AFP USA

Furnace-like heat and the threat of thunder and lightning are wreaking havoc at the Club World Cup — and more of the same is likely at the 2026 World Cup.With the latest in a series of brutal, climate change-driven record heatwaves blanketing the eastern United States, adapting to the weather has become a key focus for coaches and players.Borussia Dortmund took the unusual step of leaving their substitutes in the dressing room for the first half of their game against Mamelodi Sundowns in Cincinnati, rather than have them sitting on the bench in blazing sunshine.Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca meanwhile cut short his team’s training session in Philadelphia on Monday as the City of Brotherly Love baked in temperatures of 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37.2 degrees Celsius).Dortmund coach Niko Kovac, meanwhile, said the weather could ultimately shape the destiny of the tournament.”I think that this tournament will be decided not by the best team, but the team that can adapt to these weather conditions the best. They will probably win this tournament,” Kovac said.While cooling breaks midway through each half have become standard during the tournament, Dortmund, like other teams, are taking extra steps to mitigate the heat and humidity.”Our boys are very well taken care of by our doctors and the medical staff,” Kovac said.”We have very cold towels. We put them in ice baths. The boys also need to cool down their legs and their feet in cold water and ice baths.”The experience of the Club World Cup is likely a preview of what can be expected at next year’s men’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.A recent study published by the International Journal of Biometeorology warned of the risk posed by extreme heat at the tournament for players and spectators, citing climate change as a cause of “extreme heat” events that were “more frequent and intense”.- Storm disruptions -The study analysing data gathered between 2003-2022 concluded that 14 of the 16 host cities being used for the 2026 World Cup experienced temperatures that frequently exceeded the commonly accepted safe thresholds for wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) — a widely used measure for heat stress.The study argued for games to be scheduled outside of the afternoon windows when conditions were typically at their most demanding.In addition to the fierce heat and humidity, teams at the Club World Cup have also had to deal with matches being halted due to the threat of lightning.On Tuesday, Boca Juniors’ game against Auckland City became the fifth match of the tournament to experience a lengthy delay due to public safety regulations used in the United States that mandate play is halted whenever lightning is within 10 miles (16.1 kilometres) of a stadium.A weather delay in Benfica’s game against Auckland led to an interruption in play of nearly two hours.National Weather Service official Ben Schott, who advises FIFA and the US World Cup taskforce for 2026, says the kind of weather affecting the ongoing competition is not out of the ordinary, and said teams and fans next year should plan accordingly.”Nothing that we’re seeing right now is unusual even though we are breaking records,” Schott told AFP. “Most of the eastern United States is breaking records, and then that happens almost every summer. To expect something similar next year as a possibility is something that people should prepare for if you’re going to come and enjoy the games.”While heat was an issue when the United States last hosted the World Cup finals in 1994, no games at that tournament were halted by storm warnings.That is due to increasingly sophisticated forecasting technology, Schott said.”We’re at a point now where we can start to see things almost a week in advance and predict them pretty accurately, as compared to 15-20 years ago,” Schott said. “The advances in meteorology since we last had the World Cup here in 1994 have been substantial.”Schott said thunder and lightning were “par for the course” in several regions of North America.”This is pretty typical for United States weather for this time of the year,” Schott said.”We get a lot of moisture that pumps in from the Gulf of Mexico, and they get the afternoon thunderstorms pop up.”So as we move towards World Cup 2026, things that we’re seeing right now would be quite typical to be seen again.”Football’s world governing body FIFA said in a statement to AFP that “the health of everyone involved in football” was a “top priority”, pointing to the implementation of measures such as cooling breaks and the use of up to six substitutions if a match goes into extra time.”FIFA will continue to monitor the weather conditions in coordination with the venue teams to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone involved,” the statement added.rcw/gj

Young self-declared socialist Zohran Mamdani was on the cusp of stunning victory Wednesday in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary — pummeling his scandal-scarred establishment rival in a race seen as a fight for the future of the Democratic Party.Results were not yet final. But Mamdani — who is just 33 and would become the city’s first Muslim mayor — had such a commanding lead that his biggest rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, conceded defeat overnight. Mamdani’s success was seen as a rebuke to Democratic centrists who backed the powerful Cuomo, as the party flails nationally in search of a way to counter Republican President Donald Trump’s hard-right movement.The Ugandan-born Mamdani was behind Cuomo in polls until near the end, surging on a message of lower rents, free daycare and other populist ideas in the notoriously expensive US city.”Tonight we made history,” he said in a victory speech to supporters. New Yorkers “have stood up for a city they can afford.”Cuomo, a 67-year-old political veteran vying to come back from a sexual harassment scandal, told supporters: “Tonight was not our night.””I called him, I congratulated him,” he said.Mamdani had taken 43 percent of the vote with 95 percent of ballots counted, according to city officials. Cuomo was at around 36 percent and appeared to have no chance to catch his rival.However, the contest is ranked-choice, with voters asked to select five candidates in order of preference. When no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote outright, election officials start the time consuming process of eliminating the lowest-ranking candidates and retabulating.- Prime Trump target? -Cuomo had big money and near universal name recognition in the city, as a former governor and son of another governor.However, he was weighed down by having quit in disgrace four years ago after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. He was also accused of mismanaging the state’s response to the Covid pandemic.Even so, Mamdani’s success was stunning.The son of Indian-origin immigrants, he is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America party — the kind of niche, leftist affiliation that many Democratic leaders believe their party needs to shed.The fact that Mamdani speaks out for Palestinians and has accused Israel of “genocide” also makes him a prime target for Trump, a fellow New Yorker.His supporters include two favorite Trump foils — fiery leftist Senator Bernie Sanders and progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who both congratulated Mamdani.”Billionaires and lobbyists poured millions against you and our public finance system. And you won,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. Sanders posted: “You took on the political, economic and media Establishment — and you beat them.”Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, called Mamdani “too extreme for a city already on edge.” And Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, told New Yorkers “who are not Communists: Come to Texas!”- Big ideas, low experience -Currently a New York state assemblyman representing the borough of Queens, Mamdani’s eye-catching policy proposals include freezing rent for many New Yorkers, free bus service, and universal childcare.In a city where a three-bedroom apartment can easily cost $6,000 a month, his message struck a chord.Voter Eamon Harkin, 48, said prices were his “number one issue.””What’s at stake is primarily the affordability of New York,” he said.But Sheryl Stein, who works in tourism marketing, was skeptical.”I like youth,” she said. But Mamdani having “no experience and no proven track record to run the largest city in this country and one of the largest in the world is pretty scary.”The confirmed winner will face several contenders in November, including current Mayor Eric Adams, who is a Democrat but has vowed to run again as an independent.

As the US Supreme Court winds down its term ahead of the summer break, there are a number of cases still to be decided.The court is scheduled to issue opinions on Thursday and these are the major outstanding cases:- Birthright citizenship -The case is ostensibly about Donald Trump’s bid to scrap birthright citizenship but it actually turns on whether federal judges have the right to issue nationwide blocks to presidential decrees.It is perhaps the most significant of the remaining cases since it could have far-reaching ramifications for the ability of the judiciary to rein in Trump or future US presidents.Trump’s executive order ending automatic citizenship for children born on American soil has been paused by district courts in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington that deemed it unconstitutional.But the question before the Supreme Court is whether a single district court can freeze an executive branch move with a universal injunction.The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to restrict the application of a district court’s injunction solely to the parties who brought the case and the district where the judge presides.Whatever the nine justices decide, the actual question of whether Trump can legally end birthright citizenship is expected to be back in front of the top court before long.- Porn site age verification -The case — Free Speech Coalition vs Paxton — involves a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify visitors’ ages, part of a growing effort to limit access by minors to online sexual content.Texas is one of nearly 20 states to institute such a requirement, which critics argue violates First Amendment free speech rights.A district court sided with a challenge by an adult entertainment industry trade group, the Free Speech Coalition, saying the law restricted access by adults to constitutionally protected content.But a conservative-dominated appeals court upheld the age verification requirement, prompting the trade group to take its case to the Supreme Court, where conservatives have a 6-3 supermajority.- Students and LGBTQ-themed content -This religious rights case examines whether parents have the right to pull their children from public school classes when books containing LGBTQ-related content are read or discussed.The schools, in a Maryland county, had offered parents the chance to opt out of classes featuring books aimed at combating prejudice and discussing gender identity and homosexuality, but later retracted the option.Parents are suing because the opt-outs were canceled. They say the schools’ inclusive curriculum choices infringe on their Christian and Muslim faiths and First Amendment rights. Court precedent has generally established that exposing students to ideas contrary to religion does not constitute coercion.- Planned Parenthood funding -South Carolina’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster, issued an executive order in 2018 cutting off reimbursements to the two Planned Parenthood clinics in the state for services the reproductive health organization provided to low-income Americans under the government Medicaid program.The Medicaid reimbursements were not for abortion-related services, but McMaster said providing any funding to Planned Parenthood amounts to a taxpayer “subsidy of abortion,” which is banned in South Carolina for women who are more than six weeks pregnant.Planned Parenthood, which provides a range of health services, filed suit against the state arguing that Medicaid patients have the right to receive care from any qualified provider.An appeals court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot be excluded from the state’s Medicaid program and South Carolina appealed to the Supreme Court.- Voting rights -This case is a challenge by a group of white voters to a congressional map adopted last year by the state legislature of Louisiana creating a second Black majority district.Black people make up one-third of the population of Louisiana, which has six congressional districts, and generally vote Democratic.Opponents of the redrawn map argue that using race to design congressional maps is racial gerrymandering prohibited by the Constitution.The eventual Supreme Court ruling could have an impact on whether Democrats or Republicans control the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.

