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"The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government."

-- Edward Abbey

News and Opinion

Our Rulers Take So Very Much And Give Us So Very Little

Sure plutocrats are killing our biosphere, but hey, at least they’re creating technology that lets you avoid the cognitive discomfort of writing your own words and thinking your own thoughts.

Sure the empire is butchering human beings at horrifying scale around the world, but on the bright side it’s creating refugees who will move to your country and bring you treats that you can order from an app on your phone.

Sure imperialist extraction is robbing the resources and exploiting the workers of the global south at extortionate fees, but on the other hand you get to wear a new outfit every day because the clothes you ordered online are dirt cheap thanks to transcontinental slave labor.

Sure our rulers are rapidly caging us in a digital surveillance network of ever-increasing intrusiveness and control, but golly gosh they just keep gifting us all these nifty free social media platforms that we simply cannot stop ourselves from scrolling through for some reason.

Sure capitalism is driving us toward collapse on multiple fronts while everyone gets sicker, poorer, dumber, crazier, and more miserable, but hey look, McDonald’s is bringing back the McRib.

Sure it’s only a matter of time until we find ourselves policed by armed robots and facial recognition murder drones and praying the government AI doesn’t shut off our digital money because our eyes lingered a bit too long on an anti-Israel meme, but at least we can have fun placing Polymarket bets on the next country the United States is going to bomb.

They take so very, very much, and we trade it away for so very, very little.

They steal our wealth, strangle our ecosystem and incinerate our future, and in return they give us bread and circuses that are just affordable enough to stop us from chopping off heads.

They exhaust us, abuse us, indoctrinate us, distract us, desensitize us, confuse us, overload us, misinform us and gaslight us, and in exchange we get a hundred overpriced streaming services to choose from and a thousand types of toothpaste.

They’re making our world worse and worse, and they’re making us worse as individuals, too. They’re poisoning our minds and darkening our hearts. Killing our conscience and amputating our empathy. It sucks to live in the shadow of the empire. There’s nothing natural or healthy about this dystopia.

And they’re getting it practically for free. A little propaganda, a sprinkling of mindless entertainment and a few treats, and we give them a whole planet to rape. They’re getting all the most vital parts of our world and all the most sacred parts of ourselves for a song.

We can’t keep letting them do this to us. We’ve got to wake up. Sometimes saying this feels as futile as imploring a loved one to leave their cult or break up with their abusive partner for the ten thousandth time. But that is what needs to happen.

And people do leave cults. People do exit abusive relationships. It only happens when they’re ready, and it’s got to come from them — but it does happen.

Here’s hoping we find some way to leave our abusive relationship with the empire before it’s too late.

U.S. BLOCKADES IRAN TO STRANGLE CHINA | Brian Berletic

‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’: Trump Threatens Iran With AI Image of Himself Holding a Gun

President Trump on Wednesday issued a threat to Iran by posting an AI image of himself holding a gun, which comes amid reports that he is considering restarting the bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic.

“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon! President DJT,” the president wrote on Truth Social in a post at about 4 am EST.

President Trump posts on Truth Social: Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal.

They better get smart soon! President DJT pic.twitter.com/tFEwmalvrD

— Donald J Trump Posts TruthSocial (@TruthTrumpPost) April 29, 2026

Also on Wednesday, Axios reported that US Central Command has prepared a plan for a “short and powerful” wave of airstrikes against Iran to break the deadlock in negotiations, but any US strikes would almost certainly plunge the region back into a full-blown war.

COL. Lawrence Wilkerson : Iran’s New Friend

Hegseth denies Iran war is ‘quagmire’ as cost to US hits estimated $25bn

Pete Hegseth denied that the US-Israel war on Iran, which the Pentagon estimates has cost the US at least $25bn, is “a quagmire” and claimed critics of the operation posed a greater threat to the US than Iran itself. Hegseth came under pressure to set out Washington’s strategy for the conflict as he appeared before the House armed services committee on Wednesday for a marathon hearing alongside Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff. The US defense secretary asked lawmakers to approve $1.5tn military spending – and then described some of those lawmakers as “the biggest challenge” to the war effort.

“The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” he declared. These remarks did not appear in a prepared statement submitted to the committee. The financial cost of the war continues to grow: Jules Hurst III, chief financial official for the Pentagon, told the committee that the estimated cost for the US is $25bn and counting, mostly from munitions and including operations, maintenance and replacing equipment.

