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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Robert Nighthawk

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Delta and Chicago blues guitarist Robert Nighthawk. Enjoy!

^{Robert Nighthawk - Maggie Campbell}

"Everyone complains that Israel and its apologists lie constantly, but, I mean, of course they’re going to lie. Have you seen what the truth looks like?"

-- Caitlin Johnstone

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News and Opinion

Israel’s Genocidal Intentions Have Been Obvious This Whole Time

Liberal Israelis are slowly beginning to join the rest of the world in admitting that what’s happening in Gaza is a genocide — a fact that has been clear to anyone with eyes and a basic sense of morality from the very beginning of this nightmare.

It was obvious in October 2023 that Israel intended to eliminate all Palestinians in Gaza, in part because you would never treat a population that way if you intended to leave survivors on your border. Because you’d know they’d seek revenge later on.

Call it the Inigo Montoya problem — if you kill someone’s father right in front of him, it’s a safe bet that he’s going to spend the rest of his life trying to kill you. If you intend to act in monstrous ways that fill young children with thoughts of revenge, then you need to get rid of the children, and you need to get rid of the women who will give birth to them. Otherwise you’re just creating a problem for your own children and grandchildren down the road.

Western officials: Israel is defending itself
Israeli officials: We're doing genocide
Western officials: They're following the laws of war
Israeli officials: We're gonna do way more genocide
Western officials: It's a measured response to 10/7
Israeli officials: Yep, kill 'em all https://t.co/bZk94TA5K1

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) October 28, 2023

The Nazis understood this. Heinrich Himmler famously said, “I did not feel I had a right to exterminate the men — i.e. kill them or have them killed — while allowing the children to grow up and take revenge upon our sons and grandsons. We had to reach the difficult decision of making this nation vanish from the face of the earth.”

The savagery of Israel’s post-October 7 onslaught was so horrific right off the bat that it was clear they didn’t intend to leave anyone alive in Gaza. It was clear they intended to kill as many people as possible and force any survivors to leave, because there’s no way they’d be acting with such sadistic bloodlust if they had any plans to leave survivors within striking distance of themselves.

And that is exactly how it has played out. They’ve intentionally turned Gaza into an uninhabitable wasteland while creating a waking nightmare of death and unfathomable suffering, and Trump and Netanyahu are openly saying that it’s not going to end until all the Palestinians have been removed one way or another.

If you’re going to rape and torture a child, you probably don’t intend to then drop them off at the nearest hospital when you are done with them, because you know the police will be at your door the next day. If you’re going to murder your enemy’s wife and kids in front of him, you probably don’t intend to leave him alive to seek revenge at a later date. Once you’ve gone all-in on perpetrating a sufficiently terrible act, you often need to do some extra killing on top of it to protect yourself from the consequences of your actions.

World-renowned Israeli writer David Grossman said coming to the realization that Israel is committing genocide was extremely painful, but he now has a moral obligation to speak up | Davide Lerner https://t.co/dBzp76Ej05

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) August 2, 2025

That’s one of the many reasons why it has always been clear that Israel’s intentions for Gaza are genocide and ethnic cleansing. Even if Israeli officials hadn’t been making openly genocidal statements, and even if genocidal sentiments hadn’t been proliferating throughout the collective consciousness of apartheid Israel for many years — hell, even if you knew absolutely nothing about Israel and Palestine and just looked at the reality on the ground in Gaza — it would still have been obvious to you that Israel did not intend to leave any of those people there. Just because of where they were located and how Israel was treating them.

So when people claim at this late date that they are coming to the reluctant conclusion that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, I have a hard time believing them. It was obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of human nature that Israel had no intention of leaving any survivors of this mass atrocity on its border. People are just covering their own asses and trying to wash their hands of their guilt for their complicity in a 21st century holocaust over the past 22 months.

