【推荐1】“The world’s loneliest elephant” Kaavan, has reached Cambodia—on a flight of over 4,000km from Pakistan—and will spend his days at the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary in the country’s northwest.

Animal experts began the task of airlifting Kaavan on November 29. His departure from Pakistan marks the end of a campaign led by local activists and American singer and actress Cher, who has been campaigning for the elephant’s freedom since 2016. She is the co-founder of the NGO Free The Wild, which has played an important role in Kaavan’s relocation. Earlier in October, a veterinarian(兽医) from Four Paws, Dr Amir Khalil, took the responsibility of moving Kaavan, whose rescue has been described as “the heaviest one” the organisation has undertaken. Cher tweeted to thank Pakistan’s prime minister for making the rescue possible.

A special crate(板条箱) was especially built for the elephant, who weighs more than five tons and is more than three metres high. Kaavan was also trained by an elephant expert for several weeks to make sure that he could enter the crate safely. On the journey, Kaavan was accompanied by wildlife veterinarians and over 200kg of food. Kaavan is also Pakistan’s last Asian elephant and with his departure, the zoo where he was housed for over three decades may close soon, because many animals have been reported missing or dead in recent years. The zoo has repeatedly made headlines for its increasingly awful conditions.

According to the animal welfare organisation Four Paws, Kaavan came to the Pakistan zoo 35 years ago and shared his room with Saheli. After his “only companion” Saheli died in 2012, Kaavan was reported to be listless and even started showing signs of mental illness.

Luckily, Kaavan has found his relocation. Cambodian deputy environment minister Neth Pheaktra said, “Our zoo is pleased to welcome Kaavan. No longer will he be the world’s loneliest elephant. We expect to breed Kaavan with local elephants. This is an effort to save the gene.”

【推荐2】Shop prices in the United Kingdom accelerated at their fastest rate in more than 10 years last month, according to a closely watched measure. The British Retail (零售) Consortium, or BRC and NielsenIQ Index showed retail price annual inflation (通货膨胀) rose sharply to 1.8 percent in February, up from 1.5 percent in January. This is the highest rate recorded by the indicator since November 2011, the BRC said in a news release.

Fresh food price rises as well as health, beauty, and furniture prices contributed to the inflationary increase, said the BRC. Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief executive, said retailers were also being impacted by higher shipping rates, as well as labor shortages, commodity price increases and rising energy prices. “Food inflation remained the key driver behind higher prices, particularly for fresh food, which has been impacted by poor harvests, both in the UK and globally,” Dickinson said. “There is little sign of change, with the Bank of England predicting price rises to continue until at least the spring.”

The rise in shop prices adds to the cost of living pressure faced by British households already ready for a major increase in energy bills next month. Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at research company NielsenIQ, said retail prices would likely continue to rise throughout the next few months.

“Inflation has increased since the start of the year and the potential trend in shop prices will be upwards over the next few months,” he said. “With falling income for most households, retailers will need to keep encouraging customers to spend by offering choice and value and, for some, discounts as well as added benefits for loyal shoppers.” Dickinson added, “Price rises will be unwelcome news for households who already face falling income because of the rise in national insurance and energy price caps.”

The Bank of England is trying to deal with inflation with higher interest rates, and is predicted to raise borrowing costs for the third time in a row this month, noted the BBC. In a response to a Treasury committee report into last year’s budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday that Britain’s economy and public finances were “vulnerable (易受伤害的)” to higher inflation and interest rates.

【推荐2】A hero schoolgirl who saved people trapped in a burning apartment raised the alarm after being inspired by a TV show about the emergency services.

l4-year-old Lily Swanson is obsessed (着迷的) with the Disney⁺ show 9-1-1, so when she noticed a strong burning smell she immediately stopped to investigate. She had been on a walk with her dog near her home in Leyland, but decided to try and find the source of the smell. The quick-thinking teenager looked around and finally spotted black smoke billowing out of an apartment window on Hough Lane. Lily ran home to wake her dad Mike Swanson and rang 911. Mike grabbed his ladders and ran to the scene to help those trapped inside before the building was engulfed (吞没) in flames.

“We opened the ladders and leaned them against the building and there were two or three people trying to climb out. They were desperate.”

Thankfully, everyone was evacuated quickly after emergency services arrived at the scene just minutes later. Lily added, “And soon the fire brigade showed up very quickly and took over.”

Mike said, “She’s been obsessed with this TV program on Disney⁺. It’s about emergency services in America that deal with things like this. Then this happened practically on our doorstep and she handled it brilliantly.

Leyland fire station manager Jonny Nottingham, who was the incident commander on the night of the fire, praised Lily for her quick and calm response. Mr Nottingham said, “We’d like to thank Lily for calling us so quickly after spotting the fire in the apartment. We have seen in the past that people can have lots of different reactions to seeing a fire but Lily showed maturity and calmness beyond her years to quickly and effectively notify us.”