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AMMAN — Social media users and news websites have been circulating a copy of the appointment letter of six officials at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), claiming that their salaries are too high. 

News websites and social media users also claimed that one of the appointees graduated in 2013 and has no experience at all, criticising Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour for signing the appointment decision.

The reports claimed that the new appointees are each paid monthly salaries of JD2,500. 

The controversy over the recent appointment prompted ASEZA to speak out by issuing a statement on Wednesday detailing the academic and professional history of the six appointees, who were assigned to the positions of assistant commissioners and economic analysts. 

As the details circulated by news websites and social media users turned out to be incorrect, ASEZA Deputy Chief Commissioner Yusuf Mansur said the authority reserves the right to sue those who circulated the rumours.

An ASEZA statement said the six officials have long experience in their fields and are PhD or master's degree holders. 

Facebook users and some news websites claimed that Nelly Batshoun, who was appointed as economic and investment analyst was a graduate of 2013 with no experience, but ASEZA documents showed that she completed her master's degree in economics from Harvard University in the US in 1982 and that she has worked as an adviser for the World Bank. 

ASEZA said the recently appointed officials were among 247 people who applied for the job in response to an advertisement in local dailies to announce the vacant positions. 

The authority added that they were appointed after sitting for job interviews, noting that the announcement for the vacancies was through the Civil Service Bureau, the agency in charge of filling vacancies at public sector departments. 

Commenting on the circulation of false information, some social media activists criticised news websites and Facebook and Twitter users for being "sensational" and misleading. 

Taghreed Risheq wrote on her Facebook page that some people just try to find a chance to circulate rumours. 

"Sometimes you say that qualified people should remain in the country to develop it and now you criticise a Harvard graduate with distinguished expertise," she added. 

Ahmad Al Salem commented that news websites focused on "sensationalism" just to attract readers. 

"Is it jealousy or what?" he asked, adding that qualified people deserve fair pay. 

AMMAN — Six people were injured on Wednesday in a two-vehicle collision in east Amman, a Civil Defence Department (CDD) statement said. CDD cadres administered first aid to the injured and took them to Al Bashir, Al Hussein and Prince Hamzah hospitals, where they were listed in fair condition.

Also on Wednesday, seven people suffered food poisoning after eating spoiled food in Um Uthainah. West Amman CDD cadres administered first aid and took them to Al Bashir Hospital where they were listed in fair condition.

AMMAN — A website created by two young Jordanians in a coffee shop six years ago has become the most popular site in Arabic, highlighting a vast vacuum: less than 1 per cent of the Internet is written in the language spoken by 4.5 per cent of the world's population.

The growth of Mawdoo3.com — Arabic for "subject" — is part of a steep rise in Internet use in the Arab world in recent years, along with an Arabic content publishing frenzy in which governments, independent journalists and Islamist militants also compete for page views.

The idea for Mawdoo3 goes back to 2010, when Mohammad Jaber, at the time finishing his medical studies, teamed up with entrepreneur Rami Qawasmi. 

The two Jordanians, now both 27, shares a birthday and a vision for changing the World Wide Web.

"The content in Norwegian language is greater than Arabic," Qawasmi said, explaining the impetus for creating a wide-ranging informational site akin to an Arabic version of Ask.com.

Today, Mawdoo3 is the most popular Arabic language site, ahead of the entertainment site MBC.net and the sports site Koora.com, according to Effective Measure, a company that monitors Internet traffic in the Middle East and North Africa.

Millions of people visit Mawdoo3 every month. In January, 17.1 million people — nearly 60 per cent of them women — visited the site, according to Effective Measure.

It deals with all sorts of topics of general interest, such as health, business, religion, advice, beauty and cooking, written by some 320 authors.

The site's most popular article so far explains the health effects of ginger root. Other entries include biographies, such as that of the late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, information on skin and teeth whitening, and tips on time management.

Mawdoo3, a transliteration that uses numbers for Arabic letters that do not exist in English, plans to expand.

The two founders say they have reached a $1.5 million partnership deal with the Dubai-based investment firm EquiTrust, as well as a new revenue-sharing agreement with Jordanian content marketing agency SyndiGate.

Qawasmi wants to branch out into real estate, e-commerce, multimedia, and add Turkish and English content. 

