Israel strikes Beirut: What we know so far
Israel says the attack targeted Hezbollah commander in response to the Golan Heights attack on Saturday. Israel has carried out an air raid in Beirut, killing at least one person in a move that could raise tensions between the country and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Israel’s military has said the attack on Tuesday targeted Hezbollah commander Muhsin Shukr, whose condition was not immediately clear. The attack comes three days after an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel blames on Hezbollah. Here’s what to know about the explosion so far: When and where did Israel attack Beirut? The blast was heard in Beirut’s southern suburbs at around 19:40 local time (16:40 GMT) on Tuesday evening. It hit the Haret Hreik neighbourhood, near Hezbollah’s Shura Council its’s central decision-making authority. Half of the targeted buildings in the densely populated neighbourhood collapsed and a nearby hospital suffered minor damages. Surrounding streets were littered with debris and broken glass as ambulances rushed to the scene. Why did Israel bomb Beirut? Israel’s military said its strike targeted Hezbollah commander, Muhsen Shukr also known as ”Haj Muhsen.” It claimed Muhsen was responsible for an attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 people and wounded 30 on Saturday. Israel has occupied the western region of Golan Heights since the 1967 war while the remaining part is under Syria’s control. The rocket attack on Saturday hit in Majdal Shams, in the northeastern part of the Israeli-occupied territory. Hezbollah has denied involvement in the attack. How many people died in the strike? While casualties are still being confirmed, Lebanon’s National News Agency has reported at least one person was killed and several wounded. Hezbollah sources have said Shukr survived the attack. Has Israel bombed Beirut before? Since launching its war on Gaza in October, Israel has attacked Beirut on at least one previous occasion before Tuesday’s attack. On January 2, Israel carried out a strike that killed senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri. Israel’s last attack on Beirut before that was in 2006, during the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah. What’s next? Israel’s military has not issued any new instructions for civil defence in Israel following the attack. Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said the Israeli messaging is that this was their promised response to the Majdal Shams attack, and that they are not interested in more armed confrontation with Hezbollah beyond this. While Hezbollah has promised to respond to any kind of attack from Israel, the retaliation may not be immediate, said Khodr. Ori Goldberg, a political commentator in Tel Aviv, told Al Jazeera that the attack is likely not a “serious escalation.” He added that Israel might not risk war with Lebanon as it is already in the middle of “one of the most severe domestic crises it has ever experienced”. “A war with Lebanon could perhaps rally Israelis around the flag, but its effects would be almost immediately disastrous,” said Goldberg. Responding to questions about the attack on Tuesday, White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre said the US does not believe that an all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel is inevitable. US President Joe Biden “believes it can be avoided” with a diplomatic solution, she added. Adblock test (Why?)
Why was a scene from the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony controversial?
Some people have reacted angrily to part of the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics. “Demeaning, disgusting and disrespectful” – some of the words used to describe a controversial scene during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. Organisers have apologised for the performance against the backdrop of the River Seine that some saw as a spoof of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting. Comprised of drag queens, a transgender model and a singer made up as the Greek god of wine, it provoked outrage among Catholics, Christians and Muslims around the world. So, was this scene simply an example of freedom of expression? Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom Guests Simon Kuper – Columnist for the Financial Times David Goldblatt – Sport journalist Gerard O’Connell – Vatican correspondent for America Magazine Adblock test (Why?)
