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Economy & Business

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.

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.

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

The rial had another collapse in late 2025, triggering massive protests and riots in the country that were ended by a forceful government crackdown.

Latest News

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

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

An Iranian grocer sells pistachios imported from Iran at a Persian products shop in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 10, 2019. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/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

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iran, Oman to jointly develop oil field

Iran's president is in Muscat seeking increased cooperation with Oman on energy and transportation.

Egypt capital

Pro-government voices call for cancellation of Egyptian megaprojects

The Egyptian government is said to be seeking to halt huge construction works across the nation, citing the economic crisis and the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

German Economy and Climate Action Minister Robert Habeck (R) and Qatar Minister for Energy Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi.

Qatar seeks to export natural gas to Germany by 2024

Germany wants Qatari gas as an alternative to Russia’s due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Visitors wearing virtual reality headsets interact with a display by the Israel Aerospace Industries.

Israel high-tech sector looks to Ukraine, Arab world to address labor shortage

With a manpower shortage that keeps growing, Israeli high-tech companies are going to great lengths to recruit a quality workforce.

KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images

UAE-Turkey reconciliation continues with trade agreement

The move follows a currency swap agreement between the two countries and the Turkish president's visit to the UAE.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Fourth Turkish drilling ship arrives from South Korea

Turkey's fourth drilling ship is set to bring the country's drilling fleet to another level.

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

UAE-Germany trade up more than 10% in 2021

Entities in the Emirates and Germany have signed several recent energy cooperation agreements.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Egypt raises bank rates again

The Central Bank cited rising inflation and price increases due to the war in Ukraine for the move.

An Israeli woman works among marijuana plants at the Breath Of Life Pharma greenhouse in the country's second-largest medical cannabis plantation, near Kfar Pines, northern Israel, March 9, 2016.

Israeli cannabis industry grows with seeds export to US

The seeds from the Israeli crop science firm BetterSeeds are the first in the country to be exported internationally.

Iraq food

Iraqi court annuls food security bill

There are rising concerns over food security in Iraq due to the war on Ukraine and the drought, but the agriculture and trade ministries say there is no need to be concerned over the country’s strategic food reserve stocks.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s middle class priced out of home ownership

Buying a home has become an elusive dream even for middle-class professionals in Turkey as the country’s economic woes erupt into a perfect storm over the housing market.

A social worker plays an educational game with a homeless child inside one of the mobile units run by the Egyptian authorities and used as part of the "Atfal bala ma'wa" (Children Without a Home) social program, Abbasia district, Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2020.

Egyptian startups reimagine mental health services in Arab-speaking world

In an attempt to fill some of the most urgent gaps in mental health issues across the region, online platforms have developed tech-enabled alternatives to offer services that are safe, stigma-free and help raise awareness — although concerns about accessibility persist.