Disney will build its seventh theme park, this one in the United Arab Emirates, the entertainment company said Wednesday.
The waterfront resort will be built on Yas Island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, already home to Formula One’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Ferrari and Warner Bros. amusement parks, SeaWorld and a waterpark.
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. Home to 9 million people, it has leveraged its long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways to bring in more tourists over the years. A real-estate boom and the city’s highest-ever tourism numbers have made Dubai a destination as well as a layover.
Disney and Miral, the Abu Dhabi developer overseeing the project, hope to capitalize on the 120 million airline passengers that travel through Abu Dhabi and Dubai each year.
While long viewed as more buttoned up than the beaches and raucous nightlife in neighboring Dubai, Abu Dhabi also is home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi and there are more museums currently under construction.
The theme park announcement is being made ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to the region next week. Trump has promised a series of business deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
The theme park will be built and operated by Miral, but Disney will handle the design and development. Disney will also license its intellectual property and provide development and management services, according to a regulatory filing.
The California company will not be providing any capital for the project. It will earn royalties based on the resort’s revenues. It will also earn service fees.
Miral has been involved in the development of almost all of the entertainment complexes built on the island.
A projected opening date has not been announced.
Shares of Disney, which also reported second-quarter financial results on Wednesday that beat Wall Street's expectations, jumped more than 9% in morning trading.
FILE - A statue of Walt Disney and Micky Mouse stands in front of the Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Jan. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
FILE - With the city skyline in backdrop, people of different nationalities enjoy a good weather of 24 degrees Celsius (75.2 degrees Fahrenheit) n Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
FILE - Williams driver Alexander Albon of Thailand in action during the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, according to the American Library Association. And efforts to have titles removed have never been more coordinated or politicized.
The ALA on Monday issued its annual list of the books most challenged at the country's libraries, part of the association's State of America's Libraries Report. Patricia McCormick's “Sold,” a 2006 novel about sex trafficking in India, topped the list for 2025. Others targeted include Stephen Chbosky's high school novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Maia Kobabe's graphic memoir “Gender Queer” and Sarah J. Maas' romantasy favorite “Empire of Storms.”
The ALA usually features 10 books, but this year has 11, with four tied for eighth place: Anthony Burgess' dystopian classic “A Clockwork Orange,” Ellen Hopkins' sibling drama “Identical,” John Green's boarding school narrative “Looking for Alaska” and Jennifer L. Armentrout's paranormal romance “Storm and Fury.”
Objections include LGBTQ+ themes (“Gender Queer,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), sexual violence (“Sold” and “A Clockwork Orange”) and use of alcohol and cigarettes (“Looking for Alaska”). Overall, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded challenges to 4,235 different works, topped only by 4,240 in 2023 since the association began keeping track more than 30 years ago.
The association defines a challenge as “an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted, based on the objections of a person or group.” Monday's list arrives during National Library Week, which runs through April 25.
“Libraries exist to make space for every story and every lived experience,” ALA President Sam Helmick said in a statement. “As we celebrate National Library Week, we reaffirm that libraries are places for knowledge, for access, and for all.”
The ALA compiles its survey through media accounts and submissions from libraries. The actual numbers are likely much higher because many incidents are never reported, the association acknowledges.
For decades, challenges to a given book came from a parent or another member of a local community. But in recent years, the ALA has found, the trend has shifted sharply to government officials and such conservative activists as Moms for Liberty, who advocate “parental choice” in deciding what schools and libraries should make available.
Florida, Texas and Utah are among the many states that have called for books to be banned or passed restrictive legislation. In Iowa, an appellate court ruled earlier this month that the state can enforce a law that limits teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ topics with students in kindergarten through the sixth grade and bans some books.
Last year, more than 90% of challenges arose from activists and government officials, according to the ALA, compared to 72% in 2024.
“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” Sarah Lamdan, executive director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a statement. “They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign.”
Lamdan told The Associated Press that activists circulate lists of targeted books nationwide. Echoing a report last year from PEN America that tallied multiple bannings of “Sold,” “A Clockwork Orange” and other books, the ALA found that actual removals — more than 5,600 — well exceeded the number of books challenged.
“I think this reflects the reality that these lists are getting disseminated widely,” Lamdan said. “You can see video footage from various library board meetings where the same books are singled out over and over again.”
1. “Sold” by Patricia McCormick
2. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
3. “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe
4. “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas
5. (tie) “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo
5. (tie) “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins
7. “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas
8. (tie) “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess
8. (tie) “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins
8. (tie) “Looking for Alaska” by John Green
8. (tie) “Storm and Fury” by Jennifer L. Armentrout
FILE - A Banned Books Week display is at the Mott Haven branch of the New York Public Library in the Bronx borough of New York City on Saturday, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file)
