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“Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.”
― Terry Pratchett

News and Opinion

They Always Tell You Why The Empire Uses Violence, But Never Why Its Enemies Do

One common feature of western empire propaganda is that we are always given reasons for the empire’s violence, while the violence of those who resist the empire tends to be framed as happening for no reason at all.

We’ve all been fed reasons for the US-Israeli war on Iran, and we all know what those reasons are. Even less-informed members of the western public will have heard something about the Iranians being a nuclear threat, having a tyrannical government, and maybe something about sponsoring terrorist groups.

But the so-called “peaceful protesters” who were killed in an uprising fomented and facilitated by the United States? They were killed for no reason, simply because the Iranian government is evil and hates dissent. All the Iranian police officers who died in the uprising perished for no reason, perhaps of natural causes. It is only by pure coincidence that this happened at the exact same time the US empire was making the decision to try to topple the Iranian government.

We’ve all been given the official reasons why Israel has spent years blanketing the Gaza Strip with military explosives: Israel was attacked by Hamas on October 7 2023, so it needs to get rid of Hamas for its own security.

But why did the Hamas attack happen? It happened for no reason. If you look to the propagandists in the western press for answers, October 7 happened solely because Hamas are evil and wanted to kill Jews for belonging to the wrong religion. Absolutely no mention of Israel’s savage treatment of Palestinians for generations, or the dreadful living conditions imposed upon the giant concentration camp that Gaza had become.

We’ve been told why the western empire is pouring weapons into Ukraine: Ukraine was invaded by Russia. The empire wants to protect the freedom and democracy of the Ukrainian people, and to deter future expansionism by Vladimir Putin.

Why did Russia invade Ukraine? No reason. Putin’s just evil and hates freedom, that’s all. Sure, countless western experts and analysts had been warning for years that NATO aggressions were going to lead to a war on Russia’s border, but they were just rambling lunatics whose forecasts of war were proven correct by pure coincidence.

Our entire understanding of history is framed in this way. Fidel Castro killed people in Cuba. Why did he kill them? No reason; he was just a mean jerk. All the violence of the socialist revolutionaries around the world overthrowing the abusive governments which preceded them is framed as causeless genocidal carnage inflicted by murderous tyrants who simply loved killing people. The desperation caused by the capitalist exploitation that had been imposed upon those populations is completely redacted from our history books.

A mature understanding of our world begins with a curiosity about why the violence is happening. Violence is not always justified, but there is always a reason why it happens. Western pundits, politicians and newscasters will very seldom tell you what those reasons are unless it advances the interests of the western empire.

So if you want to have a truth-based understanding of what’s really going on in our world, you need to actively seek out the answers for yourself.

Larry Johnson: Trump's Naval Blockade & Ceasefire Collapse

US Sends Thousands More Troops to Middle East, Considers Ground Ops in Iran

The US is sending thousands of additional troops to the Middle East and is considering restarting the bombing campaign against Iran or launching ground operations in the country, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US officials.

The report said that the forces include 6,000 troops aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush and its accompanying warships. Notably, the Bush traveled around southern Africa on its way to the region instead of going through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal, the typical route of US warships, signaling the US is concerned the Houthis in Yemen could close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

About 4,200 other US troops, including thousands of Marines, are heading to the region from the Pacific aboard the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group. The Post said they are expected to reach the Middle East by the end of April. Once both forces arrive, the US will have more than 60,000 troops in the region.

Tehran Prof Marandi: Israel WILL Restart Iran War

Bernie Sanders pushes resolutions to block US weapons sales to Israel

Bernie Sanders will on Wednesday make a probably unsuccessful attempt to block sales of bombs and bulldozers to Israel that will double as a litmus test of the longtime US ally’s support among Democrats. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, plans to call up for a vote a resolution halting a $151.8m sale of 12,000 1,000lb bombs to Israel’s military, as well as a second resolution that would prevent the sale of $295m in bulldozers.

