Category: General

Minister of Transport, Wagih Azayzeh, discussed on Wednesday with the Chargé d’Affairs at the Syrian embassy to Jordan, Essam Niyal, the difficulties and obstacles facing the transport sector between the two neighboring countries.

The discussions went over the mechanisms to facilitate transport traffic and movement between the two brotherly countries, in a way that achieves common interests, serves citizens and facilitates movement of goods to support the two countries’ economies, according to a press statement.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Aqaba’s Civil Defense Department (CDD) personnel on Wednesday rescued a man who was stuck on the highest peak of the Disa area.

A CDD statement said that the man, who was found at a height of 250 meters, is reported to be in fair condition.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Court of Cassation, the highest court in the land, has recently accepted an insolvency filing by Lafarge Jordan Cement, otherwise known as “Jordan Cement Factories”, and rejected all appeals to have the filing turned down.

The company lodged the filing under the insolvency law in order to avoid liquidation due to the difficult financial conditions exacerbated by the corona pandemic, and after it became unable to fulfill its obligations towards its employees, retirees and creditors.

The accumulated losses of the company amounted to about JD120 million, while its capital is JD60 million.

In a statement, the company said the court’s decision will allow it “to continue its reform process, so that it is able to meet its obligations under the insolvency law that was enacted to protect the creditor and debtor at the same time, and protects the investor or the trader of risking their money.”

It indicated that the court’s decision, the first of its kind in the Kingdom, moves the company to the second stage of insolvency, which requires preparing a plan for recapitalization.

According to the statement, the company intends to adopt a well-thought-out and actionable financial plan to pay off its debts and meet its liabilities within reasonable legal periods and in agreement with creditors.

The company has two factories, one of which is in Fuheis but has been offline since 2013. The second is in the Rashadiyah area, south, which has two production lines; one has been out of service for more than 10 years while the other operates at 40 percent of its capacity.

The company cited weak demand and inability to compete in light of the high variable operating and administrative costs as the main reasons for its financial hardship.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Domestic revenues picked up by JD315 million or 12.2 percent in the first quarter of the current year compared with the same period of 2020, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

In a statement, the ministry indicated that the growth in domestic revenue was primary driven by higher tax and non-tax collections by JD174 million and the JD141 million respectively, noting that the overall public revenues for the January-March period totaled JD1.8517 billion in comparison with JD1.5713 billion during the same period in 2020.

“Public spending also increased by 5.3 percent in the three-month period, with JD107.4 million spent more than the same period of last year,” the ministry added.

The upshot of these improvements is the drop in the public budget deficit by JD173 million, hitting JD274 million during the first quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, the total government debt went up to JD26.807 billion with loans from the Social Security Investment Fund (SSIF) excluded, which is about 85.6 percent out of the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) of March of this year, compared to 85.4 percent at the end of 2020.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh, on Tuesday, said that serving citizens is his government’s top priority, an inevitable duty and a great responsibility, based on the oath of loyalty to His Majesty King Abdullah II and the homeland.

In a video message on the occasion of Jordan’s 75th Independence Day, the prime minister congratulated His Majesty King Abdullah II, the custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

Al-Khasawneh stressed the centrality of the Palestinian cause, reiterating Jordan’s unwavering stance towards the cause and the holy city of Jerusalem.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A slight rise in temperatures is expected, on Tuesday, as moderate weather conditions prevail countrywide, while hot conditions are forecast in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and the port city of Aqaba, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily update.

Winds will be northwesterly moderate, picking up at times, the JMD noted.

Amman will see a high of 30 degrees Celsius during the day, sliding to 19 degrees at night.

Highs in the port city of Aqaba will hike up to 38 degrees, while lows will stand at 26 degrees at night.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Google celebrated, on Tuesday, Jordan’s 75th Independence Day, which falls today.

Once entering the famous search engine, the user will notice the Jordanian flag as its slogan.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Palestinian citizen early Monday died of wounds he sustained during the recent Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.

The martyr, from Beit Hanoun in the northern part of the coastal enclave, was seriously injured by the Israeli attacks on the town, the sources added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The weather on Monday is expected to be moderate in most parts of the Kingdom, and relatively hot in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and Aqaba as temperatures will register 3-4 degrees below annual average, reaching a high of 25 degrees Celsius in the capital, Amman, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily brief.

In the late afternoon and evening hours, cooler weather is forecast as mercury levels slide to around 16C. In the port city of Aqaba, daytime temperatures will stand at 33 degrees, while lows will slide to 22C at night.

Clouds at low altitudes are also forecast to appear on Monday, with a weak chance of light showers in the northeasterly areas of the country, while winds will be northwesterly moderate to brisk at times, the JMD added.

Over the next two days, mercury levels will rise few degrees, becoming around seasonal average, but similar fair weather will remain in the highlands and the plains, while it will be relatively hot in the Badia regions, and hot in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and Aqaba, with northwesterly moderate to active winds, the JMD predicted.

Source: Jordan News Agency

As part of its work to foster cooperation around biodiversity protection and restoration, last March the UfM supported the launch of the innovative partnership “Mediterranean Consortium to protect Biodiversity,” bringing together the skills, experience, know-how and scientific knowledge of six key regional UfM partners: MedWet (the Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative of Ramsar), MedPan (Mediterranean Protected Areas Network), PIM (Mediterranean Small Islands Initiative), Tour du Valat (TdV), AIFM (International Association for Mediterranean Forests) and IUCN-Med (IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation). The Consortium will develop a regional vision with a common goal and promote the integration of sustainable development with concrete conservation actions and initiatives.

The UfM, the statement added, supports several projects to safeguard biodiversity, including Plastic Siena University-led Busters MPAs project in Italy which?tackles marine litter in the Mediterranean, with the overall goal of maintaining biodiversity and preserving natural ecosystems in pelagic and coastal marine protected areas (MPAs). The second project is the Scaling Up Forest and Landscape Restoration, implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization, and aims to restore biodiversity and promote joint mitigation and adaptation approaches through regional platforms, technical assistance and pilot activities applying appropriate forest and landscape restoration.

These initiatives were born from Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Declarations on the Blue Economy. The latest UfM Sustainable Blue Economy Ministerial of February 2021, to which all 42 Member States have committed, laid the foundation for a Mediterranean roadmap to bring national climate action to the regional level, and further to the international level at the next UN Biodiversity Convention in October 2021.

The Blue Economy Agenda brings together the economic potential of the Mediterranean Sea with the need to integrate environmental sustainability into the way we harness these opportunities. In addition, Member States reaffirmed their commitment to the regional marine litter management plan and to achieving the collection and recycling of 100% of plastic waste.

Source: Jordan News Agency