Two months into a conflict that Donald Trump predicted would last four to six weeks, Hegseth invoked the US’s long and painful deployments in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan – wars he has bitterly criticized – as a benchmark for endurance. The war against Iran, he said, was “an existential fight for the safety of the American people”, and the administration was “proud of this undertaking”. Protesters’ chants rang from the hallways, calling Hegseth and Caine war criminals. Many members of the public struggled to be admitted into the hearing.

Tensions soared when the California Democrat John Garamendi was given the floor, and hammered Hegseth over the “astounding incompetence” that Garamendi argued had led to “political and economic disaster at every level”.

“The president has gotten himself and America stuck in a quagmire of another war in the Middle East,” Garamendi said. “He is desperately trying to extricate himself from his own mistakes; it is in America’s, and indeed the world’s, interest he succeed in that.” Hegseth was incensed by the statement, particularly around the invocation of another quagmire in the Middle East, and attacked the congressman for his speech.

Larry Johnson: U.S. Desperation Grows as Iran Is Winning

'$25 billion' — Is military lowballing cost of Iran war?

A Pentagon official told the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday that the war in Iran cost the United States $25 billion in the first two months.

Facing questions from ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Acting Defense Department comptroller Jules Hurst testified that most of the cost was “in munitions” plus “[operations and maintenance] and equipment replacement.”

Hurst told the committee that the Pentagon and the White House would provide Congress with a supplemental request when they had “a full assessment of the cost of conflict.” Reporting has indicated that the administration is planning to ask for a $98 billion supplemental to pay for the war.

The comptroller’s official estimate falls short of those made by outside groups. More than one month ago, the Center for American Progress, based on a combination of official cost tallies and work from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, estimated the war had already cost $25 billion. An April 8 study from the American Enterprise Institute similarly assessed that the war had already cost somewhere between $25 and $35 billion.

Trump Orders IMMINENT Strike, Iran's Retaliation FINISHES Gulf Oil | Patrick Henningsen

Trump orders aides to prep for ‘extended blockade’ on Iran

US President Donald Trump has instructed his aides to prepare for an “extended blockade” against the Islamic Republic of Iran, sources told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on 29 April.

“Trump has instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran. In recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports,” US officials told the outlet.

“He assessed that his other options – resume bombing or walk away from the conflict – carried more risk than maintaining the blockade,” they added.

COL. Douglas Macgregor : Does Trump Have Any Restraints?

Hegseth Touts Autonomous Warfare Command

As the US military accelerates its adoption of autonomous weapons systems amid a growing global artificial intelligence arms race, one expert told Common Dreams on Wednesday that “greater action needs to be taken urgently” to protect civilians and ensure meaningful human control over rapidly developing technologies.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told congressional lawmakers Wednesday during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the proposed $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget for 2027 that the military will soon have a new “sub-unified command” dedicated to autonomous warfare.

Hegseth, who advocates “maximum lethality” for US forces, has expressed disdain for what he called “stupid rules of engagement” designed to minimize civilian harm. He has overseen the dismantling of efforts meant to mitigate wartime harm to civilians—hundreds of thousands of whom have been killed in US-led wars during this century, according to experts.

This “maximum lethality” ethos, combined with AI-powered systems allowing for exponentially faster and more numerous target selection, has raised concerns that have been underscored by actions including Israel Defense Forces massacres in Gaza and Lebanon, and US attacks like the cruise missile strike on a school in Iran that killed 155 children and staff.

Ukraine asks Israel to seize vessel it claims is carrying grain stolen by Russia

Ukraine has asked Israel to seize a vessel it claims is carrying grain looted from Russian-occupied territories, triggering a rare diplomatic spat between the two countries. The dispute spilt into public view this week when president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that “another vessel” carrying grain “stolen by Russia” had arrived at a port in Israel and was preparing to unload.

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko said on Telegram: “The Ukrainian side is asking its Israeli partners to seize the vessel and its cargo, conduct a search, seize the vessel’s and cargo documentation, take grain samples, and question the crew members.” Ukraine said the cargo vessel Panormitis, sailing under a Panamanian flag, was en route to dock in Haifa.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry also said on Tuesday that since March it had also raised concerns with Israel about another vessel, the Abinsk, which it said was allegedly carrying stolen grain. That ship was allowed to unload and depart despite Kyiv’s objections, it said.

