Kalis peluru dan bekalan darah antara ciri The Beast

The Beast dilihat meninggalkan Lapangan Terbang Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia di Subang.

KUALA LUMPUR: Lebih dikenali sebagai "The Beast", Presiden Amerika Syarikat Barack Obama menaiki kenderaan rasminya sepanjang lawatan ke Malaysia iaitu Cadillac One.

Buatan General Motors keluaran 2009, kenderaan itu mempunyai spesifikasi sangat khusus untuk keselamatan presiden itu, juga mempunyai ciri-ciri seolah-olah sebuah kereta kebal.

Sepanjang lima meter dan berat lapan tan, "The Beast" dilengkapi pintu kalis peluru setebal 20 cm. Badannya cukup kukuh diperbuat daripada besi keluli, titanium dan seramik.

Tayarnya juga kalis bocor dan kerangka kalis letupan melindunginya daripada sebarang bom jalanan. Malah tangki minyak juga diperbuat daripada bahan kalis letupan.

Selain itu, The Beast turut dilengkapi senapang "shot-gun" dan kamera penglihatan malam.

Ia juga memiliki persediaan oksigen sendiri dan bekalan darah yang sama jenis dengan presiden sekiranya berlaku sebarang kecemasan.

Kenderaan itu boleh memuatkan maksimum 7 orang, termasuk presiden.

The Beast, kereta rasmi Obama disifatkan sebagai kenderaan perlindungan yang paling canggih di dunia.

The Beast dilihat menyusuri laluan menuju ke ibu kota dan parlimen pada Sabtu.

-- ASTRO Awani 

United hit four to give Giggs winning start

AFP. Premier League, Old Trafford - Manchester United 4 (Rooney 40’ pen, 48’, Mata 64’, 73’) Norwich City 0

Ryan Giggs enjoyed his first win as Manchester United manager with a 4-0 victory over Norwich City.

Giggs watched in a suit from the sidelines, having left himself out of the match day squad. He was joined in the dugout by Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville.

United initially played much as they had for the whole season, struggling to find momentum or break the opposition down. Most of the play came down the right wing, with Phil Jones and Antonio Valencia sending in a number of poor crosses.

Just before half time, Steven Whittaker brought down Danny Welbeck as he prepared to latch onto a loose ball Norwich failed to clear, and Wayne Rooney scored with a confident penalty.

In the second half, Rooney took three minutes to extend the lead, curling in a fine shot from 25 yards. United regained some of their old confidence, and added two more through Juan Mata.

While 4-0 looks impressive, United should not get carried away - they beat Norwich in the League Cup by the same margin under David Moyes.

Eurosport - By Alex Netherton