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AMMAN — Two people were injured in a shooting Monday night, one in the abdomen and the other in the foot, after an alleged dispute with a pharmacist in the Hawooz roundabout, a Zarqa security source told the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The injured were transferred to Prince Hashem Hospital, where they were reported to be in fair condition. The source added that police arrested the suspect, the pharmacist at the scene, with a gun in his possession, according to Petra.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki announced that Thursday will be an official holiday, halting the work of ministries, official departments, institutions and public bodies on the occasion of the Hijri New Year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

AMMAN — During the first five months of this year, trade in the Jordan Free Zone reached about JD2 billion, of which exports amounted to JD1 billion, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

According to a statement issued by the Jordanian Group for Free Zones and Development Zones on Tuesday, the exports of vehicles amounted to 53 per cent of total export value, making JD543 million in all six of the free zones in Jordan, while the value of exported goods amounted to JD462 million.

Imports amounted to JD903 million, of which JD516 million for vehicle and JD387 million for goods. 

AMMAN — Doctors without Borders (MSF) launched a mental health project in Mafraq, 80km northeast of Amman, on Tuesday targeting children of Syrian refugees and their mothers, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The project is expected to serve the children of Syrian refugees who are suffering from the trauma of the conflict in Syria.

The project also covers Jordanian nationals. MSF’s head of mission in Jordan, Erwan Grillon, said that the organisation is running a psychiatric centre in Irbid, 80km north of Amman, which serves around 120 patients a month.

This led MSF to expand its work to Mafraq, 80km northeast of Amman, as it is the third largest host of Syrian refugees in Jordan and lacks medical and social services, especially in the rural areas of the governorate. 

AMMAN — The Social Security Corporation (SSC) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with its Palestinian counterpart, which aims at benefiting from SSC expertise in social protection and insurance. SSC Director General Nadia Rawabdeh and her Palestinian peer Osamah Hirzallah signed the memo, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Rawabdeh expressed SSC’s readiness to share its capabilities and technical and insurance expertise with the Palestinian corporation.

Hirzallah said that Jordan’s SSC enjoys “high-level expertise” in terms of insurance legislation, procedures and systems, in addition to studies that are related to social security, highlighting the importance of SSC to Palestine due to the “similar social and economic conditions between both countries”.

Under the memo, both institutions agreed to hold joint training courses, symposiums and workshops to develop their employees’ skills, among others.

AMMAN — Mohammad Allaf, chairman of the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (IACC) on Sunday announced that the total amount mentioned in the reports of the Audit Bureau for the years 2009-2015 reached JD125.384 million, including JD45.793 million still under investigation.

During a press conference, Allaf said that JD2.335 million listed in the reports of the Audit Bureau were recovered, JD1.558 million of which were recovered through the IACC and JD777,000 through government departments.

Allaf added that 415 cases were included in the inquiries of the Audit Bureau channeled to the government by the House of Representatives to reach the Commission.

MP Saleh Armouti (Amman, 3rd District) said the current and former governments were to be blamed for the lack of swift and serious action in combating corruption in the Kingdom.

“I believe that efforts made by former lawmakers and governments came short when combating forms of corruption, this phenomenon is not new to Jordan and the reports of the Audit Bureau issued between 2009-2015 have shown a huge number of corruption cases,” Armouti told The Jordan Times.

“This negligible amount of retrieved corruption money does not fit the IACC standards, I think if cases were referred to the judiciary, results would be better,” Armouti concluded.

Deputy Mustafa Khasawneh, head of the Lower House Legal Committee, supported the role of the IACC and attributed the late response to the “lack of cadres at IACC compared to the huge number of cases and their procedural complexity”.

“The IACC is doing a very good job, taking into consideration that IACC still needs tremendous support. I am convinced that IACC had a huge role in closing down the phenomenon of corruption that has been spreading in state institutions,” Khasawneh told The Jordan Times.

Khasawneh also blamed the previous governments and former deputies stating that “the current Lower House was the only one that studied the Audit Bureau reports and referred cases to the general attorney through the government channel.”

“According to the Constitution, the Lower House does not have the authority to place accusations, but deputies do have the power to refer cases to the government and then to the attorney general,” he concluded.

The Audit Bureau is scheduled to present the Lower House, the government and the Senate with a new report during the ordinary session which will start on October 1.

