GENEVA: Israel is deliberately targeting Palestinian children in what has become a key factor in an ongoing &quot;genocide&quot; in Gaza, United Nations investigators charged on Tuesday, in a report slammed by Israel. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry said it had found evidence that &quot;Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces&quot;. This, it said, was a key factor in establishing &quot;the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza&quot;. The three-member investigative team, which does not speak for the UN itself, first determined in a report last September that Israel had committed &quot;genocide&quot; in the war in Gaza -- a finding Israel flatly rejected. In Tuesday&#39;s follow-up report, they said the intense scale and systematic nature of Israeli military operations had continued, resulting in the &quot;unprecedented&quot; death, injury and trauma of Palestinian children. There were &quot;reasonable grounds&quot; to conclude that Israel&#39;s authorities and security forces &quot;have continued to commit the crime of genocide&quot; in Gaza, they said. Israel, which has long been harshly critical of the commission, slammed the report as &quot;defamatory&quot; and a &quot;libellous sham&quot;. It accused the investigators of ignoring &quot;the brutal tactics of Hamas, which ruthlessly attacks Israeli children and uses Palestinian children as human shields&quot;. Childhood &#39;erased&#39; in GazaThe commission, which was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, examined for its latest report crimes affecting Palestinian children, and how living conditions imposed by Israel in Gaza were &quot;resulting in preventable mortality of children&quot;. &quot;Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, and war crimes in the West Bank,&quot; the team said in a statement. The commission said that severe physical and mental injuries, mass trauma, orphanhood, separation, disability, repeated displacements, starvation, and the collapse of education and healthcare had &quot;erased childhood&quot; in Gaza and would continue to affect the territory&#39;s children throughout their lives. &ldquo;By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future,&quot; said Indian judge Srinivasan Muralidhar, who chairs the inquiry. &quot;Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured.&quot; &#39;Strategy to destroy&#39;&nbsp;The report comes days after the UN children&#39;s agency UNICEF said at least 265 children had been killed and hundreds more wounded in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect. UNICEF said children had been shot, bombed, and struck by quadcopters, killed in tents, in schools, and while playing football or fishing. The UN inquiry said that during the first two years of the war, at least 20,179 children were killed and 44,143 injured &quot;as a direct result of the hostilities in Gaza&quot;. The killing and maiming of Palestinian children &quot;was part of a strategy to destroy the biological continuity and future existence of the Palestinian group in Gaza&quot;, it said. Disability a &#39;demographic reality&#39;&nbsp;By targeting children, the report said, &quot;Israel is eroding the foundational structure of Palestinian society, weakening the demographic vitality&quot;. Israel was responsible for causing a &quot;severe orphan crisis&quot;, while wounded youngsters &quot;face a lifetime of disability&quot; -- now &quot;a defining demographic reality&quot; among Gaza&#39;s children, it said. The siege of Gaza &quot;directly undermined reproductive and newborn health&quot;, while the collapse of public health programmes &quot;eroded the conditions necessary for a healthy next generation&quot;. The report listed Israeli divisions, brigades, and units that may be responsible for killing children in specific incidents in Gaza and the West Bank. Besides Gaza, the commission also documented a sharp increase in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian children in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. The commission urged all UN member states, including Israel, to ensure accountability for crimes committed.

Displaced Palestinians sit with their empty containers amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by the Israeli military, as they wait to collect food from a charity kitchen in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 1, 2026. (AFP)

Middle East

"Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, and war crimes in the West Bank," the team said in a statement; The report comes days after the UN children's agency UNICEF said at least 265 children had been killed and hundreds more wounded in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.

