Philippines–China Energy Talks: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says stalled joint oil and gas talks with China in the South China Sea have “moved forward,” with progress on terms of reference but no timeline yet, as Manila seeks supply security amid the Middle East crisis. West Philippine Sea Diplomacy: Marcos also insists the Philippines is not “distancing” from China, framing a “reset” as a return to dialogue to prevent miscalculation at sea. Japan Flood Disaster: Record rainfall in Chiba and the Tokyo area has killed at least eight, left one missing, and stranded thousands at Narita, with power cutoffs affecting tens of thousands of homes. Korea Peninsula Tensions: North Korea warns the US and South Korea ahead of Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, hinting at possible further missile activity. US–China Trade Pressure: The White House accuses the Philippines of being a “shadow transshipment” weak link helping China evade US tariffs, while the US also flags India in the same network. Central Asia Power Crunch: Power outages hit Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan after disruptions in the Central Asia unified grid. Tech & Industry: Uber plans to expand Chinese robotaxi deployments in Europe with Pony.ai, while China’s Z.ai claims its open-source GLM-5.3 is closing the gap in cyber-defence tests.