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Economy & Business

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is moored at a LNG berth in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, prefecture April 8, 2026.

IEA delivers grim gas supply forecast as oil notches 15% weekly rise

A wave of new LNG supplies will be delayed for at least two years due to war-related damage to Qatari energy infrastructure, according the International Energy Agency's latest market update.

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

The deal, announced as a nonbinding memorandum of understanding last September, would have seen the PIF inject up to $200 million into the opera institution over the next eight years.

Refueling trucks are seen at Southend Airport on April 17, 2026, in Southend, England.

Which airlines are cutting flights amid Hormuz fuel disruption?

European and Asian airlines have been most impacted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is throttling jet fuel supplies.

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

How are Iran-linked tankers still moving through Hormuz blockade?

At least 19 Iran-linked tankers have passed through the US blockade on the strait to exit the Gulf while at least 15 have entered, according to the cargo-tracking group Vortexa.

Latest News

Analysis

Gulf energy deals face Iran war stress test as global expansion meets oil shock

A picture shows the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar's principal site for production of liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid, administrated by Qatar Petroleum, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the capital Doha, on Feb. 6, 2017.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Could UAE tap US currency swap line as Iran war strains Gulf economies?

Haruna Furuhashi /Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

EU to restore Syria cooperation pact ahead of May talks: What to know

Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP via Getty Images

Oil rises, Gulf stocks slide after Iran ship seizure throws truce into doubt

A man walks past a screen displaying stock indices at the Dubai Financial Market stock exchange in Dubai, March 4, 2026.

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

Heathrow

Mideast airlines cancel flights as outage closes Heathrow Airport

At least 1,357 flights were scheduled to depart or arrive from Britain's busiest airport on Friday, and the Middle Eastern carriers were not spared from the disruption.

United Arab Emirates

University student wave Turkish national flags as they gather in protest in Besiktas district in Istanbul on March 20, 2025 following Istanbul metropolitan Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's detention over a corruption probe.

Analysis

Turkey’s shaky economy early casualty of Imamoglu’s arrest on terror charges

The arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on dubious terror charges has rattled investor confidence, sending the lira plunging, triggering market turmoil and raising fears of prolonged political instability.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

SUEZ, EGYPT - NOVEMBER 3: A ship transits the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea on November 3, 2024 in Suez, Egypt. The shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk recently said it did not expect to resume sailing through the Suez Canal until 2025 due to the continued threat of attacks in the Red Sea. The Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen has launched regular attacks on vessels off its coast since late 2023, disrupting a vital shipping route in east-west trade. A report this summer indicated that Suez Canal traffic

Maersk raises rates as Red Sea crisis costs Egypt $800M per month

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have resumed attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the United States is escalating its military campaign against the Iran-backed group.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Ben & Jerry’s says CEO ousted by Unilever over activism: What to know

In an ongoing legal battle, the ice cream maker and its parent company, Unilever, have locked horns over Ben & Jerry’s social activism and particularly its advocacy for Palestinians during the Gaza war.

Sheikh tahnoon

UAE seals cloud deal with Microsoft, Core42 as Sheikh Tahnoon visits US

The deal follows Microsoft's $1.5 billion investment last year in G42 to accelerate AI development.

United Arab Emirates

In this handout image provided by the UK Ministry of Defence, a Royal Air Force Typhoon FRG4s is being prepared to conduct further strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen at RAF Akrotiri on Feb. 3, 2024 in Akrotiri, Cyprus.

US strikes on Yemen's Houthis, China stimulus drive surge in oil prices

Brent crude was up 1.3% to $71.53 a barrel on Monday morning compared to close on Sunday.

KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images

UAE’s Sheikh Tahnoon makes first US visit since Trump reelection: What to know

The UAE's influential national security advisor, who chairs some of the country's most important funds and firms, will reportedly meet with White House officials and business leaders including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

United Arab Emirates

NYSE

Analysis

US stock plunge poses dilemmas for Gulf investors while exposing PIF, Mubadala risks

Middle East investors are bracing for steep losses and questioning about their long-term investments in America amid a drop in the US stock market.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Participants arrive to attend the annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh on Oct. 29, 2024.

UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia finance startups lead Forbes Middle East Fintech50

Some 119 fintech startups across the Middle East and North Africa raised $700 million in 2024, accounting for 30% of the total MENA startup funding for last year.

Aerial view of shipyard dry dock maintenance and repair cargo ship transport and oil ships in Istanbul.

Turkey wants to export gas to Syria, Ukraine, energy minister says

In 2020, Turkey discovered the a massive gas field in Turkish waters of the Black Sea that would help it meet domestic needs and export the energy.

An oil refinery in the northern town of Ras Lanuf is seen in this photo, Libya, June 3, 2020.

Libya now politically stable, 'attractive' to foreign oil firms: NOC chairman

Since the ousting of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, Libya’s oil sector has been unstable amid political unrest between two warring factions in the east and the west of the country.

Digital generated image of abstract AI chat icons over digital surface.

AL-Monitor FutureVerse: AI superpowers clash

An exclusive sneak peek of an interview with a top Saudi tech diplomat who is helping shape the future of AI collaboration among emerging economies.