By reopening a key crossing with Jordan this month, the Syrian regime is inching toward a return to trade with the wider region as it looks to boost its war-ravaged economy. The government of President Bashar Assad took back control of the Nassib border post in July from rebels as part of a...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- A Facebook ' post ' by Syrian activist Fidaa al-Zaatri was virally surfaced on Jordan's social media that celebrated the reopening the strategic Nassib border crossing where Jordanians said everything is very cheap in comparison to their currency.  Al-Zaatri said...

German exports to Iran have dwindled since the United States pulled out of the international nuclear deal with Tehran, data showed Friday, despite Berlin's attempts to shield companies from renewed U.S. sanctions against Tehran. Data from the Association of German Banks (BdB) showed...

With the US economy continuing to fire on all pistons sales by Swedish lorry maker Volvo Group rose by nearly a third in North America in the latest quarter. With overall sales up by a fifth, Volvo Group's net profit leapt by 38.6 percent to 7.46 billion kronor (720 million euros, $825...

Vietnam said Thursday it will ratify a sprawling Pacific trade pact that US President Donald Trump pulled out of last year, calling the deal a "disgrace" for American jobs. The 11 remaining countries agreed to push ahead with a watered-down version without the world's largest economy,...

Microsoft Corporation co-founder Paul Allen died Monday at age 65, according to a statement released by one of his companies. Vulcan Inc. said Allen passed away in Seattle, Washington due to complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer affecting the immune system. “It is...

Saudi stocks dived 7.0 percent in early trading on Sunday as the oil-rich kingdom comes under increasing international pressure over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) quickly lost more than 500 points on the first trading day of the...

 Syria’s wheat crop this year was the smallest in three decades as war and drought cut production by around 30 percent, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said Tuesday. Output of 1.2 million tons in 2018 was the lowest since 1989 and compared with a pre-crisis average of...

A top United Nations official said Tuesday that Qatar is buying fuel to restart the only power plant in the beleaguered Gaza Strip. Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N.'s resident humanitarian coordinator, said this will add a few more hours of electricity for Gaza's 2 million residents, who...

Foreign direct investment in Egypt’s nonoil economy fell in the second quarter to its lowest levels since just after an IMF-backed austerity plan began nearly two years ago, a sign that more pain may lie ahead before Egyptians begin reaping benefits. Egypt is counting on new private-sector...

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that oil giant Aramco's initial public offering will go ahead by early 2021 after reports emerged the plan had been scrapped, Bloomberg reported. "I believe late 2020, early 2021," Prince Mohammed told Bloomberg in an interview published late...

A "mafia" of recruitment agents is trapping Myanmar migrants to Thailand in debt bondage despite a 2017 law meant to fight exploitation in the kingdom's notoriously shadowy job market, activists and workers say. Migrant labour -- much of it from Myanmar -- has propped up Thailand's...

Japanese car giant Toyota and conglomerate Softbank on Thursday announced they would create a joint venture to provide "new mobility services" including autonomous vehicles for services such as meal deliveries. The new company will be called "Monet" -- short for "mobility network" -- and...

"Talk of sanctions on Iran reemerged, and my essential medicine was no longer available," said Masoud Mir who suffers from thalassaemia, a genetic blood disease common in Iran. Mir, 36, is one of many patients in the Islamic Republic who not only have to deal with their disability, but...

Online retail giant Amazon announced Tuesday it would raise its starting wage for US workers to $15 an hour, amid long-standing criticism of low pay, and advocate for a higher minimum wage nationwide. The pay raise will apply to 250,000 employees, starting November 1, and to the more...

Nigeria appears to have taken a softer stance on Africa's leading mobile operator MTN, assuring stakeholders that a dispute over the repatriation of $8.13 in dividends will be "resolved". Talking to reporters in Abuja following a monetary policy committee meeting on Tuesday, Nigeria's...

  Brent oil soared Monday close to $81, reaching the highest level since November 2014 after OPEC and other global producers snubbed pressure from US President Donald Trump to dampen prices. At 0840 GMT, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November soared to a peak of $80.94 per...

OPEC's leader Saudi Arabia and its biggest oil-producer ally outside the group, Russia, ruled out Sunday any immediate, additional increase in crude output, effectively rebuffing U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for action to cool the market. "I do not influence prices," Saudi Energy...

Sports car maker Porsche said Sunday it would become the first German auto giant to abandon the diesel engine, reacting to parent company Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal and urban driving bans. "There won't be any Porsche diesels in the future," CEO Oliver Blume told the...

The relationship between two major oil benchmarks is charting an unexpected course as U.S. sanctions take Iranian crude out of the market. As demand for alternative Middle Eastern supply increases, regional marker Dubai crude has reason to strengthen. Yet it’s weakening against London’s Brent –...