Dozens dead as tail end of Typhoon Gaemi lashes China
Storm has hit China with deadly rain and mudslides, devastating homes, roads and crops. The tail end of Typhoon Gaemi has hit China and North Korea with torrential rain, floods and mudslides, with dozens reported to have died. Reports early on Tuesday said that seven people had been added to the casualty list from the previous day, when a mudslide killed at least 15 people. The update brings the total number reported killed since Sunday to 22. Xinhua News Agency reported that four bodies had been found in Zixing city. State broadcaster CCTV reported that the bodies of three other missing people were found in a village nearby. Heavy rains have been falling on Hunan for days as Tropical Storm Gaemi moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength in the neighbouring Fujian province on the Chinese coast. The storm hit Taiwan hard last week. All of the deaths in China have been recorded in Hunan province. Three more people were reported to be missing on Tuesday. Xinhua added that the rains have damaged close to 1,000 homes, prompted the evacuation of more than 11,000 people, and caused 1,345 road collapses in Zixing. Some areas of the city experienced record rainfall, with some areas receiving 645mm (25 inches) in just 24 hours. At the same time, elsewhere in the province, nearly 4,000 residents were evacuated due to a dam breach. The floods come after a landslide on Sunday destroyed a guesthouse in Hunan, killing 15 people. China is experiencing a summer of extreme weather. Heavy rains are affecting swaths of the country while other regions endure intense heatwaves. On Monday, China’s National Meteorological Centre issued an orange alert, the second-highest level, for rainstorms across much of the country’s south, southwest, and centre, as well as Beijing, Hebei province, and Tianjin in the north. The deluge has seen major dams breached, leading to the flooding of swaths of agricultural land. CCTV reported that the Ministry of Finance has earmarked funds of 238 million yuan ($33m) for disaster prevention and agricultural aid. Weather experts blame the devastating rains on a combination of the southwest monsoon and Gaemi. The combination has also seen storms in northeastern China and North Korea, with the rainfall increasing levels in the Yalu River, which divides the two countries. Serious flooding has been reported in the Chinese border city of Dandong and on the North Korean side. Adblock test (Why?)
Landslides caused by heavy rains kill dozens in India’s Kerala
Landslides in southern India triggered by torrential monsoon rains have killed dozens of people with hundreds more feared trapped under mud and debris, according to officials. The southern coastal state of Kerala has been battered by heavy rains and the collapse of a key bridge at the disaster site in Wayanad district has hampered rescue efforts, according to local media reports. PM Manoj, press secretary to Kerala’s chief minister, said the landslides had killed at least 49 people so far, while district official DR Meghasree said 45 people were killed and local media reported 66 deaths. Images published by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) showed rescue crews trudging through mud to search for survivors and carry bodies on stretchers out of the area. Homes were caked with brown sludge as the force of the landslide’s impact scattered cars, corrugated iron and other debris around the disaster site. The Indian Army said it had deployed more than 200 soldiers to the area to assist state security forces and fire crews in search and rescue efforts. “Hundreds of people are suspected to have been trapped,” it said in a statement. More rainfall and strong winds were forecast in Kerala on Tuesday, the state’s disaster management agency said. The number of fatal floods and landslides has increased in recent years, and experts say climate change is worsening the problem. Damming, deforestation and development projects in India have also exacerbated the human toll. Nearly 500 people were killed across Kerala in 2018 during the worst flooding to hit the state in almost a century. India’s worst landslide in recent decades was in 1998, when a rockfall triggered by heavy monsoon rains killed at least 220 people and completely buried the tiny village of Malpa in the Himalayas. Adblock test (Why?)
‘It’s evil’: Breast ironing leaves long-term scars for women in Nigeria
Abuja, Nigeria – When children turn 10, their first double-digit milestone is usually a time of excitement. But not for Elizabeth John, who could only feel dread about what was to come. A day after her 10th birthday, three older women held her legs down firmly as her mother pressed a burning hot pestle against her still-developing breasts, unyielding even as the child screamed in pain. Nearly two decades later, the 27-year-old Cameroonian refugee who grew up in Nigeria’s Cross River State vividly remembers that day – as she grapples with the years of damage the ordeal inflicted. John said her life changed after her mother forced her to undergo breast ironing in an attempt to shield her from sexual abuse. Breast ironing, or “breast flattening”, is a cultural practice whereby young girls’ breasts are ironed or pounded down with brutal or heated objects to delay their development or disguise the onset of puberty, according to the Africa Health Organization. The AHO says communities who practise breast ironing believe it will make girls less attractive