Category: News

Twin panda cubs “Elder Sister” and “Younger Brother” greeted visitors in the company of their mother, Ying Ying, at Ocean Park’s giant panda adventure enclosure for the first time on Friday.

The twins were born on August 15 of last year, and are making their first public appearance together with their mother after more than seven months.

The babies were unveiled to park patrons on February 16, and have since attracted a lot of local and international visitors.

The park has said it plans to build a panda museum as part of efforts to help promote long-term interest in the city’s own family of bears.

Parents, who have all received multiple letters of refusal for places in SEN schools, will gather at Dáil Éireann on April 2, which also marks World Autism Day.

The protest will begin at 2pm for their children who they say are being “locked out of education”.

One of the leading figures in the protest is Charlotte Cahill, whose daughter Cyra (5) has been refused a place in over 30 special educational needs schools.

“Sadly, we have had to make the decision to do another sleep-out as we are not being listened to at all,” she said.

“We have over 200 children across the country without an appropriate school place for September.

“We have asked multiple times to meet the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and ministers with no solid response, so we have no option but to sleep out again.”

Ms Cahill has said that over 200 families have contacted them, receiving over 500 refusal letters.

Organisers of the protest are demanding that the Department of Education address the critical shortage of suitable SEN school places.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government.

“The NCSE is engaging with the parents concerned and will continue to work closely with them in identifying and securing education placements appropriate to their needs for September 2025.

“The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers.

“Where children with more complex needs require additional support, special classes and special school places are provided.

“Over the last few years, the department and the NCSE have introduced a number of initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient special class and special school places.

“These initiatives are bearing fruit, with almost 1,700 new special classes sanctioned and 11 special schools established over the last five years.

“A further five new special schools will open for the coming school year.

“Local special educational needs organisers (SENOs) remain available to assist and advise parents of children with special educational needs.”

Scottish families who welcomed miracle babies during the coronavirus pandemic have recalled the heartbreak and joy they experienced during that tumultuous period.

March 2020 marked a new chapter in history as Covid-19 swept the globe, ultimately contributing to more than 10,000 deaths across Scotland.

Lockdowns, social distancing, remote working and overwhelmed hospitals became the new reality.

But amid the darkness there were glimmers of light and STV News has spoken to some parents who welcomed new life into a world turned upside down.

‘I lost all hope after two miscarriages – then my miracle boy arrived’

Dundee singer Stephanie Gibson had her miracle baby through her “least viable” egg after a traumatic miscarriage during lockdown.

Stephanie and her husband Mark are parents to toddler Ace after a gruelling IVF journey due to fertility issues.

Together for 17 years, the couple had always dreamed of starting a family after winning a Cash for Kids wedding competition in October 2017.

Stephanie Gibson

After four years of trying, doctors told the couple there was “zero chance” of them conceiving naturally following an examination. The couple was referred to an IVF clinic in February 2020, just weeks before the pandemic hit.

The pair were forced to wait months due to Covid and began their first egg retrieval in October when clinics reopened.

Stephanie, 33, said: “We figured we’d waited long enough, what’s a few more months?”

Three eggs survived the process, and doctors implanted the best one. A month later, Stephanie was thrilled to learn she was pregnant.

Overwhelmed with excitement, she bought an outfit for her baby.

“We were honestly over the moon – I couldn’t stop crying. I was so happy. We wanted this baby so much.”

But the couple were devastated to learn the baby had stopped growing at an eight-week scan at Ninewells Hospital, meaning Stephanie would be forced to undergo a medically induced miscarriage.

Stephanie Gibson

“I was looking at Mark and I knew something wasn’t right. He looked at me and gently shook his head,” she said. 

“I lay there for ages just crying. I thought ‘why us?’ We were one egg down, and that was the best one. That was the hardest.

“The nurses were so nice and reassuring – they said I could take my time after this and handed me leaflets.

“I phoned my mum and burst into tears. She was devastated, too. I couldn’t even go around to hug her due to Covid rules.

“It felt like everyone around me had prams and babies leaving that hospital that day. I was sobbing my heart out.”

Stephanie and Mark continued their IVF journey with another retrieval in the summer of 2021.

They were cautiously optimistic when her pregnancy test came back positive, but Stephanie suffered another miscarriage while performing a gig.

“I knew something was wrong when I began bleeding. I was internally heartbroken – but I had to play and pretend everything was fine at a bar in the middle of nowhere.

“I got home and bawled my eyes out.”

Emotionally drained, the couple turned their focus to buying their first home.

