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AMMAN — HRH Princess Ghida Talal, the chairperson of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation’s board of trustees, on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the CEO of Novartis Pharma AG, Bruno Strigini, the Jordanian News Agency, Petra, reported.

The memorandum aims at enhancing cooperation between the two corporations in scientific research.“Research is considered a vital and integrated part at [KHCC] to improve the diagnostic and treatment process of cancer patients, which is in-line with the centre’s efforts that is aimed towards saving our patients,” Princess Ghida said.

The memorandum was signed in the presence of Asem Mansour, director general of KHCC and Hekmat Abdul Razzaq, deputy director general of KHCC.     

AMMAN — Gendarmerie Department Director Maj. Gen. Hussein Hawatmeh on Tuesday discussed cooperation with the Director General of the Palestinian Police Maj. Gen. Hazem Attallah,  according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

During the meeting, Hawatmeh said that the Gendarmerie forces exert all their efforts in the service of the Palestinian police, especially in training, stressing his keenness to expand the cooperation between the two parties. For his part, Atallah expressed his admiration for the distinguished level of the Jordanian Gendarmerie in the region and the world.

AMMAN — HRH Prince Hassan, chairman of the board of trustees for the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIFS), on Tuesday emphasised the importance of open dialogue between cultures and religions to attain a secure world with peace and stability, especially in the Middle East, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The Prince’s statement came during a discussion with a delegation from Konrad Adenauer Foundation, from the state of Saxony, Germany, to which the Prince stressed that the Levant region was a source of civilisation, culture and the cradle of the religions that call for justice, love and respect for others and their rights and the denouncement of violence and hatred. 

Regarding Jerusalem, the prince noted that the principle of “the holy place” is based on mutual respect, integration, solidarity and the acknowledgement of other people’s rights. 

Prince Hassan underlined the need to reinforce the principles of respecting human dignity, citizenship and pluralism in the Middle East, in order to strengthen human and moral values. 

The meeting included a session about political and economical issues that the Middle East is going through, and the role of Germany in the region. 

For their part, the delegation commended Jordan’s model of a community-focused society, respect for others, and the humanitarian role the Kingdom embraces towards Syrian refugees, despite the lack of resources.   

AMMAN — The West Asia – North Africa (WANA) Institute on Tuesday launched its advocacy strategy for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs): Towards a Regulatory Reform. 

Held under the patronage of HRH Prince El Hassan, the event was chaired by Mohammad Abu Hammour, Secretary General of the Arab Thought Forum, with the attendance of 50 government officials and representatives from CSOs, think tanks, international organisations, and academic institutions, a WANA statement said. 

The advocacy strategy was collectively designed by 40 Jordanian community-based organisations (CBOs) under the guidance of the WANA Institute, based on the Institute’s needs assessment and roundtable discussion between CBOs/CSOs, think tanks and government officials. 

The strategy recommended amending the 2008 Law of Societies — according to which a minimum of seven people can register as a society — to be made in accordance with international standards. It also called for the capacities of the ministries involved to be built to better monitor and evaluate the societies, the statement said.

The researchers recommended enhancing the coordination between the ministries of planning and international cooperation, finance, and social development to facilitate the work of the civil society in Jordan. 

“We need to ease the formalities facing CSOs by creating an umbrella for the government departments dealing with them,” Abu Hammour said.

The study also stressed the need for a joint council between the state and CSOs, in addition to a genuine partnership with the private sector.

“There is a trust issue between civil society and the government, thus the government can’t be the one who determines the civil society priorities,” advocacy expert Mahmoud Hishmah explained.

The experts also highlighted that CBOs require training on the tools of campaigning, mobilisation and advocacy to be able to advocate for their demands and to design their projects as a direct response to the needs of the local communities, according to the statement.

A non-profit think tank in Amman, the WANA Institute conducts interdisciplinary research on sustainable development, social justice and human security with the aim of contributing to regional policies in an evidence-based manner, according to the statement.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Education in cooperation with the advanced company for computer services, on Tuesday launched on their website, the initiative of “read for me”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The initiative aims at embracing advanced technologies as a tool to teach English language for students from grade one to 12, and comes under the scope of the ministry’s efforts aimed at helping students learn English as a school subject, which remains a challenge for many students in the Kingdom. 

The initiative focuses on a special application on smart phones to teach students the correct way of reading texts in books using audio from native English speakers, which contributes to the correct pronunciation of English words and vocabulary. 

The applications are user-friendly for students and teachers, as well as the ability to choose lessons for any grade, and the ability to replay the English lessons at anytime, anywhere, according to Petra. 

Education Minister Omar Razzaz stressed that the ministry is dedicated to simplifing the teaching process and all its features for students, and the majority of the funding is being invested in this technology.

“This initiative will contribute to the student’s ability to comprehend and understand educational material in a positive way, noting that the ministry is proud of national institutions that adopt creative initiatives that enhance the teaching process,” Razzaz said.

“The ministry is looking forward to spreading this initiative and enabling all students in the Kingdom to benefit from it, in order to measure its impact over the students’ learning curve in advanced stages,” the minister added. 

Hala Zawati, from the Advanced Computer Services, said: “This initiative does not replace the teacher’s role in the class, but instead, provides them with a supporting tool and is considered a free service for students.”  

AMMAN — The Palestinian Culture Centre on Tuesday opened its eighth annual Cultural Exhibition featuring a number of culturally significant displays. The exhibition aims to revive the feeling of the Palestinian homeland through traditional cross-stitch embroidery, food, films, and books about Palestine in both English and Arabic.

