week ending Jun 27

Key inflation metric flashes red at 4.1% - The Bureau of Economic Analysis' personal consumption expenditures inflation report for May showed that inflation had risen 4.1%, meeting elevated expectations and casting further doubt on the prospects of near-term interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

• Key Insight: The Fed's preferred inflation gauge rose again in May, extending a streak of elevated readings that leaves policymakers with little room to pivot toward rate cuts.
• What's at Stake: With the federal funds rate holding between 3.5% and 3.75%, the headline figure exceeds the upper bound of the Fed's target range, producing a negative real interest rate.
• Forward Look: After Thursday's report that inflation is still running well above the Fed's 2% target, borrowers, markets, and businesses are watching new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh closely for any sign that relief is coming.

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge continued its climb in May, casting further doubt on the prospects of near-term interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Lower oil prices may be the Fed's next problem: Chart of the Day - Oil prices are finally heading lower — but that may mean a new problem for investors and the Federal Reserve. Cheaper crude can cool headline inflation and take pressure off consumers. It can also put more money back into an economy that has already been running hotter than the Fed wants. That is the shift Apollo chief economist Torsten Sløk is flagging. "The narrative in markets is changing from 'lower oil prices mean lower inflation' to 'lower oil prices mean more demand in an already overheating economy, which means higher inflation,'" Slok wrote in a recent note. The chart shows the breakdown between the two markets. Brent crude and the 2-year US Treasury yield had been moving together for months. Oil rose, short-term yields rose. Oil dipped, short-term yields dipped. Since the April CPI report, crude has fallen back toward levels seen just before the latest Iran-driven spike, with both Brent and WTI crude oil sliding below $70. But the 2-year yield has not followed oil lower. That is not how the old inflation playbook usually worked. Higher oil prices can raise prices for consumer goods by making transportation, shipping, and production more expensive. They also leave consumers with less money to spend elsewhere. When the oil shock fades, that inflation pressure usually fades with it. This time, the economy may not be cool enough for that to settle the issue. Investors and policymakers get the latest reading on the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, PCE, Thursday morning at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect core PCE, which strips out food and energy, to tick up to 3.4% in May from 3.3% in April. That is still far above the Fed's official 2% inflation target. That is why falling crude cuts both ways. It can lower the most visible inflation pressure, especially at the pump. But it can also boost spending, travel, shipping, and business margins at a time when the Fed does not necessarily want to see higher demand. Sløk's conclusion is blunt. "The market narrative now suggests that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will further overheat the economy, forcing the Fed to raise interest rates soon," he wrote.

CEA nominee pressed on inflation, tariffs during Senate hearing — Christopher Phelan, President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as one of his top economic advisors, sidestepped questions about recent inflation data and defended the administration's tariff policies and deregulatory agenda during his confirmation hearing Thursday morning in the Senate Banking Committee.

• Key takeaway: Christopher Phelan said that it is too early to tell whether tariffs will have an impact on the economy and said that inflation readings were worse during the Biden administration.
• Expert quote: "America is the best place in the world to be a participant in the economy at any level. We are the envy of the world in terms of job growth, wage growth, standard of living growth." —Christopher Phelan, nominee to serve as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.
• What's at stake: If confirmed, Phelan would not have formal authority to make the kind of changes he advocates for, but would have the president's ear on issues related to the economy.

Christopher Phelan, President Donald Trump's nominee to chair the Council of Economic Advisers, declined to directly answer questions about recent inflation data and the effects of tariffs on consumers during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

Sen. Rick Scott circulates plan to discuss Republicans' government shutdown strategy with Trump -- Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, is circulating a plan among Senate Republicans to avoid another government shutdown later this year so that they can discuss it when President Trump meets with GOP senators Wednesday. Scott, who invited Trump to lunch in the Capitol, says Democrats are unlikely to help pass any of the 12 annual spending bills before the Sept. 30 deadline. He’s pressing colleagues to rally around a plan to pass a continuing resolution to keep funding levels frozen and avoid a third government shutdown in the 119th Congress. He says GOP colleagues should focus on avoiding a government shutdown and passing the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require people to show documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote, as their top two priorities for the rest of this year. “I hope we can continue to have robust conversations as a conference this week as to how we should spend our time between now and the November elections. President Trump is scheduled to be at our Wednesday lunch. I hope everyone will be vocal as to what they think is the best path forward, but here is mine,” Scott wrote in his letter, which circulated on Monday. He said Republicans should work on passing a clean stopgap funding measure to keep the government funded through the November midterm election. “We need to make it clear to all Americans that Democrats want to shut down government and don’t care how it impacts federal workers or the economy and Republicans want to fund the government,” he wrote. And he argued that Republicans should make another effort to pass the SAVE America Act or at least portions of it, such as a requirement that voters show photo identification. “We need to make it clear Republicans want election security and Democrats want fraud,” he said. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) says Democrats support voter identification requirements, though they voted against an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) earlier this year to implement such a reform. Scott is also urging Republicans to pass one of two pieces of legislation to shield workers from the effects of a government shutdown: the Shutdown Fairness Act, sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), to pay federal workers to perform essential work during a government shutdown, or the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2025, sponsored by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), to provide for continuing appropriations to prevent a government shutdown. Lankford’s bill would limit official travel and congressional recesses during a shutdown or partial shutdown. “We need to make a clear distinction as to who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. We have to demonstrate what Republicans stand for and what Democrats stand for through action, not rhetoric,” Scott wrote, anticipating another government shutdown standoff in the fall. He asserted that Democrats “have been clear that they want to shut down government on October 1st because they believe that is their path to a majority in November.” Schumer last week accused Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) of refusing to sit down with Democrats to negotiate a top-line spending limit for the annual appropriations bills. Collins has denied that charge, and called Schumer “misinformed” on the state of the talks.

Fox News host Mark Levin slams Trump administration's Iran deal Fox News host Mark Levin on Saturday lashed out at the Trump administration over its tentative agreement to end the Iran conflict and hold talks to determine the future of Iran’s nuclear program. The “Life, Liberty & Levin” host started his 17-minute monologue speaking directly to officials “in and out of the administration” and demanded that they “stop trashing, smearing, bullying the little state of Israel.” “Stop cozying up to and telling us that the enemy regime in Iran is now more rational, more moderate, and a regime that we can deal with, when just a few months ago, they slaughtered 50,000 people — they’re still hanging young people today,” Levin said. “And if they had a nuclear missile today, they’d fire it into our country, as sure as I am alive.” He said that the conflict was originally justified, but “something happened along the way,” and now Israel’s defense has been “surrendered” in favor of the deal. Levin questioned why the U.S. is not focused on Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and accused the U.S. of doing Hezbollah’s “bidding.” “When Israel is being attacked by Hezbollah, and the Lebanese people and the government want Hezbollah gone, it’s an Iranian terrorist group that has taken over the country,” he said. “It’s a complete capitulation to the Iranian regime. Because Hezbollah is its terrorist lifeline. It’s an absolute capitulation of them. And why would we do this? Why would we do it to Israel?” Levin said he did not care about the $300 billion fund to pay for Iran’s reconstruction, though he added it will only “strengthen the regime.” He asked if it “made any sense” to stop all military operations before a deal is reached, suggesting that doing so has cost the U.S. leverage. The host later said that the lack of surrender from Iran is the deal’s biggest problem, and he added that Tehran will “never abandon its cause and its revolution.” “Any deal to them isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” he said. “It may last for a while. That’s what they’re banking on. Survival and then reconstruction, and then strike. And so they’ll agree to this for a period of time. They’ll take all the benefits they can get.”

Trump Issues Threats Against Iran and Its Negotiators During Switzerland Summit - President Trump on Sunday issued new threats against Iran and its negotiators as US and Iranian officials were in Geneva, Switzerland, for the first round of talks under the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding. Speaking to Fox News reporter Trey Yingst, President Trump claimed that he spoke with Iranian officials overnight and told them: “You close [the Strait of Hormuz] and you won’t have a country.”The president was reacting to the news that Iran’s military announced it would re-close the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon, which killed dozens of people over the weekend despite another “ceasefire” being declared. The MoU calls for a complete end to the war, and Iranian officials have said it hinges on an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Yingst said Trump also told the officials that if the strait is closed, “you won’t even make it back to your f–cking country,” which appears to be a threat against the lives of Iran’s officials in Geneva, who include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.Separately, in a post on Truth Social, the president threatened Iran over its support for Hezbollah. “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” Trump said.The post is notable since Trump has been calling on Israel to end its attacks in Lebanon and now appears to be shifting the blame for the continued war to Hezbollah, despite the fact that Israel refuses to end its occupation of the southern part of the country.Trump’s threats violate the MoU, which states that the two sides must “refrain from the threat or use of force against each other,” and Iran’s PressTV reported that Iran’s delegation in Geneva raised objections with the US side over his comments.In a post on X following the talks, Ghalibaf dismissed Trump’s threats. “Don’t they think to themselves that if their threats had any effect, they wouldn’t have reached the point of desperation today? We don’t take the threats of the Americans seriously,” he said.“They better be careful with their statements, our armed forces are ready to respond in another way. Whatever they say, we are the ones who will act,” he added. Iranian media reported that Iran had suspended the negotiations with the US due to Trump’s threats, but US officials told CNN that the talks had continued throughout the day and were expected to go through the night. Earlier in the day, an Iranian official said that the two sides had finalized a draft regarding sanctions waivers for Iranian oil, and that the waivers were expected to be issued soon.

First round of U.S.-Iran negotiations ends after Trump threats shake up summit --The U.S. and Iran established a road map for reaching a final deal within 60 days during yesterday’s talks in Switzerland, according to a joint statement from the mediating countries. Sunday’s high-level talks were the first discussions under the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, with officials from the U.S. — including Vice President JD Vance — present alongside Iran and mediating nations Qatar and Pakistan. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on X that the meeting delivered “major progress to end [the] Lebanon War,” and noted progress on oil exports, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, frozen Iranian assets and major reconstruction plans for Iran. Talks are scheduled to continue for the rest of the week, and came as Tehran protested U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent comments potentially threatening the days-old peace. Earlier Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social that “we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” unless it stops “their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon,” referring to Hezbollah. And in a phone interview Sunday morning with Fox News, Trump said he spoke with the Iranians overnight, delivering a stark warning that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. will “blow the s--- out of them.”

Trump says preventing Iran from having nuclear weapon "supersedes" risk of economic depression -- President Donald Trump said Monday that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon outweighs concerns about the potential economic consequences of prolonged military action, including the risk of a global depression. Asked whether he’s willing to risk a worldwide depression by striking Iran if it fails to uphold its agreement, Trump told reporters: “Well, not the way I’m doing it. It’s not going to cause depression.” He went on to argue that the threat posed by a nuclear weapon is a greater concern. “If they don’t abide by — well, nuclear weapon supersedes depression.” “Depression is real bad,” he said, adding that a “nuclear weapon will cause depression much more quickly.” Trump reiterated that military action remains on the table if Iran does not comply with the agreement. “If Iran doesn’t live up to their agreement, or if they’re not behaving, I will do what I have to do,” he said.

US and Iran conclude high-level talks in Switzerland, mediators say (Reuters) - The first round of talks between high-ranking U.S. and Iranian officials in Switzerland ended Monday, mediators said, after a tense opening marked by Tehran's announcement it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. President Donald Trump repeating his threats to resume attacks on Iran. A joint statement from mediating nations Qatar and Pakistan said the U.S. and Iran agreed to a roadmap toward a final deal within 60 days. Technical talks will continue for the rest of the week in the Qatari-owned Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock, according to the statement, which was released by the Qatari foreign ministry. The parties agreed to a mechanism to end the fighting in Lebanon and opened a communications line to help ensure safe passages for commercial ships through the contested strait, the statement said. U.S. Vice President JD Vance began talks with Iranian officials on Sunday under the terms of a memorandum of understanding reached last week to extend a tenuous ceasefire from April for at least another 60 days. The discussions continued until the early hours of Monday.   In a post on social media, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said his country had secured waivers for oil and petrochemical exports, the release of some frozen assets and the launch of a reconstruction and development plan for Iran. The White House had no immediate comment when asked if high-level talks had wrapped for now. Just before talks officially began on Sunday, Fox News reported that Trump said he told Iranian officials "you won't have a country" if they tried to close the strait again. Trump also reiterated an earlier threat that the U.S. would take over the waterway and possibly charge a toll of its own, Fox News said. Trump said he agreed to last week's memorandum of understanding to avert a global economic depression from high oil prices caused by the strait's closure. Oil prices had tumbled over the past week to levels unseen since the war started on February 28 with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran. After the joint statement, Brent crude futures fell further, dropping more than $1 to $79.44 a barrel. U.S. and Iranian sources provided separate accounts of the discussions in Switzerland. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing an informed source, said that after Trump's threats became public, the Iranian delegation refused to return to the room where talks were held, though messages were still being traded via Pakistani and Qatari mediators. According to Tasnim's source, Iranians said that the start of negotiations on nuclear matters required the delivery of other parts of the MOU, including the release of frozen assets and U.S. waivers authorizing Iranian oil exports. “The Iranians never left and are still here meeting and negotiating deep into the night," a U.S. diplomat involved in the talks told Reuters. "We’ve talked about the Strait, Lebanon, nuclear issues, and details of implementing the MOU, among other topics." The agreement calls for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for global energy shipments, and ending all hostilities, including in Lebanon, where Israel has continued to launch deadly strikes as Iranian ally Hezbollah fires at Israeli targets. Iran, arguing that the U.S. had failed to meet its commitment to halt fighting in Lebanon, said on the weekend that it had again stopped maritime traffic through the strait and that Sunday's talks would not cover substantive issues such as Iran's nuclear programme. At the talks in Switzerland, where U.S. and Iranian officials met in the presence of Qatari mediators, Vance played down the impact of violence in Lebanon, saying progress had been made towards ending hostilities there. "These things are always a little bit messy," he said. Back in the United States, Trump threatened to resume attacks on Iran if it did not rein in its allies. "Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble," Trump wrote on social media, apparently referring to Hezbollah. "If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!" Even as Trump was threatening Iran, Vance told reporters the U.S. president had "asked us to turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran." A U.S. diplomat late Sunday said discussions included “clarifying some of the confusing messaging from Iran on the Strait and building deconfliction mechanisms to ensure the Strait will remain fully open.” Despite the announcement of a new ceasefire in Lebanon on Friday, there has been scant sign of an end to fighting there. Iran said on Saturday that as a result, it had again shut the strait, whose closure for nearly four months caused the biggest disruption of global energy supplies in history. Five vessels passed the strait on Sunday, a sharp drop from the 26 ships spotted a day earlier, data from analytics firm Kpler showed. The data may exclude vessels that switch off their transponders while travelling in the Gulf. Sunday appeared to be the quietest day in Lebanon for some time, with no reports of major violence by nightfall, after two days of heavy Israeli strikes and fire from Hezbollah fighters on Israeli positions. More than 1 million people have fled their homes in Lebanon since Israel invaded in March to pursue Hezbollah fighters who fired across the border in support of Tehran. Reuters journalists in southern Lebanon on Sunday saw some of the heaviest traffic since the memorandum was signed, with residents returning to their homes. Some stood beside cars backed up on the highway and waved Hezbollah flags.

US Treasury Department Issues Waiver for Iranian Oil Sales Amid Switzerland Talks -- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday that the US was issuing a temporary license to allow the sale of Iranian oil amid ongoing talks between the US and Iran in Switzerland in line with the Memorandum of Understanding aimed at ending the conflict between the two nations. “In line with the ongoing productive talks in Switzerland, Iran has committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz and to permit International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into their country,” Bessent wrote on X.  ”As part of the framework, Treasury has issued a temporary 60-day general license authorizing the production, delivery, and sale of Iranian oil,” he added. Treasury’s website said the license will be issued through August 21. Vice President JD Vance also announced in Switzerland that Iran was willing to allow IAEA inspectors back into the country, though Iranian media denied the issue was discussed. The IAEA was working in Iran before the US and Israel started bombing the country on February 28, then halted its work due to the war. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that some work was done earlier this month during an IAEA inspection of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in southern Iran, suggesting that some inspectors remained in the country. Iran did suspend the IAEA’s access to the nuclear facilities that the US bombed in June 2025 over what it saw as the agency’s complicity in providing a pretext. The day before Israel launched the 12-Day War, the IAEA’s Board of Governors passed a resolution claiming Iran was no longer living up to its commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a claim made mainly based on nuclear activity that allegedly took place decades ago.Threats made by President Trump on Sunday against Iran and its negotiators threatened to blow up the talks in Switzerland, but they ultimately continued, and Vance said they were a “good foundation” for a deal between the two countries to end the conflict.“The final deal is the house,” the vice president told reporters, according to The Associated Press. “We set the foundation. We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.”The Iranian delegation, named “Minab 168” in memory of the school children killed by a US strike on the first day of the US-Israeli bombing campaign, was led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who, along with Vance, have since left Switzerland. Iran’s PressTV reported that now, expert-level discussions will continue under a “commitment for commitment” framework. Israel’s continued war in Lebanon remains a major threat to the work toward a final US-Iran deal since the MoU explicitly states that it must end. Qatar and Pakistan, which mediated the talks, said that a “deconfliction cell” would be established regarding Lebanon, and Araghchi called the mechanism the “first real test” of the MoU.

US and Iran Agree To Establish 'Deconfliction Cell' for Lebanon -  The US and Iran have agreed on a “deconfliction cell” aimed at ending the war in Lebanon, according to a statement released by Qatar and Pakistan, which have been mediating the talks in Switzerland. The statement, released on Sunday, said that the US and Iran have “agreed on the creation of a de-confliction cell, between the parties, the Lebanese Republic, and facilitated by the Mediators, to ensure the adherence of the termination of military operations in Lebanon as per the” Memorandum of Understanding, which states Israel’s war in Lebanon must end. The agreement, welcomed by the Lebanese government, comes after around 100 people were killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon since a new “ceasefire” was declared on Friday, as Israel continued heavy strikes. The attacks appear to have subsided for the time being, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday again vowed that Israeli troops won’t leave the country and will have “freedom of action” to carry out attacks.“My directive and that of the Minister of Defense to the IDF is clear and has not changed. Our fighters in southern Lebanon have full freedom of action to thwart any direct or emerging threat to them or to the residents of the North. The IDF has no restrictions in this regard,” Netanyahu said.“I stand firm that we will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon as long as necessary to protect the residents of the North and all citizens of the country,” the Israeli leader added. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also issued a statement denying that Israel intended to withdraw from Beaufort Castle following reports that said Israel was considering “symbolic” withdrawals from some parts of southern Lebanon, including the castle.For their part, Iranian officials appear optimistic about the progress on Lebanon, with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying that the “opposing side has been compelled to retreat on the issue of Lebanon and has ceased the killing and massacre of the oppressed people of that country, this is no small achievement.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X following the Pakistani-Qatari announcement that the deconfliction cell would be the “first real test” of the US commitments made during the talks in Switzerland.

  CNN: Downed US Pilot Reported Seeing Iranian Drones Swarm in 'Jellyfish' Formation - News From Antiwar.com -- CNN reported on Tuesday that the pilot of a US F-15 fighter jet that was shot down over Iran during the US-Israeli bombing campaign in April reported seeing a swarm of Iranian drones in a formation that resembled a jellyfish before he ejected from the aircraft. Sources told the outlet that the pilot reported what he believed he saw to US intelligence officials, setting off a debate within US intelligence agencies about Iran’s potential drone capabilities. The report noted that the pilot was concussed during the incident, and US intelligence officials disagreed on whether he could recount what he saw clearly.Describing the pilot’s account, one source said: “Multiple drones interconnected and moving as one with smaller drones below the bigger drones like legs. Real alien sh*t.”If Iran is able to control multiple drones in a formation like what the pilot described, it would mean its drone capabilities are far more advanced than what the US assessed. During the full-scale war, the Pentagon admitted to Congress that Iran’s drones were more difficult to deal with than expected and that US forces were struggling to intercept them.The F-15 pilot who recounted the incident was one of the airmen rescued by US special forces in Iran. According to the US military’s account, the pilot quickly recovered while the weapons systems officer, who was also aboard the F-15, took much longer to find. The US lost multiple aircraft during the incident, including two C-130s and two MH-6 “Little Bird” helicopters. Iranian officials alleged that the operation may have been a failed attempt to seize Iran’s enriched uranium.

In Historic First, Congress Passes Concurrent War Powers Resolution To End Iran War - The Senate on Tuesday approved a House-passed concurrent War Powers Resolution directing President Trump to end hostilities against Iran, marking the first time Congress has approved a concurrent resolution under the 1973 War Powers Act directing the termination of an unauthorized war. In previous years, Congress has passed joint resolutions directing the president to end wars, such as the 2019 bill to end US support for the Saudi war in Yemen, which President Trump vetoed at the time, but a concurrent resolution doesn’t require the president’s signature. Section 5(c) of the 1973 War Powers Act states that “at any time that United States Armed Forces are engaged in hostilities outside the territory of the United States, its possessions and territories without a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization, such forces shall be removed by the President if the Congress so directs by concurrent resolution.” The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday by a 50-48 vote, with four Republicans — Senators Rand Paul (KY), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Susan Collins (ME), and Bill Cassidy (LA) — voting in favor. Senator Jon Fetterman (PA) was the only Democrat to oppose the effort, and Republican Senators Mitch McConnell (KY) and Dave McCormick (PA) were not present for the vote. Trump administration officials will likely claim that the vote is meaningless since there is currently a ceasefire between the US and Iran as they negotiate a deal under the Memorandum of Understanding, but proponents of the War Powers effort say the passage of the concurrent resolution means the administration is now legally bound not to restart the war without congressional authorization. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who sponsored the legislation in the House, told The Lever earlier this month that if the resolution passed the Senate, he would work with “House counsel to urge leadership to bring a court case to enforce the Iran War Powers Resolution.” While the US and Iran have been engaged in negotiations, President Trump has continued issuing threats against Iran and has maintained forces in the region to potentially re-impose the blockade or restart the bombing campaign.

Araghchi Tells Hamas Official That Iran Is Addressing Israel's Actions in Gaza in Talks With US -  Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with a senior Hamas official on Wednesday and assured him that Iran is addressing Israel’s actions in Gaza in talks with the US, as Israel continues constant ceasefire violations in the Palestinian territory.The US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding calls for a ceasefire on “all fronts,” though the only other war mentioned explicitly besides the conflict between the US and Iran is Lebanon.According to Iran’s PressTV, Araghchi told Hamas official Bassem Naim that Iran’s negotiators will continue “to raise the issue of the ongoing Israeli aggression against Gaza, the repeated violations committed by the aggressor regime, and the continuing genocide despite the ceasefire agreement, in all international forums as well as in discussions with mediators and the American side during the ongoing negotiations.” There’s no sign at this point that the US wants Israel to de-escalate in Gaza, and the Trump administration has remained quiet about Israel’s daily violations of the Trump-backed agreement. Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the so-called ceasefire deal was signed in October 2025.There are indications that Israel is looking to escalate further in Gaza if it’s forced to de-escalate in Lebanon as part of the US-Iran MoU. Haaretz reported on Tuesday that Israeli officials met to discuss a potential ethnic cleansing plan for Gaza, and the newspaper said that an Israeli military source wouldn’t rule out that the revival of the plan was “connected to quiet agreements reached recently between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, constituting ‘compensation for painful concessions’ that Washington imposed on Israel as part of its deal with Iran.”

Katz Says the US Hasn't Asked Israel To Withdraw from Lebanon - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the US hasn’t asked Israel to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon despite Iran maintaining that a withdrawal is necessary to implement the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, which calls for an end to Israel’s war.  “We have announced that in any case we are not withdrawing and, as of this moment – and this is a diplomatic achievement – there is no American demand for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon,” Katz said.The Israeli minister vowed that Israel would stay in Lebanon “even if there is an American demand” and that Lebanese civilians would not be able to return to the IDF-occupied areas. “There will be no civilians and no terrorists. Why? Because what happened in the past in security zones where there was also a civilian population was that there were explosives and attacks against soldiers, and therefore, we do not allow that,” Katz said, according to Haaretz.  “Soldiers in, residents out. The infrastructure is destroyed, the houses are dangerous and ruined. We are not withdrawing,” he added. Also on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wouldn’t withdraw from Lebanon as long as he remains in power, which could be just a few more months, as Israel is set to hold elections in October, or potentially even earlier.“As long as I am prime minister, we will maintain the security zone in southern Lebanon,” Netanyahu said. “We will be the first in the world to solve the explosive drones problem.”While both President Trump and Vice President Vance have criticized some of Israel’s conduct in Lebanon, neither has publicly called for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and there’s no sign the administration is considering cutting off military aid to either pressure Israel to end the war or leave Israel on its own. While Israeli attacks in Lebanon have subsided since the weekend, they haven’t stopped, and at least three people were killed by IDF strikes on Wednesday. Lebanese and Israeli officials held talks in Washington on Tuesday, and before the negotiations, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that Beirut would accept “nothing less than an end to the Israeli occupation.” According to Al Monitor, the two sides are discussing a potential US-backed proposal for the IDF to hand over some territory to the Lebanese military, and that the US would “vet” the soldiers for ties to Hezbollah, though the plan would allow Israel to stay in parts of Lebanon near the border in what’s being called a “buffer zone.”

Pentagon Tells Lawmakers It Needs Additional $80 Billion for Iran War and Other Costs - News From Antiwar.com -The Pentagon has told Congress that it needs $80 billion to pay for the Iran war and other non-war-related costs, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The Pentagon had previously claimed that the war cost $29 billion as of mid-May, a number that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, as an analysis from Stephen Semler of the Security Policy Reform Institute found that the war had cost about $72 billion in just the first 60 days, an estimate that doesn’t factor in indirect costs.The costs have continued to add up despite the ceasefire, and the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, as the US is maintaining its military posture in the Middle East, which includes major naval armadas that were enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports.The breakdown of what exactly the $80 billion will cover is unclear, but much of it is expected to go toward munitions procurement, as the US used an enormous number of missiles and air-defense interceptors in the war. The Journal report said that Pentagon leaders have said they will run out of money this summer if Congress doesn’t pass a new wartime spending bill, and would have to cut training exercises due to the war with Iran. The White House is expected to ask Congress for $80 billion, plus additional funds for other non-military spending, in the coming days.  The Pentagon is seeking $80 billion on top of its more than $1 trillion annual budget, as the Trump administration has pushed for record-breaking military spending. In 2027, the US military budget will increase by nearly 50% to $1.5 trillion if President Trump’s plan, which involves combining the annual National Defense Authorization Act with a supplemental spending bill for several hundred billion dollars, is passed by Congress.

White House requests $87.6 billion supplemental spending for Iran war -- -The White House on Wednesday asked Congress for $87.6 billion in supplemental spending to pay for the Iran war and a host of other things including aid to U.S. farmers, and Ebola response. White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought made the request in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson. “I urge the Congress to take action on these important and urgent requests as soon as possible,” Vought wrote. The request includes $21 billion for the Defense Department to “support critical capabilities, munitions procurement, and strengthen the U.S. industrial base,” $1.4 billion for Ebola response and $768 million for the Energy Department for nuclear and other energy security. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in March had said the Pentagon may request $200 billion to fund the war that began Feb. 28. The request could put vulnerable Republicans in a difficult position months out from the 2026 midterm elections if they’re forced to vote on additional funds for an unpopular war. And the request met with immediate opposition from congressional Democrats. Congress would need to appropriate money to fulfil the White House’s request. “President Trump launched a reckless and costly war with Iran — without authorization from Congress or the support of the American people — that he should never have started, and now, instead of doing anything to help families get by, he is asking taxpayers to pick up the tab and give him billions more to wage wars overseas,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. “And he is making this request for more funding as the Pentagon already has a historic annual budget and sits on over $100 billion in unspent funding Republicans provided in their Big Ugly Bill,” Murray said, referring to the 2025 GOP tax and spending package known as the One Big Beautiful Bill. Vought’s letter also requests $10 billion for farmers, who have struggled in the last year and a half in part because of Trump’s trade policies, $500 million for restoration and construction projects in Washington, and $1 billion to renovate of Penn Station in New York City. “Congress has a constitutional obligation to provide for the common defense, and we must always sustain our military with the tools and capabilities needed to defend America in full force against all threats,” House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Ken Calvert, R-Calif., said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

Trump Asks Congress for Additional $87.6 Billion, Mainly for Iran War -    The White House sent a letter to Congress on Wednesday requesting an additional $87.6 billion in supplemental funding, with the vast majority going toward “costs incurred” by the US-Israeli war against Iran. The White House Office of Budget Management told House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) that the nearly $70 billion earmarked for the Iran war would go toward “funding for military personnel and readiness expenses, operational costs to rebuild stocks expended by [the Department of War], classified programs, and other key expenses.” Included in the $70 billion is $21 billion that will go to the Pentagon to “support critical capabilities, munitions procurement, and strengthen the US industrial base” as the US military used an enormous number of air defense interceptors and other munitions in the war and seeks to replenish its stockpiles. The request is significantly higher than the Pentagon’s initial claim that, as of mid-May, the bill for the war was about $29 billion, and it lines up with independent analyses of the conflict’s costs. Journalist Stephen Semler of the Security Policy Reform Institute found that the war had cost about $72 billion in the first 60 days alone, an estimate that doesn’t account for indirect costs.The $70 billion request for the Iran war is on top of the Pentagon’s record-breaking 2026 military budget, which topped $1 trillion for the first time, and the White House’s request for a nearly 50% increase in military spending for 2027 to bring the military budget to $1.5 trillion. The White House is also asking Congress to provide $11.1 billion in economic assistance for American farmers, $1.4 billion for the Ebola virus outbreak in Central Africa, $1 billion to complete the renovation of Penn Station in New York City, and several other smaller costs.

Energy Secretary says U.S. has ended Iran's ability to close Hormuz - U.S. military escorts of commercial ships have ended Iran’s ability to close the Strait of Hormuz in the future, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday. “Iran will not have the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz going forward,” Wright said at a conference in New York City. “That’s their key leverage and we’re taking that leverage away from them.” The energy secretary said 17 million barrels of oil passed through Hormuz when Iran declared the strait closed again over the weekend. U.S. naval escorts through Oman’s territorial waters in the southern part of the strait prevent Iran from interdicting commercial ships, Wright said. Some 72 ships loaded with 19 million barrels of oil have passed through Hormuz in the past 24 hours, he said. Trade intelligence firm Kpler has confirmed around 4.8 million barrels per day exiting the strait since the U.S. and Iran agreed to open the sea lane last week. The U.S. could reimpose its naval blockade again if Iran does not meet Washington’s demands, Wright said. The Trump administration will ensure the world is well supplied with energy, he added. “If we can get no deal with Iran, we will assure that the flow of energy is there, the world is well supplied and the Iranian administration will be in a world of hurt,” Wright said. Wright noted that the U.S. waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales for 60 days is not a major win for the Islamic Republic. The Trump administration hasn’t released any money to Tehran yet, he said. “We haven’t unfrozen any funds, they haven’t got anything meaningful yet,” Wright said at the event, which was hosted by Reuters. “They could get meaningful things from us, but they have to deliver meaningful wins for us and security for the world.” Iran began attacking commercial ships in Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel launched a massive wave of airstrikes against the country on Feb. 28. Ship traffic through the strait plunged as a consequence, triggering the biggest oil supply disruption in history. About 20% of the world’s supply passed through Hormuz before the war. Iran has agreed to allow ships to pass through Hormuz without paying a toll or 60 days under the agreement signed with the U.S. last week. Washington has lifted its naval blockade of Iran. It is unclear how Hormuz will be governed after the 60-day period. Iran is supposed to discuss administration of the strait with Oman and its Gulf neighbors under the terms of the deal.

U.S. may relocate military bases from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia -- The Pentagon is considering relocating some of its military bases from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to reduce their vulnerability to potential attacks in the event of renewed hostilities in the Middle East, AzerNEWS reports, citing The Wall Street Journal. The report says the US is considering refurnishing the base in Bahrain while shrinking its military footprint in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, instead moving bases and operations westward. According to the infornation, around 20 U.S. military facilities across the Middle East sustained damage following Iranian retaliatory strikes after the United States launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Israel is reportedly being considered as one of the possible destinations for the partial relocation of certain military installations currently based in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The U.S. military is also exploring options to further disperse its military infrastructure across the Middle East in an effort to reduce the vulnerability of its forces and facilities in the event of future regional conflict.

Lockheed Martin Gets $35 Billion THAAD Contract as Arms Makers Cash in on Iran War - - The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency has awarded Lockheed Martin a $35 billion contract to dramatically ramp up the production of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors as the firm and other US arms makers are cashing in on the Iran war. Lockheed Martin said in a press release about the contract that it will quadruple THAAD interceptor production over the next seven years. According to Breaking Defense, the weapons firm plans to increase annual production from 94 interceptors up to 400. Lockheed initially announced plans to quadruple production in January of this year, before the current war, as the US had already used an enormous number of THAAD interceptors during the June 2025 war with Iran, known as the 12-Day War. The THAAD system was first used by US forces in combat in late 2024 after the Biden administration deployed a battery to Israel. The purpose of the deployment was to prepare for potential Iranian retaliation for an Israeli attack that occurred in October 2024, but Iran didn’t respond, and the THAAD was later used to fire at missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah. During the 12-Day War, the US fired about 150 THAAD interceptors to defend Israel, or about 25% of the total US stockpile of the munitions. Estimates for the use of THAAD interceptors in the current conflict range from 190 to 290, a rate that’s not sustainable at current production levels if the US plans to continue to use the air defense system in combat.The Breaking Defense report said that Lockheed’s THAAD contract comes after the arms maker reached a deal with the Pentagon to increase production capacity for PAC-3 interceptors used in the Patriot missile defense system, resulting in a $4.7 billion contract.Lockheed reached another deal to ramp up production of Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), leading the US Army to award the firm a contract worth more than $13 billion. The PrSM was used by the US military for the first time in the Iran war, and according to an investigation from The New York Times, it struck a sports hall and school on the first day of the bombing campaign, part of an attack on the Iranian city of Lamerd that killed more than 20 civilians, including children.More money will be going to weapons makers to replenish stockpiles used in the war with Iran, as the White House has asked Congress for roughly $70 billion in additional military spending to cover the costs of the conflict, including at least $21 billion for munitions.

Corn, Cash, and Missiles: The Hidden Narrative Battle Behind the Iran–U.S. Understanding -  In less than a matter of days, two claims rose to the top of headlines surrounding the latest Iran–U.S. understanding. The first suggested that Iran’s unfrozen assets could only be used to purchase American agricultural products, while the second alleged that Iran’s missile capabilities had somehow become part of the negotiations. Both claims spread rapidly across the media landscape, only to be met almost as quickly by official denials. In his latest post on Truth Social, Donald Trump claimed that the financial resources and sanctions relief being granted to Iran would remain in U.S.-controlled escrow accounts and could be used “solely for the purchase of food and medical equipment from the United States.” He also asserted that Iran had agreed to extensive nuclear inspections and that the negotiations were “going very well.” These remarks largely echoed a narrative previously advanced by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. Vance had argued that if a portion of Iran’s frozen assets were released, the funds would effectively be spent on purchasing American soybeans, corn, and wheat, with both the United States and Qatar overseeing how the money was used. Iranian officials, however, reacted almost immediately. Ghorbanzadeh, a member of Iran’s negotiating team, stated that “there is no exclusivity for purchasing American goods—neither in the text of the understanding, nor in the negotiations, nor in any draft document.” He added that what had been discussed was merely the possibility of purchasing agricultural products from the United States alongside other suppliers, with the final decision resting entirely with the Islamic Republic of Iran. A source familiar with the negotiations likewise dismissed the claim, saying: “The assertion that Iran’s blocked funds will be spent on grain purchases is simply not true and appears nowhere in the understanding.” According to the source, such statements are rooted more in U.S. domestic political considerations than in the substance of the agreement. The source also posed a practical question: “What logic would justify spending $12 billion on grain purchases alone?” From an economic perspective, the question is difficult to ignore. Estimates suggest that $12 billion would purchase roughly 19 million metric tons of grain—equivalent to more than 211 kilograms per Iranian annually, or approximately 580 grams of raw grain per person every day. That figure far exceeds ordinary consumption requirements. As a result, both supporters and critics of the understanding appear to agree on one point: the notion that all of Iran’s released assets would be devoted to buying American corn, soybeans, and wheat is economically difficult to defend. Iranian No Monopoly on Purchasing American Goods Exists in Any Agreement WANA (Jun 23) – Ghorbanzadeh, a member of the Iranian negotiating delegation, emphasised that no monopoly on purchasing American goods basically exists either in the text of the memorandum, in the negotiations, or in any draft text. He stated that the Vice President of the United States or any other person might raise any […] 23 June 2026 Read More... A review of previous arrangements also sheds light on the origins of the claim. Three years ago, when Iranian funds frozen in South Korea were transferred to accounts in Qatar, those resources could only be used for humanitarian purchases. U.S. officials now appear to be drawing on that earlier framework to shape the current narrative. Even some analysts close to the negotiations do not hide this reality. According to them, both sides in any negotiation typically reconstruct portions of the story to fit domestic political needs. In the United States, emphasizing that released Iranian funds will ultimately benefit American farmers can help answer criticism from Democrats and pro-Israel constituencies, many of whom view any easing of pressure on Iran as a concession to Tehran. Yet the controversy did not stop with the issue of frozen assets. In recent hours, some reports have claimed that Iran’s missile capabilities were also discussed during the negotiations. Certain accounts even attributed comments to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif suggesting that agreements extending beyond the nuclear file were under discussion. These claims quickly gained traction. However, earlier today, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei categorically rejected such reports during his weekly press briefing. “Iran’s defensive and missile capabilities have absolutely never been part of our discussions,” he said. “Under no circumstances will they become a subject of negotiation with any party.” The statement is significant because it demonstrates that, at least from Tehran’s official perspective, the red lines of the negotiations have not changed. If anything, they have been reaffirmed in response to growing media speculation. What is unfolding appears to be less a dispute over several billion dollars or a few shipments of corn and soybeans than a battle over how the agreement itself is framed. The U.S. administration faces intense criticism from Democrats and pro-Israel groups and must explain to domestic audiences why it has granted Iran sanctions relief and access to financial resources. Viewed through that lens, stressing that the funds remain under U.S. oversight, are restricted to humanitarian purchases, and ultimately benefit American farmers is less a description of the agreement’s legal details than a political necessity for selling the deal at home. Tehran faces its own domestic sensitivities. Iranian public opinion remains highly attentive to issues such as missile capabilities, the use of frozen assets, and national decision-making independence. Consequently, the repeated denials regarding any exclusive commitment to purchase American grain—and the renewed insistence that Iran’s defensive and missile capabilities were “absolutely” not part of the talks—are not merely responses to inaccurate reports. They also represent an effort to prevent narratives crafted in Washington from gradually becoming accepted in Iran as the actual text of the agreement.

Vance Says Iran Agreed To Establish a Direct Line Between the IRGC and the US Military - -Vice President JD Vance has said that during talks in Switzerland, Iranian officials agreed to establish a direct line of communication between Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the US military.Vance told Sohrab Ahmari, the US editor for UnHerd, that one of the things the US wanted to “come out” of the talks with was a “channel on the Iranian side” for reducing conflict. “Which we did. They were like, ‘OK, fine, we’ll send somebody from the IRGC to go hang out in Doha with somebody from CENTCOM,’ and that’s how we’re going to settle a lot of these disputes,” the US vice president said during an interview conducted aboard Air Force Two on the flight home from Switzerland. Flare-ups between the US and Iran remain possible, as the US hasn’t reduced its forces in the region and there appear to be differences between the two sides’ views on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. A direct communication channel between the two militaries, if implemented, could help de-escalate tensions after any flare-up to prevent the region from plunging back into full-scale war. Vance also told Ahmari that Arab states like the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding “because of the conversations they’re having with the Iranians.”“The Emiratis — by far the most hawkish, by far the most pro-Israel country in the [Gulf Cooperation Council] — they’re having conversations with the Iranians that have never happened before, including with the IRGC, about various types of economic incentives — ‘Here’s what we’d need to see to make your country investable’ — and the Iranians come back and say, ‘Okay, yeah, we’re willing to do all those things,'” Vance said.The UAE had taken a much more offensive role in the US-Israeli war against Iran than the other Gulf Arab states, and as a result, it was pounded by Iranian missiles and drones. While more hawkish than other regional countries, Abu Dhabi, like the other Gulf countries, would likely prefer a diplomatic solution to a return to full-scale war since it would likely involve an escalation of Iranian attacks on oil infrastructure in the region.

Italy Tells Iran It Didn't Support US War, Rejecting Claims from NATO Chief -  Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday and assured him that Italy didn’t support the US war against Iran after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte claimed that 500 US military aircraft took off from bases in Italy during the US-Israeli bombing campaign.“Italy has never taken part in any military initiative and has never authorized the use of bases for war actions against Iran, in the strictest respect of the treaties with the United States,” Tajani said in a statement on his call with Araghchi.Rutte’s comments came after Italian officials had repeatedly said Italy didn’t authorize direct military action to be taken against Iran from Italian soil, though the Italian Defense Ministry did acknowledge that “technical and logistical, non-kinetic, activities were authorized” during the bombing campaign.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday that Rutte gave a confused account of Italy’s role in US military operations and pointed out that her public spat with President Trump began when Italy refused to allow US bombers involved in the war to land at US bases in the country.“In his — let’s call it enthusiastic — account, the secretary-general has lumped together things that are actually quite different from one another, confusing the types of authorized flights,” Meloni said.“We did not participate in the conflict with Iran. By the way, if we had participated in the Iran conflict, there would be no explanation for this disappointment that the U.S. president keeps reiterating very often,” she added.

Trump accuses Iran of 'foolish' ceasefire violation -- President Donald Trump on Friday accused Iran of violating a ceasefire agreement with the United States by launching attack drones at ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, including a cargo vessel that was struck off the coast of Oman on Thursday, AzerNEWS reports. “The Islamic Republic of Iran shot at least four One Way Attack Drones at Ships transversing the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social Post. “One of the Drones solidly hit the upper deck of a large and very expensive Cargo Carrying Ship,” the president wrote. “Damage was done, but the Ship was able to proceed on its way. We knocked down three other Drones. Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a phone conversation with United Arab Emirates Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan on Friday, during which they discussed the current situation in the Middle East and the memorandum of understanding that Tehran signed with Washington. According to a readout by the Emirati Foreign Ministry, Al-Nahyan underlined the importance of completely abiding by the provisions in the agreement and emphasized that "serious diplomacy and responsible dialogue are the preferred means of addressing regional and international crises." Meanwhile, the UAE state news agency WAM reported that the two diplomats also discussed the freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

US strikes Iran after attack on cargo ship - The US military has conducted strikes on Iranian targets after President Donald Trump accused Iran of a "foolish violation" of its truce following an attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command said it had struck missile and drone storage facilities and coastal radar positions on Friday, in response to a drone attack on a cargo ship on Thursday which halted a planned evacuation of sailors stuck in the region. Tehran said the cargo ship was attacked because it was using an unauthorised route to transit through the Gulf waterway. After the US strikes, Iran in turn accused the US of violating their interim deal and said it had struck targets linked to American forces. US Central Command - or Centcom - described the American strikes as "a powerful response" to the drone attack a day earlier. "The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire," it said in a statement. "Furthermore, Iran's dangerous behaviour undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor." Centcom said the US military would "continue to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait".

Iran says it has struck U.S.-linked targets as tensions flare up over Hormuz - Iran said Saturday it has struck U.S.-linked targets in response to American attacks on Friday against Iranian military sites. The U.S. had accused Iran of violating the ceasefire agreement as it launched those strikes, saying its actions were a response to Iranian drone attacks on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. strikes on Friday hit Iran’s missile and drone storage locations as well as coastal radar sites, U.S. Central Command said in an X post. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the U.S. of violating international law as well as the ceasefire agreement, according to state media. A statement Saturday said Iran had responded by hitting “targets linked to the American aggressor forces” in the region, criticizing Gulf states whose territory has been used “to carry out hostile actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.” No specific target was identified, but Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, later condemned what it said was an Iranian drone attack on its territory, calling the strike a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and “a blatant threat to the security of its citizens and residents.” The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, an organization run by the British navy that helps protect commercial shipping, said Saturday that a tanker had been struck by an “unidentified projectile,” with all crew reported safe. Washington did not immediately respond to Iran’s report of strikes on American targets. The latest flare-up of tensions, just a week on from the signing of a memorandum of understanding intended to start the process of bringing the conflict to a close, began Thursday when Iran struck a ship transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, which had been angered by ships transiting through the strait outside of a route through Iranian waters specified by Tehran, shot at least four drones at ships traveling through the Strait on Thursday, Trump said on Truth Social Friday morning. One of those hit the upper deck of a cargo carrying ship, and the U.S. “knocked down” the three other drones, he said. The ship that was struck was the M/V Ever Lovely, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast, according to U.S. Central Command. There were no injuries and the ship remained operational despite some damage, according to the shipping company and Singaporean port officials. “Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement,” Trump said. “The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” Central Command said Friday. “Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor.” On both sides, tempers have frayed over the latest exchange. “The U.S. attacked Iran in the middle of negotiations once again,” Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission of the parliament, said on X. “The failed U.S. President has shown he has no commitment to the principles of negotiation or a ceasefire.”

Iran war: Another tanker 'under attack' after US strikes Iran for first time since ceasefire agreement - Another tanker has reportedly come under attack in the Strait of Hormuz, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations. Iran said it's forces fired "warning shots". It comes as the US attacked Iran after accusing Tehran of launching at least four drones at a cargo ship in the strait. America hit radar, drone and missile sites in response to what Trump called a "foolish" ceasefire violation on Thursday. He accused Iran of firing at least four drones at a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, where vessels are now meant to be passing freely. In response, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said it had targeted US military positions in the region but did not give further details. US vice president JD Vance warned "violence will be met with ‌violence" after Friday's American strikes. He added: "If they have disagreements about how the MOU [memorandum of understanding] is being applied, they can pick up the phone." And on Saturday, another tanker came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations, a Royal Navy-backed monitor. But Iranian state television reported the Revolutionary Guards had fired "warning shots" towards unspecified vessels attempting to pass through channels not approved by Iran, and that this was now prompting other ships to seek Iranian permits before attempting to cross the strait. Both sides accused the other of violating the agreement reached two weeks ago. Also on Saturday, Bahrain said it had been targeted by a “number of Iranian drones” in a "flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents". The incident is the "first big test" of the recent 60-day ceasefire deal, says Sky's US correspondent David Blevins. The agreement is intended to pause hostilities so the sides can work towards a permanent truce. Blevins says it shows Trump is "willing to re-engage" militarily if he deems it necessary. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has issued a statement saying ​it has targeted US military positions in ​the region, in ‌response to the US strike against Iran. It did not ​provide details ⁠on the ⁠US positions it targeted. Its statement came after the ‌ISNA news agency carried an earlier statement that it said was ⁠from the IRGC, saying ​the force's ​response to the US attack ⁠against Iran would be "swift and decisive" (see 21:50 post). However, the semi-official Iranian news agency deleted ​the statement soon after it was published.

Tanker struck in Hormuz as Iran, US trade attacks in worst escalation since peace deal (Reuters) - A tanker reported being struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, Britain's maritime security ​agency said, after the United States and Iran each launched strikes in the worst escalation since they signed an interim peace deal. The warring sides each accused the other of violating the agreement reached ‌two weeks ago to end the four-month-old conflict. Washington said it hit Iranian targets overnight. Iran said it responded on Saturday by striking targets linked to U.S. forces. Saturday's attack on a tanker in the strait followed another on a cargo ship on Thursday that triggered the latest escalation. Iran has made a fresh bid to assert control over the world's most important energy shipping route, which has begun to reopen after months of disruption. Britain's UKMTO maritime security agency said the tanker hit on Saturday had sustained damage to its bridge, with all ​crew reported safe. The Joint Maritime Information Center, run by a coalition of navies protecting shipping, raised its security threat level as a result of recent incidents. Iran has not directly commented on reports of ​specific attacks on ships. But Iranian state television reported that the Revolutionary Guards fired "warning shots" toward unspecified vessels attempting to pass through channels not approved by Iran, and ⁠that this was now prompting other ships to seek Iranian permits before attempting to cross the strait. Earlier, Iran's foreign ministry said it launched "defensive" attacks on U.S.-linked military targets, while Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's regional headquarters, reported ​an Iranian drone attack. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to the reports. Iran has accused the United States of failing to uphold the interim agreement, in particular by failing to sustain a promised ​ceasefire in Lebanon, which U.S. ally Israel invaded in March in pursuit of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Israel and Lebanon have repeatedly agreed U.S.-brokered ceasefires, the latest of which was announced on Friday. But these have so far had only limited overall impact, with Israel insisting it will not withdraw from territory it has seized and Hezbollah repeatedly rejecting calls to give up its arms as long as Israeli troops remain in place. Lebanese state television reported an Israeli drone strike on Saturday in the Nabatiyeh area in the ​south, which has seen Israeli strikes throughout the conflict. The Israeli military said it had targeted a person who posed a threat to its forces. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the day-old Israel-Lebanon agreement as surrender, and said it was "null ​and void". With hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, mainly Shi'ite Muslims, still unable to return to homes in Israeli-occupied areas, anger over the agreement has spread beyond Hezbollah to the wider Shi'ite community. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz praised the agreement, saying it allows ‌Israel to maintain ⁠its occupation of a so-called security zone in Lebanon and bars the return of displaced residents. Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said Washington had violated the war-ending memorandum of understanding by supporting what he called proxy forces in the region and creating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. Throughout the war, Iran has responded to U.S. attacks by hitting neighbouring Gulf states that host large U.S. military bases. Iranian state television said the Revolutionary Guards had delivered "a decisive response" after U.S. forces hit a communications tower in the port city of Sirik. Iran's Mehr news agency said the Iranian port was operating normally with no damage reported to facilities or equipment. Bahrain said Iran's latest attacks violated ​the memorandum of understanding. Hundreds of ships, including tankers laden ​with oil, have been blockaded inside the Gulf ⁠since war broke out. As they began leaving through the strait over the past two weeks, oil prices have tumbled close to pre-war levels on the resulting surge in supply. But fully resolving the crisis would require sustained two-way traffic through the strait at pre-war levels, likely possible only if shippers accept it as safe. Washington has been promoting a southern ​lane along the coast of Oman, while Tehran, which ultimately aims to charge fees for use of the strait, wants ships to use a northern route through ​its waters and under its control. Ebrahim ⁠Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said on Saturday that any violation of Iran's shipping instructions would be met decisively.

'Customers Are Being Gouged': Trump Tells DOJ To Look Into Gasoline Prices - President Trump said on Wednesday that he had instructed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an investigation into oil companies over high gasoline prices.In a Truth Social post, Trump said that oil companies have not lowered their prices at the pump despite a recent decline in crude prices following the U.S.–Iran preliminary agreement.“Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged,’” he said.“Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!” Brent crude futures fell below $75 per barrel on Wednesday (back near pre-war levels), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped to $72.29, amid the resumption of shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.Bloomberg's energy guru, Javier Blas, remarked after President Trump's post: "US President Trump, all political theatre, has just discovered the refining (and marketing) margin." The national average price for regular gasoline stood at $3.93 per gallon on June 23, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), down from $4.04 the previous week.The gas price was $4.53 per gallon a month ago.Of course, given the supply/refinery chain, it takes time (two weeks) for crude prices to ripple through to pump prices... AAA said it observed that gas prices remain above the levels before the conflict with Iran erupted in February.The national average price for regular gas was $2.98 on Feb. 28, the day when the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran, triggering the war. “Getting prices back down to prewar levels will take longer because of the time it takes to resume shipping and production,” Marie Dodds, public affairs director for AAA Oregon/Idaho, said in a statement.

Shale Bosses Say Trump Posts on Iran Sow Energy Market Chaos — US oil shale executives say the White House’s erratic communications about the war in Iran are sowing confusion in energy markets and making planning for future months near impossible. In a series of anonymous comments published Wednesday from a survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, industry executives cited concerns about inconsistent policy announcements from the Trump administration about the conflict in the Middle East. “Golly. What could possibly be affecting our business other than a Covid-sized supply gap driven by a war being commandeered by an administration that just cannot tell the truth?” one respondent was quoted as saying. “They jawbone the price down basically every Sunday evening. If they know an Hormuz reopening isn’t likely, it’ll make the medium-term supply issue 10 times worse.” Another respondent said “markets can price risk, but they can’t price a tweet,” adding that “the whiplash from diplomacy-by-social-media has become the single most unpredictable input in our planning.” The sharp criticism comes despite President Donald Trump’s strong relationship with the oil industry, which has seen many of its domestic policy priorities advanced during his second term. “Since day one, President Trump has been rolling back burdensome Biden regulations to unleash American energy,” said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman. “As President Trump has said, these short-term, temporary disruptions to energy markets will end once the Iran situation is resolved and traffic in the Strait continues to normalize.” The Dallas bank, which typically conducts a quarterly questionnaire of energy companies in Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico, compiled its latest survey from June 9-17 as the US and Iran negotiated a memorandum of understanding about ending hostilities. The MOU was signed on June 17. “The prospect that Iran will comply and conform with any agreement, written or oral, is, at best, wishing on a fantasy,”one of the survey respondents said. West Texas Intermediate dipped below $70 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since March 4, just days after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. Oil fell as more tankers cross the Strait of Hormuz and signs of progress in US-Iran peace talks eased fears of an immediate supply crunch. Before the decline in price, one of the respondents said “the White House seems to prefer commotion and chaos to delivering meaningful, truthful information that serious business decisions can be made on.” On average, respondents to the bank’s survey expect the price of WTI to be $81 per barrel at the end of the year. Predictions range from $60, lower than it was before the war started, to $150. The US oil benchmark touched a high of about $119 in early March.

Tucker Carlson says he won't support Republican Party  -Pundit Tucker Carlson says he’s done with the Republican Party. “The poll numbers now tell a pretty clear story about it. I would not support the Republican Party, there’s no chance,” Carlson said during a recent appearance on the “Can’t Be Censored” podcast. “Not because I support the Democratic Party. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”Carlson asked how any American “could support a political party that’s not loyal to the United States.”  “It’s not possible to vote for people like that and I’m not going to,” he said. “I voted Republican my entire life, I worked at Fox News … I’ve been a consistent defender for 35 years of the Republican Party, but there’s no defending this because it’s immoral.”Carlson, a former supporter of President Trump, broke with the president after the U.S. military campaign against Iran and its proxies began earlier this year. The former cable news host has accused the Trump administration of being influenced by Israel to begin the war and has repeatedly blasted the president over the conflict.Carlson was insistent he will not support Republicans or vote for them in coming elections. “So no, I’m out,” he said. “And if I’m out, then I think a lot of other people are out, too.”

US Central Command Launches Airstrike in Syria, Says 'Senior ISIS Leader' Killed -  US Central Command on Wednesday said that its forces launched an airstrike in Syria on June 19 that it claimed killed a “senior ISIS leader,” an attack that came more than two months after the US completed a withdrawal from the country.CENTCOM identified the target as Ali Husayn al-‘Ulaywi and offered no other details about the strike. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that day that a man riding a motorcycle in the countryside of Syria’s northwest Idlib province was targeted by a drone and killed.At the time of the report, the SOHR said the man had not been identified. Locals reported hearing several explosions in the area around the time of the attack. The US completed a full withdrawal from Syria back in April and handed over its military bases to the Syrian government, which is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an offshoot of al-Qaeda that the US and its allies helped take power in Damascus in December 2024. Last year, the Syrian government joined the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, and ISIS has been taking credit for attacks against Syrian government troops, though HTS and ISIS share a similar ideology, and there has historically been a lot of crossover with its members. When President Trump returned to office in January 2025, the US had about 2,000 troops in Syria. The Trump administration began a drawdown, which was accelerated following the December 2025 attack in Palmyra, Syria, that killed two US National Guard soldiers and an American civilian interpreter. While President Trump blamed the Palmyria attack on ISIS, the gunman was a member of Syria’s security forces, and US officials have acknowledged to The Wall Street Journal that the new Syrian military is “riddled with jihadist sympathizers, including soldiers with ties to al-Qaeda and ISIS and others who have been involved in alleged war crimes against the Kurds and Druze.”

US Announces a Series of Airstrikes in Somalia - US Africa Command announced that its forces launched a series of airstrikes in Somalia in recent days as the Trump administration continues a heavy bombing campaign in the country, which receives virtually no US media coverage. AFRICOM announced new airstrikes that it said were launched against al-Shabaab in different parts of southern Somalia on June 14, June 16, June 18, and June 19. As usual, the command offered no further details, having stopped sharing casualty estimates and assessments of potential civilian harm last year.“Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM said in each press release. The US-backed Somali Defense Ministry said that the Danab, a US-trained special unit of the Somali military, conducted an operation in southern Somalia on June 14 that it claimed killed 14 al-Shabaab militants, but it’s unclear if it was the same operation that involved a US airstrike.The June 14 strike is the first AFRICOM has announced since May 6, but there have been indications that the US had been launching airstrikes without announcing them, as the Somali Defense Ministry reported several operations between the two strikes, including one it said involved an airstrike and was supported by an “international partner.” On May 21, a suspected airstrike killed three children and a pregnant woman in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, where the US backs local forces against an ISIS affiliate. The UAE is also known to occasionally launch airstrikes in the area, but not nearly as much as the US.Based on the number of strikes announced by AFRICOM, the US has bombed Somalia at least 67 times this year. President Trump has overseen a massive escalation of the US air war in Somalia, which came after he loosened the rules of engagement by lifting restrictions on US drone strikes and raids carried out outside of officially declared combat zones.The US launched at least 124 airstrikes in Somalia in 2025, which, according to New America, an organization that tracks the air war, is more than those conducted during the administrations of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush combined.The latest US airstrikes in Somalia come amid an election crisis in the country, after many clans and factions have opposed President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the leader of the US-backed Federal Government, remaining in office following the expiration of his term. The crisis sparked clashes in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country, and Somali media is reporting that the Federal Government may be on the brink of war with the government of Puntland, which the US backs against ISIS.

US Africa Command Says It Has Launched 68 Airstrikes in Somalia This Year - US Africa Command has launched at least 68 airstrikes in Somalia this year, the command told Antiwar.com in an email on Tuesday, putting it on track to break the record for annual US airstrikes in the country that the Trump administration set last year at 124.President Trump oversaw a dramatic escalation of US airstrikes in Somalia since returning to office after he loosened the rules of engagement by lifting restrictions on US drone strikes and raids carried out outside of officially declared combat zones.According to New America, an organization that tracks the air war, the 124 airstrikes launched in 2025 were more than those conducted during the administrations of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush combined. After a seeming lull in US airstrikes in Somalia since early May, AFRICOM announced a series of strikes against al-Shabaab in southern Somalia in recent days. The US has also been bombing an ISIS affiliate in northeastern Somalia’s Puntland region, and AFRICOM told Antiwar.com that the latest airstrikes launched in that area were conducted in early May.The situation on the ground in Somalia is difficult to ascertain for a variety of reasons, including the fact that AFRICOM no longer shares information about casualties or assessments on civilian harm. The US-backed Somali government also has a history of cracking down on journalists who cover the war critically, and al-Shabaab maintains restrictions on internet use in the areas under its control.The Guardian recently published a detailed report about a US airstrike that killed 12 civilians, including eight children, in Jamaame, southern Somalia, in November 2025. When asked for comment, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly asked if the outlet would also focus on “fraud committed by Somalis in the United States?”The recent US airstrikes in Somalia come amid an election crisis in the country, after many clans and factions have opposed President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the leader of the US-backed Federal Government, remaining in office following the expiration of his term, which he justifies by pointing to amendments his government added to the constitution. The crisis sparked clashes in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country, and Somali media is reporting that the Federal Government may be on the brink of war with the government of Puntland, which the US backs against ISIS.

US Bombs Somalia for 69th Time This Year - US Africa Command announced that its forces launched another airstrike in Somalia, marking at least the 69th time the US has bombed the country this year as the Trump administration continues a record-shattering bombing campaign that receives virtually no US media coverage.AFRICOM said the strike was launched on June 23, targeting al-Shabaab about 14 miles southeast of Afmadow, a city in Somalia’s southern Lower Juba region. The command offered no other details about the attack as it stopped sharing casualty estimates and assessments on potential civilian harm last year.“Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM said. There were also no statements from the US-backed government about operations in the area that day. AFRICOM told Antiwar.com earlier this week that its forces had conducted 68 airstrikes so far this year, making the June 23 strike at least the 69th, putting it on track to break the record for annual US airstrikes in the country that the Trump administration set last year at 124.On top of the war against al-Shabaab, the US has also been bombing an ISIS affiliate in northeastern Somalia’s Puntland region, and AFRICOM said that the last strikes launched there were conducted in early May, though there have been airstrikes reported in the region, including one that killed civilians on May 21. The UAE is also known to launch strikes in the area, though not nearly as frequently as the US. The recent US airstrikes in Somalia come amid an election crisis in the country, after many clans and factions have opposed President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the leader of the US-backed Federal Government, remaining in office following the expiration of his term, which he justifies by pointing to amendments his government added to the constitution. The crisis sparked clashes in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country, and Somali media is reporting that the Federal Government may be on the brink of war with the government of Puntland, which the US backs against ISIS. The US has been involved in Somalia for decades and has been fighting al-Shabaab since the George W. Bush administration backed an Ethiopian invasion in 2006 that ousted the Islamic Courts Union, a Muslim coalition that briefly held power in Mogadishu after taking the city from CIA-backed warlords. Al-Shabaab was the radical offshoot of the Islamic Courts Union, and its first recorded attack was a suicide bombing in 2007 that targeted Ethiopian troops occupying Mogadishu. It wasn’t until 2012 that the group pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda. The ISIS affiliate in Puntland started as an offshoot of al-Shabaab and first emerged in 2015.

US Boat Strike Kills Two, Leaves Six 'Survivors' - -US Southern Command said on Sunday night that its forces bombed another alleged drug-running boat in the Caribbean Sea as the Trump administration continues to carry out extra-judicial executions at sea.SOUTHCOM said the strike killed at least two people and left six survivors, though many survivors of the initial boat strike have drowned due to slow rescue efforts. Video of the strike released by SOUTHCOM.  “Following the engagement, SOUTHCOM immediately notified US Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors,” the command said in its statement on the strike.SOUTHCOM called the victims of the attack “narco-terrorists,” a term the Trump administration has employed in its attempts to justify executing people without trial for an alleged crime that doesn’t receive the death penalty in the US.According to a count from The Intercept, the bombing campaign has involved at least 66 strikes and has killed 215 people, all civilians, since they were operating civilian vehicles and weren’t engaged in combat with the US at the time of their execution. The US has continued to expand military operations across Latin America, recently launching an airstrike in Venezuela that it claims targeted and killed Guerrero Flores, the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The attack was launched in cooperation with the Venezuelan government, which has been led by Acting President Delcy Rodriguez since the US attack on the country that resulted in the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro.

Flu cases rise to 222 at Texas base in outbreak blamed on Hegseth scrapping of vaccine mandate - More than 220 troops have contracted influenza at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, up from 160 reported last week in a major outbreak that comes less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that flu vaccinations would no longer be mandatory for service members. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), whose district includes Lackland, on Friday said the Air Force informed his office that the number of cases had hit 222 as of Thursday, 62 more than had been reported earlier in the week. The influenza outbreak has affected the 37th Training Wing at Lackland over the past three weeks. Each year, more than 36,000 recruits come through the unit. Asked by The Hill about the most recent numbers, an Air Force spokesperson declined to comment on how many trainees contracted the flu, only saying that medical professionals are continuing to “monitor and evaluate the situation.” The Air Force told The Hill last week that the 37th Training Wing is in “close” coordination with the 59th Medical Wing — the Air Force’s largest medical wing — and has “implemented mitigation measures to isolate and treat symptomatic trainees to reduce further exposure and continue to monitor the situation.” Symptomatic trainees are receiving “appropriate care with antiviral medications such as Tamiflu,” and they will return to training once medical professionals clear them, the spokesperson said. Hegseth in April announced the Pentagon ended mandatory flu vaccines for service members, arguing the changes are giving troops “medical autonomy” and “freedom to express their religious convictions.” The new rule is a step further than the Pentagon’s policy from last year, which exempted reservists from the flu shot and said the vaccine was only necessary in some circumstances for all members of the armed forces. Hegseth characterized the flu shot mandate as “absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our warfighting capabilities.” “Our men and women in uniform were forced to choose between their conscience and their country, even when those decisions posed no threat to our military readiness,” the Pentagon said. Castro has called Hegseth’s decision “reckless,” saying it was only a matter of time before an outbreak occurred.

