American tourists speak of horror after tour guide is ripped from kayak by giant crocodile

Two American friends have spoken of their horror after their whitewater rafting guide was ripped from his kayak and dragged underwater by a crocodile during a trip of a lifetime in the Congo.

Hendrik Coetzee, 35, was leading the three-man expedition from the source of the White Nile deep into the Congo when he was attacked.

Ben Stookesbury and Chris Korbulic were paddling alongside him after the trio had navigated some rapids when he was grabbed by the massive crocodile, turned over and dragged beneath the water.

They had been navigating a relatively unknown part of the Lukuga River, one of the tributaries that feeds into the Congo River, before the fatal attack last Tuesday morning.

Mr Stookesbury, from Mount Shasta, California, told MSNBC's TODAY programme: 'This section was not well known to the outside world.

'We were paddling close together, the same formation we had been for most of the river, because it makes you appear as a larger animal [to potential predators].'

Mr Korbulic, from Rogue River, Oregon, said the South African-born outdoorsman did not even have time to cry out before the crocodile had dragged him under.

He said: 'It came from behind us, we didn't see anything until it was too late.

'It grabbed him, turned him upside down and then dragged him under.'

Ron Magill, wildlife expert, said: 'There's no human being that stands a chance against that type of animal.'

Mr Coetzee's body has not been found, but a memorial service will be held for him next week.

A blog written by Mr Coetzee during their two-month expedition to highlight the need for clean water in Africa said: 'If safe was all I wanted, I would have stayed home... this is the nature of the beast: risk.'

Mr Coetzee had given the other kayakers instructions to avoid eddies because of dangerous hippos wallowing underwater and to steer clear of banks because crocodiles often sunned themselves on them.

The two Americans were unharmed in the incident and managed to paddle to safety. They have since returned to the U.S., but have not ruled out kayaking again in Africa.

The trip's sponsor company, Eddie Bauer, said in a statement: 'We are saddened by the tragic accident and express our deepest sympathies to Hendri's family and friends.'

Mr Coetzee, who lived in Uganda, was a well-known kayaker who had featured in documentaries about the sport.

Ex-prostitute wins top women's literary prize

Thanadda Sawangduean, 42, has been declared the winner of this year's Chommanard Book Prize.



The literary contest, which is sponsored by Bangkok Bank and Praphansarn Publishing House Co, is in its second year.

Ms Thanadda's biographical work Chan Chue Eri: Kap Prasopkarn Tang Daen (I Am Eri: My Experience Overseas) was selected as the winner from 13 entries this year.

She said the book was based on her personal experience after she was lured into work as a prostitute.

She said she was born into a poor family and had to struggle to make ends meet during her childhood.

An unplanned pregnancy as a teenager meant she had to drop out of school. As a result, her family and others who were close to her decided to turn their backs on her.

Ms Thanadda said she was first lured into prostitution in Pattaya before travelling to work as a sex worker in Hong Kong and Japan, where she suffered mistreatment. She was involved in drug abuse and gambling and was sent to jail for possession of psychotropic substances.

"I wanted to reveal the life of a woman who hopes to make a fortune from such a career to escape poverty," she said.

"But she steps into a [vicious] cycle only to suffer the mental and physical traumas that lie in wait.

"I want to share these experiences so they can be a lesson for those who want to take the wrong path."

Ms Thanadda said she was not that concerned about the prize money she would receive but she would be happy if she found out that her experiences proved useful to other people.

She said she gained recognition from other inmates during her three years in jail. She offered to write appeals for them to have their convictions overturned.

Thanks to her assistance, many of them had their sentences reduced and, in some cases, court rulings were reversed and they were set free from prison, Ms Thanadda said.

She said she has now turned her back on prostitution and is hoping to become a make-up artist.

She said her boyfriend, an American named Dave, inspired her to pen the book. The man has done all he can to find ways to help pull her out of prostitution, she said.

Phra Paisan Visalo, a member of the judging panel, said the book reflected the deeply entrenched problem of prostitution facing Thai society.

The panel of judges decided to pick Ms Thanadda's work as the winner because her approach was unusual and refreshingly different in that she tells the story from her first-hand, personal experience.

Many other authors who pen similar books revolving around prostitution only related their story from the angle of an observer, Phra Paisan said.

Sakchai Chirathivat, an executive of Praphansarn Publishing House Co, said that modern non-fiction was the theme of this year's contest whereas last year's contest focused on fiction.

Ms Thanadda will receive 50,000 baht in cash and a diamond brooch for winning the contest. The work will be published into pocketbooks in Thai and English.

It's a miracle! After 23 years in a wheelchair, woman walks again and says it is all down to spiritual healing

She was paralysed from the waist down when a drink driver ploughed into her car on Christmas Day in 1987.

Then this year, during a visit to a British spiritual healer, Delia Knox suddenly stood up and walked.

And the 46-year-old has been walking ever since.



Mrs Knox, whose ‘miracle moment’ was filmed and has become a favourite YouTube clip, said: ‘This has turned my world upside down. I can stand in my kitchen and walk around my house. I’m like a little kid out of a baby carriage seeing things that were once so huge now seem so small.

‘I am in awe at seeing the power of God not just in my life but all over the world as a result of this miracle.’

The accident which confined her to a wheelchair for 23 years happened when she was on her way home after a church service in Toronto, Canada, with her sister and brother-in-law.

She was a passenger in the car which was hit by a drink driver and bore the brunt of the impact. Her sister and brother-in-law and their two children escaped with minor injuries.

Mrs Knox lost all feeling in her legs and had almost given up hope of walking again.
When she agreed to attend a meeting with preacher Nathan Morris earlier this year, she had no idea healings were happening.

She said: ‘I wanted to get in the presence of God and to see my good friends Pastor John and Brenda Kilpatrick. I knew it was an evangelistic meeting but I didn’t know healings were taking place. To be honest I’ve stayed away from healing meetings.

‘I’ve been pulled, plopped and dropped and rarely responded to altar calls.

‘But Nathan Morris called my husband forward and I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t want to make a scene when Nathan was praying for me.

‘Then all of a sudden I felt a voice which I knew was the Holy Spirit saying to me, “Get up”, and I felt feeling in my legs and then faith came on me to walk.

‘I wasn’t going to let anyone take this away from me and I knew this was my night to walk out of the chair.

‘I walked and walked and walked and felt I had entered another realm. I ended up on the floor and someone was touching my legs and I could feel my knees for the first time. They were bending and clicking into place.’

The footage, which has been viewed by 200,000 on YouTube, shows her being prayed for and lifted out of the wheelchair by the healer during a visit to the Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival in Mobile, Alabama.

People weep and clap as she stands up and independently moves her legs to make her way through the crowd, her steps steadied by two suited men.

A later video shows her walking unaided. The gospel artist, who lives in the U.S., now rarely uses her wheelchair. Her husband, Bishop Levy Knox, said: ‘What has happened to my wife has changed our lives.’

Court victory for Amanda Knox as full review of DNA evidence used to convict her is granted

Amanda Knox won a victory in court today when she was granted a full review of crucial DNA evidence used to convict her of Meredith Kercher's murder.

The appeal hopes of the American 23-year-old rest partly on having the evidence re-examined independently.

After a hearing lasting most of the day, the decision went in her favour, giving her family some hope that the guilty verdict may yet be overturned.
Knox's mother, Edda Mellas, who was in the Perugia court room for the hearing, said: 'There's hope.'



Knox, 23, was jailed last year for the brutal killing of student Meredith Kercher, 21, who was found semi naked with her throat slashed in the house they shared.

She was given 26 years while her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 25, who was also convicted along with her was given 25 years - both claim they are innocent and are appealing.

Today judge Claudio Pratillo Hellman heard final submissions by prosecutors and lawyers representing Meredith’s family, before he and the jury retired to consider its decision.

Defence teams for American Knox and Sollecito, from Giovinazzo near Bari, argued last week that DNA evidence presented at the first trial was flawed and should not have been admitted.

The evidence to be reviewed includes disputed DNA traces found on a knife allegedly used as the murder weapon and on the clasp of Miss Kercher's bra.

Genetic material, not blood, was found on the handle from Knox and on the blade from Meredith but the results are so low they should not be considered, her lawyers had argued.

A bra clasp belonging to Meredith on which DNA from Sollecito was found but was ‘lost’ for six weeks before being discovered again by forensic scientists will also be reviewed.

Defence teams also want two serving prisoners to be admitted as witnesses after they contacted lawyers to say they had vital evidence which would show Knox and Sollecito are innocent.

Prosecutors told the hearing they opposed the request for an independent review but said they had no objection to new witnesses being admitted to the trial.

These are mobster Luciano Aviello who claims his brother Antonio is the real killer and who gave him the murder weapon and a set of keys to the house to hide - neither of which have yet to be found by the police.

The other is child killer Mario Alessi who says that while serving in the same prison as Rudy Guede, who has already been convicted of Meredith's murder, he told him Knox and Sollecito are innocent.

Ms Comodi said: 'Logic says there were no errors,' adding: 'The DNA of Sollecito was found on the bra - he did not live at the house and as a result he would not have entered that room.'

Francesco Maresca, representing the Kercher family, said:''The arguments presented by the defence have all been played out in Oggi magazine (glossy Italian weekly) and we run the risk of never ending justice. If we accept this arguments then any trial could be blocked.'

The judge and jury have now decided to consider its decision.

Last week Knox made a passionate and tearful plea to the court insisting she and Sollecito were innocent and that ‘justice was not being served’ by keeping them in prison and that an ‘enormous mistake’ had been made.

Ms Mellas, who is in Italy for Christmas, said:’Amanda is doing OK considering the circumstances.