Israel's 'deliberate targeting' of children part of ongoing Gaza 'genocide': UN probe

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates announced a social media ban for children under 15 on Thursday, joining a growing group of countries, including Australia, Britain and Canada, that have taken similar measures. Social media platforms will have to monitor and disable accounts created by under-15s or risk being blocked, a cabinet resolution said, giving them a 12-month transition period. &quot;The resolution sets the minimum age for social media use at 15 years,&quot; the official WAM news agency said, citing the cabinet resolution. &quot;Children below this age are prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms.&quot; They are also barred from &quot;accessing the full features of such platforms, including social interaction, publishing, commenting, sharing, joining public groups, open channels, or any large-scale interactive spaces,&quot; it said. After Australia began a world-first social media bar for under-16s in December, a number of countries have followed suit, including Britain, which announced a ban this week. The UAE&#39;s bodies controlling media and telecommunications have &quot;authority to take all necessary measures (against social media platforms) in the event of non-compliance,&quot; WAM said. These include &quot;warning or partial or full blocking of platforms or the imposition of applicable administrative penalties.&quot;

Children looking at a tablet device indoors (Photo by Garakta-Studio/Envato) 

'Children below this age are prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms,' the official WAM news agency said, citing a cabinet resolution.

UAE announces social media ban for under-15s: Official news agency 

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: More than three of four children in Afghanistan are exposed to drought, with more than half confronting longer and more frequent heatwaves, according to UNICEF&#39;s Children&rsquo;s Climate Risk Report 2026. The report, released on Tuesday, found that drought is among the most widespread climate hazards affecting children globally, with around 1.8 billion children, more than three-quarters of the world&rsquo;s child population, exposed to agricultural or meteorological droughts. &quot;Almost all children are now exposed to at least one&quot; climate hazard, including droughts, floods, heatwaves, and tropical storms, the report said. According to UNICEF, 8.8 million out of 21 million children living in Afghanistan (41%) and over 1 billion children worldwide are exposed to at least three overlapping climate hazards. These include floods, droughts, heatwaves, extreme heat, sand and dust storms. Almost all children, some 2.3 billion, are exposed to at least one risk; 2 billion are exposed to at least two, while 364 million face at least four. Lasting effectsUNICEF warned that droughts can devastate harvests, disrupt livelihoods, and worsen malnutrition, with children bearing a disproportionate share of the burden because &quot;their developing bodies make it harder for them to cope with the physical and psychological stresses.&quot; &quot;Droughts cause food and nutritional insecurity,&quot; the report said, with Dr Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, adding that &ldquo;children in Afghanistan are already living on the frontlines of the climate crisis.&rdquo; &ldquo;What makes this especially dangerous is that climate hazards are overlapping with high child vulnerability. Strengthening climate-resilient health, nutrition, WASH, education, child protection, as well as social protection systems and services is critical to protect children today and safeguard their future,&quot; Oyewale said. Unprepared public services&nbsp;The report analyzes children&#39;s exposure to risks and the quality of six public services that determine a child&#39;s ability to adapt to or recover from a climate shock. These include health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education, child protection, and social protection. UNICEF said climate hazards are increasingly straining health, education, water, and sanitation systems, particularly in low-income and fragile countries. For millions of children, the climate crisis is not experienced as a single event but as &quot;a complex and dangerous cascade of multiple, overlapping hazards,&quot; UNICEF said. &quot;This compounding of threats overwhelms the capacity of unprepared social services and undermines the resilience of families and communities.&quot; UNICEF estimates that without urgent intervention, climate change could cause an additional 28 million children to suffer acute wasting and 40 million to be stunted globally by 2050. Between 2016 and 2023, climate hazards caused 62.1 million internal displacements of children worldwide, the equivalent of more than 21,000 per day. In 2024, 634 million children globally lacked access to drinking water, 1 billion lacked safely managed sanitation, and 489 million lacked basic hygiene. &quot;The impact on children&#39;s physical and mental health and wellbeing and their access to education and protection is huge, yet barely quantified,&quot; the report said. Call to actionUNICEF called on governments and international partners to strengthen climate adaptation measures, invest in resilient social services and place children at the center of climate policies and disaster preparedness efforts. &quot;Upholding every child&#39;s right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment requires urgent, coordinated and child-responsive climate policies, action and investment,&quot; the report concluded. It urged governments to prioritize the &quot;urgent phasing-out of fossil fuels and a just transition towards renewable energy and energy efficiency in line with 1.5&deg;C pathways, ensuring the best interests of the child are a primary consideration.&quot;

