Amazon.ae is gearing up for the holy month with the launch of its annual Ramadan Sale, set to run from January 27 through February 14 on the Amazon website.

The event will feature millions of deals across local and international brands, covering categories ranging from everyday essentials and groceries to electronics, home, fashion, and Amazon Devices.

Read more-Ultra-fast ‘Amazon Now’ delivery service launches across UAE

Prime members will receive exclusive early access starting January 27 at 00:01 local UAE time, giving them first pick of the deals ahead of the wider customer base. Alongside discounts, the sale is designed to help customers prepare for Ramadan through flexible payment options, instant bank discounts, and fast delivery services, reinforcing Amazon.ae’s focus on convenience during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.

A broader push to support Ramadan needs

The Ramadan Sale reflects Amazon.ae’s continued investment in meeting both practical and cultural needs during the holy month. In addition to competitive pricing, the platform is emphasizing speed, accessibility, and community support, enabling customers to prepare for Iftar and Suhoor while also finding ways to give back.

Stefano Martinelli, vice president of Amazon Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey, highlighted the company’s focus on value and social impact during the season.

“Ramadan is a time of reflection, generosity, and togetherness. This year, we’re proud to support our customers in celebrating these values once again, not only through incredible savings and convenience, but by making it easier to give back,” Martinelli said. “Customers can now order Iftar boxes in minutes via Amazon Now, helping us collectively support families in need across the UAE.”

He added that the company’s goal is to allow customers to focus on family and community while Amazon handles speed and convenience behind the scenes.

Giving back through Amazon Now iftar boxes

As part of its Ramadan initiatives, Amazon is expanding its giving-back options through Amazon Now. Customers can order Iftar boxes directly via the Amazon app or by visiting the website, with delivery completed in minutes. The service also allows customers to send Iftar boxes directly to families or individuals in need by entering their delivery address at checkout.

This initiative positions Amazon Now not only as a rapid-delivery service for essentials but also as a tool for charitable giving during Ramadan, aligning logistics capabilities with social responsibility.

Millions of deals across core shopping categories

The Ramadan Sale spans nearly every major retail category on Amazon.ae, targeting both everyday needs and larger household purchases.

Everyday essentials and groceries remain a central focus, with Amazon Now offering savings of up to 50 per cent on pantry staples and household items from brands including Pampers, Nescafe, Ariel, Dove, Comfort, PediaSure, Evian, and Oatly. Customers can also save up to 30 per cent on their first three Amazon Now orders and 20 per cent on subsequent orders during the sale.

Kitchen and home appliances are also heavily featured, with discounts of up to 50 per cent on items such as air fryers, espresso machines, gas cookers, cookware sets, and dinnerware from brands including Ninja, De’Longhi, Nespresso, Philips, Dyson, Tefal, Braun, Kenwood, BLACK+DECKER, and Panasonic.

Home, electronics, and gaming see strong discounts

In the home and living category, customers can save up to 35 per cent on products such as vacuum cleaners, home entertainment systems, washing machines, dishwashers, furniture, and décor. Participating brands include Samsung, Dyson, Shark, Bissell, Philips, Hisense, TCL, Midea, and Levoit.

Electronics discounts reach up to 26 per cent across laptops, tablets, TVs, and headphones from brands such as Samsung, Apple, Lenovo, ASUS, Microsoft, Sony, Bose, DJI, Fujifilm, GoPro, Anker, and BenQ. Gaming enthusiasts can also benefit from savings of up to 29 per cent on consoles and accessories from Meta, Nintendo, PlayStation, and Logitech.

Beauty, fashion, and personal care in focus

Beauty and personal care categories are seeing significant interest ahead of Ramadan, with savings of up to 40 per cent on skincare, fragrances, cosmetics, and beauty essentials from brands including CeraVe, L’Oreal Paris, medicube, ANUA, Maybelline, Cetaphil, Eucerin, eos, and La Roche-Posay.

Personal care products, including hair care devices, grooming tools, massagers, oral care, and wellness products, are discounted by up to 25 per cent, featuring brands such as KÉRASTASE, Philips, Shark, Oral-B, wavytalk, Panasonic, Braun, Dyson, Gillette, and Johnson & Johnson.

