AI & Retail Infrastructure: Crenny raised ₹5 crore to build AI-powered digital commerce infrastructure for India’s retail economy, aiming to shift buying and customer engagement toward conversational tools like WhatsApp. Urban Competitiveness: Bangkok’s gubernatorial election spotlights how the city is fighting to stay attractive for talent and investment. EV Mobility Push: Hyundai and TVS launched a pilot of “Blue Move,” an EV ride-hailing service using electric three-wheelers in Delhi NCR, testing before any wider rollout. Housing Costs: New York voted to freeze rents for some rent-stabilized apartments, a direct response to rising cost-of-living pressures. Tech Hardware Inflation: Apple and Microsoft raised prices as AI data-center demand lifts memory and storage component costs. Energy Grid Investment: Türkiye says it needs at least $50B over the next decade to upgrade electricity distribution networks amid rising demand and AI/data-center growth. Monetary Policy Pressure (Nepal): Nepal Chamber of Commerce urged Nepal Rastra Bank to make policy more investment-friendly, including easier credit conditions. Public Finance Risk (US): A Penn Wharton Budget Model warns U.S. federal debt may hit a sustainability outer bound around 210% of GDP within two decades. Africa Value Addition: AfDB urged African countries to stop exporting raw resources and instead process locally to drive industrialisation. Liberia Growth Outlook: IMF projects Liberia’s economy to grow 5.5% in 2026 on reforms and activity in mining, manufacturing, and construction.