Quirky World: Aircraft forced to turn back after passengers smell a rat
A rat found scuttling around the cabin forced a Chinese airliner to return to an airport shortly after takeoff yesterday.
The rodent was found shortly after the Loong Air flight left the eastern city of Hangzhou for the southwestern resort city of Xishuangbanna, the airline said on its official microblog.
It wasn’t clear how the rat gained access to the plane, although the official Xinhua News Agency said it wasn’t brought on board as a pet and may have arrived with the meal service. Along with worrying passengers, rats can damage a plane’s electrical and other systems.
“Considering the threat to passenger health posed by the rat and the possibility of endangering flight safety by biting through wires, the captain flew back to port in the best interests of public health and safety,” the airline said.
The father of a five-year-old Afghan boy who received autographed shirts from Lionel Messi says they are eager to travel to Spain to meet the soccer great.
Mohammad Arif Ahmadi, the father of the boy pictured wearing a homemade Argentina shirt made out of plastic bag with No 10 on the back, said they want to thank Messi, a Unicef goodwill ambassador, in person.
Afghan soccer federation spokesman Ali Kazimi says they have prepared passports for the boy, his father, and uncle to travel to Spain. He says they are waiting for a response about a meeting.
The boy, Murtaza Ahmadi, was photographed wearing Messi’s signed Argentina shirt at Unicef’s office in Kabul.
Authorities say a second-grader’s story about helping a farmer grow “special medicine” plants led to a big marijuana bust in Vermont.
Detective Jennifer Frank said in an affidavit that the eight-year-old told school officials and police that he helped his mother’s boyfriend grow “special medicine that can cure anything at all”.
Frank says the boy told her that people came to the Windsor house frequently.
Steven Mann, 54, pleaded not guilty this week to a felony count of cultivating more than 25 marijuana plants.
Police say they found two “grow rooms” next to the child’s bedroom.
A Pennsylvania high school honours student just months from graduation was actually a 23-year-old Ukrainian national using a false identity after his visa expired, police said.
Artur Samarin, who used the alias Asher Potts, was arrested and charged in Harrisburg, the capital city, police said.
Samarin is accused of masquerading as a Harrisburg High School student who was a member of the National Honour Society. Samarin was actively involved at the school, working with a student advisory group on a food bank, and he was a member of the school’s ROTC and Naval Sea Cadet programs.
He had a Pennsylvania driver’s licence in Potts’ name when he was arrested, authorities said. Police believe that identity was fabricated and no one’s identity was compromised.
A Canadian man who smuggled 38 turtles in his pants has been given probation, a fine, and has been banned from owning such reptiles for 10 years.
According to Canada’s environment department, Dong Yan of Windsor, Ontario, had tried to bring the reptiles from the United States into the southern part of the province.
“The turtles were contained in plastic bags and taped to Mr Yan’s legs,” Environment and Climate Change Canada said.
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