News
Dubai Financial Center Launches Digital Economy Court
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Court will now be taking cases online using advanced new technologies.
These days, it seems as though virtually everything has shifted from the real world to the online space. From productivity and office apps, to cloud storage and industry-specific software, most sectors of the global economy now function without a reliance on bricks-and-mortar locations.
Although the legal profession has moved many of its administrative processes online, until recent years, court proceedings have largely been conducted the old-fashioned way — that’s to say, in person.
Now, it seems, even court hearings are being digitized, as the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has just announced the launch of the world’s first international court, aimed at settling digital economy disputes. The complex infrastructure of the new legal operation will be managed by judicial experts with wide international experience, and authorities claim that the platform will provide the best legislative environment for startups and digital economy enterprises.
“The world’s first international digital economy court will enhance the ability of global companies and institutions operating in the digital economy to adapt to the future requirements of this fast-growing sector,” says Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE, and President of DIFC.
Also Read: Saudi Arabia Set To Invest $1 Trillion In The Real Estate Sector
A team of expert developers and international lawyers was tasked with building and standardizing the fully paperless platform, which will use AI and complex algorithms to help process the various forms and paperwork required by court officials.
The DIFC Courts formed a Digital Economy Court (DEC) Division back in 2021 to oversee difficult national and international cases. As technologies such as blockchain, AI, unmanned vehicles, and fintech services become increasingly complex and intertwined, new rules and regulations must be developed to manage and resolve legal disputes.
Dubai’s digital economy court represents a considerable milestone for the emirate and places the progressive, tech-first Dubai International Financial Centre at the heart of a global, fully interconnected economy.
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