Batu Caves

One cave regarded as holy in Malaysia is the Batu Caves. This holy cave is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples, located in Kuala Lumpur- the capital of Malaysia. The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to god Murugan. It is the focal point of the annual Thaipusam festival in Malaysia and attracts over more than 1.5 million pilgrims, making it one of the largest gatherings in History.

Cave of the Patriarchs

The picture above is the enclosure of the Cave of the Patriarchs. The Cave of the Patriarchs is considered holy for the Jews, Christians and Muslims. It is a series of subterranean caves located in a complex called by Muslims the Ibrahimi Mosque or Sanctuary of Abraham. The name is either a reference to the layout of the burial chamber, or alternatively refers to the biblical couples, i.e.: cave of the tombs of couples. The compound is located in the ancient city of Hebron. The 3 religious groups maintain the same traditions that the site is the burial place of four Biblical couples: (1) Adam and Eve; (2) Abraham and Sarah; (3) Isaac and Rebekah; (4) Jacob and Leah. According to Midrashic sources the Cave of the Patriarchs also contains the head of Esau and according to some Islamic sources it is also the tomb of Joseph.

Amarnath Caves

Amarnath Caves are one of the most famous shrines in Hinduism, dedicated to the god Shiva. The caves are located in the Jammu and Kashmir. The shrine is claimed to be over 5,000 years old and forms an important part of ancient Hindu mythology. Inside the main Amarnath cave lays an ice stalagmite resembling the Shiva Linga, which waxes during May to August and gradually wanes thereafter. This lingam is said to grow and shrink with the phases of the moon, reaching its height during the summer festival. According to Hindu mythology, this is the cave where Shiva explained the secret of life and eternity to his divine consort Parvati. There are two other ice formations representing Parvati and Ganesha, Shiva’s son.

Holy Cave of Matale

For Buddhists, the Holy Cave of Matale is the most holy of all the caves in the whole island of Sri Lanka. Two thousands years ago a small group of Theravada Buddhist Monks gathered there for several years to inscribe the entire Pali Tipitaka in Ola Leaves, a crucial historical act which sustain the original textual teaching of the Buddha to this day.

Ajanta Caves

Other caves considered holy in India are the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra, India. These are rock-cut cave monuments dating from the 2nd century BCE, containing paintings and sculpture considered to be masterpieces of both Buddhist religious art and universal pictorial art. The Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.

Gardner’s Gut: New Zealand

A visit to New Zealand is incomplete if we’re not going to see some of its popular caves. A cave worth-seeing there is the Gardner’s Gut, an extensive cave system in the Waitomo area. It is located in the Ruakuri Caves & Bush Scenic Reserve, an area that also contains a number of other natural features of note. With a length of over 12 km of explored passages, it is the country’s 6th largest known cave system.

From New Zealand, we’ll climb up to the north.

Ease Gill Cave System: British isle

Looking for an exotic cave? Well, the Ease Gill Cave System which is the longest cave system in the British Isles, with over 100 km of passages is the right cave for you. Just looking at its unique krypton-colored stalagmites and stalactites is already an awesome experience. This cave also includes connections only passable by cave diving that spans the valley between Leck Fell and Casterton Fell. The water resurges into Leck Beck.

Fingal’s Cave: Scotland

UK offers lots of scenic views and one of these is the natural wonder – Fingal’s Cave. It is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The cave is formed entirely from hexagonally-jointed basalt columns, similar in structure to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland making them a unique tourist spots.

Gruta de Moinhos Velhos: Portugal

One of the most important cave systems known in Portugal is the Gruta de Moinhos Velhos. The system has about 9 km in extension. It is characterized by the existence of two fossil paragenetic main conduits of about one decameter in diameter with dendritic tributaries, and a set of semi-active passages in a dendritic pattern at the north and angulates at the south. The fossil zone has a drop of 100 meters and the thickness of intermediate zone varies from 80 meters upstream to 60 meters downstream. Water flows in syngenetic galleries, from the northern to the southern quadrant, towards Gruta da Pena spring.

Caves of Nerja: Spain

Another well-known tourist spot in the Iberian Peninsula is the Caves of Nerja. These caves are a series of caverns close to the town of Nerja in Andalusia. Stretching for almost 5 km the caverns are one of Spain’s major tourist attractions. Concerts are regularly held in one of the chambers which form a natural amphitheater.

Eisriesenwelt: Austria

From Western Europe, let’s proceed to the eastern European countries. One popular cave for a destination is the Eisriesenwelt. The name of this cave means “World of the Ice Giants”. This cave is a natural limestone ice cave located in Werfen, Austria. The cave is inside the Hochkogel Mountain in the Tennegebirge section of the Alps. This cave is really worth visiting because it is the largest ice cave in the world, extending more than 42 km and visited by about 150,000 tourists every year.

Caves of Han-sur-Lesse: Belgium

Another cave in the continent of Europe which is regarded as a famous tourist destination is the Caves of Han-sur-Lesse. These caves are a major tourist attraction with about half a million visitors annually. The caves are the result of the underground erosion of a limestone hill by the river Lesse. The caves have a constant temperature of 13°C (55°F) and a high level of humidity.

From Europe, we’ll move to North America.

Luray Caverns: Virginia, USA

One of the largest and commercially celebrated caves in the US is Luray Caverns located in Virginia, USA. It has already drawn several thousands of visitors since its discovery in 1878. The underground cavern system is generously adorned with speleothems (columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, mirrored pools, etc). The caverns are noted for the Great Stalacpipe Organ, a lithophone made from solenoid fired strikers that tap stalactites of various sizes to produce tones similar to those of xylophones, tuning forks, or bells.

Lechuguilla Cave: New Mexico, USA

As of 2008, Lechuguilla Cave is the fifth longest cave known to exist in the world with a length of 193 km. It is also the deepest in the continental United States at 489 meters or 1,604 ft long. This cave is well-known because of its unusual geology, rare formations, and pristine condition.

Abukuma-do: Japan

From Continental America, we’ll finally end up in the “Land of the Rising Sun” -Japan. I think something is wrong here, isn’t it more enjoyable if our last destination is the “Land of the Setting Sun? Well, just asking, to continue with our tour, Abukuma-do or Abukuma Cave is perfect cave for our last destination. This cave is a limestone cave located in Fukushima Prefecture discovered only in 1969. Visitors can traverse a 600-meter-long path inside the cave as well as a 120-meter-long exploration course to view the stalactites and stalagmites. Each stalactite has taken more than eighty million years to form. Beyond the public areas lie about 2,500 meters of cave that are not open to the public. The temperature inside Abukuma-do is around 15°C and the humidity is above 90%.

Laas Geel: Somalia

There are still a lot of things to discover about our past. This cave in Somalia just recently provided us additional know-

ledge of the past. Laas Geel, a complex of caves and rock shelters in Somalia is famous for its recently discovered cave

paintings. The caves are located outside Hargeisa. They contain some of the earliest known art in the Horn of Africa and

the African continent in general, dating back to somewhere between 9,000-8,000 and 3,000 BCE.

Liang Bua Cave: Indonesia

In Asia, an important archeological site recently excavated is the Liang Bua Cave on the Island of Flores, Indonesia.

It was the site of the 2003 discovery of a potentially new species of Homo genus, Homo florensis, the remains of which

are coded LB1, LB2, etc, after the cave. So far it is the only location in which such remains have been identified.

Cave of Letters: Israel

Israel has always been one of the most important sources of archeological finds and one of these many sites is the

Cave of Letters. This is a cave located in the Dead Sea area that contained one of the largest caches of ancient docu-

ments and personal correspondence ever discovered in the land of Israel. This cave was discovered in 1960, the cave

contained letters from Bar Kochba, leader of the Third Jewish Revolt, as well as other documents from that period. Since

its discovery the letters found there have slowly been published, but not yet in its entirety.