A court on Tuesday ordered Costa Rican authorities to release foreign migrants locked up in a shelter after being deported by the United States, according to a resolution issued on the eve of a visit by the US secretary of homeland security.Some 200 migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Russia as well as from Africa and some other Asian countries, including 80 children, were brought to the Central American nation in February under an agreement with the US administration of President Donald Trump, a move criticized by human rights organizations.By partially accepting an appeal filed in March on behalf of the migrants, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice gave immigration 15 days to process the “determination of the immigration status of the deportees” and their release, according to the resolution seen by AFP.The migrants were detained in February at the Temporary Migrant Care Center (CATEM), 360 kilometers (220 miles) south of San Jose, on the border with Panama.However, in the face of criticism, the government allowed them to move freely outside the center in April.Some accepted voluntary repatriation but about 28 of them remain at CATEM, 13 of them minors, according to official data.The habeas corpus petition continued until it was resolved Tuesday, and would serve as a precedent to prevent a similar agreement. The court also ordered Costa Rican authorities to “determine what type of health, education, housing, and general social assistance they require from the State.” The resolution was published one day before a visit by US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who will meet with President Rodrigo Chaves and tour the Los Lagos temporary immigration detention center.In March, an Afghan woman behind bars at CATEM told AFP she had fled her country because she wanted to study and work and not be forced to live with a man.She said if she was forced to return to Afghanistan, “the Taliban will kill her.” The Taliban authorities’ crackdown on women’s rights has led to the arbitrary arrest and detention of many women and girls in Afghanistan.In addition to Costa Rica, Trump sent 300 deportees, mostly Asians, to Panama and 252 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, accused without evidence of being members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang.They were imprisoned in a Salvadoran mega-prison for gang members. 

New York City Democrats chose 33-year-old Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani as their mayoral candidate in Tuesday’s elections, stunning his opponent, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.In what appears to be the left-leaning city’s rebuke of the Democratic Party’s veteran moderates — and New York’s rarely claimed native son, Republican US President Donald Trump — Mamdani led with 43 percent of the vote with 95 percent of ballots counted, city officials reported.”Tonight we made history,” Mamdani said in his victory speech surrounded by supporters after surging from behind.”We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford,” he added. “A city where they can do more than just struggle.”The 67-year-old Cuomo, a political veteran who was vying to come back from a sexual harassment scandal, told supporters at an election night party: “Tonight was not our night.”He said: “I called him, I congratulated him… he won.” The party’s primary contest featured almost a dozen candidates seeking to become mayor of the biggest US city, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one.Voters cast ballots during a smothering heatwave before polls closed at 9:00 pm (0100 GMT Wednesday), but results may take time to finalize. The contest is ranked-choice, with voters asked to select five candidates in order of preference, and neither Cuomo nor Mamdani claimed the required majority Tuesday. If no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, election officials begin eliminating lowest-ranking candidates and recounting, a process that can take days. With the Democrats reeling nationally from Trump’s presidential election win last year, the high-profile city race has done little to calm party nerves. But Mamdani’s upbeat campaign, built with youthful social media savvy and campaign promises to improve the city’s affordability, appears to have resonated with voters.- Prime Trump target? -Cuomo stepped down as New York governor four years ago after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. He was also accused of mismanaging the state’s response to the Covid pandemic.Staunchly pro-Israel Cuomo led in polls for most of the race, with massive name recognition as the son of another New York governor, as well as support from powerful centrist figures including former president Bill Clinton.Mamdani is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America — the kind of niche, leftist affiliation that might work in the Big Apple but many analysts warn against.The fact that Mamdani speaks out for Palestinians and has accused Israel of “genocide” also makes him a prime target for Trump. His supporters include two favorite Trump foils — fiery leftist Senator Bernie Sanders and progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who both congratulated Mamdani.”Billionaires and lobbyists poured millions against you and our public finance system. And you won,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. Sanders posted: “You took on the political, economic and media Establishment — and you beat them.”Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, said Mamdani “is too extreme for a city already on edge.” He added on X: “This is not the time for radical politics. It is time for real leadership… Let’s win this on November 4th!”Voters told AFP they saw the ballot as an opportunity to guide party politics.”I see it as a referendum of the Democratic Party, whether we lean more towards the centrist candidate, who’s maybe from a different generation of politicians and people in society, or a younger, left-leaning, more ambitious, idealistic party,” voter Nicholas Zantal, 31, said.- Big ideas, low experience -Currently a New York state assemblyman representing the borough of Queens, Mamdani stands out for his energetic campaigning style and eye-catching policy proposals that include freezing rent for many New Yorkers, providing free bus service, and universal childcare.And in a wildly expensive city, where a three-bedroom apartment can easily cost $6,000 a month, his message struck a chord with some.Voter Eamon Harkin, 48, said prices were his “number one issue.””What’s at stake is primarily the affordability of New York,” he said.But Sheryl Stein, who works in tourism marketing, was skeptical.”I like youth,” she said. But Mamdani having “no experience and no proven track record to run the largest city in this country and one of the largest in the world is pretty scary.”The confirmed winner of the Democratic Party nomination will face several contenders in November, including current Mayor Eric Adams, who is a Democrat but has vowed to run again as an independent.”What NYC deserves is a mayor who’s proud to run on his record — not one who ran from his record or one who has no record,” he said.

Efforts to vaccinate children against deadly diseases are faltering across the world due to economic inequality, Covid-era disruptions and misinformation, putting millions of lives at risk, research warned Wednesday.These trends all increase the threat of future outbreaks of preventable diseases, the researchers said, while sweeping foreign aid cuts threaten previous progress in vaccinating the world’s children.A new study published in The Lancet journal looked at childhood vaccination rates across 204 countries and territories.It was not all bad news. An immunisation programme by the World Health Organization was estimated to have saved an estimated 154 million lives over the last 50 years.And vaccination coverage against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, polio and tuberculosis doubled between 1980 and 2023, the international team of researchers found.However the gains slowed in the 2010s, when measles vaccinations decreased in around half of the countries, with the largest drop in Latin America. Meanwhile in more than half of all high-income countries there were declines in coverage for at least one vaccine dose.Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Routine vaccination services were hugely disrupted during lockdowns and other measures, resulting in nearly 13 million extra children who never received any vaccine dose between 2020 to 2023, the study said.This disparity endured, particularly in poorer countries. In 2023, more than half of the world’s 15.7 million completely unvaccinated children lived in just eight countries, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study.In the European Union, 10 times more measles cases were recorded last year compared to 2023.In the United States, a measles outbreak surged past 1,000 cases across 30 states last month, which is already more than were recorded in all of 2024.Cases of polio, long eradicated in many areas thanks to vaccination, have been rising in Pakistan and Afghanistan, while Papua New Guinea is currently enduring a polio outbreak.- ‘Tragedy’ -“Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available,” said senior study author Jonathan Mosser of the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).”But persistent global inequalities, challenges from the Covid pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunisation progress,” he said in a statement. In addition, there are “rising numbers of displaced people and growing disparities due to armed conflict, political volatility, economic uncertainty, climate crises,” added lead study author Emily Haeuser, also from the IHME.The researchers warned the setbacks could threaten the WHO’s goal of having 90 percent of the world’s children and adolescents receive essential vaccines by 2030.The WHO also aims to halve the number of children who have received no vaccine doses by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.Just 18 countries have achieved this so far, according to the study, which was funded by the Gates Foundation and the Gavi vaccine alliance.The global health community has also been reeling since President Donald Trump’s administration drastically slashed US international aid earlier this year.”For the first time in decades, the number of kids dying around the world will likely go up this year instead of down because of massive cuts to foreign aid,” Bill Gates said in a separate statement on Tuesday.”That is a tragedy,” the Microsoft co-founder said, committing $1.6 billion to Gavi, which is holding a fund-raising summit in Brussels on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a “historic victory” against Iran despite a US intelligence report concluding that American strikes set back Tehran’s nuclear program