Turkey lifts veil on unemployment data, revealing bigger army of jobless A new, broader set of labor statistics has exposed a big gap between Turkey’s official unemployment rate and the actual joblessness in the crisis-hit country. Turkey
Rights group criticizes Jordan over debt imprisonment Human Rights Watch has highlighted the plight of poor Jordanians imprisoned for failing to pay back loans taken out to meet basic needs. Jordan
COVID accelerates evolution of Gulf economies The economic policy response to COVID-19 is an acceleration of specific trends already underway across the Gulf Cooperation Council members, variously affecting tax policy, labor market regulation and immigration policy. Saudi Arabia
Iran receives COVID-19 vaccine from Cuba Iran enjoys warm relations with the Latin American state and the two countries are also developing a coronavirus vaccine together. Iran
Brunson affair becomes litmus test for Turkish-US ties Uncertainty remains over whether the American pastor will be released from detention next week by a Turkish court. Turkey
EU votes to withhold funding as Turkish democracy limps The European Union will withhold 70 million euros over Turkey's failure to stop its democratic decline in a blow sure to hurt Ankara where it counts. Turkey
Iranians mob money changers to sell dollars as rial jumps Iranians rushed to money changers in several cities to sell their "home-kept" dollars as their national currency started to regain value. Iran
Israel presses Palestinian olive farmers with new restrictions Israel has imposed new conditions that make it even harder, and in many cases impossible, for Palestinian farmers to harvest their olives. Palestine
How the Rouhani administration can contain excess liquidity In the absence of genuine reforms that will allow the adoption of more prudent fiscal, monetary and foreign currency policies, the Iranian economy will remain structurally crisis-ridden. Iran
Raki bottles tell story of Turkey's changes The story of raki under the Justice and Development Party is the story of Turkey’s Islamic conservative transformation in a nutshell. Turkey
Egypt to sell valuable cotton land to bolster the textile industry Egypt announced that it will sell 14 tracts of land where it stores its industrial cotton gins to compensate for the heavy losses suffered by the textile industry. Egypt
Turkey’s glitzy shopping malls in dire straits amid currency woes Turkey’s once bustling shopping malls are grappling with severe financial woes, with many facing an uncertain future. Turkey
Egypt’s stock market faces fluctuations over manipulation case A move to charge prominent investors, including sons of former President Hosni Mubarak, with stock market violations, has rattled the Egyptian Exchange, which was already on edge due to US trade policies and rising interest rates. Egypt
Erdogan warms to Germans ahead of trip, but Berlin visit may disappoint Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hopeful talk en route to Berlin via New York this week is premature, as his visit has sharply divided Germany and the large Turkish population that lives there. Turkey
Why Turkey’s new economic program failed to impress The Turkish government’s hallmark rejection of self-criticism affects consistency and realism in its diagnoses of economic woes and the remedies it plans. Turkey
Is Jordan ready to normalize ties with Syria? Syrian and Jordanian officials are in technical talks about reopening their border for trade purposes, but analysts have noted Amman's wariness about normalizing relations for fear of its possible effect on relations with its Arab and Gulf allies. Jordan