'She really wanted to speak last week and it was very moving. It was something that she had wanted to do for a long time.

‘She had been building up her strength to do it and she did well and hopefully the judge and jury will see that she meant every word of what she said. Speaking is not her strength but writing is.’

Lawyers battled through heavy snow which has hit central Italy to make the trial in Perugia which started an hour late to allow for the treacherous travel conditions.

Meredith, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was in Perugia as part of her Leeds University degree and had only been in Italy for two months before she was found murdered in November 2007.

Top 10 movies of 2010

1. The Social Network

Reminding us of everything David Fincher does well after the lumpen and interminable Benjamin Button, this story of Facebook fallout was the year’s timeliest movie, among its wittiest, and conjured such an indelible aura of melancholy amid the back-stabbings that it looks certain to last. Aaron Sorkin’s fleet script doesn’t skimp on rapier put-downs, but it’s shaped beautifully to make us feel the overwhelming loneliness of Mark Zuckerberg, both the odd basis of his success and the reason it rings so hollow. In Jesse Eisenberg’s hands, he’s the vindictive nerd as tragic archetype, a know-all who doesn’t, finally, know himself. Setting his obsessions brilliantly to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s pulsating score, Fincher’s watertight direction elevates what might have seemed a legal footnote into a story for our times, one of human connections reduced to a pattern of ones and zeros, in a doomy echo chamber of clattering laptops.


2. A Prophet

Eleven months after its release, Jacques Audiard’s prison-survival masterpiece, with its scorching breakthrough performance from Tahar Rahim as a light-skinned Arab inmate caught between battling cultures, remains richly unforgettable and near-flawless, an epic of Darwinian wiles.


3. Toy Story 3

We expected a fond farewell to Andy’s toys, but maybe not this skilful a threequel, which keeps all the necessary plates spinning, hardly ever flags and elicited many a tear from grown adults when it says farewell to Woody and the gang, with the simple words “Thanks, guys”.



4. Another Year

Mike Leigh’s best since Topsy-Turvy and a feast of great ensemble acting from his regular players. Lesley Manville’s boozy singleton is reaping plaudits, but the film’s bedrock is the ace tandem work of Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen as a snugly (smugly?) contented couple.


5. I Am Love

Tilda Swinton’s luminous magic is a given by now, but she never plays it safe: Sicilian stylist Luca Guadagnino deliberately strands her as an out-of-place Russian trophy wife, in a pulse-quickening and sensually heady drama of infidelity, sexual fulfilment and fish-soup epiphanies.


6. The Kids Are All Right

Cracking work from Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as feuding lesbian moms, and a bespoke part for Mark Ruffalo as the oblivious sperm donor who comes back into their lives. Director and co-writer Lisa Cholodenko makes a spectacular breakthrough with this plum comedy of eye-rolling dysfunctionality.


7. Dogtooth

Speaking of dysfunctionality, nothing was more disturbing this year than the implications of Yorgos Lanthimos’s startlingly original Greek movie about a family in confinement, being taught a mad vocabulary and strange ideas about sex by their controlling patriarch.


8. How to Train Your Dragon

It wasn’t only Pixar who came up with the mainstream animated goods. DreamWorks triumphed too, finally ditching the sarky quips for this charmer about a Viking blacksmith’s apprentice and his pet, a fire-breathing reptile of rare appeal.


9. The Ghost Writer

Initially underrated, Roman Polanski’s frisky political thriller about a PM in exile was classy, creepy and thoroughly absorbing. Yes, Ewan McGregor’s dissolute hack gets implausibly up to his neck, but the caustic repartee in Robert Harris’s script was great fun.


10. Inception

Love them or loathe them – and rival sections of the geekosphere did both – there was nothing to match Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending dreamscapes for giddying spectacle and scale this summer. Quite a ride.

Daughter of British nuclear physicist faces death penalty after being caught with huge heroin haul in Malaysia

The daughter of a leading British nuclear physicist is facing the death penalty after being arrested for drug trafficking in Malaysia.

Shivaun Orton, 41, was held after police found £16,000 of cannabis, amphetamine, ecstasy and heroin during a raid on a holiday resort she runs with her Malaysian husband.

The mother of two teenage sons, Miss Orton is the daughter of the late Mike Orton – an eminent health scientist who worked at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment in Aldermaston, Berkshire, for 36 years.



She grew up in the pretty Welsh coastal town of Harlech.

It is understood Mr Orton and his wife, Shirley, 67, were estranged from their daughter, who police yesterday described as a heroin addict.
Mr Orton – who died aged 72 – attempted to make contact with his daughter before his death from cancer in April last year, but failed.

Her parents had not spoken to her for more than five years.

Possession or dealing of cannabis, amphetamine and ecstasy carries a sentence of life imprisonment in Malaysia, but possession of more than 15 grams of heroin carries the death penalty. Execution is by hanging.

It is understood Miss Orton admitted five cannabis plants found in her bedroom were hers and for personal consumption only, but denied possession of the heroin.

Reports in Malaysia suggested her husband, Abdul Harris Fadilah, 46, who has also been arrested, confessed that the 225 grams of heroin seized by police was his.

He claimed to have got his wife hooked on the Class A drug after she threatened to leave him and return to the UK.

The couple, who have two sons, aged 14 and 16, run the Ranting Resort, offering £15-a-night backpacker bungalows on the beach in the eastern town of Cherating, on the border of Pahang and Terengganu states. They are being held in Kemaman police station in Terengganu on suspicion of drug dealing and have been remanded in custody until Sunday.

Officers from the Malaysian narcotics investigation department raided the resort following a tip-off from a member of the public.

Speaking from her bungalow in Harlech, Mrs Orton – who has two other daughters and a son – said last night: ‘I do not know what to do. The Foreign Office have not yet informed me.

‘I have had no contact with my daughter for over five years.

‘She had been taking drugs and was psychotic, but before he died my husband tried to make contact with her but was unsuccessful. We did not even have a phone number for her.’
Canon Tony Beacon, vicar of St Tanwg’s, the parish church close to the family home, said Miss Orton had not lived in the area for many years. ‘It’s unbelievable,’ he said. ‘I know Shirley and her husband Mike used to be my church warden. He died suddenly last year of cancer.

‘They are most helpful and joined in everything, getting very involved in local activities.

‘Mike used to work with the Scouts for years, and as well as church warden served on committees for the well-being of Harlech. Shirley has been very involved with us at the church as well. They are a very nice family. This is a blow, I think people here will be quite shattered.’

Chief superintendent Roslan Abdul Wahid, head of the Terengganu narcotics investigation department, said it was the biggest drugs bust in the area for three years.

‘Initial investigations show the couple have been hard-core addicts for almost 15 years,’ he said. ‘We believe they started distributing drugs during the past ten years.

‘The cannabis plants alone carry a sentence of life imprisonment. If the heroin, after analysis, tests positive, then anything over 15 grams carries the death penalty.’

Fadilah is Miss Orton’s second husband. She married her first, Olivier Lavaud, in 1990 in London, aged 20 – but the union failed and she moved to Malaysia.

She and Fadilah ran a business renting out backpacker bungalows in Cherating, a beautiful area of palm tree-lined beaches about five hours drive from Kuala Lumpar. It is the site of a cultural village and turtle sanctuary.

Mr Orton was a health physicist at Aldermaston. He retired at 56 and went on teach information technology at two further education colleges before his death.

Weather girl made up New York rape

An American TV weather girl who claimed she was raped while jogging has been suspended after it was found that she made up the attack in an attempt to gain sympathy.

Heidi Jones, who was the anchor of WABC-TV's weekend weather forecasts and filled in on prime-time show Good Morning America, was suspended by her employer yesterday after it was revealed the rape she reported to police never happened.

Jones told police last month that a Hispanic man attacked her in Central Park on September 24, dragged her into a wooded area and tried to rape her. He was scared off when two tourists saw the incident and screamed, New York Daily News reports.

She also claimed that he somehow found her two months later on November 21 and threatened her, saying "I know you went to the police."

Police were curious as to why Jones took so long to report the crime and launched an in-depth investigation into the matter.

Yet they could not find any video or witnesses who saw the event and Jones remained vague about the details.

After being confronted with some inconsistencies in her story, Jones admitted she had made it up because her relationship was going badly and she wanted sympathy.

Jones will face court in January and could face up to a year in prison if she is convicted. It is believed that she will be fired from WABC-TV after an internal investigation.

Electric Earth: Stunning map of the world created using Facebook friendships between cities

It looks like a view of the world taken from space, with major cities glowing with electric lights.

But this remarkable picture is actually a visualisation of millions of Facebook friendships between cities around the world.

The image was created by Facebook engineering intern Paul Butler who used data taken from the firm’s massive Apache data warehouse.

Mr Butler chose ten million pairs of friends between cities at random and then stripped away any information that could identify the people behind them.



He then combined that data with each user's current city and calculated the number of friends between each pair of cities. This data was then merged, in turn, with the longitude and latitude of each city.

As his visualisation progressed he realised it was creating a rough outline of the world.

On the firm’s blog he wrote: ‘I was interested in seeing how geography and political borders affected where people lived relative to their friends. I wanted a visualisation that would show which cities had a lot of friendships between them.

‘It was clear that I had too much data to get interesting results just by drawing lines. I thought that making the lines semi-transparent would do the trick, but I quickly realised that my graphing environment couldn't handle enough shades of colour for it to work the way I wanted.’

To make it easier to understand, lines between cities which had the most pairs of friends were made thicker with the more friendships a link between two cities produced calculated as having more ‘weight’.

A colour chart was then used to illustrate these different weights, moving from black, to blue and finally to white for the ‘heaviest’ friendship pairs.
The result is an instantly recognisable picture of the Earth but one that has been mapped out entirely using Facebook friendships.

