US embassy to close on Sunday

AMMAN — The US Embassy in Amman will be closed on Sunday in observance of Memorial Day.

 The embassy will resume normal operating hours on Monday, it said in a statement.

Memorial Day celebrations began after the US Civil War (1861-1865), when communities and veterans’ organisations decorated the graves of soldiers killed in that war.

After World War I, the day was expanded to honour those who have died in all American wars, the statement said.

In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be commemorated on the last Monday in May.