The Tech Making ‘Dark-Fleet’ Tankers Into Ticking Time Bombs

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0:33Alex Ossola:The Supreme Court says Congress can't ban drug users from owning guns. Plus, the technology that helps tankers move sanctioned oil around the world also makes them ticking time bombs. These ships are massive oil tankers carrying millions of barrels of volatile crude oil. And so what scares authorities is that they could explode or they could cause massive oil spills. That would be a problem for the rest of the world. And there's a new legal fight over perps, popular derivatives that trade 24-7 and never expire. It's Thursday, June 18. I'm Alex Oselev for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

1:16Alex Ossola:We start today's show at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was turning up the pressure on European members of the alliance. The Trump administration has pushed Europeans to boost their military budgets, and they've agreed to spend 5 % of their GDP on defense. Hickseth today threatened to cut how much the U.S. gives to NATO if European countries don't meet their commitments. Our annual NATO dues will be contingent on other countries meeting their defense spending targets. Where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues contributions will go down. NATO will be a two-way street.

1:56Alex Ossola:The U.S. currently contributes about 15 percent of NATO's annual budget, down from 22 percent a decade ago. NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta said in a press conference after the meeting that Hegseth was right to call for Europeans to take more responsibility. You will still find allies holding back a little bit and needing to do more. And I think what he tried to do today is to keep the pressure on. And I think that's good. Hagsatz also today announced a review of the U.S. military presence in Europe. The Pentagon recently announced cutbacks to its troop presence there. That's upset U.S. lawmakers, including Republicans, who have long supported the NATO alliance.

2:31Alex Ossola:And in Washington, Vice President J.D. Vance defended the Iran peace deal, which President Trump signed last night. Speaking at a White House press briefing today, Vance said it wouldn't matter if Tehran didn't honor its commitments because the U.S. had already won. But is what the deal promised, including a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, already happening? U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, confirmed today that a blockade on Iranian ports had been lifted. Vance said Tehran hadn't fired on commercial vessels for two days in a row. He said ships carrying more than 12 million barrels of oil have passed through the strait over the past 24 hours.

3:06As they dial up their good behavior, we can dial up the economic relief. If they dial down their good behavior, we can turn it off.

3:12Alex Ossola:As you heard on this morning's show, many in Israel are unhappy with the Iran deal. Vance today warned Israeli government officials from criticizing Trump over the agreement. Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time. And he happens to be the head of state of the world's superpower. If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world. Trump has designated Vance to lead the next steps of negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program.

3:51Alex Ossola:The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would relieve stress on global oil markets. Analysts say it could also mean that dozens of dilapidated old tankers that move sanctioned oil around the world will resume their trade, making the problem of the dark fleet worse. The dark fleet helps fund the Iranian and Russian governments, but the ships themselves are also dangerous. They carry digital tools that hackers can exploit, and U.S. security officials worry about the risk of explosions or oil spills. For more, I'm joined now by WSJ senior video and national security reporter Shelby Holliday. Shelby, let's start with the implications of the peace deal.

4:26Alex Ossola:It lifts sanctions on Iran's oil sales. Does that mean the global dark fleet is going away? This will not get rid of the dark fleet. They will still be out there on the water. They will still fly false flags. They will still engage in these deceptive practices. And so that piece of it will not change, even if Iran has oil that is no longer sanctioned the way it used to be. So the dark fleet, actually, the problems could get worse as Iran is able to export more oil. What is it about the technology aboard these ships that makes them so risky? What worries authorities is that the ships are basically giant machines.

5:00and because they're connected to the internet at all times and because they are using software, pirated software that's loaded with malware and they have these remote desktop applications where people can remote into the ship, the data and the systems on the ship can be manipulated and it could be accidental, it could be because of malware or it could be purposeful. It could be a hacker or the ship administrator himself trying to mess with the systems to blow the ship up. These ships are massive oil tankers carrying millions of barrels of volatile crude oil. And so what scares authorities is that they could explode or they could cause massive oil spills that would be a problem for the rest of the world.

5:39So the fact that this hasn't happened yet, I mean, is that just pure luck? The Coast Guard officials I talked to said it's a small miracle. However, some of these dark fleet tankers operate in faraway corners of the ocean, and so it's possible there has been an oil spill. It's possible that there have been incidents that have gone unknown to the rest of the world.

5:58Alex Ossola:Wow, wild. Yeah, it's a little crazy. So now that the Coast Guard has a better sense of the technology on these ships, how does this information help the U.S. and other countries potentially crack down on them? The Coast Guard hopes that by revealing this information, it will open the eyes of other countries to how dangerous the Dark Fleet is, not just how bad they are, but how dangerous they are. They certainly hope that the crackdown on the Dark Fleet doesn't stop just because there's an Iran deal. That was WSJ senior video and national security correspondent Shelby Holliday. Thank you, Shelby.

6:28Alex Ossola:Thanks.

6:33Alex Ossola:The agreement to end the war is lifting stocks. The Nasdaq led the gains in the indexes and has finished up 1.9 percent. Intel shares today rose more than 10 percent on a U.S. chip partnership with Apple announced by President Trump. In oil markets, Brent crude futures ended nearly unchanged, but they've dropped about 9 percent this week and they're trading just a few dollars above their pre-war levels. CME Group has sued the top U.S. derivatives regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC. CME is the leading exchange for futures trading, and it wants to stop the predictions market company, Calci, from encroaching on its territory.