Major cities in the U.S. like New York and LA are covered in thick white lines while the UK and much of western Europe are also filled with colour.

Mr Butler writes: 'After a few minutes of rendering, the new plot appeared, and I was a bit taken aback by what I saw. The blob had turned into a surprisingly detailed map of the world. Not only were continents visible, certain international borders were apparent as well.

'What really struck me, though, was knowing that the lines didn't represent coasts or rivers or political borders, but real human relationships. Each line might represent a friendship made while travelling, a family member abroad, or an old college friend pulled away by the various forces of life.

'Later I replaced the lines with great circle arcs, which are the shortest routes between two points on the Earth. Because the Earth is a sphere, these are often not straight lines on the projection.

'When I shared the image with others within Facebook, it resonated with many people. It's not just a pretty picture, it's a reaffirmation of the impact we have in connecting people, even across oceans and borders.'

The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2010

The Annual Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Famous Faces has been published, in various formats, every year since 1990… and in recent years has been seen by millions of unique visitors from around the world. The most recent YouTube videos have received over a quarter of a million views. The lists have been featured on Digg and Stumble and have been accessed almost 10 million times since 2007.

This list is only about beautiful celebrity faces. Unlike the Maxim, FHM, Askmen & People lists, it is not based on the “sexiest”, “hottest” or “best body”. As this is an international list with input from all over the world, you may discover some relatively unfamiliar faces from the far corners of the earth. Despite fame being a prerequisite, it is certainly not based purely on public popularity. There will definitely be a few big name exclusions because of the specific criteria evaluated — Some who would make the “sexiest” lists may not be known for their facial aesthetic. Over 75 countries have been represented in the Top 100 over the years.

There will be some links to fabulous high-resolution photos. The list will be updated once every year. Feel free to comment below with your suggestions or opinions. Original suggestions are most welcome. Of course, lists are very subjective — you will disagree with some of the choices, but perhaps you will find a new favorite.

What IS that? 'Forest ghoul' caught on camera in dead of night by a deer hunter

If you go down to the woods tonight... you probably won't believe your eyes.
Because judging by footage from a hunting firm's website, this crouching phantom looks like Spider-Man has swung on to the set of the Blair Witch Project.

A deer hunter in the U.S. posted a video said to feature the creature on the Wildgame Innovations website - and the piercing white eyes aren't the sort you would want to meet on a dark night.

The hunter said he was lying in wait in the pitch black when a ghoulish spectre filled his sights.

Its eyes glowing in the light of his torch, it leapt from the undergrowth and flashed a look at the camera before vanishing back into the bushes.

The hunter, who has chosen to remain anonymous, was so frightened he said he broke the camera but retrieved the image from its undamaged memory chip.



The picture was taken on a reserve in Berwick near Morgan City, Louisiana.

Internet users agree the whole thing is merely a hoax - and one comment posted claimed the figure had been stolen from a video game he had seen two years ago.

But the hunter insisted it is not a hoax.

Conspiracy theorists will no doubt note the similarity between the figure's crouching pose and that used by Spider-Man, whose latest big-screen adventure has just begun shooting.

The as-yet untitled fourth Spider-Man is due to be released in July 2012 and will go back to the beginning of the Peter Parker story.

And with producers known to go to any lengths to promote forthcoming movies, there is always the chance this 'mystery' could run and run.

Upping your coffee intake 'doubles the risk of a stroke'

Drinking more coffee than usual could double your risk of a stroke, according to a study.

Light coffee drinkers who normally have no more than one a day are twice as likely to suffer a blood clot on the brain if they increase that by an extra cup or two, it found.

The risk of a potentially fatal stroke was greatest in the hour following consumption. After two hours, the coffee’s effects had worn off and the risk of a stroke passed.



But the danger lies in occasional exposure to relatively higher caffeine levels, the findings in the journal Neurology said – making light coffee drinkers more susceptible.

This could be because coffee-lovers who get through several cups a day become ‘desensitised’ to the effects of caffeine, such as raised blood pressure, stiffening of the arteries and higher norepinephrine levels, a stress hormone that increases heart rate.

Experts at Harvard Medical School in Boston studied 400 stroke victims, comparing each one’s coffee intake in the hour before their stroke with their usual consumption over the previous year.

Around one in ten had drunk coffee less than an hour before falling ill.

They said: ‘Consumption was linked with a risk of stroke in the subsequent hour twice as high as during the periods where there was no coffee consumption.’

They found no such association with caffeinated tea or cola.The risk is mainly confined to those who exceed their normal intake of a cup or so a day.

Strokes kill around 200 people every day in the UK. A Stroke Association spokesman said: ‘Caffeine intake can contribute to increased blood pressure, the single biggest risk factor for stroke, but we have known for some time that antioxidants found in certain foods and drinks, including coffee, can help in the prevention of stroke.’

Workmen discover body of 'huge' gladiator who was 'stabbed six times and thrown out with the rubbish'

Tall, powerfully-built and with a killer instinct he would have been a fearsome sight - especially if you were a gladiator facing him in the ring.

Archaeologists do not know his name but are convinced the remarkable discovery of the Roman gladiator's bones in York provide a clear clue of where the amphitheatre was in the city.

Back when he was fighting for his survival in the ring 1,600 years ago, York was the Roman capital of the north and the ground underneath the Yorkshire Museum has long been thought of as the prime location for the site.



The amphitheatre would have been similar to the one seen in the 2000 film Gladiator which featured Russell Crowe as a bloodthirsty warrior.

The remains of the British gladiator were found just 30cm below the foundations of the museum by builders carrying out refurbishment works.

He was very tall for a Roman, standing at 5ft 10in, and of muscular build. The average height for people living at that time was 5ft 3in.

Analysis of the bones, shows that the skeleton was once a powerful, athletic man who was stabbed at least six times in a fatal attack - including a powerful sword blow to the back of the head.

Because of the way his body was found without hint of burial ceremony experts believe he could have been a disgraced or defeated gladiator who was then literally thrown out with the rubbish after his savage death.

Experts at York Osteoarchaeology have now concluded the man was aged between 36 and 45.

Andrew Morrison, head curator of the Yorkshire Museum, said: 'This was a huge man for the Roman period who died a violent and bloody death.

'The physical evidence reveals he was a swordsman and that his body was literally dumped with the rubbish - there was no hint that he had been buried in a ceremonial way.

'But what is really interesting to us is that he was found in this area, which is not associated with Roman burials and that many believe could be where York's amphitheatre was located.

'It is far from certain but it could well be the case that this man was a disgraced gladiator who was brutally killed and then left to rot.'

The skeleton was found in January by builders carrying out work on the museum a foot below the foundations, during a £2million refit.

Because it is also a key medieval site, the precinct of St Mary's Abbey, excavation at the location has been limited and meant that the Museum Gardens remains one of the few untouched areas in the city large enough to house the amphitheatre.

The scientists discovered that he would have been a very muscular man, with lesions in his vertebrae suggesting spinal stress, possibly through lifting heavy loads.

They also found the man met a most barbaric end. There are six blade injuries on the skeleton which, because there are no signs of healing, must have been delivered at death.

Malin Holst, director of York Osteoarchaeology, said: 'A wound is recognisable as one side is sharp and smooth and the other edge is rough.'

She added: 'To work out his age we looked at the degeneration of his joints and wear to his teeth.

'You can tell height by measuring a long bone like a thigh or shin bone. We knew he was muscular as the bones were shapely.

Experts have eliminated other sites in the city that may have housed the amphitheatre and think this could be a highly significant discovery, as the area is large enough to have accommodated a massive arena.

The remains are now on public display at the museum.

Prepare for nature's 2012 spectacular! Nasa predicts brightest northern lights display for 50 years...

The event will be caused by the Solar Maximum - a period when the sun's magnetic field on the solar equator rotates at a slightly faster pace than at the solar poles.

The solar cycle takes an average of around 11 years to go from one solar maximum to the next - varying between 9 to 14 years for any given solar cycle.

The last Solar Maximum was in 2000 and NASA scientists have predicted that the next one in 2012 will be the greatest since 1958, where the aurora stunned the people of Mexico by making an appearance on three occasions.

In 2012 scientists have stated that the 'Northern' lights should at least be visible as far south as Rome.

Icelandic photographer Orvar Thorgiersson, from Reyjavik, is in the middle of a project to document the growing intensity of the phenomena.

Regularly braving sub-zero temperatures for the last four years, the 35-year-old's photographs show how in 2007 the aurora is a much weaker emerald green against the Icelandic backdrop.

By 2008 its rays have become tinged with colour, bright scarlet and orange glows have appeared as reflected against the serenity of the nearby lake.

The ghostly coloured particle streams billow with silent grace as they hit the magnetic field of the Earth - protecting life on the planet from the potentially lethal solar wind.

Orvar said: '2012 will be the best, brightest and most dramatic opportunity to view the aurora in a long time.



'Now there are days when the lights are so bright you can read a book by them at night. They're brighter than the moon itself.

'By the year 2012 if you catch the moment the Sun is spewing out solar storms directly at the earth you will be truly awestruck.

'It will be like nothing you've ever seen before.'

The brightness of the aurora depends on the activity of the sun, which bombards the Earth's with charged particles known as the solar wind.

Energy and light is released by the reaction which in turn causes the mesmerising effect seen on the surface of our planet. it is more visible at the poles because they gather vast quantities of the charged particles.

'The aurora is a magnificent display of light,' said Orvar.

'It's so intense and when you face it you feel an indescribable connection with nature's greatest event.

'What's fascinating is its unpredictability, I feel some nights like I'm going on a hunt.

'I read the scientific data on the web, grab my gear, and head out into the night, hoping for the best.'

