Strikes & protests in France (and demonstrations in the US)

Strikes grow as Macron postpones threat to crush French refinery strike

Related:

French left-wing parties gather protesters to march in Paris, as refinery strikes persist

The French call for NATO exit

MSM was all over the cost of living protests but nothing about the Anti-NATO protests. Videos have emerged of police repression in Paris (at which protest, I’m unsure). Meanwhile, in the US, the Poor People’s Campaign, and allies, held multiple demonstrations to get out the vote (which were mainly covered by local news).

Europe’s Coming Winter From Hell: Thanks for Your Sanctions War, Washington!

Source: Caitlin Johnstone

Europe’s impending depression is not to be discounted in terms of its relevance to this side of the Atlantic pond. Since the turn of the century, US exports to the European Union have soared from $12.3 billion per month to $30.4 billion. That latter amounts to $365 billion on an annual basis.

Needless to say, when European GDP descends into a double-digit slide, demand for US exports will plunge, causing declines in production and employment on this side of the Atlantic.

Europe’s Coming Winter From Hell: Thanks for Your Sanctions War, Washington!

Venezuela Stops Oil Shipments To Europe As Alternatives To Russian Energy Dry Up

The writing is on the wall for Europe in terms of this coming winter – It’s going to get ugly. With natural gas imports from Russia cut by 80% through Nord Stream 1 along with the majority of oil shipments, the EU is going to be scrambling for whatever fuel sources they can find to supply electricity and heating through the coming winter. Two sources that were originally suggested as alternatives were Iran and Venezuela.

Venezuela Stops Oil Shipments To Europe As Alternatives To Russian Energy Dry Up

Related:

Venezuela: Oil Production Declines as Shipments to Europe Suspended

Caracas’ oil operations were affected by mechanical disruptions caused by alleged attacks against oil facilities. On July 16 a natural gas pipeline explosion and a power outage interrupted PDVSA’s supply to its main crude production and export hub, the José Antonio Anzoátegui industrial complex in eastern Venezuela.

With the operational disruption depleting Venezuela’s lightest oil grade stocks, Iran recently began to increase its supply of 29.5°API blend, a lighter alternative to Venezuela’s 16°API Merey, in order to boost fuel production and free domestic upgraded blends for exports.

However, anonymous sources revealed that Caracas might suspend crude cargoes to Europe while the industry recovers from recent setbacks. PDVSA is reportedly negotiating the terms of the oil-for-debt agreements with Eni and Repsol to receive fuel while still settling long-standing debts owed to the two companies.

Neither Venezuela’s Oil Ministry nor PDVSA has issued statements confirming the alleged halted shipments to Europe or the renegotiation of the swap deals.