Flu cases at Texas base hit 275 as services again require recruits to get shots The number of flu cases at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas continues to rise in the wake of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s banishment of the influenza vaccine mandate for service members. The Air Force confirmed 275 cases as of Wednesday, up from 160 just last week, a figure Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said the service had relayed to his office. In addition, four people have been hospitalized as of Tuesday, ABC News reported. One recruit also died June 16, though the death remains under investigation and it is not clear whether it is tied to the outbreak. The Air Force didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Trump can begin deportations of Syrian, Haitian TPS holders, Supreme Court says : NPR --   The Supreme Court gave the Trump administration the green light to begin mass deportations of people who have been living and working legally in the United States for years, some even decades. By a 6-to-3 vote along ideological lines, the court's conservative majority ruled that the President has virtually unrestrained power to end the Temporary Protected Status program, known as TPS. Congress enacted the TPS law in 1990 to allow fully vetted and eligible migrants to live and work legally in the U.S. if they cannot return safely to their home countries because of natural disasters, armed conflicts, and other extraordinary conditions. The Department of Homeland Security designates which foreign countries qualify for TPS. Since the law's enactment, every President, Republican and Democrat, has embraced it, except Trump. He, in contrast, is trying to end the temporary protected status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants. And on Thursday, the high court gave him the tools to do it. Writing for the court majority, Justice Samuel Alito that under the TPS law, the president has unreviewable authority to end the program, without intervention from the courts. There are more than a dozen countries that have been designated with TPS, including the two in this case— Haiti, with 330,000 displaced persons living legally in the U.S., and Syria with roughly 3,800. The U.S. State Department currently warns Americans in the strongest terms not to go to these countries to these countries or because of the dangers of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, unrest, and limited health care. The court's decision means that the President can end the protected status of Haitians and Syrians without the possibility of judicial review. Migrants living legally in the U.S. from those countries will likely revert to illegal status, meaning they will lose their jobs and face deportation, with many of them forced to leave their American-born children behind. The Trump administration had attempted to strip TPS from 13 of the 17 countries that had it before the second term began. As for the remaining four countries that still have TPS—El Salvador, Lebanon, Sudan, and Ukraine, they may well lose their TPS when they come up for renewal this fall. Dissenting from today's decision were the court's three liberal justices. Reaction to the decision was fast and furious among immigrant rights groups. "Revoking TPS protection is not just cruel; it is economic self-sabotage that will rip billions out of the U.S. economy and destabilize communities nationwide," said Todd SchulteFWD.us, a bipartisan group that advocates for immigration reform, said in a statement. According to the group, 200,000 Haitian TPS holders are in the U.S. workforce, including 15,000 agricultural workers, 13,000 nursing assistants, and 8,000 caregivers. What's more, the group says, TPS holders generate an estimated $5.9 billion for the U.S. economy each year and annually pay a total of $1.5 billion in federal and state taxes.

Justices side with Trump administration in border dispute over asylum seekers | SCOTUSblog  - The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the federal government’s policy of systematically turning back asylum seekers before they can reach the U.S.-Mexico border. By a vote of 6-3, the justices agreed with the Trump administration in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado that the policy, which was adopted a decade ago as a response to a surge in the number of Haitian immigrants seeking asylum outside San Diego, does not violate a federal law that permits noncitizens to apply for asylum when they “arrive[] in the United States.”Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito called the question before the court a “straightforward” one. “In ordinary speech,” he wrote, “no one would say that a person ‘arrives in’ a place—for example, a house, a city, or a country—before the person enters that place. The context in which the phrase ‘arrives in the United States’ is used in the immigration statutes at issue here supports an ordinary meaning.’”In an opinion that she read from the bench – an expression of strong disagreement with the majority’s decision – Justice Sonia Sotomayor (joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson) wrote that “[t]he consequences of today’s decision are predictable. More people will die. More people will attempt to cross the border illegally, and some will make it while others will not.”The policy at the center of the case is known as “metering.” Officials from the Customs and Border Patrol agency implemented the policy – which was formalized in a memorandum in 2018 – by standing along the U.S. border with Mexico and turning back noncitizens without valid travel documents, including asylum seekers, before they could enter the United States.The challengers in the case are Al Otro Lado, Inc., an immigrant rights group, and 13 people who are seeking asylum, which is a form of legal protection for people who fear persecution or harm in their own countries. When noncitizens who arrive at a port of entry (an officially designated site to enter the country), such as an airport or a land crossing, indicate that they want to seek asylum, they are normally screened by border officials and then channeled into the asylum system, which may include either an interview with an asylum officer or proceedings in immigration court.The challengers argued, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit agreed, that, for purposes of applying for asylum, noncitizens who were turned away from ports of entry before they could cross the border had “arrived in” the United States.On Thursday, the Supreme Court reversed that decision. Alito first pointed to what he characterized as the “clear” meaning of the phrase “arrives in the United States” “when used in everyday speech.” Surveying several different major dictionaries, Alito concluded that “a person arrives in a destination when he enters within its area—not before.” He rejected the challengers’ argument that “when someone ‘block[s]’ the way of the person seeking to arrive,” “to arrive in a place is merely to ‘be at its threshold’” – so that, for example, asylum seekers “arrive in the United States” when they try to enter the country. “A running back does not arrive in the end zone when he reaches the 1-yard line,” Alito countered, nor does a letter “arrive in the mailbox when a dog assaults the carrier a step away from the mailbox. A person arrives in a destination only when he enters it, and that conclusion does not change because someone or something blocks entry.”This conclusion, Alito continued, is bolstered by other immigration laws that distinguish between “actual entrance into the United States and attempted entrance.” The latter distinction, he suggested, shows that “[a]n alien who unsuccessfully attempts to arrive in the United States does not arrive in the United States.” If Congress had wanted “aliens who arrive at or near the border to be able to apply for asylum,” Alito emphasized, it could have said so expressly. But, he concluded, “Congress did not use those terms.”Alito also rebuffed the challengers’ argument that the phrase “arrives in” must apply to some asylum seekers who are not yet in the United States because the same provision also allows noncitizens to apply for asylum if they are “physically present in the United States.” Otherwise, the challengers contended, and contrary to one of the principles on which courts rely when interpreting laws, the phrase “arrives in” would not have any additional meaning. Alito acknowledged that the challengers’ “argument has some force,” but he wrote that the rule is not an “iron” one. “[E]ven excellent writers do not always trim every unnecessary word,” he said, “and the same is true of Congress.”Additionally, Alito pushed back against the challengers’ contention that accepting the government’s interpretation would violate the United States’ obligation under international conventions, as well as the Refugee Act of 1980, not to return refugees when they would face persecution because of characteristics such as their race or religion. The Supreme Court has held, Alito emphasized, that the ban on returning refugees “imposes a duty on nations not to send refugees that are within their borders to certain places. It does not establish,” he wrote, “that refugees have a right to enter a nation at the time they prefer.”Finally, Alito rejected the challengers’ suggestion that the majority’s decision “will create perverse incentives for aliens to enter the country illegally” instead. “Metering,” he wrote, “does not permanently bar any alien from arriving in the United States and then applying for asylum. It merely delays the date when some may enter. Illegal entry, on the other hand, may be expensive and dangerous, and it carries adverse legal effects.”Justice Clarence Thomas filed a concurring opinion in which he argued that the lower court, by issuing a declaration that the government’s metering policy violated federal law, had granted “relief that Congress has prohibited” under federal immigration law, which provides that only the Supreme Court has the power “to enjoin or restrain the operation of” some federal immigration laws. But in any event, Thomas added, Congress does not have the power under the Constitution to require the president to “allow aliens to cross the border against his will.”In her 35-page dissent, Sotomayor challenged Alito’s conclusion that the ordinary meaning of the phrase “arriving in” always means that someone is physically within a particular space. “If someone said, ‘Call me when you arrive in Washington, D. C.,’” she posited, “it would be logical to call them once you have landed at DCA Airport, just across the river in Virginia.” Sotomayor also reiterated the argument that the majority’s ruling creates “‘a perverse incentive’” for asylum seekers to enter the country illegally, suggesting that Alito was wrong to dismiss the concern as “overstated.” “The point,” she wrote, “is not that illegal entry always produces a net windfall for asylum seekers; it is that Congress was unlikely to devise a system in which asylum is available to those who unlawfully set foot over the border, but not to those who attempt to comply with the law and are physically blocked from entering at the threshold of a port of entry by an immigration officer.”“Congress,” Sotomayor concluded, “passed the Refugee Act in 1980 because it did not want this country to repeat the mistakes of its past. Yet if the refugees on the M. S. St. Louis” – a ship carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees seeking to escape from Nazi Germany, who were turned away from (among other countries) the United States and eventually returned to western Europe, where many of them died in the Holocaust – “were to walk up to a port of entry on our southern border today, the majority’s interpretation would allow immigration officers to refuse even to consider their asylum applications by physically blocking them from stepping foot onto U.S. soil.”

Trump relationship with Senate GOP crumbling after repeated clashes -resident Trump’s relationship with key Senate Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), is crumbling after repeated clashes over strategy on an array of issues. The two sides are splitting further apart as the midterm election nears and GOP lawmakers fear the potential loss of both chambers of Congress. GOP senators say there has been a major loss of trust between the president and many members of their conference as the White House has repeatedly blindsided Thune and other Republican leaders. Trump will have a chance to discuss his differences with Republican senators in person this Wednesday, when he is invited to speak to the Steering Committee on Capitol Hill. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the Steering Committee’s chair and a close ally of the president, extended the invitation. The president undercut GOP leaders last week when he suddenly ordered Jay Clayton, his nominee to serve as director of national intelligence, to not show up at his Senate confirmation hearing. The reversal of the plan left Thune and other Republicans dumbfounded. Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), who lost his Senate Republican primary runoff by 27 points after Trump blasted him as “very disloyal” and endorsed his opponent, said Republican colleagues are feeling betrayed by what some of them view as the president’s lack of respect for them as senators and, in most cases, loyal Republicans. “In my case, there was no real reason given my support for the president’s agenda,” Cornyn said, describing the confusion caused by Trump’s unexpected attacks on him during the Texas GOP primary runoff, which came even though Cornyn had voted with Trump 99.3 percent of the time. “When he endorsed my primary opponent, people realized you could never do enough to stop the president from endorsing your primary opponent. I think that destroyed what remained of any kind of trust. I think that changed the playing field in a way where you see a lot more what I would call transactional relationships as opposed to one based on trust,” Cornyn said, describing the deteriorating relationship between Senate Republicans and Trump. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Trump hurts Senate Republicans’ chances of keeping their majority every time he ambushes them with a surprise announcement or keeps them in the dark about a key development. “When we’re five months out from a major election [when] we historically have headwinds, you’ve got to be pitch-perfect and you got to execute with precision. We can’t surprise the president and the administration cannot surprise us. Every time we do that between now and November, we’re diminishing our chances of holding our majorities,” Tillis said. He cited the extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the annual defense authorization bill as must-pass bills that are now in limbo. Republican senators are growing more and more frustrated over Trump’s unrelenting calls to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, which would require people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and to show photo ID when voting, despite the fact that it has already failed five times on the floor. Trump surprised Republicans again when he posted on social media Wednesday morning that he would not sign an extension of FISA’s enhanced surveillance authorities unless the SAVE America Act is attached to it — something that is a complete nonstarter with Republicans. Cornyn on Friday circulated a quote from The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel, who criticized Trump for making unrealistic demands related to FISA that could risk national security and warned that failing to work constructively with GOP lawmakers is “accelerating his lame-duck status.” “Here’s where things go off the rails: When the president fails to acknowledge some hills simply can’t be held and charges up anyway. That’s what happened in the fight over Bill Pulte, wiretapping and the SAVE America Act. His no-win standoff with his Senate GOP risks more than national security. It’s accelerating his lame-duck status,” Cornyn posted on the social platform X.

Sens. Warren, Kelly press Trump administration on effects of tariffs on manufacturing -- Despite President Donald Trump’s promises of a manufacturing boom in his second administration, two Democratic senators are arguing in a letter to the administration — and shared first with CNBC — that the president’s policies have created more hardship for U.S. workers. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., wrote on Monday to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, questioning Trump’s trade policy and asking all three to explain the country’s growing trade deficit on manufactured goods. “Blue-collar jobs are disappearing, a trend that economists blame at least in part on the president’s historic and volatile tariff policy,” the lawmakers wrote. “The Trump Administration’s trade agenda has favored the interests of wealthy corporations and Trump allies, leaving manufacturing workers behind.”Spokespeople for Greer, Bessent and Lutnick did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Kelly and Warren have both been stridently opposed to Trump’s tariffs, arguing, along with most congressional Democrats, that they amount to a tax on U.S. consumers. Those tariffs, which were meant to boost U.S. manufacturing, have also led to manufacturing job reductions since Trump took office in 2025 and rejiggered the country’s trade policy, according to a February analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by Democrats on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. That panel, on which Kelly sits, found that the U.S. economy lost 108,000 manufacturing jobs in the first year of Trump’s second term.Total construction spending on manufacturing is also down since a peak in summer 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. And, Warren and Kelly wrote, Trump’s tariffs have not prevented the offshoring of jobs. They cited John Paulson, a Trump ally who is shutting his Ohio brass instrument manufacturing plant and moving operations to China, and Whirlpool, which has cut nearly 500 jobs since Trump’s tariffs took effect and is expanding its footprint in Mexico.Meanwhile, as the U.S.’s overall trade deficit with the world narrowed in 2025, the trade deficit in physical goods hit a record high, according to data released by the Census Bureau in February.“President Trump’s disastrous trade and economic policies have hurt American manufacturing, breaking the President’s promises to workers and the public,” Warren and Kelly wrote.The Supreme Court in February struck down a majority of Trump’s tariffs — which he imposed citing a 1977 federal law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — though the president responded by issuing a new set of import taxes using a different statutory authority. And he’s continued to threaten and sporadically impose tariffs where he perceives trade imbalances.In their letter, Warren and Kelly asked Greer, Bessent and Lutnick for an explanation as to why the deficit on manufactured goods has increased under Trump and how they plan to reverse the damage they say tariffs have done to the industry.“After campaigning on promises to lower costs for American families ‘on day one,’ President Trump’s disastrous economic policies, including sweeping IEEPA tariffs, have driven up prices for American families and small businesses,” they wrote.

Congress looks to pass housing bill with disaster, permitting language - The Senate plans to approve bipartisan housing legislation Monday evening with the House poised to take it up soon after following a deal between both parties and chambers. The House and Senate have both passed versions of the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” but it took lawmakers and the White House until last week to settle on a final compromise. Whether and for how long to extend the life of a critical but controversial federal disaster recovery program has been a sticking point between the chambers. “I look forward to getting this bill through Congress in short order, sending it to the president’s desk and delivering another major win for the American people,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Thursday.

Senate overwhelmingly passes sweeping bipartisan housing affordability bill The Senate on Monday overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill aimed at lowering housing costs, sending the legislation to the House. The rare show of near-unanimous support comes as lawmakers hustle to score wins on affordability that they can trumpet back home during a midterm campaign cycle that has focused heavily on rising costs. The bill, which the Senate approved on an 85-5 vote, is expected to pass the House this week and head to President Trump, who is expected to sign it. Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have been driving the package in the Senate, along with their House counterparts, Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). Scott, speaking on the floor to tout the bill, said young people today feel similarly to how he felt in his youth. “They’re delaying marriage, they’re delaying having kids, they’re delaying putting down roots. Not because they lack ambition but because housing prices are too darn high and housing supply too low,” he said. He and Warren also lauded the bipartisan process that led to the bill’s passage. “Today’s vote proves that it is possible to find bipartisan, common ground on legislation that actually helps the American people. And, importantly, it proves that bipartisan legislation doesn’t have to be the weakest, most milquetoast agreement that doesn’t offend anyone or do too much to help anyone either,” Warren said on the floor before the vote. The housing bill, titled the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, contains over 45 different provisions, rolled together from different lawmakers’ bills in both chambers. That includes measures that would waive environmental review requirements for some housing construction projects, encourage renovating aging homes and incentivize communities to build more housing. One piece, which would effectively bar private equity from buying up single-family homes, was hotly debated between Republicans in the House and Senate for months. Senate Republicans had attempted to include an all-out ban on companies buying single-family homes, in line with an executive order Trump issued in January. Republicans in the House fought to soften that language. The final bill landed on a middle ground, restricting companies who already own more than 350 single-family homes from purchasing more. The housing bill also contains a compromise between the chambers on a program that provides federal grants to communities for disaster recovery. Senate leaders sought to extend it indefinitely, while those in the House hoped to let it lapse. The final version passed by the Senate on Monday contains a three-year authorization for the program. Politically, the housing package is significant given how few pieces of legislation get such widespread support from both parties. The last non-spending bill, besides previous versions of the housing package, to pass the Senate with a similar margin in a recorded vote was the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act in early 2025. Another significantly bipartisan bill, the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the chamber by unanimous consent that fall.

Trump may sign housing bill with permitting, disaster language this week -   The Senate passed a bipartisan housing affordability package Monday that would ease permitting requirements for home construction and reauthorize a disaster recovery program.The “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” H.R. 6644, is sponsored by top Republicans and Democrats on Congress’ financial issues and housing committees. It passed 85-5.The bill, a compromise measure with buy-in from the Trump administration, now heads back to the House, where it is expected to pass easily as soon as Tuesday. The president may sign it this week. “The bill we’re passing today sends a clear message to every American struggling to find a place they can afford,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), ranking member on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. “Elected leaders understand the problem and are actually doing something to try to solve it.”

GOP Civil War Erupts On Two Fronts: Luna Freezes The House Floor, Trump Gets "Brother'd" By Cassidy In Senate Over SAVE Act  -The Republican Party's long-simmering tensions over election integrity exploded into open warfare on Wednesday, with chaos breaking out simultaneously in the House and Senate - and President Trump caught in the middle of both. It started, as these things often do, with a procedural knife fight. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and a band of House conservatives declared they would refuse to support any rule votes this week unless Senate Republicans finally moved the SAVE America Act - the proof-of-citizenship and voter ID bill that has passed the House multiple times but remains stuck in the upper chamber. Without a rule, the House can't conduct normal business. Leadership blinked. The scheduled rule vote was pulled. The floor froze. Limited to suspension votes and with tomorrow already off the table, GOP leaders were left scrambling: send everyone home? Let a rule fail on the floor? Cut a deal? Try again next week? The options were all bad. And of course, Trump then lit a match... Hours before a planned signing ceremony for the popular bipartisan housing bill (passed 358-32 in the House and 85-5 in the Senate), the president abruptly canceled it on Truth Social, declaring he would not sign the measure "until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency." The housing bill - a rare bipartisan win on affordability - was suddenly held hostage to a voting bill Democrats have no intention of supporting and that Senate Republicans still can't get to 60 votes. While the House was melting down, Trump headed to Capitol Hill for a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans. It did not go smoothly. According to multiple senators in the room who spoke to Punchbowl's Andrew Desiderio, Trump arrived in a sour mood and used much of the session to vent. He hammered the SAVE Act, the filibuster, and his decision to kill the housing signing. Nobody pushed back. Then came the moment that will live in infamy. Lame-duck Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) - whom Trump had effectively primaried earlier this cycle - came in "guns blazing." At one point he stopped using "Mr. President" altogether and simply called Trump "brother." The temperature in the room reportedly dropped. Trump, already irritated over Iran war powers votes, was further agitated. One senator later described the entire session to Desiderio as "more of a venting session for the president." Cassidy, freed from re-election concerns, was apparently done pretending otherwise. At the center of the storm sits the SAVE America Act - the bill requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and photo ID at the polls. Supporters call it basic election security. Opponents call it a solution in search of a problem that will disenfranchise legitimate voters. The House has passed it. The Senate has not. And with the filibuster still in place, it's not clear how it gets to 60 without major concessions or rule changes - neither of which Senate leadership appears eager to deliver. House conservatives have decided they're done waiting politely. Luna and her allies are using the only leverage they have: the ability to make the House floor a dysfunctional mess.

GOP chaos thwarts spending bills, housing package - President Donald Trump and a group of congressional conservatives launched the House into a state of chaos Wednesday, scuttling a procedural vote on two spending bills with energy and climate provisions, indefinitely delaying the signing of a bipartisan housing package, and raising new questions about Republicans’ plans for a third party-line reconciliation bill this Congress. The collapse of Republicans’ legislative agenda for the week stemmed from a revolt among Trump and some far-right lawmakers who are incensed that the GOP’s marquee election security bill, the SAVE America Act, is going nowhere in the Senate. The members leveraged their numbers to handicap the narrow Republican majority and effectively shut down leaders’ plans to advance priority bills. The rebellion has postponed action on the House’s fiscal 2027 Energy-Water and State-Foreign Operations measures, frustrating rank-and-file members eager to legislate in the little floor time left before November’s midterm elections. “It’s not acceptable to stop the whole business of the House because you got a temper tantrum and you used the rule for leverage,” said House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.), referring to the resolution needed to advance the spending bills.

Housing bill expected to become law — sooner or later - President Donald Trump's decision to cancel a signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill earlier this week has delayed the enactment of the bill, but is unlikely to kill it entirely, observers say.

• Key insight: President Trump's decision to cancel a signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill earlier this week has likely delayed the bill's enactment rather than stopped it entirely.
• What's at stake: The housing bill is widely seen as an effort by congressional Republicans to show voters tangible progress on affordability, which is shaping up to be the critical issue in this year's midterm elections.
• Forward look: The Speaker of the House will reportedly send the bill to Trump on Monday, but it remains unclear whether the president intends to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.

House panel sets vote on data center, grid bills -  The House Energy and Commerce Committee will take initial steps this week to advance legislation that would make sure ratepayers don’t foot the bill for data center expansion along with measures to address the need to transmit more power across the country to meet rising demand.The Energy Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), will vote on a suite of bills including the bipartisan “Ratepayer Protection Act” on Wednesday as part of an electricity policy focused markup, the details of which were shared first with POLITICO.That headlining bill would codify the principle behind President Donald Trump’s “Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” where Big Tech companies committed to covering their own data center energy costs.Together, the action marks the first time Republican leaders have rallied around concrete proposals to address electricity rate hikes tied to surging data center demand.“This markup will give us the opportunity to advance bipartisan legislation to modernize our grid and lower costs for hardworking American families,” Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said in a statement.“America must win the race for AI dominance with China, and these bills provide commonsense solutions to ensure we have accurate data on electricity demand, support for cost-effective technologies to improve and expand our grid, and protect ratepayers from higher electricity prices that could potentially result from greater electricity demand for AI infrastructure.”Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), ranking member of the Energy Subcommittee who co-sponsored the ratepayer protection bill, said the movement by Republicans is reflective of “populist anger” they are hearing from constituents.“It’s been a wake-up call for them,” Castor told POLITICO. “The public is up in arms. It doesn’t matter how people are registered at home, Republican, Democrat, Independent, they are very skeptical, and they’re very wary of paying any more for electricity.”Other bills to be included in the markup include:

• The “Protecting Families from AI Data Center Energy Costs Act,” H.R. 6529, from Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), which would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hold a conference with major stakeholders on how to protect residents from increased costs.
• The “Load Forecasting Enhancement Act,” H.R. 9332, from Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), which would require FERC to study electricity demand forecasting.
• The “Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act,” H.R. 9339, from Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), which would direct federal authorities to study using artificial intelligence and high-performance computing to modernize the power grid.
• The “Advanced Transmission Technology to Reduce Rates Act,” H.R. 9335, from Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Texas), which would direct the Department of Energy to establish a publicly available clearinghouse and provide technical assistance to promote the use of advanced grid technologies.
• The “High-Capacity Grid Act,” H.R. 6633, from Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-N.D.), which would direct FERC to establish a best-available transmission conductor standard for new interstate transmission lines and rebuilds. 

The markup comes after FERC issued highly anticipated orders Thursday requiring power grid operators to show they can keep utilities and artificial intelligence companies from shifting data center costs to ratepayers. And it comes as Senate leaders are negotiating grid upgrades as part of comprehensive permitting reform negotiations.House Republicans continue to resist Democratic demands to give the federal government more power to approve, plan and coordinate transmission lines, and the bills in the markup are much more modest.Still, Senate negotiators said they welcomed Guthrie’s involvement on the issue, which included his decision to hold a long-awaited hearing last month on ways to boost transmission.

Lawmakers, companies tread carefully on data center energy bill - -Democrats and major tech companies are offering mixed reviews — or refraining from weighing in — on a bipartisan bill gaining momentum to shield utility customers from the energy costs associated with data centers.House Energy and Commerce Republicans are pitching the “Ratepayer Protection Act” as a response to mounting public backlash over data center development while preserving the United States’ competitive edge in artificial intelligence. The legislation — which is scheduled for a subcommittee vote this week — has attracted rare bipartisan support, including from senior committee Democrat Kathy Castor of Florida, who is co-sponsoring the measure with Colorado Republican Gabe Evans. But despite an endorsement last week from Microsoft, the Data Center Coalition — a trade group that includes Microsoft as well as other tech majors like Google and Meta — was more cautious.“The Data Center Coalition is reviewing the details of the Ratepayer Protection Act with our members and looks forward to engaging with policymakers on this important topic,” Cy McNeill, senior director of the group’s federal affairs, said in a statement.The group said the industry remains committed to paying the full cost of energy and infrastructure investments while working with communities, utilities and policymakers to support the responsible development of data centers. The bill would require states to consider a federal standard ensuring large power customers cover 100 percent of the costs of new generation and transmission upgrades. It’s up for markup along with a handful of proposals to address grid concerns.Microsoft fully endorsed the bill last week, calling it an “important step” toward ensuring families are protected from rising electricity costs as power demand grows. Josh Weissman, director of data center delivery at Amazon Web Services, said the company supports “the idea” behind the legislation.“We strongly support the idea, which is why Amazon is committed to paying the costs of the generation and grid upgrades needed to serve our facilities,” Weissman said.“Policies that reinforce those principles, alongside permitting reforms that accelerate the energy infrastructure America needs, can help keep electricity affordable, reliable and available as demand continues to grow.”  Other companies like Meta, Oracle and xAI did not respond to requests for comment. Some Democrats and environmental advocates seeking stricter oversight of data center development were more critical, potentially making it harder for the “Ratepayer Protection Act” — or something like it — to become law any time soon. “While the Ratepayer Protection Act is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t address many of our concerns and leaves significant gaps in ensuring American consumers aren’t ultimately left paying data center costs,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). Van Hollen is pushing separate legislation, dubbed the “Power for the People Act,” that would establish more prescriptive federal requirements governing data center cost allocation. It would also address concerns about the environmental, land-use and noise impacts associated with some data center projects. The “Ratepayer Protection Act,” backed by Energy and Commerce Committee leaders, would effectively codify President Donald Trump’s ratepayer protection pledge with major technology companies. The legislation would require state regulators to consider the proposed federal standard but could ultimately reject it. States with comparable policies already in place could also qualify for exemptions. Rep. Paul Tonko of New York, a senior Energy and Commerce Democrat who is leading a companion to Van Hollen’s legislation, likewise suggested Congress should go beyond the “Ratepayer Protection Act.”“I look forward to the opportunity to examine this updated proposal,” Tonko said. “But our constituents are facing a serious energy affordability crisis, and it would be a mistake for Congress not to do more to meet this moment.” Food & Water Watch, which has worked closely with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on their federal data center moratorium legislation, also said the bipartisan bill fell short.“Congress needs to put forward a comprehensive framework to protect communities from data centers,” said Jim Walsh, the organization’s policy director. “This is not it, and the first step to putting together that comprehensive framework is stopping other projects from going forward.”It remains unclear how many Democrats will ultimately support the bill during Wednesday’s subcommittee markup. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) said she plans to support the legislation but argued it should be only a starting point. “I support the bill and see it as a good first step, representing another bipartisan move in a Congress that has been plagued by inaction and gridlock,” McClellan said. “I would like to see policy that goes further to require data centers to pay for the infrastructure and transmission upgrades necessary to support them.”Other smaller data center legislation is also moving through Congress. House appropriators added an amendment to their fiscal 2027 Energy-Water bill to have the Department of Energy address data center energy use.The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will vote Thursday on H.R. 9372, the “Data Infrastructure Energy Measurement and Standards Act,” to improve how data center energy and water use are analyzed.

Tech companies would have to pay AI data center energy costs under bill moving in Congress  - The House of Representatives on Wednesday will begin consideration of a bill to force tech companies to pay for artificial intelligence’s strain on the power grid, as voters across the country express dissatisfaction with data centers driving up utility costs. The House Energy and Commerce Committee energy subpanel is scheduled to debate and vote on the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill that would require state utilities to consider creating a “large load standard” that would require data center builders to pay for upgrades to the grid needed to power them. The bill would codify parts of the White House’s “Ratepayer Protection Pledge.”The bill represents one of the first attempts by Congress to force tech companies to pony up for data centers’ massive electricity demand. It comes months away from the midterm elections, where voters will decide whether to rip total control of Washington away from President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and SpaceX’s xAI are among the largest builders and operators of data centers.“Families and small businesses across the country shouldn’t be left to foot the bill for this new development, though the benefits of these innovations will be felt by all of society,” said House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky. “The Ratepayer Protection Act is a bipartisan effort, which would ensure that the costs of grid upgrades are appropriately paid for according to demand.”The bill is sponsored by Reps. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., and Kathy Castor, D-Fla.Evans said that “Colorado families, farmers, and small businesses should not be forced to cover the costs of new power generation driven by these developments.”Castor said the bill “safeguards consumers by ensuring these data centers pay for the energy and grid upgrades they need so hardworking families and local businesses are not stuck paying more.” The legislation would aim to ensure tech companies building data centers cover the cost of new power generation, transmission lines and other grid-related upgrades to serve large-load customers. Voters have recently expressed displeasure with data centers, especially when they drive up the cost of electricity.A number of large tech companies signed Trump’s pledge, signaling they do not oppose paying for new electricity production to power AI.Even so, the bill still has a long way to go before becoming law.It would need to be approved by the full Energy and Commerce Committee, the House and the Senate before reaching Trump’s desk.

Pallone calls for national data center moratorium - House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone of New Jersey on Wednesday called for Congress to impose a nationwide data center moratorium.Pallone is now the most powerful congressional Democrat with jurisdiction over energy and environment issues to support such a policy in the face of public backlash.Pallone’s statement came at the beginning of an Energy Subcommittee session to vote on more modest legislation that seeks to make sure ratepayers don’t foot the bill for data center expansion.“Americans across the county have expressed concern and opposition to the rampant construction of AI data centers, and Congress should take this political groundswell seriously with a data center moratorium,” Pallone said.Pallone’s stance complicated the path for the Ratepayer Protection Act — or something like it — to become law anytime soon and positioned Pallone in alignment with progressives and environmental advocates seeking stricter oversight of data center development.That bill — which passed by voice vote soon after Pallone spoke — would codify the principle behind President Donald Trump’s ratepayer protection pledge, where Big Tech companies committed to covering their own data center energy costs.Pallone called that bill and others being considered by the subcommittee a “useful first step” but warned they are “not nearly enough.” “We need action, not toothless promises from Big Tech,” he added.Senior Energy and Commerce Democrat Kathy Castor of Florida is co-sponsoring the Ratepayer Protection Act. Google and Microsoft came out in favor.The Data Center Coalition has said the facilities have helped increase demand for electricity. The group’s leaders, however, say the reason for higher electricity prices is complicated, and data centers are not to blame. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have been the most prominent lawmakers in calling for a moratorium. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.), the main sponsor of the Ratepayer Protection Act, said, “Two things can be true: the AI phenomenon — that toothpaste is not going back in the tube. The only question is, do we lead on it or do we cede ground to the Chinese? The second thing is also true: These costs should not be borne by ratepayers, and people want to know how we’re going to pay for this.”

Data center energy bill hits speed bump - A call from a powerful House Democrat to impose a nationwide moratorium on new data center development exposed new divisions in Congress over how aggressively to regulate the fast-moving industry — and whether to act at all. The surprise call from Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) overshadowed a vote Wednesday on bipartisan legislation to make sure ratepayers don’t foot the bill for energy infrastructure associated with data center expansion. And even if the Ratepayer Protection Act can get through the House, top Senate lawmakers are divided on how and whether to move forward with federal data center legislation.  Pallone, who would take over Energy and Commerce next year should Democrats win back the House, called that bill and others being considered by the Energy Subcommittee “not nearly enough.”  Citing the significant energy needs of data centers and other environmental impacts, Pallone said, “we need action, not toothless promises from Big Tech.” Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida — the top Democrat on the subcommittee and Ratepayer Protection Act co-sponsor with Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) — said she was not supportive of the moratorium but understood Pallone’s position.“I was talking to the ranking member, and he explained that back home he’s got local government sending him resolutions all the time opposing [artificial intelligence] data centers,” Castor said. “But I don’t think you can say, ‘We’re going to just stop everything now.’”Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) through a spokesperson declared the moratorium idea “not the answer” and argued it risks “slowing innovation” in AI to compete with China, even as Republicans seek to “work through legitimate concerns from constituents.”The bill would require states to consider a federal standard that would ensuring large power customers cover 100 percent of the costs of new generation and transmission upgrades. But state regulators could ultimately reject that federal standard.Google and Microsoft have come out in favor of the legislation. The Data Center Coalition — which represents a host of tech giants and argues data centers are not to blame for higher electricity prices — said it “supports the approach taken by the Ratepayer Protection Act.”

Dem governors lobby against fossil fuel liability shield - Democratic governors and environmental groups are urging Congress to reject legislation to shield oil and gas majors from climate lawsuits, saying it protects an industry at the expense of taxpayers.Ten Democratic governors on Monday sent a letter to House and Senate leadership, arguing congressional proposals to grant the industry immunity from suits would restrict the authority of states and local governments to enforce their own laws.“Congress should be helping to make life more affordable for American families, not helping to protect companies that are profiting off of sky-high gas prices while forcing the costs of their pollution onto taxpayers,” the letter reads.The missive comes as Republicans in both chambers push to prevent oil and gas companies from being held liable for the burning of their products. Lawmakers introduced federal legislation in April, while several GOP-led states have passed their own restrictions.

Lawmakers mull mine cleanup, mineral recovery bills -- House lawmakers will consider more than a half-dozen legislative proposals this week to boost EPA’s role in recovering critical minerals from various waste streams and cleaning up abandoned mines.The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment will hold a hearing Wednesday to focus on seven bills, including language that would pave the way for lithium-ion batteries to be recycled and minerals like vanadium to be extracted from petroleum refining. Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and subcommittee Chair Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) said in a statement that EPA brings “real technical expertise” to the challenge of extracting minerals from waste. They said the hearing will “help provide a framework to strengthen our critical mineral infrastructure, invest in materials recycling, and support the cleanup of contaminated sites, while also recovering critical minerals from previously untapped domestic sources.”

Dems want more changes to House pipeline bill - A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will vote Wednesday on legislation to reauthorize the nation’s pipeline safety regulator, but Democrats say the new bill is not yet a finished product.The Subcommittee on Energy will consider H.R. 9338, the “Pipeline Safety Authorization Act of 2026,” sponsored by Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas), which would extend safety programs at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration through fiscal 2031.Democrats have been pushing for additional safety provisions since a draft version of the bill was released earlier this year. A Democratic Energy and Commerce aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said negotiations are ongoing to find a bipartisan compromise.“We’ve made good bipartisan progress on the pipeline safety bill, but negotiations are still ongoing,” the aide said.

Ocasio-Cortez leads push to strip pipeline bill of protest provision - - A contentious provision targeting protesters is emerging as a major obstacle to Congress’ long-awaited effort to reauthorize the federal pipeline safety agency. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is leading a Democratic push to remove or modify language from Texas Republican Rep. Randy Weber’s Pipeline Safety Authorization Act of 2026, H.R. 9338, which would broaden the Justice Department’s authority to prosecute people accused of interfering with pipeline operations. “Many of these projects are highly controversial in the local communities in which they’re supposed to be sited,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We want to make sure that we are protecting people’s First Amendment ability while, of course, respecting existing federal law.” The debate unfolded during an Energy and Commerce subcommittee markup Wednesday, where lawmakers advanced Weber’s bill to reauthorize programs at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration through fiscal 2031. Congress has not enacted a full PHMSA reauthorization since 2020.

Trump Admin Backs Big Reactors With $18BN Supply Chain Loans For Ten AP1000s -- The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) issued a conditional commitment for $17.5 billion in American nuclear supply chain loans. The money targets long-lead time components to accelerate deployment of 10 large-scale Westinghouse AP1000 reactors across up to five projects. Each reactor is rated at ~1.1 GWe. The combined output would power nearly 10 million American households. Westinghouse will partner up to develop five new reactor plants, with each project involving two AP1000 units. The financing will require $1 billion in upfront equity, $500 million from Westinghouse and $500 million from the partner, before DOE loan funds flow. Westinghouse has already signed letters of intent with seven potential partners who have identified sites. The loans finance bulk purchases of long-lead items such as reactor vessels, steam generators, and other complex components that can take years to manufacture at fixed prices. The goal is to cut deployment timelines by up to three years through supply chain efficiencies and economies of scale.To be clear, this announcement has nothing to do with the SMR or microreactor sector. There is no funding here for NuScale, Rolls-Royce, Oklo, Terrestrial, or any of the smaller advanced designs still navigating licensing and demonstration hurdles. This is explicitly about restarting the heavy forging, fabrication, and component supply chain for the only large advanced reactor design with operating experience in the United States today. Think nuclear supply chain companies including BWXT, MIR, CW, and FLS.This is the financing mechanism behind the broader government push we have covered for months. As we reported when the national emergency framing surfaced around government backing for 10 large new reactors, and again when Cameco surged on the $80 billion Department of Commerce deal with Brookfield, the focus has stayed on proven large reactor technology.Energy Secretary Chris Wright framed it as essential to reviving the domestic industrial base needed for large commercial reactors under President Trump's Executive Order on Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base. The target remains 10 new large reactors under construction by 2030.Bulk equipment orders should drive down per-unit costs and give suppliers the volume signals they have lacked for decades. Conditional status still requires technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions to be met before definitive documents and funding.

NASA Eyes Moon Base Powered by Solar Panels and Nuclear Reactors -- With major plans for space travel, several governments are proposing lunar energy production, including solar and nuclear projects. In May, NASA announced plans to send robotic landers, hopping drones, and vehicles to the moon as part of the United States government’s plans to develop a lunar base. NASA is expected to develop the machines alongside Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, Blue Origin, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The United States aims to land its astronauts back on the moon before President Donald Trump leaves office in 2029, 60 years after it first achieved the feat. In March, NASA announced a $20 billion programme to develop a permanent base powered by nuclear and solar energy at the Moon’s south pole by 2032. The creation of a base would allow the United States to conduct scientific experiments, potentially mine valuable resources, and assess the feasibility of a journey to Mars. NASA recently experienced success when it sent Artemis II around the Moon in April. Before sending humans to the Moon, NASA aims to send robotic landers and hopping drones to the surface to assess its terrain. It also plans to transport delivery vehicles capable of driving astronauts across the lunar surface and carrying communications and scientific instruments. NASA hopes to use Blue Origin's lunar lander Endurance to conduct precise landings, as well as Astrobotic’s Gryphon-1 lander. The agency expects to carry out 25 launches and transport around 4 metric tonnes of cargo to the Moon by 2029. It then aims to develop nuclear and solar power facilities on the Moon, including fission reactors. More ambitiously, NASA wants to establish conditions for humans to live on the moon in “semi-permanent” housing by as early as 2032. It believes that the Moon’s South Pole could offer suitable conditions, as frozen water could be used for drinking water or to produce oxygen. However, many have criticised NASA, suggesting that its timeline is likely unrealistic. Simeon Barber, a Lunar Scientist at the United Kingdom’s Open University, said, “It would not surprise me at all if China gets there first.” Barber cited NASA’s delays in acquiring a spacecraft capable of landing humans on the Moon. “The limiting step is getting the astronauts down onto the surface… It sounds to me like [NASA] feels they’re in a position where they have to start saying they’ve got plans. So, I think there’s a lot of political drive behind this,” added Barber. The U.S. space agency is competing with China to become the first country to return humans to Earth’s surface, with China having set a 2030 deadline. China has already sent astronauts to its space station nearly a dozen times, and it is getting more ambitious in its plans to achieve a human lunar landing. In May, China launched its Shenzhou-23 spacecraft to transport a crew of three astronauts to its Tiangong space station. One of the astronauts is set to stay in the space station for a year, a record length for the country. This will help researchers to assess long-duration human physiology in space, including the physiological effects of radiation exposure, bone density loss, and psychological stress. Many speculate that the Chinese government aims to colonise and mine lunar territory and resources, although Beijing has rejected these claims. To achieve its 2030 goals, China must develop suitable new hardware and software for a lunar mission, as its current technology was developed for low-Earth orbit. China has so far sent only robots to the moon. However, its regular space missions are helping to improve the country’s space capabilities. In June 2024, China became the first country to recover lunar samples from the far side of the moon, using robots. If China achieves a human landing by 2030, it aims to develop a permanent base on the moon with Russia by 2035. Compared with the NASA timeline, China’s deadline is considered more conservative. Beijing is focusing closely on safety tests of all aspects of its lunar technology. China is also conducting the world’s first human artificial embryo experiment in space, having transported human stem cell samples to the Shenzhou-22 crew to assess the long-term residence, survival, and reproduction of humans in space. “The human artificial embryo is made of human stem cells as raw materials,” explained Yu Leqian, the project leader for the artificial embryo space science experiment. “This is not a real human embryo and does not have the ability to develop into an individual. However, it can serve as a model for studying early human development,” added Yu. The space race is back on, with the United States and China competing to achieve the first 21st-century human moon landing. If successful, each country plans to establish a base, generate power, and eventually create conditions for humans to live semi-permanently on the Moon.

House puts disaster recovery bills on the fast track -   The House will vote this week on a pair of bipartisan bills aimed at improving disaster response programs for small businesses, farmers and foresters.The chamber is set to take up H.R. 4238, the “Disaster Loan Accountability and Reform Act,” and S. 629, the “Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act.”The latter, from Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), would amend a pair of Agriculture Department programs — the Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program — to speed payments to agricultural producers and forest land owners following natural disasters.“We need to streamline the recovery process, so we can restore agricultural land more quickly following emergencies like these tragic wildfires,” Fischer said in March, when the bill passed the Senate via unanimous consent.

Construction of US-backed Ebola quarantine unit in Kenya is stopped -- After weeks of legal turmoil and deadly protests, the construction of a US-funded Ebola quarantine building near Laikipia Air Base in Kenya has officially been stopped by Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.Duale announced the cessation of the project after being found in contempt of court for allowing construction to continue despite a court order.The 50-bed facility was announced last month as a treatment site for Americans exposed to the deadly virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or Uganda. Kenyans protested the construction site, saying the building would unnecessarily put the Kenyan population at risk, and add excessive strain to the country’s health system.According to the most recent updates from the DRC, Ebola cases have now reached 1,048, including 267 deaths, with no signs of slowing down. The current outbreak is being caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, a strain that has no targeted vaccines or therapeutics. New data from UNICEF shows an estimated 2.95 million children and adolescents aged 18 and under are at risk for Ebola infection in DRC. Children represent 54 percent of the population in the 31 outbreak-affected health zones. Children also face the very real threat of loss of parents and caregivers during the outbreak.“Our teams in Ituri have met children who have lost their mothers, and in some cases both parents, to Ebola,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell in a statement. “Children are trying to make sense of the threat while surrounded by rumors and online misinformation.”As of June 19, UNICEF estimates children represent 15% of confirmed Ebola cases and over 25% of confirmed deaths in eastern DRC. More than half of children in these provinces under 5 years are malnourished, and immunization rates are low with more than 20% never having received a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine.  “Children are especially vulnerable because they depend on caregivers and cannot distance themselves from a sick parent or sibling in the same way that an adult can. To better protect children, we need sustained access, and the resources needed to reach every affected community," said Russell.A new study in Eurosurveillance shows that since the first documented Ebola outbreak in 1976, there has been a low risk of exportation of the virus outside of affected countries.In the past 50 years, researchers found documentation of only 28 confirmed Ebola disease cases outside Africa, with 25 primary imported cases and three secondary cases infected by another patient in the United States or Europe. All but one of the 28 cases outside the affected country occurred during the 2014-12016 West African outbreak, the largest Ebola outbreak to date. One case has been exported during the current outbreak, an American doctor who was treated in Germany.The authors calculated the crude overall risk since the year 2000 to be 0.17 Ebola disease cases outside Africa per 1,000 reported cases in Africa.

Sanders releases trove of internal HHS emails showing RFK Jr. pressured CDC over vaccine messaging - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday released a tranche of Health and Human Services (HHS) emails that appear to show HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pressuring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over its vaccine messaging. Emails indicate that Kennedy directed the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel to restrict access to vaccines, allowed researchers to access “confidential data” to indicate the disproven claim that vaccines cause autism and changed recommendations for the public to receive COVID-19 shots without input from the CDC. Other emails also show that Kennedy’s then-chief of staff, Matthew Buckham, emailed former CDC Director Susan Monarez in August 2025 about the need for a “political review of major decisions at CDC … to ensure that [the Immediate Office of the Secretary] and the CDC political leadership all have eyes on the decisions for approval/changes before they go into effect.” Less than a week later, Kennedy fired Monarez “for failing to rubber stamp recommendations from” the CDC’s vaccine panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Sanders said in a statement. Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), blasted Monarez’s firing as “outrageous,” accusing Kennedy of firing her “for her commitment to public health and vaccines.” Sanders requested a bipartisan investigation into her firing and called on Kennedy to resign.  The cache of emails also indicates that Kennedy directed the cancellation of flu vaccine campaigns. A CDC staffer sent an email to her supervisor stating that Andrew Nixon, HHS director of communications, notified her to “pull out of circulation all campaign ad buys related to flu or anything encouraging shots or vaccinations.” “He said this request came directly from the Secretary,” the staffer wrote. “I noted that these have been paid for and are in flight and he acknowledged and asked that we work right away on things that are on social/online, magazines, and then will eventually need to do items that may be on bus stops or benches (if it includes those type of things).” A separate email issued by Nixon and released by Sanders insisted that the request “was a direct ask from Secretary Kennedy.” Sanders said that Dr. Debra Houry, former CDC chief medical officer, gave the emails to the committee. The Hill has reached out to HHS for comment. Sanders has called for HELP committee chair Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to schedule a hearing against Kennedy’s vaccine claims, as the secretary had a long history as an anti-vaccine activist before President Trump nominated him for HHS. The Vermont senator accused Kennedy of running a “dangerous misinformation campaign” as the head of HHS. “The reality is that since Secretary Kennedy has been in office, he has continued his longstanding crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that vaccines cause autism — all of which have been repeatedly rejected by scientists,” Sanders wrote in his letter to Cassidy in April.

New ACIP charter could allow RFK Jr. to further restrict vaccine access, critics say | -Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing his battle to remake federal vaccine policy, this time by rewriting the charter of a federal committee that wields enormous influence over childhood immunizations to shift its focus beyond vaccines. During his confirmation hearing, Kennedy promised senators that he would not alter the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which makes vaccine recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including which vaccines should be available for free to needy children and which ones should be covered without a copay by private insurance.Within a few months of taking office, however, Kennedy, a long-time anti-vaccine activist, fired all 17 members of the committee, replacing them with people who have cast doubt on vaccine safety. Kennedy, who has made millions of dollars working with attorneys suing a vaccine manufacturer, took a hatchet to the childhood immunization schedule in January, slashing the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11. US District Court Judge Brian Murphy paused Kennedy’s assault on vaccine access in March, when he said the Trump administration violated federal law by making vaccine policy changes that were “arbitrary and capricious.” In his ruling, Murphy also found that 13 of Kennedy’s hand-chosen appointees to ACIP “appear distinctly unqualified,” which led the CDC to cancel all of the group’s scheduled meetings. The judge’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other medical groups.Kennedy “stacked ACIP with unqualified people, and it just became this ideological mess,” said Peter Hotez, MD, codirector of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.The revamped ACIP “doesn’t seem to be able to identify and evaluate evidence in any type of organized fashion,” said Kevin Ault, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker School of Medicine. Instead of considering the dozens of studies on the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccines, the ACIP last year focused on a single study that confirmed Kennedy’s view that the shot isn’t safe, said Ault, a former ACIP member. The committee then voted to replace the universal hepatitis B vaccine birth-dose recommendation with shared clinical decision-making for infants born to mothers who test negative for the virus.

Senate GOP Farm Bill Tees Up Fight Over Protections in Agriculture, the Environment, and Food Security -Today, Senator Boozman (R-AK), chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Committee, released the Senate GOP Farm Bill, the Agricultural Act of 2026, with provisions that undermine public and environmental health, according to farm, farmworker, and environmental advocates. The bill, drafted without input from Senate Democrats, redefines underlying standards and practices to increase dependency on petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture. Rather than investing in organic agriculture and supporting farmers’ transition to nontoxic practices—in response to health, biodiversity, and climate crises, as well as the high cost of synthetic fertilizers—the bill reduces oversight of organic production by loosening inspection and certification requirements. The text is largely the same as the version passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in April, the Farm, Food, and National Security of 2026 (H.R. 7567). The House vote made history when 73 Republicans joined the majority of the Democratic caucus to strip out a pesticide manufacturers’ liability shield (Section 10205), federal preemption of state and local pesticide laws (Section 10206), and the weakening of bedrock environmental law and their ability to regulate pesticides (Section 10207). [A decision is expected this week or next in a case before the Supreme Court, Monsanto v. Durnell, in which Bayer/Monsanto argues that they have no responsibility under pesticide law to have warned on their product labels those who have been harmed by product use.]  The Senate GOP Farm bill will adversely affect a wide range of social and conservation issues, including the protection of family farms, food security, and environmental and public health, according to a cross-section of groups representing these interests. Overall, critics say, the Republican bill increases dependency on petrochemical fertilizers (which contribute to escalating toxic pesticide use), ignores hunger (despite a historically large $186 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/SNAP), dismisses the notion of a fair, responsible, and accessible family farm safety net, and rolls back successful conservation investments. A markup on the Senate Farm Bill is expected before the Senate’s August recess. Subtitle C, Part 1, of Title X, entitled Regulatory Reform, contains the following provisions that weaken the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), undermine environmental protections, and threaten the health of farmers, farmworkers, and consumers.

• Section 10201 [Section 10201 in House bill]: Exemption of safety review. Permanently exempts dozens of hazardous chemicals used in industrial agriculture from human health and environmental safety reviews that are currently required under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. In addition, by expanding the incorporation of biological materials in plants as pesticides, with Plant Incorporated Protectants (PIPs), resistance in target and nontarget organisms builds, undermining the value of organic-compatible materials in organic agriculture.
• Section 10203 [Section 10203 in House bill]: Weakens protection of endangered species. Undermines the integrity of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in an unprecedented manner by delaying protections for threatened and endangered species against dangerous pesticides by giving an internal interagency workgroup a de facto veto on any efforts to protect endangered species from pesticides. The provision will certainly delay and weaken critical conservation measures despite the “no take” prohibition under the ESA for threatened and endangered species.
• Section 10207 [Section 10204 in House bill]: Pushes the deadline for pesticide reviews and years of missing critical safety reviews. Delays the review of hundreds of pesticides for harms to human health, endangered wildlife, and endocrine disruption until 2031, leaving potentially dangerous pesticides on the market and in widespread use without any updated protective measures.
• Section 10209 [Section 10202 in House bill]: Diminishes and delays regulatory authority under pesticide law. Weakens and delays efforts to protect children, farmworkers, and public health from dangerous pesticides by giving unprecedented authority to the USDA’s Office of Pest Management Policy and pesticide manufacturers to review and potentially veto any environmental or human health safeguards determined to be necessary by EPA. Undermines the health-based standard for setting allowable pesticide residues (tolerances) in food by considering the availability of alternative chemicals.
• Section 10210 [Section 10211 in House bill]. Threatens collection of information on farming practices. Discontinues statutory funding of the previous Farm Bill for surveys, which provide baseline information to communities and farmers to inform practices and outcomes—particularly problematic during a period of severe budget cuts and agency dismantling.
• Focus on Precision Agriculture as the Alternative Food System Approach: The Senate Farm Bill—throughout the Conservation Title (Title II), including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program subtitle (Subtitle B), the Credit Title (Title V), the Rural Development Title (Title VI), the Research Title (Title VII), and in the Miscellaneous Title (Title XII)—will codify continued reliance on petrochemical fertilizers through the promotion of “precision agriculture.” With the use of drones, satellites, and artificial intelligence, precision agriculture is touted by the industry and USDA as a great environmental achievement, focused on soil biology and lower or variable application rates of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers—but ignores the dramatic damage it causes to soil biology, complex biological communities, and the economic value of healthy ecosystems and ecosystem services that naturally cycle plant nutrients.
• Closing of USDA Beltsville National Bee Laboratory and Related Research. This Farm Bill does not address the USDA reorganization plan, including the devastating implications of shutting down research facilities at Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, Maryland, including the Bee Research Laboratory (aka Bee Lab). Maryland’s Congressional delegation has pointed out that the closing of BARC is also illegal. By moving forward with the decommissioning of BARC, USDA is violating several provisions laid out in the Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture Appropriations Act, enacted into law on November 12, 2025, including a clear directive to USDA to keep BARC open.
• SNAP Cuts Remain in this Bill. The Senate GOP Farm Bill would continue to codify the initial statutory changes from last summer’s reconciliation bill H.R.1, including shifting the costs to state governments while minimizing cost-share from the federal government from 50 percent to 25 percent, expanding work requirements to 64 years of age from 54 years of age, prohibiting non-citizens from accessing the program, among other deleterious impacts that could be address in this legislation.

Senate farm bill leaves out contentious policies. Democrats are not impressed. - Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman on Tuesday painted a grim outlook for the nation’s farmers and ranchers — citing a difficult economic climate created by high inflation and low market prices — as he vowed to correct course via his chamber’s new farm bill. The draft five-year farm bill unveiled in the Senate proposes the creation or reauthorization of a number of conservation and forestry programs, while also leaving out contentious provisions on biofuels, pesticide labeling and other issues. The legislation, which is budget-neutral, contains language to streamline environmental reviews for some forest management projects to better manage wildfire risk. “Hardworking farmers and ranchers are struggling to break even, let alone profit in this current economic climate,” Boozman said on the Senate floor about his “Agricultural Act of 2026.” “High inflation, steep input cost and low market prices have put many farm families on a course towards bankruptcy, with multigenerational operations fighting for survival.” The draft bill remains a work in progress, but it sets a marker for the upper chamber’s farm and forest policy priorities ahead of an expected conference negotiation with the House later this year. The House passed its own farm bill in April. Boozman also emphasized the need for bipartisan support as the bill must receive 60 votes in the Senate. “That reality is guided in this discussion draft. My goal is to advance a bill that can earn broad bipartisan support and deliver meaningful results to rural America,” Boozman said. “No single proposal has all the answers, but this discussion draft is a strong foundation on which to build as we continue conversations to strengthen American agriculture and secure brighter future for family farmers.” The Arkansas lawmaker also alluded to the ongoing war with Iran, which has created a spike in fertilizer prices: “This draft meets the moment for many world needs,” he said. Boozman is hoping to refine the legislation and hold a markup before the scheduled August recess. Democrats slammed the bill for not including some key demands, including rolling back Republican cuts to federal food aid spending. “Republicans’ Farm Bill fails farmers, fails families, and fails the moment,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). The proposal includes House Republicans’ provision to reallocate nearly $1 billion provided for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in the GOP’s megalaw to other conservation priorities.The legislation would reauthorize a number of popular initiatives, such as the Rural Energy for America Program and more than 60 research programs. It proposes to restore certain grants for biorefineries and would direct the Department of Agriculture to develop a strategy to support production of sustainable aviation fuels.The bill would give all USDA conservation programs — including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and watershed programs — expanded authorities to address long-term drought.It matches the House bill in proposing to establish a new Forest Conservation Easement Program, and it would authorize a new State Conservation Assistance Program to help support local initiatives.Committee leaders included language from more than a dozen lands bills, including some language that would complement the bipartisan “Fix Our Forests Act,” S. 1462. The draft bill would create new or expanded categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act for forest management projects intended to reduce wildfire risk. The Forest Inventory Analysis Program would get an overhaul to improve data collection.

Supreme Court ruling blocks thousands of lawsuits against maker of Roundup weedkiller (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with the maker of the Roundup weedkiller Thursday in a ruling expected to block thousands of lawsuits alleging it failed to warn people the product could cause cancer.  The case came before the justices after a tidal wave of litigation that included some multibillion-dollar verdicts against the global agrochemical manufacturer Bayer, which acquired Roundup when it bought its original manufacturer Monsanto in 2018.The decision is a victory for the Trump administration, but one that could be tricky politically since allies in the Make America Healthy Again movement want to rein in pesticide use. The high court, in a 7-2 ruling, found that the company can't be sued in state courts because federal regulations have found a cancer link unlikely and do not require a warning label. The decision "is good for science, farmers, and industries that depend on regulatory clarity for innovation," Bayer said in a statement. "It should help significantly contain the Roundup litigation after nearly a decade of legal battles." Though Bayer said the ruling should result in the dismissal of pending lawsuits containing failure-to-warn allegations, the company said it plans to proceed with a proposed $7.25 billion class-action settlement intended to resolve many of the remaining claims. Lawyers for some residents pursuing Roundup litigation criticized the court's decision. "This Supreme Court ruling wrongly slams the courthouse door on Americans sickened by pesticides," said attorney Christopher Seeger, who is proposed as a claimants' representative in the settlement. But he said a settlement still would allow some people to receive compensation. The case before the Supreme Court was filed by Missouri resident John Durnell. He developed a cancer called non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after more than 20 years of serving as the neighborhood association's "spray guy," using Roundup on parks in his historic St. Louis community. A jury agreed that the company failed to warn him about possible cancer dangers and awarded him $1.25 million. It's one of thousands of similar cases, including some multibillion-dollar damage awards. There's still fierce debate about cancer and Roundup's key ingredient, glyphosate. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the chemical as "probably carcinogenic" in 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that it's not likely to cause cancer in humans when used as directed. The agency approved a label without a cancer warning, and Bayer argues that it's required to follow those federal standards — not the state laws that Durnell and others have sued under. The ruling still could allow other suits alleging problems with the way the product was designed, his attorney Ashley Keller has said. Bayer disputes the cancer claims but previously set aside $16 billion to settle cases, and earlier this year proposed a $7.25 billion class-action settlement. A federal judge recently ruled that the proposed settlement will be heard in a Missouri state court, where many of the lawsuits have been filed. At the same time, the company has tried to persuade states to pass laws shielding it from liability in failure-to-warn lawsuits, and three states have agreed. About 200,000 Roundup-related claims have been made against Bayer, mostly from home users. It has stopped using glyphosate in Roundup sold in the U.S. residential lawn and garden market. The company has said it might have to consider pulling glyphosate from U.S. agricultural markets if it keeps getting sued. Agricultural industry group say could have a devastating effect on the food supply. But pesticides have also created a rift between the Trump administration and members of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's MAHA movement, adding to their frustration with an executive order aimed at boosting glyphosate's production. Kennedy himself has said repeatedly that glyphosate causes cancer, even as he says he recognizes the executive order was necessary for food supply and national security reasons.

Court rules for Roundup maker in dispute over cancer warnings on pesticide labels | SCOTUSblog - The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Monsanto in a high-stakes dispute over cancer warnings on pesticide labels. In an opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh in Monsanto Company v. Durnell, the court ruled, by a vote of 7-2, that state lawsuits aimed at holding the company liable for failing to warn consumers about the potential risks of Roundup exposure are barred by the federal law governing pesticide sales. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a dissenting opinion, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch. In it, she contended that Thursday’s ruling is based on “a labeling requirement that does not exist,” and described the effects of the majority’s interpretation of the law as “both remarkable and regrettable.”The court’s ruling comes after decades of debate and litigation over the safety of glyphosate, a highly effective and popular herbicide that serves as the main active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller. Since 1974, when the Environmental Protection Agency first reviewed and registered glyphosate-based pesticides, clearing the way for their sale in the United States, the EPA has repeatedly concluded that such products do not need to carry a cancer warning. However, the EPA’s determinations have not dispelled concerns about Roundup’s cancer risks. These concerns increased in 2015, when a working group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”The IARC’s report led to tens of thousands of lawsuits against Monsanto over how Roundup products were labeled. Plaintiffs such as John Durnell, who brought the case that was before the court, contended that the company was liable for failing to warn them about the alleged link between glyphosate and cancer, while Monsanto countered that the EPA, which oversees pesticide labeling, had not required a cancer warning.Over the past decade, Monsanto has paid billions in damages and settlement agreements in these lawsuits even as it has continued to assert that state-level claims over Roundup labels are preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which authorizes the EPA to regulate the use, sale, and labeling of pesticides and which includes a uniformity requirement prohibiting states from imposing “any requirements for labeling or packaging in addition to or different from those required” by the federal government.When it asked the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of FIFRA, Monsanto emphasized that thousands of lawsuits over Roundup’s label remain pending and claimed that the future of U.S. agriculture was at stake in the case. In January, the justices agreed to weigh in.On Thursday, the court held that FIFRA expressly preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim against Monsanto, because such a claim would require the company “to add a cancer warning to Roundup’s label” that is not part of the EPA-approved label. That outcome, Kavanaugh wrote in his 22-page majority opinion, runs afoul of FIFRA’s uniformity requirement.Before registering a product for sale and distribution, Kavanaugh explained, the EPA “undertakes an extensive review of the pesticide and its proposed labeling,” and “determine[s] that the proposed label includes all warnings necessary and adequate to protect human health and the environment.” Once registered, “the manufacturer is required to use” the label approved by the EPA until it receives approval for a change or the EPA orders a change. The agency, according to Kavanaugh, “possesses a slew of tools to monitor the pesticide market and scientific developments, and thereby ensure that pesticide labels contain appropriate warnings in light of changed circumstances or new information.”Since it first studied glyphosate-based pesticides in 1974, Kavanaugh continued, the EPA has “repeatedly concluded that glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer” and therefore not required “pesticides like Roundup to include a cancer warning on their labels.” That means that, “as a matter of federal law, Monsanto legally must use a label without a cancer warning unless and until EPA approves or requires a change.”

Supreme Court hands Bayer a win that rattles MAHA - - The Supreme Court has dealt a devastating blow to the Make America Healthy Again Movement by blocking a path for users of the popular Roundup weedkiller to secure payouts from Monsanto for failing to disclose the product’s cancer risk. In a 7-2 ruling led by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court ruled in favor of Bayer, which owns Monsanto, finding that states cannot require more information on the pesticide label than required by federal regulation.Failure-to-warn arguments have helped Roundup customers like Missouri resident John Durnell, who won a $1.25 million state court verdict against Monsanto after he developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma.Roundup users have argued that the product’s key ingredient, glyphosate, is carcinogenic. EPA has determined that the chemical does not pose a cancer risk if used according to the label’s instructions, a finding that Monsanto and Trump officials said blocks states from reaching their own determinations about what information should appear on the weed killer’s label.The fight over pesticides has galvanized the MAHA movement, even as some of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s allies have criticized him for not going far enough to advance their priorities on pesticides and vaccines. Grassroots supporters, however, have successfully pushed to rid the House farm bill of language that would protect pesticide makers against liability.But they’ve failed to win the full support from the White House and congressional Republicans on their anti-pesticide efforts. The Trump administration has struggled to thread the needle of supporting a traditionally loyal constituency — farmers — and pleasing a relatively new part of the MAGA coalition, MAHA advocates. At the Supreme Court, Trump’s White House sided with Bayer in an amicus brief, prompting widespread frustration among MAHA advocates.The White House has sought to reassure its farming allies who worried the administration was poised to ban glyphosate. In addition to its support for Bayer at the Supreme Court, the Trump administration approved a mining permit for Bayer and signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to boost domestic glyphosate production — sparking ire from MAHA advocates.The blowback culminated in a rally in front of the Supreme Court, where MAHA advocates, lawmakers of both parties and lawyers spoke against a ruling favoring Bayer and other pesticide manufacturers.Still, MAHA advocates were successful in ridding the House farm bill draft of language that would have protected pesticide makers from liability.Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said in a statement following the Supreme Court’s ruling that the decision is “good for American farmers who help feed the world” and provides regulatory certainty.“This litigation has enormous costs for the company and has impacted public trust,” Anderson said. “The decision brings overdue justice on an issue that should have been clarified much earlier. It’s time to put it behind us.”Bayer said it expects the ruling to contain the Roundup litigation after decades of slugging it out in the courts and noted that Monsanto is continuing to pursue final approval of a $7.25 billion class-action settlement to resolve glyphosate cancer claims.Christopher Seeger, proposed class counsel in the settlement, decried the court’s decision.“This Supreme Court ruling wrongly slams the courthouse door on Americans sickened by pesticides, and underscores why we negotiated a $7.25 billion settlement that guarantees compensation to Roundup victims regardless of today’s decision,” he said in a statement. “We urge those opposing this agreement … to drop their opposition so that tens of thousands of cancer victims no longer have to wait for justice after a decade of delay.”

