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Airlines have different rules to cope with the new sports gear

A woman was left ‘in tears’ when her ‘lucky’ padel racket was confiscated before her flight home due to one simple error. Henrietta Jones-Chapman brought the racket ‘worth more than £100’ to Bali so she could play the sport during a work trip.

But the 27-year-old says that before her flight home, security staff at Bali Denpasar Airport, Indonesia, confiscated the orange racket. ‘Heartbroken’ Henrietta says she was left in tears and could only think workers were worried she’d start ‘hitting someone round the head’ with it’.

She filmed a TikTok video moments after the incident and captioned it ‘don’t bring your padel racket in your hand luggage coming home from Bali’. The clip, which now has more than 230,000 views, includes footage of Henrietta admitting ‘I’m actually crying, it’s so pathetic’.

She explains she brought the racket into the country in the same handbag so is confused why it’s been taken from her. Henrietta says she had to ‘kick up a fuss’ to convince staff to put the racket in the hold for free so she could keep it.

In Indonesian law padel rackets are not allowed in the cabin because they are classified as ‘dangerous devices’ so she should have checked it into the hold. UK Government guidelines allow tennis rackets to be taken as hand luggage but prohibit ‘heavy bats and sticks’ including ‘baseball, softball and cricket bats’.

The list doesn’t appear to contain a rule on padel rackets, which take a tennis shape but are stringless and more solid. However passengers should check with specific airlines regarding equipment restrictions as some allow them on board and others don’t.

Padel is booming in the UK, with an estimated 1,000,000 people now playing the sport. Player participation has surged by over 2,500% making it the fastest growing sport in the country.

Henrietta, from Harlow, Essex, said: “I was heartbroken. I know it’s a bit dramatic but it’s an item that was important to me. I was gutted. It was not just your average racket, it was more than £100 and personalised by my brother so it was sentimental.

“I took it there [Bali] and it was fine to take there so it was still in my hand luggage on the way out like normal and I had no issues at all. It was in my handbag and I didn’t even take it out at security or put it in the tray, I just left it in the bag.

“Then a lady came over with a sign with a padel racket saying it’s a new law that they’re not allowed to bring it in your hand luggage essentially. The lady said ‘no you can’t bring it through’ and I cried. I don’t know if it was because I was leaving Bali as well. I was panicked.

“She took it off me but she was apologetic because she could see I was crying. It was my lucky racket. I don’t see what the danger is unless I start hitting someone round the head with it on the plane but that could be anything, your laptop.

“Because I wasn’t expecting this I was kicking off a bit of a fuss and getting upset and saying ‘I think there should’ve been a warning before we got to that point’. If I hadn’t kicked off it would’ve just been in the bin and gone. I was really relieved.”

Airlines have their own rules on sports rackets such as Ryanair who prohibit them as ‘blunt instruments capable of causing serious injury’. However, British Airways allows passengers to pack padel rackets as long as they’re in a slim protective case.

Henrietta, who had been working in Bali as a girls-only holiday host, says staff told her about the Indonesian law surrounding rackets being banned from hand luggage. They reportedly added that in future they wouldn’t let her go back to check the racket into the hold.

She’s now warning holidaymakers the should always put their rackets in hold luggage to avoid making the same mistake she did. Henrietta said: “Make sure rackets are in your check-in bag if you’re traveling to Bali. Maybe if you’re worried about it getting broken get a proper case or padel bag.

“Make sure it’s checked in with all your rest of your stuff and not have it in your hand luggage because if I was any later my bag might’ve already gone through. There could’ve been extra costs but I was lucky they didn’t charge me but there would’ve been going forwards.

“Now you know it’s one of those things you can easily do. At least now people know it can be safely kept in the hold. I do think there’ll be a lot of people that travel back from Bali with their racket because it’s cheaper to get one over there and it’s played a lot.”

Bali Denpasar Airport has been contacted for comment.

