Oklahoma Oil Company Plugs Disposal Well That Posed Threat to City’s Drinking Water
An Oklahoma oil and gas company plugged a well that disposes of oil production’s toxic byproduct after an investigation by The Frontier and ProPublica revealed that regulators had approved the well in violation of state rules meant to protect public groundwater supplies.
The disposal well, named the Flying Monkey, injected oil field wastewater underground and sat roughly a quarter-mile from two municipal groundwater supply sites that served the small city of Enid in northwest Oklahoma. Wastewater injection operations are banned within a half-mile of public water wells unless regulators hold a hearing to ensure that this activity will not pollute groundwater. Regulators at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission did not hold a hearing before approving the well in 2018.
The city of Enid filed a complaint last year asking the state to revoke the Flying Monkey’s permit to operate.
On Sept. 14, with the complaint still active in the agency’s administrative law court, employees of the Flying Monkey’s current owner — BCE-Mach III Midstream Holdings LLC — dropped a cast iron plug into the bottom of the well, followed by more than 200 sacks of cement, to permanently seal it off, according to a report the company filed to the corporation commission. A representative of the state was on site to witness the plugging.
Eric Huddleston, an attorney representing BCE-Mach III Midstream Holdings, which acquired the Flying Monkey in 2020, said the company decided to permanently shut the well after determining it was “underutilized and operationally unnecessary.” A spokesperson for the corporation commission did not respond to requests for comment, including about the agency’s role in the well’s closure.
Enid city officials said they did not know the well had been plugged until our reporter informed them.
“This decision is, for lack of a better word, thrilling because this is such a vital issue,” said Frank Baker, an Enid city commissioner. “Our water sources have been put in danger, and for this one well to have been plugged, this is the best possible outcome.”
In Enid’s 2025 complaint to the state, its lawyers noted that the Flying Monkey’s original operator, Hinkle Oil & Gas, had incorrectly checked a box on its permit application stating that the injection well was not within a half-mile of a public water supply well. “This was demonstrably false,” Enid’s lawyers wrote. Hinkle previously declined to answer questions about the Flying Monkey. Earlier this year, BCE-Mach III Midstream Holdings refiled a permit application for the Flying Monkey, where it acknowledged the proximity of the city’s water supply wells.
A building containing one of Enid’s groundwater supply wells sits about a quarter-mile from the now-plugged Flying Monkey disposal well.September Dawn Bottoms for ProPublica
The Flying Monkey had a checkered operational history. In the last five years, the state has shut down the wastewater disposal well repeatedly after it failed tests of its structural integrity. These failures can indicate a problem that might allow wastewater to escape, potentially threatening drinking water sources. The well had failed five of these tests since 2021.
In early July, nine days after the newsrooms’ investigation published, the Flying Monkey’s owner reported another leak in the well’s tubing. The state gave BCE-Mach III Midstream Holdings 90 days to fix the leak or to permanently plug the well.
Our investigation identified two other wells in Enid that violated the state distance rule between wastewater injection wells and the city’s groundwater supply sites. Both of those wells, which are owned by other companies, remain active.
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The proximity of wells to drinking water isn’t only an issue in Enid. Across Oklahoma, the news outlets identified at least 114 injection wells that were located within a half-mile of a public water supply well. More than 300,000 Oklahomans live in communities that rely on these water wells, according to our analysis.
Baker, the Enid official, told The Frontier and ProPublica that he hopes the corporation commission will begin to plug other injection wells that threaten public water supplies.
“I hope and pray this is an example that we’ll start to see replicated across the state in the near future,” he said.
In addition to its request to plug the well, the city of Enid has asked the corporation commission to impose stronger regulations on oilfield wastewater disposal near its water supply, including a wider distance buffer between the injection sites and the city’s water wells. This request comes amid a recent uptick in wastewater injection in the Enid area, according to a legal filing made by the city. The commission previously declined to comment on Enid’s complaint because it is an active case. The case will continue to be heard in the agency’s administrative law court later this year.
Russia is using Ukraine’s children to win its occupation – and the wider war
A year or so after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the city of Murmansk in Russia’s Arctic north-west marked its annual regional day with a celebration for children. Alongside the sons and daughters of Russian soldiers stood children taken from the occupied Prymorskyi district of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukraine’s authorities have verified 20,651 cases of children deported or forcibly displaced to Russia and Belarus since 2022. Some estimates, including figures shared by Russian officials themselves, run as high as 744,000. As of September 2026, just 2,644 Ukrainian children have been returned.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, and his children’s commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, in March 2023 for their roles in this campaign.
But the Where Are Our People? project, which I work alongside, has identified at least 47 Russian and Belarusian individuals directly involved in the deportations. These people range from regional governors to business executives. Only some of them are under western sanctions.
Map of temporary accommodation centres for deported persons in Russia and Belarus, compiled from research by Vladyslav Havrylov and Oleksandr Rudenkyi.Where Are Our People? / BLCK L, CC BY-NC-ND
My work, which I carry out with colleagues at King’s College London, involves tracking the fate of deported Ukrainian children through regional government documents and the social media posts of Russian officials. Our findings suggest that child deportation is not a byproduct of war, but a systematic instrument of occupation.
In the short term, the deportation of children means control over families in occupied Ukraine. Children are removed from occupied areas under the banner of “rehabilitation” or “health holidays” to escape active conflict. They are then placed thousands of miles away in Siberia, the Arctic or far east.
Their personal data is concealed and some children are placed with Russian families. For parents left behind in occupied cities such as Melitopol or Mariupol, preserving the possibility of getting their children back means complying with the Russian authorities on their terms.
