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Could Trump’s peace capsize the undead British Empire?

Peace in the Middle East and the defeat in Ukraine will prove extremely embarrassing for Britain.

Alex Krainer, Oct 14, 2025, https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/could-trumps-peace-capsize-the-undead?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1063805&post_id=176048481&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

It’s only been four days since the Israeli cabinet approved Donald Trump’s Middle Eastern peace deal. In spite of much entrenched pessimism and incidents like the suspicious death of four Qatari negotiators in Egypt, so far the regional players have taken the deal seriously and it seems that their commitment is for real. My hunch, which I shared in Friday’s TrendCompass report, was that this development could turn out to be a “massive defeat for the Empire,” and that if the peace holds “the implications for the region would be nothing short of massive.”

Apart from repurposing the region’s “unsinkable aircraft carrier,” which could complicate the Empire’s efforts in prevention of peace, it seems that Trump has now wrested the loyalty of states like Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia away from the Empire. Here’s what I mean by that: it is important for us not to regard the United States as a monolith. By “the Empire” I’m referring to the City of London with its satellites on Wall Street, in Paris, Frankfurt, Basel, Tokyo, etc. Also, its lackeys in the British government along with the American Neocons Jake Sullivan, Victoria Nuland and Antony Blinken. It also includes the Empire’s minions staffing the key positions in the EU and NATO.

I believe that President Trump and his government (some of them at least), are NOT part of this imperial cabal. Of course, it is possible, as some say, that Trump is “controlled opposition” and that we’re witnessing an elaborate deception. However, I believe that this is unlikely. Such deception would be needless and overly elaborate; I can’t imagine why keeping it up would even be necessary. At any rate, Trump’s peace deal in the Middle East indicates that his government is real, not controlled, opposition and it has now put the imperial cabal in a bind: where were they while Trump and other leaders in the region worked to stop the genocide? Suddenly, they seem to be in a damage-control mode.

Scrambling for moral high grounds

UK’s education secretary Bridget Phillipson, who had vocally opposed any ceasefire in Gaza, went to SkyNews yesterday (Sunday, 12 October 2025) to claim credit for the Middle East peace deal:

“We have played the key role behind the scenes in shaping this. It’s right that we do so because it’s in all of our interests, including our own national interest, that we move toward a lasting peace in the region.”

When her interviewer asked her to specify, “when you say, ‘behind the scenes,’ – like what?” Phillipson launched into an eloquent-sounding but hollow word salad that sounded like a student explaining the plot of “Ana Karenina” after she never read the book:

“These are complex matters of diplomacy that we are involved in, but we do welcome and recognize the critical role that the American government played in moving us to this point…”

It’s complex, you see, so I don’t want to burden you with the details, but look how noble and magnanimous we are in welcoming and recognizing the role of the American government: they too contributed a little bit. But it seems that Ms. Phillipson either doesn’t know, or pretended she didn’t, that the Empire created Israel precisely for the purpose of preventing a lasting peace from breaking out in the region. If you’re in the Empire’s camp, you don’t want peace and that’s why you exerted no effort towards it. Then you explain the perpetual war you engineered as something that’s near-impossible to solve: it’s the “centuries-old hatreds” that are incomprehensible to us pure-hearted Westerners.

Then Trump swaggered into the region and solved it (at least for now), forcing the obvious question: why wasn’t this done at any point after 7 October 2023, hundreds of thousands of dead Palestinians ago? If it wasn’t too complicated for Trump, how was it too complicated all the sophisticated folks with posh accents in London? These uncomfortable questions are reason why Bridget Phillipson went to SkyNews yesterday. She herself spent months explaining why her government was staunchly against any ceasefire and did less than nothing to de-escalate the conflict.

Nobody’s buying it anymore

But her disingenuous attempt to usurp credit for the peace deal didn’t go unnoticed and it was torpedoed in very undiplomatic terms. U.S. Ambassador to Jerusalem, Mike Huckabee posted the clip of her statement on X and commented that, “I can assure you that she’s delusional. She can thank @realDonaldTrump just to set the record straight.” That post got 2.4 million views in under 24 hours. Even if it’s from Mike Huckabee, it’s not bad. For the British government, that was a humiliating rebuke, and it wasn’t the only one!

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni was sharper still, publicly blasting Phillipson’s boss Sir Keir: “If anything [Keir Starmer] harmed peace negotiations, trying to impose his master Tony Blair on Palestinians. Now he wants to get a photo op and claim he helped.” She added: “He should stop wasting his time meddling in international affairs and sort out his own country, the people are fed up.”

