Iran says no radiation detected after US strikes on nuclear sites
Iran's health ministry says those injured in the US attacks on nuclear facilities have not been exposed to radiation.
Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour wrote on X that 'none of the injured individuals who were transferred to these centres following the American bombardment showed any signs of radioactive contamination'.
He noted that Iran had long prepared for such incidents.
'For years, the ministry of health has set up nuclear emergency units in the nearest medical facilities to nuclear sites,' Kermanpour said.
The ministry did not say how many people were wounded in the strikes.
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Gulf Today
36 minutes ago
- Gulf Today
Guns kill more US children than other causes
More American children and teens die from firearms than any other cause, but there are more deaths — and wider racial disparities — in states with more permissive gun policies, according to a new study. The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics on June 9, analyses trends in state firearm policies and kids' deaths since 2010, after the landmark US Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. City of Chicago. The ruling struck down the city's handgun ban, clearing the way for many states to make it easier for people to buy and carry guns. The study authors split states into three groups: 'most permissive,' 'permissive' and 'strict,' based on the stringency of their firearm policies. Those policies include safe storage laws, background checks and so-called Stand Your Ground laws. The researchers analysed homicide and suicide rates and the children's race. Using statistical methods, the researchers calculated 6,029 excess deaths in the most permissive states between 2011 and 2023, compared with the number of deaths that would have been expected under the states' pre-McDonald rules. There were 1,424 excess deaths in the states in the middle category. In total, about 17,000 deaths were expected in the post-decision period, but 23,000 occurred, said lead author Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, in an interview. Among the eight states with the strictest laws, four — California, Maryland, New York and Rhode Island — saw statistically significant decreases in their pediatric firearm death rates. Illinois, which was directly affected by the court's decision in the McDonald case, and Connecticut saw increases in their rates. In Massachusetts and New Jersey, the changes were not statistically significant. The rate increased in all but four (Alaska, Arizona, Nebraska and South Dakota) of the 41 states in the two permissive categories. (Hawaii was not included in the study due its low rates of firearm deaths.) Non-Hispanic Black children and teens saw the largest increase in firearm deaths in the 41 states with looser gun laws. Those youths' mortality rates increased, but by a much smaller amount, in the states with strict laws. Experts say the study underscores the power of policy to help prevent firearm deaths among children and teens. The analysis comes less than a month after the release of a federal report on children's health that purported to highlight the drivers of poor health in America's children but failed to include anything on firearm injuries — the leading cause of death for children and teens in 2020 and 2021, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trauma surgeon Dr. Marie Crandall, chair of surgery at MetroHealth medical center and a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, researches gun violence. She previously practiced at a Jacksonville, Florida, urban trauma unit, where she frequently saw children and teens caught in gun violence. 'When I see children come in with 10 holes in them that I can't save — that is a loss. That is a completely preventable death, and it is deeply emotionally scarring to have to have those conversations with families when we know, as a society, there are things we could do to de-escalate,' said Crandall, who wasn't involved in the new study. In her state of Ohio, firearm death rates among children and teens increased from 1.6 per 100,000 kids in the decade before the McDonald decision to 2.8 after it, according to the study. Ohio was categorised in the group with the most permissive laws. The study adds to previous research that shows state laws around child access to firearms, such as safe storage and background checks, tend to be associated with fewer child firearm deaths. 'We know that child access prevention decreases unintentional injuries and suicides of children. So having your firearms locked, unloaded, stored separately from ammunition, decreases the likelihood of childhood injuries,' Crandall said. 'More stringent regulation of those things also decreases childhood injuries.' But she said it's hard to be optimistic about more stringent regulation when the current administration dismisses gun violence as a public health emergency. The Trump administration earlier this year took down an advisory from the former US surgeon general, issued last year, that emphasised gun violence as a public health crisis. Faust, the lead author of the new study, stressed that firearm injuries and deaths were notably missing from the Make America Healthy Again Commission report on children's health. He said the failure to include them illustrates the politicisation of a major public health emergency for America's kids. 'It's hard to take them seriously if they're omitting the leading cause of death,' Faust said. 'They're whiffing, they're shanking. They're deciding on a political basis not to do it. I would say by omitting it, they're politicising it.' Faust and pediatric trauma surgeon Dr. Chethan Sathya, who directs the Center for Gun Violence Prevention at the Northwell Health system in New York, each pointed to the development of car seat laws and public health education, as examples of preventive strategies that helped reduce childhood fatalities. They support a similar approach to curbing youth gun deaths. 'We really have to apply a public health framework to this issue, not a political one, and we've done that with other issues in the past,' said Sathya, who wasn't involved in the study and oversees his hospital's firearm injury prevention programmes. 'There's no question that this is a public health issue.' In Louisiana, which the study categorised as one of the 30 most permissive states, the child firearm mortality rate increased from 4.1 per 100,000 kids in the pre-McDonald period to 5.7 after it — the nation's highest rate. The study period only goes to 2023, but the state last year enacted a permitless carry law, allowing people to carry guns in public without undergoing background checks. And just last month, Louisiana legislators defeated a bill that would have created the crime of improper firearm storage. Louisiana Democratic state Rep. Matthew Willard, who sponsored the safe storage legislation, said during the floor debate that its purpose was to protect children. Louisiana had the highest rate of unintentional shootings by children between 2015 to 2022, according to the research arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates for stricter gun access. Willard cited that statistic on the floor. But Republican opponents said Willard's proposal would infringe on residents' gun rights and make it more difficult for them to use guns in self-defense. 'Nobody needs to come in our houses and tell us what to do with our guns. I think this is ridiculous,' Republican state Rep. R. Dewith Carrier said during the debate. Another Republican opponent, state Rep. Troy Romero, said he was concerned that having a firearm locked away would make it harder for an adult to quickly access it. 'If it's behind a locked drawer, how in the world are you going, at 2 or 3 in the morning, going to be able to protect your family if somebody intrudes or comes into your home?' Romero said.
