Ships cannot leave the Gulf, so the world is burning more coal than ever

World

Government forces withdrew from the port of Mocha on Thursday and the Houthis took it, giving them the Yemeni shore of a strait that carries a tenth of world trade. In the Black Sea, hundreds of cargo ships have been hit and some owners now refuse to sail at all.

Finance

Brent crude passed $105 after the biggest wave of attacks on shipping since the war began. Petrol in the United States costs 32% more than a year ago, at $4.22 a gallon.

Climate

The OPEC group of oil producers pumped 640,000 barrels a day less in August, because the oil could not get out. The heavy fuel that ships and some power stations burn costs more than 70% more than it did before the war.

Food

Nestle, the world's largest food company, says every one of its suppliers will charge it more because of the conflict. Wholesale grain prices in the United States are 17.7% higher than a year ago.

Money

Since 15 July, a company that splits a British shopper's purchase into instalments counts as a lender, with affordability checks and an ombudsman attached. One estimate says up to three in ten people using it now could be turned down.

Cyber

A European law requiring a company to report a break-in within 24 hours takes effect today, with fines up to 15 million euros. California has signed the first American ban on feeds designed to be hard to stop scrolling for under-16s.

Tech

American lawmakers called for rules on artificial intelligence only after a researcher inside one of the companies went public. A Portuguese group is suing Meta, TikTok and YouTube over designs it says are built to be hard to put down.

Food

India's food regulator wrote a rule last month that let a food high in sugar alone escape a warning label. Pressed by a judge on Thursday about the word and, India's government offered to drop it.

Tech

Microsoft says it wants 38 gigawatts of data centres by 2032, more electricity than New York state draws at its busiest, and has not said where it comes from. In Finland, where Google is spending at least 13 billion euros, opposition parties want one office to check what all of it will draw.

Climate

A 107.5-mile power line ordered up in 2023 only reaches its West Virginia hearings in late October. The grid operator covering fifteen states has asked federal regulators for a faster 90-day review for data centres, which draw power and never supply any.

Biotech

The US drug regulator stopped new patients joining an epilepsy trial over a chemical rats made while breaking the drug down. Nobody yet knows whether it matters in people, and the drug had been licensed to another company for up to $795m nine days earlier.

Mind & body

Children are told to spend two hours a day outdoors to protect their eyes from short sight. The field's own 2025 review says no study has yet shown which light level, for how long, does the work.