China revamps railway diplomacy in Africa amid retreat of Western aid, Iraq energy crisis risk deepens amid US-Iran tensions, Indonesia notches victory in quest to make Apple manufacture in country, Taiwan deploys semiconductor investment to secure US support amid abandonment fears and China retains its spot as Vietnam’s largest investor.

China struggles to close the gap in advanced machine tool technology, Apple’s pivot to India gathers momentum, Thailand deploys monetary and fiscal tools to revive sluggish growth, Taiwan positions itself as democratic alternative in China-dominated drone market and Vietnam searches for alternative clean energy supply.

Intel split talks signal shift in semiconductor strategy, China impedes industrial diversification of key competitors, Mali displays truculent resource nationalism, Japan doubles down on perovskite solar moonshot and Chinese drugmakers emerge as global biotech innovators.