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AMMAN — As the holiday season approaches, Caritas Jordan and the Latin Archdiocese are collaborating to open a soup kitchen within the next two weeks to offer free meals to the underprivileged around the Kingdom, according to Caritas’ media office.

The “Restaurant of Mercy” initiative originated from a series of projects held by Caritas and will be offering around 300 to 500 meals per day to its visitors, Dana Shahin, communications officer at Caritas, said on Saturday.

“The project falls under the Caritas winter campaign that provides the poor with food coupons and winter-related items like clothes,” she told The Jordan Times.

“Our aim this year is to reach around 15,000 families across the country, this will hopefully be accomplished before opening the restaurant,” she added.

“The soup kitchen is for everyone; no one will be questioned about their identity… it will be open for all people regardless of ethnicity, religion or nationality; everyone is welcome,” Shahin said.

She added that the plan is to fulfill the needs of as many people as possible, so they can enjoy the holiday season.

The soup kitchen is scheduled to open on December 23 and will continue its service after the Christmas season ends, according to Shahin.

She said the venue will be in Amman’s Jabal Luweibdeh, near Paris Circle, where the Catholic printing house used to be. 

Founded in 1967, Caritas is a non-governmental organisation that is associated with the Catholic Church to deal with the humanitarian needs that emerged from the war and the displacement of the Palestinian people.

AMMAN — Ahmad Al Qassem arrived in his Mercedes station wagon outside Al Wifaq Mosque in Amman’s Tlaa Al Ali area as people were heading to perform the afternoon prayer. 

He unloaded boxes from the car and started arranging a collection of clothes on the sidewalk, waiting for worshippers to leave the mosque to check out the products he sells. 

The collection included shirts, trousers, underwear, socks and winter jackets. 

Qassem told The Jordan Times that he is a regular street vendor outside the mosque, and that the items he sells are of good quality and affordable prices. 

Prices of shirts, he said, range between JD7 and JD10. 

“Most of the people who pray at this mosque are regular customers,” he said. 

People who were on their way to the mosque were greeting Qassem and asking him if he would be showcasing new products. 

Nearly 15 minutes later, worshippers left the mosque and stopped by to see the collection the vendor was displaying. 

A customer was interested in buying a coat. He tried it on and then started bargaining with Qassem to receive the best price. 

The vendor asked for JD25. But the costumer offered only JD15. 

At the end of the bargain, which is a common practice in Jordan, a deal was made. 

The coat was sold for JD18. 

Qassem is one of many street vendors who choose to display their items, such as food, clothes and vegetables, outside mosques, particularly during Friday prayers. 

AMMAN — MP Khalil Atiyeh said Saturday that he will sue journalist Ibrahim Qbeilat for “defamatory” remarks and “baseless” accusations he made in an opinion piece.

Local news websites published an op-ed by Qbeilat in which he criticised Atiyyeh for never championing the currently suspended Al Arab Al Yawm daily the way he has been supporting Alquds Alarabi newspaper.

Qbeilat also claimed that Atiyeh has remained silent towards the cause of Al Arab Al Yawm although it was a national newspaper whose lay offs and then closure have deeply harmed dozens of Jordanian families.

During last week’s Lower House session, Atiyeh called on the government to lift the ban imposed on the publication of Alquds Alarabi Arab daily, reminding the government of its pledges to defend press freedom. 

In remarks to The Jordan Times, Atiyeh said he “relentlessly” defended Al Arab Al Yawm during the time it suffered from financial and administrative problems that led to its closure last year. 

“You can Google that,” he said. “I was the most outspoken MP defending Al Arab Al Yawm under the Dome and elsewhere.”

“Now, the issue of Al Arab Al Yawm’s dismissed journalists is being looked into by the judiciary and, under the Constitution, I cannot interfere.”

Qbeilat ended his article by charging that the Elections Law brings “incompetent” MPs to the House, who are incapable of handling decisive matters and whose main concern is to serve their voters and regions.

“Anybody who reads this concluding sentence will understand that the writer has classified me as an incompetent deputy,” Atiyeh said. 

“What about the 20,000 citizens who voted for me? Are they all ignorant?” he asked.

“Unless Qbeilat apologises, I will move ahead with a lawsuit against him. This is my right,” the MP said.   

