Connect with us

Published

on

When Victor Sharrah woke up one day in November 2020, he feared he was in some sort of “demonic world”.

When he looked at people’s faces, they appeared “demon-like”, with their ears, noses and mouths stretched back, and with deep grooves in their foreheads, cheeks and chins.

“You can’t imagine how scary it was,” the 59-year-old, from Clarksville, Tennessee, said.

What he was actually seeing were distortions, caused by an incredibly rare neurological disorder, known as prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO.

Even more unusual in the case of Mr Sharrah was that, when he looked at a phone or computer screen, people’s faces appeared normally.

That gave scientists an interesting opportunity to put Mr Sharrah at the centre of an interesting new study – the results of which were recently published in respected medical journal, The Lancet.

For the first time, researchers were able to recreate these rare PMO distortions in the form of pictures.

Victor Sharrah was seeing distortions, caused by an incredibly rare neurological disorder, known as prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO. Here is a depiction of what he was seeing. Pic: Antonio Mello/The Lancet.
Image:
Pic: Antonio Mello/The Lancet.

Victor Sharrah was seeing distortions, caused by an incredibly rare neurological disorder, known as prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO. Here is a depiction of what he was seeing. Pic: Antonio Mello/The Lancet.
Image:
Pic: Antonio Mello/The Lancet.

“As the patient reported no distortion when viewing facial images on a screen or on paper, we asked him to compare an in-person face to a photograph of the face taken in the same room under identical lighting conditions,” the authors said in their report.

“By alternating between observing the in-person face perceived as distorted and the photo on a computer screen-perceived as undistorted, he provided real-time feedback on the perceived differences.

“We then used image-editing software to modify each photo until it matched his in-person perception.”

What is PMO?

There are reportedly fewer than 100 published case reports of PMO, and scientists don’t fully understand what triggers it.

However, they suspect it is caused by dysfunction in the brain network that handles facial processing.

The distortions can vary from case to case, with other people reporting seeing people with droopy or off-set eyes, and others reporting seeing “witch-like” features.

Interestingly, unlike a person experiencing hallucinations due to a mental disorder, a person with PMO is aware that what they are seeing is a distortion or that something is wrong with their vision.

Read more from Sky News:
US to call for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza
US justice department sues Apple

According to NBC, the US partner of Sky News, researchers offered two possible triggers in the case of Mr Sharrah.

The first was that he had carbon monoxide poisoning four months before his PMO symptoms started.

The second was he had endured a significant head injury 15 years earlier while hitting his head on concrete, with MRI scans showing a lesion on the left side of his brain.

Mr Sharrah also has a history of bipolar affective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the study.

Victor Sharrah was seeing distortions, caused by an incredibly rare neurological disorder, known as prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO. Here is a depiction of what he was seeing. Pic: Antonio Mello/The Lancet.
Image:
Pic: Antonio Mello/The Lancet.

Victor Sharrah was seeing distortions, caused by an incredibly rare neurological disorder, known as prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO. Here is a depiction of what he was seeing. Pic: Antonio Mello/The Lancet.
Image:
Pic: Antonio Mello/The Lancet.

Though PMO symptoms often resolve after a few days or weeks, they can linger for years, and Mr Sharrah said he still sees demonic faces.

‘I came close to having myself institutionalised’

He has found ways to cope with his condition, including living with a roommate and her two kids, which he said has been helpful, because he’s used to having people around, so he isn’t as spooked when he sees new faces in public.

According to NBC, he also finds that green light alleviates his symptoms, so he sometimes wears glasses with green-tinted lenses when he’s in crowds.

Mr Sharrah wants others to know they can manage the condition.

“I came so close to having myself institutionalised,” he added.

According to the study’s lead author, Antonio Mello, a PhD student who works in Dartmouth’s Social Perception Lab, many doctors aren’t aware of PMO and may misdiagnose people with mental health disorders instead.

