Latest Saudi airport attack kills one as US orders embassy staff to leave
Eight people were injured in an attack on Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport, as Washington ordered non-essential diplomatic personnel and their families to leave Saudi Arabia
Another deadly attack has struck Saudi Arabia’s airports, killing one person and injuring eight in Dammam, as the US ordered non-essential diplomatic personnel and their families to leave the kingdom amid Houthi strikes.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) confirmed on Thursday, October 22, that King Fahd International Airport had been targeted on Wednesday evening.
The authority said one resident was killed and eight others injured, with their conditions ranging from minor to critical. All were taken to hospital for treatment.
The latest violence comes as Washington takes precautions in Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday, the US State Department ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave the kingdom, citing growing threats from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement.
“Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” said the State Department in a statement.
US State Department spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, further stressed that the mandatory departure order applied to Saudi Arabia only, rejecting reports that similar orders had been issued across other Gulf states.
The developments follow weeks of attacks targeting Saudi aviation infrastructure, including repeated strikes on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
The capital’s airport resumed limited flight operations this week after being closed following an attack on October 10. Several international airlines, including Lufthansa and Air France, have extended flight cancellations into November.
Meanwhile, two people were killed and two others injured on Wednesday after debris from an intercepted drone fell at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield, according to the Saudi Energy Ministry.
Curated by Shah Rukh Khan, the inaugural UNIFYD music festival takes centre stage in Abu Dhabi on 20 March 2027.
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has announced a new music festival in Abu Dhabi, with Arijit Singh, Karan Aujla and Sonu Nigam among the performers scheduled for its inaugural edition.
UNIFYD will take place at Etihad Live on Yas Island on March 20, 2027. The one-day festival will feature more than 15 artists across multiple stages, according to the organisers.
Produced by D’YAVOL Live and District, the event is being held in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and Miral, in association with Emirates NBD.
Khan will serve as curator, shaping the festival’s artistic direction and creative vision. The announcement identifies him as the curator rather than a confirmed performer.
“I’ve spent a lifetime telling stories on screen and watching them bring people together. Music has that same extraordinary power,” Khan said.
“UNIFYD, produced by D’YAVOL Live along with District, will unite India’s most incredible artists on a shared stage for the first time.”
The inaugural line-up brings together Singh’s Hindi film repertoire, Aujla’s Punjabi music and a special set by Nigam, with the festival aimed at audiences in India, the Middle East and the wider South Asian diaspora.
Organisers said the event was conceived as an international festival, with plans to expand into additional cities and markets. No further locations or launch dates were announced in the supplied statement.
“Indian music is already global. UNIFYD gives that cultural force a festival platform that matches its scale, ambition and influence,” said Bunty Singh, co-founder of D’YAVOL Live.
Rahul Ganjoo, CEO of District, said the partnership was intended to bring together audiences across musical genres and generations.
“Indian culture travels further than any single genre or generation, and UNIFYD is built to bring all of it together on one stage,” he said.
D’YAVOL Live is the live entertainment platform within the D’YAVOL Luxury Collective. District provides discovery and booking services for dining, events, activities and attractions.
Ticket sales
According to the organisers’ announcement, general ticket sales were scheduled to begin through the District app at 10.30am UAE time on October 20.
An earlier access window for Emirates NBD cardholders was scheduled from 9.30am on October 19 until 9.30am on October 20.
Healthcare major M42 plans to develop a multidisciplinary healthcare facility in Bahrain Bay through a joint venture with local partner HealthVision, expanding its specialist care network in the kingdom.
Mubadala Health Bahrain will offer 20 specialities, including six surgical inpatient specialities at launch, according to an announcement on Tuesday.
M42 signed an agreement with Bahrain’s Future Generations Reserve Fund to secure the location at its tower in Bahrain Bay. The announcement was made during the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit.
The facility’s planned services include cardiology, oncology, orthopaedics, paediatrics and neurology, alongside longevity, precision medicine, genomics, artificial intelligence and wellness services.
It is expected to employ approximately 200 people, with a focus on recruiting and developing Bahraini talent.
M42 group CEO Dimitris Moulavasilisr said Bahrain remained part of the company’s regional expansion strategy.
The announcement did not disclose an investment value or opening date.
