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.

Mysterious 'ghost' appears in couple's wedding photographs

A schoolboy photographer is baffled after spotting a ghostly apparition hovering in the disco lights in a picture he had snapped of a newlywed couple.

Wedding guest Jordan Martin, 12, took a whole series of photographs at the wedding reception and at first thought they were quite unextraordinary.

But after examining them again he was flabbergasted to spot the haunting image of a woman's head and torso floating inches from the ground near the DJ booth.

Jordan said: 'I didn't see the ghost until a couple of days later when I was looking at the pictures on the computer.

'When I saw it I was like, "Wow," and couldn't believe what I was seeing. I thought it was really weird because it really looks like there's a ghost in the picture.'

The picture was taken as newlyweds Nigel and Helen Davis took to the floor for the first dance after their wedding at Gloucester Register Office on May 31.

Jordan was snapping away from the side of the dance floor when he unknowingly captured the image.

His mother Ann, of Northway, Glos, insists she does not believe in ghosts but admits she cannot unravel the mystery of the ghostly intruder.

She said: 'It was a shock when I saw the picture. It looks pretty clear to me and it looks so real. Jordan is quite excited about it. It's a bit weird.'

Not so Dumbo: Scientist proves elephants can do maths

Elephants are known for their sharp memories, now a study has found that they are excellent at maths as well.

A researcher in Japan found an Asian elephant called Ashya was able to add small numbers together with almost 90 per cent accuracy.

Naoko Irie of the University of Tokyo in Japan found the matriarch was able to recognise which of two buckets contained more apples in an experiment.

A trainer dropped three apples into one bucket and one apple into a second, then four more apples in the first and five more in the second.

It was observed that the 31-year-old elephant recognised that three plus four was greater than one plus five, and snacked on the seven apples.
'I even get confused when I”m dropping the bait,' Irie tod New Scientist magazine.

Ms Irie was surprised to find the large mammals were as successful in telling between five and six apples as they were between five and one.

She told the International Society for Behavioral Ecology that she had tested four elephants and found they picked the bucket with the most fruit 74 per cent of the time.

'It really is tough to figure out why (elephants) would need to count,' ecologist Mya Thompson said about the research.

Watch Ashya count her apples...


She believes counting may be helpful for Asian elephants, which live in close-knit groups of six to eight, in ensuring that the entire herd stays together.

'You really don”t want to lose your group members,' she said.

World's oldest man dies at the age of 138

A great-grand father believed to be the world's oldest man has died at the age of 138.

Habib Mian passed away early yesterday morning after a brief illness at his home in the Alwar district, Rajasthan, India.
According to records Habib was born on May 28, 1870.

The grand old man was a witness to the life and times of two kings of Jaipur, the dominance of the British Raj and the decades after the Jaipur princely state of the erstwhile Rajputana merged into the Indian Union after Independence.

The Limca Book of World Records recognises him as the oldest living man in the world in its 2005 edition.

But the Guinness Book of Records did not give him this recognition because his pension papers say he was born on May 20, 1878 at Rajgarh in Alwar district.

Habib Mian also held the distinction of being the oldest Haj pilgrim having visited Mecca in 2004 and the longest beneficiary of old age pension which he has received since 1938.
Habib, who outlived his wife by 70 years, was buried at the Ghat Gate graveyard in the Alwar district, after the "Zuhar" (afternoon) prayers.

Though his birthday had become a public event ever his age came to people's notice, Habib Mian did not celebrate the day this year as he was distressed by the May 13 serial blasts in the city that claimed 68 lives.

Driver forgets to put handbrake on.. and watches helplessly as his car rolls 250ft down a hill

This is the moment a motorist forgot to apply his handbrake and watched in horror as his jeep rolled 250ft down a moorland slope.

The hapless driver stepped out of his Land Rover Freelander after parking at a beauty spot but forgot to put the handbrake on.

Seconds later, the vehicle rolled forward and coasted a whopping 250ft (76m) down a steep bank at Holne on Dartmoor in Devon.

The owner watched as the four-wheel drive bounced and bobbed its way through a collision course of rocks and scrub, coming to rest in a ditch.

His silver off-road jeep seemed to have escaped largely undamaged - until it began to sink in a muddy bog.

Eyewitness Nicholas Clegg, 52, an accountant from Yeovil, Somerset, saw the incident during a day trip with his son.

He said: 'The driver had left the handbrake off and the car had just rolled all the way down.

'I can't believe it managed to stay on all four wheels. At one point, the slope gets so steep that it's a miracle it didn't turn over.

'The only way would be to winch it all the way back up but it would require at least 200ft of cable and probably a helicopter.

'They would have had one heck of a job towing it out. It was a very wet valley and the car was well and truly stuck.

'The driver was devastated because it is a new car and although there was no superficial damage I dread to think what it's like underneath.

'It's every driver's nightmare. It's a good job it was an off-road vehicle otherwise it would have been completely written off.'

Rescuers were attempting to free the car.

Meet Yoda the cat with FOUR ears

When Valerie and Ted Rock came across a kitten with four-ears, they couldn't believe their eyes.

But the endearing feline was so adorable they decided he was destined to be a part of their family.

The couple were in a Chicago bar two years ago when they noticed a little grey bundle of fur being passed around to the amazement of fellow drinkers - and their parental instincts kicked in.

The couple immediately fell for the freaky feline and asked the owner if they could adopt him. He agreed and the couple named the cat Yoda, after the pointy-eared Jedi knight in Star Wars.

Valerie, 65, said: 'We were at a pub on the south side of Chicago with a group of friends when we noticed a small cage sitting on the bar and people passing around a kitten.

