Children

Palestinian children ‘deliberately targeted and killed,’ report’s chair says. Plus, Mamdani-backed candidates sweep NYC Democratic primariesGood morning.Israel continues to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, an ⁠independent UN inquiry has found.What does the report say? That Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed during the ‌war, including after a ceasefire came into effect ‌in October 2025. “The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission’s chair, said in a statement accompanying the report.How has Israel’s government reacted? The Israeli mission in Geneva said Israel rejected the commission’s “libellous sham”. The country has fought hard against allegations of genocide, while receiving critical diplomatic support from its allies including the US and the UK.What about legal and rights experts? A significant body of research has concluded that Israel is intent on destroying Palestinians, including analyses by UN investigators, rights bodies such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and genocide scholars worldwide.Which Mamdani allies won their primaries? Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller, defeated the Democratic representative Dan Goldman; Claire Valdez, a state lawmaker and former union organizer, defeated Antonio Reynoso, the preferred successor of Nydia Velázquez, who is retiring; and Darializa Avila Chevalier, a public defense investigator, toppled Adriano Espaillat, the powerful five-term incumbent who chairs the congressional Hispanic caucus. Continue reading...

Proposals including use of force on minors will cause ‘significant harm’, says England Children’s CommissionerShabana Mahmood has been told that her crackdown on refused asylum seekers, including the forcible removal of children from the UK, will cause “significant harm”, in an intervention by an independent watchdog.Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said the home secretary’s plan under consultation to push families – including those with children receiving ongoing medical treatment – to leave the UK should not be implemented as proposed. Continue reading...

Report says by aiming at children Israel is undermining capacity of Palestinian people to existIsrael continues to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, an ⁠independent UN inquiry has found.The report by the UN independent international commission of inquiry examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war in Gaza, and said about 30% of those killed by Israeli forces have been children. Continue reading...

• Peter Andre expressed dissatisfaction after Lee Andrews, the new husband of Katie Price, claimed to have "adopted" Price's children, including Junior and Princess. • The claims were later revealed to be a farce, as investigations found no legitimate information about Andrews' company on its official website. • Further evidence suggests that Andrews' social media presence is fraudulent, with photos showing him alongside various celebrities appearing to be AI-generated.

Exclusive: Charities say they ‘cannot continue to absorb the impact of child poverty’ without government supportFour hundred thousand children in the UK were supported by baby banks in 2025, an 11% increase from the year before, prompting warnings from charities that they “cannot continue to absorb the impact of child poverty on this scale” without government support.New research from the Baby Bank Alliance, set up by Save the Children UK to represent and advocate for more than 400 baby banks across the country, found that an average of 1,096 children were being supported by each member every day, with some essential items soaring in demand. Continue reading...

Prison officers’ union calls for immediate end to practice at HMYOI Wetherby over fears for child and animal welfarePet ferrets kept as therapy animals at the UK’s largest children’s prison have been co-opted by managers to kill rats, resulting in a bloody incident and concerns over child and animal welfare.The unorthodox method of vermin control was waved through last month at HMYOI Wetherby in West Yorkshire following a surge in rat numbers in prison offices and grounds. Continue reading...

Groups say new directive fails to respect Native sovereignty amid complicated history of Indigenous child removalsOne morning early last July, Micha Bitsinnie arrived at work to an onslaught of messages from confused families.New Mexico’s governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had just issued a directive mandating the state’s child welfare department seek custody of all newborns who had been exposed to drugs and alcohol in utero. Some parents wondered whether medications that they were taking for addiction recovery, such as methadone, would flag their cases. Healthcare providers wondered whether the fentanyl in an epidural counted as a drug exposure. Continue reading...

• The U.S. FDA has approved Merck's pneumococcal vaccine for expanded use in children and teenagers with chronic health conditions that increase their risk of infection. • This follows a June 2024 approval for adults and is based on a late-stage trial of 874 participants where the vaccine matched or outperformed the older PPSV23 version. • The approval is critical because pneumococcal disease can cause life-threatening conditions, including meningitis, pneumonia, and blood infections, particularly in high-risk youth.

Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet last visited Britain in 2022 during late queen’s platinum jubilee celebrationsThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex will bring their two children to the UK for the first time in more than four years, it has been reported.Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, last visited Britain in 2022 during the late Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee celebrations. Continue reading...

Police officers found two children – both aged under five – had been struck by a car in Cabramatta, in the city’s south-westFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo children in a pram have been struck and killed by a car in Sydney’s south-west.Emergency services were called to the intersection of Joseph and Gilbert streets, Cabramatta at about 3.15pm on Wednesday after reports of a crash, New South Wales police said. Continue reading...

As bosses ridicule the chancellor’s scheme, one venue is offering a £25 ‘kids’ menu of snails and anchovy butter toastRestaurants and pubs are expected to devise “enterprising” schemes to exploit a tax break on meals for under-18s, after one venue launched a menu for “kids” featuring wild burgundy snail salad and anchovy butter toast.Rachel Reeves last month announced a temporary cut in VAT on children’s meals from 20% to 5% between 25 June and 1 September, part of a “Great British summer savings scheme” to support struggling venues and ease pressure on families. Continue reading...

Activists say blanket ban could prevent teenagers from finding peers and role models with similar conditionsDisability activists have said banning under-16s from social media risks cutting off a “lifeline for friendship” for disabled children and could push them into social isolation by preventing them from making connections online.Charities and high-profile figures in disability advocacy said they were concerned that a blanket ban on social media would disproportionately affect teenagers who may not be able to meet people easily in real life or find peers with similar conditions. Continue reading...

Almost every child, including those from high-income countries, is now exposed to at least one hazardHalf of the world’s children are exposed to at least three overlapping climate hazards threatening their health, education and survival, according to a Unicef report.Globally, children face increasing threats from heatwaves, storms, floods and droughts as the climate crisis worsens, with more than one billion facing at least three of these at once. Continue reading...

Desperate US parents pay up to $20,000 a session for a procedure scientists say could be bogusAutistic children as young as 18 months old are being injected with human stem cells derived from umbilical cords in unapproved, unproven and potentially harmful “treatments” that scientists warn are proliferating across the US under the active encouragement of the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.Clinics in Florida, Texas and other states are selling what they bill as “regenerative medicine” to families with autistic children who have intensive care needs. Parents who have taken their children through the process talked to the Guardian about their hopes and fears for a therapy that appears to be gaining ground in the US. Continue reading...

London, the east of England and the West Midlands have highest number of cases, as UKHSA urges families to get children vaccinatedTwo children in England have died from measles, health officials say, as data shows more than 100 new reported cases in the last fortnight.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Thursday that two children had died this year, one from “acute measles” and the other from the “late effects of measles”. Continue reading...

UK competition watchdog investigates whether charge of about £8 is an unfair contract term under consumer lawBusiness live – latest updatesEurope’s biggest low-cost airline, Ryanair, is facing an investigation over the mandatory fee it charges a parent to sit with their child.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the Irish carrier’s terms and conditions require at least one parent to sit with their children, including those with disabilities, and bills them about £8 per flight to do so. Continue reading...

The UCL study also found physically punished children were more likely to struggle in schoolChildren smacked by their parents struggle to get good exam results and are more likely to bully others, causing a negative impact on society, according to new research calling for smacking to be banned.The study by University College London (UCL) found that children in England who were physically punished at the ages of three, five and seven were significantly less likely to pass GCSE exams compared with other children, even after factors such as family background were taken into account. Continue reading...

New dangerous dogs law after spate of attacks in England and Wales could fine people or have their pet seized A new crackdown on XL bullies and other dangerous dogs will make it illegal to leave children under 12 alone with them in England and Wales.There has been a spate of attacks on children by dogs from certain dangerous breeds, including one on a 10-year-old girl who died last year after being attacked by the family pet, an XL bully. A nine-month-old baby was also mauled to death last year by a dog of that breed. Continue reading...

