Business Awards & Local Growth: Zimbabwe’s Brian Samuriwo swept three Bulawayo Business Awards, with Samuriwo Pub and Grill taking Township Tourism and Customer Service Excellence, and the Samuriwo Foundation winning the 2026 CSR award. Travel & Corporate Mobility: St. Petersburg is seeing more work-related visitors as business tourism expands, while European firms are shifting toward fewer, more purposeful trips. Workplace Strategy: ACCA says hybrid is the default preference (79% in India), but “intentional” office days are gaining support. Digital Business Infrastructure: Sierra Leone’s parliament ratified a 15-year BOT deal to digitise online business registration, aiming to cut bottlenecks and boost transparency. Policy & Markets: Indonesia created a state export supervisor for coal, palm oil and ferroalloys to curb under-invoicing and protect proceeds. Energy & Trade: The EU is weighing a temporary freeze on its Russian oil price cap amid Middle East-driven market stress. SME & Tech: Qatar’s UDST hosted a 2026 innovation and enterprise symposium with industry-linked capstone projects; meanwhile, an AI cost shock highlights how usage-based AI pricing is forcing companies to rein in spending. Fraud & Enforcement: A Culver City restauranteur was sentenced to 41 months for COVID-era loan fraud exceeding $4m.