With his medical background, Jaber is keen on developing the site's health section and already has Jordanian university students translating scientific articles.

The growth potential seems vast — there are 370 million people in Arabic-speaking countries in the world — but less than 1 per cent of the Internet is written in Arabic, according to the International Telecommunications Union.

With 4.5 per cent of the world's population speaking Arabic, according to the World Bank, the Internet does not reflect the reality of mankind's fifth largest language community.

Between 2000 and 2013, the number of Arab Internet users grew by close to 5,300 per cent, according to a study by Google, in partnership with WAMDA, a digital entrepreneurship and investment organisation based in Lebanon.

A UN report in 2012 called this a "quantum leap", but said illiteracy and low Internet penetration, among other things, still limit Arabic online content.

Arabic Wikipedia content doubled from 2010 to 2013, but with 85 million monthly page views, it still lags behind 18 billion monthly page views in English, said WAMDA. Low quality content was a concern for 49 per cent of youths and 66 per cent of industry leaders polled, it said.

In the Arab world, online publishing often serves as an important censorship bypass, said Lina Ejeilat, co-founder of the bilingual digital magazine 7iber, Arabic for "ink".

"It's not like book publishing. Magazines and knowledge creation is flourishing in universities and different places, and we just need to get it on the Internet," she said, speaking to The Associated Press at her office in Amman.

The magazine's investigations make it one of the most critical voices in Jordan, which the Press Freedom Index of the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders has listed as "not free".

Across the world, militant groups use social media to recruit, fundraise and publish propaganda, according to Gabriel Weimann, author of "Terror in Cyberspace". 

He estimated that militants run about 10,000 sites in 22 different languages — including in Arabic.

The Brookings Institution, a think tank, estimated that between 46,000 and 70,000 Twitter accounts linked to the Daesh terror group were active as recently as last winter.

But this sphere is minute compared to what Twitter says are about 17 million tweets in Arabic a day. Many seem to be dealing with everyday issues such as sports and the weather.

Michele Malkoun, chief operating officer for the Choueiri Group, a Lebanese media consultancy firm, said he expects the "digital rush" of investors in the Arabic Internet to diversify.

While content sites like Mawdoo3 and the recipe-focused Shahiya.com, a cooking website that comes in both an Arabic and an English version, will continue attracting audiences, new platforms like the musical app Anghami are the next frontier, Malkoun said.

Consumer demand for information will continue to drive growth, he added.

"When an Arab guy goes on the Net and searches," it's hard to find what he wants in Arabic, he said.

"From tying my shoelaces to fixing my water heater — it doesn't exist."

AMMAN — The fourth Women’s Film Week opened on Tuesday, offering a "unique opportunity for the Jordanian public to see and reflect on women’s issues as portrayed through the work of various national and international filmmakers", organisers said Wednesday.

HRH Princess Basma attended the week's opening ceremony. 

UN Women, in partnership with the Royal Film Commission, is organising the film week, with free screenings at the Rainbow Theatre in Jabal Amman continuing through Saturday.

"To mark the beginning of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, this year we decided to pay tribute to women’s champions from all around," a UN Women statement quoted Giuseppe Belsito, the agency's Jordan representative, as saying.

"Women, whose indomitable courage to overcome — what many would consider — impossible challenges is truly inspiring for all of us and is paving the way for a more equal future," he said.

The film week opened with the documentary "Burden of Peace", sponsored by the Dutch embassy. 

The documentary presents the story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Claudia Paz y Paz — the first woman to lead the public prosecutor’s office in Guatemala. 

The week features two screenings per day at the Rainbow Theatre, one at 6pm and another at 8:30pm.

"This week of film screenings is about exceptional women, who strived to overcome challenges in order to achieve their dreams; those are either women who already changed the course of history or ordinary women who set the example by finding the courage and the will to make a change," the statement quoted Ghada Saba, the event's artistic director and Beijing+20 Global Gender Equality Champion, as saying.

As a special feature of this year’s film week, young volunteers engaged the public attending the event in order to raise awareness on the HeforShe solidarity movement, encouraging men and women to make a stand for gender equality and join the global campaign. 

