Geopolitics & Money Flows: A renewed Iran war risk is putting the Gulf’s $124bn remittance lifeline under pressure, with attacks disrupting travel, tourism, exports through the Strait of Hormuz, and raising costs for migrant-heavy economies. AI, Data & National Security: Australia’s Defence is treating data and AI as core national security assets, building a federated data ecosystem under its One Defence Data program to speed decisions. Payments & Fintech Growth: India’s UPI momentum is getting a boost from rewards and cashback offers, with select apps reporting higher UPI transaction volumes. Stablecoins in Banking: Japan’s three megabanks plan to jointly issue a stablecoin by March 2027, aiming to use it for stock trading and other financial payments. Cyber & Fraud: Taiko warned users to withdraw bridge funds after confirming a compromise of its chain state verification, following reports of an ongoing Ethereum vault attack. Regulation & Compliance: Sri Lanka’s finance houses are preparing for its Personal Data Protection Act, while UK mobile operators are rolling out a “kill switch” to disable stolen retail phones. Trade Finance: ITFC says it approved $9.35bn in trade finance in 2025, supporting energy, food and financial-sector needs across 25 member countries. Egypt Financing & Exports: Egypt is set to receive a €1.5bn EU tranche and is launching an EGP 557m program to help exporters meet international quality and sustainability certifications. Market Pulse: India’s Sensex and Nifty rebounded early on Monday, led by IT and oil, as investors watched global cues and rate expectations.