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Israel Bans Dozens of Aid Groups from Operating in Gaza, Including Doctors Without Borders.

Other groups that are being banned include the Norwegian Refugee Council, the Catholic charity Caritas, and Oxfam

by Dave DeCamp | December 30, 2025 , https://news.antiwar.com/2025/12/30/israel-bans-dozens-of-aid-groups-from-operating-in-gaza-including-doctors-without-borders/

Starting on January 1, Israel will ban 37 international aid groups and charities from operating in Gaza in its latest effort to add to the misery for the Palestinian civilians living in flimsy tents and bombed-out buildings in the Strip.

The groups being banned include several prominent international aid organizations: Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Catholic charity Caritas, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Oxfam. The NGOs will also be barred from working in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel will stop the groups from operating in Gaza for failing to comply with its stringent new requirements, which include handing over information about their Palestinian employees. The new Israeli rules also include vague ideological requirements that can disqualify any NGO that “promotes delegitimization campaigns” against Israel, or if it, or any officeholder, has called for a boycott of Israel.

An Israeli official claimed, without providing evidence, that an investigation revealed “employees of certain organizations were involved in terrorist activity… in particular, Doctors Without Borders.” The action against MSF is seen in part as an Israeli reaction to the organization’s criticism of Israel’s genocidal campaign in the Strip.

In a statement warning of the consequences of banning it from Gaza, MSF said that it has served hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza this year.

“If Israeli authorities revoke MSF’s access to Gaza in 2026, a large portion of people in Gaza will lose access to critical medical care, water, and lifesaving support,” the group said. “MSF’s activities serve nearly half a million people in Gaza through our vital support to the destroyed health system. MSF continues to seek constructive engagement with Israeli authorities to continue its activities.”

Israel’s move to ban the NGOs comes as Israel continues to violate the US-backed ceasefire deal by continuing to launch attacks on Palestinians and maintaining restrictions on aid and shelter materials entering the Strip.

January 2, 2026 Posted by | Atrocities, Gaza, Israel | Leave a comment

Ukraine Takes Part in NATO War Games, Further Integrating Into Collective Defense Architecture

by Kyle Anzalone | Dec 28, 2025, https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/ukraine-takes-part-in-nato-war-games-further-integrating-into-collective-defense-architecture/

Ukrainian representatives participated in NATO war games simulating the alliance’s response to an attack.

According to a NATO press release, 1,500 soldiers and civilians from multiple European countries participated in the Loyal Dolos 2025 drills that were conducted at the beginning of the month. 

On Sunday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces posted on Facebook that Ukrainian officials participated in Loyal Dolos. “Ukraine is becoming part of the collective defense architecture of NATO. Ukrainian JATEC experts have, for the first time, joined the work of the mechanisms of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty on the training LOYAL DOLOS 2025,” the post explained. 

Senior National Representative of Ukraine in JATEC, director of Implementation of the programs of the Joint Center NATO-Ukraine Colonel Valery Vyshnivsky said, “The participation of Ukrainian JATEC experts in the LOYAL DOLOS 2025, which is one of the key elements of NATO’s preparation according to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, has strategic significance for us, as for the first time Ukrainian representatives have been involved in the work of the Alliance’s collective security mechanisms.” 

Kiev’s military ties to NATO countries are one of the primary reasons Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Kremlin has demanded that Kiev agree to neutrality as a condition for ending the war. 

President Zelensky recently announced that Ukraine would agree to stop seeking formal membership in the North Atlantic Alliance if members of the bloc agreed to bilateral agreements with Kiev that are similar to NATO’s Article 5. Article 5 is considered the mutual defense pact in the NATO charter. 

That Ukraine is continuing its integration into NATO suggests that Kiev is still seeking to become an informal member of the bloc. 

January 2, 2026 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The Trillion Dollar War Machine (w/ William D. Hartung) The Chris Hedges Report

 December 31, 2025 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mxti7sPPD0

nce warned against as a looming danger to democracy, the military-industrial complex has evolved into a vast and entrenched system of power that shapes U.S. policy, budgets, and global conflict. Now far beyond what even its earliest critics imagined, the question is no longer whether it exists, but how far it will go — and whether anything can meaningfully restrain it. In this analysis, Chris Hedges interviews arms-industry critic William D. Hartung in a wide-ranging conversation on how runaway military spending and the power of the military-industrial complex drive U.S. foreign policy and perpetual war.

