Europe sends part of its textile surplus to unregulated hubs, sometimes returning it to the same country of origin, tripling emissions in the process.
country: United Arab Emirates
Stay updated with comprehensive news on the United Arab Emirates from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Emirati politics, economic strategies, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and cultural life.
Former German government ministers and lobbyists have been meeting Putin associates in the Gulf, preparing reciprocal visits that could undermine Berlin’s official Russia policy.
The fall of El Fasher in Darfur has thrust Sudan’s forgotten war back into view. But behind the horror and beyond the headlines lies a deeper truth: that regional powers are prolonging the conflict, and the international community remains shamefully silent.
Architecture is a form of soft power, a symbolic language through which Gulf states tell stories about themselves to the world and to their own citizens — and ultimately, to exercise control.
U.S. President Donald Trump is on a Gulf tour that is adding to Israel’s worries about its strongest ally: the U.S. has negotiated the release of an American hostage with Hamas, and a ceasefire with the Houthis, without involving Israel.
Breaking through where no one expected it, the UAE is becoming a major power in AI. MGX, Abu Dhabi’s dedicated fund, has just joined Donald Trump’s gigantic Stargate project. It’s a new golden age for the Gulf.
Used as military bases, airports, residential areas, or platforms to drill for resources, artificial islands are growing — despite warnings that sea levels are rising. A deep dive into the phenomenon of why we are building more islands — and what an islander mentality is.
Amid the chaos of the collapsing Assad regime, the businessmen who were close to power know they are at risk.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, use of the term “evil” has increased. The more heinous and public the murder, the more the evil of the murderer would be revealed and “the world” would be pushed to intervene. Yet in both Syria and Gaza, that world has been satisfied with symbolic responses.
After recovering from a series of crises in recent years — Lebanon’s economic collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic — the country’s national basketball team is playing qualifiers for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup to be held in Saudi Arabia. With their country embroiled in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, the team’s players have infused social importance in their matches.
In the Middle East and North Africa, divisions are as stark as they can be. War-torn nations stand side-by-side with wealthy oil-rich countries where the elites feel disconnected from the rest of the region. But, as Yemeni freelance journalist and a human rights defender Afrah Nasser, warns, these inequalities breed monsters, and wealth will not prevent oil-rich countries from experiencing chaos and destruction.
Between Hezbollah and Israel, the Sunday morning exchange of attacks looked to be the beginning of the long dreaded regional war. But the sound and fury of Israeli jets and Hezbollah weapons amounted to another round of warfare, but not (yet) total war as major power sponsors in Washington and Tehran try to wind them back.
The “Dubai Unlocked” investigation has revealed how criminals from around the world invested in the UAE to launder dirty money and escape authorities. The local authorities are often complicit in the scheme, an opportunity that has been exploited by the Camorra — as the Neapolitan mob is called.
Despite Israel’s bloody war on Gaza, Jordan participated, on Saturday, in the destruction of Iranian missiles and drones targeting Israel. But it is not the only Arab country involved, a major regional shift that follows years of discreet military contacts orchestrated by the United States.
In countries and communities where sexuality is often kept under wraps, more and more women are taking up their microphones, pens and keyboards to talk about intimate issues without filters.
The UN Secretary-General is raising the tone in the war in Gaza, but it comes at a time when international institutions are extremely weak. Looking back at history, that’s a dangerous thing.
Defying an ICC arrest warrant, Russian President Vladimir Putin is on a one-day foray to UAE and Saudi Arabia to display his role in shaping the geopolitical and energy landscape — and to make the world forget about the Ukraine war just a little bit more.
After the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian oligarchs and other rich individuals turned to the real estate markets in Dubai and Turkey. Now Russian buyers are back in Europe. Three EU countries in particular are attracting buyers for their controversial “golden visa” program.
Can Europe play a role in the current conflict in the Middle East? During the recent visit to the region by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, it appeared clear that Gulf States are in a much better position to negotiate a possible solution.
Even with months to go before the next COP, debate rages over who will chair it. Is it a miscalculation or a masterstroke to bring the head of an oil company to the table?
Located on the shore of the Red Sea, rich in natural resources, Sudan is strategically important to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Worried about a conflict that is getting bogged down, Arab capitals are mobilizing behind the scenes, with initial “pre-negotiation” talks beginning Saturday in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.
Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei recently sent out a special envoy to ease tensions with wealthy Arab neighbors. He’s hoping to end the country’s international isolation and dismal economic conditions that contributed to last year’s mass protests.
Labor strikes are forbidden in the Emirates, but two consecutive work stoppages by food delivery drivers have made news lately. Could it be a sign of challenges to the UAE’s unequal and authoritarian economic model?
Hit with Western sanctions, Russian oligarchs are racing against time to relocate their assets to tax havens. They turn to private banks where transactions, opaque as they are in the UAE for instance, make it almost impossible to trace funds.
Just two days after they’d signed an Arab League statement that did not condemn Russia and instead called for diplomacy, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined 138 other nations in a UN resolution demanding Russia halt its invasion of Ukraine.
The peace accords signed between conservative Arab states and Israel are the start of an inevitable opening for the Middle East, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan means a new post-American, post-oil future.
An art exhibition in Dubai depicts an alternative story of the Middle East, using oil as a starting point.
Beirut-based contemporary artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan uses sounds to shine a light, so to speak, on some of the darkest places on earth.
More and more people in Muslim-majority countries are opting out of their marriages. And often it’s the woman who decides to end things.
Located in the middle of the desert, DXB airport now surpasses London’s Heathrow in international travelers. Part museum, part high-end shopping gallery, it’s a global wonder.
The Solar Impulse flight aims to show that clean technologies exist. Masdar City, the plane’s departure site near Abu Dhabi, was set to be the city of the future. What’s left of this dream?
ABU DHABI — The indefatigable Jean Nouvel, 69, can be proud of his project. For that matter, he is. The star French architect shakes hands, hugs, takes in all the praise with a stoic pride. The construction site is massive in scale. In the sand, under the searing sun, 5,000 people are hard at work […]
FUJAIRAH — Once they’ve finished, the fishermen of Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, drag their boats up onto the beach, sit in the shade to mend their nets, and begin to chat: about Allah, about the world, about soccer and bullfights. But talk also turns to how the pace of life has sped up […]
-Commentary- For years, major sporting events have been hosted in the superbly wealthy Gulf States. Now, renowned Western cultural institutions are following suit. But these high-minded museums and cultural organizations are encountering a familiar problem. In Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the French Louvre, the American Guggenheim and other branches of […]
DUBAI – Beer? Of course not! Sayed Kamal looks at his guests with astonishment. Alcohol is only served in the big hotels. This is a youth hostel! It is in fact the only youth hostel in Dubai. “But I can offer you something similar,” says blue-shirted, tie-wearing Kamal as he emerges from behind the counter […]
SANTIAGO – Last year in London, engineers from Airbus presented their vision for the future: An airplane featuring a transparent roof that allows passengers to see the stars, with an air system that pumps antioxidants into the cabin air. If this audacious concept becomes reality in 2050 and the airline market remains more or less […]