Gopher finds home near Soyuz rocket launch pad in Kazakhstan

Video of a gopher living under the rocket launch pad at Baikonur has become an internet sensation.

A video of a gopher living under the rocket launch pad at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has become an internet sensation in the former Soviet Union.

The footage was shot by TSENKI Baikonur - a department of Russian official space agency responsible for Baikonur launches.

The YouTube clip, called "He lives at Baikonur cosmodrome", has been watched by more than 140,000 people to date.

A trio of Russian, Japanese and US astronauts blasted off from Baikonur aboard a Soyuz spaceship for a four-month mission on the International Space Station only last Sunday.

People at Times Square watch the phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge where twice a year the setting sun aligns with the streets of ManhattanPicture: Martin Roe / Barcroft Media

This image of the sun provided by NASA'a Solar and Heliospheric Observatory shows gigantic sunspot AR 1520. One of the biggest sunspots in years, AR1520, is turning toward Earth. Forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-flares and a 25% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours.Picture: NASA/SOHOHO/AFP/GettyImages

Bizarre plans to transform the The Gherkin into The Penguin could see a giant Humboldt penguin towering over Londoners this summer. Bosses at ZSL London Zoo commissioned a production team to draw up a dramatic redesign of the landmark to remind visitors to the capital not to miss the zoo's Penguin Beach in 2012.Picture: Construction Photography

Traffic fence in China collapses like row of dominoes

China's state broadcaster has released surveillance video showing a fence dividing traffic in the city of Jinhua falling like a giant row of dominoes.

2:47PM BST 12 Jul 2012

The almost mile-long fence on Shuanglong Bridge tumbled over in just 30 seconds on Tuesday.

It was the second time in ten days that it had collapsed, according to the deputy head of Jinhua traffic police, Shao Zhichang.

"The main reason is the strong wind as the dividing fences are not fixed to the ground," Mr Shao said.

Police had to lift the fence back up section by section.

The municipal administration said it plans to install a new barrier with a wind-resistant design by the end of July. 

Cassie Bell, 13, cools off in a swimming pool in Blakely, Pennsylvania, USPicture: The Scranton Times-Tribune, Butch Comegys/AP

Homeless couple hand in £6,500 found in rubbish bag

A homeless Brazilian couple who live under the bridges of Sao Paulo found a rubbish bag filled with 20,000 reals (£6,500) on a sidewalk on Monday – and promptly turned it into the police. 

Officials said the pair were out for a dawn stroll when they heard an alarm.

They walked closer to see what was going on and stumbled on a briefcase and a rubbish bag full of money. The pair alerted a nearby security guard, asking him to call the police.

"When we arrived, the couple gave us the money. It might be the money stolen last week from a Japanese restaurant," said Bruno dos Santos, a Brazilian military police spokesman.

The homeless pair "had the opportunity to flee with the money, but they called a security guard and asked him to call the military police. What they did is commendable," the spokesman said.

Jesus Silva Santos, the man who found the money, told the press that he earned a little more than £5 a day from recycling rubbish.

"My mother taught me never to steal," he said.
Source: agencies

A woman performs in Fitting, a world premiere creation by Austrian choreographer Willi Dorner, in Saint-Etienne, FrancePicture: PHILIPPE MERLE/AFP/GettyImages

A rainbow forms above a flooded car park in Weymouth, DorsetPicture: GEOFF MOORE/DORSET MEDIA SERVICE

Nine Team GB Lego mini figures are placed on the top of the world's tallest Lego tower at Legoland Windsor. The tower, which stands at 32m, beats the previous record set in Seoul earlier this year.Picture: Steve Parsons/PA

A lorry competes in the 2012 Shaanqi Cup Super Lorry rally in Xintian, southern ChinaPicture: Quirky China News / Rex Features

A full moon is seen behind the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, BrazilPicture: Felipe Dana/AP

The Empire State Building, illuminated with red, white and blue lights, is seen from the Queens borough of New York, backlit by fireworks over the Hudson River, during the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks showPicture: Frank Franklin II/AP

Joey Chestnut competes in the 2012 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Eating Contest at Coney Island, New York. Chestnut ate a record-tying 68 hot dogs to take the men's crown.Picture: REUTERS/Eric Thayer

Calluses, caused by years of training, cover the hand of a kung fu master at the Shaolin and Wu Dang Martial Arts Extravaganza in Ngong Ping Village, in Hong KongPicture: Kin Cheung/AP

