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Lately headlines have been filled with developments of the United States targeting Venezuelan-linked tankers, or sanctioning Russia's so-called Shadow Fleet, or else intercepts of Iranian oil shipments on the high seas. Such country names on the receiving end of Washington's punitive measures have become commonplace, but it is surprising to see the EU country of Spain pop up as potentially next on the target list. Sanctions on Spanish-flagged vessels?

The US is actually mulling it, based on Madrid having blocked vessels carrying weapons bound for Israel since last year, even including refusals for American ships to dock.

Maritime monitoring source Freight Waves reported of several incidents last year, "Spain refused docking privileges at APM terminals in Algeciras, Spain in November 2024 to three U.S. flagged vessels operating under the MSP: Maersk Denver, Maersk Nysted, and Maersk Seletar."

The Federal Maritime Commission conducted a formal investigation and this month confirmed the anti-US and anti-Israel actions by the Spanish government did take place, in line with Spain's recent boycotting of Israel (specifically arms and military equipment) policy due to the Gaza war.

Spain has made clear it has recently codified a "multi-faceted policy" to ban ships and aircraft carrying weapons headed for Israel or tankers carrying fuel for use by the Israeli military from using Spanish ports or even flying in its airspace.

The US Federal Maritime Commission within the last days issued a statement confirming that it is considering "remedies the commission can implement to adjust or meet unfavorable conditions to shipping in the foreign trade of the United States include adopting regulations restricting voyages to or from US ports, imposing per voyage fees, limiting amounts or types of cargo, or taking ‘any other action the commission finds necessary and appropriate to adjust or meet any condition unfavorable to shipping the foreign trade of the United States’."

There has long existed routine coordination between Spanish and American military officials, however, the relationship is becoming increasingly tense, given port blockage issue reflects a serious political divergence amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The Rota base, near Cádiz on the Atlantic coast, is under Spanish control but heavily utilized by American forces. Also, the Morón air base, which is near Seville, is a key hub for US military operations, with American forces long operating with a broad degree of freedom there.

Madrid has defended its decision as rooted in Spain's sovereignty and terms outlined in a 1988 bilateral defense agreement, amid the past couple years of European scrutiny of Israeli military action against Palestinians, especially in war-ravaged Gaza.

There are over 8,500 potentially polluting wrecks (PPWs) across the world’s ocean. These shipwrecks may hold as much as 20.4 million metric tons of oil and toxic substances, according to estimates.

This graphic, produced by Visual Capitalist's Cody Good in partnership with Lloyd’s Register Foundation, shows the global density of World War II wrecks. It uses data from Paul Heersink’s Sunken Ships of the Second World War database and oil estimates from Michel et al., 2005, presented at the International Oil Spill Conference.

Where Toxic Shipwrecks Are Found

World War II battles sank over 75% of PPWs, concentrating most in regions such as the South Pacific (32% of PPWs, 25% of oil) and the North Atlantic (25% of PPWs, 38% of oil).

Here is a table that shows the concentration of PPWs by ocean region and their estimated oil content:

These wrecks remain under the ownership of the original flag states, who have no legal obligation to intervene. As a result, proactive international cooperation is urgently required.

The Environmental Threat

Many PPWs lie in the waters of small island states reliant on fishing and tourism. Even minor oil spills in sensitive marine areas can be devastating.

Here is a table showing the top 10 countries with the most PPWs located in their exclusive economic zones (EEZs), ranked by GDP:

Source: Shipwreck locations – Paul Heersink, 2025; EEZ file – Flanders Marine Institute, 2023

Because these nations often lack the resources to respond, they remain especially vulnerable to emerging threats.

The Malta Manifesto: Charting a Path Forward

The Malta Manifesto, launched by Project Tangaroa, calls for a global framework to address the PPW threat. It outlines key actions, from identifying high-risk wrecks to supporting coastal nations with limited capacity.

