New Zealand has no native land mammals, apart from a few bats. 

In the RTE television series Charlie, the former Taoiseach is seen at dinner with his friend, French president Francois Mitterand. They are tucking into a dish of ortolan buntings.

The ancient ritual of ‘swan upping’ commences at Sunbury Lock on the River Thames at nine o’clock this morning, writes Richard Collins. 

ON FEBRUARY 15 last year, a woman walking along a beach in the Scilly Isles spotted a large whale close to shore. 

IN 1957 Theodor Verhoeven, a Dutch Catholic priest who was also an archaeologist, found ancient stone tools on the Indonesian island of Flores. 

The Toronto news-media is enjoying itself; two capybaras, which escaped from the local zoo, have become celebrities.