Latest news with #Heslop
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
‘It Is An Elephant': Ukraine's Unexploded Mine Problem
5 June 2025 These are the results of the ammunition from last nights' attacks, or at least from the munitions which exploded. At a briefing in New York, Paul Heslop, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) advisor in Ukraine, described the impact of the unexploded ordnances which have contaminated large swaths of land in the country. 'Contaminated land is not just dangerous. It is lost hope, recovery and livelihood,' he said. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, this contamination has spread throughout the territory, making it impossible for residents to return home and farmers to cultivate crops. Children are often among the most vulnerable to unexploded ordinances. UNMAS and its partners on the ground are working diligently to comb over this land and declare it safe for returning residents and agricultural cultivation. Massive contamination, 'real and perceived' Millions of mines and unexploded ordinances are currently scattered throughout Ukraine. This makes it the most heavily contaminated country since the end of the Second World War, said Mr. Heslop. UNMAS estimates that over 20 per cent of land — or 139,000 square kilometres — in Ukraine is contaminated by mines or unexploded ordnances. Over six million people live in or around contaminated areas and over 800 casualties due to unexploded ordinances have been documented. This is the real contamination. But Mr. Heslop noted that for every one square kilometre which is actually contaminated, there are 100 which are not. However, that does not mean that residents feel they can safely return to the land. This is the 'perceived contamination' of unexploded ordinances. UNMAS is working to identify which of the 139,000 square kilometres of potentially contaminated land is safe. 35,000 square kilometres declared safe Two years ago, UNMAS estimated that 174,000 square kilometres in Ukraine were contaminated. Since then, 35,000 square kilometres have been declared safe, enabling residents to go back to their communities. The process of demining contaminated land — either by removing unexploded ordnances or by scanning an area to declare it safe — is especially important for families reliant upon agriculture. Since the start of the war, Ukraine's agricultural sector has suffered $83.9 billion in losses, due in part to large swaths of agricultural land being contaminated with unexploded ordnances. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has supported over 250,000 families through various programmes, including vouchers and seed distribution. They have also worked closely with UNMAS to clear agricultural land and return it to use. 'Real progress' UNMAS and its partners also have worked, over the last few years, to develop a system for demining which maximizes efficiency. 'Demining is an inherently inefficient process,' Mr. Helsop said. After all, the most thorough option for demining is also the most time-consuming and expensive — having a person walk the land with a detector. UNMAS alongside two dozen Ukrainian Government entities, have been working to implement satellite and artificial intelligence technology to make demining more time and cost effective. 'What we need to do is make sure the investment that is being made today …continues to deliver results and [is] enhanced moving forward,' he said. The problem as an 'elephant' Mr. Helsop compared demining in Ukraine to an elephant, calling upon humanitarian agencies and donors to think about this large problem comprehensively. He said that demining efforts are still being hampered by a lack of cohesion among groups on the ground, and by funding and personnel shortages. Donors have already committed $1 billion to fund demining efforts in Ukraine, but he said that the entire project would cost many billions. He also reiterated the necessity of doing it, not only for the people in Ukraine whose livelihoods have been disrupted by contaminated land, but also for the world which has witnessed increased food and energy costs as a result of decreased agricultural production in the country. 'We know how to do it… but we need the resources to do it and it's going to be a slow and potentially dangerous process,' he said. 'But if we get it right, we will bring down global food and energy prices.'
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Yahoo
West Melbourne parent arrested after dropping baggy of drugs during school drop-off, police say
The Brief A West Melbourne man was arrested after dropping a bag of cocaine during morning drop-off at Mustard Seed Kidz, leading to police discovering additional illegal substances on him. Gary Anthony Heslop, 41, faces multiple drug-related charges and is being held at the Brevard County Jail on a $33,000 bond. ORLANDO, Fla. - A West Melbourne father was arrested Thursday morning after allegedly dropping a bag of cocaine during school drop-off at Mustard Seed Kidz Preschool, police said. Gary Anthony Heslop, 41, was taken into custody after a staff member spotted a clear bag containing a white substance on the ground and contacted authorities, according to the West Melbourne Police Department. Officers responded to the school on Eber Road and identified Heslop through video surveillance as the individual who dropped the bag, which contained seven smaller bags of cocaine. Police said Heslop returned to the school a short time later, where officers were waiting. He was arrested without incident, and a subsequent search uncovered additional illegal substances on his person. Heslop faces multiple drug-related charges, including possession of cocaine (7.04 grams) with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of a controlled substance (8.18 grams of opiate pills) with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription (2.03 grams of oxycodone), and possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held at the Brevard County Jail on a $33,000 bond. Authorities commended the school's staff for their vigilance in reporting the incident. "Drugs have no place in our community, especially near schools," police said in a statement. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 35 ORLANDO: Download the FOX Local app for breaking news alerts, the latest news headlines Download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather app for weather alerts & radar Sign up for FOX 35's daily newsletter for the latest morning headlines FOX Local: Stream FOX 35 newscasts, FOX 35 News+, Central Florida Eats on your smart TV The Source The information in this article comes from the West Melbourne Police Department.