The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, pushed back against Ukrainian claims that Israel was allowing stolen grain into its ports, accusing Kyiv of engaging in “Twitter diplomacy” and failing to provide evidence that the Russian cargo awaiting entry had been taken from occupied Ukrainian territory. Saar added that the formal petition, which was submitted by Ukraine on Tuesday, was “now being examined by the relevant authorities”.

Representatives of the vessel’s Greece-based management company also denied it was carrying any grain from occupied Ukraine, saying in a statement to Reuters its cargo was Russian.

World’s largest aircraft carrier to return to US after record deployment

The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, will be heading home following a record-setting deployment of more than 300 days that included participating in the war against Iran and capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, two US officials said Wednesday. The Ford will be leaving the Middle East in the coming days and returning to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements. The Washington Post reported the development earlier.

The arrival of the USS George HW Bush to the region last week meant three American aircraft carriers were deployed to the Middle East – a number not seen since 2003 – during a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war. The USS Abraham Lincoln also has been in the region since January as tensions with Tehran ramped up. This month, the Ford broke the US record for the longest post Vietnam-war deployment, a nearly 10-month span after leaving Naval Station Norfolk in June.

The ship’s 295th day at sea surpassed the previous longest deployment by an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years, when the Lincoln was sent out for 294 days in 2020 during the Covid pandemic, according to data compiled by US Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the US Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization. The Ford’s long deployment has raised questions about the impact on service members who are away from home for long periods as well as increasing strain on the ship and its equipment, with the carrier already enduring a fire that forced it to undergo lengthy repairs.

The Ford’s 295-day deployment falls short of the longest deployment during the cold war, a record held by the now-decommissioned USS Midway. It was deployed for 332 days in 1972 and 1973.

Trump threatens to reduce troop numbers in Germany amid growing row with Nato allies

The US may reduce its number of troops deployed in Germany, Donald Trump has announced, days after the country’s chancellor said America was being “humiliated” by Iran. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said his administration was “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time”.

On Monday, Friedrich Merz suggested the Trump team was being outplayed in its negotiations with Iran to secure an end to the ongoing war and a reopening of the strait of Hormuz. “The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” the German chancellor said. Merz reiterated his criticisms on Wednesday, saying Europe was “suffering” from the consequences of the closure of the strait.

Trump on Tuesday accused Merz of thinking it’s “OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon” and said the chancellor “doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”

Earlier on Wednesday Merz brushed off those comments, saying his relationship with Trump remains “as good as ever”, but the president’s threat to withdraw US troops is likely to cause concern in Berlin and across Europe, coming amid a period of heightened tensions between the US and its traditional allies in Europe that has seen Trump step up his threats to withdraw from the Nato alliance.

On 1 April the Trump said he was “absolutely without question” considering withdrawing from Nato because of the European allies failure to take part in the US-Israeli war on Iran and help secure the economically vital strait of Hormuz. Such a move from the US administration would be catastrophic for the security of Europe, but is seen as unlikely because of US legislation passed in 2024 that prevents a president from withdrawing from Nato without a two-thirds Senate majority or an act of Congress.

42 House Democrats Help GOP Send Trump Spying Bill to Senate

Dozens of Democrats in the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives helped the GOP send a key spying bill to the Senate on Wednesday, earning sharp condemnation from the diverse movement that has called for privacy reforms.

The House voted 235-191 in favor of the bill released last week by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has been trying for months to get an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to President Donald Trump’s desk.

FISA’s Section 702 allows the US government to surveil electronic communications of noncitizens located outside the United States to acquire foreign intelligence information, without a warrant. However, Americans’ data is also swept up, and civil society, along with some lawmakers from both major parties, has demanded reforms to prevent further abuse by federal agencies.

In the lead-up to the vote, progressives such as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) warned that “this bill has no meaningful reforms to stop warrantless surveillance, directly undermining the Fourth Amendment” to the US Constitution, which is supposed to protect Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Another “Squad” member, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), took to the House floor to blast Section 702 as “a dangerous mass surveillance tool” that “has been used to spy on Black Lives Matter protesters, members of Congress, journalists, and more.”

However, 42 Democrats—including House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member Jim Himes (Conn.)—still joined most House Republicans in advancing the legislation.

“It’s incredibly disappointing the House approved this measure,” said Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Security and Surveillance Project, in a statement. “This bill is empty calories through and through. It contains no warrant for querying Americans’ messages, and no meaningful reforms of any kind. The razor-thin procedural vote this afternoon makes clear that there’s an appetite for reform, but House leadership took meaningful reforms off the menu.”