THE UK is home to the world’s fastest zipline – and it’s cheaper to visit this summer.

There are eight locations across the UK, one of which is Penrhyn Quarry in Wales where you can reach top speeds of 100mph.

The ride allows riders to soar high over quarry for one mile, and there are four parallel lines so families can race too.

There are other activities at Penrhyn Quarry including Aero Explorer which is the UK’s largest zip-coaster.

There’s a smaller zipline called the Quarry Flyer and there’s also karting and tours of the historic slate quarry.

And this summer, Zip World is offering up to £25 off tickets.

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One of the biggest savings is at Penrhyn Quarry where tickets are £99 between June 25 and September 1, rather than £124.

Here, families can also get up to two free kids’ meals with every adult main meal (children must be aged 12 or under).

Children can also eat for free at three other Zip World sites: Betws-y-Coed, Llechwedd and Tower Colliery.

While the other Zip World sites might not have to same zipline thrills, there’s still plenty to do there – at Llechwedd, there’s an underground cavern filled with trampolines.

Travel Writer Catherine Lofthouse who visited said her children were thrilled to find all the rides inside the former slate mine.

Catherine continued: “My boys were most excited for Bounce Below – a sprawling and cavernous trampoline park which features nets set at different levels for adventurers young and old to explore.

“The boys had an absolute blast underground, exploring all the different levels of nets and the twisty slides that connect them.

“Obviously the caves are a bit cold and damp, so you need to wear warm clothes and sensible shoes, preferably not your Sunday best.”

Meanwhile, Zip World Betws-y-Coed has the UK’s longest alpine coaster which at its fastest can travel up to 25mph.

Other Zip World sites have high ropes courses, tree top adventures and the site in London has the world’s longest and tallest tunnel slide which overlooks the 2012 Olympic Park.

China’s LineShine overtakes US-based El Capitan as most powerful supercomputer, according to the TOP500 list.

China has displaced the United States on an influential ranking of the world’s fastest supercomputers, underscoring Beijing’s growing capability to compete with the world’s leading superpower in cutting-edge technology.

China’s LineShine is the most powerful system on the planet, overtaking the US-based El Capitan, according to the biannual ranking announced in Hamburg, Germany, on Tuesday.

LineShine, located at the National Supercomputing Centre in Shenzhen, achieved a performance of 2.198 exaflops, carrying out more than 2 quintillion calculations per second – a 20 percent lead over El Capitan, according to the latest TOP500 list.

LineShine’s position marks the first time a Chinese system has topped the list since Sunway TaihuLight did so in 2017.

El Capitan, based at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, had ranked as the top-performing system since November 2024.

Frontier, hosted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, ranked third, followed by Aurora at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois and Jupiter at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre in Germany.

Other countries represented in the top 20 include the UK, Japan, South Korea, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Unlike other supercomputers, LineShine runs entirely on general-purpose central processing units (CPUs), which have fewer processing cores and are slower at performing complex tasks than the graphics processing units (GPUs) indispensable to running AI models, such as ChatGPT and Claude.

LineShine is the first and only system to achieve more than 2 exaflops in performance using a CPU-only design, according to the TOP500 list.

The TOP500 list has been published twice yearly since 1993, when computer scientists Erich Strohmaier and Hans Meuer first compiled statistics on supercomputers around the world in preparation for a conference on the topic.

The list ranks supercomputers’ performance using the LINPACK Benchmark, which measures the amount of time it takes to solve a dense system of linear equations.

While the TOP500 list has been influential for decades, experts consider the ranking to have become less relevant since the advent of AI.

While corporate tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon are at the forefront of today’s advances in AI, the list is largely made up of government and academic initiatives that volunteered their participation.

In a 2015 paper, researchers at Cornell University estimated that El Capitan achieved only 22 percent of the computational performance of xAI’s Colossus supercomputing facility in Memphis, Tennessee.

