A blind dog left virtually basket-bound by his condition has found freedom again thanks to his very own guide cat.
Eight-year-old Terfel was unable to navigate his way around his home after being diagnosed with severe cataracts.
But when owner Judy Godfrey-Brown let a stray cat, named Pwditat, into her north Wales home, the good-natured animal helped Terfel get back on his feet.
Retired civil servant Ms Godfrey-Brown, 57, said: “The cat immediately seemed to know that Terfel is blind through some sort of sixth sense that animals have. She uses her paws to help guide him around the house and in the garden.” (PA)
Suu Kyi sweater auctioned
A hand-knitted woollen sweater made by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has sold at an auction in Myanmar for almost $50,000 (€37,800).
A Myanmar -based radio station won a bidding war for the sweater during an auction held by Ms Suu Kyi’s opposition party. Ms Suu Kyi, 67, has not yet commented on the sale of the sweater - a red, green and blue V-neck - or explained its background. The auction was part of a fundraising concert organised by the National League for Democracy party for education of poor children in the impoverished country.
Ms Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner, has become Myanmar’s biggest celebrity as the country transitions from a half-century of military rule.
Soviet Union’s spy planes
The Soviet Union used civil airliners to carry out secret Cold War spying missions over Britain, according to newly published Government files.
Some aircraft would switch off their transponders, alerting air traffic controllers to their position before veering off their approved flight paths to carry out aerial intelligence-gathering missions over sensitive targets, papers released by the National Archives under the 30-year rule show.
In a memorandum marked SECRET UK US EYES ONLY, defence secretary John Nott informed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in December 1981 that the RAF was monitoring the hundreds of monthly flights through UK airspace by Warsaw Pact airliners.
Male, female breadwinners
Men should no longer be regarded as a family’s main breadwinner after a new study showed women make up at least half of workers in most parts of Britain, said a leading union.
The GMB said its research revealed that equal pay now directly impacted on the economic prosperity of regions, as well as being an issue of fairness.
The union’s report showed that in 210 out of 374 local authority areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, women made up at least half of all employees.
Northern Ireland had the highest proportion of women workers at 52 per cent, followed by Wales, the North West and the North East, all with just over half.