It will be the fourth time Sanders has forced consideration of resolutions cutting off military aid for Israel in the Senate, but all have been rejected by the chamber’s Republican majority, and many Democrats. Wednesday’s vote could nonetheless serve as an indicator of sentiment towards Israel among the chamber’s Democrats, who are grappling with souring attitudes among their voters on Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct in the invasions of Gaza and southern Lebanon, and his collaboration with Donald Trump in the conflict with Iran.

“Let us be clear: given the horrific and illegal behavior of the Netanyahu government over the last three years, the American people have had enough. Support for Israel in this country has plummeted,” Sanders said, citing a Pew Research Center survey released this month finding that 80% of Democrats and 41% of Republicans view the country negatively.

He went on to describe the vote as an opportunity for Congress to “stand up to” the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), which has spent tens of millions influencing races in the lead-up to the 2024 US elections, and continues to spend heavily before the November midterms. “Maybe, just maybe, the Senate should start listening to their constituents and not just to the wealthy individuals who fund Aipac. And that is what today’s vote is all about,” Sanders said.

Support for resolutions introduced by Sanders addressing weapon sales to Israel may be on the upswing among Senate Democrats. A first batch of measures won the support of 18 of 51 Democrats and their allies in November 2024. Last April, during the current Congress, only 15 of the caucus’s 47 members supported similar measures, but in July , 27 members backed another batch of resolutions. In the House of Representatives, sentiment has built among some progressive lawmakers for cutting off all military aid to Israel, even for defensive weapons such as the Iron Dome missile shield.

Iran Remains Determined /Glenn Diesen & Lt Col Daniel Davis

In 47-52 Vote, Senate GOP Blocks Another Iran War Powers Resolution

Senate Republicans on Wednesday once again narrowly stymied a Democrat-led resolution aimed at reining in President Donald Trump’s power to wage war against Iran.

Although the war launched by the US and Israel in late February has killed more than 1,700 civilians and sparked a global fuel crisis that has sent prices skyrocketing, that was not enough for 52 Republican senators—every one except libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)—who voted to back the president even as the war further erodes his approval rating.

The Democratic caucus was similarly unified, with every member voting for the war powers resolution except the pro-Israel hawk Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).

It was the fourth war powers resolution to fail in the Senate since Trump launched the war on February 28, The last measure in late March fell short by a nearly identical margin.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) called Democrats’ continued attempts to check Trump’s war powers “exhausting” in comments to reporters on Tuesday. “Doing a war powers resolution just undermines the president. I don’t believe [the Democrats] would do that if the president had a ‘D’ behind his name.”

After more than two weeks of delay, a similar bill will be brought to the floor in the House of Representatives on Thursday. Its sponsor, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said it has a good chance of passing.

But without a similar bill passing the Senate, it would remain a purely symbolic gesture, with no ability to limit Trump’s power as he sends thousands more troops to the region immediately after saying the war was “close to over.”

“Trump’s war of choice in Iran is a moral tragedy and economic disaster playing out before our eyes. It is only making the United States and the world less safe,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) after voting for the war powers resolution. “We have seen thousands of civilian deaths in Iran and Lebanon. More than 100 Iranian schoolgirls were killed by American weapons, and 13 American servicemembers were killed, and hundreds have been injured.”

He added, “This dangerous, unnecessary, and expensive war has cost American taxpayers around $50 billion so far, with the Trump administration seeking hundreds of billions of dollars more as part of a $1.5 trillion military budget.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Army National Guard veteran who sponsored the blocked resolution, suggested in her remarks before the vote that Republicans who opposed the resolution would be putting “Trump’s ego first” ahead of American interests and enabling more “chaos.”

The two-week ceasefire agreement is set to expire on April 21. A week later, the war will hit the 60-day mark, after which troops must be withdrawn unless their deployment is approved by Congress, though the White House can request a 30-day extension by citing “national security” concerns.

