Israeli fire kills 25 people in Gaza Strip: medics
Israeli fire and air strikes have killed at least 25 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, local health authorities say, at least five of them near two aid sites operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
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ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Regulators assessing bid to grow and sell genetically modified purple tomato in Australia
A genetically modified tomato the colour of an eggplant could be available on supermarket shelves as early as next year if regulators approved a bid to grow it in Australia. The purple tomato, as it is named, has been genetically modified to include genes from the edible snapdragon flower. Nathan Pumplin is the chief executive of Norfolk Healthy Produce, a United States-based company marketing the plant. He said the tomato had two snapdragon genes added, allowing it to make a class of antioxidants called anthocyanins, whose nutrients created the purple colour and were also associated with health benefits. "They're what make blueberries coloured, blackberries, eggplant skins, purple potatoes," Dr Pumplin said. The plant was developed by Cathie Martin at the John Innes Centre, an independent laboratory in the United Kingdom. She co-founded Norfolk Plant Sciences, a company aimed at transferring the fruits of the research to people's plates. Dr Pumplin said Professor Martin was a global leader in the study of how fruit and vegetables delivered nutrients to consumers. Professor Martin previously received the Rank Prize for Nutrition – one of the field's most prestigious awards – for her work. "She's also a type 1 diabetic, so her whole scientific career she's focused on ways to make the foods that we eat healthier and more nutritious," Dr Pumplin said. After 18 years of development the product was approved to be grown and sold in the US and has been on the market there for two years. Dr Pumplin said last year the company sold more than 100,000 punnets of the fruit at grocery stores and 13,000 packets of seeds to home gardeners. The team is now taking the plant worldwide and is focusing on the Australian and Canadian markets. All Aussie Farmers, a Victoria-based fresh produce marketing company, has entered an exclusive commercial partnership to bring the fruit here. Managing director Travis Murphy said there had already been plenty of interest. "Food service guys are wanting to know when they can get it for their chefs and our retail guys are asking when they can have it to put into their retail shops," he said. Australia has strict regulations on growing genetically modified crops and to date only canola, cotton, safflower, bananas and flowers have been approved. The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) is the government oversight body and crops will only be approved if they are proven to be safe for people and the environment. A spokesperson said a risk assessment of the purple tomato would be undertaken, which would lead to the development of a risk management plan to allow the plant to be grown and sold domestically. Public consultation will begin in September. "Written comments will be sought and the consultation will be open for at least 30 days," the OTGR spokesperson said. "Anyone can register to receive notifications on the OGTR website." All genetically modified foods for sale and consumption must also undergo a safety assessment by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Mr Murphy said the purple tomato would first be grown in greenhouses in south-east Queensland, should approval be granted by early next year. "We'll roll it out to our customer base in Melbourne firstly, for the fruit shops and food service," he said. Distinguished Professor James Dale is familiar with the approvals process for genetically modified fruit. He leads the Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) Banana Biotechnology Research Program and has been able to get its genetically modified cavendish bananas approved. The banana is resistant to Panama Disease Tropical Race 4, which has threatened commercial production in northern Australia. Professor Dale said getting federal approval was difficult and required proof the fruit was safe for human consumption and the environment. "The application went to hundreds of pages of information because we had to document how we did all of those measurements," he said. The process took about 12 months, but Professor Dale said field trials in the Northern Territory had been completed. More trials will be conducted in north and south-east Queensland over the next three to four months before the crop will be grown commercially. "We're just going to make sure that the banana performs as well over in Queensland, because that's where the vast majority of bananas are grown in Australia," Professor Dale said. The disease-resistant variety is a standard yellow colour, but Professor Dale said the team was working to make bananas healthier and was developing an orange banana high in provitamin A and another high in iron. He said a purple banana with high levels of anthocyanins was also possible. "The purple patches that you see on banana leaves are actually anthocyanins," Professor Dale said.
