North America

Industry Plans Thousands of Miles of New Gas Pipelines to Boost LNG Exports^DeSmog^

U.S. fossil fuel firms are pushing to build more than 2,900 miles of natural gas pipelines to feed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in Louisiana, Texas, and Alaska, in a bid to send more of the fuel to Asia and Europe, a new analysis by Global Energy Monitor shows.

Oh, so YOU'RE allowed to have pipelines but other countries aren't?

West Coast ILWU carries out vote on contract covering 22,000 dockworkers^WSWS^

After forcing 22,000 West Coast dockworkers to labor for over a year without a contract, the International Longshore Warehouse Union (ILWU) has called a vote this week on a tentative agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA).

Death Toll From Hawaii Wildfires Hits 101^TS^
Biden offers contemptible $700 per household for survivors of Maui wildfires^WSWS^

How did labor and community unite to defeat the establishment in Chicago?^PW^
Communists map fight against capitalists as big business tightens screws on workers^PW^

What its chair called “a time of upheaval and militancy in the labor movement” has prompted the Communist Party USA’s Labor Commission, in a two-day meeting in Chicago, to draft plans for mass action by the party and its allies in both unions and non-union working-class organizations across the country.

Ralph Lauren investigated in Canada over Uygur forced labour claims^SCMP^
Indigenous resistance challenges Ontario’s ‘mining boom’^CD^

Latin America

Venezuela launches talks with Russia for new weapons systems^AM^
Venezuelan Supreme Court intervenes Communist Party^MP^
Exxon awarded $77 million in claim against Venezuela^Bilaterals^
US, Main Threat to Peace in Latam - Venezuelan Defense Minister^TS^

Argentine gov't orders 22% devaluation of the peso^MP^
Argentina Just Took a Step Closer to Dollarising Its Economy, And Away from the BRICS^NC^
Argentine far-right outsider Javier Milei takes shock lead in primary vote^Euractiv^

With 65% of ballots counted, far-right libertarian economist Javier Milei had 32.2% of the vote, far higher than predicted, with the main conservative opposition bloc behind on 27.7% and the ruling Peronist coalition in third place on 25.8%.

Shit's fucked.

Violence surrounds Canadian mining projects in Ecuador^CD^

Two Canadian mining companies are drawing the ire of activists and Indigenous groups in Ecuador, where the government of Guillermo Lasso is using Toronto-based Adventus Mining’s Curipamba copper-gold project in Las Naves and Vancouver-headquartered Atico Mining’s La Plata project in Sigchos as test sites to impose a new and controversial process for environmental consultation under Decree 754—an executive edict issued on May 31 that has been roundly denounced as unconstitutional and illegal.

Decree 754 aims to formalize a process for environmental consultation with the public, however it affords communities no rights to veto development projects on their lands. And while Ecuadorians have long demanded to have a meaningful say in weighing environmental risks for industrial activities like mining, opponents say the legislation is being introduced as a check-box exercise in an effort to expand mining in the country by accelerating the granting of environmental permits to transnational companies.

The War Against The West

US, Turkey negotiating to seek alternatives to Black Sea Grain Deal^AM^

UK MI6 to send 100 Ukrainian fighters to Africa and counter Russia^AJ^

The West and the War in Ukraine: Selling and Buying Hopium^NC^

NATO Official Suggests Ukraine Could Cede Territory to Russia to Join Alliance^SP^

Western press fetishizes Ukrainian amputees as limb loss epidemic grows^GrayZone^

After 18 months of devastating proxy warfare, the scale of the depletion of the Ukrainian military is so extensive that even mainstream sources have been forced to concede the cruel reality. On August 1, The Wall Street Journal reported that “between 20,000 and 50,000 Ukrainians” have “lost one or more limbs since the start of the war.” What’s more, the outlet notes, “the actual figure could be higher” because “it takes time to register patients after they undergo the procedure.”

By comparison, around 67,000 Germans and 41,000 Britons underwent amputations during the entire four-year span of the First World War. The publication quotes the head of a group of former military surgeons who train Ukrainian military medics who maintained that “Western military surgeons haven’t seen injuries on this scale since World War II.”

In a July 8 op-ed titled “They’re Ready to Fight Again, on Artificial Legs,” Kristof insisted that rather than resenting being used as cannon fodder, Ukraine’s newly-disabled veterans “carry their stumps with pride.”

Japan, US to develop missile to intercept hypersonic weapons^ANN^

China cuts US Treasury holdings to 14-year low amid persisting security concerns, geopolitical tensions^SCMP^

China has cut its holdings by US$103 billion in the past year to June, or 11 per cent of its total. It has only raised its holdings in two months, including by US$20.3 billion in March and US$320 million in July 2022.

Japan, the world’s largest foreign buyer, also reduced its holdings by US$127.1 billion in the same period, reflecting concerns over the aggressive interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve. Bond prices usually fall when interest rates increase.

China's Defense Minister to visit Russia, Belarus this week^AM^
Chinese Defense Minister attends Moscow security conference^GT^
U.S. steps up effort to drive a wedge between Vietnam and China^PW^

US is no longer global power that it used to be: The Strategist^AM^

A report published in The Strategist and written by Amin Saikal on Tuesday suggested that the United States and its allies' withdrawal from Afghanistan two years ago has seemingly put an everlasting question mark on America's capacity to influence world events.

Retrospectives, Analysis, History, Theory, and Technology

Wall Street Mega Banks and Their Disgraceful Bailout Charts Since the Repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999^WSoP^

Women across the world struggle to find emancipation and empowerment through work^ET^

According to a 2018 report by the World Bank, 2.75 billion women do not have the same employment opportunities as men. This is due in particular to the fact that “104 economies around the world have some form of job restrictions on women’s work, for instance in industries such as mining, manufacturing, construction, energy, agriculture, water and transportation,” as well as to persistent sexual harassment in the workplace and restrictions on freedom of movement, all of which represent obstacles to women’s participation in social and economic life.

Creating an Independent World^MichaelHudson^

LGBTQIA+

New Hampshire Outlaws 'LGBTQ+ Panic' Defense in Homicide Cases^Advocate^

Sununu, a Republican, signed House Bill 315 last week. It bars defendants in these cases from blaming their actions on a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The bill was the subject of contention among legislators, with some objections from both parties.

Climate and the Environment

Increasing carbon dioxide is making our food less nutritious^Mongabay^

Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels negatively impact key mineral nutrients in plants, reducing the nutrition derived from consuming them, reveals a recent review article in the Trends in Plant Science Journal which summarises findings from several studies. The review by scientists from France explained that almost all C3 plants – which employ the C3 pathway for photosynthesis where the first carbon compound has three carbon atoms – that are exposed to elevated levels of carbon dioxide show reduction across nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium and sulphur.

Lula accuses the EU of disguising protectionist measures as environmental concern^Bilaterals^

From desert to oasis: China builds science-based ecological barrier^CGTN^

Over the past decade, two methods have been employed for sand control along the Linhe–Ceke railway. One is the biological sand control, which involves the planting of drought-resistant and sand-stabilizing vegetation in targeted areas.

Efforts to combat desertification along the Linhe–Ceke railway exemplify China's commitment to addressing this environmental challenge. Over the past ten years, 53 percent of the manageable desertification areas across China have undergone treatment.