However, in early 2022, with a renewed sense of hope, they went through their final egg retrieval.

“We had one egg left, and we were ready to give it another go. I didn’t really feel positive from the offset after everything. I didn’t want to get my hopes up again.”

In March 2022, Stephanie received a positive pregnancy test. 

“I was crying – I must have done four or five pregnancy tests. I couldn’t believe it.”

The pair waited 12 weeks before sharing the news with family, who were “over the moon.”

Stephanie said the birth was a difficult forceps delivery, requiring a week-long hospital stay, but at last, her long-awaited baby arrived on February 4, 2023.

On the way home, they visited the IVF clinic to thank the staff who made their dream possible.

“We gave them cards and photos to put on the wall. 

“Not a day goes by that one of us doesn’t say, ‘we made him with a little help from magic.’ Without the doctors and nurses at that clinic, he wouldn’t be here.”

Ace is now a happy, thriving two-year-old.

“He’s a very good boy. He loves animals, like Ace Ventura,” she said.

“It’s like looking at a piece of your heart running out into the world. We still can’t believe it.”

‘Covid nearly killed my baby girl – I still have nightmares’

A mum who gave birth to twin girls nine weeks early at home was devastated when doctors told her one of her babies had just hours left to live after contracting Covid while in hospital.

Mum-of-four Chloe Connolly gave birth to Esmaè and Averly in the bedroom of her home with the help of partner Darren McGuinness in North Lanarkshire on September 7, 2021.

She was on the phone to paramedics after she began going into labour but said the twins were born by the time an ambulance arrived.

“I was in pain all day and felt sick, but I went about as normal and went to bed early,” she recalled.

“I woke up with really bad contractions, and we phoned paramedics – they came ten minutes after Esmae was born.”

The twins were rushed to the neonatal unit at University Hospital Wishaw.

But their situation took a turn for the worse when Averly, who had a chronic lung condition, caught Covid in hospital.

Chloe and Darren were told she wouldn’t survive.

“The doctor said he didn’t know if she would even make it through the next hour,” she said. “I fell to the ground and couldn’t stop crying.

“I couldn’t even take in what they were saying. I was planning funerals for my baby in my head.”

Averly was taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Glasgow and put into an induced coma for two weeks.

Chloe and Darren split their time between the two hospitals to keep an eye on each baby.

“I thought ‘she won’t survive this.’

“The doctors were phoning hospitals in London and America. I thought ‘they didn’t even know what to do, so what chance have we got?’ We’d lost all hope.”

But by day eight, Averly’s condition began to improve. She was taken off the oscillator and put on a conventional ventilator.

The family were told if her recovery continued, she would soon be reunited with her twin in Wishaw.

“I burst into tears. I was so emotional at the thought of them being together again,” Chloe said.

“The nurses had told me Esme wasn’t settling at night – they said it was because she knew Averly wasn’t there – they had been together in the womb for so long.”

On October 18, Averly was back by her sister’s side.

“It was the most amazing feeling. Putting them together in the twin cot, they were rolling on to each other and their hands kept touching. It felt like a lifetime they were apart.

“I kept thinking what a fighter Averly must be as she was not meant to be here.”

The twins were discharged from hospital on November 12.

Averly and Esmae have achondroplasia, which is a bone growth disorder, and chronic lung disease – but their mum says they’ve made remarkable progress since 2021.

They love playing with their sister Aillie, who is a year older, and big brother Olly, 11.

Chloe Connolly

“The three girls act like triplets – though Aillie likes to think she’s a wee mum to them,” Chloe said.

“They love nursery – Averly uses a feeding tube but it doesn’t bother her, she takes it all in her stride. She has come on so much.”

But years on, Chloe is still haunted by the memory of nearly losing her baby girl.

“There were people who said Covid was ‘only a cold’; it nearly killed my daughter,” she said. “I still have nightmares from that – it was traumatising.

“Their dad doesn’t like talking about it – it’s impacted him in a bad way.

“They are too young to remember, which is kind of a blessing.

“But I look back at what we’ve been through as a family – and we are all still here. If we can get through that, we can get through anything.”

‘I was watching my newborn baby through a screen’

Tracey Maguire, the mum of one of Scotland’s youngest-ever coronavirus patients, has reflected on the trauma of being separated from her baby as the first lockdown came into force.

Peyton Maguire battled the virus after being born eight weeks premature on March 26, 2020, at Wishaw Hospital – and her remarkable tale of survival made headlines around the globe.

The newborn was two and a half weeks old and weighed just four pounds when she tested positive for Covid while in an incubator in the neonatal unit, despite having none of the tell-tale symptoms of the condition.

