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News image — Guernsey Ports said puffins have returned to the bailiwick after a difficult winter

Reuters A puffin has a bunch of silver fish in its beak. It has a brightly coloured bill and a white face with black head. — Guernsey Ports said puffins have returned to the bailiwick after a difficult winter

Puffin awareness markers, an award from the President of Uzbekistan and memorial stones to those who experienced the Nazi Occupation were among our most read stories in the Channel Islands this week.

We have selected six articles to keep you up to date.

Buoys placed off Herm to help protect puffins

Two large yellow buoys laying on the ground. There are six people standing behind them smiling - one man and five women. In the background there is a orange RNL lifeboat — The buoys have been placed next to Puffin Bay

Buoys have been deployed near Herm to help protect puffins.

The two markers have been placed adjacent to Puffin Bay to remind those using boats and jet skis of the six knot speed limit and to protect rafting puffins from disturbance.

Guernsey Ports said the internationally significant birds return to the bailiwick each year to breed.

Award for couple who helped escaped prisoner of war

Le Breton family archive (Carolyn Horn) John and Phyllis Le Breton pictured smiling in an old sepia photograph. He is wearing a flat cap and suit and she is wearing a hat, coat and scarf. They appear to be standing in front of a stone monument. — John and Phyllis Le Breton hid an escaped prisoner of war during the Occupation of Jersey

A 90-year-old Jersey woman has collected an award from the President of Uzbekistan on behalf of her family, who sheltered an escaped Soviet prisoner of war during the occupation of the island.

Dulcie Le Breton's mother and father hid the man they knew as Tom, despite the risk of being punished if discovered.

Stones unveiled to remember Nazi Occupation victims

A commemorative brass plaque and grey stone. Aged photos of Legg and others, along with two white roses lay atop the stone. — Relatives were present at the unveiling of the stones.

Thirteen new commemorative stones have been placed around Guernsey to remember islanders who experienced the Nazi Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War Two.

The Stolpersteine Project was started by German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, with more than 100,000 stones on display across Europe.

Gorillas' £8m new home at zoo hailed a success

A gorilla sits on a raised wooden platform covered with straw, surrounded by hanging ropes, a fabric hammock, and vertical wooden supports inside the enclosure. — The new enclosure is much taller than the previous house, which was built about 50 years ago

A new £8m enclosure for the gorillas at Jersey Zoo - called "one of the best gorilla houses in the world" by the animals' keeper - has been hailed a success by volunteers and visitors to the tourist attraction.

The enclosure was recently opened by Princess Anne, in her role as patron of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, which runs the zoo.

It will house gorillas Badongo, Bahasha, Hlala Kahilli and Amari.

'I was a baby when Nazi officers took over our home'

A man sits in front of a white stone wall. He has a white beard and white hair. He is wearing a navy blue jumper with a shirt underneath. — Peter Martel said he grew up around the German occupation of Guernsey

A man whose family could not leave the Channel Islands to escape the German invasion because he was about to be born has described growing up during the occupation.

Peter Martel, 85, was born in Guernsey on 21 June 1940 - nine days before Nazi forces arrived on the island.

"I stayed here right throughout that period of time for five years," Martel said.

St Helier office block could become 89-room hotel

MAC Architecture A computer generated image of Union House as it will look following a redesign. — Proposals for Union House would see a complete redesign within the existing footprint

Plans have been submitted to convert an office block in St Helier into an 89-room hotel.

The changes to Union House include four additional floors added to the smaller tower as well as a restaurant, reception and "a complete redesign of the external facade".

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