Afghan girls wash a carpet along a canal in a village in the 9th district of Kandahar on June 16, 2026. (Photo by Sanaullah SEIAM / AFP)

Afghanistan

Over three-quarters of children in Afghanistan face drought exposure, UNICEF says, as a new report warns that climate-related hazards are placing growing pressure on food security, public services, and the well-being of vulnerable children.

Over 75% of Afghan children exposed to drought: UNICEF  

GENEVA: Making the digital world safe for children is an urgent priority, the United Nations said Friday, adding that those responsible for online harm must be held to account. UN rights chief Volker Turk said states had to force tech giants to embed child safety, and said child harm was the direct result of business practices and design choices. &quot;The digital world that connects children to learning, community, and creativity also exposes them to real risks to their safety, privacy, and well-being,&quot; Turk said in a statement. &quot;Online harms to kids&#39; safety, privacy, and wellbeing are not innate or inevitable; they result from design choices and business practices that undermine safety, including addictive design features, such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and persistent notifications from apps. &quot;Enhancing protection of children online is an urgent priority that we need to make sure not only gets done -- but that it gets done right,&quot; he added. The UN high commissioner for human rights called for tougher measures by countries and tech firms to make online platforms safe places for children, through better regulation, oversight, and accountability. &quot;Blanket social media bans are not a one-off panacea,&quot; Turk added. &quot;Simply limiting access to platforms that remain unsafe cannot stand as the endpoint in effectively protecting children.&quot; He called for platforms to be made safer by design and ensure that data is protected, while &quot;those responsible for harm can held to account&quot;. Micro-targeting of kidsTurk said simply focusing on age restrictions would leave unaltered the designs and algorithms that made the platforms unsafe in the first place. Tech giants must embed safety &quot;by design, instead of shifting the burden to parents and children&quot;, he said. The UN rights chief also said experience so far showed that bans could be easily circumvented and voiced concern that such bans could even end up pushing children to riskier, even less monitored platforms. His office produced a set of 10 guidelines entitled &quot;Getting Children&#39;s Safety Online Right&quot;. These included ensuring the maximum protection of children&#39;s data as a default setting, while the &quot;micro-targeting&quot; of children for commercial purposes, based on a digital record, &quot;should not be permitted&quot;. They said emerging concerns, such as restrictions on artificial intelligence chatbot use or addictive design features, may warrant age restrictions. Measures should be subject to independent oversight, with legal consequences that serve as deterrents, the guidelines said. There should also be access to remedies for children whose rights are violated. &quot;Whatever regulations are adopted, it is essential to avoid inadvertently causing further harm. For example, age verification done wrong can both fail at its goal and endanger the privacy of both kids and adults,&quot; said Turk.

Gadgets

Volker Türk says states have to force tech giants to embed child safety, adding child harm is the direct result of business practices and design choices.

UN says protecting children online 'urgent priority'

