Local

AMMAN — A 36-year-old man was found hanging with a rope around his neck in his house in the Khaldiyeh area, 17 kilometres southeast of Mafraq, the Public SecurityDepartment said on Tuesday.

The man, who purportedly committed suicide, was taken to Mafraq Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival, the Jordan News Agency, Petra reported. The body was transferred to the Forensic Medicine Department for autopsy to determine the cause of death, and police started an investigation into the incident. 

AMMAN — Royal Badia Forces personnel in the Safawi area on Tuesday found a 13-year-old boy who had lost his way in the desert two days ago.

According to the Public Security Department (PSD) media centre, the boy’s family had reported their son as missing when he did not return home.

PSD rescue teams and one helicopter, in cooperation with the Civil Defence Department, began searching for the boy immediately and finally found him at dawn on Tuesday. The boy said he got lost on his way to the sheep pasture and could not find his way home when it got dark. 

AMMAN — The Education Ministry concluded preparations for the General Secondary Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) 2015 winter session which starts on December 30 and ends on January 12, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Tuesday.

Education Ministry Spokesperson Walid Jallad said 158,819 students have registered for the exam.

AMMAN — Finance Minister Omar Malhas and French Ambassador to Jordan David Bertolotti on Tuesday discussed means to boost cooperation between the two countries.

They also discussed the French debt swap agreement for development projects that was signed in 1999, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. Malhas and Bertolotti reviewed the position of the development projects financed through the agreement. 

AMMAN — The embassy of the Republic of Poland in Amman has published a new book titled “Poland/V4 — Middle East Partnership”.

The publication comprises articles and speeches presented by prominent Jordanian, Polish and other scientists and researchers during the 7th International Interdisciplinary Conference in Amman on May 31 this year, according to the embassy.

Titled “Poland/V4 and the EU — Jordan and the Middle East”, the conference was organised by the Polish Embassy in cooperation with the embassies of the Czech Republic and Hungary in Amman, the West Asia — North Africa Institute, Al Rai Centre for Studies and the Jordan Europe Business Association. The book is edited by Polish Ambassador to Jordan Krzysztof Bojko.

AMMAN — CARE International will increase its budget in the Kingdom for the next year to $22 million, the Jordan News Agency, Petra quoted Salam Kanaan, country director at CARE International in Jordan, as saying on Tuesday.

The organisation spent around $18 million this year on its relief, emergency and development programmes in Jordan, for around 550,000 beneficiaries from the local community and refugees, she noted.

AMMAN — The Senate on Monday approved a proposal to draft a medical accountability law under which a specialised court will be established to look into malpractice cases.

The proposed law is among a set of recommendations by the Senate’s Health, Environment and Population Committee aiming at improving the country’s medical sector, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

According to Paragraph A of Article 95 of the Constitution, “Any ten or more senators or deputies may propose any law. Such proposal shall be referred to the committee concerned in the House for its views. 

“If the House is of the opinion that the proposal be accepted it shall refer it to the government for drafting it in the form of draft law, and to submit it to the House either during the same session or at the following session.”

In addition to a having a concise and clear definition of instances of medical malpractice, the projected law should stipulate the establishment of specialised judicial body to look into such cases, the committee recommended.   

At the session, Legislation and Opinion Bureau Director Nufan Ajarmeh said a draft medical accountability law is already being deliberated with several concerned parties, and the bill has all the validating reasons annexed to the senators’ version, Petra said.

Since 2007, four medical accountability draft laws have been put forward, but none of them was enacted, owing in large part to opposition from the Jordan Medical Association and other groups of medical professionals, who have argued that the proposed laws did not protect their rights.

Also during Monday’s session, Senator Ahmad Sweilmin was sworn in before the Senate as a new member.

AMMAN — Electric cabs will be offering rides on the country’s streets as of the end of this week, according to Noor Jordan for Transport — Taxi Moumayaz, which is the first company to introduce electric taxis in the country.

The company will replace its 400 gasoline-run taxis with 100 electric vehicles and 300 hybrid vehicles as of the end of this week, its chairman, Eid Abu Al Haj, said Monday. 

“These vehicles are less costly and cleaner for the environment; this falls in line with Jordan’s efforts towards increased adoption of green technology. Jordan is pioneering in the region in this regard,” Abu Al Haj told The Jordan Times over the phone.

The electric cars will be charged at several charging stations, he said.

