Top 10 fat footballers

IS there a funnier sight in professional sport than a footballer carrying an spare tyre around his waist?

Even in today’s world of super-fit stars, there are still a number of chunky players filling up the biggest leagues.

No10: John Hartson
Hartson’s weight was like a yo-yo during his colourful career. The powerful striker was deadly during his time with West Ham but he struggled to keep the pounds off. The Welshman once told Bobby Gould to "keep his nose out" after the national boss criticised the player for being overweight.


No9: Tomas Brolin
Leeds fans thought they were ripped off when Brolin was unveiled as their new star signing. Once a lean, mean goalscoring machine for Sweden, the forward was a right porker by the time he turned up at Elland Road. After failing to shed his excess baggage in Yorkshire, he was also unable to revive his appetite for the game at Crystal Palace.


No8: Andy Reid
The Sunderland midfielder has a big belly as well as a lethal left foot. Managers swear that Reid is ultra-fit despite his extra tyre, although the fact that he failed to make the grade at Tottenham questions those views. The portly Irishman is back in the Premier League with the Mackems.


No7: Neil Ruddock
Ex-Liverpool and Tottenham defender Razor was not the sharpest with his diet. Beefy Ruddock was once transfer-listed by Swindon for being overweight, where he could not fit into his shorts: "The problem was there were numbers on the shorts and the previous No16 had a waist like Kylie Minogue.”


No6: Neville Southall
The plump Welshman was never the leanest of stars during his successful career. And by the time the Everton legend was winding down his career at Bradford, the effects of time were clearly evident. Yet, for all the jokes about his ballooning weight, there have been few better keepers than Southall.


No5: Ferenc Puskas
The Hungarian legend revealed that Real Madrid signed him despite him politely pointing out that he was 40lb overweight. The forward managed to reach the very top of the game despite possessing a body the same shape as a football. A party animal away from the pitch, the late Puskas would laugh at today’s dietary regimes.


No4: Jan Molby
The Liverpool midfielder proved a hit at Anfield even with his roly-poly physique. The Denmark star was a regular in the Reds’ midfield in the 80s and 90s, and is rightly hailed as a Kop legend, who cherish him for his contribution as much as his huge frame.


No3: Micky Quinn
The Coventry striker inspired the chant “He’s fat, he’s round, he’s worth a million pounds — Micky Quinn, Micky Quinn!” The rotund No9 was deadly for the Sky Blues despite being the butt of jokes from fans across the country. Quinn — or Sumo as he was nicknamed — called himself “the fastest player in the world over one yard.”


No2: William Foulke
Weighing in well at 24st by the end of his career, no wonder Foulke earned the nickname Fatty. The Sheffield United and Chelsea star was a giant at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the next. Foulke, who won the league with the Blades and appeared in three FA Cup finals, was a true hero of the game.


No1: Ronaldo
The Brazilian star tops this list because of his achievements in an over-sized body. The double World Cup winner and three-times World Player of the Year has been tipping the scales for years now. Knee injuries have not been kind to the AC Milan striker but neither has his love of food.

Man gets 18 years for spreading HIV

An HIV-positive man convicted of knowingly spreading the virus that causes AIDS was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in prison, with the judge describing his crimes as "despicable and selfish" for a few minutes of sexual gratification.

But Mr. Justice Joseph Quinn of the Ontario Superior Court stopped short of declaring Carl Leone, 32, a dangerous offender as the Crown had requested. That designation would have imprisoned Mr. Leone indefinitely.

Instead, Judge Quinn handed Mr. Leone 15 consecutive sentences totalling 49 years, which he then reduced to 18 years, saying the justice system is required to not impose an unduly harsh sentence. He said Mr. Leone's age, his lack of a criminal record and the fact that he pleaded guilty to spare his victims the trauma of testifying in court were factors in his sentence.

Mr. Leone, wearing a dark blue suit, showed no emotion as he stared straight ahead at the judge from the prisoner's box. His parents, sister and grandmother sat in the row behind him.

Mr. Leone pleaded guilty to 15 counts of aggravated sexual assault last April. Five of his victims, some of whom were present yesterday in court, are HIV-positive.

Windsor-Essex County Health Unit workers told Mr. Leone he was HIV-positive in 1997, seven years before his arrest in June of 2004.

The judge said he couldn't declare Mr. Leone a dangerous offender because the Crown did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he would commit similar offences in the future.

But Judge Quinn said Mr. Leone's punishment should send a strong message to others who engage in this type of risky behaviour that it will not be tolerated.

Mr. Leone will have to surrender a DNA sample and his name will be added to Ontario's sex-offender registry. He will be eligible for parole in six years.

