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Chelsea vs Brighton – Premier League LIVE: Blues look to end rancid recent record against the Seagulls plus updates of all other 2pm games

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Chelsea vs Brighton - Premier League LIVE: Blues look to end rancid recent record against the Seagulls plus updates of all other 2pm games

Follow Daily Mail Sport’s live coverage for the latest updates of Chelsea’s clash with Brighton at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, plus updates from Leeds vs Brentford and Sunderland vs Fulham.

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Man safely brought down after climbing scaffolding at Swan Lane Mills

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Man safely brought down after climbing scaffolding at Swan Lane Mills

Emergency services were called to Swan Lane Mills on Saturday, August 29, after the man was seen on scaffolding surrounding the building.

Video from the scene showed fire crews outside the mill with an aerial ladder platform deployed.

The incident attracted a crowd of onlookers, with one witness telling The Bolton News at the time that the man appeared to be “dancing away” on the scaffolding.

Greater Manchester Police has now confirmed that the man was brought down safely.

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A GMP spokesperson said: “This looks to be mental health related.

“The man was on scaffolding but safely brought down.”

Fire crews had attended the scene while efforts were made to bring the man down from the structure.

The former cotton mill was once recognised as the largest cotton spinning mill in the world and remains one of the borough’s prominent surviving industrial buildings.

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The site has been surrounded by scaffolding while work has been taking place at the historic complex.

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Iran’s leader calls on Muslim world to confront US, Israel

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Iran's leader calls on Muslim world to confront US, Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday called on leaders of Muslim countries to stand together against Israel and the United States, imploring them to “know your real enemy.”

The U.S. news network NBC said a team of its journalists was attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, while a British activist was set to appear in an Israeli court after Israeli settlers seized him and turned him over to police. Also Sunday, an Israeli airstrike on central Gaza killed at least two Palestinians, including a three-year-old boy, hospital authorities said.

Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

Iran’s Supreme Leader urges regional unity against US and Israel

Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a plea for Muslim cooperation and unity in a letter to religious leaders from Islamic countries attending a conference in Tehran, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported, urging cooperation and unity between them.

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He called the U.S. and Israel enemies of all Islamic nations.

“My enduring and repeating advice to rulers of Islamic nations,” he wrote, “is to know your real enemy, understand its plans and confront it.”

Khamenei still has not been seen publicly since his father and other senior leaders were killed in the war’s opening strikes on Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel attacked.

He has routinely opposed U.S. military presence in neighboring nations. The war has exposed deep divisions in the Muslim world after Iran struck targets in neighboring Gulf Arab countries during the fighting and restricted movement through the Strait of Hormuz.

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NBC says crew attacked by settlers in West Bank

Settlers attacked an NBC crew in the central West Bank Saturday, as they were interviewing a Palestinian woman who said she’d been driven out of her house by settlers, the network said.

NBC’s American correspondent Matt Bradley, two other crew members and the woman they were interviewing were all treated for injuries sustained during the attack, NBC said. There were no further details on their injuries.

The assault was caught on video and shared by NBC, with footage showing masked settlers approaching the crew with sticks and beating the crew’s vehicles.

Israel’s military said it was “aware of reports of Palestinian injuries, including a Palestinian woman who sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was evacuated by the Red Crescent for medical treatment.” It did not comment on the attack on the NBC crew.

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It was the latest in a growing wave of violence by West Bank settlers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare condemnation of the violence on Saturday. The Israeli leader has come under heavy U.S. criticism for the settler attacks.

Settlers seized British activist and held him locked in shed, lawyer says

Israeli settlers seized a British activist from a Palestinian village in the West Bank and locked him in a shed before turning him over to police, his lawyer said Sunday.

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The lawyer, Inbar Shaked Vardi, said settlers held her client, Finn Joughin, for half an hour Saturday before turning him over to Israeli police. Joughin was set to appear before a Jerusalem court later Sunday, she said.

Video showed two settlers, one armed, restraining Joughin and marching him away from the village.

It was not immediately clear what led to his capture. Settlers say he assaulted a child, accusations Vardi vehemently denied.

Settlers point to a video where the activist uses his body in an apparent attempt to block a settler boy from passing through a fence. Vardi said the video shows he was trying to protect the village.

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Police said they were investigating and holding Joughin in custody on suspicion of committing an indecent act against a minor.

