Pictured: The explosive power of the world's most active volcano

A fiery spurt of lava explodes into the air as it reaches the salty waters of the Pacific Ocean from the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii.

It is just one of the awe-inspiring images taken by photographer Brad Lewis, also simply known as the 'Volcano Man'. In another he snapped the pulsing Pu'u O'o lava lake, which captured the sense of incredible heat inside the furnace.

The 50-year-old has put himself into many death defying situations to capture the natural beauty of one of nature's powerful phenomena.

And while the thought of getting up close to 2200 degrees (F) lava is enough to scare most people off the job, this photographer wouldn't have it any other way.

'I get as close as I can without catching on fire or burning my skin,' explains the 50-year-old. 'If I stay upwind, I can get pretty close usually.'

The island of Hawaii is located over a 'hotspot' located in the middle of the massive Pacific tectonic plate. It is made up of five volcanoes. The youngest and most active in the world is Kilauea.

Several hundred thousand cubic meters of lava gush from its vents and tubes almost every day.

The American photographer does most of his work at dawn and dusk because he believes these times provide the best light.

'All the movement and texture can come together. I always study the situation before I shoot it so I can pre-visualise what I most want, and be in position to get it when the time is right,' he said.

His vivid and detailed work has been of great assistance to the Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory and the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, to whom he has donated his images for the past 20 years.

Despite the obvious risks of his job, Mr Lewis insists he always plays it safe.

'My biggest concern is personal safety. I use a special respirator to protect my lungs from the poisonous fumes I am often exposed to,' he said.

'I wear protective clothing, but not the silver heat-resistant suits that some volcanologists wear, because I want to know what kind of heat conditions I am in at all times.'

'But even the best equipment has a short life-span on the volcano as caustic fumes fry the electronics of camera gear.'

Brad has lived with his wife Annabelle, 50, and daughter Heather, 13, on the Big Island of Hawaii for the past 26 years.

'Anytime I am on the volcano, there is more danger than if I stayed at home. But I never feel that I am taking chances or gambling my safety,' he said.

'If my little voice inside tells me that I am in danger, I leave. It's as simple as that.

'It is great fun being a volcano photographer, but more fun being a father and husband. I am not going to risk that.'

What happened when the world's smallest man met the woman with the longest legs

One is the smallest man in the world, the other is the woman with the longest legs and the instructions from the former to the latter when they met this morning: 'Don't look up.'

At just 29.37in tall, He Ping Ping's little head barely reaches Svetlana Pankrtova's knees.

But then, her legs do go on a fair way - measuring 51.96in long.
At 6ft 7in from head to toe, Pankratova is well short of being the tallest living woman. That honour goes to Yao Defen, who stands 7ft 9in.

But the Russian's relatively short body means that those pins are the longest ever recorded for a woman.

An impression she seemed keen to emphasise this morning by wearing what appeared to be the world's shortest skirt.

Not that He Ping Ping seemed to mind, happily posing underneath Pankratova's legs - and he even had a sneaky look up.

The 20-year-old had jetted in from his home in northern China to help launch the latest edition of the Guinness World Records Book in Trafalgar Square, Central London.
Craig Glenday, the book's editor, recently told the Daily Record newspaper how much he enjoyed his work.

He said: 'It's a great job, and there's so much travel involved. Earlier this year I did my own world record for travel, which was 44 hours non-stop.

'I was in Inner Mongolia meeting He Ping Ping, the world's shortest man (74.61cm) who actually lives quite near Bao Xi Shun, the world's tallest man (2m, 36.1cm).

'I was on my way, via Paris, to Chile for a flight to Antarctica with the band Fall Out Boy, who were trying to set a record for the shortest time it would take to play on every continent in the world.

'Unfortunately the weather was so bad that we couldn't make it in the end.'

The Guinness World Record Book is out tomorrow.

US army unveil latest weapon - the robodog of war

The US army is poised to unleash the dogs of war – four-legged, petrol-powered robots to help its troops in battle.

Billed as ‘the most advanced quadruped robot on Earth’, BigDog has been devised to support American troops by carrying up to four packs of equipment on awkward terrain unsuitable for wheeled vehicles.

Standing at over 2ft tall and more than 3ft long, BigDog comes equipped with all manner of high-tech gadgets, including laser gyroscopes, a video camera sensor system and a sophisticated on-board computer – but, sadly, no wagging tail.

The 11 stone machine, created by Boston Dynamics, can trot along at up to 4mph – although researchers are hoping to create a much faster version capable of travelling at 22mph – and will even stay on its legs when it is kicked hard in the side.

Its legs are designed to work in a similar way to a real dog’s, even storing energy in shock absorbers when a foot touches the ground.

The machine looks like some of the robots in the Star Wars movies and has developed a cult following on the internet.

The £14million BigDog project is being tested across a five-mile trail used to train the US Marine Corps, carrying the soldiers’ equipment to prove that it can cope with holes, steep slopes and water hazards.

Project manager Robert Mandelbaum said: ‘Some of the wars we’re engaged in now happen to have that kind of terrain. The idea is to look at the way nature has solved different robotics problems.’

Boston Dynamics hopes that each BigDog will cost about the same as a small car. Ultimately, the firm also aims to use the technology for non-military purposes, such as carrying loads for farmers in areas that are difficult to reach.

Next 9/11 will be in Britain, warn banned Muslim extremists at meeting with exiled cleric

The next 9/11 will take place in Britain, members of a banned Muslim extremist group warned on the anniversary of the terror attacks.

