Online beggar in UAE makes USD 50,000 in 17 days
Dubai: A woman in the UAE has been arrested here for conning people into giving her $50,000 (183,500 dirhams) by promoting herself as a victim of a failed marriage on social media platforms and asking for money to support her children, officials said. The woman duped several people with her posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and made the money in just 17 days, said a Dubai police official on Sunday. Brigadier Jamal Al Salem Al Jallaf, Director of Criminal Investigation Department of the Dubai Police, said the woman established online accounts and posted pictures of her children to beg for living expenses “to raise” them, the Khaleej Times reported. “She was telling people that she was divorced and supporting her children on her own. But her former husband reported her through (the) e-Crime platform and proved the children were living with him,” Brigadier Al Jallaf said. “The husband realized his children’s photos were being used for begging after several relatives and friends called to check with him. By defaming her children and harming their reputation, the woman managed to earn $50,000 in 17 days of begging on social media,” the officer said. Captain Abdullah Al Shehhi, Deputy Director of the Dubai Police’s cyber crime department, said begging via online channels is punishable in the country with imprisonment and/or a fine of between 250,000 to 50,000 dirhams. (IANS)
Chinese man completes second round-the-world flight
Beijing: A 57-year-old Chinese man completed his second round-the-world flight and has landed in Chicago after flying 68 days and making 50 stops, the media reported on Monday. Before landing on Sunday morning, Bo Zhang circled around a small airport, an hour’s drive southwest of Chicago, four times at low altitude to express his excitement, reports the Global Times. On April 2, Zhang kicked off the flight in the same airport in Chicago. In 68 days, he flied through 21 countries in three continents and over three oceans, with total mileage reaching 41,000 km. “As the airplane I flew is piston propelled and has no pressure cabin with limited endurance and flying altitude, the challenges I encountered this time were much more than when I did the first around-the-world flight,” Zhang told Xinhua news agency. “I have experienced all hardships, expected and unexpected.” The most difficult part of the flight was over the Arctic area, he said. “After taking off from Chicago, I directly flew northward into the Arctic Circle. Weather there was still cold in early April, when the ground temperature was 20 degrees Celsius below zero… I was flying at an altitude of 15,000 feet, and temperature there was minus 50 Celsius.” During the whole trip, Zhang was battling with other problems such as fuel supply, mechanical failure, and emergency maintenance and repair almost every day. Zhang has already started to plan for his third around-the-world flight. He made history in 2016 when he performed his first flight around the world in a propeller-driven aircraft. (Reuters)