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Government bond markets remain under pressure as rising energy prices revive inflation concerns and increase expectations that major central banks will keep interest rates higher for longer.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield briefly touched 5.011% on Monday, according to Dow Jones Market Data, before falling back below 5%. The level was the highest since October 2023.
The yield crossed the psychologically important 5% threshold as higher government borrowing, resilient economic growth and heavy corporate debt issuance linked to artificial intelligence investment compounded pressure on US bonds. Yields move inversely to bond prices.
Rising Treasury yields can feed through to mortgages, corporate loans and other forms of credit, potentially slowing economic growth. They can also make bonds more attractive relative to highly valued equities.
The latest rise followed the US Treasury’s previously announced expansion of its bond-buyback programme. Last week, it offered to purchase up to $6 billion of debt maturing in 10 to 20 years – three times the previous operation’s size.
The yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond, meanwhile, remained close to its highest level since 2007.
The sell-off has also spread across Europe. France’s 10-year government bond yield rose to 4.50% on Monday, while the equivalent Italian yield reached around 4.40%.
Germany’s benchmark 10-year Bund yield climbed as high as 3.538%, according to Dow Jones Market Data, its highest level in 15 years.
Energy prices are a major source of pressure. Brent crude rose to around $107 a barrel on Tuesday morning, while US West Texas Intermediate traded close to $103, as attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and shipping in the Gulf intensified concerns about supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
The European Central Bank raised its deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2.5% last week and warned that inflation could remain above its target for an extended period. Markets are pricing in at least one further ECB increase this year.
Attention now turns to three major central-bank decisions. The US Federal Reserve announces its decision on Wednesday, followed by the Bank of England on Thursday and the Bank of Japan on Friday.
A Reuters poll found that 85% of economists expected the Fed to raise rates by 25 basis points, while money markets placed the probability of an increase at around 93%.
The BoE is widely expected to leave rates unchanged. Economists surveyed by Reuters unanimously forecast no change, although some analysts have warned that a surprise increase cannot be ruled out. The BoJ is widely expected to raise borrowing costs.
RIYADH: David Livingstone, chief client officer at Citigroup, believes investor appetite for Saudi debt issuances reflects confidence in the Kingdom’s long-term story, while Gulf countries remain capable of maintaining their positive performance in debt markets despite higher yields and increased global supply.
Livingstone said in an interview with Nour Amache on the “East-West” program on Asharq Business with Bloomberg that the performance of Saudi sovereign issuances, as well as those of the Public Investment Fund, demonstrated the resilience of Saudi Arabia’s market and continued demand from international investors, despite the obstacles created by the Iran war this year.
Livingstone’s comments came after the Kingdom raised $3.25 billion through international sukuk in early September, attracting orders of around $16.5 billion, or more than five times the issuance size. Saudi Arabia tightened the pricing spread by about 30 basis points from the initial guidance.
The Citigroup head added that the pricing adjustment “demonstrates confidence in this long-term story,” placing it within the context of the transformations underway in the Kingdom under Vision 2030.
The comments came after Citigroup helped its clients in Saudi Arabia raise more than $40 billion since the beginning of the year. The bank also decided to increase its direct exposure limits to the Kingdom after it demonstrated “strong economic and financial resilience,” according to CEO Fahad Al-Deweesh.
Debt-market pressures
Higher global yields and increased government borrowing will give investors a wider range of choices in the bond market, Livingstone said, noting upward pressure on yields amid abundant debt supply in emerging markets, Europe, the UK and the US.
Despite this, he said that “Saudi Arabia, and Gulf countries as a whole, can continue this positive performance compared with the recent past.”
Yasir Al-Salman, chief financial officer at the Public Investment Fund, told Asharq Business with Bloomberg that international debt markets would remain the fund’s largest source of financing. The fund had around SR3.4 trillion ($906.1 billion) in assets under management after injecting about SR750 billion into the Saudi economy over five years.
Debt instrument pricing in the Kingdom is linked to US bond yields, which have recently been elevated. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury continued to rise for a fifth consecutive session on Sept. 14, exceeding 5 percent, its highest level since 2023.
Are investors affected by project reviews?
Asked about the effect of media reports concerning the postponement or reassessment of some projects in Saudi Arabia on foreign investor appetite, Livingstone said this did not change the fundamental basis of investor interest in the Kingdom. He said economic diversification remained “the attractive factor for investors,” as infrastructure development and projects connected to the economic transformation continued.
He added that the review was “justified” in light of the economic circumstances surrounding the projects being financed, with attention focused on their feasibility and sustainability.
Geneva: The United Nations called Tuesday for international investigators to be granted to access to all of Gaza “to assist with evidence-gathering” as hundreds of bodies are pulled from the rubble.
“The discovery of extensive remains under the rubble in Gaza City resurfaces these concerns of war crimes and other atrocity crimes,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.
SINGAPORE: Thailand accused Cambodia on Tuesday of “playing the role of a victim” in a dispute over maritime resources, as the Southeast Asian neighbours brought their long-standing feud before international mediators.
The hearing at the Singapore outpost of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) comes after the countries fought two rounds of deadly border clashes last year.
In May this year, Thailand unilaterally pulled out of a framework agreement with Cambodia that aimed to resolve overlapping maritime border claims, but denied any link to their land dispute.
Cambodia subsequently initiated a UN-backed conciliation process at the PCA, saying it hoped to return to constructive negotiations.
Opening Bangkok’s case before a five-member panel of international legal experts, Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Cambodia sought to “vilify Thailand through false narratives, distortion of facts, and unfounded accusations… including at international forums”.
“It does this by playing the role of a victim with a sense of self-righteousness aimed at claiming the moral high ground,” he said.
Last year’s clashes left dozens of people dead and displaced more than a million before a truce was agreed.
Thailand has said it withdrew from the framework agreement, called “MoU 44”, because “no progress had been made” in implementing it. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul denied the move was linked to the fighting.
The 2001 memorandum of understanding covers a resource-rich maritime territory of around 27,000 square kilometres (10,500 square miles) to which both Cambodia and Thailand lay claim.
Cambodia said last week that it had resorted to conciliation “after Thailand unilaterally terminated the agreed bilateral framework” through which the two nations had “negotiated their overlapping maritime claims for more than two decades”.
Prime Minister Hun Manet said in June that the move was also to “protect Cambodia’s sovereignty and maritime rights in accordance with international law”.
Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn told the PCA panel on Tuesday that Phnom Penh saw the process “as a means to rebuild trust, not as a form of escalation”.
Cambodia’s goal was to agree with Thailand on a “single, all-purpose maritime boundary”, or alternatively agree to jointly develop and equitably share resources until a boundary is drawn, he said.