Is this a bet you can't lose?

A new website claims you can make £400 from the bookies at no risk.



If you become a gambler, usually the only winner is the bookie. But hundreds of people have been beating them at their own game for years, using a supposedly risk-free method called matched betting.

Until now, this has been the preserve of internet geeks and mathematicians, but a new website promises to make it accessible to anyone with a debit card. So is there really such a thing as a ''bet you can't lose'', and if so, how much can you make?

Matched betting exploits the free gambling offers given out by online gaming companies. For example, Ladbrokes and Coral both offer a £25 free bet when you place your first wager. Ben Cleminson, from the betting industry agency Square in the Air, says bookies are prepared to spend £300 on average to gain a new client – hence the free offers.

However, seasoned users of matched betting use these freebies to bet on a certain result occurring as well as that same result not occurring, with different bookmakers.The two bookies will have slightly different odds, so a clever punter might end up making a small profit at this point, but it is the free stake that bumps up the profit. The trick for punters is to ensure that they cash their winnings, rather than use them for further bets that may lose them money.

Bookies sometimes do their best to discourage matched betting – by taking a commission, or requiring you to roll your winnings though multiple bets before cashing them. That's where www.fixtheodds.com comes in.

The site, developed by software expert Carl Scott-Brown, aims to automate the matched betting process. Mr Scott-Brown claims that someone with no betting experience could make £440 using the current offers on his site, and he hopes to add many more.

"You could make that over a two week period," he says. The site has taken £15,000 worth of bets in its first month of operation, and Mr Scott-Brown says that if there is anything wrong with the instructions on the site he'll refund the cost of the bet – although he stresses that he won't refund money if people make their own mistakes.

The website relies on a series of pop up windows, instructing you on which bets to place with which bookies. It calculates the odds for you, and uses screen grabs to ensure you put the text in the right box. For most offers, you will need to make two bets – the first of which will use your own money and is likely to make you a small loss. The second bet is where you get the cash using the free bet given to you by the bookie.

There is an example above of one of the offers from last week, which would have netted a punter £14.59. The site will instruct you to make a bet, called a back bet, on something happening.

This will be placed with a recognised betting agency which is running a ''free bet'' offer, for example Ladbrokes, Betfred or (as in the example) Paddy Power. You'll need to sign up and bet using a debit card to avoid paying extra commission using a credit card.

You will then be instructed on how to offset the bet using a betting exchange. These allow you to make something called a lay bet: betting on an event not happening. These exchanges allow you to act as if you are the bookie.

Fixtheodds walks you through the process of making the lay bet; then you wait for the matches or races to be settled before retrieving your stake. Finally you withdraw your winnings from the bookies, including the amount you've bet, plus the profit on top.

Fixtheodds makes its money by its affiliation with Betfair, one of the betting exchanges, taking a proportion of the profits it makes, so the service is free for you to use.

Most of the offers on its site will give you a profit of slightly less than the value of the free bet offered by the bookie, that is, just under £25 in many cases. You can only use each of the bookies once, since the free bets are commonly only offered to new customers.

Graham Sharpe, from William Hill, says the industry does not have a problem with matched betting. "There's no illegal element," he says. "It's a free bet and you can do what you like."

While matched betting purports to guarantee you a profit, particularly using a software site like fixtheodds, you should always attempt to mitigate any risk. Tips include only using offers from bookmakers you have heard of, and who operate in the UK or EU.

Mr Scott-Brown says his team checks the businesses offered on the site, but you may wish to do your own research, too. Start with small offers, to make sure you understand how the system works, and ensure that you follow the website's instructions carefully. Do not take risks with money that you cannot afford to lose.

Finally, there are fears that exposure to gambling websites could eventually lead to gambling addiction in those with certain personalities. If you have a problem in this area, you can contact Gamblers Anonymous on 020 7384 3040. Mr Scott-Brown says that he doesn't believe in gambling. "I don't believe it's an intelligent thing to do," he says. "This is not gambling."

The offers take a while to work through, and those who wish to take advantage should ensure that they tick the box asking not to be contacted or put onto mailing lists by bookies, to avoid being inundated by spam.

However, the money is there, and could be a welcome boost to your Christmas spending, if you're willing to follow the instructions and put in the effort.

Last meals: weird requests on death row

Prisoners on America's death row are traditionally allowed anything they would like to eat for their last meal before they are executed. Here are some of the more unusual requests submitted to prison staff.



Thomas J Grasso: mussels and SpaghettiOs

Grasso was executed in 1995 for using Christmas tree lights to strangle an 85-year-old woman. His bizarre last meal request was for two dozen steamed mussels, two dozen steamed clams, a Burger King double cheeseburger, six barbecued spare ribs, two large milkshakes, a tin of SpaghettiOs with meatballs, half a pumpkin pie and strawberries and cream.

Unfortunately for him, the length or complexity of his list seemed to confuse kitchen staff who made one crucial mistake. Grasso's last words were: "I did not get my SpaghettiOs, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.”

Robert Buell: a single black olive

Buell was sentenced to death for the murder and sexual assault of an 11-year-old, Krista Harrison, in 1982. Buell insisted he was innocent despite being sentenced to 121 years in prison for other rape charges.

His last meal request was for a single black olive with the seed removed.

Gerald Lee Mitchell: a bag of Jolly Ranchers

Mitchell was convicted of murdering a man who would not hand over a necklace he wanted, and was also accused of robbing and shooting two men in a drug deal.

His last meal may not have been nutritious but was certainly colourful: a bag of Jolly Rancher sweets in assorted flavours.

James Edward Smith: a lump of dirt

James Smith was executed in June 1990 for murder and robbery in Houston, Texas.

For his last meal, Smith requested dirt, allegedly so that he could carry out a voodoo ritual. His wish was not granted, however, because dirt was not included on the list of foods approved by the prison system. He settled for yogurt.

Odell Barnes Jr: world peace
One of the hardest requests for catering staff to deliver came from Odell Barnes Jr, who had robbed, beaten and stabbed a woman in her own home in 1989.

Unfortunately for Barnes, and the entire world, prison officers rejected his final request for a serving of justice, equality and world peace.

WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange arrested over Swedish rape claims after handing himself in to British police

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was today arrested on extradition orders by British police after voluntarily meeting officers.

He walked into a London police station at 9.30am this morning and was immediately arrested over demands that he is sent to Sweden to face questioning over rape allegations.

Mr Assange, 39, will appear before a district judge at Westminster Magistrates Court, central London, this afternoon. He has not been bailed by police.

It comes after Scotland Yard officers finally took receipt of the correct paperwork for a European Arrest Warrant yesterday.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Officers from the Metropolitan Police Extradition Unit have this morning arrested Julian Assange on behalf of the Swedish authorities on suspicion of rape.

'Julian Assange was arrested on a European Arrest Warrant by appointment at a London police station at 9.30am.

'He is accused by the Swedish authorities of one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape, all alleged to have been committed in August 2010.

'Assange is due to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court today.' He is expected to appear in court after 2pm.

Mr Assange was accompanied to an unnamed police station this morning by both his British lawyers, Mark Stephens and Jennifer Robinson.

Police contacted Mr Stephens last night after receiving a fresh European Arrest Warrant from the Swedish authorities.

The first warrant, issued last month, was not valid as officials had failed to fill in the form properly.

Detectives in Sweden want to question Mr Assange after two women claimed they were sexually assaulted when he visited the country in August.

Mr Stephens said his client was keen to discover what allegations he was facing so he could clear his name.

He said: ‘It's about time we got to the end of the day and we got some truth, justice and rule of law.

‘Julian Assange has been the one in hot pursuit to vindicate himself to clear his good name.

‘He has been trying to meet with her (the Swedish prosecutor) to find out what the allegations are he has to face and also the evidence against him, which he still hasn't seen.’

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said the arrest would not derail the release of the cables.

'This will not change our operation,' he said.

Meanwhile, PostFinance, the financial arm of the Swiss post office, said it had closed Mr Assange's account after he provided ‘false information’.

The bank said he falsely claimed to live in Geneva and people who do not live in Switzerland cannot hold accounts. WikiLeaks used the account for donations.

The sex case is Mr Assange's most pressing legal issue, but may not be his last as several countries chew over the impact of his diplomatic cable disclosures.

He has come under growing pressure after his WikiLeaks site started publishing excerpts from a cache of 250,000 secret messages.

Former U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has described him as ‘an anti-American operative with blood on his hands’.

Senior Republican Mike Huckabee said that ‘anything less than execution is too kind a penalty’.

WikiLeaks was forced to move to a Swiss host after being dumped by U.S. internet companies as it comes under siege from a series of cyber attacks.

Meanwhile, all Government departments have been asked by national security adviser Sir Peter Ricketts to review their computer security.

The whistlelowing website sparked unprecedented anger by yesterday revealing a classified catalogue of installations including defence plants, satellite facilities and undersea cables in Britain.

They were among hundreds of key industries and infrastructure identified across the world that Washington believes is vital to its national security.

It was the latest tranche of U.S. diplomatic cables to be released since the website began to drip 250,000 leaked files on to its website.

On a day of dramatic developments:

The Swiss post office bank, PostFinance, froze Mr Assange’s accounts – containing defence fund and personal assets worth 31,000 euros – for giving false information regarding his home.

Home Secretary Theresa May admitted all Government departments had been ordered to review their computer security by national security adviser Sir Peter Ricketts.
And the U.S. attorney general Eric Holder said he would examine U.S. laws over a possible prosecution for releasing the sensitive official files.

Among the sensitive locations revealed by the WikiLeaks site were three facilities owned British arms and aerospace manufacturer BAE.

