Jordan and the UAE broke ground on a $2.3 billion railway project designed to speed up mineral exports, in a ceremony on Monday attended by King Abdullah II and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed.

The 403-kilometer (250-mile) network, which will take five years to build, will connect the Red Sea port of Aqaba with phosphate mines at Al Shidiya, potash production at Ghor Al Safi and a logistics hub in Maan, replacing truck journeys and Jordan’s aging railway, The National reports.

The investment also advances Jordan’s rail infrastructure as the UAE pursues the proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, which would move goods by ship from India to the Gulf, then by rail through Saudi Arabia and Jordan to Israel’s Haifa port for shipment to Europe.

Reaching Haifa would require additional cross-border tracks through northern Jordan beyond the mining network now under construction.

OpenAI is looking to raise $30 billion from investors ahead of its much-anticipated IPO, and the UAE could provide a third of the money.

Abu Dhabi investment funds, including MGX, are discussing pooling as much as $10 billion to help anchor the financing, with BlackRock also in talks to participate, Bloomberg reports.

The deal would value the entire ChatGPT maker at about $1.4 trillion, up from $852 billion in its March fundraising, which brought in $122 billion.

OpenAI has pushed back plans for its initial share sale until at least next year, citing its focus on AI safety, while MGX has already invested in both the company and rival Anthropic.

Existing OpenAI backers Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and the University of California’s endowment fund have also discussed investing in the new round, the terms of which could still change.

Global oil stockpiles have become “scarily thin” and releasing stockpiles might buy time but won’t fix imbalances between supply and demand, according to Saudi Aramco’s CEO.

Amin Nasser, who leads the world’s top oil exporter, told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London on Monday that until the Strait of Hormuz reopens and confidence returns, “the crude reality is that pressure at both ends of the barrel will intensify.”

The comments come as governments across some of the world’s biggest economies announced plans to release as much as 100 million barrels of oil and diesel stocks to counter rising fuel costs.

While Nasser did not talk about recent attacks on Saudi Arabia, he said Aramco had been quick to repair damaged infrastructure throughout the regional conflict.

Saudi Arabia is shelving one of its planned World Cup stadiums and preparing to cancel its star-studded Joy Awards as budget cuts and regional conflict bite into the kingdom’s ambitions of becoming a Middle East entertainment capital.

Construction of the futuristic NEOM Stadium, an elevated arena inside The Line that was slated for the 2034 soccer tournament, has been suspended indefinitely, Reuters reports, while January’s entertainment industry prize ceremony is set to be canceled.

The awards drew stars including Katy Perry and Robbie Williams this year, but budget cuts that began before the Iran war have deepened the strain on the kingdom’s entertainment ambitions.

The pullback follows delays at The Line, the suspension of Riyadh’s $50 billion Mukaab project, and the withdrawal of government funding from LIV Golf.

Last month, the Red Sea Film Festival was postponed until 2027 while organizers of the Soundstorm desert festival called off the three-day event that was headlined by Cardi B last year. Uncertainty over military conflict with Iran has made it difficult to book international stars for such events, Reuters reports.

Soundstorm, the Saudi music festival that drew about 450,000 fans to the desert north of Riyadh last year, has canceled its 2026 edition.

Organizer MDLBEAST gave no reason for scrapping the Dec. 3-4 event, saying only that it plans to return “better and stronger” in 2027.

Since launching in 2019, the festival has brought global stars including Bruno Mars, Post Malone, Cardi B and DJ Khaled to the kingdom.

The cancellation comes after the Red Sea International Film Festival’s decision to scrap its December event in Jeddah and postpone its return until late 2027.

The first commercial satellite built entirely in Abu Dhabi has launched into orbit, marking a milestone in the UAE’s sovereign-funded ambition to rank among the world’s top 10 space economies by 2031.

Altair-1, built by Orbitworks, launched aboard the Transporter-18 rideshare mission with SpaceX at 11:32 a.m. Pacific time from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday. 

It will form part of a constellation of 10 AI-powered satellites that will make up the UAE’s first commercial Earth observation network, processing data from an array of sensors autonomously and in real time via onboard NVIDIA chips. 