BRUSSELS: The EU said on Wednesday that Meta is failing to prevent children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram, potentially exposing them to inappropriate content -- and putting the tech giant at risk of a massive fine. The European Union has in recent months stepped up efforts to protect children online, with several member countries considering social media bans for under-16s. The EU executive is also exploring a possible bloc-wide age limit on social media after coming under intense pressure to take broader action, following Australia&#39;s groundbreaking ban on the use of such platforms by under-16s. In its latest move to enhance protections for children online, the EU said a probe found Meta had broken digital content rules and told the US firm to &quot;strengthen&quot; its measures to prevent, detect and remove under-13s on Facebook and Instagram. Under Meta&#39;s own terms and conditions, the minimum age to access the social media platforms is 13. In its preliminary view, the EU found Meta had ineffective measures to enforce its own age restrictions. &quot;Terms and conditions should not be mere written statements, but rather the basis for concrete action to protect users -- including children,&quot; said EU tech tsar Henna Virkkunen. If the regulator&#39;s views on Meta are confirmed, the EU can impose a fine of up to 6% of the company&#39;s worldwide annual turnover. Meta disagreed with the EU&#39;s findings. &quot;We&#39;re clear that Instagram and Facebook are intended for people aged 13 and older, and we have measures in place to detect and remove accounts from anyone under that age,&quot; a Meta spokesperson said, adding the company would continue to engage with the EU. Ongoing Meta probeThe EU has vowed to ensure Big Tech gets to grips with the many online dangers for children. In February, it gave the unprecedented warning to China&#39;s TikTok to change its &quot;addictive design&quot; or risk heavy fines. Wednesday&#39;s preliminary findings against Meta come after the EU opened an investigation in May 2024 under the Digital Services Act (DSA), an online content law that has been fiercely criticized by US President Donald Trump&#39;s administration. The DSA is part of reinforced legal weaponry adopted by the EU in recent years to curb what Brussels describes as Big Tech&#39;s excesses. European regulators found Meta had &quot;no effective controls&quot; to check if children were simply creating accounts by entering false birth dates. The EU also said Meta&#39;s tool to report the presence of children on Facebook or Instagram was &quot;difficult to use and not effective, requiring up to seven clicks just to access the reporting form&quot;. Meta also &quot;inadequately&quot; identified the risks of children under 13 accessing the apps, and the potential for exposure to &quot;age-inappropriate experiences&quot;. An EU official said the risks to children included &quot;bullying, harassment&quot; and &quot;violent content&quot;. Brussels added that Meta&#39;s risk assessment &quot;contradicts large bodies of evidence&quot; from across the EU, indicating that around 10-12% of under-13s access the platforms. Meta can avoid fines by offering remedies for the breaches. &#39;Addictive&#39; design concerns&nbsp;The May 2024 probe into Meta is wide-ranging. EU regulators are still looking into how Meta protects users&#39; physical and mental well-being, as well as the &quot;addictive&quot; design of Facebook and Instagram. Alongside the EU&#39;s investigations into online platforms, Brussels this month said an EU-developed age-check app was ready to go. During a press conference in Strasbourg, Virkkunen urged EU member states to accelerate the app&#39;s rollout so European citizens can use it by the end of 2026. Wednesday&#39;s moves are part of several measures taken by the EU.

Europe

Says Meta failed to stop under-13s using Facebook and Instagram, exposing children to harmful content; company faces possible fines of up to 6% of global turnover.

