How Iceland’s fiery mantle plume scattered ancient volcanoes across the North Atlantic

University of Cambridge

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About sixty million years ago, the Icelandic mantle plume—a fountain of hot rock that rises from Earth’s core-mantle boundary—unleashed volcanic activity across a vast area of the North Atlantic, extending from Scotland and Ireland to Greenland.

For decades, scientists have puzzled over why this burst of volcanism was so extensive. Now, research led by the University of Cambridge has found that differences in the thickness of tectonic plates around the North Atlantic might explain the widespread volcanism.

The researchers compiled seismic and temperature maps of Earth’s interior, finding that patches of thinner tectonic plate acted like conduits, funnelling the plume’s molten rock over a wide area. 

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Credit: University of Cambridge

What do the rumblings of Iceland’s volcanoes have in common with the now peaceful volcanic islands off Scotland’s western coast and the spectacular basalt columns of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland?

About sixty million years ago, the Icelandic mantle plume—a fountain of hot rock that rises from Earth’s core-mantle boundary—unleashed volcanic activity across a vast area of the North Atlantic, extending from Scotland and Ireland to Greenland.

For decades, scientists have puzzled over why this burst of volcanism was so extensive. Now, research led by the University of Cambridge has found that differences in the thickness of tectonic plates around the North Atlantic might explain the widespread volcanism.

The researchers compiled seismic and temperature maps of Earth’s interior, finding that patches of thinner tectonic plate acted like conduits, funnelling the plume’s molten rock over a wide area.

Iceland, which is one of the most volcanically active places on Earth, owes its origin largely to the mantle plume. Beyond volcanism, the Iceland Plume’s influence even extends to shaping the seafloor and ocean circulation in the North Atlantic and, in turn, climate through time. Despite its global significance, many aspects of the plume’s behaviour and history remain elusive.

“Scientists have a lot of unanswered questions about the Iceland plume,” said Raffaele Bonadio, a geophysicist at Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences and lead author of the study.

Bonadio set out to explain why the plume’s volcanic imprint was much more widespread sixty million years ago—before the Atlantic opened—forming volcanoes and lava outpourings stretching over thousands of kilometres.  The pattern could be explained by the mantle plume spreading outward in a branched, flowing formation, Bonadio explained, “but evidence for such flow has been scarce.”

In search of answers, Bonadio focussed on a segment of the North Atlantic Igneous Province to better understand the complex distribution of volcanoes in Scotland and Ireland. He wanted to know if the structure of Earth’s tectonic plates played a role in the surface expression of volcanism.

Using seismic data extracted from earthquakes, Bonadio created a computer-generated image of Earth’s interior beneath Britain and Ireland. This method, known as seismic tomography, works similarly to a medical CT scan, revealing hidden structures deep within the planet. Bonadio coupled this with seismic thermography measurements—a new method developed by the team—which reveal variations in the temperature and thickness of the tectonic plate.

He found that northwest Scotland and Ireland’s volcanoes formed in areas where the lithosphere (Earth’s rigid outer layer that makes up the tectonic plates) is thinner and weaker.

“We see ancient volcanoes concentrated within this corridor of thin lithosphere beneath the Irish Sea and surrounding areas,” said Bonadio. He thinks the hot plume material was preferentially funnelled along this corridor, ponding in the thin plate areas due to its buoyancy.

Previously, some scientists had put forward alternative, non-mantle plume origins for the volcanic activity, said Bonadio. But his new research shows the scattering could be explained by the magma being diverted and re-routed to areas of thinner lithosphere.

Sergei Lebedev, from the University of Cambridge said, “this striking correlation suggests that hot plume material eroded the lithosphere in this region. This resulting combination of thin lithosphere, hot asthenosphere and decompression melting likely caused the uplift and volcanic activity.” 

Previously, the authors have found a close link between the uneven distribution of earthquakes in Britain and Ireland and the thickness of the lithosphere, showing how the scars left by the mantle plume influence seismic hazards today.

Bonadio and Lebedev are also using their methods to map geothermal energy resource potential.  “In Britain and Ireland, the greatest supply of heat from the Earth’s mantle is in the same places where volcanoes erupted sixty million years ago, and where the lithosphere is thinner,” said Lebedev. He and Bonadio are working with international colleagues to apply their new seismic thermography methods to global geothermal assessment.

