Census Rollout: Jordan’s 2026 Population and Housing Census will start Oct. 1 with electronic self-enumeration via the Sanad app (Oct. 1–3), followed by field counting from Oct. 4–31, led by about 12,000 researchers across roughly 1.08M buildings; officials stress confidentiality and identity checks. Water Infrastructure Push: The National Water Carrier is moving from planning toward implementation, with Cabinet approval for a steel pipe manufacturing and insulation plant (up to JD120M) tied to the carrier, plus a separate JV plan where Welspun and Perma-Pipe aim to build local pipe and anti-corrosion coating capacity. Tech & Investment Focus: Crown Prince Hussein met Irbid stakeholders, urging investment and support for young people in areas including technology, tourism, agriculture, and sport. AI in Health: Harvard/MIT’s Global Health Catalyst Summit (Sept. 18–21) will launch an AI-enabled “cancer center in the cloud” model to connect care, research, education, and mentorship across countries. Regional Tech Diplomacy: Xi Jinping’s rare Egypt visit highlights China’s push to deepen ties amid US sanctions risks tied to Iran-linked finance. Digital Preservation Warning: An Internet Archive report says music, video games, and TV news access is vanishing as licensing and shutdowns erase public records.