U.N. agencies in 10 countries, including the U.K., France and Canada, are urging Israel to reverse a ban on well-recognized international aid groups from entering Gaza. Among the groups now banned is Doctors Without Borders, which provides lifesaving care to people in war zones around the world. NPR reporters Aya Batrawy and Anas Baba zoom in on the group’s work in Gaza.
Monthly Archives: January 2026
Doctors fear ‘swamp fever’ spreading in flood-hit Gaza
Health authorities are warning of yet another potential health threat in Gaza: leptospirosis. Dr. Bassam Zaqout says widespread flooding and lack of basic sanitation make the devastated strip a perfect breeding ground for the bacterial disease also known as swamp or rat fever.
COMMENTARY: What if the conspiracy theorists aren’t wrong?
And sometimes, the doubters are right. From the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, which led to U.S. which led directly to America’s large-scale involvement in the Vietnam War, to the long-standing coverup of abuse in Canada’s residential schools, history is full of once-dismissed claims that turned out to be true. That’s not a reason to believe everything—it’s a reason to stop ridiculing those who ask uncomfortable questions.
The Club of Rome and the Rise of the “Predictive Modelling” Mafia
An adherent to Problematique would fixate on every “problem” caused by humans naively attempting to solve problems. They would note that every human intervention leads to dis-equilibrium, and thus unpredictability. The Problematique-oriented mind would conclude that if the “problem that causes all problems” were eliminated, then a clean, pre-determined world of perfect stasis, and thus predictability, would ensue. Reporting on the growth of the Club of Rome’s World Problematique agenda in 1972, OECD Vice Chair, and Club of Rome member Hugo Thiemann told Europhysics News:
“In the past, research had been aimed at ‘understanding’ in the belief that it would help mankind. After a period of technological evolution based on this assumption, that belief was clearly not borne out by experience. Now, there was a serious conflict developing between planetary dimensions and population, so that physicists should change to consider future needs. Science policy should be guided by preservation of the biosphere.”On page 118 of an autobiographical account of the Club of Rome entitled ‘The First Global Revolution’ published in 1991, Sir Alexander King echoed this philosophy most candidly when he wrote:
“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill….All these dangers are caused by human intervention, and it is only through changed attitudes and behavior that they can be overcome. The real enemy then, is humanity itself.”The Club of Rome quickly set up branches across the Western world with members ranging from select ideologues in the political, business, and scientific community who all agreed that society’s best form of governance was a scientific dictatorship. The Canadian branch of the organization was co-founded by the hyperactive Maurice Strong himself in 1970 alongside a nest of Fabians and Rhodes Scholars including Club of Rome devotee Pierre Trudeau.
80 Years On: A Revaluation of the Bengal Famine Through the Lens of Faminogenic Behaviour and the Role of Government Accountability
This article argues that genocide is not a useful concept for understanding the government’s role in the Bengal Famine. Genocide is here defined as ‘not a specific type of violence’, but rather ‘a general charge that highlighted the common elements of many acts’. Due to the necessity of clear intent to kill, faminogenic behaviour is the most useful concept regarding government accountability and the Bengal Famine because it looks more at negligent and reckless actions. Next, using the concept of faminogenic behaviour, this article explores where culpability for the severity of the Bengal Famine lies and the importance of the government’s role There was a decline in the food availability which triggered a decrease in entitlement exchange and maldistribution. However, both the British and Bengali government are responsible. Britain prioritised war and did not interfere in the Indian and Bengali government’s mishandling of the crisis. The Bengali government should be held accountable for their maldistribution and mishandling of the food supply and with the British for refusing to get involved earlier. Furthermore, Indian politicians themselves are partially to blame for the Bengal famine through their prioritisation of political gain.
[…]
genocide as a concept remains deficient as an conceptual basis for studying the Bengal Famine. Instead, faminogenic behaviour is a more suitable concept for assessing culpability for the famine. It is due to the centrality of intent within the concept of genocide, regardless of whether it is general or specific, that this article concludes that genocide should not be used to understand the government’s role in the Bengal Famine, or in famines themselves more generally. At no point during the Bengal Famine did the British government act deliberately to kill any group of people. A concept, however, that is more useful in understanding the government’s role in the Bengal Famine is that of ‘faminogenic behaviour’, of which there are, according to David Marcus, four degrees. The first two degrees, to Marcus constitute crimes against humanity and of criminal liability. First-degree faminogenic behaviour indeed fits under the umbrella of genocide as it currently stands. This is because it requires intentionality, and therefore the deliberate use of hunger as a tool to bring about the extermination of a specific group of people. In contrast, second-degree faminogenic behaviour is characterised by government ‘recklessness’. Here, governments need not intend to kill, but may be held accountable for pursuing policies risking mass starvation (Marcus 2003).
The Bengal Famine comfortably aligns with second-degree faminogenic behaviour. This better encapsulates the role of government in the famine, given that the Bengal Famine was largely caused and worsened by the war-time prioritisation of the British government’s and their lack of interference with the Indian and Bengali governments’ handling of the crisis. This did not necessarily reflect any direct intent to harm the citizens of Bengal. Famines from the twentieth-century onwards were rarely caused by an actual decline in food availability, but were rather the consequence of human action. Sen has shown that famines are sufficiently avoidable, so it is effectively a government’s responsibility as to whether a famine occurs or not. Likewise, Marcus argues that famines are ‘so easy to prevent that it is amazing that they are allowed to occur at all’ (Marcus 2003, 245). Due to the primacy of genocide within international law regarding crimes against humanity, it is easy for faminogenic behaviour to be overlooked. Marcus, advocating for the codification of faminogenic behaviour in international law, argues that in the absence of specific intent, those who facilitate mass deaths through reckless conduct – which demands a lesser mental state – should still be held accountable (Marcus 2003). This article aims to contribute to the literature of faminogenic behaviour by viewing it in relation to the Bengal Famine. In doing so, the faminogenic behaviour of the British government, the central and provincial Indian governments, and the local political parties are revealed.
Iran President Declares ‘Total War’ With US, Israel And Europe Amid Escalating Regional Tensions
Speaking in remarks cited by Israeli outlets, Pezeshkian said Western powers are attempting to weaken Iran on multiple fronts, accusing them of trying to bring the country “to its knees.” He argued that the current confrontation is more complex than the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, claiming Iran now faces coordinated pressure beyond the battlefield.
“This conflict is far more complicated,” Pezeshkian said, noting that Iran is being targeted economically, culturally, politically and in terms of security. Unlike past wars with clear military lines, he said today’s challenges are dispersed and constant.
Never in America: Unmasking CPS’s Kidnapping Empire (2025)
What if the very agency sworn to protect America’s most vulnerable children became the largest legally protected kidnapping network in the country? For decades, Child Protective Services was sold to the public as a shield for abused and neglected kids. Today, it operates like a ruthless quota-driven machine: incentivised by federal funding under the Adoption and Safe Families Act, empowered by near-unlimited authority, and shielded by secrecy and immunity. Good intentions still exist in pockets, but those pockets have become the perfect camouflage for a system that now destroys far more families than it saves.