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-025-62967-5 

Article Title

Volcanism and long-term seismicity controlled by plume-induced plate thinning

Article Publication Date

28-Aug-2025

• A Journey to the Center of the EarthJules Verne
  

Sci-fi skies: ‘Haboob’ plunges Phoenix into darkness

By AFP
August 26, 2025


This handout photo provided by the City of Phoenix shows a large cloud of dust at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on August 25, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona - Copyright City of Phoenix/AFP HANDOUT

A massive wall of dust swept through Phoenix, plunging the southwest US city into near-total darkness, grounding flights, forcing motorists off the road and cutting power to thousands.

The giant haboob, which occurred on Monday, is a common phenomenon during the arid region’s monsoon season.

Haboobs form when a thunderstorm collapses, sending cold air crashing onto the desert floor, where it scoops up dust into a towering wall of sediment that can stretch for miles and rise thousands of feet.

The dust storm was followed by heavy rain and lightning that triggered flash flood warnings.

“This monsoon dust isn’t messing around…Please be safe!” the City of Phoenix warned on X, sharing a photo of the dust wall looming over planes, a sight reminiscent of a science-fiction film.

Local media said the weather tore part of the roof off Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

The Trico Electric Co-op reported 7,200 customers without power, while police in the town of Gilbert said downed trees and traffic light outages created hazardous driving conditions.

The dust reduced visibility to just dozens of feet on the I-10 highway, while another busy roadway, the I-17, was partly closed due to flooding, according to the Arizona Department of Transport.

In all, more than two million people were affected, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), which advises motorists caught in haboobs to pull over and turn off their lights so other drivers don’t mistake them for moving vehicles and crash into them.

The NWS forecasts isolated thunderstorms from Tuesday through Thursday, before a return to dry conditions on Friday.

 

Global inequities in diabetes technology and insulin access and glycemic outcomes

JAMA Network Open

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About The Study: 

This cross-sectional study found that HbA1c levels were associated with the accessibility of modern diabetes technologies and insulin. Efforts to ensure universal accessibility are required to reduce global inequities and glycemic outcomes for children with type 1 diabetes.

Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Zdenek Sumnik, MD, PhD, email zdenek.sumnik@lfmotol.cuni.cz.

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.28933)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Embed this link to provide your readers free access to the full-text article 

 http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.28933?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=082725

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Journal

JAMA Network Open

Grocery Chains Are Passing Trump Tariff Costs on to US Consumers With Higher Prices: Report

"Reckless tariff policy is wreaking warrantless chaos on our economy, with grocery giants shifting market uncertainty onto consumers," said Accountable.US president Caroline Ciccone.


Beef is seen on sale at a grocery store in New York on August 12, 2025.
(Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Stephen Prager
Aug 26, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

As leading grocery chains increase prices on essentials, they are blaming US President Donald Trump's tariffs for raising the cost of living for households across the country.

According to the Consumer Price Index, the price of food has increased by 3% in the past year, with meats, poultry, fish, and eggs getting 5.6% more expensive from June 2024 to June 2025.

In a poll published this month by the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center, 90% of Americans reported that they considered the cost of groceries a source of stress, with 53% describing it as a "major" source of stress.

In earnings calls and public statements, executives of many of America's largest and most profitable grocery retailers are citing Trump's tariffs as justification for passing on the costs to consumers, according to a new report released on Tuesday by Accountable.US.

In a first-quarter earnings call in May, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said that while the company was better positioned than others to absorb the cost of tariffs, they would still "result in higher prices" for consumers. Since then, some grocery items at America's largest retailer have shown 40% hikes that have outraged consumers, fueling calls for a boycott.

On another call Thursday, McMillon said, "We've continued to see our costs increase each week, which we expect will continue into the third and fourth quarters."

"Trump's tariffs are making groceries more expensive," said Accountable.US. "Everyday Americans pay the cost while corporations and the wealthy profit."

Costco's chief financial officer, Gary Millerchip, told shareholders in May that the company "saw inflation as a result of tariffs because we import certain fresh items from Central and South America."