Israeli strike kills 2 Palestinian in Gaza, including a 3-year-old

The strike hit a group of people in the western part of the city of Deir al-Balah, killing the child and a man Israel’s military said was a Hamas operative.

In a statement after the strike, the military identified the man as Hassam Osama Hussein Nasir. It said he had “posed an immediate threat,” without providing evidence.

The strike left an additional Palestinian wounded, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the casualties.

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The deaths were the latest among Palestinians in Gaza since a fragile October ceasefire deal attempted to halt more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli fire has killed at least 1,318 Palestinians since the October truce.

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AP reporter Samy Magdy contributed from Cairo. AP reporter Natalie Melzer contributed from Nahariya, Israel.

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First picture of pastor killed by falling sign at Big Church Festival

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Daily Record

Robert Guanco died and six other people were injured in the tragic incident.

The man who was killed after a wooden sign fell onto people at the Big Church Festival has been named.

Robert Guanco, 41, died and six people were injured after the huge sign reading ‘Everything’s Unmissable’ toppled at the Christian gathering in West Sussex on Friday afternoon.

Four of the injured were taken to hospital but no more information is available on their condition at this stage, reports the Mirror.

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The pastor was described as a “faithful servant of God” by the Jesus the Living Water Church he served in Eastbourne.

One bystander explained how he and his wife were walking just a few paces behind when the sign came crashing down. They joined around 50 other people to lift it off those trapped underneath.

The organisers cancelled the festival, which was scheduled to run until Sunday, following the tragedy.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, said she was “sad and shocked” and offered prayers for Mr Guanco’s family, those injured and others affected.

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Andy Ollerton was walking “just a few paces” behind “when a huge overhead sign came crashing down on the people in front of us”.

The theologian and author explained on Instagram: “We rushed with others to lift the sign off them and then administered first aid with others as best we could until the paramedics arrived but tragically, one of those people, we’ve now heard, lost his life.

“So, we’re absolutely reeling, devastated, as you can imagine, and in a bit of shock as well. I am sure many others who witnessed it were too.”

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Mr Ollerton said many people would have questions about the incident, adding: “Why did this happen? Why did this happen at human level?

He said the crowds remained calm and respectful while BCF took “decisive action in difficult circumstances”. Festivalgoers were first alerted to the incident when God TV announced that its livestream had been paused due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

South East Coast Ambulance Service were called out just after 3.30pm and treated six people at the scene.

A spokesman said: “Four of those patients were taken to a local hospital for further treatment, including two patients with more serious injuries and two patients with less serious injuries. Our thoughts are with the family of the man who sadly lost his life, and with everyone affected by this tragic incident.”

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Cyprus ferry incident live: Rescue operation under way after boat with more than 260 passengers capsizes

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Cyprus ferry incident live: Rescue operation under way after boat with more than 260 passengers capsizes

Boat carrying more than 260 people capsizes off northern Cyrprus

An operation is underway after a boat carrying more than 260 people capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus on Sunday.

Local media reported that the vessel was traveling from the port of Kyrenia, also known as Girne, in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus, to the Turkish port of Tasucu in Mersin province.

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There are no reports of casualties so far.

Harriette Boucher30 August 2026 13:48

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Redheads Mac N Cheese from North East at Leeds Festival

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Redheads Mac N Cheese from North East at Leeds Festival

Redheads Mac N Cheese, which has become a firm favourite with food lovers in Newcastle after establishing itself at the city’s iconic Grainger Market, has brought its famous cheesy creations to Bramham Park for the festival.

The Newcastle business has become a familiar face at festivals across the country, but Leeds Festival remains one of the biggest dates in its summer calendar.

Redheads Mac N Cheese (Image: Charlie Watson)

And festivalgoers have been turning out in their thousands to get their hands on the North East favourite, with queues stretching for hours at the Redheads stand.

The team said the demand this year has been particularly impressive, with one queue lasting nine hours.

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“It’s been absolutely mad – we’ve had a queue lasting nine hours!” the Redheads team said.

“This is our sixth year in the main arena and it’s always one of the highlights of our summer. We love coming back and seeing so many familiar faces, especially our regular customers from the North East.

Redheads Mac N CheeseRedheads Mac N Cheese (Image: Charlie Watson)

“Some of our Geordie customers even pack their loyalty cards and bring them all the way to Leeds with them, which always makes us smile.

“But it’s not just our hometown crowd anymore. Every year we see more and more people from Yorkshire becoming Redheads regulars, and it’s brilliant to see our Mac n Cheese getting so much love over here.”

