BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities’ closure of 35 Palestinian quarries in the occupied West Bank since March is threatening the livelihoods of 3,500 workers and may constitute “collective punishment,” a Human Rights Watch report revealed on Thursday. The Civil Administration, a subsection of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) that handles Israeli […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – May 13,2016 AMMAN — Tree planting is under way in the heavily-populated and polluted Sahab Municipality to reduce dust and gases fuming from over 400 factories and stone quarries, according to Sahab Mayor Abbas Maharmeh. A total of 4,000 trees have been planted across town, Maharmeh said on Thursday, citing plans […]

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By JT – May 11,2016 AMMAN — Jordan on Monday signed a technical cooperation agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to initiate phase 1 of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (Red-Dead). In the framework of the agreement, three studies will be conducted in terms of […]

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By Dana Al Emam – May 09,2016 AMMAN — Karak residents are complaining about the “poor” conditions of the roads in their governorate, an issue they say raises many questions regarding strategic planning and comprehensive development. For them, the straw that broke the camel’s back was a car accident that took the life of a […]

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By Muath Freij – May 10,2016 A herd of sheep passes through a backstreet near a residential area in Amman recently (Photo by Muath Freij) AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) said Tuesday it will start taking strict measures to prevent the capital’s shepherds from letting their sheep graze in residential areas. Baker Abbadi, […]

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AMMAN — The Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC) said Monday it dealt with 9,685 cases of electricity theft in the first four months of 2016. EMRC Chief Commissioner Farouq Hiyari was quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as saying that around 945 cases have been referred to court. In previous remarks to The […]

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AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation said on Wednesday that it has launched a campaign to raise the awareness of school students in communities hosting Syrian refugees on ways to ration the use of water. The campaign is being implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Oxfam, according to a statement […]

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MMAN — The Royal Academy for Nature Conservation in Ajloun, some 70km northwest of Amman, has been shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The project, which was selected by the Master Jury from amongst 348 projects nominated for the 13th award cycle (2014-2016), will be competing among 19 shortlisted projects, according to a […]

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Part of the Middle East and North Africa may become uninhabitable due to climate change May 02, 2016 The number of climate refugees could increase dramatically in future. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia have calculated that the Middle East and North Africa could become so hot […]

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March 1, 2016 A new NASA study finds that the recent drought that began in 1998 in the eastern Mediterranean Levant region, which comprises Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey, is likely the worst drought of the past nine centuries. Scientists reconstructed the Mediterranean’s drought history by studying tree rings as part of […]

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GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Electricity grids for all districts in the Gaza Strip will only be providing power for six hour intervals followed by 12 hours without power, due to a problem with the Egyptian power lines, Gaza’s electricity company announced Monday morning. The company’s Public Information Officer Tariq Labad told Ma’an that Egypt promised […]

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Palestinians will take a step toward greater power independence by announcing terms of a solar-energy auction intended to boost installed capacity by as much as 100 MW. Palestinian Energy Authority said it plans to auction permits to build 10 solar plants as large as 10 MW each, with winning bids awarded to developers pledging to […]

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Laurie Balbo April 25, 2016 A global consortium of engineering and renewables industry giants kicked off a project to build a suite of solar power generating plants in Egypt to produce 2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity and valued at USD $3.5 billion. Terra Solar announced their plan on Friday, adding that they will also build […]

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28 April 2016, 02:00 The Syrian encampments are costing Lebanon some $400 million dollars in electricity expenses, ministerial sources told An Nahar daily on Thursday. The cabinet discussed on Wednesday a suggestion that was brought up by the Energy Ministry to install electricity meters in the Syrian encampments in a bid to trim down illegal […]

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The Electricity of Lebanon has completed a plan that would increase energy production after raising the capabilities of two Turkish power generating vessels that supply Lebanon with power, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday. “EDL concluded a plan that would increase power supply by about 100 megawatts after raising the production capacities of the two ships […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – May 03,2016 Those who violate the regulations on sandblasting face a minimum prison term of 30 days and a maximum of three months or are fined JD300 to JD5,000 (Photo by Hana Namrouqa) AMMAN — Many abrasive blasting businesses ignore laws regulating sandblasting operations in the country, thus causing public health […]

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AMMAN — Environment Minister Taher Shakhshir on Monday said his ministry has received a $3 million grant from the World Bank to implement the Market Readiness Proposal (MRP), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The MRP aims at preparing the local market to face obstacles hindering investments in projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, one […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Apr 27,2016 Jordan’s main exports of leaf vegetables include mallow, basil, thyme, spinach, fennel, lemongrass, gundelia, coriander, garlic, grape leaves, corchorus, mint and sage (Photo by Hassan Tamimi) AMMAN — The Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday urged farmers to focus on growing leaf and root crops, whose exports generate more than […]

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Successful Youth Camps Held in the Jordan Valley and at the Dead Sea April heralded the completion of not one but two successful Good Water Neighbors (GWN) regional youth camps in the Jordan Valley Basin. After the success of last year’s “Streaming to the Jordan”, a community-wide environmental event held on the banks of the […]

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Gaza doesn’t have enough electricity to run its water treatment plants, so it’s dumping its sewage into the sea, threatening the Israeli coastline. Palestinian political infighting is a major factor keeping the electricity off. Associated Press 05.03.16 Each day, millions of gallons of raw sewage pour into the Gaza Strip’s Mediterranean beachfront, spewing out of […]

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