Amman - Hundreds of Jordanian trade unionists staged a sit-in before the Egyptian embassy Wednesday to press for the re-opening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and for lifting the blockade imposed on the Palestinian people there by Israeli troops.

The demonstrators chanted slogans and raised placards urging the Egyptian government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory and permit the sick to cross the border for treatment.

They also called on Arab governments and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "to give priority to the lifting of the Gaza siege", in implementation of a decision taken in this respect recently by Arab foreign ministers.

Amman - Jordan and the European Union on Wednesday launched a joint scheme for combating terrorism and organized crime, a statement by the European Commission said.

The "European Union-Jordan Twinning Project to Fight Against Terrorism and Organized Crime" was launched at an official ceremony by the Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Suhair al-Ali.

Also attending were the Director General of the Public Security Directorate (PSD) General Mazen Qadi , head of the European Commission Delegation in Jordan Patrick Renauld, and EU ambassadors.

Amman - Jordan and the European Union on Wednesday launched a joint scheme for combating terrorism and organized crime, a statement by the European Commission said.

The "European Union-Jordan Twinning Project to Fight Against Terrorism and Organized Crime" was launched at an official ceremony by the Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Suhair al-Ali.

Also attending were the Director General of the Public Security Directorate (PSD) General Mazen Qadi , head of the European Commission Delegation in Jordan Patrick Renauld, and EU ambassadors.

Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan is to pay a state visit to South Korea st

Amman - Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Monday received a letter from his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki assuring him that under the provisions of the security pact with Washington, US troops will not be allowed to use Iraqi territory to attack Jordan or any other neighbouring country, Iraqi Culture Minister Maher Hadithi said.

The Iraqi minister made the remarks to reporters after meeting with Dahabi to relay to him al-Maliki's message.

Amman  - The Central Bank of Jordan on Monday cut the basic interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, to 6.25 per cent, in what analysts considered a late attempt to boost stocks at the Amman Stock Exchange.

In a parallel move, CBJ Governor Umayya Touqan said that the banks' compulsory cash ratio had been trimmed to 9 per cent from 10 per cent.

"The measures were taken in view of the declining inflation rate, which fell 2 percentage points at the end of October from a month earlier, as well as expectations of further falls in future," Touqan said.