Technology

The headquarters of SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, with a Falcon 9 booster in March 2024.

Explainer

Saudi investors could emerge as key winners from SpaceX’s historic IPO

A new disclosure from Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding ahead of SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut shows just how valuable Elon Musk's relationship with Gulf investors has become.

An Iranian woman walks past a mobile phone shop at the Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026.

Iran partially restores internet after 88-day blackout: What to know

The move comes after a nearly three-month internet blackout, marking it as one of the longest outages ever.

Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP via Getty Images

Oman enters Gulf AI race with new special economic zone in Muscat

Oman will create an AI-focused special economic zone in Muscat governorate.

Flag of Iran on a computer binary codes falling from the top and fading away.

Who is Handala, the hacktivist group US ties to Iranian intelligence?

Handala Hack Team portrays itself as a pro-Palestinian group but is widely believed to be linked to Iranian intelligence.

Latest News

Iran names US tech, finance firms in new Middle East threat list

People sit in a cafe outside the Apple Store in Dubai on May 8, 2025.

Gulf AI deals continues to lure investors despite US-Iran war

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Iran’s longest-ever internet blackout leaves 99% offline: What to know

Traffic rolls along a main throughfare under a banner with images of past and present leaders that reads in Farsi, "Domino fall", as daily life returns to the streets following nationwide protests, in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 19, 2026. Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years. Limited internet access briefly returned in Iran before dropping again, a monitor said January

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

What we know about UAE blocking X accounts accused of misinformation

Attendees take a picture of French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe as he delivers a speech during a visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum on February 10, 2018, on Saadiyat island in the Emirati capital, to launch the French-Emirati "Year of Cultural Dialogue". (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

United Arab Emirates

Saudi Arabia Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (2L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R).

Top Saudi officials travel to China to attend 'Summer Davos' as ties deepen

The kingdom’s economy minister and other top officials will participate in the so-called Summer Davos as China-Saudi ties continue to gain momentum.

An Israeli Nature and Parks Authority employee dives in the Red Sea to remove corals that grew on columns supporting the Europe Asia Pipeline.

Israel to build land fiber-optic cable between Mediterranean, Red seas

Israel's Finance Ministry reached an agreement with an Israel state-owned energy company to construct a multi-optic-fiber between Ashkelon and Eilat, with the goal of turning the country into an international communication corridor.

Sam Altman, US entrepreneur, investor, programmer, and founder and CEO of artificial intelligence company OpenAI, speaks at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv on June 5, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s Netanyahu calls Elon Musk, Sam Altman, pledges national AI strategy

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is currently visiting Israel where he met with President Isaac Herzog but only held a phone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Andrea DiCenzo/Getty Images

Analysis

Gulf space sector attracts private companies, including Bezos' Blue Origin

The Middle East and North Africa is one of the world's most active regions in expressing interest in space technology and travel.

By Salim A. Essaid

An engineer from the Israeli company "Commun.it" uses his expertise in social media commercial analysis to identify networks of fake users.

Iran suspect in cyberattack targeting Israeli shipping, financial firms

Iran has increased its cyberattacks against Israel in the past year, according to several observers.

Workers install electric wires for Iraqi refugees as they set up a new part of the Khazir refugee camp near the Kurdish checkpoint of Aski Kalak, 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, Nov. 21, 2016.

Iraqi Kurdistan's first solar plant helps with power outages, boosts agriculture

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s efforts to increase renewable energy usage come amid persistent electricity shortages throughout Iraq, as well as rising environmental concerns.

Meta-nose smell detector

Analysis

UAE gets whiff of metaverse's smell potential

The United Arab Emirates's metaverse-friendly environment is attracting ambitious projects like Meta-nose, which can identify thousands of smells and convert them into digital data.

By Salim A. Essaid

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner talks with Elon Musk in the Paddock prior to final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 06, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Antisemitism skyrockets on Twitter as Israel's requests go ignored

With the number of antisemitic posts on social media on the rise, Israel’s Foreign Ministry focuses on tracing such dangerous trends and battling them on the platforms they are published on.

People attend the International E-Sport Gamers forum "Next World" in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Sept. 7, 2022.

Saudi Arabia increases stake in EA gaming by 55%

The PIF held 16.01 million shares in Electronic Arts (EA) before Q4 2022, but after Q1 2023, it held 24.81 million shares.

Leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and the presidential candidate of the Main Opposition alliance, speaks to supporters at a rally while campaigning for the presidential election on April 30, 2023 in Izmir, Turkey. CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu is holding campaign rallies across Turkey ahead of the countries May 14, 2023 presidential and parliamentary elections. The Kilicdaroglu-led Nation Alliance is representing six opposition parties in next month's election against Presi

Turkey’s opposition warns against deepfakes ahead of fateful elections

As the presidential race heats up in the lead-up to Turkey's consequential elections, the country’s main opposition party accuses the government of plotting a cyberwar against Erdogan’s top rival.

An illustration picture taken in London on Dec. 30, 2021, shows gold-plated souvenir cryptocurrency coins.

UAE reprimands cryptocurrency firm OPNX

The company, which is planning a transparent crypto platform, allegedly did not receive the necessary regulatory authority from the UAE.

A photo taken on March 31, 2023 in Manta, near Turin, shows a computer screen with the home page of the artificial intelligence OpenAI web site, displaying its chatGPT robot. - Italy's privacy watchdog said on March it had blocked the controversial robot ChatGPT, saying the artificial intelligence app did not respect user data and could not verify users' age. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

In water-starved Middle East, large ChatGPT data centers are a threat

The UAE announced its record-breaking green data center in February of this year. The Moro Hub, created by the digital arm of DEWA, became the largest solar-powered data center, according to Guinness World Records.