Conjoined twins separated by surgeons using virtual reality technology

Three-year-old twins who were joined at the head have been separated in a 27-hour operation. Bernardo and Arthur Lima had the surgery in Rio de Janeiro, but Brazilian surgeons were led by Great Ormond Street’s Noor ul Owase Jeelani, who was “present” in a “VR room”. He said he’d been left “shattered” by the surgery, having had only four 15-minute breaks throughout, but said it had been “wonderful” to see the family’s joy. He added that, as usual, after twin separations, the boys’ heart rates had “gone through the roof” until they were put next to one another and could touch hands.

Rare fen orchid found in Wales

A young botanist has found a rare fen orchid at a site in south Wales. Until 11-year-old Tristan Moss spotted the species, it had not been recorded in Carmarthenshire since 2003 – when his mother spotted one. The family live in Hertfordshire but take part in the recording week every year; the orchid was one of the species volunteers had been asked to look out for, but organisers feared it was gone forever. “So to find it was fabulous,” said Tristan’s mother. “People were in tears.”

Pigeon returns home… by plane

A homing pigeon that made a wrong turn in a race from Guernsey back to Tyneside, and ended up in the United States, has finally flown home – by plane. Having crossed the Atlantic, possibly on a ship, Bob was found by a concerned animal lover in Alabama, who took him to a shelter. Staff identified him from a leg band, and contacted his owner, Alan Todd, who jumped on a plane to bring his boy home. He has now retired Bob, saying “the thought of anything happening to him, after all the help people have given, is too much”

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