Trump let 202 US plants skip new rules on cancer-causing air, and 3.3 million people live within three miles of one, a New York Times investigation finds

The rest of the day

22 more stories on this beat.

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

1. 02

   UAE shuts more beaches as tanker oil spreads

   Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven United Arab Emirates, closed all its beaches on Saturday until further notice. [8][11] Umm Al Quwain had shut its whole coast on Friday, and Sharjah closed Al Hamriyah beach. [8] The oil is leaking from a tanker hit during Iran's record run of attacks on ships. [10] Satellite images match the Gem No.2, struck on 9 or 10 October, though UAE officials have not named the ship. [9][10] By Wednesday the slick stretched more than 35 km from the tanker. [10]

   Why it matters — The Gulf swaps little water with the open ocean, so oil can linger, a Greenpeace campaigner said. [11] Fishermen have been told to keep out, and a marine scientist warned that once oil reaches the coast, clean-up is costly and recovery can take years. [8][11][12]

2. 03

   Record floods empty homes near Four Corners

   Hundreds of homes near Farmington, New Mexico, were still evacuated and without power on Saturday after more than 5 inches of rain fell in places. [13] Farmington is near Four Corners, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. [13] The San Juan River hit record highs, and at least a couple of hundred people were rescued, some from rooftops. [13] Upstream in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, it ran more than 2 feet above a flood a year ago that officials had called a 100-year flood. [13]

   Why it matters — The river also flooded parts of the Navajo Nation, and about 2,000 people around Farmington were affected. [13] The rain came from two months of tropical moisture off the Pacific, after months of drought, and more storms were forecast for the weekend. [13]

3. 04

   Storm Boelo hits Scotland at 85 mph

   Storm Boelo brought gusts of 85 mph to Machrihanish, in Argyll in western Scotland, overnight into Sunday. [14] Train and ferry services were cancelled, and SSE and SP Energy Networks, which run the local power lines, reported cuts. [14] The Met Office, the UK's weather service, put amber warnings, its second most severe, on Scotland, parts of Northern Ireland and northern England. [15][16] Ireland's weather service warned of damaging gusts in five western counties. [17]

   Why it matters — Boelo came a day after Storm Austen, and by 7pm on Saturday power had been restored to 131,225 properties in south-west England, with hundreds still waiting. [16] Ireland's forecasters said Boelo could worsen flooding from Austen, because the soil is already soaked. [17]

4. 05

   Typhoon Champi turns up China's coast

   Typhoon Champi turned north up China's coast on Saturday after passing Taiwan, where it killed one man and injured 527 people. [18][19] China's emergency ministry sent a team to Zhejiang, an eastern province, and had more than 41,000 firefighters on duty. [18][19] In Taizhou, a city on Zhejiang's coast, more than 3,800 fishing boats came back to harbour and 2,084 island visitors were evacuated, Chinese state media reported. [18] Champi was not expected to come ashore in China. [19]

   Why it matters — In Taiwan, 280,000 households lost power, and 80% had it back by Saturday morning. [19] Champi was one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, and it is weakening on its way towards southern Japan. [18][19]

5. 06

   India braces for a very severe cyclone

   India's weather service, the IMD, says a storm over the Bay of Bengal is likely to become a very severe cyclone by Tuesday. [20] It expects it to cross the coast of Andhra Pradesh, a state in south-east India, between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam. [20] Winds of 115 to 125 km/h, gusting to 140, are forecast by 28 October. [20] Schools and colleges in five districts of neighbouring Odisha will close on 28 and 29 October. [20]

   Why it matters — President Droupadi Murmu has put off a two-day visit to Odisha because of the storm. [20] Very heavy rain is forecast for several districts of southern Andhra Pradesh. [20]

6. 07

   A giant storm sweeps eastern Australia

   An unusually large line of storms ran from the Snowy Mountains to the Queensland border on Sunday, said the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia's weather service. [21] It warned of hail, damaging winds and flash floods in Sydney and across parts of four states and territories. [21] Gusts reached 100 km/h in central New South Wales. [21] A high-pressure system had sat over the Tasman Sea for 10 days, blocking weather fronts and keeping rain over southern Queensland. [21]

   Why it matters — Eight flood warnings were in place in southern Queensland, where the Mary River was forecast to reach major flood level at Tiaro. [21] The area had a very dry September, then 200 to 400 mm of rain in a week near the Sunshine Coast. [21]

7. 08

   Fires creep up on the world's oldest cave art

   Indonesia's worst forest fires since 2015 have spread to South Sulawesi, where limestone caves hold the oldest known art made by people. [22] Fires came within 800 metres of a cave at Maros-Pangkep, whose painting of human-like figures and a pig is at least 51,200 years old, a firefighter said. [22] More than 270 hectares of the national park burned between 30 September and 18 October. [22] A severe El Nino, a warming of the Pacific that dries Indonesia, is behind the fires. [22]

   Why it matters — Heat speeds up the decay of the paintings even without flames touching them, and smoke covers them in soot, said Basran Burhan, an archaeologist at Australia's Griffith University. [22] Firefighters were still at work in the park on Friday, with no rain yet. [22]

8. 09

   Australia's weather service rejects an 'audit'

   The Australian, a national newspaper, has run at least eight pieces on a 'forensic audit' claiming widespread errors in the Bureau of Meteorology's main climate record. [24] That record, ACORN-SAT, adjusts readings from 112 weather stations for changes such as a station being moved. [24] The bureau called the claims false and said they rested on several misunderstandings. [24] It did find 10 months of duplicated readings at Sydney's Observatory Hill and one at Charleville, likely made when old handwritten records were copied onto punch cards, with an effect it called statistically irrelevant. [24]

   Why it matters — The record shows Australia has warmed by more than 1.5C since 1910, and climate science deniers have attacked it for more than 15 years. [24] Former prime minister Tony Abbott has called for an independent review, though the record has had two already. [24]

9. 10

   England's drought brings a 'false autumn'

   Birch, beech and sycamore trees across England dropped their leaves early this year, after the hottest summer on record. [23] At Wisley, a Surrey garden run by the Royal Horticultural Society, one birch has lost every leaf. [23] A stressed tree drops its leaves so it stops losing water through them. [23] Shallow-rooted kinds cannot reach deeper water once the topsoil dries. [23] Most of England and Wales is still in drought, and six areas were declared in severe drought this month. [23]

   Why it matters — Gardeners expect an earlier and shorter peak of autumn colour in dry areas, with reds and purples standing out as yellow-leaved trees go bare. [23]

10. 11

    Falling groundwater may heat the ground above it

    A study published on Sunday in Scientific Reports, a journal from the publisher of Nature, argues that falling groundwater can warm the land above it. [25] Damp soil near the surface stays cool because water evaporates from it, and that cooling stops when the water drops away. [25] The authors, from the University of Tennessee and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, calculate that a fall of about 1 metre near the surface could warm the ground by over ten degrees, depending on the soil. [25]

    Why it matters — Their maps of the US line up places where groundwater has fallen for decades with rising temperatures, and they name California and Florida as most exposed. [25] The paper presents this as a hypothesis, explored with theory and maps. [25]

11. 12

    A warmer climate may cut a mercury poison in peat

    Peat bogs are among the world's biggest stores of mercury, and microbes there can turn it into methylmercury, a poison that harms the nervous system. [26] A study published on Sunday in Communications Earth and Environment read the genes of microbes in 144 peat soils. [26] Genes that make methylmercury were more common in cold, northern peat, and genes that break it down were rarer there. [26]

    Why it matters — That pattern suggests warmer peatlands may make less of the poison, the authors write, which matters for the Minamata Convention, the treaty that limits mercury. [26] They compared cold and warm places, rather than following one bog as it warmed. [26]

12. 13

    Italy adds 4.83 GW of solar in nine months

    Italy connected 4.83 GW of new solar panels from January to September, up from 4.08 GW a year earlier, says Italia Solare, a solar industry group. [27] Its figures come from the records of Terna, Italy's grid operator. [27] Big solar farms made up 46% of the new capacity. [27] Italy now has 48.35 GW of solar spread across about 2.3 million systems. [27]

    Jan-Sep 20254.08 GW

    Jan-Sep 20264.83 GW

    Why it matters — Large projects almost doubled in the third quarter against a year earlier, to 858 MW. [27] Fewer new systems were connected over the nine months than in 2025, 147,632 against 161,962, so the growth came from bigger projects. [27]

13. 14

    Vietnam orders provinces to back rooftop solar

    Vietnam's government has told its provinces and cities to bring in support for households that put solar panels on their roofs by the end of December 2026. [28] The order, dated 22 October, followed a government meeting on keeping the power supply secure. [28] Prime Minister Le Minh Hung wants more rooftop solar and batteries to cut demand at the busiest hours, above all in the north, where supply is tight. [28] It sets no national subsidy rate. [28]

    Why it matters — The industry ministry must propose rooftop targets for each province by 30 October, and officials will be judged partly on progress. [28] Since June, rooftop owners may sell up to 50% of their spare power to the grid, up from 20%. [28]

14. 15

    India has far more panel factories than buyers

    India can now make more than 200 GW of solar modules a year, against the 50 to 60 GW it expects to install each year to 2030, analysts estimate. [29] More than 54,000 visitors and 1,000 companies came to the Renewable Energy India Expo in Greater Noida, near Delhi, this week. [29] Many expect a shakeout from 2027. [29] Firms that only assemble modules will struggle, because India's made-at-home rule now also covers the cells inside them. [29]

    Modules India's factories can make a year200 GW

    Solar India expects to install a year (top of range)60 GW

    Why it matters — The strongest firms are those that built their own cell factories early. [29] India's cell capacity is expected to reach 80 GW by the end of 2027. [29]