The claim was made at a hate-filled meeting addressed via video link by exiled cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed.

Leaders of the Al Muhajiroun sect said Osama bin Laden had taught the Americans a ‘lesson’ seven years ago, but the ‘crusaders’ had not learned and the next ‘9/11 will take place in Britain, the next 7/7 [London bombings] could take place locally’.

Radical preacher Bakri told a 100-strong audience of supporters in Walthamstow, east London, last night that he believed the British government was trying to assassinate him and claimed to have foiled a bomb plot.

Technical difficulties meant much of his speech was inaudible, but his appearance was greeted by cheers of ‘faith’ and ‘god is great’ at the community centre.

Bakri’s right-hand man, Anjem Choudary, led the proceedings in person, under the auspices of a group called Association for Islamic Research.

The most incendiary speech was delivered by Saiful Islam, who lauded Bin Laden and al Qaeda for their ‘courage’ in retaliating against the ‘dictatorship and oppression’ of the West.
He said: ‘The blame of 9/11 belongs to no one but the American government. They are the terrorists.

'Sheikh Osama warned America numerous times, it was because of their own arrogance, because they thought they are a superpower and nobody could match them, that Sheikh Osama taught them a lesson - a lesson they still haven’t learned.’
Mr Islam, who is linked to an organisation called Salafi Youth for Islamic Propagation, warned that unless British and American troops were withdrawn from ‘Muslim lands’ they would be to blame for the consequences, saying the West would ‘never achieve security until our own [Muslim] lands achieve security’.

‘Wake up. Withdraw. Listen to the warnings. Muslims will stand side to side, not just al Qaeda. The actions of the British and Americans have given prominence to al Qaeda.

'All of us have a part to play in stopping the violence or the next 9/11 will take place in Britain, the next 7/7 could take place locally,’ he added.

Mr Choudary was the last speaker and was more guarded in his address to the young Muslim men that made up most of the audience.


But he criticised the Government for persecuting ‘innocent Muslims’, naming Bakri, Abu Hamza, Abu Qatada and Omar Brooks along with the defendants in the airliner bomb plot trial.

He said: ‘They [the Government] say they are civilised. But they don’t act very civilised. They jailed Sheikh Abu Qatada in Belmarsh prison. Is that the way you treat your guests?’

Mr Choudary then referred to Bakri’s notorious aim of flying the ‘flag of Sharia’ over Downing Street, claiming that this would happen by 2020 as 500 people a day were converting to Islam and laughing that Muslim families in places like Whitechapel and Bethnal Green in east London were having ‘10 or 12 children each’.

He ranted against mainstream bodies like the Muslim Council of Britain, who condemned 9/11 and 7/7, accusing them of ‘selling their souls to the devil’.

Pictured: The spectacular icebergs captured on camera before they disappear forever

From deep blue to crystal green these giant icebergs are some nature's most awe-inspiring spectacles.

Floating just metres from the shore, they are the natural backdrop off the Canadian coast in Newfoundland.

They can measure as high as a twenty-storey building and have the potential to weigh in excess of 10 million tonnes.

Amazingly, some of the magnificent blocks are over 15,000 years old.

But as the polar ice caps continue to melt, there are fears that these extraordinary sights may vanish forever.

Travel photographer Rolf Hicker has spent the last 15 years capturing the natural phenomenon.

'Icebergs have always fascinated me, they are all different,' explained the 42-year-old from Germany.

'I love Newfoundland and Labrador because it is the best places to watch icebergs.

'Each year there are hundreds of icebergs in the vicinity and their shape, size and movement so close to the shore make them the perfect subject to photograph.'

Rolf first visited Newfoundland in 1995 returning almost every year during the spring and early summer months to document iceberg movements.

The majority of the icebergs in the North Atlantic come from about 100 iceberg producing glaciers along the Greenland coast while a few originate in the eastern Canadian Arctic Islands.

The glaciers of western Greenland, where 90 per cent of Newfoundland's icebergs originate, are amongst the fastest moving in the world, with speeds up to 7 km per year.

Approximately 40,000 medium to large sized icebergs calve (break off) annually in Greenland, and are carried south in the cold Labrador current.

With their interior temperature ranging between minus 15 degrees to minus 20 degrees celsius the icebergs can range from very large (greater than 10 million tonnes and hundreds of metres long) to large, medium and small bergs and on to 'bergy bits' then 'growlers', which are grand piano-sized pieces.

The icebergs are mostly brilliant white because the ice is full of tiny air bubbles that reflect white light giving the iceberg an overall white appearance.

Ice that is bubble-free has a blue tint which is due to the same light phenomenon that tints the sky.

And their different shapes are categorised in order to understand their melting behaviour and mass.

From huge flat-topped tabular and blocky bergs (which can weigh in excess of several million tonnes) to smaller domed, drylocked (U-shaped) and pinnacled (triangular tipped) bergs, they come in all different shapes and sizes.

The largest Northern Hemisphere iceberg on record was encountered near Baffin Island in 1882 which was 13 km long, 6 km wide and had a freeboard (height above water) of about 20 m.

The mass of that iceberg was in excess of 9 billion tonnes - enough water for everyone in the world to drink a litre a day for over 4 years.

For Rolf however it is the bergs beauty that first attracted him to the area.

