20 � WORLD NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF
Former employee went on stabbing rampage A JAPANESE man who stabbed 19 people to death and injured another 25 at a facility for the mentally disabled in Sagamihara, 30 miles west of Tokyo, sent a letter to the country’s parliament outlining his plan. Satoshi Uematsu, 26, who had been sacked from the unit, carried out the 40-minute attack in the early hours of Tuesday.
Film star tree falls A TREE that became a popular tourist attraction in the US state of Ohio after appearing in the film The Shawshank Redemption has been felled by high winds. The tree featured in one of the final scenes of the 1994 blockbuster.
Teenage abuse inquiry AUSTRALIA’S prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has ordered an investigation into claims that teenagers were abused at a youth detention centre in Darwin. The allegations were made when graphic footage emerged of teenage detainees being tear-gassed and stripped naked.
President accuses EU TURKEY’S president has accused the European Union of failing to honour its side of a deal to stop migrants entering Europe. Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims the EU has transferred only a small amount of the ¤3billion promised as part of the agreement.
Solar powered airplane touches down after flying round world THE WORLD’S first round-the-world flight to be powered solely by the sun’s energy has made history, landing in Abu Dhabi where it first took off on its epic 25,000-mile journey last year. Since it took off in March 2015, the Swiss- engineered Solar Impulse 2 has made 16 stops across the world without using a drop of fuel to demonstrate that using the plane’s clean technologies on the ground can halve the world’s energy consumption, save natural resources and improve quality of life. “Our mission now is to continue to motivate
people, corporations and governments to use these same solutions on the ground wherever they make sense,” said Solar Impulse chairman and pilot Bertrand Piccard, who landed the plane in the United Arab Emirates. The aircraft is uniquely powered by 17,248 solar cells which transfer energy to four electrical motors that power the plane’s propellers. The plane’s wingspan stretches 236 feet to catch the sun’s energy. It runs on four lithium polymer batteries at night. At around 5,070lb, the plane weighs about as much as a mini-van or mid-sized lorry. An empty FLYING VISIT Boeing 747, in comparison, Solar Impulse 2 pilots weighs 400,000lb. Bertrand Piccard To help steady it during (right) and Andre take-offs and landings, the Borschberg plane was guided by runners and cyclists. Over its entire mission, Solar Impulse 2 completed more than 500 flight hours, cruising at an average speed of between 28 and 56mph. The project is estimated to cost more than £76million. The carbon-fibre plane is a single-seater aircraft, meaning its two Swiss pilots – Mr Piccard and Andre Borschberg – had to take turns flying solo for long days and nights. To calm
their minds and manage fatigue during the long solo flights, Mr Borschberg practised yoga and Mr Piccard self-hypnosis. Mr Borschberg said: “By flying around the world thanks to renewable energy and clean technologies, we have demonstrated that we can now make our world more energy efficient.” The pilots would rest for a maximum of 20 minutes at a time, repeating the naps 12 times over each 24-hour stretch. Neither pilot was able to stand in the cockpit while flying, but the seat could be reclined for stretching and its cushion removed to gain access to a toilet.
‘‘Our mission now is to continue to motivate people, corporations and governments’ Goggles worn over the pilots’ eyes flashed lights to wake them up while armbands placed underneath their suits buzzed when the plane was not flying level. Mr Piccard, a psychiatrist, is the son of undersea explorer Jacques Piccard and a grandson of balloonist Auguste Piccard. In 1999, he became the first person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop in a hot air balloon. Mr Borschberg, an engineer and graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is also an entrepreneur. He launched the Solar Impulse project in 2003 with Mr Piccard.
Church turns to legal eagles in battle against Pokemon THE Catholic Church has hired a lawyer to tackle a plague of Pokemon Go players who are invading Cologne Cathedral. It was reported that the church decided to take legal action after the virtual reality game’s manufacturers did not react to requests to exclude the ancient building from Pokemon Go. The newspaper quoted the dean, Robert Kleine,
Wednesday 27th July 2016
as saying that ‘the cathedral isn’t a playground’. The game has barely been out of the news since its recent release, with stories of gamers getting themselves into trouble while playing. In America a man crashed into a police car while playing behind the wheel, and in Co Down in Ireland a man reportedly jumped out into a busy dual carriageway.