News – in a week special for nuclear issues, and now for climate, too

I’m thinking of changing my name to ”Cassandra”.(Greek goddess of  gloom and doom) The media in my country, and elsewhere,  has been ecstatic about Olympic Games medals. I guess that’s a relief from the virus/vaccine focus.  But it seems that nobody knows that this week has been the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that Fukushima ”recovery” has not really happened. That the Japanese government, despite the pandemic, in fact did not have the power to cancel the Games – under the contract, only the IOC can do that. That vast sums were spent, and will leave the Japanese people with vast debt, right when they have a crippling health crisis. . That the extravagant arenas and  buildings will become white elephants.That 430 athletes and others in the Olympic Village  got Covid-19.

Similarly, in the news we heard some whispers about wildfires around the world, and catastrophic floods, too. You really need alternative media to put all this together. A leader in this is Radio Ecoshock –  ”I’ve Seen Fire and I’ve Seen Rain”.  

BUT – just as I write this  – up comes the UN Climate report 2021 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDSySmJChXgSurely this will wake up the mainstream media, even in Australia.Coronavirus – there’s still a surge in cases, worldwide, with a clear trend to the pandemic affecting the un-vaccinated.

Some bits of good news. Hard to find – but here’s a place – Empathy in the English Channel and A bird recovery programme, and Africa’s largest forest  reserve in recovery. 

AUSTRALIA

  On the brink of a new nuclear arms race. On Hiroshima Day, the City of Newcastle reaffirms its commitment as a Nuclear Free Zone, supporting United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  

People of the Pacific condemn Talisman Sabre Military Exercises.

Conservation Council of South Australia supports ANSTO’s proposal for a new Intermediate Level Solid Waste Storage Facility at Lucas Heights. Thousands of litres of sulphuric acid leaks from tanker as it travels through South Australia froma uranium mine.

INTERNATIONAL.

Global average temperature rise of 1.5c likely to be reached 10 years early. The world is getting “dangerously close” to running out of time to avert catastrophic climate change.

Towards a clean and sustainable energy system: 26 criteria nuclear power does not meet .

Nuclear weapons cannot be used, but their danger persists. Now, in the times of the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty, nuclear deterrence continues, but becomes increasingly discredited. Renounce the use and further development of nuclear weapons. The hard fought campaign continues – to ban nuclear weapons.

The myth that the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified.

Complicit – The countries, companies and think tanks that support the deadly nuclear arms trade.

JAPAN.Hiroshima City remembers the sudden cruelty of the atomic bombing . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWP3GWFI7nk  Tokyo Olympics part of propaganda strategy to downplay Fukushima nuclear disaster, as Olympics have been previously used to downplay Hiroshima bombing. Tokyo Olympics were touted as a showcase for Fukushima nuclear recovery. That didn’t work.

RUSSIA. Fire, floods ravage Russia, threaten nuclear research site  .

USA. 

• .. David Swanson explodes the myths about why the USA nuclear bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.   How the USA fabricated a movie, full of falsehoods about the nuclear bombing in 1945.  
•  Jesuit Steve Kelly has done jail time for protesting nuclear weapons. He’s willing to do it again
•  Group of USA Republicans and Democrats united in $trillion Bill to subsidise the nuclear and carbon capture industries. 
•  Stalemate between environmentalists and unions on keeping Illinois nuclear reactors going. Exelon keeps up its drive for subsidies to keep uneconomic nuclear reactors going. While State and Federal governments hurry to subsidise nuclear power plants, Exelon is closing Illinois nuclear stations anyway. 
•   Delay in demolition of Three Mile Island Nuclear Station. Stockton Professor: Nuclear Power is “Terrible Neighbor. 
• U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to give OK for spent nuclear fuel storage in Texas. 
•  US Renewables Generated More Power Than Coal Or Nuclear In 2020 For First Time. US companies announce plans for nuclear-powered bitcoin mine. 
• The nuclear industry is dying. Bitcoin to the rescue?

CANADA. Costs of Ontario’s nuclear program will be the burden of the great-grandchildren of babies born in 2021.

UK.

• Britain joins the craze for war in space – reviving the evil ”Skynet”?. The UK’s Nuclear Escalation Flagrantly Violates International Law. 
•  More Nuclear Power Isn’t Needed, So Why Do Governments Keep Hyping it? The impact of climate change on nuclear reactors should be a key part of COP26 Climate Summit. 
• UK Taxpayer funding will pour in, to get Rolls Royce’s small modular nuclear reactors happening.
•  Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) publishes analysis of report of-”Just Transition Commission in Scotland” – moving to renewables, while providing jobs.
•  EDF’s plans to produce pink hydrogen at proposed 3.2GW nuclear plant are ‘daft’: argues influential independent analyst Liebreich. 
•  Housing market affected in Lincolnshire, as villagers react against UK government plans for a nuclear waste dump. 
•  Campaigners dismayed as application to dump Hinkley Point mud in the Bristol Channel is approved. 
•  British Navy secrecy over nuclear submarine crashes.

IRAN. EU optimistic on nuclear deal despite Iran leadership change. Problems continue for Iran nuclear talks as new Iran President takes office.

ISRAEL. Israel Says Iran Should ‘Never Become a Nuclear Power.’ But What if It Already Is One? Mainstream media ignores how Israel continues sabotaging the Iran nuclear deal  .

GREECE. Apocalyptic scenes hit Greece, as Athens besieged by fire.

FRANCE. Framatome’s sub-standard nuclear fuel is threatening the survival of France’s nuclear company EDF . The incident that caused the shutdown of the Taishan nuclear power plant occurs regularly in France. France’s secrecy and censorship on the atomic bomb tests in the Pacific.

BELGIUM. Belgium’s mayors show solidarity with nuclear victims, support the UN nuclear weapons ban Treaty.

DENMARK, NORWAY. Russian nuclear submarine lost propulsion in Danish waters, sails submerged outside Norway now.

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