Egyptians Urged to Rationalize Water Consumption

A boat on the Nile River in Atfih town, Giza, Egypt. (AP)
A boat on the Nile River in Atfih town, Giza, Egypt. (AP)
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Egyptians Urged to Rationalize Water Consumption

A boat on the Nile River in Atfih town, Giza, Egypt. (AP)
A boat on the Nile River in Atfih town, Giza, Egypt. (AP)

Egypt’s Housing Minister, Assem el-Gazzar, issued a directive to increase awareness among citizens on the importance of rationalizing water consumption, optimizing its use and maximizing the utilization of all available water resources.

Gazzar chaired a meeting of the Egyptian Water and Wastewater Regulatory Agency (EWRA), during which he called for the safe reuse of treated water based on the top international standards.

Egypt suffers from a scarcity of freshwater resources, and according to official statements, it has officially entered the “water poverty” era, in which the per capita share is less than 1,000 cubic meters annually.

The Egyptian government is implementing a national strategy to manage and meet water demand until 2037, with investments of nearly $50 million, including projects to desalinate seawater, implement modern irrigation methods in agricultural lands and treat wastewater.



18,000 Syrians Returned Home from Jordan Since Assad’s Fall

Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
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18,000 Syrians Returned Home from Jordan Since Assad’s Fall

Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)

About 18,000 Syrians have crossed into their country from Jordan since the government of Bashar Assad was toppled earlier this month, Jordanian authorities said on Thursday.
Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya told state TV channel Al-Mamlaka that “around 18,000 Syrians have returned to their country between the fall of the regime of Bashar Assad on December 8, 2024 until Thursday.”
He said the returnees included 2,300 refugees registered with the United Nations.
Amman says it has hosted about 1.3 million Syrians who fled their country since civil war broke out in 2011, with 650,000 formally registered with the United Nations.

Earlier this month, Al-Faraya said that security circumstances now allow Syrian refugees to return to their country.

"What prevented refugees from returning to their country was the security issue and now this has changed,” he said.

The minister said information suggests that security conditions on the northern border of the Kingdom with Syria are stable, adding that what is happening today in Syria represents "the end of a tragedy and years of suffering."

The Jaber-Nasib border crossing, which is located about 80 kilometers west of Amman, is currently the only functioning crossing between the two countries.