A two-hour BBC show featuring nothing more than a journey down a canal has proved an unlikely hit with viewers.

All Aboard! The Canal Trip was filmed in real time and contained no commentary, music or presenter and nothing more exciting than passing boats, changing scenery and the occasional passer-by in the distance walking along the towpath.

But half a million viewers were mesmerised by the experiment in slow TV – filmed with a camera strapped to the front of the barge – down one of Britain’s historic waterways, the Kennet and Avon Canal.

A golden eagle is lost and found

A golden eagle that sparked a police hunt after escaping from its home has been found.

Suffolk Police launched the search after a member of the public reported the bird of prey was missing from its home in Stratford St Mary.

But the force later confirmed the six-year-old eagle had been found safe and well about half a mile from its home. A spokesman said: “He’s now safely back on his perch.”

No selfies at UK’s polling stations

David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg are not shy when it comes to selfies, but Britons were warned not to reach for their camera phones when they enter polling booths to cast their votes.

The Electoral Commission advises voters against photography inside polling stations so that they can avoid inadvertently breaching laws on the secrecy of ballots.

Although there is nothing to stop someone taking a picture of their own ballot paper, it is an offence to communicate or publicise this information to anyone else.

Thief caned by US army veteran

A 95-year-old Second World War veteran used his cane to fight off a would-be thief.

Arthur Kamberis was leaving a pharmacy in Manchester, New Hampshire, when a man approached and reached for his wallet in his pocket.

Kamberis started to fight him off and hit him several times with his cane. A passer-by helped Kamberis, and the attacker fled. The pensioner was not injured.

Maduro mangoed in new game

Two Venezuelans who emigrated to escape the country’s economic woes are drawing laughs with a mobile game mocking President Nicolas Maduro for his decision to give a new home to a woman who threw a mango at him as she pleaded for housing.

The goal of Maduro Mango Attack is to accumulate points by throwing tropical fruit at the socialist leader as he scurries across the screen to a techno beat interspersed with calls by a prominent opposition leader to unleash their fury.

Players are also rewarded for hitting the late president Hugo Chavez, who is incarnated by a small bird in a red beret – an allusion to Maduro’s remarks on the campaign trail that Chavez had visited him in fluttering form.

Prank backfires at high school

An incident intended as a prank left a school littered with hay, rubbish, urine and dead animals as pupils apparently took things too far.

Director of schools in Monroe County, east Tennessee, Tim Blankenship said the incident at Sequoyah High School amounted to mass vandalism and the students involved will now not be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony.

In addition, he suspended the school’s principal and a school resource officer was fired after being accused of lying about his involvement.