The filthy rooms that await the world's athletes

Games of Squalor: A shocking look inside the filthy rooms that await the world's athletes in Delhi

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:36 AM on 24th September 2010

• New Zealand joins Canada and Scotland in delaying arrival in Delhi
• Indian Prime Minister convenes crisis meeting on Games
• Wales team set to decide today whether they will travel to India
• Advance party of English athletes will arrive in Delhi today
• Child labourers photographed installing seats at main stadium

Shocking pictures yesterday exposed the filthy state of the accommodation provided for athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

The images were revealed just hours before the first wave of the English team flew out to the Indian capital.

They show stained wash basins and showers and dark red marks caused by workmen spitting out chewed betel leaves.

Filthy: The bathrooms of the Commonwealth Games village are covered in building dust and mud

Mess: A dirty basin, covered in an unknown substance, in the Commonwealth Games village

Paw effort: Animal footprints can be clearly seen on this bed in the village

Another picture shows urine and rain water on a bathroom floor in the accommodation close to the main Jawaharlal Nehru stadium.

Paw marks from one of the many wild dogs that roam Delhi’s streets can also be seen marking one of the beds.

Many of the participating nations, including England, Scotland and Wales, have complained that the athlete’s village is not fit for human habitation.

Wash and go? The bathrooms at the Commonwealth Games athletes' village have been exposed as being in a particularly poor state

Worry: Several top athletes have already pulled out of the Commonwealth Games

Danger: Exposed cables and huge holes in the building work can be seen in these pictures

Last minute: British triple jumper Phillips Idowu, left, has decided not to pull out of the Commonwealth Games, while child labourers, right, continue to work on Jawaharlal Stadium in Delhi yesterday

Yesterday there were also fears that the site – which was being heavily guarded by police from the media as well as any terrorist threat – would flood.

 

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• MARTIN SAMUEL: Stop currying favour and pull us out of Delhi

Monsoon rains have caused the nearby River Yamuna to burst its banks and stagnant water is a breeding ground for mosquitos which can carry the potentially life-threatening dengue fever.

Squalor: A family at the temporary shelter where they moved after water levels rose near the Commonwealth Games village, seen in the background, left, while workers treat the open air canal to kill mosquitoes

Health risk: Large areas of open water are attracting mosquitoes and there has already been an outbreak of dengue fever, which is carried by the insects

No-show: Three countries have postponed their arrival at the Games until conditions improve

Labourers check the roof of the weightlifting venue at Jawaharlal Stadium yesterday after part of the ceiling collapsed

The organisers yesterday drafted in 1,000 extra workers – each being paid no more than £3 a day – in a desperate effort to clear up the mess before the Games’ scheduled start on October 3.

There were concerns that some of the staff that had been drafted in were children.

The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has seized control of the project and yesterday the federal government ordered the Organising Committee to hand over management of the village.

The Committee also has been criticised over faulty infrastructure – problems that were epitomised when a bridge linking a car park to the stadium collapsed on Tuesday.

Further humiliation came 24 hours later when part of a ceiling in the weight-lifting arena collapsed.

Canadian officials have described the indifference of Indian officials as incomprehensible.

However, polls in Indian newspapers show a vast majority of Indians are ashamed of the fiasco.

England’s advance party, comprising men’s hockey players, lawn bowlers and staff, are due to arrive this morning.

Welsh athletes are due to leave for India tomorrow. But more British athletes may decide to pull out unilaterally.

Yesterday the Scotland team said its first party of 41 would delay their departure.

Race against time: Labourers work to concrete a staircase on a pedestrian bridge outside of the main stadium yesterday

Paving the way: Workers lay roads and paths at the main stadium yesterday

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is valued at $6.9bn

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is valued at $6.9bn in Forbes rich list, jumping above Steve Jobs and Rupert Murdoch

By Daniel Bates

Last updated at 1:45 AM on 24th September 2010

• Facebook co-founder, 26, triples fortune to $6.9bn
• Mark Zuckerberg pledges $100m to Newark schools
• Bill Gates still the richest with a $54bn fortune

Millions across the world will be thinking the same thing – if only I had thought of that.

But it is 26-year-old Mark Zuckerberg who is reaping the rewards after starting social networking phenomenon Facebook.

The Harvard graduate shot up the list of wealthiest people in America yesterday with an estimated personal wealth of £4.4billion.

