UAE

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A computer-graphic-soaked advertisement featuring Australian actor and Hollywood heartthrob Chris Hemsworth beckons the world to Dubai’s upcoming Expo 2020, promising a “world of pure imagination” as children without facemasks race across a futuristic carnival scene.

Reality, however, crashes into the frame in all capital-letters caption at the bottom of the screen, saying: “THIS COMMERCIAL WAS FILMED IN 2019.”

DUBAI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Pakistan will pursue individual trade deals with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, a Pakistani official said on Sunday, as talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council remain stalled.

The GCC, which includes those three countries plus Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, started free trade talks with Pakistan in 2004. It has not implemented a free trade deal since 2015.

26 Sep 2021; MEMO: United Arab Emirates Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced ministerial changes on Saturday, including new finance and environment ministers, reports Reuters.

Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – Sheikh Mohammed's son and the current deputy ruler of Dubai – has been appointed deputy prime minister and finance minister.

24 Sep 2021; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates has opened bilateral talks with South Korea in a bid to boost atomic energy cooperation, the UAE foreign ministry said today.

According to the National, Park Il, the Director-General of South Korea's Nuclear Affairs Ministry, met with the CEO of the UAE's Barakah One Company, Nasser Al-Nasseri, in Dubai yesterday. They plan to hold higher level talks as a result.

22 Sep 2021; MEMO: United Arab Emirates Prime Minister and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved a 65 billion-dirham ($17.70 billion) housing programme for Emirati citizens to be implemented over the next 20 years, the Dubai Government Media Office said on Twitter today.

"Decent housing is a dignity and a right for all," he said.

22 Sep 2021; MEMO: The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has called on governments, companies and artists to boycott Dubai Expo 2020, which it says aims to "whitewash and distract attention from" Israel's "grave human rights violations."

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The extremist Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly roadside bombs targeting Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, raising the specter of wider conflict between the country’s new Taliban rulers and their long-time rivals.

12 Sep 2021; MEMO: Private sector companies in the UAE will have to fill 10% of their positions with Emirati nationals in five years time, the UAE said on Sunday in its latest tranche of economic reforms, reported Reuters.

The Gulf state also said it plans to spend 24 billion dirhams ($6.53 billion) to create 75,000 private sector jobs for its citizens over five years.

The target for 10% of private sector workers to be Emiratis will start with a 2% target in the first year, the UAE government said on its Twitter account.

10 Sep 2021; MEMO: The UAE's Barakah nuclear power station began operating its second reactor, the Abu Dhabi government media office said today, after the first reactor started commercial operations in April.

When completed Barakah, which is being built by a consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), will have four reactors with a total capacity of 5,600 megawatts (MW), equivalent to about 25 per cent of the UAE's peak demand.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. has removed its most advanced missile defense system and Patriot batteries from Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, even as the kingdom faced continued air attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show.

The redeployment of the defenses from Prince Sultan Air Base outside of Riyadh came as America’s Gulf Arab allies nervously watched the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, including their last-minute evacuations from Kabul’s besieged international airport.