The UAE’s national instant payments platform Aani has surpassed 12.5 million users, Al Etihad Payments, a subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), said.

The platform is connected to 74 licensed financial institutions and is now integrated with 85 per cent of banks, 10 per cent of exchange houses and 5 per cent of digital wallets and finance companies, reflecting broad adoption across the financial ecosystem.

Usage has surged, with the number of transfers rising sixfold year-on-year and average monthly growth of 10 per cent throughout 2025, the company said. Around 25,000 transfers are carried out daily using mobile numbers alone.

Aani used by 774,000 merchants across the UAE

Aani has also gained traction among businesses, with about 774,000 merchants across the UAE adopting the platform as a primary payment solution. Transactions are completed in an average of three seconds, enabling faster settlement and improved cash flow for companies.

The platform offers services including QR code payments, request-to-pay, transfers using mobile numbers or Emirates ID, and the ability to manage multiple accounts through a single application.

Additional features, including cross-border payments, electronic direct debit, e-cheques and business-to-business payments, are expected to be introduced.

“The rapid growth in Aani’s usage rates reflects customers’ growing confidence in the security and efficiency of our national payment ecosystem, and further reinforces its position as one of the UAE’s leading national payment solutions,” said Saif Humaid Al Dhaheri, assistant governor for Banking Operations and Support Services at the CBUAE and chairman of Al Etihad Payments.

He added, “We remain committed to strengthening the Central Bank’s contribution to shaping the future of the UAE’s digital economy by enabling individuals and businesses to access seamless and instant payment services that enhance the sustainability and efficiency of the UAE’s financial sector.”

SO/ Uptown Dubai has launched a new “Brunch & Bed” promotion, allowing guests to book an overnight stay for Dhs1 when purchasing its Tiger Brunch experience for two at Citronelle.

The offer, available on Fridays and Saturdays, centres on a three-hour evening brunch priced at Dhs399 for the house package and Dhs499 for the premium package. The experience features a modern Asian menu, free-flowing beverages, and a social dining format increasingly popular across Dubai’s weekend F&B landscape.

As part of the bundled proposition, guests booking the brunch can unlock an overnight stay for Dhs1, alongside additional incentives including breakfast for two at Brasserie Uptown, 50 per cent discounts on spa treatments, and 30 per cent off dining across the property. The package also includes early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability.

The structure reflects a broader strategy among Dubai hotels to monetise high-performing F&B concepts by converting them into room-night drivers, particularly during weekends when demand for experiential dining peaks.

Operationally, the offer is underpinned by a coordinated booking process between front office (FO), reservations, and F&B teams. All brunch reservations are processed through the SevenRooms platform, after which booking details are manually shared internally to generate corresponding room reservations.

Guests are required to check in prior to attending the brunch, reinforcing the integration between the hospitality and dining experience. For last-minute or walk-in bookings, hotels are expected to prioritise expedited check-in processes to ensure seamless guest flow.

More information and booking process can be found here.

DMCC has launched a dedicated Maritime Centre aimed at strengthening Dubai’s position as a global hub for shipping, maritime trade and related financial services.

The new platform builds on an existing base of more than 150 maritime-related companies operating within DMCC across shipping, logistics, marine services and trade support. It formalises this activity into a structured, transaction-driven ecosystem designed to increase value capture from global maritime trade.

Building a full maritime ecosystem

The DMCC Maritime Centre is positioned as a commercial platform rather than a regulator or port operator. It brings together key components of the shipping value chain, including maritime finance, insurance, legal services, digital documentation, risk management and commercial intelligence.

The aim is to ensure that a greater share of the value generated by global shipping activity is structured, financed and retained within Dubai, while strengthening connectivity between shipowners, operators, financiers, insurers, legal advisors and technology providers.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and chief executive officer of DMCC, said: “Shipping today is not only about the movement of goods but about how that activity is financed, structured and managed. With the DMCC Maritime Centre, we are building the ecosystem around that reality. We are bringing together the companies, capital and services that sit around maritime trade and creating the conditions for more of that value to be captured here in Dubai. Working in close alignment with DMCC FinX and DMCC Wealth Hub, the Maritime Centre will connect maritime trade with access to capital, financing and risk management, while supporting the structuring and preservation of wealth linked to shipping and trade assets. This is a natural extension of our model, and it reflects the next phase of growth for both DMCC and the wider trade landscape.”

Integration with financial and wealth platforms

The Maritime Centre will operate alongside DMCC FinX and DMCC Wealth Hub, creating a more integrated ecosystem linking physical trade with financial services.

Through FinX, maritime businesses will gain access to capital, financing solutions and risk management tools tied directly to shipping activity, including vessel financing and freight-related receivables. The Wealth Hub will support shipowners and maritime investors in structuring and managing wealth linked to trade and shipping assets.

The launch marks an evolution of DMCC’s earlier Dubai Maritime Club, established in 2016 as a platform for industry engagement. The new Maritime Centre expands this approach into a fully operational economic cluster focused on execution, services and value creation.

The initiative reflects broader global trends in the shipping industry, where companies are increasingly gravitating towards jurisdictions that offer integrated access to trade flows, capital and specialist services within a single ecosystem.