“Cambodia sincerely hopes that Thailand will engage constructively in this process.”
Sihasak said Thailand was also seeking maritime delimitation and to rebuild trust.
Set up in 1899, the PCA is the world’s oldest intergovernmental dispute-resolution body and resolves disputes between countries and private parties by referring to contracts, special agreements and various treaties, such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The PCA office in Singapore is the Hague-based court’s first in Asia.
The commission’s recommendations are not binding and will take about a year to be decided.
kodda
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it will repeal some carbon dioxide emission rules for power plants, the latest step in the Trump administration’s broader effort to curb the agency’s role in regulating climate change.
Under the final rule
RIYADH: Thirteen civilians were injured after attacks on several Saudi cities by Yemen’s Houthi militia, authorities said early on Tuesday.
The Iran-backed group targeted civilian areas in
Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif with ballistic missiles and drones on Monday.
The strikes resulted in “minor to moderate injuries to 13 civilians and damage to 7 houses and two vehicles,” said Major General Turki Al-Malki, spokesperson for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, in a statement issued on social media early on Tuesday.
“The Terrorist Houthi Militia continues its heinous and deliberate attacks on civilian objects and civilians in the Kingdom,” the statement read.
“The continuation of these deliberate and repeated attacks proves the Terrorist Houthi Militia’s approach and extremist ideology of escalation and targeting civilian objects and civilians.”
The Coalition said its joint forces will deal with the attacks
“responsibly and firmly to protect the sovereignty of the Kingdom, civilian objects, and civilians.”
Last week an attack by the militia left more than 70 people injured, including women and children, in various towns and cities across Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom on Friday temporarily shut down its East-West Pipeline after it was targeted in several drone attacks in the Riyadh and Madinah regions.
Gulf and Muslim organizations condemned the attack on the pipeline, expressing solidarity with the Kingdom.
Folks confuse the medicine with the symptoms when they ask for dollarization or argue against it, as if the magic wand of switching to the dollar would cure the deep debt and the fiscal imbalances of the broken State-led model that crippled Venezuela.
Marcos Planchart wrote on this site last week that “it is certainly not the paper where the bolívar is printed the element that corrupts people or destroys the economy: it is the system behind it.” I agree with that sentence entirely. However, dollarization is not the first decision. There is a sequence that comes before it, and it is the sequence, not the currency, that determines whether any of this holds.
Antonio Ecarri and Steve Hanke want to change the unit of account. Planchart wants to keep it and repair the institutions standing behind it. Both are arguing about the currency. The currency is the second question, and it answers itself once you have answered how to fix the fiscal imbalance.
Those imbalances have four fixes: a legitimate and credible government, a closed deficit, restored conditions for private investment, and an open and transparent market for trading bolívares and dollars. Or you can dollarize. Notice that the first four require no change in the unit of account at all.
Here is the simplified mechanism: A government running a deficit it cannot finance has the Central Bank issue bolívares to cover it. The new money goes looking for dollars and for hard assets, and the rate moves. Running an official rate alongside the market one does not stop that. It only decides who captures the difference.
Dollarization is a reasonable destination after the fiscal work and a ruinous substitute for it. Do the work and you may not need it, because the inflation it was sold to cure will already be gone. Skip the work and it will cost you more than the bolívar does. Redundant or ruinous. There is no third case.
Planchart lists what the case for dollarization claims: eliminating inflation, forcing fiscal discipline, eradicating corruption. Take them in that order.
First: it does eliminate inflation. This is Hanke’s most popular claim, and it is true. Ecuador dollarized in January 2000. Inflation averaged 39% a year through the 1990s and 2.9% from 2003 to 2024. The policy does achieve inflation reduction, and it does so quite fast.
Now notice what that concession costs the other side. Inflation is the entire platform. It is why the argument is popular in Caracas, and why anyone is listening to Ecarri in 2026. The harder thing to see is this: if we stabilize the fiscal accounts and jump-start private investment, inflation can be tamed and the case for dollarization goes with it. You cannot sell a cure for a disease the patient no longer has.
Second, it does not force fiscal discipline. Ecuador ran deficits in twelve of the thirteen years from 2013. The one exception was 2022, by four hundredths of a percentage point. Public debt went from 19% of GDP in 2011 to 64% in 2020, and Ecuador defaulted that year. It is 54% now. Growth averaged 6.4% a year from 2011 to 2014 and 1.4% from 2015 to 2019.
The mechanism is the one Planchart names himself. He warns that dollarization leaves a country “even more vulnerable to external shocks, such as a sudden plunge in oil prices.” That is precisely what happened to Ecuador after 2014. Oil fell, Ecuador could not devalue, and the shock had nowhere to go except the budget, and from the budget into debt and into lost growth. He states the fear and never uses the country it happened to. It is the best evidence in his own case and he leaves it on the table.
The deficit does not disappear when the currency changes. It simply has to be paid in a currency you cannot print.
Dollarization took away the printing machine, not the deficit, so the adjustment fell on debt instead of on prices. Ecuador does not show that dollarization is harmful. It shows that it is not enough. Of its two defaults, 2008 is the weaker example: it fell in a surplus year and was a choice rather than a financing crisis.
Third, regarding corruption, Planchart has already answered it, and I will not repeat a good argument badly. The exchange differential was never an oversight. It was an instrument. Change the currency and the people who built it still hold the pen.
Planchart says a failed dollarization would force the government into more debt and severe cash shortages. He is right. Here is the size of it.
We ran the model with the same economy twice from the same starting position, $13.4 billion of reserves in 2026, changing one thing. Dollarize now on today’s deficit, alter nothing else, and the state’s dollar position will fall through zero in the third year and reach minus $24 billion by 2034. Dollarize after fiscal consolidation, with private investment recovering, and the same position accumulates to plus $127 billion. Same reserves, same model, one difference.
The deficit does not disappear when the currency changes. It simply has to be paid in a currency you cannot print.
Planchart gives the number: inflation reached 576% year on year in July. The mechanism above explains the direction. It does not explain the size, and the size is the interesting part.
The bolívar base has collapsed; measured at the parallel rate, it was around $15 billion in 2011 and 2012. In July 2026, it was $1.7 billion. The base that can be monetised is a ninth of what it was.
In 2013, Gino Bettocchi and I wrote about a State running a consolidated deficit of 15% to 20% of GDP, including PDVSA and FONDEN. On the narrower central government measure that is still published, the deficit has roughly halved since then, from 9.9% in 2012 to 5.8% last year. A far smaller deficit now carries the inflationary force that an enormous one carried then, because there is so little left to dilute. That cuts against both camps. It is not evidence that the bolívar is cursed, and it is not evidence that only the dollar can fix it. It is arithmetic about a very small base.
