President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to open up millions of square miles (kilometers) of US coastal waters to oil and gas drilling, it said Thursday, in a step that could lead to a massive expansion of fossil fuel extraction.The move comes as Washington looks increasingly out of step with much of the developed world, where there is growing acceptance of the reality of human-caused climate change.Under the plan announced by the US Department of the Interior, 34 lease sales will be offered, allowing for drilling in 1.27 billion acres (500 million hectares) — an area the size of the Amazon.The proposal includes waters off the north coast of Alaska that have never been drilled before, in the Gulf of Mexico — which the administration calls the Gulf of America — and off California.”The Biden administration slammed the brakes on offshore oil and gas leasing and crippled the long-term pipeline of America’s offshore production,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, referring to Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden.Burgum insisted that offshore energy production requires a lot of time and investment.”By moving forward with the development of a robust, forward-thinking leasing plan, we are ensuring that America’s offshore industry stays strong, our workers stay employed, and our nation remains energy dominant for decades to come.”Trump speaks frequently of what he says is the need for America to drill for more fossil fuel, and is disparaging about the global shift to renewables, which he calls a “scam.” He regularly calls climate change science “a con.”Under his presidency, the country has pulled back from international agreements on fighting climate change, and did not send an official delegation to the ongoing COP30 climate summit in Brazil.But the plans announced Thursday are likely to face pushback domestically, particularly from California, whose government pledged to block drilling in the state’s coastal waters.”Trump’s idiotic plan endangers our coastal economy and communities and hurts the well-being of Californians. This reckless attempt to sell out our coastline to his Big Oil donors is dead in the water,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.”Californians remember the environmental and economic devastation of past oil spills. For decades, California has stood firm in our opposition to new offshore drilling, and nothing will change that. The proposals are also expected to face opposition in the Gulf, where memories remain of the devastating Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010, which saw millions of gallons (liters) of oil wreck tourism and fishing.Rick Scott, a Republican senator for Florida, was quick to lodge his objections to the Trump plan.”Florida’s coasts must remain off the table for oil drilling to protect Florida’s tourism, environment, and military training opportunities,” he wrote on X.

US energy giant ExxonMobil announced Thursday the resumption of its gas development project in Mozambique, which had been suspended for several years due to a jihadist insurgency.”We have lifted force majeure (FM) for the Rovuma LNG project in Area 4,” the company said in a statement, referring to a legal concept that is invoked to suspend a project when there are unforeseen or adverse conditions.ExxonMobil holds a 25 percent stake in the planned onshore liquefied natural gas facility in the southeastern African country that is expected to begin production in 2030.A jihadist insurgency in Cabo Delgado, a northern province, has left more than 6,200 people dead since 2017, according to the NGO Acled, which collects data on conflict zones.However, it was a jihadist offensive in March 2021 that caused some 800 deaths and led oil companies to suspend their projects in the region.According to ExxonMobil’s website, Area 4 is operated by a joint venture called Mozambique Rovuma Venture.The venture is 70 percent owned by a consortium — ExxonMobil, the Italian ENI, and the Chinese CNPC — while XRG (Abu Dhabi), KOGAS (South Korea), and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos each hold a 10 percent stake.”We are working with our partners and the government of Mozambique to ensure the safety of our people and facilities, as we look to develop a world-class LNG project that can help drive economic growth,” said the oil giant, which is based in Spring, Texas.It specified that planning was nearing completion and the final investment decision should be made during the course of 2026.In October, ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods said the company was optimistic about moving ahead with a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, where NGOs have loudly criticized a plan by French petroleum giant TotalEnergies to resume work.Woods that month hosted the president of Mozambique in Houston and rated the meeting as “really productive.” TotalEnergies announced on October 25 that it had lifted the force majeure and resumed its own project in Mozambique after operations were suspended for four years.On Wednesday, Mozambique’s government announced that it would audit losses caused by the suspension of the French group’s project.When AFP asked the company about it on Thursday, ExxonMobil did not indicate whether it also planned to seek compensation for losses.

