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London's most boring project: £14.8bn Crossrail tunnel takes shape below capital

After three years of subterranean drilling, the £14.8billion project to transform London's rail network has tunnelled out just five of the 26 miles it will eventually cover. These incredible pictures show the immensity of the task faced by engineers revamping the capital's creaking transport infrastructure. The workers are overshadowed by the vast tunnels being drilled for the new Crossrail route. The project, which is due to open in 2018, will pass through 37 stations and increase London’s rail capacity by 10 per cent. Subterranean world: Workers appear tiny compared to the vast tunnel being drilled at Whitechapel Station in London Boring machine: Tunnelling machine 'Sophia' at Crossrail's Plumstead site Five huge tunnelling machines are now in operation in west, east and southeast London with more than five and a half miles of tunnels now built. A further 7.5 miles of platform tunnels are also being bored beneath central London station sites. More... C

Worst date ever: Man who built a menu-fort to block out girl

Watching a couple argue in public can be an awkward moment. But this furious man was so angry with his dinner date he decided to build a wall using menus to block out the girl he was with who can be seen playing on her mobile phone. The amusing photo was snapped by software designer Adam Howell in the restaurant Olive Garden, in Pineville, North Carolina, who then posted the image on Twitter. Awkward: This furious man couldn't stand to look at his dinner date anymore and so built a wall made of menus Date from hell: Adam Howell posted tweets about the arguing couple and took a photo of the menu barricade He wrote: 'A grown man is mad at his girlfriend at Olive Garden and has made a menu fort.' According to Howell, a waitress had to come over to the table and take the menus away. More... The world's most conserved hamburger: Preservative-packed McDonald's sandwich bought in 1999 looks EXACTLY the same as the day it was flipped (and it even spent two years

Boston bombers' last stand: Incredible new pictures emerge

ncredible new photographs have revealed the dramatic gun battle which broke out between police and the suspected Boston bombers in a residential street, leaving one brother dead. The images, taken by a resident of the Watertown street in the early hours of Friday, show the Tsarnaev brothers sheltering behind a vehicle and clearly taking aim at police officers. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and his brother Tamerlan, 26, are seen running to a car for more supplies before hauling out a pressure cooker bomb they then detonated, filling the street with smoke. The photographs, taken on the eyewitness' phone from a third-floor bedroom overlooking the harrowing scene, are the first images giving insight into the fraught battle that left one brother dead. They come as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the neck in hospital, told investigators that his older brother was the ringleader in the attacks. Scroll down for videos Harrowing: Images taken by a resident show the

Fill her up - to £1m! Collection of motoring memorabilia

A collection of motoring memorabilia saved from the skip and restored to its former glory is set to make its owner a millionaire. Robin Barnard has spent the past 40 years amassing hundreds of classic petrol pumps, enamel signs, rare petrol globes and motorbikes. Many of the 800 items have been salvaged from skips and rubbish dumps for free before being painstakingly restored by the devoted 72-year-old. Golden age: Auctioneer Richard Edmonds with a lovingly preserved BSA M20 AA motorbike, one of the centrepieces of Robin Barnard's £1million motoring memorabilia collection Bygone era: The collection includes more than 30 petrol pumps, some up to nine foot tall and worth £5,000 Mr Barnard used to run a Grade II-listed 1920s filling station at Colyford in Devon, and displayed many of the items inside it. But his collection grew so big he opened up a small museum in an adjoining building in 2004 to house his memorial to motoring. More... From Big Apple to big dipper: Construc

Driver arrested after fifty-three king cobras are seized from car in Vietnam

Fifty-three king cobras have been seized from a car in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. The live snakes were taken to a wildlife rescue centre near the city where were treated before being released into the wild. King cobras are the world's longest of all venomous snakes and can grow up to 18ft long. Preying on other reptiles, including other snakes, king cobras have a rapid, deadly strike. The venom is not as strong as some snakes, but enough is produced in a single bite to kill a fully grown elephant. The meat of king cobras is considered a delicacy by some in Vietnam. But hunting and selling the snakes are banned. The man driving the car was arrested according to police who found the animals in green sacks on Friday. More... Amazon accused of censoring erotic fiction by 'hiding' titles so they don't show up on searches Dog abandoned by owners after being severely burned while badger baiting makes incredible recovery Officer Dang Van Hanh said the driver told pol

Can you make hoot what it is yet? Natural camouflage

Owls this for a disguise? An eastern screech owl is barely visible at the entrance to a tree hole - thanks to its perfectly evolved camouflage. These incredible pictures were taken by photographer Graham McGeorge, 42, in Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia. Natural camouflage: An eastern screech owl disguised in the hollow of a tree in Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia I see YOU: Screech owls are quite common across North America but they generally go unnoticed Usually solitary, screech owls nest in a tree cavity, either natural or excavated by a woodpecker. They have either rusty or dark grey intricately patterned plumage with streaking on the underparts, helping them to blend in perfectly in their woodland homes. More... Bright stars at night, snapper's delight: British doctor's stunning shots of skies over South Georgia made into stamps The hunted becomes the hunter: The amazing moment a wildebeest turns the tables on a cheetah trying to make it dinner Bah, giant humbugs: Incredibl

Mad scramble to buy 35 empty houses in Stoke-on-Trent

With its reputation for burglaries and arson attacks, Cobridge in Stoke-on-Trent is not usually thought of as a particularly desirable place to live. But that was until the council dropped the cost of houses in the rundown area – to £1. Six hundred people have now applied for the chance to own one of 35 empty two and three bedroom homes. Popular: Hundreds of people have expressed an interest in buying rundown houses in Stoke for just £1 each, it emerged today Interested: The city council announced that 600 people have already applied to purchase the properties Each will be randomly allocated after applications close, on May 12, and the new owners will receive a low interest loan of £30,000 for renovation. Applicants must already live in the area, work but have a joint income of less than £30,000, have the right to live in the UK, have no other homes and agree to live there for five years. The £3million scheme, funded by Stoke-on-Trent city council and the Government, is a desp