Good morning, this is Markets Desk with your midday briefing.
Belgian authorities have arrested a Canadian intern working at NATO's operational headquarters on espionage charges. The suspect, a Canadian citizen of Chinese origin, was detained after NATO's own security services flagged the case to Belgian military intelligence. The breach raises serious questions about alliance vetting procedures at the highest levels of military command.
Shifting to the Middle East, diplomats say meaningful progress has been made toward resuming US-Iran negotiations, with both sides having paused direct exchanges following a dangerous escalation. Hormuz shipping traffic has fallen to a three-week low as uncertainty grips the corridor, and Saudi Arabia reports intercepting Iranian-backed drone strikes originating from Iraq, signaling that ground-level tensions remain far from resolved.
On the technology front, OpenAI chief Sam Altman heads to Washington this week for meetings with the Trump administration and members of the Senate. Altman is expected to preview capabilities from the company's next generation of AI models and field pointed questions on cybersecurity vulnerabilities and the risks surrounding open-weight model releases, a topic gaining significant traction on Capitol Hill.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
