Category: General

Jordan is in the process of updating its National Action Plan for Combating Antimicrobial Resistance, by setting specific priorities to be implemented in the next phase, said Minister of Health Feras Hawari.

During a meeting on Sunday with WHO Assistant Director General for Antimicrobial Resistance Hanan Balkhi, the minister stressed the need for closer cooperation between all stakeholders to combat AMR, saying: “Jordan is committed to implementing its National Action Plan through its health system on a multi-sectoral level, bringing together the ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Water and Irrigation, along with the National Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases Centre, the Jordan Food and Drug Administration, the Jordanian Royal Medical Services and other official and civil institutions.”

The minister indicated that initiatives in this regard will focus on augmenting awareness of AMR, strengthening nation-wide surveillance, improving infection control practices and promoting the rational use of antibiotics.

For her part, the WHO official pointed to the several meetings she held with different Jordanian officials to discuss this issue, noting that the battle against antimicrobial resistance needs to be addressed by all sectors, partners and experts at the political, technical and community levels.

“In recent studies collecting data from 204 countries, researchers estimated that nearly 5 million deaths in 2019 were “associated” with bacterial antimicrobial resistance, being the direct cause of death for about 1.3 million cases. To put this in perspective, antimicrobial resistance is responsible for more deaths than HIV/AIDS or malaria,” she added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Kingdom on Sunday will be affected by a warm air mass (khamaseini spell), pushing mercury levels 3-5 degrees Celsius higher than its seasonal average, and bringing warm and dusty weather, especially in the Kingdom’s southern and eastern regions, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily update.

In addition, occasional scattered rain is forecast, mainly in the northern and central region, with southeasterly to southwesterly brisk winds, accompanied by strong gusts exceeding 70 km/hour.

Colder weather will prevail at night, with clouds at low altitudes and westerly moderate to brisk winds, the JMD added, warning of the danger of low visibility and sometimes its lack thereof due to sandstorms, especially in the Kingdom’s southern and eastern regions.

On Monday, a tangible drop in temperatures is expected, with relatively cold weather prevailing in most regions, while it will be warm in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and Aqaba.

Pleasant weather conditions will come back on Tuesday, with scattered showers at night and southeasterly moderate winds.

Mercury in the capital Amman today will range between a high of 20 degrees Celsius and a low of 5C at night, while the port city of Aqaba will see a fair 29C, sliding to 14C at night.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Jordan Free and Development Zones Group (JFDZ) will, as of March 20, rollout new electronic services to renew investment contracts and investment activity licenses.

The JFDZ’s Director General Abdul Hamid Gharaibeh told the Jordan News Agency (Petra) Sunday that the group is forging ahead with providing more electronic investment-related services, noting that additional services will be announced on April 14.

The electronic services, he explained, are designed by the JFDZ’s programmers under its policies to upgrade investment services to meet the needs of investors and the sector overall.

Source: Jordan News Agency

In implementation of His Majesty King Abdullah II’s directives, Prime Minister Dr. Bisher Khasawneh instructed the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Wajih Owais, to provide grants and loans to some 27,000 students, who earlier applied for and did not receive payments, according to the conditions and amounts allocated for this purpose.

Under the decision, the projected payments, which will be paid to the new receipients, is estimated at JD30 million, according to Owais.

Owais noted the total number of students to benefit from grants and loans, who met the conditions, stand at 74,486, adding that 47,646 were earlier nominated to receive disbursements, constituting 64% of the applicants, while 26,840 others needed to wait additional time.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research will nominate all 26,840 students to receive grants and loans, in accordance with the instructions of the Student Support Fund (SSF), he noted.

The SSF, run by Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, pays the amounts to applicants who meet the conditions in public universities.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Mercury will slightly rise Saturday, and sunny and pleasant weather are forecast to prevail almost countrywide, while warmer conditions are likely to affect Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and Aqaba, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily update.

According to the JMD report, the weather is cold at night, with southeasterly light winds, warning of the risk of low horizontal visibility due to the fog formation in the early morning hours over hilltops.

On Sunday, the Kingdom is affected by a summer-like air mass (khamaseini spell), as mercury is set to rise “significantly,” higher than its seasonal average by about 6-8 degrees Celsius, and the weather will be warm and dusty, especially in the Kingdom’s southern and eastern regions.

In addition, showers of rain are also possible occasionally, especially in those areas, with southeasterly to southwesterly active winds, accompanied by strong gusts, sometimes with a speed exceeding 70 km/hour.

The JMD warns of the danger of low visibility and sometimes its lack thereof due to sandstorms, especially in the Kingdom’s southern and eastern regions.

On Monday, a slight drop in temperatures is expected and the weather will be pleasant almost countrywide, and warm in the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea.

Also on Saturday, mercury in the capital Amman will range between a high of 17 degrees Celsius and a low of 8C at night, meanwhile the port city of Aqaba will see a fair 26C, sliding to 14C at night.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate said records of its crisis cell show that no Jordanians are registered in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha.

The news reports indicated that a ceasefire agreement had been reached in the two cities, and safe passages would be provided for the exit of civilians residing there.

In a press statement on Saturday, the ministry said it is continuing to cooperate with Jordanian embassies in Ankara and Moscow to conduct “intensive” diplomatic contacts with all concerned parties and international organizations to push for providing safe corridors for Jordanians in the cities of Sumy and Kharkov.

The concerned authorities were provided with an updated list that includes the Jordanians’ names, in preparation for any agreement that could be struck in this regard, the statement added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Amman-based Global Forum for Moderation (GFM) denounced the terror attack that targeted on Friday, a mosque in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing some 60 worshipers and wounding 190 others.

The forum, in a press statement on Saturday, said: “These cowardly and morally condemnable acts targeted killing innocent citizens while performing their religious rites on Friday.”

The forum expressed its “deepest” condolences to the victims’ families and wished speedy recovery to the wounded.

In addition, the GFM renewed its “sincere” call for orchestrating national and international efforts at all levels, to counter terrorism and extremism, expose its supporting countries, urging further action to promote a culture of moderation as a “safety valve” for societies.

The forum also called on various stakeholders to play a stronger role in warding off terrorism and aborting all destructive terror attempts to enable societies to live in security, peace and freedom.

Source: Jordan News Agency