Tracy told STV News: “They told me we weren’t going to be allowed to go in to see her for at least two weeks at that point. I remember crying down the phone and saying ‘please, I have only spent 14 hours with my child since she’s been born.’ They phoned back and said, ‘You can come but your husband can’t.’ That was a blow for AJ.             

“I remember getting pictures with Peyton coming through on an app. I’d sit there thinking to myself, ‘How is it that I’ve just had this baby, and I’m watching her through a screen?’

Peyton had been delivered early by C-section after Tracy was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a condition that affects pregnant women, following an appointment with her community midwife.

The newborn was being cared for in an incubator in Wishaw’s neonatal unit when Tracy and AJ were told the alarming news that she’d tested positive for coronavirus.

“It was a frightening time and very difficult for us,” Tracy said.

“Normally, if you’ve got a child that’s premature, you would get to spend a lot of time with them in neonatal and they encourage that. But the regulations and restrictions meant that they had to put it on a timetable. So I got 10am to 11am every day.

“A lovely nurse looked after Peyton when she was born, changed her first nappy, gave her the first bottle. I look at two sides of this and think it’s amazing she had somebody there to do it for her, but it should have been me. That’s the conflict inside of me.”

She added: “They are hard memories. They are meant to be beautiful memories of your baby being born and holding her, and the memories are very difficult because.

“Part of me thinks if I had her in May, would it have been very different? The answer is yes.”

Contributed

Now four years old, Peyton loves making new friends and playing with her stepbrother, James and one-year-old sister, Harley.

Tracy and AJ say their experience as a family inspired their decision to coach boxing classes for young people who are struggling post-lockdown.

“The memories and hard bits stay with us, but Peyton has been resilient to it all,” Tracy said.

“Peyton’s strength set the fire in us because she fought to be here.  She was tiny and we looked at her then and thought, if she has that amount of fire in her at that size, then we have it to. She inspires us. 

“Everything shut down when Peyton was small and we did worry for a while as there were no baby groups and it was harder to socialise. Now she is really confident and making friends.

“We just want to make the world better for her, Harley, James and another other kids in need of our support.” 

Former Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection

Adwoa Safo, the former Member of Parliament for Dome/Kwabenya, has said that the demolition of a bus terminal belonging to her father’s transport company in Agbogbloshie, Accra, contributed to the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) defeat in the 2024 election.

According to the former Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, a significant number of her father’s church members, who traditionally delivered substantial votes for the NPP during elections, were affected by the demolition, which effectively led to the collapse of her father’s transport business.

Speaking in an interview with Okay FM, monitored by GhanaWeb, the lawyer and politician expressed her disappointment that her own party, while in government, could be so callous toward her father’s business, despite his support for the party in various ways.

“My father, Apostle Dr. Engineer Kwadwo Safo, had a transport company called Imperial Express, which operated buses traveling across the country and to neighboring countries, including Togo and Benin. The bus terminal was located in Agbogbloshie near the ICGC church. One morning, we woke up to see a bulldozer demolishing the bus terminal. When I called the then Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, he told me that it was an ‘order from above.’ At that time, my own party was in government. They destroyed my father’s business—we could not even take a single piece of paper. We were not given any notice to allow us to remove our belongings from the premises.

Those were the same buses we used to transport voters to various parts of the country to vote for the party during elections. In 2012, a significant number of voters were transported to different destinations across the country to vote for the NPP. The land on which the bus terminal stood belongs to the government and had been rented to us, for which we were making payments. Who is the person above who gave the order for the demolition? What pains me the most is that, up until now, the land has been walled off, and nothing has been done with it.”

Demolition of my father’s bus terminal under NPP contributed to the party’s defeat- Sarah Adwoa Safo#UTVGhana pic.twitter.com/6rEH18k5Oo

— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) March 20, 2025

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Meanwhile, catch the first in the series of our special episodes on Forgotten Forts on People and Places on GhanaWeb TV below. This episode focuses on Fort Amsterdam at Abandze:

A garden centre is offering a new hands-on Mother’s Day experience.

Dobbies Garden Centres will be hosting the event at its Swindon store this March, combining a luxury afternoon tea with a seasonal planting workshop.

The Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea and Planting Experience will take place from Friday, March 28 to Sunday, March 30.

Guests will be able to explore a selection of new plants and flowers to create an outdoor planter bursting with vibrant seasonal colour.

Read more: Swindon council leader meets with Keir Starmer in Downing Street

Attendees will enjoy a 90-minute experience that begins with a relaxing luxury afternoon tea.