Euro at risk of collapse, says Treasury watchdog as economic crisis sweeps Continent

The Euro is at risk of collapse as economic crisis sweeps the continent, Britain’s independent Treasury watchdog warned last night.

‘General consensus’ is that currency unions ‘eventually fail’, Professor Steve Nickell, a senior member of the Office for Budget Responsibility, told MPs on the powerful Treasury Select Committee.

And the OBR’s chairman, Robert Chote, added: ‘We are not assuming a cataclysmic outcome for the eurozone but, as Steve said, monetary arrangements come and monetary arrangements go.’



Greece and Ireland have already been forced to accept bailouts – with Britain making its own £3.2billion direct loan to Ireland.

There are fears Portugal and Spain may be next to go cap in hand for assistance from the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

Professor Nickell added: ‘Of course there is a possibility it will collapse, but at the moment it is not something to which I would assign a high probability.’

Both he and Mr Chote warned that the OBR had not incorporated into its forecasts any attempt at working out what would happen to the UK economy if the euro imploded.

Prof Nickell, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee which set interest rates, said he ‘would be quite happy’ to do so ‘if we felt it was a real concern’.

The OBR may have to take into account ‘very low’ growth in the eurozone in its next forecasts before the March 23 budget, he added.

Mr Chote also denied that the OBR’s forecasts for the UK economy were too rosy.
In its report last month it revised upwards its prediction for growth for 2010 to 1.8 per cent from 1.2 per cent.

Mr Nickell added that he believed it ‘very unlikely’ there would be further dramatic falls in house prices.

Meanwhile, top European officials yesterday insisted they have enough financial firepower to deal with Europe's government debt crisis - but they id not rule out increasing the bailout fund in the future.

Jean-Claude Juncker, who chaired a meeting of the eurozone's 16 finance ministers on Monday, said that there wasn't any immediate need to increase the £635 billion financial backstop despite concerns that it just isn't enough.

The fund is for eurozone governments in danger of running out of money.

'For the time being, there's no need to increase,' Juncker said after the meeting.
The big fear in the markets is that Portugal and Spain will join Greece and Ireland in needing a financial lifeline - and that Europe might not have enough bailout money available to cope.

In May, eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund set up the giant financial backstop for the currency bloc.

The majority is managed by the European Financial Stability Facility, which can issue up to £332 billion in bonds guaranteed by eurozone governments.

The EU's executive Commission can lend an additional £50 billion, while the IMF has said it would contribute up to £211 billion.

The idea behind the facility was to reassure bond markets that countries would be able to pay - and halt the selloff of government bonds.

Klaus Regling, who heads the EFSF said that Ireland's £72 billion bailout agreed last month will use up less than 10 per cent of the total backstop.

'There are sufficient resources left to deal with other relevant cases,' Regling said.

Elsewhere, Ireland was bracing itself today as the Government prepared to unveil the most feared budget in living memory.

The massive £5 billion cost-cutting package is expected to slash social welfare, including jobseekers and child benefit, in a bid to cut public spending.

Speculation has mounted that public sector wages will be capped and ministers' salaries cut as the government takes on a four-year battle to restore the state's crippled finances.

Public spending will be reduced by £3.8 billion while taxes will raise an extra £1.3 billion.

Prime minister Brian Cowen's shaky coalition will try to impose the cuts with only a two-seat majority.

But the embattled government received a boost yesterday after an independent TD, whose support is crucial, said he would back the cuts.

Michael Lowry, Tipperary North TD, said he would put the country first despite a potential backlash from his constituents.

The veteran politician said that after talks with the government he was satisfied that the old-age pension would be protected, along with free travel and electricity for the elderly.

Mr Lowry said his fellow backbench independent, Kerry's Jackie Healy-Rae, was also expected to back the budget, due to be unveiled in the Dail by finance minister Brian Lenihan mid-afternoon.

The potentially savage package comes just over a week after the government revealed it was taking an £72 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund/Europe.

Mr Cowen's crippled coalition government has suffered widespread criticism for the move by a public angry at the perceived surrender of the state's hard-won economic sovereignty.

The six billion euro package is the first phase of a four-year budgetary road map to raise £13 billion and plug the gap in the beleaguered economy.

Opposition party Sinn Fein accused Mr Lowry and Mr Healy-Rae of engaging in the worst kind of parochial politics.

Any potential excise and duty changes, including the price of petrol and alcohol will come into force from midnight and will have to be voted on in the Dail after the budget is unveiled.

The Social Welfare Bill, which gives legal effect to any budget changes in the dole or child benefit, is expected to be voted on by the end of the week while the finer details of the plan will be debated in the Finance Bill in the new year.

The budget marks the fourth time since October 2008 that the Fianna Fail/Green Party coalition government has been forced to introduce harsh measures to tackle the black hole in the public finances.

Lobby groups made a last ditch plea to Mr Lenihan to either save or make specific cuts, with the Irish Heart Foundation calling for a hike in the price of cigarettes.
But businesses said any price jump would lead to a corresponding increase in smuggling and damage retailers.

Daily aspirin 'can cut cancer death rate by 50 per cent'

Taking an aspirin every day cuts the risk of dying from a range of common cancers, according to a major study.

British researchers have discovered the first definitive evidence that aspirin reduces overall death rates by a third after just five years’ use.

Rates were slashed by half for some cancers and the longer people took the drug, the better the protection.



The study has led to the 100-year-old painkiller – costing just 1p a tablet – being hailed as ‘the most amazing drug in the world’.

Experts say healthy middle-aged people who start taking low-dose aspirin around the age of 45 or 50 for 20 to 30 years could expect to reap the most benefit, because cancer rates rise with age.

In addition, a 75mg dose – a quarter of a standard 300mg tablet – helps prevent heart attacks and strokes even in people who have not been diagnosed with cardiovascular problems.

Millions of heart patients who already take low-dose aspirin on doctors’ orders to ward off a second heart attack or stroke will be getting built-in cancer protection.

There has been widespread concern that side effects such as stomach bleeding and haemorrhagic stroke would outweigh any advantage among healthy people starting a daily regime.

But Professor Peter Rothwell, of the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, who headed the latest study of almost 26,000 patients, is convinced the ground rules have changed. He said: ‘These findings provide the first proof in man that aspirin reduces deaths due to several common cancers.

‘Previous guidelines have rightly cautioned that in healthy middle-aged people the small risk of bleeding on aspirin partly offsets the benefits from prevention of strokes and heart attacks, but the reductions in deaths due to several common cancers will now alter this balance for many people.’

The study, published in The Lancet medical journal, looked at eight trials where heart patients were allocated daily aspirin or dummy treatment for five years.
The heart benefits had already been reported – this time the researchers wanted to discover what happened to death rates from cancer. They found dramatic results, with aspirin linked to fewer deaths from a host of cancers.

After five years of taking aspirin, death rates fell by 34 per cent for all cancers and 54 per cent for gastrointestinal cancers.

Even after 20 years, the risk of cancer death remained 20 per cent lower in groups previously allocated aspirin for all solid cancers and 35 per cent lower for gastrointestinal cancers.

It took five years for the benefits to emerge for oesophageal (gullet), pancreatic, brain and some forms of lung cancer. It took ten years for protection to take effect in stomach and colorectal cancer and 15 years for prostate cancer.

Too few women were included in the trials to give results for breast and ovarian cancer but the figures were ‘all in the right direction’.

Professor Rothwell, who started taking aspirin two years ago in his mid-40s, said the latest findings underestimated the benefits of taking aspirin over two or three decades.

But he warned it was not possible to predict any ‘unexpected’ effect of taking a drug for a third of a lifetime, so it was up to individuals to weigh up the risks.

Around one person in 1,000 on aspirin might suffer stomach bleeding compared with one in 2,000 to 3,000 non-users, but taking the drug does not result in more fatalities.

Professor Peter Elwood, of the College of Medicine, Cardiff University, who has been investigating aspirin for decades and taking it for 35 years, suggested taking aspirin with a glass of milk at night. He said milk contained calcium which enhanced the drug’s positive effects.
Professor Alastair Watson, of the University of East Anglia, said: ‘This study provides strong evidence that taking regular aspirin for more than five years can help prevent development of a number of other forms of cancer, including lung, pancreas, oesophageal and prostate cancers.

‘It also indicates that the longer aspirin is taken for, the greater the benefit. It is important that people know aspirin can cause dangerous bleeding in the stomach in some patients. People wishing to take aspirin should first discuss it with their GP.’
But, he added, this study ‘is further proof that aspirin is, by a long way, the most amazing drug in the world’.

Nick Henderson, director of the industry-backed Aspirin Foundation, hailed the study as ‘probably the most important news for aspirin since its invention’.

Ed Yong, of Cancer Research UK, said: ‘These promising results build on a large body of evidence suggesting aspirin could reduce the risk of developing or dying from many different types of cancer.’

Mobiles warning for mums-to-be: Using phone while pregnant 'can lead to behavioural problems in children'

Pregnant women who regularly use mobile phones could increase the risk of their children behaving badly, claims a startling survey.

If their offspring then start using the devices at an early age, the chance of problems climbs to 50 per cent, according to researchers.

They found those exposed to mobile phones in the womb had a 30 per cent rise in behavioural difficulties at the age of seven.



But those exposed before birth and in their childhood, were 50 per cent more likely to have behavioural problems than those exposed to neither.

Children who used mobiles, but were not exposed in the womb, were 20 per cent more likely to display abnormal behaviour.

The findings by researchers in California are likely to reinforce warnings that children should not use mobile phones.

However, some British scientists were sceptical, saying the findings may be due to lifestyle factors rather than mobiles.

In the study of 29,000 youngsters, mothers provided details of their lifestyle, diet and environment during and after pregnancy.