by just a few months.Iran and Israel agreed a ceasefire on Tuesday ending 12 days of tit-for-tat strikes, after US President Donald Trump joined the conflict with bunker-busting bombs at the weekend that he said destroyed key Iranian nuclear sites.A classified preliminary US intelligence report, however, concluded that American strikes on Iran set back its nuclear program by just a few months.Trump rebuffed that claim on Tuesday, posting on his Truth Social account that “THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!”White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously confirmed the authenticity of the assessment but said it was “flat-out wrong”.Netanyahu, in an address to the nation after the ceasefire, announced that “we have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”.”And if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt,” he said.Israel had said its bombing campaign, which began on June 13, was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.Israel’s military said that its strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear programme “by years”.After Trump angrily berated both sides for early violations of the truce on Tuesday, Tehran announced it would respect the terms of the deal if Israel did the same, while Israel said it had refrained from further strikes.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was willing to return to negotiations over its nuclear programme, but that his country would continue to “assert its legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic energy.- Leaked intel -US media on Tuesday cited people familiar with the Defense Intelligence Agency findings as saying the American strikes did not fully eliminate Iran’s centrifuges or stockpile of enriched uranium.The strikes sealed off entrances to some facilities without destroying underground buildings, according to the report.White House Press Secretary Leavitt responded on social media: “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program.”While Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war for decades, their 12-day conflict was by far the most destructive confrontation between them.Israeli strikes hit nuclear and military targets — killing scientists and senior military figures — as well as residential areas, prompting waves of Iranian missile fire on Israel.The war culminated in US strikes on underground Iranian nuclear sites using bunker-busting bombs — which Israel lacks — followed by an Iranian reprisal targeting the largest US military facility in the Middle East.Trump shrugged off that response as “weak”, thanking Tehran for giving advance notice and announcing the contours of the ceasefire just hours later. – ‘Everyone is tired’ -Some Israelis welcomed the prospect of a truce.”Everyone is tired. We just want to have some peace of mind,” said Tel Aviv resident Tammy Shel. “For us, for the Iranian people, for the Palestinians, for everyone in the region.”In Iran, people remained uncertain whether the peace would hold. Amir, 28, fled from Tehran to the Caspian Sea coast and told AFP by phone, “I really don’t know… about the ceasefire but honestly, I don’t think things will return to normal.”Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 610 civilians and wounded more than 4,700, according to the health ministry.Iran’s attacks on Israel have killed 28 people, according to official figures and rescuers.The international community reacted with cautious optimism to the truce.Saudi Arabia and the European Union welcomed Trump’s announcement, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia hoped “that this will be a sustainable ceasefire”.But French President Emmanuel Macron warned there was an “increased” risk that Iran would attempt to enrich uranium secretly following the strikes on its nuclear sites.After the truce was announced, Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir said Israel’s focus would now shift back to Gaza.The Israeli opposition, the Palestinian Authority and the main group representing the families of Israeli hostages all called for a Gaza truce to complement the Iran ceasefire. burs-dcp/mjw/ecl

A classified preliminary US intelligence report has concluded that American strikes on Iran set back Tehran’s nuclear program by just a few months — rather than destroying it as claimed by President Donald Trump.US media on Tuesday cited people familiar with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) findings as saying the weekend strikes did not fully eliminate Iran’s centrifuges or stockpile of enriched uranium.The aerial bombardments and missile strikes sealed off entrances to some facilities without destroying underground buildings, according to the report.US media coverage of the DIA assessment appeared to anger Trump, who insisted news outlets like CNN and The New York Times were out to “demean” the military strike by saying it only set back Iran’s nuclear program by a few months.”THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!” Trump posted in all caps on his Truth Social platform.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the authenticity of the DIA  assessment but said it was “flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked” in an attempt to undermine Trump and discredit the military operation.”Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration,” Leavitt posted on X.Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff, appeared on Fox News to trumpet the White House version. “The reporting out there that in some ways suggests that we did not achieve the objective is just completely preposterous,” he said Tuesday. Witkoff repeated the assertion that the nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordo had been “obliterated.””All three of those had most if not all of the centrifuges damaged or destroyed,” he said. “In a way it will be almost impossible for them to resurrect that program for — in my view and in many other experts’ views who have seen the raw data, it will take a period of years.”US B-2 bombers hit two Iranian nuclear sites with massive GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs over the weekend, while a guided missile submarine struck a third with Tomahawk cruise missiles.Trump called the strikes a “spectacular military success” and said they had “obliterated” the nuclear sites, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington’s forces had “devastated the Iranian nuclear program.”General Dan Caine, the top US military officer, has offered a more cautious tone, saying the strikes caused “extremely severe damage” to the Iranian facilities.Iran’s government said Tuesday it had “taken the necessary measures” to ensure the continuation of its nuclear program.”Plans for restarting (the facilities) have been prepared in advance, and our strategy is to ensure that production and services are not disrupted,” the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said in a statement aired on state television.An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meanwhile said his country still had stocks of enriched uranium and that “the game is not over.”Israel launched an unprecedented air campaign targeting Iranian nuclear sites, scientists and top military brass on June 13 in a bid to set back Tehran’s nuclear efforts.Trump had spent weeks pursuing a diplomatic path to replace the nuclear deal with Tehran that he tore up during his first term in 2018, but he ultimately decided to take military action.The US operation was massive, with Caine saying it involved more than 125 US aircraft including stealth bombers, fighters, aerial refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

Sasha and Jamie Cordle thought their small farm in rural Georgia would be a ladder out of working-class struggle, and a gift for their children and grandchildren.Instead, it may be poisoning them.Tests show their spring water is laced with toxic “forever chemicals” at levels tens of thousands of times above federal safety guidelines, likely from nearby carpet factories.”It scares us,” said Sasha, a 38-year-old dispatcher whose husband drives long hauls across the country. She’s worried about their five children, two-year-old granddaughter, and a grandson due in October.PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a group of more than 10,000 human-made chemicals that repel heat, water, oil, and stains.Developed in the 1940s, they’re still used in nonstick pans, firefighting foams and stain-proof carpets, yet are now linked to hormonal disruption, immune suppression and cancers.Their ultra-tough carbon-fluorine bonds take millennia to break down in the environment, linger in bodies for years, and are now found in the blood of nearly every living creature on Earth.– ‘Carpet capital’ –In Dalton, Georgia, which calls itself the “Carpet Capital of the World,” mills run by giants Mohawk Industries and Shaw Industries are widely blamed for making the region one of America’s most PFAS-laden.They’re accused of spewing the chemicals into the air, flushing them into sewers unequipped to remove them, and indirectly contaminating farmland through sludge byproducts later spread as fertilizer.The Cordles have joined other landowners in suing the carpet makers, seeking damages to “remediate” their properties — a process they estimate could cost about $1 million per acre — plus punitive damages.Mohawk, Shaw, and chemical giant 3M declined to comment on the complaint. Chemical maker Chemours, another chemical maker and defendant, says it has no factories in Georgia and denies culpability.In a complex web of lawsuits, Dalton Utilities, which manages the local water system, has also sued the carpet makers, while Mohawk has sued 3M over the same issue.The Biden administration last year enacted the first enforceable national drinking water standards for six PFAS chemicals.But under President Donald Trump, the federal government has since rolled back limits on four of the chemicals and delayed the compliance deadline for the remaining two.- Test cases -Meanwhile, the Cordles have seen alarming signs, in both humans and animals.Sasha, who moved to the property after marrying Jamie in 2020, soon developed two autoimmune conditions, as well as high blood pressure and chronic fatigue.”Sometimes getting out of bed, I feel like I’m 80,” she said.Her grown children also report various ailments — and some goat kids didn’t survive their birth defects.Attorney Ben Finley is leading a wave of damages claims, recruiting new clients at buoyant town halls.So far, his firm has filed suits for 18 lead plaintiffs.”We’re drawing a direct line between contamination, lost property value and cleanup cost,” Finley said.