2026, day 232 Good morning from Asia. ‘U.S. conducting stealth operation to transport oil through Hormuz’ (Axios) - “About 10m barrels of oil a day are being transported out of the strait and injected into the global energy market”; ‘Declaring ‘economic d-day,’ Trump says any country trading with Iran will be sanctioned’ (ToI); ‘UAE's financial embargo on Iran after missile threat puts rivalry back in spotlight’ (Reuters); ‘UAE trade embargo could shut Iran’s key economic escape route: Here’s why’ (AJ); ‘Mossad chief, Syrian foreign minister discussed Turkish military deployments before strikes, sources say’ (Reuters); ‘Netanyahu says Israel sent message ‘clearly’ to Turkey in Syria’ (AFP); ‘Israel's Syria strike risked scrambling Turkish jets, military escalation, US envoy tells 'Post'’ (JPost); ‘Israel army chief vows in Syria not to allow threats along border’ (AFP); ‘IAEA finds ‘tons’ of nuclear material in Syria; Damascus: We’ll keep it for ‘peaceful’ energy use’ (ToI); ‘Fish, ships and sovereignty: Iceland weighs its European future’ (Reuters); ‘Europe should wish Marco Rubio a bright future’ (FT) - “Americans who support reckless wars are sometimes also the likeliest to defend Europe”; ‘Brussels backs international court after US sanctions’ (Euractiv); ‘New Drone Unit to Be Phased Out as Hegseth’s Army Pick Makes His Mark’ (WSJ) - “Gen. Christopher LaNeve takes aim at a cutting-edge drone unit, one of several moves he has made since taking over the Army”; ‘The New Physics of Power’ (NYT); ‘USS Lincoln woes highlight US Navy limits in prolonged Iran war: Experts’ (AJ); ‘Trump plans Kim Jong Un meeting, says North Korea has 57 nuclear weapons’ (Reuters); ‘Lee says respects Trump's decision to promote dialogue with NK through scaled-back military exercises’ (Korea Times); ‘Why China will need a ‘more persuasive security offer’ to win over middle powers’ (SCMP); ‘NATO’s nightmare’ (Atlantic) - “The U.S. and Europe have no clear plan for a joint attack from Russia and China.”; ‘Malaysia fears military 'miscalculation' near Sabah amid US-China rivalry’ (SCMP); ‘China's J-36 fighter jet designers report danger of military AI hallucinations’ (SCMP); In geoeconomics, ‘US could cut key tariffs as part of proposed Canada deal, source says’ (Reuters) - “Source says proposed deal cuts top-line tariff to 15% from 25%”; ‘Trump is trying to wage an ambitious trade war with a shrinking army’ (Politico); ‘Money and 'a lot of noise: how the US' critical-minerals sector vies with China’ (SCMP); ‘China tells companies not to help with EU probe into (Euractiv); ‘Brussels wants Buy European' but voters lean domestic, poll shows’ (Politico); ‘Ukraine to renegotiate access to EU agricultural market, minister says’ (Euractiv); In politics, ‘Volodymyr Zelenskyy fires top aide as corruption allegations pile up’ (FT); ‘Most Americans believe Trump has inappropriately profited since returning to power, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds’ (Reuters); ‘Why a stunning democratic socialist win in Florida is different’ (WaPo); ‘Andy Burnham makes No 10 North responsible for economic growth’ (Times); ‘Behind the Curtain: The new existential threat to Al’ (Axios); In markets, ‘US government debt hits $40tn as borrowing rises at historic rate’ (FT); ‘Treasury Secretary Bessent doubles US long-bond buybacks in the face of surging yields’ (Reuters); ‘Bessent Leans Into His Role as America’s Bond Trader in Chief’ (WSJ); ‘Why Scott Bessent Is Playing With the Treasury Market’ (WSJ) - “The simple explanation for all this is that the world is going into a new era of capital need, for data centers, the military and reshoring”; ‘China debuts offshore government bond futures to promote yuan use’ (Nikkei Asia); ‘Federal debt passes grim $1trn milestone for the first time’ (AFR); ‘South Korea’s rookie investors lose small fortunes amid AI stocks frenzy’ (AJ)