The Agenda

Authorities say they're investigating reports of unusual odours across several parts of the UAE, while reassuring residents there's no indication of a threat to public health. But how can a smell travel across several emirates, and what does it take to track down the source? 

The Christmas shopping rush is approaching, and with it, the spotlight on global trade because retailers rely on international shipping networks to get their stock in place. So what does this mean for Christmas shopping, particularly here in the UAE? 

A new analysis shows rent renewals are less compared to a...

The UAE is banning a widely used antibiotic from being given to animals from next month, over fears it could help bacteria develop resistance. 

We find out why this isn’t just about treating sick animals - it’s about protecting humans too.

Australia wants to give social media users the power to switch off the algorithms that decide what they see online. So could this be the beginning of the end for endless algorithm-driven scrolling?

Meanwhile, it’s looking good for pensioners in the UAE, as the Emirati statutory pension system climbs the glo...

Have you ever read a comment online and wondered whether a real person wrote it? This week, a senior UAE official warned that social media bots are being used to inflame tensions between countries in the region. 

Do you understand your child's slang terms?

We're living longer, but how many of those extra years are we actually spending in good health? 

Divers off the coast of Turkey say they’ve found the oldest shipwreck in the world.

Yas Island is gearing up for one of its busiest periods of the year, with...

Attacks on container ships in the Strait of Hormuz are rising to record levels. What does it mean for shipowners trying to get cargo around the world for their customers?

Apple says extraordinary demand for its foldable iPhones means some customers will have to wait until January for their new devices. But the wider smartphone market is facing a chip shortage, so what does that mean for us as consumers with Christmas approaching?

We’re also opening the phone lines for our regular consumer hour, your chance to ask Dubai’s Consumer Protection Department about your...

One of Britain’s top schools is ditching laptops and bringing back pen and paper, saying pupils concentrate better and finish homework faster. 

So have schools gone too far with technology? We hear from Zaineb Mahdi, who oversees digital technology and innovation at GEMS Education, and from a neuroscientist whose research suggests children understand more of what they read on paper than on a screen.

Driverless electric Glydways pods are being tested at Bluewaters Island in Dubai. How do they work, and when could we all be travelling in one? We speak to the CEO of...

The UAE’s space economy has grown by 27% in a year, with private companies now behind almost half of all spending. 

HE Salem Butti Salem Al Qubaisi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency, explains the role of the private sector in that figure.

Emaar founder Mohamed Alabbar shares his views on Dubai’s investment outlook as business leaders gather at the RISE Expo, and we look at how new entertainment attractions are bringing more tourists to the country.

After heavy rain, hail and lightning across parts of the UAE, with more unsettled weath...

Hackers turned the fridges in hundreds of French supermarkets into ovens, heating freezers to 50 degrees and forcing shops to throw away their fresh and frozen food. How did it happen, and could it happen here?

Meanwhile, could leaving a bad Google review land you in legal trouble in the UAE? Dubai Police are issuing a warning about when online criticism crosses the line.

Plus, putting a child through 14 years of private school in Dubai can cost more than 400,000 dirhams. Instead,would you also start a pension for a baby? 

One dad has, for h...

Around 400 Filipino expats have lost their hard-earned money and some are also facing mounting overstay fines after an alleged massive visa scam committed by a UAE-based company. We speak to two victims who paid around AED 9,000 and AED 15,000 each and until now waiting if their visas will still be processed.

What legal options do the victims have? Can they still get their money back? We get the answers from Atty Barney Almazar.

We give you the latest update on Saudi Arabia.

Why are we so fascinated by skyscrapers?

And the DP...

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is mourning the death of twelve people killed in an attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. The mass casualty event also saw more than 300 people injured, some of them critically according to Saudi authorities. How significant is this for KSA and international aviation? 

Dubai is cracking down on shared housing, with new rules that could force some tenants to move out. We get the latest straight from the Dubai Municipality.

A mother here in the UAE is reportedly planning to give ChatGPT a role in raising her son aft...

Dubai bans families and single tenants from sharing a unit under tougher shared housing rules. What does it mean if you rent a room, and could you be forced to move?

KHDA wants to hear from parents stuck in school traffic. Why is it running a survey on the school commute?

Half term is here, and UAE staycation bookings are up nearly a third. Where is everyone heading, and are there last-minute bargains?

Abu Dhabi’s packed entertainment season adds Black Coffee and The Phantom of the Opera. Has international confidence returned?

...