Information on their children’s health and mobile phone use was also recorded. Around three per cent of children scored abnormal on behavioural issues, with another three per cent ‘borderline’.

The study found that more than ten per cent of children exposed to mobile phones in the womb had mothers who spoke on them at least four times a day.

Nearly half of the mothers had their phones turned on at all times while around a third of children were using a mobile phone by the age of seven.

The findings published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health mirrored an earlier study by the survey team.

Researcher Dr Leeka Kheifets said both sets of results ‘demonstrated that cell phone use was associated with behavioural problems at age seven years’.

The scientists said social factors, such as mothers paying more attention to mobiles than their children, were only partly to blame. Dr Kheifets added: ‘We are concerned that early exposure to cell phones could carry a risk.’

In Britain, Professor Lawrie Challis, a leading government adviser on the radiation effects of mobile phones, has gone on record saying children should not use them until aged at least 12. But more than half of under-tens own a mobile.

Patricia McKinney, emeritus professor of paediatric epidemiology at the University of Leeds, said it was difficult to see how mobile use could affect an unborn baby.

She said: ‘Exposure to radiofrequency radiation from mobile phones is highly localised to the part of the head closest. There is no evidence to suggest that other parts of the body are affected.

‘We also have no evidence that a pregnant mother’s behaviour is related to her mobile phone use and thereby affecting her baby.’

Professor David Spiegelhalter, from the University of Cambridge, was also ‘sceptical’ of the results.

He said: ‘One finding is that very young children who use mobile phones show more behavioural disorders. But is it plausible that the first causes the second?’

Professor David Coggon, from the University of Southampton, said: ‘The pattern of results suggests the increase in behavioural problems may have been caused by factors other than mobile phone use.’

In May, the largest study of its kind said that using a mobile does not appear to increase the risk of certain types of brain cancer.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer analysed data for more than 10,000 people and found no link between years of use and risk.

Girls 'fatter than boys by the age of 7': Parents warned not to ignore 'puppy fat'

Young girls are far more likely to be fat than boys – because they are over-pampered by their parents and do not get enough exercise, researchers warned yesterday.

By the age of seven, one in four girls is too heavy compared with just one in six boys, a study of British children found.

Its authors blamed mothers, warned that ‘puppy fat’ should not be ignored, and called on parents to act early.

The Institute of Education analysed the weights of 11,000 children taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study – which is tracking youngsters born between 2000 and 2002.

Its findings show that as well as gender, the number of brothers and sisters a child has is also an indicator of obesity.

Seven-year-olds who are only children are 25 per cent more likely to be overweight than those with one sibling and 30 per cent more likely to be overweight than those with two.

It is thought this is due to over-indulgent parents and a lack of playmates at home.

The study also found that youngsters aged five who are overweight are 25 times more likely than children of normal weight to still be too heavy two years later.

Youngsters with an overweight mother or father, or a mother who smokes, are also likely to be heavier.

At the age of seven, girls of average height – 4ft – were classed as overweight if they weighed more than 4st 3lb, and obese at 4st 12lb. Boys of 4ft were overweight at more than 4st 4.5lb and obese at more than 5st.

Principal author Dr Alice Sullivan said: ‘Girls and only children are more likely to become overweight between the ages of five and seven. It is not clear whether the increased risk for girls is due to them being over-fed compared to boys, or because they are involved in less physical activity – perhaps due to the over-protectiveness of parents – or some combination of the two.

‘Similarly, we do not know whether only children are less active due to lack of siblings, or over-fed by indulgent parents.

‘Either way, making parents aware of the increased risk to girls and only children may help to modify their behaviour.’

Dr Sullivan blamed parents, and in particular mothers, describing the issue as a ‘family problem’ and calling for health messages to be targeted at mums.

A recent study in the British Medical Journal found fat children show signs of heart disease at the age of 15.

£1.2m Stradivarius stolen as violin star buys a sandwich

A violin worth more than £1million was stolen from a brilliant musician when she stopped for a £2.95 sandwich.

Internationally acclaimed violinist Min-Jin Kym, 32, was on her way to catch a train when her Stradivarius, which is more than 300 years old, was stolen by a gang of three opportunist thieves targeting passengers at Euston station in London.

The instrument was in a black case which also contained two valuable bows.

One of only 450 in the world, it will prove difficult to sell as dealers would immediately recognise its unique label and markings.



Insurers have offered a £15,000 reward for information.

The South Korean-born violinist had stopped at Euston for a sandwich and a coffee with a friend at a branch of Pret a Manger outside the station before travelling to Manchester to visit family and friends.

She placed her violin on the ground for only a short time before it vanished. Hafid Salah, who was working in Pret at the time, said: ‘She and her friend were on computers and iPhones and not looking at their bags.

‘She came up to me at the counter and said, “Have you seen my bag? Call the police. Can you get the CCTV? You have to do something.” She was really upset and panicking.’

Detectives believe an opportunist gang grabbed the bag without having any idea of its value.

The instrument, worth at least £1.2million, has identifying repair marks under its bridge. It was on long-term loan to Miss Kym but insurers refused to comment on who owns it.

Yesterday Miss Kym was too distraught to speak about the theft, which took place around 8.30pm last Monday.

She began playing the violin at the age of six and made her international debut with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra when she was 13.

She went on to study with the violin virtuoso Ruggiero Ricci who said she was ‘the most talented violinist I have ever worked with’.

Sarah Ottley, of the Lark Insurance Broking Group, which is offering the reward, said: ‘Instruments like this are easily recognisable by dealers or repairers.

‘We would urge anyone who might be able to help us to contact the police or Crimestoppers immediately.’

Husband 'paid £1,400 to taxi driver to have wife killed on South Africa honeymoon' claims state prosecutor

The British husband of the bride hijacked and killed on their South African honeymoon has been accused of paying for the attack.

The dramatic claim was made by the state's prosecutor this morning in court.

State prosecutor Rodney de Kock told the Western Cape High Court that taxi driver Zola Tongo, arrested following the murder, was offered 15,000 rand (£1400) by Shrien Dewani to kill his wife Anni.

'The deceased was murdered at the instance of her husband,' De Kock said in reading out a plea bargain agreement which saw Tongo plead guilty to murder.



The taxi driver fingered Shrien Dewani and his Swedish wife Anni, 28, on their luxury holiday in Cape Town.

Tongo, 31, is said to have agreed to a plea bargain to ‘reveal all’ in exchange for a lesser sentence.

Over the past two weeks, there have been police leaks alleging that Mr Dewani, 30, a
millionaire businessman from Westbury on Trym, near Bristol, was involved.

But the claims have always been ‘off the record’ with no evidence presented.

Meanwhile Mr Dewani's friends claim he has been set up.

THE husband of murdered bride Anni Dewani fears he is being ‘set up’ by South African police, his friends revealed yesterday.

Sources close to Shrien Dewani claimed detectives were under political pressure to pin the horrific killing on someone other than a South African.

The millionaire businessman was said to be in an ‘absolutely dreadful state’ as he waits to return to Cape Town to identify the armed robbers who shot dead his wife on their honeymoon.

One friend said: ‘We are just increasingly conscious that there are some people who are definitely trying to set him up. It suits them because an English guy who has done this would be much less damaging to South Africa than if one of their own had done it.

The Dewanis, who had been married for two weeks, were hijacked on November 13 on the way back to their five-star hotel in central Cape Town.

They had agreed to take a detour through a township but within three minutes of leaving the motorway, the taxi was ambushed by two gunmen.

Mr Dewani was thrown out and his wife’s body was found later. She had been shot in the neck.

Two men and Tongo were arrested and charged with murder.

Mr Dewani's spokesman, Max Clifford, has repeatedly insisted that he is nothing other than a victim.

Snakes on a plane: Passenger manages to smuggle two parrots, a squirrel and FOUR snakes on eight-hour flight

A passenger was arrested after security officials discovered he had carried snakes, birds and a squirrel in hand luggage on a long-haul flight.

In a thankfully less-dramatic version of the 2006 thriller film Snakes On A Plane, fellow passengers were blissfully unaware of the man's box full of pets.

However, police arrested the suspect at Abu Dhabi Airport after the Etihad Airways flight from Jakarta, Indonesia when the animals were found with him.



The snakes were identified by an expert as being non-venomous reticulated and blood pythons.
It was unclear how he managed to get the animals past security in Indonesia.

Khamis al Marar, the acting director general of security affairs and ports in Abu Dhabi, stressed that carrying animals on board is strictly prohibited.
In this case, other passengers' safety was at risk, he said.

He added that licensed animals had to travel in specially designed boxes, which should be stored in the aircraft's hold.
The unidentified passenger was travelling on Etihad Airlines flight EY471.

No-one from the airline was available for comment.
Last year a Qantas flight was grounded after four pythons being carried in the hold escaped in flight between Alice Springs and Melbourne.

Baywatch star claims she was singled out for a TSA full body scan because of her looks

Former Baywatch beauty Donna D’Errico claimed she was singled out for a full body scan because of her looks.

The actress and former Playboy Playmate says she was humiliated by a smirking airport security guard who picked her out of a line in Los Angeles and ordered her to go through the ‘naked’ scanner.

‘After the search, I noticed that the male TSA agent who had pulled me out of line was smiling and whispering with two other TSA agents and glancing at me. I was outraged,’ she said.



Now 42, Miss D’Errico appeared in ‘Baywatch’ for three seasons at the height of its success and was a cover girl Playmate in 1995.

‘I’m not sure whether they had recognised me or not. However, it is my personal belief that they pulled me aside because they thought I was attractive.

‘My boyfriend looks much more like a terrorist than either I or my son do, and he went through security with no problems,’ she claimed.

Miss D'Errico is dating Merv Griffin Entertainment president Roy Bank.

