Bugatti To Set A World Land Speed Record

The Bugatti Veyron wretched on to the scene in 2005, its 8-litre W16 engine delivering 736kW, or knocking on the door of 1000bhp. But that wasn't enough for Bugatti. Even then it was scheduling an engine with more power. Now, five years down the track, it wants to round off the Veyron's limited production run of 300 variants with something unique.

The last 40 Veyron examples to be built will run with the reworked W16 that Bugatti used to set a world land speed record for a production car of 434km/h, or 268mph. The engine in the carefully revised Super Sports Veyron produces 883kW, or 1184bhp. The first five of the final 40 will wear the same black and orange colour plan as the world record car.

The Veyron Super Sport is efficiently the final iteration of the Veyron. The engine uses larger turbos and bigger intercoolers to push power to 883kW. Torque increases from 1234Nm to 1482Nm.

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Live Tiger Cub Rescued From Luggage

The 31-year-old Thai national, whose identity has not been exposed by Thai authorities, was planned to board a Mahan Air flight to Iran. But when she was seen fraught with a large bag at check-in, airport officials decided to x-ray her luggage.

The x-rays discovered the tranquilized tiger cub among stuffed-tiger toys, according to a statement released by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network. Officials are investigating whether the cub was wild caught or captive-bred, as well as where the woman planned to bring the tiger.

All Asian tigers are scheduled as endangered or worse by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), mostly due to the illegal trade in tiger parts.

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JetBlue Airplane Caught Fire In California Airport

Fifteen people suffered minor injuries when a Jet Blue airplane made a hard land at Sacramento International Airport in Northern California on Thursday, authorities said.

The landing forced the emigration of 87 passengers and five crew members via inflatable slides, Airport spokeswoman Gina Swankie said.

The passengers were then loaded on buses and waited on the runway to go to a terminal, Swankie said.

"A Jet Blue spokesman told me that the flight reported a matter with the brakes," Swankie said. "The crew elected to evacuate the aircraft in an abundance of caution."
The flight blew two tires as it was landing, said Swankie.

The tires caught fire, Swankie said, but he could not corroborate reports that a fire was also reported on the plane. Flight 262, which was from Long Beach, Southern California, was planned to arrive at 12:37 p.m.

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New World Record Likely To Be Created At World Bog Championships

A NEW WORLD record time is thought to have been set at this year’s World Bog Snorkelling Championships in Powys.

Dan Morgan, from Brecon, completed the event at Llanwrtyd Wells in 1 minute 30.06 seconds, beating last year’s record of 1 min 38.15 seconds. The official time will be established by organisers later today.

Up to 140 people from across the world were opposing at the annual event, where contestants have to avoid conventional swimming strokes to get through the 60 yard trenches, using only flippers to push through the mud and water.

Hundreds of people visited the site at 1pm to cheer on the contestants, who took part in a number of diverse categories, from juniors and men and women, to fancy dress. Organizers said they predicted that a new record might be set after the bogs were cleared of remains for the first time in a decade.

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Indonesian Volcano Erupts Again For Second Time

Mount Sinabung on the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Monday erupted for a second time, forcing more than 20,000 people to stay in evacuation centres, officials said. The Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre said Sinabung’s second eruption occurred at 6:30 am (2330 GMT Sunday), belching a editorial of smoke up to 2,000 metres into the sky.

The 2,451-metre-high volcano erupted for the first time in more than four centuries early Sunday, prompting the migration of thousands of residents from its slopes. Sunday’s eruption came only hours after the local government permitted residents to return to their homes, assuring them that the volcano was not dangerous.

The Sinabung volcano, located about 1,300 kilometres north-west of Jakarta, has been seen heating up since late Thursday, causing people living on the slopes to run away. The number of refugees had reached 21,054 people by Sunday morning, said Jhonson Tarigan, a Karo district public relations official. “The number is probable to increase if the situation gets worse,” Jhonson said.

Vulcanologists upgraded Sinabung’s danger status to the top level minutes before Sunday’s eruption, and revised its position from a dormant to an active volcano. “Previously, there was no important activity at the Mount Sinabung volcano, so the monitoring did not take priority since the 1600s,” Surono, the head of the directorate who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said on Sunday.

He recommended the residents stay at the evacuation centres until further notice. Besides ordering the evacuations, experts also warned residents to wear face masks alongside the volcano’s ash and told people living along rivers to watch out for possible lava-induced floods. Indonesia has the maximum density of volcanoes in the world with about 500 in the “Belt of Fire” in the 5,000-kilometre-long archipelago nation. Nearly 130 are active and 68 are scheduled as dangerous.

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