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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday called Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and expressed his sympathies over the fall of several Saudi army men while on duty in Yemen, according to a Royal Court statement.

His Majesty stressed Jordan’s stance in standing next to Saudi Arabia and solidarity with the families of the deceased.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah left Monday on a working visit to China and South Korea, according to a Royal Court statement.

His Majesty’s visit will include a series of meetings in Beijing, including a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior officials over bilateral ties, and regional and international developments.

In the Chinese city of Yinchuan, the King will attend the inauguration of the 2015 China-Arab States Expo, in which Jordan is taking part as an honorary guest.

In the capital of South Korea, Seoul, His Majesty will hold talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and senior officials, discussing bilateral relations in different fields, and regional and international developments. Moreover, the King will attend economic activities in the southeastern Asian country.

HRH Prince Raad, Chief Chamberlain, was sworn as Regent.

AMMAN — A Royal Decree was issued on Monday adding the 2015 parliamentary elections bill and an amended version of the army officers’ service law to the agenda of the current extraordinary session.

Last week, the government endorsed the draft elections law, removing from the keystone reform bill the longstanding one-person, one-vote electoral system. 

Under the proposed version of the law, which is based on the open proportional list at the governorate level, the number of Lower House members was reduced to 130 from 150.

Under Article 9 of the 68-article law, eligible voters will have a number of votes equal to the number of seats allocated for their district in the Lower House.

During the elections, each eligible voter has to vote for a multi-member list as a whole and for individual candidates within the same ticket.

In previous remarks, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour expressed relief over the "positive" and "welcoming" public reaction to the new elections law, saying that citizens' understanding and approval of the draft law is a major achievement in the reform process.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet endorsed amendments to the Officers’ Service Law of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army.

The changes are in line with constitutional amendments which stipulate that the power of appointing the army chief and the director of the General Intelligence Department is vested in the King.

According to the Constitution, the list of laws on the agenda of parliamentary extraordinary sessions is closed and can only be modified by a Royal Decree. 

AMMAN — Public Security Department (PSD) personnel and Gendarmerie Department forces on Monday morning arrested 11 wanted suspects, two of whom are classified as dangerous, in raids in southern Amman, according to the PSD’s media centre.

Anti-narcotics and criminal investigation departments’ personnel monitored the suspects, wanted for car theft, fraud and drug dealing, to apprehend them, the PSD added.

After identifying their whereabouts, a joint force of gendarmes and Anti-Narcotics Department personnel raided eight houses in southern Amman and arrested the 11 suspects, the PSD said, adding that they are being questioned.

Upon searching the raided houses, the joint force seized eight stolen vehicles, drugs and two weapons, which, along with the suspects, were transferred to anti-narcotics and criminal investigation departments for further investigation, said the PSD, adding that no one was injured in the raids.

Also on Monday, Irbid PSD said its personnel during the past few weeks arrested 25 people for festive firing at social occasions.

Irbid PSD Director Brig. Gen. Anwar Tarawneh said weapons used in the shootings were seized and the arrested people were referred to Irbid Governor Saad Shihab who placed them under administrative detention, before they were transferred to the relevant judicial parties to issue proper penalties against them.

AMMAN — Jordan and India on Monday discussed ways to boost cooperation, especially in technical and development fields.

During a meeting with India’s Ambassador to Jordan Anil Trigunayat, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury highlighted the current challenges resulting from regional conditions, stressing that they will not impede the government’s development and reform programmes, according to a ministry statement.

He also highlighted economic burdens borne by Jordan as a result of hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees.

Fakhoury underscored the importance of the international community’s support for the Kingdom through direct aid to the government that can mitigate the impact of the crisis and help Jordan pursue its humanitarian mission. 

He stressed that the support for Jordan not only reflects on the country’s security but also on Europe’s and the world’s stability.

In this context, Trigunayat informed Fakhoury about India’s decision to extend, bilaterally, cash assistance of $0.5 million to the government of Jordan as part of the pledge made at the third Pledging Conference on Syria, which was held in Kuwait in March 2015.

The aid, which has already been transferred to Jordan, constitutes the first ever cash assistance from the Indian government to the Jordanian government, an embassy statement said.

The assistance seeks to reduce the impact of the refugee crisis on Jordan, which has received more than 600,000 Syrian refugees since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.

Last year, a total of $0.5 million was paid to Jordan Response Fund.

Over the past four years, around 4 million Syrian people fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, and around 6.5 million people have been internally displaced, according to UN figures.

Fakhoury commended the distinguished Indo-Jordanian relations and India’s assistance to meet the needs of Syrian refugees, the ministry statement said.

Discussions also addressed ways to increase cooperation in development projects, investments, technical assistance, scholarships and expertise exchange.

Also on Monday, Fakhoury met with the special French envoy to the Middle East and North Africa on climate change, Stéphane Gompertz, and France’s Ambassador to Jordan Caroline Dumas.

Gompertz is currently visiting Jordan to rally support for the 21th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change (CoP21), also known as the “2015 Paris Climate Change Conference”.

The conference will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015.

At the meeting, the two sides reviewed ongoing cooperation and Jordan’s role in reducing climate change.

