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AMMAN — The government on Monday agreed with the Lower House's Financial Committee that the latter handle setting the mechanisms to distribute the JD171 million allocated in the draft budget law to beneficiaries of the social safety network.

The decision is among four understandings that were reached during a meeting between Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh and Prime Minister Hani Mulki, attended by key lawmakers and concerned ministers, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The JD171 million will make up for rising cost of living brought about by lifting subsidies on commodities that have been a fixture in the economic system for decades, mainly the bread subsidy.

The second understanding is to keep exemptions of ownership transfer fees on apartments whose areas do not exceed 150 square metres, while the third is granting beneficiaries of the National Aid Fund a monthly kerosene subsidy of JD2 during winter.

The fourth agreement is exempting electricity subscribers whose consumption does not exceed 160 kilowatts per hour from the JD0.004 raise that went into effect as of Friday, as a result of the increase in oil prices to rates over $55 per barrel.

In December 2016, the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission announced adopting a scenario for electricity tariffs that will see lower rates for major consumers, while it will increase the tariffs “for all sectors” in case the price of a crude oil barrel exceeds the set limit.

In remarks to the press following the meeting, Tarawneh said that the past 24 hours saw a series of meetings and conversations between lawmakers and the government over national issues.

He noted that these understandings will be referred to other MPs to give their views after they are studied by the Chamber's Financial Committee.

BRUSSELS — As NATO foreign ministers convene on Tuesday to discuss the fight against terrorism, among other challenges, the alliance said it was working with partners, including Jordan, to strengthen their defences.

"At the meetings, the ministers will discuss projecting stability and fight against terrorism and working with a partner like Jordan is something we highly value," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference at the alliance's headquarters, adding that the discussions will also cover cooperation and support for southern partners.

At their meeting, NATO foreign ministers will also discuss North Korea's missile threats and cooperation with the EU and the alliance’s continuing adaptation in the face of diverse and evolving security challenges.

"Jordan is an important partner for NATO and it provides infrastructure as for instance for our training programmes as we have trained Iraqi officers in Jordan at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre…  and we will continue to strengthen our partnership with Jordan, which is a key partner for the NATO," he told reporters.

"NATO is helping Jordan with modernising its armed forces and we are focused on many different areas, including the role of women and the position of the women in the armed forces in Jordan," he added.

"We also welcome the fact that Jordan has played a key role in the progress that we have made in the fight against ISIS [Daesh] … I appreciate the partnership with Jordan which is a strong partnership," he said, adding that NATO highly appreciates the commitment and the focus of His Majesty King Abdullah to the partnership.

US Permanent Representative to NATO Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison labelled Jordan as one of the key and important partners for NATO and the US.

"The US and NATO have given added capacity building to Jordan and it is a major force of what is right in the Middle East," she said, adding that NATO will continue to give the Kingdom a special status for capacity and partnership building as it is a trusted ally.

The ministers would consider how NATO’s role in the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh “should evolve, as the Global Coalition moves from combat operations to stabilisation efforts”, said Stoltenberg.

“NATO is contributing to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS [Daesh] with AWACS surveillance flights. And by training Iraqi soldiers. But our work will not be done, even when ISIS no longer controls any territory,” he added, highlighting the role of partners in the region.

He also announced that NATO would add 3,000 more troops to its training mission in Afghanistan. 

The ministers will explore means of expanding cooperation between NATO and the European Union, which will help the two sides respond to challenges such as cyber attacks, terrorism and the need to improve military mobility.

They will also look into global threats including North Korea’s weapons programmes, he said.

“North Korea is undermining the global non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament regimes and the whole world needs to apply maximum pressure,” said the NATO official.

“Our partners in the region are at risk. And North Korea’s actions are also undermining the global non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament regimes. So the whole world needs to apply maximum pressure on North Korea,” he said.

“Our response has always been credible deterrence. We have the capabilities and the resolve to deter any attack. Our military strength is what makes diplomatic efforts possible,” he added.

In addition, the alliance will hold a meeting of the NATO-Georgia Commission, giving ministers the opportunity to exchange views with “one of the alliance’s closest partners”, the secretary general said — including on “areas where we could cooperate even more closely, such as Black Sea security”.   

