August 29, 2026

00 First Filter

EU crisis chief urges tougher climate action amid France, Spain wildfires | Climate Crisis News www.aljazeera.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

The European Union’s crisis management commissioner says the bloc needs to invest more in tackling climate change and accelerate its response, as France and Spain prepare for another crippling heatwave that could ignite new wildfires and intensify blazes already burning.

Hadja Lahbib said the EU must ensure its climate strategy remains in lockstep with realities on the ground, as global warming advances faster than scientists previously projected. She has called for increased funding, better education on fire risk and a renewed focus on forest management.

“Climate change is accelerating. So our response must evolve just as quickly,” Lahbib told Reuters.

“We must prepare for risks before disasters strike and not simply react afterwards.”

Lahbib’s comments come as devastating wildfires continue to burn across parts of France and Spain, forcing the evacuation of 330,000 people.

CENTCOM Commander Warns of New Threat Aiding Iran: Cellphone Footage – RedState redstate.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

CENTCOM Commander and four-star Navy general Admiral Brad Cooper has identified a threat that helps Iran target U.S. bases in the Middle East: cellphone footage.

Social media posts and videos posted online are giving the Iranians clues to our activities, the commander wrote in a letter Tuesday:

Admiral Brad Cooper, in a previously unreported letter, said Iran was benefiting from being able to see the success or failure of its strikes in near real-time by searching news reports or online posts by journalists referencing “reactions, photos, and footage from the cellphones of our troops.”

“The direct, unavoidable cost of this open-source intelligence could be measured in the lives of American service members and civilian residents in targeted Gulf countries,” Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, wrote in his July 28 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

He called on troops to “redouble our focus on operational security,” without prescribing specific steps in the memo.

CNN’s data guru drops some anti-Democrat polling that shows there may be hope for the GOP this midterm yet www.louderwithcrowder.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

I don’t anticipate a good election night for the right. If you don’t have hope, you can’t be disappointed. Know what I mean? However, hypothetically speaking, if Donald Trump and John Thune can get their sh*t together before then, we may be pleasantly surprised. While polls show voters don’t like us, it shows they hate the Democrat Party too. So it’ll come down to who they hate more on Election Day.

For example, Americans are concerned about the cost of living. That gets laid at the feet of the party in power, which am us. Affordability is not a hoax. Here’s the thing: when voters distrust one party when it comes to helping them, they tend to trust the other party by default. Not in 2026, and not these Democrats.

“The impact of Democratic policies on your cost of living…hurt or wouldn’t change it, the clear majority, nearly 3 in 5, 59%.”

UK slows AI data center roll-out over energy crunch — RT World News www.rt.com
News Source

EXCERPT:

The British energy regulator plans to stop firms from reserving electricity capacity for “speculative” projects

British energy regulator Ofgem on Wednesday proposed fees and stricter rules for AI data center developers to cull “unviable, stalled or speculative projects” that are taking up scarce grid capacity amid skyrocketing electricity demand.

It comes as the UK moves to grow its cloud computing and artificial intelligence industries but grapples with a sharp spike in grid connection requests – which Ofgem says have more than tripled in less than a year.

The amount of electricity capacity being sought by firms wanting to plug into the UK’s grid spiked from 41 gigawatts to 125 gigawatts between November 2024 and June 2025, driven largely by demand from data center projects, the regulator said in a press release on Wednesday.

The figure is nearly triple the UK’s 2025 peak electricity demand of around 46 gigawatts.

Under the proposed rules, developers would have to pay a refundable fee of between £237,500 and £712,500 ($316,000 to $947,000) per megawatt of electricity, Ofgem said. The fee would be forfeited if a project exits the grid connection queue before reaching energization.

The measure is expected to “tackle unviable, stalled and speculative projects,” according to the regulator.

In March, the UK government announced reforms aimed at clearing speculative grid connection requests, which it said more than quadrupled in the six months prior.

