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.

Pressure is mounting on the German government to let Dubai-based Emirates airline schedule more flights to Germany. 

The Germany-UAE Business Council is calling on the Chancellor’s office to support daily direct flights by the airline, both between Dubai and Berlin and between Dubai and Stuttgart, according to a letter obtained by The Circuit.

In its letter to the Federal Chancellery, the business lobby expressed regret that talks between Germany and the UAE on expanding air-traffic rights ended without an agreement. According to the group, the German side offered only two weekly flights for UAE airlines to Berlin.

“From a commercial perspective, such a limited frequency would neither provide a viable basis for establishing and sustainably operating the route, nor would it adequately meet the level of the demand identified,” the letter said, seeking support from the Chancellery for the extra service.

The dispute is rooted in a long-running disagreement over traffic rights to German destinations for airlines from the UAE. Emirates currently serves Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf and Hamburg. To add regular services to Berlin and Stuttgart, the airline needs to expand its existing traffic rights.

The issue gained fresh momentum following Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to the UAE in February. In its letter, the GUBC pointed to “positive signals” from the Chancellor regarding additional traffic rights. According to media reports, however, there were differing views within the German government.

While the Transport Ministry was said to have initially offered two weekly flights to Berlin, the Chancellery pushed for a broader agreement allowing six or seven flights a week to Berlin and Stuttgart.

The dispute is politically sensitive in part because additional Emirates services could intensify competition with Lufthansa and other European airlines. Lufthansa opposes an expansion of the traffic rights. Germany and the UAE have yet to reach an agreement, Tagesspiegel reported.

The GUBC’s German Chairperson is Günther Oettinger, a former Minister-President of the state of Baden-Württemberg and past EU commissioner. The UAE Chairperson is Musabbeh Al Kaabi, CEO for upstream operations at ADNOC

This article was produced through the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, a multi-publication initiative publishing scoops, investigations, interviews, op-eds and analysis that reverberate across the world. It connects journalists from Axel Springer brands – including POLITICO, The Telegraph, Business Insider, WELT, BILD, Onet, and now The Circuit – on major stories for an international audience. Their ambitious reporting stretches across Axel Springer platforms: online, print, TV, and audio. Together, the outlets reach hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is pushing deeper into Egypt’s economy with plans that range from electric vehicles and renewable energy to semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

The two countries agreed during Xi’s visit this week to expand cooperation in data centers, cloud computing, critical metals and the Suez Canal Economic Zone, according to a joint statement issued Thursday.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the Chinese leader said they plan to increase the use of their currencies in trade and investment while renewing and expanding an existing currency-swap agreement.

Chinese companies will be encouraged to build EVs, ships, solar panels and wind turbines in Egypt, helping Cairo position itself as an industrial and logistics hub linking Asia, Africa and Europe.

The agreements build on China’s Belt and Road projects in Egypt and come as regional wars disrupt trade and strain the country’s fragile economy.