It is no frustrating truth to claim that self-improvement texts written by famous authors are prevalent. Their passionately-written titles such as “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***” or “You are a Bad*ss” capture the audience's immediate interest and it is only a matter of time before they steal the headlines as bestsellers.

Since the beginning of written texts, books that outline self-development through advice, and experience are quite frequent. In fact, Meditations - written by Marcus Aurelius - one of the earliest books in stoic philosophy, can be best described as a self-help book.

They have proven to be interactive and reachable, hence their popularity and selection.

In the Kurdistan region and the Middle East, reading culture is undergoing massive change with the growth of bookstores which provide the latest books from all over the world.

For many, book culture, such as the creation of book clubs, are important due to how they offer the readers a kind of ‘an escape’ from daily affairs which prioritizes many people to consider visiting libraries or get books from local bookstores.

Currently, bookstores - a majority of whom have social media pages on instagram - throughout the Kurdistan region sell a variety of books written from all around the world. With popular classics being translated into Kurdish, the public has access to many literary works around the globe.

Yet the question remains of whether such prevalent access to self help texts can be useful to broaden book culture. Due to pressure from the market and demand, bookstore owners rarely increase the number of books that are not bestsellers. Classics are rare to find and the ones that are not prevalent or old can only be ordered which may be expensive and inaccessible for many areas.

So, when you want to reflect back at Oscar Wilde’s texts or want to study about the history of India, written by a professor, there isn’t much to hope for other than digital access which for some may not offer the same experience as a paperback, or paying for an expensive order abroad.

The question of why very few women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are in the workforce has been the focus of countless conferences, workshops, and studies in the last few decades. Women make up the lowest percentage, which is (19%) of the global labor force outside of the Middle East and North Africa. Despite initiatives and policies intended to close the gender employment gap, women continue to be underrepresented in the workforce, which has a negative impact on families and slows down  GDP growth in the region.

The situation is not the same in every Arab country, but the barriers preventing women from entering the workforce are pervasive everywhere. The obstacles that prevent women from working include legal discrimination, social norms, the responsibility of childcare, low wages, harassment, gender-related biases in hiring, and lack of safe transportation options. Even though increasing the number of women in the workforce has been a goal for global development organizations for decades, governments' efforts continue to languish. For instance, according to a 2019 UN study in Jordan, weak legal protections and harmful gender views keep women out of the workforce. Furthermore, young women in Arab countries have a 42.5% unemployment rate, nearly double that of young men (21.4%) and about triple the global average of 14.9%.

Laws that empower women in all spheres of life are necessary for long-term gains in women's workforce participation. The media, the classroom, and the family all have a role to play in challenging ingrained social norms and prejudices.

By: Baniz Wasman

We live in a digital era and almost all of us use social media every day. According to a survey done by ME-T across KRI, 91% of people use Snapchat, 85% of them use Instagram and 71% of them use Tiktok. People spend most of their time scrolling through social media, according to the same survey 29.8% of people use Instagram every hour, 54% of them use Snapchat every hour, and Tiktok 31%. As indicated in these data social media has become firmly integrated into people's daily lives. How does it affect our mental health?

Social media has many positive and enjoyable benefits, but it can also lead to mental health problems. Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which people understand their abilities, solve life problems, work well, and make significant contributions to the lives of their communities. If social media affects mental health, it can adversely affect all aspects of life. Using social media can lead to physical and psychological addiction because it triggers the brain’s reward system to release dopamine, the “feel-good” chemical. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. It’s the same chemical our brain releases when we do something pleasurable like eating or consuming sugar.

For some users of social media, their brains may increase dopamine when they engage with Tiktok, Snapchat, Instagram, or other social media platforms. When a user gets a like, a retweet, or a notification, the brain receives a flood of dopamine and sends it along reward pathways. It feels beautiful, but it also reinforces our need to satisfy the feeling next time. This cycle of motivation, reward, and reinforcement is a “dopamine loop” that gets users seeking, looking, craving rewards and more. The most used apps now host short videos that cause high levels of addiction among their users which causes addiction with dopamine implicated. The repetitive use becomes less exciting and we end up needing more to give us the same pleasure we experienced with a lesser amount before, which causes long-term harm, it is no longer possible to watch longer videos or read long paragraphs and books or go for walks and other activities that used to release dopamine in our brain. Some people also use social media as a safety behavior to avoid stressful situations which cause a vicious anxiety cycle.

It is important to recognize the negative consequences of social media, and do a digital detox as well as, understand the triggers behind the use of social media.

Earlier today, North Korea launched a suspected missile over Japan after five years. As it has been reported, the ballistic missile flied for over 4,500km and fell down in the Pacific ocean, close to Guam Island which is considered as U.S. territory. This ballistic “testing”, as North Korea claims it to be, is highly provocative since the United Nations has forbidden North Korea from testing missiles and nuclear weapons. In addition to that, countries avoid such trials since it can be misunderstood as an attack and violate international conventions.

As the Asahi Shimbun reports, the Japanese have woken up to alert sirens and warning texts in regard to the flying missile over their country, people were asked to keep their serenity and stay in the buildings or undergrounds if possible. The records show that the missile traveled the longest and the highest. It has even reached higher than the International Space Station, but thankfully has fallen far from Japan with no injuries.

It is believed that this morning’s missile was an exhibit of North Korea’s power since the supreme leader of this country has taken the alliance of US, Japan and South Korea as a threat to his national security. This tension has been even more triggered as these three allies have strengthened their defenses.

This event has been analyzed as a preemptive act and some experts believe that North Korea’s next move depends on China and the decisions that will be made in China's communist party congress this month.

Elon Musk’s Tesla has produced the latest prototype of humanoid robot “Optimus” which was unveiled at Tesla’s artificial day and waved to the audience. The robot can water plants, carry a box and move metal bars as it was shown at the event. Musk stated that “the goal is to manufacture a humanoid robot as quickly and beneficial as possible with the fact that there is a lot to be done with the Optimus robot to purify and prove it.” Also, the robot costs less than $20.000 and is expected to be offered in the next three to five years.

Apparently, Elon Musk’s manufacturers focus on robots besides electric cars and rockets with the aim of providing humanity with better tools and using artificial intelligence in advance to make such dreams and innovations a reality. Musk has declared that robots will get involved more often in humans’ lives in the future and assist them in so many aspects as they could be used in homes and take care of elderly.

This could be one of the very first shows that take us to a world where robots are truly engaged with human beings and the environment. Seemingly, Elon Musk and his firms will take the lead and the credit in the future of robotics.

The death of Mahsa Amini, also known by her Kurdish name Jina Amini, sparked waves of outrage across the world. The 22-year-old was brutally beaten at the hands of “morality police” in an event that local and international associations and organizations consider it a violation of basic human rights.

Although demonstrations in the form of protests, boycotts, and strikes were effective at increasing dissident activity - largely organized by youth and women organizations - another form of resistance has taken the shape of visual communication, Art.

Historically, art has been widely useful for communication, aesthetic elements that are recognized by shape, color, and stories that give the observer a brief imagination.

Artists, graphic designers, and other illustrators have been spreading their work by designing images that showcase Mahsa Amini or other figures confronting regime elements.

Ones that have been hugely popular, such as that of Mahsa Amini in front of a collection of televisions broadcasting separate news headlines, an indication of the improper handling of media in their observation of the killing, sparked local activists in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The death of Mahsa Amini has led to widespread changes in how the citizens of Iran view their government. Young artists alike, observe such injustices and convert them into visual interaction.