Trump is reviving large sales of coal from public lands. Will anyone want it?
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials in coming days are set to hold the government’s biggest coal sales in more than a decade. About 600 million tons of the fuel will be auctioned from publicly owned reserves next to strip mines in Montana and Wyoming. Data analyzed by The Associated Press shows most of the power plants served by those mines plan to quit burning coal altogether within 10 years. The sales are a signature piece of President Donald Trump’s ambitions to dig and burn more coal from federal lands. The soft market for coal shows the risk in such a turnabout.
Fears of massive battery fires spark local opposition to energy storage projects
Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly being used to store power for electrical grids, but some localities are concerned about fire risks. Despite assurances of safety from proponents, some places in New York are enacting moratoriums on these systems. Some opponents in New York and elsewhere are concerned about the ability of local firefighters to handle potential fires. Battery energy storage systems are crucial for stabilizing grids with renewable energy. But fears persist, especially after incidents like the Moss Landing fire in California. Some localities are enacting moratoriums.
Journalists work in dire conditions to tell Gaza's story, knowing that could make them targets
BEIRUT (AP) — Minutes after journalists converged on the site of an Israeli strike in Gaza, cameraman Ibrahim Qannan began a live broadcast. He was watching, in horror, when a second strike killed his friends and colleagues. “We live side by side with death,” Qannan, a correspondent for Egypt’s Al-Ghad TV said in an interview. The death of five journalists in August's strike adds to a toll of nearly 200 news workers killed in Gaza since the war began. Most who survive have seen their homes destroyed during the war and many have mourned the deaths of family members. And each workday, they say, is shadowed by an awareness that they are singularly visible in the conflict, putting them at extraordinary risk.
DC’s shutdown hasn't stopped the stock market. Here’s what may
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market continues to rise despite the government's latest shutdown. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average hit all-time highs on Friday. It's not just big tech driving the market; the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks and gold also reached records. Past shutdowns have had minimal effects on the market, and many investors expect the market to climb further. However, there are concerns about expensive stocks, the need for rising corporate profits, and whether the Federal Reserve makes further cuts to interest rates. The AI boom also needs to deliver on its promises to sustain growth.
Apple and Google block apps that crowdsource ICE sightings. Some warn of chilling effects
Apple and Google blocked downloads of phone apps that flag sightings of U.S. immigration agents, just hours after the Trump administration demanded that one particularly popular iPhone app be taken down. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said such tracking puts Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at risk. But users and developers of these apps say it’s their First Amendment right to capture what ICE is doing in their neighborhoods — and maintain that most turn to these platforms in efforts to protect their own safety as President Donald Trump steps up aggressive immigration enforcement across the country.
Trump pauses $2.1B for Chicago infrastructure projects, leveraging shutdown to pressure Democrats
CHICAGO (AP) — White House budget director Russ Vought says the Trump administration will withhold $2.1 billion for Chicago infrastructure projects, expanding funding fights that have targeted Democratic areas during the government shutdown. The pause affects a long-awaited plan to extend the city’s Red Line train. Vought wrote on social media Friday the money was put on hold by the Republican administration "to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.” Vought made a similar announcement earlier this week involving New York, where he said $18 billion for infrastructure would be paused, including funding for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River. President Donald Trump has embraced Vought’s tactics.
Lack of jobs data due to government shutdown muddies view of hiring and the US economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report. But this Friday, with the government shut down, no jobs report covering September was released. The interruption in the data has occurred at a particularly uncertain time, when policymakers at the Federal Reserve and Wall Street investors would likely prefer more data on the economy, rather than less.
Hungary clings to Russian oil and gas as EU and NATO push to cut supplies
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary remains firm in maintaining its supplies of Russian oil and gas, even as the European Union accelerates efforts to cut Russian energy imports. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán argues what he calls cheap Russian energy is crucial for Hungary's economy and claims switching sources could cause an economic collapse. Critics dismiss the idea that dropping Russian energy is unachievable. They point to other landlocked countries like the Czech Republic that already have stopped Russian oil imports. Some energy experts say the Hungarian leader’s commitment to Russian energy is more about politics than pipelines.
Trump administration cuts nearly $8B in clean energy projects in states that backed Harris
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has announced the cancellation of $7.6 billion intended for clean energy projects across 16 states. Each of those are states where both senators voted against the Republican bill to keep the federal government open. The cuts likely will affect battery plants, hydrogen technology projects and more. The announcement Thursday by the Energy Department came after the Republican funding bill couldn't muster enough votes to pass in the Senate, initiating a federal government shutdown. The Trump administration says the projects do not align with national energy needs, while critics argue the move is politically motivated and could raise energy costs and threaten thousands of jobs.
Wall Street finishes its winning week with more records
NEW YORK (AP) — Most U.S. stocks ticked higher, sending Wall Street to more records. The S&P 500 inched up by less than 0.1% Friday to close out its seventh winning week in the last nine, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5%. Both added to their all-time highs set the day before. The Nasdaq composite lost an early gain and slipped 0.3% from its own record. Treasury yields ticked higher in the bond market following mixed reports on growth for U.S. services businesses, while crude oil prices rose to claw back some of their sharp losses from earlier in the week.