Cave of Archedemos the Nympholept: Greece

An archeological site that provided the world with some significant findings is the Cave of Archedemos the Nympholept.

This small cave is located somewhere in Attica, Greece. The cave is unique in Greece because ancient sculptures hewn

into the living rock of the cave exist. In fact, the sculptures are carved into a calcite column and flowstone within the cave.

The cave was used from the Archaic period and reused in Early Christian times. The marble votive tablets from the cave

are now exhibited at the National Archeological Museum of Athens.

Ghar Dalam: Malta

Ghar Dalam which literally means “Cave of Darkness” is an extraordinary pre-historical cul de sac containing the bone

remains of animals that were stranded and subsequently became extinct on Malta at the end of the Ice Age. This cave

was the site where remains of extinct animals were found like dwarf elephant, hippopotamus, deer and bear. Their bone

deposits found here are of a different age; the hippopotamuses became extinct about 180,000 years ago, whilst the deer

species became extinct much later, about 18,000 years ago. It is also here that the earliest evidence of human settlement

on Malta, some 7,400 years ago, was discovered.

Zhoukoudian : China

Archeological finds in China have given us early idea about early men. One significant archeological site in that country

is Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien. This is a cave system near Beijing in China. It has yielded many archeological disco-

veries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus or commonly called Peking Man, and a fine assemblage of

bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris. The Peking Man lived in this cave approximately 200,000 to 500,000

years ago.

Tabon Caves: Philippines

Tabon cave is the site of important Philippine Archaeological discoveries. The Tabon caves are a set of caves in Quezon,

Palawan, Philippines. They are famous for the found skull cap remains of the Tabon Man, which are 22,000 years old.

Bones of elephants have also been found in the area signifying that the Philippines was once connected to mainland Asia.

Lascaux Cave: France

One of the most popular sites in the world for its prehistoric cave paintings is Lascaux Caves. They contain some of the

most well-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be 16,000 years old. They primarily consist of

realistic images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. In

1979, Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.

Font de Gaume: France

Still in Europe, one important cave which houses a collection of prehistoric polychrome cave paintings is Font de Gaume.

It is a cave in southwestern France and is a popular site for tourists. Font de Gaume holds over 200 polychrome paintings

and is considered the best example of polychrome painting other than Lascaux. The paintings in Font de Gaume include

depictions of more than 80 bison, approximately 40 horse depictions, and more than 20 mammoth depictions.

Pestera cu Oase: Romania

In Europe, another significant archeological site is Pestera cu Oase (The Cave with Bones), a system of 12 karstic galleries

and chambers located in Romania. This cave is where the oldest modern human remains (between 35,000 and 40,000 years

old) in Europe have been found.

Altamira: Spain

Another popular cave in Europe because of its Upper Paleolithic cave paintings is Altamira. Altamira, Spanish for “high

view”, is a cave in Spain which features drawings and polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human hands.

The cave with its paintings has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cueva de los Casares: Spain

Another notable cave in Spain is Cueva de los Casares. It was discovered in 1933 and contains a number of Paleolithic

cave paintings and is most notable for a series of paintings depicting what some have argued is the earliest representation

of human understanding of the reproductive process, featuring images of copulation (perhaps mediated by a mysterious

shaman figure), pregnancy, childbirth, and family life. Mammoths and other animals feature frequently in the illustrations.

There are many representations of animals, anthropomorphs (human-like figures), and ideomorphs (including penises,

vulvas, tools, and more abstract images). The cave and its paintings are little known to scholars outside Spain.

Karain Cave: Turkey

A site where evidence of human habitation had been found is Karain Cave. This is a cave and a Paleolithic archaeological

site located in Turkey. These evidences date back to the early Paleolithic age (150,000-200,000 years). The Museum of

Anatolian Civilizations hosts an extensive collection of artifacts from the excavations at Karain. The stone and bone tools

of the people of that Age are exhibited in the museum.

Priest’s Grotto: Ukraine

This cave had saved a few Jewish lives during the Nazi occupation of Ukraine during the Second World War. The Priest’s

Grotto is a cave in Ukraine, part of the extensive Gypsum Giant cave system, now known to be among the longest in the

world at over 77 miles explored. Several Jewish families lived in the cave during the Nazi occupation, some of them never

exiting for over an entire year. Thirty-eight Jews survived the occupation in this way (during a period when 95% of Jews in

Ukraine were exterminated and only 1% of families survived intact).

Actun Tunichil Muknal: Belize

One remarkable cave in South America for its archeological importance is Actun Tunichil Muknal. It is a cave in Belize.

As a Maya archaeological site, this cave is notable for its skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware. The most famous of

the human remains is known as “The Crystal Maiden”. It is the skeleton of a teenage girl, probably a sacrifice victim,

the bones of which have been completely covered by the natural processes of the cave, leaving them with a sparkling

appearance. There are several such skeletons in the Main Chamber. The ceramics at the site are significant partially

because they are marked with “kill holes”, which indicates they were used for ceremonial purposes.

Without these archeological sites we will not have a clear understanding on the life and culture of primitive people.

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Mushroom Zombie Hand

This mushroom – thought to be a specimen of Clathrus archeri, or “Devil’s Fingers” – takes the cake for being the strangest and creepiest specimen of a fungus looking like something else. It looks like a cold, dead hand reaching out to pull the rest of the zombie body out of the earth. Those even look like tattered sleeves down by the wrists of the hands!

Buddha’s Hand

This yellow fruit is named Buddha’s hand because its fruit is divided into what look like many, many fingers of a hand. This particular image makes it look like a big mop of clown hair and could even be reminiscent of Medusa’s snake-y locks. Found in Asia, the Buddha’s Hand has a thick peel and little flesh. It is used by the Japanese and Chinese to scent rooms because of its strong citrus smell; in Western cooking, it’s prized for its zest.

Starfish Out of Water

Endemic to Namibia, the Stapelia flavopurpurea flower looks like a bright starfish with a strange protrusion coming out of its middle. Most members of the Stapelia genus of flowers smell like rotting meat to attract pollinators, with the Stapelia flavopurpurea standing as the exception with its beeswax scent.

Eyeballs

This plant looks pretty creepy, almost alien-like, with what look like multiple eyes poking out and staring every which way.

Jaws

These jaws look pretty intimidating to us alright! The name, Faucaria tigrina, is derived from the Latin word fauces meaning animal mouth and tigrina meaning tiger. No wonder it’s nicknamed “Tigers Jaws”!

Cactus Brain

Aside from its hairy greenness, this cactus looks very much like a human brain.

Happy Face

Sometimes timing is everything. The photographer of this great shot found the sun hitting this Ceropegia monteroiae flower just so, to create a smiling face with eyes slightly shaded by what look like long, lovely lashes.

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Normally, not much happens in Keyser, West Virginia, but today the folks in this quaint little railroad town, nestling in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, are spoilt for choice.

Either they can whoop and holler along to fiddle music at the annual Strawberry Festival or head down to the bookshop, where a local ‘celebrity’ – as her agent-cum-lawyer describes her – is signing first editions of her new biography.

Arriving at Main Street Books to find a young woman – considerably heavier now, but still grimly familiar – loitering self-consciously beside a pile of unsold manuscripts, it becomes clear that the fiddle players have won hands-down.

Degrading: One of the images of U.S. soldier Lynndie England at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Six years on a defiant England claims she was just doing her duty

When the shop closes, two hours later, Lynndie England has autographed barely two dozen copies, mostly for acquaintances such as her old schoolteacher.

