What looked like a nuisance adware issue inside managed IT environments has emerged as a broader cyber-security warning, after Huntress said software signed by Dragon Boss Solutions LLC exposed more than 25,000 endpoints to a supply-chain style compromise through an insecure update mechanism that could have been hijacked for the price of a cheap domain registration. Huntress published its findings on April 14, saying the software was […]
Chevron has struck new agreements with Venezuela to expand oil production in the Orinoco Belt, tightening its focus on the country’s vast extra-heavy crude reserves at a time when Caracas is trying to pull foreign capital back into its energy sector and Washington has loosened some restrictions on dealings with the country’s oil industry. The agreements, reached with state oil company PDVSA, give Chevron a larger position […]
MSBuild, a legitimate Microsoft build tool embedded in many Windows and developer environments, is drawing renewed scrutiny after fresh threat research showed how attackers are using it to run malicious code in memory, evade signature-based defences and blend into normal system activity. Security researchers and defenders say the technique is not new, but its continued effectiveness underlines how cyber intrusions are shifting away from obvious malware files […]
Federal investigators in the United States, working with Indonesian police, have dismantled the W3LL phishing network, a cybercrime operation that authorities say enabled the theft of thousands of account credentials and supported more than $20 million in attempted fraud. The action, led by the FBI’s Atlanta field office, included the seizure of infrastructure linked to the service and the detention in Indonesia of an alleged developer identified […]
A tanker under U. S. sanctions has passed through the Strait of Hormuz despite Washington’s new maritime restrictions around Iranian ports, raising fresh questions over how tightly the measures can be enforced and how much disruption they will inflict on a waterway central to global energy trade. Shipping data cited by Reuters showed the vessel, Rich Starry, moving through the chokepoint on Tuesday after loading methanol at […]
GitHub and Jira notification emails are being hijacked by threat actors who have found a way to turn trusted software alerts into convincing phishing lures, using the platforms’ own mail systems to slip past many of the checks that companies rely on to stop malicious messages. Security researchers say the tactic marks a notable shift in email abuse because the messages are not crudely spoofed copies […]
Mirax, an emerging Android banking trojan being marketed as a malware-as-a-service operation, is drawing attention from mobile security researchers after reports that it can do more than steal banking credentials. Analysts say the malware can remotely control infected phones and repurpose them as residential proxy nodes, giving cybercriminals a way to hide malicious traffic behind ordinary consumer devices while pursuing financial fraud across Europe. The threat stands […]
Michael Saylor’s Strategy has expanded its Bitcoin stockpile by another $1 billion, buying 13,927 coins between April 6 and April 12 and taking its total holdings to 780,897 Bitcoin, according to a filing lodged on April 13. The latest purchase was made at an average price of $71,902 per coin, while the company’s average cost across its entire treasury now stands at $75,577. Bitcoin treasury push gathers […]
Rockstar Games has confirmed that a data breach affected company information, saying a “limited amount of non-material company information” was accessed through a third-party incident and that the episode has had no impact on its operations or players. The disclosure lands at a sensitive moment for one of the world’s most closely watched game developers, with Grand Theft Auto VI still one of the industry’s biggest commercial […]
The early-April figures reinforce a broader pattern already visible through the first quarter. South Korea, one of the world’s most closely watched export economies because of its central role in memory chips, displays and consumer electronics, has been benefiting from a steep recovery in semiconductor sales after a prolonged industry downturn. Reuters reported at the end of February that the country’s chip exports had jumped 160.9 per cent in that month alone, passing $20 billion for a third straight month as AI investment and stronger memory prices lifted demand.
Semiconductors were again the main engine in the latest 10-day release. Chip exports surged 152 per cent from a year earlier, underscoring how heavily South Korea’s trade performance is now tied to data-centre investment, high-bandwidth memory demand and the wider AI build-out led by large technology firms. That strength has helped offset a less even backdrop in other parts of the economy, where investment, household demand and external policy risks remain more mixed.
