Doomer Fail: New Coal-Fired Power Plants Surge to 10-Year Global High

Simon Kent21 May 2026

The world loves coal. That is the simple message from results showing new coal-fired power plants hit a global 10-year high in 2025, defying climate doomerswho decry its use and long for wind farms, solar panels and hydro power everywhere.

Rising gas prices and supply disruptions linked to the Middle East crisis are just some of the factors pushing countries like China, Indonesia, India, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and Italy to rely more heavily on dependable coal-fired energy security even as the global coal fleet generated less electricity – for now.

Overall coal power capacity — plants that came online or were commissioned — jumped 3.5 percent last year according to a report from Global Energy Monitor (GEM), which has tracked coal power for more than a decade, AFP reports.

The overwhelming majority of that — 95 percent — was in China and India, GEM said, with the U.S. also keenly embracing the power source under President Donald Trump who calls it “beautiful, clean coal,” as Breitbart News reported.

According to the president, his administration has also approved more than 70 permits for new mining projects, after Biden approved none throughout his term.

Beijing sees coal as a reliable failsafe for intermittent renewable supply, particularly for after power shortages several years ago, the AFP report notes.

India, the world’s most populous country, is leaning heavily on coal-fired sources to meet soaring electricity demand.

In Africa, coal proposals were again concentrated in Zimbabwe and Zambia, which together accounted for two-thirds of new coal development in the region

Globally, the retirement of coal power slowed last year, with nearly70 percent of units that were due to end operations instead staying online, GEM said per AFP.

In Europe, those missed targets were linked primarily to decisions taken during the 2022-23 energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In theUnited States however, retirement delays reflect a determined government push for coal as a direct aid to energy self-sufficiency, said Shearer.

“U.S. coal-fired generation rose by more than 80 TWh (terawatt hours) year-on-year, a figure so large that no other country came close,” said Christine Shearer, project manager of GEM’s Global Coal Plant Tracker and author of the report.

The surge “was not simply a function of (demand) growth, it reflected a policy environment that actively encouraged it,” she added.

(https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/05/21/doomer-fail-new-coal-fired-power-plants-surge-to-10-year-global-high/

Canada is totally f’cked! Dummies

Exclusive: Senators Moreno and Sheehy Warn Against Planned Spanish Acquisition of Connecticut Bank

Kurt Zindulka21 May 2026

United States Senators Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and Tim Sheehy (R-MT) have warned against the acquisition of a Connecticut-based bank by Spanish banking giant Santander, highlighting the risks posed to American workers and businesses by decisions made in Madrid amid growing divisions between the socialist government and Washington.

In a letter exclusively obtained by Breitbart News, Republican Senators Moreno and Sheehy expressed deep concerns about the pending acquisition of Webster Financial Corporation, a $84 billion-asset Connecticut-based bank, by Spain’s Banco Santander.

Writing to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Travis Hill, the American lawmakers said that the “ceding control over U.S. deposits, data, and credit decisions to Spain’s premier bank raises questions that warrant careful regulatory scrutiny”.

The Senators noted that the matter has become particularly sensitive “given that Spain has not always acted as a reliable ally in advancing U.S. security priorities.”

Relations between the United States and Spain have soured considerably in recent months, with far-left y Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez openly condemning the U.S. and Israel for their conflict against the Islamist regime in Tehran.

The socialist inhabitant of the Palacio de la Moncloa even went so far as to bar the American military from using its bases or airspace for operations involving the Iranian conflict. In turn, President Donald Trump has said he is considering withdrawing all troops from Spain.

Senators Moreno and Sheehy said that their concerns over the potential acquisition were “amplified by Santander’s recent history with Iran-related sanctions risk,” noting that the UK branch of the Spanish banking giant was alleged to have provided a bank account to an Iranian shell company for a state-controlled petrochemical company claimed to have raised hundreds of millions for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force and other militant proxy forces via Russian intelligence.

Moreno Letter to Banking Regulators Re Santander Acquisition by Breitbart News

Santander UK said that it “conducted a thorough investigation into the allegations” and claimed to have “not found any breach by it of U.S. sanctions against Iran in connection with these allegations.”

However, the U.S. Senators noted that even if no sanctions were directly violated, “the fact remains that Iran’s state apparatus and intelligence networks were able to exploit Santander’s systems to help finance a murderous, anti-American regime’s Revolutionary Guard and its Russian partners.”

