Author: Arabian Media staff
Image: Supplied The Bitcoin MENA conference closed in Abu Dhabi on December 9 after two days of panels and debates involving 234 local and international speakers, with industry leaders using the event to map out how digital assets, institutional adoption and regulatory clarity are reshaping global finance. The event was co-organised by ADNEC Group and BTC. The headline keynote came from Michael Saylor, executive chairman and co-founder of Strategy, who capped his Middle East tour with a detailed pitch on Bitcoin’s role as “digital capital”. In a session titled Digital Capital, Credit, Money, and Banking, Saylor said Bitcoin’s position as…
Image: WAM/ For illustrative purposes Across the Middle East, rapid population growth, economic diversification and the rise of data-intensive technologies are combining to drive electricity demand higher than ever before. Meeting this demand can no longer rely on simply building more power plants. Instead, the region must develop integrated energy ecosystems – an essential step toward ensuring energy security and realising regional ambitions and the net-zero transition. Success will hinge on governments, developers and financiers working in sync – aligning infrastructure, policy and capital to deliver scalable, resilient and commercially viable power systems. The demand shift With hyperscale data centres,…
Image: Supplied Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) gathered more than 1,200 industry stakeholders on 9 December for its second and final City Briefing of 2025, outlining progress across the tourism economy and plans to support another year of growth. The event, held at Global Village courtesy of Dubai Holding Entertainment, brought together players from hospitality, aviation, retail and F&B, along with government representatives and media. DET used the session to underline the importance of public and private sector coordination in meeting the ambitions of the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33. In the presence of Helal Saeed Almarri, DG of…
Image credit: Getty Images An Air India investigation into why one of its Airbus planes conducted eight commercial flights without an airworthiness permit found “systemic failures”, with the airline admitting it needed to do better on compliance, a company document showed. An Airbus A320 flew passengers between New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad on November 24 to 25 without the mandatory Airworthiness Review Certificate, or ARC, a key permit issued annually by the regulator after a plane passes safety and compliance checks, according to the document. Air India found engineers and pilots had failed to check the aircraft’s documents and…
Paramount Skydance’s addition of three Gulf sovereign wealth funds to the cast of its $108bn hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O marks a relatively rare alliance among the states as they build their own entertainment industries. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF,) Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Company, and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) have agreed to back the deal, Paramount PSKY.O said on Monday. Paramount also has backing from Affinity Partners, started by Jared Kushner, which has investments from funds in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The decision to join forces on a single bid and grab a share of some of Hollywood’s crown jewels underscores…
The Dubai Land Department (DLD), in partnership with Dubai Holding Community Management, has approved the emirate’s first-ever three-year fixed service fees for the Palm Jumeirah Master community—a move aimed at strengthening financial stability and transparency across jointly owned properties (JOPs). Under the new mechanism, management companies of JOPs can now submit and secure approval for a three-year service-fee budget through the ‘Mollak’ system, while still retaining the option to continue with the traditional one-year model. The initiative is designed to provide greater predictability for owners and investors and enable management firms to engage in longer-term operational contracts with service providers.…
The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has issued a detailed weather report covering the period from the evening of 12 December through 19 December, indicating a spell of unstable conditions across the UAE. According to the NCM, the country is being influenced by the extension of a surface low-pressure system accompanied by an upper-level low-pressure system that will deepen and weaken at intervals throughout the week. The system is expected to generate varying cloud formations along with a chance of scattered rainfall occurring intermittently. Wind patterns will fluctuate, the NCM said, shifting between southeasterly and northeasterly, and occasionally turning northwesterly.…
Image: Supplied Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) has announced its forthcoming acquisition of KAS Eupen, the historic Belgian football club currently competing in the Challenger Pro League. The move expands QSI’s global sports portfolio, which includes majority ownership of Paris Saint-Germain, a minority stake in Sporting Clube de Braga, and wider investments across padel, motorsports, basketball, art and entertainment. QSI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the full acquisition of KAS Eupen, subject to regulatory approvals. The agreement includes the immediate takeover of the club’s sporting operations, with QSI set to assume full operational control of all sporting, commercial,…
State energy major Saudi Aramco 2222.SE plans to start exporting the first condensate produced from the Jafurah gas plant in February, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. The $100bn Jafurah project, estimated to contain 229 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas and 75 billion barrels of condensate, is central to Aramco’s ambitions to become a major global natural gas player and boost its gas production capacity. Its first phase started production early this month, the Saudi finance ministry said. Aramco could export four to six 500,000-barrel cargoes of Jafurah condensate per month, one of the sources said, without giving…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is pursuing an initial public offering next year, looking to raise more than $25bn, with a valuation over $1tr, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. SpaceX has started discussions with banks about the public listing, which could be around June or July, the person said. Musk had said in 2020 that SpaceX planned to list Starlink several years in the future once its revenue growth became “smooth & predictable”. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Saudi’s Aramco 2222.SE remains the only completed IPO to have achieved a valuation of $1tr…