'He had been part of a large litter and the owners were looking to find a home for him.

'Ted and I had just lost a cat that was our pet for over 20 years, and we were sure we were done with cats.

'When he was passed around he reached for Ted, crawled up into the crook of his neck and fell asleep - Ted was a goner.

'It was a done deal when the kitten made himself at home on Ted's shoulder.

'We decided to name him Yoda. I understand the Star Wars character was based on George Lucas' cat.'

After adopting the eight-week-old kitten into their Illinois home, Valerie decided to have Yoda checked out with the local vet.

But the vet was mystified by his unique appearance.

'The vet had never seen anything like it before,' explains Valerie. 'He immediately went to the internet and found the four-eared cat in Germany.

'We have spoken with other vets in our acquaintance, and they likewise had never encountered anything like this.

'We began to realise that we had something very special.

'As a result, he has been an indoor cat and has a chip installed in case he gets lost. Yoda is so different that we were concerned that he might be catnapped.'

Yoda's extra 'flaps' are separate to the base of his skull, with one placed slightly behind the other.

Yet despite his unusual looks, Valerie is sure Yoda's behaviour - and hearing - are quite normal.

'Yoda's hearing is normal as far as we know,' says Valerie. 'People do a double take when they see him or his picture. It is great fun showing him off.

'We have actually had people ask if we had his ears cut to look this way.

'But he is a perfectly normal affectionate, curious cat and is a joy to have around.

'He is not afraid of anything and is very sociable unlike some of the other cats I have owned.

'But he does have an interesting obsession with bread - I can't leave bread on the counter for a moment.

'And when he purrs, it is not audible. The only way I know that he is purring is to put my finger on his throat to feel the vibration.

'He also is not very vocal. He meows, but only softly, and not very often which is a good thing.'

Pictured: The moment a giant Burmese python slithers up a weatherman's trousers live on TV

This is the moment a python slithers inside a weatherman's shorts on American television.

Meteorologist Kurtis Gertz looked terrified as the several-feet long snake made its way up his leg during a live broadcast at the Iowa State Fair last week.

The KCCI-TV presenter first appeared with the creature around his shoulders.
But the female snake, called Dawn, had other ideas.

First of all the snake's head inched towards Gertz's face and made to kiss him.

'Hey, that was a hot, wet kiss,' Gertz said. 'I got a hunch this is going to make [video sharing website] YouTube.'

As he continued to hold the giant Burmese python, people in the crowd started gasping and pointing as the snake's tail crawled up Gertz shorts and down the other leg.
'This is Dawn and she might have a crush on you,' said Nick, the snake's trainer.

'This is how it all comes to an end Steve, this is how it all comes to an end,' Gertz said. 'It's been a great 20 years in television, God bless.'

Then in a bid to get the editors to cut to another segment, the panicked Gertz said: 'OK, let's go to stupid human tricks. Let's see you top this one.'

The snake's trainer and co-anchor Steve Karlin helped unwind the snake and get the weatherman free.

The universality of a mother's grief: Gorilla cradles her dying baby

Hers is the inconsolable grief of all mothers who lose a child.Anyone who doubts the bond between the great apes and humans has only to look at these moving photos to see the emotions of love and loss that bind us together.Gorilla Gana, 11, was left shattered in her compound at the zoo in Muenster in northern Germany at the weekend when her three-month-old baby Claudio suddenly died.

Visitors wept as Gana held her lifeless child up in the air, vainly seeking to restore movement to his lolling head, his limp arms.She put the baby on her back and walked around, stopping to look at him after a few paces to see if he had recovered.
“Claudio died in his mother’s arms, with think from some heart defect,” said zoo director Joerg Adler.“On Wednesday he gave the impression to keepers that he wasn’t feeling too well. On Friday he wasn’t eating or drinking properly and seemed to be growing weaker. We were keeping a close eye on him but suddenly, on Saturday morning, he died.”The death of Claudio is a double tragedy for Gana; for reasons known only to the animal kingdom, she rejected her six week old daughter Mary Zwo last year. She was moved to a zoo in Stuttgart where she is healthy and one of the star attractions.By Monday morning the zoo keepers were still unable to get to the body of Claudio, so fiercely is Gana guarding him.“In the wild a gorilla mother can keep hold of a dead baby for weeks,” added Herr Adler. “We will carry out an autopsy on the body when we can.“Gana doesn’t know it, but the whole of Germany is mourning with her. She is so sad right now.”

Pictured: The crows that attacked a koala bear for straying too close to their nest

It appears that this koala has learned to fly. But under attack from two crows, angered that the cuddly marsupial was too close to their nest, it was forced into an extra-long leap between trees.

The koala had been sleeping in a eucalyptus tree on the outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia, when the crows swooped.

They pecked it hard on the head but it fought back, lashing out with his sharp claws.

Then it launched itself from its perch 80ft above ground, jumping up to 6ft from branch to branch. The crows were nothing if not persistent.

Their victim finally beat a retreat, climbing down a tree with the birds in pursuit.

Koala expert Dr Deb Kelly in Adelaide said: ‘Normally a koala can jump about 3ft but it depends on its size, how heavy it is, if it is jumping up or down and how badly it wants to escape.’

Though great climbers, koalas are not usually known for their athletic prowess. They sit motionless in the tree-tops for up to 18 hours a day, sleeping for most of that time.

They spend about half of their six active hours eating eucalyptus leaves, usually at night.

They are mostly placid but can be violent when disturbed, with teeth and claws that are capable of inflicting nasty injuries.