The ministerial meeting will conclude with a discussion on NATO’s Open Door policy and “how best to support those countries which aspire to join our community of shared security and shared values”.

AMMAN — The State Security Court (SSC) on Monday sentenced a man to death, three to life in jail and acquitted a fifth in the trial dubbed the Rakban case.  

In June 2016, a car bomb attack on an army post near Rakban refugee camp killed seven Jordanian soldiers and injured 11, prompting the immediate closure of the Kingdom’s northern and northeastern borders, which has remained closed ever since.

The court issued a death sentence against the main defendant in the case, Najim Omour, who confessed to recruiting the other four defendants for the Daesh terrorist group and assigning them to carry out the attack, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He said he tasked them to collect intelligence and obtain photos of the targeted site, according to Petra.

The SSC also issued a life sentence with hard labour against three defendants: Ahmad Bdour, Rashid Omour and Fandi Ghayath, while it found the fifth, Ahmad Al Ali, not guilty of all terror-related charges, yet he was landed a two-year jail sentence for possessing narcotics for purposes of trafficking and entering the Kingdom illegally.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Monday received the 2016 report of the Audit Bureau from its President Abed Kharabsheh, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The 65th report of the bureau includes the important observations and violations committed by entities under the bureau’s supervision.

The report also includes an analysis of the state’s final account and independent government units, in addition to public debt, monetary status and the economic indicators of the 2016 fiscal year. Kharabsheh stressed that through the report the bureau aims to achieve its objectives of preventing waste of public money.

AMMAN — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat on Monday welcomed Nigerian Minister of Defence Mansur Mohammed Dan Ali and an accompanying delegation.

They discussed means to improve relations between the two countries’ armed forces, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

AMMAN — Iraqi Ambassador in Amman Safia Al Souhail on Monday refuted a statement attributed to her country’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari claiming that “Jordanian authorities deal with Iraqis in the Kingdom according to their religious sects”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During her meeting with the Lower House Jordanian-Iraqi Brotherhood Committee, Souhail expressed appreciation of Jordan’s support to Iraq, stressing that His Majesty King Abdullah has constantly been a leading supporter of Iraq and its people.

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Monday attended the official launch of “Karim and Jana”, a free mobile application developed by the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF) to promote early childhood education, a statement from Her Majesty’s Office said.

Designed for Arabic-speaking children between the ages of three and six, “Karim and Jana” features five fun and educational games, through which children can develop their mathematical, linguistic and social skills. The mobile application provides parents with a free learning resource that increases their children’s readiness for school during their formative years. 

The launch event took place at the Children’s Museum Jordan (CMJ), where Queen Rania was welcomed by QRF CEO, Haifa Al Attia, and CMJ director, Sawsan Dalaq. Her Majesty joined a group of mothers from across Jordan for an awareness session, which emphasised the importance of early childhood education as well as parents’ role in shaping their children’s personality and learning skills.  

Research has shown that more than a third of children in Jordan between the ages of three and six have never been taught letters, numbers, or words, and more than a third of mothers in Jordan do not read to children under the age of five. Meanwhile, in comparison with other middle-income countries, Jordanian children’s enrollment rates in kindergartens and nurseries were found to be very low. 

After the session, Her Majesty chatted with a group of mothers as their children tried out the application, who explained how technology has made it much easier for them to teach their children from home. The “Karim and Jana” application is designed for children to use alongside their parents, who are encouraged to apply its concepts to real-life activities.

Queen Rania then dropped in on a Training of Trainers (TOT) session, where a team from QRF conducted a training session on the use of the free application for its partners from CMJ and the Zaha Cultural Centre.

Throughout the upcoming period, QRF will provide training on early childhood development as well as tablets loaded with the “Karim and Jana” application to multiple Zaha Cultural Centre locations, Queen Rania Al Abdullah Hospital for Children and Jordan River Foundation centres in several governorates.

Her Majesty also stopped by the CMJ library and joined a group of children learning about tourism sites in Jordan through the application. 

Through “Karim and Jana”, children can learn to count to 20, identify two- and three-dimensional shapes, understand basic addition and subtraction, and build listening and comprehension skills through stories and songs. The application also includes an “Adventure” game, which uses interactive play principles to take children on a journey across Jordan.

