Are you an April Fool? Read the selection of stories from around the world today and see if you can work out which are true and which are spoofs.

1. The BBC will today broadcast the first ever footage of flying penguins. Until this unique colony was discovered while filming on King George Island, 750 miles south of the Falklands, it was thought that the birds were entirely flightless.

2. A study published in the journal Australasian Psychiatry has lit a fire under the debate between Australia’s two biggest cities. A neuropsychiatrist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital carried out a series of brain scans on Sydneysiders and Melburnians.

The results revealed that the brains of Sydney’s inhabitants had suffered significant shrinkage, a well-known stress symptom. It is thought the rapidly rising house-prices in Sydney have contributed to their brains getting smaller.

3. Budget airline Flybe has blown Ryanair out of the water with its latest fare offer.

The company yesterday paid 172 actors £40 each to fly from Norwich to Dublin.

The low fare airline ensured they will now meet their annual passenger targets, but Greenpeace described it as “lunacy”.

4. Robert Mugabe banned the custom of April Fool pranks yesterday amid growing tensions in the country’s elections.

He told a party rally: “This country has had enough of British and American customs, and if this is the last change I am able to make to Zimbabwe’s proud history, I will rest assured that the struggle against British Imperialism is one step nearer to the finish.”

5.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s fiscal responsibility was questioned today when he was caught on camera using a scratch card.

The image showed him playing the Lotto game in his local corner shop. Building worker Hugh Grenoble, 30, told the Daily Mail: “I actually did a double take when I saw him.”

6.

Harriet Harman has reignited the row over safety on the streets of London by going out in South London in a stab vest less than three months after the Home Secretary admitted she was scared to go out at night.

The Deputy Labour leader was pictured fully kitted out for a stroll through her own constituency of Camberwell and Peckham despite the furore that followed Jacqui Smith conceding that she felt unsafe walking alone in London at night.

7. The Rock, a New Zealand radio station, had to cancel their April Fools joke this year when it transpired that 2,000 people were planning to turn up to their fake “secret” Foo Fighters gig.

After inquiries from fans, record labels and promoters the station got cold feet.

Brad King, Program director at The Rock, said: “This is what happens when fools plan April Fools jokes.”

8. Cedric and his half-brother Clinky, a pair of Tasmanian Devils, are on the verge of a great cancer breakthrough.

Australian Professor Greg Woods from the University of Tasmania says that the tough genetic make-up of the steely creatures could end the scourge of cancer.

Scientists are trying to work out why Cedric is impervious to cancer despite malignant cells being pumped into him.

9.

Google.com.au, the Australian branch of the global search giant, as unveiled a new feature that allows users to select “one day in advance” and search only for results published tomorrow.

The Google Day function uses Machine Automated Temporal Extrapolation – it’s known as gDay (MATE) for short.

But not everyone was impressed, Sally from Western Australia said: “This is old news. I read about this announcement yesterday on Google.”

10. Gordon Ramsay has banned swearing in his restaurants. He will fine any member of staff caught using the “F” or “C” words.

The move came 10 days after an Australian parliamentary motion was tabled calling for a review of the broadcasting code of conduct, following an episode of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, in which the chef swore more than 80 times.

11. Japan has held its first ever pen spinning national championships. The winner was Ryuki Omura, 16.

Mitsuhiro Nakamata, a spokesman for the Pen Spinning Association Japan, said: “Pens are always around, so you can practice and enjoy pen-spinning anytime, anywhere.”

12. Amy Winehouse will appear in the latest series of Doctor Who. The Back to Black singer will play The Rani, originally played by actress Kate O’Mara in the 1980s.

The character is an evil scientific genius who has enslaved entire planets in previous episodes of the sci-fi drama.

It will be Winehouse’s first acting work since being expelled from the Sylvia Young Theatre School.

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