
Interact Analysis projects global manufacturing output to grow 2.9% in 2026, up from 2.0% in 2025, with an average annual rate of 3.1% through 2030. Asia emerges as the strongest region, delivering 3.2% growth and a $30.1 trillion output, while India alone is forecast to expand 5% that year. The report flags an "apprehensive" outlook, noting that geopolitical tensions, tariff risks, and protectionist policies could cause the forecast to swing either way. Investment in AI‑driven equipment and automation is seen as a counterbalance to broader sector weakness.

At the CARICOM summit in St. Kitts and Nevis, leaders denounced U.S. interventions, highlighting a de‑facto oil blockade on Cuba and pressure on the island’s medical‑mission exports. Prime Minister Terrance Drew described severe shortages of food, water and electricity, while...
Bloomberg Intelligence surveyed 100 senior CIOs and CTOs at leading asset managers and found a stark gap between AI hype and actual spend. While AI dominates boardroom discussions, roughly 70% of firms allocate less than 10% of operating expenses to...

Paramount has renewed its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery with a $31‑per‑share bid, reigniting a high‑stakes acquisition battle. Netflix, led by co‑CEO Ted Sarandos, is simultaneously courting investors and studios, arguing its own offer—already accepted in December—outperforms Paramount’s. The two...

Timor‑Leste is leveraging its recent ASEAN membership to accelerate a sustainable tourism strategy that showcases its pristine marine and mountainous assets. By joining ASEAN, the nation gains access to regional marketing channels and co‑branding opportunities, allowing it to present itself...

The 2026 AI Survey targets the rapid rise of Agentic AI within IT service management, launching just four months after the 2025 edition to capture fast‑moving adoption trends. Agentic AI is defined across low, mid, and high autonomy levels, emphasizing...

Partner portals marketed as "seamlessly integrated" with Salesforce often rely on shallow field‑mapping, leading to data drift, sync failures, and constant admin overhead. A mirroring integration replicates the Salesforce schema and IDs, keeping Salesforce as the single source of truth...
Women entrepreneurs often struggle to secure warm introductions to angel investors, relying on inefficient cold outreach. Curated investor communities, such as Angels Partners, match women‑led startups with angels who actively seek early‑stage opportunities. These platforms emphasize relevance, transparency, and sector...

Chamber Cardio announced a $60 million Series A round in February 2026, led by Frist Cressey Ventures and backed by General Catalyst, Optum Ventures, Healthworx and other investors. The startup offers a two‑sided platform that connects payers with cardiology practices, embedding workflow‑native AI...
Cangrade has launched a free AI‑powered Job Description Decoder that analyzes any posting to surface the soft skills most predictive of success. The tool delivers a report highlighting five prioritized competencies and ten tailored behavioral interview questions. By moving beyond...

The December Case‑Shiller report shows nominal house prices reaching fresh all‑time highs, while inflation‑adjusted (real) values sit slightly below their 2022 peak—2.2% for the national index and 2.4% for the composite 20. Despite the recent dip, real prices remain 10.3%...
Intermountain MLS announced Richard Gibbens as its new chief executive officer. Gibbens comes from Bluegrass REALTORS®, where he drove strategic modernization, strengthened broker collaboration, and expanded data and technology capabilities. His appointment signals a push to sharpen operational focus and...
Payscale’s 17th annual Compensation Best Practices Report declares 2026 the “Year of Strategic Alignment,” as executives push compensation to the core of talent strategy. The study highlights a widening AI pay gap, with 55% of firms offering no premium for...
The Bank of Thailand cut its benchmark rate to 1.0 % on February 25, 2026, a 25‑basis‑point reduction from 1.25 % and the lowest level since October 2022. The move was unexpected, coming after a similar cut in December and reflecting a revised outlook...

Trump’s 2026 State of the Union devoted nearly 1,200 words to Latin American policy, far outpacing other regional references. The speech stressed new trade tariffs, immigration reforms, and security cooperation, echoing recent moves such as Honduras expelling Cuban doctors and...

The U.S. Supreme Court in Learning Resources v. Trump struck down President Trump’s expansive tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The majority opinion, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, held that the president cannot wield unlimited...
Empathy’s 2026 Workplace Benefits Report finds current benefit programs fall short during major life events, with bereavement support emerging as the most urgent gap. While 80% of employers plan modest budget increases, 84% intend to expand bereavement offerings and 95%...
Brainomix announced a £18.8 million Series C extension, adding £4.8 million to accelerate its AI‑driven imaging platforms. The capital will fund rapid US deployment of Brainomix 360 Stroke, which automates acute stroke assessment, and E‑Lung, a CT‑based tool for fibrosing lung disease. The company, already...
Laura Tacho’s recent study shows 92.6% of developers rely on AI assistants, claiming roughly four saved hours per week and that AI now writes about 27% of code autonomously. The data also suggests AI can halve onboarding time, yet averages...
Japan’s LNG resales hit a record in fiscal 2024, surpassing the volume imported from any single supplier. Declining domestic consumption, driven by nuclear restarts, efficiency gains and renewable growth, has pushed utilities and trading houses to redirect surplus cargoes to...
The guide outlines a data‑driven holiday email marketing strategy as online sales surge to $296.7 billion, emphasizing early planning, personalization, and creative content. It highlights the channel’s strong ROI—$10 to $36 for every dollar spent—and warns of inbox fatigue as two‑thirds...

