With their elongated snouts and hamster-like appearance, it is little wonder these critters at the UK’s Chester Zoo are turning heads.
The pair of African sengis are now on view after being born in the summer. Now three-months-old and fully grown, the duo – also known as elephant shrews – are the first of their kind to ever go on show to visitors at Chester.
The tiny creatures are not thought to be directly linked to their shrew cousins in other parts of the world and are more closely related to elephants, and are among very few mammals that naturally pair up for life.
Skeleton quandary for POWs
An event to discuss what should happen to the remains of Scottish prisoners of war who died after being captured by Oliver Cromwell’s troops nearly 400 years ago will be held on St Andrew’s Day.
Between 17 and 28 skeletons discovered in a mass grave close to Durham Cathedral in 2013 were found to be the bones of prisoners from the 1650 Battle of Dunbar, some 111 miles north.
They were naked and had been buried without ceremony, and when experts announced the results of their research in September, the possibility of repatriating the remains was raised.
Cycling scheme beats challenge
A “mini-Holland” pro-cycling scheme which has divided a community has survived a legal challenge at the High Court.
The £27 million project is aimed at improving safety and the environment in the London borough of Waltham Forest, including Walthamstow village, by encouraging more walking and cycling and reducing the volume of traffic in residential areas.
It is one of three mini-Holland schemes at various stages in the capital which aim to make the areas as cycle-friendly as their Dutch equivalents and are being funded by the Mayor of London.
Stolen US cow statue recovered
A brightly-coloured cow statue has been found after it was stolen from outside the Children’s Museum of Houston in Texas.
Museum officials said a Facebook tip led them to the missing cow, hidden in a drainage pipe at a construction site near the University of Houston. It was found several hours after workers discovered the statue was missing from the museum.
The Border Bovine sculpture features images of mountains, the Rio Grande, a longhorn’s skull and cactus. The piece was bolted down next to another cow statue that was not taken.
Comic mayor wins another term
Veteran stand-up comedian Drew Hastings has won a second four-year term as mayor in the Ohio city of Hillsboro.
The 61-year-old Republican has appeared on Comedy Central and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The Times-Gazette newspaper endorsed him, praising initiatives to improve the city’s financial footing, hire more police officers, and spruce up its appearance.
Mr Hastings told voters they might not be able to change Washington DC, “but we can darn sure solve our problems here in our own front yard”. He lives on a farm, which he talks about on a comedy CD, Farmageddon.
Perpetual prayer for 137 years
Flooding, snowstorms, a flu outbreak and even a fire have failed to halt a group of Wisconsin nuns, who say their order has been praying non-stop for hundreds of thousands of people over the last 137 years.
The La Crosse-based Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration claim to have been praying night and day for the ill and the suffering longer than anyone in the United States - since 11am on August 1 1878.
The tradition of perpetual Eucharistic adoration – uninterrupted praying before what is believed to be the body of Christ – dates to 1226 in France, according to Sister Marlene Weisenbeck. In La Crosse, the nuns estimate they have prayed for hundreds of thousands of people, including 150,000 in the last decade.