She also told AOL News she wasn’t offered the alternative of a body search when she left Los Angeles Airport en route to see a sick relative in Pittsburgh.

‘I must have overlooked the clause in both my Playboy and 'Baywatch' contracts stating that once appearing in that magazine, or on that show, I would forever be subject to being seen naked live and in person by anyone, at anytime, under any conditions, whether I agree to it or not, and for free,’ she said sarcastically.

‘I posed for Playboy 15 years ago. I was on 'Baywatch' 13 years ago. Both of those were controlled environments, with proper lighting, makeup, etc., and were jobs.

‘I contractually agreed to do both of those jobs. I could have stopped or changed my mind at any time.

'None of those conditions are present when TSA decides for you that you will consent to being scanned or felt up, or you simply won't be allowed your constitutional right to travel from one place to another freely,’ she added.

‘This could, and I'm sure does, happen to other women. It isn't right to hide behind the veil of security and safety in order to take advantage of women, or even men for that matter, so that you can see them naked.

'It's a misuse of power and authority, and as much a personal violation as a Peeping Tom. The difference is that Peeping Toms can have charges pressed against them.’

The public outburst is the latest from disgruntled travelers unhappy about their privacy being trampled by stricter security practices – including the full body scans and pat-downs – to foil terrorists at the nation’s airports.

But federal safety chiefs remain unmoved by the complaints, arguing that the tougher measures are necessary to keep air passengers safe.

Costa Rica is world's greenest, happiest country

Costa Rica is the greenest and happiest country in the world, according to a new list that ranks nations by combining measures of their ecological footprint with the happiness of their citizens.



Britain is only halfway up the Happy Planet Index (HPI), calculated by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), in 74th place of 143 nations surveyed. The United States features in the 114th slot in the table. The top 10 is dominated by countries from Latin America, while African countries bulk out the bottom of the table.

The HPI measures how much of the Earth's resources nations use and how long and happy a life their citizens enjoy as a result. First calculated in 2006, the second edition adds data on almost all the world's countries and now covers 99% of the world's population.

NEF says the HPI is a much better way of looking the success of countries than through standard measures of economic growth. The HPI shows, for example, that fast-growing economies such as the US, China and India were all greener and happier 20 years ago than they are today.

"The HPI suggests that the path we have been following is, without exception, unable to deliver all three goals: high life satisfaction, high life expectancy and 'one-planet living'," says Saamah Abdallah, NEF researcher and the report's lead author. "Instead we need a new development model that delivers good lives that don't cost the Earth for all."

Costa Ricans top the list because they report the highest life satisfaction in the world, they live slightly longer than Americans, yet have an ecological footprint that is less than a quarter the size. The country only narrowly fails to achieve the goal of what NEF calls "one-planet living": consuming its fair share of the Earth's natural resources.

The report says the differences between nations show that it is possible to live long, happy lives with much smaller ecological footprints than the highest-consuming nations.

The new HPI also provides the first ever analysis of trends over time for what are supposedly the world's most developed nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

OECD nations' HPI scores plummeted between 1960 and the late 1970s. Although there have been some gains since then, HPI scores were still higher in 1961 than in 2005.

Life satisfaction and life expectancy combined have increased 15% over the 45-year period for those living in the rich nations, but it has come at the cost of a 72% rise in their ecological footprint. And the three largest countries in the world – China, India and the US, which are aggressively pursuing growth-based development models – have all seen their HPI scores drop in that time.

The highest placed western nation is the Netherlands. People there live on average over a year longer than people in the US, and have similar levels of life satisfaction – yet their per capita ecological footprint is less than half the size. The Netherlands is therefore over twice as environmentally efficient at achieving good lives as the US, Nef says.

The report sets out a "Happy Planet Charter" calling for an unprecedented collective global effort to develop a "new narrative" of human progress, encourage good lives that don't cost the earth, and to reduce consumption in the highest-consuming nations – which it says is the biggest barrier to sustainable wellbeing.

No end in sight to U.S. economic crisis as 'scariest jobs chart ever' shows post-recession unemployment is at its worst since World War Two

As unemployment in the U.S. nears the dreaded 10 per cent mark, it is a chart to chill the bones of any job hunter.

Comparing previous recoveries from all 10 American recessions since 1948 to the current financial crisis, the stark figures show almost no improvement in employment figures in the past year.

Some commentators have described the comparison as 'the scariest jobs chart ever', pointing to the fact that only the 2001 recession took longer to bring employment back to pre-crisis levels.



Even then, the total percentage of jobs lost bottomed out at two per cent, compared with six per cent this time round.

The job chart will heap further pressure on Barack Obama's attempt to stimulate the economy as plans were drawn for a temporary extension of the Bush-era tax rates for all taxpayers.

The bipartisan economic package would also extend jobless benefits for millions of Americans.

Differences remained over details, including White House demands for middle and low-income tax credits.

But Republicans and Democrats appeared to come together yesterday, raising the possibility of a deal in Congress by the end of the week.
Some Democrats continued to object to extending current reduced tax rates for high earners.

The action is needed to prevent the delivery of a tax hike to all taxpayers at the end of the year when the current rates expire and revert to higher pre-2001 and 2003 levels.

Negotiations between the Obama administration and a bipartisan group of lawmakers centered on a two-year extension of current rates.
The 9.8 per cent unemployment rate has also heaped pressure on Republicans to accede to President Obama's demand that Congress extend jobless benefits for a year.

Republican congressional leaders had opposed an extension of benefits without cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.

'I think most folks believe the recipe would include at least an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are unemployed and an extension of all of the tax rates for all Americans for some period of time,' said Senator Jon Kyl, the Senate's Republican negotiator in the talks.

'Without unemployment benefits being extended, personally, this is a nonstarter,' said Senator Dick Durbin, the second-ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership.

Republicans have insisted that any extension of jobless aid be paid for with cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.



The White House opposes that, saying such cuts are economically damaging during a weak recovery.

About 2m unemployed workers will run out of benefits this month if they are not renewed, and the administration estimates 7m will be affected if the payments are not extended for a year.

Any deal would require the approval of the House and Senate, and the president's signature.

President Obama told Democratic congressional leaders that he would oppose any extension of tax rates that did not include jobless benefits and other assistance his administration was seeking.

The short-term tax and spending debate is unfolding even as Congress and the Obama administration confront growing anxieties over the federal government's growing deficits.

A presidential commission studying the deficit identified austere measures last week to cut $4 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade.

Egyptian minister says it's safe to swim despite German tourist being eaten by a shark (and some people actually believe him)

Egyptian officials have insisted it is safe for tourists to go back into the water despite a 70-year-old German woman being killed in Sharm el-Sheikh after another shark attack.
While many holidaymakers have steered clear of the water and British travel companies halted all boat trips and diving excursions, others were pictured swimming and snorkelling in the Red Sea despite the killer fish still being on the loose.
The latest attack has echoes of the 1975 Steven Spielberg film Jaws, where hunters capture a shark they claim is behind a fatal attack only for the fish to strike again when officials said it was safe to go back into the water.



The German pensioner died after her arm was torn off by the shark. Four other tourists suffered horrific injuries in similar incidents.
Just days before authorities had reassured tourists that they had captured two sharks - an oceanic whitetip and a mako - and the water were safe again for swimming.
Witnesses told how the woman screamed for help after a whitetip tore off her arm and part of her thigh. She is said to have died within minutes.

But officials again played down the danger and said they had called in experts to help determine what type of shark they were looking for.
Tourism minister Zuhair Garana said: 'We are not allowing people to swim in deeper water and we are flying in a marine biologist from Florida to identify exactly what kind of shark we are dealing with.
'We have had attacks before but we have never had this number of attacks over just a few days.
'Diving is being allowed. We are advised that sharks will not attack divers.
'I cannot say that deep waters are completely secure but shallow waters are 100 per cent secure.'

Briton Ellen Barnes, 31, from Horsham, West Sussex, has described how she frantically swam for the shoreline after describing the water around her turning red with blood when the German pensioner was attacked.
She told The Sun: 'I have never felt pure terror like that. The water was churning like I was in a washing machine.
'The shark was thrashing and tearing at this poor woman and I could barely keep my head above the water it was so choppy.
'And the swimmer was screaming "Help me! Help me!" in English. It was spine-chilling. I just threw myself on to the beach.'
Mrs Barnes had been in the water with her daughter Grace, five, and four-month-old son Eden just minutes before the attack.
‘Suddenly there was a scream for help and a lot of violence in the water,’ said Jochen Van Lysebettens, manager of the Red Sea Diving College at the Sinai Peninsula resort.
He said the victim, who was pulled from the water by a lifeguard, was a regular visitor to the luxury Hyatt Regency Hotel, one of the world’s most popular scuba diving destinations.
Oceanic whitetips – once described by late marine expert Jacques Cousteau as the most dangerous of all sharks – are not usually found so close to shore.
The beaches were immediately closed again and tourists were warned to stay out of the water. But there were claims last night that the authorities had been too slow to react to the initial danger.
The earlier attacks had seen three Russians and a Ukrainian injured.
In one of those incidents, an elderly woman had her hand ripped off and another female swimmer had her leg severed.
Tourist Agnieszka Gogolewski, of Kettering, Northamptonshire, who has just returned from the resort, said holidaymakers were given little information about the dangers.
‘We saw a diver being brought out of the water after being attacked by a shark,’ she told Sky News.
‘Only an hour after the attack we saw people were still swimming. It is terrible that no one was warning tourists. The hotels were saying nothing and people were diving and swimming about unaware of the danger.’



