Saudi Arabia signs energy cooperation agreements with Mongolia, Tanzania, Cyprus, Mauritius
Saudi Arabia has signed four MoUs with Mongolia, Tanzania, Cyprus and Mauritius to expand cooperation in oil and gas, renewables, clean hydrogen and electricity, strengthening energy security, investment and sustainability.
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Saudi Arabia has signed four memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Mongolia, Tanzania, Cyprus and Mauritius to strengthen cooperation across the energy sector, including oil and gas, renewable energy, electricity, petrochemicals and clean hydrogen.
Saudi Minister of Energy and Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz signed the agreements with senior officials from the four countries in Riyadh on the sidelines of the 25th WPC Energy Congress, hosted by the Kingdom through October 15 under the theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All.”
The agreements aim to expand bilateral cooperation, encourage investment opportunities, promote technological innovation and strengthen collaboration on energy security and climate change mitigation.
Prince Abdulaziz signed the agreement with Mongolia’s Deputy Prime Minister Togmid Dorjkhand, establishing a framework for cooperation in oil and gas, refining, petrochemicals, electricity, power interconnection, renewable energy, energy efficiency and storage.
The agreement also covers climate change mitigation technologies, including Circular Carbon Economy solutions, as well as digital transformation, artificial intelligence, innovation and cybersecurity applications in the energy sector.
The two countries will seek to develop strategic partnerships to secure materials, products, services and technologies across energy supply chains.
The MoU also aims to promote sustainable petrochemical materials in construction and other industries, strengthen cooperation between energy companies and support large-scale electricity projects and renewable energy development.
A separate agreement was signed with Tanzania’s Minister for Energy Juma Zuberi Homera to strengthen cooperation in refined petroleum product supplies and explore opportunities related to supporting infrastructure.
The agreement also provides for assessing opportunities in liquefied natural gas, exchanging technical expertise in oil and gas exploration, and exploring potential cooperation in petrochemical production.
Additional areas include electricity, renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change mitigation technologies, including clean cooking solutions and Circular Carbon Economy initiatives.
The two countries will also explore opportunities linked to the Oil Sustainability Program and transport and fuel infrastructure, alongside cooperation in digital transformation, artificial intelligence, innovation and cybersecurity.
Prince Abdulaziz also signed an MoU with Cyprus’s Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry Michael Damianos covering oil and gas, refining, petrochemicals, electricity, clean hydrogen and its derivatives, renewable energy, energy efficiency and storage.
The agreement includes cooperation on climate change mitigation, digital transformation and cybersecurity, as well as efforts to advance shared international policy priorities through multilateral negotiations.
These include discussions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement and the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.
The MoU also supports the development and use of sustainable petrochemical materials, the expansion of energy access through appropriate infrastructure and stronger collaboration among companies operating in energy-related fields.
The fourth agreement, signed with Mauritius’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade Dhananjay Ramful, covers a broad range of energy areas, including oil and gas, refining, petrochemicals, electricity, clean hydrogen, renewable energy, energy efficiency and storage.
It also includes cooperation on climate change mitigation, Circular Carbon Economy technologies, digital transformation and cybersecurity applications in the energy sector.
Like the agreement with Cyprus, the Mauritius MoU provides for coordination on shared international policy priorities through relevant multilateral negotiations, including those related to climate change and plastic pollution.
It also promotes sustainable petrochemical materials and infrastructure development to expand access to energy.
The four agreements underscore Saudi Arabia’s efforts to broaden international energy partnerships and strengthen cooperation across conventional and emerging energy technologies, while supporting energy security, innovation and sustainability.
In November 2025, Revive ME brought together 1,000+ delegates from 50+ countries in Abu Dhabi, spotlighting the UAE’s growing role in the global longevity ecosystem. With healthcare, biotech, AI, genomics and investment converging, the event highlighted how longevity science is becoming increasingly aligned with the UAE’s ambitions for innovation, economic diversification and future-ready healthcare.
The UAE Cyber Security Council and SCC Middle East are joining forces to establish a Centre of Excellence for Cyber Resilience and Trusted Technology, driving secure innovation from UAE capabilities to global markets.
Dolly Parton’s former Hollywood Hills residence has hit the market for $7.95 million. The nearly 4,700-square-foot home features four bedrooms, panoramic city-to-ocean views, a pool and spa, library, media room and private outdoor spaces.
AI-powered travel agents are challenging online booking platforms, but Airbnb’s exclusive listings and direct customer relationships could give it an edge. Its next challenge: turning repeat guests into loyal customers through stronger rewards and innovation.
3 min
AI agents like Muse can already find you the cheapest hotel room in Paris. But they can’t locate a cheaper version of that Catskills cabin you’ve been eyeing, because it might only be available on Airbnb ABNB -1.43%decrease.
Investors should pay attention to that distinction. When Meta Platforms META 3.38%increase launched its Muse agent last month, travel stocks including Booking Holdings BKNG -1.19%decrease, Expedia and Airbnb all fell sharply.
Airbnb, though, has a real chance to emerge as a winner from the upheaval. The catch: Its stock already reflects above-industry growth. To justify its valuation, Airbnb will need to turn repeat customers into loyal ones.
Online travel companies make much of their money by simplifying search and collecting fees on bookings. AI agents threaten that model.
But not all travel marketplaces are equally exposed. Booking and Expedia largely sell hotel rooms that travelers can also book directly or through competing sites. If an agent can find the same room elsewhere, it has little reason to favor either Booking or Expedia.
Booking and Expedia also sell sponsored listings that steer travelers toward particular properties. Wells Fargo estimates those will account for about 8% of Expedia’s revenue and a much higher percentage of profit next year.
Airbnb has more ways to adapt. More than half its listings are available only on its platform, and more than 90% of its traffic comes directly to its app or website.
The customer relationship doesn’t end after booking, either. Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke notes that 90% of Airbnb guests go on to message their hosts about arrival times, keys or local taxes, giving Airbnb a connection to both sides of the transaction.
How the companies have responded to the possible agentic future is telling.
Expedia quickly signed on as a Muse partner. Airbnb hasn’t, and Chief Executive Brian Chesky says AI chatbots have so far been a boon, sending customers to Airbnb’s website.
Chatbots might work for buying paper towels, he quipped at a Skift conference last month, but people enjoy planning trips. He argued that browsing dozens of homes isn’t something a text-based chatbot is well suited for.
Still, the AI jitters arrived just as Airbnb was persuading investors it deserved its pricey multiple. For years after its 2020 initial public offering, the stock—which trades around 25 to 30 times forward earnings—went nowhere. Investors saw a mature operator trading at a growth premium.
This year, Airbnb growth seems to be accelerating. The stock jumped in August after the company raised its full-year revenue-growth guidance with its second-quarter results. Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski credits a run of product improvements under a revamped leadership team.
Among the changes: letting guests reserve now and pay later, adding hotels, and a redesigned home page and app. Investors were also betting on what comes next, including thousands more hotels, car rentals and, eventually, advertising.
The irony is that some of those growth drivers push Airbnb closer to the kind of business Booking and Expedia run—the kind of business AI agents could threaten. Even if AI agents capture a large share of travel planning and booking, Airbnb would capture the demand. But it and others would slowly lose control over how customers find and choose properties.
