Iraq Fiscal Deal: Kurdistan PM Masrour Barzani says a financial agreement with Baghdad has been reached, with federal dues to be sent back “retroactively” to January 2021—an important cash-flow signal for the region. India Probe: The ED has registered an ECIR to investigate alleged Jharkhand exam irregularities, focusing on possible money trails and sources of funds tied to the JPSC preliminary exam. UK Corporate Payback Risk: Thames Water faces fresh scrutiny after paying its finance chief a £1m signing-on fee funded via an emergency borrowing facility amid its rescue talks. Malaysia AI in Wealth: HSBC Malaysia reports Malaysia is among the top AI adopters in finance (85%), with investors favoring a hybrid AI-plus-human oversight approach. Wealth Product Push: Standard Chartered plans to launch its Signature CIO Funds in India’s GIFT City after IFSCA in-principle approval. Tokenized Markets: NYSE says it’s developing onchain settlement infrastructure for tokenized securities, building on DTC tokenization pilots and regulatory filings. Islamic Finance Expansion: Ant International’s Bettr and Muslim Pro launch Umrah financing in Malaysia using a Shariah-compliant Tawarruq structure with 12–24 month instalments. Digital Payments Boost (Philippines): BSP and PPMI roll out Direct Debit PH, InstaPay Cash-In, and higher InstaPay for Business limits to widen access and lower friction. Nigeria Capital-Market Drive: Tinubu backs NGX’s push to deepen listings and use the capital market to fund infrastructure as Nigeria targets a $1tn economy. Africa Financing Reality Check: A new analysis argues Africa’s industrialisation gap is mainly a financing architecture problem—capital-intensive projects need long-term, affordable funding. Egypt Inclusion Milestone: Egypt’s financial inclusion hits 79% with 56.4m active accounts, with women’s inclusion rising sharply to 72.5%.