The year is coming to a close and, with that in mind, the team at The National has been looking back at the work that shaped 2025 across the arts world.
With award-winning films including The Voice of Hind Rajab and The President's Cake, Arab cinema continues to break new ground – in subject matter, in artistry and in resonance.
In the context of ongoing regional conflict, film has also become one of the most direct ways for audiences beyond the region to engage with its history, its culture and, crucially, its humanity.
Closer to home, the picture is even richer. These films point to a new golden age taking shape – one defined by range rather than uniformity, and by stories that move confidently across genres and forms. Find more here.
Hasan Hadi's The President's Cake is one of our 10 best Arabic films of 2025. Photo: TPC Film
Across the rest of the world, our 10 best films of the year were often deeply political and quietly revolutionary – including Brazil's The Secret Agent, South Korea's No Other Choice and Iran's It Was Just an Accident.
In television, the volume of global streaming releases continued to expand. Our favourites span prestige dramas, genre series and unexpected breakouts. Elsewhere, Indian television made further inroads with international audiences, with seven shows in particular resonating well beyond their home markets.
Music moved across registers through the year. The 50 best Arabic songs of 2025 reflected a range of sounds and voices, from established artists to emerging figures shaping the region’s musical landscape.
Coldplay's four performances at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi were among the year's most successful. Pawan Singh / The National
Live performances also illuminated the calendar: from Coldplay’s multi-night runs at Sheikh Zayed Sports City to headline concerts by Metallica and Katy Perry, the UAE’s best concerts and on-stage events mapped a remarkably active year in live touring and local attendance
Visual art in the UAE maintained its momentum. The most memorable exhibitions of 2025 ranged from exhibitions grounded in heritage and craft to large-scale international presentations, reflecting the breadth of programming across institutions and independent spaces.
In games, 2025 delivered a number of standout releases across platforms. The year’s best titles, including highlights on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 as well as PC games, were shaped by atmosphere, narrative and design, pointing to the medium’s continued evolution.
Of Land and Water is the first presentation of works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection in Kalba. Antonie Robertson / The National
Online, things circulated at a different pace. From viral moments to the rise of “6-7” and Gen Alpha as a cultural force, meme culture and digital language provided a running record of how humour, fatigue and connection moved through the year in real time.
The Arab cultural scene has been etched by significant loss in 2025, with the deaths of luminaries including Ziad Rahbani and Mohammad Bakri.
As the world continues to grapple with ongoing crises, culture has remained a vital space for collective expression, reflection and even moments of joy. Now we shall see what 2026 has in store.
Popular singers and film stars from Egypt, Lebanon and beyond are the subjects of a new exhibition in Beirut. Photo: Sursock Museum
From Fairuz and Asmahan to Umm Kulthum and Sabah, the stars of the Arab world’s golden age of cinema and music remain treasured cultural icons. But how much is really known about the women behind the fame?
This is something a new exhibition at Beirut’s Sursock Museum explores, reports Maghie Ghali. Diva: From Umm Kulthum to Dalida, celebrates legendary singers, actresses and dancers while also unpacking the personal struggles they faced in a post-war, post-colonial Arab world.
“In the 1960s, Beirut, alongside Cairo, was a capital of Arab music,” says Sursock Museum director Karina El-Helou. “Here, divas such as ‘Star of the East’ Umm Kulthum, who gave an unforgettable performance at Baalbeck International Festival, and Fairuz – ‘Ambassador of Lebanon to the Stars’ – played a decisive role in shaping modern Arab music.”
The exhibition is structured into four sections: the first traces the pioneering women and avant-garde feminists of cosmopolitan Cairo in the 1920s; the second section focuses on divas with golden voices from the 1940s to the 1970s; the third section turns to the golden age of Egyptian cinema, often dubbed Nilewood; and the final section brings these legacies into the present, examining how the influence of the divas continues to shape contemporary artistic practice.
Originally founded in 1975, Qatar's national museum has evolved along with the country. Photo: National Museum of Qatar
Celebrating its anniversary with a retrospective exhibition titled A Nation’s Legacy, A People’s Memory: Fifty Years Told, the National Museum of Qatar offers a comprehensive survey of its journey – from modest beginnings to present-day reinvention.
Since its founding in 1975 by former Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani as one of the first museums in the Gulf, the institution has remained a source of pride and identity for the people of Qatar.
Drawing on archival documents, photographs and personal testimonies, the exhibition traces the museum’s evolution across five decades, highlighting key exhibitions and programmes, its role in preserving national heritage, and its reopening in 2019 as a state-of-the-art, institution housed in a building designed by French architect Jean Nouvel.
“For half a century, the National Museum of Qatar has safeguarded the legacy of our nation and its national treasures, while continually developing new ways of storytelling through advances in technology,” says museum director Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Thani. “With A Nation’s Legacy, A People’s Memory: Fifty Years Told, we invite audiences to celebrate the institution’s record of honouring our heritage while imagining what lies ahead.
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Company Profile
Name: Thndr Started: 2019 Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr Sector: FinTech Headquarters: Egypt UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi Current number of staff: More than 150 Funds raised: $22 million
Key findings of Jenkins report
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring:Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit
As he spoke, Mr Aboul Gheit repeatedly referred to the need to tackle issues affecting the welfare of people across the region both in terms of preventing conflict and in pushing development.
Lebanon is scheduled to host the fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in January that will see regional leaders gather to tackle the challenges facing the Middle East. The last such summit was held in 2013. Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told The National that the Beirut Summit “will be an opportunity for Arab leaders to discuss solely economic and social issues, the conference will not focus on political concerns such as Palestine, Syria or Libya". He added that its slogan will be “the individual is at the heart of development”, adding that it will focus on all elements of human capital.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
GroupA: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
