AP PHOTO - Street vendors sell juice to motorists on the Amman-Zarqa highway in Jordan on July 1, 2009 as temperatures rose to 38 degrees Celsius, resulting from hot and dry air mass, which originated from the Arabian Peninsula.

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Last month, 7iber launched an initiative to collect citizen-generated photographs that capture Jordan from behind their lens. Throughout June we received an endless amount of pictures with the objective of picking the best 10 and printing them as postcards to be sold in the marketplace, with any profits going towards future community projects.
Then we […]

Jordanian men play chess in their neighborhood in Amman. AP PHOTO

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I have a bone to pick with these government and royal motorcades that careen through the streets of the capital at stellar speeds, stopping for no one and breaking the speed limit by leaps and bounds. I know these drivers are well-trained, but you know what, the rest of us citizens never got a special […]

Remember when the Bush administration decided to handle protesters simply by taking them to a designated “free speech zone” (also known as a “free speech cage”)? Well, Jordan’s Lower House of Parliament seems set on doing the same thing these days. Essentially, they’ve designated a room by the main entrance of the Parliament building for […]

A black stripe is seen on an advertising panel in Amman, on Saturday June 27, 2009, promoting the upcoming concert that Michael Jackson was supposed to have performed in London. Associated Press
- Also, check out this funeral posting in Swefieh. Here as well.

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A while back, I decided to change up mosques for Friday prayer due to a lack of inspiration. Essentially, I’ve spent the past two years trying to find one that had something to offer but alas, it seems recycled material is what passes for a good khutba (sermon) these days. I even started a pet […]

Health Minister Nayef Al Fayez visits Swine-Flu infected patients and fulfills his ceremonial duties of shaking hands with sick people. I wonder if he’s wishing right about now that he had a different job.
Any other caption suggestions are welcomed.
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It was perhaps with great pleasure that I read about government plans to exempt computers from taxes in Jordan around two months ago. Sources at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology leaked such plans in late April, and the Minister, Bassem Roussan, seemed to confirm it at a meeting with members of the ICT […]

Flying in from Cairo the other day I had a bit of a run in with the Jordanian Customs on my way out. After a friend asked me to purchase cigarettes from the newly-expanded Duty Free Shop, I was pulled over by customs but in the most abrasive of manners. To begin with, I have […]

At this point, the reviews are already in regarding Obama’s speech to the Muslim world and there’s little I can say that wouldn’t sound redundant. Was his tone different from that of his predecessor - also known as ‘he whose name must never be spoken”? An overwhelming yes is the only answer to that question. […]

Leaving a meeting in Abdali yesterday morning, I got a call informing me that a protest was taking place on the 6th circle. Second-hand information indicated that a crowd, angry with the safety conditions of the Jordan Gate towers lately, had gathered on the circle to launch a protest. I figured it was probably the […]

Well tonight should be an interesting night. Jordanian bloggers via 7iber, have teamed up with some amazing artists to put on a never-before-untypical-unprecedented show tonight at the Al-Hussein Cultural Center in Ras Il-Ein. It’s a show that makes an attempt of merging the online and offline worlds in Jordan - bringing an online conversation to […]

His Majesty King Abdullah paid an incognito visit to the Health Ministry’s Patients’ Affairs Department on Wednesday to check on services it offers citizens, sources told The Jordan Times. Wearing a black thobe (traditional dress) and a red-and-white kuffiyah, and sporting a black beard, the King arrived at the department, located in Shmeisani behind Le […]

Happy Independence Day everyone!
So Jordan celebrates its 63rd Independence Day today, and I know mainstream media will probably effectively cover all of the Kingdom’s achievements over the past several decades, which usually entails copying and pasting information from last year and then throwing in a Jordanian flag sticker with every newspaper copy. So there’s really […]

@QueenRania Dear Your Majesty, I hope this tweet finds you well. I should mention right off the bat that this tweet will be longer than the 140 characters typically allocated to me, but I’ll try my best to keep it short and well-worded as is often the case when addressing royalty. Your recent joining of […]