Iraq has officially expressed its interest in joining the BRICS alliance in 2026 ahead of the upcoming summit. This development signifies a potential expansion for the economic bloc, which currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Separately, Alphabet has launched two new AI models: Nano Banana 2 Lite and Gemini Omni Flash. These advancements in artificial intelligence are expected to bolster the company's position in the competitive AI landscape and have a positive impact on Google's stock performance, potentially reigniting a $400 target.