The arrests were made after judicial warrants were issued, while financial proceeds were also seized. Antonie Robertson / The National
The arrests were made after judicial warrants were issued, while financial proceeds were also seized. Antonie Robertson / The National
The arrests were made after judicial warrants were issued, while financial proceeds were also seized. Antonie Robertson / The National
The arrests were made after judicial warrants were issued, while financial proceeds were also seized. Antonie Robertson / The National

UAE to charge group after authorities foil Sudan-bound arms smuggling plot


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The UAE is to charge a group accused of smuggling military equipment to the Port Sudan Authority through Emirati territory, an official from the state security prosecution announced.

The accused are expected to be referred to trial, state news agency Wam reported, after the Attorney General said in April that an attempt to illegally run weapons and launder money into the African nation had been foiled.

Two members of the group were arrested while inspecting a large quantity of military-grade ammunition inside a private aircraft at an airport in the UAE. Authorities also seized financial proceeds found at the scene.

The group’s alleged activities included covert brokerage, mediation and the collection of undisclosed commissions through hidden channels, state prosecutors said.

The airport arrests were carried out under the supervision of prosecutors and came after warrants were issued by the Attorney General.

Investigations also revealed the involvement of others in transactions with Sudanese military authorities, including officers, officials, politicians and businessmen – as well as individuals and companies listed on US sanction lists and by Interpol. Details on how many people comprised the group were not disclosed.

The investigations indicated the transactions were carried out at the request of the Sudanese armed forces’ armament committee. Reports from technical committees further revealed that part of the funding was conducted through a bank operating in the UAE.

BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

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Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS

AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas

DevisionX – manufacturing

Event Gates – security and manufacturing

Farmdar – agriculture

Farmin – smart cities

Greener Crop – agriculture

Ipera.ai – space digitisation

Lune Technologies – fibre-optics

Monak – delivery

NutzenTech – environment

Nybl – machine learning

Occicor – shelf management

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Pivony – user-generated data

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Searover – renewables

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Trade Capital Partners – FinTech

Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment

Workfam – employee engagement

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The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800


Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder


Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm


Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm


Transmission: Eight-speed CVT


Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km

What is the definition of an SME?

SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.

A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors. 

Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule

Thursday December 27

Men's quarter-finals

Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm

Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm

Women's exhibition

Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm

Friday December 28

5th place play-off 3pm

Men's semi-finals

Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm

Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm

Saturday December 29

3rd place play-off 5pm

Men's final 7pm

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

The Uefa Awards winners

Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)

Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League

Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)

Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)

Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona

Getting%20there%20
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You Were Never Really Here

Director: Lynne Ramsay

Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov

Four stars

FIXTURES

UAE’s remaining fixtures in World Cup qualification R2
Oct 8: Malaysia (h)
Oct 13: Indonesia (a)
Nov 12: Thailand (h)
Nov 17: Vietnam (h)
 

Updated: November 14, 2025, 5:05 AM