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April 19, 2026

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Saudi stocks hit 2026 high, bucking global war-driven volatility

The kingdom's stock market climbed to its highest level of the year on Wednesday, with the kingdom’s equities now far outperforming the S&P 500 and other global and regional indices.

A man walks through the atrium during the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

IMF slashes Mideast outlook by nearly 3 points as Iran war hits economies

The International Monetary Fund cut gross domestic product forecasts for the Middle East and North Africa, with the fallout from the conflict exposing stark divergences between the region’s energy exporters and importers.

Latest News

Analysis

How fast can Gulf energy production rebound after US-Iran ceasefire?

picture of Qatar Energy's operating facilities on March 3, 2026, in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

EIA hikes 2026 oil price forecasts 22% as Hormuz fuels long-term market fallout

Gas prices over $6.00 are displayed at a Shell station across from the Marathon Petroleum Corp's Los Angeles Refinery on April 02, 2026, in Carson, California.

AirAsia stays course on Bahrain hub as Iran war clouds aviation growth plans

AirAsia aircraft with two engines landing on Kota Kinabalu International airport runway, Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Malaysia, March 4, 2017.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Karen Young

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

Reve Chaaban

In Doha reporting on culture

Barclays

Barclays fined $50M for failing to disclose 2008 Qatari funding

The UK-headquartered bank will pay a fine of 40 million pounds to British regulators for failing to disclose information of its rescue by Qatar during the 2008 financial crisis.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) poses beside Khalid Mashaal (C), the Hamas chief in exile, and Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh prior to their meeting in Ankara on June 18, 2013. Senior leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas met today in Ankara with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to discuss Erdogan's planned visit to the Gaza Strip as well as the situation in Syria, the source said on condition of anonymity. AFP PHOTO/ PRIME MINISTER PRESS OFFICE/ YASIN BULBUL == RESTRICTED T

Analysis

Will Turkey host Hamas leaders after consequential Qatar departure?

Pro-Muslim Brotherhood groups and leaders in Turkey enjoyed few restrictions on their activities in the past but are now seeing their activities curtailed.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

After UAE visit, Qatari PM holds talks in Iran as Hamas officials depart Doha

A Gulf political official told Al-Monitor on Wednesday that the Qatari prime minister's visit to the UAE is designed to communicate Doha's new policy toward Hamas, where it seeks to be more in alignment with them regarding the group.

Hamas's chief representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan (L), Hamas Arab relations chief Khalil al-Hayya (C) and Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command Talal Naji arrive for a press conference during a visit to Damascus, Syria, Oct. 19, 2022.

Reports Hamas' political bureau relocated to Turkey false, Turkish sources say

Turkish diplomatic sources refutes claims of Hamas political leaders relocating from Qatar to Turkey, following media reports.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani looks, in Lusail, Qatar, on Oct. 13, 2023.

In reshuffle, Qatar emir replaces 6 ministers, intel chief: What we know

The Qatari emir issued a series of orders, replacing ministers and appointing new heads of some top agencies in the country, including the State Security, which has been involved in the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Mourners offer their condolences to senior member of Hamas' political bureau Musa Abu Marzuk (C) during the funeral of the slain Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Doha on August 2, 2024.

Qatar tells Hamas leaders to leave as Gaza cease-fire talks deadlocked

The Biden administration sees the militant group's presence in Qatar as "no longer viable or acceptable" given its repeated refusal to release even a small number of the remaining hostages.

US President Donald Trump (L) speaks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd R) and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May smile during a family photo session at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Photo by KIM KYUNG-HOON / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read KIM KYUNG-HOON/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Beyond congratulations, Trump faces changed, eastward-looking Gulf

Gulf states are familiar with Donald Trump and his transactional nature but have also managed to forge their own regional alliances over the last four years.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser, in Doha on Sunday

What's significance of UAE's Sheikh Tahnoon third visit to Qatar in a year?

Qatar and the UAE are strengthening ties with high-profile meetings and joint investments like the $20 billion Development Road Project. However, differing views on Gaza’s future could challenge their cooperation.

United Arab Emirates

An Airbus A350 plane of Qatar Airways from Doha parks after it landed at Berlin's airport "Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt", during the opening of the southern runway of the airport, in Schoenefeld, southeast of Berlin, on November 4, 2020. - Passenger flights are to began landing on October 31, 2020 at Berlin's new international airport, a moment many Germans thought they might never see after years of embarrassing delays and spiralling costs. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AF

Qatar Airways suspends Iran, Lebanon flights, joining growing list of airlines

Amid conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, few airlines are operating in and out of Tel Aviv, and fewer still in and out of Beirut and Tehran.

Qatari candidates register to run in the country's upcoming election as members of its top advisory panel, known as the Shura Council, in the capital, Doha, on Aug. 22, 2021.

Qatar to vote on ditching legislative council elections as Gulf states balk at representative rule

Qatar's first legislative council election was held in October 2021, a year before it hosted the FIFA World Cup, but the Gulf state now looks poised to roll back citizens' involvement in the legislative process.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani speak to the media following talks at the Chancellery, Berlin, Germany, May 20, 2022.

Qatari emir in Germany to boost economic ties

According to the German chancellery, Scholz will host the emir at Meseberg Castle, with the meeting focusing on deepening energy, trade and regional security ties.

JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images

Gulf governments silent as Iran, proxies mourn Hamas' Yahya Sinwar

Regional governments have not commented on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s killing by Israeli forces in Gaza, but Iran and its proxy groups mourned his death, vowing that the resistance against Israel will continue.