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Business

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.

Jordanian detainees look on through the window of a rehabilitation centre in Zarqa, 30 kilometres east of Amman, on July 11, 2018. (Photo by Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP) (Photo credit should read KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

Saudi female employees work at the customers service desk at a hypermarket, newly launched by the operator LuLu and run by a team of women, in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah, on February 21, 2021. (Photo by Amer HILABI / AFP) (Photo by AMER HILABI/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

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.

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Jordan reinstates partial lockdown as coronavirus deaths spike

A policeman holds a stop sign in an almost deserted avenue in the Jordanian capital Amman, during a lockdown due to the coronavirus panemic, on February 26, 2021. (Photo by Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP) (Photo by KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel-Egypt relations advance in baby steps

A Israeli police car is park in front of the Egyptian Embassy in the city of Tel Aviv on September 11, 2011, two days after Egyptian demonstrators went on the rampage in Cairo, breaking into the Israeli embassy and forcing the personnel to be evacuated. The trouble followed several weeks of protests outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo after 5 Egyptian border police were shot dead last month by the Israeli military during a search operation for militants who shot at an Israeli bus in Israel, close to their

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First court victory for opponents of Jerusalem cable car project

Former Halkbank executive resigns as head of Istanbul stock exchange

Grapfics and numbers of trade markets are screened on the floor of the Borsa Istanbul on May 22, 2018 in Istanbul. - Turkey's embattled currency, the Lira, on May 22 hit new historic lows against the US dollar after Fitch ratings agency expressed concerns over the central bank's independence in the wake of comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters during a meeting of his ruling AK Party (AKP) in Ankara January 24, 2014. Turkey received a vote of confidence in its underlying economic health on Thursday, with foreign investors lapping up a $2.5 billion eurobond issue even as a corruption scandal swirled and the central bank intervened to prop up the lira. The graft investigation, one of the biggest threats to Erdogan's 11-year rule, has shaken Turkey in recent weeks, helping send the lira

Erdogan's interest rate agenda

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's pressure on the Central Bank governor to lower the interest rate is a mix of populism and ideology.

Palestinian fishermen ride a boat in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Gaza City April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR3MYZV

Gaza travel agencies offer false hope of emigration

Several travel agencies in the Gaza Strip are taking part in illegal emigration, often taking thousands of dollars from would-be Palestinian emigrants who risk their lives to reach Europe.

Share prices are seen on a screen alongside flags at the Istanbul Stock Exchange October 14, 2011. Picture taken October 14, 2011. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS) - RTR2SSND

Turkey warned on credit ratings

Lowering of interest rates by the Turkish Central Bank despite high inflation prompts “lowering” warnings from ratings agencies.

Palestinians find respite from siege at Gaza’s ancient port

Once an ancient trading hub, Gaza’s port now serves as a popular recreational location for local Palestinians wishing to forget the woes of living under siege.

Members of Saudi security forces take part in a military drill, in Jeddah City May 27, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Alhwaity (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: MILITARY) - RTR3R48T

Saudi Arabia shifts to more assertive defense doctrine

The kingdom is considering how to more effectively project its role and power in the region to compensate for the decline of Western influence.

Turkey's Central Bank governor pressured to resign

Turkey's Central Bank lowered interest rates under political pressure, but this action could not satisfy Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Jose Angel Gurria (R) shakes hands with Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid at the end of a news conference in Tel Aviv December 8, 2013. The Bank of Israel should prepare for interest rate increases once the global economy returns to normal, the OECD said. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX169RL

Lapid housing plan targets Israel's 'next generation'

The plan to reduce housing prices for young couples should earn back Finance Minister Yair Lapid's reputation as an ardent social activist, defending the rights of those who served in the army.

Iraq's Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani speaks at the Iraq-Kurdistan Oil and Gas Conference at Arbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region, December 2, 2013. Turkey said on Monday it stood by a bilateral oil deal with Iraq's Kurdistan region that bypassed central government but wanted to win Baghdad's support by drawing it into the arrangement. Reuters reported that Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan signed a multi-billion-dollar energy package last week, infuriating a central Baghdad government which claims sole au

KRG risks isolation in Iraq by exporting oil through Turkey

Erbil’s decision to export oil without consulting the Baghdad government could also increase Turkish leverage on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

A worker adjusts the valve of an oil pipe at Khurmala oilfield on the outskirts of the city of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region December 4, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTX163IS

Turkey’s Kurdish oil gamble

Turkey’s sale of Iraqi Kurdish crude oil could backfire for Ankara and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Damage and debris is seen in the souks of Old Aleppo, November 23, 2013. The Syrian army loyal to President Bashar al-Assad took control of the souk surrounding the Umayyad Mosque that was previously dominated by Free Syrian Army fighters, they said. Some of the areas recaptured are the gold market, Souk Khairat Beck, Alzerb market and the Wali bil Maarouf shrine. REUTERS/George Ourfalian (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX15Q1O

War profiteers plunder Syria

Both Syrian government forces and rebels are accused of rampant, systematic looting and robbery of civilian homes.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev receives Turkey's State Honour Medal from his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul (R) during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara November 12, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX15ABA

Turkey-Azerbaijan pipeline offers alternative for Russian gas

Ankara hopes the new pipeline, which could also carry Iranian natural gas, will break Russia’s stranglehold on natural gas prices.

Iran businessman hanged for embezzlement

Iran has executed businessman Mehafarid Amri-Khosravi for crimes connected to a $2.7 billion embezzlement scheme, Iran's largest-ever embezzlement case.