Fakhoury highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts to eliminate climate change, citing transport-related and renewable energy projects and encouraging the use of hybrid and electric cars

He thanked the French government for its support to Jordan, expressing hope that France will further support Jordan’s projects in this domain.  

He also highlighted the country’s recently launched economic blueprint “Jordan 2025”, governorate development programmes and Jordan’s plans for decentralisation.

Gompertz commended Jordan’s ambitious projects on climate change and underlined the “Green Climate Fund”, which seeks to finance development projects to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Dumas stressed the strong Jordanian-French relations and her country’s continued support for Jordan, especially through the French Development Agency.

AMMAN — Umniah, a subsidiary of Batelco Bahrain, said Monday it will invest $500 million to introduce Fourth Generation (4G) services in the Kingdom and upgrade its network.

The company said the investment, which includes $100 million as licence fees to provide 4G services, will be spent between 2015 and 2017.

More than 1,600 towers will be installed across the Kingdom to start providing the service by early 2016, said Ihab Hinnawi, the company’s CEO.

“At launch time, the service will cover 90 per cent of the populated areas in Jordan,” Hinnawi told reporters, adding that it will provide high data transfer speeds of up to 150 megabits per second.

It will also meet demand on data consumption, which is expected to increase between 10 per cent and 15 per cent in the next few years, he said.

Zain Jordan and Orange Jordan also offer 4G services in the Kingdom.

ICT Minister Majd Shweikeh said the launch of the service will play an important role in realising Jordan’s aspirations in becoming a regional ICT hub.

4G services are a step towards the Internet of Things, where everything is connected and is likely to increase usage of e-services, said the minister, noting that some 70 per cent of the mobile devices in use are smartphones.

Ghazi Jbour, chief commissioner of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, said providing 4G services and increasing coverage across the Kingdom play an important role in realising a knowledge-based economy and boosting e-education and e-health services.

According to figures by the commission, the number of Internet users in Jordan reached almost 6 million by the end of the first quarter of this year with Internet penetration at 76 per cent. 

Mobile penetration reached 147 per cent at the end of March with 11.5 million active mobile subscriptions.

Although global figures and studies show that 4G is still a nascent technology, recent research by the Arab Advisors Group shows that nine Arab countries already provide 4G services, while 17 provide 3G services.  

AMMAN — Developing capacities in the fields of water and sanitation at the regional level is key to boosting cooperation in combating shared challenges, field experts said Monday.

Speaking at an event marking the conclusion of a programme on improving water and sanitation services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Water Minister Hazem Nasser highlighted the need for the integration of regional water resource management efforts, as national efforts are not enough.

He added that the geopolitical context and the demographic shift in populations in the region have caused a rise in water demand. 

The minister said water scarcity in the region should give impetus to further collaboration, as over 66 per cent of water resources in Arab countries originate from outside the region, and 10 Arab countries are among the world’s poorest countries in water.

Around 18 per cent of Arab world residents do not have access to water sources, while 24 per cent of the population does not receive sanitation services despite regional spending of $20-20 billion annually on water and sanitation, Nasser said. 

The USAID-funded MENA programme supported the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) in the development and delivery of regionally recognised water and wastewater treatment plant operator certifications and utility twinning exchanges, according to USAID Mission Director in Jordan Jim Barnhart.

Furthermore, the project expanded existing water and sanitation programmes in Jordan and Egypt, and supported ACWUA in scaling up operator certification for member countries and utilities across the MENA region.

Barnhart added that the programme sought to support community-based organisations in generating grass-roots solutions for water and sanitation challenges, making “considerable progress” in water and sanitation management.

Meanwhile, ACWUA Secretary General Khaldoun Khashman said the conclusion of the two-year-programme comes after seven years since the establishment of the association, which aims to boost exchange of knowledge and best practices among professionals.

The association also seeks to develop resources, facilitate training programmes and advocate for professional certification, he said, adding that ACWUA’s 2015-2019 strategic plan focuses on a professional certification pillar.

AMMAN — The China Homelife Jordan 2015 exhibition opened on Monday at the Amman Motor Show with the participation of more than 1,000 Chinese companies showcasing 10,000 products.

Trade Minister Maha Ali inaugurated the exhibition, held for the 12th time, on behalf of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour. Products at the fair, which will continue through Thursday, include construction materials, furniture, fabrics and food items, in addition to household appliances and energy-saving devices.

AMMAN — HRH Prince Hassan on Monday said Islam has warned against extremism and has always called on its followers to be tolerant and moderate.

During a meeting with students from public and private universities at the fifth Youth Forum organised by Yarmouk University, the prince explained that extremism is not only confined to religion as fundamentalism can be political and social.

Prince Hassan also stressed the need for a new intellectual communication approach that should be centered on establishing a relationship between religion and politics to achieve the sought-after reform around the world.  

AMMAN — The Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) on Sunday dispatched a convoy to Gaza with aid presented by a Bahraini relief aid society.

JHCO Secretary General Ayman Mifleh said the seven-truck convoy was laden with 40 prefabricated trailers, adding that the assistance was transported via Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army trucks to be delivered to the Palestinian housing ministry.