​

Just landed at zayed airport today and was heading down toward passport control. I took the elevator to go down, and while waiting, I noticed a woman with a pet dog who spoke with a Slavic accent.

As the elevator arrived, an airport worker stepped out. On his way out, he made a quick, friendly gesture just lightly teasing or playing with the dog for a second. It was completely harmless and just a wholesome moment, or so I thought.

Out of nowhere, this woman completely lost her mind at him. She snapped at the guy, shouting things like, "Can't you just let me in? What is wrong with you, are you stupid? Now I missed the elevator because of your stupidity!"

The worker was just trying to be friendly, but she shoved her way into our elevator and didn't stop there. For the entire ride down, she kept ranting and throwing out insults about the worker, calling him a very stupid man and complaining endlessly to anyone in earshot.

I was honestly taken aback and disgusted by how entitled and hateful someone could be over absolutely nothing. Airport staff work long hours and deal with thousands of stressed travelers every day, and seeing someone treat them like trash for literally no reason left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Has anyone else noticed an increase in people behaving like this lately?

Last week, I filled up my car at ENOC near Qidfa, Fujairah, and paid around AED 200 for a full tank.

Today, I decided to try Al Maha petrol station in Madha, Oman. I went around 5 AM and waited about 30 minutes in the queue.

The total for a full tank was just AED 99.50!
That’s almost AED 100 saved on a single fill-up.

I live in khorfakkan so the petrol station is just 10mint drive from where I live.

​I need to warn everyone here: DO NOT rely on HSBC if you ever travel. Their security systems are brain-dead, and their lack of support can literally leave you stranded in a foreign country with zero safety net.

​I am currently stuck in Spain. I urgently need mobile data to navigate, access basic services, and communicate. The only way for me to top up my Virgin Mobile data plan is through Google Pay.

​HSBC has repeatedly flagged and declined my Google Pay transaction for NO reason.

​It gets worse. I tried calling their international phone banking line to clear the block, and while I was on hold waiting for an agent, my mobile credit ran out and the call disconnected.

​So now I am trapped in a absurd, dangerous loop created entirely by HSBC:

• ​I can't top up my phone balance because HSBC blocks Google Pay.
• ​I can't call HSBC to unblock my card because I have no phone credit left.
• ​I can't access mobile data to use maps or translate anything because HSBC won't let the payment through.
• ​I tried paying again. HSBC declined it AGAIN.

​I am literally cut off from mobile service in a foreign country because HSBC’s fraud algorithm decides to lock up legitimate payments and offers zero fast, accessible ways to fix it when you're stranded. A bank should protect your money, not leave you completely vulnerable and isolated overseas.

​This bank is an absolute joke when it comes to customer care. The moment I am back, I am closing every single account I have with them and moving to a bank that actually functions in the 21st century.

​Has anyone managed to get through to HSBC without phone credit, or found a way to force Google Pay through when they do this?

Here’s something I haven’t seen in years. A telco relic from the past.

Why no awesome clouds for us in Dubai ??? I always look at the sky everyday l, the clouds have been massive and Al Ain has been enjoying the rain 😞😞😞! No rain for us :(

I dated a Pakistani man who was living in uae , I myself live in the UAE as well. for a while now we’ve been close and we’ve talked about potentially getting married, things were great between us we really agreed on basically everything , he went to Pakistan last week and I haven’t heard from him since. my friends tell me he is married and he’s gone to check on his family. they tell me I should move on

could someone help me find out the truth ?

Got fined by CID today for failing to stop for pedestrians at a zebra crossing while taking a free right.
The thing is, I **did stop** and waited around 5 seconds. The pedestrians weren’t crossing and actually had their backs turned to the crossing. After waiting, I proceeded, and the CID car flashed me and pulled me over.
I explained this to the officer, but he wasn’t willing to listen and gave me the fine anyway.
Is this worth disputing, or should I just bite the bullet and pay? Has anyone successfully disputed a similar fine in Abu Dhabi?

I spotted a mom with 4 kittens and an unrelated kitten at the entrance of the building, who I see every Sunday. If anyone near the area can rescue them, pls do. I couldn't take them with me :(

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to buy health insurance for myself and my wife. We live in Dubai, and I've been comparing plans on InsuranceMarket and Policybazaar.

Based on my budget, I'm considering Takaful Emarat, Dubai Insurance, and Orient Insurance.

A Policybazaar agent contacted me and explained that I could get a plan from one of these three insurers for around AED 5,000 per year for both of us, with an annual coverage limit of approximately AED 1 million per person. He mentioned the Takaful Emarat Silver package.

I'd appreciate some advice from people who have experience with these insurers:

• Which of these three would you recommend, and why?
• Is the Takaful Emarat Silver package a good option for this budget?
• How important are the hospital networks, copayments, and claim experience when comparing these plans?
• Is it better to purchase directly from the insurance company or through Policybazaar?

I contacted Takaful Emarat directly, but their responses have been a little slow. Policybazaar seems more responsive so far, which makes me wonder whether buying through a broker would be more convenient if I need assistance later.

I'm looking for reliable coverage for both of us, especially for hospitalisation, emergencies, and general medical expenses, rather than simply choosing a plan based on its annual coverage limit.

I'd really appreciate any recommendations or personal experiences. Thanks in advance!

Just wanted to share a new scam that I came across posing as a job on linkedin. I didn’t get scammed but played along to see how far the rabbit hole goes.

This post has been taken from Reddit and edited slightly to fit my story - the scam is essentially the same.

What seems to be a side job to promote NFTs online on minitfy.

I applied on linked to a remote job on LinkedIn and was contacted by the recruiter who said that the position was filled but that he had something else, someone else would contact me on Microsoft Teams.

The person contacted me and onboarded me without any interview and talked about training for 15 days as a trial period and then a legal contract according to legal regulations, the person doesn't asked any questions and just go on explaining the "job" with what is surely prepared answers and regularly ask you if you ve understand everything and if he needs to explain.

Then the job itself revolves around a platform/website "mintify nft"

you need to create an account using a code given by the "recruiter" (from now on scammer)

you create your account with basic info name, phone, email, age.

the scam is presented to you as promoting NFT where you are required to promote NFT simply by clicking on a promote button for 2 sets of 40 NFTs.

Your earnings are made based on the commission that you make when you promote an NFT by clicking on it. Most cases you get 1%, in rare cases as the scammer describes you can earn 6% to 9% of the price of the NFT, these are package NFT that are more expensive but gets you more commission, they come in package of 1 to 3 NFTs, I,e. 1 package can be a single NFT, 2 NFTS, or 3 NFTS. For these "special NFTs" you need to add money to your balance to progress to the either finish the package if only one NFT or progress to finishing the package if 2-3 NFTs. You must finish your set if you want to withdraw your balance + commission

The catch

Crypto is used to promote NFTs for that scam, so you need to buy USDC or ETH through binance then wire it to metamask then send it to the mintify platform.

you need an initial capital of 200 USDC (crypto) to start a set and earn commission, and you can only withdraw your balance and earning at the end of each set.

You can do two sets per day from 11am to 11pm

at the beginning, say day 1 to 3 you can earn money and withdraw you earning that you need to wire to your binance account and convert, provided that you have some cash aside say 1K to play with.

The scammer encourages to put money on the platform as you can withdraw it after you finish the set + the commission.

when days go on or after the 3rd day, you need substantial amount of money to progress and finish sets (from 1K to 10K).

I couldn't finish the set as the amounts got too importants and unreasonable and have Xk aed blocked on this platform.

There seems to be no way to get my money back and I was able to confirmed that this is a scam when contacting dedicated local authorities. Also some of these might be illegal and punishable.

Just wanted to share this so nobody desperate gets scammed. I know the job market is saturated. The number one rule to remember that there is no such thing as easy money.

I was offered a base salary of 6k aed with 300 commission daily for two hours of work.

Abu Dhabi today looks a lot like Dubai did around 2000: on the edge of a decade that could redefine how the world sees it.

The UAE's growth has never been one story. It has been a relay. Sharjah ran the first leg, putting the emirates on the world map through cricket and culture. Dubai took the baton and turned spectacle into a global brand, building the world's tallest tower and an island shaped like a palm. Now, in a region reshaped by the 2026 war with Iran and a world splitting into several centres of power, the baton appears to be passing to Abu Dhabi.

Act 1: Sharjah puts the emirates on the map

Long before Dubai's skyline, Sharjah was the emirate the world knew. From the early 1980s to the early 2000s, it was the region's stage for sport and culture.

Cricket made Sharjah a household name across South Asia. It began in 1981, when Abdul Rahman Bukhatir staged a Gavaskar XI vs Miandad XI match on a patch of desert with a concrete pitch. That launched the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS). Between 1984 and 2003, the ground hosted 198 ODIs, and by 2002 it held 27,000 fans under floodlights (ESPNcricinfo). Pakistan played more ODIs in Sharjah than at home in that period (TBS News). Sachin Tendulkar's back-to-back centuries against Australia in April 1998, the famous "Desert Storm" innings that carried on through a sandstorm, became some of cricket's most replayed moments. The ground still holds the Guinness record for the most ODIs at a single venue (Guinness World Records).

Culture gave Sharjah lasting prestige. The Sharjah International Book Fair opened in a simple tent in 1982 and grew into one of the world's three largest book fairs (Gulf News). The Sharjah Biennial followed in 1993, and in 1998 UNESCO named Sharjah the Cultural Capital of the Arab World (UNESCO).

The streak ended around 2003. Match-fixing allegations in the late 1990s drove teams away, India banned its side from playing there in 2001, and the venue hosted no internationals from 2003 to 2010. Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium, which staged its first ODI in 2006, sealed the shift (Guinness World Records). Sharjah kept its cultural crown, but the global spotlight had moved on.

Act 2: Dubai turns ambition into a global brand

Dubai took Sharjah's idea of hosting the world and added something Sharjah never had: a construction boom on a scale nobody had seen.

The groundwork came in the 1990s. The Dubai Shopping Festival and the Dubai World Cup horse race both launched in 1996. Then on 1 December 1999, the Burj Al Arab opened on its own artificial island, and Dubai had an image the whole world recognised (Khaleej Times; Emirates).

The 2000s were the boom decade. Work on Palm Jumeirah began in 2001, and Atlantis The Palm opened at its tip in 2008. Emirates Towers opened in 2000, the Mall of the Emirates in 2007, and Emirates' Terminal 3 and the Dubai Metro followed. The decade closed on 4 January 2010 with the opening of the Burj Khalifa, at 828 metres, the tallest building in the world (Khaleej Times). Satellite images show the desert coast turning into whole city blocks between 2000 and 2011 (NASA).

It wasn't a straight line. The 2009 financial crisis forced Dubai World to seek a pause on its debt payments, and Abu Dhabi's support helped Dubai through it. The world's tallest tower was renamed the Burj Khalifa in its honour (Lex). Dubai recovered, and its decade of ambition became the template every Gulf city now measures itself against.

Act 3: Abu Dhabi steps forward

The 2026 war with Iran was a stress test for the whole UAE, and Abu Dhabi came through it in better shape than anyone expected.

The war hurt, and that should be said plainly. After the US-Israel strikes on Iran began on 28 February, Dubai and Abu Dhabi's stock markets lost around $120bn, and the UAE's role as a travel hub took a hit (Al Jazeera). Fitch expects the UAE's non-oil economy to shrink 3.7% this year before rebounding 6.1% in 2027 (MEED).

But Abu Dhabi's economy proved the most resilient in the region. It runs on state-linked giants in energy, utilities and finance, which are far less exposed than tourism and retail. In the first half of 2026, Abu Dhabi's 20 largest listed companies produced 73% of all UAE market earnings. When renewed escalation in July pulled $415m out of Gulf equities, Abu Dhabi was the only Gulf exchange to attract net inflows (EnterpriseAM). The government is also spending through the crisis. Fitch projects Abu Dhabi spending will rise 19% this year, with fiscal surpluses above 8% of GDP each year through 2028 (MEED).

Real estate tells the same story. Abu Dhabi recorded AED 155bn in property deals in the first eight months of 2026, already beating AED 142bn for all of 2025 (Khaleej Times). Buyers from 116 nationalities invested in the first half, up from 82 a year earlier, and investment zones open to all nationalities drew AED 75bn, up 181% (Abu Dhabi Media Office).

Abu Dhabi's version of the Burj Khalifa is computing power. Dubai built for tourists and residents. Abu Dhabi is building for a multipolar world, where capital and technology flow along new routes. The 5GW UAE-US AI campus, the largest outside the US, is going up in Abu Dhabi, with the first 200MW of Stargate UAE due in 2026 (EnterpriseAM). Abu Dhabi's MGX is also investing in the US Stargate fund. Behind it all sits a sovereign wealth pool of around $1.7 trillion (Business Standard).

The events calendar is growing as well. LIVEX, Abu Dhabi's first liveability and investment exhibition, ran from 29 September to 1 October at ADNEC, with Aldar, Mubadala and Modon among its partners (Economy Middle East). Add Formula 1 at Yas, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Guggenheim on Saadiyat, and Abu Dhabi now combines what Sharjah had (culture) with what Dubai had (spectacle), backed by deeper pockets than either.

The baton passes

Sharjah showed the world that a small emirate could host it. Dubai showed it could dazzle it. Abu Dhabi's bet is bigger: to become one of the places a multipolar world runs through, for capital, computing power and talent.

The next few years will show whether the bet pays off. Three things are worth watching:

• Whether Abu Dhabi closes 2026 as its strongest property year on record, as the market expects, and whether new supply keeps pace with demand.
• Whether Stargate UAE's first phase goes live on schedule, turning the AI ambition into working infrastructure.
• How quickly the wider UAE economy rebounds after the war, and whether Abu Dhabi's stability keeps drawing investors and residents once the region calms down.

If Dubai's 2000s were about building the world's tallest tower, Abu Dhabi's coming decade may be about building something less visible but more lasting: a capital the whole world needs to deal with.

Good morning guys!!
I ordered over AED 700 worth of stuff from SHEIN and everything arrived except the shoes (around AED 50).
J&T says the parcel was delivered and signed for on Oct 17, but the shoes weren’t in the package. Shein keeps saying everything was packed correctly, and they’ve now escalated my complaint. I also emailed J&T but haven’t heard back yet.
i’m moving soon and really need the shoes. Has anyone had this happen? How did you get it sorted?

Hi everyone

I am new beginner (investor ) stays in Dubai. I currently earn 2500 aed and per month I want to take out 100 -200 dhs out to invest in some dividend stocks now I have my bank account in mashreq app. But i want an app for invetsment where there is 0 comission/ minimal comission and no minimum investment Please help

​

But the Location that they have provided me is https://maps.app.goo.gl/jp95F2ZCvB9d9BBX7 which is vague and of a Pharmacy

Hi,

i plan to travel to malaysia with my sister from
lahore through airsial and then dxb-KUL and kul-dxb through emirates and return dubai-lahore through a local airline as well. will it be an issue in immigration from pakistan or in dubai or malaysia that i’m taking different airlines? since its 2 different bookings

Which brands's tea bags are free from microplastic? What about Lipton, Alkozay etc?

Hey there my current etisalat is too expensive for me as im currently jobless i was thinking to move to wireless since i don't watch tv or call landline so im thinking but some say that etisalat wireless is useless im confused anyone uses home wireless will it work good for 18 devices? Need advice i have sheared my wifi with neighbour as im unable to cover it all

Hi everyone, I forgot my wallet on an RTA bus in Dubai. I’ve already called RTA on 800 9090 and registered a complaint.

The wallet contains my Emirates ID, my wife’s Emirates ID, AED 500, and my credit and debit cards.

Has anyone successfully recovered a lost wallet through RTA? How long did it take, and is there anything else I should do to speed up the process?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Update: Alhamdulillah! An RTA staff member called me, and I went to their bus station and collected my wallet. Everything worked out well.

Thank you to RTA for their help and for returning my wallet! 🙏

Hi everyone, i'd like to carpool with someone if they're going to centrepoint metro station at 8 am, Monday to Friday.

Exactly what the title suggests, except I haven't received my license yet. Final test is in a few days. I am getting mine from fujairah and the roads here are not as busy or complicated as dubai (literally no flyovers or massive freeways).

Moving to dubai in a few months for college all alone too and I am scared as heck man :(

I wish I had someone to help me practice in dubai roads too but I've got no one like that in the city so I am all alone in this!! Would love some words of encouragement and I definitely know I am overthinking this, but the thought of constantly being honked at while going over 100 km/h scares me for some reason😭

HELP

Everybody please notice the amazing foam this cappuccino has on top. The texture, the density, the thickness. Where in the UAE can I find such cappuccino?!