Economics and Policy
Brent crude rose toward $108 a barrel on Wednesday, recovering from a three-month low hit in the previous session, on hopes that a deal to bail out Cyprus could be reached although the uncertainty kept a lid on prices.
Gold held steady on Wednesday, close to a three-week high as Cyprus's rejection of bailout terms triggered worries about a default and underpinned safe haven demand in gold.
Lebanon’s long-awaited new salary scale draft law will be tied to an increase in working hours of civil servants and a tax hike on luxury goods, State Minister Marwan Kheiireddine has said.
Depositors will rush to withdraw their money from Lebanese and foreign banks operating in Cyprus unless the EU abandons its demand to tax all deposits in the island, bankers have said.
Rising oil trade between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey threatens to split Iraq in two, a senior Iraqi official said, as the autonomous region ignores Baghdad's threats of tough action against what it terms illegal exports.
Business and Companies
Saudi Arabia’s attempts to reform its expatriate-heavy labor market have put more than 600,000 locals into jobs at private companies, a senior official said on Tuesday, a sharp increase over previous rates.
The Middle Eastern owner of Leeds United has signalled that it is in talks to sell the former English Premier League soccer club it bought only in December.