By recognizing that even a single leak in the wrong location can have far-reaching impacts, the Manifesto pushes for equitable, science-based solutions to this overlooked legacy of conflict.

Read the Malta Manifesto here...

Authored by Alex Kimani via OilPrice.com,

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (NYSE:DJT) have surged nearly 70% after the company agreed to merge with fusion startup TAE Technologies in a $6 billion deal. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders of each company will own roughly half of the combined entity on a fully diluted equity basis. Trump Media, majority owned by U.S. President Donald Trump, will now become the holding company for TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences alongside current holdings Truth Social, Truth+ and Truth.Fi. 

Founded in 1998, TAE Technologies aims to deploy commercial, utility-scale fusion energy. The company plans to commence construction of its first fusion power plant in 2026, expected to generate 350-500 MWe.

TAE Technologies has raised more than $1.3 billion thanks to backing by high-profile investors, including Google, Chevron Technology Ventures, Goldman Sachs, and Sumitomo Corporation of America. The company plans to employ neutral particle beams and magnets in its fusion reactors instead of standard lasers.

Widely regarded as the Holy Grail of low-carbon electricity, nuclear fusion works by ‘smashing’ together hydrogen atoms to create helium and release energy through the famous E=MC2 mass-energy equivalence. Fusion is the process by which stars, including our own sun, generate vast amounts of energy in their cores. 

Nuclear fusion is able to generate four times as much energy as nuclear fission from the same mass of fuel. Fusion reactors are highly regarded not only because of their massive power output but also because they produce much less radioactive waste and cannot melt down, unlike fission reactors, where uncontrolled chain reactions can be catastrophic. 

Nuclear fission is a process where a nucleus (usually of a heavy atom like uranium) splits into two smaller nuclei, releasing a large amount of energy and additional neutrons. These released neutrons can then induce further fission events, leading to a chain reaction.

After a long period of stagnation, nuclear fusion is hot again thanks to the ongoing global nuclear renaissance amid surging energy demand. Back in August, Sam Altman-backed Helion Energy began construction of its first commercial nuclear fusion plant in Chelan County, Washington. Helion’s project has already undergone rigorous environmental assessments as part of the Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process by the State of Washington. 

Two years ago, Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ:MSFT) signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Helion Energy to buy electricity from the nuclear fusion startup beginning in 2028. Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) was appointed as the marketer for the zero-carbon electricity Helion plans to generate at its Orion plant.

Helion has scored some important fusion milestones, with its Trenta prototype the first private reactor to achieve nuclear fusion on a commercial scale. Trenta--Helion’s sixth fusion prototype--has been able to achieve a critical fuel temperature of 180 million degrees Fahrenheit, widely considered a benchmark for commercial fusion viability. 

Testing of the prototype began in 2019 and concluded in January 2023, during which the facility completed nearly 10,000 high-power pulses and operated under vacuum for 16 months. Trenta uses a pulsed magneto-inertial fusion (MIF) approach to generate fusion energy. It accelerates two Field Reversed Configurations (FRCs) of plasma to collide, compressing them to fusion temperatures and directly recapturing the released energy as electricity, bypassing the traditional steam turbine cycle.

China Enters Fusion Race

That said, China has entered the fusion race with a bang. Whereas the U.S. was among the world’s first countries to bet big on this futuristic gambit, China’s foray came much later. China has been making rapid progress over the past decade, and now owns more fusion patents than any country according to industry data published by Nikkei. Further, China is building projects at record speed. 

China's private fusion energy company, Energy Singularity, has achieved several significant breakthroughs in developing high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tokamak devices aimed at accelerating the commercialization of fusion energy. In June 2024, the company's HH70 device successfully achieved its "first plasma," making it the first and only operational full high-temperature superconducting tokamak built by a commercial company globally. The HH70 device was designed and constructed in under two years, a world record for the fastest development and construction of a superconducting tokamak.

