Who Decides What MENA Reads: Inside a Regional Wire Desk's Day
From the first alert of the morning to the last syndication feed at night, a small group of editors shapes what the region's news pages carry.
Sala News — NEWS ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA
Algiers Casbah and Tipasa: Algeria's coastal heritage, in practice
How to visit the UNESCO-listed Casbah of Algiers and the Roman ruins of Tipasa: guides and access, the e-visa, the train west along the coast, and the October-to-May calendar that fits them.
How Gulf pension systems work, and what expats get instead
Citizens build state pensions funded by employer and employee contributions; expatriates fall outside the schemes and receive end-of-service gratuity instead. How the six GCC systems differ, and where the reforms are heading.
Six months on, Hormuz traffic still a fraction of normal
Tracking data show a handful of transits a day against roughly 85 in peacetime, despite the open-by-declaration status, keeping the world's most important chokepoint effectively closed to routine commerce.
Zelensky presses Washington for new Russia sanctions as war enters autumn
The Ukrainian president's call for immediate measures, highlighted in mid-September briefings, lands on a US capital absorbed by its own energy-inflated midterm campaign and managing the Iran war's sanctions architecture.
MENA's power grids are linking up: from the GCC supergrid to Egypt-Saudi
The Gulf has run a shared 400-kilovolt supergrid since 2009, the Egypt-Saudi HVDC link is being commissioned around three gigawatts, and the Morocco-Spain cables carry power across the Mediterranean. How the region's wires connect.
How to follow the Saudi Pro League: clubs, derbies, tickets
Eighteen clubs, an August-to-May season, a Riyadh derby with a global following and a broadcasting setup that changed regional football viewing: a practical guide to watching the Saudi Pro League from inside the kingdom or abroad.
EIA sees Brent near $90 through the second half as supply slowly rebuilds
The US Energy Information Administration's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts Brent averaging around $90 a barrel in the second half of 2026, easing only as production rises and inventories rebuild into 2027.
MENA News
More to read →Who Decides What MENA Reads: Inside a Regional Wire Desk's Day
From the first alert of the morning to the last syndication feed at night, a small group of editors shapes what the region's news pages carry.
Sep 26, 2026
Egypt's foreign reserves hit a record $56.3 billion despite the war
Net international reserves rose 2.2 percent to $56.29 billion at the end of July, the Central Bank reported, as the pound steadied and remittances and Gulf inflows outweighed Suez weakness.
Aug 3, 2026
Saudi Arabia unveils 14-nation coalition to protect Red Sea shipping
Riyadh announced the multinational maritime defense alliance on July 30, as US naval presence in the region draws down and Houthi attacks pressure the kingdom's western ports.
Aug 1, 2026
How Gulf pension systems work, and what expats get instead
Citizens build state pensions funded by employer and employee contributions; expatriates fall outside the schemes and receive end-of-service gratuity instead. How the six GCC systems differ, and where the reforms are heading.
Sep 15, 2026
MENA's power grids are linking up: from the GCC supergrid to Egypt-Saudi
The Gulf has run a shared 400-kilovolt supergrid since 2009, the Egypt-Saudi HVDC link is being commissioned around three gigawatts, and the Morocco-Spain cables carry power across the Mediterranean. How the region's wires connect.
Sep 13, 2026
Algiers Casbah and Tipasa: Algeria's coastal heritage, in practice
How to visit the UNESCO-listed Casbah of Algiers and the Roman ruins of Tipasa: guides and access, the e-visa, the train west along the coast, and the October-to-May calendar that fits them.
Sep 16, 2026
Egypt's core inflation eases to 11.2 percent in January
Central Bank data show core inflation falling from 11.8 percent in December to 11.2 percent in January 2026, a continued disinflation that frames the monetary-policy question as the IMF program's next reviews arrive.
Feb 11, 2026
Qatar says attacks wiped out 17 percent of its LNG capacity
QatarEnergy assessments reported March 19 find strikes on Ras Laffan knocking out about a sixth of the world's largest LNG export base for three to five years, with the UAE shutting gas facilities amid the escalation.
Mar 20, 2026
Bahrain's Pearling Path: how to walk Muharraq's UNESCO trail
A practical guide to the 3.5-kilometer Pearling Path across Muharraq island: the forts, merchants' houses and oyster-heritage sites it links, what else to pair with it in Manama, and when to go.
Apr 28, 2026
UAE non-oil growth accelerates as Dubai PMI hits 55.9 in January
S&P Global's January purchasing managers' indexes, published February 4, show Dubai at 55.9 and the UAE at 56.6, with new business growth accelerating on demand strength across the non-oil economy.
Feb 5, 2026
What happened to Egypt's Zohr gas boom?
Eni's 2015 discovery was the largest ever in the Mediterranean and made Egypt a gas exporter by 2018; decline and unpaid bills have since turned Cairo into a summer LNG importer. The arc, explained.
Mar 10, 2026
Can you visit Saudi Arabia on a tourist visa? Yes, and here is how
The eVisa costs around SAR 535 all-in, runs one year with multiple entries of up to 90 days, and covers most Western passports. What the process involves, what it does not permit, and what to plan around.
Apr 24, 2026
Society & Culture
More to read →How to follow the Saudi Pro League: clubs, derbies, tickets
Eighteen clubs, an August-to-May season, a Riyadh derby with a global following and a broadcasting setup that changed regional football viewing: a practical guide to watching the Saudi Pro League from inside the kingdom or abroad.
Sep 12, 2026
How prayer times structure the day across MENA
Five daily prayers set to the sun's position, shifting a minute or two each day and by latitude: the adhan marks the hours, Friday's midday sermon reshapes the week, and prayer rooms are built into every mall and airport.
Jun 7, 2026
MENA's grand museums: what to see, from the Grand Egyptian to Louvre Abu Dhabi
The Grand Egyptian Museum fully opened in November 2025 with Tutankhamun's complete collection on display; Louvre Abu Dhabi and Doha's Museum of Islamic Art anchor the Gulf's museum decade. A visitor's guide to the region's major museums.
Jun 3, 2026
MENA's film festival calendar: what runs when, and why it matters
Cairo in November, Carthage in the same season, Marrakech after it and Jeddah's Red Sea in December: the region's festival circuit is now a fixed structure with real market power. A month-by-month guide.
May 30, 2026
World
More to read →Six months on, Hormuz traffic still a fraction of normal
Tracking data show a handful of transits a day against roughly 85 in peacetime, despite the open-by-declaration status, keeping the world's most important chokepoint effectively closed to routine commerce.
Sep 14, 2026
Zelensky presses Washington for new Russia sanctions as war enters autumn
The Ukrainian president's call for immediate measures, highlighted in mid-September briefings, lands on a US capital absorbed by its own energy-inflated midterm campaign and managing the Iran war's sanctions architecture.
Sep 13, 2026
EIA sees Brent near $90 through the second half as supply slowly rebuilds
The US Energy Information Administration's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts Brent averaging around $90 a barrel in the second half of 2026, easing only as production rises and inventories rebuild into 2027.
Sep 10, 2026
General Assembly opens with the Iran war atop the agenda
The UN's annual session begins September 8 with a diplomatic season shaped by the strike pause, the strait's unresolved status and the region's reconstruction claims, six months after the Council could not fully condemn the war's opening.
Sep 9, 2026