Elon Musk’s Boring Co. plans to build an expansive network of new tunnels under the UAE after securing $3 billion in fresh funding in a round led by Emirati investment entities.

The capital injection, which values the tunneling startup at $23 billion, will support a large-scale expansion of underground transport infrastructure in the UAE, where work is already underway on Boring Co.’s Dubai Loop.

The futuristic Dubai Loop project will use one-directional underground tunnels to whisk passengers between key landmarks in a fleet of Teslas, with the first stage operating between the Burj Khalifa, DIFC 2, Zabeel Dubai Mall Parking and ICD Brookfield Place. The new funds will pay for 150 kilometers (93 miles) of additional tunnels.

Participants in the Series D funding round include Shamal Holding, an investment firm tied to Dubai’s ruling family, as well as Human Capital, Vy Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital, A16Z, Singapore’s Temasek sovereign fund and Baron Capital.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to Berlin for a day of diplomacy and dealmaking.

The two leaders met at Villa Borsig, where MBZ hailed the broad partnership that the UAE and Germany have developed in trade, energy, technology and regional affairs, The National reports.

The UAE President was also scheduled to meet Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who visited Abu Dhabi in February during his first Gulf tour as Chancellor.

Germany and the UAE have deep ties in trade and energy, with annual non-oil commerce totaling about $15.5 billion. The agreements expected to be signed this week include a new framework between the two countries that connects researchers, investors, and technology companies, Reuters reports.

Also ready for approval are a series of energy-transition projects involving renewable power, hydrogen and energy efficiency.

Both governments are looking to widen their strategic networks amid the unresolved Iran war and uncertainty over U.S. foreign policy.

Lana Nusseibeh, a UAE Minister of State, told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that closer ties could combine German industrial and technological expertise with Emirati capital and access to growth markets across the Gulf, Asia and Africa, according to Reuters.

Among those accompanying MBZ at the welcoming ceremony were Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs and Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad, Adviser to the UAE President.

Saudi-backed LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy, revealing millions of dollars in debts to some of its biggest stars after the upstart league burned through some $5 billion in four years.

Jon Rahm is owed more than $7.4 million, Bryson DeChambeau about $5.7 million and Dustin Johnson $5.4 million, Bloomberg reports.

The league filed for Chapter 11 protection on Tuesday, listing $100 million to $500 million in assets against liabilities of between $500 million and $1 billion.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which stopped financing LIV earlier this year, agreed to provide $49.6 million to keep it operating during the restructuring.

LIV is now negotiating settlements with players and offering them ownership stakes in hopes of keeping its remaining stars from returning to the PGA Tour.

Saudi Arabia halted operations at several Aramco facilities today and said it would retaliate after Houthi attacks set several sites ablaze across southern parts of the kingdom.

The Houthis said they fired missiles and drones at oil facilities in Abha, Najran and Jizan, as well as an air base in Khamis Mushait, Reuters reports. The strikes wounded 73 people, including women and children. 

Major General Turki Al-Maliki, the Saudi military spokesman, called the Houthi attacks “a dangerous escalation” and said in a statement that the coalition would take “all necessary measures and actions to respond to the sources of the threat.”

Oil prices rose, with Brent crude jumping $1 to $98 a barrel, while U.S. oil gained more than $2 to $93.65.

The Houthis have increasingly targeted the Saudi southwestern region since saying they would blockade the kingdom’s oil flows in response to a siege on the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. Last month, the group claimed responsibility for two attacks in a week on the Jazan refining complex in southwest Saudi Arabia. One of the strikes hit the refinery and caused a fire.

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the Gulf state is building alternative trade and energy routes to keep its economy moving during the U.S. war with Iran.

“Our energy exports will not be held hostage, nor will our trade and economic activity,” Gargash said at the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Iran has fired missiles at the UAE and attacked its oil tankers during the six-month conflict. The UAE is expanding ports on its eastern coast while developing pipelines, railways and other corridors that bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

“Our security is our first priority,” Gargash said. “When we depend entirely on others, we cannot always assume it will be their priority.” 

The forum was co-hosted by the government-run Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, which was named for Gargash in 2021, and the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research.

The UAE is bolstering its position as Germany’s top trade partner in the Gulf with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed making a state visit to Berlin starting Wednesday.

The Emirati leader will meet with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Friedrich Merz and discuss ways to further grow bilateral trade, which exceeded $15.5 billion last year.

German businesses, including Siemens, Thyssenkrupp, and BMW, are already established in the UAE, while German energy company RWE is exploring collaboration opportunities with Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil giant ADNOC and green energy company Masdar following strategic agreements signed in February.

Among the issues likely to come up are efforts to boost the number of weekly flights that UAE airlines are allotted to Berlin and Stuttgart, as The Circuit reported on Friday.

Germany’s new Ambassador to the UAE Tobias Tunkel, who started his posting last month, told The National that air defense, energy and advanced robotics were among the focus areas for future investment and growth.

Sheikh Mohamed previously made an official visit to Germany in 2019, in his previous capacity as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

The UAE is preparing to host a world gathering on managing water resources in December, emphasizing the need for investment and new technologies in the face of climate change, pollution, and rising demand.

The U.N. Water Conference, co-hosted with Senegal, will bring leaders in government, business, and non-profit organizations to Abu Dhabi for three days of discussions centered on addressing the needs of the 2.1 billion people who lack access to clean drinking water.

At the same time, organizers plan to focus on mobilizing private capital for the water needed to generate energy, develop more efficient infrastructure, and build AI data centers, Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Energy and Sustainability at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters today in Abu Dhabi. 

“Water and energy are… inseparable,” Balalaa said. “We need water to produce and move energy, and we need energy to generate, treat, transport, and secure water,” he said.

The Dec. 8-10 gathering – only the third U.N. water conference in almost 50 years – will also address the organization’s previous goal of ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030, Balalaa said.

UAE officials are urging governments, financial institutions and businesses to treat water as an “investable asset” and integrate water-related risks and opportunities into investment decisions, Balalaa said. They want to broaden the water debate, linking it to economic growth, food security, energy, technology and jobs, he said.

China’s ROX Motor Co. has started assembling electric vehicles in Abu Dhabi. 

The company, which is working with state-owned Abu Dhabi Investment Office, plans to unveil its first UAE-designed car in March 2027, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports. 

The plant is already producing three ROX Adamas models at Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi, known as Kezad.

ROX said it plans to produce 20,000 vehicles in Abu Dhabi next year and expand capacity to 300,000 annually by 2030, serving both domestic and export markets.

The Chinese company is also preparing to manufacture its vehicles in Egypt.