2026, day 235 Good morning from Asia. ‘Iran’s Top Politicians Urge an End to the War’ (WSJ); ‘Tehran says US sanctions ‘declaration of war' on all nations’ (AJ); ‘Iran says any country joining new US sanctions would be ‘considered an enemy’’ (AFP); ‘Iranian hackers shut down UK power plant’ (Telegraph); ‘Iran grants permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through Hormuz’ (Reuters); ‘Saudis Shuttle Oil North On Tankers To Evade Houthis’ (BBG); ‘Israel must stop Erdogan's military expansion before Turkey reaches its borders - opinion’ (JPost); ‘Katz says Israel directly warned 'highest levels' of Syrian regime before giving IDF green light to strike air base’ (ToI); ‘US envoy suggests Israeli strike in Syria was election ploy aimed at 'baiting' Turkey into clash’ (ToI); ‘Time to question Israel’s warnings of a new Sunni axis’ (Ynet); ‘On anniversary of gas attack, Syria asks to join anti-chemical weapons partnership’ (ToI); ‘Putin says Ukraine opened 'Pandora's box' with strikes on economic targets’ (Reuters); ‘Germany plans a €12B missile program to deter Putin’ (Politico); ‘Macron pledges air defence as 13 killed in Russia, Ukraine strikes’ (Euractiv); ‘Spain rejects Morocco's call for talks on Ceuta and Melilla sovereignty’ (Euronews); ‘Chinese research centre near MoD site is ‘enormous concern’, says ex-spy chief’ (Telegraph); ‘How Pacific nations walk a tightrope between Western security and Chinese trade’ (SCMP); ‘Mainland Chinese research ship spotted near Taiwan’s largest naval base’ (SCMP); ‘Why China may have little to lose as ‘weakened’ Trump seeks North Korea talks’ (SCMP); ‘North Korea says record-high Japan defense budget would risk ‘turmoil’’ (AFP); ‘China's rise lays bare the aging of the U.S.-Japan alliance’ (Nikkei Asia) - “Partnership approaching 75th year faces challenges in military capacity, strategic focus”; ‘Lula turns to Donald Trump as unlikely ally in Brazil’s clash with Marco Rubio’ (FT); ‘Hit by Trump tariffs, Quebec loses appetite for quick separation from Canada’ (Reuters); ‘U.S.-sanctioned ICC head warns against ‘demise of international rule of law’’ (AFP); In geoeconomics, ‘Global oil inventories on the decline again amid Hormuz stalemate’ (Nikkei Asia); ‘China's NewNew Shipping Line Pushes Deeper Into Arctic With First Murmansk Container Run’ (gCaptain); ‘Panama Canal Draught Restrictions Set to Add to Congestion Chaos’ (The Loadstar); ‘US Sanctions Fishing Fleet Accused of Shipping Cocaine to Mexico’ (BBG); ‘U.S. Imposes 50% Tariffs on Some Canadian Goods After Last-Ditch Talks Fail’ (WSJ); 'Mark Carney says Canada is now ‘at war’ with US over trade’ (FT); ‘Threat to Quebec's French language, identity key reason Carney ends trade talks with Trump’ (Montreal Gazette); ‘U.S. Economy Could Feel the Sting From Trade War With Canada’ (NYT); ‘Canada sets retaliatory tariffs in response to 50% U.S. levies as trade talks fail’ (WaPo); ‘As premiers rally behind Carney in trade dispute, Alberta’s Smith questions retaliation plan’ (Globe and Mail); ‘Things are about to get verrrrrry ugly: The pain will be felt on both sides of the border’ (National Post); ‘Nvidia Is Spending $6 Billion to Build a Powerful U.S. Alternative to Chinese AI’ (WSJ); In politics, ‘Rising data center backlash shakes up midterm races’ (The Hill); ‘Federal judge rules against Trump’s 75-country visa ban’ (The Hill); ‘Trump: I’ll be impeached if I lose the midterms’ (Telegraph) - “US president warns Republicans they will ‘lose everything’ if Democrats take control of Congress”; ‘Burnham to send ‘mansion tax police’ to assess home values’ (Telegraph); ‘Fedorov decries corruption in Defense Ministry, doubles down on calls for elections’ (Kyiv Independent); In markets, ‘Oil markets are tuning out Trump's "truths"’ (Axios); ‘The Bank of England is costing the taxpayer billions. It must stop’ (Telegraph)