Amman
FILE - This April 11, 2021 file photo from the Royal Court twitter account, shows Jordan's King Abdullah II, center, Prince Prince Hamzah, second left, and others during a visit to the tomb of the late King Hussein, in Amman Jordan. Jordan's version of a trial of the century gets under way as early as Monday, June 21, 2021. A relative of King Abdullah II and a former chief of the royal court will be ushered into the defendants’ cage at the state security court to face sedition charges. They are accused of conspiring with Prince Hamzah, a half-brother of the king, to foment unrest against the monarch. (Royal Court Twitter Account via AP, File)
Jordan's unprecedented palace drama moves to the courtroom

By Karin Laub Jun. 20, 2021 07:21 AM EDT

FILE - In this May 25, 2008 file photo, Dr. Bassem Awadallah, then Director of the Office of King Abdullah II of Jordan, attends a celebration to mark Independence Day, in Amman, Jordan. The prosecutor of Jordan's state security court on Sunday, June 13, 2021 filed sedition and incitement charges against Awadallah and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, both confidants of King Abdullah II’s half-brother Hamzah, marking the latest step in a rare, intrigue-filled palace drama that has rattled the Western-backed kingdom. (AP Photo/Nader Daoud, File)
2 confidants of senior Jordan royal charged with sedition

Jun. 13, 2021 10:05 AM EDT

Jordanian prince, brother of late King Hussein, dies at 80

Apr. 29, 2021 03:51 PM EDT
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's Prince Mohammad bin Talal, the younger bother of the late King Hussein who served as his crown prince for 10 years, died on...

This photo from the Royal Court twitter account, shows Jordan’s King Abdullah II, second right, Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein, fourth right in blue mask, Prince Hassan bin Talal, fifth right, and others arriving to visit the tombs of former kings, in Amman, Jordan, Sunday, April 11, 2021. King Abdullah II and his half brother Prince Hamzah have made their first joint public appearance since a palace feud last week. Members of the Jordanian royal family Sunday marked the centenary of the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate that preceded the kingdom. (Royal Court Twitter Account via AP)
Jordanian prince makes first public appearance since arrest

By Josef Federman And Omar Akour Apr. 11, 2021 08:05 AM EDT

FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2020 photo released by the Royal Hashemite Court, Jordan's King Abdullah II gives a speech during the inauguration of the 19th Parliament's non-ordinary session, in Amman Jordan. Jordan’s army chief of staff says the half-brother of King Abdullah II was asked to “stop some movements and activities that are being used to target Jordan’s security and stability.” The army chief of staff denied reports Saturday, April 3, 2021, that Prince Hamzah was arrested. He said an investigation is still ongoing and its results will be made public “in a transparent and clear form.” (Yousef Allan/The Royal Hashemite Court via AP, File)
Jordan prince says he's confined, lashes out at authorities

Apr. 03, 2021 02:57 PM EDT

Samer Qraih, a Jordanian car dealer, sits in his apartment holding old business licences, bank statements and documents, in Amman, Jordan, Sunday, March 14, 2021. The 45-year-old, and father of four was sent to nine months in prison after he sank in into massive debts. Hundreds of thousands of Jordanians like Qraih are faced with incarceration because of draconian debt laws that violate international human rights law, according to the report published Tuesday by Human Rights Watch. (AP Photo/Omar Akour)
Rights group: Jordan's debt prisons violate human rights law

Mar. 16, 2021 02:03 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2021, file photo, people receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Las Vegas. Nevada's top coronavirus official didn't guarantee the state can meet President Joe Biden's goal of offering a vaccination to every adult who wants a shot by May 1, but said it gives everyone something to work toward. COVID-19 Task Force chief Caleb Cage said everything depends on vaccine allocations. Seventeen new COVID-19 deaths were reported statewide Friday, March 12, 2021, bringing the pandemic total in Nevada to almost 5,100. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
The Latest: All Duke University undergrads must quarantine

By The Associated Press Mar. 13, 2021 03:48 PM EST

Angry people gather around a vehicle with King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Al-Hussein outside Al-Hussein Al Salt Hospital in Salt, Jordan on Saturday, March 13, 2021. State media reports that Jordan’s Health Minister, Nathir Obeidat, has stepped down after at least six patients in a COVID-19 ward at the hospital near the capital Amman died due to a shortage of oxygen supplies. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
Jordan health minister steps down after deaths in virus ward

