Washington menaces Iran at UN Security Council amid mounting signs of an impending US military strike

Washington’s preparations for a military onslaught on Iran have nothing to do with alleged concern for the democratic rights of its 93-milli

World Socialist Web Site

...of its 93-million-strong population. US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz declared threateningly that “all options are on the table” at an emergency UN Security Council meeting called by the United States Thursday on the protests in Iran. Amid a brutal crackdown by the bourgeois-clerical regime in Tehran following the outbreak of protests on December 28, US President Donald Trump is setting the stage for a second American bombardment of the country in just over six months. “President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations. He has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter,” asserted Waltz. Media reports indicate that Trump has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to deploy to the Persian Gulf, which will take approximately a week from its previous position in the South China Sea. Washington’s preparations for a military onslaught on Iran have nothing to do with alleged concern for the democratic rights of its 93-million-strong population. On the contrary, Trump, senior officials in his administration, the corporate-controlled media and political leaders from the imperialist powers in Europe are cynically exploiting Tehran’s crackdown on protests to justify an imperialist-orchestrated “regime change” operation to bring to power a pro-Western government in Tehran. This is viewed as an essential step in the consolidation of American imperialist hegemony over the oil-rich Middle East, and the sidelining of China and Russia, which have significant economic and military ties respectively with Tehran. With its championing of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, Washington has worked systematically since late 2023 to weaken the Iranian regime and its influence across the region. The tens of billions of dollars in weaponry funnelled to the criminal Zionist regime under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government allowed Israel not only to butcher Palestinian civilians but decimate the military infrastructure of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, two close Iranian allies. US and Israeli strikes on Yemen also significantly damaged the capabilities of the Houthis, who rely on military backing from Tehran. In late 2024, a US-backed offensive by former al-Qaida fighters in Syria toppled the Assad regime, another close Iranian ally.

continue reading

Why boosting Venezuela's oil production could skyrocket pollution

Even a modest increase in Venezuelan oil production could carry climate consequences on the scale of entire countries, experts warn.

euronews

...experts warn. Environmental experts are warning that the US push to revamp and boost Venezuela’s vast oil reserves could worsen decades of ecological damage. It could also increase planet-warming pollution in a country already struggling with the legacy of a long-declining petroleum industry. The warnings come as Washington has intensified pressure on Venezuela following the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro last weekend. Since then, the United States has moved to assert control over Venezuelan oil exports, the country's main source of revenue, seizing tankers it says were transporting crude in violation of US sanctions and signalling plans to redirect Venezuelan oil to global markets under US oversight. The Trump administration has said it plans to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude worldwide, though it has not specified a timeframe. Proceeds would be held in US-controlled accounts, which the administration says would benefit both Venezuelans and Americans. Venezuela is already highly exposed to oil pollution Industry analysts caution that significantly expanding Venezuelan oil production would require years of investment and tens of billions of dollars to repair decaying infrastructure, raising questions about how quickly – or whether – Trump’s plans could realistically be carried out. “You’ve got storage facilities literally sinking into the ground, broken wellheads and degraded infrastructure across the board,” says Paasha Mahdavi, an associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who studies energy governance and political economy. Venezuela's oil reserves are thought to be the largest in the world at an estimated 300 billion barrels. The country, which stretches from the Caribbean coast into the northern Andes, is already highly exposed to oil pollution and ranks among tropical countries with the fastest deforestation rates, according to Global Forest Watch, an online monitoring platform hosted by the World Resources Institute. It produces heavy crude that emits significantly more pollution than most other forms of oil. That's because it takes more energy to extract and refine, which often involves burning natural gas, mostly methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that heats the planet.

continue reading

Netherlands faces billions in costs if renewable energy targets are missed

The Netherlands risks losing billions of euros if it fails to meet European Union renewable energy targets. The country could fall short of

NL Times

The Netherlands risks losing billions of euros if it fails to meet European Union renewable energy targets. The country could fall short of its obligations to produce electricity from wind and solar power as early as 2030, raising both financial and energy security concerns. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) predicts that by 2030, only 32 percent of Dutch electricity will come from renewable sources, below the EU target of 39 percent. Research by Ecorys, commissioned by the Dutch Sustainable Energy Association (NVDE), estimates that the cost of missing these targets could reach up to 2.6 billion euros. In 2020, the Netherlands already paid Denmark 200 million euros for failing to meet climate goals. Under EU rules, member states can purchase excess renewable energy from other countries to count toward their targets. Ecorys warns that such transactions will become more expensive in the future as surpluses in other countries decline. “It is a huge waste of money,” NVDE chairman Olof van der Gaag told NOS. “Because you get nothing in return for the Netherlands.” Van der Gaag said the financial argument for investing in renewable energy is clear: without increased efforts, the Netherlands may not meet EU obligations until 2034.

continue reading

Zahawi defection pushes Reform’s vaccine scepticism into spotlight

The views of the former Tory vaccines minister clash with those of high-profile members and the party faithful

the Guardian

There was no shortage of ammunition for reporters seeking to pepper Nadhim Zahawi with questions when the former Conservative chancellor was unveiled as Reform’s newest recruit on Monday. But one persistent line of questioning seemed to draw a flash of real anger from the defector: did he reject the views of a doctor who was permitted by Reform to use the main stage at its annual conference to claim that the Covid vaccines, which Zahawi had himself rolled out as vaccines minister during the pandemic, were responsible for King Charles and the Princess of Wales’ cancers? Would he seek to change Reform’s medical policies if they had been influenced, as the party’s chair previously admitted, by the same vaccine-sceptic doctor? “That was a really stupid question and it doesn’t even deserve an answer,” Zahawi told a Daily Telegraph journalist, repeating the line when another reporter asked it again. Yet, away from the plush Westminster venue which Reform had chosen for Zahawi’s unveiling, his recruitment has caused disquiet among Reform UK members for whom hostility to the Covid vaccine programme has become an article of faith. Party Facebook groups lit up with a small but significant number of members saying they would be resigning their membership. Combined with this, a strand of Islamophobia in the party’s membership again reared its head. Fresh from their anger at the unveiling of Laila Cunningham as Reform’s London mayoral candidate, Zahawi’s recruitment was cast by some of the same vaccine sceptics as another example of a “Muslim takeover” of Nigel Farage’s party.

continue reading