News
Maserati’s New Grecale SUV Arrives In The UAE
The Italian car maker’s premium all-wheel drive vehicle boasts a wide selection of options and configurations.
Maserati’s new SUV — the Grecale — offers multiple engine types and capacities, from powerful internal combustion powertrains to hybrids. The premium Italian vehicles offer first-class driving dynamics and feature eight-speed automatic transmissions, all-wheel drive, and a variety of selectable drive modes, including Comfort, GT, Sport, Corsa, and Off-Road.
In the near future, a full-electric version of the Grecale will be released, known as the Folgore. However, at present, three models of the Grecale will be available in UAE showrooms:
- The GT, powered by a four-cylinder engine with mild hybrid assistance delivering 300 horsepower.
- The Modena, boasting a more powerful 330hp hybrid engine.
- The Trofeo, a high-performance model featuring a 3.0L,530hp (petrol) V6 based on the unit fitted to the Maserati MC20.
Jad Elias, Vice President of Maserati, Al Tayer Motors, said: “We are really excited to hand over the first batch of the all-new Grecale vehicles to our customers. We are sure they will enjoy the exceptional driving experience offered by this sporty, stylish, and compact SUV and look forward to seeing them in growing numbers on our roads soon”.
Hamdy Elshantoury, General Manager of Maserati Middle East & Africa, was equally excited at the arrival of the Grecale: “Maserati continues to accelerate audaciously into a brave new future with revolutionary new cars, innovations, and exclusive projects. The all-new Grecale SUV embodies Maserati’s all-Italian audacity in making luxury and exceptional performance part of the daily routine, transforming every journey into a unique driving experience”.
Also Read: Futuristic Electric Self-Driving Trucks Are Coming To The UAE
The new Maserati SUV will be available from Al Tayer Motors and Premier Motors and comes with a three-year, unlimited kilometer warranty and a three year or 45,000 kilometer service package, which extends to 60,000 kilometers on the Trofeo.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
RØDE’s New DS3 Studio Arm Is Built For Heavier Creator Setups
Dubai Turns AI On Its Own Civil Service To Measure Productivity
Former Rockstar Director Dismisses GTA 6 Leaks As “Nothing Burger”
Qatar Airways Flies The World’s First Starlink-Equipped 787-9
Spotify Will Now Tell You If Your Favorite Artist Isn’t Real
Instagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”
Anghami’s New Elite Program Starts With A Three-Decade Catalog
Qatar Is Getting Its First EV Plant, Built To Cope With Gulf Heat
Dubai’s aradus Wants AI To Run The Back Office Of Physical Trade
-
News3 weeks agoInstagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”
-
News3 weeks agoAnghami’s New Elite Program Starts With A Three-Decade Catalog
-
News3 weeks agoQatar Is Getting Its First EV Plant, Built To Cope With Gulf Heat
-
News3 weeks agoDubai’s aradus Wants AI To Run The Back Office Of Physical Trade