Flat Earth: It's the early pig that flies in June

IN OLDEN times, August was the peak month of the 'silly season', the time when, for lack of real news, newspapers filled their pages with headlines such as 'Milkman's ghost wins beauty contest'. In recent years, things have changed. In August 1989, the Communists were toppled in Poland; in August 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait; and in August 1991, there was the abortive coup against Mikhail Gorbachev.

In place of August, step forward June. Soja Dimka, a secondary school teacher in Nigeria, gave his two piglets a birthday party last week because they had survived their first year without being stolen. Gifts included animal feed and 330 naira ( pounds 10) in cash. Would we know this if the pigs had been born in August?