“If Iranian front companies were able to route sanctioned funds through a seemingly innocuous Santander account in the United Kingdom, U.S. financial regulatory authorițies must investigate whether Santander’s existing and future U.S. operations, including any merged institution that holds significant American deposits, are safe against similar exploitation,” they wrote.

The Republican lawmakers went on to note that the bank had additionally faced accusations of “anti-money laundering procedure failings allowed Beltcastle, a financial intermediary with well-established links to the Cali Cartel and other Colombian narco-trafficking groups, to bank with Santander UK.”

Moreno and Sheehy also expressed concern over the potential Webster acquisition, given that it would elevate Santander to one of the top ten commercial and retail banks in the United States by assets under its control, at an estimated $327 billion. Although Santander’s American operations are conducted under the Santander Holdings USA holding company and are therefore subject to American financial regulations, the Senators still warned of the potential pitfalls of empowering a firm that is “ultimately controlled by the foreign parent”.

“This is more than a simple business transaction: allowing a foreign bank to consolidate control over a critical regional lender would tie the economic health of American communities to decisions made abroad. This dynamic risks leaving American workers and businesses exposed to decisions driven by a foreign entity rather than domestic needs and priorities,” they said.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/05/21/exclusive-senators-moreno-and-sheehy-warn-against-planned-spanish-acquisition-of-connecticut-bank/

Starmer Gov’t Accused of ‘Cover-Up’ over Mandelson-Epstein Scandal

Kurt Zindulka21 May 2026

Sir Keir Starmer’s government said that it will not release further documents on the vetting of disgraced Lord Mandelson until next month and even then will be significantly redacted, sparking accusations of a potential “cover-up”.

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones told lawmakers this week that Parliament will have to wait to review government files relating to the hiring of Labour veteran Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, despite his close ties with convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The decision, which was made despite the government being aware that Mandelson had continued the relationship even after Epstein’s child prostitution conviction in 2007, has resulted in major resignations, including Prime Minister Starmer’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney and ex-Labour Together anti-Breitbart censorship activist Josh Simons.

The scandal, which threatens to persist given the ongoing police investigation into Mandelson for allegedly passing British state secrets to Epstein in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, has even threatened to take down Starmer, who has so far refused to resign over the matter or his party’s disastrous at the local elections earlier this month.

However, with potentially more explosive information from the government documents on Mandelson yet to be disclosed, the timetable and the government’s ability to censor details have become a hot-button issue in Westminster.

Jones said that publicly disclosing all vetting documents would undermine the system itself, as those entering government expect a level of privacy, the Times of London reported.

However, he said that some of the files would be released next month and that the reasons for the redactions would be made evident. Yet, Jones did not commit to releasing the documents before the upcoming Makerfield by-election, which is likely to play a critical role in determining whether Prime Minister Starmer stays in office.

Critics, including Conservative MP Neil O’Brien, accused the government of a “cover-up”, arguing that failing to release all documents concerning the Mandelson affair represented “an extremely serious” breach of trust.

The Deputy Chairman of the intelligence and security committee (ISC) in the House of Commons suggested that if the government refuses to release the documents in full this would undermine “parliamentary sovereignty”.

Wright noted that lawmakers voted in February to compel the government to disclose documents related to Mandelson’s appointment.

Even longtime Labour MP, Dame Emily Thornberry, who chairs the foreign affairs select committee, accused the government of putting “obstacles” in front of those seeking to “get to the truth”.

Conservative MP and former Brexit secretary, Sir David Davis, suggested that he would be willing to table a motion of contempt against the government if it fails to fully comply with the February order from parliament mandating the release of the Mandelson files.

Ironically, the measure was last deployed by Sir Keir Starmer when he served in opposition in 2018 to force the release of advice given to then-Prime Minister Theresa May’s post-Brexit deal with the European Union.

Jones denied that he was a party to a cover-up, saying that he would resign if he thought it was the case.

“When the government publishes the second tranche of documents, it will be clear from the published information the basis on which content has been redacted,” he claimed.

Why is this asshole still in charges, kiers Starmer has to go, the city of London are keeping him there.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/05/21/starmer-govt-accused-of-cover-up-over-mandelson-epstein-scandal/