For even on her home territory, few people are willing to line the pockets of this fallen girl soldier; who posed for a stomach-churning series of ’souvenir’ photographs that cost countless American lives and brought shame on the nation.

Five years have passed since a U.S. TV station first broadcast those pictures, staged to humiliate and dehumanise Iraqi prisoners – and provide warped amusement for their U.S. Army guards – at Abu Ghraib prison, near Baghdad.

They caused universal outrage, ending any lingering pretence that President George W. Bush was on some moral crusade in Iraq, and sparking a wave of retaliatory beheadings; many of which were videoed to reciprocate the horror and degradation meted out to the Muslim detainees.

Such was their impact that they are still said to be used as recruitment propaganda for Islamic terror groups.

After all, what better way to incite a young fanatic than by showing him a photo of a female American soldier nonchalantly holding a leash, tightened around the neck of a naked and hooded Iraqi prisoner, as he squirms on the floor of his cell?

In another photograph, the waif-like Military Police private casually inspects a line of terrified Iraqi prisoners – again stripped and wearing sandbags over their heads – as they are forced to masturbate.

Grinning broadly with a cigarette clamped in her mouth, England, then just 21 and weighing less than seven stone, added to their humiliation by pointing mockingly at their genitals and giving the thumbs-up sign; a gesture now known as the ‘Lynndie salute’.

One of seven U.S. Army reserves jailed for mistreating prisoners at Abu Ghraib – including her former lover Corporal Charles Graner, a sadistic, camera-obsessed bully who orchestrated the photo sessions – she has served three years in detention and is now on parole.

With a new book to peddle and her appeal against the conviction due to be heard next month, one might have expected the 26-year-old England to express some remorse.

Following Barack Obama’s release of CIA torture files which lend credence to her claim that the ritual humiliation of prisoners was a White House sanctioned tactic during the Bush regime, she even consulted her local senator about petitioning for a Presidential pardon

But ’sorry’, it becomes clear, is not in Lynndie England’s vocabulary.

When we speak, three things strike me: her breathtaking lack of contrition; her unsuitability to have been a serving soldier and her utter indifference towards the horrifically abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib, 90 per cent of whom were later released without charge.

Since no established biographer would touch her life story (it was even dropped by the literary agent who handled O.J. Simpson’s widely reviled book, If I Did It) her biography has been penned by a greenhorn local author, Gary Winkler.

For a man whose two previous works were lilting chronicles of Appalachian life, it has proved a chastening experience. Not only has he fallen out bitterly with his subject and her agent-cum-lawyer and confidant, Roy T. Hardy, but he has patently struggled to get the characteristically withdrawn England to open up.

‘I just don’t think she’s a very deep person,’ Winkler, a white-bearded former musician in his late 50s, concludes miserably.

Disgrace: Iraq detainees appear to be surrounded by U.S. military personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison

‘Lynndie only has two moods: bored and p****d off.’

During our first meeting, when she yawns through my questions, I see what he means.

Two days later, however, perhaps enlivened by the anti-depressant tablets upon which she relies, England is more animated and opens up to describe the background to the photographs in more detail than ever before.

They were taken on three separate nights in late October and early November 2003. At the time, her job was to process the detainees’ admission and release forms.

As a clerical support worker, she had no business in the so-called Hard Site at Abu Ghraib, a block of some 40 cells where the supposedly most dangerous inmates were held.

But she routinely sneaked in late at night to sleep with Graner, a hulking 6ft 3in ex-Marine in charge of the night patrol.

After their arrest, she discovered he had also been having sex with another female soldier who worked on the block, Megan Ambuhl, whom he has married while in prison.

At the time of their affair, England was also married, to childhood sweetheart James Fike, so their relationship was against U.S. military rules.

Even after being repeatedly warned, she refused to break off with Graner and was eventually demoted.

She says she was mesmerised by Graner, who worked in civilian life as a prison corrections officer and had an appalling record for abusing prisoners – one claimed he hid razor blades in the prison food.

‘I was blinded by a fool’s love,’ England says in her cigarette-coarsened south-country drawl, as if this explains and excuses her participation in the pictures.

‘I know now that Graner was manipulating me, but at that point I would have done anything he told me.’

I ask her about one of the most chilling pictures, in which seven naked detainees, brought to the block after allegedly taking part in a riot elsewhere in the prison, were forced to form a ‘human pyramid’.

After instructing the men to pile up on top of one another, Graner proudly draped his arm around England, and the smiling couple posed beside the grotesque tangle of human flesh.

Looking at the image now, it appears that the detainees could not have remained in this painful position for very long; yet England says quite matter-of-factly that they were forced to stay fixed in position for ‘20 minutes or something’.

When I suggest that this must have been excruciatingly painful, she shrugs and replies: ‘Probably.’

So why hadn’t she asked Graner to call a halt? A grin and another shrug: ‘I’m pretty sure he’d have said “No”.

‘There were only three of us and seven of them, and he wanted to contain them by keeping them connected and concentrating on not falling – so they wouldn’t overpower us. That’s how he explained it.’

But surely she must have felt some pity for them? As often, she takes an eternity to reply, then says: ‘In my eyes they were the enemy; the other side. What happens in war happens. They would have done 20 times worse to us.’

Five years on: Lynndie England with her authorised biography

We move on to another hideous image, in which the same group of prisoners – one of whom Graner had punched full in the face – were lined up and ordered to masturbate.

How long had this sick charade continued? ‘You are going to find this ridiculous,’ says England, half suppressing a snigger. ‘One guy did 45 minutes! Freddie [Graner's fellow prison guard, Ivan Frederick] just wanted to see if they would do it – and all seven of them lined up doing this.

‘Well, six stopped after a few minutes, but the seventh carried on.’

Hearing this account for the first time, even Roy T. Hardy, her lawyer, who had thought himself beyond shock after representing England for five years, is clearly taken aback.

‘But you were there the whole time?’ gasps bespectacled, roly-poly Hardy. ‘I’ve never heard this stuff before.’

‘Yes I was – unfortunately,’ England says, fixing him with her strange, lop-sided smile. ‘I was standing there, like, watching. I was there the whole four hours.’

Hardy, who doubles as a local assistant county prosecutor, clears his throat, as if about to address the bench. ‘Don’t mistake Lynndie’s grin for amusement,’ he implores me. ‘That’s just a nervous mannerism.’

Maybe so, I say, but she caused so much harm. What people want to hear is an apology.

‘Sorry? For what I did?’ she interjects, incredulous. ‘All I did was stand in the pictures. Saying sorry is admitting I was guilty and I’m not. I was just doing my duty.’

She recites her often-rehearsed argument: that the Abu Ghraib guards were tacitly encouraged to ’soften up’ the prisoners before they were interrogated by military intelligence officers.

Given all we know now, this sounds plausible. It is also easy to see how this gullible backwoods girl became the sociopathic Graner’s stooge; as Gary Winkler says: ‘She was his prop; all she was guilty of is stupidity.’

For all this, however, it is impossible to empathise with her, for she is such an unsympathetic character.

The daughter of a railway worker, Ken England, and his wife Terrie, she was two years old when her family moved from Kentucky to a trailer park in Fort Ashby, West Virginia.

There she grew into a tomboy and loner, never happier than when shooting squirrels in the woods. Until her wedding day, she had never owned a dress.

Teachers recall her for saying almost nothing during her school years, and her defence psychologist diagnosed her with speech-related learning difficulty called selective mutism.

However, she was bright enough to graduate from high school with good grades, and set her heart on becoming a meteorologist.

This ambition began, she says, after she saw the film Twister and became fascinated by tornadoes.