A US plan backed by President Donald Trump to end Russia’s war in Ukraine is “good” for both sides, the White House said Thursday, rejecting concerns that it echoes many of Moscow’s demands.Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been “quietly” working on the plan for a month, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.”It’s ongoing and it’s in flux, but the president supports this plan. It’s a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine, and we believe that it should be acceptable to both sides,” she told a briefing.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met in Kyiv with a Pentagon delegation headed by US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, said any deal to end Russia’s invasion must bring a “dignified peace”, with “respect for our independence, our sovereignty”.Zelensky’s office said he expected to discuss the points with Trump in the coming days.On the ground, Russia claimed to have recaptured the key city of Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine, as President Vladimir Putin visited an army command post to speak with officers about the situation at the front.The Ukrainian army denied Russia had retaken Kupiansk, which Kyiv lost to Moscow the day it launched its invasion in 2022, then wrested back.Here’s what we know about the US plan:- Territory –   Details of the plan, reported to contain 28 points, have been covered widely by Western media, and a senior source familiar with the matter also shared some aspects with AFP.What is known suggests Ukraine is being asked to concede to Russia’s key demands, while appearing to get very little in return.On territory, the plan calls for the “recognition of Crimea and other regions that the Russians have taken”, the source said.Russia’s army occupies around a fifth of the country — much of it ravaged by years of fighting.The Kremlin claims to have annexed five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in 2022 and Crimea in 2014.Moscow has previously demanded that Ukraine completely withdraw its troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, in exchange for freezing the front line in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.Ukraine has said it will never recognise Russian control over its land, but has conceded it might be forced to get it back through diplomatic means.Ceding territory in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions that Ukraine still controls could leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attacks by Russia.”It is a matter of our country’s survival,” Zelensky said recently.- Army and weapons -The plan calls for Ukraine to reduce its army to 400,000 personnel, cutting its military by more than half, the same source told AFP.Kyiv would also be required to give up all long-range weapons, the source added.Other media reports said there would be a complete ban on Western troops being deployed to Ukraine.That fits with previous Russian demands that have been made public and goes against what Ukraine has cast as red lines.The proposal also reportedly includes vague provisions for Ukraine to negotiate some kind of security guarantees with the United States and Europe.Ukraine wants concrete Western-backed assurances, ideally in the form of NATO membership or similar defence guarantee and a European peacekeeping force, to prevent Russia from invading again.- Whose plan? -The contents of the plan have fuelled suggestions that Russia was involved in drafting it.US media outlet Axios reported it had been drawn up by the Trump administration in secret consultation with Moscow.”It seems that the Russians proposed this to the Americans, they accepted it,” the senior source told AFP.”An important nuance is that we don’t understand whether this is really Trump’s story” or “his entourage’s”, the official added.After the plans were first reported, Rubio said “a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions”.Since returning to the White House, Trump’s position on the Ukraine war has shifted dramatically back and forth. Over 2025, he has gone from calling Zelensky a “dictator” to urging Kyiv to try to reclaim all the land captured by Russia and hitting Moscow with sanctions.- Invigorating diplomacy? – Ukraine said the United States had told it the proposal “could invigorate diplomacy”.Zelensky confirmed the US delegation visiting Kyiv had presented the plan, but did not give details.The Kremlin said it had nothing to say when asked about reports on the plan.The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said any peace settlement must have the agreement of both Kyiv and Brussels.”We have to understand that in this war, there is one aggressor and one victim. So we haven’t heard of any concessions on the Russian side,” she added.

President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of National Guard troops in the US capital is unlawful, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.District Court Judge Jia Cobb ordered an end to the deployment but stayed her order for 21 days to allow the Trump administration time to file an appeal.The Republican president has sent National Guard troops to Democratic-run Washington, Los Angeles and Memphis to combat crime and help enforce his crackdown on undocumented migrants.Federal judges have temporarily blocked the deployment of troops in two other Democratic-controlled cities — Chicago and Portland — and the Supreme Court is expected to deliver the final word soon on whether the actions are lawful.Trump ordered more than 2,000 National Guard to patrol Washington on August 11, claiming the city was a “filthy and crime ridden embarrassment.”Brian Schwalb, attorney general for the US capital, filed a lawsuit in September seeking to end the deployment of the National Guard in the city.”Deploying the National Guard to engage in law enforcement is not only unnecessary and unwanted, but it is also dangerous and harmful to the District and its residents,” Schwalb said.Cobb, in her opinion, said the Trump administration had “acted contrary to law” by deploying the National Guard for “for non-military, crime-deterrence missions in the absence of a request from the city’s civil authorities.”The judge, an appointee of Democratic president Joe Biden, also said the administration had overstepped its authority by bringing National Guard troops from out-of-state to patrol the capital.Trump’s extraordinary domestic use of the National Guard was also challenged by California earlier this year after the president sent troops to Los Angeles to quell protests sparked by the rounding up of undocumented migrants.A district court judge ruled it unlawful but an appeals court panel allowed the Los Angeles deployment to proceed.Trump has denied charges he is strictly targeting cities run by his political opponents for his anti-crime campaign and immigration crackdown.