Connect with us

Published

on

A young bear born to parents rescued from a Spanish circus will today undergo pioneering brain surgery.

Boki, a two-year-old European brown bear, has been suffering seizures and vision problems for the last five months.

MRI scans show he has hydrocephalus, a build up of fluid inside his skull that is putting pressure on his brain.

It’s a condition that also occurs in humans, affecting one in every 500 births. Other cases can be triggered by illness or injury later in life.

But it is believed to be rare in animals.

Specialist vets working with the Wildwood Trust, near Canterbury, where Boki lives, will insert a tube in his brain to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure.

Mark Habben, zoological director at the trust, told Sky News that Boki was “charismatic and a lot of fun” but his condition tends to flare up after bouts of high energy.

More on Animals

“It impedes his life,” he said.

“We want him to be able to climb up trees and jump in ponds without suffering negatively from that.”

Pic: PA
Image:
The vet involved has only done the procedure once before. Pic: PA

The three-hour operation will be carried out by Romain Pizzi, an Edinburgh-based specialist with a reputation for taking on cases that other vets won’t touch.

He will make a small hole in Boki’s skull and run a tube from inside his brain, then under his skin down to his bladder, where it will drain the excess fluid.

The vet has carried out the procedure just once before, on an Asiatic black bear in Laos. The surgery was a success, giving the Wildwood Trust confidence it’s the right option for Boki.

Mr Habben said Boki is also in good physical condition and rapidly putting on weight.

“If we did not think this would have a happy ending, we would not put him or ourselves through the physical and emotional stress of conducting something like this,” he said.

“We are very optimistic about it.”

Pic: PA
Image:
The condition is rarely seen in animals. Pic: PA

Read more from Sky News:
Loyalty testers will catch out your cheating boyfriend
Lab-grown food may be a step closer to UK approval

Boki was born at Port Lympne wildlife park in Kent, where his parents were brought after being rescued. But he was aggressively rejected by his family and was moved to the Wildwood Trust.

The decision to go ahead with surgery was given extra urgency by Boki’s imminent torpor, a winter dormancy similar to hibernation.

“Doing it now is the right thing to do because it’s much easier to monitor him,” said Mr Habben.

“If there is any medication or aftercare he needs, I don’t want him to be asleep for four months to administer that.

“As he recovers from surgery we will be assessing him on a day-to-day basis to see when he can resume normal life of being a young bear again.”

Continue Reading

UK

Newcastle United beat Liverpool to win Carabao Cup – ending 70-year wait for domestic trophy

Published

on

By

Newcastle United beat Liverpool to win Carabao Cup - ending 70-year wait for domestic trophy

Newcastle United have won their first domestic trophy in 70 years after beating Liverpool 2-1 in the Carabao Cup.

Tens of thousands of Magpies fans flooded the capital to watch their team end their drought against last year’s winners at Wembley.

TV presenters Declan Donnelly and Ant McPartlin were among fans rejoicing in the stands, while celebrations erupted across Newcastle.

The club lifted the European Inter-City Fairs Cup in 1969 but haven’t won a domestic trophy since their 1955 FA Cup victory.

Newcastle win Carabao Cup. Pic: PA
Image:
Newcastle win Carabao Cup. Pic: PA

TV presenters Declan Donnelly and Ant McPartlin celebrate in the stands. Pic: Reuters
Image:
TV presenters Declan Donnelly and Ant McPartlin celebrate in the stands. Pic: Reuters

Fans celebrate in a pub in Newcastle. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Fans celebrate in a pub in Newcastle. Pic: Reuters

Liverpool, who have won 38 major trophies since the Black and Whites last got their hands on any silverware, went into the match as heavy favourites.

The last time the teams met, in the league last month, Liverpool eased to a 2-0 win – and they sit comfortably top of the Premier League table, seemingly headed for the title.

But Newcastle had the best of the first half and got their reward as local hero Dan Burn headed home from a corner just before half time, sending supporters into dreamland.

They found the back of the net again early in the second half, but the celebrations were cut short as the goal was disallowed for offside.