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For the team, Leeds Festival isn’t just about serving food – it’s also an opportunity to soak up the atmosphere while some of the biggest names in music perform just metres away.

“We absolutely love coming back every year,” they added. “There’s such a great vibe, and we get to watch some incredible acts while we’re serving.

“Not many people can say they’ve been serving Mac n Cheese while Fontaines D.C is performing just a stone’s throw away!”

Redheads has become a staple of Newcastle’s food scene, with its Grainger Market roots helping it build a loyal following across the North East.

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For hungry festivalgoers, it seems a trip to Leeds Festival isn’t complete without a taste of the North East’s cheesy favourite.

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Man dies after midnight hit-and-run in Scots town as police hunt driver

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Daily Record

The 48-year-old male pedestrian was hit by the car on Linlithgow’s Main Street.

A man has died after a hit and run in the early hours of this morning in Linlithgow.

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The 48-year-old male pedestrian was struck by a grey Renault Clio on the town’s Main Street at around 12.20am on Sunday morning, August 30.

Emergency crews scrambled to the scene but sadly the man could not be saved and was pronounced dead by medics. His next of kin have been made aware.

Police Scotland has launched a desperate appeal to trace the occupants of the Clio.

Inspector Thomas Mallinson said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who has died.

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“We are carrying out extensive enquiries to establish the full circumstances of this crash and trace the occupants of the car.

“We are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed what happened to contact police.

“In addition, anyone with dash-cam footage from around the time of the incident is asked to get in touch as this may be able to assist our investigation.

“Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland via 101, quoting reference 0078 of 30 August, 2026.”

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Occupants flee scene after one vehicle crash in Stockton

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Occupants flee scene after one vehicle crash in Stockton

Emergency services were called to Durham Road in Stockton around 12.35am this morning (Sunday, August 30), after a single-vehicle crash.

Cleveland Police say that the occupants of the vehicle had fled the scene before officers arrived.

The vehicle was seized, and officers are appealing for witnesses.

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A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: “The occupant(s) had left the scene before police arrival, and the car was seized.

“Anyone with information is urged to contact us on 101, quoting reference number 173877.”

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Gardeners urged to complete crucial job by mid-September after summer heatwave

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Wales Online

As August draws to a close this bank holiday weekend, three experts have shared the essential gardening jobs to tackle as the UK’s dry spell finally starts to ease

With summer nearing its end, gardeners have been encouraged to prioritise several vital tasks this September. Following minimal rainfall during a spell in which Wales experienced on-and-off heatwave conditions, certain plants struggled beneath the extended hot and dry spells.

Yet, with rain now making a comeback in some areas of the country, horticulturist Guy Barter says this is the perfect moment to address particular gardening duties. He told The i Paper: “This early autumn is ideal for sowing cover crops once the soil is moist enough.

“These pick up unused soil nutrients and prevent them being washed away and lost to potentially cause pollution. Their roots will also improve soil,” he added.

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“Some make excellent plants for pollinators when they flower spring, phacelia tanacetifolia, or fiddleneck, has abundant blue flowers next year and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) bears masses of red flowers valued by bees.”

He added: “These must be sown by mid-September for good results but rye, ryegrass and wheat (from birdseed can be sown until November, although sooner is better.”

For flower beds that won’t remain waterlogged throughout winter, he also recommended covering exposed soil with annual flowers, suggesting options such as alyssum, calendula and candytuft (Iberis). “Sow as early in September as possible,” he added to the publication.

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He also advised: “While the soil is not too wet, take the opportunity to remove grass and other other vegetation from around the base of new trees.”

Meanwhile, Alan Titchmarsh has named five plants he believes gardeners should be focusing on this September.

With rainfall returning moisture to the soil, he says conditions are now perfect for introducing late-summer flowering plants to beds and borders.

Alan explains that these particular plants are ones that begin blooming in July and carry on into autumn, and in some cases even until the first frosts arrive in November.

He highlights Crocosmia, Echinacea, Sedum ‘Hot Stuff’, Kniphofia (aka red hot poker) ‘Papaya Popsicle’ and, finally, his top pick, the dahlia.

“Dahlias were out of fashion for years. They were thought to be vulgar. Heaven knows who by because I’ve always loved them,” he said.

“They grow from a tuber and you plant it in spring in your beds and borders. Up it comes and flowers like this from midsummer right the way through to the frosts of November.”