The reforms come as Brits face an ongoing energy price crunch; electricity and gas prices more than doubled in the UK in 2022 following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, when most European nations imposed sanctions on Russia and began phasing out cheap Russian gas supplies for more expensive alternatives. According to Ofgem, this year’s average household energy bill is expected to be around £1,862, almost 50% higher than in 2021.

While the Western restrictions had a detrimental impact on the Russian economy, it has adapted to them and learned to “minimize their effects,” according to Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned that “sanctions are a double-edged sword” and hurt both Russia and the countries that impose them.

You can share this story on social media:


Mamdani’s NYC-Run Grocery Stores Tackle Affordability Issues crooksandliars.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

While Donald Trump tries to gaslight us into thinking his Trump-flation is not a problem, we non-billionaires know better. That includes New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

On Monday, Mamdani announced that the city-run grocery stores he plans to open will sell food staples at a 30% discount from “the typical retail price in New York City.” He told SiriusXM’s Lurie Daniel Favors, “It’s going to apply to all fresh produce, meat, seafood, along with around 20 other items like cheese, milk, bread, as well as pasta, soup, beans, nuts, rice, and flour.”

Mamdani promised during his campaign that he’d open city-run grocery stores. He has now announced locations for stores in two boroughs: the Bronx and Manhattan. On SiriusXM, he said he plans to open one in each of the other three boroughs by the end of 2029.

Mamdani said he expects New Yorkers will save $90 a month and about $1,000 per year.

US, Gulf Allies Launch Strikes On Iranian Proxies Following ‘Surprise’ Attack On US Base trendingpoliticsnews.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

The United States and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday evening conducted joint precision airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militias in Eastern Iraq. The strikes follow a “surprise” missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan earlier in the day.

According to a statement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), U.S. and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple logistics and weapons sites. CENTCOM described the targets as belonging to Iran-aligned groups that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had directed to carry out attacks on U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure.

Tuesday’s operation was launched in response to more than 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks over the preceding 72 hours. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense stated that its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed several drones launched from Iraqi territory that targeted petroleum facilities in the Eastern Province and Riyadh regions.

Saudi Arabia’s statement framed the strikes as precise and targeted actions against objectives linked to those attacks, conducted in coordination with CENTCOM, and emphasized the kingdom’s right to self-defense while stating it does not seek escalation.

Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella organization that includes Iran-backed groups integrated into Iraq’s security structure, reported that the strikes hit headquarters and facilities in multiple locations, including Baghdad and sites in other provinces. The PMF said at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 wounded, with damage to buildings and facilities.

ABC NBC Finally Cover Fauci Diaries Release Before Senate Hearing www.newsbusters.org
News Source
EXCERPT:

Since Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released on Saturday nearly 2,000 pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s diaries that delivered one bombshell after another about how he handled the coronavirus pandemic, ABC and NBC had yet to say a word on the leading morning or evening shows. However, that changed Wednesday morning with stories explaining away his behavior ahead of what became an explosive Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.

ABC’s Good Morning America only mustered a partial segment tallying 89 seconds, starting with co-host Robin Roberts announcing Fauci was “set to testify on Capitol Hill” for “a grilling by longtime critic Senator Rand Paul over his role in handling the COVID pandemic.”

D.C.-based correspondent Jay O’Brien also said it’d “be a fiery hearing” with Paul going after “Fauci, 85-years-old, once the nation’s top infectious disease expert who retired in 2022.”

He added Paul has “accused Fauci of everything from misleading the COVID — mishandling the COVID response, to misleading the public about COVID’s origins, to even lying to Congress, all of which Fauci strenuously denies” with his attorney calling Paul’s behavior a “years-long public crusade.”

Incredibly, O’Brien seemed to cast doubt on the veracity of the diaries: “Ahead of this hearing, Paul releasing more than one thousand pages worth of what he says are diary excerpts that Fauci wrote in the early days of the pandemic.”

