Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories
  • A Syrian doctor in Istanbul set up a free hospital to treat Syrian opposition fighters, but middlemen ripped off his patients.

  • Protesters in Syria are coming out against President Bashar al-Assad for giving the government almost unlimited powers to put down dissent. Mills College professor Fred Lawson explains what could happen to Syria's economy next.

  • The former British Ambassador to Libya tells Marketplace that the oil sanctions and economic pressures in Libya are primarily on Col. Muammar Gaddafi, but that the rebels are facing their own issues as well.

  • U.S. foreign aid doesn't go to Syria, but does to Egypt. Egypt responded to protests peacefully, Syria hasn't, and the U.S. foreign aid could have something to do with it.

  • A failing economy and protests against the president have placed Yemen in a state of unrest.

  • Professor Marwan Kraidy discusses the effectiveness of government-controlled media in Libya and the current media landscape in Egypt.

  • University of Vermont professor Gregory Gause discusses how the Sunni-Shiite split is feeding into economic and political unrest in Bahrain.

  • The Arab world faces a huge task of reconstruction. And they are taking a page from an old American plan.

  • Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi says his forces are beating back rebel forces. If he retains power, will foreign nations do business with him again?

  • Among the assets frozen by the U.S. are holdings of Libya's sovereign wealth fund. Such petrodollar funds have gained prominence in recent years.

Discontent in the Middle East