China and the US are locked in a fierce battle for global supremacy in leading technologies such as AI, with Washington and Beijing rolling out a slew of tit-for-tat sanctions and export controls to blunt each other’s advances.

The 2026 AI Index Report, released in April by Stanford University, found that China had “effectively closed” the AI model performance gap with the US.

While the US produces more top-of-the-line AI models, China holds the advantage in rolling out patents and industrial robot installations, the report said.

Ismael Saibari scored the fastest goal of the World Cup 2026 so far after just 71 seconds as Morocco beat Scotland 1-0 to close in on a place in the knockout rounds.

Saibari scored in Morocco’s opening 1-1 draw with Brazil last weekend, and his clinical finish with just over a minute gone settled a hard-fought, physical contest at Boston Stadium on Friday.

A crowd of 64,146 fans turned up at the venue in Massachusetts, United States.

The 25-year-old, who was born in Spain and raised in Belgium, is reportedly on the brink of a $63m transfer from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven to Bayern Munich.

The quality of his strike past goalkeeper Angus Gunn showed why he is attracting such interest, and it was telling that Scotland lacked the same quality in the opposition box — that helps explain why Morocco are ranked fifth in the world, and Scotland 40th.

With four points from two games, Morocco are now primed to advance to the last 32 as they aim to at least match their historic run to the semifinals in Qatar in 2022.

However, it was a sobering evening for Scotland and their army of fans who have taken over Boston during this World Cup, as their team never really tested Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

The laboured 1-0 win over Haiti in their opening game at the same stadium last weekend — which was their first victory at a World Cup since 1990 — gave them a platform to build on and reason to believe they can progress beyond the group stage at a World Cup for the very first time.

Another win here would have secured progress from Group C, but their chances of going further remain up in the air going into their next match against Brazil in Miami next Wednesday.

Moroccan coach Mohamed Ouahbi went with an unchanged starting lineup here following the Brazil clash, but opposite number Steve Clarke made three changes.

Clarke sought to reinforce his defence, meaning striker Lawrence Shankland dropped out as defender Kieran Tierney came into the side to make a back five.

But that was of little use as Morocco went ahead practically from kickoff.

The assist came from Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz, and Grant Hanley played Saibari onside as the latter latched onto the ball over the top, controlled it and rifled high into the net.

Morocco, who defeated Scotland 3-0 when the teams met at the 1998 World Cup, threatened to overrun their opponents every time they got forward but were wasteful, with Bilal El Khannouss squandering a good chance on 36 minutes.

Scotland were as stodgy in attack as they have been for a long time, and it took until first-half stoppage time for them to create anything dangerous.

That was a cross whipped in from the left by skipper Andy Robertson that John McGinn was unable to make anything of, and the opening period ended without Bounou needing to make a save.

Morocco hit the woodwork five minutes into the second half as Saibari met a cutback by El Khannouss, and his attempt was deflected onto the bar by Jack Hendry.

Moments later, Gunn made a fine stop to keep out an El Khannouss header from a corner taken by Hakimi, who was regularly booed by the crowd.

Morocco nevertheless seemed content to see the game out and soak up what Scotland could throw at them.

Ryan Christie fired over on 64 minutes after being teed up by Scott McTominay, who hit the side-netting late on, but a Scotland goal proved elusive.

Morocco face Haiti in Atlanta on Wednesday, while Scotland face Brazil in Miami.

Why was Achraf Hakimi booed?

Morocco’s captain Achraf Hakimi was named in the starting lineup hours after it was confirmed he must stand trial in France on rape charges.

Loud boos rang out from the Scottish fans when Hakimi’s name was read out and every time he touched the ball during the game.

The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) defender said in a statement earlier in the day that he faced trial on a rape charge and welcomed the opportunity to put across his point of view.

Hakimi had appealed his referral to a criminal court.

French media reported earlier that the Versailles appeals court had rejected the appeal, paving the way for his trial in a criminal court at some point in the future.

