From the Editors: 14 - 20 July 2025

   

Our Feature

We feature Cecilia Lotse's recent experiments with a new medium for her paintings, recently acquired at the Art Students League in Manhattan through a two-evening workshop she attended. She would highly recommend this workshop for a really fun experience, also for total novices. The paintings are stunning. Follow the link to enjoy them virtually.

Our Columnists:

The English are Crazy says Ken Gibbs, especially when it comes to cooking an un-pricked egg in a newly acquired Air Fryer upon the advice of a Scottish sister-in-law. Anyone here has experienced it? If you have, don't hesitate to share your experience with Ken, he suggests, even anonymously, if you're embarrassed. Read his column to know why.

Ramesh Shrestha's Breaking the System has much to offer this week, having gone through his discourse on Capitalism in the past two issues. Talks are cheap, he argues, or are people being passive and the media complicit? "The current system of political economy must be reformed," he concludes. Read on to find out how and why. 

Nuzhat Shahzadi's Songs of Innocence takes us through a very impressionable age, 16-17 years, not quite an adult and yet with the urge to explore. "Adolescents seem to live inside their own bubbles––oblivious of the existences around them," she observes. Based as it is on her real life, professional experiences with UNICEF, Nuzhat concludes on a poignant note: "Girls’ testimonies were heart breaking. People didn’t want to talk about their abuse." Read through her column to know why.

John Gilmartin on The Danish Study and RFK's claims on Aluminum contamination in vaccines comes with an editorial note, which is a 'must read'.  John's ending paragraph is significant where he recalls Jim Grant's views on "the real purpose" of getting programs like vaccination up and running in developing countries. Do follow the link to read it through. 

Horst Cerni penned a touching tribute to Dorothy Schleimer who was "the heart and soul of the WAWIG (today's XUNICEF) reunions" along with a belated greeting for Dorothy's 96th birthday.  Happy birthday, Dorothy, and many happy returns. 

Posts by XUNICEF members on related issues of concern:

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese remains very much in the news with her stand on the "Gaza genocide" following the US decision to issue sanctions against her. 

Fouad Kronfol has shared an LBC interview with Albanese in which she explains why Israel's actions in Gaza meet legal definition of genocide.

Read also a Team Zeteo Exclusive on UN report, shared in turn by Niloufar Pourzand, which states why top economists have backed Albanese on her stand. 

To add to the debate, Tom McDermott has shared a NYT article by Omer Bartov, a leading Holocaust and genocide scholar, who declares: Genocide I know when I see it

Niloufar Pourzand has also shared a Drop Site news summary of The Hague Group Conference in Bogota where Francesca Albanese is reported to have stated: “There is nothing to negotiate about. Israel needs to withdraw from Gaza totally and unconditionally.” See also the final communique issued by the conference in support of a ceasefire. 

News Links

In case you missed any of this week's news relevant to UNICEF, the UN or children in crises, browse the links and summaries from this week.  Read our summaries every day and let us know if we missed an important item.  Among this week's big stories -  the numbers of Palestinians dying while trying to reach food at Israel's GHF sites rose to at least 875;  Israel has returned to the tactic of pressuring UN agencies by denying visas;  Israeli threats against the ICC;  further massacres in Sudan; global vaccination rates stay steady, but 14 million kids still received no coverage; new progress on HIV prevention; India's adoption crisis.  

Other Issues:

Sudan continues to be a flashpoint of concern and we have ED Russell' statement on the horrific attacks in communities around the city of Bara, in Sudan’s North Kordofan State over the weekend. “No child should ever experience such horrors. Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now,” Catherine Russell is reported to have stated.  

Gaza Catherine Russell also addressed the Security Council on the situation for children in Gaza, inter alia telling the members that "...the simple truth is that we are failing Gaza's children."

We have an appeal by UNICEF USA, shared by Kul Gautam,  to urge the Senate to protect funding for UNICEF, which to our disappointment has not had a positive impact.

As a rejoinder, read also Tom McDermott's article US Congress cedes its power over spending with grave consequences on UNICEF and other Aid Agency programs, while broader consequence may be even more troubling.

Tom also shares an article by a Washington reporter who survived the war as a child in Bosnia and credits his survival and that of his family in part to help by UNICEF.  The reporter mourns the change in politics which could lead the US Congress to enact such drastic cuts in funding for UNICEF.

Ramesh Shrestha sounds the alarms over the risks of AI to children, illustrated by Elon Musk's new feature on his AI platform Grok.  This offers an anime AI girlfriend "Ani" who provides sexualized interactions  to anyone from age 12.  

We have New Data on Immunization from UNICEF with an editorial note;  be sure to click the link provided, which leads to a very useful overview. It will also help you learn more about UNICEF's data work on immunization.

Lighter Stuff

Our bard Fouad has chosen to riddle us this week with Word Trivia, tracing some unusual origins of common English phrases. It adds to the mysteries of the spoken language and we are sure you will enjoy them.

Comments from our Readers                                                                                                                             

Gautam Banerji

Editor for the Week