The Economy Markets

Credit Agencies Flag Persistent Fiscal Strains General Government Debt to Reach 116.5% This Year Policy Dilemma Between Fiscal Austerity and Growth Stimulus Standard & Poor’s (S&P), one of the world’s three major credit rating agenc

Taekwang and Aekyung Boards Approve Deal Aekyung Expands Beyond China to U.S.

AUKUS Allies to Invest A$368 Billion Over 30 Years U.S. Leans on Australia—With Fewer Military Constraints—to Counter China U.K.

Samsung Boosts Competitiveness With Major Gains in Logic Die Yields Micron Claims 11 Gbps per Pin With Efficiency-Focused Architecture As HBM4 Nears Commercialization, Is SK Hynix’s Dominance Fading? Competition in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) m

Expansion of Low-Cost Plans in Emerging Markets $11 Billion in Accumulated Losses User Attrition Sparks Defensive Moves OpenAI has launched a new low-cost subscription plan priced at $5 per month in emerging markets—an experiment aimed o

‘Chip War’ Ends, Rare Earth Battle Begins China Tightens Grip on Rare Earths, U.S. Hits Back With 100% Tariffs Showdown Looms Ahead of APEC Summit in Gyeongju U.S.

China’s green transition is driven by private equity, not state subsidies This market-led buildout cuts costs, lowers geopolitical risk, and is nudging emissions down Europe should use compliant Chinese solar and storage now while scaling its own niches and grids

Digital money has arrived at scale Public rails should anchor trust while markets build services Schools and regulators must prepare for multi-rail payments with privacy, openness, and interoperability A single numb

EU firms keep investing despite weaker growth and falling U.S.

Eurozone heterogeneity warps school budgets and learning PISA gaps and uneven rate pass-through show one-size-fits-all reforms fail Index funding to local prices, tier pay and pathways, add cushions, and scale proven pilots

Through 2023, trade decoupling welfare held up as flows re-routed rather than collapsed New tariffs and export controls in 2024–2025 risk delayed cost spikes and shortages by 2026 Protect education: keep open lanes, diversify sourcing, and lean on services

China’s critical minerals weaponization turns midstream processing into global economic leverage Without local refining and skills, countries lose value and bargaining power Build education-led processing hubs to capture margins and reduce chokepoint risk

New Jersey Teen Files Lawsuit Against AI Image Generator Company From Deepfakes to Fake News, AI-Driven Content Sparks Social Backlash “False Information During Disasters?” — Governments Worldwide Step In Real-world cases of harm caused by

U.S.

Hidden Malware in Decentralized and Public Blockchains Developers Tricked into Installing “Malicious Commands” In February, 400,000 Ethereum Stolen from Bybit Evidence has emerged indicating that North Korean hacker groups attempted t

Vivo Regains No.1 Position in China Samsung and Xiaomi Overtaken in India Inflection Point for Samsung’s Business Model The global smartphone market’s center of gravity is shifting toward China.

SK Group Puts Non-Core Subsidiaries on the Market “Big Deal” Sale of SK Siltron Gives Chairman Chey More Room as Legal Risks Ease PEFs Reach Out to Doosan Over Potential SK Siltron Acquisition SK Group is accelerating efforts to streamline its portf

KakaoTalk Faces Backlash Over Ad Expansion NateOn Goes the Opposite Way with “No Ads” Policy A Risky Gamble Amid Losses — Can It Win Over KaTalk Exodus? NateOn, which has recently benefited from the backlash against KakaoTalk’s latest update,

Former Senior Chinese Official Says “China to Maintain 4.5–5% Growth Over Next Five Years” Domestic Demand Remains Weak as Beijing Hesitates on Stimulus Property Slump Deepens Deflation, Leaving Questions Over Path to Recovery A f

OpenAI and Grok’s Expansion into Adult Content Paid Model Aimed at Maximizing Revenue Altman: “We Are Not the Moral Police” Following xAI’s Grok, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has also begun allowing sexually explicit content for adults, marking a striking s