Russia’s longer game is to ensure the next generation of Ukrainians from the occupied territories do not think of themselves as Ukrainian at all. Researchers at Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab have mapped 210 facilities inside Russia where deported Ukrainian children are held and subject to re-education or militarisation.
This harm will outlast any ceasefire. Researchers say deported children who eventually return to Ukraine face a “dual adaptation” – not a restoration of pre-war life but a renegotiation of it. They have to adjust to new surroundings while rebuilding an identity that has been suppressed for years. Ukraine has no unified state programme to support these people.
A reserve for the army
Children who remain in occupied Ukraine are subject to re-education and militarisation, too. Roughly 1.6 million Ukrainian children are currently living under occupation, of which at least 582,000 are of school age.
These children are taught to Russian standards. Mandatory weekly lessons called “Conversations about important things” began in 2022 in schools throughout the occupied territories. Russia’s education ministry specifies what these important things are.
In occupied Zaporizhzhia, these lessons teach students about the region’s liberation from the Nazis in the second world war and the supposed “return of Nazism” to Ukraine after 2014, when the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych in Kyiv was ousted from power. The lessons cast Russia’s invasion as a second liberation.
Children who have since left occupied territory describe teachers praising Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, showing films that glorify the war and inviting Russian soldiers to class who urge pupils to stand ready to defend the “motherland”.
Inside Russia, the “Conversations about important things” lessons are meant to reinforce loyalty to the state. In occupied Ukraine, they serve a different purpose: replacing children’s Ukrainian identity with a Russian one.
Members of the Yunarmiya take part in an exercise in Gorki Leninskie, Russia, in 2025.Sergei Ilnitsky / EPA
Primary school pupils in occupied Ukraine are also enrolled in Orlyata Rossii (Eaglets of Russia). This is the junior wing of the Kremlin’s Movement of the First for Russian children and a revival of the Soviet-era “Little Octobrists”, which provide children with military training such as assembling weapons and operating drones.
In occupied Zaporizhzhia alone, the programme is thought to have more than 10,000 participants across 97 schools. Children are ceremonially “consecrated” as eaglets, and the results can be stark.
One Ukrainian girl, deported from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine in 2022 and enrolled in the programme at a school near Moscow, was photographed a year later beside boxes of aid collected for Russian soldiers fighting against her own country.
Tens of thousands of young people from occupied Ukraine have also been enrolled into the Yunarmiya (“Youth Army”), which was founded with Russian military support in 2015 and now has more than 2 million members. The Yunarmiya trains children and teenagers in basic military skills and physical conditioning, while also providing them with patriotic education.
None of this is new. The Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Russia formally annexed in 2014, was the testing ground for this system. The overall number of cadet classes in schools in occupied Crimea rose from 12 in the 2016-17 academic year to 260 in 2024-25, indicating a systematic militarisation of the educational space.
Children living in Russia or occupied Ukraine are being taught that Ukraine is the enemy – and are becoming the soldiers sent to fight it.
Ukrainian officials say that between February 2022 and July 2025, Russia mobilised over 46,000 residents in occupied territories into its army. In occupied Donetsk alone, more than 3,500 students were mobilised in the first year of the full-scale war, and 70 were killed.
Melania and Trump’s Matchmaker Accused of Horrific Crimes
A longtime friend of President Donald Trump who says he helped bring Donald and Melania Trump together is facing explosive allegations from a woman who claims he drugged and sexually assaulted her inside his Manhattan home.
Paolo Zampolli, 56, a former modeling agent who now serves as Trump’s special envoy for global partnerships, has been sued by 33-year-old tech entrepreneur and model Victoria Drake.
Drake filed the civil lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on September 3, accusing Zampolli of sexually assaulting her after she allegedly lost consciousness at his Gramercy Park townhouse in October 2023.
Zampolli strongly denies the allegations. He has not been charged with a crime over Drake’s claims, and the allegations have not been proven in court.
According to the complaint, Drake encountered Zampolli at Zero Bond, an exclusive private members club in Manhattan, on October 5, 2023.
Drake claims Zampolli approached her and said he recognized her from Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
Drake had previously attended events in Trump’s social orbit and has been photographed with both Donald and Melania Trump.
The two exchanged contact information and later arranged to meet at Zampolli’s townhouse, according to the lawsuit.
Drake alleges Zampolli gave her a drink at the residence and that she subsequently lost consciousness.
She claims she briefly regained consciousness while naked in a bed and realized Zampolli was sexually assaulting her. The lawsuit alleges she was unable to consent because of her condition and claims Zampolli put his hands around her neck during the encounter.
Drake alleges that she woke the following morning naked, bruised and unable to initially locate her clothing.
The complaint says she contacted the New York Police Department the next day and was transported by ambulance to Lenox Health Greenwich Village, where she underwent examinations related to an alleged sexual assault and possible drug-facilitated assault.
There is no indication that Zampolli was arrested or criminally charged following the report.
Zampolli has said the police complaint was later closed and has forcefully disputed Drake’s version of events.
The civil case, Drake v. Zampolli, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams.
Zampolli has accused Drake of making false allegations and maintains that the dispute is part of an effort to extort or damage him.
He has also taken legal action of his own in Italy.
According to Italian media reports and statements from Zampolli, he filed a criminal complaint in Rome accusing Drake of defamation, false accusations and extortion. He has also publicly threatened to pursue a $100 million countersuit.
Drake’s attorney, Jesse S. Weinstein, has rejected those accusations and says his client intends to pursue the case through the courts.
Weinstein said Drake reported the alleged assault to law enforcement immediately and underwent medical examinations the following day.
