USA « nuclear-news

Venezuelan leader Maduro lands in New York after capture by US troops – live

Donald Trump says the US will ‘run’ Venezuela and put Maduro on trial after audacious military operation in Caracas

Full report: Trump says US will ‘run’ Venezuela
Explained: Is there legal justification for the US attack on Venezuela?
Reaction: Global outcry after US strikes Venezuela

4 Jan 26, https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jan/03/caracas-explosions-venezuela-maduro-latest-news-updates-live?page=with:block-69599f418f085ed25e9e3394

Nicolás Maduro ‘has arrived in New York’
A plane believed to be carrying Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, has landed near Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York.
Maduro is expected to be taken by helicopter to the city where he will be processed and transported to the Metropolitan Detention Center prison, officials told NBC News.
They added the Venezuela president is set to appear in court by Monday evening.

The New York Times has reported that at least 40 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed in Saturday’s US attack on Venezuela. The estimate comes from a senior Venezuelan official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The victims reportedly include a woman called Rosa González, who was killed when her three-story apartment complex was hit by a strike. Another resident was reportedly severely injured.

US oil giants have so far remained silent on Donald Trump’s claim that they are primed to spend “billions and billions of dollars” rebuilding the Venezuelan oil industry following the ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
Chevron, the only US oil company still operating in Venezuela, committed only to following “relevant laws and regulations” after the US president suggested American energy multinationals would be central to his plans for the country.
Venezuela’s vast oil reserves – reputedly the world’s largest – will be modernized and exploited, Trump claimed in interviews and a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate. US oil firms will invest heavily to reconstruct “rotted” infrastructure, ramp up production and sell “large amounts … to other countries”, he told reporters, adding: “We’re in the oil business.”
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies – the biggest anywhere in the world – go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure and start making money for the country,” the president said. The firms would be “reimbursed”, he added, without providing more detail.
ExxonMobil, the biggest US oil company, and ConocoPhillips, another major player, did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Chevron said: “Chevron remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets. We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.”

In response to today’s events, Canada’s PM, Mark Carney, wrote on X: “One of the first actions taken by Canada’s new government in March 2025 was to impose additional sanctions on Nicolás Maduro’s brutally oppressive and criminal regime – unequivocally condemning his grave breaches of international peace and security, gross and systematic human rights violations, and corruption. Canada has not recognised the illegitimate regime of Maduro since it stole the 2018 election. The Canadian government therefore welcomes the opportunity for freedom, democracy, peace, and prosperity for the Venezuelan people.
“Canada has long supported a peaceful, negotiated, and Venezuelan-led transition process that respects the democratic will of the Venezuelan people. In keeping with our long-standing commitment to upholding the rule of law, sovereignty, and human rights, Canada calls on all parties to respect international law. We stand by the Venezuelan people’s sovereign right to decide and build their own future in a peaceful and democratic society.
“Canada attaches great importance to resolution of crises through multilateral engagement and is in close contact with international partners about ongoing developments. We are first and foremost ready to assist Canadians through our consular officials and our embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, and will continue to support Venezuelan refugees.”

The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, has backed a transition of power in Venezuela.
He said his Labour administration would “shed no tears” over the end of Nicolás Maduro’s regime and said Britain would discuss the “evolving situation” with American counterparts over the coming days.
Starmer said in a statement: “The UK has long supported a transition of power in Venezuela.
“We regarded Maduro as an illegitimate president and we shed no tears about the end of his regime.
“I reiterated my support for international law this morning.
“The UK government will discuss the evolving situation with US counterparts in the days ahead as we seek a safe and peaceful transition to a legitimate government that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people.”
Starmer earlier refused to be drawn on whether the US military action broke international law, saying he wanted to talk to president Donald Trump, with whom he had not spoken on Saturday morning, and allies to “establish the facts”.
About 500 UK nationals are in Venezuela and work is continuing to “safeguard” them, the prime minister said, while the UK’s Foreign Office advised against all travel to the country.
“As you know, I always say and believe we should all uphold international law, but I think at this stage, fast-moving situation, let’s establish the facts and take it from there,” Starmer told broadcasters.
Share

Updated at 08.49 AEDT

2h ago08.21 AEDT
Summary: the day so far
It’s been an incredibly dramatic day so far but a confusing one, in the US and Venezuela, as the world watches the aftermath of a lightning military strike overnight that resulted in Nicolás Maduro being captured by US forces and taken to an American aircraft carrier in handcuffs. The toppled Venezuelan president was en route to New York early on Saturday, where the Trump administration has promised to bring him up in court, indicted on drug trafficking and other federal criminal offenses. He could arrive later the same day, even. Donald Trump claims the US is now running Venezuela, with the remaining regime’s cooperation – a claim sharply contrast
The United Nations security council is due to hold an emergency meeting on Monday as a result of the United States attacking Venezuela early on Saturday and snatching up its president, Nicolás Maduro, holding him en route to New York where it will confront him with federal criminal charges related to drug trafficking and weapons.
Nicolás Maduro’s vice-president in Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, a loyalist, has appeared on television and radio there, from the capital Caracas, contradicting Donald Trump’s description of her now being president and cooperating with the US. She said Maduro was Venezuela’s “only” president and that Venezuela would not be colonized.
Rodríguez appears to be in Caracas. This followed hours of rumors that she might have been in Russia or parts unknown, but not in Venezuela.
Donald Trump called Cuba a failing nation, and US secretary of state Marco Rubio called the communist-run island, from which his parents fled to the US in the 1950s, a “disaster”. Both hinted that they could reprise their action in Venezuela in Cuba, but made no direct threats.
Trump was asked about his current thoughts on Russian president Vladimir Putin and the ongoing war perpetrated by that country in Ukraine. Trump said he was “not thrilled” with Putin and called the war a bloodbath.
Donald Trump said he and his administration have not talked to Venezuela’s exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado since the capture of Maduro. He took on a dismissive tone and said she would not run Venezuela as she did not have the necessary support or respect in the country. It was unclear whether he was talking about the Venezuelan regime or the general population. Machado won the latest Nobel Peace prize.
United Nations secretary general António Guterres said the Trump administration was setting a “dangerous precedent” with its unilateral action inside Venezuela. He later said he thought the US had probably breached the founding charter of the UN.
At a press conference in Florida, Trump said that US oil companies will take control of Venezuela’s state oil operation. There has been no confirmation of anything like this from US oil companies, nor how such an arrangement would work.
Donald Trump claimed at his press conference earlier that the United States is “going to run” Venezuela for the time being. He gave no specific details about how that might happen, later implying the remains of the Maduro regime were cooperating with US leadership – something soon after contradicted by Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez.
Trump posted a picture on his Truth Social platform that he states is “Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima”, which appeared to show the captured Venezuelan president in handcuffs, black goggles and headphones, clutching a water bottle, expressionless.
The US Department of Justice unsealed a fresh version of a federal criminal indictment of Nicolás Maduro. He was indicted by the US in 2020. The superseding indictment now includes his wife and son.
Trump confirmed that the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were heading to New York. Trump told Fox News on Saturday that Maduro and his wife were taken to a ship after their capture by US forces and were headed to the US city.
US attorney general Pam Bondi said the deposed Venezuelan leader and his wife would face criminal charges after an indictment in New York. Bondi vowed in a social media post that the couple will “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts”.
The United States is going to be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry after the operation to capture Maduro, Trump told Fox News on Saturday. He said: “We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it.”
The US vice-president JD Vance hailed what he called a “truly impressive operation” in Venezuela that culminated in the capture of Maduro. Posting on social media as he reshared Trump’s post about the action, Vance wrote: “The president offered multiple off-ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States.”
The US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a post on X that Maduro is “under indictment for pushing drugs in the United States”. The Republican US senator Mike Lee said on Saturday that Rubio had told him that he “anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in US custody”.
Venezuela’s government urged citizens to rise up against the US assault and said Washington risked plunging Latin America into chaos with “an extremely serious” act of “military aggression”. “The entire country must mobilise to defeat this imperialist aggression,” it added. It accused the US of launching a series of attacks against civilian and military targets in the South American country, after explosions rocked its capital, Caracas, before dawn on Saturday.
Explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas in the early hours of Saturday. In its statement, Venezuela’s government confirmed that the city had come under attack, as had three other states: Miranda, La Guaira and Aragua.
Venezuela has accused the US of trying to “seize control” of the country’s resources, in particular its oil and minerals. The country has called on the international community to denounce what it called a flagrant violation of international law that put millions of lives at risk.
The president of neighbouring Colombia, Gustavo Petro, called for an immediate emergency session of the UN security council, saying on social media that Venezuela had come under attack.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has reacted to Donald Trump’s military action in Venezuela saying: “The UK was not involved in any way in this operation.” He added that “we should all uphold international law”. France said the US military operation that resulted in the capture of Maduro went against the principles of international law.
Russia has demanded “immediate” clarification about the circumstances of the capture of Maduro during an attack ordered by Trump. Earlier, Venezuela’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, said the US needed to provide “proof of life” for Maduro.
Venezuelan allies Russia, Cuba and Iran were quick to condemn the strikes as a violation of sovereignty. Tehran urged the UN security council to stop the “unlawful aggression”. Among major Latin American nations, Argentina’s president Javier Milei lauded Venezuela’s new “freedom” while Mexico condemned the intervention and Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said it crossed “an unacceptable line”.
Share