Namely, documents have been leaked online showing that Johnson has profited from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. According to The Guardian reports published on Friday, 10 October, Johnson visited Ukraine in September 2023 together with his billionaire donor Christopher Harborne, who donated £1 million to a private company he founded after resigning as Prime Minister. For Johnson, that was killing one stone with three birds: striking at Russia, contributing to depopulation (-1.7 million Ukrainian men) and making a buck quid in the process. No wonder Johnson felt as jubilant at the time (video at link):

It’s only a few bad apples, you see…

But the Middle East peace isn’t the only piece of bad news for London. There’s also Ukraine, which is being lost… Inevitably, if the Empire loses in Ukraine, it will also lose the opportunity to craft the dominant narrative. Britain’s role there, and particularly Boris Johnson’s consistent efforts to sabotage peace in April 2022, after only 5 weeks of hostilities, will prove extremely embarrassing. To contain the damage, it seems that the cabal is ready to throw Johnson overboard and cast the blame for the whole fiasco on him and another few bad apples.

Namely, documents have been leaked online showing that Johnson has profited from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. According to The Guardian reports published on Friday, 10 October, Johnson visited Ukraine in September 2023 together with his billionaire donor Christopher Harborne, who donated £1 million to a private company he founded after resigning as Prime Minister. For Johnson, that was killing one stone with three birds: striking at Russia, contributing to depopulation (-1.7 million Ukrainian men) and making a buck quid in the process. No wonder Johnson felt as jubilant at the time (video at link):

Johnson dismissed this report, calling it a “pathetic non-story” derived from an “illegal Russian hack.” Of course: everything we hate is Russian, so please disperse, there’s nothing to see here… But through history, losing a war came with severe costs, and today may be no different. However, rather than taking the pain itself, the Empire will attempt to cast the blame to its unruly minions and push them under the bus.

Then, the narrative will be changed once more: we’ve always only wanted to be at peace with Eurasia but for a handful of corrupt bad apples… Once we’ve dealt with them, we’ll join the victory parade and celebrate the peace in which we ourselves played the key role, you see, behind the scenes we did, of course. By now however, anyone who’s paid any attention can see through this sinister game.

We want to keep Ukraine fighting and desire an all-out war with Russia!

In all this, the Empire’s scriptwriters and propagandists always counted on the public having low IQs and a short attention spans. But in the age of the Internet and social media, the same formula no longer works. In addition to throwing Boris Johnson and Christopher Harborne overboard, they’ll also have to explain Lieutenant General Charlie Stickland’s Project Alchemy which brought together a whole group of bad apples from Britain’s academic, military and intelligence institutions to put forward an array of plans “to keep Ukraine fighting,” along with plans to “aggressively pursue” and “dismantle” independent media outlets.

Project Alchemy’s “elders” were united by a desire for an all-out war between Russia and the West. That’s a very monstrous and sinister desire: the last time they orchestrated such a war, some 60 million people perished across Europe. What could possibly be the reason for desiring such a thing? The elders were kind enough to spell it out: in order to “defeat Putin in Ukraine and set the conditions for the reshaping of an open international order of the future.” Here are the full 36 pages of their monstrous recommendations:

Ukraine’s Next Chapter – Elders Grand Strategy Options Paper.

The fact that any group of “elders” would take such a cavailer attitude with a world war begs the question of whether there are any good apples in their ranks at all? Or is being a degenerated genocidal maniac a job requirement where they work? Judging by the quality of characters that have floated up to the top in the British institutions of power, and by the enterprise’s track record around the world over the past 300 years, this definitely seems to be the case.

The same system promotes individuals like Tony Blair and Boris Johnson to the very top while mercilessly destroying those like Andrew Bridgen, George Galloway and Jeremy Corbyn is selecting for dishonesty, degeneracy, and ruthlessness. Being a bad apple is par for the course and probably has been for centuries.

Hopefully, with the Empire’s defeat in Ukraine and Trump’s peace in the Middle East, the old, undead Empire will finally capsize along with its cabal’s dreams of an all-out war against Russia. That should be a good day for the rest of humanity, including for the people of the British isles.

October 15, 2025 Posted by | politics international, UK | Leave a comment

Generational RADIATION IMPACT Project

Uncovering Radiation’s Hidden Dangers

Protecting Women and Future Generations

Our Mission

The Generational Radiation Impact Project (GRIP) leads a global effort to bring gender-specific insights into radiation safety. Women are twice as likely to develop radiation-related cancer, yet this crucial fact is missing from most regulations. We aim to change that by conducting groundbreaking research, educating the public, and advocating for policy change. We envision a future where everyone has access to information about radiation risks, especially women and children, who are disproportionately affected. Learn more about how radiation affects women.

