Archive: jordan

10th July 2021
By: Brian Whitaker
Facebook reported this week that it removed 2,784 accounts in June for "coordinated inauthentic behaviour". Among those, 947 related to countries in the Middle East and North Africa region: Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Algeria and Sudan. Facebook treats online campaigns as "coordinated inauthentic… Read more
11th August 2020
Jordan – so far the most successful of the Arab countries in controlling the coronavirus – has reported a sudden spate of new cases which appear to have a connection with Syria. On Monday health minister Saad Jaber said 24 locally-occurring infections had been detected during the previous four… Read more
5th June 2020
Life in Jordan will look much more normal from Saturday. Cafes, restaurants, hotels, mosques and churches previously closed to due coronavirus will be allowed to reopen along with sports clubs, nurseries and tourist sites. Shops will be permitted to stay open until 11pm and the night curfew will… Read more
19th May 2020
By May 6, Jordan had gone ten days without any Covid-19 infections coming to light inside the country. Since then, though, there have been 166 new cases – more half of them linked to a single truck driver in Mafraq province. After returning from Saudi Arabia the driver was sent into home… Read more
9th May 2020
Jordan announced new measures yesterday to stem the spread of Covid-19 infections from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The move is in response to a new outbreak of the disease which was brought into Jordan by a cross-border truck driver. The driver had been tested at the Omari checkpoint when… Read more
8th May 2020
Among the Arab countries, Jordan has been one of the most successful in combating the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus. By Wednesday, 10 days had elapsed without any new infections coming to light inside the kingdom but now there's a sudden spate of new cases. Twenty-nine have been reported during… Read more
23rd March 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
Four Arab countries have now declared nationwide curfews in an effort to check the spread of coronavirus. In Kuwait, a night-time curfew – from 5pm to 4am – came into effect on Sunday. The deputy prime minister said the move was regrettable but had become necessary because people… Read more
21st March 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
Sirens sounded in Jordan at 7am this morning to mark the start of a strict round-the-clock curfew enforced by thousands of troops. Shops are closed and anyone violating the curfew faces up to a year in jail. At least one person has already been arrested. The authorities say they will make an… Read more
19th March 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
From today Jordan's capital, Amman, is sealed off by the military and movement between the country's 12 governorates is prohibited. There are also restrictions on movement within the governorates. This follows a royal decree activating Jordan's National Defence Law, intended mainly for times of war… Read more
3rd June 2018
By: Brian Whitaker
Jordan has had 12 prime ministers since King Abdullah came to the throne in 1999. Their average survival time in office is one year and seven months but the current prime minister, Hani al-Mulki, has fared rather better. Last week he passed the two-year mark though his future is now uncertain; a… Read more