News Headlines - 10 October 2013

▽Which lawmakers will refuse their pay during the shutdown?

As of Thursday -- eight days after we started asking -- at least 248 lawmakers have said that they plan to donate, refuse or hold in escrow compensation earned over the course of the impasse. (The count includes a few members who already donate their salary to charity).

▽Queen pays staff an average ￡44,724, report shows - Telegraph

In 2012-13 the Royal Household employed 436 staff, with a total wage bill of ￡19.5m, making the average salary ￡44,724. Five years ago the average was ￡42,790. In contrast, the national average wage currently stands at ￡26,500.

▽Customers face paying four times more for 4G services in proposed price hikes - The Independent

Consumer groups are concerned that a proposed 400 per cent rise in the fee mobile networks are charged for offering 4G could be loaded onto their customers. Ofcom has published a consultation that could see the fees paid by mobile network providers quadruple for the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrums that are used for voice calls, 3G and some 4G services.

▽Iran arrests 'network of homosexuals and satanists' at birthday party | theguardian.com

Iran's revolutionary guards have announced the arrest of "a network of homosexuals and satanists" in the western city of Kermanshah, close to the country's border with Iraq, prompting fresh alarm over the treatment of gay people in the Islamic republic.

▽Is Snoopybabe the cutest cat on the internet? | Mail Online

The internet's favourite felines have a new challenger to the title of cutest cat. Snoopy, an exotic short-hair cat, is already a huge hit in his native China and this year has taken the rest of the world by storm. He already has more than 275,000 followers on Weibo - China's version of Twitter - and a further 190,000 on Instagram.