A muscle-bound boy has been entered into the Guinness Book of Records after performing an incredible physical stunt.
Romanian Giuliano Stroe, five, has been training since the age of two in Italy - where he lives with his family - and now the hard work has finally paid off.
He was entered into the record books earlier this year after performing some impressive 'hand-walking' skills to a panel of judges and an astonished audience on an Italian TV show .
The exceptional pre-schooler performed the fastest ever 10m hand walk with a weight ball between his legs to the delight of the studio audience.
And he has now become an internet hit after hundreds of thousands of people watched a clip of him performing the stunt on YouTube.
Father Iulian Stroe, 33, said: 'He has been going to the gym with me ever since he was born. I always took him with me when I went training.'
He added there is no danger of the youngster harming himself, saying: 'I have been training hard all my life myself.
'He is never allowed to practice on his own, he is only a child and if he gets tired we go and play.'
Plummeting through the air off the top of a 421m tower is not everyone’s idea of fun, but for these base jumpers it was an experience of a lifetime.
Some 98 of the extreme sports enthusiasts took part in the 2009 International Tower jump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today.
The structure was built in 1995 for communication purposes and is currently the fifth tallest freestanding tower in the world.
An artist who has a new view of the world has created awe-inspiring tiny 'planets' from our most iconic landmarks.
Alexandre Duret-Lutz took a series of stunning photographs of some of the world's most famous buildings and made them into montages of miniature worlds.
Suspended in space, the tiny spheres make our most loved landmarks look even more impressive, with tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower and the Colosseum towering over the minions below.
The Maldives government has made an eye-catching plea for climate change action by holding the world's first underwater cabinet meeting.
Politicians from the Indian Ocean island nation donned scuba gear this morning to send a message to world leaders ahead of December's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.
The nation's president Mohammed Nasheed has voiced fears the archipelago will be swamped by raising sea levels unless action is taken to reduce carbon emissions.
Two pensioners with a combined age of 181 became Britain's oldest ever newlyweds after they married in a quiet ceremony yesterday.
Sheila Walsh, 87, and Les Atwell, 94, both from Paignton, Devon, met four years ago after Mr Atwell's cleaner suggested he meet a friend of hers.
Ms Walsh said: 'She told me about Les and I thought he sounded nice, but when she said: "he's 90", I thought "oh no, I'm not so sure".
'But when we met, that was it. It was love at first sight.'
His owner apparently hadn't noticed that Socrates was getting a little pudgy.As you can see from her face however, the vet's nurse realised straight away.At a whopping 22lb, the black and white heavyweight in Jenny Doig's arms is more than double the size of a normal cat. 
Owner Bill Duncan, 52, had taken Socrates to the vet worried by his lack of get-up-and-go.The verdict, not surprisingly, was that he was simply too fat to move, possibly because of his taste for cheese and onion crisps. Twice a day, regular as clockwork, he had managed to stagger to his paws and miaow for his breakfast and tea. Now however, meals are a little disappointing. Five-year-old Socrates has been chosen as one of nine finalists in Pet Fit Club, the PDSA animal charity's annual diet competition. 
With just 100 days to reach his target weight of 9.9lb, he gets two 50g helpings of prescription diet food a day. That's about half of what he used to eat.'Because he's long-haired I hadn't noticed how big his belly was getting,' said Mr Duncan from North Shields, Tyne and Wear.'When I feed him now, he scoffs it down and looks at me as if to say, "Where's the rest of it?" ' 
A 12ft-high model of the Eiffel Tower made entirely out of chocolate gave busy commuters a glimpse but not a taste of Paris today.The mouthwatering version of the famous landmark attracted hungry-looking glances when it appeared at St Pancras railway station, from which the Eurostar departs for the French capital.But passers-by hoping for a taste were out of luck as the tower was constructed to mark the launch of a new range of Thorntons European city-chic inspired chocolates and will be touring stores throughout the country over the coming weeks.
