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A new campaign has been launched to reduce the increasing rates of skin cancer amongst outdoor workers in Devon and Cornwall.

NHS figures for 2024/25 show there were 5,728 diagnoses of the condition across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Nine out of 10 of these were non-melanoma but skin cancer still causes the deaths of around 92 people in the region every year, according to the Peninsula Cancer Alliance (PCA), which works to improve cancer outcomes in the region.

It said cancer was the leading cause of death in the South West and farmers and those working in the agriculture sector were at the highest risk of developing skin cancer.

Janet Sutton, 73, farms rare breed animals at Land's End, Cornwall.

She had skin cancer removed from her forehead in December 2024.

"I stay in the shade, I don't like the heat. It was the last thing I thought I would ever get. I am a lot more careful now," Ms Sutton said.

The 73-year-old thought the scab on her forehead was an allergy. It was only when she went to see her GP about something else that the GP referred her for an appointment with dermatology.

She had the mark removed just weeks later.

"I don't hide the fact I have cancer. I find if I speak about mine, other people say, I had that. As farmers, we are very rarely in. You have to more careful."

Ms Sutton has previously had throat and breast cancer but she had been clear of cancer for five years before this recent diagnosis.

Her husband, John Sutton, 68 said: "I thought she had had enough cancers not to have anymore. I am more in the sun than she is.

"We thought the mark on her forehead was an allergy. It was getting bigger and bigger. But it was quickly sorted. They did take out a large patch of skin."

Mr Sutton said he was more careful to wear sunscreen and a hat following his wife's diagnosis.

'Significantly higher'

The new campaign will focus on raising awareness among those who work outside, with a particular emphasis on agriculture, farming, and coastal regions, where exposure to UV rays is highest, its organisers said.

NHS data shows diagnoses are significantly higher in coastal areas. Among men, it was highest in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly and Dorset.

Out of the 5,728 diagnoses in the Peninsula 2024/25, 1,950 were in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and 3,778 were in Devon (2024/25 based on the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset (COSD).

The PCA said teams would be attending farmers markets, cattle markets and agricultural shows until the autumn.

As part of the campaign, they will hand out reusable squeeze bottles with a carabiner to encourage the use of sunscreen.

A carabiner allows outdoor workers to clip on their shorts or trousers for ease of use and able to access while working.

North Korea has for the first time confirmed that it sent troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine.

In a report on state news agency KCNA, Pyongyang's military claimed its soldiers helped Russian forces "completely liberate" the Kursk border region, according to an order given by leader Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang's announcement comes just days after Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov praised the "heroism" of North Korean troops, the first time Moscow has publicly acknowledged their involvement.

Western officials had earlier told the BBC they believed at least 1,000 of the 11,000 troops sent from North Korea had been killed over three months.

Gerasimov also claims Moscow regained full control of the country's western Kursk region – a claim denied by Ukraine.

Responding to the statement, the US said North Korea must now bear responsibility for perpetuating the war.

South Korean and Western intelligence have long reported that Pyongyang dispatched thousands of troops to Kursk last year.

The decision to deploy troops was in accordance with a mutual defense treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, KCNA said.

"They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland," Kim said according to KCNA.

North Korea and Russia demonstrated their "alliance and brotherhood" in Kursk, adding that a "friendship proven by blood" will greatly contribute to expanding the relationship "in every way".

It added that North Korea would support the Russian army again.

KCNA did not say what would happen to the North Korean troops after their mission in Kursk ended and whether they would be able to return home.

Reports that North Korean soldiers had been deployed to fight for Russia first emerged in October, following the deepening of bilateral ties between Kim and Putin.

This included the signing of an accord where both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Kim agreed to support each other if either country was dealing with "aggression".

Military experts have said that the North Korean troops, reportedly from an "elite" unit called the Storm Corps, are unprepared for the realities of modern warfare.

"These are barely trained troops led by Russian officers who they don't understand," former British Army tank commander, Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon had said earlier this year.

Despite this, Ukraine's top military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi had earlier also warned that North Korean soldiers were posing a significant problem for Ukrainian fighters on the front line.

"They are numerous. An additional 11,000-12,000 highly motivated and well-prepared soldiers who are conducting offensive actions. They operate based on Soviet tactics. They rely on their numbers," the general told Ukraine's TSN Tyzhden news programme.

A mum whose 17-year-old daughter took her own life is planning to walk across Devon to raise money in her memory.

