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The Evening Blues - 11-25-25

Submitted by joe shikspack on Tue, 11/25/2025 - 3:55pm

eb1pt12

The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Johnny B. Moore

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago blues guitarist Johnny B. Moore. Enjoy!

^{Johnny B. Moore - King Bee}

"Elon Musk says that in 10 to 20 years work will be optional and money will be meaningless because AI and automation will eliminate the need for labor and make everything wonderful. Something tells me the guy who just took a trillion-dollar pay package from Tesla doesn’t really believe money is going to be meaningless anytime soon.

This soon-to-be-trillionaire whose ego is so fragile and infantile that his AI chatbot tells people he’s smarter than da Vinci and more athletic than LeBron James is asking us to believe that revolutionary change isn’t necessary because capitalists like himself are going to fix it so that everyone lives in luxury. Yeah sure, buddy. A likely story."

-- Caitlin Johnstone

News and Opinion

Disapproving of Israel for Different Reasons

Leftists are going to hate Israel for leftist reasons and rightists are going to hate Israel for rightist reasons. This is not a difference that needs to be reconciled or a problem that needs to be solved.

Some groyper hating the same genocidal apartheid state I hate doesn’t say anything about me or my politics anymore than our having the same opinion on the importance of dental hygiene. It doesn’t make me the same as him. It doesn’t make him my friend. It doesn’t mean I have to be nice to him. It doesn’t mean I have to stop opposing Israel and its atrocities. It doesn’t mean I am obligated to do anything to protect Israel from the western rightists who’ve been turning against it in rapidly increasing numbers. It doesn’t mean anything. It just is what it is.

You’ll see Israel supporters point to the rising number of rightists who oppose Israel and trying to marry it to pro-Palestine leftists in some way. I recently saw former Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy claiming that antizionism “builds coalitions on both extremes — and increasingly between them — by mobilizing politics against Jews.” But that’s just some nonsense they’re making up in order to justify their genocidal atrocities. Leftist opposition to Israel is about justice, equality, anticolonialism, antiracism, anti-imperialism, antiwar and anti-apartheid activism, and has nothing whatsoever to do with hating Jews. Rightist opposition to Israel is more about nationalism, anti-interventionism, America First ideology, and yes, in many cases a hatred of Jews. These are two completely different things.

You never saw Zionists bitching about the far right until they started pivoting against Israel; until then they were happy to make alliances with them, and still are as long as they remain supportive of Israel. And half the time you see them citing anti-Israel sentiments on the right it’s only to play guilt-by-association by framing them as the same as the pro-Palestine left.

It’s just more empty narrative-diddling from Israel apologists. It’s not a real argument, and doesn’t require a counter-argument. It’s just them flailing around trying anything they can to stop the entire western political spectrum from flushing Israel down the toilet.

EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE:
Israel moved to expand the area under its control in Gaza on Thursday following yesterday’s attacks that killed dozens of Palestinians by advancing with a tank incursion in eastern Gaza City and physically moving the yellow concrete blocks that demarcate the… pic.twitter.com/A0zW5B74NP

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) November 20, 2025

The Fight to Free Palestinian-American Teen Mohammed Ibrahim

Trump Called On to Secure Release of 16-Year-Old US Citizen Mohammed Ibrahim From Israeli Detention

Democratic lawmakers are ramping up demands for the Trump administration to secure the release of 16-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim, a Florida resident and US citizen, who has been detained and reportedly abused in an Israeli prison for nine months—with Sen. Chris Van Hollen leading the latest call and expressing disbelief that the US has allowed the boy to suffer in jail while it continues to provide support to the country that's detaining him.

"This is an American kid, so you would think that the United States government would be doing everything possible to secure his release," said Van Hollen (D-Md.). "United States taxpayers provide billions of dollars to the [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government and the state of Israel. You would think that we would be able to get this American kid out of prison, certainly to make sure that he doesn't get abused and beaten up in prison."

Ibrahim, a Palestinian-American, was arrested in February after Israeli authorities accused him of throwing rocks at settlers in illegal settlements in the West Bank, where he was vising family members with his parents. He was blindfolded and handcuffed in the middle of the night by authorities who took him to Megiddo prison, a facility known for "brutality and suffering." He is now reportedly at Ofer prison, where he has had no contact with family members.