January 2, 2026 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Russia claims to have moved nuclear-capable missile system into Belarus

Guardian, 30 Dec 25

Assertion comes after the Kremlin accused Ukraine of attacking Vladimir Putin’s palace in Novgorod

Russia said its latest nuclear-capable missile system has been deployed in Belarus, a day after Moscow claimed that Ukraine had carried out a large-scale drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence.

Footage released by Russia’s ministry of defence showed the new Oreshnik missile trundling through a snowy forest. Soldiers were seen disguising combat vehicles with green netting and raising a flag at an airbase in eastern Belarus, close to the Russian border.

The video appeared part of a choreographed attempt to intimidate Europe and to prepare Russians for a further escalation in the already brutal war against Ukraine. The deployment, if true, would symbolically reduce the time it would take for a Russian missile to hit an EU capital.

Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, said 10 Oreshnik systems would be stationed in his country. Putin announced they were entering active service at a meeting on Monday with his generals, where he reaffirmed his intention to capture more Ukrainian territory, including the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, warned that “reprisals” would be carried out against Kyiv and that targets were already prepared. They followed what he said was an attack on Sunday night involving 91 Ukrainian drones on the Russia’s president’s palace in the Novgorod region.

The Kremlin has not produced evidence to back up its allegations. Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, said on Tuesday that no proof would be offered since all the missiles had been shot down. He said he could not comment on the lack of debris.  Guardian 30th Dec 2025 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/30/russia-claims-moved-nuclear-capable-missile-system-belarus

January 2, 2026 Posted by | Belarus, Russia, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Pike County mom sues revived nuclear plant, alleging radiation led to daughter’s death

by: Katie Millard, Dec 29, 2025, https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/pike-county/pike-county-mom-sues-revived-nuclear-plant-alleging-radiation-led-to-daughters-death/ 

Julia Dunham is suing Centrus Energy in a wrongful death case after her daughter, Cheyenne Dunham, died in 2015. Julia sued Centrus Energy Corp within two months of becoming the administrator of Cheyenne’s estate in October, alleging radiation from a nearby nuclear plant, now managed by Centrus, was responsible for Cheyenne’s death.

The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in south central Ohio was formerly run by the U.S. government and shut down in 2001 after decades of environmental concerns. In September, Centrus Energy announced it will expand the former uranium plant and bring 300 new jobs in uranium enrichment. See previous coverage of the plant in the video player above (- on original)

Pike County residents said they are still getting sick from past U.S. uranium enrichment on the site. The Dunham’s lawsuit is one of many that blame the uranium plant for illness or death.

According to the lawsuit, the Dunhams lived near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant until Cheyenne was a teenager. The lawsuit said she played in creeks and regularly ate food grown in gardens near the plant throughout her childhood.

Cheyenne also spent three years enrolled at Zahn’s Corner Middle School, about two miles from the uranium plant. The school served more than 300 students in Piketon until its abrupt closure in 2019, when officials shuttered the building due to health concerns after enriched uranium was detected in school buildings.

According to the lawsuit, Cheyenne began experiencing health issues when she turned 16. One day, the lawsuit alleged, her legs turned blue and she was taken to the emergency room. Doctors found blood clots in her legs and lungs, and she was diagnosed with GATA Deficiency, a rare condition that effects a person’s blood and immune system.

Cheyenne underwent two bone marrow transplants to avoid developing leukemia but became very sick in February 2015 after her second transplant, according to the lawsuit. By May, her body rejected the transplant, and she died in November 2015 of her illness, her death certificate showed. The lawsuit alleges her health issues were a direct result of Cheyenne’s proximity to the uranium plant.

The lawsuit included studies of the area around the uranium plant that show high levels of radiation, and data tracking cancer rates in Ohio. One exhibit, a study by a Morgantown, West Virginia, doctor, found cancer rates in people under age 25 who lived in proximity to the uranium plant were three times higher than in other Ohio sample groups.