Fashion and accessories are also a major component of the sale, with discounts of up to 35 per cent on apparel, footwear, watches, and eyewear from brands including Calvin Klein, New Balance, Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste, COACH, Skechers, Seiko, Fossil, Michael Kors, BOSS, asics, Levi’s, Fitbit, and Whoop.

Amazon Bazaar, toys, and devices add further value

Amazon Bazaar is offering up to 40 per cent off everything available on Amazon Bazaar store, with new customers receiving an additional 10 per cent off their first order using the code NTB10. Prime members also benefit from free international shipping on Amazon Bazaar purchases, with terms and conditions applying.

Families can also save up to 50 per cent on toys, baby care, and children’s products from brands including Lego, Barbie, Pampers, and BabyJoy.

Amazon Devices are included as well, with discounts of up to 50 per cent on Ring and Kindle products. Ring devices are positioned as a way for families to stay connected and secure during Iftar gatherings and evening prayers, while Kindle provides access to Arabic titles, including Islamic literature and Ramadan reflections.

Faster delivery and exclusive prime benefits

Delivery speed remains a key pillar of the Ramadan Sale. Customers can take advantage of Amazon Now delivery in minutes and Rush 2-hour delivery options for groceries and essentials. Prime members receive free delivery on Amazon Now orders over Dhs25 and Rush 2-hour delivery on orders over Dhs100.

Prime membership also includes Free Same-Day and One-Day Delivery, Free International Delivery from Amazon US, UK, and Germany via the Amazon.ae Global Store, and added benefits such as free fuel delivery services with Cafu, Free Deliveroo Plus Silver, and access to Prime Video. Prime is available for Dhs16 per month or Dhs140 per year at Amazon Prime.

Amazon.ae is also offering multiple ways for customers to maximise savings during Ramadan. Instant bank discounts of up to 20 per cent are available for eligible purchases made with ADCB Mastercard Credit and Debit Cards, FAB Mastercard Credit Cards, Amazon Credit Card, and RAKBANK Credit and Debit Cards.

Prime members using the Amazon Credit Card can earn up to 6 per cent back on purchases, while non-Prime members earn up to 3 per cent. A welcome bonus of up to Dhs1,000 is available during Ramadan, with additional rewards for new applicants via Amazon Credit Card.

Customers can also benefit from Buy-Now, Pay-Later options through Tabby and Tamara, as well as 0 per cent bank installment plans from select banking partners, making larger purchases more manageable during the season.

Shoppers can browse deals via the Amazon App or shop directly at Amazon, ensuring they don’t miss out as the Ramadan Sale unfolds.

The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) and the Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE) have confirmed that major retail outlets across the UAE are now free of a specific batch of Aptamil Advance 1 POF infant formula produced by Nutricia Middle East (Danone). The product is intended for infants from birth to six months.

According to the authorities, local regulatory bodies continue to closely monitor the situation, oversee the investigation, and ensure the complete withdrawal of the affected batch due to the potential presence of substances that may be harmful to infants, a WAM report said.

Read more-Nestlé infant formula products recalled in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar

MOCCAE and EDE stated that the recalled batch carries an expiry date of 2026.11.08. The recall was initiated following the detection of traces of Bacillus cereus in one of the production inputs. This bacterium can produce cereulide, a toxin that may, in certain cases, cause health disorders, including food poisoning and gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

International context and manufacturer coordination

The UAE action follows Danone’s announcement of a recall of specific batches of infant formula and follow-on milk distributed in the UK and European Union nations. The recall was issued after the identification of potential contamination with cereulide, according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).

In coordination with Nutricia Middle East in the UAE, all relevant batches currently held in distributors’ warehouses have been placed on hold. Regulatory procedures to withdraw any remaining quantities from the market are ongoing and are being carried out in line with approved frameworks and in coordination with competent UAE authorities. These efforts aim to ensure the removal of the affected batch from all points of sale, including online platforms.

Market withdrawal and consumer guidance

The Emirates Drug Establishment has issued a precautionary circular instructing the withdrawal of the affected batch, if present, from all retail outlets and healthcare facilities nationwide, in coordination with local authorities.

To safeguard children’s health, consumers in the UAE who have purchased this product are advised to check the expiry date printed on the bottom of the package. Products bearing the expiry date 2026.11.08 should not be used and must be disposed of safely.