According to Politico, some Republicans—even those who voted against the war powers resolution on Wednesday—have indicated that the 60-day mark may be a turning point for them.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is retiring after the next election, said that the administration “has got to start answering questions” about the war’s trajectory, especially as it requests tens of billions of dollars in emergency funding.

Duckworth, on the other hand, said she has seen more than enough.

“After one half-assed day of so-called ‘negotiations,’ he’s whipsawed to his next idea: a dangerous, complex, partial military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—once again launching a risky new front in this war at our service members’ expense… with no justification, explanation, or even ‘concept of a plan’ of how to get to an end-state,” she said.

She added, “As our troops continue to sacrifice whatever is asked of them, we senators need to do the absolute minimum required of us.”

Richard Wolff & Michael Hudson: How Trump’s Iran Blockade Turned Into Total Humiliation

Iran’s military has signalled that, if the U.S. naval blockade continues, Tehran may seek to constrict commercial traffic across the Red Sea, the Gulf, and the Sea of Oman, treating any sustained interference with Iranian shipping as a material violation of the ceasefire and…

— Elijah J. Magnier (@ejmalrai) April 15, 2026

US and Iran in indirect talks to extend two-week ceasefire

The US and Iran have been in indirect talks aimed at extending the two-week ceasefire beyond its expiry on 22 April, as Pakistan’s army chief arrived in Tehran to continue mediation efforts. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, denied on Wednesday that the US had “formally” requested to extend the two-week ceasefire but added that Washington remained “very much engaged in these negotiations”.

A second round of negotiations would “very likely” be held in Islamabad, she said, adding that the White House feels “good about the prospects of a deal” only days after negotiations to reach a peace agreement failed. “Nothing is official until you hear it from us here at the White House,” she added.

The remarks came as Pakistani officials launched a new round of shuttle diplomacy in an effort to negotiate an end to the conflict, travelling to Iran and other countries in the region to marshal diplomatic support for a peace agreement. Field Marshal Asim Munir led a Pakistani delegation to Tehran on Wednesday to convey a message from Washington, while working to arrange a second round of US-Iranian ceasefire negotiations. The high-powered delegation also included the interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, officials in Islamabad said.

On the same day, Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, set off on a four-day tour to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, in an attempt to bolster peace efforts by coordinating support from other regional powers. Reports from the region suggested both sides were in favour of prolonging the truce, though Donald Trump suggested an extension may not even be necessary to secure a peace agreement. “During this visit, the views of both sides are likely to be discussed in detail,” said Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, adding that an exchange of messages between Washington and Tehran had continued even after 21 hours of ceasefire talks in Islamabad had broken up over the weekend.

Sources in Tehran said Iran demanded an end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon as a precondition for another round of negotiations with the US. But Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, indicated in a video statement on Wednesday evening that he had not committed to a ceasefire, saying the IDF was continuing to “strike Hezbollah” in its stronghold in Lebanon of Bint Jbeil and that he had given instructions to broaden a “security zone” by continuing operations in Lebanon. “Our forces continue to strike Hezbollah, we are about to conquer Bint Jbeil,” he said. “In parallel, yesterday I gave instructions to the IDF to continue thickening the security zone.”

LEBANON CEASEFIRE EXTENDS PAUSE – BUT US, ISRAEL PREPARING FOR MORE WAR ON IRAN | Dimitri Lascaris

Big US banks rake in near $50bn profit as Iran war shakes markets

Big US banks raked in nearly $50bn (£37bn) worth of profits in the first three months of the year, as they benefited from stock market turbulence triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Wall Street’s largest lenders have reported a jump in first-quarter earnings, reflecting the surge in demand for trading services as investors dumped risky stocks and bonds and sought safer havens for their cash.

On Wednesday, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley posted a leap in profits, joining Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citi and Wells Fargo in announcing strong results this week. Collectively, the six banks reported $47.4bn in profits.

