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Semafor Gulf
🟡 Semafor Gulf: Industrial-scale
In today’s edition: Saudi Arabia refocuses entertainment ambitions, and the UAE looks to boost its economic resilience.
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Burjeel healthcare group puts Islamic bond on hold
The Abu Dhabi-listed healthcare provider was raising debt to expand medical education and research when the Iran war began.
A clinic in Dubai. Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters.
Cairo nightlife returns after a month of early-closure measures
Energy price spikes from the Iran war pushed authorities to impose a curfew.
Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters
Oil rises on stalled Iran-US peace talks
President Donald Trump canceled American participation in talks with Iran.
Thaier Al Sudani/Reuters
Israeli strikes kill 14 in Lebanon amid ceasefire
Israel and Lebanon agreed a three-week truce extension this month.
Shir Torem/Reuters
Saudi sovereign wealth fund to partner again with Live Nation
The $925 billion fund is tapping US operators to manage a new network of stadiums and concert halls.
A rendering of the planned King Salman International Stadium. Courtesy of Saudi Press Agency.
Questions swirl over UAE currency swap
The United Arab Emirates’ request for a US currency swap akin to Argentina’s has a math problem, experts tell Semafor.
Annabelle Gordon/Reuters
How Dubai’s Hadi Badri builds confidence in a crisis
The Dubai Economic Development Corp. CEO says data, proactive engagement, and long-term goals can turn the Iran conflict into a “speed bump.”
Higher oil prices bolster earnings in Saudi Arabia, Oman
But revenues have dropped in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE.
Qatar projects billion-dollar trade deficit for March
Emirates NBD has the metric swinging from a 12 billion riyal surplus in February to a shortfall of 4.4 billion riyals in March.
Dubai plans $9B new metro line as UAE seeks economic stimulus
The underground Gold Line is Dubai’s largest transport project to date and is scheduled to be completed by September 2032.
Gulf luxury hotels chase residents as tourists stay away
The most exclusive properties are offering residents deals that would have been unthinkable six months ago.
Saudi researchers turn date pits into artificial bones
The pits share enough in common with human bone — in terms of calcium, structure, and density — that they could be used in fracture repair.
Wall Street execs make show of support for UAE
BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Thoma Bravo’s Orlando Bravo have both been seen in the UAE since the US-Iran ceasefire.
Emirati firms ALTÉRRA, Masdar upping Abu Dhabi’s renewables push
ALTÉRRA announced a partnership with KKR, while Masdar installed the first of 95 turbines at a $5.4 billion wind farm off the coast of Britain.
Why Saudi is weathering the war shock better than most
A week in Riyadh offers evidence that oil buffers and pragmatic policymaking are containing the fallout.
Gulf trade will be permanently reshaped
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has demonstrated the reality of a long-threatened nightmare scenario.
UAE arrests Iran-linked terror cell
There have been similar arrests across the Gulf since the US-Israel war with Iran began, but this is the largest of its kind to date.
Saudi Arabia nearly doubles renewables capacity in 2025
While the pace of new projects is accelerating, the kingdom is still some way off its target of producing 50% of electricity from renewables by 2030.