In the digital era, leadership is moving from command‑and‑control to orchestrating a trustworthy ecosystem of people, machines, and processes. The article outlines an "agentic" model that distributes decision rights, adopts policy‑first delegation, and embeds transparency and ethical guardrails. Structural changes...
On February 5, the United States and Argentina signed a bilateral agreement that goes beyond tariff cuts to align trade, investment, and national‑security priorities in critical minerals and energy. The pact obliges Argentina to facilitate U.S. investment across the entire...
Extreme Reach (XR) operates as a full‑stack ad‑operations hub, handling everything from payroll and asset management to multi‑platform delivery. The company recently announced a digital integration with Nielsen One, allowing advertisers to attach audience measurement data directly to each ad....

In a brief interview, Brooke Bibeault, chief executive of Makor Resources, outlines the company’s growth strategy and its commitment to responsible mining. She stresses the need for greater public awareness of where metals originate and highlights Makor’s upcoming copper project...
The February 2026 regulatory brief highlights four major initiatives: the RBI proposes a broader credit‑derivatives framework adding total‑return swaps and index products; MAS seeks tighter liquidity‑risk‑management rules for Singapore fund managers; the ECB releases 17 recommendations to simplify EU banking...

Sibanye‑Stillwater recorded a $28.74 million impairment on its Zimbabwean Mimosa platinum operation after revising long‑term economic assumptions. The new model assumes an eight‑year life‑of‑mine, higher working and capital costs, and incorporates a 10 % beneficiation tax, reducing projected cash inflows. Despite a...

European carbon prices have slumped from over €92 to about €72 per tonne, eroding the financial incentive for low‑carbon fertilizer production. The author highlights a stark price contrast by purchasing five kilograms of Russian NPK fertilizer for €6.60, underscoring how...

Astera Labs reported record FY2025 revenue of $852.5 million, a 115% year‑over‑year increase, and a Q4 revenue of $270.6 million, up 17% sequentially. GAAP operating margin reached 20.3% for the year, while non‑GAAP margin was 39.2%, reflecting strong profitability. The company began...

Quantum computing has become a top‑performing de‑SPAC sector, driven by SPAC listings that fast‑tracked capital to the industry. After a bearish period in 2021‑22, recent hardware and algorithmic breakthroughs revived investor enthusiasm. The podcast revisits a February 2025 interview with D‑Wave...

The Digital Health Rewired 2026 conference programme, featuring ten themed stages, has been released. More than 300 senior health‑IT leaders, including NHS CEOs, CIOs, CCIOs and CNIOs, will present sessions on digital transformation, cyber security, AI, and electronic patient records....
Chairman Paul Atkins highlighted the steep 40% drop in U.S. public companies and outlined a three‑pillar strategy to revive capital formation. He praised the bipartisan INVEST Act and the Empowering Main Street in America Act for introducing “test‑the‑waters” IPO pilots,...
On January 23 2026 the SEC’s CorpFin issued new Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations that broaden flexibility for M&A, proxy and tender‑offer rules without formal rulemaking. The revisions permit lock‑up agreements without meeting traditional prospectus conditions, allow privately placed shares to be registered...
On Jan. 23, the SEC’s CorpFin division issued new Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations that loosen proxy‑broker search timing, broaden lock‑up registration on Forms S‑4/F‑4, and add leeway for cross‑border tender offers. The staff also reversed its stance on voluntary Notices of...

Russian oil drilling contracted 3.4% in 2025, marking the first decline since 2021, with a sharp 10% drop in the second half of the year. The slowdown is attributed to a weaker Urals crude price and a stronger ruble, which...

China signaled it will weigh counter‑measures after the United States imposed a temporary 15% tariff on all imports, while urging Washington to cancel unilateral duties and resume frank trade talks. A new IISS study warned that ongoing anti‑corruption purges have...

China has stepped in to purchase Russian crude that India declined, pushing Russian oil exports to their highest levels in two years. The shift has concentrated buying power among a few Asian importers, driving the Urals‑grade discount to a multi‑year...

UK‑based packaging giant Mondi plc has established a single‑parent captive insurance company in Guernsey, completing the launch at the end of 2025. The move follows a growing trend among FTSE 100 companies to use offshore captives for risk retention and capital...
President Trump used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to unilaterally raise tariffs, prompting legal challenges that culminated in the Supreme Court’s 6‑3 ruling in Learning Resources v. Trump. The Court held that IEEPA does not grant the president authority...
Art of Procurement has launched the ProcureTech Insider, a new podcast series aimed at demystifying procurement technology. The show targets CPOs and digital leaders who are overwhelmed by rapid AI‑driven platform growth and need practical guidance. In its inaugural episode,...
Betsy Jordyn introduces the C.A.R.E. framework—Connect, Ask, Reframe, Encourage—as an ethical, partnership‑based approach for consultants and coaches to influence clients without positional authority. The model emphasizes deep human connection, strategic questioning, reframing client concerns into clear themes, and supportive encouragement...

The podcast episode argues that the traditional contingent, multi‑listed permanent recruitment model is collapsing under AI pressure. AI shortlisting tools only achieve a 14% overlap, exposing resume inflation and inefficiencies. Retained and executive search models, which sell decision‑making rather than...
Finnair has launched a new boarding music suite called “Matkantekijä,” composed by fourth‑generation Finnish musician Lauri Porra, to deepen its Finnish‑centric brand identity. The soundscape, featuring traditional instruments like the jouhikko and kantele, will play on aircraft, in lounges, and...

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects continue to suffer cost overruns and muted business value, not because of technology limits but due to weak governance structures. Rajesh Arangamany proposes a five‑layer, governance‑centric framework that aligns strategic objectives, capability models, architectural accountability,...

Ring’s new “Search Party” AI feature sparked privacy outrage after a Super Bowl ad, prompting a backlash against the company’s data‑sharing practices. In response, the nonprofit Fulu Foundation announced a $10,000 bounty for anyone who can modify Ring doorbells to...