$6.9bn fortune: Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg (left) has jumped above rival and Apple CEO Steve Jobs in the latest Forbes magazine rich list

After starting the website as a computing student in 2004, Mr Zuckerberg now ranks 35th above well-known, and much older, heavyweights such as Rupert Murdoch, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs and film director George Lucas.

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• Facebook goes offline for second day in a row

But while they have been at the top of the annual Forbes 400 list for years, Mr Zuckerberg is the star earner this year after his worth went up by 245 per cent – the biggest gain of anyone on the list.

Like last year, Bill Gates is the richest with a personal fortune of £34.4billion.

Since taking a back seat from the company he has also become one of the most generous people in America, donating more than £17.2billion to charity through his own foundations.

With a fortune of $54bn, Bill Gates (left) is the richest man in America for the 17th year in a row while investor Warren Buffett is at number two with $45bn

And Mr Zuckerberg has followed the Microsoft founder’s relatively modest approach to life, as Facebook has grown to more than 500 million users, knocking Google off its perch as the top website.

The 26-year-old lives in a humble rented home in Paolo Alto, California and drives a £13,000 car.

Luisa Kroll, Forbes global wealth editor said Facebook was the success story of this year which is still suffering from the fallout of the global recession.

Third in the Forbes list is Oracle CEO Larry Ellison (left) with $27bn, while Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz (right) is the youngest dollar billionaire, worth $1.4bn

‘At a time where there are a lot of the same people on the list and not a lot of new things being created, you do have Facebook,’ she said.

But despite the economic downturn, anyone wanting to get on the list this year must have a personal fortune of at least £638million for the first time since 2008.

The total worth of those on the Forbes 400 rose to £874billion in 2010, up 8 per cent from last year.

AMERICAN TOP 10 RICHEST

1. Bill Gates, Microsoft, $54billion
2. Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, $45billion
3. Larry Ellison, Oracle Corp, $27billion
4. Christy Walton and family, Wal-Mart, $24billion
5. Charles Koch, Koch Industries, $21.5 billion
6. David Koch, Koch Industries, $21.5 billion
7. Jim Walton, Wal-Mart, $20.1billion
8. Alice Walton, Wal-Mart, $20billion
9. S. Robson Walton, $19.7billion
10. Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg LP, $18billion

Figures are according to Forbes magazine

Second wealthiest is investor Warren Buffett with a fortune of £28.7billion and in third is Larry Ellison, the founder of computer software company Oracle, with a net worth of £17.2billion.

Mr Zuckerberg followed up the unveiling of the Forbes rich list last night by revealing that he is set to make a £66million donation to help turn around some of America’s worst schools in New Jersey.

He plans to announce the huge gift on The Oprah Winfrey Show today.

But critics say the announcement comes a week before the much-anticipated opening of The Social Network a Hollywood film which reportedly portrays him in an unfavourable light.

The film details the creation of the hugely popular social networking site that has made him one of the youngest billionaires in America.

Much of the Forbes list is made up of technology moguls and investors including George Soros, who is ranked at number 14 with a fortune of £9billion.

The list is also overwhelmingly male with just a sprinkling of women including Walmart heiress Christy Walton who is fourth richest with £15.3billion.

Representing the world of entertainment were Steven Spielberg at number 110 with £1.9billion, and Hollywood’s richest man, media mogul David Geffen who came in at 54 with a net worth of £3.2billion.

Forbes also highlighted a number of ‘billionaires in the making’ including rapper Jay-Z who has a personal fortune of £287million with a spread of business interests and entrepreneurial projects.

A measure of his success is that in 2007 he tied with Elvis Presley for the most number one albums in the U.S. by a solo performer, only to break the record last year.

Now only The Beatles have more number one records with 19 to Jay-Z’s 11.

According to Forbes the list is compiled by research throughout the year involving employees, rivals, attorneys, ex-spouses and securities analysts.

‘We keep track of their moves: the deals they negotiate, the land they’re selling, the paintings they’re buying, the causes they give to,’ said Miss Kroll.

The full Forbes 400 list can be seen at www.forbes.com/Forbes400

Little meets large

Little meets large: World's smallest teenager takes his chances with the planet's biggest biceps

Last updated at 7:58 PM on 9th September 2010

Pint-sized Khagendra Thapa Magar is within reach of becoming the world's shortest man - as long as he doesn't suddenly have a growth spurt in the next two weeks.

At 22 inches, he is currently the shortest teenager on the planet.

But as soon as he turns 18 on October 14, he will be eligible to take on the title of the world's shortest adult male.

