This is the coolest world map, ever

Map of what each country leads in the world in. Picture: Doghouse Diaries Source: Supplied

DID you know that Australia has the most deadly animals, deadly shark attacks and highest rate of melanoma in the world?

Gotta be proud of that, right?! Umm ...

A new world map created by comic website Doghouse Diaries highlights what each country around the world leads at. And the results are bound to raise a few eyebrows.

The map was based on articles from Wikipedia so may not be the most accurate, but it sure is amusing.

"Most countries lead the world in something," Doghouse Diaries artist Ray Yamartino said. "Sometimes good things, sometimes not so good things, and sometimes funny things. This map shows what each country does best compared to all other countries."

Here are some of the highlights:

Russia: Raspberries and nuclear warheads

Cameroon: Killer lakes

Mongolia: Velociraptor bones

US: Death by lawnmower

Mexico: Getting struck by lightning

South Africa: Ostriches

Finland: Coffee-drinking

Spain: Cocaine use

Canada: Maple syrup and asteroid impacts

New Zealand: Sheep and rugby

Malaysia: Caves

Greenland: Personal space

Ireland: Highest quality of life

Democratic Republic of Congo: Pygmy chimpanzees

Cambodia: Longest alphabet

India: Movies

South Pole: Emperor penguins

Sweden: Atheism

Japan: Robots

Click here for a full-sized version of the map.

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Man spends $200k visiting every country in world

A man has become the youngest traveller to visit every country. Picture: Thinkstock Source: ThinkStock

WHAT begins in Afghanistan and finishes in Zimbabwe?

The adventures of the youngest person to visit every country in the world.

The massive trip took 24-year-old UK traveller James Asquith five years and cost over $200,000.

But he didn't mind, he wasn't in a rush. After taking his first trip as a student in 2008, James gave himself until the age of 25 to complete the feat, the UK's Telegraph reported.

It was when he reached Egypt that he decided he wanted to visitall 196 countries in the world, including unstable nations.

He raised the funds for his trips by taking part-time jobs in bars and hostels along the way.

His timing wasn't always spot-on though.

"I loved the adrenalin that went with it - but I always seemed to pick the worst timing to visit a lot of the countries," James said.

"I went to Libya three weeks after Gaddafi fell, Afghanistan two weeks after the terrorist bombings in Mazar-i-Sharif, but generally I just found a local and tried to get an insight into each country.

"The longest I spent anywhere was six months in Africa. I travelled overland from Senegal to the Congo and then over back up through the east.

"There were lots of small countries and tricky border crossings, [and I was] putting trust in some people that drove me as much as three countries at a time."

And he hasn't finished yet. Next on the list is Tahiti, Easter Island and Antarctica. By the way, they're not technically countries.

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Travel the world, get $100,000

Tyson Myr is in the running for the 'world's best job'. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

TYSON Mayr is one excited traveller.

The Aussie has just made the top five shortlist for what may be the world's best job.

OK, we've heard it all before with Tourism Australia's 'dream job' campaign, which Brit Ben Southall won in 2009 and then took up the role of island caretaker in the Great Barrier Reef.

But this job sounds even better.

Why?

Because the winner will get to travel around the world, all-expenses paid. For a whole year.

That includes up to 50 destinations including Berlin, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Maldives and the Bahamas.

Oh, and don't forget the $100,000 salary he gets for blogging about his experiences!

The job is being offered by travel website Jauntaroo. More than 3000 people from 99 countries applied for the 'best job around the world'.

The other four travellers still in the running are Americans Regina Busse, Jon Carmichael, Annie Cheng and Cody Easterbrook.

Each will fly to an undisclosed destination for interviews. The winner will be announced in mid-November and the role will start in January next year.

"This was so much tougher than any of us expected," said Tom Wilson, Jauntaroo's Chief Commercial Officer. "We wanted to hire dozens of applicants - we liked them all so much but we only have one position to fill. It all came down to how engaging our team thought the candidates were, how they incorporated the Jauntaroo brand, and the creativity they showed in each video production."

