With much of the Western world and media focusing on hurricanes Harvey and Irma in the last week or two, you could be forgiven for thinking that the rest of the world was relatively peaceful, from a climate point of view. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, hurricane Harvey came at the end of yet another month of seriously destructive and 'anomalous' weather around the world, some of which made Harvey look relatively benign.

On Tuesday July 25th, Nigeria's northeastern province of Borno was attacked by Boko Haram terrorists. The ambush attack against a convoy of specialists from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) left more than 50 people dead and 83 others injured.

Interestingly, this attack occurred shortly after Nigeria announced it is reviving its search for oil - aided by China - in the northeast. Two days after the attack, the Nigerian Federal Government said it would halt oil exploration in the lake Chad basin.

This area, and other northern parts, have been a target of terrorists since 2009. The country has however dealt with attacks on oil (pipelines and exploration teams) before Boko Haram 'officially' started carrying out attacks in 2009 after its founding in 2002.

Nigeria has been an important source of oil and petroleum for China for decades, and both countries have cooperated on oil exploration since at least 2006. Oil exploration has however been difficult with the presence of Boko Haram, and militant groups in the oil-rich region in the south.

When 'Giant of Africa' Nigeria handed licenses to China's National Petroleum Corporation in 2006 to explore four blocks - two areas in Niger Delta (southern Nigeria) and two in the Borno Lake Chad basin - attacks by militant groups increased. Six years later, in 2012, oil reserves in the Lake Chad Basin were discovered, but was followed by a strong resurgence of attacks by Boko Haram making it difficult for geologists and others to access the area.

June 2, 2003: The other day I was scanning the news reports and came across a rather mundane item that really got me to thinking.

Cloudcroft chief stops Israelis with suspicious cargo

By Michael Shinabery Staff Writer
Alamogordo Daily News

Cloudcroft, New Mexico -- That they were speeding through the school zone first got his attention.

That they had Israeli driver's licenses and expired passports made him suspicious.

Cloudcroft Police Chief Gene Green stopped the 2-ton van on Thursday, for speeding. Initially, Green thought the truck was commercial because of exterior markings. But when he found it was out of Chicago, he asked for documentation such as logs books and manifests.

"They said this is a U-Haul truck and handed me a rental agreement (for) in-town delivery only in Illinois, (which) had expired two days before," Green said. He called for backup, and Otero County Sheriff's Deputy Billy Anders, who patrols the Sacramento Mountains, arrived, along with Capt. Norbert Sanchez and Det. Eddie Medrano.

"We got them out and started digging a little deeper," Green said, "got permission to search the truck. They claimed they were hauling furniture from Austin to Chicago." When officers advised the men they were not exactly en route from one town to another, Green said the two men claimed they were Deming bound. "But they couldn't give us an address in Deming they were going to," he said. "Once we got into the truck, they had some junk furniture I wouldn't have given to Goodwill."

Also inside the vehicle were, Green said, "50 boxes" they claimed was a "private" delivery, but the men insisted they had no "idea what was in them."

At that point, the officers called for drug-sniffing and bomb-sniffing dogs. The men were turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and U- Haul recovered the truck.

Contents of the boxes remain unknown, pending investigation.

©Department of Defense

After the release of the QFG Pentagon Strike Flash Animation on August 23rd, 2004, a virtual deluge of new articles were published that sought to dismiss the "no plane at the Pentagon" theory. One such article, that is frequently referenced by certain '9/11 researchers' was authored by a member of the forum at the "Above Top Secret" (ATS) website. Interestingly, the article was written just a few weeks after the release of the Pentagon Strike Flash animation, which by then, was winging its way around the world and into the inboxes of millions of ordinary citizens. Perhaps you were one of them...

Flight 77 took off at 8:20 a.m.

The pilot had his last routine communication with the control tower at 8:50 a.m. "At 9:09 a.m., being unable to reach the plane by radar, the Indianapolis air controllers warned of a possible crash," the Washington Post reported. Vice-President Dick Cheney would later explain that the terrorists had "turned off the transponder, which led to a later report that a plane had gone down over Ohio, but it really hadn't." [Meet the Press, NBC, 16 Sept 2001]

On 12 September it was learned that the transponder had been cut off at about 8:55 a.m., rendering the plane invisible to civilian air controllers. During this period of invisibility, the plane was said to have made a U turn back to Washington. This is, of course, an assumption. The information that the plane turned around has no known source.

The problem is: turning off the transponder, under the conditions that prevailed that day, would have been the best way of raising an alert.

Back in September 2015, ISIS had been rampaging across Syria, slaughtering civilians and destroying towns and cities, for about 4 years. At that time, there was good reason to believe that the Syrian Arab Army would soon be defeated by ISIS and 'rebel' forces, and the Syrian government ousted. This was despite the fact that a US-led coalition had allegedly been 'bombing ISIS' for almost a year, with the strange effect that the jihadis had steadily increased their territory across Syria and Iraq. Obviously, at this point, it's pretty clear that the only reason that band of paid mercenaries called 'ISIS' was ever in a position to threaten Syria was because it was receiving massive funding, weapons and training from the USA and its Gulf Allies.