Kroger's CFO, Todd Foley, projected similar hikes to fresh food prices beginning in March. Though Foley said the impact would not likely be as significant as those experienced by their international competitors, he said the tariffs would likely cause "mid-single digit effects" on the costs of produce imported from Mexico and Canada.

Albertsons CEO Susan Miller has acknowledged that the company is raising prices on some goods to compensate for tariffs. But it has also turned the screws on its suppliers, demanding that they eat the cost of the new levies.

In the American Prospect, David Dayen described the latter as an example of how the tariffs were helping monopolies consolidate their power.

"Albertsons holds a significant market share in the grocery market, particularly in the western United States," he wrote. "Independent grocers, however, typically don't have the same ability to dictate terms to suppliers, and therefore will have to take whatever they can get."

Many of the companies currently raising prices have previously been caught or even admitted to price-gouging consumers to take advantage of inflation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The tariffs, a regressive tax that Trump has suggested as a way to offset the massive tax cuts given to the wealthy, have further exacerbated that pain.

"While Trump grants massive tax cuts to massive corporations and the ultra-rich," said Accountable.US President Caroline Ciccone, "his reckless tariff policy is wreaking warrantless chaos on our economy, with grocery giants shifting market uncertainty onto consumers."

‘Old things work’: Argentines giving new life to e-waste

3R's POVERTY ECONOMY REUSES

By AFP
August 27, 2025


Men play a video game made from used and recycled electronic components during the 3rd Federal Cyberciruja Meeting in Buenos Aires - Copyright AFP Luis ROBAYO

Tomás VIOLA

Need a new gaming console? Just make one yourself with an old ventilator. Got an old payment terminal? Turn it into a camera.

These are just some of the creations of Argentina’s Cyber Dumpster Divers, a collective of ingenious tech aficionados who turn e-waste into new products.

“We experiment with technology by trying to recycle it and repurpose items that other people would simply throw away,” said Esteban Palladino, a musician who goes by the pseudonym Uctumi on social media.

“It’s a movement that has a charitable side, a techno-political side, and also a playful side,” he added.

Argentina produces an estimated 520,000 tons of electronic waste per year, making it fifth in the Americas after the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Canada, according to a 2024 report by the UN Research Institute.

In 2022, the world generated a record 62 million tons, the report said.

The manifesto of the Cyber Dumpster Divers, who have dozens of members across Argentina, says that faced with “the immorality of equipment thrown in the trash, the… diver rebels against the authority of the market.”

The waste pickers see themselves as revolutionaries at war with the tech “oligarchy.”

They call their provincial chapters cells, their manifesto is modelled on that of Karl Marx, and their posters feature a cyborg Che Guevara, who was born in Argentina.

The movement began in 2019 with hardware soup kitchens where people exchanged electronics parts.

During the Covid pandemic, it gained impetus because many people suddenly needed computers to study or work at home.

In stepped the recyclers.

They resurrected old machines from the rubbish heap, fitted them with free operating systems and donated them to people and organizations in need.

– ‘Old things work’ –

The collective’s third annual meeting in Buenos Aires included a workshop on reviving defunct smartphones.

Visitors also lined up to play the “Ventilastation,” a gaming console made from an industrial fan, and to learn how to run AI applications locally on old computers.

“Old things work,” read a slogan on the screen.

Electronics engineer Juan Carrique traveled 470 kilometers (290 miles) from the central province of Santa Fe to present “roboticlaje” or robotic recycling.

Carrique goes into schools to teach children how to use e-waste to build temperature sensors or motor controls.

“It’s not the same to buy something ready-made as having to make it yourself, using pieces of trash,” he said.

The 47-year-old diabetic is a fierce critic of planned obsolescence — companies programming products to become out of date after a certain period.

He used a free app to make his blood sugar monitor compatible with his phone, extending the device’s manufacturer-specified lifespan.

It’s about “reclaiming the right to recognize when things work or don’t work, not being told they work or don’t work,” he said.

While giving a second life to old electronic devices may seem the height of geekiness, the Cyber Dumpster Divers are wary of the impact of smartphones, particularly on Argentina’s youth.

“It’s this ecosystem that is destroying the social fabric, destroying the psyche of young people,” one of the recyclers, Cristian Rojo, said.