Why This Matters Now

Every day, millions of women and children are exposed to radiation through medical treatments, environmental pollution, and consumer goods. Yet, safety standards are based on outdated models that overlook biological differences between men and women. This leaves women—especially those of reproductive age—at greater risk for radiation-induced cancers. We are working to change this. With your support, we will continue our research to inform better policies and protect future generations.

…………………… Generational Radiation Impact Project works at the intersection of public health, medicine, and public policy. We are an educational and funding group that brings together top thinkers to understand the role biological sex plays in harm from radiation. 

While this public health threat impacts us all, the risk is dramatically greater for girls and women. For every two men who develop cancer through exposure to ionizing radiation, three women will get the disease. Now we must learn why. https://www.radiationproject.org/

October 15, 2025 Posted by | radiation | Leave a comment

‘Solar for All’ should mean just that.

   by beyondnuclearinternational, https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2025/10/12/solar-for-all-should-mean-just-that/

An EPA decision to cancel a solar grant to tribal nations is a hard hit, writes Cody Two Bears

The EPA’s decision to cancel its Solar for All grant to our coalition of tribal nations is more than a policy reversal—it’s a gut punch to communities that believed they were finally being seen.

Our coalition of 14 tribal governments spanning North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin, and Wyoming came together around a once-in-a-generation opportunity: to deploy $100 million in solar infrastructure to more than 3,500 tribal homes, while training Native youth and veterans in a clean energy workforce that could serve their own communities.

That promise is now gone. And we are not alone.

This past month, dozens of other states, cities, and communities—red and blue alike learned that their own Solar for All awards contracts will be terminated. Across the country, tens of thousands of low-income households are being told that the solar systems they were promised won’t be installed. That the jobs and training they applied for may not materialize. That another chance to turn energy burden into energy security has slipped away.

In Indian Country, the pain is particularly deep. We’ve been here before. Our communities are used to being promised opportunities that never arrive. But that doesn’t make this one hurt any less.

Solar for All wasn’t just about installing solar. It was about building a future that Native communities have been fighting for—one where we control our own energy, reduce crushing utility bills, and create jobs that allow our youth to stay and serve their people. 

It was about growing Native-owned solar businesses, launching the first tribally led operations and maintenance teams in the Northern Plains, and helping each other stand up community-driven energy programs built to last.

Our coalition’s plan would have installed thousands of solar and battery systems and saved Native households over $300 million over the next 25 years. Those savings matter.

Many tribal households already pay double or even triple what the average U.S. household pays for energy. And just like the rest of the country, we’re bracing for steep increases in electricity rates in the years ahead. In communities where winter electric heating bills can exceed $600, solar isn’t just smart policy—it’s a matter of survival. We knew this wouldn’t be easy. But we showed up anyway. Tribal councils passed resolutions. Apprenticeship programs were designed. Community outreach had already begun. In some communities, program managers had been hired and work was underway.

Now, much of that momentum has been lost.

To say we’re disappointed is an understatement. But we’re not giving up. As tribal nations, we have always walked a harder path—but never without purpose. We remain grounded in our values: self-determination, stewardship, and the belief that our communities deserve to lead in this transition—not be left behind by it.

And we will lead. Solar for All gave us a platform to organize, build relationships, and design solutions tailored to our communities. We are keeping that vision alive—with or without this federal funding. But we won’t pretend this isn’t a major setback.

And we want to be clear: we are doing this anyway.

Because no matter what anyone says about solar, we have the laws of physics and economics on our side. The sun will keep shining. Panels will keep getting cheaper. And every kilowatt we produce locally is one less dollar sent off the reservation. The long-term math is in our favor—and we’re building for that future, even when the politics fall short.

Now is the time for philanthropic partners, private investors, and aligned institutions to step forward and help us carry this work forward. We have the plans, the partnerships, and the people. What we need is support—and the courage from others to believe in this vision, even when Washington doesn’t follow through.

Tribes don’t need handouts. We need the means to build what we’ve already envisioned.

Solar for All was supposed to be just that—for all. For red states and blue, for tribal communities and rural towns, for people who’ve too often been left behind in the energy transition. With its cancellation, a lot of doors just slammed shut.

But we’ll keep knocking. Because this is what leadership looks like in Indian Country: standing up, standing together, and staying the course—especially when the promises are broken.

