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AMMAN — Scores of activists demonstrated in front of Al Husseini Mosque in downtown Amman after Friday prayers, demanding political and economic reform.

Participants called for social justice, combating corruption and improving people’s living conditions.

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality and the Department of Antiquities are preparing to revamp the Nymphaeum in downtown Amman, Mayor Aqel Biltaji said on Saturday.

Biltaji said the project will have a positive effect in promoting Amman as a tourist attraction.

Also on Saturday, Biltaji launched “Haretna Ahla” (our neighbourhood is more beautiful) initiative in Hawouz Park in Jabal Amman with the participation of local community leaders, volunteers and a number of GAM officials.

The initiative includes trimming the trees and painting murals at the park, in addition to maintaining the public facilities there.

AMMAN — A total of 362 companies from 35 countries have confirmed their participation in the 10th Special Operations Forces Exhibition (SOFEX 2014), which is scheduled to open on May 5, SOFEX Managing Director Amer Tabbaa said on Saturday.

This year’s participation is 10 per cent higher than last year’s, he said, underlining the importance of the exhibition in the Middle East and North Africa.

Preparations are under way to finalise this year’s exhibition, which marks the event’s two-decade milestone since its launch in 1996, Tabbaa added.

The exhibition, which will run through May 8, will be held in a space of 75,000 square metres at the King Abdullah I Airbase near Amman, with local, regional and international companies showcasing the latest special operations and technology equipment.

AMMAN — Accepting a friend request on Facebook nearly destroyed the life of an 11-year-old girl in Zarqa Governorate, leaving her traumatised with need of psychological treatment, according to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

“When the girl accepted the request, the person who befriended her on Facebook saw her profile picture and sent her a message saying he doubted that she was a girl,” said Lt. Col. Sahem Jamal, chief of the Cyber Crime Section at the Public Security Department’s CID.

“Then, he asked her to send him another picture of her to prove that she was a girl,” Jamal told The Jordan Times in an interview last week.

“The girl sent her picture to the man. After he received it, he started threatening her and telling her that he had her picture and would tell her father and family if she did not send him naked pictures of herself,” he added.

After repeated threats, the child sent her naked pictures to the man, fearing that he would tell her father, said Jamal.

“A few days later the girl told her mother, who rushed to the Criminal Investigation Department to complain,” he added. 

“The mother filed a complaint but said her husband would kill the girl if he found out, adding that she did not want to go to court as she didn’t want anyone knowing about the issue.”

Following investigation, CID experts identified the man who blackmailed the girl, arrested him and referred him to the prosecutor general.  He is in his 20s, Jamal noted.

The child is one of the many victims of cyber crime in Jordan, where there has been an increased rate of cyber threats and crimes against individuals, according to the CID official.

Eighty per cent of cyber crime victims in Jordan are women, who often face blackmailing attempts after criminals hack into their social media accounts and steal their personal photos, Jamal said.

Common cyber crimes in Jordan include sexual abuse of children, promoting prostitution online, blackmail, fraud, identity theft on social media networks and stealing credit card numbers, according to the CID.

“Women in particular need to be cautious. Sometimes when a woman ends her engagement, her ex-fiancé starts publishing her private pictures as a sort of revenge,” said Jamal.

“Girls and women need to be careful even with the pictures they save on their smartphones as sometimes these phones get lost or stolen and their pictures are then exposed.”

In 2013, the CID dealt with 1,300 cyber crimes, of which about 75 per cent involved women as victims, according to Jamal.

Men also victims

Although the majority of the victims are women, men are also common victims of blackmail or fraud.

One of the new crimes witnessed in Jordan is deceiving Jordanian men, who are usually in high managerial positions, into video-chatting with girls online.

Jamal said organised groups in Jordan and abroad, especially Morocco are usually behind these crimes, recording the men’s lewd conversations with the girls and blackmailing them.

“Many people came and complained to us. Many of them paid fearing that their videos would be published on YouTube. Some of the victims paid thousands of dinars and even when they paid, their chat videos were published,” said Jamal.

Jordanians lose millions of dollars in cyber frauds annually, he added.

“In 2013, a Jordanian businessman complained to us that he was defrauded. He transferred money to a company abroad that claimed to be investing in properties. 

“He sent them $1.7 million without even seeing the company or visiting their project. He was told by the company that his money had increased and that he made $4 million in profits. Then, when he contacted them to receive the money, they never answered,” Jamal added.