The Advertiser
9 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Israeli fire kills 41 people in Gaza Strip: medics
Israeli fire and air strikes have killed at least 41 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, local health authorities say, at least five of them near two aid sites operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Medics at al-Awda Hospital in the central Gaza Strip said at least three people were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire as they tried to approach a GHF site near the Netzarim corridor. Two others were killed en route to another aid site in Rafah in the south. An air strike killed seven other people in Beit Lahiya town north of the enclave, medics said. In Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, medics said an Israeli air strike killed at least 11 people in a house. The rest were killed in separate air strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, they added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The GHF began distributing food packages in the enclave at the end of May after Israel partially lifted a near three-month total blockade. Scores of Palestinians have been killed in near-daily mass shootings trying to reach the food. The United Nations rejects the Israeli-backed new distribution system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality principles. Later on Sunday, COGAT, the Israeli military aid co-ordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the UN and the international community, including food and flour, into the Gaza Strip. It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave while ensuring it did not reach Hamas. Hamas denies Israeli accusations that it steals aid and says Israel is using hunger as a weapon against the residents of the Gaza Strip. The Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday that at least 300 people have so far been killed, and more than 2600 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations in the strip. "These are not humanitarian aid, these are traps for the poor and the hungry under the watch of occupation planes," said Munir Al-Bursh, director-general of the health ministry. "Aid distributed under fire isn't aid, it is humiliation," Bursh posted on X on Sunday. The war in the Gaza Strip erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people. Most of the population is displaced, and malnutrition is widespread. Israeli fire and air strikes have killed at least 41 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, local health authorities say, at least five of them near two aid sites operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Medics at al-Awda Hospital in the central Gaza Strip said at least three people were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire as they tried to approach a GHF site near the Netzarim corridor. Two others were killed en route to another aid site in Rafah in the south. An air strike killed seven other people in Beit Lahiya town north of the enclave, medics said. In Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, medics said an Israeli air strike killed at least 11 people in a house. The rest were killed in separate air strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, they added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The GHF began distributing food packages in the enclave at the end of May after Israel partially lifted a near three-month total blockade. Scores of Palestinians have been killed in near-daily mass shootings trying to reach the food. The United Nations rejects the Israeli-backed new distribution system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality principles. Later on Sunday, COGAT, the Israeli military aid co-ordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the UN and the international community, including food and flour, into the Gaza Strip. It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave while ensuring it did not reach Hamas. Hamas denies Israeli accusations that it steals aid and says Israel is using hunger as a weapon against the residents of the Gaza Strip. The Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday that at least 300 people have so far been killed, and more than 2600 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations in the strip. "These are not humanitarian aid, these are traps for the poor and the hungry under the watch of occupation planes," said Munir Al-Bursh, director-general of the health ministry. "Aid distributed under fire isn't aid, it is humiliation," Bursh posted on X on Sunday. The war in the Gaza Strip erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people. Most of the population is displaced, and malnutrition is widespread. Israeli fire and air strikes have killed at least 41 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, local health authorities say, at least five of them near two aid sites operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Medics at al-Awda Hospital in the central Gaza Strip said at least three people were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire as they tried to approach a GHF site near the Netzarim corridor. Two others were killed en route to another aid site in Rafah in the south. An air strike killed seven other people in Beit Lahiya town north of the enclave, medics said. In Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, medics said an Israeli air strike killed at least 11 people in a house. The rest were killed in separate air strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, they added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The GHF began distributing food packages in the enclave at the end of May after Israel partially lifted a near three-month total blockade. Scores of Palestinians have been killed in near-daily mass shootings trying to reach the food. The United Nations rejects the Israeli-backed new distribution system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality principles. Later on Sunday, COGAT, the Israeli military aid co-ordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the UN and the international community, including food and flour, into the Gaza Strip. It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave while ensuring it did not reach Hamas. Hamas denies Israeli accusations that it steals aid and says Israel is using hunger as a weapon against the residents of the Gaza Strip. The Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday that at least 300 people have so far been killed, and more than 2600 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations in the strip. "These are not humanitarian aid, these are traps for the poor and the hungry under the watch of occupation planes," said Munir Al-Bursh, director-general of the health ministry. "Aid distributed under fire isn't aid, it is humiliation," Bursh posted on X on Sunday. The war in the Gaza Strip erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people. Most of the population is displaced, and malnutrition is widespread. Israeli fire and air strikes have killed at least 41 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, local health authorities say, at least five of them near two aid sites operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Medics at al-Awda Hospital in the central Gaza Strip said at least three people were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire as they tried to approach a GHF site near the Netzarim corridor. Two others were killed en route to another aid site in Rafah in the south. An air strike killed seven other people in Beit Lahiya town north of the enclave, medics said. In Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, medics said an Israeli air strike killed at least 11 people in a house. The rest were killed in separate air strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, they added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The GHF began distributing food packages in the enclave at the end of May after Israel partially lifted a near three-month total blockade. Scores of Palestinians have been killed in near-daily mass shootings trying to reach the food. The United Nations rejects the Israeli-backed new distribution system as inadequate, dangerous and a violation of humanitarian impartiality principles. Later on Sunday, COGAT, the Israeli military aid co-ordination agency, said that this week it had facilitated the entry of 292 trucks with humanitarian aid from the UN and the international community, including food and flour, into the Gaza Strip. It said the Israeli military would continue to permit the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave while ensuring it did not reach Hamas. Hamas denies Israeli accusations that it steals aid and says Israel is using hunger as a weapon against the residents of the Gaza Strip. The Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday that at least 300 people have so far been killed, and more than 2600 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations in the strip. "These are not humanitarian aid, these are traps for the poor and the hungry under the watch of occupation planes," said Munir Al-Bursh, director-general of the health ministry. "Aid distributed under fire isn't aid, it is humiliation," Bursh posted on X on Sunday. The war in the Gaza Strip erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people. Most of the population is displaced, and malnutrition is widespread.
Canberra Times
9 hours ago
- Canberra Times
Israeli fire kills 41 people in Gaza Strip: medics
Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people.
