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Economy & Business

Meysam MIRZADEH / TASNIM NEWS / AFP via Getty Images

Iran strikes UAE’s Fujairah oil hub as US pushes Hormuz reopening

The United States launched an initiative to restart commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday as the UAE braced for fallout amid new missile and drone attacks.

United Arab Emirates

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Home to many of the world's largest wheat importers, the Middle East and North Africa face acute food security risks as the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts global fertilizer flows and pushes up prices.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP via Getty Images

Oman enters Gulf AI race with new special economic zone in Muscat

Oman will create an AI-focused special economic zone in Muscat governorate.

A pumpjack stands idle in the Huntington Beach oil field, with port cranes visible in the distance, on April 23, 2026, in Huntington Beach, California.

Oil surges past $120 to war-time high as Trump rejects Iran overture

Benchmark Brent crude surpassed $120 per barrel on Wednesday, reaching the highest levels yet seen during the US-Israel-Iran war.

Latest News

Iranian rial hits new record low as blockade, war take toll: What to know

An Iraqi money dealer counts Iranian rial banknotes bearing a portrait of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, at an exchange office in Baghdad on Feb. 3, 2012.

Analysis

UAE’s OPEC exit rattles cartel as Gulf alliances shift

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Why UAE's decision to leave OPEC is major shift for cartel

MUMEN KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

First LNG tanker transits Strait of Hormuz since Iran war began

Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

A customer leaves a currency exchange agency near Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, on Dec. 2, 2021.

Inflation storm worsens Turkey’s income distribution gap

Banks and big companies have benefited from Ankara’s controversial policy to keep interest rates low, while soaring inflation eats into the real income of the wage-earning masses.

A man watches stock movements on a display at the Dubai Financial Market stock exchange in the Gulf emirate on April 12, 2022.

UAE reports slight growth of non-oil GDP

The United Arab Emirates is undergoing economic changes as it aims to reduce its dependency on oil.

United Arab Emirates

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish stock market hits record high

Turkey is experiencing major economic problems, but the Istanbul stock exchange continues to rise.

FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images

Tunisian grocers offer chance to mitigate economic crisis

Small grocery shops are a lifeline for Tunisian communities and families and one entrepreneur sees them as agents of change to a cash-free economy.

UAE finance

UAE tax authority announces whistleblower program

A major financial center in Dubai also recently launched a whistleblower mechanism as the Emirates seeks to improve financial transparency.

United Arab Emirates

Egypt finance

Abu Dhabi bank withdraws offer to buy Egypt's EFG Hermes

The Russian invastion of Ukraine has promted a shift away from emerging markets worldwide.

Egypt wheat

Egypt bans export of key staples to cushion blow of Ukraine war

To contain the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Egypt banned for three months the export of wheat, flour, rice, pasta, oils and beans.

Egyptian farmers harvest wheat in Saqiyat al-Manqadi village in the northern Nile Delta province of Menoufia, Egypt, May 1, 2019.

Russia, Ukraine trade barbs over obstruction of wheat shipments to Egypt

As Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves continue to decline, Russia and Ukraine exchanged accusations over obstructing the movement of a ship loaded with wheat and bound for Egyptian ports.

A picture taken on Sept. 29, 2021, shows Russian tourists in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egypt hopes Israeli tourists will make up losses from Ukraine war

At a time when Egypt’s tourism sector has suffered a setback due to the war in Ukraine, the first direct flight from Israel is set to land in Sharm el-Sheikh this month, which may boost the number of Israeli tourists in the Egyptian coastal resorts in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptians smile for a photo as they buy fruits from a street vendor at a market in the Menufiya province north of Cairo on Feb. 22, 2018.

Gulf states give Egypt $22 billion to mitigate fallout from Ukraine war

Cairo has secured $22 billion from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to cover Egypt's current account deficit.

AHMAD HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images

Kuwait, Egypt explore railway to Sudan

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has also started projects in Iraq and Yemen.

A farmer ploughs a wheat field in the countryside of the northeastern city of Qamishli, on Sept. 18, 2021.

Syria’s bread basket lies empty

Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria is facing a water and bread crisis that is likely to become even worse during the month of Ramadan.