🏭 BEIJING — China's largest refiner is profiting from the war, not bleeding from it. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Sinopec buying discounted Iranian crude below market while Hormuz-starved competitors pay $93+ Brent. Bessent's Monday sanctions target exactly this arbitrage. But a 19% profit surge gives Beijing a concrete economic interest to resist — and Sinopec data lands as political ammunition against compliance.
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🏛️ ARAB LEAGUE — Same podium, same day, now warning about Palestine — not Iran. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: The Arab League chief pivoting to Palestine as the next detonator signals the bloc is framing two simultaneous escalation tracks. With Bab el-Mandeb closed and Hormuz at seven transits, a Gaza flare-up now opens
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🏛️ ARAB LEAGUE — Public condemnation lands while Baghdad just rewarded Iran with open borders. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: The Arab League chief's framing sharpens the bloc's official posture against Tehran — but it arrives the same week Iraq reopened Iran's border crossings post-Petroline attack. The gap between
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📉 RIYADH — Saudi equities drop while Riyadh won't publicly confirm who struck what. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Markets are pricing what Riyadh won't say: the East-West pipeline closure is not temporary. With Bab el-Mandeb encircled and Hormuz at seven transits, Saudi Arabia has no functioning export corridor
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🛤️ BAGHDAD — Iraq reopens Iran crossings days after its soil was used to strike Saudi infrastructure. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Baghdad restoring Iran border access while the Saudi Petroline remains closed sends a clear signal: Iraq is choosing economic ties with Tehran over Gulf solidarity. Reopening now rewards the attack corridor, complicates US