Planchart wants to keep the bolívar permanently, in part to preserve room for industrial policy. The unit of account does not carry that weight, in either direction.
What breaks or holds a monetary regime is the deficit, private investment, and the institutions behind them. Those three decide the outcome, whether prices are quoted in bolívares or in dollars.
The argument about maintaining the unit of account in bolívares is about the State’s capacity to protect and nurture strategic industries. But industrial policy is paid for by a State with fiscal room, and Venezuela has neither. It becomes possible after stabilization, not instead of it.
Without credible rules, there is no private investment. Without investment, there is no oil and no tax base. Without revenue, there is a deficit. And a deficit breaks any exchange rate regime, whether it is denominated in bolívares or in dollars.
Planchart may well be right. His is a claim about what Venezuela becomes over the medium and long term; mine is about what stops the bleeding now. Our hope is that between the two visions, readers get the order of operations.
His best line is that starting dollarization under chavista rule is like handing the reconstruction of the oil sector to a man who helped destroy the electricity grid. I would make it structural rather than personal, because it is an argument about order.
Stage one is not monetary. It is a legal framework credible enough that private capital comes back. Without credible rules, there is no private investment. Without investment, there is no oil and no tax base. Without revenue, there is a deficit. And a deficit breaks any exchange rate regime, whether it is denominated in bolívares or in dollars. Once those policies are in place, they will open the market and the premium will close on its own. Then, the decision about Venezuela adopting the dollar formally can be taken calmly, from strength, rather than desperately as a rescue.
In 2013 we wrote that the choice was reform or hyperinflation. Maduro chose hyperinflation, and it ran from 2017 to 2021. The 2026 version of that choice is not dollar or bolívar. A currency is imported. A State is built.
“The Kangaroo Peg” was written by Gino Bettocchi and Jesús Bolívar, Second Year Policy Analysis, Harvard Kennedy School, 2013, advised by Ricardo Hausmann. The thirteenth year update, with both figures, the model and its sources, is available here.
You can also track all macroeconomic metrics in the UnoPago monitoring website.
BRUSSELS, Belgium: Belgium’s top universities condemned on Monday the government’s refusal to help 13 students from war-torn Gaza who received scholarships at Belgian universities reach the country.
Brussels set aside plans to evacuate the Palestinian students last week in a case that has split the coalition government.
The rectors of the European country’s top 10 universities expressed their “dismay” at the move in a letter, accusing the administration of using the students as “bargaining chips” in a “disgraceful political horse-trading.”
Centrist Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot has advocated in favor of evacuating the students but has faced opposition from the Flemish conservatives party of Prime Minister Bart De Wever, according to a government source.
Prevot said one member of the five-party coalition demanded concessions on migration, including the creation of deportation centers, in return for greenlighting the evacuations.
“They must not be treated as bargaining chips or as variables to be adjusted in political debates on migration,” the rectors wrote of the Gaza students.
“Their cases must be assessed for what they are: those of students and researchers who have been awarded scholarships on the basis of their academic merit and who have all expressed their intention to return to their home countries to contribute to their reconstruction.”
The students are among about 1,500 Palestinians in Gaza currently waiting to reach Belgium, having been granted the right to do so, mainly under family reunification rules, according to several NGOs.
Yet, evacuations from the Palestinian territory at war with Israel are proceeding at a trickle, with activists and now the universities accusing the government of deliberately slowing down the process.
“Discussions in recent weeks also show that the obstacles cited do not stem from insurmountable constraints but rather from a lack of political will,” the university chiefs wrote.
The case is not isolated, with Palestinian students hoping to study in Italy, Turkiye, the Netherlands, Germany also reporting delays in recent months.
Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,221 people, according to official Israeli figures.
Israel’s offensive has since claimed at least 73,470 lives in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, which operates under Hamas.
LONDON: Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah Al-Hashimi on Monday visited the baptismal site of Jesus, also known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan, to review preparations for the 2,000th anniversary of the historical event, which will take place in 2030.
He issued directives to enhance the site for the Christian pilgrims and other visitors who will visit the UNESCO World Heritage site to mark the bimillennial celebrations, the Jordan News Agency reported.
He said the upcoming occasion reaffirmed Jordan’s status as a premier destination for Christian pilgrimage. He emphasized the importance of efforts to promote the site of Jesus’ baptism, in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Jordan Tourism Board.
During the visit, the crown prince met Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed, chairperson of the board of trustees for the Baptism Site Commission, and his wife, Princess Miriam.
Jordanian Ministry of Tourism officials recently met Palestinian counterparts to discuss collaboration in the field of religious tourism ahead of the 2030 bimillennial celebrations.
Both Jordan and Palestine are home to important Christian holy sites, including Mount Nebo in Jordan’s Madaba governorate, where the Bible says Moses saw the Promised Land before he died, and, in the West Bank, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in East Jerusalem, which includes the traditional sites of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection tomb.
The crown prince was also joined on his tour of the baptismal site by the minister of tourism and antiquities, Imad Hijazin, the director of the Office of the Crown Prince, Zaid Baqain, and the director general of the Baptism Site Commission, Abdullah Bawareed.
CAIRO/NEW YORK: The UN secretary-general’s personal envoy for Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, held talks in Cairo on Sunday and Monday with the Arab League’s secretary-general, Nabil Fahmy, and the Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, as preparations continued for UN meetings in New York this month.
The diplomatic efforts came as drone strikes and other hostilities continued to endanger civilians and drive displacement across Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions, and Blue Nile State.
During his meeting with Haavisto on Sunday, Fahmy stressed the importance of launching a comprehensive, Sudanese-led political process that involves all sections of Sudanese society.
He also reaffirmed the Arab League’s support for Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and called for the prevention of external interference in the country’s affairs.
In a separate meeting on Monday, Abdelatty stressed the need to support stability, end the conflict and reach a comprehensive political settlement that preserves Sudan’s sovereignty and meets the aspirations of its people. His talks with Haavisto encompassed the latest developments in the conflict, as well as regional and international efforts to halt the escalation and advance de-escalation measures.
Abdelatty reiterated Egypt’s support for Sudan’s unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national institutions. He also emphasized the need to respect Sudanese ownership of any political solution.
Both sides stressed, in an official statement, the important need to respect Sudan’s sovereignty, support de-escalation efforts, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people.
Meanwhile, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said drone strikes and other hostilities in Sudan continued to threaten civilians and force people from their homes.
In Blue Nile State, several drone strikes hit fuel stations and other critical infrastructure in the state capital on Sunday, with civilian casualties reported. The UN estimates that nearly 100,000 people were displaced by insecurity across the state between January and August, about 66 percent more than the figure since the start of the year that was reported in late May.
