Hello, this is Leonie Kidd coming to you from London.

“What’s in a name?”

Shakespeare’s Juliet hoped a name was just an arbitrary label in her love story with Romeo, but when it comes to renaming monuments, lakes or even parts of other countries, a name becomes much more politically charged.

Read on for more.

Kuwait has joined a lengthening list of Gulf countries having to defend themselves from a resurgence in attacks from Iran. Kuwait’s army said its air defence systems were targeting hostile missile and drone attacks. Iranian state media reported that these strikes were aimed at U.S. bases in the country.

Over recent days, Jordan and Bahrain have also been hit.

Earlier on Wednesday, President Donald Trump told reporters, “I don’t think it will [war] be very much longer … I don’t know how much more they [Iran] can take,” describing the American strikes against Iran on Tuesday as a “very heavy attack,” adding that the U.S. was prepared for further military operations “any time we want.”

“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???” Trump wrote in the post Wednesday morning.

“Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote.

The pronouncement comes just a few days after the President signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.”

It was not immediately clear how the president would attempt to implement a name change for the strait.

Major U.S. stock markets have snapped a three-day slide, with a 300-point jump for the Dow leading gains across Wall Street. U.S. futures are holding steady, as traders keep an eye on weekly jobless claims due later Thursday. August’s payrolls report, out Friday, will be the main event for economic data.

In the bond space, benchmark borrowing costs around the world are extending multi-decade highs as inflation concerns and debt levels keep investors on edge.

For more on how the world appears to be entering a higher-rate era, read here.

The leaders of Britain and France will hold their first face-to-face bilateral since U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham took on the top job. He is expected to name steel and farming as critical sectors for the U.K., with the Financial Times reporting that he could ask Britain to be factored into an EU scheme.

Meanwhile, President Trump is expected to host Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House later in September. For analysis on why some China watchers have low expectations, you can read more here.

— Leonie Kidd

Hello, this is Justina Lee writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

The upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House is highly anticipated, though some China watchers are keeping their expectations low.

But relations with China aren’t the only focus for Trump, as he floated the idea to rename the Strait of Hormuz after himself. This comes less than a week after he signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”

On the economic front, worries over inflation, higher rates and high debt continue to weigh on sentiment, as benchmark borrowing costs around the world extend their multi-decade highs.

All eyes are on the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House, which could offer more clues on the future of U.S.-China trade relations as well as China’s stance towards Iran and the Mideast conflict.

Some China watchers, however, are keeping their expectations low, as both sides appear to be more interested in avoiding moves that would risk their current trade truce.

Meanwhile, Trump continues his “naming” game, expressing his desire to rename the Strait of Hormuz after himself, less than a week after he signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”

But “making America great” doesn’t stop there, as Trump met with travel industry executives who urged his administration to target attracting 100 million international visitors by 2030.

Oil continues to dominate the headlines amid the Mideast conflict. The Strait of Hormuz, which remains one of the most critical strategic waterways for global trade flows, saw oil exports hit a wartime record on Monday with more than 17 million barrels daily, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC.

While concerns over oil supply disruptions in the Middle East continue to persist, Venezuela offers a bright spot. Chevron is expanding its operations in Venezuela, more than doubling its oil production over the next five years via a $7 billion investment.

Over at the G20 gatherings this week, artificial intelligence took center stage with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman saying the use of AI is “non-negotiable” and Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown praising Trump’s stance on AI data centers.

Switching lanes to auto-related sectors, Uber announced plans to cut 10% of its workforce as it seeks to consolidate management layers and lower costs. However, the ride-hailing company declined to disclose the number of jobs cut, nor did it attribute the move to AI.

In markets, U.S. stocks closed higher in Wednesday’s regular trading, with all three major averages snapping a three-day slump. Asia markets closed lower amid concerns over Iran-U.S….

President Donald Trump on Wednesday floated renaming the Strait of Hormuz — the central point of contention in the ongoing war against Iran that the U.S. and Israel started — after himself.

The proposal via a Truth Social post came less than a week after Trump, who is locked in an intensifying feud with Canada, signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”

“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???” Trump wrote in the post Wednesday morning.

“Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote.

It was not immediately clear how the president would attempt to implement a name change in the strait, which is not near the U.S. The order renaming Lake Ontario directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and his department to update the Geographic Names Information System with the new name. Canada rejected the change, though Google and Apple have recently updated their maps. Early in his second presidential term, Trump also declared he was renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a change also rejected by Mexico and other international counterparts. The U.S. borders Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico, both of which have had their names for centuries.

Trump and his administration have repeatedly insisted that Iran has lost control over the strait, which carried one-fifth of the world’s oil trade before the war began in late February.

But transits through the waterway remain far below prewar levels, and ship-trackers say they have dropped further in recent days, as military strikes in the region have resumed following a weekslong hiatus.

