A brown bear that underwent brain surgery in the first operation of its kind in the UK is doing well but is “not out of the woods” yet, a charity has said.

Boki went under the knife on Wednesday after an MRI scan revealed he had hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain.

The two-year-old mammal, who had been suffering from seizures and related health issues, is awake and said to be doing well after the surgery.

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It was the first time a procedure of this kind has been carried out in the UK. Pizzi previously became the first surgeon to perform a similar operation on a black bear in Asia.

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The conservation charity is fundraising for Boki’s surgery and immediate aftercare costs, which is expected to be about £20,000.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17730191

A nurse who created a wellbeing programme involving singing to sick children has won an award for her work.

Sally Spencer, a leukaemia advanced nurse practitioner, has won the Sky Arts Hero Award.

Alongside Birmingham-based choir Ex Cathedra, Ms Spencer performs songs to distract and soothe the patients at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Ms Spencer, who has worked at the hospital for 25 years, said singing had "enormous benefits" for the children.

Ms Spencer told BBC Radio WM she came up with the idea of Singing Medicine in 2002.

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The Sky Arts Hero Award recognises unsung heroes who use the arts to help their local communities and has only one winner.

Chester Zoo has celebrated the birth of what it said was one of the rarest animals on earth.

The Cheshire attraction said the Persian onager was born to mum Azita after a year-long pregnancy.

Onagers hail from the semi-desert regions of Iran, and are related to domestic donkeys.

The foal was named Jasper, whose Persian meaning relates to treasure.

A dog has been rescued after seven hours trapped underground.

Adventurous Bryn found himself in a precarious situation after falling into a narrow, seven-metre deep natural rift in the hillside during a walk on the Darren Mountain in Cwmdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team was called to assist their colleagues at the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service in rescuing him.

A rescue operation, which took place on Sunday, involved a seven-hour effort using ropes and a harness before the combined efforts of both rescue teams brought him safely and uninjured back to the surface.

Harold Terens - a 100-year-old US Army Air Force veteran - called it "the best day of my life" as he married 96-year-old Jeanne Swerlin on Saturday.

On her way to the ceremony, the bride-to-be said: "It's not just for young people, love, you know? We get butterflies. And we get a little action, also."

She also said her sweetheart was the "greatest kisser ever".

The pair married in the town hall of Carentan, a key initial D-Day objective that witnessed fierce fighting after the Allied landings on 6 June 1944.

A Shetland woman has been telling how a search for a gene variant alerted her to her breast cancer diagnosis.

Christine Glaser, from Whalsay, had been a participant in Viking Genes, a research project that looked at the genetic make up of people from the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

Since those tests were taken, the understanding of the significance of certain genes has improved and last year geneticists sought special permissions to go back to those who took part in the study to ask if they wanted to know their results.

Although she had lost a sister to ovarian cancer, the family was unaware many of them carried a BRCA 2 gene variant that increased their risk of breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.

Christine’s cancer was caught early and successfully treated.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/12516919

A woman has sent a big thank you to the people of Merseyside for their "non-stop kindness" during a recent visit.

Christine Veitch, 75, from Cumbria, was on her way to visit her poorly brother in Neston when her train to Liverpool Lime Street terminated at Preston, leaving her in a rush to get the next train to the city

Speaking to the ECHO, Christine said: "We all got thrown off at Preston with six minutes to get the next train. We had to rush across the station onto an alternative train, which was already crowded."

It was then the "wave of kindness" began. She said: "First of all, I was offered a seat, which I was more than grateful for. I'm a pensioner, but I'm not a doddery old lady or anything, so that was nice to begin with."

Then a kindly stranger called Keith sat next to her and gave her reassurance about her onward journey. Christine said: "We got chatting, and I mentioned I was worried ab

A man who survived Nazi occupation and camps as a teenager has reflected on his harrowing start in life as he turns 100.

George Durkal, who was held captive in an internment camp in Germany during World War Two marked his milestone with a celebration at his care home. George was born as one of six siblings in Poland in 1925 but emigrated to the UK after the war. Speaking from the Argentum Lodge Care Home in Nailsea, in Somerset, he said the outbreak of the Second World War and Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939 had shattered his happy childhood.