7:10Alex Ossola:CME argues that the CFTC violated U.S. law when it recently approved Calci's plan to list perpetual futures contracts, known as PERPS. That's a kind of derivative that never expires and trades 24-7. A Kalshi spokeswoman said that the suit stemmed from a fear of competition. And consulting firm Accenture has cut its sales guidance for the fiscal year. Clients tightened their spending because of the Iran war, and Accenture's Middle East sales took a$400 million hit. Its stock closed down about 18 percent, its largest one-day percentage decline on record, and its lowest close in nearly a decade. Coming up, things that cost millions of constructing Barack Obama's presidential library and making blue M &Ms?

7:52Alex Ossola:That's after the break.

7:57Alex Ossola:Hi, this is Alex Osula, host of the WSJ's What's News podcast. We bring you the biggest news of the day, from business and finance to global and political developments that move markets. If you're looking for more insights and tools to understand the latest headlines, consider becoming a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal. Visit subscribe.wsj.com slash what's news to subscribe now.

8:26Alex Ossola:The Supreme Court ruled today that Congress can't ban all drug users from owning guns. In a 9-0 decision, the court sided with a Texas man who used marijuana. He was convicted of violating a federal law that prohibits drug users from carrying guns. If this law sounds familiar to you, it's the same one that former President Biden's son Hunter was convicted under. He was later pardoned by his father. But the court hasn't fully struck down the law. The justices leave open the possibility of prosecuting people who are addicted to drugs or people who carry a gun while intoxicated. The Obama Presidential Center is set to open to visitors tomorrow on Chicago's South Side.

9:04Alex Ossola:Today was its opening ceremony, which was attended by Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as three other living former presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Joe Biden. Donald Trump was not invited. We caught up with the Journal's own John McCormick right before the ceremony, and he said this presidential library looked pretty different from the others he had visited. We're outside right now for the opening ceremony, and right in front of us is this roughly 250-foot tower that is the main structure on this campus, which is about 19 acres. Close up, it looks impressive. It's covered with granite, and it is supposed to make the shape of like four hands together sort of reaching up towards the sky, and inside it has a lot of public art.

9:48On the very top floor, there is sort of an observation deck. They call it the Sky Room, and it does have some pretty remarkable views of the south side. We're a good distance south of downtown Chicago's Loop where all the high-rises are. So this building really does stand out in this neighborhood as being something that's pretty prominent.

10:08Alex Ossola:John says the library came with a hefty price tag. The project ended up being about$850 million, which is by far the most expensive presidential library or presidential center that's been built. There's a variety of reasons for that. One, it just took a lot longer to build, and so prices went up. It's also built in an urban environment where labor costs tend to be higher. Also, it's just like more ambitious in terms of its stope. There's a new branch of a Chicago public library that's on the campus. There is a sound studio for people in the neighborhood. There's a NBA regulation size basketball court.

10:47It's a lot more than just a museum here. That was something the Obamas were adamant about. They didn't just want a shrine to themselves, but they wanted something that they felt would stimulate economic development in this neighborhood, which is needed.

10:59Alex Ossola:It's free to use the outdoor areas of the campus and the public library. But the tickets for the museum are$30 for adults, the most expensive of any presidential library in the country. And finally, there's a new version of M &M's making their debut later this summer, one without artificial dyes. It's part of a promise that M &M's maker Mars made under pressure from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But it turns out there are two M &M colors that are proving surprisingly tricky, blue and brown, which actually includes a fair bit of blue. While other classic M &M's colors like red and yellow can come from beets and turmeric, the new blue comes from an algae called spirulina, and it's been difficult for the company to produce it affordably at scale.

11:42Alex Ossola:Instead, the four colors in the new mix will be red, orange, yellow, and green. And the company says it's hoping to work out the kinks and add naturally colored blue and brown by 2028. And if you prefer your M &M's colors to come from artificial dyes, don't worry. They aren't going anywhere, at least for now. And that's What's News for this week. Tomorrow, we're off for Juneteenth. But on Saturday, you can still expect our weekly markets wrap-up, What's News in Markets. Then on Sunday, we'll have an interview with New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani, talking about his progressive plans for housing and how high costs are playing out in the midterms.

12:14Alex Ossola:That's in What's News Sunday. And we'll be back with our regular show on Monday morning. Today's show was produced by Anthony Bansi and Danny Lewis with supervising producer Tali Arbel. Michael LaValle wrote our theme music. Aisha El-Muslim is our development producer. Chris Zinsley is our deputy editor. And I'm Alex Osala. Have a great weekend and thanks for listening.

12:43Hey, this is Tell Us Demos. And I'm Miriam Gottfried. We're reporters at The Wall Street Journal and the hosts of WSJ's Take on the Week. It's a weekly show that gives listeners a leg up in the world of markets and investing. From the Fed's moves to market bubbles, we dive into the biggest deals, key players, and business news ahead. If you're looking for more news and tools that you can use to help navigate the markets, consider becoming a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal. Visit subscribe.wsj.com slash takeontheweek to subscribe now.