Social media activists have also attended the opening ceremony, engaging the online community in the HeforShe movement.

Screenings continue on Thursday with the Korean film "Harmony".

The film follows Hong Jeong-hye, who is sentenced to serve 10 years in prison after killing her abusive husband. Pregnant at the time of her arrest, she gives birth to a baby boy behind bars, but must give him up for adoption according to the law.

One day, she sets out to start a choir with the help of Kim Moon-ok, a fellow inmate on death row for killing her adulterous husband and mistress. The prison chief promises her a special outing with her baby if she succeeds, according to the film week's official booklet.

Also on Thursday, "One UN Voice for Women Champions", a collection of short movies on women champions, produced and presented by UN agencies based in Jordan, will be screened at 8pm, followed by the US documentary short "She++".

US documentary "Big Dream" will also be screened, following "seven young women, who are breaking barriers and overcoming personal challenges to follow their passions in science, math, computing and engineering".

Friday will feature the screening of "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days" from Germany, and "Catia’s Choice" from Italy, while "Eye Contact" from Japan and "Coco before Chanel" from France will be screened on Saturday, according to the organisers.

AMMAN — Justice Minister Bassam Talhouni on Wednesday announced the launch of a smartphone application that enables people to know if they have any cases against them and to follow up on ongoing cases in courts.

“We are excited about this new smartphone app that works for Android and iOS phones because it will make citizens’ lives easier,” Talhouni told The Jordan Times in a telephone interview.

The services include information such as the name of the judge, the case number, the court, the date of trial and other relevant information, according to the minister.

Talhouni added that once someone files a lawsuit against an individual who has downloaded the MOJ app, this person will be immediately alerted.

“Many people file lawsuits, and when someone files a lawsuit against another without his/her knowledge, this causes problems for them, including not being able to travel,” he explained.

The same applies to people posting bonds or issuing power of attorney “since we have many cases of forgery in these documents in particular”, Talhouni noted. 

“This will protect individuals from having someone issue a guarantee or bond without their knowledge,” the minister explained.

He said the smartphone application protects the privacy of individuals and once a person downloads it and enters the required information, no one else can download their names.

“The individual should insert information such as their phone numbers, ID number and other information listed on their identification cards,” Talhouni explained.

The minister added that the entire aim is to streamline judicial procedures for citizens and ensure better access to justice.

“We will have more services to come because our idea is to shift from electronic services to smart services," he added.

AMMAN — The women’s movement in Jordan on Wednesday said security and terrorism issues in the region are being used as an excuse by the government to hinder women’s advancement in the Kingdom.

“For the past five years, we have been receiving this attitude from the government — that because of the [regional] crisis we have to wait because women’s issues are not a priority,” Jordanian National Commission for Women Secretary General Salma Nims said.

“Obviously we have issues with the political will in Jordan and it [has become] apparent to us that there is a serious belief that women’s political participation is not important,” Nims added at a roundtable on ''EU support to Gender Equality in Jordan'' as part of the EU Gender Action Plan to commemorate the International Women's Day.

Laila Naffa, of the Arab Women Organisation, agreed with Nims.

“The government uses the security issue to ask us to shut up, but we will not shut up of course. This really creates more challenges to our work,” Naffa said.

“We usually write Jordan’s shadow report on CEDAW [Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women] and mention the progress, but we really cannot find anything positive to include in our report,” she added.

MP Hind Fayez (Central Badia) also argued that there is no political will to empower women and that there is a strong force in Parliament and other entities to fight against women’s rights.

“I also don't believe that the government is serious about advancing women’s rights. In my opinion it is all slogans meant to appease the West,” Fayez charged.

Meanwhile, other activists tackled various problems that face women in Jordan.

“The education level is high, but the knowledge level is low and women in general do not have good knowledge of their rights,” activist and filmmaker Ghada Saba said.

MP Rula Hroub (Stronger Jordan list) said Jordanian women are still being considered “half citizens” and gave the example of the nationality law, which does not allow Jordanian women to pass on citizenship to their children or spouses, a right that is fully enjoyed by Jordanian men.

“Women are considered as followers. How can the children of a Jordanian woman respect her if she is incapable of passing on her citizenship to them?” Hroub asked.