World
Europe
US news
Americas
Asia
Australia
Middle East
Africa
Inequality
Global development
News
Opinion
Sport
Culture
Lifestyle
Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning
Sign up for our email

About us
Information
Help
Complaints & corrections
Contact us
Tip us off
SecureDrop
Privacy policy
Cookie policy
Tax strategy
Terms & conditions
All topics
All writers
Newsletters
Digital newspaper archive
Bluesky
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Advertise with us
Guardian Labs
Work for us
Accessibility settings

Guardian Australia acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, waters and community. We pay respect by giving voice to social justice, acknowledging our shared history and valuing the cultures of First Nations.
Back to top
© 2026 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)

January 4, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

New Imperial War: The U.S. Assault on Venezuela Exposes a Desperate Empire

January 3, 2026, By Joshua Scheer, https://scheerpost.com/2026/01/03/new-imperial-war-the-u-s-assault-on-venezuela-exposes-a-desperate-empire/

Multiple blasts were reported in Venezuela’s capital early Saturday after President Trump authorized U.S. airstrikes targeting military installations and other sites.

Residents of Caracas saw plumes of smoke and reported hearing aircraft flying at low altitude around 2 a.m. local time, according to the Associated Press and Reuters. Power outages were reported in the southern part of the city near a military base.

Videos shared on social media appeared to show several explosions across the capital. CBS News cited U.S. officials as confirming that the strikes were ordered by Trump.

The United States carried out a series of military strikes on Venezuela early Saturday, targeting key military installations in and around Caracas, as President Donald Trump claimed that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country.

Explosions were reported around 2 a.m. local time in the Venezuelan capital and neighboring states, with smoke visible over parts of Caracas and power outages reported near major military facilities. Among the targets cited in multiple reports were La Carlota Air Base, Fuerte Tiuna, and other strategic sites. Social media videos showed aircraft overhead and active air defenses, while witnesses described low-flying helicopters across the city.

In a statement posted to social media, Trump said the United States had “successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela” and that Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores had been taken into U.S. custody. The White House said the operation was conducted in coordination with U.S. law enforcement and confirmed that no American casualties had been reported. Trump later described the mission as “brilliant,” asserting it was carried out under his Article II constitutional powers.

Following U.S. strikes in Venezuela and the reported seizure of President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores, several senior members of the government appeared to remain active. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, next in the line of succession, issued statements after the attacks, though her location was unclear amid reports she may have been in Russia. Other key allies, including Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, also appeared to have survived. Their continued presence suggests that despite the removal of Maduro, the Venezuelan government was still functioning, albeit under significant strain, in the immediate aftermath.

According to Venezuelanalysis and other outlets, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said the government had not been provided proof of life for Maduro and demanded clarification from Washington. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López confirmed that U.S. bombings had occurred in Caracas and surrounding areas, stating that authorities were assessing damage and casualties. Venezuelan officials reported civilian and military deaths but did not provide specific figures.

The Venezuelan government declared a nationwide state of emergency, referred to as a state of “External Commotion,” activated national defense plans, and ordered the deployment of armed forces across the country. In an official communiqué, Caracas accused the United States of a “flagrant violation” of the United Nations Charter and described the strikes as an act of aggression threatening regional peace. The government said it would file formal complaints with the United Nations, CELAC, and the Non-Aligned Movement, while reserving the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

International reaction was swift. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned the strikes and the reported capture of Maduro, calling the action “an unacceptable affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty” and warning it set a dangerous precedent for the international community. Tweeting this: -[on original]

Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the operation as an act of aggression against Latin America and announced that Colombian forces were being deployed to the Venezuelan border amid concerns over potential refugee flows. He underscored the stakes of the crisis, saying, “Without sovereignty, there is no nation. Peace is the way, and dialogue between peoples is fundamental for national unity. Dialogue and more dialogue is our proposal.”

This should also be the standard for how foreign policy is conducted more broadly. War should not be the default response — especially in cases like this, where there appears to be a clear disregard for factual accuracy.

Petro, also tweeting about his role on the UN security council, stated “Colombia since yesterday is a member of the United Nations Security Council and [it] must be convened immediately. Establish the international legality of the aggression against Venezuela.”

We might not hold our breath, however, since two of the five permanent members of the Security Council are currently involved in questionable wars. Yet we can only hope that Petro and more world leaders take up the mantle of ending wars and allowing diplomacy and sovereignty to be the norm. If the royal “we” could stay out of other countries’ internal affairs, certainly we would not have wars in Ukraine or, now, in Venezuela — just to name a few. But empire is going to empire, and like a cockroach, the neocon agenda seems never to die.