Investors have been trying to cut their exposure to companies due to suffer as a result of economic shocks caused by the Middle Eastern conflict. Disrupted tanker traffic in the strait of Hormuz has led to a rise in energy prices, raising inflation forecasts, borrowing rates and the likelihood of a global recession.

But investor panic has been a gift to trading desks at many US investment banks, helping lenders such as JP Morgan report a 13% jump in profits to $16.5bn in the first quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier. Goldman Sachs announced its profits had jumped 19% in the first three months of the year to $5.6bn, a figure that its chief executive, David Solomon, hailed as a “very strong performance … even as market conditions became more volatile”.

Corporations JUICE PRICES From Iran War

US taxpayers spend hundreds more on military as Trump pushes for vast increase

Many US households spent hundreds more tax dollars on the military last year, according to new analysis, as Donald Trump’s plans to dramatically increase federal defense spending faces growing scrutiny. Millions of Americans will race to file their taxes on Wednesday, the final day for federal returns, amid concern over rising living costs and government spending.

The US-Israeli war with Iran has drawn vast US expenditure on war into the spotlight: Pentagon officials reportedly told lawmakers in March that they estimated the cost of the war had exceeded $11.3bn in the first six days alone, before Trump proposed increasing defense spending by roughly 40% earlier this month, while other government programs would face cuts totaling 10%.

About $4,049 of the average taxpaying household’s federal income taxes went to military-related spending in 2025, according to a new report from the progressive Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) thinktank – up from $3,707 in 2024. Military-related spending in 2025 includes about $1,870 going to Pentagon contractors, about $770 to military personnel, $130 for nuclear weapons and $57 for aid to foreign militaries.

“These enormous sums for the Pentagon and militarism more broadly come with enormous costs to ordinary people – both in terms of the opportunity cost for other programs and the drain on our wallets,” the IPS said. The spending of 2025 tax receipts does not account for the cost of the US-Israeli war with Iran, which began in February 2026.

Fisa surveillance vote sparks fierce debate as Congress splits on warrantless monitoring

A controversial law that grants the US government sweeping powers for warrantless surveillance is set to expire next week. Replacing it has inspired fierce debate within the White House and Congress, including a scheduled vote cancelled the day of.

A coalition of progressive Democrats and far-right Republicans is pushing for reform of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), but they face strong bipartisan opposition from lawmakers advocating for an 18-month renewal with no changes, in line with Donald Trump’s demands. House GOP leaders delayed a procedural vote on a clean extension of Section 702 on Wednesday, after the chamber’s rules committee approved the measure on Tuesday night. Republican leadership was expected to bring the measure to the floor on Wednesday but canceled the scheduled vote, amid dissent from privacy advocates in their own party. Legislative action on the bill could still occur later in the day, as Republicans address their internal disagreements.

The US president said on Wednesday that he was “working very hard” with House Republican leadership to get a clean extension of Section 702 approved by the chamber this week. “I am asking Republicans to UNIFY,” he wrote in a Truth Social post. Trump has described the law as an “effective tool to keep Americans safe”, and said that it is “extremely important to our military”, especially during the war in Iran. That marks a dramatic shift from his call two years ago to “KILL FISA” after accusing the FBI of misusing the law to spy on his 2016 campaign. The CIA credits Section 702 with helping to rescue hostages overseas and prevent a terror attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.

Section 702, first enacted in 2008, allows national security agencies to collect and review texts and emails sent to, and from, foreigners living outside the country, without a warrant. If Americans are talking to a non-American target living abroad, their communications can get swept in, too. The law includes a provision that notes the law will expire without periodically being reauthorized; the current deadline is 20 April. “It’s intended to facilitate the surveillance of foreigners outside the US, but the government also uses it as a tool to spy on Americans without a warrant,” says Hannah James, counsel in the Brennan Center’s liberty and national security program. Intelligence agencies have argued that a warrant requirement would be too burdensome because some queries would not meet the legal standard, and, for those that do, the process could take too long.