EU finds Meta failing to keep under-13s off Facebook, Instagram

Saima Ayub

A child stands in the middle of the room. Arms folded. Lips pressed tight. Eyes burning with a quiet storm.&nbsp;You say, &ldquo;Pick up your bag.&rdquo;&nbsp;The child says, &ldquo;No.&rdquo;&nbsp;And just like that, the air changes.&nbsp;We call it stubbornness. A difficult nature. A bad habit. A strong will gone wrong.&nbsp;But after years of watching children in classrooms, corridors, playgrounds, and parent meetings, I&nbsp;have learned something unsettling and honest: stubbornness is rarely about defiance. It is usually about&nbsp;distress.&nbsp;A child is not born stubborn. A child becomes stubborn when they feel unheard, unseen, or overpowered.&nbsp;In school, I have seen the quiet child suddenly refuse to write. The cheerful one who refuses to share. The&nbsp;obedient student who one day simply says, &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t.&rdquo; Parents are shocked. &ldquo;He was never like this.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;She&nbsp;used to listen.&rdquo;&nbsp;Yes. Because something has shifted inside.&nbsp;Children live in a world where almost everything is decided for them, what to wear, when to wake up,&nbsp;what to eat, when to study, how to sit, and how to speak.&nbsp;Their lives are structured by bells and instructions.&nbsp;And while structure is necessary, control without voice breeds resistance.&nbsp;Stubbornness is often a child&rsquo;s small, trembling attempt to say, &ldquo;I want some control too.&rdquo;&nbsp;Psychologists speak of autonomy as a basic human need. Even a four-year-old wants to feel capable. When&nbsp;that need is repeatedly dismissed.&nbsp; &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t argue.&rdquo; &nbsp;&ldquo;Just do as I say.&rdquo; &ldquo;Because I said so.&rdquo;&nbsp; The child&nbsp;learns that the only way to be heard is to resist.&nbsp;And resistance becomes a habit.&nbsp;There is another truth we rarely admit. Sometimes children become stubborn because we are.&nbsp;A rushed parent. A tired teacher. A command given without eye contact. An instruction repeated louder&nbsp;each time. The child mirrors what they see. Stiffness creates stiffness.&nbsp;I remember a boy in my school who refused to participate in group work. Every day, the same battle. His&nbsp;teacher insisted. He resisted. Voices rose. Tears followed.&nbsp;One afternoon, instead of insisting, the teacher sat beside him and asked softly, &ldquo;What worries you about&nbsp;group work?&rdquo;&nbsp;He whispered, &ldquo;They laugh at my English.&rdquo;&nbsp;That was the stubbornness. Not rebellion, fear.&nbsp;Once we understood that, everything changed.&nbsp;A graceful response does not mean permissiveness. It means firmness with dignity. Boundaries without&nbsp;humiliation. Authority without anger. When a child refuses, pause before reacting. Ask yourself: Is this about power, fear, tiredness, or simply a&nbsp;need to be noticed?&nbsp;Offer limited choices. &ldquo;You can start with math or English. Which one first?&rdquo; Choice restores dignity.&nbsp;Acknowledge feelings without surrendering rules. &ldquo;I know you&rsquo;re upset. The homework still needs to be&nbsp;done.&rdquo;&nbsp;Stay calmA calm adult regulates a storming child. A shouting adult creates a hurricane.&nbsp;And sometimes, let natural consequences teach. If a child refuses to pack their bag, allow them to face the&nbsp;discomfort of forgetting a notebook, without rescuing them immediately. Responsibility grows when we&nbsp;step back.&nbsp;Above all, protect the relationship. No lesson is more important than trust.&nbsp;Children who feel safe do not need to fight for control. They learn cooperation because they feel&nbsp;respected.&nbsp;In my years as an educationist, I have seen stubborn children grow into strong leaders, once their will&nbsp;was guided, not crushed. The same firmness that says &ldquo;No&rdquo; at five can say &ldquo;I stand for what is right&rdquo; at&nbsp;twenty.&nbsp;Stubbornness is raw strength. Mishandled, it becomes rebellion. Understood, it becomes resilience.&nbsp;So the next time a child folds their arms and says &ldquo;No,&rdquo; do not see an enemy.&nbsp;See a small human being, struggling to find their voice in a world that often speaks over them.&nbsp;And respond, not with force, but with steady grace.

Blogs

Children’s stubbornness is rarely defiance; it signals distress, fear, or a need for autonomy. Control without voice breeds resistance. Calm authority, limited choices, natural consequences, and preserved trust transform defiance into resilience, guiding strong will into future leadership.