Cody Two Bears is the Founder and CEO of Indigenized Energy and a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. He is a nationally recognized leader in the movement for tribal energy sovereignty, combining Indigenous knowledge with Western science to bring renewable energy solutions to Native communities. In response to the 2016 #NoDAPL movement, Cody launched Indigenized Energy and led the development of North Dakota’s largest solar project on Standing Rock. A shorter version of this article was published as a letter to the editor in The Washington Post.

October 15, 2025 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

They Fought Amazon’s $3.6B AI Data Center.

13 Oct 2025 Breaking PointsJames Li interviews organizers from No Desert Data Center Coalition on their fight against big corporate data centers in Arizona. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZoHBXREnTk

October 15, 2025 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

Israeli Defense Minister Says IDF Will Destroy Gaza Tunnels Once Hamas Releases Israeli Captives

by Dave DeCamp | October 12, 2025 , https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/12/israeli-defense-minister-says-idf-will-destroy-gaza-tunnels-once-hamas-releases-israeli-captives/

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that the Israeli military would destroy tunnels in Gaza after the remaining Israeli captives are released by Hamas, which is expected to happen on Monday.

“Israel’s great challenge after the phase of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas’s terror tunnels in Gaza, directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States,” Katz wrote on X.

“This is the primary significance of implementing the agreed-upon principle of demilitarizing Gaza and neutralizing Hamas of its weapons. I have instructed the IDF to prepare for carrying out the mission,” he added.

According to the outline of the Gaza ceasefire proposal released by the White House, all “military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt,” and there will be a “process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors.” But the details of how those steps will be taken, including who will be doing it, are unclear. A senior Hamas official has also said that Hamas won’t disarm unless it can hand its weapons to a Palestinian state.

So far, Israel and Hamas have just entered the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which involves the release of the Israeli hostages in exchange for thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, the IDF pulling back to an agreed-upon line, and Israel allowing more aid to enter Gaza. Details on implementing the rest of the agreement still need to be worked out in negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Katz’s comments come as many are concerned Israel will restart its genocidal war once Hamas releases the Israeli captives. Also on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military “campaign is not over,” though he could be referring to other areas where Israel is at war or potential escalations elsewhere in the region.

“And I want to say: Everywhere we fought – we won. But in the same breath, I must tell you: The campaign is not over. There are still very great security challenges ahead of us,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office. “Some of our enemies are trying to rebuild themselves to attack us again. And as we say – ‘We’re on it.’”

According to a report from Israel Hayom, the US has given Israel a guarantee that it would back Israeli military action if it determined Hamas violated the deal in a way that “poses a security threat.” The report said the understanding “constitutes a side agreement” between the US and Israel.

The US gave Israel a similar side deal for the November 2024 Lebanon ceasefire agreement, which Israel continues to violate on a near-daily basis.

October 15, 2025 Posted by | Gaza, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

More Than 200 Bodies Dug Out of the Gaza Rubble Since Ceasefire Went Into Effect

Gaza rescue workers say more than 9,500 people are missing

by Dave DeCamp | October 12, 2025, https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/12/more-than-200-bodies-dug-out-of-the-gaza-rubble-since-ceasefire-went-into-effect/
Rescue workers in Gaza have recovered more than 200 bodies of Palestinians killed by the IDF from the rubble and from areas they were previously unable to access since the ceasefire went into effect on Friday, and Israeli troops pulled back from certain areas.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said in its death toll update on Sunday that at least 117 bodies were recovered over the previous 24-hour period. “A number of victims are still under the rubble and in the streets, where ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them at this time,” the ministry said.

On Saturday, the ministry said that at least 116 bodies were recovered over the previous 24 hours. Gaza’s Civil Defense said that around 9,500 Palestinians are reported missing, and most are presumed to be dead under the rubble.

As of Sunday, the Health Ministry’s violent death toll has reached 67,806, and the number of wounded has reached 170,066, meaning at a minimum, 237,872 Palestinians have been killed or injured in Gaza since Israel unleashed its genocidal campaign following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The figure represents more than 10% of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

Studies have shown the Health Ministry’s numbers are likely a significant undercount by as much as 40%, which means the real violent death toll could be around 100,000. The estimate doesn’t factor in deaths caused by the Israeli siege due to starvation, disease, the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure, and other factors, figures that could take years to determine.

Aid deliveries into Gaza are expected to surge as a result of the signing of the ceasefire deal, under which at least 600 trucks are supposed to enter the Strip per day, the minimum the UN says is needed to bring relief to Palestinians who have been starving under the Israeli siege. Back in August, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and the US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) determined that famine was taking place in Gaza City and likely in northern Gaza.

