SME Tax Relief Push (Philippines): Sen. Mark Villar filed a bill to exempt micro, small and medium enterprises from the Minimum Corporate Income Tax, citing MSMEs as 99.63% of registered businesses and a 35.7% GDP contributor. Financing Gap Alarm (Nigeria): CPPE urged reforms to Nigeria’s development finance system, saying productive sectors face a financing gap above N50tn driven by high rates, short tenors and tough collateral. MSME Lending Boost (India): India’s Finance Ministry said SIDBI’s direct lending to MSMEs jumped sharply over five years, with direct credit sanctions rising from Rs 6,124 crore to Rs 24,323 crore. Local Business Growth via Training (U.S.): Chicago Public Schools expanded a paid summer internship for teens, placing them at restaurants, nonprofits and small businesses. Community-First Retail (U.S.): A new push reframes malls around “social value,” aiming to make physical shopping more community-centered than online. Trade Access for Small Firms (UK): Sussex launched TradeKind, a free local trade marketplace with no lead fees or commission. Sustainable Policy Debate (U.S.): Mankato, Minnesota is weighing a 10-cent carry bag fee, with concerns about added burden on small businesses. AI for SMEs (South Africa): Huawei rolled out eKit “4+10+N” SME intelligence solutions via partners, targeting faster last-mile adoption. Startup Support (India): Google announced the 2026 Google Play Accelerator India cohort—20 equity-free AI-powered app startups.