ASEAN Prep in Focus: Timor-Leste has officially broken ground on a new International Convention Centre in Dili, designed to boost tourism and events ahead of the 2029 ASEAN Chairmanship, with leaders including Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, President José Ramos-Horta, ASEAN chief Kao Kim Hourn, and Australia’s Richard Marles at the foundation-stone ceremony. Regional Skills & Mobility: Australia launched the Pacific Australia Skills program across the Pacific, including Timor-Leste, while Australian firms attended Papua New Guinea’s Palm Labour Mobility Expo to strengthen hiring partnerships. Rights & Identity Debate: Kurdish-language and cultural groups in Europe renewed calls for constitutional guarantees for language and identity as a condition for lasting peace. Local Safety Tech (Context): Mandaue City in the Philippines is testing firefighting drones that can reach high-rise fires—an example of how disaster response is shifting toward new tools.