Darcy, who died in 2021, would have been 22 this year.

In honour of this, her mum Debbie Hollinson plans to walk 22 miles (35km) from Tavistock, where Darcy lived, to Plymouth, where she was at school on 25 May.

"I'll be thinking about Darcy with every step, wishing she was with us," said Ms Hollinson, a Devon and Cornwall Police community support officer.

It is the latest in a series of events organised by Ms Hollinson in memory of her daughter, and in aid of Papyrus, a suicide prevention charity.

The goal is to raise £22,000.

Ms Hollinson said: "I wish I wasn't doing this at all.

"But we know so many people struggle with suicidal thoughts… I don't want anyone to go through what we have been through and go though daily.

"I think Darcy would be surprised at how many are taking part.

"When she died, she thought nobody cared and the world would be better off without her.

"I wish she'd have known how many people have come forward to support this event.

"It started off just being a small group of us doing it, but lots of people have joined and there are lots of different teams."

'So much stigma'

Ms Hollinson said there was "so much stigma attached" to the subject.

"We just have to keep talking about it and make it easer for people to talk about," she said.

Her daughter, she added, was the "first person to come forward" when someone was upset.

"Darcy was really sporty: she was a horse rider, a climber, an RAF cadet and a Brownies volunteer."

Thanking all those taking part in the walk, she added: "Twenty-two miles in one day is a long way and there could be up to 100 people.

"It's as much about having conversations and raising awareness as it is about raising the money."

A boy arrested after a major fire at a retail park has been released on bail, police said.

The 14-year-old was detained on Monday by officers investigating Saturday's blaze at Nene Valley Retail Park in Northampton.

Two other boys arrested on Saturday on suspicion of arson have also been released on bail, while a 13-year-old who was detained on Saturday will face no further action.

Meanwhile, a pet owner whose animal was being treated at a veterinary surgery on the retail park has praised staff for the way they dealt with the fire.

Vets for Pets – based in the Pets at Home building next to Dunelm, where the fire started – confirmed on social media that its staff and patients were evacuated safely.

It added: "We are in the process of trying to secure a suitable alternative location to run the practice from until we can reopen in our usual location."

Patients with appointments are being contacted by staff.

The owner of a dog called Bear – in the surgery when the fire broke out – praised staff for the way they handled the emergency.

Bear was being treated for pancreatitis and all his records have been destroyed in the fire, but he was rescued.

His owner, Isabella Bowers, said: "The care he received was outstanding.

"My parents saw the post on Facebook so they headed down straight away, but on the way down they received a phone call saying that Bear is safe and not to worry and that he was being well looked after in the carpark.

"They also made arrangements for Bear to go to another vets."

Northamptonshire Police said on Saturday that the Pets at Home store manager had "made swift arrangements to move the animals to safety" during the fire.

A spokesperson for Pets at Home said: "We'd like to thank the emergency services and our colleagues at Nene Valley Retail Park who responded to fire spreading rapidly from the neighbouring Dunelm store, and took swift action to move customers and pets to safety.

"We are supporting our team through this difficult time and thank customers and clients for their support and understanding. We will also continue to help the Police with their ongoing investigation."

The lead in the Times is the proposed expansion of a network of mental health emergency care units across England, which it says are "intended to relieve pressure on hospitals and emergency services". The paper quotes the NHS national director of mental health, Claire Murdoch, as saying that the units would be a "first port of call" for patients in crisis – and would reduce lengthy stays on mental health wards.

The Daily Telegraph reports that a Jewish protester was arrested by the Metropolitan Police for holding up a placard which "satirised a Hezbollah leader" during a pro-Palestinian rally last September.

The paper says it has seen footage of a police officer asking him repeatedly if he thought the image would offend "pro-Hezbollah" demonstrators and stir up racial hatred. The Telegraph adds the man's case is the latest in what it calls a "string of heavy-handed police responses to lawful expression". A spokesperson for the Met said the force would "attempt to learn lessons from the episode".

The Guardian leads with the delay to the publication of Labour's child poverty strategy, which it says may result in tens of thousands more children falling into poverty. The paper quotes a government source as saying that he believes the two-child benefit cap – which prevents parents from claiming universal credit or tax credit for more than two children – will eventually be dropped. But it says there are questions being raised inside Number 10 over the political benefits of scrapping it.

