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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah sent a cable on Thursday to Saudi King Sal-man Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, expressing his condolences over the victims killed in a fire that broke out at the general hospital in the southwestern port city of Jazan earlier in the day.

In the cable, King Abdullah expressed his sympathies over the incident and wished the injured a speedy recovery, according to a Royal Court statement.

At dawn on Thursday, a blaze tore through the intensive care unit and maternity ward at the general hospital in the city of Jazan, capital of the Jizan region. At least 24 people were killed and 141 others were injured in the fire, according to Reuters.

AMMAN — King’s Military Adviser and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben on Thursday received Chief of the Defence Staff of the French Republic Gen. Pierre de Villiers, and discussed ways to enhance military cooperation.

Discussions at the meeting, attended by HRH Prince Feisal, also covered the latest regional developments, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — Doris Halaby, the mother of Her Majesty Queen Noor and the grandmother of Their Royal Highnesses Prince Hamzah, Prince Hashem, Princess Iman and Princess Raya, died on Friday in the US, the Royal Court said. The Royal Court expressed its condolences and its sympathies over her passing.

AMMAN — One man died on Thursday in a restaurant fire on Shamel Street in Zarqa, the Civil Defence Department (CDD) said in a statement.

The man suffered third-degree burns on different parts of his body which caused his death. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, the CDD said.

AMMAN — Criminal Investigation Department personnel last week raided nine houses in east Amman, arresting 16 suspects and confiscating different amounts of narcotics and ammunition, according to a Public Security Department statement.

In one of the raids, the suspect was found in possession of 11,000 narcotic pills, six kilogrammes of hashish and firearms, whereas in another raid a suspect was caught making synthetic cannabis (locally known as “joker”), and he was also in possession of 3kg of the narcotic material.

On Thursday, Border Guards foiled an attempt to smuggle a huge amount of narcotics from Syria into Jordan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The five suspects fled into Syria and the Border Guards found 300,000 narcotic pills and sent them to the concerned authorities.

AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Tourism Minister Nayef Al Fayez on Thursday attended the midnight mass in Bethlehem, which was held as part of the Christmas celebrations. 

Fayez told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that His Majesty and the Jordanian people are keen to share the celebrations in this occasion with the Christians of the world, especially in Palestine.

He also said that he conveyed greetings from King Abdullah and the Jordanian people to Christian Palestinians, expressing wishes for security and peace to spread in the holy land.

Prior to his participation in the mass, Fayez on Thursday met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem and discussed the "brotherly and historic" relations which link the Jordanian and Palestinian peoples, Petra reported.

In the presence of Khalid Shawabkeh, head of the Jordanian mission in Ramallah, the minister conveyed the King's greetings to Abbas, voicing the Kingdom's support to the Palestinian people and their just cause. 

AMMAN — Jordan will sign in the first quarter of 2016 deals under which international companies will build two solar-run power plants with a total capacity of 100 megawatts, according to an energy official.

The government has awarded contracts to Greece-based Sunrise Photovoltaic Systems and Saudi Oger Ltd. to each build a 50 megawatt solar plant. The signing of the agreements for the two power plants will take place after paperwork is completed, said Ghaleb Maabreh, secretary general of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

He told The Jordan Times in recent remarks that the projects are scheduled to be completed in 18-24 months, he said.

Work is also under way on an 80 megawatt wind plant that will be located in Maan, he said, adding that the wind plant will be completed in the second half of 2016.

“The upcoming period will witness the launch of several projects in the field of renewable energy in line with the country’s national energy strategy that seeks to boost reliance on local energy resources, including solar and wind,” the official said.

According to Maabreh, the country will have renewable energy projects with total capacity of 1,000 megawatts by the end of 2018.

The entire ecosystem for renewable energy projects in Jordan is promising and encouraging as studies by energy authorities indicate that the Kingdom has more than 300 sunny days a year, according to experts. 

In addition, wind speeds in the northern region reach as high as 7.5 metres per second and 11.5 metres per second in the eastern areas of the country.

Jordan imports about 97 per cent of its energy needs annually at about 18 per cent of the gross domestic product.

AMMAN – Jordan on Saturday rejected allegations made by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem that insurgents cross into the trouble-hit country from the Kingdom. 

On Friday, Mouallem said that international efforts should focus on preventing fighters from infiltrating from Turkey and Jordan to achieve progress towards a political settlement in Syria.

Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani said that Jordan’s borders are tightly sealed and guarded. 

“Such allegations are totally rejected because Jordan has been protecting its borders since the start of the Syrian crisis nearly five years ago,” Momani said in remarks to The Jordan Times. 

Jordan has never interfered in the internal issues in Syria, he said, adding that the Kingdom has always called for a political solution in the northern neighbour that guarantees the unity of the country and stops destruction and fighting. 

Momani said Jordan’s stance towards the Syria crisis has proved sound, with the world community has finally adopted a resolution backing a political solution to end the conflict there. 

Over the past four years, border guards of the Jordan Armed Forces - Arab Army have foiled several infiltration attempts from and into Syria.

AMMAN — Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Minister Hayel Dawood on Saturday said that Jordan and its Hashemite leadership are leading the efforts to combat extremist and takfiri ideology, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Participating at the annual conference, titled “Problems Facing the Islamic World” in Tehran, Dawood showcased His Majesty King Abdullah’s efforts in the region and international platforms to defend Islam and bring the different sects closer to combat terrorism. 

The conference is held to mark the occasion of Prophet Mohammad’s birthday, which fell Wednesday.

Participants discuss various issues that the Islamic world is facing in the present, including the spread of extremism and terrorism. 

Dawood also outlined the outcome of Jordan’s efforts in defending Jerusalem’s holy sites, crowned by a UNESCO resolution that considers the entire Al Haram Al Sharif/Al Aqsa Mosque a purely Islamic waqf, brushing off Israeli claims in the noble sanctuary. 

In a related development, a Jordanian-American professor, Omar Yaghi, won the conference’s chemistry award, along with other Muslim scholars who received prizes in various fields of science. 

Yaghi is currently the James and Neeltje Tretter chair professor of chemistry at University of California, Berkeley.

AMMAN — Arab labour officials started a meeting in the capital on Saturday to discuss means to unify labour laws and standards in the region.

The three-day meeting, organised by the Labour Ministry in cooperation with the Arab Labour Organisation (ALO), features discussions on commitments by ALO member states to Arab labour standards, the role of those standards in protecting employees’ basic rights and the media’s role in spreading awareness on the matter.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Labour Ministry Secretary General Hamadah Abu Nijmeh said the meeting, titled “Arab Labour Standards: Reality and Ambitions”, is aimed at reaching advanced levels of Arab labour laws.

Abu Nijmeh said the meeting’s importance lies in bringing together “high-level” participants, including experts, government representatives, and employers from the Arab world, in addition to covering various subjects, research papers and studies that shed light on Arab labour standards.

“Jordan is looking forward to cooperating with the ALO, and to contribute to creating effective solutions to the challenges facing Arab countries... in regard to policies to develop joint Arab work,” he said. 

For his part, ALO Director General Fayez Al Mutairi said that unifying Arab labour laws is one of the most important goals that the ALO was founded to achieve.

In a speech delivered on his behalf by Hamdi Ahmad, director of social protection at the organisation, said the legislative side of the ALO’s work aims at reaching similar levels of labour laws and social insurances then unifying labour laws and conditions in Arab countries.