Dan Burn (left) and Fabian Schar celebrate winning the Carabao Cup. Pic: PA
Image:
Dan Burn (left) and Fabian Schar celebrate winning the Carabao Cup. Pic: PA

Read more from Sky News:
Parts of UK will be hotter than Ibiza next week
Prince Harry immigration filed must be made public

Minutes later, Alexander Isak struck and this time it did count, doubling Newcastle’s lead and sending the Geordie faithful in the crowd wild once more.

Liverpool gave themselves a lifeline in stoppage time with a goal from Federico Chiesa – after a tense VAR check – but Newcastle held on to secure the win.

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe celebrates. Pic: PA
Image:
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe celebrates. Pic: PA

Bruno Guimaraes (left) and Anthony Gordon celebrate. Pic: PA
Image:
Bruno Guimaraes (left) and Anthony Gordon celebrate. Pic: PA

‘For them it’s like the World Cup’

Eddie Howe, who became the first English manager to win a domestic trophy since Harry Redknapp in 2008 in front of a crowd of 88,513, told Sky Sports he was “very emotional”.

“We just knew what was at stake today for all the people here, all the people back in Newcastle and we just wanted to do them proud,” he said.

“We were desperate to try and win the trophy after all the years of hurt. I’m so pleased not just with the result, but with the performance. I thought we deserved the win today.”

Bruno Guimaraes described his side’s win as “one of the best days” of his life, telling Sky Sports: “It’s a lot for these fans, they deserve everything.”

“For them this is like the World Cup. People have not seen Newcastle as champions. We are here to make history and I’m very happy. We deserve this, this is unbelievable.”

Liverpool’s League Cup loss comes just days after the Premier League leaders were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris St Germain (PSG) on penalties.

Continue Reading

UK

‘We take nothing for granted’: Falkland Islanders on UK support amid Argentina threat

Published

on

By

'We take nothing for granted': Falkland Islanders on UK support amid Argentina threat

It’s more than 40 years since British forces fought a brief but bloody campaign to retake the Falkland Islands after their invasion by Argentina.

On the windswept hills around the capital Port Stanley you can still see evidence of battle.

The wreckage of destroyed helicopters, discarded military hardware and shell casings scattered on once strategically important rocky outcrops and boggy valleys.

These relics are quietly rusting away.

But for the few thousand residents of an island archipelago half the size of Wales, memories of the conflict don’t fade.

The wreckage of an Argentine chinook
Image:
The wreckage of an Argentinian Chinook

‘I’m not going to speak with a gun at my back’

On 1 April 1982, Patrick Watts was broadcasting news of the unfolding invasion from the studio of Falklands Radio when jubilant Argentinian soldiers burst in.

More on Falkland Islands

The live recording of his exchange with the invaders is now part of the historical record of the invasion.

“I’m not going to speak with a gun in my back,” says Watts to the Argentinian commander.

Read more:
Giving you a side-eye like a 3ft yob in a wetsuit – the Falklands’ penguins
What we learnt flying over the world’s largest iceberg
The megaberg: Bigger than London and five times the weight of Mt Everest

Sky's Tom Clarke with former DJ Patrick Watts
Image:
Sky’s Tom Clarke with former DJ Patrick Watts

Speaking to us 43 years later in the same studio, Patrick clearly recalls his mood that morning.

“For them, the islands, they have always said belong to them. And it’s expressed in their emotions when they come up the passage shouting at each other and they open the door and they come in, they have guns,” he says.

“I then become quite belligerent.”

On the recording, he can be heard ordering the Argentinian commander to tell his men to take their guns outside, to stop shouting and smoking.

“I hate smoking. No smoking in my studio. And he tells them and of course, they’re still shouting and screaming. And then you can hear him shouting, ‘Silencio, silencio’.”

Mr Watts’s calm defiance has come to define the collective attitude of this British Overseas Territory ever since.

A bust of Margaret Thatcher in Stanley
Image:
A bust of Margaret Thatcher in Port Stanley

But given Argentina has never relinquished its territorial claim to the Falklands, it’s not necessarily the population’s overwhelming desire to remain British that has kept them that way.