This treat will feature three tiers of sweet and savoury delights, plus unlimited tea and coffee refills.

The luxury afternoon tea will offer an assortment of freshly made finger sandwiches, including soft cheese and cucumber, egg mayonnaise with watercress, and ham, rocket and red onion chutney.

Customers can also enjoy scones, served with Cornish clotted cream and a pot of jam, and a selection of sweet treats, including a gin and raspberry cheesecake, Victoria sponge with vanilla buttercream, red berry and matcha Battenberg and macaroons dipped in white chocolate.

Guests can upgrade the hot drink to a speciality tea, coffee, or hot chocolate for 50p, or make the occasion extra special by adding a 200ml bottle of Prosecco for £6.50 per adult (aged 18 and over).

After enjoying afternoon tea, guests will head to the plant area in the Swindon store where Dobbies’ Green Team will host a Q&A and guide them through creating a seasonal planter to take home (worth up to £40).

Each guest will receive gloves and all the tools they need, as well as a Cotswold planter made of 100 per cent recycled plastic (available in white or aqua) and a variety of spring plants, carefully selected by Dobbies’ Senior Buyer, Nigel Lawton.

Guests will learn planting tips and techniques before creating their very own seasonal planter to take home and enjoy for months to come.

Read more: Great Western Hospital ‘extremely busy’ after long waits

Dobbies’ Events Programme Manager, Ayesha Nickson, said: “Our Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea and Planting Experience, combining delicious sweet and savoury treats with a fun and creative activity, is the perfect way to celebrate the special women in your life.

“Whether you’re spending the day with your mum, a loved one, or treating yourself, we’re excited to welcome garden fans to this memorable event.”

Tickets for the Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea and Planting Experience are priced at £45 per person.

Fellow trustee Claire Oakley gave birth to her son Noah at Dorchester four years ago and had him with her when staff gave her and her husband his diagnosis.

“The neonatal nurse specialist picked up Noah, gave him to us and just said ‘he’s still your baby boy, he’s the same child as he was five minutes ago,’” Ms Oakley said.

“You really look to the health professionals when you get a diagnosis to see how worried you should be.

“Because everyone was so calm, we were so calm and it really did set us up for such a lovely journey to the start of Noah’s life.”

A sheriff leading the inquiry into the death of three new-borns at Lanarkshire’s Wishaw General Hospital has made 11 recommendations including the creation of a ‘trigger list’

Emma Owen, a 22 year old mother, is courageously sharing her story after the tragic death of her new-born son, which she believes could have been prevented with proper hospital protocols. Emma’s son, Owen, tragically passed away less than 24 hours after his birth at Wishaw General Hospital on July 1, 2023.

In the week leading up to his death, Emma visited the maternity unit four times due to severe headaches, swelling and general illness. Despite being 35 weeks pregnant, she was sent home each time with only pain relief.

It wasn’t until the pain became unbearable, preventing her from sitting or lying down, that Emma and her partner, Joe Turner, returned to the hospital demanding proper medical attention.

READ MORE: Major DNA breakthrough in unsolved mystery of baby found dead in stream 14 years ago

This comes after a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) ruled that the deaths of three other new-borns at a Lanarkshire hospital could have been avoided. The investigation found that these tragedies could have been prevented if the mothers had received appropriate healthcare in the days leading up to their births and subsequent deaths.

The sheriff leading the inquiry made 11 recommendations following the findings, including the establishment of a ‘trigger list’ to identify and assess early labour symptoms and guidelines on when women should seek clinical assessment, reports the Daily Record.

In a harrowing ordeal, Emma, from Hamilton, underwent a traumatic experience following what was determined to be a placenta abruption – a serious condition where the placenta detaches from the uterus before delivery. Despite an urgent C-section, her baby Owen did not survive.

Revealing her heart-rending story to the Record, Emma expressed: “I knew something wasn’t right so I went to the hospital and they sent me home with co-codamol. The headache never went away so I went back again the next day and they sent me home again.

“I knew something wasn’t right so I went back three days later. By that point, my headache had gotten a lot worse. I kept telling them something wasn’t right and they ended up finding protein in my urine.”

Desperate for help, she continued: “They were going to keep me in but instead at the last minute, they sent me home again. I was sent home and given dihydrocodeine even though the other pain killers just weren’t working.

“When I started feeling contractions I thought they had just come early, I didn’t know any difference because it was my first pregnancy. I ended up not being able to sit or lie down. I was in so much pain, so we went back up to the hospital again.”

