Now in its second year, the three-day festival is a collaboration between Blackfriars Restaurant and St Dominic’s Brewery in Newcastle – running from May 22 to 24. 

Rebecca Armstrong, general manager at Blackfriars and organiser of the event, said: “We’re delighted to bring the Beer Festival back for a second year – and with an even bigger line-up.

Blackfriars beer festival in 2025 (Image: Supplied)

“It’s a chance to toast Newcastle’s brewing heritage while supporting a charity that makes a real impact in our communities.

“Whether you’re a seasoned beer enthusiast or simply looking for a brilliant day out, there’ll be something for everyone.”

The festival will feature eight breweries, including Flash House and Wear Beer.

Blackfriars beer festival in 2025 (Image: Supplied)

St Dominic’s, Blackfriars’ onsite brewery launched in 2024, will showcase its growing range of beers, including a Porter, Blonde and Triple alongside other styles.

Visitors can take part in tasting sessions throughout the weekend, with opportunities to meet the brewers and learn about their craft.

The event draws inspiration from medieval “Church Ales” – gatherings where brewers sold beer to raise money for community causes.

Blackfriars beer festival in 2025 (Image: Supplied)

Staying “true to that tradition”, £1 from every ticket sold will be donated to the Newcastle United Foundation.

The foundation uses the power of football to improve lives across the region.

The festival will be held in Blackfriars’ all-weather, dog-friendly Cloister Garden and promises live music from singer-songwriter Sam Rea, BBQ street food and expanded merchandise stalls.

Brewing has long been part of Blackfriars’ history.

Dominican friars brewed ale on the site centuries ago, and the location later served as a meeting place for Newcastle’s Brewers’ Guild.

Today, the festival continues the tradition by uniting the region’s brewing community.

Tickets cost £9.50 and include a St Dominic’s-branded schooner, festival brochure, and a first beer.

They are available from the Blackfriars Restaurant website or contact 0191 261 5945.

Blackfriars is located on Friars Street, Newcastle, NE1 4XN.

Updates about the beer festival can be found by following @blackfriarsrestaurant on Facebook and Instagram.

A person said it “all kicked off” on the night a car containing five teenagers crashed into a Cambridgeshire river. A teenage girl’s body has been recovered, while a man is still missing.

Emergency services were called to the crash in North Brink, Wisbech at around 8.20pm on Tuesday (March 17). A Volkswagen Polo had crashed into the River Nene along the road.

The body of Eden Bunn, 16, from Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire, was found on Wednesday (March 18). Declan Berry, 18, from Wisbech, is still missing.

Three other teenagers, including two 16-year-old girls and an 18-year-old boy, managed to escape the car and were taken to hospital. One person who lives on North Brink, and asked to remain anonymous, told CambridgeshireLive about the night of the crash.

He said: “We saw fire engines on the night, but that’s all we saw. [But] that’s when it all kicked off.”

The man described North Brink as normally a “quiet road”. However, he added: “Except it’s [currently] being used as a diversion at the moment [for Barton Road]. It’s been manic down here since.”

Searches of the River Nene continued on Friday (March 20). Tributes have been paid to Eden and Declan at the crash scene, with flowers laid on the ground.

On Thursday (March 19), Eden’s family paid tribute to her. Her family described her as the “kindest” and “most loving girl”.

They added: “Her horses – Daisy and Dolly – were her world, and she was ours. Words cannot describe the tragedy that will stay with us until we are able to meet her again.”

Declan’s family said: “We are absolutely devastated beyond words and ask for privacy during this tragic time.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said on Friday that Congress should “preempt state AI laws” that it views as too burdensome, laying out a broad framework for how it wants Congress to address concerns about artificial intelligence without curbing growth or innovation in the sector.

The legislative blueprint outlines a half-dozen guiding principles for lawmakers, focusing on protecting children, preventing electricity costs from surging, respecting intellectual property rights, preventing censorship and educating Americans on using the technology.

