Category: General

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, the Regent, on Monday visited the First Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II Royal Mechanised Battalion, to mark the 81st anniversary of its formation Crown Prince Al Hussein joined a number of the battalion’s former retired leaders for iftar after performing the maghreb prayer.

The Regent expressed pride in serving in the battalion, which is the oldest formation in the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, paying tribute to its celebrated history.

The battalion fought in 1948 in a number of battles in Tulkarm, Tal Alradar, and Khirbet Karkar, and in 1967 in Qabatya in Nablus, in addition to defending Arab territories in Syria’s Golan in the 1973 war.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Minister of Agriculture Khalid Hneifat and Tunisia’s Ambassador to Jordan Khalid Suhaili Tuesday held a meeting in Amman on agriculture cooperation, food security and regional challenges.

In the meeting, Hneifat highlighted the regional challenges and their impact on the farming sector, as well as the need to bolster cooperation on food security. He also highlighted Jordan-Tunisia’s cooperation in upping the trade scale.

For his part, Suhaili talked about the Jordan-Tunisia “deep-rooted” ties and noted Jordan’s support for economic and agriculture reform in Tunisia, adding that 15 Jordan-Tunisia joint committees took convened since 2021.

Suhaili called for more joint Jordan-Tunisia agriculture committee meetings to discuss issues of mutual interest and cooperation.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday hailed the courageous Jordanian stance in defence of Jerusalem and its Christian and Muslim holy sites, which was constantly expressed by His Majesty King Abdullah and the Jordanian government, parliament and people.

In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry commended His Majesty’s stand against the ongoing “Israelization and Judaization” of Jerusalem and escalating attacks against Al-Aqsa Mosque, worshipers and guards, including attempts to impose a temporal and spatial division of the holy compound.

The Palestinian government and people highly recognize the political and diplomatic moves, led by His Majesty King Abdullah, to lay bare the Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque, including incursions, repression and attacks on worshipers, guards and the elderly, said the statement.

It highlighted the King’s warning of the consequences of emptying the mosque of worshipers to carry out provocative incursions and of the dangerous repercussions of these actions on the conflict and the entire region, as Israel tries to turn the political nature of the conflict to a religious war.

The Palestinian ministry noted the series of contacts His Majesty, the custodian of the Jerusalem holy sites, made with officials in the region and the world as well as the United Nations to galvanize world action to pressure the occupying power to cease the attacks.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Border Guard troops of the Eastern Military Zone, in coordination with security services and the Anti-Narcotics Department, foiled an attempt at dawn Tuesday by a groups of smugglers to breach the Kingdom’s frontier from Syria, the General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces- Arab Army (JAF) said.

It said in a statement that troops applied the rules of engagement, leading to the injury of a number of smugglers and forcing the rest to retreat deep inside Syrian territory.

A search of the area uncovered about two million drug pills and two hundred hashish palm-size sheets, it said, adding that the case was referred to the competent authorities.

The armed forces reiterated that they will firmly deal with any attempt at infiltration or to tamper with national security.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Jordan will summon the Israeli Charge d’Affaires in Amman on Monday to protest and demand an immediate cessation of Israeli violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi said.

He told lawmakers during a Lower House session that Amman will host a meeting of an Arab League committee to address the recurrent Israeli assaults. The committee comprises Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, Algeria, and the Secretary-General of the Arab League.

Safadi highlighted Jordan’s efforts, led by His Majesty King Abdullah, to counter all actions to alter the legal and historical status quo of Jerusalem.

Jordan, he said, is stepping up contacts with global and Arab decision-makers to compel Israel, the occupying power, to abide by the international law, halt raids and violations against the holy site, and prompt the world community to find a “political horizon” to achieve peace on the basis of the two-state solution leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state on the lines of the fourth of June, 1967.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA) and the Small and Medium Business Development Agency of Azerbaijan (SMBDA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Sunday to enhance investment and economic ties, and connect business communities of mutual interest sectors.

