Day: December 11, 2021

Categories
Games

Nashama knocked out of Arab Cup

Jordan national football team (Nashama) was knocked out of the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup, losing to Egypt, 1-3, in the match that was played at the Al Janoub Stadium in Doha Saturday evening.

Nashma’s striker Yazan Al-Nuaimat scored the first goal at the first half. In the second minute of the first half’s extra time, Egyptian player Marwan Hamdi equalized the score, ending the first half of the match with a draw.

The match ended in a draw, and extended for extra times. In the ninth minute of the first extra time, Egyptian player Ahmed Refaat scored the second goal for his country. The third goal for Egypt was scored by Marwan Daoud in the last minute of the extra second half.

The Nashma played today in the absence of a number of key players, either due to infection with the Covid, or injuries, namely: Baha Faisal, Yazan Al-Arab, Ahmed Thaer, Anas Al-Awadat and Muhannad Khairallah.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Government Policy

Omicron cases discovered inside Jordan will be sent to institutional quarantine at Gov’t expense: official

A senior health official said Saturday that infections with the new omicron variant that are being discovered inside the Kingdom will be subjected to institutional quarantine at the government’s expense.

Advisor at the Prime Ministry for Health Affairs, Adel Balbisi, told the Jordan News Agency (Petra) that the institutional quarantine will be applied to Jordanians coming from 7 African countries, which witnessed the spread of the omicron variant, and at their own expense, regardless of the result of the PCR test at Queen Alia International Airport.

Government decisions ban entry to non-Jordanians from 7 countries, namely South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mambia, Eswatini and Botswana, Balbisi noted. He pointed out that in case non-Jordanians from those countries wish to visit the Kingdom, they are required to be in other countries for 14 days, and to bring a negative PCR test, and thee will be retested at the airport.

He said that only confirmed cases of infection with omicron variant will be announced, and no suspected cases of the variant will be announced until they are confirmed.

He added to 36 contacts with the infected case inside Jordan were tested, and they all tested negative, Balbisi announced.

On Thursday, the Health Ministry reported the first two cases of the omicron variant in the Kingdom; the first infection was for a citizen coming from South Africa who was directly quarantined in a hotel in Amman, and the second for a citizen who had no recent travel history outside the Kingdom and was quarantined in a hotel in Amman as well.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Government Policy

National conference on human rights opens

Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh said Saturday Jordan seeks to enhance human rights to preserve human dignity and freedoms and endeavours to develop a comprehensive and integrated human right system within the national reform approach it has upheld and pursued for years.

In remarks delivered on his behalf by Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Mousa Maaytah at the national government conference to mark the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Khasawneh said his government attaches great importance to the protection and promotion of human rights and works to consolidate them, driven by a civilizational heritage and political will under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II.

He said that despite the challenges, including the coronavirus pandemic, Jordan is forging ahead with enhancing the role of citizens in the decision-making process, noting that draft election and political parties legislation and constitutional amendments are now going through the constitutional process pending debate and approval by the Lower House’s Legal Committee.

He noted a royal political will, including the formation of the Royal Committee for the Modernization of the Political System, which was tasked with drafting a new election and parties draft law and passing recommendations on legislation that regulates local administration, expands the base of participation and creates a legislative and political environment that guarantees the role of youth and women in public life.

The premier stressed the need for platform-based parties towards the formation of parliamentary governments.

General Coordinator of Human Rights at the Prime Minister’s Office Nazir Awamleh said the government is working, in partnership with international institutions and civil society organisations, to follow up on human rights reports and relevant activities and build the capacity of workers in the field through local and foreign programmes.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Fashion

Jordan slated to take part in 22nd Conference of Arab Culture Ministers in Dubai

Jordan is scheduled to take part in 22nd Conference of Arab Culture Ministers, to be held in headquarters of Expo 2020 Dubai, in cooperation with the Arab Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO).

The event, which will be held on the December 19-20, will discuss the comprehensive plan for Arab culture and its modernization, aimed to strengthening inter-Arab cultural cooperation on a world level, according to the UAE Culture and Youth Ministry statement.

This bid includes cooperation in registering intangible heritage at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and orchestrating Arab efforts to develop the cultural and creative industries, the statement pointed out.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Affairs

ACI’s exports increased by 16% in 11 months-its data

Amman Chamber of Industry (ACI)’s exports soared by 16% during the past 11 months of 2021, compared to the same period in 2019, driven by the rising exports of most industrial sectors, the ACI statistical data obtained by “Petra,” showed.

Most industrial sectors recorded an increase in exports of their products during the January- November period of 2021, with the exception of the leather, textiles, therapeutic and medical supplies sectors, which went down by 8%-9%, respectively, according to the ACI’s figures.

In the last 11 months 2021, the ACI exports reached JD4.792 billion, compared to about JD4.141 billion for the same period in 2019, its data revealed.

The United States of America, India, Saudi Arabia and Iraq accounted for the majority of ACI’s exports during the past 11 months of 2021, at a value of JD2,805 billion, the ACI’s statistics said.

