2026, day 257 Good morning from Asia. ‘Oil Industry Braces for Years-Long Iran War’ (Oil Price); ‘Widening Mideast Instability Squeezes Global Oil Supplies’ (WSJ); ‘Saudi pipeline outage threatens loss of 4% of global oil supply’ (Reuters); ‘Sources within Saudi Arabia are now telling us that the damages to the East-West pipeline will take more than a month to repair due to a lack of spare parts and deeply impacted supply chains’ (Marhelm); ‘Saudi oil facility in Jazan directly hit in the attack’ (Tasnim); ‘Saudi foreign minister warns continued regional escalation risks widening conflict’ (Al Arabiya); ‘Potential Iran-Oman Hormuz deal won’t immediately reopen strait, source tells Iranian media’ (ToI); ‘Saudi pipeline attack exposes potent Iraqi militia threat’ (FT); ‘Houthis' Yemen advance leaves Gulf states with uncomfortable choice’ (Reuters); ‘Iran hardliners said to have launched attacks in defiance of leaders, sabotaging peace deal’ (ToI); ‘Iran requested new Russian Geran drones for attacks on Israeli, American targets amid war’ (FT); ‘Trump says US could stay in Iran and keep oil, like Venezuela deal’ (Reuters); ‘Korea, US to hold high-level defense talks amid Hormuz deployment consideration’ (Korea Times); ‘Turkey FM says Israel wants to destabilize Syria as he visits Damascus’ (Al Arabiya); ‘US Air Force pilots lack sufficient sortie experience for combat operations’ (Military Times); ‘Russia says hit Ukraine rail site ‘used to transport military cargo’ from Europe’ (AFP); ‘Russian drone strikes train behind Boris Johnson’s’ (Telegraph) - “Former prime minister unharmed after attack on railway line between Ukraine and Poland”; ‘Trump says Zelenskyy ‘has to stop’ attacking Russian refineries’ (AFP); ‘Ukraine's race for its own ballistic missile’ (Kyiv Independent); ‘Trump reiterates support for united Ireland, says won't talk about Scotland 'yet'’ (Reuters); ‘National Security Agency launches historic restructuring’ (WaPo); ‘Silicon Valley’s attempt to slow AI race triggers surge of suspicion’ (Telegraph) - “Tech giants told to ‘stop pretending the motivation to slow down is purely altruistic’”; ‘Trump Sees Race Against China as Key Issue on AI Regulation’ (WSJ); ‘China’s intelligence chief warns of risks from AI as ‘new arena for strategic rivalry’’ (SCMP); ‘Brics summit ends with Xi’s AI offer, Modi’s warning on critical minerals as weapons’ (SCMP); ‘For China, H-6N bomber enhances nuclear deterrence and second-strike capability’ (SCMP); ‘Japan has few cards to play one month after Putin’s isle visit’ (Japan Times); In geoeconomics, ‘Dutch start-up completes funding round for encrypted silicon technology’ (FT); ‘Japan's future US investments to focus on power sector: trade minister’ (Nikkei Asia); ‘EU Parliament ready to take tougher line on China, says lead MEP’ (Politico); ‘Trump says he is removing U.S. tariffs on Irish whiskey’ (Reuters); ‘EU shelves entry-exit system in France and Portugal’ (Telegraph); In politics, ‘Marine Le Pen vows to put French citizens first in campaign launch’ (FT): ‘Sweden’s election too close to call after late right-wing surge’ (Politico); ‘Rayner accused of ‘two-tier’ donation rules to protect union funding’ (Telegraph); ‘Reform 'very confident' £72m donations were legal - but Rayner warns of 'backdated' action’ (Sky); ‘Trump calls $5,000 payouts 'easy' to fit into federal budget’ (Reuters); In markets, ‘BOJ and Fed face critical test as market pressure rises on rates’ (Nikkei Asia); ‘Central bankers slam 'dangerous’ Mélenchon’ (Euractiv); ‘Oil Jumps as Shutdown of Saudi Pipeline Deepens Energy Crisis’ (BBG); ‘A 5% Treasury Yield Is Raising New Risks for Markets, Economy’ (BBG); ‘Anthropic has chosen the Nasdaq for its IPO listing’ (Business Insider); ‘China’s Tax Clampdown Raises Fears of Founder Share Disposals’ (BBG)