AMMAN: Electric connection with Europe will achieve integration between stakeholder countries by supplying the continent with relatively low-cost energy generated from renewable sources, according to Jordan’s energy minister.
Addressing a meeting with a British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union delegation currently visiting Jordan, Saleh Kharabsheh stressed the importance of conducting an electrical interconnection project to supply Europe with green energy from the Middle East and North Africa region.
The linking includes the northern Mediterranean countries, Kharabsheh said, to provide them with green hydrogen and contribute to their commitment to reduce carbon emissions, Jordan’s News Agency reported on Thursday.
“Such a project will make Jordan a regional hub for the export of green energy, which contributes significantly to the implementation of future energy projects,” he added.
Jordan, he continued, seeks to turn its electric power grid into a smart one and accommodate the quantitive leap in sustainable energy usage, which currently composes 29 percent of total electric power generated in Jordan compared to 1 percent in 2014.
Kharabsheh briefed the delegation on developments in mineral resources exploration, saying Jordan has so far signed five memoranda of understanding for mineral exploration, some of which gave preliminary, hopeful indicators, especially for phosphate, copper, and gold.
Pointing to the Syrian crisis’s repercussions on the kingdom’s infrastructure and host communities, which provide services to about 1.3 million Syrian refugees, the minister urged the international community to shoulder its responsibilities in mitigating the consequences on Jordan.
The UK is a strategic and supportive partner to the kingdom, he added, pointing to the visit of King Abdullah II to Britain on Nov. 10 and the positive impact of such visits on cooperation.
He called on the British delegation to tap into Jordanian investment opportunities in clean energy.
Jordanian minister calls for MENA-Europe electric connection project
https://arab.news/b8hrh
Jordanian minister calls for MENA-Europe electric connection project
- Saleh Kharabsheh addressed meeting with British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union delegation in Jordan
- Kingdom seeks to turn its electric power grid into a smart one
US resumes food aid to Somalia
- The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port
NAIROBI: The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port.
In early January, Washington suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, saying Somali officials had “illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid meant for vulnerable Somalis.”
US officials then warned any future aid would depend on the Somali government taking accountability, a stance Mogadishu countered by saying the warehouse demolition was part of the port’s “expansion and repurposing works.”
On Wednesday, however, the Somali government said “all WFP commodities affected by port expansion have been returned.”
In a statement Somalia said it “takes full responsibility” and has “provided the World Food Program with a larger and more suitable warehouse within the Mogadishu port area.”
The US State Department said in a post on X that: “We will resume WFP food distribution while continuing to review our broader assistance posture in Somalia.”
“The Trump Administration maintains a firm zero tolerance policy for waste, theft, or diversion of US resources,” it said.
US president Donald Trump has slashed aid over the past year globally.
Somalis in the United States have also become a particular target for the administration in recent weeks, targeted in immigration raids.
They have also been accused of large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesota, which has the largest Somali community in the country with around 80,000 members.
