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AMMAN — The Department of Palestinian Affairs on Sunday held a coordination meeting for the Arab countries hosting Palestinian refugees, which saw the attendance of delegations from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and a group from the Arab University, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The meeting was held ahead of the upcoming meetings of the advisory committee for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Director of the Department of Palestinian Affairs, Yaseen Abu Awwad, praised Jordan’s support to the Palestinian cause, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah. He also stressed the need for UNRWA to continue providing educational services to the vulnerable population.

AMMAN — A student on Sunday allegedly assaulted a teacher using a utility knife at a school affiliated with the first Zarqa educational directorate.

Education Director Mohammad Kloub told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the 11th grader “triggered chaos” inside the classroom, forcing the teacher to send the student to the school principal.

However, the student left the school and came back with a utility knife which he used to attack the teacher, according to the official.

The teacher was injured in his arm and leg and was transferred to hospital, where he was listed in fair condition, Kloub added. Security personnel arrested the student at school and started an investigation.

AMMAN — Minister of Planning Imad Fakhoury and executive member of the German Development Bank (KfW) Joachim Nagel on Sunday signed the Financing Agreement of the second phase of the “School Construction Programme”, granting an aid of 10 million euros for the construction of new schools and the expansion of those already existing across the Kingdom. 

The programme aims to contribute to the improvement of learning conditions and access to education for all children. Its target sites will be located in areas with a high density of vulnerable children from Jordan and Syria, according to a KfW statement. 

During the ceremony, Fakhoury expressed the ministry’s “appreciation to Germany’s longstanding support to Jordan, and to our strong partnership with KfW over the years”, noting that “Germany has been a true supporter and a reliable partner, especially at these difficult times.”

 “I would like to praise the efforts of the KfW team in the preparation of this project, in addition to their support to our institutions in the implementation of a large number of priority projects as well as in building our capacities in this regard,” the minister continued. 

Furthermore, Fakhoury expressed his wish to “keep counting on Germany’s continued support to deliver on our development agenda as articulated in the Executive Development Programme, and to support host community projects under the Jordan Response Plan”.

For his part, Nagel noted that KfW’s relationship with Jordan dates back to the 1960s, adding that “we will continue to be partners not only in the education field, but in many other areas.”

“Children are always the future of a country, and we are confident that this grant will help benefit the future of both Jordan and Syria,” Nagel added. 

German Ambassador Birgitta Siefker-Eberle was also present at the ceremony, where she said: “The German government is aware of the challenges in the Jordanian education sector, and is willing to support Jordan in this important area.”

 “Education is the core area of cooperation between Jordan and Germany, and, until now, our government has provided a total of 42 million euros for the construction of 37 schools countrywide through KfW,” the ambassador remarked. 

AMMAN — An exhibition depicting the life and depths of women’s faces is giving art-enthusiasts the freedom to interpret its colourful and enigmatic paintings to “see inside the women’s souls”, according to a statement by the Orient Gallery. 

Held under the patronage of Senator Haifa Najjar, the solo exhibition of Zeina Al Salti, titled “In the Depths of Her Soul” is currently on display at the Orient Gallery until November 16.

The paintings illustrate the faces of women with loose hair and big loop earrings, in acrylic colours ranging from purple, red, black, orange, white to blue.

“All of them are about women’s emotions,” said Salti, adding that she tries to express what is inside of them by “focusing on [the subject’s] soul and feelings”.

“These are my favourite colours and I also like the idea of displaying the models with loose hair, which represents their freedom,” she told to The Jordan Times at the gallery. 

“I really don’t like to concentrate on a lot on features; I don’t like them to be very clear, I like when viewers come up with their own interpretations — I leave it to the observer. I don’t give you my own impression of the paintings. That’s why I don’t present details,” she added. 

The artist focuses on depicting shadowed eyes and coloured lips. “I like to keep some sort of mystery and vagueness, so the viewer has the freedom when looking at the paintings to feel whatever he/she is feeling,” she said. 

The artist draws her inspiration from the women she comes across, she said, noting “this is the subject I like to work on as I find beauty in every woman.” 

“I’m very passionate about art, even with my kids when we play we do it through art and I’m also very passionate about my job as an art teacher,” Salti said.  

 Ever since her childhood, the painter said that she enjoyed working with her hands and engaging in arts and crafts, but she only started painting professionally in 2004.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Archeology and Tourism, she studied art at the Training Centre for Fine Arts at the Ministry of Culture for two years. “I painted everything: landscape, figure, animation…,” she explained, adding that what she likes to paint the most are human figures.

