DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Protests over mass layoffs and Oman’s poor economy have spread to cities across the sultanate, underscoring the financial challenge ahead for this nation a decade on from its Arab Spring protests. Oman already faced economic trouble with tens of billions of dollars of outstanding debts and trouble finding enough work for its young people. Then came the coronavirus pandemic and repeated lockdowns that followed, further depressing growth in this nation of 4.5 million people on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. Demonstrations on Tuesday took place in Sohar, as well as the cities of Ibri, Nizwa, Rustaq and Sur.