Netanyahu Will Attend UN General Assembly in New York City legalinsurrection.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed he will attend the UN General Assembly in New York City in September.

I figured Netanyahu would, even though communist Mayor Zohran Mamdani threatened to arrest him and encouraged people to “protest” him.

Netanyahu told Sean Hannity:

But I’m definitely going there. I’m going to speak the truth in front of this, you know. There’s just hate spewing elected official who’s pitting one group of New Yorkers against the others. He’s turning them against New York Jews. I mean, what, are we in the 1930s? What is this? You know, so much hate, so many lies.

U.S. walks out on UN meeting following France’s human rights criticism – National globalnews.ca
News Source
EXCERPT:

U.S. diplomats walked out as their French counterparts were speaking at the United Nations on Monday after America’s close European ally criticized the Trump administration’s human rights record.

The surprise move during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine followed U.S. opposition to giving U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk another four-year term. The reappointment on Friday got overwhelming support, including from France.

The U.S. walkout reflects not only the more strained relations between President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, but also wider tensions between the U.S. and Europe. These include questions over Trump’s commitment to NATO, possible changes to U.S. troop deployments in Europe, and Trump’s desire to control Greenland, which belongs to NATO member Denmark.

Trump has complained that Europeans, who weren’t consulted, did not help the U.S. during the Iran war. Amid the tensions, Macron has taken a lead in trying to build up Europe’s military and ensure a nuclear umbrella as one of the continent’s two nuclear powers, along with Britain.

Khanna: Call to Arrest Netanyahu ‘Not Talking About Americans Who Are Subject to Our Own Law’ www.breitbart.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CBS’s “The Takeout,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said that “We should not allow people in our jurisdiction who have an arrest warrant by the ICC.” But this isn’t a danger for Americans because “They don’t have any American arrest warrants. This is not talking about Americans who are subject to our own law. But that seems to be a consistent principle of international law, and I’d apply it to Putin like I’d apply it to Netanyahu.”

Khanna said, “Now, my view on Netanyahu is the same as my view on Putin, if you have a warrant for your arrest by the ICC, and you’re coming here — not to the U.N., because the U.N. has its own rules — but you’re coming to the United States, then you should be arrested. We should not allow people in our jurisdiction who have an arrest warrant by the ICC.”

He added, “People say, what about Americans? They don’t have any American arrest warrants. This is not talking about Americans who are subject to our own law. But that seems to be a consistent principle of international law, and I’d apply it to Putin like I’d apply it to Netanyahu.”

John Thune Isn’t Bowing to Trump’s Pressure: ‘Show Me How This Ends’ time.com
News Source

EXCERPT:

“If I thought there was a path to getting a result, I’m all for it,” Thune told reporters this week.

The Senate is racing toward an August recess with a packed to-do list that seems doable: a sanctions bill targeting Russia, a stopgap funding measure to keep the government open through Election Day, movement on a catch-all reconciliation bill, and a bunch of nominees, including one that on Wednesday seemed to inch closer to giving Trump an up-or-down on his imperiled pick for Attorney General. But Trump says the upper chamber should not leave town until it gives him the SAVE America Act, his voting bill. He also wants the Senate to change its threshold for moving most legislation from 60 votes to 51 votes, ending the delay machine of the filibuster. 

“John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929!” the President wrote on his social media platform. “The Dumocrats will do it on day one, and can’t believe how lucky they got with this Senate leadership.”


EPA Ordered—Again—to Release $2.8 Billion in Climate Justice Funds – Mother Jones www.motherjones.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

A protestor holds a sign in Manhattan, New York on January 25, 2022.rik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

A South Carolina federal judge this week ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to resume distributing funds designed to address environmental and health challenges in underserved communities.

In June, US District Judge Richard Gergel voided the Trump administration’s termination of the $2.8 billion Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program. But the court ruling did not explicitly require the Environmental Protection Agency to resume distributing the block grants.

Although Gergel ruled that the government’s internal actions terminating the grants were “unlawful,” he declined to order the EPA to immediately restart the program, saying such a move would be “impractical.”