‘The threat hasn’t changed’

Since the end of the conflict there has been a UK military presence on the islands.

A 2,000-strong garrison of troops and a squadron of fighter jets and transport aircraft based around the main airport at Mount Pleasant.

A deterrent to Argentina – little more than 200 miles away – not to exercise its continued claim over the Falklands.

Leona Roberts
Image:
Leona Roberts

However, the UK is more than 7,000 miles away and in a world newly dominated by strong men with territorial ambitions.

And the UK’s expensive military commitment to the Falklands comes at a time when the government is under pressure to prioritise defence, and defence spending closer to home.

Walking across the rugged landscape you get a sense of how remote and, to an outsider at least, how inhospitable these islands are.

With military tensions escalating in Europe as US President Donald Trump presses for an end to the war in Ukraine, it’s reasonable to ask whether Falkland Islanders feel less secure than they have done for the past 40 years.

Tributes on the hill at Mount Longdon
Image:
Tributes on the hill at Mount Longdon

“Argentina is always a bit of a shadow over our shoulder,” says Leona Roberts, a member of the Falkland Islands legislative assembly.

“The threat and the situation… has not changed.”

But she is confident the UK will continue its protection of the Falklands. Successive governments, including Sir Keir Starmer‘s, have continued to support the current military presence.

‘We take nothing for granted’

But could it change?

“We take nothing for granted,” she says. “We’re very grateful for the UK’s continuing support.”

Though remote, the Falkland Islands, she argues, are strategically important as a gateway for research and maritime operations around Antarctica and the vast South Atlantic region, as well as politically stable in an increasingly unstable world.

“A little rock of democracy and stability in what is otherwise a pretty volatile region,” she says.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

The perils of chasing penguins

Argentina’s President Javier Milei, an ally of Mr Trump, has said he will not relinquish the claim to sovereignty over the Falklands, but nor will he seek conflict with the UK.

People here hope their strong desire to remain British will always outweigh the physical distance between them and their protector.

Continue Reading

UK

Prince Harry immigration files must be made public next week, US court rules

Published

on

By

Prince Harry immigration files must be made public next week, US court rules

Prince Harry’s immigration files must be made public by this Tuesday, a US court has ruled.

Judge Carl Nichols ordered documents relating to the Duke of Sussex‘s US visa application to be released as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

The FOI request was brought by conservative US think-tank the Heritage Foundation, which alleges the duke may have concealed past drug use and that should have disqualified him from obtaining a US visa.

Judge Nichols ordered the US Department of Homeland Security to release a redacted version of the documents no later than Tuesday, according to court filings dated 15 March.

However, in September 2024, the same judge previously said that the public did not have a strong interest in the disclosure of Harry’s immigration records.

But the Heritage Foundation wanted the judgment changed.

It questioned why Harry was allowed into the US in 2020 after the royal referenced taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in his book Spare.

More on Prince Harry

In his memoir, Harry said cocaine “didn’t do anything for me”, adding: “Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me.”

The foundation also said that answers about his prior drug use in his visa application could raise questions over the US government’s integrity.

Despite refusing the previous FOI request, lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security agreed in February to release redacted versions of the forms.

“Specifically, Defendant would propose redacting all information in these items that would reveal information that the Court has determined Defendant can withhold,” department lawyer John Bardo wrote in a court filing.

In February, President Donald Trump ruled out deporting Harry from the US, telling The New York Post: “I’ll leave him alone.”

He added: “He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has been a vocal critic of Mr Trump and called him “divisive” and a “misogynist”.

Mr Trump, in a GB News interview with Nigel Farage in March last year, also said Harry should not receive preferential treatment.

Read more from Sky News:
KT Tunstall’s musical reinvention
Headteachers ‘slapped’ and ‘threatened’ by pupils’ parents
At least 34 killed in US tornadoes and dust storms

He said: “No. We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action.”

The royal moved to the US in 2020, following a brief spell in Canada, with his wife Meghan, after the couple’s split from the rest of the Royal Family. They have lived in California ever since.

Continue Reading

Trending