A frantic hunt for oil cargoes that can be delivered at once has tightened the global crude market, even as headline prices have swung with every turn in the fragile ceasefire around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Behind the moves in futures, traders, refiners and state buyers have been competing for physical barrels from the North Sea, West Africa, the United States and anywhere else supplies […]
Two empty supertankers heading towards the Persian Gulf reversed course near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, underscoring how quickly shipping sentiment can turn when diplomacy falters in one of the world’s most sensitive energy corridors. The movements came as talks between Washington and Tehran in Islamabad ended without agreement, leaving a fragile ceasefire under strain and traders, shipowners and refiners facing renewed uncertainty over access to […]
Police in San Francisco arrested a 20-year-old man after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the home of OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, in an attack that was followed within an hour by threats against the company’s headquarters, according to police statements and OpenAI. No injuries were reported, but the episode has sharpened concerns over the security risks facing senior technology executives as arguments over artificial intelligence […]
Hackers posing as trusted messaging and communications services have mounted a sustained surveillance campaign across the Middle East and North Africa, using fake app pages, phishing domains and a custom Android spyware known as ProSpy to target journalists, activists and political figures, according to a joint body of research published this week by Lookout, Access Now and SMEX. The operation, active since at least 2022 and documented […]
GitHub Copilot Chat has been shown to carry a serious prompt-injection weakness that allowed a researcher to demonstrate how secrets, private source code and other sensitive repository data could be siphoned out of trusted development workflows without planting malware in the victim’s environment. The issue, dubbed CamoLeak, was disclosed by Legit Security researcher Omer Mayraz after he said he found it in June 2025, reported it through […]
More than 5,000 Rockwell Automation and Allen-Bradley programmable logic controllers are exposed to the public internet, sharpening concern across United States critical infrastructure as federal agencies warn that Iran-affiliated cyber actors are actively targeting such devices. Security researchers at Censys said they identified 5,219 internet-exposed hosts globally that responded as Rockwell or Allen-Bradley systems, with nearly three quarters of them located in the United States. The warning […]
Millions of Android users, including a large share of cryptocurrency wallet customers, were exposed to a software supply-chain weakness after a flaw in the widely used EngageSDK library was found to allow hostile apps on the same device to break through normal app boundaries and reach sensitive data. The issue centred on an “intent redirection” vulnerability inside the third-party Android kit, which is used for push notifications […]
Commercial artificial intelligence tools were used as operational components in a cyber campaign that hit nine Mexican government organisations, according to a full technical report published by Gambit Security, which said the intrusion ran from late December 2025 to mid-February 2026 and exposed hundreds of millions of citizen records. The report says Anthropic’s Claude Code generated about three-quarters of the remote command activity, while OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 was […]
Three ransomware operations — Qilin, Akira and DragonForce — were behind 40% of the 672 attacks logged worldwide in March, according to Check Point Research, highlighting how a criminal market that still looks fragmented on the surface is being pulled by a smaller group of high-output players. Check Point said Qilin accounted for 20% of published attacks, Akira 12% and DragonForce 8%, while 47 separate groups were […]
Google has begun rolling out a new Chrome security feature designed to blunt one of the most effective tools used by cybercriminals to hijack online accounts: stolen session cookies. The protection, called Device Bound Session Credentials, is entering public availability for Windows users in Chrome 146, with expansion to macOS slated for a later release. Google says the system is intended to make stolen authentication cookies far […]
The meeting carried weight beyond bilateral symbolism. Qatar is India’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas and a major source of liquefied petroleum gas, making the Gulf state central to India’s fuel security at a time when shipping risks and production interruptions have tightened markets. New Delhi’s outreach came as it sought assurances on supply after weeks of strain across West Asian energy routes and amid concern over the effect of regional instability on domestic fuel availability and industrial consumption.
Doha’s message was also framed by diplomacy. The official Indian statement said the ministers welcomed the two-week ceasefire agreed on April 8 and underlined the need for an early end to disruption in global energy supplies. It added that Puri conveyed greetings and a message of solidarity from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Qatar’s leadership, reflecting how the energy relationship is now closely tied to broader strategic engagement covering trade, investment and regional stability.
For India, the stakes are immediate. The country depends on imports for about half of its natural gas needs, and the supply shock has already exposed vulnerabilities in infrastructure and procurement. GAIL’s finance director said this week that the Dabhol LNG terminal in Ratnagiri was operating at less than half its 5 million-tonnes-a-year capacity because of constrained global supplies. Hindustan Petroleum’s Chhara LNG terminal in Gujarat has also faced difficulties after missing two cargoes in March and April that were expected from Qatar via ADNOC Trading.
