UK ARACHNOLOGY

Rare jumping spider spotted in Suffolk for first time

Johnny Amos
Tue 29 October 2024 

Jumping spiders have been found at Orford Ness

 (Image: British Arachnological Society)

A rare jumping spider is among 55 different species of spider that have been found at a Suffolk nature reserve.

A survey by the British Arachnological Society found that of the 55 species of spider discovered at Orford Ness 12 of them are believed to be rare including the Neon Pictus which is believed to be the first time the breed of spider has been seen along the Suffolk coast.

The Neon Pictus is a type of jumping spider that has previously only been found in six other locations in Britain and typically measure around just 3mm in length and found in shingle habitats.


The spiders have been found at Orford Ness (Image: British Arachnological Society)

The discovery was made during two surveys that were carried out at the site throughout this year.

The fragile coastal habitat at Orford Ness consists of 2,000 acres of reed marshes, mud flats, brackish lagoons and delicate shingle ridges and valleys.

Orford Ness along the Suffolk coast (Image: Newsquest)

Matt Wilson, the National Trust’s Countryside Manager for the Suffolk and Essex Coast, says: “It’s great to have identified a new species of spider on Orford Ness along with confirming that the other rare species last recorded in the early 2000’s can still be found here. Whilst the photographs we have may make them look fierce, many are so small that they were unlikely to have been found by non-experts and their equipment.

"The coastal marshes along with the challenging shingle environment here offer habitats for several different types of 'specialist’ species, and the presence of so many of these, as well as their high numbers, indicates a generally healthy habitat.

The Shingle environment at Orford Ness (Image: National Trust)

"Although shingle habitats are prone to damage by leisure and commercial activity, we believe the remote nature of Orford Ness, where disturbance is limited, may be helping these spider species to succeed.”

Orford Ness is currently closed to the public for the winter and will reopen in April 2025.

Polar bears are back in Britain. But should they really be living here?

Patrick Barkham
Mon 28 October 2024 
THE GUARDIAN

Flocke and her daughter Tala, who were relocated to Jimmy’s Farm in Suffolk from Yorkshire Wildlife Park.Photograph: Joshua Bright/The Guardian


A small boy calls out the sights as the train speeds through the Suffolk countryside from London Liverpool Street.

“Tractor. Church. Pigs. Polar bear! Dad! A polar bear!”

The dad doesn’t glance up. “We don’t have polar bears in this country.”

But the boy isn’t dreaming. There they are: four polar bears lumbering across a big green meadow beside a pond, a few miles outside Ipswich.

The arrival of the bears beside the railway line is causing plenty of double-takes from passengers. Sometimes, the bears are announced by the conductor. Occasionally, the driver appears to slow down. It’s only a matter of time before this train is renamed the Polar Express.

Polar bears belong in the frozen Arctic, above 70 degrees north. And yet these magnificent carnivores, one of the largest surviving land mammals on Earth, have been kept in captivity at much hotter latitudes since Egyptian times. King Henry III housed one in the Tower of London. In the 20th century, they became the charismatic inmates of concrete enclosures in flourishing urban zoos. Screaming crowds loved them.

Sailors visit the polar bear enclosure at London zoo in 1930. Below: a bear at Dudley Zoo in Worcestershire, 1937 (left), and Brumas, the first baby polar bear to be successfully reared in the UK, at London Zoo in 1950. Photographs: Fox/Getty Images; Mirrorpix/Getty Images

By the 1990s though, polar bears had become the focus of campaigns to end the caging of big, intelligent, far-roaming animals. British zoos seemed to accept the argument that these carnivores, whose wild home range could be as vast as 135,000 square miles, could not flourish in a zoo enclosure less than a millionth of that size. By the turn of the century, just one polar bear remained in Britain.

Now, however, the polar bears are back. In the last year, Jimmy’s Farm, the farm and wildlife park run by farmer, conservationist and TV presenter Jimmy Doherty, has taken in four. A further 12 bears live in three other British parks. Are these captive animals the best hope for a climate-challenged species whose wild population has dwindled to 26,000? Or should they not be here at all?

Ewa at Jimmy’s Farm, unperturbed by a passing Ipswich-London train. Photograph: Joshua Bright/The Guardian

The fact that a 49-year-old pig farmer owns four polar bears could be the most bizarre farm diversification ever. “Owner of polar bears. It makes me sound like I’m a Nordic god,” muses Doherty, resplendent in double denim. How about the British Tiger King? “Jimmy Exotic. That would be something. I haven’t got the outfits he’s got,” says Doherty of the eccentric Joe Exotic from the Netflix series. “And I won’t be ringing up Trump to get me out of jail.”

The story of how Doherty built the largest polar bear enclosure in Europe stretches back to his childhood, when he was school friends with Jamie Oliver. The young Doherty was mad-keen on nature, worked at a wildlife park and spent his earnings (he still remembers his wage: £1.12 an hour) on his own menagerie: polecats, terrapins, stick insects. “In my bedroom were loads of snakes. I kept my pocket money in a glass jar inside a snake tank so no one would nick it.”

Later, Doherty studied zoology before dropping out of an entomology PhD to rear pigs. He’d been inspired by John Seymour’s self-sufficiency books, and with his entrepreneurial instincts he realised he could sell rare-breed pork and bacon directly to new farmers’ markets. He rented 40.4 hectares (100 acres) of derelict ground and lived in a caravan; he was assisted by the Jimmy’s Farm documentary series and a £55,000 loan from Oliver. When he opened a farm shop he saw that visitors were fascinated by the animals. “So I put a sow and a litter out, and then a trail, and it became a farm park,” he says.

