WS #12524

The US-Iran conflict continues to escalate, with Iran declaring full-scale war and launching missile strikes on US bases in Kuwait and Jordan, killing US soldiers. The US has retaliated with a 10th consecutive night of strikes. Strait of Hormuz traffic has collapsed 66% week-over-week, and Houthis have declared a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia, threatening Bab el-Mandeb. Oil prices remain elevated (Brent near $89, US gasoline above $4/gallon). Separately, Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian goods under Section 338, effective in 30 days, escalating trade tensions. The US House voted 219-211 to overturn the tariffs in a bipartisan rebuke, though the measure is largely symbolic. On the tech front, China's semiconductor indices surged 4-6% on AI optimism, and Zhongji Innolight (a key Nvidia supplier) plans a $7B Hong Kong IPO. Moonshot AI paused subscriptions due to demand for its Kimi K3 model, ahead of a potential Hong Kong IPO. Alphabet is developing a custom AI chip (Frozen v2) that hard-codes Gemini's architecture, boosting shares 3.7%. The US-Iran conflict is ESCALATING, while the Canada tariff story is NEW and adds to trade uncertainty.