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
Hebron's handicrafts honored with top award The West Bank city of Hebron won the World Craft City award, which officials hope will encourage cultural exchange and trade with other parts of the world. Palestine
How US cash payments story played out in Iran While Washington’s $1.7 billion payment to Iran caused controversy in the US, it was a non-story in Iran. United States
Culinary training program cooks up job training for Gaza To meet the growing needs of Gaza's flourishing restaurant industry, one woman has created a first-of-its-kind project to teach the culinary arts in partnership with the Smile Training and Development Center. Palestine
Ultra-Orthodox arms dealer faces extradition to US Israel's Supreme Court has rejected Eli Cohen's appeal to stop his extradition to the United States for violating sanctions against Iran after a long history of evading prosecution for such offenses. Israel
Why law graduates are overwhelming Iraq's job market As public and private universities in Iraq are graduating significantly more lawyers than in the past, many lawyers cannot find jobs and the quality of the legal sector has declined. Iraq
Controversial cable car project in Jerusalem pushed by Israeli mayor The Israeli mayor of Jerusalem is using an extensive Disney-like cable car project to improve his standing with the Likud Party, while the Palestinians publicly oppose his unilateral action. Palestine
Has Israel's secular majority been abandoned by politicians? While Israel argues over train maintenance on the Sabbath, Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid is not leading the battle against religious coercion but avoiding clashes with the ultra-Orthodox for his personal political interests. Israel
Cairo calls for austerity while ministers make money grab The Egyptian government has made more calls for austerity measures, but simultaneous proposals to raise government salaries have left citizens unmoved. Egypt
Egypt installs prepaid electric meters for mosques Houses of worship in Egypt will need to be more watchful about their electricity consumption as the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity installs prepaid meters to ensure that the bills gets paid. Egypt
Syria's Tourism Ministry hopes to lure visitors, despite war Domestic tourism failed to compensate for the major losses incurred by Syria’s tourism sector as a result of the war. Syria
Prince Salman gets jump on G-20 as Saudi 'Mr. Everything' tours Asia Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to be the youngest representative at the upcoming G-20 summit, his most significant step on the global stage to date, but can the spotlight on "Mr. Everything" distract from Yemen? Saudi Arabia
How Egypt’s antiquities minister plans to lure back tourists In the aftermath of the January 25 Revolution, Egypt’s antiquities and tourism sectors are suffering. Egypt