The Wanted singer Nathan Sykes is to undergo specialist surgery to save his voice and will take a break from the chart-topping group to recover.

The star is going under the surgeon’s knife in Los Angeles today, when he should be celebrating his 20th birthday. He is understood to have a haemorrhaging vocal cord, a condition which almost wrecked the voice of global star Adele at the tail end of 2011, but her surgery in the US proved a success.

The British boy band – who have become stars on both sides of the Atlantic – were due to be recording a new album. (AP)

Monkeys’ signs similar to human speech

Friendly lip-smacks made by a large African monkey show striking similarities with human speech, scientists say.

Geladas, close cousins of the baboon that only live in the remote mountains of Ethiopia, produce “unnerving” sounds that can easily be mistaken for human voices.

Researchers who analysed recordings of the vocalisations uncovered a structural rhythm that closely matched that of people speaking. They believe the evidence points to lip-smacking - a friendly behaviour displayed by many primates - being an evolutionary step towards speech.

Geladas are a highly gregarious species with a large vocal repertoire, expressed by using complex facial movements. (PA)

Google maps for secretly built buildings

Lithuanian tax inspectors have uncovered more than 100 possible revenue evaders by using Google Maps Street View.

The free internet program has helped the agency identify at east 100 home owners and 30 construction companies suspected of having dodged taxes on undeclared property sales and housing construction.

It allows inspectors to see secretly built buildings before they make a visit to the property. (PA)

Thief commits unintended kidnap of boy

A father forgot his car keys and a thief forgot to check the rear view mirror. These two mistakes led to what appears to have been the unintended kidnapping of a five-year-old boy in Romania.

The drama began when the unidentified father parked his car, left the keys in the ignition and his son in the back seat, then rushed into a shop in the city of Iasi.

An hour later, the car was found abandoned near a railway track with the child in it. A police spokesman said: “He was scared, but not injured or harmed. We think the boy disturbed the thief by crying.” (PA)

Lottery tickets with home to secure sale

A homeowner has taken the unusual step of offering the buyer of his property £10,000 (€11,696)-worth of lottery tickets in a bid to secure a sale.

Alan Hodgkinson has taken the step in a bid to sell his mother’s one-bedroom bungalow in Eaton, Leicestershire, which has been on the market since last July. In fact he plans to buy £10,000-worth of lottery tickets on completion of a sale for the property. In a legally binding contract, Mr Hodgkinson will pledge to use £10,000 of the proceeds from the sale of the semi-detached bungalow on National Lottery tickets.

The first £125,000 (€146,202) of any winnings will be refunded to the buyer. (AP)