News
Dubai Crown Prince Takes Test Ride In Self-Driving Taxi
The Chevrolet Bolt-based Cruise AVs are helping to cement Dubai’s position as a global leader of self-driving transport.
Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, recently took the first demo test ride of a Chevrolet Bolt-based Cruise autonomous vehicle (AV) in Jumeirah.
The Dubai Crown Prince was welcomed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police and a team of engineers from the RTA and Cruise. Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA said, “Autonomous vehicles will play a pivotal role in offering innovative solutions for transportation challenges, curbing urban congestion, and elevating road safety. They support the RTA’s efforts to leverage the integration between mass transport systems and easing the mobility of public transport riders, providing services to many underserved users such as senior residents and People of Determination”.
In April 2021, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Cruise entered a partnership to introduce a self-driving ride-hail service. The testing of Cruise AVs marks a crucial step toward enhancing Dubai’s position as a global leader in self-driving transport. The emirate aims to convert 25% of all mobility journeys to self-driving modes by 2030.
Also Read: Dubai Survey Drones Explore Minerals In Central Asia
In April this year, digital mapping for self-driving Cruise vehicles took place in Jumeirah 1 using the company’s HD mapping technology. Cruise initiated limited vehicle testing in October, deploying five autonomous taxis overseen by safety drivers. The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority plans to soon introduce a public registration process, enabling selected residents to use the Cruise ride-hailing app.
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