Sahar Aloul, from Sadaqa campaign that works to ensure the presence of crèches at workplaces for working women, said that the focus should also be on pay equality.

“There is a huge discrepancy between the wages of men and women in the labour market. This is something that needs to be addressed if we want to empower women,” Aloul noted.

EU Ambassador to Jordan Andrea Matteo Fontana said in his opening remarks that the aim of the gathering is to encourage debate on EU support to gender equality projects in Jordan.

“Jordan needs more of these debates to learn more about the priorities and what to focus on in terms of the EU and the civil society, and ways to increase women’s political participation,” Fontana told the gathering.

The EU ambassador added that one of the main areas of the gender equality plan that was adopted by the EU last year is to “ensure the mental and physical integrity of women and girls”.

“We also aim to promote the social and economic rights of women and girls in their own communities,” Fontana stressed.

He added that one more goal is to strengthen the voice and participation of women, including in rural areas, in all aspects of life.

Several EU member state ambassadors, women activists, civil society representatives, social media activists and journalists also attended the roundtable.

Italian Ambassador to Jordan Giovanni Brauzzi said that addressing gender-based violence should be a primary matter “and without it, everything else is irrelevant”.

“I come from a country which has suffered a lot from this issue and we are still learning a lot from this deeply rooted phenomenon,” Brauzzi added.

Swedish Ambassador to Jordan Helena Gröndahl Rietz said the responsibility to ensure gender equality is up to both men and women.

“We all agree that gender equality is an inclusive package, because gender equality is not about the rights of women at the expense of other rights, and gender equality is not possible without the involvement of men,” Rietz stressed.

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania visited the Princess Taghreed School for Girls in Amman on Wednesday, where the Jordan Education Initiative (JEI) popup classroom pilot project is being implemented.

The popup classroom is a newly developed teaching concept that incorporates innovative solutions in class. 

Under this system, classrooms are built as a modular prefabricated construction located outside the schools’ buildings, according to a statement from Her Majesty's office.

The Queen started her tour of the school with Principal Taghreed Shawabkeh and JEI CEO Nirmeen Nabulsi by visiting an outdoor computerised English lesson on marine life. 

There, she chatted with students about the learning outcomes of the popup classroom.

Her Majesty also dropped by a mathematics lesson that uses Geogebra software, which helps students understand and visualise abstract concepts. 

Her next stop was at a science class, where students worked on software to develop animations about the life cycle of plants.

The Queen’s tour included a dialogue through sports and arts, facilitated by two teachers under the Generations For Peace Initiative. 

Princess Taghreed School for Girls is one of the few schools in Jordan to adopt this programme, which was founded in 2007 by HRH Prince Feisal. 

Generations For Peace is a global non-profit peace building organisation dedicated to promoting tolerance and responsible citizenship.

Finally, the Queen met with the school’s student parliament committee, where students shared their leadership experiences in parliament, and the activities they organise under the student council. 

A number of students explained to Her Majesty the election process and how students can qualify to join the parliament.

Princess Taghreed School for Girls was established in 1992 and has 800 students. 

It is considered an international school by the Ministry of Education and is part of the Royal Health Awards Society’s healthy school programme, receiving silver and bronze award levels. 

The initiative was launched in 2013 in collaboration with JP Sa Couto , a Portuguese company dedicated to designing technology solutions that promote 21st century learning environments.

AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma, who is the honorary chairperson of the Arab Media Women's Centre (AMWC), on Wednesday honoured a number of distinguished Arab media women. 

At a ceremony held by the AMWC on the occasion of the Arab Women Media Day and the International Women's Day, several success stories of women in media were highlighted.

Arab Media Women’s Day is observed annually to highlight the need for more efforts to bridge the gap between official and public discourse through promoting a balanced image of women in the region, and contributing to transforming social behaviour against them. 

The event was initiated by the AMWC.

In addition, the event featured the experience of a group of people whose stories were covered by the media for beating the odds to serve their communities. 

Princess Basma was presented with the recommendations of the 12th Arab women media conference, which was held recently. 

Established in 1999 under Princess Basma’s directives, the AMWC is a non-government organisation specialised in empowering Arab women journalists through training, research and media consultations.

