عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

School Year to Begin in Early September in Jordan, Fears of Another Virus Outbreak

A Jordanian child taking a PCR test in Ramtha city on August 17, 2020 (EPA)
A Jordanian child taking a PCR test in Ramtha city on August 17, 2020 (EPA)
TT
TT

School Year to Begin in Early September in Jordan, Fears of Another Virus Outbreak

A Jordanian child taking a PCR test in Ramtha city on August 17, 2020 (EPA)
A Jordanian child taking a PCR test in Ramtha city on August 17, 2020 (EPA)

The school year is scheduled to being in early September in Jordan, amidst fears of a coronavirus outbreak among students.

Parents are concerned about their children’s return to schools, especially after recording a high number of local infections and the weakness of school infrastructure, mainly in the provinces and remote villages.

Many have also expressed grave concern about the students' non-compliance with public safety measures.

Minister of Education Tayseer al-Nuaimi affirmed that the school year will begin within certain arrangements that will soon be announced.

The ministry is reviewing a number of possibilities on the form of students’ return to schools in some areas, he added in televised statements.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, for his part, said there are several alternatives that depend on the seriousness of the situation in each area and the developments of the epidemiological situation.

He pointed out that some public and private schools will resume as usual while adhering to health requirements, while others will partially open, and schools located in isolated areas will rely on distance learning.

The Kingdom has seen a surge in the number of coronavirus infections after detecting a defect at the border crossings and the smuggling of infected people, as well as weak procedures taken by the staff there.

Health ministry statistics have revealed an unprecedented increase in the number of cases after recording about 120 infections during the past five days alone.

Authorities have isolated dozens of buildings and institutions in which people infected work or live and in light of official warnings of not knowing the sources of infection.

It has also imposed strict measures by forcing all facilities to shut down and imposing a curfew starting from 10 pm.

A new death from coronavirus was recorded on Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths to 12, while the number of infected people amounted to 1,576 since early March.

There are 291 cases that are receiving treatment in government hospitals, and the number of infections is increasing in major cities.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

UN Doubles Appeal for Lebanon Aid to Nearly $640 Mn

A man inspects the aftermath at the site of an Israeli strike that hit the previous day in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on June 5, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
A man inspects the aftermath at the site of an Israeli strike that hit the previous day in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on June 5, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
TT
TT

UN Doubles Appeal for Lebanon Aid to Nearly $640 Mn

A man inspects the aftermath at the site of an Israeli strike that hit the previous day in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on June 5, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
A man inspects the aftermath at the site of an Israeli strike that hit the previous day in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on June 5, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)

The UN on Friday more than doubled its aid appeal for Lebanon as the country reels from Israel's war against Hezbollah, saying nearly $640 million was needed over six months.

"The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is severe and deteriorating," the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a revised appeal for the country.

"Repeated displacements, insufficient shelter capacity and limited prospects for safe return are deepening vulnerability," it said, warning that "affected people are rapidly exhausting their coping capacities, and essential services are under increasing strain."

The UN had appealed for $308 million in March to support a massive emergency response led by Lebanon's government through to the end of May.

On Friday it said that another $331 million would be needed through the end of August.

Only $185 million had so far been received out of the initial appeal, OCHA said, adding that that amount had helped provide assistance to around 680,000 people between March 2 and May 31.

The aim now, it said, was to more than double that number to reach all of the 1.4 million people in Lebanon -- around a quarter of the population -- estimated to need humanitarian assistance in the country.

Lebanon says Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war on March 2, firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader.

Nearly one million people have fled their homes while more than 1.2 million are facing acute food insecurity, Friday's appeal showed.

Price pressure was adding to the misery, with the cost of water, fuel and electricity up more than a third nationally, and as high as 70 percent in the conflict-affected areas, AFP quoted it as saying.

It also highlighted the strain that the conflict was placing on healthcare in Lebanon, with 62 hospitals and other health facilities either damaged or closed.

OCHA said nearly 450 schools were being used to shelter displaced people, driving learning loss and drop-out risks.

Arab World

Israel Issues Evacuation Warnings North of Litani, Kills 7 in Strikes on Tyre

04 June 2026, Lebanon, Arnoun: Smoke billows after an Israeli air raid on the Southern Lebanese village of Arnoun. Photo: Stringer/dpa
04 June 2026, Lebanon, Arnoun: Smoke billows after an Israeli air raid on the Southern Lebanese village of Arnoun. Photo: Stringer/dpa
TT
TT

Israel Issues Evacuation Warnings North of Litani, Kills 7 in Strikes on Tyre

04 June 2026, Lebanon, Arnoun: Smoke billows after an Israeli air raid on the Southern Lebanese village of Arnoun. Photo: Stringer/dpa
04 June 2026, Lebanon, Arnoun: Smoke billows after an Israeli air raid on the Southern Lebanese village of Arnoun. Photo: Stringer/dpa

Israel's military warned residents of three villages north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon to evacuate on Friday as strikes overnight in the south Lebanon city of Tyre killed seven people.

"For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move away from the villages and towns by at least 1,000 meters into open areas. Anyone who is near Hezbollah operatives, their facilities, or their weapons endangers their life!" the army's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X.

Israel also warned of imminent strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon's Sarafand.

Overnight, Israeli strikes in the south Lebanon city of Tyre killed seven people, a source from Lebanon's civil defense told AFP, despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

One strike near the Jabal Amel hospital killed four people, wounded seven and lightly damaged the facility, while another elsewhere in the city killed three and wounded five, including two children.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Thursday rejected a conditional truce announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys, demanding a comprehensive ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal instead as he threatened northern Israel with new attacks.

Arab World

Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Man in West Bank

An Israeli soldier takes position during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, 01 June 2026. (EPA)
An Israeli soldier takes position during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, 01 June 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Man in West Bank

An Israeli soldier takes position during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, 01 June 2026. (EPA)
An Israeli soldier takes position during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, 01 June 2026. (EPA)

Israeli forces shot dead an 18-year-old Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said Friday, while the military said it had killed someone who threw firebombs at vehicles.

In the early hours of Friday, the health ministry said it had been informed of "the martyrdom of the young man Haitham Ezzedine Omar Hmeida, 18, by occupation gunfire in the village of Beitin," northeast of Ramallah.

It added that the man's body was being withheld.

In a statement, the Israeli military said its forces had "identified several terrorists throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles traveling on a major roadway" near the village of Beitin.

"The soldiers opened fire at the terrorists and eliminated one of them," the military said, adding that its forces were "currently pursuing the remaining suspects."

Since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023 with Hamas's attack on Israel, near-daily violence has rocked the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,078 Palestinians since then, including many gunmen, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data.

Official Israeli figures show at least 46 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period.