Van Hollen noted that Ibrahim has said he falsely confessed to throwing rocks after being beaten by Israeli soldiers.

Ibrahim's family last week called for an independent medical expert to assess his condition after a consular official met with the boy and said he had lost weight and had "dark circles" under his eyes. The official told the family they had spoken to "multiple US and Israeli agencies" about the visit.

“This is the first time in nine months that they showed grave concern for his health, so how bad is it?” Ibrahim's uncle, Zeyad Kadur, told Al Jazeera.

Last month, Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) managed to interview Ibrahim and learned that he has been held in rooms with dozens of wother Palestinian children where there are "no heating or cooling systems" and where the detainees have faced at least one "scabies infestation."

"The meals we receive are extremely insufficient,” he told DCIP. “For breakfast, we are served just three tiny pieces of bread along with a mere spoonful of labneh. At lunch, our portion is minimal, consisting of only half a small cup of undercooked, dry rice, a single sausage, and three small pieces of bread. Dinner is not provided, and we receive no fruit whatsoever. Occasionally, we might get a small cucumber and a tiny tomato with some meals, but this is not guaranteed."

Ibrahim's cousin, Sayfollah Musallet, was killed by Israeli settlers in July, in an attack that the family and Democratic lawmakers have called on the Trump administration to investigate. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee took an unusually aggressive tone when he called Musallet's killing a "murder" and a "criminal and terrorist act" and said Netanyahu's government should open a probe into the killing, but the US has not gone further in demanding accountability.

Ibrahim had been set to appear in court on November 9, but the hearing date has been postponed to mid-December. Van Hollen led 27 Democratic lawmakers in writing to Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month, demanding that he push for the boy's release ahead of a visit Rubio was making to Israel.

The State Department has said it is "tracking" Ibrahim's case and working with the Israeli government on the matter.

But weeks after the Democrats sent their letter, on November 11, the Israeli Embassy wrote to a number of congressional offices, defending Ibrahim's detention and describing medical treatment he has allegedly received while in detention—but not mentioning reports that Ibrahim has lost significant weight since being detained.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) are among the lawmakers who have joined the latest call for Ibrahim's release, with Merkley appealing directly to Rubio on Saturday.

"Secretary Rubio: Act NOW to free Mohammed Ibrahim—it's your responsibility to protect American citizens," said the senator on social media.

Last week, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) accused Israel of failing to live up to its obligations under the international Convention of the Rights of the Child by imprisoning Ibrahim—who's just one of more than 300 Palestinian children in indefinite "administrative detention" in Israeli jails.

"It's long past due that President [Donald] Trump, Secretary Rubio, Ambassador Huckabee do what we say is the number one responsibility of our embassies overseas, which is to protect American citizens," said Van Hollen.

In Ibrahim's home state of Florida, Democratic US Senate candidate Jennifer Jenkins said last week that Ibrahim's case is "a matter of basic human rights."

"He is a child from our community, and he deserves dignity, medical care, and to come home safely. This is not partisan," said Jenkins. "As a mom and an advocate for our kids, I support the urgent calls for his release and urge Secretary Rubio to use every tool to bring Mohammed home."

Matt Hoh : Can Trump Tame the Deep State?

US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to end operations in territory

A controversial and secretive private company backed by the US and Israel that distributed food in Gaza has announced the end of its operations in the devastated territory. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which had four food distribution sites that became flashpoints of chaos and deadly violence between May and October, said in a statement that it would shut down permanently, having “successfully completed its emergency mission”.

International aid organisations refused to work with the GHF, which was launched as famine loomed in Gaza after the total blockade on all supplies imposed by Israel in March. The opaque company was considered by Israeli and US officials as an alternative to the United Nations, which the countries accused of failing to distribute aid efficiently and criticised over the looting in the territory. ...

More than 1,000 Palestinians seeking aid from GHF sites were killed or injured by Israeli military forces which guarded the approaches to the company’s distribution sites in central and southern Gaza, according to witnesses interviewed by the Guardian, medical records and videos posted to social media. Between 25 May and 19 June, the Red Cross clinic in the southern city of Rafah saw 1,874 “weapon-wounded patients”, with the vast majority reporting they were wounded trying to access aid from GHF sites.

The GHF denied any violence in the aid sites themselves but acknowledged the potential dangers people faced when travelling to them on foot. Contractors working at the sites, backed by video accounts, said the US security guards fired live ammunition and stun grenades as desperate Palestinians scrambled for food.