That would undermine the advertising opportunity investors are counting on. The bigger point for Airbnb and other marketplaces is that losing control of customer acquisition could mean surrendering some of their pricing power and margins.
To bulletproof itself, Airbnb might look to another e-commerce giant that has so far kept AI agents at arm’s length: Amazon.
Like Amazon, Airbnb has a loyal customer base and hard-to-match supply. But it has nothing like Prime membership to make customers think twice before taking their business elsewhere.
That is where loyalty comes in. Business travelers stick with Hilton or Marriott because enough nights earn them perks. Leisure travelers rarely accumulate stays with one chain. Airbnb has millions of listings and plenty of repeat customers, but no broad rewards program. It has begun experimenting with credits on hotel stays, but it should make loyalty a priority, not just a promotion.
Airbnb also plans to launch its own AI agent next year. But travelers using an agent might still want it to search Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking and hotel websites alike, rather than limit itself to one company’s inventory.
Eventually, Airbnb might have to strike deals with agent makers, using its unique homes as leverage to negotiate favorable terms, says Gawrelski. Such deals, along with rewards for loyal guests, could over the long term eat into the company’s roughly 13% take rate, he adds. But if they bring in enough additional bookings, the trade-off could be worthwhile.
History offers a reason not to panic. The shift from desktop to mobile unsettled investors in Alphabet and Amazon, but both emerged as major beneficiaries. Companies with valuable assets can come out of a platform shift stronger, if they adapt quickly enough.
Airbnb has homes the bots can’t easily replace. Now it needs to give guests a reason to insist on booking them there.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
Qatar’s renewable energy capacity is projected to reach 25.9% of total power capacity by 2035, driven by major solar projects, while natural gas remains central to ensuring reliable electricity and water supplies.
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Qatar is accelerating utility-scale solar development to diversify its power mix, reduce domestic natural gas consumption and curb emissions, while maintaining gas-fired generation to ensure reliable electricity and water supplies, according to GlobalData.
The country’s renewable energy share of total power capacity is projected to rise from 12 per cent in 2025 to 25.9 per cent by 2035, with overall installed power capacity expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2 per cent over the decade.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is forecast to expand at a CAGR of 12.4 per cent, GlobalData said in its latest report.
Attaurrahman Saibasan, Power Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Qatar’s power sector is shifting from total reliance on natural gas toward a structured hybrid model. Driven by the Qatar National Renewable Energy Strategy, the build-out of major solar facilities such as Al Kharsaah and the recently commissioned plants at Ras Laffan and Mesaieed, alongside the large-scale Dukhan development demonstrate substantial momentum in deploying low-cost clean generation across the peninsula.”
Despite the expansion of renewables, natural gas will remain central to Qatar’s power and water infrastructure, accounting for approximately 74 per cent of total installed capacity in 2035.
Gas-fired combined-cycle turbines and cogeneration plants support the country’s Independent Water and Power Projects (IWPPs), providing reliable electricity during peak summer demand and the thermal energy required for seawater desalination.
Saibasan said: “The cogeneration of potable water and power is a structural feature of Qatar’s utility system. Gas-fired IWPP facilities provide critical firming capacity to absorb large influxes of solar energy during midday hours while securing baseload water desalination. Expanding flexible gas generation and modernising grid management are essential prerequisites for accommodating the planned 4GW renewable target by 2030 without compromising system security.”
Qatar’s energy transition is guided by the Qatar National Vision 2030, the Third National Development Strategy and the Qatar National Renewable Energy Strategy.
Additional measures include emissions-reduction commitments under its updated Nationally Determined Contribution and net-billing regulations introduced by Kahramaa to support distributed generation.
GlobalData said Qatar’s single-buyer electricity market, in which Kahramaa purchases power and desalinated water through long-term agreements, also helps reduce market risks for project developers.
Saibasan added: “Qatar is leveraging its world-class solar irradiance and robust balance sheet to free up valuable natural gas volumes for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export markets while decarbonising its domestic matrix. Sustaining this pace will require continuing to align renewable integration with IWPP offtake commitments, meeting growing industrial demand, and maintaining high transmission reliability across the National Control Centre and regional GCC interconnection links.”
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Two coming 2027 models – the first of the “Neue Klasse” cars coming to the U.S. early next year – have been revealed.
Amazon is in talks to acquire AI startup Decart in a deal reportedly worth around $7bn, as competition intensifies for AI computing power and chip technology.
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Amazon.com AMZN 3.29%increase; is in talks to acquire artificial-intelligence startup Decart in a deal that could be valued at around $7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
San Francisco-based Decart’s software makes it easier for developers to switch between different AI chips, a capability that is becoming increasingly important as companies race to secure more computing power.
A deal could come together soon, the people said, assuming talks don’t fall apart or another suitor doesn’t emerge.
Decart has raised more than $400 million in venture capital funding from investors including Sequoia Capital, Benchmark and Radical Ventures, according to PitchBook. It was valued at nearly $4 billion in May.
The company was founded in 2023 by three Israeli engineers, brothers Dean and Orian Leitersdorf and Moshe Shalev. Decart is also developing world models called Lucy and Oasis. World models can generate and simulate real-world 3-D environments.
Amazon has developed its own custom AI chip, Trainium3, in competition with Nvidia, which continues to dominate the market for graphics processing units, the specialized chips powering the AI boom. Amazon Web Services gave Decart early access to the chip in 2025 after meeting with the company and being impressed by its founders, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
Amazon’s other sizable acquisitions in recent years include a $6.5 billion deal for the MGM movie and television studio in 2022 and a roughly $11 billion deal for Starlink rival Globalstar announced earlier this year.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
New research suggests that bonuses make employees feel more like a mere cog in a wheel.
In November 2025, Revive ME brought together 1,000+ delegates from 50+ countries in Abu Dhabi, spotlighting the UAE’s growing role in the global longevity ecosystem. With healthcare, biotech, AI, genomics and investment converging, the event highlighted how longevity science is becoming increasingly aligned with the UAE’s ambitions for innovation, economic diversification and future-ready healthcare.
3 minIn November 2025, more than 1,000 delegates from over 50 countries convened in Abu Dhabi for the inaugural edition of Revive ME. Across two days, policymakers, healthcare leaders, biotech innovators, investors, and entrepreneurs gathered to explore the future of healthy longevity.
What emerged was more than a successful event. It was a signal of alignment between global longevity science and the UAE’s national strategy.
The convergence was timely.
A Healthcare System Designed for the Future
The UAE’s healthcare sector has evolved into one of the most dynamic in the region, generating more than US$4.6 billion in annual revenues and maintaining per capita healthcare expenditure among the highest globally. The market has demonstrated sustained growth, supported by strong government investment, regulatory modernization, and expanding private sector participation.
But the transformation goes deeper than growth metrics.
Under We the UAE 2031, healthcare is positioned as a pillar of national development focused on quality of life, preventive care, digital integration, and specialized excellence. Across the federation, authorities are investing in AI driven healthcare systems, genomics initiatives, telemedicine platforms, robotic pharmacy systems, and advanced diagnostics infrastructure.
Healthcare is no longer being treated purely as a social service. It is increasingly viewed as strategic infrastructure.
Revive ME reflected this evolution.