The famine declaration didn’t stop Israel’s plans to launch a major offensive on Gaza City, which continued until last week. The IDF has damaged or destroyed at least 83% of the buildings in Gaza City, and more than 500,000 Palestinians have returned to the area since the ceasefire went into effect to find total devastation.

Hamas is expected to release all remaining Israeli captives on Monday in exchange for thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

October 15, 2025 Posted by | Gaza | Leave a comment

Global climate crosses more dangerous tipping points, heading for ecosystem collapse

 Global warming is crossing dangerous thresholds sooner than expected with the world’s coral reefs now in an almost irreversible die-off, marking
what scientists describe as the first “tipping point” in climate-driven
ecosystem collapse.

The warning in the Global Tipping Points report by 160
researchers, which synthesises groundbreaking science to estimate points of no return, comes ahead of this year’s COP30 climate summit, the annual
gathering of nations to combat human-induced climate change, being held at the edge of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil in November.

That same rainforest system is now at risk of collapsing once the average global temperature warms beyond just 1.5 degrees Celsius, based on deforestation rates, the report said, revising down the estimated threshold for the Amazon.

 Renew Economy 13th Oct 2025, https://reneweconomy.com.au/global-climate-crosses-more-dangerous-tipping-points-heading-for-ecosystem-collapse/

October 15, 2025 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

Israeli Government Votes to Implement Trump Peace Plan for Gaza as Hamas Pledges to Uphold It

Juan Cole, 10/10/2025, https://www.juancole.com/2025/10/government-implement-implementation.html

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – According to the Israeli newspaper Arab 48 , the Israeli government on Friday approved the ceasefire in Gaza and the hostage exchange, and agreed to begin withdrawing troops from the west of the Strip. The approval came after the arrival of President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and their meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The ceasefire was expected to go immediately into effect, with the Israeli military beginning its withdrawal from Gaza, to be followed by the exchange of hostages between Hamas and Israel over the next three days.

The extreme-right Religious Zionism and Jewish Power blocs, led by Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir respectively, voted against the agreement. Ordinarily, Netanyahu would need these votes for a majority in the 120-member Knesset or Israeli parliament, where his coalition has 64 seats. In this instance, however, the other Israeli parties, mostly center-right, had wanted this sort of agreement all along, and so they supported the sitting government from its left.

Orit Strook, Minister of Settlements and National Missions, also from Religious Zionism, said she was disappointed that Netanyahu had not explained to President Trump that Gaza is an inalienable part of Israel. (It isn’t.)

Smotrich expressed “Mixed feelings on a complex morning.” He spoke of his joy about the release of the remaining hostages, even though he had earlier repeatedly said that achieving the release of the hostages was not a high priority.

Smotrich defended his earlier obstructionism on the grounds that he had opposed “partial deals” that would have prevented the occupation of Gaza and the elimination of Hamas. In fact, of course, he opposed all deals and wanted to empty Gaza of its indigenous Palestinians, or the ones still left alive after two years of intensive bombing of civilian apartment buildings and infrastructure. Smotrich had also obstructed the delivery of aid to Gaza’s civilian population. He also opposed the release of 250 Palestinian hostages taken over the years by Israel, warning that they would go on to spill Jewish blood. Large numbers of the some 10,000 Palestinians kidnapped by Israel have never been so much as charged with committing violence, much less convicted. He pledged to go on striving to “eradicate” Hamas. Some ceasefire.

Conflicting reports are issuing from high Trump administration officials about whether 200 American troops would be sent to Gaza as observers of the ceasefire, with some confirming it and others denying it.

Hamas affirmed that they were committed to a deal that would end the two-year-long conflict.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said that it has enough food aid ready to go into Gaza to last for three months. The Israeli government has attempted to ban UNRWA, formed by the United Nations to help Palestinian refugees expelled from their homes by the Israelis, from operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, and has blocked most food aid since April. Gaza cannot feed itself, especially after the Israelis destroyed 80% of Gaza’s farmland. Nevertheless, UNRWA still has 12,000 workers in Gaza ready to swing into action to relieve the Israeli-imposed famine.

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment

October 14, 2025 Posted by | Gaza, Israel, politics international | Leave a comment

Campaigners warn of ‘dangerous experiment’ as nuclear plans face backlash.

