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
Amid financial hardship, Erdogan looks to Qatar as 'rich daddy' Turkey’s leadership, increasingly isolated in the region amid spats with Russia and Iraq, knocks on the doors of Israel and Qatar, with the latter providing much-needed foreign investment. Qatar
Young Israelis do whatever it takes to buy a home In spite of promises by politicians and social activists, Israelis do not believe that housing prices are going to drop anytime soon — so they will do everything in their power just to buy a home. Israel
Ethiopia, Egypt dam feud drags on The future of the negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on the New Renaissance Dam is hazier than ever as the political and technical deadlock persists. Egypt
26-year-old female MP has big plans for Egypt’s new parliament In an interview with Al-Monitor, Sarah Saleh, Egypt’s newest and youngest parliamentarian for South Sinai governorate, speaks about the challenges facing her constituency and her plans to address them. Egypt
Did Erdogan give up Gaza in return for Israeli gas? Erdogan’s ambition for a presidential system keeps him from dropping the Gaza precondition for the settlement of sour relations with Israel, but this does not stop the two sides from cooperating on natural gas. Palestine
Israel commits $25 million to new anti-BDS task force, but what exactly will they do? A new office designed to combat the BDS campaign targeting Israel is to open in January. Palestine
Is BDS movement spreading across Europe? Despite a lack of funding and solid organizational backing at home, the Palestinian diaspora in Europe has increased its activities and is winning ever stronger support, costing Israel more in economic losses and international status by the week. Palestine
Rouhani announces sanctions to be removed by January After the IAEA resolution concluding that Iran has not conducted weapons-related researched in their nuclear program since 2009, President Hassan Rouhani declared that sanctions will be removed by January. Iran
Why is Israel recruiting so many Jordanian workers? Israel is recruiting hundreds of Jordanian workers and dismissing some Palestinians from their jobs, raising questions about Israel's motivation. Israel
Will Iran's red tape thwart post-sanctions boom? Amid the imminent lifting of sanctions, Iran's complicated licensing and permit regulations continue to deter investment — despite the Rouhani administration's efforts. Iran
After Paris summit, will Turkey warm up to climate change? Turkey will need to work harder to curb greenhouse gas emissions in the aftermath of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. Turkey
How solar energy is sparking new business in Egypt Egypt, which currently gets 90% of its energy from fossil fuels, is trying to take advantage of its plentiful sunshine through solar power. Egypt
