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“Strategic interdependence is rewiring the global economy…
“Multinationals that previously focused on efficiency now centre their strategy on resilience and diversification. Companies are increasingly paying for the insurance policy of availability and scalability of supply, prioritising security over cost. Inventories are deeper and less efficient. Costs are higher, as is geopolitical scrutiny.”
https://www.ft.com/content/25ab5e71-6ae2-495b-bf06-6fd2f1cbb18a
“The lines between monetary and fiscal policy have blurred…
“Nowadays, central banks are not supposed to think about the impact of their monetary policy calls on government debt costs. But rate decisions have a material and unavoidable impact on the burden of government debt. Raising or lowering interest rates in order to hit an inflation target eventually feeds back via government bond markets into higher or lower debt service costs for taxpayers.”
https://www.ft.com/content/07656692-89fa-4e06-9f1b-e9cac42dbb41
“US national debt reaches a record $37 trillion, the Treasury Department reports…
“The U.S. government’s gross national debt has surpassed $37 trillion, a record number that highlights the accelerating debt on America’s balance sheet and increased cost pressures on taxpayers… The national debt eclipsed $37 trillion years sooner than pre-pandemic projections.”
“Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ defence plan includes space missiles, lasers…
“According to a series of slides, titled “Go Fast, Think Big!”, presented to some 3,000 defence contractors in Huntsville, Alabama, last week, Reuters says that plans for the Golden Dome include three layers of missile interceptors, radar arrays and lasers, in addition to its space-based defences.”
“Trump planning new military unit to rapidly crush civil unrest…
“The plan, seen by The Washington Post, suggests a rotation model using troops from units in multiple states, with personnel equipped with weapons and riot gear, and deployments lasting 90 days to “limit burnout”.”
“Toxic Shale Drilling Wastewater Threatens Top Oil Fields, Texas Agency Warns.
“A Texas agency overseeing 13 million acres of state land is warning that toxic waste fluid from shale drilling threatens to contaminate oil wells in North America’s most prolific crude basin.”
“China’s new canola tariff heightens trade tensions with Canada.
“China has launched new anti-dumping duties on Canadian canola, in an escalation of trade tensions between Beijing and Ottawa that has pushed down futures prices on fears of a supply glut… The move follows duties Beijing imposed on Canadian canola meal and oil in March this year…”
https://www.ft.com/content/620eb83e-44b5-4e7b-b6fd-793f3bf6f1ea
“China’s fight against price wars is an uphill battle.
“Overcapacity has made its way into China’s domestic market, with price wars leading to collapsing profitability and accelerating deflation. The government has responded by launching a so-called “anti-involution” program to combat deflationary price wars.”
https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/chinas-fight-against-price-wars-is-an-uphill-battle-2025-08-12/
“Chinese warship crashes into own coastguard vessel while chasing Philippine boat in South China Sea.
“Video released by Manila showed a Chinese coastguard ship and a much larger vessel bearing the number 164 on its hull colliding with a loud crash in the wake of the Philippine vessel.”
“China says it ‘drove away’ U.S. warship near the disputed Scarborough Shoal.
“China accused the U.S. military of “seriously” infringing its sovereignty, adding that America’s actions “severely undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea, and violate international law and basic norms governing international relations.””
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/13/china-scarborough-shoal-us-philippines-conflict.html
“UK ministers have appointed insolvency advisers to make contingency plans for the potential collapse of Thames Water.
“The company, which supplies 16 million customers, has been racing to pull together a deal to avoid financial collapse.”
“A reliance on capricious foreign investors has left Britain on a knife edge…
“Britain has a bigger proportion in its overall sovereign debt profile of index-linked gilts than any other advanced economy. The higher the inflation rate, the greater the cost… It wouldn’t require much for international confidence in UK public debt to tip destructively over the edge, pulling the pound sterling down with it.”
“EU’s appetite for debt sets up fight with ‘frugal’ countries…
“Common borrowing is appealing to countries with high debt such as Italy and France, as EU loans offer lower interest rates than if they borrowed in their own names. But frugal countries are opposed, as they would be collectively liable for any country defaulting on the EU’s debt.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-debt-eu-budget-bonds/
“‘It’s a robot war’: eastern Ukraine faces onslaught of Russian glide bombs, rockets and kamikaze drones…
“…Russia has launched a record number of aerial attacks. Over the past week, from 4 to 10 August, the Russian military deployed more than 1,000 aerial bombs and nearly 1,400 kamikaze drones against Ukraine. The current record is 728 drones and 13 missiles sent in a single night in July, most directed at the western city of Lutsk.”