An underground shopping centre car park in Tianjin has introduced a ladies-only parking zone. The area is clearly marked with neon signs, bright pink shopping-themed decor, and hazard bumpers in each space. Other car parks in China have designed special ladies-only parking zones - with extra wide bays, added lighting, and female parking attendants.Picture: China Foto Press / Barcroft Media

Chou Zhu the dog apparently loves walking upright on his hind legs. According to owner Ho Wei from Mianyang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, every time he takes Chou Zhu outside he walks on his hind legs. He says: We once walked straight for three hours and he walked all the way on two hind legs.Picture: Quirky China News / Rex Features

Girls, 16, turn up in helicopter for school prom

Two teenage girls have stunned classmates by turning up for their school prom in a helicopter. 

Chloe Webb and Lauren Huggett, both 16, had hoped to arrive in style by limousine but were disappointed to discover that all the chauffeur-driven cars were booked up.

Fortunately for them, Lauren's father stepped in, paying for a £500, half-hour flight to the end-of-year event to ensure they made a spectacular entrance.

The flight on Friday took the girls from their homes near Stroud, Gloucestershire, to the venue in Gloucester eight miles away on Friday.

Chloe said: "It was really exciting. I'd never been in a helicopter before."

The special trip, in the Robinson R44 twin-engine chopper, was organised by Lauren's father Jason Huggett - who also went along for the ride.

Chloe said: "It was a fantastic trip - really good fun. We got in the helicopter and flew around for half-an-hour before being dropped off at our prom.

"All our friends were really shocked - they could not believe it. We landed on a patch of grass right next to the tent where our prom was taking place.

"We had wanted to get a limousine to the venue but they had all gone by the time we went to book it - but this was even better. The prom was brilliant too."

The girls, from Archway School in Stroud, were attending the Year 11 prom

Chloe now plans to study beauty therapy at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. Lauren, from Cashes Green, near Stroud, will stay on to study in Archway's sixth-form department

US hot dog champion chomps to sixth straight victory

 

Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut scoffs 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes in front of a crowd of nearly 40, 000 people at the annual Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York. 

  Equalling his personal record, the 28-year-old from San Jose, California, bested his main rival this year by 16 dogs at the Coney Island contest.

In all, 15 male eaters from the US and Canada attempted to capture the celebrated Mustard Yellow Internaitonal Belt.

Mr Chestnut, the number one ranked eater in the world according to Major League Eating, made a name for himself in 2007 when he halted then reigning champion Takeru Kobayashi's streak of six wins.

He holds the titles of World Wonton Eating Champion, with 390 wontons in eight minutes and World Bratwurst Eating Champion, gobbling up 35 bratwurst in 10 minutes.

Like any professional athlete, Mr Chestnut said he was aware the strain he was putting his body under in the pursuit of sporting excellence.

"No joke. I was eating like a madman. It's like a marathon runner in the 26th mile, " he said.
"I was pushing my body to the absolute limit and the last minute is the hardest. Right now it's all settling and I'm starting to feel better and better.
"Eventually I'm just going to have to take a nap."
In the women's competition, reigning champ Sonya 'The Black Widow' Thomas took home the top prize with 45 hot dogs, beating the record of 41 she set in 2009.
Asked about the secret to her success, the 44-year-old said it is all about being mentally prepared.
"I know that I can do 45 and 50 hot dog buns but not in ten minutes. But it's more mental control. Mentally, I say I'm going to eat and today I set my goal and I don't want to disappoint myself and I push myself. I'm really fighting with me and it worked."
Like Mr Chestnut, Ms Thomas competes in several disaplines. She holds a total of 25 world records, including Clam Eating Champion, which she took with 26 clams in six minutes, World Cheesecake Eating Champion and Jalapeno Eating Champ, which she won eating 274 jalapenos in 10 minutes. 

A scavenger bobs around on a giant ocean of rubbish on one of the world's most polluted waterways. The makeshift vessel carves a path through rubbish on the River Sentiong in Jakarta, Indonesia. The river, which winds through the capital city, has been dubbed the 'River of Refuse'.Picture: Sinar Sakti Images / Barcroft Media

A fallen tree lies on a home in Falls Church, Virginia, after major storms in the areaPicture: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Aerial photographs by Jason Hawkes show the Olympic Park in November 2007...

...and in June 2012. The London 2012 Olympic Games start on 27 July.