Proposals considered by government would strengthen protections for parents forced to become full-time carers Thousands of parents who are forced to become full-time carers after their child becomes seriously ill would be entitled to financial support and job protections under new “Hugh’s law” proposals being floated by the government.Hugh’s law is named after Hugh Menai-Davis, who was six when he died in 2021 just under a year after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and undergoing 10 months of intensive treatment, much of it in hospital. Continue reading...

Companies such as Apple and Google have until September to install software or face legislation, says PMUK politics live – latest updatesApple and Google have been given until September to install software that blocks explicit images on children’s mobile phones or face legislation enforcing its requirement, Keir Starmer said on Monday.The prime minister said tech companies must activate nudity-detection algorithms or other technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to prevent users taking photos or sharing images of genitalia unless they are verified as adults. Continue reading...

Mama G wants to dedicate her book, The Proudest Bird in the World, to pair after chance Blackpool Pride encounterA search is under way for two lesbian grandmothers who inspired a new children’s book after a chance encounter with a pantomime dame at Blackpool Pride.The women, whose names are not known, attended a reading by the popular performer Mama G in 2021, complaining to her about the lack of diversity in young literature. Continue reading...

The state’s commissioner for children and young people raised the alarm about cycles of ineffective referrals to voluntary services and closed reports in 35 cases of children who died after interactions with the systemFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastVictoria’s most at-risk children are falling through the cracks of a child protection system straining under increased demand and funding shortfalls, new reports show, as advocates warn of “stunning” gaps in data and lack of carer support.The state’s commissioner for children and young people has also raised the alarm about cycles of ineffective referrals to voluntary services, and closed reports in 35 cases of children who died after interactions with the system. Continue reading...

State sues maker of ChatGPT and CEO Sam Altman, alleging company ‘allowed a dangerous product to reach millions’Florida filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and its CEO, Sam Altman, on Monday alleging that the company concealed serious safety risks with its chatbot. Florida is the first state in the US to sue the artificial intelligence company.The 83-page suit was brought by Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, and alleges that OpenAI “aggressively marketed” ChatGPT to the public while ignoring safety warnings and possible dangers of the product. Continue reading...

Children of those on care worker visas, who came legally before rule change, told to leave even if parents can stayChildren as young as five who are living legally in the UK are being told by the Home Office they must leave the country even if their parents have been given permission to remain.The Guardian has seen five letters sent to children by the Home Office telling them they must leave the UK. A sixth letter has been sent to a woman who is six months pregnant and lives in the UK with her husband, telling her she must leave him and return to her country. The children have parents on care worker visas, which until March 2024 had allowed them to bring partners or children with them to the UK. Continue reading...

Truck was carrying Afghan families returning Pakistan when it overturned, official saysA truck overturned in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing 18 people on board including 10 children, a provincial official told Agence France-Presse.Deadly traffic crashes are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving and a lack of regulation. Continue reading...

Executive order recognizes health department assessment as guide for federal government for childhood vaccinesDonald Trump signed an executive order acknowledging a recent scientific assessment by the Department of Health and Human Services on childhood vaccines as a guide for the federal government, the White House said on Friday.The order directs the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to review the HHS assessment and clinical data to update the vaccines schedule for children and adolescents, according to the text of the order. Continue reading...

Refugee charities say the numbers revealed in Freedom of Information data are ‘shocking’Lone children were held at UK-run detention centres in France on nearly 300 occasions last year, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.Data obtained by the Guardian shows they are part of about 900 instances when unaccompanied minors have been detained at British short-term facilities near Calais and Dunkirk over the last four years. Continue reading...

Plaintiffs say children’s services uses ‘emergency removal’ disproportionately against Black and Latino familiesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailOn Thursday, two families filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of New York, alleging that the administration for children’s services (ACS) abuses its emergency removal power to take children from their parents without a court order. The families say that Black people and Latinos are disproportionately affected by the practice.The “emergency removal” power is supposed to be used only in extreme and urgent situations in which there is not enough time to obtain a court order. Instead, the lawsuit alleges, the ACS is using a racially discriminatory emergency removal policy that allows the agency to bypass judicial review. The policy, which separates parents from their children, can cause lasting harm to the families that are affected. Continue reading...