It's the fire-breathing Fiat!

An Italian mechanic has created the world's most ferocious mini-car.
Dini Gianfranco has transformed his Fiat 500 into a Lamborghini hybrid with an incredible 580 horsepower and top speed of 186mph.
The tiny Italian car has been installed with a monstrous 6.2L V12 engine from a Lamborghini Murcielago - pushing the mini-car to seven times its original top speed and 32 times its original power. 

Turbo-charged: This Fiat 500 has been transformed into a supercar thanks to a Lamborghini engine

Ferocious: The tiny Italian car has been installed with a monstrous 6.2L engine from a Lamborghini Murcielago

Customised: Dini Gianfranco has given his Fiat an incredible 580 horsepower and top speed of 186mph

The 56-year-old mechanic has been working on cars since the age of nine.
He developed a passion for modifying and repairing motors when he worked as an after-school mechanics apprentice.

 The Italian motorhead opened his own workshop in his hometown of Viterbo, Italy, in 1973, having worked in factories and completed his education.

Lifelong dream: The 56-year-old mechanic developed a passion for modifying and repairing motors when he worked as an after-school mechanics apprentice

Labour of love: Mr Gianfranco and his mechanics clocked up 3,000 hours completing the Fiat 500 Lamborghini

Plush: The interior of the finished Fiat 500 Lamborghini, the world's most ferocious mini-car

He said: 'As a teenager, I began to customise a Fiat 500, and installed an Autobianchi A112 Abarth engine with a five-speed gearbox.
'The idea to take the customisations to the next level came about when my son Leonardo joked about installing a Porsche engine in a Fiat 500 after visiting the 2006 Bologna Motor show.'
Mr Gianfranco retrieved a Fiat 500, as well as a motor and gearbox from a Porsche Carrera 3.2L, before working on the bizarre transformation over the course of a year in 2007.
When the first design was completed, Mr Gianfranco and his team of three mechanics wanted a new challenge and continued to make more modifications.

Petrol power: The monstrous 6.2L V12 engine from a Lamborghini Murcielago used in the Fiat

Work in progress: The chassis of the Fiat 500 Lamborghini during the process of transformation

He says: 'The next car was a Fiat 500 Ferrari v8 3.0L which was completed in December 2009 after two years of work. This led to even more appreciation from the public.
'After the Ferrari, we felt so driven to exceed ourselves, which led us to our most recent creation - the Lamborghini.'
Mr Gianfranco and the rest of the mechanics clocked up a total of 3,000 hours, completing the Fiat 500 Lamborghini between January 2010 and December 2012.

Stripped bare: The driver's side of the Fiat 500 which took the team around 3,000 hours to convert

Experienced: Mr Gianfranco opened his own workshop in his hometown of Viterbo, Italy, in 1973

'The Fiat 500 Lamborghini is the most extreme,' he said.
'It has to be my favourite as I feel my creations keep getting better. I would not have been able to achieve this, however, had it not been for the first two cars.'
After test-driving his fire-breathing mini car, Mr Gianfranco plans to sell his latest creation for an undisclosed fee.

Proud: Mr Gianfranco said the Fiat 500 Lamborghini is his 'most extreme' creation

Mr Gianfranco's three creations so far - (L-r) the Fiat 500 Lamborghini, Fiat 500 Ferrari and Fiat 500 Porsche

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It's a knock-off! China's copycat culture

China is already renowned for copying Western goods from trainers to champagne.
Now it is building a replica reputation in the world of architecture, with miniature versions Mount Rushmore, the Egyptian pyramids and the Manhattan skyline - to name a few - springing up all over the country.
The reproduced structures — also dubbed 'duplitecture' — can appear bizarre to outsiders but make sense to many in the country.
'I think it's a good thing. I can see things from places that I’ve never been,' said a man surnamed Fu, 32, sitting in a Chongqing park scattered with sculptures including Michelangelo's David, Rodin’s Thinker and the gigantic heads of four American presidents.     
                                         

Fabricating the Pharaohs: People walk past a copy of one of the Pyramids of Giza at a theme park in the Chinese city of Chongqing

And here's the real thing: The Sphinx is seen in front of the Pyramid of Chephren in Giza, Cairo, iconic landmarks which have inspired architecture in China

Elsewhere in the southwestern city, a set of curved white buildings under construction have sparked controversy for their striking resemblance to a Beijing development by star British architect Zaha Hadid.      
Copying was 'something China does', a retired judge said as she walked past the site, adding: 'I think it’s a good thing — we can learn from the experience of others.'
The director of Hadid's Beijing project was less positive, reportedly calling the property company 'pirates'.

 The company has denied copying, telling news agency AFP that it had reached an agreement with the original developer, which declined to comment

The 'duplitecture' trend developed alongside China’s real estate boom in recent decades, especially for creations conveying prestige and success, said Bianca Bosker, the New York-based author of Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China.