Tom Sinclair, 10 Oct 25, https://pembrokeshire-herald.com/124146/campaigners-warn-of-dangerous-experiment-as-nuclear-plans-face-backlash/

Climate Camp Cymru supports Llynfi Valley protest against small modular reactors – campaigners urge Pembrokeshire to stay alert

ENVIRONMENTAL activists from across Wales – including several from Pembrokeshire – joined forces with Climate Camp Cymru this summer to support the No Nuclear Llynfi campaign near Llangynwyd in the Llynfi Valley, South Wales.

The group is opposing plans by American company Last Energy to build four small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) on land within a mile of residential homes and two schools.

The company, a venture capital-backed start-up that has never built a reactor before, is currently seeking UK planning approval. Campaigners say it is deeply concerning that Last Energy is also suing the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, claiming its safety regulations are “overburdensome” – while applying similar pressure in the UK to reduce oversight and speed up development.

Concerns over waste and flood risk

No Nuclear Llynfi campaigners have highlighted several risks, including plans to store radioactive waste on-site indefinitely, and the fact that the proposed location lies below the water table in a Zone 3 flood risk area – the highest flood designation.

Other worries include the need for 24-hour armed security, the site’s proximity to homes and schools, and the potential use of generated power for data centres running artificial intelligence systems, rather than for local homes or industry.

 spokesperson for Climate Camp Cymru said the project “treats post-industrial communities as expendable,” adding that “people in the valleys, and in places like Pembrokeshire too, are being used as testing grounds for risky new energy technologies.”

Raising awareness

The summer camp, set up over the August bank holiday weekend, occupied open land near the proposed nuclear site. Volunteers raised banners along the A4063, distributed flyers, and knocked on around 1,000 doors to alert residents.

Most locals, campaigners said, were unaware of the nuclear proposal – despite claims by Last Energy that it had consulted the community. “There’s a legal duty to inform residents, and that simply hasn’t been met,” organisers said.

An open meeting at Maesteg Rugby Club on September 25 drew strong attendance and marked the beginning of organised local opposition.

Workshops and wider links

Throughout the weekend, the camp hosted workshops and talks from campaigners behind Save Kilvey Hill in Swansea – where activists are fighting a proposed adventure park development – and from CND, the Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC), and academics from Cardiff University.

Discussions focused on linking environmental struggles across Wales, from open-cast mining and deforestation to speculative energy projects. Evenings featured live music and Welsh-language sessions celebrating Wales’ radical protest heritage.

Call for local action

Organisers say the success of the Llynfi camp shows the power of grassroots resistance. The camp was left clean and intact, with the landowner’s permission granted after the first day and support from nearby residents.

Pembrokeshire campaigners are now being encouraged to stay alert to similar proposals in the west. Sites such as Trawsfynydd and Wylfa are already under consideration for future SMR projects, and environmental groups warn that West Wales could be next.

Anyone interested in hosting or seeking support from next year’s Climate Camp Cymru can contact the group via email at climatecampcymru@proton.me.

October 14, 2025 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

Small reactors, big problems: the nuclear mirage behind AI’s energy hype


Enrique Dans, Medium.com, 12 Oct 25

In the debate over the energy infrastructure required for the rapid growth of AI, small (nuclear) modular reactors (SMEs)are being touted in some quarters as a reliable, dense and zero-carbon way to supply data centers and critical networks.

A seductive idea for industries looking to justify colossal investments, it also demands rigorous and critical scrutiny. After all, a nuclear reactor is a nuclear reactor, with inherent dangers, and multiplying the number of installations also multiplies the risk vectors. An SMR on a truck: what could possibly go wrong?

The promise of “safer”, “modular”, “quick to deploy” and “low carbon” energy doesn’t hold up in the face of history, economics, or risk analysis. Modular designs have been explored before, and they faced the same obstacles: uncontrollable costs, complex engineering, difficulties in scaling and operational problems. The simple truth is that small nuclear reactors can’t compete with renewables today. Instead, the arguments are based on political, financial and institutional motivations, fueled by a mentally ill person who hates renewables.

First, the technical and operational risks. A reactor, large or small, is based on fissile materials; radioactive, very hot and requiring complex cooling systems. There are no………………………………………………………….. (Subscribers only) https://medium.com/enrique-dans/small-reactors-big-problems-the-nuclear-mirage-behind-ais-energy-hype-77f93a3a4460

October 14, 2025 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

“A House of Dynamite”: Battling a nuclear nightmare

CBS News, By David Martin, October 12, 2025 

It’s a nightmare we’ve been living with all our lives. “I grew up in an era when we had to hide under our desks in the case of an atomic bomb,” said director Kathryn Bigelow, “so I suppose I was sort of imprinted early on with the prospect of nuclear war.”