“White House downplays expectations for Trump-Putin Alaska summit…
“White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin would be a “listening exercise”, and that there was no particular outcome that Washington could predict.”
https://www.ft.com/content/bfce9d78-3782-40e4-816a-2e4a0da0f256
“Azerbaijan Threatens to Arm Ukraine if Russia Hits Baku-Linked Assets Again.
“Azerbaijan has warned that it could lift its arms embargo on Kyiv if Russia keeps targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine linked to the South Caucasus country, officials familiar with the matter informed the Azerbaijani news outlet Caliber.”
https://thedefensepost.com/2025/08/12/azerbaijan-arm-ukraine-russia/
“Thailand accuses Cambodia of planting landmines after soldier injured…
“Thai army spokesperson Major General Winthai Suvaree said the incident proved Cambodia had breached the truce and violated international agreements, including the Ottawa Convention banning landmines.”
“UN probe finds evidence of ‘systematic torture’ in Myanmar…
“United Nations investigators say they have gathered evidence of systematic torture in Myanmar’s detention facilities, identifying senior figures among those responsible.,, It also documented the abuse of children, often detained unlawfully as proxies for their missing parents.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/12/un-probe-finds-evidence-of-systematic-torture-in-myanmar
“Turkey unable to push Russia to speed up nuclear plant construction as financial and diplomatic tensions mount…
“Turkish officials and company representatives have confirmed that the slowdown has prompted many foreign workers to leave. Numerous Russian and Uzbek employees have returned home after going without pay for up to two months, according to project sources.”
“With IDF Soldiers and Settlers Expelling Palestinians, the West Bank Is Seeing a Creeping Nakba.
“Under the cover of the war in Gaza and with the full backing of the IDF, Israel’s settlement enterprise, from government officials to the youngest member of the radical, often violent “hilltop youth,” has been given free rein.”
“Netanyahu pushes for Palestinians’ departure from Gaza as Egypt seeks 60-day truce…
“Netanyahu has endorsed Trump’s suggestion earlier this year to expel Gaza’s more than two million people to Egypt and Jordan, while far-right Israeli ministers have called for their “voluntary” departure.”
“The situation in Yemen is “deeply fragile” and has been exacerbated by the spillover of the Israel-Gaza war, the UN’s envoy to the country said on Monday.
“Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council that regional turmoil “continues to erode prospects for peace and stability” in the country.”
“Hunger and violence grip Sudan’s South Kordofan as blockades bite.
“Children are scavenging for scraps of sorghum, and adults are queuing for hours for food in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, where a hunger crisis fueled by warring factions has sparked deadly protests, a crime wave, and accusations that the army is compounding the misery.”
https://sudantribune.com/article303803/
“Congo army and rebels trade blame over clashes, troop buildup.
“Congo’s army on Tuesday accused Rwanda-backed rebels of carrying out multiple attacks in eastern Congo which it said violated agreements signed in Washington and Doha, and warned it reserved the right to respond to provocations.”
“Nigerian troops kill more than 100 ‘bandits’ in northwest operation…
“The raid follows rising violence, including a deadly attack by the gang on Adabka village last week. The ongoing conflict, fuelled by organised crime and resource disputes, is worsening regional instability and malnutrition.”
“Mali soldiers arrested over coup allegations…
“Frustration has grown since the military government banned political parties and extended its rule indefinitely… Tensions are high in Mali’s capital, Bamako, after the arrests of dozens of soldiers in recent days, including two high-ranking generals.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/12/mali-soldiers-arrested-over-coup-allegations-what-we-know
“Soaring demand at food banks across Africa thanks to massive aid cuts…
“Food banks across Africa have told The Independent that cuts to foreign aid – primarily by Donald Trump in the US, but including the UK – are helping to significantly drive up the number of people needing their help, while reducing the supplies they can hand out.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/trump-aid-cuts-africa-food-banks-b2804526.html
“UN says bid to help address turmoil in Haiti less than 10 percent funded…
“The lacklustre funding numbers underscore concerns over flagging international efforts to assist the Caribbean island nation, which is reeling from violence as powerful armed gangs jostle for control of territory and resources amid political and economic instability.”
“Cuban currency hits record low as dollarization gains ground…
“The Cuban peso traded on the informal market at an all-time low of 400 to the dollar on Monday, as the partial dollarization of the state-dominated economy gained momentum, stoking social tensions amid scarcity of basic goods, runaway inflation, and deteriorating infrastructure and public services.”
“Big Oil Abandons Colombia Amid Rising Chaos and Fiscal Crisis…
“After a tumultuous few years with protests, tax hikes, soaring violence, and bans on exploration weighing on Colombia’s economically vital oil industry, the inevitable has occurred: Big Oil is abandoning the strife-torn country.”
