Bangladesh Investment: Japan’s Marubeni is exploring new investments in Bangladesh, including manufacturing and higher-value jute products, with the government promising to ease business procedures and support diversification. Handloom Spotlight: Odisha weavers took Sambalpuri, Khandua and other regional textiles to Bhubaneswar Fashion Week, with 14 women artisans walking the runway in their own creations. Worker Welfare: Sightsavers India launched a programme to screen weavers’ eyesight and provide spectacles, aiming to reach one million people by 2030 and protect livelihoods that depend on precise vision. Materials Innovation: A University of Sheffield project has won funding to use proteins sourced partly from wool and silk waste to grow crystals for advanced materials. Circularity: The growing commercial thrift market is intensifying competition for charity shops, while making secondhand clothing a more mainstream part of the textile-reuse economy. Industry Pressures: Pakistan’s textile sector is warning against a proposed import levy, and a Scottish textile company has entered administration owing £1.5 million.