The Trump administration asserts that total oil exports from the region are now higher than they were before the war began, if the tally includes Saudi Arabia’s and the United Arab Emirate’s pipelines that bypass Hormuz.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Wednesday that more than 17 million barrels of oil transited the strait on Monday, a new wartime record. Around 20 million barrels per day of crude and products passed through the strait before the war started on Feb. 28.

U.S. forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday after the military said Revolutionary Guard forces were preparing rockets carrying sea mines for launch into the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command confirmed to MS NOW.

“I can confirm that earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement.

“Last week, CENTCOM completed clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes. U.S. forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway,” he said.

Sunday’s attack was the first publicly acknowledged U.S. strike on Iranian positions since late July, according to The Associated Press. The war has entered its sixth month and sharply disrupted vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards acknowledged the strikes, reported casualties, and said they would respond, AP reported. The group reportedly said they would respond.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

An oil tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said in a post Thursday, the latest in a string of sporadic attacks that have kept ships away from the vital energy corridor.

The incident was reported Tuesday, off the Omani coast, the UKMTO said, which added that the resulting fire had been extinguished, all crew members were reported safe, and an investigation was underway.

Traffic through Hormuz has trended lower this week and remains far below pre-war levels, even as the U.S. has sought to help escort vessels along the Omani side of the strait. Last week, an attack on a cargo ship transiting the waterway killed a crew member.

Only five ships made confirmed crossings Tuesday, down from seven the day before and a collapse from more than 130 vessels a day before the war, according to Kpler. All five crossings used the unilateral route Iran has designated for shipping, the tracking firm said.

Separately, U.S. allies are skeptical that Iran’s mines in the strait have been fully cleared, Bloomberg reported, casting doubt over President Donald Trump’s claims that the waterway was safe for passage.

The report came after Trump said Wednesday that the Hormuz waterway had been fully cleared of mines, calling it “a functioning strait.”

“Yes, every once in a while there will be a drone or a rocket or something shot, but it is a very functioning strait. A lot of oil is pouring out,” Trump said.

Iran and Oman, meanwhile, have agreed on a temporary maritime corridor intended to restore safer passage through the strait. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, however, warned that the waterway will not fully reopen until the U.S. fulfils its commitments under an interim peace deal framework signed in June, which has since lapsed.

The U.S. military has maintained a naval blockade against Iranian ships in the vital chokepoint, and used the southern Omani lane to escort oil tankers in and out of the Gulf.

This week saw the Trump administration launch an “economic onslaught” against Iran’s financial connections around the world, upping the ante on countries and entities that maintain economic ties with Tehran. That escalation has scuttled prospects of peace talks between Washington and Tehran.

In an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Trump said he has “no time schedule” for when he expects to resume the talks with Iran to put an end to the six-month war. When asked if economic pressure was more effective compared to military strikes, Trump said, “I think they are both effective.”

In a diplomatic outreach following the U.S. sanctions campaign against the Iranian economy, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on the UN and its member governments to condemn what he described as U.S. “economic terrorism,” arguing the UN bears “legal and…

Iran and Oman on Tuesday discussed a proposal to establish a temporary joint shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz as well as a mission to clear mines from the key oil export corridor.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi said he was hopeful such a corridor through Hormuz and “practical arrangements to restore safe navigation” will be announced soon. He described talks with Iran’s top diplomat Seyed Abbas Araghchi in Tehran as constructive.

The proposed framework with Iran includes a joint project to clear the strait of mines, Oman’s Foreign Ministry said in a social media post after the diplomats’ meeting. Muscat and Tehran would continue talks to reach an agreement on a permanent corridor and administration system for the strait, the ministry said.

Oman’s reference to a mine clearing mission appeared to contradict President Donald Trump’s statement earlier Tuesday that the U.S. Navy informed him all mines had been removed from international waters in Hormuz.

The Iran-Oman talks come a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. would sanction any country that does business with the Islamic Republic. Trump threatened earlier this month to bomb Oman, a U.S. ally, if it “gets in the way.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

A cargo ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz has come under attack, leaving one crew member dead, while President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the waterway is “open and operating.”

A projectile struck the vessel as it exited Hormuz damaging its engine room, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said Tuesday. Oman’s Coast Guard is assisting the rest of the crew. No environmental damage has been reported, according to the UKMTO report.

The ship was sailing southbound less than one nautical mile from the coast of Oman when it came under attack, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center. The U.S. military assists vessels that take the southern route, but Iran has still managed to attack ships sailing that corridor.

“The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” Trump said in a Truth Social post hours after the attack. U.S. Central Command referred CNBC to the White House when asked to confirm whether all mines have been cleared in the strait.

At least 17 mariners have been killed in 65 attacks on commercial vessels since the U.S.-Iran war began on Feb. 28, according to the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency.

