South Korea could draw up another extra budget in the second half if crude oil disruption caused by the Iran war is prolonged. For more on how this affects the growth story in the tech sector, we spoke to Simon Woo, head of Korea research and head of APAC Technology coordinator at Bank of America Global Research. Plus - The White House announced the US would hold direct talks with Iran even as continued fighting in the Middle East, punctuated by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, threatened to derail the fragile ceasefire in the six-week conflict. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance will lead a delegation to Islamabad, which would include special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The first round of talks is set for Saturday morning local time, even as the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed as of Thursday morning, falling short of a key US condition for the ceasefire. Sporadic fighting continued throughout the region, including in Lebanon, where Israel launched its largest assault on the country since the start of the latest conflict, escalating the campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah. Iranian officials cast that as violating the terms of the day-old agreement. We heard from Barbara Leaf, Arnold & Porter Senior International Policy Advisor and Former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. She spoke to Bloomberg's Haidi Stroud-Watts and Shery Ahn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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