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Economy & Business

People walk past a cryptocurrency exchange office with a screen featuring US President Donald Trump holding cryptocurrency coins in Hong Kong on March 12, 2025.

Trump earns $810M from UAE-backed crypto firm: What to know

According to the disclosure, Trump earned $810 million from crypto token sales and sales of interests in UAE-backed World Liberty Financial.

United Arab Emirates

Omar Albaw / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Kuwait's Zain eyes $1.5B mobile network in postwar Syria: What to know

The Kuwaiti company is planning to invest more than $1.5 billion in Syria after securing a license to operate there, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

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.

Latest News

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

AFP via Getty Images

Interview

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

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

Olivier Badard

CEO of Armada Holding

Analysis

Why the Hormuz oil shock never became an energy catastrophe

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

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Explainer

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

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

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

Egyptian machinery work at the construction site of a new housing complex north of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Jan. 11, 2022.

Gaza’s poor, reconstruction projects victims of Russia-Ukraine war

The Russia war on Ukraine took a toll on the Gaza Strip, where the vulnerable population is facing increasing hardships in securing basic necessities as a result of soaring prices, in addition to halting construction projects due to high prices of building materials.

Dubai drivers

Israel-UAE friendship continues with mutual recognition of driving licenses

The agreement has been in the works since shortly after the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.

An Uber driver checks his phone application at the company's heardquarters, Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 17, 2018.

Uber faces new competition in Egypt

New ride-sharing competitors are challenging Uber’s longtime monopoly.

Tourists stand at the Mount of Olives

Pandemic no longer Israeli tourism's top problem

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as China maintaining strict COVID-related travel regulations, could present obstacles to a tourism recovery in Israel.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, pose for a group photo following their Negev meeting in the kibbutz of Sde Boker, Israel, March 28, 2022.

Israeli business leaders expect surge in trade with Morocco

Morocco hopes to replicate, and even exceed, Israel-UAE business ties.

India wheat

Egypt looks to India as alternative wheat source to Ukraine

Final talks are being held to send Indian wheat to Egypt, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted the global supply.

Zero One

Israel’s first digital bank opens for business

Newly authorized by the Bank of Israel, the country’s new digital bank One Zero is taking on several hundred customers each week and 75,000 more people interested in the new platform.

Oman investment

Oman to allow foreign ownership for companies on Muscat stock exchange

The move will help Oman diversify its economy away from dependency on oil. The country has recently sought investment from its neighbors in the Gulf.

A Syrian beekeeper prepares medicine to inject into hives at a bee farm in the rebel-controlled town of Hamouria, in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Oct. 2, 2016. Honey is used as a homoeopathic treatment for burns and wounds.

Syrians resort to herbal medicine amid drug crisis

The deteriorating living conditions in northwestern Syria and the expensive medical consultations and medicines have prompted Syrian patients to resort to herbal medicine to treat their diseases.

Iraq oil

Russian invasion of Ukraine has sharp impact on Iraq's economy

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused shortages of food in Iraq and forced the government to pay more in gasoline subsidies, but the high price of crude oil plus sanctions on Russia has opened new opportunities for Iraq.

Guests attend the opening ceremony of the annual Future Investment Initiative conference.

Saudi Arabia announces $600 million in new investment from startups, venture capitalist

Foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia slowed later in 2021 after a promising start, and some entities are reluctant to invest there due to the human rights situation.

KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images

OPEC remains committed to oil production agreement with Russia

The Biden administration has been unable to get Gulf states to increase oil production to bring down prices and some European states are seeking alternatives to Russian natural gas.