Latest News
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Iceland could ban whaling, leaving Norway and Japan in isolation
Iceland's Government will present a bill?on whaling in February that could ban it. This move?would leave Norway and Japan the only countries in the World to continue commercial whaling. Animal welfare activists and Hollywood celebrities have been protesting against Icelandic whaling for years. The government, which holds a majority in parliament, announced on its website that it is examining possible options for updating its whaling laws, paying particular attention to the option of an outright ban. According to Humane World for Animals (an animal welfare group which tracks the catches), 80 fin whales have been caught in this year's hunt season. This runs from June until the end of the month of September. The quota allows for 150 fin whales to die this year. Wendy Higgins is a spokesperson for Humane World for Animals. She said that there was a lot of public and political support for the bill. There are also compelling ethical, legal, veterinary and conservation reasons for hoping it passes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified fin whales as vulnerable. Iceland's interim Government issued a license for five years to its sole remaining whaling firm in 2024. According to the International Whaling Commission, only Japan, Norway, and Iceland have engaged in 'commercial whaling' over the past few years. Iceland and Norway both resumed commercial whale hunting in 2006 despite an international moratorium in place since 1986. Japan withdrew in 2019 from the International Whaling Commission and resumed commercial whale hunting in its territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. The moratorium allows indigenous peoples to hunt whales in certain parts of the world such as Greenland or Alaska because whale products are vital for their cultural and nutritional lives.
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Trump claims that Iran is likely responsible for the attack on Saudi pipeline
U.S. President Donald 'Trump' said on Saturday that Iran is probably responsible for the aerial attack that shut down Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, which was one of the Kingdom's main routes for exporting oil while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. When asked by reporters in Dublin if Iran is?responsible? for the attack on a?vital oil pipeline, Trump replied: "I think that they are. They probably?are." The President of the United States, Donald Trump, also said that he had spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He described him as a "good friend." The?U.S. Trump said that the Iran-aligned Yemeni?Houthis called his administration and expressed their desire to not have the United States directly involved in this conflict. "They'd much rather not have us involved and are letting the majority of?ships through." Trump added that there's "just one" country with which they aren't too pleased.
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US court rejects Trump administration's bid to keep Michigan coal plants open
On?Friday, a federal appeals court threw out a President Donald Trump administration order that had?forced a Michigan coal-fired plant to stay open past its planned retirement date. According to court documents, a unanimous?ruling?by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals 'for 'the District of Columbia Circuit determined that the Department of Energy had exceeded its authority in a rarely invoked emergency provision of federal legislation. Michigan challenged the DOE order after DOE instructed J.H. Campbell plant to stay online in 2025, shortly before the planned closure. The decision is a blow to the administration's efforts to maintain coal-fired power at a moment when the demand for electricity in the United States has increased due to the expansion of data centers. The coal-fired electricity is one of the biggest sources of carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change. "By forcing its continued operation, DOE attempted a tactic never before used to illegally support the aging J.H. Campbell coal plant, which nobody wanted to keep. Ratepayers are now stuck with the bill for an aging facility that should have retired over a year ago. "I'm relieved that the Court saw right through this façade and overturned DOE's order, which had no basis in reality," said Michigan Attorney?General Dana Nessel. The Trump administration has been using emergency powers under the Federal Power Act since 2025 to continue operating coal plants that were scheduled for retirement in Michigan, Indiana and Washington State, as well as those in Colorado, Washington State, Washington, and Michigan. DOE did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. This decision comes one month after DOE extended an emergency order to keep J.H. Campbell Generating Plant will remain open until November 14. Consumers Energy's plant was scheduled to close by 2025, because it "wasn't economically viable." According to the Michigan Attorney General's Office, the utility spent $295 million between May 2025 and June 2026 on its continued operation. Brian Wheeler, spokesperson for Consumers Energy, said that the company is reviewing this ruling. He said that "while that happens, we will continue to comply with the 90-day Department of Energy Order that keeps the Campbell Plant operating." Environmental groups have welcomed the ruling. Michael Lenoff of Earthjustice said that the 'DOE should stay within its lane and only use emergency powers in actual emergencies. "An emergency power should not be used to prevent the retirement of coal plants due to market forces in order for a coal-friendly agenda to gain traction."
