Konishiki, the fattest man in the sport and the only non-Japanese to win the second-highest rank of ozeki (champion) threw in the towel three years ago because his knees were unable to take his 43st 3lb weight.The huge wads of flesh hanging from his arms and thighs became his trademark but his lumbering gait and tortured breathing reflected the strain that his weight was putting on his body.Like Konishiki, Zuna was born in Hawaii but he was based on the west coast of the US, where he leaves a wife and two young children.In a recent interview in Birmingham, he claimed to devour 240 eggs, 12 pieces of chicken and a bucket-sized portion of Japanese rice a day and admitted to arachnophobia He also said the size of British hotel rooms were a problem. “These places were built for ordinary guys and I sometimes have problems even getting through doorways,” he said.Zuna’s body was found in his seventh-floor room at Liverpool’s Moat House hotel on Monday afternoon by his crew’s transport manager. Police and paramedics were called to the hotel, and it took six men to move him.”As a mark of respect the [other] American wrestlers have requested we carry on the tour, because Yoko would have wanted the tour to continue,” Mr Dixon said. “He was a gentle giant [and] very, very proud to be a part of a tour in this country He got huge applause in the arenas. He was very fit.”A 10-bell salute will be rung for Zuna before each bout on the rest of the tour.. Two major rail lines were closed today as safety checks continued in the wake of last week’s Hatfield rail crash. Two major rail lines were closed today as safety checks continued in the wake of last week’s Hatfield rail crash.
After a short-notice announcement from Railtrack last night, the line between Carlisle and Glasgow was closed for three days from 8am.Then it was announced today that the West Coast main line between Milton Keynes and Rugby was being closed for checks.

Diversions were expected to add 40 minutes at least to already-extended journey times. Restrictions are currently in place on more than 150 sites nationwide in the wake of fears over track safety.Further restrictions were imposed on Great Western services through Oxfordshire as new speed limits were imposed.Meanwhile, an investigation was today launched into claims that a commuter train travelled down one of Britain’s busiest lines without its driver.The line closure in Scotland took effect from 8am and is expected to be lifted at 7am on Saturday.Railtrack attracted criticism from rail operators when it announced it was shutting the line between Gretna and Law Junction, just south of Glasgow, so engineers could carry out track inspections.A Railtrack spokeswoman said: “This precautionary measure has been taken to cause the minimum of disruption to passengers and freight services and has been imposed as a blanket measure rather than cause severe disruption to services as a result of temporary speed restrictions over an extended period of several weeks.”We very much regret the delays this will cause and the disruption to services over the next few days.”She said engineers would carry out inspections and ultra sonic testing of the track in line with the safety tests which followed the Hatfield accident.Train operators were last night preparing emergency timetables to cope with the closure.Meanwhile, the Health and Safety Executive has launched an investigation into claims that a Reading-to-London Waterloo train was driven by an unsupervised trainee after its driver was left behind at Richmond.The trainee driver, who had been working the route for just three weeks, took the controls after his instructor was left stranded in a station toilet in Richmond, the Daily Express reported today.Yesterday’s 5.54am train from Reading stopped at Richmond in south west London at 6.57am and its driver got off to use the lavatory, telling his trainee not to leave without him.But a minute later the junior heard the door slam, thought the driver was back and set off down the track, it was reported.The senior driver raised the alarm, called a signalman and hailed a cab to follow the train, and the train was halted by the trainee in Barnes, after a signalman alerted him.Commuters then had to wait 20 minutes while the driver’s taxi brought him to the train, which was eventually terminated at Clapham Junction instead of Waterloo, it was reported.Train operator South West Trains was today unavailable for comment.At Glasgow Central Station this morning passengers arriving to travel south were being told they would have to make part of their journey by bus. They were also warned that they could face severe delays.Alastair McPherson, managing director of sleeper service operators ScotRail, said: “We are very disappointed at the short notice we have been given of the emergency speed restrictions and projected line closures.”We operate the overnight sleeper services between five points in Scotland and London and we have had two or three hours’ notice to make alternative arrangements for our passengers,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.Stuart Francis, chairman of the Rail Passengers Council, said: “You simply can’t do this at the last moment.”Safety is paramount, we accept that, and if there is a problem then lines must close. But information is the key – give passengers prior warning and at least there is a chance then of taking them with you as we go through what will be a very rocky period indeed,” he told the programme.The last train for London left Glasgow Central at 6.15am before the 8am closure of the line.Five buses were lined up outside the station to take passengers on all later services on the line from Glasgow and Carlisle, where they would board trains to continue their journeys south..

First through the ticket barrier was a parliamentary researcher who bemoaned the crowded train carriages. Next came a security guard whose summary of Connex South Central was: “Horrible.”

First through the ticket barrier was a parliamentary researcher who bemoaned the crowded train carriages. Next came a security guard whose summary of Connex South Central was: “Horrible.”
By 9.30am yesterday, Platform 10 at Victoria station was the scene for a collective venting of commuter spleen, encouraged by the news that the French-owned south-coast train operator had lost its South Central rail franchise.One after another the commuters told horror stories of delays, cramped seats, antiquated rolling stock and Connex’s “licence to loiter”.Anna Pollard, 25, who works in advertising and travels from Gipsy Hill, south London, was thankful that another franchise owner was to take over the task of getting her to work. “Since Connex took over, the trains have been smelly and dirty.

They cut the services on the smaller lines and you pay large sums every month for the privilege,” she said.The chorus of rush-hour dissatisfaction could be heard along the concourse beneath the “Welcome to Connex South Central” signs.Gary Campbell, a 25-year-old security guard who pays £136 a month to travel to Victoria from Purley, south London, said: “I’ve been using Connex for years and it just drives me mad. It’s all very well them posting up welcome signs but when a train is cancelled or delayed they don’t even bother telling you so you can get an alternative train. They’re just horrible.”No passenger defended the South Central lines, although some were indifferent. Nigel McKinley, 43, an advertising sales manager of Peckham Rye in south London, said: “They’re not too bad There are always a few late trains; it’s to be expected. And they have smartened up my station.”Pamela Lee, a teacher of “inner spirituality” of Southwick, West Sussex, had paid £11.10 for a day-return to London on her 67th birthday: “What bothers me is the old carriages – they should have put some modern rolling stock in place by now,” she said.Laura Macleod, 46, a parliamentary researcher of Haywards Heath, West Sussex, said: “I once complained about overcrowding after they reduced the train from 12 to eight carriages.

All I got was a letter explaining that more people were getting on down the line It hardly amounted to an explanation. I’m delighted Connex has lost the franchise.”Ron, a member of the platform staff, wearing a blue blazer and a yellow waistcoat, said: “I can think of one good thing only about today – at last we’ll get rid of this bloody uniform.”. The billionaire Conservative Treasurer Michael Ashcroft finally claimed his seat in the House of Lords yesterday after more than a year of controversy over his appointment. The billionaire Conservative Treasurer Michael Ashcroft finally claimed his seat in the House of Lords yesterday after more than a year of controversy over his appointment.
William Hague’s plan to ennoble Lord Ashcroft, as he will now be known, was rejected by the peers’ Scrutiny Committee in June last year on the grounds that the businessman did not live in Britain. He was told earlier this year that he would be granted a peerage, but only if he moved his main residence from Florida to the UK.Lord Ashcroft has made a fortune through business interests based mainly in Belize, ranging from banking to bananas. Since 1997, when he became Treasurer of the Conservative Party, giving it around £1m a year, he has spent an increasing amount of time in this country.