THE Daily Mail introduced us to Balthazar, a seven foot Great Dane which at 15st 6lbs could be Britain's heaviest dog.
Owner Vinnie Monte-Irvin, from Nottingham, said: “He is a big dog and we were told from when he was a lot smaller that he was always quite heavy for his age.
“We took him to the vets as he has a poorly leg and he needed to be weighed to see how much medication he can take. After he was weighed everyone at the surgery was gobsmacked.”
A charity has warned that some of the UK's rarest plants could be facing extinction.
The Guardian reports that action needs to be taken to look after the road verges that have become the final refuge for species such as fen ragwort and wood calamint.
Conservation charity Plantlife says that fen ragwort now only exists in one native spot near a burger van on the A142 in Cambridgeshire.
And continuing the environmental theme, Britons could face greater challenges to maintain their gardens according to a new report by the Royal Horticultural Society.
The Independent article says climate change could dramatically alter plants and lawns in British gardens.
Drier summers and more frequent, extreme winter weather may lead to flood-proof flowerbeds, exotic plants, and new pests and diseases.
The report concludes that climate change could mean gardens will need more mowing, weeding and pruning and some gardeners may turn to synthetic lawns as a shortage of summer rain makes it difficult to maintain real grass.
On display for the first time will be a collection of ancient Egyptian amulets acquired by Florence Nightingale in 1849 when she was on holiday in the Middle Eastern country.
An article in The Guardian says that they will be on show in the new Egyptian gallery in the British Museum.
Ashley Cooke, senior curator of antiquities, commented: “What she brought back is fascinating to us, but I think she expected to be offered ancient treasures and she was very disappointed with what was available,” he said.
“Ironically we are displaying some of the objects which she did rate and was very pleased at getting hold of – which have turned out, alas, to be fakes.”
Someone has forked out £150,000 for a fur coat worn by a stewardess on the Titanic who was saved from the doomed ship.
The Independent reports that Mabel Bennett threw on the heavy coat to protect herself from the cold before being rescued by a lifeboat as the liner went down after hitting an iceberg in 1912.
Mabel lived to 95, making her one of the longest living female Titanic crew members.
Other items of Titanic memorabilia sold by Wiltshire auctioneers Henry Aldridge, included a sepia photograph of the ship, believed to have been taken on April 9 1912, the day before it left Southampton for New York, which sold for £12,500 and a letter written aboard the ship by first-class passenger Alfons Simonius-Blumer, a Swiss colonel, to his sweetheart, which fetched £32,500.
Reference list:
The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk)
The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)