by Hana Namrouqa | Apr 28,2012 | 23:19 YARMOUK/IRBID — Political action is needed to resolve the standing issue of persistent Syrian violations of a water-sharing agreement concerning storage in the Wihdeh Dam and exploitation of the Yarmouk River, outgoing water minister Mousa Jamani said on Thursday. For several years, Jordan has been asking Syria […]

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Cutting off gas exports to Israel might have felt like a bombshell but it didn’t come out of the blue, write Niveen Wahish and Sherine Abdel-Razek The export deal under which Egypt pumps natural gas to Israel has been the focus of popular discontent since it was signed in 2005. Following the toppling of Hosni […]

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Behind the scenes, a senior official from the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem was dispatched to Cairo to discuss the disputed gas contract, and reportedly returned several hours later. By Avi Bar-Eli and Itai Trilnick Officially, the Israeli government has tried to minimize the diplomatic importance of last Sunday’s announcement by Egypt’s state-owned natural gas […]

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by Taylor Luck | Apr 28,2012 | 23:12 AMMAN — Egyptian gas supplies are set to resume next month, an energy officials said, stressing that Cairo’s recent decision to annul its gas agreement with Israel will not affect the Kingdom’s main energy source. According to a Ministry of Energy source, Cairo pledged to resume pumping […]

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Cheap used cars put new, fuel-efficient cars at disadvantage in local market by Omar Obeidat | Apr 29,2012 | 22:24 AMMAN — New and fuel-efficient cars can cut the Kingdom’s gasoline subsidies by 40-55 per cent, according to automobile exporters. In separate interviews with The Jordan Times, auto sector stakeholders urged policy makers to consider […]

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Electric-car buyers to get thousands of shekels in tax benefits from Israeli government HAARETZ New incentive involves lowering purchase tax on vehicles that pollute less, resulting in a saving of NIS 6,000 to NIS 10,000 for car buyers. By Zafrir Rinat Motorists who buy electric-powered cars and some hybrid cars are to get additional tax […]

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by Taylor Luck | Apr 29,2012 | 22:44 AMMAN — Jordan has entered negotiations with French and Russian firms for the construction of the country’s first nuclear reactor, an energy official announced on Sunday. Amman is going ahead with parallel talks with Russian state-owned Atomstroy export and a consortium comprising the French firm AREVA and […]

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by Hana Namrouqa | Apr 29,2012 | 22:48 AMMAN — A new initiative is working to raise women’s awareness of the country’s water shortage and ways to reduce water consumption. The Leaders of Change programme is promoting efficient use of the Kingdom’s scant water resources at the household and community levels, Ministry of Water and […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/30/2012 03:11 ‘Shared environmental challenges can be an entry point for coexistence,’ says Dr. Vinya Shanthidas Ariyaratne. In the semi-arid Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim populations, who have been rivals throughout their history, struggle over their shared but meager water resources, an issue that one man hopes to […]

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Louise Sarant Tue, 24/04/2012 The world famous Arab League amphitheatre was filled yesterday with electricity and energy ministers from various countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt’s Hassan Younis, international donors, investors and bankers, all gathered to brainstorm about renewable energy in the region. All the speakers in the morning session of […]

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Beirut, 27 April 2012 The Lebanese-American University (LAU) was the host of a consultation meeting held by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED), to discuss the first draft of a report on ecological footprint and the options for sustainability in the Arab world. The meeting afforded report authors and editors the opportunity to […]

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Andre Fecteau Thu, 26/04/2012 Presented as the solution to Egypt’s demographic and economic issues, and the Arab World’s largest and most expensive engineering enterprise, the Toshka New Valley project has now very little to show except for evidence of ill-informed political decisions. Toshka’s premise was simple yet grandiose: to dig a 240 kilometer canal out […]

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by Taylor Luck | Apr 27,2012 | 00:32 AMMAN — Jordan moved one step closer to a “smart” power grid on Thursday with the launch of a series of studies to prepare for the biggest upgrade of the Kingdom’s electricity infrastructure in over 30 years. Under an agreement signed on Thursday by the US Trade […]

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Planned expansion of Kfar Vradim would increase the population by 50 percent. By Zafrir Rinat A recently approved expansion of the Galilee town of Kfar Vradim has drawn fire from environmental groups, though the town council insists the plan took environmental concerns into account. The expansion plan, approved by the northern district planning and building […]

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Sewage from East Jerusalem has been flowing untreated through the valley for years. By Zafrir Rinat Efforts are underway to rehabilitate Jerusalem’s Kidron Valley, one of the most polluted valleys in either Israel or the Palestinian Authority. The sewage running through the valley, which begins in East Jerusalem and winds its way eastward down to […]

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Early in the state’s history, munitions and other factories irrevocably damaged the soil. So why are we making similar mistakes decades later? By Zafrir Rinat A few years after I began working as an environmental affairs correspondent, I received a phone call from a water expert. He told me what only a handful of scientists […]

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Construction in Israel over the next three decades will require an estimated 290 million tons of sand, an essential construction component, according to a survey conducted for the Interior Ministry. By Zafrir Rinat The Rotem Plain in the south could be Israel’s major reservoir for construction sand in the coming decades. Using sand from Rotem […]

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April 26, 2012 01:32 AM By Stephen Dockery BEIRUT: To grow a tree in Lebanon’s semi-arid soil, roots must be long and dense, and carefully pre-grown in a nursery so a young seedling can leech the deeply buried nutrients from the ground. The fragile seedlings must be hardened during a period of drought before being […]

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April 27, 2012 01:38 AM By Rakan al-Fakih HERMEL, Lebanon: The road home for residents of the Bekaa town of Hermel is lit up for the first time, with the Transport Ministry now putting the final touches on new solar powered street lights in the area. Seven hundred sixty-six light posts were erected along the […]

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Egypt terminates gas deal with Israel Al Jazeera Top official insists decision was not political as Israel says it overshadows peace agreement between the two countries. The head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company has said it has terminated its contract to ship gas to Israel because of violations of contractual obligations, a decision […]

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