The announcement comes as state governments have forged ahead on their own regulations for AI while civil liberties and consumer rights groups lobby for more regulations on the powerful technology. But the industry and the White House have pushed back, arguing that a patchwork of rules would hurt growth. Trump signed an executive order in December to block states from crafting their own regulations.

“The Trump Administration is committed to winning the AI race to usher in a new era of human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security for the American people,” the White House said Friday in announcing its framework. “Achieving these goals requires a commonsense national policy framework that both enables American industry to innovate and thrive and ensures that all Americans benefit from this technological revolution.”

Four states — Colorado, California, Utah and Texas — have already passed laws that set some rules for AI across the private sector, but the White House is calling for “strong federal leadership” to make sure the public can trust how artificial intelligence is being used in their lives. The state-level laws include limiting collection of certain personal information and requiring more transparency from companies.

As backlash against data centers has increased along with rising power prices, the White House had previously stepped up pressure on AI companies and the power sector to do more to address the issue — including having AI companies sign voluntary pledges earlier this month to build their own power generation plants.

The framework recommends against wading into the legal fights between artists and creators and the technology companies that have ingested huge amounts of copyrighted works to build AI systems that can generate new text, images and sound.

The Trump administration “believes that training of AI models on copyrighted material does not violate copyright laws,” according to the document, but acknowledges “arguments to the contrary exist and therefore supports allowing the Courts to resolve this issue.”

There are dozens of lawsuits pending from writers and publishers, visual artists, music record labels and others. Judges have largely sided with AI developers in allowing for the “fair use” of copyrighted works to create something new, but some have questioned how the materials were obtained. A federal judge in September approved a $1.5 billion settlement between artificial intelligence company Anthropic and authors who allege nearly half a million books had been illegally pirated to train its chatbot.

—

O’Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

Three victims of Provisional IRA bombings in England have discontinued their damages claim against former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams.

Their lawyers told London’s High Court their decision on Friday, the last day of the two-week trial.

The claim will be discontinued with “no order as to costs” after “proceedings developed overnight,” according to Anne Studd KC, who was representing the victims.

Mr Adams welcomed the decision, saying it “brings to an emphatic end a case that should never have been brought”.

Mr Adams, who became ​leader of Sinn Fein ‌in 1983 when it was the IRA’s political ​wing, was for many years the best-known face of the movement seeking to ​end British rule ⁠in Northern Ireland.

He had ⁠long faced accusations that he was a member ‌of the Provisional IRA, including from former members of the
paramilitary group, which ‌he has always denied.

Mr Adams was being sued for £1 in damages by three men.

The three claimants, who were injured in three IRA bombings in the 1970s and 1990s, ⁠were seeking a finding on ​the balance of probabilities that ​Adams was personally liable for ​the bombings as a senior member ⁠of the IRA.

John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London; Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim; and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, all alleged that Mr Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates.

In written submissions for the trial, Ms Studd said the three men claimed that none of the bombings “took place without the knowledge and agreement” of Mr Adams.

In his evidence, Mr Adams said he had “no involvement in or advance knowledge of” any of the bombings and that he was “glad that the IRA has left the stage”.

He accused opponents of Sinn Fein, of which he was president from 1983 to 2018, of having “repeatedly sought to conflate” the party with the Provisional IRA, stressing that they are “separate organisations”.

However, he said that while he believed in the “broad principle that people have the right to resist occupation”, he was “very, very clear that there were dastardly things that were done that should never have been done”.

His lawyer, Edward Craven KC, told the court that the evidence against Mr Adams by the victims was “extremely limited and we say bordering on non-existent”.

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He suggested that the men were using the claim to try to have a “public inquiry-style” hearing into finding historical truths and said it could constitute an abuse of the court system.

The claim should be dismissed for being brought too late, he argued.

In their evidence, the bombing victims said they did not bring claims earlier as they did not realise they could do so, could not afford to, were suffering from mental or physical injuries and feared violent reprisals.

In this statement today, Mr Adams said: “During my two days of evidence, I categorically rejected all of the claims being made.

“I am glad to have been one of those who helped bring an end to the conflict.

