50,000 heat-related deaths in Europe this northern summer far exceeded the previous high of 29,000 in 2022.
A team, of scientists, reporting in a Nature Health article (31/10) found that: “The summer of 2026 was characterized by a series of extreme heatwaves across Western Europe, with both monthly and annual temperature records broken repeatedly across many countries from May onwards”.
What should the Democrats do now? It is question to which many would have diverse answers. But fortunately, they seem unlikely to immediately do what Trump was expecting – impeach him.
The Democrats, instead of following this probably futile approach, are planning to undertake a sustained campaign of investigation into Trump corruption through the committee system.
There are always early indicators of when booms are about to end. Sadly, they rarely get noticed before it’s too late.
Whether it is the 19th century rail boom in the UK or the dot com boom around the world they have always been heralded by statements about how it’s different this time.
In the case of AI and data centres there might, however, be another early indicator – for Australia at least – the Albanese Government’s pledge to start building data centres.
Last post on the midterms until the results come in. From the blog’s hyperactive pundit
Midterm numbers are heading into blowout territory: What to know
With just days to the mid-terms, polling seems very encouraging for Democrats and very discouraging for Donald Trump.
According to G.Elliott Morris’ Strength in Numbers analysis “two weeks before Election Day the Democrats have their largest lead on the generic congressional ballot in the 17 waves of this survey since May 2025.”
The surveys on Trump and the election keep rolling in. And there is one common factor – they are all getting worse.
The 17th annual American Values Survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (20/10) in partnership with the Brookings Institution found that 58% of Americans see Trump as a threat to democracy with six in 10 Americans saying: “President Trump is a potentially dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy.”
As we wait in vain for our Prime Minister to energise Australians about the threat of climate change, the new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has made it a central issue in his approach to what he deems “the climate crisis threat.”
Writing in The Guardian (17/9) he says “British people understand the climate crisis threat. Today I’m empowering them to tackle it.”