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AMMAN — Members of the British, Commonwealth, international and local communities gathered in the garden of the UK ambassador’s residence in Amman at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to remember the sacrifices of all those who gave their lives in conflict and war for the cause of peace and freedom.

World War I, during which 9 million people died and 27 million were wounded, ended at 11 o’clock on November 11, 1918, and the time and date have been commemorated ever since, according to a British embassy statement.

AMMAN — The West Asia-North Africa Institute (WANA), located in Amman and operating under the guidance of HRH Prince Hassan, has been selected as the 2015 winner of the Access to Justice award by the global law firm Clifford Chance, according to a statement released this week.

WANA will receive a donation of 50,000 euros from the Clifford Chance Foundation and 500 hours of pro bono work. Erica Harper, executive director of WANA Institute, said much of the region’s justice system does not afford equal opportunity and legal protection to women, which has brought on negative implications for economic growth, livelihoods, social equity and stability. 

She further remarked the funding and pro-bono staff hours provided through the award will allow the WANA Institute to further its work in women’s legal empowerment, including combining legislative reform with training for lawyers and judges and raising the awareness of women’s legal empowerment.

AMMAN — One man died and two people were injured on Thursday in a two-vehicle collision in Aqaba, the Civil Defence Department (CDD) said Thursday.

CDD cadres administered first aid to the injured and took them to Prince Hashem Military Hospital where they were listed in fair condition, according to a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Also on Thursday a 71-year-old man died after falling down the stairs of his house near the University of Jordan, according to the statement.

AMMAN — Border Guards received 155 Syrian refugees during the past 48 hours and transferred them to shelters and camps, an army source said Thursday.

Royal Medical Services cadres treated the ill and injured, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

AMMAN — Tourism Minister Nayef Al Fayez on Thursday voiced Jordan’s interest to cooperate with Cyprus in the field of religious, environment and medical tourism, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Fayez made his remarks during a meeting with Pafos Mayor Phedon Phedonos, during which he stressed the importance of attracting tourist groups and increasing flights between Larnaca and Amman. Phedonos commended Jordan’s tourist attractions.

AMMAN — The Jordan Media Institute (JMI) hosted a two-day meeting this week on youth programming on national television stations, drawing the attention of experts, media professionals and civil society advocates working on youth issues, according to a statement.

The effort was part of the “Youth on Screen” initiative funded by the EU and implemented by MedMedia and UNESCO-led NET-MED Youth programme. HRH Princess Rym Ali commended JMI in its readiness to give young people a voice and advance their issues.

Participants discussed how public service broadcasters can remain in touch with what young people want.

The sessions also included a presentation of the “content lab” concept, aimed at enabling young people to present their ideas and creative outputs to public service broadcasters.

JMI students also took part in the discussion and stressed that there was no lack of talent in Jordan, but funding opportunities are necessary to broadcast their work.

AMMAN — Jordan is reaching out to the Russian market to promote Aqaba as an alternative tourist destination after Moscow halted flights to Egypt, where Sharm El Sheikh was a popular vacationing spot for Russians.

Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Managing Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat on Thursday said “intensified contacts” are being made with Russian and British tour operators to promote trips to Aqaba, expecting “positive” results to be announced soon.

Russia stopped its flights to Egypt after a plane recently crashed over the Sinai desert. 

The aircraft, carrying 224 people on board, came apart in midair after taking off from the resort of Sharm El Sheikh, leaving no survivors, Agence France-Presse reported.

Tens of thousands of foreign tourists were stranded after flights were cancelled over security fears, according to AFP, which said over 25,000 Russian tourists, had returned home on more than 100 flights.

Aqaba, some 330km south of Amman, has a similar climate to Sharm El Sheikh.

Arabiyat said the Russian market is “important” for Jordan, and the government supports increasing allocations for tourist site promotion in the Russian market, due to its importance, according to a JTB statement.

He added that the JTB called on Royal Wings to offer competitive prices for the Russian market to encourage tourists to visit Jordan, and the airline agreed.

He expressed the JTB’s confidence that tourism offices and hotels will provide “encouraging” prices to Russian tour operators.

AMMAN — Research contributions from 15 Arab scientists were recognised at the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation (AHSF)’s Arab Researchers Awards ceremony for 2014 this week.

The 15 winners, from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine and Saudi Arabia, received awards from a jury chaired by Wajih Owais, head of the award’s scientific committee.

The ceremony, attended by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, included delegates from scientific research institutions in the Arab world, diplomatic missions in Jordan, and representatives from the private and public sectors.

Valentina Qussisiya, chief executive of the AHSF, stressed the need for concerted efforts from public and private sector organisations to guide and invest in scientific research.

“Nations that possess knowledge can control their own destiny. We need to expand research and innovation within educational, academic and research institutions in order to create a revival in our society,” she said at the ceremony.

A total of 146 candidates from universities and scientific institutions submitted their research for the awards, which were launched by the AHSF in 1982.

This year, two contributions won awards in the medicine and Health sciences category: “Genetic diseases and their impact on society”, by Sherif Al Khamisi from Egypt, and “Nutrition and Health”, shared by Saudi Arabia’s Nasser Al Daghri and Lebanon’s Lara Nasreddin.

Nasreddin, the only woman among the winners, said her presence there testified to the foundation’s and the Arab world’s support for women’s involvement in science.

“Women have entered all areas of studies in the Arab region, be it natural sciences, medicine, engineering or technology. A recent study has shown that the number of women studying these subjects in the Arab region is higher than in developed countries,” she noted at the ceremony.

“It’s really not easy for a woman to balance all her responsibilities at home with her responsibilities in the workplace; she is already at a disadvantage having to tackle both of these duties. I hope that the culture will change and that it will allow us women to be more involved in scientific research,” Nasreddin added in an interview with The Jordan Times.

In the category of engineering sciences, the awards went to Sherif Sedky of Egypt for his work on intelligent systems and Majed Al Aqeel of Saudi Arabia for his basic sciences research on technology and bioinformatics.

Mutaz Al Debei of Jordan and Sari Hanafi of Palestine shared the arts, humanities, social science and public administration award, while Fathi Hmeideh of Jordan and Saeed Al Thufri of Oman received the award for child development.

The award for agriculture sciences was presented to Mohammad Shatnawi and Ayed Al Abdallat of Jordan and Mutaz Ahmad of Egypt.

Lastly, Najeh Abdel Mutaleb and Abdul Nabi Qabeel from Egypt and Tareq Hussein from Jordan received the applied sciences award.

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has overturned a February Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 10 years in prison for murdering his brother in Madaba in 2013.

It ruled that the Criminal Court failed to check if the defendant committed the murder in a fit of fury.

Court papers said the victim was a drug addict and suffered from mental illness.

“The victim would constantly cause problems for his family and often threaten people when he was not on drugs,” the court documents said.

The defendant, along with another brother, had taken the victim to a rehabilitation centre for treatment on several occasions, the court added.

On July 10, according to the court, an argument ensued between the three brothers and they asked the victim to go on a trip to Madaba from Amman to calm him down.

“The argument became heated and the defendant pulled a gun and shot his brother once in the head,” the court said, adding that the two brothers left and the defendant reported his brother missing two days later.

On July 22, the victim’s body was discovered and the case was exposed.

The defendant claimed in court that he should benefit from Article 98 of the Penal Code because he committed the murder “in a moment of rage”, according to the verdict.

Article 98 stipulates that a person who commits a crime in a fit of fury caused by an unlawful act on the part of the victim benefits from a reduction in penalty.

However, the Cassation Court ruled that the Criminal Court did not examine whether the defendant “committed the murder in a moment of rage or if it was manslaughter”.

“The defendant had claimed that he committed his murder in a moment of rage but the Criminal Court did not indicate in its ruling if this issue was considered by the tribunal when they issued the verdict,” the five-page verdict said.

Therefore, the Cassation Court ruled, the verdict was overturned and returned to the Criminal Court to examine this specific factor.  

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

AMMAN — The Jordan Dental Association (JDA) is sending text messages to the public to warn them of “misleading” insurance cards that are being sold by private clinics and medical centres.

JDA President Ibrahim Tarawneh on Wednesday said the promotion of these insurance cards that “claim to cover dental health services” can be considered “fraud”. 

Noting that the practice has been around for 10 years, Tarawneh said the cards are sold at prices ranging between JD50 and JD60 by unlicensed companies, centres and clinics that are also not recognised by the Health Ministry.

“We are fighting this phenomenon because it violates the law,” the JDA president said.

“There is no such thing as ‘medical marketing’ in dentistry or any other medical field,” Tarawneh told The Jordan Times. 

He added that the association received several complaints that the names of some well-known dentists, who are no longer practicing, are written on the cards. 

“The complaints state that services are offered only once and after that the treatment is considered to be over regardless of the case, leaving patients wondering where to go to complete it,” Tarawneh said. 

“This is an embarrassing and an unethical act. Dentists should not sell misleading cards.”

According to the JDA president, the businesses promoting these cards are registered in the Trade and Supply Ministry as insurance companies, which — under the law — should not sell cards and call patients to advertise services.

“They are even at the airport selling the pre-paid cards to expatriates. This ruins the reputation of medical and dental services in Jordan.”  

Tarawneh said the association has prepared a plan in cooperation with the Health Ministry to raise public awareness of this issue, and also launched a media campaign that entails sending text messages to urge caution when dealing with these promotions.

Trade Ministry Spokesperson Yanal Barmawi said the companies are not licensed by the ministry; they only register their names with it. 

Moreover, Health Ministry Spokesperson Hatem Azruie told The Jordan Times that the ministry does not have any connection with the companies that sell the cards, noting that they are considered commercial firms and might be involved with private clinics.

“These companies are not considered medical. They only sell cards to patients; they are not licensed and violate many laws,” Azruie said. 

He added that the ministry will work with the JDA and the Trade Ministry to limit the spread of the phenomenon.

Qasem Rahahleh, director of the Health Ministry’s licences and professions department, said the ministry will coordinate with the JDA to identify the number of clinics that use these cards. 

“The ministry will evaluate the status of the clinics and centres that sell the insurance cards and will deal with the violations they have committed on a case-by-case basis,” he added.