The US military said it will begin a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas on Monday after weekend talks failed to reach a deal to end the war with Iran, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.

The talks in Islamabad, which ran from Saturday into early Sunday, were the first direct US-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The negotiations came days after a ceasefire began on Tuesday, aimed at ending six weeks of fighting that has killed thousands of people across the Gulf, throttled vital supplies of energy and sparked fears of a wider regional conflict.

The US Central Command said on Sunday that the US blockade, starting at 10am ET (1400 GMT), would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.”

Read more-Two US warships entered the Strait of Hormuz. Here’s what happened next

Vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports will not be impeded, the US military said. Additional information would be provided to commercial mariners through a formal notice prior to the start of the blockade, it said.

President Donald Trump on Sunday also said US forces would intercept every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran.

“No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” Trump wrote on social media, adding: “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”

He added that the US Navy will begin destroying mines that the Iranians had dropped in the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20 per cent of global energy supplies.

While shipping data showed three supertankers fully laden with oil passed through the Strait on Saturday, tankers were steering clear of the waterway on Monday, ahead of the US blockade.

Iran says ‘zero lessons learned’

After Trump’s initial remarks on Sunday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards warned that military vessels approaching the strait will be considered a ceasefire breach and dealt with harshly and decisively, underlining the risk of a dangerous escalation.

A US official said Iran rejected Washington’s call for an end to all uranium enrichment, the dismantling of all major enrichment facilities and the transfer of highly enriched uranium.

Iranian media said there was agreement on a number of issues, but the strait and Iran’s nuclear program were the main sticking points.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran had “encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade” when just inches away from an “Islamabad MoU.”

“Zero lessons learned,” he added. “Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity.”

Six weeks of fighting has killed thousands, roiled the global economy and sent oil prices soaring as Iran prevented traffic through the Strait.

The US dollar and oil rose in early trading on Monday after the failure of the talks, while stocks in Asia eased.

Trump told Fox News’ “Sunday Briefing” program that oil and gasoline prices ​may remain high through November’s midterm elections, a rare acknowledgement of the potential political fallout from the war.

Iran’s Qalibaf posted a map of Washington-area gasoline prices on social media with the comment: “Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’. Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”

More negotiations?

Trump told Fox News on Sunday that he believed Iran would continue to negotiate and called the Islamabad discussions “very friendly.”

“I do believe they’re going to come to the table on this, because nobody can be so stupid as to say, ‘We want nuclear weapons,’ and they have no cards,” he said.

But several hours later, the US president said he did not care whether a “desperate” Iran returned to the negotiating table.

“If they don’t come back, I’m fine,” Trump told journalists on Sunday night after he returned to the Washington area from an overnight stay in Florida.

Qalibaf blamed the US for not winning Tehran’s trust, despite his team offering “forward-looking initiatives,” Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, who discussed the talks in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Tehran wanted “a balanced and fair agreement.”

“If the US returns to the framework of international law, reaching an agreement is not far off,” he told Putin, Iranian state media reported.

Dubai Municipality said it has completed the first phase of a sewerage and stormwater network development project in Al Quoz Creative Zone at a cost of Dhs250m, part of a wider Dhs500m investment.

The project covers Al Quoz Industrial Areas 1, 2, 3 and 4, as well as the area between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road, spanning 1,600 hectares and more than 1,507 plots.

Phase one included construction of sewerage and stormwater drainage networks across 155 hectares and 123 plots.

The works delivered 15km of sewerage pipelines with diameters ranging from 160 mm to 1,600 mm, alongside 14km of stormwater drainage lines with diameters between 200mm and 3,000mm.

The Sewerage and Stormwater Network Development Project

The development forms part of Dubai’s broader Sewerage System Development Programme and aligns with the Tasreef programme, a Dhs30bn initiative aimed at creating one of the region’s largest unified stormwater collection systems and increasing drainage capacity by 700 per cent over the next 100 years.

“The Sewerage and Stormwater Network Development Project in Al Quoz is one of Dubai Municipality’s key strategic projects to enhance the efficiency, resilience, and operational readiness of the emirate’s infrastructure systems. It supports Dubai’s ongoing urban and population growth, reinforces its position as a global leader in sustainable urban planning, and strengthens the future readiness of its infrastructure, making Dubai a more attractive, sustainable, and liveable city,” said Marwan Ahmed bin Ghalita, director general of Dubai Municipality.

“The project enhances the efficiency of sewerage and stormwater infrastructure systems in Al Quoz Creative Zone and supports its integrated urban model. It will further strengthen the area’s appeal as a vibrant hub for economic and investment activity, while keeping pace with the emirate’s future development requirements,” he added.

Al Quoz sewerage project will enhance Dubai’s preparedness to face climatic conditions

Adel Mohammed Al Marzouqi, CEO of the Waste and Sewerage Agency at Dubai Municipality, said: “This project contributes to enhancing the efficiency of the rainwater drainage system and the smooth flow of water in the Al Quoz Creative Zone, while reducing water accumulation. This ensures the continuity of services and business operations and supports the city’s resilience and preparedness to face various future climatic conditions.”

Dubai Municipality said it will continue to implement infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening resilience, improving operational efficiency and ensuring service continuity in line with urban growth, as the emirate advances its transition towards a smart and sustainable city model.