The three-day exhibition — dominated by the rich colours and textures of traditional Palestinian embroidery found on dresses, pillows, jewellery boxes and other household items — has a cause behind it. Each piece is carefully handmade by a woman living in a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, said the event organisers. 

“We want to let women in need to gain money and to be empowered, as well as teach the younger generation about this tradition that needs to be preserved,” said Siham Abu Ghazaleh, assistant president of the Palestinian Culture Centre, which currently employs “over 500 women” from their homes across the Kingdom.  

The embroidery campaign “allows for the humanity of the refugee to stay at home” while appreciating the talents of the Palestinian refugee women. “We want to let them know: You are not a number, you are a person, you are acknowledged,” stressed Abu Ghazaleh.

The women are equipped with the materials and the design instructions by the organisation, and are remunerated for their hard work. Sometimes, depending on the intricacy of the design, “it can take up to two years” to cross-stitch a pattern on a dress, Abu Ghazaleh told The Jordan Times at the event opening. 

She said that they try to choose colours and patterns in ways that are more suitable to today’s fashion “without deviating away from the traditional design that originates from Palestine”. 

Apart from dignifying refugee women with an income, the exhibition aims to educate the public about the origins of Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery and Palestinian identity. 

“We are part of a resistance, and we want to show the world that this tradition is in fact ours and dates back to 100 years,” said Abu Ghazaleh. 

“I was born in Palestine, and I was raised to love my country, but the [new generation] is born outside — in refugee camps — so this is the only way we can encourage them to promote our tradition,” said Samira Darras, who has been volunteering for the organisation for the past 25 years. 

The exhibition, an extension of the Palestinian Culture Centre, “strictly focuses on the wellbeing and empowerment of the women in the refugee camps” and then towards funding university scholarships, hospitals and other charitable organisations in Palestine, said Darras. 

“A woman is able to support her husband and send her child to university just from stitching,” said Darras at the exhibition. 

Abla Abu Ghazaleh, a five-year regular visitor to the exhibition said she enjoys coming every year to relive her memories of her home country. “We feel like we are not in Jordan, we feel like we are back in Palestine.” 

Another loyal visitor to the exhibition, Wajida El Khairy, came to the event with her family members visiting from Palestine “to show them that even outside of Palestine, we are supporting them”.   

The exhibition is held at the Jordan Construction Contractors Association in Abdoun and continues through Thursday.

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld an April Criminal Court ruling sentencing a 34-year-old driver to life in prison after convicting him of  murdering his pregnant ex-wife and his brother-in-law in Zarqa in April 2013.

The court declared the defendant guilty of the shooting death of his 19-year-old ex-wife and of her brother, 18, and attempting to murder his own son at their home on April 11.

Court papers said the defendant married the victim when she was around 14-years-old and they had a child.

“The defendant had suspicions about the victim’s behaviours and divorced her as a result,” court documents said.

The defendant kept custody of the couple’s five-year-old son, the court added.

 “The defendant attempted to reconcile with his wife one month before the incident but her family differed with him on the new dowry,” court papers said.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant took his son to visit his mother.

“An argument ensued about the possibility of his ex-wife returning to him and he ended up shooting her and her brother, their son and then turned the gun on himself,” the court said.

All four were rushed to a nearby hospital where the ex-wife and her brother were declared dead on arrival. The suspect and his son survived the shootings following medical intervention, the higher court said. 

Government pathologists established that the woman received one fatal bullet to her heart, while her brother was shot in the lungs.  The defendant shot himself once in the chest, while his son was shot in the waist.

The defendant had contested the court’s ruling stating that the victims’ family dropped charges against him and “therefore, he should benefit from a reduction in penalty”.

However, the higher court ruled that “the defendant does not benefit from a reduction in penalty because not all the family members of the victims dropped charges against the defendant”.

“The Criminal Court’s proceedings were accurate and correct and the defendant received the appropriate punishment,” the Cassation Court’s ruling stated.

The Cassation Court is comprised of judges Yassin Abdulat, Mohammad Beirudi, Mohammad Ersheidat, Bassim Mubeidin and Mohammad Tarawneh.

AMMAN — Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Wael Arabiyat said on Tuesday that 66 women were released from prison after their debts and fines were paid through the Zakat Fund, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. His remarks came during a ceremony to mark the Prophet Mohammad’s Hijra (migration from Mecca to Medina) in Balqa.

The minister also said that a new building for the Zakat Fund has been approved, adding that the funding came through the Hajj Fund. On the sidelines of the celebration, Al Najashi Mosque was inaugurated in Al Khandaq area of Salt, in addition to launching a charity campaign benefitting 400 families. 

AMMAN — The Land Transport Regulatory Comission on Tuesday instructed the directorate of the Public Security Department (PSD) to intensify inspections on private vehicles that charge for transportation services, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

High penalties are stipulated in articles 24 and 29  of the Traffic Law to seize the vehicle for 48 hours or detaining the driver for one week to one month and a fine of JD100 to JD200, or both.

The move came after yellow taxi drivers protested for the second time in a week, demanding the suspension of private vehicles that work via mobile applications.

AMMAN — The Public Security Department (PSD) on Tuesday announced that the King Hussein Bridge will be closed for passengers on Wednesday at 3pm, while the last bus for Arabs, tourists and VIPs will leave at 12 noon.

Diplomats, official delegations and UN employees can cross the bridge until 3pm, while cargo movement will last until 12 noon on Wednesday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

On Thursday, the bridge will be closed for passengers at 7:30pm, and the last bus for Arabs, tourists and VIPs can leave up to 5pm, while diplomats, official delegations and UN employees have to cross the bridge before 7:30pm. Cargo shipments will be completely closed at the bridge on Thursday.