Abu Dhabi researchers have launched a new AI model designed to understand Emirati Arabic. We'll discuss why the UAE needs its own ChatGPT equivalent.

As global technology leaders gather in Abu Dhabi for AI Everything, the boss of French AI company Mistral says the UAE needs powerful AI systems under its own control to defend against cyber threats.

Thousands of robots will be roaming the streets of Abu Dhabi within months - that's one of the revelations from the event. We find out what they'll be doing and how soon you could see one.

The UAE has begun putting limits on how much salt, sugar and fat can go into some of the foods we eat every day. The new resolution covers packaged foods made in the UAE or imported, including by companies in free zones. It starts with bread, sweetened milk drinks, flavoured yoghurt and laban, salty snacks and processed cheese. The limits come down in stages until the end of 2030. On The Agenda, we get more details about the new resolution from Nouf Khamis Al Ali, Director of the Health Promotion Department, Ministry of Health and Prevention.

What does...

Schools across the UAE are asking parents to rethink the way they take and share photos and videos on campus.

It’s not a ban on photographing your own child. Parents can still capture those important school moments. The concern is what happens when other children are unintentionally included in the frame and, more importantly, what happens to those images afterwards.

Abu Dhabi says it will be the world's first AI-native government by 2027, with more than 40 government entities working as one AI-driven system. For residents, that could mean fewer forms and faster answers. But when a...

World food prices rose again in September. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says its benchmark index averaged 136 points, up 1.5 percent on August and just under 6 percent on a year ago. So what does that mean for the weekly shop? 

The UAE is tightening up on late salaries. Under the latest Wage Protection System decision, employers will get alerts about delayed wages before the ministry takes any administrative action.  

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, has attended the unveiling of...

The KHDA has sent parents across Dubai a new survey on the school commute, asking how children get to school, how long families spend stuck in traffic at the gates, and what would actually make it easier. One option's already being tested. 

We also speak to a Dubai student who created a platform aimed at getting more children sharing rides to school. 

Plus, how are school buses managing the school pick-up and drop-off process?  

UAE university enrolment has hit its highest level in a decade, more than 57,000 new students across 66 institutions, a 13 per cen...

Fuel prices in the UAE are up this October, and that explains the long queues at the pumps yesterday. 

From today, Super 98 costs AED4.40 a litre compared to AED3.80 in September, while Special 95 goes up from AED3.69 to AED4.28.  E-Plus 91 is now at Dh4.21, and diesel climbs to Dh4.80, the steepest monthly jump of the year.

So, how can we make fuel last a little longer?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Etihad Rail's stations in Dubai and Al Dhaid, in Sharjah, open this morning, joining the Abu Dhabi to Fujairah route that launched at the end of June. From the Al Yalayis station, the journey to Abu Dhabi takes around 64 minutes, with tickets from AED 39 for standard class and AED 109 for premium.

So will people really swap the drive for the train? How will attractions and tourist spots benefit from these newly-opened stations?

Is mental health care becoming more accessible in the UAE?

And why has OpenAI scrapped the release of its next-generation model?

Ahead of the official launch of Etihad Rail's station in Dubai, ARN's News Centre's Lujain Ammar got on the preview journey, departing Mohammed Bin Zayed City Station in Abu Dhabi and arriving at Al Yalayis Station in Dubai. She shares her experience of the journey, giving listeners a first look at the new rail service and what passengers can expect when the station officially opens.

Ajman has wrapped up its fourth Real Estate Investment Exhibition, and demand was high enough that organisers actually extended it by a day. It's given us a good look at where the...

On our monthly Consumer Hour with the Dubai Corporation for Consumer Protection and Fair Trade (DCCPFT), we're looking at scams, specifically the ones designed to look completely legitimate. One of the most common right now is fake insurance offers, policies sold at a fraction of the normal price, sometimes even with official-looking documents, that turn out to be worthless the moment you actually need to make a claim. 

The government's been cracking down on fake Emiratisation, the Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratisation (MoHRE) uncovered 377 cases across 266 companies this year, businesses hiring Emirati nationals on paper without giving t...

A Dubai teenager is turning a conversation with an exhausted delivery rider into a business idea with a social conscience, launching a low-cost rehydration product for outdoor workers.

CBSE Class 12 students in the UAE whose board exams were disrupted earlier this year now have another chance to sit those papers. But after a gap of more than six months, should they take it? We get advice from a headteacher.