Mayr, from Surfers Paradise in Queensland, now lives in Malibu. A model and author, he has written articles for various Australian magazines including Men's Health Australia on staying fit while travelling. He's been to over 50 countries already.

Tyson is already well-travelled. Picture: Supplied Source: NewsComAu

Here are some qualifications for the job:

• Partial to naps and massages on beaches

• Eager to capture local cultures, foods and activities

• Comfortable with travel to exotic destinations

• Able to capture content that makes us smile

• Ready to tweet, post and pin

• Able to endure long flights to exotic destinations

• Always ready for adventure

• Generosity of spirit

He’s from Surfers Paradise. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

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Weird food from around the world

Roasted guinea pig. Picture: Expedia Source: NewsComAu

WEIRD food? Yes please. Life is too short to just eat steak and chips ... said some. This Listopedia by Expedia has a few options from around the world - for culinary dare devils and the curious brave!

Prahok, Cambodia

Who said the fresher the fish, the better? This Khmer dish is rarer than hen's teeth if you can leave it to ferment for three years. While you wait, why not visit the amazing Angkor Wat? Cambodian Khmer. Picture: Expedia Source: NewsComAu

A beating snake's heart, Hanoi, Vietnam

It's said the French will eat anything, but even they turned their noses up at this one. Do you have what it takes? Image by Skynavin. Try a snake’s heart... if you dare: Picture: Skynavin Source: NewsComAu

Try a snake's heart... if you dare: Picture: Skynavin

The Véres Hungary

A dish with origins somewhere from around the 15th century and even then it was considered a dish not for the faint at heart. Originally prepared from blood drained from the pig's cut throat, the blood was then boiled until cooked and then minced like meat. Buyer beware!

Bloody Véres. Picture: Expedia Source: NewsComAu

Case Marzu, Sardinia, Italy

To achieve the right level of fermentation (close to decomposition), a species of translucent worms is added to help break down the fat level in this Italian cheese. Yummy. Worms and cheese... winning combination. Picture: Expedia Source: NewsComAu

Roast guinea pig, Peru/Bolivia/Columbia

Also known as cuy, this favourite pet of the west has been compared to rabbit and is high in protein and low in fat and cholesterol. Who'd have thought?

A good ol’ guinea pig roast. Yum! Picture: Philie Casablanca, Flickr Source: NewsComAu

Haggis, Lancashire, England/Scotland

The origins of this dish have always been up for debate. Who'd have known heart, liver and lungs would taste so good cooked in a stomach? The interesting Haggis doesn’t look so appealing. Picture: Expedia Source: NewsComAu

Hangi, New Zealand

Hungry? Let's eat … It could be a while. Not so much a food as a way of preparing, the Kiwis put food in the ground on hot rocks and let it slowly smoke for eight hours. New Zealanders traditionally cook in the ground sometimes. Picture: Expedia Source: NewsComAu

New Zealanders traditionally cook in the ground sometimes. Picture: Expedia

Escamoles, Mexico

The eggs from the giant black Liometopum ant have the consistency of cottage cheese. You might not even know you're eating them as they're usually disguised in a taco with guacamole. The black Liometopum’s eggs apparently taste like cheese. Picture: Expedia Source: NewsComAu

Beefsteak fungus, Outback Australia

An ancient Aboriginal food, as the name suggests this fungus looks similar to a slab of raw meat. Meat-like looking beefsteak fungus. Picture: Expedia Source: NewsComAu

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Mega show World bill unveiled for Summerfest Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, organiser of SummerFest Abu Dhabi, the emirate’s seasonal destination extravaganza, has unveiled an action-packed line-up of 98 shows over 47 days during its flagship Show World family activation at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).