“Today, a story that isn’t mine is being told at the expense of my family, my life, and above all, ⁠⁠the truth. Sometimes I feel like ⁠⁠I’ve become an easy target,” Hakimi wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

“I’ve been waiting for this trial since day one. And now I’m looking forward to it. Finally, I’ll be able to speak out.”

Dean Harrison set the fastest time in Tuesday’s first qualifying session for the Isle of Man TT.

The Honda Racing rider topped the Superbike leaderboard with a speed of 133.925mph, a time of 16 minutes 54.206 seconds.

The five-time TT winner had earlier posted a lap of 133.222 from a standing start on his opening lap before shaving more than five seconds off his lap time on his second circuit.

The Yorkshireman, now based on the Isle of Man, was a double winner in the Superstock class last year, his first race victories since 2019.

Michael Dunlop was second quickest in the Superbike class on his Hawk Racing Honda at 130.341, almost 28 seconds slower than his rival.

Manx rider Nathan Harrison, Ian Hutchinson, David Johnson and John McGuinness completed the top-six leaderboard.

Australian Josh Brookes led the Superstock qualifying leaderboard thanks to a lap of 130.197 on his DAO Racing Honda, with 14-time winner Peter Hickman second behind the double British Superbike champion with 129.42, followed by Jamie Coward at 128.702.

Dunlop was best of the Supersports on 126.922 on his V2 Ducati, the Northern Ireland rider making a strong start in his bid to extend his run of eight consecutive race wins in the class.

Brookes was second at 124.271 on a Suzuki, then Hickman on his Triumph on 123.584.

Paul Jordan topped the Sportbike speeds thanks to a lap of 120.208 on an Aprilia, with Coward (119.199) and Browne (119.097) second and third respectively.

The concluding sidecar session was ended prematurely because of a red-flag situation.

An update from Race Control said they were “managing an incident that occurred at Brandish”.

The opening practice session of the 2026 event on Monday was red flagged following a crash on the northern section of the 37.7-mile (60km) Mountain Course, leading to the abandonment of the remainder of the day’s schedule.

Two spectators have been subsequently flown to the UK for specialist medical care after a competitor crashed into the crowd.

Event organisers said six other spectators and the motorbike racer had been discharged from hospital.

They simulated flight conditions at Mach 5, which is roughly five times the speed of sound and far faster than the iconic Concorde ever reached during its time in the air

A Japanese organisation is working on a hypersonic jet that could travel two and a half times as fast as Concorde.

In a test carried out by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), researchers installed an experimental aircraft inside a ramjet engine testing facility at JAXA’s Kakuda Space Center in Miyagi Prefecture, Interesting Engineering reports.

They simulated flight conditions at Mach 5, which is roughly five times the speed of sound.

The trial was a big success, validating the aircraft’s thermal protection system, control surfaces, and ramjet combustion performance under extreme hypersonic conditions.

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Such tests are crucial for the legitimacy of such an aircraft, as temperatures surrounding the aircraft can soar close to 1,000 °C at that speed.

The next phase of the program might involve mounting the experimental aircraft onto a sounding rocket or similar launch vehicle for a real-world Mach 5 flight demonstration, it has been reported.

Japan’s hypersonic research efforts are part of a bigger global race to develop ultra-high-speed transportation systems. If the JAXA plane makes it into the air, it could cut the flight time from Tokyo to the US down to two hours. Currently, it takes around half a day to make the journey on a typical commercial aircraft.

The aircraft would do this, in part, by rising to very high altitudes of around 17 miles, more than double that of a conventional aircraft.

A Mach 5 hypersonic passenger plane would fly at about 3,300 mph, roughly six times faster than a normal plane.

The supersonic Concorde passenger jet operated until 2003, but its speed topped out at about Mach 2. It’s maximum recorded speed was 1,400mph.

As exciting as the aircraft is, it’ll be a long time before it’s up in the air, and even longer before anyone is flying in it.

