Scientists in Poland have built an ultrathin optical structure that traps infrared light inside a layer about 40 nanometres thick, a result that pushes light confinement far below the scale long regarded as practical for conventional photonic components. The work, led by researchers at the University of Warsaw with partners at Łódź University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology and the Polish Academy of Sciences, uses patterned […]
Greenlogue/AP Solar power capacity across the Gulf Cooperation Council has expanded at an exceptional rate, with a new GCC-Stat report showing average annual growth of 88.1 per cent between 2013 and 2024, underscoring how one of the world’s leading hydrocarbon-producing regions is accelerating investment in cleaner energy while also strengthening climate resilience measures. The same report said electricity generated from solar energy climbed from 0.13 thousand gigawatt-hours […]
Gold prices extended their retreat as investors recalibrated expectations for US interest rates after stronger labour-market signals collided with a worsening conflict in the Middle East, a combination that lifted the dollar, pushed oil higher and revived concerns that inflation could stay stubborn for longer. Spot bullion has come under pressure even as geopolitical risk remains elevated, an unusual pattern that reflects how sharply energy costs and […]
Beijing HyperStrong Technology, one of the country’s biggest battery energy-storage system suppliers, expects shipments to more than double in 2026 as utilities, renewable developers and industrial customers accelerate orders at home and overseas. The company is projecting deliveries of about 70 gigawatt-hours this year, up from 26 gigawatt-hours in 2025, according to comments published on April 6, a jump that underscores how quickly large-scale storage is moving from a supporting technology to a central piece of power infrastructure.
The forecast places HyperStrong among the more aggressive corporate voices in a market that has expanded far beyond its earlier role of smoothing short bursts of solar and wind volatility. Storage is now being bought to stabilise grids, capture cheap midday renewable power, support evening peaks and back up electricity-hungry data centres. Global spending on batteries for power-sector storage is set to reach about $66 billion in 2025, reflecting the scale of investment now flowing into the sector.
HyperStrong’s position helps explain why its target is drawing attention. The company says it has been ranked among the top three global battery energy-storage system integrators and has held a Tier 1 standing with BloombergNEF since 2024. It also says it is the top integrator in China’s mainland market by cumulative installed and contracted project capacity. On its own figures, it has deployed more than 50GWh across more than 400 projects after being founded in 2011.
Demand inside China remains the first pillar of that growth story. The country’s clean-power build-out has been so rapid that storage is becoming essential to absorb output and protect grid reliability. Government data showed wind and solar capacity reached 1.84 billion kilowatts in 2025, accounting for 47.3% of total installed power capacity and overtaking thermal power for the first time. Separate official data showed installed new-type energy storage reached 136 million kilowatts in 2025, after already topping 70 million kilowatts in 2024.
Policy has also shifted in ways that improve the commercial case for storage. Earlier concerns that many projects were being built faster than they could be profitably used have given way to a more market-based system in which capacity payments, peak pricing and wider power-sector reforms are strengthening returns. Analysts have said those changes, combined with subsidies in some provinces, helped turn storage into a far more investable business. That domestic backdrop matters because it gives manufacturers and integrators a large home market from which to scale.
Overseas demand forms the second pillar. Chinese storage suppliers have benefited from orders tied to renewable expansion, ageing grids and the electricity needs of AI-linked data centres in North America, Europe and the Middle East. HyperStrong has been widening its footprint in Europe and said in March that it had projects across 15 countries there. The company has also been visibly pushing its international profile through industry events in Europe and the Americas, a sign that it sees export growth as more than a side business.
Competition, however, is unlikely to ease. China’s battery and clean-tech industries have shown how quickly rapid capacity growth can feed price wars and margin pressure. Rival suppliers ranging from CATL and BYD to other storage specialists are expanding at speed, while trade frictions and policy shifts abroad could complicate the export story. At the same time, technology is moving on: lithium-ion remains dominant for daily cycling, but sodium-ion and longer-duration storage systems are being pushed for specific use cases, especially where mineral costs, safety or duration become bigger factors.
