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Jordan Names New Ambassador to Israel

Jordan has named career diplomat Walid Obeidat as a new ambassador to Israel, filling a position that has been vacant since 2010, a senior official said on Friday.

"The council of ministers has decided to appoint Walid Obeidat as an ambassador to Israel," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

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Jordan Names New Ambassador to Israel

Jordan has named carrier diplomat Walid Obeidat as a new ambassador to Israel, filling a position that has been vacant since 2010, a senior official said on Friday.

"The council of ministers has decided to appoint Walid Obeidat as an ambassador to Israel," the official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

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Jordan Charges Syrians with 'Unlawful Assembly'

Military prosecutors have charged eight Syrians with "unlawful assembly" after riots erupted this week at their refugee camp in northern Jordan, a judicial official said on Thursday.

"State security court prosecutors on Wednesday accused eight Syrian refugees of unlawful assembly and carrying out riots" at the U.N.-run Zaatari refugee camp near the border with Syria, the official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

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Qatar to Give Jordan $1.25 Bln to Back Economy Reform

Qatar has inked a deal with Jordan to give it a total of $1.25 billion as part of a Gulf Cooperation Council plan to back economic reforms, the state-run Petra news agency reported on Thursday.

Under the agreement signed on Wednesday, Qatar will provide Jordan with $250 million a year for the coming five years.

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Feesheh.com: An Online One-Stop-Shop for Arab Musicians

Feesheh, a Jordan-based startup, is an online one-stop-shop for Arab musicians.

According to Co-Founder and CEO, Mrs. Nur Alfayez, it’s the first of its kind in the region, offering everything from guitars and other musical instruments, as well as music-related accessories and helpful English and Arabic content for musicians.

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Jordan Nabs Zarqawi Nephew on Syria Border

A top Islamist lawyer said on Tuesday the nephew of slain Al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among six jihadists arrested in Jordan last week as they tried to cross into Syria.

"Jordanian border guards on Saturday arrested six mujahedeen, including Abu Asyad, the nephew of Zarqawi, as they attempted to go to Syria for jihad," Musa Abdullat, a leading lawyer for Islamist groups, told AFP.

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Over 2,000 Syrian Soldiers Defected to Jordan

More than 2,000 Syrian soldiers have defected to Jordan since the conflict erupted last year in the neighboring country, the commander of Jordan's border guards said in remarks published on Monday.

"The number of refugees who have entered Jordan through unofficial border crossings until Wednesday has reached more than 74,000 Syrians... 2053 of them soldiers from various ranks," Brigadier General Hussein al-Ziyud told the semi-official al-Dustour newspaper.

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Indie Lebanese Band Voices Hopes of Arab Youth

Hundreds of young Arabs joyfully screamed out obscenities, encouraged by the handsome, gay Lebanese lead singer at the concert in Jordan's capital. Police looked on worriedly. People outside asked what was going on.

It was a performance by the band Mashrou Leila, which uses a hybrid of velvety Lebanese slang and European instruments to address difficult, sometimes taboo issues of Middle Eastern societies. Lyrics of love and angst are intertwined with more difficult, sometimes taboo issues, with issues like poverty, premarital sex and homosexuality in this deeply homophobic region.

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Jordan Border Guards Clash with Gunmen

Jordanian border guards clashed at dawn Saturday with armed men in a border area and arrested all of the gunmen, Information Minister Samih Maayatah said.

"Jordanian border guards arrested at dawn a group of gunmen in one of the border areas after an exchange of gunfire," he said in remarks carried by the state-run Petra news agency.

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Google to Block Jordan Links to Anti-Islam Film

Google has agreed to block all links connecting Internet users in Jordan to an anti-Islam film made in the United States that has stirred outrage across the Muslim world, a Jordanian minister said on Saturday.

"We asked Google to block all links to this film in the kingdom and we have had a favourable response," said Communications and Information Technology Minister Atef Tel, quoted in Al-Dustur newspaper.

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