Day: February 7, 2023

The impact of a depression and cold polar front currently affecting Jordan is forecast to deepen on Tuesday, with strong winds and heavy rain accompanied by thunder and hail in the northern, central, and parts of the southern regions, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

Snow showers mixed with rain are also forecast over the high mountain peaks that are 900-1000 meters above sea level, while winds will be westerly active, with gusts exceeding 90 kilometers per hour and blowing dust in the Badia areas.

The weather service issued alerts about flash floods in valleys and lowlands, strong winds, slick roads, snow accumulation, and poor horizontal visibility in the eastern and southern areas, and the highlands due to heavy dust storms and dense fog.

On Wednesday, extremely cold, cloudy, and rainy conditions will persist in most regions, with strong winds and snowfall on elevations of 900 meters above sea level.

A rise in temperatures is expected on Thursday as the impact of the cold front tapers off, but cold weather will prevail in most parts of the Kingdom with intermittent rain in the northern and central regions.

Temperatures in the capital Amman today will range between a high of 6 degrees Celsius and a low of 2C at night, while the port city of Aqaba will see a fair 19C, sliding to 9C at night.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Qatar has allocated some 10,000 mobile homes to affected people in Turkey and Syria after a powerful earthquake struck the two countries on Monday.

A statement by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “Within the framework of the continuous Qatari efforts to contribute to relieving the quake-affected people in Syria and Turkey, the State of Qatar has allocated 10,000 mobile homes that will be transferred to the affected areas.”

Qatar launched the first air bridge to Turkey on Monday night in response to the deadly earthquakes that rocked the country and neighbouring Syria.

The first flights of the air bridge are accompanied by a team from the Qatar International Search and Rescue Group of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) equipped with specialized mechanisms for search and rescue operations, in addition to a field hospital, relief aid, tents and winter supplies.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Recent rainfall channeled about 2 million cubic meters (mcm) in 24 hours into the Kingdom’s dams, raising their total amount to 91.5 mcm (32.5 percent) of the total capacity of 280.760 mcm.

A statement by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation on Tuesday said that rainfall mainly poured into the northern and central dams, noting that no additional water entered the southern dams.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Founder of Islamic Relief and Chairman of World Humanitarian Action Forum (WHAF), Hany El-Banna, on Monday said that the international community shall scale up support to Jordan as it continues to provide services to refugees.

Speaking to the Jordan News Agency (Petra), on the sidelines of a lecture he delivered at the Jordan Red Crescent entitled “Contemporary Challenges Facing Humanitarian Work Organizations”, El-Banna said that he sensed the dire need to support refugees during a visit to various refugee camps, noting that Jordan cannot by itself meet the needs of all those people.

“The policy of international assistance to refugees in the hosting countries is a policy of feeding only,” he added, urging the need to make it a policy of building, educating, qualifying, and training so that they can be active in society.

On the other hand, El-Banna emphasized that humanitarian work is a craft, a profession, and an industry that requires knowledge of the standards of humanitarian work, explaining that the standards of work in areas of conflict and war are different from those in areas of natural disasters.

He also briefed the audience on the internal challenges in the humanitarian sector, which include the lack of involvement of youth and women, the absence of a clear administrative structure in humanitarian work institutions, the unavailability of a clear policy for managing the institution, and the shortage of knowledge and commitment to humanitarian standards.

The official called on all humanitarian associations to rely on human values, away from the policies of states and governments which impose their cultures on local associations that work in areas of conflict and war, stressing the importance of archiving, blogging, and writing human history.

As for the external challenges that impede humanitarian work, he pointed out that Islamophobia is the most prominent, along with the fight against values and morals.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Some 400 aftershocks have been recorded since earthquakes struck southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria early Monday, said Ghassan Sweidan, head of the Jordan Seismological Observatory.

All aftershocks had a magnitude of over 3 on the Richter scale, he said, pointing out that several tremors were recorded in the Anatolian Fault zones and were centered on the Syrian-Turkish border, as well as 80 4-5 strong aftershocks in northern and central Turkey, which were recorded by Jordanian seismic monitors.

About 140 aftershocks struck after the first 7.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred at 4:17 am Jordan time, until the second 7.5-strong quake struck at 1:24 pm Jordan time, which was followed by 260 aftershocks, Sweidan added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The joint Jordanian-Iraqi Higher Committee on Wednesday opens a two-day session in Baghdad to discuss cementing cooperation in economic and other fields.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply and Minister of Labor Yousef Shamali told Petra in an interview that a host of issues are on the agenda, top of which are intra-trade and removing barriers to trade flow as well as stimulating the private sector to benefit from opportunities available in either country.

Shamali, who will head the Jordanian side to the meetings, said that investment projects will be launched, given the “unprecedented” advantages and incentives offered by the investment environment legislation, pointing to the many areas available for business in Iraq.

He added that the meetings will follow up on the progress of a joint economic city project, trilateral Jordanian-Iraqi-Egyptian ventures, as well as cooperation in energy, transport, customs, health, food, trade, industry and other fields.

A Jordanian-Iraqi business forum will also be held on the sidelines of the meetings to tackle future areas of cooperation at the level of businessmen and the private sector in both countries, he said.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A dialogue session on ecotourism in the Kingdom discussed its importance for the local economy and highlighted the top priorities to develop it on a local level.

The Migratory Soaring Birds project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented through the United Nations Development Program’s BirdLife International, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, organized the panel discussion under the title “Ecotourism in Jordan.”

According to a ministry statement on Tuesday, participants discussed the importance of ecotourism, which provides additional income to contribute to protecting natural and environmentally important areas, preserving biodiversity in the region, creating jobs for local residents with nature-inspired projects, helping people understand the value of natural heritage, and changing their perceptions towards preserving nature.

The discussion also touched on the needs and priorities for the development of ecotourism in Jordan, the most important of which is not disturbing the environmental balance through human action and avoiding the pollution or destruction of the ecosystem, in addition to the importance of focusing on responsible investment and cooperation between local authorities to preserve the environment and reduce negative effects of tourism.

Jordan, the participants noted, has natural richness and diversity of living, plant and animal organisms, and has taken serious steps to protect its natural environment by establishing models for natural reserves of the biosphere and establishing inter-tourism as a major development cluster for integrating economic and social development within environmental protection, pointing out that there are ten nature reserves in Jordan that provide tourists with an exceptional experience to enjoy nature and help local communities.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Under royal directives to aid those injured and the families of the victims of the earthquake that hit Turkiye and Syria, the first of several aid planes took off Tuesday evening, loaded with rescue equipment, tents, logistical and medical materials, in addition to a highly trained Jordanian rescue team that includes 99 people from the Jordanian International Search and Rescue Team, and five doctors from the Jordanian Royal Medical Services.

According to a statement released Tuesday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) on Monday evening reached out to the concerned authorities in Syria and Turkiye, and began making the necessary preparations to send basic aid to the areas affected by the earthquake to take part in the rescue operations.

The JHCO is the only entity in the Kingdom responsible for raising and delivering aid, the statement underscored, and any cash or in-kind donations will be delivered through the organization.

Source: Jordan News Agency