On4August, French inventor FrankyZapata
became the first person to cross the Channel (the
body ofwater between Franceand the UK) onajet-
powered flyboard. The flyboard, which is an invention
of Zapata’s, lets the person piloting it fly through the
air unconnected to anything else.
Zapata left from Sangatte, France, at 6.17am
and landed 22 minutes later in St Margaret’sBay in
Dover,int he UK. He travelledatotal distanceof
22 miles andreachedatop speed of 106
during the flight. When he landed in the
Zapata said,“I’m feeling so happy,it’sjus
amazing moment in my life.”
This wasZapata’ssecond attempt
to cross the Channel. The firstwas
on 25 July,which wassupposed to
mark the 110th anniversary of the
first crossing of the Channel by plane.However,Zapata fell into the seaafter he missed his
landing spot onaship whereheneeded torefuel. The
flyboard, which is alsoreferred to asahoverboard, is
powered byabackpack filled withkero sene –aliquid
that is used as fuel in jet engines. The backpack only
has enoughkero sene for 10 minutes of flight, which is
why Zapata had to stop onaship andrefuel halfway
through. Luckily,the ship used for the second attempt
had alarger landingzone than the first.
to the seawasn’t the biggest mishap
had with his flyboard. He has spent the
e years developing it and lost two fingers
n accident when he tried to fly it for the
st time in his garage. Zapata says he
has achieved his dream, but he now has
other plans. Hewants to fly even higher
with his invention, and alsowants to
buildaflying car.mph
UK,
st ang
Fallin in
Zapata has
last three
in a
fir
h10 August 2019•IT’SANAMAZINGWEEKFORHEERAN
aperformanceinGermany on2August,
eeran brokethe record forthe most-
ded, and highest-earning tour of all time.
reviousrecord wasset by the band U- By the end of his tour on 26 August,
ran will have played 255 shows in 43
ries to morethan 8.5 million people.
Daredevil flies across the ChannelPA
·REX SHUTTERSTOCK
·GETTY IMAGES
·ALAMY
India strips Kashmirof its special statusThe Indian government has decided to takeaway
rights thatKashmir has enjoyed for decades.
Kashmir isaregion that lies between India and
Pakistan. Bothcountries say it belongs to them
and in the past they have gone towarover it. Each
countrycontrolsadifferent part ofKashmir.India has
controlled the partcalled the state of Jammu and
Kashmir since1947.
On 5August, Indiaremovedasection of the
Indianconstitution that gave its part ofKashmir
special status and allowed it to makeits own laws
(a constitution isaset of rules on whichacountry
bases its laws). Until5August, Jammu andKashmir
had its ownconstitution, flag and the freedom to
makeits own decisions, but the change means it will
now be under the same rules as therest of India.
The Indian government says itwants to help
improve theregion. However,some people are
worried that India is seeking to alterKashmir’s
population, which is mostly Muslim, by allowing
non-Kashmiris from India to buy land there.
Pakistan has vowed to challenge India’sdecision.THECOMMON BLUE BUTTERFLY
Thecommon blue butterfly isexperiencing
its best ever summer asaresult ofrecord
heatwaves across Europe. The Butterfly
Conservation charity said the species has
been in declinefor40years, but in 2018, the
population incre33THIS SKATEBOARDER
RayssaLeal, an 11-year-old from Brazil, has
become the youngest person to winastage
of theStreet League SkateboardingWorld
Tour.Leal beat
fellow Brazilian
Pamela Rose
and Alana Smith
from the US, at
the event inLos
Angeles, in the
US.Leal hopes
to continue
her incredible
success next
year when
she makes her
Olympic debut
in Tokyo2020.Protests in New Delhi againstthe
Indian government’sdecision.FrankyZapata
on his flyboard.DIDYOU
KNO
W?Franky Zapataused
tobe achampionjet skiracer.Aj
etski is lik
eamotorbiket
hattravels acrossthe surfaceofthewater.ED S
After
Ed Shh
atten
Thepp
in 2 11
Sheerr
counttras y n anFrankyZapataEd SheeranRayssaLealThecommon
blue butterfly.