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AMMAN — Police on Saturday said a special committee was formed to investigate an alleged attack that occurred in downtown Amman over the weekend and resulted in the brief arrest of two Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) employees.

A support wall collapsed on Friday near a public market in Ras Al Ain area as a result of the heavy rain in the area, which resulted in the death of an Egyptian national and the injury of a second man, according to the Civil Defence Department (CDD).

Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi refused to comment on the incident but told The Jordan Times “that a special committee was formed to investigate this incident from all its aspects”.

GAM elected member Khader Saoud said he headed to the area with another GAM member Wisam Rbeihat to “check on the situation since I was elected by the people because we are entrusted by the public”.

“When we arrived, there was a police force that was attacking a GAM employee and we tried to intervene but they did not listen to us,” Saoud charged.

The police then “attacked and beat us then took us to a police station for a while. We filed an official complaint against the police and are awaiting the committee’s outcome,” Saoud told The Jordan Times.

Acts of riots were reported near the police station following the arrest of the two GAM employees but police contained the situation.

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday announced the expansion of Edraak.org, the leading Arabic Massive Open Online Courses platform for adult learners, to meet the needs of school-aged children across the Arab world, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s Office.

Edraak’s K-12 platform offers digital open educational resources in Arabic that are designed to align with national curricula in the MENA region. These resources can be used in and out of the classroom, reinforcing the crucial role teachers play in their students’ educational journey. 

Developed with the support of a $3 million grant from Google.org, and complemented with engagement from Google employees to provide product design expertise, the platform has launched with Mathematics materials for grades 7 and 9, including more than 1,200 educational minutes of bite-sized video lectures. 

The e-curricula and learning resources for the rest of grades will be released over two phases by the end of this year, and other major subjects will be gradually introduced by 2020. The platform will also offer tools and resources for parents and educators, empowering them to guide children’s learning journey.

The new platform offers sequential learning material as well as student-centred inquiry-based learning, making it possible for students to search for specific concepts without having to enroll in a predefined learning sequence. Given the growing need to support remedial education due to conflict and unrest that have disrupted formal education in the region, the platform adopts a competency-based approach to learning, while also providing material that can be used in a blended learning setting. 

Speaking at an event hosted by Google at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Her Majesty thanked Google.org for its commitment to the project, explaining that education is a solution capable of bringing hope and opportunity to the Middle East. 

“A child denied an education isn’t just a tragedy for that child; it leaves the rest of us vulnerable,” Her Majesty said, adding “but the future doesn’t have to be this bleak – not in this age of innovation.”

Today, more than 15 million children across the MENA are out of school as a result of armed conflicts and displacement, according to UNICEF. Regional turmoil has also compromised the quality of education offered in stable host nations like Jordan, whose education system has been strained under the weight of large numbers of refugee students.  Edraak’s K-12 platform leverages the thoughtful use of technology and the potential of open educational resources to offer a flexible learning tool for school-aged learners so that the next generation is equipped with the necessary education to underpin a new era of economic, political and social development.

The platform will build on Queen Rania Foundation and Google.org’s efforts in offline functionality and support, thereby ensuring equitable access to the region’s most vulnerable children.

Edraak CEO Shireen Yacoub stated that “the new platform builds on the success of Edraak’s existing platform for adult learners, which has reached over 1.5 million learners across the Arab world since its launch in 2014. Leveraging our experience in developing educational content created specifically for Arab learners, the launch of Edraak’s K-12 platform advances Edraak’s comprehensive goal of transforming education in the region”.

“We’re excited about the progress that Edraak has made in creating new open resources that will benefit Arabic speaking students everywhere,” said Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink, Education Lead at Google.org, noting “platforms like Edraak help ensure that all students benefit from the potential of technology as part of their learning.” 

Launched by Her Majesty in 2014, Edraak is the leading Arab open education platform that aims to revolutionise access and delivery of education in the MENA region. The platform offers high quality learning opportunities for adults and school-aged learners. 

Google’s philanthropy, Google.org, supports non-profits that innovate to address some of the world’s toughest problems. Since launching in 2005, Google.org has sought out non-profit innovators that apply radical data-driven innovation to solving the world’s biggest challenges. The organisation aims to contribute towards the creation of a world that works for everyone, utilising technology and innovation to move the needle in the key areas of education, economic opportunity and inclusion.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday sent a cable of condolences to Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani over the deaths and injuries caused by a terror attack in Kabul earlier in the day.

