Half Of Cancer Sufferers Live Another Decade

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

More than half of all newly-diagnosed cancer patients now live for at least another decade, a landmark study has shown.

An analysis of more than seven million patients by Cancer Research UK reveals 10-year survival rates have jumped from just a quarter since 1971 as diagnostic techniques and treatments have improved.

The charity has set out an "ambitious" strategy to raise 10-year survival still further, to 75% over the next 20 years.

Dr Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: "Up to now, the metric (for success) has been five-year survival.

"But with the progress that's been made over the last few decades, we think it's time to shift the narrative and thinking about 10-year survival.

"That's what patients would aspire to and it's now realistic to talk about it."

Dr Harpal Kumar says we have come "a long way" when it comes to cancer

Women with breast cancer now have a 78% chance of surviving at least a decade, compared to only 40% some 40 years ago.

Ten-year survival rates for men with testicular cancer have jumped from 69% to 98% over the same period.

But the charity said the outlook for some patients remains bleak, with just 1% of those with pancreatic cancer surviving 10 years.

It will step up research on the cancer - as well as lung, oesophageal and brain cancer - to improve the prognosis.

Professor Michel Coleman, head of Cancer Research UK's cancer survival group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "We want to see people with every type of cancer get the same chances of living a long life.

"This won't be easy, but the progress reported here over the last 40 years shows we're moving in the right direction."

Laurel Johnson was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer

The charity said survival could be improved by diagnosing cancer earlier, targeting effective new smart drugs at patients most likely to benefit and reducing the proportion of adults who smoke from 20% to below 5%.

Laurel Johnson, 56, was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 2006 after suffering a persistent sore throat.

"The chemo literally knocked me off my feet," she said.

"I had to be fed through a tube because I couldn't swallow and I struggled to walk because the therapy left me so weak.

"But the treatment worked. It's thanks to research that I am here today."

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Teacher Stabbing: Pupil Remains In Custody

School Pupils Caught With Weapons

Updated: 12:07am UK, Wednesday 23 April 2014

By Afua Hirsch, Social Affairs and Education Editor

Almost 1,000 pupils were caught with weapons including guns, axes and a meat cleaver in schools in the last three years, a Sky News investigation has found.

New figures show 981 children have had weapons confiscated on school premises since 2011.

They include at least 80 primary school children, the youngest of whom was an eight-year-old caught with a knife.

Some 36 pupils were found with an assortment of guns, including two hand guns, seven air-powered weapons and 27 BB guns.

Of those found with weapons, 329 caught with items including an axe, a cut-throat razor and a stun gun were charged with a criminal offence.

One 18-year-old, who is taking part in a young offender's programme in London, said: "I carried a weapon ... but only because of the environment I was in.

"My generation is a bit wild ... so it's a normal thing to carry a weapon because you know everyone else is. It's making it fair, basically."

Campaigners warned the scale of the problem is likely to be much worse, as 21 of the UK's 52 police forces did not supply figures requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

Data from West Midlands Police, which alone recovered weapons from 538 people during the same period, was not included because it also accounts for colleges and universities.

The figures raise questions about whether schools and the Government have failed to tackle the problem.

Jayne Walmsley, whose son Luke was murdered at a Lincolnshire school in 2003 aged 14, said: "Something is happening to the society we live in.

"We need to think and educate these kids. It's got to stop. We've got to do something about it."

Patrick Regan, CEO of charity XLP, which was founded in response to a school stabbing, added: "There's a culture of fear that needs to be broken down."

The Government said it had given teachers powers to take action if they suspect a pupil has brought a weapon into school.

"Teachers can now search pupils without consent, confiscate prohibited items and use force to remove disruptive pupils from the classroom when necessary," a spokesman for the Department for Education said.

"We've also given heads the final say on expulsions by removing the right of appeal panels to put pupils back in the classroom."

However, Chris Douglas, a youth worker with St Giles Trust, which engages with young people caught up in crime, warned the use of weapons is a growing problem.

"We're not hearing about stabbings because they're becoming more common," he said.

Last year, a study by UCL and charity Kids Company found half the young people working with the organisation had seen someone shot or stabbed in their community in the past year.

In 2009, the then-Government announced new measures to curb the problem of weapons in schools after a spate of attacks against children.

There were plans to introduce airport-style metal detectors as part of a violent crime action plan.

But campaigners are concerned the issue has disappeared from public discourse, leaving children vulnerable.

"Sometimes it's a bit like banging your head on a brick wall," Mrs Walmsley said.