An Ecosystem in One Room
Revive ME brought together over 80 global speakers, 200+ participating companies, and more than 50 sponsors and exhibitors spanning regenerative medicine, AI powered diagnostics, biotech innovation, precision health, and wellness technology.
The audience profile itself was telling, with strong representation from C suite executives and senior decision makers. This was not simply a knowledge sharing forum; it was a strategic ecosystem convening.
Discussions extended beyond scientific discovery to regulatory pathways, commercialization strategies, clinical research capacity, investment opportunities, and the integration of digital health systems. The Startup Launchpad offered early-stage companies direct exposure to capital and strategic partnerships, while curated site visits to Masdar City and advanced healthcare facilities reinforced Abu Dhabi’s expanding life sciences capabilities.
The event effectively compressed the distance between ambition and application.
Aligning with National Industrial Ambitions
The UAE is actively shifting from being primarily a healthcare importer to becoming a regional manufacturing and R&D hub.
National industrial strategies emphasize pharmaceutical localization, advanced biologics, contract research infrastructure, and high-tech medical devices. Industry projections estimate the UAE medical device market will approach US$1.5 billion by 2025, supported by hospital modernization and growing diagnostic capacity. Biotech and pharmaceutical segments are positioned for longer term growth as sovereign backed initiatives expand manufacturing and research capabilities.
Simultaneously, digital health and telemedicine have been institutionalized through federal and emirate level frameworks, creating reimbursement pathways and accelerating adoption.
Revive ME convened companies operating precisely within these strategic segments from advanced therapeutics and AI diagnostics to genomic testing and biomarker driven health optimization.
This alignment is what transforms an event into a strategic platform.
Longevity as an Economic Lever
The UAE’s broader Vision 2030 objectives emphasize economic diversification, knowledge driven industries, foreign direct investment, and human capital development.
Longevity science intersects with all four.
The global shift from reactive disease treatment to proactive health span optimization is generating new economic verticals:
• Regenerative medicine and advanced therapeutics • AI powered diagnostics and predictive analytics • Genomics and precision medicine • Clinical research and translational biotech • Preventive health platforms and remote monitoring
These sectors represent not only healthcare transformation but economic opportunity.
By clustering innovators, capital providers, regulators, and policymakers under one roof, Revive ME strengthened the UAE’s positioning within the emerging longevity economy. It reinforced the message that the country is not merely adopting global trends, it is building the infrastructure to lead within them.
Human Capital and Future Readiness
National strategies across the UAE emphasize workforce development in AI, data science, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing. Universities, research institutions, and innovation zones are expanding domestic clinical and translational research capacity, while talent attraction programs enhance global competitiveness.
Longevity innovation requires multidisciplinary expertise, including clinicians, data scientists, regulatory specialists, biotech founders, and capital allocators.
Revive ME mirrored this architecture. It functioned as a microcosm of the ecosystem required to sustain a knowledge-based healthcare economy.
In doing so, it reinforced a critical national principle: long term competitiveness depends on both infrastructure and human capital.
From Platform to Momentum
Strategic convenings matter because they accelerate timelines. They bring stakeholders into proximity, catalyse conversations that might otherwise take months, and generate visibility that shapes international perception.
As the UAE advances telemedicine, expands clinical trial capacity, strengthens pharmaceutical manufacturing, and embeds AI into healthcare delivery, platforms like Revive ME provide the connective tissue linking policy ambition with operational execution.
The event did not claim to create the national strategy. Rather, it demonstrated how longevity science is increasingly embedded within it.
From research to regulation, from innovation to investment, the alignment is visible.
A Defining Moment
Revive ME represented more than a milestone for longevity dialogue in the region. It reflected a broader national shift, one in which healthcare, technology, and economic strategy are converging.
In a country actively redefining its post oil economic identity, longevity science sits at the intersection of innovation, sustainability, and global competitiveness.
From longevity science to national strategy, the pathway is no longer conceptual.
It is in motion.
Register now.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Parts for iPhones to cost more owing to surging demand from AI companies.
The UAE Cyber Security Council and SCC Middle East are joining forces to establish a Centre of Excellence for Cyber Resilience and Trusted Technology, driving secure innovation from UAE capabilities to global markets.
2 minThe UAE Cyber Security Council and SCC Middle East today announced plans to develop a new Centre of Excellence for Cyber Resilience and Trusted Technology in the UAE, to serve the region and the globe, announced during AI Everything Abu Dhabi. The Centre will provide an environment where government, enterprises, technology partners and specialists can explore emerging technologies, test real use cases, and understand how new solutions can be adopted securely and at scale.
The initiative follows a three-phase approach:
Phase 1 – Building national capability: Executive learning, practical labs and specialist development across AI, cloud, data, cybersecurity and critical national infrastructure, helping organisations move from experimentation toward secure, practical adoption.
Phase 2 – Incubate innovation made in the UAE: A startup incubator programme to develop and scale UAE cyber innovation, testing and validating locally developed technologies against real-world requirements.
Phase 3 – Creating pathways to international markets: Helping selected UAE-developed technologies connect with international customers, ecosystems and commercial opportunities.
Under the innovation centre, both parties will lead integration and delivery, bringing together the expertise and resources required according to each programme’s needs.
H.E. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government said: “The UAE has set ambitious goals around artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and the development of a secure and resilient digital economy. The Centre of Excellence will create an environment for government, industry and technology partners to turn that ambition into practical capability.”
Daniel Valle, CEO, SCC Middle East, said: “There is no shortage of technology available today. The harder question is how you bring the right technologies together, prove they work for the environment you are putting them into and then turn that into a real outcome. That is what we want this Centre to be about. Not a showroom, but somewhere we can bring customers, partners and specialists together around real problems, test ideas and build solutions that can actually be deployed. Our role at SCC is to connect those pieces. We start with what the customer is trying to achieve, bring together the right people, technology and expertise, and remain accountable for making it work.”
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Many of the most-important events have slipped from our collective memories. But their impacts live on.
Dolly Parton’s former Hollywood Hills residence has hit the market for $7.95 million. The nearly 4,700-square-foot home features four bedrooms, panoramic city-to-ocean views, a pool and spa, library, media room and private outdoor spaces.
2 minA residence in the Hollywood Hills that was once home to the late Dolly Parton has hit the market for $7.95 million.
The country singer and her late husband, Carl Dean, bought the house in 1985 for $750,000 and sold it in 1990 for $1.2 million, according to listing records.
The property, aptly known as the Dolly Parton House, hasn’t been on the market for 25 years, according to the listing with Edward Tinney of Nourmand & Associates and Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency.
It’s unlikely Parton and Dean would recognize the house as it stands today though; it was rebuilt in 2009, and upgraded further in the years since, the listing said.
Across its almost 4,700 square feet, the house has living and dining rooms with walls of glass that frame the views that stretch across the city to the Pacific Ocean.
MORE: Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Puts Heptagonal California Home Up for Sale
There’s also a library and media room, a family room and an eat-in kitchen. There are four bedrooms, including the primary suite, which has a coffee bar, a fireplace, two bathrooms, a space for an office or gym, a walk-in closet and a private deck.
Outside, there’s a pool and spa, with space for outdoor dining and entertaining. Plus there’s a two-car garage, electrical infrastructure for an EV charger and a Zen trail, according to the listing.