To pay her way through college, she took menial jobs, including processing chickens and serving in a supermarket, where she fell for the mild-mannered Fike.

They were divorced after she admitted her affair with Graner, although England insists she still loves Fike, and would like to get back together with him.

‘But I wouldn’t blame him if he hates me.’

They wed as teenagers, but soon afterwards she joined the local reserve regiment, the 372nd Military Police Company – partly because she needed the money, but mainly because she ‘always wanted to serve’, she says.

Never having travelled beyond the nearby states, and not even owning a passport, she hadn’t expected to be sent overseas.

But as operations in Afghanistan and Iraq stretched U.S. services to breaking point, the ‘weekend warriors’ were marched off to war.

By then her affair with Graner had already begun. Having pursued her for weeks at their U.S. base, Fort Lee, the 34-year-old divorce 14 years her senior, checked them into a seedy motel where the liaison was consummated.

She first discovered that Graner got a kick out of taking – and showing his friends – perverted photographs of her soon afterwards, when they holidayed in Virginia Beach.

This was in March 2003, more than six months before the Abu Ghraib pictures were taken.

While she performed a sex act on him, he reached for his Sony and started clicking away, she says.

‘Whoa! Hey, what are you doing? I don’t want pictures taken,’ England says she protested.

But when Graner insisted they were for his eyes only and just ‘harmless fun’, she relented.

She claims she had no idea he was emailing compromising pictures of her to fellow soldiers until after her arrest; hence her lack of caution when he asked her to pose with the prisoners.

However, as her boyfriend had maliciously shown the Virginia Beach photos to her mortified parents during a visit to her family in April 2003 – by ‘accidentally’ slipping them in among some other innocent snaps they were viewing – surely alarm bells should have rung?

Graner and England were deployed to Abu Ghraib in October 2003, and although nothing can excuse their subsequent behaviour, it is possible to see how things happened.

A few months earlier, the prison had held just 700 detainees, but when they arrived the numbers had swollen to 7,000.

Understaffed, undertrained and poorly led, the guards struggled to control this sweltering bedlam.

Though she insists that ‘everyone’ knew about the detainee photographs, a criminal investigation began only some three months after they were taken, when a soldier with a conscience, Sergeant Joseph Darby, handed in two CDs of photographs which Graner had boastfully shown to him.

Hastily airlifted out of Iraq for his own safety, Darby has lived in hiding ever since. Just as well, for England says she would ‘definitely beat the hell out of him if I saw him’, adding: ‘In war, you don’t rat on your buddies.’

Intriguingly, she claims to possess about 800 more unseen photographs from her time in Iraq, depicting scenes which would be highly damaging to the U.S. Army and the White House, if they were ever released.

Sick: Prisoners are made to lie on top of each other naked

Roy T. Hardy claims they include pictures of an Iraqi woman bearing her breasts and graphic images of wounded enemy combatants, but declines to go into more detail because, until her dishonorable discharge is finalised, England remains a serving soldier.

It is not clear whether these photographs, which are locked away in a vault, are among the hundreds which Obama is withholding – having reneged last month on his promise to release them when he came to power.

But their very existence constitutes a ticking time-bomb for the U.S. authorities, and biographer Gary Winkler believes she and Hardy will try to sell them to the highest bidder.

The author claims England is being manipulated by her lawyer-agent, and describes Hardy as ‘the new Charles Graner’.

Understandably, Hardy, 39, is incensed by this – though the happily married father-of-two hardly helps himself by constantly joking that he and England are having a secret fling.

Winkler is embittered, the lawyer says, because Hardy and England have criticised his book, which was supposed to have been her first-person story but has ended up an error-strewn exercise in vanity publishing. But she needs the money.

She has applied for countless jobs, she complains, but no one dares to employ her, and so, two years after her release she remains unemployed and has given up hope of working.

Reliant on food stamps and the charity of her family and friends, she lives with her parents and four-year-old Carter, the child she had with Graner, in the same cramped trailer where she was raised.

Her hatred for Graner, who is midway through his ten-year sentence, was compounded when he demanded a DNA test to prove Carter is really his child.

England was pregnant by the time she stood trial and maintains that only Graner could be the father.

The result is not back yet, but one look at the boy would be enough for Graner to realise he is wasting his time.

England, now 26 and without a boyfriend – though she receives marriage proposals from twisted internet admirers – says she is depressed because she feels trapped and has lost her independence.

‘I can’t even hunt squirrels no more, because I’m not permitted to own a firearm,’ she moans.

As a result of post-traumatic stress, she says, she also suffers flashbacks and horribly vivid nightmares.

Do they reawaken memories of those chilling photograph sessions at Abu Ghraib?

‘It’s a whole variety of stuff. You can’t hear somebody screaming their heads off and not dream about it,’ she drawls sardonically.

‘I’ll be watching a movie, or TV, and then something triggers it and, bam! I’m back there.’

This hardly sounds like contrition, but is probably as close as Private First Class Lynndie England will ever come to expressing regret for becoming the unacceptable face of the U.S. Army.

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Millions have been tuning in to watch the parents raise their four chicks, named Charlie, Bobbin, Potter and Tinker in a competition.

And like the best TV soaps, the birds of prey have had their fair share of drama.

Birds of a feather: One of the fluffy peregrine chicks settles on ledge of St Andrews spire in Worcester. All four have fledged

Charlie found herself mobbed by seagulls after she flew the nest

Eight-week-old Charlie was the first to fly the nest earlier this week. But days later a passer-by found the adventurous youngster injured and under attack by seagulls and took her to the local police station.

Thankfully Charlie made a full recovery after she was nursed at a nearby wildlife centre and has been placed back in the nest with her siblings.

Chris Dobbs from Worcester City Council said: ‘We want to say thank you to the lady who brought Charlie to the police and we are very grateful to her for that. I think this is a steep learning curve for Charlie.’

The falcons are well camouflaged against the church stone. The adult wingspan can measure up to 110cm

The Peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world and can reach a flying speed of 200MPH. They measure up to 48cm long with a wingspan up to 110cm. The female is up to one-third larger than the male.

Those watching the webcam in March and April discovered that peregrine falcons do not construct a nest. Instead the female bird lays her eggs directly on the surface – in this case the roof of St Andrew’s Church.
The first Worcester chick broke though its shell on 3rd May and since then the male has been providing most of the food for his four young.

People around the world have been able to log on and watch the chicks grow from eggs to fledglings

Lovebirds: The couple have successfully raised a family in the middle of a city

In the past few weeks Charlie, Bobbin, Potter and Tinker had been perching on the riverside parapet and flapping their wings to prepare for flight.

All four have now fledged but will remain dependent of their parents for another two months. The Worcester family feed on the local pigeon population as well as the odd starling.

There are about 1,400 breeding pairs of Peregrine Falcons in the UK and they have protected status. Two of the chicks have already been ringed and researchers at the University of Worcester will track the birds in later years and see how far they travel.

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While it is hard to rank rivers and lakes around the world in terms of who is THE worst, there are a few that stand out in the crowd. Pollutants like industrial waste, sewage runoff, overpopulation and agriculture discharges all make for quite a toxic brew. When you count in the fact that many of these major rivers and lakes supply food to nearby major population centers then they are having an even greater effect than as simply some polluted body of water in the middle of nowhere. Below are a few of the worst offenders that you should watch out for.

Lake Victoria borders three countries in East Africa – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – making it extra difficult to negotiate cleanup and pollution prevention. As there are few enforced regulations, residents wash cars in the same lake water that sewage water is regularly released in and that they also end up bathing in. Even worse, people who come in contact with the water are susceptible to coming away with several diseases including, schistosomiasis, bilharzia, cholera, pneumonia, diarrhea, and several skin diseases.