In early 2025, Energy Singularity's large-bore D-shaped HTS magnet, named "Jingtian" generated a world-record magnetic field of 21.7 tesla in a test. This surpassed the previous record held by a U.S. company/MIT collaboration and is a critical step for developing smaller, more cost-effective fusion reactors.The company is now developing its next-generation device, the HH170, which is planned for completion by 2027 and aims to achieve a tenfold energy gain (Q>10), a crucial milestone for commercial viability.

Interestingly, just like it did with AI models, China is pulling off impressive fusion milestones with much less. To wit, Energy Singularity has so far received just $112 million in private investment, significantly less than U.S. fusion startups. For some context, Charles Seife, director of the Arthur L. Carter Institute of Journalism at New York University, estimates that France-based International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project costs have surpassed €20 billion ($21.8 billion), more than four times the original budget of €5 billion (then $5.5 billion) and nearly a decade late from its 2016 delivery date.

That said, Energy Singularity is not the only fusion startup that’s pursuing small reactor designs. Deven, Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems is collaborating with MIT to build its small fusion reactor. 

The company has achieved major breakthroughs in fusion energy by developing world-record High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) magnets, enabling smaller, more powerful tokamaks like their SPARC device, which aims to be the first to produce net energy. They've secured massive funding (around $3 billion), validated their magnet technology with the U.S. DOE, and demonstrated key magnet performance milestones. CFS is now building its SPARC reactor to prove net-energy fusion, paving the way for its first commercial power plant, ARC.

For some families, the search for the right Christmas tree is an annual event.

For large shares of Americans and Brits though, this search may have ended a long time ago - the perfect tree already sitting safely in the attic or garage, ready for its glorious but fleeting return to the living room.

As Statista's Felix Richter reports, a new survey from Statista Consumer Insights shows, it's a different story in Germany.

You will find more infographics at Statista

There, at the home of the Christmas tree tradition, the practice is still very much alive - 41 percent of German adults said they would be putting up a real tree this year, compared to 32 percent in the U.S. and just 24 percent in the United Kingdom.

The global airline industry is on track to hit new revenue and profit records in 2025 and 2026.

As Statista's Felix Richter details below, according to the latest industry outlook from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), commercial airlines, including passenger and cargo airlines, are expected to surpass $1 trillion in revenue for the first time this year, showing resilience in the face of significant headwinds.

This is especially true for the air cargo sector, which successfully weathered the storm after the Trump administration's new tariff policy shook up global trade. Tariff front-loading and subsequent re-routing of global trade flows posed significant operational challenges in 2025, despite which cargo revenue is expected to grow 2.6 percent this year. Despite non-fuel cost pressures, mainly in the form of rising labor and maintenance costs, airline profit margins have recovered from their 2024 dip, promising new industry records in terms of total profit for this year and 2026.

While hailing the industry's performance in a challenging operating environment, IATA's Director General Willie Walsh bemoaned airline profit margins, which he doesn't consider well-aligned with value the industry creates.

"They [airlines] stand at the core of a value chain that underpins nearly 4 percent of the global economy and supports 87 million jobs. Yet Apple will earn more selling an iPhone cover than the $7.90 airlines will make transporting the average passenger," Walsh argued.

Looking ahead, the IATA expects industry revenues to reach a historic high of $1.05 trillion in 2026, up 4.5 percent from the expected 2025 total.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Passenger revenue is projected to reach $751 billion in 2026, as 5.2 billion passengers are expected to board a commercial plane next year.

"Airlines are expected to generate a 3.9 percent net margin and a $41 billion profit in 2026. That’s extremely welcome news considering the headwinds that the industry faces - rising costs from bottlenecks in the aerospace supply chain, geopolitical conflict, sluggish global trade and growing regulatory burdens among them. Airlines have successfully built shock-absorbing resilience into their businesses that is delivering stable profitability,” Willie Walsh concluded.