News
Dubai Police Reveal New 10-Minute Drug Testing Device
The technology eliminates human error or operator bias, setting it apart from conventional narcotics testing methods.
Dubai Police has introduced a groundbreaking device at the World Police Summit known as the Rapid Test Cup. The new narcotics analyzer ensures fast and accurate examination and identification of thirteen drug types, helping to reduce custody times from seven hours to just ten minutes. The Rapid Test Cup also eliminates the risk of human error or operator bias, setting it apart from conventional drug testing methods.
Although the new device is certainly innovative, developing the Rapid Test Cup was challenging. To ensure its effectiveness, the project underwent 3272 separate trials.
“We are working hard to overcome the high-cost techniques traditionally used for detection, such as manufactured cannabinoids, opiates, and ketamine. Our goal is to proactively detect modern drug abuse with quick, easy, and high-quality screening techniques,” said Faisal Al-Taniji, head of Dubai’s Department of Biological Movement at the Narcotics Observatory Center.
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“This project aligns with our administration’s commitment to advancing the methods and tools employed in forensic evidence and criminology. We strive to provide advanced models that support laboratories, enhance performance levels, and facilitate optimal investment in testing techniques and tools,” added Ibtisam Abdul Rahman Al-Abdouli, Director of the Drug Observatory Center at the General Administration of Forensic Evidence and Criminology in an official press release.
Developers of the Rapid Test Cup have also announced that intellectual property rights have been obtained for the new device, and its technology is available upon request through Dubai Police if criminal laboratories worldwide wish to use it.
News
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
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Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
