World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has said he would consider assisted suicide if he was “in great pain” or felt he “had nothing more to contribute”.

MORE than a dozen swimmers from Australia and England have fallen ill at the Commonwealth Games in the latest setback for trouble-plagued organisers in New Delhi.

Two more Australian athletes withdrew today and a South African competitor reportedly found a snake in his room as complaints over cleanliness, security and construction continued to dog the troubled Commonwealth Games a week before the sporting event opens in New Delhi.

Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper insists his organisation should not shoulder the blame for the problems which have plagued the build-up to the event in Delhi.

The head of the Commonwealth Games rushed to New Delhi for emergency talks today as a ceiling collapsed in one of the venues.