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
Will Iranians watch Saudi-financed Persian TV? Hoping to reach an Iranian audience, Saudi Arabia is moving to focus more on Persian-language media, but the kingdom has little advantage in an already saturated market. Saudi Arabia
How one Turkish village became rich overnight Many impoverished villagers in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast have made a fortune selling chunks of a meteorite after one exploded in September, while tax inspectors gripe about not receiving their share. Turkey
Why young Gazans need cement to get married In an attempt to curb the use of cement in tunnels Hamas has been building to attack Israelis, Israel restricts the importation of cement to Gaza, limiting the possibilities for many young people in Gaza to build homes. Palestine
Why Cairo should devalue the Egyptian pound Recent devaluations of the Egyptian pound are making importers, contractors, consumers and the government nervous, but this may be what Egypt needs to become a more competitive exporter of products and services. Egypt
Are Egypt’s poor paying the price for Cairo development project? Hundreds of riverboat owners and crew members have been rendered jobless during a project to regenerate downtown Cairo, but officials say the situation is temporary. Egypt
Foreign investors are trembling over Turkey Foreign direct investments in Turkey dropped dramatically in September despite some encouraging signals from European and American investors earlier in the year. Turkey
Will natural gas cartel be successful in setting LNG, CNG prices? Key heads of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum member states gather in Iran to push for new global energy market. Egypt
How Turkey's new minimum wage may end up hurting employees Employers who don’t want to pay Turkey's pending minimum wage increase are threatening to relocate facilities or hire illegal Syrian workers for low wages. Syria
Hebron radio stations closed for 'exercising incitement' The Israeli army has closed three Palestinian radio stations in Hebron so far, a step that concerned parties say will only escalate the violence witnessed in the Palestinian territories. Palestine
Will Palestine shun the shekel? Many Palestinian officials consider dethroning the shekel as a necessary step toward limiting Palestine's economic ties with Israel. Palestine
Will Gaza’s public employees accept land in lieu of salaries? Hamas resorted to drastic measures to cater to the employee salary crisis, as the consensus government has been neglecting this issue since it was formed in 2014. Palestine
Iran has high hopes for slick new oil contract model Iran's soon-to-be unveiled oil contract is designed to attract foreign investment amid the toughest investment climate in years, but what distinguishes it from the current model contract? Iran
