Category: Latest Updates

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Uber has launched a five-day promotion in the UAE offering 20 per cent off rides to selected destinations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in a campaign aimed at steering more residents and visitors towards local shopping, dining and cultural districts at a time when consumer-facing businesses are navigating softer momentum across the non-oil economy. The offer began on April 3 and runs until April 7, with separate promo codes for each city and a destination list

Washington has doubled to $40 billion a US-backed maritime reinsurance facility aimed at coaxing commercial vessels back through the Strait of Hormuz, as the five-week war with Iran continues to unsettle one of the world’s most important trade arteries. The expanded programme, announced on Friday by the US International Development Finance Corporation and Chubb, adds AIG, Berkshire Hathaway, Travelers, Liberty Mutual, Starr and CNA to the scheme, lifting total available coverage from the original $20 billion.The move marks the latest

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi Arabia has launched the pilot phase of “Ahlan”, a new mobile application designed to serve as a single digital identity for supporters attending football tournaments hosted by the Kingdom, as organisers step up preparations for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027. The platform is intended to bring together trip planning, ticketing, transport and stadium access in one system, with the first live test scheduled during the knockout rounds and finals stage of the AFC

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai UAE equities ended Friday on a divided note as investors weighed the prospect of a wider Middle East conflict after U. S. President Donald Trump signalled that Washington could intensify attacks on Iranian infrastructure, a message that added to concern over energy supplies, shipping routes and regional risk appetite. Dubai’s main index fell, while Abu Dhabi’s benchmark edged higher, reflecting a market torn between fear-driven selling and selective buying in banking and energy-linked names.Dubai’s benchmark

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiPatients in the UAE are set to gain access from May to a new once-daily obesity treatment in tablet form after the Emirates Drug Establishment approved Eli Lilly’s Foundayo, known chemically as orforglipron, marking what officials described as the second national registration for the medicine and widening treatment choices beyond injections. The decision places the UAE among the earliest markets to back a new generation of oral weight-management drugs aimed at chronic obesity.The approval gives doctors and

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiKingdom Holding Company has agreed to buy Prince Alwaleed bin Talal AlSaud’s stake in Breakthrough Energy Ventures for 255 million riyals, or about $68 million, in a deal that pushes the Riyadh-listed investment firm further into climate-focused venture capital while underlining the growing role of Gulf capital in technology bets beyond conventional energy. The company disclosed the transaction on 2 April and said it would fund the purchase from internal resources.The price is notable because

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai A three-way alliance between the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group and the International Energy Agency has opened a new front in the battle against the widening energy and economic turmoil linked to the war in the Middle East, with the institutions agreeing to form a coordination group to help governments manage price shocks, funding strains and supply disruptions. The move, announced in Washington on April 1, comes as policymakers confront rising oil and gas

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai du Pay and GCash have moved to tighten the UAE-Philippines remittance corridor with a partnership aimed at giving Filipinos in the Emirates faster transfers, broader digital utility and fresh promotional offers in one of the region’s most active migrant payment markets. The tie-up, announced on April 2, is designed to let money sent through du Pay land in GCash wallets within minutes, allowing recipients in the Philippines to use funds straight away for bills, school payments, mobile

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai lender Emirates NBD has won approval from the Reserve Bank of India to acquire up to 74 per cent of Mumbai-based RBL Bank, a decision that moves one of the largest cross-border banking deals in the country closer to completion and could reshape the private lender’s ownership, governance and market position. The approval, disclosed on April 2, allows Emirates NBD to become the majority shareholder, though its voting rights will remain capped at 26 per cent

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiMajid Al Futtaim has launched Ma’an, a new initiative with Dubai SME that opens parts of its retail, leisure and digital network to homegrown businesses across the UAE, giving selected small enterprises free access to high-footfall venues including Mall of the Emirates, THAT Concept Store, VOX Cinemas, Carrefour and the group’s SHARE loyalty ecosystem. The programme was announced on 1-2 April and positions one of the region’s biggest consumer-facing companies as a distribution and visibility platform

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Oil prices leapt on Thursday after President Donald Trump said the United States would keep striking Iran for at least the next two to three weeks, dashing hopes that Washington was preparing to scale back military action and easing concerns in energy markets only briefly. Brent crude rose above $108 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate climbed past $106 in early trade, reversing the previous session’s pullback as traders priced in a greater risk of prolonged

