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
Tunisia hopes boost in Chinese investment can ease economic woes After years of placing investments elsewhere in the African continent, China is increasingly looking to Tunisia to serve as an ideal middleman to control passageways between North Africa and Europe. Egypt
Can European business and technology save the Iran deal? Far from being a passive bystander as the Trump administration moves to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, Europe has plenty of options to save the accord. United States
Turkey’s nuclear power plant project gets second chance The planned Akkuyu nuclear power plant has had its share of problems, but could become a lucrative strategic partnership between Russia and Turkey. Turkey
Economic gloom fuels flight from Turkish lira The Turkish government slammed Moody’s for downgrading Turkey’s credit rating, but its own citizens are increasingly fleeing the Turkish lira for the safety of hard currencies. Turkey
Iran's break with dollar easier said than done The Iranian authorities’ move to ban import orders registered in US dollars presents yet another challenge for the private sector. Iran
Turkish firms welcome return of air access to Iraqi Kurdistan Now that Baghdad has lifted the ban on international travel to the Iraqi Kurdistan region, experts say the Turkish government needs to resume mutual flights as soon as possible. Iraq
Jerusalem electricity company crippled by Israel, Palestinian Authority The Jerusalem District Electricity Company, which supplies energy to 280,000 customers spanning four districts and employing more than 1,000 Palestinians, faces several challenges by the Israeli and Palestinian governments. Palestine
Egypt to 'partially privitize' railways Cairo's plan to involve the private sector in the management of its railways is intended to improve services and fight corruption, but some in Egypt see any movement toward privatization as a dangerous slide. Egypt
Egyptian campaign speaks up for architectural heritage Inspired by the plight of an Alexandria villa that has played an important literary role, a group of Egyptians are working to educate the public and protect the remaining palaces and other architectural wealth of Egypt. Egypt
Animators with passion bring humor to digital content in Gaza Three young Palestinians are determined to create socially relevant and sometimes-humorous digital content in Gaza despite some obstacles. Palestine
Sisi pitches Sinai development to business world Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called on the country’s business leaders to help develop Sinai, but interest has been underwhelming so far. Egypt
Iran says IS resurgence could hamper oil deal with Iraq An Iranian official warns that numerous attacks in Iraq have created security concerns that are preventing the countries from completing their oil deal, but some Iraqis think the Kurdistan Regional Government has engineered the situation because it no longer controls the oil. Iraq