A sweeping overhaul of the UAE’s civil law takes effect on June 1, lowering the age of legal adulthood to 18 and reshaping how residents, families, companies and young people handle contracts, assets, liabilities and disputes. Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 on the Civil Transactions Law replaces Federal Law No. 5 of 1985, the country’s four-decade-old Civil Code. The new framework is one of the most […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Tehran has warned it will reject any settlement with Washington unless the agreement delivers verifiable protection for the rights and interests of its people, sharpening the terms around negotiations aimed at ending the conflict with the United States. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s Parliament speaker and a central figure in talks with Washington, said no agreement would be approved without certainty that Iran had […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai UAE real gross domestic product expanded 6.2 per cent in 2025 to AED1.9 trillion, underscoring the country’s strongest evidence yet that diversification is becoming the central driver of national output rather than a supporting pillar. The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre said non-oil GDP rose 6.8 per cent to AED1.5 trillion, outpacing headline growth and reinforcing the shift towards trade, finance, construction, manufacturing, […]
Playstack is set to come under the majority ownership of Integrated Media Company in a deal that values the Balatro publisher at about £125 million, marking one of the more closely watched transactions in the independent games market this year. TruFin, the London-listed fintech and investment group that owns 84.5 per cent of Playstack, has agreed to sell its holding to VantageCo Limited, an indirect wholly owned […]
The state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation increased the price of 92-octane petrol to 434 Sri Lankan rupees a litre from 410 rupees, while auto diesel rose to 407 rupees from 392 rupees. The revision adds to household and transport costs at a time when the island’s recovery from its 2022 debt default remains exposed to global energy shocks, a weaker currency and pressure on public finances.
The adjustment follows the IMF executive board’s approval of fresh funding under Sri Lanka’s $2.9 billion Extended Fund Facility, agreed in early 2023 after the country ran out of foreign exchange and suspended repayment on about $46 billion in external debt. The programme requires cost-reflective pricing for fuel and electricity, stronger revenue collection, improved governance and protection for vulnerable households as subsidies are gradually unwound.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has told the IMF that fuel subsidies will be phased out by September. The pledge marks a politically sensitive step for a government facing pressure from consumers, transport operators and small businesses that remain scarred by the shortages and inflationary spiral of 2022. Fuel pricing has become a central test of the administration’s ability to maintain reform commitments without provoking a deeper squeeze on living standards.
Sri Lanka imports all its petroleum requirements and also relies on imported coal for part of its electricity generation. That exposure has sharpened the impact of turmoil in the Middle East, where higher crude prices and disruption risks have increased the cost of energy imports. Petrol and diesel prices have climbed sharply since late February, while electricity tariffs have also been raised as part of the effort to prevent losses at state-owned utilities from spilling into the budget.
The price increase comes amid renewed inflation concerns. Headline inflation rose to 5.4 per cent in April from 2.2 per cent in March, reversing part of the disinflation that had helped stabilise the economy after the crisis. Fuel and transport costs are expected to feed into food distribution, public transport fares and logistics charges, with lower-income households likely to feel the effects first.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka responded to the pressure last week with an unexpected 100-basis-point increase in its benchmark policy rate, lifting the overnight policy rate to 8.75 per cent from 7.75 per cent. The move was designed to contain inflation expectations, limit rupee depreciation and support external stability, though it also raised concerns that tighter credit could slow investment and consumption.
Foreign reserves fell 3.8 per cent in April to $6.7 billion, reflecting higher import costs and currency pressure. The IMF disbursement is expected to help rebuild reserve buffers, but the broader challenge remains keeping the external account stable while meeting fuel, fertiliser, medicine and food import needs. A sustained rise in energy prices could widen the import bill and complicate the government’s debt-restructuring path.
Economic growth is projected to slow to about 3 per cent this year after expanding 5 per cent in 2025. Tourism, remittances and improved fiscal management have supported the rebound, but higher interest rates and energy costs could weigh on activity. Businesses that depend on transport and electricity are likely to pass on part of the cost increase, while exporters face mixed effects from a weaker rupee and higher domestic input prices.
The fuel adjustment also revives debate over the balance between reform and relief. Cost-recovery pricing is intended to stop Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the power sector from accumulating losses that would eventually require budget support. Critics argue that faster price transmission can deepen hardship unless social protection systems are strengthened and targeted cash transfers reach households most exposed to rising food, transport and utility bills.