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Gulf Today
Gazans accuse Israel of sending food mixed with deadly narcotic oxycodone to starving population
In a development intensifying the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Palestinian authorities have accused aid centers backed by the United States and Israel of distributing flour contaminated with oxycodone—a powerful and highly addictive opioid. According to the Gaza government's media office, the pills were reportedly found hidden inside flour bags distributed by what it described as 'American-Israeli' aid centers. Medical professionals in Gaza, including Dr. Khalil Mazen Abu Nada and Pharmacist Omar Hamad, confirmed the presence of oxycodone either concealed within aid packages or mixed into the flour itself. 'We have documented four separate testimonies from citizens who discovered these pills in the flour bags,' the media office said in a statement, warning that the narcotic may have been crushed or dissolved directly into the flour. Officials fear a potential deliberate attempt to induce addiction and undermine public health. Oxycodone is typically prescribed for severe or chronic pain, such as in cancer patients, and is known for its high potential for addiction. Side effects can include respiratory distress, hallucinations, and even death. A man shows Oxycodone tablets while sorting flour in Gaza. Labeling the incident a "heinous crime," Gaza officials accused Israeli authorities of turning humanitarian aid into a tool of harm. They alleged that the blockade is being used as a means to weaponize basic necessities, calling the aid centers 'death traps' designed to destabilize Palestinian society. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)—a US-Israeli joint aid initiative—has come under particular scrutiny. Human rights organizations have criticized its lack of transparency and oversight, demanding its operations be suspended immediately. A coalition of 15 legal and human rights groups warned that involvement in such aid distribution could amount to complicity in international crimes, including war crimes and genocide. The controversy comes amid other serious accusations against Israel. Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently reported that some Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers admitted to shooting unarmed Palestinians at food distribution points. Gaza's Health Ministry claims that more than 500 Palestinians have been killed near aid collection centers since late May. These developments follow the issuance of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Separately, Israel is also defending itself against a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). As conditions worsen and starvation spreads, the reports of drug-laced aid have sparked global outrage and intensified calls for independent oversight of humanitarian operations in Gaza.
Middle East Eye
4 days ago
- Middle East Eye
Opioid pills discovered in US-backed food aid, Gaza authorities say
The Gaza government media office on Friday condemned the discovery of oxycodone pills reportedly discovered in flour bags distributed by 'American-Israeli' aid centres. 'We have so far documented four testimonies from citizens who found these pills inside the flour bags,' it said in a statement, warning of the 'possibility that some of these narcotic substances were deliberately ground or dissolved in the flour itself'. Oxycodone is an opioid meant to treat severe and long-term pain, often prescribed to cancer patients. The drug is highly addictive and can have life-threatening effects, including breathing complications and hallucinations. The media office's statement comes after several social media posts shared images of pills purportedly discovered in flour bags in Gaza. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Palestinian pharmacist Omar Hamad described the discovery of the pills as 'the most despicable form of genocide'. Khalil Mazen Abu Nada, a Palestinian doctor in Gaza, also posted about the drug on Facebook, describing it as a 'means to obliterate our societal awareness'. The Gaza government media office said it held Israel 'fully responsible for this heinous crime of spreading addiction and destroying the Palestinian social fabric from within'. Israel kills 25 Palestinians seeking aid as hospitals warn of infant mortalities Read More » The office also decried the Israeli military's 'exploitation of the blockade to smuggle these substances as 'aid and assistance'', describing the Israeli and American-operated aid centres as 'death traps'. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US-Israeli organisation operating aid points in Gaza, has been widely condemned by human rights organisations for its lack of transparency and accountability. On Wednesday, 15 human rights and legal groups called for the suspension of GHF for its role in undermining international humanitarian organisations and fostering the 'forced displacement' of Palestinians in Gaza, amounting to what could be complicity in 'crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide'. Gaza's health authorities have reported that at least 516 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces near aid sites in the past month of GHF's operations. On Friday, Haaretz reported Israeli soldiers admitting to directly shooting and killing unarmed Palestinians at GHF-operated aid collection sites. Middle East Eye has asked the GHF for comment.