“When he complained, we discovered that the company was fake and through Interpol we managed to take the necessary measures to apprehend the suspects,” he said.

Since the beginning of this year, Jordanians have lost about $3 million in e-fraud, according to the CID.

Jamal said there are several laws that criminalise cyber crimes; however, there are some “loopholes” that need to be addressed.

“For example, in the case of the 11-year-old girl, the harasser’s actions cannot be criminalised. The Jordanian law says a sexual abuse crime occurs when the suspect touches the victim, and in the case of this girl, the criminal did not touch her; he did worse,” the official stressed.

“Laws need to be changed so that this type of criminal act is penalised properly,” he said.

“The man was referred to the prosecutor general, who has the authority to put him in jail for a maximum of one year. Therefore, there are legislative loopholes that need to be addressed.”

Many of the cyber crimes go unreported, said Jamal, stressing that people need not be ashamed of complaining, “but in many cases people do not complain fearing a scandal”.

“People can complain to us and we assure them we can identify those involved and hold them accountable. If someone’s Facebook account or e-mail is hacked, or if he/she faces any other kind of cyber crime he/she can come to us,” said Jamal.

“People should not believe every e-mail they receive from strangers. People should be prudent with the actions they take online, and parents should pay attention to their children.”

AMMAN — The Kingdom’s tourism sector experienced a rise in revenues and number of visitors in the first three months of 2014, compared to the same period a year earlier, according to an official report.

A Ministry of Tourism report issued on Thursday showed that revenues rose nearly JD728 million in the first quarter, an 11.1 per cent rise compared with the first quarter in 2013.

The number of both individual and group visitors also increased in that same period.

The report showed there has been a 4.7 per cent increase in the number of group visitors in the January-March period of the current year compared to the same period in 2013.

A total of 932,000 individual visitors came to the country in the period in question, with a 3.1 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2013, according to the Tourism Ministry.

Minister of Tourism Nidal Katamine said the rise in the number of tourists is due to efforts to promote Jordan as a destination for religious tourism, and to promote the Kingdom’s tourist attractions to residents of East Asian countries.

Jordan is home to several Christian and Islamic sites that attract visitors every year, such as the Baptism Site in the Jordan Valley, where Jesus Christ was baptised by John the Baptist according to Christian beliefs.

Muslims also visit the tombs of Prophet Mohammad’s companions in the northern and southern Mazar areas.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times, Katamine said there has been a rise in the number of visitors coming from Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

The number of Malaysian tourists increased by 42.2 per cent in the concerned period, and there was also a rise in the number of visitors from Pakistan (64.2 per cent), Bangladesh (48.8 per cent) and India (13.5 per cent), according to the report.

The minister said the improvement of tourism revenues has also had an impact on employment in the sector, which rose by 10 per cent.  

AMMAN — The Criminal Court sentenced a 24-year-old man to 10 years in prison after convicting him of murdering a man in an Amman suburb in October 2012.

The defendant first received the death penalty for shooting to death 19-year-old Ahmad Ziad while he was sleeping at his house in the Nuzha suburb, but his sentence was immediately commuted to 10 years in prison because the victim’s family dropped charges against him.

A 33-year-old man, who was also being tried for complicity in the premeditated murder, was acquitted by the tribunal for lack of evidence.

Court papers said the defendant plotted to murder Ziad because he would often interfere in the business of his family and harassed one of his divorced sisters.

The defendant attempted to kill the victim on October 15, but could not accomplish his mission because of the presence of many people around him, according to court papers.

The following day, the court added, the defendant brought a gun and shot the defendant twice in the back while he was sleeping and killed him.

The tribunal comprised judges Talal Aqrabawi, Ayman Ghzawi and Ashraf Abdullah.

The verdict, which was issued in late March, will automatically be reviewed by the Cassation Court within the next 30 days.

AMMAN — Temperatures on Sunday will be five degrees above their annual average during this time of the year, as the country continues to be influenced by unstable weather conditions, a meteorologist said on Saturday.

The unstable weather conditions started affecting the country on Saturday, when temperatures were eight degrees above their annual average of 22°C during this time of the year, according to a weather forecaster at the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

“The weather on Sunday will be relatively hot, dry and dusty as the unstable weather conditions continue to affect the Kingdom,” the meteorologist told The Jordan Times.