Natural Resources schedules markup on Outdoors Act reauthorization - The House Natural Resources Committee will vote this week on bipartisan legislation to reauthorize expired portions of the landmark Great American Outdoors Act. The “Great American Outdoors Act 250” from Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) would extend and reform the Legacy Restoration Fund for national parks and other public lands. The duo introduced the bill in recent weeks after months of negotiations. “As millions of Americans are preparing to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence, Congress is coming together in a bipartisan manner to enhance access, improve visitor experiences, and create new outdoor recreation opportunities,” Westerman said in a statement. The legislation would extend the program at $1.9 billion annually. A new $100 park fee for international visitors — on top of other entrance fees — would help offset the cost. Westerman and Huffman also included new selection criteria for projects. GET

Senate leaves without passing Outdoors Act reauthorization - - The Senate went on recess Wednesday night without passing legislation to reauthorize expired portions of the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act. That means it’s unlikely to become law by Independence Day. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) said he was “guardedly” optimistic about passage this week “I really, really want to get it done,” Lee said in an interview. But Senate leaders sent lawmakers home earlier than expected. They won’t return to regular session until after the week of July 13. Lee’s committee approved the latest version of the America the Beautiful Act by voice vote last week. And on Wednesday, the House Natural Resources Committee cleared its own authorization plan. They amended it to align with the Senate’s — name and all.

Democratic-led states balk at Great American State Fair - A grand state fair highlighting American culture is set to kick off on the National Mall this week ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary, but several states have publicly said they will not attend the event. At least seven states led by Democratic governors have opted not to send official representatives to the “Great American State Fair,” with some raising concerns that the event is shaping up to be more partisan than it has been billed. The 16 days of festivities on the National Mall kick off Thursday, and each day will center on a different facet of American history. Massachusetts, North Carolina, Washington, Illinois, Oregon and Connecticut all cited budget constraints in their reasons for not attending. Maine’s tourism office told a local ABC News station it declined the invitation because of scheduling demands during a “busy summer season.” Additionally, a spokesperson for Pennsylvania’s tourism board told The Hill on Monday that the state is still making a determination about whether it will participate. The fair’s organizer, Freedom 250, said all 50 states and U.S. territories will be represented, regardless of direct involvement from state governments. “Whether represented by a governor’s office, a tourism board, or a beloved state company or organization, every community will be celebrated, and every American will see themselves in this once-in-a-generation event,” spokesperson Rachel Reisner said. Illinois’s Peoria Riverfront Museum volunteered to showcase the state’s history at the fair, and its exhibit will include an “Illinois Voices 250” hologram that features stories from state residents. A spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources noted that no state funds were used for this showcase. North Carolina will be represented by vehicle company Spevco and NASCAR team Richard Childress Racing. A spokesperson for North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) said the governor is “looking forward” to the Independence Day festivities being held across the country. “He is glad that our state will be represented at the fair by two North Carolina companies,” the spokesperson said. “Two hundred and fifty years ago, North Carolina led the way to American independence, and Governor Stein is pleased to honor our state’s First in Freedom legacy.” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) did not mince words when asked by a listener during an appearance several weeks ago on Boston Public Radio about whether she would welcome President Trump to anniversary celebrations in the state. “He’s too busy with his ‘Great American State Fair’ down there that everybody’s bailing on,” Healey replied. The Democratic state official accused the president of using the fair to “get money into his own pocket.” “He invited all of the states to participate and wants to charge us — charge us — to go down and put something on his exhibit, whatever he’s creating for Freedom 250,” she said. “It’s just ridiculous.”

Dems demand Interior relocate polluted East Wing dirt - Sixty-one House Democrats are demanding the Trump administration relocate tons of White House demolition debris from a public golf course after a report found it contains elevated concentrations of dangerous heavy metals. Washington-area lawmakers — Maryland Reps. Jamie Raskin and Glenn Ivey, Virginia Rep. Don Beyer and District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton — spearheaded a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Friday demanding he “immediately and safely remove” the dirt dumped on the East Potomac Golf Course following President Donald Trump’s razing of the East Wing. Testing data commissioned by the National Park Service released last month revealed the soil contains levels of arsenic, lead and other dangerous chemicals that could pose health risks. Advertisement “For nearly eight months, golfers, cyclists, runners, fishermen and members of the public have been exposed to such debris,” the lawmakers wrote. “These contaminants are embedded in debris piles just feet away from the banks of the Potomac River, an important tributary of the Chesapeake Bay where people fish and row.”

Trump threatens lawsuits against ABC network for reporting on Reflecting Pool --U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to sue broadcaster ABC for its reporting on the cost of repairing damage sustained by the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington D.C. Trump said the network had not reported costs incurred by previous administrations in maintaining the landmark.  In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that ABC “failed to report that their close ‘friends,’ Dumocrats Obama and Biden, spent over 100 Million Dollars on the Reflecting Pool, and it never worked.”Trump did not give any evidence for the $100 million claim, but prior reporting by PBS indicated that former President Barack Obama’s administration spent around $35 million on repairs for the monument. No major repairs to the pool are known to have been carried out during the Biden administration. He also claimed that the damage to the monument has been caused by vandalism, but no evidence that the Reflecting Pool was intentionally damaged has been provided by the White House.Trump claimed to reporters on Monday that a “350-foot slit” was cut with a “box-cutter or a knife of some kind.” NBC News reported that at least five people have been arrested in connection with the alleged vandalism. “We are preparing lawsuits against ABC for false reporting. I like their money, which will be given to the U.S. Treasury,” Trump added, also referencing $16 million that ABC paid to settle a defamation case he filed in 2024. The network paid $15 million, which was put toward Trump’s presidential library, and an additional $1 million in legal fees.Last week, ABC reported that the cost to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool had ballooned to more than $14.65 million. This exceeded the original estimated cost of the no-bid contract — that was not awarded by competitive tender — by more than $4 million, according to federal contract data. The broadcaster also highlighted a $1.74 million contract awarded to Green Water Solutions, an Ohio-based company, to install a “nano bubble” system to kill algae, using a similar no-bid process. This would have brought the cost of the entire project to more than $16 million. The latest action against ABC comes as the company faces two investigations from the Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump appointee Brendan Carr.The FCC also demanded that ABC submit early renewal applications for eight of its local broadcasting licenses. That move came soon after comedian Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melania Trump and the U.S. president called for Kimmel’s firing.The stations were reportedly not scheduled to apply for renewal until 2028 at the earliest.On Monday, ABC said it was launching an on-air campaign encouraging viewers to support the network after its daytime talk show “The View” was investigated under federal “equal time” rules for ​political candidates, Reuters reported.

Judge blocks Trump admin's voter database of Social Security numbers - A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from creating a centralized database containing Social Security numbers along with information about voters’ citizenship status and other sensitive data. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, an appointee of former President Biden, said officials across numerous government agencies “haphazardly combined and repurposed the private information of millions of Americans, including citizenship data that they knew to be unreliable” in order to comply with President Trump’s March executive order attempting to overhaul federal elections. The order required the federal government to establish a list of eligible voters based on available citizenship data and direct the U.S. Postal Service to only deliver mail-in ballots to individuals on each state’s approved voter roll. Trump specifically directed the Social Security Administration (SSA) to create a “State Citizenship List” derived from its data, naturalization records and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, an existing database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that is used to determine eligibility for federal programs. “Since then, states have partnered with the federal government to access the database and are actively removing United States citizens from voter rolls based on inaccurate information,” Sooknanan wrote in her 75 page ruling. “All in all, the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote. This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens,” she added. Sooknanan said efforts to establish the database were unlawful and violated the Social Security Act, Privacy Act and Administrative Procedure Act. She ruled in favor of the League of Women voters, who brought the lawsuit against DHS. “This protects millions from baseless investigations and unlawful voter roll purges – a critical win for voting rights,” Democracy Forward wrote in a statement on the ruling. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. did not immediately respond to requests for comment. DHS pointed to a statement from James Percival, who serves as general counsel for the department. “It’s amazing how hard the Left will fight to stop us from solving problems they insist do not exist. Judge Sparkle Soknanan’s latest ruling preventing DHS from addressing alien voting is just the latest example,” Percival wrote in a post on the social platform X.

John Fetterman warns of rise of 'dirtbag left' amid Mamdani victories by democratic socialists Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is offering a warning about the rise of a “dirtbag left” within the Democratic Party, a reference to candidates on the left who have run and won primaries while identifying themselves as democratic socialists. Two such candidates, community activist Darializa Avila Chevalier and New York State Assembly member Claire Valdez, emerged victorious on Tuesday night in New York Democratic House primaries. Both candidates are democratic socialists who were backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Chevalier defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, while Valdez beat progressive candidate and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who was backed by retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.). “Yeah, no, I mean, these — the kind of people they are trying to run out of office, they are just good, traditional kinds of Democrats you would expect in New York City now,” Fetterman told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “And now this has just become — really, it’s just been the dancing days of the dirtbag left. You know, some of these candidates are outrageous. You have candidates, they’re ‘abolish ICE,’ ‘abolish the police,’ ‘abolish the border.'” The term “dirtbag left” refers to left-wing political critics who are generally supportive of progressive and democratic socialist causes and openly critical of mainstream Democrats. Writer Amber A’Lee Frost, one of the co-hosts of the “dirtbag left” podcast “Chapo Trap House,” is credited with coining the term.  Fetterman, who rode on a wave popular support to defeat former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) in 2022, has become a vocal critic of the growing left-wing movement within the Democratic Party in recent years. He accused these candidates of being a “pro-Hamas wing … just declaring a war on just regular Democrats.”

Elon Musk ordered to give deposition in alleged 'vote buying' election scheme - A federal judge on Thursday ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to testify under oath in two cases where he is accused of defrauding voters in swing states before the 2024 general election. U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower of the Western District of Texas ordered Musk to sit for a deposition as part of a fraud lawsuit brought by two Arizona women. They accuse Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, of tricking voters into giving personal information as part of giving away $1 million every day leading up to Election Day. Musk made the pledge during a town hall in Pennsylvania in October 2024, saying he would give the money if they signed America PAC’s petition. “The only thing we ask for the million dollars is that you be a spokesperson for the petition,” Musk told a recipient he handpicked from the audience at the time. Hightower said it was an open question whether Musk acted recklessly when saying he would “randomly” pay someone, Reuters reported. She quoted America PAC ​director Christopher ⁠Young, who said as he testified in a February 2026 deposition that he was “surprised” by what Musk said. Plaintiffs Joy Harvick and Jacqueline McAferty accused Musk and America PAC of misleading voters across seven swing states by having them sign his petition, the outlet reported. They said the 19 winners were chosen because, quoting a Musk lawyer, they could be good spokespeople for America PAC. Musk made similar pledges in other states, including Michigan. In October 2025, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) sued Musk and America PAC over the giveaways, calling them “illegal lotteries.” Musk sought to move the lawsuit to federal court. Rick Hasen, a University of California Los Angeles Law School political science professor, said the law prohibits paying people for registering to vote or for voting. “If all he was doing was paying people to sign the petition, that might be a waste of money. But there’s nothing illegal about it,” Hasen told the Associated Press in October 2024. “The problem is that the only people eligible to participate in this giveaway are the people who are registered to vote. And that makes it illegal.”

X sees biggest outage surge as multiple platforms glitch - More than 35,000 people reported being unable to load or refresh their X feeds on Monday morning, coinciding with a Cloudflare alert warning of “increased error rates and latency” across several of its services. The Elon Musk‑owned platform appeared to recover within about 45 minutes. A rep for Cloudflare told Newsweek, regarding the issues on its platform: “Cloudflare is not currently experiencing a global outage. The only issue we’re aware of is that Zayo, a network provider, is experiencing an outage on some of its network routes. That may cause some sites using Zayo exclusively to be unreachable, whether they use Cloudflare or not. We are seeing evidence Zayo’s network is recovering and expect errors to be short lived.” Below is a breakdown of how the morning unfolded across the affected platforms. Nearly 36,000 users reported issues with X between 9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, according to Downdetector, marking one of the platform’s sharpest spikes in recent months. Complaints centered on frozen timelines, feeds that refused to refresh and an app that would not load at all. By 10:26 a.m., reports had fallen to just over 2,000 as service gradually returned. The outage also reignited the long‑running debate over the platform’s stability under Musk, with users quickly migrating to Meta Platforms’ Threads to share screenshots and commentary. Reddit saw a smaller but noticeable surge in problem reports, peaking at 2,864. Users cited slow page loads, missing comment threads and intermittent errors when attempting to access subreddits. While the disruption was brief, it added to the sense of a broader, multi‑platform wobble occurring simultaneously across the internet. Reports of issues with Zoom climbed to more than 3,200 on Monday morning. Users described difficulties joining meetings, audio dropouts, and frozen screens. The spike was short‑lived, but any interruption to Zoom’s service window—especially during morning business hours—tends to ripple across workplaces and schools. Microsoft Teams logged more than 1,400 problem reports, primarily tied to login failures and stalled message syncing. Teams outages often mirror broader connectivity issues because of its integration with Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem, making Monday’s timing notable given the parallel disruptions elsewhere. Gamers also reported problems with Fortnite, though at a lower volume than the major social and productivity platforms. Complaints included matchmaking errors and login failures, consistent with the kind of instability that can occur when upstream infrastructure providers experience disruptions. By late morning, most platforms appeared to have stabilized. X’s outage was resolved in about 45 minutes, and Cloudflare said its fix was being actively rolled out. Reddit, Zoom and Microsoft Teams also saw their problem reports fall quickly after peaking. While the exact cause of the synchronized disruptions remains unclear, the timing suggests a shared infrastructure strain rather than unrelated platform‑specific failures.

Judge orders DOJ to produce, unredact sought after Epstein files On Thursday, a federal judge based in Washington, D.C., ordered the Justice Department to unredact additional pages of the Epstein files in a suit brought by attorney and independent journalist Katie Phang. The preliminary injunction orders redactions be removed in key documents of interest in the files, including “at least eight email exchanges with Mr. Epstein regarding a ‘torture video’ and sexual activity with young women, including minors” as well as interviews with a woman who said she was abused by President Trump as a minor. “The Attorney General’s arguments are unpersuasive. First, Ms. Phang has identified ‘some concrete consequences of not receiving the information.’ She has identified ‘half a dozen stories she is currently unable to report’ because the Attorney General has not disclosed the information,” U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan wrote in a decision that also found Phang had a right to bring the case under the Administrative Procedures Act. He also rebuffed the idea that Phang could have simply requested the documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), noting that the department itself had previously said the Epstein Files Transparency Act “directed a much broader and less redacted release of the files than would have been made under the FOIA. Certain exemptions which may have been made under FOIA were not made” in the Epstein Act release. The Justice Department must either produce the documents or “show cause” as to why they cannot comply. Some of the details sought by Phang have since been unveiled — including that Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem was the one who had been emailing the now-deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein about the torture video. But Phang’s suit also sought further information about a tranche of documents that detailed the FBI’s interviews with a woman who claimed Trump violently attacked her as a minor. “I have standing to be able to get Todd Blanche to comply with Judge Sullivan’s order, which is now telling him that on or before July 2, he either has to put up or shut up. He either has to bring forth unredacted files or show cause as to why he should not or cannot do so,” Phang said during an appearance on MeidasTouch, saying her suit covers “some of the most egregious, egregious email communications with Jeffrey Epstein talking about little girls being naughty” as well as Trump’s accuser. The FBI found the woman to be credible and interviewed her four times. But even after the Justice Department released more files related to her interviews, various outlets said after reviewing the documents’ serial numbers that 37 pages of her account were still missing. The Justice Department did not respond to request for comment and also did not respond to a 1 p.m. deadline issued by Sullivan to respond in the case.

Trump eyes AI riches with government stakes in top firms -- President Trump is considering a plan that would give the U.S. government direct stakes in leading AI companies, putting him in unusual alignment with some of his fiercest critics. The president confirmed earlier this month he is considering “concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner.” But versions of this idea have also found support among the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Anthropic and OpenAI, bringing together a surprising contingent as politicians and the AI industry alike grapple with the vast wealth the technology is expected to create. Reports emerged in early June that the Trump administration was in preliminary talks with AI companies about taking equity stakes. When asked about this, Trump said he was set to meet with tech executives in the “near future” to discuss the idea. “We’re talking about giving back something to the public,” he later added. “And if we do that, the public will become very rich, the people in our country, because that’s the kind of money we’re talking about. And I think they’ll do that, and I think it’ll make it very popular.” The concept isn’t entirely novel for the president, who has taken stakes in more than 20 companies in his second term. Trump himself pointed to the nearly 10 percent stake the government took in Intel last August when discussing the possibility of equity in AI firms. “With Trump … it’s about deals,” Tad DeHaven, a policy analyst on general economic issues for the Cato Institute, told The Hill. “This is government by dealmaking, government by transaction.” “At the end of the day, that’s how the president views the world,” he added. “He is transactional, he is deal-based. And the purpose is here again, for whatever the White House says about taxpayer upside and supply strengthening supply chains, it’s really about the president exercising leverage, power and control.” Trump’s approach is a notable shift in policy for Republicans, who have long advocated for the government to play a smaller role in private industry. “I think Trump has been able to cut against his own party here and normalize it as a Republican effort,” said Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative. “And on the left, this has been a not uncommon tool or demand from progressives as a way to capture the upside for government investment.” Sanders has also pursued a version of this idea, sometimes referred to as “universal basic capital.” He unveiled legislation last week to create an AI sovereign wealth fund by taking 50 percent stakes in major AI companies. The senator estimated the fund would be worth about $7 trillion and would be able to provide annual direct payments to Americans of more than $1,000, arguing the public should get a share of the wealth generated by AI. He acknowledged the overlap with Trump when rolling out the bill last Thursday. “As you know, I’m no great fan of President Trump, but he’s a good politician,” Sanders told reporters. “And I think he senses that the American people are very nervous about this technology, and they want some of the benefits. He has been talking about that as well.” The public has become increasingly wary of AI amid concerns about the data center buildout and potential job losses related to the technology. In a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, 53 percent of Americans said they were concerned that someone in their household would lose a job due to AI. A May poll from Gallup also found that 71 percent of Americans opposed the construction of a data center in their community.

All the money flooding into AI is a giant warning sign --What should you do if investors bid up your stock on the basis that you will be a winner in artificial intelligence, but your product isn’t popular? Elon Musk has the answer: Use your expensive stock to buy another AI business. SpaceX’s $60 billion all-stock purchase of Cursor, a programming assistant that popularized “vibe-coding,” makes Musk a player in corporate AI in a way that his Grok chatbot hasn’t. Sponsored It is also part of a rush of stock issuance that should raise serious red flags even among those who dismiss elevated valuations. Companies always have a choice of how to finance capital spending and takeovers. They can raise debt or issue stock (or a mix). If interest rates are low, debt is cheap for companies. Equally, if stock valuations are high, it is “cheap” for a company to issue more. Only firms in desperate need of cash sell more shares when their valuations are low, because it dilutes existing shareholders and trashes the share price. Legendary investor Benjamin Graham thought of “Mr. Market” as a manic-depressive, offering daily prices to investors—sometimes far too high (you should sell) and sometimes far too low (you should buy). Mr. Market also offers companies the opportunity to buy from or sell to us investors—and when they issue stock, they are choosing to sell. In any individual case selling stock can be perfectly reasonable. Balancing the amount of debt and equity a company uses helps offset the perceived riskiness of an investment or acquisition. Equity is good for risky endeavors because it doesn’t have to be paid back like debt. The mix of debt and equity feeds into the company’s weighted average cost of capital, a measure that helps determine whether a particular investment is worth it. But step back, and when companies as a group turn into sellers, it’s a reasonable sign that stocks are very overpriced. Indiscriminate demand from investors incentivizes companies to step up to supply them, both with secondary offerings, like Alphabet’s recent record-breaking issue, or IPOs. Examples from recent history stand out. In the dot-com bubble and postpandemic SPAC mania there were waves of IPOs and secondary issues as stock valuations rose. There was also a boom in U.S. mergers and acquisitions, only just surpassed in the past four quarters in dollar value. Companies financed those deals with equity—two-thirds with new stock in the dot-com M&A and 45% in 2020-21, the two highest over a rolling four-quarter period in LSEG data dating back to 1990. Big deals are flourishing again: giant IPOs blasted off with SpaceX, and companies are choosing to issue stock—using shares to finance almost half the cost in the current quarter, according to LSEG. (Over the rolling four-quarter period, it is still only a third.) Investor demand for stock is, in part, being satisfied by the creation of new stock. The flip side is, when debt is cheap, it can cause even more serious problems. Pre-financial crisis deal value peaked at $910 billion over the year to the end of September 2007, just before shareholders realized the economy was built on sand. Only 19% of that was financed with stock, because debt—helped by endless structured products—was far too cheap. The bubble was in the debt markets, not equities, although the implosion of the banks and deep recession still hit stocks exceptionally hard. Corporate financing decisions are in some ways better at measuring how expensive the market is than standard valuation gauges, which compare price to some measure of corporate fundamentals such as past or forecast profits (soaring), book value, free cash flow (plunging) or sales. These can be misleading, often disagree, and mostly have fairly short histories. Worse, the baseline for what counts as expensive can change over time as the structure of companies or accounting standards shift. In the case of book value, it now needs so many adjustments as to be virtually useless.

AI is 'months away' from wreaking havoc, Five Eyes agencies warn -Advanced artificial intelligence models are months away from causing catastrophic damage to businesses and governments, the Five Eyes intelligence agencies have warned. The intelligence alliance from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and US said that critical systems running old and unsupported software are at critical risk to new AI models that will make it easier than ever for bad actors to carry out attacks. In a joint statement released on Monday, the Five Eyes agencies said leaders must “act swiftly” to address the threat posed by these rapidly advancing AI systems. “Frontier AI models are anticipated to exceed current industry expectations, fundamentally transforming both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. The timeline is not years, it is months,” the joint statement read. “A whole-of-organisation and whole-of-society response is required. Cyber risk can no longer be treated as a purely technical issue. This is a core business risk and leadership responsibility.” The intelligence agencies urged organisations and governments to strengthen their defences by integrating AI tools into their security operations. Those who do not will face catastrophic consequences by exposing themselves to hackers and other malicious actors armed with new and more accessible ways to carry out cyber attacks. The statement did not mention any specific AI models, though Anthropic’s most advanced systems have prompted recent warnings from cyber security professionals. Earlier this month, the AI firm was forced to block access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for all customers following restrictions imposed by the US government. “AI is about to dramatically accelerate the speed, scale, and sophistication of cyberattacks, lowering barriers for adversaries and giving them capabilities that were once limited to highly skilled actors,” Gary Barlet, public sector chief technology officer at cyber security firm Illumio, told The Independent. “What worries me is that too many organisations still think they can patch their way out of this problem. We couldn't keep up before AI, and we certainly won't keep up after it. “Attackers have always had the upper hand because they don't operate under the same constraints as defenders, and that's even more true in the age of AI. It's time for organisations to stop treating a breach as a possibility and start treating it as an inevitability."

"Democratizing AI": OpenAI, Broadcom Unveil New AI Chip As Sam Altman Pushes For Full Control Of Compute Stack OpenAI and Broadcom unveiled Jalapeño, OpenAI's first custom AI accelerator, as Sam Altman's chatbot maker pushes to control more of its data center chip stack and drive greater efficiency to lower inference costs. The new chip is described as an "Intelligence Processor" and was designed from scratch for large language model inference, the compute-intensive process of serving AI products such as ChatGPT, Codex, and the OpenAI API. "While OpenAI is still measuring final performance, early testing shows that Jalapeño will deliver performance per watt substantially better than current state-of-the-art," OpenAI wrote in a press release. Both companies moved from initial design to manufacturing tape-out in just nine months, supported by OpenAI's proprietary models and Broadcom's silicon expertise. OpenAI said the chip's architecture is designed to reduce data movement and better balance compute, memory, and networking resources, allowing workloads to run closer to peak performance. The company said the new chips are already powering machine learning workloads in a lab. "Democratizing AI means making advanced models available, dependable, and affordable enough for more people to use every day," OpenAI continued. It is clear that OpenAI is forging ahead with new in-house chips to lower costs from expensive Nvidia GPUs while simultaneously expanding compute capacity. Another key factor is control, as Altman wants greater command over OpenAI's chip stack ahead of its push into physical AI. Improved cost efficiency protects margins and could drive profitability down the road. Internal projections estimate the profitability window opens in 2029-30. Meanwhile, OpenAI has already struck deals involving Amazon's Trainium chips, AMD hardware, and Cerebras systems as it diversifies beyond Nvidia.

Looking at AI startups to predict which jobs AI will affect  -- A study of funded AI startups provides a glimpse of which jobs may be most affected by AI. As AI tools are embraced by industry after industry, the impacts of these tools on jobs remain unclear. Previous analyses have focused on the theoretical capabilities of LLMs, but social factors are also likely to play a role in shaping what aspects of work see AI integration—or full automation. Published in PNAS Nexus, Enrico Maria Fenoaltea and colleagues validated a version of Meta's Llama3 LLM, which they used to cross-reference products developed by AI startups backed by the venture capital firm Y Combinator with descriptions of essential tasks for various jobs drawn from the O*NET occupational database. Because AI products that have attracted significant funding are seen by investors as economically viable and socially appealing, these products are more likely to become marketplace realities than other theoretical uses for AI. The resulting Occupational AI Startup Exposure (AISE) index seeks to capture the potential near-future AI exposure of occupations. "Exposure" could include AI complementing or substituting for human labor in performing a job. Occupations with high AI exposure include office clerks, data scientists, computer and information systems managers, and market research analysts and marketing specialists. Occupations with low AI exposure include those primarily composed of manual tasks, such as athletes, chefs and construction workers. Compared with indices based on the theoretical abilities of AI, the AISE predicts lower exposure for occupations requiring high levels of responsibility and ethical decision-making, and occupations requiring a master's degree or higher and significant experience.While LLMs could theoretically perform many of the tasks completed by high school teachers, judges or marriage counselors, people may be reluctant to trust AI with roles that require social skills, judgment or ethically charged decision-making. According to the authors, rather than hitting the entire economy as an indiscriminate technological wave, AI will gradually spread into the economy, with its path shaped by social factors as much as by the technical feasibility of AI applications.

Tech companies would have to pay AI data center energy costs under bill moving in Congress  - The House of Representatives on Wednesday will begin consideration of a bill to force tech companies to pay for artificial intelligence’s strain on the power grid, as voters across the country express dissatisfaction with data centers driving up utility costs. The House Energy and Commerce Committee energy subpanel is scheduled to debate and vote on the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill that would require state utilities to consider creating a “large load standard” that would require data center builders to pay for upgrades to the grid needed to power them. The bill would codify parts of the White House’s “Ratepayer Protection Pledge.”The bill represents one of the first attempts by Congress to force tech companies to pony up for data centers’ massive electricity demand. It comes months away from the midterm elections, where voters will decide whether to rip total control of Washington away from President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and SpaceX’s xAI are among the largest builders and operators of data centers.“Families and small businesses across the country shouldn’t be left to foot the bill for this new development, though the benefits of these innovations will be felt by all of society,” said House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky. “The Ratepayer Protection Act is a bipartisan effort, which would ensure that the costs of grid upgrades are appropriately paid for according to demand.”The bill is sponsored by Reps. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., and Kathy Castor, D-Fla.Evans said that “Colorado families, farmers, and small businesses should not be forced to cover the costs of new power generation driven by these developments.”Castor said the bill “safeguards consumers by ensuring these data centers pay for the energy and grid upgrades they need so hardworking families and local businesses are not stuck paying more.” The legislation would aim to ensure tech companies building data centers cover the cost of new power generation, transmission lines and other grid-related upgrades to serve large-load customers. Voters have recently expressed displeasure with data centers, especially when they drive up the cost of electricity.A number of large tech companies signed Trump’s pledge, signaling they do not oppose paying for new electricity production to power AI.Even so, the bill still has a long way to go before becoming law.It would need to be approved by the full Energy and Commerce Committee, the House and the Senate before reaching Trump’s desk.

How FNBO uses agentic AI to investigate financial crime | American Banker At First National Bank of Omaha, AI agents have begun taking on some of the work of human financial crime investigators, reducing the time that people spend on each case by 50%, according to bank executives. The agents are also helping human investigators respond consistently to fraud, money-laundering and sanctions-violation alerts.

• Key insight: First National Bank of Omaha has become a relatively early adopter of AI agents for financial crime investigations.
• What's at stake: The bank says it's cut investigation time in half; experts say there are risks banks need to keep in mind.
• Forward look: FNBO and others are looking to adopt AI agents for fraud detection work, among other use cases.

Ontario senior bilked out of $900K after falling victim to crypto scam that used AI deepfake of PM Carney - Ontario woman is sharing her story after she invested over $900,000 in a cryptocurrency platform that turned out to be fake. It was in the summer of 2025 when 86-year-old Judy Skene of Sault St. Marie, Ont., came across a deepfake video of Prime Minister Mark Carney promoting a crypto investment platform. Judy Skene who lost $900,000 in a fake crypto platform scam speaks to CTV News At the time, Skene clicked the link, signed up, and made an initial investment. “I saw an ad on Facebook of Mark Carney telling me if I invested $350 Canadian, it would be backed by the Bank of Canada,” Skene said. Following the initial investment, she received a phone call from someone claiming it had already tripled in value. Over the next few months, she invested everything she had, even taking out a mortgage on her condo. “So I agreed to put a mortgage of $300,000 on my condominium,” Skene told CTV News. In a fake investment account it appeared her money had almost doubled, but in reality, she was defrauded of $900,000. “Once I did the final payment, there was no more conversation and all my money was gone,” said Skene. When Pat Probert learned of what happened to Skene, he stepped in to help his friend while she was in a very distraught situation. It came to a point where Skene felt like taking her own life. Pat Probert speaks to CTV News about his friend Judy Skene who lost $900,000 in a fake crypto platform scam. “Her condo fees were bouncing, the insurance payments on her condo and her car were bouncing,” Probert said. He told CTV News he also wants to warn others about investment fraud. “If you know a senior that’s alone, reach out to them make sure someone is on a bank account as their emergency contact,” Probert said. Investment frauds have been around for a long time, but with artificial intelligence getting better, it’s hard to tell which videos are real and which ones are fake. The ‘deepfake’ videos that appear on social media are usually showing endorsements by celebrities and politicians, including Carney and former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

ICE, OKX tap Andrew Cuomo to lead joint crypto venture -- Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will lead a joint venture between the Intercontinental Exchange and crypto trading platform OKX, the companies announced on Monday.

• Key insight: The partnership reflects Wall Street's continued embrace of blockchain-based markets and crypto platforms' creep into traditional financial infrastructure.
• What's at stake: OKX's 120 million customers across the world would gain access to ICE futures and NYSE-listed equities through the venture.
• Forward look: The companies are still waiting on regulatory approval to operate as a U.S. registered broker dealer.

The former New York governor will chair a new effort aimed at tokenizing financial products on chain and bringing 24/7 digital trading to NYSE-listed assets.

BankThink Tokenized stocks are coming, whether US regulators like them or not -The growth of stablecoins has been meteoric. Adjusted to control for authentic payment activity, they were responsible for $15 trillion in total volume in the last 12 months alone. That's more volume than Visa processed in 2025. Stablecoins have cemented the U.S. dollar as the default financial product of the digital economy. Now, another wave is coming: The $60+ trillion U.S. equity market is getting tokenized.

• Key insight: Foreign investors are gobbling up tokenized U.S. equities while domestic investors remain unable to take advantage of the opportunities such assets offer. U.S. policymakers need to level the playing field.
• What's at stake: The rest of the world is already benefiting from on-chain rails, while the U.S. lags behind.
• Supporting data: In 2025, tokenized stocks grew 3,000 percent, from $32 million to start the year to around $1 billion by year's end.

Foreign investors are gobbling up tokenized U.S. equities while domestic investors remain unable to take advantage of the opportunities such assets offer. U.S. policymakers need to level the playing field.

What matters in the crypto-bank fight is ubiquity, not yield - I wrote last week about the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and the digitized, blockchain-y platform it's building for post-trade processing and custody, highlighting a story our Penny Crosman wrote. One aspect of this platform, I'd pointed out, is that it was focused on only one part of a trade, the post part. I spent a little time talking about a crypto startup called INX that never took off but had a good idea: an exchange that would host every part of a trade, all the way from stock formation through the offer, sale and custody.  Banks are merging the ubiquity of fiat money with the advantages of digital networks and are building the kinds of products crypto firms can't match.

FDIC floats counting discount window borrowing toward liquidity - Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Travis Hill said on Wednesday that the agency is exploring whether banks' capacity to borrow from the Federal Reserve's discount window should count toward their liquidity requirements.

• Key insight: Hill's proposal — which he said is still in early, cross-agency discussions — wouldn't replace high-quality liquid-asset requirements but would treat discount window borrowing capacity as an incentive for banks to maintain "readiness to borrow."
• Expert quote: "If that's the world we're talking about, it's very possible that the central bank is really going to be the only viable source of liquidity," Hill said, referring to scenarios where large banks face deposit outflows that outpace their ability to sell off securities holdings.
• Forward look: The FDIC is in the preliminary stages of consideration for two diverging paths: building more routine, business-as-usual comfort with borrowing, or making it harder for outsiders to detect when a bank steps up to the window.

Chair Travis Hill said the Silicon Valley Bank failure showed banks can't always sell securities fast enough to cover deposit outflows, but acknowledged the "stigma problem" with discount window borrowing remains unsolved.

Trump's top economic aide pick has unconventional bank ideas  — Christopher Phelan, President Donald Trump's pick to be one of his top economic advisors, has written critically about traditional banking, a review of his academic papers found.

• Key insight: Christopher Phelan, a professor at the University of Minnesota and President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, has been a critic of the basic ways that banks across the company take and lend out capital. 
• Forward look: Phelan is up for a nomination hearing in the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, but there's no established timeline for his final confirmation to the post. 
• What's at stake: Phelan wouldn't have hard power to change bank regulation, but he'll have Trump's ear on these issues as the White House upends the financial system in the image of crypto and stablecoin interests.

The Senate Banking Committee is slated to consider Christopher Phelan to be the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers on Thursday. Phelan has said in past academic papers that fractional reserve banking is "highly problematic."

As banks close accounts, experts point to immigration crackdown -  More than 20,000 consumers have seen their bank accounts abruptly terminated in recent months. Experts believe financial institutions are responding to the Trump administration's restrictionist immigration policies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received more complaints about account closures at Block than at other financial institutions, according to an analysis of complaint data from December 2025 to May 2026.

Truist sued for denying loan to DACA recipient - In 2024, a Honduras-born man who was buying a motorcycle was turned down for a loan. Two years later, Truist Financial is facing a discrimination lawsuit — and the plaintiff's lawyer says many lenders are vulnerable to the same accusations.

• Key Insight: Truist Financial is being accused of discriminating on the basis of immigration status, two years after its subsidiary denied a loan to a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipient.
• What's at Stake: According to the plaintiff's lawyer, many banks and credit unions follow the same practices as Truist, which he says leaves them vulnerable to similar lawsuits.
• Expert Quote: "We have brought this type of lawsuit against banks and credit unions across the country, so it seems to be a similar pattern." — Luis Lozada, staff attorney at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Epstein victim says Puerto Rico bank facilitated his crimes - A sweeping civil lawsuit accuses FirstBank Puerto Rico and its parent company, First BanCorp, of knowingly participating in and financially benefiting from Jeffrey Epstein's decades-long international sex-trafficking operation.

• Key insight: FirstBank maintained more than 30 accounts for Epstein entities, providing the financial infrastructure for his sex-trafficking operation, the Jane Doe lawsuit claims.
• Supporting data: The bank ignored standard anti-money-laundering protocols and did not file legally required suspicious activity reports until two weeks after Epstein's 2019 arrest, the suit alleges.
• Expert quote: "FirstBank cared about one thing — profit — and showed absolute loyalty to Epstein, including a willingness to violate banking laws," the plaintiff's lawyers state in the complaint.

The new lawsuit seeking class-action status alleges that FirstBank Puerto Rico knowingly facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operation by failing to enforce basic anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer rules.

Should advisors even care if SEC green-lights semiannual reporting? -- Even though advisors might recommend clients invest in funds rather than individual stocks, having less frequent data in terms of semiannual earnings reports might make a difference at scale.Whether advisors choose individual stocks or not, the SEC's proposal to allow semiannual reporting rather than quarterly could impact clients' portfolios.

CFPB makes changes to complaint portal, citing abuse -The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is overhauling its consumer complaint portal after receiving 6.6 million complaints last year, more than double the 3.2 million in 2024, citing abuse by credit repair firms and social media influencers.

HUD trims FHA red tape; groups want MIP cut next - The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced 14 changes to the Federal Housing Administration program, claiming eliminating these "red tape" requirements would reduce costs. There's broad support for the effort to reduce costs and processes, but the Appraisal Institute warns about reducing property valuation quality control checks.

Ohio governor signs bill to create alerts for missing children with autism -   Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill that will create an alert system for missing children with autism. House Bill 359 was sponsored by Rep. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) and Rep. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester). The bill creates the Joshua Alert for cases of missing children who have autism or other developmental disabilities. The alert is named after Joshua Al-Lateef, a 6-year-old boy with autism who went missing in 2024 in West Chester, a suburb of Cincinnati. When his mother, Jonisa Cook, called 911, she was told there was no immediate alert that could be sent out to the community  Hours later, Joshua was found dead in a nearby pond.  “Every parent’s worst fear is learning that their child is missing,” Kristyn Butler, CEO of Ability Matters, said during testimony for the bill. “For the families we serve who have children with developmental disabilities, that fear is magnified as individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities often perceive and respond to danger differently.” Butler said traditional search and response efforts are less effective.

Sanders releases trove of internal HHS emails showing RFK Jr. pressured CDC over vaccine messaging - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday released a tranche of Health and Human Services (HHS) emails that appear to show HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pressuring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over its vaccine messaging. Emails indicate that Kennedy directed the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel to restrict access to vaccines, allowed researchers to access “confidential data” to indicate the disproven claim that vaccines cause autism and changed recommendations for the public to receive COVID-19 shots without input from the CDC. Other emails also show that Kennedy’s then-chief of staff, Matthew Buckham, emailed former CDC Director Susan Monarez in August 2025 about the need for a “political review of major decisions at CDC … to ensure that [the Immediate Office of the Secretary] and the CDC political leadership all have eyes on the decisions for approval/changes before they go into effect.” Less than a week later, Kennedy fired Monarez “for failing to rubber stamp recommendations from” the CDC’s vaccine panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Sanders said in a statement. Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), blasted Monarez’s firing as “outrageous,” accusing Kennedy of firing her “for her commitment to public health and vaccines.” Sanders requested a bipartisan investigation into her firing and called on Kennedy to resign.  The cache of emails also indicates that Kennedy directed the cancellation of flu vaccine campaigns. A CDC staffer sent an email to her supervisor stating that Andrew Nixon, HHS director of communications, notified her to “pull out of circulation all campaign ad buys related to flu or anything encouraging shots or vaccinations.” “He said this request came directly from the Secretary,” the staffer wrote. “I noted that these have been paid for and are in flight and he acknowledged and asked that we work right away on things that are on social/online, magazines, and then will eventually need to do items that may be on bus stops or benches (if it includes those type of things).” A separate email issued by Nixon and released by Sanders insisted that the request “was a direct ask from Secretary Kennedy.” Sanders said that Dr. Debra Houry, former CDC chief medical officer, gave the emails to the committee. The Hill has reached out to HHS for comment. Sanders has called for HELP committee chair Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to schedule a hearing against Kennedy’s vaccine claims, as the secretary had a long history as an anti-vaccine activist before President Trump nominated him for HHS. The Vermont senator accused Kennedy of running a “dangerous misinformation campaign” as the head of HHS. “The reality is that since Secretary Kennedy has been in office, he has continued his longstanding crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that vaccines cause autism — all of which have been repeatedly rejected by scientists,” Sanders wrote in his letter to Cassidy in April.

New ACIP charter could allow RFK Jr. to further restrict vaccine access, critics say | -Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing his battle to remake federal vaccine policy, this time by rewriting the charter of a federal committee that wields enormous influence over childhood immunizations to shift its focus beyond vaccines. During his confirmation hearing, Kennedy promised senators that he would not alter the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which makes vaccine recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including which vaccines should be available for free to needy children and which ones should be covered without a copay by private insurance.Within a few months of taking office, however, Kennedy, a long-time anti-vaccine activist, fired all 17 members of the committee, replacing them with people who have cast doubt on vaccine safety. Kennedy, who has made millions of dollars working with attorneys suing a vaccine manufacturer, took a hatchet to the childhood immunization schedule in January, slashing the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11. US District Court Judge Brian Murphy paused Kennedy’s assault on vaccine access in March, when he said the Trump administration violated federal law by making vaccine policy changes that were “arbitrary and capricious.” In his ruling, Murphy also found that 13 of Kennedy’s hand-chosen appointees to ACIP “appear distinctly unqualified,” which led the CDC to cancel all of the group’s scheduled meetings. The judge’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other medical groups.Kennedy “stacked ACIP with unqualified people, and it just became this ideological mess,” said Peter Hotez, MD, codirector of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.The revamped ACIP “doesn’t seem to be able to identify and evaluate evidence in any type of organized fashion,” said Kevin Ault, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker School of Medicine. Instead of considering the dozens of studies on the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccines, the ACIP last year focused on a single study that confirmed Kennedy’s view that the shot isn’t safe, said Ault, a former ACIP member. The committee then voted to replace the universal hepatitis B vaccine birth-dose recommendation with shared clinical decision-making for infants born to mothers who test negative for the virus.

Updated COVID vaccines cut risk of hospital care, heart complications, new data reveal -   Two studies published this week suggest that updated COVID-19 booster vaccines continue to provide meaningful protection against major adverse outcomes, cardiovascular complications, hospitalization, and all-cause death, even as both the virus and the population’s immune status have evolved and the protections conferred by the booster have become more modest.  The studies offer a broad look at the impact of 2024-25 COVID vaccines six years after the initial phase of the pandemic and as politicization of the COVID booster, and mRNA vaccines in general, persist. “National views on this issue are being shaped by a combination of the general antivaccination statements from the US Department of Health and Human Services, encouragement for vaccination from every mainstream medical and public health professional society, and the complex new arena of social media,” writes Robert M. Califf, MD, of the Division of Cardiology at Duke University and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, in a commentary accompanying the studies.  But, he said, “the toll of death and disability from COVID-19 continues to drop, so it should no longer be treated as exceptional but as one of many infectious diseases for which vaccination is protective.”The studies and commentary were published in JAMA Internal Medicine.  In one study, a team led by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed about 431,000 emergency department visits and hospitalizations across more than 380 emergency department/urgent care (ED/UC) departments in six states to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2024-25 vaccine. The researchers analyzed data from adults with and without compromised immune systems from September 2024 to September 2025. Among immunocompetent adults, vaccination reduced the likelihood of COVID-related ED/UC visits by 26%, hospitalizations by 35%, and COVID-associated critical illness by 41% compared with people who had not received the updated vaccine.The vaccine was most effective during the first two months after vaccination and waned over time. Protection against ED/UC visits, for example, declined from 38% seven to 59 days after vaccination to 11% after 180 to 299 days.Among immunocompromised adults, vaccine effectiveness (VE) against hospitalization was 24% and also waned over time, dipping to no protection 180 to 299 days after vaccination.  A second study, led by researchers at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, examined whether the 2024-25 vaccine was tied to a lower risk of COVID-19–associated major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), which include cardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke, and hospitalization for heart failure. Using health records from more than 1 million veterans who received the flu vaccine from September to December 2024, the researchers compared people who received a COVID vaccine at the same time as a flu vaccine with those who received only the flu vaccine. After eight months, receipt of the COVID vaccine was associated with a 37.7% reduction in MACE, but VE was statistically significant only in adults older than 75 years, who experienced a 50.7% reduction in MACE as well as the largest absolute risk reduction. While the researchers observed statistically significant VE in both those with and without comorbid conditions, the absolute benefit was “consistently and substantially greater” for those who had other chronic conditions. Despite all Americans having been either infected with and/or vaccinated against COVID at this point, writes Califf in the commentary, the studies’ findings demonstrate that “updated booster vaccines provide continued protection against major adverse clinical outcomes, including lower risks of major cardiovascular events, hospitalizations, and all-cause death.”

Study suggests 2025-26 COVID vaccine cuts emergency, urgent care visits by half -A new study suggests that the 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccine helps protect against serious illness by reducing the risk of hospitalization and emergency department/urgent care (ED/UC) visits, adding protection for a population with significant existing immunity from previous infections and vaccinations. The study, published today in JAMA Network Open, found that adults who received the updated vaccine were about 50% less likely to require ED/UC treatment for COVID and 55% less likely to be hospitalized than those who did not receive the vaccine.For the study, researchers led by a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed data from more than 111,000 adults across 253 EU/UCs and 179 hospitals in seven states from September through December 2025. They compared patients who tested positive for COVID with those who tested negative and identified whether they had received the 2025-26 vaccine.Overall, vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-related ED/UC visits was estimated at 50%. Protection against hospitalization was 55%.Among adults ages 65 and older, VE was 48% against ED/UC visits and 53% against hospitalization. Older adults face the highest risk of severe outcomes from COVID. While hospitalization rates during the first part of the 2025-26 respiratory virus season were lower than in previous years, COVID-related severe illness remains a significant issue. There were an estimated 390,000 to 550,000 COVID-related hospitalizations in the United States from October 2024 to September 2025, with the highest hospitalization rate reported among adults 65 and older. The protective benefits of the 2025-26 booster bolstered previous immunity. “The findings in this study demonstrate the added benefit of 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccination irrespective of protection conferred by previous COVID-19 vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the authors write.The findings align with a separate study conducted in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain by the Vaccine Effectiveness, Burden and Impact Studies (VEBIS) Primary Care Vaccine Effectiveness Group.  For the study, published last week in JAMA Network Open, researchers examined the effectiveness of 2025-26 COVID vaccines in older adults who sought care for respiratory illnesses from September 2025 to January 2026. The findings suggest that vaccination reduced the risk of symptomatic COVID infection that required a healthcare visit by 59%, although with uncertainty (95% confidence interval [CI], 14% to 83%), among older adults during the first two months after vaccination.  Protection waned slightly over time—VE was 64% (95% CI, 8% to 89%) 14 to 41 days after vaccination and 52% (95% CI, −39% to 89%) 42 to 83 days after vaccination, again with uncertainty. In both studies, vaccine uptake was low. In the study led by the CDC, only 11% of patients included in the analysis received a 2025-26 booster, and only 6% of patients who tested positive for COVID in the European study had been vaccinated, compared with 19% of those who tested negative.

Workers with long COVID more likely to leave jobs, lose productivity | Adults with long COVID experience more productivity loss on the job and are more likely to leave the workplace altogether compared with people who recover from COVID or never develop persistent symptoms, according to a study published this week in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. “In this large population-based cohort in a Western European setting, individuals with long-term post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) showed markedly higher rates of workforce exit and productivity loss compared with those recovered or never affected,” write researchers from the South Limburg Public Health Service and Maastricht University in the Netherlands. For the study, the researchers followed up with 3,342 employed adults who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 from 2020 to 2022 and assessed their employment status and work functioning two years later. By 2024, 17% of participants with long COVID had left the workforce, compared with 10% of those who had recovered from long COVID and 9% of those who never reported ongoing symptoms. After adjusting for other possible confounding factors, long COVID remained associated with higher rates of leaving the workplace. Those with the condition had a 38% higher likelihood of workplace exit (adjusted odds ratio, 1.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.02 to 1.86). For those with long COVID who remained employed, work productivity was more likely to suffer compared with those without the condition. Absenteeism, or work missed because of health, was highest in the long-COVID group, at 14%. Those who had recovered from the condition experienced an 8% absenteeism rate, compared with 5% for those who never had the condition. In addition, presenteeism (working while ill) was higher for those with PCC. Presenteeism was up to three times higher in those with PCC (43%), compared with those who had recovered from the condition (23%) and those who never had the condition (13%). “Absenteeism and presenteeism were higher in participants with PCC and those who had recovered, compared with Never PCC, despite similar working hours across all three groups,” write the researchers. “This likely reflects residual symptoms and reduced work capacity in those recovered, possibly influenced by limited workplace support or changes in job demands.” Among participants who had left the workforce, 46% of those with long COVID reported being unable to work because of health issues, compared with 17% of recovered participants and 12% of those who had never experienced long COVID. The study also found that long COVID put financial strain on people. More than half (54%) of unemployed participants with the condition reported financial difficulty, compared with 19% of those who never had persistent symptoms.

Pandemic pathogens, dengue, cholera were world’s largest emerging infectious disease burdens from 2000 to 2022 -- From 2000 to 2022, pandemic pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, imposed the largest historical and projected emerging infectious disease (EID) burdens around the world, while dengue and cholera were the most burdensome non-pandemic illnesses, suggests a new analysis in BMJ Global Health.By region, the Americas and Africa shouldered the largest per-capita burdens, and the Western Pacific faced the smallest. Led by Harvard researchers, the study team developed a method for measuring and ranking health and economic disease burdens and applied it to 15 high-priority EIDs in 223 countries and territories historically (2000 to 2022) and prospectively (2025 to 2034). Health burdens consisted of disability-adjusted life-year losses, converted into monetary values using the value of a statistical life-year. Economic burdens consisted of direct and indirect costs during acute illness for hospitalized patients. “While many studies have reported the health burdens of individual diseases, … their varying methodologies make disease comparisons difficult,” the researchers wrote. COVID-19 had the largest weighted full burden globally ($63.3 trillion) and across all world regions except Africa, where cholera posed a greater burden. The EIDs with the next-largest burdens were cholera, dengue, and pandemic H1N1 influenza, whose full weighted costs were $12.2 trillion, $8.0 trillion, and $4.4 trillion, respectively. Significantly smaller full burdens were West Nile virus, at $18.8 billion, and Ebola, at a weighted full burden of $93.2 billion. All other EIDs had weighted full burdens at less than $8 billion. In the United States, pandemic H1N1 made up the second-highest full burden ($235.1 billion), followed by West Nile ($18.2 billion). “R&D [research and development] priority-setting, including MCM [medical countermeasures] development, depends on multiple criteria, including disease burdens,” the authors concluded. “Our full burden quantification methods and results, along with other such criteria, can inform priority-setting.”

Ebola outbreak in DR Congo tops 1,000 cases, at least 254 dead -- Yesterday officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed there were now 1,003 cumulative confirmed cases and 254 cumulative deaths in a growing Ebola outbreak in North and South Kivu and Ituri provinces. Neighboring Uganda has 19 cases of the virus, all with links to the DRC, and has not reported any new cases since June 5.The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, a strain that has no licensed vaccines or therapeutics and has only caused three known outbreaks since it was identified in 2007. Contact tracing is one of the few tools available to stop the spread of the virus, but health workers in the DRC have only been able to follow up with 58% of case contacts.The World Health Organization (WHO) said last Friday the outbreak’s case fatality rate (CFR) is 26%. CFRs in two previous Bundibugyo outbreaks, reported in Uganda and the DRC in 2007 and 2012, were 30% and 50%, respectively.“The reported CFR is likely an underestimation, as many deaths that occurred before the outbreak declaration remain under investigation,” the WHO said. The outbreak was declared on May 15 but is believed to have begun much earlier.WHO officials also said late last week that at least 30 people at Kigonze displacement camp in Bunia have died from suspected Ebola since May. The camp can hold up to 15,000 people and officials are warning the virus could devastate the camp’s population. Several media outlets reported pregnant women and young children were among the camp’s dead, and that the displacement site was already struggling with overflowing toilets.“The outbreak is unfolding in a complex humanitarian and conflict-affected environment, characterized by highly mobile and often displaced populations, often lacking access to basic services, including food, clean water, shelter, healthcare and protection which poses an increased risk to the populations living in overcrowded internally displaced camps,” the WHO said.According to the United Nations, 320,000 refugees live in areas at risk of Ebola in the DRC.  Israel is reporting a second individual suspected of contracting Ebola after returning from the DRC. The patient is being tested and treated at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Medical Center.  The news followed the announcement of another suspected case in a different man last week, who was suspected of contracting Ebola while in the DRC and was sent for testing at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

Construction of US-backed Ebola quarantine unit in Kenya is stopped -- After weeks of legal turmoil and deadly protests, the construction of a US-funded Ebola quarantine building near Laikipia Air Base in Kenya has officially been stopped by Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.Duale announced the cessation of the project after being found in contempt of court for allowing construction to continue despite a court order.The 50-bed facility was announced last month as a treatment site for Americans exposed to the deadly virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or Uganda. Kenyans protested the construction site, saying the building would unnecessarily put the Kenyan population at risk, and add excessive strain to the country’s health system.According to the most recent updates from the DRC, Ebola cases have now reached 1,048, including 267 deaths, with no signs of slowing down. The current outbreak is being caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, a strain that has no targeted vaccines or therapeutics. New data from UNICEF shows an estimated 2.95 million children and adolescents aged 18 and under are at risk for Ebola infection in DRC. Children represent 54 percent of the population in the 31 outbreak-affected health zones. Children also face the very real threat of loss of parents and caregivers during the outbreak.“Our teams in Ituri have met children who have lost their mothers, and in some cases both parents, to Ebola,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell in a statement. “Children are trying to make sense of the threat while surrounded by rumors and online misinformation.”As of June 19, UNICEF estimates children represent 15% of confirmed Ebola cases and over 25% of confirmed deaths in eastern DRC. More than half of children in these provinces under 5 years are malnourished, and immunization rates are low with more than 20% never having received a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine.  “Children are especially vulnerable because they depend on caregivers and cannot distance themselves from a sick parent or sibling in the same way that an adult can. To better protect children, we need sustained access, and the resources needed to reach every affected community," said Russell.A new study in Eurosurveillance shows that since the first documented Ebola outbreak in 1976, there has been a low risk of exportation of the virus outside of affected countries.In the past 50 years, researchers found documentation of only 28 confirmed Ebola disease cases outside Africa, with 25 primary imported cases and three secondary cases infected by another patient in the United States or Europe. All but one of the 28 cases outside the affected country occurred during the 2014-12016 West African outbreak, the largest Ebola outbreak to date. One case has been exported during the current outbreak, an American doctor who was treated in Germany.The authors calculated the crude overall risk since the year 2000 to be 0.17 Ebola disease cases outside Africa per 1,000 reported cases in Africa.

As Ebola deaths top 300, African officials meet to boost regional readiness  -  The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is convening a three-day meeting today of African countries in hopes of strengthening regional preparedness for the growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has now claimed more than 300 lives.The meeting will include officials from the DRC, neighboring Uganda, and 11 other high-risk African Union member states, along with the members of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other key technical partners. The countries will review their national preparedness status, share lessons from the outbreak response, and strengthen collaboration across borders, Africa CDC officials said. “Africa CDC is working with Member States and partners to move from plans to operational readiness at borders, in communities, in health facilities and inside emergency operations centres,” Africa CDC senior official Tolbert Nyenswah, DrPH, said in a press release.The outbreak, which is now the second largest in the DRC, shows no signs of slowing and currently stands at 1,155 confirmed cases and 304 deaths. Neighboring Uganda has 20 confirmed cases and two deaths. In a press conference yesterday, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya, MD, MPH, warned that if contact tracing efforts don’t pick up, “for sure it will be the largest Ebola outbreak ever.”Kaseya said healthcare workers in the DRC need to be able find and monitor 80% of the contacts of Ebola patients to control the outbreak, but the current figure is only 30%, the New York Times reports.

Quick takes: Flu sickens US troops, Texas reports 3 more NWS cases, eligibility expands for pneumococcal vaccine | CIDRAP

• Two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lifted the requirement for US troops to be vaccinated against influenza, the virus has infected nearly 160 people undergoing basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, The Hill reports. The 37th Training Wing is isolating and treating the sick trainees and monitoring close contacts, the news outlet said. Last week, the 37th Training Wing announced that a trainee from the 737th Training Support Squadron died at the base after experiencing a medical emergency, which is under investigation. In April, Hegseth said ending the flu vaccine mandate would give troops “freedom to express their religious convictions.”
• Cases of New World screwworm (NWS) in US livestock are now at 15 with the addition of three new infections in Texas, the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reported over the weekend. All but one of the 15 cases has been identified in Texas, where the first infection was diagnosed in a calf in early June; the other infection was reported in New Mexico. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had officially activated a Level 3 (lowest-level) emergency response to NWS. The infection is caused by parasitic fly larvae that feed on the tissue of living animals.
• The US Food and Drug Administration has expanded eligibility for Merck’s Capvaxive pneumococcal vaccine, the company said in a news release. In addition to adults, children and adolescents aged 2 through 17 years are now eligible if they completed a primary pediatric pneumococcal vaccination series and have at least one chronic medical condition that puts them at higher risk for pneumococcal illness. A 21-strain conjugate vaccine, Capvaxive is the only such vaccine indicated for this population in the United States. It contains serotypes not included in the primary pediatric vaccine series for added protection, Merck said.

Flu cases rise to 222 at Texas base in outbreak blamed on Hegseth scrapping of vaccine mandate - More than 220 troops have contracted influenza at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, up from 160 reported last week in a major outbreak that comes less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that flu vaccinations would no longer be mandatory for service members. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), whose district includes Lackland, on Friday said the Air Force informed his office that the number of cases had hit 222 as of Thursday, 62 more than had been reported earlier in the week. The influenza outbreak has affected the 37th Training Wing at Lackland over the past three weeks. Each year, more than 36,000 recruits come through the unit. Asked by The Hill about the most recent numbers, an Air Force spokesperson declined to comment on how many trainees contracted the flu, only saying that medical professionals are continuing to “monitor and evaluate the situation.” The Air Force told The Hill last week that the 37th Training Wing is in “close” coordination with the 59th Medical Wing — the Air Force’s largest medical wing — and has “implemented mitigation measures to isolate and treat symptomatic trainees to reduce further exposure and continue to monitor the situation.” Symptomatic trainees are receiving “appropriate care with antiviral medications such as Tamiflu,” and they will return to training once medical professionals clear them, the spokesperson said. Hegseth in April announced the Pentagon ended mandatory flu vaccines for service members, arguing the changes are giving troops “medical autonomy” and “freedom to express their religious convictions.” The new rule is a step further than the Pentagon’s policy from last year, which exempted reservists from the flu shot and said the vaccine was only necessary in some circumstances for all members of the armed forces. Hegseth characterized the flu shot mandate as “absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our warfighting capabilities.” “Our men and women in uniform were forced to choose between their conscience and their country, even when those decisions posed no threat to our military readiness,” the Pentagon said. Castro has called Hegseth’s decision “reckless,” saying it was only a matter of time before an outbreak occurred.

Quick takes: More Air Force flu cases, soft-cheese Listeria outbreak grows, flu/COVID prevention video contest | CIDRAP

• A flu outbreak at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland Air Force Base has risen to 275 confirmed cases, up from 222 earlier in the week. Four people have been hospitalized in the outbreak, and the death of an Air Force recruit on June 16 remains under investigation. The outbreak is occurring just two months after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth scrapped the military's flu vaccine mandate. Only 40% of new trainees at the base had received a flu shot when the outbreak began. ABC News reports that the Army, Navy, and Air Force have all been granted exceptions to the new policy and are once again requiring flu shots for basic trainees.
• A multistate Listeria outbreak tied to soft cheese has grown by three cases and now stands at 12 cases in four states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported yesterday. Of the 12 case-patients, 10 have been hospitalized, and one has died. The CDC has traced the outbreak to requeson, or soft ricotta-style cheese produced by Clover Hill Dairy of Maryland. The company recalled all of its soft cheeses on June 18. The CDC says the true number of sick people in the outbreak is likely much higher.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) is inviting students and young professionals aged 18 to 35 to develop brief videos highlighting the importance of influenza and/or COVID-19 prevention and control. The group is seeking original and innovative videos that encourage communities to protect themselves from flu and COVID-19, highlight vulnerable groups that need protection, and address misinformation and myths. Submissions for the competition will be accepted from August 3 to September 13, with the winner announced in October.

Flu cases at Texas base hit 275 as services again require recruits to get shots The number of flu cases at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas continues to rise in the wake of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s banishment of the influenza vaccine mandate for service members. The Air Force confirmed 275 cases as of Wednesday, up from 160 just last week, a figure Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said the service had relayed to his office. In addition, four people have been hospitalized as of Tuesday, ABC News reported. One recruit also died June 16, though the death remains under investigation and it is not clear whether it is tied to the outbreak. The Air Force didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

US tops 2,100 measles cases so far this year, putting it on track to surpass 2025 total -The United States added 31 newly confirmed measles infections last week, bringing its total for the year to 2,104, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The new cases bring the country closer to the 2,288 confirmed measles case reported for all of 2025. All but 11 of this year’s cases were locally acquired, with the rest related to travel outside the country. A total of 30 outbreaks have been reported, with no new outbreaks since the previous CDC update. There were 48 outbreaks reported in 2025.Of this year’s measles cases, 21% are in children age 5 and under, and 51% involve kids aged 5 to 19. Six percent of patients have been hospitalized, compared with 11% in 2025. Among all measles patients, 93% are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccine status. Among the current hot spots is Virginia, which now has 129 reported measles cases, up 19 from the previous week, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Most of the case are tied to an ongoing outbreak in Buckingham County that began in May. Virginia reported only five measles cases in 2025. South Carolina continues to have the most cases this year, with 670, but the large outbreak in the Upstate region is now over. Utah is next, with 498 cases, up eight from the previous week, according to the CDC measles map (though the Utah health department lists 490 cases). Since June 20 of last year, when an outbreak began in under-vaccinated communities on the Utah-Arizona border, Utah has reported 680 measles cases across 22 of 29 counties. Although cases are slowing in the state, state epidemiologist Leisha Nolen, MD, PhD, told the Associated Press that she’s worried they could easily pick up again.“We just need those few cases to hit the wrong community and it could flare up really big again,” she said. Texas has reported the third most cases for 2026, with 182. Florida is next, with 141 cases.

Teen TB survivors may have reduced lung function, disability for up to 2 years post-treatment Adolescent pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) survivors have poorer lung function and greater disability than their uninfected peers for up to two years after treatment completion, concludes a study led by Brown University researchers. For the study, published today in Pediatrics, the research team used lung-function tests and the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) to twice evaluate the lung health of 101 formerly infected participants aged 10 to 19 years in Lima, Peru, who were successfully treated for TB. They compared the results with those of 101 matched uninfected controls. TB survivors with abnormal lung function underwent chest computed tomography (CT) from March 2022 to September 2023, and the investigators modeled changes in lung function and disability for two years post-treatment. Dedicated post-TB lung disease studies among adolescents are important because their bodies differ from those of adults. “Even if adolescents have adult-type TB, puberty-related immune changes may modify their risk and clinical phenotype of post-TB lung disease, which likely stems from inflammatory response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis,” the authors wrote. “Moreover, adolescent lungs grow in gas exchange surface area and airway size until, approximately, the age of 20 years.” Compared with controls, TB survivors had less favorable forced expiratory volume in 1 second, forced vital capacity, total airway resistance (R5), small airway resistance (R5-20), and reactance area (AX). Over the study period, AX, R5, and R5-20 improved for survivors but were still worse than those of controls. Survivors also had persistently greater respiratory disability. The chest CTs of TB survivors revealed architectural distortion (86.1%), reticular (mesh-like) patterns (80.6%), nodules (55.6%), and bronchiectasis (irreversible widening, scarring, and inflammation of the bronchial tubes; 47.2%). “Adolescent TB survivors experience persistent, symptomatic chronic lung disease despite bacteriological cure,” the authors wrote. “Our findings highlight the need for respiratory assessments beyond treatment completion.”