"Schools won't admit to the problem because all they want is more pupils for more money."

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Sheffield Fire: Three Children Among Five Dead

Five people, including three young children, have died in a house fire in Sheffield despite heroic efforts to save the youngsters.

Two women are believed to have died alongside the children after a blaze in Wake Road, Sharrow, shortly after midnight.

Neighbours said they believed the victims included a baby girl, two boys and their aunt and grandmother.

Wake Road is about one mile from the centre of Sheffield

One neighbour told how they saw the grandmother run screaming from the blazing home, before going back inside to try and save the young victims. 

A South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said the cause of the blaze was being investigated.

Scenes of crime officers have erected a tent outside the three-storey terraced home and are searching for clues.

Police have sealed off the road

Sky's North of England Correspondent Mike McCarthy said Wake Road had been sealed off while investigations continued.

"A 999 call was made at 12.15am and an operation involved an aerial ladder to reach an upper floor," McCarthy said.

"Sadly two adult females and three children are known to have died.

"There's a white scenes of crime tent outside the house and there's a window open there. I can still smell the smoke from the fire." 

Four fire engines were called to the scene, as well as police and ambulance services.

A police spokesman said: "At this stage we are not able to confirm where in the house the fire broke out or if anyone else was injured."

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Mass Casualty Alert As Tornadoes Hit South US

At least 12 people have been killed in the United States after a powerful storm system saw tornadoes rip through Arkansas and Oklahoma.

A dozen or more twisters tore through central and southern parts of the country, decimating buildings, overturning trucks, and bringing down trees and power lines.

National Guard troops have been mobilised in the worst-hit areas, and rescue workers have been moving door-to-door to search for victims.

Tornadoes were also reported in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, causing damage but no known injuries.

Arkansas Emergency Management official Brandon Morris told Sky News 11 people were killed by the large tornado which struck through the state.

The deadly twisters have had a devastating impact on communities

The tornado formed outside Little Rock and travelled northeast for 30 miles, carving a destructive path.

Television footage from the scene showed badly-damaged buildings and cars.

An earlier tornado in the town of Quapaw, in Oklahoma, also left one person dead and at least six people injured.

Joe Dan Morgan, of Ottawa County Emergency Management, said there was heavy damage in the town.

"It looks like about half of (the) town got extensive damage as well as the fire department," he said.

Six people were treated for injuries at the Baptist Regional Health Centre, according to hospital spokeswoman Kristie Wallace.

Earlier, authorities said two people were killed in Quapaw.

Emergency crews were combing through debris in those towns hit hardest by the tornadoes, as forecasters warned more twisters were on their way.

James Firestone, mayor of  the Arkansas town of Velonia said: "It's chaos right now."

He said the downtown area "seems like it's completely levelled."

He added: "There's a few buildings partially standing, gas lines spewing. Fire lines down. We've had some casualties."

Firefighters from nearby cities as well as National Guard troops were heading to the town to help, and the county sheriff's office said a "mass casualty situation" had been reported.

Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe wrote on Twitter: "It's been a truly awful night for many families, neighbourhoods and communities, but Arkansas always step up to help each other recover."

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US Reassures Europe Of Nato's 'Ironclad' Support

America has reassured its East European allies of Nato's support as the worst post-Cold War stand-off between Russia and the West continues.

US Vice President Joe Biden phoned Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and "underscored the ironclad commitment of the US" to the collective defence of Nato members.

They "agreed that Russia would face further costs for its destabilising actions in Ukraine and massing of troops along the Russian-Ukrainian border," the White House said.

The US has ruled out sending American or Nato forces into Ukraine, but has begun deploying 600 US troops to bolster defences in the nearby countries of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry is urging Russia to help free a team of international military observers in eastern Ukraine.

Eight members of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) were travelling with five Ukrainian troops when they were detained by separatists in the flashpoint town of Slavyansk.

A barricade around the state security service building in Slavyansk

Pro-Russian gunmen plan to use them as a "human shield" and are "co-ordinating activities with Russia" - according to the Ukraine Security Service.

Moscow said it would take "all possible steps" to free the military monitors as their capture was condemned by Western leaders.

However, rebels accused the observers of being "Nato spies" and vowed to continue holding them.

It comes as Britain and other G7 nations agreed new sanctions against Russia.

Speaking at a news conference in Malaysia, US President Barack Obama said it was important for the world to send Russia a message.

"We're going to be in a stronger position to deter Mr Putin when he sees that the world is unified and the United States and Europe is unified rather than this is just a US-Russian conflict," he said.