Temperatures will be 25°C during the day, dropping to 14°C at night in Amman, and winds will be northwesterly moderate to brisk, raising dust, he added.

“The department warns motorists of reduced road visibility due to dust across the country,” the weather forecaster said, expecting light showers on Sunday in the south and east of the Kingdom.

The above average temperatures, dust and dry weather during this time of the year are characteristics of a khamsini depression, the meteorologist said, noting that the current weather conditions are, however, not linked to a khamsini depression.

“A khamsini depression originates from the north of Africa, but the current unstable weather conditions are extending from the Arabian Peninsula, which is bringing in the hot and dusty weather,” the meteorologist noted.

The name is derived from “khamsin” — meaning 50 in Arabic — because it usually occurs during a 50-day time frame, from March 20 through May 9 or 10.

During this period, the Kingdom experiences multiple depressions bringing dusty and warm weather, according to the JMD.

Khamsini weather conditions affect the eastern part of the Mediterranean an average of once a week. 

The hot, sand-laden winds, originating from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, annually move east of the Mediterranean Sea around this time of year and are usually preceded by unseasonably high temperatures and dusty conditions.

The meteorologist highlighted that the impact of the unstable weather conditions will start to ease off by Sunday night.

Temperatures on Monday are expected to drop to around the annual average during this time of the year, the meteorologist said, noting that the weather will become fair, with mercury levels ranging between a high of 21 and a low of 10 at night in the capital.

A slight rise in temperatures is forecast for Tuesday, when an upper trough starts affecting the country.

The weather on Tuesday will be fair and temperatures will be 23°C during the day and 11°C at nighttime in Amman, according to the JMD.

AMMAN — Teacher-student interaction in the classroom should be aimed at encouraging critical thinking and creativity rather than spoon feeding, according to a former education minister.  

Speaking at a recent meeting for the Middle East Network for Innovative Learning and Teaching (MENIT), Adnan Badran, also a former prime minister, said the school environment in Jordan should encourage students to think for themselves instead of resorting to rote learning.

He added that Jordan is one of the countries that positively impacted the education sector in the Arab Gulf countries back in the 1980s, but “now” the Kingdom’s education sector needs improvement.

Other educators at the one-day meeting stressed the need to ensure a better quality of elementary education in the Kingdom.

Participants recommended that the Kingdom develop a comprehensive educational system that improves the school environment and hones students’ life skills, such as innovation and critical thinking.

In addition, they said the education system should take into consideration the academic, psychological, economic and social needs of all students.

Experts also recommended developing a curriculum that takes into account recent technological advancements, calling for the enhancement of teacher’s competency in a changing environment.

In addition, to encourage enrollment in vocational education, participants called for making the vocational stream available for students at early stages in parallel with academic fields.

MENIT is a regional network that seeks to empower educators from Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria to cooperate and contribute towards innovation and sustainable educational change.

AMMAN — Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) pilot Lt. Hazem Al Matar was laid to rest on Friday at his hometown of Mshaqer in a military funeral. 

Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Minister of Interior Hussein Majali on Friday participated in the funeral, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Majali conveyed the King’s deepest condolences to the pilot’s family.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben and several other senior army officers were also present at the funeral.

Wrapped in the Jordanian flag, the late Matar was laid to rest at the Islamic cemetery in Madaba, some 30km southwest of Amman. 

Matar’s father said his son has joined the martyrs who have died in the service of their nation, adding that Jordan has been offering martyr after martyr since the Great Arab Revolt in 1916, Petra reported.

HRH Crown Prince Hussein deputised Maj. Gen. Mohammad Zu’bi, deputy director of the Public Security Department, on Saturday to convey his condolences to Al Matar/Al Ajarmeh family.

The lieutenant was killed on Thursday when his F-5 fighter jet crashed during a training mission.

The military said the incident took place at around 8am while a number of RJAF aircraft were on a training mission. 

Over the past few years, several air force pilots have lost their lives in similar accidents, mostly during routine flights or training, including a lieutenant colonel and his trainee in May last year.

AMMAN — Civil Service Bureau President Khalaf Hmeisat on Thursday said an agreement the bureau signed with its Bahraini counterpart this week would improve governance in the two countries.

During a meeting with his Bahraini counterpart, Ahmad Bin Zayed Al Zayed, Hmeisat noted that the bureau is working on opening channels with state agencies and creating linkages with Gulf institutions, including Bahrain, in order to enhance the exchange of Arab expertise in the labour market.