📊 African Cleantech, Trump International, and Forever Chemicals

Ethanol ethics, airport renaming, and environmental enforcement.

Jul 10, 2026

Greetings! Happy National Dimples Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

🇰🇪 Africa cooking gets funding. African countries secured $900M in commitments for clean cooking. The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced the funding. The money will expand cleaner cooking fuels, stoves, and infrastructure. It builds on $2.2B mobilized at the 2024 Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris. Total commitments now exceed $3.1B. Nearly 1B Africans still lack clean cooking access. Many still rely on charcoal, firewood, and other polluting fuels. The IEA says that pollution contributes to an estimated 850K premature deaths each year. Kenyan President William Ruto joined the virtual meeting. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store also joined. American Energy Secretary Chris Wright participated too. Clean cooking includes ethanol, biogas, electricity, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). IEA executive director Fatih Birol said $740M has already been deployed across 22 countries. The agency also counted 121 new clean cooking policies across more than 30 African countries. The kitchen became an energy, health, and financing problem.

🇨🇳 China factory fire kills 28. A fire at a shoe factory in southeastern China killed 28 people. It was one of China’s deadliest blazes in recent years. The fire broke out in Fujian province. It started at Huiteng shoe company in Jinjiang city. Jinjiang is a major manufacturing hub for sports shoes. Firefighters responded to the scene in Jiangtou village. Ambulances were also sent to the factory. The cause was not immediately known. Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded an all-out search and rescue effort. He also urged a swift investigation. Xi said authorities should strictly hold those responsible accountable. Local fire officials confirmed the factory location. China’s manufacturing scale often hides the fragility of the rooms where it runs. A shoe factory became another reminder that cheap production can become expensive.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

✈️ Trump airport opens. Palm Beach International Airport officially became President Donald J. Trump International Airport. Old signs have been removed while new signs go up. Airport officials said the transition will take several weeks. The three-letter airport code will change from PBI to DJT on August 18th. Trump Force One was the first plane to arrive under the new name. The Boeing ($BA) 757 is owned by The Trump Organization. Eric Trump was one of the passengers. The Trump family often uses the airport when visiting President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home nearby. A stretch of road from the airport to the estate was renamed Donald J. Trump Boulevard earlier this year. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation enabling the name change. The update is expected to cost as much as $5.5M. President Trump praised the renaming on Truth Social. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also attended a Tennessee bridge renaming for Trump. In Florida, infrastructure became tribute, and travel became another boarding pass for politics.

🌊 El Niño grows historic. Forecasters said El Niño is strengthening toward historic levels. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the update Thursday. El Niño is a natural warming of the equatorial Pacific. It alters weather patterns around the world. NOAA said there is an 81% chance it becomes very strong by fall. That is the agency’s top category. It could rank among the strongest events since tracking began in 1950. The pattern formed only last month. It already moved past weak status and became moderate. Ocean temperatures in key Pacific regions are near or at records for this time of year. Emily Becker, a University of Miami scientist, called it extreme but not unprecedented. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, said this is not run-of-the-mill. El Niño likely raises rain chances across much of the American South this winter. It also boosts odds of warmer winter conditions in the northern United States and Canada. The Pacific is warming the room, and the atmosphere is about to pass the bill around.

🗂️ MISC

🗽 New York sues PFAS firms. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued major chemical and agricultural companies Thursday. The lawsuit targets so-called forever chemicals. It names 3M ($MMM), DuPont de Nemours ($DD), Chemours ($CC), Corteva ($CTVA), and other manufacturers. The chemicals are known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). They have been used in cosmetics, non-stick cookware, firefighting foam, rain-resistant clothing, and other products. PFAS resist breaking down. They have spread into air, water, and soil. The chemicals have been linked to certain cancers and developmental delays in children. James said large companies knowingly sold toxic products that harmed New Yorkers. The lawsuit was filed in state court in Albany. It seeks environmental cleanup funding. It also seeks consumer warnings. The complaint argues companies knew the chemicals were toxic or environmentally damaging in some cases. The companies did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Forever chemicals got their name because they linger, and now the bill is trying to do the same.

📈 Markets calm down. Stocks recovered Thursday as oil prices eased. Markets calmed while investors waited for the next phase of the Iran war. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) rose 0.8%. It more than recovered Wednesday’s loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 139 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite rallied 1.3%. Brent crude fell 2.2% to $76.30 a barrel. It had closed at $78.02 the day before. It remained above the $71.80 level from the end of last week. Investors are still watching the Strait of Hormuz. A full war could block oil tankers from the Persian Gulf. Gasoline prices climbed a nickel overnight. Regular gasoline averaged $3.85 a gallon Thursday. That was up 68 cents from a year earlier. Micron Technology ($MU) rose 4.5% as chip shares helped lift the market. Calm returned, but it looked less like confidence than a market trying not to read the next headline too loudly.