In Bigelow’s new film, “A House of Dynamite,” the prospect of nuclear war suddenly becomes an insane reality. It tells of a single missile launched from an unknown location in the Pacific. At first it looks like a test, but it keeps on coming – with a trajectory estimated to be the continental United States.

With 19 minutes to impact, the president (played by Idris Elba) has to make an impossible decision.

Noah Oppenheim, a former president of NBC News, wrote the script, which dramatizes what he calls “the insanity that we would expect a single human being with limited preparation to decide in a matter of minutes the fate of all mankind.”

Bigelow, whose previous movies include “The Hurt Locker” (an all-too-real look at the war in Iraq) and “Zero Dark Thirty” (about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden) applied her trademark authenticity to the unthinkable. “It’s my responsibility as a filmmaker, if I’m presenting an environment that really exists, to be as authentic as possible,” she said.

Bigelow says she did not seek cooperation from the Pentagon for the film: “I felt that we needed to be more independent. But that being said, we had multiple tech advisors who have worked in the Pentagon. They were with me every day we shot.”

One military consultant was retired Lt. Gen. Dan Karbler. “Never in a million years would I have thought that I would have been in this position,” he said.

Karbler nailed his audition when he opened his first Zoom call with Bigelow like this: “‘This is the DDO from the Pentagon convening a strategic conference. This conference is Top Secret. Please bring the President into the conference.’ And I stopped there and clicked on my camera and I said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, that’s how the worst day of America’s history will begin.'”

I noted, “That doesn’t sound like something you were ad-libbing?”

“I was not ad-libbing at all,” said Karbler. “That comes from a lot of practice.”………………………………………………………………………………………………..

So, what does screenwriter Noah Oppenheim want audiences to be thinking, once they’ve caught their breath? “I want people to be reminded that, even though the Cold War is long over, the nuclear era is not, and that we live, as the title says, in a house full of dynamite,” he said.

To which director Kathryn Bigelow added, “My question is how do we take the dynamite out of the walls … without tearing down the house?” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-house-of-dynamite-battling-a-nuclear-nightmare/

October 14, 2025 Posted by | culture and arts | Leave a comment

UK small businesses and charities say nuclear levy could add thousands to bills.

Charge from next month expected to have disproportionate impact after energy-intensive industries given exemption.

Jillian Ambrose  Guardian, 13 Oct 25

British charities and small businesses have warned that a new levy on energy bills, intended to support the government’s nuclear power ambitions, could raise their costs by thousands of pounds a year.

The extra charge could mean a significant cost hike for charities and small businesses with high energy use, meaning community services may be cut and economic growth curtailed, according to trade groups.

For most charities, the levy, which takes effect in November, will mean an increase in costs of between £100 and £240 a year, but some could experience increases of up to £2,500, according to Social Investment Business, an organisation that offers loans and financial support to charities.

Nick Temple, the chief executive of Social Investment Business, said: “Adding yet more charges on top of charity electricity bills penalises our most vital community spaces at a time when they are already struggling.”

For small business, including those in hospitality, the extra costs could undermine growth in the UK economy and make the shift from fossil fuels to low-carbon electricity more expensive, according to trade associations.

The levy is designed to pay back investors in the Sizewell C nuclear project in Suffolk while the power plant is under construction.

Households can expect the levy to add about £12 a year to their energy bills, but organisations with high energy use will shoulder a greater cost burden. This will have a disproportionate impact on smaller businesses and charities with high energy demands because energy intensive industries such as steel, cement and glass-making have been granted exemption.

A Bristol-based community arts organisation, Spike Island, has been told to expect a hike of £1,ooo a year from the nuclear levy alone. The company, which provides subsidised studios for underrepresented artists, expects the extra costs to put a strain on its work……………………………………………………..

Business groups have also said that the costs are a “huge concern” for smaller companies, which they say will be forced to carry a disproportionate cost burden because larger companies were given exemptions………………………………………………………. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/12/uk-small-businesses-and-charities-say-nuclear-levy-could-add-thousands-to-bills

October 14, 2025 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

Israeli Officials Are Openly Saying They Plan To Resume Attacks On Gaza.

information would seem to indicate that Israel is planning to use the unreturned bodies as a pretext to break the ceasefire.

