✈️ BEIRUT — Trump reopens Beirut flights; IDF clears south Lebanon. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: US carriers barred since 1985 TWA 847 hijacking — restoring routes signals Washington treats Lebanon as a post-Hezbollah-degradation partner. Pairs with Trump's White House backing of Aoun's disarmament plan: carrots while Israel applies the stick. The variable: whether Hezbollah reads this as normalization pressure or irrelevant noise mid-campaign.
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🤝 ISLAMABAD — Sharif calling it "historic" means this moved from talks to done deal. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Yesterday it was three states eyeing a joint budget. Today a sitting PM labels it historic on the record — that's a ratification signal, not aspiration. Saudi Arabia is Washington's
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💸 COSTS — Six months in, and Washington still can't put a number on it. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Unquantified war costs after 161 days signal deliberate opacity, not accounting lag. Congress needs figures to fund continuation; markets need them to price duration risk. Cruise missile stockpiles near depletion adds a hidden
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🕊️ TEHRAN — Iran's peace price has always been US forces out of the Gulf. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Gharibabadi reframes the Oman talks: Iran isn't negotiating passage terms — it's demanding US forces leave the Gulf. Washington can't accept that. The corridor-vs-withdrawal gap is
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🕌 DOHA — Qatar backs Riyadh while simultaneously brokering Iran's exit from the war. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Qatar is Washington's back-channel to Tehran and now publicly condemning Tehran's Houthi proxy in the same breath. That dual position narrows Doha's room: Iran's hardliners