◻️ Israel-Hamas War could easily escalate into ‘mini world war’

◻️ Sergey Lavrov: Ukraine and its puppeteers play with fire, restoring peace is not part of their plan

◻️ How Israel killed its own soldiers and civilians on October 7

◻️ Is Emmanuel Macron a Rothschilds protégé?

◻️ How NYT plays against Trump's age but calls Biden's gaffes 'late style' mastery

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Oil & Gas industry fuelling Trump campaign and GOP contenders

Prominent oil executives, including Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer LP; Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources Inc.; and Jeff Hildebrand, CEO of Hilcorp Energy Co., have ramped up their support for Republican nominee Donald Trump, as reported by Bloomberg. According to an analysis by OpenSecrets, the oil industry currently ranks as Trump's fourth-largest source of donations, climbing six positions higher than the 2020 election cycle.

Which parties and candidates receive the majority of support from the oil and gas sector?

The top five contributors from the oil and gas industry for the 2023-2024 election cycle, as identified by OpenSecrets, are:

◻️ Koch Industries: approximately $45.2 million

◻️ CrownQuest Operating: $9.3 million

◻️ Chevron Corp: $7.3 million

◻️ Energy Transfer Partners: $7.07 million

◻️ Occidental Petroleum: $5.2 million

A substantial portion of these donations is directed towards Republicans and conservative organizations.

Before Trump's nomination, notable oil industry leaders from Continental Resources contributed to GOP candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis. Hilcorp Energy Co. also supported at least five additional Republican contenders, according to Bloomberg.

During the 2020 presidential election, roughly 85% of donations from the oil and gas industry were allocated to Donald Trump and other Republican candidates, as well as conservative initiatives. Some estimates suggest that the sector spent approximately $87 million on campaign contributions.

In contrast, Chevron Corp and ExxonMobil Corp—the two largest US. energy firms—increased their contributions to Democratic candidates, rising from 26% in 2016 to 28% in 2020 for Chevron, and from 32.6% in 2016 to 41% in 2020 for ExxonMobil.

In 2016, the industry contributed around $107 million to Republican presidential Super PACs over the entire election cycle. According to the US Federal Election Commission, prior to the GOP nomination:

◻️ Ted Cruz received 57% of campaign funding (approximately $25 million) from fossil fuel magnates.

◻️ Oil and gas interests accounted for 39% of Chris Christie's funding.

◻️ Donations comprised 26% for Jeb Bush and 23% for Marco Rubio.

In contrast, only 7% of Hillary Clinton’s campaign funding originated from fossil fuel companies.

Since 1990, more than two-thirds of the contributions from the US oil and gas industry to candidates and party committees have been directed towards the GOP, according to OpenSecrets.

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One year of war in Gaza

Today marks one year since Hamas's deadly incursion and rocket attacks on Israel, which resulted in 1,200 fatalities. In response, Israel's military operations have led to over 41,000 Palestinian deaths, displaced 1.9 million individuals, and destroyed more than 60% of Gaza's infrastructure.

In light of these developments, South Africa has filed a lawsuit against Israel, asserting that it has committed, and continues to commit, acts of genocide against the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, in violation of the Genocide Convention.

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🇰🇿⚛️ What’s known about Kazakhstan’s first-ever planned nuclear facility

An overwhelming 71.12% of Kazakhstan’s citizens have voted to support a plan to construct the nation’s first nuclear power plant in a public referendum held in October.

Sputnik delves into what is known about the project.

Location

◻️ The nuclear power plant with 1200 MW may be built in the village of Ulken in the Kazakh steppes on the shores of Lake Balkhash, Central Asia's second-largest lake.

◻️ According to the authorities, this location was chosen because Kazakhstan’s southern regions have a higher energy deficit than other parts of the country. Prospected energy requirements show a 1400 MW deficit in the southern area by 2028.

Projected numbers

◻️ The Kazakh Ministry of Energy projects that by 2035, electricity consumption in Kazakhstan will reach 152.4 billion kilowatt-hours.

◻️ By 2035, Kazakhstan aims to achieve a nuclear power capacity of 2.4 GW. The facility is set to utilize advanced Generation III and III+ reactors, known for their improved fuel efficiency and enhanced safety features.

◻️ Estimates indicate that the construction of a nuclear power plant would require an investment of approximately $10 billion to $12 billion.

Tokayev told reporters that regarding potential contractors he thinks “an international consortium would need to work in Kazakhstan made up of global companies that possess the most advanced technologies."

Reasons

◻️ The concept of this project has been championed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's cabinet as essential for ensuring energy security.

