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Economy & Business

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Here's what to know about Iraq's corruption as Zaidi launches crackdown

Watchdogs and financial institutions regard Iraq as a significantly corrupt country as the new prime minister works to recover public funds.

AFP via Getty Images

Traffic plummets through Strait of Hormuz after Iran, US trade fire

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had recovered somewhat before renewed fighting between Iran and the United States saw traffic drop sharply over the weekend.

A student attends a training seminar at the Tourism Ministry Training center in the city of Riyadh on August 30, 2022.

Interview

Saudi labor localization will take ‘generation or two': Armada CEO

Around 70% of Saudi Arabia's population is 35 years old or younger, according to the kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics, providing ample opportunity for an educated and technology-savvy national workforce in the coming decades.

Olivier Badard

CEO of Armada Holding

A tourist boat passes near crude oil tankers, bulk carriers, and other vessels anchored off Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman, June 19, 2026.

Analysis

Why the Hormuz oil shock never became an energy catastrophe

The US-Israel-Iran war produced a historic oil supply shock but not a severe global economic crisis, due to ample prewar supplies, China's energy pivot and strategic reserve releases.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Explainer

Gulf states push incentives for investors, expats after war dents image

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Explainer

After UAE and Qatar, could Iraq be next to leave OPEC?

A worker at a market for fuel oil and automotive fuel on March 17, 2026, in Erbil, Iraq.

Explainer

Syria’s energy push could soon get a major boost from Chevron: What to know

Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / 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

HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia invests $51 billion in first wave of Shareek diversification

The Shareek investment and diversification strategy is set to create more than 64,000 jobs by 2040.

Algeria can achieve energy security and growth, but Sonatrach must change

Pro: To take advantage of higher energy costs and demand, Algeria's state-owned oil and gas company will need to make these fundamental reforms.

Gerald Kepes

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy trends

A general view taken on Dec. 17, 2014, shows pollution hovering over Egypt's Nile River.

New World Bank grant to help Egypt manage Cairo's air pollution

A 2022 report published by the American University of Cairo described Cairo's air quality as a "direct threat to public health.”

Boats are anchored in the Dubai Creek surrounded by high-rise buildings in the Gult emirate, on February 18, 2023. - Home to towering skyscrapers and ultra-luxury villas, Dubai saw record real estate transactions in 2022, largely due to an influx of wealthy investors, especially from Russia. (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE's Dubai ranks fourth in luxury residential sales in 2022

Luxury home sales that exceeded $10 million each in Dubai amounted to 219 in 2022, only ranking behind New York (244), Los Angeles (225) and London (223).

A horse feeds near solar panels used to power irrigation pumps along the Afir agricultural canal near the city of Kafr el-Dawwar in Egypt's northern province of Beheira on October 12, 2022. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

As COP28 approaches, 'clock is ticking' on Middle East clean energy cooperation

Regional collaboration on clean energy is building within the Middle East and growth opportunities look bright as the UAE prepares to host the next UN climate summit.

A fisherman sells his fish at a public market where customers shop in the historical district of Ulus in Ankara on December 30, 2022. (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey's economy grows 5.6% in 2022, but labor’s income share shrinks

In a sign of deepening income disparities, the share of Turkey’s labor force from the national income has dropped to 26.5%, a far cry from 36% in 2016.

Abraj Energy Services.

Oman's Abraj signs energy deal with Saudi's Chevron, Kuwait's Gulf Oil

Oman’s Abraj Energy Services will also sell a major stake on the Muscat Stock Exchange soon.

Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attend the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit (SCIS) of the UNFCCC COP27 climate conference on November 07, 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain sign 12 industrial agreements worth $2 billion

The third Higher Committee Meeting of the Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development wrapped up in Amman with 12 new agreements on industrial projects.

This photograph taken on February 9, 2023 shows the nuclear power plant of Golfech in the southwestern of France. (Photo by MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia moves forward with bids for nuclear plant

The kingdom has received bids to build its first nuclear power plant and South Korea is reportedly expressing interest.

New banknotes of Israel background.

Analysis

Israel raises interest rates in eighth consecutive hike in 10 months

Fighting rising inflation, Bank of Israel Gov. Amir Yaron took the unpopular decision of increasing the interest rates to 4.25%.

Danny Zaken

In Ma'ale HaHamisha, reporting on Israel

LEBANON-VOTE A Lebanese army soldier mans the turret of a humvee (HMMWV) while on patrol in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, on May 15, 2022 during the national parliamentary elections. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon’s army suffers with currency collapse as desertions mount

The drastic devaluation of wages threatens soldiers’ performance in the tumultuous period Lebanon is going through.

TOPSHOT - A picture shows a view of the Dubai skyline, including Burj Khalifa the worlds tallest building, in the United Arab Emirates, on June 20, 2022. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Emerging Gulf tax order to challenge family businesses

Increasing taxation across the GCC will be felt most acutely by family-owned businesses that have turned non-universal taxation to their benefit for decades.

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business