‘It’s a massive commitment – like getting married again.’ Jimmy Doherty stands just outside the five acres of woodland at the polar bears’ disposal. Photograph: Joshua Bright/The Guardian

Then the phone calls began. The RSPCA asked him to take emus found in a shed in Ipswich. A snapping turtle was discovered by a local garage. “She’s called Peaches,” he says. “More and more exotic stuff.” When Doherty opened a butterfly house, his farm became a registered zoo.

Doherty sees nothing odd about the pigs and polar bears combo – it’s all part of his mission to champion global and local conservation, farming and rewilding, and reconnect children with nature and local food production, as he explains when we walk through his park.

There’s a rescued South American ring-tailed coati and racoons saved from a shed in Felixstowe. You may say Doherty’s a rescuer. He also can’t resist a big idea. “There’s always another one around the corner,” he says. “Someone says ‘we need your help’ and it somehow gives you permission.” Doherty once said that he never wanted his park to be one of those places with polar bears and tigers. But that changed in 2022 when he heard that Orsa Predator Park in Sweden was closing and needed to rehome two polar bears.

“Ewa had a tough life – alopecia, a broken claw. She couldn’t go back to the wild and they were going to put her down,” says Doherty. “Time was of the essence.” He borrowed money from the bank and, using donated telegraph poles, built 15km of 4m-high fencing around a 6.5-hectare (16-acre) enclosure, which includes a 16m-deep purpose-built pool, two dens, a state-of-the-art ventilated house, a saltwater dipping pool and a large natural woodland area. This facility cost £1m. “It’s a massive commitment. It’s like getting married again,” he says. Was it a big risk? “Was? Still is.”

Two bears, Ewa and her adult cub Miki, were shipped from Sweden to Suffolk last autumn. Within days of arriving, Miki was dead. “That was horrific,” says Doherty. Miki had an undiagnosed heart condition. “She was a ticking timebomb. She could’ve gone at any time. It was really sad.”

Tala cools off in Jimmy’s pond. Photograph: Joshua Bright/The Guardian

Since then, Ewa has been joined by fellow females Hope (a former companion from Sweden), and Flocke and Tala from Yorkshire Wildlife Park. These two are part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) for polar bears, an official zoo breeding programme which aims to safeguard healthy populations of threatened species in captivity.

On a bright autumn day, Tala is playing in a lake, while Flocke and Hope are quickly drawn to a keeper arriving with melons, which they love. Ewa is ambling alone – it’s important they can find private space, explains park director Stevie Sheppard. “There’s two big things we try to do with all our animals. One is to give them space. And the second is choice. If they want to walk in the woods because it’s cooler, they can walk in the woods. They can dive in the deep lakes, bathe in the shallow pool or roll around in the grass or go in a den – it’s their choice.”



You see them sliding down the hill in the woodland. They pile up the mud and roll about

How an Arctic species copes with sunny Suffolk at 52 degrees north may be the most-asked question. Doherty points out that mean high summer temperatures in Hudson Bay – polar bear country – are higher than Suffolk’s 22C. “Our worry was the high temperatures – that’s when they get heat stress,” says Doherty. “If they want to regulate their temperature they can go in the woodland, which is about 4C cooler. Having that woodland and the deep pool has really helped.”

Enrichment includes a varied, seasonal diet, whole-carcass feeding (a dead horse or cow), food in blocks of ice, foraging for blackberries, watching the small fish in the ponds and plenty of toys. Doherty particularly enjoys letting them into the woods. “You see them sliding down the hill in the woodland. They pile up the mud and roll about,” he says.

The enclosures at Jimmy’s Farm are a far cry from traditional zoo pens. For critics, however, they are still a much, much smaller space than the wild species enjoys. “We acknowledge that the facilities in the UK are some of the larger facilities in Europe,” says Chris Lewis of the Born Free Foundation. Ultimately, the charity believes that no polar bears should be kept in captivity. They point to evidence of stress in captivity: shortened lifespans, a high level of stress-related fatalities, high infant mortality (a 2003 study put it at 65%), and a high risk of captivity-induced diseases. “Our short-term asks of the zoo industry would be to stop breeding polar bears and then look to phase out the existing population,” says Lewis, “because there’s no meaningful or direct conservation benefit to keeping polar bears in captivity.”

Lewis says it is “hard to understand” why polar bears have returned to British zoos. Are they irresistible? Back in 2007, one bear powerfully demonstrated their box-office status to the rest of the European zoo community. Knut, a cub rejected by his mother at Berlin zoo, was hand-reared by a devoted keeper and became a global media sensation. Knutmania saw Berlin zoo enjoy the most profitable year in its 163-year history, with 30% more visitors and €5m in revenue. Merchandise, books and films followed – and tragedy. Knut’s keeper died, and so did Knut, aged just four, of a seizure triggered by encephalitis.

Bringing polar bears to Jimmy’s Farm was clearly a decision of the heart for Doherty – but he had his financial head on too. “The sums have to add up, otherwise you’re being foolish. You make sure you repay the loans,” he says. They had a 50% increase in visitors over summer half-term and are aiming for 300,000 this year.

A polar bear in its cage at London Zoo, 1960. Photograph: Frederick Wilfred/Getty Images

Another reason for British zoos bringing back polar bears is the innovative work of Douglas Richardson. At Highland Wildlife Park in 2009, he oversaw the creation of a new polar bear enclosure, so Britain’s ageing last polar bear, Mercedes, could be relocated from Edinburgh. Bear enclosures were once expensively made from concrete and steel, which necessarily made them small. Richardson deployed much more cost-effective deer fencing, reinforced with electric fencing, which was cheap enough to build a four-hectare (10-acre) enclosure.

