Stray Qatar Cat Heads to England after Being Adopted by Walker and Stones

England's John Stones speaks to the media during a press conference at at Al Wakrah Sports Complex, in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (AP)
England's John Stones speaks to the media during a press conference at at Al Wakrah Sports Complex, in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (AP)
TT

Stray Qatar Cat Heads to England after Being Adopted by Walker and Stones

England's John Stones speaks to the media during a press conference at at Al Wakrah Sports Complex, in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (AP)
England's John Stones speaks to the media during a press conference at at Al Wakrah Sports Complex, in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (AP)

England's hopes of lifting the World Cup might have been dashed but Manchester City duo Kyle Walker and John Stones did not want to leave Qatar completely empty handed -- hence they will be taking home a stray cat befriended by the team at their training base.

England came up short against France on Saturday, who clinched a gutsy 2-1 quarter-final win.

The cat, who Stones named Dave, will have to spend four months in quarantine before he can be re-united with the City duo.

"He was just there one day, so we've just adopted him, me and Stonesy," Walker told the FA's official media channel.

"Dave is welcome to the table ... Some people really don't like the cat, but I love him."

"First day we got there ... Dave pops out," Stones added.

"Every night he sat there waiting for his food."



Customers at this Starbucks Can Sip Coffee and Observe a Quiet North Korean Village

Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
TT

Customers at this Starbucks Can Sip Coffee and Observe a Quiet North Korean Village

Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Coffee drinkers can sip their beverages and view a quiet North Korean mountain village from a new Starbucks at a South Korean border observatory.
Customers have to pass a military checkpoint before entering the observatory at Aegibong Peace Ecopark, which is less than a mile from North Korean territory and overlooks North Korea’s Songaksan mountain and a nearby village in Kaephung county, The Associated Press said.
The tables and windows face North Korea at the Starbucks, where about 40 people, a few of them foreigners, came to the opening Friday.
The South Korean city of Gimpo said hosting Starbucks was part of efforts to develop its border facilities as a tourist destination and said the shop symbolizes “robust security on the Korean Peninsula through the presence of this iconic capitalist brand.”
The observatory is the key facility at Aegibong park, which was built on a hill that was a fierce battle site during the 1950-53 Korean War. The park also has gardens, exhibition and conference halls and a war memorial dedicated to fallen marines.
Gimpo and other South Korean border cities like Paju have been trying to develop their border sites as tourist assets, even as tensions grow between the war-divided Koreas.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been trying to raise pressure on South Korea and threatening to attack his rival with nuclear weapons if provoked. North Korea has also engaged in psychological and electronic warfare against South Korea, such as flying trash-laden balloons into the South and disrupting GPS signals from border areas near the South’s biggest airport.
Kaephung county is believed to be one of the possible sites from where North Korea has launched thousands of balloons over several months.
South Korea’s military said Friday that the North flew dozens more balloons overnight and that some trash and leaflets landed around the capital Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province.