After rescuing stranded people in mountains and hilly terrain and guiding the blind, dogs are now being used in German schools to boost performance in the classroom. Despite a grainy, gray September morning, the mood is upbeat in a class in Karlsruhe in Germany: and that's largely because Paula, a six year-old Golden Retriever, is here. Some parents were skeptical at the start, said teacher Bettina Brecht who has been bringing her dog to the classroom the past five years. Dogs are being brought into schools since the end of the 1990s and there are about 120 institutions welcoming canines.

Balloons Of Korea

Amid growing military tensions between North Korea and South Korea, Seoul mobilised troops and police early on Thursday after a resident of Ansan, 22 miles south-west of the South Korean capital, reported that 40 to 50 flying objects resembling parachutes had fallen on a mountain the previous night. Upon inspection, the objects were identified as helium balloons released by children at a nearby school.
Tensions on the Korean peninsular have been high since the sinking of the South Korea's warship earlier this year. Seoul has said that the ship was torpedoed by North Korean vessels
Earlier this month, an explosion Yeonpyeong Island, near the sea border with North Korea, along with the discovery of a diving suit on the island's shoreline, also sparked an alert.
A joint military and police investigation found that the diving suit was abandoned by a fisherman and the explosion was not suspicious.