The export rebound matters well beyond monthly trade headlines. South Korea’s central bank raised its 2026 growth forecast to 2.0 per cent in February and signalled that a chip-led upswing was giving policymakers more room to hold interest rates steady while watching inflation and financial stability risks. Reuters also reported this month that central bank officials see strong semiconductor exports and an extra budget as factors easing downward pressure on growth, even as won weakness and higher energy costs complicate the inflation outlook.
Factory data has pointed in the same direction. A Reuters report on S&P Global survey findings showed South Korea’s manufacturing activity expanded in January at the fastest pace in nearly a year and a half, helped by stronger export orders from China, North America and Europe. Manufacturers reported improving optimism as orders strengthened in sectors such as autos and semiconductors, indicating that the recovery is not only statistical but also visible in production and order books.
Still, the trade picture is not free of risk. South Korea remains highly exposed to swings in global demand, to US trade policy and to supply disruptions linked to tensions in the Middle East. Reuters polling before the March trade data showed imports rising sharply as higher oil prices pushed up the energy bill, even while exports surged on semiconductor strength. That combination can support headline trade values, but it also leaves the economy vulnerable to a renewed squeeze from commodity inflation and currency volatility.
Another uncertainty lies in concentration. The same chip boom that is lifting exports also raises dependence on a narrow cluster of products and companies. South Korea’s trade resilience is being powered largely by memory and advanced semiconductor demand, especially products linked to AI servers. Investment plans such as SK Hynix’s announcement in February of 21.6 trillion won in new facilities show confidence in long-term demand, but they also underline how central the semiconductor cycle has become to the country’s broader growth model.
For now, the momentum remains hard to ignore. Reuters polling ahead of the March data had already pointed to the fastest export growth in nearly five years, with shipments to the United States and China both showing strong gains alongside the semiconductor surge. Monday’s early-April figures suggest that pace has carried into the second quarter, strengthening the case that South Korea’s exporters are entering another period of outsized performance after a weak stretch in 2025.
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai AD Ports Group is accelerating its effort to turn itself from a Gulf port operator into a broader trade and logistics network, using expansion in Egypt, Africa, Pakistan and the Mediterranean to win a larger role in global supply chains as companies seek more resilient routes and integrated cargo services. For the Abu Dhabi-based group, 2025 marked another year of record financial growth. […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi Arabia has restored full pumping capacity on its East-West pipeline to about seven million barrels a day, reactivating a strategic export artery that has become central to global crude flows during the disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The Ministry of Energy said operational and technical teams brought the line back to full strength within days of attacks that had […]
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 […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Capital, liquidity and asset quality at the UAE’s largest banks remain robust, according to Dubai-based Al Ramz Capital, which says a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran has removed an immediate geopolitical overhang that had weighed on sentiment, valuations and foreign risk appetite. The firm said direct exposure to sectors most sensitive to conflict, including real estate, hospitality, aviation, transport and trade finance, […]
Scientists tracking airborne particles over agricultural land in Oklahoma have identified medium-chain chlorinated paraffins, or MCCPs, in the atmosphere, marking what researchers describe as the first airborne detection of the chemical group in the Western Hemisphere. The finding has drawn attention because MCCPs are toxic industrial compounds under growing international scrutiny, and the researchers suspect the material may have reached the air from fertiliser made with treated […]
By K Raveendran Election regulation in India is trapped in a contradiction that has become harder to defend with each passing cycle. The Election Commission continues to apply old assumptions about influence, persuasion and voter exposure to a media and political environment that has been transformed by technology, scale and the permanent visibility of public […]
The article Election Commission Applies 19th Century Thinking To 21st Century Realities appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
Dubai’s Al Mamzar Corniche development has moved into its closing stretch, with construction reaching 88% completion as the emirate pushes ahead with one of its most closely watched public beach upgrades. Dubai Municipality said the scheme is progressing in line with delivery schedules and is intended to open as a new coastal destination combining leisure, sport and community facilities. The project has drawn particular attention for including […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Sharjah has added another bet on family housing with the launch of Sukoon, a gated villa and townhouse community by Sanzen Developments that is being pitched less as a leisure-led estate and more as a neighbourhood built around daily wellbeing. Construction formally began on 7 April, with the developer saying the AED1.5 billion project will deliver 859 homes across four phases in a […]
The seven-member Monetary Policy Board said uncertainty had intensified and judged it appropriate to hold the base rate while assessing how the conflict, financial-market volatility and foreign-exchange swings feed through to the domestic economy. The central bank’s statement made clear that the policy dilemma has sharpened: inflation risks are moving up even as growth is expected to slow more than earlier forecast.