In North Darfur, drone strikes hit several locations in Tina, near the border with Chad.
The UN said nearly 1,200 people were displaced from two villages in El-Fasher between Sept. 10 and 13. More than 1,200 others fled villages in Um Baru over the past week, with most of them crossing into Chad.
Drone attacks were also reported at several locations in West Darfur on Saturday, including a fuel market west of the state capital. Casualties were reported.
Insecurity in Kordofan continues to drive displacement and disrupt humanitarian operations. More than 7,000 people have reportedly arrived in Abassiya, South Kordofan, in recent weeks. In North Kordofan, Al-Mina Al-Bari camp in the state capital, El-Obeid, is hosting about 9,000 families, placing further strain on overcrowded sites and basic services.
Haq reiterated the UN’s call for all parties involved in the conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and ensure rapid, safe, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access to those in need.
Sudan descended into civil war in April 2023 after tensions between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted into fighting. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and driven a severe hunger crisis.
A report published in May said nearly 19.5 million people, about 41 percent of Sudan’s population, faced high levels of acute food insecurity.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme and UNICEF called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. They also urged the international community to increase funding for food assistance, emergency food production, efforts to rebuild livelihoods, and nutrition, health, water and sanitation services.
Amani El-Taweel, a researcher at Al-Ahram Center, told Arab News that the meetings in Cairo reflected continuing diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the Sudanese crisis.
She said the situation remained extremely complex, particularly amid the wider escalation in the Middle East, and that the emergence of new fronts had further complicated conditions in eastern Sudan.
Ezzat Saad, director of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, told Arab News the only path out of the crisis was to unify Sudanese institutions and secure a ceasefire.
He said any solution must come from within Sudan, without interference from external parties. Haavisto’s meetings in Cairo were part of the preparations for upcoming UN General Assembly sessions in New York at which heads of state would have an opportunity to discuss regional crises, Saad added. Sudanese institutions themselves must also demonstrate a commitment to preserving the country’s unity, he said.
On Saturday, the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, met the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in India. El-Sisi said any threat to Sudan’s security, unity or sovereignty constituted a “red line,” according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.
In January, Egypt hosted the fifth meeting of the Consultative Mechanism to Enhance Coordination of Peace Efforts in Sudan, which was chaired by Abdelatty.
The foreign minister said Egypt remained committed to achieving peace and stability in Sudan. He highlighted the launch of the Sudan Neighboring Countries Initiative in July 2023, which emphasized the need for a ceasefire, inclusive political consultations and the guaranteed delivery of humanitarian aid.
AutoZone (AZO) will report its fiscal fourth quarter results before the market opens next Tuesday, and all eyes will be on the do-it-yourself (DIY) segment which has been undermined by cash-strapped consumers.
“Based on our field work, we think it should
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EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will visit Manila next week to finalise a trade agreement with the Philippines, the European Commission confirmed to Euronews on Monday.
The agreement is nearing conclusion as Brussels has increasingly looked to the Asia-Pacific over the past year to diversify its trade ties.
Since the return to power of US President Donald Trump, the global trade order has been shifting, with the EU seeking new markets for its exports.
The latest round of EU-Philippines trade talks took place in May, with access to public procurement emerging as the final sticking point. An agreement would mark a shift for the Philippines, which has so far kept public contracts closed to foreign bidders.
The Commission told MEPs earlier this month that the rest of the agreement was ready. The aim is to lift trade barriers between both partners in most sectors.
An official from the EU executive also told MEPs that sanitary and phytosanitary rules for food products were “ambitious”, alongside automotive standards that would improve EU manufacturers’ access to the Philippine market. The official added that the EU and the Philippines were “complementary” in both industrial goods and agriculture.
The deal is an important one for Manila, which has been hit by US tariffs in 2025 and by the war in Iran, which heavily impacted energy prices in the country.
However, the Philippines also reached “upper-middle-income country” status in August, granted by the World Bank, which makes it a promising market — “One of the most dynamic economies in the East Asia Pacific region since 2010,” the World Bank said.
Bilateral trade in goods between the EU and the Philippines amounted to €16.8 billion in 2024. That same year, the EU was the Philippines’ fourth-largest trading partner, accounting for 7% of the country’s total trade in goods, while the Philippines was the EU’s 39th-largest trading partner, accounting for 0.3% of the EU’s total trade in goods.
After the Philippines, the Commission aims to conclude talks with Thailand, making 2026 a strong year for EU trade deals across Asia and the Pacific, with agreements already reached with Australia and India.
RIYADH: Madinah region has strong potential to turn date palm waste into value-added products, leveraging its competitive advantage in the palm and date sector to create investment opportunities in the circular economy.
According to Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah Chamber’s economic bulletin, the region has about 26,000 farms and approximately 8.1 million date palms, representing nearly 21 percent of Saudi Arabia’s total.
Each palm generates between 20 and 23 kg of waste annually, bringing the region’s estimated annual total to between 162,000 and 186,000 tonnes, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Products made from date palm waste include wood and composite boards, organic fertilizer, biochar, charcoal briquettes, biofuel pellets, natural fibers, insulation materials, date seed oil, wooden products and handicrafts.
These industries could create new production chains, from waste collection, sorting and processing to manufacturing and marketing. This would open investment opportunities, diversify the palm sector’s products and improve resource-use efficiency.
The world is creating more wealth than ever before but protecting and growing it has become increasingly challenging.
To put this into perspective, BCG’s Global Wealth Report 2026 1 found that global financial wealth increased by 10.7% in 2025 to US$333 trillion, its highest rate of growth since 2021. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is also becoming more prominent within this evolving landscape. The region’s total wealth reached an estimated US$8.6 trillion in 2024, while EY’s GCC Wealth Management Industry Report 2025 2 estimated that more than 200,000 individuals across the region qualify as ‘high net worth’ (HNW).
Amid this trend, around half of the private wealth in the GCC remains tied to real estate, highlighting an opportunity for greater diversification across assets and markets.
We see this among QNB’s private banking and wealth management clients, with a move beyond traditional equity and fixed income allocations towards broader diversification strategies. For example, interest is growing in alternative investments, international opportunities and actively managed solutions that can respond to changing market conditions.
The GCC’s emergence as an international wealth hub reflects the broader transformation taking place across its economies. Investment in technology, infrastructure, financial services, tourism and advanced industries is widening the range of opportunities available to investors and strengthening the region’s connections with markets across Asia, Africa and Europe.
The development of financial centres, deeper capital markets and national economic transformation programmes is also creating a more sophisticated regional investment ecosystem. These initiatives are strengthening the region’s position not only as a source of capital, but also as a destination for private wealth and a platform through which investors can access international markets.
