Category: Latest Updates

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Gold prices steadied on Wednesday after touching a one-month high earlier in the session, with traders weighing the pull of geopolitical risk against tentative signs that Washington and Tehran could return to the negotiating table within days. The metal’s pause came as broader markets turned cautious, reflecting uncertainty over whether diplomacy will gain traction or merely offer a brief respite in a conflict that has already rattled energy routes and unsettled global investors.Spot gold eased modestly to

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Global smartphone shipments fell in the first quarter, ending the run of growth that had followed the sector’s rebound from its 2023 downturn, as a squeeze in memory supply and higher component prices forced brands to trim volumes, raise prices and rethink launch plans. IDC said worldwide shipments declined 4.1 per cent in the January-March period, while Samsung and Apple were the only top-five vendors to post growth.The setback marks an early sign that 2026

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiSaudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has stepped up its backing of Lucid Group with a fresh $550 million investment through affiliate Ayar Third Investment Company, extending the sovereign wealth fund’s role as the electric vehicle maker’s financial anchor at a time when Lucid is trying to stabilise cash burn, repair operational strains and broaden its commercial reach. The commitment forms part of a wider capital raise of about $1.05 billion announced by Lucid, which also includes

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiDubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism has signed a strategic agreement with HSBC Bank Middle East Limited aimed at drawing more multinational companies, institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals to the emirate, in a move that fits Dubai’s wider push to deepen capital inflows and strengthen its standing as a global business centre. The agreement was announced on April 13 and positions HSBC’s regional and international network alongside Dubai’s investment promotion machinery to support companies and investors

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Al Ansari Exchange has expanded its partnership with Etihad Credit Bureau, enabling individuals to obtain official credit reports through more than 285 branches across the UAE in a move that broadens physical access to personal financial data and underlines a wider push towards transparency in consumer finance.The service marks an extension of a relationship that had already covered corporate credit reports, and it arrives as financial institutions and regulators place greater emphasis on informed borrowing,

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Countries should avoid hoarding fuel supplies and imposing export controls that deepen shortages, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and International Energy Agency said in Washington on Monday, as war-linked disruption in the Middle East drove oil back above $100 a barrel and sharpened fears over inflation, growth and food security. The three institutions issued the warning while opening a coordinated response aimed at limiting the spillover from what the IEA described as the biggest shock

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiGlobal bond markets fell on Monday as the collapse of US-Iran peace talks shifted investor attention away from hopes of de-escalation and back towards a harsher inflation outlook, with oil above $100 a barrel reinforcing bets that central banks will keep borrowing costs elevated for longer. Government bond yields moved higher across major markets as traders reassessed how persistent energy-driven price pressure could alter the path of monetary policy in the United States, Europe and parts

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiAD 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. Revenue rose 20 per cent to AED 20.8 billion, net profit increased 17 per

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority said a temporary technical issue disrupted services across multiple channels on Sunday, affecting access to its app and website and triggering complaints from users who said they were unable to complete tasks such as parking payments. The authority said its team was working to restore services as quickly as possible, while asking customers for understanding as the problem was addressed.The outage quickly drew attention because the RTA’s digital platforms sit

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai World Trade Centre Free Zone has partnered with Wio Bank to give businesses setting up or operating in the zone faster access to digital banking services, in a move aimed at easing one of the more persistent bottlenecks faced by new companies in the emirate: opening and managing a bank account during the early stages of incorporation.The agreement, announced on April 13, is structured as a memorandum of understanding under which eligible firms registered,

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has unveiled one of its largest single-market expansions in years, adding five mainland China destinations and 28 weekly flights as it deepens its joint venture with China Eastern Airlines and sharpens its focus on a corridor carrying growing weight in trade, tourism and cargo. The move will lift Etihad’s mainland China operation to 35 weekly services across six gateways, including its existing daily Beijing Daxing flight.The new routes from Zayed International