Samsung Electronics has begun shipping samples of its HBM4E memory chips to global customers, moving faster than rivals in the race to supply the next generation of high-bandwidth memory for artificial intelligence servers. The 12-layer HBM4E product delivers bandwidth of up to 3.6 terabytes per second per stack, with stable pin speeds of 14 gigabits per second and scalability to 16 gigabits per second. The chip is […]
Congo has widened Ebola testing in its eastern provinces after laboratory results showed about 260 positive samples, sharpening concern that the outbreak’s true scale remains unclear despite intensified surveillance. Health authorities are working through expanded diagnostics, case tracing and community screening after suspected infections crossed 1,000, with more than 220 deaths still under investigation. The outbreak, declared on 15 May in Ituri province, has spread into North […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai A sweeping overhaul of the UAE’s civil law takes effect on June 1, lowering the age of legal adulthood to 18 and changing how contracts, compensation claims, civil disputes and legal obligations are interpreted across the country. Federal Decree-Law No 25 of 2025 on the Civil Transactions Law replaces the 1985 framework that has underpinned much of the UAE’s private law system for […]
Traffic to DuckDuckGo’s AI-free search page has more than tripled after Google outlined a broader artificial intelligence overhaul of Search, signalling a sharp user reaction against answer-first search tools and strengthening the appeal of services that promise more control over automated summaries. The privacy-focused search company said visits to its No AI page crossed three times their pre-announcement level after Google set out plans to expand AI-powered […]
Thousands of households across southeast England were left without water or struggling with low pressure after record-breaking temperatures collided with a dry spring, placing renewed scrutiny on the resilience of Britain’s ageing water network and the performance of South East Water. The disruption reached more than 20,000 people at its height, with about 8,000 affected in Whitstable, Kent, where residents queued for bottled water and some businesses […]
Authorities in northern Italy have barred two July concerts by Kanye West and Travis Scott in Reggio Emilia, citing risks to public order and security after objections from civic and Jewish community groups over the planned appearances. The decision by Reggio Emilia prefect Salvatore Angieri halts two of the most prominent events planned for the Pulse of Gaia Festival at the RCF Arena, one of Europe’s largest […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Washington has tightened its warning to shipping, energy and insurance companies, saying US-linked parties cannot seek safe-passage arrangements from Iran for vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz, even when no money changes hands. The updated position, issued on 29 May, broadens earlier sanctions guidance that focused on tolls, donations, offsets, digital assets and other indirect payments demanded in connection with passage through […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Oman has launched a $1 billion lithium-ion battery materials project in Sohar Free Zone, marking one of the Sultanate’s most significant moves into the clean-energy manufacturing supply chain and deepening its push to attract advanced industrial investment beyond oil and gas. The project centres on an anode materials production plant with planned annual capacity of up to 200,000 tonnes, a scale that places […]
BGB regained upward momentum as Bitget’s latest wave of trading incentives drew renewed attention to the exchange token, lifting it nearly 7 per cent intraday after months of muted performance across much of the first half of 2026. The token traded around $2.11, with daily turnover above $22m and a market value of about $1.48bn, supported by a circulating supply of roughly 700m BGB. The move placed […]
Bitcoin remained under pressure near the $74,000 level after on-chain signals pointed to weakening demand from large holders, raising the risk that the world’s biggest cryptocurrency could stay locked in a bear phase well into 2027. The token traded around $73,900 on Saturday after a volatile week in which it fell close to $72,600, its weakest level since mid-April. The move followed a sharp risk-off turn across […]
Hyperliquid is drawing fresh attention from institutional crypto investors after Grayscale said the decentralised trading platform could evolve into a major financial services business as blockchain-based markets push deeper into derivatives, spot trading and real-world asset exposure. The digital asset manager’s assessment places Hyperliquid among the most closely watched platforms in decentralised finance, citing its growth in perpetual futures, expanding product range and token-linked economics as signs […]
Cash App has opened USDC payments to eligible customers, giving one of America’s largest consumer finance apps a stablecoin payments rail while keeping Bitcoin at the centre of its digital assets strategy. The Block-owned platform now allows users to send and receive USD Coin without managing a separate stablecoin wallet. USDC sent into Cash App is converted automatically into US dollars, while outgoing payments can be made […]
A malicious NuGet package posing as a Sicoob software development kit has exposed sensitive banking authentication data, intensifying concerns over attacks that exploit trust in open-source developer ecosystems. The package, published as Sicoob. Sdk, was presented as a C# SDK for integrations with Sicoob, one of Brazil’s largest cooperative financial systems. Versions 2.0.0 to 2.0.4 were found to collect client IDs, PFX passwords and base64-encoded PFX certificate […]
Russia-linked cyber operators tracked as GREYVIBE have used generative artificial intelligence tools including ChatGPT and Google Gemini to widen cyber-espionage operations against Ukraine-linked targets, signalling a shift in how lower-skilled threat groups can build lures, malware and infrastructure at speed. The activity, active since at least August 2025, has targeted military, government, civilian and business-related organisations through phishing emails, fake verification pages, fraudulent websites and custom malware. […]
Global energy markets face mounting strain heading into the northern hemisphere summer as the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz threatens fuel availability, price stability and wider economic resilience across oil-importing economies. Warnings from the International Monetary Fund, the International Energy Agency and the World Bank have sharpened concern that emergency inventories are being depleted at an unusually rapid pace after weeks of disruption to one […]
Automakers have cut their own discounts on electric vehicles in Germany, signalling a shift in pricing strategy as fresh state support starts to influence the country’s largest clean-car market. The move marks an important turn in Europe’s biggest automotive economy, where manufacturers had relied heavily on rebates after the abrupt end of earlier purchase incentives disrupted demand. Average discounts on the 20 best-selling electric models fell from […]
Google has made Device Bound Session Credentials generally available in Chrome for Windows, widening access to a security feature designed to blunt one of the most common routes into compromised online accounts: stolen session cookies. The move gives Chrome users and organisations a stronger layer of protection after login, where many account takeovers now occur even when passwords and multi-factor authentication have already been passed. DBSC links […]
Cybersecurity teams are racing to patch a Palo Alto Networks authentication-bypass flaw after confirmed exploitation against exposed GlobalProtect deployments raised the risk profile of a vulnerability first disclosed this month. Tracked as CVE-2026-0257, the flaw affects PAN-OS firewalls and Prisma Access environments where GlobalProtect portal or gateway services are configured with authentication override cookies and a vulnerable certificate setup. Successful exploitation allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to […]
Low levels of vitamin B12 and folate may be tied to persistent fatigue and weaker motivation even among adults who appear otherwise healthy, adding a nutritional dimension to a complaint often blamed on poor sleep, stress or heavy workloads. A research team in Japan examined blood markers and self-reported symptoms in about 600 healthy adults and found that higher levels of homocysteine, a compound that tends to […]
