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AMMAN — The Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) on Saturday foiled an attempt to smuggle "a large amount" of narcotics into the Kingdom, according to a JAF source.

JAF agents applied the rules of engagement after spotting five people approaching the Jordanian border from Syria, which led to their retreat, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The source said that after searching the area, JAF personnel found about 262,000 Captagon pills, 4,509 pills of Lyrica, 3,756 juluca pills and 2,660 pills of Tramadol, noting that all seized items were referred to the concerned authorities.

The army has repeatedly warned that it will deal with any illegal attempts to cross the border in any direction, and schemes to harm Jordan and Jordanians, by applying the necessary measures.

AMMAN — Primary school students from across the Kingdom and their parents on Saturday staged a sit-in near the Education Ministry, protesting against the mathematics and science curricula for the first and fourth grades.

The sit-in, which also saw the participation of teachers, aimed at expressing students' and parents' frustration over the new curricula, which the ministry introduced at the beginning of the academic year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Parents said that the level of these curricula “exceed the comprehension and cognitive abilities of the students” and “does not consider their development”, adding that the textbooks do not start from pre-school education.

Head of the National Centre for Curriculum Development's Higher Council Azmi Mahafzah has said that recent changes to the mathematics and science curricula for the first and fourth grades were the outcomes of meetings with experts and research into “advanced international practices in the field”, Petra said.

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Saturday said that regional peace and security can only be achieved with the ending of the Israeli occupation and the restoration of Palestinians’ legitimate rights in accordance with a two-state solution that ensures the creation of an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 lines with the East Jerusalem as its capital. 

Safadi's remarks came during the inaugural session of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue 2019, where he stressed that Jordan will continue working with members of the international community to achieve comprehensive peace, adding that the Kingdom’s relations with Israel are at their "lowest levels", according to a Foreign Ministry statement. 

The foreign minister highlighted Jordan’s commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative, which “remains the most holistic approach to achieving lasting peace”, reiterating that all peace efforts must “stem from the truth that peace cannot be achieved as long as the occupation still exists”. 

Counterterrorism requires a comprehensive approach, which the Aqaba Meetings have been devoted to creating, Safadi said. 

He added that terrorism, which bears no relation to Islam or its values, poses a military, security and ideological threat that must be tackled through organised cooperation. 

“We [in the region] are capable of defeating terrorism and the hatred it represents ideologically,” Safadi said. 

The foreign minister stressed the importance of supporting Iraq in reconstruction and stabilisation after “its great victory against the Daesh group”.

Safadi reaffirmed the need to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis that maintains the country’s territorial unity and restores its security and pivotal role in the region. 

Commenting on Egypt’s withdrawal from the Middle East Strategic Alliance, Safadi said that Egypt plays a leading regional role and is indispensable in the process of joint crisis resolution.

The foreign minister also shed light on Jordan’s “complete support” to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain in whatever measures they take to protect their security, noting that peace in Jordan is interdependent on that of the Arab Gulf. 

“Arab countries want a relationship with Iran that is founded on principles of good neighbourly relations, as no one wants another conflict in the region,” Safadi said. 

DUBAI — Games unite people and bring them together, regardless of their backgrounds, nationalities and global locations, said General Manager of the Global Publishing Department at Tencent Games Vincent Wang on Thursday at ON.DXB, a three-day film, game, video and music festival in Dubai.

The ON.DXB event, held at Dubai Media City, saw a wide variety of talks and panel discussions with CEOs, celebrities, businesspeople and media representatives from Thursday to Saturday.

Delivering a keynote speech for the event, Wang, who is also Head of PUBG Mobile at Tencent Games, noted that global revenues from video games are expected to reach $148.8 billion by the end of 2019, marking a 7.2 per cent year-on-year increase. 

He noted that while $4.8 billion of that total will come from the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), this figure is expected to reach $6 billion by 2021, signifying a “good growth rate”.

Wang said that, in March of 2018, PUBG Mobile reached 400 million downloads, with 50 million active daily users.

He highlighted the importance of localisation in making the game popular in the Middle East, not only through translation but also through visual elements that brought a “local touch” for the players to relate to. 

The gaming industry “has innovation at the core” and “involves cutting-edge technology”, Wang said, citing PUBG Mobile as an example. He highlighted the voice chat feature of the game, which allows players to determine who their teammates and enemies are. 

Through localisation, innovation and investment from industry entities, a gaming ecosystem can be built to “benefit all those involved”, according to Wang.

For his part, Senior Market Analyst at Newzoo Tom Wijman delivered the second keynote speech, in which he provided a more detailed report from a global perspective, as his company focuses on market forecasts, tracking data and consumer insights in regards to e-sports and mobile gaming. 