AMB. Charles Freeman : Genocide and Starvation

‘No one should act surprised,’ says UN expert who warned of starvation in Gaza last year

The UN expert who first warned that Israel was orchestrating a campaign of deliberate mass starvation in Gaza more than 500 days ago, has said that governments and corporations cannot claim to be surprised at the horror now unfolding. “Israel has built the most efficient starvation machine you can imagine. So while it’s always shocking to see people being starved, no one should act surprised. All the information has been out in the open since early 2024,” Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, told the Guardian.

“Israel is starving Gaza. It’s genocide. It’s a crime against humanity. It’s a war crime. I have been repeating it and repeating it and repeating it, I feel like Cassandra,” said Fakhri, referring to the Greek mythological figure whose warnings and predictions were ignored.

On 9 October 2023 – two days after the deadly Hamas attack – Israel’s then defense minister, Yoav Gallant, declared a “complete siege” of Gaza and said he would halt the supply of electricity, food, water and fuel. By December 2023, Gazans accounted for 80% of the people in the world experiencing catastrophic hunger, according to UN and international aid agency figures.

Now, widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving the sharp rise in hunger-related deaths across Gaza, with more than 20,000 children hospitalized for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global initiative that provides real-time data on hunger and famine for the UN and aid groups.

Fakhri was among the first to warn about the impending famine – and the need for urgent action to stop Israel from starving 2 million people in Gaza.

Aaron Maté : Netanyahu and His Prosecutors

Social media images of Gaza cafes can’t hide truth: Israel is starving Palestinians

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his supporters have variously argued that there is no starvation in Gaza, or that if there is hunger it is the fault of Hamas – who they accuse of stealing aid – or the United Nations. In a recent interview with the New Yorker, Amit Segal, the chief political correspondent for Israel’s Channel 12, said he did not believe there was hunger in Gaza. Israel’s consul general in New York said that there was “no deliberate starvation in Gaza, only a deliberate disinformation campaign orchestrated by Hamas”.

Social media has also helped spread misinformation about hunger in Gaza, with photographs and video of cafes being presented as evidence that there is no famine. One Israeli creator on YouTube with more than 400,000 subscribers posted a video entitled “Summer 2025 (Genocide Never Tasted So Good)”, which highlights the existence of several small cafes in Gaza City in an attempt to disprove the existence of food shortages.

But Israeli government data clearly shows that it is starving Gaza. UN-backed food security experts said that Gaza is currently experiencing a “worst-case scenario” famine. Even Netanyahu’s biggest ally, Donald Trump, has said there is “real starvation” in the territory.

Despite such conclusions, pro-Israeli figures have continued to cast doubt on the veracity of images of malnourished children. In an interview with Piers Morgan, the US media personality Megyn Kelly dismissed such images as having been “manipulated”, before claiming that Hamas and “frankly a lot of Palestinians” are “masters of propaganda and they’re fine having their own children starve just as long as they can put them on camera”.

Labor Leader Chris Smalls Describes Israeli Arrest & Assault After Military Raids Gaza Flotilla

Hundreds of ex-Israeli security officials urge Trump to help end war in Gaza

About 600 former Israeli security officials, including previous heads of the Mossad and the military, have urged Donald Trump to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza as the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, considers expanding the conflict. In an open letter, the former officials said an end to the war was the only way to save hostages still held by Hamas. “Your credibility with the vast majority of Israelis augments your ability to steer prime minister Netanyahu and his government in the right direction: end the war, return the hostages, stop the suffering,” they wrote.

They added that they thought Hamas no longer posed a strategic threat to Israel. The letter comes as pressure mounts for the Israeli government to end the war, even as Netanyahu considers intensifying the offensive. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Israel over the weekend after two videos were released of emaciated hostages held in Gaza.

One video in particular, which depicted a skeletal Evyatar David digging what he said could be his own grave, prompted a wave of outrage across Israel. On Sunday night, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters released a statement that accused Netanyahu of “leading Israel and the kidnapped to doom”.

Netanyahu said on Monday he would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss how to instruct the military to meet his war goals in Gaza, with Israeli media reporting the prime minister was inclining towards expanding the offensive and seizing the entire Palestinian territory. According to Israeli media, Netanyahu wants to try “pushing for the release of the hostages through decisive military victory”.