As the investment universe expands, diversification is no longer limited to simply holding a mixture of listed equities and fixed income instruments. Investors increasingly require portfolios diversified across geographies, currencies, sectors, asset classes and investment horizons.
This is driving demand for alternative investments as investors look for new sources of return and greater portfolio resilience.
According to EY’s GCC Wealth Management Industry Report 2025 3, 69% of wealthy clients in the Middle East hold alternative investments. This supports what we are seeing among QNB’s clients, with growing interest in private markets, structured solutions and thematic opportunities that can enhance diversification and provide attractive risk-adjusted returns.
These investments can provide access to opportunities that are not always available through public markets. However, they can also introduce liquidity constraints, longer investment horizons, valuation complexity and varying levels of transparency. Access alone is therefore not enough.
Each allocation also requires rigorous due diligence and a clear understanding of how it contributes to the objectives, liquidity requirements and risk profile of the overall portfolio.
For HNW individuals and family offices, their objectives often extend beyond investment performance. These may include capital preservation, liquidity planning, succession, or the responsible stewardship of family assets.
Such priorities are becoming more pronounced. EY estimates that approximately 500,000 older individuals across the GCC could transfer around US$438 billion to their heirs by 2030, increasing the importance of multigenerational wealth planning.
To meet the evolving needs of HNW individuals, global reach provides access to a wider universe of investments, specialist expertise and institutional relationships. At the same time, regional knowledge allows advisers to understand local market structures, emerging opportunities and individual client priorities.
Together, these capabilities support portfolio strategies that are globally diversified while remaining relevant to each client’s circumstances.
QNB Group is well positioned at the intersection of these dynamics. As a leading financial institution in the Middle East and Africa, with a presence in over 28 countries across Asia, Europe and Africa, the Group combines international market access with deep regional knowledge. This enables QNB to provide tailored wealth-management solutions informed by a strong understanding of market opportunities and client needs.
However, scale and access are only part of effective wealth management. Clients increasingly expect advice that reflects their individual circumstances, risk appetite and ambitions. This requires bespoke portfolio strategies, data-driven market insights and robust governance, supported by relationships built on trust and discretion.
The next phase of wealth management will be more globally diversified, actively managed and advisory-led.
This degree of monitoring is essential; while investors will continue to seek wider access to international and alternative opportunities, they will also require greater discipline in how those opportunities are evaluated and integrated into their portfolios.
The GCC is well placed to play a growing role in this evolution. Its expanding wealth base, economic transformation, financial capacity and international connectivity are strengthening its position as both a destination for capital and a centre for long-term wealth creation.
Ultimately, successful wealth management depends on the ability to combine global access with regional understanding and investment opportunity with disciplined stewardship. Institutions that combine these capabilities will play an increasingly important role in helping clients preserve their wealth, navigate complexity and create enduring value across generations.
Read more about QNB Group’s wealth management capabilities and solutions here.
For all the hysterical outrage that accompanied the announcement of the UK’s measures against illegal Israeli settlements last Tuesday, the world did not end. The reality is that these steps were merely bringing Britain into line with its legal obligation to act against an unlawful occupation and narrow the gaping chasm between the reality on the ground in Palestine and the rhetoric deployed in Westminster.
The reaction of those who support the Israeli settlements — war crimes under the Rome Statute — was frenzied. Anti-Palestinian bodies bellowed outrage. The chief rabbi declared this would be a “dark day for British Jews,” as if somehow they were the target of the measures or the victims of what has been happening. His comments were dangerous as he, along with “establishment” UK Jewish groups like the Board of Deputies of British Jews, blurred the distinction between the actions of the state of Israel and British Jews. This deliberately conflates antisemitism with anti-Israel sentiment.
Others also claimed, with no evidence, that the measures would make British Jews unsafe. The deplorable increase in antisemitic attacks in the UK and elsewhere has never been motivated by British actions against Israel, not least as there has hardly ever been any such action.
In fact, a sizable segment of the British Jewish community welcomed the settlement trade ban or at least accepted it as a reasonable response to the unprecedented building of settlements and frenzy of state-backed Israeli settler violence.
The reaction of those who support the Israeli settlements — war crimes under the Rome Statute — was frenzied
Chris Doyle
The mainstream media coverage was frequently dire. Many columnists depicted British Jews as a victim of the settlement ban. Very few outlets dared suggest that the actions were designed to help Palestinians under threat of ethnic cleansing, forced dispossession and settler pogroms. Once again, the victims were erased from the story.
The other claim was that the US would retaliate against London. This was triggered in large part by the knee-jerk reactions of US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who posted: “The Brits have lost it. The Jew hate of their government knows no boundaries and knows no facts.” He denies it but he probably did not know Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, is a British Jew whose parents were refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe. But Huckabee is an extremist maverick, an ardent Zionist who believes in a “Greater Israel.”
Far from retaliating, the US State Department made clear Huckabee’s comments were not authorized. He had been freelancing again. One official said Washington was “staying out of it.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio was far more measured in his comments. He did not even condemn the British actions. President Donald Trump, who is rarely shy of airing any disagreement, has said nothing. In short, the US has taken zero steps. Trump looks increasingly disenchanted with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not Andy Burnham or Miliband. The president has yet to declare support for Netanyahu ahead of next month’s Israeli elections, as the beleaguered leader hopes.
The settlement lobbies were almost certainly shocked by the 11 countries that joined the UK in confirming they were or would be adopting similar measures. This included France and Canada, meaning three of the G7 states are acting.
Those states yet to adopt the ban have at least condemned the settlements and are not opposing London’s actions
Chris Doyle
Britain was far from isolated, quashing yet another criticism. Those states that have yet to adopt the ban have at least condemned the settlements and are not opposing London’s actions.
In contrast, it is Israel and the US that find themselves once again in a crowd of two. These two states, as they were with the foolhardy war on Iran, align themselves against international law and accountability.
The retaliatory Israeli measures will also hardly dent the British interest. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the closure of the British Consulate in Jerusalem, the ejection of the British participants in the International Gaza Support Center that oversees aid flows into Gaza and the termination of the British support team that is helping to train the Palestinian Authority.
Note that all these measures hit Palestinians far more than the UK, which is of course the Israeli priority. It means fewer states overseeing aid into Gaza, less support to the PA and, by closing diplomatic premises linked to the Palestinians in Jerusalem, further severs the remaining Palestinian ties to the city.
Expect a raft of settlement announcements shortly. This will be the primary Israeli response to the actions of these dozen states.
Will these measures have an impact? Are they sufficient? Almost certainly not. And the Netanyahu coalition, in election season, will just press the accelerator on the aggression and violence. Other Israeli politicians may get the message: The patience of international actors has finally worn out, albeit decades too late.