“Risks of climate crisis to Australia’s economy and environment are ‘intense and scary’, unreleased government report says…
“Sources who have seen drafts of the risk assessment said it included scenarios that showed the climate crisis would affect all Australians, including in ways that to date have been little discussed in political debate.”
“Asset managers fight for retail access to catastrophe bonds…
“Surging sales of the insurance-linked product have enabled small investors to bet on natural disasters… [However], earlier this summer, the European Securities and Markets Authority advised the European Commission to exclude cat bonds from the EU’s largest retail fund regime — setting up a broader fight over whether the investments carry too much risk.”
https://www.ft.com/content/82c7bf49-7a51-4d83-97bc-0cb377950a53
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“Food banks across Africa have told The Independent that cuts to foreign aid – primarily by Donald Trump in the US, but including the UK – are helping to significantly drive up the number of people needing their help, while reducing the supplies they can hand out.”
It’s definitely not because of cuts to aid. It’s food production decline and inflation due to multiple factors.
Not to mention, since it is the global north that is dependent on the southern agriculture, the whole notion of north-south food aid is self-righteously hypocritical nonsense. The UK for example, imports 1000% & 500% of its domestic production of fruits and vegetables, respectively. Corresponding figures for the US – 300% & 80%. Corresponding figures for China – 3.8% & 0.03%.
The data is from the FAO’s website:
https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS
“It’s definitely not because of cuts to aid.”
Jupiviv, the issue of foreign aid from the West is apparently something of a bête noire for you, to the point where you prefer not to acknowledge it has offered any benefits and so in turn argue that its removal is a non-factor.
I think both things can be true, ie that it is self-righteous and hypocritical, symptomatic of a grossly inequitable global north/south divide etc, but that some people have benefited from it and will suffer from its absence.
The article itself is only arguing that aid cuts are compounding the impacts of climate change and the cost of living crisis; not that they are the root cause of increased demand at food banks. They could have made that clearer in the headline, I guess.
It is also fair to point out that this article is part of The Independent’s “Rethinking Global Aid Project,” which receives funding from the Gates Foundation. Make of that what you will. 😆
I got the impression that article is talking food insecurity and reduced/cut food aid interchangeably. But since food aid is used for relief efforts that by definition are limited to small groups of people, it has little if anything to do with caloric intake at the level of entire countries let alone a continent.
That those who depended on food banks are now suffering is axiomatic, but that has nothing to do with my point. Those who receive food aid are a tiny fraction of the food insecure population. Even if all aid programs were restarted and then doubled in funding tomorrow, it would have virtually no impact on caloric intake in the global south.
Well, fine, but I feel like we are going around in circles with this one.
Crumbs from the table they may be but some will miss them when their gone, and the fact that there is minimal impact on the global south as a collective entity will not be much comfort to those individuals or groups of individuals affected.
“Risks of climate crisis to Australia’s economy and environment are ‘intense and scary’, unreleased government report says…”
Yup.
Some further reporting to bolster this article tells us that “the government gave a secret briefing on 9 December last year [2024] to a number of Teal and independent members of parliament on the contents of the Office of National Intelligence assessment of climate-related security risks — one which the government had classified and refused to release in a declassified form for two years…Senator David Pocock was at the secret briefing… Pocock says that: ‘After hustling the government for the last few years, they gave crossbenchers a private briefing on it and it’s frankly terrifying, what our national security agencies are telling us is coming, and the government is not acting…'” (bolding mine)
https://www.climatecodered.org/2025/03/government-refuses-to-articulate.html?m=1
For some reason, Extreme – It’s a Monster came to mind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o2ve9g5miY
James, in contrast, the UK government’s most recent “Climate Change Risk Assessment” [2022] was pretty tepid and still seeing an upside:
“Climate change will also present some opportunities for the UK – there is a role for government to help fully realise these: This includes some areas of trade, where the UK may gain a comparative advantage, either because the climate becomes more suitable in the UK, or because climate change impacts are greater in competitor countries. These include, for example, tourism and some agricultural exports.”
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61e54d8f8fa8f505985ef3c7/climate-change-risk-assessment-2022.pdf
Thanks for the music video. The only Extreme track I’ve heard before is their ballad, “More than Words”. This is much harder edged, obviously:
“It’s a monster (we all have within us)
It’s a monster (it’s a monster)
It’s a, it’s a monster
It’s a monster (turns us into sinners)
It’s a monster (it’s a monster)”
There’s some truth to that.