In announcing his decision, the judge described Mr. Leone's encounters with each of the 15 women and read pieces of their victim-impact statements.

The court heard that Mr. Leone never disclosed he had a sexually transmitted disease despite being asked by some of the women.

One woman said he would remove the condom during sexual intercourse despite her objections. Another woman said she had blacked out one night and when she awoke, she was in pain and vomiting after Mr. Leone had anal sex with her. Mr. Leone never told her he was HIV-positive.

In their victim-impact statements, some of the woman spoke about not being able to have children, while others shared stories of anger, loss of self-esteem and depression.

"Every day, twice a day, I have to take pills in order to stay alive. I'm dead inside," the judge read from one of the statements.

Another said the drugs are costing her $1,700 a month and she knows her life has been shortened. "I am uncertain about what my future will be like," the statement read.

Mr. Leone's mother left the courthouse in tears. Her daughter and husband followed. None of them would comment.

Mr. Leone's lawyer, Andrew Bradie, told reporters outside the courtroom that he would not appeal the sentence. He said he was pleased his client wasn't declared a dangerous offender or a long-term offender.

The latter designation was also before the judge and would have placed Mr. Leone under community supervision for up to 10 years after his release from prison.

Mr. Bradie said the judge applied the "totality principal" where, regardless of the number of complainants and the prison time for each conviction, the judge has an obligation to consider the entire picture, including the age of the offender, lack of a prior record and the chance for rehabilitation. He said the judgment was "thoughtful."

Of his client, Mr. Bradie said: "To the extent that he accepted responsibility, accepted that he is ill, began taking the regimen of ... drugs that he's taking now, I think he's in a lot better place now than a year ago."

Outside the court, Allen Heimann, medical officer of health for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, declined to comment on the sentence, but said he hopes the case will send a message to others.

Olympic Torch Snuffed Out In Paris

The Olympic torch relay in Paris has been cut short after chaotic protests by anti-China demonstrators.
The flame had already been extinguished four times by security forces after repeated clashes with pro-Tibet and human rights campaigners.

The city's mayor also cancelled a ceremony to mark the torch's passing as officials draped a Tibetan flag over the city hall's facade.

Mayor Bertrand Delanoe announced the cancellation after Green party members of the city council flew the flag.

Thousands of police sent on to the streets to protect the torch relay as it made its way around the city were unable to prevent demonstrators hijacking the event.

The torch had to be repeatedly extinguished amid safety fears caused by the demonstrations and several activists were arrested.

Two campaigners brandishing a Tibetan flag were arrested for trying to bar the torch's path.

And two members of media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) - which disrupted the lighting of the flame in Athens - were held for trying to vault over the security cordon protecting the torch.

A member of the French Greens party had earlier been restrained by police when trying to grab the torch from the first of 80 torch bearers, former world 400m hurdles champion Stephane Diagana.

Several hundred demonstrators waving banners gathered on the Trocadero esplanade, just the other side of the river Seine from the Eiffel Tower, where the relay started.

Three RSF members climbed up the steel tower and unfurled a 13ft flag showing the five Olympic rings turned into handcuffs.

They then handcuffed themselves to the structure more than 200ft in the air.

Sky News Europe correspondent Greg Milam said extinguishing the flame was significant because the torch was supposed to be kept alight on its journey around the world.

"It's supposed to symbolise peace between nations," he said.


Protests overshadowed procession"It's clearly a massive blow to the organisers - the demonstrations along the route have had the desired effect."

Similarly chaotic scenes were seen when the Olympic flame was carried through London.

One demonstrator tried to snatch the torch from former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq, while another attempted to put out the flame with a fire extinguisher.

By the time double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes lit a cauldron at the O2 Arena, some 37 arrests had been made.

International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge has expressed concern at the demonstrations but said there was no momentum for a boycott of the Beijing Games.

Tibet's capital, Lhasa, was hit last month by Buddhist monks' protests against Chinese rule.

The demonstrations, which saw many people killed, sparked widespread media attention across the world.

Olympic torch relay in London marred by anti-China protests

At least 10 protesters against human rights abuses in China have been arrested in London for disrupting the Beijing Olympic torch relay, local police said on Sunday.

As a group of dozens of athletes and celebrities makes its way along the 31-mile relay route through London's streets, protesters have been continually jumping through the police cordon, and one activist tried to seize the torch.

The protests have focused on China's clampdown the Tibetan independence movement.

Two activists were arrested after attempting to put the torch out with fire extinguishers. The men subsequently issued a statement to the press saying: "Our protest is not directed at the Chinese people whatsoever but instead at the brutal Chinese regime that rules them."