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USDA cuts corn harvest forecast after hot summer weather
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Friday that U.S. farmers will harvest less corn this fall than they had previously anticipated, following hot weather during the summer. Prices recently reached a 'three-year high' due to uncertainty over the size of the crop. Farm diesel fuel is used to run harvesting equipment by farmers. Diesel prices are also at record highs, above $6 per gallon, as they prepare for the harvest of crops in Midwestern fields. Jim McCormick is the chief operating officer of AgMarket.net. He said that "the cost to get this crop out has gotten really expensive." In a report published monthly, the USDA said that farmers will harvest 15,8 billion bushels (or 178.5 bushels) of corn and 4,535 billion bushels (52.8 bushels) of soybeans. USDA estimated corn production in?August at 16.013 billion bushels with an average of 180.7 bushels/acre and soybean production was 4.519 billion with an average yield?of 52.7 bushels. Analysts said USDA could lower its crop estimates further in future reports. Corn futures prices briefly rose on the Chicago Board of Trade. Jim Gerlach of A/C Trading said, "It is not a bad harvest?but by a wide margin it's less than last year's." Farmers have enjoyed the highest prices for about three years, due to uncertainty over U.S. grain yields and disruptions in Russian and Ukrainian grain exports out of the Black Sea area. Prices for soybeans reached a three-year peak on Friday, thanks to optimism over Chinese?demand ahead of a'summit' between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. USDA increased its estimates of average U.S. corn prices by 60 cents per bushel and 30 cents per bushel. Farmers who face fuel and fertilizer prices that have skyrocketed since the U.S. began its war against Iran, causing trade disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, are not guaranteed to make a profit. Many farmers order fuel and supplies for spring planting. Randy Place, an analyst with?the Hightower Report, says that "this is not the time for a large rally" of these prices. It is unclear whether crop prices can remain high for a long time to offset the steep input costs, and reverse the downturn of the agricultural economy in the last four years. Both growers and economists agree that the current business climate is one of the worst since 1980s, when a wave foreclosures and bankruptcy crippled U.S. Farmers. STOCKS ENDING TIGHTEN A lower estimate of corn production could help support prices. According to a poll, analysts had expected a corn harvest of 15,785 billion bushels with a yield average of 178.2 bushels/acre and a soya bean crop of 4,501 billion bushels with a yield average of 52.5 bushels/acre. USDA estimates that U.S. ending corn stocks will reach 1.567 billion bushels by August 31, 2027, after crops are exported to feed livestock in the U.S. and make biofuels. Stocks of soybeans were estimated to be 310 million bushels. Analysts expect 2026-27 corn stocks to be 1.528 billion bushels and soybean stocks to be 298 million bushels. The USDA estimated?corn stock at 1.653 billion?bushels and soybean stocks at 318 million?bushels in August. USDA estimates that the 2026-27 wheat ending stocks will be 717 million bushels. This is unchanged from August, and slightly lower than analysts' expectations (719 million bushels). USDA has lowered its estimate of wheat exports to Ukraine and Russia by 1 million tons metric tons each, as compared with a month earlier.
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White House official: Russian official will attend G20 Energy meeting in Houston next Week, White House official claims
An official from the White House said that a Russian official would attend a G20 Energy meeting in Houston next Friday. The U.S. invited 'Russian Finance minister Anton Siluanov' to a G20 meeting in North Carolina last month. This was the first time that Russia had sent a finance minister to the forum since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Abundance is scheduled to take place between Monday and Wednesday. U.S. officials attending include Interior Secretary Doug Burgum; Energy Secretary Chris Wright; and Jarrod Agen, a White House official. The White House has not yet announced who will be attending the next-week's meeting in Russia. Attendees will include energy officials from Europe and Asia. Auditors said that the European Union's efforts to become independent of Russian oil and gas have faltered, as it enters winter with "unusually low" gas stocks. The wars in Ukraine and Iran, despite the meeting's name, have caused energy security to be a concern for many countries. The price of U.S. Diesel has reached a record of $6 per gallon, and the Strait of Hormuz is largely closed for oil and gas shipments. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on Wednesday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a 'great' conversation earlier in the week. He also stated that Putin wanted to make a pact with the U.S. in order to end the conflict in Ukraine. Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Europe, as well as in Ukraine, doubt that Putin is serious about ending "the war" despite recent visits by U.S. ambassadors to Moscow and Kyiv. It is likely that the U.S. House of Representatives, during the G20 summit, will vote 'on new Russian sanctions. But it is not clear if this bill will be passed by the chamber - as it was in the u.s. Senate. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine, first blocking transactions and freezing assets at its two largest oil companies, Rosneft, and Lukoil, in October 2025.
