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AMMAN — Acting Public Sector Development Minister and Minister of State Salameh Neimat on Wednesday attended the graduation of the second batch of participants in a programme to enhance leadership skills.

The nine-week training programme, organised by the Ministry of Public Sector Development and USAID, was aimed at honing the leadership skills of middle management staff in the public sector, according to a statement from the ministry.

AMMAN — To honour her father Abdul Elah Malhas — a Jordanian artist, architect, inventor and nature lover — Farah Malhas is organising a 10-day exhibition of paintings to mark the second anniversary of his death.

The exhibition, which opens on Friday at 8pm, will showcase 63 paintings by the late artist at Zara Centre in Amman’s Wadi Saqra area.

“I chose 63 pieces because he was 63 years old when he died,” Farah told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

Part of the exhibition’s proceeds will go to the King Hussein Cancer Centre.

Malhas invented reusable envelopes called “multilopes” that earned him several awards in Switzerland and Germany during the 1990s, according to his daughter.

“If you believe in something, just do it.

This was his motto,” she said.

AMMAN — The Social Development Ministry and Penal Reform International on Wednesday renewed a cooperation agreement governing the work of the national independent team for monitoring care centres in Jordan.

Under the agreement, the specialised taskforce will continue monitoring care centres, assessing their performance and training the ministry’s inspectors, while the ministry will continue to provide the necessary logistic support for the team.

The team members are guaranteed full access to care centre without having to obtain previous approvals.

The ministry will also continue to receive their reports and take the necessary measures to address any issues they highlight.

AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Wednesday reiterated Jordan’s position on the crisis in Syria, stressing the need to arrive at a peaceful political solution that ends the bloodshed and guarantees the country’s unity.

At a meeting with Claudia Roth, vice president of the German Bundestag, Tarawneh also highlighted the effects of the continued influx of Syrian refugees on the social, economic and security conditions in the Kingdom.

In the northern Governorate of Mafraq for example, the number of refugees has exceeded its original population, Tarawneh said.

At the meeting, attended by Germany’s Ambassador to Jordan Ralph Tarraf, Roth praised Jordan’s efforts, adding that she will review, with her country’s parliament and government, procedures to help the Kingdom deal with these burdens.

AMMAN — Jordan’s agricultural exports to Lebanon dropped from 22,000 tonnes in 2012 to 12,000 tonnes in 2013, according to officials from both countries.

The Kingdom’s agricultural imports from Lebanon nearly doubled in 2013, rising to 91,000 tonnes, compared with 45,000 tonnes the year before, according to figures reviewed by Agriculture Ministry Secretary General Radi Tarawneh and Lebanese Agriculture Minister Louis Lahoud on Wednesday.

The two officials signed minutes of meetings of the Jordanian-Lebanese joint committee, which call for removing all hindrances to agricultural cooperation.

AMMAN — Jordan and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday signed an agreement for cooperation on peaceful nuclear energy projects.

Under the agreement, which was signed by Jordan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Khaled Toukan and President of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy Hashem Yamani, the two countries will increase cooperation in terms of research, technologies, designs and raw material exploration.

Toukan said the accord will add more support to Jordan’s projected nuclear programme.

During a three-day visit to Jordan, the Saudi delegation visited the nuclear research reactor at the Jordan University of Science and Technology near Irbid and a uranium exploration site in the central region.

IRBID — The water supply to several towns in Irbid, Mafraq and Jerash governorates will be disrupted next week as the Yarmouk Water Company will begin cleaning the Zaatari-Um Loulou water pipeline, which extends from Mafraq to Irbid, on Saturday.

Company Director General Mohammad Rababa said the operation, which will take four days, aims at increasing the amount of water pumped in the summer.

AMMAN — Minister of Interior Hussein Majali on Wednesday met with US Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs William R.

Brownfield and discussed bilateral cooperation.

Talks covered means to cooperate in combating crime and drug trafficking through training and expertise exchange, in addition to the latest developments related to the Syrian crisis and its impact on the Kingdom.

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Wednesday reviewed the 2014 draft customs law.

At a Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour noted that some of the bill’s articles require further examination.

The new law will work to preserve intellectual property rights and enhance the work of the Jordan Customs Department through the use of new technology.

The Council of Ministers was also briefed on the General Secondary Certificate Examination’s (Tawjihi) winter session, which ended on Tuesday.

Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat noted that the exam’s credibility and integrity rate was measured at around 90 per cent.

The Cabinet decided to increase the allowance for those who take part in organising the exam by 25 per cent.

AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and Planning Minister Ibrahim Saif are scheduled to participate in the 2014 World Economic Forum, which opened on Wednesday in the Swiss ski resort of Davos and continues until Saturday, upon an invitation from the forum’s founder Klaus Schwab.

This year’s theme is “The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business”.