British guide to alien invaders and how to spot them

A report from Hull University in the UK reveals that dozens of alien species are alive and thriving in the British countryside. The illegal immigrants include about 13,000 poisonous yellow-tailed scorpions, whose forebears are believed to have jumped ship after stowing away on Italian merchant ships in the 19th century. Others are thought to be descendants of animals that escaped from private collections of exotic species. These include a band of 10 Brazilian aardvarks, happily at large in the county of Cumbria, 20 snapping turtles scattered throughout Kent, London and the West Midlands, 900 wild boar and an estimated 10,000 Chinese water deer. The study also suggests stories of wild jungle cats at large in remote regions, such as Dartmoor and parts of Scotland, might not be as far fetched as they seem.

The US Navy has declared war on smoking, banning cigarettes, cigars and pipes on board its hunter-killer submarines and nuclear missile fleet from the end of this year. Each vessel will appoint a "smoking cessation co-ordinator" to help the 5,000 smokers among the 13,000 members of the submarine service to quit.

An English-born octopus-turned-oracle at the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen, western Germany, has predicted that tomorrow's World Cup clash between his hosts and his home country will be won by the Germans. Paul was invited to choose shells concealed in boxes decorated with the flags of the two countries and picked those in the box draped with Germany's colours. Staff say he has already correctly predicted the outcomes of Germany's matches against Australia, Serbia and Ghana.

Thieves who stole a trailer from a zoo in Ontario, Canada, abandoned it after discovering its contents: two camels and a tiger. The animals and their trailer were missing for four days before they were found parked off a remote rural road. Speculation is that the thief or thieves were animal lovers; all three were found well fed and watered.

A proposed law in New York obliges landlords to reveal details of an apartment's previous occupants - bedbugs. Under the bill, landlords must tell prospective tenants if any apartment has been infested during the past year. "Bedbugs are bipartisan when it comes to snacking on blood," Linda Rosenthal, the bill's sponsor and a Democrat, told The New York Times. "So it's a bill that appeals to everybody regardless of political affiliation."

Anatomy failed a French prisoner who murdered his cellmate with the intention of eating his heart. "I wanted to take his soul," Nicolas Cocaign told the judge investigating his case in the city of Rouen. Instead, by mistake Cocaign removed and ate part of one of Thierry Baudry's lungs, which he lightly fried with some onions. jgornall@thenational.ae

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