A day of sharp contrasts in the Asia-Pacific begins underground in Laos, where rescuers pulled four more men from a flooded cave, taking the total saved to five as divers press on through treacherous, muddy tunnels in search of two still missing. Above ground, regional security tensions remain in focus: at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to calm Pacific allies, stressing Washington’s long-term commitment while softening his rhetoric on China after earlier warnings drew backlash from Beijing. Even so, the harder edge of U.S. policy was visible elsewhere, with American forces reportedly disabling another merchant ship trying to breach the blockade of Iranian ports. In Australia, economic anxiety deepened as falling house prices left tens of thousands of first-home buyers exposed under a low-deposit scheme, underscoring how quickly policy ambition can collide with market reality.