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United Arab Emirates

December 16, 2025

Abu Dhabi 10:54 am

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Buildroid AI

Interview

Robots can solve UAE construction labor shortage, says Buildroid AI

The US startup announced that it will launch the UAE’s first block-laying robot to speed up real estate and infrastructure projects in the Gulf country.

A woman sells koshary after the Eid prayer in Abu Sir village on April 21, 2023, in Giza, Egypt.

Culture

Egypt’s koshary, Gulf’s bisht gain UNESCO recognition

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has added more than 10 cultural practices from across the Middle East and North Africa region this year.

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan walk at the Kremlin following their talks in Moscow on August 7, 2025. (Photo by Gavriil Grigorov / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE, Russia host first joint business forum despite Ukraine war sanctions

Trade between the two countries is projected to exceed $10 billion in 2025.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

Mideast funds back Paramount's $108B Warner Bros. takeover bid

Multiple exposure photograph of the Netflix and Warner Bros logos in front of a television screen at Kerlouan in Brittany in France, on Dec. 5 2025.

Qatar, UAE step up LNG plans as global demand surges

KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Iran’s new military drills near disputed islands ratchet up tensions with UAE

People walk and drive past a billboard covering the facade of a building on Vali-Asr square, depicting as postage stamps the disputed Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb islands that were seized by Iran in 1971, in Tehran on October 26, 2024. Residents of Tehran awoke and went about their business as planned on October 26 after their sleep was troubled by Israeli strikes that triggered blasts that echoed across the city. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

China, UAE to hold third air force drills as defense ties warm: What we know

The Red Flag limousine carrying Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed passes a military honour guard as he arrives for a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 22, 2019. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP) (Photo credit should read GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)

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

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

DIRK WAEM/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

Abu Dhabi launches new cryptocurrency hub despite downturn

Despite a global slump, cryptocurrency is growing in the UAE in line with the government’s diversification goals.

Israel’s OurCrowd invests in a $60 million AI hub in Abu Dhabi

The Israeli investment platform will build on the UAE's efforts to become a world leader in artificial intelligence and attract more futuristic technology companies to the country.

UAE tech

Abu Dhabi Global Market adopts blockchain for courts

The move comes amid other financial changes in the Gulf state. Blockchain technology is also used for cryptocurrency.

Saudi passengers take the train on an internal trip in Riyadh's only railway station 19 September 2004. Only four passenger trains per day operate from the six-platform station and along the sole operating track in the vast desert kingdom. The trains carried around 900,000 passengers in 2003 between the capital -- home to some four million -- and the center of the oil-rich Eastern Province. The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) believes that the existing service has improved immensely during the past three

Rail development to grow across GCC, with Saudi Arabia & UAE leading the charge

Afshin Molavi

Hydrogen

UAE’s Masdar thinks Africa poised to be hydrogen hub

The African continent has a lot of potential to produce hydrogen as an energy source, but there are also many challenges, according to some observers.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (C), Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (2nd R) and UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (R) attend the leaders summit on the second day of the COP27 climate conference, Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Center, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 7, 2022.

UAE, Egypt announce new wind farm during COP27

Wind power is growing in Egypt, which is relatively poor in oil and gas.

Participants attend the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, Emirates, Nov. 11, 2019.

US, UAE sign clean energy partnership

The agreement unlocks $100 billion in financing.

(From L to R) Moderator Joha Simpson, BBC world affairs editor broadcaster, author and columnist, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei, Omani Oil and Gas Minister Mohamed Al Rumhi and Bahrain's Oil and Gas Affairs Minister Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa sit on a panel during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference), Abu Dhabi, Emirates, Nov. 7, 2016.

UAE warns against underinvestment in oil, gas at Abu Dhabi conference

The Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference also features more focus on decarbonization and hydrogen.

A man looks at cryptocurrency prices in a window of a cryptocurrency exchange office, Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 19, 2021.

Report: Turkey has highest cryptocurrency interest in Middle East

CryptoManiaks also found a relatively high amount of crypto-related Google searches in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

A sign offering Bitcoin for sale is seen in a store window in Hollywood, California, Oct. 20, 2022

Dubai-based crypto firm to offer payment card

The partnership between BitOasis and Mastercard could make cryptocurrencies more usable for daily purchases.

Jan. 27, 2018

Animal-free dairy plant to open in UAE

The United Arab Emirates is getting its first vegan dairy production facility as demand for non-animal-based products rises in the Gulf.

United Arab Emirates

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Next British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's views on Middle East

The Conservative statesman has expressed fairly mainstream views on Israel, Iran and other regional issues.