This 1984-level war justification comes as the Trump administration has repeatedly accused Nicolás Maduro of narco-terrorism and questioned his legitimacy as Venezuela’s leader. In a post on X from July 2025, Marco Rubio reiterated the administration’s position on Maduro’s authority, stating that “his regime is NOT the legitimate government.” adding that “Maduro is the head of the Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terror organization which has taken possession of a country. And he is under indictment for pushing drugs into the United States,” Rubio wrote.

Today Rubio continues to repeat this rhetoric, his first post was a re-tweet of the July post.

The neocon war on drugs justification rings hollow as Trump’s often contradictory framing or barefaced lying. Much of the available reporting points out that major drug-trafficking flows have long been linked to countries such as Honduras, including the case of its former president, Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced in 2024 to 45 years in prison for conspiring to distribute more than 400 tons of cocaine and related firearms offenses; he was pardoned by Trump on Dec. 1. Against that backdrop, it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain the pretense that this action is about narcotics enforcement rather than a colonial-style power grab.

With responses from other leaders across the Americas came swiftly. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote: “This is state terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people and against Our America,” and is rightfully demanding urgent action from the international community in response to the “criminal attack.”

Bolivia’s former leftist president, Evo Morales, also condemned the U.S. action, saying he “strongly and unequivocally” repudiated the attack on Venezuela. “It is brutal imperialist aggression that violates its sovereignty,” Morales said, expressing “full solidarity with the Venezuelan people in resistance.”

Across the region, governments warned that the escalation risked destabilizing Latin America and undermining long-standing efforts to preserve the region as a zone of peace.

In the United States, antiwar organizations quickly mobilized. The ANSWER Coalition issued a call for nationwide protests on Saturday, Jan. 3, arguing that the operation was driven by geopolitical and economic interests rather than security concerns. Within hours, demonstrations were announced in multiple cities, including a protest outside the White House. The listing is available at https://answercoalition.org/venezuela

As of Saturday morning, the situation in Venezuela remained fluid, with conflicting accounts over Maduro’s status and mounting international pressure for clarification. The United Nations had not yet issued a formal response, though several world leaders called for an emergency international review of the U.S. action.

This is a developing story. More will come.

We have become the worst version of a desperate empire: taking over countries, attacking them under false pretenses, lying about our reasons, and stealing natural resources we claim are “ours.” This is an affront to any reasonable person — an act of cowardice and moral failure that reveals clear colonial intent.

Our so-called leadership, through threats directed at remaining Venezuelan politicians, reminds us of classic warmonger tactics. Trump suggested on Fox News that his administration would continue targeting Venezuelan government officials if they sided with Maduro. “If they stay loyal, the future is really bad — really bad for them,” he said. “I’d say most of them have converted.”

Trump’s first term was marked by the implied repudiation of “forever wars,” and now, with the influence of figures like Marco Rubio and Stephen Miller, the United States has bombed more than nine countries and is engaging in yet another unprovoked conflict. There is no easy way to say this, but it makes more sense now why the president has avoided seriously confronting Putin — he is following the same playbook. Of course, it is also the same approach we have used since the beginning of this dying empire, with figures such as JFK, LBJ, and GW Bush — just to name a few.

Here is the full response of the Venezuelan government, in an English translation by Ben Norton.

COMMUNIQUÉ BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely grave military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuela’s territory and population in civilian and military sites of the city of Caracas, capital of the Republic, and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, especially its articles 1 and 2, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the juridical equality of States and the prohibition of the use of force. Such aggression threatens international peace and stability, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, and places the lives of millions of people at grave risk. The objective of this attack is none other than to take control of Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to forcibly break the Nation’s political independence. They will not succeed. After more than 200 years of independence, the people and their legitimate Government stand firm in defense of sovereignty and the inalienable right to decide their destiny. The attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a “regime change”, in alliance with the fascist oligarchy, will fail like all previous attempts. Since 1811, Venezuela has confronted and defeated empires. When in 1902 foreign powers bombarded our coasts, President Cipriano Castro proclaimed: “The insolent foot of the foreigner has profaned the sacred soil of the Homeland”. Today, with the moral authority of Bolívar, Miranda, and our liberators, the Venezuelan people rise once again to defend their independence against imperial aggression. People to the streets The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces of the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack. The people of Venezuela and their National Bolivarian Armed Forces, in perfect popular-military-police fusion, are deployed to guarantee sovereignty and peace. Simultaneously, Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy will file corresponding complaints before the UN Security Council, the Secretary General of said organization, CELAC, and the Non-Aligned Movement, demanding condemnation of and accountability for the US Government. President Nicolás Maduro has ordered all national defense plans to be implemented at the appropriate time and circumstances, in strict adherence to the provisions of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Organic Law on States of Exception, and the Organic Law of National Security. In this regard, President Nicolás Maduro has signed and ordered the implementation of the Decree declaring a state of External Commotion throughout the national territory, to protect the rights of the population, the full functioning of republican institutions, and to immediately transition to armed struggle. The entire country must be activated to defeat this imperialist aggression. Likewise, he has ordered the immediate deployment of the Command for the Integral Defense of the Nation and the Directional Bodies for Integral Defense in all states and municipalities of the country. In strict adherence to article 51 of the United Nations Charter, Venezuela reserves the right to exercise legitimate defense to protect its people, its territory, and its independence. We call on the peoples and governments of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the world to mobilize in active solidarity against this imperial aggression. As Supreme Commander Hugo Chávez Frías stated, “In the face of any circumstance of new difficulties, whatever their magnitude, the response of all patriots… is unity, struggle, battle, and victory”. Caracas, 3 January 2025

January 4, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | SOUTH AMERICA, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Chris Hedges: Decline and Fall

We live in an eerily similar historical moment. Britain, within 12 years of Kipling’s lament, was plunged into the collective suicide of World War I, a conflict that took the lives of over a million British and Commonwealth troops and doomed the British Empire.

December 29, 2025 , By Chris Hedges , ScheerPost, https://scheerpost.com/2025/12/29/chris-hedges-decline-and-fall/

At the start of the 20^th century, the British Empire was, like our own, in terminal decline. Sixty percent of Englishmen were physically unfit for military service, as are 77 percent of American youth. The Liberal Party, like the Democratic Party, while it acknowledged the need for reform, did little to address the economic and social inequalities that saw the working class condemned to live in substandard housing, breathe polluted air, be denied basic sanitation and health care and forced to work in punishing and poorly paid jobs.

The Tory government, in response, formed an Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deterioration to examine the “deterioration of certain classes of the population,” meaning, of course, the urban poor. It became known as the report on “the degeneracy of our race.” Analogies were swiftly drawn, with much accuracy, with the decadence and degeneracy of the late Roman Empire.

Rudyard Kipling, who romanticized and mythologized the British Empire and its military, in his 1902 poem “The Islanders,” warned the British that they had grown complacent and flaccid from hubris, indolence and privilege. They were unprepared to sustain the Empire. He despaired of the loss of martial spirit by the “sons of the sheltered city — unmade, unhandled, unmeet,” and called for mandatory conscription. He excoriated the British military for its increasing reliance on mercenaries and colonial troops, “the men who could shoot and ride,” just as mercenaries and militias increasingly augment American forces overseas.

