Day News Recap: Middle East violence drives oil higher as markets slide and tensions widen

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people, including six children, in the town of Kfar Dounine, deepening fears that the conflict could spread further across the region.  🔗

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Oil prices surged as Brent crude moved above $107 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate climbed above $102, with traders reacting to disruption around the Strait of Hormuz and the shutdown of Saudi energy infrastructure.  🔗 Saudi Arabia is relying on stored oil to keep exports moving after drone attacks forced a precautionary shutdown of the East West pipeline, a key route for crude shipments.  🔗 Iran also said a planned meeting with Gulf officials on the Strait of Hormuz had been postponed because of events unfolding in Yemen.  🔗

In Yemen, government forces intensified air attacks against Houthi positions as fighting shifted toward Marib and western Taiz, while allied forces said they had advanced in western Taiz after repelling a Houthi offensive. The Houthis separately claimed attacks on Saudi Arabia, underlining the widening regional spillover.  🔗  🔗

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Syria saw a second day of protests over fuel price rises, with demonstrators blocking roads and oil tanker routes in several areas as parliament summoned the energy minister.  🔗 In Jordan, at least 11 people were injured after an ammonia gas leak at the Aqaba industrial complex.  🔗

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Iran tightened its domestic crackdown by seizing assets belonging to 240 dissidents, journalists and public figures and freezing 182 bank accounts, as protest related arrests passed 6,000.  🔗 Separately, a US Air Force pilot described being rescued in a 21 aircraft operation after his plane was shot down over Iran, in an incident involving two US troops.  🔗

In Europe and the wider security debate, Finland said it will join France's advanced nuclear deterrence initiative, extending the programme to a NATO and European Union member that shares a long border with Russia.  🔗 Western officials also said a joint NATO operation intercepted Russian submarines near a vital undersea cable in the Arctic last week.  🔗 European leaders gathered in Rovaniemi for an Arctic summit focused on the bloc's strategy in the region and tensions over Greenland.  🔗

Britain said a member of the armed forces died in a road traffic incident in Ukraine, while the House of Lords is due to debate changes to political donation rules after Reform UK received £72m from two billionaire donors within 24 hours.  🔗  🔗 In the occupied West Bank, B'Tselem accused Israel of an accelerated campaign to erase Palestinian presence and dismantle collective life.  🔗

Across the Asia Pacific, Bangsamoro's first parliamentary election in the southern Philippines was marred by deadly pre poll violence, while South Australia confirmed its first H5 bird flu case in a pelican amid multiple animal detections.  🔗  🔗 In Japan, Genta Koja won the Okinawa governor race, a result that could reshape debate over US base policy.  🔗

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Further afield, Canada said it wants a unique alliance with the European Union as its trade war with the United States intensifies, while Guyana said oil revenues are rising as the Iran conflict reshapes energy markets.  🔗  🔗 China rejected US led AI threat narratives amid a sharper rivalry with Washington, and a federal grand jury in Texas indicted four defendants in two related elder fraud schemes.  🔗  🔗

Other developments included a proposed hyper scale data centre in Queensland that could draw a quarter of the state's power use, a Sydney corruption inquiry hearing allegations of threats and secret recording, and a Malaysian schoolboy being acquitted of murdering a schoolmate after a judge found he was mentally unsound at the time.  🔗  🔗  🔗

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