Jordan
Economic growth forecast at 3.7 per cent for SEMED region in 2023 | Jordan Times
AMMAN — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is forecasting modest economic growth in 2023 in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region, according to the bank’s latest Regional Economic Prospects report, published on Wednesday.Gross domestic product (GDP) in the SEMED region is expected to grow by an average of 3.7 per cent in 2023 and 3.9 per cent in 2024, slightly below previous forecasts, reflecting delays to structural reforms and increased fiscal and external vulnerabilities, according to an EBRD statement.
The Muslim World
Israel says it foiled Iranian plot to target, spy on senior Israeli politicians | AP News
Israel arrested five Palestinians in a plot allegedly hatched in Iran to target and spy on senior Israeli politicians, including Israel’s far-right national security minister, the country’s internal security agency said Wednesday.
US imposes sanctions on Iranian drone procurement network | Reuters
The United States on Wednesday placed sanctions on entities and people based in China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Iran for aiding the Iranian attack drone program, which Washington accuses of supplying such weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine.
Morocco aims to become key player in green hydrogen | Arab News
RABAT: Morocco has voiced ambitious plans to become North Africa’s top player in the emerging “green hydrogen” sector, with plans to export the clean-burning fuel to Europe. Hydrogen is seen as a clean energy source that can help the world phase out fossil fuels and reduce atmospheric carbon emissions in the battle to slow global warming. Morocco, which already runs large solar power plants, also hopes to harness green hydrogen — the kind made without burning fossil fuels — for its sizeable fertilizer sector.
Third Bahraini soldier dies after Houthi drone attack close to Saudi border | Reuters
A third Bahraini serviceman died on Wednesday following a Houthi drone attack on Monday against forces of the Saudi-led coalition in Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen, Bahrain's state news agency said.
Cyprus says Lebanon needs EU aid to deal with migration crisis | Reuters
EU member Cyprus wants Brussels to offer financial and technical aid to Lebanon to help it cope with an influx of Syrian refugees and keep them from reaching the island, its interior minister said on Wednesday.
As mental health worsens among Afghanistan's women, the UN is asked to declare 'gender apartheid' | AP News
The U.N.’s most powerful body is being asked to support governments seeking to legally declare the crackdown by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on women and girls “gender apartheid."
Azerbaijan arrests former top Karabakh minister as exodus tops 50,000 | Reuters
A former head of the breakaway ethnic Armenian government in Nagorno-Karabakh was arrested by Azerbaijan on Wednesday as he tried to escape into Armenia as part of an exodus of tens of thousands of people that has triggered a humanitarian crisis.
Finance and Economy
Saudi Arabia and Russia Win Big in Gamble on Oil Cuts - WSJ
Brent crude is climbing toward $100 a barrel after the two OPEC+ nations made a risky choice to slice their production.
Interest rates will stay high 'as long as necessary,' the European Central Bank's leader says | AP News
The head of the European Central Bank says interest rates will stay high long enough to restrict business activity for “as long as necessary” to beat back inflation because upward pressure on prices “remains strong.”
Food prices are rising as countries limit exports. Blame climate change, El Nino and Russia's war | AP News
Restrictions on food exports are spilling over from rice and wheat to other essentials. This ranges from Tanzania's limits on shipping onions to its neighbors and Morocco's restrictions on tomatoes to ongoing bans of some kinds of rice in Asia.
Quds Matters
Arab family of five shot dead as crime rates in Israel soar | Reuters
More than 180 Arab citizens in Israel have been killed in crime-related violence since January - a seven-year high - in a spate of killings that have continued unchecked.