NEW YORK – The pilots of a solar-powered airplane on a globe-circling voyage that began more than a year ago said their flight over the Statue of Liberty before landing in New York inspired them on their mission to promote a world free from reliance on fossil fuels.
“Today, liberty is about finding and promoting renewable sources of power,” said Bertrand Piccard, the initiator and one of the pilots of the Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2.
Piccard and Andre Borschberg, who flew the plane to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, arrived from Pennsylvania at 4 a.m. after a 4 hour-41-minute flight.
The Solar Impulse 2’s wings, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night. The trip began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi.
TEHUACAN, Mexico – The prime suspect in the brutal slaying of 11 family members is a man who allegedly sought revenge after one of the victims reported that he raped her and he was jailed, a Mexican law enforcement official said Saturday.
The official said authorities believe two attackers fatally shot the woman and her family, including two girls. The killers also slashed a male victim believed to be the woman’s partner, and may have tried to decapitate him.
The killings took place Thursday night in the remote hamlet of San Jose el Mirador, in the municipality of Coxcatlan in the central state of Puebla. Prosecutors said late Friday that two suspects are being sought and they are believed to have fled into the mountains of neighboring Oaxaca state.
BEIRUT – Two suicide bombers struck close to the Syrian capital Saturday, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more in the latest attack to hit the predominantly Shiite area in recent months, state TV and an opposition activist group said.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombings through its Aamaq news agency, which said there were three attacks carried out by suicide bombers.
Syrian State TV said the blasts in the Sayyida Zeinab area just south of Damascus killed 12 people and wounded 55 others.
ROME – An Italian minister is spearheading efforts to discourage men from murdering women who spurn or leave them.
Reforms Minister Maria Elena Boschi, who also deals with equal opportunity matters, said Saturday that the campaign to educate males against such violence must start first in the family but also involves schools and sports clubs.
Galvanizing the campaign is the recent case of a man who strangled then set a woman on fire in Rome who broke up with him and was seeing someone else.
Boschi says helping the campaign will be an Italian lawyer who testified against an ex-beau who had disfiguring acid doused on her face.
Associated Press