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Huawei has raised its research spending to one of the heaviest levels in the global technology industry, saying it invested CNY192.3 billion in 2025, or roughly $27.8 billion, equal to 21.8% of annual revenue. The figure came with group revenue of CNY880.9 billion and net profit of CNY68 billion, underlining how the Shenzhen-based company is continuing to prioritise long-term technology development even as […]
Artificial intelligence is lowering the cost of cyberattacks across the digital-asset industry and forcing crypto firms to rethink how they protect users, wallets and transaction systems, according to Ledger chief technology officer Charles Guillemet, whose warning lands as the sector grapples with a fresh cycle of major breaches and more sophisticated fraud. Guillemet said AI is making hacks “cheaper and faster”, amplifying a security problem that has […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai du and Ericsson have completed a 5G standalone proof of concept in the UAE that they say could widen the reach of fixed wireless access for households, using millimetre wave technology to deliver faster home broadband over a broader area than is typically associated with high-band spectrum. The companies said the trial was carried out in residential areas and is intended to support […]
Dentsu has appointed Yusuke Kagohara as chief financial officer for Southeast Asia, handing him a mandate that goes beyond traditional finance oversight as the advertising and marketing group tightens governance and prepares for a more disciplined phase of expansion across one of Asia’s most competitive markets. The appointment took effect immediately, and Kagohara will report to Sanjay Bhasin, chief executive for Southeast Asia.
The move lands at a sensitive point for global agency networks. Growth remains available across Southeast Asia, but margins, client expectations and regulatory scrutiny are all sharpening. Dentsu’s own framing makes clear that this is not merely a replacement hire. Company statements and industry reports describe the post as part of a wider effort to deepen strategic and financial discipline and strengthen governance across the regional cluster, which covers Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The business employs more than 4,000 people in the region under what Dentsu describes as a borderless operating model formed in 2023.
Kagohara arrives with a profile that fits that brief. Before this appointment, he served as group head of risks and controls at Dentsu Group Inc., where he worked on internal controls, enterprise risk management and broader governance and remediation efforts. Earlier assignments included chief financial officer and deputy chief financial officer roles in Beijing and at Dentsu Creative China, experience that gave him exposure to large and complex operating environments in Asia. Industry coverage of the appointment has also highlighted his background in corporate strategy, transformation and all-round finance, suggesting the company wanted someone comfortable with both compliance architecture and commercial execution.
That background matters because agency finance chiefs are no longer judged only on forecasting, cost control and reporting. They are increasingly central to how networks integrate acquisitions, police internal controls, price AI-enabled services and defend profitability while clients demand more measurable returns. Dentsu has been signalling this shift at group level for months. Its global management overhaul announced in February was pitched around stronger execution, while its 2025 integrated report and governance materials emphasised capital discipline, internal investment, productivity and the strengthening of leadership and controls.
Southeast Asia gives that challenge extra complexity. The cluster spans fast-growing but highly uneven markets, each with different media structures, regulatory standards, client mixes and digital maturity. Dentsu has described the region as one of the world’s fastest-growing, and its own ad spend outlook has projected Asia Pacific growth ahead of the wider global economy. In December, the company forecast that global advertising spend would rise 5.1 per cent in 2026 to more than $1 trillion, with Asia Pacific remaining the fastest-growing region. For a network trying to convert that momentum into durable earnings, stronger financial control becomes a strategic tool rather than a back-office function.
Bhasin’s comments underline that point. In remarks carried by multiple reports and company-linked posts, he said growth on its own was not enough and that the business needed expansion that was “accountable, resilient, and built to last”. He described Kagohara’s experience in governance, transformation and complex markets as critical to the next stage of Southeast Asia’s development. Kagohara, for his part, said the region stood out for its scale, complexity and ambition, adding that strong fundamentals were universal even when market conditions varied widely. Those comments indicate a leadership view that the next test for Dentsu is not whether Southeast Asia can grow, but whether it can do so with tighter controls and greater consistency across markets.
The timing also follows a change in the seat Kagohara is filling. Trade reports late last month said Bharti Agrawal, who had served as CFO for Southeast Asia at Dentsu, had moved to Monks as chief financial officer for APAC marketing services. That succession gives the new appointment a sharper operational significance, because it suggests Dentsu moved quickly to avoid drift in a role that sits at the centre of planning, compliance and regional coordination.
