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AMMAN — Border Guards on Saturday night foiled an infiltration attempt by a foreigner who tried to sneak from Jordan into a neighbouring country, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted a source from the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army as saying on Sunday.

The border troops applied the rules of engagement, arrested the foreigner and referred him to the authorities. An army source also said on Sunday that Border Guards received 226 Syrian refugees over the previous 72 hours. The troops transferred the refugees to shelters and camps, and Royal Medical Services personnel treated the injured.

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) personnel have foiled an attempt to smuggle a large amount of narcotic pills into a neighbouring country, arresting an involved suspect, the Public Security Department (PSD) said in a statement released Sunday.

After receiving a tip off, the AND investigation team detected a truck in which 1.2 million narcotic pills were hidden. Investigation revealed that several suspects are involved in the plot, one of whom was arrested and the search is ongoing for the rest, according to the PSD. 

AMMAN — King’s Military Adviser and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben on Sunday left for Kuwait on an official visit to participate in the chairmen of chiefs-of-staff conference to combat Daesh, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday.

During the visit, Zaben is scheduled to meet with his counterparts from participating countries to discuss regional conditions and international efforts to combat terrorism. 

AMMAN — The civilian panel at the State Security Court (SSC) on Sunday sentenced two defendants to life in prison and a third to a 15-year imprisonment for the possession of automatic weapons and executing terror plots, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In March 2013, the three defendants attacked a military detachment using automatic weapons. The detachment applied the rules of engagement in such cases, killing two of the attackers and injured others.

AMMAN — HRH Princess Rym Ali, founder of the Jordan Media Institute, stressed the need to support young journalists and media practitioners now more than ever.

In a televised message at the Anna Lindh Foundation’s Mediterranean Journalist Award Ceremony last Thursday, the princess commended the activities of the foundation, which she said help address challenges facing young people and societies in Europe and the Mediterranean region.

During the ceremony announcing the winners, the princess said young journalists need all possible support to be able to highlight the major cultural and social changes in the Middle East, stressing the role of the award in encouraging media practitioners.  

AMMAN — The National Electric Power Company and the Shamsuna Power Company on Sunday announced completing the connection of Shamsuna farm for harvesting solar energy with the national power grid, and the commercial operation of the project, according to Shamsuna Chairman Samer Judeh.

The Aqaba project is made up of 40,320 solar panels that can produce 19 gigawatt hours of clean electricity annually, Judeh noted. The scheme is in line with the national strategy to increase renewable energy’s contribution to the energy mix to 10 per cent by 2020, the chairman said, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

AMMAN — The Council of Ministers on Sunday approved turning the Aqaba Ports Corporation into a fully government-owned company, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Under the decision, the corporation will be turned into a private joint stock company. Transport Minister Ayman Hatahet said the rights of the company’s employees will be protected.

AMMAN — The Public Security Department (PSD) said Sunday that Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested suspects allegedly involved in the murder of a man in the capital’s Um Alhayran area. The body of the man, who was in his thirties, was found in his residence last Tuesday.

CID personnel arrived at the scene and inspected the body,  which showed the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds, the PSD said.

Investigators tracked potential suspects. Upon the arrest of the suspect, it appeared that he is wanted for several crimes and upon further questioning  confessed to shooting the victim  for financial issues. He also confessed that he had an accomplice who was also arrested. The two were referred to the prosecutor general. 

AMMAN — The area of licensed buildings in the Kingdom in 2015 dropped by 12.5 per cent, amounting to 13.123 million square metres, compared with 14,992 million square metres in 2014, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported, according to a report by the Department of Statistics. In 2015, the area of licensed buildings for residential purposes amounted to 10,879,000 square metres, compared to 12,578,000 square metres in 2014, recording a 13.5 per cent drop.

Moreover, the space of licensed buildings for non-residential purposes in 2015 amounted to 2,224,000 square metres compared to 2,414,000 square metres in 2014, recording a 7 per cent drop. 

AMMAN — Members of the Jordanian campaign to defend Palestinian prisoner journalist Mohammad Al Qiq held in a protest near the UN office in Amman on Sunday. 

The activists expressed solidarity with Qiq, who has been on a hunger strike for 89 consecutive days, according to statements from the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel (Fedaa) and the Centre for Defending the Freedom of Journalists. 

Activists delivered a letter to a representative of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to take action over the Israeli violations against Palestinian citizens and journalists.