Reza Baluchi in Lake Park, Florida, with his seafaring vessel in 2016. AP
Reza Baluchi in Lake Park, Florida, with his seafaring vessel in 2016. AP
Reza Baluchi in Lake Park, Florida, with his seafaring vessel in 2016. AP
Reza Baluchi in Lake Park, Florida, with his seafaring vessel in 2016. AP

Iran-born man arrested for trying to 'run' to London via Atlantic Ocean


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The US Coast Guard has arrested an Iran-born man for “conducting a manifestly unsafe voyage” across the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Idalia.

Reza Baluchi, a resident of the state of Florida, is being charged with obstruction of a boarding and a breach of a captain of the port order after failing to provide officials with registration when he was approached in August, according to a court document shared by Fox News.

Mr Baluchi was reportedly attempting to “run” across the Atlantic Ocean from the south-eastern coast of the US towards London via a device that operated like a hamster wheel. The distance from Florida to London is about 7,000km.

“US Coast Guard Seventh District crews terminated the manifestly unsafe voyage of Mr Reza Baluchi and rescued him from his makeshift hydro-pod vessel approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of Georgetown, South Carolina, ahead of Hurricane Idalia,” a statement issued on Wednesday read.

“The Coast Guard is working with the US Attorney's Office to pursue federal charges against Mr Reza Baluchi for his alleged criminal conduct on the high seas.”

When officials approached Mr Baluchi on August 26 and asked for registration, he was unable to locate the documents he claimed to have. They then asked him to disembark his vessel.

“Based on the condition of the vessel – which was afloat as a result of wiring and buoys – USCG officers determined Baluchi was conducting a manifestly unsafe voyage,” the criminal complaint stated.

In response to officials' requests to produce documentation, Mr Baluchi said he would attempt to take his own life with knives he possessed.

He also stated that there was a bomb on board but he later said “the bomb was not real”.

This is not the first time the distance runner has attempted to run on water with his contraption: in 2021, he was arrested when he tried to make a voyage from Florida to New York on the water.

Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad. 

Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

Second ODI

England 322-7 (50 ovs)
India 236 (50 ovs)

England win by 86 runs

Next match: Tuesday, July 17, Headingley 

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Updated: September 06, 2023, 8:06 PM`