The National

Critics of the UN often describe its General Assembly as a talking shop.

Syria welcomed 3.52 million visitors in the first half of 2026, more than double the number a year earlier, as the country targets the Gulf and other higher-spending markets to drive its tourism recovery.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday that talks on ending restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz should include regional countries as well as nations that depend on it and the International Maritime Organisation.

US President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington on Wednesday for a three-day state visit focused on trade, artificial intelligence and critical minerals, as well as the war with Iran.

The Emirates Foundation on Wednesday signed a partnership agreement with the Responsible AI Future Foundation in New York as part of the UAE's global push to harness the technology for global good.

OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei, two of the biggest names in artificial intelligence, told world leaders at the UN on Wednesday that people must be at the centre of making decisions on the technology.

Microsoft on Wednesday announced a new Middle East technology framework, focusing initially on the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly where artificial intelligence has been a major topic of conversation.

An incident at Palisades, a nuclear reactor in Michigan that is soon to be restarted, has cast a shadow over an apparent nuclear energy renaissance in the US.

An Indian sailor was killed on Wednesday when a merchant ship was attacked, reportedly by two torpedoes, off the coast of Oman.

An Indian sailor was killed on Wednesday when a merchant ship was attacked, reportedly by two torpedoes, off the coast of Oman.

At last, it has happened.

The rules-based international order is failing and America will continue to act alone when necessary, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, in a stark assessment of the post-Second World War system the US was key in building.

The US-backed Board of Peace on Wednesday proposed a six-month $2.45 billion plan to begin rebuilding Gaza and restoring basic services, as efforts to implement President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan face major challenges.

Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara on Wednesday accused Israel of carrying out hundreds of air strikes and incursions on Syrian territory that he said were undermining his country's rise.

European leaders are launching subsidies and tax cuts to help cushion households from the soaring cost of energy due to the war in the Gulf, but critics say they fall short of a long-term strategy that could help make their own energy systems more secure.

The UAE has been ranked fourth among 48 countries for protecting nuclear facilities against sabotage in the latest Nuclear Threat Initiative Security Index.

Palestinian ambassador to France, Hala Abou Hassira, has told The National that recognition of Palestinian statehood by 11 western nations a year ago must not be “trivialised” despite a deteriorating security and humanitarian situation on the ground.

The UAE Central Bank has barred Bank Melli Iran from conducting any financial transactions between its UAE branches and Iran after investigations found the Tehran-based lender had failed to comply with anti-money laundering regulations.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address the UN General Assembly on Thursday with his country facing unprecedented international criticism and a little more than a month to go before the general election.

A shop worker in Abu Dhabi, who left Chennai 17 years ago to support his family, won $1 million (Dh3.67 million) in the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire draw on Wednesday.

A shop worker in Abu Dhabi, who left Chennai 17 years ago to support his family, won $1 million (Dh3.67 million) in the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire draw on Wednesday.

US financial services company State Street plans to open its Al Ain operating centre by the end of next year and hire 300 people over three years as it expands its presence in Abu Dhabi.

An Iraqi court on Wednesday sentenced two female MPs to seven years in prison for illicit enrichment, in one of the most high-profile convictions since the government launched a sweeping campaign against corruption.

The 2020s are the decade of democratic disruption or perhaps even democratic dysfunction.

Iran has presented the US with a road map to end their conflict that includes a regionwide ceasefire, the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to the US blockade of the country, regional sources told The National on Wednesday.

Oil prices rose slightly to $100 per barrel on Wednesday afternoon, after trading lower in the morning, as Iran and the US hold negotiations in New York to end the conflict and focus remains on Saudi supply.

The images are stark: a car's front windscreen smashed, with a rock bigger than a football lying on the front seat.

The UK is launching a new space squadron to defend Britain's satellites from “hostile action”, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

The first white paper from the Congress of Arabic & Creative Industries in Abu Dhabi has found that young people want Arabic to keep pace with the way they learn, work and create.

The fashion week cycle is well and truly under way.

A solar-powered aircraft operated by a UAE space technology company has launched a wildfire-monitoring mission in Spain, transmitting live images during a 29-hour flight over the Canary Islands.

Abu Dhabi has extended the deadline for property owners and real estate operators to obtain mandatory occupancy certificates to November 30.

Indian restaurant workers have been lured to Europe in a visa scam and then forced to toil for long hours, seven days a week, with threats of violence, police have said.

Archaeologists who suspect a hidden complex beyond the tomb of Tutankhamun not only exists, but may hold the last resting place of Queen Nefertiti, are seeking permission to carry out searches after new evidence gave weight to the theory.

Iraq, Morocco, Palestine, Egypt and Jordan have selected the films that will represent them in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2027 Academy Awards.

The cost of hauling crude across the world’s key oil routes has surged to record levels, with supertanker earnings approaching $650,000 a day as Middle East disruption ties up vessels and squeezes available shipping capacity.

It has been an incredible summer of football so far, with the season traversing through the World Cup and straight into the leagues.

More than 130 years after Andrew and Abby Borden were found brutally murdered in their Massachusetts home, nobody knows for certain who killed them.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has arrived in New York for the UN General Assembly as senior US and Iranian officials pursue talks that could open the way to further diplomatic contact between the two countries.

Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi held their first meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York, as Baghdad and Damascus reset ties.

Every few weeks, a new video clip emerges of Cristiano Junior, the 16-year-old son of Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring goals for Al Nassr's youth team.

Almost seven months into a war that has redrawn the global energy map, the man overseeing US President Donald Trump's energy agenda says the fight over Middle East oil is no longer only about supply – it's about the routes that carry it.

Being a UAE cricketer never used to require an economics qualification.

Today on Trending Middle East, both Iran and the US have confirmed they held talks through mediators during the UN General Assembly.

When H.E.R. was growing up, one creature from Filipino folklore featured particularly prominently in the stories her mother told her.

EQT, Europe’s largest private markets investment firm, is setting up its first Middle East office in Abu Dhabi’s financial centre, ADGM, joining a growing roster of global asset managers expanding in the emirate.