$700 million undersea cable to connect UAE, Turkey and Iraq

An Iraqi-Emirati consortium is planning a $700 million high-speed cable linking the UAE to Turkey through Iraq, aiming to ease pressure on crowded east-west data routes.

The project, called WorldLink, would run underwater from Fujairah in the UAE to Iraq’s Faw Peninsula, then continue overland to the Turkish border.

Backers say the network will be built in stages over about five years to serve big cloud and AI companies while offering a faster alternative to routes that pass through the Suez Canal, Reuters reports.

The plan underscores intensifying Gulf competition to become a regional hub for digital connectivity and data-center investment.

Oil soars and stocks slide amid Middle East escalation fears

Stocks fell and oil surged as much as 13% in its biggest intraday rise in three years early on Friday, as investors feared a major escalation of tensions in the Middle East after Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear program and Iranian military leaders.

Brent crude surged to $78 a barrel before easing to around $75, rapidly erasing much of this year’s losses caused by trade tensions and increased OPEC+ output. Gold also hit its highest level in weeks, rising 1.2% to $3,423.30 an ounce as investors fled to safety.

Analysts fear that Iran could target shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through, potentially disrupting supplies of millions of barrels of oil a day in an extreme scenario. Such a scenario could see prices reach $130 a barrel, JPMorgan Chase & Co. recently warned.

“We are seeing classical risk-off moves,” Matthew Haupt, portfolio manager at Wilson Asset Management, told Bloomberg. “What we are watching now for is the speed and scale of the response from Tehran. That will shape the duration of the current moves. Quite often these moves fade after the initial shocks.”

Meanwhile, Gulf airlines delayed and cancelled flights to Iran, Iraq and Israel on Friday, with some rerouted mid-flight. Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice, while Iran closed its airspace and Iraq suspended civilian flights. Flights to Lebanon and Jordan were also disrupted.

Egypt intercontinental rail plan needs go-ahead for Saudi bridge

Egypt is aiming to link its expanding railway network with Asia and Europe, but it hasn’t yet been able to finalize plans to build a bridge to Saudi Arabia.

In the meantime, it will use ships to bring cargo across the Red Sea, Reuters reports. Saudi’s King Salman first announced the bridge project in 2016, envisioning a road that would cross the Straits of Tiran to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

If completed, the route would compete with another notional rail project that would connect the UAE to Israel’s Haifa Port through Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Another project on the drawing board would run north from the Gulf through Iraq.