Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The news cycle is as busy as it is diverse this morning as we head towards the weekend.

THE BIG STORY here in the UAE is still all-things COP28, with just under a week left to run on the global climate gathering.

We still have meaty stories from the UAE’s red-hot IPO market: Dubai Taxi is set to begin trading on the Dubai Financial Market today — and PureHealth’s ADX IPO was fully subscribed on the first day of the bookbuilding process.

ALSO- Authorities extradited British hedge fund trader Sanjay Shah to Denmark,where he faces trial for allegedly submitting fraudulent tax refund requests worth GBP 1.44 bn, Reuters reports. Shah, the main suspect in the so-called “cum-ex” fraud scheme, was arrested in Dubai last year after Danish authorities requested his extradition. Danish prosecutors will seek a court order for Shah to be kept in police custody until his trial commences on 8 January.

Cum-what? Think of it as a super-aggressive form of tax shielding that involves the rapid trading of shares around their dividend dates to exploit tax loopholes, allowing multiple parties to claim tax rebates illicitly.

COP28 presidency leads call to take action on climate at by cutting the carbon footprint of cities: The COP28 presidency — along with UN Habitat, the COP28 UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, and Bloomberg Philanthropies — has issued the Joint Outcome Statement on Urbanization and Climate Change urging for the integration of climate action across all levels of government, according to a statement. The 10-point framework has so far been endorsed by 40 countries.

Sound smart: Urban areas are responsible for 71-76% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 90% of cities are at risk of sinking. More than 250 municipal representatives have so far raised USD 467 mn at COP28 for urban climate action, the COP28 presidency said.

The payoff of Tim Hortons diplomacy: The UAE and Canada hosted a joint energy forum yesterday — and together launched a global drive to decarbonize the cement industry, the two said in a joint statement after COP28 chief Sultan Al Jaber met yesterday with Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry François-Philippe Champagne.

The United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, and Germany have all signed on to the UAE-Canada initiative, which will push ahead on how to slash the emissions footprint of one of the world’s most-important (but hardest-to-decarbonize) industries.

Among the possible solutions: Green hydrogen.

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HAPPENING TODAY-

Dubai Taxi Company’s shares are set to begin trading on the DFM today as it wraps up its AED 1.2 bn IPO. The company’s shares will open at AED 1.85 apiece, according to a DFM disclosure. The crazily oversubscribed transaction values the company at north of AED 4.6 bn.

Who owns what post-offering? The Department of Finance, representing the Government of Dubai, will hold a 75% stake, with new shareholders together holding shares equivalent to 24.9% of the company.

ADVISORS-Citigroup, Emirates NBD and Merrill Lynch were joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. EFG Hermes UAE and FAB were also joint bookrunners. Receiving banks included our friends at Mashreq as well as Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, FAB, and others.

We’ll know the outcome of the Sharjah Consultative Council elections today, Sharjah 24 reports. Voting kicked off on Tuesday both online and in-person at nine polling centers throughout the emirate, with a strong voter turnout, according to state news agency WAM. The results will see 25 candidates selected from a total of 193 to fill half of Council’s seats.

It’s another morning on which no single story dominates the global business headlines, but there are a handful of things you need to know:

Google has unveiled Gemini, its “most capable” AI model to date, which it claims processes more sophisticated reasoning and understanding of information. Google’s chatbot Bard will use Gemini starting some time early in 2024 to help the chatbot with advanced reasoning, planning, and understanding. (Reuters | CNBC | New York Times | CNN)

ALSO worth knowing:

ALSO- Meta will start adding invisible watermarks to images generated using its AI chatbotImagine with Meta in the coming period, the Facebook parent said in a blog post. The move comes amid a global furor over the promise (and challenges) of AI-generated images, video and text.

MARKET WATCH-

Oil sinks to six-month low: Oil prices fell for the fifth day running yesterday as bearish market sentiment continued despite some OPEC+ members agreeing to voluntarily reduce output last week. Brent futures tumbled almost 4% to USD 74.24 a barrel — its lowest level since June — in a fresh bout of selling attributed by Reuters to renewed concerns about global demand. Brent is now 23% below its September peak.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Gastronomes will want to head to Abu Dhabi Michelin Guide today at Louvre Abu Dhabi Park. The invitation-only event begins with a press conference at 4pm, followed by the food festival preview at 5:30pm.

Everything Architecture kicks off today at the Al Multaqua Ballroom, Dubai World Trade Centre. Architects and designers both local and international, are invited to partake in this opportunity to improve skills, to network and exposure to the latest trends in architecture and design. Speakers at the event will include President of Royal Institute of British Architects Muyiwa Oki and senior architect at Gensler Samar Hussein. Registration is available here.

Dance music icon Paul Oakenfold plays Dubai tonight: The British DJ is stopping by Gravity Zero to showcase his classic hits and remixes. Grab your tickets for the party online here.

This weekend: Dubai’s Sole DXB is back from tomorrow through Sunday 10 December, with rap artists from around the world taking to the Dubai Design District stage at the three day culture festival.

Dubai also has the Global EV Show tomorrow and Saturday, and EarthSoul Festival from Friday to Sunday.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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