Aged 15 he returned from school one day to find his house burnt to the ground, surrounded by German soldiers. Living in occupied Poland was extremely tough and in 1945 the Gestapo demanded one member of his family was to go to work in Germany. George, who was only 21 at the time, volunteered and he was sent by cattle truck across the border to work as a carpenter fixing farmers' carts.

Later he was sent to an internment camp whe

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/11646341

Speedo Mick, whose full name is Michael Cullen, is best known for walking the length and breadth of the UK for charity in his unique attire.

He has also swum the English Channel and climbed four mountains as part of his fundraising activity.

"I'm absolutely thrilled," Mr Cullen said, adding that the Citizen of Honour certificate would take pride of place in his front room.

He added: "I'm over the moon about it because it's from the city of Liverpool it makes it all the more special to me.

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Mr Cullen has raised money for over 120 organisations including charities which support disadvantaged young people and homeless people as well as mental health and wellbeing projects.

He said it was a way to thank the people who helped him with his own mental health challenges.

A rare Lego piece that fell into the sea in 1997 has been found by a 13-year-old boy in Cornwall.

Liutauras Cemolonskas had been hoping to find a "holy grail" plastic octopus for two years in his hunt for pieces of Lego that famously fell into the sea in 1997 when a cargo ship encountered a storm.

Among the Lego pieces that fell into the sea were 352,000 pairs of flippers, 97,500 scuba tanks, and 92,400 swords - but octopuses are the most prized objects as only 4,200 were onboard.

Liutauras, who found it on a beach in Marazion, regularly goes down to the local beaches with his parents and has amassed 789 Lego pieces over the course of two years, as well as numerous fossils.

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Beachcomber Tracey Williams is behind the Lego Lost At Sea project, which has spent years finding the plastic pieces since they spilled into the ocean.

She said she found one octopus in 1997 and didn't recover another one for 18 years.

"I think there's something quite magical about

A poodle had to be rescued by specialist firefighters after it became trapped under a home.

The crew were forced to tunnel under the property in Parkmill in Swansea, South Wales, to reach the three-year-old black dog named Jock, after being called out at 7.11am on Tuesday.

They removed a large number of patio slabs at the rear of the home, hoping to get to the poodle.

Unable to find him, specially trained officers from the Wales Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Team were called in.

Using seismic detection equipment and technical search cameras they were able to help pinpoint the dog’s exact location and a second tunnel was dug under the property’s kitchen.

Watch collectors and horological connoisseurs added a new trade fair to their calendars this year. It was not launched in Switzerland – centre of excellence for luxury timepieces and home to brands such as Patek Philippe and Rolex – nor with a party in Paris or Milan attended by fashion’s front row, but at a Royal Horticultural Society lecture hall in London.

The inaugural British Watchmakers’ Day attracted international visitors from the US, Dubai and Norway last month, and tickets sold out six weeks in advance. The most expensive watch at the event went for more than £595,000 – it was sold in a closed bid auction, and the exact price was not disclosed – but timepieces around the £100 mark were also snapped up.

Though still relatively small – for comparison, Watches And Wonders Geneva, an annual international trade fair this month, attracted 45,000 visitors – British Watchmakers’ Day reached its 1,400 capacity, and was set up in response to a growing industry.

In 1800, t

A girls’ football team has won a boys’ league after going unbeaten all season, earning them the “invincibles” title.

Queens Park Ladies under-12s finished top of division three of the Bournemouth Youth Football League with 18 wins, four draws and no defeats.

They dominated the 11 other boys’ teams in the league, scoring 61 goals and conceding only 11.

By the time they had played all their matches, they had amassed 58 points, 16 more than the second-placed team, which had two games still to play.

Initially, they were met with resistance from county FA bosses, who had told them they would have to play in an all-girls’ competition.

However, the team’s manager, Toby Green, was convinced the team was good enough to play in the league.

A British man running the length of Africa has set off on his final day of the gruelling challenge in Tunisia.

Russ Cook, who calls himself "Hardest Geezer" on social media, has been running for more than 350 days and completed the equivalent of 385 marathons.

The 26-year-old, from Worthing, West Sussex, is now running the final 40km of the 16,000km challenge and has been joined by hundreds of supporters.