Kipling damned the British public for its preoccupation with “trinkets” and spectator sports, including “the flannel fools at the wicket or the muddied oafs at the goals,” athletes whom he believed should have been fighting in the war in South Africa. He foresaw in the succession of British military disasters during the South African Boer War, which had recently ended, the impending loss of British global dominance, much as the two decades of military fiascos in the Middle East have eroded U.S. hegemony.

The preoccupation with physical decline, also interpreted as moral decline, is what led Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to decry “fat generals,” and order women in the military to meet the “highest male standards” for physical fitness. It is what is behind his “Warrior Ethos Tasking,” plans to enhance physical fitness, grooming standards and military readiness.

H.G. Wells, who anticipated trench warfare, tanks and machine guns, was one of the very few to see where Britain was headed. In 1908, he wrote “The War in the Air.” He warned that future wars would not be limited to antagonistic nation-states but would become global. These wars, as was true in the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the Spanish Civil War and World War II, would carry out the indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilians. He also foresaw in “The World Set Free,” the dropping of atomic bombs.

Nearly one third of the population in Edwardian England endured abject poverty. The cause, as Seebohm Rowntree noted in his study of the slums, was not, as conservatives claimed, alcoholism, laziness, a lack of initiative or responsibility by the poor, but because “the wages paid for unskilled labour in York are insufficient to provide food, shelter, and clothing adequate to maintain a family of moderate size in a state of bare physical efficiency.”

The U.S. has one of the highest rates of poverty among Western industrialized nations, estimated by many economists at far above the official figure of 10.6 percent. In real terms, some 41 percent of Americans are poor or low-income, with 67 percent living paycheck to paycheck.

British eugenicists from the Galton Laboratory for National Eugenics — which was funded by Sir Francis Galton, who coined the term “eugenics” — advocated “positive eugenics,” the “improvement” of the race by encouraging those deemed superior — always white members of the middle and upper classes — to have large families. “Negative eugenics” was advocated to limit the number of children born to those deemed “unfit.” This would be achieved through sterilization and the separation of genders.

Winston Churchill, who was home secretary in the liberal government of H.H. Asquith in 1910-11, backed the forced sterilization of the “feeble minded,” calling them a “national and race danger” and “the source from which the stream of madness is fed.”

The Trump White House, led by Stephen Miller, is intent on carrying out a similar culling of American society. Those endowed with “negative” hereditary traits — based usually on race — are condemned as human contaminants that an army of masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are terrorizing, incarcerating and purging from society.

Miller, in emails leaked in 2019, lauds the 1973 novel “The Camp of the Saints,” written by Jean Raspail. It chronicles a flotilla of South Asian people who invade France and destroy Western civilization. The immigrants, who the Trump administration are now hunting down, are described as “kinky-haired, swarthy-skinned, long-despised phantoms” and “teeming ants toiling for the white man’s comfort.” The South Asian mobs are “grotesque little beggars from the streets of Calcutta,” led by a feces-eating “gigantic Hindu” known as “the turd eater.”

This, in its most scurrilous form, is the thesis of the “Great Replacement” theory, the belief that the white races in Europe and North America are being “replaced” by “lesser breeds of the earth.”

Donald Trump boasts that he will be the “fertilization president.” American couples — meaning white couples — will be given incentives by his administration to have more children to counter declining birth rates. In the vernacular of the right wing, those who promote this updated version of “positive eugenics” are known as “pronatalists.” The Trump administration will also reduce refugees admitted to the United States next year to the token level of 7,500, with most of these spots filled by white South Africans.

Trump’s allies in Big Tech are busy creating the fertility infrastructure to conceive children with “positive” hereditary traits. Sam Altman, who has been awarded a one-year military contract worth $200 million from the Trump administration, has invested in technology to allow parents to gene edit their children before conception to produce “designer babies.”

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Palantir, which is facilitating the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, has backed an embryo screening company called Orchid Health. Orchid promises to help parents design “healthy” children through embryo testing and selection technology. Elon Musk, a fervent pronatalist and believer in the Great Replacement theory, is reportedly a client of the startup. The goal is to empower parents to screen embryos for IQ and select “their children’s intelligence before birth,” as the Wall Street Journal notes.

We are making the same self-defeating mistakes made by the British political class that oversaw the decline of the British Empire and orchestrated the suicidal folly of World War I. We blame the poor for their own impoverishment. We believe in the superiority of the white race over other races, crushing the plethora of voices, cultures and experiences that create a dynamic society. We seek to counter injustices, along with economic and social inequality, with hypermasculinity, militarism and force, which accelerates the internal decay and propels us toward a disastrous global war, perhaps, in our case, with China.

Wells scoffed at the idiocy of an entitled ruling class that was unable to analyze or address the social problems it had created. He excoriated the British political elite for its ignorance and ineptitude. They had vulgarized democracy, he wrote, with their racism, hypernationalism and simplistic cliché-ridden public discourse, stoked by a sensationalist tabloid press.

When a crisis came, Wells warned, these mandarins, like our own, would set the funeral pyre of empire alight.

January 4, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | history, politics, Religion and ethics, UK, USA | Leave a comment

Jeffrey Sachs: U.S. Attacks Venezuela & Kidnaps President Maduro

January 3, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Trump reaffirms his support for another strike on Iran after meeting with Netanyahu

On Monday, Donald Trump reaffirmed his support for another strike on Iran after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But analysts say Netanyahu’s designs go far beyond Iran.

Mondoweiss, By Michael Arria December 30, 2025

In comments to reporters after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump reiterated his support for another strike on Iran.

“I hope they’re not trying to build up again, because if they are, we’re going to have no choice but very quickly, to eradicate that build up,” said Trump, referring to the alleged expansion of Iran’s ballistic missile program.

“We’ll knock them down,” he added. “We’ll knock the hell out of them.”

Netanyahu has consistently pushed for a wider war on Iran, and was expected to make the case for further attacks during his Mar-a-Lago visit.

Trump’s comments prompted an immediate response from Iranian officials.

In an article in The Guardian, Iranian foreign minister Seyed Araghchi called on the Trump administration to defy Israel on the issue.

“The US administration now faces a dilemma: it can continue writing blank cheques for Israel with American taxpayer dollars and credibility, or be part of a tectonic change for the better,” he wrote. “For decades, Western policy towards our region has been mostly shaped by myths originating from Israel.”

“The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to any oppressive aggression will be harsh and regrettable,” tweeted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

In a post on the meeting, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft Vice President Trita Parsi wrote that an attack on Iran could easily lead to retaliatory strikes.

“Tehran has gone to great lengths to avoid a military confrontation with Washington, but just because it has shown restraint in the past does not mean that it can afford to do so in this scenario,” wrote Parsi. “Indeed, given that Iran will be totally exposed without its missiles, it will likely reckon that it has no choice but to strike directly at U.S. targets.”

