Day: June 13, 2022

Adviser to the Prime Minister for Health Affairs and Covid-19 file, Dr. Adel Belbisi , announced the 23th epidemiological week for 2022, which spans from June 4 to 10, recorded 402 Covid-19 infections, compared to 334 cases for the previous week, up by 20%.

In statements to “Petra” on Sunday, he said no virus-related fatalities were recorded over the 23th week.

In addition, he noted 12,430 PCR tests were conducted during the 23th week, compared to 15, 071 during the past week, with a 18% drop.

Belbisi also said the number of cases currently receiving treatment at the Kingdom’s hospitals reached 3, compared to 4 patients a week earlier , with an increase of about 34%.

The percentage of positive tests reached 3.2%, compared to 2.2% during the 22th epidemiological week, up by about 46%, he said.

To date, the number of active cases is 322, compared to 241 a week earlier, an increase of about 34%, he noted.

Regarding the national vaccination programme, he said the number of shots administered during the 23th week stood at 4, 897 for the first jab, 8, 801 for the second, and 2, 051 for the booster dose, totaling 15, 716 shots, compared with 17, 597 shots a week earlier, marking a 11% drop.

The total number of first dose recipients stands at 4, 794, 837, at a 75% rate of the 18yrs and over target group and 4, 520, 846 for the second jab, at a 71% for the same group and 662, 446 for the booster dose, he noted.

Regarding inoculation for the 12-17 age group, he said 236, 116 received first dose at a 25% rate, and double jabbed recipients reached 196, 260, at a 20% rate. Meanwhile, the 5-11yrs age group, 246 and 174 children received the first and 2nd doses, respectively.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti, on Sunday met the UK Chief of Defence Staff’s Senior Advisor to the Middle East & North Africa (DSAME) Air Marshal Martin Sampson and the accompanying delegation.

During the meeting held in Amman, Huneiti discussed ways to enhance joint military cooperation relations and coordination mechanism in areas that serve the two countries’ armed forces.

A number of senior Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF)- the Arab Army, and British ambassador to Amman attended the meeting.

Source: Jordan News Agency

-Environment Minister, Muawiya Radaideh, and the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) Director, Rob Verheem, on Sunday signed a cooperation memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the field of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Jordan.

The MoU aims to enhance Jordanian Ministry of Environment’s efforts in improving EIA’s effectiveness and include strategic environmental assessment as a tool for integrating the environmental dimension at an early stage in preparation of national strategies and plans.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Radaideh said the ministry seeks, through this joint cooperation, to enhance and sustain natural resources, align comprehensive plans and launch development strategies.

For his part, Verheem lauded the ministry’s role to ensure that EIA studies address all pressing challenges, such as climate change and water scarcity.

Source: Jordan News Agency

U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Henry T. Wooster, on Sunday visited southern Ma’an governate to underscore the U.S. commitment to supporting Ma’an people, especially women and youth, in education, entrepreneurship and the full range of civic participation.

Wooster began his tour by meeting Ma’an Governor, Dr. Firas Al-Fa’our and later its Mayor Dr. Yasin Salah and municipal council representatives.

The envoy continued to the historic Ma’an Castle to meet with a group of female Ma’ani entrepreneurs to learn about their initiatives, a U.S.-funded entrepreneurial and women’s empowerment project, and additional opportunities for growth.

This meeting brought together president of Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Prof. Atef Al-Kharabsheh, which has incubated the U.S.-funded project, as well as Director of Ma’an Tourism Directorate, Dr. Emad Rawahneh.

Following the meeting, Wooster said: “I had productive meetings with Ma’ani officials and civic leaders and learned about projects the United States supports here. I spoke with women entrepreneurs and learned about their contributions to the prosperity of Ma’an.”

Continuing: “The United States is glad to partner here on educational and entrepreneurship programs that produce economic opportunities and jobs for Jordan’s youth women included. Such projects have immediate, positive effect in the lives of Jordanians.”

Concluding his visit to Ma’an, Wooster met participants in the U.S. Embassy’s sponsored English Access program, which focuses on developing “competitive” English language skills.

During the meeting, he heard about their recent “successful” participation in the English Language Olympics and lauded their determination and hard work.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The French Interior Ministry Sunday said the parliamentary elections voter turnout in the first round of voting that started Sunday morning stood at 18.43 per cent as of noon today, according to France 24.

The ministry said in a statement the turnout witnessed a slight decrease compared to 19.24 per cent in the 2017 elections and 21.06 per cent in 2012.

It added that 48.7 million people have the right to vote in the elections to choose their candidates from among 6,293 candidates across 577 constituencies.

To win the first round, a candidate would have to secure an absolute majority of the votes, provided the percentage of those who voted is not less than 25 per cent of the number of voters registered in the electoral lists.

In the event that none of the candidates obtains an absolute majority, the second round will be held among the candidates who received 12.5 per cent of the vote.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The demand for bicycles has increased in Britain due to the increase in fuel prices, according to Sky News.

Sky News cited the director of the Gloucestershire Bicycle Project, Maureen Parker, as saying that the demand for bicycles has risen over the past few weeks.

“We’re seeing more people coming in to make sure their bike is working fine, saying they haven’t used it in four years,” adding, “with the fuel cost going up, they’ll use it more now.”

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Norwegian government Sunday decided to label products made in the Israeli-occupied territories to let consumers know they were made in occupied lands.

Israeli-made goods in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights would be included in the new measure and labelled as such, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Norwegian government said in a statement that the “Israel” mark of origin is only suitable for products coming from territories under Israeli control before June 4, 1967, adding that “food coming from areas occupied by Israel must be labelled with the region from which the product comes,” and it must indicate that a certain product is coming from an illegal settlement.

Oslo noted the decision was based on the need to “not mislead consumers due to the lack of labels about the origin of products

Source: Jordan News Agency

Prime Minister Bishr Khasawneh Sunday inaugurated the celebrations of Irbid: The Capital of Arab Culture 2022, held at the Yarmouk University in Irbid this evening.

Khasawneh conveyed His Majesty King Abdullah II’s greetings and thanks for holding the event and making the celebrations a success, which would declare Irbid as the capital of Arab Culture 2022.

The premier, who is the Chairman of the Supreme National Committee for the Irbid Celebrations, said that since its establishment, Jordan has been an “incubator of culture and intellectuals; a sponsor of creativity and innovators and a supporter of everything that opens broad horizons to entrench a serious national culture…”

He added, “government will spare no effort in supporting culture and creativity in a manner that preserves our future heritage and our rich national heritage, which is part of our great Arab heritage.”

During the ceremony, Khasawneh emphasised that choosing Irbid as the capital of culture is a “national event par excellence and a Jordanian national occasion that we all celebrate.”

He noted that choosing Irbid as the capital of Arab culture and Madaba as a city for Arab tourism this year would add to Jordan’s “glory and honour.”

He said that making the event a success is the responsibility of the state, the people, the private sector and the civil societies.

He added that the celebrations come as the Kingdom is still celebrating its second centenary, explaining that the state strives for a “new start” entitled “Moving Towards the Future” through three concomitant tracks: the progressive political modernisation, the vision of economic modernisation and the modernisation of the public sector, whose outputs the specialised committee will submit to the government soon.

He said: “This important event, although it bears the name Irbid, is a national event par excellence.

The declaration of any Jordanian city as the capital of Arab culture or a forum for any Arab or international event is a Jordanian national occasion that we all celebrate from the north of the Kingdom to its south and from its east to its west.”

Source: Jordan News Agency