“The Ainu (アイヌ?), also called Aynu, Aino (アイノ), and in historical texts Ezo (蝦夷), are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. Most of those who identify themselves as Ainu still live in this same region, though the exact number of living Ainu is unknown. This is due to ethnic issues in Japan resulting in those with Ainu backgrounds hiding their identities and confusion over mixed heritages. In Japan, because of intermarriage over many years with Japanese, the concept of a 'pure Ainu' ethnic group is no longer feasible. Official estimates of the population are of around 25,000, while the unofficial number is upwards of 200,000 people”. – Wkipedia

Photo: A captive bear drinking from a large bottle held by an Ainu tribeswoman. (Photo by Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1955

This adorable and unlikely pair of best friends are inseperable. Kitty the kitten was abandoned and Buttons the Jack Russell was rejected by his mum. They eat, sleep and play together while they are being hand reared at our centre in Old Windsor, Berkshire. We would love for them to find a new home together when they are ready to leave our care in the near future.

The World’s Smallest Horse according to Guinness World Records is Thumbelina from Missouri, but another tiny horse named Einstein.

Girls talk outside the Niavaran Palace in northern Tehran, capital of Iran, March 26, 2024. People visited the Niavaran Palace during the new year vacation of Nowruz, which falls on March 20 this year. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny Cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. The launch of the first rocket from Russia's new space facility has been delayed after a last-minute problem. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)