“Using what one colleague called ‘chicken wire and harsh language’ to contain polar bears allowed you to enclose very large areas very economically,” says Richardson, who has since advised all three British zoos that keep them. Yorkshire Wildlife Park set up a new four-hectare (10-acre) enclosure in 2014; they now have six bears. Staffordshire’s Peak Wildlife Park keeps two bears in two hectares (five acres). Under Richardson’s guidance, the first British polar bear cub for 25 years, Hamish, was born at Highland Wildlife Park in 2017.

Hamish as a cub and just three years later, at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster. Photographs: Royal Zoological Society of Scotland/PA; Danny Lawson/PA

“The way polar bears were kept in zoos historically was, to be frank, nothing short of appalling,” says Richardson. But he argues the new enclosures are a different world. He didn’t recognise Ewa when he checked on her at Jimmy’s Farm in September: her alopecia has vanished, she’s off medication and has returned to her natural cycle. Of Doherty’s woodland, Richardson says: “It’s not exactly polar bear habitat but there’s lots of shade and lots of interesting smells. And it turns out polar bears like mushrooms.”

The idea of zoos being arks for imperilled wild populations remains a popular one. But a zoo-kept polar bear has never been successfully returned to the wild. “Common zoo reintroduction successes are usually invertebrates they’ve been able to breed in large numbers,” says Lewis. “Other examples that the zoo industry uses are always the same because there’s so few – the Arabian oryx, the California condor. There’s not enough space to keep [polar bears] in enough numbers to have a genetically diverse population that is healthy enough to release into the wild. Zoos are almost a distraction. Conservation action needs to be taken to address the threats facing these species in the wild – the climate crisis, pollution, human encroachment.”

Richardson, who advises the European captive-breeding programme for polar bears, admits that “reintroducing polar bears from a captive population would be hugely, hugely difficult” but argues that at least a captive population retains that option. He says the European population of 120 animals, based on 60 founder animals, is genetically viable because there has been a steady addition of new wild individuals via Russia. “If you have a regular infusion of new founders your actual population need not be enormous,” he says.

In the near future, Richardson predicts that global heating will lead to more climate change refugee polar bears requiring rescue from the wild. He hopes that new, massive fenced reserves more reflective of the polar bears’ natural range may be established, mimicking how many African safari animals live in fenced reserves.

Ewa enjoying a carrot in the autumn sunshine. Photograph: Joshua Bright/The Guardian

Back at Jimmy’s Farm, Doherty is not ruling out breeding polar bears. “Maybe one day, if we were called upon, and there was good reason to do it, and it was that we need more paws on the ground,” he says.

Meanwhile, there’s another big idea – or animal rescue – to attend to. Despite being “skint”, Doherty crowdfunded to save the last brown bear, Diego, from Orsa Predator Park, and is now importing another brown bear from a Romanian sanctuary. I can imagine Michaela, Doherty’s wife, rolling her eyes at his latest rescue. Does he get told off for all the new burdens he acquires? “Quite a lot. There’s always someone that needs help. That’s the problem.”

Poland reopens discussion on Sunday trading as consumers call for an extra shopping day

CONSUMERS ARE WORKERS WITH THE DAY OFF

Abby Chitty

Tue 29 October 2024 

Poland has reopened its discussion on Sunday trading following consumer calls for an additional day to run errands.

Under the current law it is forbidden to trade and perform activities related to trade in commercial establishments on Sundays, although this does not cover postal services, confectioneries, ice cream parlours, liquid fuel stations, flower shops, newsagents, or cafes.

The ban was introduced by the former national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government, following a campaign by the Solidarity trade union and Catholic church.

However, the new ruling coalition of the centrist Poland 2050 party and Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition pledged to end the ban after it replaced the PiS in December 2023.

Earlier this year, a bill easing the restrictions and allowing two shopping Sundays per month was submitted to Poland’s parliament. Under the proposals, those working on a Sunday would receive double pay and an extra day off.

Poland 2050 MP Ryszard Petru claims that by loosening Sunday trading, the retail sector would see an increase of about 4% in turnover with employment rising by 40,000.

Roman Rogalski of the Vistula Employers' Association Lewiatan says the choice on whether to trade on Sundays should be left to businesses and their employees.

"If it pays off for the employer, it also pays off for the employee. This is their decision. One wants to work on Sunday for a higher salary, and the other wants to earn on Sunday because maybe he has such a need. I want to point out that we are in a time of a large budget deficit and taxes are very important. Consumption is falling for us this year. As a result, VAT revenue is also lower. Perhaps these shopping Sundays would partially solve this problem," Rogalski told reporters.

Changes in trade regulations, one of the 100 points in the election program of the current government, are being processed by the parliamentary Economic and Development Commission.

Some of the most important changes propose that work on Sunday would be paid at double the wage, and the employer would be obliged to provide an extra day off to the employee.

The Association of Polish Trade and Services Employers also says the proposal to restore Sunday trading should include some restrictions, such as shorter opening hours for establishments.

Alzheimer's patient 'relieved' at Quebec's assisted suicide policy shift

Anne-Marie PROVOST
Tue 29 October 2024 

AFP

Sandra Demontigny, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's at age 39 in 2018, sits at her home in Levis, Quebec, on April 4, 2023 

(Anne-Sophie THILL) (Anne-Sophie THILL/AFP/AFP)

Sandra Demontigny was afraid of being a prisoner in her own body: a 45-year-old diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, she worried about losing control of her life and burdening those she loves for years.

But the Quebec resident said she is now "relieved" after the Canadian province approved advanced requests for medical assistance in dying (MAID), its voluntary euthanasia program.

As of Wednesday, Quebec has expanded access to euthanasia for people with neurodegenerative diseases. They will now be able to fill out a form -- like a will -- in anticipation of the time when they can no longer consent to care.


"I feel like I finally have control over what's left of my life," said Demontigny, a mother and midwife who lives in Quebec City.