Aside from his spectacular iceberg images Rolf's collection of travel photographs include an array of animals, especially Orcas, wildlife, travel photography and the northern lights.

His work has brought him several awards, including the Best Nature Film at the international Film festival in Dresden and the Gold Medal for Best scenic calendar by CMA.

Whether it is wildlife or real life, Rolf employs a stringent routine of preparation before each shoot.

'There is a lot of planning that goes into each photograph - too much,' he says.

'We have to plan every location, not necessarily every photo.

'We pick the main shots and give them priority for light, the rest gets 'standard light', you only really can get two outstanding shots a day, or better to scenes a day, different angles, different light.'

Rolf dedication to finding the perfect shot has spanned over 26 years.

'I became a professional photographer at just sixteen,' says Rolf.

'I was doing live travel shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for almost 20 years.

'This has brought me a lot of experience - the more we specialise the more experience we get.

'We get to know locations better, we learn more about the behaviour of animals - all that are factors for successful specialised photography.'

Earlier this month satellite pictures, produced by Nasa, displayed how the North Pole had become an island for the first time in human history.

The startling images showed that melting ice has opened up the fabled North-West and North-East Passages - making it possible to sail around the Arctic ice cap.

The opening of the passages has been eagerly awaited by shipping companies which hope they will be able to cut thousands of miles off their routes.

But for climate change scientists it is yet another sign of the damage global warming is inflicting on the planet.

Indeed even Rolf himself has noticed some distinct changes in the movements of icebergs in Newfoundland.

'I remember for years in Newfoundland where we hardly saw any icebergs,' recalls Rolf.

'But in 2007, there was a record number of icebergs with four or five times more icebergs then they ever seen in one season.

'For me this is a clear sign that something very bad is happening in the arctic.

'Everywhere across the world there are longer periods of dryness, followed by super extreme rain. temperatures in summer are higher, but winters are colder.

'It almost seems like there are no four seasons anymore. Everything is way more extreme then usual.'

Shell-shocked: Carp fisherman catches Mississippi snapping turtle in British lake

A carp fisherman got the shock of his life when a rare turtle native to the Mississippi River took hold of his line in a British lake.

Stunned Drew Hammonds couldn’t believe his luck when he thought he caught a massive fish, until he looked closer and saw dinosaur-like spikes on its back.

Thinking it was a vicious crocodile, the flabbergasted fisherman dropped his rod and got ready to run for his life.

It was only when he saw the creature’s smaller body frame and legs emerge out of the water, that he realised he had caught hold of a snapping turtle which usually only lives 3,000 miles away.

Satellite engineer Mr Hammonds, 37, caught the turtle early last Tuesday morning while fishing with friends at Earlswood Lake near Birmingham said: ‘I only went fishing for carp.

‘I thought I’d caught a big one when my rod started to bend.

‘I had put that much bait on the end, I had to catch something. Then I spotted a big shell coming out of the water, with spikes on its back.

‘My first instinct was to run, as I thought it was a crocodile or an alligator. I dropped my rod and ran, then I turned back and realised it was a turtle.

‘I don’t think I was too far wrong because they are related.

‘I was totally shocked and couldn’t believe it. It’s not every day that you spot a turtle on the end of your fishing rod.

‘I was with four of my friends and they were just as stunned. It ripped through my net and my friends net.’

Worried that the hapless turtle had a hook in his mouth, Mr Hammonds and his three friends tried to release it, until it tried to snap their hands off.

‘We had to get close to it, because it had a hook in its lower jaw. It kept snapping at me so I had to be careful,’ added Mr Hammonds, of Walsall, West Midlands.

‘In the end I used metal forceps to cut through the hook. I had to do it quickly, because it was going for my hand. Luckily it just turned away.

‘It was so aggressive. Half of the hook would still be in its mouth.

‘I was with a bunch of people and some of them didn’t want me to put it back in the wild, but it was to aggressive and hard to control, there was not much else I could have done.

‘Apparently it eats a lot of fish, so that would affect further fishing there. But I reckon it’s been there for years.

‘It’s not something you expect to see when you go fishing, I was shocked but it was exciting to see.

‘I’ve never heard of anyone else catching them on the end of their line, and I’ve been fishing for years.’

Turtle specialist Paul Eversfield identified the turtle as an Alligator Snapping turtle (Macroclemys temminckii).

Mr Eversfield, from the British Chelonia Society, confirmed the turtles are native of the southern U.S. states and believes it must have been imported as a hatchling turtle for a hobbyist here in the UK.

‘They are potentially the largest freshwater turtles in the world with record size of over 100Kg,’ he said.

‘As such, they represent the top predator in their natural environment and are capable of eating large fish and water fowl. Their natural diet is fish, crayfish, and smaller turtles.

‘Having been around, largely unchanged for nearly 200 million years, there survival strategy obviously works very well.

‘That said, they would not pose much of a threat to humans unless someone was foolish enough to handle it incorrectly.

‘Their very powerful jaws are easily capable of severing a finger or hand.

‘Left alone, it would sit very secretively on the lake floor and just ambush its natural prey, fish.

‘The tongue has a lure like appendage that wiggles attracting unwary fish into its powerful scissor-like jaws.

‘I suspect that this animal was released by a private keeper or somebody that had stolen it from a collection, when they realised that it was just too big to be contained.’

Mr Hammonds added: ‘In the past they have closed and drained this pool following sightings of a mysterious creature - which people thought was an alligator or a crocodile - maybe the whole time it was this that they had been seeing.