The Continental City Boxes are themed around either Paris, which features milk chocolates, or Milan, which is for dark chocolate lovers, and are designed to reflect the traditional flavours and style found in each city.The boxes feature five new chocolates, including a gingerbread and hazelnut number called Pain D'Epices, alongside the favourites that consumers will already know from the Continental range.Keith Hurdman, Thorntons' Master Chocolatier, says: 'This is an exciting addition to the incredibly successful Continental range, and is sure to surprise and delight both our existing Continental lovers and those who have not tried it before.
'Our chocolatiers have travelled Europe to bring back the best flavours that it has to offer, and we've used them as the inspiration behind these new chocolates to give our customers that little taste of European luxury.'But chocolate lovers face bitter news as the price of their favourite confectionary looks set to soar.Cocoa prices have hit a 24-year high as the market faces its biggest shortage for 40 years.The price rise has been sparked by poor harvests of cocoa beans on the Ivory Coast, which grows 40 per cent of the world's cocoa.The El Nino weather phenomenon has also hit supplies from Indonesia, the world's third largest producer.
A gardener got his own unique five-a-day in one go after digging up a hand-shaped carrot complete with five fingers.The bizarre 'carrot claw' was grown by Peter Jackson, 66, in the garden of his home in Shropshire.But Peter thought nothing more of the wacky-shaped vegetable and merely took a picture before proceeding to cook it, much to surprise of his daughter Lindsay.
Lindsay, 42, a chef from Condover, Shropshire, joked whether the hand might count as all of her 'five a day' in one go. She said: 'We couldn't believe it, it was quite a shock to see a carrot perfectly shaped like a hand. 'You'd think that with me being a chef and my dad a gardener, we might have come across something this strange before - but we never have. 'My dad just seemed to make some joke about it being 'handy', took a picture and then I think they just ate it. He played it all down, but that's just the way dad is."We've not had anything weird since - no arms or legs to go with it. I don't think his garden is trying to build a carrot man. Now that would really be unusual.'It was just one of those one-off freak of nature occurrences - but isn't it funny?'Peter, who is a semi-retired gardener, has three vegetable plots in his large garden, in a leafy part of Shropshire.He said that throughout his years of gardening, he had never seen anything quite like his 'carrot claw'.Other oddly-shaped veg to hit the headlines over the years include baby-shaped pears, a parsnip that looked like a witch and a potato teddy bear. Earlier this week a gardener cut open a Jalapeno pepper to see a smiley face, complete with eyebrows, looking back at him.
She lit her first cigarette as the lights were going out over Europe at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.Since then she has reached for her trusty Player’s Navy Blue (or, latterly, Embassy) through the ups and downs of all the following decades.Until now. At the astonishing age of 102, Winne Langley has kicked the habit after 95 years because she ‘didn’t fancy it any more’.Mrs Langley, who would share cigarettes with her friends at infant school, reckons she hasn’t contracted cancer because she does not inhale.The former laundrette worker, who lives in Croydon, South London, said: ‘Everyone used to smoke in those days, you did it to cope. We didn’t know about the health problems. I just don’t fancy it any more.‘My eyesight is failing so in a few years’ time I might not be able to see the pack.’Since her first puff in 1914, Mrs Langley averaged five cigarettes a day, giving a total of more than 170,000 in her lifetime.Her cigarettes were always to hand during the Depression and the Second World War.‘I lived close to Biggin Hill and you could hear the German rocket bombs’ engines cut out,’ she said.‘Some bombs used to land pretty close to me. You needed a smoke after that. ‘We didn’t know if we were going to be alive from one day to the next, so we thought you might as well enjoy yourself while you’re alive.’
Mrs Langley has outlived her husband Robert, who died in 1968, andher son, who died four years ago aged 72.She said: ‘I’ve cut down in recent years and only had one every few days after dinner or in my bedroom. I can just about afford it but the price of cigarettes is disgusting, and the smoking ban is disgusting. You should be able to smoke where you want.’Mrs Langley’s step-grandson Clive, 53, said: ‘Her doctors have told her there’s not much point stopping now. If she’s got to 102 without getting cancer I don’tthink she ever will.’