Bibi Plans TOTAL CONQUEST OF GAZA

Senior Netanyahu Official: 'We Are Moving to Occupy' Entire Gaza Strip

In what one peace group described as "a direct assault on international law," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, at least one senior member of Israel's government told multiple media outlets on Monday.

"We are moving to occupy the strip—the decision has been made," an unidentified "senior official in Netanyahu's office" told Israel's Channel 12. "Hamas will not release more hostages without complete surrender, and we will not surrender. If we do not act now, the hostages will die of starvation—and Gaza will remain under Hamas control."

A person described as "a source in the prime minister's office" told The Jerusalem Post that Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza—has reached a decision to fully occupy Gaza.

The Israeli news site Ynet cited "senior officials" in "Netanyahu's circle" as saying, "The die is cast, we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip."

Responding to the news, Israeli author Hen Mazzig said on the Bluesky social network: "This is a monumental mistake, both morally and strategically. This will not bring our hostages home, only endanger them further."

German journalist Claas Gefroi wrote on Bluesky: "It's so clear. Netanyahu wants an endless war, a permanent state of emergency—and thus many more years in power."

On Monday, Israel's High Court of Justice issued an injunction blocking Netanyahu, who is in the midst of a domestic criminal corruption trial, from firing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who is prosecuting him.

After nearly 22 months of fighting a war whose stated purpose is the defeat of Hamas and the return of all Israeli and other hostages taken on October 7, 2023, Hamas remains undefeated and 20 hostages are believed to be alive inside Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel's 667-day assault and siege on Gaza has left more than 220,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and at least hundreds of thousands more starving through a famine that's killed at least 181 people, over half of them children, according to local officials.

Multiple Israeli hostages also appear to be starving in recently released images. The Palestine Chronicle reported Monday that Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades—Hamas' military wing—said that "prisoners are not deliberately starved, they eat what our fighters and our people eat."

Hamas responded to Monday's reports by saying that "Israel's threats are repetitive, worthless, and have no influence on our decisions," according to The Jerusalem Post.

The Virginia-based peace group World Beyond War said on social media that "Netanyahu's decision to fully occupy Gaza is a direct assault on international law."

"The world must reject endless military domination and demand recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state—its people as full citizens with rights, dignity, and safety," the group added.

More and more nations have been moving to formally recognize Palestinian statehood. Last month, France became the first Group of Seven member to announce it will officially recognize Palestine. Last week, Canada said it would also do so, with conditions attached, and the United Kingdom threatened recognition if Israel does not take "substantive steps" to end its obliteration of Gaza.

Although the Israel Defense Forces are winding down Operation Gideon's Chariots, the campaign to occupy all of Gaza and expel its Palestinians—possibly to make way for Jewish recolonization—without achieving any of the mission's objectives, observers note that Israel is still seeking to ethnically cleanse the strip. It is doing so through forced starvation, one of the alleged crimes for which Netanyahu is wanted by the ICC. Israel's weaponized starvation is also cited in the South Africa-led genocide case against currently before the International Court of Justice.

In March, Israel's Security Cabinet created a new Defense Ministry directorate tasked with the euphemistically described "voluntary emigration" of Palestinians. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the new agency would be run "in accordance with the vision of U.S President Donald Trump," who earlier this year said that the United States would "take over" Gaza after emptying the strip of its more than 2 million Palestinians and transform the coastal enclave into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

Channel 12 reported Monday that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir recently pitched occupying all of Gaza as an alternative to a plan favored by Netanyahu to force Palestinians into a concentration camp—he calls it a "humanitarian city"—to be built over the ruins of the southern city of Rafah. Zamir has reportedly dismissed the "humanitarian city" as "unworkable."

Echoing international law and voices like U.N. Palestine expert Francesca Albanese, Palestinian-Canadian neuroscientist Afif Aqrabawi noted Monday on social media that "Gaza is already occupied."

"This new move isn't some shift—it's just the next phase of extermination," he added.

