Rare-Earth Supply Push: Japan says deep-sea sampling found ~54% medium/heavy rare earths (including yttrium, gadolinium, dysprosium) in seabed mud, aiming for a full-scale mining test from Feb and cost/feasibility checks by March 2028. Defense & Drones: President Lai reiterates “peace through strength,” urging cross-party support for a NT$210B, six-year drone procurement bill covering coastal reconnaissance/attack drones and unmanned surface vessels. Taiwan-US Currency Ties: Taiwan’s central bank stresses “close” communication with the US Treasury after Taiwan was kept on the US currency manipulation monitoring list, citing strong tech-driven trade surplus. Optics for Advanced Packaging: Largan Precision says construction of a new fiber-array pilot line for chip packaging tech is on schedule, with samples planned for certification and volume production targeted for mid-next year. Space Science Collaboration: NTHU astronomy researcher Andrew Cooper joins ESA’s ARRAKIHS mission (launch planned for 2030) to model faint galaxy outskirts using high-performance computing. AI Manufacturing Showcase: Taiwan Excellence highlights industrial AI edge computing and automation at Automation Expo 2026 in Mumbai, with 22 firms and 55+ technologies on display. Semiconductor Infrastructure: Supermicro unveils an H15 server portfolio built around 6th-gen AMD EPYC 9006 CPUs for next-gen GPU and agentic AI workloads. Tech Security: Researchers describe SourTrade malware that assembles malicious executables in the browser, using malvertising to reach targets including Taiwan. Regulatory Governance: Executive Yuan nominates seven candidates to restart Taiwan’s National Communications Commission after long-running deadlock. Trade Policy Shock: The US restores a tariff floor on 60 partners under forced-labor claims, with Taiwan included among those monitored for currency and broader trade scrutiny.