** A barge hit a bridge in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, resulting in an oil spill. The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office told a local news outlet that a giant part of the bridge fell off after the incident occurred. exas A&M University at Galveston said that the Pelican Island Bridge is currently “closed to all traffic at this time due to a barge strike.
** The Biden administration is suggesting the possibility that additional penalties could be put in place if the Chinese makers of electric vehicles try to move their production to Mexico to avoid newly announced import taxes.
** House Democrats are probing President Trump’s request for $1 billion in campaign cash from major oil companies. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) penned a letter to CEOs of eight energy companies and an oil lobbying group that reportedly attended a dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort with the former president last month.
** Trying to figure how to pay for road repairs and maintenance when EVs dominate the roadways, California is offering drivers up to $400 to test a couple of alternatives for six months, starting in August. The pilot program is open to drivers of all vehicle types, gasoline-powered or otherwise.
** The cargo ship Dali experienced electrical blackouts about 10 hours before leaving the Port of Baltimore and yet again shortly before it slammed into the Francis Key Bridge and killed six construction workers, federal investigators said Tuesday, providing the most detailed account yet of the tragedy.
** Parking lots full of Tesla vehicles are becoming impossible to ignore as the electric automaker seemingly can’t sell enough cars and trucks to match its rate of production. According to its own figures, the electric automaker produced 46,561 more vehicles than it delivered to customers during the first quarter of 2024.
** UAW President Shawn Fain called out Stellantis as being “pathetic” in a recent Facebook live broadcast event for United Auto Workers union members. The multi-national automaker conglomerate recently fired scores of full-time workers from its Warren Assembly plant where the Ram 1500 and Jeep Wagoneer are built.
** Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg heavily criticized a recent lawsuit by major airlines over a new rule that requires airline companies to reveal extra fees on purchases. The lawsuit was filed last Friday by trade group Airlines for America, as well as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways Corp., Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
World
** Five Chinese companies won bids to explore Iraq’s immense oil and gas fields, Iraq’s oil ministry said Saturday, while not a single US firm got a contract. It is the latest sign of China’s growing influence in the Middle East as the US struggles to maintain its footing in the region, despite the Iraqi government meeting with American firms last month about potential deals.
** Negotiations between China and an Arab bloc for a free trade agreement have stalled over concerns by Saudi Arabia that cheap Chinese imports could undermine its ambitions to transform the kingdom into an industrial powerhouse, sources say.
** Chinese electric vehicle maker Aiways will go public via a merger with U.S. special purpose acquisition company Hudson Acquistion Corp in a deal that should value the company around $400 million, the two companies said.