Day: January 18, 2022

Awqaf Minister, Muhammad Khalaileh on Tuesday met with his Palestinian counterpart Sheikh Hatem Al-Bakri.

Khalaileh lauded as “deep” the relations between Jordan and the Palestinian National Authority on highlighting the true image of Islam, unite Muslims and restore cohesion between them.

The Awqaf Minister said that Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah, has been supporting the Palestinian cause, the nation’s central cause, until Palestinian people obtain their rights and establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

He stressed that Jerusalem and the holy places is the cause of the nation, every Muslim man and woman and all Arabs’, pointing out that Jordan bears the Palestinian distress

and endures pressures for this stance, and stands by all its institutions, under directives of His Majesty the King, with the Palestine people.

The Palestinian minister, in turn, commended Jordan’s efforts, under the leadership of the King, to defend the Palestinian people and the Islamic and Christian holy sites in the Al-Quds Al-Sharif, especially the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to confront, through the Hashemite custodianship, all attempts of Judaization by the occupation authorities and extremist settlers.

Al-Bakri lauded the deep-rooted ties between the two countries, as Jordan constitute the lifeline of the Palestinian people in light of the difficult circumstances they are going through.

The two ministers discussed benefiting from the King Abdullah II Institute for Training Imams and Preachers, adopting the Jordanian experience in establishing the Awqaf Funds Development Department, and the ministry’s role in confronting extremism and family protection.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Vast agricultural lands in the Northern Jordan Valley and Badia region were affected by the cold spell that struck the Kingdom in the past few days, causing extensive damage to a variety of crops, according to farmers.

Farmers told Petra that sub-zero temperatures caused extensive losses to the sector, demanding that the government speedily assess damage for compensation from the Agricultural Risk Fund.

In the Northern Jordan Valley, potato and other vegetable crops were totally destroyed, and banana and citrus farms also suffered heavy damage, which will sharply reduce the season’s production and the quality of fruits, they said.

Jordan Valley Farmers Association Head Adnan Khaddam said that the Ministry of Agriculture was notified on the size of losses due to the frigid weather that swept across the Jordan Valley, urging speedy compensation for farmers.

Director of Agriculture in the Northern Jordan Valley, Raed Shurman told Petra that three committees were formed to assess the losses incurred by farmers.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Lower House Speaker Abdul Karim Doghmi Tuesday received Korean ambassador Lee Jae-wan to discuss prospects for forging closer bilateral relations in various fields, particularly parliamentary cooperation.

Doghmi underscored the deep-rooted relations, noting that the two countries see eye to eye on many issues, especially the Palestinian cause and the right to statehood.

Jordan, he noted, values Seoul’s expertise in many fields, namely industry and technology, stressing the need to grab opportunities offered by the two countries.

The Lower House head said Jordan recognizes the role of Korean businessmen and community in the Kingdom, which enjoys the respect of Jordanians.

For his part, the Korean envoy underlined the strong ties, which were established in 1962, expressing his country’s interest in cementing relations in parliamentary, investment, tourism and other domains.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Speaker of Lower House of Parliament Abdel Karim Dughmi received Tuesday a copy of the annual report of the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC) for the year 2020.

During a meeting with the JIACC’s Chairman Muhannad Hijazi, Dughmi underscored the Lower House’s support for the JIACC’s efforts to preserve public money and combat corruption.

For his part, Hijazi said that the commission recovered about JD101 million over the past few years, in addition to court-ordered amounts worth JD616 million.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Senate on Tuesday endorsed the amended Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZ) law as passed by the Lower House of Parliament.

The amendments aim to unify customs management at the port city, giving more powers to the Customs Department within the ASEZ borders to detect and investigate customs crimes and collect taxes, fees, fines and service duties.

The law also grants the Income and Sales Tax Department new powers to audit, calculate and collect the income and sales taxes, and the ASEZ tax, in addition to increasing the revenue percentage of the authority of the ASEZ from income and sales taxes.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Jordan Armed Forces- Arab Army (JAF) Tuesday mourned martyr, Sergeant Mohammad Hamid Al-Mashaqbeh, who died in the line of duty on the Kingdom’s border.

A JAF statement expressed condolences to the family of the martyr.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Sunny but icy-cold weather conditions will prevail on Tuesday in most parts of the Kingdom with easterly moderate winds, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily update, warning of frost formation in much of the Kingdom.

On Wednesday, a new depression accompanied by a polar front is expected to bring biting cold weather with rainfall in the northern and central regions, extending to the southern and eastern parts. The downpour will be heavy at times, with thunderstorms and hail, causing flash floods in the valleys and low-lying areas.

The JMD did not rule out the possibility of spotty snowfall in the mountainous regions, particularly in the northern and southern range and areas located 1000m above sea level.

Cold weather will continue on Thursday, with a slight chance for showers in the western region.

Today, the maximum and minimum temperatures in eastern Amman will range from 9 Celsius degrees to 3C during night, while highs in western Amman will be 7C and lows at 2C. The Gulf of Aqaba will see a fair 18C, dropping to 9C at night hours.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A joint employment project between the Ministry of Labor and the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) was launched on Tuesday with the aim of directing employment policies in the Kingdom towards social and economic development.

The “Employment in Jordan 2030” (EJ2030) project will help address the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on employment, especially in light of an already high unemployment among young people and women as a result of the repercussions of the pandemic, according to Labor Minister Nayef Istitiah.

At a launch ceremony, Istitiah added that the project will also inform policies and data analysis, enabling the ministry to realign labor market policies towards fast-growing sectors and related professional businesses.

Kordula Mehlhart, Head of German Development Cooperation at the German Embassy in Amman, said that the project will support economic development efforts and job generation through capacity building and the introduction of evidence-based policies that advance the labor market in the medium and long term.

The launch ceremony was attended by Director of (GIZ) Jordan Office Elisabeth Girrbach and representatives from the Jordan Chambers of Industry and Commerce and the General Federation of Jordan Trade Unions.

The EJ2030 is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with a contribution of 9 million euros.

Source: Jordan News Agency