“Even if Trump opts to ‘only’ support Israel defensively in yet another Israeli choice of war — which is the position Biden took — it nevertheless incentivizes Israel to restart war, as the U.S. is lessening the cost for Israel to do so,” he continued……………………………………………………. https://mondoweiss.net/2025/12/trump-reaffirms-his-support-for-another-strike-on-iran-after-meeting-with-netanyahu/

January 3, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, Israel, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Poor, beleaguered Venezuela, with new pals China and Russia, may be demolishing two century old US Monroe Doctrine.

Walt Zlotow West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL, 31 December 2, https://theaimn.net/beleaguered-venezuela/

Over the past several months the US has committed mass murder of unknown souls on small boats off Venezuela, seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, and massed a huge force of 10,000 troops, aircraft and world’s largest aircraft carrier nearby Venezuela. All this designed to dislodge hated Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro to allow America’s takeover of Venezuelan oil resources.

And they are vast, among the world’s largest at over 300 billion barrels. They also pose a major threat to US world energy and political dominance. Venezuela supplies over 80% of China’s energy needs, all of which is paid for in Yuan, not US dollars. China has made major investments in the Venezuelan economy to further their energy interdependence.

Russia too has become a significant military, economic and political partner of Venezuela to counter 2 decades of US intimidation, now turned violent, to oust the socialist governments of first Hugo Chavez and now successor Maduro.

Neither China nor Russia will sit back as Trump seeks his illegal, immoral and criminal takeover of Venezuela and its vast resources. Both are pouring in military and intelligence resources to keep US boat bombings and tanker seizers from devolving into outright invasion.

President Trump keeps ratcheting up the military pressure but so far avoided outright invasion. What is Trump waiting for when his intimidation force squanders over $8 million per day and Maduro has clearly signaled he’s going nowhere but to the Venezuelan war room? Due to Chinese and Russian help, Venezuela will be no pushover. While the US brings vast military firepower to any intervention, US cannon fodder may end up arriving at Arlington by the planeload. Even the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier might be joining those small fishing boats down to Davy Jones Locker. With just 15% of Americans supporting invasion, domestic opposition to Trump’s folly will be ferocious.

The rest of Latin America, indeed the world, watches as the US has boxed itself into an untenable corner. Engage in all out war and it’s likely to end disastrously even in victory. Turning around the Trump armada will signal to Latin America that the Monroe Doctrine is dead, allowing more countries to pivot from US military and economic intimidation to countries like China, Russia and others who treat them as decent political, economic partners.

Time for the US to retire the Monroe Doctrine, end senseless economic sanctions that simply turn the world against America, and become an honest, reliable partner in world affairs. Alas, Trump and his neoconservative war council appear oblivious how they are accelerating America’s world dominance decline.

January 3, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, SOUTH AMERICA, USA | Leave a comment

The Trillion Dollar War Machine (w/ William D. Hartung) The Chris Hedges Report

December 31, 2025 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mxti7sPPD0

Once warned against as a looming danger to democracy, the military-industrial complex has evolved into a vast and entrenched system of power that shapes U.S. policy, budgets, and global conflict. Now far beyond what even its earliest critics imagined, the question is no longer whether it exists, but how far it will go — and whether anything can meaningfully restrain it. In this analysis, Chris Hedges interviews arms-industry critic William D. Hartung in a wide-ranging conversation on how runaway military spending and the power of the military-industrial complex drive U.S. foreign policy and perpetual war.

January 2, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Pike County mom sues revived nuclear plant, alleging radiation led to daughter’s death

by: Katie Millard, Dec 29, 2025, https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/pike-county/pike-county-mom-sues-revived-nuclear-plant-alleging-radiation-led-to-daughters-death/

Julia Dunham is suing Centrus Energy in a wrongful death case after her daughter, Cheyenne Dunham, died in 2015. Julia sued Centrus Energy Corp within two months of becoming the administrator of Cheyenne’s estate in October, alleging radiation from a nearby nuclear plant, now managed by Centrus, was responsible for Cheyenne’s death.

The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in south central Ohio was formerly run by the U.S. government and shut down in 2001 after decades of environmental concerns. In September, Centrus Energy announced it will expand the former uranium plant and bring 300 new jobs in uranium enrichment. See previous coverage of the plant in the video player above (- on original)

Pike County residents said they are still getting sick from past U.S. uranium enrichment on the site. The Dunham’s lawsuit is one of many that blame the uranium plant for illness or death.

According to the lawsuit, the Dunhams lived near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant until Cheyenne was a teenager. The lawsuit said she played in creeks and regularly ate food grown in gardens near the plant throughout her childhood.

Cheyenne also spent three years enrolled at Zahn’s Corner Middle School, about two miles from the uranium plant. The school served more than 300 students in Piketon until its abrupt closure in 2019, when officials shuttered the building due to health concerns after enriched uranium was detected in school buildings.

According to the lawsuit, Cheyenne began experiencing health issues when she turned 16. One day, the lawsuit alleged, her legs turned blue and she was taken to the emergency room. Doctors found blood clots in her legs and lungs, and she was diagnosed with GATA Deficiency, a rare condition that effects a person’s blood and immune system.

Cheyenne underwent two bone marrow transplants to avoid developing leukemia but became very sick in February 2015 after her second transplant, according to the lawsuit. By May, her body rejected the transplant, and she died in November 2015 of her illness, her death certificate showed. The lawsuit alleges her health issues were a direct result of Cheyenne’s proximity to the uranium plant.

The lawsuit included studies of the area around the uranium plant that show high levels of radiation, and data tracking cancer rates in Ohio. One exhibit, a study by a Morgantown, West Virginia, doctor, found cancer rates in people under age 25 who lived in proximity to the uranium plant were three times higher than in other Ohio sample groups.

Julia Dunham is requesting a trial by jury and monetary damages for Cheyenne’s funeral and medical costs, as well as emotional damages to Cheyenne’s loved ones. Julia filed the lawsuit on Nov. 24, 2025, almost 10 years to the day after Cheyenne’s death.

Julia was involved in another lawsuit filed in 2019, where she and four other parents sued the plant on behalf of their children. That parents allege the uranium plant released radiation that contaminated their properties, endangering their kids and living spaces. The court dismissed all claims on behalf of minor children for lack of standing, but the case is otherwise ongoing.

Centrus plans began domestic manufacturing on Dec. 19 to support its Piketon facility and has begun design work on a major training, operations and maintenance facility at the site. Centrus Energy hopes to begin its updated uranium enrichment work in 2029 once site renovations are complete. The nuclear work is slotted to help the U.S. regain energy dominance and stop reliance on other countries.

January 2, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

U.S. Plans Largest Nuclear Power Program Since the 1970s

How many reactors will $80 billion buy?

Chief executives of investor-owned utilities know that if they were to propose committing to similar projects on the same commercial terms, they’d be sacked on the spot. As a result, the private sector in the United States has been unwilling to take on the financial risk inherent in building new reactors.

