The Port of Los Angeles has welcomed an unusual visitor – the world’s biggest bath toy.
An 18-metre-tall rubber duck sailed into port to kick off the Tall Ships Festival LA. It will remain in the harbour until Sunday.
Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman launched the duck in 2007 and versions of it have been seen around the world in places including China, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
No fly zoo-ne to help breeding
Pilots are being asked to avoid flying over Edinburgh Zoo so as not to disturb animals during their breeding season, including giant panda Tian Tian.
A Notice To Airmen, or NoTam, has been published by the Civil Aviation Authority asking pilots not to fly in the area if possible to reduce noise from low-flying planes and helicopters.
NoTams are usually issued to alert aircraft pilots to potential hazards along a flight route such as cranes, closed runways or large public events. The zoo said the notice was put in place mainly to protect its breeding penguins but the likely pregnancy of Tian Tian was also a factor.
Still winging it at 94 years old
The world’s oldest wing walker is preparing for his 33rd performance and has vowed to keep going until he “kicks the bucket”.
At 94, and having suffered a minor stroke, Tom Lackey is showing no signs of taking life easy as he prepares to step atop the wings of a bi-plane at the Bournemouth Air Festival on August 28. Mr Lackey did his first successful wing walk over a decade ago, raising money for charity following the death of his wife. He has since raised more than £1 million for various causes including Cancer Research UK.
Home front for two schoolboys
As landscaping projects go, it is an unusual one – but for two schoolboys a First World War trench is the perfect addition to their back garden.
Brothers Ethan and Reuben Harvey have constructed a miniature battlefield – complete with a look-out tower, fake tank traps and a sentry box – to commemorate the centenary of the war.
The boys dress up in period costume as they re-enact going over the top into No Man’s Land at the bottom of the garden.
Out of the woods, back to society
A US man who lived nearly three decades in the woods now has a job and is adjusting to life back in society. Christopher Knight survived brutal winters in the far northern state of Maine woods by stealing food from homes and camps.
After serving about seven months in jail, Knight, known as the North Pond Hermit, was admitted last autumn into a special court programme, whose participants receive treatment and counselling.
While in jail, Knight told GQ magazine that he did not like the society he was being forced to re-enter. “I don’t think I’m going to fit in,” he said in the story, which will appear in the magazine’s September issue. “It’s too loud. Too colourful. The lack of aesthetics. The crudeness. The inanities. The trivia.” He never fully explained why he disappeared into the woods, telling GQ that he did not have a reason and that it was a mystery to him too.
Soap drama as main cast is fired
The producers of a popular South African television soap opera fired the main cast this week after the actors went on strike for more pay.
Sixteen members of the cast of Generations walked off the set last week, saying they were living as “struggling actors” while the production house and state broadcaster SABC rake in big profits from the show.
Generations was first broadcast in 1993, and South Africa held its first all-race elections after white minority rule a year later. The show uses an advertising industry backdrop with characters from the black South African middle class. Intrigue, romance and ambition spice up the plot lines. SABC said Generations will continue.