Greater London has low risk of energy blackouts in the UK


By Dr. Tim Sandle
EDITOR AT LARGE SCIENCE

DIGITAL JOURNAL
August 25, 2025


Darkness ascends London. Image by Tim Sandle

London faces the lowest risk of energy blackouts in the UK, a new study finds. The Scottish Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland Islands face the greatest risk of energy blackouts, topping UK charts for both customer interruptions and time spent without power.

A new study by QR Code Generator has revealed that the Scottish Highlands and Western Isles face the highest risk of energy blackouts in the UK. The research analysed official data from Ofgem to identify which regions experience the most frequent and longest power outages.

The UK regions most vulnerable to power cuts 

Rank	Distribution network operator	Operator	Approximate coverage area	Customer interruptions	Customer minutes lost	Score
1	SSEH	Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks	Scottish Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland Islands	56.64	65.56	0.10
2	NPgY	Northern Powergrid	Yorkshire area (Leeds, Sheffield, York, Hull)	55.21	53.49	1.37
3	SSES	Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks	Southern England (Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, parts of West Sussex & Surrey)	51.27	57.58	1.43
4	SWEST	National Grid Electricity Distribution	Bristol, Exeter, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset	57.52	46.86	1.73
5	NPgN	Northern Powergrid	Northeast England (Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham, Northumberland)	48.61	49.48	2.47

According to the findings, the Scottish & Southern Energy Hydro (SSEH), which covers the Scottish Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland Islands, has the worst overall reliability score in the UK – just 0.10 out of 10. The area has the highest frequency of power cuts, with an average of 56.64 customer interruptions, and the longest outages, with customers experiencing an average of 65.56 minutes without power.

Northern Powergrid Yorkshire (NPgY), covering the Yorkshire area including major cities like Leeds, Sheffield, York and Hull, ranks second among the regions most susceptible to blackouts. With 55.21 customer interruptions and 53.49 minutes lost, Yorkshire received a low reliability score of 1.37, making it the second-most vulnerable region in Britain for power cuts.

Southern England residents served by Scottish & Southern Energy Southern (SSES), covering areas such as Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and parts of West Sussex and Surrey, experience the third-highest risk of blackout. The region sees an average of 51.27 customer interruptions and 57.58 minutes lost, resulting in a reliability score of 1.43.

South West England, operated by National Grid Electricity Distribution, covering Bristol, Exeter, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset, is the fourth-most likely region to experience blackouts. This area records the second-highest customer interruption rate at 57.52, though with shorter outage times of 46.86 minutes lost, resulting in a reliability score of 1.73.

The Northeast England region, managed by Northern Powergrid North East (NPgN) and covering Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham and Northumberland, completes the top five most vulnerable areas with 48.61 customer interruptions and 49.48 minutes lost, giving a reliability score of 2.47.

The UK regions least affected by power outages 

Rank	Distribution network operator	Operator	Approximate coverage area	Customer interruptions	Customer minutes lost	Score
1	LPN	UK Power Networks	Greater London (inner and outer London boroughs)	12.20	11.37	10.00
2	ENWL	Electricity North West	North West England (e.g., Manchester, Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire)	26.21	26.80	7.03
3	SPD	SP Energy Networks	Southern Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Central Belt, Borders, Dumfries & Galloway)	32.88	26.23	6.35
4	SPMW	SP Energy Networks	North Wales, Merseyside (Liverpool), Cheshire, parts of Shropshire	31.57	33.43	5.83
5	EMID	National Grid Electricity Distribution	Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire	44.20	26.14	5.11

On the other hand, Greater London residents experience the fewest power cuts in the UK. London Power Networks (LPN), covering inner and outer London boroughs, records a remarkably low 12.20 customer interruptions and just 11.37 minutes lost, earning a perfect reliability score of 10 out of 10 and making it the most reliable electricity network in Britain.

North West England, managed by Electricity North West Limited (ENWL) and covering Manchester, Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire, also enjoys one of the most dependable electricity networks in Britain. With just 26.21 customer interruptions and 26.80 minutes lost, the region scored 7.03 for reliability, making it the second-most reliable in the country.