Ed Crooks, IEEESpectrum,17 Dec 2025

The United States aims to embark on its most active new nuclear construction program since the 1970s. In its most high-dollar nuclear deal yet, the Trump administration in October launched a partnership to build at least $80 billion worth of new, large-scale nuclear reactors, and chose Westinghouse Electric Company and its co-owners, Brookfield Asset Management and Cameco, for the job.

The money will support the construction of AP1000s, a type of pressurized water reactor developed by Westinghouse that can generate about 1,110 megawatts of electric power. These are the same reactors as units 3 and 4 at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia, which wrapped up seven years behind schedule in 2023 and 2024 and cost more than twice as much as expected—about $35 billion for the pair. Along the way, Westinghouse, based in Cranberry Township, Penn., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The $80 billion deal with the federal government represents the U.S. nuclear industry’s best opportunity in a generation for a large-scale construction program. But ambition doesn’t guarantee successful execution. The delays and cost overruns that dogged the Vogtle project present real threats for the next wave of reactors……………………………………………………………………………………..

One of Trump’s orders included a series of provisions intended to help build the U.S. nuclear workforce, but it’s clear that that will be a challenge. The momentum gained in training skilled workers during the construction at Vogtle is already dissipating. Without other active new reactor projects to move on to immediately in the United States, many of the people who worked there have likely gone into other sectors, such as liquified natural gas (LNG) plants………………………………………………………………………………………………….

the plans that have been announced so far pale in comparison to the Trump administration’s nuclear ambitions. Earlier this year, Trump set a goal of adding a whopping 300 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050, up from a little under 100 GW today. That would mean much stronger growth than is currently projected in Wood Mackenzie’s forecasts, which show a near-doubling of U.S. nuclear generation capacity to about 190 GW in 2050.

The main driver behind the Trump administration’s interest in nuclear is its ambitions for artificial intelligence. Chris Wright, the U.S. energy secretary, has described the race to develop advanced AI as the Manhattan Project of our times, critical to national security, and dependent upon a steep increase in electricity generation. Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in September, Wright promised: “We’re doing everything we can to make it easy to build power generation and data centers in our country.”

One of the hallmarks of the Trump administration has been its readiness to intervene in markets to pursue its policy goals. Its nuclear strategy exemplifies that approach.In many ways, the Trump administration is acting like an energy company: using its financial strength and its convening power to put together a deal that covers the entire nuclear value chain.

Throughout the history of nuclear power, the industry has worked closely with governments. But the federal government effectively taking a commercial position in the development of new reactors would be a first for the United States…………………………………………..https://spectrum.ieee.org/80-billion-us-nuclear-power

January 2, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Pentagon In Panic: China Just Delivered The Final Blow

Br decode, 29 Dec 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEa9E9vhQ0U

“Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.” The US Military just learned this lesson the hard way.

In this video, we analyze the “Supply Chain War” that has erupted between Washington and Beijing. While the US focuses on financial sanctions, China has just sanctioned 9 major US defense firms and is restricting the export of **Antimony**—a critical mineral essential for armor-piercing bullets, missiles, and night-vision goggles.

We expose the “Industrial Suicide” of the Pentagon: How the US shut down its own mines to save money, leaving its entire military industrial base 100% dependent on China for critical resources. We look at the “Sanction Boomerang,” the failure of the US National Defense Stockpile, and why the “Arsenal of Democracy” is running on empty.

The US has the money. China has the minerals. And in a real war, you can’t build missiles out of paper.

January 1, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Trump’s team no longer trusts Netanyahu – Axios.

27 Dec 25, https://www.rt.com/news/630093-trump-team-distrust-netanyahu/

The US president’s close aides reportedly feel that the Israeli prime minister is deliberately stalling the Gaza peace process.

Officials in US President Donald Trump’s closest circle no longer believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can be trusted to push forward with the Gaza peace plan, Axios reported on Friday, citing insiders.

The future of Trump’s grand Gaza war settlement roadmap, unveiled in September, hinges on his upcoming meeting with the Israeli leader on Monday, according to the outlet.

Last week, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with officials from Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye to finalize the next step of the plan, which envisions Hamas disarming and Israel pulling out of Gaza.

Netanyahu has privately expressed skepticism about the roadmap, but the plan cannot go ahead without his buy-in, Axios said.

“Bibi is trying to convince a one-man audience,” the outlet cited a White House official as saying. “The question is whether Trump will side with him or with his top advisers when it comes to Gaza.”

Key figures in Trump’s team have now lost trust in Netanyahu, fearing he is “slow-walking the peace process” and could resume the war with Hamas after taking steps to undermine the fragile ceasefire, according to Axios.

The Israeli PM has “lost” Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and both Kushner and Witkoff, the outlet wrote, citing another US official.

“The only one he has left is the president, who still likes him, but even he wants to see the Gaza deal moving faster than it is right now.”

Trump is expected to press Netanyahu to move past the Gaza war, as well as raise the issue of Israel’s push into the occupied West Bank, according to Axios.

West Jerusalem officially approved the construction of nearly a dozen new controversial Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory earlier this week, drawing international condemnation.

On top of losing trust within the White House, Netanyahu’s government has taken a beating in the domestic approval polls. Only a quarter of Israeli Jews trust their government, and only 17% of the country’s Arabs, according to an Israel Democracy Institute poll published earlier this week.

January 1, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Netanyahu Is Visiting Trump For The FIFTH Time This Year, And Other Notes.

Caitlin Johnstone, Dec 28, 2025, https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/netanyahu-is-visiting-trump-for-the?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=182737899&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting with President Trump again on Monday. This will be the pair’s fifth meeting in the United States this year, but of course it would be antisemitic to suggest that there’s anything strange about the US president meeting with the Israeli prime minister more frequently than with any other foreign leader on the planet.

NBC reports that Netanyahu is expected to discuss more attacks on Iran during the visit, citing concerns about “Iran’s efforts to rebuild facilities where they produce the ballistic missiles and to repair its crippled air defense systems.”

Which is just wild. They’ve stopped making up pretend nonsense about nuclear weapons and now they’re just going “We need to attack Iran because Iran is rebuilding its ability to stop us from attacking it.”

On Christmas Day, Donald Trump became the first American president ever to bomb Nigeria. While Trump claimed the Tomahawk missile strike was directed at ISIS targets with the goal of protecting Christians in the northwestern farming community of Jabo, locals told CNN that Islamic State has had no presence in the area and that Christians and Muslims coexist peacefully there. Residents also told Al Jazeera that the airstrikes resulted in no casualties, civilian or otherwise, meaning the bombing accomplished nothing besides terrifying some farmers and setting a precedent to normalize US airstrikes in yet another African nation.

Israel has ignited worldwide controversy by formally recognizing the breakaway Somali region known as Somaliland. I’ve seen a lot of people highlighting reports that Israel has been in communication with Somaliland as a potential location to which the population of Gaza might be deported in an ethnic cleansing operation of the Palestinian territory, noting that recognition could be a way of enticing Somaliland to agree to the arrangement.

Back in August the Times of Israel reported that “Israel is in talks with five countries or territories — Indonesia, Somaliland, Uganda, South Sudan and Libya — about potentially accepting resettled Palestinians from the Gaza Strip,” adding that “Somaliland is a breakaway region of Somalia that is reportedly hoping to secure international recognition through the deal.”

