Day: July 25, 2021

The total caseload of coronavirus infections worldwide has risen to 193,727,000, while the total number of deaths has risen to 4,152,000, according to the latest statistics related to (Covid-19) released by US’ “Johns Hopkins University”, on Sunday.

On vaccination, Bloomberg reported that 3.82 billion vaccines have been administered around the world.

The United States leads the world in terms of the number of infections, followed by India and Brazil.

China ranks first in the world in terms of the number of jabs administered, followed by the European Union, India and the United States.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A new coronavirus variant currently known as B.1.621 is under investigation in the U.K., Public Health England announced.

This has been designated as a variant under investigation, The Independent has quoted Public Health England as saying.

Public Health England added that there is no evidence to suggest that it might make vaccines less effective or lead to more severe illness so that the new strain does not spread fears among people.

At least 16 confirmed cases with the new variant have been found in the United Kingdom, most of which are related to travel abroad, according to the paper.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Israeli occupation authorities on Sunday blocked entry of trucks loaded with fuel intended for the only power plant in the Gaza Strip, through the Karem Abu Salem, (Kerem Shalom) border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip.

The occupation authorities stopped 25 trucks that were scheduled to be brought into the power station today without giving reasons, Director General of Trade and Border Crossings at Gaza Ministry of Economy, Rami Abu Al-Reesh, said in a statement.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Minister of Social Development Ayman Mufleh decided to close down a private center for people with disabilities for three months, and transfer all its 28 beneficiaries to seven centers.

Closing down the center came after a request from the forensic medicine re-examination of a child who had previously been burned in the center, through a specialized medical committee, the ministry said Sunday in a statement.

It added that the medical committee’s report confirmed the child’s was exposed to a corrosive substance, thus the center didn’t take the hot water within the normal degree that the child’s body can tolerate, into account.

Mufleh referred the committee’s report from the forensic medicine to the Public Prosecutor, so that the case would remain presented before the judiciary.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Sub-Committee of Elections, emanating from the Royal Committee to Modernise the Political System, approved a number of articles of the draft election law, according to the committee’s rapporteur, Amer Bani Amer.

Bani Amer told the Jordan News Agency (Petra) that the committee agreed, in its meeting chaired by Khaled Bakkar, to increase the number of parliament seats to 150, including 50 seats will be allocated to the national list, which will be limited to parties only.

Bani Amer added that the committee set a threshold for party lists of 3 percent, so that the outputs of the national list that was implemented during the 2013 elections, when most lists won only one seat, would not be repeated.

He pointed out that the list will represent candidates from at least 6 governorates and not from one governorate, in order to enhance partisan work between people of the governorates and between parties, explaining that the goal is to translate the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah and the aspirations of the Jordanian people for a partisan parliament and a parliamentary government.

Bani Amer added that the Election Committee agreed to maintain the proportion of representation of electoral districts and not the number of seats, pointing out that it is possible that the seats of some electoral districts may decrease, but it will maintain the percentage of representation in the upcoming parliamentary elections, while the total number of electoral districts in the Kingdom will remain as is, which is 23 electoral districts.

He stressed that the minimum representation will be maintained for all the quotas in force, which are “women, Christians, Circassians, Chechens and Bedouins.”

Source: Jordan News Agency

Head of the Women Empowerment Committee emanating from the Royal Committee to Modernise the Political System, Samar Hajj Hassan, said that the committee has completed its recommendations related to the parties and election bills.

Hajj Hassan told the Jordan News Agency (Petra) that the Women Empowerment Committee submitted its recommendations to the Parties and Election Committees, which in turn will study the recommendations and take a decision on them before submitting them to the Executive Council of the Royal Committee.

She pointed out that the key recommendations related to the election law were to increase the proportion of seats allocated to women in Parliament, provided that it is not less than 30 percent of the total seats in the Lower House of Parliament, and the sequencing of candidates within the national list, so that women and men are represented on the list.

The committee also recommended encouraging parties to support women in elections so that this is reflected in party financing, and recommending confronting political and electoral violence against men and women through toughening penalties, as well as recommending the abolition of phrases that include bullying against women wherever they are mentioned in the electoral law, and recommending the feminization of legal texts and phrases, including “electors, male and female candidates, male and female candidates,” and other vocabulary, and amending the electoral data in the presence of the person concerned only.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The committee, according to Hajj Hassan, called for canceling the requirement to resign to run for the parliamentary elections for men and women and replacing it with obtaining an unpaid leave and if he/she doesn’t go through he/she goes back to work.

She pointed out that the requirement to resign poses a challenge to candidates, especially women and youth, and prevents them from running for fear of losing the job.

With regard to the draft law on parties, Hajj Hassan said that the Women Empowerment Committee recommended that women should be represented by 20 percent and 2 percent for women with disabilities when establishing the party, so that the mentioned percentages should be among the total founders of the party, in addition to recommending the existence of a text of law that includes the representation of women in leading positions in the party. In addition, party funding includes supporting women, protecting party affiliates to practice their work, including women, and encouraging people to join programmatic parties.

On the other hand, Hajj Hassan confirmed that the Women Empowerment Committee will continue, this week, discussing recommendations related to local administration and constitutional amendments.

Source: Jordan News Agency