Jordan and Ireland explore trade and investment cooperation

The chairman of Jordan’s Irbid Chamber of Commerce met with the Irish ambassador to the kingdom on Sunday to discuss strengthening trade and investment relations between the two countries. (Petra)
The chairman of Jordan’s Irbid Chamber of Commerce met with the Irish ambassador to the kingdom on Sunday to discuss strengthening trade and investment relations between the two countries. (Petra)
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Updated 29 September 2024
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Jordan and Ireland explore trade and investment cooperation

Jordan and Ireland explore trade and investment cooperation
  • The meeting between Mohammad Shoha and Marianne Bolger covered key sectors such as industry, technology, renewable energy, and agriculture

LONDON: The chairman of Jordan’s Irbid Chamber of Commerce met with the Irish ambassador to the kingdom on Sunday to discuss strengthening trade and investment relations between the two countries.

The meeting between Mohammad Shoha and Marianne Bolger covered key sectors such as industry, technology, renewable energy, and agriculture, Jordan News Agency reported.

During the talks, Shoha underscored the pivotal role of the chamber in supporting and developing the region’s commercial sector, which boasts a membership of around 16,000 businesses.

He highlighted the vitality of the Jordanian market and the ambition of local traders and investors to expand their operations both domestically and internationally.

Shoha also emphasized the chamber’s role in acting as a bridge between the Jordanian government and the private sector. He stressed the importance of dialog in overcoming obstacles and seizing new opportunities for growth.

While acknowledging the impact of regional political instability on investment, Shoha expressed confidence in Jordan’s ongoing efforts to attract foreign capital.

He said that, under the leadership of King Abdullah II, the government was focused on removing investment barriers by continuously updating laws, legislation, and infrastructure to enhance the business environment.

Bolger affirmed Ireland’s commitment to expanding its trade ties with Jordan and extended an invitation to Jordanian investors to visit Ireland to explore the country’s investment climate and opportunities.

Both sides exchanged views on promoting sustainable cooperation and building strategic partnerships aimed at fostering economic growth and enhancing trade and investment ties between the two nations.


Palestinians say settlers’ arson attack kills man in West Bank

Palestinians say settlers’ arson attack kills man in West Bank
Updated 57 min 57 sec ago
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Palestinians say settlers’ arson attack kills man in West Bank

Palestinians say settlers’ arson attack kills man in West Bank
  • “Forty-year-old Khamis Abdel-Latif Ayad was martyred due to smoke inhalation caused by fires,” the Palestinian health ministry said
  • The Palestinian Authority said some villages around Silwad also came under attack by settlers

SILWAD, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian Authority said Israeli settlers set fire to homes and cars in a West Bank village on Thursday, killing one man, in the latest attack in the occupied territory.

“Forty-year-old Khamis Abdel-Latif Ayad was martyred due to smoke inhalation caused by fires set by settlers in citizens’ homes and vehicles in the village of Silwad at dawn,” the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.

Witnesses provided corresponding accounts of the attack on Silwad, a village in the central West Bank near several Israeli settlements.

Raafat Hussein Hamed, a resident of Silwad whose house was torched in Thursday’s attack, said that “a car dropped them (the settlers) off somewhere, they burned whatever they could and then ran away.”

Hamed said the assailants “come from an outpost,” referring to wildcat settlements that are illegal under Israeli law, as opposed to formally recognized settlements.

All settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, are illegal under international law.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) said some villages around Silwad also came under attack by settlers, with vehicles, homes and farmlands set ablaze.

According to the PA’s government media office, “Israeli soldiers accompanying the settlers fired live bullets and tear gas at unarmed Palestinian civilians who tried to defend the communities.”

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was looking into the reported incidents.

The West Bank is home to some three million Palestinians, who live alongside about 500,000 Israeli settlers.

Violence in the territory has surged throughout the Gaza war triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.

Earlier this month, the Palestinian Authority and witnesses in the village of Taybeh — just southeast of Silwad — reported two arson attacks by Israeli settlers.

In 2015, a Palestinian couple and their baby burned to death after settlers attacked their village of Duma, also in the central West Bank.

According to an AFP tally based on PA figures, Israeli security forces and settlers have killed at least 966 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war.

At least 36 Israelis, including civilians and troops, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations over the same period, according to official figures.


Portugal to consider recognizing Palestinian state in September: PM

Portugal to consider recognizing Palestinian state in September: PM
Updated 31 July 2025
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Portugal to consider recognizing Palestinian state in September: PM

Portugal to consider recognizing Palestinian state in September: PM
  • The procedure could be concluded during the 80th UNGA in New York in September

LISBON: The Portuguese government will consult the president and parliament on the question of recognizing the State of Palestine at the UN in September, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro’s office said Thursday.

Portugal “is considering recognition of the Palestinian state, as part of a procedure that could be concluded during the high-level week of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, to be held in New York in September,” the statement said.


Turkish city calls for help after heat tops 50C

Turkish city calls for help after heat tops 50C
Updated 31 July 2025
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Turkish city calls for help after heat tops 50C

Turkish city calls for help after heat tops 50C
  • “We cannot cope with the heat,” ice-cream maker Recep Esiyok, 59, said
  • The country is still in the grip of the heatwave and since Sunday temperatures overall have surged from six to 12 degrees above seasonal norms

SILOPI, Turkiye: A choking heatwave left astonished locals in southeastern Turkiye calling for state help to pay their air conditioning bills after the temperature surged past 50C.