Public Health Alerts: Outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease associated with cooling tower systems in Central Harlem - Investigators describe an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease with 118 confirmed cases and seven deaths linked to cooling towers in Harlem, New York, last year, according to a Public Health Alerts report today.  The authors, with the New York City Health Department (NYCHD), quickly identified two cooling tower systems, both on the same block, as sources of infection with Legionella pneumophilia bacteria. One cooling tower was not regulated.Public Health Alerts, a collaboration between NEJM Evidence and CIDRAP, fills a gap in reliable data, offering expert-reviewed reports that translate frontline observations into actionable public health evidence. An NEJM Evidence editorial explains the initiative further. On July 25, 2025, NYCHD software detected eight reports of positive urine antigen test results for L pneumophila serogroup 1. All eight patients lived in Central Harlem within a 1-kilometer (roughly half-mile) radius. Five of the eight cases were rapidly confirmed. Health department officials issued an advisory on July 28 for clinicians to remain alert for Legionnaires’ disease in patients who had pneumonia. Afterward, the NYCHD identified 129 reports and confirmed 118 cases. Median patient age was 65 years (range, 32 to 97 years). Ninety-two patients (78.0%) required hospital care. Officials recorded seven outbreak-related deaths, with a median time of symptom onset to death of 8 days (range, 1 to 15 days). Of 43 cooling tower systems sampled by the end of July, eight—includ­ing an unregistered tower—tested positive for L pneumophila or L pneumophila serogroup 1. Owners of the cooling towers were required to complete disinfection and full cleaning. The owner of the unregistered tower system was ordered to register. Cleaning was completed by August 15. Based on whole-genome sequencing, two isolates from separate cooling tower systems appeared to be highly related to the original eight patients’ clinical isolates. One of these was the unregistered tower. This tower had major lapses in routine monitoring, lacked water treatment steps, and had missed required Legionella sampling. The other tower system met routine monitor­ing and sampling requirements. Both cooling tower systems were on the same block. The authors write, “In the absence of defined thresholds on the amount of legionella bacteria required to infect humans and without a clearer understanding of air flow and expo­sure patterns, we were unable to conclude whether one cooling tower was the source of infection.” They conclude, “This investigation shows the utility of a cooling tower reg­istry, which enabled rapid identification and sampling of registered cooling towers in the outbreak zone.”

Device to mix baby formula contributed to infant’s Legionnaires' disease, report finds  When a 10-month-old girl arrived at a hospital in November 2025, she had spiked a fever and was breathing rapidly and shallowly. She recently had been diagnosed as having a rare autoinflammatory disease, and doctors learned she had been fed formula mixed using a device that blended powdered formula with warmed water stored in a reservoir. Both the water in the device and the home tested positive for Legionella pneumophila, according to a case report published last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The infant’s experience with Legionnaires' disease highlights the danger of drinking resting warm water. “Household devices that retain warm water are possible Legionella bacteria sources and might pose a health risk, especially for persons with immunocompromising conditions,” the authors wrote. In October 2025, the baby girl had been admitted to the hospital and diagnosed as having systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis macrophage activation syndrome, a potentially deadly condition in which immune cells overreact. Doctors treated her with immunosuppressant medications, and her health remained stable at follow-up visits. When she visited the hospital on November 17, 2025, lung radiographs showed fluid in her upper left lobe, and testing revealed she was positive for L pneumophila. Doctors treated her with the antibiotics azithromycin and meropenem, and her condition improved. The girl was discharged on November 30 with parental instructions to give her oral levofloxacin, an antibiotic, for 21 days. On December 15, she returned to the hospital, where chest scans revealed new cavities in her left lung. Because her parents had stopped using the formula mixer, doctors suspected that her lingering troubles were related to her original infection. She was given azithromycin for six days and discharged with intravenous antibiotics. Testing found Legionella bacteria in the mixing device and the filtered household water. While investigators did not test the water filter, they noted that such filters can also allow bacteria to flourish by eliminating chlorine or if people fail to maintain them correctly. The authors recommend that infants with immunocompromising conditions receive formula made with water boiled to more than 158º Fahrenheit, mixed, and then cooled.

Climate change will cause Cryptosporidium to drop in some places and spike in others, experts predict  -The number of kids who contract a potentially deadly diarrheal disease is projected to decrease in some regions of sub-Saharan Africa while increasing in others due to climate change. However, researchers say illness from Cryptosporidium can be mitigated with improved access to clean drinking water.   Cryptosporidium is the second-most common cause of diarrhea-related deaths among children younger than 5 years, according to an analysis of the 2015 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study. The single-cell parasite spreads during heavy rainfall, though transmission decreases in warmer weather, making this waterborne disease highly sensitive to climate change.  Using global climate change models, a study published yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases predicts that by 2055, higher temperatures will cause rates of Cryptosporidium among children to decrease by 16.93% in Siaya County, Kenya and 4.34% in Bamako, Mali. However, they forecast that higher precipitation will drive up transmission in Basse, The Gambia by 24.81%.

H9N2 avian flu case in China and first H5N1 detection in Australian birds -  A toddler in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in China is confirmed to have contracted H9N2 avian flu, with symptoms starting on May 31, according to the latest updates from Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection.  This is the fifteenth H9N2 case recorded in the past 6 months on mainland China, with 11 of the cases occurring in children under the age of 10 years.Since 2015, a total of 163 cases of human infection with H9N2 avian flu, including two deaths (both in people with underlying conditions), have been reported to the World Health Organization in the Western Pacific, the organization said. Of the 163 cases, 159 were in China.In related news, over the weekend Australia’s federal agriculture minister, Julie Collins, confirmed the continent has recorded its first case of H5N1 avian flu, detected in a brown skua that had been found sick in Western Australia and has now died from the virus. A second bird also died from a suspected infection.Until this detection, Australia was the last continent to have no reported cases of H5N1 in poultry or wild birds since the virus began spreading globally in 2021.Last week, researchers reported H5N1 likely began circulating on Heard Island, an Australian territory, last August.

H5 bird flu detected in second Australia state - Scientists have detected the highly contagious H5 bird flu strain in a second Australian state, the nation's agriculture minister said Wednesday. Australia was for years the only continental landmass free of the H5 strain, which has caused severe disease and high death rates in poultry and wild birds worldwide. Two H5 cases have been confirmed in migratory birds found in the state of Western Australia, with officials now warning of a third infection found hundreds of kilometers (miles) away in South Australia. "This is obviously concerning, but given the spread of H5 globally it is not unexpected that other migratory birds may have arrived at other locations across the Australian coastline," Agriculture Minister Julie Collins told reporters. "At this stage there is no evidence of mass mortalities. There is also no evidence of infection in poultry or in our agricultural production system," Collins added. "There continues to be a low risk to human health." The confirmation of H5 spread has the potential to cause significant disruptions. One of the country's largest poultry producers has locked down farms in Western Australia in a bid to stay disease-free. Neighboring Papua New Guinea briefly suspended imports of Australian eggs and chicken meat—although this has since been lifted with some exceptions. "We have continued to engage constructively with the Papua New Guinea government since their notification of suspension to have these trade restrictions removed," Collins said. Chief government veterinary officer Beth Cookson said scientists were still piecing together the details of how H5 might be be spreading. So far, it seemed to be limited to migratory seabirds without threatening other vulnerable native populations, she said. "We've only just received the advice on the South Australian detection. We're still in the investigation phase," she told reporters. "It is a seabird, a migratory species, and there is no indication that it has spread beyond those populations." There has been concern that the deadly disease could add to the extinction risks faced by Australian fauna, many of which are unique to the vast continent. Almost half of Australia's wild bird species, and 83% of its mammals, are found nowhere else. The wild birds most affected by the H5 strain include waterfowl, shorebirds, seabirds and birds of prey. Marine mammals have also been affected, with some detections in other animals such as cats, goats, alpacas and pigs. Officials have said they are investigating whether the disease arrived in Australia via birds migrating from the sub-Antarctic. Scientists said last week the H5 bird flu strain had killed more than 13,000 elephant seal pups after infecting a breeding colony on the remote Heard and McDonald Islands, one of Australia's external territories in the sub-Antarctic.

Quick takes: More New World screwworm cases, Salmonella outbreak in Europe, polio in 4 nations | CIDRAP

• Six more confirmed detections of New World screwworm (NWS) have been reported in Texas, bringing the total to 25, according to the latest update from the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection service. Five of the new cases are in sheep in Crockett and Edwards counties and one in cattle in Medina County. The Texas Animal Health Commission has placed parts of Medina County and two other counties under quarantine to prevent further spread of NWS flies and their larvae, which feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, causing severe wounds. “Stopping the movement of infested animals and ensuring animals are moved safely is essential to limit the spread of NWS and reduce its impact on Texas,” the commission said. Three cases in the outbreak are now listed as inactive, including the one case detected in New Mexico.
• A Salmonella outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouted seeds has sickened 109 people in 11 European countries, with 18 hospitalizations and one confirmed death, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported yesterday. The affected countries are Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain, the Netherland, and the United Kingdom. The ECDC says the link to alfalfa sprouts is supported by case-patient interviews, the detection of the outbreak strain in water used for growing sprouted seeds in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and epidemiologic links to a producer in Finland. Investigators have identified a common seed supplier in India and believe the seeds may have been contaminated before entering Europe.
• New cases of vaccine-derived polio were reported in four countries this week, according to the latest update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Central African Republic and Mali each reported a case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). It’s the first cVDPV2 case of the year for Mali, and the third for Central African Republic. Ethiopia reported its fifth case of circulating type 1 polio (cVDPV1) in 2026, while Laos reported its first two cVDPV1 cases of the year.

Antibiotic resistance threatens vision in pets and horses, veterinary review warns - Sight-threatening antibiotic-resistant eye infections are becoming a significant threat to vision in dogs, cats and horses, according to a new comprehensive review published in Veterinary Ophthalmology by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The study examines global trends in antimicrobial resistance in animal eye infections and warns that multidrug-resistant bacteria are becoming more common in referral veterinary settings. The review also highlights a critical challenge for veterinarians: Standard laboratory tests may not always predict how well topical eye treatments will work in practice. The authors call for earlier diagnostic testing, more targeted antibiotic use, stronger infection-control measures and the development of antibiotic-sparing strategies to help preserve treatment options for future patients. The review by Dr. Lionel Sebbag and Dr. Oren Pe'er of the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, examines the growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in veterinary ophthalmology, with a particular focus on bacterial corneal infections that can threaten vision within hours or days if left uncontrolled. Bacterial keratitis, a serious infection of the cornea, is among the most urgent emergencies in veterinary eye care. While antibiotics remain the cornerstone of treatment, the researchers found mounting evidence that many of the bacteria responsible for these infections are becoming increasingly resistant to commonly used drugs. Drawing on studies from North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Australia, the review identifies Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, beta-hemolytic streptococci and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as the most frequently isolated bacterial pathogens in companion animals. Particularly concerning is the rising prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains, especially in referral and specialty-care settings where the most severe cases are concentrated. One of the most consistent findings across the studies was the impact of previous antibiotic use. Animals that had recently received topical antimicrobial treatment were more likely to harbor resistant bacteria and less likely to yield positive culture results, making accurate diagnosis and targeted treatment more challenging. The review also highlights a surprising gap between laboratory testing and real-world clinical outcomes. Standard antimicrobial susceptibility tests are largely based on how antibiotics behave when administered systemically, yet eye drops achieve very different drug concentrations at the ocular surface. As a result, laboratory susceptibility reports may not always accurately predict whether a treatment will succeed or fail in clinical practice. "Antimicrobial resistance is no longer a theoretical concern in veterinary ophthalmology," the authors note. "It is a clinically significant and evolving reality." The researchers argue that laboratory findings should always be interpreted alongside clinical observations, disease severity and patient history. They emphasize the importance of obtaining microbiological samples before extensive antibiotic treatment whenever possible, allowing veterinarians to make more informed treatment decisions. Some bacterial species commonly found in animal eye infections have recognized zoonotic potential, meaning they can be transmitted between animals and humans. The authors note that veterinary clinics, equipment and even households can serve as environments where resistant organisms circulate, highlighting the importance of rigorous hygiene and infection-control practices. Looking ahead, the review explores a range of antibiotic-sparing approaches designed to reduce reliance on traditional antimicrobials. These include antiseptic therapies, biofilm-disrupting treatments, corneal cross-linking technologies, ultraviolet-based approaches and other emerging methods that may complement conventional antibiotic therapy. The authors conclude that preserving the effectiveness of existing antibiotics will require coordinated efforts in surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship, infection control and the development of ophthalmology-specific guidelines for managing ocular infections.

Supreme Court ruling blocks thousands of lawsuits against maker of Roundup weedkiller (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with the maker of the Roundup weedkiller Thursday in a ruling expected to block thousands of lawsuits alleging it failed to warn people the product could cause cancer.  The case came before the justices after a tidal wave of litigation that included some multibillion-dollar verdicts against the global agrochemical manufacturer Bayer, which acquired Roundup when it bought its original manufacturer Monsanto in 2018.The decision is a victory for the Trump administration, but one that could be tricky politically since allies in the Make America Healthy Again movement want to rein in pesticide use. The high court, in a 7-2 ruling, found that the company can't be sued in state courts because federal regulations have found a cancer link unlikely and do not require a warning label. The decision "is good for science, farmers, and industries that depend on regulatory clarity for innovation," Bayer said in a statement. "It should help significantly contain the Roundup litigation after nearly a decade of legal battles." Though Bayer said the ruling should result in the dismissal of pending lawsuits containing failure-to-warn allegations, the company said it plans to proceed with a proposed $7.25 billion class-action settlement intended to resolve many of the remaining claims. Lawyers for some residents pursuing Roundup litigation criticized the court's decision. "This Supreme Court ruling wrongly slams the courthouse door on Americans sickened by pesticides," said attorney Christopher Seeger, who is proposed as a claimants' representative in the settlement. But he said a settlement still would allow some people to receive compensation. The case before the Supreme Court was filed by Missouri resident John Durnell. He developed a cancer called non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after more than 20 years of serving as the neighborhood association's "spray guy," using Roundup on parks in his historic St. Louis community. A jury agreed that the company failed to warn him about possible cancer dangers and awarded him $1.25 million. It's one of thousands of similar cases, including some multibillion-dollar damage awards. There's still fierce debate about cancer and Roundup's key ingredient, glyphosate. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the chemical as "probably carcinogenic" in 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that it's not likely to cause cancer in humans when used as directed. The agency approved a label without a cancer warning, and Bayer argues that it's required to follow those federal standards — not the state laws that Durnell and others have sued under. The ruling still could allow other suits alleging problems with the way the product was designed, his attorney Ashley Keller has said. Bayer disputes the cancer claims but previously set aside $16 billion to settle cases, and earlier this year proposed a $7.25 billion class-action settlement. A federal judge recently ruled that the proposed settlement will be heard in a Missouri state court, where many of the lawsuits have been filed. At the same time, the company has tried to persuade states to pass laws shielding it from liability in failure-to-warn lawsuits, and three states have agreed. About 200,000 Roundup-related claims have been made against Bayer, mostly from home users. It has stopped using glyphosate in Roundup sold in the U.S. residential lawn and garden market. The company has said it might have to consider pulling glyphosate from U.S. agricultural markets if it keeps getting sued. Agricultural industry group say could have a devastating effect on the food supply. But pesticides have also created a rift between the Trump administration and members of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's MAHA movement, adding to their frustration with an executive order aimed at boosting glyphosate's production. Kennedy himself has said repeatedly that glyphosate causes cancer, even as he says he recognizes the executive order was necessary for food supply and national security reasons.

Court rules for Roundup maker in dispute over cancer warnings on pesticide labels | SCOTUSblog - The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Monsanto in a high-stakes dispute over cancer warnings on pesticide labels. In an opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh in Monsanto Company v. Durnell, the court ruled, by a vote of 7-2, that state lawsuits aimed at holding the company liable for failing to warn consumers about the potential risks of Roundup exposure are barred by the federal law governing pesticide sales. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a dissenting opinion, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch. In it, she contended that Thursday’s ruling is based on “a labeling requirement that does not exist,” and described the effects of the majority’s interpretation of the law as “both remarkable and regrettable.”The court’s ruling comes after decades of debate and litigation over the safety of glyphosate, a highly effective and popular herbicide that serves as the main active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller. Since 1974, when the Environmental Protection Agency first reviewed and registered glyphosate-based pesticides, clearing the way for their sale in the United States, the EPA has repeatedly concluded that such products do not need to carry a cancer warning. However, the EPA’s determinations have not dispelled concerns about Roundup’s cancer risks. These concerns increased in 2015, when a working group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”The IARC’s report led to tens of thousands of lawsuits against Monsanto over how Roundup products were labeled. Plaintiffs such as John Durnell, who brought the case that was before the court, contended that the company was liable for failing to warn them about the alleged link between glyphosate and cancer, while Monsanto countered that the EPA, which oversees pesticide labeling, had not required a cancer warning.Over the past decade, Monsanto has paid billions in damages and settlement agreements in these lawsuits even as it has continued to assert that state-level claims over Roundup labels are preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which authorizes the EPA to regulate the use, sale, and labeling of pesticides and which includes a uniformity requirement prohibiting states from imposing “any requirements for labeling or packaging in addition to or different from those required” by the federal government.When it asked the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of FIFRA, Monsanto emphasized that thousands of lawsuits over Roundup’s label remain pending and claimed that the future of U.S. agriculture was at stake in the case. In January, the justices agreed to weigh in.On Thursday, the court held that FIFRA expressly preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim against Monsanto, because such a claim would require the company “to add a cancer warning to Roundup’s label” that is not part of the EPA-approved label. That outcome, Kavanaugh wrote in his 22-page majority opinion, runs afoul of FIFRA’s uniformity requirement.Before registering a product for sale and distribution, Kavanaugh explained, the EPA “undertakes an extensive review of the pesticide and its proposed labeling,” and “determine[s] that the proposed label includes all warnings necessary and adequate to protect human health and the environment.” Once registered, “the manufacturer is required to use” the label approved by the EPA until it receives approval for a change or the EPA orders a change. The agency, according to Kavanaugh, “possesses a slew of tools to monitor the pesticide market and scientific developments, and thereby ensure that pesticide labels contain appropriate warnings in light of changed circumstances or new information.”Since it first studied glyphosate-based pesticides in 1974, Kavanaugh continued, the EPA has “repeatedly concluded that glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer” and therefore not required “pesticides like Roundup to include a cancer warning on their labels.” That means that, “as a matter of federal law, Monsanto legally must use a label without a cancer warning unless and until EPA approves or requires a change.”

Supreme Court hands Bayer a win that rattles MAHA - - The Supreme Court has dealt a devastating blow to the Make America Healthy Again Movement by blocking a path for users of the popular Roundup weedkiller to secure payouts from Monsanto for failing to disclose the product’s cancer risk. In a 7-2 ruling led by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court ruled in favor of Bayer, which owns Monsanto, finding that states cannot require more information on the pesticide label than required by federal regulation.Failure-to-warn arguments have helped Roundup customers like Missouri resident John Durnell, who won a $1.25 million state court verdict against Monsanto after he developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma.Roundup users have argued that the product’s key ingredient, glyphosate, is carcinogenic. EPA has determined that the chemical does not pose a cancer risk if used according to the label’s instructions, a finding that Monsanto and Trump officials said blocks states from reaching their own determinations about what information should appear on the weed killer’s label.The fight over pesticides has galvanized the MAHA movement, even as some of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s allies have criticized him for not going far enough to advance their priorities on pesticides and vaccines. Grassroots supporters, however, have successfully pushed to rid the House farm bill of language that would protect pesticide makers against liability.But they’ve failed to win the full support from the White House and congressional Republicans on their anti-pesticide efforts. The Trump administration has struggled to thread the needle of supporting a traditionally loyal constituency — farmers — and pleasing a relatively new part of the MAGA coalition, MAHA advocates. At the Supreme Court, Trump’s White House sided with Bayer in an amicus brief, prompting widespread frustration among MAHA advocates.The White House has sought to reassure its farming allies who worried the administration was poised to ban glyphosate. In addition to its support for Bayer at the Supreme Court, the Trump administration approved a mining permit for Bayer and signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to boost domestic glyphosate production — sparking ire from MAHA advocates.The blowback culminated in a rally in front of the Supreme Court, where MAHA advocates, lawmakers of both parties and lawyers spoke against a ruling favoring Bayer and other pesticide manufacturers.Still, MAHA advocates were successful in ridding the House farm bill draft of language that would have protected pesticide makers from liability.Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said in a statement following the Supreme Court’s ruling that the decision is “good for American farmers who help feed the world” and provides regulatory certainty.“This litigation has enormous costs for the company and has impacted public trust,” Anderson said. “The decision brings overdue justice on an issue that should have been clarified much earlier. It’s time to put it behind us.”Bayer said it expects the ruling to contain the Roundup litigation after decades of slugging it out in the courts and noted that Monsanto is continuing to pursue final approval of a $7.25 billion class-action settlement to resolve glyphosate cancer claims.Christopher Seeger, proposed class counsel in the settlement, decried the court’s decision.“This Supreme Court ruling wrongly slams the courthouse door on Americans sickened by pesticides, and underscores why we negotiated a $7.25 billion settlement that guarantees compensation to Roundup victims regardless of today’s decision,” he said in a statement. “We urge those opposing this agreement … to drop their opposition so that tens of thousands of cancer victims no longer have to wait for justice after a decade of delay.”

Next-generation pesticide disrupts bumblebee reproduction -- Bumblebees are only an inch long, but they help power the global food system. Roughly one-third of the food we grow depends on pollinators like bees—and those bees are regularly decimated by pesticides. Modern pesticides have helped boost crop yields, but they can also harm the insects that make those yields possible. Sulfoxaflor, a next-generation pesticide introduced in 2013, kills sap-feeding pests like aphids in crops, including soybeans and corn. Sulfoxaflor is also known to be toxic to bees. Scientists are still working to understand how low-dose exposure affects bee reproduction at the molecular level.Researchers at Georgia Tech have found that sulfoxaflor disrupts reproduction and gene expression. The team exposed groups of worker bumblebees to low doses of the pesticide and analyzed changes in gene activity. They found that ovarian tissues showed the most significant shifts in gene expression. These changes could contribute to reduced reproductive output and, over time, affect bee populations. In the study, the researchers flash-froze bee tissues and analyzed RNA to track how gene activity shifted after pesticide exposure. The Georgia Tech team used computational models to pinpoint which biological systems were most affected.The work is published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. "What makes this study exciting is that it connects molecular changes in gene expression to real-world consequences for individual bees and their colonies," "That type of connection is rare and gives us a much clearer picture of how pesticides affect bees."The implications of the study highlight a pressing challenge in agriculture."We need pesticides to control crop pests, but they can also harm essential non-target insects like bumblebees," said Sarah Orr, who led the research as a postdoctoral fellow at Georgia Tech and now works as an assistant professor at the University of Tampa.That balance between pest control and pollinator protection is critical. "We need many bees for successful pollination," Orr said. "If they're not producing enough offspring, pollination will decline."Pesticides are only one of several threats facing bumblebees. Stressors like heat waves also play a growing role. By better understanding how chemicals like sulfoxaflor affect bee biology, researchers hope to help farmers protect both their crops and the pollinators that sustain them.

Cheap, effective and dangerous: How Australian farmers came to depend on the toxic weedkiller paraquat - It is illegal to use paraquat in at least 74 jurisdictions worldwide, including the European Union, China, Malaysia, Brazil and, most recently, the U.S. state of Vermont.But today, Australia's chemical regulator gave this effective but highly toxic herbicide the green light.After a nearly 30-year review, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) finally decided paraquat can continue to be used on Australian farms.It will have to be used at reduced rates and can no longer be applied with backpack sprayers, only in enclosed systems.There's no doubt paraquat is dangerous. It's a Schedule 7 poison that is acutely toxic to humans if touched, swallowed or inhaled. Farmers have to be exceptionally careful in how they handle it.Health advocacy groups and neurologists called for an outright ban on paraquat over concerns that longer-term exposure could be linked to Parkinson's disease.Why is Australia so dependent on this chemical? As our recent research shows, the reasons are simple. Generic imported paraquat is cheap and effective, and there are few alternatives given the way we currently farm. Ironically, paraquat is largely imported from China, where its domestic use is banned.For broadacre Australian farmers who grow crops such as wheat, oats, chickpeas, canola and soybeans, paraquat is an essential tool. It is used to kill broadleaf and grassy weeds on no-till farms. No-till practices have been widely adopted in Australia to minimize soil disturbance but require chemical weed control.Paraquat also works on weeds that have become resistant to other major herbicides, such as glyphosate. Farmers often use these two herbicides together to effectively manage weeds.This reliance is partly due to developments in the pesticide industry (a term covering herbicides, insecticides and fungicides). Until recently, this industry was dominated by large multinational European and American companies that sold patented (more expensive) and off-patent products.But in the last two decades, Chinese manufacturers have ramped up cheap generic products. The global industry is now dominated by Chinese state-owned and private enterprises producing off-patent and far cheaper pesticides.Tax rebates and other government incentives have helped companies such as Rainbow, Wynca, Adama, Yangnong and Syngenta China become the world's leading agrochemical companies. In 2006, Australia imported around 10% of its pesticides (by value) from China; by 2025 that figure was almost 50%.The rise in generic pesticides has led to greater product availability. The 2015 China-Australia Free Trade Agreement removed tariffs on pesticide imports, making imports easier. Australia's regulatory agency doesn't require a full assessment to register new products with approved active ingredients.As a result, there are now 121 products containing paraquat registered in Australia, sold under names such as Rainquat, Gramoxone and Spraytop. While individual supply chains are difficult to trace, our research shows the chemicals in these products appear to be almost exclusively produced in China. The two leading agricultural chemical retailers in Australia, Nutrien and Elders, now have their own low-cost generic labels, sourcing generic formulations from China.As one of the interviewees for our research told us: "there are less and less commercially attractive options outside of China these days … when I was in the business 20 years ago, we had a lot of material coming out of Europe. There's almost nothing in Australia that comes out of Europe."

Dems demand Interior relocate polluted East Wing dirt - Sixty-one House Democrats are demanding the Trump administration relocate tons of White House demolition debris from a public golf course after a report found it contains elevated concentrations of dangerous heavy metals. Washington-area lawmakers — Maryland Reps. Jamie Raskin and Glenn Ivey, Virginia Rep. Don Beyer and District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton — spearheaded a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Friday demanding he “immediately and safely remove” the dirt dumped on the East Potomac Golf Course following President Donald Trump’s razing of the East Wing. Testing data commissioned by the National Park Service released last month revealed the soil contains levels of arsenic, lead and other dangerous chemicals that could pose health risks. Advertisement “For nearly eight months, golfers, cyclists, runners, fishermen and members of the public have been exposed to such debris,” the lawmakers wrote. “These contaminants are embedded in debris piles just feet away from the banks of the Potomac River, an important tributary of the Chesapeake Bay where people fish and row.”

California sues to keep Trump out of its tailpipes - California on Monday launched a legal challenge over EPA’s recent move to tee up four of its Clean Air Act waivers for nullification. The suit again heightens the already sky-high tension between the deep blue state and the Trump administration. “While President Trump may be content to pollute our air-threatened vulnerable communities and kick workers to the curb, California is not,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat. “We refuse to allow Trump and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to claw us back into the smog.” EPA earlier this month formally submitted four waivers issued as far back as the early Obama administration to Congress.

Greens cite GOP use of rule-killing law to challenge timber sale - Environmentalists filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging a Trump administration timber sale in eastern Oregon in litigation that could have broader repercussions. If the case succeeds, groups say it won’t just stop logging in one small site. It could throw hundreds of land management plans — and permits issued under them — into question across the country. The lawsuit filed by Cascadia Wildlands — which is represented by nonprofit environmental law firm Silvix Resources — is seizing on Congress’ unprecedented use of a Clinton-era rule-killing law to selectively throw out resource management plans on public lands that Republican lawmakers want to see opened to coal leasing, drilling and other activities. By applying the Congressional Review Act to those plans, lawmakers effectively put into question all land management plans adopted after the CRA became law in 1996, greens say. Democrats have made the same argument on Capitol Hill.

Researchers find microplastics in hedgehogs—then trace them back to pet food -When colleagues and I found microplastics in hedgehog droppings, we wanted to know where they were coming from. One answer was surprisingly close to home: pet food. The story began in 2021, when we collected 189 hedgehog feces samples from residential gardens and rehabilitation centers across the U.K. We found plastic in 19% of them. Despite being one of Britain's best-loved wild animals, and now officially listed as "near threatened", no one knew hedgehogs were ingesting microplastics.  To understand where these microplastics were coming from, we decided to investigate their diet. Naturally, the European hedgehog eats invertebrates, including beetles, snails, slugs, earthworms, caterpillars and woodlice, so we started by looking at these. Colleagues and I analyzed thousands of invertebrate and soil samples from 51 sites in Sussex, U.K. We found plastics were widespread across different species and land types. Next, we wanted to understand whether pet foods fed to European hedgehogs in rehabilitation centers and residential gardens contained microplastics. In the U.K., many rehabilitation centers treat a high number of sick or injured mammals each year. Research suggests that food left out by people is the single biggest reason European hedgehogs visit residential gardens. Many hedgehogs have even become reliant on it, especially during the autumn and winter. Often, this means commercially available cat, dog or hedgehog food. To determine the levels of plastic contamination in pet foods, colleagues and I selected 38 brands to test across different price categories, food types (wet and dry), and target animals (cat, dog and wild hedgehog). We purchased six retail units of each product and took a random 1 g sample from each tin, sachet, tray or bag. Our study was recently published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.  We found microplastics in 29 of the 38 pet food products we tested. In 18 products, contamination appeared in more than one retail unit. Although plastic was found across the products tested, those in the "value" price category had more positive samples. Dry food contained more plastic per gram, but animals typically eat much larger portions of wet food. As a result, wet food may lead to greater overall microplastic intake. For example, based on the average levels we found in wet dog food samples, a large dog such as a Labrador could ingest around 313 microplastic particles per day.Compared with studies of human food, we found that pet food had higher levels of microplastics. This is likely due to ingredient quality. For example, of the 21 products that contained animal derivatives, 19 had at least one plastic-positive sample, and 13 had at least two.   All this suggests that pet foods may be an important source of microplastics for pets and wild hedgehogs (and other mammals).We still know relatively little about the health effects of microplastics in pets and wildlife, and we did not test the health impacts in our research. However, there is a growing body of evidence from laboratory studies that they lead to issues with fertility, organ functionality and overall health.  Given both this uncertainty and how common these particles were in the pet food we tested, reducing contamination at the manufacturing stage would be a good precaution.

Animals are often moved to make way for infrastructure, but we don't know what happens to them next - When major infrastructure projects are built in rural areas, wildlife is often displaced and moved out of the way. This is called mitigation translocation, and it is a globally recognized method for moving animals. However, not everyone applies it the same way, or at all.In Canada, provinces like Ontario and Alberta use relocation only for federally listed at-risk species. In British Columbia, all 32 native amphibians and reptiles—federally listed as at risk or not—must be relocated. But it wasn't always this way.Before the 2010 Winter Olympics, a section of B.C.'s Sea-to-Sky Highway was realigned to accommodate increased traffic flow between Vancouver and Whistler. However, the new highway would bisect the wetland habitat of the northern red-legged frog, a species listed under Canada's Species at Risk Act. Public pressure to protect the species prompted the provincial government to find a solution. That solution was to translocate all frogs from the affected wetland to a habitat outside the project footprint. Since then, mitigation translocation has become standard practice for amphibians and reptiles. In our study conducted from 2019 to 2022 in B.C., we found 227 projects that relocated individual animals, mostly for developments like pipelines. Altogether, approximately 5.1 million individual animals were relocated, most of them amphibians—specifically, the western toad (Anaxyrus boreas). Translocation's intent is to minimize the impacts of development, and at first glance, it seems like an appropriate solution. At least that's what I thought when I carried out my first translocation. Move a few amphibians from danger and call it a day. But our lab's research shows that not only are we moving millions of animals, we have no idea what happens to them next.During mitigation translocation, also called "salvaging," biologists survey construction sites, collect all animals that may otherwise experience direct harm, and relocate them to nearby habitats.Perhaps the most important finding from our study is not just the sheer number of animals moved, but how little we know about what happens afterward.The B.C. government issues permits as part of the translocation process. Within that process, it's up to a biologist hired by the project to determine how many animals they believe they will move and an appropriate release site for them.However, the only reporting requirements include providing the number of animals relocated and their life stage. There is no legal requirement to provide coordinates for the chosen release site or to monitor whether the relocated animals survived, reproduced or maintained a healthy population over time.Without proper monitoring programs in place, it is difficult to determine what happens to the animals after they are moved. Not only are we moving millions of amphibians and reptiles, but we have no idea whether the efforts to save them from direct harm just cause harm later. Decades of global-scale research suggest the reality of mitigation translocation is this: It doesn't work, especially not for amphibians and reptiles.For these animals, the quality of the release site is one of the most important factors we need to consider for translocation. They have specific habitat requirements they rely on for breeding, overwintering and migration routes—all of which can be difficult to identify and replicate when habitat is lost to infrastructure development.Animals that are moved may experience stress, become more vulnerable to predators and disease, face competition with resident populations, or experience difficulty finding food. Some even attempt to return to their original capture location. Others may not survive or reproduce after release, without any clear answers about why.Without monitoring or research in B.C. to draw from, we cannot even speculate about the outcome of our translocations. Nor can we truly know whether we're causing indirect harm.

Elephants move closer to humans when droughts are sustained - If drought in an area persists longer, elephants move closer to areas near human settlements. This is the finding of research by biologist Irene Bouwman of Radboud University. During short-term droughts, the animals remain close to rivers and lakes and move less than normal. African elephants are avid walkers, Bouwman says. "Elephants typically use a habitat of around 2,000 km2 per month. That is roughly the same size as the Dutch province of Limburg. They walk about 140 kilometers (87 miles) per month." But that changes when conditions worsen: During short droughts (a month), elephants cover less distance than normal. Bouwman used data collected over 19 years from trackers around the necks of elephants living in Botswana. "That does not affect the behavior," the biologist explains. "In the first week after being fitted with a tracker, they display slightly unusual behavior, but after that they move around just as much as before." Bouwman observed that during short-term droughts, the elephants stayed close to rivers and lakes. They ventured less often into areas inhabited by people. "But if the drought lasted a year, the elephants moved away from rivers and lakes and came closer to human settlements. After a year, rivers may dry up, forcing the elephants to seek alternatives." The search for alternatives during prolonged droughts leads to more human-wildlife conflict. "If an elephant enters a field in search of food, it can be fatal for both humans and animals. Elephants take greater risks when drought persists." Bouwman says: "What we have demonstrated is that the duration of a drought matters. If we see that a drought is continuing, it may be wise to take appropriate measures, such as erecting fences or installing additional waterholes for elephants in strategic locations." Droughts are becoming increasingly common, particularly in southern Africa, the biologist says. "We still know relatively little about animal behavior during droughts. We hope this study can contribute to protecting wildlife from the effects of climate change."

Why warmer seas may not wipe out female fish in some species - In many fish species, water temperature determines the sex of the fry. This biological mechanism threatens to wipe out entire populations because of a shortage of females in the face of global warming. However, an international study conducted in Spain, France and Brazil has found that this well-known masculinization effect can be offset over generations. In a 10-year experiment involving more than 3,000 European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), scientists observed that the initial high proportion of male births under intense heat was reversed by the third generation, with more females being born. The results are published in the journal Global Change Biology. "We observed that the effects of warming aren't cumulative for some strains of this species, which gives us hope regarding the impact of climate change on fish, at least as far as reproductive aspects are concerned," says Maira da Silva Rodrigues, co-author of the study, which was conducted during her doctoral studies at the Botucatu Institute of Biosciences of São Paulo State University (IBB-UNESP) in Brazil. Under the guidance of Rafael Henrique Nóbrega, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at IBB-UNESP, Rodrigues analyzed the gonads, testes and ovaries of the third generation of European seabass in the experiment. "The higher number of males is a phenomenon that affects populations of fish species whose sex is partially determined by water temperature. There has long been debate over whether a warmer planet could lead to the extinction of these species, since there would theoretically be no more females. What the study shows is that at least for the species analyzed, a compensatory mechanism occurs that could counteract this harmful effect of warming," Nóbrega explains. However, the third generation—the grandchildren of the first generation and the children of the second generation studied—was not entirely immune to the effects of developing in a warmer environment (21° C instead of 16° C for the control populations). "The males of the most recent generation, which had more females, experienced a significant delay in gonadal maturation. We don't know what might happen to the next generation because of that. The females, on the other hand, didn't experience any disruption in gonadal development," Rodrigues says. The study was conducted on a Northern Hemisphere species that lives in typically colder waters than those of the tropics. Despite its Portuguese name, robalo-europeu, it is a distant relative of the fish known as robalo in Brazil and exhibits a different pattern of sexual development. The effect of warming over generations on tropical and neotropical species, such as those found in Brazil, is not yet known. For this reason, the researchers are expanding their studies to include Brazilian species, starting with the lake tetra (Astyanax lacustris). "One of the most innovative focuses of this research is the role of microRNAs present in semen, which can act as environmental messengers capable of transmitting information from the father to the offspring," Nóbrega says.According to Nóbrega, these small RNAs can directly influence embryonic development, fertility and the adaptive capacity of future generations of fish. This opens a new frontier for understanding paternal inheritance in vertebrates.In a previous study, the Botucatu group, in collaboration with researchers from Argentina and Canada, had shown that heat directly alters the sex ratio and activates deep hormonal mechanisms. Experiments with the Japanese rice fish (Oryzias latipes) demonstrated that thyroid hormones, especially T3, play a key role in temperature-induced masculinization. Exposure to heat activates the stress axis, increasing cortisol levels. This, in turn, stimulates the thyroid axis, raising T3 levels and promoting testicular development. Blocking this stress response stops masculinization, showing that the process depends on the interaction of different hormonal systems. "The findings are changing how we view the effects of climate change. Instead of simple, linear responses, we show that there's a complex scenario in which hormones, genes, environmental history and transgenerational inheritance interact to shape the fate of populations,"

Long-dismissed gas emerges as a hidden driver of urban air pollution - Researchers from Tampere University and the University of Helsinki have identified an unexpected chemical process that may influence the formation of air pollution particles in urban environments. The study shows that nitric oxide (NO)—a pollutant primarily emitted by vehicles, power plants and other combustion sources—can promote the formation of aerosol particles, challenging a long-standing assumption in atmospheric science.   The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.  Air pollution particles are harmful to human health, reduce visibility—for example, in traffic—and affect the weather and climate.  Understanding how these particles form in the atmosphere is essential for improving air quality predictions and developing effective pollution control strategies. For many years, atmospheric scientists have considered nitric oxide to be a compound that suppresses the formation of low-volatility condensable vapors that can contribute to aerosol formation. However, the new study demonstrates that the opposite can occur for an important group of urban pollutants, such as aromatic carbonyl compounds. "Traditionally, NO has been viewed as a compound that limits the formation of atmospheric aerosol precursors. Our results show that it is more likely to enhance their formation from certain volatile compounds," says doctoral researcher Shawon Barua from Tampere University. The researchers investigated the behavior of aromatic carbonyl compounds in the atmosphere following their release from sources such as vehicle emissions, industrial activities and a range of consumer products. Using advanced laboratory experiments and computational modeling, the team identified a previously overlooked chemical pathway that rapidly converts these compounds into aerosol precursors. "Our findings reveal that the chemistry of urban air is more complex than previously assumed. To accurately predict future air quality, we need to understand all the chemical pathways that contribute to particle formation," says Dr. Avinash Kumar from Tampere University. The discovery is particularly relevant for urban environments, where aromatic pollutants and nitrogen oxide emissions often coexist. The newly identified pathway may therefore play an important role in the formation of particulate matter in cities around the world. Despite decades of research, the formation of aerosol particles—the most detrimental aspect of air pollution—remains poorly understood in urban environments. "Sequential oxidation reactions between common air pollutants, such as those highlighted in this study, have been missing from the existing model chemistries and may go a long way toward explaining why predicting urban aerosol loads has been so difficult," says Professor Matti Rissanen from Tampere University. He believes the findings will help scientists improve atmospheric models used to predict air quality and assess the impacts of air pollution on human health and climate.

El Niño is underway, satellite observations show - El Niño, characterized by warmer-than-normal water temperatures in parts of the equatorial Pacific, made its return in June 2026. Observations of sea surface height from the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite that month indicated that the 2026 event was continuing to strengthen. The natural, recurring phenomenon can have widespread effects, typically bringing wetter conditions to the U.S. Southwest and drought to countries in the western Pacific, such as Indonesia and Australia. NOAA declared an El Niño on June 11, after sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific measured at least 0.5°C above average for several consecutive months. Meanwhile, NASA scientists have been observing a complementary sign of El Niño: areas of elevated sea surface height. When ocean water warms, it expands in volume and causes the sea surface to rise—making the water's height a reliable indicator of ocean temperatures. Warmer-than-normal temperatures, and hence higher sea surface heights, in parts of the equatorial Pacific Ocean are associated with El Niño. The map above depicts sea surface height anomalies across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean as observed June 8, 2026. Shades of red indicate sea levels that were higher than average. Normal sea level conditions appear white, and lower areas are blue.  Data for the map were acquired by the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite—launched in 2020 by NASA and led by ESA (European Space Agency)—and processed by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Note that signals related to seasonal cycles and long-term trends have been removed to highlight sea level anomalies associated with El Niño and other short-term natural phenomena.Earlier in spring 2026, the satellite started to detect precursor signs of El Niño as swells of warm water hundreds of miles wide, known as Kelvin waves, moved from the western Pacific to the eastern Pacific. That happens when trade winds in the western equatorial Pacific weaken and then temporarily reverse to blow from the west. Warm water piles up in the east, deepening the warm surface layer, lowering the thermocline and suppressing the upwelling that usually keeps waters along the Pacific coasts of the Americas cooler.This buildup of heat beneath the water's surface is what sea surface height observations capture. It goes beyond surface temperature measurements to indicate how much heat is stored in the subsurface. That's important because a shallow warm layer might not have much impact on climate and weather, while a large reservoir of heat below the surface can matter more.According to JPL sea level researcher Severine Fournier, deputy project scientist for Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, conditions in the western Pacific on June 8 looked similar to those from the same time in 1997, a year when an exceptionally strong El Niño emerged. Warm conditions in the eastern Pacific in 2026 have lagged behind, however, with fewer Kelvin waves built up by the same date.Still, more warm Kelvin waves appeared to be approaching the eastern Pacific, meaning El Niño was still strengthening. Whether it catches up to 1997 depends on ocean activity in the coming weeks. "For now, it looks like it's going to be a big one—more so than I would have said last week—but we still need more observations to know what's going to happen."

Hundreds of schools close as UK braces for record-breaking heat wave -The UK braced for a record-breaking heat wave Tuesday as hundreds of schools closed early for the next two days and train companies slashed services. The UK's meteorological office has issued an extremely rare red heat warning—issued only once before—for Wednesday and Thursday, as temperatures could soar to 40C (104F), unprecedented for the time of year.The red "extreme heat" warning extends to parts of central and southern England, including London and Birmingham, the UK's two biggest cities. The Met Office also forecast that the June temperature record—35.6C (96.1F), set in 1976—could be broken Tuesday, with the mercury expected to rise to 37C (98.6F) in southern England. "To see temperatures like this in the UK in June is sobering," said Met Office Chief Scientist Stephen Belcher. "Human-induced climate change has made events like this more likely and more intense," he added, echoing warnings issued by scientists around the world. Climate experts have also repeatedly told the government that the UK is not prepared for warmer summers. A pedestrian shelters under a large umbrella while walking through Hyde Park in central London as temperatures are set to rise to record levels. At least 300 schools were planning to close partially or fully Tuesday and later in the week, according to a BBC count. "Pretty much every school up and down the UK will be having to make some form of adaptation this week in light of the extreme heat," James Bowen, assistant general secretary at the National Association of Head Teachers, told AFP. He said there needed to be "a sensible conversation about air conditioning." "We have an awful lot of very old buildings," Bowen said, adding they were "not really fit for purpose and are certainly not ready to withstand this kind of heat." In one northwest London primary school, which was closing early, temperatures on Tuesday rose above 30C (86F). The school told parents it remained "concerned about the welfare of both pupils and staff, particularly during the afternoon when temperatures are forecast to be at their highest." Network Rail, which manages most of the UK's railways, told passengers to "only travel if absolutely necessary" on those days, while the railway company connecting the northeast to London issued a "do not travel" advisory. Eurostar canceled six trains between London and Paris this week because of the "adverse weather."

France records hottest-ever day as 40 drown trying to escape heatwave  -At least 40 ⁠people have drowned in France while swimming in unsupervised areas to seek relief from a heatwave gripping the country and other parts of Europe. Speaking after a crisis meeting on Tuesday as France recorded its hottest-ever day, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the death toll since Thursday was mainly young people. “They are the first victims of the crisis we are facing,” he said, calling the fatalities a “tragic scourge” on a day when temperatures in some parts of the country climbed above about 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). According to the Meteo France forecaster, in Les Herbiers in the southwest of the country, temperatures reached 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday. Sports Minister Marina ⁠Ferrari told France ⁠Inter radio that “to go swimming in unauthorised areas during a ‌heatwave is not something to take lightly”. Local authorities said the heatwave was the most likely reason for the deaths of two children aged two and four who were found unconscious in a car outside their home in Carpentras in southeastern France. Three more people aged 80 to 95 died in the Bordeaux region from heat-related health issues, local official Sophie Brocas told France TV. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), warned that the next few days posed “serious health risks” for Europe. “For thousands of people across Europe, extreme temperatures, without action, can quickly become a matter of life and death,” Mary Friel, the IFRC’s senior climate policy officer, told a press conference in Geneva. “IFRC is urging people to take this heatwave seriously and to look out for those most at risk to save lives.” Meteo-France said France registered its hottest day from Monday to Tuesday since records began in 1947. The national temperature indicator, – an average of daytime and nighttime temperatures across 30 stations – reached 29.8C, Meteo-France added, citing provisional data. The heatwave smashed temperature records in multiple cities, including Bordeaux and Poitiers, and strained power grids and public services. The national weather service placed 54 areas of France, a country without widespread air conditioning, under a red heatwave alert while schools closed early or adjusted timetables to protect students. The Louvre in Paris, the world’s most visited museum, said it would close two hours early at 4 pm local time (14:00 GMT) from Wednesday to Saturday due to the intense temperatures. According to the museum’s management, the heatwave has made “visiting and working conditions difficult during the hottest hours of the day”, adding that “it is at the end of the day that heat builds up most, exacerbated by high visitor numbers”. The Eiffel Tower management also announced it would close at 4 pm on Tuesday. “Thursday will once again be a sweltering day, with temperatures remaining just as high. On Friday, a gradual drop is expected to begin from the Atlantic coast,” Meteo-France said. People cool off in the Trocadero Fountain next to the Eiffel Tower as temperatures rise during a heatwave affecting a large part of the country, in Paris, June 22, 2026 [Abdul Saboor/Reuters] People cool off in the Trocadero Fountain next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris [Abdul Saboor/Reuters] Elsewhere in Europe, Britain’s Met Office warned on Monday that a four-day heatwave could push temperatures above 39C (102F) in parts of the country, easily breaking the June records of 35.6C (96F) set in 1957 and 1976. Just weeks earlier, the United Kingdom had recorded its highest May temperature on record. “Thirty-six degrees is going to be disgusting,” data scientist Lewis Jennings told Reuters news in London. Forecasters said temperatures would run 5-10C (9-18F) above normal with northern areas seeing even larger anomalies. Dozens of schools in England also said they would close early on Tuesday and remain shut for two more days. Spain also saw extreme heat. San Sebastian in the traditionally cooler north was set to reach 40C (104F), more than double the city’s historic average for June 22, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor. In Italy, the health ministry issued its highest-level alert for 15 cities, with authorities taking measures to curtail work in some sectors. The monitor showed Europe as the continent furthest from its historic norm on Monday. The extreme heat was driven by an “Omega block” weather pattern, named for its resemblance to the shape of the Greek letter. The system has trapped a bulge of hot air over the continent while cooler air sits on either side. “It’s drawing warm air up from North Africa, from the Sahara, and that’s why we have this really intense ⁠heat. It’s very slow moving, and it means there’s kind of no wind, no breeze for respite,” Clair Barnes, a research associate in extreme weather and climate at Imperial College in London, told Reuters.

Heat wave sparks health warnings across Europe - Workers sweated in choking heat and pupils stayed home Tuesday as an early-summer heat wave smothered much of Europe, with France suffering its hottest day on record. Schools and tourist sites closed early and railways canceled journeys as several countries issued red alerts for much of their territory in the record-breaking heat. France had its hottest day since measurements began in 1947, the national weather agency said, after sweating through its hottest night ever recorded. The national temperature indicator—an average of daytime and nighttime temperatures across 30 stations—reached 29.8C, Meteo-France said, citing provisional data. Scientists have shown that recurring heat waves are a clear marker of global warming and warn they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense, driven by humans' burning of fossil fuels. France on Tuesday experienced its hottest day since measurements began in 1947, the national weather agency said. Nearly all of Spain was under a heat alert, with parts of the south and north of the country on the highest warning level for "extraordinary danger," national weather agency AEMET said. As in various countries, authorities there urged citizens to take extra care of vulnerable people, drink water and avoid exertion at the hottest hours. But some workers said they had no choice but to sweat in the sun. Removal man Valentin Fernandez told AFP he was having a "rotten time" trucking furniture and boxes in Madrid, where the temperature reached 38C. "When the sun starts to hit you, you feel like dying. And inside the truck it's twice as bad ... it's horrendous," he said, sweat soaking his shirt and running off his nose. A lack of air conditioning at some of Spain's hospitals prompted the SATSE nurses union to issue a statement denouncing the conditions that put workers and patients at risk. Temperatures "reach and exceed 30C in areas" of hospital facilities, it said, while noting authorities have only recommended that they "close the windows and lower the blinds as much as possible." Italy's Health Ministry declared a red heat wave alert in 15 cities, including Milan and Rome. Blackouts struck Milan and Turin because of the spike in the use of air conditioning. A massive front of hot air from North Africa was smothering western Europe, Sebastien Leas, a forecaster at France's weather service Meteo-France, told AFP. A cold front off Portugal was "acting like a heat pump, drawing up warm air," he said. "At altitude, high-pressure systems exert pressure on this warm air mass, and when we compress a warm air mass, we actually make it even hotter." In England, dozens of schools said they would close early Tuesday and remain shut for two more days. "Most of our buildings cannot be cooled adequately and there is little shade outside," one school in the southeastern county of Buckinghamshire said. The UK's Met Office weather agency issued a rare red heat warning—for only the second time—for parts of central and southern England on Wednesday and Thursday. Temperatures could soar to 40C, unprecedented for the time of year—a "sobering" prospect, according to Met Office chief scientist Stephen Belcher. The railway line connecting northeast England to London issued a "do not travel" advisory. Speaking at a crisis meeting, France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu warned of "a tragic scourge of drownings," saying 40 mostly young people had drowned since June 18. In Germany on Monday, police said five people had died in swimming accidents over the weekend. At one Paris school on Tuesday, parents taped survival blankets to windows to lower the temperature inside and pooled their money to buy shades for the playground. The school received some fans, "but that doesn't actually lower the temperature in the rooms," said Gaelle Roubere, of the parents' association at the Marsoulan primary school. Workers at a Stellantis site near the French city of Mulhouse said they would end their shifts early from Tuesday to Sunday in protest of working conditions during the boiling hot weather. "Temperatures in some workshops are close to 38–40C," union representative Salah Keltoumi said. "You're there assembling parts, but with people who turned up exhausted because they couldn't sleep properly the night before." Austria, Poland, Hungary and Croatia each issued heat warnings for parts of their territory. Emergency services in Hungary and Slovenia reported elderly people seeking help. Croatian firefighters said they had brought several wildfires under control.

How a heat dome is formed and why experts blame one for Europe's baking temperatures - Europe is sizzling under an early heat wave this week, with millions of people experiencing extremely high temperatures, and experts say a phenomenon known as a heat dome is to blame. Heat domes are essentially high-pressure systems that remain stationary for a few days, trapping dangerous heat and humidity, said Mireia Ginesta, a research associate at the Climate Litigation Lab at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. Heat domes result from a northward bulge in the jet stream—a river of fast-moving wind at high elevations—that creates the weather we experience. "High-pressure system means that the air is sinking, and as the air goes down to lower altitudes, it becomes compressed," Ginesta said. "So the pressure increases and the temperature also increases." Those "bulges" are what set up the conditions that lead to a heat wave, said Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. "The heat dome is really what the jet stream is doing," Francis said. "The heat wave is what we feel at the surface." Millions of people across the continent have been experiencing exceptionally high temperatures as an early summer heat wave sears France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. "In Europe, they're just not used to this," Francis said. "It's really just in the last decade or two where these sorts of really brutal heat waves have been happening and killing a lot of people because they don't have the means to stay cool." France, which has been the most affected so far, doesn't have widespread air conditioning, and about half the country has been placed under a red heat wave alert by the national weather service. The nation has also reported around 40 fatalities because of drowning, as people sought cooling relief. Those conditions are expected to last for several days, with temperatures as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). "We are going to see the June temperature records not just broken, but completely annihilated," said Liz Bentley, chief executive at the Royal Meteorological Society and a professor of meteorology at the University of Reading.

Major power outage in France as Europe wilts under record heat - Europe braced Wednesday for another day of a sweltering heat wave that has smashed records, left tens of thousands of people without power and sent air conditioner sales zooming on a continent unused to and ill-equipped to handle searing heat. The extreme weather is being driven by atmospheric patterns that keep hot air trapped in place for days, with these factors worsened by global warming, experts say. France's national temperature indicator—an average of daytime and nighttime temperatures across 30 stations—reached 29.8C on Tuesday, the hottest since measurements began in 1947. With four more French departments being put under the highest heat alert category Wednesday, around 44 million people are affected, according to AFP calculations. Added to the 31 departments currently on orange alert, more than 90% of the French population is exposed to extreme heat, with temperatures of 39C to 41C expected on Wednesday from Brittany to the Paris region, and in much of the southwest. The heat wave caused the country's first major power outage of the latest bout of extreme weather, after a heat-related incident with a transformer left around 68,000 households in the northwestern Finistere department without electricity Wednesday, authorities said. While teams worked through the night to fix the issue, which took place late Tuesday, power is not expected to be restored in full until the end of Wednesday at the earliest. Up to 106,000 clients of the French power network were left without power by late Tuesday, as the scorching temperatures strain infrastructure built for the days before human-caused climate change made heat waves longer, more frequent and more intense, according to scientists. Sales of fans and air conditioners skyrocketed in a country where most buildings are not designed to cope with extreme heat. On Monday, hypermarket operator Carrefour had sold 30,000 units by 6:30 p.m.—"a thousand times more than on a normal day," CEO Alexandre Bompard said. Sales on Amazon nearly doubled last week compared with the same period in 2025, while the electronics outlet Fnac Darty reported double-digit growth. Thierry, an electrician in southwest France, said he was overwhelmed by requests for "emergency" air-conditioning installations. "In theory, you have to submit a request to the owners' association general meeting" in residential complexes, "but people don't want to wait." "We're suffocating in the streets, we're suffocating in the subway and we're even suffocating in our rental," Italy's Health Ministry declared a red heat wave alert in 16 cities on Wednesday, including Milan and Rome. The heat wave is expected to extend into eastern Europe in the coming days. Poland's weather service issued high-level heat warnings for the western part of the country from Thursday to Saturday, forecasting temperatures could break the record of 40.2C set in 1921. Croatia's popular Adriatic coast was also put under red alert for Friday and Saturday. Hungary, already under a second-level heat alert, said it was raising that to the maximum level from Saturday to Tuesday as temperatures continued to rise. The current heat wave is "significantly exacerbated by human-induced climate change," without which the current temperatures would have been 2 to 4C cooler, according to a scientific study published this week. But some relief could start to come from the west on Wednesday, when Spain's national weather service said temperatures would drop in most of the country. But no quick temperature drop is in sight across much of the rest of western Europe.

‘This is climate change’: European heat wave impossible without warming, scientists say - — This week’s extraordinary heat wave is the worst to ever hit Western Europe and could not have occurred without humans heating the planet by burning fossil fuels, scientists say. Europeans from Spain to the United Kingdom have been sweltering under extreme heat this week, with temperatures surging to near or above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) even before peak summer takes hold. New research published Friday finds that this kind of event would have been “virtually impossible” just 50 years ago and has become vastly more likely even over the past two decades due to global warming. The World Weather Attribution consortium, which includes scientists from Imperial College London and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, used peer-reviewed methods to compare this week’s heat wave to other hot European summers in 1976 and 2003.

Germany records all-time high of 41.3°C (106.3°F) as exceptional European heatwave shatters records -  Germany provisionally recorded its highest air temperature on record on June 26, 2026 as an exceptional late-June heatwave continued to rewrite temperature records across Europe, prompting widespread red heat warnings, disrupting public life and raising concerns over growing impacts on health, infrastructure and ecosystems. The German Weather Service (DWD) measured 41.3°C (106.3°F) in Saarbrücken, surpassing the previous national record of 41.2°C (106.2°F) set in July 2019, although the value remains subject to quality-control verification before it can be recognized as an official record. Forecasters warned that temperatures may reach or slightly exceed that level again during the weekend, with some areas expected to approach 42°C (107.6°F). The record comes during one of Germany’s longest periods of consecutive heat alerts since the DWD introduced its national heat-warning system in 2005. Warnings have been in effect since June 18 and are expected to continue through at least June 29, creating a 12-day episode that the agency says is unprecedented this early in the year. The previous longest continuous warning period lasted 18 days between late July and early August 2018. “This current heatwave is extraordinary not only because of its duration and its early occurrence in the summer, but also because the heat burden on people is unusually high,” said Tobias Fuchs, DWD Executive Board Member for Climate and Environment. “Especially when it comes to heatwaves, the influence of climate change is very clear. We are already seeing heatwaves become hotter and last longer.” Meteorologists expect widespread daytime temperatures between 35°C (95°F) and above 40°C (104°F) across Germany during the weekend. The DWD forecasts Level 2 extreme heat stress across parts of the country on 10 of the expected 12 days of the event, with apparent temperatures exceeding 38°C (100.4°F) over much of Germany and particularly severe conditions anticipated in Berlin and Brandenburg.

Two major earthquakes M7.2 and M7.5 strike Venezuela within 39 seconds – death toll exceeds 920 - A rare earthquake doublet struck northern Venezuela on June 24, 2026, beginning with an M7.2 foreshock at 22:04 UTC (18:04 LT) and followed just 39 seconds later by a larger M7.5 mainshock at 22:05 UTC. The USGS reported depths of 20.3 km (12.6 miles) for the foreshock and 10 km (6.2 miles) for the mainshock. EMSC reported the foreshock as M7.1 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles) and the mainshock as M7.5 at a depth of 35 km (21.7 miles). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said evaluation of all available data indicates that a destructive tsunami was not generated. Reports received by 11:45 UTC on June 27 mention at least 920 deaths and over 3 360 people injured. The death toll is expected to continue rising. epicenter m7.5 earthquake carabobo venezuela june 24 2026 Epicenter of M7.5 earthquake in Carabobo, Venezuela on June 24, 2026. Credit: TW/SAM, Google The earthquake sequence began with an M7.2 foreshock at 22:04 UTC, followed just 39 seconds later by a larger M7.5 mainshock at 22:05 UTC. Both earthquakes struck within a few kilometers of each other southeast of Yumare in northern Venezuela. The M7.2 foreshock was located 23 km (15 miles) SE of Yumare (population 15 661) and 26 km (16 miles) ENE of San Felipe (population 206 270). The M7.5 mainshock occurred 39 seconds later, with its epicenter located 28 km (18 miles) SE of Yumare (population 15 661), 29 km (18 miles) NNW of Montalbán (population 29 451), 30 km (19 miles) W of Morón (population 68 084), and 31 km (20 miles) ENE of San Felipe (population 206 270). 6 000 people are estimated to have felt violent shaking associated with the M7.5, 347 000 severe, 471 000 very strong, and 5.3 million strong. Evaluation of all available data indicates that a destructive tsunami was not generated by either earthquake, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC). The USGS issued Red PAGER alerts for both earthquakes, indicating high casualties and extensive damage are probable and that the disaster is likely widespread. Estimated economic losses are 1–4% of Venezuela’s GDP for the M7.5 mainshock and 0–7% for the M7.2 foreshock. Overall, the population in the affected region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though resistant structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are unreinforced brick masonry and adobe block construction. Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as tsunamis that might have contributed to losses. Liquefaction and landsliding are expected to be significant for both earthquakes, with large areas and populations exposed to potential ground failure.

Democrats to meet on energy, environment priorities ---Hundreds of energy and environment leaders — including 27 Democratic lawmakers — will convene Tuesday in Washington for a summit focused on crafting policies with broad support. The conference, organized by the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute, is meant to produce “bold ideas of climate and energy action” that can be implemented under the Trump administration, according to promotional material.Headlining the daylong event is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who will speak alongside Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.). Castor is currently spearheading a monthslong SEEC initiative — the “Thriving Economy Project” — to crowdsource bipartisan policy proposals from around the country. Castor said that she and Jeffries’ remarks will be “all about the cost of living.” She nodded to Jeffries’ major role in setting energy priorities should Democrats win a majority of House seats in the November midterm elections.

UN summit collides with reality that talking won’t solve climate change - — Talking won’t save the planet. Climate negotiators are starting to catch on. On the banks of the Rhine, diplomats from almost 200 nations spent the past two weeks arguing over linguistic details while grappling with the growing sense that what mattered more lay outside their negotiation rooms. On Thursday, countries wrapped up climate talks in the former West German capital, Bonn, where negotiators sought to lay the groundwork for COP31, taking place in Antalya, Turkey, in November. But as they debated textual references, the fate of work programs, and the definitions of past agreements, many delegates found that the divide between real-world efforts to rein in climate change and their squabbles over technical language felt starker than ever.

Washington, California and Québec move to link carbon markets - The states of Washington and California and the province of Québec signed an agreement Thursday that brings them one step closer to setting up the largest carbon market in North America.The top climate regulators from the three governments — California Air Resources Board Chair Lauren Sanchez, Washington Department of Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller and Québec Minister of the Environment Pascale Déry — signed the agreement, which lays out a road map for how the governments would run sales of pollution permits together, track pollution credits across borders and coordinate to police the market.California and Québec have already jointly run their carbon markets for over a decade, and Washington has been preparing to join since it created its own market in 2021. The agreement by itself does not formally link the programs, but it paves the way for the next regulatory steps each government must take toward what they say would be the largest carbon market run by subnational governments.Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, cast the move as a counterweight to President Donald Trump, who has rolled back federal climate programs and threatened the authority of blue states like California to make their own climate rules.

Lawmakers mull mine cleanup, mineral recovery bills -- House lawmakers will consider more than a half-dozen legislative proposals this week to boost EPA’s role in recovering critical minerals from various waste streams and cleaning up abandoned mines.The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment will hold a hearing Wednesday to focus on seven bills, including language that would pave the way for lithium-ion batteries to be recycled and minerals like vanadium to be extracted from petroleum refining. Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and subcommittee Chair Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) said in a statement that EPA brings “real technical expertise” to the challenge of extracting minerals from waste. They said the hearing will “help provide a framework to strengthen our critical mineral infrastructure, invest in materials recycling, and support the cleanup of contaminated sites, while also recovering critical minerals from previously untapped domestic sources.”

AirPlant One, First U.S. Facility to Produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel at Commercial Scale, Comes Online-  Twelve’s AirPlant One, which it bills as the first commercial-scale facility in the U.S. to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), has begun operations in Moses Lake, WA, the company said June 10. Referred to by Twelve as E-Jet fuel, it is an alternative to traditional jet fuel made from carbon dioxide (CO2), renewable electricity and water. Jet fuel is the third-most-consumed transportation fuel in the U.S., accounting for about 10% of the total, and its high energy density — combined with the high reliability and efficiency of today’s jet engines — enables modern aircraft to fly long distances without refueling (see Come Clean). But barring a major technological breakthrough in batteries or other alternatives, the most viable option to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the aviation industry is to replace an increasing share of the jet fuel consumed with SAF. As we noted in Just a Little Bit Better, electrofuels (also referred to as e-fuels) like SAF and renewable diesel (RD) are an emerging type of alternative fuel that serve as a drop-in replacement for traditional fuels and also contribute to a reduction in net CO2 emissions.AirPlant One also produces E-Naphtha, which is chemically identical to traditional naphtha and serves as a drop-in substitute for thousands of everyday products, including plastics, packaging, solvents and synthetic fibers.For more on the plant and the role hydrogen plays in the production process at AirPlant One, see this week's Hydrogen Billboard report.

