Most emerging-market currencies outside Asia strengthened as progress in Iran negotiations pushed oil prices lower and lifted risk appetite. The South African rand led gains after the South African Reserve Bank governor pledged to return inflation to a 3% target. The Hungarian forint and Mexican peso also firmed.

ByteDance has broadened the remit of multi‑modal head Zhou Chang to include the Seed robotics unit. The SeedRobotics team, formerly led by Li Hang, has reported to Zhou Chang for over a month; Li now serves as an advisor on academic partnerships. The company is recruiting a head of embodied‑intelligence technology to lead overall robotics strategy; the senior L8 role (comparable to Alibaba P10–P11) will report to Zhou Chang and candidates are mainly senior technical leaders from leading embodied‑intelligence startups.

The European Commission is weighing a proposal to grant member states extra fiscal flexibility to cushion rising energy costs tied to tensions with Iran, people familiar with the matter said. Under the proposal, governments would be allowed additional energy-related spending outside EU fiscal rules equivalent to roughly 0.3% of GDP, implemented as an exemption clause akin to the existing defense-spending carve-out. Italy, already highly indebted and facing elevated energy bills, has been among the strongest advocates for expanded fiscal leeway.