The 200-mile long Citarum River in Indonesia hosts more than 500 factories along its banks and is quite possibly the most polluted river in the world. There is so much garbage coating the surface that in many places you can’t see the water, and it is more profitable to forage for garbage than making a living fishing the river, though you do risk catching a nasty disease by spending any time in it.

The Great Lakes (US/Canada) have taken a beating over the years thanks to pollution from the auto industry, oil refineries, steel plants, agricultural runoff and pollution, chemical plants and transportation runoff. While not the worst on this list, the lakes have accumulated a toxic soup that we have yet to deal with.

This 3,400 mile-long Yellow River in China is frequently contaminated by chemical spills, and frequent diversions and damming, which causes the Yellow to often run dry and sometimes even turn red. 1/3 of the river is unusable, but this doesn’t seem to be slowing things down as the river is used to provide water for millions of people in China, whose expanding cities are another reason the river is contaminated.

While small compared to the others on this list (only 65 miles), the Riachuela River, running through the heart of Buenos Aires, is referred to as the largest open pit toilet in the world, absorbing over 325,000 tons of sewage each day. Lead, mercury, cadmium, nitrates and copper all pollute this river and affect drinking water supplies for the over 5 million people living in the area.

Lake Onondaga (US) is so polluted it was designated a hazardous waste site by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Phosphorous, ammonia, nitrite, mercury, bacterial contaminants, from a long history of industrial activity in the area, along with non-point source pollutants, combine to make this lake one toxic soup.

The Sarno River is regarded as the most polluted river in Italy and possibly all of Europe. Agricultural and sewage runoff frequently contaminates the river and treatment methods are inadequate to handle the pollution. The Sarno River frequently overflows its banks and therefore puts the local population at repeated risk for exposure.

Believe it or not, Lake Karachay (Russia) is completely contaminated with radioactive (and other types of) waste, that was dumped into the lake from the Mayak Nuclear Waste Storage Facility, starting in the 1950’s. The waste is currently seeping out into area soils and rockbeds, threatening other rivers and even the Arctic. Scientists predict that if it makes it to the Arctic, it could spread around the world.

The Yumana River may be the site of historic and holy rituals, but it’s also got its share of crap – literally. Over 3.5 billion litres of sewage pass through the river daily (making it over 100,000 times higher than limits safe for bathing), and the city removes another 1.1 billion litres of river water each day. No fish or plants can live in the river and holy leaders have threatened to boycott annual pilgrimages to the area due to the high contamination levels.

More than 2,800 factories line the shores of Lake Tai, the 3rd largest lake in China, contributing to its title as one of the largest and most polluted in the country. Officials have estimated a hefty $14.4 billion price tag to clean up all of the industrial dumping and sewage that contaminates these waters. Currently the waters have a green tint from all of the algae flourishing thanks to their ample source of industrial pollution in the lake.

The damage done to the Yangtze River due to pollution is so bad its been described as irreversible. Over 360 miles of the 3,860-mile long Yangtze River are polluted due to damming, inadequate sewage, industrial pollution and rapid population growth. Currently the river is responsible for 35% of the country’s fresh water fish supply, while construction of the Three Gorges Dam along the river displaced over 1 million people.

The King River (Australia) is the most polluted river in all of Australia, principally due to mining activities along the river dating back to the 1880’s. 1.5 million tons of mining tailings entered the river every year until 1995, while the fumes from the smelter created acid rain in the area. Today the mining operations continue to make the river highly toxic to marine life thanks to the leftover dissolved metals and tailings still in the river.

The Mississippi River (US). How could we forget this mammoth river that crosses 10 states and carries millions of metric tons of pollutants with it to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico each year, creating a the notorious “deadzone.” During the 1990s, this river discharged over 100 million pounds of toxics downriver each year. The Dead Zone is aptly named due to the low levels of oxygen, causing no aquatic life to survive in this area.

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The Queen was made to feel at home on a visit to the seaside today after a sand replica of Windsor Castle was built especially for her.

A sand sculpture artist made a stunning model of Her Majesty’s residence to mark the Queen’s first visit to Weymouth, Dorset, in 50 years.

She was impressed by the 9ft high by 140ft square sandcastle and said it looked ‘just like the real thing’.

Replica: Mark Anderson’s sand sculpture of Windsor Castle is modelled on the original. It took five men 300 hours to sculpt, using sand from Weymouth beach and water from the sea

Prince Philip was even able to point out the room where he regularly takes his morning tea.

The impressive sculpture was built by artist Mark Anderson as a surprise for the Queen, and is modelled on a 40:1 scale directly from royal plans.

It took five men 300 hours to sculpt, using sand from Weymouth beach and water from the sea.

Made up of 20 turrets and 18 separate sections of wall, it was painstakingly sculpted by hand.

‘Just like the real thing’: The Queen was said to be ‘thrilled’ with the sculpture, and Prince Philip even pointed out where he takes morning tea

Mark said: ‘The Queen was thrilled with it, she spoke to me and said congratulations.

‘She said she was really impressed and happy with it, and she said it looked exactly like the real thing.

‘Prince Phillip was pointing out different rooms in the castle and said “that’s where I have my morning tea.”

‘He even had a joke with the other members of my team, saying he bets they do all the work and I take all the credit.’

Special event: The castle cost £1,500 to make and marked the Queen’s first visit to Weymouth in 50 years

The sandcastle version was created from royal plans of the real Windsor Castle

The huge sandcastle, which cost the taxpayer about £1,500, has been built on Weymouth beach.

It is flying the royal standard from a turret, in exactly the same place as the real flag would be raised when the Queen is in residence at Windsor Castle.

The Queen visited the beach as part of a tour around the resort, during which she also helped judge a sandcastle competition and met the local Punch and Judy man.

Mr Anderson, 43, said: ‘It took a lot of people a long time to get exactly right, so I do hope she liked it.

‘We’ve made it as precise as possible so it looks exactly like Windsor Castle.

‘Weymouth council asked us if we could do something for the Queen when she came down to visit and we got to work straight away.

‘They even sent us the designs for Windsor Castle so we could make sure everything was right.

Flying the flag: Residents of the seaside resort lined the streets to welcome their visitor

That’s the way to make an impression: Punch gets up close and personal with the Queen

Contest: She helped judge a sandcastle competition
‘She was coming to see this traditional British seaside resort and what’s more traditional than a good old-fashioned sandcastle?

‘We’ve even put a standard on top to fly the flag, so when she walked onto the beach she saw it in its full glory.

‘I have been building sand sculptures for many years and have been all over the world, but it’s a real honour to be asked to do something as special as this.

‘We’ve been so busy building that we didn’t even have time to get nervous or excited – she was here before we knew it.

‘Next time, we’ll have to build Sandringham.’

The castle was commissioned and paid for by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to entertain the Queen during her visit.

Jackie Gisborne, from the council, said: ‘I don’t think in her wildest dreams the Queen would have been able to imagine the detail and scale of the castle.

‘We’re all very excited about it. It’s very impressive and everyone has been amazed by just how lifelike it is.’

The sandcastle will now be on display for just one day before being bulldozed tomorrow in preparation for a military display on the beach this weekend.

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Buddhist Burma

Human sacrifices were still occurring in Buddhist Burma in the 1850s. When the capital was moved to Mandalay, 56 “spotless” men were buried beneath the new city walls to sanctify and protect the city. When two of the burial spots were later found empty, royal astrologers decreed that 500 men, women, boys, and girls must be killed and buried at once, or the capital must be abandoned. About 100 were actually buried before British governors stopped the ceremonies.