New Ohio bill could hamstring big wind and solar farms even more --Last year, Ohio legislators almost unanimously enacted a sweeping law meant to get energy generation online faster and meet surging electricity demand.The law, House Bill 15, is meant to be apply evenly to all types of energy when it comes to adding new generation, according to some leading state lawmakers.“We said we’re going to have a level playing field. Let the free market work,” Republican Sen. Brian Chavez, who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, said of HB 15 during a legislative panel at the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners in Columbus last week.Yet now state lawmakers are advancing a bill that would expand preferences for natural gas and nuclear generation while adding even more hurdles for solar and wind — energy sources that the state has already stymied over the last decade.On June 10, the Republican-dominated Ohio Senate voted along straight party lines to pass Senate Bill 294, which is based on a model bill from the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, and calls for electricity generation to ​“employ affordable, reliable, and clean energy sources.” Louisiana and Utah have passed similar laws, and bills are also under consideration in Arizona, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and West Virginia, according to an April report from ALEC.But the bill’s current definition of ​“reliable” could cause the Ohio Power Siting Board to block many utility-scale solar and wind projects, even after many groups testified against the original version, introduced in the General Assembly last October. “We need more supply, not less,” said Democratic Sen. Kent Smith, ranking minority member of the Senate Energy Committee, who also spoke at the conference. He cited calls by both grid operator PJM Interconnection and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce for an all-of-the-above approach to adding new generation. ​“We need to be generation-agnostic. We need to let the market work.” Chavez said the current version of SB 294 could allow solar and wind to qualify as reliable if they are combined with batteries. And developers wouldn’t need to meet the bill’s criteria for projects that are below the threshold needed for state review: under 50 megawatts for solar and under 5 MW for wind. “If it goes to the Power Siting Board, we just said you have to have 50% reliability,” said Chavez, who has worked in and has had multiple connections to the oil and gas industry. But, he continued, ​“flat land is at a premium. … So we would say, if you’re going to put your bigger power supplies in Ohio, you shall consider if it is dispatchable more than 50% of the time.”Still, it’s not clear how many wind or solar projects could qualify. SB 294 mandates that any ​“reliable energy source” have a ​“site-combined minimum capacity factor” of 50%. The capacity factor describes the ratio of a generator’s actual electricity output over the course of a year to the maximum that source could theoretically produce.The average capacity factor for photovoltaic solar farms in the United States was just 24.4% last year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. If solar projects are required to install enough battery storage to reach a 50% threshold, project costs would significantly increase.“Capacity factors are not measures of reliability and the wrong thing to focus on,” said Andrew Linhares, Midwest director of state affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association. ​“Ohio won’t solve its energy challenges by sidelining solar and storage, which are the fastest-growing and most affordable sources of new power on the grid.”Further, SB 294 demands that power be readily available and dispatchable ​“at all times” of high usage and ​“in times of need.” Facilities often discharge batteries’ energy at high-usage times to take advantage of higher prices, but whether that could qualify as ​“at all times” is also unclear. The bill’s focus on the reliability of any single resource is misguided because of how the grid functions, according to Democratic Rep. Tristan Rader, the ranking minority member of the House Energy Committee, who spoke at the conference as well. ​“That’s why we have peaker plants.”

Texas slows electric transmission review process - Texas regulators delayed a vote Wednesday on a major power line project that has pitted ranchers and rural landowners against the state’s largest electric utilities.The Public Utility Commission of Texas voted 5-0 to temporarily halt the approval process for the first of five transmission lines now working their way through the administrative hearings review.The initial project would run from just east of Midland to the Permian Basin in the western part of the state to help deliver more power to oil and gas operations. The push for new Texas transmission lines — including ones that would be part of a larger transmission build-out — could cost ratepayers at least $33 billion and lead to more than 3,400 miles of extra-high-voltage power lines crisscrossing the state, from the northeast corner to West Texas. Transmission plans are already creating a firestorm of complaints, with opponents saying roughly 200-foot-tall towers for 765-kilovolt transmission lines would irreversibly damage scenic and largely untouched areas. Landowners and residents have said they’ve been left out of the planning process and have little recourse to push back against the transmission lines’ proposed routes.“Frankly, it’s an embarrassing process to be part of,” Brad Bayliff, an attorney representing landowners fighting against the transmission lines, said during Wednesday’s PUC meeting. “And to have done 100 of these [cases] and realize that these people are just overwhelmed by the system.”Public testimony at the meeting highlighted the frustrations and anger landowners have over the proposed transmission projects and changes to how those projects are reviewed and approved. The issue echoes other transmission fights across the country as residents object to efforts to expand the energy infrastructure companies say is needed to satisfy growing demand.Texas state lawmakers in affected districts report frequent calls from angry constituents over proposed 765-kV transmission lines. Earlier this week, 42 state lawmakers filed an amicus brief supporting a motion that would have commissioners study the ultra-high-voltage transmission projects holistically rather than on the case-by-case basis.American Stewards of Liberty, a property rights advocacy group that filed the motion, argued that the PUC should not approve any of the projects until all of the currently proposed 765-kV transmission projects can go through an administrative review process. State Rep. Brad Buckley, a Republican, said in an interview last week that the PUC should pause the transmission projects altogether until the state Legislature has a chance to weigh in once it convenes in January.“There is significant concern from my constituents about the power line project — everything from why they are being proposed to how the process has played out,” Buckley said.The transmission line proposals were born out of a 2023 law that required PUC and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, to study ways to provide more reliable power to the Permian Basin, including “extending transmission service” to areas with oil and gas production.In response, ERCOT created the Permian Basin Reliability Plan, which was approved by the PUC in 2024. That plan calls for building five transmission lines across three pathways from Central Texas to the Permian.Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, said in a statement on Wednesday that working with affected parties is fundamental to building out electricity infrastructure.“The fact remains: from 2015 to 2025, oil production in the Permian Basin increased by 430% and infrastructure has not kept pace,” Staples said. “There is an urgent need for transmission buildout in the region to ensure all electricity consumers can have reliable power and continue our modern way of life.”

FERC Orders Regional Grids to Protect Consumers & Speed Data Centers - Marcellus Drilling News -- Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) launched a sweeping investigation into how power grids and utilities divide the soaring costs of supplying electricity to data centers. FERC issued six “show-cause” orders directing regional grid operators—PJM, SPP, MISO, CAISO, ISO New England, and NYISO—to prove that data center connection rates are “just and reasonable” and shield ordinary ratepayers from cost-shifting, or face federal fixes. FERC wants regional grids to speed up data center connections while protecting residential ratepayers. And they WILL do it, or else.

Federal Regulators Order Grid Operators to Speed Power to Energy-Hungry AI Data Centers  (AP) — Federal regulators on Thursday ordered regional grid operators to help large energy users connect more quickly to the nation’s inefficient and aging electric transmission system, a step they said is needed to accommodate surging demand from power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers.  Energy Secretary Chris Wright had urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act in an effort to help the United States better compete with China for superiority in the fast-growing AI sector.Tech companies and data center developers welcomed the chance to connect faster to the country’s power supply for the biggest energy users ever built in the United States, including some that consume more electricity than a small city.Utilities, states and regional grid operators had worried that the Republican administration’s plan would remove their authority to manage the process, but FERC said the order leaves states in control of retail electric rates, terms and conditions. Clean energy advocates have urged regulators not to undermine state-level efforts to require the use of renewable energies.The commission’s actions come as a backlash grows against data centers over concerns about the massive amounts of energy and water they use and fears about noise and air pollution, water shortages and a loss of open space or farmland.FERC members voted unanimously to direct six regional grid operators to ensure that AI data centers and other large power users are “able to connect to the transmission system in a timely and orderly manner.”Laura Swett, an appointee of President Donald Trump who chairs the commission, called the vote “historic” and said it would push the country’s electricity market into the future while respecting states’ rights, protecting reliable electric service and shielding ratepayers from shouldering the costs of connecting big power users to the grid.“I know that Americans across the country are concerned about affordability, and so are we,” Swett said, referring to the five-member commission. As chair, “I am taking extremely seriously the mission that Congress has entrusted us to ensure that rates are reasonable,” she said.The vote comes eight months after Wright asked the independent agency to take more control over ensuring that the vast network of massive computing warehouses needed to power AI are connected quickly to high-voltage transmission lines.Wright hailed the commission's action, saying it would "remove barriers, accelerate development and ensure America has the affordable, reliable and secure energy needed to power a new era of prosperity."Data centers would pay the full cost of any grid upgrades needed for their connection, under the commission order. But that order can do little to address the tightening energy supplies that are driving up electricity bills in some areas and raising warnings of blackouts as the construction of data centers outpaces the speed of new power plants coming online to serve them.

US data centers’ electricity use could double by 2030, DOE lab says - Data centers could more than double their share of U.S. power and account for 9.5 to 15 percent of electricity use by decade’s end, according to a new analysis backed by the Department of Energy. The long-awaited report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that pressure on the electricity grid from artificial intelligence is growing. The findings are the first major estimate from the lab on data centers’ future power use during the second Trump administration. “Although successive generations of computing hardware improve in energy efficiency,” the report says, “the scale and growth of computational demand more than offset these efficiency gains, leading to continued increases in absolute electricity consumption.” The assessment, which was posted on the lab’s website, comes amid skyrocketing electricity prices and pressure on utilities and regulators to ensure there is enough future power to feed the data center boom. On Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission launched a probe into whether regional grids are allocating the costs of grid upgrades fairly. That follows a rare Level 3 warning from North America’s grid watchdog in May about risks to the grid from large computational loads.

Map Shows States Where Data Centers Are Being Built the Most, Least – Newsweek -- A new map tracking artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure across the United States reveals a stark geographic divide: a small number of states are rapidly building data centers, while others are seeing little to no development.But the data also tells a more complicated story about how—and where—the country’s digital backbone is expanding.Figures compiled by Erin Brockovich’s AI Data Center Reporting project show 67 major projects currently under construction, 33 operational sites, and 39 proposed developments. However, the platform also tracks community-reported and contested projects, not the full universe of U.S. facilities—an important distinction in a country that already hosts roughly 4,000 to 5,000 data centers, depending on methodology. Community‑reported locations on the map reached 6,817 as of June 23, reflecting rapid growth in public submissions as awareness spreads. That gap underscores both the scale of the industry and the growing tension surrounding its expansion. When the platform first gained attention in late May, it had recorded around 2,716 community reports. This means the total has increased by roughly 4,100 additional reports in just a few weeks—more than doubling since launch and highlighting the accelerating pace of community engagement, whether supportive or opposed. Taken together, the Brockovich data highlights where large, high-profile projects are being built—or resisted—rather than offering a comprehensive census of the sector. At a national level, the U.S. is already the world’s leading data center market, with more than 3,000 operational facilities and over 1,500 more in development, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. This broader dataset reinforces the same underlying trend: growth is accelerating but highly uneven.The new map, therefore, is best understood as a snapshot of where expansion is most visible and contested, rather than a definitive ranking of total infrastructure.That distinction matters as policymakers, communities, and investors increasingly weigh who benefits and who bears the cost of the AI boom.The highest levels of development are clustered in a handful of states, including:

• Texas
• Illinois
• Pennsylvania
• Ohio

These states are emerging as major hubs for new builds, often due to a combination of land availability, grid access, and lower regulatory barriers.Texas, in particular, stands out as a magnet for large-scale AI infrastructure. Its electricity grid operator, ERCOT, has warned that demand from data centers and similar “large loads” could surge dramatically in the coming decade, with projections reaching tens of thousands of megawatts of additional demand.At the same time, independent mapping shows Texas already hosts hundreds of facilities across operational, planned, and under-construction categories.One notable absence from the map’s top rankings is Virginia, despite being the world's largest data center market. Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley” contains the densest concentration of facilities globally and is estimated to handle around 70 percent of global internet traffic. The region has thousands of megawatts of installed capacity and continues to expand, even as land and power constraints tighten.Its omission from headline rankings likely reflects the Brockovich tracker’s focus on community-reported developments, rather than an absence of activity.A second tier of states shows meaningful, but notably smaller activity. These typically include a mix of established and emerging markets where projects are present but not dominant.States in this category generally have:

• Multiple sites in development
• A growing but less concentrated footprint
• Select large-scale projects rather than dense clusters

While not leading nationally, these states are increasingly part of the expanding data center network, often benefiting from spillover as developers look beyond saturated markets.At the other end of the spectrum, several states have little to no data center development underway. At the bottom of the rankings are states with minimal data center construction. States such as Alaska, Vermont, and parts of the rural Northeast have minimal or no infrastructure.The map highlights that the buildout is far from nationwide, with many states showing few projects under construction.These lower-ranked states tend to share several characteristics, according to Visual Capitalist:

• Limited large-scale power infrastructure
• Less connectivity to major fiber networks
• Fewer economic incentives for hyperscale development

A Reuters/Ipsos survey in June found that 57 percent of Americans would oppose a data center being built in their community, with just 14 percent comfortable living near one. Meanwhile, a Gallup survey conducted earlier this year found that around seven in ten Americans oppose the construction of local data centers, highlighting a growing gap between national demand for AI infrastructure and local acceptance.That tension is largely driven by concerns over cost, environment and quality of life. A Pew Research Center survey of more than 8,500 U.S. adults found Americans are far more likely to view data centers negatively when it comes to their impact on energy bills, environmental strain and nearby living conditions, with significantly more people saying they are bad rather than good for the environment and household electricity costs. Those concerns are increasingly translating into real-world resistance across the country. The backlash has also begun to shape policy, with some states considering moratoriums or stricter regulations, and leaders on both sides of the political spectrum calling for limits on rapid expansion.

State Data Center Policy: Governors Restrict Tax Exemptions – MultiState - Recently, we wrote about how a few governors are beginning to institute restrictions on data centers, and in recent weeks, the trend has ramped up. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott (R) sent a letter to state regulators directing them to take action to insulate consumers from costs associated with data centers and outlining his legislative priorities for 2027. In Arizona, lawmakers placed a pause on the state’s data center incentive at the urging of Governor Hobbs (D). And Illinois Governor Pritzker (D) paused the state’s data center credits in a move that mirrors Ohio Governor DeWine’s (R) recent actions. Not every governor is moving in the same direction though. In Virginia, Governor Spanberger has pushed back on legislative proposals to curtail the state's data center tax exemption.Governor Abbott recently sent a letter to state regulators directing them to take action to ensure that data center development does not increase residential electric bills. Specifically, he directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to take action to ensure that data centers pay for their electric infrastructure and interconnection costs to ensure residential ratepayers are not burdened by costs associated with powering data centers.The Governor’s request to the PUC mirrored many of his legislative priorities for 2027 (the Texas legislature only meets on odd-numbered years and did not convene for regular session in 2026). These priorities are similar to data center legislation in other states, and include codifying into state law requirements for data centers to pay their own electric infrastructure costs, requiring new data centers to use water-efficient cooling systems, requiring data centers to add to the state’s electric capacity to avoid increasing demand on the energy grid, and establishing siting and setback requirements.In Arizona, Governor Katie Hobbs (D) recently approved a budget (AZ HB 4168/SB 1861) that includes a three-year moratorium on the state’s data center sales tax exemption. While the Governor celebrated the tax moratorium’s enactment, it is a step back from her initial request to eliminate the tax exemption entirely. The pause prohibits the Arizona Commerce Authority from accepting applications for the exemption from July 1, 2026, until June 30, 2029. Illinois Governor Pritzker (D) has directed the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to pause tax incentives for data centers beginning July 1st of this year. The Illinois legislature seriously considered a comprehensive bill on data centers this session, but was unable to reach a compromise.In lieu of a comprehensive bill, some legislators sent the governor a letter encouraging him to pause incentives for data centers “until common sense guardrails are in place.” It seems not all legislators were on board; however, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D) told the media that the pause on data center credits didn’t have close to enough legislative support to pass a bill pausing data center incentives.In the Governor’s announcement about a tax credit pause, the Governor also encouraged policymakers to take up further restrictions in the veto session, including residential ratepayer protections, demand response programs, behind the meter energy generation, water permitting, clean air standards, and community transparency and input. The fall veto session is currently scheduled for a few days in November and December.Virginia lawmakers remain at an impasse over what to do about the state's data center sales tax exemption. The Senate originally proposed an end to the state’s data center sales tax exemption. In the months following, Senate President Lucas (D) and Governor Spanberger (D) have publicly clashed on the provision, with the Governor opposed to ending the exemption early. Now, the Senate has released a new Senate budget proposal to institute a data center impact fee in lieu of eliminating the sales tax exemption for data centers. The Governor has not publicly commented on the new proposal. Meanwhile, the House has signaled hesitancy toward the impact fee and proposed a data center accountability study instead. The House has not been called back to vote, leaving the competing proposals unresolved for now.

Trump taps power executive to head Northwest electricity distributor - The Trump administration has appointed a power industry veteran to lead the massive hydropower distribution agency in the Pacific Northwest at a turbulent time for the electricity market. The Department of Energy announced Monday that Travis Kavulla will be named administrator of the Oregon-based Bonneville Power Administration. That will put Kavulla, a former Montana utility regulator, in charge of the power marketing agency responsible for about a third of the Northwest’s electric power, which largely comes from a fleet of hydroelectric dams. Kavulla comes to the role from the Texas-based home battery company Base Power, where he serves as the company’s head of policy. Kavulla is also a prolific online poster who has written extensive essays and policy proposals in favor of competitive electricity markets and market-based solutions to power issues, including a proposal published in May about how to bring data centers to the grid. “Travis Kavulla’s extensive experience in the energy sector will strengthen Bonneville’s ongoing efforts to expand and modernize energy infrastructure and ensure regional grid reliability,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.

Little talk of 'world's largest' data center planned for southern Ohio | Shelby Daily Globe  - A Cold-war relic in South­ern Ohio from Amer­ica’s nuc­lear past is emer­ging as a prime site in the latest global evol­u­tion – data cen­ters and arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence. In late March, the U.S. Depart­ment of Energy announced a pub­lic- private part­ner­ship with SB Energy, a Japan­ese com­pany and part of the Soft­bank Group, to build the “world’s largest arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence data cen­ter” at the 3,700- acre Ports­mouth, Ohio site near the vil­lage of Piketon. Con­struc­tion began on the Ports­mouth Gaseous Dif­fu­sion Plant in Novem­ber 1952. The mis­sion of the plant was to increase the national pro­duc­tion of enriched uranium and main­tain the nation's superi­or­ity in the devel­op­ment and use of nuc­lear energy,” accord­ing to the U.S. Depart­ment of Energy. In Feb­ru­ary, the Trump admin­is­tra­tion announced a massive nat­ural gas elec­tric power plant planned for south­ern Ohio as one com­pon­ent of a new trade deal with Japan. The plant is expec­ted to be in the “vicin­ity of Ports­mouth,” the U.S. Com­merce Depart­ment said at the time. Accord­ing to the Ports­mouth Area Cham­ber of Com­merce, both of the announced projects – the gas power plant and the data cen­ter – are still planned. Steve Shep­herd, exec­ut­ive dir­ector of the southern Ohio Diver­si­fic­a­tion Ini­ti­at­ive, cre­ated to “re- indus­tri­al­ize and repur­pose under­u­til­ized land and facil­it­ies” at the former dif­fu­sion plant in Piketon, declined to com­ment on the projects. “We are not in a pos­i­tion to make any state­ments at this time,” Shep­herd told The Cen­ter Square. The vil­lage of Piketon had a pop­u­la­tion 2,291 in 2020, accord­ing to the U.S. Census Bur­eau. When the nat­ural gas elec­tric plant was announced in Feb­ru­ary, the announce­ment caught some local lead­ers, includ­ing the mayor of Ports­mouth, Char­lotte Gor­don, by sur­prise. “I wasn’t privy to these dis­cus­sions,” Gor­don told The Cen­ter Square. “I star­ted call­ing some of the people I thought should know and they didn’t know.” The data cen­ter was dis­cussed at a meet­ing earlier this year of the West Union Vil­lage Coun­cil, accord­ing to minutes of the meet­ing. The vil­lage mayor, Jason Buda, expressed con­cern about the amount of water that would be con­sumed by the data cen­ter, accord­ing to the minutes. “The mayor said that it's too early at this time to say much but he does have con­cerns about the amount of water usage because from what he has heard they can expect to use one mil­lion gal­lons a day and that is about four times the amount we use our­self,” the minutes state. When the data cen­ter was announced in March, U.S. Energy Sec­ret­ary Chris Wright praised the project, point­ing out that it includes an elec­tric gen­er­at­ing com­pon­ent. “I’m pleased to be work­ing with our part­ners at Soft­bank and AEP Ohio on this import­ant project,” Wright said. “By bring­ing new power online and upgrad­ing our exist­ing infra­struc­ture, this invest­ment sup­ports the AI boom and cut­ting-edge tech­no­lo­gies while strength­en­ing our energy sys­tem and help­ing keep costs down for the Amer­ican people.”

Ohio Lawmakers Delay Data Center Legislation - State Affairs Pro - Action on priority data center legislation will have to wait at least a few months, as lawmakers will not be returning to the Statehouse this week.House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, originally signaled that his chamber would be coming back for a June 24 session to continue conversations on the issue.But after the Senate decided it would not head back to Columbus this month, the House late last week cancelled its as-needed session set for Wednesday and now plans to return in early November.While that decision puts legislative action on hold, members of the Select Committee on Data Centers contend they now have more time to find solutions.“I think having this time to really think about it, we can really sharpen that policy and make it perfect and address some of the issues that members had,” Rep. Adam Holmes, R-Nashport, said in an interview. The measure (HB 646) was teed up for a Senate floor vote on June 10 but was later rereferred to the Senate Energy Committee as consensus over the data center sales and use tax exemption and nondisclosure agreements could not be reached.The legislation currently revises the maximum tax break to 50%, which sparked concerns from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and Data Center Coalition, which claimed it could deter investment into the state. Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers wanted the exemption, currently paused by a directive from Gov. Mike DeWine, permanently repealed.Holmes, who serves as a co-chair of the bicameral panel, said that HB646 was crafted with an upcoming PJM Interconnection capacity auction scheduled for September in mind.Since the prices set by the auction would be implemented in three years, he and Rep. Thad Claggett, R-Newark, said there was less urgency for lawmakers to act.“Once we figured out that that auction, while it is scheduled for a few months, it's got a three-year runway to it and the agency [PJM]…they can manage that,” Claggett said. “If we get back and give some direction as the Legislature on how we want that handled, then they're still good.”Others like Sen. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, however, have said the regional transmission organization’s forthcoming auction should give the Legislature an incentive to move quickly.“If states don’t take some steps to mandate that data centers will pay for that additional power…that could get spread over all ratepayers in the state,” he said during the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners conference on June 16.PJM’s latest capacity auction in December 2025 set a record by hitting a price of $333.4 per megawatt day, an increase of $4.27 per megawatt day compared to July 2025 auction results that also set a record that year.Even with price caps, another cost increase is projected come September's results.Another factor weighing into conversations was the potential for a constitutional amendment placing a moratorium on new data center construction in the state.The group leading that effort, Conserve Ohio, recently signaled it does not have enough signatures to land its proposal on the November ballot. It now intends to submit the 413,000-some needed signatures for the 2027 general election ballot.Holmes reiterated HB646 aimed to resolve concerns brought forth by Conserve Ohio and others. He also indicated that another committee meeting will be scheduled regarding the major data center campus coming to Piketon.“We'll continue to prioritize the concerns of the citizens on this and use the committee as an information resource to allow individuals to make the best decisions for themselves,” he said.

Bipartisan rage in Ohio politics: rural voters, liberal activists oppose data center giveaways - Cleveland.com  -- Ohio’s state lawmakers had one clear job heading into summer: fix the data center mess that has been spiking electric bills across the state.They couldn’t do it.And now, say hosts of the Today in Ohio podcast, the political fallout could be costly for them come November.The Ohio House canceled its last session before summer break without taking any action on House Bill 646 — the legislation designed to rein in the runaway power and tax giveaways flowing to data center giants. What makes this failure so stunning, the hosts argue, is that lawmakers now go home empty-handed to face angry voters.  “We have given billions of our tax dollars to these companies to come in to jack up our electric rates by using up the power on the grid,” said host Chris Quinn on Monday’s episode. The anger is showing up at family cookouts, in rural communities, and in the inboxes of lawmakers who can’t seem to figure out which side they’re on.That’s because this issue has scrambled Ohio’s political map in ways nobody predicted. As reporter Anna Staver found in her reporting — discussed in detail on the episode — this fight has pulled together two groups that rarely agree: conservative rural voters and liberal environmental activists. The Ohio Farm Bureau’s vice president put it plainly, saying frustration over data centers is showing up in all corners of the state.Republicans are split between continuing to give billions of tax dollars to wealthy business interests and listening to their own base. Democrats are caught between environmental concerns and labor unions that benefit from data center construction jobs. The result? A messy political collision that left House Bill 646 dead.“What I love about this is the divide between legislators that want to keep taking care of big tech and big energy and the legislators who understand what their constituents actually think,” Quinn said.A University of Cincinnati politics professor told Staver that the issue will reward whichever party steps up and takes a clear stance reflecting where average Ohioans stand. So far, neither party has gotten there.The hosts make clear that this isn’t a complicated policy problem — it’s a political will problem. Ohioans aren’t opposed to data centers. They’re opposed to being handed the bill for them. No more subsidies. No more gifts. Make the companies pay their way, bring their own power generation, and let communities decide where they go.But with House Speaker Matt Huffman unable to close the deal before break, and the Wild West still prevailing on data center development, voters may have the final word. As the podcast makes plain, with a governor’s race on the horizon and a rare cross-partisan coalition already angry, the bumblers in Columbus may look back at this summer as the moment they blew it.

Hyperscale data centers drive electricity demand - Policy Matters Ohio  -- Hyperscale data centers are massive facilities that consume far more electricity than earlier generations of data centers. Their size and energy demands are driven by the rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence. Hyperscale facilities are typically defined as having a minimum capacity of 40 MW or 50 MW. They require a staggering amount of electricity to run thousands of servers, storage devices, and networking equipment around the clock, seven days a week. Ohio is seeing a surge in large hyperscale data centers. For example, Cologix began construction on an AI data center with 120 MW of capacity, and the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced plans for a 10 GW data center in Pike County. The Cologix facility will use enough electricity to power more than 70,000 Ohio households.[1] The Pike County project will require more electricity than is used by every residential ratepayer in Ohio combined.[2] According to the Data Center Proposal Tracker, a citizen-led platform that crowdsources data on U.S. data centers, proposed data centers in Ohio have a cumulative demand of 17.6 GW, while the FracTracker Alliance’s U.S. Data Centers Tracker, a separate source, estimates 6,135 MW in load growth driven by proposed data centers in Ohio, with 12.0 GW under construction.According to PJM’s 2026 load forecast report, summer peak load in the transmission zones served by AEP and AES[3] is expected to increase by 5.3% and 5.2% per year, respectively, over the next decade,[4] — the 3rd- and 4th-highest load growth rates among the 22 transmission zones in PJM’s territory.[5] And this growth is rapidly accelerating: Just five years earlier, AEP and AES projected an annual growth rate of 0.4% between 2022 and 2031.[6] Soaring electricity demand means higher utility bills, more blackouts, and more pollution, plus all the illness and reduced quality-of-life that comes with it. In Ohio, where a large share of existing and planned data centers are concentrated,[7] we’ll face more than our share of those consequences.To learn more about data centers, visit our data center resource page.

Deadline Looms to Shield Ohioans From Data Center Costs  — If Ohio can’t figure out who should pay the electricity costs associated with data centers before September, all Ohioans could end up sharing the bill.Data centers require enormous amounts of power, and PJM, the operator of the regional electric grid, is preparing to buy additional generation to meet growing demand. It’s holding a special auction in September, and the question is who pays for it.House Democrats warned Tuesday that Ohio doesn’t have a clear answer.In a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine and state utility regulators, Democrats asked to put data centers in their own rate class, arguing it would create a clear way to assign future power costs to the tech companies.“This is both a political and an economic imperative,” according to the letter. “If we cannot fully and transparently create a separation of residential and data center costs for our utilities, thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars from everyday Ohioans are at risk.” For years, PJM’s electricity market operated in a relatively stable environment. Demand grew gradually; older power plants retired at a manageable pace and new generation could be built quickly enough to replace it.PJM says those conditions no longer exist.Demand is rising rapidly and supply chain delays mean new power plants take much longer to build than they used to, according to a May 2026 report.
That’s where the special auction comes in. PJM needs to buy additional power for large load users. But before that happens, the grid operator strongly urged its member states to decide who gets the bill.In a letter to governors this spring, PJM warned that “absent appropriate safeguards, it is possible that these costs will be allocated to other consumers in the states, including residential consumers.” Ohio lawmakers spent much of the last few weeks trying to answer that question through House Bill 646.The sweeping data center reform bill would have required the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to create a special rate class for data centers.Utility customers are grouped into different rate classes based on the demands they place on the grid. Homes, small businesses and factories already pay different rates because they require different levels of infrastructure.Supporters said data centers should be treated the same way.Because they use enormous amounts of electricity, they often require additional power lines, substations and other upgrades. A separate rate class would ensure those costs are paid by the companies using the power rather than spread across other customers. But negotiations broke down over a controversial sales tax exemption for data centers, and the HB 646 never reached the governor’s desk.That left Ohio without a legislative solution. Lawmakers aren’t expected back until after the November election, well after PJM’s September auction is scheduled to take place. In their letter, Democrats said the situation requires immediate action and blamed the bill’s collapse on Republican lawmakers, who hold supermajorities in both the Ohio House and Senate.

Ohio House Democrats Urge Governor DeWine to Act on Data Center Electricity Costs  -- — Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati), Member of the Select Committee on Data Centers Representative Glassburn (D–North Olmstead) House Energy Committee Ranking Member Representative Rader (D–Cleveland), and the members of the Ohio House Democratic Caucus leadership team today sent a letter to Governor Mike DeWine urging immediate action to establish a statewide utility rate class for large data centers in order to protect Ohio families and businesses from looming electricity rate increases. The lawmakers' letter comes as PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator serving Ohio and much of the Midwest, prepares for a major procurement process this fall that could saddle residential and small business customers with significant costs associated with rapidly growing electricity demand from data centers if adequate consumer protections are not in place. Ohio House Democrats are calling on Governor DeWine to work with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to ensure a dedicated rate structure is established for large data center customers so that the costs they impose on Ohio's electric grid are borne by those facilities rather than shifted onto everyday ratepayers. The letter notes: “The time for action is now. As PJM holds an early auction to secure additional power generation for data centers, it is critical that Ohio is ready to protect other customers from these additional costs. PJM has made clear that all Ohioans will have to pay even higher rates for the additional power generation unless a separate rate class makes sure it is paid by data centers. This responsibility falls on elected leaders of this state.” Data centers have become one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity demand in Ohio and across the country. State policymakers, consumer advocates, environmental organizations, and utility regulators have increasingly raised concerns that without appropriate rate structures, the infrastructure and generation costs needed to serve these facilities could be spread among all utility customers. As the letter states: “The data center industry itself has publicly acknowledged in testimony that they increased capacity requirements by 50%. Others believe their share is much higher. All parties believe that the industry will continue to grow even more rapidly into the future.” The request follows recent discussions in the Ohio General Assembly regarding data center development and consumer protections, including proposals to create a separate utility rate class for large-load customers. With no additional legislative session days currently scheduled this year, caucus members emphasized the urgency of executive action to prevent unnecessary costs from being passed on to Ohio households and businesses. Lawmakers in their letter noted: “While the legislature could have acted through legislation to direct this action, the failure of the majority to bring this forward does not undermine existing authority of the Public Utilities Commission to determine classifications.” In their letter, lawmakers urged the governor to act quickly so that Ohio has protections in place before PJM's upcoming processes determine how future grid investments and reliability costs will be allocated. A copy of the letter is attached.

Hubbard officials share contrasting views of data center tour - The Vindicator  — Earlier this week, Councilwoman Robin Zambrini, D-2nd Ward, said she, along with Councilman Jerry Crowe, D-at Large, and economic development and government officials, traveled to New Albany, Ohio to see their business park and data centers. New Albany is home to 40 completed data centers across 15 companies, with 28 more announced or under construction in its “IT and Mission Critical Cluster,” a high-availability infrastructure designed to host applications and services that cannot experience downtime without severely impacting business operations or safety, according to a presentation from New Albany officials. The city welcomed its first data center investment in 2010, its first hyperscale investment in 2015, and Meta in 2017, with Google following two years later, according to the presentation’s timeline. Zambrini said she went there with an “open mind,” but her goal was to see whether anything that worked for New Albany could work for the city, acknowledging that it was in no way like Hubbard in the sense that it was huge, progressive and modern. “I’m just comparing the processes they went through to get to where they are today,” Zambrini said. She said the development and implementation of a strategic plan was part of New Albany’s success, as it maps out its development. “This plan is updated every five years, and its mission says it’s for the collaboration between the city, residents, (and) businesses — proactively planning for an outstanding community of choice,” Zambrini said. Zambrini noted that “community of choice” was very important, as it establishes that New Albany’s residents chose what businesses the city wanted and where it was to go, as well as how it operates. “It’s not the other way around — the businesses don’t come in and say, ‘We’re going to do this, we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this,'” Zambrini said. “The community says, ‘Oh no, you’re going to do it our way,’ and it works.” Zambrini admitted that she went into the tour a bit skeptical and curious if they were trying to gain something from city officials, but found New Albany’s officials to be “very open” and willing to share information. Zambrini said, according to Jennifer Chrysler, New Albany’s director of community development, their strategic plan evolved over six months and it was called “the people’s plan.” “They have six industry clusters containing four data centers, and 28 more announced; they are various sizes, these buildings, they are warehouses, they are manufacturing plants, there are distribution centers,” Zambrini said. “They can be huge, but they can be small too; they all aren’t gigantic, which is called hyper-scale — they can be any size.” Zambrini said New Albany’s formula is to generate as much revenue from the data center as if it were any other type of business. She said the formula has five requirements: service payments, a Tax Increment Financing collection, a new community authority payment, income tax and Payment In Lieu Of Taxes cash payments, which are liquid funds collected by the county’s treasurer in place of traditional property taxes. “In their own words, they have implemented, quote, ‘A diversified revenue stream,’ Zambrini said. “Payments are made, regardless of the success of the company.” Zambrini said in terms of local control and resources like water, she said they were told to dictate to companies how much they can have, not how much they need to operate. In terms of sound, Zambrini said New Albany permits decibels no louder than the closest street level noise, noting Google’s highest to be 68 decibels, and they work with sound experts. Zambrini said they, as a group, didn’t have time to leave the tour bus, as they were in an industrial park, and ongoing construction was happening. She said there’s no actual heat coming from the buildings. Zambrini said there might not be a large number of direct employees, but they have indirect revenue value, noting tech people come in to maintain and service the equipment, which needs to be refreshed every two to three years. “This has not let up since the inception, and over 30 states have incentives for refreshing to take place,” Zambrini said. “Data centers hire contract personnel and security, they give back to the community for causes they support, there are fiber optics opportunities and construction puts people to work in the trade industries.” Zambrini said data centers that become obsolete can be repurposed for manufacturing, warehousing or even deconstructed. Chrysler did not recommend moratoriums because they are the equivalent of saying no to development and showing a community is closed for business, according to Zambrini. “She said that she would recommend making data centers a conditional use in zoning regulations,” Zambrini said. She said based on the information gathered, Hubbard’s potential development guidelines needed to be fine-tuned on the community’s terms.

Guernsey County Residents Raise Concerns Over Proposed Data Center – A proposed data center that could potentially be built in Guernsey County is generating discussion among residents. On Saturday, June 20th, opponents of the project gathered signatures and encouraged community members to learn more about the proposal. As hundreds gathered in downtown Cambridge for the annual National Road Bike Show, some also made a stop by a petition booth to learn more about a proposed data center and to sign a petition opposing the project. Organizers say the petition effort is aimed at raising awareness and gathering public input as discussions surrounding the project continue. “I think it’s important to be educated about data center development. It’s happening all over Ohio. There’s over 200 already in the state of Ohio. Now, all of a sudden this has popped up in the last 10 or 11 days that there has been a buzz and some word at the Guernsey County Commissioner meetings regarding a potential data center development on 425 acres.” Data Center Opponent, Leslie Menges, said. People of all ages stopped by the booth throughout the day to share their thoughts on the proposed project. “Data centers don’t bring good jobs, they take up and destroy farmland, and they’re just loud.” Data Center Opponent, Sam Menges, said. The petition drive follows a public meeting held last week regarding the proposed project. Amy Kissinger and Geno Riley, who attended that meeting and founded the Facebook group called “Guernsey County & Ohio: Data Center Developments”, say residents have voiced concerns about the potential impact a data center could have on the community. “The primary concern that were all held in common was how is this going to impact our water supply, the amount that it uses, and in addition, what impact will it have on our water quality? There were also many concerns raised about how this will impact our utilities, such as electricity.” Community Activist, Amy Kissinger, said. The Guernsey County Commissioners also recently released a statement regarding the proposal. According to that statement, developers met with commissioners earlier this month to discuss a possible data center project, but a location for the development was not disclosed. Commissioners later announced that they do not support the project as currently presented. “We were elated to know that the Guernsey County Commissioners are on our side and opposed to it and weren’t going to give a tax abatement to something this large. If it is coming, it needs to bring money with it. I always say, is the juice worth the squeeze? If it’s going to be forced on us, what are we getting out of it?” Community Activist, Geno Riley, said. While no official location for the project has been announced, Kissinger and Riley say research conducted by residents, including themselves, has led them to suspect the proposed development could be located off State Route 146 in the Pleasant City area. However, developers have not publicly identified a project site. To learn more about the proposal and read the commissioners’ full statement, visit the Guernsey County Commissioners website.  GC Commissioners Data Center Press Release – Guernsey County, Ohio

Dayton to vote on zoning changes to ban data centers, restrict gas stations and car washes - The Dayton City Commission will vote June 24 on a proposal to ban data centers and restrict gas stations and car washes.The city's planning department recommended the zoning changes at its June 17 meeting.Jeff Green, director of the Dayton planning department, said they looked at four criteria for their recommendation: water, electric rates, environmental concerns for residents and the financial incentive for the city."With the information we have, we believed a ban was best suited at this time," Green said.  Earlier this year, the Dayton City Plan Board recommended to the Dayton City Commission a 180 day moratorium on data center construction that is still in effect.Data center construction in Ohio has become a heated topic over the last year. A citizen-led petition was started to implement a statewide ban on large-scale data centers, a joint data center committee was created at the statehouse, city governments have issued local moratoriums on new projects, and there's been a recent cessation of new data center tax breaks. The environmental impact has also been debated, with the Ohio Chamber releasing a report this week about the water usage of data center facilities.The proposed zoning change comes as the city of Dayton is preparing to revise its decades-old zoning code, and has asked residents for their input. Visit AdaptDayton.com to learn more about the effort and to take a quick survey to provide feedback."There's new technology and new things are occurring at a far more rapid pace than 10, 20, 30 years ago in terms of land use criteria and how we wish cities to develop," Green said. "So this is a timely, in our opinion, comprehensive review."

Ohio manufacturers wary of where data center tariff leaves Dayton-area electric customers --A group of Ohio manufacturers is concerned that Dayton electric utility AES Ohio’s proposed data center tariffs will leave customers exposed to higher costs over the long run. Based on testimony filed recently with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the Ohio Manufacturers Association is airing concerns that a data center tariff or charge proposed by staff members working for the PUCO won’t truly cover the centers’ expected costs. The testimony identifies $837.5 million in initial transmission project costs, a spokesman for the association said, summarizing the testimony filed with the commission. Once those costs are recovered over time, they would create some $2.77 billion in guaranteed revenue requirements for AES Ohio. But under the data center tariff proposed by PUCO staff, data centers would provide about $1.4 billion in “guaranteed transmission payments,” the OMA said. That leaves more than $1.3 billion potentially at risk to other customers, according to the OMA’s math. “A data center tariff can be a customer-protection tool if it actually makes the data center pay the full cost of the grid upgrades it causes,” said OMA spokesman David O’Neill. “This one does not.” In a statement, AES Ohio said existing customers are “protected against data center costs.” “Customers benefit from new large loads through stronger, more reliable infrastructure that supports economic development,” the utility said. “Minimum load charges and term limits help protect existing customers from incremental costs while allowing large-load customers to contribute to new and existing transmission costs.” The OMA said it is eyeing two requests for electric service by data center projects in AES Ohio service territory, in Piqua and near Marysville. “AES gets 40 years of guaranteed recovery. Data centers get a 12-year payment obligation. Customers get the gap,” OMA President Ryan Augsburger said in a statement. “That is not customer protection. That is a cost shift dressed up as a tariff.” Data centers are typically power-hungry concentrations of computer servers that require constant cooling and 24-7 electricity. Opponents argue that their proliferation raises costs by forcing power companies to build new infrastructure and purchase more power. Ohio manufacturers don’t want “special treatment,” Augsburger said in his statement. “We are asking for the oldest rule in ratemaking to be enforced. The customer that causes the cost should pay the cost.” The OMA testimony argues that the proposed tariff “insufficiently protects customers” and could exacerbate load forecasting inaccuracies, creating new costs for customers, the OMA said.

Girard advances data center moratorium - The Vindicator   — The city is the latest community in the Mahoning Valley wanting to place a moratorium on data centers, with city council giving second reading Monday to legislation putting a one-year moratorium in place. Final reading on the legislation is scheduled for the July 13 meeting, after which the moratorium will immediately take effect. Councilwoman Lily Martuccio, D-at Large, said the moratorium will allow for council and the administration to have more time to study the impact data centers will have on the community. Martuccio said once the moratorium is in place, it will allow officials to develop zoning guidelines to ensure public safety for any proposed projects. Martuccio said officials need more time to look into data centers “We support the other cities and townships that have moratoriums in place. We do not know what effect data centers will have on people and communities. I have read reports that people’s water has been ruined when data centers have been put in. People have complained of a humming noise from data centers that can be heard for a mile away. We need to do research on how this will affect our area,” Martuccio said. Many other communities, such as Lordstown and Hubbard, also have moratoriums in place to allow for more time for research and to strengthen current zoning laws. Officials from McDonald, Lordstown and Hubbard also have been to New Albany, where many data centers are located. Data centers are not the only issue involving moratoriums as council also gave second reading to extend a moratorium on small box discount stores in the city. Councilman Wes Steiner, D-at Large, said the city has several discount stores, but no grocery store. He said the legislation, when passed, will place a two-year extension of the current moratorium on having any more dollar stores located in the city. “We would like to have a Giant Eagle, Sparkle Market or IGA in the city for the residents. We need a grocery store,” Steiner said. Steiner said while discount stores are fine for communities, there needs to be a limit on how many.

Lordstown data center case still pending in Ohio SUPCO -  -  (WKBN) — A complaint filed by a company that wants to build a data center in Lordstown is making its way through the Ohio Supreme Court. A lot has changed with how Lordstown is considering data centers since Bristolville 25 Developer, LLC and BHGH Properties, LLC submitted their site plan for a data center in the Village in October 2025, which sparked the SUPCO case in the first place.   Bristolville 25 Developer, LLC and BHGH Properties, LLC filed a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court in November 2025, claiming that the council’s actions to stall data centers in the Village do not apply to them. Lordstown Village Council previously voted to ban AI data Centers, only to reverse its decision in early December. Then they voted in January to place a 180-day moratorium on the permitting of AI data centers, which expires July 4, 2026, according to court filings.  Bristolville has maintained that when it submitted a site plan review in October 2025 to initiate the zoning permit process, data centers were permitted under the Village’s zoning laws. It addresses the moratorium in a June 18 motion asking the Ohio Supreme Court to compel the Village Council to consider its site plan now and continue the permitting process, which would keep them on track for a September 2026 construction start time. “Relators (Bristoville) seek an order that directs Respondents Village of Lordstown and Kellie D. Bordner, including the Village’s Planning and Zoning Department and its Planning Commission, to review and act upon Bristolville’s site plan materials for a data center project and to do so throughout the Site Plan Review Process under the Village’s applicable laws in effect as of January 4, 2026, before Village Council enacted a 180-day Moratorium on accepting, processing or granting permits for data centers,” Bristoville wrote in its filing. Bristoville added that since it filed its request seven months ago to have the Ohio Supreme Court weigh in on whether Lordstown was correct in stalling the project, several “material” facts have changed, largely due to actions the Village Council has taken regarding how it plans to handle data centers. Lordstown Village Council responded to Bristoville’s motion, saying that the company never actually applied for a zoning permit in October 2025 and only submitted a site plan, so their motion to compel a permit consideration now is moot. An argument they have been maintaining throughout the proceedings. “Rather, Relators’ Motion is another reflection of their continued attempts to circumvent the Village’s Local Ordinances and Moratorium, which is designed to give the Village an opportunity to conduct its due diligence review to address the growth and demands of data centers and their potential impact on the Village and its residents,” Village Council wrote in its answer. An answer to Bristoville’s motion has not been decided yet.

A 200-foot water tower was built along Clover Valley Road between huge Meta data centers and the Intel computer chip -A 200-foot water tower was built along Clover Valley Road between huge Meta data centers and the Intel computer chip manufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio. The water tower will serve the Intel plant and the surrounding New Albany International Business Park area. It is a joint project between New Albany and the City of Columbus with New Albany owning the tower, but Columbus provides the water.

Do Ohioans want data centers? | Freshwater People - Great Lakes Now - interview video --Throughout the country, communities are having difficult conversations about whether or not they want data centers in their communities, with many of them pushing back against proposed developments.In Ohio, Zaria Johnson from @ideastream has been closely following the data center debate. She gives us an update on how Ohioans are responding to an influx of proposed data centers. This is part of a series of interviews about data centers with reporters from around the Great Lakes region.

Citizen effort to ban data centers lacks enough signatures to make November ballot – NBC4  -— A citizen push to ban new data centers in Ohio will not be on the ballot this year, organizers said.A coalition of Ohioans had hoped to put a statewide ballot issue before voters in November to ban all large-scale data centers in Ohio. Austin Baurichter, attorney for Conserve Ohio, told NBC4’s Jesse Bethea that the group collected about 70,000 signatures — far below the more than 400,000 needed to get on the ballot. See previous coverage in the video player above.Organizers plan to carry the 70,000 signatures over to next year in hopes of gathering the 413,500 signatures necessary before the November 2027 election. If approved, Ohioans would vote on whether to prohibit data center construction for any new data center that uses more than 25 megawatts per month.The push to ban data centers comes amid mass community pushback, with many municipalities considering bans or limits on data centers. Ohio is already home to around 200 data centers, most of which are in central Ohio. Legislators had hoped to pass new legislation addressing concerns about data centers before leaving for an extended summer break. However, the bill stalled amid debate over whether a state tax exemption for large data centers should remain in place or be reduced.  Although the House hopes to make progress in a special session on June 24, the Senate is not scheduled to return until November. It is unlikely data center legislation will progress until after the Nov. 3 election.“Seeing it just fizzle out, I was just like, ‘Welp, I’m going to stop caring about that yet again and just focus on what I can do as a citizen,’” Baurichter said of the legislative pauses.If the organizers can collect enough valid signatures from across the state by July 2027, the group hopes to put the issue in front of voters next November.

Mayfield Village puts one-year moratorium on new data centers - Mayfield Village Council has joined several communities by passing a one-year moratorium on data centers. During its June 22 meeting, the resolution overwhelmingly passed 5 to 1 with Councilperson Mark Arndt being the only one to vote against the moratorium. Councilmember Peter Gall was not present. Village Economic Development Manager John Marquart said after the meeting that they will be using this time to study what impact a data center might have on the village if one was proposed. One of the challenges, he added, was that data centers come in many shapes and sizes. According to a report by the EPA, some data centers use natural gas turbines to power their servers and then dump the exhaust into the local environment resulting in worse air quality for the area around them. Adobe CMO on the Shift to AI-Driven Search He said for now they would be studying what size data center could come to the village as they range from 20,000 square feet to over a million. Additionally, he said, they were going to study how many people the center could employ, adding that staff for these centers were usually low compared to the size. “We have started some of that research,” Marquart said. “…How much acreage, what are the noise emissions, mostly planning and zoning stuff… I also think that in terms of employment its going to be a range. We may be able to zero in a little more in terms of employment because those numbers tend to be fairly similar, whether it’s 100,000 square feet or a million, those numbers are seem to be fairly in line regardless of the size.” One concern he said was that of “rapid deployment structures” which have been used by Mark Zuckerberg’s company Meta who have been setting up data centers under tents. Because they don’t have to erect a permanent structure it allows them to quickly get a foothold in a municipality. “They are putting one up in central Ohio now, and they call it a rapid deployment center, and its actually sort of tents, rather than hard construction like steel and concrete buildings,” Marquart said. “That’s a little concerning as well. It’s durability, security, there’s a lot of things that I think the community has a right to know whether or not its something they want to see in their town. “Its a whole lot to get our arms around and a whole lot to report when we do… we’re at step one of a bunch.” According to a previous report, the state has also shifted their policy on data centers after it was revealed that sales tax breaks have cost taxpayers over $1.5 billion in 2025, about 12 times the state’s predicted forecast, according to filings on the Ohio Department of Taxation’s website. Marquart said he believes that because the idea of a data center is new that the zoning hasn’t caught up to it and that has been one cause of a lack of communication between municipalities and their residents as often times there is not a requirement to have public input on the process. “I don’t want to point any fingers at any particular community, but in the communities where these are popping up fairly routinely the zoning code has already been written in such a fashion that they are permitted as either industrial or office,” Marquart said. “Provided they meet the setbacks and the height restrictions and all those sorts of things there really wouldn’t be much opportunity for the public to even know that its coming. “In a lot of jurisdictions they can be built just as easily as an office building or a manufacturer would be.” He said that they would be finding a way to communicate their findings over the course of the next year with residents but he wasn’t sure if that would be an in-person forum, a newsletter, or how it would be released. “I think once we finish our fact finding we will sort of roll that out to the public in some fashion,” Marquart said. “…I don’t know what format that will take but I definitely think we owe it to our residents to keep them informed as best we can.”

Cleveland, Akron navigate data center reform: Here's what both cities are considering — The debate over new data center construction across the country has become one of the most polarizing topics of 2026. In Northeast Ohio, political leaders in Cleveland and Akron have rolled out proposed legislation and procedures for how they will handle the possibility of more large-scale computing facilities being built within city boundaries. On Thursday, Cleveland City Council's Utilities Committee voted in favor of a 3-month moratorium on the construction of new data centers, effectively preventing any data center proposals. The legislation, introduced in April by Councilman Charles Slife, could be voted on by the full council on July 15. According to Sean McDonnell of 3News media partner Cleveland.com, the original proposed length of the moratorium was one year; however, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb reduced that length down to three months. Per McDonnell's reporting, Slife says this legislative push is not focused on outright banning the construction of data centers in Cleveland but instead on helping the city better distinguish between small server rooms and the large, controversial computing centers being built across the country. The moratorium will also allow Cleveland officials to better understand where these new data centers can be built, as Slife says Cleveland's decades-old zoning code could permit large-scale data center construction in areas meant for offices and other lighter industry areas. In addition to the zoning discussions the moratorium will allow Cleveland officials, the pause in data center development will give Cleveland Public Power and Cleveland Water time to figure out if the utilities can handle the mass amount of power data centers consume. Last month, the city of Cleveland rejected a permit application by Lakeland Equity Group to construct a proposed $1.6 billion, 35-acre data center in the Slavic Village neighborhood. A spokesperson for the city said Bibb has "serious concerns about hyperscale, standalone data centers in neighborhoods." AK The city of Akron announced Thursday that updates to its zoning code will make it so future data centers must go through Akron City Council and the city's Planning Commission for approval. Under the proposed zoning code changes, applications for new data centers will have to go through Akron's conditional use process. First, the planning commission would review the application and make a recommendation, followed by a public hearing and vote conducted by city council. Data center developers must provide specific information pertaining to data centers in their applications to the city, including expected electricity demand, projected water use and waste discharge, projected noise level, and backup power systems. In addition, data center developers will also have to provide information regularly given during conditional use applications, like site plans and building elevations. "Our zoning code was written before facilities like modern data centers became a significant planning consideration," said Malik in a statement. "This proposal creates a thoughtful, transparent process that allows us to evaluate each project on its merits, engage the public, and ensure we're protecting community interests while providing clarity and predictability for applicants." According to the city, the extra information provided by data center developers during the application process will help the city council, planning commission, city staff, and the Akron community better understand and evaluate the potential impact a new data center could make. "This ordinance is an important first step," added Planning Director Kyle Julien. "It gives Akron a clear and transparent framework for evaluating data center proposals while we continue studying best practices from around the country. Our goal is to ensure our regulations keep pace with emerging industries and position Akron to make informed decisions that balance economic opportunity with the long-term interests of our neighborhoods and infrastructure." These zoning code updates will be proposed at the Akron Planning Commission's July 10 meeting. If the changes are approved by the planning commission, the proposal will move to Akron City Council following public hearings. The city added that over the next six months Akron staff will be evaluating "national best practices and developing additional recommendations for the Planning Commission and City Council" when it comes to considering the construction of new data centers. "By taking a phased approach, the city will have the opportunity to develop comprehensive regulations that reflect both the evolving nature of data centers and Akron's long-term planning goals," the city of Akron stated.

City of Akron Proposes New Review Process for Data Centers - — The City of Akron is proposing updates to its zoning code that would establish a clear review process for future data center developments, ensuring greater transparency, public input, and careful evaluation of projects before they move forward. Under current city law, data centers are allowed in industrial areas by right with no additional review process. This proposed change would require potential data center developers to go through the City’s Planning Commission and Akron City Council for approval. At its July meeting, the Akron Planning Commission will consider a zoning ordinance that would formally define data centers as a land use and require any proposed data center to obtain conditional use approval before development could proceed. "Our zoning code was written before facilities like modern data centers became a significant planning consideration," said Mayor Malik. "This proposal creates a thoughtful, transparent process that allows us to evaluate each project on its merits, engage the public, and ensure we're protecting community interests while providing clarity and predictability for applicants." Like many communities across the country, Akron's zoning code does not currently include a specific definition or review process for data centers. Historically, these facilities have been considered industrial uses in industrial zoning districts. As the scale and infrastructure needs of modern data centers continue to evolve, the City believes a more deliberate approach is warranted. Under the proposed changes, data center applications would undergo the City's conditional use process, which includes public hearings before both the Planning Commission and Akron City Council. The Planning Commission would review each proposal and make a recommendation before City Council conducts its own public hearing and votes on the application. In addition to the information already required for all conditional use applications, including site plans, landscaping plans, and building elevations, developers proposing data centers would be required to provide detailed information regarding:

• Expected electricity demand
• Projected water use and wastewater discharge
• Backup power systems
• Projected noise levels

Requiring this additional information will allow City staff, the Planning Commission, City Council, and the public to better understand each proposal, evaluate potential impacts, and identify appropriate mitigation measures before any project moves forward.

Cleveland data center moratorium heads for a council vote as City Hall writes new regulations Cleveland will likely hit pause on new data centers while the city draws up rules for the computing facilities at the heart of the artificial intelligence boom. A City Council committee advanced a three-month moratorium after a hearing on Thursday that lasted a little more than two hours. The full council could pass the legislation as soon as its July 15 meeting. The city wasn’t offering a firm yes or no to data centers in moving the moratorium, Utilities Committee Chairman Brian Kazy said. Instead, the pause will give City Hall time to come up with a way to manage and evaluate data center projects, such as by size or environmental impact. From Cleveland City Hall to Cuyahoga County Council, our free daily newsletter provides you with essential local government news. “Data centers are here,” Kazy said. “They’re probably not going anywhere any time soon. But what we need to figure out is, do we have infrastructure that’s going to support them?” The committee approved an amended version of the legislation that trimmed the moratorium down to three months from the original proposal, which would have paused data centers until May 2027. The moratorium would also apply to data center expansions. It would not include companies that maintain in-house data centers, Kazy said. After three months, council would have the option to extend the moratorium. The pause could also end earlier once the city passes new data center rules. Thursday’s hearing offered an early look at how the political debate over AI data centers will play out in Cleveland, with its legacy as a hub for industry. The city has long been home to data centers offering storage and internet connectivity. But adding urgency to the debate is a proposal for a large, 150-megawatt data center in Slavic Village, which appeared to catch public officials by surprise. Bibb’s administration denied a permit for the project for now. Tom Bullock of the Citizens Utility Board of Ohio, who described himself as neutral on the legislation, likened data centers to the railroads and steel mills of a century ago — the possible foundation for a growing U.S. economic competitiveness. Ward 12 Council Member Tanmay Shah saw a more dire side in that comparison. He argued that Big Tech, not Cleveland, would benefit from new data centers in town. “Those billionaire oligarchs like Bezos, Musk and Zuckerberg are dependent on these data centers to be put in our communities so they can continue extracting our money,” he said. “They’re actually the robber barons of our times.” Shah questioned whether the city’s electrical grid, which has seen its share of power outages, could handle the increased demand brought by data centers. He unsuccessfully sought to extend the moratorium to six months, arguing that three months wasn’t enough time. Council President Blaine Griffin said the city should include environmental protections in its new rules, such as minimizing how much water data centers use when cooling servers. On the other hand, the council president warned that he didn’t want to stiff-arm businesses. “We do want to make sure that we get this right,” Griffin said. “But we also don’t want to say that Cleveland is closed for business.”

How data centers could reshape Ohio's political map - cleveland.com -- Data centers are scrambling Ohio’s political map, uniting liberal environmental activists with conservative rural voters while putting both parties in hot water with some of their closest allies. For Republicans, many of the communities pushing hardest against data centers are the same rural areas that form the party’s base. At the same time, business groups, utilities and economic development leaders see the industry as a major source of jobs and investment. Scholz condemns Musk's support for far-right AfD “I cannot stress how frustrated people are with this topic,” Ohio Farm Bureau vice president Jack Irwin said during an Ohio Chamber of Commerce event in May. “It is in all corners of the state.” Democrats face their own dilemma. Concerns about utility costs and environmental impacts clash with support from labor unions that benefit from the jobs data centers create. House Republicans had retreated behind closed doors to decide the fate of a bill to regulate Ohio’s booming data center industry. State leaders had spent weeks warning that lawmakers needed to act before leaving for summer break. When the GOP caucus emerged, House Bill 646 was dead.The immediate disagreement was about a controversial sales tax exemption worth billions of dollars. Some Republicans wanted to preserve incentives that helped attract data centers to Ohio. Others argued taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidizing some of the world’s wealthiest corporations.. But the divide wasn’t limited to Republicans. Pressed repeatedly on whether Democrats supported continuing tax breaks for data centers, House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn sidestepped the question. “I have not defended the sales tax exemption,” Isaacsohn said. “I have refused to ignore the fact that there are tens of thousands of meaningful jobs that have been created over the last few years in sectors that have not seen growth for generations.” Here’s where the story gets complicated. The argument over tax breaks wasn’t really about tax breaks. It was about a rapidly growing industry that has become a stand-in for some of voters’ biggest concerns, from rising utility bills and water consumption to artificial intelligence and the growing influence of tech companies. Seven in ten Americans oppose building artificial intelligence data centers in their local communities, according to a Gallup poll conducted in May. The survey was the first time Gallup asked that question, and its researchers found little difference in opposition by age, race, education, income or whether respondents lived in urban or rural areas. “This is one of those issues where you should bite the bullet, take a clear stance that mirrors where the average Ohioan is and reap the reward,” University of Cincinnati politics professor David Niven said. “But neither party seems ready to make that commitment.” Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman initially planned to bring the House back for one last attempt this week to hammer out a deal. But on Thursday, that session was scrapped. That means any new legislation likely will have to wait until after the November election. If data centers become a major campaign issue, political experts think the winning strategy will be to convince voters the other side is responsible. Rising utility bills, disappearing farmland and sprawling industrial campuses next door to residential neighborhoods all create opportunities for candidates to point to an opponent and say, “This is all your fault.” For Democrats, that means tying the industry’s growth directly to Republican policies, like the creation of that controversial sales tax exemption. “Ohio has been about job creation for a long time, certainly in the last 20 years, and that’s been largely Republican legislation,”. To win statewide, Democrats don’t need to carry rural Ohio, but they need to lose by less. Niven and Sutton both thought data centers could create an opening. The proposed constitutional amendment to ban data centers larger than 25 megawatts didn’t originate in Cleveland, Columbus or Cincinnati. It started in rural Adams and Brown counties along Ohio’s southern border. Both are deeply Republican. More than 80% of voters in each county backed President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Yet residents there have become some of the state’s most vocal critics of data center development, raising concerns about farmland loss and the industrialization of rural communities. The Ohio Farm Bureau says the state has lost about 1 million acres of farmland in recent decades—enough land to fit more than 750,000 football fields. “We must recognize that farmland is a strategic resource and a vital part of our nation’s security,” Republicans have their own argument for why your power bills are rising. Rather than focus on data centers themselves, many GOP leaders have sought to tie rising electricity costs to energy policies championed by Democrats and environmental groups.

Homer City Economic Boom Now Under Way from Data Center Project - Marcellus Drilling News -- Earlier this month, Homer City Generation announced the early completion of demolition and excavation work at its Indiana County, Pennsylvania, site, marking a major milestone in transforming the former coal-fired power plant into a gas-fired power plant and AI data center complex (see PA’s Homer City Gas-Fired Project Completes Site Demolition Early). Some 1,300 skilled workers are currently on site building what will become North America’s largest energy campus of its kind. The number of workers may grow to 10,000! All of those workers in a relatively rural area like Homer City/Indiana County equals growing pains

Brilliant: Convert PA Coal-Fired Sites to Gas-Fired AI Data Centers - Marcellus Drilling News --  Just yesterday, MDN brought you the great news of the economic and jobs boom happening in Indiana County (Homer City), for a gas-fired AI data center project happening at what was Pennsylvania’s largest coal-fired power plant complex (see Homer City Economic Boom Now Under Way from Data Center Project). The Homer City project is a fantastic example of what can be done, what IS being done, to turn old (retired) coal-fired power plants into gas-fired AI data centers

Residents in NEPA Town Sell to Data Centers, Get Rich, & Move -- Marcellus Drilling News - Last week, MDN told you about a group of landowners in Salem Township (Luzerne County), PA, near Wilkes-Barre, who had banded together to offer their land for sale to a data center project and potentially become very wealthy (see NEPA Landowners Line Up to Become AI Millionaires by Selling Land). We have an update to that story, locking down just how wealthy they could become. The article looks at what is happening in Salem Township. Much of the perspective is, “Isn’t it a shame how data centers are destroying this little slice of paradise?” Homes are being boarded up, and people are moving away.

Shapiro is splitting with other Dems on PA data centers • Spotlight PA — As Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro attempts to thread a needle between attracting data center projects to Pennsylvania and satisfying their critics, members of his own party — and many Republicans — are backing a more aggressive regulatory approach.The split between the governor and other lawmakers could be seen this week in a pair of conflicting bills the Democratic-controlled state House passed.One was Shapiro’s own marquee data center proposal, which aims to incentivize developers to, among other things, be more transparent and reduce environmental impacts by putting conditions on a major state tax break. It passed 134-63 on Wednesday, with all but one Democrat in support, and 33 Republicans also in favor.The other was a measure that would completely repeal that sales tax break, which applies to major purchases related to data center development and is expected to cost the commonwealth over $2 billion by mid-2031. It passed even more decisively on Thursday, with support from all but four Republicans and one Democrat. The sponsor of the latter bill, longtime environmentalist state Rep. Greg Vitali (D., Delaware), had initially planned to propose the tax credit repeal as an amendment to Shapiro’s bill. House Democratic leaders, he told Spotlight PA, seemed sufficiently concerned that the amendments would pass and reshape the bill that they approached Vitali and promised to run his repeal bill separately if he withdrew them.“It shows the sales tax exemption has fallen upon disfavor among both Democrats and Republicans,” Vitali said after his bill passed through committee unanimously on Monday.“Hopefully it'll send a signal to the governor to switch gears on this issue and call for an end of the sales tax exemption,” he said. Vitali lost his primary this spring and will leave the legislature at the end of the year.The dueling bills reflect a larger debate as to what — if any — incentives the commonwealth should provide to data center developers. They come as the facilities proliferate rapidly across the state and country, inspiring hopes of economic development among politicians and public officials, but also spurring fear about skyrocketing electricity costs, grid instability, high water use, and environmental consequences.Proponents of Pennsylvania’s tax exemption have said it is essential for maintaining economic competitiveness, while opponents have said that it is unnecessary given the number of data center projects already underway across the state.Still, state House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) told Spotlight PA that moving many bills, and particularly the two conflicting bills over the data center tax credit, should not be interpreted as a sign of Democratic disunity over Shapiro’s approach.Bradford said he is “supportive” of both tax strategies.“One is to incentivize, and one is to end the credit entirely. I think there are pros and cons to both,” he said, adding that “either one of those options provides a path forward.”

