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by MILES ERWIN - Monday, October 27, 2008

A plot by Neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate White House hopeful Barack Obama has been exposed by US agents

Target: Barack Obama

Officers said the two men also planned to shoot 88 black people and decapitate another 14. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.
In court records unsealed yesterday, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target an unnamed but predominantly African-American high school by two Neo-Nazi skinheads

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree, with Mr Obama as their final target.
'They said that would be their last, final act - that they would attempt to kill senator Obama,' said Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge.
'They didn't believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying,' he added.
The development came as Mr Obama and his Republican rival John McCain entered the final week of the campaign by visiting Ohio.
Mr Obama yesterday attacked Mr McCain as a clone of out-going president George W Bush.
Meanwhile, Mr McCain repeated his charge that Mr Obama was a tax-and-spend liberal

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by JO STEELE - Monday, October 27, 2008

Two artists have carved success out of making as little as possible - fashioning pinhead-sized grapes and a kitchen knife you could pick your teeth with


Little beauty: This small but busy farmhouse table scene was painted by hand

Charlotte and Martin Willmott spend their days creating tiny pine-apples, complete with 35 individual leaves, or tackling their latest bugbear - string onions.
'It's getting that texture right, with the very faint stripe they've got in them and the roots,' said 54-year-old Mrs Willmott

The pair, who have no formal sculpture training, craft their work from polymer clay, which is then fired in their domestic oven before being hand painted. Their farmhouse table laden with produce goes for £85 and a mini Atlantic salmon for £45.

Strange fruit: the tiny banana, next to a matchstick

The couple, from Ipswich, caught the bug 30 years ago after reading about a man who made 1/12 scale chairs.
'They were just perfect. We were fascinated,' added former insurance specialist Mrs Willmott.
Husband Martin, 63, finally plucked up the courage to leave his job as an art teacher in 1991. They now sell their creations to collectors at miniature fairs across the country

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by MILES ERWIN - Monday, October 27, 2008

This is the moment when a minibus driver realised that his sat-nav wasn't always the best guide


The sunken minibus: Reverse! Reverse!

As the bus began to sink in the lake, he made a frantic phone call to police saying he and his two passengers were drowning. When rescuers arrived they found the three balancing on the roof.
'The driver had such faith in his sat-nav that he didn't even notice all the traffic signs saying the road had been closed,' a police spokesman said.
The drama happened in Glubczyce in Poland on a road flooded last year to make a new reservoir. The driver and passengers escaped unhurt

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Monday, October 27, 2008



Mondex, a Chihuahua, wears a pirate costume during a Halloween dog show for the benefit of an animal welfare organization in Manila

Amazingly, Mondex actually won the prize for the most creative costume

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Monday, October 27, 2008

A delighted Manuel Uribe and his carriage, with new wife Claudia Solis

The world's heaviest man has tied the knot. Manuel Uribe, who hasn't left his bed in six years, married his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis Sunday in northern Mexico

Wearing a white silk shirt with a sheet wrapped around his legs, Uribe smiled as Solis, 38, walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress, a tiara and hot-pink lipstick.
He later broke into tears as a notary declared the couple husband and wife in a civil ceremony attended by more than 400 guests.
For the traditional first dance as newlyweds, Uribe and Solis held hands and swayed to a romantic ballad

A popular local norteno band played accordion-heavy tunes at the reception, which featured a banquet of meat and buttered vegetables.
Uribe's mother, Orquedia Garza, said the groom steered clear of the five-tier wedding cake.
"He didn't break his diet," she said. "His doctors are here and they are watching him very closely

The wedding, which was closed to most media, will be featured in an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on Uribe, the 43-year-old former mechanic said.
"I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life," Uribe told hordes of reporters earlier as they followed him through the streets of Monterrey.
A flatbed truck was brought in to tow his custom-made bed decorated with a canopy, flowers and gold-trimmed bows to the wedding at a local event hall. Two police patrol cars escorted him ahead of a long line of traffic.
Uribe tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230lbs (560kg), earning him the Guinness World Record as the world's heaviest man.
He has since shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Solis, whom he met four years ago.
Uribe said he's gunning for a new title: world's greatest weight loser

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by ROSS MCGUINNESS - Monday, October 27, 2008

With its sunshine, sea and 600 bars, few British tourists fly to Benidorm purely to sample its unique cultural heritage


Benidorm: a 'unique collection of skyscrapers'

