Today: fallout from Algeria’s break with Abu Dhabi; the companies and dollar splits behind Berlin’s €40bn package; and whether CENTCOM answers Iran’s claimed 20-ship strike near Hormuz.
Good morning. Algeria cut ties with the UAE on Thursday, the same day Sheikh Mohamed closed his Berlin visit with a €40bn investment pledge. It is the sharpest North Africa rupture the UAE has faced in years. Here is what you need to know.
Algeria severs diplomatic ties with the UAE
Algiers said on Thursday it had exhausted all means to preserve bilateral relations, accusing Abu Dhabi of interference in national and regional affairs. The Algerian foreign ministry confirmed the move on state television. Algeria has long objected to Abu Dhabi’s role in the Sahel and West Africa; a full break threatens LNG supply routes, sovereign-wealth flows and defence contacts across the Maghreb.
The rupture lands the same day Abu Dhabi closed its biggest European deal of the month.
UAE pledges €40bn fresh investment in Germany as Berlin visit closes
Sheikh Mohamed and Chancellor Merz announced in Berlin on Thursday that the UAE will invest an additional €40bn ($46bn) in Germany, spanning artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, energy and industry. The package more than doubles the UAE’s existing €34bn commitment to Germany. It includes new data centres with about 1 gigawatt of capacity and further deals involving Covestro, RWE, ADNOC and Masdar.
The two leaders signed a Joint Declaration of Intent to establish a German-UAE Investment Council, and Sheikh Mohamed announced a new Strategic Dialogue framework. Bilateral non-oil trade reached $15.5bn in 2025, and nearly 2,000 German firms already operate in the UAE.
Vy Capital and Shamal join Boring Co’s $3bn round
Dubai-based Vy Capital and Shamal Holding, the vehicle investing for Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, joined Boring Co’s $3bn Series D on Thursday, valuing the tunnelling company at $23bn.
Vy was founded in 2013 by former Goldman Sachs bankers Alexander Tamas and Mateusz Szeszkowski. It holds a $40bn stake in SpaceX — the fifth-largest, behind Alphabet and Fidelity — and has backed Neuralink across multiple rounds. Tamas sits on a digital-economy advisory council appointed by Dubai’s ruler, and Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company has previously subscribed to a Vy-managed fund.
Brent settles at $101.21 as Gulf attacks widen
Brent crude futures settled at $101.21 a barrel on Wednesday, the highest close since late May. Front-month prices then pushed as high as $105.84 in Thursday’s session before easing. Prices rose on the heaviest attacks on commercial shipping since the US-Iran conflict began, Houthi strikes on Saudi energy sites, and Iran’s partial suspension of its Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations.
Dubai 24-carat gold held near record levels at Dh531.25 a gram.
Iran claims 20-ship strike at Hormuz; UKMTO logs vessels ablaze
UKMTO reported disabling fire on several merchant vessels in the northern Gulf and the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, with multiple ships burning. Iran said it had struck 20 ships attempting to transit Hormuz. Reuters called it the largest wave of attacks on shipping since the conflict began. UKMTO has recorded 83 Iran-US conflict incidents and 39 piracy attacks across Middle Eastern waters so far this year.
Azizi launches Dh30bn Sharjah masterplan
Azizi Developments launched Azizi Florence on Thursday: a Dh30bn ($8.2bn) masterplan of 1,130 villas, more than 6,000 townhouses and 3,500 apartments across six residential clusters. Townhouses start at Dh1.89 million. It is Azizi’s first Sharjah project after more than three decades in Dubai, and the largest master community ever announced in the emirate.
Bloom Holding launches Alhambra, closing out Bloom Living
Bloom Holding launched Alhambra on Wednesday, the final release of its Bloom Living community in Abu Dhabi’s Zayed City. Alhambra has 460 homes across five buildings. The Bloom Living masterplan spans 2.2 million square metres and more than 4,500 units.
UAE search-and-rescue team in Nepal finds six missing
The UAE search-and-rescue team in Nepal, deployed on Sheikh Mohamed’s orders, said on Thursday it had found six people reported missing after the floods and landslides. A fourth UAE relief aircraft landed on Tuesday, carrying 38 tonnes of aid and 500 tents. The operation is part of a $10 million UAE mobilisation.
Watch tomorrow
Algeria fallout: official responses from Abu Dhabi and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and how Algiers’s move feeds into Sudan, Sahel security and LNG-corridor conversations.
Berlin readout: named companies, dollar splits and delivery windows behind the €40bn — data-centre siting, Covestro’s Leverkusen and Dormagen sites, RWE-Masdar’s next battery-storage locations, and the German-UAE Investment Council’s first agenda.
Oil and Hormuz: whether Brent holds above $100, and any CENTCOM response to Iran’s 20-ship claim and Jordan’s interception of 18 of 20 Iranian ballistic missiles.
Musk-UAE capital table: whether ADQ, Mubadala or ADIA appears on Boring Co’s Series D disclosure, and any movement on Dubai’s proposed Boring tunnel project.
— Steve
Steve Moore
Emirates Wire · launched 9 September 2026, National Liberal Club, London
emirateswire.co.uk · steve@emirateswire.co.uk
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