Residents in Southern Scotland, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, the Central Belt, Borders, and Dumfries & Galloway, benefit from a more reliable electricity supply than their northern Scottish counterparts. SP Distribution (SPD) recorded 32.88 customer interruptions and 26.23 minutes lost, achieving a reliability score of 6.35 and ranking as the third-most reliable region.

INTER IMPERIALIST RIVALRY 

US bids to trump China in DR Congo mining rush

& CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

By AFP
August 26, 2025


China has a near-monopoly on mining in the DRC - Copyright AFP Hilary Wardhaugh

The United States wants to secure its supply of strategic minerals in conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, hoping to challenge China’s near-monopoly on the lucrative sector.

While the strategy has been in the works for years, Washington has doubled down on it since Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January.

– Risky El Dorado –

Although it is among the world’s 15 least developed countries, the DRC has some of the richest mineral veins on the planet.

Besides gold and uranium, its mines contain significant deposits of copper, cobalt, coltan and lithium, with uses ranging from weaponry to mobile phones and electric cars.

More than three-quarters of the world’s cobalt came from the DRC in 2024, according to the US Geological Survey.

Threatened by the resurgence of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia in the DRC’s east, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has sought to strike a deal with the United States, trading direct access to those minerals for beefed-up security cooperation.

But the Congolese mining sector is rife with chronic trafficking, organised crime and corruption, discouraging businesses from investing.

– Skirting the eastern conflict –

Since taking up arms again in 2021, the M23 has taken control of a raft of mining sites in the eastern DRC, notably in North and South Kivu provinces, with Rwanda’s help.

However, Washington’s gaze has turned further to the southeast, to the cobalt and copper-rich Katanga region, which has been spared by conflict in recent times, according to experts.

To rival China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative, the United States has worked for years to establish the “Lobito Corridor”, an ambitious infrastructure project which would allow minerals mined in the southeastern DRC to be transported thousands of kilometres (miles) overland to the Atlantic Ocean.

– China’s dropped anchor –

Chinese businesses are involved in mining the vast majority of the DRC’s deposits, often taking over from Western companies put off by conflicts or the business environment.

“If the Americans want to enter into the sector today and begin to make a profit immediately, that will involve snatching mining permits away from certain companies,” said Christian-Geraud Neema, an expert for the China-Global South Project, a non-profit group.

“If they want to start from zero, they will have to request research permits and get involved in exploration, which could take a minimum of eight to nine years before achieving any results,” he added.

– AI mapping –

To that end, KoBold Metals, an American start-up specialised in using artificial intelligence to discover new mineral deposits, especially of lithium, signed a declaration of principles with the DRC’s government in July for the exploration of 1,700 new potential mining sites.

With financiers including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, the group likewise obtained the authorities’ assent to comb through its precious mining information database.

“All the mines which we know of come from searches done 80, even 100 years ago,” under Belgian colonial rule, said Jean-Jacques Kayembe, coordinator for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in the DRC.

“Less than 20 percent of the territory has been subject to sustained study,” he added.

– Plots up for grabs –

In July, the DRC’s mining registry made more than 600 mining titles up for grabs following a major clean-up of its records.

Several sources and security officials said the government was piling on the pressure to make those plots available to respond to US demands.

Crispin Mbindule, chairman of the board of directors of the Congolese mining registry, denies those claims, insisting that the DRC “is not selling off its assets”.

He said that the Americans “followed all the procedures and paid all the fees”.

Besides discovering new deposits, the DRC is attempting to respond to the United States’s interests by offering up joint ventures in mining companies owned by the state, according to Kayembe.

– Israeli billionaire’s shadow –

Looming over proceedings is Israeli investor Dan Gertler, who continues to wield significant influence in the DRC’s mining sector despite being sanctioned by the United States over his dealings and business practices.

“He still collects royalties from three of the biggest mining projects in the country,” said Jean Claude Mputu of the non-profit group The Congo is Not for Sale.

In March 2021, the United States re-imposed sanctions on Gertler, first set in 2017 for allegedly cheating the DRC of about $1.4 billion in revenues through opaque mining deals.

Trump had reversed some of the sanctions just before the end of his first term.

“It’s impossible that someone who has his know-how will not be involved” in the ongoing negotiations, a European diplomat said.

Congolese civil society representatives launched a campaign in July demanding an end to the sanctions against Gertler.

