BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Japan signed two grants on Sunday to fund projects in the Gaza Strip worth almost $220,000 combined, the Representative Office of Japan to the Palestinian Authority said in a statement. One of the grants signed by Takeshi Okubo, the Japanese representative to the PA, allocates $128,426 to the Palestinian Environmental Friends (PEF) […]

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By Mohammad Ghazal – Feb 28,2016 AMMAN — One of Taiwan’s leading LED light firms will soon start working on a project to build a factory to manufacture LED street lighting units in Jordan, Ali Yang, the representative of the Commercial Office of the Republic of China (Taiwan), said on Sunday. The Taiwanese firm will […]

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By Suzanna Goussous – Feb 25,2016 AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) is planning to construct seven new parks this year expected to be ready by June, with around 20 to 30 courts suitable for practising sports, an official said on Thursday. Mohammad Qteish, director of GAM’s public parks department, said there are around […]

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By Muath Freij – Feb 25,2016 AMMAN — Although the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has announced several projects to be implemented this year with the aim of resolving traffic issues, Ammanis interviewed by The Jordan Times on Thursday hold little hope that these projects will actually curb traffic jams in their city. In a statement […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 02/28/2016 European environmentalists travel the Israel Trail. Hiking along the Israel Trail this past week, the pastoral scene was interspersed with the sounds of Italian, German, English and more. Since Monday, representatives of five European environmental groups have been traveling the Israel Trail and touring the country as guests of the […]

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The student department of the Kataeb Party on Sunday marched from Saifi to the government’s headquarters and the Council for Reconstruction and Development to condemn the authorities’ failure to resolve the waste management crisis that has been running since last summer. Carrying Lebanese and Kataeb flags, the students marched from the party’s headquarters in Saifi […]

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Member of the parliamentary committee tasked with resolving the trash management crisis Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan said on Sunday that Hizbullah has no problem with creating a landfill in the coastal area of Costa Brava, al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Sunday. “When suggestions emerged that the Costa Brava landfill should be created, committee member Hassan assured […]

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Social media users vented their anger at the Lebanese authorities on Thursday after CNN mocked what it called Beirut’s river of trash in a Mount Lebanon town. “Congratulations on the new fame! (Lebanon) is the best country in the world,” a woman said on her Facebook account after sharing the video of the CNN report. […]

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AFP, Ankara Wednesday, 24 February 2016 The Turkish government on Wednesday ordered a halt to construction work on a gold mine in a town near the Black Sea pending completion of the legal process, after protests warning it would ruin a pristine environment. The decision came as Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu hosted a delegation from […]

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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamallah and European Union representative Ralph Tarraf on Sunday laid the pave-stone of the first wastewater treatment plant in the northern occupied West Bank district of Tubas. An EU statement said the “large-scale project” would serve around 34,000 people living in Tubas city as well as the outlying […]

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By JT – Feb 21,2016 AMMAN — The Council of Ministers on Sunday approved a plan to rehabilitate Wadi Zarqa, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The project, with an investment value amounting to JD75 million, will contribute to developing the Zarqa River area, which begins in Ain Ghazal in Amman, passes through Ruseifa, Zarqa, […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Feb 23,2016 AMMAN — Around 110 million cubic metres (mcm) of water have been saved since authorities launched a national crackdown on water theft in 2013, government officials said on Tuesday. Water Minister Hazem Nasser said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times that sealing illegal wells and stopping attempts […]

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by Omar Obeidat – Feb 22,2016 Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour speaks at a ceremony in Amman on Monday to announce the preliminary findings of the 2015 population census (Petra photo) AMMAN — Jordan’s population increased by nearly 87 per cent over a decade, with the number of the capital’s residents more than doubling, according to […]

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By Muath Freij – Feb 21,2016 AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has decided to include new districts under its management in order to serve the growing number of residents in the capital, a GAM official said on Sunday. GAM spokesperson, Izzedin Shammout, said there are many empty spaces located in parts of the […]

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By Dana Al Emam – Feb 25,2016 AMMAN — A gas station worker in Balqa Governorate was stabbed to death earlier this month because he asked the motorist to put out a cigarette. Some two years ago, young man shot a minivan driver to death near a busy circle in Amman over a fierce argument […]

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schaduf.com has sent a current upate to the 2012 article on their work, “‘Schaduf’ sets up rooftop urban farms for low-income families” from Egypt Independent. see http://schaduf.com, http://schaduf.com/roof-gardens/ http://schaduf.com/community-farms/ Schaduf was established in 2011 to empower and sustain Cairo’s low income communities through rooftop farming. The Arabic word “schaduf” refers to an ancient irrigation tool, […]

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High above a neighborhood cafe in south Tel Aviv, an idealistic agronomist is cultivating salad greens and strawberries, and he says anyone can do it. Ronit Vered Feb 19, 2016 A relaxed noontime in the Getzel Café in Tel Aviv’s Shapira neighborhood. Peleh, the owner’s elderly dog, is sprawled at the entrance to the café, […]

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by Hana Namrouqa – Feb 16,2016 A pickup truck carries items scavenged from garbage containers in Amman (File photo) AMMAN — Scavengers digging through trash bins in Amman are driving away millions of dinars of potential investments in the capital’s waste collection and segregation, a municipal official said on Tuesday. Waste picking is no longer […]

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Feb 15,2016 – Michael Meyer www.project-syndicate.org The idea that oil wealth can be a curse is an old one — and it should need no explaining. Every few decades, energy prices rise to the heavens, kicking off a scramble for new sources of oil. Then supply eventually outpaces demand, and prices suddenly crash to Earth. […]

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By Raed Omari – Feb 16,2016 AMMAN — The government on Tuesday left it unclear whether it has annulled the deal with Noble Energy to buy natural gas from Israel. During Tuesday’s Lower House oversight session, Minister of Energy Ibrahim Saif said that no deal has been reached yet with Noble Energy to buy natural […]

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