Drone footage of ships in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on June 15, 2026.
Stringer | Reuters
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd from London.
“What’s in your name?”
Shakespeare’s Juliet wanted the name to be just an arbitrary label for her love story with Romeo, but when you rename monuments, lakes, and even parts of other countries, the name becomes more political.
Read more.
What you need to know today
Kuwait has joined a growing list of Gulf states that must protect themselves from renewed attacks from Iran. Kuwait’s military said its air defense systems were targeting hostile missile and drone attacks. Iranian state media reported that the attacks targeted US military bases in the country.
Jordan and Bahrain have also been affected in recent days.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Donald Trump told reporters, “I don’t think it’s going to be that long…I don’t know how long they (Iran) can hold out,” describing Tuesday’s U.S. attack on Iran as “a very violent attack” and adding that the United States was ready to carry out further military operations “at any time.”
One day, the name will change again.
“Now that it is under U.S. control, should we change the name of the Strait of Hormuz to the Trump Strait?” Trump wrote in a post Wednesday morning.
“Like America itself, it will be ‘hotter’ than ever before! Thank you for your interest in this issue. President Donald J. Trump,” he wrote.
The ruling came just days after the president signed an executive order changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
It was not immediately clear how the president would implement the strait’s renaming.
The streak broke
Major US stock markets recorded a three-day decline, with stock prices rising 300 points. Dow It’s the top earner on all of Wall Street. U.S. futures are firming as traders focus on weekly new jobless claims to be released later on Thursday. The August jobs report, released on Friday, will be a major economic event.
In the fixed income space, benchmark borrowing costs around the world have climbed to multi-decade highs as inflation concerns and debt levels have made investors nervous.
Read more about how the world is entering an era of high interest rates.
Achieve bilateral negotiations
The leaders of Britain and France will hold their first face-to-face bilateral talks since British Prime Minister Andy Burnham took the top job. He is expected to single out steel and agriculture as important sectors for the UK, and the Financial Times reported that he may call for Britain to be included in the EU initiative.
Meanwhile, President Trump is scheduled to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House in late September. You can read more here for an analysis of why some China watchers have low expectations.
— Leonie Kidd