Surveillance under Section 702 can continue through March 2027, even if Congress doesn’t extend the law by then, because it operates through yearlong certifications approved by a special federal court that provides judicial oversight of intelligence agencies’ activities. The New York Times reported last week that the Fisacourt renewed its approval of the program for another year.

ICE agent charged with 2 counts of felony assault in Minneapolis

France seeks release of 86-year-old French widow detained by ICE

The French government is pressing the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release the 86-year-old French widow of a military veteran from immigration custody after she was detained earlier this month.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Marie-Therese Ross in Alabama on 1 April after she overstayed her 90-day visa, according to DHS. Ross is now being held at a federal immigration detention facility in Louisiana.

She is among the thousands of people targeted by the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda that has resulted in the spouses of US soldiers and military veterans detained, who previously received greater leniency under policies since scrapped by Donald Trump in his second term in office.

Rodolphe Sambou, consul general of France in New Orleans, told the Associated Press that the French government has “fully mobilized” to push for her release. He said he had visited her in detention twice so far.

“Given her age, we really want her to get out of this situation as soon as possible,” Sambou said. “We want to get her out of jail.”

Michigan Senate Primary in Dead Heat as Voters Sour on Pro-Israel Lobby

Weeks into a controversy egged on by the centrist think tank Third Way regarding Democratic US Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s decision to campaign with an outspoken anti-Israel commentator, a new poll out Wednesday revealed that despite the best efforts of the explicitly anti-left group and El-Sayed’s opponents, the three candidates are in a dead heat with four months to go until Michigan’s primary.

The Data for Progress poll, conducted on behalf of Zeteo News and Drop Site News, found that US Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) was in the lead with 23%, but state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-8) and El-Sayed were not far behind, with 22% each. A third of voters were undecided, potentially leaving many open to learning more about the three candidates ahead of the August 4 primary.

With Israel and Palestine already a central theme in the primary due the uproar over El-Sayed’s decision to campaign with Twitch streamer and commentator Hasan Piker, voters were asked about their views on Piker as well as Stevens’ and McMorrow’s ties to the pro-Israel lobby, and signaled that the latter two candidates may have more to explain than El-Sayed.

“Michigan primary voters appear significantly more concerned about the influence of [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee], America’s top pro-Israel lobby,” wrote Andrew Perez at Zeteo. “Sixty-four percent said they are less likely to support a Senate candidate who receives donations from AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups, while 10% said they are more likely.”

Stevens received $340,000 in direct campaign contributions from AIPAC’s political action committee last year before she launched her Senate campaign, and she taped a promotional video for the powerful group last month.

McMorrow has positioned herself as a middle ground between Stevens and El-Sayed, a vehement supporter of Palestinian rights, and has spoken out against Israel’s US-backed assault on Gaza. The war, which has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, has been called a genocide by leading human rights groups and Holocaust scholars, but McMorrow has not used that word to describe the attacks and has complained that those who urge politicians to do so are subjecting them to a “purity test.”

McMorrow reportedly drafted a position paper for AIPAC and attended an invite-only event hosted by the group last year, featuring a columnist who publicly questioned whether Israel was imposing a starvation policy in Gaza.

Michigan primary voters’ views on AIPAC mirror those of the larger electorate, according to one poll from last October by Upswing Strategies, which found that nearly half of voters in competitive districts said they “could never support” a candidate funded by AIPAC or the pro-Israel lobby.

The Data for Progress poll also found that 62% of voters agreed with the statement, “If a candidate is not willing to stand up to AIPAC, I am less likely to trust them to stand up for Michiganders on other issues.”