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Central Bank of the UAE has appointed financial software group VERMEG to develop a central securities depository solution, a move that places the monetary authority more directly inside the country’s post-trade market infrastructure and signals a broader push to tighten the links between payments, settlement and capital markets. The announcement was made on 13 April, with CBUAE saying the project is intended to strengthen market infrastructure and support safer, more efficient securities services.The plan matters

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 cut throughput and damaged other parts of the kingdom’s energy system.The announcement

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai University of Sharjah has opened a conference on intellectual security and social media, placing the debate over online influence, youth vulnerability and responsible digital engagement at the centre of its academic agenda as governments, universities and religious scholars grapple with the speed at which harmful narratives can spread online.The event, organised by the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies through its Forum for Intellectual Security in Islam, is titled Safeguarding Intellectual Security on Social Media:

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiQatar Islamic Bank has been named Qatar’s best private bank at the Euromoney Private Banking Awards 2026, handing the lender a prominent endorsement in a market where domestic banks and international wealth managers are competing more aggressively for high-net-worth clients seeking personalised advice, Shari’a-compliant products and stronger digital access. Euromoney’s national winners list for Qatar names QIB as the country’s best private bank for 2026, while the lender said the award reflects the strength of its

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai University of Doha for Science and Technology and the Community College of Qatar have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at deepening academic collaboration, in a move that underscores Qatar’s push to align higher education more closely with labour-market needs and applied learning.The agreement establishes a framework for cooperation and knowledge exchange between the two institutions, with the stated goal of advancing applied, technical and academic education while helping develop graduates with skills better matched to

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi Arabia Railways has launched five new logistics routes aimed at accelerating cargo movement between Gulf ports, inland industrial centres and cross-border markets, in a move designed to strengthen the Kingdom’s position in regional and international trade. The new network combines rail and road links, tying Arabian Gulf gateways to central and northern regions, with onward access to the Red Sea and neighbouring countries to the north.The rollout is being presented as a practical step under the

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Careem Pay has expanded its remittance service to Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, opening two new money-transfer corridors for UAE residents as digital finance platforms compete more aggressively for a larger share of cross-border payments in the Gulf. The company said transfers to bank accounts in both markets can be completed within five to 10 minutes, with transaction limits of up to AED150,000 for Türkiye and AED36,000 for Saudi Arabia. The service now covers more than 35 countries.The

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai FIFA has named a Saudi match-officials team for the 2026 World Cup, with referee Khalid Al-Turais, assistant referee Mohammed Al-Abakry and video match official Abdullah Al-Shehri selected for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July. Their inclusion places Saudi Arabia among the 50 member associations represented in FIFA’s biggest-ever World Cup refereeing group, which will feature 52 referees, 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials across 104

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi will bring back its flagship infrastructure gathering in a larger format next month, with organisers casting the 12-14 May event as a platform to push smart, sustainable and people-centred urban development at a time when the emirate is moving ahead with one of the region’s biggest public project pipelines. The Abu Dhabi Infrastructure Summit, hosted by the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre at ADNEC’s ICC Hall, is expected to place liveability, delivery and

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi Arabia has moved to raise its profile in global data governance after the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, known as SDAIA, said it had joined the Global Privacy Assembly, a forum that links privacy and data protection authorities worldwide. The step puts the Kingdom’s privacy regime more visibly alongside international rule-setting efforts at a time when Riyadh is pushing digital government, artificial intelligence and cross-border data flows more aggressively under its wider economic diversification

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiRAK Ceramics has moved to reassure customers, contractors and distributors that its operations across the UAE and the wider region remain uninterrupted, saying access across its customer network is continuing without disruption across both retail and project channels. The statement comes at a time when businesses across the Gulf are paying closer attention to logistics resilience, input costs and delivery schedules amid wider geopolitical strain and persistent concerns over global trade routes.The company’s message is significant because

