Brunei Politics: Sultan Ibrahim reshuffled his Cabinet, appointing Prince Abdul Mateen as Foreign Minister, a major move that also keeps the kingdom’s high-profile “Instagrammer” royal figure in the spotlight. Brunei Innovation & Education: Universiti Brunei Darussalam relaunched its Start-Up Center and Entrepreneurship Village to help students, alumni and researchers turn ideas into businesses. Brunei Digital Future: Brunei is set to hold a national event to advance Digital Brunei 2030, with education leaders pushing for more resilient, inclusive and future-ready systems. Brunei Food Security: Government is inviting more firms and NGOs to join the Ihsan Food Bank (i-FB) food rescue push, aiming to cut food waste while supporting vulnerable communities. Regional Security (South China Sea): The Philippines protested China’s deployment of a floating “structure” at Scarborough Shoal, escalating tensions around the disputed feature. Regional Environment: A report says deadly Indonesia floods and landslides wiped out at least 7% of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan population, with Brunei-based researchers involved. ASEAN Cyber & Tech: Fortinet launched a Singapore cloud PoP to improve threat detection and response across ASEAN. ASEAN Underwater Defence: 17 countries, including Brunei, launched a new initiative to protect critical underwater infrastructure and cables.