WRITTEN when he was only 11 years old, the earliest known letter penned by Beatle John Lennon is expected to go for more than £30,000 at an online auction which closes next month.

THE Daily Mail warns that hedgehogs may be dying out in the UK.

A survey for BBC Gardener's World revealed that 48 per cent of people have never spotted one in their garden, and only 11 per cent see them regularly.

TWO maternity hospital doctors in Bristol were called in to carry out Britain's first caesarean birth....of a gorilla.

The Daily Mirror reports that Professor David Cahill and Dr Aamna Ali performed the operation on 11 year old mother Kera, who was suffering from life-threatening pre-eclampsia.

A maths teacher, who describes maths as “quite addictive”, from Preston Manor School in Wembley, has reached the top 10 finalists for a global teaching prize. The final top 10 shortlist has been published, after entries were received from teachers in 148 countries.

The BBC says that Colin Hegarty is the only UK finalist, alongside teachers from the United States, Australia, India, Finland and Kenya.

The winner will receive a prize of £690,000 at an awards ceremony in March.

The Global Teacher Prize, set up by the Varkey Foundation, the charitable arm of the Gems international education firm, is aimed at “unearthing thousands of stories of heroes that have transformed young people's lives”.

Mr Hegarty said it was good to see a competition that “elevated the status of teachers”.

 THE Independent newspaper has paid tribute to a cat called Felix which has been rewarded for her years of mouse-catching services at a railway station by being 'promoted'.

Felix joined staff at Huddersfield station five years ago when she was nine weeks old and now she has been named Senior Pest Controller, receiving a high-vis jacket and a name badge.

HOW about this for a fantastic autograph collection...

According to the Daily Express, a routine auctioneer's valuation day at Ashbourne in Derbyshire revealed three autograph albums packed with the signatures of Hollywood superstars of years gone by.