Iran and Saudi Arabia – the two regional arch rivals, held talks in Baghdad in April 2021. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi played a key role in bringing both the countries to the negotiating table. The talks were held between Khalid Al Homeidan, Chief of General Intelligence, Saudi Arabia, …

China’s military may be examining its decades-old space program for ways to improve data collection and disrupt the satellites of other countries if needed, analysts said this week following a Mars landing and a debris crash into the Indian Ocean. Earlier this month China placed a rover on Mars, the …

While in the natural sciences a laboratory experiment can isolate various elements and their movements can be followed through, there is no equivalent in the economic discipline. The introduction of econometrics and model building is an attempt to produce a laboratory where controlled experiments can be conducted. The idea of …

In the wake of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, many have asked themselves what they are doing to tackle racial injustice. For economists, one central question is the extent to which the profession has examined the causes and consequences of racial inequality. This column reports evidence that race-related research …

The World Food Program said on Wednesday it is tripling its assistance to Lebanon, offering cash assistance to nearly 300,000 people amid an unparalleled financial and economic crisis. Lebanon’s national currency has lost nearly 85% of its dollar value since late 2019, sending prices of basic goods soaring in a …

Saudi Arabia’s civil defense said on Wednesday that several missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militia from inside Yemen landed in the Kingdom. Lt. Col. Mohannad bin Jasser Zailai, deputy media spokesman for the Civil Defense Directorate in Jazan region, said authorities attended the site to find five missiles near …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday announced a four-month ban on all cryptocurrency mining, citing widespread power outages that have hamstrung the Islamic Republic earlier than usual this year. “Today everybody has a few miners laying around and are producing bitcoins,” the frustrated Rouhani told his cabinet. The practice of …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his two-day visit to the Middle East Wednesday evening, after meeting regional leaders in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo and Amman in an effort to shore up the Israeli-Hamas cease-fire reached last week. During his trip, the US’s top diplomat made several announcements of …

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday expressed his support for the nation’s Guardian Council decision, announced Wednesday, to disqualify a string of reformist candidates from running in the upcoming presidential elections. The move, which all but ensures victory for hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi, who currently serves as Iran’s chief …

Despite grounds for suspicion, prosecutors in North Macedonia are not investigating the country’s link to an illegal marijuana operation in Serbia. In February this year, prosecutors in Serbia sent a letter to their counterparts in neighbouring North Macedonia requesting their help on an investigation into an illegal marijuana operation discovered …