He also accused Zampolli of publicly attacking Drake while attempts were being made to formally serve him with the federal lawsuit.
Zampolli told PunchUp that he had not discussed the controversy with the White House and maintained that it was a personal legal matter.
The allegations have attracted additional attention because of Zampolli’s decades-long relationship with Trump and his current role in the administration.
Trump officially appointed Zampolli special envoy for global partnerships in March 2025.
Long before entering government, however, Zampolli was a prominent figure in New York’s modeling and social scene.
He operated ID Model Management and helped bring Melania Knauss, now Melania Trump, to New York as a model during the 1990s.
Zampolli has repeatedly said he introduced Melania to Donald Trump during a New York Fashion Week party in 1998.
Melania has confirmed that she first met her future husband at a Fashion Week party that year, although accounts have differed over exactly how the introduction happened.
The couple began dating and married in Palm Beach in 2005. Zampolli remained friendly with the Trumps and has appeared with them at social events over the years.
His proximity to the president makes the lawsuit particularly notable, but neither Donald Trump nor Melania Trump is accused of any wrongdoing in Drake’s case.
The lawsuit concerns allegations against Zampolli alone.
Drake is seeking damages through the federal civil court system, and her complaint includes claims under New York City’s Gender Motivated Violence Protection Act.
The case remains at an early stage, meaning Drake’s allegations have not been tested at trial and no court has determined that Zampolli is liable.
Zampolli continues to deny the accusations and has signaled that he intends to fight them.
The White House and State Department had not publicly commented on the lawsuit as of the latest reporting.
Russia’s new strategy aims to make Ukrainian cities unlivable
The Russians are struggling on land and at sea, and are having real difficulty protecting themselves from Ukrainian long-range attack. That has left them with one real strategic “advantage” and that is what we will see the next few months.
As reports this week made clear, the Russian strategy is now to make Ukraine unlivable, particularly the major Ukrainian cities. It is, in two words, a strategy based on war crimes.
I thought it would be worthwhile trying to put this Russian strategy into some context. The Russians, as you know, are struggling on the land and Ukraine is showing more and more proficiency with its own ranged campaign.
This means that the Russians will be left relying on their own ranged campaign to have strategic effect and try to push the Ukrainians to take a deal that serves Russian interests – with the help of the US, it must always be remembered.
The Ukrainians, particularly President Volodymyr Zelensky, started talking openly in the last few days about what they expect from this Russian strategy, first in the Financial Timesbut then later directly. It holds out the possibility of being exceedingly gruesome.
Further information about Ukrainian successes in Operation Vivaldi, which contributed to this Russian plan, also came out this past week. More and more tasks are being done by robots, which are leading to fewer Ukrainian casualties.
On the other hand, Russian casualties are mounting and even prisoners seem to be being taken in larger numbers. Without the option of increased war crimes, the Russians would be seen to be losing the war.
Finally, there was a story that supplied details about a deal that has been long suspected (at least here) but which had until now remained opaque. Some details came out about the Russian payoffs that are being promised to secure the kind of deal on taking Ukrainian land and people that they want.
We might call this the real Jared Kushner win-win deal. It is as venal as one could have imagined, even in this extraordinarily venal time.
The “He” Zelensky is referring to here, not surprisingly, is Vladimir Putin. What is interesting is not that Putin was supposedly following “rules” of war before – which is, of course, nonsense. The Russians have not followed legalisms in their conduct of operations in any reasonable sense.
What restrictions they have put on their operations have been because of worry of Ukrainian retaliation, the fear of international reaction or, indeed, fear of what might happen to their own army or population.
Here, by the way, is Zelensky’s tweet on the claim.
For instance, up until now the Russians have not directly attacked Ukrainian nuclear power plants, not out of respect for the rules of law but because they understand that such an attack could rebound against them. It could cause a dramatic reaction across Europe and could even poison their own army/people.
Now, however, the Ukrainians are saying that they have direct intelligence saying that this winter (actually from now) the Russians are going to throw off almost all of their existing limitations to try and force the Ukrainian government to agree a deal that they want.
They will attack power, transport, even Ukraine’s water supplies to make civilian life impossible. The main targets of the Russian attacks will be Kyiv, Kharkiv Odesa and Lviv and the targets are those that have been discussed here for months.
Moreover, the Russians have a timeline in mind – hoping to make Ukrainian cities “uninhabitable,” cause another refugee crisis and force the Ukrainian government to make a deal in the first half of 2027.
The nuclear power plant attacks being mooted are worthy of discussion. In some ways they might simply be an acceleration of something that the Ukrainians have seen before — attempts not to blow up the plants themselves, but to disconnect them from the grid (which is in itself wildly dangerous). The prospect of increased Russian attacks on Ukrainian nuclear plants has been discussed for years (here is a detailed RUSI report on the subject from 2025).
The details released this week, particularly in aNew York Times story indicate that the Russians might escalate their previous operations in some exceedingly dangerous ways, for instance in trying to cut the water supply (think cooling apparatus) to Ukraine’s three functioning nuclear plants.
These three plants are without doubt the most important surviving part of Ukraine’s power grid. The Russians have destroyed almost all the other large non-nuclear power generation sources from dams to power plants. With those out, Ukraine has been left with its nuclear power plants and a growing solar capability, for much of its power.
And this week was not comforting for those who believe the Russians will not take such a step.
This week we already had glimpses of the new “no rules” Russia that we are hearing about. The Russians launched two attacks on Kyiv’s major bridges. First, they attacked South Bridge twice this week, arguably the most important artery between the east and west sides of the city and one which carries the underground. As of now, the bridge is still closed for traffic.