MAID has been offered to the terminally ill in Quebec since 2015, and is widely accepted in the French-speaking province. By authorizing advance requests, Quebec joins a handful of countries where this is also legal -- the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Colombia.

"My condition is degenerating," Demontigny said.

"I would have been a prisoner of my body for years," added Demontigny, who remains shaken by her father's experience with Alzheimer's, an incurable disease.

Before dying at age 53, he "talked to himself in the mirror" thinking it was someone else, she said. He also walked "on all fours, banging his head on the wall," before falling to the floor in tears from exhaustion.

For her, it was inconceivable that she would experience such "atrocities" and make her loved ones suffer them. She has been campaigning for years for advance requests to be allowed.

- 'Very strict' criteria -

Polls have steadily shown support for MAID above 80 percent, but individual cases have attracted international headlines about whether the program is too permissive.

Particular scrutiny has focused on whether assisted suicide should be available to people solely suffering from mental illness, or those citing disability as a primary justification to end their life.

Before Wednesday's eligibility expansion, Quebec already had the highest proportion of deaths attributable to medically assisted suicide in the world: it was administered to 5,686 people in 2023, representing 7.3 percent of deaths in the province.

The majority were 70 years of age or older, had cancer, and a survival prognosis of one year or less.

Marie-Eve Bouthillier, medical professor at the Universite de Montreal, said criteria for advanced bookings are "very strict."

Two specialized doctors or nurse practitioners will have to, as prescribed by law, assess whether the patient is experiencing "persistent, unbearable physical or psychological suffering" that cannot be relieved -- which does not systematically happen in people with dementia, for example.

The patient will also have to clearly explain what clinical circumstances he or she considers intolerable -- for example, no longer recognizing their children, or incontinence -- to set a bar for when they should be provided an assisted death.

Federal Health Minister Mark Holland noted Monday that "it is still illegal in this country under the Criminal Code to enact advance requests" for MAID.

But, he added, "it is the responsibility of the provinces to pursue violations of the Criminal Code," and Ottawa will not challenge Quebec's new rules.

- An 'execution'? -

Criminality aside, doctors have voiced concern.

At the final stage, "what will be the most difficult will be to administer medical assistance in dying to someone who is not aware of it and who will not remember having asked for it," explained David Lussier, a member of the Commission on End-of-Life Care of Quebec.

If the patient makes a "gesture of refusal," the doctor must cancel the procedure. But if a patient "resists, and it is part of their illness, we can still give it" -- which could raise ethical questions for professionals, he added.

Claude Rivard, a doctor who has administered euthanasia hundreds of times over the past decade, fears that it will be necessary to use restraint measures to install intravenous lines.

"In the family's mind, it could appear as an execution," said Rivard, who has decided not to get involved in advance requests.

Laurent Boisvert, another doctor who has administered assisted deaths since 2015, downplayed these as "theoretical" fears and said he saw no issues with Quebec's new policy.

"The person who is in his right mind, who communicates with his loved ones and society, will be gone," he explained.

"If we take the human being as a whole, it is not the same person and I will respond to the wishes of the person who was fit, who had a life that he considers to be dignified and decent, and who is no longer here."

amp/tib/amc/bs/nro

BACTERIOPHAGES

First World War superbug treatment could save NHS millions – but is blocked by red tape

Joe Pinkstone
Tue 29 October 2024\
THE TELEGRAPH

The use of bacteria-killing viruses known as phages to treat patients dates back to the First World War


William Stocking, 81, has spent much of the last four years in and out of hospital as an infection slowly destroys his leg.

He caught a superbug, an antimicrobial-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus, after going to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in early 2020 with a chest infection.

Superbugs are notorious for being hard to treat because of their immunity to antibiotics. Around 52,000 people a year catch superbugs in the UK, causing around 2,000 deaths and costing the NHS around £180 million annually.

However, a little-known treatment dating back to the First World War is available, if NHS doctors are prepared to spend hundreds of hours fighting a mountain of government red tape.

Bacteriophages, known as phages, are bacteria-killing viruses that inject their own DNA into a bacteria to seize control of the cell and produce more phages until the bacteria bursts.

It is an effective killing mechanism and phages are the most abundant entity in the world.

They are highly precise with only specific strains of bacteria targeted by a certain phage, and phages can be effective against superbug infections impervious to all known medication.

Doctors are increasingly looking at phage therapy to help patients who are otherwise out of options, and Mr Stocking is a pioneering patient in the UK.

The superbug bacteria was attracted to the metal in his knee replacement which he had in the late 1980s following a career-ending injury suffered in the line of duty while a sergeant in the Hampshire Constabulary.

William Stocking and his wife Lorraine hope the treatment will allow him to walk properly again - Eddie Mulholland

“It works a bit like [the video game] Pac-Man and goes around eating the infection. It’s been a partial success so far, and time will tell,” Mr Stocking told The Telegraph from his hospital bed at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) in north-west London after receiving his third and final dose of phage therapy last week.

“I’ve had numerous pills, potions, antibiotics, transfusions and none of them worked. We have exhausted the available options and are down to phage which was raised as a last resort,” Mr Stocking said.

The cost of this bespoke and unique treatment, which was paid for and administered by the NHS, is thought to be similar to a course of the most premium and highly-preserved antibiotics, at a few thousand pounds. The procedure is a last hope for him and his wife, Lorraine, 72, also a retired police officer.

After retiring, the couple moved to a smallholding in Devon and ran a rural B&B for a decade. On Wednesday, they celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary by sharing a Mars bar in hospital.

Mr Stocking now has three sinuses on his left leg from his infection which weep constantly and need regular tending.

“It’s got more and more painful, and it’s got worse and worse to the point where I can’t walk very far and I am very unstable,” Mr Stocking said.