Going over my daily comment quota to post the Aug STEO USA forecast:
https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/pdf/steo_full.pdf
We expect increases in well productivity will push U.S. crude oil production to an all-time high near 13.6 million b/d in December 2025. However, as crude oil prices fall, we expect U.S. producers will accelerate the decreases in drilling and well completion activity that have been ongoing through most of this year, and we forecast U.S. crude oil production will decline to 13.1 million b/d by 4Q26. On an annual basis, we now forecast crude oil production will average 13.4 million b/d in 2025 and 13.3 million b/d in 2026.
If average WTI prices fall below $50 as they say, wouldn’t production fall much further than they predict?
Jupiviv , your answers are here . Spanish use translator .
https://futurocienciaficcionymatrix.blogspot.com/2025/08/solo-comentarios-post-numero-4-agosto.html#comments
Many thanks for that, Jupiviv, and Ravi, for your link.
My own knowledge doesn’t run deep enough to offer a worthwhile opinion on the production impacts of sub-$50 WTI. Efficiency gains from technological advances have been impressive but there must be limits to that.
Obviously, Brent around $50 would be painful for nations like Iraq and Nigeria. Russia’s 2026 budget assumes $66 a barrel, so it would cause problems for them, too. The EIA’s forecast is at the bottom end of the spectrum, so we’ll see.
Pan: The only Extreme track I’ve heard before is their ballad, “More than Words”.
James: Ha, yeah. The best I can do is quote a YouTube comment:
“Killer guitar solo! The “More Than Words” crowd were thinking ‘what band is this?'”
and the follow-up
“Honestly lmao. I genuinely believe MTW [More Than Words] did a disservice to Extreme and how amazing there guitar rifts can be. Shame people won’t hear or listen to this band”
I know this is C&E and not music recommendations, but I often see music posts and shares here as a means of coping. So, I’ll say this: if you love 90s metal, then you just gotta listen to their album “Pornografitti.”
Nuno Bettencourt one of the greats as a guitarist, IMO.
James, “More Than Words” was so cloying it left me with no incentive to find out more about the band, but I shall dig deeper on your recommendation.
1990, when “More Than Words” was released, was a real low point for music after the super creative 80’s. Here in the UK, we were drowning in mediocre dance music and generic Stock Aitken and Waterman-produced pop.
US imports, New Kids on the Block achieved the first number one of the 90’s with their dismal “Hanging Tough”, but it was also the lowest selling number one ever at that point, such was public apathy. Vanilla Ice was also flashing in the pan, God help us.
A few gems emerged, though. I still listen to this from time to time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtYujyhvIyQ
Always suspect that recycling, for the most part, was a bit of Green washing in an attempt to kick the can down the road and ease our conscience of overconsumption. This appeared and would like to share today here.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A national trade organization is suing the state of Oregon over a newly-implemented recycling law that the groups says will threaten the supply chain industry across the United States.
https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/crushing-burdens-wholesaler-group-challenges-oregon-recycling-law/amp/
On July 30, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors filed the lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield –challenging the constitutionality of Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act of 2021.
The act requires companies that make products such as packaging, printing and writing paper and food service ware, to join the Circular Action Alliance, a producer responsibility organization that charges producers a fee to help recycle products and help producers comply with recycling laws.
Under Oregon’s law, PROs began charging producers for their membership July 1, 2025.
By the end of the month, NAW filed their lawsuit, arguing the Oregon law could create “crushing burdens” for America’s wholesale industry.
While NAW supports the goal of a circular economy, the Oregon (extended producer responsibility) law as enacted is unconstitutional, creates new mandates, inhibits interstate commerce and fails at its primary goal of encouraging circularity,” NAW President and CEO Eric Hoplin said in a statement.
“Rather than encourage sustainability through a uniform and transparent system where compliance burdens are shared across industries, Oregon chose to shift the burden to the parts of the supply chain that have little to no control over decisions to design, reduce, reuse or recycle a product,” Hoplin continued.
I sympathize because less than 10% of plastics ever get recycled and basically the plastic industry orchestrated the system for appearances.
Regardless, another “cost” our way of life that is likely to be unmanageable.
P.S. the most recycled product….ice car batteries…go figure.
Thanks, Vince. It does seem strange to me that an external charity is being used to police environmental standards and that firms are having to pay it for the privilege.
You’d think the government should be setting down the environmental guidelines and then using an internal agency to spot-check they are being adhered to. The Environment Agency certainly does that in the UK.
Go to YouTube & search “China’s missing people”.
Videos showing deserted rural villages, few people at airports, shopping areas & city streets. Makes you go hmm & ask why?