M42 also launched Ossi, a multi-agent AI clinical platform designed to reduce administrative work and give clinicians more time with patients. Built on Microsoft Azure infrastructure, it has been activated across seven M42 healthcare facilities in the UAE and Bahrain.
Its four initial agents draft clinical notes, retrieve and summarise medical records, support clinical queries and patient education, and suggest medical codes, with documentation and coding subject to review.
The multilingual platform integrates with existing electronic medical record systems. M42 says Ossi supports regional data governance requirements and incorporates safeguards for patient information security and privacy within clinical care workflows.
Mubadala Bio and Eli Lilly agreement
In other news, Mubadala Bio and Eli Lilly have agreed to develop local packaging and logistics operations for Lilly’s GLP-1 medicines in Abu Dhabi, expanding the emirate’s pharmaceutical supply-chain capabilities.
The collaboration, announced at the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit, will be supported by a 125,000-square-metre site in KEZAD comprising packaging and warehousing facilities.
Activities will be introduced in phases, subject to technical, quality and regulatory requirements, according to an announcement published on Tuesday.
The agreement’s specified scope covers packaging and logistics. The announcement did not identify individual medicines to be packaged, disclose financial terms or provide a start date.
Nabil Daoud, president and general manager of Lilly’s Intercontinental Hub, said the agreement would strengthen the company’s long-term presence in the UAE.
Mubadala Bio said the partnership would support its efforts to expand pharmaceutical capabilities and connect Abu Dhabi with international medicine supply chains.
The announcement builds on the UAE’s leadership in advancing access to innovative medicines and strengthening personalised healthcare.
The Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE) approved Foundayo (orforglipron) for chronic weight management in April, making the UAE the second country in the world to register the medicine.
In Abu Dhabi, the treatment was introduced for eligible patients under the Personalised Weight Management Program, launched by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DOH) and Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC) in June last year.
The UAE was an early launch market for Mounjaro (tirzepatide) in August 2022 following US FDA approval.
Abu Dhabi offers opportunities for global family offices to invest in businesses and build long-term partnerships across industry, infrastructure and other sectors, supported by economic stability and growth, Ali Mohamed Al Marzooqi, director general of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Abu Dhabi Chamber), said.
Al Marzooqi identified supply chains, clean energy, digital transformation, tourism and real estate among the promising areas for long-term capital.
He cited ADNOC’s plans to award Dhs200bn in new projects between 2026 and 2028, a pipeline of 24 public-private partnership projects worth Dhs55bn, and Abu Dhabi’s Dhs13bn Digital Strategy.
The opportunities extend beyond the headline investment values to contracts for suppliers and manufacturers, partnerships between local and international businesses, and the transfer of expertise and technology, he said.
“Investment families think in generations, not financial quarters. Abu Dhabi offers what that outlook demands: stability, real growth and partners with whom they can build,” Al Marzooqi said.
Ali Mohamed Al Marzooqi, director general of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Image: Supplied
From investment interest to business opportunities
Al Marzooqi made the remarks during a roundtable titled “Abu Dhabi: From Capital to Investment Opportunities” at the fourth Global Owners and Family Office Congress.
The congress, organised by Campden Wealth with the Abu Dhabi Family Business Council as a main partner, runs from October 19 to 22 in Abu Dhabi. The council is an affiliate of the chamber.
The roundtable brought together representatives of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, ADGM and KEZAD Group to discuss the emirate’s investment environment.
Al Marzooqi said establishing a company was the beginning of an investment journey, with business success dependent on access to customers, partners, contracts and markets.
“The chamber’s role begins where investment interest turns into a practical need to connect with the private sector and build business,” he said.
More than 1,000 chamber members have participated in its business matchmaking programmes since 2025, according to the chamber.
Its Procurement Connect initiative helps businesses identify procurement opportunities with government entities and major corporations, while Global Tenders provides access to tenders across more than 170 countries.
The chamber also offers 14 services through the TAMM government platform, alongside legal advice, contract reviews, commercial mediation and advocacy on behalf of businesses.
Growing business membership
Chamber membership has risen to approximately 174,000 companies, from 131,000 in 2021, Al Marzooqi said.
Total membership grew 10.4 per cent in 2025, while new member registrations increased 27 per cent.
Non-oil activities accounted for 54 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s GDP in the third quarter of 2025, according to official preliminary estimates.
At the national level, the UAE attracted $48.3bn in foreign direct investment in 2025, ranking ninth globally, according to the Ministry of Investment.
