Day: November 12, 2021

Categories
Affairs

PM, UAE official discuss ties, investment

Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh, on Friday, met in Dubai with Emirati Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Shiekh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The two sides highlighted the already advanced ties that bring together Amman and Abu Dhabi, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah and President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Shiekh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Khasawneh reviewed he government’s efforts and measures for economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

He affirmed that Jordan welcomes more Emirati investments in many vital sectors that the Kingdom intends to implement.

Khasawneh congratulated the UAE on hosting the Dubai Expo 2020, stressing that Jordan’s participation stemmed from its belief in the importance of this global event in enhancing opportunities for cooperation between the countries and entities participating in it.

For his part, Shiekh Saif voiced his country’s desire to promote bilateral ties with the Kingdom, stressing that Jordanians in the UAE are welcomed and cherished.

The meeting was attended by Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ibrahim Al-Jazi, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yousef Al-Shamali, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmed Hanandeh, Minister of Investment Khairy Amr and Jordan’s Ambassador in Abu Dhabi Nassar Habashneh, in addition to a number of Emirati senior officials.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Government Policy

Culture minister, US ambassador discuss cooperation

Minister of Culture Haifaa Al Najjar met with US Ambassador in Amman Henry T. Wooster for a discussion of enhancing cultural ties between Amman and Washington.

According to a ministry statement on Friday, the two sides discussed means of implementing common projects in this regard and exchanging cultural expertise.

For his part, Wooster reviewed the cultural ties between the two countries and means to further boost them during the upcoming phase.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Government Policy

PM opens Jordan’s national day within Dubai Expo 2020 activities

Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh, on Friday, inaugurated Jordan’s national day within Dubai Expo 2020 at Dubai Exhibition Center.

In a preliminary speech in the presence of Emirati Minister of State for International Cooperation and Dubai Expo 2020 Director-General Reem Al Hashimy, Jordan’s Ambassador in Abu Dhabi Nassar Habashneh and a number of Jordanian community members, Khasawneh voiced his appreciation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for hosting such a global event.

Khasawneh noted to the volume of trade exchange between Jordan and the UAE that stood at $891 million in 2020, stressing the need to enhance cooperation with Abu Dhabi in various spheres to serve the interests of the two countries.

The UAE has poured almost $17 billion into the Kingdom investments as it considered as one of the key partner in this regard, the prime minister said.

Commenting on the investment process in Jordan, Khasawneh said that his government is working on a new law for investment, in addition to establishing an investment ministry for the first time.

Khasawneh called on the UAE business community to establish projects and partnerships with Jordan, voicing his government’s keenness to prioritize the UAE investments and provide all facilitations in this regard.

The prime minister visited the UAE pavilion and was briefed on its activities, praising the UAE achievements in this regard.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Technology

Amira to represent Jordan at the 2022 Academy Awards

Jordan nominated the feature-narrative film “Amira”, by Mohamed Diab, as its official entry for the 94th Academy Awards (Oscar ) to compete at the International Feature Film category.

Based on the recommendations of an independent committee consisting of Jordanian experts involved in the writing field and the audio-visual scene, the committee chose this feature, which was entirely shot in Jordan in 2019 and is co-produced by Jordan, Egypt and Palestine. The independent committee, made up of nine members, was formed by The Royal Film Commission – Jordan (RFC), as the country’s official submitting body for the Oscar . The RFC had announced, last September, an open call for submissions for feature narrative films to be nominated to the Academy Awards, organized the process and compiled the applications.

The cast includes the Jordanian star Saba Mubarak, the emerging Jordanian actress Tara Abboud, who plays the role of “Amira”, the Jordanian actor Suhaib Nashawan as well as the Palestinian actors Ali Suliman, Waleed Zuaiter and Kais Nashif.

While the film was shot in Amman and Salt, the majority of the crew were Jordanians with around 128 individuals, who worked across the different departments and two local entities participated in the production.