The deal, signed by JBA’s Vice President Muhammad Balbisi and SMBDA’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Orkhan Mammadov, seeks to boost commercial and investment cooperation between enterprises, especially the small and medium ones, and exchange retail data and investment opportunities.

Additionally, it aims to cooperate in organizing forums, commercial exhibitions, and visits of economic delegations.

According to a JBA statement on Monday, Balbisi said the MoU is a step towards strengthening economic relations with Azerbaijan to bolster the national economy and provide job opportunities by attracting Azerbaijani investment.

He added that JBA seeks to draw a joint action plan to activate the MoU’s items, hold several meetings to prioritize economic sectors, and allow both countries’ business communities to build trade partnerships.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Israeli occupation forces stormed al-Aqsa Mosque early on Monday, assaulting and blockading Muslim worshippers inside prayer halls while clearing the way for extremist settlers to enter the occupied East Jerusalem holy site.

A statement by the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem said that occupation forces imposed a siege on the Mosque’s prayer hall, in preparation for the provocative incursions of the settlers.

“The occupation forces also prevented Jerusalemites under the age of 25 from entering Al-Aqsa, and closed the vicinity of Al-Wad Street in the Old City of Jerusalem,” the statement added.

Earlier this week, extremist Jewish organizations had called for massive raids on Al-Aqsa on the occasion of the so called Passover Holiday.

Source: Jordan News Agency

China on Monday reported deaths of three people from Covid-19 in Shanghai for the first time since the financial hub entered a lockdown in March, following an Omicron-driven outbreak that’s confined millions to their homes and disrupted production and economic output.

The city of around 25 million residents have been logging more than 20,000 Covid-19 cases daily.

A statement by the city’s health authorities said that the three who died were aged between 89 and 91, two women and one man, and were not vaccinated.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A slight rise in temperatures is expected on Monday, recording 9-11 degrees Celsius above annual average, and bringing hot, dusty and dry weather in most parts of the country, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily update.

Clouds will appear at different altitudes, and winds will be southeasterly to southwesterly moderate to brisk.

on Tuesday, a moderate air mass is forecast to move through the Kingdom, pushing temperatures down to its annual average and bringing pleasant spring weather nationwide. Clouds will build up at different altitudes, while winds will be northwesterly active and stirring dust in the Badia.

Another drop in mercury levels is expected on Wednesday with similar weather conditions prevailing in the mountains and the plains, while it will be moderate elsewhere, the JMD added.

Mercury in Amman today will range between a high of 34 degrees Celsius and a low of 17C at night, while the port city of Aqaba will see a high of 37C, sliding to 22C at night.

Source: Jordan News Agency

His Majesty King Abdullah, in a series of phone calls on Monday with Arab, European, and UN leaders, discussed the latest developments related to the Palestinian cause and the recent violations in Jerusalem.

King Abdullah discussed the Israeli escalations in Jerusalem in separate phone calls with King Mohammed VI of Morocco, chairman of Al Quds Committee, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

Discussions in the phone calls covered the need to maintain coordination and step up all efforts at the regional and international levels to cease the Israeli escalation in Jerusalem, end violations against the city, its holy sites and people, and create political horizons that fulfil the just rights of the Palestinian people, on the basis of the two-state solution.

His Majesty underscored the importance of stopping all illegal and provocative Israeli measures in Jerusalem that violate the historical and legal status quo at Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif and push towards further escalation.

The King noted that maintaining calm requires Israel to respect the historical and legal status quo at Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif.

Discussions in the phone calls also covered bilateral ties and means of bolstering cooperation across all fields.

Speaking with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and European Council President Charles Michel, His Majesty discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian arena and their negative repercussions on peace and security regionally and internationally.

The King warned that unilateral Israeli measures in the Palestinian Territories could compromise the two-state solution and prospects of comprehensive peace, expressing rejection of attempts to alter the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem.

His Majesty reiterated that any attempts seeking the temporal and spatial division of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif are condemned and rejected, noting the need to protect worshippers and refrain from measures to obstruct access to the mosque or provoke worshippers, especially during Ramadan.

SOURCE: JORDAN NEWS AGENCY