Al Marzooqi said Abu Dhabi’s combination of stability, economic growth and an established business community gave family investors the confidence to plan over longer periods.
He highlighted the role of local family businesses across trade, industry, energy, real estate, healthcare, education and hospitality as potential partners for international investors entering the emirate.
Partnerships across generations
The Abu Dhabi Family Business Council provides a platform for stronger governance, succession planning, next-generation leadership development and dialogue among business-owning families, Al Marzooqi said.
The chamber’s international network includes 87 agreements across 47 countries. It also reported 32 incoming business delegations and 10 outbound missions during 2025 and 2026.
Al Marzooqi urged global investors and family offices to view Abu Dhabi as a place to create economic value through investment and partnerships, alongside managing capital.
He said the chamber was ready to serve as their first point of connection to the emirate’s private sector.
Abu Dhabi showcases strengths overseas In other news, Abu Dhabi’s economic agencies met British and international investors during a three-day London visit from October 13 to 15, culminating in the third Abu Dhabi Investment Forum.
The delegation included ADDED, ADIO, Abu Dhabi Chamber, ADGM and Abu Dhabi Customs. Mubadala, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC and KEZAD Group participated in the forum, which explored opportunities across finance, technology, manufacturing, healthcare, energy and logistics.
ADDED chairman Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi said the priority was translating investment interest into commercial partnerships and sustained growth.
The chamber’s Global Executive Connect programme linked Abu Dhabi companies with executives from 44 British and international organisations, arranging 56 targeted meetings. The Abu Dhabi Family Business Council also held parallel meetings.
Separately, Abu Dhabi Customs received the Border Innovation Award at the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade’s 2026 awards for TradeChain, its blockchain-based information-exchange platform.
Saudi economy resilient amid conflict, says central bank governor
Saudi Central Bank governor Ayman Al-Sayari said disruptions were affecting trade, transportation, inflation and financial conditions amid elevated debt and limited room for policymakers to respond
Saudi Arabia’s economy remains resilient despite the Middle East conflict, supported by financial buffers, a well-capitalised banking system and economic reforms, Saudi Central Bank governor Ayman Al-Sayari said, while warning that the war’s effects were spreading beyond energy markets.
In Saudi Arabia’s recent statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Al-Sayari said disruptions were affecting trade, transportation, inflation and financial conditions amid elevated debt and limited room for policymakers to respond.
Separately, Saudi Aramco president and chief executive Amin Nasser said the kingdom’s systems were coping with the crisis, although prolonged disruption was putting increasing pressure on global energy supplies.
“While the kingdom is capable and confident, and its systems are coping, no country should face this alone,” Nasser told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London on October 5.
Al-Sayari said Saudi banks remained well-capitalised and liquid, supported by forward-looking macroprudential policies. Vision 2030 reforms had strengthened economic fundamentals through the expansion of non-oil activity, greater private-sector participation and improved institutional capacity, he said.
The kingdom would continue diversifying its economy, deepening financial markets, developing human capital and raising productivity, he added.
Nasser pointed to Aramco’s overseas storage, spare production capacity, domestic gas storage, tanker fleet and local supply chain as elements of its ability to withstand disruption.
The company was studying additional crude export routes and exploring more overseas storage to help manage short-term interruptions, he said.
But Nasser warned that the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz had caused the most serious energy supply shock of his career. Rebuilding inventories while meeting demand could take up to two years after the waterway fully reopened and confidence returned, he said.
The IMF has also highlighted the limits of the measures cushioning the region’s economies.
Jihad Azour, director of the fund’s Middle East and Central Asia department, told reporters on October 15 that alternative shipping routes, inventory drawdowns, and demand adjustments had helped contain the energy shock, Reuters reported.
Those buffers were finite, however, and renewed disruption could trigger much larger price adjustments. The outlook depended on how quickly energy production and trade normalised and whether countries could preserve macroeconomic stability, he said.
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said earlier in October that investments in energy and logistics infrastructure, alongside government measures to ease shipping bottlenecks and support businesses and banks, had helped limit the wider economic fallout.
Nevertheless, the fund expected the GCC economy to contract in 2026, with a 2027 recovery conditional on shipping gradually returning to normal.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan also stressed the need to manage available buffers efficiently during prolonged shocks while retaining the capacity to respond to future challenges, according to a finance ministry account of the Bangkok meetings.