His Majesty expressed his condemnation of such heinous terrorist acts, stressing Jordan’s full solidarity with Afghanistan and Amman’s support to Kabul in its efforts in the war against terrorism and in maintaining security and stability, according to a Royal Court statement.

The King expressed his condolences to Ghani and the victims’ families, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

Also on Saturday, the government “strongly” denounced the attack, describing it as “an evidence of the criminal mindset of the terrorists and their inhumane and heinous acts”. State Minister for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said that the repeated terror attacks undermine the security and stability of Afghanistan. 

AMMAN — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and an accompanying delegation on Saturday visited the Amman Citadel, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. During his visit, the president toured the site and was briefed on its history and the city of Amman.

The president arrived earlier in the day and was received by Water and Irrigation Minister Hazem El Nasser, senior officials and military officers. 

AMMAN — The University of Jordan and the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for joint cooperation in research, consulting and activities, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Saturday.

The MoU aims to establish joint cooperation between the two parties in research and consultation through developing opportunities for conducting joint scientific research and industrial engineering, and networking in areas of teaching and qualification to their cadres. The MoU was signed by the university’s President Azmi Mahafza and KADDB Director General Brig. Gen. Mohammad Habahbeh.

AMMAN — Over 120 people were evacuated to safety over the weekend after snow in the northern and southern mountainous areas blocked roads, authorities said on Saturday.

By Saturday noon, all roads in the country were open to traffic, according to the Public Security Department (PSD).

“There are no blocked roads due to snow or floods,” PSD Spokesperson Amer Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

Meanwhile, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said that impact of the depression that affected the country on Thursday is forecast to ease off on Saturday evening, noting that it brought snow accumulation in some parts of the country that reached 10 centimetres (cm). 

The highest snow accumulation was recorded in Haisheh, a high mountainous area in Maan, where it reached 10cm. 

“Jabal Mabrak near Shobak and Al Mazar Districk in Karak also registered snow accumulation of 7cm…,” head of JMD’s weather forecast section Raed Rafed told The Jordan Times. 

A CDD official said that departments in areas that witnessed snowfall and heavy rain in the north and south of Jordan responded to 39 cases of kidney dialysis and 24 child birth cases, many of which were performed by paramedics inside ambulances.

“We urge people to be very cautions while on roads, especially as ice formation is expected on Sunday during the early hours,” the CDD official said.

The depression, which caused temperatures to drop to less than 6ºC below their annual average for this time of the year of 12ºC, also brought heavy rain, especially to the southern parts of the country.

The weekend’s rain channelled 3 million cubic metres of water into the country’s 14 major dams, raising their storage to 123mcm of their total capacity of 336mcm, according to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

“The dams now hold 36.6 per cent of their total capacity,” an official at the ministry told The Jordan Times.

During this time last year, the dams held 143.3mcm or 43.2 per cent of their total capacity, the ministry’s official noted.

DAVOS, Switzerland — The United Nations human rights chief expressed alarm after a speech by US President Donald Trump in Davos on Friday, saying Trump's call for countries to pursue their own self-interest would take the world back to the eve of World War I.

"It's the script of the 20th century," HH Prince Zeid said. "He [Trump] urged all countries to pursue their own interest, almost without reference to the fact that if you do all of that, if each country is narrowly pursuing its agenda, it will clash with the agendas of others and we will take the world back to 1913 once again."

Prince Zeid has repeatedly criticised Trump in the past in his role as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the global body's top spokesman on human rights issues.

The Trump administration, for its part, has threatened to quit the UN Human Rights Council, which is separate from Prince Zeid’s office but works closely with it, and which Washington considers structurally hostile to its ally Israel.

Trump became the first sitting US president in 18 years to address the annual summit of the world’s political and business elite in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Friday. In his speech, he courted foreign investment, saying the United States was “open for business”, while also promising to take action against what he described as unfair trade deals.

Repeating his “America first” slogan, Trump said he would expect all world leaders to put the interests of their own countries first.

Prince Zeid said such a policy would lead to “it all coming apart at some stage, and people suffering grievously”.

“Ethnic nationalisms, chauvinistic nationalisms, a sense that there is a supremacy within communities determined on the basis of colour or ethnicity, and that others are somehow lesser people, or that certain countries are somehow morally superior to others. That’s what always seems to get us into trouble.”

 The Prince also said he was concerned about a new coalition government in Austria, which includes the far right Freedom Party.

“I have to say I read the document between the two parties, and it’s worrisome, because it has within it — xenophobia is clearly there,” Prince Zeid told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “There is a sense that Austria now may start to tack, following Hungary and Poland, in its anti-European stance.”

