• As the impact of the pandemic diminishes, investors also see an opportunity for BNPL firms to take more business at the shop till in the Middle East.

• France's latest proposal -- announced in a statement from Paris on Tuesday evening -- quickly drew a firm response from the United States, signaling it would wield its veto again if needed.

• Zhang Jun, Beijing's ambassador to the UN, told reporters his team had heard the proposal and for China.

• The Gaza Health Ministry put the death toll in the densely populated enclave of 2 million Palestinians at 197, including 58 children and 34 women. Ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children, Israeli authorities say

• According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 21 civilians have been killed by Israeli air raids on the besieged Gaza Strip, after Hamas launched retaliatory rockets from the coastal territory.
• The aerial bombardment occurred after Hamas fired several rockets at Israel, after Israel refused to withdraw forces from the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

• Israel responded with attacks by fighter jets and helicopters, with at least 30 Palestinians and three Israelis now killed in the violence since Monday evening.

• S&P also highlighted that the full impact of the coronavirus crisis has yet to materialise and more requests for sukuk restructurings and maturity extensions, as well as higher default rates, are expected this year.

DUBAI: Major bourses in the Middle East were mostly quiet on Sunday in the absence of fresh cataysts to trade on,...

• OPEC+ has lowered its 2021 oil demand growth forecast by 300,000 barrels per day.

DUSHANBE (Tajiki-stan): Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday invited Tajikistan to benefit from...

• Blinken will join President Joe Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, in Anchorage on March 18 with their Chinese counterparts Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi.

• Report highlights unprecedented clean air as a result of short term COVID-19 lockdown measures, as well as extreme pollution episodes related to climate change, such as wildfires and sandstorms
• Only 24 countries out of 106 met World Health Organization (WHO) annual guidelines for PM2.5 in 2020

• On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be travelling to the United Arab Emirates, making it his first official to the Gulf nation after the establishment of formal diplomatic relations.
• Netanyahu will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

• Sales volumes fell for the first time since May 2020 in February as Dubai imposed increased coronavirus-related restrictions. Employment grew, but only marginally.

• Turkey has been reportedly pushing to co-manufacture warplanes and missiles in Pakistan, which could potentially grant it access to coveted military technology from China.

• Saudi Aramco changed the benchmark for setting its official selling prices to Asia starting from October 2018 to the average of Platts Dubai and DME Oman crude futures.

ANKARA: Turkey and Iran summoned each other's ambassadors on Sunday, Turkish and Iranian state media reported,...

• Iran has registered a total of 1,631,169 infections, according to the ministry.

According to recent news reports, air strikes by Syrian government’s ally Russia killed at least 21 Islamic State...

• A study mandated by the US Congress has called for a delay in the pullout, warning it would effectively hand the Taliban a victory.

• The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said early on Monday morning it had intercepted and destroyed an explosive-laden drone fired by the Houthis toward the kingdom.

• If the sanctions are lifted, Iran's production level could exceed 4 million bpd by 2023, Rystad Energy forecast.

• "We begin our national vaccination against the Covid-19 virus (in) memory of the martyrdom.

President Joe Biden is quickly if subtly rebalancing US priorities in the Middle East, walking back his...

• "The focus is broadly on the Middle East. I'm sure Iran will be a part of the discussion," Psaki told a White House briefing. "It's not a decisional meeting."

KARACHI: Building on the surge in digital commerce since the start of the pandemic, Visa, the world leader in ...

• Pakistan's Ministry of Religious Affairs presented a summary to the Economic Coordination Committee, to scale up the Road to Makkah project.
• Under the Road to Makkah Project, initiated by Saudi Arabia, all the immigration requirements of pilgrims would be sorted out at the airport of origin.

• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the incoming U.S. administration on Wednesday to return to a 2015 nuclear agreement and lift sanctions on Tehran, while welcoming the end of “tyrant” President Donald Trump’s era.
• U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Wednesday, has said the United States will rejoin the pact, which includes restrictions on Iran’s nuclear work, if Tehran resumes strict compliance.

• On Tuesday, alleged air strikes carried out by the United States in Southwest Iraq killed at least nine people and injured dozens.
• As reported, witnesses saw American drones flying over al-Qaim, near the Syrian border, despite American security officials denying any strike in the region.

• All Jewish settlements in the West Bank are regarded as illegal by much of the international community.