AMMAN — Jordanian manufacturers are keen to export to Africa and want the authorities to help them access the market, which they say can make up the losses local industrialists have incurred by the closure of traditional markets in the region. 

During a workshop on the African market, titled "Going to… Africa", representatives of the industry sector stressed the need for diplomatic representation for Jordan in the continent as embassies or trade offices can prepare information on the market and its needs of goods. 

Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI) President Adnan Abul Ragheb urged the government to launch trade missions to African countries to explore export opportunities and identify the goods and commodities they need. 

Abul Ragheb said local products can compete in Africa due to their high quality and affordable prices, indicating that there is an opportunity for a number of industries such as pharmaceuticals, construction material and cosmetics to expand into the African market. 

Minister of Transport Ayman Hatahet and Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Maha Ali attended the workshop, held Thursday by the JCI in cooperation with the USAID Jordan Competitiveness Programme, Danish-Arab Partnership and maritime shipping company Maersk Line.

Ali said the government, in cooperation with the private sector, is working to explore the African market and that a study is being prepared, adding that Africa has never been considered as an important market by the authorities or the private sector, but due to shrinking export destinations because of regional unrest and the closure of Iraqi and Syrian markets, it is now important to penetrate new markets. 

She noted that a trade mission is going to visit Ethiopia in the coming days to study business opportunities there, and the government is also working to boost economic ties with a number of countries on the continent. 

Hatahet said the African market should be seen by the public and private sectors as permanent and not only an alternative export destination, citing Djibouti as an important market that can facilitate the entry of Jordanian goods to other countries. 

He called on maritime shipment companies to offer cheaper fares to Africa. 

USAID Mission Director Jim Barnhart said the agency is working with the government on preparing a study on the African market to identify export opportunities there, and it is also working with the JCI to reduce the challenges facing local industries. 

At present, exports to Africa represent only 2.5 per cent of the overall value of the Kingdom's exports to international markets, according to JCI Director Maher Mahrouq. 

More cooperation between the public and private sectors can raise the volume of exports to much higher levels, Mahrouq said. 

AMMAN — The Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) and several students on Saturday criticised a recent decision to hold the General Secondary Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) once every academic year.

Under a decision by the Education Council, one Tawjihi examination session will be held every year, instead of two, starting from the 2016-17 scholastic year. 

In a statement, the Education Ministry announced that it will make the necessary arrangements to implement the decision, which is in line with the recommendation of the Educational Development Conference held earlier this year.

However, the JTA noted that the decision would "increase anxiety, fear and the burden on students, their parents and educators". 

"The fate of students after 12 years of school is determined by the Tawjihi. The decision will negatively affect them, especially as a lot of pressure is already placed on them during the last year of school," JTA Spokesperson Ayman Okour told The Jordan Times.

He added that splitting final exams to two sessions used to give students "time to breathe" and allow them to concentrate on their studies more. 

"On the other hand, the ministry is yet to decide how students will retake the exams they fail in. They used to have a second chance in the two-session system," he added. 

Teacher Hussam Awad said the ministry should have worked on innovation and quality in education instead of focusing on restoring the prestige of the exam. 

Maher Armouti, who will sit for Tawjihi next year, expressed his "shock" over the decision.

"I used to tease my older brother who sat for one session in 2003. He keeps saying it was a bad decision and I used to tell him that his days were over. Now I will go through the same thing. Just my luck," the 17-year-old student told The Jordan Times. 

He noted that his "biggest fear" is that the literary stream is "stuffed with materials to memorise" and that being tested for "lengthy subjects" at one session would make him forget the information.

"The two sessions used to give students the chance to understand more and not panic about having to be tested on the whole textbook at one sitting," the JTA spokesperson said. 

In remarks last Thursday to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat said holding one Tawjihi session every year will have a positive impact on students since they will be tested in fewer courses.

Students will be tested for some courses only at their schools, Thneibat added, noting that fewer subjects will also be counted in the Tawjihi score.

The two-session examination system costs the ministry around JD25 million, with each session requiring over four-and-a-half months of preparations.

Students' scores on Tawjihi decides their fate in higher education, in terms of which university they can apply to and what major to study.

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a March Criminal Court ruling sentencing two brothers to 10 years in prison for murder in 2013.