Authorities emphasised that this measure forms part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the UAE’s pharmaceutical and food security ecosystem and ensure the sustainable provision of products aligned with the highest standards of quality and safety. The response reflects the preparedness of relevant authorities and their capacity to act promptly to protect public health through an integrated regulatory system based on proactive risk assessment and continuous monitoring of food and pharmaceutical supply chains at both local and global levels.

In a landmark moment for the region’s gold and jewellery sector, Ithra Dubai has officially launched Dubai Gold District, a purpose-built destination designed to reinforce Dubai’s status as the world’s leading hub for gold and jewellery trade.

The launch signals a new phase in Dubai’s evolution as a global centre for retail, commerce, and investment. Dubai Gold District brings together the entire gold and jewellery value chain in one unified location, encompassing retail, bullion, wholesale trade, and investment services. By consolidating these activities, the district aims to strengthen Dubai’s reputation as one of the world’s most trusted destinations for gold commerce.

Read more-Gold blasts past $5,000: Is the $6,000 milestone next?

The district was unveiled in the presence of senior officials, including Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Shaibani, MD of the Investment Corporation of Dubai; Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, president and CEO of Dubai Chambers; Dr Juma Al Matrooshi, assistant to the secretary general of the Dubai Free Zones Council; and Issam Galadari, CEO of Ithra Dubai. Long-term traders from across the district also joined the ceremony.

The launch represents a key milestone for the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, and reinforces the district’s role in shaping the future of the global gold and jewellery trade.

The unveiling also underscores the UAE’s continuing leadership in global gold and precious metals trade. In 2024–25, the country exported approximately $53.41bn worth of gold, with key trading partners including Switzerland, the UK, India, Hong Kong, and Turkiye.

These figures position the UAE as the world’s second-largest physical gold trading destination.

Retail and tourism synergy

The district comprises over 1,000 retailers across gold, jewellery, perfumery, cosmetics, and lifestyle categories. Notable flagship brands include Jawhara Jewellery, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, Al Romaizan, and Tanishq Jewellery, with Joyalukkas planning a 24,000-square-foot flagship, its largest in the Middle East.

Dubai Gold District also integrates seamlessly into the city’s wider retail and tourism ecosystem. The destination is supported by more than 1,000 guest rooms across six hotels, ensuring easy access for international visitors, buyers, and trade partners.

In 2025, the introduction of Big Bus routes to the district enhanced accessibility, attracting tourists and strengthening Dubai Gold District’s position as a premier gold and jewellery shopping destination.

Dubai Gold District represents a bold step in Dubai’s journey to consolidate its global leadership in gold trade. By bringing together heritage, innovation, and commercial scale, the district is poised to redefine the city’s gold and jewellery landscape while attracting investment, international visitors, and global brands.

A global gateway for trade and investment

Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, president and CEO of Dubai Chambers, emphasised that the launch of Dubai Gold District represents a pivotal development for international trade and commerce. “This initiative offers investors and market participants unparalleled access to one of the world’s most active and trusted gold trading hubs,” he said, highlighting the district’s role as a gateway to the global gold and jewellery ecosystem.

Issam Galadari, CEO of Ithra Dubai, added: “With the launch of Dubai Gold District, we are opening a significant new chapter in the city’s gold and jewellery landscape. By uniting heritage, scale, and opportunity, the District brings together a diverse ecosystem of traders, investors, retailers, and global brands, serving shoppers and visitors across international markets and key trade corridors.”

Elevating Dubai’s commercial and cultural standing

Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), part of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), described the District as “a defining moment in our city’s evolution as a global destination for commerce, culture, and tourism.”

He noted that the development aligns with D33, Dubai’s Economic Agenda, and represents a transformative step in consolidating the city’s status as a global business hub. “Gold is deeply woven into the cultural and commercial fabric of Dubai, symbolising our heritage, prosperity, and enduring spirit of enterprise,” Al Khaja said.

The launch reflects the strength of collaboration between Dubai’s public and private sectors and underscores the collective ambition of stakeholders to position the city at the forefront of global innovation. Al Khaja added that Dubai Gold District will play a pivotal role in attracting international visitors, driving investment, and enhancing the city’s reputation as a leading global destination for business, leisure, and retail.

