Britain's oldest pet dies as tortoise that survived two world wars passes away aged 130 after being bitten on the leg by a rat

Thomas, born in 1882, bitten on leg by rat and wound became infected

Tortoise outlived five monarchs and survived both World Wars

Survived Blitz attack and was pulled from rubble of bomb-hit house in Essex

He survived the Blitz, five monarchs and both World Wars.

But Thomas, who was Britain's oldest resident, has died aged 130 - after being bitten by a rat.

He was born in 1882 and was pulled out of the rubble of a bomb-hit house in Essex in 1945.

The reptile had to be put down by owner June Le Gallez after being attacked by a rat in the back garden of her home in Guernsey.

Moscow holds talks with US ambassador over spy scandal

The US ambassador to Russia met foreign ministry officials in Moscow to discuss the case of a US diplomat accused of trying to recruit a Russian agent.

Michael McFaul was summoned after Russia said on Tuesday it had detained Ryan Fogle for "provocative actions".

Mr Fogle was declared "persona non grata" and told to leave the country.

The incident did not contribute to "strengthening mutual trust between Russia and the US", a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said.

However, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he did not bring the matter up with US Secretary of State John Kerry, when they met at a conference in Sweden on Tuesday.

"I decided that talking about it would be superfluous, since it is already made public and everyone already understands everything," he said in comments published on the foreign ministry's website.

Mumbai: How an MBA and his friend kidnapped, burnt cousin to death

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police has revealed shocking details of how an MBA hatched a plot to kidnap his 13-year-old cousin after losing money in an IPL bet and then got him hacked and burned to death by his friend when the police got to know of the case. "The 13-year-old was attacked on his head. He was taken in a car, which the police have recovered," Mumbai Police Additional Commissioner Krishna Prakash said.

Thirteen-year-old Aditya Ranka from South Mumbai was allegedly kidnapped by his cousin Himanshu and then brutally murdered by his friend. The cousin had reportedly lost Rs 10 lakh over betting on IPL matches.

He and a friend, Vijay Singhavi, then allegedly hatched the plot to kidnap the young boy and made a Rs 30 lakh ransom call. But when Aditya's family discovered Himanshu's hand in the kidnapping, the 13-year-old boy's wrist was slashed and he was later set ablaze in a secluded area in Panvel. 

"Since Friday, when Himanshu was in Rajasthan, the planning was on. They had Rs 10 lakh pending over the betting. They had decided that they would kidnap someone and seek ransom to pay for the betting loss. When the accused came to know that his uncle was expecting Rs 30 lakh, he decided to kidnap the 13-year-old," Prakash said.

"When he realised that the police was in action and the case is being taken up by crime branch, local police, they got nervous and then brought weapons and match box to kill Aditya," Prakash added.

Aditya's father came to know of Himanshu's involvement after he saw Aditya's slippers in his car, the police said. "The complainant was called in at the police station when we did not get any update on the boy. The complainant came in the same car that was used in the crime. One of the slippers of the boy was found in the car," Prakash said.

Both the accused were arrested by the police and have confessed to the crime. "The accused later revealed the details of the crime based on which Himanshu and his friend were arrested. Himanshu took the child out of the house. The calls at home were made by Vijay, the friend, and later on carried the crime. The two MBA graduates gave shape to the crime," Prakash added.