Dog owners can officially treat their pets like royalty with snacks designed by King Charles. These royal snacks, priced at £5, are part of the Balmoral Pet Collection and are made from wholemeal flour, egg and chicken stock. In addition, King Charles reportedly plans to introduce a line of tweed jackets for dogs. The monarch acquired a Lagotto Romagnolo puppy named Snuff earlier this year, which is his first dog in nearly two decades.
Daily Mirror (Amanda Welles)
A little birdie told me…
A talking parrot has helped bring down a major drugs operation after a gang member taught the pet how to say phrases used by dealers. Gang ringleader Adam Garnett, 35, ran the enterprise from inside prison from 2023-24. A video on his girlfriend’s phone revealed her laughing as she taught the bird, called Mango, to say “Two for 25”. Videos also showed the bird playing with money gained through the gang’s criminal activity.
BBC News (Catherine Dyer)
Knapping at lunch
A man discovered a prehistoric hand axe while he was “kicking his feet” on the ground during his tea break. Colin Cooley, 57, from Otley, Suffolk, who works as a dumper driver, was at the end of his tea break when he noticed a piece of rock he believed looked like a hand axe. “All hell broke loose” when it was confirmed to be between 36,000 and 59,000 years old. Hadley Sharman, an archaeologist on the site, said it was a “blinder” of a find.
BBC News (Adam Robertson)
[See also: The millennial parent trap]
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This article appears in the 27 Aug 2025 issue of the New Statesman, The Gentle Parent Trap
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