We also look ahead to the launch of Etihad Rail’s Dubai passenger station next week, turning the spotlight on Fujairah. Could better rail links bring a...

The passenger train from Dubai to Abu Dhabi starts running next week, and we now know how much a ticket will cost. The Agenda's Katie Chambers has everything you need to know about the UAE's new commuter service.

We're also putting the spotlight on Al Ain, as the city looks to establish itself as a business centre in its own right - attracting major international companies and investing in new industries. But what can Al Ain offer that Abu Dhabi and Dubai don't? What role will its universities play in that growth? And what's it actually like...

Flights in and out of Riyadh were disrupted after a missile was intercepted over the Saudi capital. So should we be nervous about flying while the conflict continues?

We take a closer look at AI - how dangerous is it really, could it help develop better cancer treatments.

Ed Sheeran has spoken out about Gaza, raising the question: should pop stars keep politics off the stage?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mortgage costs are heading higher after the UAE raised interest rates for the first time in more than three years. So how much more could you end up paying?

And when the conflict ends, will Middle East aviation be ready for travellers to come flooding back?

The red carpet is also coming back to Dubai. The Dubai International Film Festival will return in 2027, a decade after it disappeared from the city’s cultural calendar.

Meanwhile, hackers are stealing encrypted data today, hoping quantum computers will help them unlock it in the future. So ho...

Dubai is building a huge new 80-kilometre road through the desert, creating a fourth major route linking Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.

It’s designed to ease congestion, but can building more roads really keep pace with the UAE’s rapid growth? And just how challenging will a project of this scale be to build? We speak to the experts.

Plus, the United States has confirmed for the first time that it has weapons orbiting the Earth. What exactly are they, and are we entering a new arms race in space?

Would you read...

Despite months of disruption, the Gulf is still forecast to be one of the fastest-growing tourism markets in the world.

A new report suggests visitor numbers could rise by around 10% a year over the next five years. We speak to the author of the study about what is driving that growth and whether the momentum can continue.

Meanwhile, Ras Al Khaimah is turning its attention from staycationers back to international tourists. The CEO of RAK Tourism joins us to discuss the billions of dirhams being invested in new hotels, attractions and tourism projects across the...

Residents from Dubai Marina and JLT to The Springs, Al Barsha, Al Furjan and Discovery Gardens are reporting a persistent unpleasant smell. The Agenda team has reached out to Dubai Municipality for an interview/ statement and we're awaiting response. Meanwhile, the Municipality’s Call Centre confirmed to Gulf News it has received complaints and is aware of the problem. But when a smell is being reported across such a wide area, how do you actually work out what it is and where it’s coming from?

We also ask: Can a bad smell itself be harmful, and what...

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, which is the company behind Claude, says AI capabilities are advancing dramatically, and argues that slowing development could buy researchers crucial time to make the technology safer. So how worried should we be about the speed at which AI is developing? 

The Boring Company is set to build more than 150 kilometres of tunnels across the UAE, as part of a new agreement with several investment companies based in the Emirates. The idea is to move passengers underground in electric vehicles, bypassing the traffic above. But does putting cars underground actually solve congestion?

Dubai Airports says the recovery is already underway, with passenger numbers climbing sharply after months of disruption. 

As delayed major events including Arabian Travel Market and GISEC finally get underway, we hear from Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths on who is flying, when international tourists will return, and the latest timeline for the move to Al Maktoum International.

Meanwhile, Palm Jebel Ali has unveiled its first retail and lifestyle hub, set to open as soon as next year. But how do you actually build a brand-new neighbourhood from scratch?

Also, would you go b...

With attacks on ships around the Strait of Hormuz escalating, the regional conflict is also intensifying online, with cyberattacks on the UAE still running at around 600,000 a day.

So how do you protect the ports and infrastructure that keep global trade moving? We speak to DP World.

Also on the podcast, Wizz Air is returning to the UAE, just a year after pulling the plug on its Abu Dhabi operation. We find out what has changed, why it is coming back and what it could mean for airfares.

Meanwhile, some of the people...

A new report from St. James’s Place Middle East suggests that, for many affluent expats, the answer is yes. An extraordinary 96% say they earn more here than they would at home, and 97% say they save more. And perhaps unsurprisingly, many are staying much longer than they originally planned. 

Dubai is one of the most digitally connected cities in the world. But the more connected a city becomes, the greater the potential cyber risk. What threats are Dubai facing now, how is the city protecting its digital infrastructure, and how much responsibility lies with businesses and ordinary use...

