Mafia gun hidden agenda as a mobile phone

It's the mobile phone that could leave you with more than a warm ear.

As startled Italian police discovered, the device seized in a raid on a Mafia gang is actually a pistol.

The phone gun - complete with a dummy display - holds four .22 bullets.


The mobile that calls you only once: Mafia gun was disguised as a phone

It was fully loaded and ready to be used when it was found in Naples.

The phone transformed into a gun by sliding the keypad section.

The stubby antenna is the barrel, and a touch on a particular key fires a bullet.

A police spokesman said: 'This is the first time such a weapon has been seized and shows the sophistication that the crime syndicates are turning to.



Killer call: A policeman demonstrates how the bullets were loaded

'Tests are being carried out to see if it has been used recently or has been involved in any shooting attacks.'

The raid in a Naples suburb was part of an operation against the Gionta crime family of the Camorra, the port city's version of the Mafia.

Officers from the paramilitary Carabinieri police also seized two ordinary handguns, ammunition, bullet-proof vests, drugs and cash.

A 28-year-old man was arrested during the raid in the Torre Annunziata area but several other suspected gang members escaped.


The pistol, which carries four bullets, can be fired from a button on the phone's keypad

Group wedding of traditional Chinese style

The newly-weds tour on boats during a group wedding of traditional Chinese style in the Shajiabang Scenic Spot in Changshu, east China's Jiangsu Province, Nov. 16, 2008. Eleven couples attended the group wedding on Sunday.



The newly-weds plant trees during a group wedding of traditional Chinese style



The newly-weds tour during a group wedding



The newly-weds go across a bridge during a group wedding

World's biggest bowl of Bak Kut Teh in Malaysia

Teng Chang Khim(1st L), Malaysian Selangor State legislative speaker, and Ter Leong Yap (1st R), president of Klang Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry pose for photos with the world's biggest bowl of Bak Kut Teh in Klang, Malaysia, Nov. 22, 2008. The bowl of Bak Kut Teh with 182.88 cm in diameter and 91.44 cm in height, and containing 500kg of pork, 450kg of soup and 50kg of herbal medicine, has been listed in the Malaysian Book of Record, and is now applying for Guinness World Records.





People pose for photos in front of the world's biggest bowl of Bak Kut Teh in Klang,

Guinness World Record Heaviest Neck Tumor

Sixty-six year old woman from West Virginia suffered neck tumor from twenty-two years. Due to her tumor, she could not move out of house. Tampa plastic surgeon C. N. Guerriere removed tumor weighing 8kgs from her neck and gave her a new life to move out of home. The tumor was so large that it stymied even MRI scans.

Guerriere never thought that his surgery would make his way into the Guiness Book of World Records.

Below is the photograph taken after surgery.

World's Heaviest Woman

Renee Williams in hospital before her operation


After years of gorging on burgers, French fries and chocolate chip cookies Renee Williams tipped the scales at 64 stone. She was just 29 years old.

The mother of two, who weighed almost half a ton, was bedridden and knew her only chance of survival was to beg doctors for a gastric bypass to reduce the size of her stomach.

Before her death she let cameras into her home in Austin, Texas, to raise awareness of the dangers of obesity.

She said: "I'm not the average overweight person and never have been. My stomach has always been flat and my waist is really small compared to my weight.

"I have to be helped with everything. I can brush my own teeth and comb my own hair but a lot of people who are this weight cannot move around at all."

Renee battled with her weight since childhood but convinced herself her obesity was due to a genetic problem.

She said: "There are times when I have to force myself to eat because I know it's been a while since I've eaten something."

By the age of 12 she weighed 21 stone and was classified as morbidly obese and by the age of 29 was six times the size of a healthy woman of the same age.

Renee married at the age of 15 and weighed more than 30 stone by the time she gave birth to oldest daughter Mirina a year later.

Five years later her weight had soared to 35 stone, but it didn't stop there. At the age of 24, Renee's weight had ballooned so much she had to weigh herself on industrial strength scales at a local garage.

She said: "I was finally able to get the courage up and I asked my mum and sister to go with me.

"The numbers are on this little display not near the scale so I stepped on it but had my sister go and cover up the numbers with her hand because I refused to have anyone else know what I weighed."