Last month, emails between the EPA and the Southern Environmental Law Center, which filed the lawsuit in partnership with the Public Rights Project, showed that government officials believed that no “specific agency action is required to comply” with Gergel’s ruling.

The Trump administration is preparing to activate a nearly billion dollar worldwide influence campaign designed to counter China’s advance. Part of this campaign will include funding the rebuilding of critical infrastructure, like international underseas communications cables, to assure China doesn’t come in to do the job for them.

US looks to boost anti-China spending worldwide, documents say abcnews.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to ramp up funding by hundreds of millions of dollars for programs designed to counter China’s growing influence around the world, after it had put a halt to many of those initiatives last year during a flurry of budget and personnel cuts.

The administration notified Congress late last week that it intends to spend $175.8 million to replace outdated and aging undersea telecommunications cables in the Caribbean and Central America to prevent China from moving in. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the notification on Monday.

The administration has expressed deep concern about China’s activities in the Americas, pushing back on Chinese ownership of ports at either end of the Panama Canal, infrastructure projects funded by China’s Belt and Road initiative in the region, and Chinese investment in the telecommunications sector.

A State Department official said China’s economic activities in the Western Hemisphere pose risks to U.S. national security and prosperity. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly to the subject and spoke on condition of anonymity, said China’s offerings may seem cheaper but in the end wind up being more expensive due to cost overruns, hidden maintenance fees and poor performance.

The underseas cable funding appears to be part of a broader push to restore support for initiatives aimed at blunting Chinese influence globally that would cost many hundreds of millions of dollars more. That is even as President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping put on a show of cooperation and Xi prepares to visit the U.S. this fall.

German scientists discovered naturally occurring microbes that removed 95% of dissolved uranium from contaminated water | timesofindia.indiatimes.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

A team of scientists has uncovered a naturally occurring microbial process that could change how uranium-contaminated water is cleaned up. Studying bacteria living in the flooded Königstein uranium mine in Germany, the researchers discovered that certain microorganisms can transform highly soluble uranium into a rare, stable mineral that remains locked in place instead of spreading through groundwater. In laboratory experiments, the microbes removed around 95% of dissolved uranium over 130 days, raising the possibility of using naturally occurring bacteria as an environmentally friendly tool for remediating radioactive pollution. The findings provide fresh insight into how microbial communities influence uranium chemistry and could help shape future clean-up strategies for contaminated mine sites and aquifers worldwide.

The research “Pentavalent and tetravalent uranium formation via glycerol-stimulated bacteria in mine water“, published in Nature Communications, focused on microbial communities naturally inhabiting water inside the flooded Königstein uranium mine in eastern Germany. Rather than introducing engineered organisms, the team investigated bacteria that had already adapted to living in an environment heavily contaminated with uranium.When supplied with glycerol under oxygen-limited conditions, these microbes triggered a previously unknown sequence of chemical reactions. Instead of leaving uranium dissolved in the water, they converted it into FeU(V)O₄, a rare iron-uranium mineral containing pentavalent uranium. Advanced X-ray spectroscopy and electron microscopy showed that the bacteria also produced tetravalent uranium before incorporating the radioactive element into mineral deposits associated with their cell walls.By the end of the 130-day experiment, approximately 95% of the dissolved uranium had been removed from the mine water.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson DENIES President Trump’s Request to Restrict Mail-in Ballots wltreport.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

On Monday, President Trump asked the Supreme Court to lift a block on his executive order that would significantly restrict mail-in voting ahead of midterms.

However, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson immediately denied the request just hours after it was filed.

Now, the Democrat-run plaintiff states have seven days to respond to the emergency application.

This means that a full ruling likely won’t take place for another week.

Here are the details:

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan on July 28, 2026. The epicenter was near Uto, which is on Kyushu Island. The earthquake caused widespread damage to buildings, including a partial collapse of a mall. As of right now, there are 34 dead and 124 injured. More than 10,000 people have been displaced.

