Gopher finds home near Soyuz rocket launch pad in Kazakhstan

Video of a gopher living under the rocket launch pad at Baikonur has become an internet sensation.

A video of a gopher living under the rocket launch pad at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has become an internet sensation in the former Soviet Union.

The footage was shot by TSENKI Baikonur - a department of Russian official space agency responsible for Baikonur launches.

The YouTube clip, called "He lives at Baikonur cosmodrome", has been watched by more than 140,000 people to date.

A trio of Russian, Japanese and US astronauts blasted off from Baikonur aboard a Soyuz spaceship for a four-month mission on the International Space Station only last Sunday.

People at Times Square watch the phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge where twice a year the setting sun aligns with the streets of ManhattanPicture: Martin Roe / Barcroft Media

This image of the sun provided by NASA'a Solar and Heliospheric Observatory shows gigantic sunspot AR 1520. One of the biggest sunspots in years, AR1520, is turning toward Earth. Forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-flares and a 25% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours.Picture: NASA/SOHOHO/AFP/GettyImages

Bizarre plans to transform the The Gherkin into The Penguin could see a giant Humboldt penguin towering over Londoners this summer. Bosses at ZSL London Zoo commissioned a production team to draw up a dramatic redesign of the landmark to remind visitors to the capital not to miss the zoo's Penguin Beach in 2012.Picture: Construction Photography

Traffic fence in China collapses like row of dominoes

China's state broadcaster has released surveillance video showing a fence dividing traffic in the city of Jinhua falling like a giant row of dominoes.

2:47PM BST 12 Jul 2012

The almost mile-long fence on Shuanglong Bridge tumbled over in just 30 seconds on Tuesday.

It was the second time in ten days that it had collapsed, according to the deputy head of Jinhua traffic police, Shao Zhichang.

"The main reason is the strong wind as the dividing fences are not fixed to the ground," Mr Shao said.

Police had to lift the fence back up section by section.

The municipal administration said it plans to install a new barrier with a wind-resistant design by the end of July. 

Cassie Bell, 13, cools off in a swimming pool in Blakely, Pennsylvania, USPicture: The Scranton Times-Tribune, Butch Comegys/AP

Homeless couple hand in £6,500 found in rubbish bag

A homeless Brazilian couple who live under the bridges of Sao Paulo found a rubbish bag filled with 20,000 reals (£6,500) on a sidewalk on Monday – and promptly turned it into the police. 

Officials said the pair were out for a dawn stroll when they heard an alarm.

They walked closer to see what was going on and stumbled on a briefcase and a rubbish bag full of money. The pair alerted a nearby security guard, asking him to call the police.

"When we arrived, the couple gave us the money. It might be the money stolen last week from a Japanese restaurant," said Bruno dos Santos, a Brazilian military police spokesman.

The homeless pair "had the opportunity to flee with the money, but they called a security guard and asked him to call the military police. What they did is commendable," the spokesman said.

Jesus Silva Santos, the man who found the money, told the press that he earned a little more than £5 a day from recycling rubbish.

"My mother taught me never to steal," he said.
Source: agencies