If you're booking a Dubai hotel this month, you may have noticed prices climbing. We tell you how a hotel decides what your room is worth.

ONPASSIVE Metro Station is becoming Garmin Metro Station, after the technology company secured the naming rights under a 10-year agreement. So what does naming a Metro station actually do for a brand, and do frequent changes risk confusing passengers? 

After years of strong growth, there are signs Dubai’s property market may be starting to turn.  

Abu Dhabi has introduced a new Post-Separation Charter aimed at keeping chil...

A woman who lost her husband just seven months ago is now creating a new support community for widows after finding herself struggling to navigate everything that comes after a death.  

If your husband or wife died unexpectedly, would you know what happens to your bank accounts, your home, your mortgage or your children? And for expat families, with assets and relatives potentially spread across several countries, how much more complicated can it become? 

Today is the UN’s International Day of Clean Air, and new global research suggests many of us may be underestimating the...

The UN is warning that El Niño is being "supersized before our eyes", with the potential for even more extreme weather around the world. We ask what that could mean for the Gulf and how countries can prepare.

And as the Italian Grand Prix is declared a heat-hazard race, we ask whether the world is becoming too hot for elite sport. 

Plus, should children be learning how to use AI at school? The UAE is introducing AI across its national curriculum and training 22,000 teachers, while New York City is restricting generative AI for younger pu...

The UAE is facing a major cyber offensive linked to the conflict in the region and (IRGC) Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is among the actors involved. That's according to H.E. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the United Arab Emirates Government, speaking exclusively to The Agenda. 

If you drive from Sharjah into Dubai every morning, you probably don't need us to tell you how frustrating that journey can be. But a major new road project could make a significant difference to one of the busiest parts of that commute. 

If...

If you have a teenager or young adult at home, you may have heard this frustration before. They’re told they need work experience to stand out when they apply for university or their first proper job. But actually finding that experience can be incredibly difficult. Where do you look? Who do you contact?  

Could part-time jobs become more common in the UAE? And what should both parents and employers know before saying yes? 

Schools are now back. So, are we actually noticing the difference on the roads? 

And we tend to judge a UAE...

The Trump administration has temporarily paused immigrant visa appointments at US embassies and consulates around the world. So what does this mean for applicants here, and could the UAE become more attractive as US immigration becomes less predictable?

Scientists are piecing together what triggered the devastating floods on the Nepal-Tibet border that cause the deaths of around 900 people. The US Geological Survey says it was actually a glacial collapse, with the impact so powerful it registered as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event.

New tax rules for vapes come into force across the UAE today. How does...

Dubai Police has deployed 253 security and traffic patrols and 28 drones around schools to monitor traffic and help keep things moving safely. 

Today is also Accident-Free Day. Drivers who registered for the nationwide initiative and stay free of accidents and traffic violations today could have four black points removed from their licence.  

Yango Ride has introduced School Rides, where up to six pupils travelling along similar routes share a vehicle, with fixed pickup windows and door-to-door collection. The service was launched as a pilot in partnership with Dubai’s RTA earlier this year. 

Dubai is sp...

Six months since the regional conflict began, we look at the continuing disruption to the Strait of Hormuz and how Gulf states are developing pipelines and alternative routes that could reduce Iran’s leverage over the vital waterway.

Plus, UEFA is preparing possible criminal proceedings against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, escalating the power struggle at the top of world football.

Meanwhile Bill Gates warns governments are nowhere near ready for the impact AI could have on jobs.

And on Emirati Women’s Day, we hear from the UAE women’s cricket captain as the Wo...

It’s back to school across the UAE from next week, and Dubai’s education sector is getting even bigger. 

We look at 26 new private education institutions opening this academic year, including Harrow Dubai, and ask the KHDA whether there are enough pupils to fill nearly 17,000 new school places, and what it all means for affordability.

Plus, will changes made by the RTA to roads around Dubai schools make the school run easier? And what will it cost to fill children’s lunchboxes this year?

We also ask whether influencers can get a new gen...

We give you the lowdown about the shared housing law that comes into force today with property and construction lawyer Scott Hutton.

We also ask: what happens to the people who rely on cheaper shared accommodation? 

On our back-to-school special, we look at what getting a school bus ready for September actually does involve. Plus, school run carpooling, is this an option you're looking to get for your child? We speak with a Grade 12 student who created Community Carpool, a free platform designed to help people organise shared journeys.

Weight-loss drugs are now r...