Hideyuki Taguchi, a professor at the Tokyo University of Science, told Mainichi: “Developing a conventional aircraft typically takes about 10 years. Since the development of hypersonic passenger aircraft requires two stages of demonstration — an experimental aircraft followed by a passenger aircraft — we hope development can be completed in about 20 years.”

Tetsuya Sato, a professor at Waseda University, added: “This result is still only a first step. Our dream is to connect it to a flight demonstration.”

JAXA is far from the only organisation attempting to launch a commercial super or hypersonic aircraft.

Recently, key milestones include NASA’s X-59 experimental aircraft and Boom Supersonic’s XB-1, both of which successfully completed test flights to overcome noise and efficiency hurdles.

The Zion Phelps story is going to be told over and over at Loyola High to show students what can happen when someone discovers potential and decides to take a chance to bring it out.

In his first year running track after bragging during the football season that he was the fastest student at Loyola, Phelps proved on Thursday he’s also the fastest 100-meter runner in the Mission League by winning in a school-record time of 10.49 seconds at the Mission League finals at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

“I’m beyond grateful,” he said after embracing Loyola coach Sharaud Moore.

A junior defensive back, Phelps let Moore bring out his track talent, and now he has options in track and football.

Loyola’s Ejam Johannes offers the “shoosh” sign after anchoring the winning 4×100 relay team. He also won the Mission League 400 and 200 titles.

(Craig Weston)

Another Loyola athlete stepping forward in preparation for next weekend’s Southern Section Division 1 prelims was Ejam Yohannes. He ran anchor leg for the 4×100-meter relay team that beat Notre Dame for the first time in three years with a time of 40.75. At the finish, he put a finger over his lips and gave a “shoosh” sign. He also won the 400 meters in 47.05 and the 200 meters in 20.85, the fourth-best wind legal time in the state this year.

Notre Dame’s JJ Harel qualified in three events — going 6 feet, 10 inches in the high jump, 22-5¼ in the long jump and also qualifying in the triple jump.

The strangest moment of the day came in the Mission League 100 girls’ final. Nalia Keyes of Chaminade and Maya Rios of Bishop Alemany tied for first place, each finishing with a time of 12.46.

“It’s weird,” Rios said of her first ever race tie.

In the Marmonte League final, Demare Dezeurn of Westlake ran the 100 meters in 10.39 seconds to outduel Jaden Griffin of Newbury Park (10.50) and Kingston Celifie of Calabasas (10.56). Dezeurn played football for Palisades in the fall after transferring from Bishop Alemany last season.

Baseball

Sylmar 10, Kennedy 0: Rickee Luevano hit a grand slam for Sylmar.

Westlake 10, Newbury Park 3: Dylan Lee homered and Holden Backus had two hits and three RBIs.

Bishop Amat 3, La Serna 2: Ray Castro threw six innings and also had an RBI single.

Temecula Valley 3, Vista Murrieta 1: Grayson Martin gave up one hit and struck out seven in six innings.

Oaks Christian 17, Calabasas 8: Ryan Sheffer hit two home runs and finished with four RBIs.

Softball

Garden Grove Pacifica 4, Cypress 1: Jenna Valladares had an RBI triple and Shay Kletke threw a complete game.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 16, Louisville 0: Jackie Morales had three hits and six RBIs.

Harvard-Westlake 14, Chaminade 11: It was a wild Mission League game that ended on a walk-off grand slam by Kale’a Tindal in the bottom of the ninth inning. Chaminade scored five runs in the seventh to tie the score 9-9. Both teams scored runs in the eighth to make it 10-10. Chaminade took an 11-10 lead in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by Siena Greenlinger. Tindal finished with four hits and four RBIs. Dylan Fischer had a home run, two doubles, a single and four RBIs.

Murrieta Mesa 8, Great Oak 0: Tatum Wolff threw six innings, striking out 10 and walking none. She also hit a home run.