The Daily Mail is among a number of the papers to report that a new biography about Freddie Mercury, the late lead singer of the rock group Queen, had a secret daughter. The paper says her existence was only known to his closest circle of family and friends.

According to the Mail, she is now 48 and lives in Europe and had a very "loving" relationship with Mercury before he died in 1991. It reveals he gave her 17 volumes of his personal journals, which she has shared with the rock biographer Lesley-Ann Jones. She's written the new book called Love, Freddie, which will be published in September.

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A controversial new aid distribution group backed by the US and Israel has begun working in Gaza.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said lorry loads of food had been delivered to secure sites on Monday and that distribution had begun. Hundreds of Palestinians collected food parcels from a site in southern city of Rafah on Tuesday.

The GHF, which uses armed American security contractors, aims to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid to the 2.1 million people in Gaza, where experts have warned of a looming famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade that was recently eased.

A UN spokesman said the operation was a "distraction from what is actually needed" and urged Israel to reopen all crossings.

The UN and many aid groups have refused to co-operate with GHF's plans, which they say contradict humanitarian principles and appear to "weaponise aid".

They have warned that the system will practically exclude those with mobility issues, force further displacement, expose thousands of people to harm, make aid conditional on political and military aims, and set an unacceptable precedent for aid delivery around the world.

Israel says an alternative to the current aid system is needed to stop Hamas stealing aid, which the group denies doing.

A man has been jailed for 17 years after admitting multiple sexual offences against a child.

Graham Hart, 78, of Bransdale Road, Bridlington, pleaded guilty to 17 offences including sexual assault on a child and attempting to rape a child under the age of 13.

Hart was sentenced at Hull Crown Court on Wednesday. He will be on the sex offenders register for life.

The victim said: "Those are years that I will never get back, it has changed my life irreparably."

As well as the sexual assaults, Hart pleaded guilty to one count of possessing prohibited images of children, six counts of making indecent photographs of a child, and two counts of attempting to rape a child under 13.

Det Sgt Gemma Pearce said: "His actions were calculated and predatory, involving repeated abuse where he coerced a young girl into performing sexual acts.

"He exerted control over her, using his position of authority and manipulation to ensure she remained silent about his crimes.

"Hart's manipulation extended beyond the physical abuse, by recording his offences and later showing her select footage, he reinforced his control, deepening his influence over her.

"The lasting effects of his crimes continue to impact her life."

'Lasting impact'

The victim said Hart's offending had "destroyed the innocence" of her childhood and said the trauma continues to impact her life in all areas.

"The suffering he put me through has had a lasting impact on my education and mental wellbeing, I have lost out on achieving qualifications due to what he did to me," she said.

The victim added: "In spite of the trauma he has put me through, I am fighting to prevent his actions from affecting the rest of my life into adulthood.

"If you have experienced something similar, please speak up, there is support available, and your voice matters."

Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Soundslatest episode of Look North here.

WhatsApp has told the BBC it is supporting fellow tech giant Apple in its legal fight against the UK Home Office over the privacy of its users' data.

The messaging app's boss, Will Cathcart, said the case "could set a dangerous precedent" by "emboldening other nations" to seek to break encryption, which is how tech firms keep customers' information private.

Apple went to the courts after receiving a notice from the Home Office demanding the right to access the data of its global customers if required in the interests of national security.

It and other critics of the government's position say the request compromises the privacy of millions of users.

The Home Office told the BBC it would not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

"But more broadly, the UK has a longstanding position of protecting our citizens from the very worst crimes, such as child sex abuse and terrorism, at the same time as protecting people's privacy," it said in a statement.

Awkward row

WhatsApp has applied to submit evidence to the court which is hearing Apple's bid to have the Home Office request overturned.

Mr Cathcart said: "WhatsApp would challenge any law or government request that seeks to weaken the encryption of our services and will continue to stand up for people's right to a private conversation online."

This intervention from the Meta-owned platform represents a major escalation in what was an already extremely high-profile and awkward dispute between the UK and the US.

Apple's row with the UK government erupted in February, when it emerged ministers were seeking the right to be able to access information secured by its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) system.

The argument intensified in the weeks that followed, with Apple first pulling ADP in the UK, and then taking legal action against the Home Office.

It also sparked outrage among US politicians, with some saying it was a "dangerous attack on US cybersecurity" and urging the US government to rethink its intelligence-sharing arrangements with the UK if the notice was not withdrawn.