Governor Rhee Chang-yong, speaking after what Reuters reported was his final press conference before his term ends on April 20, said supply-side shocks from the Middle East were especially damaging for Asian economies reliant on imported energy. That matters acutely for South Korea, where policymakers are trying to prevent a renewed inflation cycle without choking activity at a time when sentiment has softened and some industries are already facing production constraints.
The rate hold had been widely anticipated. Reuters said all 31 economists in its poll expected no move at this meeting, reflecting a market consensus that the central bank had little room to ease and few grounds to tighten immediately. Instead, the decision underscored how monetary authorities in export-driven Asian economies are being forced to navigate a narrow path between external shocks and domestic fragilities.
At the centre of the debate is inflation. Official data showed consumer prices in March rose 2.2 per cent from a year earlier, up from 2.0 per cent in February, while core inflation, which excludes food and energy, also stood at 2.2 per cent. The Bank of Korea said petroleum prices had risen sharply and noted that short-term inflation expectations among the public edged up to 2.7 per cent. It now expects consumer inflation this year to exceed its February projection of 2.2 per cent by a meaningful margin, with core inflation also likely to come in above the earlier 2.1 per cent forecast.
That shift is important because the central bank had been able for months to argue that price growth was gradually stabilising near target. The worsening external backdrop has disrupted that narrative. The board said inflation is likely to move into the mid- to upper-2 per cent range as global oil prices and supply constraints lift import costs, though government price-stabilisation measures may soften part of the blow. Reuters reported that Seoul’s fuel-price caps, introduced last month for the first time in decades, helped restrain March inflation but are unlikely to provide a lasting shield if energy costs stay elevated.
Growth, meanwhile, is losing momentum. The central bank said the economy had been supported by strong exports, firmer consumption and continued job gains, but warned that downside pressure had increased since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict. It expects expansion this year to come in below the 2.0 per cent forecast issued in February, as higher energy prices and supply bottlenecks offset support from semiconductor exports and a supplementary budget. That combination leaves the Bank of Korea confronting an uncomfortable form of policy tension: weaker activity alongside stronger inflation.
The won has added to the pressure. The central bank said the currency weakened into the 1,500-won range against the US dollar as investors moved into safer assets and foreign investors sold domestic equities, before recovering some ground after a temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran. A softer currency raises the local-currency cost of imported fuel and raw materials, complicating the inflation picture and limiting the case for any near-term rate cuts.
Financial markets reflected that cautious tone. Reuters reported that South Korea’s policy-sensitive three-year treasury bond futures erased early gains during the governor’s press conference, suggesting investors interpreted the message as more alert to inflation risks than to immediate growth support. Analysts cited by Reuters said the rebound in energy prices and the won’s weakness have narrowed the central bank’s room for manoeuvre, even if domestic demand still needs close watching.
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 […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai Police said it helped dismantle the Lyons Clan, a violent Scottish criminal network accused of drug trafficking and money laundering across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, marking the UAE’s most clearly defined public role yet in the multinational case that has unfolded over the past two weeks. Authorities in Dubai, working with the Ministry of Interior, said the force arrested a […]
Gunzilla Games, the studio behind blockchain-linked shooter Off The Grid and the new owner of Game Informer, has been accused by current and former workers of failing to pay salaries for months, opening a fresh controversy around one of gaming’s more closely watched independent publishers. Multiple reports published on April 8 and April 9 said staff and contractors alleged they had gone unpaid since late 2025, while […]
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 […]
US unemployment benefit claims rose last week but stayed at levels that still point to a labour market holding together, even as investors and policymakers brace for a March inflation reading that could complicate the Federal Reserve’s next move. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased by 16,000 to 219,000 in the week ended April 4, according to Labor Department data released on Thursday. The prior week’s […]