“Work is also underway in cooperation with Nissan and the Greater Amman Municipality to build a solar-powered electric car charging station in Al Mahatta area in Amman.”

“Using these cars will help reduce oil consumption and result in savings of 70-75 per cent in cost,” Abu Al Haj noted, adding that the company has plans to increase the number of electric cars in the future.

Last month, the government announced that it has started a pioneering multi-phased project to switch the bulk of its public sector fleet to energy-efficient and eco-friendly electric vehicles.

The project’s first phase was launched in October 2015, with the introduction of 300 vehicles. 

Following an assessment of the first phase, the government plans to gradually replace all 20,000 public sector vehicles in service with electric cars, saving an estimated JD25-28 million annually. 

Facts on electric cars

• According to feasibility studies conducted during a pilot period, the cost of recharging electric vehicles consuming less than 750 kilowatts is between JD2.5 and JD15 per full charge.

• Tested electric vehicles travel 120-400 kilometres per full charge depending on vehicle type, while charging needs between 20 minutes and eight hours depending on capacity and charger type.

• The journey from Amman to Aqaba costs JD10-JD17 in electric vehicles compared to JD35-50 in gasoline-powered vehicles.

• The annual maintenance of gasoline vehicles costs between JD200-JD400 while for electric vehicles it is JD70.

Source: official figures

AMMAN — UNICEF and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) have launched a cash assistance programme that will allow vulnerable Syrian families in Zaatari and Azraq camps to buy winter clothes for all their children, a joint statement from the two agencies said.

This is the second year that UNICEF and WFP are partnering to provide support to vulnerable Syrian children during the winter, according to the statement, which was released Monday.

The one-time cash grant from UNICEF will provide JD20 each to a total of 51,851 children under the age of 18 in the two camps. 

The assistance will be delivered through electronic food vouchers (e-cards) provided by WFP to Syrian families to buy food every month. 

The money can be used to buy winter clothes at WFP-contracted supermarkets in the camps until mid-January 2016, the statement said.

“UNICEF’s top priority during the harsh winter months in Jordan is to ensure that vulnerable families are able to keep their children warm, healthy and active, and continue to attend schools and learning programmes,” the statement quoted UNICEF Representative to Jordan Robert Jenkins as saying. 

“Our partnership with WFP is highly significant as it enables us to use their cost efficient e-cards to provide support to every child in the two camps this winter,” he added.

Families in the camps are being informed through SMS, posters, flyers and awareness sessions with camp community leaders that the UNICEF cash assistance is for the winter needs of their children.

“We are very excited to partner with UNICEF again, particularly at such a crucial time in the year,” said WFP Jordan Country Director Mageed Yahia. 

“This collaboration demonstrates our solid commitment to the wellbeing of the children we support and brings to life WFP’s vision for stronger interagency partnership in Jordan,” the statement quoted him as saying.

UNICEF is reaching around 150,000 vulnerable children this winter in camps and host communities in Jordan with cash assistance and in-kind winter clothing in partnership with UNHCR, WFP and NGO partners. 

Through its e-card programme, WFP provides monthly food assistance to 523,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees in camps and communities in Jordan.

The 2015-2016 winterisation programme has been made possible through support from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department, and the governments of Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US, the statement said.

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld an April Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 20 years in prison for murdering his brother in Tafileh in June 2014 

The Criminal Court convicted the defendant of shooting his brother to death with a rifle over a personal dispute.

The Criminal Court decided to amend the premeditated murder charge to manslaughter and handed the defendant a 20-year prison term.

The court said the two brothers were constantly arguing and the defendant had often threatened to kill the victim.

A few days before the incident, the defendant sent his sons to the victim’s house and they set it ablaze, the Criminal Court verdict said.

“The defendant decided to kill his brother and on June 29 he went to his house and fired five rounds at him that killed him,” the court verdict said.   

The attorney general at the Criminal Court had contested the verdict stating that the tribunal should not amend the premeditated murder charge to manslaughter.

“The defendant plotted the murder and thought about it carefully and calmly and deserves a tougher punishment,” the attorney general said.

But the Cassation Court, which issued its ruling a few months ago, said the Criminal Court verdict falls within the law and that the defendant deserved the sentence he received.

“The prosecution failed to provide any evidence that the defendant plotted the murder, and it was evident to us that he committed the crime while in a state of anger. The plotting part does not exist,” the higher court ruled.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Mahmoud Ababneh, Basel Abu Anzeh, Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh and Hussein Sakran.