The UK's Minister for Middle East & North Africa James Cleverly meeting with the Jordanian government. James Cleverly/Twitter
The UK's Minister for Middle East & North Africa James Cleverly meeting with the Jordanian government. James Cleverly/Twitter
The UK's Minister for Middle East & North Africa James Cleverly meeting with the Jordanian government. James Cleverly/Twitter
The UK's Minister for Middle East & North Africa James Cleverly meeting with the Jordanian government. James Cleverly/Twitter

UK minister visits Jordan as it marks its centenary


Neil Murphy
  • English
  • Arabic

James Cleverly, the UK's Minister for the Middle East, praised the growing defence and trade links between Britain and Jordan during his first official visit to the country.

In Amman, Mr Cleverly met Yousef Bataineh, Secretary General of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry. They discussed the Palestine-Israel conflict, the coronavirus crisis and development aid.

Mr Cleverly also visited a UN-run community centre in the Jordanian capital to see how UK aid is helping the country's refugee population.

The MP from Britain's ruling Conservative Party was in Jordan it celebrates its centenary year.

Jordan hosts a large number of refugees, including more than 600,000 Syrians who fled their country following the outbreak of conflict a decade ago.

Since 2012, Britain has contributed more than £726 million ($1 billion) in bilateral development assistance to Jordan. This year, the UK pledged at least £205m to deal with the fallout from the Syria crisis, despite a large cut to its foreign aid budget caused by the pandemic.

The UK has also provided £25m in support to Jordan's National Aid Fund, which provides cash transfers to 293,000 "economically vulnerable" households.

"On my first visit to the Hashemite Kingdom, I discovered how the UK-Jordan partnership is growing in strength during this landmark centenary year. We celebrated long-standing co-operation on defence, regional security and economic stability, as we build back better from the Covid-19 pandemic," Mr Cleverly said.

"The UK is a committed partner, providing assistance to Jordan as it generously hosts refugees fleeing regional conflicts. I saw how the UK is helping to strengthen Jordan’s social protection system, ensuring those most affected by the pandemic can get back on their feet."

Mr Cleverly also discussed efforts at tackling climate change as he met investors from Jordan’s renewable-energy sector. Later this year the UK will host the Cop26 summit in Glasgow which hopes to outline steps to build a carbon-neutral planet by 2050.

On April 11, Jordan marked a hundred years since Abdullah I became ruler of the Emirate of Transjordan following its breakaway from British colonial rule.




What the law says

Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.

“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.

“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”

If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.

SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY

Wimbledon order of play on Tuesday, July 11
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)

Centre Court

Adrian Mannarino v Novak Djokovic (2)

Venus Williams (10) v Jelena Ostapenko (13)

Johanna Konta (6) v Simona Halep (2)

Court 1

Garbine Muguruza (14) v

Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)

Magdalena Rybarikova v Coco Vandeweghe (24) 

War 2

Director: Ayan Mukerji

Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana

Rating: 2/5

SHADOWS%20AND%20LIGHT%3A%20THE%20EXTRAORDINARY%20LIFE%20OF%20JAMES%20MCBEY
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Alasdair%20Soussi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20300%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%20Scotland%20Street%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAvailable%3A%20December%201%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
  • Ban fruit juice and sodas
  • Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
  • Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
  • Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
  • Don’t eat dessert every day 
  • Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
  • Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
  • Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
  • Eat everything in moderation
Company Fact Box

Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019

Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO

Based: Amman, Jordan

Sector: Education Technology

Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed

Stage: early-stage startup 

Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.

Results

6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 (PA) US$100,000 (Dirt) 2,000m, Winner Bandar, Fernando Jara (jockey), Majed Al Jahouri (trainer).

7.05pm Meydan Classic Listed (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,600m, ​​​​​​​Winner Well Of Wisdom, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

7.40pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m, ​​​​​​​Winner Star Safari, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby.

8.15pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner Moqarrar, Fabrice Veron, Erwan Charpy.

8.50pm Nad Al Sheba Trophy Group 2 (TB) $300,000 (T) 2,810m, Winner Secret Advisor, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

9.25pm Curlin Stakes Listed (TB) $175,000 (D) 2,000m, ​​​​​​​Winner Parsimony, William Buick, Doug O’Neill.

10pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m, Winner Simsir, Ronan Whelan, Michael Halford.

10.35pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m, ​​​​​​​Winner Velorum, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby.

STAY%2C%20DAUGHTER
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYasmin%20Azad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESwift%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Updated: July 05, 2021, 2:05 PM`