A slice of the Big Apple: A theme park in Chongqing features a condensed version of the famous New York skyline as China builds a reputation for replicas

The real Manhattan skyline: A 27-year-old woman surnamed Huang, who walked past the fake New York in Chongqing, said her compatriots should embrace their own heritage

Among the most eye-popping examples are a copy of the Austrian alpine village and Unesco World Heritage Site of Hallstatt in the southern province of Guangdong, which even the official news agency Xinhua called 'a bold example of China’s knock-off culture'.
An assemblage of Parisian monuments including the Eiffel Tower and a fountain from Versailles stand in Hangzhou, as does a French village.
Hebei province has an imitation Sphinx, while outside Shanghai sits Thames Town, an English-themed suburb featuring a statue of Winston Churchill, a church from Bristol and lookalikes of guards at Buckingham Palace.
The imitations are open to mockery, but Bosker says that such replicas provide an easy way to convey prestige on a huge scale.

Cut down to size: A replica of Mount Rushmore featuring U.S. presidents (l-r) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in Chongqing

Towering landmark: The original features 60ft heads carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States

'In the U.S., we see people who copy as unimaginative thieves. In China copiers have been viewed with more nuance — copying can be a sign of skill and it can also just be a really practical solution to a problem,' she told AFP.
'Developers wanted a way to brand their developments and the home owners wanted a way to brand their lifestyle and their economic success.
'And one of the easiest solutions to that was to copy architecture that was most emblematic of a kind of aristocratic and 'sophisticated'-seeming lifestyle,' she said, citing Versailles, Venice and the White House as popular models.
That pragmatic streak also drives the mass production of knockoffs including Italian handbags, Swiss watches, French wine, Hollywood films and iPhones, while the southwestern city of Kunming once even hosted a fake Apple store.
In Dafen, part of the boom town of Shenzhen next to Hong Kong, an army of artists duplicate masterpieces ranging from Vincent van Gogh to Jackson Pollock.

Great Small of China: A woman walks along a replica of the Chinese landmark at a park in Chongqing. The reproduced structures are known by some as 'duplitecture'

As far as the eye can see: The original Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications that stretch for some 21,000km across the country

The fakes allow Chinese to enjoy what they could not otherwise afford, said a young man strolling at an amusement park in Chongqing featuring a miniature New York, Venice-like canals and Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue rotating atop a ride.
'In terms of respecting others’ creativity, it’s not okay. But for a China that’s still developing, for a certain time there’s a use for it,' he said.
'When China’s economy becomes developed enough, then there won’t be a market for copied goods.'
Even so, the rampant imitation raises questions of national pride in a country boasting a rich history and now regaining global clout.
In March, Renmin University president Chen Yulu urged his countrymen to 'refrain from copying European architectural styles and work harder to promote local culture', Xinhua paraphrased him as saying, while itself warning of an 'eerie copycat architectural landscape'.

'Pirates': These curved buildings in Chongqing have sparked controversy for their striking resemblance to a Beijing development by star British architect Zaha Hadid

Design theft: The director of Hadid's Beijing project (above) reportedly described the property company building a similar version in Chongqinq as 'pirates'

As China rises in stature and wealth, it will increasingly seek inspiration from within, said Bosker, adding that already 'there seems to be a new confidence and interest in their own indigenous styles'.
At the park with the Mount Rushmore replica, a man in his 20s surnamed Mao argued that China's neighbours mimicked its culture when it held greater sway in the past, and would do so again as the country reclaims the stage.
'If people have something good then we will copy it,' he said. 'This is something every country, every society does, not only China.'
But a 27-year-old woman surnamed Huang, walking past the fake Manhattan with a friend, said her compatriots should embrace their own heritage.
'It seems like Chinese people have this view that anything foreign is good, that anything with English writing, whether or not they can read it, is good,' she said.
'China is not inferior to anyone, but nobody really cares a lot about China’s ancient past.'

The bulls fight back!

'Bullfighting is not a sport. It was never supposed to be. It is a tragedy ... The tragedy is the death of the bull.'

So wrote Ernest Hemingway after he witnessed his first bullfight as a reporter in Spain. But three bulls yesterday turned the tables on their killers.

They challenged their own ritual slaughter - and won.  

Olé! David Mora is floored by an El Ventorrillo fighting bull during a bullfight at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid

Beast versus man: The matador is tossed backwards by the huge bull, which is primed for the kill

Floored: Mora was downed by his first bull, before he was even able to plant any banderillos into its body

Head over heels: Mora is flicked around the bullring like a ragdoll by the enraged bull he intended to kill

Gored: Mora was pierced through his femoral artery by the bull, and needed immediate emergency surgery

The goring is seen here from another angle. Mora was still in intensive care today but was said to be recovering

Disaster: Mora's fellow matadors run to his aide, capes flapping, as he is repeatedly gored by the raging bull

Occupational hazard: Assistants help a grimacing Mora from the bullring after he was badly wounded in the fight yesterday

A right bulls up: The injured matador is carried away as his blood drips down the elaborate outfit of one of his assistants

Bulls 3 - Matadors 0. If bullfights had a score line that would have been the one at the Las Ventas ring in Madrid, Spain, on Tuesday evening.

