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AMMAN — Awqaf Minister Wael Arabiyat on Sunday opened a training workshop for female preachers on combatting terrorism and extremism, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the opening ceremony Arabiyat stressed the importance of such workshops in raising awareness on specific concerns regarding extreme ideologies.

He highlighted the role of women in educating their communities, calling for raising a generation that believes in its homeland, religion and leadership. 

AMMAN — The Northern Military Zone, in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Department and the Public Security Department, on Saturday foiled an alleged drug smuggling attempt from Syria to Jordan, a source at the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army said on Sunday.

The military source said that the rules of engagement were applied, forcing the suspects to retreat to Syria, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. After searching the area, the security personnel reportedly found two bags containing 15,500 Tramadol pills, which were referred to the respective authorities.

AMMAN — The Follow-up Committee of the Rohingya Relief Campaign on Sunday discussed ways of dispatching emergency aid to the Rohingyas who are fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During a meeting at the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation’s (JHCO) headquarters, the campaign committee said that the first allotment of donations will be sent during this month. The campaign, launched by JHCO in cooperation with the professional associations, has created an account in the Jordan Islamic Bank (49992) to collect donations.

AMMAN — Jerusalem is a priority for His Majesty King Abdullah, in his capacity as the Custodian of Christian and Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, Education Minister Omar Razzaz said in his speech at the UNESCO’s 39th general conference.

Razzaz, who is also chairman of the national committee for education, culture and science, said that Jordan played a vital role in preserving human heritage and civilisation, especially during the regional turmoil caused by terrorists, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Saturday.

In his speech at the event held in Paris, the minister outlined the pressure put on the educational sector as a result of the Syrian refugee influx, calling on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards host countries and refugees.

AMMAN — There are more than 800,000 guest workers in the Kingdom who do not have work permits, Labour Minister Ali Ghezawi said on Saturday.

During a meeting organised by the Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI), Ghezawi noted that the number of guest workers who have work permits ranges between 312,000 and 350,000, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He highlighted the importance of inspection campaigns to detect and deport illegal foreign workers, to better organise the labour market and ensure jobs for Jordanians.

The minister called for activating the role of the private sector in the national employment reform programme and supporting young people in choosing technical specialisations.

AMMAN — Social Security Corporation (SSC) Spokesperson Musa Sbeihi said that the corporation achieved insurance surpluses of JD556 million in 2016, at a growth rate of 17 per cent since 2015 and that it expects them to exceed JD610 million in 2017, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Saturday.

He added that the assets of the SSC amounted to JD9.046 billion in September, with a growth rate of 9 per cent at the end of 2016.

The press statement came on the sidelines of a meeting organised on Saturday by the SSC with the Jordanian community in Buraydah in Qassim region in Saudi Arabia.

AMMAN — A Russian charter plane carrying 220 tourists on Thursday landed at King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba, the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) said on Saturday.

The trip came as part of JTB’s efforts to attract charter and budget aircraft flights from various countries directly to Aqaba.

The tourists, who will stay for seven nights, will visit Aqaba, Petra and the Dead Sea, a JTB statement said.

JTB Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat stressed the importance of this initiative, which seeks to continue increasing the number of flights coming to Aqaba, thereby enhancing the number of visits to all tourist and archaeological sites in the Kingdom. Arabiyat commended the joint effort of the board and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

AMMAN — Jordan’s strategy to fight terrorism is based on an approach combining military, security and ideology, an official said on Saturday at a conference titled “Jordan in a changing region… the coming stage’s scenarios”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Deputising for Prime Minister Hani Mulki, State Minister for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said that Jordan has been dealing with the regional crises with “wisdom and rationalism”.

Momani, who is also the government’s spokesperson, stated that Jordan has a “pivotal” role in the region through its efforts to establish security and stability.

However, he noted that the Kingdom’s prosperity and development have been affected by the lack of regional security and stability.

He said that Jordan is a “leading” country in the war against terror and extremism through a holistic military and ideological approach.

The minister stressed the importance of an objective assessment of the reasons behind the rise of terrorist organisations in order to deal with them appropriately, noting the importance of discussion panels on terror and extremism in providing insights that help support the efforts to combat terrorism at various levels.

