One of the world’s biggest and smelliest flowers has finally blossomed at a zoo – treating visitors to the stench of rotting meat.

The Titan Arum was planted at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in Devon in 2003 and has been cared for by gardeners ever since. It has blossomed for the first time, displaying a bloom that measures almost three metres wide and three metres high.

The flower, which is green on the outside and bright red inside with ribbed sides and a frilled edge, is only expected to last for a day.

Giles Palmer, curator of plants and gardens at Paignton Zoo, said: “There are probably only 100 collections in the world where you can see this plant and it can go years between flowerings, so it’s not a common sight.”

Camping on the White House lawn

Fifty American Girl Scouts will get to pitch tents at the ultimate campsite next week – on the south lawn of the White House.

First Lady Michelle Obama is hosting Tuesday night’s Washington DC campout as part of her Let’s Move Outside initiative.

The youngsters will be able to earn Girls’ Choice Outdoor badges by doing rock climbing, tying knots, orienteering and pitching tents, among other activities. Later that night, astronaut Cady Coleman will lead them in a Nasa stargazing activity.

The girls are from councils in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Oklahoma and the District of Columbia.

Police recover lost ‘Holy Grail’

A relic believed by some to be the Holy Grail which was stolen from a home nearly a year ago has been recovered by police.

West Mercia Police said they had tracked down the Nanteos Cup and returned the wooden chalice to its rightful owners.

The cup is believed to have been stolen during a burglary in Weston-under-Penyard, near Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, in July last year.

A specialist team was set up by police to hunt down therelic and the story featured in an appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch programme.

Police said the cup had been handed to officers “on neutral ground” in a pre-arranged meeting.

‘Extremely tired’ kayaker rescued

Lifeboat crews rescued an “extremely tired” kayaker who had travelled from Ireland to Cornwall – spending 30 hours at sea.

The German kayaker alerted coastguards as he was suffering from fatigue and unsure how to reach Padstow Harbour. RNLI volunteers from Padstow were woken by their pagers and launched shortly after midnight to bring the man to dry land.

They towed the kayak, which was set up with an outrigger and sails, into Padstow, where the man’s support crew were waiting.

Two winning tickets in one day

A 75-year-old Iowa man scratched off two winning lottery tickets in one day.

One was worth $100,000 (€89,653) and the other $930 (€833.76).

Ken Broadwell bought both lucky scratchcards at the same convenience store, the Dubuque Telegraph Herald reported.

He said he intends to “buy my real estate up at the cemetery and a headstone” and that he is thinking about buying a new vehicle.