– Entering the food web –While the lawyers work the crowds, water expert Bob Bowcock takes water, soil and dust samples to help build the scientific case behind the legal one.”We’ve got springs emitting into ponds that are discharging to creeks at over 180,000 parts per trillion,” he said. The national guideline for drinking water is just four parts per trillion, and local creeks are often seen frothing with pollution.PFAS in the soil move up the protein chain and into the food web — contaminating eggs, milk, beef, and leafy greens that find themselves on store shelves nationwide.The carpet makers are the area’s main economic lifeline, yet many are now turning against them.Mary Janet Clark, 62, toiled for the carpet makers, had her ovaries removed after cancer, and now has a tumor in her brain.”We helped them build their business and make all that money,” said her son, David Wray, 40. “It’s just cruel.”– Lost dreams –Others share similar grief.Human-resources manager Teresa Ensley, 57, lost her brother, father and husband to cancer in just a few years.Studies have linked PFAS to elevated colon cancer rates, the disease that killed her brother and husband. She and her 81-year-old mother both suffer severe thyroid problems and have had hysterectomies.Even for those not yet sick, the toll is palpable.Greg and Sharon Eads hoped to retire on farmland they bought in 2019, but it has since tested hot for PFAS, unraveling their dream.They own $50,000 worth of cattle now off-limits for milk or meat.It’s become “basically a petting zoo,” said Greg. “I can’t do anything with them, not in good conscience.”During a recent visit, the couple led AFP through bucolic pastures where the herd huddled around a healthy newborn calf — a welcome moment of hope after several others were lost to deformities.

A vaccine panel appointed by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will revisit long-settled science and spotlight rare risks linked to childhood immunizations in a meeting beginning Wednesday, raising fears that fringe theories could seep into national policy.The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent body that reviews scientific evidence to recommend which groups should receive vaccines and when, rarely makes headlines.But these are no ordinary times. Kennedy, who spent two decades spreading vaccine misinformation before becoming President Donald Trump’s top health official, has brought that skepticism into the federal government.Earlier this month he abruptly dismissed all 17 ACIP members before their terms had expired, accusing them of financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry — despite a vetting process meant to minimize conflicts of interest.He then appointed eight new members, including scientist Robert Malone, widely known for spreading false claims during the Covid-19 pandemic and promoting the deworming drug ivermectin.The posted agenda includes standard topics like influenza and Covid-19 vaccines — but the addition, on the second day of discussions, of measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccines for young children, along with thimerosal-containing flu shots, has alarmed experts.Ahead of the meeting, US senator and physician Bill Cassidy — a Republican whose reluctant support was key to Kennedy’s confirmation — called for a delay, citing the panelists’ inexperience and bias.- Debunked autism connection -Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative long used in medicines, with no evidence of harm at low doses.”Study after study showed that the ethylmercury in those vaccines never contributed in any important way to the burden of mercury that one is exposed to, living on this planet,” vaccine expert Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia told AFP.Still, vaccine makers agreed to remove it from pediatric vaccines in 1999 in response to public concern. It remains in some flu shots.The presenter arguing against thimerosal is Lyn Redwood, a nurse and former leader of Children’s Health Defense — an anti-vaccine nonprofit once chaired by RFK Jr.According to her biography page, Redwood blames her son’s autism on vaccines — a link that has never been proven.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is overseeing the meeting, will argue thimerosal is safe and has no effect on neurodevelopment, based on a thorough review of the evidence.  – Rampant measles outbreak -For childhood vaccines, US parents can choose a combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) shot or two separate injections — one for MMR, the other for varicella.The combination spares an extra jab but carries a slightly higher risk of febrile seizures, a rare and typically harmless side effect.Separating the shots is already recommended for infants’ first dose at age 12-47 months, leaving experts puzzled as to why the issue is being revisited. Notably, there’s no planned discussion on the benefits of measles vaccines, which have prevented millions of hospitalizations.”The discussion of MMRV vaccines, critical tools in preventing measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella, must be rooted in science, not ideology,” said Syra Madad, an infectious disease epidemiologist at NYC Health + Hospitals.The United States, which declared measles eliminated in 2000, is currently experiencing its worst measles outbreak of the disease in decades, with more than 1,200 cases and three confirmed deaths.”ACIP is going to become an outlet for anti-vaccine propaganda and increasingly irrelevant to the practice of medicine,” warned Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University.Still, the panel’s recommendations could have broad consequences, shaping school vaccine mandates and insurance coverage.