“Vincent already showed you the global number, which is truly still an impressive number. Like, $150 billion — that is bigger than movies, that is bigger than TV — so gaming is truly one of the leading industries out there,” Wijman said.

He highlighted how mobile games have “made it” in the industry, noting that it is “the fastest growing sector” in the market, with console and PC segments “maintaining their healthy growth”. 

From a regional perspective, 48 per cent of revenues are generated by the Asia-Pacific region, with China contributing $36.5 billion alone, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa grouped together generate a total of $33.3 billion, Wijman said, adding that the US generates $35.5 billion, coming in second after China. 

In regards to how the gaming market went from a $35 billion market in 2005 to nearly a $150 billion one at present, Wijman said that games are “at the forefront” of entertainment, as, for example, Mario and Pokemon have grown into franchises that “transcended gaming”, with merchandise, movies and entertainment events revolving around them.

“Consumers are also part of the experience, so it is not just companies that create content. With the rise of YouTube, Twitch and streaming and content creation, consumers have turned into content providers for the industry itself, so it has really come full-circle and everyone is part of consuming but also of creating. That, I think, is a really interesting aspect of gaming that you do not see anywhere else,” Wijman said.

Another sign of growth is the 2.3 billion people around the world who play video games, which is almost one-third of the entire global population, Wijman said, noting that the MENA represents the fastest-growing region in terms of number of players.

DUBAI — Gaming as a worldwide phenomenon dominated a panel discussion held by leaders in the industry on Thursday at ON.DXB, a three-day film, game, video and music festival featuring live keynotes, panels, showcases, mainstage music, film screenings and workshops. 

The panel, entitled “The Future of the Game Industry and Its Ecosystem”, hosted Senior Market Analyst at Newzoo Tom Wijman, Assistant Professor at the University of Wollongong in Dubai HC Lim, Head of Localisation at Riot Games Rafed Salem, General Manager of the Global Publishing Department and Head of PUBG Mobile at Tencent Games Vincent Wang and lecturer at the Tencent Institute of Games Jim Liu. 

The discussion kicked off with an exploration of the increase of gaming content, which Wijman said is “not only about gaming itself”, but is connected to the now-43 million e-sports theatres across the world, making gaming a global phenomenon.

“In the past couple of years, gaming has evolved into a real big business, a $100 billion market,” Wang said. He noted that, with the rise of streaming, gaming content has “grown more in the past few years than ever before”, adding that the market “has a lot of potential”.

For his part, Salem said that almost one out of three people in the world is a gamer, stressing that “localisation has been driving this growth in the ecosystem by providing language support not only for the players, where they can play in their own languages – one of the barriers that prevented many players from joining these kinds of games – but also for publishers, to explore new players and audiences in the region”. 

Salem also said that mobile gaming has “exploded” in the region, noting that the UAE “has the highest percentage of smart phones in the whole world”, which is why he said publishers show interest in mobile gaming as well.

Speaking from an educational perspective, Lim said that “we are providing the supply side in the equation. We are helping to increase the MENA talent pool and we are making sure that the skills they learn, whether AI, big data or game technology, will be transferable to other industries”.

For his part, Liu discussed the Tencent Institute of Games’ focus on increasing cooperation to seek talent and conduct research continuously to improve the industry. 

The panel also addressed the contribution of gaming to economic development in the region, with Rafed noting: “Unfortunately, the MENA region has been missed for many years by different game publishers. But now, with the collaboration of e-sports communities and enthusiast gamers, these things are going to change.”

He once again linked the issue to localisation, as 10 years ago, only a dozen games were localised for Arabic, whereas now, there are hundreds of games available in the language.

Discussion also focused on e-sports events, their contribution to the gaming industry’s growth in the region and their role in guiding game enthusiasts who wish to work in the industry by equipping them with the essential skills for proper growth.

“It is important to provide support to the players,” Salem said, adding that e-sports and the e-sports community were built “not through the work of publishers, but by individuals, who should gather and help players shine and be part of big teams in the future”. 

AMMAN — During a meeting on Thursday, Public Security Department (PSD) director Maj. Gen. Fadil Hmoud and Qatari Ambassador to Jordan Sheikh Saud Bin Naser Al Thani discussed ways to strengthen police cooperation and exchange of expertise between the two countries. 

Hmoud highlighted the significance of cooperation between the Kingdom and Qatar in specialised police training, fighting crime through the exchange of expertise and providing various security services, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

He added that the PSD’s efforts in this arena come in the line of carrying out Royal directives to cooperate with Arab police and security services, including those in Qatar. For his part, the Qatari ambassador commended the level of the PSD’s performance and the relations between the two countries’ security services, adding that he looks forward to further cooperation in training and expertise exchange.