‘At the time experts were saying no reptile could survive in that.

‘It was hissing and spitting when we caught it - it was really vicious, you couldn’t go anywhere near it without it going for you and it was really strong - we had to pin it down with all our might.

‘It propelled itself and took off when we threw it back in.’

Alligator snappers have been known to kill alligator and is the largest freshwater turtle in North America.

The new drug that could shine a light on the mysteries of MRSA

A new light-activated drug could tackle MRSA infections more effectively than existing antibiotics, researchers say.

They used a type of gel - a hydrogel - to hold the drug and cover infected wounds.

The gel then releases the drug, which is activated by a particular kind of light to kill the bugs. In laboratory studies, the system had a 100 per cent success rate.

More work is needed to see if the same level of eradication can be achieved in patients, but lead researcher Corona Cassidy called its potential 'exciting.'

Infection experts believe MRSA - methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus - kills at least 5,000 people a year. It is harmless to healthy people but dangerous to sick patients and those having surgery if it gets under the skin.

It can produce complications such as pneumonia, meningitis, organ failure and fatal blood poisoning.
MRSA is resistant to many commonly-used antibiotics and almost half of patients need more powerful drugs.

Doctors do not apply antibiotics directly to MRSA-infected wounds as the drugs do not penetrate deep enough to have an effect. They may also irritate the surrounding skin, slowing down healing.

But Miss Cassidy and her team at the School of Pharmacy in Queen's University, Belfast, moved away from the antibiotic approach to a system known as photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy, or PACT.

Details from the research will be presented today at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester.

Cat Man - the human 'tiger' who enjoys climbing trees and eats raw meat every day

As obsessions go this has to be one of the weirdest known to man - someone who would voluntarily file his teeth, split his lip and undergo extensive facial surgery - to turn himself into a 'human tiger'.

Dennis Avner, 50, is descended from American Indians, and has spent 'an uncalculated amount' of money on making himself look like a big cat, after a discussion with a Native chief who inspired him to 'follow the ways of the tiger'.

Avner's body modification operations have included bifurcation (splitting) of his upper lip, surgical pointing of the ears, sillicone cheek and forehead implants, tooth filing, tattoos, and facial piercing - to which whiskers can be attached.

Avner, from Tonopah, Nevada, likes to go by his Indian name 'Stalking Cat'.

'I am Huron and following a very old tradition have transformed myself into a tiger,' he says on his website stalkingcat.com.

The tiger aficionado - naturally - enjoys climbing trees and must eat meat 'every day, just as a tiger would.'

This should be 'as close to raw as possible, or at the temperature that an animal would be if it had just been killed,' he told The Sun.

But Cat can't live the tiger's life 24 hours a day - he has human needs too. These he meets by working in an office - 'the only difference is I look like a cat' - or by making personal TV appearances, which have included Larry King Live, VH1's 'Totally Obsessed' and Kerrang!

His latest public appearance was at the new Ripley's Believe It Or Not! museum, which opened this week in London's Piccadilly Circus.

The museum features oddities from across the world - including a sixteenth-century iron maiden torture device and three antique shrunken heads made by the Jivaro Indians of Ecuador.

But what of Stalking Cat's personal life? How do real-life Cat Men find Cat Women?

It's difficult - but not impossible: 'I'm seeing a couple of women at the moment,' says Cat. 'They understand that being a tiger is more important to me than humanity, which is difficult for many women to cope with.'

'I now pronounce you monkey and wife': Animals are married in controversial Chinese zoo stunt

Maybe the dress wasn't the right size, or perhaps it was the grey and gloomy weather - but these two monkeys don't seem over-the-moon after being married in China. The downcast-looking pair tied the knot in a special wedding ceremony at their zoo. The monkeys - who live in Wenling, Zhejiang province - are seven-year-old male monkey Wukong and a six-year-old female named Xiaoya. The widlife park organised the wedding in the hope of attracting more visitors, local media reported. But the controversial stunt is bound to upset animal rights groups in a country famed for being cruel to animals. Back in 2006 a Shanghai zoo cancelled a show dubbed the 'Animal Olympics' following accusations of cruelty from animal welfare groups. The show had featured animals in athletic-type situations, such as boxing matches between kangaroos and their keepers, bears fighting and riding bicycles, and an elephant tug-of-war. And in 2007 a bear was forced to ride a bicycle and be chased by his trainer during an animal performance for the Chinese May Day holidays at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park.

Anyone for crispy duck? Chinese restaurant hangs out raw meat to dry on washing line

A Chinese restaurant hung raw meat on a washing line on a scorching hot day and left duck carcasses dangling as birds gathered in the trees above.

Staff left the meat hanging for hours on a rooftop as temperatures soared to 25C so that it would dry out.

In a separate incident, a chef from the same restaurant was spotted unhooking two raw duck carcasses from the line as oblivious customers tucked into a buffet inside.

Flies could be seen landing on the meat, hanging close to flocks of birds jostling in the trees above on the roof of the N.C Rev in Gravesend, Kent.

Stunned resident and former chef Paul Nelder, 23, said the meat was hanging for at least two hours on Saturday.

'I've never seen anything like it in my life. On one of the hottest days of the month, I saw this massive raw carcass, hanging there in scorching heat,' he said.

'It remained for two hours before being removed, but as far as I know it could have been there longer.'

