Human Times

Middle East Edition

8th September 2026

THE HOT STORY

Saudi employers face jail for allowing workers to take outside jobs

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior has warned employers against allowing their employees to work for others or for personal gain. Violators may face fines of up to SR100,000 and imprisonment for six months, along with a five-year recruitment ban. The ministry urged both employers and employees to comply with residency, labour, and border security regulations. It also encouraged the public to report any violations by calling 911 in Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province, or 999 in other regions of the Kingdom.

Zawya EN

Gulfnews.com

WORKFORCE

Sharjah Ruler approves part-time work system for senior citizens

Sharjah's Ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, has announced a part-time work system to employ 1,000 senior citizens across government departments. The initiative aims to engage older individuals who may feel isolated at home. The programme offers flexible roles, such as checking tickets at museums, allowing seniors to work one or two hours daily or three days a week. Dr Sultan said: "The goal is to bring them back into the rhythm of everyday life." The initiative also includes increased social support and pay rises for government employees and retirees.

Emirates24

Gulfnews.com

TECHNOLOGY

Emirati women are shaping the future through AI

Dr Hanan Aldarmaki, Director at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), writes for Emirates 24/7 to highlight the increasing role of Emirati women in AI research. She notes that Emirati women now have significant opportunities for education and careers in this field, supported by national initiatives. Aldarmaki, the first woman on MBZUAI's faculty, emphasises the importance of accurately representing Arabic language and culture in AI. She also notes the launch of the Ruwwad AI Scholars (RAIS) Postdoctoral Fellowship, which is aimed at fostering Emirati researchers.

Emirates24

Dubai Police deploys 36 robots

Dubai Police has deployed 36 robotic process automation (RPA) robots to enhance its operations and administrative tasks. Lieutenant General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, reviewed the developments during his annual inspection of the General Department of Artificial Intelligence. The robots aim to speed up procedures, boost productivity, and reduce routine workloads. The department also reported a 99.97% continuity rate for public services. Al Marri emphasised the importance of integrating advanced technology with skilled personnel to improve service quality and operational efficiency.

Gulfnews.com

STRATEGY

UK's Jaguar Land Rover to cut 4,000 jobs globally

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it plans to cut 4,000 jobs globally, or nearly 12% of its workforce, over the next two years. The UK automaker ⁠employs about 43,000 people globally, including 34,000 in Britain. A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he supported Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds' statement that the government would not intervene in JLR's voluntary redundancy programme, which primarily affects office staff. "The automotive industry faces significant challenges, with technological change amidst intense competition and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty," JLR's chief executive PB Balaji said in a statement, which also said JLR would target cost savings of £1.7bn ($2.3bn). "Over the next 12 months, we will launch five new products, continue to leverage the strength of our brands and renew our focus on North America, amongst other markets, to help us deliver double digit revenue growth," Balaji added. He said the firm was "committed to supporting everyone with care, fairness and respect" through the redundancy process.

CYBERSECURITY

Rogue OpenAI agents hijacked German website

Reuters reports that a swarm of OpenAI agents escaped testing and hijacked a German website this spring and transformed it into a bulletin board for other AI agents. Researchers said they identified more than 15,000 edits carried out by AI agents on a German-language wiki site, DseWiki, a resource for programmers that accepts communal edits in the manner of Wikipedia. Maurice Chiodo, an academic at Cambridge University's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, said the episode resembled "the operation of some sort of underground network, hell-bent on achieving a task or mission." The greatest threat from advanced AI may not be a single superintelligent system, but "vast colluding swarms of semi-intelligent AI," Chiodo said.

Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

Eiffel Tower employees strike after female workers' removal

The Eiffel Tower was closed on Monday after staff went on strike over female workers being removed for the visit of a Hindu religious group. A delegation of around 100 people linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) group visited the Paris landmark on Saturday. "During the visit of this delegation, women were asked to leave their places of work in order to place men there," staff union representative Diane Davoine told Reuters. She said management had since apologised to workers over the incident. "So that absolutely does not go down well with the employees, with women obviously, who are all humiliated by what happened, by the way some were treated," Davoine said. Société d'Exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE), the company that operates the monument, confirmed the delegation had asked the visit be organised to limit "interactions with women"; it has since said that "these conditions should not have been accepted."

Foreign finance workers take on bigger roles in Korea

The Korea Times reports on a shift in Korea's traditionally conservative financial industry, which has seen foreign workers being recruited for roles beyond serving international customers. The report does however note that hiring foreign nationals can sometimes come with challenges: visa and residency requirements can be a hurdle, and language barriers and differences in workplace culture can make onboarding difficult. A banking industry official observed: "Even if someone speaks Korean fluently in everyday life, financial terminology can be a different story. We provide additional training to help foreign employees get up to speed with industry-specific language and practices."

The Korea Times

Volkswagen plant to be converted for Israeli defence group

Volkswagen has announced plans to sell its Osnabrueck plant to Aurelius Capital and the German state of Lower Saxony, in a transition from car production to defence equipment manufacturing. An initial air defence project is planned for the Israeli firm Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. The move is part of the company's broader strategy to address challenges from Chinese competition and declining electric vehicle sales. Volkswagen chief executive Oliver Blume said: "With today's agreement, we are taking an important step towards opening up a new industrial future for the site." The deal aims to preserve 1,200 jobs and establish a long-term partnership with Rafael for air defence production in Germany and Europe.

France 24

PayPal cuts 220 India jobs

PayPal has cut 220 jobs in India as part of the payments firm's broader, multi-year turnaround plan detailed earlier this year by newly appointed chief executive Enrique Lores. "The recent staffing changes are part of our previously announced multi-year transformation to simplify our global operations, strengthen execution, and position the company for long-term growth," a PayPal spokesperson said.

Reuters

OTHER

Oman launches Digital Educational Atlas

The Digital Educational Atlas of Oman was launched at the 11th International Conference on Geoinformation Advances in Salalah. The initiative aims to enhance the use of geospatial technology in education, integrating maps and historical data for students from grades one to twelve. Dr Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al Jamoudi, Director-General of Curriculum Development, emphasised the importance of incorporating geographic information into teaching. The conference featured 80 submissions, with 72 being accepted, showcasing research relevant to Oman's development challenges, including groundwater vulnerability and urban heat. Dr Khalid bin Ahmed Al Kalbani noted the growing significance of technological skills for future employment.

Oman Observer

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