By Omar Akour Mar. 13, 2021 02:22 PM EST

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2019 file photo, an ambulance is parked in front of the Jerash Government Hospital, where people stabbed in a knife attack were taken in Jerash, Jordan. On Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, Jordan sentenced a man to death by hanging for the 2019 stabbing attack at a popular tourist site that wounded eight people, including foreign tourists and their guide. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh, File)
Jordan sentences man to death for stabbings at tourist site

Jan. 12, 2021 05:40 AM EST

Women, Islamists suffer setbacks in election in Jordan

By Omar Akour Nov. 12, 2020 07:52 AM EST
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The already small number of female legislators in Jordan's parliament dropped even further on Thursday, while Islamist opposition parties...

Jordan holds parliamentary elections amid virus surge

By Omar Akour Nov. 10, 2020 02:18 AM EST
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordanians began voting on Tuesday to elect a new parliament in the country that has long been a close Western ally in a volatile region...

King of Jordan names his policy adviser country's new PM

Oct. 07, 2020 06:33 PM EDT
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday designated his policy adviser to form a new government amid criticism of the previous government's...

This undated 2018 photo shows Dr. Mohammed Ayesh and his family in Gaza. Ayesh is among several Gazans who are unable to return to the territory because of a dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The PA stopped coordinating travel permits with Israel when it cut off all contacts in May 2020 to protest Israel's plans to annex up to 30% of the occupied West Bank. (Ayesh family via AP)
Gazans left stranded abroad by Israeli-Palestinian standoff

By Joseph Krauss Sep. 30, 2020 02:11 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2018 file photo, Syrian refugees line up to register their names at an employment office, at the Azraq Refugee Camp, 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Amman, Jordan. The U.N. agency for refugees said Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, that it has confirmed two coronavirus cases in the Azraq camp. They are the first infections to be detected among Syrians living in refugee camps in Jordan, which are home to more than 100,000 Syrians displaced by that country's civil war. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh, File)
UN finds 2 virus cases in Syrian refugee camp in Jordan

By Omar Akour Sep. 08, 2020 08:37 AM EDT

UN detects virus cases in Syrian refugee camp in Jordan

Sep. 08, 2020 08:03 AM EDT
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The U.N. agency for refugees said Tuesday it has confirmed two coronavirus cases in the Azraq camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan. ...

UN reports first coronavirus cases in Syrian refugee camp in Jordan

Sep. 08, 2020 07:57 AM EDT
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — UN reports first coronavirus cases in Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. ...

FILE - This Sunday, April 19, 2020 file photo, shows a large refugee camp on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, near the town of Atma, in Idlib province, Syria. The head of the U.N. food agency warned of starvation and another wave of mass migration from Syria to Europe unless donors countries step up financial assistance to the war-ravaged country. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed, File)
UN food agency calls for aid to prevent another Syria exodus

By Karin Laub Jun. 25, 2020 01:56 PM EDT

In this April 10, 2020, photo, Judith Andeka a widow and mother of five, fetches water with a bucket in the Kibera slum, or informal settlement, of Nairobi, Kenya. Andeka used to earn $2.50 to $4 a day washing clothes in Nairobi’s Kibera, one of the world’s biggest slums. With people not going to work because of restrictions on movement, neighbors can’t afford her services. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Amid pandemic, the world's working poor hustle to survive

By Aya Batrawy And Emily Schmall May. 08, 2020 02:11 AM EDT

In this April 7, 2020, photo, Rosemary Paez Carabajal, left, her husband Yonoma Saenz, their children Laisa and Leonardo pose for a photo at the room they rent in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Carabajal makes a living selling coffee on the street, and can no longer do her job after the government-ordered lockdown to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Meet 8 people around the world hustling to survive pandemic

By Aya Batrawy And Emily Schmall May. 08, 2020 01:03 AM EDT

FILE -- In this Nov. 23, 2019 file photo, a malnourished boy lies in a bed waiting to receive treatment at a feeding center at Al-Sabeen hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. The U.N. children’s agency has appealed for an additional $92.4 million to help fight the coronavirus in the Middle East and North Africa. The conflict-battered region had 25 million children in need of aid before the pandemic, the highest number anywhere. The economic downturn linked to the outbreak is expected to push an additional 4 million children into poverty. Ted Chaiban, the head of UNICEF in the region, says Yemen is a top concern. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)
UNICEF seeks more aid for at-risk Mideast kids amid pandemic

Apr. 20, 2020 01:08 AM EDT