A one-stop destination for gold and jewellery

Dubai Gold District, branded as the city’s “Home of Gold,” unites the full spectrum of gold and jewellery activity under one destination. The District hosts a wide range of established regional and global brands, offering exceptional variety, quality, and value for buyers, traders, and investors alike.

What sets the district apart is the unmatched diversity of its audience. In 2025 alone, it welcomed shoppers from more than 147 nationalities, cementing Dubai’s status as a truly global marketplace for gold and jewellery.

A standout feature is the world’s first Gold Street, constructed using gold itself, designed as a signature attraction for tourists and visitors. Additional details about the street will be revealed in phases.

For more information, visit here.

The Walt Disney Company’s highly anticipated Disneyland Abu Dhabi, the first Disney theme park in the Middle East, is starting to take shape on the iconic leisure destination of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, with fresh visual evidence of the project’s future location shared publicly for the first time.

Disney CEO Robert “Bob” Iger posted photos on social media this week showing himself walking the undeveloped coastal terrain of the planned site, confirming the resort’s waterfront positioning and offering industry observers a clearer sense of where the project will rise. “Walking the site of what will one day be Disneyland Abu Dhabi! Lots of work ahead, but all very exciting!” Iger wrote, underscoring both the magnitude of the build and Disney’s commitment to the region.

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While Disney has not disclosed precise geospatial coordinates, coverage from local outlets suggests the northern sector of Yas Island — adjacent to prime beachfront — is the likely development area, placing the new park alongside some of the emirate’s most successful entertainment assets.

A landmark global first for Disney

The development forms part of a landmark agreement announced in May 2025 between Disney and Miral, Abu Dhabi’s leading creator of immersive destinations and experiences. Under the partnership, Miral will fully develop and build the resort, while Disney and its Imagineering team will lead creative design and provide operational oversight. Miral will also operate the resort once completed.

The project will be Disney’s seventh theme park resort globally and its first in the Middle East. According to the original announcement, the waterfront resort will blend Disney’s globally recognised characters, attractions and storytelling with Abu Dhabi’s cultural identity, contemporary architecture and coastal setting. The destination is positioned to serve visitors from across the Middle East and Africa, India, Asia and Europe, leveraging the UAE’s role as a global aviation and tourism hub.

“This is a thrilling moment for our company as we announce plans to build an exciting Disney theme park resort in Abu Dhabi, whose culture is rich with an appreciation of the arts and creativity,” Iger had said earlier May 2025. “As our seventh theme park destination, it will rise from this land in spectacular fashion, blending contemporary architecture with cutting edge technology to offer guests deeply immersive entertainment experiences in unique and modern ways. Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati – an oasis of extraordinary Disney entertainment at this crossroads of the world that will bring to life our timeless characters and stories in many new ways and will become a source of joy and inspiration for the people of this vast region to enjoy for generations to come.”

Yas Island has already established itself as a cornerstone of Abu Dhabi’s leisure strategy, hosting internationally branded attractions including Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld. The addition of Disneyland Abu Dhabi is expected to significantly scale up the island’s profile, reinforcing its status as an integrated entertainment cluster with global reach.

From a development perspective, the project reflects Abu Dhabi’s broader long-term tourism and diversification ambitions. The UAE sits within a four-hour flight of roughly one-third of the world’s population and is home to one of the largest airline hub networks globally, with more than 120 million passengers transiting through Abu Dhabi and Dubai annually. Industry observers expect the new Disney resort to act as a catalyst for further investment across hospitality, retail, transport and supporting infrastructure.

While no opening date has been confirmed, large-scale Disney parks typically follow extended design and construction timelines. With site identification now clearer, attention is likely to turn to formal groundworks, phased development plans and future announcements around attractions, themed hotels and guest experiences.

Once completed, Disneyland Abu Dhabi is expected to feature signature Disney entertainment, themed accommodation, dining and retail concepts, and immersive storytelling designed to be, as per Iger, “authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati”, adding another globally recognised anchor to Abu Dhabi’s evolving visitor economy.

Read: Yas Island sees 38 million visits, Saadiyat Island grows 10% in 2024: Miral

As AI moves from pilots into systems that shape daily life, the real challenge is no longer model performance but trust, ownership, and accountability. Here, Sergej Loiter, CEO of Search, AI, and AdTech at Yango Group, explains why AI only scales at national and city level when people, data, and responsibility are designed in from day one.

