Infrastructure

People wait for the arrival of relatives at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on the first commercial flight from Qatar on Jan. 11, 2021.

Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid airport sets record with 3.9M passengers in July

Air travel is a part of the Vision 2030 plan to diversify the economy, though challenges remain in attracting tourists and catching up to other Gulf airports.

Photo depicts the low water level of Latyan Dam, which provides water to Tehran, located near Tehran, Iran, on May 8, 2025.

Analysis

Broken dams, broken trust: How Iran’s water crisis and heatwave have sparked emergency

Water and electricity shortages are reaching crisis levels across Iran, triggering widespread public service disruptions and forcing industrial closures. As reservoirs rapidly deplete and rolling blackouts increase, mismanagement and delayed reforms are being laid bare.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Citing security threats, Sudan blocks WhatsApp calls: What to know

The restriction comes as Sudan's civil war continues to devastate telecommunications infrastructure.

ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images

Over 10 years after ISIS takeover, Iraq's Mosul Airport reopens: What to know

The airport has been out of operation since the fall of the northern Iraqi city to the Islamic State in 2014.

Latest News

Saudi Arabia's Diriyah awards Chinese firm $1.53B contract: What to know

A picture taken on December 7, 2022 in Riyadh, shows the Chinese and the Saudi flags adorning a street ahead of the Chinese president's visit to the Saudi capital. - Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia this week, meeting the king and de facto ruler of the world's biggest oil exporter. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

Drone strike halts operations at Iraqi Kurdistan oil field: What to know

SAFIN HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

China’s premier makes first visit to Egypt as ties grow: What we know

Egypt's Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly (L) welcomes China's Premier Li Qiang upon his arrival at Cairo International Airport in Egypt's capital, on July 9, 2025.

French company revives Syria agreement to rebuild bridges: What we know

An aerial view shows a bridge, destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in the town of in Qusayr in Syria's central Homs province on December 14, 2024. Islamist-led rebels took Damascus in a lightning offensive on December 8, ousting president Bashar al-Assad and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP) (Photo by AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Portraits of Iranian military generals and nuclear scientists, killed in Israel's June 13 attack are displayed above a road, as a plume of heavy smoke and fire rise from an oil refinery in southern Tehran, after it was hit in an overnight Israeli strike, on June 15, 2025.

Analysis

Israel-Iran war fuels risks for Mideast economies, energy flows after US strikes

The global economic fallout from the Israel-Iran clash has been limited but US strikes are adding to the risk.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Men walk past shops selling mobile phones in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital on January 12, 2025.

Analysis

Syria’s internet reboot takes shape amid outreach to Gulf telecoms

The new government is taking steps to rapidly overhaul one of the world’s most troubled internet systems by working with Gulf telecoms to build a new fiber-optic network.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Iranian short-range missile (Tondar) is test-launched during war games in Qom, 120 kms south of Tehran, on September 27, 2009. Iran test-fired three short-range missiles as the Islamic republic began war games at a time of heightened tension with the West over its controversial nuclear programme. AFP PHOTO/SHAIEGAN/FARS NEWS (Photo by SHAIGAN / FARS NEWS / AFP) (Photo by SHAIGAN/FARS NEWS/AFP via Getty Images)

What we know about Fordow, Iran's secretive nuclear site Israel struggles to hit

A recent report indicated that Israel might need US help to hit Fordow, a heavily fortified facility located up to 300 feet underground.

TOPSHOT - Vehicles jam a highway as a fire blazes nearby in the oil depots of Shahran, northwest of Tehran, on June 15, 2025. Israel and Iran exchanged fire on June 14, a day after Israel unleashed an unprecedented aerial bombing campaign that Iran said hit its nuclear facilities, "martyred" top commanders and killed dozens of civilians. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Exodus, shortages and strikes: Tehran reels under weight of Israel-Iran war

Israeli strikes on Tehran have continued, prompting evacuation warnings, creating fuel and internet disruptions, and adding to the growing number of residents who are fleeing the capital.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Al-Shaibani met with Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in the Qatari capital, Doha, on June 3, 2025.

Syria courts Gulf investment with high-level Qatar visit amid $7B energy deal

Led by the country’s top diplomat, Syria’s ministers of energy, finance and tourism held a series of meetings in Qatar on Tuesday.

France s President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Lebanon s President Joseph Aoun during an official visit of the President of Lebanon, at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on March 28, 2025. (Photo by Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by MAGALI COHEN/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon's Aoun heads to UAE seeking economic support, reconstruction aid

The Lebanese president's visit to the UAE visit marks a bid to rebuild ties and garner financial support for the country's postwar reconstruction efforts.

UAE Sheikh Khaled

UAE, Pakistan expand cooperation during crown prince's first visit: What we know

Pakistan is looking to the UAE for economic help, with recent agreements focused on mining, ports and railways.

United Arab Emirates

Rateb H. Rabi

Interview

Coworking offers lifeline to Gaza's tech entrepreneurs as war disrupts jobs

The founder of Intersect Innovation Hub calls its coworking project “Palestinian tech resilience at its best.”

Rateb Rabi

Rateb Rabi

Founder of Intersect Innovation Hub

ammunition plant explosion

Turkish ammunition plant explosion kills 11, injures 7

Turkish officials ruled out the possibility of sabotage in the explosion.

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of an international forum "Interrelation of times and civilizations - basis of peace and development" dedicated to the 300th anniversary of poet Magtymguly Fragi's birthday in Ashgabat on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Alexander SHCHERBAK / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER SHCHERBAK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

India-Europe corridor, trade top Russian delegation talks in Iran: What we know

The visit occurs at a pivotal moment for the evolving partnership and the challenges it faces under international sanctions and scrutiny, coupled with regional dynamics that have seen both sides in graver need of one another.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: President Donald Trump (R) holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

Saudi Arabia to pursue two-track approach for Trump presidency

Riyadh is likely to compartmentalize business dealings with incoming President Donald Trump separately from its foreign policy engagements, where there is likely to be disagreement.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Xi Jinping president of China waves during the first working session as part of the G20 summit 2024 at Museu de Arte Moderna on Nov. 18, 2024, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

China's Xi Jingping in Morocco as Beijing eyes bigger role in Africa's infrastructure boom

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Morocco on Thursday as China wades deeper into Morocco's transportation and EV industries.