US diesel costs 76% more than a year ago, and the Trump administration is split over banning its export

The rest of the day

15 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   Trump turns down Iran's Hormuz offer

   The US and Iran held three hours of talks through go-betweens on Tuesday, their first in months. [13] Iran then offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days. [11] In return the US would lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, drop sanctions on Iranian oil and agree a ceasefire that includes Lebanon. [11] On Saturday Donald Trump rejected the offer, saying Iran wanted a deal because it was 'losing so badly'. [11]

   Why it matters — About a fifth of the world's oil exports went through the strait before the war, and its closure is the main reason fuel is dear in the lead story. [14] Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, says the go-betweens have not passed on any US answer, and the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump expects more bombing after the elections. [12]

2. 03

   Missiles fired at Saudi Arabia's oil port city

   The Houthis, an armed group that controls much of northern Yemen and is allied to Iran, said they fired dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi targets on Thursday. [14] Saudi Arabia said it shot down six ballistic missiles. [14] It had issued emergency alerts for Mecca, Jeddah and Yanbu, its main oil port on the Red Sea. [14] Saudi Arabia said it stopped another Houthi missile early on Saturday, fired towards the city of Khamis Mushait. [11]

   Why it matters — Iran and its allies squeeze Saudi oil exports from two sides: the Houthis at the mouth of the Red Sea, and Iran at Hormuz. [14] Iran's president said the Houthis are responsible for their own actions. [14]

3. 04

   Drones set Moscow's refinery on fire

   A Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow area, one of its largest, damaged the refinery at Kapotnya on the city's south-eastern edge and killed at least three people, local officials said. [15] The refinery supplies a large share of Moscow's fuel, including diesel and aviation fuel. [15] It has been hit several times before. [15] On Monday queues formed again at petrol stations, which began rationing fuel. [15]

   Why it matters — Attacks on Russian refineries are one reason diesel is short around the world, the problem in the lead story. [6] Trump says Ukraine's strikes are raising US diesel prices, while experts more often blame the Iran war, the Washington Post reports. [15]

4. 05

   Libya's biggest oilfield pumps again

   Libya's National Oil Corporation said on Saturday it had reopened the main pipeline from Sharara, the country's largest oilfield, to Zawiya on the coast. [16] An armed group and members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, the force that protects oil sites, had closed a valve on 21 September in a dispute over their status and pay. [16] The five-day shutdown cost 942,376 barrels of oil, worth about $95 million. [16] It also closed one unit at the Zawiya refinery, which supplies fuel inside Libya. [16]

   Why it matters — Sharara can pump about 300,000 barrels a day and has stopped many times over protests and political fights. [16] The UN mission in Libya had warned that a long shutdown could threaten the country's fuel and electricity. [16]

5. 06

   A second judge blocks New York's climate fund

   Judge P. Kevin Castel of a US federal court in New York ruled on Wednesday that the state's climate superfund law is overridden by the US Clean Air Act and interferes in foreign affairs. [17] The 2024 law would make fossil fuel companies pay $75 billion over 25 years into a fund for projects that protect New York from the effects of warming. [17] The US Justice Department and environment agency brought the case. [17] A different federal judge in New York made a similar ruling last month. [17]

   Why it matters — Vermont is the only other state with such a law, and a challenge to it is still in court. [17] Several more states have proposed similar laws, so the rulings reach beyond New York. [17]

6. 07

   A power company asks for a wildfire deal

   Pedro Pizarro, head of Edison International, which owns the utility Southern California Edison, asked California's lawmakers this week to meet in a special session before the year ends. [18] He wants limits on what power companies owe when their equipment starts a wildfire. [18] Southern California Edison's equipment is being investigated for starting the Eaton fire near Altadena in January 2025. [18] The Los Angeles fires that month killed more than two dozen people. [18]

   Why it matters — Lawmakers failed to agree a plan last month, and the ratings agency Fitch has cut its outlook on the company. [18] Pizarro says the doubt is adding hundreds of millions of dollars to its borrowing costs, and only Governor Gavin Newsom can call the session. [18]

7. 08

   India throws away clean power for want of wires

   India now has 300 gigawatts of renewable power plants, 54% of all its capacity, against about 4 gigawatts a decade ago. [19] Its power lines have not kept up: one in four projects between states is more than a year late. [19] Weak lines caused nearly two-thirds of the clean power India had to switch off in the first three months of 2026, 300 gigawatt-hours, the research group Ember says. [19] A solar farm takes 18 to 24 months to build, and lines take longer. [19]

   4 GWIndia, a decade ago

   ↓→

   300 GWIndia, 2026

   Why it matters — Ember calls this gap the biggest risk to India's goal of 500 gigawatts of clean power by 2030. [19] Batteries could have stored the power for the evening, a researcher told the BBC, but many battery projects fell through when prices jumped. [19]

8. 09

   Pakistan's rooftop solar drains its grid

   Solar panels now make about a quarter of Pakistan's electricity in peak months, up from under 1% a decade ago, Jan Rosenow writes in an opinion piece for Yale Environment 360. [20] Homes and businesses bought most of them without a big government subsidy, to escape dear and unreliable grid power. [20] Up to three-quarters of the country's solar may never have been officially recorded. [20] Sales of grid electricity fell 10% in 2023. [20]

   under 1%Pakistan, a decade ago

   ↓→

   about 25%Pakistan, peak months now

   Why it matters — The grid's wires and standby power plants still have to be paid for, so when richer customers leave, the cost is spread over fewer people. [20] Poorer households that cannot buy panels can end up paying more, and Nigeria and Zambia show the same signs. [20]

