US Strikes Kuwait as Hormuz Enters Its Second Week Closed

The war widened again overnight. US strikes hit Iranian infrastructure and, per Reuters, spilled into Kuwait, the sixth consecutive night of attacks since this column started counting. This column called the closure claim negotiating theatre on the twelfth, pending a move in Hormuz war risk insurance rates. That move has not come by July 18, so the theatre read holds even as the target list grows. Trump is now leaning toward expanding operations further, per the Wall Street Journal. That should worry Gulf-exposed treasury desks more than the strikes themselves. Apple briefly overtook Nvidia as the world's most valuable company amid the chip stock rout, the clearest sign yet that the AI capex reallocation this column flagged with IBM's crash is now picking winners, not just victims. Apple is also escalating its trade secrets fight, sending legal letters to OpenAI staff, a dispute worth watching for what it reveals about talent poaching norms across the AI majors. CISA's emergency order on actively exploited Fortinet flaws is the housekeeping item every HK bank's security operations centre needs closed before Monday, not after. Watch whether Hormuz war risk insurance rates move by week's end.