A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Wednesday that an agreement between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz has not been finalized and both sides are still negotiating the specific terms.

Ben Dell, co‑founder of investment firm Kimmeridge, said up to 50% of planned US data centers could be delayed or cancelled due to rising political opposition, litigation and complex physical infrastructure. He expects US natural gas demand to rise about 30 bcfd, with data centers contributing roughly 5–10 bcfd; project delays could push AI-related gas demand toward the low end of current forecasts. Dell said "the Silicon Valley model is colliding with real-world infrastructure constraints." Opposition to data centers is intensifying ahead of the US midterms in states including Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio.

On Aug. 26 at the 2026 Fusion Energy Conference, Ministry of Science and Technology official Guo Yumin said venture investment in China’s fusion-energy sector was exceptionally active in 1H. Incomplete tallies show about 30 primary-market financing deals, roughly 8x YoY, with total proceeds of 8.0 bln yuan, a >233-fold YoY increase. Nearly 30 startups secured funding in the period; upstream and downstream supply‑chain firms collectively raised about 1.5 bln yuan.