Observed ship traffic through Hormuz has remained low so far this week with 10 crossings on Monday and two transits on Sunday, according to data provided by the trade intelligence firm Kpler.

The five-day average for ship transits is about 10, the lowest level since May 11, according to a CNBC analysis of Kpler’s data. About 130 vessels crossed Hormuz daily before the war.

Trump said the U.S. is not holding any talks with Iran. The memorandum of understanding that Washington and Tehran signed on June 17 to open Hormuz expired on Monday without a final deal.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tuesday that Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. meets it commitments under the MOU, according to the state news agency Tasnim.

The U.S. and Iran have been contesting control of Hormuz since the MOU collapsed due to conflicting interpretations of the agreement.

Iran has repeatedly attacked ships sailing the U.S.-protected southern route in an effort to shut down the corridor. Tehran demands that vessels take a northern route through its territorial waters instead.

Tanker traffic is still constrained though monthly exports through Hormuz have increased under U.S. military protection, according to data from maritime intelligence firm Windward.

Crude oil exports through Hormuz rose to about 5 million barrels per day in July compared with about 4 million bpd in June and 1.6 million bpd in May, said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, maritime intelligence analyst at Windward. About 20 million bpd of crude and products, or a fifth of the world’s oil consumption, was exported through the strait before the war.

“Transits have scaled up very quickly against a backdrop of extreme risk,” Bockmann said.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week that…

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed to a halt over the weekend ahead of the expiry date of the 60-day ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran on Monday, with no official negotiations or deal in sight.

Over the weekend, only five cargo ships passed through the critical oil passage on Saturday, according to data from Kpler cited by Reuters, while no ships were registered to pass through the passage on Sunday. This is compared with 31 vessels the previous weekend.

Shipping traffic had already hit a three-month low last week, with a five-day average of 13 vessel transits on Tuesday reflecting the lowest level since May 12, a CNBC analysis of Kpler data found.

Overall, shipping is down 90% since before the war started on February 28, with the Strait of Hormuz carrying about a fifth of the world’s oil, averaging about 130 vessel transits per day.

HSBC shipping expert Parash Jain told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe Monday morning that investors should understand “chaos is the norm” for the industry and factor it into their base assumptions.

Oil prices inched lower on Monday with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.15% to $88.45 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.74% to $81.79.

Talks and negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have stalled as a fragile ceasefire between the two countries is due to expire on Monday.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the two sides do “not have anything like a ceasefire,” per quotes from Iranian news outlet Shahrara News on Saturday.

“No negotiations have been held between the United States and us at this time…Qatar and Pakistan are exchanging messages between the parties and are in contact with us, but this does not mean negotiations,” Araghchi said, according to the quotes.

U.S. President Donald Trump claimed last week that “pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”

However, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi insisted in a post on X on Friday that the Strait will remain “Iranian” and only be closed and opened “under Iran’s command.”

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is near a three-month low as doubt grows that the U.S. and Iran will reach an agreement to fully open the key Middle East oil export corridor.

Vessel transits sat at a five-day average of around 13 on Tuesday, nearly the lowest level since May 12, according to a CNBC analysis of data provided by the trade intelligence firm Kpler. This includes ships of all types, from cargo vessels to oil tankers.

Traffic is about 90% lower than the daily average of 130 ships that transited Hormuz before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.

However, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tuesday that oil exports through Hormuz have reached a seven-day average of nearly 9 million barrels per day as tankers transit the strait with U.S. military assistance. A single supertanker can carry about 2 million barrels.

Total oil exports from the Gulf states are averaging about 15 million bpd when pipelines are included, Wright said. Before the war, about 20 million bpd of crude oil and products were exported through Hormuz.

“Many private businesses undercount the number of ships leaving the Strait of Hormuz due to ships moving covertly through the waterway,” the energy secretary said in a social media post.

Iran’s top national security official Mohsen Rezaei said Tuesday that Hormuz will not open fully until Washington agrees to Tehran’s demands, according to the state news outlet PressTV.

A week ago, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that a deal could come soon to open Hormuz with freedom of movement for ships. Bessent’s comments helped drive an oil sell-off last week, but an agreement between the U.S. and Iran still has not materialized.

The U.S. and Iran signed an interim deal on June 17 to open Hormuz, with ship crossings surging to a five-day average of about 60 on June 26. But the agreement subsequently collapsed as Washington and Tehran started fighting over shipping routes, which were left undefined in the deal.

Iran attacked tankers that used the U.S.-protected route along Oman’s coast. The Trump administration launched more than a dozen waves of strikes against Iran and reimposed its naval blocade in retaliation.

President Donald Trump has pivoted back to diplomacy this month, though it is unclear how much progress has been made. Traffic on Tuesday was about 80% below the post-deal peak.