10 data centers have been proposed in W.Va., but only two are state-certified so far - WCHS — Proposals for data centers have been popping up across West Virginia, sparking major opposition. This comes after the passage of House Bill 2014, which is meant to incentivize data centers to come to the state by allowing these campuses to produce and their own power using microgrids. However, not every data center has plans to include their own microgrid, sparking concerns of power usage. "What we should be requiring is for all the data centers to have to bring their own power and there are no laws in the books that require that. Some of the data centers are saying they want to buy the power from the local utility and then other data centers are saying they're going to build some kind of power plant there, but they want to have backup familiar the local utility,” Energy Efficient West Virginia Policy Director Emmett Pepper said. Pepper said if these data centers pull from the grid, there could be potential for rising costs for ratepayers, a safeguard he said lawmakers should have put in place. "There needs to be guarantees that ratepayers that are already here are not going to pay for data centers and some of those protections are in place but there are many protections that are not in place,” he said. As of right now, two data centers have been certified as high impact data centers and have been approved by the state. One in Berkeley County which will be located on 548 acres. When it's built, it will be approximately 1.9 million square feet. The other one is in Putnam County on 1,700 acres of land have been purchased. The exact size of the building has not yet been announced, however, the company has committed to using renewable or zero emission electricity to fully power the facility. Neither of these data center projects include microgrids. In February, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said the Berkeley County campus will “likely be a grid-connected project," which means it will be pulling from utilities that are already there. "I want to reassure the people of West Virginia that infrastructure costs associated with these intelligence centers are paid for by the projects, not West Virginians. We're excited about that,” Morrisey said during a press conference in February. According to Datacentermap.com, 10 data centers are being constructed here in West Virginia. Morrisey has applauded these developments, aiming to “make West Virginia the best state in the country for data centers.” "President Trump declared we're entering a new golden age and that America must remain the number one ai power in the world to keep our people free and safe," the governor said. "West Virginia is answering that call and we're optimistic for our future."

Inside the Deal to Convert Potomac Coal Plant to Gas Data Center -- Marcellus Drilling News - In March, we told you about a deal made by Maryland Eastern Shore developer TeraWulf to acquire the retired Morgantown Generating Station in Charles County (on the Potomac River), proposing to transform the site into a massive natural gas-powered data center campus (see Potomac River Coal-Fired Plant Slated for 1 GW NatGas Conversion). The plan aims to generate one gigawatt (GW) of power and 500 megawatts of battery storage, bypassing the aging regional grid. This is the story (purportedly) of how the developer got speedy approval from Maryland’s liberal Democrat governor.

China Isn’t Giving Up On Coal Despite Green Energy Goals - Chinese authorities are not restricting coal power growth in the new five-year energy plan as Beijing doubles down on the fossil fuel as a “bottom-line guarantee” of the electricity system amid rising shares of renewable power.China has unveiled its five-year plan for the energy sector, expecting renewable energy to boost its share of electricity supply by 2031, but also noting that it would aim to strengthen the role of coal a “bottom-line guarantee”.China targets clean energy to account for 30% of its power generation by 2030, up from about 22% at present. While wind and solar are set to become the “mainstay” of the electricity mix, coal will continue to grow and act increasingly as a flexible backstop to boost energy security.“China's newly released five-year plan for the energy sector has very little to get excited about,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder of the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).“The increases in fossil power generation allowed by the targets are not aligned with China's commitments to peak CO2 emissions and coal consumption and to reduce CO2 intensity by 2030, even with the slight acceleration in electrification,” Myllyvirta added.  China, despite the massive renewables push and its leading position as the world’s biggest investor in renewable power capacity additions, continues to rely on coal to meet its demand and fill in gaps whenever renewables falter, as was the case with wind power in recent months or with hydropower two years ago. Last year, China accounted for a massive 78% of all global coal power capacity that began operating. The world’s top coal consumer and importer also makes up a whopping 86% of the total global capacity under construction and expected to be commissioned this year, according to the data analyzed by non-profit Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

Australians ask UN to curb country’s coal exports - A group of Australians lodged a case Monday with a United Nations panel that accuses the country’s government of violating their human rights by failing to limit coal and gas exports. The case before the U.N. Human Rights Committee is the first complaint to be filed after of its kind. It comes after the U.N.’s judicial arm, the International Court of Justice, ruled last July that countries have a legal duty to tackle climate change. “All governments have a legal duty to act on the climate crisis,” said Ramin Pejan, deputy managing attorney of the international program at Earthjustice. The nonprofit is representing the 10 Australians, along with the Human Rights Law Centre and Environmental Justice Australia. The Australian government, Pejan added, “is failing that responsibility by allowing unchecked exports of coal and gas. This case sends a clear message: governments must act to reduce climate pollution from coal and gas and protect their people from harm.”

The Gas-to-Nuclear Blueprint: How AI Can Survive the Grid Crisis and Secure a Zero-Carbon Future -  The artificial intelligence revolution has collided with a stark physical reality: The U.S. power grid cannot support it. With data center power demand projected to nearly triple to over 130 gigawatts by 2030, the energy bottleneck has emerged as the primary threat to the digital economy. However, the nature of this crisis is shifting. The challenge is no longer just about waiting five to seven years for a utility interconnection. Regulators and utilities are fundamentally changing the rules of engagement. Under emerging policy frameworks like the "Ratepayer Protection Pledge," utilities are pushing back against socializing the massive infrastructure costs of the AI boom. Technology leaders are now facing a new mandate to build, bring, or buy their own energy, or risk stalling their AI roadmap entirely. Hyperscalers have recognized this shift, making big bets on the ultimate sustainable energy source — nuclear. The industry’s long-term direction is clear: round-the-clock, carbon-free energy powered by small modular reactors (SMRs). In the past year alone, giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have collectively signed contracts for over 10 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity. This pivot reflects a realization that meeting gigawatt-scale demand requires an energy source that is both physically compact and capable of constant generation. However, a glaring gap remains. SMR technologies are still years away from commercial scale. To bridge the gap between the immediate demands of the AI race and the zero-carbon grid of the future, the industry requires a deliberate, strategic stepping stone. Conventional on-site power generation — particularly firm, baseload-ready gas plants — has emerged as a critical bridge to addressing today’s grid constraints. By locating generation behind the meter, developers can bypass congestion risks and the “interconnection trap” that can delay projects for years.In the AI-driven economy, power availability has become a defining factor in enterprise valuation. A data center that can be energized today is inherently more valuable than one waiting years for utility interconnection. On-site generation enables developers to bring capacity online faster, unlocking compute revenue earlier and preserving market opportunity that would otherwise be lost to grid delays.Importantly, this is not a step away from long-term sustainability goals, but a pragmatic bridge toward them. Near-term gas generation provides the immediate capacity needed to support AI growth while creating the stability and runway required to advance longer-term solutions, including nuclear.Making the transition from gas to nuclear thermal requires a new type of collaboration across infrastructure capital, conventional power developers, and nuclear innovators. We are beginning to see these coalitions form to offer integrated bridge solutions.  The urgency driving these partnerships is mathematical. According to datacenterHawk, grid interconnection timelines across the United States have stretched to three to seven years in many markets, which far exceeds the 18 to 24 months it typically takes to construct a modern data center. In some major hubs, conditions are far more extreme: Columbus, Ohio, for instance, currently faces interconnection timelines of up to 84 months. A March 2026 survey by Bloom Energy found that time-to-power now runs roughly 1.5 to 2 years longer than previously expected across a broad cross-section of market participants, including hyperscalers, colocation providers, and independent power producers. The International Energy Agency has estimated that as many as 20% of planned data center projects may be delayed or canceled entirely if grid constraints go unaddressed.  Behind-the-meter gas generation solves this equation directly. On-site turbines and reciprocating engines can be procured and commissioned in as little as 16 to 30 months, which is fast enough to align with the deployment cycles of hyperscale AI programs. The financial implications are compounding: every month of delayed energization represents compute capacity that cannot be monetized, amplifying the competitive cost of a grid-dependent strategy in a sector where market windows close quickly. The largest hyperscalers have already internalized this logic. Amazon Web Services pursued a behind-the-meter colocation arrangement at Talen Energy's Susquehanna Nuclear Plant in Pennsylvania, securing up to 300 MW of directly colocated capacity to reduce exposure to grid congestion for its AI data center campus. Separately, Meta has constructed 400 MW of dedicated natural gas generation that operates entirely independent of the grid to power its facilities — a clear signal that at hyperscale, grid dependence has become a strategic liability no roadmap can afford. What both examples illustrate is the same underlying principle: controlling your own generation is a competitive advantage, not a contingency. Behind-the-meter infrastructure compresses the gap between capital commitment and revenue generation, which in a capital-intensive, fast-moving sector is ultimately the game. In this type of dual-track arrangement, flexible gas generation is deployed immediately so hyperscalers can bypass utility delays and meet critical infrastructure demands today. Concurrently, the partnership works to secure the facility’s eventual transition to advanced nuclear technology. This structure allows near-term power needs to be addressed while remaining fully aligned with long-term zero-carbon objectives. The result is a power strategy that is responsive to the present without sacrificing the future. It’s increasingly serving as the most credible framework available for developers who need speed and sustainability.

Trump Admin Backs Big Reactors With $18BN Supply Chain Loans For Ten AP1000s -- The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) issued a conditional commitment for $17.5 billion in American nuclear supply chain loans. The money targets long-lead time components to accelerate deployment of 10 large-scale Westinghouse AP1000 reactors across up to five projects. Each reactor is rated at ~1.1 GWe. The combined output would power nearly 10 million American households. Westinghouse will partner up to develop five new reactor plants, with each project involving two AP1000 units. The financing will require $1 billion in upfront equity, $500 million from Westinghouse and $500 million from the partner, before DOE loan funds flow. Westinghouse has already signed letters of intent with seven potential partners who have identified sites. The loans finance bulk purchases of long-lead items such as reactor vessels, steam generators, and other complex components that can take years to manufacture at fixed prices. The goal is to cut deployment timelines by up to three years through supply chain efficiencies and economies of scale.To be clear, this announcement has nothing to do with the SMR or microreactor sector. There is no funding here for NuScale, Rolls-Royce, Oklo, Terrestrial, or any of the smaller advanced designs still navigating licensing and demonstration hurdles. This is explicitly about restarting the heavy forging, fabrication, and component supply chain for the only large advanced reactor design with operating experience in the United States today. Think nuclear supply chain companies including BWXT, MIR, CW, and FLS.This is the financing mechanism behind the broader government push we have covered for months. As we reported when the national emergency framing surfaced around government backing for 10 large new reactors, and again when Cameco surged on the $80 billion Department of Commerce deal with Brookfield, the focus has stayed on proven large reactor technology.Energy Secretary Chris Wright framed it as essential to reviving the domestic industrial base needed for large commercial reactors under President Trump's Executive Order on Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base. The target remains 10 new large reactors under construction by 2030.Bulk equipment orders should drive down per-unit costs and give suppliers the volume signals they have lacked for decades. Conditional status still requires technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions to be met before definitive documents and funding.

NASA Eyes Moon Base Powered by Solar Panels and Nuclear Reactors -- With major plans for space travel, several governments are proposing lunar energy production, including solar and nuclear projects. In May, NASA announced plans to send robotic landers, hopping drones, and vehicles to the moon as part of the United States government’s plans to develop a lunar base. NASA is expected to develop the machines alongside Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, Blue Origin, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The United States aims to land its astronauts back on the moon before President Donald Trump leaves office in 2029, 60 years after it first achieved the feat. In March, NASA announced a $20 billion programme to develop a permanent base powered by nuclear and solar energy at the Moon’s south pole by 2032. The creation of a base would allow the United States to conduct scientific experiments, potentially mine valuable resources, and assess the feasibility of a journey to Mars. NASA recently experienced success when it sent Artemis II around the Moon in April. Before sending humans to the Moon, NASA aims to send robotic landers and hopping drones to the surface to assess its terrain. It also plans to transport delivery vehicles capable of driving astronauts across the lunar surface and carrying communications and scientific instruments. NASA hopes to use Blue Origin's lunar lander Endurance to conduct precise landings, as well as Astrobotic’s Gryphon-1 lander. The agency expects to carry out 25 launches and transport around 4 metric tonnes of cargo to the Moon by 2029. It then aims to develop nuclear and solar power facilities on the Moon, including fission reactors. More ambitiously, NASA wants to establish conditions for humans to live on the moon in “semi-permanent” housing by as early as 2032. It believes that the Moon’s South Pole could offer suitable conditions, as frozen water could be used for drinking water or to produce oxygen. However, many have criticised NASA, suggesting that its timeline is likely unrealistic. Simeon Barber, a Lunar Scientist at the United Kingdom’s Open University, said, “It would not surprise me at all if China gets there first.” Barber cited NASA’s delays in acquiring a spacecraft capable of landing humans on the Moon. “The limiting step is getting the astronauts down onto the surface… It sounds to me like [NASA] feels they’re in a position where they have to start saying they’ve got plans. So, I think there’s a lot of political drive behind this,” added Barber. The U.S. space agency is competing with China to become the first country to return humans to Earth’s surface, with China having set a 2030 deadline. China has already sent astronauts to its space station nearly a dozen times, and it is getting more ambitious in its plans to achieve a human lunar landing. In May, China launched its Shenzhou-23 spacecraft to transport a crew of three astronauts to its Tiangong space station. One of the astronauts is set to stay in the space station for a year, a record length for the country. This will help researchers to assess long-duration human physiology in space, including the physiological effects of radiation exposure, bone density loss, and psychological stress. Many speculate that the Chinese government aims to colonise and mine lunar territory and resources, although Beijing has rejected these claims. To achieve its 2030 goals, China must develop suitable new hardware and software for a lunar mission, as its current technology was developed for low-Earth orbit. China has so far sent only robots to the moon. However, its regular space missions are helping to improve the country’s space capabilities. In June 2024, China became the first country to recover lunar samples from the far side of the moon, using robots. If China achieves a human landing by 2030, it aims to develop a permanent base on the moon with Russia by 2035. Compared with the NASA timeline, China’s deadline is considered more conservative. Beijing is focusing closely on safety tests of all aspects of its lunar technology. China is also conducting the world’s first human artificial embryo experiment in space, having transported human stem cell samples to the Shenzhou-22 crew to assess the long-term residence, survival, and reproduction of humans in space. “The human artificial embryo is made of human stem cells as raw materials,” explained Yu Leqian, the project leader for the artificial embryo space science experiment. “This is not a real human embryo and does not have the ability to develop into an individual. However, it can serve as a model for studying early human development,” added Yu. The space race is back on, with the United States and China competing to achieve the first 21st-century human moon landing. If successful, each country plans to establish a base, generate power, and eventually create conditions for humans to live semi-permanently on the Moon.

Swiss nuclear reactors taken off grid as River Aare warms - Two nuclear reactors in Switzerland have been taken off the grid after rising river temperatures reduced the effectiveness of their cooling system, according to local media reports on Friday, AzerNEWS reports. Energy company Axpo said the two Beznau reactor units, cooled by water from the River Aare, are now in a full shutdown state after being progressively reduced earlier in the week, according to SWI. Axpo said the temperature of the River Aare reached 25C (77F), a level it said does not allow sufficient cooling for the plant's operations. Output from the two reactors had already been reduced Tuesday, most recently to 50%. The company said the river reached 25C for the first time Wednesday after cooling water had been fully mixed, adding that if there was no prospect of the river cooling, the reactors would be shut down completely Friday. The two units, located on the Aare island in Dottingen, had already temporarily suspended electricity production in July 2025. Europe's current heatwave, which has brought red alerts to several countries throughout the week, is the "most severe" ever recorded in the region and was made significantly more likely and intense by fossil fuel-driven climate change, according to a report published Friday by World Weather Attribution (WWA). The study found that the temperatures recorded would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago and far less likely even during previous record-breaking heatwaves.

OH Gov. DeWine Signs Bill Updating Law Governing Oil & Gas Wells -- Marcellus Drilling News -   In October 2025, we reported that Ohio Republican Senators had introduced Senate Bill (SB) 219, the first significant update to Ohio’s oil and gas laws since the Kasich administration more than a decade ago (see Ohio Bill Makes Major Changes to Law Governing O&G Wells). SB 219, introduceon d by Sen. Al Landis, aims to reform Ohio’s orphaned oil and gas well program and other elements of Ohio’s O&G laws. The bill eventually passed both the Senate and House, and on Wednesday, Governor Mike DeWine signed it into law

Gov. Mike DeWine signs bill speeding up Ohio’s oil and gas permitting process
Cleveland Plain Dealer - —Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday signed legislation that makes wide-ranging changes to Ohio’s oil and gas drilling laws – including by speeding up the permit process for fracking under Ohio state parks and wildlife areas. Senate Bill 219, which passed the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature on near-party-line votes, was hailed by the state’s oil and gas industry as a much-needed update to the state’s drilling laws, including protecting a state fund that covers the cost of plugging abandoned drilling wells. However, environmentalists have denounced other parts of the bill as a giveaway to the state’s oil and gas industry, warning it will weaken oversight, shorten public review timelines and fast-track leasing decisions that could open more state-owned land to drilling with less scrutiny. DeWine signed SB219 even though it includes a measure he vetoed last year to allow the primary term of oil and gas leases to last for five years, up from three years under previous law.The bill also requires the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and other state agencies to finalize approved oil and gas leases within 60 days. DeWine vetoed a similar proposal last year that would have required state agencies to act within 30 days.DeWine’s office announced Wednesday night that the governor signed SB219, but it didn’t include any explanation about why the governor chose to sign it.DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said in a statement that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources worked with the General Assembly since last year’s budget bill “to improve the language and make it more workable.”SB219, which takes effect in mid-September, makes several changes to accelerate the state’s permitting process for oil and gas drilling generally, including by:

• No longer allowing state regulators to refuse to process expedited drilling permit requests on the grounds that they’re too busy with other matters. Each driller is limited to filing 10 expedited requests per year.
• Requiring regulators to either issue or deny a drilling permit within a week of receiving an expedited request
• Forbidding the state from requiring a company to stop or slow production from an existing well just because it wants to carry out additional drilling or work on the same site, unless regulators can show “good cause” for doing so
• Making ODNR write its own administrative rules for oil and gas decisions, instead of following the state Administrative Procedures Act. Such a move could mean more regulatory flexibility, but it could also potentially result in oil and gas rules that are less transparent and harder for the public to review and challenge.

SB219 also takes steps to encourage and accelerate oil and gas fracking under state lands, including by:

• Reducing the amount of time the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission has to decide on a nomination to frack public lands from 180 days to 90 days.
• Requiring the commission to put approved state land fracking nominations out for bid immediately (rather than the next calendar quarter, under previous law), then select the “highest and best bid” within 60 days.
• Requiring the state agency that manages the land to sign approved drilling leases within 60 days
• Loosening the deadline for oil and gas companies that secure a lease for fracking under state lands to pay any advance royalties or bonuses, from 10 days to 60 days.
• Suspending royalty payments and time limits for public-land fracking leases going through a federal approval process (as is the case right now with the Zepernick and Leesville wildlife areas), as well as while any court challenge to the lease is pending until there’s a “final, non-appealable order” in the case
• Restricting state officials from demanding lease royalties higher than the standard 12.5% rate or tacking on extra fees or conditions that aren’t explicitly authorized in state law. Some existing fracking leases on state lands, including Salt Fork State Park and Valley Run Wildlife Area, have royalty rates higher than that baseline or offer additional financial compensation to the state

SB219 is in line with Ohio lawmakers’ efforts in recent years to jump-start fracking underneath state lands.While then-Gov. John Kasich signed legislation in 2011 authorizing such drilling, Kasich and DeWine dragged their feet on actually leasing state lands until lawmakers passed legislation in 2023 effectively forcing the DeWine administration to begin moving to approve leases.Since then, state regulators have approved at least 18 fracking leases for more than 11,000 acres of state land, including Salt Fork State Park, five state wildlife areas, and smaller Ohio Department of Transportation parcels. The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission is set to meet next Monday to consider nominations to drill under an additional 23,173 acres at Egypt Valley and Jockey Hollow wildlife areas, as well as another 513 acres under Salt Fork State Park.

Ohio Gets Ready to Open Another 23,000 Acres of State Land for Fracking -- Marcellus Drilling News - -The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) is set to vote on Monday to open roughly 23,000 acres of publicly owned wildlife preserves in eastern Ohio to fracking. The panel will weigh accepting bids on about 15,000 acres split between Jockey Hollow and Egypt Valley, plus opening another 8,000 acres of Egypt Valley. Approval would bring Ohio’s leased public land to more than 30,000 acres across Salt Fork State Park and six wildlife areas, mostly in the Belmont-Harrison-Guernsey region. Ohio has already collected roughly $57 million in signing bonuses, plus 18–20% royalties.

An insane amount of public land is up for fracking on Monday - Cathy Cowan Becker, Save Ohio Parks -- We have just learned that the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission will meet on Monday, June 29, to decide on a long list of nominations and bids to frack Ohio public land.We’re not going to lie … they are likely to approve most if not all the nominations and award most if not all the bids.That’s because, as our data center report shows, the legislature has squashed 5300 MW of solar and wind energy – so now they are building new gas plants to power data centers across the state, with the gas coming from our state parks and wildlife areas.We wish we had better news – but there are two ways you can help us fight back.

1. Fill out this action alert to send a letter directly to Commission Chair Theresa White, ODNR Director Mary Mertz, and Commission Clerk Nathan Moffitt telling them you do not want them to approve fracking Ohio state parks and public lands.
2. Register for this event to attend our press conference Monday at noon, then the commission meeting at 1 p.m. See the proceedings yourself – the lack of democracy, inability for the public to speak out – while they sell off our public lands.

No, it’s not fun to watch – but we need to demonstrate to the media, the public, and our own posterity that the people of Ohio love our state parks and public lands and think they should be protected.Here are the pending nominations to be approved or denied:

• 26-DNR-0006- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (5439 acres)
• 26-DNR-0007- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (1285 acres)
• 26-DNR-0008- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (777 acres)
• 26-DNR-0009- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (863 acres)
• 26-DOT-0003- ROW Along SR 513 & I-70 in Guernsey County
• 26-DOT-0004- ROW Along SR 30 in Stark County
• 26-DOT-0005- ROW Along SR 285 in Guernsey County

Here are the pending bids to be awarded to the “highest and best” (not our language) bidder:

• 24-DNR-0011- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (4360 acres)
• 24-DNR-0012- Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area (382 acres)
• 25-DNR-0001- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (366 acres)
• 25-DNR-0002- Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area (1460 acres)
• 26-DNR-0001- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (3846 acres)
• 26-DNR-0002- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (2792 acres)
• 26-DNR-0003- Salt Fork State Park (513 acres)
• 26-DNR-0004- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (849 acres)
• 26-DNR-0005- Egypt Valley Wildlife Area (746 acres)
• 24-DOT-0015- ROW Along SR 821 in Guernsey County
• 25-DOT-0001- ROW Along SR 800 in Tuscarawas County
• 25-DOT-0002- ROW Along SR 800 in Tuscarawas County
• 25-DOT-0003- ROW Along SR 800 in Tuscarawas County
• 25-DOT-0004- ROW Along SR 78 in Noble County
• 25-DOT-0005- ROW Along SR 78 in Noble County
• 25-DOT-0006- ROW Along SR 558 in Columbiana County
• 25-DOT-0007- ROW Along SR 26 in Monroe County
• 25-DOT-0009- ROW Along SR800 in Tuscarawas County
• 25-DOT-0010- ROW Along SR 7 in Belmont County
• 25-DOT-0012- ROW Along SR 513 in Guernsey County
• 26-DOT-0002- ROW Along SR 513 in Guernsey County
• 25-DRC-0001- Noble Correctional Institution in Noble County

As you can see, this is an insane amount of public land – the most we’ve ever seen for one commission meeting during the 3+ years we have been doing this.The commission never used to rush this much public land through at once. We believe this is happening because they got the order to open up gas to power data centers.

Home explodes, houses burn, residents evacuate after gas leak in Twinsburg Township -- The Twinsburg Fire Department has reported that a home on Hiram Lane in Twinsburg Township blew up and two others caught fire after a reported gas leak, according to wkyc.com, media partner of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.Lt. Mike Perlatti of the Twinsburg Fire Department said the three homes were a total loss and a dozen others on Hiram Lane were severely damaged, according to wkyc.com. More homes on Fairway Boulevard were also damaged.Nobody was home when the house exploded, Perlatti said. The blast injured one person who was taken the hospital. Another person was taken to the hospital for “unspecified reasons,” the news outlet reported.Twinsburg Fire Department responded to the gas leak in the Woodlands neighborhood Thursday afternoon after workers reportedly struck a gas line, according to wkyc.com, and as Enbridge gas employees went to inspect the damage, gas started to settle due to a lack of wind and an evacuation order was issued.Shortly thereafter, the home exploded. Residents in the area were told:

Do not turn any electrical devices on or off. If already on, leave on.
Do not start any vehicles.
Avoid anything that could create an electric spark.

Twinsburg Township street ‘engulfed in flames’ after natural gas explosion rocks quiet neighborhood (WJW) (videos)— There may be no telling what sparked a massive natural gas explosion in Summit County on Thursday afternoon, June 25, that destroyed three homes and damaged dozens of others. Investigators said the situation began to unfold when a work crew installing fiber optics hit a gas line. Authorities called it a “construction mishap.” The blast rocked a quiet neighborhood on Hiram Lane in The Woodlands subdivision in Twinsburg Township.  “All of a sudden — this big kaboom like I’ve never heard before. My house actually shook and I didn’t know what happened. I thought a tree fell over; I thought we had an earthquake. I didn’t know, I’ve never experienced anything like it,” said Township resident Carl Snyder. Residents said the work crew had been marking lawns in the neighborhood earlier this week, pinpointing where the fiber optics would be buried. “You know, to prevent any situation like this. And all of a sudden, in the middle of the afternoon, this unfortunately happened,” said Snyder. Twinsburg firefighters quickly responded to the gas leak and were immediately concerned about the amount of gas that was concentrated in the neighborhood. Authorities directed residents to evacuate or shelter in place, and asked them not to do anything that might trigger an explosion. While firefighters tried to keep everyone safe while waiting for a gas crew to stop the leak, the gas was ignited by an unknown source, triggering the massive blast. Longtime firefighters said they have not seen or felt anything like it. “The fact that we were on scene when it happened. Per one of the Enbridge representatives, as he described it, he said, ‘You know, another 30 seconds and we probably could have been in the blast zone.’ That’s how close that was to going off and you can’t predict that,” Twinsburg fire Lt. Michael Perlatti told FOX 8 News. Fire Chief Earl Wilson on Friday said the concussive force of the blast blew out windows, knocked down siding and soffitts, shattered lights and blew in garage doors. Nearly all of the 15 homes in the area immediately around the origin of the blast were damaged in some way. SkyFOX surveyed the neighborhood on Friday morning: The explosion reportedly knocked one resident out of his chair. He was able to walk out of his home and away from the scene, Wilson said. Right after the blast, sheriff’s deputies worked quickly to verify residents’ locations while police worked to evacuate the area, he said. “The house that was where the initial explosion was — those folks were not home, so that was a blessing. They were actually on a day trip out of town,” said Perlatti. Residents and firefighters who were at the scene at the time of the blast are amazed that no one was severely injured or killed. “This is a miracle in itself,” Wilson said. “If you consider just two people per house, you’re looking at 30 people right there. Who’s home? Who’s not home? … We don’t know where anyone is.” Fire investigators said at least three homes were destroyed or totaled and about 35 others had varying degrees of damage on Hiram Lane and neighboring streets. One person was injured in the explosion, and was transported to the hospital, along with another resident, who had a separate medical issue. Residents were stunned by the scope of the damage done to their neighborhood. “I got a call from my sister saying it felt like a nuclear bomb had detonated within the house and it was like the whole left side part of the street up there was completely engulfed in flames,” Chris Zorella told FOX 8 News. Perlatti said the blast was so powerful it launched a mattress 40 feet into the air. It remained stuck in a tree Thursday afternoon. “We can’t guarantee that anything else won’t fall out of the trees during a breeze,” he said. “When that storm came through a little bit earlier and the breeze did kick out, we did have stuff fall out of the trees, from shingles to two-by-fours.”

23 homes damaged after house explosion in Cleveland, Ohio suburb -— Fire officials have confirmed that a house explosion in Twinsburg Township, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, has destroyed three homes and left 20 more damaged. According to Lt. Mike Perlatti of the Twinsburg Fire Department, crews were initially called to Thursday afternoon for a reported gas leak caused by workers striking a gas line. With the gas settling into the area due to a lack of wind, an evacuation order was issued as workers made their way to the scene to inspect the damage. Minutes later, one of the houses in the area blew up, and two more homes caught fire as a result. Perlatti confirmed all three of those homes were a total loss, while 12 more houses on one street -- Hiram Lane -- suffered severe damage. "My wife was at home at the time, and she called me panicking, and she just said, 'The house exploded!'" Kenneth Longmire said. "I guess it knocked her off her feet." "There was a fire coming up through the water line toilet because the toilet exploded," Christopher Hamed added of his own house. "The garage door's caved in, and the front door was also caved in." An additional eight homes in neighboring Hudson, Ohio, suffered moderate damage but were not impacted by the fire.Perlatti said that the residents of the house that suffered the initial explosion were not home at the time."They're normally there at the table eating dinner at that time," neighbor Jay Ski told 3News, a local TV station. One person was hurt by the blast, and another suffered injuries due to other unspecified reasons. Both were taken to the hospital.No further information about additional injuries or possible fatalities was available as of early Friday morning. The fires are now under control, per Perlatti, and the gas lines have been shut off.Due to heavy debris and the continued presence of first responders, it is not known when the evacuation order will be lifted. Residents were allowed back in briefly to collect some belongings under police supervision.In neighboring Hudson, the city announced that all future directional drilling operations scheduled to take place in the city have been halted "until the cause of this devastating gas explosion is released. According to Hudson City Councilman Kyle Brezovec, a fiber optic contractor is believed to have struck the line and caused the leak in Twinsburg Township.

Enbridge Repairs Damaged Pipeline After Ohio Explosion (P&GJ) — Enbridge Gas Ohio says it is repairing a damaged natural gas pipeline and restoring service following a gas explosion that destroyed three homes on June 25 in Twinsburg Township, Ohio, as state officials continue investigating the incident. According to WKYC, the utility said its crews were responding to a damaged pipeline when the explosion occurred. Enbridge said crews were dispatched to Hiram Lane after receiving reports of a damaged gas line on June 25. The company said the explosion occurred shortly after its personnel arrived, prompting crews to shut off gas service to the affected neighborhood while working with local emergency responders. "We shut off gas to the affected neighborhood and the area was made safe," Enbridge said in a statement to WKYC. "We're working to repair the pipeline and to restore service." According to WKYC, the incident began after contractors performing underground utility work reportedly struck a natural gas pipeline on June 25. One home exploded, igniting nearby structures and destroying three homes. Two people were injured, while authorities said no one was inside the house that exploded. The Ohio State Fire Marshal is leading the investigation, with Enbridge assisting authorities. The utility said it remains on site and thanked local emergency responders for their response. Separately, the City of Twinsburg has suspended all boring, directional drilling and related underground utility work until the incident can be reviewed. Neighboring cities, including Stow and Hudson, announced similar temporary suspensions. As reported by WKYC, Uniti Group, owner of Windstream, confirmed contractors working on its Kinetic Fiber network were performing work in the area when the explosion occurred and said it is cooperating with investigators.

New 953-MW Utica-fired power plant goes online in Lordstown, Ohio - — A massive new $1.2 billion natural gas-fired power plant fueled by the Utica Shale has officially launched commercial operations in Trumbull County, project officials announced Wednesday. The 953-megawatt Trumbull Energy Center, which began generating power earlier this year before celebrating its official launch yesterday, is expected to produce enough electricity to power nearly 1 million homes across the region. Clean Energy Future first announced plans for the combined-cycle gas turbine facility in January 2017, positioning it adjacent to the existing Lordstown Energy Center. Construction on the project began in late 2022 immediately after developers successfully secured $1.2 billion in final financing. The state-of-the-art facility is designed to address critical regional energy needs as older, coal-fired power plants across the Midwest continue to retire. Electricity generated by the plant will feed directly into the PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest wholesale electricity grid, helping to stabilize power supplies for both residential consumers and major industrial facilities in northeastern Ohio. Local officials have highlighted the project's significant economic footprint, noting that construction generated hundreds of union jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in local spending. Under long-term tax agreements, the plant is scheduled to provide millions of dollars in steady funding to the village of Lordstown and the Lordstown Local School District over the next 15 years.

Gas plant permits still include EPA’s carbon rules -- State regulators are still including EPA carbon rules in the permits they issue for new gas-fired power plants, despite the federal agency’s plans to repeal the rules. But how they’re doing that varies from state to state. States usually take the lead in issuing air quality standards for power plants within their borders. So even states that sued to stop the Biden greenhouse gas rules from taking effect are responsible for ensuring that their fossil fuels generators have a plan to meet those standards when they’re granted an operating permit — unless and until EPA finalizes their repeal. “The law that’s on the books is what’s on the books right now, so that’s what folks have to comply with,” noted Miles Keogh, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, which represents those state regulators. And they are. Georgia joined 24 other GOP-led states in 2024 in challenging the Biden-era rule that would require coal- and some new gas-fired power plants to retrofit with carbon capture and storage by 2032. Those fossil fuels plants that weren’t prepared to start capturing 90 percent of their carbon by that year would have to commit to a retirement schedule, in the case of existing coal. New gas would be required to run below 40 percent capacity. The Trump EPA proposed repealing the standards last year, and a final rule is currently under White House review. Still, when the Georgia Department of Natural Resources issued a so-called Title V permit for the Plant Bowen combined-cycle natural gas project in January, it required Georgia Power to retain records of fuel usage and take other steps to comply with the Biden rules and a 2015 greenhouse gas standard “as applicable.” It also required the project to keep greenhouse gas emissions to a 12-month average of 905 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent — in line with the first phase of the 2024 rules before the CCS requirement kicks in. Another litigant — the state of Ohio — did the same. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in its draft permit for the Chestnut Run Energy project in January acknowledged that the proposed 1,300-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas power plant would have to comply with the 2024 rule. It would use “high efficiency combustion technology” to keep emissions to 800 lb CO2e per megawatts per hour when running at full load — again, a level in line with the rule’s preliminary phase before the 2032 CCS requirements take effect in 2032. The Homer City Generation Station — under development at a decommissioned coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania — includes both combined-cycle and simple-cycle units. A revised application for the project that was submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection last July, after EPA’s repeal was proposed, states that the combined-cycle units would “have to meet an emission limitation of 800 lbs CO2/MWh based on gross energy output or 820 lbs CO2/MWh, based on net energy output.” Pennsylvania isn’t among the states that sued EPA over the 2024 rules. But North Dakota did join the lawsuit. Its method for implementing the standard also stands out from other permits and drafts POLITICO reviewed for this story. In a permit last December allowing Basin Electric Power Cooperative to construct its new Bison Generation Station combined-cycle natural gas plant, the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality acknowledged it would need to meet EPA’s greenhouse gas rule. But the permit included no emissions limit or compliance strategy for that rule, and instead pointed in a footnote to EPA’s June proposal to repeal it. “If the rule is repealed, subjectivity to this standard, as referenced in the permit, will be eliminated,” it stated. David Stroh, an official with the department’s Division of Air Quality who worked on the permit, said in an email that as things currently stand, the facility would need to comply with the greenhouse gas rules when it starts up in 2027 or 2028. “However, due to impending regulatory uncertainty and the variety of available compliance pathways — such as carbon capture or operational restrictions — the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality did not mandate a specific methodology,” he said. In a follow-up call, Stroh said that the department ordinarily would have included a numerical limit on emissions as part of its permit. But it didn’t do so for the greenhouse gas rules because EPA has signaled it plans to roll those back. Including them in the permit to construct might have required a revision, he said. “We felt it was just most simple at this stage in the game to reference ‘they must comply,’” Stroh said. “But we thought we’d be a little bit vague at this stage about how they’re going to do that, because there are a lot of moving parts.” If the 2024 carbon rules are still on the books when the Bison plant begins operations in a year or two, he said, the state will issue an operating permit within a year that would include a numerical limit on greenhouse gases in line with the EPA’s requirements. “They’ll have to comply with it,” Stroh said, adding that he’d already discussed compliance options with Basin Electric Power Cooperative, including carbon capture and storage and reducing capacity. If EPA repeals the 2024 standards in the coming months, that move is likely to be litigated, perhaps all the way to the Supreme Court. But even if the Trump regulatory rollback is overturned, that won’t mean challenges to the Biden rule are at an end. The uncertainty might carry some risk for utilities and their customers as they seek to bring new gas plants online. But Keogh said a state’s perception of that risk “depends strongly on what your theory of the future is.” “I don’t think North Dakota has made much of a secret of its theory of the future,” he said. “They and a number of other states have weighed in pretty heavily, saying they don’t think that EPA had the authority to issue these things.”

As Texas Gas pipeline proposal moves forward in Shelby County, neighbors come together to oppose it -- Neighbors say the proposed route could put homes at risk because of sinkholes and karst terrain. (WAVE) - Neighbors in Simpsonville are protesting a proposed natural gas pipeline that would run through several states, including parts of Shelby County. Texas Gas is proposing construction of a 265-mile natural gas pipeline called the Borealis Project. Company leaders said on the project website that the pipeline is needed to help meet growing energy demands. Under the current plan, the pipeline would run through parts of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, including Jerry Vandevelde’s farm in Shelby County. Vandevelde opposes the project, particularly because his farm and neighboring land sit on karst terrain, which includes sinkholes and underground drainage systems. Pink tape is scattered across Vandevelde’s 10-acre farm to mark sinkholes on the property. “For the sake of the almighty dollar, hundreds of people, hundreds of homes are going to be put at risk,” Vandevelde said. Vandevelde said the terrain could create problems for the pipeline. “It’s very possible that this is going to subside,” he explained while pointing to a sinkhole. “That’s going to stress the pipe, perhaps cause cracks or leaks and then, if there’s a source of ignition you could have an explosion.” Developers said on the project website that the pipeline route could change after further studies. They also said the project is expected to increase tax revenue in participating counties. Vandevelde said he believes the benefits for neighbors would be limited, especially since, at a previous meeting, a Texas Gas representative told his wife that, if there were any damages to their property because of the project, the company wouldn’t pay for the repairs. “This Texas Gas line is not for any kind of residential use,” he pointed out. “Nobody along the pipeline is going to have access to natural gas. We all are on propane tanks now.” The project is regulated at the federal level. Vandevelde said neighbors may not be able to stop it, but they are trying to get Texas Gas to move the route farther away from homes.

Freshwater Withdrawal from Antero Midstream Corp - water service volumes and shale focus -- Freshwater Withdrawal from Antero Midstream Corp starts long before a shale well flares to life, when pumps hum beside the Ohio River and thick hoses snake over gravel roads toward remote West Virginia pads. The service feels more like an industrial circulatory system than a classic energy product. Freshwater Withdrawal is Antero Midstream's dedicated business of sourcing, transporting and delivering water for hydraulic fracturing and drilling for its anchor customer Antero Resources in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. The midstream company operates high-pressure water pipelines, pumping stations and storage facilities that replace hundreds of daily truck journeys. According to management, this setup lowers surface footprint and logistics costs for each completed well. In the company's water segment, services are split between freshwater delivery and wastewater handling and treatment, but freshwater volumes remain the backbone of frack operations. Antero Midstream reports that it can deliver water directly to pads via more than 765 miles of pipelines, creating a dedicated network across its Appalachian footprint. To feed Freshwater Withdrawal, Antero Midstream holds withdrawal rights on multiple water sources, including the Ohio River, local reservoirs and impoundments built near development areas. Giant electric pumps pull water into the pipeline system, where it moves at controlled pressure toward centralized storage ponds and then onward to individual pads during completion campaigns. On site, crews connect temporary flexible hoses and manifolds that let operators ramp flow rates up and down as frac stages progress along a horizontal wellbore. The constant roar of pumps and the rush of water through steel headers is the soundtrack of a modern Antero Resources completion job. Freshwater Withdrawal sits inside Antero Midstream's water business, which investors follow closely given its link to drilling activity and Antero Resources' long-term development pace. Antero Midstream charges Antero Resources a fixed fee per barrel of water delivered, under long-term, fee-based contracts that run through at least 2038 for fresh water services. Chief executive Paul Rady has highlighted these contracts as a stabilizing element in the company's cash flow profile. In recent filings, Antero Midstream disclosed that it delivered over 148 million barrels of fresh water in 2023, closely tracking the pace of completion activity on Antero Resources pads. The fee structure, indexed modestly over time, means higher volumes directly support both revenue and distributable cash flow as drilling intensifies. Freshwater Withdrawal inevitably raises questions about water use in shale development, especially in drought-prone periods or near sensitive ecosystems. Regulators require the company to secure permits, monitor withdrawal rates and respect minimum stream flows at each intake point. Deviations can result in curtailments or forced shifts to alternative sources. To address these concerns, Antero Midstream combines fresh water with increasing volumes of recycled produced water from its separate wastewater operations, reducing the net new freshwater loads per well over time according to management commentary. Environmental groups still keep a close eye on intake points, especially along the Ohio River corridor, where industrial withdrawals add up. For Antero Resources, outsourcing water logistics to a dedicated affiliate reduces operational complexity and keeps field crews focused on drilling and completions rather than pipeline maintenance and permitting. The operator can schedule multi-well pads knowing water will arrive at specified rates and pressures without coordinating dozens of third-party truckers. Completion engineers like to avoid the stop-and-go rhythm that comes with trucked water deliveries. A steady pipeline-fed stream allows longer frac stages and more consistent sand injection, which in turn can support higher initial production rates per well according to Antero's technical presentations. Antero Midstream's freshwater network spans West Virginia and Ohio, criss-crossing hillsides with buried lines that quietly loop between sources, impoundments and drilling locations. At surface level, the most visible signs are fenced pump sites, lined ponds and the occasional row of black pipe stacked by a county road. The company reports that this infrastructure was built largely in parallel with its gathering and compression assets, letting it share certain rights-of-way and land access points. That co-location can reduce both capital intensity and permitting friction compared with building fully separate routes for water and gas.

Antero to Buy Gas Assets From Quantum's HG for $2.8 Billion. - The article focuses on Antero Resources Corp. and its pipeline affiliate's acquisition of natural gas production and pipeline assets from HG Energy II LLC for a total of $3.9 billion in cash. Antero Resources will pay $2.8 billion for upstream assets in the Marcellus shale in West Virginia and has also sold production assets in Ohio's Utica Shale for $800 million. Antero Midstream Corp. will acquire HG's pipeline assets for $1.1 billion. The deal comes as natural gas prices are rebounding, with U.S. futures recently reaching $5 for the first time in nearly three years, driven by increased demand forecasts. HG Energy II LLC, founded in 2011 and backed by Quantum Capital Group, operates in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. [Extracted from the article]

EOG Resources Stock Could Be 16.9% Undervalued After Encino Deal - Based on the most followed valuation narrative, EOG Resources has a fair value estimate of $159.82 compared with the recent close at $132.83, and the gap largely comes down to how future cash flows and capital efficiency are expected to play out.  EOG's acquisition of Encino, adding a major Utica shale position alongside existing top tier assets, expands its core resource base and is expected to deliver significant operational synergies, lower well costs, and rapid payback well inventory supporting multiyear production growth, greater capital efficiency, and higher long term free cash flow. Read the complete narrative.  Curious what sits behind that cash flow story? The narrative leans on measured revenue assumptions, rising margins, and a future earnings multiple that has to stretch beyond today. The full breakdown shows how those pieces fit together and what has to go right for EOG Resources to reach that fair value mark.

Allegheny Township gets donation from CNX for police fleet -  Gas driller seeks deeper partnership with township - Allegheny Township Police Department was gifted $25,000 from gas drilling company CNX Resources Corp, which is increasing its drilling footprint in the region, said township Supervisors Chairman Jamie Morabito. The money will help offset the costs of a new police vehicle that the department plans to buy later this year, Morabito said. “Some of our police vehicles have 170,000 miles on them,” Morabito said. “Our vehicles haven’t been rotated a number of years and, now, we’re playing catch-up with trying to get old equipment replaced.” Right now, township officials and police are looking at new vehicles, which with modifications like adding a light bar on top, interior lights and computers, is expected to cost around $72,000, Morabito said. “It’s going to be a huge benefit because it’s going to be a cost savings because the vehicles are constantly breaking down and in the shop with higher bills,” Morabito said. Morabito said the township’s fleet currently consists of hybrid vehicles that have both gasoline and electric capabilities. He wants to transition back to all gasoline vehicles, which, he said, are cheaper to maintain. CNX currently has one gas lease in the Willowbrook Road area of the township and is working on another to drill Utica shale gas wells in the next few years, Morabito said.

31 New Shale Well Permits Reported for PA-OH-WV Jun 15 – 21 -- Marcellus Drilling News --The Marcellus/Utica region received 31 new drilling permits last week, June 15 – 21, up from the pathetic 2 permits issued two weeks ago. However, not all 31 permits reported last week were issued last week. Ohio, which is increasingly tardy in updating its public reports, included permits in last week’s report that should have been in the previous week’s. Last week, Pennsylvania issued 18 permits. Ohio issued 9 new permits, all of which should have been reported two weeks ago. West Virginia issued 4 new permits last week. The drillers who received new permits included: EOG Resources, EQT, Gulfport Energy, Infinity Natural Resources, JKLM Energy, LOLA Energy, Northeast Natural Energy, PennEnergy Resources, and Sabre Energy. Beaver County | Belmont County | Butler County | EOG Resources | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Gulfport Energy | INR/Infinity Natural Resources | JKLM Energy | LOLA Energy | Monongalia County | Noble County | Northeast Natural Energy | Potter County | Sabre Energy | Sullivan County | Tuscarawas County

PA Anti-Shale Groups Push for Bill that Defacto Bans Data Centers - Marcellus Drilling News -  Pennsylvania radical green groups, including PennFuture, the Center for Coalfield Justice, and the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, continued a full-court press against AI data centers in the Keystone State yesterday. Just yesterday, we reported that Food & Water Watch had assembled dozens (perhaps one hundred at most) protesters in Harrisburg on Tuesday to support a bill (Senate Bill 1359) that would (if signed by Governor Shapiro) ban new data center development in PA for three years (see PA Antis Rally in Harrisburg to Destroy Data Center Opportunities). Yesterday, the aforementioned green groups held a briefing to support a different data center bill, House Bill (HB) 1834, which does not outright ban new data centers the way SB 1359 does, but has the same effect.

PA Antis Rally in Harrisburg to Destroy Data Center Opportunities -- Marcellus Drilling News - Somehow, the radicalized Food & Water Watch (Big Green) was able to attract, prod, and cajole “hundreds” (more likely about 75) anti-fossil fuelers to show up at the Pennsylvania State Capitol Rotunda to support a “bipartisan” bill that would ban new data centers from being built in the Keystone State. Senate Bill 1359, sponsored by the uber-left Katie Muth (a strong anti-fossil-fueler), would impose a three-year moratorium on building new data centers in Pennsylvania. You might as well call it what it is: a permanent ban. Why? Because the data center rush to build will happen in the next three years. There won’t be anything (or very little) left to build after three years, and Muth knows it.

Riverkeeper Claims Dead Philly LNG Project has Come Back to Life -- Marcellus Drilling News - In early 2024, we reported that Penn America Energy CEO Franc James, the potential builder of the proposed Penn America LNG export facility in the Philadelphia area, said that he “pumped the brakes” on the project but that it wasn’t dead yet (see Penn LNG CEO Says Philly Export Project on Hold, “Not Dead Yet”). This past February, MDN reported that the developer, Penn America Energy Holdings LLC, had reportedly been dissolved (see Potential Philadelphia LNG Export Facility Appears to be Dead). While some individual entities may still exist, the core organization responsible for advancing the project is no longer active in its original form. However, THE Delaware Riverkeeper held a webinar on Wednesday evening and made some wild claims: That Penn LNG is alive and kicking and has a “secret plan” to build in a new location along the Delaware River.

U.S. Propane Inventories Continue to Build as Exports Remain Strong - U.S. propane/propylene inventories continued their seasonal climb, increasing by 2.6 MMbbl during the week ended June 19, slightly above industry expectations for a 2.4 MMbbl build and the 5-year average build of 2.5 MMbbl for the week. As shown in the chart below, total stocks now stand at 90 MMbbl (red line), up 17.4 MMbbl, or 24%, from the same week in 2025 (blue line), 22.9 MMbbl, or 34%, above the 5-year average (green line), and 10.5 MMbbl, or 13%, above the previous 5-year maximum (top of gray range). Weekly U.S. propane exports edged higher to 2.03 MMb/d (red line in chart below), up 31 Mb/d from the prior week and above the year-to-date average of 1.98 MMb/d. The chart below shows exports remaining above both the four-week average of 1.94 MMb/d (green dashed line) and the 1.82 MMb/d reported during the same week in 2025 (blue line).

Northeast Gas Demand Down as Summer Starts | RBN Energy  -Summer officially began on Sunday, signaling the beginning of what is usually a moderate gas demand season in the region, contrasting with the light demand of spring. We will have to wait some time for gas demand to truly pick up to summer highs, as Northeast demand slackened over the past week. The lower gas-for-power-demand coincided with higher Appalachian production, leading to lower cash basis prices in the producing region. Demand for gas was particularly low over the weekend. Because of the Juneteenth holiday, cash trading for the four days from Friday through Monday was completed on Thursday morning, so low prices during that trading day determined four-sevenths of the average weekly price.   Overall Northeast demand averaged 16.2 Bcf/d, down 1.8 Bcf/d week-on-week. Regional demand, excluding LNG feedgas, (represented by the dark purple line in the chart above) was 15.4 Bcf/d, which was 1.5 Bcf/d lower than last year but equal to the 5-year average. Power demand fell by 1.3 Bcf/d, while Res/Comm and Industrial demand each declined by 0.2 Bcf/d. LNG feedgas at Cove Point was 0.8 Bcf/d, similar to the prior week. The “Other S&D” balancing item decreased by 0.4 Bcf/d week-on-week and production was up 0.6 Bcf/d so the total Northeast gas balance loosened by 2.1 Bcf/d.

FERC details plans for environmental review of Constitution gas line - - FERC said Wednesday it plans to issue an environmental review of the Trump-backed Constitution pipeline in late August, the latest step in the proposal’s push to transport Pennsylvania gas to upstate New York. The agency’s announcement comes more than two months after FERC said it was going to study the project’s “potential” environmental effects. President Donald Trump lambasted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul this month over allegedly breaking a deal — one that Hochul’s office denies making — that would have had the state revive pipelines in exchange for federal approval of wind projects. The Constitution pipeline, put forward by Williams Companies, was canceled in 2020 but put back on the table through a petition last year and has benefited from the Trump administration’s ardent backing. Williams, as well as Trump officials like EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, have said the pipeline will help lower costs for consumers in the Northeast. In the new three-page notice, FERC outlined its schedule for preparing an environmental assessment for the 125-mile Constitution pipeline and the linked Wright Interconnect project, which would enable gas delivery from Constitution into existing pipeline networks. Iroquois Gas Transmission System is developing the Wright Interconnect project.

CT Antis Use Fake Research to Pressure Gov Against Gas Pipes -- Marcellus Drilling News -   A new report from UConn’s Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, bought and paid for by the anti-fossil fuel Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (meaning it’s useless propaganda), argues that the state’s past expansion of natural gas saddled customers with costly infrastructure upgrades without lowering fuel prices. The so-called report says most of the increased gas demand went to power plants—including three new or expanded facilities—rather than heating homes. The propagandists claim that Connecticut, a net electricity exporter, supposedly “absorbed pollution costs,” while benefiting neighboring states.

Williams Open Season to Expand Transco Gas Eastbound to PA, NJ, MD -- Marcellus Drilling News - Leidy Access Expansion (click for larger version) A new pipeline project to tell you about! That’s always a red-letter day here at MDN. The mighty Transco pipeline (subsidiary of Williams) is holding a binding open season (which ends today) for its proposed Leidy Access Expansion, which would add up to 175,000 Dth/d (roughly 175 MMcf/d) of firm capacity to move Marcellus/Utica gas east from Pennsylvania toward demand centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland by Nov. 1, 2027. The project would use existing Leidy Line infrastructure from the MARC I interconnect in Lycoming County, PA, to a new transfer point in Luzerne County, PA, limiting environmental impacts.

Movin' Out – Plans to Move More Marcellus/Utica Gas to the Midwest, Mid-South and Deep South  -RBN Energy - Midwestern states like Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan are important markets for natural gas producers in the Marcellus/Utica, as are states in the Mid-South like Kentucky and Tennessee and states in the Deep South. But expanding gas sales in those markets will require a lot more pipeline capacity, and that’s exactly what’s in the works. In today’s RBN blog, we continue our look at the pipeline projects being planned to move more Appalachia-sourced gas within — and out of — the U.S.’s largest gas production region.This is Part 5 of our blog series on gas market dynamics in the Northeast. In Part 1, we said the Appalachia market has been quietly evolving in ways that will not only shift flow patterns within the region but also affect flows to the Southeast, Midwest and Gulf Coast. Part 2 focused on gas demand within the Northeast, which is getting a big boost from the power-generation sector as coal retirements continue and data center development proliferates. In Part 3, we started a review of the pipeline projects planned to enable more gas to flow through and out of the Marcellus/Utica, focusing on projects in New England and New York. Part 4 continued that review with a look at projects within Pennsylvania; regionwide enhancements like TC Energy’s Appalachian Supply Project; and projects involving or tied to either the Mountain Valley Pipeline or Williams’s Transco system. Today, we wrap up the pipeline projects part of our series with an analysis of (1) projects that will provide expanded capacity to eastern Ohio and beyond and (2) projects that are more distant but still related to the Marcellus/Utica.  There already are several major pipelines that transport Appalachian gas west. These include the bidirectional, Tallgrass Energy-operated Rockies Express (REX), which can move up to 2.6 Bcf/d westward; Enbridge’s sprawling Texas Eastern Transmission Co. (TETCO), and TC Energy’s ANR Pipeline system. (The ANR system is being expanded to support new data centers and related power projects in the Upper Midwest — more on that later) and two big greenfield pipelines that started up in 2018: Energy Transfer and Ares Management’s 3.425-Bcf/d Rover Pipeline and Enbridge’s 1.4-Bcf/d NEXUS Pipeline.As massive as these pipelines may be, rising gas demand means that still more westbound capacity into, through and out of Ohio will be needed over the next few years. Among the largest development efforts is Boardwalk Pipelines’ two-part Borealis Pipeline Project, which will enable an incremental 2 Bcf/d to be transported west across Ohio and an incremental 1.75 Bcf/d to move into southeastern Indiana and northern and western Kentucky. (Boardwalk is a subsidiary of Loews Corp.)The 198-mile Borealis Supply Leg (dashed light-pink line in Figure 1 above) will run from the Clarington gas hub in southeastern Ohio to Lebanon in the southwestern part of the state and feature 42- and 36-inch-diameter pipe. The 264-mile Borealis Mainline (dashed dark-pink line), in turn, will run primarily alongside a section of Boardwalk’s 5,975-mile Texas Gas Transmission (TGT, green lines) system between Lebanon and Slaughters, KY — about 35 miles south of Evansville, IN. We should note that TGT, like many other large-bore, legacy pipeline systems in the region, was originally developed to transport Gulf Coast-sourced gas north, but was repurposed in the 2010s to allow gas to be moved either north or south. The proposed Borealis project is designed to strengthen energy reliability and help supply increasing gas demand in southwestern Ohio, southeastern Indiana and northwestern Kentucky by moving additional Marcellus/Utica volumes west across Ohio into Boardwalk’s existing TGT footprint. In April 2025, TGT held a non-binding open season that indicated strong support for the pipeline plan. The open season was initiated soon after Boardwalk reached a final investment decision (FID) on its planned 1.16-Bcf/d Kosci Junction Pipeline in Mississippi, which will move gas from the TGT system into the Southeast and further integrate Appalachian and southeastern demand centers across Boardwalk’s network. (More on Kosci Junction in a moment.)If all goes well, Boardwalk expects to file a formal application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for the Borealis project in H2 2027, secure FERC’s approval in H2 2028, and complete the two-part project in late 2029 or early 2030.The Clarington gas hub in southeastern Ohio — the start-off point for REX, Rover and NEXUS — is also the focus of a short-but-important pipeline planned by EQT Corp., the largest natural gas producer in Appalachia and part-owner of the 2-Bcf/d Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), whose capacity is being expanded by 600 MMcf/d. EQT in October 2024 proposed the Clarington Connector (dashed yellow line in Figure 2 above), a 20-mile, 24-inch pipeline that will run from the producer’s system in northern West Virginia’s Marshall County to Clarington in Ohio’s Monroe County. The Clarington Connector was originally expected to have a capacity of 300 MMcf/d but was expanded to 400 MMcf/d in February. The project is scheduled to be completed by year-end 2026. Pipeline projects like Clarington Connector and Borealis will enable more Marcellus/Utica gas to move west into and across Ohio — and support the development of additional downstream projects. Unlike Borealis, which reaches east to aggregate Marcellus/Utica production at the Clarington hub in southeastern Ohio and move it west across the state, many of the following projects are designed to pull gas from established market hubs in western Ohio (such as Lebanon and Defiance) and move it deeper into Midwest and Mid-South demand centers. Among the many examples is Boardwalk’s planned Dearborn County Lateral Project (dashed aqua line in Figure 3 below), which will involve the construction of a 12-mile, 20-inch pipeline from the TGT system (green line) in Dearborn County, IN, to Vistra Corp.’s Miami Fort power plant in Hamilton County, OH — about 20 miles west of downtown Cincinnati. Units 7 and 8 at the Miami Fort plant currently burn coal, but the plant’s owner plans to convert the two 510-megawatt (MW) units to gas firing in 2028-29. Boardwalk/TGT expects to begin construction of the pipeline lateral in Q2 2027 and bring the project online in Q2 2028.There is also a slate of demand projects that plan to begin at liquid hubs in western Ohio. Two other examples are the Heartland Project and the Northwoods Project, both of which will expand the gas-carrying capacity of TC Energy’s ANR Pipeline system (dark-blue lines in Figure 4 below) in the Chicago area and the Upper Midwest. In addition to other sources to its south and west, the ANR system receives Marcellus/Utica gas via the western portion of TC Energy’s Columbia Gas Pipeline system (CGP; yellow lines), which features a dense web of pipelines across Ohio. Among other things, the Heartland Project calls for installing ~11 miles of 42-inch looping pipeline (parallel pipe) along ANR’s existing Line 100 pipeline in Kendall County, IL (aqua line and box); ~49 miles of 36-inch looping pipeline along Line 301 in Illinois’s Kendall, Kane and McHenry counties (magenta line and box); and ~8 miles of 12-inch looping pipeline along Line 380 in Sheboygan County, WI (green line and box). The project, which is slated for completion in Q4 2027, also calls for replacing ~1.5 miles of 18- and 20-inch pipe on Line 301 in Waukesha County, WI, with 30-inch pipe (tan line and box) and building three new compressor stations in the area — two in northern Illinois and one in Wisconsin near Green Bay.The Northwoods Project, in turn, calls for installing about 92 miles of 36-inch looping pipeline (dashed red-and-dark-blue line and red box) alongside an existing ANR pipeline through four Wisconsin counties (Shawano, Oconto, Marinette and Florence) and Iron County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Seneca, Evolution partner on electric fracturing in Appalachian Basin - Seneca Resources, the exploration and production unit of National Fuel Gas, is partnering with Evolution Well Services to deploy electric fracturing technology across its operations in the US’ Appalachian Basin. Seneca’s operations consist of around 1.2mn acres (4,856 square km) in the Appalachian Basin, spanning both the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. According to National Fuel Gas’ website, Seneca produces around 1.2bn cubic feet (34.0mn cubic metres) per day of gas from the region on a net basis. The company has had a presence in the Marcellus since 2007 and, like other shale producers, has sought to boost its performance via innovation. Electric fracturing technology has emerged as one example of shale innovation, with benefits such as increased efficiency, as well as a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Evolution says on its website that its equipment is designed as a “fully integrated platform built to maximise safety, operational efficiency and output density”. Under the three-year agreement between Seneca and Evolution, the latter will provide its electric fracturing technology, in-house power generation and advanced field gas conditioning services to the partnership. Combined with Seneca’s “responsibly sourced” gas production, the partnership will be aimed at improving operational efficiency while reducing the environmental footprint of completions, Evolution said. Both Seneca and Evolution will be able to “leverage real-time data and engineered solutions to drive efficiency during high-intensity completions” under the partnership, Evolution added. “This initiative reflects Seneca’s focus on disciplined capital allocation and operational execution,” stated Seneca and NFG Midstream’s president, Justin Loweth. “By leveraging our responsibly produced and gathered field gas to power electric fracturing operations, we can reduce fuel and logistics costs, improve reliability and uptime, and lower overall cost of ownership. Our partnership with Evolution demonstrates how thoughtfully integrated technology can drive meaningful operating efficiencies, enhance capital productivity, and deliver durable returns while maintaining strong environmental performance,” he added. “This alignment exemplifies how innovation and disciplined execution can work together to advance natural gas development,” added Evolution’s president and CEO, Steven Anderson. “By integrating our fully electric fracturing technology, in house power generation, and field gas conditioning with Seneca’s responsibly sourced natural gas, we are delivering a completion solution that prioritises safety, reliability and efficiency while reducing operational complexity.” No further details were provided. However, the latest news builds on a series of announcements by Evolution over the past few years about partnerships with other upstream players to deploy its electric fracturing fleets, often also in Appalachia.

Antis Give Up Trying to Block Permit for Transco SESE Pipeline - Marcellus Drilling News - - Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SESE) is a 55-mile, 42-inch-wide pipeline that will run through Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and Rockingham, Guilford, Forsyth, and Davidson counties in North Carolina. It will provide natural gas to Duke Energy customers. Big Green sued to overturn a federal water quality permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Big Green wanted the court to block construction until the full case could be heard. In May, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) rejected arguments Big Green put forward that claimed the Army Corps’ decision was “arbitrary and capricious” and refused to block construction (see 4th Circuit Panel Rejects Antis’ Plea to Block Transco SESE Work). And now, Big Green is throwing in the towel on the entire lawsuit.

FERC Gives OK for MVP Southgate Construction to Begin in N.C. -- Marcellus Drilling News -  This is a momentous occasion. Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a “Notice to Proceed with Construction” order authorizing Mountain Valley Pipeline (owned by EQT Corporation) to proceed with construction of MVP Southgate pipeline in North Carolina. This follows FERC granting permission to begin building Southgate in Virginia in April (see MVP Southgate Gets FERC Permission to Start Building in Virginia). MVP Southgate extends the original MVP from its termination in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, to Rockingham County, North Carolina—about 31.3 miles.