The background to the Doha talks is a sharp deterioration in regional energy logistics. Reuters reported on April 8 that QatarEnergy was preparing to restart LNG production after attacks in March forced stoppages at facilities in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed. Two of three trains at QELNG North 1 had been restarted, but a full return depended on vessels being able to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most sensitive energy chokepoints. The same disruption has inflated spot prices and increased anxiety among large importers across Asia.
That makes Qatar’s long-term importance to India even clearer. In February 2024, QatarEnergy and Petronet LNG signed their largest single LNG supply agreement, under which Qatar will deliver 7.5 million metric tonnes a year from 2028 to 2048. Reuters reported at the time that Qatar planned to lift LNG liquefaction capacity to 126 million tonnes a year by 2027, up from 77 million, as it sought to strengthen its role in Asian and European markets. The scale of that agreement gives India a measure of stability, but it also underlines how deeply its gas strategy remains linked to a single Gulf supplier.
That dependence has advantages and risks. Qatar has earned a reputation for contractual reliability and remains among the lowest-cost LNG producers in the world, qualities prized by importers facing volatile spot markets. At the same time, the events of March and April have shown that even long-established energy corridors can be shaken by military escalation, damage to infrastructure and pressure on maritime routes. For policymakers in New Delhi, that is likely to sharpen interest in diversification through additional long-term contracts, more storage, broader sourcing and faster domestic gas infrastructure expansion.
India’s longer-term energy ambitions add another layer to the relationship. The government has repeatedly said it wants to raise the share of natural gas in the energy mix to 15 per cent by 2030, from just over 6 per cent at present. That target cannot be met without dependable imported LNG, even as the country pushes renewables, domestic gas output and cleaner urban fuels. Reliable Qatari supply therefore remains integral not only to short-term energy security, but also to India’s broader transition strategy and industrial planning.
Agentic AI is moving from pilot projects into mainstream corporate workflows, forcing boards and security teams to treat these systems less like software features and more like outside operators with broad access to data, tools and decisions. What changes the risk profile is not only the model itself, but the autonomy layered around it: agents can plan tasks, call other applications, handle credentials and act across systems […]
A Microsoft-tracked cybercrime group is using adversary-in-the-middle techniques to hijack Microsoft 365 sessions, bypass multifactor authentication and reroute employee pay into attacker-controlled bank accounts, in what researchers describe as a geographically focused campaign against users in Canada. Microsoft said the actor, tracked as Storm-2755, combined search-result poisoning, fake sign-in pages and session replay to move from account takeover to payroll fraud, causing direct financial loss for at […]
A newly disclosed technique dubbed “sockpuppeting” has sharpened concerns over how easily some artificial intelligence systems can be pushed past their safety controls, after researchers showed that a short output-prefix prompt inserted through an application programming interface can drive several leading open-weight models to produce harmful material they would normally refuse. The work, published in January by researchers at the University of Amsterdam, describes the method […]
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Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi supply lines face deeper strain Attacks on Saudi energy facilities have knocked about 600,000 barrels per day from the kingdom’s oil production capacity and cut throughput on the East-West Pipeline by roughly 700,000 bpd, according to Saudi state media citing an Energy Ministry official, in a blow to the world’s top oil exporter at a time when its western pipeline route has […]
A critical security flaw in the Ninja Forms File Uploads add-on has put thousands of WordPress sites at risk, with researchers warning that attackers can exploit the bug without logging in and, in the worst case, gain remote code execution on a vulnerable server. The issue affects all versions up to and including 3.3.26, while version 3.3.27 has been identified as the fully patched release after an […]
Amazon Web Services has patched three high-severity vulnerabilities in its open-source Research and Engineering Studio platform, closing weaknesses that could have allowed authenticated users to run commands on key systems or gain broader permissions inside cloud environments used for scientific and engineering work. The flaws affected AWS Research and Engineering Studio, known as RES, a web-based portal that helps administrators build and manage controlled research and engineering […]
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has sued Colorado in federal court, opening a fresh front in the widening US battle over how far states can go in policing the use of advanced algorithms in decisions affecting jobs, housing, education, healthcare and finance. The complaint, filed on April 9, seeks to block enforcement of Colorado’s Senate Bill 24-205 before it takes effect on June 30, arguing that […]
Russia said on Thursday that President Vladimir Putin had ordered a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine over Orthodox Easter, casting the move as a humanitarian gesture and urging Kyiv to follow suit, even as both sides remained deeply sceptical that any holiday pause would materially change the course of the war. The Kremlin said Russian forces were to halt combat operations from 4 p. m. on Saturday, April […]
Circle Internet Group shares slid nearly 10 per cent on Thursday, closing at $85.10, after a fresh Wall Street “sell” call added to investor unease over the stablecoin issuer’s margins and over criticism of its handling of funds tied to the Drift Protocol exploit. Market data showed the stock ended the session down 9.89 per cent, extending a volatile stretch for one of crypto’s most closely watched […]
China has authorised state oil refiners to draw on commercial crude reserves as the Middle East war enters its sixth week, a move that points to mounting concern in Beijing over supply security, refinery operations and fuel stability in the world’s biggest crude importer. The decision marks a notable shift after reporting in March indicated that access to such reserves had been denied, underscoring how sharply the market backdrop has changed.