AMMAN — In an effort to build a more sustainable and green future, Hadeel Al Majali founded Jordan Solar Canopies, a company dedicated to renewable energy and education. 

The young entrepreneur, who holds a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering and a master's degree in renewable energy from the University of Jordan, wanted to find a way to combine her two skill sets while helping the environment. 

She established Jordan Solar Canopies in 2019 with three functions: Installing solar canopies, running energy audits and offering free online “green” learning. 

Majali was one of several entrepreneurs from around the Kingdom to meet with His Majesty King Abdullah early this month. During the meeting, His Majesty reaffirmed his keenness to support young Jordanians’ innovative projects, heard from the entrepreneurs and voiced pride in their achievements.

Majali said that meeting the King was a “great turning point” in her life and symbolic of the time and hard work that she and the other entrepreneurs have invested in their projects.

“We reached this [point] because we worked hard and thought outside of the box,” she told The Jordan Times in a recent phone interview. 

Although this venture only began six months ago, Majali said she is already seeking to expand. The company currently employs five people and provides an array of services. The entrepreneur said that her business not only consults a variety of clients about solar canopies, but also manages the whole process, from designing the canopy to installing it. 

Additionally, Majali said she aims to be “more creative” with the installations, matching the design to the characteristics of each space they work in. 

Prior to meeting with the King, Majali said she completed three energy audits, ranking the energy efficiency of various facilities on a one to five-point scale. She has since received many calls for further audits. 

The audits, she said, are conducted using metrics designed for “specific types of buildings”. Government buildings, for example, have different indicators than villas, and the more energy-efficient a building is, the higher the rating. After providing a rating, the company offers suggestions for improving a building's score. 

The third aspect of Jordan Solar Canopies is free online education in Arabic about energy efficiency, green architecture and sustainability.

Majali said that there is a “lack of Arabic content” available on the topic. She aims to spread awareness about environmental issues and teach people to tackle them sustainably. Soon, she hopes to be able to provide information in English as well. 

“It’s important for us to have a starting point to think about and understand this,” Majali said. 

AMMAN — A renaissance of opera theatre has appeared in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region recently, said an Italian scholar and author.

“The scenario is different from one country to another, of course, but in general there is a significant development of the cultural industries, despite all the difficulties and the challenges,” Paolo Petrocelli, a senior performing arts manager, musicologist and violinist working in the classical music and opera field, said in an interview with The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

Petrocelli recently published the first research work on opera theatres across the MENA region with Cambridge Scholars Publishing, titled “The Evolution of Opera Theatre in the Middle East and North Africa”.

 “I have always been fascinated about the collaboration between European and Middle Eastern cultural organisations and artists,” Petrocelli said, adding: “I am based in Italy and we have a very important heritage and tradition in opera. So I discovered as a cultural manager that I am able to play a part in the process of dialogue and cultural exchange.”

When asked about his reasons for writing the book, Petrocelli said: “I worked a lot in the Middle East, consulting and collaborating with some of the main opera organisations and music institutions in the region, including the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman and Opera Lebanon, and also in Jordan with the Amman Opera Festival. I wanted to better understand the challenges, but also the opportunities and the developments of opera in the Middle East." 

The history of opera in the Middle East started in the 19th century with the colonial powers, especially the French, but also the British and Italians, who occupied some parts of the region, mostly in North Africa, according to the scholar.

After the first opera house was built in Algiers, Algeria in 1853, opera's popularity soon spread across the region, he said. However, starting around the end of colonialism in the 1930s, and especially after the World War II, opera was seen as something that belonged to the past and that had no place in contemporary Middle Eastern culture, according to the scholar.

“Nowadays, opera is seen as something that every country and every major city should have. We are seeing that the cities of North Africa, especially those that used to have historical theatres, are trying to restore many of them or build new theatres,” the scholar noted.

He added that Jordan is unusual in this area as the Kingdom has no opera house, and instead has the National Centre for Culture and Arts, which is sometimes used to showcase opera performances.

“Organising operas is very costly. In order to sustain such kinds of events you really need to bring together the private sector, the public sector and the community,” Petrocelli noted, adding: “Regarding Jordan, the Amman Opera Festival being the very first Arab opera festival gives a strong message to the country of Jordan but also to the region that you can do something very high-profile starting with limited resources and partners.”

The festival, he said, was founded by young entrepreneur and singer Zeina Barhoum with support of the Royal family. 

“Most of the time, we see opera as something very elite, for just a small part of society. I believe this is not true. I believe when we are going to support even more arts and culture and people like Zeina Barhoum in Jordan, we will have more stable societies,” he concluded.