Then, yesterday reports came out about attacks on North Bridge, which was hit on the supports holding the structure up.
The Russian MOD happily took credit for the attack, saying the attacks were to take down targets to “facilitate troop movements and the logistics of military cargo deliveries.” The real purpose though is to make Kyiv such a difficult place in which to live, particularly for the many who reside on the east side, that it will start the process of their leaving.
The overall thrust of the attacks is not surprising. The Russians are starting perhaps earlier than they might — which could be because they are worried Ukrainian anti-drone systems (ones designed to contend with the jet-powered drones) are progressing. It could be because they feel that their plans will take time, etc.
However, the overall direction of the Russian campaign is clear. Russia is trying to foment a much greater civilian crisis this year than in the past to force the Ukrainian government to accede to Russian demands and possibly force European states to put pressure on the Ukrainians to give in.
Why the Russians are doing this could actually be an interesting sign on the course of the war. Right now the Russians cannot advance on the ground, and their soldier losses are getting catastrophic.
Moreover, they are struggling with Ukrainian ranged attacks — which this week saw some more major refineries being hit. In much of the war, the developments are heading in Ukraine’s strategic direction —and the Russian inability to deal with these changes could be what is compelling Putin to double down on war crimes.
Add it up, and the Russian calculation seems pretty simple. Right now Ukraine can be hit, and war crimes are the way that they calculate Ukraine can be cowed. Moreover, Putin might be willing to take the risk that the Ukrainians will not respond by committing similar crimes – or the fact that US/European pressure might limit Ukraine’s response.
It is brutally simple logic. War crimes are what Russia has going for it technologically and militarily at present. Moreover, the Russians have seen from earlier US and European responses that they can commit extreme war crimes and nothing will change.
From a strategic point of view, not only do war crimes make sense but the Russians are practically being encouraged to commit them. This is the war we have created in the modern world. Do not look away.
Operation Vivaldi, even more robots
As said above, one of the reasons the Russians are going to double down on such war crimes is the front line war is not going well for them – and arguably seems to be getting worse.
At the same time Russian recruitment seems to be struggling to replace anything close to these numbers. Analysis from the first part of the year, by German Institute for International and Security Affairs economist Janis Kluge judged that Russian forces recruited between 800 and 1,000 soldiers a day in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 1,000 to 1,200 a day in the first quarter of 2025.
Assuming that this number has not decreased further, this would leave the Russians with a real and continually growing decline in troop numbers.
And Vivaldi will not be making it any better for the Russians. Ukrainians believe that at least 5000 Russian casualties have been inflicted directly as the result of Vivaldi (we are only getting 3rd Corps reports so this is the floor) and interestingly there is a growing haul of prisoners. This week up to 250 Russians were said to have surrendered, and pictures of these Russian troops were circulating, including from the Ukrainian military (see picture at start).
Of course, it is important not to get too carried away with reports of Russian collapses or sweeping Ukrainian breakthroughs. Ukrainian advances have been steady and still slow by military history standards of the last 150 years. However even the admittedly restrained Deep State has them pushing back the Russians by five-to-10 kilometers in places. Here is their most recent map, with the liberated territories in light blue.
The reality might be more than this – but not quite like the wildly optimistic claims you will find on social media and the like. Here, for instance, are Ukrainian official claims on advances, which mirrors the Deep State maps.
What has been important this past week is not just steady Ukrainian advances, but the stories describing how they have been achieved. The Ukrainians are certainly doubling down on the use of unmanned vehicles, both new ones and some repurposed old military equipment.
This is extraordinary: The future of military logistics is transforming in front of our eyes. Will definitely write about that soon.
Of course, it is not just logistics. Attack operations are also being undertaken by robots, from repurposed old vehicles to completely new ones. One of the examples of the former this past week came from Ukrainian claims of using repurposed manned vehicles (old Soviet BTR-60s) as unmanned kamikaze attack weapons. They packed these old armored vehicles with explosives and sent them as attack robots to hit Russian lines.
Maybe the most interesting detail from these attacks was the Ukrainian claim that they were able to remotely control these vehicles with their pilots in safe positions “tens of kilometers” behind the lines.
So, Vivaldi is continuing and revealing more and more about Ukrainian preparations over the previous many months. It is a testament to using technology to change momentum. Its success is also why Russia is left to relying, more and more, on war crimes.
The Trump-Putin quid pro quo
In the least surprising news from the last few days, the New York Times reported yesterday about the business deals being set up between Putin and Trump, which will be run by their underlings. Here is a gift link to the article, which I encourage you to read.
Here is a quick description if you do not have the time.
These business deals are not new. They are part of a longer existing quid pro quo. Why do you think Trump has starved Ukraine of air defense? Why do you think the US government is putting immense pressure on Ukraine to give up more land and territory (even as the Ukrainians are pushing the Russians back)? Why do you think the Trump administration is leaking right and left that it wants to lift sanctions on Russia as soon as it can (gift link to anAtlanticarticle on this that I also encourage you to read).
“President Putin’s laid out his line of what he wants to achieve. If Ukraine wanted to withdraw to that line, then obviously we have the rest of the deal set up and put together.”
I do not know how or why people are surprised by this. The Trump administration has made the US an accessory to Russian war crimes to enrich cronies and itself. All these stories are doing is confirming this. The dishonesty comes from those who have pretended for 20 months that Trump might actually help Ukraine in any meaningful way.
The real money comes rolling in when Ukraine is shafted. That is what is driving US policy.
Phillips O’Brien is professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrew.
Asia Times republishes the weekend update with permission from Phillips’s Newsletter, his reader-supported publication. To receive his other posts throughout the week, you can become a subscriber.