Harvard president reportedly says he is not considering $500m deal with Trump

The Harvard University president, Alan Garber, has told faculty a deal between the Ivy League institution and the Trump administration is not imminent – and denied reports that the university is considering a $500m settlement with the White House, Harvard’s student newspaper the Crimson reported.

The Crimson attributed that information to three unnamed faculty members in a report published early on Monday. According to the publication, Garber said Harvard was seeking to resolve its dispute with the Trump administration through the court system.

Negotiations between the Trump administration and Harvard reopened in June after the president halted billions in federal funding to the university. That came before Columbia University in July reached a $221m settlement with the Trump administration to restore federal funding that was frozen amid allegations that certain universities across the US were not doing enough to combat antisemitism. ...

The New York Times reported Harvard was open to spending up to $500m to resolve its dispute with the Trump administration. A faculty member reportedly told the Crimson that Garber denied it was true Harvard was open to spending that much – and he added that claim was leaked to the Times by the White House. ...

The Crimson noted Harvard had already taken steps to try to appease the Trump administration by eliminating its diversity offices, cutting ties to a Palestinian university, following through on a commitment to establishing ties with Israeli universities, and centralizing disciplinary powers under Garber. Harvard is currently in court against the Trump administration, fighting federal attempts to end international student enrollment at the university and challenging the federal freeze on research funds.

Trump Admin DENYING DISASTER RELIEF to Americans Over Israel Stance?

Trump Admin to Withhold Disaster Aid from Any State or City That Boycotts Israeli Products

The Trump administration announced Monday that it will cut off federal natural disaster preparation funding to any state or city that boycotts Israeli products.

According to Reuters, which quoted a statement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA):

States must certify that they will not cut off "commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies" to receive the money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency according to the agency's terms for grantees.

The condition applies to at least $1.9 billion that states rely on to cover search and rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries, and backup power systems, among other expenses.

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is an international attempt to use economic means—including refusing to support Israeli companies—to put pressure on the nation's government to stop human rights abuses toward Palestinians.

BDS has gained momentum in the wake of Israel's current genocidal onslaught against Gaza, which began in 2023. However, it long predates the most recent assault as a method of nonviolent resistance to Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, which is recognized as illegal under international law.

It is not immediately clear which states would lose disaster funding under the new policy, since none actively boycott Israel. In fact, since 2015, 34 U.S. states have passed anti-BDS laws that take multiple different forms.

Many of these states require public employees and contractors to sign pledges that they will not boycott Israeli products during the term of their contract. Others steer state investments away from funds that do not invest in Israeli companies, stocks, or government bonds.

These laws have been frequently challenged in courts as violations of the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, assembly, association, and petition. Though some have been struck down in federal courts, the U.S. Supreme Court has continuously declined to rule on their legality.

Though no states actively boycott Israel, some U.S. city councils, including in Portland, Maine; Hamtramck, Michigan; and two California cities, Hayward and Richmond, have passed resolutions divesting from Israeli companies considered "complicit" in the country's attacks on Palestinian rights.

According to FEMA's new policy, these cities and others that may consider adopting similar policies may now lose out on federal funds to prepare for natural disasters.

Critics have noted the irony of the "America First" Trump administration jeopardizing the safety of American citizens on behalf of a foreign country.

Stephen Wertheim, a foreign policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment, described it as "the diametric opposite of America first."

Krystal Ball of the political talk show Breaking Points said, "denying American victims of natural disasters aid if they are insufficiently supportive of Israel" was "absolute insanity."

Gillian Branstetter, a communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—a leading opponent of anti-BDS laws—joked that the government's policy was now: "If you don't buy Sabra hummus, we will drown your family."

Russian military breaking frontline dam

Trump envoy to visit Moscow this week before deadline for ending Ukraine war

Donald Trump’s special envoy is expected in Moscow days before the US president’s deadline on Friday for Russia to make progress on ending the war in Ukraine or face increased US sanctions.