Once the Russian military intervened on September 30th 2015, however, ISIS and the assorted other jihadi 'rebel' groups saw their territory and numbers rapidly reduced, US government aid and support for ISIS and the rebels notwithstanding. After the liberation of Aleppo by Russian forces late last year, several more dramatic victories by the Syrian Army (backed by the Russian air force) have followed with the most recent, and perhaps definitive, victory coming in this week's liberation of the Syrian city of Deir ez Zor.

This week on Behind the Headlines we're taking in some of the wild weather currently rocking the planet. Not two weeks after Harvey pummeled the Texas coast, the Caribbean is recovering from an extremely powerful hurricane, and Florida's next in its sights.

Also this week, Mexico's strongest-ever earthquake coincided with the strongest solar flare in over a decade, as well as the impact of yet another hurricane. In the north of the continent, another record-breaking wildfire season - coming after record-breaking snowfalls last winter - just won't end.‌

In the meantime, this week's geopolitical earthquakes in and around northeast Asia saw BRICS nations strengthen economic ties and their positions on North Korea's nukes. Leading the way is another 'force of nature', Vladimir Putin, whose patience is paying off in Syria, where the last major ISIS stronghold of Deir ez Zor collapsed last week.‌

Join us this Sunday 3 September 2017 from 12-2pm EST (4-6pm UTC / 6-8pm CET) for the end of the world as we know it!

Running Time: 01:46:06

Download: MP3

Are you compelled to express yourself through writing, only to find that you just don't know how to begin or what to say? As the digital world encompasses every aspect of our lives we communicate our thoughts and feelings through text, emails, chats and on line discussions. When are we encouraged to express ourselves with the lost art of longhand? Have we completely lost touch with the pen and paper? How does writing benefit us physically, mentally and emotionally? Can there be cathartic benefits of writing? It is fundamental to learning, working memory, academic performance and addressing our deepest thoughts. Words can act as a medium for expression and a catalyst for clarity especially when dealing with trauma.

Join us on this episode of the Health and Wellness Show as we talk about the write stuff. How can we rekindle one of the most fundamental skills we learned as young children? How do we come back to the lost art and what are some tips to inspire us to get us back to the pen and paper?

And stay tuned at the end of the show for Zoya's Pet Health Segment where the topic is squish-faced doggies and the health problems they face.

Running Time: 01:20:51

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In the first half of today's show we're joined by author Robert Fantina to discuss the latest developments in Palestine and Israel, as well as the wider Middle East. Robert's latest book, published last month by Red Pill Press, is Essays on Palestine, a collection of his articles on Israeli apartheid, assaults on Gaza, international law, and how Israeli policies intersect with U.S. foreign policy and wider conflicts in the region. You can check out his work on his website: robertfantina.com.

In the second half of the show, we'll be discussing the floods left in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the illegal seizure of Russian diplomatic property in the U.S., and the strange series of U.S. destroyers hit by tankers, among other news.

Join us for Behind the Headlines on the SOTT Radio Network, 12-2pm EST (4-6pm UTC / 6-8pm CET) this Sunday 3 September 2017.

Running Time: 01:37:32

Download: OGG, MP3

Listen live, chat, and call in to future shows on the SOTT Radio Network!

Here's the transcript of the show:

When Trump said there was violence on both sides in Charlottesville, jaws dropped. How could he? Let's look at the commonly acknowledged facts. On one side you had white supremacists, veritable fascists, and card-carrying members of the KKK. On the other you had anti-fascist counter-protesters who only want equality and compassion - a world without racism and oppression. One side is so obviously evil and degenerate, and the other is so obviously good and noble, that to equate the two sides must not only be morally wrong, but also a sign that Trump must secretly be a white supremacist. Unfortunately, pretty much every one of these "facts" is wrong, incomplete or misleading. And the collective blindness to that fact is seriously dangerous.

• "Alt" fact #1: Not everyone protesting in Charlottesville was a white supremacist. It seems there were some fine people there. This goes both ways. I'm sure there were some fine people among the counter-protestors too.
• "Alt" fact #2: As subsequent events at Berkeley have made clear, Antifa is more than just a group of well-meaning anti-fascist protesters. They are a radical group that endorses and commits violence against those they deem to be fascists. The MSM has finally noticed this (Nancy Pelosi too!).
• "Alt" fact #3: Whether you think Trump is really racist or not, he was right to condemn violent extremists on both sides. Call me old-fashioned, but adopting the view that violence is justifiable only in self-defense is a good rule of thumb. But Antifa seems to have adopted the Bush doctrine on violence.

I watched a video of the protesters and counter-protesters in Boston a week or so ago. (I can't find the exact video this time around, but these two are worth watching.) The free-speech counter-protester made a comment about how Antifa protesters engaged in the same tactics as fascists. One of the Antifa people scoffed, laughed, and pointed out how the guy was making a "moral equivalency" between fascists and people fighting fascism and oppression. How could anyone reasonably do such a thing? Well, I doubt that person will read this article, but I'll try to explain why it's absolutely essential that we do exactly that.