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Stay informed with the latest updates from Arabian Business, where our dedicated editorial team brings you a diverse range of stories. Here's what you missed on Saturday and Sunday:

UAE non-oil trade hit record levels in the first half of the year and is on track to reach AED3tn ($817bn) in 2024. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, affirmed that the UAE under the leadership of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, continues to achieve unprecedented milestones in its non-oil foreign trade.

In other news, Dubai’s gaming sector is set for unprecedented growth as it targets 30,000 new jobs and a $1bn contribution to GDP by 2033. As the city looks to develop the growing sector, Dubai Chambers has successfully organised a workshop dedicated to gaming in collaboration with the Dubai Future Foundation. The session examined emerging opportunities within the sector and the prospects for the industry’s growth in Dubai.

Aside from this, Russian Pavel Durov, the Dubai-based founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram, was arrested near Paris on Saturday evening by French authorities investigating the company for lack of moderation on the encrypted platform that has allowed criminals to use it frequently. The 39-year-old Russian-French billionaire was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris, according to multiple media channels. An arrest warrant had been issued as part of a preliminary police investigation.

On the real estate front, the Dubai property sector is seeing a boom in short-term rentals, with a 30 per cent increase in demand compared to this time last year. Industry experts claim that the trend is revolutionising the region’s real estate scene, offering remarkable returns for savvy property owners, and attractive accommodation options to visitors.

Meanwhile, the UAE is advancing cloud-seeding science to increase the chances of rainfall in the country. In recent years, the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP) has used core-shell NaCl-TiO2 (CNST) seeding material throughout its cloud-seeding operations, or rather a specific type of hygroscopic material with two main ingredients. The UAE is currently the only country worldwide using CNST materials in its cloud seeding operations after the UAEREP successfully completed this research endeavour in 2017.

THE LONGER READ:

In the absence of formal governance structures, Somali pirates have created a sophisticated shadow economy that almost mirrors legitimate markets in surprising ways

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