South African airline defends dramatic low-level flyby before rugby union clash- Cape Town stunt sparks major debate over safety risks
- Airlink insists flyby conducted according to regulations
A pre-game stunt involving two passenger jets flying dramatically low over a stadium in South Africa drew huge cheers from the estimated crowd of 56,000 people, but also sparked a major debate over safety risks. The flyby by two Embraer jets, operated by the local airline Airlink, happened on Saturday before the second rugby union Test between South Africa and New Zealand in Cape Town.The flight tracking service Flightradar24 estimated that the lead jet passed just 41-46 feet (12-14 metres) above the roof of Cape Town Stadium, with the crowd and the world's top-ranked rugby teams below. The second jet, which was very close behind, flew through a cloud of pink dust that shot up from the stadium roof as part of the show. Continue reading...
Countries legally obliged to consider slavery reparations, says UN committeeGuidance says states must implement 'comprehensive measures' to address legacy of racial discriminationA UN committee has said countries are legally obliged to consider reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and take other measures to address the enduring legacy of racial discrimination.Guidance published on Monday by the committee on the elimination of racial discrimination (CERD) said the obligations arose from a legally binding 1965 convention on racial discrimination, not from the legal standards that existed when the slave trade took place. Continue reading...
People fleeing Sudan civil war face 'dire and deteriorating' conditions in refuge cityMore traumatised civilians are arriving every day at 'shockingly overcrowded' El Obeid and camps on its outskirtsHumanitarian conditions in the Sudanese city of El Obeid and two camps on its outskirts are dire and deteriorating, according to people on the ground, as civilians displaced by fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia continue to pour in from the surrounding countryside. The UN says more than 15,000 families have arrived since mid-July, joining more than 200,000 people who arrived in the first half of the year, according to government figures cited by Save the Children. Continue reading...
Egyptian queen's 673-diamond necklace stolen in Vienna smash-and-grab raidPolice hunt two suspects after historic 200-carat piece is snatched from Austrian museum during opening hoursAustrian police are hunting two men alleged to have stolen a 200-carat platinum necklace encrusted with 673 diamonds that was on loan to a museum in Vienna and once belonged to Egyptian royalty.Authorities in the capital released pictures of the suspects captured by security cameras during the heist at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), amid a rash of spectacular smash-and-grab thefts from European cultural institutions. Continue reading...
Canada erects giant 'Lake Ontario' sign as spat with Trump over name escalatesMeanwhile, Trump posts video of himself kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with Lake America sign Donald Trump and Canada continued a verbal duel on Saturday over the US government's administrative renaming of Lake Ontario, with the Ontario premier erecting a giant sign saying "Lake Ontario. Now and Always" - and the American president posting a video of him tearing down an avatar of that sign, erecting a replacement saying Lake America, and dancing to YMCA.Rhetoric over the naming of Lake Ontario is the public face of an escalating trade dispute between the US and its northern neighbor involving a 50% US tariff on Canadian steel and retaliatory tariffs from Ottawa. Continue reading...
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