News
Hydrogen Vehicle Refueling Is Coming To The Middle East
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is constructing a high-speed refueling station in Masdar City.
As the Middle East undergoes a significant transition away from oil-based energy production, new technologies are required to meet growing demands. At the forefront of this enormous task is clean hydrogen production and delivery.
In a bid to ramp up sustainable fuel distribution and aid decarbonization, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced plans to construct the Middle East’s first hydrogen refueling station in Masdar City. The high-speed refueling station will produce clean hydrogen from water using an electrolyzer powered by renewable electricity.
ADNOC has also entered a strategic partnership with Toyota and Al-Futtaim Motors to test the refueling station using a fleet of hydrogen-powered cars. The collaborative effort aims to assess the performance of this eco-friendly fuel and gather data to support the development of a UAE-wide hydrogen infrastructure.
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His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, said: “The need to reduce carbon emissions to address climate change is clear and urgent. ADNOC is placing sustainability and decarbonization at the heart of its strategy, and while we decarbonize our operations today, we are making robust investments to be a supplier of choice for the clean energies of tomorrow”.
The pilot program will help the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company gain insights into the potential of high-speed hydrogen refueling for mobility projects, aligning well with the UAE’s National Hydrogen Strategy, which will position the Emirates as a leading global producer of clean hydrogen by 2031.
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.