While she gets her inspiration from certain faces she comes across, Salti does not portray their exact features.

“It doesn’t need to be someone I know, it can be someone whom I just looked at, and saw into her soul,” the artist concluded.

AMMAN — A total of 11 digital gaming developers from across the region on Saturday were announced as winners of the 2nd edition of the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) of the MENA region, held in Amman for the second consecutive year.

The awards went to the games “4 Wheelers” (Iran) as the Best Multiplayer Game, “Malaeeb’s Puzzle” (Saudi Arabia) as Excellence in Gameplay, “Mafiosal” (Iran) as Excellence in Storytelling, “In Robots City” (Tunisia) as Best Meaningful Game, “Endless Hopper” (Lebanon) as Excellence in Innovation, “Around Mars” (Iran) as Excellence in Visual Arts and Design, “Klay BBJ Maze” (Tunisia) as Guilty Pleasure, “Around Mars” (Iran) for Best Upcoming Game and “Sho’lah — Brain Training” (Kuwait) as the People’s Choice Award.

The game “Colour Tracks” from Jordan won the special award “ZOOM” which offers JD5,000 in in-kind marketing support.

Organisers of the award stressed the importance of the competition for game developers, highlighting Jordan as a “hub” for the industry. 

“We have chosen Amman for the IMGA ceremony because it is a growing centre for the gaming industry,” said the founder of the IMGA, Maarteen Noyons. 

Noyons praised the “higher quality” of games presented this year, despite a lower number of applications. 

A total of 81 games were submitted by developers and studios based in the MENA region from May to August, with 52 qualifying for the semifinal round. 

The 11 winners were chosen by five judges coming from Korea, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. The jury of experienced gaming experts spent two days testing the games before the ceremony. 

“During these days, I have seen huge potential in the region,” said Kay Gruenwoldt, who judged the IMGA MENA for the first time, adding that “there is a distinct form of art, a style that you can see in some of the games that it is grounded in the culture of the region”.

Gruenwoldt highlighted the “interest” and “enthusiasm” displayed by the regional participants. “I have never been in an environment like the one in Jordan, where the government and private organisations work together in educating and supporting entrepreneurs,” he said.

“I want to encourage young people and young entrepreneurs to invest in the gaming industry,” said Sabrine Ibrahim, who won the Best Meaningful Game award for her game “In Robots City”. 

The 26-year-old is the CEO of Envast, a company she founded in Tunisia. “The video game industry is the most interesting market as we all have smartphones and we all play games,” she said.

Ahmad Al Hanandeh, CEO of Zain Jordan, congratulated Ibrahim for the award, stressing the importance to see female CEOs in the industry. “We are targeting the MENA region with an educational game, because education is the most effective way to improve things in our country and we are also showing the world who we truly are,” Ibrahim told The Jordan Times during the event.

“My main advice for the developers of the region would be, first, to learn from the international gaming world by playing games which are not from your region and, secondly, to improve customer care,” Hanandeh said.

Iran was the country with the highest number of nominations, totalling 16, followed by Jordan and Tunisia, both with six nominees. 

Participants were developers and studios based in Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, Tunisia, Palestinian Territories, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE. 

Hanandeh expressed his appreciation to the IMGA for letting Zain host the event in the region.

“Jordan is becoming a centre for the gaming industry in the region and the fact that we are hosting this event again shows the importance of Amman,” he said. 

“Amman is becoming an important place for the gaming industry because, besides the presence of new startups in the city, which are doing quite well, there are also very interesting stakeholders based here,” Ibrahim concluded. 

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on Tuesday is scheduled to hold a ceremony at Al Hussein Cultural Centre to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the late King Hussein.

Amman Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh will deliver a speech on King Hussein, and poet Haydar Mahmoud will be reciting a poem for the occasion, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday.

The ceremony will also include a film on King Hussein’s life, a musical event and a photo exhibition about the late monarch. 

AMMAN — Jordan on Sunday denounced the blast that targeted an oil pipeline in Bahrain near the capital Manama, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani warned against such “sabotage” acts, which jeopardise the achievements of countries and would lead to deepening crises and threaten stability in the region.

Momani, who is also the government’s spokesperson, said that the terrorist act targeted Bahrain’s security, stressing Jordan’s support to Bahrain in combating terrorism. He described the act as “a desperate attempt to hinder development and modernisation of the kingdom”.  

AMMAN — Civil Defence Department (CDD) personnel on Sunday extinguished a fire that erupted at an under-construction building in the University of Jordan. The fire affected an area of 1,000 square metres within the 8,000sq.m. building, according to a CDD statement.