A German journalist named Anna Liedtke reports that she was raped by Israeli forces after she was abducted from the Global Sumud Flotilla while attempting to deliver aid to starving people in Gaza this past October. Unsurprisingly, as of this writing there appears to be a near-total media blackout on Liedtke’s story in the German press.

❖

Activist Greta Thunberg has been arrested by British police because in the UK it is considered an act of terrorism to hold a sign which says “I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide.”

Zionism is the single greatest threat to free speech in the western world.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns defended his authoritarian crackdown on pro-Palestine protesters following the Bondi shooting by arguing that Australia doesn’t have the same free speech protections as the US.

“I acknowledge that we don’t have the same free speech rules that they have in the United States and I make no apologies for that, we have got a responsibility to knit together our community,” Minns said.

And of course Minns isn’t wrong when he says Australians don’t have any real free speech rights (Australia is the only western democracy without any kind of national bill of rights), but it is a bit odd to be openly proclaiming that this is a good thing because it means you’re allowed to stomp out criticism of Israel. Kinda feels like that’s saying the quiet part out loud.

It’s been so surreal watching in real time as Australians get manipulated into accepting the Zionist narrative about the Bondi Beach attack. As of this writing we have not been presented with the tiniest shred of evidence that anti-genocide protests had anything whatsoever to do with the massacre, but the nation is proceeding as though this is an established fact. NSW is banning the phrase “globalise the intifada” and passing laws allowing for demonstrations to be made illegal for up to three months while PM Anthony Albanese rolls out more policies to align with “antisemitism envoy” Jillian Segal’s plan to crush free speech in Australia. After being smashed in the face with an extremely aggressive mass media propaganda campaign to marry the Bondi attack to anti-genocide demonstrations in the minds of the public, a recent poll by the Resolve Political Monitor found that 53 percent of Australians now support a ban on pro-Palestine marches.

Again, this is happening in light of literally zero evidence that pro-Palestine demonstrations were even slightly responsible for the Bondi attack. None. Nothing. They’re suggesting that there is an association between the two, and they are lying. They’re rolling out pre-existing agendas to crush free expression in opposition to an active genocide, and they are doing so based on lies.

And Australians are just going right along with it, like a bunch of human livestock. We’re a whole damn continent full of bipedal sheep. Absolutely fucking pathetic.

I still can’t believe what evil, disgusting pigs Israel supporters are. The instant the Bondi shooting happened, their very first thought was “How can we use this to stomp out pro-Palestine demonstrations?” Not their third or fourth thought. Their first. They started pushing it instantly. Didn’t even wait for the bodies to cool, the sick fucks. All to stop people from protesting a genocide.

I am so angry at them right now. Absolute worst people in the world.

December 31, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Trump regulators ripped

December 28, 2025 by beyondnuclearinternational, https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2025/12/28/trump-regulators-ripped/

Rushed approval of Bill Gates’ reactor comes with risks, writes Brett Wilkins with Common Dreams

A leading nuclear safety expert has sounded the alarm over the Trump administration’s expedited safety review of an experimental nuclear reactor in Wyoming designed by a company co-founded by tech billionaire Bill Gates and derided as a “Cowboy Chernobyl.”

On December 1, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced that it has “completed its final safety evaluation” for Power Station Unit 1 of TerraPower’s Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming, adding that it found “no safety aspects that would preclude issuing the construction permit.”

Co-founded by Microsoft’s Gates, TerraPower received a 50-50 cost-share grant for up to $2 billion from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. The 345-megawatt sodium-cooled small modular reactor (SMR) relies upon so-called passive safety features that experts argue could potentially make nuclear accidents worse.

However, federal regulators “are loosening safety and security requirements for SMRs in ways which could cancel out any safety benefits from passive features,” according to Union of Concerned Scientists nuclear power safety director Edwin Lyman.

The reactor’s construction permit application—which was submitted in March 2024—was originally scheduled for August 2026 completion but was expedited amid political pressure from the Trump administration and Congress in order to comply with an 18-month timeline established in President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14300.

“The NRC’s rush to complete the Kemmerer plant’s safety evaluation to meet the recklessly abbreviated schedule dictated by President Trump represents a complete abandonment of its obligation to protect public health, safety, and the environment from catastrophic nuclear power plant accidents or terrorist attacks,” Lyman said in a statement on December 2.

Lyman continued:

“The only way the staff could finish its review on such a short timeline is by sweeping serious unresolved safety issues under the rug or deferring consideration of them until TerraPower applies for an operating license, at which point it may be too late to correct any problems. Make no mistake, this type of reactor has major safety flaws compared to conventional nuclear reactors that comprise the operating fleet. Its liquid sodium coolant can catch fire, and the reactor has inherent instabilities that could lead to a rapid and uncontrolled increase in power, causing damage to the reactor’s hot and highly radioactive nuclear fuel.

“Of particular concern, NRC staff has assented to a design that lacks a physical containment structure to reduce the release of radioactive materials into the environment if a core melt occurs. TerraPower argues that the reactor has a so-called “functional” containment that eliminates the need for a real containment structure. But the NRC staff plainly states that it “did not come to a final determination of the adequacy and acceptability of functional containment performance due to the preliminary nature of the design and analysis.

“Even if the NRC determines later that the functional containment is inadequate, it would be utterly impractical to retrofit the design and build a physical containment after construction has begun,” Lyman added. “The potential for rapid power excursions and the lack of a real containment make the Kemmerer plant a true ‘Cowboy Chernobyl.’”

The proposed reactor still faces additional hurdles before construction can begin, including a final environmental impact assessment. However, given the Trump administration’s dramatic regulatory rollback, approval and construction are highly likely.

Former NRC officials have voiced alarm over the Trump administration’s tightened control over the agency, which include compelling it to send proposed reactor safety rules to the White House for review and possible editing.

Allison Macfarlane, who was nominated to head the NRC during the Obama administration, said earlier this year that Trump’s approach marks “the end of independence of the agency.”

“If you aren’t independent of political and industry influence, then you are at risk of an accident,” she warned.

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams. This article first appeared on Common Dreams whose content is available through a Creative Commons license.

December 31, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Trump, Zelenskyy make ‘95% progress’, but ‘thorny issues’ remain – 5 key points

Aditi, 29 Dec 2025, https://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/trump-zelenskyy-make-95-progress-but-thorny-issues-remain-5-key-points/4090944/

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida for high-stakes talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year Russia–Ukraine war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday as both leaders tried to push forward a possible peace deal to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine. The meeting took place at Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, where the US president is spending the holiday season. Both leaders described the talks as positive. Trump called the meeting “terrific,” while Zelenskyy said it was “great.”

This was Zelenskyy’s third visit to meet Trump this year, and expectations were high that the two would try to close major gaps in a peace plan that has been under discussion for months. Here are all the key points discussed.