Nearly 500 Miles of Kinder Morgan Gas Pipelines Advance with Final FERC EIS - The 199-mile Mississippi Crossing Project and 291-mile South System Expansion 4 have reached a key regulatory milestone as FERC advances its review. (P&GJ) — FERC staff has issued the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for Tennessee Gas Pipeline's Mississippi Crossing Project and Southern Natural Gas' South System Expansion 4 (SSE4) Project, advancing two major natural gas expansion projects toward Commission review. The Mississippi Crossing Project would add approximately 2.1 billion cubic feet per day of firm transportation capacity through construction of about 199 miles of new 36- and 42-inch pipeline, along with compressor stations, meter stations and related facilities across Mississippi and Alabama. The South System Expansion 4 Project would provide approximately 1.323 billion cubic feet per day of additional transportation capacity through nearly 291 miles of pipeline looping, compressor upgrades, meter station additions and other system modifications across Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. FERC environmental staff concluded that construction and operation of both projects would result in some adverse environmental impacts but determined those impacts could be reduced to less-than-significant levels through proposed mitigation measures. Staff noted that climate change impacts were not characterized as either significant or insignificant in the environmental review. The agency said the projects incorporate numerous environmental protection measures, including erosion and sediment controls, wetland mitigation, spill prevention plans, invasive species management and post-construction environmental monitoring. FERC staff also completed or is continuing consultations required under the Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act. The final EIS recommends additional project-specific mitigation measures outlined in the environmental review and concludes that, if those measures are implemented, neither project would result in significant long-term adverse environmental effects. The final environmental impact statement serves as a recommendation from FERC staff. The Commission will consider the environmental findings before issuing a final order on the projects.

FERC Clears Golden Pass LNG to Begin Commissioning Train 2 Systems - The outlook for feedgas demand growth on the Gulf Coast this year continues to trend bullish as Golden Pass prepares to commission the second train at the southeast Texas facility. At a Glance:

• Train 2 clears early commissioning hurdle
• Feedgas flows signal ongoing ramp-up
• Third Golden Pass cargo nears export

NFE Restructuring Advances as Altamira LNG Demand in Focus for Agua Dulce -New Fortress Energy (NFE) now awaits an answer from US courts later this week after clearing a key hurdle in separating its Brazil business and preserving the Fast LNG platform tied to Texas natural gas exports into Mexico.Agua Dulce forward natural gas prices for 2026-2028 show a lower curve than January forecasts, with winter peaks near $4.40/MMBtu.  At a Glance:
West Texas demand impact stays modest
Brazil separation remains central piece
US recognition hearing set Friday

Delfin Lines Up Centrica as Long-Term FLNG 2 Offtaker -- Delfin LNG has secured a long-term offtake agreement for its second floating LNG (FLNG) vessel offshore Louisiana as UK-based Centrica Energy works to lock in more US natural gas. At a Glance:

• 20-year SPA supports second vessel
• Centrica grows North American exposure
• Delfin advances offshore LNG model

Corpus Christi LNG Train 7 Commissioning Signals More Gulf Coast Feedgas Demand -  A look at the global natural gas and LNG markets by the numbers:

• 186 MMcf/d: More feedgas demand to the Gulf Coast could be on its way in the coming weeks after Cheniere Energy told Texas regulators it would begin startup and commissioning operations on Train 7 at its Corpus Christi LNG Stage 3 expansion. In a regulatory filing, the firm reported that commissioning activity would begin Wednesday morning. The permit window spans up to one year, though Cheniere and Bechtel have consistently reached first LNG production within four to six weeks of commissioning startup on prior Stage 3 trains. Train 7 is the final unit in the seven-train Stage 3 buildout, which carries a combined nameplate capacity of just over 10 Mt/y, or about 1.3 Bcf/d. Once fully operational, the train is expected to add roughly 186 MMcf/d of incremental feedgas demand. With all seven Stage 3 trains complete, Corpus Christi LNG would hold a total nominal capacity of 3.1 Bcf/d, trailing only Sabine Pass among US export terminals.
• 18.9 Bcf/d: LNG feedgas demand held near 18.9 Bcf/d on Wednesday, according to NGI's Entropic Analytics data, roughly in line with the seven-day average of 18.7 Bcf/d. Nominations have tracked relatively steady over the past week, ranging from a low of roughly 18.2 Bcf/d to a high of around 19.1 Bcf/d. Venture Global's Plaquemines LNG continued to run near capacity, pulling roughly 3.7 Bcf/d, while Sabine Pass rose to around 4.9 Bcf/d. Golden Pass LNG nominations held at around 0.5 Bcf/d, consistent with feedgas volumes the terminal has drawn since coming online but slightly lower than before the weekend, according to Entropic Analytics data.
• 532,875 MMBtu/d: While feedgas nominations for Golden Pass in southeast Texas have been rising since the beginning of the week, operators of the facility reported multiple extended flaring events from Sunday to Tuesday. Nominations dropped slightly Wednesday morning to around 532,875 MMBtu/d, or around 20% of capacity, according to EA data. The project developer jointly owned by ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy told Texas regulators commissioning and startup of the facility would continue as crews investigate the source of a four-hour visible flare at an LNG storage tank. The flaring started shortly before a ship landed in berth at the facility Tuesday to take on the third possible cargo from Golden Pass since it began producing volumes earlier in the year.
• 2.24 Mt: US LNG exports pulled back in the week of June 15, slipping to approximately 2.24 Mt according to Kpler data. Exports fell about 16% from the prior week's strong 2.67 Mt. Despite the decline, exports remained roughly 23% above the same week a year earlier, reflecting the continued ramp-up in US liquefaction capacity. Kpler's current tracking for the week of June 22 points to a sharp rebound, with exports forecast at around 2.74 Mt, putting the period within striking distance of the all-time weekly high of 2.76 Mt set in late February. If realized, the June 22 figure would mark one of the strongest export weeks on record for early summer.

Gulf Coast Express Expansion Ends Waha’s Negative Streak - Waha cash prices averaged $1.55/MMBtu during the week ended June 22 according to Bloomberg data. This was $2.31/MMBtu higher than the prior week. Prices surged back above zero early last week and then continued to climb throughout the week. Production held steady and new capacity came online from Kinder Morgan’s Gulf Coast Express expansion. The expansion added 0.57 Bcf/d of takeaway capacity and gives the basin some breathing room in the short-term ahead of two new pipelines coming on later this year. Together, the three projects will add over 4.5 Bcf/d of new takeaway capacity for the basin and provide ample room for production to grow. The ramp in Eastbound exit capacity is visible in the dotted line in the chart below.Total outflows from the Permian were slightly higher last week, with lower outflows to the West offset by higher outflows to the East and Mexico. Outflows to the West averaged 2.1 Bcf/d, down 0.6 Bcf/d week-on-week with lower flows on El Paso Pipeline because of maintenance work and an ongoing force majeure in Lea County, New Mexico. Outflows to Mexico averaged 2.2 Bcf/d, up 0.2 Bcf/d week-on-week and consistent with peak summer levels. Outflows to the East averaged 13.2 Bcf/d, up 0.5 Bcf/d week-on-week. The expansion on Gulf Coast Express appears to have been placed into service on June 9. Reported flows on the pipeline have been elevated since then, and there are two new interconnects in the Agua Dulce area reporting data, connections between Gulf Coast Express and NGPL and Tennessee Gas Pipeline.

U.S. LNG Feedgas Starts to Soar -  U.S. LNG feedgas demand continued to climb last week, driven by higher intake at Corpus Christi, Freeport, and Golden Pass. Corpus Christi Stage III reached a major milestone with Train 6 achieving substantial completion, bringing the project closer to full operation and pushing terminal feedgas demand to record levels.U.S. LNG feedgas demand averaged nearly 18.5 Bcf/d in the week ending June 22, up 0.5 Bcf/d week on week (see blue-dotted line below). Freeport brought a train back online after a maintenance outage. Freeport had taken one of its three liquefaction trains offline from May 13 to around June 10, according to our LNG Voyager Weekly report. Intake at Freeport was briefly back at full operations. But Train 2 tripped offline on June 19 due to a compressor issue. Intake at the commissioning Golden Pass increased last week, averaging 0.35 Bcf/d. Feedgas deliveries to the terminal have been as high as 0.42 Bcf/d, but that is only about half of what it would need at full operation of Train 1.

Higher LNG export flows boost US natural gas futures - US natural gas futures settled at a two-week high on Monday on rising gas flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants and revised forecasts for warmer weather and higher air conditioning demand over the next two weeks. Front-month gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose two cents, or 0.6 per cent, to settle at $3.253 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their highest close since June 4. Financial group LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states held at 109.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in June, the same as May. That compares with a monthly record high of 110.6 bcfd in December 2025. Looking ahead, meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly warmer than normal through July 7, which should boost the amount of gas power generators burn to keep air conditioners humming. About 40 per cent of US power generation comes from gas-fired plants. LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would rise from 103.4 bcfd this week to 106.6 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were higher than LSEG's outlook last week. Average gas flows to the nine big US LNG export plants rose to 17.2 bcfd so far in June, up from 17.1 bcfd in May as liquefaction trains, including at Freeport LNG, exited outages. That compares with a monthly record high of 18.8 bcfd in April. There are currently two LNG vessels going directly from the US to China. One tanker, the LNG Sakura, left Berkshire Hathaway Energy's Cove Point LNG export plant in Maryland in mid-May and is expected to reach China around June 25, according to LSEG data. The other vessel is on track to reach China in mid-July. No LNG tanker has left a US export plant and gone directly to China during US President Donald Trump's second term, which started in January 2025, due primarily to trade disputes between the world's two biggest economies. China, which imported a large amount of US gas in the past and has many contracts to buy US LNG, is the world's biggest gas importer, while the US is the world's biggest gas producer, consumer and exporter. Chinese companies have bought US LNG and then sold it to buyers in other countries.

US natgas futures rise on lower output, higher LNG flows (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures edged up more than 2% on Wednesday on a decline in output and a rise in gas flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants in recent weeks. Front-month gas futures for July delivery NGc1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 7.4 cents, or 2.4%, to settle at $3.221 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). Financial group LSEG said average gas output in the U.S. Lower 48 states slid to 109.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in June, down from 109.7 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 110.6 bcfd in December 2025. Analysts said mostly mild weather during the spring allowed energy firms to stockpile more gas than usual. They projected the amount of gas in inventories remained around 5.6% above normal during the week ended June 19, around the same as the previous week. The federal storage report for the week ended June 19 comes out on Thursday. Meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly warmer than normal through July 9, which should boost the amount of gas power generators burn to keep air conditioners humming. About 40% of U.S. power generation comes from gas-fired plants. LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would rise from 102.3 bcfd this week to 105.6 bcfd next week. The forecast for this week was higher than LSEG's outlook on Tuesday. Average gas flows to the nine big U.S. LNG export plants rose from 17.1 bcfd in May to 17.3 bcfd so far in June due in part to record feedgas at QatarEnergy/ExxonMobil's Golden Pass plant in service and under construction in Texas. That compares with a monthly record high of 18.8 bcfd in April.

U.S. Natural Gas Surges 4% as LNG Feedgas Demand Grows - U.S. natural gas futures climbed to their highest level in 19 weeks as stronger LNG demand, rising feedgas deliveries and hotter weather forecasts boosted market sentiment. (Reuters) — U.S. natural gas futures jumped about 4% to a 19-week high on June 25 on a rise in gas flows to liquefied natural gas export plants in recent weeks and forecasts for hotter weather and higher demand this week than previously expected. On their second-to-last day as the front-month, gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 12.2 cents, or 3.8%, to settle at $3.343 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), their highest close since February 6. The August contract, which will soon be the front-month, gained about 1% to $3.30 per MMBtu. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said energy firms added a near-normal 76 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas into storage during the week ended June 19, keeping overall stockpiles around 5.7% above normal levels for this time of year. That was close to the 74-Bcf build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with an increase of 96 Bcf during the same week last year and a five-year (2021-2025) average increase of 75 Bcf for the period. Meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly warmer than normal through July 10, which should boost the amount of gas power generators burn to keep air conditioners humming. About 40% of U.S. power generation comes from gas-fired plants. LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would rise from 102.9 billion cubic feet per day this week to 105.3 billion cubic feet per day next week. The forecast for this week was higher than LSEG's outlook on June 24. Average gas flows to the nine big U.S. LNG export plants rose from 17.1 billion cubic feet per day in May to 17.3 billion cubic feet per day so far in June due in part to recent record feedgas at QatarEnergy/ExxonMobil's Golden Pass plant in service and under construction in Texas. That compares with a monthly record high of 18.8 billion cubic feet per day in April. In other LNG news, two LNG vessels were sailing directly from the U.S. to China. One tanker, the LNG Sakura, which has changed its destination more than once, left Berkshire Hathaway Energy's Cove Point LNG export plant in Maryland in mid-May and is expected to reach China around June 26, according to LSEG data. The other vessel is on track to reach China in mid-July. So far, no LNG tanker has left a U.S. export plant and gone directly to China during U.S. President Donald Trump's second term, which started in January 2025, due primarily to trade disputes between the world's two biggest economies. China, which imported a large amount of U.S. gas in the past and has many contracts to buy U.S. LNG, is the world's biggest gas importer, while the U.S. is the world's biggest gas producer, consumer and exporter. Chinese companies have bought U.S. LNG and then sold it to buyers in other countries.

US Natural Gas Drops on Cooler Outlooks as July Contract Expires - US natural gas futures settled much lower in the final day of trading for the July contract as midday forecasts shifted to show cooler weather compared with overnight outlooks. Individual transactions moved the market more amid a drop-off in liquidity near expiry. Losses were likely limited as flows to liquefied natural gas export terminals on the US Gulf Coast remain elevated. Increased LNG flows leave fewer supplies for the domestic market. The more-actively-traded contract for August delivery, which is now the front-month contract, at the benchmark Henry Hub also ended lower.

• Futures for July delivery settled -11.2c, or -3.3%, to $3.231/mmbtu on Nymex
• Futures for August delivery settled -1.6c or -0.5% to $3.279/mmbtu
• July futures expired today

Midday forecasts shifted to show cooler weather, with below-average temperatures expected in the Northwest through June 30: WeatherDesk

• Lower-48 dry gas production on Friday ~112.6 bcf/day, or +4.9% y/y
• Lower-48 total gas demand on Friday ~71.3 bcf/day, or -6.9% y/y
• Dry gas exports to Mexico on Friday ~8.3 bcf/day, or -2.3% w/w
• Estimated gas flows to LNG export terminals on Friday ~19.1 bcf/day, or +4.1% w/w

SpaceX Plans Texas Gas Pipeline to Fuel Starship Launches -- SpaceX plans to build an 8-mile natural gas pipeline to its Starbase launch site in Texas, a move that could reshape how the company fuels future Starship launches. (Reuters) — SpaceX plans to begin next month building an eight‑mile (13-km) natural gas pipeline called "Starpipe" to its Texas launch facilities, according to county filings, as Elon Musk’s company seeks to ramp up launches of its next‑generation Starship rocket. Starpipe, which will end at SpaceX’s Texas company town of Starbase, is expected to be in service by January 26, according to a document filed last month with the Texas Railroad Commission by SpaceX affiliate Lone Star Mineral Development and reviewed by Reuters. The pipeline plan, previously reported by Rio Grande Valley Business Journal, signals Musk's intent to accelerate Starship's development and lay the groundwork for a faster flight rate. The 40‑story rocket is central to SpaceX’s push to expand its Starlink broadband network, deploy orbital AI data center satellites, and eventually carry astronauts to the moon and Mars. Designed to be fully reusable, Starship uses about 630,000 gallons (2.4 million liters) of liquid methane per launch, currently delivered by hundreds of tanker trucks in an hours-long process incompatible with Musk's expansion plans. Starship has completed 12 test launches since 2023, but Musk aims to ramp up to dozens, hundreds and eventually thousands of launches a year. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. Though it is unusual for a space company to build its own natural gas pipeline for launchpad fuel, Starpipe might only be an initial step in a longer-term plan for SpaceX, which has spent years exploring its own drilling operations near Starbase and throughout Texas, according to a Reuters review of Cameron County land records. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told CNBC on June 12, when the company went public, that the company planned to build pipelines and process its own propellant, and was looking into drilling its own natural gas. Extracting natural gas would be a challenging pursuit for a company with no oil and gas experience, said Stan Lindsey, an oil and gas consultant in Texas. “I’m not saying it's beyond the realm of possibility … it’s possible they got a really nice prospect," Lindsey said. But if those drilling plans fall short, he added, “they’ve got a fallback position” with Starpipe. SpaceX has signed over 100 paid-up oil and gas leases with Texas property owners since 2023, the land records show. Starpipe would begin on an 83-acre (34-hectare) piece of land at the Port of Brownsville that SpaceX is in talks to lease from the city for 50 years, a port official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private. Engineering plans SpaceX filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, included in a public notice issued last August, show SpaceX wants to build a liquefaction facility at Starbase to process the piped-in natural gas into liquid methane.

Freeport LNG Returns to Full Output Following Another Outage -- Marcellus Drilling News - LNG has become something of a punchline for its frequent outages. Except it’s no laughing matter. Outages at Freeport have happened so frequently that we’ve lost count (see our Freeport outage stories here). According to gas flow data, one of Freeport’s three “trains” was (once again) out of commission last Friday and Saturday, but came back online over the weekend. Freeport is fed, in part, with molecules from the Marcellus/Utica. Antero Resources sells some of its molecules to the Freeport facility (see Antero 4Q: Sending Gas for LNG Exports to Gulf Coast & Cove Point). We suspect other M-U drillers also sell molecules to Freeport. Hence, our ongoing interest in this facility and its somewhat regular outages.

Shale Bosses Say Trump Posts on Iran Sow Energy Market Chaos — US oil shale executives say the White House’s erratic communications about the war in Iran are sowing confusion in energy markets and making planning for future months near impossible. In a series of anonymous comments published Wednesday from a survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, industry executives cited concerns about inconsistent policy announcements from the Trump administration about the conflict in the Middle East. “Golly. What could possibly be affecting our business other than a Covid-sized supply gap driven by a war being commandeered by an administration that just cannot tell the truth?” one respondent was quoted as saying. “They jawbone the price down basically every Sunday evening. If they know an Hormuz reopening isn’t likely, it’ll make the medium-term supply issue 10 times worse.” Another respondent said “markets can price risk, but they can’t price a tweet,” adding that “the whiplash from diplomacy-by-social-media has become the single most unpredictable input in our planning.” The sharp criticism comes despite President Donald Trump’s strong relationship with the oil industry, which has seen many of its domestic policy priorities advanced during his second term. “Since day one, President Trump has been rolling back burdensome Biden regulations to unleash American energy,” said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman. “As President Trump has said, these short-term, temporary disruptions to energy markets will end once the Iran situation is resolved and traffic in the Strait continues to normalize.” The Dallas bank, which typically conducts a quarterly questionnaire of energy companies in Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico, compiled its latest survey from June 9-17 as the US and Iran negotiated a memorandum of understanding about ending hostilities. The MOU was signed on June 17. “The prospect that Iran will comply and conform with any agreement, written or oral, is, at best, wishing on a fantasy,”one of the survey respondents said. West Texas Intermediate dipped below $70 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since March 4, just days after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. Oil fell as more tankers cross the Strait of Hormuz and signs of progress in US-Iran peace talks eased fears of an immediate supply crunch. Before the decline in price, one of the respondents said “the White House seems to prefer commotion and chaos to delivering meaningful, truthful information that serious business decisions can be made on.” On average, respondents to the bank’s survey expect the price of WTI to be $81 per barrel at the end of the year. Predictions range from $60, lower than it was before the war started, to $150. The US oil benchmark touched a high of about $119 in early March.

USGS Finds Oil in Buda Limestone Near Austin - There is confirmed oil and gas under parts of central Texas, including beneath and around Austin, but nobody is breaking out the “black gold” banners just yet. A new federal assessment says the Buda Limestone holds more fuel than previously mapped, offering fresh detail for landowners, drillers, and local officials rather than a ticket to the next big boom.In a June 24, 2026, assessment, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of about 12 million barrels of technically recoverable oil and roughly 184 billion cubic feet of gas still undiscovered in the Buda Limestone. Since production first started around 1930, the Buda has already given up about 204 million barrels of oil and roughly 287 billion cubic feet of natural gas.The agency points out that, in the context of national energy use, those numbers are on the small side. The update is part of its long-running effort to map where future exploration might make sense, not a promise that a rush of new wells is about to follow. Locally, KVUE reports that the Buda Limestone is exposed at and under parts of the town of Buda and stretches beneath neighborhoods and ranchland to the northeast and southwest of Austin. That footprint makes the new numbers very relevant for a wide swat of central Texas property owners, from suburban cul-de-sacs to cattle country.Geologically, the Buda does not work alone. The USGS notes that the Eagle Ford Group, a prolific shale unit that sits above the Buda, is the primary source rock feeding oil and gas into the limestone. In its release, the agency also cautions that “the Buda Limestone has little remaining undiscovered oil or gas, indicating a need for new resources,” a reminder that this is a mature play, not a fresh frontier.The bureau stresses that its assessments are meant to provide geologic context for more detailed exploration planning, not to forecast immediate drilling. In other words, this update fine-tunes the underground map more than it flips a switch for new rigsModern techniques such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which turned the Eagle Ford into a major producer, have also made stacked carbonate targets like the Buda more appealing. Outlets that follow petroleum geology note that stacked pay zones can reduce development costs, since operators can work multiple formations from the same surface pad.For background on how the Eagle Ford and Buda interact and why companies sometimes chase layered zones together, see Geology.com. Whether this particular assessment turns into new drilling permits will depend on oil and gas prices, pipeline capacity, and each company’s appetite for squeezing more out of older rocks.For now, the USGS update mainly reshapes the mental map for Texas landowners, drillers, and regulators. It narrows down where additional oil and gas might still be hiding and hands local officials one more data point to weigh as they juggle energy development, growth, and quality-of-life concerns. Expect interest to show up first in planning documents and lease talks long before anyone sees a rush of new steel in the ground.

USGC 3-2-1 Crack Spread Cools but Remains Strong | RBN Energy - The USGC 3-2-1 crack spread (purple line) is averaging about $45/bbl so far in June, down from about $51/bbl in May but still more than double the roughly $21/bbl average seen a year earlier. Diesel cracks led the rally, jumping from about $33/bbl in February to $66/bbl in March before easing to $56/bbl in June. Gasoline cracks (blue line) were slower out of the gate, climbing from winter levels near $15-$18/bbl to $46/bbl in May before slipping back to $40/bbl in June. While both gasoline and diesel cracks (orange line) have softened from their spring highs, diesel remains up about 122% year over year and gasoline is up about 104%, leaving refining margins well above year-ago levels.

Dems want more changes to House pipeline bill - A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will vote Wednesday on legislation to reauthorize the nation’s pipeline safety regulator, but Democrats say the new bill is not yet a finished product.The Subcommittee on Energy will consider H.R. 9338, the “Pipeline Safety Authorization Act of 2026,” sponsored by Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas), which would extend safety programs at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration through fiscal 2031.Democrats have been pushing for additional safety provisions since a draft version of the bill was released earlier this year. A Democratic Energy and Commerce aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said negotiations are ongoing to find a bipartisan compromise.“We’ve made good bipartisan progress on the pipeline safety bill, but negotiations are still ongoing,” the aide said.

Ocasio-Cortez leads push to strip pipeline bill of protest provision - - A contentious provision targeting protesters is emerging as a major obstacle to Congress’ long-awaited effort to reauthorize the federal pipeline safety agency. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is leading a Democratic push to remove or modify language from Texas Republican Rep. Randy Weber’s Pipeline Safety Authorization Act of 2026, H.R. 9338, which would broaden the Justice Department’s authority to prosecute people accused of interfering with pipeline operations. “Many of these projects are highly controversial in the local communities in which they’re supposed to be sited,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We want to make sure that we are protecting people’s First Amendment ability while, of course, respecting existing federal law.” The debate unfolded during an Energy and Commerce subcommittee markup Wednesday, where lawmakers advanced Weber’s bill to reauthorize programs at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration through fiscal 2031. Congress has not enacted a full PHMSA reauthorization since 2020.

Wisconsin DOJ announces $275K settlement with Enbridge over 2019 spill – WPR - The Wisconsin Department of Justice announced a $275,000 settlement Thursday with energy firm Enbridge in a 2019 spill in Jefferson County.The state alleged Enbridge violated the spills law by failing to report a release from a faulty valve that occurred on its Line 13 pipeline in Fort Atkinson on April 26, 2019. The company didn’t report the spill to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources until July 31, 2020 — more than a year later.State law requires immediately reporting a hazardous substance spill by calling the DNR’s 24-hour hotline.WPR previously reported that up to 1,386 gallons of diluent liquids leaked from the pipeline, contaminating groundwater and soil in the area. The DOJ said the petroleum substance is an extremely flammable mixture used to thin out heavy crude oil carried through its pipelines.“Wisconsin’s Spills Law is a critical protection for our environment,” Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement. “Those who are responsible for the discharge of a hazardous substance must comply with its requirements.”In a statement, Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner said the company is pleased to reach an agreement with the DNR and the Department of Justice. She said the leak was discovered and repaired in the spring of 2019.“Ongoing monitoring continues to confirm product released remains confined to Enbridge-owned property. Regular sampling has found no impact to nearby drinking water wells,” Kellner said.The settlement requires Enbridge to pay $275,000 in fines and other fees, and an order was signed Monday by Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge William V. Gruber.The release is not the company’s only spill in Jefferson County. In 2024, a valve leak caused by a degraded gasket at a pump station for Enbridge’s Line 6 pipeline spilled 1,650 barrels or roughly 69,000 gallons of oil. Enbridge cited the more than 50-year-old valve as a contributing factor in the spill to federal regulators.The settlement comes as Enbridge is rerouting its Line 5 pipeline in northern Wisconsin around the Bad River Tribe’s reservation. Opponents of the project have cited the company’s track record of spills in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. The company previously violated permits and water quality standards when it built parallel pipelines across 14 counties in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, the Wisconsin Department of Justice reached a $1.1 million settlement for more than 100 environmental violations that caused harm to wetlands and waterways.

Dem governors lobby against fossil fuel liability shield - Democratic governors and environmental groups are urging Congress to reject legislation to shield oil and gas majors from climate lawsuits, saying it protects an industry at the expense of taxpayers.Ten Democratic governors on Monday sent a letter to House and Senate leadership, arguing congressional proposals to grant the industry immunity from suits would restrict the authority of states and local governments to enforce their own laws.“Congress should be helping to make life more affordable for American families, not helping to protect companies that are profiting off of sky-high gas prices while forcing the costs of their pollution onto taxpayers,” the letter reads.The missive comes as Republicans in both chambers push to prevent oil and gas companies from being held liable for the burning of their products. Lawmakers introduced federal legislation in April, while several GOP-led states have passed their own restrictions.

Crude Export Demand Remains Steady Despite Weather and Market Headwinds | RBN Energy -U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC) crude exports remained remarkably resilient for the week ended June 12, despite a sharp decline in crude prices, a market holiday, and weather-related disruptions along the Texas coast. While easing U.S.-Iran tensions erased much of the geopolitical risk premium embedded in crude markets, physical demand for U.S. barrels remained strong, particularly from Asia. As discussed in this week's Crude Voyager, exports out of the USGC averaged 4.9 MMb/d (far right of chart below), recording another stellar week above the 2026 YTD average of 4.5 MMb/d. Louisiana volumes rebounded significantly, and Houston's weather-related slowdown had only a modest impact on overall Gulf Coast flows .  The week's activity underscores the lag that often exists between shifts in market sentiment and physical export flows. While benchmark prices, crude differentials and forward curves weakened as geopolitical tensions eased, export volumes remained relatively unaffected as cargoes are typically fixed weeks in advance. Similarly, recent changes in freight rates are unlikely to be reflected immediately in export activity. As a result, Gulf Coast export volumes continued to benefit from previously established economics and strong international demand, particularly from Asia. Going forward, if lower crude prices and changing freight dynamics persist, their impact on export flows is more likely to emerge over the coming weeks rather than immediately.

Running on Reserve: Crude Oil in the SPR Plummets to a Four-Decade Low -  According to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) released this morning, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) recorded its 13th consecutive weekly draw during the week ended June 19. As discussed in this week's Crude Oil Billboard, this 9 MMbbl withdrawal, the third-largest weekly draw on record, reduced SPR inventories to 332 MMbbl (yellow oval in chart below), their lowest level since 1983 (pink oval in chart below). Notably, SPR inventories were at similar levels in 1983 because the reserve was still being built following its creation in response to the 1970s oil crises. In contrast, today's low inventory levels reflect an unprecedented series of emergency releases aimed at stabilizing global oil markets. The continued drawdowns are part of global efforts to offset supply disruptions and price volatility stemming from the conflict involving Iran and concerns surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. These releases remain part of the broader coordinated stockpile drawdown program undertaken alongside the International Energy Agency (IEA) and participating member nations. As of June 19, a total of just over 84 MMbbl have been released from the SPR since the beginning of March. While strong U.S. crude production and healthy commercial inventories have helped cushion the market impact, the SPR's decline to four-decade lows underscores how much of the government's emergency supply buffer has been depleted, leaving less flexibility to respond to future disruptions and potentially setting the stage for eventual replenishment purchases when market conditions allow.

Glenfarne Says Senate Tax Bill Could Leave Alaska LNG Pipeline ‘Unfinanceable’ -- State lawmakers have entered another special session to hash out Alaska LNG’s tax structure after the Senate approved a version project developer Glenfarne said leaves the estimated $13.2–16.9 billion pipeline segment of the facility without a path forward. At a Glance:

• North Slope pipeline faces fiscal hurdle
• 2nd special session opens compromise talks
• Alaska gas prices remain elevated

South Korean Shipbuilder Backs Early-Stage LNG Export Push for Canadian Natural Gas - A project developer reviving opportunities for LNG exports in Prince Rupert, British Columbia (BC) is working to advance a partnership with Hanwha Ocean, one of South Korea’s major ship builders and floating terminal manufacturers.NGI forward curve shows NOVA/AECO C natural gas prices in Western Canada through July 2028, with winter premiums in 2027 and 2028. At a Glance:
New outlet proposed for WCSB gas
Hanwha deal signals export momentum
Prince Rupert corridor gains market relevance

Global Weather Setup Points to Stronger Natural Gas Burn, US LNG Demand - Global weather patterns are turning supportive for North American natural gas into early July as cooling demand in the United States and elevated power burn in Europe and Asia overlap.NGI weather charts compare trailing 365-day temperatures in Northwest Europe, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo against normal trends, highlighting LNG demand drivers. At a Glance:
US CDDs rising into early July
Gulf Coast feedgas remains in focus
Europe gas burn limits price relief

LNG Buyers Look Beyond Middle East, US Supply, Opening Door for Latin America - Buyers of LNG are pursuing supply diversity as geopolitical tensions choke traditional trade routes, opening up opportunities for new projects in the Western Hemisphere, according to Sergio Chapa, an LNG analyst at Poten & Partners. At a Glance:

• Buyers shift beyond Middle East
• Spot LNG prices fuel urgency
• Latin America LNG could benefit

Inside the Race to Turn Latin America Into a Global LNG Force -Click here to listen to the latest episode of NGI’s Hub & Flow recorded live at the Mexico Gas Summit in San Antonio, featuring NGI’s Christopher Lenton with Poten & Partners’ Sergio Chapa. As critical chokepoints have frozen traditional trade routes, the global energy sector is abandoning old assumptions for a new mantra: supply diversity. This macro shock is forcing longstanding buyers and emerging markets alike to radically rethink their structural exposure to a highly punitive LNG spot market.In this episode of Hub & Flow, Lenton and Chapa untangle how this high-stakes global reshuffling impacts the Americas. The conversation breaks down the rapid production startup of Sempra’s Energía Costa Azul LNG terminal in Baja California, and why localized legal hurdles mean Mexico's broader export ambitions face a slower climb than originally projected. Chapa also sheds light on Latin America’s massive, underutilized regasification, explaining why hydro-dependent nations remain dangerously exposed to high LNG spot prices during seasonal droughts, and how Argentina’s incoming floating LNG vessels could soon transform the Vaca Muerta Shale into the Western Hemisphere's next major supply wildcard.

More LNG Tankers Passing Through Hormuz Since Truce --  Vessels have ramped up crossings through the Strait of Hormuz since a preliminary deal to end the Iran war was signed last week, creating limited optimism that commodity flows could return to normal sometime in the near future after another attack was reported in the waterway Thursday. At a Glance:

• Traffic hit high point Wednesday
• More crossings made without going dark
• Uncertainty still surrounds waterway

Poland to Expand LNG Import Capacity in Push to Develop Natural Gas Hub -- Poland will build a second LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) as it continues working to diversify its energy supplies. At A Glance:

• 2nd FSRU vessel to enter service in 2030
• Poland would operate 3 import terminals
• Country has worked to eliminate Russian gas

LNG demand quietly rebounds in Asia after Iran conflict - Liquefied natural gas demand in Asia is quietly recovering from the shock of losing almost 20 per cent of global supply to the Iran conflict as top buyer China shows signs of returning to the market. The biggest-importing region is on track for arrivals of 21.83 million tonnes in June, the most for five months and also up from the 21.55 million tonnes in the same month last year, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler. Asia's LNG imports had dropped to a six-year low of 18.74 million tonnes in April after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, following US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, stopped shipments from Qatar, which shipped 80.9 million tonnes in 2025. China only just held onto its status as the world's biggest LNG importer in 2025 as imports dropped to 66.48 million tonnes, slightly ahead of Japan. For the first five months of 2026 it seemed certain that China would drop to second place because its utilities steered away from buying spot cargoes as prices surged in the wake of the Iran war. The price of spot LNG for delivery to North Asia jumped to a three-year high of $25.30 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the week to March 20, up 143 per cent from the $10.40 that prevailed before the Iran conflict. Prices subsequently eased to $16.05 per mmBtu by mid-April, but have since climbed to end at $18.80 in the week to June 5. Part of the rise in prices stems from China taking more of the fuel, with imports forecast by Kpler to rise to reach 4.48 million tonnes in June, down slightly from the four-month high of 4.74 million in May. China's imports in May and June are also well ahead of the 3.78 million tonnes for March and April's eight-year low of 3.63 million tonnes. However, China's increased appetite for LNG has been more than matched by Japan, which is also on track to see imports rise in June, with Kpler estimating arrivals of 5.33 million tonnes, a three-month high and also above the 4.91 million tonnes from June 2025. South Korea, the third-biggest LNG importer, is forecast to have arrivals of 3.26 million tonnes in June, down slightly from both May's 3.37 million and 3.48 million in June last year. The loss of cargoes from Qatar was most felt by South Asian buyers, with India's LNG imports dropping to a three-year low of 1.67 million tonnes in March. However, they are expected to recover to 2.09 million tonnes in June, just behind the 2.11 million from June last year, as India sources LNG from alternative suppliers such as Angola, Nigeria and the United States. Pakistan, which used to buy almost exclusively from Qatar, has struggled to find alternatives, with June imports expected at just 210,000 tonnes, with one cargo from Oman and one from Qatar, which has seen a handful of vessels manage to exit the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks. Pakistan's imports in June are about one-third of the 620,000 tonnes from the same month in 2025, but have recovered somewhat from the 10-year low of 70,000 tonnes in April. On the supply side, the initial surge of US LNG that headed to Asia in the wake of the start of the war against Iran is starting to ease, with exports of 2.73 million tonnes in June, down from the record high of 4.07 million in May. However, US shipments to Asia are still running at rates well above the average of 1.15 million tonnes in the three months leading up to the attack on Iran. It appears that US LNG is switching back to Europe, with Kpler estimating exports of 4.99 million tonnes in June, up from 4.53 million in May, which was the lowest since October 2024.

Construction begins on new 271,000cbm LNG carrier for QatarEnergy - China State Shipbuilding Corporation subsidiary Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding has begun construction of a new LNG carrier to be operated by QatarEnergy in collaboration with COSCO Shipping and Mitsui OSK Lines. The ship will have a length of 344 metres and a total cargo capacity of 271,000 cubic metres. Systems will be installed to ensure a daily cargo evaporation rate of only 0.087 per cent. The vessel will also have an IMO Tier III-compliant dual-fuel propulsion system and a streamlined hull design. According to Chinese media, it will be capable of berthing many large LNG terminals worldwide and will be suitable for a wide range of deep-sea routes. The construction and acquisition of the new LNG carrier are in line with QatarEnergy’s goal of operating over a hundred vessels to form what it claims will be the world’s largest single fleet of LNG carriers. Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding will be among the largest suppliers of vessels under the fleet expansion plan, having been contracted to deliver a total of 36 ships including twelve 174,000-cubic-metre vessels and twenty-four 271,000-cubic-metre vessels. The orders for the 271,000-cubic-metre ships have a total estimated value of CNY56 billion (US$8.3 billion).

Latest Explosion at Ras Laffan Won’t Impact Restart of LNG Production -LNG export capacity won’t be impacted by an explosion on Sunday at a domestic natural gas supply plant in Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan Industrial City. At a Glance:

• Explosion impacts domestic supply
• 2 liquefaction trains already damaged
• Qatari LNG vessels returning

Qatar Massing Vessels Near Ras Laffan Ahead of LNG Restart -- Nine empty LNG tankers have amassed off the coast near Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan Industrial City, where the country produces its LNG.Kpler data showed another loaded vessel among them and two more full cargoes docked at the terminal on Friday. Qatar quickly began moving vessels through the Strait of Hormuz to the facility last week after a preliminary peace agreement was signed by the United States and Iran to negotiate an end to the war.

Global Natural Gas Prices Sink After US Reports Progress on Strait of Hormuz -Global natural gas prices dipped Monday after the latest round of peace talks between the United States and Iran yielded progress.  European Union natural gas storage stood 46.4% full on June 20, 2026, well below year-ago levels and the five-year average. At a Glance:

• 7 Qatari tankers transit strait
• Security in waterway remains issue
• Summer heat driving demand

Petrobras Begins Drilling Controversial Oil Well in Brazil’s Equatorial Margin Near the Amazon River Mouth - Petrobras has begun drilling the most anticipated and controversial well in its recent history: the first exploratory well in the Equatorial Margin, in the Amazon River Mouth region, off the coast of Amapá. The operation takes place in block FZA-M-059, about 500 kilometers from the mouth of the Amazon River and 175 kilometers from the coast, in deep waters, using the NS-42 rig. The drilling was only authorized after the company obtained an environmental license from Ibama, a process that took years and divided the government. It is Petrobras’ highest bet for the future. The Equatorial Margin, an ocean strip from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte, is considered the new frontier of Brazilian oil, with geology similar to that of neighboring Guyana, where ExxonMobil found billions of barrels. What is at stake is discovering if Brazil has, there, a second wealth the size of the pre-salt. The Equatorial Margin is the name given to the portion of the Brazilian sea in the extreme north of the country, which shares a maritime border with Guyana and Suriname. Geologists point out that this region may hold large volumes of oil, precisely because it has characteristics similar to the basin that turned Guyana into one of the world’s largest emerging producers in a few years.The Amazon River Mouth basin is the most coveted area of this frontier. That’s why drilling this first well is so important: it will practically determine if there is oil in commercial quantities where studies indicate potential. The well is only exploratory, meaning it serves to research and confirm the existence of oil, without authorization to produce. The release was one of the most disputed environmental processes in recent times. Ibama had previously denied the license, citing flaws in the wildlife protection plan and the risk of a spill in a sensitive region, near the coast and areas of great biodiversity. Only after new studies and adjustments presented by Petrobras did the agency conclude that the requirements had been met and authorized the drilling. The decision was made, but restricted to the research phase. The drilling is estimated to last around five months, and the rig is already positioned at the exact point of the well. If oil is found, any potential production would depend on new licenses, studies, and investments, over a horizon of years.Exploration in the Amazon River Mouth pits economic bets against environmental concerns. On one side, Petrobras and part of the government argue that oil from the Equatorial Margin could guarantee billions in revenue, jobs, and energy security for the country in the coming decades. On the other, environmentalists warn of the risk of an accident in a region with strong currents and fragile ecosystems, and question new investments in fossil fuels amid the climate crisis.The controversy gained extra weight because of the calendar. Brazil hosted the UN climate summit, and critics point out a contradiction between leading the environmental agenda and opening a new oil frontier in the Amazon. The government, in turn, argues that researching is not the same as producing, and that the country has the right to assess its potential.

Investigation reveals source of oil leak near Azerbaijan’s Dubendi beach | Caliber.AzAn oil contamination incident detected on June 19 near Dubendi beach has been traced to an underwater pipeline operated by Azerbaijan’s Azneft Production Unit, according to local media. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) said its central Azneft services received reports of oil traces in the area between Pirallahi Island and the Dyubendi settlement. Initial inspections using vessels and a helicopter identified an oil slick in the water, but the active source of the leak was not immediately confirmed, prompting multiple possible scenarios to be considered. Following further diagnostics, authorities determined that the pollution originated from an underwater oil pipeline belonging to Azneft. Oil transport through the pipeline was immediately suspended. An emergency response headquarters was established to manage the situation, and the incident was brought under control. A diving inspection later revealed mechanical damage to the pipeline, preliminarily attributed to contact with an external object, possibly an anchor. Repair and restoration works began immediately, with operations suspended until completion to prevent further leakage. Cleanup efforts in the marine and coastal areas are being carried out in coordination with Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations and Azneft.

Caspian Sea pipeline struck by anchor, causing oil spill  -A major environmental emergency has been reported in Azerbaijan’s sector of the Caspian Sea after a ruptured underwater oil pipeline caused a significant spill. The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) confirmed the accident, according to local media reports. A report of pollution near the coast of Dubendi was received by the head office of the Azneft Production Association, a SOCAR division.During an emergency helicopter inspection, specialists identified a large oil slick drifting in the waters between the Dubendi shoreline and Pirallahi Island.Divers were dispatched to conduct a detailed underwater inspection of the affected area. According to specialists, the pipeline showed signs of external mechanical damage.A special task force has been deployed to coordinate the emergency response. Specialized vessels and equipment are operating in the Caspian Sea to contain the spill and clean affected waters and coastal areas.mAuthorities have not announced a timeline for completing pipeline repairs and restoration work. The full extent of the environmental damage to the Caspian Sea’s unique ecosystem, including its flora and fauna, will be assessed after cleanup operations are completed.

Fifty-four injured and 18 missing after explosion at Qatar LNG site, authorities say(Reuters) - Fifty-four people were injured and another 18 were missing after an explosion at Qatar's core LNG processing site of Ras Laffan on Sunday, authorities said. An incident during the start-up of operations at Ras Laffan Industrial City resulted in an explosion and fire at the Barzan local gas supply facility on Sunday evening, QatarEnergy said in a statement. Emergency response teams were deployed to contain the fire, which was now under control, it said. Qatar's Interior Ministry said in a statement that 54 people had been injured and 18 were missing and being searched for. It attributed the explosion to a "technical accident" and said there was no leak that posed a threat to public safety. It said the Qatari International Search and Rescue Group, in cooperation with the civil defence teams, was conducting search operations for the 18 missing people. QatarEnergy did not indicate whether the explosion had caused any damage to the plant, which supplies gas to the domestic market. A Reuters witness earlier reported that a loud boom was heard in the capital Doha, south of the Ras Laffan facility.

The fuel crisis has hit the Pacific hard. The region is responding—but tough choices lie ahead - - The past five years have not been easy for the people of the Pacific. COVID restrictions disrupted tourism and upended supply chains, while global fuel shocks raised prices and hit island economies hard. The region relies on expensive imports of fossil fuels, as domestic sources are largely lacking. Some nations spend up to 25% of their GDP on securing fuel, even before this year's price spikes. In recent months, authorities in the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu announced emergency measures to conserve fuel. Fiji's main energy provider has warned that electricity rationing is now a possibility, and the Samoan government is considering school closures to save fuel.News of a peace deal between the United States and Iran has been welcomed. But even if the deal holds, it's unlikely to lead to quick relief. In May, the region's leaders took a rare collective step by invoking the Biketawa Declaration by consensus. It means governments are united in their response to the ongoing fuel crisis. Pacific leaders formalized this declaration in 2000 at the Biketawa Islet in Kiribati as a way to collectively respond to major regional challenges such as conflict. The declaration paved the way for the long-running Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (2003–17) during a period of conflict, and the Pacific Regional Assistance Mission to Nauru (2006–09) during an economic crisis. Over time, it has been drawn on to manage the region's security more broadly, including environmental and social threats. Most recently, the declaration enabled a regional response to the COVID pandemic, allowing transport of vaccines and other medical equipment to Pacific countries during lockdown periods. This year's fuel crisis has affected the entire region. As Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Baron Waqa recently warned, the region is "highly exposed to external shocks." He said the fuel crisis is "beginning to intersect across Pacific economies, with direct implications on essential services, connectivity, economic resilience and the livelihoods of our people." The first step has been to establish a regional response mechanism to the fuel crisis, encouraging better coordination among nations.The fuel crisis poses a bigger challenge to Pacific Island countries than to many other nations. Almost all the region's fuel is imported from a handful of East Asian countries, where it is refined. These countries were, in turn, highly reliant on oil from the Middle East—80% of the crude oil processed in refineries was transported via the Strait of Hormuz.The full impact of the Iran war has not yet washed through. Tankers in transit before the Hormuz closure have continued to make deliveries, while support from donors such as Australia has helped some countries manage what has, so far, mostly been a price shock. Nations such as Fiji had healthy fuel reserves before this year's fuel crisis. But others had very little buffer, from about a month's supply (Tonga, Cook Islands and Tuvalu) to even less (Kiribati). Maintaining fuel storage facilities in difficult environmental conditions is an ongoing challenge for many nations.The Iran peace deal—if it holds—may mean more oil products can flow. But damage to energy infrastructure will take time to repair. Insurance premiums and food prices may stay high for some time.Pacific foreign ministers have left open the possibility of more direct measures if fuel security isn't assured. These haven't been determined, but joint purchases of fuel could be on the table if political and practical challenges can be overcome.Australia has indicated that its priority is to monitor the situation in the Pacific and engage with Pacific partners. In a recent round of "fuel diplomacy" in Asian markets, Australia called for continued attention to the Pacific's unique energy security needs.But difficult choices lie ahead.Access to affordable, reliable energy is one of the world's sustainable development goals, and Pacific communities deserve no less.The region and its partners will need to find a way to respond to the immediate crisis without worsening the longer-term and much larger threat posed by climate change.

ADNOC Drilling puts first walking island rig into service - ADNOC Drilling took delivery of AD-300, the first AI-enabled, fully automated walking island rig under its six-rig next-generation program, with the unit arriving nearly three months ahead of schedule.The rig stands 50 m tall and weighs around 2,000 tonnes. It combines advanced automation, digital systems and hybrid power capability, with the option to connect to the grid. Its automated walking system allows it to move between well locations without dismantling, while automated pipe handling and AI-enabled monitoring reduce personnel exposure during operations. AD-300 is deployed on one of ADNOC Offshore’s artificial islands and is the first unit delivered under a contract awarded by ADNOC Offshore in 2024-2025. AD-301 is currently being deployed, with the remaining rigs in the program scheduled for delivery through 2027.

UN starts evacuating 11,000 stranded sailors from Strait of Hormuz  | Al Jazeera  --The United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) has begun evacuating more than 11,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz following the memorandum of understanding signed by the United States and Iran to end the US-Israel war on Iran. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement on Tuesday that the operation would be carried out in “close cooperation with Iran, Oman, all other coastal states in the region, the United States and the maritime industry”. “We have secured the necessary safety guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations,” he said. Following the start of the US-Israel war on Iran on February 28, Tehran had effectively closed off the strait, leaving vessels stuck on the waterway. But shipping traffic has increased since the signing of the agreement last week, with the Kpler shipping intelligence agency reporting that at least 36 commercial vessels passed through the strait on Monday, a record level of traffic since the war began. According to Oman’s Defence Ministry, the evacuation process under the IMO plan, which has been under discussion for months, will be phased. “Given the elevated risk of collision in the current environment, a gradual and controlled evacuation of vessel traffic is required,” it said. Denmark announced on Tuesday that it will join an international maritime mission set up by France and Britain to help reopen the crucial waterway. Reporting from the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi explained that talks between the US and Iran on a peace deal have gotten “a little bit better”. “Today, we’ve got a joint statement by the Omani and Iranian sides saying they are talking about mechanisms to reopen trade through the Strait of Hormuz. This is a positive indication,” he said. “However, it remains to be seen how long it’s going to take for the strait to reopen, and until then, we see hundreds of ships stranded on both sides of Hormuz.” Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and reiterated that Iran would not be allowed to charge tolls in the strait under any final deal with the US. “It’s an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway,” he said, adding that he believed “all the countries in this region would agree”. Tehran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had earlier insisted the Strait of Hormuz “will never return” to the pre-war status quo, despite the foes agreeing to set up communication lines to keep it open.

Shipping stalls in Strait of Hormuz after Iran says waterway is closed - Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz stalled over the weekend, according to maritime intelligence company Windward, after Iran announced it had again closed the world’s most important oil choke point. The update comes even as industry trackers showed Iranian tankers continued to sail through the strait, a narrow waterway that typically handles around 20% of the world’s oil traffic. There was a recovery in oil tanker traffic through the strait immediately after the U.S. and Iran signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding, or MOU, last week but the latest data shows this has already hit a snag. An analysis published by Windward found that a total of 12 ships transited the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, down from more than 21 the previous day. Five of eight inbound vessels were said to be dark, which is when a ship disables its Automatic Identification System, or AIS, transponder to hide its location, identity and destination. “The current traffic profile: dark, sanctioned, Iranian-linked, resembling the late-blockade baseline more than a functioning open strait,” Windward said Sunday in a social media post. Trade intelligence firm Kpler said last week that at least 20 tankers transited the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, reflecting the highest level of traffic since June 2. This was still far below prewar levels, when more than 100 ships transited the strait daily, including dozens of tankers. A separate analysis published Monday from maritime specialists Lloyd’s List also found that commercial traffic continued to move through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, defying Iran’s claims that it had closed the waterway once again. Iran on Saturday said that it had shut the strategically vital strait, citing ceasefire violations after Israel continued deadly strikes in southern Lebanon. The U.S. military denied those claims, stating that the waterway remained open and that “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.” At least 15 Iran-flagged Suezmaxes and very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, were outbound from the Gulf of Oman with AIS signals active as of Saturday night, according to Lloyd’s List. The U.S. and Iran held talks in a Swiss mountain resort on Sunday to build on the memorandum of understanding both parties signed on Wednesday. Both parties were said to have made progress on reaching a final deal within 60 days during the talks, including the agreement to establish a committee and a mechanism to end hostilities in Lebanon. A senior Pakistani official and an Iranian official, who were involved in the talks in Bürgenstock, have told MS NOW the talks went into the early hours and were “constructive but tense.” Under the MOU, both sides agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz toll-free for at least 60 days and to end all hostilities, including in Lebanon, where fighting has persisted between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the country had secured waivers for oil and petrochemical exports, the lifting of the blockade on its ports, the release of some frozen assets, and the launch of a reconstruction and development plan. President Donald Trump had threatened further attacks on Iran ahead of the talks in Switzerland. “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” Trump said in a social media post on Sunday. Large commercial vessels and a small boat navigate the waters off the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Iran on June 21, 2026. Following the United States' decision to ease its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian merchant ships have begun operating and displaying increased activity in the region's crucial maritime tr Large commercial vessels and a small boat navigate the waters off the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Iran on June 21, 2026. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation at the talks, said he was optimistic about the outcome of the Swiss talks despite Iran’s latest threat to shut the strait. He also downplayed the impact of violence in Lebanon, saying progress had been made toward ending hostilities there. “These things are always a little bit messy,” Vance said.

Traffic flows through Hormuz, but escalating threats from both sides are causing 'strait jitters'  The situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains precarious for shippers — traffic is still moving at far below pre-war levels despite a clear rebound in recent days — as companies assess threats and counter-threats between the US and Iran over the weekend. Independent traffic service MarineTraffic reported Monday that 71 confirmed transits were recorded over the previous three days among ships that left their transponders on (a signal "pointing to improving confidence"). Before the war began, 100 ships often made passage in a single day. "Diplomatic uncertainty continues to weigh on the recovery," MarineTraffic wrote. Indeed, Iran's Revolutionary Guard declared on Saturday that the waterway would be closed, and President Trump responded with threats of renewed military action, once again suggesting that the US could take over the strait and levy its own tolls. Vice President JD Vance gave an update on peace talks in Switzerland on Monday, saying "we laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal." He again affirmed that the strait remains open and that new mechanisms to address issues such as mining have been set up as Iran also offered optimistic commentary saying "major progress" had been made. Yet "strait jitters" remain, Thomas Mathews, head of Asian markets for Capital Economics, wrote in a note Monday, saying that renewed tensions "have caused a bit of concern in markets at the start of the week." Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters on Monday before boarding Air Force Two to return to the US after after Raymond James noted that strait traffic had decreased on Sunday after Iran's threats to close the waterway. "There is a long way to go until a durable peace is struck," analysts wrote. The crucial Hormuz waterway — where one fifth of the world's oil passed before the war — was a top issue in ongoing peace talks that got underway on Sunday, with a senior US diplomat acknowledging that "confusing messaging" on the strait was an element of the talks. The talks in Switzerland, led by Vance and mediated by Pakistan, lasted into Monday. Vance is now heading home but promising that technical teams will continue negotiations over the weeks to come. But those talks take place amid increasingly bellicose rhetoric from both sides. Iran's fledgling Persian Gulf Strait Authority — the body meant to eventually collect fees to manage traffic — claimed on Friday that ships must "submit compliant transit requests" to pass through the waterway during the ceasefire but said no fees would be assessed for now. On Saturday, Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the waterway shut due to the fighting in Lebanon. That threat appears to have slowed traffic on Sunday — but not stopped it — with US Central Command quickly responding that "safe passage through the international waterway remained intact." President Trump also made a series of social media posts over the weekend claiming that "oil is gushing" and that Iran won't impose tolls but the US might. He went further on Sunday, telling Fox News, "We may take over the strait if we have to. I'll blow the shit out of them." As he addressed reporters before returning to the US on Monday, Vance downplayed the threats from both sides as "trash talk" but acknowledged that the Iranians "did threaten to walk out, or at least there were social media threats that they would walk out, but we were negotiating well past 1 in the morning yesterday." Meanwhile, conditions on the ground remain tenuously positive for now. Trade analytics firm Kpler reported that Qatar had sent four liquefied natural gas tankers into the Strait of Hormuz on Monday in spite of Iranian claims it had closed the waterway. Energy markets also offered a positive assessment of developments with crude oil prices down on Monday and below $80 per barrel with the Trump administration touting that "really big tankers" were making passage. Also on Monday, the Treasury Department formally lifted sanctions on Iranian oil until August 21st. Gregory Brew, a senior analyst for Iran and oil at the Eurasia Group, observed that the traffic situation is "still subdued compared to pre-war level, but ships are still moving through." "Iranians have not yet taken action to enforce their announcement (apart from threats)," he added.

Iran’s Oil Exports Through Hormuz Hit Wartime High - Iran isn’t wasting any time moving its oil out of the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. lifted the naval blockade outside the chokepoint and the U.S. and Iran discuss a framework on a lasting peace deal.While Western shippers and insurers remain wary of the conflicting signals about how open the Strait of Hormuz really is, Iran is rushing to evacuate barrels it wasn’t able to push past the U.S. blockade over the past two months.At least three supertankers, carrying a total of 6 million barrels of Iranian crude, moved to transit the Strait of Hormuz early on Monday, in open AIS navigation showing Singaporean waters as a destination, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed.That’s the most Iranian crude openly making its way out the key Iranian oil port at Kharg Island and into the Strait of Hormuz in a day since the war began on February 28, according to Bloomberg’s estimates.The three tankers seen entering the Strait of Hormuz outbound on Monday were signaling destinations offshore Singapore, a known ship-to-ship (STS) transfer area for Iranian crude before loading on the tankers mostly bound for China’s independent refiners, the so-called teapots. The surge in Iranian shipments out of the Gulf and into waters near the Malacca and Singapore Straits would give Iran a lifeline to boost its exports that had suffered from the U.S. blockade in the past few weeks.

OPEC sees oil demand rising to 124 million bpd by 2050 despite EV growth - Global oil demand is expected to keep rising for another quarter-century, reaching 124.1 million barrels per day by 2050 even as electric vehicles and renewable energy rapidly expand, according to OPEC’s World Oil Outlook 2026, Qazinform News Agency reports.. The projection suggests that the rapid expansion of electric vehicles and renewable energy will not be enough to push global oil consumption into decline before 2050. OPEC sees demand increasing by 19 million barrels per day from 105.1 million in 2025, reaching 113.3 million by 2030 before growth gradually slows. OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said: “Against this backdrop, we see oil demand retaining the largest share in the energy mix and reaching 124 million barrels a day by 2050, with no peak in oil demand on the horizon.” Oil is expected to retain the largest share of the global energy mix, accounting for just under 30% in 2050. Together, oil and natural gas are projected to meet around 54% of global primary energy demand. The organization attributes this resilience to a combination of population growth, expanding cities, rising incomes, industrial development, aviation and the petrochemical sector, particularly in emerging economies. The global vehicle fleet is expected to grow from 1.75 billion vehicles in 2025 to almost three billion by 2050 as car ownership expands across developing countries. Electric vehicles will be the fastest-growing segment, with their number projected to rise from around 70 million to 634 million. China alone is expected to have more than 240 million electric vehicles by the middle of the century. However, OPEC does not expect electrification to end the dominance of conventional vehicles. Gasoline, diesel, LPG-powered and hybrid vehicles are projected to number around 2.2 billion in 2050, representing approximately 73% of the global fleet. This means that even after hundreds of millions of electric vehicles enter the market, the number of vehicles using conventional fuels could still be higher than it is today. Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are expected to remain a niche part of the market, reaching around 30 million units by 2050. OPEC points to the high cost of hydrogen, limited supplies and insufficient refueling infrastructure as the main barriers to faster adoption. The long-term oil market is also expected to shift decisively toward developing economies. Demand in countries outside the OECD is forecast to increase by 26.9 million barrels per day, from 59.2 million in 2025 to 86.1 million in 2050. Over the same period, consumption in OECD countries is projected to fall by 7.9 million barrels per day to 38 million. India will account for the largest share of additional demand. Its oil consumption is expected to more than double from 5.6 million barrels per day in 2025 to 13.8 million by 2050, adding 8.1 million barrels per day. Other Asian economies will add another 5.3 million barrels per day, while demand in the Middle East is projected to grow by 4.7 million and in Africa by 4.3 million. Latin America will add 2.8 million barrels per day. China, which has been one of the main engines of oil demand growth in recent decades, is expected to follow a different path. Its consumption is projected to rise from 16.9 million barrels per day in 2025 to a peak of around 18.9 million in the 2030s, before easing to 18 million by 2050. Meanwhile, oil demand in OECD Europe is forecast to decline from 13.4 million barrels per day to 10.2 million. In OECD Americas, it is expected to fall from 25.4 million to 22.4 million. The transport sector will remain central to future consumption. OPEC expects road transport demand to increase by 5.7 million barrels per day between 2025 and 2050, the largest contribution from any individual sector. Petrochemicals will add 4.6 million barrels per day, while aviation demand is projected to grow by 4.2 million as passenger traffic and air freight expand. Demand will also rise in industry and in the residential, commercial and agricultural sectors. Electricity generation is the only major sector in which oil consumption is expected to decline, falling by around 500,000 barrels per day as power producers shift to natural gas, nuclear energy and renewables. Among petroleum products, jet fuel and kerosene will record the largest increase, adding 4.2 million barrels per day. Diesel and gasoil demand will rise by 3.8 million barrels per day, followed by LPG and ethane at 3.5 million, naphtha at 3.2 million and gasoline at 2.4 million. The forecast shows that future oil demand will increasingly depend not only on passenger cars, but also on aviation, freight, plastics, chemicals and industrial production.

Oil rises after Iran shuts Hormuz again, Trump threatens new attacks (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday after shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed while talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in their first meeting under an interim peace deal were off to a bumpy start. Brent crude futures climbed 54 cents or 0.67%, to $81.11 a barrel by 0030 GMT, after touching a high of $82.30 at the start of trading. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $78.62 a barrel, up $2.02, or 2.64% ahead of the contract's expiry later on Monday. The more active August contract rose $1.43 to $77.28 a barrel. There was no settlement in the U.S. market on Friday due to a holiday. The number of ships that passed the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply on Sunday after Iran announced it had again closed the waterway, citing Israeli and U.S. violations of the interim peace deal, shipping data showed. "The market's expectation of the opening of the Strait has been premature," MST Marquee head of energy research Saul Kavonic said. "Iran is likely to continue to find pretexts to stymie flows through the Strait, as that remains their only point of leverage into the mid-terms which they are unlikely to let go of." U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to resume attacks on Iran even as U.S. Vice President JD Vance met Iranian officials on Sunday for the first talks under an interim peace deal, while Tehran said the U.S. had failed to meet its commitment to halt fighting in Lebanon. Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed at least 20 people on Saturday, Lebanon's state news agency NNA said, one day after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect, aimed at halting months of escalating violence. "The situation in Lebanon continues to pose a serious ongoing threat to both the ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note. Still, oil prices fell more than 8% last week on expectations of more supply from the release of cargoes stranded inside the Gulf and the potential lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil as part of the U.S.-Iran deal. Over 25 million barrels of Iranian oil have passed through the virtual blockade line since Monday, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, Hamid Bovard, told state TV on Sunday. The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq have offered more oil to customers in the past week. Iraq plans to restore crude oil production gradually to between 4.2 million and 4.3 million barrels per day, Iraq's deputy oil minister for upstream affairs said in a statement on Sunday.

Oil prices fall after US, Iran talks ease supply fears - - Global oil prices fell on Monday after diplomatic talks between the United States (US) and Iran concluded in Switzerland, easing fears of a potential supply disruption in international energy markets. Brent crude dropped by $1.68, or 2.09%, to $78.89 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also declined ahead of the contract expiry. Prices had initially surged earlier in the session due to geopolitical uncertainty but reversed direction as negotiations progressed. Market sentiment improved after reports that Iran had secured waivers for oil and petrochemical exports as part of discussions aimed at reducing tensions and stabilising regional trade flows. Analysts said the development eased concerns over immediate supply shortages and helped restore confidence in global markets. Iranian officials also indicated that the agreement could allow a significant volume of crude exports to return to the market, potentially increasing global supply by up to 1.5 million barrels per day. This prospect contributed to downward pressure on prices as traders reassessed supply-demand dynamics. However, uncertainty remains over the long-term stability of the agreement. Earlier in the week, tensions briefly escalated after reports of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route, and warnings of renewed conflict. Shipping data had shown a temporary decline in vessel movement through the strategic waterway. Despite the recent decline, oil prices had already fallen more than 8% in the previous week amid expectations of increased supply and possible easing of sanctions on Iranian crude exports. Additional output from Gulf producers, including Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, has also contributed to concerns about rising supply levels. Analysts warn that while diplomatic progress has helped calm markets, risks remain if negotiations stall or geopolitical tensions re-emerge in the region. The next phase of technical talks between US and Iranian officials is expected to play a key role in determining future market direction. For now, traders are closely watching developments from Switzerland as markets adjust to shifting expectations around supply stability and geopolitical risk in the Middle East.

Oil Prices Slip on Peace Talk Progress, Returning Flows(DTN) -- Crude oil futures fell Monday morning (6/22) after U.S. and Iranian negotiators touted progress in the first round of peace talks which wrapped up in Switzerland earlier today.By 08:00 a.m. ET, ICE Brent for August delivery was down $1.63 to trade near $78.94 bbl, and NYMEX WTI for July delivery eased by $0.10 to $76.50 bbl. The August contract fell $0.88 to $74.97 bbl.Downstream, NYMEX RBOB futures for July delivery retreated $0.0015 to $2.9934 gallon. ULSD futures bucked the trend, with the front-month contract rising $0.0219 to $3.1492 gallon.The US dollar index inched higher by 0.095 points to 100.715 against a basket of foreign currencies.Delegates on Sunday agreed on a roadmap towards a permanent end to the war. This came after signing a memorandum of understanding last week which extended the ceasefire by 60 days and called for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The interim deal also called for the cessation of fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon. On Friday, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire which has largely held since late Saturday.Oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz picked up last week after Iran lifted the blockade, providing some relief to a supply-starved market. Iranian oil flows have also restarted after the U.S. ended the embargo on Iranian maritime trade. A statement by Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday claiming that the U.S. agreed to waive sanctions on Iranian energy exports further weighed on prices.Hundreds of laden tankers have been stranded in the Persian Gulf, ready to deliver a wave of crude oil to refiners globally once safe passage is guaranteed. Estimates on how quickly flows will return after this initial jump, however, vary widely. Shut-in production will only gradually ramp up, and many shippers may initially be wary of reentering the Gulf as long as the navigational status of the strait remains volatile and a final agreement has not been reached.

