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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Kate Rice

Good News: The best upbeat stories of the week to lift your mood, from Eddie Murphy to the world’s oldest dog

It’s that time of week again, folks. From old dogs to giant hats here’s your digest of the happy news stories you might have missed.

A golden oldie

Party poppers at the ready, let’s all congratulate the adorable Bobi for becoming the oldest dog ever at the age of 30 years and 268 days.

He was born on a family-run farm in Portugal on May 11, 1992 and has lived with the same family his whole life.

And even better – the owners have dropped their tips and tricks to keep Bobi going, so pen and paper at the ready! They said he stays in a “calm, peaceful environment, surrounded by nature”.

He also apparently drinks plenty of water, sleeps well at night, and mostly eats the same food as his owners. Sounds like a more solid routine than mine.

Read all about Bobi and his family here

A Big Knit for a Big Hat

Hold on to your hats, everyone (sorry). The Goliath of all knitted headwear has arrived. The largest knitted hat in the UK has been made to raise funds for Age UK, and it’s a whopper.

Coming in at 23 feet tall and 20 feet wide, the bobble hat weighs a massive 817 kilos and is made up of 545 knitted squares.

People watch as workers place a giant bobble on top of a 23ft high bobble hat (Dominic Lipinski/PA) (PA Wire)

This comes as a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Big Knit, where people knit mini hats for the tops of Innocent smoothie bottles to help Age UK provide support for older people.

Click here to read more about the Big Knit

Call me porcupette, porcupine is my father

Two new prickly pals have arrived at London Zoo – say hello to Hector and Hinata.

(ZSL London Zoo)

“All the porcupines in the family have names starting with the letter ‘H’” said Zookeeper Veronica Heldt, “So Hector and Hinata join parents Hettie and Henning, nine-month-old Hershey and five-month-old Henry.”

The Cape ‘porcupettes’ currently weigh in at 660g and 750g each, and are said to be “developing really well”.

Read all about Hector and Hinata here

Could Donkey be back?

If you think a Puss in Boots spin off was exciting enough, you don’t know what’s coming.

The one and only Donkey from the 2001 masterpiece Shrek could be returning to the silver screen – or at least if Eddie Murphy can do anything about it.

(ES Coomposite)

After the success of Donkey’s feline friend in the Puss in Boots sequel, Murphy thought it best to throw his hat in the ring for his own spin off movie.

Now all we have to do is (impatiently) wait for Dreamworks to resurrect the iconic character.

Read more about Murphy’s response here

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