DUBAI: Dubai has taken another step towards smart mobility as Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum arrived at the World Governments Summit 2026 in a fully autonomous taxi, formally signalling the launch of the emirate’s driverless transport service.

Officials said 100 driverless taxis will begin operating next month, marking the first phase of the programme aimed at transforming public transport through advanced technology.

The autonomous vehicles are powered by artificial intelligence and advanced sensor systems, enabling them to analyse data within seconds and make independent driving decisions without human intervention.

Speaking on social media, Sheikh Hamdan said the future of mobility in Dubai would be smarter, safer and more efficient, adding that the project would improve quality of life and make transport more inclusive for residents and visitors.

The initiative is being implemented by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in partnership with global technology firms as part of the emirate’s broader strategy to adopt sustainable and intelligent transport solutions.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will start issuing Hajj visas to intending pilgrims worldwide from February 8, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah confirmed on Thursday.

According to Saudi Gazette, the early launch is part of an accelerated timeline designed to enhance service readiness and ensure the comfort of pilgrims approximately four months ahead of the rituals, in alignment with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

“Contracts covering 100% of services at the holy sites for pilgrims arriving from abroad have been finalised, along with all accommodation contracts in Makkah through the Nusk platform,” confirmed the ministry.

750,000 pilgrims have registered so far, with packages booked for 30,000 pilgrims directly from their home countries, it added.

The ministry further said that approximately 485 camps have been allocated for international pilgrims at the holy sites, and 73 Hajj affairs offices have completed their basic contractual arrangements. 

In Pakistan, registration completed for 119,000 government pilgrims and 60,000 private pilgrims, confirmed Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf last month.

He had said that Hajj preparations were underway according to the Saudi timeline. The minister had said that arrangements for food, transportation and other services were finalised through a competitive process.

During Hajj 2025, the minister had said refunds amounting to Rs3.5 billion were returned to 75% of Pakistani pilgrims, with individual refunds ranging from Rs12,000 to Rs110,000. 

He had added that training sessions with audio-visual facilities were conducted at 147 locations nationwide, and well-trained pilgrims displayed discipline during Hajj.

• Steve Witkoff, Abbas Araghchi to lead delegations at talks.
• Talks to focus on nuclear programme, missiles: New York Times.
• US maintains military option while pursuing diplomatic solution.

Iran and the United States were preparing for talks on Friday in Oman, with Washington looking to see if there is any prospect of diplomatic progress on the Iranian nuclear programme and other issues while refusing to rule out military action.

The talks, which were finally confirmed by both sides late Wednesday after hours of doubt over the location, timing and format, will be the first such encounter between the two foes since the US joined Israel’s war against the Islamic republic in June with strikes on nuclear sites.

President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are due to lead their delegations at the talks in the discreet Gulf sultanate, which has periodically acted as a low-profile mediator between the countries.

The meeting comes just under a month after the peak of a wave of protests nationwide in Iran against the Iranian leadership that has left thousands dead.

“They’re negotiating,” Trump said at the National Prayer Breakfast. “They don’t want us to hit them, we have a big fleet going there,” he added, referring to the aircraft carrier group he has repeatedly called an “armada”.

Trump initially threatened military action against Tehran over its crackdown on protesters and even told demonstrators, “help is on its way”. But his rhetoric in recent days has focused on reining in the Iranian nuclear programme that the West fears is aimed at making a bomb.

“He (Trump) is going to do is he is going to keep his options open, he is going to talk to everybody, he is going to try to accomplish what he can through non-military means and if he feels like the military is the only option then he is ultimately going to choose that option,” US Vice President JD Vance told SiriusXM in an interview broadcast Wednesday.

Vance also expressed frustration with the fact that Trump could not deal directly with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying, “it’s a very weird country to conduct diplomacy with when you can’t even talk to the person who’s in charge of the country”.

‘Inflexibility towards US demands’

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking in the Qatari capital Doha, urged Iran’s leadership to “truly enter talks”, saying there was a “great fear of military escalation in the region”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by Turkish newspapers as saying that “so far, I see that the parties want to make room for diplomacy”, adding that conflict was “not the solution”.

There had been tensions in the run up to the talks over whether the meeting should also include regional countries and address Tehran´s support of proxies and ballistic missile programmes, two US concerns that Iran resisted.

Citing unnamed Iranian officials, the New York Times said the United States agreed the talks would exclude regional actors, and while the meeting would focus on the nuclear file it would also discuss missiles, “with the goal of coming up with a framework for a deal”.

“Iran continues to show inflexibility towards addressing US demands, which reduces the likelihood that Iran and the United States will be able to reach a diplomatic solution,” the US-based Institute for the Study of War said.

‘Compromise or war’

With the American threats of military action still looming, the United States has manoeuvred a naval group led by aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln into the region while Iran has repeatedly vowed it will hit back at US bases in the region if attacked.

“We are ready to defend and it is the US president who must choose between compromise or war,” state television on Thursday quoted army spokesman General Mohammad Akraminia as saying, warning that Iran had “easy” access to US bases.

In a sign of the tensions, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have seized two oil tankers with their foreign crews in Gulf waters for “smuggling fuel”, the Tasnim news agency reported Thursday.

It was not immediately clear what flags the tankers were carrying nor the nationalities of the crew.

“Iran is fully prepared to stand against any foreign threat and enemy,” said former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, who remains an advisor to Khamenei, quoted by the ISNA agency.