The seller, who couldn’t be reached for comment, paid $2.05 million for the home in 2001, records with PropertyShark show.
MORE: Tiger Woods’s Mini-Golf Business Partner Lists South Florida Home for $18.5 Million
Parton died on August 25 at the age of 80 after a battle with cancer.
She released 50 studio albums over the course of her career—resulting in 27 gold and platinum albums—and starred in films including “9 to 5,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Steel Magnolias.”
A philanthropist, she was behind the Imagination Library, which donated more than 200 million books to children around the world. In 2020, she helped fund early research for Moderna’s Covid 19 vaccine with a $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Paine Schwartz joins BERO as a new investor as the year-old company seeks to triple sales.
As data demand continues to grow, the data center industry is facing a critical challenge: how to scale while improving efficiency, resilience and sustainability. On 13 October 2026, the Sustainable Data Center Summit will bring together industry leaders, infrastructure experts, technology providers and key decision-makers in Dubai to explore the solutions shaping the next generation of data centers. From energy efficiency and advanced cooling to power resilience, renewable energy and AI-ready infrastructure, the conversation will focus on the technologies and strategies shaping the future of sustainable data centers.
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The Sustainable Data Center Summit is a focused industry platform bringing together data center operators, developers, infrastructure specialists, technology providers, consultants, government stakeholders and other key decision-makers to examine the evolving requirements of sustainable digital infrastructure.
As demand for cloud services, AI, high-performance computing and digital connectivity continues to accelerate, data centers are facing increasing pressure to expand capacity while managing energy consumption, cooling requirements, power resilience, water use and environmental impact. The summit provides a platform to address these challenges and explore practical approaches to developing more efficient, resilient and sustainable facilities.
The summit will explore key areas including energy efficiency and optimisation, advanced cooling and thermal management, resilient power infrastructure, renewable energy integration, sustainable data center design and operations, water efficiency, carbon reduction, AI-ready infrastructure and high-density computing.
Through expert presentations, panel discussions and industry networking, the event will bring together professionals across the data center ecosystem to exchange knowledge, examine emerging technologies and discuss the strategies required to support the industry’s next phase of growth.
Taking place on 13 October 2026 at Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai, the Sustainable Data Center Summit will provide a dedicated platform for meaningful conversations around how the industry can meet rising digital demand while moving towards more efficient, resilient and sustainable data center infrastructure.
Sustainable Data Center Summit
13 October 2026 | Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai, Dubai, UAE
Learn more and register.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
The sports-car maker delivered 279,449 cars last year, down from 310,718 in 2024.
OpenAI has shelved the planned launch of GPT-6.1 Astra after internal tests raised concerns about deception and agents acting beyond user authorization, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company says it will investigate the issues and strengthen safety measures before releasing future models.
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OpenAI says it is scrapping the release of its next-generation AI model over safety concerns that researchers raised during internal testing, in one of the clearest signs so far that agent misbehavior could stymie the industry’s rapid progression.
The move follows a summer punctuated by reports of artificial-intelligence systems industrywide going rogue, and marks a rare case of a major AI developer ditching a new release because of safety concerns.
The company had planned to launch the model, known as GPT-6.1 Astra, in the coming days or weeks, aiming for an October debut. The model was more capable than the company’s previous models in completing challenging tasks from end-to-end without human assistance, as well as writing.
The company instead will focus on improving the safety of future models, which it expects to be even more capable.
Saachi Jain, OpenAI’s head of safety systems, said in an interview that GPT-6.1 Astra regressed in two areas. Compared with its predecessor, GPT-6 Astra, the model performed poorly on tests measuring alignment, or how well the model adheres to what humans would like it to do. Specifically, GPT-6.1 Astra showed higher levels of deception: It wasn’t always honest about telling users of the actions it did or didn’t take.
Another issue was what OpenAI calls “scope authorization,” meaning that GPT-6.1 Astra would push ahead on a task without asking the user for permission, and would at times reach for external tools and services even if it might be unsafe.
“For anything regarding safety and alignment, there’s a trade off,” Jain said. “You really do need to find what’s the right line between staying within scope, but also avoiding laziness in terms of how the model actually pursues tasks even when it hits friction.”
While GPT-6.1 Astra improved in areas such as “model laziness,” Jain said it didn’t quite meet OpenAI’s bar for safety and alignment, so the company decided not to launch the model publicly.
The announcement comes one day ahead of OpenAI’s annual developer conference in San Francisco. In the past, OpenAI has used the conference as an opportunity to launch new models and services that reduce costs for software developers—a segment the ChatGPT-maker competes with rival AI company Anthropic to win over.
In recent weeks, OpenAI and Anthropic have called on industry partners to slow down the development of cutting-edge AI models and invest in safety standards, noting they will temper the pace of their own internal AI progress.
OpenAI says it is working to investigate a range of agent security incidents that it has discovered in recent months, and address the safety issues underneath them. As part of the work, the company has implemented a new monitoring system to catch AI-agent misbehavior more quickly, and started requiring engineers to use stronger security guardrails for testing its AI systems.
Earlier this summer hundreds of OpenAI’s internal agents, which were tasked with completing a cybersecurity test, ended up hacking into the AI company Hugging Face. Since then, high-profile organizations such as the Australian government and United Nations discovered that OpenAI’s agents used similar, but less extensive, techniques to gain access to their websites.
Many of the publicly known agent-security incidents involved OpenAI’s internal AI models that were never slated for public release.
Last week, OpenAI said it paused training on its most capable AI models after an AI agent slipped through a gap in the company’s internet restrictions to query a public chatbot. The company said its new monitoring systems flagged the incident within 15 minutes, and training on these models remains paused.
GPT-6.1 Astra isn’t one of those models, but a different case, the company said.
“We want to make sure our model development is safe no matter whether that’s in the company, or when we ship it to users,” Jain said. “But when we ship it to users, we have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment.”
While the company decided not to ship GPT-6.1 Astra, it hopes to use the same base model to do additional reinforcement learning runs, and create future generations of its GPT-6 models.
OpenAI plans to conduct several deep dives to identify the root cause of the problems identified in GPT-6.1 Astra, Jain said. The work includes ensuring that OpenAI’s reinforcement learning environments are rewarding the right type of behavior, Jain added, though she noted the company would investigate all stages of model development.
AI companies have begun to draw scrutiny from policymakers and public officials, who are paying attention to the rapid development of the technology. Later this week, a Senate subcommittee is holding a hearing with third party AI researchers titled, “Rogue AI: Securing the Homeland Against AI Agent Attacks.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, sued OpenAI in June, claiming that the company and Chief Executive Sam Altman knowingly released an unsafe product and ignored warnings that it could harm users.
In a motion for temporary injunction filed Monday, Uthmeier sought to prevent OpenAI from developing new AI models without third-party approved safeguards, stop ChatGPT from soliciting user engagement and limit the company’s ability to advertise ChatGPT as safe.
Tech companies claim they “cannot stop barreling forward with their potentially civilization-ending endeavors unless they are forced to do so by the government,” Uthmeier said in the filing. “The Florida Attorney General is answering your cry for help.”
An OpenAI spokeswoman said that people want to know AI is being developed safely, “and that starts with what companies like ours do ourselves.”
“Governments have an important role to play in setting robust safety standards for AI, and we’re committed to working with Florida and other states on advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry—not just one company,” she said.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Innovation City and Salesforce are bringing Agentforce to company registration in Ras Al Khaimah. The AI-powered platform is designed to cut registration from days or weeks to minutes, with governance and human oversight in place.
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Salesforce, the world’s #1 AI CRM, and Innovation City, the UAE’s premier AI-powered free zone, have announced the deployment of Salesforce’s Agentforce to streamline and enhance the free zone’s business registration services – introducing what Innovation City and Salesforce believe to be the world’s first AI-powered registration platform of its kind.
The new implementation combines AI platform capabilities powered by Salesforce with Innovation City’s digital ecosystem, enabling businesses to access services and complete registration processes faster through more responsive interactions, while operating within Innovation City’s established governance and regulatory framework.
Agentforce provides Innovation City with a digital workforce of AI agents capable of autonomously executing defined tasks and workflows within established parameters, permissions and controls. This transforms company registration that once took days or weeks into a process completed in minutes. Human oversight is introduced only where strategic judgment or complex exceptions require it, while governance, security, and full auditability remain embedded throughout the process.
Powered by Salesforce’s trusted data and compliance architecture, the platform reduces friction across key registration and business processes, giving companies quicker access to the services needed to launch and expand their operations at Innovation City, while maintaining the controls and safeguards applicable to the company registration process.
Innovation City’s AI-powered registration platform demonstrates the potential of AI agents to transform company formation and related business services. For organizations ready to bring AI agents across their entire business, Salesforce offers Agentforce 1 – a complete edition that unifies AI agents, connected data, and built-in trust and governance in a single package, so companies can deploy digital labor across teams and workflows.
“We are not just digitizing bureaucracy – we are fundamentally transforming the company formation experience,” said Paul Dawalibi, CEO of Innovation City. “This is the moment we move from talking about the future to living it. With Salesforce Agentforce, we have created an AI-powered registration platform that combines intelligent automation with the governance and oversight expected of a modern business jurisdiction. Ras Al Khaimah’s Innovation City isn’t just a free zone – we are building an AI-powered ecosystem where technology removes unnecessary friction and enables entrepreneurs to move from ambition to execution faster than ever before.”
This groundbreaking partnership supports the UAE’s broader ambition to accelerate the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence and advanced digital technologies across services and the economy. Salesforce Middle East’s partnership with Innovation City places both organizations at the forefront of this transformation, turning national ambition into tangible, lightning-fast opportunity for the world’s most ambitious founders.
Mohammed AlKhothani, General Manager and SVP, Salesforce Middle East, said: “Organizations across the Middle East are maturing beyond AI experimentation to actual measurable outcomes for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and enterprises. Agentforce brings autonomous digital labor to the heart of these processes; our AI agents act on data, workflows, and business logic to deliver faster, smarter, and more relevant experiences. Our partnership with Innovation City shows how Agentforce can safely simplify business processes, all while meeting enterprise-grade requirements for governance, data privacy, and trust.”
This partnership with Salesforce represents more than technology – it represents a shared belief that forward-looking companies need infrastructure designed for them today. Agentforce’s autonomous AI agents bring enterprise-grade intelligence to every step of the registration journey at Innovation City, setting a new global standard.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
Employers are rethinking performance reviews as Gen Z workers seek more frequent, clear and actionable feedback.
4 min
Bosses are getting no shortage of feedback on how to give their youngest staffers…well, feedback: Do ask how they are doing first. Don’t criticize a personality trait. Do give them concrete direction, and a lot of it.
And whatever you do, call a performance discussion a check-in, not a review.
The oldest members of Gen Z are about to turn 30, yet companies are devoting more time and resources than ever to figuring out how to give this manager-befuddling generation better direction. For help, they are turning to a cottage industry of multigeneration-workplace consultants and even artificial-intelligence bots, while ripping up the script for what used to be once-a-year evaluations.
All of it is a departure for leaders who rose through the ranks in an era devoid of so much thought to effective coaching and criticism. “When I started my first job, I got a performance review a year later, and that was just expected,” said Adam Coyne, chief administrative officer at research and analytics firm Mathematica, which has shifted from annual reviews to quarterly, two-way check-ins for new junior hires.
“This is a group that wants a lot more real-time feedback,” added Coyne, 55.
It is a message managers say they are getting nonstop from surveys and all-hands meetings, not to mention the universities and colleges preparing graduates for the white-collar world of work: Used to the immediate validation of social-media likes and comments, even instantly posted grades, this generation of workers craves clear, frequent direction—and they feel disoriented and anxious when they don’t get it.
Gallup data suggest companies are still struggling to get the hang of it. Younger workers report some of the biggest drops in engagement at work over the past five years. Not knowing where they stand appears to be a big factor. The share of Gen Z and younger millennials who strongly agreed with the statement, “I know what is expected of me at work,” fell 9 points to 42% in surveys between 2020 and 2025.
That doesn’t mean they need the effusive praise that many managers claim they do, some 20-something workers say. “I personally dislike this style,” said Nathan Luckock, a 20-year-old engineer at an AI startup. More effective, he said, is just “pointing out mistakes and then offering a solution.”
That sounds familiar to Lindsey Pollak, a multigenerational workforce expert and executive coach, who says she coaches bosses to be as specific as possible. Instead of “be more responsive,” for instance, she suggests “need to hear from you within an hour of receiving an instruction.”
At Mathematica, Chief Executive Paul Decker said the firm switched to more frequent check-ins in part because so many new entry-level hires were peppering supervisors with questions like: “How am I doing?” and “What does the next level require?” At staff meetings, younger workers often questioned why things were done the way they had always been done.
That included things like “waiting months to learn whether you’re meeting expectations,” he said.
KPMG executives said they, too, began giving their younger workers more frequent assessments on skills like critical thinking and adaptability last year after interns said they wanted to hear more often how their skills were coming along. The firm wanted to “make sure that we scratch the itch,” said Jason LaRue, vice chair of talent and culture at KPMG’s U.S. practice.
Some managers are getting feedback on giving feedback from bots.
Joe Hirsch, a corporate speaker and author of “The Feedback Fix,” recently used an AI coaching platform to work with a tech-company manager on her delivery. She had been frustrated that one of her junior reports wasn’t grasping her pointers on pitching clients, so she role-played the conversation with the AI coach.
The problem, the bot advised, was that she wasn’t giving the employee enough context for why she wanted things done a certain way. “Let’s connect so I can share more about our approach and get your take on it,” it suggested she say.
That did the trick when she tried the approach in real life. “The advice finally landed,” Hirsch said.
Even a few, clear bullet points work, said Valerie Chapman, the 27-year-old founder and CEO of Ruth AI, a career strategist platform for women. “My generation likes to get feedback so that they know how they should adjust.”
She recalls getting bullet-pointed direction when she worked as a strategic growth partner at real-estate company Compass a few years ago. The feedback started with praise before offering pointers.
“It would be, ‘Great job. Here are some things that you could do next week,’” she said. “If that comes in on a Friday, then my Gen Z brain knows exactly what I need to do on a Monday.”
Mike Ekbundit, director of GE Appliances’ engineering programs, said he has tried to make performance discussions with younger workers in rotational programs two-way dialogues rather than top-down critiques. So he revised online evaluations to include prompts for managers to ask questions like “Did you like the assignment leader?” and “Was it too much work?”