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Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don has also shared some last-minute tasks to tackle over the bank holiday weekend. He suggests that August offers the perfect opportunity for taking cuttings, which involves removing a small portion of plant from your healthiest specimens already thriving in the garden.

According to the Liverpool Echo he said: “As August progresses, semi-ripe cuttings taken from the current season’s wood that has started to harden off are increasingly available and also increasingly likely to root quickly.”

Monty recommends selecting strong, healthy stems from flowers or flower buds and placing the cuttings in a polythene bag so they can be potted up immediately.

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When preparing the cutting, he advises stripping away the lower leaves and any side shoots, retaining less than an inch of foliage. Using a sharp knife, make a clean, precise cut before planting it in a container filled with gritty compost or pure perlite.

He notes that nothing elaborate is required to promote healthy root development, as the plant primarily needs oxygen and water. Good drainage is therefore vital, helping to guarantee the cutting receives adequate moisture without becoming waterlogged.

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Katie Price shows off her ‘owned by Lee’ tattoo and the full extent of her surgically-enhanced body during pool day in Ibiza – as husband remains in jail

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Katie Price flaunted her tattooed and surgically enhanced figure during a recent pool day in Ibiza. The star decided to go topless for an attention-grabbing al fresco shower

Katie Price showed off her ‘Owned by Lee’ tattoo and surgically enhanced body during a recent pool day in Ibiza. 

The star decided to go topless for an attention-grabbing al fresco shower, stripping down to a pair of tiny lilac bikini bottoms.

Whilst she preserved some of her modesty with her long hair extensions, Katie’s tattoo was on display on her ribcage.

The inking is a perhaps now unwelcome reminder for the star, who wasn’t wearing her wedding ring amid her tumultuous ‘marriage’ to the self-described multimillionaire entrepreneur.

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Back in May, four months after their shock wedding, the seemingly besotted couple got the matching tattoos, with Lee sporting an ‘Owned by Katie’ inking across his back.

Katie’s marriage has been plagued with drama including Lee’s prison stints, kidnapping and lies, and people accusing him of scamming his exes.

Katie Price flaunted her tattooed and surgically enhanced figure during a recent pool day in Ibiza. The star decided to go topless for an attention-grabbing al fresco shower 

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Whilst she preserved some of her modesty with her long hair extensions, Katie's 'Owned by Lee' tattoo was on display on her ribcage

Whilst she preserved some of her modesty with her long hair extensions, Katie’s ‘Owned by Lee’ tattoo was on display on her ribcage

And while Katie has publicly continued to support him, it appears things have taken their toll on her as she declared in an update last week that she had ‘survived’ difficult times. 

Taking to Instagram, Katie shared a snap of a model reading a newspaper, with the words on the paper reading: ‘My side of the story doesn’t matter anymore. 

‘Life happened, it hurt, I healed, but most importantly, I learned who deserves a seat at my table and who will never sit at it again.’

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She then tellingly wrote the words ‘I survived’ over another quote which stated: ‘I will never, ever forget who helped me in difficult times, who put me in difficult times, and who left me in difficult times.’

And while Katie didn’t specify who or what she was referring to, her words suggested all was not well in her personal life. 

It comes as it is thought Katie’s husband Lee, 43, remains in jail, despite reports he was released last month.

The conman business leader was said to have been released in July following his second spell in Dubai’s Al Awir prison after being hit with fraud claims.

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Now, it has been claimed that Lee was never released, with sources reporting his fellow inmates are ‘fed up with his constant lies’.

The inking is a perhaps now unwelcome reminder for the star, who wasn't wearing her wedding ring amid her tumultuous 'marriage' to the self-described multimillionaire entrepreneur

The inking is a perhaps now unwelcome reminder for the star, who wasn’t wearing her wedding ring amid her tumultuous ‘marriage’ to the self-described multimillionaire entrepreneur

Back in May, four months after their shock wedding, the seemingly besotted couple got the matching tattoos, with Lee sporting an 'Owned by Katie' inking across his back

Back in May, four months after their shock wedding, the seemingly besotted couple got the matching tattoos, with Lee sporting an ‘Owned by Katie’ inking across his back 

Katie's marriage has been plagued with drama including Lee's prison stints, kidnapping and lies, and people accusing him of scamming his exes

