In brief: British jet crashes at show, killing 7
LONDON – A military jet taking part in a British air show crashed into a busy main road Saturday, killing seven people and injuring more than a dozen others, police said.
The Hawker Hunter fighter jet, which was participating in the Shoreham Airshow near Brighton in southern England, hit several vehicles on a nearby road as it crashed Saturday afternoon. Witnesses told local TV that the jet appeared to have crashed when it failed to pull out of a loop maneuver.
West Sussex police said seven people died at the scene and one patient with life-threatening injuries was hospitalized.
The police said all the deaths were believed to have occurred on the road. It was not known whether the pilot was able to eject.
Pope joins faithful in pews for Mass
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis, who encourages prelates to get closer to rank-and-file Catholics, has practiced what he preaches, taking a place early among surprised faithful in a front-row pew in St. Peter’s Basilica for Mass.
The pope’s presence at an early morning Mass on Friday was completely impromptu, a Vatican spokesman said Saturday.
The spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said the Mass was celebrated at an altar dedicated to St. Pope Pius X near the entrance to the basilica. When it was time to receive Communion, Benedettini said, the pope lined up with the other faithful.
Francis arrived in the basilica without an escort and unannounced to pray, then stayed for Mass, Benedettini said.
Sailing chief: Events need clean water
RIO DE JANEIRO – The head of sailing’s governing body, ISAF, threatened Saturday to move all Olympic sailing events out of polluted Guanabara Bay unless the water is cleaner and floating rubbish is removed for next year’s Rio Games.
“If we can’t get the water to a level, then we’ll move it outside (to the Atlantic Ocean) – for sure,” Peter Sowrey told the Associated Press on the final day of an Olympic test event.
Such a move would be an embarrassment to local organizers and the International Olympic Committee. They have said repeatedly the water is safe despite being filled with floating rubbish and untreated sewage that gushes down gullies from hillside favelas.