Schools across Riyadh have shifted to remote learning for a week, with students and staff instructed to stay away from classrooms amid heightened security concerns following a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Parents received notices over the weekend informing them that in-person classes would be suspended from Sunday, September 27, until Thursday, October 1, with lessons continuing through the kingdom’s Madrasati online learning platform.

The decision affects students as well as teaching, educational and administrative staff, according to reports.

However, Saudi authorities have not publicly explained the move, and the Ministry of Education had not issued an official statement confirming the reason for the suspension.

The decision follows the interception of drones and ballistic missiles launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels towards targets in Saudi Arabia, including the Riyadh area.

Saudi air defences intercept drones targeting Riyadh

The Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday, September 26, that its air defences had intercepted and destroyed two Houthi drones heading towards Riyadh.

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al Malki confirmed that two ballistic missiles targeting Khamis Mushait, in south-western Saudi Arabia, had also been intercepted.

The interceptions followed another wave of attacks earlier in the week, when Saudi air defences brought down six ballistic missiles targeting Taif and the Red Sea port area of Yanbu, according to reports.

The Houthis have intensified their attacks on Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against the kingdom in July, with strikes targeting cities, energy infrastructure and shipping routes.

Parents receive last-minute notices

According to reports, at least three schools in Riyadh informed parents on Saturday that lessons would take place remotely from Sunday to Thursday.

AFP also reported that parents had received emails from schools indicating that the instructions had come from Saudi authorities.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Dubai Police will introduce truck movement restrictions on roads across the emirate from October 1, 2026, as part of measures to manage traffic during peak periods.

Emirates Road will be exempt from the new restrictions, according to the authorities.

The measures are aimed at improving traffic flow and road safety while accounting for the needs of Dubai’s commercial transport and logistics sector, a WAM report said.

Read more: Dubai road upgrade cuts Oud Maitha journey time by 75%

The authorities said the restrictions are intended to support the movement of goods while managing congestion on major routes.

Restrictions to vary by road

Truck movement restrictions are already in place on several roads and streets across Dubai, with the applicable timings varying according to traffic conditions, road corridors and levels of congestion.

Some major roads and locations are subject to restrictions throughout the day. These include Al Qudra Street, Al Meydan Street, all crossings and Airport Tunnel.

Other roads, including Sheikh Zayed Road and Beirut Street, along with residential areas such as Al Mizhar, Muhaisnah and Oud Al Muteena, have truck restrictions for 16 hours a day, from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm.

Urban roads including Airport Street, Oman Street and Damascus Street face restrictions during three peak periods: 6:30 am to 8:30 am, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

RTA said the restrictions are part of broader traffic-management measures designed to ease congestion, improve road capacity, reduce journey times and increase the efficiency of Dubai’s road network.

Authorities launch awareness campaign

RTA, in coordination with Dubai Police and other relevant authorities, will conduct an awareness campaign covering the new restrictions, including their scope, timings and alternative routes.

The campaign will target heavy-vehicle drivers, truck owners and transport and freight companies. Information will also be distributed through various channels to reach drivers operating across the emirate.

The authorities urged truck operators to comply with the applicable restriction periods, use permitted alternative routes and make use of designated truck rest areas when movement is restricted.

Drivers have also been instructed to follow road signs and traffic directions and avoid parking on main roads, in residential areas or in unauthorised spaces. Such parking can result in traffic violations and create additional risks for other road users.

More truck parking capacity

The availability of designated truck rest areas is another part of the traffic-management strategy.

RTA has completed 14 of 16 planned rest stops across six locations along strategic roads and within logistics areas across Dubai. The facilities have been developed in partnership with private-sector companies.

RTA has also increased capacity at seven of the rest stops by adding 364 parking spaces, representing a 50 percent increase. The expansion has brought the total number of truck parking spaces at those facilities to 1,007.

The authority plans to develop four additional permanent truck rest areas through partnerships with the private sector. The facilities are intended to provide organised waiting areas for trucks and reduce unauthorised parking on major roads and in residential and industrial areas.

RTA said more than 150,000 trucks use the existing rest stops each month, while around 400,000 truck journeys take place across Dubai each day.

The rest areas include facilities such as accommodation and rest spaces, prayer rooms, restaurants, retail outlets and fuel stations, providing drivers with designated places to stop during restricted periods.

Permits available for essential movements

RTA has called on transport and freight companies to plan journeys in advance and account for the applicable restrictions when scheduling truck movements.

