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
Iran's lucrative kidney market Home to the world's only legalized kidney market, Iran is seeing a boom in the kidney trade. Iran
Turkey pays hefty price for interest rate obsession Under government pressure to keep interest rates low, Turkey’s Central Bank has failed to act against the free fall of the Turkish lira, leading to a massive burden on the foreign debt stock. Turkey
Shopping in Gaza's flea market Gaza’s markets offering secondhand goods are frequented by the poor and rich who are searching for high-quality goods at reduced prices. Palestine
Cairo tuk-tuk ban could leave commuters stuck-stuck Though millions of Egyptians rely on cheap and versatile auto rickshaws to get around, the government has banned the mini taxis in several Cairo neighborhoods after efforts to regulate them failed. Egypt
Egypt earmarks $68 million to promote tourism Egypt has awarded a major advertising agency a multimillion-dollar project to promote Egypt abroad in the hopes of boosting tourism following the security crises that have hurt the industry over the past few years. Egypt
Could US state sanctions on Iran unravel nuke deal? Critics of the nuclear agreement say states have it in their power to kill it, but do they really? Congress
The king finally comes to town King Salman of Saudi Arabia won't find solutions to his country's deepest problems during his visit to Washington. Gulf
Turkish daily exposes transfer of weapons to IS The feud between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his rivals in the Gulen movement is turning up news: Is there a link between exposure and the police raid of newspaper offices? Syria
As Turkey's consumer confidence plummets, what does that mean for the AKP? Turkey’s consumer confidence index — a key indicator that is closely correlated with the AKP’s electoral showings — is on the decline, signaling further losses for the party in the Nov. 1 early elections. Turkey
Looking to invest in Sinai? The Egyptian government has amended its law on development in the Sinai Peninsula to permit Egyptian investors to own the properties where their projects are carried out. Egypt
Saudi king wants Obama to tackle Iranian 'mischief' King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud will make clear during his White House visit that Riyadh’s lukewarm support for the Iran nuclear deal depends on the United States keeping Tehran in check. Saudi Arabia
Rouhani faces ballooning expectations at home in post-sanctions era Economic expectations are high in Iran following the recent nuclear deal, but President Hassan Rouhani has warned against "immediate, but harmful" interests. Iran