AMMAN — The #MeToo Movement started 10 years ago and was directed against both racial discrimination and sexual violence, said an American scholar during a talk entitled “MeToo and the Global Change” held on Monday at Columbia Global Centres in Amman.

Many times, women are blamed for sexual violence and verbal abuses perpetrated by men, noted Suzanne Goldberg, who is a professor of Law at Columbia University in New York and a recognised expert on sexuality and gender law, having worked with universities, private employers and governments to address sexual harassment and misconduct.

“Two things have changed. The first thing is that the old order is questioned,” Goldberg said, noting that the world has reached the point where questions of public interest are asked publicly.

The second change that she pointed to is in social media: “It can connect people to demonstrate and organise politically, and enables people to get support.”

Although social media can be a significant space for backlash — as it can see hostility and violent threats — it is also a place of empowerment, and a platform for countering isolation, Goldberg stressed.

The scholar pointed to the isolation of women and men who are facing harassment and violence, noting that students and employees who experience sexual harassment may drop out of school or university, or take leave from a job where they are harassed, creating economic loss for the state. 

“Whether from the public or private sector, an NGO or a fancy corporation, employees who have faced workplace harassment tend to call in sick. This leads to teams that don’t work well, more difficult environments for supervisors to manage, drops in productivity and the departure of talented people,” said Goldberg.

Open dialogue about these incidents and anonymous reports are two ways of dealing with sexual misconduct, the scholar continued, adding that sexual assaults are some of least-reported crimes because victims feel shame, blaming themselves, not the attackers. Victims also think that they will not be taken seriously and instead face retaliation and embarrassment, she noted.

Individuals’ trust in institutions and annual meetings where stakeholders and decision-makers discuss cases of sexual harassment are other possible solutions, as well as holding managers accountable, as they often know what is going on within their organisations but “simply do not care”, she stressed. 

“Accountability should move from the top to the bottom of the organisation,” Goldberg said.

“At the same time, each of us can make a difference, maybe not for the whole community, but with one person, and if we start with one person, we can move towards transforming our societies into better places,” Goldberg concluded. 

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on Saturday launched an innovative sustainable development project focusing on climate and resource protection. 

The launch ceremony saw the attendance of Amman Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh, Manager of the Environment Studies and Awareness Department at GAM Omar Arabiyat, GIZ representatives Christoph Engelhardt and Hala Adwan, and Radwan Neigbourhood Committee representative Basma Lozi, in addition to GAM officials, media and representatives of the private and public sectors.

The project, funded by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), utilises a circular economy to protect the climate and resources through waste segregation, and will run through 2021, Manager of the Environment Studies and Awareness Department at GAM Omar Arabiyat said during the launch ceremony.

It aims to provide solutions to environmental issues within the framework of genuine cooperation between the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and GAM, he said.

The project will work to improve Amman’s waste management system through promoting waste separation at the source, providing the necessary expertise and organising workshops and training programmes to raise environmental awareness, reduce the cost of waste collection and prolong the longevity of dumpsters, Arabiyat said.

The project will begin in three trial locations — Radwan neighbourhood, Rawaq neighbourhood and the downtown area — with a working group of GAM specialists, GIZ officials and representatives of the Future Leaders Institution, a specialised institution that works to enable community members to overcome poverty by building capacities and implementing development projects, according to the GAM official.

"With the continuous efforts of GAM personnel, a warehouse at Gabawi landfill is currently under construction to handle recyclable waste,” Arabiat said, also highlighting an outreach campaign with the slogan "Sort Right", which aims to raise awareness on the importance of waste segregation.

The campaign, which started in August, works towards reducing the negative impact of waste on the environment and citizens, Arabiyat added.

"The actual commencement of collecting recyclable trash will be in January 2020," he said.

"Under the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah, GAM always aims to provide better services for citizens and make a change in order to move to another level of development," Mayor Shawarbeh said at the launch.

"Today, we are facing a reality that cannot be ignored, that is, climate change. As all of us need to be part of its solution, GAM, with its strategic plans, launched this project,” he added.

GIZ started implementing its projects in 1979, with a focus on water, vocational training and solid waste management, said Hala Adwan, project officer at GIZ.

“Waste management is one of the most important priorities of the Sustainable Development Goals, and GIZ is working towards that goal through this project," she added.

Basma Lozi, a resident of Radwan neighbourhood for more than 40 years, shared her story during the ceremony, saying: "Three years ago, I was part of a group of women who looked for support to develop our area to make it appropriate for children and the elderly, and today with GAM's support, that dream is being fulfilled."

"The most important thing is to love what you do, because with love and true abilities, everything is possible," Lozi told The Jordan Times at the event.