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• Manu Bhaker will lead the Indian contingent as the flagbearer during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Asian Games. • The shooter noted that her former coach, Jaspal Rana, previously set strict conditions stating she could only attend such honors if she were the flagbearer. • This appointment marks a professional milestone for Bhaker, transitioning from a student under strict discipline to a representative leader of the national team.

• The ContentAsia Awards 2026 winners have been announced, revealing trends and shifts in Asia's content market. • The winners highlight Asia's rising creative hubs, genre strengths, and new formats, showcasing the region's growing influence in the global content industry. • The awards provide insight into what it takes to stand out in Asia's crowded content market, with winners demonstrating innovative approaches to content creation and distribution.

• Several Asian countries, including Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Cambodia, have submitted films for the Best International Feature category at the 2027 Oscars. • ScreenDaily reports that submissions are still missing from China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. • This diverse lineup demonstrates the breadth of Asian cinema and its ability to move beyond traditional stereotypes for global audiences.

• The New York Times filed legal briefs in its copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the companies infringed upon thousands of news articles. • A Microsoft director described AI scraping as the largest theft of labor in human history, while another memo warned that the technology creates a doom loop that hurts both model performance and the web. • These internal admissions suggest that large language models—AI systems trained on massive datasets—threaten the economic foundations of the publishers that provide their essential content.

• The United Kingdom government announced sanctions connected to West Bank settlements on Sept. 9. • Prime Minister Andy Burnham took office in July to lead the current administration. • These diplomatic measures signal a shift in the UK's approach to territorial disputes in the West Bank.

• The FTSE 100 index is expected to rise on Thursday as investors anticipate the Bank of England's latest interest rate decision. • The day's economic calendar includes the UK rate announcement alongside final inflation figures from the eurozone and trade data from Switzerland. • These decisions directly impact borrowing costs for businesses and the valuation of UK equities in the global market.

• Armin Papperger, head of the German defense company Rheinmetall, recently stated that Germany's missile stocks remain at alarmingly low levels. • Papperger noted that the current shortage persists because it is simply impossible to produce missiles fast enough to meet demand. • Low missile reserves create a security vulnerability for Germany and its allies during a period of heightened regional instability.

Critics say moves from leftwing incumbent president are electorally motivated two weeks before Brazil’s electionsBrazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has announced a 15% increase in the country’s main cash-transfer programme for poor families, as well as free weight-loss jabs, prompting criticism from opponents who say the moves are electorally motivated just two weeks before the presidential election.On 4 October, the leftwing incumbent will face the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, who has been gaining ground in recent weeks. Continue reading...

• Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday following a rally in U.S. technology stocks and a drop in oil prices. • South Korea's tech-heavy KOSPI index surged 2%, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9% and the broader Asia-Pacific index outside Japan climbed 0.55%. • These gains reflect investor optimism in the tech sector and a reaction to fluctuating currency values ahead of the Bank of Japan meeting.

• Salesforce is adopting a headless architecture and API-first strategy to decouple its frontend from its backend services. • This shift allows developers to use their own preferred tools to build the user interface, known as the "head," rather than relying on a built-in suite. • The move enables high-growth tech companies and complex enterprises to gain total control over their digital experiences and customize their software stacks.

• The Supreme Court blocked President Trump's recent attempt to overhaul the rules for mail-in ballots ahead of the midterm elections. • The Department of Justice lost more than 20 court cases while attempting to collect voter data. • Election officials feared the proposed changes would disenfranchise tens of thousands of people by giving mail carriers authority to decide who could vote.

• Indonesia's Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi ordered the use of strict ship manifests to improve maritime safety and oversight. • Accurate passenger and cargo data will serve as the primary basis for monitoring sailing activities. • Stricter manifest requirements aim to reduce risks for passengers and cargo operators in Indonesian waters.

• Indian equity markets ended mixed on Thursday, with the Nifty gaining 53 points while the Sensex slipped 22 points. • Buying interest focused on mid- and small-cap stocks within the healthcare, power, defence, industrial, and capital goods sectors. • This volatility in the closing auction session creates a mixed outlook for investors tracking large-cap stocks like Reliance and L&T.

Mark Rutte said Britain will need to steadily increase defence spending to meet Nato target of 3.5% of GDP by 2035Britain needs to show “a credible path” of annual increases in its defence budgets to meet a Nato target of spending nearly £30bn more on the military by the middle of the next decade, the head of the alliance said on Thursday.Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary general, said that Britain could not wait until just before 2035 to lift defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, in an unusually pointed intervention a day after he met prime minister Andy Burnham. Continue reading...

• The Television Academy is discussing moving the Emmy Awards ceremony to Amazon Prime Video. • Nearly every trophy presented at the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday went to a program on a streaming platform. • Moving the ceremony behind a streaming paywall would signal that traditional network television has lost its cultural relevance.

Critics had criticized administration for nominating Schroyer, who has no formal experience working in ICEThe White House has withdrawn the nomination of former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement, less than three months after announcing his role.Critics had initially criticized administration officials for nominating Schroyer, who has no formal experience working in ICE. Schroyer previously worked as a member of homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin’s security detail when he was in the Senate. Continue reading...

• US stocks traded mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited an interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve. • The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose while the Dow fell, with easing oil prices providing relief after a two-day decline. • Market volatility reflects investor concerns over inflation, high yields, and tensions in the Middle East.

It is the second year this administration has barred the Palestinian delegation from US travel ahead of the forumThe US state department said on Wednesday that it had again denied entry visas to Palestinian officials ahead next week’s United Nations general assembly gathering in New York.The state department said in a statement that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had “failed to live up to their commitments”, accusing the groups of “taking actions to internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ)” and of “glorifying terrorism” among other allegations. Continue reading...

• The Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency expanded its forest and land fire containment efforts beyond the six priority provinces on September 16, 2026. • Thailand's Cabinet approved revised emergency-treatment rules for the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients scheme, specifically covering triage appeals and the first 72 hours of care. • Singapore's air quality improved on September 16, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) resting in the moderate range across four of five regions.

• Asian stock markets mostly rose on Tuesday as investors prepared for the Federal Reserve's upcoming decision on interest rates. • South Korea’s Kospi index climbed 1.3% to 6,711.62, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index increased 0.1% to 24,700.62. • Market movements reflect high investor expectations that the Federal Reserve will implement an interest rate hike.

• Wall Street opened lower today as the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury broke above 5%. • This yield represents the highest level reached for the 10-year Treasury note in recent trading. • Rising bond yields typically put downward pressure on stock prices as borrowing costs increase for companies and investors seek safer returns.