Free-to-attend for all SummerFest Abu Dhabi general ticket holders, Show World - one of the core attractions at the festival’s ADNEC hub - will feature seven blockbuster acts performing twice-daily shows during week-long runs. Show World will be open throughout the 52-day festival, which runs 27th June – 17th August and spans the Holy Month of Ramadan, Eid Al Fitr and the emirate’s traditional EidFest celebrations.

Designed to entice, engage and excite, the Show World bill kicks off with two consecutive regional premieres of 90-minute live action shows which will appeal to local and expatriate kids alike. Raising the Show World curtain is Cartoon Network’s LAZY TOWN LIVE ON STAGE - ROBOTICUS show, which get kids up and active throughout its June 27th– July 3rd run, with daily performances at 16:30 and 19:30.

Show World’s second week sees much-loved BANANAS IN PYJAMAS duo, B1 and B2, take-over for their side-splitting Banana-rific production from July 4-8th - again performing in daily shows at 16:30 and 19:30. For the final July 9th performances, to coincide with the start of Ramadan, timings change to 21:00 and 23:30.

The evening performances continue into week three as Sesame Street’s IFTAH YA SIMSIM LIVE: TREASURE HUNT - featuring loveable Muppet favourites, Bader, Anees, Elmo, Khokha, Ka’aki and Gharghour also known as Bert, Ernie, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover – embark on a mega dance and musical show from July 10-13th and 15-19th.

Week four sees the major characters from four hit Cartoon Network shows - Ben 10 Omniverse, Ben 10, Ben 10 Alien Force and Ben 10 Ultimate Alien – perform the BEN 10 LIVE: TIME MACHINE in evening performance slots from July 20-21st and 23-27th.

Local sensation, FREEJ, closes out the final week of evening Ramadan shows from July 28th – 30th and August 1st – 4th. The all new locally-produced show features hilarious antics as hero character, Abood, goes on a fantasy adventure while looking after one of the grandmother’s pet canary – a bird that lives in a fish bowl. Meeting new friends and learning new lessons, ‘Abood’s Dream’ is a fun-filled, traditional family theatre experience with a local cultural twist.

From August 5th and 7th-12th, SCOOBY-DOO LIVE! MUSICAL MYSTERIES picks up the Show World mantle with big musical numbers - including the cartoon’s classic theme song, ‘Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?’ – as well as original tracks ‘Round Every Corner’ and ‘We’re Mystery Inc.’ The August  5th  shows keep the 21:00 and 23:30 Ramadan timings, before returning to the earlier slots of 16:30 and 19:30 from August 7-12th.

Rounding out the Show World line up, from August 14-17th, is BEN 10 ULTIMATE CHALLENGE – a live game show pitting the region’s biggest Ben 10 fans against each other in four rounds of intense competition. The made-for-TV special runs three-times-a-day at 16:00, 18:00 and 20:00.

“This Show World line-up will ensure ADNEC is the hottest and coolest place to be this summer,” said Sultan Al Muhairi, Manager, SummerFest Abu Dhabi. “With so many free-to-attend shows and such a varied line-up of international and homegrown stars, families will be spoilt for choice throughout the festival. We hope it will be a major draw for visitors from across the GCC and beyond,” said Sultan Al Muhairi, Manager, SummerFest Abu Dhabi.

In addition to the edutainment activities, world-class shows and exciting international performances at its ADNEC hub, the new-look SummerFest Abu Dhabi, formerly known as Summer in Abu Dhabi, also features an exciting line-up of Arabic concerts, comedy nights, theatre productions and celebrity-driven sport activations rolling out at du Forum on Yas Island – the first time Abu Dhabi’s entertainment district has got in on the emirate’s summer act.

Meanwhile, guests booking a minimum of three nights’ stay at any of 40 participating Abu Dhabi hotels during SummerFest Abu Dhabi, with the exception of Eid, will also get free entry tickets to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi theme park and the award-winning Yas Waterworld - recently named the Middle East’s leading attraction by the World Travel Awards. Hotel guests will also receive free WiFi and kids under 12 will eat free.

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