SLBM Tensions: China test-fired a long-range ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine into the Pacific, drawing condemnation from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the U.S. over transparency and regional stability. Payments Upgrade: Swift says its blockchain-based ledger is ready for early use, with 17 banks preparing 24/7 tokenised cross-border payments. Banking Modernization: Temenos won a deal with a leading U.S. regional bank to modernize core banking on Temenos SaaS hosted on Microsoft Azure. AI in Healthcare: Singapore launched SIMFONI, adapting AI foundation models to local clinical data for cardiometabolic care and eye disease support. Education Tech: Japan proposed doubling junior high “Information and Technology” class hours to boost literacy for generative AI. Energy & Trade Tech: India and Australia unveiled PACTS, a new cyber, critical technologies and supply-chain partnership, plus a broader defence and maritime roadmap. Semiconductor Supply Chain: SEMI and TechSearch expanded a global assembly-and-test database to 820+ facilities, adding fields for advanced packaging and AI infrastructure. Space Security Idea: MIT researchers proposed a CubeSat approach to detect nuclear weapons in orbit by listening for neutron signatures. Robotics Boom: Shanghai-based AgiBot says it hit 15,000 embodied robots produced, moving from prototypes toward commercial scale.