Grassroots Innovation: India’s Honey Bee Network-backed GIAN selects eco-friendly lotus-stem textiles, cold-storage tech and clean-energy farm waste for France’s ITBP Awards 2026, spotlighting frugal rural solutions. Japan Retail Shake-up: Yamada Holdings and Edion plan to merge into a giant electronics retailer with about ¥2.5tn sales, but antitrust scrutiny looms. China Telecom Opening: Beijing approves foreign-invested value-added telecom firms in pilot zones and removes some foreign ownership caps for services like internet data centers. China Memory Chip IPO Watch: CXMT and YMTC are lining up STAR Market IPOs as AI-driven demand lifts profits, raising concerns about liquidity drain. Asia Security & Diplomacy: New Zealand says it will raise concerns with China after Beijing bans four NZ MPs over a Taiwan visit; Taiwan reports heightened PLA activity around the island. Energy & Conflict Spillover: Oil jumps as Iran launches ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain, worsening West Asia tensions. India Market Moves: India plans to scrap capital gains tax on FPI investments in government securities; upcoming IPO lock-in expiries worth Rs 3.29 lakh crore could add volatility. WWII Discovery: US-led underwater teams confirm the wreck of the USS Herring in the Kuril Islands, marking a new war-grave finding.