“There is nothing in this bill that would have prevented the abuses of FISA 702 we’ve already seen—snooping on lawmakers, protesters, and campaign donors—and there is nothing that would stop even worse abuses in the future. A vote for this bill was a vote to give the FBI and other intelligence agencies a three-year blank check for surveillance abuse.”

Hajar Hammado, senior policy adviser at Demand Progress—which helped convene over 100 artificial intelligence, civil rights, and other progressive groups pressuring Congress to include privacy protections in any renewal bill for the spying power—took aim at the House Democrats who supported the legislation.

“The 42 Democratic votes to advance Speaker Johnson and Donald Trump’s surveillance agenda are dangerous and shameful,” she declared. “These Democrats defied their constituents and common sense to undercut meaningful privacy reforms in the House and instead voted to hand over sweeping spy powers to the Trump administration,” she stressed. “This means continuing warrantless backdoor searches and allowing an increasing number of federal agencies to exploit the data broker loophole to supercharge AI and fuel mass domestic surveillance.”

Hammado said that “their vote today has major consequences, as even 22 Republicans put principles over politics and voted against renewing FISA without warrant protections. It was these Democrats’ responsibility to stand up against this administration and they voted to stand down instead.”

While stressing that “no administration should have these powers,” Free Press Action advocacy director Jenna Ruddock directed attention at “the champions for a clean extension of Section 702 in the Trump administration in particular,” including the president’s homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller.

“Stephen Miller has advocated against reforms to Section 702, claiming it is critical to his and Trump’s homeland security agenda, even as members of the administration refer to political opponents as ‘enemies within,’” she noted. “Today, 42 Democrats joined 192 Republicans to co-sign Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s domestic surveillance agenda, jeopardizing the civil rights and liberties of every person in the United States.”

FISA 702 just passed the House.

This bill lets the government search Americans’ private communications without a warrant—in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment.

But don’t blame the GOP alone.

Forty-two Democrats betrayed the American people to help Mike Johnson pass it.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) April 29, 2026

Zeteo News reporter Prem Thakker pointed out that House “Democratic leadership did not whip their members, enabling them to vote with Republicans and give Trump the surveillance powers.”

While calling out the House Democrats who backed the bill, campaigners also set their sights on the Senate, where Punchbowl News reporter Anthony Adragna predicted that “it’s DOA,” or dead on arrival. Republicans have a slim majority in the chamber and, due to its rules, need at least some Democratic support to pass most bills, including this one.

A key issue is the central bank digital currency ban included in the House bill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters on Wednesday that he may try to pass a 45-day extension instead. After a recent short-term extension, the spying authority is set to expire Thursday night.

“Now the fight moves to the Senate, where privacy champions in both parties are gearing up to try and stop this reckless giveaway to the surveillance state,” Hammado said. She urged members of the upper chamber to join “bipartisan reformers” like Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) “in voting against any FISA measure that lacks real reforms like a warrant requirement to close the backdoor search and data broker loopholes.”

Laperruque similarly said that “we hope senators will stand strong and reject this dangerous proposal.”

Ruddock highlighted that “there is bipartisan legislation already introduced in both the House and Senate that would make desperately needed reforms to government surveillance powers.”

“The Senate should reject the fake reforms in the current House bill and demand a vote on real reforms to Section 702, including a warrant requirement, and closing the data broker loophole,” she said. “Our constitutional rights depend on it.”

Pam Bondi to appear before House oversight panel over Epstein files

The House oversight and government reform committee has said that former attorney general Pam Bondi will now appear before the panel on 29 May to answer questions about the Department of Justice’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and its release of the Epstein files. The announcement of the date came shortly after the Democrats on the committee announced that they had filed a civil contempt resolution against Bondi after she did not appear for her deposition earlier this month.

On Wednesday morning, Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, announced the contempt resolution, saying in a statement that Bondi had “illegally defied our committee, skipped her deposition, and has refused to cooperate”, adding that Democrats had introduced the contempt measure “to hold her accountable”.

Bondi was subpoenaed by the committee last month, while she was still serving as attorney general. In the subpoena letter, Representative James Comer, the Republican who chairs the committee, wrote that there were “questions regarding the Department of Justice’s handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates and its compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act”.

Earlier this month, after Donald Trump removed Bondi from her role, the House committee announced that it was informed by the justice department that Bondi would not be appearing for the scheduled deposition. In the statement on Wednesday, Garcia said that “Bondi has extensive personal knowledge about the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, and regardless of her job title, her testimony and cooperation are crucial”.