Oil settles down more 3% after US-Iran talks signal easing supply risks (Reuters) - Oil prices settled more than 3% lower on Monday, as supply concerns eased after U.S. Vice President ​JD Vance said progress has been made in talks with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz was open.Brent crude ‌settled down $2.67, or 3.31%, at $77.90 a barrel. In early trading, prices had climbed to $82.30 because of threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to restart the Iran war, and Tehran's announcement that it had again closed the strait.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures expired on Monday and settled at $74.82 a barrel, down $1.78 or 2.32%. The more-active ​August contract lost $1.99 and settled at $73.86 a barrel.High-ranking U.S. and Iranian officials wrapped up their first round of talks in Switzerland ​on Monday, mediators said.The discussions began on Sunday under the terms of a memorandum of understanding reached ⁠last week to extend a tenuous ceasefire from April for at least another 60 days.The United States authorized Iranian oil sales on Monday. ​The general license, announced by the Treasury Department, allows the sale of crude oil and petrochemical and petroleum products of Iranian origin through August ​21.Meanwhile, Iran did not negotiate on its nuclear program and did not accept any new commitments in Sunday's talks with the U.S. in Switzerland, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told the official IRNA news agency.Crude inventories in the U.S. government's emergency stash fell by 9.05 million barrels last week, the third steepest draw on ​record. The drawdowns are a part of a U.S. agreement to release 172 million barrels from the facility to help push down ​fuel prices.Iran has resumed exports of its oil, which were blocked earlier this month due to the U.S. naval blockade, UBS analyst ‌Giovanni Staunovo ⁠said."The 'release' of those barrels is additional supply for the market," Staunovo added.  Two crude tankers with just under 2 million barrels of oil sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, ship tracking data showed, in a sign that traffic was picking up following weaker flows on Sunday due to concerns over passage through the waterway. The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq have offered more oil to customers in the past week.Crude oil exports ​from Saudi Arabia fell for a second ​straight month in April and ⁠hit a record low of 3.99 million barrels per day, compared with 4.974 million bpd in March, according to Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) data.Iraq plans to restore crude production gradually to between 4.2 million ​and 4.3 million barrels per day, its deputy oil minister for upstream affairs said on Sunday.ANZ expects ​around 2 million ⁠to 3 million barrels per day to be restored in the first four weeks.Recovery will remain challenging, it said, with a further 2 million to 3.5 million bpd potentially recoverable in the third quarter of 2026 subject to stability, while 1 million to 2 million bpd of supply ⁠could be ​permanently or semi-permanently lost.

Oil Drops 1% Amid Focus on Supplies via Strait of Hormuz - Oil prices fell by more than 1% on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session, amid signs of some progress in resuming crude oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz following talks between the United States and Iran. Brent crude futures fell $1.09, or 1.4%, to reach $76.81 a barrel by 06:07 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slid 87 cents, or 1.2%, to $72.99 a barrel. Prices had dropped by more than 3% on Monday after the United States granted Iran a 60-day sanctions waiver following preliminary talks, and officials reported a subsiding of hostilities in Lebanon as part of the broader agreement. "The gradual increase in oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz continues to weigh on the market," ING Bank analysts said in a note. Vessel-tracking data showed that two crude oil tankers carrying just under two million barrels of oil sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, signaling a recovery in traffic after flows dwindled on Sunday due to concerns over passage through the strait. "Transits appear to have risen sharply over the last few days, which the market will view as an indicator of both physical oil, potentially contracts, and also diplomatic progress," Neil Crosby, head of research at Sparta Commodities, said in a note. "It looks like we're going to remain stuck in this state of risk-on, risk-off until something changes." The developments came after a start to the week where the agreement appeared threatened after US President Donald Trump brandished the prospect of resuming war if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. "There is still a prevailing dose of skepticism in the market, rooted in deep distrust between Washington and Tehran, suggesting that any return to pre-war oil prices is likely to be delayed rather than immediate," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. Meanwhile, analysts in a Reuters poll estimated that US crude oil inventories fell last week, alongside drawing down distillate and gasoline stocks. US Department of Energy data showed on Monday that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell last week to 331.2 million barrels, their lowest level since June 1983, as supplies tightened in the wake of the conflict between the United States and Iran.

Oil Steadies Near 16-Week Lows as Hormuz Transits Pick Up - (DTN) -- Oil futures edged lower Tuesday morning, extending their decline from the previous session on signs of an easing Middle East oil supply disruption as tanker traffic through the reopened Strait of Hormuz was picking up steam. By 8:00 a.m. ET, ICE Brent for August delivery was down $0.13 to trade near $77.77 bbl, and NYMEX WTI for August delivery eased by $0.03 to $73.83 bbl. Downstream, NYMEX ULSD futures for July delivery retreated $0.0173 to $3.0758 gallon, and front-month RBOB futures softened by $0.0092 to $2.9778 gallon. The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened by 0.245 points to 101.04 against a basket of foreign currencies. Crossings have ticked higher after the U.S. and Iran last week agreed to reallow traffic through the energy choke point. Marine tracking data on Tuesday showed the most tankers in months signaling their intention to cross the strait, which has now been traversable for the longest continuous period since the initial closure in early March. On Monday, the U.S. suspended its sanctions on Iranian oil trade for 60 days. Aside from easing supply tightness, the measure, in conjunction with the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade, also raised market participants' confidence in a lasting truce and fruitful peace talks. Commercial oil inventories and strategic reserves have plummeted globally during the 100-day long disruption of at least 10 million bpd of crude oil and millions of bpd of refined product supply. The U.S. Energy Information Administration data last week showed that domestic road fuel inventories continued to hover near the seasonally lowest in more than a decade. On Monday, the EIA reported that stockpiles in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve have fallen to the lowest level since 1983. Crude oil volumes in the U.S. SPR have since April dropped by more than 84 million bbl, which so far amounted to nearly half of the announced 172 million bbl release. Analysts are expecting further declines as Middle Eastern supply starts to gradually ramp up and fuel demand is on a seasonal rise. Weekly inventory estimates by the American Petroleum Institute are scheduled for release later today, followed by official government data on Wednesday.

Crude Oil Extends Losses as U.S.-Iran Peace Talks Show Progress and Middle East Tensions Ease -- The crude market continued to trend lower on Tuesday amid signs of some progress in in the U.S.-Iran peace talks. The market extended its previous losses after the U.S. granted Iran a 60-day sanctions waiver on Monday and officials reported a lull in hostilities in Lebanon. An Iranian military source said that a limited number of vessels were being allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz each day under coordination with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy. The crude market posted the day’s trading range during the overnight trading hours, as it quickly posted a high of $74.45 on the opening and later sold off to a low of $72.48. The market later retraced some of its losses and settled in a sideways trading range during the remainder of the session. The August WTI contract settled down 65 cents at $73.21 and the August Brent contract settled down 82 cents at $77.08. The product markets ended the session in mixed territory, with the heating oil market settling up 6.15 cents at $3.1546 and the RB market settling down 2.8 cents at $2.959. U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that Iran has agreed to allow nuclear inspections long into the future, despite statements from Iran that it had not done so. He said the U.N.’s IAEA will be on the ground in Iran at the “appropriate time.” President Trump also said that the United States would leave ships in the Strait of Hormuz in case it becomes necessary to reimpose its blockade of Iranian ports. He also said 19 million barrels of oil flowed out of the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Earlier, a Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Iran has neither held a meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi in Switzerland nor plans for the U.N. nuclear agency to inspect Iran’s damaged nuclear facilities. He said there was no protocol for such inspections, adding that Iran would continue its current obligations as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and under its safeguards agreement with the IAEA. Ship-tracking data showed that three stranded supertankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, while seven empty Qatar-linked liquefied natural gas tankers have entered in recent weeks in an early sign Gulf gas shipping may be resuming. Iranian-linked tankers also continued to transit the waterway. TotalEnergies CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, said the company needs to prioritize the building of pipelines that could export oil and gas from the Middle East without ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. Barclays maintained its $100/barrel price forecast for Brent crude in 2026 as flows through the Middle East Gulf continue to recover. TotalEnergies CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, said the company needs to prioritize the building of pipelines that could export oil and gas from the Middle East without ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. Barclays maintained its $100/barrel price forecast for Brent crude in 2026 as flows through the Middle East Gulf continue to recover.

Oil Prices Decline Amid Breakthrough in Hormuz - Oil prices fell on Wednesday, extending the losses recorded this week and trading near a four-month low hit in the previous session, amid signs that more oil tankers stranded in the Gulf since the outbreak of the Iran war will depart the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $76.71 a barrel by 00:43 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 36 cents, or 0.5%, to $72.85 a barrel. Both benchmarks had fallen about 1% on Tuesday, marking their lowest levels since early March. Prices came under pressure this week after Washington granted Tehran a 60-day sanctions waiver following initial talks, allowing it to sell oil, and as hostilities eased in Lebanon. "Crude prices were negatively impacted by hopes of easing tensions between the United States and Iran, and a recovery in oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz," said Tomomichi Akuta, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting. He added, "Further progress in nuclear negotiations could bring prices back to pre-war levels." The Sultanate of Oman and Iran agreed on Tuesday to move forward with discussions regarding the future management of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that any Iranian attempt to impose transit fees would constitute a violation of international law. However, doubts remain over the sustainability of the agreement. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran had agreed to "indefinite" nuclear inspections, whereas Tehran asserted that it had made no such concessions during negotiations. Investors are also monitoring how quickly Middle Eastern producers can resume exports, and whether additional vessels will enter the region. An Iranian military source told Fars News Agency that passage through the strait is permitted for a limited number of ships per day in coordination with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy. Vessel tracking data showed that three stranded supertankers crossed the strait on Tuesday. The United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) indicated the launch of an evacuation plan to assist around 11,000 sailors stranded aboard ships in the Gulf to cross the Strait of Hormuz, following the ceasefire agreement between Iran and the United States. Meanwhile, market sources, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) released on Tuesday, said that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 765,000 barrels in the week ended June 19. Nine analysts polled by Reuters had estimated, on average, that crude inventories fell by about 4.5 million barrels over the past week.

Oil Prices Slide for Third Day on Easing Supply Disruption -- Oil futures dropped to the lowest in nearly four months Wednesday morning after more tankers left the Persian Gulf with transponders turned on as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continued to show signs of normalizing. By 8:13 a.m. EDT, ICE Brent for August delivery was down $2.31 to trade near $74.77 bbl, and NYMEX WTI for August delivery fell $2.10 to $71.11 bbl. Downstream, NYMEX ULSD futures for July delivery retreated $0.0285 to $3.1261 gallon, and front-month RBOB futures softened by $0.0538 to $2.9052 gallon. The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened by 0.232 points to 101.405 against a basket of foreign currencies, the highest in more than a year. Transits continued to pick up Tuesday, including three VLCCs carrying a combined 6 million bbl of crude oil. Ship tracking data showed hundreds of laden tankers idling in the Persian Gulf, which could start moving soon as confidence the strait will stay open continued to grow. After this initial wave of oil, however, the willingness of shippers to send empty tankers back into the Persian Gulf will be a crucial factor determining how quickly oil supply returns. A plummeting risk premium indicated that market participants are so far optimistic about the current truce, which gives the U.S. and Iran another seven weeks to negotiate a permanent peace deal. The U.S. waiving sanctions on Iranian oil exports during this period additionally weighed on prices, as did reports suggesting Oman will not pursue a tolling system together with Iran. Oil inventories outside the Middle East, meanwhile, continued to shrink amid the sizable global supply deficit. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported the ninth consecutive draw to commercial crude oil inventories in the week ending June 19. The estimated 982,000 bbl decline at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub would leave stockpiles at the WTI delivery point below the 20 million bbl mark, considered to be the operational minimum storage level. Official government inventory data is scheduled for release by the U.S. Energy Information Administration at 10:30 a.m. EDT today.

WTI Holds Losses As Cushing Hits 'Tank Bottoms', US Production At Record Highs Oil prices are testing down to pre-war levels this morning as more tankers cross the Strait of Hormuz and signs of progress in US-Iran peace talks eased fears of an immediate supply crunch. Vessels are transiting Hormuz with their satellite signals switched on, indicating growing confidence among shipowners about safe passage of the chokepoint, through which about a fifth of global oil supplies transited before the war. The International Maritime Organization also said it had received safety guarantees allowing hundreds of ships to exit the Persian Gulf. Washington and Tehran have both flagged early progress in talks to end the war, although negotiations are likely to be protracted and claims from the two sides have diverged. In a sign of how much oil has been leaving Hormuz in recent weeks, the International Energy Agency estimates that the United Arab Emirates is exporting oil at nearly 85% of pre-war levels. API

• Crude -765k
• Cushing
• Gasoline -1.24mm
• Distillates +1.45mm

DOE:

• Crude -6.088mm (-4.1mm exp)
• Cushing -1.077mm
• Gasoline -2.064mm
• Distillates -3.064mm

Crude stocks have now declined for 9 straight weeks (as have inventories at the crucial Cushing Hub)... Cushing is now well and truly testing 'tank bottoms' with stocks at their lowest levels since 2014... That is the lowest level for this time of year since 2004... The SPR saw another dramatic drawdown (over 9mm barrels last week)... US Crude production is back near record highs as rig counts keep rising... WTI is holding near the lows of the day after the report... Finally, a closely-watched oil market indicator flipped into a bearish structure on Wednesday for the first time since February, with Brent’s prompt time-spread trading in a shallow contango, with the nearest contract’s price below the next month’s. That structure typically signals expectations of oversupply. There’s also been a collapse in prices for real-world barrels, with premiums for barrels from the North Sea to West Africa tumbling.

Oil Market Extends Losses as Strait of Hormuz Traffic Increases - The oil market extended its previous losses on Wednesday in light of signs of increased tanker activity in the Strait of Hormuz. Ship-tracking data showed that three stranded supertankers, carrying 5 million barrels of crude, passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, while U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said about 20 million barrels of oil exited the Strait of Hormuz in the last day. The market was also pressured as the head of the U.N.’s IAEA said that the agency will carry out inspection in Iran soon following the interim peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran. The market posted a high of $73.18 on the opening and continued on its downward trend. The market sold off to a low of $69.63 ahead of the release of the EIA’s weekly petroleum stocks report. It retraced some of its losses in light of the 6 million barrel crude stocks draw. The market settled in a sideways trading range during the remainder of the session. The August WTI contract ended the session down $2.87 at $70.34 and the August Brent contract settled down $3.34 at $73.74. The product markets ended the session in mixed territory, with the heating oil market settling up 2.16 cents at $3.1762 and the RB market settling down 7.72 cents at $2.8818 following the builds in distillates and gasoline stocks of 3 million barrels and 2 million barrels, respectively.The EIA reported that U.S. total crude stocks fell to their lowest level since 1984 last week on strong refining demand and as the government released oil from its emergency reserve. U.S. crude stocks, including commercial and those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 15.1 million barrels to 743.3 million barrels in the week ended June 19^th, the lowest level in more than 41 years. Commercial oil inventories fell by 6.1 million barrels to 412.1 million barrels, their lowest level since January 2025. Stocks in the SPR fell by 9.05 million barrels to 331.2 million barrels last week, the lowest level since June 1983.Goldman Sachs expects U.S./European Union diesel margins to moderate to $46/$31 per barrel by the fourth quarter. It maintained its U.S./EU gasoline margins forecast for the fourth quarter at $23/$13. The bank expects Persian Gulf exports to normalize by the end of July compared with its previous assumptions of the end of August. It expects the average 2027 U.S./EU diesel margins at $38/$25 per barrel and average 2027 U.S./EU gasoline margins at $22/$15 per barrel.  J.P. Morgan lowered its second-half 2026 Brent crude oil price forecast due to lower-than-expected OECD commercial inventory draws and lower demand for oil. The bank sees Brent averaging $86/barrel in the third quarter, $80/barrel in the last quarter, and expects to exit 2026 at $78/barrel. J.P. Morgan said OECD commercial inventories draws have come in below expectations, while demand losses have been larger than expected, implying materially less upward pressure on oil prices. The bank said the market has rebalanced through a meaningfully different mix of demand losses and inventory withdrawals than it initially assumed. J.P. Morgan said oil flows are currently running at roughly 8.6 million bpd and have averaged 6.3 million bpd so far in June, materially above April and May levels. J.P. Morgan said in its second-half forecast, it expects OECD inventories to continue to draw by an additional 50 million barrels between April and July. The bank said given the scale of the projected oversupply in the fourth quarter and first half of 2027, production would likely need to be curtailed in early 2027, following a period of maximized output in late 2026.

Oil Prices Fall as Tankers Exit the Strait of Hormuz -- Oil prices continued their decline on Thursday, nearing pre-war levels, as stranded tankers exited the Strait of Hormuz following a tentative agreement to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, easing supply concerns. By 00:04 GMT, Brent crude futures for August delivery fell 40 cents, or 0.54%, to $73.34 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 27 cents, or 0.38%, to $70.07 a barrel. The Brent price for August was lower than the September futures, which stood at $73.59, signaling ample near-term supply. "The speed of this decline has caught many by surprise, as markets expect Middle Eastern oil to return at a much faster pace than many had anticipated just two weeks ago," IG analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note. Brent crude dropped by more than three dollars on Wednesday as supply fears eased, while WTI fell by nearly three dollars at settlement. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told a forum on Wednesday that flows through the Strait of Hormuz were close to their levels before the outbreak of the war with Iran, noting that at least 20 million barrels had exited the strait over the past 24 hours. He added that a full return to normalcy would take a few weeks due to the necessity of clearing mines from the strait. Oman opened temporary routes yesterday to facilitate the exit of tankers from the Strait of Hormuz, with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Omani authorities coordinating ship movements. The Prime Minister of Qatar visited Oman for talks on launching negotiations with Iran, Iraq, and Gulf states regarding the future management of the strait. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said yesterday that total crude oil inventories in the United States hit their lowest level since 1984 last week, driven by high refining demand and government draws from the emergency reserve. However, markets did not react to the data as traders focused their attention on the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil Back Near Pre-War Levels on Rising Persian Gulf Supply (DTN) -- Oil futures fell for a fourth consecutive day Thursday morning, with Brent's front-month contract dropping to pre-war levels in intraday trading, driven by growing confidence that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open and expectations of a flood of oil leaving the region as hundreds of laden tankers were ready to depart. By 8:11 a.m. EDT, ICE Brent for August delivery was down $0.69 to trade near $73.05 bbl, after touching a session low of $72.06 bbl. NYMEX WTI for August delivery fell $0.59 to $69.75 bbl. Downstream, NYMEX ULSD futures for July delivery retreated $0.0330 to $3.1432 gallon. Gasoline futures bucked the trend, with RBOB's front-month contract rising $0.0155 to $2.8973 gallon. The U.S. Dollar Index moved higher for the seventh consecutive trading day, up 0.105 points to 101.495 against a basket of foreign currencies. On Wednesday, Brent's prompt-spread closed below zero for the first time since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran on expectations of an initial wave of tankers inundating the market with Middle Eastern oil. The nearly four-month long supply disruption caused widespread demand destruction, which helped create the temporary imbalance. Vessel tracking data indicated that most of the increased traffic through the Strait of Hormuz consisted of ships leaving the Persian Gulf. Market participants will be closely watching how inbound traffic develops over the coming weeks to gauge the pace of supply recovery. Brimming inventories are allowing producers in the Middle East to sell their oil at steep discounts, but high insurance and shipping costs may for now still blunt buying interest. Oil inventories in the U.S., meanwhile, continued to shrink at a rapid pace. The Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported that commercial crude oil stocks last week fell to their lowest level since January 2025. Another 9 million bbl release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, meanwhile, left emergency stockpiles at their lowest since 1983. High international demand for U.S. crude oil and an import lull amid soaring shipping costs have over the past months led to a sharp decline in domestic inventories. Net imports of crude oil have over the past four weeks averaged 820,000 bpd, down from 2 million bpd in the same period last year, EIA data showed.

Oil prices climb 2% after cargo ship hit by projectile near Oman - (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2% on Thursday after a cargo vessel was hit ‌by an unknown projectile near Oman, putting an evacuation effort for ships from the key Strait of Hormuz on hold, and reawakening concerns about the worldwide flow of oil. The flow of oil and gas has been disrupted since the joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February, but the agreement between the U.S. and Iran to end the war has ​allowed the resumption of traffic through the crucial strait, which Iran had effectively blockaded. The United Nations International Maritime Organization on Thursday paused its effort ​to shepherd ships and seafarers through the strait after the cargo ship reported a suspected attack, reigniting fears that the ⁠preliminary agreement to end the Iran war would not hold. After the market closed on Thursday, two U.S. officials told Reuters that Iran fired on the cargo ship ​as it attempted to pass through the strait. Iranian authorities said the security of vessels passing outside designated Hormuz routes is not guaranteed. Brent futures rose $1.52, or 2.1%, to ​settle at $75.26 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.58, or 2.3%, to settle at $71.92. On Wednesday, both crude benchmarks closed at their lowest since February 27, the day before the war began as crude shipments through the strait rose to their highest since the start of the war. Before the war, about 20% of world oil supplies passed through the ​strait, located between Iran and Oman. "Storage tanks across the Gulf are around 50% to 60% full, so if tanker traffic through the strait does not pick ​up in the near term, producers will need to throttle back output, and the full recovery moves into next year," analysts at consultancy Rystad Energy said in a report. U.S. ‌Secretary of ⁠State Marco Rubio told Gulf allies on Thursday that any deal with Iran would take their interests into account, as he wrapped up a Middle East trip aimed at winning over regional partners with deep reservations about the preliminary accord. The U.S. and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said a lasting peace would mean addressing Iran's ballistic missiles, drones and support for proxy groups. They also backed "free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation" in the Strait of Hormuz without "any tolls, fees, or attempts to ​assert control." If Iran threatens or blocks ships ​in the strait, "then we're going to ⁠have a problem," Rubio said, having earlier told ministers that "no country on Earth has the right to charge for the use of international waterways" and that fees for shipping would never be part of any deal. An article in the ​Wall Street Journal, however, said Iran estimates charging for security, safety and environmental services in the strait would bring ​in $40 billion a year ⁠for states involved. U.S. gasoline futures jumped about 5%, while U.S. diesel gained about 4%. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Analysts also said technical buying and short-covering contributed to the rally, which had become "increasingly oversold," consulting firm Gelber & Associates said in a note. Despite Thursday's rally, both crude benchmarks have remained in technically oversold territory for more than a week. In Venezuela, thousands were feared dead ⁠after two ​powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around the capital Caracas. The quakes could slow the ​increase in Venezuelan oil exports expected by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration after the U.S. captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in January.

Oil edges lower as Hormuz shipments resume despite ship attack near Oman - Oil prices fell on Friday morning and are heading for steep weekly losses amid easing supply concerns ​as more stranded oil tankers exited the Strait of Hormuz, ​even though a cargo vessel was hit near Oman on Thursday. Brent crude ‌futures fell 19 cents, or 0.25 per cent, to $75.07 a barrel as of 0055 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate fell 13 cents, or 0.18 per cent, to $71.79 a barrel. Both benchmark contracts jumped more than 2 per cent on Thursday after a cargo vessel was hit by an unknown projectile near Oman, prompting the U.N.'s shipping agency to suspend its voluntary evacuation scheme. Two US officials told Reuters that Iran fired on the cargo ship as it attempted to pass through the strait. Iranian authorities said the security of vessels passing outside designated Hormuz routes is not guaranteed. "With the geopolitical ‌risk premium once again creeping back into prices, markets will be watching intently to see if tanker traffic resumes or if these latest hurdles force producers to tap the brakes on planned production increases," said IG analyst Tony Sycamore. Brent and WTI crude are both set for losses of close to 7 per cent this week. Data showed on Thursday that crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz rose this week to their highest ​level since the US-Israeli conflict with Iran began in February after a ceasefire deal reopened the ‌waterway, while concerns about how long the strait would stay open also boosted trade. However, overall traffic remain a fraction of the daily average of 125 ​ships passing ‌through the strait before the February 28 conflict began. Meanwhile, earthquakes in Venezuela that happened on ‌Thursday also raised supply concerns. Preliminary assessments by workers of Venezuela's vast oil, gas and refining infrastructure so far showed limited damage, as most of the country's largest ‌output ​regions, refineries, pipelines ​and terminals are far from the hardest-hit areas. Still, a lack of power has cast doubt on whether oil output can be sustained at its pre-earthquake ‌level of close ​to 1.2 million barrels per day, sources said.

Oil slides nearly 2% as markets look past fresh Iran tensions and focus on supply outlook  - Oil extended declines on Friday as investors monitored developments in the Middle East conflict while assessing whether recent diplomatic efforts would reduce the risk of supply chain disruptions. International benchmark Brent crude futures for August slipped 1.89% to $73.84 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for August declined 1.92% to $70.54according to per barrel. A U.S. official told MS NOW that Iran was behind an attack on a cargo ship near the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz. The ship was sailing under a Singapore flag, according to the Wall Street Journal. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the ship reported no casualties and no environmental damage. “Following the launch of the IMO’s evacuation plan, through which several vessels have already been successfully evacuated, I have decided to temporarily pause its implementation in order to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on our evacuation list and all those in the region,” Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, said. Meanwhile, tensions in the Middle East remained elevated, with Iran and the U.S. disagreeing over the use of funds covered under a memorandum of understanding between the two countries. The speaker of Iran’s parliament earlier on Thursday rejected claims by the Trump administration that the Islamic Republic’s unfrozen assets will be used to buy U.S. agricultural products. U.S. officials, however, maintained that any released funds would remain subject to American approval. “As Vice President JD Vance announced this week, if Iranian assets are released, they will be used to purchase American agricultural products to feed the Iranian people,” a U.S. official said. Scott Nations, president of Nations Indexes, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” that “there is so much still that is to be questioned about the actual agreement.” “I think we’re being too optimistic, because nothing really has been resolved, and Iran knows that they have the world economy where they want it if they want to shut down the strait,” Nations added.

Oil prices fall over 2% as supply outlook outweighs fresh Middle East tensions - Daijiworld.com - Global oil prices extended their losses on Friday, with benchmark crude falling more than two per cent as investors looked beyond renewed tensions in the Middle East and focused on the global supply outlook. Brent crude futures for August delivery declined 2.03 per cent to USD 73.73 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 2.11 per cent to USD 70.40 a barrel. The decline came despite reports of fresh security concerns in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's busiest oil shipping routes. According to reports, a US official alleged that Iran was behind an attack on a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel near the coast of Oman. However, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the ship reported no casualties or environmental damage. Meanwhile, International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the organisation had temporarily paused the implementation of its vessel evacuation plan to reassess safety guarantees for ships operating in the region. Geopolitical tensions also remained elevated as Iran and the United States continued to differ over the use of Iranian assets released under a memorandum of understanding between the two countries. Iran's Parliament Speaker rejected claims by the Trump administration that the unfrozen funds would be used to purchase American agricultural products, while US officials maintained that any released assets would remain subject to Washington's approval. Market analysts said investors remain cautious as uncertainty persists over the broader agreement between the two countries. Analysts also noted that any disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could have significant implications for the global economy, although markets are currently placing greater emphasis on supply expectations. Adding to concerns over oil supply dynamics, reports suggested that Iraq has sought a higher production quota from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and has indicated it could consider leaving the producers' group if its demands are not met. The development follows the United Arab Emirates' exit from OPEC earlier this year, raising fresh questions over the cartel's future production strategy.

Oil Prices Fall Despite Iranian Attack Against Vessel In Hormuz Strait; WTI Drops Below $70 a Barrel - Oil prices dropped on Friday despite an Iranian attack against a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell more than 3.5% and stood below $73 a barrel at 9:59 a.m. ET. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, dropped a similar amount and fell below $70 a barrel at the same time.The attack in question took place when a vessel reported being struck by a projectile while sailing approximately 7.5 nautical miles southeast of the Omani port of Dahit. While the ship sustained damage, there were no immediate reports of fatalities or injuries among the crew. Authorities have not publicly identified the vessel or disclosed details about its cargo or destination.Two U.S. officials told Reuters that Iran was responsible for the attack, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Iranian authorities had earlier warned commercial vessels against using a newly established maritime corridor through the Strait of Hormuz that had been coordinated by Oman and supported by the United Nations to facilitate safer commercial transit through the region. Tehran warned that ships using routes outside those approved by Iranian authorities could no longer expect safe passage. Officials in the revolutionary guard described such scenarios as "unacceptable and dangerous," adding that vessels ignoring its instructions could face retaliation. The guard's navy said only shipping routes approved by the country are allowed, and coordination with officials is mandatory.The outlet detailed that the threat comes after a key naval information group proposed alternative routes on Saturday.The UN halted an initiative to evacuate sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz after the incident.The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement that he was informed of the "attack" on Thursday."I have always reiterated that the safety of the seafarers remains paramount. Therefore, to ensure a coordinated approach and navigational safety, the evacuation plan will be paused until further clarity is obtained," he said, noting that the vessel "did not transit under IMO's evacuation framework.""I have decided to temporarily pause its implementation in order to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on our evacuation list and all those in the region," Dominguez added.

Oil Prices Dive as More Tankers Move Through Strait of Hormuz - (Reuters) – Crude ​prices fell by more than 3% on Friday, on course for steep weekly losses, as oil tankers kept exiting the ‌Strait of Hormuz, easing supply concerns the day after a cargo vessel was hit near Oman. Brent crude futures settled at $71.99 a barrel, down $3.27, or 4.34%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate finished at $69.23 a barrel, down $2.69 or 3.74%. Since the market closed last Thursday, the Brent benchmark fell 10.86%, while WTI fell 9.62% for the week. The market closed ​for a public holiday last Friday. “There is a growing sense that oil is going to keep moving ​through the Strait of Hormuz,” Prior to ⁠the agreement on 60-day ceasefire, markets worried supplies would fall short of demand, but those fears seem to be ​passing. “The predominant view, it appears, remains one of imminent oversupply,” “We’re going to get a ​flood of oil,” “I think we’re going to see a huge flood of products.” Oil giant Saudi Aramco resumed oil loading on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after a nearly four-month halt, shipping data from LSEG showed. Two very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which ​can load cargoes of 2 million barrels, took on crude at the terminal while another waited nearby, the data ​showed. “There is a general selloff as the market reacts to the increased flows exiting the Strait of Hormuz and China not yet ‌picking ⁠up crude demand,” said June Goh, senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities. On Thursday, both benchmark contracts jumped more than 2% after a cargo vessel was hit by an unknown projectile near Oman, prompting the U.N.’s shipping agency to suspend its voluntary evacuation scheme. Two U.S. officials told Reuters that Iran fired on the cargo ship as it attempted ​to pass through the strait. ​Iranian authorities said the ⁠security of vessels passing outside designated Hormuz routes is not guaranteed. On Friday, Iran reasserted its right to control shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and warned Gulf states against siding ​with the U.S. Data on Thursday showed that crude shipments through the strait rose this week ​to their highest ⁠since the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran began at the end of February. Despite the ceasefire deal that reopened the waterway, overall traffic is far below the pre-war daily average. Meanwhile, Russian authorities are considering a diesel export ban for several months, state news agency ⁠TASS said ​on Friday. Russia, a major diesel exporter, faces fuel supply issues after Ukrainian drone attacks extensively damaged ​its oil refineries and other energy infrastructure.

Tankers with 35 million barrels exited Gulf through Hormuz since Iran deal - At least 20 oil tankers stranded in the Persian Gulf with 35 million barrels have exited the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Iran agreed to open the sea lane, according to data provided by Kpler, a firm that tracks global trade flows. The tankers, which were not Iranian in origin, had been stuck in the Gulf for more than three months after Tehran effectively closed Hormuz early in the war, Kpler analysts said in a Tuesday note. The ships should reach their final destinations, which are mostly in Asia, by early August, the analysts said. In total, confirmed oil shipments through Hormuz have risen to around 4.8 million barrels per day since the U.S.-Iran deal, according to Kpler. Oil flows in June are the highest since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. But exports remain well below prewar levels when 15 million bpd exited the strait. Iranian oil tankers carrying about 21 million barrels have exited Hormuz in June, the Kpler analysts said.The U.S. Navy lifted its blockade of Iran on June 18 and the Treasury Department this week waived sanctions on the country’s oil sales through August. Tankers loaded since late April have exited Hormuz with 51 million barrels this month, the Kpler analysts said. These ships are not of Iranian origin and had their transponders turned off, the analysts said. The actual figure is likely even higher, they said. The jump in oil exports comes as the Joint Maritime Information Center has downgraded the threat level for ships crossing Hormuz to “moderate.” The center is a U.S.-led maritime security organization headquartered in Bahrain that coordinates among allied navies and commercial ships in the Middle East. “An attack is possible but not likely, and overall risk has decreased following the implementation of the U.S.–Iran Memorandum of Understanding,” the JMIC said in its latest advisory published Tuesday. It had classified the security situation as “critical,” its highest threat assessment, as recently as June 4. The International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, said Tuesday that it will implement an evacuation plan for the more than 11,000 seafarers still stuck in the Persian Gulf. The plan is backed by Iran, Oman, the U.S. and the other Gulf states, the IMO said. “We have secured the necessary safety guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.

Fears in Strait of Hormuz as tanker struck after Iran warned ships to turn back  - Iran attacked a Singaporean cargo ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday — hours after the regime threatened “violators” who didn’t obey its heavily-controlled routes would be “dealt with.”The commercial vessel was hit by an explosive drone around 10 a.m. EST as it was passing through a new United Nations-backed route along the Omani coast, sources told The Post. `No casualties were reported; however, the attack tests the fragile deal signed last week by the US and Iran to end the fighting and reopen the vital waterway. The ship sustained damage to its bridge after the strike, sources said.Just hours before the attack, Tehran warned any ship not following its own sanctioned route through the Strait was “unacceptable and completely dangerous.” The new route, devised to allow ships that had been stuck in the Strait for more than 100 days, was agreed upon by the US and Oman on Tuesday — but the defiant regime whined that it was announced without their input.“Without notice or coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, some authorities announced a new route for ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz,” the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) seethed in a statement Thursday morning.“It is hereby notified to all that the only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the IRGC added. “Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited. Violators will be dealt with.”The Strait of Hormuz — where 20% of the world’s oil supply flows — had officially been reopened since Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding last week.However, daily passage has remained a trickle since the deal was signed — far below the pre-war levels of about 135 ships a day. About 26 ships passed through the Omani route on Wednesday, compared with just 15 that followed the Iranian route that same day, the Financial Times reported.Iran began broadcasting warnings about the route Thursday morning, with the IRGC’s statement being accompanied by a Navy broadcast warning ships against using the Omani corridor where the attack later occurred.

IMO Pauses Hormuz Ship Evacuations After Vessel Struck Off the Coast of Oman -  The UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) said on Thursday that it paused an effort to evacuate ships out of the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel was struck off the coast of Oman, which came as Iran warned ships not to transit the strait outside of routes it hasn’t approved. The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) initially reported the attack and said the vessel was transiting along a UN-approved route as it was struck, though IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the ship “did not transit under IMO’s evacuation framework.”The UKMTO also said that the ship had been damaged but that there were no casualties among the crew. Around the time of the attack, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), a newly created Iranian government agency, issued a warning to vessels in the region.“PGSA advises that vessels passage outside designated routes are not covered by the Safe Passage Guarantee, insurance, or related liabilities. Any consequences arising from unauthorized routing shall be the sole responsibility of the vessel owner, charterer, and master,” the Iranian agency said. Two US officials speaking anonymously to The Wall Street Journal blamed the attack on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the IRGC had warned ships earlier in the day against using a non-Iranian-approved route through the strait, but so far, there’s been no confirmation or denial from Tehran.It’s unclear at this point how the US will react to the incident. After Iran announced it was re-closing the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend in response to Israel’s continued war in Lebanon, which is supposed to end under the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, President Trump threatened to restart the bombing campaign.

UN agency pauses ship evacuations through strait of Hormuz after vessel struck | Strait of Hormuz | The Guardian - A United Nations agency has paused the evacuation of ships through the strait of Hormuz after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that used a route backed by the UN. The head of the UN’s International Maritime Organization said on Thursday that the plan to move stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait would be on hold until the agency could confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region. It was unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran’s permission. The vessel that was attacked was not part of the evacuation effort, said Arsenio Dominguez, the UN agency’s secretary general. After reports of the attack, Iran’s Persian Gulf strait authority – a new government agency established to control shipping in the strait – wrote on X that transit outside its own designated routes “will not be covered by the guarantee of safe passage”. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said the vessel sustained damage, but it reported no injuries or environmental effects from the attack off the coast of Oman. The opening of an alternative passage through the vital waterway would relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing peace talks with the United States. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on a visit to the Gulf to reassure American allies, said Washington was committed to the new route and ensuring that ships were able to transit the strait. “If that stops, then we’re going to have a problem,” Rubio said on Thursday before the report of the strike on the ship. Traffic through the strait increased in recent days but was still well below levels seen before the war began. Oil on Thursday briefly dipped below its last prewar price of just under $73 per barrel, a sign that the market believes the situation is improving. South Kore’s president ​Lee ⁠Jae Myung ⁠said ​on Friday ‌that three more South Korean-operated vessels were ​expected to ⁠leave ​the strait ​this weekend, after Seoul said earlier in the day that eight such vessels had ⁠exited ⁠the ​waterway and five remained in the area. The US and Iran are still debating the terms of an interim peace deal, including issues such as getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf and addressing the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, the US and Iran have 60 days to iron out the details. As talks are held behind closed doors, the US president, Donald Trump, and Iranian leaders have seemed to negotiate in public, trading threats and claiming concessions the other side denies. Meanwhile, a flare-up of fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants threatened the wider truce. Lebanon said five people have been killed by Israeli strikes over the past two days. Iran said the tentative deal to end the war would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon – a condition Israel has rejected.

Iran War: Omani Route Tests Iran Control of Strait of Hormuz as Rubio, GCC States Reject Iran Management; Iran Yet to Respond to Israel Ceasefire Violations, Intent to Stay in Lebanon; More Doubts About $300 Billion Fund  by Yves Smith -Iran is facing a test of its skill and resolve. It is now an open question as to whether Iran will be able to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz in peacetime conditions. We pointed out repeatedly that Oman, unlike Iran, was a signatory to UNCLOS, which binds Oman to allowing transit of vessels through its territorial waters to states beyond. We noted that Oman had publicly remained silent in the face of repeated statements of Iran intent, and some outreach, of the Iran plan that Iran and Oman would manage the Strait of Hormuz.If Oman does not cooperate, and it is not cooperating, it fatally undermines Iran’s ongoing leverage. Oman does not house US airbases its pointed neutrality meant Iran did not target Oman during the war. So unless the war heats back up, it is not clear how Iran could exploit that to interfere with vessels in Oman waters. Recall that on June 24, Oman announced the establishment of a shipping transit corridor in the Strait of Hormuz, in coordination with the International Maritime Organization, as in not with Iran.Oman has affirmed its implicit position: A confirmation of what we have worked out:  Note the umbrage at the idea of establishing a new Strait of Hormuz regime. From Aljazeera’s live feed:  Arab Gulf states reject ‘new geopolitical facts’ born from aggression: UAE presidential adviserNew “geopolitical facts” cannot be imposed on the Arab Gulf states as a result of a “treacherous aggression against them”, the UAE’s presidential adviser Anwar Gargash says. The Oman side is a viable traffic route: And: I have seen comments in Twitter which I have not attempted to verify, that very large crude carriers cannot use the Omani side because it is too shallow. But the fallback is to load fuel onto smaller carriers and transfer it to bigger ships, either at sea or in a nearby port. Per Iran International, Oman has rejected transit fees: Oman said future arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz would not include transit fees, as it backed a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran.Oman’s foreign minister made the remarks at a joint ministerial meeting between the Gulf Cooperation Council and the United States in Bahrain, Oman News Agency said.He said Oman, as a state bordering the Strait of Hormuz, had a special responsibility to support international efforts to secure maritime navigation under international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.Oman also called for the restoration of freedom of navigation and safe shipping through the strait, and said the US-Iran MoU should achieve its objectives to help deliver peace.  Iran is objecting vigorously to the use of the Oman route. From Aljazeera in Iran warns against Hormuz crossings without authorisation: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) have warned against any crossings of the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation, saying vessels not complying “will be dealt with” and criticising a new route through the waterway.The future of the strait, a vital route for energy shipments that was effectively blocked by Iran during the more than 100-day war between the United States and Iran, is a key sticking point in negotiations between the sides….“The only authorised route for passage through the Strait of Hormuz is the route announced by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, said on Thursday.Any crossing without authorisation is “unacceptable and extremely dangerous”, they warned in a statement. They also denounced what they said was a new route through the waterway announced by “certain authorities”, without elaborating. Keep in mind that there have been splits between the IRCG and the political leadership before, as in at least one occasion I can recall when the IRCG declared the Strait of Hormuz to be closed and the officialdom then involved in negotiations denied that. In the recent declarations of Strait of Hormuz closure, the IRCG does not appear to have backed that up with action, such as sending vessels or firing shots near non-compliant ships.

'Exploding oil?' The Middle East is about to find out - The moment of truth is just about here. The Strait of Hormuz has reopened, for now, and Middle Eastern countries that shut off their oil wells during the war (the term is actually “shut in”) are about to turn those valves back the other way and find out what they’ve got.  It could be a gusher. Or, if President Donald Trump’s predictions were accurate, a series of underground explosions could cause the oil wells to deliver a trickle.  That’s highly unlikely. But, as with most of Trump’s sensational claims, there’s at least a kernel of truth to it. Shortly after Iran effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz to foreign tankers, local energy producers ran out of places to store the accumulating oil and gas. Many neighboring Middle Eastern wells had shut in their production. The threat of drone attacks forced several Saudi, Emirati and Iraqi facilities to shut in during the war, too. Iran had to shut in its own wells this month after the United States started blockading the strait. Shut-ins are not like flipping off a light switch. They represent a complex engineering challenge that involves serious physics and meticulous planning over the course of days or even weeks. When oil wells are shut in, the pressure underground can become imbalanced, deforming the underlying structure. Those changes can damage reservoirs, which can create similar problems for nearby wells, too. Water can seep in, reducing the well’s potential output. “The worry is what happens when you turn things back on,” said Vikas Dwivedi, global oil and gas strategist at Macquarie Group. “It’s like a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re gonna get.” Extended downtime can also damage equipment. Pumps and lift systems can easily become corroded. Sand and debris can settle in. Concrete casing and tubing – used to seal and extract oil – can lose integrity, causing leaks and potential hazardous gas releases. And, yes, in rare cases, explosions. A couple months ago, Trump wouldn’t stop talking about the possibility.

• April 23, Oval Office: “If they don’t get their oil moving, their whole oil infrastructure is going to explode. You know what that means? Because they have no place to store it and because they have no place to store it, if they have to stop it … something happens underground that essentially renders it in very poor shape and you never recover fully.”
• April 26, Fox News: “When you have, you know, lines of vast amounts of oil pouring through your system, if for any reason that line is closed because you can’t continue to put it into containers or ships, which has happened to them (they have no ships because of the blockade), what happens is that line explodes from within, both mechanically and in the earth.”
• May 4, Hugh Hewitt Show: “You know, their oil, when you turn off the oil, underground, and the mechanical too, but underground has a tendency in like almost 100% of the cases, to literally explode and just destroy everything around it. And you can never get that oil again.”

But the way Trump described it isn’t moored in reality. Serious damage – let alone an explosion – almost certainly didn’t happen during the course of the war, oil industry analysts agree.“A key question is whether prolonged shut-ins could translate into permanent production losses,” said Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities strategy for JPMorgan. “These risks are likely overstated.”Wells have been shut in for extended periods before, including in Iran.During the early days of the pandemic, when basically no one was traveling anywhere, the world ran out of room to store fuel that no one wanted, and oil was literally selling for negative dollars. Producers around the globe shut in their wells without any significant or lasting damage.Some Middle Eastern suppliers have also temporarily shut in their wells when OPEC production caps kicked in.The oil industry, even in a country as economically battered as Iran, handled the problem just fine then. It is well equipped to handle it again this time around. And shut-ins can sometimes benefit a well, Kaneva noted: They can rebalance the underground pressure, and even more oil comes out than before.

Another Hormuz? The Red Sea’s Threat to the Global Economy | Council on Foreign Relations - Although the Strait of Hormuz, which had been closed to shipping since late February, appears to be slowly reopening as part of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement, concerns persist about the security of another regional maritime choke point: the Red Sea. On June 8, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced a complete ban on Israeli ships transiting the Red Sea, calling them “legitimate military targets.” The announcement came after Iranian officials threatened in April to obstruct trade in the waterway if the Trump administration upheld its naval blockade on Iran. The blockade has since been lifted, but worries linger about the waterway’s vulnerability.The Red Sea, a 1,400-mile-long inlet between northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the world’s most important arteries for global shipping. Each year, approximately 12 to 15 percent of global maritime trade worth more than $1 trillion transits the waterway, which extends from the Suez Canal in the north to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the south. Alongside the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea could form a critical economic pressure point in the Iran war. Experts say sustained interference in the Red Sea, especially by the Houthis, would trigger severe supply-chain delays, drive up energy prices, and further destabilize the global economy.The waterway has been an active conflict zone since 2023, when the Yemen-based Houthis began attacking commercial and naval vessels in protest of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, significantly disrupting international shipping. The group’s entry into the Iran war in March by firing missiles at southern Israel underscored the Red Sea’s potential to become a new front in broader regional tensions. Its total ban on Israeli and Israel-linked shipping in the waterway threatens further escalation amid renewed hostilities between Israel and Iran.  The UN International Maritime Organization describes the Red Sea as “one of the most critical maritime routes enabling global trade.” Between 12 and 15 percent of international seaborne commerce and 30 percent of global container traffic pass through the waterway annually, ferrying agricultural products such as grains and fertilizers, raw materials like ores and metals, industrial components like electronics, automotive parts, and energy resources.About 4.9 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and petroleum products transited the Suez Canal and the Suez-Mediterranean Pipeline—both on the Red Sea’s northern end—in the first half of 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Some 4.2 million bpd crossed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, at the Red Sea’s southern end. Together, oil shipments via these three routes accounted for approximately 6 percent of all seaborne-traded oil during that time. By comparison, oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz averaged almost 21 million bpd in the same period. The Red Sea is also considered a digital choke point, as an estimated 90 percent of undersea fiber optic cables linking Europe and Asia pass through the waterway. These cables “represent critical sovereign underwater infrastructure that is no less significant than oil and trade routes,” Abdullah Jaber AlZaidi, senior advisor on defense and security studies at the Gulf Research Center, wrote in a CFR global perspectives roundup. Previous damage to them has caused major disruptions to internet connectivity and cloud services across the region, as well as in Africa and Asia. As disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist, experts say the Red Sea could become the war’s next choke point should Iran leverage the Houthis as a proxy force to blockade maritime traffic in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.“Historically, Washington’s protection of freedom of navigation went hand-in-hand with the core interest in ensuring the free flow of oil and gas from the Middle East,” said CFR expert Steven A. Cook. “The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the potential closure of the Bab el-Mandeb are a test for both.”The twenty-mile-wide strait is the only point of entry to the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean and runs alongside Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. While it’s unclear whether Iran would deploy its own forces to attack shipping in the strait, years of Iranian support has boosted the Houthis’ military prowess, enabling them to project force into the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the broader Red Sea.Ali Akbar Velayati, senior advisor on international affairs to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, wrote on social media in April that Iran’s “Resistance front”—referring to its coalition of Iran-aligned groups across the Middle East—“views Bab el-Mandeb as it does Hormuz.” He added that “if the White House dares to repeat its foolish mistakes, it will soon realize that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single move.”Houthi attacks on vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have largely paused since Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in Gaza in late 2025. However, experts say resumed attacks would only deepen the existing oil and economic crisis brought on by the Iran war and risk provoking a regional response from countries that rely on the strait, such as Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia exports around four to five million bpd through a pipeline network connecting its oil fields to Red Sea ports, making access to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait critical, according to CFR expert Edward Fishman. “But the Houthis, who are Iranian allies, could theoretically shut off the Bab el-Mandeb and basically make it so that Saudi Arabia doesn’t have any way to export oil,” he said.Previous Houthi attacks on the Red Sea have highlighted the economic stakes. The group’s response to the Israel-Hamas war disrupted maritime traffic in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, causing oil shipments to fall by more than half, from 9.3 million bpd in 2023 to just 4.1 million bpd in 2024.  In addition to disruptions to international shipping, experts warn that greater instability in the Red Sea could exacerbate existing crises in North and East Africa. “There are already multiple, interconnected tensions in the region relating to the Nile waters, Ethiopia’s desire for port access, Sudan’s civil war, and Somalia’s political and security crises,” said CFR Africa expert Michelle Gavin. Many of these conflicts are being shaped by competition among Middle Eastern powers—including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—through strategic investments, military support, and security cooperation.“The more heated the competition gets, the more it is likely to result in conflict on African soil,” Gavin added.

Saudi Arabia lines up landmark Iran-Gulf reconciliation meeting - Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani visited Muscat for talks with Oman on launching negotiations involving Iran, Iraq and Gulf Arab states over the future of the Strait of Hormuz, a diplomat familiar with the discussions told Reuters. The proposed talks are separate from ongoing U.S.-Iran peace negotiations and de-mining arrangements. Gulf Arab states are expected to advocate for maintaining free transit through the waterway, while Iran could seek environmental, navigation and security-related fees, the diplomat said. The Strait of Hormuz, which handles nearly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, has faced significant disruption since the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28, affecting commercial shipping and unsettling global energy markets. The initiative appears to be part of a memorandum of understanding signed last week, which calls for Iran to hold talks with Oman, Iraq and other Gulf states on the future management of navigation and maritime services in the strategic waterway. The diplomat added that Pakistan has been proposed as a mediator for the negotiations. Separately, plans are underway for regional reconciliation talks in Riyadh involving Iran, Gulf Arab states and potentially other countries in the region, he said.

Head of Israel's National Security Council Convenes Meeting on Gaza Ethnic Cleansing Plan - -- The new head of Israel’s National Security Council, Shmuel Ben Ezra, convened Israeli officials for a meeting on Tuesday to discuss a potential ethnic cleansing plan for Gaza, which Israeli officials call “voluntary emigration,” according to a report from Haaretz.  While Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz recently declared that the ethnic cleansing plan would be implemented “at the right time,” there have been no countries willing to cooperate with Israel on the forced removal of the Palestinian population of Gaza, and according to sources speaking with Haaretz, that remains to be the case.The report said that during the meeting, which was attended by IDF and Shin Bet officials, Mossad officials said that there are still no countries willing to take in the Palestinians and that there were no developments regarding the removal of Palestinians from Gaza.The report suggested that the meeting and revival of the push to cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population could be related to the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding and the US requests for Israel to de-escalate in Lebanon.The report reads: “A defense official who spoke with Haaretz could not rule out that the revival of this plan is connected to quiet agreements reached recently between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, constituting ‘compensation for painful concessions’ that Washington imposed on Israel as part of its deal with Iran.” While Israel still hasn’t made progress on removing Palestinians from Gaza, the IDF occupies more than 60% of Gaza and continues to take more territory in violation of the US-backed ceasefire deal. Israel hasn’t faced any consequences from the US for taking the territory or for continuing daily attacks in Gaza, which have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since the truce agreement was signed in October.

Araghchi Tells Hamas Official That Iran Is Addressing Israel's Actions in Gaza in Talks With US -  Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with a senior Hamas official on Wednesday and assured him that Iran is addressing Israel’s actions in Gaza in talks with the US, as Israel continues constant ceasefire violations in the Palestinian territory.The US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding calls for a ceasefire on “all fronts,” though the only other war mentioned explicitly besides the conflict between the US and Iran is Lebanon. According to Iran’s PressTV, Araghchi told Hamas official Bassem Naim that Iran’s negotiators will continue “to raise the issue of the ongoing Israeli aggression against Gaza, the repeated violations committed by the aggressor regime, and the continuing genocide despite the ceasefire agreement, in all international forums as well as in discussions with mediators and the American side during the ongoing negotiations.” There’s no sign at this point that the US wants Israel to de-escalate in Gaza, and the Trump administration has remained quiet about Israel’s daily violations of the Trump-backed agreement. Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the so-called ceasefire deal was signed in October 2025.There are indications that Israel is looking to escalate further in Gaza if it’s forced to de-escalate in Lebanon as part of the US-Iran MoU. Haaretz reported on Tuesday that Israeli officials met to discuss a potential ethnic cleansing plan for Gaza, and the newspaper said that an Israeli military source wouldn’t rule out that the revival of the plan was “connected to quiet agreements reached recently between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, constituting ‘compensation for painful concessions’ that Washington imposed on Israel as part of its deal with Iran.”

Israel Sets ‘Red Lines’ for Lebanon Ceasefire: No Withdrawal and No Ceasing of Fire - -  - Massive Israeli attacks against Lebanon over the weekend managed to derail the US-Iran peace deal, and the ceasefire announced on Friday went so predictably poorly that US officials are organizing another round of Israel-Lebanon talks to try to come up with another deal.While most aren’t getting their hopes up for the next round doing any more than the last several rounds, Israel has a growing image problem, with even historically war-supportive outlets like the Jerusalem Post running editorials questioning the Israeli strategy, particularly the lack of an obvious endgame strategy.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be going into the talks with little sign of doing anything different, setting “red lines” for the future ceasefire that include Israel not being willing to withdraw from Lebanon, and wanting US guarantees that they’ll continue to be allowed to attack Lebanon. Many will quickly notice that looks pretty much like the status quo. Indeed, it seems to not be materially different from the last several ceasefires the US has brokered, and similarly doesn’t offer any timetable for Israel ever withdrawing troops from Lebanon.Netanyahu insists Israel will remain in Lebanon “as long as necessary,” and Defense Minister Israel Katz similarly said that not only will IDF troops remain within the ever-expanding “security zone” in Lebanon, but that they will have no restrictions on their operations, to preserve “all of the IDF’s achievements in the campaign in Lebanon.” What those achievements are remains unspoken. The IDF has killed over 4,000 people and wounded some 12,000 others, and has occupied Lebanon up to the Litani River, and in some places beyond that. The UN estimates some 1.4 million Lebanese have been displaced by the war, and Amnesty International says it amounts to an illegal forced population transfer.    Within the Israeli polity, the stances are either to maintain an open-ended war and occupation, or to escalate dramatically, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir leading a call to “burn” the entirety of Lebanon, leading to international condemnation. As ever, the chances of Israel agreeing to end the war in the near-term in any meaningful war seem remote.

Over 11,000 Buildings Destroyed During Israeli Invasion of Southern Lebanon - Since early in the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, there have been persistent reports of the Israeli military engaging in deliberate destruction operations aiming to entirely destroy the Lebanese Shi’ite villages near the blue line in the far south. New reports reveal the extent of the destruction. A joint statement from Lebanon’s National Council and the UN Development Program (UNDP) said that through April, 11,095 buildings were completely destroyed south of the Litani River. Since some of those were multi-residential dwellings (mainly apartment buildings), 17,891 residential units were lost.On top of that, a lot more buildings were damaged, 2,242 partially damaged, and 9,311 more damaged in a minor way. Between the two of them, that’s another 23,500 residential units that have been damaged to varying degrees. The research report was conducted based on satellite images from April 29, which when compared to images from the previous October showed which buildings were leveled or otherwise damaged. Obviously, since the war has raged another two months since, a lot more destruction can be expected. The BBC had a more recent report regarding the destruction of Christian villages in the area, though they didn’t attempt to quantify it. Though a ceasefire was announced in mid-April, and several more since then, the Lebanese death toll has continued to rise at an alarming rate, so the destruction is unlikely to have slowed all that meaningfully.The damage through April 29 was estimated at $1.38 billion, and that only includes buildings and specifically does not include bridges or other infrastructure that was destroyed during the war. That would include every single bridge over the Litani River, and a substantial number of solar panels in Debal, so all told the cost of the attacks is probably much higher than the estimate.

Ben-Gvir: Lebanon Should Remain ‘Israel’s Playground’ - Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir fueled international condemnation with his calls over that weekend for all of Lebanon to “burn,” with the European Union declaring such rhetoric to be “unacceptable.” Unsurprisingly, Ben-Gvir continued to make statements likely to garner such attention, as on Monday he not only demanded that the government reject any call for a ceasefire out of hand, but insisted that Lebanon must remains “Israel’s playground.” The rhetoric continued, with him defending the ongoing invasion on the grounds “you wouldn’t tolerate having Nazis on your border,” and saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should make clear to theThat’s largely a distinction without a difference, as Israeli official made clear, heading into this week’s round of talks, that they consider any terms requiring them to withdraw from Lebanon, or to stop attacking Lebanon, to be a “red line.”  Israel invaded Lebanon in early March, and has killed in excess of 4,000 Lebanese since then. Despite some half a dozen ceasefires declared, the latest on Friday, Israel has more or less continued attacking throughout, with relative lulls rarely lasting more than a day or two. With the US keen to broker another ceasefire, Israeli officials report that they are considering what they term “symbolic” withdrawals from Lebanese territory, which is to say they would remove a small number of troops from a few parts of Lebanon that they aren’t particularly interested in, while framing that as a concession. Troops would remain within the Yellow Line and “security zone” they’ve laid out, which cover a substantial part of Lebanon and amount to where the bulk of Israel’s occupation forces are. Netanyahu insisted that his directive was that troops will remain within that area, and moreover insisted the IDF had “full freedom of action” within Lebanon.  It is these positions that have largely resulted in consecutive ceasefires that Israeli officials and Lebanese officials agreed to which aim to constrain Hezbollah resistance to the occupation, while codifying the ongoing strikes and advances ever deeper into Lebanon as some vague form of concession.

Ukraine Launches Major Drone Attack on Russia, Killing Four Civilians and Knocking Out Power in Sevastopol - Ukrainian forces launched another major drone attack on Russia on Wednesday that killed at least four people and knocked out power in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea.According to the Russian news agency TASS, two civilians were killed in Gorlovka, a town in the Russian-controlled Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, and another two civilians were killed by a drone attack in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast inside Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces shot down a total of 323 drones over multiple Russian regions.Ukrainian officials said that drones targeted the main power substation in Sevastopol overnight, causing a blackout in the city. Ukrainian drones have been hammering Crimea, targeting its oil supply, which led to the governor announcing a halt in gas sales to civilians. On Sunday, Ukrainian drones killed four civilians in Crimea and damaged an oil refinery.Ukraine’s military on Wednesday also said that its forces targeted the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant in Russia’s Orenburg Oblast, which is more than 750 miles from the frontline in Ukraine. The long-range Ukrainian drone attacks always risk an escalation between Russia and NATO since the US and NATO are known to provide intelligence for the operations.In response to Ukraine’s escalating drone attacks, Russia has ramped up its bombardment of Ukrainian cities, and according to Ukrainian officials, at least one civilian was killed by a Russian attack in Kharkiv, and one was killed in Sumy. Norwegian People’s Aid, a Norwegian charity involved in de-mining efforts in Ukraine, said that two of its employees were killed by a Russian attack in Ukraine’s Kherson region.

Moscow Oil Refinery Faces Six-Month Shutdown After Relentless Ukrainian Drone Attacks Moscow's largest oil refinery is expected to remain out of service for at least six months after suffering significant damage in a series of Ukrainian drone attacks this month, according to Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, after Zelensky earlier vowed to bring the war to Russian territory. Kiev and the West are flirty with massive Russian retaliation at this point, which is precisely what Putin has vowed. The refinery is located on the southern outskirts of the Russian capital and a major fuel supplier to the whole region. It was struck at least twice before this month - as dramatic and intense eyewitness videos captured - forcing operations to halt. Meanwhile via Newsquawk: Russia has reportedly asked for 50k tonnes of gasoline from Kazakhstan to help ease domestic fuel shortages, according to sources. "Repairs will take at least six months," one source said, describing the extent of the damage at the Moscow Oil Refinery. The Gazprom Neft operatd facility processed 11.6 million metric tons of crude oil in 2024 and produced roughly 2.9 million tons of gasoline and 3.2 million tons of diesel fuel, according to public data. It comes at a sensitive moment Russia continues to grapple with fuel supply challenges. At the moment, the Crimean peninsula is witnessing unprecedented government restrictions on selling gas to civilians, as well as half the population suffering an electricity blackout due to major Ukrainian drones strikes on Kerch port, and in particular damage to the large thermal power plant there. Also, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said this week that Moscow is considering a ban on diesel exports to stabilize domestic markets amid emerging shortages. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) previously claimed responsibility for a June 16 strike that reportedly damaged the refinery's primary oil-processing unit, described by Ukrainian officials as the plant's "heart." That's when the facility first reportedly suspended operations following the attack. Two days later, Ukraine launched another large-scale drone assault on Moscow. Russian authorities reported hundreds of drones targeting the capital, resulting in fires at multiple locations. Since international crude oil prices surged following the war in the Middle East centered on Iran, Russia has boosted its oil revenues as not only prices have jumped - but Russian oil was made desirable in India again - thanks to American waivers for sales of Russia’s crude already loaded on tankers in connection to easing the global crisis due to the Iran war. Some reports have suggested Russian 'friendly fire' initially hit the Moscow refinery, the result of errant local anti-air missiles: Rather than back down in the face of Moscow's new threats of "massive group strikes" on Ukraine, it seems Ukrainian forces are flexing with yet more attack waves. The Kremlin has long believed that Ukraine can't accomplish such sophisticated long-distance strikes on its own, but that it has had significant targeting help from US and Western allied intelligence.

France Seizes Another Russia-Linked Oil Tanker as Ukrainian Drones Hit Russian Oil Depots - France on Thursday announced that its forces seized another tanker linked to Russia, which came as Ukrainian drones targeted Russian oil infrastructure, as Russia’s oil industry continues to face pressure from both Ukraine and its Western backers.French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X that French forces boarded the tanker Deliver while it was in the Mediterranean Sea off Sicily. Ship-tracking data show that the vessel, flying the Cameroonian flag, was recently in the Russian Baltic Sea port of Primorsk. Macron said the ship was part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” a term Western leaders use to describe vessels that ship Russian oil despite US and European sanctions. Russia rejects the characterization, saying the oil sanctions are a unilateral policy not approved by the UN Security Council and not part of international law.In response to the seizure, Russia’s embassy in Paris denounced the move as “piracy” and said it was “illegal” under international law for French forces to seize the ship.According to Reuters, Nine Russia-linked tankers have now been seized in Europe this year, including four by France, one by the UK in the English Channel, and three that were stopped and inspected as part ​of a European naval mission in the Mediterranean.The increase in the seizures came with an escalation of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia targeting oil facilities, including attacks on Thursday that sparked a fire at the Poltavaskaya oil depot in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region. Ukraine’s drone attacks deep inside Russia, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls “long-range sanctions,” are known to be supported by US and NATO intelligence, meaning the operations always risk a potential escalation between Russia and the Western military alliance.

"Shockingly Bad" Chinese Econ Data Stuns Wall Street, Sparks Hard Landing Concerns --  Confirming our Sunday preview, overnight China reported growth data which slowed across the board in April with investment resuming declines, retail sales missing sales and growing at the weakest rate in 4 years while industrial production rose at the slowest pace in three years, calling into question Beijing's reluctance to add stimulus to the economy as a global energy crisis hits factories and consumers across the world. China's Monday data dump of official data on Monday painted a picture of an economy where booming exports no longer offset deteriorating consumption at home, prompting analysts at banks including Nomura and SocGen to urge bolder measures in support of growth. As shown in the chart below, fixed-asset investment unexpectedly shrank 1.6% in the first four months of 2026 from a year earlier, while industrial production grew just 4.1% last month, the weakest in almost three years. Retail sales also missed forecasts and rose just 0.2% in April, the worst reading since they contracted in December 2022, when China reopened from Covid. What is shocking is that it is common knowledge that Beijing traditionally massages its economic data to present itself in the rosiest possible light: the fact that it allowed data this ugly would suggest that the picture on the ground is much uglier. Goldman's Delta One head Rich Privorotsky captured this sentiment well, writing this morning that "overnight news from China showed economic data materially below expectations. Industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment all missed meaningfully. It’s hard to tell whether this reflects genuine demand destruction but perhaps it helps explain how the oil market has managed to balance despite ongoing supply concerns. I genuinely can’t remember a period when Chinese data, which tends to be heavily massaged, missed by anything close to this magnitude. Negative read through for consumption related categories." Remarkably, not a single economist surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted as pessimistic a reading for industry, retail sales and investment. The disappointing performance of the world’s second-biggest economy last month is a reminder of its domestic vulnerabilities, after a global artificial intelligence investment boom sent trade soaring.