The attacks will deal a serious blow to Egypt’s tourist industry.
Sharm el-Sheikh is one of the country’s most popular holiday spots, attracting more than four million visitors a year, including thousands of Britons.
Tony Blair has holidayed with his family several times at the resort.
Environmentalists warned the attacks may have been caused by overfishing in the region, which has brought sharks closer to shore to feed.
One diving expert said the sharks could have been drawn to the coastline by dead cattle – being brought in for the Islamic feast of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha – being dumped in the water.
‘It is unusual to have four attacks in a week,’ said Rolf Schmid, manager of the Sinai Divers’ Centre.
‘The area hasn’t had sharks for the past ten to 15 years.
‘A possible reason for these attacks is cattle and sheep imported from Australia die on the long voyage and are thrown in the water before the ships reach the harbour.’
Concerns have also been raised that unscrupulous dive operators have been encouraging sharks during trips by throwing offal into the water, or that overfishing in the Red Sea has forced the sharks to hunt for food closer to the shore.
U.S. shark expert Samuel Gruber said the spate of incidents recalled Steven Spielberg’s 1975 movie Jaws.
He said: ‘It seems the shark in one day bit more than one person. In all my years reading about shark attacks and writing about them you never hear about sharks biting more than one person.
‘Then for it to happen again is almost like a Jaws scenario.’
In the film, fishermen capture a tiger shark after one attack and the mayor of Amity declares it is safe for people to go back into the water, with disastrous results.
The Foreign Office has warned holidaymakers to be on their guard following the string of shark attacks.
Thousands of British tourists flock to Sharm el-Sheikh each year, attracted by its balmy temperatures and crystal clear waters.
British holiday companies have responded to the attacks by today cancelling all water sports and boat trips.
Thomson and First Choice also advised holidaymakers to stay out of the water.
A statement on the Foreign Office website read: 'Attacks by oceanic white tip sharks are extremely rare and shark attacks of any kind are very unusual in the Red Sea.
'If you are considering diving or snorkelling in any of the Red Sea resorts be aware that safety standards of diving operators can vary considerably.
'A basic rule is never to dive or snorkel unaccompanied. Where possible make any bookings through your tour representative.
'Unusually cheap operators may not provide adequate safety and insurance standards.'

China's High-Speed Train Breaks Own Record

The China-built high-speed CRH-380A has set a new world rail speed record of 486.1 kilometers per hour on a test run between Shanghai and Beijing, according to China's Ministry of Railways.



The train hit the record speed on a section between Zaozhuang City in Shandong and Bengbu City in Anhui, part of the world's longest high-speed rail line connecting Beijing and Shanghai. The line is expected to open in 2012.

The train's previous record was 416.6 km/h set on Sep. 28 during a test between Shanghai and Hangzhou.

"This not only marks a milestone in the construction of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway but also is a major achievement of China's technological innovation," said Wang Yongping, a railway ministry spokesman.

As of this year China has 7,055 kilometers of high-speed railway in service, the most in the world, with trains running between 200 and 350kph between major provinces and cities. The first high-speed line linking Beijing with the neighboring port city of Tianjin was opened during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

The Chinese government is to spend RMB800 billion (US$120 billion) to double the length of high-speed track in its bid to cut travel time between almost all of China's major cities to less than eight hours, increase traffic capacity and boost regional economic ties, according to Shanghai Daily.

Travelers will be able to slash the travel time from the capital to Shanghai to four hours by the bullet trains.

Concerns have been raised over ticket prices however, with ticket prices on Shanghai's high-speed links more expensive by up to 50 percent than older trains, drawing criticism from some travelers, especially those in lower-income groups.

The advent of the high-speed railways has meant some express trains running on older track have been reduced or cancelled, leading to fewer rail travel alternatives for those who struggle to afford the more costly new trains.

At the opening of the Shanghai-Hangzhou line in October, rail operators offered a free return trip between the two cities for one day. Critics doubted however that many working class people would be able to afford the 160 yuan (US$24) return ticket on a daily basis.

10 fun jobs that pay well

Job satisfaction can be measured in a lot of ways: benefits, job security, career advancement and work-life balance. Even earning a salary of $75,000, which a recent study by the National Academy of Sciences found is the income level at which people are happiest, doesn't guarantee you'll be happy at work.

But a fun job that you can look forward to going to every day, that's a job everyone wants. The "funnest" job may not necessarily equate to the most satisfying — a recent survey by CareerBliss found that Disney theme park workers rank lower than members of the Army when it comes job satisfaction.

But if you're looking for fun and a chance to make some good money — both of which we hope will lead to job satisfaction — here are 10 jobs worth considering. Our list isn't based on a survey, but on unscientific criteria that includes job satisfaction, having fun at work, independence and a good work environment.

Ferrari driving instructor
Annual salary: $120,000
Yes, it's a niche, but that's why it pays so well and is so much fun. Anthony Lazzaro, a former NASCAR driver who still races professionally, earns $500 to $1,000 a day as a Ferrari instructor, he told WalletPop in an e-mail. Even at the low end, that adds up to $120,000 for 12 months of work.

The classes can cost $9,000 or so, and if you can't afford that and still want to see and hear what it's like to be in a Ferrari at 150 mph, a YouTube video gives an idea. The classes, whether through him or someone else, are not for the meek.

Astronaut
Annual salary: $100,000
What could be more fun than floating in space? According to NASA, salaries for civilian astronaut candidates are based on the federal government's general schedule pay scale for grades GS-12 through GS-13. Each person's grade is determined by academic achievements and experience. Currently, a GS-12 starts at $65,140 per year and a GS-13 can earn up to $100,701 per year. Military astronauts remain in an active duty status for pay, benefits, leave, and other similar military matters.

Any adult who is in excellent physical condition and meets the basic qualifications can be selected to enter astronaut training. But for mission specialists and pilot astronauts, the minimum requirements include a bachelor's degree in engineering, science or math, followed by three years of related experience and preferably an advanced degree. Pilot astronauts must have at least 1,000 hours of experience in jet aircraft, and they need better vision than mission specialists.

It's a tough field to get into. There are more than 4,000 applicants for about 20 openings every two years. But go ahead, fill out an application.

Winemaker
Annual salary: $93,000 per year
You don't have to buy a vineyard to be a vintner or winemaker. Many wineries hire someone to run the winemaking business and oversee production, the staff and the budget.

According to JobMonkey.com, the general requirements include a bachelor's degree in oenology (the study of making wine) or another related degree, at least five years experience in winemaking, a strong knowledge of the pertinent grape varietals, and strong technical winemaking skills. It may take awhile to get such a fun job, but taking good wine home to taste after work sounds like a pretty nice job perk.

Chocolatier
Annual salary: $90,000
This job might be too much fun if you love chocolate. As anyone who has worked at an ice cream store can tell you, you get tired of ice cream after working with it for eight hours a day. The same might be true for chocolate, but it's a chance we're willing to take.

A top chocolatier — who makes or sells chocolate — can earn $90,000 to $100,000 per year at Godiva. The average annual salary for all chocolatiers is $21,000, so you'll have to be at the top of the profession to earn the big bucks. But if you've worked as a marketing or product development manager, you could still find jobs at chocolate companies and make $100,000 or more per year, and probably still get some free premium chocolate to take home. Or eat at your desk. Your choice.

Pilot
Annual salary: $81,000
Being an airline pilot can be a stressful job, but it must be a fun one. Why? They get to fly a plane. Duh. Who wouldn't want to fly a plane, travel the world for free and make good money while doing something few people can do? The average pay is $81,000, according to Indeed.com.

Magician
Annual salary: $49,000
Entertaining people — by making them laugh or be amazed — pays well for magician Mitch Williams, who told WalletPop that he earns $400 to $3,000 per job, depending on the type of program he's doing, location, date and other factors. The median salary for a magician is $49,000 per year, according to a career website.

"I get to create my own shows, and perform them for a variety of different groups," Williams said in an e-mail. "It's such a blast seeing and hearing people respond to what I do. I'm an international award winner, and I'm known as an expert at sleight of hand and an authority on approaching magic as an actual art form. So the magic I do is somewhat unique and fairly impressive (even if I do say so myself.) It's a thrill to be able to get people caught up in the experience of wonder. And of course the real magic is that experience that we create together; performer and audience."

Park ranger
Annual salary: $47,000
Most government workers are happy with their jobs, according to a recent survey, mostly because they feel the work they do is important. A park ranger's work is important, and the work environment should only add to having fun on the job. Because most park ranger jobs are federal jobs, they're paid on a pay scale. Non-supervisory park rangers earn $47,448 per year, and supervisors earn $57,408 or more.

Video game designer
Annual salary: $46,000
Playing video games is fun, but creating them from your imagination could be much more fun. A degree in graphic design will help you get the job. Pay averages $46,000 a year for someone with less than three years of experience, going up to $70,000 a year with more than six years of experience.

Florist
Annual salary: $25,000
We know that's not a lot a money, but working around flowers all day — the smell, the beauty — at least sounds like a fun job. And the pay can go higher than the $25,000 median — to about $45,000 with 10 to 19 years of experience.

Standup comedian
Annual salary: $10,000 to millions
It's a tough gig to break into, but making people laugh can be fun and profitable. Dan Nainan earned $15,000 for a show, and made $22,000 as an actor for a day's work filming an Apple commercial.

"I get to travel around the world on someone else's dime — I've performed in Dubai, Netherlands, Tokyo, Aruba, Mexico, just to name a few — and I have an upcoming tour of the UK [November], Thailand in December and Trinidad in March," he said in an e-mail to WalletPop. "Since I fly almost 200,000 miles a year, I get upgraded to first class on every flight, and have a free lounge membership. My life is like that of George Clooney in "Up in the Air", just without the sex LOL."

If you're really good as a standup comedian, it can lead to making millions of dollars, which sounds pretty fun.