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US court rejects Trump administration's bid to keep Michigan coal plants open
On Friday, a federal appeals court overturned an order of the Trump administration that would have forced a Michigan coal plant to stay open past its scheduled retirement date. According to court documents, a unanimous decision?by a panel of three judges?of the U.S. Court of Appeals for?the District of Columbia Circuit?found that the Department of Energy had exceeded its authority in a rarely-used emergency provision of federal legislation. Michigan challenged the DOE order after DOE instructed that the plant remain online in 2025, shortly before its planned closure. The decision is a blow to the efforts of the administration to maintain coal-fired power in the face of?soaring U.S. electricity demand tied to the expansion data centers. The coal-fired power industry is one of the largest contributors to climate change, with carbon dioxide emissions. The Trump administration has been using emergency powers under the Federal Power Act since 2025 to keep a number of aging power plants that were slated for retirement running, including coal plants in Michigan and Indiana. DOE did not respond immediately to a comment request. The DOE made the decision a month after extending the emergency order for the J.H. Campbell Generating Plant will remain open until November 14. Consumers Energy's plant was scheduled to close by 2025, as it was no long economically viable. According to the Michigan Attorney General's Office, the utility spent $295 million between May 2025 and June?2026 on its continued operation. Consumers Energy will review the ruling, said spokesperson Brian Wheeler. He said that "while that happens, we will continue to comply with the 90-day Department of Energy Order that keeps the Campbell Plant operating." A spokesperson for Michigan’s Attorney General did not respond immediately to a comment request. Michael Lenoff said, "The DOE must stay within its boundaries?and only use its emergency powers?in real emergencies" in a recent statement. Michael Lenoff is an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice. "Preventing market-driven retirements to advance a coal friendly agenda is not an appropriate use of emergency power."
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Sources say that the White House is evaluating how it can use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to expand US oil refinery capacity.
According to sources familiar with the plans of the administration, the White House is considering?how it can use the Defense Production Act in order to increase U.S. oil refinery capacity. The conflict with Iran has exposed the country's vulnerability due to global crude supply disruptions and price increases. This extraordinary move highlights the growing pressure on the Trump administration to demonstrate that it can control the impact of rising fuel prices for consumers and businesses in advance of the midterm elections scheduled for November. Sources said that the proposal to use the act was brought up at a recent White House meeting with nearly a dozen U.S. refining companies, when officials were trying to figure out how to best utilize federal funding to increase capacity. The sources said that no final decisions were taken, but participants left with the hope that the conversation would continue. Sources said that refining executives informed officials that federal funds would be better spent on making refineries more efficient or expanding existing plants than funding a brand new refinery. This would be more expensive and would take many years to complete. The Defense Production Act is a tool that has never been used before to increase refining capacities. It gives Trump the power to direct industrial resources, and to provide financial incentives to companies for expanding production of materials considered important to national security. The discussions are based on an April 'presidential decision' that authorized the use the Defense Production Act to expand U.S. oil production, refinement and logistics capability. The United States has one of the largest networks of oil refineries in the world, capable of processing millions of barrels a day. However, the average national diesel price is now above $6 per gallon, and gasoline prices are still high. "America's refining capacity is essential for ensuring that the United States continues to have a?continuous?access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy." Taylor Rogers said that expanding this capacity was a priority for President Obama and his energy team. They are currently evaluating concrete options, such as regulatory reform, quicker permitting and additional investment, to increase the refining capability. REACHING MAXIMUM CAPACITY IN REFINING According to the latest statistics, U.S. refiners have already reached 98% utilization. High utilization highlights the challenge that the administration faces: refiners produce at near-capacity, but tight global supply and high demand keep fuel prices high. The U.S. refinery capacity has decreased over the last decade, as less profitable plants have closed. This has led to a concentration of the nation's capacity for refining on the Gulf Coast. The White House has been pointing to the expansion of domestic refining capacities when asked about its plans to deal with fuel price spikes caused the conflict in Iran. This is a long-term strategy to protect against disruptions to global supply and also a part of its wider response to affordability issues ahead the elections. The administration also pushes to increase the access to foreign oil. Trump secured a 35% U.S. equity stake in North American Blue Energy Partners. This private Venezuelan oil firm received the rights to develop 17 oilfields with approximately 65 billion barrels of proved reserves. The agreement grants the U.S. Government the right to purchase Venezuelan oil, including 20% at cost. According to the White House, millions of barrels from Venezuela's new production will be refined in U.S. refineries. TEST CASE The proposed new refinery in Brownsville, Texas has been cited as a case study for Trump's calls to increase the refining capacity of the United States. The project's funding status was not clear. America First Refining plans to build a 168,000-barrel-per-day facility at the Port ?of Brownsville, which Trump announced in March as the first new ?U.S. Refineries have not been built in the United States for nearly 50 years. Reliance Industries in India has backed the project and agreed to a deal for 20 years to purchase the refinery's production. Project also has connections to Trump family and administration. Donald Trump Jr., Trump's son, is a passive investor in America First Refining. According to disclosures by ProPublica about the company and investors, Cantor Fitzgerald is acting as a financial advisor to America First Refining. Howard Lutnick, Cantor's founder, is Trump’s Commerce Secretary. America First Refining has not responded to any requests for comments.