But one academic believes the Spanish resort should be put on Unesco's list of protected sites, joining the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge and Machu Picchu.
The Costa Blanca town's 'unique collection of skyscrapers' make it the 'Dubai of Europe', according to Prof Philippe Duhamel.
'Benidorm is unique in Europe, is known worldwide and is a remarkable site for what is understood by mass tourism,' he told the 12th International Benidorm Tourism Forum yesterday

It was a village of just 1,500 people until mayor Pedro Zaragoza Orts recognised its potential in the 1950s.
It now attracts 500,000 Britons a year to its 70 British-themed pubs, ten fish-and-chip shops and replicas of Wigan and Blackpool piers.
Current mayor Manuel Fenoll welcomed the proposal from the French academic, saying: 'After many years of misunderstanding, there are now many experts who recognise the Benidorm model

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Monday, October 27, 2008

Two drunken burglars stole police equipment after discovering the door of a rural police station had been left unlocked, it was revealed today

Shane Bowkett, 22, and Matthew Goodchild, 21, turned up at the station in Newent, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, at 4am on August 23.
They had been drinking at a nearby pub and had gone to the police station because they thought Goodchild's brother had been arrested and was being held there

They pressed the buzzer, but after getting no answer found the door was open and all the lights on, so went inside.
When they realised the station was unmanned, they stole two stab vests, two high-visibility jackets, two police caps and the key to a patrol car.
Bowkett, of Coleford, and Goodchild, from Newent, both admitted burglary on October 14 and were each given a 12 month conditional discharge by Gloucester magistrates and ordered to pay £30 each.
The stolen equipment was recovered by police.
Police have also apologised to widow Chris Harrison, 59, for mistakenly smashing in her front door when they were searching for the culprits.
Mrs Harrison, who runs an equestrian equipment shop, has made an official complaint and compensation claim.
Gloucestershire police said there was a fault with the door to the police station which meant that it could not be locked properly. Security had been stepped up since the incident.
A spokesman said: "It is important that police stations throughout the county are accessible by members of the public and that during periods when the station is not manned, they can locate the help points which put them in direct contact with the contact centre.
"On this occasion the station had been left insecure due to a fault with the door and the offenders gained access into the building.
"We have now reviewed the security of this station and will be making sure that an incident like this doesn't happen again

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Monday, October 27, 2008


Line up: One bolt of lightning wiped out all of these cows

. A single lightning bolt killed 52 cows at an Uruguayan ranch
Newspaper El Pais reported the cows had pressed against a wire fence during a storm when the lightning bolt struck in the northern state of San Jose.
A photograph released by the San Jose Police Department shows the black and brown cows lying dead in a long row.
The newspaper said that veterinarians at the scene confirmed the cause of the deaths, which happened on Wednesday.
The veterinarians told the newspaper that cows often crowd around fences to seek protection during storms.
Meteorologist Fernando Torena told the newspaper he wasn't surprised that a single lightning bolt killed so many cows. But he called it "very bad luck

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by ROSS MCGUINNESS - Monday, October 27, 2008

Whatever the outcome of next week's presidential election, the world can count on one thing - the White House will never be the same after George Bush leaves


Chest-bump: Mr Bush knocks chests with a recruit at an Air Force academy in May

Rarely has a leader left himself so open to ridicule - or indeed encouraged it himself.
Whether or not you agree with his policies, his gaffes never failed to make us laugh.

Bush makes a good impression on a baby in Germany

From the time he nearly choked on a pretzel, inset, to his embarrassing encounter with a turkey who took a shine to his nether regions, 62-year-old Mr Bush has always been good entertainment

He once attempted to spy on North Korea using binoculars with the caps on - and even threw the Queen a cheeky wink.
Mr Bush has crashed electric scooters - at his parents' house, no less - and taken a tumble down the stairs of Air Force One.

The leader of the free world soaks up the culture with some African dancers

And that's not to mention his tortuous way with words that made John Prescott look eloquent. Let's hope, in his own phrase, that history doesn't misunderestimate him

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Monday, October 27, 2008

A dog was hailed as a hero after it risked its life to save a litter of newborn kittens from a house fire, rescuers said

In a case which gives the lie to the saying about 'fighting like cats and dogs', the terrier cross named Leo had to be revived with oxygen and heart massage after his ordeal.
Fire broke out overnight at the house in Australia's southern city of Melbourne, where he was guarding the kittens

Fire fighters who revived Leo said he refused to leave the building and was found by them alongside the litter of kittens, despite thick smoke.
"Leo wouldn't leave the kittens and it nearly cost him his life," fire service Commander Ken Brown told reporters.
The four kittens also survived the fire and on Sunday Leo, who fire fighters nicknamed 'Smoky', was again back at the house