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AMMAN — The Amman Court of First Instance on Sunday continued looking into a lawsuit filed against YouTube owner Google Inc.

for broadcasting a video viewed as offensive to Prophet Mohammad.

Lawyer Duaa Zyoud, who represents the Jordan Bar Association’s Freedom Committee, said she watched the Arabic version of the anti-Islam video, “Innocence of Muslims”, through Google, adding that she faced no difficulty in browsing the website which has no warning of the film’s content.

The other members of the committee Adel Saqf El Hait and Faisal Khuzaai also attended the session in addition to Google’s lawyer, Ahmad Najdawi.

AMMAN — Senate President Abdur-Ra’uf S. Rawabdeh on Sunday met separately with the Norwegian and Tunisian ambassadors to Jordan and discussed bilateral ties and prospects for further cooperation.

At his meeting with Norwegian Ambassador Sissel Breie, Rawabdeh highlighted Jordan’s keenness to strengthen parliamentary ties with Norway.

Talks during the Senate president’s meeting with Tunisian Ambassador Afifah Mallah covered means to build on current relations.

AMMAN — The Education Ministry on Sunday concluded correcting the papers of the General Secondary Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) winter session.

A source from the ministry said it was still early to determine the pass rate, adding that the papers are now being examined before posting the results online.

Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat said in earlier remarks that the session results will be announced by mid-February.

AMMAN — Deputising for Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, Feisal Shboul, director general of the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on Sunday conveyed the premier’s condolences to the family of Fawzi Bassoumi, who passed away on Saturday.

Ensour paid tribute to Bassoumi, one of the founders of the Jordan News Agency.

Starting his career in journalism in 1954, Bassoumi worked at Ad Dustour Arabic daily and at several local and Arab newspapers.

AMMAN — A group of volunteers has began beautifying the capital's neighbourhoods by drawing graffiti on the walls and painting some of downtown Amman's old stairs.

Hiba Harahsha, who launched the initiative, said the idea came to her after she noticed that walls in the city only display the phone numbers of advertisers or inappropriate phrases.

"We wanted to turn these walls into beautiful works of art. The plan was to organise an event one Saturday, but then we decided to make it a regular event every Saturday," she told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Harahsha said the team now organises graffiti events in areas like Abu Nseir, Ras Al Ain and Jubeiha. They also work on painting walls near the Interior Ministry Circle.

She noted that around 30 volunteers and 10 painters took part in past activities.

"The theme of the paintings depends on the imagination of the painter, but we also suggested some themes."

The activity is part of Baderah, a voluntary initiative established in 2012 with the aim of encouraging the spirit of volunteerism among young people.

Harahsha said most volunteers did not have enough experience in painting, so artists used to draw the sketch and volunteers coloured them.

The team has supervised 15 paintings on walls near the Interior Ministry Circle, in addition to several other locations.

Rawan Rimawi, one of the volunteers, said she decided to keep working with the initiative after she saw the positive public reaction it received.

"Two old men told me that they have been using the stairs in the Abu Nseir area for 30 years and they always felt tired when climbing them. But now, the graffiti distracts them and they don't break a sweat," she added.

The paintings make these areas more beautiful and give another cultural dimension to Amman's neighbourhoods, Rimawi told The Jordan Times.

Harahsha said the next step is under way to write verses taken from the work of Jordanian poets as graffiti around the capital.

"This measure will introduce these poets to a great number of people. We will draw each poet's face alongside the verses that he/she wrote."

AMMAN — An agreement between the Health Ministry and the Sri Lankan embassy to facilitate the treatment of Sri Lankan workers in the country’s hospitals will be finalised soon, Gamini Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan ambassador to Jordan, said on Sunday.

“We hope to conclude it very soon,” Rajapaksa added. 

There are between 55,000 and 60,000 Sri Lankans in Jordan working either as domestic helpers or in factories, he noted, stressing that having such an agreement in place is very helpful.

The diplomat said Jordan is a good place for Sri Lankans to work, and there have been no complaints from those working in factories, but a few from domestic helpers.