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Wall St. bounces when oil cools and inflation risks keep Fed focused
Stocks in the U.S. rose on Friday, as oil prices fell. This helped to put stocks "on track" to finish a tough week on a positive note. Dell has jumped more than 11%, setting a new record. Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped nearly 10%, and HP gained around 7% after Oracle's strong results. Gains in the stock market have helped to ease pressure on stocks at a period when fluctuating interest rate expectations, an intensifying Middle East conflict, and high Treasury yields had weighed heavily. After several days of defensive positions, today's movement looks like a regression to mean. "The market might have been temporarily oversold, and now we're seeing some of this unwind," said Andre Bakhos. Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in August after increasing 0.1% the previous month. Consumer inflation increased by 3.4% in the year to August, matching July's gains. Kim Forrest is the chief investment officer of?Bokeh capital Partners. He noted that Thursday's losses may have been exaggerated. The report came after Thursday's slightly higher-than-expected Producer Price Index. According to CME FedWatch, traders?see a 87% chance of an increase?at the Fed’s next meeting. This compares with nearly 70% just before the CPI. Said Haidar is the founder of Haidar Capital Management. He believes that the Federal Reserve should respond in the near future to the concerns of these countries or else risk a repetition of the high inflation experienced during the 1970s. This would be yet another failure for discretionary monetary policies. The time was 11:52 am. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 530.49, or 1.02% to 52,593.73 points; the S&P 500 gained 79.68, or 1.05% to 7,671.38 points; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 318.32, or 1.22% to 26,400.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was still on track for its biggest weekly drop since March. Both the S&P 500 (Standard & Poor's 500) and Nasdaq (Nasdaq 100) were set to end their two-week winning streaks. The CBOE Volatility Index (Wall Street's fear gauge) fell by 2.08 points to 15.76. Ten of the eleven major S&P 500 sectors indexes were in green. The communication services and technology sector indexes led the gains. Brent crude futures fell about 3% but were still over $104 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures dropped 3%, but were still close to the $100-a barrel mark. Oracle's stock rose by nearly 1% on Friday after it surpassed estimates for its quarterly results, which showed that the AI investments of Oracle were paying off. ACV Auctions shares soared by 44% following the agreement of online vehicle auctioneer Copart to buy it for nearly $1.9 billion. On the NYSE, advancing issues outnumbered decliners in a ratio of 2.07-to-1 and on the Nasdaq by a ratio of 1.8-to-1. The Nasdaq Composite posted 38 new highs, while the S&P 500 recorded seven new 52-week lows.
SpaceX's orbital Data Centers could face the same challenges as Microsoft's abandoned underwater project
SpaceX filed an IPO on Wednesday that Elon Musk claims will fund an effort to transform the rocket manufacturer into an 'AI powerhouse. Launching up to 1,000,000 data-center satellites in orbit to bypass Earth's power and water limitations.
Microsoft had a similar ambition to escape land-based computing constraints in 2015, when it lowered ?a shipping-container-sized data center onto the seabed off Scotland, aiming to cut energy ?use through natural seawater cooling and tapping offshore wind and tidal power.
Microsoft's Project Natick, once hailed as a?potential breakthrough? for the data-center sector, has met all of its technical goals, but the underwater data centers have been abandoned over two years due to lack of demand from clients and unviable economics.