He identified diversification, energy and food security, and resilient supply chains as priorities for strengthening economies against further disruption.
Policybazaar.ae, Alliance Insurance launch UAE life cover with a full premium refund option
The Smart Return Term Plan combines life cover with a one-time exit option for eligible policyholders, allowing them to recover their base premiums under specified conditions
Policybazaar.ae and Alliance Insurance have launched the Smart Return Term Plan in the UAE.
Policybazaar.ae and Alliance Insurance have launched a term life insurance product in the UAE that offers policyholders a way to recover 100 per cent of their base premiums through a one-time exit option, adding a refund feature to conventional term protection.
The Smart Return Term Plan provides a lump-sum death benefit to beneficiaries if the life assured dies during the policy term. Eligible policyholders can also choose to leave the plan at a designated point before maturity and receive a refund of the base premiums paid.
The launch addresses a common concern associated with term insurance: policyholders generally pay premiums for financial protection but do not receive those payments back if the policy ends without a claim. The new product gives eligible customers the option to recover their base premiums while retaining the choice to continue their cover.
Smart exit option comes with conditions
The plan’s main differentiator is its Smart Exit feature, available to policyholders who select a term of at least 30 years. The option can be exercised once during a one-year window that opens six years before the policy’s scheduled end date.
Customers who exercise the option receive a refund equivalent to 100 per cent of the base premiums paid. The refund provision applies to base premiums, and the product’s terms and conditions will determine how the option operates in individual cases.
For example, a customer who purchases a 30-year policy at age 30 could use the exit option during the designated window at age 54. At that stage, the policyholder could assess whether life cover remains a priority or whether recovering the premiums better suits their financial circumstances.
Customers who do not exercise the option retain their life cover until the end of the policy term, subject to the policy conditions. The feature therefore offers a choice between continuing protection and taking the eligible premium refund at the specified point.
Insurers target concerns over term cover
Neeraj Gupta, CEO of Policybazaar.ae, said the perceived loss of premiums when a term policy ends without a claim can discourage people from purchasing cover.
“Term insurance is the most important financial decision a breadwinner can make, and the one most often postponed. In the UAE, many families rely on one income for school fees, rent and home loans, yet term cover remains badly underpenetrated. The barrier is not awareness. It is the belief that decades of premiums vanish. Until now, no term plan in this market offered a way to get that money back. The Smart Return Term Plan changes the equation: full protection when it matters most, and a clear path to recover every dollar of base premium. With Alliance Insurance, we are setting a new standard for life cover in the UAE.”
Gupta said the partnership aims to provide families with life protection while addressing concerns about the treatment of premiums when no claim is made.
Rami Al Mughrabi, CEO of Alliance Insurance, said the product combines term insurance with additional flexibility for customers.
“For more than five decades, Alliance Insurance has focused on building products that fit the real lives of people in the UAE. The Smart Return Term Plan reflects that. It keeps the simplicity and affordability of term insurance, and adds the flexibility people have been asking for. Our partnership with Policybazaar.ae lets us put this plan in front of customers in a way that is transparent, easy to compare and easy to buy. We see it as an important step in widening access to life protection across the country.”
Eligibility, premiums and additional benefits
The plan is available to individuals aged 20 to 65, with coverage extending up to age 85. Policy terms start at five years, although the Smart Exit feature is limited to policies with terms of 30 years or longer.
Premiums are payable in US dollars throughout the policy term. Customers can choose monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual payments, and the product carries no policy fee, according to the companies.
The death benefit is paid as a lump sum equal to the policy’s Sum Assured. The plan also includes built-in cover for Passive War and Passive Terrorism, capped at $1m per life.
Customers who select a policy term of less than 30 years and a Sum Assured of at least $500,000 are eligible for a 20 per cent premium discount. These shorter-term policies do not qualify for the Smart Exit premium-refund option.
Product available through Policybazaar.ae
The Smart Return Term Plan is available through Policybazaar.ae, where prospective customers can compare options, obtain quotes and consult licensed advisers.
The product’s appeal will depend on how customers assess the cost of coverage against the potential premium refund, the length of protection required and the conditions governing the exit option. For policyholders considering long-term cover, the designated exit window provides a decision point before the policy’s scheduled end date, while those who retain their policies continue to receive protection under the applicable terms.
