U.S. destroys three Iranian oil tankers.
Today's events
Tanker strikes.
Central Command destroyed or disabled three Iranian crude carriers — the Downy, Stark 1 and Kylo — after Revolutionary Guard ballistic missiles missed a U.S. carrier and destroyer.1Sep 5 · CENTCOMPump prices.
The New York Harbor gasoline refining margin has averaged about $1 a gallon above 2025 since May; regular gasoline averaged $4.07 nationally and $5.21 on the West Coast.2Sep 4 · EIAAlaska drilling permits.
Interior proposed pre-set criteria that would put qualifying oil and gas production sites in the National Petroleum Reserve on a streamlined permitting path; comments close November 9.3Sep 4 · InteriorAndean tour.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru September 8–10 to meet three governments, two of them new, on earthquake relief, narcoterrorism and trade.4Sep 4 · StateRent-setting algorithms.
The Justice Department filed a proposed consent decree with Pinnacle, the fifth corporate landlord to settle its case over pricing rents through RealPage's shared-data software.5Sep 4 · DOJPayment-processor penalty.
Nuvei will pay $4.85 million and screen merchants after the Federal Trade Commission alleged it processed more than $30 million for an offshore tech-support scam.6Sep 4 · FTCPrivate-school tax rule.
The Internal Revenue Service proposed denying tax-exempt status to private schools that discriminate by race, color or national origin, effective for tax years beginning after May 2027.7Sep 4 · Fed. Reg.Mount Sinai agreement.
One of New York's largest health systems will stop puberty blockers, hormones and surgery for minors, pay a penalty and fund $2 million of detransition care.8Sep 4 · DOJQuad sherpas.
Senior officials from the United States, India, Japan and Australia met in New Delhi to prepare the group's next foreign ministers' meeting.9Sep 3 · State
This week
Venezuela oil control.
Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth signed an agreement giving the United States majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves across 17 Venezuelan fields, most of them previously operated by Russian or Chinese firms. The War Department took a 35 percent equity stake in the parent of the operator, North American Blue Energy Partners, which holds 100-year concessions. Carried in the September 1 and 3 briefs.1Sep 2 · WHCarolina Principles.
Twenty economies — China, Russia and the European Union among them — closed a two-day innovation ministerial in Chapel Hill on September 3 with a consensus statement and a set of principles on artificial intelligence, intellectual property and supply chains. The Commerce Department hosted. In the same week, Customs and Border Protection opened a rulemaking requiring importers to name every party in a supply chain and hand over foreign export filings. From the September 3 and 4 briefs.4Sep 3 · WHAmazon ad surcharge.
The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states sued Amazon on August 31, alleging an undisclosed surcharge added to its search-advertising auctions from 2019 cost more than a million brands and sellers tens of billions of dollars. It was the largest of four competition actions the week produced, alongside a $250 million premerger-filing penalty against KKR, a fifth landlord settlement over RealPage rent-setting software, and a $4.85 million payment-processor settlement. From the September 1 brief.5Aug 31 · FTCTwo energy rulings.
A federal court voided New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act on August 31, finding the $75 billion assessment on domestic and foreign energy companies preempted by the Clean Air Act and the federal foreign-affairs power. Days later a court upheld the energy secretary’s emergency order keeping California’s Santa Ynez pipeline running over state objection; it moves more than a million barrels of crude a month. From the September 1 and 5 briefs.6Aug 31 · DOJJobs and the Fed.
The White House reported 162,000 jobs added in August, nearly triple forecasts, with manufacturing up 16,000 — its best month in three years — and construction up 22,000. A day earlier, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he would support holding rates on September 15–16 if the new disinflation holds, but that an increase may be warranted if it proves fleeting. From the September 4 and 5 briefs.7Sep 4 · WH
Allied Governments
Arctic deployment.
Royal Marines and Royal Air Force personnel joined Norwegian and U.S. Marine units on the island of Jan Mayen for Operation Atlantic City, part of NATO's Arctic Sentry activity.aSep 5 · UK MoDBhutan tier change.
Having left the United Nations' least-developed-country list, Bhutan moves from Comprehensive to Enhanced preferences under Britain's trading scheme on December 14.bSep 4 · UK FCDO
Voices
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, Commander, U.S. Central Command · Sept 51
“Gasoline supplies are tight because of disruptions to global refining activities in Russia, China, and the Middle East.”
Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy · Sept 42
“This consent decree is an important step in achieving affordable housing for Americans.”
Deputy AAG Nicole Sarrine, DOJ Antitrust Division · Sept 45
“Consumers deserve a payment system that is competitive, transparent and fortified against fraud—and we will take action anytime those standards are threatened.”
Christopher Mufarrige, Director, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection · Sept 46
“[A] private school is not described as an organization exempt from Federal income tax if it discriminates on the basis of race, color, or national or ethnic origin…”
Internal Revenue Service, proposed rule REG-119986-25 · Sept 47
“The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable medical providers that violate federal law and endanger children through so-called gender-affirming care.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche · Sept 48
Sources
- U.S. Central Command, “CENTCOM Destroys 3 IRGC Oil Tankers After Iran Targets 2 U.S. Navy Warships,” September 5, 2026. centcom.mil/MEDIA/PUBLIC-RELEASES/…/centcom-destroys-3-irgc-oil-tankers
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Elevated crack spreads and crude oil prices contribute to higher prices at the pump,” September 4, 2026. eia.gov/todayinenergy/…/id=68104
- Federal Register (Bureau of Land Management, Interior), “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Production Site Development” (proposed rule), filed for public inspection September 4, 2026. federalregister.gov/documents/…/national-petroleum-reserve-in-alaska-production-site-development
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Secretary Rubio's Travel to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru,” September 4, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/secretary-rubios-travel-to-colombia-ecuador-and-peru
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Justice Department Reaches Proposed Consent Decree with Pinnacle, One of America's Largest Landlords, to Resolve Information Sharing and Algorithmic Coordination Claims,” September 4, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/proposed-consent-decree-pinnacle
- Federal Trade Commission, “Payment Processor Nuvei Must Implement Robust Merchant Screening Practices and Pay $4.85 Million to Settle FTC Charges that the Firm Facilitated Merchant Fraud,” September 4, 2026. ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/…/payment-processor-nuvei
- Federal Register (Internal Revenue Service, Treasury), “Racial Nondiscrimination in Private Schools” (notice of proposed rulemaking, REG-119986-25), September 4, 2026. federalregister.gov/documents/…/racial-nondiscrimination-in-private-schools
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Justice Department Secures Agreement with Mount Sinai to End Pediatric ‘Gender-Affirming Care’,” September 4, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/agreement-mount-sinai
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Quad Sherpas' Meeting in New Delhi,” September 4, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/quad-sherpas-meeting-in-new-delhi
- UK Ministry of Defence, “UK forces join trilateral Arctic exercise in strategic High North operation,” September 5, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/uk-forces-join-trilateral-arctic-exercise
- UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, “Preference Tier Graduation: Bhutan,” September 4, 2026. gov.uk/government/publications/…/preference-tier-graduation-bhutan