“It has prevented us doing lots of things we would have wanted to have done. Everything has just been put on hold,” adds Lorraine.



The couple were not put off by the therapy’s experimental nature, and hope it could allow Mr Stocking’s leg to heal enough to allow him to walk with greater ease.

“I thought it was brilliant when it was first suggested to me,” Mr Stocking said.

“It was put to me that I would be the first one to have phage for something like this and that it was an experiment that could work for a lot of people and, if it works, also help a lot of people.

“I am 81 and I can’t pioneer much more with my life so whatever I can do to be of use to anybody then let’s give it a go.

“I’m never going to win a Butlins Knobbly Knees competition, but I’d like to see my leg sufficiently well to use it and walk. Walking is the main thing, to get about for the final few years of my life.”

But the path to this point, the couple say, has been exhausting. Endless red tape has delayed treatment and made access to phage a multi-year struggle.


Phage therapy is not a licensed medicine in the UK and a phage from the UK can not be provided to an NHS patient unless it reaches Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standard. There is no GMP facility for phages in the UK.

However, a “GMP-like” phage from abroad can be used for compassionate use if it is approved by the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and imported.

Proving this, and sourcing an importer to bring an unlicensed, non-GMP medicine from a laboratory in Brussels required more than 200 hours of work from Mr Stocking’s clinical team and caused most of the delays.
‘Get on with it’

The Stocking family and the doctors both urged politicians and regulators to alter the current legislation to make it easier for other patients to access phage therapy through the NHS.

“While all the faceless bureaucracy goes on we are left 200 miles away with no answers,” said Mr Stocking.

“It’s not been a very pleasant time. Phage could be useful to a lot of people but red tape is holding it all up. It has been months and months of hanging around.

“Give it a chance, expedite it,” he urged politicians. “Money is money but lives are lives and limbs are limbs. Get on with it.”

A medic treats Mr Stocking - RNOH Images

Lorraine said phage therapy could save the NHS millions of pounds a year and help treat thousands of different people around the country who have run out of options.

“Behind the delays and red tape are mental, emotional and physical impacts,” she said.

“His condition three-and-a-half years ago was not so bad and maybe phage would be more effective had we not been this far down the line before getting it.”

Tariq Azamgarhi, the principal antimicrobial pharmacist at RNOH, and Dr Antonia Scobie, research lead for the Bone Infection Unit at RNOH, were central in securing phage therapy for Mr Stocking.

Mr Azamgarhi said phages “fall between the cracks” of much of the existing UK regulation, and urged politicians to make changes to help doctors better access phages for compassionate use in patients with no other option.
‘Huge potential’

Dr Scobie, who is also lead for the UK Clinical Working Group for bacteriophage therapy, told The Telegraph: “We are in the camp of strongly supporting phage therapy and I think it has a huge amount of potential.

“We’re under no illusion that on its own, phage therapy is never going to be able to replace antibiotics but what it does offer is a safe treatment that can be an adjunct to our existing therapies.

“We would never dream of injecting the phage and just crossing fingers and hoping that would be enough. It needs to be used in the right way, but it’s an extra tool. I think it has huge potential and it just needs to be used in the right way.”

The RNOH team is now beginning the long-winded process again for three other superbug patients with joint infections and is helping other hospitals around the country tackle the paperwork.

“We hope that by opening various doors in the process that it may be easier for them and help the next patient,” Dr Scobie said.

A report by MPs on the science and technology committee said earlier this year that the MHRA should change its rules to allow for compassionate use in last-resort medical cases, like those of Mr Stocking.

They also urged the agency to set out new guidance for how doctors can use non-GMP phages.

The MHRA has missed some deadlines set out by the committee at the start of the year and is currently reviewing proposed guidance. It says this will be published “in due course”.

The MHRA declined to comment.

How harmful are microplastics to human health?

Isabelle Cortes
Tue 29 October 2024 

Scientists have discovered that microplastics not just throughout nature but also throughout human bodies (Ben Stansall) (Ben Stansall/AFP/AFP)

Microplastics have been found throughout the human body -- including inside lungs, blood and brains -- and while it is not yet clear how harmful they are to our health, some researchers are sounding the alarm.

These tiny pieces of plastic have been detected almost everywhere on Earth, from the deepest oceans to the highest mountains, as well as in the air, water, soil and food chain.

Every day humans ingest, inhale or otherwise come in contact with microplastics, which are less than five millimetres (0.2 inches) and mostly invisible to the naked eye.

"A human in 2024 has plastic in almost all the organs of their body," French specialist researcher Fabienne Lagarde recently told a hearing of France's parliament.

"And it will probably be even worse for the children born in 2040," she added.

Numerous studies have linked the presence of microplastics -- or nanoplastics which are 1,000 times smaller -- to a range of health problems.

In March, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine found an association between microplastics accumulating in people's blood vessels and an increased risk of heart attack, stroke or even early death.

- 'Red flag' -

"The body of research on microplastics is growing and it is already showing us that the health impacts are very concerning," said Tracey Woodruff, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco.

Woodruff recently conducted a systematic review of 2,000 previous studies on animals, finding that microplastics "can harm fertility, are linked to increased cancer risk and can harm respiratory health," she told AFP.

It is a "red flag" that microplastics have been found in so many areas of the body "including the brain, testes and even crossing the placenta into the foetus," she added.

Many of the most worrying studies, such as the one from March, have been observational. This means they cannot prove microplastics are directly causing the health problems they have been linked to.

Others have been conducted in the lab, sometimes testing on animals, which some observers see as a limitation.

For the studies she reviewed, Woodruff said the biological systems of the animals were "quite similar to humans".

She added that "data from animals has been used to identify carcinogens and reproductive toxicants for decades."

Many things remain unknown about how microplastics could affect health, including the role played by their size, shape and composition.