All three matadors were gored, one of them severely, and the rest of the bloody spectacle was cancelled because there was nobody left standing to fight. 

It happened at the 12th corrida in the Spanish capital, less than half-way through the Fiesta of San Isidro, the biggest single event in the official season.

Described by Hemingway as the 'World Series of bullfighting', it lasts for nearly a month with a fight every day.

Antonio Nazare is gored in his leg by a Los Chospes ranch fighting bull after killing the one that took out Mora

Nazare falls to the ground bleeding after his clash with the bull. Fighting bulls usually weigh about half a ton

Tragedy: Nazare's cape drops to reveal the bull's bloodied back, as it makes sure he is unable to get back up

Death in the afternoon: The bull which beat Nazare spews blood after it is killed by Jimenez Fortes, top second left, in the traditional manner - but without the flair and flamboyance which bullfight audiences come for

Victory: Fortes salutes the spectators as the Los Chospes ranch fighting bull dies at his feet

First to lose was David Mora. Brought down by his first bull of the afternoon, he was gored in three places as he was tossed around the ring like a rag doll.

After Mora was carried-off and rushed to the infirmary for emergency surgery, Antonio Nazare followed tradition and dispatched the bull using cape and sword.

But he did so as swiftly as possible, with none of the flair audiences expect.

Then it was Nazare's turn to fight his own first bull of the afternoon. Within minutes he followed Mora to the infirmary with a single goring.

Flair: After dispatching Nazare's beast, Fortes swings his cape as he fights his own bull

Ouch: But he was soon also stuck beneath the merciless charge of the bull he had intended to kill

Fortes's sword flies from his hand as the bull does its best to survive the mortal combat it has been forced into

The bullfighter is tossed into the air by a flick of the bull's neck, as both are stained red with blood

There was little the matador could do on the day to fight back against the half-tonne of pure muscle and rage he was matched up against

Not getting up: With no one left to fight the remaining bulls, there was no alternative than to cancel the rest of the corrida - the first time in 35 years that a bullfight has been stopped during the Fiesta de San Isidro

The one remaining matador, Jimenez Fortes, stepped into the ring and killed the animal, again swiftly and without flamboyance.

Then his own first bull sent him flying through the air, catching him on its horns three times.

After Fortes was taken to the infirmary the bull was enticed back into its stall alongside the pens of the other three who had also escaped their scheduled deaths in the afternoon.

With no one left to fight them, there was no alternative than to cancel the rest of the corrida.

It was the first time that had happened during San Isidro since 1979, and only the third time in the fiesta's history.

A real balancing act! The bizarre and fragile cargo of motorbikes

Dutch photographer Hans Kemp first visited Vietnam in 1991 and was immediately struck by the sheer amount of motorbikes on the road - the preferred transportation for locals.

'I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was an incessant stream of motorbikes on the road in front of me. There were entire families on a bike, guys in suits, girls dolled up,' Kemp recalled to Slate.

Kemp eventually moved to Ho Chi Minh city from Hong Kong in 1995, and in 2000 one of his commercial clients commissioned him to take pictures of the local motorbikes.

What started off as an assignment turned into a passion project and for two years Kemp spent his free time taking pictures of motorbikes across the country.

Wheels: Dutch photographer Hans Kemp spent two years on the roads of Vietnam, photographing motorbikes for his book 'Bikes of Burden'

Beginnings: Kemp started the project in 2000, when he was hired to photograph motorbikes for a client. But the project became so much more

No wasted space: Kemp first visited Vietnam in 1991, when he was living in Hong Kong. He was immediately struck by the locals unique way of transport

To capture the bikes in motion, Kemp would ride in the back of a Honda Super Cub to scout for bikes with interesting loands.

Once something caught his eye, he would have the driver pull a U-turn and then photograph the bikes parallel, from high-speed.

In 2005, Kemp published Bikes of Burden, which quickly became a popular photography book and he recently visited Vietnam again to take more pictures for a revised version.

'Seeing this unique species alive and kicking and swirling through Vietnam’s traffic, still vigorous and proud after so many years made me realize that they could very well be there to stay,' he said. 

Looking: To capture the images, Kemp would go out scouting on the back of a Honda Super Cub

Race: When he would spot a particularly interesting bike, he would have the driver turn around and then capture the bike from high-speed while driving parallel

Bestseller: Kemp originally published Bikes of Burden in 2005, and it quickly became a popular photography book

Updated: Kemp recently revisited Vietnam to take new pictures for a revised edition of Bikes of Burden

Alive and well: Revisiting the country, and seeing how many people still use motorbikes gave Kemp hope that this mode of transportation will last

The day's catch: A curious fish is stashed on the back of this motorbike

Concentration: A woman balances purchases as she sits on the back of her motorbike