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

UAE cover image

United Arab Emirates

December 20, 2025

Abu Dhabi 2:45 am

15°C

RICCARDO MILANI/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

UAE AI investor MGX moves closer to strategic stake in TikTok US

The state-linked Emirati investment firm is set to acquire a 15% stake in the social media platform's new US business as part of a plan that would avert a nationwide ban starting in 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Solar panels in a Sinai desert, Egypt.

Egypt lands $572M UAE-backed solar deal, expanding Gulf's clean-energy footprint

Gulf companies have been increasing their investments in North African renewable energy.

Latest News

Interview

Robots can solve UAE construction labor shortage, says Buildroid AI

Buildroid AI

Culture

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

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

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

The photo appears to show the Dubai ruler's daughter, Princess Latifa, vacationing in Spain.

Photo appears to show UAE Princess Latifa in Madrid amid house arrest claims

Princess Latifa has alleged in secret video recordings that her family is holding her captive and she fears for her safety.

United Arab Emirates

Boxes of coronavirus vaccines are stacked on the tarmac after the first batch arrived at Khartoum airport on an Emirates flight, Sudan, March 3, 2121.

Emirates loses more than $5 billion in 2020

The Dubai-based airline's financial struggles amid the coronavirus pandemic has led to job cuts and a massive cash injection from the government.

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

UN expert calls on UAE to release prominent human rights defenders

The five activists are accused of trying to overthrow the Emirati government, but the United Nations says they should have never been detained in the first place.

United Arab Emirates

Netanyahu in Lod

Has war on Hamas given Netanyahu a political lifeline?

Conflict with Gaza proving a political winner, so far, for the embattled Israeli prime minister; Arab states may take center stage in mediation efforts; Al-Monitor’s unmatched reporting from Gaza.

People are pictured inside a restaurant in Dubai, as the Gulf emirate moved to ease its lockdown measures amid the coronavirus pandemic, United Arab Emirates , May 26, 2020.

Dubai restaurants to stop screening dining areas during Ramadan fast

Restaurants in the UAE's largest city previously had to screen off places where people ate during fasting hours during the Islamic holy month, as is customary throughout the region.

United Arab Emirates

President of General Motors Mark Reuss announces that GMs Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant will build the all-electric Cruise Origin self-driving shuttle in Hamtramck, Michigan, Jan. 27, 2020.

Dubai to import self-driving cars

Dubai will be the first international market for the US self-driving vehicle company Cruise.

United Arab Emirates

Francois Nel/Getty Images

Dubai unveils COVID-19 restrictions for Ramadan

Authorities in the emirate have urged residents to avoid holding large gatherings typical during the Muslim holy month.

United Arab Emirates

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

After Jordan, Emirates also furious with Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not only managed to get into a diplomatic row with Jordan, he also succeeded in angering the Emiratis.

Israeli and Emirati rugby teams to play each other for first time

The rugby sevens match in Dubai is the latest example of the strengthening of relations between Israel and the UAE and shows a shift in Israel's sports relations with other regional states.

United Arab Emirates

The empty seat of Syria is seen during a meeting of foreign ministers at the headquarters of the Arab League in the Egyptian capital Cairo, on March 7, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt, UAE call for rethink of Syria’s expulsion from Arab League

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are calling for Syria to be accepted back into the Arab League as analysts say that its suspension has done little good.

United Arab Emirates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (not pictured), give a joint press conference at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, on 4 March 2021. (Photo by Olivier Fitoussi / POOL / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER FITOUSSI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Did Jordan generate a crisis, or was it Israel's fault?

It is unclear whether the diplomatic crisis is only the result of poor Israeli judgment, or Jordan actually generating it.

United Arab Emirates

This picture taken on December 16, 2020 shows a view above Israel from the window of a plane aboard a flydubai flight from Ben Gurion International Airport to Dubai upon departure. - The first flydubai aircraft landed in Dubai from Tel Aviv on November 26, inaugurating commercial flights between the two cities following the normalisation of ties between the UAE and Israel. The United Arab Emirates in September signed a landmark US-brokered deal to formalise relations with Israel, the first such agreement by

Netanyahu cancels UAE trip over disagreement with Jordan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was forced to postpone today's trip to the United Arab Emirates when Jordan dragged its feet on approval to cross its skies.

United Arab Emirates