B-army: Body builder Tiny Iron has a bicep span of 24 inches - that's two inches more than the height of the world's smallest teenager Khagendra Thapa Magar

Displaying just how petite he really is, Magar was pictured today in London being held aloft by body builder Tiny Iron.

Spanning 24 inches, the 28-year-old Londoner has the largest biceps in the UK.

The pair were posing together at Ripley's Believe It Or Not! museum in London's Piccadilly, to promote the new book Ripley's Enter If You Dare.

Take that! Weighing just 10lb Magar is an unlikely opponent for 280lb Tiny Iron

This is is just the latest photo call for Magar, who was pictured on tour in New York earlier this week.

He is hoping to snatch the title from Edward Nino Hernandez, a 24-year-old Colombian dancer who measures just 27ins and who was officially recognised by Guinness on Monday.

Nino was 1.5ins shorter than the previous incumbent He Pingping of China, which means Khagendra will have shaved 2.5ins off Pingping's height.

The long and short of it: The pair were promoting museum Ripley's Believe It Or Not!'s new book

Guinness World Records editor in chief Craig Glenday said: 'The question is, will Nino still have the record by Christmas?

'With Khagendra in the wings, there's a good chance Nino will only hold the title for a few more weeks.'

Title holder...but not for long: Current world's shortest man Colombian Edward Nino poses with his Guinness World Records certificate at his home in Bogota

If you are curious as to why this little title means such big things to these men, then you only need look at how it transformed Pingping's life when he inherited the title in 2008, lifting him out of a life of poverty and transplanting him to a world of TV shows and international travel.

Magar's family first applied to have him recognised as the World's Shortest Man when he was just 14, but he was refused because of the possibility he could grow before he turned 18.

U.S. has killed more innocent civilians

Islamic cleric behind Ground Zero mosque says U.S. has killed more innocent civilians than Al Qaeda

By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 12:59 AM on 25th August 2010

The Islamic cleric behind plans for a mosque at Ground Zero in New York has claimed that the U.S. is worse than Al Qaeda.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said that America was more culpable than the terrorist organisation because U.S.-led sanctions were responsible for the death of half a million Iraqi children.
'We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than Al Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims,' he said.

Controversial remarks: Islamic cleric Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has sparked outrage by claiming America has killed more innocent civilians than Al Qaeda

The comments, made in an interview in 2005, have been highlighted this week on a conservative American blog.
Rauf is the driving force of plans to put a £70million mosque two blocks away from where the Twin Towers once stood.

 

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• The moment an angry crowd protesting against Ground Zero mosque turns on man in a skull cap... because they think he is a Muslim

His comments raise further questions over whether or not funding for the project will come from regimes that back terrorists, something the mosque leaders have refused to rule out.
A poll has showed that more and more Americans are taking an interest in the Ground Zero mosque, and that 62 per cent are now against the project compared to 54 per cent in July.
Rauf's comments drew condemnation from Debra Burlingame, head of 9/11 Families for a Strong America, who said they left her feeling disgusted.

Weekend protest: Angry scenes broke out on Sunday at the site of a planned mosque two blocks away from where the Twin Towers stood

'This man is out there preaching politics and advancing anti-American propaganda,' she said.
In the interview, Rauf said that any debate about Islam was hampered because Western audiences have yet to appreciate the damage they have inflicted on Muslims.
He said: 'What complicates the discussion, intra-Islamically, is the fact that the West has not been cognizant and has not addressed the issue of its own contribution to much injustice in the Arab and Muslim world.
'It's a difficult subject to discuss with Western audiences, but it's one that must be pointed out and must be raised.'

Shocked: This man was surrounded by protesters against the mosque because they thought he was a Muslim

Rauf's comments, which emerged on a conservative U.S. blog, came as a poll showed that more and more Americans are taking an interest in the Ground Zero mosque, and that the majority oppose it.
Some 85 per cent of those questioned said they are following news stories about the project, a 34-point jump from a month ago.
Some 62 per cent are now against the project compared to 54 per cent in July.
Rauf's comments drew condemnation from Debra Burlingame, head of 9/11 Families for a Strong America, who said they left her feeling disgusted.
'This man is out there preaching politics and advancing anti-American propaganda,' she said.

Rubik's Cube at 14,000ft

As if it wasn't hard enough already! Skydiver solves Rubik's Cube at 14,000ft

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:28 PM on 24th August 2010
If you thought solving the complexities of top toy the Rubik's Cube was tough, try doing it while dropping from an airplane!
Skydiving wasn't enough for German Ludwig Fichte, who had to plunge 4,300 meters (14,000ft) in a rubber dinghy while tackling Erno Rubik's twisting challenge.
And, drum roll please, the student cracked the Cube's mystery in 31.5 seconds with 2,500 meters (8,200ft) to spare.

