Author: Web Desk

A Jordanian humanitarian aid plane Monday arrived in the Beirut airport following an explosion that had rocked the Aakkar governorate in the north of the country.

The aid plane, which was laden with medical equipment and medicine, was greeted at the airport by Jordan’s Ambassador to Lebanon Waleed Hadeed and Lebanese officials.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah Monday visited the offices of technology startup Wajeez, where she met with the Jordanian team behind a mobile application offering Arabic speakers written and audio summaries of non-fiction books.

Her Majesty was welcomed to the startup’s offices in Amman by its co-founders, Mohammad Zatara and Rami Abu Jbara, who provided the Queen with a brief history of the Wajeez application.

After initially launching an online bookstore in 2014 known as Faylasoof, last year, the team changed directions and launched Wajeez, a book-summarizing service, which enables users to read or listen to convenient 15-minute summaries of global and local textbooks and non-fiction bestsellers.

According to Zatara, the application has registered more than 1.2 million downloads to date, with a user base of more than 800,000 people across the Middle East and North Africa.

Abu Jbara, who is also Wajeez’s Chief Content Officer, explained that paid subscribers have access to more than 3,000 audio and text-based summaries of non-fiction titles through the Wajeez library. The application also features a new book summary each day, available to users for free. It has recently expanded its offerings to include summaries of more than 50 popular podcasts, which are also accessible for free through the app.

Her Majesty toured Wajeez’s offices, greeting the startup’s staff. The company currently employs 40 Jordanian full-time employees, as well as a network of approximately 500 freelancers.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Czech ambassador in Amman Josef Koutsky on Monday said his country will not relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and that Prague advocates for a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue.

The ambassador made the remarks during a meeting with the Jordanian-European Parliamentary Friendship Association, focusing on Jordanian-Czech cooperation and a number of Middle East issues.

Chairman of the association Khaldoun Hina spoke about the Hashemite custodianship over Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and highlighted Jordan’s support of the Palestinian cause.

Hina described Jordanian-Czech relations as “deep-rooted”, and stressed the need to strengthen trade, economic, religious and medical ties between the two countries.

The Czech envoy said his country looks forward to boosting ties and cooperation with in the various fields.

Koutsky noted support provided by his country to refugees in Jordan, indicating that the Czech Republic has treated 4,000 Syrian patients, in addition to launching small projects in Azraq Camp and provided electricity to the Zaatari camp.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The joint Jordanian-Turkish Business Council Monday convened a meeting of the Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA) and the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK).

The JBA said in a press release that the council, which brought together businessmen and investors from the two countries, went over a host of issues and ways and means of enhancing economic and trade ties between the two sides during the next period, and familiarizing with investment opportunities in the two countries.

JBA President Hamdi Al-Tabbaa said that the Jordanian-Turkish Business Council, which was established in 1994, is an effective and robust body that the association is keen to see as a bridge between the business community in the two countries.

He said that holding the council meeting is a reaffirmation of the two sides’ keenness on boosting investment, trade and economic relations “in a manner that is consistent with the interests of the two friendly countries.”

Tabbaa said that despite the adverse economic repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic in the various aspects and at all levels, especially the economic side, Jordan was able to maintain a stable investment environment and its status on the global investment map as a safe destination for business, a country with monetary, political and security stability and a business-friendly environment that is open to the various countries of the world.

Jordan, he said, is a gateway to neighbouring markets, which can be exploited through a focus on the export advantages offered by the two countries towards forging a strategic partnership and elevating the level of relations in the near future.

For his part, Jordanian-Turkish Business Council Chairman Faruk Akbal told the opening session that Turkey attaches great importance to closer economic and trade ties with Jordan, outlining DEIK’s goals and its role in regulating the Turkish private sector and raising Turkish exports.

He called for investing in the available opportunities to develop bilateral relations and benefit from agreements to prevent double taxation and protect investments and capital, pointing to the diverse industries for business, such as the auto industry and spare parts, energy, infrastructure, agriculture and services.

Source: Jordan News Agency

About 113,000 students passed the 2020/2021 General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) with an overall pass rate of 60.8 per cent, Minister of Education Muhammad Abu Qdeis announced on Monday.

He told a press conference that this year’s pass rate was the highest in recent years, indicating that the total number of students who sate the exam stood at 185,806 in all academic branches. With a success rate of 65.5 per cent, 29,313 students passed in the scientific stream and 28,492 in the literary branch.

“We have done everything we can to ensure fairness for students,” he said, adding that the ministry has followed a transparent and flexible approach.

“Before the exam, we announced the type of questions, point breakdown, and the topics that the exam will cover. We also acted on and addressed all the reports and observations we received about the course of the exam”, the minister said.

Qdeis also announced that the ministry has formed an expert task force to restructure and upgrade the exam to be a measure of educational and learning quality and outputs, while maintaining its credibility, stemming from its conviction that a key national exam, such as Tawjihi, should not remain “captive to rigid and traditional patterns that placed heavy pressure on students and families”.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A convoy carrying medical supplies and medications was dispatched by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) on Monday to Lebanon.

In a statement, the JHCO said that the convoy, which was dispatched in coordination with the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army and the Ministry of Health, will be delivered to the concerned authorities in Lebanon in light of the current situation the country is experiencing.

JHCO Secretary General Hussein Shibli said that, under royal directives, the organization reached out to the Ministry of Health to secure medical supplies and to the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army for coordination to dispatch the convoy.

The JHCO has sent five convoys carrying humanitarian aid, electric generators and food and medical supplies since the Beirut port blast a year ago.

Source: Jordan News Agency

President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a congratulatory message to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion of his country’s Independence Day, which is celebrated on 15th August.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also sent similar messages to President Kovind, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation

The UAE has expressed its solidarity with Haiti for the victims of the earthquake that struck the south of the country, killing many people, as well as causing injuries.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed its sincere condolences and sympathy to the Government of Haiti and to the families of the victims over this enormous loss, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation

The UAE has strongly condemned the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist militias’ systematic attempts to attack civilians and civilian objects in Najran, Saudi Arabia with a ballistic missile, which was intercepted by the Coalition Forces.

In a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) on Sunday, the UAE reiterated that these systematic terror attacks by the Houthis reflect their blatant disregard for the international community and all international laws and norms.

The Ministry urged the international community to take an immediate and decisive stance to stop these recurrent acts, which target critical infrastructure and threaten the security and stability of the Kingdom, as well as global energy supplies. It also stressed that the continued threat of these attacks in recent days is a grave escalation that represents new evidence of these militias’ attempts to undermine security and stability in the region.

The UAE renewed its full solidarity with Saudi Arabia over these subversive terrorist attacks and reiterated its stance against all threats to the Kingdom’s security and stability. The UAE also reiterated its support for all measures taken by Saudi authorities to maintain the safety and security of its citizens and residents.

MoFAIC also stressed that the security of the UAE and that of Saudi Arabia are indivisible and that any threat facing the Kingdom is considered a threat to the security and stability of the UAE.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation