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

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

Firms listed as potential targets included Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, IBM, Palantir and Nvidia, while banking giant JPMorgan and UAE-based AI firm G42 were also listed.

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

Analysis

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

Facing a historic internet blackout, Iranians are locked in a struggle with authorities to find loopholes to get around this communications crackdown, leading to "shutdowns within a shutdown."

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

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

Interview

AI, cybersecurity high on Mideast priorities amid global tech rivalry: Tech Mahindra

A man and woman walk along a promenade overlooking the Burj al-Arab and Dubai skyline on January 4, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Mideast’s AI startups capture record $858M in funding during 2025, doubling share

Detailed image of Middle Eastern developer in front of desktop pc monitoring a complex network, ensuring data security and efficient computing using cloud, AI and machine learning.

United Arab Emirates

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

David Rosenberg

In Tel Aviv, reporting on business and tech

Dubai traffic

Can urban transport reform put brakes on Gulf's car centric culture?

Modern Gulf cities built around car dependency face a net-zero pledges test. Plans to retrofit cities and weave in sustainable mobility are in the pipeline, but the car is still king.

BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images

Abu Dhabi to partner with British Petroleum on hydrogen power

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and BP will also help Etihad Airways develop sustainable aviation fuel, which is nearly impossible to obtain at present.

Trucks drive in and out of the Bee'ah waste management company in the Gulf emirate of Sharjah.

Analysis

Explainer: Waste-to-energy plant opens in UAE

Masdar's new facility in the Emirati city of Sharjah will burn garbage to produce electricity. Some observers believe the process is relatively harmful to the environment due to its carbon emissions, but others say it is a good way to reduce landfill waste.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

An Egyptian farmer opens up a water irrigation system as he tends to his fields on the banks of the Rasheed river, an offshoot of the Nile, in Cairo's northern Giza province, some 40 kilometres north of the capital, on June 22, 2013.

Egyptian woman takes on water shortages with new recycling system

An Egyptian engineering student has devised an onsite treatment unit to treat small-scale agricultural wastewater, which may become one strategy for reducing the country's many water challenges.

A general view of the city skyline at sunset from Dhow Harbour on Feb. 5, 2015 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

More fintech startups come to Abu Dhabi

The UAE wants to attract more entrepreneurs and startups to the country.

United Arab Emirates

Google phone

Google Translate adds Sorani Kurdish

Google previously only offered its translation service for the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Egypt finance

Paymob credits Egypt’s Central Bank for successful fundraising and growth

The fintech startup Paymob raised $50 million in its Series B financing round.

Visitors look at screens displaying images of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park on March 20, 2017.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala to develop electric car charging stations with France’s ENGIE

The UAE is in the early stages of a transition from oil and gas to cleaner energy sources.

United Arab Emirates

Magic mushrooms sit in a fridge on July 18, 2005, in London, England.

Israeli company reveals nasal spray of psychedelic mushrooms

Madrigal Mental Care says the spray treats post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and other mental challenges. Some experts believe magic mushrooms have health benefits, though they come with risks.

Rapper and producer Al Darwish.

Syrian rapper embraces NFTs to shake up Middle East music industry

Nonfungible tokens are charting a new course for artists, and one Syrian musician hopes they will help more Arab artists gain independence.

An Etihad airplane model is displayed at the Arabian Travel Market Exhibition.

Etihad tests out environmentally friendly flights

The airline said that sustainable aviation fuel will be needed to make planes pollute significantly less, but the technology is not ready for mass use.

United Arab Emirates

Ben-Gurion University

Beersheba evolves into Israeli tech powerhouse

With financial benefits, investment in infrastructure and a vibrant university, Israel's southern city of Beersheba is swiftly becoming a hub for both international and local high tech companies.