9. 10

   Nepal's floods: 5,644 people still missing

   A month after floods swept through parts of Nepal on 26 August, the country's disaster agency says 1,453 bodies have been recovered and 5,644 people are still missing. [21] Many are believed to be trapped in six tunnels dug for hydropower projects. [21] Only 112 bodies have been handed to families; 1,333 are buried for now until DNA tests can name them. [21] Nepal's government puts the cost of rebuilding at $4.77 billion, and about 7,500 homes were damaged or destroyed. [21]

   Why it matters — Prime Minister Balendra Shah told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that the floods were a warning to the world about climate risks in the Himalayas. [21] He asked for more international help with the recovery. [21]

10. 11

    Geothermal power needs desert water

    Tech companies want geothermal power, made from the heat in deep rock, for data centres in the dry western US, because it runs day and night, Grist reports. [22] Google agreed this month to buy 396 megawatts from Fervo Energy's Cape Station in Utah. [22] Most new geothermal methods pump water into hot rock, and Fervo's first commercial project, in Nevada, lost 30% of the water it injected. [22] Rough sums by Utah FORGE, a government geothermal lab, say 2 gigawatts made this way could use 42 million gallons a day. [22]

    Why it matters — That is about half of what Albuquerque, New Mexico's biggest city, uses each day, in a state in a drought that has lasted decades. [22] Data centres already use water to keep their servers cool, so the two demands land on the same scarce supply. [22]

11. 12

    Up to $2.1 billion of US money for a Texas reactor

    X-energy, a nuclear start-up backed by Amazon, now has up to $2.1 billion of US government money for its first four small reactors, Canary Media reported this week. [23] They are planned for a Dow Chemical plant in Seadrift, Texas. [23] The latest $1 billion was announced last month, after $1.2 billion in 2021, and the company matches each federal dollar. [23] The reactors would give Dow's plant both steam and electricity, cutting about 440,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas a year. [23] The US nuclear regulator is expected to approve construction in early 2027. [23]

    Why it matters — X-energy has not updated its 2023 cost estimate of $4.75 billion to $5.75 billion, and Dow will not decide to build before 2028. [23] Its deals with Dow, Amazon and Centrica, a British energy company, add up to as many as 144 of its reactors. [23]

12. 13

    A closed nuclear plant becomes an election issue

    Indian Point, a nuclear plant on the Hudson River north of New York City, closed in 2021 and is being taken apart by its owner, Holtec International. [24] In a close race for the US House, Republican Mike Lawler wants it reopened and took Energy Secretary Chris Wright to the site. [24] His Democratic challenger, Cait Conley, lists stopping that push as a priority. [24] Reopening would need five local and state bodies to agree, and three have said no. [24]

    Why it matters — After the plant closed, New York burned more gas and its power-sector emissions rose 22% from 2019 to 2022. [24] About 20 million people live within 50 miles of the site. [24]

13. 14

    Italy may sell part of its turbine maker to Gulf funds

    CDP, Italy's state lender, is in talks to sell 15% to 35% of Ansaldo Energia to investors from the Gulf, including Mubadala, Abu Dhabi's state wealth fund, two sources told Reuters. [25] Ansaldo, based in Genoa, makes gas and steam turbines, generators and nuclear technology. [25] Its orders rose 24% last year to 2.3 billion euros, and Reuters says it is gaining from the power demand of data centres. [25] Any deal would see Ansaldo help build gas power plants in the Gulf. [25]

    Why it matters — CDP owns 99.6% of Ansaldo and would keep control, one source said. [25] Ansaldo already won a contract last year to supply four turbines for a 1-gigawatt power plant at Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates. [25]

14. 15

    A US deal on faster permits slips past the elections

    A group of US senators from both parties has been writing a bill to make energy projects faster to approve, Grist reports. [26] It is expected to narrow the environmental checks government agencies must make and to make permits harder to challenge in court. [26] Politico reported that the senators now plan to finish it after the midterm elections. [26] Trump has signalled he would stop blocking wind and solar projects to win Democratic votes for it. [26]

    Why it matters — Solar farms and batteries make up almost 80% of the new US power plants expected this year. [26] Gas was the biggest source of US electricity last year, and both industries want the bill. [26] Voters turn against it when it is described as helping data centres, a pollster, Alex Lundry, says. [26]

15. 16

    Opposition stalls $170 billion of data centres

    Local opposition has blocked, withdrawn or stalled more than $170 billion of AI data centres in the US since January 2024, the advisory firm Relae says, Utility Dive reports. [27] Goldman Sachs, the US bank, expects data-centre power use to reach 66 gigawatts in 2027, but only about half of the capacity due in the next two years to arrive on time. [27] At a New York Times event this week, Justin Pearson, a Tennessee state lawmaker, said pollution from data centres' gas turbines and diesel generators is killing people in communities now. [28]

    Why it matters — Many utilities and regulators now ask big new users for deposits, minimum contracts and exit fees to weed out projects that will never be built. [27] Texas has paused new data-centre connections while it checks its 474 gigawatts of requests. [27]