Emma lamented the negligence: “A doctor came in and felt my tummy and suspected I had a placenta abruption. This had been going on throughout the week and had been missed four times. I displayed all the symptoms of a placenta abruption but each time I was turned away.”

Owen was critically ill at birth and struggled due to a lack of oxygen during and just after delivery. His life support was turned off, resulting in his passing on July 2, 2023.

Emma opened up, saying: “Losing Owen broke our hearts. It made us depressed and angry at the world. We put our trust into doctors and midwives but they did us wrong. I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone.”

The investigation pinpointed multiple shortcomings in NHS procedures and identified steps that could have been taken to avert these premature losses.

Emma is convinced that recommendations from a recent FAI into the deaths of three other infants might have spared Owen if implemented sooner.

The inquiry also looked into Leo Lamont’s death, who died at Monklands Hospital on 15 February 2019. It also scrutinised the events leading to Ellie McCormick’s death at Wishaw General on 5 March 2019 and Mira-Belle Bosch at the same venue on 2 July 2021.

Like Emma, Nadine Rooney experienced the agony of losing her son Leo after suffering a placental abruption, having requested medical assistance for back pain hours earlier from University Hospital Monklands.

Nicola McCormick, Ellie’s mother, had noted intermittent bleeding and a decrease in baby movement.

On the eve of Ellie’s birth, Nicola reached out to Wishaw General Hospital’s maternity ward regarding her contractions, only to be told to take painkillers and to call back if her situation worsened.

Mira-Belle Bosch had reached out to the maternity unit at Wishaw General Hospital after her waters broke and she began having contractions. She was instructed to come in for a check-up and was subsequently sent home with some advice.

The next day, she contacted the maternity unit once more due to contractions, stating she felt comfortable at home without any worries, and was advised to stay put.

Emma lamented: “There will always be ifs and buts in our minds because we know Owen’s death could have been prevented. If there had been proper earlier healthcare and intervention, I 100% believe he could still be here.

“To know the health board had multiple baby losses before we lost Owen is appalling. If they had the recommendations set out in the FAI in place already, then we wouldn’t be grieving the loss of our children today.

“Training should be in place to understand what an abruption is and what the symptoms are around it. As well as other losses of care. It’s horrible to think somebody else went through this before me and that they didn’t ever fix it, which led to more grief and heartbreak.”

NHS Lanarkshire has been approached for comment.

Vivian Jenna Wilson, the daughter of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, has made headlines once again by revealing shocking aspects of her estranged relationship with her father in a frank interview with Teen Vogue. The 20-year-old, who has been estranged from Musk since coming out as transgender five years ago, expressed her lack of fear regarding her father’s immense wealth, describing him as “a pathetic man-child” in a candid conversation.

The interview, published on March 20, 2025, marks Vivian’s second public discussion about her relationship with Musk. She revealed that the two have not spoken since 2020, a gap that speaks to the depth of their estrangement. In a moment of brutal honesty, she remarked, “Why should I feel scared of this man? Because he’s rich? Oh, no, I’m trembling. Ooh, shivering in my boots here. I don’t give a f**k how much money anyone has.” Vivian’s words powerfully convey her determination to dissociate from her father’s influence and public persona.

The East Devon District Council countryside team is inviting people to enjoy freshly baked cream teas at the Discovery Hut on Sunday, March 30.

The event runs from 11am to 3pm, with fresh scones, jam, and cream served in exchange for a suggested donation of £3.50.

All proceeds will support the ongoing management of the much-loved local nature reserve.

Councillor Geoff Jung, the portfolio holder for coast, country, and environment, said: “Mother’s Day is traditionally one of the busiest days on the reserve.

“This year, we’re inviting everyone to visit the Discovery Hut to treat their mum, or themselves, to a cream tea in the heart of the wetlands.”

Seaton Wetlands, managed by the East Devon District Council countryside team, is a haven for both people and wildlife with nearly 4km of level trails and boardwalks along the River Axe.

It is an ideal location for a Mother’s Day stroll.

The Discovery Hut, run by dedicated volunteers, provides visitors with drinks, refreshments, and information about the site’s wildlife.

A live nest cam offers the chance to observe nesting sand martins, swifts, and kestrels.

The Discovery Hut’s winter opening hours are 11am to 1pm from Tuesday to Thursday, and 11am to 3pm from Friday to Monday.

From Easter, these will be extended to 10am to 1pm during the week, and 10am to 4pm from Friday to Monday, subject to volunteer availability.

For more information on this event and other activities, visit the council’s website.