“Amira” had its World Premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival where it won the collateral Award “Lanterna Magica” granted by the jury of Cinecircoli Giovanili Socioculturali (CGS) and the “Enrico Fulchignoni” Award. The film also got a Special Mention at Carthage Film Festival (JCC) and participated at El Gouna Film Festival, Palestine Film Days, Chicago International Film Festival and Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival.

About the selection of the film, a statement of the committee said: “”Amira” is a powerful examination of identity and humanity seen through the eyes of a young girl searching for herself. Mohamed Diab’s masterful filmmaking absorbs the viewer through the nuances of internal conflict so beautifully depicted by his incredible cast, mainly: Tara Abboud, Saba Mubarak and Ali Suliman. This is great daring filmmaking at its very best.”

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will announce the shortlisted films for the 2022 Oscar on December 21st, whereas the nominated films will be announced on February 8th of next year. The 94th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 27th, 2022.

With this selection, Jordan had submitted, in the past years, a total of six films for the same category: “Captain Abu Raed” by Amin Matalqa, “Cherkess” by Mohyeddin Qandour, “Theeb” by Naji Abu Nowar, “3000 Nights” by Mai Masri, “200 Meters” by Ameen Nayfeh. The Kingdom was last nominated for the race in 2016 for “Theeb” by Naji Abu Nowar. Another Jordanian short film – “Baheya and Mahmoud” by Zaid Abu Hamdan – had also made its way by qualifying for the Oscar nomination back in 2012.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Health

EMPHNET to hold regional conference on COVID-19 implications

The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) will hold its Seventh Regional Conference in Amman on Sunday, with a wide participation at the international and regional levels.

Dr. Yusuf Abu Qaoud, Chairman of the Conference Scientific Committee, stated that the five-day conference will bring together a group of health experts and epidemiologists representing several countries from the region and beyond, renowned organizations from the United States, the World Health Organization, ministries of health in the Eastern Mediterranean (EMR) and the Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET).

Abu Qaoud added that the conference, which will also be available online to enable all interested persons of attending its sessions, will discuss the implications of COVID-19 pandemic and ways to enhance the flexibility of public health systems in the EMR and break down barriers and challenges that hinder good practices, especially in areas affected by social, political and economic unrest.

Abu Qaood pointed out that the conference agenda includes around 113 presentations from residents and graduates of the Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs), around 10 sessions and six workshops. Speakers in these activities will include a group of epidemiologists, most notably the Honorary Regional Director of the World Health Organization, the Director of UNRWA’s Department of Health, the Director of the Department of Preparedness and Emerging Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of Program Management in the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Head of Public Health Faculty, Medicine Imperial College London-UK.

Dr. Mohannad Al-Nsour, Executive Director of EMPHNET and President of the Conference, stated that the conference, which will host around 300 participants from 15 Arab and foreign countries, seeks to highlight COVID-19 response associated challenges and barriers and to benefit from the experiences gained by countries and organizations in how to overcome these challenges.

“After 10 years of the founding of EMPHNET, we, in collaboration with ministries of health in the EMR, were able to achieve the highest quality in implementing common health strategies. EMPHNET has also established its strategy to respond to the post-COVID-19 era” Dr. Al-Nsour added.

Dr. Al-Nsour also stated that EMPHNET has been proactive in the EMR in leading initiatives in areas of public health, preparedness and response to health emergencies and crises to achieve safe health communities in the region within a comprehensive vision of applied epidemiology. It also can provide all kinds of support to promote capacity of epidemiology and public health emergencies programs.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Health

Jordan registers 14 COVID-19 related deaths, 2393 infections on Friday

14 new deaths and 2393 cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were recorded in Jordan on Friday.

With today’s fatalities and infections, the caseload and death toll from the disease have increased to 11,197 and 888,435 respectively, since the outbreak began in March of 2020, according to the Ministry of Health daily brief.

