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Three years after Maui wildfires many still struggle with ‘biological, emotional and social consequences’, study saysA spate of ferocious wildfires across North America and Europe, worsened by the climate crisis, has incinerated homes and forests and forced thousands of people to flee. Previous fires suggest the effects of these blazes may linger for years to come.The current fires and their plumes of smoke can appear to be a temporary, if immediate, crisis. Nearly 1,000 fires have sprung into life in the boreal forests of Canada, causing the evacuation of towns and toxic smoke to waft into major Canadian and US cities, prompting threats of retribution from Donald Trump, who bizarrely accused Canada of “poisoning” his country’s air. Continue reading...

A crucial meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday has allies of President Donald Trump on edge that it could lead to an expansion of the unpopular war in Iran.Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to the White House with a singular objective: convince Trump to escalate military operations against Iran, reports Politico. The Israeli Prime Minister, who reportedly helped incite the initial February attack along with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), is once again maneuvering to push the president toward a more aggressive and durable conflict.Trump's anti-interventionist America First base is bracing for impact after the "pivotal" meeting. Steve Bannon expressed their collective alarm: "Netanyahu has had twice as many visits to the White House in 18 months as Churchill had in all of World War II — with every one of them a disaster for America First."The Iran war has already dragged on for five months with no resolution in sight, the report notes. The U.S. and Iran briefly suspended tit-for-tat strikes over the weekend amid cautious hopes for a ceasefire. But Trump continues threatening "massive attacks," keeping the door wide open for renewed escalation.Netanyahu's seventh visit to the White House since Trump took office signals his desperation to lock in permanent war. America First allies fear this meeting could transform a temporary conflict into a years-long Middle East quagmire.According to the report, "The meeting comes as new polling shows that a growing share of the president’s base no longer believes the war is worth its economic costs. And Republicans are increasingly resigned to the fact that the war will likely still be hanging over voters in some form when they head to the polls in November."That led Curt Mills, executive director of American Conservative magazine, to describe the meeting as "DEFCON 1.""Netanyahu is going to argue for the essential logic of escalation," Mills explained. "If Trump is not willing to give the memorandum of understanding a chance and if Trump is not willing to walk away from the conflict entirely without a resolution—then I think we probably will escalate, and that's what we've been seeing these last couple of weeks."Trump's own allies acknowledge Netanyahu wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't push for military expansion. But that's precisely what terrifies them: Netanyahu will succeed, dragging Trump deeper into a conflict that's already hemorrhaging support within his base.

The surprise death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has opened the door for someone new to whisper in President Donald Trump's ear and possibly alter the arc of the war with Iran.Benjamin Netanyahu is seizing the moment, according to a report from Politico. The Israeli Prime Minister, long frustrated by increasingly limited White House access, has finally secured an invitation following Graham's funeral — a visit months in the making.Netanyahu has been "angling" for an Oval Office since at least April, according to sources familiar with the diplomatic maneuvering. Graham's death provided the opening Netanyahu needed."At first there was no meeting. They arranged it in the last couple of days," one insider told Politico, confirming that Netanyahu capitalized on the funeral to finalize arrangements that stalled for months.As Politico notes, Trump and Netanyahu haven't met "face-to-face" since February, just before the Iran war commenced — a conflict Netanyahu personally lobbied Trump to launch. Nearly five months have elapsed since that encounter.Netanyahu faces a precarious political position. He championed the Iranian military campaign, but the war has dragged far beyond initial projections. Trump predicted a four-to-five-week conflict, but the fighting continues with no resolution in sight.The White House visit allows Netanyahu to discuss escalation strategies with Trump, with Politico reporting, "Trump’s own staff are growing frustrated by the long odds of ending the fighting, and Trump has had harsh words for Netanyahu as the war has dragged on.""Bibi takes a risk coming to the White House. He might get pressed by President Trump with an ask, rather than the other way around," warned Elisa Ewers, a former senior Middle East official now at the Council on Foreign Relations.Netanyahu will likely face demands that Israel accept American policies it has previously resisted — positions on Lebanon, Gaza, and other regional matters where Washington and Jerusalem have diverged, she told Politico."The White House visit in itself is his get," Ewers noted, suggesting the mere invitation represents a victory for Netanyahu after months of diplomatic cold-shoulder treatment.

President Donald Trump's foray into nuclear politics has created a "giant firestorm" that makes a nightmare scenario increasingly likely, according to one political scientist. Robert Pape, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, argued during a recent episode of "The Court of History" podcast on the Legal AF Network that Trump's demand that Saudi Arabia sign the Abraham Accords, and thereby normalize relations with Israel, is likely to backfire. Pape noted that the agreement provides no way to prevent Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium because there is no oversight or enforcement. "President Trump seems to realize this has touched off the giant firestorm," Pape said, noting that the deal increased Saudi Arabia's chances of getting a nuclear weapon from 98% to 99.999%. Once Saudi Arabia has a nuclear weapon, it's only a matter of time before other nations start knocking, Pape said. All of a sudden, nuclear weapons would proliferate across the globe. "What does it mean for [countries] besides Iran? It means the [United Arab Emirates] knocking on the door, 'Hey, what do you mean Saudi Arabia doesn't have to abide by these gold standards? We want to slip them as well here.' And then, of course, it doesn't take much to start looking at why Ukraine is not going down this road ... And why isn't Poland talking about doing this?"Pape said the situation could result in another forever war "quagmire" that Trump is unable to pull the U.S. out of. "If you thought you couldn't have made the situation worse, there was already a fire, and we're already pouring gasoline on the fire," Pape said.