The poll was taken between April 2-8, with 515 people surveyed around the time that El-Sayed was appearing with Piker at rallies at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Stevens and McMorrow both took aim at El-Sayed for associating with Piker, who once said the US “deserved” the September 11 attacks—a remark he later apologized for—and has said the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack was a “direct consequence” of US and Israeli actions. Stevens condemned El-Sayed for “choosing to campaign with someone who has a history of antisemitic rhetoric,” while McMorrow compared Piker to far-right, white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes. Piker and El-Sayed have spoken out against antisemitism and emphasized the difference between opposition to the Israeli government and bias against Jewish people.

Despite the focus on Piker in recent weeks, the poll found that the vast majority of Michigan primary voters didn’t know enough about him to have an opinion about his involvement in El-Sayed’s rallies. Thirteen percent of respondents had a favorable view of him while 7% viewed him negatively.

Data for Progress gave respondents some context about Piker, highlighting his past remarks and noting he’s been accused of antisemitism as well as mentioning El-Sayed’s view that “criticism of Israel should not be confused with antisemitism.” With the background information, 40% of respondents said they approved of El-Sayed campaigning with Piker, 30% said they disapproved, and 30% said they weren’t sure.

Previous polls have found larger gaps between the three candidates; a poll by Upswing Research found in early March that 27% of voters backed Stevens, 25% supported McMorrow, and 23% supported El-Sayed.

While Third Way has cast the primary election as a referendum on a popular livestreamer in recent weeks, Data for Progress executive director Ryan O’Donnell said the poll offered clarity on the other issues that matter to Michigan voters, including expanding Medicare to the entire US population and abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement—both proposals El-Sayed strongly supports.

michigan senate is statistically tied. but the rest of the poll is pretty clear:

- medicare for all: 89% more likely to support
- abolish ice: 77% more likely
- bernie/aoc/zohran endorsements: 70% more likely
- taking donations from pro-israel groups: 64% less likely to support https://t.co/KWXZO8xC06 pic.twitter.com/jYHvw8J4pv

— Ryan O'Donnell (@ryanodonnellpa) April 15, 2026

The Data for Progress poll was released as progressive organization Our Revolution announced its endorsement of El-Sayed.

“He is running on a bold vision beyond universal healthcare, from taking on corporate greed to ending big money in politics to advancing a more just and humane future for all,” said Our Revolution. “This is a people-powered campaign—and a chance to build a government that truly works for working families.”

Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought

The critical Atlantic current system appears significantly more likely to collapse than previously thought after new research found that climate models predicting the biggest slowdown are the most realistic. Scientists called the new finding “very concerning” as a collapse would have catastrophic consequences for Europe, Africa and the Americas.

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a major part of the global climate system and was already known to be at its weakest for 1,600 years as a result of the climate crisis. Scientists spotted warning signs of a tipping point in 2021 and know that the Amoc has collapsed in the Earth’s past.

Climate scientists use dozens of different computer models to assess the future climate. However, for the complex Amoc system, these produce widely varying results, ranging from some that indicate no further slowdown by 2100 to those suggesting a huge deceleration of about 65%, even when carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning are gradually cut to net zero. The research combined real-world ocean observations with the models to determine the most reliable, and this hugely reduced the spread of uncertainty. They found an estimated slowdown of 42% to 58% in 2100, a level almost certain to end in collapse.

The Amoc is a major part of the global climate system and brings sun-warmed tropical water to Europe and the Arctic, where it cools and sinks to form a deep return current. A collapse would shift the tropical rainfall belt on which many millions of people rely to grow their food, plunge western Europe into extreme cold winters and summer droughts, and add 50-100cm to already rising sea levels around the Atlantic.

The Amoc is slowing because air temperatures are rising rapidly in the Arctic because of global heating. That means the ocean cools more slowly there. Warmer water is less dense and therefore sinks into the depths more slowly. This slowing allows more rainfall to accumulate in the salty surface waters, also making it less dense, and further slowing the sinking and forming an Amoc feedback loop.