The number of cases that required admission to hospitals today stood at 118, while 105 cases have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

On the capacity of hospitals in the Kingdom, the brief said that the occupancy rate of isolation beds in the northern region was at 17 per cent, intensive care beds 41 per cent and ventilators 28 per cent.

In the Central region, isolation beds were at an occupancy rate of 17 per cent, ICU beds at 34 per cent and ventilators 13 per cent, it said.

In the south, it added, the occupancy rate of isolation beds reached 10 per cent, ICU beds 14 per cent and ventilators 14 per cent.

It said that 40,004 PCR tests were collected today, bringing the total number of tests conducted since the start of the pandemic to 11,406,268, and that the positivity rate today was about 5.98 per cent.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
General

JRTV announces winners of weekly cash prizes

The Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (JRTV), on Friday, announced the second drawing that included the winners of the weekly cash prize of JD500 for recipients of any COVID-19 vaccine.

The second phase of the scheme is funded by through donations by the Jordan Islamic Bank, Jordan Ahli Bank, Arab Islamic Bank, and Safwa Bank in addition to Orange Jordan and Zain Jordan.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
General

Pleasant weather conditions forecast countrywide

Pleasant weather conditions are expected countrywide, on Friday, while moderate conditions prevail in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the port city of Aqaba, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily update.

Winds will be southeasterly moderate, picking up at times, the JMD noted.

Unstable weather conditions are forecast over the next 48 hours, with a chance of scattered showers in the southern parts of the Kingdom.

Temperatures in the capital Amman will range between high of 22 degrees Celsius and a low of 12 degrees.

Highs in the port city of Aqaba will hike up to 30 degrees, sliding to 20 degrees at night.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
General

Safadi, Saudi counterpart discuss ties, region

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi, yesterday, met with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal Bin Farhan and discussed bilateral ties in various scopes of cooperation.

The two top diplomats, in Paris, stressed the importance of continued coordination towards regional and international issues to serve the interests of the two kingdoms.

The two sides reviewed the latest developments in the Middle East region, highlighting the need to enhance the pan-Arab action to overcome the common challenges and serve Arab interests.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
General

FM attends Libya international conference in Paris

Deputizing for Majesty King Abdullah II, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi, on Friday, took part in an international conference on Libya in Paris.

Hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, the conference was co-chaired by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Head of Libya’s Presidency Council Mohamed Younis Menfi, Libyan Prime Minister of the unity government Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres.

Addressing the conference on behalf of His Majesty King Abdullah II, Safadi said the gathering constitutes a balanced contribution of efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis, stressing that there is an opportunity to achieve this solution, as moving quickly and effectively to reach it is a necessity for the security of Libya and the Middle East region.

Safadi added that the mechanism for resolving the crisis is embodied in the UN Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 2570 and 2571, the outcomes of the Berlin II Conference on Libya, and through many conferences held in Skhirat, Cairo and others.

He stressed that Jordan stands with the brothers in Libya, as they are proceeding with the steps to reach a political solution, namely, with regard to holding the presidential and parliamentary elections on on December 24, 2021.

Safadi highly praised the efforts of the Joint Military Committee (5+5) and the progress it has achieved to implement the ceasefire that was agreed upon in 2020.

On the sidelines of the conference, Safadi met with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Morocco, Kuwait, Algeria, Russia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Emirati state minister for foreign affairs and Arab League secretary general.

Safadi discussed with his counterparts bilateral ties, the latest developments regionally and internationally and the preparations for an international conference that will be co-chaired by Jordan and Sweden on November 16, 2021, on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Safadi along with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian discussed means of boosting bilateral ties, in addition to efforts aiming at resolving regional crises.

Safadi also discussed with The High Representative for Security and Foreign Policy in the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, enhancing the Jordanian-European partnership and the preparations for holding the Jordanian-EU Partnership Council.

Source: Jordan News Agency