🌆 Dubai & Riyadh surge in global cities rankings

Best cities: Dubai & Riyadh surge in global rankings

Fintech footprint: Iraq makes its move

Fast growth: Malaysia posts big numbers

Real estate: Non-Saudis can own KSA property

Mega mergers: MENA M&A activity rises 23%

Plus: Our weekly recommendations on what to read, watch, and buy!

🏙️ Dubai and Riyadh lead GCC city rankings: Forget those end-of-year best movie rankings. Kearney was too busy doing its assessment of 158 cities across 31 indicators for its 2025 Global Cities Index. The result? Dubai, Riyadh, Dammam, Medina, Makkah, Doha, and Manama are all moving up. Way up. In fact, Dubai now sits at 23rd globally, while Riyadh takes 56th. Cities were judged on their ability ‘to cultivate talent, build trust in digital systems, and design liveable environments’.

🇮🇶 Iraqi fintech goes to Vegas: As the saying goes, ‘What happens in Vegas…. makes headlines in fintech publications.’ With over 11,000 fintech leaders from 85 countries attending the Money20/20 USA event in Las Vegas, Iraqi operator International Smart Card (Qi Card) took the honor of being the only fintech from the Middle East. They demonstrated the country’s digital payments system, which now supports over 16 million users and 50,000 merchants.

🇲🇾 Malaysia economy on a roll: Malaysia’s economy grew 5.2% in Q3 2025, its fastest pace in a year. (H1 saw growth of 4.4%, making the Q3 performance such a notable acceleration.) Officials said the expansion was driven by strong domestic demand alongside a recovery in exports. Bank Negara Malaysia also noted scope for further monetary policy adjustments as the economy gains momentum.

🇸🇦 KSA real estate now open to foreigners: Now you can get that villa you always wanted. Saudi Arabia has approved a major new law coming into effect in January 2026 which allows non-Saudis to own real estate in designated zones. It’s part of Vision 2030, which aims to attract capital and accelerate urban development. Now, I know what you’re thinking: ‘How do I know if I’m a non-Saudi? Do I need to take some kind of test?’ Well, it just means foreign individuals, companies, non-profits, and other entities – whether resident in KSA or abroad. And as of this month, the real estate market is still on track to open to the world.

📈 MENA M&A activity rises 23% in 2025 so far: Busy times in MENA with a sharp rise in merger and acquisition activity in the first nine months of 2025, according to EY MENA M&A Insights 2025. There were a total of 649 deals worth $69.1bn, most of those (500, in fact) coming from the GCC and worth $65.9bn. Cross-border transactions were the main growth driver and accounted for over half of all deals and more than three-quarters of total value.

🏝️ Your next vacation: Set your prayer time app to Manila, ‘cos the Philippines just reached 8th place in the Global Muslim Travel Index 2025. While you’re there, check out the stunning Grand Mosque of Cotabato.

📊 This week in stats: Dubai real estate land transactions increase by 403%. This is due to infrastructure investment, regulatory reforms, but mostly thousands of new expats and HNWIs.

📰 Good news corner: British journalist Sami Hamdi is released by ICE and returned to the UK. Here he is giving his first interview on The Thinking Muslim podcast.

🚨 ICMYI: Important changes to Umrah visas. The validity of the entry visa is reduced from three months to one month from the date it is issued, but your permitted length of stay after arrival remains unchanged.

🎧 Listen: Bernard Khoury talks architecture in Lebanon.

📚 Read: New memoir by Sonny Bill Williams, the boxer and NZ rugby star of Samoan-English descent who reverted to Islam.

👀 Watch: The problem with some Islamic schools – and the positive moves being made.

🛴 Visit: International Conference on Islamic Banking, Finance and Commerce. Dec 18-19. Vancouver, Canada

🛍️ Shop: Early birds, get those tickets booked for the Feb 2026 Muslim Shopping Festival in London.