Category: Australasia

A pair of recent foodborne illness outbreaks have exposed a critical failure at the heart of North America's food system: the United States is increasingly relying on Mexico's produce industry while regulators are straining to oversee it to keep consumers safe.
Taylor Farms, a $7 billion company supplying fast-food chains, major distributors and grocers, recalled prepared products containing jalapenos this week after U.S. authorities linked a salmonella outbreak that has sickened several hundred people to peppers imported from Mexico. It followed a major cyclosporiasis outbreak, traced to iceberg lettuce Taylor Farms imported from Mexico, that made more than 6,300 people sick and caused two deaths.
The back-to-back incidents have revived concerns over the FDA's ability to oversee imported food, experts say. U.S. Food and Drug Administration employment fell by 22% in 2026 compared to 2024, according to agency data, in part due to workforce cuts since Donald Trump returned..

One person has been killed and several others injured after an explosion at a petroleum product storage facility in the Dutch port of Rotterdam on Thursday.
Officials confirmed the cause of the blast remains unknown. The incident happened at approximately 11.30am (0930 GMT).
A spokesperson for energy trading giant Gunvor explained that an “incident” occurred during maintenance on a storage tank, adding the firm is fully cooperating with local authorities. Police reported no initial evidence of sabotage, though all potential causes are currently being investigated.
Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, houses oil refineries, liquefied natural gas terminals and multiple petrochemical plants.
Major energy firms operating there include Shell, ExxonMobil, BP and Gunvor Energy.
open image in galleryThe explosion occurred at the Gunvor Energy oil refinery (Gunvor Energy)Shell stated its site operations were unaffected, while a Rotterdam Port spokesperson confirmed LNG terminals were also undist..

The Trump administration is facing backlash after transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced 2,000 video gamers have been hired to serve as air traffic controllers.
Duffy first unveiled the plan to meet the national shortfall this spring and recently took to social media with an update revealing the recruitment drive had been a success.
“In April, we launched a NEW CAMPAIGN to recruit video gamers as air traffic controllers – and supercharged the entire hiring process to get the BEST & BRIGHTEST in faster. The results are HISTORIC.”
Duffy said the 2,000 appointments so far was the most in a single year, adding that a further 2,000 were “in the pipeline”. His post was accompanied by a video compilation of testimonials from some of the new hires expressing their excitement about passing their interviews and getting down to work.
open image in galleryTransportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced that 2,000 new air traffic controllers have been hired this year after reaching out to..

More than a dozen health conditions are set to be added to the Social Security Administration’s fast-track disability list.
The 14 ailments are being added to Compassionate Allowances, the list launched in 2008 to speed up disability claims for those with severe medical conditions or serious diseases.
“Social Security is strengthening our disability programs and making the disability determination process better, faster, and higher-quality to serve the American public,” SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano said on Tuesday.
“The Compassionate Allowances initiative cuts through red tape and allows us to deliver support to individuals who experience life-changing diagnoses and need help fast.”
open image in galleryFourteen conditions are being added to the Social Security Administration’s fast-track disability list (Getty)With the extra conditions, the CAL now covers 314 illnesses. The additions include cancers primary cardiac sarcoma and Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma as well as genetic di..

Lebanon has become the first nation in the Arab world to abolish the death penalty, after its parliament voted on Tuesday to replace the punishment with life imprisonment alongside aggravated hard labour.
The tiny Mediterranean country has adhered to an unofficial moratorium on executions since January 2004. Nevertheless, courts have continued to issue dozens of death sentences over the intervening years, which were later suspended or commuted.
A majority of Lebanon's 128-member parliament supported the measure, with opposition coming from the parliamentary bloc of Hezbollah.
Justice Minister Adel Nassar, present during the session, hailed the decision as a “historic step” for the country.
open image in galleryThe vote comes amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East (AFP/Getty)Campaigners and human rights groups advocating for a permanent end to capital punishment also celebrated the vote.
Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the nation is “marking a fina..