Julia Dunham is requesting a trial by jury and monetary damages for Cheyenne’s funeral and medical costs, as well as emotional damages to Cheyenne’s loved ones. Julia filed the lawsuit on Nov. 24, 2025, almost 10 years to the day after Cheyenne’s death.

Julia was involved in another lawsuit filed in 2019, where she and four other parents sued the plant on behalf of their children. That parents allege the uranium plant released radiation that contaminated their properties, endangering their kids and living spaces. The court dismissed all claims on behalf of minor children for lack of standing, but the case is otherwise ongoing.

Centrus plans began domestic manufacturing on Dec. 19 to support its Piketon facility and has begun design work on a major training, operations and maintenance facility at the site. Centrus Energy hopes to begin its updated uranium enrichment work in 2029 once site renovations are complete. The nuclear work is slotted to help the U.S. regain energy dominance and stop reliance on other countries.

January 2, 2026 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Russia ‘Confidently Advancing’ In Ukraine, Over 30 Settlements Captured In December: Putin

by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, Tuesday, Dec 30, 2025 –

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear to both his citizens and to the world that the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine will continue on until all goals are achieved, and that his forces are advancing ‘confidently’.

He chaired a televised meeting with the country’s top military officials, focused on a status update regarding Ukraine, and crucially coming the day after Presidents Trump and Zelensky met in Florida in a failed effort to reach breakthrough on the proposed peace deal. Moscow is pressing ahead with its goal of fully capturing and pacifying the four Ukrainian regions it declared part of the Russian Federation in fall of 2022 via a ‘popular referendum’.

“The goal of liberating the Donbas, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions is being carried out in stages, in accordance with the plan of the special military operation,” Putin described before underscoring, “The troops are confidently advancing.“

At the meeting it was also announced that Russian troops have made more gains in the last 24 hours, especially the capture of Dibrova village in Donetsk region.

According to an update of the meeting via RT translation, battlefield gains of the past month are significant:

In December, Russian forces liberated over 700 square kilometers of territory, taking some 32 settlements under control, Gerasimov said at the meeting. This month, the military has shown the highest rate of progress in the entire outgoing year, he noted, adding that troops are advancing “along virtually the entire frontline.”

“The adversary is not undertaking any active offensive actions. They have concentrated their main efforts on strengthening their defenses and are attempting to slow the pace of our advance by conducting counterattacks in isolated areas and using drones en masse,” Gerasimov said.

The Kremlin has at the same time reiterated that it is not interested in a ‘Plan B or Plan C’ in terms of a peace deal, but that it only seeks lasting political settlement. This will of course include international recognition of its territories in the Donbass………………………………………….. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-confidently-advancing-ukraine-over-30-settlements-captured-december-putin

January 2, 2026 Posted by | Russia, Ukraine | Leave a comment

U.S. Plans Largest Nuclear Power Program Since the 1970s 

How many reactors will $80 billion buy?

Chief executives of investor-owned utilities know that if they were to propose committing to similar projects on the same commercial terms, they’d be sacked on the spot. As a result, the private sector in the United States has been unwilling to take on the financial risk inherent in building new reactors.

Ed Crooks, IEEESpectrum,17 Dec 2025

The United States aims to embark on its most active new nuclear construction program since the 1970s. In its most high-dollar nuclear deal yet, the Trump administration in October launched a partnership to build at least $80 billion worth of new, large-scale nuclear reactors, and chose Westinghouse Electric Company and its co-owners, Brookfield Asset Management and Cameco, for the job.

The money will support the construction of AP1000s, a type of pressurized water reactor developed by Westinghouse that can generate about 1,110 megawatts of electric power. These are the same reactors as units 3 and 4 at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia, which wrapped up seven years behind schedule in 2023 and 2024 and cost more than twice as much as expected—about $35 billion for the pair. Along the way, Westinghouse, based in Cranberry Township, Penn., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Chief executives of investor-owned utilities know that if they were to propose committing to similar projects on the same commercial terms, they’d be sacked on the spot. As a result, the private sector in the United States has been unwilling to take on the financial risk inherent in building new reactors.