The first time she spotted him, Karen Jack didn't have enough time to fish out her camera before he slipped off into the sea.But then, very obligingly, the rare albino otter came back and stayed for lunch.Miss Jack managed to take this snap and a few others while the creature enjoyed his morning meal on the rocky coastline of Moray in north-east Scotland. 
She was extremely lucky - as sightings of albino otters in the wild are highly unusual.In Britain only one other live albino has been spotted in the wild in recent years and throughout the world hardly any reasonable pictures of the creatures exist.Miss Jack said: 'I have been into photography for about three years as a hobby and love photographing wildlife, landscapes and my two cats.'But it was just an amazing and surreal view of the albino otter, and for it to sit there and eat while we watched was mind blowing.'Yesterday Grace Yoxon, of the Skye-based International Otter Survival Fund, said there were hardly any records of albino otters in the wild and they were almost never seen outside a museum.
Mrs Yoxon added: 'To be able to get such wonderful photos is exceptional.'Karen was extremely lucky to have her camera with her - I am very envious.'She said the creature, a Eurasian otter, was unlikely to be disadvantaged by its white coat now that it is an adult. 'Otters don't really have any predators,' she said.'I would think the biggest risk may be people coming to see it.'Otters have soft, insulated underfur protected by an outer layer of longer hair which traps air, keeping them dry and warm underwater.Eurasian otters must eat 15 per cent of their bodyweight a day. In warmer waters they need to catch 3oz of fish an hour to survive.Although fish make up the majority of their diet, they are also partial to frogs and crustaceans.Some have become expert at opening shellfish.Most species live beside water, using it to hunt and travel, but they return to dry land frequently to ensure their fur does not become waterlogged.In March, IOSF took into its care an otter which latched on to two teenagers who were sledging, then followed them home.The cub was spotted in snow under a bush at Windygates, Fife, in February.He was nicknamed Dylan because one of the youngsters was playing a harmonica - an instrument synonymous with singer Bob Dylan.
One of Britain's ugliest dogs is licking his wounds after mindless yobs battered him and pulled out his only tuft of hair in a mindless attack.
Police in Cambridgeshire are appealing for information after shaken Mugly - who won infamy when he was crowned Britain's Ugliest Dog in 2005 - was apparently set upon by a gang of vicious youths.
The hideous prize-winning pooch, a Shitzu-Chinese Crested cross, was rescued by a passer-by who saw off the thugs that were picking on the defenceless dog.
They were allegedly seen hitting him with a stick and kicking and punching him.
The local lady recognised the practically hairless cat-sized dog from missing posters that owner Bev Nicholson, 46, had put up in the Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, neighbourhood. He had escaped from a ground-floor window at home on Thursday and was missing for the day.
'They had pulled out a little tuft of hair he had on his neck,' said Bev. 'It was the only hair he had and they even managed to take off one of his eyebrows. I can't even work out how they would have done that.
It's not like people carry scissors or a shaver around with them.' And mum-of-four Bev, a support worker for dwarf actors, reckons the youngsters may have carried out the beating because they didn't realise what Mugly was.
'I was worried sick about him,' said Bev. 'He'd never gone missing before and you worry about letting him out because of what he looks like and the fact he's so friendly.
'You just can't think why these people would do such a horrible thing. Part of me thinks they might not have even realised that he was a dog because of him having no hair so they just bullied him.
'It's horrible because he loves people so much he probably thought it was just a game and all they were interested in was hurting him.
'He was really shaken and cowered in to me when he got back to me. He was swollen and bruised around his face and rear end.' Worried Bev took her beloved six-year-old mutt to Broadway Veterinary Hospital where he had a check-up.
Vet Adela Navarro said: 'He had a few cuts and was bruised and a little shaken up. We asked the owner to keep an eye on his stools for internal bleeding as a precaution.'
