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
Turkey makes strides on deficit reduction Turkey’s current account deficit, a long-standing economic hardship, has dropped to $52.5 billion, already beating the government's year-end target. Turkey
Iraq's instability trouble for Lebanese investors Foreign investments in Iraq are at a standstill amid recent crises, with Lebanon's $3 billion worth of investments in the country set to decline if a political solution is not reached. Iraq
Erdogan ignores market in crusade against interest rates The Turkish prime minister and the minister of economy are pushing to dramatically cut interest rates, though Turkey's Central Bank has expressed reservations. Turkey
With Iraqi roads blocked, demand for flights from Baghdad soars The continued instability in Iraq is forcing residents to flee. With land borders blocked by fighting, people are forced to wait more than a month for plane tickets. Iraq
Israel levels Gaza farms in search of tunnels Israeli airstrikes on seemingly empty tracts are often agricultural lands vital to Gaza’s food production. Palestine
Aleppans set up money transfer offices within the city The division of Aleppo has separated families and made transferring money from east to west near impossible, prompting locals to take matters into their own hands. Syria
Lebanon: The summer when everything went wrong Political, constitutional, livelihood and weather problems are happening simultaneously in Lebanon. Iraq
Gaza hospitals ill-equipped for Israeli onslaught Gaza’s hospitals are lacking essential medicines to deal with the anticipated spike in casualties from Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza. Palestine
Syrian refugees aggravate Turkey’s unemployment problem Syrian refugees working illegally at low wages are exacerbating already severe unemployment in Turkey. Syria
Trade, security concerns bring Turkey, Israel closer Turkish-Israeli relations are still far from normalized, but developments in the region are converging the two countries' security and economic interests. Palestine
Egypt cautiously optimistic on coming Renaissance Dam talks With tripartite talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan concerning the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam scheduled for later in July, Cairo is hopeful that some of the dam’s technical specifications will be modified. Egypt
Turkish truckers try to get on the road again With the dangers and difficulties now inherent in transiting in Iraq and Syria, the Turkish transportation sector is looking for alternative routes to Middle Eastern markets. Gulf
