FDA issues new guidelines to reduce lead levels in baby foods

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Guidelines for food manufacturers are voluntary and cover packaged processed food for children under two years old

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued some new voluntary guidelines for baby food manufacturing companies in an effort to reduce levels of lead in some processed baby foods.

The new guidelines state that baby food manufacturers should include no more than 10 parts per billion (ppb) of lead in foods such as yoghurt, custard, pudding and a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and meats. For single-ingredient root vegetables and dry cereals, the guideline is set at no more than 20ppb.

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MPs call for greater criticism of Israel’s policies over Gaza – UK politics live

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Palestinians trapped in a ‘doom loop of hell’, MPs told

At the end of last week Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary and runner-up in last year’s Tory leadership contest, said the child abuse grooming scandal started with “mass migration” and “importing hundreds of thousands of people from alien cultures, who possess medieval attitudes towards women”. In response Samuel Kasumu, a former Tory adviser on race issues, said that comments like that could lead to people being killed, while Kemi Badenoch defended her colleague.

In an inteview on the Today programme this morning, asked if Kasumu’s comments made him reconsider his views, Jenrick replied:

That’s complete nonsense. MPs have been killed in this country in recent times by a jihadist and by a neo-Nazi. They were killed because of the views of those individuals, not what anything an MP has said. We have to fight extremism in this country, wherever we find it, and you fight that by standing up to the extremists, you don’t fight it by shying away, by turning a blind eye, by looking the other way.

I’m not going to tiptoe around this issue. Millions of people in our country are listening to your programme this morning, and they are appalled by what is happening to young girls, and they are shocked that there might be girls in that situation today. We have to stop this.

I think some people who come from that country do. I’m not saying everybody.

NR: Did Sajid Javid’s family [the former Tory chancellor] come with a medieval culture to this county?

RJ: I’m saying some people do.

Robert Jenrick’s attempt to exploit this appalling scandal for his own political gain is completely shameless. He didn’t lift a finger to help the victims when a minister, now he’s jumping on the bandwagon and acting like a pound shop Farage.

Kemi Badenoch should sack him as shadow justice secretary and condemn his divisive comments, instead of letting him run a leadership campaign under her nose.

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Deadly earthquake hits Tibet, tremors felt in Nepal, India – DW (English)

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  1. Deadly earthquake hits Tibet, tremors felt in Nepal, India  DW (English)
  2. Focus shifts to Tibet earthquake survivors as search called off  Reuters
  3. Decade-old footage from Nepal resurfaces after deadly quake in Tibet in January 2025  Yahoo! Voices
  4. A look at recent deadly earthquakes in China  The Associated Press
  5. In Tibet, Earthquake Survivors Face Freezing Weather Conditions  The New York Times
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German election 2025 poll tracker: which party is leading and who could be chancellor?

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Germany will elect a new Bundestag on 23 February. Find out who is ahead in opinion polls and what coalitions are possible

Germany is preparing for a general election to the Bundestag, the lower house of its parliament, on 23 February, after its “traffic-light” coalition of social democrats, liberals and greens collapsed. The country’s electoral system is highly proportional, so polls give a good indication of what shape of government might be possible after the election.

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By resisting arrest, South Korea’s president challenges democracy – The Economist

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  1. By resisting arrest, South Korea’s president challenges democracy  The Economist
  2. South Korea's Yoon faces new arrest attempt in fortified compound  Reuters
  3. Court reissues warrant for impeached South Korean president, who remains at residence  ABC News
  4. ‘Stop the Steal’ in South Korea? Why MAGA-like hats and slogans are part of President Yoon’s impeachment drama  CNN
  5. How Bodyguards Are Keeping South Korea’s President Yoon From Detention  The New York Times
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Three missing after private plane crashes off Rottnest Island in WA

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Four pulled from the water – three with serious injuries – but the search goes on for three other people on board

Four people have been pulled from the water – but three are still missing – after a privately owned plane crashed into the sea off Western Australia’s popular tourist site Rottnest Island.

Rescue efforts – led by police and emergency services crews, but also involving civilian vessels - was still under way on Tuesday evening.

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Thailand bans imports of plastic waste to curb toxic pollution

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Campaigners welcome move but say success depends on enforcement and global agreement on a treaty

Thailand has banned plastic waste imports over concerns about toxic pollution, as experts warn that failure to agree a global treaty to cut plastic waste will harm human health.

A law banning imports of plastic waste came into force this month in Thailand, after years of campaigning by activists. Thailand is one of several south-east Asian countries that has historically been paid to receive plastic waste from developed nations. The country became a leading destination for exports of plastic waste from Europe, the US, the UK and Japan in 2018 after China, the world’s biggest market for household waste, imposed a ban.

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Number of children under 14 in adult watch houses in Queensland rises 50% in 12 months

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Report to parliament states watch houses are an ‘inadequate place to keep young people overnight’ and are ‘harmful and traumatising’

The number of children aged 13 or under in Queensland’s adult watch houses has increased by 50% in 12 months, according to new statistics.

The statistics – which were included in a paper tabled by the Office of the Public Guardian in Queensland parliament on Tuesday – showed 120 children aged between 10 and 13 spent at least one night in a police watch house in 2023–24.

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Australia’s housing market ‘buckling’ under widening gap between income and home values, report finds

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Housing prices fell by 0.1% in December but dip likely to be ‘shallow and short-lived’, according to CoreLogic

Australia’s housing downturn is being driven by a widening gap between income, borrowing capacity and home values, but the dip is likely to be “shallow and short-lived”, a new report has found.

In December, Australia’s property market eased with home values falling 0.1% after a flat result in November and a gradual slowdown over last year, according to CoreLogic.

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They were going to be doctors. Instead, they had to dodge bombs and flee war – NPR

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  1. They were going to be doctors. Instead, they had to dodge bombs and flee war  NPR
  2. ‘Famine conditions are spreading’ as Sudan’s crisis worsens: Security Council  UN News
  3. OCHA urges Security Council action as famine conditions spread in Sudan  OCHA
  4. Sudan’s healthcare system on the brink as war rages On: MSF head speaks out  Sudan Tribune
  5. AI diagnostics can ease health crisis in war-torn Sudan  Medical Xpress
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Two bodies found in wheel well of JetBlue plane upon landing in Florida

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Routine inspection led to discovery of bodies after flight from New York to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport

Two people have been found dead in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue plane that landed in Florida, the airline said.

The grim discovery was made on Monday night. The bodies were found during a routine inspection after the plane had landed.

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