JAPAN PM TAKAICHI: SUMMIT WITH IRAN UNDERSCORES IMPORTANCE OF BILATERAL LEADERSHIP EFFORTS

Iran Conflict: - U.S. eyes punishing NATO countries over lack of Iran support — WSJ - Iran says violations of 10-point proposal make bilateral ceasefire or negotiations unreasonable - Iran's Press TV: Strait of Hormuz has been fully closed, forcing oil tankers to turn - VP Vance to lead U.S. talks with Iran in Pakistan - Vance: Iranians have to take next step or Trump has options to go back to war - Israel to convene security cabinet on Iran ceasefire announced by Trump - Trump: a country supplying military weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed - The Trump administration is expected to scale back its Iran war funding request to $80–100 billion, less than half the Pentagon’s initial $200 billion proposal Corporate & Technology: - Meta releases first AI model since Zuckerberg’s spending spree — FT - Alibaba has promoted Qwen Lab to Qwen Large Model business unit, and established a tech committee, led by CEO Eddie Wu, according to insider note - Alibaba, China Telecom launch AI chip-powered data center to advance self-sufficiency - Alibaba restructures organization, upgrading Tongyi Lab into a business unit and appointing Li Feifei as Alibaba Cloud CTO China Economy & Policy: - China grants extra crude quotas to independent refiners to sustain fuel output - China sets up new unit to oversee state-owned assets - China’s yuan rose to a three-year high, with the onshore rate at 6.8287 per dollar and the offshore rate at 6.8268

NATO'S RUTTE: CONVERSATION WITH TRUMP WAS FRANK AND OPEN