He said Russia had not "lifted a finger" to get pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine to comply with an international agreement to defuse the crisis.

"In fact, there's strong evidence that they've been encouraging the activities in eastern and southern Ukraine," he said.

Senior EU diplomats are to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss sanctions against Moscow.

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Helicopter Crash: Five UK Service Members Die

Five military personnel killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan were UK service members, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

They died when their Lynx aircraft crashed during a routine flight in Kandahar province in the south on Saturday.

Prime Minister David Cameron said today his "heart goes out to the families and friends of those killed in this terrible tragedy".

Three of the servicemen killed were from the Army Air Corps, based at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, the MoD said.

One was a Royal Air Force serviceman also based at RAF Odiham.

One was a member of the Army Reserve from 3 Military Intelligence Battalion, based in London.

Next of kin of all five servicemen have been informed.

The aircraft went down in the Takhta Pul district of Kandahar

Mr Cameron said: "Every British fatality is a source of deep sadness. This latest incident, which has cost the lives of five UK service personnel, brings home to us all once again how our armed forces continue to put their lives on the line to help the people of Afghanistan.

"I cannot pay high enough tribute to each and every one of them for the job that they do and the sacrifices that they make."

Major General Richard Felton, Commander Joint Helicopter Command, said: "It is with great sadness that we must confirm that five UK service personnel have been killed in this incident which, at this early stage, would appear to have been a tragic accident.

"Events like this, whilst mercifully rare, remind us of the risks our personnel face in their work in Afghanistan as we approach the conclusion of the combat mission later this year."

Kandahar provincial police spokesman Zia Durrani said the helicopter went down in the Takhta Pul district of Kandahar province, around 30 miles from the Pakistan border - and that it was not attacked by militants.

Lynx helicopters are deployed for a wide variety of operations

"It was doing military exercises and crashed as a result of technical fault," he said.

The helicopter involved was a Westland Lynx, an aircraft with a range of uses including transport and resupply.

Defence analyst Paul Beaver said: "It is difficult to speculate on what has happened. It could be weather related, it could be dust or it could have been trying to avoid birds, for example, or it could be some kind of mechanical failure.

"There is a whole range of possible causes."

The deaths bring the total number of UK service personnel to have been killed in Afghanistan to 453.

It is thought to be the third deadliest incident involving British forces in the war and the worst air disaster since September 2006, when 14 service personnel were killed in a Nimrod surveillance aircraft which exploded mid-air.

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Paedophile Teacher 'One Of The Worst Predators'

Child Predator: Husband And 'Popular Teacher'

Updated: 11:44am UK, Thursday 24 April 2014

The serial child predator at the centre of an FBI investigation had a wife and two adult children and was a popular teacher among his students, officials have said.

William James Vahey travelled the world for four decades before his suicide in a Minnesota motel last March.

While teaching, he also served as coach on various school sports teams.

The FBI said he was a "popular and highly respected teacher".

"He had access to children because of his position of trust," said FBI special agent Patrick Fransen.

"He created a system that gave him the opportunity and the means to molest children."

The FBI says he may have carried out child molestation on an unprecedented scale, often drugging his victims.

Vahey told investigators he suffered molestation as a child and went on to prey on boys.

The New York native graduated from California State University, Long Beach, with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, according to a resume cited by the FBI.

He received a master's degree in curriculum development from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont.

At the time of his death, he was 64, approximately 6ft (182cm) tall, and weighed about 190 pounds (86kg).

He was teaching ninth-grade world history and geography at the American Nicaraguan School in Managua.

Vahey maintained two residences, one in London, where he had taught at an elite school, and another on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, the FBI said.

In 1969, Vahey was arrested in California on six counts of child molestation.

He pled guilty to one count of child molestation and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, followed by five years' probation.

The conviction required Vahey to register with California's sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

However, Vahey eluded that requirement.

Officials said he had not renewed his registration as a sex offender since 1970. He went on to pursue his teaching career in Nicaragua, the UK, Venezuela, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Iran, Spain, and Lebanon.

His victims are believed to be multinational as many of those schools were attended by the children of American diplomats or military personnel stationed overseas.

Vahey coached boys on middle school, varsity boys' basketball, softball, flag football, and soccer, among other things.

He also served as activities director, student council adviser, cooking club adviser and forensics adviser. 

He often accompanied students on cultural studies or sports trips, the FBI said.

Vahey killed himself two days after agents in Houston sought a warrant to search a computer thumb drive belonging to him.

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