In 2003 Renee was left bedridden after a drunk driver smashed into her car crushing her left leg. Unable to control her appetite, she got bigger and bigger and piled on another 28 stone. Renee didn't move from her bed for four years and developed weeping sores all over her skin.

"I can't turn over. My skin has become so fragile when I move my legs too much I feel it rip open," she said.

"You cannot miss it when somebody looks at you and immediately turns to their friend." Although the 840lb mum insisted romance was never been a problem she admitted showing her daughters affection was.

She said: "I want my kids to be able to hug and kiss me. They can't get their arms around me so I settle for a hug around my arm.

"I used to go to the school and see my older daughter in a play. I can't do any of that anymore. I have to see it on video.

"What's kept me going all these years is my daughters. I can't leave my daughters here for something that can be corrected.

"I used to be scared of not knowing what was going to happen to my daughters. I'm afraid of them not having their mum but I'm doing something now that I'm hoping will change that."

Renee's daughter Mirina, 13, said: "I don't know why my mum ate. They told me this has been going on since she was a child. She used to hide food in her closet.

"She ate everything. There was nothing that she didn't like. Her eating habits were getting worse and worse. She wouldn't stop until her stomach started hurting.

"She'd go to McDonalds and get eight burgers from the dollar menu and eat all those."

Renee's sister Lois Quinones added: "I don't know what was going on with her psychologically. She really did want to eat all the time because she didn't feel full.

"After her accident she was a different person. She was bedridden at 26 and I think she used food to comfort a lot of that isolation, loneliness and knowing that was her future."

When doctors gave Renee less than a year to live she knew a gastric bypass was her only chance at life but was turned down by 12 hospitals across America because of her size.

The determined mum chose to take matters into her own hands and launched an online appeal for help.

She said: "One day my heart is just going to stop beating. It's going to say I'm tired of pulling this body around. That's it."

Surgeons at Houston's Renaissance Hospital heard Renee's appeal and admitted her for the operation.

Renee was the largest person ever to have the surgery and had to be carried from her bed to an ambulance by eight men.

The operation was a success and within two weeks Renee had lost four stone. Tragically however Renee suffered a huge heart attack and died on March 4, 2007.

Guinness Record with 1.895-meter beard

Man challenges Guinness Record with 1.895-meter beard


Sarwan Singh holds onto his beard prior to a ceremony in Surrey, British Columbia November 11, 2008. Singh was attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the longest beard. Singh's beard measured at 1.895-metres.



Sarwan Singh's beard curls on the floor as he waits to take part in a ceremony in Surrey, British Columbia November 11, 2008. Singh was attempting to break the Guinness World Record. Singh's beard measured at 1.895-metres.

World Most Beautiful Goat Found In Riyadh

People take photographs of a Maaz Al Shami (Damascene goat), which won the "Most Beautiful Goat" title, during the Mazayen al-Maaz competition in Riyadh

World's hairiest dog

With this much hair you can't always count on a clear view.

But new mum Kyra sees to it that every one of her nine Komondor pups gets plenty of rest.

Her large brood - of which six are featured here - has given a fluffy boost to the British population of this rare breed.


Milk time: Kyra's pups try crowd in for a feed


Until two-year-old Kyra's litter was born there were only 40 Komondor dogs registered in the UK.

They are known as 'the ultimate sheep-dog' in Hungary, their country of origin.

Growing up to 80lb, they could fight off wolves and bears and their thick hair protected them from bites.

Owners Gareth and Debi Young, of Newquay, Cornwall, said they were astonished that Kyra produced so many pups, each worth more than £1,000.


Happy and hairy: Rare breed Kyra the Komondor dog with her nine pups in Newquay, Cornwall


Mrs Young, 48, said: 'A typical litter is around four.' She added: 'I think the dogs are so rare because they are very hard to breed, and are also quite a lot of work.'

The couple plan to sell eight of the litter. Mr Young, 39, a fitness coach, said: 'Whoever buys them needs a good-sized garden and good grooming skills.'

Once the puppies are between six and nine months old, their downy coat will change into the mass of dreadlocks seen on the adults.


