* Since July, the unemployment rate in Turkey has risen from 10.6% to 12%. Additionally, youth unemployment in the country stayed at 23.1% over the past few months. The heightened unemployment rate comes as a ban on layoffs and government wage support ended at the end of July after having been in place since the COVID19 pandemic began. 

* The Qatar based show Stars of Science began airing its new season on September 10th, with the show continuing to empower Arab innovators to develop technological solutions for their communities.  Dr. Walid Albanna, a jury member on the show, stated, “For more than a decade, Stars of Science has demonstrated how we in the Arab region can encourage our young talent to pursue scientific excellence and invest in their ideas. The show made innovation and entrepreneurship fun and engaging, offering aspiring researchers, engineers, and inventors a space where their ideas are not bound by practical restrictions." Professor Fouad Mrad, the longest running jury member of the show, pointed out that Stars of Science’s impact on the Arab youth and their families is significant, highlighting that many innovators who have appeared on the show, like Dr. Albanna, were young viewers who gathered the courage to apply.

* Egypt has plans to connect more than 60 million people living in rural areas with high-speed internet, according to the country's communications and information technology minister. They plan to allocate $360 million to connect one million households with fibre-optic cables that will ensure youth can access the internet and thus the knowledge, training, and career opportunities offered by the digital world. Rania Al Mashat, Egypt's minister of international cooperation, said, "Creating a framework to support the young is vital; Africa’s future depends on it."

* Jordan will host the “Toyota Gazoo Cup for Digital Racing in the Middle East and North Africa” in its first session, on Saturday 11 September.  The championship will simulate the real world of motor racing with unprecedented accuracy thanks to the partnership with “Gran Turismo Sport”, one of the most advanced driving simulation games online, using the latest hardware and advanced software represented by racing simulation platforms and tools. Two of the youth racers will be coming from Kuwait, with others coming from Lebanon, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Cyprus, Mauritania, Oman, and Jordan.  

* Dubai Startup Ventures, one of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry's innovative initiatives to support entrepreneurship, has launched the "Dubai Smart Entrepreneurs" competition. The competition will focus on sustainability, opportunity and commerce as startups and entrepreneurs are required to submit applications for the competition no later than September 30th. The director General of Dubai Chamber Hamad Mubarak Buamim said: The annual “Dubai Smart Entrepreneurs” competition aims to empower young entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs and provide them with the knowledge and tools they need to promote the growth of their businesses and to be part of the strategy of smart transformation and thinking outside the traditional pattern of business projects. The course provides specialized training on the “bootcamp” program for a period of 4 days for the 30 finalists in the competition, giving the 10 finalists the opportunity to participate and showcase their solutions and commercial projects at Expo 2020 Dubai and meet with potential investors, while the three winners will receive financial prizes. With a total value of 150,000 dirhams.