John Acree, a former senior official at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), said that GHF would transfer its work to the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), the new centre set up by the US in Israel to oversee the ceasefire and aid delivery in Gaza.

Craig Murray: Is the proscription of Palestine Action about to fall?

Trump begins process of designating Muslim Brotherhood chapters as terrorist groups

Donald Trump on Monday began the process of designating certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists, a move that would bring sanctions against one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements.

Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and treasury secretary Scott Bessent to submit a report on whether to designate any Muslim Brotherhood chapters, such as those in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, according to a White House fact sheet. It orders the secretaries to move forward with any designations within 45 days of the report.

The Trump administration has accused Muslim Brotherhood factions in those countries of supporting or encouraging violent attacks against Israel and US partners, or of providing material support to Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Aaron Maté : The US Has Sabotaged Ukraine

US Meets Russia Budanov UAE; Russia Rejects Outright EU Plan Reaffirms SMO Goals Storms Huiliaipole

Heh, I guess it still hasn't occurred to Zelensky that he is losing the war. Nor does he seem to understand what losing a war means.

Ukraine makes significant changes to US ‘peace plan’, sources say

Ukraine has significantly amended the US “peace plan” to end the conflict, removing some of Russia’s maximalist demands, people familiar with the negotiations said, as European leaders warned on Monday that no deal could be reached quickly. Volodymyr Zelenskyy may meet Donald Trump in the White House later this week, sources indicated, amid a flurry of calls between Kyiv and Washington. Ukraine is pressing for Europe to be involved in the talks.

The original 28-point US-Russian plan was drawn up last month by Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, and Trump’s representative Steve Witkoff. It calls on Ukraine to withdraw from cities it controls in the eastern Donbas region, limit the size of its army, and not join Nato.

During negotiations on Sunday in Switzerland – led by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak – the plan was substantially revised. It now includes only 19 points. Kyiv and its European partners say the existing frontline has to be the starting point for territorial discussions.

On Monday, Zelenskyy said: “As of now, after Geneva, there are fewer points, no longer 28, and many correct elements have been incorporated into this framework,” adding that sensitive issues were to be discussed with Trump.

They say there can be no recognition of land seized by Russia militarily, and that Kyiv should make its own decisions on whether to join the EU and Nato – something the Kremlin wants to veto or impose conditions on. Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya, told the Financial Times such issues had been “placed in brackets” for Trump and Zelenskyy to decide upon later.

John Helmer: The US SLASHES Ukraine Plan from 28 to 19 Points — Russia’s Response?

‘Venezuela, for the American Oil Companies, Will Be a Field Day,’ Says US Lawmaker Pushing Invasion

"Going to war for oil, the sequel."

That's how one film and television producer responded to a Monday clip of US Rep. María Salazar (R-Fla.) discussing President Donald Trump's potential military invasion of Venezuela on Fox Business.

Amid mounting alarm that Trump may take military action, Salazar said there were three reasons why "we need to go in" to the South American country. The first, she said, is that "Venezuela, for the American oil companies, will be a field day."

After journalist Aaron Rupar noted her remarks on social media, many critics weighed in, including Justice Democrats, which works to elect progressives to Congress.

"They're not even hiding it anymore. A US-led regime change war abroad to line the pockets of Big Oil—where have we heard this one before?" the group said, referring to the invasion of Iraq.

Fred Wellman, a US Army combat veteran and podcast host running as a Democrat in Missouri's 2nd Congressional District, replied on social media: "They are sending our troops to war for the oil companies and not even pretending to lie about it. These sick SOBs are going to get our kids killed and it's all a big joke."

Salazar also described Venezuela as a launching pad for enemies of the US and claimed the country's president, Nicolás Maduro, leads the alleged Cartel de los Soles, or the Cartel of the Suns—which the Trump administration on Monday designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

Venezuela's interior and justice minister, Diosdado Cabello, has long claimed the cartel doesn't exist, calling it an "invention." As the UK's BBC reported Monday:

Cabello, who is alleged to be one of the high-ranking members of the cartel, has accused US officials of using it as an excuse to target those they do not like.

"Whenever someone bothers them, they name them as the head of the Cartel de los Soles," he said in August.

Gustavo Petro, the left-wing president of Venezuela's neighbour, Colombia, has also denied the cartel's existence.