The Israeli businessman, who has denied any suggestion of being involved in any massive resource corruption in Africa, could not be reached for comment.

Jurists Urge ICJ to Remove 'Christian Zionist' Judge from Gaza Genocide Case

International Court of Justice Vice President Julia Sebutinde recently told members of her church in Uganda that "the Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel."


A growing number of jurists are calling on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to remove Vice President Julia Sebutinde, seen here, from the ongoing Gaza genocide case.
(Photo by Douglas Robertson/University of Edinburgh/flickr/cc)

Brett Wilkins
Aug 26, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


A global legal advocacy group on Monday called on the International Court of Justice in The Hague to "immediately remove" ICJ Vice President Julia Sebutinde from the ongoing Gaza genocide case following the publication of remarks in which the judge said that God wants her to support Israel.

Santiago Canton, secretary general of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists, sent a letter to ICJ President Justice Yuji Iwasawa citing an article published by the Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor, which reported that Sebutinde delivered remarks on August 10 at Watoto Church in Kampala.

Sebutinde discussed the ICJ's January 26, 2024 issuance of six provisional measures, including orders for Israel to do everything possible to prevent genocidal acts, ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gazans, and preserve evidence of Israeli crimes committed in the strip. The Ugandan was the sole member of the 17-judge panel to vote against all six measures.

"There are now about 30 countries against Israel," Sebutinde said. "The Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel. The whole world was against Israel, including my country."

Indeed, in January 2024 the Ugandan government issued a statement clarifying that Sebutinde's votes were her "individual and independent opinion" and did "not in any way reflect the position of the government of the Republic of Uganda."

Sebutinde told members of her church—which gained international infamy as its pastor pushed for the current nationwide law punishing "aggravated homosexuality" with a death sentence—that Israel's annihilation and starvation of Gaza is a sign of the biblical "End Times," a period of great suffering followed by the "second coming" of Jesus Christ, a climactic battle between the forces of good and evil, and God's judgment of all people living and dead.

Many Christian Zionists believe that the restoration of Israel as a nation—which occurred in 1948, largely via the ethnic cleansing of Arabs from Palestine—is a prerequisite for Christ's "return."

"I have a very strong conviction that we are in the End Times," Sebutinde told Watoto's congregation. "The signs are being shown in the Middle East. I want to be on the right side of history. I am convinced that time is running out. I would encourage you to follow developments in Israel. I am humbled that God has allowed me to be a part of the last days."

Canton's letter states: "Should it be confirmed that these are accurate quotes of her remarks, the International Commission of Jurists considers that Vice President Sebutinde's continued role in the context of ongoing proceedings before the court, such as South Africa v. Israel, and at least any other proceedings concerning Israel or the state of Palestine, would be profoundly damaging to the court's impartiality, propriety, and integrity, or to perceptions thereof, as well as to the to public confidence in the court."

"These remarks raise serious concerns as to whether her decisions were taken solely on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, but rather may have also been taken under 'improper influences,' specifically her religious and political beliefs regarding
Israel and the purported approaching of 'End Times,'" the letter continues.

"While the vice president certainly enjoys the right to freedom of expression, this right is not absolute, and there are certain limitations on the right that are particularly applicable to members of the judiciary," Canton stressed. "I therefore respectfully urge you and the court to conduct an investigation into these allegations, and if substantiated, undertake remedial actions."

"In the interim," he added, "I would request that you act to immediately remove Vice President Sebutinde from participating further in proceedings in the South Africa v. Israel case."

Canton's letter follows similar calls by the Arab Organization for Human Rights in the UK, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and international jurists including Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch—one of a growing number of organizations accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza—who urged Sebutinde to recuse herself from the ICJ case.

Michael Becker, a professor at Trinity College Dublin's School of Law and former ICJ associate legal officer, told Middle East Eye that "it is never a good idea for an ICJ judge to share their own views on a pending case in a public forum."

"It is worse to suggest that your position is to be 'on the side' of a specific party to the case," he added.

Sebutinde has also come under fire for apparently plagiarizing much of her dissenting opinion in the ICJ's July 2024 advisory opinion that Israel's occupation of Palestine, including Gaza, is an illegal form of apartheid that must end as soon as possible.