“I want to thank all of those who have expressed their solidarity with me and the Sinn Fein team, which worked closely with me.”

Weather warnings remain in place as Storm Therese batters the island

Holiday hotspots Tenerife and Lanzarote continue to endure heavy rains and strong winds today as Storm Therese batters the Canary Islands.

Weather warnings remain in force for all of the Spanish archipelago today, March 20, with amber alerts in place for La Palma, El Hierro, La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria, where winds are expected to reach up to 100km/h in mountainous areas.

Meanwhile Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are covered by yellow warnings for winds reaching 70km/h. Yellow coastal warnings are in force for all of the islands with force seven winds (50-61km/h) whipping up large swells.

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A special weather advisory has been issued by Aemet, Spain’s national weather agency, and remains in place until Sunday. Forecasting the weather for today, Friday, it states: “The frontal system will finish crossing the archipelago, extending rainfall to the eastern islands.

“Heavy, and locally very heavy, showers are possible into the early morning hours, particularly in southern Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Over the next few hours, a further increase in instability is expected, with showers that may be accompanied by thunderstorms and small hail in the western islands.

“These showers could be locally heavy or very heavy and persistent on the southern and western slopes of La Palma and Tenerife. Very strong gusts of southwest wind are also expected to continue, with a probability of exceeding 90 km/h on the summits and leeward areas of the larger islands. The rough seas will continue throughout the archipelago, with waves exceeding 5 meters in the same areas as on Thursday. “

It warns that the unstable weather conditions are likely to continue into the weekend. The stormy weather has triggered a swathe of warnings from the Canary Islands government, including issuing alerts and pre-alerts for heavy rain, landslides and flooding.

Schools in the Canary Islands have closed today with no in-person teaching taking place. On Wednesday, more than 20 flights were cancelled at airports across the Canary Islands while several more were diverted. Most of them were inter-island flights.

On Tiktok people have shared an insight into the weather in the Canary Islands, with one holidaymaker describing Tenerife as ‘Baltic’. It comes as Aemet recorded the lowest temperature in Spain at Teide National Park weather station on Thursday, where temperatures dropped to -4.5C at 1am, Canarian Weekly reports. Aemet currently forecasts daytime highs of around 18-20 degrees for the Canary Islands.

TikTok user @wendy.utbfashionbeauty4 posted a video on Thursday showing cloudy skies in Tenerife. She said: “This is currently Tenerife, let me tell you it’s absolutely Baltic. There is not letting up in this weather at all. Such a shame, not seeing one person on a sun lounger, everyone’s wrapped up, in coats, anoraks, it’s absolutely freezing, there’s no warm air whatsoever.” She added: “It’s just so sad for those who are landing, the weather app just shows rain, rain, rain.”

Another TikTok user @Payne Life shared a video of storms on the horizon in Lanzarote with the caption: “PoV: you picked the worst time to go to Lanzarote”.

He said: “Have you ever seen such a bleak-looking day”, before sharing clips of the rain and sarcastically saying it’s “beautiful”. Another clip shows torrential rain at the poolside with strong gusts of wind, which he said “looks like a hurricane.”

For more of today’s top stories, click here.

There have been calls to extend the vaccine programme in Wales after the deaths of two young people this week

Health officials have issued an update on meningitis cases in Wales as calls grow to extend the vaccine programme after the deaths of two young people. Two students have died and the number of cases of meningitis linked to an outbreak in Kent has risen to 29, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said as alerts have been issued, including to schools and universities in Wales.

Today Public Health Wales confirmed that so far this year, between January 1 and March 19, there have been five confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal infection reported in Wales and in the last five years the disease has claimed five deaths.

Between 2020 and 2025 five deaths in Wales were confirmed invasive meningococcal cases that are recorded – two in 2022, one in 2024 and two in 2025. Three were due to type B meningococcal bacteria, one to type W and one where type was unknown, PHW data shows. Make sure you never miss Wales’ biggest updates by getting our daily newsletter

PHW issued advice to schools, universities and GPs in Wales following the fatal meningitis outbreak in Kent.