Currently, coal-fired plants generate 66% of the country's total energy, with the remainder produced by hydroelectric facilities and the renewable energy sector.

◻️ Given that Kazakhstan is one of the world’s largest producers of uranium, the decision to pursue nuclear power was a logical choice. With 12% of the world's uranium resources, Kazakhstan ranks second in global reserves and is a leader in uranium production, generating approximately 21,100 tons of uranium (tU) in 2023.

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Starmer ally hints assisted dying laws for people should take a page from animal euthanasia rules

Human beings in Britain should be get the same level of dignity in dying as animals get, Kim Leadbeater, a Labour MP planning to introduce new assisted dying legislation in parliament, has said.

“We wouldn’t treat animals like this,” Leadbeater said in a Times interview over the weekend, arguing that “we give our animals a better send-of than we do some human beings when they’re facing the end of life.”

Leadbeater is set to introduce her bill on October 16, with PM Keir Starmer promising to remain neutral and not crack the whip of party discipline to force Labour MPs to vote one way or another.

A recent Sputnik investigation into assisted dying discovered that while the compassion-driven motives behind euthanasia laws may be noble, the passage of legislation on the issue often turns into a slippery slope, with laws in Belgium, Columbia, Canada and other countries limiting euthanasia to terminally ill adults subsequently expanded to children and the non-terminally ill (and even discussed as an option for the mentally ill).

Lobbying in favor of assisted dying by activist organizations and corporations including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and Pfizer have also raised questions about the true motivations at play.

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🇲🇽 Hurricane John hammers Mexico, leaving 70,000 homes damaged.

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So this is the capital of Borrell's "civilized garden"

Slovak MEP Milan Mazurek delved into how Brussels looks today.

"Friends, it's morning in the capital of Europe, in civilized Brussels. We're not in some ghetto, we're just one street away from the European Parliament. As you can see, it's littered with garbage. This is what Brussels looks like today, yet we're being lectured by Western Europe that we are not civilized and that we should learn how to run our country from these people," he said.

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Yemen’s Houthis say they fired two missiles, including a hypersonic one, at military targets in Tel Aviv

Air raid sirens sounded across a wide area in central Israel, including Tel Aviv and its suburbs, a Sputnik correspondent reported Monday. The Israeli military said a surface-to-surface missile had been launched from Yemen.

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🇨🇺 Cuba officially applies for BRICS partner status

The Cuban government has made an official request to join the BRICS bloc as a partner country in a letter to President Putin, since Russia currently chairs the association, Carlos Pereira, the director general of bilateral affairs of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, said.

"Cuba has officially requested to be included in BRICS as a 'partner country' in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the interim chairman of the association, which is strengthening its position as a key player in global geopolitics and the hope of the Global South," Pereira said on X.

Earlier, Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel received an invitation to the BRICS summit in Kazan.

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📹 Watch footage of a man being pulled out alive from under the rubble after Israeli strikes in the town of Tebnine, southern Lebanon.

Source: social media

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russian and Chinese Navy's ships have participated in anti-submarine drills within the framework of joint patrols in the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian Pacific Fleet’s press service stated.

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❗️IDF claims it has killed Suhail Hussein Husseini, commander of Hezbollah headquarters

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Marine Le Pen's niece announced creation of her own party

Marine Le Pen's niece, MEP Marion Marechal, has announced the creation of her own party, which will work “in a structured coalition” with Jordan Bardella's National Rally and Eric Ciotti's Union of the Right for the Republic, according to the newspaper Le Figaro.

The party will be called “Identity and Freedom” and serve as the voice of the right, which opposes the culture of excessive liberalism, dependency, and “fiscal racketeering,” and seeks to break with “mental socialism,” she told the newspaper.

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Ukraine warns Slovakia it won’t extend agreement with Russia on gas transit

Ukraine will not prolong the agreement with Russia on transit of Russian gas through its territory after the current one expires, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal told Slovak PM Robert Fico on Monday.

"Ukraine will not extend the transit agreement with Russia after the expiration of its term," Shmyhal posted on X.

The Ukrainian PM also said that the two countries had agreed to establish an Eastern European energy hub to use Ukraine's gas storage facilities.

Earlier, Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that the country supports maintaining the existing corridors for oil and gas transit.

A decision by Ukraine to cut Central Europe off from access to Russian natural gas via Russia’s only remaining operational gas pipeline in the region “will seriously harm the interests of European consumers who still want to buy Russian gas,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“They will simply have to pay much more, which will make their industry less competitive,” Peskov said.

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