Orbitworks, a joint venture between UAE-based space company Marlan Space, a subsidiary of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed’s International Holding Co., and San Francisco-based Loft Orbital, was established just over two years ago.

“The UAE is no longer only a buyer of space capability; it is a builder of it,” Dr. Hamdullah Mohib, CEO of Orbitworks and CEO of Marlan Space, said. Altair-1 is “the start of a future in which customers see, decide and act on their own terms, with intelligence created in orbit.”

Last month, Marlan Space and Loft Orbital announced a $1 billion consortium with French AI company Mistral, U.S.-based geospatial intelligence service BlackSky and French aerospace startup MaiaSpace to build what could become the world’s largest artificial intelligence satellite infrastructure, starting with 50 satellites.

Flydubai suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv after Wednesday’s cockpit attack, temporarily halting an air link that has become a mainstay of business and travel between Israel and the UAE.

The Dubai-Tel Aviv flight was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after its Omani co-pilot was reported to have stabbed the captain and tried to crash the aircraft. Passengers and crew subdued him, allowing other pilots aboard to land safely. Passengers later reached Ben Gurion International Airport on a replacement flydubai aircraft.

Flydubai runs 30 weekly flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, and carried more than 800,000 passengers on the route last year, up 45% from 2024. Since the 2020 Abraham Accords, it has provided Israeli executives and tourists with access to the UAE and connections to other parts of the Gulf and around the world.

“Its importance extends beyond tourism and business,” Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, told The Circuit. “Flydubai is a key element supporting the UAE-Israel relationship.”

Flydubai became one of the few international carriers to maintain regular service to Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and ensuing war in Gaza, while many competitors repeatedly suspended flights. 

Mohammed Baharoon, Director-General of B’huth, a Dubai public policy research center, said the airline’s persistence when other carriers suspended Israel service reflects its “strategic commitment” to play a significant role in moving people, goods, money and data around the world.

“Creating these links and maintaining them at the hardest of times is an investment the UAE has made in maintaining the fluidity of the world economy and also its stability,” Baharoon told The Circuit.

The UAE Foreign Ministry said Thursday that prosecutors would investigate “any possible connection to terrorist activity or intent,” including whether the attack involved prior planning or direction. Attorney General Hamad Al Shamsi ordered the inquiry, which the ministry said falls under UAE jurisdiction because the aircraft is registered in the country.

The UAE ministry expressed appreciation to Saudi authorities for their cooperation and urged against circulating “speculation or unverified information” before investigators announce their findings.

Flydubai said it is “fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation and maintaining the highest safety standards across our network,” according to a statement. It will review the suspension as more information becomes available and help passengers with bookings on the airline make arrangements with other carriers where possible.

The Dubai airline has played an “extraordinary role in bringing together Emiratis and Israelis,” David Sprecher, an Israeli lawyer specializing in the aviation industry, told The Circuit. “They are transferring a lot, a lot, a lot of businessmen in both directions.”

Founded by Dubai’s government to offer affordable travel and connect underserved markets, flydubai began operating in June 2009. It now serves 140 destinations in 58 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia. Flydubai carried 15.7 million passengers worldwide in 2025. Revenue rose 6% to $3.7 billion, while pretax profit fell to $591 million from $674 million a year earlier.

Temasek’s decision to open offices in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh is part of the Singapore sovereign wealth fund’s larger strategy to expand its Middle East presence and pursue emerging business opportunities in the region.

By mid-2027, Temasek plans to develop partnership and investment opportunities in Qatar and other markets, Ankit K., Managing Director for Structuring and Execution in the GCC, said.

“Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with institutions, partners and portfolio companies across the Middle East,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday. “These engagements have helped me build meaningful relationships and gain a deeper appreciation of the region.”

Temasek already plays an active role investing alongside some of the Gulf’s biggest sovereign funds in major regional infrastructure projects.

Last month, it joined an Emirati-led $3 billion funding round for Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to support a large-scale expansion of transport tunnels in the UAE. 

Temasek’s asset management arm Seviora Group opened an office in Abu Dhabi last year and has established strategic partnerships with Mubadala and Qatar’s Doha Bank.