This week in numbers

45 days

as Prime Minister makes Liz Truss the shortest-serving leader in Britain, beating previous record-holder George Canning, who died in office after 119 days in 1827.

17

Researchers have extracted DNA from 17 bones and teeth excavated from caves in Siberia and found the first known Neanderthal family, among them a father, his teenage daughter and two second-degree relatives, who lived about 54,000 years ago. Published in Nature, the work provides a detailed portrait of what Neanderthal groups were like, and helps in understanding why they disappeared forever.

100

The BBC marked 100 years of broadcasting this week. Founded on October 18, 1922, in London, daily broadcasting began a month later and has included many milestones. In 1932, King George V was the first British monarch to broadcast on radio and in 1953, the BBC’s coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation was the first time that most people had watched an event on television.

154

thousand dollars taken at auction in New Mexico for a pair of Levi’s jeans from the 1880s. The Levi’s one-pocket buckle back jeans, still in “wearable” condition, were found in an abandoned gold mine years ago and were bought by 23-yearold Kyle Hautner and Zip Stevenson, who own a vintage denim store.

15

-year-old Larry the cat went above and beyond his mouse-catching duties this week when he took on a fox — and won. Larry is the first feline to have the honorary and official title of chief mouser at 10 Downing St since being adopted for his mouse-hunting skills in February 2011 from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

108

women were returned to Ukraine in return for 110 Russians on Monday. Many of the Ukrainian women had been captured during the Azovstal steelworks siege in Mariupol in May. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 12 civilians were among the women freed, as were 37 captured after Russian forces took over the steel plant.