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AMMAN (JT) — The Cabinet decided on Sunday to exempt holders of temporary Jordanian passports from work permit and stamp fees, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The decision also includes any additional fees collected under the Labour Law.

AMMAN — A worker was in critical condition on Sunday after a rock fell on him at a construction site in the capital’s Khalda area, according to a Civil Defence Department (CDD) statement.

CDD cadres administered first aid to the worker and took him to Prince Hussein Public Hospital.

AMMAN — The Education Ministry on Sunday urged private schools to abide by the licensing regulation for 2015, under which they are not allowed to raise tuition fees during an academic year.

They are also not allowed to increase their fees by more than 5 per cent annually, provided that the ministry approves their justifications. The ministry called on students’ parents to inform the Private Education Department of any violations in this context, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.te

AMMAN — The Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) on Sunday said it is considering launching a new website to address training and employing engineers. The planned website aims at acquainting fresh graduates with training programmes the JEA offers in different engineering specialisations to arm them with employability skills, according to a JEA statement.

The website would also help engineers review available job opportunities inside the Kingdom and abroad in line with the association’s goals to reduce unemployment among its members, added the statement.

AMMAN — In its first executive office elections on Friday, the Muslim Brotherhood Society unanimously elected Abdul Majeed Thneibat as overall leader for a four-year term.

The society, which was founded and licensed last March, had elected Thneibat as interim overall leader for a six-month temporary period that was extended for another three extra months before conducting these elections.

The newly elected leader said the executive office of the society will meet on Sunday to discuss its plans and priorities for the upcoming four years.

One of the priorities, he noted, is to regulate internal issues, increase the number of affiliates and prepare for taking part in the next parliamentary elections, expected to take place this year.

Thneibat said a “preparatory” committee is working on the projected political party the society is planning to form in cooperation with members of the National Building Initiative (Zamzam), which is "a priority".

The new Brotherhood society was formed last year when the authorities approved a re-registration application filed by the reformist wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition group.

The move was led by Thneibat, who sought and succeeded in separating the Jordanian branch of the Brotherhood from its mother group in Egypt after decades of presence in that capacity.

The Muslim Brotherhood-Jordan was licensed in 1946 as a charity affiliated with the mother group in Egypt, and relicensed in 1953 as an Islamic society. 

AMMAN — The bombing of the Jordanian-Egyptian gas pipeline in Sinai does not affect the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted a government source as saying on Friday. 

The source told Petra that Jordan receives its gas supply through the Aqaba liquefied natural gas terminal. 

Electricity generation stations are supplied by around 350 million cubic feet of gas every day from the terminal, Petra reported. 

The Egyptian branch of the Daesh terrorist group on Thursday said it had bombed a pipeline that carries gas to the Kingdom and to a major industrial zone in north Sinai, AFP reported on Friday.

Security sources confirmed that attackers set off explosive devices under the pipeline close to Al Midan village in the north of the peninsula. They said the blasts did not cause any casualties.

North Sinai is a bastion of the "Sinai Province" group, the Egyptian affiliate of Daesh, according to AFP.

In a message posted on Twitter and signed by "Sinai Province", the terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

"By the name of God, not a drop of gas will reach Jordan until the caliphate gives its permission," the statement said.

AMMAN — Officials on Saturday said they were investigating Thursday's fire in a two-storey house in Sahab that left two women dead and four others injured.

The blaze, which erupted in two rooms in the first floor of the house, resulted in the death of two women aged 18 and 45, according to police and Civil Defence Department (CDD) officials.

“Both women received third degree burns and their bodies were charred,” a CDD official said.

Four other individuals were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and burns, the CDD official told The Jordan Times.

The deceased and the injured are all from the same family, according to a CDD statement.

“A committee was formed to investigate the incident and determine the cause of the fire,” a police official told The Jordan Times.

The police and CDD officials said it will take the committee around one week to reach a conclusion.

The victims’ bodies were transferred to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy, the CDD official said.

AMMAN — Police on Saturday said they were searching for suspects in connection with the shooting death of a 38-year-old man in Karak Governorate over the weekend.

The victim, identified by family members on social media as Turki Sarairah, was reportedly gunned down on Friday at his shop in Mutah town in Karak, some 140km south of Amman.

“A hooded man shot the victim twice in the head,” a senior police official source told The Jordan Times.

The official said no one has been arrested in connection with the shooting incident.

“Investigations are ongoing and we do not have any suspects,” the official added, noting that nothing was taken from the shop.

The victim is survived by his 35-year-old wife, a three-year-old daughter and a nine-month-old boy, according to a family member.

The area, where the shooting occurred, has witnessed heavy police presence, the family member told The Jordan Times.

AMMAN — The Cabinet is scheduled to conclude discussions on a petition to scrap Article 308 of the Penal Code on Sunday, the Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI) said Saturday. Article 308 stipulates that rapists, molesters and individuals engaged in consensual sex with girls under the age of 18 are spared punishment or legal prosecution if they marry their victims and stay with them for three years (in misdemeanour convictions) or five years (criminal conviction).

The Cabinet is discussing this issue after SIGI and the civil coalition demanding the cancellation of Article 308 of the Penal Code sent a memorandum regarding the issue to Basil Tarawneh, the government’s coordinator on human rights, in mid-December. The memorandum included the findings of a study highlighting Jordanians’ views of the provision, in addition to recommended amendments.

AMMAN — The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) prosecutor general on Saturday detained four suspects allegedly involved in bogus investments in Wadi Musa in the southern region. The four people are Mohammad Nasrat, his two brothers Abdullah and Ali, and Azmi Hazaa, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

A well-informed source from the ACC said that a search is under way to bring to justice all persons involved the case, Petra said. The ACC began investigating the issue in September last year based on a letter from the anti-money laundering unit and media reports on individuals who allegedly conned Wadi Musa residents into giving them substantial amounts of money to implement fraudulent investments.