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of US National Intelligence, described it as an "egregious violation" of US citizens' privacy.

Civil liberties groups also attacked the UK government, saying what it was demanding had privacy and security implications for people around the world.

The campaign organisation Open Rights Group welcomed WhatsApp seeking to become involved in the case.

"WhatsApp's intervention shows the breadth of concern about the threat to privacy and security," said Jim Killock, its executive director.

"It's important that the court hears from as many companies and organisations as possible so they understand the full impact of what the Home Office is trying to do," he added.

Privacy versus national security

Apple's ADP applies end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to files such as photos and notes stored on the iCloud, meaning only the user has the "key" required to view them.

The same technology protects a number of messaging services, including WhatsApp.

That makes them very secure but poses a problem for law enforcement agencies.

They can ask to see data with lower levels of protection – if they have a court warrant – but tech firms currently have no way to provide access to E2EE files, because no such mechanism currently exists.

Tech companies have traditionally resisted creating such a mechanism not just because they say it would compromise users' privacy but because there would be no way of preventing it eventually being exploited by criminals.

In 2023, WhatsApp said it would rather be blocked as a service than weaken E2EE.

When Apple pulled ADP in the UK it said it did not want to create a "backdoor" that "bad actors" could take advantage of.

Further complicating the argument is that the Home Office has submitted its request to Apple via what it is known as a Technical Capability Notice (TCN), something which by law is secret

Neither Apple nor the Home Office has confirmed its existence. WhatsApp says so far it has not received a TCN.

When the matter came to court, government lawyers argued that the case should not be made in public in any way for national security reasons.

However, in April, a judge agreed with a number of news organisations, including the BBC, and said certain details should be made public.

"It would have been a truly extraordinary step to conduct a hearing entirely in secret without any public revelation of the fact that a hearing was taking place," his ruling stated.

In its statement to the BBC, the Home Office said: "The UK has robust safeguards and independent oversight to protect privacy and these specific powers are only used on an exceptional basis, in relation to the most serious crimes and only when it is necessary and proportionate to do so."

Spending time with someone who is dying is something most of us will only have to experience maybe a handful of times in a lifetime.

For Hazel Orchard, it is a weekly occurrence.

Hazel is a hospital companion and volunteers her time offering a friendly ear to end-of-life patients.

The role involves listening, discussing challenging topics such as care plans and simply being present when family members need to rest or step away.

She said although it brought her grief and sadness it had also enriched her life.

"It is very emotional, I won't dilute that in any way, shape or form," said Hazel from Cardiff.

"But to support people on their journey as their body ebbs ever flowing to its final resting place is nothing other than a privilege."

Hazel, 65, began volunteering for Marie Curie in September and since then has supported 10 patients, three of whom have now died.

"I do go and sit and light a candle for them and their families," she said.

"It is important to for me to express my own grief in a way… to be able to refuel and recharge and to be able to continue to give what is needed to the patients I support."

Although Hazel is passionate about the work now, when she first heard about the opportunity on social media she was far from keen.

"My first thought was 'I can't think of anything more horrific' and I bypassed it," said Hazel, who is retired after a career in children's services.

"However, interestingly it never really left my mind during the ensuing week and I found myself at times thinking about it."

"I then went back to it and thought 'why not?'."

After receiving training and getting her Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check she began volunteering at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales.

"The very first patient that I was allocated was given 48 hours but I had the privilege of being able to visit with him and support him for two weeks," she said.

She said his death had an impact on her.

"We'd started to get to know each other quite well and to have difficult conversations about dying and death," she said.

Another patient she was supporting found it difficult to talk about her situation.

Hazel discovered she enjoyed word searches so made some for her using words that could serve as potential conversation-starters.

Since January she has been supporting a man who has lung and blood cancer.

He has been discharged so she now visits him weekly at home.

"We have deep conversations about life," she said.

"He talks comfortably with me about his diagnosis and cancer and I would say that our relationship is ever-evolving and I'm privileged that I'm still able to journey with him."

Here's our daily pick of stories from across local websites in the West of England, and interesting content from social media.

Our pick of local website stories

Burnham-on-sea.com reports the A38 will close for three days this month through Highbridge.

The mother of Mikey Roynon, who was fatally stabbed with a zombie-style knife at a party in 2023, speaks to Somerset Live ahead of a new documentary.

And more than 50 homes are set to be built on a school's playing fields in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Live reports.

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