Critical Minerals Debate: Philippines lawmakers warn Marcos’ EO 122 could “surrender” critical ore wealth to foreign miners, arguing it risks displacement and raw-material exports over local value-add. Agri Finance Expansion: United Commercial Bank (UCB) signed with Bangladesh Bank to use a Tk 10,000 crore refinance scheme to fund farmers and rural entrepreneurs, with capped rates and wider branch/agent distribution. Fintech & Inclusion: Bahrain’s Benefit CEO highlighted women’s growing role in digital payments and fintech infrastructure, citing training and equal-opportunity efforts. Anti-Corruption Asset Scrutiny: Bangladesh’s ACC ordered Ekattor journalists Shakil Ahmed and Farzana Rupa to submit wealth statements within 21 working days amid claims of assets beyond known income. Crypto Regulation & Risk: Illinois faces a new lawsuit to block a 0.2% digital asset tax; separately, India moved against Firebase-hosted scam sites, spotlighting cloud abuse for financial fraud. DeFi Governance Shock: Term Labs disclosed an $8.5M governance exploit draining vault assets, shifting focus to protocol control design. Personal Finance Pressure: A U.S. IRS Criminal Investigation recruitment drive targets rising tax fraud and financial crimes, while investors weigh crash-prep strategies and crypto belief-driven volatility.