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiMBME Pay has secured a Category 3 Payment Service Provider licence from the Central Bank of the UAE, giving the company regulatory approval to carry out merchant acquiring and payment aggregation activities and placing it in a narrower circle of fully licensed operators in one of the Gulf’s fastest-moving fintech markets. The approval marks a step up for the Abu Dhabi-listed MBME Group subsidiary as businesses across the UAE shift more transactions to digital channels and

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiJazan Municipality has put 28 development projects worth SR546 million into the Farasan Islands pipeline, combining completed works with schemes still under construction as authorities step up efforts to improve infrastructure, add hospitality capacity and expand housing across one of the Red Sea’s most distinctive island groups. The municipality said 19 projects valued at SR398 million have been completed, while nine more worth SR148 million are under implementation.The breakdown points to a strategy that blends civic works,

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 part of the emirate that offers road links to Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman.

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 member of the network on arrival at a Dubai airport after an Interpol

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Louvre Abu Dhabi has launched a digital teaching platform that links museum objects directly to school subjects, widening the role of art in classrooms beyond history and humanities and giving teachers a new route to use cultural material in everyday lessons. The Museum Curriculum Portal has been rolled out as part of a broader Abu Dhabi effort to connect cultural institutions more closely with school learning.The platform maps more than 148 artworks and artefacts to

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi has issued 11 new hazardous materials guidelines in a move officials say makes the emirate the first jurisdiction to apply the 11th revised edition of the UN Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, or GHS. The framework, launched by the Abu Dhabi Hazardous Materials Management Centre in coordination with the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, is intended to standardise the handling, storage and transport of hazardous materials across the emirate while

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiAttacks tied to the widening confrontation with Iran could spill far beyond the battlefield and damage global health, food security and the environment, the UAE told an international summit in Lyon, urging governments and institutions to rally around a “One Health” strategy that treats human, animal and ecosystem health as inseparable. The intervention came at a high-level gathering hosted by France on 7 April, where the UAE said shocks to essential systems were no longer a regional

Arabian Post Staff -DubaiDubai’s financial regulator has unveiled temporary relief measures for firms in the Dubai International Financial Centre, offering regulatory flexibility on licensing, staffing, reporting and selected implementation deadlines as companies manage an exceptional operating environment. The Dubai Financial Services Authority said the package is designed to help regulated firms continue serving clients and markets while preserving supervisory standards.The measures apply both to firms already authorised by the DFSA and to new applicants seeking approval to operate

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi medical devices distributor ProMedEx has renewed an 84 million riyal Islamic financing package with Riyad Bank for one year, extending a facility the company says will be used to fund existing projects and back expansion plans as healthcare suppliers across the kingdom continue to seek working capital for inventory, imports and contract execution. The facility is equivalent to about $22.4 million.The package is split into 6.5 million riyals of bank guarantees, 22.5 million riyals

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Mubadala Capital has closed its biggest Brazil-focused investment vehicle at about $900 million, exceeding its original $750 million target in a sign that large overseas investors still see room for opportunistic deals in Latin America’s biggest economy despite a tougher global fundraising climate.The fund, Brazil Special Opportunities Fund III, was backed by a $250 million anchor commitment from Mubadala Capital, the investment arm linked to Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth platform. The rest was raised mainly from

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi University said an associate professor and a former student have been granted a patent for an artificial-intelligence application designed to translate between sign language and spoken or written language in real time, marking a push by the institution into assistive technology with a clear accessibility focus. The university identified the inventors as Dr Modafar Ati, associate professor of computer science and information technology, and alumna Reem Al Bostami, who graduated from its BSc in

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Space42 said Thuraya’s services and infrastructure remained fully operational after a missile strike hit an administrative building linked to the satellite communications company in Sharjah, as the UAE’s air defences continued intercepting ballistic missiles and drones launched during the wider regional conflict. The company said there had been no disruption for customers or partners despite the incident.Authorities in Sharjah said two Pakistani nationals were injured and taken to hospital after the strike on Tuesday, April