Meanwhile, citizens express a more sceptical view regarding the fight against corruption.

An Amman taxi driver, who spoke under anonymity, told The Jordan Times that “we witness corruption at so many levels, whether they are low-ranking employees or top officials, there is always someone stealing from the state”.

“I do not believe anyone is trying to cut down on corruption but I still hope this trend comes to an end because it is only affecting the weak and the poor,” he added.

AMMAN – Al Hussein Technical University (HTU) on Monday organised an open day event on Monday for the youth of Haqiq, a Crown Prince Foundation initiative.

The open day included a presentation on the programmes and specialisations offered by HTU and a question and answer session with the HTU President Labib Khadra and faculty members, according to a statement by the Crown Prince Foundation.

Khadra underlined that the university was established for youth pursuing technical education and professionalism.

The president outlined the university's vision and mission, pointing out that it seeks to reach out to the largest possible segment of youth, in implementation of the visions of HRH Crown Prince Hussein.

Amjad Fahoum, an HTU faculty member, gave a detailed presentation on the programmes offered, including electrical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, energy engineering and architectural technology.

Fahoum underlined the "dynamic, innovative and market-driven study plans and curricula", emphasizing HTU’s focus on practical and technical skills.

Meanwhile, Fahoum noted that HTU boasts a "distinguished educational model in terms of the specialties, educational environment, international accreditation and location" as HTU is headquartered in King Hussein Business Park, which, the statement said, offers a "safe and vibrant environment for students, including more than 50 international and national companies, in addition to entertainment and sports facilities".

Towards the end of the meeting, the students toured the university premises to have a first-hand look at the various facilities.

Al Hussein Technical University, founded by the Crown Prince Foundation, will receive its first batch of undergraduate students for the academic year 2017-2018 at the beginning of October.

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Monday charged a 38-year-old father with manslaughter in connection with the alleged electrocution and death of his teenage son in an Amman neighbourhood on Sunday, official sources said.

The 14-year-old boy was taken to hospital by his family who claimed that he accidentally electrocuted himself and doctors in charge pronounced him dead on arrival, a senior official source said.

“Attending physicians at the hospital became suspicious after noticing some marks on the victim’s legs and alerted the authorities,” a second official source said. 

The victim’s body was transferred to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (NIFM) for an official autopsy, the second source told The Jordan Times.

In the meantime, police summoned the father, who worked in a vegetable market, for questioning and he reportedly confessed “to killing his son while giving him electric shocks as a form of discipline”, according to the second source.

In his initial testimony to police and the Criminal Court prosecutor, the suspect claimed that he found JD5 and a cigarette with his son, according to the second official source.

When the suspect inquired about the source of money and cigarette, the source added, the boy allegedly could not provide any answers.

As a result, “the father tied his son up and gave him electric shocks with a bare wire so that he would confess”, added the source who is close to the investigation.

“The boy eventually told his father that he needed money and took the JD5 bill from his wallet and then went into a coma,” according to the senior official source.

Meanwhile, the results of the postmortem conducted by a team of pathologists at the NIFM, headed by Ahmad Bani Hani and including Isra Tawalbeh and Zeid Azzeh is still pending, a senior medical source said.

“The forensic team is still waiting for the criminal lab results on samples taken from the victim’s body, which will take around two weeks, before issuing a final report to indicate the cause of death,” the senior medical source told The Jordan Times.

AMMAN — Awqaf Minister Wael Arabiyat on Monday honoured a 70-year-old woman, Rushdyah Fayoumi, who learnt the Koran by heart, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Arabiyat commended the woman, who realised her dream after attended a Koranic school for three years to memorise the holy book.

Fayoumi said that she was able to realise her dream in a “short period”, crediting the ministry’s role in opening Koranic centres across the Kingdom.

AMMAN — Four hundred and fifty associations have been registered at the Ministry of Social Development since the beginning of this year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday.

These associations are distributed as follows: 61,78 per cent are allocated to the Ministry of Social Development, 20.44 per cent within the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry, 6.44 per cent with the Ministry of Culture, 3.11 per cent with the Ministry of Political Development, 2.2 per cent for the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health each, 1.33 per cent to the Ministry of Agriculture, and 0.67 per cent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.