These steps should not be belittled. The 12 states have shifted from a declaratory poise to a position of action. For once, the Israeli government is going to have to bear a cost for the occupation that has hitherto not existed.
The message is clear. If Israel behaves like a pariah state, it will start to be treated like a pariah state.
Chris Doyle is director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU). He has worked with the council since 1993 after graduating with a first class honors degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Exeter University. He has organized and accompanied numerous British parliamentary delegations to Arab countries. Twitter: @Doylech
Published on •Updated
France will push back against a European Commission plan to fast-track ratification of trade agreements by circulating only English-language versions during talks with EU governments and lawmakers, skipping translation into the bloc’s 24 official languages, according to several sources.
The slow ratification of the contentious EU–Mercosur trade deal has frustrated the Commission, which wants to accelerate negotiations and bring deals into force more quickly as it seeks new markets amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Translating the agreements into every official EU language can take months due to the legal scrubbing required before the ratification process begins.
The EU executive has confirmed to Euronews that trade chief Maroš Šefčovič told EU trade ministers in February that the trade deal with India concluded on 27 January could serve as a test case for using English as the main language during ratification.
“We lost almost €300 billion by not having the Mercosur agreement in place since 2021, if it comes to the GDP, and more than €200 billion in export opportunities,” Šefčovič told journalists after meeting ministers on 20 February, adding that once negotiations end it can take up to 2.5 years before businesses can operate in partner countries.
“In today’s world, we cannot simply lose the time,” he said.
Šefčovič said the Commission would ensure the agreements are translated into all 24 official EU languages once published in the Official Journal, i.e. after ratification. He added the proposal was backed by at least seven member states at the meeting, though not all countries had time to speak.
French sources who spoke to Euronews were insistent that Paris would vigorously oppose the move to English-only agreements if necessary.
“As a matter of principle, we defend the use of all the languages of the Union, and in particular French, which is one of the EU’s working languages,” one official told Euronews.
Language policy in the bloc’s institutions remains politically sensitive for countries such as France, whose language has declined sharply over the past decades as English massively dominates daily work in the European Union institutions – despite French, German and English being the three official working languages.
“Switching entirely to English raises a legal and democratic issue, and the Commission is well aware of it,” another French official told Euronews.
On its website, the European Commission says linguistic diversity is essential and that the EU promotes multilingualism in its institutional work.
The bloc once even had a commissioner dedicated to multilingualism, though the portfolio was gradually merged with others and eventually disappeared.
“I have the impression that in some cases the Commission seizes the opportunity to push the idea that English has a superior status, and that the other official languages are translation languages that can come later,” Michele Gazzola, expert in language policy, said.
He added that relying only on English during ratification could pose problems for members of the European Parliament, and even more so if national parliaments are involved.
“It’s a matter of transparency, precision and understanding.”
Published on •Updated
The oil market spent Monday morning pricing in a weekend of bad news from the Gulf.
Brent for October and November deliveries gained over 3% and crossed $108 a barrel, while the US benchmark WTI for October rose 2.3% to around $102, both extending last week’s advance after each reclaimed the $100 threshold.
Prices moved following Saudi Arabia’s announcement that its East-West pipeline is temporarily closed after drone attacks.
The line carries crude across the kingdom to Red Sea ports, allowing oil to reach export terminals without passing through the Strait of Hormuz, so its loss removes the main alternative at the moment the strait itself is most dangerous.
That danger was also demonstrated on Sunday, when a merchant vessel was hit in the strait, killing one person and injuring three others, according to Iranian authorities.
Passage through the waterway now works very differently from before the war.
Vessels must obtain Iranian permission to transit, and Tehran is weighing a mechanism to charge service fees. Ships that fail to comply are routinely targeted, while US forces periodically bomb the Iranian coastline to contest Tehran’s claim to control the strait.
Diplomatic efforts have stalled too.
Oman has postponed planned talks between Iran and Gulf states on the future of the waterway, which carries a large share of the world’s seaborne oil trade.
The consequences are extremely visible at American pumps.
The US national average price of diesel crossed $6 a gallon on Friday for the first time in history, up from around $5.85 a week earlier and roughly 60% above the $3.71 drivers paid a year ago.
Petrol is also averaging $4.22 after setting records over the Labor Day weekend.
US President Donald Trump has pointed the finger elsewhere.
Speaking to reporters in Ireland on Sunday, where he was attending the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf resort, Trump stated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia.”
“Let him go after targets, but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel fuel,” Trump added.
Ukraine has struck more than 20 Russian refinery targets this summer, prompting Moscow to ban diesel exports.
On the flight back from his state visit to Ireland this weekend, Trump reiterated the claim.
However, the supply arithmetic suggests otherwise.
Analysts attribute roughly 800,000 barrels a day of lost diesel supply to Russia’s export ban, against about 1.2 million from disruption around the Strait of Hormuz, according to Lipow Oil Associates.
The wider picture is more lopsided still as crude flows through the strait have fallen from around 20 million barrels a day before the war to about 7 million.
Between them, the two wars have also shut refineries representing around 5 million barrels a day of capacity.
Additional sources • AFP
China and South Korea are driving the surge, but regional growth is slowing.
This article appears in the September 2026 issue of Global Finance Magazine.
Global goods trade surged to US$13.7 trillion in the first half of this year, up 12.5% year over year, with Asia-Pacific leading the charge. The figures reflect an ongoing reconfiguration of global trade balances, as China’s goods trade surplus expanded further in the first quarter and the U.S. goods trade deficit continued to narrow.
But the trade figures only tell half the story, as growth is slowing across the Asia-Pacific region.
According to UNCTAD’s Global Trade Update, East Asia recorded the strongest trade growth in the first quarter. Both developed and developing economies in the region expanded at rates well above the global average, but developing economies drove most of the growth. While trade by developing economies globally, as well as South-South trade, recorded double-digit gains over the 12 months to the first quarter of 2026 when East Asia is included, they registered an overall contraction when East Asia is excluded, driven largely by reduced imports and exports from the Middle East and South Asia.
South Korea recorded the region’s strongest export growth, up 20% quarter over quarter, followed by China at 11% and Japan at 4%. South Korea also posted the strongest growth in services exports, at 9%. China led in imports at 13%, with South Korea next at 6% and Japan at 3%.
Asia-Pacific’s strength in automotive manufacturing and AI innovation is fueling trade growth in both industries. According to Allianz Trade, global exports of AI-enabling goods surged 280% between 2014 and 2025 to $3.8 trillion.
“Asia dominates the supply side, accounting for 65% of global AI-related exports and seven of the top 10 exporters, led by China (18% of AI-related exports), Taiwan (12%), and Hong Kong (11%),” the report states.
Major geoeconomic shifts continue to reshape trade patterns.
