Jordan truckers strike over costly fuel, some shops shut in solidarity

Wed, 2022-12-14 23:53

AMMAN: Shops in some Jordanian provincial cities shut on Wednesday in solidarity with thousands of lorry drivers who have staged several days of sporadic strikes in protest at high fuel prices, drivers and witnesses said.

Truck drivers have launched partial work stoppages and sit-ins over the last week, mainly in Jordan’s impoverished southern provinces, to demand that the government reduce diesel prices, saying mounting costs have led to losses for their businesses.

The crisis has led to congestion in the country’s main Red Sea port of Aqaba where cargo has piled up, and has disrupted normal trailer- truck transport of imported goods to the capital Amman and other cities. (Shutterstock)

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Middle-East

In Jordan, refugees scan irises to collect aid. But is it ethical?

Wed, 2022-12-14 23:43

AZRAQ, Jordan: At a grocery store checkout in the Jordanian refugee camp of Azraq, Sameera Sabbouh stares wide-eyed into a scanner to pay for her shopping — her iris scan unlocking payment from a digital aid account with the help of block- chain technology.

Many of the nearly 40,000 Syrians who live in the camp recognize the convenience of the cashless, card-free payment method, which verifies recipients’ identity by referencing a UN database, but few said they like it.

Hamda, a Syrian refugee from Daraa, looks into the iris scan camera at a grocery store in Jordan. (WFP)

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Yemeni academic drowns off Spanish coast after boat carrying illegal immigrants to Europe capsizes

Wed, 2022-12-14 22:57

AL-MUKALLA: A Yemeni Ph.D. holder who had just completed a degree at a university in Morocco has been found dead off the coast of Spain after the boat he was traveling in to reach Europe capsized.

Dhef Allah Al-Thaifani reportedly drowned when the vessel transporting illegal immigrants from Morocco overturned in waters adjacent to the Spanish city of Ceuta.

The incident has prompted fresh demands for an end to the conflict in Yemen and warnings to Yemenis not to attempt the dangerous crossing to Europe.

Migrants attempt to swim, from a collapsing boat, to Ceuta, Spain’s enclave in North Africa, May 18, 2021. (EPA)

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400 jailed by regime over protests for Mahsa Amini

Wed, 2022-12-14 01:48

JEDDAH: Courts in Tehran have sentenced 400 people to jail terms of up to 10 years over their involvement in protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death, Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday.

Iran has been gripped by nearly three months of protests — which officials describe as “riots” — since the death of Amini after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country’s dress code for women.

The regime has drawn widespread international condemnation after executing two men in the past week in connection with the unrest. (Reuters)

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Middle-East

Houthis accused of torturing prisoner, concealing death from family for years

Wed, 2022-12-14 00:43

AL-MUKALLA: A Yemeni human rights group and relatives have accused the Iran-backed Houthis of torturing and killing a prisoner of war and then for years concealing his death from family.

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said that Omar Ahmed Al-Samae, a Yemeni government fighter seized from a battlefield in the province of Saada in 2018, was mercilessly tortured before being murdered. The militia group later told his family that he was being held in jail.

The Yemeni organization’s officials have called for the creation of an international commission to investigate reports of abuse and fatalities among Houthi detainees. (Shutterstock)

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