Katie’s marriage has been plagued with drama including Lee’s prison stints, kidnapping and lies, and people accusing him of scamming his exes 

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While Katie has publicly continued to support him, it appears things have taken their toll on her as she declared in an upate last week that she had 'survived' difficult times

While Katie has publicly continued to support him, it appears things have taken their toll on her as she declared in an upate last week that she had ‘survived’ difficult times

It is thought Katie's husband Lee, 43, remains in jail, despite reports he was released last month

 It is thought Katie’s husband Lee, 43, remains in jail, despite reports he was released last month

Katie previously vowed to hold her husband to account for 'hurting other people'

Katie previously vowed to hold her husband to account for ‘hurting other people’

The Sun alleges that Lee has been telling his inmates his exit paperwork is ‘sorted’ each week, but he remains in prison.

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Meanwhile, Katie appears to be sticking by her husband as she put her wedding ring back on in an Instagram selfie recently.

Katie previously vowed to hold her husband to account for ‘hurting other people’. 

In her podcast, Katie said: ‘In fact, I’m going to get Ben [the producer of Katie’s podcast] to interview him and Ben is going to delve in deep and I want to hear everything and it’s too much and I don’t like people hurting people.

‘That’s all I’m saying on it – I’ve not put anything up online, so you’ve heard it here for the first time.’

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Inside the modern day Noah’s Ark built by a billionaire’s son: SUE REID visits the world’s biggest wildlife sanctuary that has saved 150,000 animals from terrible suffering

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Dorcas having her broken tibia pinned at one of the operating theatres at the centre

The beautiful cheetah lies unconscious on the operating table as the world’s finest vets battle to mend her shattered back leg. I watch as they pin the limb together with two titanium plates in a meticulous three-hour operation at an animal hospital in India, where cheetahs were hunted to extinction 80 years ago.

‘A maharaja killed the last three cheetahs in 1947, but he will have fired from an English-made rifle,’ muses Professor Gerhard Steenkamp, the vet who operated on the animal with an eight-strong medical team.

The young cheetah, called Dorcas, was flown here in 2024 from a South African sanctuary thousands of miles away that ran out of funds during Covid.

She has joined an extraordinary 150,000 endangered animals from 2,000 species and 44 countries, all brought to Vantara, the world’s biggest animal sanctuary and conservation centre.

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It is owned by the Ambani family, the richest in India, and sits in 4,500 acres in Gujarat state in the west of the country. It has 22 state-of-the-art hospitals where animals are treated and money is no object.

The creatures, including birds and reptiles, have been found in private pet collections, or waiting for death in small cages at bushmeat markets, abandoned in war zones and at defunct zoos.

Elephants have been rescued from European and Indian circuses or from logging camps where they are forced to carry heavy loads for 18 hours a day.

Some of the creatures here were bred in captivity to be shot by illegal trophy hunters or for their body parts in a multi-billion-pound trafficking trade in ivory and traditional medicines. Others have been saved from floods, hurricanes or drought.

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Dorcas having her broken tibia pinned at one of the operating theatres at the centre

A ten-year-old royal Bengal Tiger called Pancham was caught up in a conflict between humans and wildlife – he killed eight Indian villagers, some of them as they collected firewood.

‘These tigers don’t actually like the taste of human flesh,’ said Dr Boon Allwin, the senior vet caring for big cats at Vantara, as the animal – growling while waving its tail – lunged at me when I peered into his enclosure during my visit last week. ‘We don’t blame him for what he did. He had tooth problems and was looking for an easy meal of domestic goat when he came across humans and pounced on them from behind.’

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At least 100 calls a day come into Vantara from across the globe asking for help. With 5,000 staff, many of them scientists and biologists, the answer is nearly always yes, even with a dangerous customer like Pancham, who was spared retribution because killing tigers is illegal in India.

When a natural disaster hits, a ‘war room’ of the top brass plans how to assist animal victims efficiently and humanely before medical teams are dispatched to find them, whether in far-flung countries or in India itself. The priority is always to try to give them a new home or a guardian in their native habitat, but many are brought here to Vantara.

I was invited to visit the animal sanctuary as it prepares to exchange its groundbreaking research with London’s Natural History Museum in a ten-year agreement, which many believe will have a huge impact on our understanding of wildlife.

Top-level scientific investigations are being conducted here on a mammoth scale into wildlife health, genetics and breeding, with the end game of saving endangered animals so they can be returned to their natural habitats.