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai’s transport authority and the Ministry of Family have moved to place mobility at the centre of family policy, signing a strategic partnership that will reshape parts of the emirate’s transport system, public amenities and urban spaces under the UAE’s “Family First” programme. The agreement, announced in Dubai on 2 April, is designed to make everyday travel easier for families while aligning transport planning with the National Family Growth Agenda 2031.Officials said the partnership goes

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiThe United Arab Emirates, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, took part in the 43rd session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers on 1 April, with the meeting held by videoconference and attended by interior ministers and senior security officials from across the Arab world. The session brought together representatives of the League of Arab States, Naif Arab University for Security Sciences and the

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Silver tumbled on Thursday, extending a volatile run in precious metals as higher oil prices, firmer Treasury yields and a stronger dollar pulled investors out of bullion. Spot silver was reported down about 4.6% on the day, while market data showed the metal trading near $72.31 an ounce and futures dipping to an intraday low around $70.35, leaving the market pressing against the $70 threshold rather than clearly breaking far below it.That left social media claims of

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Gold fell sharply on Thursday, but the viral claim that bullion had crashed below $4,600 and lost more than $1 trillion in market value in a single day appears to overstate what can be firmly confirmed from broad market data. By late trading, spot gold was quoted at $4,664.39 an ounce and US gold futures at $4,691.10, after a strong rebound a day earlier had lifted spot bullion to $4,784.22, its highest level since March 19.

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiADNOC Drilling shareholders have approved a final 2025 dividend of $250 million, taking the company’s total payout for the year to $1 billion and cementing a more ambitious cash-return policy that promises at least 5% annual dividend growth from 2026 through at least 2030.The approval, secured at the company’s annual general meeting, marks an important step for one of Abu Dhabi’s most closely watched listed energy groups. It closes out a year in which the company

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Serhii Zakharov, founder and chief executive of PayDo, has been honoured at FinTech Week Dubai 2026 with the Excellence in Financial Leadership Award in the Digital Payments Innovation category, adding a personal accolade to a year in which the London-based payments firm has been expanding its regulatory footprint and product stack. Event-linked coverage and company-linked posts place the award at FinTech Week Dubai, held in Dubai on 16-17 February, where payments, security and cross-border financial infrastructure

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Danube Properties has moved beyond its apartment-led playbook with the launch of Greenz by Danube, a master-planned townhouse and villa community in Dubai International Academic City, as developers race to capture demand for larger family homes even as caution is building around the wider property cycle. The project is the company’s first large-scale integrated community of this kind, with handover targeted for the fourth quarter of 2029 and launch prices starting from AED 3.5 million.Set

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Copper prices climbed on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said military action against Iran could end within two to three weeks, helping trigger a wider rebound across markets that had been hit by worries over energy shocks, inflation and weaker global growth. The move in the red metal tracked a broader shift towards riskier assets as investors responded to the prospect, however tentative, of a shorter conflict and less disruption to trade and industry.The

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiEmirates NBD has closed $2.25 billion in five-year financing, completing one of the Gulf’s largest syndicated borrowings at a time when war-linked market turbulence has unsettled regional assets, shipping routes and funding sentiment. The package combines a $1.75 billion sustainability-linked syndicated term loan and a $500 million Club Commodity Murabaha term facility arranged through Emirates Islamic.The scale of demand appears to be the clearest headline in the transaction. The sustainability-linked loan was launched at $1

Pressure on the rupee is poised to intensify after the Reserve Bank of India ordered banks to sharply cut net open rupee positions in the onshore market, forcing a scramble to unwind large arbitrage trades that had linked domestic and offshore pricing.Bankers have warned that the adjustment could amplify volatility, strain treasury books and unsettle corporate hedging activity even as the central bank seeks to restore control over the currency market. The trigger was the RBI’s directive issued late on

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Gold edged higher on Tuesday but remained on course for its sharpest monthly decline since October 2008, as investors weighed a powerful mix of delayed hopes for US rate cuts, a surge in energy prices linked to the Iran war and a stronger dollar through much of March. Spot gold was up about 3.2% at $4,652.31 an ounce by Tuesday, yet still showed a monthly fall of 11.8%, a retreat that underlined how sharply the market’s mood