What has actually changed in how AI scales in business and daily life?

What has changed isn’t the models, it’s that AI has moved from experimentation into production.

For years, AI supported decision-making. We searched, clicked, and chose. Today, AI systems increasingly act: adjusting campaigns, routing deliveries, optimising operations, and influencing real users in real time. In advertising technology, for example, AI now optimises campaigns live, continuously adjusting creatives, targeting, and spend based on performance signals, rather than analysing results after the fact. Once AI enters production, scaling becomes unavoidable, and so does responsibility.

This is where many initiatives break. Not because the technology fails, but because ownership is unclear. Pilots may succeed technically, but when systems go live without a named internal owner, a trained team, and accountability for outcomes, they quietly decay. AI projects don’t fail at scale because they are weak. They fail because no one truly owns them.

The shift, then, is not intelligence alone, it is agency with accountability. AI becomes transformative not because it thinks better than humans, but because it acts faster within boundaries that humans define and remain responsible for.

What determines whether people adopt AI in everyday use?

As AI becomes more personal, trust stops being optional.

At scale, especially in cities, trust functions like infrastructure. If it is unreliable, everything built on top of it fails, even when the underlying technology is strong. People feel trust immediately when systems behave unpredictably, opaquely, or without recourse.

Trust is not created through slogans or policy documents. It is designed into systems through predictable behaviour, transparency, and clear responsibility when something goes wrong. This is particularly visible with everyday AI assistants: when systems understand local language, cultural norms, and user expectations, adoption happens naturally; when they feel foreign or inconsistent, people disengage quickly. Yasmina, the human-like bilingual AI assistant, is a prime example. Its LLM is trained extensively on Khaleeji content and refined through input from Arabic-speaking experts and even local comedians to ensure the humour, references, and style resonate authentically.

Once AI influences movement, access, or decision-making, people need to know that a human and an institution stand behind it. This is why responsible deployment matters more than speed. It is better to scale slightly slower with trust than faster with abandonment.

How should leaders think about AI moving into city-scale systems?

AI already operates inside cities, shaping logistics, commerce, mobility, and services. The question is no longer how powerful AI becomes, but how responsibly and locally it is designed.

At city scale, AI systems live inside language, culture, institutional workflows, and public expectations. When these factors are ignored, even technically strong systems struggle to gain acceptance and often feel foreign or intrusive.

This is visible in areas like urban logistics and last-mile delivery. Autonomous delivery systems can perform extremely well in controlled environments, but long-term success depends on clear operational ownership: defined safety thresholds, human oversight, and teams empowered to intervene and adapt behaviour over time. Without that, performance degrades regardless of model quality.

As systems begin influencing millions of people, agency inevitably becomes responsibility. Effective public-sector approaches focus on design, dialogue, and accountability — not blanket restriction. Cities that succeed treat AI as a long-term capability, investing in people, data quality, and ownership, knowing models will change but responsibility will not.

Why do so many AI initiatives stall after promising pilots?

The problem is not too many pilots. It is pilots without owners. Many technically successful pilots fail because there is no internal team trained to take responsibility once external partners step away. Without a qualified internal “receiver”, the system has no future. Infrastructure and tools can be outsourced. Ownership of the product cannot.

Ownership means running, maintaining, and improving systems over time and standing behind outcomes long after launch. This is why many AI deployments quietly stop being used 12–24 months later.

Generative AI lowered the barrier to experimentation, but it did not remove the need for deep expertise in production. Chatting with a model is not the same as running a product. Organisations that recognise this early scale successfully. Those that do not often mistake activity for progress.

Looking ahead, what principle should AI leaders keep in mind?

Treat AI as a capability, not a project. Leaders who succeed will stop treating AI as a technology experiment and start treating it as an owned, staffed, data-driven system. Looking back in five years, organisations will be most grateful for the decisions they made around ownership and internal capability — and most regret delaying them.

The capability worth over-investing in now is internal AI literacy and product ownership, so systems can be operated, governed, and adapted over time. The most under-priced risk today is assuming AI runs itself after deployment.

Models will change. Infrastructure will evolve. What lasts is data maturity, human capability, and clear ownership.

In the end, the real difference will not be who had the best models but who built the capability to run AI responsibly at scale.