Why children become stubborn, and how to respond gracefully

As parents and guardians we think of lying as a moral crack in the wall. But when it comes to children, truth is usually softer, and sadder.&nbsp;Children lie because of fear.&nbsp;They are not afraid of prison or police rather our faces. They are afraid of our silence. Afraid of disappointing the people whose approval feels like everything.&nbsp;A child who breaks a glass does not first think about right or wrong. He thinks about what will happen next. Will there be shouting? Will love feel distant? In that quick, anxious moment, a lie becomes a small shield. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t me.&rdquo; It is not wickedness speaking. It is fear trying to survive.&nbsp;If we are honest with ourselves, we may remember doing the same.&nbsp;There is also imagination, a bright and restless force in childhood. A five-year-old may&nbsp;insist the cat opened the cupboard or the wind pushed the vase. To us it sounds like&nbsp;deliberate deception. But in a young mind, imagination and reality often sit side by side.&nbsp;The child is not carefully constructing fraud. He is escaping guilt the only way he knows how, through story.&nbsp;As children grow older, their lies change shape.&nbsp;An older child may hide poor marks. A teenager may lie about where she was. These lies&nbsp;are not about spilled milk anymore. They are about identity. About wanting to be seen as&nbsp;capable, responsible, mature.&nbsp;Children care deeply about how we see them. Sometimes more than we realize.&nbsp;When expectations are high and mistakes feel unbearable, truth begins to look dangerous. There is also another quiet reason: children are learningsome point. At some point a child discovers that thoughts are private. That adults cannot see inside&nbsp;their minds. It is a startling discovery. With it comes experimentation. &ldquo;If I say this, will they believe me?&rdquo; It is less a plan to deceive and more a test of the world.&nbsp;None of this means lying should be ignored. Trust, once damaged, is difficult to rebuild. But punishment alone rarely builds honesty. It often builds better liars.&nbsp;If every confession is met with anger, the child learns to hide more carefully next time.&nbsp;What then helps?Calmness helps.&nbsp;When a child admits, &ldquo;Yes, I broke it,&rdquo; and hears, &ldquo;Thank you for telling me,&rdquo; something important happens. The mistake still matters. The consequence may still follow. But the&nbsp;child learns that truth does not cancel love.&nbsp;That lesson stays.&nbsp;We must also look at ourselves. Children notice the small things. When we say on the&nbsp;phone, &ldquo;Tell them I&rsquo;m not home,&rdquo; they are listening. When we exaggerate stories or twist&nbsp;facts, they are watching. We cannot demand honesty in a language we do not speak.&nbsp;A lying child is not a lost child.More often, it is a worried child. Or an ashamed child. Or simply a growing child trying to&nbsp;manage feelings too large for his small hands.&nbsp;If we want honesty, we must make it safe. Safe to fail. Safe to confess. Safe to be imperfect.&nbsp;The real question is not, &ldquo;Why is my child lying?&rdquo;&nbsp;Perhaps it is, &ldquo;What is my child afraid of losing if they tell the truth?&rdquo;&nbsp;When we answer that gently &mdash; not with authority alone, but with understanding, we&nbsp;may find that the lies grow fewer, and the conversations grow deeper.&nbsp;And that is where trust truly begins.

Children often lie from fear, imagination, or growing identity, not malice. Honesty grows when adults respond calmly, model truth, and make mistakes safe, showing that truth never cancels love, trust, or belonging for children everywhere.

The psychology behind kids lying

Washington: The United States will consider obesity or having children with special needs as reasons to reject immigrant visas, in the latest salvo by President Donald Trump to turn away foreigners. In a cable sent earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio asks US embassies to factor in conditions including obesity when issuing long-term visas, on the grounds that being obese can &quot;require expensive, long-term care.&quot; It also asks embassies to assess if any dependents have &quot;disabilities, chronic medical conditions, or other special needs and require care&quot; to the extent that the visa applicant could not work. The memo was first reported by KFF Health News. Its contents were confirmed to AFP by a person who saw it. The United States is already one of the most obese countries in the world, tied to factors including diet and lack of exercise. Around 40 percent of the US population is obese, with rates on average higher in states that voted for Trump. The new guidance will apply for people seeking to immigrate to the United States and not foreigners on routine short-term visits. The United States has long looked at whether a person would become a &quot;public charge&quot;&mdash;relying on government funds&mdash;before admitting immigrants, including when Americans seek to bring in marriage partners. But Trump has been especially zealous in finding reasons to refuse entry as he carries out a sweeping crackdown against migration, one of his signature campaign promises. &quot;It&#39;s no secret the Trump administration is putting the interests of the American people first,&quot; State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said. &quot;This includes enforcing policies that ensure our immigration system is not a burden on the American taxpayer.&quot; The Trump administration has funded a surge of immigration enforcement in a bid to deport undocumented migrants en masse, even when they have not committed crimes other than immigration violations. Rubio has also sought to cancel visas for people who are seen as going against US foreign policy, including for statements on Israel.