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Vantara also has the world’s biggest animal biobank, having collected one million samples of blood, tissue and DNA from more than 1,000 species, including its 260 rescued Asian elephants. It is hoping this massive data trawl will help human health, too, by cracking medical puzzles such as why an elephant has multiple genes that appear to be resistant to cancer while humans possess very few of them.

The centre is collecting venom from thousands of snakes for research into how to treat their bites, which kill 140,000 people a year globally, with more than half of the victims in India.

Dorcas, the six-year-old cheetah, three days after her operation to pin her broken hind leg

Dorcas, the six-year-old cheetah, three days after her operation to pin her broken hind leg

A ten-year-old royal Bengal Tiger called Pancham who killed eight Indian villagers

A ten-year-old royal Bengal Tiger called Pancham who killed eight Indian villagers

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Anant Ambani, the founder of the sanctuary and the youngest son of India¿s richest man

Anant Ambani, the founder of the sanctuary and the youngest son of India’s richest man

The scale of this modern-day Noah’s Ark is overwhelming. It reeks of money and bristles with high-tech equipment.

Hundreds of millions of trees have been planted on the site, which is twice the size of Richmond Park in south-west London. Yet as recently as 2009, it was just an arid patch of land where a 30-year-old elephant called Gauri was housed by the founder Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s richest man.

The story told by Vantara is that Anant, on a family trip near Jaipur as a 12-year-old, spotted the distressed animal hobbling in tight leg chains with her mahout, or keeper, as she performed tricks for coins on a blisteringly hot street. He asked his father, Mukesh Ambani – worth more than £74billion as head of the vast petrochemical, energy, textile and telecommunications conglomerate Reliance Industries – to save her.

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The result was that Gauri and her mahout were brought to the Reliance hub in Gujarat where an elephant sanctuary was set up, which was then expanded into Vantara. The beasts often arrive with their mahouts, who are taught that the carrot and not the stick is the way to care for them.

And yet the facility has courted considerable controversy. Some conservationists claim it is simply a private collection or zoo belonging to the son of a billionaire whose self-indulgence hit the headlines two years ago with his £450million, six-day wedding in Gujarat to Radhika Merchant, the daughter of a pharmaceutical company tycoon. And their pre-wedding celebrations in March included an occasion of unprecedented opulence at which Rihanna sang – in return for a rumoured £5.5million – and which was attended by 1,200 guests including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft’s Bill Gates.

Although it has been cleared of wrongdoing by India’s supreme court and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Vantara has been accused of taking in too many creatures too fast, of sidestepping strict rules on importing animals from places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates.

It is not open to the public, which has led to claims of secrecy, although when I visited the local school, financed by Reliance, ten-year-olds told me that they, like many other young Indians, often paid educational visits, then reeled off the species of animals and birds they had seen.

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In one critique, the Big Cat Rescue organisation in Florida has claimed, in the face of Vantara’s denials, that the centre runs a secretive and highly controversial operation amassing an astonishing number of wild animals or ‘living trophies’, many from questionable sources. 

‘If Vantara and its backers truly care about conservation, they should focus on protecting wildlife habitats rather than accumulating captive animals,’ it added in a tart condemnation.

Pop star Rihanna (C) sang at Ambani (R) and Radhika Merchant's (L) pre-wedding celebration in return for a rumoured £5.5million

Pop star Rihanna (C) sang at Ambani (R) and Radhika Merchant’s (L) pre-wedding celebration in return for a rumoured £5.5million

The jaguar Gracia's hips malfunction. She drags her back legs, her internal organs are damaged and she is in constant pain

The jaguar Gracia’s hips malfunction. She drags her back legs, her internal organs are damaged and she is in constant pain

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Furthermore, it said the proximity of Vantara to the Reliance oil refinery on the same estate ‘raises environmental and welfare concerns’. Petrochemical complexes are highly polluting, leading many to question the impact of air and water quality on the animals there.

For its part, Vantara states that the refinery is remarkable for having zero carbon emissions.

However, last week it announced a reset, shifting away from importing animals and towards supporting conservation, rescue centres, and veterinary hospitals in their countries of origin. 

It said: ‘We want to be judged not by how many animals come here, but by how many animals are helped where they belong… and the science and expertise we are able to share with the world.’

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This rethink is expected to influence whether a herd of hippos, which escaped after being bought by the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, should be brought to Gujarat ‘for lifelong’ help. In April, Anant Ambani said he was ‘willing to receive’ the descendants of four exotic African animals that were illegally imported to Colombia by Escobar.