Cases have been confirmed at two universities, Kent and Canterbury Christchurch, as well as a number of schools in the county.

The outbreak is thought to have originated in the Club Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury.

Students in Kent have been given, and are being offered, preventative antibiotics and the meningitis B vaccine to help prevent infection. Hundreds queued on campus for the jabs but around 100 students were turned away on Thursday. officials at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus stopped letting people in “due to capacity”.

The family of Juliette Kenny, a sixth former and one of the two young people confirmed to have died in the “explosive” outbreak in Kent are backing calls from the Meningitis Research Foundation to extend NHS access for the menB vaccine to teenagers and young adults.

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Reports say that around 700 staff and students were in the queue to get a vaccine at the University of Kent by 8.45am on Friday morning,

Pharmacies have been inundated with people wishing to pay for menB jabs privately.

Meningitis B vaccination is not routinely offered to children aged over two years or adults through the NHS in Wales. Health boards are asking people not to contact their GP surgery, or school immunisation teams to request the MenB vaccine.

University of Kent students returning to Wales may be offered preventative antibiotics and vaccination, if appropriate.

Eligibility for meningitis vaccine in Wales

Young people aged 13-14 years (school year 9) are routinely offered the MenACWY vaccine alongside the teenage 3-in 1 booster vaccine. It is a safe, non-live injection that protects against four strains of meningococcal bacteria (A, C, W, and Y).

These vaccines are free from the NHS as part of the national immunisation programme.

In a few areas, where the vaccine is not given in school, you will be invited to have it at your GP surgery.

Young people who are home-schooled or not in mainstream education may be offered the vaccine at their GP surgery or community vaccination centre. Appointments need to be made when due.

MenACWY vaccine eligibility also includes:

• Those who missed vaccination up to their 25th birthday.
• People with an increased risk of meningococcal disease due to an existing medical condition or treatment, travel, migration or their job.
• Close contacts of a confirmed case of meningococcal disease may also be recommended to receive the MenACWY vaccine.
• PHW says on its website: “It is important that young people who may have missed the MenACWY vaccine get it as soon as possible. This is important if they are planning to or are already attending college or university. Close mixing in confined spaces with lots of new people can increase the spread of infections. This is the perfect opportunity for infections such as meningococcal disease to spread.”

The introduction of a MenC vaccine programme in 1999 resulted in a significant reduction of meningococcal disease, PHW adds on it website.

This continued following the introduction of the MenACWY vaccine in 2015, with a further reduction in cases of MenC and MenW disease, .

In July 2025, the Hib/MenC vaccine given at 12 months was discontinued. This made the MenACWY vaccine given at age 13-14 the only MenC containing vaccine in the routine schedule.

Maintaining good uptake levels of the MenACWY vaccine is important to provide protection for young people.

PHW says this includes catching up on missed vaccinations. Uptake of the MenACWY vaccine also provides herd immunity. Herd immunity is when there is indirect protection by reducing the incidence of the disease across the population.

The Welsh Government was contacted for comment on calls to extend the meningitis B vaccine programme while in England health secretary Wes Streeting said there is “plenty of stock of vaccine supply in the country”.

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A Co Antrim man awaiting trial for murdering Chloe Mitchell today has now secured fresh legal representation, a court heard today.

Brandon John Rainey’s previous legal team walked away from the case last week stating that they had been “professionally compromised” and said the defendant had told them that he no longer wished them to represent him.

Rainey (29), of James Street, Ballymena, is currently awaiting trial and denies murdering the 21-year-old on June 3, 2023, and preventing the lawful burial of her remains.

The defendant was produced from custody to again attend the court proceedings while Ms Mitchell’s family and friends sat in the public gallery.

At Belfast Crown Court today, senior defence counsel Des Fahy KC told Madam Justice McBride that he has now come into the case to represent Rainey.

“I am here this morning, principally out of courtesy to the court, to inform the court that I have been recently instructed in the case as of yesterday (Thursday) and there is an application to transfer the legal aid certificate to my instructing solicitor (Phoenix Law),” said Mr Fahy.

