And a World Record for Jet Lag?

--One minute you’re in Sri Lanka and the next you’re in Africa. Around the world in 80 days? More like a leisurely three weeks in these days of supersonic travel, and that even allows for a safari in Africa and cruises in Tahiti, Mexico and New Zealand along the way. As the Concorde set out Saturday from London on its first supersonic circumnavigation of the globe, it wasn’t the flying time that was to account for much of the 22 days of the trip. With a jet that can cover the 3,000 miles from Sri Lanka to Kenya in 2 hours, 40 minutes, it’s more likely that the sightseeing stops will be eating up most of the travel time. Leading the group of 100 passengers who paid $39,000 each for the trip is American journalist William F. Buckley Jr., who, in another supersonic first, plans to broadcast his television show “Firing Line” from Cape Town, South Africa, and Sydney, Australia, during the journey. In addition to those stops and the cruises in Acapulco, Mexico; Christchurch, New Zealand, and Papeete, Tahiti, the jet will touch down in New York; Oakland; Honolulu; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Mombasa, Kenya, and Monrovia, Liberia, during the 38,343-mile voyage.

--With the death of cartoonist Milton Caniff on April 3, 1988, a mighty pilot, Air Force Col. Steve Canyon, vanished from the skies. But the Air Force, loath to let one of its heroes go unrewarded, will formally retire the comic strip character with full military honors Monday in a ceremony at Ohio State University. After painstakingly going through all of the old Canyon strips, Air Force personnel compiled a biography and list of Canyon’s exploits, which will be featured in an exhibit in the journalism school’s library, recently dedicated to Caniff, a graduate of the school in Columbus, Ohio. “Through Steve Canyon, Milt Caniff did a lot to keep up the spirits of fliers and the Air Force,” said 1st Lt. Lynn Ellen Bryant. Canyon’s service record “includes decorations, citations, movement orders for each base, family data, all sorts of good stuff,” Bryant said. But the Air Force decided that since his record was so varied, Canyon could only be assigned to the Office of Special Investigations.

--Enough talk about international relations. When President Bush and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak take the helicopter from Washington to Baltimore on Monday the chatter will be about 7th-inning stretches and sacrifice plays. In an unusual windup to a day of diplomatic dialogue, Bush and Mubarak will attend the baseball season opener between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox, with Bush throwing out the first ball.