In response, a developer known as Om Lahore on GitHub last week created RemoveMacAI, a command-line tool that allows macOS 27 users to “turn off Apple Intelligence on macOS 27″ in a way that is “fully reversible,” per the GitHub page. They said that Apple’s Intelligence models take up “about 12GB,” but the models can actually take up over 30GB, The Verge noted.
RemoveMacAI “turns off Siri, Writing Tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, the ChatGPT extension, and all the summaries, then it deletes the models and stops macOS from downloading them again. Dictation still works because it’s a separate setting,” the developer said in a Reddit post first spotted by MacRumors.
On Reddit, RemoveMacAI’s developer said the tool is open source and further explained how it works:
It uses a configuration profile you approve in System Settings plus Apple’s own asset service, so [System Integrity Protection] stays on and nothing in /System gets touched directly. removemacai revert removes the profile, and macOS downloads the models again when you turn a feature back on.
The dev also said that it’s possible to remove only the Apple Intelligence features that you don’t want and to keep the others.
Some users on Reddit have reported that the tool works, and it has 1,700 stars on GitHub as of this writing.
Interest in RemoveMacAI demonstrates the aversion that some users have to some or all of Apple Intelligence’s features, despite growing focus from Apple on AI-driven device and software upgrades in its computers and other devices.
“Reminds me of all the de-crufting you’ve always needed to do when you install Windows. Looks like we’ve gotten to the point on macOS too, where you need to run third-party scripts on a new OS installation to gain back control of your system resources and remove unwanted crapware,” a Hacker News user wrote in response to RemoveMacAI.
Although many users are happy to leverage Apple Intelligence in their gadgets, RemoveMacAI is a simple way for the rest to regain the amount of control they have over Apple Intelligence’s presence on their computers that Apple previously offered.
Europe’s electric vehicle sales hit record as cheaper models arrive
Electric vehicle sales in the European Union reached record levels in 2026, driven by a wave of more affordable models as carmakers work to meet EU emissions targets, according to a new study.
A total of 1.64 million EVs were sold across the bloc from January through August, up 45% from the same period last year, the Brussels-based environmental advocacy group Transport & Environment found in its EV progress report, published Monday.
EVs accounted for 22% of the market during that period, 6 percentage points higher than a year earlier, the report said.
T&E called 2026 “a pivotal year for EV availability.” The number of models on offer rose 50% in a single year as manufacturers expanded their line-ups to comply with EU emissions rules, the group said.
Carmakers including Volkswagen are rolling out affordable electric vehicles, such as the all-electric Polo. The report said the models are helping the German automaker close its compliance gap and avoid fines.
European manufacturers dominate the EV market, accounting for nearly 60% of available models. They added 16 models in the first half of 2026. Chinese carmakers hold 21% of available models and added 11.
The study also pointed to the effect of higher fuel prices tied to the Middle East conflict on drivers of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars. Diesel has risen the most, up 38% since the Iran war began. Filling a 50-liter tank now costs 30 euros (about $34) more, according to the report.
Behind in EVs, Toyota powering ahead with hydrogen vehicles
Hydrogen-powered passenger cars have been left far behind by electric vehicles and hybrids, but the hydrogen truck market is growing and new technology developed for auto racing is keeping hopes for hydrogen cars alive. Toyota and its European partners are in the vanguard of these developments.
On September 26 and 27, at the FIA World Endurance Championship auto-racing event, 6 Hours of Fuji, held at Fuji Speedway in Japan, Toyota Racing, MissionH24 and Automobile Club de l’Ouest announced that Toyota will supply a hydrogen combustion engine for Mission24’s H24EVO race car prototype.
The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) is the worldwide governing body for four-wheeled motorsport. Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) creates, owns and organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans and related auto races.
MissionH24 is the program created by ACO and H24Project to bring hydrogen-powered cars to endurance racing. H24Project is the French engineering company responsible for MissionH24’s technical development, prototype testing and track operations.
Toyota’s hydrogen combustion engine is a 3.5-liter V6 model designed specifically for motorsport. When integrated with the H24EVO’s hybrid system, it is expected to deliver power and performance much closer to Le Mans endurance racing standards than its predecessors.
MissionH24 aims to introduce a Hydrogen category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2030. Both hydrogen fuel cell electric and hydrogen internal combustion engine prototypes will be allowed.
Speaking to reporters at Fuji Speedway, MissionH24 technical director Bassel Aslan said the new prototype “is already taking concrete form” as MissionH24 and Toyota Racing work on the mechanical interfaces between the engine, chassis, and gearbox; the communication architecture; electrical interfaces; controls; and associated software.
“This engine also offers high efficiency,” he said, “a key asset for optimizing the use of on-board liquid hydrogen and, consequently, the vehicle’s range, which is a major advantage in endurance racing.”
Looking at the bigger economic picture, Pierre Fillon, president of ACO and co-president of MissionH24, emphasized decarbonizing mobility, the energy transition to zero emissions, and the need to develop alternatives to battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs).
Asked about the woeful state of the European auto industry, which is under severe pressure from Chinese EVs, high fuel prices and weak consumer demand, Frederic Lequien, CEO of Le Mans Endurance Management, pointed out that motorsport is attracting more fans every year, including a rising percentage of women.
As more fans buy more cars, it is generating a high return on investment for participating automakers.
Kazuki Nakajima, Vice Chairman of Toyota Racing, told reporters that as Toyota’s relationship with MissionH24 expands from the provision of aerodynamics and cooling technology to the hydrogen internal-combustion engine, they can further develop the infrastructure and supply chain for hydrogen-powered endurance racing.