As a result, some PMO patients have been prescribed medications for schizophrenia or psychosis, which aren’t appropriate for their condition, he added.

Continue Reading

US

UK and US announce trade deal to save thousands of British jobs, Starmer says

Published

on

By

UK and US announce trade deal to save thousands of British jobs, Starmer says

The UK and US have agreed a trade deal, with Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump confirming the announcement during a live televised phone call.

It is the first trade deal agreed after Mr Trump began his second presidential term in January, and after he imposed strict tariffs on countries around the world in April.

Sir Keir said the “first-of-a-kind” deal with the US will save thousands of jobs across the UK, boost British business and protect British industry.

Politics latest: Trump and Starmer say trade deal just the start

The deal includes:

• Lowering 27.5% tariff on British car exports to the US to 10%, affecting 100,000 vehicles each year

• UK steel and aluminium industries will no longer face any tariffs after they had 25% duties placed on them

• Beef exports allowed both ways

• UK to have “preferential treatment whatever happens in the future” on pharmaceuticals, the president said.

However, there is a still a 10% tariff on most UK goods imported into the US after Mr Trump imposed that duty on most countries’ exports last month.

Mr Trump said the “final details” of the agreement were still being “written up”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Watch full call with Trump and Starmer

Trade minister Douglas Alexander told parliament the UK has “committed to further negotiations on tariff reductions”.

MPs will be able to debate the deal and any legislation needed to implement it, he added.

Sir Keir said “this is a really fantastic, historic day” that will “boost trade between and across our countries”, while Mr Trump said the agreement would be a “great deal for both countries”.

The president said the deal will make both the UK and the US “much bigger in terms of trade” as he thanked Sir Keir, who he said has been “terrific for his partnership in this matter…we have a great relationship”.

Sir Keir said it was achieved by not playing politics, and insisted the UK can have good trade relations with both the US and the EU.

Red lines on beef and chicken

The PM said the UK had “red lines” on standards written into the agreement, particularly on agriculture.

Mr Alexander told the Commons: “Let me be clear that the imports of hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken will remain illegal.

“The deal we’ve signed today will protect British farmers and uphold our high animal welfare and environmental standards.”

Read more:
UK and India strike ‘historic’ trade deal

Starmer faces rebellion from Labour MPs over welfare reforms

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Sky challenges Trump on trade deal

‘American beef is the safest’

US agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said the deal will “exponentially increase our beef exports”, and added: “To be very clear, American beef is the safest, the best quality, and the crown jewel of American agriculture for the world.”

On whether the UK will have to accept all US beef and chicken, Mr Trump said: “They’ll take what they want, we have plenty of it, we have every type, we have every classification you can have.”

Hinting the US will move towards higher welfare practices, he said US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr “is doing a tremendous job and he’s probably heading toward your system with no chemical, no this, no that”.

‘A Diet Coke deal’

Previous UK governments have attempted – and failed – to secure a free trade agreement with the US, but Sir Keir had made it a high priority.

Conservative shadow trade secretary Andrew Griffith chastised the deal, saying the UK is still in the same category as Burundi and Bhutan.

“It’s a Diet Coke deal, not the real thing,” he told the Commons.

Continue Reading

US

Man accused of harassing Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing car through gates of her home

Published

on

By

Man accused of harassing Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing car through gates of her home

A man has been charged after allegedly harassing Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing his car through the front gate of her home, prosecutors have said.

Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, of New Albany, Mississippi, is accused of having repeatedly sent the Friends star unwanted voicemail, email and social media messages since 2023.

The 48-year-old is then alleged to have crashed his grey Chrysler PT Cruiser through the front gate of Aniston’s home in the wealthy Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles early on Monday afternoon.

Prosecutors said the collision caused major damage.

Police have said Aniston was at home at the time.

A security guard stopped Carwyle on her driveway before police arrived and arrested him.

There were no reports of anyone being injured.