"It is the fictional excuse of the far right to bring down governments that do not obey them," he wrote on X in August.

The terrorist designation and Salazar's comments came as the Trump administration is under fire for blowing up boats it claims are running drugs off the coast of Venezuela, and after a CBS News/YouGov survey showed on Sunday that 70% of Americans—including 91% of Democrats and 42% of Republicans—are against the "US taking military action in Venezuela."

BLOOD FOR OIL: Republicans Make Venezuela War Case

Venezuela accuses US of using ‘narco-terrorism’ allegations to justify ‘regime change’

Venezuela’s government has accused the US of peddling “ridiculous hogwash” about its supposed role in sponsoring “narco-terrorism” as Washington continued to turn up the heat on Nicolás Maduro’s regime and leftwing European politicians warned South America faced being plunged into “a torrent of bloodshed”.

On Monday, the Trump administration officially designated a Venezuelan group known as the “Cartel de los Soles” (the Cartel of the Suns) a terrorist organization – despite widespread doubts over its actual existence.

The move was the latest chapter in a four-month US pressure campaign, officially designed to combat South American drug traffickers but which many suspect is a pretext to overthrow Maduro who Trump tried, but failed, to topple during his first term.

Observers believe Monday’s decision by the state department – which accuses Maduro of leading the putative Cartel of the Suns – could open the door for some kind of imminent US military intervention on Venezuela soil.

Venezuela’s government hit back, calling the designation “a despicable lie” designed to justify “an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela in the classic US regime-change format”. It said the supposed cartel was “nonexistent” and called the US accusations “slander”.

Trump’s Anti-Maduro Campaign Seen as Part of a Broader Regional Plan

Trump hints support for fringe theory that Venezuela rigged 2020 election

Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to endorse the discredited conspiracy theory that Venezuela’s leadership controls electronic voting software worldwide and caused his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden.

White House officials have previously said that Trump’s increasingly bellicose policy toward Venezuela is driven by concerns about migration and the drug trade. But the president’s new comment, made on Truth Social, hints that his hostility to Venezuela may also be based on an outlandish, implausible theory ruled to be false by a judge in 2023.

Fox News paid $787m in 2023 to Dominion Voting to settle a lawsuit that was based in part on identical claims about Venezuela’s supposed role in the 2020 election. ... Trump’s post came two days after the Guardian reported that Trump’s Department of Justice has been extensively interviewing conspiracists who are pushing the idea that Venezuela controls voting companies and flips votes to the candidates it favors.

The US attorney in Puerto Rico, W Stephen Muldrow, has repeatedly interviewed the former CIA officer Gary Berntsen and Venezuelan expatriate Martin Rodil, who claim to have proof of the scheme and the two have also briefed a taskforce out of Tampa. Berntsen, and author Ralph Pezzullo, were also guests on the podcast of far-right media personality Lara Logan on Friday.

Dem Senator THREATENED WITH COURT MARTIAL By Pete Hegseth

Pentagon investigating US senator over call for troops to refuse illegal orders

The Pentagon says it is investigating the Arizona senator Mark Kelly for possible breaches of military law after the federal lawmaker joined a handful of other Democrats in a video calling for US troops to refuse unlawful orders. It is extraordinary for the Pentagon to directly threaten a sitting member of Congress with investigation. Until Donald Trump’s second presidency, the institution in charge of the US military had usually strived to appear apolitical.

In a statement on Monday on social media announcing the investigation into Kelly, a veteran, the Pentagon cited a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court martial or other measures. Kelly served in the US navy as a fighter pilot before going on to become an astronaut. He retired at the rank of captain.

The Pentagon’s statement suggested that Kelly’s statements in the video interfered with the “loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces” by citing the federal law that prohibits such actions. “A thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures,” the statement said.

In the video that was posted last Tuesday, Kelly was one of six lawmakers who served in the military or intelligence community to speak “directly to members of the military”. Kelly told troops “you can refuse illegal orders” – and other lawmakers said that they needed troops to “stand up for our laws … our constitution.”

A statement on Monday from Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defense secretary, said Kelly was the only video participant who remained subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). “The video … was despicable, reckless and false,” said the statement from Hegseth, whose defense department has rebranded itself the war department. “Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their commanders undermines every aspect of ‘good order and discipline’.

