India balloonist nears 70,000 feet
Bombay, India An Indian textile millionaire apparently broke the world record Saturday for the highest flight in a hot air balloon.
The record by Vijaypat Singhania, 67, is subject to verification, but his son Gautam Singhania said the 44-ton balloon climbed nearly 70,000 feet, beating the old mark of just under 65,000 feet.
“This goes to show to the world that we are not bullock cart drivers, but we can compete against the best of the world,” the balloonist said.
One of the balloon’s designers said the height will be determined by instruments sealed inside the capsule. Once verified by aeronautical groups, the findings will be submitted to Guinness World Records.
The previous world record was 64,997 feet, set by Sweden’s Per Lindstrand in Plano, Texas, in 1988.
Taiwan says it wants to produce Tamiflu
Jakarta, Indonesia Indonesia reported a new human bird flu infection on Saturday, and Taiwan joined other Asian governments in announcing it wanted to produce the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to treat people infected with the virus.
Tamiflu has shown promise in the treatment of bird flu infections in humans. Countries around the world are trying to stockpile the drug in the event of a human pandemic, which experts fear could kills millions. At least 68 people have died of the virus in Asia since 2003, most in Vietnam.
Indonesia and Vietnam have secured permission from Swiss-based drug manufacturer Roche Holding AG to make the medicine, while other countries are in talks with the company. Taiwan said it plans to produce Tamiflu for domestic use when stocks supplied by Roche run out. But Roche, which holds the patent on the drug in Taiwan, said it was surprised by Taiwan’s move and called it unnecessary because the company will meet its agreement to deliver 2.3 million Tamiflu treatments.
Earlier Saturday, Indonesian health officials confirmed a 16-year-old boy had tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus, bringing to 12 the number of cases reported in Indonesia. Seven have been fatal.
Parts of Europe get an early snowfall
The Hague, Netherlands An early winter cold spell brought heavy snowfall to parts of Europe over the weekend, paralyzing public transport and roadways and cutting electricity to tens of thousands of households.
Ski slopes in Belgium and Germany opened early after as much as 8 inches of snow fell overnight into Saturday in some countries, while in Paris, the Eiffel Tower closed to the public for four hours after a morning snowfall made it too slippery to climb.
In the Netherlands, high winds and sudden freezing temperatures caused havoc on the national rail and road networks. With more than an inch of snow falling per hour and winds up to 100 mph sweeping in off the North Sea, traffic officials reported the worst gridlock in the country’s history, with hundreds of people sleeping in their cars after waiting up to 10 hours alongside highways.
Japan’s asteroid probe may have gas leak
Tokyo A Japanese spacecraft showed signs of trouble Saturday after apparently landing on an asteroid and collecting surface samples in an unprecedented mission to bring the extraterrestrial material back to Earth, officials said.
The Hayabusa probe, hovering about three miles from the asteroid, appeared to be shaking because of a possible gas leak from a thruster, said Atsushi Akoh, a spokesman for Japan’s space agency, JAXA.
JAXA will put Hayabusa into “safety mode” – which stabilizes the probe by turning its solar panels toward the sun – for two to three days to investigate, Akoh said.
JAXA announced earlier Saturday that Hayabusa appeared to have touched down for a few seconds on the asteroid about 180 million miles from Earth, collecting powder from its surface before lifting off again to transmit data to mission controllers.
But the agency will not know for sure if Hayabusa collected surface samples until it returns to Earth. It is expected to land in Australia’s Outback in June 2007.