Plane lands without front wheel in Myanmar airport
Naypyitaw: A Myanmar National Airlines plane with 89 people on board made an emergency landing at Mandalay International Airport on Sunday, with only its rear wheels after the front landing gear failed to deploy.
The Embraer 190 aircraft skidded down the runway at the airport before grinding to a stop. The pilot managed to land the plane on its nose, causing no injuries to the dozens of passengers and crew on board, Captain Myat Moe Aung circled the airport twice to allow air traffic controllers to determine if the landing gear was down, the airline was cited as saying by the BBC. The aircraft had departed from Yangon and was approaching Mandalay when the pilot was unable to extend the front landing gear. He followed emergency procedures and burned excess fuel to reduce the aircraft’s weight, according to the airline. A video of the landing showed the plane landing on its rear wheels before the nose touched down on the runway. The plane skidded for about 25 seconds before it stopped. The incident was the second aviation accident in Myanmar this week. (IANS)
Japan uses turtle shells togrow royal rice
Tokyo: In an ancient ceremony that occurs only once every imperial era, Japanese palace courtiers in traditional robes and hats decided on Monday where best to grow royal rice — using shells from endangered turtles. Two thin plates made from turtle shells were heated over a flame to produce cracks then used to determine where rice should be grown for a key autumn ceremony presided over by new emperor Naruhito. The cracks “told” officials to grow the rice in the ancient capital of Kyoto and north of Tokyo in Tochigi prefecture. For the ceremony — which Naruhito did not attend — officials clad in long black robes and ornate black hats were seen walking slowly into a striped tent. The rare ritual is conducted only after a new emperor takes the throne. It was last seen in 1990 about a year after Naruhito’s father, Akihito, ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne. While the shells are harvested from rare green sea turtles, they are procured as part of a conservation scheme, officials said. The turtles come from the Ogasawara, a Pacific island chain that lies 1,000 kilometres south of central Tokyo but is administratively part of the capital. People in the region have been eating sea turtles since the mid-19th century and are allowed to catch up to 135 of them annually. (AFP)
US man wanted by FBI surrenders after 23 years
Washington: An American man wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for “multiple incidents of sexual assault” between September 1995 and April 1996 involving minor girls, has finally surrendered after 23 years, the media reported. Wayne Arthur Silsbee, 62, walked into the Oregon City Police Department and turned himself in, the FBI said on Sunday, adding that his motive behind the surrender was not immediately known, reports CNN. Silsbee faces charges of first degree sodomy, first degree sexual abuse, endangering the welfare of a minor and first degree unlawful sexual penetration, according to a local arrest warrant the FBI said was obtained in Clackamas County, Oregon, near Portland, in July 1996. The probe agency said it obtained a federal arrest warrant charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution that was issued on September 1996. Silsbee’s first court appearance is scheduled for Monday. (IANS)
Berlin to bury prisoners’ tissue kept by Nazi-era doctor
Berlin: More than 300 tiny pieces of human tissue from prisoners executed during the Nazi-era in Berlin will be buried on Monday, the media reported. The samples were found in microscopic slides at a property that belonged to Hermann Stieve – an anatomy professor at the Charite – Berlin University of Medicine, reports the BBC. The pieces will be buried at a ceremony at Berlin’s Dorotheenstadt Cemetery. Heirs of the doctor, who died in 1952, discovered the collection in 2016. The tissue pieces were discovered at Stieve’s estate, stored in small black boxes, including some labelled with names. Once found, they were handed to the Charite, who tasked staff at the German Resistance Memorial Centre to research their history. Research under the memorial’s director, Professor Johannes Tuchel, showed that the bodies of 184 people, mostly women, were picked up by a driver and taken to Stieve, sometimes just minutes after they were killed at the Berlin-Plotzensee prison. He then dissected them for research, before discreetly cremating and interring their bodies anonymously. (IANS)