The launch of QRF’s first mobile application comes as part of its support of the National Strategy for Human Resource Development, which outlines national priorities, including early childhood education and development, for implementation by the ministries of education and social development, in collaboration with NGOs and the private sector.

Established by Her Majesty in 2013, QRF aims to be a leading regional resource and incubator for new and innovative ideas and initiatives in education. The foundation’s work is focused on identifying gaps and opportunities for developing new education programmes, as well as influencing policy and creating transformational change on the ground.

“Karim and Jana” is available for free download for Android from Google Play and for iOS from the App Store.

AMMAN — A report from the Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ) said it recorded seven violations against four journalists in November, a statement from the centre said on Monday.

The violations included arrest of Ya-Media’s correspondent Majid Dbeiss as he was preparing a report on agriculture in the Jordan Valley.

Dbeiss said he was arrested on November 2 in a police raid, and was accused of working for “unlicensed” Yarmouk TV Channel, which he denied.

Another team of journalists working for Jordan Today TV was subjected to attempts of assault by the staff of a centre treating autistic children on which they were preparing reportage, according to the statement.

In the two cases, seven violations related to restricting the right to freedom of opinion, violating the right to property by seizing cameras, the right to personal freedom, the right to personal safety, the right to proper and respectful treatment, the right to freedom of movement and the right to indiscriminative treatment were committed.

The report said that, between January and November 30, 2017, CDFJ recorded 172 violations against 76 journalists and three media outlets in 29 cases.

They included prevention of publication, blocking media websites, pre-monitoring, physical assault, threats, attacks on media equipment, prevention of coverage, arrests, insulting treatment, denying coverage permissions, deleting contents of cameras, assaults on private belongings and seizure of documents.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Environment on Sunday seized and confiscated 55 kilogrammes of smelted lead during a night raid in east Amman, government officials said on Monday.

The lead was extracted from used car batteries, according to the ministry, which said that its inspection teams raided several locations in Madouneh, some 30 kilometres east of Amman, and arrested those involved in the illegal practice.

“The ministry received information about people illegally extracting and smelting lead out of old car batteries in open spaces, using special furnaces late at night,”Minister of Environment Yaseen Khayyat said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.    

Khayyat noted that several people were arrested and will be referred to the general prosecutor for further legal action.

“Smelting lead and similar illegal practices pose huge health and environment hazards, especially that lead and waste oils are categorised as hazardous waste according to laws and international conventions,”Khayyat highlighted in the statement.

Ministry’s spokesperson, Isa Shboul, on Monday said that the ministry’s inspection teams were accompanied by the Rangers, highlighting that two shipments of old car batteries had already been emptied out of lead when the team arrived.

“The practice, which took place in a remote open space in Madouneh, is highly dangerous because smelting lead produces toxic fumes, while any leaked drop can cause major contamination to underground water and the environment,”Shboul told The Jordan Times.

He noted that recycling old car batteries is a highly monitored practice in Jordan, noting that it takes place at specialised factories under the ministry’s strict supervision and control after receiving a licence.

Recycling lead from used batteries is known to result in high lead exposures that can cause severe health effects and contaminate the environment unless adequate equipment is used and procedures to minimise emissions are followed, according to web sources.

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a May Criminal Court ruling sentencing two men to over five years in prison after convicting them of molesting and robbing a Syrian teenager in one of the Kingdom’s governorates in May.

The court also declared the defendants guilty of impersonating officials and handed each of them five years and four months in prison.

Court papers said that the 15-year-old victim was returning home in Jerash Governorate on May 10 when he was stopped by the two defendants who claimed to be personnel from the Anti-Narcotics Department.

“The defendants searched the boy and, when they walked away, he discovered that they stole his mobile and wallet,” according to court documents.

The teenager followed the two men demanding his mobile phone and wallet, but the “two grabbed him and dragged him to a deserted area where they beat him up, undressed the boy then molested him”, according to court transcripts.

The victim returned home and informed his family who alerted the authorities, the court transcripts said.

The defendants had contested the Criminal Court ruling arguing through their lawyer that “the prosecutor failed to provide solid evidence to implicate his clients and that the court depended on witnesses’ contradictory statements.”

However, the Court of Cassation ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were correct and the defendant deserved the punishment he received.

The higher court comprised of judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Yassin Abdullat, Majed Azab and Nayef Samarat