After he died in a police shoot-out in 1993, the hippos were allowed to roam and multiply along a river, where they regularly attack fishermen and other locals. They are known as the ‘cocaine hippos’ and may now stay in Colombia, with Vantara playing a pivotal role in their management to safeguard them and villagers living nearby.

Whatever the criticism, however, the animals at Vantara tug at the heartstrings. I held the hand of a rescued chimpanzee confined to a wheelchair after a stroke, threw an apple into the water for a bear that had been caged and had never learned to swim until it arrived here, saw Indian elephants recovering from hideous cruelty and now enjoying water massages in a giant jacuzzi, and giraffes that faced death during droughts in Namibia drinking at water holes in a huge paddock. 

Then there is Gracia, a two-year-old jaguar born at Vantara after her pregnant mother was rescued from a private Mexico zoo where she had been impregnated by her brother.

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As a result of inbreeding, Gracia is deformed. Her hips malfunction, she drags her back legs; her internal organs are damaged, and she is in constant pain. ‘She needs a lifetime of care, and we are giving it to her,’ says Dr Allwin, Vantara’s big cat expert.

The sanctuary also cares for Dhonmati, a 50-year-old elephant tortured during a lifetime of begging on Indian streets. Her old mahout wanted to get rid of her after a car crashed into her back legs, fracturing them.

‘The bones had grown together so she was bow-legged and could not walk far,’ said Kuni Joshi, the 29-year-old senior biologist for elephants.

Joymoti the elephant was airlifted to Gujarat and driven in a special elephant ambulance to the centre for emergency medical help after she was caught in floods in July

Joymoti the elephant was airlifted to Gujarat and driven in a special elephant ambulance to the centre for emergency medical help after she was caught in floods in July

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‘Her whole body was tipping forward to avoid the pain. She refused to open her mouth, with rotting teeth, because it hurt her. She had ulcers in her eyes.’ 

Very slowly, Dhonmati has recovered. Her teeth and eyes have been successfully treated.

She has also been introduced to another rescued elephant, 50-year-old Champa, who is blind after her eyes were poked and pricked by her mahout. This is a common practice done to break the animal’s spirit and render her docile enough to be a tourist elephant that draws crowds – in Champa’s case for nearly half a century.

They are inseparable. ‘Champa uses Dhonmati as her guide, following her everywhere because she can smell her,’ explained Ms Joshi. ‘If we had not rescued Dhonmati, she would have been abandoned and died of starvation.’

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As for Dorcas, she is a ‘king cheetah’ and one of the rarest animals in the world. A genetic mutation means her coat and 3ft tail are covered in large blotches and stripes rather than the spots of a standard cheetah.

She is recovering from her operation. I watched her being carried, under anaesthetic and covered in tubes, to the theatre with all the care a human patient would receive. One of the vets was going on to give a ‘tooth overhaul’ to a chameleon at Vantara later in the day.

Twenty-four hours after the op, cheetah behaviourist Craig Gouws, who is in charge of Dorcas, explained: ‘I have been watching her every two hours – she has started hobbling around, she has taken the antibiotics and pain relievers I offered her on a piece of raw meat. We have removed all the furniture in her enclosure so she cannot knock her leg, which was broken when she put it down a hole in the ground during the hours after her first-ever mating.’

Now Vantara is waiting to see if Dorcas is pregnant. If tests in two weeks are positive, her cub is likely to become part of an effort by Vantara and government officials to restore the fastest land animal to the wild in India.

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On the last day at this extraordinary place, I am told that an emergency operation is underway to rescue Joymoti, a 53-year-old elephant who has spent a lifetime carrying timber on her back at a logging camp in Assam state, north-eastern India, 1,800 miles and a six-day road drive away.

She fell into a river during floods in July and was swept along for 40 miles before being pulled ashore by locals.

A heartbreaking video of her in the river, with only the tip of her trunk above the waterline as she struggles to breathe, has been watched online around the world.

The Vantara team took six hours to persuade the traumatised creature to enter a crate when they found her. She was airlifted to Gujarat and driven in a special elephant ambulance to the centre for emergency medical help.

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Her crate was lowered to the ground by a forklift, the doors were hauled open by vets, and Joymoti looked out cautiously at her new paradise. Like the other animals here, she was safe at last.

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