More than 30 vehicles from west Amman, the university, Abu Nseir and Sweileh CDDs, as well as Greater Amman Municipality tankers worked to extinguish the fire for two hours. No injuries were recorded. 

DEAD SEA — Women scientists gathered at the Dead Sea for the World Science Forum 2017 on Friday agreed that women in the region need to work on closing the gap of knowledge by increasing the number of female Arab scientists in the region.

The remarks came during a half-day event titled “Gender Summit Platform for the Arab World” where Arab and international scientists, policymakers  and academics discussed the establishment of a Gender Summit platform for the Arab World, which would join similar platforms already active in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. 

The Gender Summit was created in 2011, with the aim of enabling dialogue and consensus between scientists, gender scholars, policymakers and stakeholders in science endeavours.

The summit looks into the improvements needed in addressing unequal quality of research outcomes for women and men.   

President of the Royal Scientific Society HRH Princess Sumaya, who inaugurated the gender summit, told the gathering that “we hope in this summit to reach the pinnacle of what we are trying to achieve through this world science forum”.

Associate Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at Hashemite University Rana Dajani also addressed the gathering saying that the gender summit was a first step “in the preparation of a full fledge summit in the future”.

“This summit is talking about how we can improve research to include women because it will serve in making better decisions and enforcing laws that address all segments of society humanities and not only a percentage of the community,” she said. 

“We want to change the game by producing new rules to address and acknowledge the differences amongst us so we can create a better life for everyone,” Dajani noted.

South African Minister for Science and Technology Grace Naledi Pandor told the gathering that one of the things that needs to be tackled is public perception “because many women scientists in the Arab and African world tend to be invisible”.

“We have to look for ways to establish a global platform for women scientists by inserting gender into science to increase the number of women in the field,” Pandor said.

Others way to ensure stronger female presentation, Pandor added, is to ensure that women get more scholarships and grants, have access to scientific instruments that help women and men and become head of institutes.

“I really hope we will succeed in establishing a global community of female scientists because I believe that strong and knowledgeable women scientists can lead the change in the world,” she stated.

Former Jordanian minister of social development Nesreen Barakat pointed out that over 30 per cent of females in Jordan are enrolled in the scientific streams during their studies.

“But, when we look at the labour market, women choose different markets like education, which creates gender imbalances. We need to investigate why women do not assume this role,” Barakat said.

Former minister of transport Lina Shbeeb said that the solution “starts with ensuring gender equality from the grassroots, the family, universities and workplace”.

“We cannot deal with one aspect of the chain and forget the rest.  It starts from when we are young and how we should bring up our daughters by encouraging them to become scientists, politicians or whatever they dream of,” Shbeeb added.

Mark Ferguson, director general of the Science Foundation Ireland and chief scientific adviser to the government of Ireland, recalled: “We wanted to have more females in the science arena so we started by introducing a gender strategy in the government, then offering 25 per cent of our grants to women. This has increased over the time and now we have more and more women joining.” 

Ferguson added that “his foundation aims to have 50 per cent of women working there and I am certain we will get there. We just have to aim high and always be positive about it.”

Turning to youth and their role in gender science, Ahmad Jadallah, founder and CEO of the Phi Science Institute said that “there is a huge shift in the interest of science among females”.

“In Jordan, we need to focus on the education system which is deteriorating because it has no real science and research subjects. Most students focus only on getting a degree and a high grade because it is a social stigma,” Jadallah said.

“We need the youth to engage in real experiences and research to know what they need and want in their lives,” Jadallah concluded. 

AMMAN — Jordan, the US and Russia have signed a deal they reached in the summer to establish a de-escalation zone in southern Syria, a senior official said Saturday.  

Representatives of the three countries signed a statement of principles in Amman, said Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani, who described the agreement as an important step under the trilateral efforts to stop violence in Syria and create the proper conditions for a sustainable political solution to the Syrian crisis.

Momani, who is also the government spokesman, added that the de-escalation zone supports the arrangements that the three countries agreed on on July 7 to support the ceasefire along the confrontation lines in southwestern Syria, which went into effect on July 9.

The three countries began talks, at Jordan’s initiative, in May that lead to an agreement to support the July ceasefire and de-escalation agreement, according to Petra.

Amman, Washington and Moscow agreed in July that supporting the ceasefire is a step towards a permanent de-escalation in southern Syria, the restoration of stability and allowing access of humanitarian aid into the area.