Americas

The United States will consider obesity or having children with special needs as reasons to reject immigrant visas

US to factor obesity, special-needs children in refusing visas

WASHINGTON: A food aid program that supports millions of low-income mothers and their young children received a $300 million infusion from the Trump administration this week, alleviating some anxiety that it would run out of money during the government shutdown. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children helps more than 6 million low-income mothers, young children, and expectant parents purchase nutritious staples, such as fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk, and infant formula. The program, known as WIC, was at risk of running out of money this month due to the government shutdown, which occurred just before it was slated to receive its annual appropriation. This week, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt posted on X that the White House had found &ldquo;a creative solution&rdquo; to use tariff revenues to keep the program afloat. By Thursday, at least some states were receiving WIC money. Alaska and Washington said they received enough federal funds to keep their programs running until at least the end of October. The Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, which had closed its office on Thursday after running out of money, received money that allowed it to reopen on Friday, radio station KUNR reported. Officials from the US Department of Agriculture, which runs WIC, told congressional staffers they were using $300 million in unspent tariff revenue from the last fiscal year to keep the program afloat, two people briefed on the call told AP. The people declined to be named because they were not authorized to share details from the call. Tariff revenue supports many USDA programs. The law permits the administration to transfer money allocated for other programs to WIC. Without the additional money, state and local governments would have had to step in to pay for their WIC programs and later seek reimbursement from the federal government when funding was restored. Washington state, which is dealing with a massive budget shortfall, said it could not afford to use state money for the WIC program. In Alaska, the WIC program only had enough federal money to operate through Saturday, meaning the state would have had to step in with its own funding to keep the program running. But this week, officials learned they were receiving nearly $900,000, enough to fully fund the program through Nov. 8, according to Shirley Sakaye, a spokesperson with the state&rsquo;s health department. About half a million of that came from leftover funds from other programs, she said. The government has been shut down since Oct. 1, after Republicans and Democrats in Congress failed to pass a bill to continue funding the government. Congressional Democrats want to reverse cuts to Medicaid that were passed earlier this year as part of President Donald Trump&#39;s mega-bill. They also want to extend subsidies that cut the cost of Affordable Care Act insurance plans, which cover more than 24 million Americans. The White House and Republicans in Congress have hammered Democrats for the shutdown, highlighting the potential damage it could do to WIC. &ldquo;The Democrats are so cruel in their continual votes to shut down the government that they forced the WIC program for the most vulnerable women and children to run out this week,&rdquo; Leavitt posted on X. But House Republicans and the White House have also sought to cut the program. Trump&#39;s budget proposal and a budget bill passed by House Republicans last month would not have fully funded the program, meaning it would have to turn away eligible applicants. &ldquo;Since President Trump is now signaling he cares about the WIC program, he should finally get to the negotiating table to reopen the government,&rdquo; said Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state. &ldquo;And he should immediately disavow his budget request to significantly cut benefits for millions of moms and kids &mdash; and tell House Republicans to back off their proposed cuts as well.&rdquo; ____

The Trump administration allocated $300 million in tariff revenues to keep the WIC food program running during the government shutdown, temporarily preventing service disruptions for millions of low-income mothers and children nationwide.