Distraught Bev's main worry when the pooch was missing was the fact that he wouldn't have been getting special care for his unusual needs.
She said: 'Because he's bald I have to put factor 50 sun-tan lotion on him so he doesn't burn. And because his lower teeth jut out he has to have his food in small pieces. He can't chew properly so you have to break it down for him.
'My main worry was that anyone who found him and tried to care for him wouldn't realise what's required to keep him well, so we got 25 posters up around the area pretty quick.'
Thankfully, charmer Mugly is now safely recovering at home but has sadly lost some of his sparkle. Bev said: 'He's a big character in our house and I was so relieved to have him back but he's definitely lost some of his trust.
'He seems a bit unsure when you are playing with him and his toys when normally he wouldn't think twice. I hope the police catch these people and teach them a lesson.'
A daredevil flew into the record books yesterday after becoming the world's youngest wing-walker - at just eight years old.
Fearless Tiger Brewer was strapped to the wings of his grandfather's biplane and reached speeds of 100mph at 1,000ft.
He claimed the world record from the previous holder - Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason's son, Guy, who held the record after wing-walking aged 11 in 2001.
Speaking after the five-minute flight, he said: 'It was quite scary but once I was up there it was really really good.
'The view was amazing, everything looked so small I could see everyone below but couldn't make out who was who.
'I want to do it again now. It really was amazing. The only thing that hurt was the windburn, but apart from that I loved it.'
The trip was arranged by Tiger's grandfather Vic Norman, who owns the only formation wing-walking team in the world, Team Guinot.
He also piloted the plane during the record-breaking flight.
Tiger was strapped on top the wings of a Boeing Spearman biplane and took to the skies from RFC Rendcomb Airfield near Cirencester, at 11am.
He was watched by proud dad Colin, 42, a television director, mum Zoe, 39, an interior designer, and five-year-old sister Flame.
Colin, of Willesden, north London, said: 'I am so proud of Tiger I can't believe he has done it.
'This time last year he wouldn't even attempt a big water slide and now he has been on top of an aeroplane. I am so pleased.
'He was absolutely fantastic but there was no pressure. We said to him earlier that he didn't have to go through with it if he didn't want to, but he was determined.
'It was amazing to see him on top of the plane, he was a bit nervous but it has been a great personal achievement.'
Proud grandfather Vic, 61, said it was fantastic to take one of his seven grandchildren up in the air.
He said: 'He looked slightly nervous at first but he soon relaxed and looked like he was really enjoying it.
'We had a code to let me know if he wanted to go down but he didn't use it.
'I am really really proud to have taken him up and I am so pleased he now has the world record for the youngest wing-walker.
'It's something he can carry with him for the rest of his life. I am sure I will take him up again.
'He shares my passion for flying and it will be a very special experience for us both.'
Victims of landmines come in all shapes and sizes and Mosha the elephant is no exception.
Mosha, a baby elephant from Thailand, became the world's first pachyderm to be fitted with a prosthetic limb in 2007.
But the three-year-old has been growing so quickly she's outgrown two previous artificial legs and is now on her third.
Amazingly, Mosha is not the only elephant to be fitted with an artificial limb.
Another landmine victim, Motola, will also receive a prosthetic leg this weekend - 10 years after losing her left leg.
'I do hope she will accept the new leg. It would be wonderful to see Motola and Baby Mosha walking together side-by-side," said Soraida Salvala, secretary general of the charity Friends of the Asian Elephant.
Motola was injured in 1999 while she was working at a logging camp along the Myanmar-Thailand border. The area is known to be covered in land mines.
Her badly injured foot was amputated and the elephant managed to hobble along on three legs after the operation.
She was fitted with a canvas, shoe-like device two years ago, but will receive her own tailor-made artificial leg this weekend.
'It has been 10 years now, but in all these long years Motola enjoyed a happy life, walking out of her shelter for a sun bath,' said Salvala.