Marat Dupri sits on the edge of a skyscraper in Dubai. The 19-year-old student travelled from his native Russia to Dubai after being enticed by the spectacular high-rise buildings. Together with his fearless friends the teenager scaled the buildings without safety harnesses to produce these stomach-churning images...Picture: MARAT DUPRI / CATERS NEWS

 ..Russian student Marat Dupri stands on a railing at the edge of a skyscraper in Dubai. The fearless 19-year-old, who bought his first camera just two years ago, started by climbing onto the roofs of houses before setting his sights even higher and opting for skyscrapers.Picture: MARAT DUPRI / CATERS NEWS

Mass bungee jump off bridge in Russia 

Around 135 people reportedly jumped off a bridge at the same time in front of a roaring crowd. 

 

Onlookers scream and cheer as 135 people bungee jump simultaneously from a railway bridge in Russia.

A video uploaded to YouTube of the stunt then shows the jumpers proceeding to swing for a while high up above the river below.

The family with £50,000 of breast implants - and the sister rebelling by saying no to silicon

A 14-year-old schoolgirl is refusing to conform with a cherished family tradition - saying she has no interest in having a breast enhancement like her mother and four older sisters. 

 

Britney Marshall works hard at school and dreams of going to university but has perplexed her mother Chantal with her wish not to have her body altered.

Mrs Marshall, a 53-year-old mother-of-nine, believes the teenager is going through a "funny phase".

The mother and her four other girls, of Kirkby in Ashfiield, Notts, boast a total of £50,000 worth of silicone breasts, the Daily Mail reported.

Mrs Marshall has had four operations since 1996, which have increased her bra size from 34B to 32GG while daughters Emma, 30, Terri, 27, Tara, 26, and Ripley, 21 have also had enhancements.

But Britney said: "I'm too young to be thinking about having a boob job - I just want to work hard at school. I believe a girl should do what she wants and at the moment I don't want to get a boob job. 

"I've talked to my mum and sisters about it a lot, and they really love their new boobs and the attention they get from them. In the past I thought I have wanted fake boobs, but then sometimes I look at them and think they look ridiculous.
"I have a thick skin and make up my own mind. I know Mum thinks I will change my mind but right now it's not important."
Mrs Marshall said: "Britney is going through a funny phase at the moment and saying she doesn't want to get her boobs done. But I know my daughters, and I know Britney is no different from the rest."
She said Britney "idolises" her older sisters and that she would like her to follow in their footsteps.
Mrs Marshall, a psychic medium, is now a grandmother but says her breasts make her feel young. She often joins her daughters at nightclubs and loves being mistaken for one of their sisters.
She added: "I really love the fake look of my girls and I know that Britney will go that way when she's a bit older. I love the idea of us all looking similar and glamorous."

John Evans is celebrated in the new Guinness World Records e-book: 'Totally Bonkers Sporting Champions' for balancing a Mini on his head for 33 seconds.

This photograph of a partial solar eclipse was captured by Colleen Pinski who made a mad dash to find the perfect spot to see it after only finding out the day before. She travelled 370 miles from her home in Colorado, Denver, to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

'Professor Splash' dives record 11m into paddling pool

Darren Taylor's dive from 11 metres into 30cm of water, breaking the record for the Highest Shallow Dive, is just one of the feats that feature in the new Guinness World Records e-book. 

Darren Taylor, known as Professor Splash, has over 25 years’ experience in shallow diving.

In November 2011, the 50-year-old from Colorado broke his own record for the Highest Shallow Dive.

Taylor made the plunge from a height of 11.20m (36ft 8.94 in) landing into just 30cm (12in) of water.

After the feat Taylor said: “Yes, it hurts, but the pain lasts for a minute, while the glory lasts a lifetime!”

The new Guinness World Records e-book, which is available on Kindle, iPad, and Nook, gathers together the wackiest feats ever achieved in the world of alternative sport.

If you thought mermaids were just the lively imaginings of lonely sailors then think again. Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida is training ordinary women to be real-life sea goddesses

 They have begun offering in-depth training to ladies who want to become underwater performers - including swimming with a tail.

 Women from across America have flocked to the tiny town of Weeki Wachee - which is home to just nine people - to learn the trade of a mermaid. Above, a mermaid camper floats over the deep hole of Weeki Wachee

 Ami Ji Schmid (right) helps mermaid Mikki Schulze with her make up

Mermaid campers Guesna Dohrman (left) and Susan Smiley-Height

For a $350 (£225) fee they will be taught to perform underwater ballet

  Mermaid Camper Mikki Schulze feeds a friendly turtle