Trump said Steve Witkoff would visit Moscow on Wednesday or Thursday. When asked what message Witkoff would take to Russia and what Vladimir Putin could do to avoid new sanctions, the US president answered: “Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed.”

In Kyiv, there is little expectation that Witkoff will make a breakthrough with Putin, but a hope that Trump’s changed rhetoric and tougher stance on Moscow may lead to a real change in US support for Ukraine. Sources in Kyiv said they expected Keith Kellogg, Trump’s Ukraine envoy, to visit the country towards the end of the week, possibly to coincide with Witkoff’s visit to Moscow.

Trump came into office convinced he could do a deal with Putin, but in recent weeks appears to have become increasingly frustrated with Russia’s actions. On Thursday he described its continued attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine as “disgusting” and on Sunday said that two nuclear submarines that he ordered to be deployed after online threats from the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev were now “in the region”, without giving further details. ...

Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said if Russia did not change its course by Friday, Kyiv would expect the “irreversible logistics” of secondary sanctions on Russian oil exports to be set in motion. “After that he’ll look whether this is helping to bring about the end of the war or not, and if not then he will move to the next step,” said Podolyak, in an interview in Kyiv. The next move, he said, could be further sanctions, and the increased militarisation of Ukraine. “Trump has already said he’s ready to sell Europe as much weapons as they want [to pass to Ukraine]. Before he didn’t say that … This is already a different conception of the world,” he said.

Col. Larry Wilkerson: Trump’s Moves Are UNLEASHING CHAOS — This Is Just the Beginning!

Brazil supreme court judge orders house arrest of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro

A Brazilian supreme court judge has ordered the house arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro for breaching “preventative measures” which were imposed amid concerns the far-right leader might abscond to avoid punishment over an alleged coup attempt. According to the ruling on Monday by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, Bolsonaro breached a ban on using social media which was imposed last month, when he was also ordered to wear an electronic ankle tag.

Moraes wrote that as demonstrators took to the streets in several cities across the country on Sunday in support of the former president, Bolsonaro used the social media accounts of allies to share messages containing “clear encouragement and incitement to attack the Supreme Federal Court, and overt support for foreign intervention in Brazil’s judiciary”.

“There is no doubt the precautionary measure was breached,” Moraes wrote. The justice ordered that Bolsonaro be placed under house arrest the palm-lined compound where Bolsonaro rents a mansion in the south of the capital, Brasília, with visits restricted to close family members and lawyers. Federal police were instructed to collect all mobile phones available at the property. Visitors authorised to see the former president will not be allowed to use mobile phones, take photos or record videos.

In his ruling, Moraes noted that despite being banned from using social media, the far-right leader took part by phone in a pro-Bolsonaro demonstration on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. During the rally, one of his politician sons, senator Flávio Bolsonaro, held a phone to the microphone so the crowd could hear the former president speak.

The senator himself had posted a video on social media showing Bolsonaro addressing supporters by phone – but later deleted the footage. Moraes argued that the deletion was a “blatant” attempt to conceal the breach of court-ordered restrictions. “The flagrant disregard for the preventative measures was so obvious that – it bears repeating – the defendant’s own son, senator Flávio Nantes Bolsonaro, decided to delete the post from his Instagram account in order to conceal the legal transgression,” Moraes wrote.

Cost of Groceries 'Major Source of Stress' as Trump Tariffs Start to Bite

Polls have shown that U.S. President Donald Trump owes his 2024 election victory in good part to voters' concerns about the rising costs of groceries.

However, an Associated Press poll released on Monday shows that voters are still extremely anxious about food prices at a time when the president's tariffs on imports are threatening to raise prices of staple consumer goods such as coffee and chocolate.

In all, the poll found that 53% of Americans believe the cost of groceries is a "major source of stress," which is higher than the percentage of Americans who say the same thing about the cost of housing, healthcare, and childcare.

Anxiety about grocery prices is particularly strong among Americans earning $30,000 or less per year, as nearly two-thirds of them described paying for groceries as a "major source of stress." However, even Americans earning more than $100,000 weren't immune from the stress of grocery prices, as 40% of them also singled them out as a major stressor.