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted the United States was “more affordable” under President Donald Trump, seemingly in an effort to push voters away from progressive Democratic candidates.
In a passionate rant on Fox News’ “Hannity” Monday evening, Leavitt claimed progressive liberal candidates, such as Abdul El-Sayed or Troy Jackson, would turn the U.S. into “a communist h***hole” with policies such as raising taxes or getting rid of private prisons.
“Thanks to President Trump and Republicans and common sense policies across the board, our country is safer, our country is more affordable,” Leavitt said.
But consumer price data – and the public’s general feelings toward the economy – indicates that the country is not more affordable than it was before the 2024 presidential election.
Consumer prices are up 3.5 percent from last year, a gallon of regular gasoline costs more than $4 and median home prices have risen for 36 months straight.
open image in galleryWhite Ho..

Millions of pounds of rotting food inside a fire-damaged storage warehouse in Los Angeles have been creating foul odors in one of the city’s neighborhoods.
A blaze broke out at a cold-storage facility operated by Lineage in Boyle Heights on June 17, before finally being put out a week later on June 24. The site contained over 80 million lbs of beef, poultry, pork and seafood that is still having an impact nearly two months on.
“It smells really bad, like really bad… to the point that you want to throw up,” a local security guard named Mesha told the BBC, comparing the odor to a dead body.
Lisett Navarrete, a 34-year-old who lives in the area, told the Los Angeles Times that the smell is so bad that “you don’t even want to have breakfast.”
“We can’t run away from it, it’s all around us,” she added.
open image in galleryConcerns have been raised over a foul smell emanating from food waste at a Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles (AFP/Getty)open image in galleryThe warehou..

The nationwide cyclospora outbreak is very likely a result of sewage contamination in the food supply, according to scientific researchers and public health officials.
The parasite’s spread can become a self-perpetuating cycle. Cyclospora is found only in humans, where it replicates in the intestinal tract, causing severe diarrhea. The organism reproduces by releasing oocysts, which are excreted in those human feces. In the U.S., feces usually end up in sewage systems.
In many states, sewage water is treated – though not always in ways that remove or kill the oocysts – and then released into waterways and can be used to irrigate crops. The oocysts mature in the environment with warm temperatures in about a week. Then a human comes along and eats the irrigated food or drinks the water and gets sick, releasing more oocysts into sewage systems.
open image in galleryCyclospora is found only in humans, where it replicates in the intestinal tract, causing severe diarrhea (Getty Images)I am a..

This article first appeared on our partner site, Independent Persian
“We’re constantly terrified by the sound of explosions. The electricity and water keep being cut off. We are without jobs and have no food. It feels like no one is coming to help the people of southern Iran. We don’t want war.”
These remarks reflect dozens of messages and firsthand accounts received by Independent Persian from residents of the southern provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr, Khuzestan and Sistan and Baluchestan.
With intermittent US military strikes on southern Iran in recent weeks under a very precarious ceasefire, residents say they are now grappling not only with the threat of explosions but also prolonged power outages, water cuts, internet disruptions, shuttered businesses and a complete lack of meaningful government support.
One resident of Bandar Abbas tells Independent Persian that when the strikes came, the sound of explosions was almost uninterrupted throughout the night, prompting many families t..

Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Donald Trump’s 15-point peace plan for Gaza, saying Israel will not withdraw from the enclave until Hamas fully disarms.
At a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israel’s president said it “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens”.
He insisted that any disarmament by the militant group, which ran Gaza for nearly two decades before ‌carrying out the October ​7, 2023 ‌attack on Israel that ⁠triggered the Gaza ⁠war, must not be a “fictitious” one.
Mr Netanyahu said he was in discussions with US officials about how to proceed. “They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters,” he said.
What is Trump’s 15-point plan for peace in Gaza?Last month, Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Gaza published a “roadmap” for implementing a “comprehensive peace process” between Israel and Hamas, nearly 10 months..