Israel Is Leading The Epstein Files Coverup! – Thomas Massie

US justice department renews request to unseal Epstein grand jury materials

The justice department has renewed its request to unseal grand jury materials from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation that led to the disgraced financier’s federal indictment on sex-trafficking charges in 2019. The submission, signed by US attorney Jay Clayton for the southern district in New York, says that Congress made clear in approving the release of investigative materials last week that the court records should be released.

Clayton asked in the filing to Manhattan federal court that the release of the materials should be done promptly because lawmakers gave a 30 day window after Donald Trump signed the measure into law last week. The justice department said the congressional action overrode existing law in a way that permits the unsealing of the grand jury records.

But Judge Richard Berman denied a prior Trump administration request to make the grand jury transcripts public, citing a “significant and compelling reason” to deny the request. Berman said in August that 70 pages of grand jury transcripts and exhibits including a PowerPoint presentation, four pages of call logs and letters from victims and their attorneys, pale in comparison to what documents the government already has on Epstein.

In that ruling, Berman wrote that “the government’s 100,000 pages of Epstein files and materials dwarf the 70 odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials” and that the request appeared a “diversion” from releasing documents in its possession.

US judge throws out criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James

A federal judge threw out the criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James on Monday, concluding that the prosecutor handling the cases was unlawfully appointed. Lindsey Halligan, who Trump named the interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia in September, had “no lawful authority to present the indictment” against the former FBI director and New York attorney general, Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, wrote in her opinion.

“I conclude that the attorney general’s attempt to install Ms Halligan as Interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia was invalid and that Ms Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025,” Currie, who was appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton, wrote in her opinion. She added that “all actions flowing from Ms Halligan’s defective appointment” were “unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside”.

The decision is a major win for Comey, who was charged with lying to Congress five years ago, and James, who was charged with mortgage fraud. Both unequivocally denied wrongdoing and said the cases were a thinly veiled effort by the Trump administration to punish them for opposing Trump. ...

Currie dismissed both cases “without prejudice”, which means the government could theoretically try to bring the charges again under a properly appointed US attorney. But it is unclear if they could even do that in Comey’s case because the statute of limitations for the crime he is charged with passed on 30 September 2025.

Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae singer, actor and cultural icon, dies aged 81

Jimmy Cliff, the singer and actor whose mellifluous voice helped to turn reggae into a global phenomenon, has died aged 81.

With hits including You Can Get It If You Really Want, I Can See Clearly Now and Wonderful World, Beautiful People, Cliff’s upbeat musical temperament brought him a large and longstanding fanbase. His lead acting role in 1972 crime drama The Harder They Come was also acclaimed, with the film seen as a cornerstone of Jamaican cinema.

He is one of just a handful of musicians, alongside Bob Marley and others, to be awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit.

Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness was among those paying tribute to Cliff, calling him “a true cultural giant whose music carried the heart of our nation to the world … Jimmy Cliff told our story with honesty and soul. His music lifted people through hard times, inspired generations, and helped to shape the global respect that Jamaican culture enjoys today.”

Republican Majority AT RISK As MTG, Others Resign

Maga world heads left spinning by Trump’s warm welcome for Mamdani

A flurry of social media posts from Maga influencers have laid bare the disorientation felt by members of Trump’s base at the spectacle of Friday’s cordial Oval Office meeting with Mamdani, who the president previously painted as a “communist lunatic”. “Wild to allow a jihadist communist to stand behind the president’s desk in the Oval Office. Sad to see,” wrote far-right activist Laura Loomer, one of Trump’s most fervent online backers.

She returned to the theme several times. “I had to drink a bottle of ginger ale today after seeing Mamdani in the Oval Office because it physically nauseates me seeing Islamic jihadists infiltrate our government and continue to get a pass to promote Islamic jihad and anti-American values with zero push back,” Loomer wrote.

In Friday’s news conference, Trump retreated from his previous all-out opposition, forecasting that Mamdani “can do a very good job” as mayor, despite having previously threatened to withhold funds from New York for electing him. Loomer seized on that to predict that the Republicans would suffer catastrophic defeats at next year’s congressional elections and in the 2028 presidential election.

“The Democrats will have a landslide in the midterms after today. Mamdani is the face of the Democrat party,” she wrote. “How will the GOP campaign ahead of 2026 if Mamdani and his policies are now considered rational and good for New York?”