The poll also highlights the use of "buy now, pay later" plans that 3 in 10 Americans report using to pay for groceries, as well as for entertainment and restaurant meals.

"An increasing share of 'buy now, pay later' customers are having trouble repaying their loans, according to recent disclosures from the lenders," notes the AP. "The loans are marketed as a safer alternative to traditional credit cards, but there are risks, including a lack of federal oversight. Some consumer watchdogs also say the plans lead consumers to overextend themselves financially."

The AP poll was released on the same day that CNBC reported that small businesses across the United States are at their breaking point when it comes to efforts to keep prices down in the wake of Trump's tariffs.

Melanie Abrantes, an Oakland, California-based business owner, told CNBC that she'll likely have to raise prices by the end of the year and warned that "everything is about to get really fucking expensive" thanks to the tariffs.

CNBC also cited a report from economists at Wells Fargo that projected retailers' power to keep a lid on tariff-related price hikes is rapidly weakening.

"While inventory front-running has mitigated the need to raise goods prices, it will become increasingly difficult for businesses to absorb higher import duties as pre-tariff stockpiles dwindle," wrote Wells Fargo. "We expect core goods prices to pick up further in the second half of the year as a result."

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Cory Booker REFUSES To Endorse Zohran

Texas House reconvenes without quorum as Democrats flee state

Texas Democrats in the state legislature denied Republicans a legislative quorum on Monday by leaving the state, preventing, at least for now, plans proposed by the White House to aggressively redistrict Texas’s congressional lines in their favor. When the legislature gaveled in at 3pm local time on Monday, Republicans fell short of a quorum by eight votes after Democrats fled to Illinois, a legislative conference in Boston, New York and elsewhere.

In an extraordinary escalation, the state’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, said he he had ordered the Texas department of public safety to “locate, arrest and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans”.

“There are consequences for dereliction of duty,” Abbott said in a statement on Monday, after the Republican-dominated House issued civil arrest warrants in an attempt to compel the return of the members who fled. “This order will remain in effect until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol.” Enforcing Abbott’s order will be difficult, however, because Democrats who left the state are beyond the jurisdiction of Texas authorities.

Democrats hold 62 of the 150 seats in the legislature’s lower chamber, so as long as at least 51 members remain out of Austin, the Texas legislature cannot move forward with any votes, including a plan sought by Donald Trump to redraw the state’s congressional maps to give Republicans five more seats in Congress.

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Canada wildfires prompt severe air quality alerts across country and US

Billowing smoke from hundreds of out-of-control wildfires – most of which are in the Canadian Prairies – have caused severe air quality alerts across Canada and the United States. Detroit, Michigan, and the Canadian cities of Montreal and Toronto, recorded some of the worst air quality in the world on Monday, according to a ranking by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company.

More than 700 active wildfires are currently burning across Canada and about two-thirds of them are currently out-of-control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), a non-profit organization that is owned by government agencies.

One brush fire, in British Colombia, was reportedly caused when an osprey dropped a fish on to a power line, sparking a small blaze which was later extinguished.

But most of the current fires that are causing the poor, smoggy air quality and reduced visibility are connected to warmer-than-average temperatures, drought conditions, decreased levels of snowpack and low soil moisture, according to Natural Resources Canada. All of those factors are driven by global heating, NRC says. Some others, including one discovered Thursday on the banks of Cameron Lake in British Columbia, were human-caused, according to officials. ...

So far this year, 6,625,375 sq metres of land in Canada have burned due to fires, which is about 82% higher than all of 2024, which then resulted in 2,785,140 sq metres burned, according to the CIFFC.

BP makes its biggest oil and gas discovery in 25 years off coast of Brazil

BP has made its largest oil and gas discovery of the past 25 years off the coast of Brazil as it continues to shift its focus away from renewables and back to fossil fuels. The Santos basin oil and gas discovery, which is located in deep waters, is the company’s 10th oil discovery of the year and could be its largest since its discovery at the Shah Deniz gasfield in Azerbaijan in 1999.