The defendants were convicted of murdering their uncle by “striking his head with an iron bar and leaving him to bleed to death on September 3, 2013".

The court said the victim was suffering from mental illness and “was the source of disturbance and shame for his family”.

On September 2, the court maintained, the victim decided to change a sink in the room where he lived alone in the same building with the defendants and an argument ensued between them about it.

“The three were engaged in a scuffle and the victim ran to a nearby shop half naked, which angered the defendants who thought he was going to complain against them,” the Criminal Court ruled.

The defendants, the Criminal Court maintained “decided to kill the victim to get rid of him and bury him without the authorities’ knowledge”.

The defendants brought the victim back to his room, tied him up “then beat him repeatedly on his head with an iron bar and left him there where he bled to death”, according to the eight-page verdict.

The court said in its ruling that it relied on DNA samples found on the iron bar, which belonged to one of the suspects, and the victim.

The defendants had contested the verdict stating that the Criminal Court “did not rely on all evidence and that it disqualified the main witness in the case".

But the Cassation Court, in a recent verdict, found that the Criminal Court’s ruling falls within the law and that the proceedings were proper and the sentence the defendants received is satisfactory.

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

AMMAN — The Kingdom will remain under the impact of a depression and a cold air mass which will bring below-average temperatures, rain and thunderstorms on Sunday, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said on Saturday.

The depression, centred over the Egyptian coast, will start affecting the southern region and move gradually to the northern and central regions, a JMD meteorologist said, noting that its impact will be limited to the eastern parts of the Kingdom.

The combined weather conditions were expected to start Saturday night, the weather forecaster said, noting that the weather will start to stabilise on Monday night.

A drop in temperatures is forecast for Sunday, when temperatures will be four degrees below their annual average of 15ºC for this time of the year, the meteorologist told The Jordan Times, noting that the depression and the cold air mass will end a week-long frost spell which brought temperatures to zero in Amman and -5ºC in the usually warm Jordan Valley.

The weather on Sunday will be cloudy and rainy, the forecaster said, adding that rain will be heavy at times and accompanied by thunder, lightning and hail, especially in hilly areas.

Daytime temperatures will be 11ºC, dropping to a low of 5ºC at night in the capital, while winds will be northwesterly moderate to brisk.

"By Sunday night, rainfall will become less heavy, but fog formation is expected in hilly areas," the meteorologist said.

The department issued several weather-related warnings to the public, urging people to avoid low-lying areas due to possible formation of flash floods, low road visibility due to fog and slippery roads due to rain.

Cold and cloudy weather is forecast for Monday, when temperatures will remain below their annual average for this time of the year, according to the JMD, which said that light rain is forecast, especially in the western region.

"On Monday night, the impact of the combined weather condition will start to ease off, but fog formation in the badia and southern mountains is expected," the meteorologist noted.

Temperatures will range between a high of 11ºC and a low of 4ºC in the capital, while winds will be northwesterly moderate to brisk, turning at night to southwesterly.

Relatively cold and partly cloudy weather is forecast for Tuesday, when a slight rise in mercury levels is expected, according to the weather forecaster, who said that temperatures will be 13ºC during the day and 5ºC at night in Amman, while winds will be southwesterly moderate.

AMMAN — Under a Royal makruma, 16 families on Saturday received the keys to their new houses in Jafer District, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The Royal makruma is implemented in coordination with the Royal Court, the Social Development Ministry and other relevant government parties, Petra reported.

AMMAN — Theophilos III, patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine and Jordan, on Saturday called on the world and the international community to stand by Jordan in its defence of Islamic and Christian sites in Jerusalem.

During his first official visit to Irbid, he commended the efforts of the Jordanian leadership, government and people in the face of Israeli practices against holy sites and against Muslim worshippers.

At his meeting with the Orthodox congregation in the north of Jordan, he noted that the church’s mission is to spread love, peace and brotherhood and to foster human values, based on mutual respect.

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh will participate on Monday in the international ministerial meeting in Rome on war-torn Libya, which Italy and the US have called for.

The conference will convene with the participation of international and regional parties entrusted with following up on the Libyan issue and in the presence of Martin Kobler, UN special representative for Libya.

Participants will work to support and urge the main parties in Libya to arrive at a political agreement and to agree on the formation of a national reconciliatory government, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.