Suu Kyi gets a new companion

There have been many adjustments for Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to make since she was released from house arrest.

She has been able to hold meetings with colleagues, speak to foreign diplomats and oversee renovations to her party's crumbling offices.

Now she is also getting used to being a pet owner. Kim Aris, the younger of Ms Suu Kyi's two sons, bought her a small brown puppy before he left Burma after a two-week visit to see his mother for the first time in a decade. He told reporters it was "May May's pet", using the Burmese word for mother.

One of Ms Suu Kyi's lawyers, Kyi Win, said he had been at her lakeside house in Rangoon when he had seen the new pet. "It's a nice little dog," he said.