The Daily: 5 September

After working on BBC Radio 4 for 74 years between them, presenters Charlotte Green and Harriet Cass are set to retire. The much-loved team have worked with the BBC since the 1970's, and plan to leave in the New Year. The decision comes as the BBC states its plans to cull their announcing team from 12 to 10, and the pair have subsequently chosen to take voluntary redundancy. Cass, who joined in 1972, initially began working in political news, whilst Green joined in 1978 as a studio manager. The pair have become a treasured part of their BBC Radio 4 team, and have been hailed for their clear speech and familiar, melodic voices. They have said that they will miss presenting live radio, but that they are excited to undertake new projects in the future.

Victorian remedies shown to be anything but healthy

A series of Victorian posters have revealed the unorthodox ingredients used in 19th century remedies. The vintage advertisements boast cures to common-place diseases as well as terminal illnesses, and expose the sometimes lethal concoctions of ingredients claimed to restore health. One poster displays a carefree woman drinking a popular French wine, which was said to refresh, fortify and restore vitality, but actually contained sources of cocaine; a drug also used as an immediate antidote to toothache. Several other posters advertise popular cough-killing syrups, often targeted at young children, which claimed to cure diseases ranging from asthma to pneumonia, but were later discovered to contain high doses of morphine. The advertisements also include a 'pure and scientific' brand of cigars, a cocoa butter claiming to treat female diseases, and even a battery which supplied the patient with a constant low-electric current.

An extremely rare Vietnamese turtle is hatched in Britain

The British Zoo Gardens has become home to one of the world's rarest species of turtles, after a Vietnamese box turtle hatched there for the first time. The turtle has been named Vernon, and at seven weeks old is no bigger than a matchbox, weighing in at just 28g and approximately 5cm long. He lives in a bespoke Asian turtle breeding room with 10 other box turtles, and is said to have a secretive nature. His tank is a boggy mass of leaves and soil, which has been designed to replicate his natural habitat, and is currently being hand-fed a diet of chopped worms. Vietnamese box turtles have been listed as critically endangered and are notoriously difficult to breed. As little is currently known about the species, the zoo aspires to learn as much as they can from their new addition, in hopes of preserving the species in the future.

American man finds unprecedented success on carnival games

Peter Drakos from Detroit, Michigan, has found fame after becoming an expert in winning carnival games. Drakos began playing amusement games at the age of 9, and now aged 64, he has amassed an impressive collection of approximately 250,000 toys in prizes. He has become so successful on traditional funfair games such as the bottle throw, ring toss and basketball hoops, that amusement parks have begun to introduce limits on the number of toys that can be won by a customer. As a child, he won so many stuffed toys at his local fair that he was able to give one to each pupil at his school. Now, he shares his success by giving the toys he wins to over 50 charities, and has even had to hire storage facilities in the past to house his extensive collection of prizes.

Paralympics round-up

Last night, British athlete David Weir won his second gold medal for his victory in the T54 1,500 metres, just two days after his triumph in the 5,000 metre final. His success continues this morning, when he won his 800 metre heat, sustaining the possibility of a gold medal sweep if his triumph extends to the marathon on Sunday. Sophie Christiansen became the first British Paralympian to collect three gold medals in this year's games, for her success in Grade 1a Dressage. Cyclist Jon-Allan Butterworth was impeded by an unfortunate accident with a tandem during training, landing him in 13th position in yesterday's C5 time trial, having already collected two silver medals for his success on the indoor track. The British team have currently accumulated an impressive 23 gold, 31 silver and 26 bronze medals for their efforts, placing them in second position in the overall medal standing.