musk’s X sues agency
An Australian online safety watchdog yesterday said it was being taken to court by Elon Musk’s X in a fight over the platform’s failure to outline how it combats child sexual abuse content. Last month, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant slapped an A$610,500 (US$396,564) fine on the company formerly known as Twitter for failing to respond to questions sent in February about how it is tackling the issue on its platform. The social media giant missed an extended deadline to pay the fine, the eSafety commission said this week, adding that it was “considering further steps.” Instead, X has taken the case to Australian federal court. “X Corp has lodged proceedings seeking judicial review of decisions of the eSafety Commissioner in this matter,” an eSafety commission spokesperson said. “ESafety continues to consider its options in relation to X Corp’s non-compliance with the reporting notice but cannot comment on legal proceedings.” Documents have been filed with the federal court in Melbourne. When contacted by AFP, X responded with an automatic e-mail: “Busy now, please check back later.”
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
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