Companies that need to operate during restricted hours in essential cases can apply for a Mobility Permit for Heavy Vehicles in Banned Times and Roads through the Right-of-Way (ROW) Department on the RTA website.

The permit process is intended for cases where truck movement is required during periods or on roads covered by restrictions. Operators have been advised to obtain the necessary approval to avoid traffic violations.

The restrictions come as Dubai continues to manage growing demand on its road network while maintaining the movement of commercial vehicles and goods across key transport and logistics corridors.

Global maritime trade is being reshaped by geopolitical tensions, climate pressures, changing trade policies and shifting manufacturing hubs, increasing the need for more flexible shipping and logistics networks, DP World said in a new whitepaper.

More than 80 per cent of world merchandise trade by volume is transported by sea, while maritime networks carry an estimated $14tn worth of containerised goods, the Dubai-based ports and logistics operator said.

Its whitepaper, Navigating the Future of Maritime Trade, published to mark World Maritime Day 2026, said disruption to established trade routes was becoming more structural, rather than episodic, as tariffs, manufacturing shifts and geopolitical tensions alter cargo flows.

DP World said businesses increasingly require alternative routes and gateways to reduce their exposure when major trade corridors are disrupted, creating a bigger role for feeder, coastal and shortsea shipping services.

Those services, when integrated with rail, road and inland waterways, can connect emerging manufacturing centres and regional ports to major international trade lanes while providing alternative options when established routes are affected, it said.

“With more than 80 per cent of world merchandise trade by volume transported by sea, agility and the ability to adapt are becoming essential to business confidence and growth. A key part of this is optimising what we call ‘Connected Trade Corridors’, building more choice and adaptability into the system by linking ports, marine services and inland logistics so cargo has alternative routes when conditions shift. The first generation of global trade connected markets. The next must connect those markets through smarter, more adaptable networks,” said Ganesh Raj, global chief operating officer of Marine Services at DP World.

The company said global trade was being reconfigured rather than reversing. Its 2026 Global Trade Observatory found that 94 per cent of more than 3,500 supply chain and logistics executives surveyed expected trade growth this year to match or exceed 2025 levels.

Manufacturing is also becoming more geographically dispersed, with India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa taking larger roles in global production, according to the whitepaper.

That shift is contributing to stronger trade flows between developing economies. DP World said merchandise exports between developing economies had risen from about $500bn in 1995 to $8.8tn in 2025, while more than half of developing-country exports now go to other developing markets.

The changing geography of production is creating new regional shipping patterns and increasing demand for stronger links between local ports, regional networks and major global trade corridors, the company said.

DP World’s Marine Services network connects more than 200 ports across Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, supported by a fleet of more than 500 vessels.

The company said the next phase of maritime trade would increasingly depend on the resilience and flexibility of networks connecting regional and global trade corridors, rather than on established shipping routes alone.

A boardroom rupture at India’s Tata Sons, where the controlling charity arm says it is unable to assert its rights, is rippling across India Inc, with founders and investors studying the fine print of their shareholder pacts to avoid the same fate.

The 158-year-old electronics-to-retail Tata empire operates in over 100 countries. It owns brands like Air India, Tetley tea and Jaguar Land Rover, runs Indian joint ventures with Starbucks and Inditex’s Zara, and makes parts for Tesla and Apple, so the fight for control has ramifications well beyond India.

This month, the six-member board of Tata Sons, the group’s holding company, reappointed chairman N. Chandrasekaran despite objections from the Noel Tata-led Tata Trusts, the charity arm that owns 66 per cent of the conglomerate. During the September 17 meeting, the charity’s boss Noel Tata also argued against Tata Sons’ potential stock market listing, but the board overruled him.

The charity has publicly lashed out, saying the internal governance rules explicitly state that Noel Tata’s lone vote against any key decision is enough to sink it. Tata Sons disagrees, saying Noel lacked the support of the other trust nominee, and so the decision was taken on the basis of a simple majority.

The governance clash is raising the alarm among Indian companies about how far a board can go to overrule a majority shareholder.

Strategic investors, company owners and directors in sectors such as manufacturing, steel and textiles are reviewing their shareholder agreements to check they have enough protection to prevail if a boardroom battle erupts, according to nine lawyers and board directors.

“We have received multiple queries from business families and founders on the issue related to the management versus owners debate,” said Rajesh Narain Gupta, chairman of law firm SNG & Partners.