WIC food program receives $300M to keep running during government shutdown

<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">INDONESIA: &nbsp;Health workers on wheels are part of the regional government&rsquo;s latest efforts to curb a deadly measles outbreak on Madura Island that has persisted for the past nine months. More than 2,600 children have already been infected this year, and 20 have died. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But efforts to stop the outbreak from spreading through the predominantly Muslim population are being hindered in part by concerns that some measles vaccines may not meet Islamic halal standards because they use a stabilizer that is derived from pigs. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pork-derived gelatin is widely used as a stabilizer to ensure vaccines remain safe and effective during storage and transport, presenting a dilemma to religious communities that view pigs as ritually unclean.&nbsp; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many Islamic scholars argue that vaccines containing gelatin stabilizers can be used under Islamic law, as can other medical products with pig-derived ingredients, provided certain conditions are met. Many others, however, disagree with this approach. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Indonesian religious leaders ruled in 2018 that vaccines with pig gelatin are haram, or forbidden, but advised Muslims that they can be used until other shots are available &ldquo;for the benefit of society,&rdquo; said Ahmad Syamsuri, the head of Disease Control and Prevention at the Sumenep Health Office. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Religious concerns drive vaccine hesitancy for some<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Sumenep, many are reluctant even to discuss their religious concerns. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pujiati Wahyuni, a 31-year-old Muslim mother and nurse, knows parents who refuse the vaccines for their children on religious grounds, though she recently had her daughter receive the vaccine at an Islamic kindergarten in Pamolokan village. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;Yes, there are some. Islam is a big religion. Maybe some Muslim people just do not want to get vaccinated, and it is not just now, but since they were born,&rdquo; Wahyuni said. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The regional government&rsquo;s latest efforts began in August and include making more than 78,000 vaccines available to children in the region, which are distributed through local clinics, delivered directly to the residents at their homes, and even brought to schools. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hope is that the campaign will help prevent future outbreaks, infections, and deaths. But they cannot compel reluctant parents, said Musthafa, the general secretary of the Indonesian Ulema Council in Sumenep. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;We have high hopes for Muslims in Indonesia, who are the ones consuming it. Let us ask the government, in this case the Health Office and the Ministry of Health, to find a halal vaccine,&rdquo; said Musthafa. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Indonesia, the world&rsquo;s largest Muslim-majority nation, has reported previous outbreaks of measles, driven mainly by gaps in vaccination coverage. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2018, a major outbreak of the highly infectious disease occurred in the easternmost province of Papua, causing dozens of deaths. Due to some vaccine hesitancy, the Indonesian Ulema Council stated that the measles-rubella vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India, contained an ingredient derived from pigs; however, it allowed its use until a halal alternative was available. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vaccination rates are falling<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Globally, the World Health Organization reports that 84% of children received the first dose of the measles vaccine last year, and 76% had received two doses. But experts say measles vaccine rates need to reach 95% to prevent outbreaks. WHO noted that 60 countries reported significant measles outbreaks last year. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Measles vaccination rates in Indonesia fell below the country&#39;s targets in 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Health. In 2023, measles-rubella vaccinations reached 86.6% of the target, and in 2024, the number fell to 82.3%. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From May to July &mdash; the peak of the outbreak in Sumenep &mdash; isolation rooms at regional hospitals were full as staff treated over a hundred measles cases daily. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At an Islamic kindergarten in Pamolokan village, the head of the community health center met the students&rsquo; mothers before vaccines were administered and urged them to protect their children by reducing the spread of measles in Indonesia. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite her hesitation over the vaccine&rsquo;s ingredients, Ayu Resa Etika, 28, from Kebunan village, finally allowed her 2-year-old son to get his delayed second dose after seeing many local children hospitalized with measles. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;There is a little doubt because it is not halal. But despite all that, this is for the sake of the child&rsquo;s health,&rdquo; Etika said. &ldquo;The effects are quite extraordinary; it can cause death. I am afraid that if my son is not vaccinated against measles, that is the risk. So it&rsquo;s OK, as long as the effects are good.&rdquo;

Asia

A measles outbreak on Madura Island in Indonesia has infected over 2,600 children and killed 20 this year, with vaccine hesitancy fueled by halal concerns. Authorities push mass vaccination, while religious leaders urge halal alternatives.

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