Day: April 1, 2022

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi, on Friday, stressed along with his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken commitment to enhance the strategic partnership that brings together Amman and Washington.

In phone call, the two top diplomats discussed the new memorandum of understanding for the strategic partnership between the two countries, which frames the US aid for the Kingdom, replacing the current memorandum, which expires by the end of September 2022.

According to the current memorandum of understanding, the US provided Jordan with annual support over the past four years, which amounted to about $1.65 billion in 2021.

Safadi valued the support provided by the US to the Kingdom and stressed the strong ties between the two countries in economic, defense and other spheres, in addition to the mutual coordination with regard to a wide range of challenges in the Middle East region and efforts to achieve peace, security and stability in the region.

Blinken praised Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah, for its part in realizing peace and stability, voicing his country’s desire to strengthen the historical partnership between the two countries.

Safadi briefed Blinken on the efforts led by His Majesty the King and the contacts he is making in order to activate the peace process and reach a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, namely, during the holy month of Ramadan, and supporting the Palestinian economy.

Safadi stressed the importance of intensifying efforts aiming at respecting the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites, and guaranteeing the rights of Muslims to worship at Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif in the holy month of Ramadan.

He stressed the need to halt all illegal Israeli measures and stop all provocative actions that undermine achieving peace and calm.

The Ukrainian crisis was figured high, during the phone call, with Safadi voiced Jordan’s principled position that respect international law and the UN Charter and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The holy month of Ramadan begins on Sunday in Jordan, Grand Mufti Abdulkarim Khasawneh announced on Friday.

Khasawneh said that the crescent moon (hilal) of the new lunar month was not spotted in Jordan on Friday, which makes Sunday the first day of Ramadan, during which Muslims observe dawn-to-dusk fasting.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Maliki commended,on Friday, an overwhelmingly vote by the UN Human Rights Council in favor of two resolutions on the self-determination of the Palestinian people and the illegality of Israeli settlements.

38 countries voted in favor of the draft resolution “Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan”, while five countries abstained, namely Ukraine, Lithuania, Brazil, Cameroon and Honduras. Meantime, four countries voted against the resolution, specifically the United States, the United Kingdom, the Marshall Islands, and Malawi.

41 countries voted in favor of the resolution “The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”, while 3 countries abstained: Lithuania, Cameroon, and Honduras. Three countries voted against: the United States, the United Kingdom and the Marshall Islands.

He pointed out that the adoption of the resolution on the illegality of the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory affirms the need for a boycott of these settlements leading to their immediate dismantlement.

Al-Maliki stressed the need for the international community to ban settlement-manufactured goods, and to stop commercial and military dealings with the Israeli settlement system for its violation of the rules of international law.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Eight miners were killed and 18 injured on Friday when a shaft collapsed at a state-owned coal mine in southern Serbia.

The Mining and Energy ministry said the accident at the Soko mine, about 250 kilometres south of Belgrade, happened when coal collapsed in an excavation chamber, leading to “a sudden penetration of methane into the working space.”

There were 49 miners on the rota at the time of the accident, most of them from the nearby town of Aleksinac.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Three people were killed and one was seriously injured as two trainer fighter jets of the South Korean air force collided in midair and crashed in the southeastern city, Yonhap news agency reported Friday.

Two KT-1 trainer jets collided with each other during a training flight and fell to the ground in Sacheon, around 440 km southeast of the capital Seoul.

Among the four on board the ill-fated jets, three were confirmed dead and one was seriously wounded.

No damage and casualty were reported from private houses near the scene.

The firefighting authorities allegedly dispatched two helicopters, 14 vehicles and 35 personnel to the scene for the rescue operation.

The authorities will investigate the exact cause of the accident.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Italy on Friday began to phase out its COVID-19 restrictions, ending a state of emergency public authorities declared more than two years ago that allowed it to bypass bureaucracy and swiftly impose rules via decrees.

The state of emergency was introduced on Jan. 31, 2020, but Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government announced plans in March to return to normal after deciding not to extend it. It officially ended on Thursday.

“A new phase is beginning … This does not mean that the pandemic is over. There is no ‘off’ button that magically makes the virus disappear,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza told the newspaper la Repubblica.

Source: Jordan News Agency