CARE

The UN reports a 20-fold surge in Sudanese refugees crossing into Chad as famine, fighting and dwindling humanitarian funding drive mass displacement. Aid agencies warn supplies are running out, leaving new arrivals without food, shelter or medical care and straining camps along the border already stretched by the two-year conflict between Sudan's army and the RSF.

Yemen's health minister has warned that the country's health system risks collapsing in some areas. The warning highlights the precarious state of medical services in a country already strained by years of conflict and humanitarian crisis. Observers are closely watching whether the alert prompts a stronger international response to shore up essential care.

UNRWA figures circulating widely state that before the war, 300,000 children attended 288 UNRWA-run schools in Gaza, and that of 22 healthcare centres once operating across the Strip, only six remain active. The numbers are being shared amid ongoing debate over the humanitarian toll in Gaza and renewed calls for a ceasefire, with commenters citing them as evidence of the collapse of education and health services.

Civilians in Ukraine's eastern fortress belt describe being targeted by Russian forces while trying to survive along the front line. One resident recounted fearing she would be burnt alive as attacks on villages near Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka continue. The accounts highlight the growing dangers to non-combatants as Russia presses its advance through the strategically important chain of towns.

Health insurers are turning to artificial intelligence to help determine whether patients are approved for medical care, including prior authorization decisions in programs like Medicare. Reports point to companies such as UnitedHealth, Cigna and Humana using automated systems, and critics warn the algorithms may wrongly deny coverage while saving insurers money. The debate centers on patient safety versus efficiency.

Reports describe mothers in Sudan giving birth in facilities dubbed 'clinics of death', as the country's war has devastated the health system. Hospitals lack staff, supplies and power, forcing women to deliver in dangerous conditions where preventable maternal and newborn deaths are rising. Commenters are highlighting the plight of pregnant women caught in the conflict and the collapse of medical care.

Gaza's hospitals are on the brink of closing completely as fuel supplies run out and backup generators fail, threatening critical care for patients across the territory. The warning highlights the collapsing medical infrastructure and the worsening humanitarian situation for thousands of wounded and chronically ill people who depend on functioning hospitals.

Aid workers in Gaza are undertaking the delicate job of clearing an estimated 61 million tonnes of rubble from the territory, ruins that are believed to conceal the bodies of up to 10,000 people. The scale of the destruction left by the war means clearance efforts are slow and dangerous, with recovery teams working carefully to find and identify the dead amid the debris.

Sudanese doctors report that the Rapid Support Forces looted and wrecked a hospital in a town recently recaptured by the army. The group says the damage has left the facility unable to function, depriving residents of medical care amid the country's ongoing civil war. Health facilities have repeatedly been targeted since fighting between the army and the RSF began in April 2023.

Aid workers in Gaza have begun one of the largest rubble-clearance operations in modern history, removing 61 million tonnes of debris from the war-torn territory. The work is delicate: an estimated 10,000 bodies remain buried beneath the ruins, alongside unexploded bombs. Workers say the debris holds lives and memories as well as wreckage, and each site must be handled carefully. Reporting from Gaza City highlights the scale and human cost of the task ahead.

A lawsuit alleges that Fiserv's call center reactivated stolen cards, removing security controls meant to contain compromised cards. FiCare claims people holding the stolen cards are benefiting from these safeguards being lifted, raising questions about the payment processor's fraud prevention procedures. The allegation, reported by American Banker, points to potential failures in how card compromises are handled at the customer service level.

Palestinians are facing prolonged waits and restricted movement at Israeli military checkpoints in the occupied West Bank. Al Jazeera reports on people caught between crossings, unable to reach work, schools or medical care. The checkpoints remain a central flashpoint of the occupation, with movement restrictions widely criticised by rights groups and UN agencies.

The Australian government was reportedly warned months in advance about vulnerabilities before the Medicare data breach, according to reporting by The Mandarin. The revelation raises questions about whether officials ignored warnings from cybersecurity experts before sensitive health data was exposed, and is fueling criticism of the government's handling of data security across federal agencies.

The UN refugee agency reports that 55,000 Sudanese have crossed into Chad since the start of the year, fleeing the ongoing conflict in Sudan. The arrivals add to a large existing refugee population in eastern Chad and are straining humanitarian resources, with aid agencies warning of growing needs for shelter, food and medical care in border areas.

A new report finds that 28% of job postings on company career sites have remained open for more than 90 days, fuelling concern about so-called ghost jobs: listings companies never intend to fill. Critics say such postings mislead job seekers, inflate apparent hiring demand and waste applicants' time, while employers argue long-open roles reflect slow hiring processes or genuinely hard-to-fill positions.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed that OpenAI breached Medicare, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. The claim suggests a data or security incident involving the US artificial intelligence company and Australia's national health insurance system. Few details beyond the announcement were available, and it is not yet clear what data was involved or how the breach occurred.

A group of senators is demanding that OpenAI's chief appear before an official inquiry following a breach involving Medicare data. The call to testify escalates scrutiny of the company's handling of sensitive information, though details of the breach and the exact allegations remain limited so far.

A Blue Cross Blue Shield analysis found that AI tools used by hospitals to submit insurance claims added an estimated $942 million to US healthcare costs over two years. The study reported a sharp rise in patients being documented with complex conditions, apparently without supporting evidence, driving up reimbursement charges. Critics are pointing to the findings as evidence that AI-assisted medical coding can inflate billing, and the report is renewing calls for oversight of how hospitals use automation in claims.