“My position is that as of this morning I don’t have any papers. I was first approached yesterday (Thursday) and my instructing solicitor was instructed last Friday.

“I am out of courtesy letting you know that matters are in train and I have agreed to accept instructions. I understand that my solicitor will get receipt of the papers today (from the former solicitors). So those papers will be in transit today.”

With the trial listed to start after the Easter recess, Madam Justice McBride said there is an “urgency about this case proceeding” following representations by the Mitchell family that this case should be exempted from the strike and that was agreed by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA).

Mr Fahy replied: “I can tell you from The Bar that I will give this case my full attention once I have received the papers but as of yet I am not able to give you any indication how long that is going to take. I don’t have a sense of the extent of the papers.”

Senior prosecution counsel David Russell KC said he was grateful to Mr Fahy for the way he had outlined the defence position and said the case should be reviewed next Friday, March 27.

“Hopefully by then Mr Fahy will have been able to triage the papers and have some idea of where we are going,” added Mr Russell.

Madam Justice McBride said she was conscious the Easter was coming “and we need to get this case on as soon as possible after the Easter recess”.

The senior judge agreed to adjourn that matter until next Friday and said she expected to be addressed by Mr Fahy on a timeframe that he considered was necessary in taking the case forward.

Madam Justice McBride also agreed to transfer the legal aid certificate in the case from Ballymena-based James Ballentine & Son solicitors to Phoenix Law.

“I want to make it clear to the family who have attended today about the reasons which you obviously understand why this matter has not been able to proceed,” said Madam Justice McBride.

“But it is to be welcomed now that the defendant has engaged the services of a solicitor and senior counsel.

“Mr Fahy has given his commitment to the court to give this matter a priority and by next Friday hopefully we will be in a position to fix a date as to when this matter will proceed,” she added.

Chloe Mitchell’s remains were found days after she went missing. She was last seen alive on CCTV in Ballymena town centre in the early hours of June 3, 2023 and an extensive search operation was launched by the PSNI.

Detectives investigating her disappearance later launched a murder inquiry after human remains were discovered in the Co Antrim town.

This led officers to attend a flat in the James Street area of the town which prompted Rainey’s arrest.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

​The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has improved the rating from requires improvement to good for medical care and has re-rated urgent and emergency care as requires improvement at Scarborough Hospital, which is run by the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

​The NHS Trust welcomed the findings of the CQC’s assessment, which followed an inspection that was carried out in October, and highlighted improvements in care, particularly within medical care services.

​The CQC said it was “disappointing that issues we highlighted at the previous inspection still hadn’t been addressed and new breaches were found”.

​Inspectors said they found continued breaches of regulations in relation to staffing, good management, and complaints.

​Dr Karen Stone, medical director atYork and Scarborough Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We welcome the CQC’s report and are pleased it recognises the improvements we’ve made, particularly in our medical care services. It’s reassuring that inspectors saw the compassionate, person-centred care our colleagues provide every day.

​“The report also clearly sets out where we must continue to improve. We acknowledge the pressures our teams are working under, particularly within urgent and emergency care, where access, patient flow and ambulance handover performance must improve, and in medical care, where some patients have experienced delays in accessing specialist support.”

​In its inspection of urgent and emergency services, the CQC re-rated the ‘safe, effective, responsive and well-led’ categories as requiring improvement. Caring dropped from good to requires improvement.

​Inspectors found continued breaches of regulations in relation to medical staff training, access to services and consent, and the CQC also identified new breaches in relation to infection prevention and control, and assessing people’s needs.

​Karen Knapton, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: “In urgent and emergency care, it was concerning that people couldn’t always access care, support and treatment when they needed it. At the time of the inspection, the number of people admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival was 62 per cent, which was worse than the England average.

