The US seized two more tankers that carry Venezuelan oil yesterday, bringing the total to four since imposing a blockade last month as part of its campaign to reshape the global oil landscape. It’s the latest sign that the US continues to exert pressure on the country after arresting its leader.

One vessel was taken in the Caribbean Sea; the other, which was empty, was boarded just south of Iceland following a two-week chase during which the ship secured an escort from the Russian navy, registered under a Russian flag, and changed its name.

The seizures came after President Trump said on Truth Social Tuesday night that Venezuela will turn over 30 million–50 million barrels of sanctioned oil worth up to $2.8 billion to be refined in the US. Yesterday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the US would continue to sell Venezuelan oil “indefinitely.” The maritime and social media news helped push oil futures down ~2% yesterday.

What’s next is a sticky situation

According to CNN, Venezuela must meet certain demands from the White House in order to resume oil production. Anonymous officials told the news outlet that:

• Delcy Rodríguez, the interim president after the ouster and arrest of Nicolás Maduro, must cut ties with China, Iran, Russia, and Cuba and work exclusively with the US on oil production.
• Rodríguez must also favor the Trump administration and US companies for future oil sales.

The White House wouldn’t confirm or deny the terms. Meanwhile, a senior US official told Axios, “We need to get the oil flowing out and the money going back to Venezuela without it getting stolen.”

However…US companies that exited Venezuela over the last two decades may be reluctant to return, according to the New York Times. Energy Secretary Wright is trying to convince the CEOs of ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Chevron to invest in drilling in Venezuela, per the Washington Post, including by potentially offering taxpayer money for rebuilding costs in exchange for a piece of the profits.

Tomorrow, Trump is scheduled to meet with a dozen oil executives at the White House, per Axios.—DL

Trump moves to ban big investors from buying up homes. President Trump said on Truth Social yesterday that he was “immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes” and would “be calling on Congress to codify it,” adding that “people live in homes, not corporations.” Trump’s effort to halt institutional purchases comes after private equity firms and real estate investment trusts have increasingly purchased single-family homes to rent out. Though it was not immediately clear whether Trump could forbid such purchases without Congress, the stocks of investors that have been big in the space, including Blackstone, Apollo Global Management, and Invitation Homes, dipped in response.

An ICE agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis. Federal and local officials agree that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a 37-year-old woman, identified as US citizen Renee Nicole Good, in her car during an operation in the city, but they disagree over the circumstances. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the driver tried to run over ICE agents, and that an officer “defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him.” But city officials disputed that account, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey saying at a press conference that ICE was trying “to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bullshit.” Video on social media shows officers approaching the car, which begins to drive when one officer grabs the door handle before the shooting. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that ICE planned to send 2,000 agents to the area to carry out immigration arrests.

Warner Bros. rejected Paramount’s latest offer. For whoever ends up with control of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets, there’s a future film to be made about all the drama surrounding its acquisition: The company’s board issued a letter yesterday rebuffing Paramount’s revised hostile takeover bid and urging shareholders to stick with the deal it made to be bought by Netflix. Paramount is offering to buy the whole company for $30 per share (while Netflix is only looking to acquire its TV and movie studios for $83 billion), and would fund it by taking on debt and investments, some backed by a personal guarantee from billionaire Larry Ellison. The WBD board said, “This aggressive transaction structure poses materially more risk for WBD and its shareholders” than the Netflix merger.—AR

Throw some steaks on the grill and crack open a whole milk: The US government updated federal dietary guidelines yesterday, ramping up recommendations for MAHA-friendly items like beef and full-fat dairy, and taking aim at processed foods.

Heaps of fruits and vegetables are still recommended, but the guidance otherwise flips the old food pyramid over. The federal nutrition guidelines, updated every five years, steer meals at schools, hospitals, prisons, military bases, and government assistance programs, directly impacting millions of Americans. According to the new guidance:

• Adults should consume 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily—50% to 100% higher than previous guidelines—from red meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy, or plant sources.
• A new “healthy fats” section favors full-fat dairy over low-fat options and recommends cooking with olive oil, butter, or *fills in bingo card* beef tallow.
• Highly processed carbohydrates like white bread are a big no-no for the first time. Whole grains are recommended, but they’re depicted as the smallest portion of the pyramid.
• No added sugar until age 10 (up from age 2). Adults should also avoid it and artificial sweeteners, including the aspartame in your Diet Coke.

Reactions: The American Medical Association approved, while the American Heart Association raised concerns that the guidelines could lead to overconsumption of sodium, protein, and saturated fats.—ML

JPMorgan Chase announced in an internal memo yesterday that it is cutting ties with its proxy-advising services and replacing them fully with an in-house artificial intelligence platform called Proxy IQ, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move from the biggest bank in the US delivers a stunning blow to an industry that had already made enemies with the Trump administration and some corporate leaders.

Proxy advisory groups like Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services offer research and voting advice for large investment firms that manage thousands of shareholder votes. These votes help determine everything from executive pay packages to social and environmental initiatives:

• JPMorgan, which manages over $7 trillion in assets, is the first major firm to completely cut ties with its human proxy advisors.
• CEO Jamie Dimon has long criticized proxy advisors, even calling them “incompetent” at an event last year.

President Trump signed an executive order last month that urged regulators to investigate the top two proxy firms, accusing them of having political agendas.

Big picture: JPMorgan says its new AI-enabled platform can do everything its old advisors could do and more, like analyze data from 3,000+ annual company meetings and keep track of proxy votes.—MM

The internet of 2001 was a different beast—one filled with Hotmail addresses and Blogger accounts. Plus, everyone was playing a new game called RuneScape, but it turns out that last part is still true today. According to the BBC, the 25-year-old massive multiplayer online game that lets you quest through Gielinor is more popular than ever:

• Last year, its paid members grew by 30%, with Jagex, the company behind the game, saying it had more than a million paying players. And millions more play for free.
• The game had its most simultaneous players ever, peaking with more than 240,000 people questing at once, in early August. The BBC noted that only three games available on Steam had more current players when it penned its story this week.

That doesn’t make it the biggest game out there (World of Warcraft boasts more than a million players daily), but it’s an impressive run for a game whose vibes are decidedly old school. Nostalgia is definitely working in its favor as more players opt to play the actual Old School RuneScape, which replicates the experience of playing in the early aughts, rather than the modern version fans call RS3.—AR