The World Bank announced that the number of poor Palestinian families may double this year in the occupied Palestinian territories due to Covid 19 epidemic that negatively affected economic activity and increased pressure on the Palestinian government to increase health measures.

In a study published today by the AP agency, the World Bank said that even before the outbreak of Covid 19 epidemic, about a quarter of the Palestinians lived below the poverty line, 53% of them in the Gaza Strip and 14 % in the West Bank, pointing out that preliminary estimates indicate that the number of poor families will rise to 30% in the West Bank and 64% in the  Gaza strip.

 The Syrian government has taken all measures necessary to market the country's wheat crop for this season and has been keen on eliminating all the obstacles that hamper this process.

 The government has allocated 450 billion Syrian pounds for buying the wheat from farmers in all Syrian provinces at an acceptable price.

In Homs, the areas planted with wheat and barley has reached 76,000 hectares this year, according to head of Homs Agriculture Directorate Nazih al-Rifa'i.

He said that the general status of the crop is good and that the harvesting process is to start soon.

It is to be noted that the Syrian wheat crop in the Syrian province of Hasaka is being exposed to looting and burning by US and Turkish occupation forces under the complete silence of the international community. The aim is to starve the Syrian people, deprive them from their resources and put more pressure on the Syrian government.

TEHRAN, (ST)- Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Farhad Dejpasand and Syria's Ambassador in Tehran Adnan Mashmoud discussed during a meeting on Saturday economic and investment cooperation between Syria and Iran to serve the interests of the peoples of the two countries and enhance their steadfastness in the confrontation of the economic war and the unfair western sanctions targeting them.

 The two sides agreed on following up the executive steps to establish a joint free industrial zone that contributes to boosting Syria's productive and industrial abilities and reconstructing the country's infrastructure which has been damaged because of the heinous terrorist war.

 The Cabinet has approved new measures in the sectors of agriculture, industry, foreign trade and at the social level with the aim of continuing to support economic development, boost self-reliance and stimulate the import of basic materials not produced locally.

The Cabinet’s measures come in light of economic and social changes locally and internationally as a result of addressing the Corona epidemic and within the state's plan to overcome the impact of the economic unilateral measures imposed by Western countries on Syria.