Toyota has been demonstrating hydrogen-powered racing vehicles since 2021. Its hydrogen fuel cell R&D dates back to 1992, when it established an Electric Vehicle Development Division to develop both electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. After developing a series of prototypes, Toyota put a small number of FCHVs on sale in Japan and the US in 2002.
Toyota introduced the Mirai, the first mass-produced commercial fuel cell passenger car, in 2014. About 25,000 of them were sold through 2023, over half of them in California, about 30% in Japan and the rest in Europe.
But sales dropped rapidly after that due to inadequate fueling infrastructure and competition from EVs and hybrids. Priced at more than 8 million yen ($50,000) in Japan, a new Mirai is also relatively expensive. Resale value has plummeted in California, and they are rarely seen on Japanese roads.
Honda also introduced its FCX (Fuel Cell eXperimental) in 2002 but has sold even fewer hydrogen-powered passenger cars than Toyota. Hyundai Motor’s NEXO is now the category leader, but it sells only a few thousand vehicles each year. Toyota is collaborating with BMW to develop hydrogen passenger-car technology, but its main effort outside motorsport is now in the truck market.
On September 15, Toyota and seven European companies – Volvo Group, Daimler Truck, Bosch, Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, TEAL Mobility and MB Energy – revealed plans to accelerate the roll-out of hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles in Europe. The announcement was made at IAA Transportation, the world’s premier trade exhibition dedicated to trucks and other commercial vehicles.
Held every other year by Deutsche Messe AG in Hanover, IAA Transportation aims to advance carbon neutrality in logistics and transport. Its coverage includes electric, hybrid, and hydrogen-powered vehicles; fleet operations; biofuels; connected and autonomous vehicles; logistics systems; charging and fueling infrastructure; and urban mobility.
Supported by Germany’s hydrogen truck infrastructure, Volvo Group and Daimler are rolling out trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen combustion engines. Toyota serves as a technology partner, drawing on its long experience in fuel cell R&D and vehicle production, which dates back to the 1990s.
In July, the three companies signed a binding agreement making Toyota an equal partner in cellcentric, a joint venture that develops and produces hydrogen fuel cell systems for heavy-duty commercial applications.
Bosch, also a fuel cell maker, supplies components and refueling technologies for liquid and gaseous hydrogen. Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, MB Energy and TEAL Mobility (a 50/50 joint venture between TotalEnergies and Air Liquide) supply the hydrogen. The goal is to establish a European hydrogen-powered trucking industry competitive with diesel by 2030.
A parallel effort is underway in Japan. Last March, Toyota and Japanese truck maker Isuzu announced plans to jointly develop a light-duty electric truck powered by Toyota’s newest (3rd generation) hydrogen fuel cell system.
Targeting mass production in the fiscal year to March 2028, they aim to contribute to Japan’s hydrogen infrastructure and, along with electric vehicles, to building a carbon-neutral logistics sector.
Last April, the Japan Hydrogen Association, which includes Toyota, more than 500 other companies and local governments, proposed a Hydrogen Freight Corridor running 1,350km along the expressways and other main roads from Fukuoka in Kyushu to Fukushima north of Tokyo, with refueling infrastructure along the way.
If things go according to plan, more than 1,000 hydrogen-powered trucks would be in service by the early 2030s, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and creating new, scalable opportunities for Japan’s motor vehicle and related industries.
The Hydrogen Freight Corridor project is supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which sees it as a solution to the “chicken and egg” problem of getting demand for hydrogen vehicles off the ground.
A year ago, Toyota joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s TOKYO H2 project, which targets deploying 600 fuel cell taxis by 2030. Any rebound in consumer demand for hydrogen-powered passenger cars would presumably come after that.
Russian drones strike Ukraine’s data centers by exploiting air defense gaps
A surge in Russian jet-powered drone strikes on Ukrainian data centers has increasingly disrupted mobile phone and Internet services for thousands of people. Now Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other government officials are warning of the need for more air defense capabilities, as such telecommunication outages could threaten Ukraine’s digital economy and undermine the country’s ongoing resistance to Russia’s invasion.
The Russian attacks on Ukrainian telecommunication infrastructure have focused on Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv since September 23, according to the nonprofit Reporters Without Borders. Ukraine’s digital transformation ministry reported that 100,000 households in the Kyiv region were temporarily experiencing Internet outages from those initial strikes—and Russia has only intensified its strike campaign against major Ukrainian data centers and mobile phone networks in recent weeks.
“Russian attacks on Ukraine’s telecommunication infrastructure are not new, with strikes and shelling previously damaging fiber optic lines, cell towers, and facilities belonging to mobile network companies,” said Tetiana Gaviuk, analyst for Europe at ACLED, in a post on October 1. “However, the recent concentrated attacks on Kyiv’s data centers and telecom networks stand out because multiple providers and facilities were hit within days, indicating Russia’s increased pressure on Ukraine’s digital infrastructure.”
Such repeated attacks could undermine the telecommunication networks that support Ukraine’s banks, payment systems, and public services, according to warnings from officials and industry figures, as reported by The Guardian.
Russia’s strike campaign
Russia has launched mass missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s power grid infrastructure, railroad stations, shipping ports, and even residential apartment buildings since the first year of its full-scale invasion in 2022. But such long-range strikes have become even more damaging this year, as they have exhausted Ukraine’s supply of missile interceptors—and Russia has also upgraded many of its one-way attack drones to become faster jet-powered drones that are more difficult to shoot down.
For example, Zelenskyy stated on October 4 that Ukrainian air defenses currently intercept more than 85 percent of conventional Shahed-type drones originally developed by Iran and supplied to Russia. But such interception rates fall to just 50 or 60 percent when dealing with newer and faster jet-powered Shahed drones.