Caitlin Johnstone, Oct 13, 2025, https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israeli-officials-are-openly-saying?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=176000209&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Israel’s top officials are openly declaring that they intend to terminate the Gaza ceasefire after they get their hostages back.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has posted a tweet in Hebrew which machine translates as follows:

“Israel’s great challenge after the phase of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas’s terror tunnels in Gaza, directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States. This is the primary significance of implementing the agreed-upon principle of demilitarizing Gaza and neutralizing Hamas of its weapons. I have instructed the IDF to prepare for carrying out the mission.”

Hamas has not agreed to any demilitarization or destruction of its tunnels. There is no way to demilitarize Gaza and neutralize Hamas of its weapons against their will without continued warfare, something Israel has demonstrated it cannot do without killing shocking numbers of civilians.

Katz’s comments echo the public statements of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who said in a televised speech on Friday that “Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized,” and that if Hamas doesn’t disarm voluntarily then “it will be achieved the hard way.”

In another statement Netanyahu said, “We have achieved tremendous victories but the campaign is not over; part of our enemies are trying to recover.”

Israeli outlet YNet reports that Israel is planning to resume its blockade and prevent reconstruction if all the bodies of the deceased captives are not returned, when Israel already knows that Hamas probably won’t be able to locate all the bodies of deceased Israeli captives due to the intensity of the Israeli bombing campaign over the last two years.

“If Hamas does not cooperate with the return process, and Israel suspects that it is deliberately hiding the bodies in order to preserve them as a bargaining chip, it is expected to impose a series of sanctions on it — including preventing the reconstruction of the Strip, the entry of caravans, the opening of bakeries and the entry of civilian equipment,” Ynet reports.

In a recent article titled “Israel assesses Hamas may not be able to return all remaining dead hostages,” CNN reports that “Sources say the Israeli government is aware that Hamas may not know the location of, or is unable to retrieve, the remains of some of the 28 remaining deceased hostages.”

As noted by Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, these two pieces of information would seem to indicate that Israel is planning to use the unreturned bodies as a pretext to break the ceasefire.

It is perhaps somewhat noteworthy that Israel’s open preparations to resume the onslaught in Gaza directly contradict the statements of the president of the United States.

Asked by the press about Netanyahu’s refusal to say that the “war” in Gaza is over, Trump forcefully stated, “The war is over. The war is over, okay? You understand that?”

Trump suggested (without stating outright) that he has received “verbal guarantees” from Israel that the violence will not resume.

So here we have Israeli officials openly and explicitly saying that the attacks on Gaza have not ended, and the US president saying that they have. It’s not often you see these two governments directly contradicting each other with mutually exclusive positions in ways that will necessarily be proven or disproven by the events which follow.

So I guess we’re about to find out who has ultimately been in charge of the Gaza genocide this whole time.

October 14, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Can Pro-Israel Billionaires Succeed, by Buying More US Media Platforms?

October 14, 2025 Posted by | media, USA | Leave a comment

Labour investing in nuclear due to fear of Scottish independence.

 LABOUR may be investing hard in nuclear energy due to the fear of Scottish
independence, Stephen Flynn has suggested.

The SNP Westminster was speaking
at an event at SNP conference and took aim at the amount of cash the UK
Government has diverted from funding GB Energy to nuclear projects in
England.

Labour’s General Election manifesto in 2024 pledged £8.3
billion to GB Energy but Rachel Reeves effectively cut billions in funding
from the energy company — which is officially headquartered in Aberdeen,
although most jobs so far are in England – in June.

The Chancellor’s
spending review said a new body tasked with spearheading Britain’s
nuclear renaissance would receive £2.5bn of that funding for small modular
reactors (SMRs). She also confirmed a further £14.2 billion UK Government
investment in the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Sussex.

“I understand from a UK Government perspective why they might seek to go down that route because of the lack of indigenous energy production that they have,” Flynn told delegates. “And maybe there’s a fear in the back of their mind that if Scotland goes, they’re going to have to find some
electricity tonto to meet their own energy security requirements.”

In 2024, renewable energy accounted for about 70% of Scotland’s electricity
generation, which is significantly higher than England – which relies
more heavily on a mix that includes fossil fuels and nuclear power. Swinney
also hit out at the amount of Scottish families who are living in fuel
poverty despite Scotland being energy rich. “Scotland produces 6 times
more gas than it consumes, and 70% of our electricity comes from renewable sources,” he said. “So, I think all of us should be should be
questioning why we are such an energy originator and so many of our people are living in fuel poverty and why we’re not able to maximise that energy production in order to attract businesses and then, therefore, grow our economy.”

 The National 12th Oct 2025, https://www.thenational.scot/news/25536897.labour-investing-nuclear-due-fear-scottish-independence/

October 14, 2025 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

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