“It has raised a sense of insecurity and fear among owners.”

In one case, a Delhi-based lawyer who specialises in mergers and acquisitions, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said an Indian manufacturer and its European joint-venture partner were close to signing off on a shareholder agreement when the investor called a halt citing the Tata dispute, asking for extra safeguards.

The lawyer declined to name the companies due to confidentiality concerns.

The current dispute has prompted strategic investors and private equity funds who have veto rights in a company to check if they can be diluted if the boards read governance frameworks differently, said Parag Bhide, partner at Indian law firm Aquilaw.

“The question clients are asking is whether a board can proceed with a decision first and leave the shareholder to seek remedies later,” said Indian M&A lawyer Nitin Potdar, who has previously advised the Tata Group.

“Will the owner be the one who then has to run around for remedies?”

Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata Group is made up of 31 companies which had revenues of over $180bn last year. The group’s principal holding company is called Tata Sons, and 66 per cent of its equity share capital is held by the philanthropic arm, Tata Trusts.

Before becoming head of Tata Trusts, Noel Tata, who is the half-brother of family patriarch Ratan Tata who died in 2024, built Tata’s retail and trading businesses.

Tata Sons’ stated governance philosophy, published on its website, holds that companies must be run “not merely in the interests of their owners” but also for employees, customers, the local community and the country.

To be sure, Tata’s unique governance structure and the principles behind it are the exception to most Indian companies. And this is not the first time it has led to high-profile conflicts — in 2016, the then chairman was sacked after he fell out with Ratan Tata over corporate governance issues, triggering years of legal disputes.

“The stand-off at Tata Sons is a result of the Tata Trusts’ limited board representation (of two members),” said Umakanth Varottil, a professor at the National University of Singapore who specialises in corporate law and governance.

“That combination of majority ownership, limited board representation and divided nominee directors is unlikely to be replicated in many companies,” he added.

The Gulf’s economic transformation is presenting employers with a challenge that is becoming increasingly difficult to address through traditional talent-development approaches: the world of work is evolving faster than conventional education and workforce-preparation systems can respond.

Across the UAE and wider GCC, economies are becoming more diversified, technology-enabled and knowledge-intensive.

Businesses are adopting artificial intelligence, automation and new digital operating models while responding simultaneously to changing consumer expectations, sustainability imperatives and increasingly complex global markets.

For employers, the challenge is no longer simply where to find talent, but how to ensure that talent is equipped to contribute effectively in an environment where the nature of work itself is continually changing.

At this intersection, the relationship between business and academia needs to evolve.

Traditionally, discussions of employability have focused largely on what universities should do to prepare graduates for the workplace. That remains important, but it represents only part of the challenge. Universities alone cannot create a genuinely future-ready workforce, just as businesses cannot expect graduates to arrive fully formed with every capability required by a rapidly changing economy.

What is needed is a more dynamic relationship in which employers become active participants in the educational process, while universities become more deeply connected to the problems, possibilities and emerging demands of the economy.

From education to a shared talent ecosystem

The strongest corporate-academic relationships are therefore not defined by occasional internships, guest lectures or annual careers fairs. Their significance lies in creating a continuous exchange between the classroom and the workplace.

The frequency and form of that interaction will inevitably vary across sectors, but the principle is consistent: education should be informed by the world of work without becoming subordinate to it.

Most employers have a reasonably clear understanding of the capabilities they require today and increasingly sophisticated views about the skills and expertise they are likely to need over the medium to longer term.

Universities bring complementary strengths: disciplinary depth, academic rigour, research expertise, critical inquiry and a broader perspective on how knowledge and professions are evolving.

Neither perspective is sufficient in isolation. Industry sees the problems that need solving; academia contributes the intellectual frameworks through which those problems can be understood, interrogated and reframed.

The opportunity, therefore, is not simply to align curricula more closely with current employer requirements, but to create a dynamic interface between knowledge creation and knowledge application.

Industry can articulate emerging professional practices, real-world problems and changing capability requirements. Academia can subject these to research, theory and critical analysis, ensuring that education remains sufficiently grounded in practice while retaining the independence and intellectual ambition necessary to prepare graduates for a world that cannot yet be fully predicted.

This points to a more sophisticated conception of employability.

The objective is not merely to produce graduates who can perform effectively in their first job, but individuals who possess both the technical and professional capabilities to contribute immediately and the intellectual agility, adaptability and capacity for lifelong learning to remain effective as their roles evolve.

