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

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United Arab Emirates

September 7, 2026

Abu Dhabi 5:16 pm

41°C

The entrance to the city of Qiddiya, south of the capital Riyadh, April 25, 2019.

Analysis

Iran war tests Gulf's theme park ambitions

Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with multibillion-dollar projects as the conflict disrupts regional tourism and exposes weaknesses in the Gulf states' entertainment strategies.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

A man walks past a mural depicting oil pumps and the Venezuelan flag, with portraits of Venezuelan independence leader Simon Bolivar (L) and former late President Hugo Chavez (R), in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 3, 2026.

Analysis

Could Trump’s oil push in Venezuela upend OPEC’s energy order?

Washington’s growing role in controlling the Latin American country's crude riches could help reshape an energy order centered on OPEC as the Hormuz crisis pressures Gulf exports.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Ongoing construction work is pictured at a site in Marota City, a new mixed-use development project near the Umayyad Square in Damascus on July 22, 2026. Syria's new leaders, who inherited a dilapidated economy, are trying to attract capital without waiting for the full lifting of international sanctions. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images)

UAE investment fuels Syria's postwar economic recovery with $7B property deal

The deal would see UAE-based Arada develop a major real estate project in Damascus.

JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

UAE gauges new Lebanon deals amid Levant economic stabilization push

Beirut welcomed a high-level business delegation from the UAE in late August as Abu Dhabi pursues new regional economic engagement amid Iran's waning influence.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Analysis

UAE-China air drills deepen with fourth Falcon Shield exercise

Chinese President Xi Jinping and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Lebanon, UAE ink deals, deepen economic ties on Emirati Beirut visit

UAE Foreign Trade Minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi (L) and Lebanese Economy Minister Amr al-Bisat after signing a memorandum of understanding, Beirut, Aug. 27, 2026.

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

Palestinians express anger at UAE following US-brokered accord with Israel

Palestinians say UAE decision to normalize relations with Israel is a crime.

United Arab Emirates

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 11: Large scale models of Etihad Boeing 787 Dream Liners are displayed near Terminal Four at Heathrow Airport on August 11, 2014 in London, England. Heathrow is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest in the world. The airport's operator BAA wants to build a third runway to cope with increased demand. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Etihad cancels Shanghai flights following positive virus tests

Future travelers to the Chinese city will have to comply with stricter regulations from the Abu Dhabi-based airline.

United Arab Emirates

Dubai welcomes Lebanese residents with flowers, message of hope

Following last week’s deadly explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, Dubai greeted its Lebanese residents at the airport with white roses.

United Arab Emirates

State Department legally skirted Congress freeze on Saudi arms sales, inquiry finds

An inspector general's report redacted by the State Department says that while the department found ways to legally bypass congressional restrictions on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, measures that Congress had called for were not taken.

A passengers of an Emirates airlines flight departing to the Australian city of Sydney, receives a box of masks and gloves at Dubai International Airport on May 22, 2020, after the resumption of scheduled operations by the Emirati carrier, amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Emirates to require negative COVID-19 test for transit passengers

The United Arab Emirates already required people entering the country to test negative for the coronavirus, but now the rule has been extended to all connecting travel on the Emirates airline.

United Arab Emirates

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 15: (AFP-OUT) U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Crown Prince Shaikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi in the Oval Office of the White House on May 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Shaikh Mohammad is on a two-day visit to the U.S. (Photo by Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images)

Intel: Trump, MBZ talk ridding Libya of proxy fighters

During a phone call Tuesday, the US president and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince discussed diffusing the Libyan crisis as a new battle looms in the strategic city of Sirte.

United Arab Emirates

An employee works at the control room of the Mars Mission at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), in the Gulf emirate of Dubai. - The oil-rich United Arab Emirates has built a nuclear power programme and sent a man to space, and now plans to join another elite club by sending a probe to Mars.
Only the United States, India, the former Soviet Union, and the European Space Agency have successfully sent missions to orbit the Red Planet, while China is preparing to launch its first Mars rover later this

UAE Mars mission again delayed due to weather

The Hope probe is now scheduled to launch Monday from Japan.

United Arab Emirates

First series of Fight Island UFC events wraps up in Abu Dhabi

Several fighters of Middle Eastern heritage competed in the event without fans in the Emirati city on Sunday.

United Arab Emirates

A member of staff checks the temperature of a tourist at the Mandarin Oriental Jumeira on July 9, 2020 in the Gulf emirate of Dubai. - With a "welcome" passport sticker and coronavirus tests on arrival, Dubai reopened its doors to international visitors this week in the hope of reviving its tourism industry after a nearly four-month closure. (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Emirates resumes more international flights as restrictions ease

The addition of flights to Los Angeles, Dar es Salaam and other destinations follows the resumption of tourism to Dubai.

United Arab Emirates

UAE residents opt for staycations amid COVID-19 crisis

Hotels in the United Arab Emirates are one by one reopening across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah, with numerous money-saving staycation options.

United Arab Emirates

Israel, UAE test potential for cooperation on COVID-19

The agreement signed between the United Arab Emirates' Group 42 and Israel’s IAI and Rafael companies offers a glimpse of the potential for cooperation -- if not deterred by annexation.

United Arab Emirates

Emirates temporarily halts bookings to New Zealand

The Dubai-based carrier's decision follows a stoppage it placed on flights from Pakistan as countries struggle to resume flights during the pandemic.

United Arab Emirates