Experts in Thailand have already made casts of Motola's injured left foot for the permanent plastic leg. It must be strong enough to support the 48-year-old's three-ton weight.
Although Motola is the second elephant to receive an artificial leg, she has already been in the record books following her injury.
During the operation to remove her left foot, she received enough anaesthetic to knock out 70 people - a fact that put her into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2000.
Motola's new leg is being constructed by the Prostheses Foundation, an organisation that usually makes cheap but effective artificial limbs for human amputees.
The injuries of the two elephants have highlighted the difficulties facing the majestic creatures in Thailand.
Both are now being cared for at the Elephant Hospital in Northern Thailand. The hospital was set up by the FAE and is the only elephant hospital in the world.
It has treated thousands of elephants for ailments ranging from eye infection to gunshot wounds.
A number of elephants have also been injured by land mines, but the charity says this is just one problem facing the animals in Thailand.
They say the number of domesticated pachyderms has dropped from 13,400 in 1950 to today's estimated 2,500, while the number of wild elephants has also dropped dramatically.
Built 3,000 years before the miracle of Stonehenge, this is Britain's oldest and best preserved house.The remains of the strongly built shelter, discovered on the Isle of Man, provide a rare window into the domestic life of hunter-gatherers 9,000 years ago.Unearthed by accident during extension work to the island's airport runway, the 23ft wide pit is giving up extraordinary archaeological secrets.Most exciting is the revelation that the people of the mesolithic age, long regarded as nomads who wandered ancient Britain in search of food, were actually very good at settling down.
In fact, 12,000 pieces of worked flint, along with a stockpile of tools, show that the homeowners were in residence for long periods at a time. Not to mention the buried mounds of hazelnut shells found around the house - a strong hint of what the ancient inhabitants nibbled for dinner. It is thought the discarded shells were thrown into the fire and then swept out to the edges of the property in an ancient housework ritual.A ring of postholes around the edge of the pit, along with carbonised timbers, suggests the building's supports were about six inches thick and far from a makeshift shelter.Manx National Heritage field archaeologist Andrew Johnson confirmed the building showed that people from this time were settled for long periods.'The received wisdom is that 8,000 years ago people constantly moved through the landscape as nomads, gathering their food from the land, rather than staying put and farming and harvesting it,' he said.'But this building was constructed from substantial pieces of timber, and had a hearth for cooking and warmth.
It is one of the most dramatic images to ever emerge from Mars.In fact, this extraordinary photograph is so clear that even the sand dunes at the base of the half-mile wide canyon are visible.Experts even believe that they can see the tracks of a Mars lander on the left-hand corner of the Victoria Crater.
The image, taken by Nasa, shows in vivid detail the canyon which has lain undisturbed for somewhere between 10million and 100million years.Its peaceful history was only broken when a Nasa rover landed in 2006 and explored the area until August last year, leaving behind its trademark tracks.The space organisation's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter beaned down this stunning shot of the 800-metre-wide crater.The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, which took the camera, has been a useful aide in Mars exploration.
Its images helped the Mars Opportunity rover navigate around the edge of the crater, and even take cover when winds kicked up a dust-storm in 2007.Although the image looks like a 'top-down' shot, it was actually taken at an angle more akin to a passenger looking out of a plane window, allowing NASA to see more of the steep walls of the crater.Another image from the HiRISE captures a 'dust devil' leaving a trail and casting a shadow.
The whirlwinds form as the ground heats up during the daytime, which warms the air immediately above the surface.The hot layer of air rises and the cooler air above falls, and a horizontal gust of wind causes the air and any dust to rotate.Early estimates pin Victoria Crater at somewhere between 10 million and 100 million years old, but the rocks within the depression themselves are likely much older - as in a few billion years in age, researchers said.
But the plucky deer managed to shake off its pursuers, race away before leaping into a moat which surrounded the lion enclosure.
He said: 'It was running and it leaped, it must have had a death wish.'