to men, thus protecting them from harassment, rape, abduction, and early forced marriage, and also keeping them in school. However, health bodies and rights groups say it is a form of physical mutilation that harms a child’s social and psychological wellbeing and contributes to the high school dropout rate among girls who suffer from it. The United Nations (UN) says breast ironing affects some 3.8 million women in Africa and is one of the five most under-reported crimes related to gender-based violence. Some 25 to 50 percent of girls in countries like Cameroon and certain parts of Nigeria are affected by the practice, according to data from the journal, Annals of Medical Research and Practice. Done in secret In John’s home community in Cross River State in southern Nigeria, the procedure is culturally imposed on most girls and typically performed by their mothers or other maternal figures. For years after her breasts were ironed, John suffered from pain. Her breasts developed unevenly, and the muscles are still weak and saggy today. At age 19, the pain was so bad that she had trouble sleeping, she said. Despite visiting doctors, her family did not believe breast ironing was the cause, adhering to their cultural beliefs. “Before I married, I would buy painkillers for the breast pain, but it worsened after marriage [and pregnancy] when I was trying to breastfeed my child,” she told Al Jazeera. Elizabeth John, a survivor of breast ironing [Abdulwaheed Sofiullahi/Al Jazeera] In 2021, as she was about to give birth, a doctor explained that breast ironing had damaged her glandular tissue, which would make breastfeeding difficult, and suggested a medical procedure that could help her. “After the doctor told me that the ironed breasts might affect me during childbirth, my husband and I couldn’t afford the treatment, which was $5,700,” she lamented. “I am jobless, and my husband works in furniture,” she explained. After giving birth, she struggled to breastfeed correctly. The doctor recommended using formula, but the couple could not afford it. They lost the baby when he was four months old. Ushakuma Michael Amineka, a gynaecologist at the Benue State Teaching Hospital and the second vice president of the Nigeria Medical Association, explained that breast ironing can leave long-term effects. “The immediate consequences can include pain because the breast is very soft tissue. If compressed, it can cause pain and even distort the normal anatomy of the breast tissue,” he told Al Jazeera. “Long-term consequences could include difficulties with lactation, as it can destroy breast tissue and lead to infections, causing long-term pain and reduced breast milk production.” According to 2021 research published by the United States’ National Institutes of Health (NIH), the harmful practice is typically carried out by close female relatives, and sometimes with the help of traditional midwives. It is maintained in secret by female members of the family and community, and typically hidden from men. Traditional and household tools are usually used to perform the procedure, including grinding stones, cast iron, coconut shells, calabashes, hammers, sticks or spatulas. Additionally, it can involve tightly wrapping the breasts with a belt or cloth, the NIH said. The lack of good data and empirical studies on breast ironing has also limited a broader understanding of the practice and its prevalence, NIH added. Longstanding tradition “This cultural practice is horrible and inhuman,” David Godswill, a Nigerian human rights activist, told Al Jazeera. Those who practise it “believe that if breasts develop, they will attract men”, he said, but he emphasised that the procedure is just cruel. The effects can be traumatic, causing women and girls physical pain and shame about their bodies. “It’s evil what they do to women’s breasts, and many have suffered health issues because of it,” he said. A stick used for breast ironing is seen on a fire at a survivor’s home in Cameroon [File: Joe Penney/Reuters] For John, the health effects of breast ironing have caused her years of personal pain and struggle. Now, living in Gbagyi, an Indigenous community in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, every day is a reminder of her childhood trauma. Breast ironing is a longstanding tradition in Gbagyi and many young girls in the community have had their breasts ironed, John told Al Jazeera. When she tried to warn their mothers about the health risks based on her own experience, they did not believe her and thought she wanted to encourage intimacy between men and younger girls. Conversations Al Jazeera had with seven local women in Gbagyi revealed that nearly all had experienced breast ironing. They also pushed their daughters into having the procedure to protect them from male attention and sexual abuse. Many said their mothers and grandmothers also underwent this practice. One woman, Roseline Desmond, told Al Jazeera that when a group came three years ago to raise awareness about the health implications of breast ironing, some women promised to stop while others remained unconvinced. “In this community, some
Olympic gold: Japan’s Horigome on skateboard, GB’s Pidcock on mountain bike
