On Oct. 19 Iran’s new defense minister said the country is preparing for a fourth round of war. An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman said seven major undersea communications cables transit the Strait of Hormuz, carry global internet and commercial data, and warned that enemies should be aware of this.

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, at a meeting in Guangzhou, ordered a stepped-up push to accelerate AI-enabled breeding and fast-track development of breakthrough seed varieties to meet seed-industry 15th Five-Year targets and cultivate internationally competitive seed-technology leaders. It called for stronger germplasm protection and faster identification, improvement and shared use of genetic resources to raise protection and utilization efficiency. The ministry directed organized, systematized R&D and a one-variety-one-policy approach to shore up weaknesses. It ordered modernization of national seed bases, wider adoption of advanced equipment and measures to improve seed-supply quality. The ministry required full-chain variety management, large-scale demonstration and promotion of superior varieties, tighter intellectual-property protection and strict enforcement against counterfeiting and infringement. Local governments and agencies were instructed to prioritize, coordinate and accelerate projects to deliver breakthrough progress in seed-industry revitalization.

三星定于10月27日在韩国推出其首款耳夹式耳机。