War on Iran threatens lifesaving supplies for African children

Surging global transport costs and supply chain disruptions from the Middle East crisis are threatening the delivery of lifesaving aid to children, UNICEF warned Tuesday.

Nearly 100 days after Israel and the U.S. launched a war on Iran, danger around key Gulf shipping routes, skyrocketing fuel prices and insurance premiums and congestion at ports has threatened aid deliveries..

Partners who donate charter flights into Lebanon and Gaza face four to six weeks delays.

UNICEF estimates that some deliveries are now delayed by up to six months. Rerouting shipments around the Cape of Good Hope is adding two to four weeks to delivery times. The cost of trucking the food cartons from Kenyan manufacturers to Somalia, South Sudan, and the DRC has increased by 30 percent.

UNICEF reported paying an additional $200,000 to reroute syringes for a polio vaccination campaign in Nigeria.

USDA: Flesh-eating screwworm may be in Texas calves

An infestation of the flesh–eating screwworm parasite may have been detected in South Texas.

A sample is at a federal government lab for testing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.

Samples from two calves on a cattle ranch in La Pryor, Texas were sent to a federal lab in Iowa.. 

A photo seen by Reuters shows multiple larvae resembling the screwworm inside a bloody circular wound on an animal. Texas Representative Don McLaughlin said one suspected infestation was in an umbilical cord wound of a calf. Reuters could not immediately verify the photo.

Screwworms are parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds of any warm-blooded animal. Once the eggs hatch, hundreds of screwworm larvae use their sharp mouths to burrow through living flesh, eventually killing their host if left untreated. An outbreak of screwworm in the U.S. could cause $1.8 billion in damage to Texas‘ economy alone and would likely raise U.S. beef prices by shrinking herds.

The U.S. kept its Mexico border closed to cattle imports over a year to prevent the parasite.

CBS News fires Scott Pelley from 60 Minutes

CBS News has terminated the contract of “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley, two sources at the network said on Tuesday, joining more than half a dozen departures in recent weeks.

His termination from the network came amid media reports that he accused CBS News’ editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” 60 Minutes.

Skydance Media, run by David Ellison – son of Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, longtime supporter of President ​Donald Trump – ​acquired Paramount in August ⁠and installed Weiss in October as editor-in-chief.

Pelley said in an Instagram post on Wednesday, saying that “the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.”

Biggest US children’s hospital open’s nations clinic reversing transgender surgery

America’s biggest children’s hospital will create the first nation’s “detransition clinic” to undo gender-affirming treatments for transgender youth and fire five doctors who performed the procedures to settle a joint investigation by the state and President Donald Trump’s administration.

The U.S. Justice Department and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in separate announcements that Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston would also pay $10 million for allegedly billing the state’s Medicaid program for gender-affirming treatment prohibited by state law.

Paxton’s office said the settlement was the result of a years-long investigation into the 1,000-bed hospital’s practices, including allegedly using false billing codes when seeking Medicaid reimbursements.

Texas Children’s in a statement said it has been compliant with all laws. The hospital said it was settling the investigation “to protect our resources from endless and costly litigation” and return to focusing on patient care.

The hospital cooperated with the probe.

GOP backlash increases over Trump’s spy chief pick

Two of President Donald Trump’s cabinet members on Wednesday distanced themselves from his pick of loyalist Bill Pulte to serve as acting U.S. spy chief, as Republican lawmakers criticized his lack of national security experience.

Pulte has no national security experience to oversee the nation’s sprawling intelligence apparatus.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said the law that created the job required nominees have extensive national security experience.

“No nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote,” he said.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis said he would not support Pulte‘s nomination.

Republican lawmakers this week refused to fund his White House ballroom and forced him to shelve a fund that would have distributed $1.8 billion to alleged victims of government “weaponization,” including those who violently attacked the Capitol January 6, 2021. 

Pulte used his position as head of a low-profile mortgage regulator to push fraud investigations of Trump’s imagined foes. None resulted in criminal charges. 

Pulte had no national security experience before Trump said he would replace Tulsi Gabbard who leaves June 30. The interim appointment would last 210 days. 

The New York Times and Reuters