The Guardian
17-02-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Woman who had pioneering cancer treatment 18 years ago still in remission
A woman treated with a pioneering type of immunotherapy for a solid tumour has been in remission for more than 18 years with no further treatments, experts have revealed. The therapy involves taking T-cells, a type of white blood cell, from a patient and genetically engineering them to target and kill cancer cells. These modified T-cells are grown in a laboratory and then infused back into the patient. Known as CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy, the approach has proved particularly successful in treating certain types of blood cancers. Next-generation forms of the therapy have been approved for such cancers in countries including the US and UK. However, response rates have been less encouraging in solid tumours, with long-term outcomes unclear. Now researchers have reported the longest known survival after CAR T-cell therapy for an active cancer, revealing a woman who was treated as a child 18 years ago has remained cancer free. Crucially, the therapy was given for a type of solid tumour called neuroblastoma, a rare cancer of the nerve tissue that develops in children. Prof Helen Heslop, co-author of the research from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, says the trial was one of the earliest to use CAR T-cell therapy for cancer. 'It's nice to have such long-term follow-up and to see that even if it was a very early CAR T-cell – and there's been a lot of work to make them better – we were still able to see a clinical remission that's been sustained for this long, so that she's grown up and is leading a normal life,' Heslop says. Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, Heslop and colleagues report how they recruited 19 children to take part in a phase 1 clinical trial of CAR T-cell therapy for neuroblastoma between 2004 and 2009. Over seven years that followed the therapy, 12 patients died due to relapsed neuroblastoma. Among the seven that survived beyond this point, five were cancer-free when given the CAR T-cell therapy but had previously been treated for neuroblastoma using other approaches and were at high risk of relapse. All five were disease-free at their last follow-up, between 10 and 15 years after the CAR T-cell therapy, although the team note they may already have been cured when the therapy was administered. The other two surviving patients had cancer that was actively growing or spreading when they received CAR T-cell therapy, but subsequently went into complete remission. One of these patients stopped participating in follow-up sessions eight years after treatment, but the other continued and has remained cancer-free more than 18 years. 'She has never required any other therapy and is likely the longest-surviving patient with cancer who received CAR-T therapy,' the team write. 'Encouragingly, she has subsequently had two full-term pregnancies with normal infants.' The team add the modified T-cells were still detectable in some patients after more than five years. Heslop says that, while it is not known for sure, it could be that CAR T-cells that persist are able to tackle the cancer should it return. Heslop adds that newer forms of CAR T-cell therapy have shown a greater response in recent trials for neuroblastoma, and may also help tackle some types of brain tumour in children. Karin Straathof, the associate professor in tumour immunology at UCL's Cancer Institute, who was not involved in the new study, says the results are beyond encouraging. 'This is really a solid demonstration that in solid cancers you can achieve complete responses, but also what we want really – and particularly for children's cancers – long-lasting complete responses,' she says. But Straathof says further work is needed, adding: 'What we now are trying to focus on is understanding why does it work in some patients and why [it] doesn't work in others, and what we can learn from that to make better designs of these chimeric antigen receptors.'
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lifeboat rescues suspended over landslide risk
A lifeboat service has suspended all rescues with immediate effect after a structural survey of its station found serious safety concerns. RNLI Sheringham in Norfolk said the decision followed an independent structural engineer inspection of its lifeboat building just before Christmas. Its position against a cliff indicated the station building may be at the end of its lifespan and, combined with what was already known about the land behind it, caused increased safety concerns. A spokeswoman for the RNLI said the decision to suspend operations was taken in the interests of safety, as the cliff face was in danger of sliding forwards. Search and rescue cover will be instead provided by Wells and Cromer lifeboat services, Sheringham's flanking stations. Anna Heslop, RNLI regional operations lead, North and East, said: "We have taken the incredibly difficult decision to suspend all activity, including lifesaving operations, at Sheringham RNLI immediately. "The station backs onto steep land that may be at risk of sliding forward. "We had an inspection on our lifeboat station building and we've responded swiftly to initial findings about its condition. "Keeping our people safe is our number one priority, it takes courage to speak up about what could go wrong, and that's what happened here – but we don't underestimate just how hard this is for our Sheringham volunteers who are, rightly, proud of their part in the RNLI's purpose of saving lives at sea." Ms Heslop also confirmed that a monitoring system had been in place, but further analysis on 30 January with a wider group of estates experts found the risk to safety "was deemed too high to mitigate and manage by the monitoring system alone". She added: "The expertise offered on 30 January tells us that we must keep our people out of the station for now and have further work done to fully understand the condition of the building." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Town marks 150 years of RNLI lifeboats Lifeboat crews spell out RNLI birthday in photos Norwich nightclub up for international award Knitted D-Day display cancelled over safety fears Mental health trust exits special measures status RNLI
