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AMMAN — The current drop in gold prices —at its lowest globally since 2010 — is unlikely to spur Jordanians' demand for the precious metal, an informed source said Thursday.

Gold prices dropped to $1,064.55 per ounce on November 18, the lowest level since February 2010, according to Bloomberg.

"Demand on gold is usually flexible and has an inverse correlation with prices, but the fact that the decline was not sudden means it is unlikely to affect Jordanians' demand for gold," Jordan Jewellers Association (JIA) President Osama Imseeh told The Jordan Times.

He noted that the drop in prices witnessed in August and September of this year led to an increase in demand.

"The same happened two years ago… we were lucky back then, but now with the summer occasions and expatriates' visiting season both over, the demand on gold is very low," Imseeh noted.

He expected a further drop in global prices of gold.

Gold prices dropped on Wednesday, hovering just above the lowest level in nearly six years on pressure from a rebounding dollar after strong US economic data heightened expectations of an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month, according to Reuters.

The Economist also attributes the immediate reason for gold's woes to the "strong" dollar, explaining that gold is priced in dollars, so if the American currency goes up, investors mark down the yellow metal accordingly.

As shown by the JIA, on November 18 sale and purchase prices for 24-karat gold were JD27.100 and JD24.400 per gramme; JD22.100 and JD20.800 for 21-karat; and JD19.100 and JD17.300 for 18-karat.

AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma on Thursday attended an open day at Al Rajaa School for Deaf Students in Ruseifa, Zarqa, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The open day at the school, which is supervised and managed by the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), included several entertainment, awareness and cultural activities for the children and their parents.

Princess Basma also attended a panel that discussed means to improve education for deaf students at the school and listened to parents' comments and demands.

At the panel, also attended by Zarqa Governor Raed Odwan, Princess Basma noted that Al Rajaa School was one of JOHUD's first humanitarian initiatives, established in 1977.

During the open day, JOHUD and the Hello World Kids organisation signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at teaching coding and programming skills to Al Rajaa students. 

Some 140 girls and boys from Ruseifa, Amman and Zarqa study at the school.

Princess Basma also honoured Susan Teif, who was school principal from its establishment until 1998, Petra reported.

The school offers education from kindergarten to the General Secondary Education Examination Certificate stage for the scientific and literary streams.

Moreover, it provides educational services through a specialised cadre of 22 teachers offering systematic and extracurricular education, as well as free transportation.

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Thursday charged a 50-year-old man with manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of an Arab national earlier in the day in an Amman suburb, according to official sources.

The 35-year-old victim was fatally shot in the head, allegedly by the suspect, at around 5am in the Tlaa Al Ali neighbourhood, according to a statement released by the Public Security Department (PSD).

“The victim was wandering around in the area in the early hours of Thursday, and the building guard notified the residents of the building about him,” the PSD statement said.

The suspect and other residents asked the victim to leave “and he did leave briefly but returned to the building, so the suspect shot him with his gun, striking him in the head”, according to the PSD.

The suspect claimed that he “did not intend to kill the man but rather scare him away”, the PSD statement said.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Issam Haddidi, who questioned the suspect, decided to charge him with manslaughter, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

In his initial testimony to Haddidi, “the suspect claimed that the victim was wandering around in the area near the building in order to rob it and that is why he fired his weapon,” the judicial source maintained.

Haddidi ran a check on the victim and it was established that he had no criminal record and was not convicted of any robberies, the judicial source added.

Haddidi issued orders for the suspect to be detained for 15 days pending further investigation into the case and interrogation of more witnesses.

AMMAN — When asked how he reconciles a history of left-wing activism with his current role as minister of political and parliamentary affairs, Khaled Kalaldeh quotes a famous saying by German statesman Otto von Bismarck: “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best.”

The minister, born in 1955, said he was imprisoned several times in his youth due to his membership in the Jordanian Communist Party.

"One time, right after I came back from Romania, where I studied medicine, I was arrested for my Marxist ideology and affiliation with the Jordanian Communist Party. Then authorities confiscated my passport and banned me from travel and public service up to 1989," Kalaldeh told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

The minister said he was arrested again after the protests in the southern region in April 1989, which are said to have erupted due to rising prices and economic restructuring, and which led to the end of martial law and the resumption of political life in the Kingdom.

After the re-launch of the reform and democratisation process in 1989, which Kalaldeh described as a milestone year in the Kingdom’s political history, he was able to resume his political activities.

"I joined the Jordan Medical Association, through which I gradually resumed my political activism,” the minister recalled.

Kalaldeh and his “comrades” then established the "Leftist Socialist Movement" which, he noted, has been attracting young people in considerable numbers.

"Our work has been focused on building constructive opposition and proposing alternative programmes,” he said.

The politician connected his participation in government with leftist movements’ involvement in practical governance in many regions of the world.

"In the Leftist Socialist Movement, we moved from left-wing ideology to left-wing programmes, as is the case in Europe and Latin America. The left aims to find solutions to problems that affect the majority of people. This would be difficult to achieve from outside the government.”

Kalaldeh added that his political role was not a complete break from his original career in medicine.

"Most practitioners of politics are doctors because their profession brings them closer to people's needs and concerns. Politics is not only wars and conspiracies but endless work for the welfare of people,” he explained.

As a former member of the National Dialogue Committee formed in 2011, Kalaldeh is a strong supporter of enhancing democratic political life in Jordan.

“There need to be more efforts towards convincing young people to enrol in partisan life. This is the job of political parties."

He noted that this trend is especially pronounced on the political left.

"The leftist parties in Jordan have long suffered from marginalisation and this has had its impact on their fragmented situation nowadays. The decades-long crackdown on leftist parties has led to young people's reluctance to join them."

On where he hopes the reform process will lead, Kalaldeh said: "The culmination of the democratisation process should be a fully fledged parliamentary government that is held accountable before the people and a politicised Lower House."

However, he stressed that political life in Jordan needs development before this goal can be attained.

"At least for the time being, there is unfortunately no political party in Jordan capable of forming an influential majority and therefore a parliamentary government. There is a lot to be done."

AMMAN — Security forces on Thursday killed a suspect and arrested several others classified as "dangerous" during a raid in Balqa, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted a security source from the Interior Ministry as saying. 

The suspects were wanted for cases of murder, possession of automatic weapons, drug dealing and resisting arrest. 

The security forces faced intense shooting during the raid and returned fire, killing one of the suspects. 

The source did not give information on the number of detained suspects.

He said they possessed weapons and ammunition, adding that the operation was conducted after the concerned authorities had attempted other solutions, but the suspects refused to turn themselves in and continued violating the law. 

The Interior Ministry and its security entities will not allow anyone to break the law, the source said, commending the public's role and awareness of the importance of making every place in the Kingdom safe and stable.

The source urged all wanted suspects to turn themselves in to the relevant authorities. 

On Wednesday, Irbid police arrested 10 suspects wanted for several cases, Petra quoted an official source at the Irbid police department as saying. 

The suspects are being questioned in preparation for referring them to court, the source added, noting that the campaign to arrest wanted suspects will continue.

AMMAN — Stable weather conditions are forecast in the Kingdom over the weekend, with “above average” temperatures, a forecaster at Arabiaweather.com said Thursday.

“Temperatures during the weekend will be higher than average, with calm winds,” Omar Dajani of Arabiaweather.com told The Jordan Times. 

According to the Jordan Meteorological Department's National Forecasting Centre, temperatures in Amman are expected to reach a maximum of 20°C and drop to a minimum of 11°C on Friday, while forecast highs elsewhere are 21°C in the badia, 28°C at the Dead Sea and 30°C in Aqaba. 

On Saturday, temperatures are forecast to range between a high of 22°C and a low of 11°C in the capital and between 22°C and 10°C in the badia, while the maximum temperatures at the Dead Sea and in Aqaba will remain at 28°C and 30°C respectively. 

Dajani said the weather will be suitable for trips around the country.

Temperatures are expected to decrease slightly in several parts of the Kingdom on Sunday, when Amman is forecast to record a maximum temperature of 18°C and a minimum of 10°C, compared to 19°C and 9°C in the badia, 24°C and 16°C at the Dead Sea, and 27°C and19°C in Aqaba. 

The forecaster noted that there is a chance of light rain on Sunday.

Signs of unstable weather conditions are expected to emerge on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Dajani. 

AMMAN — Jordanian Ruba Jaradat has assumed her new duties as the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) assistant director general and regional director for Arab states, based at the regional office in Beirut, the agency said in a statement released Thursday.

"Jaradat brings with her extensive experience in designing and managing complex and highly visible economic growth programmes on the national level, and in leading teams through strategy development and implementation," the ILO said. 

She has managed programmes with budgets exceeding $300 million and engaging over 250 multinational staff. She holds a PhD in management and international development from the United Kingdom.

“I sincerely look forward to working with our tripartite partners in the region — governments, workers and employers — to create jobs, extend social protection, increase social dialogue and guarantee rights at work, towards making decent work and social justice a reality for all,” the statement quoted Jaradat as saying upon assuming her new duties in Beirut this week.

In 2013, Jaradat took on her most recent role prior to joining the ILO when she established and managed the Jordan Strategy Forum, a private sector-funded think tank in Jordan. 

From 2005 to 2008, Jaradat managed the USAID Jordan Cash Transfer Programme that helped improve fiscal conditions and business environments in the country; and from 2008 to 2013 she managed the USAID Economic Development Programme that created 63,000 jobs, the statement said. 

She has also previously worked as an international business development consultant in higher education in the UK.

Jaradat chairs the board of Jordan’s British Universities Alumni Association and is a member of several councils, including the Advisory Committee of the Euro Mediterranean Council, the Jordan Economic and Social Council, the Jordan National Competitiveness and Innovation Council, and the UK Arab Partnership Initiative.

She holds several certificates in economics and leadership from international institutions such as Harvard University, the World Bank Institute, Georgia State University and the US Federal Institute, according to the statement.

AMMAN — The Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) on Thursday announced the arrest of 24 suspected drug dealers and addicts in Sahab earlier in the day. 

AND agents arrested the suspects during consecutive raids on seven houses in Sahab, some 22km southeast of Amman, a senior AND official said.
“No one was injured in any of the raids that were conducted at dawn by our teams,” the official told The Jordan Times on condition of anonymity.
He said the raids were continuation of a similar operation in Sahab earlier this month.

Thirteen suspects were arrested in the mid-November raids, which targeted nine houses and resulted in the confiscation of guns, automatic rifles, money earned from illicit drug transactions and various illegal narcotics.

“Thursday's raid in Sahab is the last one because we believe that we have arrested all the targeted suspects,” the AND official said. 

AND agents seized several illicit drugs and three weapons, according to a statement released by the Public Security Department (PSD).

The suspects were referred to the State Security Court prosecutor for further questioning and indictment, according to the PSD.

Meanwhile, the AND official said no arrests were made in connection with a shooting incident on Sahab Mayor Abbas Maharmeh's house on Sunday.

Maharmeh said unknown gunmen shot at his house and vehicles in retaliation for the anti-drug campaign taking place in Sahab.

The mayor noted that he “received a threat earlier in the month by individuals following a drug raid by AND”.

The AND official said Maharmeh did not file any complaint against anyone, adding that “all our investigations indicated that the 24 suspects arrested on Thursday had nothing to do with the shooting incident at his house and vehicles.”

AMMAN — Facebook users on Thursday said people should be careful about what they post on social networking sites and avoid unwittingly revealing intimate secrets and personal details.

Publishing photographs, personal confessions and accounts of every move is a "dangerous habit", according to many users.

"I personally do not reveal anything on my Facebook account. Anything I write or post becomes public and open for everyone to see in cyberspace. Why would I do that?" Rayya Haj Abed, a nurse at a private hospital, told The Jordan Times.

"I am shocked when I see some of my Facebook friends post very personal comments about how they feel and why, or who hurt them and what they plan to do over the weekend. Some even swear at or slander someone, thinking that no one can see this on the Internet," Haj Abed said.

Mahmoud Hammoudeh, an IT student at a private university in Amman, said using Facebook for networking and meeting new friends, and staying in touch with acquaintances is a great thing.

Yet Hammoudeh, 20, said he was forced to drop many of his Facebook contacts over the past few months due to their "silly remarks and exaggeration in posts".

"Some of my friends on Facebook post pictures of everything they do, like whenever they cooked something at home, while others revealed secrets about fights between their parents. This is ridiculous," the IT student said over the phone.

"People do not differentiate nowadays between making general comments and revealing very personal and sensitive details and characteristics on Facebook," he stressed.

Fares Yousef, a salesman at a garment import company in Amman, said more awareness is needed on how to use social media properly.

“People think social networks are like an open space with no one around. They don't recognise that anything they post is in cyberspace and can be seen,” Yousef said.

“Facebook is a good website to connect people together and it should be used for good causes, not for silly and trivial comments and posts,” he added.

AMMAN — Shorouq was 22 years old when her employer raped her; she became pregnant and her son was taken away from her.

Shorouq, not her real name, told her story from behind a curtain at the Regency Hotel during the launch of a civil coalition campaign demanding the cancellation of Article 308 of the Penal Code.

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).

“He was 49 and he tricked me and my family by pretending to be a good and trustworthy man... in the beginning he treated me like his daughter,” Shorouq said.

The woman, who paused for few seconds because she was crying, said her employer raped her six months after she started working at his house and shop and she became pregnant.

“I was afraid to tell anyone about my pregnancy in the beginning out of fear that my family would kill me in the name of family honour,” she said.

But her family was understanding and she filed a complaint against him after he divorced her and he was imprisoned.

“He used Article 308 and married me to avoid going to prison then divorced me and refused to admit that the child was his,” she said in a shaky voice.

A DNA test conducted by the court indicated that he was the biological father, Shorouq added.

The child was taken away from her. 

“I want my son back. Please help me,” she pleaded to civil society representatives, lawyers, journalists and activists attending the launch. 

Asma Khader, a former minister and current chairwoman of Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI) in Jordan said Article 308 should be scrapped.

 “This article came to our law books from the Napoleonic Code, which stemmed from a patriarchal society that aimed at controlling women’s bodies," Khader said.

"It is not part of our culture or religion, and it is insulting to women in Jordan," she added, noting that France cancelled a similar provision in 1994, Spain in the mid-1980s and Egypt and Morocco in previous years.

“I don't see why we cannot cancel this article here in Jordan,” said Senator Mai Abul Samen, who acted as patron at the launch.

“Article 308 constitutes two crimes against women — the rape incident that goes unpunished and then marrying the victim to her rapist,” Abul Samen added.

“This law should be scrapped from our Penal Code and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that this step is taken adequately and seriously.”

All proposed changes to the Penal Code, including Article 308, are “currently under review by the Legislation and Opinion Bureau” which is affiliated with the Prime Ministry.

They must pass through both Houses of Parliament and receive the King’s ratification before they can go into effect.

The one-day event, part of the Kingdom’s activities to mark 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, was organised by the SIGI Jordan office and supported by a USAID-funded project implemented by FHI360, a nonprofit human development organisation dedicated to improving lives by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions.

Other activities include radio statements as well as TV interviews and workshops in various parts of the Kingdom.

SIGI’s campaign to scrap the controversial provision, organised with a coalition comprising 52 civil community organisations, includes daily messages in a local daily on the results of a study it conducted to reflect Jordanians' attitudes towards Article 308.

One of the major findings of the study revealed that 71 per cent of surveyed Jordanians were opposed to allowing perpetrators to escape punishment if they marry their victims as stipulated in Article 308.

Meanwhile, 73 per cent cited shame and honour as the reasons why victims are wed to their sexual offenders. The study also revealed that many of the women who married their sexual offenders ended up divorced before the three to five year legal period ended, and there was no legal prosecution by any party despite this breach.

Activists recently said that because of Article 308, “a staggering 95 per cent of rapists continue to go unpunished.”Lawyers, journalists, activists, and Muslim and Christian scholars have repeatedly called for the elimination of Article 308 and the adoption of better psychological and legal measures to protect victims of rape and molestation in Jordan.

Supporters of the article claim that “it is meant to protect the honour and reputation of the victim.”