Just because technology gives everyone the ability to investigate, doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is a proper investigator.
This is particularly true of Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire, who once again finds himself in hot water after falsely implying that Palestinian activism was behind a string of US shootings.
The backlash against his comments continues, but it's important to remember that Mr Maguire has tremendous sway in the technology world with his seat at the Sequoia table.
Far too often, society equates that sort of influence with competence and maturity, but as Mr Maguire and other technology executives have shown in 2025, that isn't necessarily be the case.
The big story
One million workers
The UAE's digital transformation will help create jobs in manufacturing, education and retail, forecasts say. Chris Whiteoak / The National
In brief | If everything goes as planned, a new skills forecast report has some very positive predictions when it comes to how AI, a continued digitisation push and overall economic factors will affect the UAE.
The analysis, conducted by enterprise software company ServiceNow and education company Pearson, says the UAE will probably need to add approximately one million workers by 2030.
Among the 10 countries studied, the UAE leads the way, followed by Saudi Arabia, in terms of countries that will see a significant, positive “workforce impact”, in part because of current technology and AI investments.
Why it matters | As is often the case with any technological advancement, AI has sparked a lot of fears about job losses.
Make no mistake, some of those fears are well founded, and it's important for social safety nets and training to be a major priority as a result, but this study takes a longer view and looks at the likely ripple effect AI and technology will have in terms of long-term job creation.
Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but there are plenty of reasons for having a relatively positive outlook.
Quoted | “What we are seeing in the UAE, as well as in nearly every other country surveyed, is that AI augmentation will be central to capturing the next wave of economic growth”
– William O’Neill, GCC vice president at ServiceNow
Future in focus
A new analysis of toys with AI features warns that they're far from perfect, and could invite problems for children and parents
• Parental warning |AI toy dangers abound and parents should be vigilant, new report warns
•Made inSharjah | New mini-satellite designed to boost disaster-response efforts begins final testing
The Garadagh solar plant operated by Masdar in Baku, Azerbaijan. Pawan Singh / The National
Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar has signed an agreement with Malaysia to develop the company's largest floating solar plant, as it expands in South-east Asia.
Sharing in the solar spotlight, UAE-based Amea Power has finalised funding for a major solar-power plant in the Ivory Coast, as it helps address energy needs in West Africa's second-largest economy.
This is a signal: With so much discussion about a possible energy grid gap due to power-hungry AI data centres in 2025, nuclear reactors dominated the headlines.
Yet methodically and somewhat under the radar, solar energy is advancing and not to be overlooked. According to the World Economic Forum, some speculate that electricity generation from solar farms will exceed output from nuclear reactors.
The two UAE-based solar stories mentioned above give credence to this idea. Make no mistake, solar energy is alive, well and still very much in the future energy mix.
In case you missed it
Get ready for a big piece of digital real estate in your hands. Chris Whiteoak / The National
• Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold review: Peak mobile convenience - or can we go bigger?
The National produces a variety of newsletters across an array of subjects. You can sign up here. To receive The Editor's Briefing, our Editor-in-Chief's weekly newsletter – exclusive to registered readers – that rounds up the top stories of the week, sign up here.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Types of policy
Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
2018: Formal work begins
November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
UAE Rugby finals day
Games being played at The Sevens, Dubai
2pm, UAE Conference final
Dubai Tigers v Al Ain Amblers
4pm, UAE Premiership final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities. Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids. Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