Heatwave threatens to shatter high-temperature records across eastern US

A long-lasting weather pattern is poised to blast hot air like a furnace across the eastern United States, with the unusual heatwave threatening to shatter record-high temperatures on Wednesday in big cities including New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

In the nation’s capital, forecasters were calling for a high temperature of 93F (33.9C) late Wednesday afternoon and another high of 93F on Thursday.

The heat is unusual for April, not only because it is scorching much of the nation so early in the year but also for its duration. The near-record temperatures are expected to last into this weekend, forecasters say.

While it is not unprecedented to see temperatures climb toward 90F (32C) on an April day, such a long April heatwave is rarely seen, experts say. “That’s borderline unprecedented as far as the duration of it this time of year,” said John Feerick, senior meteorologist at the forecasting firm AccuWeather.com.

Feerick said that starting Wednesday “we’re going to have records challenged from basically Georgia all the way up through the New York City area and back towards the Ohio valley”.

$30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers

The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian. Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and ExxonMobil are among the biggest beneficiaries of the bonanza, meaning key opponents of climate action continue to prosper.

The conflict pushed the price of oil to an average of $100 (£74) a barrel in March, leading to estimated windfall war profits for the month of $23bn for the companies. Oil and gas supplies will take months to return to pre-war levels and the companies will make $234bn by the end of the year if the oil price continues to average $100. The analysis uses data from a leading intelligence provider, Rystad Energy, analysed by Global Witness.

The excess profits come from the pockets of ordinary people as they pay high prices to fill up their vehicles and power their homes, as well as from businesses incurring higher energy bills. Dozens of countries have cut fuel taxes to help struggling consumers, meaning those nations, including Australia, South Africa, Italy, Brazil and Zambia, are raising less money for public services.

Pressure is growing for windfall taxes on the war profits of oil and gas companies, with the European Commission considering a request from the finance ministers of Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Austria to “send a clear message that those who profit from the consequences of war must do their part to ease the burden on the general public”.

Aramco is by far the biggest winner, estimated to make a war profit of $25.5bn in 2026 if the oil price averages $100. That is on top of the huge profits habitually made by the majority state-owned Saudi company – $250m a day between 2016 to 2023. Saudi Arabia has for decades led successful efforts to block and delay international climate action. ExxonMobil, which has a long record of denying climate change, will take in $11bn in unearned war profits in 2026 if the $100 price endures. Shell will get a $6.8bn boost. The value of both companies, like others, has risen significantly due to increases in share prices in the month after the Iran war began: ExxonMobil is worth $118bn more, Shell $34bn more. Chevron is on track to make windfall profits from the Iran war of $9.2bn, according to the analysis.

Also of Interest

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

Iran War: Pervasive Misinformation About the (So Far Successful) US Blockade; Trump Keeps Up “Negotiations Soon” Hype; Markets Become Even More Unhinged

War On Iran: – Closing The Red Sea

Trump, Jesus, and White Supremacy

‘Fund people, not bombs’: inside the US movement against war in Iran

Alarm Bells Follow New Report of Looming US Plan to Attack Cuba

‘Psychological torture’: outcry over conditions at ICE desert detention camp

‘Decades in the Making’: Antitrust Advocates Celebrate as Jury Rules Against Live Nation-Ticketmaster

Spanish archaeologists discover trove of ancient shipwrecks in Bay of Gibraltar

A Little Night Music

Otis Spann – Home To Mississippi

Otis Spann – Jelly Roll Baker

Otis Spann - No More Doggin'

Sippie Wallace & Otis Spann w/ Kweskin Jug Band – Black Snake Blues

Otis Spann – Country Boy

Otis Spann - I Wonder Why

Otis Spann – Must Have Been The Devil

Otis Spann – I'm A Fool

Otis Spann – I Got Rambling On My Mind #2

Otis Spann – Sellin' My Thing