** The U.S. military conducted what it described as “self-defense strikes” in southern Iran, targeting missile launch sites and vessels placing mines around the Strait. The situation remains active.
** Iran accused the U.S. on Thursday of another ceasefire violation and said it retaliated by targeting an American base after a second round of what the Pentagon calls “purely defensive” strikes against drone operations. CENTCOM said Kuwait intercepted an incoming Iranian missile, and there were no reports of a U.S. base being hit.
** Piper Sandler published a note on May 26 telling institutional clients that the Strait of Hormuz will “largely remain shut” for several months, that commercial traffic will not recover to even 50% of pre-crisis levels either next week or next month, and that oil prices will hit new highs this summer as a result, according to CNBC.
** Two supertankers and one liquefied natural gas tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week with their transponders switched off, and are heading for India and China, shipping data from LSEG and Kpler showed.
** Mistral, widely seen as Europe’s leading AI company and its best hope of challenging top U.S. peers, on Thursday defended military uses of the technology as it unveiled a new French data centre.
** Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the architect of Qatar’s LNG industry that transformed the country from a declining oil producer into one of the world’s wealthiest nations, died in London on Wednesday.
US Energy
** A community in Washington state is awaiting the recovery of several people who were unaccounted for and presumed dead after a chemical tank exploded at an industrial plant, and mourning two people confirmed killed. The tank at Nippon Dynawave Packaging in Longview, Washington, ruptured the morning of May 26, setting off what Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said was likely the deadliest industrial disaster in modern state history.
** The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party raised concerns that NASA-funded researchers are collaborating with China and not seeking the required waivers under federal law.
** Across the Southeast, primary elections held last week showed a trend of incumbent utility regulators losing seats or being forced into runoffs to opponents vowing to hold utilities accountable for rising rates and increasing costs.
** Stalled Pentagon wind project reviews are threatening $50B in investments and 150K US jobs, per a document that the American Clean Power Association released to Bloomberg News.