Canada’s trade dependence on China is rising—up 0.9% from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of this year—while the trade relationship between the U.S. and China is weakening. But East Asian economies, including Thailand and Vietnam, are becoming more dependent on both China and the U.S.
Much of the reported trade growth reflects higher prices rather than higher volumes, UNCTAD noted, as escalating costs in energy, transport, logistics, and manufacturing fuel trade inflation. And trade strength does not equal broad-based economic strength; UNCTAD’s own forecasts point to a slowdown ahead in GDP.
The organization’s Trade and Development Foresights 2026 report projects that economic growth in East Asia will slow to 3.7% for the remainder of the year, largely due to the region’s heavy reliance on energy imports from the Middle East. China’s growth is expected to ease to 4.6%, within its newly adjusted target range of 4.5% to 5%. Economic activity in Southeast Asia is expected to hold broadly steady at 4.3%. While South Asia remains the fastest-growing subregion, GDP growth there is forecast to slow from 6.3% in 2025 to 5.5%, with rising fossil fuel prices threatening to stoke inflation and financing pressures.
Deborah Ritchie is a contributing writer based in the U.K.
Los Angeles: The brightest stars in television are set to walk the red carpet Monday at the Emmy Awards, with horror-comedy series “Widow’s Bay” and gritty hospital drama “The Pitt” expected to win big.
Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay,” which stars Matthew Rhys as the leader of an isolated New England island that appears to be haunted, has emerged as one of the most talked-about debut series of the year.
“People just love that show,” Christopher Rosen, deputy editor of Hollywood news outlet The Ankler, told AFP.
It scooped up eight awards in the pre-gala ceremonies, and is in position to become the most awarded comedy series in a single year, surpassing the 13 trophies won last year by Seth Rogen’s Hollywood satire “The Studio.”
Rosen said he believes that Rhys — a winner for best drama actor for “The Americans” in 2018 — could now earn his first comedy Emmy.
A strong night for “Widow’s Bay” does not bode well for “Hacks,” the tale of a stand-up comedian trying to revive her career and the dysfunctional millennial assistant who helps her.
Its one solid bet left in the running – and maybe its only statuette, says Rosen – is a best actress prize for Jean Smart.
“That’s a great way to honor the final season,” Rosen told AFP. “She’s never lost from playing this part. I don’t see why she would lose for the final season.”
Smart, who turned 75 on Sunday, has won four Emmys for the show so far.
A win on Monday would give her eight acting Emmys, tying her with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman for the most ever by a performer. Allison Janney is also vying for her eighth Emmy, for “The Diplomat.”
’The Pitt’ expected to repeat as best drama
“The Pitt,” last year’s winner for best drama, follows the stressed-out workers in a Pittsburgh emergency room, with each episode unfolding in real time.
Tackling everything from abortion rights to immigration crackdowns to mass shootings, the show is the odds-on favorite to sweep several drama prizes including best series.
“If ‘The Pitt’ doesn’t win, it would be a tremendous shock,” Rosen said.
It led all shows with 25 nominations, and already won four awards in the early ceremonies, including best casting for a drama series.
Star Noah Wyle, who has racked up awards over the past year including an Emmy, is expected to triumph again. Seven of his co-stars are hopefuls in the supporting acting categories.
For best drama actress, Rosen says it will be a race between “Pluribus” star Rhea Seehorn and Keri Russell for political soap opera “The Diplomat.”
In the limited series categories, HBO Max’s “DTF St Louis” – the tale of a middle-aged love triangle gone wrong – is a top contender.
The show has scooped up six prizes so far, including two for actors David Harbour and Linda Cardellini.
Dolly tribute
The 78th Emmy Awards gala will be hosted by “Law and Order: SVU” star Mariska Hargitay, who won two Emmys for her documentary “My Mom Jayne.”
It will feature a tribute to late country music icon Dolly Parton, who was also an Emmy winner, and a performance from Noah Kahan, who will sing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during the broadcast’s In Memoriam segment.
The gala also will deliver some TV nostalgia, with “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz among the presenters, along with “Charlie’s Angels” stars Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd, and Jaclyn Smith.
Zendaya, a past winner and current nominee for best drama actress for “Euphoria,” is on the list of presenters, guaranteeing at least one bona fide red carpet moment.
The Emmys ceremony begins at 5:00 pm Monday (0000 GMT Tuesday).
DAMASCUS: Syria’s civil aviation sector is moving beyond the restoration of suspended international routes toward a broader rebuilding of its air transport network, with foreign airlines returning, regional airports reopening and projects underway to expand capacity and connectivity.
After years of disruption and limited international services, Arab, regional and European carriers have gradually restored flights to Syria, initially through Damascus and Aleppo international airports. The recovery has since extended eastward, with Deir Ezzor International Airport returning to service and Qamishli International Airport nearing reopening.
Air traffic through Syrian airspace has also increased sharply, while airport expansion projects and new aviation ventures point to a wider revival of the sector.
International airlines return
One of the early signs of recovery came in March 2025, when Aleppo International Airport reopened after rehabilitation work. Royal Jordanian operated a test flight to the airport on March 23 to assess security and safety ahead of resuming regular services following a 14-year interruption.
European carriers followed. Romania’s Dan Air resumed flights to Syria on June 15, while Air Mediterranean operated a flight to Damascus from Austria and Greece on June 30.
Gulf carriers also restored connections. Air Arabia returned to Damascus from Sharjah on July 10, followed six days later by Emirates, which resumed flights after a 13-year interruption.
The first Emirates flight carried 286 passengers, including UAE Minister of Sports Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi. The carrier announced three weekly Damascus-Dubai services, restoring a route that had carried nearly 2.5 million passengers between its launch in 1988 and suspension in 2012.
The expansion accelerated in 2026. AJet restored Istanbul-Aleppo flights in April, followed by Pegasus Airlines in June. Etihad Airways began scheduled Abu Dhabi-Damascus flights on June 14, while Jazeera Airways launched Kuwait-Aleppo service later that month.
Traffic through Syrian airspace surges
The recovery has been reflected in air traffic over Syria.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport said the number of aircraft transiting Syrian airspace rose from 32 in March, after the airspace was closed amid regional tensions, to 2,523 in April.
The increase coincided with the resumption of operations by 12 international airlines through Damascus and Aleppo airports.
Authorities have also focused on restoring direct air links with Europe through coordination with international aviation organizations on safety and operational requirements.
On July 2, the first Syrian Airlines flight from Amsterdam arrived at Damascus International Airport, launching a service three times a week. The airline said the route was the first in a series of international destinations planned for the carrier.
Air Arabia restored daily Sharjah-Aleppo flights on July 4 after an interruption of about 12 years, while Flydubai announced daily services to Aleppo beginning July 20.