South Africa filed its genocide case against Israel in December 2023 and subsequently submitting thousands of pages of evidence including alleged statements of genocidal intent by prominent Israelis including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fugitive from the International Criminal Court wanted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and forced starvation.

More than two dozen nations and regional blocs are supporting South Africa's case, which is not expected to produce a ruling for years.

Israel's 690-day assault and siege on Gaza have left at least 230,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing. Israeli forces are ramping up Operation Gideon's Chariots 2, a campaign to conquer, occupy, and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza amid a growing famine that has killed hundreds of people, many of them children.

The ICJ has issued a series of orders for Israel to prevent genocidal acts, stop attacking the southern city of Rafah, and allow the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel is accused of ignoring all of these orders, and has reportedly proposed building a concentration camp over the ruins of Rafah to house ethnically cleansed Palestinians.

Aid to famine-struck Gaza still ‘drop in the ocean’: WFP

ByAFP
August 26, 2025


Carl Skau, World Food Programme COO, told AFP it was crucial that aid reach the most vulnerable 'if we want to avoid a full-scale catastrophe' - Copyright AFP Arun SANKAR
Peter MARTELL

The World Food Programme warned Tuesday that the aid Israel is allowing to enter Gaza remains a “drop in the ocean”, days after famine was formally declared in the war-torn Palestinian territory.

The United Nations declared a famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming the “systematic obstruction” of aid by Israel during its nearly two-year war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Carl Skau, WFP’s chief operating officer, said that over the past two weeks, there has been a “slight uptick” in aid entering, averaging around 100 trucks per day.

“That’s still a drop in the ocean when we’re talking about assisting some 2.1 million people,” Skau told AFP during a visit to New Delhi.

“We need a completely different level of assistance to be able to turn this trajectory of famine around.”

The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said famine was affecting 500,000 people in Gaza.

It defines famine as when 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages, more than 30 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished, and there is an excess mortality threshold of at least two in 10,000 people a day.

Skau painted a grim picture of Gaza.

“The levels of desperation are so high that people keep grabbing the food off our trucks,” the former Swedish diplomat said.

“And when we’re not able to do proper orderly distributions, we’re not sure that we’re reaching the most vulnerable — the women and the children furthest out in the camps,” he said.

“And they’re the ones we really need to reach now, if we want to avoid a full-scale catastrophe.”



– ‘Starvation phase’ –



But Skau also warned that Gaza was only one of many global crises, with multiple famine zones emerging simultaneously as donor funding collapses.

Some 320 million people globally are now acutely food insecure — nearly triple the figure from five years ago. At the same time, WFP funding has dropped by 40 percent compared with last year.

“Right now, we’re seeing a number of crises that, at any other time in history, would have gotten the headlines and been the top issue discussed,” he said.

That includes Sudan, where 25 million people are “acutely food insecure”, including 10 million in what Skau called “the starvation phase”.

“It’s the largest hunger and humanitarian crisis that we probably have seen in decades — since the end of the 1980s with the Ethiopia famine,” he said.

“We have 10 spots in Sudan where famine has been confirmed. It’s a disaster of unimaginable magnitude.”

He detailed how a UN aid convoy in June tried to break the siege by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Sudan’s city of El-Fasher in Darfur, only for the truck convoy to be hit by a deadly drone attack.

Neighbouring South Sudan is also struggling, he said, suggesting “there might well be a third confirmation of a famine”.

“That will be unprecedented”, he said, citing “extremely expensive” operations in the young nation’s Upper Nile state, where, with few roads, aid must be delivered by helicopters or airdrops.

“This is maybe the number one crisis where you have on one hand staggering needs and, frankly, no resources available”, he said.

At the same time, traditional donors have cut aid.

US President Donald Trump slashed foreign aid after taking office, dealing a heavy blow to humanitarian operations worldwide.

“We are in a funding crunch, and the challenge here is that the needs keep going up”, Skau said.

While conflict is the “main driver” of rising hunger levels, other causes include “extreme weather events due to climate change” and the economic shock of trade wars.

“Our worry is that we are now cutting from the hungry to give to the starving,” he said.

Skau said the organisation was actively seeking new donors.

“We’re engaging countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil, and others, beyond the more traditional donors, to see how they can also assist”.