WEIRD STUFF

Pilot stabbed mid-flight

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) —

A pilot on a flight from the United Arab Emirates stabbed another pilot and then apparently tried to crash the aircraft carrying dozens of Israelis yesterday, Israel’s prime minister said. Passengers and crew subdued the attacker and the plane made a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

The FlyDubai flight to Israel issued an emergency alert and abruptly descended thousands of feet (metres). The episode prompted Israel to scramble warplanes amid concerns about a possible hijacking.

Video footage circulating on social media and reviewed by The Associated Press shows two men on the floor of the plane, bloodied and wounded. Two people appear to be providing medical treatment while two others guard the cockpit. “We are guarding the pilot,” one person says in Hebrew. In another video, passengers weep and cry out in distress as the aircraft shakes.

The passengers and crew who intervened “saved many lives and prevented a major disaster”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding that Saudi Arabia arrested a pilot whose identity was not immediately shared by authorities. Saudi Arabia had no immediate comment.

The plane’s captain and first officer were injured, according to a statement from the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk carried by state-run Alekhbariya television. Passengers received medical attention from local authorities, according to a regional official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Around two and a half hours after leaving Dubai, the flight descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (around 10,000 metres to 5,100 metres) in about a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk about an hour later, according to Flightradar24.

As the plane began to dive, a passenger and a crew member broke into the cockpit, said Netanyahu, citing a passenger he spoke to. Other crew members then took over flying the plane.

Among the passengers who intervened were members of the Israeli security forces and air marshals, according to a person familiar with a probe by Saudi Arabia and regional partners. The person was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

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Celebrity shark pulls thousands

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) —

A huge gray shark named Bukangi has become an honourary mascot in South Korea’s biggest port city while slowly circling a canal where the animal has been trapped for nearly two weeks.

Officials in Busan have embraced the attention brought by the shark, which has drawn thousands of tourists and now shares the Korean name for the city’s North Port, where it was first spotted September 18.

The shark, which officials say is about 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) long, has become a social media sensation, but guiding it back to open water has proved tricky.

Officials on Tuesday deployed five vessels to the waterway. They sprayed streams of water from tanks while attempting to herd the shark toward the open sea, an effort closely watched by huge crowds on site and broadcast on YouTube.

The crews gave up hours later after the shark repeatedly swam past or dived to avoid the boats, remaining inside the canal.

Kim Won-ho, a Busan City official, said authorities will make another attempt as early as Friday to free the shark, which experts say is important for its safety and long-term health.

The state-run National Institute of Fisheries Science is producing a specially designed net 50 metres (54 yards) long or bigger to be stretched across the waterway by boat to channel the shark toward the exit. Another boat will spray water from behind to drive the shark in that direction, according to tentative plans, he said.

About 600,000 visitors have flocked to the North Port to see the shark since counting began September 19, including nearly half a million during last week’s Chuseok holiday break, the Korean Thanksgiving, city officials said.

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3,000 South Africans grill for glory

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) —

Armed with their tongs and sausages, thousands of determined — and hungry — South Africans gathered on a national holiday last Thursday to attempt to break the world record for the biggest cookout.

The record to beat for most people grilling simultaneously was 2,220, set in Japan’s Ishigaki City in 2023.

The South African hopefuls, who were denied in a failed attempt last year, poured into a sports stadium in the capital, Pretoria, to take up their positions around 500 grilling stations. Organisers said they expected around 3,000 participants.

The strict rules, according to a Guinness World Records adjudicator who watched over the attempt, were: Everyone needs to be barbecuing simultaneously for a minimum of five minutes to be counted.

“And, if anyone leaves, they do get disqualified,” said the adjudicator, Paulina Sapinska, who wore a blue blazer and tie and held an official-looking clipboard as she monitored the mass sausage and burger grilling.

The mass cookout came on Heritage Day, a national holiday where people in multiracial and multicultural South Africa are encouraged to show off and celebrate their own specific heritage. The holiday has become known informally as ‘Braai Day’ because the love of the cookout is shared by people across the country and it’s how many South Africans celebrate it.