Olympics day three: Gold for Japan in men’s skateboarding and gymnastics, Canada achieves a judo first, and Great Britain wins a mountain bike thriller. Yuto Horigome of Japan has retained his Olympic title in men’s street skateboarding in Paris, clinching the top of the podium on his last trick in a tense final. Team USA’s Jagger Eaton upgraded his Tokyo bronze to silver, while his compatriot Nyjah Huston claimed the last spot on the podium on Monday. Horigome clinched gold at the last moment with a flawless slide down the 10-stair round rail and a smile, underlining Japan’s dominance in the sport a day after his compatriot Coco Yoshizawa won the women’s event. “It was hard to make the podium this time,” said Horigome. “The skate level’s insane.” Eaton brought out some of his best material across the five tricks but could not catch Horigome, as the American fell on his final attempt. The competition was held under clear skies in sweltering heat after rain forced the postponement of the event on Saturday, while the competitors kept their cool in front of another packed house at the La Concorde venue. Gold medallist Yuto Horigome of Japan, centre, poses with silver medallist Jagger Eaton (left) and bronze medallist Nyjah Huston (right), both of Team USA [Frank Franklin II/AP] Horigome looked every bit the favourite as he made terrific use of the course’s 18 features in his opening run of the final. But Huston had the lead heading into the five tricks as he capped his second run with a nollie backside 180. Huston, one of the biggest names in US skateboarding since retired great Tony Hawk, was hungry for redemption after a shock seventh-place finish in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, and he tightened his grasp on the lead with a pair of high-scoring tricks. But Eaton briefly took the top spot in the standings with a nollie 270 slide in his fourth try. Horigome looked as though he might miss the podium entirely after falling on three of his first four attempts. But he pulled out a bit of magic to leap over the rest of the field at the last moment as Japanese fans cheered. Olympic skateboarding will continue with the women’s and men’s park events on August 6 and 7. Yuto Horigome saved his best for the last run [Stefan Matzke – sampics/Getty Images] Japan claim men’s team gold in artistic gymnastics after dramatic final Daiki Hashimoto turned heartache into unimaginable joy as he overcame a fall from the pommel horse to power Japan to the gymnastics gold medal, edging out China in a pulsating men’s team final. While Hashimoto led Japan to their eighth men’s team title at the Games, Team USA were celebrating their first Olympic team medal since 2008 as they grabbed bronze. Just when it looked like China had the title in the bag as they led Japan by more than three points with only three more performances left on their final apparatus, the high bar, Su Weide fell twice during his routine, turning the title race into a nail-biter. When the chalk settled, Japan emerged victorious with a total of 259.594 points, less than a point ahead of China. The USA men put on a superb performance and locked up the bronze after nailing most of their landings in the competition. Daiki Hashimoto of Japan on the pommel horse during the men’s artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena in Paris, France [Charlie Riedel/AP] Deguchi becomes Canada’s first judo champion Christa Deguchi won the women’s under 57kg (126-pound) gold to hand Canada its first-ever Olympic judo title before Hidayat Heydarov of Azerbaijan disappointed a partisan crowd by triumphing in the men’s under 73kg (161-pound) final. Current world champion Heydarov edged French underdog Joan-Benjamin Gaba with a golden score ippon in a marathon final that lasted nine minutes and 24 seconds at Champ-de-Mars Arena. Heydarov tried multiple times to catch his breath as the bout wore on and planted a kiss on his opponent’s forehead after celebrating victory. To the home crowd’s disappointment, Azerbaijan’s Hidayet Heydarov defeated France’s Joan-Benjamin Gaba in the men’s under 73kg (161-pound) final [Eugene Hoshiko/AP] Gaba, ranked 35th in the world and competing in his first Olympics, surprised everyone by fighting his way into the final after defeating London 2012 under 66kg (146-pound) gold medallist Lasha Shavdatuashvili of Georgia in the round of 32. In the women’s event, Sarah-Leonie Cysique added a bronze medal to the host nation’s haul after losing to Deguchi in the semifinal. In the final, Deguchi took out Huh Mi-mi after the South Korean was penalised for a third time. After becoming Canada’s first world judo champion in 2019, Christa Deguchi struck again, becoming Canada’s first Olympic judo champion [Eugene Hoshiko/AP] Great Britain’s Pidcock wins thriller to retain mountain bike title Tom Pidcock of Great Britain roared back after suffering a puncture to retain his Olympic men’s mountain bike title after a thrilling battle with France’s Victor Koretzky. World champion Pidcock, who won gold in Tokyo, found himself 35 seconds adrift after a front wheel puncture on the fourth of eight laps on the 4.4km (2.7-mile) circuit carved into Elancourt Hill. But he surged back and then went head-to-head with Koretzky on the final lap when he again had to make up ground before pulling clear with the finish line in sight. The partisan crowd booed as he crossed the line nine seconds ahead of silver medallist Koretzky, while South Africa’s Alan Hatherly finished third for the bronze medal. The Olympic gold medal came as an early birthday present for Pidcock, who turns 25 on Tuesday. Thomas Pidcock has joined Paola Pezzo and Julien Absalon as the only riders with two mountain bike gold medals from the Olympic Summer Games [Ricardo Mazalan/AP] Adblock test (Why?)