​“Additionally, ambulance handovers weren’t consistently carried out within the required timeframes due to high demand. Although hospital staff were working hard to try and see people in a timely way, only 40 per cent were handed over to the hospital within 15 minutes, compared with the national average of 65 per cent. The delay to people receiving appropriate care could put them at risk and put other people in the community at risk who required an ambulance.”

​Ms Knapton said: “However, in both departments, people told us that staff treated them with kindness, empathy and compassion. Across all wards, staff interactions with people and those close to them were consistently warm and respectful.

​“We have told the trust where it needs to make the necessary improvements and will continue to monitor both services to ensure people stay safe while this happens.”

​Commenting on the findings, the York and Scarborough NHS Trust’s medical director, Dr Stone, said: “We continue to take action across all areas highlighted, including strengthening training compliance, workforce capacity, infection prevention and control, medicines and environmental safety, and how we monitor and support patients while they are waiting.

​“I would like to thank all of our teams for their professionalism, kindness and dedication. We will continue building on the progress made and work closely with the CQC and our partners to provide safe, high-quality care for our communities.”

Adult passports will cost over £100 for the first time as the Home Office confirms an 8% price increase from 8 April

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Passport costs across all categories will rise substantially from next month following confirmation of proposed plans by the Home Office.

The Home Office has put forward an 8 per cent increase in UK passport prices, which could see an adult paying over £100 for the first time. The price of children’s and pensioners’ passports will also rise, with the changes scheduled to take effect from Wednesday, 8 April.

The Home Office stated it will “move towards a system that meets its costs through those who use it, reducing reliance on funding from general taxation”. The fee increases are subject to Parliamentary approval.

In a statement, the Home Office said: “The new fees will help the Home Office to continue to move towards a system that meets its costs through those who use it, reducing reliance on funding from general taxation.

“The Government does not make any profit from the cost of passport applications. The fees contribute to the cost of processing passport applications, consular support overseas, including for lost or stolen passports, and the cost of processing British citizens at UK borders,” reports the Mirror.

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How much is an adult passport?

From 8 April, the cost of a UK adult passport, for standard online applications, could be set to increase from £94.50 to £102. Meanwhile, postal passport applications could increase from £107 to £115.50 for adults.

How much is a passport for children?

The standard charge for a child’s passport through online applications could rise from £61.50 to £66.50, whilst postal applications could increase from £74 to £80 for children.

How much is a pensioner’s passport?

A standard, 32-page concessionary passport is available free of charge for those who were born on or before 2 September 1929 and at the time of their application, hold any British nationality.

The government said: “Customers who naturalised or registered as British nationals will still qualify regardless when they naturalised or registered.”

Whilst the passport itself is free, there may be some delivery charges to return the passport or to send any supporting documents.

Will next-day services increase?

Whilst it’s always advisable to apply for a new or replacement passport as early as possible, a next-day premium service is available in the UK. However, the new charges from 8 April could see this increase from £222 to £239.50.

How much will overseas UK passports cost?

Those applying overseas for a UK passport online can expect an increase from £108 to £116.50 for adults and from £70 to £75.50 for children. Meanwhile, overseas paper applications will rise from £120.50 to £130 for adults and from £82.50 to £89 for children.

The previous occasion UK passport prices increased was on 10 April 2025, when they rose by approximately 7 per cent. An adult passport jumped from £88.50 to £94.50, whilst a child’s online application increased from £57.50 to £61.50. Prior to 2025, price rises occurred in April 2024 and February 2023. The 2023 increase was notably the first hike in five years.

The government has urged anyone requiring a new passport to apply well ahead of time, as the renewal process can take up to three weeks in the UK, or even longer during busy travel periods. For further details or to apply for a new or replacement UK passport, visit the government website.

Millions of people have a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation, which causes the heart’s upper chambers or atria to beat chaotically rather than in a smooth, coordinated rhythm. For many, the symptoms can be mild with palpitations, fatigue or breathlessness, but the greatest danger is something far more serious – a stroke.