The policy adjustment comes as the conflict centred on Iran has disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a route that handled about 20 million barrels a day of crude and oil products in 2025 and remains one of the most critical chokepoints in global energy trade. The International Energy Agency said in March that the war had created the biggest supply disruption in oil market history, with flows through Hormuz falling from around 20 million barrels a day before the war to only a trickle.
For China, the timing is especially sensitive. State refiners have already been grappling with higher feedstock costs, disrupted shipping routes and a scramble for replacement barrels from outside the Gulf. Reuters reported in late March that Sinopec, the country’s largest refiner by capacity, had sought access to state reserves after deciding against buying Iranian crude, while also trimming refinery runs. Earlier reporting in mid-March said China had been building inventories rather than drawing them down, suggesting Beijing initially preferred to preserve stocks.
That stance now appears to have softened. Bloomberg reported on April 10 that authorities had given state refiners the green light to tap commercial reserves. While the precise volume and duration were not publicly disclosed, the move is significant because it signals Beijing is willing to use part of the country’s stock cushion to smooth supplies for domestic processing rather than rely solely on the spot market at a time of exceptional volatility.
The wider market has been under intense pressure even as talk of a ceasefire has briefly cooled futures prices. Reuters reported that physical crude markets in Europe and Africa remained extremely tight despite a temporary truce, with buyers in Asia and Europe competing aggressively for non-Middle East barrels. Another Reuters report said U. S. crude premiums had surged to record highs as importers sought alternatives to Gulf supplies. That matters for China because replacing lost or delayed Middle East cargoes has become more expensive just as refining margins in parts of Asia remain fragile.
Supply conditions deteriorated further this week after attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure cut output capacity by around 600,000 barrels a day and reduced throughput on the East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 barrels a day, according to Saudi state media cited by Reuters. The pipeline is vital because it allows exports to bypass Hormuz via the Red Sea. Damage there narrowed one of the few remaining alternative routes for Gulf producers trying to keep oil moving to Asian customers.
Asian refiners have already felt the strain. Reuters reported that seaborne crude imports into Asia in April were estimated at 19.22 million barrels a day, sharply below the three-month average of 25 million barrels a day. Although refined fuel prices eased after hopes of a truce, the same report said the market was still stressed and that it could take months for normality to return even if shipping improves. For Beijing, releasing commercial stocks is therefore less a dramatic emergency measure than a tactical effort to bridge a period of dislocation.
The decision also reflects China’s domestic balancing act. Authorities have been trying to keep fuel output steady even as weak underlying demand and higher crude costs squeeze refiners. Reuters reported on April 2 that officials had pressed independent refiners to maintain production despite the surge in oil prices and wartime disruption. That suggests Beijing is seeking to avoid sharp swings in fuel availability or industrial costs while preserving broader economic stability.
There is also a geopolitical layer. China has opposed any overtly force-based international response around Hormuz and has pushed for de-escalation at the United Nations, according to Reuters reporting on Security Council negotiations. At the same time, the reserve release shows that Beijing is preparing for a conflict that may not be resolved quickly and for shipping conditions that may remain uncertain even if diplomatic language softens.
Washington and Tehran head into talks in Islamabad this weekend with far more at stake than a temporary pause in fighting, as negotiators face pressure to tackle the entire dispute at once rather than salvage only a narrow ceasefire. Pakistan has helped bring the sides to the table after a two-week truce took shape, but the diplomatic opening is already under strain from disputes over uranium enrichment, […]
A cross-border espionage campaign that targeted journalists, civil society figures and some government-linked entities across the Middle East and North Africa between 2023 and 2024 has been tied by researchers to BITTER, a long-tracked South Asian threat actor, marking what investigators describe as the first documented case linking the group to attacks on civil society in the region. The attribution remains qualified rather than definitive: Lookout said […]
Bitcoin Depot, one of the biggest operators in the crypto ATM business, has disclosed that hackers stole about 50.903 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $3.665 million, after gaining access to parts of its internal technology systems and taking control of credentials linked to its digital asset settlement accounts. The Atlanta-based company said the intrusion was discovered on March 23 and later judged material on April 6, before being […]
