Is the war entering a new phase? A drone strike close to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in occupied southeastern Ukraine has killed one nuclear specialist and wounded 17, according to Russian reports. Moscow asserted on Tuesday that the drone was launched by Ukraine. The security of Europe's biggest nuclear plant has provoked significant global concern amid the full-scale war on Ukraine that Russia launched in February 2022. Most of those injured by the strike were employees of the plant, according to a Telegram update by the Russian management of the nuclear facility.

Chevron and Williams are big winners in the race to power artificial intelligence as they build out gas-fired power plants and pipelines. It's been a banner year for oil and gas companies. Some of the world's biggest oil giants have announced billions of dollars in quarterly profits over the past two weeks, boosted largely by the soaring price of oil thanks to the conflict in the Middle East. But the artificial intelligence boom is also giving fossil fuel companies a new industry to sell their gas, pipelines, and power plants to: data centers . Two American oil and gas companies, Williams and Chevron, are presenting that demand to investors as a huge win.

What is Iran's Pickaxe Mountain? The United States has launched a 12th continuous night of strikes against targets in Iran, as Tehran threatened to launch more of its own attacks across the Gulf region, warning that "no infrastructure will be safe" unless its own security is guaranteed. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday that it had launched the strikes "to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters". Iran has said that strikes in the Gulf will not stop if the US continues to attack and threaten Iran. Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf delivered the message in a post on X Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump threatened to attack more Iranian power plants and bridges.

Iran issues grim new order to citizens after US strikes'hit power plants' as conflict spirals Air passenger'invokes Sharia law' to avoid sitting next to a woman - before slapping stewardess who confronted him on flight from Turkey JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette's REAL dying moments revealed in horrifying minute-by-minute detail: Her passenger seat terror... the graveyard spiral... violent moment of impact... and his last five words My husband seemed the perfect family man. But for years he was drugging me, raping me and filming it. Meghan would have felt'humiliated' as rows overshadowed UK trip, her friends tell People magazine What Ritalin really does to you: I took the ADHD drug for years but these were the terrifying and hidden side-effects that made me ditch the tablets. He was handsome, charming and so rich... but my extreme age-gap romance went nightmarishly wrong when I learned what he was REALLY into behind closed doors Experts reveal what ONE day of breathing America's toxic wildfire smoke does to your body as millions in 16 states are told to stay indoors Is George Clooney selling his $100M Lake Como party pad? Legendary holiday home has hosted the Obamas, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and Emily Blunt's wedding The'Taylor Swift problem' hanging over the wedding of her'one that got away' ex Matty Healy, revealed by DOLLY BUSBY: 'He really did love her.

Trump Says He'll Fast-Track Private Gas Plants to Power AI Data Centers "They can't believe it, that they're approved in a period of a matter of weeks." President Trump speaks to reporters at the White House on July 6, 2026. Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. In brief remarks to reporters Monday at the White House, President Donald Trump noted that he was shocked to learn how much energy developing artificial intelligence requires and said his administration is now approving plans for energy facilities to power data centers in "a matter of weeks." After first describing his investment accounts for children, Trump responded to a question on cryptocurrency and said Big Tech leaders racing to develop artificial intelligence have told him they need access to double the country's existing energy capacity in order to advance technologies and outpace foreign competitors.

Want to get a data center online quickly? As the data-center boom puts pressure on the grid, some companies say the answer isn't just more power plants but software that dials down centers' energy-guzzling ways when demand spikes. At the end of a tense and scoreless first half of a soccer match between the English men's team and rival Germany, millions of Brits let out a collective sigh and did what they so often do in moments of stress: They made tea. That wave of electric kettles clicking on, however, caused a different kind of stress: a huge and sudden increase in demand for electricity. But National Grid, which operates the local transmission network, was ready. Just as those kettles started heating up, an AI program sent instructions to a data center in London to slow down some of the facility's power-hungry chips. This reduction helped make sure there was enough supply to match demand, staving off potential blackouts or damage to electrical hardware.

Will Gulf states join war? What is the UAE's Barakah nuclear plant, nearly hit by a drone? A drone attack that caused a fire close to the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in the United Arab Emirates has raised further concerns about nuclear security and military escalation in the Gulf as discussions of peace between Iran and the United States hang in the balance. Barakah was the first nuclear power station to be built on the Arabian Peninsula. What is the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant? Barakah is a nuclear energy plant located in Al Dhafra, the largest municipal region of the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The United Arab Emirates is investigating the source of a drone strike which triggered a fire near a nuclear power station, officials have said. The country's defence ministry said three drones had entered the UAE from the western border direction on Sunday. While two were intercepted, the third drone struck an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi. No injuries were reported and there was no impact on radiological safety levels, local authorities said. The country's defence ministry said in a statement that investigations were under way to determine the source of the attacks.

Will fusion power get cheap? New research suggests that cost declines could be slow for the technology. Fusion power could provide a steady, zero-emissions source of electricity in the future--if companies can get plants built and running. But a new study suggests that even if that future arrives, it might not come cheap. Technologies tend to get less expensive over time. Lithium-ion batteries are now about 90% cheaper than they were in 2013.

This story appears in the April 2026 print edition. While some stories from this issue are not yet available to read online, you can explore more from the magazine . Get our editors' guide to what matters in the world, delivered to your inbox every weekday. The race to power AI is already remaking the physical world. Three Mile Island's cooling towers have until recently served as grave markers for America's nuclear-power industry. A s we drove through southwest Memphis, KeShaun Pearson told me to keep my window down--our destination was best tasted, not viewed. Along the way, we passed an abandoned coal plant to our right, then an active power plant to our left, equipped with enormous natural-gas turbines. Pearson, who directs the nonprofit Memphis Community Against Pollution, was bringing me to his hometown's latest industrial megaproject.