Time for Hamas to Accept the Facts

Health authorities in Gaza have reported the deaths of at least four newborns due to hypothermia. According to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, in addition to casualties caused by Israeli strikes, children are now also dying from cold and inadequate shelter.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that yet another hospital in Gaza has ceased operations following an Israeli military operation conducted there on Friday morning. Israel has claimed the reason was that Hamas had been using the hospital as a military base, a claim Palestinians deny.

This, however, is irrelevant, as the outcome is horrifying regardless of the cause. Therefore, it must be asked: is it not finally time for Hamas to accept the facts and admit defeat in Gaza, lay down its arms, release its hostages, recognize Israel's right to exist, and begin working toward peaceful coexistence with the Jewish state?

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Uncertain Horizons: Syria's Post-Assad Era
Hezbollah Uses Human Shields While the Green-Left Looks Away
A Fair Peace Proposal for Gaza

Microbial solution to malnutrition?

According to Unicef, more than 10 million children are at risk for starving in East Africa. The causes include drought, increasing food prices and escalation of armed conflicts.

That is not anything new, as probably we all remember previous episodes of famine in eastern Africa. What is new, however, is a finding of new means to reduce the consequences of food shortage. 

That development was reviewed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the USA. According to that, a unique mix of foods such as peanuts and bananas supported the growth of age-appropriate microbes and helped to restore the health of malnourished toddlers—and the outcome was more effective at improving their health than standard supplements.

The review also reported that offering plant-based diets high in fiber, and diets high in fermented foods such as kombucha and kefir to kids - and also their microbes - had positive effects to their health after periods of serious malnutrition. As an outcome, they increased the growth and intellectual development of children.

Most interestingly, when the researchers fed malnourished toddlers with a special food supplement twice a day for three months, the children gained height and weight in patterns similar to their healthy peers. That was different form the standard treatments.

Overall, the recent developments are encouraging, and may lead to new ways to save children´s lives in eastern Africa and elsewhere where malnutrition occurs. That could probably also reduce the number of people searching for better life in western countries in Europe and North America, and therefore help in avoiding risks of instability caused by a collision of different cultures seen e.g. in Sweden.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Riots in Sweden: what next?
World Resources Institute had an arrogant demand