Many plastics are a complex cocktail of polymers and chemicals, and there are fears they could smuggle in other contaminants in what is called the "Trojan Horse" effect.

- Plastic pollution treaty? -

Out of the more than 16,000 chemicals used or found in commercial plastic, more than a quarter are considered hazardous to human health, according to a group called the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty.

Linked health concerns include "infertility, obesity and non-communicable diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many cancers," the group said.

How damaging all this tiny plastic is to health also depends on how much humans are exposed to, which also remains unclear.

A report from the World Wildlife Fund made headlines in 2019 by estimating that people ingest around five grams of plastic a week, the equivalent of a credit card.

The methodology and results of the report have since been called into question, with numerous studies estimating lower levels of ingested plastic -- and showing that rates vary hugely across the world.

It is still early days for the field, with research into how microplastics impact health only beginning in the early 2000s.

"Despite the newness of the topic and the limitations that have been identified, the dangers linked to oral exposure and inhalation are there," Muriel Mercier-Bonin, a researcher at France's INRAE institute, told the French parliament.

And the problem is only growing. Plastic production has doubled in 20 years and at current rates could triple by 2060, according to the OECD.

The United Nations has agreed to work towards a world-first treaty to reduce plastic pollution, with negotiators meeting in a month for a final round of talks.

In the meantime, experts recommend people limit their exposure to microplastics by avoiding plastic bottles, not heating food in plastic containers, wearing clothes made of natural material and ventilating their home.

ic-dl/giv

Melbourne woman’s death after foraged mushroom dinner prompts coroner’s warning

Natasha May
Tue 29 October 2024 

Poisonous death cap (left) and yellow-staining mushrooms. In Victoria, wild mushrooms typically grow in autumn as weather grows wetter and cooler.

Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

A Melbourne woman has died after she and her son were poisoned by a homemade meal containing foraged mushrooms, prompting a warning from the coroner.

The 98-year-old woman, Loreta Maria Del Rossi, died in hospital on 22 May, seven days after eating the meal.

In the Victorian state coroner’s report released on Wednesday, Judge John Cain said Del Rossi died from multi-organ failure after poisoning from the toxins found in lethal “death cap” mushrooms (Amanita phalloides).

The death prompted Cain to call for an annual public health campaign about the dangers of consuming wild mushrooms – including how to identify and remove deadly fungi, and instructions for suspected poisoning.

Victoria’s health department warns people in the state not to pick and eat them “unless you are an expert”.

Related: The forager’s code: wild mushroom hunters urged to take a conscious, conservative approach

Del Rossi lived with her adult son, Nicola Del Rossi, in the eastern suburb of Bayswater, where, according to the report, she cooked with homegrown vegetables and was known to regularly collect wild edible grasses such as dandelion, milk thistle and cat’s ear.

Foraging is common in European countries including Italy, from where Del Rossi migrated with her son and daughter in 1955.

The report detailed that Del Rossi found wild mushrooms in the garden in April, and told her son that she would collect, clean and test them. They consumed the mushrooms in a meal of rice and tuna with no negative effects.

On 15 May, Del Rossi found more mushrooms growing in the same patch and prepared them in the same way for her son to cook for dinner.

After they both ate the meal and went to bed, Del Rossi began vomiting at 2am and her son became unwell at 6am. He called an ambulance and they were transported to hospital.

Del Rossi’s son survived, but her condition deteriorated despite aggressive treatments. She told staff she was in significant pain, and in line with her wishes, entered palliative care on 20 May.

The health department’s Better Health website, referenced in the coroner’s finding, warns poisonous mushrooms typically grow in Victoria in autumn.

It states the yellow-staining mushroom is the most commonly eaten poisonous mushroom in Victoria, and is, the coroner’s report noted, “often confused for edible mushrooms that can be purchased in supermarkets”.

“The death cap mushroom is usually whitish, yellow, pale brown or green in colour and often grows under oak trees,” the report said.

The estimated lethal dose of amatoxins in humans is 0.1 mg/kg. As such, the coroner’s report warned, a 50g mushroom could contain a potentially fatal quantity of anatoxins for a 70kg adult.

CLIMATE CHANGE CREATION

Taiwan battens down for Super Typhoon Kong-rey

Akio Wang with Joy Chiang in Taipei
Tue 29 October 2024 

A fisherman secures a boat as Typhoon Kong-rey approaches Taiwan's Yilan County on Wednesday (I-Hwa CHENG) (I-Hwa CHENG/AFP/AFP)


Taiwan suspended work and classes on some outlying islands and fishers secured their boats Wednesday as authorities warned approaching Super Typhoon Kong-rey could trigger landslides.

Strong winds and heavy rains were expected to pound swathes of the island of 23 million people ahead of Kong-rey making landfall in the southeast on Thursday afternoon.

Kong-rey was packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 240 kilometres (150 miles) per hour as it neared Taiwan, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center said in its latest update.


Fishers wearing raincoats tied down their boats in the harbour of Yilan county, southeast of Taipei, as rain fell.

"Of course I'm worried. All my assets are here," a fisherman, who gave his name as Captain Chen, told AFP.

Kong-rey was expected to dump the heaviest rain over Taiwan's eastern and northern coastal areas and the mountains in central and southern regions, said state forecaster the Central Weather Administration.

Yilan and the eastern county of Hualien were expected to be hardest hit, with accumulated rainfall from Tuesday to Friday reaching 800 millimetres to 1,200 millimetres (31 inches to 47 inches), forecaster Chang Chun-yao told AFP.

"Based on the projected path of the typhoon, we advise Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung to take precautions against potential landslides and debris flows in areas expected to receive heavy rainfall," Chang said.

