A red squirrel has been hailed as a supermum after giving birth to her 48th kitten in seven years.
Named Tortoiseshell, she has proved to be one of the UK’s most successful breeding red squirrels, regularly producing litters since 2008.
Along with her former partner Tweedledum, she was one half of one of the most successful breeding pairs at Pensthorpe Conservation Trust in Norfolk. When Tweedledum died in 2012 there had been fears she would never breed again, but her later match, Bryn, proved to be the perfect partner, with their latest litter producing three new kittens – two male and one female.
Hundreds challenge job claim
Hundreds of British workers have come forward to challenge Nigel Farage’s claim that only his German wife is capable of doing the job of being his assistant, an employment agency has said.
The Ukip leader was forced to defend the decision to employ his non-UK spouse at the same time as launching a poster campaign warning that unemployed Europeans were “after” people’s jobs in this country.
He told the BBC that “nobody else could do that job”, earning “a very modest salary for working extremely unsociable hours for me and being available up to seven days a week”. But a fake advert for a similar role placed by the agency on its website attracted 764 applications in just 12 hours – 649 of them from UK nationals.
Google updates its Street View
Internet giant Google has updated its Street View feature so users can now travel back through time and see how places have changed since the mapping service launched in 2007.
Users will be able to click on a new clock icon in the corner of the screen when using Street View, which enables anyone to explore roads and areas almost anywhere in the world.
Clicking this new icon will then allow users to move a scrollbar, changing the year and even season of the area or building they are currently looking at to see how it has changed over time.
Potato instead of gun in hold-up
A man used a potato to pretend he had a gun while trying to rob a business in Rhode Island.
The would-be thief reportedly entered a convenience store with a potato and shouted: “Give me the money.” A police report said the store manager chased him off with a baseball bat.
Police said officers later went to a laundromat where an employee told them a man fitting the description came in carrying a potato and yelled: “I need the money.” A staff member gave him a $20 bill from a decoy till and he left.
Gilded box contained Royal bones
Researchers from Uppsala University have opened a small gilded box containing the skull and bones of Swedish King Erik IX, who became a national saint after he was murdered in 1160.
The researchers also removed the king’s burial crown, which is the oldest known royal crown in Sweden, to display it to the public for the first time. Knowledge about King Erik IX is sparse and Uppsala University said it hopes DNA tests and X-ray scans can reveal more about his origins. Some sources suggest his father may have been English.
According to legend, the king was beheaded and miracles occurred after his death. Uppsala Cathedral was later built on the murder site to house his remains.