Industry consequently becomes more than a destination for graduates or a source of curriculum advice. It becomes a partner in defining authentic problems, creating experiential learning environments and testing the application of knowledge.

In return, universities offer businesses access not only to emerging talent, but also to research, new ideas and alternative ways of framing complex challenges.

The most productive intersection is therefore not one in which academia becomes more like industry, nor one in which industry dictates what universities should teach. It is one in which the two co-create learning, knowledge and innovation.

The distinction matters.

If education responds too closely to immediate employer demand, it risks becoming narrow and potentially obsolete. If it remains too detached from practice, it risks becoming disconnected from the realities graduates will encounter.

The challenge is to hold these tensions productively: to create graduates who are professionally relevant without being narrowly trained, academically grounded without being insulated from practice, and prepared not only to enter existing professions but also to influence how those professions develop.

From consultation to co-creation

Curriculum development provides one of the clearest opportunities to translate this principle into practice.

Too often, industry engagement begins once a programme has already been designed, with employers invited to comment on whether the curriculum reflects workplace requirements.

A more consequential model brings industry into the conversation much earlier, helping universities understand how occupations are changing, which capabilities are becoming more significant, where professional practice is heading and what kinds of problems graduates will increasingly be expected to address.

This should not, however, mean allowing short-term business requirements to determine academic provision.

Universities have a wider social and intellectual responsibility: to develop independent thinkers with the conceptual foundations, critical judgement and capacity to adapt across careers that may themselves be transformed by technological and economic change.

The objective is not to train students for a particular job, but to combine deep academic foundations with meaningful exposure to the complexity of professional practice.

This is where co-creation becomes more than a rhetorical ambition.

Students can work on live organisational challenges, engage directly with practitioners, analyse real-world datasets, undertake consultancy assignments, test ideas against practical constraints and develop solutions to problems for which there may be no predetermined answer.

Such experiences move learning beyond the acquisition of knowledge towards its application, interpretation and creation. They expose students to ambiguity, competing priorities and imperfect information — the conditions under which professional judgement is actually exercised.

The value is reciprocal.

Students develop a richer understanding of how their discipline operates in practice and greater confidence in applying knowledge to unfamiliar problems. Employers gain earlier and more meaningful access to emerging talent while benefiting from fresh perspectives and a better understanding of how the next generation approaches technology, learning and problem-solving.

Industry consequently becomes not simply a consumer of graduate talent, but a participant in the creation of learning, knowledge and innovation.

AI and the new co-creation dynamic

Artificial intelligence introduces a further dimension to this relationship.

AI has the potential not merely to change what students need to learn, but also to alter how universities and businesses can learn from one another.

Industry partners can bring authentic business problems, operational datasets and strategic challenges into the curriculum. Academics can frame those challenges through disciplinary knowledge, research methodology and critical inquiry.

AI can then act as a catalyst, enabling students to interrogate complex problems, analyse large datasets, model alternative scenarios, generate hypotheses, test possible solutions and examine the consequences of different decisions.

This creates a potentially powerful three-way relationship:

Industry provides the problem.
Academia provides the intellectual framework.
AI expands the capacity to explore, test and solve the problem.

Consider an engineering student working with an industrial partner on an energy-efficiency challenge.

The university contributes engineering principles, research methods and disciplinary expertise; the company provides the operational context, constraints and authenticity of the problem; and AI enables the student to model scenarios, interrogate large datasets, compare alternative solutions and rapidly iterate designs.

The educational value does not reside in AI producing an answer. It lies in enabling students to ask better questions, evaluate evidence, challenge assumptions, recognise limitations and exercise informed judgement.

This distinction is fundamental.

The purpose of AI-enabled education should not be to automate thinking, but to raise the level of thinking expected of students.

As AI becomes increasingly capable of generating text, analysing information and proposing possible solutions, greater value can be placed on capabilities that are difficult to automate: critical reasoning, ethical judgement, creativity, synthesis, contextual understanding, communication and the ability to distinguish between an answer that is merely plausible and one that is genuinely defensible.

The implications extend beyond individual courses.

AI could support a more continuous feedback loop between industry and academia by helping institutions identify emerging occupations, changing skill requirements, new technologies and shifts in professional practice.

Used intelligently, this could enable curriculum development to become less episodic and more adaptive — moving from periodic consultation towards an evidence-informed process of continuous renewal.