Elise Stefanik, a member of Congress who is running to be New York state governor next year, had a similar reaction. “We all want NYC to succeed,” she wrote. “But we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. If he walks like a jihadist. If he talks like a jihadist. If he campaigns like a jihadist. If he supports jihadists – he’s a jihadist.”

AI Will DESTROY MAGA

the evening greens

Mumbai families suffer as datacentres keep the city hooked on coal

Each day, Kiran Kasbe drives a rickshaw taxi through his home neighbourhood of Mahul on Mumbai’s eastern seafront, down streets lined with stalls selling tomatoes, bottle gourds and aubergines–and, frequently, through thick smog. Earlier this year, doctors found three tumours in his 54-year-old mother’s brain. It’s not clear exactly what caused her cancer. But people who live near coal plants are much more likely to develop the illness, studies show, and the residents of Mahul live a few hundred metres down the road from one.

Mahul’s air is famously dirty. Even behind closed car windows, there is a heavy stench of oil and smoke. “We are not the only ones facing health challenges in the area,” said Kasbe, who is 36. “It’s all covered with filth.” Two coal plants plant run by the Indian multinationals Tata Group and Adani were due to close last year in a government push to cut emissions. But late in 2023, those decisions were reversed after Tata argued that electricity demand was rising too fast for Mumbai to go without coal.

Economic growth and the need for air conditioning in climate change-linked extreme heat have seen India’s electricity demand soar in recent years. But an investigation by SourceMaterial and the Guardian reveals the biggest single factor in the city’s failure to end its dependence on fossil fuels: energy-hungry datacentres. Leaked records also reveal the scale of the presence of the world’s biggest datacentre operator, Amazon, in Mumbai.

In the city’s metropolitan area, Amazon, on its website, records three “availability zones”, which it defines as one or more datacentres. Leaked records from last year seen by SourceMaterial from inside Amazon reveal the company used 16 in the city. As India transforms its economy into a hub for artificial intelligence, the datacentre boom is creating a conflict between energy demand and climate pledges, said Bhaskar Chakravorti, who researches technology’s impact on society at Tufts University. ...

Amazon is building hundreds of datacentres around the world as it vies with Microsoft, Google and others for leadership of the booming AI market. The company is failing to take responsibility for its role in prolonging the use of the most polluting energy sources, said Eliza Pan, a spokeswoman for Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. “Amazon is using the shiny thing of AI to distract from the fact that it’s building a dirty energy empire,” she said.

Zombie fires: how Arctic wildfires that come back to life are ravaging forests

In May 2023, a lightning strike hit the forest in Donnie Creek, British Columbia, and the trees started to burn. It was early in the year for a wildfire, but a dry autumn and warm spring had turned the forest into a tinderbox, and the flames spread rapidly. By mid-June, the fire had become one of largest in the province’s history, burning through an area of boreal forest nearly twice the size of central London. That year, more of Canada burned than ever before.

The return of cold and snow at the close of the year typically signal the end of the wildfire season. But this time, the fire did not stop. Instead, it smouldered in the soil underground, insulated from the freezing conditions by the snowpack. The next spring, it reemerged as a “zombie fire” that continued to burn until August 2024. By then, more than 600,000 hectares (1.5m acres) had been destroyed.

Zombie fires, sometimes betrayed by a plume of steam emerging from the bubbling ground in the frozen forest, were once a rare occurrence in the boreal regions that stretch across the far north through Siberia, Canada and Alaska. But in a rapidly heating world, they are becoming increasingly common. The overwintering burns are small – and often hard to detect – but they are transforming fires into multi-year events and fundamentally altering the soil ecology where they burn, making it harder for forests to regrow.

“It is a massive problem,” says Lori Daniels, a forest and conservation sciences professor at the University of British Columbia. “Zombie fires, also called holdover fires, are fires that move into the organic soil matter and smoulder. It’s a very slow, but hot, combustion through a prolonged period and then they resurface. In December 2023, we had over 100 fires that were still burning, and in the spring of 2024, they continued to burn,” she says.

Current estimates show that only about 15% of the northern hemisphere is underlain by permafrost, yet these frozen soils contain roughly twice as much carbon than is now in the atmosphere. By burning slowly and at a lower temperature, they release vastly more particulate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions than flaming fires.