Classes and work were suspended on the two main islands of Taitung county, where the typhoon looks set to make a direct hit based on the storm's current trajectory.

Ferry services between Taiwan's outlying island of Kinmen and the Chinese port city of Xiamen were also halted.

Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but Chang said it was unusual for such a powerful typhoon to hit the island this late in the year.

"It is very rare for a moderate or stronger typhoon to make landfall in late October. The last occurrence was the Typhoon Nock-ten in October 2004," Chang told AFP.

Scientists have warned climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavy rains, flash floods and strong gusts.

In July, Gaemi became the strongest typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in eight years, killing at least 10 people, injuring hundreds and triggering widespread flooding in the southern seaport city of Kaohsiung.

That was followed in early October by Krathon, which killed at least four people and injured hundreds, as well as triggering mudslides, flooding and record-strong gusts.

joy/amj/cwl

Taiwan warns Typhoon Kong-rey 'rapidly' intensifying

AFP
Tue 29 October 2024

Typhoon Kong-rey was heading towards southeastern Taiwan and could make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday, the Central Weather Administration said (I-Hwa CHENG) (I-Hwa CHENG/AFP/AFP)

Authorities in southeastern Taiwan suspended some ferries and advised fishers to return to shore Tuesday as the island's weather forecaster warned approaching Typhoon Kong-rey was "rapidly" intensifying.

Packing maximum wind speeds of 155 kilometres (96 miles) per hour, the storm could make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday, the Central Weather Administration said.

"It is now intensifying rapidly," Lin Po-tung of the weather agency told a news conference.

Lin warned waves could reach five to six metres (16 to 20 feet) high on Wednesday, with heavy rain also forecast in the capital Taipei.

Disaster officials in Taitung county, which looked set to bear the brunt of Kong-rey based on the storm's current trajectory, advised fishers to return to shore and secure their boats, while ferry services to outlying islands were suspended.

"The main impact on Taitung will be damage caused by strong winds," the local fire agency said.

Further north in the coastal city of Hualien, which was hit by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in April, authorities prepared supplies for the vulnerable and vehicles ready to evacuate people.

Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October but scientists have warned climate change is increasing their intensity, leading to heavy rains, flash floods and strong gusts.

In July, Gaemi became the strongest typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in eight years, killing at least 10 people, injuring hundreds and triggering widespread flooding in the southern seaport city of Kaohsiung.

That was followed in early October by Krathon, which killed at least four people and injured hundreds, as well as triggering mudslides, flooding and record-strong gusts.

In a bid to avoid a repeat of the flooding, there have been "increased efforts on clearing sediment from rivers and in more areas", said Yi-fung Wang, a spokesman for the Water Resources Agency, under the economic ministry.

joy/amj/rs

Typhoon Kong-rey to bring 180-mph winds, 3 feet of rain to Taiwan

Jesse Ferrell
Tue 29 October 2024 



Typhoon Kong-rey will strengthen to the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale later this week as it approaches Taiwan. Landfall Thursday will bring significant structural damage, mudslides and flooding. Kong-rey, known as Leon in the Philippines, is a 4 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Taiwan.

Both Taiwan and the Philippines have been hit recently by tropical storms. Deadly Super Typhoon Krathon hit Taiwan on Oct. 3. Tropical Storm Trami, known as Kristine in the Philippines, killed at least 126 people with flooding rain last weekend.

As of Tuesday morning, Kong-rey is the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane. Additional strengthening to a very strong typhoon is likely before striking southern Taiwan Thursday. There is a chance Kong-rey could reach super typhoon intensity, the highest category ranked by the Japan Meteorological Agency, on Wednesday.





Typhoon Kong-rey will continue to track west-northwestward into Wednesday. The storm may turn more to the northwest by Thursday as it makes landfall in Taiwan, then northeastward after landfall in eastern China Friday as a tropical storm.





Heavy rain from Kong-rey is expected across northern Luzon, Philippines, the southern Ryukyu Islands, and Taiwan from Tuesday night, Oct. 29, into Friday, Nov. 1, before spreading across the northern Ryukyu Islands and south Japan from Thursday night, Oct. 31, into early Sunday, Nov. 3.

Rainfall of up to 24 inches (600 mm), with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 36 inches (900 mm), can lead to flooding and travel delays, as well as mudslides in the mountainous terrain of Taiwan.





Damaging wind gusts as high as 160 mph (260 km/h), with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 180 mph (290 km/h), can occur across Taiwan, the Batanes and the east coast of China from Wed., Oct. 30, through Sat., Nov. 2. This wind can lead to structural damage, power outages and logistical delays.

AccuWeather Lead International Expert Jason Nicholls contributed to this report.

Ten-storey hotel collapse in Argentina leaves one dead and several trapped

Andy Gregory and Namita Singh
Tue 29 October 2024 

A drone view shows the remains of the Hotel Dubrovnik in Villa Gesell (Reuters)


A 10-storey hotel collapsed in Argentina, leaving one person dead and seven still trapped in the debris.

Firefighters searching for survivors rescued a woman from the rubble of the Dubrovnik Hotel in Villa Gesell, a coastal city 350km south of the capital Buenos Aires.

The building collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday, local officials said.

Among those suspected to be trapped are workers from a construction site allegedly operating without municipal permits at the Dubrovnik hotel, according to reports.

Firefighters managed to rescue an elderly woman from the rubble alive, while an 80-year-old man has been killed, local newspaper Pagina 12 reported, citing provincial security minister Javier Alonso.

Rescuers search for missing people after the collapse of the Dubrovnik Hotel in the seaside resort of Villa Gessell, Buenos Aires province, on 29 October 2024 (AFP via Getty Images)

An elderly man was killed and several are missing after a ten-storey building housing a hotel collapsed on Tuesday (AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Alonso was quoted as saying that there were no guests in the hotel, but there were workers staying in another part of the building, which was built in 1986.