15. 16

    Mozambique hands its old solar factory to a UAE firm

    Mozambique has picked Jampur Group, from the United Arab Emirates, to run and modernise the Beluluane solar panel factory in Maputo province. [30] It was the country's first solar panel plant, opened in 2013 with about $13 million of Indian money, and could make 5 MW of panels a year. [30] It stopped around 2022, beaten by cheaper imported panels. [30] Its old machines made 270 W panels when newer ones on sale were far stronger. [30]

    Why it matters — The factory was built to supply power for villages, schools and clinics. [30] Mozambique had 175 MW of solar at the end of 2025, no more than a year before. [30]

16. 17

    Robots to lay six million solar panels

    Gritt Robotics, a California start-up, fits building machines with computer control and AI to install panels on big solar farms. [31] It says it is working with three of the ten biggest solar builders to install six million panels, about 2.8 GW, over the next two years. [31] It has already worked on sites run by Burns & McDonnell, a US engineering firm. [31] Solar farms suit robots better than most building sites, because their rows are flat and regular. [31]

    Why it matters — Solar builders are short of workers, and robots can take over the heavy, repeated carrying and placing in any weather. [31]

17. 18

    VW's electric Jetta sells for under $12,000 in China

    The Jetta M6, the first electric car from a brand Volkswagen runs with FAW, a Chinese state carmaker, starts at 79,800 yuan, about $11,800. [32] The cheapest version has a 42.9 kWh battery and a range of about 465 km on China's own test, roughly 285 miles. [32] It is about the size of a Tesla Model 3. [32] It comes with a 15.6-inch screen and emergency braking that works on its own. [32]

    Why it matters — It is built for China's market, by a joint company of a German and a Chinese carmaker. [32] The same week, used Chinese electric cars were selling into Europe for up to 40% less than they cost new. [33]

18. 19

    Used Chinese electric cars slip into Europe

    Sales of used Chinese electric cars to buyers in the European Union rose 280% from a year earlier, to 7,900 through September, says China EV Marketplace, an exporter. [33] New Chinese battery cars face EU tariffs of up to 45.3%. [33] Used ones pay none of the extra tax and do not count against a new limit on hybrids. [33] Buyers in Europe and Canada get them at up to 40% below the new price, from brands such as BYD, Geely and Zeekr. [33]

    Why it matters — The Iran war has pushed up the cost of new cars, which makes cheap used imports more tempting. [33] Western carmakers sheltered by the tariffs now face Chinese cars that the tariffs do not reach. [33]

19. 20

    Few Black voters rank climate in their top three

    Only 9% of Black registered voters in seven US states put climate change among the three issues most moving them to vote, against 74% who chose the cost of living. [34] The poll was done by HIT Strategies for the Climate Equity Action Fund and the League of Conservation Voters, two US groups that campaign on climate. [34] Most still want their leaders to treat climate as a top issue. [34] Among Black Republicans, 79% said candidates should make it a priority. [34]

    Climate in their top three9%

    Cost of living in their top three74%

    Why it matters — Voters interviewed by Grist said climate action means little to them unless it also eases rising costs. [34]

20. 21

    Michigan tribes put back a lost fish

    Three tribes in northern Michigan are trying to bring back the Arctic grayling, a fish not seen in the state's waters for almost a century. [35] Logging, overfishing and fish brought in from elsewhere had wiped it out by the 1930s. [35] This summer and early autumn the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians raised about 8,000 young grayling and released them into the Boardman-Ottaway River. [35] The tribes got the eggs from a state hatchery in 2025. [35]

    Why it matters — No released grayling has yet been seen in the wild, and floods have made counting hard. [35] Biologists say it will take six to eight years to know whether the fish has come back. [35]

21. 22

    Isle of Man counts ten years of wildlife gains

    The Isle of Man became the first whole country named a UNESCO Biosphere in 2016, a title for places that protect nature while supporting people. [36] A report on its first ten years says juniper, a native shrub lost from the island in 1947, has been replanted and is growing. [36] Killing rats on the Calf of Man, a small island off its coast, helped the Manx shearwater, a seabird, recover to about 1,500 breeding pairs. [36] Nine marine reserves now cover more than half the sea within three nautical miles of the coast. [36]

    Why it matters — The report also says 48 of 166 bird species seen regularly are on the red list, and sewage still flows into the sea at Peel and in Garff. [36] UNESCO decides next summer whether the island keeps its title. [36]

22. 23

    DNA tests to save a rare British tree

    A project along the River Thames is using DNA tests to bring back the black poplar, one of the UK's rarest native trees. [37] Only 50 are recorded in Oxfordshire, after decades of felling, land drainage and lost habitat. [37] The project will test the DNA of the trees that are left, grow new cuttings and plant them. [37] It aims to raise 20,000 pounds, and Oxfordshire County Council will match up to 10,000. [37]

    Why it matters — Black poplars line rivers and floodplains and help hold water back, which lowers flood risk, said the head of the Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment. [37]