Philippines Retail Push: Ayala’s ACX Holdings is setting up ACX Retail as an execution arm to scale international fashion, lifestyle and specialty brands nationwide, using Ayala’s real estate, logistics and consumer data to speed up store rollouts. Consumer Protection & Payments: India’s Finance Ministry says any future UPI Merchant Discount Rate would hit only a limited set of merchants, while P2P UPI stays free—aimed at easing fears of costs being passed to consumers. Regulatory Oversight: SEBI is streamlining inspections for market intermediaries by shifting to joint checks with stock exchanges and depositories and cutting regulator-led inspections to about one-third. Cost-of-Living Politics: UK PM Andy Burnham is accelerating rules on subscription cancellations and misleading discounts, with a consultation on deceptive discounting for the Competition and Markets Authority. Retail Tech Against Loss: London’s Edgify raised €7.7m to expand edge AI infrastructure for physical stores to cut shrink and improve operations. Jobs Pressure: New grads in the US face tougher entry-level hiring, while the UK shows “rays of light” as permanent hiring stabilises. Property & Logistics: Kolkata’s warehousing stock topped 24m sq ft in H1 2026, and the Balearics saw a cooling property market as home sales and transfer-tax receipts dipped.