The international torch relay is an "elaborate propaganda tool" to cover up rights abuses in China, the statement said.

The relay, which began at Wembley Stadium, is set to last over seven hours. The relay team will travel on foot, bus, and boat, taking a circuitous route that crosses Leicester Square and London Bridge in the city center, and will end up at the O2 stadium in north Greenwich.

Around $2 million has been spent on security for the event.

Since a Chinese crackdown on mass protests in Tibetan capital Lhasa in mid-March, international attention has been focused on human rights in China, and several European Union countries have called for a boycott of the August 8-24 Olympic Games.

The protests in Tibet began on March 10, when Buddhist monks held a demonstration marking the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule of the mountainous province. The rallies turned violent four days later, when exiled Tibetans say Chinese forces launched a brutal campaign of arrests and shooting, killing around 140 people. Beijing says only 13 people were killed, 12 of them Han Chinese murdered by Tibetan separatists.

Police release Bolshevik activists detained for Red Square rally

All but one of the 25 National Bolshevik Party activists arrested on Saturday for staging an unsanctioned rally on Red Square have been released, a party spokesman told RIA Novosti on Sunday.

The party led by radical writer Eduard Limonov has been banned in Russia and branded an extremist organization by the authorities.

"All of the detainees, except one girl from St. Petersburg who is under 18, have been released," Alexander Averin said. "No criminal charges have been pressed so far."

The activists were detained on Saturday morning after entering Red Square under the guise of a wedding procession and holding a rally. A police spokesman said the activists resisted arrest, and that one of them let off a pepper spray in the face of a police officer.

On Sunday morning, police arrested 16 people for holding an unsanctioned rally outside the Altai Hotel in north Moscow. A police spokesman told RIA Novosti the activists were National Bolshevik members, but the party spokesman denied this.

"This was a provocation, we don't know this people," Averin said.

On Tuesday Limonov, who has a strong youth following, said he would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg over the Russian Supreme Court's refusal to lift the ban on his party.

The NBP has pursued 'direct action' tactics by publicly attacking people they considered symbols of President Putin's regime or its allies.

Group members are known to have thrown mayonnaise and tomatoes at prominent public figures, including ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, former NATO Secretary Lord George Robertson, Russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov. Activists have also staged protests by breaking into government offices in Moscow.

For such actions, which the radical group dubs "velvet terror," many of its activists were arrested and sentenced to prison terms.

Since founding the group in 1994, Limonov, 65, dropped his anti-capitalism rhetoric while preserving his nationalist message. In recent years, he has sided with the liberal opposition in Russia, which has been desperate to strengthen its ranks.

Zimbabwe Gets $50 Million Bank Note

How much does it cost for a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe?
With inflation raging at more than 100,000 percent, a loaf costs 50 million Zimbabwe dollars.

Now, Zimbabweans will need only one bill to pay for it. Authorities on Friday introduced a new 50 million bank note, state media reported.

The new Zimbabwe dollar note is worth $1 at the widely used black market trading and can buy just three loaves of bread.

It was the third time in three months that the nation's central bank issued a higher denomination note in response to record inflation.

Fat Children Banned From Donkey Rides

Children who weigh more than 50 kilos - or 8 st - are facing a ban on donkey rides at the seaside - to protect the donkeys' health.
The animals - traditionally known as beasts of burdens - are buckling under their load as the weight of obese kids wears them out.

The rules - which come into force today - have been brought in by the British Equine Vets' Association and The Donkey Sanctuary; the donkeys already have an annual "MOT" to ensure they are fit for work.

The ones who work on high days and holidays in Blackpool are already strictly monitored with each being micro-chipped so that they can be easily identified.

Along with the ban on excess weight, the national code of practice restricts donkeys to a six-day week with a full day's rest on the seventh.

Their owners must also give them a rest of at least an hour at lunchtime or in the evening.

The donkey ride has been a tradition in popular British resorts since Victorian days and there are still 850 seaside donkeys still hard at work, despite the move away from UK holidays to far-off climes.

"The average donkey weighs up to 160 kilos so we think 50 kilos is a reasonable top-weight to carry," a spokeswoman from The Donkey Sanctuary told Sky News.

"Also, donkeys don't have a water resistant coat so they need to have shelter too," she added with reference to the typical British summer.

Asked why donkeys evoked such sentiment, she was quite clear.

"They are so calm, so gentle and really placid. I also think people like donkeys because they remind them of their younger days, when it was traditional to see them on the beach - it takes them back to childhood".

The Sanctuary is not just involved in protecting the welfare of donkeys in this country but it also has interests abroad, including Ethiopia, Mexico, Kenya, Egypt and India and Europe.