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
Palestinian Authority’s 2013 Budget Passed Despite Political Rift As political rifts persist among the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, the 2013 budget has been passed with promises of donations from the EU, the US and Arab donors, writes Omar Shaban. Palestine
Iraq Lagging in Foreign Investment Iraq is still struggling to attract foreign investors amid dated laws, political instability and a conservative society, writes Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Iraq
Israel's Natural Gas Brings Opportunity, Choices With natural gas flowing to Israel from the bottom of the sea, the energy revolution is happening while the government delays crucial decisions, writes Idan Grinbaum. Israel
Iraq Set to Expand Free-Trade Zones Iraq is preparing to expand existing free-trade zones and create new ones throughout the country, writes Omar al-Shaher. Iraq
Iraqi Aviation Industry Takes Off More than 10 years after the US invasion of Iraq, the country’s aviation industry is starting to show strong signs of recovery, reports Omar al-Shaher. Iraq
KRG Prime Minister Promotes Kurdish Oil on European Visit Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minster Nechirvan Barzani has used a trip to Europe to drum up interest in Kurdish oil, as the region announces plans to expand its export capabilities, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari. Iraq
Land of Milk and HoneyFor Few Israelis Successive Israeli governments have allowed international and Israeli companies to profit unfairly from natural resources that should benefit all Israelis, writes Idan Grinbaum. Israel
Recycling Gaza’s Waste Recycling, a process completely unknown previously in Gaza, is set to become widespread, thanks to a new recycling plant and plans to build more, writes Hazem Balousha. Palestine
Gaza Fishermen Outraged By Renewed Israeli Restrictions Israel has again reduced Gaza's fishing zone to three nautical miles offshore, in violation of last November's cease-fire agreement with Hamas, Mohammed Suliman writes. Palestine
Egypt’s Interest in Iraq, Iran Is Economic, Not Ideological Despite the concerns of Gulf states that Egypt’s recent rapprochement with Iraq, and by extension Iran, is founded on an ideological basis, experts assert the reason is purely economic, Abdelrahman Youssef writes. Egypt
Sinai Tourism Hits Rock Bottom, Business Owners Blame Morsi Writing from South Sinai, Mohannad Sabry meets with local business owners in the tourism sector who tell him that they keep hoping for political stability to bring back tourists — but that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's inability to govern has been making a bad situation worse. Egypt
Iraq Aims to Increase Oil Output The Iraqi government has drawn up plans to increase the country’s oil production capabilities over the next decade, writes Omar al-Shaher. Iraq