"One more day, one final push to get this thing done," he said to Sky News shortly after setting off, with sports correspondent Rob Harris trying to keep up.

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He says he will become the first person to run the full of length of Africa if he completes the challenge.

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Mr Cook has been raising money for two charities along the way and has recently seen a surge in donations.

In the last seven days, he has raised more than £217,000 of his £568,000 total.

He is fundraising for The Running Charity, which supports the mental health of young people w

A great-grandfather from Merseyside has become the world's oldest living man.

John Tinniswood, who is 111 years and 223 days old, says he doesn't pin his extraordinary longevity down to any particular lifestyle choice or diet but he does eat battered fish and chips every Friday.

The Briton lives in a care home in Southport, where staff call him a "big chatterbox". He said: "I eat what they give me and so does everybody else. I don't have a special diet."

He also said his secret to longevity is "pure luck", adding: "You either live long or you live short, and you can't do much about it."

My TL;DR:

Last weekend the conservation park, in North Anston, near Sheffield, celebrated its 30th birthday.

The centre was built to create an accessible energy-efficient and ecologically friendly environment to house butterflies and tropical plants with the support of the RDPE Growth Development Fund. The final phase of the project will see a new bug house open this year.

The park is committed to conservation efforts and plays an active role in breeding and conservation programmes aimed at protecting native species closer to home.

There are more than 450 bird boxes across the three sites which each attract a variety of native birds including one of the largest populations of tree sparrows in the UK.

Large herds of red deer, barn owls, grass snakes and an abundance of native butterflies have also been recorded.

The park’s most famous resident is Odin the Raven, who is well known for her artistic ability with a paintbrush. Odin, who prefers a black and red palette, eve

On first impressions, the pub might look like your classic East End neighbourhood boozer. Wood-panelled l-shaped bar? Check. Floral-patterned red carpet? Check. Dartboard? Check. But as well as the main bar, there’s another room that the pub often rents out for no cost – it’s used for a regular children’s stay and play sessions hosted by a local provider, English lessons for refugees and meetings for charities. While the pub doesn’t do food, it hosts pop-ups with Plateful Cafe, a community organisation that trains and employs refugee chefs.

At The Old Forge, the committee regularly asks locals what they think about the pub, whether that’s what’s on the menu or the events programme – live music nights with local musicians have been a huge hit. Spendley says that being able to adapt in response to the community’s feedback is what makes these places so successful. “Member control and input ensures the business is continually adapting and serving the needs of its members and wider co

A much-loved owl with a "big personality" who has been a hoot at Warwick Castle for three decades is winging his way into retirement.

Ernie has been wowing audiences with his aerial antics around the turrets of the historical West Midlands attraction on average twice a day for 30 years.

During his long service, the African Verreaux's Eagle Owl with a wingspan of 165cm is estimated to have made around 20,000 flights.

He most recently starred in The Falconer's Quest, the UK's largest bird of prey show.

He will be performing his final flypast during the Easter holidays before gliding off into a quieter life in the Yorkshire Dales with Hawk Experience, which organises the bird of prey displays at Warwick Castle.

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"We're excited for him to spend his twilight years in the stunning Yorkshire Dales with other feathered friends."

When Chris Cowie complained to the council about graffiti in his neighbourhood he was told they didn't have the resources to tackle it. So he took his own pot of paint and headed for a nearby telecoms box.

"There was one quite offensive tag so I thought I'll paint over that," Chris says.

"I liked what I did so I thought 'right, I'll see what else I can do'."

Chris, a retired teacher who has lived in the Portobello area of Edinburgh for more than 50 years, says the council didn't object and, in fact, they gave him a pot of paint so it was more in keeping with their colour scheme.

He used the paint to cover graffiti tags "anywhere that needed it" - on communications boxes, telephone boxes and the local police box.

"It's a beautiful part of Edinburgh and I want to keep it that way," Chris says.

The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 5.7% in 2023 to their lowest level since 1879, according to new Carbon Brief analysis.

The last time UK emissions were this low, Queen Victoria was on the throne, Benjamin Disraeli was prime minister, Mosley Street in Newcastle became the first road in the world with electric lighting and 59 people died in the Tay Bridge disaster in Dundee.