Day: May 22, 2022

A slight drop in temperatures is forecast on Sunday, becoming 5 degrees below annual average and bringing pleasant weather in the highlands and the plains, while it will be warm in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and Aqaba, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily update.

Clouds will appear at various altitudes, and winds will be northwesterly moderate to brisk.

Similar weather will persist on Monday, with a chance for scattered showers in the northern regions, along with strong winds that may exceed 60 km/h in some areas, causing dust in the country’s southern and eastern areas.

Warm weather will make a come back on Tuesday as mercury levels will rise again, with northwesterly moderate to brisk winds.

Today, temperatures in Amman will range between a high of 24 degrees Celsius and a low of 10C at night, while the port city of Aqaba will see a blistering 34C, sliding to 18C during night hours.

Source: Jordan News Agency

China’s raw coal output posted double-digit growth in the first four months of 2022, driven by policies to increase production and supply, official data showed.

The output jumped 10.5 percent year on year in the January-April period, according to the National Energy Administration.

In the first quarter, the country’s raw coal imports dropped 24.2 percent to 51.81 million tones, the data showed.

Imports in April expanded 8.4 percent year on year, reversing the declining trend, according to the administration.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Information and Communication Technology Association of Jordan (int@j) has announced holding the 9th edition of the premier ICT industry event of the Middle East and North Africa region: MENA ICT Forum 2022 on November 16 and 17 at the Dead Sea.

During a meeting held on Wednesday to highlight the importance of this forum, Int@j made this announcement with the presence of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Digital Economy & Entrepreneurship Samira Al Zu’bi along with the attendance of several ambassadors to the Kingdom, commercial attachés, and Int@j’s members.

“Holding the forum this year comes after the end of the COVID pandemic,” said Eid Amjad Sweis, Int@j’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, noting that int@j has been keen on organizing and conducting the forum once every two years since its inception.

Sweis stressed that the forum aims to highlight the role of Jordan’s ICT sector and entrepreneurship to regional and international decision makers from the public and private sectors, while also promoting Jordan as a regional digital hub.

The forum will include an exhibition with pavilions for local, Arab, and international companies, along with national pavilions for companies from the region and across to globe, said Sweis, adding that such gathering would enable foreign companies to connect with their Jordanian counterparts by showcasing their products and business solutions offered for various sectors.

Sweis also referred to the forum’s aim of addressing the role of technology in solving the pressing global challenges facing several

nations, especially in the aftermath of the drastic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for the key topics scheduled for discussion during the sessions of the two-day forum, they mainly include artificial intelligence, FinTech, smart industries, blockchain, and Metaverse, according to Sweis.

The forum will also feature interactive and inspirational sessions and workshops, constituting a space for regional and international entrepreneurs and start-ups to upskill a wide range of business skills needed to accelerate the growth of their enterprises, the chairman noted.

Int@j Board Member Ruba Darwish said that the forum will host a number of speakers from across the globe, most notably are Professor Renée Mauborgne, co-author of Blue Ocean Strategy, and Dr. Omar Hatamleh, co-author of BetweenBrains.ai and former Chief Innovation Officer of Engineering at NASA.

She added that the forum will witness the participation of a diverse audience from around the world, particularly investors, representatives of investment funds, the government sector, entrepreneurs, start-ups, policy makers, ICT specialists, academics, researchers, and capital owners.

For his part, Int@j CEO Nidal Bitar said the forum will discuss the latest industrial developments and how they can be leveraged at individual and institutional levels. The forum will also serve as an opportunity to engage in social networking and events to expand and foster business relations, Bitar said, indicating that it also widens the perception of how technology is affecting businesses, societies, and our lives in general across all vital sectors.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Army units on the border with Syria on Sunday engaged and killed four smugglers while they were making their way into the Kingdom illegally, the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) said in a statement.

The army said the smugglers were backed by armed groups. Four smugglers were immediately killed in the encounter while the others fled back to Syria. A number of the smugglers were also injured, the statement indicated.

The smugglers left behind 637 captagon pills, 181 palm-sized hashish sheets, 396,000 tramadol pills, and an AK-47.

A JAF source said the army will strike with an iron fist any smuggling or infiltration attempt.

Source: Jordan News Agency

An archeological team from Yarmouk University (YU), in partnership with a University of Helsinki team and in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities, on Sunday started an archeological survey in the northern governorate of Irbid.

Dean of the Faculty of Archeology and Anthropology at YU lamia El-Khouri said the survey, which came within a joint project titled “Archeological Surveys in Tel Ya’mun,” depends on maps and aerial photographs to document archeological sites through drawing and photographing surface layers and analyzing architectural remains. The project seeks to understand the social life of that area, she added.

She said the survey is a reference for a scientific research conducted by YU faculty members, noting that archeological finds are documented and then sent to be analyzed and studied in the faculty’s labs.

The project is supervised by Head of the Department of Archeology Maher Tarboush, Head of the Department of Conservation and Management of Cultural Resources Husain Sababha, and from the University of Helsinki: Antti Lahelma, Marta Lorenzon, and a technical team.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Ministry of Labor said that a recent circular for the public sector to observe the Kingdom’s 76th Independence Day, which falls on May 25, includes the private sector.

Earlier, Prime Minister Bishr Khasawneh issued a circular that ministries and government offices will end their work days next Wednesday May 25 at 2 p.m. and will be off work on Thursday May 26.

The decision aims at encouraging citizens to attend the three-day celebrations for the 76th Independence Day, said Mohammad Zyoud, the ministry’s spokesperson.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The agenda for a three-day official celebration of the 76th Independence Day was announced on Sunday.

The activities, which will begin on Wednesday at five p.m. in specific locations in each governorate, are outlined in the following the link: https://bit.ly/3MBbO7W.

This year’s activities and events aim at spreading joy and happiness among citizens after the difficult circumstances they have experienced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The registration of new businesses with the Companies Control Department has now returned to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, the Companies General Controller, Wael Armouti, said on Sunday.

In an interview with Petra, Armouti said Q1-2022 statistics reveal that the number of registered companies picked up by 3 percent compared with the figure reported in 2019, and up by 24.9 percent against 2021 figures.

Also, the capital of registered companies marked a 24-percent increase in the first quarter of the current year compared with the figured recorded in 2019, Armouti noted.

The statistics showed that 79 percent of new companies in the three-month period were registered in the capital, Amman, with a total capital of more than 56 million dinars, followed by Irbid with 7 percent, with a total capital of more than 2.8 million dinars.

The northeastern Mafraq governorate accounted for 3 percent of the registered companies during the first quarter, while Aqaba and Zarqa accounted for 2.6 percent each.

Source: Jordan News Agency