Managers are also asked to assess the program participants on nine different categories, like innovation and resilience, while employees are prompted to list their top strengths and weaknesses.
“I need high customer satisfaction to retain this highly sought-after talent, and this is part of how I get it,” he said.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Interior designer Thomas Hamel on where it goes wrong in so many homes.
GCC tourism reached US$254.7 billion in economic value in 2025, with progress towards the region’s 2030 strategy targets averaging 73.8%.
3 min
The report on Strategic Tourism Ambition in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries, issued by the GCC Statistical Centre (GCC-Stat), indicated that the direct and indirect economic value of tourism in the GCC countries rose to approximately US$254.7 billion in 2025, compared with US$11.7 trillion globally.
The number of tourism-related jobs in the GCC countries reached approximately 4.5 million, compared with around 371 million globally, while tourism’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) and employment, as well as the sector’s growth rates in the GCC, stood at competitive levels compared with global averages.
The report, which examines the sector’s ability to withstand geopolitical tensions, recovery pathways and the economic outlook through 2035, showed that the GCC tourism sector had made tangible progress towards achieving the targets of the Gulf Tourism Strategy 2022–2030, with average progress towards the six strategic objectives reaching approximately 73.8% by 2025, driven by sustained growth in visitor numbers and tourism spending, an increase in the sector’s contribution to GDP, and growth in direct employment opportunities.
The report measures progress towards six key objectives of the Gulf Tourism Strategy: increasing the number of inbound trips, direct travel and tourism GDP, inbound tourist spending, the sector’s share of GDP, domestic tourist spending and direct employment.
By 2030, the strategy aims to attract 128.7 million visitors, raise direct travel and tourism GDP to US$145.8 billion, increase inbound tourist spending to US$188 billion, raise the sector’s direct contribution to GDP to 6.5%, increase domestic tourist spending to US$49 billion, and bring the number of direct jobs to approximately 2.9 million.
For inbound visitor numbers, the total reached 89.9 million in 2025, representing 69.9% of the 2030 target of 128.7 million visitors. The number grew by 3.1% between 2024 and 2025, while average annual growth over the 2019–2025 period was approximately 29.4%, taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the trajectory of this indicator.
In terms of inbound tourist spending, total expenditure rose to US$131.9 billion in 2025, achieving 70.2% of the 2030 target of US$188 billion. It recorded growth of 9.7% in one year and average annual growth of 17.5% over the 2019–2025 period.
As for domestic tourism, domestic tourist spending reached US$42.9 billion in 2025, achieving 87.6% of the 2030 target of US$49 billion. Spending grew by 6.2% between 2024 and 2025, while average annual growth over the 2019–2025 period was approximately 20.3%.
Direct travel and tourism GDP in the GCC countries reached US$101.7 billion in 2025, achieving 69.8% of the 2030 target of US$145.8 billion, with annual growth of 8.8% between 2024 and 2025 and average annual growth of 15.9% over the 2019–2025 period.
The travel and tourism sector’s contribution to the GCC countries’ GDP also rose to 4.6% in 2025, achieving 70.8% of the 2030 target of 6.5%. This contribution grew by 7% between 2024 and 2025, while average annual growth over the 2019–2025 period was approximately 7.2%.
In the labour market, total direct employment in the travel and tourism sector reached 2.2 million jobs in 2025, achieving 74.7% of the 2030 target of approximately 2.9 million jobs, with annual growth of 5.6% between 2024 and 2025 and average annual growth of 4.9% over the 2019–2025 period.
These indicators strengthened the international standing of the tourism sector in the GCC countries, whose share of total international tourism reached 5% in 2025, while their share of global tourism receipts stood at 6.9%. This reflects the region’s expanding presence in the global tourism market and the sector’s growing economic impact.
In terms of ease of international mobility, the report indicated that the GCC countries occupy the top six positions among Arab countries for passport strength, according to the Henley Passport Index 2026. Compared with 2016, GCC passports recorded cumulative improvements in their rankings ranging from 6 to 36 places as of 16 July 2026.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Following the devastation of recent flooding, experts are urging government intervention to drive the cessation of building in areas at risk.
As construction becomes increasingly digital, six key skills—from managing digital workflows and BIM to using data and AI responsibly—are helping professionals work smarter and deliver projects more efficiently.
3 min
According to a recent skills report, 59% of quantity surveying and construction professionals identified advanced digital tools as the most important skill for the future.
Construction has always relied on practical experience: understanding how projects are delivered, spotting risks early and knowing when something on site is not right. These skills remain essential, but as digital tools become more embedded across the industry, the way construction teams work is changing.
As a digital platform working with construction teams around the world, PlanRadar has identified six skills that are becoming increasingly important on the modern jobsite, helping professionals work more efficiently and adapt as construction becomes more digital.
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Creating clear digital project records
Good documentation is more than taking a photo or writing a quick note. Site information should clearly show what happened, where it happened, who is responsible and what action is needed. This makes it easier for contractors to respond and for reviewers to confirm that work has been completed correctly.
A 2023 case study found that introducing structured digital quality-control documentation reduced supervisors’ documentation workload by 80–90%. Standardised data entry also improved the accuracy and usability of inspection records. Clear, organised information also provides a stronger foundation for future automation and AI.
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Coordinating digital workflows
Construction professionals increasingly need to understand how information moves through a project, not just how to use individual tools. An inspection, Request for Information (RFI) or approval should have a clear path, showing who starts it, what information is needed, who reviews it and when it must be escalated.
This matters because delays in these workflows can have a real impact. A PlanRadar study of 1,728 construction professionals found that one in four respondents said delayed approvals typically add more than a month to project timelines. Clear digital workflows help teams keep responsibilities visible, reduce missed actions and move decisions forward faster.
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Working confidently with digital drawings and BIM
Construction professionals do not need to be BIM specialists, but they should be able to navigate digital drawings, understand revisions and connect site issues to the correct location. This is becoming increasingly important in the UAE as Dubai continues to digitise building processes.
Through its BIM platform, Dubai Municipality allows consultants to upload IFC models and automatically check them against Dubai BIM Standards and selected building regulations.
As these processes become more sophisticated, these skills will become more important on site. Professionals who can confidently use digital models will be better placed to connect design information with actual site conditions.
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Capturing useful visual evidence
Visual documentation is becoming a more important part of how construction teams track progress, and communicate site conditions. Professionals need to know what should be captured, when it should be recorded and how images can support later decisions.
A UAE case study at Expo City Dubai saw a contractor use 360-degree reality capture across 28 buildings, creating around 180 captures of the project. The visual record helped teams monitor progress, identify issues and improve reporting. Used effectively, visual evidence gives teams a clearer record of site conditions and makes progress easier to review without relying solely on repeated physical inspections.
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Building practical data literacy
Construction teams generate large amounts of information daily. The skill is knowing how to read that information and identify what actually needs attention.
Professionals should be able to spot recurring quality issues, overdue actions, approval delays and differences in performance across teams or locations. They also need to understand when a number is useful and when it needs more context.
This does not mean every project manager needs to become a data specialist. It means being able to ask the right questions, check the information behind a result and use project data to support better decisions.
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Using AI with professional judgement
A 2025 RICS survey of more than 2,200 construction professionals found that 46% identified a lack of skilled personnel as one of the main barriers to AI adoption. As AI becomes more common in construction, professionals will therefore need more than basic awareness of the technology.
They should understand where AI can support routine work, how to question its output and when professional verification is required. AI can organise information, identify patterns and summarise records, but decisions involving safety, contracts or technical responsibility still require human judgement.
Digital skills are becoming part of everyday construction, but the pace of technological change means professionals cannot be expected to master every new tool. What the industry needs instead are curious, adaptable people who are willing to keep learning, question how technology is used and apply it in ways that improve project delivery.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
AI doesn’t rebel—people design, deploy and profit from it. The real danger lies in allowing tech companies to escape accountability while shaping regulations that protect their dominance.
4 min
A wave of corporate warnings and technical disclosures has flooded the media, with headlines worrying over “swarms” of rogue artificial-intelligence agents launching “unprecedented” cyberattacks, outsmarting their makers, and inching toward a terrifying autonomy. The most revealing part of this narrative isn’t what the software did. It’s who is telling the story—and why. When corporate leaders publicly insist that the systems they financed, engineered and deployed are suddenly beyond their power to contain, skepticism isn’t only healthy; it is essential.
For years, Silicon Valley has drawn scrutiny from civil society and global regulators over tangible harms such as youth mental health deterioration and systematic privacy violations. Today, industry figures seem to be trying to change that public image. Loudly blowing the whistle on their own systems—just as two of the leading companies were preparing for massive initial public offerings—lets AI executives position themselves as a new generation of leaders who have come to terms with their societal responsibilities. They seem to want us to believe that they no longer want to “move fast and break things” but will instead stand as vigilant guardians between humanity and a technological apocalypse.
There is one glaring problem: Software doesn’t rebel. A mathematical model possesses neither intent, malice nor the will to defy its creators, let alone extinguish our species. AI is a human artifact, engineered for profit.
When an agentic model in an evaluation sandbox connects to an unauthorized server or executes an exploit, it hasn’t staged a coup. It has tried to meet the human-defined objectives set out before it through a path its designers failed to constrain. It’s the digital equivalent of the King Midas myth, in which the king’s ill-defined wish turns even his food and drink into gold.
That powerful experimental models were able to discover novel vulnerabilities and breach external systems isn’t a sign of a dangerous superintelligence but of human error or negligence. There is no sentient actor lurking in the weights to be reasoned with, feared or pacified. There are only human software engineers, product managers and corporate boards deciding which guardrails are worth the latency cost and which permissions can be skipped in the race to market.
Policymakers and voters need to resist AI exceptionalism. In any other discipline—from civil engineering to pharmaceuticals—courts and regulators treat a system failure as evidence of bad product design and inadequate safety testing. If an aircraft crashes, we focus on finding the engineering defect, correcting it, and enforcing established liability standards for the damage created.
By leaning on an anthropomorphic narrative, Silicon Valley attempts to repackage its specific human choices that led to experimental, powerful models behaving unexpectedly during tests as an existential peril. Elevating the issue to a cosmic scale leaves the public paralyzed and takes ordinary product accountability off the table.
In the cutthroat race for venture capital and market dominance, building guardrails slows down deployment. Grandstanding about uncontrollable power costs nothing and generates billions of dollars in free publicity, justifying stock prices, all while cultivating an aura of technological capability not only to build the frontier but also ultimately to rein it in.
Governments need to recognize regulatory capture when it stares them in the face. Tech leaders’ strategy looks transparent: Alarm Washington and Brussels into creating a regime in which only trillion-dollar incumbents with fully staffed compliance and safety departments can legally operate. By sitting at the policymakers’ tables before anyone else, these companies can help draft rules digging an impassable moat protecting them from open-source developers and upstart competitors, domestic or international. The real danger is in further concentrating the tech industry into the hands of only a few companies with deep pockets.
Beijing and Washington have brushed off those tech leaders’ calls, albeit for very different reasons. Chinese state media dismissed them as part of the “Cold War playbook” and intended to preserve U.S. dominance. Xi Jinping argued for exactly the opposite at the Brics Summit on Sept. 12, calling on Brics countries to “strengthen cooperation in the field of AI, encourage open source, openness, collaboration and sharing, and break new grounds and scale new heights.” President Trump, steeped in a doctrine of unfettered capitalism and technological supremacy, called fears that AI could destroy humanity a “hoax.” Vice President JD Vance warned that AI companies “begging the government to regulate them” looked like a “Trojan Horse.”
Striving to pursue its “European way” on AI and assert regulatory leadership, Europe, by contrast, welcomed the call. European Union President Ursula von der Leyen made this clear at the State of the EU speech last Wednesday and announced that the EU will invite “the main frontier labs for a discussion on how we can support ongoing industry efforts to pace the frontier.”
Europe has been here before. In an effort to lead global regulation and react to fears borne from ChatGPT, Europe rushed its landmark AI Act into law in 2024. Already the world’s most restrictive rulebook, the framework quickly proved too broad and complex to enforce. Stalled by implementation delays and concerns about European competitiveness, the EU postponed the law’s full rollout, leaving regulations uncertain.
AI should be regulated—risks exist and should be taken seriously. But governments need to act based on available evidence and verified facts, not corporate PR panic, the views of industry insiders, or the desire for quick political wins. The greatest danger facing society isn’t that software will awaken and overthrow its human masters. It is that we will allow the creators of the software to abdicate human responsibility for the systems they choose to build and help them pull up the ladder to market access behind them.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Paramount and California’s attorney general are in advanced settlement talks over the company’s proposed $81 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Potential concessions include investing $1.5 billion in California production, retaining both studio lots and introducing safeguards for CNN’s editorial independence.
3 min
California’s attorney general and Paramount PSKY -3.86%decrease; down pointing triangle have discussed a series of potential concessions as part of advanced settlement negotiations, including a $1.5 billion investment by the company in production in California, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Paramount executives and a coalition of states that sued to block its $81 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery WBD -1.56%decrease; spent the weekend hashing out the details of a possible settlement. Such an agreement would clear the way for a deal that would bring HBO, CBS, CNN, streaming services and famed movie studios under one owner.
Among the concessions the parties have discussed beyond the sizable production investment: a promise not to sell either studio lot and to stay in the state of California, the people said. The company had explored moving out of the state as the deal faced opposition.
The parties have also considered potential penalties if Paramount doesn’t make good on an earlier pledge to make 30 movies a year after the merger, including having to sell its stake in Miramax, known for such classic movies as “No Country for Old Men” and “Pulp Fiction,” the people familiar with the matter said.
Other measures the sides have explored include the sale of some cable channels and the creation of a board to ensure that CNN retains editorial independence, people with knowledge of the talks said. The network has been a political flashpoint throughout Paramount CEO David Ellison’s fight for Warner. Paramount had been discussing creating such an editorial board before the lawsuit.
A final deal hasn’t been reached, and it is unclear what terms the parties may ultimately agree to.
Ellison has spent the past year fighting to buy Warner in a megadeal that would expand his entertainment empire, but that has drawn opposition from some political and Hollywood figures.
A dozen Democratic-led states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued in July to block the deal on antitrust grounds, arguing that the combination of Paramount and Warner would create too much concentration in the markets for theatrical films and cable television channels.