Thuggee Murders

Members of lndia’s Thuggee sect strangled people as sacrifices to appease the bloodthirsty goddess Kali, a practice beginning in the 1500s. The number of victims has been estimated to be as high as 2 million. Thugs were claiming about 20,000 lives a year in the 1800s until British rulers stamped them out. At a trial in 1840, one Thug was accused of killing 931 people. Today, some Hindu priests still sacrifice goats to Kali.

Mountain Meadows Massacre

The Mountain Meadows massacre was a mass killing of the Fancher-Baker wagon train at Mountain Meadows in Utah Territory on September 11, 1857, by a group of Mormons and Paiute Indians. The Arkansas emigrants were traveling to California shortly before Utah War started. Mormons throughout the Utah Territory had been mustered to fight the invading United States Army, which they believed was intended to destroy them as a people. Initially intending to orchestrate an Indian massacre, two men with leadership roles in local military, church and government organizations, Isaac C. Haight and John D. Lee, conspired for Lee to lead militiamen disguised as Native Americans along with a contingent of Paiute tribesmen in an attack.

The emigrants fought back and a siege ensued. Intending to leave no witnesses of Mormon complicity in the siege and avoid reprisals complicating the Utah War, militiamen induced the emigrants to surrender and give up their weapons. After escorting the emigrants out of their fortification, the militiamen and their tribesmen auxiliaries executed approximately 120 men, women and children.

The Inquisition

The Medieval Inquisition is a series of Inquisitions (Roman Catholic Church bodies charged with suppressing heresy) from around 1184, including the Episcopal Inquisition (1184-1230s) and later the Papal Inquisition (1230s). It was in response to large popular movements throughout Europe considered apostate or heretical to Christianity, in particular Catharism and Waldensians in southern France and northern Italy. These were the first inquisition movements of many that would follow.

Torture was used after 1252. On May 15, Pope Innocent IV issued a papal bull entitled Ad exstirpanda, which authorized the use of torture by inquisitors. The Inquisitors were forbidden to use methods that resulted in bloodshed, mutilation or death. One of the more common forms of medieval inquisition torture was known as strappado. The hands were bound behind the back with a rope, and the accused was suspended this way, dislocating the joints painfully in both arms. Weights could be added to the legs dislocating those joints as well.

The organization is still active today under the name of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Prior to becoming Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ratzinger was the head of the congregation.

The Witch Hunts

When Puritans settled in Massachusetts in the 1600s, they created a religious police state where doctrinal deviation could lead to flogging, pillorying, hanging, cutting off ears, or boring through the tongue with a hot iron. Preaching Quaker beliefs was a capital offense. Four stubborn Quakers defied this law and were hanged. In the 1690s fear of witches seized the colony. Twenty alleged witches were killed and 150 others imprisoned.

Roman Persecution of Christians

Christians were first, and horribly, targeted for persecution as a group by the emperor Nero in 64 AD. A colossal fire broke out at Rome, and destroyed much of the city. Rumors abounded that Nero himself was responsible. To divert attention from the rumors, Nero ordered that Christians should be rounded up and killed. Some were torn apart by dogs, others burnt alive as human torches. Over the next hundred years or so, Christians were sporadically persecuted. Then in the mid-third century, emperors initiated even more intensive persecutions. This, “The Great Persecution”, is considered the largest. Beginning with a series of four edicts banning Christian practices and ordering the imprisonment of Christian clergy, the persecution intensified until all Christians in the empire were commanded to sacrifice to the gods or face immediate execution. This persecution was to be the last, as Constantine I soon came into power and in 313 legalized Christianity.

Aztec Human Sacrifice

The Aztecs began their elaborate theocracy in the 1300s and brought human sacrifice to a golden era. About 20,000 people were killed yearly to appease gods — especially the sun god, who needed daily “nourishment” of blood. Hearts of sacrifice victims were cut out, and some bodies were eaten ceremoniously. Other victims were drowned, beheaded, burned or dropped from heights. In a rite to the rain god, shrieking children were killed at several sites so that their tears might induce rain. In a rite to the maize goddess, a virgin danced for 24 hours, then was killed and skinned; her skin was worn by a priest in further dancing. One account says that at King Ahuitzotl’s coronation, 80,000 prisoners were butchered to please the gods.

Islamic Jihads

Islamic jihads (holy wars), mandated by the Koran, killed millions over 12 centuries. In early years, Muslim armies spread the faith rapidly: east to India and west to Morocco. Then splintering sects branded other Muslims as infidels and declared jihads against them. The Kharijis battled Sunni rulers. The Azariqis decreed death to all “sinners” and their families. In 1804 a Sudanese holy man, Usman dan Fodio, waged a bloody jihad that broke the religious sway of the Sultan of Gobir. In the 1850s another Sudanese mystic, ‘Umar al-Hajj, led a barbaric jihad to convert pagan African tribes.

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Byblos Lebanon

Believed to have been founded in 5000 B.C., Byblos, Lebanon is generally considered by historians as the oldest inhabited city in the world. It held a couple of names, and was once known as Gibelet during the crusade; today it is known in Arabic name as the city of Jbeil. A Mediterranean city of the Mount Lebanon Governorate of the preset day Lebanon, a biblical region itself, Byblos existence dates back to the biblical era as it is mentioned in the Holy Bible in 1 Kings 5:18. The verse refers to the nationality of the builders of the temple of Solomon. Ezekiel 27:9 also made mention of this city, referring to the riches of Tyre.

Cadiz, Spain

Characterized by the antiquity of its quarters, among them El Popula, La Vina, and Santa Maria, historians considered Cadiz as the oldest continuously – inhabited city in the Iberian Peninsula if not of all Southwestern Europe. It has been one of the principal home ports of the Spanish Navy since the accession of the Spanish Bourbon in the 18th century. Over time, Cadiz has evolved into becoming a city of modern standard, but it still holds a host of one of the richest, well-preserved historical remnants in the world that are gathered in designated region called the Old City. Notwithstanding, the modern city hosts numerous parks bearing kinds of exotic plants whose arrival in Spain is believed to be brought by Columbus.

Kavala, Greece

Time flashbacked many centuries, Kavala was founded by the early settlers from Thasos in the 16th century. This ancient city was for once a base of Brutus and Casius in 42 BC for it became a base of the Roman civita is 164 BC. On his first voyage to Europe, the apostle Paul had landed in Kavala. Subsequently, in the Byzantine era, the city was called Christoupolis by the Greeks and Morunets by the Bulgarians, and because of its maritime location, the region flourished but was captured and burned during the 1185 Norman raid of Macedonia. A couple of centuries later, the Ottoman took over and under the leadership of Sultan Bayesid I, the city was completely destroyed, forcing the inhabitants to flee. Rebuilt was only started at the beginning of the 15th century, and during which time the city started to be known as Karvala. Historical remnants of the Ottoman reconstruction have become landmarks of modern Karvala, the largest city in modern Greece and the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia.

Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich as we might all know is one of the most famous cities in modern day Europe. It is the cultural and commercial capital of Switzerland, Bern being the political capital of the country. Historically, the magnificent Zurich ranks among the oldest and still inhabited cities in the world; Turicum was the name it was known in the earliest times as evidenced by a tombstone that dates back to the 2nd century AD. Lake dwellers were believed to be the first inhabitants of the future site of Zurich and this lake side settlement dates back to the Neolithic period.

Damascus, Syria

Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. Archeological excavations at the outskirts of the city at the Tell Ramad have shown that Damascus have been inhabited as far as 8,000 B.C. to 10,000 B.C., qualifying Damascus as one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world. It was not as important with the rest of the old cities in the world however, until the advent of the nomadic tribe from Mesopotamia – the Arameans. They were known to build canals and tunnels to maximize the efficiency of the Barada River. This network of engineering structures was subsequently improved by the Romans and the Umayyads whose water system still forms the basis of the old part of Damascus today. Damascus, an antiquarian city as it is, is mentioned in Genesis 14 as existing during the war of the kings.

Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem is the capital and largest city of the relatively young state of Israel, and among others, it probably is the most credible and genuine of all places mentioned in the Bible. Dating back to the biblical times, Jerusalem is unquestionably one of the oldest cities in the world. Jewish tradition has it that Jerusalem was founded by Shem and Eber, ancestors of the Old Testament prominent figure Abraham. Melchizedek, an ally of Abraham once ruled Jerusalem and was later allocated to tribe of Benjamin during the time of Joshua. Over time, it was conquered by King David and made the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel. This biblical account about the antiquarian existence of Jerusalem bears strong credence from recent excavations that modern archaeologists themselves traced back to the time of David.

Athens, Greece

Athens being ranked as one of the oldest cities in the world has been continuously inhabited for at least 4,500 years. The reign of the classical era are made evident and famous by the presence of ancient monuments and works of art, famous of which being the Parthenon on the Acropolis which is considered a major landmark of early Western civilization. Further, modern Athens still holds rich and great kinds of sculptural works of art of the Roman and Byzantine. Ottoman monuments are well present in this ancient city, indicating Athens’s great history across the ages. Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and other great Greek thinkers, writers, artists, and philosophers lived and walked Athens many centuries before Christ. So, there’s no denying that Athens is the birthplace of our democracy, modern sciences, philosophy and almost any other arena of human intellectual pursuit.

Beirut, Lebanon

Beirut is the largest and capital city of Lebanon. Having its history that dates back to 5000 years , makes Beirut one of the oldest cities in the world. This claim is well supported by archaeological facts unearthed in the down town area, showing layers of Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Ottoman and Arab remains. In addition, Beirut is mentioned in the cuneiform tablets of the “Armand Letters”, whcih is believed to have been existing since the 4th century. Today, Beirut is fastly becoming progressive as it is home of the largest seaports of the eastern Mediterranean Sea while its tourism is as well becoming popular the world over.

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. As shown by numerous archaeological and historical records, Lisbon certainly ranks among the oldest inhabited regions in the world. For one, this ancient region was once inhabited by Iberian-related people. Religious monuments called, dolmens,. Megaliths and menhirs are some of the existing testaments of the Iberian settlement. For another, Phoenician influence is thought to have existed in the region as suggested by archaeological findings, dating back to 1200 BC. Prominently, Phoenician remains were found recently underneath the Mediaeval Se Lisboa or main cathedral of the modern city. However, many historians maintained doubts with regards to the historical truth of Phoenician settlement; instead they believe that ancient Lisbon was just one of the major and active regions of trading in which Phoenicians had had good commercial relations; thus the archaeological remains of pottery and other material objects found beneath the cathedral.

Beijing, China

Beijing or Peking is the capital city of the People’s Republic of China, and for the record it ranks among the oldest inhabited regions in the world. Human habitation were found to be dating back to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago, as shown through carbon dating performed on the archaeological remains of the now famous Peking Man (Homo Erectus) whose remains were excavated in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill in the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District. 27,000 years ago, Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived in the region.

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The man who proposed at Gravity Zero

Graciela Asturias, a 27-year-old architect from Manhattan, got a very unique birthday present when her now fiancé proposed to her a thousand feet above the ground while floating in an airplane cabin.

To celebrate Asturias’ birthday, the couple boarded a specially designed Boeing 727 aircraft that creates the experience of microgravity during four-five minute plunges as it flies up and down between 24,000 and 35,000 feet, allowing the passengers to experience a near zero gravity effect. While Alex and Graciela were floating in the cabin, Alex popped the question. Alex was a bit worried that while in zero G, the ring might float away but luckily everything worked out. Graciela not only received a great birthday present but they experienced an amazing proposal, a love so strong, unbound by gravity itself.

The couple plan on spending their ten year anniversary in orbit.

The man who proposed virtually at Halo video game

In November 3, 2007 Moviesign (his username) made a Forge map in Halo® 3, and set up what his girlfriend of over two years (Furtive Penguin) thought was going to be a two-on-two match with his friends. After they started the game, Moviesign led Furtive Penguin to a spot where he claimed he’d left an energy sword.

Instead there was a nice top-down view where he had spelled out a proposal using weapons. He then asked her to be his teammate for life.
Furtive Penguin and Moviesign recently moved from Indianapolis to Chicago where she (Penguin) is a copyeditor and he (Moviesign) is a graphic designer. They haven’t set a wedding date yet. As Furtive Penguin said, “We’re waiting to see what the release date is for the next Halo game. We don’t want any conflicts.”

The man who got on fire before kneeling down and proposing

Todd has some interesting friends. One in particular is well-known stunt man Eric Barkley who’s done many human-torch fire jumps. Todd devised a plan to not only entertain family and friends at their annual 4th of July family reunion but to also propose to his girlfriend Malissa.

With Eric’s help, Todd set up a stunt to launch himself off a platform above a swimming pool while being completely engulfed in flames. Eric dressed him in the appropriate fire-retardant attire, with flaming cape and all. Eric fashioned a torch out of an aluminum pole and with Todd ready to jump from the platform over the pool, Eric lit Todd’s cape on fire and seconds later he became complete engulfed in gasoline induced flames. Todd ran off the platform in a breath-taking display of dangerous excitement. The burning man soared through the air against the night sky and landed in the pool, extinguishing himself from the fiery blaze.

Todd surfaced and pulled off his hood, walked over to Malissa and got down on one knee. “Malissa, you make me hot. I want to get the point across that I’m on fire for you”, said Todd. Malissa was laughing from the excitement and insanity of the whole display until Todd pulled out the ring and popped the question.

“Will you marry me, Malissa?” Todd placed the ring on her finger. “Yes!” she exclaimed.

The man who proposed at 20,000 feet just before skydiving

When it comes to marriage, men traditionally have a big responsibility — the proposal — and they’ve got to make it memorable. And that’s exactly what Mateo Martinez did. Martinez popped the question at 20,000 feet just as he and his girlfriend were about to sky dive.

“There is no better way to get your heart rate up then jumping out of a plane and proposing to your girlfriend,” Martinez said.

The man who raised money on the internet to buy TV ad space to propose

Rand had been dating Geraldine for about 5 years and the time had come for Rand to pop the question. Rand wanted to propose in a genuine, unique, and completely romantic way, equal to the love he felt for Geraldine. Being a major NFL fan, Rand began to play with the idea of proposing via a Super Bowl commercial. Obviously the task would be monumental but luckily Rand works within an industry that may make the idea work. Rand works within search marketing, specializing in search optimization, online viral marketing, and things of this nature. Rand started on his idea in late August of 2006. He put together a website and started working his magic. Rand started to draw a lot of attention online. On his website he posted his game plan, the hurdles that lie ahead, and the solution he needed to execute the Super Bowl commercial proposal.

Rand found that in order to purchase ad space during the 2007 Super Bowl, he would have to raise approximately $2.5 million dollars. He put up a good chunk of his own cash and waited for the donations to pour in. By February 1st, just 3 days prior to the Super Bowl, Rand had only collected $85K. The wedding invitations would be covered but unfortunately this was not nearly enough for the Super Bowl ad space. His proposal publicly gained the attention of Entertainment Tonight, MSNBC, Good Morning America, and Fox News just to name a few. Despite all of this, CBS was unwilling to part with the valuable ad time for a mere $85K. Rand did the next best thing and purchased local ad time during Geraldine’s favorite television show Veronica Mars. On February 6th at 9:23 PM, as Geraldine was watching the show, Rand’s ad came on the screen, asking Geraldine to marry him. She said yes! Her response was genuine, sweet, and very romantic.
Rand donated the remaining money raised to the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.

