US Justice Department indicts former FBI Director Comey for second time
The move follows longstanding pressure from President Trump, who has repeatedly called for Comey's prosecution.
Sherif Al-Mahdi
Gulf
Daily coverage from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
China detains nearly 70 Panamanian-flagged ships in Panama Canal dispute
Beijing's move follows a Supreme Court ruling on the Canal and has drawn sharp criticism from Washington and Latin American governments.
Sherif Al-Mahdi
Syria Is Now a Laboratory — and Everyone Wants to Be the Scientist
Washington's envoy frames Damascus as a new diplomatic frontier. What happens in that lab will reshape the region's next decade.
Sherif Al-Mahdi
Germany's Hydrogen Pilgrimage to Tokyo Tells You Everything About Brussels' Energy Panic
A transport minister flying to Japan to talk green hydrogen is not a photo-op. It is a confession about where EU industrial policy actually stands.
Sophie Marchand
When the Gulf Goes Dark, Fashion Follows: The Iran War's Quiet Toll on Luxury
Qatar's energy crisis and the wider Gulf conflict aren't just geopolitical headlines — they're reshaping the most consequential luxury market of our generation.
Yasmine Khalil
The Week the Middle East Proposed Marriage and Moscow Sued a Bank It Cannot Find
Saudi Arabia wants a non-aggression pact, Russia wants $250 billion, and Ukraine wants Moscow to stop existing. A normal week.
Viktor Shpak
26 Days Out: The Goal That Rewrote Everything
Saudi Arabia's stunning win over Argentina wasn't just a football result. It was the opening chapter of the story this nation is still living.
Omar Farouk
Brent at $109, a New PM in Baghdad, and the Quiet Reordering of the Middle East
Ali al-Zaidi takes Iraq's wheel as oil tops $109. The two facts are not unrelated — and Washington should be losing sleep.
Natasha Volkov
Oil at $105, Gold Off Its Highs: A Gulf Risk Premium That's Finally Behaving Logically
WTI jumps 3.3% on Iran escalation chatter while gold sheds 2.3% — markets are pricing geopolitics, not panic.
Karim Al-Rashidi
The Ceasefires That Almost Hold: Gaza, Lebanon, and the Cost of Managed Conflict
A 45-day Lebanon truce extension and ongoing strikes on Gaza reveal the region's exhausting new normal — neither war nor peace.
Sherif Al-Mahdi
Hormuz Shadow Lifts: UAE's Second Bypass Pipeline Is the Gulf's Biggest Hedge
Abu Dhabi moves to complete a second oil export route around the strait by 2027 — while Brent sits at $111.37 and the region burns with covert action.
Sergei Petrov
Tehran's Five Conditions and a $109 Barrel: The Price of Iranian Patience
Iran has handed Washington a take-it-or-leave-it list. Brent is already up 2.5%. Whoever blinks first pays in oil, ships, and credibility.
Natasha Volkov
WTI at $105 and the Strait Premium Has a New Name: Pipeline Insurance
Crude jumps 3.45% as the Gulf's two largest exporters openly hedge against their own geography. Gold cools. The Tadawul shrugs.
Karim Al-Rashidi
Cannes 2026: Where Gulf Glamour Meets a World Holding Its Breath
The Croisette has always been a mirror. This May, it is reflecting something more complicated than couture.
Aida Khoury
The Keskin Report: AI Agents, Gulf Geopolitics, and the Hype That Never Sleeps
Five things that actually mattered in tech this week — from agentic frameworks to Saudi soft power plays you didn't see coming.
Dario Keskin
The Saudi Pro League's Moment of Truth Has Arrived
Two seasons into the superstar experiment, the SPL faces a reckoning that will define whether this was revolution or renovation.
Omar Farouk
Crude at $102, Gold Wobbles: The Risk Premium Has a New Address
WTI grinds higher as Hormuz incidents pile up. Tadawul softens. The market is pricing geopolitics, not fundamentals.
Karim Al-Rashidi
The Strait That Could Starve the World
Iran's hardened negotiating position and Hormuz shipping tensions are rewriting global food and energy security in real time.
Sherif Al-Mahdi
The Saudi Pro League Is No Longer an Experiment — It's the Argument
Three seasons in, the world's most ambitious football project has stopped asking for respect and started demanding it.
Omar Farouk
Tehran's Five Conditions and the $106 Barrel: Iran Plays the Strait Card Again
Iran hardens its terms before sitting with Washington. Brent is already pricing the threat. The BRICS in India will price the politics.
Natasha Volkov
The Beijing Handshake and Brussels' Awkward Silence
While Trump and Xi reset the world's most important bilateral, the EU is left rehearsing a strategic autonomy script no one in Washington or Beijing is reading.
Sophie Marchand
Crude at $101, Gold Near $4,700: The War-Risk Premium Is Now the Baseline
Markets are not panicking. They're repricing. A morning read on what overnight tape is telling us about the Gulf's new normal.
Karim Al-Rashidi
When the Red Carpet Goes Dark: Cannes 2026 and the Glamour of Uncertainty
As geopolitical tremors ripple from Tehran to the Red Sea, the festival circuit is quietly negotiating what celebration means in a world on edge.
Aida Khoury
The Empty Stadiums of Vision 2030: How War Rewrote Saudi Sport's Greatest Story
The Iran conflict hasn't just reshaped the Middle East geopolitically — it has punched a hole in the grandest sports investment project the world has ever seen.
Omar Farouk
War, Tankers, and Towers: The Iran Conflict Is Repricing Gulf Real Estate
From Riyadh's stalled megaprojects to Dubai's safe-haven surge, the regional war is redrawing the Gulf property map in real time.
Hassan Al-Mansoori
Waning Crescent Whispers: Release What No Longer Serves You
With only 19% of the Moon illuminated, this week asks you to shed old skins before the next lunar cycle begins.
Layla Noor
The $105 Paradox: Why Brent Is Falling While Tankers Go Dark in Hormuz
A regional war should be sending oil to the moon. Instead, Brent slipped to $105.84. The market is telling us something — and it isn't reassuring.
Karim Al-Rashidi
The Red Carpet Has a New Address — and It Runs Through Cairo
Ancient Egypt arrives in San Francisco this season, and the cultural diplomacy behind it tells us everything about where Gulf and Arab soft power is heading.
Aida Khoury
Strait of Hormuz Closure: The Sanctions and Compliance Aftershock Few Are Pricing In
The EU has now publicly addressed Hormuz closure scenarios. For compliance officers across the CIS, GCC and EU, the legal architecture is shifting faster than the news cycle.
Alexei Morozov
The Keskin Report: War, Chips, and the Gulf's Burning Roadmap
Five briefs on the week tech got swallowed by geopolitics — and what founders need to understand before pitching into the fire.
Dario Keskin