Japan earthquake LIVE: Many feared dead as mall collapses after Kumamoto tremor | World | News www.express.co.uk
News Source
EXCERPT:

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has urged people to evacuate to a safe location if they deem it necessary, following the devastating earthquake.

She said: “Power outages and fires have occurred in some ​areas, and there has also been damage to roads and bridges and the collapse of buildings.

“I ask everyone ‌to take action to protect themselves, including evacuating to a safe location.”

She added: “I have instructed relevant ministries to assess the damage, work closely with local government under the policy of putting human life first, wholeheartedly work on the disaster emergency response, and provide information to the people regarding tsunamis and evacuation.”

 

Catholic Nuns Take On New York’s ‘Coercive’ Assisted Suicide Law thefederalist.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

Not a week seems to pass in which religious Americans are all but forced to go to court to defend their First Amendment rights from government overreach. It now appears the latest incident of this dynamic is coming full circle in Democrat-run New York.

On July 20, several orders of Catholic nuns and Catholic health care ministries sued the Empire State for enacting a new medically assisted suicide law they allege requires them to violate their religious faith. With the new statute set to take effect on Aug. 5, the Catholic plaintiffs in Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. James are seeking immediate relief in federal court to halt the state’s efforts to “coerce” them and other religious providers into forgoing their beliefs.

“Our clients have been dedicated for over 100 years each to serving some of New York’s most vulnerable citizens, and there are patients who actively seek them out. They actively seek them out because they share the same beliefs, they want to die in accordance with those beliefs, and New York is taking away their ability to do that,” Becket — Religious Liberty for All counsel Laura Slavis, whose group is representing the nuns and ministries, told The Federalist.

Signed into law earlier this year, New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act (MAID) grants terminally ill adults the ability to request that their physician administer life-ending drugs. The statute lays out the process by which patients may do so, as well as the form language they must use when filing such a request.

In their lawsuit, the Catholic nuns and health care ministries argue that MAID — “which builds upon requirements in the [New York’s] Palliative Care Information Act” — “conscript[s] even religious healthcare providers and institutions to participate in the provision of physician-assisted suicide.” They claim that, under these statutes, “medical providers caring for terminally ill New Yorkers will have to proactively inform and counsel their patients about their ‘option’ to kill themselves.”

A Pro-Lifer convicted of violating the FACE act received a settlement of seven figures from the Department of Justice. The DOJ settled with Paul Vaughn, who sued the government for unconstitutionally prosecuting him. The Biden administration raided his home at gunpoint to arrest him for the crime of protesting the murdering of unborn children.

Pro-life protester targeted under Biden gets settlement with Trump Justice Department – mynbc15.com
News Source

EXCERPT:

A pro-life activist reached a settlement with the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump after facing up to 10 years in prison.

In 2021, Paul Vaughn was convicted of violating the FACE Act, which is a law that bans ”threats of force, obstruction or inflict property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services.”

This came after he protested outside of an abortion clinic in Tennessee in March of 2021.

After Vaughn was charged, his home was raided at gunpoint by federal agents, according to his lawyers.

After he was prosecuted, he filed a lawsuit against the DOJ and told Fox News Digital that he recently got a seven-figure settlement with the agency.

BOASBERG ACT: GOP Moves to Stop Radical, Rogue Judges From Handpicking Trump Cases gellerreport.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

Boasberg did not merely encounter repeated Trump litigation by chance. An opaque judicial-assignment system repeatedly concentrated critical Trump cases in his courtroom, while his position as chief judge gave him control over additional secret proceedings.

That has to stop.

The BOASBERG Act prevents judges from forcing their way onto cases and is an important piece of court transparency legislation that will help restore the American people’s confidence in our judiciary.”

Sen. Eric Schmitt’s bill mandates random case assignments, exposes court-selection practices and bars chief judges from manipulating who hears politically explosive cases.