The ACI’s exports to the United States increased during the past 11 of 2021 by 88%, making it the top importer globally to receive the highest volume of ACI’s exports, at a value of JD948 million, compared to JD504 million for the same period in 2019.

Moreover, the ACI exports to India during the past 11 months of 2021 increased by 34% to JD838 million, compared to JD627 million for the same period in 2019.

In addition, the ACI’s exports to Iraq increased during the January-November period 2021 by 1%, reaching JD495 million, compared to JD490 million for the same period in 2019.

On the other hand, the ACI’s exports to Saudi Arabia dropped by 4%, declining to JD524 million, compared to about JD546 million for the same period in 2019.

ACI’s exports to Syria during the 1st 11 months 2021 increased by 32%, to reach JD85 million, compared to about JD65 million for the same period in 2019.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Affairs

Canadian market ‘promising’ for products of Jordanian industry-JEA

Head of the Jordan Exporters Association (JEA), Ahmad Khudari, expressed the association’s keenness to increase exports of national products into the Canadian market by enhancing benefits from the free trade agreement (FTA) signed between the two countries.

According to a JEA statement Saturday, Khudari said the Jordan-Canada FTA, which entered into force in 2012, provides “various and promising” opportunities for the national industry to enter the Canadian market and meet its needs for “high-quality” goods.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of a JEA training workshop, in cooperation with the Trade Facilitation Office Canada (TFOC) for industrial companies and businesswomen in the food and cosmetics sectors, he noted the JEA seeks, through its activities, to help Jordanian companies and businesswomen increase industrial exports to the Canadian market.

Khudari stressed the JEA’s keenness to develop the businesswomen’s capabilities and engage them in international trade and find export opportunities in a number of global markets by taking part in the JEA’s external exhibitions and organizing specialized training workshops to benefit from Jordan’s free trade agreements with many countries.

Khudari lauded the TFOC’s role in implementing programs in cooperation with the JEA to help Jordanian companies and businesswomen enter new markets, especially Canada.

In 2018, the JEA sent a delegation to take part in an international exhibition in Canada, which saw the participation of a number of Jordanian businesswomen, with the aim of promoting their products, which highlighted their potential to compete within the Canadian market, he noted.

This step, he said, showed opportunities for Jordanian businesswomen, especially for business owners outside the capital, Amman, but lack technical and financial support to help access foreign markets.

In 2009, Jordan and Canada signed four bilateral cooperation agreements, with the aim of establishing “distinguished” economic relations in various fields, including a FTA and three pacts on investment, labor and the environment.

National exports to Canada increased during the last nine months of 2021 by 19% to reach JD38 million, compared to JD32 million for the same period 2020.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Health

UK reports 633 new infections with omicron variant

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said 633 new infections with omicron variant were recorded Saturday.

The omicron variant total caseload amounted to 1898 to date, UKHSA said in tweet.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Health

24 virus deaths, 2,708 infections recorded Saturday

The Ministry of Health announced Saturday it recorded 24 coronavirus deaths and 2,708 infections in the Kingdom, bringing the death toll from the pandemic to 11,941 and the caseload to 1,006,136.

The positivity rate of PCR tests collected today was 9.43 per cent, according to the daily media brief by the ministry.

It said the number of currently active cases in the Kingdom stood at 66,843, with 207 admitted today to hospitals and 119 discharged. The total number of confirmed cases being hospitalized reached 1,256, it said.

The ministry said that the occupancy rate of isolation beds in the northern region was 32%, intensive care beds 49% and respirators 35%.

The occupancy rate of isolation beds in the central region reached 30%, intensive care beds 46% and respirators 24%, according to the daily report.

In the southern region, the occupancy rate of isolation beds was 12%, intensive care beds 11% and respirators 10%, it said.

The ministry also reported 4,012 cases of recovery, bringing the total number of expected recoveries after the end of the 14-day isolation period to 927,352.

The daily figures also showed that the number of those who got the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine reached 4,220,599 and the of those who were double-jabbed climbed to 3,813,116.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
Health

UK reports 132 fatalities

The UK’s health department Saturday reported 132 COVID-19 deaths, taking the death toll to 146,387.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said some 54,073 people tested positive for the highly contagious lung disease, as the caseload tops 10 million.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Categories
General

Cool weather forecast in mountains, fair elsewhere on Saturday-JMD

Saturday will see a slight rise in temperatures and the weather will be relatively cold over Jordan’s highlands and pleasant elsewhere, with southeasterly moderate winds, Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily update.

According to the JMD report, the mercury will continue to rise slightly on Sunday, and the weather will be pleasant almost countrywide, and relatively warm in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and Aqaba.

As for Monday, similar weather is set to affect the Kingdom with the appearance of clouds at medium and high altitudes almost kingdomwide, the JMD said.

On Tuesday, mercury will drop, while remaining slightly above its seasonal average, and the weather will be relatively cold, with light showers of rain forecast in the Kingdom’s western parts, the JMD noted.

Also on Saturday, temperatures in eastern Amman will range from 20 Celsius degrees, dipping into 9C at night, while western Amman will hover from 18C to 7C. The Gulf of Aqaba will see a fair 28C, sliding to 17C during night.

Source: Jordan News Agency