For his part, Al Quds Centre for Political Studies Director General Oraib Rantawi said that the conference aims at focusing on the future opportunities and challenges Jordan is likely to face.

Citing terrorism as the most dangerous and pressing threat, Rantawi said that the military advances achieved in Iraq and Syria during the past two years and the decline of the Daesh terror group in both countries does not mean the end of the threat.

He added that there are still some “active” terrorist pockets near the northern borders, noting Jordan’s pivotal role in the de-escalation zones implemented in south-eastern Syria through the Kingdom’s “historic” ties with the US and the development of its relations with Russia.

Rantawi explained that Jordan has to be open to all segments of the Iraqi society and to deal with with them in equal terms. This should be carried out through the reopening of borders, the participation in reconstruction projects, investments in the Iraqi market and collaboration in the fight against terror, in addition to accomplishing joint strategic energy projects such as the gas and oil pipelines.

He said that Jordan currently faces three main challenges which are economy, combating extremism and the political reform. 

For her part, Resident Representative of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) in Jordan Annette Ranko said that KAS has been active for more than 30 years in Jordan with the aim of supporting a sustainable social, political, and economic development.                 

AMMAN — The Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) has continued organising its annual fundraising campaign aimed at revamping old houses and schools in Jerusalem for the sixth year. 

Bader Naser, the campaign chief, said that Jordanian donors took part in the campaign with “great enthusiasm”, especially on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. 

On November 2, 1917, British foreign secretary Arthur James Balfour wrote a letter to Britain’s Jewish citizen Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild, expressing the government’s support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

The letter came to be known as the Balfour Declaration.

“Many Jordanians, of all ages, took part in the campaign. Around 80 per cent of university students participated in this fundraising,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

Naser said donors were not only Jordanians, but also Arabs and Jordanians living abroad. 

“During the past campaigns, we collected around JD5 million, renovating 218 residential units in old Jerusalem and revamping two education facilities. A total of 1,400 people benefited from our campaign,” he added. 

Khattab Al Bana, a businessman, said this is the fourth time he donated to the campaign. 

“It is our duty to donate for Al Aqsa. Also, this year’s Balfour Declaration’s centenary encouraged me to donate more because this declaration gave something to someone that does not belong to them,” he added.  

Ahmad Shyoukhi, another donor, said the details and documents of the campaign published and circulated by the organisers encouraged many to support the campaign. 

“This gave us the opportunity to donate and gave us the satisfaction to have contributed to support something in Jerusalem,” he added.

The campaign, which started on November 1, will run until November 1, 2018.

AMMAN — The delegation of the European Union (EU) to Jordan on October 25 launched the “NEXT SOCIETY” initiative in Amman, with the aim of gathering innovators and entrepreneurs from across the Kingdom to develop innovative solutions for the future of Jordan and of the Arab region. 

Funded by the EU, the programme is coordinated in Jordan by the ANIMA Innovation Network, in partnership with the Information and Communications Technology Association and the Royal Scientific Society, Communications Manager at ANIMA Lauriane Ammouche told The Jordan Times. 

Three Jordanian start-ups have already been selected to access the services of the initiative’s tailor-made support programme for entrepreneurs, according to Ammouche. 

“The support programme, namely Start-up Booster Track, enables entrepreneurs to bridge with key markets in Europe, Africa, the Gulf countries and the United States,” she added. 

The initiative has been established in a total of 30 countries across Europe and the Mediterranean region, involving 3,000 businesses, innovators and investment organisations and 2,500 SMEs and entrepreneurs.

Several countries in the region have been active in the programme over the past months, developing various solutions to address the challenges faced by the Middle Eastern countries. 

In Palestine, “Edunation” provides a new-age learning environment for students, with an active platform that accommodates a multi-lingual, multi-curricula environment that aims to empower educators to deliver educational value. 

Another of the countries active in the initiative, Lebanon is implementing “Riego”, a system that offers a solar powered control device to optimise irrigation water consumption. 

For its part, Tunisia collaborated to design the first compactor that treats all kinds of waste, which is already present in many African countries.