Well look at this…

45 minutes after we file contempt charges against Pam Bondi for defying her subpoena to testify, @GOPoversight finally announces a date for her appearance.

When Democrats fight, we win. And we won’t stop until we get justice. https://t.co/MRgaeSXtG6

— Oversight Dems (@OversightDems) April 29, 2026

Supreme Court Gutting the Voting Rights Act, DOJ's Case Against SPLC & More

US supreme court ‘demolishes’ Voting Rights Act, gutting provision that prevented racial discrimination

The US supreme court has ruled that Louisiana will have to redraw its congressional map, in a landmark decision that effectively guts a major section of the Voting Rights Act. In a 6-3 decision along partisan lines, the court rendered ineffective section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the last remaining powerful provision of the 1965 civil rights law that prevents racial discrimination in voting. Section 2 has long been used to ensure minority voters are treated fairly in redistricting.

“Allowing race to play any part in government decision-making represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context,” Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative, wrote for the majority opinion. “Compliance with section 2 thus could not justify the state’s use of race-based redistricting here. The state’s attempt to satisfy the middle district’s ruling, although understandable, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”

The court’s decision is a major upheaval in US civil rights law and gives lawmakers permission to draw districting plans that weaken the influence of Black and other minority voters. Some states may even rush ahead to try to redraw districts ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Asked by reporters on Wednesday whether states should redraw their congressional maps in response to the ruling, Donald Trump said: “I would.”

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan wrote the court had now accomplished a “demolition of the Voting Rights Act”. The court’s decision on Wednesday is the latest in a series that dismantled the law, she wrote, including a major decision in 2013 case, Shelby County v Holder, that nullified another major provision in the law that required places with a history of discrimination to get changes pre-approved by the federal government before they went into effect.

“Under the court’s new view of section 2, a state can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power,” Kagan wrote in a dissent that was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. “The majority claims only to be ‘updat[ing]’ our section 2 law, as though through a few technical tweaks. In fact, those ‘updates’ eviscerate the law. “Today’s decision renders section 2 all but a dead letter,” she continued. “The decision here is about Louisiana’s district 6. But so too it is about Louisiana’s district 2. And so too it is about the many other districts, particularly in the south, that in the last half-century have given minority citizens, and particularly African Americans, a meaningful political voice. After today, those districts exist only on sufferance, and probably not for long.”

Florida approves US House map meant to boost Republicans in midterms

The Florida legislature approved a new congressional map intended to maximize Republicans’ advantage in the state as part of the national redistricting battle that Donald Trump launched before this year’s midterms.

The vote came just two days after the governor, Ron DeSantis, unveiled his proposal and the same day the US supreme court rolled back a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The decision could make it harder for Democrats to challenge Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts in ways that limit the influence of voters of color.

DeSantis’s map could increase Republicans’ advantage in Florida’s House delegation to 24 to four, up from the current split of 20 to eight. The potential four-seat gain is the same as what Virginia Democrats expect from a recent redistricting referendum, which is being challenged in state court there.

Florida’s new districts are certain to face lawsuits as well, especially because the state constitution prohibits redistricting for explicitly partisan purposes. DeSantis and his aides believe those provisions will not be a legal barrier because they have been weakened previously by the Florida supreme court and again by Wednesday’s US supreme court ruling.

The new map reshapes districts in Democratic areas around Orlando, the Tampa-St Petersburg area and in south Florida around Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The changes could cost the US representatives Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, among others, their seats.

‘Suicidal’ model of capitalism leading to war and fascism, climate summit told

The world is threatened by a “suicidal” model of capitalism that is leading to war, fascism and the potential extinction of humanity, Colombia’s president has said, as he convened 57 governments to address the climate crisis. Gustavo Petro blamed fossil fuel interests for taking ever more desperate measures to prevent a transition to green energy. “There is inertia in the power and the economy of this archaic form of energy – fossil fuels – that lead to death. Undoubtedly, that form of capital can commit suicide, taking with it humanity and [other] life,” he said. “The question that needs to be asked is whether capitalism can truly adapt to a non-fossil energy model.”

Colombians will head to the polls next month to elect a new leader, with Petro, who was elected the country’s first leftist president in 2022, barred by the constitution from seeking a second consecutive term. The former economist and guerrilla member said the world was in a perilous position: “We are heading towards barbarism. And barbarism is the prelude to, or the very essence of, fascism.”

