Free Republic

LONDON (AFP) - A British adventurer laid claim to being the first to fly around Mount Everest (news - web sites), at 8,848 meters (29,028 feet) the world's highest peak, in a microlight aircraft. Richard Meredith-Hardy, 46, took off from a base camp 25 kilometres (15 miles) away, then braved potentially dangerous downdrafts to reach the summit where he waved to "a shedload of climbers" and snapped photos. "This place is seriously big," he said, according to a statement from his ground crew sent to AFP in London, "and we were lucky to get a break in the weather...