“We cannot cope with the heat,” ice-cream maker Recep Esiyok, 59, told AFP in Silopi, where meteorologists measured 50.5C on Friday — a national record.

“I’ve been living in Silopi for about 30 years. I’ve never seen such heat... I’ve never seen such heat anywhere.”

He is getting through the heatwave thanks to the air conditioner in his shop, but is now worried about paying for the electricity.

“My bill last month was 59,000 lira (1,450 dollars). We are asking for state support on this issue.”

Before Friday’s record, the previous peak in Turkiye had been 49.5C in August 2023.

Scientists agree that climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is increasing the likelihood, length and intensity of heatwaves.

“The heat has reached a point where it’s incomparable to previous years,” said Halil Coskun, 52, a local reporter.

The country is still in the grip of the heatwave and since Sunday temperatures overall have surged from six to 12 degrees above seasonal norms, according to the state meteorology directorate.

Turkiye has fought fires in several regions since the start of the summer.

Last week, 10 people perished while fighting a fire in Eskisehir province.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the country has experienced drier conditions than normal over the past five years as a result of global warming.

“Extreme heat, low humidity, and strong winds are unfortunately increasing the risk of fire,” he said.

He said the state was using drones to monitor and protect forests.

The streets were relatively empty and the atmosphere tense in Silopi, a Kurdish city whose main income is trade with Iraq across the border 10 kilometers (six miles) away.

“When it’s hot, there’s no one outside during the day,” said Esiyok.

Other locals complained at the lack of vegetation to provide relief around the town, which lies at the foot of a mountain.

“Unfortunately, the forests here were burned in the past for security reasons,” said Coskun.

He said the Turkish army cleared them in the search for fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a rebel group that recently disarmed.

Turkiye’s parliament this month also passed a bill that opens certain agricultural lands including olive groves to mining activities, despite widespread opposition.

“We could at least minimize the heat by planting trees, not by felling them,” Coskun said.

Sweating in his kebab shop, another local, Cemil Seher, said that summers in Silopi last not three months, but five.

For Seher, 51, air conditioning is no longer a luxury but a necessity.

“AC is essential here as much as bread and water,” he said.

“When the air conditioners are running, the electricity bills are very high,” he said, demanding authorities offer discounts for businesses.

“I want a discount not only for Silopi but for the entire region from here to Sanliurfa” in the east, he said.

“I am not making a profit because I’ve been working... to pay my electricity bill.”


UK govt minister rejects claims by peers that Palestine recognition unlawful

UK govt minister rejects claims by peers that Palestine recognition unlawful
Updated 31 July 2025
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UK govt minister rejects claims by peers that Palestine recognition unlawful

UK govt minister rejects claims by peers that Palestine recognition unlawful
  • Gareth Thomas: ‘The Palestinians have an inalienable right to statehood’
  • Peers cite Montevideo Convention mandating conditions for statehood, but Britain not a signatory

LONDON: A government minister in the UK has rejected claims that plans to recognize Palestine breach international law.

It came after an influential group of House of Lords peers wrote to the attorney general warning against the move by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had earlier this week pledged to recognize a Palestinian state in September if Israel fails to reach a ceasefire with Hamas, among other conditions.

The group of 38 peers wrote to Lord Hermer in a letter that said Starmer’s pledge may be unlawful under the 1933 Montevideo Convention.

The treaty mandates certain conditions for statehood, which the peers warned a Palestinian state may not fulfill.

Business Minister Gareth Thomas, however, told Sky News on Thursday that the UK is not signed up to the Montevideo Convention.

“I respect the views of those lawyers, but in the end, recognition of a state is a political judgment, and we’ve been very clear that our judgment is that the Palestinians have an inalienable right to statehood,” he said.

“I don’t think we are in breach of international law. We’re not signed up to the Montevideo Convention. We’re clear what needs to happen,” he added.

“The fact that so many other countries have either already recognized the state of Palestine, or are joining our efforts to recognize the state of Palestine, I think is very significant.”

Among other conditions demanded by Starmer from Israel are the entry of more aid into Gaza, an end to land grabs in the West Bank, and a commitment to a long-term peace process.

The peers’ letter claimed that Palestine “does not meet the international law criteria for recognition of a state, namely, defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.” There is no certainty over Palestine’s borders and no single government, they added.


US sanctions Palestinian Authority officials, PLO members

US sanctions Palestinian Authority officials, PLO members
Updated 31 min 50 sec ago
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US sanctions Palestinian Authority officials, PLO members

US sanctions Palestinian Authority officials, PLO members

WASHINGTON: The US imposed sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization on Thursday, saying the groups are undermining peace efforts as American officials separately seek to salvage ceasefire talks in Gaza.

The move prevents those targeted from receiving visas to travel to the United States, the US State Department said, although it did not list any specific individuals.

“It is in our national security interests to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace,” the department said in a statement.

The State Department said the two Palestinian groups had “taken actions to internationalize its conflict with Israel,” including through the International Criminal Court, and said both had continued “to support terrorism.”

Representatives for the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization could not immediately be reached for comment.

The sanctions come as US special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to arrive in Israel on Thursday in a bid to save Gaza ceasefire talks and tackle a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel faces growing world pressure over the war in Gaza, and several Western powers have said they will recognize a Palestinian state.