He added: 'I have worked in a few different restaurants, canteens, fast food places and have seen some things but this tops the lot.

'Why do they need to hang this raw meat outside, can it not be left inside the kitchen? For hours this is left outside in the heat, attracting pests like flies and pigeons.

'We have netting up at our kitchen window because we are always getting flies and pigeons trying to get in.

'We see mice running around outside and this meat hanging from the washing line can only be adding to the problem. I just hope this is not being served in the restaurant.'

Mr Nelder dismissed the first incident as a one-off but called in the local press after seeing what appeared to be duck carcasses back on the line on Monday.

A photographer watched from his flat window for over an hour before a member of the kitchen and waiting staff removed them.
The manager restaurant manager insisted it was not a regular occurrence and the meat was being prepared for staff rather than customers.

Bee Nyew said: 'It's not regular, the head chef was not here. The meat was not served for the customers, it was just for the staff.

'The chef wanted to do it crispy so he put it there to dry. Saturday was the Chinese mid-autumn festival so we did that for our staff only.

'I have spoken to the inspector today about this because the food is not served to the public it is no problem for the council.

'We are very busy and we always take care of our hygiene. Everything is high quality and everything is hygienic.'

Gravesham Borough Council said they would closely monitor the eaterie for the shocking practice.

A council spokesman said: 'Gravesham Borough Council's environmental health officers visited the premises on Tuesday and put to them the complaint received and the photographs from the Gravesend Reporter.

'The manager said that the duck being hung on the washing line was for the staff's own use, not for public sale.

'As a result of the complaint, though, the manager said the practice of allowing staff to do this would be stopped immediately.

'Under the circumstances, the council will take no further action but will continue to monitor this and all other restaurants and takeaway outlets.'

British holidaymakers warned to avoid trouble-hit Thailand after night of violence plunges Bangkok into chaos

An uneasy truce was hanging over Bangkok today after a state of emergency was declared at the end of a night of violence.

Hundreds of supporters of prime minister Samak Sundaravej and ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra made their first attack on members of the People's Alliance for Democracy who have dug themselves into Government House in the Thai capital.

One person was killed and 40 injured in a series of street battles involving baseball bats, clubs and swords. There were reports of gunshot wounds.


The People's Alliance for Democracy remained defiant, with one of its leaders saying: 'We are staying until Samak and his party goes. There are not enough jails for us.'

Children were sent home from schools, workers went on strike and tourists, thousands of them British, struggled to get out of the country as main airports were shut down.

Then, Thailand's Election Commission, which has been investigating how Mr Samak came to power, made the announcement that this year's elections were rigged and he and his whole party should step down.

The Election Commission is taking Mr Samak's People's Power Party to the Constitution Court, claiming the party's deputy leader bought votes.

Crucial to any forthcoming battles is what role the Thai army and police will play. The People's Alliance for Democracy has been protesting for more than a week, demanding the resignation of Mr Samak who was elected as the nominee of Mr Thaksin, who had been indicted for corruption and is now in exile in Britain.

They claim that Mr Samak and his cohorts will enrich themselves and bleed the country dry in the process.

They want an end to Western-style democracy, because, they say, politicians are able to buy themselves into power.

They have successfully shut down most of the country's railway system airports at the tourist destinations of Phuket and Krabi in south Thailand for two days.

Police have failed to get the protesters out of their occupation of Government House and the army has declined to intervene.

In the last few days Thailand's police chief has been replaced and so has the commander in chief of the armed forces.

The army is expected to be called upon to enforce the terms of the state of emergency but as it was the army which ousted Mr Thaksin in a military coup, just how far they will go remains to be seen.
After this morning's violence, workers in all the state unions, which cover mainly utilities and transport, came out on strike in sympathy with the protesters.

They plan to use the national grid to black out and deprive water from the homes of politicians and police leaders responsible for police violence they claim was used in an attack on the protesters at Government House.

Last night's violence was prompted after supporters of the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship, a pro-Samak, pro-Thaksin group, led by a man called Shinawatra Pabunchart moved on protesters at Government House.

He said today: 'More of our supporters are coming. We will take back Government House.'

Just how orchestrated it was remains unclear. But democrats say Mr Samak predicted the violence two days ago and it gave the prime minister an excuse to bring in the army.

Thousands of British tourists are still struggling to get home from holiday destinations in the south.

The Thai Airways Union, which is coming out in sympathy with the strikers, said it would do its best to help foreigners caught up in the troubles.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has advised caution amid fears of further violence in Bangkok and warned against all but essential travel through the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla due to the risk of bombings and shootings.

Tourists should also check with their airline before they travel.

Thailand is one of the most popular places for British tourists with around 860,000 visitors from the UK last year. Recently it been wracked by internal conflict.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'Major demonstrations are taking place in central Bangkok.

'There have been outbreaks of violence between the police and protesters, including some use of tear gas.

'There is the possibility of further violent clashes. You should exercise caution, avoiding any demonstrations or large gatherings of people. You should also keep yourself informed of developments, including by regularly checking this advice and the media.

'We advise against all but essential travel to, or through, the far southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla. There continue to be frequent attacks, including bombing and shooting, due to insurgency and civil unrest in these areas.'

The poignant moment rescue workers found the bodies of a mother protecting her child beneath the rubble of an earthquake

Rescue workers looking for survivors in the rubble in China's southwest region have found the heartbreaking bodies of a woman protecting her child in a collapsed house in Lixi.