Freefall: Ludwig Fichte plunges 14,000ft in a rubber dinghy while tackling the Rubik's Cube

That gave him ample time deploy his parachute and float safely to the ground.
The student said: 'Solving the Rubik's Cube in freefall has been done before by three people, as far as I know. But I am the first to do it in a rubber boat.'
Now, freefalling Fichte wants to do it again: 'I want to try the skydive again - some ideas would be to compete with another speed-cuber sitting in the boat or solving two cubes in a row.'
For a record, the best time ever recorded for completing the Rubik's Cube is 7.08 seconds.

Missing complete: Fichte finished the cube with 8,200ft to spare

Rocking the boat: Fichte had ample time deploy his parachute and float safely to the ground

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1305683/As-wasnt-hard-Skydiver-solves-Rubiks-Cube-14-000ft.html#ixzz0xa8LBD2W

Monkey saving lives

Busy day for a monkey who saves her cub from being hit by a moped...and then again from becoming a dog's dinner

By Paul Thompson
Last updated at 10:07 PM on 20th August 2010

Even on the dusty and dangerous streets of New Delhi, the bond between a mother monkey and her young is almost unbreakable.
This tiny youngster was struck by a moped while scampering across the road in India's capital, where the animals are a common sight scavenging for food.

Lurking nearby was a wild dog who sensed an easy kill. But just when the baby's fate seem sealed, its mother leapt to the rescue.

Dedicated mother: Monkey cub was first run over by a moped before being attacked by a dog

The mother stepped in to attack the moped driver before gunning for the hungry dog too

In an act of ferocious devotion she grappled with the dog, biting it on its back to drive it away before picking up her little one.

In the animal kingdom the bond between a mother and her young is unbreakable.

 

And as this young Indian monkey discovered that natural instinct is always evident, even away from their natural surroundings.
The small golden haired monkey was left momentarily dazed after being struck by a moped rider while scampering across the road.

Monkey see monkey do: The mother attacking the dog after it has started on her cub

Lurking nearby was a wild dog who, sensing an easy kill, moved in to try and snatch his prey as he lay stunned on the ground.
But just when the young monkey’s fate seem sealed its mother leapt to the rescue.
Using her powerful arms she jumped on to the back of the street predator in a desperate act of protection.
Amazed onlookers in the streets of New Delhi,India, watched as the monkey and the dog tussled together.

Mother scares the dog off and tends to her cub who cowers beneath her in fear after the ordeal

Eventually the dog realised he was not going to win  and wandered away leaving the injured baby monkey to cling to its mother.
The scenes were captured by a photographer who happened to be passing at the time of the incident and posted the pictures to an internet photo site.
The species of primate, known as the Common Indian monkey, are a common sight in the streets of New Delhi where they scavenge for food.
Like other animals forced into an urban environment they run the risk of being hit in the traffic choked streets.

Young Gymnasts

Hang in there: How children as young as four are stretched in training to be China's future gymnasts

By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 9:41 PM on 10th August 2010
It's enough to make any parents grimace as these Chinese children are contorted into the most uncomfortable positions.
Aged between four and seven, the young gymnasts are put through a rigorous stretching routine by their coaches during a training session.
One youngster has his hamstrings stretched out as his instructor pins his leg almost vertically alongside his head.

Contorted: A coach pins the leg of this young boy using his hand and foot

At a stretch: Children as young as four are put through a tough training schedule at a sports school in Jiaxing, China

And girls are made to perfect their balance by standing on one leg while holding their other limb above their heads.
The gymnasts were taking part in a training session at the gymnastics hall of a sports school in Jiaxing, in the Zhejiang province in China.
Chinese officials have insisted that tough new eligibility rules will end the type of 'age cheat' scandal which saw a Chinese gymnast stripped of her bronze medal.

Safety net: One young gymnast jumps of a high bar as an instructor holds out his hands in case he falls

Hanging in there: These boys are made to perform handstands or hang from high bars

Concentration: Four young boys watch on as another is suspended upside down from rings inside the gym

Dong Fangxiao won gold as part of the China women's team event at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) decided in February to cancel all results obtained by Miss Fangxiao and the International Olympic Committee followed in April by stripping China of the medal.
An investigation by the FIG revealed she was only 14 when she competed in the games. Athletes must be 16 in the year of the games to be able to take part.