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Emirates NBD Group has closed $2.25 billion in long-term financing, in a deal that ranks among the largest syndicated borrowings in the Gulf and underscores the lender’s ability to attract offshore funding even as markets navigate geopolitical tension and higher funding costs. The package comprises a $1.75 billion five-year sustainability-linked syndicated term loan and a $500 million five-year club commodity murabaha facility.The Dubai lender said the sustainability-linked tranche was launched at $1 billion and drew demand of

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Distance learning across the UAE will continue until 17 April for schools and universities, extending a policy first introduced earlier this month as authorities maintain a cautious approach to student safety and operational continuity. The Ministry of Education said the arrangement would remain under weekly review, leaving room for further changes depending on how conditions develop.The decision covers nurseries, kindergartens, public and private schools, as well as higher education institutions across the country. Officials said

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Sharjah Islamic Bank is pressing ahead with a rights issue worth up to AED2.59 billion, or about $705 million, in a move designed to reinforce its capital base, fund balance-sheet expansion and preserve financial flexibility as the lender pushes for further growth. The bank said the offer will raise issued capital from about AED3.24 billion to as much as AED4.31 billion through the sale of up to 1.08 billion new shares priced at AED2.40 each.Under

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi has widened its self-supply solar policy to households, allowing villa owners and eligible residential buildings to generate electricity from rooftop solar systems, store power in batteries and use it alongside grid supply, in a move that pushes distributed clean energy beyond commercial and agricultural users and into the emirate’s housing stock.The second phase of the Solar Energy Self-Supply Policy, announced by the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy on March 31, marks the first

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi Global Market has reported a 36 per cent rise in assets under management for 2025, capping a year in which the international financial centre also expanded its workforce by 51 per cent and lifted active licences to 12,671. The figures, released as ADGM marked its 10th year of operations, underline how strongly Abu Dhabi has been drawing global fund managers, banks and advisory firms seeking closer access to the emirate’s deep pools of capital

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiDubai authorities were battling a fire aboard a Kuwaiti oil tanker on Tuesday after a drone struck the vessel in waters near Anchorage “E”, with officials saying no injuries had been reported and emergency teams were working under established maritime safety protocols.The incident unfolded off Dubai’s coast as maritime firefighting units moved to secure the tanker, contain the blaze and prevent any wider hazard to shipping or the surrounding waters. Dubai Media Office said competent authorities

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai European shares held their ground on Monday as investors waited for German and euro zone inflation readings that could show how sharply the Middle East war is feeding through into prices, after a surge in oil left the STOXX 600 heading for its worst month since the first pandemic shock of March 2020.The pan-European STOXX 600 was up about 0.2 per cent at 576.55 in early trading, clawing back a slice of the losses from

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Sharjah Islamic Bank is seeking to raise as much as AED2.59 billion through a rights issue that would give the lender more room to expand its balance sheet, reinforce capital buffers and support the next stage of growth after a year of stronger profit and asset gains. The plan would lift issued capital from about AED3.24 billion to about AED4.31 billion through the sale of up to 1.078 billion new shares.The transaction is structured at

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiDonald Trump has triggered fresh controversy after using crude language about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Future Investment Initiative Institute summit in Miami Beach, telling the audience the Saudi leader had not expected to “be kissing my a” and adding that “now he has to be nice to me.” The remarks, delivered on 27 March at the Saudi-backed forum, drew attention because they came at an event designed to showcase Gulf investment power

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Nabil Fahmy is set to become the next secretary-general of the Arab League after Arab foreign ministers unanimously backed Egypt’s nominee in a virtual meeting on 29 March, clearing the way for the veteran diplomat to take over in July when Ahmed Aboul Gheit’s second term ends. The ministers’ decision still requires formal endorsement at the next Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, but that step is widely treated as procedural.Fahmy, a former foreign minister and

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Motorists in the UAE are likely to pay more for petrol and diesel in April after the Iran war sent crude prices sharply higher and intensified disruption across the Gulf’s main energy and shipping routes, raising the cost base that feeds into the country’s monthly fuel-price adjustment. April rates were due to be announced on March 31, and local pricing remains tied to global oil benchmarks, which have swung violently through March.Brent crude surged above $118 a

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiTelda has moved beyond payments and cards to add stock and fund investing to its app, opening a new front in Egypt’s fast-growing race to attract first-time retail investors. The Cairo-based fintech said on Sunday that users can now buy and sell shares on the Egyptian Exchange and subscribe to investment funds from within the same platform, without relying on a traditional broker or branch-based onboarding.The launch matters because it pushes Telda into a more competitive segment