Coffee Stain has shut its mobile-focused Malmö studio, ending a unit that was set up to bring the company’s irreverent game brands to phones and tablets and leaving fresh questions over how the newly listed Swedish group intends to handle mobile development. The closure was disclosed by Daniel Persson, the company’s vice-president of mobile, who said Coffee Stain had decided to close the office in Malmö and […]
By Saifur Rahman Credit rating agencies have reaffirmed the UAE’s stable economic outlook with Moody’s Investor Services reaffirming Aa2 rating with Stable Outlook on April 3, 2026 – five weeks since the breakout of the war against Iran and the regional uncertainty. Moody’s completed a periodic review of the ratings for the UAE on March 30, 2026, which reaffirmed its previous rating, reflecting continued global confidence in […]
By K Raveendran Passage of the Jan Vishwas amendment bill marks a significant moment in the long and uneven effort to make the legal system less hostile to ordinary citizens. Its importance lies not merely in the number of provisions it has altered, diluted or removed, but in the political and moral signal it sends. […]
The article Law Reform Must Go Further Than Jan Vishwas Bill Passed By Parliament appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
Greenlogue/AP Parched hillsides and a sharply weaker winter rain pattern are putting Darjeeling tea under fresh strain, with planters warning that the famed first flush harvest is again under pressure and that the flavour profile underpinning the tea’s global prestige is becoming harder to preserve. Rainfall deficits across eastern and north-eastern parts of the country were severe through early February, and Darjeeling itself was reported to have […]
3Commas has launched QuantPilot, a new AI-driven crypto trading platform aimed at giving retail traders access to tools more commonly associated with quantitative desks, as competition intensifies among trading software providers seeking to simplify strategy design, market research and execution. The company said the product is now in early access, with a public waiting list open through quantpilot. com, and positioned it as a no-code system that […]
Greenlogue/AP Al-Baha Municipality has launched a one-hour lights-off campaign aimed at cutting carbon emissions and building public support for sustainability, joining a broader national effort to link local action with Saudi Arabia’s environmental targets. The “Al-Baha Green Hour” initiative saw non-essential lighting switched off in 28 buildings and across several neighbourhoods, while safety-related lighting remained in operation. The move, announced on March 28, was framed as both […]
du said its National Hypercloud has received certification and endorsement from the UAE Cybersecurity Council, a step the company described as making it the first compliant, secure and sovereign cloud infrastructure approved for deployment across both public and private sectors in the UAE. The announcement places the telecom group at the centre of a fast-moving contest over where sensitive data is stored, who controls the infrastructure, and […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Uber has launched a five-day promotion in the UAE offering 20 per cent off rides to selected destinations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in a campaign aimed at steering more residents and visitors towards local shopping, dining and cultural districts at a time when consumer-facing businesses are navigating softer momentum across the non-oil economy. The offer began on April 3 and runs until […]
Gold prices surged on 27 March as bargain hunters returned to the market after a sharp pullback earlier in the week, lifting bullion by more than 3% and sending other precious metals higher as investors weighed signs that tensions in the Middle East might ease. Spot gold climbed as much as $4,554.39 an ounce during the session before trading around $4,491.78 by mid-afternoon in New York, while […]
France is preparing targeted support for motorists who rely on their cars for work and daily life after the war involving Iran drove up oil prices and sharpened pressure on household budgets, with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu signalling that broad-based fuel subsidies remain off the table even as pump costs climb. Speaking in Bordeaux, Lecornu said ministers had been asked to draw up measures for people who […]
Washington has doubled to $40 billion a US-backed maritime reinsurance facility aimed at coaxing commercial vessels back through the Strait of Hormuz, as the five-week war with Iran continues to unsettle one of the world’s most important trade arteries. The expanded programme, announced on Friday by the US International Development Finance Corporation and Chubb, adds AIG, Berkshire Hathaway, Travelers, Liberty Mutual, Starr and CNA to the scheme, […]
Wall Street’s rush to treat hyperscalers as the safest way to profit from artificial intelligence is running into a harder question: whether all that spending will generate returns fast enough to justify the cost. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta are pushing capital expenditure to extraordinary levels as they race to build data centres, secure chips and expand cloud capacity, but investors are facing a business model that […]
America’s labour market delivered a stronger headline performance in March, but the underlying picture still points to a jobs backdrop that remains exposed to shocks. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 178,000 and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.3 per cent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, offering relief after February’s revised loss of 133,000 jobs. Yet the rebound was flattered by temporary factors, including the return […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai UAE equities ended Friday on a divided note as investors weighed the prospect of a wider Middle East conflict after U. S. President Donald Trump signalled that Washington could intensify attacks on Iranian infrastructure, a message that added to concern over energy supplies, shipping routes and regional risk appetite. Dubai’s main index fell, while Abu Dhabi’s benchmark edged higher, reflecting a market torn […]
Dubai Municipality has unveiled a Dh150 million plan to install electric-vehicle supercharging facilities across 600 public parking spaces at parks, beaches and recreational sites, in a move aimed at widening access to charging beyond roadsides, malls and fuel stations. The scheme, announced on Friday, is being rolled out with Emarat EV Charging Stations Company, known as UAEV, and its first phase will bring 75 supercharging stations serving […]
BANGKOK, THAILAND – Media OutReach Newswire – 4 April 2026 – ICONSIAM, the global landmark on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, in collaboration with leading public and private sector partners, announces the return of its flagship Water Festival, “ICONSIAM THAICONIC SONGKRAN 2026.” Taking place from April 10–15, 2026 at River Park, this six-day riverside celebration reimagines Thailand’s most beloved New Year festival into a world-class cultural phenomenon—recognized by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Designed as a true THAICONIC experience, the festival seamlessly blends the richness of Thai cultural heritage with contemporary entertainment, offering visitors an extraordinary multi-sensory journey. From exhilarating water festivities along the Chao Phraya River, featuring a spectacular 9-meter Thai elephant water landmark and family-friendly play zones to an unprecedented lineup of 76 top artists, vibrant Songkran parades led by iconic figures, and meaningful merit-making rituals with revered Buddha images and sacred waters from nine renowned temples, the celebration captures the full spirit of Songkran across every dimension. Building on its success in welcoming over 1.4 million visitors last year, ICONSIAM continues to elevate Songkran onto the global stage, reinforcing Thailand’s position as a premier cultural tourism destination while driving economic momentum and tourism growth in the second quarter of the year.
