Trump Says No. The Classroom Says Yes
Schools open. Peace talks collapse. Art Dubai opens on Thursday. Here is what you need to know.
Schools are open this morning. The MOE confirmed on Sunday evening that all students, teaching staff and administrative staff in public and private schools and nurseries across the UAE return to in-person learning today — the third restart since February, and the most welcome one. The ministry cited “continuous monitoring of developments and coordination with the relevant authorities.” Official language. The signal underneath it is plain: authorities assessed the risk and judged classrooms manageable. After ten weeks of cycling in and out of distance learning, that judgment deserves to be named for what it is.
The deal collapsed before Monday morning
Iran sent its response to the US peace proposal on Sunday evening via Pakistani mediators. Within hours, Trump posted on Truth Social: “I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”
That is where the week begins.
Iran’s response, per Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and Iranian state media, focused on ending the war on all fronts — especially Lebanon — and securing the Strait of Hormuz, while making only limited nuclear concessions. Tehran agreed to dilute some highly enriched uranium and transfer some to a third country, and offered an enrichment pause — but not the 20-year moratorium Washington demanded, and not the full dismantlement of enrichment facilities. Iran also demanded compensation for war damages, a US naval withdrawal, an end to the oil sales ban, and guarantees against future attacks.
Oil prices rose $3 a barrel on the news. At the UN, Waltz has made clear Washington’s position: “diplomacy cannot succeed where defiance, delay, and escalation remain Tehran’s only response.” The IRGC’s Aerospace Division has separately stated its missiles and drones have “locked onto US targets” and are “awaiting the order to fire.”
This is now week 11 of the war. The last direct talks in Islamabad in April ended after 21 hours with JD Vance leaving empty-handed. Since then, communications have run only through Pakistani intermediaries. The one-page MOU became a multi-page counter-proposal that Trump rejected in a social media post. The diplomatic channel is not closed — Witkoff and Kushner remain in the picture, and Pakistan is still carrying messages — but the realistic window for a deal before Trump resumes intensified bombing has narrowed sharply. The US UN ambassador’s words are the ones to hold: “every chance we possibly can.” That phrase has an endpoint.
Coming this week: The dollar deal nobody talked about
Last week, The Times ran a piece framed as “UAE’s dollar lifeline and OPEC exit suggest an economy in trouble.” The framing is wrong, but the underlying story is one of the most important of the war — and it deserves more than a headline.
In the last two weeks of April, the UAE Central Bank governor flew to Washington, raised the spectre of pricing oil in yuan, and came home with the backing of US Treasury Secretary Bessent for emergency dollar swap lines. Four days later, Abu Dhabi left OPEC after 59 years. The two events were connected. We’ll explain what actually happened, what the UAE got, what Washington got, and why “economy in trouble” misses the more interesting story. That piece runs this week.
Art Dubai opens Thursday — and it matters
While diplomats exchange proposals and the IRGC issues threats, Dubai is putting art on the walls. Art Dubai’s 20th edition — postponed from March after the conflict began — opens for VIP preview on Thursday 14 May, with public days Friday to Sunday at Madinat Jumeirah. Entry is free, a first in the fair’s history.
The format has been rebuilt around the circumstances. Fifty exhibitors, down from a planned 120, two-thirds of them regional. Galleries are not paying upfront booth fees; instead, they share a percentage of sales — a model that says something honest about how organisers and exhibitors are thinking about risk right now. The Art Newspaper called it “downsized dramatically.” The fairer description is: adapted intelligently.
What makes it worth attending — and worth watching — is precisely the fact that it exists at all. Art Dubai didn’t cancel. It found a smaller, lighter version of itself and kept going. The Global Art Forum marks its 20th edition. The Barjeel Art Foundation brings Arab modernism. Made Forward presents Dubai’s first institutional art collection. “In times of uncertainty, some things must go on.” If you’re in Dubai this week, Thursday’s VIP preview or Friday’s public opening is worth your time. We’re working to get a reporter on the ground—if you’re there and want to share what you see, reply to this email.
What to watch this week
The next US move on Iran: Trump called the response “totally unacceptable” Sunday night. Watch for whether Witkoff or Kushner signal any back-channel continuation, or whether the administration moves toward resuming intensified bombing. A 48-hour window is the operating assumption. Any signal from Pakistan — the last functioning intermediary — matters most.
Trump in China: The US president travels to Beijing this week for a summit with President Xi Jinping. China is Iran’s largest oil buyer. Whether Xi offers anything concrete on Iran — or uses the war as leverage on trade — will shape the week’s diplomatic arc.
NOTAM A1722/26 (today): The partial airspace closure expires this morning. No renewal announced as of now. A lift means lower war-risk premiums and a recovery that can hold. Watch for airline schedule updates through the morning.
Lebanon: Israel struck Beirut and southern Lebanon over the weekend, killing at least 23 people. The Lebanon front is back in play — a reminder that the conflict has multiple fronts, not all governed by the same ceasefire framework.
Schools: The decision to reopen is made. The question now is whether it holds. One significant incident would reverse it within hours.
Emirates Wire — Monday 11 May 2026. Forward to anyone living, building or investing in the UAE. emirateswire.co.uk