Tucked inside the heart is a tiny pouch called the left atrial appendage. When the heart beats erratically, blood can pool and sit still in this pouch instead of flowing normally – and still blood tends to clot. If one of those clots breaks free and travels to the brain, it can block bloodflow and cause a stroke. Atrial fibrillation makes you about five times more likely to have a stroke. The question for researchers, then, has been whether that pouch could simply be taken out of the equation.

Researchers recently revealed one possible answer – a new technique, so far tested only in animals, in which a magnetically guided liquid is injected into the heart, hardening to permanently seal the pouch from the inside. Early tests in rats and pigs suggest that this method could one day lower the risk of stroke in people with atrial fibrillation.

Current treatments are effective but imperfect. Today, most patients are prescribed blood-thinning drugs, such as anticoagulants. These drugs reduce the ability of blood to clot and significantly lower the risk of having a stroke.

However, anticoagulants come with trade-offs. They increase bleeding risk, which can be dangerous for some patients – particularly older adults or those with other medical conditions such as stomach ulcers, hypertension, liver or kidney disease and cancer. Some people cannot tolerate them or must stop treatment because of bleeding complications.

Another option is a procedure called left atrial appendage occlusion, in which doctors implant a small device to plug the appendage. The most widely known devices are delivered using a catheter and expand like a small metal umbrella to seal the opening.

These devices can be effective, but they are not perfect. Because the appendage varies widely in shape and size between patients, rigid implants may not always create a complete seal. Sometimes a little blood can leak around the edges, and small clots can form on the surface of the device. The parts that hold the device in place can also damage the heart tissue.

The newly reported approach takes a radically different path. Instead of inserting a rigid implant, researchers inject a magnetically responsive liquid, sometimes called a magnetofluid, directly into the left atrial appendage through a catheter.

Once inside the cavity, an external magnetic field helps guide and hold the fluid in place, so it fills the entire appendage, even against the force of circulating blood. Within minutes, the liquid reacts with water in the blood and transforms into a soft “magnetogel” that seals off the cavity.

Because the material begins as a liquid, it can adapt precisely to the highly irregular shape of each patient’s left atrial appendage. In theory, this allows it to create a more complete seal than conventional rigid devices. The gel also appears capable of integrating with the heart’s inner lining, forming a smooth surface that may reduce the chance of a clot forming.

Encouraging early results

So far, the technique has only been tested in animals. Researchers first evaluated the concept in rats and then progressed to experiments in pigs, an important milestone in cardiovascular research.

In the pig study, the magnetogel remained stable inside the appendage for 10 months with no evidence of a clot or leakage. The heart’s inner lining grew over the surface of the gel, creating a continuous, apparently healthy layer.

When compared with conventional metal occlusion devices in pigs, the magnetogel produced a smoother lining and avoided the tissue damage associated with anchoring barbs. Equally important, the researchers did not observe harmful biological effects in the animals.

Pigs are widely used in cardiovascular research because their hearts closely resemble human hearts, being similar in size, structure and function. Showing that the magnetofluid works safely in a pig heart therefore provides a valuable proof-of-concept. But it does not yet guarantee that the technology will be safe or effective in people.

Despite the promising results, the technique remains firmly in the experimental stage. Before human trials can begin, researchers must demonstrate long-term safety, refine how the material is delivered and ensure it behaves predictably in larger animal studies.

There are also some practical problems to fix. For example, the magnetic material can affect MRI heart scans, making parts of the heart harder to see. Problems like this need to be solved before it can be used in patients. Also, medical devices have to go through a lot of testing, so it will probably take many years before it can be used in real treatments.

If the technology ultimately proves safe and effective in humans, it could offer a new way to protect people with atrial fibrillation from stroke. A catheter-delivered liquid seal might provide an alternative for patients who cannot tolerate anticoagulant drugs and could overcome some of the limitations of existing occlusion devices.

Given that atrial fibrillation affects tens of millions of people worldwide, even modest improvements in stroke prevention could have a substantial impact on global health.

For now, the magnetic gel remains a laboratory innovation rather than a clinical therapy. But it highlights how advances in materials science and biomedical engineering are opening new possibilities for tackling one of cardiology’s most persistent challenges.