More than 300 firefighters, police and other rescue officials were at the scene, in a rescue operation already ongoing for more than eight hours, online outlet Infobae reported, citing the city’s mayor Gustavo Barrera as warning that the adjacent building is also at risk of collapse.

Police and firefighters work after the collapse of the Dubrovnik Hotel (AFP via Getty Images)

Firefighters search for trapped people after a hotel collapses in Villa Gesell (REUTERS)

The Independent has approached the security ministry for more information.

Local officials alleged on Tuesday that they had detected and halted unauthorised construction work that was being carried out inside the building without proper clearance back in August.

A prosecutor has opened an investigation to determine the cause of the collapse, but Villa Gesell’s municipality said in a press release that the hotel was undergoing a renovation without the proper permits.

Infobae cited Mr Alonso as saying that the courts had ordered the arrest of four people in connection with the hotel’s collapse.

Starmer condemns ‘gravely concerning’ UNRWA ban as Israel faces international backlash

Neil Johnston
Tue 29 October 2024 

The UNRWA was created in 1949 to help displaced Palestinians after the war between Arab nations and Israel - Jack Guez/AFP


Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “gravely concerned” over Israel’s decision to ban the main Palestinian aid agency from the country amid an international outcry over the move.

The Prime Minister joined the backlash from Israel’s closest Western allies after the country’s parliament voted for two bills to prevent the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from working within its territory.

His fears of Israel “jeopardising” aid to Gaza came after the United States warned of a looming humanitarian “catastrophe” and said that children could starve to death.


The UNRWA was created in 1949 to help displaced Palestinians following the war between Arab nations and the newly established state of Israel.

The agency now receives a budget of more than £1.12 billion from the UN to provide humanitarian aid including food, medicine and education supporting 5.9 million Palestinians.

However Israel has claimed that up to 10 per cent of its staff have links to terror groups and that some of its workers participated in the Oct 7 massacre.

The agency provides food, medicine and education to 5.9 million Palestinians - Ramadan Abed/Reuters

A UN investigation found that nine employees from the agency “may have” been involved in the murder of 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping of hundreds more.

Israel’s Knesset overwhelmingly voted for two bills on Monday, the first banning the agency from operating in Israeli territory and effectively shuttering its offices in East Jerusalem.

The second will severely curtail the agency’s activities in Gaza and the West Bank by banning Israel’s state authorities from having any contact with the agency.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who has a long-running feud with the agency he says has links to Hamas, has insisted humanitarian aid would reach Palestinians.

He has vowed to “stand ready” to help but added UNRWA personnel “involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable”.

Israel’s foreign ministry said members with links to terror were not just a “few rotten apples” but “a rotten tree entirely infected with terrorist operatives”.

There are 90 days before the laws will be implemented but Britain joined the US in condemning the move.

“The UNRWA bills passed by Israel’s Knesset are gravely concerning,” Sir Keir said. “This risks jeopardising the international humanitarian response in Gaza. We need to see an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages. Israel must ensure sufficient aid reaches civilians in Gaza.”

Israel’s Knesset voted for two bills banning the agency from operating on Israeli territory - Ahmad Gharabli/AFP

Anneliese Dodds, the Development Minister, also hinted that Britain could suspend more arms sales to Israel if the ban goes ahead, describing the bills as “unacceptable”.

The US has urged Israel to reconsider with Matthew Miller, spokesman for the state department, saying that in the current crisis the agency was “irreplaceable”.

“There’s nobody that can replace them right now in the middle of the crisis,” he said.

The department added in a statement the legislation “risks catastrophe for the more than three million Palestinians who rely on UNRWA for essential services, including healthcare, and primary and secondary education”.

It urged Israel to “pause and further consider implementation of this legislation to ensure UNRWA can effectively carry out its mission and facilitate humanitarian assistance”.

More than a dozen other European governments including Germany and France have condemned the decision while Unicef said the move would kill children.

A spokesman for the UN’s children’s emergency fund said banning UNRWA will ‘see the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza’ - Abir Sultan/Shutterstock

James Elder, spokesperson for the UN’s children’s emergency fund, said banning the UNRWA could see the humanitarian response in Gaza collapse.

“If UNRWA is unable to operate, it’ll likely see the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza,” he said. “So a decision such as this suddenly means that a new way has been found to kill children.”

The move comes amid growing concern over conditions in Gaza, where two million residents are effectively dependent on the services from the agency.

Aid to Gaza has fallen to its lowest level since the war began with the UN stating that only 704 truckloads had entered the Strip so far this month, compared to 3,000 truckloads in September.

In the war-torn enclave displaced refugees described the agency as “our only saviour” and said they would starve to death without its support.

“These children need at least bread to eat,” Rawan Sawaf, 34, a mother of five who has been displaced from Rafah, told The Telegraph on Monday. “There is nothing to feed them. We live on UNRWA aid. If its work stops, who will provide us with services?”

Only 704 truckloads from the UNRWA entered Gaza this month compared to 3,000 in September - Bashar Taleb/AFP

Saeed Al-Helou, 55, from Gaza City, said his family received food and medicine through the agency, and said he would be unable to feed his children.

“Their stopping work means a real disaster for us. We cannot buy food supplies such as canned food, lentils, rice, and others, not even flour. We have lived through the worst experiences during this war. Should we beg to feed our children?”

Rawan Al-Louh, 40, a mother of six from Rafah, said all her family had was two bags of flour and needed the agency to survive.

“We live on their help,” she said. “The situation is very difficult and tragic. We are suffering to obtain water, medicine, food, and other things. The conditions are difficult and our days pass with difficulty.

“Without UNRWA, people will die of disease and hunger.”