World Briefs

The Colorado blue spruce passed away “due to complications resulting from transplant shock” just 14 months after it was planted in the Ellipse field outside the White House, the National Park Service have said.

Born on a tree farm in New Jersey, it replaced a similar tree knocked down in a wind storm after 33 years. A successor tree – also a Colorado blue spruce – has been identified, and it will be planted in late October, the federal agency said.

The ceremonial lighting of the National Christmas Tree is a Washington tradition that dates back to 1923 when then-president Calvin Coolidge flicked the switch on a fir tree festooned with 2,500 electric bulbs.

Paper plane championships

Paper plane flyers from Lebanon, Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey and the US were crowned world champions in Salzburg, Austria after defeating rivals from over 80 countries overthe weekend.

Czech ‘pilot’ Tomas Beck won the longest distance category at the Red Bull Paper Wings World Finals on Friday and Saturday with a 50.37-metre throw, while Elie Chemaly from Lebanon achieved the longest flight time with 10.68 seconds.

This was, however, far from the current world records of 63.19 metres for distanceand 27.9 seconds forairborne time.

In all, 249 paper plane enthusiasts from 83 countries took part in the two-day event, selected from among 35,000 participants in some 600 qualification rounds worldwide. Regulations required that the planes be made out of a single A4 sheet of paper using no tools – such as scissors or glue – except in the aerobatics category.

Lennon plates to be sold

A unique piece of Beatles memorabilia will go on sale with the original printing plates for John Lennon’s first book set to go under the hammer.

The metal plates were used to print words and illustrations by the Beatle in the 1964 book John Lennon, In His Own Write. The lot to go on sale includes 35 of the 40 printing plates used to produce the book, which was the first solo project by any of The Beatles.

Decades-old debt for $76

A Massachusetts woman who got a bill for $73 (€56) from the state of New Jersey for a decades-old debt says she has no intention of paying.

Alice Mainville, of Amesbury, got a letter recently telling her she owes New Jersey’s Department of Labour $73 because it gave her too much money in an unemployment cheque 35 years ago. Ms Mainville said she collected unemployment benefit during a labour dispute at the bakery where she worked when she was 17.

Ms Mainville, who moved to Massachusetts after high school, says she won’t pay because New Jersey officials have not explained how they concluded she owes the money.