The man who hacked his Girlfriend’s computer game to pop the question

A US man has been credited with the ultimate nerd wedding proposal after hacking into his girlfriend’s favorite video game. Bernie Peng, 26, of New Jersey, reprogrammed Bejeweled so a ring and a proposal popped up when Tammy Li, 27, reached a certain score.

Mr Peng, who works as a programmer of financial software, spent about a month reprogramming the game. He presented the game to a surprised Li, who played until she hit the score that triggered a digital pink sapphire ring to drop down with Peng’s proposal.

According to Li, he set a pretty low score; she is now sporting an identical pink sapphire engagement ring. The story was picked up by video gaming sites and spread across the internet until the manufacturer eventually heard about it. Instead of being angry that Peng had hacked into their game, company officials were so impressed they offered to pay for part of the wedding.

The man who popped the question with umbrellas

Sean Palmgren won a contest run by GroomGrove.com and Platinum Guild International for his most unique proposal to his girlfriend Betsy. He caught hold of friends and family and got them to carry umbrellas in a park. What he had done was to paint a letter on each umbrella. He then convinced his soon to be fiancé to take a walk in the park. Upon the finish of the three mile walk around the lake they proceeded to walk towards a line of people all holding an umbrella right above their heads.

Besty was very intrigued on what was going on and wanted to take a closer look. About 100 feet away, someone counts 1-2-3 and everyone flips their umbrella over to spell out the infamous “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” Betsey starts looking around saying, “Oh my gosh, someone is getting engaged!”

When she saw him on his knee she knew the proposal was for her and said Yes.

A camera man who asked Tom Cruise to pop the question

In 2004, Tom Cruise appeared on Portuguese television to ask a woman to marry her boyfriend. Cruise asked the factory worker, named only as Sonia, to marry cameraman Joao Martins. He’d filmed the actor at the Spanish premiere of The Last Samurai. In a clip shown on state channel RTP, Cruise said: “Sonia, you have to marry Joao. Please marry Joao. He is crying behind the camera.” His girlfriend accepted the proposal. Martins, who works for RTP, was on the phone to his girlfriend when the marriage proposal was aired.

Cruise also joked in the footage they should name their children after him.

The man who hired a £10,000 theatre company to play his proposal

A lovestruck tycoon hired an entire theatre company so he could star in a play and give his girlfriend a proposal she’d never forget.

Gennady Zaleskiy, 38, paid £10,000 to have the play The Romantics staged in Zaporozhie, Ukraine, with him as the leading man. He then arranged for his theatre-fan girlfriend to have a seat at the show on a girls’ night out with friends. He appeared on stage in a mask where he was supposed to declare his love for his leading lady. Instead, he turned to face his girlfriend in the audience and said: “No, the woman I love is called Victoria and she is in the sixth row. Will you marry me Victoria?”

The bride? She said “Yes!”

The man who created an art exhibition to pop the question

Over a four day period George spent a total of about 24 hours constructing what would soon become his engagement proposal to his girlfriend Sara.

Wishing to create a proposal and art piece all in one that would be elaborate and meaningful George, an industrial designer, sat down at his computer and designed the piece in a 3d program, then laser cut foam core to create the different pieces that would form the words, “Will You Marry Me.” Putting in even more thought, he named the art piece “My Early Muir Owl” which is an anagram of “Will you marry me.” He then brought in an actor who he dubbed “Serge Gandaora” who played the part of the artist for the night. (”Serge Gandaora” is an anagram of “George and Sara”)

When “Serge” asked Sara to view the art installation through a carefully placed frame, George dropped down to one knee beside her and as the words took shape before her eyes she came away with a clear yes and a ring on her finger.

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Talented Willard Wigan has carved Mr Obama and his family into the eye of a 24-karat gold needle.

Speaking in Los Angeles, as he was about to launch his first American exhibition, Willard revealed: ‘My favourite piece has to be President Barack Obama and his family.

First family: A micro-sculpture of the Obamas, carved into the eye of a 24-karat gold needle by British artist Willard Wigan

Mr Wigan used images of the First Family from the night Mr Obama was elected president to create his tiny masterpiece

‘I never thought I would see a black President in my life time, so this is historic and I wanted to celebrate that.’

The micro-sculptor’s work is so small, you need a microscope to see it – it is invisible to the naked eye.

But Willard creates it all by hand in an astonishing process.

It takes him up to three months to create each amazing and unique sculpture, which usually sits within in the eye of a needle or on a pin head.

The personal sacrifice involved in creating pieces is almost inconceivable. Willard enters a meditative state in which his heartbeat is slowed, allowing him to reduce hand tremors and sculpt between pulse beats.

Even the reverberation caused by traffic outside can affect Willard’s work, so he often works through the night when there is minimal disruption.

In the past he has created micro-sculptures of such stars as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, P Diddy. Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and even The Simpsons.

But it the President Obama sculpture he is most proud of, spend more than three months creating it especially for his U.S. tour.

‘I think the Obama sculpture is my favourite of all time as it’s the most significant piece that I have ever done.

‘Other sculptures were harder to do – like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, which has such amazing detail, like the mouse in the teapot, plates on the table and even Alice with her headband.

‘And that’s all smaller than a full stop.’

However, he admits he has had some mishaps in the past.

Mr Wigan has also created mini Nelson Mandela, left, and mini Incredible Hulk, bursting out of the eye of his needle, right

‘I have had some real nightmares – I once inhaled my own work by mistake!

‘I was making a sculpture of five ballerinas floating on a particle of dust. I was sculpting them from a single fibre, like the fibre that comes from your sweater.

‘I was inserting the ballerinas into the eye of a needle and my mobile phone went off.

‘I breathed in by mistake as I was thinking: “I wonder who that is,” and wasn’t paying the attention I should’ve been.

Celebrities aren’t the only sculptures Mr Wigan does – as shown by this sculpture of nine miniscule camels

‘It so easy to be distracted, which is also why I work at night so that I don’t get the vibrations or distractions from traffic.

‘But the phone rang, I breathed in without thinking, looked back at the eye of the needle and realised I had inhaled them.

‘It was a very tense moment and I was very upset with myself but there wasn’t much I could do.

‘I’ve been meaning to start that sculpture over again but I haven’t got round to it yet.’

The smallest Oscar statue ever – also by Mr Wigan

He said he has always wanted to show his work in America.

‘They love things bigger and better in the U.S. so what better way to show off my smallest but biggest artwork! I think people are going to be quite surprised when they see what I do.

‘I am exhibiting 20 pieces in the U.S. including Ben Hur with his chariot on a pin head, Nelson Mandela through the eye of a needle and the Statue of Liberty through the eye of a needle.

‘I’ve also bought with me P Diddy, Minnie Mouse, Charlie Chaplin and even a recreation of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland.’

Willard’s work has been described as ‘the eighth wonder of the world’. He started off his career at the tender age of five – when he would make houses for ants.

‘I thought they needed somewhere to live,’ he explained.

‘Then I made them shoes and hats. It was a fantasy world I escaped to where my dyslexia didn’t hold me back and my teachers couldn’t criticise me.’

In the past he has specifically commissioned works includes the replica of the iconic Lloyds of London Building.

Willard, who is from Birmingham, was subsequently honoured with receiving an MBE from HRH Prince Charles for his services to art.

His previous celebrity customers include former boxer Mike Tyson and eccentric toff Lord Bath. Last year he sold 72 pieces to gym millionaire David Lloyd for £11.2million.

His exhibiton and tour of the U.S. begins this week and runs in Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston through to November.

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