A Microsoft spokesperson responded to a question by saying: "While there are no datacenters currently in the water, Project Natick will be used as a platform for research to explore, test and validate new concepts about datacenter reliability.
Five data center experts told us that what happened to Microsoft should serve as a warning for SpaceX. Although the two projects are geographically far apart, they have many similarities. They both rely upon modular units, which are costly to deploy, and can't be repaired, upgraded, or expanded. These features are considered crucial by the AI industry.
Roy Chua of AvidThink said that "these problems will likely be more severe in space than in the ocean". He cited unresolved issues such as how to cool the data centers in orbit and high launch costs, along with the adverse effects of harsh space conditions on AI chips. SpaceX?did not respond to a comment request. SpaceX, the company that acquired Musk's AI start-up xAI in Feburary, could raise $75 billion if it goes public. This would make it possibly the largest IPO ever. xAI's holdings include the social media company X (formerly Twitter) and AI chatbot Grok.
MUSK'S SPACES? AMBITIONS FACE HURDS
The two people who were familiar with the project, but asked not to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the issue, said that although Microsoft had proven that undersea facilities could work, their customers did not want to scale them up. Instead, they wanted to expand conventional land-based installations that would allow cheaper and faster upgrades as AI technology accelerated.
The "locked-for life" sealed design, which?SpaceX will replicate in orbit, has limited flexibility because AI chips are improving rapidly every year. A satellite or an undersea information center, on the other hand, may only be replaced every five to seven (7) years.
Two people also said that the economics was a major obstacle. The cost of building data centers underwater was higher than on land. While the costs may have decreased at scale, it would still have taken tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to do so.
The cost of space will increase dramatically.
In a research note published in February, analysts at MoffettNathanson (an independent U.S. equity-research firm) said that Musk's plan of putting a million AI satellites into space would cost trillions.
Analysts say that in order to make data centers commercially viable, the launch costs will need to drop from their current low of thousands of dollars to a few hundred dollars per kilogram.
Tim Farrar is an independent satellite analyst with TMF Associates. "The issue is not whether or not something works, but if it makes economic sense compared to simply building more capacity at the ground level," he said. Musk claims he can overcome technical and financial obstacles, such as radiation exposure, heat control in a vacuum, and the need to replace hardware frequently, by lowering launch costs and developing more resilient AI chip.
Musk claims that demand will not be a problem, as Earth's resources will be quickly depleted by AI, which is required to support a future where robots will outnumber people, and all cars will drive themselves, and space travel will become routine.
Farrar stated that the idea that Earth's problems, such as power shortages and environment issues, can not be solved, is unrealistic. It makes Earth seem worse in order to make "everything" appear better from space.
Musk's argument hinges on Starship - SpaceX next-generation rocket. Starship is designed to be fully recyclable and can carry much larger payloads than SpaceX Falcon rockets. Starship has been years behind schedule and has experienced explosive failures on some of its 11 suborbital tests flights since 2023.
MoffettNathanson calculates that Musk's target would require 3,000 Starship launches per year, or 8 a day.
Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company, is also a supporter of orbital data centres. In March, the rocket company announced that its Project Sunrise concept will add AI computing capability in orbit by utilizing clean solar power and preserving data-center infrastructure on Earth.
Blue Origin has not responded to any further comments.
SPACE AI COULD be a niche business
Claude Rousseau is a Research Director at Analysys Mason, who monitors satellite markets. He believes that space data centers have a bright future.
Rousseau stated that "I am convinced that in the near future, space-based data centres will not be able to replace ground-based datacenters." He added that this would be more of a niche industry that serves infrastructure in orbit such as military satellite constellations or?space station.
The International Space Station, for example, already has experimental systems that?process data on orbit and reduce the reliance upon downlink bandwidth.
Nvidia's Chief Executive,?Jensen Huang, said on the All-In Podcast in February that the economics for space-based AI-data centers are still unattractive.
"We should work on the ground because we are already here," Huang said. He described orbital AI infrastructure more as a long-term engineering challenge than a short-term solution.
Chua said that plans to move data centres under the ocean or into space could create new challenges and make it harder to solve problems on Earth.
Chua stated that "there are many problems we can solve before going into space" pointing out improvements in AI chip performance, improved water recycling and the expanded use of solar energy and modular nuclear generation.
(source: Reuters)