The death toll from the earthquake in the Sichuan province has hit 38, two days after the most recent in a series of tremors.

An appeal for temporary housing and tents has been launched today after the earthquake, which measured as high as 6.1 on the Richter scale, left tens of thousands homeless.
The quake hit the mountainous border between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces at around 4,30pm local time on Saturday, very close to an area still reeling from the May 12 earthquake which killed at least 70,000 people.

Its epicentre was about 20 miles southeast of Panzhihua, near the border with Yunnan, and around 6 miles underground.

The region has been plagued by hundreds of smaller, but still serious, tremors since then.

Saturday's quake injured 467 people and forced 152,000 to flee. The Xinhua news agency is reporting that more than 250,000 homes have been damaged.
The U.S Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 5.7, but Xinhua said it measured 6.1.

A slightly smaller aftershock, measuring 5.6, hit the area 24 hours later, but there were no reports of further damage.

The government is rushing disaster relief to the affected areas, including thousands of tents and blankets.
A total of 656 schools have been damaged and rescue efforts are being hampered by heavy rain and difficult terrain. Mobile telephone communications area also patchy.

State television has showed pictures of houses with large cracks in the side, broken tiles on the roads and people receiving medical care in tents.

Sichuan province, known for its pandas and spicy cuisine, has struggled to rebuild after the May disaster which left 10 million homeless.

Pictured: The giant 11-month old baby who is already the size of an eight-year-old

This bundle of blubber may only be 11 months old, but he is already the size of an eight-year-old.

The giant baby tips the scales at a whopping 61lbs 12oz (28kg) and stands four and a half stone larger than his older brother. Due to his hefty frame the toddler also has to wear huge nappies.

His mother, Milena Orosco de Agudelo, said her son started ballooning at just two months old.

The baby has had undergone a number of medical examinations which suggest he may have a problem with his endocrine system.

Ms Orosco said: 'He had some tests done and the results show that he has a thyroid malfunction.

'Then, he had a cardiogram test done and that test shows that he has the bones of an eight-year-old boy, but they have not told me where that came from.'

The normal weight for a boy his age is between 13lbs 4oz and 15lbs 7oz (6-7kg) and now baffled doctors in Colombia are trying to work out how he became so big.

Doctor David Dias, of the Barranquilla Pediatric Hospital, said: 'The baby will undergo more tests to see if he's obese or we're dealing with hyperthyroidism.'

Pictured: The curious young cow who got into a spin after getting her head stuck in an old washing machine drum

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but fortunately for this inquisitive cow it only brought embarrassment.

The unlucky heifer was exploring the drum of a fly-tipped washing machine when its head became trapped.

The young cow was unable to free herself and it wasn't until a member of the public informed the RSPCA, who sent officers to free her, that she emerged unscathed from her ordeal.

The incident has prompted the animal charity to issue warnings about the dangers fly-tipping can cause.

'It is one of the more unusual things we had had to rescue an animal from,' said RSPCA spokeswoman Jo Barr.

'Young cows are quite curious, and she probably thought there was some food inside the drum.'

RSPCA inspector David Hobbs eventually freed the frustrated cow and she joined the rest of her herd near Higher Fraddon, St Columb, Cornwall.

Mr Hobbs said: 'Most people hate to see fly-tipping as it is an ugly blight on the landscape, but incidents like these highlight that as well as the visual impact the rubbish can also endanger animals.

'The heifer was probably curious to see a new item dumped in the field and curiosity would have turned to panic once she got her head stuck in the drum and was unable to get it out.

'If people disposed of their rubbish properly many animals would be saved from injury and death.'

He added that a large proportion of the injuries the Society's inspectors, animal collection officers, vets and wildlife hospitals dealt with are usually caused by people who carelessly discarded rubbish.

British journalism student gang-raped by asylum seekers in Calais squatter camp they call 'The Jungle'

More than a hundred asylum seekers are being held tonight after a British student was gang-raped by illegal immigrants in Calais.

The woman was writing a story on asylum seekers for her journalism course when she was attacked, police said.

Up to 100 men have been rounded up as potential witnesses to the crime, which is alleged to have taken place in a notorious squatter camp nicknamed 'The Jungle'.

Police said the attack was of a particularly 'brutal nature'. The victim is still in Calais.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was described as 'a London student who had travelled to France to highlight problems surrounding clandestine immigration'.

Police confirmed tonight she was born in Vancouver and also carried a Canadian passport.

A police spokesman added: 'She appeared to be working alone, which was clearly a very dangerous thing to do.

'We fear that the men she was reporting on attacked her in the wood where they were staying.'

The woman, who is thought to be in her twenties or early thirties, told locals she wanted to spend time with would-be illegal immigrants who were attempting to reach Britain by stowing away on lorries.

The squatter camp is in a disused industrial zone called 'The Dunes' and is a short walk from the ferry port.

Up to 500 men live there, supported by local charities.

Father Jean-Pierre Boutoille, of the refugee charity C’Sur, said: 'There are lots of journalists, including students, who come here to get to the heart of what’s going on, to write reports and produce films.
'When reporters contact us, we always ask to accompany them. We know the refugees as we see them every day.

'We would never allow a young female adventurer in this wood, especially not at night.

'On Tuesday we did not receive any requests for assistance, and nor did any other charities.

Yesterday, some 100 would-be immigrants to Britain were rounded up by a force of French riot police.

