Middle East Energy Shock: Houthi attacks on Riyadh and Saudi oil-linked facilities, including Yanbu, are escalating risks to regional oil and power infrastructure, while Saudi air defenses report interceptions and the UN calls for an end to the escalation. US Power Reliability: The U.S. Department of Energy issued an emergency order to help prevent South Carolina and North Carolina blackouts, authorizing Duke Energy to dispatch extra generation and use backup generators. Energy Prices Hit Logistics: Diesel prices in the D.C. region jumped sharply, squeezing truckers and raising costs across supply chains. Tariffs vs Energy Security: India warned that new U.S. tariff measures tied to Russian oil could strain ties and disrupt global energy markets, as Cuba also criticized politicized tariff policy. Regional Trade Pressure: Pakistan’s exports fell by over $1.2B year-on-year, with Middle East tensions disrupting routes and logistics costs, prompting calls to cut energy costs and taxes. Pakistan-Iran Coordination: Ishaq Dar and Iran’s Araghchi stressed uninterrupted energy supplies and safe maritime passage, agreeing to keep close coordination. Grid + Storage Push: Pakistan doubled down on battery storage as core to energy security, while India’s EESL praised energy-efficiency programs for MSMEs. AI Meets Power Demand: A U.S. startup touts using unused solar power to run GPU-ready data center compute faster, as data centers’ electricity appetite keeps climbing.