Kuwait Airways also returned to Damascus in July.
On July 29, the first LEAV Aviation flight from Düsseldorf arrived at Damascus International Airport, opening the first regular air service between Syria and Germany in 14 years.
The flight followed a final air transport agreement signed by the Syrian and German governments on July 16. The agreement includes services from four German airports operated by two German airlines.
Aleppo prepares for major expansion
Aleppo International Airport reached another milestone Aug. 1 when it received inaugural flights from three international airlines in a single day: Türkiye’s SunExpress, Germany’s LEAV Aviation and Saudi Arabia’s Flynas.
The development underscored the accelerating recovery of Syrian civil aviation and growing confidence among international carriers.
Authorities are also preparing to expand the airport’s capacity. Development work at the existing Aleppo airport is scheduled to begin in early 2027, with annual passenger capacity expected to exceed 2 million.
The project aims to improve operational efficiency, technical capabilities and passenger services while preparations continue for a new Aleppo International Airport.
The plans followed talks in Jeddah from Sept. 7 to 10 between a Syrian civil aviation delegation and Saudi Arabia’s Elaf Investment Fund, led by Bin Dawood Investment Group.
The agreement covers development and operation of the existing airport and construction of a new international facility. The new airport is planned in stages, with initial capacity of about 6 million passengers annually eventually rising to 12 million.
The project also includes financing for an integrated navigation radar system covering Syrian airspace.
Aviation recovery extends eastward
The expansion is no longer limited to Damascus and Aleppo.
Deir Ezzor International Airport returned to service Aug. 5 after rehabilitation work and years of suspension. Syrian Airlines resumed flights from Damascus, while Jazeera Airways launched regular direct Kuwait-Deir Ezzor service Aug. 8. A World Food Programme flight arrived two days later as humanitarian air operations resumed.
On Sept. 1, German carrier LEAV Aviation operated its first direct flight from Cologne to Deir Ezzor, becoming the first European carrier to provide scheduled service to the airport.
Authorities said three additional regional destinations were being prepared, with technical teams expected to inspect airport equipment, infrastructure and safety and security procedures.
Qamishli International Airport is also nearing reopening as rehabilitation work enters its final stages. The project, which began Feb. 25, is expected to help reconnect Hasakah province and the wider eastern region with Syria’s national air transport network.
New aviation ventures
New aviation projects are emerging alongside the restoration of existing routes.
During a visit to Riyadh on Sept. 7, Syrian aviation officials met Flynas CEO Bandar Almohanna to review implementation of an agreement establishing “flynas Syria” and discuss expanding aviation cooperation between Syria and Saudi Arabia.
The meeting followed talks between Syrian and Saudi aviation authorities on boosting air traffic and coordination.
In February, the two sides signed an agreement to establish “nas Syria” as a new low-cost airline as part of a broader package of Syrian-Saudi commercial agreements.
Authorities are also planning to convert Mezzeh Airport in Damascus from a military facility into an airport for limited civilian operations, mainly serving private and executive aviation.
Preliminary work includes rubble removal and upgrades to air navigation infrastructure, while technical, operational, environmental and regulatory studies are underway. The airport is expected to complement Damascus International Airport.
Reconnecting Syrians and supporting the economy
The restoration of air routes is facilitating family reunification after years of separation and reducing reliance on costly indirect flights and transit connections for Syrians living in Europe and the Gulf.
The expanding network is also expected to strengthen links between expatriates and their homeland and facilitate the return of skilled professionals.
Economically, improved air connectivity could support trade, investment and tourism while strengthening Damascus and Aleppo as regional economic centers. Plans for Aleppo airport also envisage increased passenger and cargo traffic and greater support for industrial and commercial activity in northern Syria.
The revival has coincided with closer aviation cooperation with Arab and European countries, including the air transport agreement with Germany and expanding coordination with Saudi Arabia.
From restoring routes to rebuilding a network
From only a handful of flights in early 2025 to more than a dozen international airlines operating through Damascus and Aleppo by mid-2026, Syria’s aviation network has undergone a marked transformation.
Routes now connect Syria with Türkiye, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Austria and Romania.
At the same time, Aleppo is preparing for major capacity expansion, Deir Ezzor has returned to domestic and international service, Qamishli is nearing reopening, Mezzeh is being considered for limited civilian operations and a new low-cost airline venture is under development.
What began as the restoration of routes suspended for years is developing into a broader rebuilding of Syria’s aviation network, reconnecting its provinces, linking Syrians abroad with their homeland and expanding the country’s connections to regional and international air transport networks.
Md Babul Hosen/iStock via Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration approved Telix Pharmaceuticals’ (TLX) Pixclara, a radioactive imaging drug used to help evaluate patients with glioma, the company said Sunday.
Pixclara, also known as floretyrosine F 18, is approved for use with positron emission tomography to help
MOGADISHU, Somalia: Somalia’s business community is seeking alternative shipping routes due to disruptions and security concerns around the Bab Al-Mandab Strait and the Strait of Hormuz after Iran-backed Houthis captured a key port city and an island, sending thousands of Yemenis fleeing to neighboring Djibouti.
Companies have traditionally imported goods from Asia through Gulf countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. Now, some are trying a more direct approach.
“The latest tensions in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, as well as those in the Strait of Hormuz, have negatively impacted us,” said Mohamed Ali Nur, director of Mogadishu Seaport. “But we have also taken measures to avoid that disruption.”
Nur said his port has worked with exporters to find alternative routes.
“For the first time, we brought a ship carrying sugar directly from Sri Lanka,” Nur said. “This could be a strategy we developed because of these tensions.”
Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Saudi Arabia have been battling the Houthis for 12 years.
The recent escalation has ended a ceasefire that had largely stopped civil war across Yemen since 2022.
Now the number of people from Yemen fleeing the fighting is soaring.
On Sunday, the International Organization for Migration said over 85,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of the month. More than 2,000 people have reached Djibouti, which neighbors Somalia, the agency said.
At Mogadishu’s busy seaport, cargo ships continue to unload food and other commodities. Somalia is particularly dependent on maritime trade for many of the goods its people use every day.
For ordinary Somali consumers, changes in shipping routes can eventually be felt in the markets, where imported food and other goods are sold. Longer or more complicated journeys can mean higher transportation costs and delays in getting products onto store shelves.
Capt Ali Jemdi, who is originally from Syria and ships cargoes of sugar, said uncertainty in the region is already creating concerns for ships operating along the routes.
“There is some trouble over there because of the war,” he told The Associated Press, referring to the Arabian Gulf and surrounding waters. “The Bab al-Mandab may also have some issues for the vessel.”
He said the instability could make maritime transportation and trade more difficult.