Most of the men claimed to be from Iraq, Afghanistan or the Middle East, although police believe many were from eastern Europe and the Balkans.

One, who asked not to be named, said: 'Yes, I saw a young journalist with a camera. Lots come this way.

'I don’t know who she was exactly, but she was young, perhaps 30, and a student from London.

'The word is that something happened to her in the woods.'

In 2005 a gang of immigrants was implicated in the rape of a resident of Oye-Plage, near Calais.

Calais became a magnet for immigrants in the late 90s following the opening of the Sangatte Cross Centre, which housed 67,000 immigrants over three years.

Before its closure in 2002 following an agreement between the French and British governments, many tried to jump on to slow-moving trains at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, or hide inside lorries crossing to Britain on ferries.

The election of a new Right Wing council in Calais saw plans to open a Sangatte II abandoned, but would-be immigrants to Britain still arrive by the day.

The Home Office said the number of refugees caught entering Britain illegally from Calais has fallen to around 1,500 a year from 10,000 in 2002, when Sangatte closed.

Pictured: The 'cut-and-shut' cruise ship that was sliced in half to add more rooms

It sounds like an unforgettable magic trick - sawing a cruise ship in half.

But this is no illusion, as the owners of this 916ft liner really did cut it open to extend its length by 73ft.

Such measures may seem extreme, but the £30million cost of the job is just a fraction of the £500million - and years of labour - needed to launch a new ship.

This remarkable extension to the giant cruise liner, called the Enchantment of the Seas, provided 151 more cabins.

The overhaul also added new facilities, such as suspension bridges over the pool deck, as well as trampolines and a 108-seater restaurant.

As the cruiser is 12 decks deep, construction crews had to work around the clock for six days to divide it in half.

They used blow torches and circular saws, and even cut a swimming pool in two along the way.

The painstaking process took place in a dry dock at the Keppel Verolme shipyard in Rotterdam, Holland.

There, the new 12-deck high, 3,000-ton mid-section was carefully moved into place with hydraulic jacks and 18-wheel lorries, using lasers to keep things exact.

The new piece of the ship was then welded securely into position - with 1,300 individual cables, pipes and ducts having to be reconnected.

Within six weeks, the Enchantment of the Seas was back in service again. It is currently in the western Caribbean after setting sail from Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

And the extra capacity - which came on top of the 3,000 passengers and crew it could previously hold - is certainly needed.

Cruise holidays are becoming increasingly popular in Britain, and across the Western world.

Not only that, but a younger generation of sailors are increasingly jostling for cabin space with the pensioners who have traditionally filled such ships.

The attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001 and subsequent terrorism threats have made holidaying at sea increasingly attractive to those who are afraid to fly.

A spokesman for Royal Caribbean, which owns the ship, said: 'We've committed ourselves to providing innovative, exciting and unexpected experiences for our guests.

'We are willing to stretch ourselves and our ships - literally - to fulfil that promise.'

Eggstrordinary! The egg that is FOUR times the normal size

Teenage poultry farmer Dean Sambers was stunned when one of his hens laid a gigantic egg - weighing a staggering four times as much as a normal one.

The 16-year-old could hardly believe his eyes when he looked in the bird's nest and found the huge specimen resting among two ordinary sized eggs.


Measuring an astonishing 3.4in long and weighing 8oz, it dwarfs average sized chickens' eggs, which are about 2.75in and weigh in at just 2oz.

But the schoolboy, who took his GCSEs this summer, has been left baffled as to why the egg is so enormous.

And he was shocked that the free range hen had even managed to force out the eye-wateringly large egg.

Dean from Lymington in the New Forest, Hants, now plans to blow out the yolk of the egg so he can keep the shell as a souvenir.

The youngster, who breeds chickens as a hobby at his grandparents' farm in Sway, Hants, said he made the strange discovery while collecting eggs from his 50 hens.
He said: 'I let the chickens out of their coop as normal in the morning and a few hours later I went round collecting the eggs from their nests.

'Some of the hens nest in our straw barn and when I looked in one of them, I spotted this enormous egg.

'I could hardly believe what I was seeing - it was just so large.

'It was nestled in there with two other normal-sized eggs, so up against them it looked even bigger.
'I can't even begin to think why it's so gigantic and I was quite worried thinking how on earth my hen had managed to even lay such a massive egg.

'At first I thought it might have been two eggs stuck together but soon realised that couldn't be the case because it's perfectly shaped.

'I only breed chickens as a hobby and we share the eggs among family and friends - but if they make a habit of laying them this size, then maybe I should go into business.'

Dean, a keen horserider, immediately took the egg to show his grandparents Edward and Margaret Light, who have bred chickens at Little Acre Farm for decades.

He said the egg, although perfectly formed, is paler in colour and has a thicker shell with a rougher surface than most chickens' eggs.

He added: 'My grandparents were totally blown away as well. In all the years they have been poultry farming, they've never seen anything like it either.

'I got straight on the internet to try to find out why the egg is so large but I can't find any explanation.

'I'll make a hole in either end and try to blow out the yolk so I can keep the egg.

'I wouldn't even dream of eating it - as it's so unusual.

'Someone suggested that it could be a double-yolker, but it's far too big for that. I reckon it must be a five-yolker at that size.'

Dean said he hopes to find a career working with animals.

Two weeks that changed British sport forever

A London mayor who can post Eton, Oxford and The Spectator on his CV took the Olympic flag from a Chinese counterpart who was a Communist enforcer in Tibet and remains a major player in the totalitarian elite.

