Reserve Bank of Australia minutes said inflation risks may be balanced rather than tilted to the upside.

Front-line forces may need a new drone design within weeks, but Ukraine's defense industry faces a severe shortage of engineers that could slow innovation. BlueBird Tech COO Yurii Faraponov said the company cannot meet some frontline requests due to insufficient engineering staff. Sergii Vysotskyi, deputy chairman of the Ukraine Defense Industry Association, said some firms are asking retired specialists to return to work. Ukraine's working-age population has fallen for decades and accelerated since 2022; industry sources say the shortfall is eroding the strategy of using technology to offset manpower disadvantages as weapons systems become more complex.

Baltic Dry Index rose 1.44% to 2,882.