AMMAN — With the approach of the FIFA U-17 Women World Cup in Jordan, the competition's Local Organising Committee (LOC) announced on Wednesday that it will intensify the marketing campaign in the Kingdom to attract a great number of football fans.

Samar Nassar, the committee's CEO, said it launched a new campaign dubbed "You Are Player Number 12" that targets Jordanian football fans in order to encourage them to follow the competition's updates and motivate them to attend the matches. 

"Six months remain for the beginning of the tournament, and the target we have to meet during the three-week competition is 150,000 fans. We need the media's support to keep encouraging the fans to attend the matches and spread the World Cup excitement around the country," she told reporters at Al Hussein Youth City in Amman.

Nassar noted that the campaign is part of a marketing plan designed to further promote the tournament among football fans. 

"We will hold a number of activities to target a large number of fans. Also, we will launch the mascot of the World Cup  next month, and on May 30, we will hold the World Cup draw at Al Hussein Cultural Centre in Amman, which will be attended by many distinguished guests," she said.

Nassar added that tickets will be available afterwards online and they will be sold at "affordable prices", while the official song will also be released soon. 

"We will hold a tour to show the prestigious trophy all over the Kingdom in order to enable Jordanians to take photos with it," she added. 

Sami Majali, the president of the Higher Council for Youth (HCY), said work is ongoing to prepare the facilities to host the matches. 

"HCY is in charge of 70 per cent of the infrastructure, while the Greater Amman Municipality is in charge of 30 per cent. The pitch of the Amman International Stadium is ready, while the pitch of Prince Al Hassan Stadium [in Irbid] will be ready in 10 days and the Prince Mohammad Stadium [in Zarqa] has been ready for a month," Majali told reporters.

"All the chairs are also ready and they will be numbered soon," he said, adding that large screens have been set up at the three sports cities that will host the matches. 

During the championship, over the course of 22 days, 16 teams will play 32 matches on four stadiums in Amman, Irbid and Zarqa.

The Amman International Stadium, in Al Hussein Youth City, has a capacity of 13,000. 

The King Abdullah International Stadium, located in King Abdullah II Sports City in Qweismeh, has a capacity of 12,000.

Irbid's Prince Al Hassan Stadium, located at Al Hassan Sports City, 88km north of Amman, has a capacity of 12,000.

Prince Mohammad Stadium, in Zarqa, can accommodate 12,000 spectators and is 33km northeast of Amman.

Majali said the training facilities are almost ready, with some work on their infrastructure remaining.

LOC Chairman Salah Sabra said a security committee has been formed that includes all the security agencies in the Kingdom, adding that safety will be guaranteed during the tournament. 

AMMAN — The Central Traffic Department (CTD) said on Wednesday that tickets will be issued to motorists who change their lanes without alerting other drivers.

CTD Director Col. Basem Kharabsheh said changing lanes without signalling to other motorists is one of the most dangerous and common practices by Jordanian motorists that cause accidents and traffic jams around the Kingdom. 

As of Wednesday, traffic cameras started monitoring cars on the streets for unexpected change of lanes, Kharabsheh said.

“Changing lanes on intersections and traffic lights increases the number of road accidents in many areas around the country,” he told The Jordan Times.

The official noted that the new regulation includes motorists who take the left or right lanes but drive in another direction and those who double park.

“When drivers decide to change their lane, other cars have to slow down to let them pass, this causes road accidents and jams; it is the strategy of ‘filling in the blank’ that we have here in Jordan,” he said. 

According to Majdi Alaween, head of Greater Amman Municipality’s cameras department, there are around 40 cameras in Amman, with around five on traffic lights.

He told The Jordan Times that the municipality will install 120 cameras within the next few months on different roads around the Kingdom, adding that tickets for traffic violations are issued mainly for double parking, not abiding by road signs, and speeding. 

By the end of July 2015, 72,290 traffic accidents were recorded in the Kingdom resulting in 338 deaths and 6,102 injuries, according to Public Security Department figures.

Around 8 per cent of the 1.42 million vehicles registered in the Kingdom are involved in causing traffic accidents each year, Jordan Insurance Federation President Ali Wazani said in previous remarks to The Jordan Times.

Wazani noted that the number of cars involved in accidents is around 114,000 on a yearly basis.