United Arab Emirates - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

UAE cover image

United Arab Emirates

October 31, 2026

Abu Dhabi 7:14 pm

31°C

Lana Nusseibeh, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, speaks at a Sudan Humanitarian Fund event at the Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on February 3, 2026. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

UAE's Nusseibeh comes in fourth in latest UNSG straw poll: What to know

The latest straw poll puts Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan in first place, Argentina's Rafael Grossi in second, Guyana's Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett in third and the UAE's Lana Nusseibeh in fourth place.

United Arab Emirates

Dock workers load and unload shipping containers in the Port of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Canada, UAE sign trade pact as Ottawa seeks to diversify beyond US

The agreement is set to broadly lift tariffs on key products as Canadian officials hope to boost bilateral trade to $7 billion within a decade.

United Arab Emirates

FADEL SENNA / AFP via Getty Images

UAE battles tanker oil spill as war's environmental toll mounts

Gulf oil spills have become more frequent since the beginning of the US-Israel-Iran war on Feb. 28.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

UAE nominates Lana Nusseibeh for UN secretary-general: What to know

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 23: Permanent Representative of the UAE to the United Nations Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh speaks during a meeting on February 23, 2023 at U.N. Headquarters in New York City. The Security Council met to discuss international peace and security issues. The General Assembly continues its Eleventh Emergency Special Session on Ukraine to resume introductions on a new draft resolution and two proposed amendments on the eve of the one year anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.

United Arab Emirates

Macron secures Gulf diesel supplies as France grapples with fuel costs, unrest

Benoit Tessier / AFP via Getty Images

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sues Netanyahu for nearly $1M over Oct. 7 claims

Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea (R) and Security Agency director Ronen Bar, attend a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

IMF projects Gulf rebound in 2027. Can energy production keep pace?

TOPSHOT - Smoke rises from the direction of an energy installation in the Gulf emirate of Fujairah on March 14, 2026. Smoke could be seen rising from the direction of a major UAE energy installation on March 14, in what appeared to be the latest strike targeting the Gulf's petroleum facilities hours after the US struck Iran's Kharg Island. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) /

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Mohammed Soliman

In Washington, DC, reporting on Gulf politics

Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, lit its 1.2 million lights to become the world's tallest donation box to buy meals for people hit by the impact of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Dubai, United Arab Emirates May 11, 2020. Picture taken May 11, 2020. REUTERS/Abdel Hadi Ramahi - RC2ZMG9GPAR0

World’s tallest building in Dubai doubles as coronavirus ‘donation box’

For every light purchased along the Burj Khalifa’s exterior, a meal will be provided to a person in need.

United Arab Emirates

Yemeni government vows to confront southern rebellion

Yemen's internationally recognized government pledged to respond to any attacks from the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the country's south.

UAE students stir fashion market demand amid COVID-19

Two UAE students are taking advantage of the lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak in order to grow their sustainable fashion line.

United Arab Emirates

Medical workers wait for mock victims to arrive by ambulance to Chaim Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv during a drill simulating a biological attack January 13, 2010. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen (ISRAEL - Tags: HEALTH) - GM1E61D1ME901

Coronavirus offers Israel opportunity to strengthen ties with Gulf states

Despite recent condemnation by Gulf states of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to annex parts of the West Bank this summer, there are signs that Israeli-Gulf ties might benefit from shared concern over COVID-19.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus response event in the Blue Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 1, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC2WFG9ZBEP0

Trump blasts Republicans who voted for Iran war powers bill as Senate fails to override veto

President Donald Trump laid into some of his close Senate allies for siding with Democrats on an Iran war powers bill even as Congress failed to override his veto.

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane arrives at the Benazir International airport in Islamabad, Pakistan, December 2, 2015. Employees of Pakistan's ailing national airline on December 15, 2015, walked out in protest over its planned privatisation, disrupting flights and undermining a central plank of reforms promised by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in return for an IMF bailout. Picture taken December 2, 2015. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood - GF10000266349

UAE rejects Pakistani claim it is exporting virus

The UAE said it tests everyone leaving the country and bars infected individuals from traveling, but Pakistan says up to half of those repatriated on some flights had COVID-19.

United Arab Emirates

A Saudi man stands in front of a screen of stock prices at ANB Bank in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia March 15, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri - RC2AKF95RT3F

Report: Private sectors in UAE, Egyptian, Saudi economies suffer dramatic losses

IHS Markit, a global information provider, shows how the private sector has suffered major blows in the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Women wear protective face masks, as they walk, after Saudi Arabia imposed a temporary lockdown on the province of Qatif, following the spread of coronavirus, in Qatif, Saudi Arabia March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer - RC25HF9S55OY

China ramps up COVID-19 diplomacy in Mideast

As the Trump administration tries to link the coronavirus to a Chinese laboratory, Beijing is using the pandemic to strengthen ties in the Gulf.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) following their talks in Moscow, Russia March 5, 2020. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS - RC2UDF9BM4UQ

Erdogan's cold war with Saudi Arabia and UAE

Turkey's patience with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is running low, sources tell Al-Monitor.

People shop at a supermarket after the Saudi government eased a curfew and allowed stores to open, following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Marwa Rashad - RC2CEG9U1YOY

Saudi Arabia eases anti-virus measures

Saudi Arabia allowed businesses to reopen today, but mosques, schools and other places remain closed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement overlooking the Israeli settlement of Har Homa, located in an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the region's capture in the 1967 Middle East war, February 20, 2020. Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS - RC2E4F9ALPB6

Can anyone stop Netanyahu’s annexation plans?

A formidable array of figures is working in public and behind the scenes to block Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex West Bank lands.

A view shows the area outside the Dubai Mall following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 23, 2020. Picture taken March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike - RC2AQF9DUMUC

Dubai malls open, but residents reluctant to shop

The government of Dubai has eased some pandemic restrictions for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

United Arab Emirates