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United Arab Emirates

August 14, 2025

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Players in action during day one of the Girl Gamer Esports Festival at Meydan Racecourse on Feb. 21, 2020, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Dubai Police to host expanded esports event amid UAE gaming push: What to know

The UAE wants to grow its esports sector as part of its economic diversification plans, mirroring a similar endeavor in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

United Arab Emirates

adnoc

Landmark $18.7B Santos-ADNOC takeover delayed: What to know

Santos said in a statement that the due diligence period, initially set for six weeks, has been extended until Aug. 22.

United Arab Emirates

Nour Al Hassan, founder and CEO of Tarjama (C), and members of the Tarjama team promoting Arabic.AI, the firm's new platform offering business solutions, 2025.

How an Arabic translation firm from Jordan became a Gulf AI player

Tarjama, now based in Dubai, recently raised $15 million to accelerate the rollout of an Arabic-language AI platform for businesses in the Middle East.

GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/AFP via Getty Images

UAE looks to boost Russia trade to $23B despite Trump tariff threats

The two countries signed a trade agreement focusing on several key sectors, including fintech, health care, logistics, transportation and services.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

UAE president heads to Russia to meet Putin as ties grow: What to know

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan (L) at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on October 20, 2024. (Photo by Artem Geodakyan / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ARTEM GEODAKYAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

United Arab Emirates

UAE’s ADNOC inks 10-year gas deal with India: What to know

A picture shows the headquarters of UAE's state oil company ADNOC in Dubai on July 27, 2022.

United Arab Emirates

Despite travel warning, Israel says diplomatic missions in UAE remain open: What to know

The national flags of the United Arab Emirates (L) and Israel are set side by side at the new Israeli consulate of Dubai ahead of a press conference by Israel's foreign minister on June 30, 2021.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Jennifer Gnana

Gulf Correspondent

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Shaibani

At Dubai summit, Syrian FM expresses interest in Baghdad visit

On his second trip to the United Arab Emirates since assuming his role, new Syria Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani stressed the need for good neighborly relations, lifting of sanctions and guaranteed rights for minorities in the country.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

How vulnerable are UAE, Bahrain to Trump's 25% tariff on aluminum?

The United Arab Emirates is the second biggest exporter of aluminum to the United States after Canada, supplying $1.78 billion of the metal to Washington in 2024.

United Arab Emirates

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed receives Irakli Kobakhidze, the prime minister of Georgia, in Abu Dhabi, on Jan. 25, 2025.

Analysis

UAE's South Caucasus ambitions challenged by Georgia crisis: What to know

The UAE, encouraged by its flourishing ties with Azerbaijan, has made inroads in its relations with Baku's strategic partner, Georgia — but the political crisis there is now proving to be a challenge.

Rahim Rahimov

By Rahim Rahimov

In Baku, reporting on Middle East-Caucasus ties

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron talk as they attend an agreement signing ceremony as part of Zayed al-Nahyan's visit to France at the presidential Elysee palace in Paris, on Feb. 6, 2025.

After Rafale jets, UAE's MBZ inks $50B AI deal with France in landmark visit

Only a week after the delivery of the first batch of Rafale F4 fighter jets to Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates will invest billions of dollars in a new AI center in France.

United Arab Emirates

Courtesy of the artist and the Jameel Arts Centre

AL-Monitor Dubai: Palestinian artists' rescued works from Gaza

This week, we survey an exhibition opening at the Jameel Arts Centre presenting over 100 works by the Gaza-based collective Eltiqa.

United Arab Emirates

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Amid DeepSeek competition, Altman visits UAE seeking OpenAI investment

Gulf investors are betting big on AI, with sovereign wealth funds in the UAE and Saudi Arabia making the booming tech sector a core component of their portfolios.

United Arab Emirates

Iranian naval vessels arrive at the Port of Khalid in Sharjah, on Feb. 4, 2024.

UAE welcomes Iran naval delegation & ships in first such visit: What we know

The Emirati Defense Ministry said that four Iranian naval vessels arrived at the Port of Khalid in Sharjah on Tuesday for a three-day unprecedented visit.

This pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik shows Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attending a welcoming ceremony ahead of their talks in Riyadh on December 6, 2023. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia would 'welcome the chance' to host Trump-Putin summit

Trump and Putin are expected to hold a phone call soon, and Gulf leaders are angling for a mediation role between the two.

An Iranian navy warship takes part in the "National Persian Gulf Day" in the Strait of Hormuz, April 30, 2019.

Iran to send four naval ships to UAE for rare meeting: What to know

The announcement of the first-ever visit came a day after Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile.

Ruwais

Samsung E&A to build UAE's first methanol plant as country shifts to greener fuels

The methanol facility, based in Abu Dhabi’s Al Ruwais Industrial City, is expected to be completed in 2028.

United Arab Emirates

View of the buried village of Al Madam in the desert, a site of the Sharjah Biennial (SB 16). (Courtesy of the Sharjah Art Foundation)

AL-Monitor Dubai: Sharjah Biennial 16 featuring 190 artists

This week we highlight the upcoming Sharjah Biennial 16, a major new exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi juxtaposing traditional and contemporary African art, a new restaurant in Dubai fusing African and Mediterranean cuisine and new exhibition openings featuring the work of collective Slavs and Tatars at The Third Line.

United Arab Emirates

French President Emmanuel Macron, followed by French Armies Minister Sebastien Lecornu (2nd R), walks past a Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft during his New Year address to the French Army at the Mont-de-Marsan air base, southwestern France, on January 20, 2023. (Photo by Bob Edme / POOL / AFP) (Photo by BOB EDME/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE receives first French Rafale fighter jets as F-35 deal remains in limbo

The United Arab Emirates has received its first Rafale fighter jet under a deal with France amid ongoing US-French competition for influence in the UAE’s arms industry.

United Arab Emirates