International campuses as strategic bridges

This model has particular significance in the Gulf, and especially in the UAE, where international universities occupy a distinctive position at the intersection of global knowledge and a rapidly changing regional economy.

The value of an international branch campus should therefore not be judged solely by the quality or international reputation of the education it imports. Its greater strategic potential lies in its ability to bridge global academic capability and local economic priorities.

An international university brings disciplinary expertise, research networks and perspectives shaped by different economies and societies.

The UAE, in turn, offers a highly international business environment in which global companies, regional enterprises, government entities, entrepreneurs and an increasingly diverse talent pool operate alongside one another.

The opportunity is to connect these worlds deliberately rather than allowing them to coexist in parallel.

An international presence has limited value if it remains isolated from the economy around it. The real strength of a branch campus lies in its ability to connect what students learn with what businesses are experiencing, anticipating and trying to solve.

That requires sustained relationships with employers, industry bodies, professional organisations and practitioners and, more importantly, bringing those relationships into the educational experience itself.

Such engagement can extend across research collaboration, incubation and entrepreneurship, executive and lifelong learning, internships and placements, graduate apprenticeships, sustainability initiatives, industry certification, professional qualifications and careers development.

These activities create a more connected ecosystem in which knowledge moves in multiple directions: from university to industry, from industry into the curriculum and increasingly between the two through joint problem-solving and applied research.

For students, this creates a richer educational experience and a more meaningful understanding of the region in which they will build their careers.

For employers, it creates stronger connections to emerging talent, academic expertise and new ideas.

For the wider economy, it creates a mechanism through which the capabilities developed within universities can remain connected to the sectors, technologies and challenges shaping the next phase of economic development.

In this sense, an international branch campus is not simply an offshore extension of a foreign university. At its best, it becomes part of the host economy’s knowledge and talent infrastructure.

Preparing people for careers that will continue to change

This raises a broader question about what it actually means to be a future-ready graduate.

There is an understandable tendency to focus on the next technology or the next technical skill. Those competencies undoubtedly matter, but they are unlikely to remain sufficient for long.

Businesses increasingly need people who can work across disciplines, communicate effectively, navigate ambiguity, question assumptions, make judgements with incomplete information and continue learning as technologies and organisational models change.

The paradox is that as technology becomes more capable, distinctly human capabilities may become more, not less, important.

A graduate who can learn quickly, evaluate competing perspectives, frame unfamiliar problems and apply knowledge in new contexts is likely to retain value even when the tools surrounding them change.

Future readiness, therefore, should not be reduced to a list of currently fashionable skills.

It is better understood as the combination of expertise and adaptability: sufficient depth to contribute meaningfully, coupled with sufficient intellectual flexibility to continue developing.

The role of university-industry collaboration is consequently not simply to identify what employers want graduates to know, but to create environments in which students learn how to keep learning.

Building the workforce as a shared responsibility

The Gulf’s economic ambitions will ultimately depend not only on investment, infrastructure and technology, but also on people capable of turning those ambitions into reality.

Talent development must therefore be understood as a shared responsibility.

Universities cannot be expected to anticipate every development in the labour market in isolation. Nor can businesses reasonably expect graduates to emerge fully equipped with every capability required by a future they themselves cannot completely predict.

The more meaningful the interaction before graduation, the greater the opportunity students have to test ideas, encounter uncertainty, learn from failure and develop the confidence to apply knowledge in unfamiliar circumstances.

The result is more than a smoother transition from education to employment. It is the creation of a more connected talent ecosystem in which education, research, business and professional practice continually inform one another.

The future-ready workforce in the Gulf will therefore not be produced by academia or industry working independently.

It will emerge through collaboration: businesses helping to shape authentic learning environments; universities bringing disciplinary depth, research and intellectual perspective; AI expanding the capacity to experiment, analyse and innovate; and students developing the knowledge, judgement and adaptability to operate in a world whose parameters are still being defined.

As the UAE and wider Gulf continue their transition towards more diversified, innovation-driven and knowledge-intensive economies, the institutions that bring these worlds together will assume increasing strategic importance.

The strongest partnerships will not simply prepare people for the jobs that exist today. They will help develop the people capable of creating, adapting and leading the jobs, organisations and industries of tomorrow.

(By Dr Matthew Sukumaran, COO at Heriot-Watt University Dubai)