BP is carrying out further tests on the Santos discovery, made beneath about 2,400 metres of water and 250 miles (400km) off the Brazilian coast, to gauge the potential of the oil and gas basin. It is likely to play a significant role in the company’s plan to increase its oil and gas production to between 2.3m to 2.5m barrels of oil equivalent a day.

The company said on Monday it had also started a new oil extension project in the Gulf of Mexico that should add an extra 20,000 barrels a day to its production. The Argos project would be the first in a series of new projects in the Gulf between now and the end of the decade.

BP has returned its focus to fossil fuels in recent years after abandoning its failed plan to cut its hydrocarbon production, which had favoured expanding in low-carbon energy alternatives, such as offshore wind.

The Santos basin, which is in coastal waters off Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, is BP’s second discovery in Brazil this year. The group has also announced oil and gas discoveries in Trinidad, Egypt, the Gulf of Mexico, Libya, Namibia and Angola, in a marked retreat from its former green agenda. The company’s plan to become a “net zero” energy company has faced a string of unforeseen hurdles since it was put in motion in early 2020.

Two wildfires in US west spur ‘fire clouds’ with erratic weather systems

Two wildfires burning in the western United States – including one that has become a “mega-fire” on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon – are so hot that they are spurring the formation of “fire clouds” that can create their own erratic weather systems. In Arizona, the wind-whipped wildfire that destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge is 9% contained and has charred more than 164 sq miles (424 sq km) to become the largest fire now burning in the continental US and one of the top 10 largest in recorded Arizona history. Getting around it would be roughly like driving from New York City to Washington DC.

Another large fire in Monroe, Utah, has burned 75 sq miles (194 sq km) since 13 July and is 11% contained, officials said on Thursday. Evacuation orders were issued on Wednesday for several towns in the fire’s path, and scorched power poles caused electricity to be shut off in other nearby communities in south-central Utah. Spencer Cox, Utah’s governor, declared an emergency on Thursday as wildfires grew around the state and planned to visit Monroe on Friday.

Towering convection clouds known as pyrocumulus clouds have been spotted over Arizona’s blaze for seven consecutive days, fueling the fire with dry, powerful winds, fire information officer Lisa Jennings said. They form when air over the fire becomes superheated and rises in a large smoke column. The giant billowing clouds can be seen for hundreds of miles and can resemble an anvil.

Their more treacherous big brother, a fire-fueled thunderstorm known as the pyrocumulonimbus cloud, sent rapid winds shooting in all directions this week as a smoke column formed from the Utah fire then collapsed on itself, fire team information officer Jess Clark said. “If they get high enough, they can also create downdrafts, and that’s something we really watch out for because that can quickly spread the fire and can be very dangerous for firefighters who are doing their work on the ground,” Jennings said.

Multiple fire crews in Utah were forced to retreat on Wednesday as the unpredictable climate created by the clouds threatened their safety, officials said. Fire crews in both Utah and Arizona had better control of the blazes, but containment has been slipping as the fires grow rapidly.

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Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Cynically Stage-Managed Humanitarian Aid

Israel Imposes No-Build Zone in Southern Lebanon

Craig Murray: Malicious Mischief

Why China Is Going To Win The AI Race

China Does Not Want To Be Hit By Missiles Produced With Its Parts

US Power Grab of Global Ports Runs Out of Steam Following Pressure From Beijing

Patrick Lawrence: How to Read the Durham Appendix

YouTube Demands Government I.D. To Watch Videos!

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A Little Night Music

Robert Nighthawk - Blues Before Sunrise

Robert Nighthawk - Friar's Point Blues

Robert Nighthawk - Black Angel Blues

Robert Nighthawk - Kansas City Blues

Robert Nighthawk - Jackson Town Gal

Robert Nighthawk - Someday

Robert Nighthawk - Seventy-Four

Robert Nighthawk - Eli's Place

Robert Nighthawk - Lula Mae

Big Walter Horton & Robert Nighthawk - Have a Good Time

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