Jordan

Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to the West Bank has spoken out over the clashes that broke out over the weekend as hundreds of Jewish settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

The Red Sea's spectacular coral reefs face a new threat, marine biologists warn -- the mass death of sea urchins that may be caused by a mystery disease.Because the long-spined creatures feed on algae that can suffocate corals, their die-off could "destroy our entire coral reef ecosystem", warned scientist Lisa-Maria Schmidt.In Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat, which borders Jordan and Egypt, Schmidt recalled the moment she and her colleagues first witnessed the population collapse.

  The Rough Guide to Jordan [Teller, Matthew] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Rough Guide to Jordan  

Thirty years after the landmark Oslo Accords, Palestinian hopes for statehood seem as remote as ever and popular frustration is rife -- nowhere more than over access to water.The Israeli-Palestinian dispute centres on land but also on the water resources that sustain life in the sun-parched land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan river.Hopes for peace were high when then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shook hands with Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993, watched by US president Bill Clinton.

President of the Moroccan Senate Enaam Mayara was forced to delay his historic visit to Israel after falling ill in Jordan.