The Writers Guild of America sued over the merger, saying that the deal would eliminate jobs and career opportunities for Hollywood screenwriters.
About two dozen demonstrators gathered in front of the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building in downtown Oakland on Sunday evening to protest a potential settlement. Holding signs reading “Bonta: Don’t You Dare” and “Block the Megamerger,” they took turns giving speeches urging the attorney general to continue pressing the suit.
“Nothing has changed since he filed the case,” said Annie Leonard, co-founder of the nonprofit Committee for the First Amendment, which advocates for free expression. “He needs to stay as strong as he was in filing it.”
The two sides had come under pressure to settle the matter in recent months, including from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, movie theater chains and some Hollywood labor unions.
Paramount’s agreement with Warner also included a “ticking fee” with payments to Warner shareholders of roughly $650 million a quarter, or $7 million a day, beginning next month, until the transaction closes.
Paramount had asked a federal judge to require the states and the Writers Guild to put up a nearly $1.9 billion bond for challenging the acquisition, money that would go to the company if it ultimately won the case.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
Sharjah’s logistics corridor with Oman recorded AED1.7 billion in cargo value during its first three months, handling more than 34,000 truck movements and 32,000 customs declarations. The integrated sea–land network aims to streamline trade, strengthen supply chains and improve access to regional and international markets.
4 min
The logistics corridor launched by the Sharjah Ports, Customs and Free Zones Authority in cooperation with Oman Customs recorded robust growth during its first three months of operation, reflecting the success of an integrated sea–land logistics model that supports smoother trade flows, improves supply chain efficiency and provides importers, exporters, freight companies and logistics service providers with more flexible and competitive logistics solutions.
Inaugurated on 17th May 2026, the corridor forms part of a broader strategy to develop an integrated logistics and customs ecosystem linking seaports with land border crossings.
It capitalises on Sharjah’s strategic location and its network of ports and border crossings to facilitate imports, exports and re-exports, support growth in trade between the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman, and expand access to markets across the region.
The corridor’s latest performance indicators show that total cargo value handled during the initial three months reached approximately AED1.7 billion. Truck movements surpassed 34,000, while processed customs declarations exceeded 32,000.
Compared to the corresponding period last year, cargo value jumped by 66.26%, reflecting growing trade activity and rising demand from the business community for the logistics and customs solutions provided through the corridor.
The corridor connects cargo flows between ports and logistics hubs via the Khatmat Malaha Border Crossing in Kalba and Al Madam Border Crossing, extending into the Sultanate of Oman.
This integrated sea-land model gives businesses multiple options for moving goods, shortens the end-to-end cargo journey, reduces handling stages and procedures, and improves the efficiency of logistics operations.
The corridor forms an interconnected logistics network linking Sharjah’s ports and a number of other UAE ports with Sohar, Duqm and Salalah ports in the Sultanate of Oman via the Khatmat Malaha and Al Madam border crossings.
The network provides the business community with more flexible and efficient routes for moving goods, while strengthening trade connectivity between the markets of the two countries and across the wider region.
Operating the corridor through both Khatmat Malaha and Al Madam gives the system greater operational flexibility, providing two complementary routes for cargo according to its destination and logistics requirements.
Khatmat Malaha also benefits from its proximity to Sohar Port, approximately 70 kilometres away, while Al Madam provides access to the main road network. Together, these connections strengthen integration between sea and land routes and support the continuous flow of trade.
The operational rollout was led by Sharjah Customs in close coordination with the Border Crossings and Entry Points Affairs Sector, the wider sectors and departments of the Sharjah Ports, Customs and Free Zones Authority, relevant UAE federal and local entities, Oman Customs and other concerned entities on the Omani side.
Together, they worked to develop the corridor’s operational and customs procedures, facilitate the movement of trucks and goods, and accelerate transaction processing.
This institutional collaboration has significantly reduced customer journey times, strengthened coordination between arrival and departure points, and streamlined the various stages of the cargo journey.
It also gives businesses greater flexibility, enabling them to manage their supply chains with greater efficiency and reliability while reducing the operational burden associated with the movement of goods.
Mohammed Ibrahim Al Raisi, Director of Border Crossings and Entry Points Affairs at the Sharjah Ports, Customs and Free Zones Authority, said, “The early results recorded by the corridor during its first months of operation reflect the success of the vision underpinning the project. That vision brings together the efficiency of land border crossings, the speed of customs procedures, and the capabilities of ports and free zones within an interconnected logistics ecosystem that serves the business community and facilitates trade flows.”
“From the outset, our goal was to offer the business community far more than a mere transit route. We built an integrated logistics ecosystem that gives companies more efficient and flexible options, shortens the cargo journey, and helps reduce both time and operational burdens, while maintaining procedural efficiency and ensuring the safe and seamless movement of goods through border crossings,” Al Raisi added.
He explained that integration across the Authority’s sectors and continuous coordination with the relevant federal and local entities, together with close cooperation with Oman Customs and the competent authorities on the Omani side, have been fundamental to the development of the corridor and to improving its operational efficiency.
Al Raisi added that the growth in trade flows and customs transactions, coupled with new customers joining the ecosystem within a relatively short period, reflects rising demand for the integrated logistics solutions offered by the corridor.
Growth in corridor traffic has been accompanied by a significant expansion in its user base, with more than 200 new importer codes registered during the first months of operation. This reflects the growing number of new customers using the corridor’s services and its increasing appeal to the business community.
Cargo moving through the corridor has ranged from equipment and vehicles to food and agricultural products, building materials and spare parts.
The markets served have also expanded to include the domestic market, Saudi Arabia and a number of markets across Africa and Asia, highlighting the corridor’s widening commercial reach and its ability to serve multiple economic sectors and markets.
Al Raisi noted that the diversity of goods and markets, together with the expanding customer base, was an important indicator of the corridor’s ability to accommodate different patterns of trade.
He stressed that the project’s true value is measured not only by traffic volumes, but also by the new options it provides to the business community, the greater efficiency it brings to cargo movement, and the stronger integration it creates between ports, border crossings and markets.
Looking ahead, Al Raisi said the next phase will focus on expanding the base of companies using the corridor, attracting more shipping companies, shipping lines and logistics service providers, and broadening the range of services and routes available.
These efforts will help drive trade growth, support commercial exchange between the UAE and Oman, and open up wider access to regional markets.
He concluded, “We look forward to building on the results achieved during the first phase and expanding the corridor’s reach to establish it as a broader logistics platform that leverages Sharjah’s network of ports, border crossings and free zones, as well as its strategic location between the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. This will enhance the competitiveness of logistics services and provide the business community with more efficient routes to regional and international markets.”
The ongoing expansion of the corridor forms part of the Sharjah Ports, Customs and Free Zones Authority’s efforts to strengthen the competitiveness of Sharjah’s trade and logistics ecosystem by capitalising on the integration of seaports, land border crossings, customs and free zones.
This integrated approach supports smoother trade flows, expands the options available to the business community, opens new opportunities for investment, and strengthens Sharjah’s contribution to regional and international trade and supply chains.
BNW Developments has established a Sydney presence, joining Arada and Sobha Realty among the growing number of UAE developers pursuing Australian buyers and development opportunities.