Boris Johnson receiving the five-ringed ensign from Guo Jinlong was the final culture shock of a Games that changed British sport for ever, turned London 2012 from a giant budget over-run into potentially the greatest carnival our capital has seen and exposed the best and worst of the Chinese system.

Deng Xiaoping decreed that 'China should hide its dazzling light'. Those days are long gone, comrade.

So now it falls to London to deliver on its ego by serving up an Olympic fiesta which will ace Beijing in one vital respect.

China welcomed the world but failed to invite its own people, which is why the last 17 days have lacked human engagement, passion, fervour, despite the dazzling highs of Michael Phelps's eight gold medals and Usain Bolt blasting a hole in the frontier of human speed by winning the 100m and 200m in world record time.

Apart from sporadic eruptions of Chinese patriotism in the country's favourite sports, the proletariat who built the sublime Bird's Nest Stadium and Water Cube aquatics centre had their noses pushed against the Olympic bubble.

They live under a regime which does not trust its own citizens with the narcotics of freedom and spontaneity. The authorities offer trickle-down prosperity but only if the workers keep their noses out of politics. If anyone in Victorian England had told him that a society would one day fuse rampant capitalism with communism, Karl Marx would have laughed his beard off.

The city where Marx studied is a hotbed of sporting obsession.

The British will besiege ticket kiosks, flood into venues, volunteer to stand around all day smiling at foreigners and roar their support for a newlyemboldened GB Team who helped us see beyond the mono-culture of Premier League football.

Ignore the glorified village fete of 1908. This was the most successful campaign in British Olympic history.

The team's Beijing adventure ended with Dan Robinson staggering home in brutal heat to finish 24th in the men's marathon, but by then the 2012 hosts had rattled up 19 gold, 13 silver and 15 bronze medals for a grand total of 47, which left them fourth in the table, behind the Olympic superpowers China, USA and Russia.

To beat Germany and Australia into fifth and sixth was the ultimate British fantasy.

Only 12 years ago in Atlanta, Britain finished 19th in the medals table and limped home with a single gold. In response, John Major's government unleashed a tsunami of lottery funding and sports such as cycling, rowing, sailing and swimming transformed themselves into elite fighting units to assuage the fear that London 2012 would be remembered as another infrastructure debacle.

Our sporting culture has changed for good and for the better.

The spending on the London Games could only ever be justified if it produces a revival in grass-roots sport, in participation, not just for elite athletes but for the obesity threatened young. That hope burns more brightly now, assuming politicians can comprehend the message.

It was gauche of our official literature to declare to the world last night: 'We demonstrate why London remains the coolest place on the planet.' If you have to say you're cool you're generally not.

Nor did the handover convey a coherent image of modern Britain: an X-Factor winner, an ancient rocker, lots of random dancing and a non-Olympian in David Beckham (or 'Blazing Flame' as they know him here) booting a ball into the crowd.

It was caught by a volunteer: a small but fitting reward for all their generosity and warmth.

Johnson, or Bo Jo, as we now know him, drew a laugh from royalty as he laboured to wave the Olympic flag six times in line with protocol and wore the look of a bashful Oxford fresher. The speech bubble, which the Princess Royal could read as well as the rest of us, probably ran: 'Golly gosh, how marvellous it all is!'

Never mind that Beckham's chariot looked more like Led Zeppelin's tour bus than the kind of vehicle Londoners might ride along the Strand. Or that the former England coach Steve McClaren was absent from the cast of those clutching brollies.

The Mayor's war on 'Olympo-sceptics' is going well. Ours will be the Self-Deprecation Games. More seriously, Johnson has declared his wish that London arenas should be packed, unlike those in Beijing, and that schoolchildren should fill the stands.

The London Olympics began as a ploy to regenerate London's East End, but they have morphed into something grander. For that we ought to thank the athletes, whose high funding levels tell only part of the tale. England's footballers are astonishingly well paid - but that hasn't helped them reach the final of a tournament, post-1966.

Britain's track and field squad were the only let-down. London is about to blow half a billion pounds on a main stadium which will house a team who won just four medals in Beijing, only one of them gold. But this feeble record is obscured, for now, by the landmark moments in better-run sports.

The cyclist Chris Hoy is the first Briton to win three golds at a single Games; Louis Smith is the first men's gymnastics medallist for 100 years; 19-year-old Rebecca Adlington is our best swimmer for a century; Rebecca Romero is Britain's first female Olympian to win medals in two separate disciplines.

The IOC president Jacques Rogge claimed: 'One fifth of the world's population was exposed to Olympic values in a way they had never experienced before.' He added: ' Placing sport at the service of mankind and leveraging Olympic values to promote better understanding between people, nations and religions stands at the core of our mission.'

Rogge did not explain how this squares with the IOC's reticence when it comes to political issues, such as the sentencing of two Chinese women in their Seventies to 'reeducation through labour' for having the temerity to apply to stage a legal protest.

For them - fear and humiliation. For us - great opportunities for London, starting in 1,432 days, when the GB team will expand from 312 to more than 600 athletes, and we will face a huge international test of our transport system, our competence, our friendliness and our humour.

The best news as darkness fell on the Beijing Games is that our athletes have set the tone and shown the way for London. But it needs to be more than a £9billion exercise in Cool Britannia. It needs to make British sport more than just good TV.