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz moves to Williams for 2025 F1 season
In a surprise move, Carlos Sainz, a three-time Grand Prix winner with Ferrari, signed a two-year deal with UK-based Williams Racing. Formula One driver Carlos Sainz has signed with Williams Racing for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. The Spaniard is in his final season at Ferrari and currently ranks fifth in the Formula One (F1) driver standings. “I am very happy to announce that I will be joining Williams Racing from 2025 onwards,” Sainz said on Monday. “It is no secret that this year’s driver market has been exceptionally complex for various reasons and that it has taken me some time to announce my decision. “However, I am fully confident that Williams is the right place for me to continue my F1 journey and I am extremely proud of joining such a historic and successful team, where many of my childhood heroes drove in the past and made their mark on our sport. The ultimate goal of bringing Williams back to where it belongs, at the front of the grid, is a challenge that I embrace with excitement and positivity,” he said. Sainz collected his third career F1 win at the Australian Grand Prix in March. He also has four third-place finishes this season, most recently at the Austrian Grand Prix on June 30. The 29-year-old replaces Logan Sargeant and will race alongside Alex Albon at Williams. Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton is replacing Sainz at Ferrari. Sainz, who had also been of interest to Sauber/Audi and Renault-owned Alpine, said he was convinced Williams had “all the right ingredients to make history again”. Spain’s Carlos Sainz was widely expected to join the new Sauber/Audi team before Monday’s Williams announcement [Kym Illman/Getty Images] Adblock test (Why?)
After Golan Heights attack, will the Israel-Hezbollah conflict escalate?
Israel is gearing up to launch a major attack on Lebanon after a deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, but it is unlikely to want to trigger an all-out war with Hezbollah, analysts say. Israel blames the Lebanese armed group for firing a projectile on Saturday that hit a football pitch and killed 12 children and young people in the Druze town of Majdal Shams. While Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the attack, Israel has said the group has crossed a “red line” and will pay a “heavy price” for the incident. “[The projectile] was clearly a mistake, and Hezbollah is not interested in targeting Druze, but Hezbollah was hitting Israeli positions about 2.5km [1.5 miles] away from Majdal Shams, so it is possible that it made a targeting error,” said Nicholas Blanford, an expert on Hezbollah with the Atlantic Council think tank. Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting a low-scale conflict since the Hamas-led attacks on communities and military outposts in southern Israel on October 7. Hezbollah has repeatedly said it would end attacks on Israel if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, where Israel’s war has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians. So what does the attack in the Golan Heights mean for a possible escalation between Hezbollah and Israel? After the occupied Golan Heights attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed the departure of 150 Palestinian children from Gaza to the UAE for medical treatment on July 28, 2024, including Lamis Abu Selim, who suffers from scoliosis and had waited with her mother for evacuation [Ramadan Abed/Reuters] Drumming up support Israel appears to be using the attack to rally domestic and international support for a major strike on Lebanon, according to analysts. On Israel’s official X page, an image of the Israeli and Druze flags was posted with the caption: “We are all Druze.” Another post read, “They take babies hostage. They shoot rockets at homes. Hezbollah, Hamas the Houthis. They are all Iran.” The three groups are among those in the region that are aligned with Iran. While they are described as being part of an Iran-backed “axis of resistance”, each group grew out of conflicts specific to its respective context and has its own interests. After the Majdal Shams attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday postponed the departure of 150 sick and wounded children in Gaza who were supposed to receive medical treatment in the United Arab Emirates, according to local Israeli media. On X, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel called the delay “cruel and dangerous” and said the deaths of the 12 young people in Majdal Shams “must not be exploited for cynical political motives”. It continued: “This evacuation delay once more exposes Israel’s disregard for the lives of children and innocent civilians in Gaza. Vengeance is not a legitimate policy.” But even as Israel continues to devastate Gaza, analysts believe it will try to minimise civilian casualties with its strike on Lebanon out of fear of sparking a broader conflict that it can’t contain. “The fact that the victims [in Majdal Shams] were all children and teenagers gives them an emotional [weight], but I don’t think the Israelis want to escalate,” Blanford told Al Jazeera. Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in the southern Lebanese border village of Chihine on July 28, 2024 [Kawnat Haju/AFP] ‘Now is not the time’ Israel’s top army generals are increasingly at odds with Netanyahu over the war on Gaza and the conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon. In June, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said, “Whoever thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong.” Netanyahu has long said that Israel’s goal in Gaza is to eradicate the armed group. Waging an all-out war against Hezbollah, a force that many analysts consider Israel’s toughest foe in the region, is an even taller task, said Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel-Palestine analyst for the International Crisis Group. “I think Israelis overall believe that at some point Israel and Hezbollah will have a major war, but the question is when and how and under what conditions,” she told Al Jazeera. “[Most] Israelis believe now is not the time,” she added. Israel’s army is already struggling to muster enough soldiers to continue its war on Gaza. Many reservists are not reporting for duty while Israel has also reported shortages of military equipment and munitions. The United States has also signalled it does not want to see a wider conflict. Zonszein said Netanyahu – or Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who may have more influence on a decision to go to war – don’t want an all-out war. But, she said, if they think they can conduct a major strike on Lebanon without triggering a significant escalation, they might be underestimating the risks. “The entire thing is extremely problematic, and the most responsible and sensible thing is to get a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, which would de-escalate things immediately [on Israel’s border with Lebanon] in the north,” Zonszein said. Hezbollah’s options Hezbollah will likely show some restraint to a major Israeli strike but would aim to strike back “proportionately,” Blanford said. He noted that from Hezbollah’s perspective, it has done nothing wrong to warrant an escalation from Israel and its response will depend on Israel’s strike. Israel, he said, could target senior Hezbollah commanders or even strike Dahiya, a Beirut suburb and Hezbollah stronghold. “If Israel were to hit Dahiya, then it wouldn’t surprise me if Hezbollah responded with one or two missiles going to [the Israeli city] Haifa [for example]. But the response would be proportionate with the overall goal of dialling things down,” he told Al Jazeera. Imad Salamey, a political scientist at the Lebanese American University, added that Hezbollah’s long-term strategy remains tied to Gaza and the group is unlikely to sign a ceasefire agreement with Israel until a settlement is reached there. He believes Hezbollah may already be preparing for a post-conflict scenario by agreeing to abide by United Nations Resolution 1701, which was passed
Surging demand, soaring price tags lead to fake Ozempic doses
Around the globe, the growing class of weight loss drugs called GLP-1 agonists has been a game-changer. This includes the blockbuster drug semaglutide, better known by its brand names Ozempic and the more potent Wegovy. These have helped people lose weight, feel more confident and be healthier. But a surge in demand and a high price tag have led to a rise in counterfeit versions of the drugs – causing hospitalisations around the world. That includes Mike Benson of Chicago, who fell into a coma after taking a counterfeit version of Ozempic. Benson, who on the advice of counsel declined to comment, told a local TV station in January, “I don’t know that I’ve ever felt that way in my life. I had thought this could be the end.” Michelle Sword, a mother of two living in Oxfordshire, England, had hypoglycemia and seizures, requiring her to be hospitalised. With multiple such incidents, regulators are concerned both on account of the counterfeit medications but also about what is causing consumers to take this risk. In May, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials seized 11 shipments of counterfeit versions of Ozempic at an airport in Cincinnati, Ohio – one of the nation’s key operations hubs. The federal agency intercepted the illicit medications from Colombia. The shipments of more than 100 injections each were bound for locations across the US ranging from New York to Texas. The CBP said the seizure was valued at roughly $887,000. A similar situation unfolded at Chicago O’Hare International Airport last month. Nearly 10,000km (4,000 miles) away in Lebanon, Beirut, suspected fake Ozempic vials accounted for almost a dozen instances of dangerously low blood sugar in patients, including one case that required hospitalisation in November. In October, British officials seized counterfeit versions of the medication that were imported from “legitimate” suppliers in Germany and Austria, signalling the challenge is coming from down the supply chain. This month, Austrian courts announced they would pursue legal action against a seller who provided fake doses to a plastic surgeon in Salzburg. That echoes a report late last month from Vanity Fair magazine that said some counterfeit doses ended up in the hands of legitimate medical practices without their knowledge. There have been similar reports out of Brazil and Russia. “I have a lot of concerns because not all of my patients can get these medications, and people really want them and they feel desperate about it,” said Dr Melanie Jay, director of the Comprehensive Program on Obesity at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. “There’s all this advertising for other places where you can get it for a lot cheaper, and it’s impossible to know how safe these alternatives are,” she added. Cybersecurity firm McAfee found hundreds of fake listings selling Ozempic doses on Craigslist. The firm also discovered examples of scammers impersonating doctors on Facebook. McAfee says often if these scammers do deliver on their promises, they send fake versions of the medication, which include pens filled with saline solution and EpiPens. Consumers have also turned to Reddit groups like the since-banned Ozempic Source USA, in which consumers often sold doses to each other. Last year, Al Jazeera found that patients could order these drugs from online pharmacies without any doctor consultations. Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned about the “unpredictable range of health risks or complications” from falsified medicines. “You have something that could be toxic, whether it’s contaminated or whether they put insulin in it, and the person’s up in the hospital,” Jay said. “There have been shortages. There are bad actors who’ve been trying to take advantage of the situation,” Dr Bruce Y Lee, professor of health policy at the Graduate School of Public Health at the City University of New York, told Al Jazeera. But with the growing necessity for some people and vanity for others, patients are at the mercy of Novo Nordisk, both in terms of availability and the price they pay for these drugs. In its first-quarter earnings report released in May, the Danish company said semaglutide sales more than doubled in the first quarter alone. Prohibitive costs Seventy-one percent of Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 agonist medications have been sold in the US. Novo Nordisk charges Americans an average of $936 for a month’s supply, more than five times higher than the closest peer nation – Japan at $169. Novo Nordisk has struggled to meet explosive demand for its weight loss drugs in the past few years [File: Tom Little/Reuters] “The cost of the medication can be problematic or even prohibitive for a number of different people, and whenever you have a situation like this, you’re more likely to have a secondary market where people are hawking counterfeit versions,” Lee said. The cost has fuelled some concerns in Washington with Senator Bernie Sanders calling Novo Nordisk’s price tag “outrageous”. In June, Novo Nordisk agreed to testify to Congress in September amid pressure from Sanders. Supply is still low. Injections of semaglutide have been in short supply since March 2022 because of a combination of factors, including explosive demand in the past few years and the company struggling to make headway with production demands. The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which Sanders chairs, released a scathing report that suggests the prices for Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drugs have the power to bankrupt the entire US healthcare system, including Medicare and Medicaid. Novo Nordisk has attributed its prices to the high cost of drug development, yet it still charges less in other countries – including the equivalent of $186 a month in Denmark – for the drug. Ozempic’s success has made Novo Nordisk the most valuable company in Europe with a market capitalization of $570bn, making it bigger than the entire Danish economy. “That is not making a reasonable return on investment. That is price gouging. That is corporate greed,” Sanders said in June. “And if Novo Nordisk does not end its greed, we have a responsibility to
North Korea mobilises military for flood rescue
North Korea has deployed military helicopters to bring thousands of people stranded in a flood-hit zone to safety. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Monday that leader Kim Jong Un “personally guided” a military rescue – comprising 10 helicopters and naval lifeboats – shaking the hands of the pilots “one by one”. However, Kim also reprimanded officials for their failure to prepare and respond to the recent torrential rains despite previous orders to enhance the country’s measures against natural disasters, the state media outlet said. Last week, North Korea conducted a crisis response meeting to discuss strategies to mitigate the impact of natural disasters on agriculture. North Korea has been enduring record-breaking downpours. On one day in July, Kaesong City experienced an unprecedented 463mm (18.2 inches) of rain. South Korea’s meteorological administration said it was the highest volume of rainfall recorded in the North in 29 years. Natural disasters tend to have a greater impact on the isolated and impoverished North due to its weak infrastructure, while deforestation has left the country vulnerable to flooding. It has been working to try to prevent floods. The release of water from a dam near the border recently raised concern in Seoul. South Korea’s Ministry of Environment said in early July that North Korea had likely discharged water from the Hwanggang Dam near the inter-Korean border without prior notification, something they have not done in recent years. Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years. Pyongyang unilaterally cut off all official military and political communication links with Seoul in 2020 and blew up a disused inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border. It has not been responding to inter-Korean hotline calls since April 2023. Adblock test (Why?)