AMMAN — Minister of Education Omar Razzaz presented the National Strategy for Human Resources Development to participants in the Education World Forum held in London between January 21 and 26.

During the forum, Razzaz, who is also the chairperson of the National Committee for Education, Culture and Science, reviewed the strategy that aims to develop the quality of education through qualified teachers and the use of modern educational methodology.

He said that the strategy drew a roadmap for reform priorities in Jordan’s education system at all stages, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

On the sidelines of the event, Razzaz held meetings with a number of UK ministers and officials, during which he reviewed the Kingdom’s efforts in developing education through the national strategy.

The minister went over the challenges facing the sector due to hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees who placed further pressure on various sectors, including the education one.

He also discussed means to boost cooperation between the British and Jordanian education ministries.

Razzaz added that the visit to the UK constitutes an important step towards developing the Jordanian-British partnership in the educational sector, and helping the Kingdom ease the repercussions of the Syrian refugee influx.

AMMAN — More efforts and investments are needed to address the lack of public spaces in Amman and the inefficient public transportation system, as well as to enhance citizens’ responsibility towards making Amman “a better place to live”, experts agreed.

They made their remarks on Thursday, during an event held by the French Institute of Jordan under the theme “Dreaming Amman”.

Dubbed “the Night of Ideas”, the event sought to discuss the future of the capital with the participation of members of the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) and civil society organisations based in Amman.

“We need to create a sense of belonging to the city,” said an architect and urban planner Rami Daher during the event, denouncing the lack of “public spaces” in the city. 

“Just a very exclusive type of public space is being created which leads to geographies of inequality,” he insisted. 

The architect, along with the audience, asked for a bigger involvement of the state in the future development of the Jordanian capital with most of the claims focusing on transportation and public projects targeting the whole Ammani society. 

Nemeh Qatanani, GAM’s engineering director, referred to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which he said would help improve public transportation.

“The share of the public transport is very humble currently, with 5 per cent of rides made by buses and 8 per cent by shared taxi,” Qatanani stated. 

GAM highlighted its keenness to complete an organised public transportation system. “Between 20 and 25 per cent of household income of the Amman population is used for mobility expenses solely,” he said.

Three local non-profit organisations took part in the discussion, including Ruwwad, a civil society initiative started in 2006 which is now present in Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine as well as Jordan. 

Members of the organisation shed light on the particularities of Amman, underlining the need for collaboration between the private and public sectors in building the future of the capital. 

“Kids should never stop dreaming and engaging in the future of their city,” said Rawan, one of Ruwwad members. 

Ahl Al Balad organisation echoed similar remarks.

 “We all have a responsibility towards the city, whether you have been living here for one year or a hundred,” said Mohammad Asfour, member of Ahl Al Balad and a psychology expert. 

The non-profit organisation focuses on keeping the city of Amman clean, as well as other landscapes across Jordan. 

Aya Rababaa’a, an architect and a member of Ahl Al Balad, emphasised the importance of “engaging the new generations” in creating a cleaner Jordan. 

Members of Shams community, which works to enhance citizens’ critical thinking through debates and weekly discussions, stressed their efforts to engage Ammanis in regional issues.

“To make a change is our responsibility as citizens of Amman,” said Saeed Abu Al Hassan, one of Shams Community representatives. 

“I cannot imagine the future of the city without the involvement of the youth,” Daher concluded

AMMAN — The new bread prices after the government subsidy was lifted went into effect on Saturday, and will remain valid until December 31.

On Friday evening, Industry, Trade and Supply Minister Yarub Qudah announced that the upper limit of the small pita bread is now JD0.40, JD0.32 for large pita bread and JD0.35 for Arabic bread (mashrouh and taboun) per kilogramme.

The other types of bread and flour-based sweets were not subsidised. 

The move was made after the Finance Ministry dispensed a cash subsidy (JD27 per person for the entire year and JD33 for beneficiaries of the National Aid Fund) to eligible beneficiaries from the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army and security apparatuses’ personnel, public sector employees, civil and military retirees, Social Security Corporation pensioners and the National Aid Fund, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The cash support, which is part of a JD171 million social safety network, will continue to be disbursed to all beneficiaries who have already applied online on: da3mak.jo, and new eligible applicants will receive their subsidies within one month of registration. 

Qudah stressed that the government would not allow any vendor to charge the above mentioned price caps, and that authorities would "persistently" monitor the amounts, quality, weight and price of bread.

He also reiterated that all bakeries are obliged to provide bread between 6am and 8pm.