Russia’s targeting of data centers is part of a broader long-range strike campaign against energy and commercial infrastructure that “aims to make civilian life in Ukraine unbearable such that Ukraine will capitulate to Russia’s demands,” according to the DC think tank Institute for the Study of War. The Russian strategy seeks to exploit Ukraine’s current air defense gaps and damage or destroy Ukrainian infrastructure during the colder fall and winter seasons.
However, Russia’s intensified strike campaign also coincides with Russian battlefield setbacks, especially with the Ukrainian military’s Operation Vivaldi having retaken dozens of square miles of territory near the vital fortress belt cities guarding eastern Ukraine. So the strike campaign arguably represents the main avenue open for Russian President Vladimir Putin to try claiming some semblance of victory nearly five years after the start of his so-called special military operation in Ukraine.
Telecommunication resiliency and alternatives
Ukraine has already moved some data centers outside the country and invested in building more underground telecommunication networks to boost resiliency, said Kateryna Chernohorenko, Ukraine’s former deputy minister of defense for digital transformation, in an interview with Breaking Defense. But she also cautioned that “you cannot move everything underground” and emphasized the need for allies to help boost Ukraine’s air defenses against Russia’s ballistic missiles and drones.
The telecommunication outages could force more local media outlets and ordinary civilians to turn to satellite-based solutions, like Starlink. Former Ukrainian government advisor Serhii Sternenko recommended that residents of Kyiv purchase Starlink terminals or similar alternatives ahead of winter.
“These repeated Russian strikes on Ukraine’s telecommunications infrastructure not only affect the work of the media, but also the Ukrainian population’s right to information,” said Pauline Maufrais and Vincent Berthier, regional officer for Ukraine and head of the technology and journalism desk at Reporters Without Borders, in a statement. “These are war crimes and their gravity is undeniable.”
This is not the only instance of data centers becoming wartime targets in the past year. When the United States and Israel first attacked Iran in February 2026, Iran’s retaliatory strikes on the Gulf region included targeting multiple Amazon data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Amazon has since acknowledged the permanent loss of some Amazon Web Services customer data because of the data center destruction.
Two months. That’s how long the Makkah pact has existed, and already it’s being asked to do the thing pacts are least ready for in their early days: handle a real war.
On Sunday, Yemen’s internationally recognised government said it was launching a campaign to retake all Houthi-held territory. The Houthis claimed missile and drone strikes on Aramco sites in Riyadh and Khurais within hours. The pact’s strategic political and defence committee was already due to meet in Riyadh on 5 October, with Türkiye’s foreign and defence ministers flying in. Nobody planned that timing, but it couldn’t be sharper. The ministers aren’t just asking whether the alliance can deter an attack. They need to agree where their response ends.
Same waters, different traffic
I’d avoid calling Hormuz “closed” these days, because the numbers don’t support it. Kpler data reported by CNBC put combined crude and refined-product flows at 14.2 million barrels a day, roughly 80 per cent of the pre-war level. Crude on its own is back near normal. Still, a good week of tanker data doesn’t make the strait safe, and anyone who has watched insurers react to a single drone strike knows how fast confidence can leave.
Saudi Arabia’s second outlet is working again too. Riyadh restarted the East-West pipeline and resumed loadings at Yanbu, though volumes sit below what they were before the attacks. Here geography helps a little. Oil going north from Yanbu to Suez never comes near Bab al-Mandab. Oil going south to Asian buyers has to. And that southern route has taken a beating: the same report shows Bab al-Mandab flows more than halving between August and September, which pushed more Saudi crude back through Hormuz. The Houthis, meanwhile, now hold virtually the whole Red Sea coastline of Yemen. Owning a coastline doesn’t mean they decide which ships get through, but shipowners aren’t going to wait to find out.
So the real danger is uncertainty. A tanker may well sail. Whether its owner, insurer and buyer believe the next one will is a different matter, and a defence pact ought to be judged partly on whether it calms that doubt.
READ: Mecca pact strategic political defense committee to meet ‘soon’: Pakistan’s foreign minister
A promise needs machinery
The 7 August text says an attack on any one of the three counts as an attack on all. That’s a heavy political promise. It isn’t a working military system yet, and pretending otherwise helps no one.
The sceptics have a case. The Arab Center Washington DC argues the agreement is unlikely to produce a real military response if an attack happens, and Middle East Eye points out that Pakistan and Türkiye sat on the sidelines when the Houthis swept down the Red Sea last month. I think that criticism lands harder than supporters admit. Where I part ways with it is the yardstick. Even NATO’s Article 5 doesn’t force every ally to react identically. Each member decides what help it thinks necessary. Leaving room for judgment doesn’t make a guarantee worthless.
What I’d want answered is more mundane. Who says an attack has happened? Who asks for help? Who signs off on deployments? Which places and threats are covered? And when Ankara, Islamabad and Riyadh disagree, who breaks the tie before events do it for them?
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said the pact will need at least a year to become fully operational. Meaning the three are fighting the fire while still putting the hoses together. Some things shouldn’t wait, though: early warning, air defence, protecting infrastructure, a reliable line between capitals in a crisis. And they should tell their own publics, and everyone else, what they’re actually trying to achieve.
Where defence starts looking like offence
Pakistan’s army has condemned the Houthi attacks and pledged to the security of Islam’s holy sites. Saudi Arabia says the Houthis have gone after both holy cities, and Dar has called a strike on a power plant in Madinah “not acceptable”.