The $80 billion deal with the federal government represents the U.S. nuclear industry’s best opportunity in a generation for a large-scale construction program. But ambition doesn’t guarantee successful execution. The delays and cost overruns that dogged the Vogtle project present real threats for the next wave of reactors……………………………………………………………………………………..

One of Trump’s orders included a series of provisions intended to help build the U.S. nuclear workforce, but it’s clear that that will be a challenge. The momentum gained in training skilled workers during the construction at Vogtle is already dissipating. Without other active new reactor projects to move on to immediately in the United States, many of the people who worked there have likely gone into other sectors, such as liquified natural gas (LNG) plants………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 the plans that have been announced so far pale in comparison to the Trump administration’s nuclear ambitions. Earlier this year, Trump set a goal of adding a whopping 300 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050, up from a little under 100 GW today. That would mean much stronger growth than is currently projected in Wood Mackenzie’s forecasts, which show a near-doubling of U.S. nuclear generation capacity to about 190 GW in 2050.

The main driver behind the Trump administration’s interest in nuclear is its ambitions for artificial intelligence. Chris Wright, the U.S. energy secretary, has described the race to develop advanced AI as the Manhattan Project of our times, critical to national security, and dependent upon a steep increase in electricity generation. Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in September, Wright promised: “We’re doing everything we can to make it easy to build power generation and data centers in our country.”

One of the hallmarks of the Trump administration has been its readiness to intervene in markets to pursue its policy goals. Its nuclear strategy exemplifies that approach.In many ways, the Trump administration is acting like an energy company: using its financial strength and its convening power to put together a deal that covers the entire nuclear value chain.

Throughout the history of nuclear power, the industry has worked closely with governments. But the federal government effectively taking a commercial position in the development of new reactors would be a first for the United States…………………………………………..https://spectrum.ieee.org/80-billion-us-nuclear-power

January 2, 2026 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Anas Sarwar silent as Scottish bill payers face UK ‘nuclear tax’

The National, 30th December 2025, By Jamie Calder

THE SNP have slammed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar for his silence on Westminster’s “nuclear tax”, which could see Scottish households paying out a total of £300 million over the next decade to fund nuclear projects in England.

The new levy has been introduced to fund the spiralling costs of the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk, which is now predicted to cost £38 billion, almost doubling the previous prediction of £20bn.

Ed Miliband has also faced criticism for asking GB Energy staff to look at opportunities to develop Scottish nuclear energy, going against the policy of the Scottish Government.

The SNP have opposed the creation of new nuclear plants and are able to use planning policy to block developments, despite energy policy being largely reserved to Westminster.

The Scottish Government instead wishes to focus on renewable developments, with Scotland’s last nuclear plant, Torness, set to be decommissioned in 2030.

The party has criticised Labour for making Scots pay for a Westminster nuclear project in the south of England, instead arguing that investment from Scottish taxpayers should be targeting renewables like wind and hydro power based in Scotland, avoiding “extortionate” nuclear plants.

Anas Sarwar has also been questioned over why he has refused to fight the tax which will see Scots foot the bill for the Westminster project.

Writing to Sarwar, SNP MP Graham Leadbitter said: “A recent report found the UK is the most expensive place in the world to develop nuclear power and these massive overspends mean that Scottish taxpayers will pick up a £300m tab for the projects through a decade long ‘Nuclear Tax’.

“Meanwhile, we learned Ed Miliband has assigned GB Energy staff to work on exposing Scotland to these horrific risks. Quite frankly nobody knows what GB Energy is meant to be, but we at least understood it was created to drive forward renewables jobs in Scotland – not blasted on extortionate nuclear power plants.

“These toxic white elephants are irrelevant to Scotland where we produce far more electricity than we can hope to use and where our future is in renewables, closer ties with Europe and harnessing the existing offshore industry to deliver energy security – it certainly is not in over budget, wasteful English nuclear energy projects.

“Your support for these projects in Scotland would see us exposed to colossal financial risk and undermine our renewables future while there are serious questions as to why you support the ‘Nuclear Tax’ currently being imposed on Scottish bill payers…………………………………………………………………………….. https://www.thenational.scot/news/25728226.snp-slam-scottish-labours-anas-sarwar-nuclear-tax-acceptance/

January 2, 2026 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment