Author: Emirates Insight

A Dubai influencer, @yasminesays, has spoken out against a growing trend where people film themselves mocking taxi drivers. These videos show passengers pretending the driver “stinks,” opening windows dramatically, or sticking their heads outside the car for laughs. The influencer said this behavior is disrespectful and needs to stop. Want instant updates? Follow Lovin on WhatsApp, and never miss a beat! “Where are your manners?” In her video, she said people who hold their nose or act disgusted in the back of a taxi are insulting every hardworking driver in the city. She said there is nothing funny about making jokes…

The total crypto market cap dipped below $3 trillion today again. December starts with a bang, but in the wrong direction, as bitcoin dumped once again by several grand in the span of just a few hours without an apparent catalyst. The altcoins have followed suit, with ETH losing the $3,000 and $2,900 levels, while XRP found some support at $2.00. BTC Drops Below $86K The primary cryptocurrency bottomed at $80,500 on November 21 and began a gradual recovery in the following ten days. It bounced to $84,000 during that weekend and surged to $88,000 by Wednesday. Although it…

Finland’s weather is notoriously unfriendly; but even so, your food order might be delivered by a drone. On a rainy day after Helsinki’s annual Slush conference, Finnish entrepreneur Ville Leppälä took TechCrunch behind the scenes of a three-party partnership between Irish drone delivery company Manna, DoorDash-owned food delivery platform Wolt, and his own startup, Huuva. Huuva, whose name means kitchen hood, raised a seed round led by General Catalyst in 2022 with the promise of bringing good food to the suburbs. While it branched out of its cloud kitchen origins, its business still relies heavily on delivery tech — now…

The UAE’s Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications Office announced that Google Gemini has ranked first in the “AI in the Ring” Index,  the world’s first benchmark designed to evaluate how effectively AI language models reflect Emirati culture, dialects, traditions, and national values through a challenge centered on cultural intelligence within the UAE context. Gemini earned the top ranking following a review of over 400 questions across 7 cultural dimensions and 5,200 generated responses from 11 major language models. A Committee of Emirati experts evaluated the outputs to identify which models demonstrated the strongest cultural understanding. Following Gemini…

He described the agreement as “the foundational policy instrument designed” to expand bilateral trade flows and unlock new opportunities for both nations. Kith Meng, who is also the Chair of ASEAN-BAC Cambodia, said that “CEPA is fundamentally synergistic as it secures a vital economic gateway for the UAE into the dynamic ASEAN market of 680m consumers, while offering Cambodia preferential access required to diversify its reliance and integrate into the crucial GCC hub”. UAE and Cambodia trade He said the recent Dubai Chamber delegation visit to Phnom Penh under the “New Horizons” programme reflects shared commitment to strengthening economic ties…

Binance, HashKey, KuCoin, Bitget, and TRON together committed millions to assist victims and rebuild communities Binance, HashKey, and other crypto giants have pledged a combined HK$57 million ($7.3 million) in emergency aid following a fire that broke out in a residential tower in Hong Kong’s Tai Po earlier this week. The funds will be used to provide the district’s relief teams with essential support in the early stages of recovery. Tai Po Fire Relief Response The Tai Po tragedy began on November 26 at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong and was classified as a Level 5 fire, the…

Every startup founder dreams of building a strong brand identity that sticks, yet the idea of needing deep pockets often feels like a barrier. The truth? You absolutely can go from idea to identity on a shoestring. By leaning into affordable branding strategies, you’ll stand out without overspending. In fact, even real-world scaling startups are only spending about 10% of their revenue on marketing, which proves you don’t need a massive budget. Your branding can carry a lot of the load. Let’s talk about some affordable ways to generate brand awareness and recognition for your new business. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; false;clear:left; font:14px…

Announced by Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, the plan outlines major expansions in the number of international sporting events held annually, significant upgrades to the sports club ecosystem, and a strengthened contribution to Dubai’s economy. The strategy includes a new sports identity for Dubai and sets a long-term framework built on four pillars: sporting events, clubs, talent development and community participation. 250 new Dubai sports events and 4 million spectators A core objective of the plan is to increase the number of major sporting events hosted by Dubai annually by 250…

After a double-digit decline in November, will the tides turn for XRP in December? It has been a wild period in the cryptocurrency markets, with BTC and many larger-cap alts posting double-digit price increases on a weekly scale, but similar or even more painful declines monthly. With the last month of the year just around the corner, we decided to focus on the third-largest non-stablecoin cryptocurrency and asked some of the most popular AIs about their take on what December holds for XRP. What’s Next (ChatGPT Edition)? ChatGPT outlined XRP’s difficult past few months, especially since its all-time high…

Vibe coding has taken the tech industry by storm, and it’s not just the Lovables and Replits of the world that are winning. The startups building the infrastructure behind them are cashing in too.  Supabase, the open-source database platform that’s become the backend of choice for the vibe-coding world, raised $100 million at a $5 billion valuation just months after closing $200 million at $2 billion. But co-founder and CEO Paul Copplestone has a surprising strategy: he keeps turning down million-dollar enterprise contracts from deep-pocketed but demanding customers. He’s betting instead that if he sticks to his own product vision, the world will come to him. So far, he’s been right.   Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Julie Bort sat down with Copplestone to explore Supabase’s rise and what…