In the coastal city of Santa Marta, Colombia is hosting the world’s first conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels. Two days of talks among government ministers and high-level officials began on Tuesday, preceded by four days of civil society discussions and academic workshops. Some countries have already started working on roadmaps to phase out fossil fuels. Colombia published its draft plan last week and, on Tuesday, France became the first developed country to release a national roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, which included a timetable to remove coal from its national grid by 2027, end oil dependency by 2045 and fossil gas by 2050.

Benoit Faraco, the French climate envoy, said it went further than the country’s national plan under the Paris agreement. For decades, nuclear power has supplied most of France’s electricity and this will be supplemented by an increase in renewables. “This process has made us realise we want to be an electro-superpower,” said Faraco. “We want to be the electricity Saudi Arabia of Europe, selling green electrons to the UK, Ireland, Germany and other countries.”

As countries got down to detailed discussions of timetables for action, and boosting low-carbon technologies, one key message emerged from developing countries and finance experts: that addressing debt must be a central plank of any global platform of climate action. Tzeporah Berman, founder and chair of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, said: “There are many fossil-fuel producing countries in the global south that are being pushed into expanding fossil fuel production just to feed their debt. There is an expanding debt crisis in the global south. It is impossible for countries to even imagine a fossil fuel transition with such limited fiscal space.”

Critical minerals are ‘oil of 21st century’ as demand fuels poverty and pollution in poorer countries

Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel are becoming the “oil of the 21st century” as the scramble for precious metals deepens poverty and creates public health crises in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities, a report by the UN’s water thinktank has found. The investigation by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) concluded that the growing demand for lithium, cobalt and nickel used in batteries and microchips is draining water supplies, eroding agriculture and exposing communities to toxic heavy metals.

An estimated 456bn litres of water were used to extract 240,000 tonnes of lithium in 2024, the researchers found, with little of the financial benefit or technological advances from the green energy transition or AI boom reaching the affected communities. “Critical minerals are quickly becoming the oil of the 21st century,” said Kaveh Madani, director of UNU-INWEH and the 2026 Stockholm water prize laureate. “What we are selling as a solution to sustainability is actively hurting people somewhere else in the world. How can we then call the transition green or clean?”

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), growth in demand for key energy minerals has been strong in recent years, with lithium demand rising by nearly 30% in 2024. The production of rare earths almost tripled between 2010 and 2023 as demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and powerful computer chips has soared. The report found that while EVs may reduce emissions by consumers in North America and Europe, the environmental and health costs are borne by communities far away, in the mining regions of Africa and Latin America.

About 700m tonnes of waste, enough to fill 59m bin lorries, were generated by global rare-earth production in 2024. Africa – home to about 30% of the world’s critical mineral reserves – is being hit hard by the environmental fallout. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the world’s biggest cobalt producers, the authors say extraction has caused the widespread contamination of rivers used for drinking, fishing and irrigation in the south-eastern mining belt of Lualaba province.

The authors say legally binding global standards on mineral sourcing, tighter controls on toxic waste and water pollution, and independent monitoring of water use and heavy metal contamination are needed to regulate industries. Without an overhaul, the green transition risks repeating the patterns of fossil fuel extraction – enriching wealthier nations while leaving poorer communities to bear the cost. “We thought the Industrial Revolutions were progress and now we understand the damage it caused, so we are launching another revolution to fix it. But once again, the burden is falling on the poorest. We are just moving it from the Middle East to Africa and Latin America,” Madani said.

Also of Interest

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

Iran War: Trump Insanity Escalates, Administration Doubles Down on Failed Economic Strangulation as Iran Digs In and Costs to World Rise; Israel Destruction of South Lebanon Continues

The Uppity Sheikdom May Not Survive A Conflict With Its Neighbors

Can Trump’s “Blockade of the Blockade” Force Iran To Submit?

How UK Media Shields the Israel Lobby

A Little Night Music

Rufus Thomas - Bear Cat

Rufus Thomas - The Memphis Train

Rufus Thomas - Sophisticated Sissy

Rufus Thomas - The Funky Bird

Rufus Thomas - (Do The) Push and Pull (Part 1)

Rufus Thomas - The Preacher And The Bear

Rufus Thomas - Do The Funky Chicken

Rufus Thomas - Fried Chicken

Rufus Thomas - Who's Making Love

Rufus Thomas - Breakdown