A Global Celebration Driving Thailand’s Festival Economy
Mr. Supoj Chaiwatsirikul, Managing Director of ICONSIAM Co., Ltd., stated, “Songkran remains one of the most significant drivers of Thailand’s festival economy, particularly across the tourism, retail, and hospitality sectors. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, this year’s Songkran period is projected to generate over 30.35 billion baht in domestic economic circulation—an increase of 6% from the previous year, with approximately 500,000 international visitors expected to travel to Thailand, reflecting a 4% year-on-year growth. These figures underscore Songkran’s growing status as a truly global festival and one of Thailand’s most powerful attractions for international travelers.
As a leader in creating iconic, world-class experiences, ICONSIAM continues to elevate ‘ICONSIAM THAICONIC SONGKRAN 2026′ as a landmark celebration that showcases the rare and enduring beauty of Thai cultural traditions. Under the concept of ‘Splashing Fun, Joyful Celebrations, and Auspicious Thai New Year,’ the event brings together the very best of Thailand into one extraordinary riverside experience along the Chao Phraya River. More than a celebration, this festival is a powerful expression of national pride and cultural identity, reinforcing ICONSIAM’s position as a Global Experiential Destination. We are confident that this year’s event will further strengthen Bangkok’s reputation as one of the world’s most compelling cultural destinations, while driving tourism growth and stimulating economic momentum throughout the second quarter of the year.”
Highlights of the “4 THAICONIC Experiences – The Ultimate Songkran Journey”
ExperienceExperience Songkran like never before with an extraordinary water playground inspired by Thailand’s beloved national symbol, the elephant. At its heart stands a spectacular 9-meter-tall water-spraying installation created in collaboration with Dee SweetDrug Studio. The vibrant space also features a dedicated Kids Zone for family-friendly fun, alongside solar-powered drying zones —reflecting ICONSIAM’s commitment to sustainability.
Immerse in an electrifying lineup of Thailand’s top artists and rising stars through dynamic mini concerts and live performances throughout the six-day celebration. Artists include Tle–Firstone, TeeTee–Por, Auau-Save, Daou–Offroad, KT Kratae, New Country, Sornram Namphet, and more.
Witness a magnificent Songkran parade that brings Thailand’s cultural legacy to life through elaborately designed floats inspired by historical eras. For the first time, cultural icons LingOrm, a popular Thai actress duo, and 4EVE, Thailand’s leading T-pop girl group, embody the Songkran Goddess “Rakshasadevi,” reinterpreting Thai tradition through a contemporary global lens. Visitors can further explore authentic Thai culture through traditional performances and regional culinary delights at SOOKSIAM, alongside over 170 dining options across ICONSIAM.
Embrace the spiritual essence of Songkran through a revered Buddha bathing ritual at River Park. Enhanced with holy water from nine esteemed temples across Thailand, this sacred ceremony symbolizes prosperity, renewal, and auspicious beginnings for the year ahead.
A Must-Visit Songkran Destination in Bangkok
Seamlessly blending cultural authenticity, rich traditions, and large-scale entertainment, ICONSIAM continues to redefine Songkran as a truly global celebration.
Join us at “ICONSIAM THAICONIC SONGKRAN CELEBRATION 2026,” where Thailand’s most cherished tradition is brought to life in an unforgettable riverside experience of water, culture, and joy—set against the iconic Chao Phraya River from April 10–15, 2026, with free entry for all visitors. As part of the celebration, international visitors dressed in traditional Thai attire will receive a 300-baht gift card, adding a special touch to their cultural experience.
For more information, please call 1338 or visit Facebook: ICONSIAM.
Hashtag: #ICONSIAMSongkran #ICONSIAM #SongkranFestival2026 #GlobalFestival #Thailand
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