More from Ents & Arts

Carwyle has been charged with felony stalking and vandalism, prosecutors said on Thursday.

He also faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm, Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan Hochman said.

Carwyle, who has been held in jail since his arrest on Monday, is set to appear in court on Thursday.

His bail has been set at $150,000 dollars (£112,742).

He is facing up to three years in prison if he is convicted as charged.

Read more from Sky News:
Ex-police officers cleared of murdering motorist
Woman killed by alligator in Florida lake
Motown legend accused of sexually assaulting housekeepers

“My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who stalk and terrorise others, ensuring they are held accountable,” Mr Hochman said in a statement.

Aniston bought her mid-century mansion in Bel Air on a 3.4-acre site for about 21 million dollars (£15.78m) in 2012, according to reporting by Architectural Digest.

She became one of the biggest stars on television in her 10 years on NBC’s Friends.

Aniston won an Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role, and she has been nominated for nine more.

She has appeared in several Hollywood films and currently stars in The Morning Show on Apple TV+.

Continue Reading

US

Tyre Nichols death: Ex-police officers found not guilty of murdering motorist in US

Published

on

By

Tyre Nichols death: Ex-police officers found not guilty of murdering motorist in US

Three former police officers in the US have been found not guilty of murder over the death of motorist Tyre Nichols.

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were acquitted by jurors following a nine-day trial at Tennessee state court.

The former Memphis officers were also found not guilty of aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Mr Nichols, a father of one, died three days after officers punched, kicked and hit him with a baton in January 2023 as he was just yards from his home.

Former Memphis Police Department officers Demetrius Haley, center, Tadarrius Bean, left, and Justin Smith Jr., right, hug each other after they were acquitted of state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he ran away from a traffic stop. Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (Chris Day/Commercial Appeal/USA Today Network via AP, Pool)
Image:
The defendants hugged each other after being acquitted of the charges. Pic: Commercial Appeal/USA Today Network/AP

The 29-year-old’s death and a video of the incident – in which he cried out for his mother – sparked outrage in the US including nationwide protests and led to police reform.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols’ family, described the verdicts as a “devastating miscarriage of justice”. In a statement, he added: “The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve.”

Memphis District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he was “surprised that there wasn’t a single guilty verdict on any of the counts” including second-degree murder. He said Mr Nichols’ family “were devastated… I think they were outraged”.

From left Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, three former Memphis officers acquitted of state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after he ran away from a traffic stop in 2023. Memphis Police Dept. / via AP file
Image:
Former police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith were accused of second-degree murder. Pic: Memphis Police Dept/AP


But despite the three defendants being acquitted of state charges during the trial in Memphis, they still face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges of witness tampering last year.

Two other former officers previously pleaded guilty in both state and federal court. Desmond Mills Jr. gave evidence as a prosecution witness, while Emmitt Martin was blamed for the majority of the violence.

Sentencing for all five officers is pending.

Protesters march down the street Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn., as authorities release police video depicting five Memphis officers beating Tyre Nichols, whose death resulted in murder charges and provoked outrage at the country's latest instance of police brutality. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Image:
Tyre Nichols’ death sparked street protests in January 2023 in Memphis and across the US. Pic: AP

Video evidence showed Mr Nichols was stopped in his car, yanked from his vehicle, pepper-sprayed and hit with a Taser. He broke free and ran away before the five police officers caught up with him again, and the beating took place.

Prosecutors argued that the officers used excessive, deadly force in trying to handcuff Mr Nichols and were criminally responsible for each others’ actions.

They also said the officers had a duty to intervene and stop the beating and tell medics that Mr Nichols had been hit repeatedly in the head, but they failed to do so.

The trial heard Mr Nichols suffered tears and bleeding in the brain and died from blunt force trauma.

The defence suggested Mr Nichols was on drugs, giving him the strength to fight off five strong officers, and was actively resisting arrest.

In December, the US Justice Department said a 17-month investigation showed the Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people.

Continue Reading

Trending