Trump and Zelenskyy meet: Trump confident, but ‘thorniest’ issue unresolved

Trump seemed positive after the meeting, but also warned that the talks are complicated and fragile. Standing next to Zelenskyy, he said a deal could be clear “in a few weeks,” but stopped short of giving a firm timeline.

“We could have something where one item that you’re not thinking about is a big item, breaks it up. Look, it’s been a very difficult negotiation,” he said. Trump said he believes a peace agreement is close, possibly with around 95% agreement on key points, but admitted that final hurdles remain.

Speaking of the eastern Donbas region, which Russia has demanded that Ukraine surrender, is still an outstanding issue.

Trump acknowledged that this area is one of the “thorny issues” still unresolved. The US has suggested creating a “free economic zone” in parts of Donbas as part of a negotiated settlement, but details remain unclear.

“We’re getting closer to an agreement on that. And that’s a big issue,” he told reporters in a joint appearance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Certainly, that’s one of the big issues, and I think we’re closer.”

Trump and Zelenskyy meet: Territory still the hardest question

After the meeting, Zelenskyy made it clear that the issue of land remains the most difficult part of the talks. Speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, he said Ukraine cannot simply give up territory. “You know our position,” Zelenskyy said, according to CNN. “We have to respect our law and our people. We respect the territory which we control.”

He added that any decision about land must be made by the people of Ukraine, not just leaders behind closed doors. Zelenskyy said a national referendum could be used to decide not only territorial questions, but other parts of the peace plan as well. “This is not the land of one person,” he said. “It is the land of our nation for many generations.”

He also said Ukraine’s parliament could be involved, but told reporters that Ukraine’s constitution does not allow territory to be handed over through a simple parliamentary vote. Only the public can approve such a move.

‘Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,’ Trump says after meeting Zelenskyy

“Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed. Once it sounds a little strange, but I was explaining to the President, President Putin was very generous in his feelings toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity, and other things at very low prices. So a lot of good things came out of that call today,” Trump told reporters standing next to Zelenskyy after the meeting.

Trump also said he would consider travelling to Ukraine if it helped secure a deal, including possibly speaking to Ukraine’s parliament. However, he suggested such a trip is unlikely. “I have no problem with travelling to Ukraine,” Trump said. “But I would like to get the deal done and not necessarily have to go.”

Trump and Zelenskyy meet: Ukraine and the United States are fully aligned

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said he wants four regions captured by Russian forces, along with Crimea, to be recognised as Russian territory. Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Russia is not ready to negotiate on its demands, Moscow has made it clear.

Putin has also demanded that Ukraine withdraw from some eastern areas that Russian forces have not even captured. Kyiv has rejected these conditions.

Despite the challenges, Zelenskyy said there has been strong progress on other parts of the peace plan. According to him, about 90% of the overall plan has broad agreement. On security guarantees and military issues, he said Ukraine and the United States are fully aligned. “We agree that security guarantees are a key milestone in achieving lasting peace,” Zelenskyy said.

He added that the two leaders discussed all aspects of a 20-point peace proposal during their talks.

Trump and Zelenskyy meet: Call with European leaders

During Zelenskyy’s visit, Trump and the Ukrainian president also held a phone call with several European leaders. The call lasted over an hour and included leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Norway, along with NATO’s secretary general and the president of the European Commission.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the leaders discussed “concrete steps” toward ending the war. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said there was good progress made.

December 31, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, Ukraine, USA | Leave a comment

Netanyahu to Press for ‘Another Round of War With Iran’ in Meeting With Trump This Week

Amid a growing rift between Israel and the White House, one foreign policy analyst says the meeting “will signal whether Washington is prepared to continue underwriting open-ended escalation.”

Stephen Prager, Dec 28, 2025, https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-netanyahu-meeting-iran-war

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Mar-a-Lago to meet with US President Donald Trump on Monday, amid a growing rift with the president and his advisers, reports say he’ll seek to push the US back toward war with Iran.

Last week, NBC News reported that at the meeting, “Netanyahu is expected to make the case to Trump that Iran’s expansion of its ballistic missile program poses a threat that could necessitate swift action” and that “the Israeli leader is expected to present Trump with options for the US to join or assist in any new military operations.”

“Netanyahu plans to press Donald Trump for US backing for another round of war with Iran, now framed around Iran’s ballistic missile program,” said Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. “Netanyahu’s pivot to missiles should therefore be read not as the discovery of a new threat, but as an effort to manufacture a replacement casus belli after the nuclear argument collapsed.”

He noted criticisms levied against Netanyahu by Yair Golan, chair of the Democrats, a center-left party in Israel, earlier this week: “How is it possible that last June, at the end of the war with Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu solemnly declared that ‘Israel had eliminated Iran’s nuclear threat and severely damaged its missile array’; and that this was a ‘historic victory’—and today, less than six months later, he is running to the president of the United States to beg for permission to attack Iran again?” Golan said.

Iran is just one of several areas the two will likely discuss on Monday. According to Israeli officials who spoke to the Washington Post, Netanyahu also reportedly wants Trump to “take a tougher stance on Gaza and require that Hamas disarm before Israeli troops further withdraw as part of the second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan.

The chief of Israel’s armed forces suggested earlier this week that its occupation of more than half of Gaza would be permanent, but walked those comments back after reported behind-the-scenes outrage in the White House. Meanwhile, Trump—invested in his image as a peacemaker—has reportedly balked at Israel’s routine violations of the ceasefire agreement he helped to broker in October.

Near-daily strikes have resulted in the death of at least 418 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Media Office. Meanwhile, Israel’s continued blockade of humanitarian aid has left hundreds of thousands of people—displaced from homes destroyed by Israeli bombing—to languish in the cold without tents. Desperately needed fuel, food, and medicine have entered the strip at far lower numbers than the ceasefire agreement required.

As Axios reported on Friday, Trump’s advisers increasingly fear that Netanyahu is intentionally slow-walking and undermining the peace process in hopes of resuming the war.

Netanyahu also seeks Trump’s continued backing of Israel’s territorial expansion in Syria. Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pushed through a UN-monitored demilitarized zone between Israeli and Syrian-held positions in the Golan Heights, which Israel illegally occupies.

This push into southern Syria went against the wishes of the Trump administration, which feared it could destabilize the Western-backed government that rules in Damascus following the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel has also routinely struck Lebanon in violation of the US-brokered ceasefire it signed with Hezbollah in late 2024, with bombings becoming a near-daily occurrence in December. Last month, the UN reported that at least 127 civilians, including children, had been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began.

“Netanyahu’s visit unfolds against a backdrop of unresolved fronts, with widening disputes with Washington over the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, including postwar governance, reconstruction, and Turkish involvement,” Toossi said. “At the same time, Israel is seeking greater latitude to escalate again against Hezbollah in Lebanon, an end to US accommodation of Syria’s new leadership, and firm assurances on expanded military aid.”

“Taken together, Netanyahu’s visit is less about resolving any single crisis than about postponing strategic reckoning,” he continued. “The outcome will signal whether Washington is prepared to continue underwriting open-ended escalation, or whether this meeting marks the beginning of clearer limits on Israel’s regional strategy.”