Words are one thing. Cargo planes are another. Reuters, citing a Pakistani government official, reported that Islamabad sent air-defence systems, light artillery, drones and anti-drone equipment to Aden, with Pakistani advisers working beside Saudi officers to support Yemeni troops. I’m leaning on Middle East Eye’s summary of that report, and it’s worth remembering these are attributed claims, not an official list of everything Pakistan has done. Even so, it’s getting hard to say Pakistan’s role ends at the Saudi border.
Stopping a missile over a Saudi city and helping another army fight inside Yemen are two different jobs. On the ground they overlap. Politically, they cost very different things. The allies should say where one stops and the other starts, before the fighting says it for them.
And please, nobody should reach for the nuclear card to avoid this conversation. The published statement commits the three to collective defence. It says nothing about a nuclear guarantee.
READ: Saudi crown prince says ‘Mecca Defense Alliance’ with Turkiye, Pakistan aims to bolster regional stability
A door worth trying
Dar also told reporters Iran had suggested engaging the Houthis politically, instead of through “kinetic action”, calling it “brainstorming between two foreign ministers” rather than a written offer. He said Tehran had distanced itself from the Houthis, and that he’d briefed Iranian officials on how Pakistan would honour the pact.
I wouldn’t call that a breakthrough. I’d call it worth a try. Pakistan can back Saudi security and still keep talking to Tehran, but only if both capitals believe what Islamabad tells them. And Iran saying it wants calm isn’t the same as Iran being able to deliver the Houthis. A deal has to bind whoever is actually launching the missiles, and someone must be able to check that they’ve stopped.
What should Islamabad ask for? A clearly defined defensive mission. Open political approval before anything wider. And a diplomatic track that doesn’t stop when the shooting gets louder.
Protection needs an exit
Yemen’s new offensive makes the gap between goals hard to ignore. Keeping shipping safe, winning back territory and defeating a movement dug in across a whole country are ambitions of very different size, and they shouldn’t blur together as the speeches get bigger.
A realistic diplomatic package would tie an end to cross-border attacks and threats to shipping to mutual de-escalation, humanitarian access and fresh Yemeni political talks. Getting the order right will be miserable. Dodging it would be worse. The region’s older wounds, Palestine included, won’t heal soon. But sailors and ordinary Yemenis shouldn’t be made to wait for all of that before their safety is up for negotiation.
Makkah can help protect territory and infrastructure. It might even give its members the nerve to negotiate. I’d measure it by whether lives get safer and ships get through, not by how large the military response looks.
Can it defend Saudi Arabia and still leave a believable way out? That’s the whole test. Time bought by force is only worth having if somebody uses it to build the exit.
OPINION: A shield, not a sword: what the Makkah pact’s first test reveals
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
Nigerian Delegation Joins Eagles’ Wings in Israel in Show of Solidarity Ahead of October 7 Commemorations
Fifty-one nations attend Awake Jerusalem event at the Tower of David with Bishop Robert Stearns
A Christian delegation representing 51 countries is visiting Israel for meetings with officials, returned hostages, and bereaved families ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
Eagles’ Wings founder and president Bishop Robert Stearns is leading the 10-day program, which organizers say has brought more than 550 participants to the country during Sukkot. The delegation includes senior church leaders whose churches and networks collectively reach tens of millions of people worldwide.
The itinerary combines worship and commemorative events with discussions involving Israeli government, military, and diplomatic representatives. Organizers say the meetings will give participants firsthand insight into Israel’s security concerns and the effects of the past three years on its people.
We are here from many, many different backgrounds, but we are here serving one God
“We are here from many, many different backgrounds, but we are here serving one God,” Stearns said at a pre-event gathering in Jerusalem.
The program included Awake Jerusalem, a worship festival on October 3 at the Tower of David, featuring international Christian artists.
On October 7, delegates are due to attend a Jerusalem event organized by Friends of Zion and its founder, Mike Evans. A 24-hour international broadcast will commemorate those killed in the 2023 attacks and honor survivors, former hostages, and bereaved families.
Among the Nigerian participants are His Royal Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III and Her Royal Majesty Olori Atuwatse III, the king and queen of the Warri Kingdom, alongside several church leaders.
Apostle Daps Dalyop Gwom, the African representative of Israel Christian Nexus, told The Media Line that he invited the royal couple to join the delegation. Stearns credited Gwom with bringing together participants from across Africa, including Nigerian bishops.
Gwom named five Nigerian church leaders attending and said they would return home able to share their experiences with millions of Christians. He added that Nigeria’s defense minister, Gen. Christopher Musa, was expected to join the delegation during the following week.
He also emphasized the importance of established leaders engaging with young people seeking answers about faith. “People like Robert are looking [in] their direction, which is very important for mentorship,” he said.
For Seyi Ajala, a Nigerian Christian who has lived in the United Kingdom for about five years, the first-time visit to Israel offered a chance to encounter places previously known through Scripture.
“What attracted me to Eagles Wings was the opportunity to experience Israel beyond what I have read in the Bible,” he told The Media Line.
Ajala described the trip as meaningful, emphasizing the value of meeting people and seeing the country directly rather than knowing it only through biblical accounts or news coverage.
Coming here is about being present, learning, listening, and experiencing the land and its people firsthand
“Coming here is about being present, learning, listening, and experiencing the land and its people firsthand,” Ajala said.
He said a large number of Nigerian Christians shared his interest: “Many Nigerians have always had a desire to visit the biblical sites and experience the land where many of the events we read about in Scripture took place.”
Stearns noted that the delegation participants had come to Jerusalem “believing together that God’s love, God’s light, God’s hope, God’s peace will overcome all darkness.”