Exhausting: Owner Debi Young holds one of the pups as its mum takes a well-earned rest

Snake Massage Therapy

A client in an Israeli health spa enjoys her latest "snake massage" by six non-venomous snakes. Here, large reptiles are good for deep tissue massage while their smaller counterparts ideal for delicate areas such as face. For 70 U.S. dollars, the spa will treat clients to snakes in what it says a relaxing massage curing aching muscles and joints.


It's a massage that is sure to make most people's skin crawl, but one woman has got herself in a twist with her latest massage technique. Ara Barak claims her pet snakes make the ideal masseurs as their slithering causes a massage sensation when placed on a person's skin. Ms Barak said she discovered her pet's 'therapeutic value' after noticing her friends became more relaxed after holding them.

'Some people said that holding the snakes made them feel better, relaxed,' she said. 'One old lady said it was soothing, like a cold compress.' The owner of Israel's Barak's Snake Spa said her pets are able to give massage as their slithering causes a rubbing sensation on the body. Ms Barak had relied on exhibiting her scaly friends to make money, but found there is more cash rolling in from people wanting a massage - reptile therapy style. The larger snakes are used for deep massage while the smaller creatures are used to give a lighter touch - all for a mere £30.

And those with a slight reluctance to have a snake massage will be pleased to know the reptiles are all non-venamous. But if the thought of reptiles is too much, Ms Barak also offers a rodent-style massage where mouse and rats are placed on the bottom of people's feet instead.







Ada Barak gives a snake massage treatment. Barak uses California and Florida King snakes, corn snakes and milk snakes in her Snake therapy.

the world's ugliest dog died

A one-eyed, three-legged dog that won the title of world's ugliest pooch this summer has died.

Gus, a Chinese crested dog, had cancer. He was nine years old.

The animal was rescued from a bad home and went on to win the annual World's Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in northern California.



Dead: Gus, a Chinese crested canine who was voted the World's Ugliest Dog earlier this year, fell ill with cancer


Gus came from humble origins. According to the fair, his adopted family in Gulfport, Florida, rescued him after learning he was being kept in a crate inside someone's garage.

He had one leg amputated because of a skin tumor and lost an eye in a cat fight.

Gus' owner had said the prize money from the contest would be put toward the dog's radiation treatment.

underwater wedding ceremony in China

A groom kisses his bride during an underwater wedding ceremony held at an aquarium in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province November 8, 2007. The aquarium was rented for a wedding ceremony for 5,990 yuan ($877), local media reported.




A bride and a groom gesture during an underwater wedding ceremony





A bride and a groom bow to each other during





A groom goes down on one knee in front of his bride during





A bride and a groom gesture during an underwater wedding ceremony

World's heaviest man getting married in Mexico

Mexican Manuel Uribe, the world's fattest man in the 2007 Guinness Book of Records, in this file photo undated. Uribe has married his friend's widow in a televised ceremony the US Discovery Channel dubbed "My Big Fat Mexican Wedding".

MONTERREY, Mexico – The world's heaviest man has tied the knot.

Manuel Uribe, who hasn't left his bed in six years, married his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis Sunday in northern Mexico.

Wearing a white silk shirt with a sheet wrapped around his legs, Uribe smiled as Solis, 38, walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress, a tiara and hot-pink lipstick.

World's heaviest man getting married in Mexico

He later broke into tears as a notary declared the couple husband and wife in a civil ceremony attended by more than 400 guests. For the traditional first dance as newlyweds, Uribe and Solis held hands and swayed to a romantic ballad.

A popular local norteno band played accordion-heavy tunes at the reception, which featured a banquet of meat and buttered vegetables.

Uribe's mother, Orquedia Garza, said the groom steered clear of the five-tier wedding cake.

"He didn't break his diet," she said. "His doctors are here and they are watching him very closely."

The wedding, which was closed to most media, will be featured in an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on Uribe, the 43-year-old former mechanic said.

"I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life," Uribe told hordes of reporters earlier as they followed him through the streets of Monterrey.

A flatbed truck was brought in to tow his custom-made bed decorated with a canopy, flowers and gold-trimmed bows to the wedding at a local event hall. Two police patrol cars escorted him ahead of a long line of traffic.

Uribe tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230 pounds (560 kilograms), earning him the Guinness World Record as the world's heaviest man.

He has since shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Solis, whom he met four years ago.

Uribe said he's gunning for a new title: world's greatest weight loser.