Some domestic helpers have filed complaints related to payments, as some employers do not pay the agreed upon salaries or they do not allow them a day off every week as stated in the agreement with the Ministry of Labour, Rajapaksa said.

The embassy’s guest house is currently hosting 70 runaway domestic helpers.

“We either solve the problem with their employers or send them back to Sri Lanka,” Rajapaksa said in an interview with The Jordan Times to mark his country’s 66th independence day celebrated annually on February 4.

The ambassador said his country’s relations with Jordan are distinguished in all fields, but more work is needed to boost economic cooperation.

He noted that Jordan exports phosphate to his country and imports Sri Lankan tea, without elaborating on the bilateral trade volume.

Meanwhile, he noted that Sri Lanka is a popular destination for Jordanian honeymooners due to its diverse landscape.

“Sri Lanka is a safe place for tourists, and we are currently improving the infrastructure... many five star hotels are being built to attract more tourists,” Rajapaksa said, adding that 100,000 visitors from across the world come to Sri Lanka annually and their numbers are on the rise.

AMMAN — Jordan Nurses and Midwives Association President Mohammad Hatamleh will start staging a solo sit-in near the Prime Ministry as of Monday to demand an increase in public sector nurses' technical and overtime allowances.

Hatamleh said he will observe a two-hour sit-in every day until the government meets the association's demands.

"I will hold the sit-in alone as we nurses have a moral obligation towards patients," he told The Jordan Times on Sunday. 

"Nurses in the public sector wanted to hold a work-stoppage, but after discussions, we decided that only I will stage a sit-in so as not to affect services provided to patients."

The association is calling for increasing the technical allowance of staff nurses from 100 per cent of the basic salary to 120 per cent.

It also wants the technical allowance for practical and associate nurses raised from 40 per cent of the basic salary to 70 per cent.

In addition, the association is asking for increasing the overtime allowance from 30 per cent of the basic salary to 35 per cent of the overall paid salary for all nurses in the public sector.

"These are legitimate demands… there is pressure when it comes to working overtime for public sector nurses and it is fair to increase their allowance," Hatamleh said.

"I have been calling on the government to meet these demands for more than two years but to no avail. I am going ahead with my protest until the government meets all these demands," he added.

Health Ministry officials were unavailable for comment.

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday listened to a briefing by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on his ministry’s efforts to enhance interaction with Jordanian expatriates as part of its strategy. 

Ambassador Rasem Hashem, the foreign minister’s adviser, highlighted the important role expatriates play in serving the country and contributing to pushing the development process forward, noting that the ministry is working on establishing a database to identify the number of Jordanians living abroad, their locations and professions.

In addition, the ministry will organise a conference for expatriates this year with the participation of the public and private sectors in order to discuss their needs. 

Hashem was one of two diplomats who paid field visits to 28 cities in 14 countries, including the Gulf states, the US, Canada, European nations and Australia, and held talks with Jordanian expatriates to listen to their ideas, needs and recommendations. 

Following the briefing, the Council of Ministers tasked the Foreign Ministry with turning the recommendations into an executive plan within 60 days that will be presented to stakeholders and expatriates for feedback before being endorsed. 

The recommendations include establishing a general council for representatives of Jordanians working abroad, a commission that brings them all together and an expatriates’ investment fund. 

Also during Sunday’s meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, the Cabinet decided to allow the administration of the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts to receive financial and in-kind donations from public and private institutions to cover the event’s expenses. 

In addition, the Cabinet approved a cultural agreement between Jordan and Mexico, and endorsed a memo outlining the framework to negotiate a free trade agreement between the two countries.

The Cabinet also approved recommendations to select land plots in Jerash Governorate’s Aneibeh village as the location for an industrial city, taking into consideration the recommendations of the ministries of water and environment to ensure that the approved industries are eco-friendly.

AMMAN — A group of volunteers have began beautifying the capital's neighbourhoods by drawing graffiti on the walls and painting some of downtown Amman's old stairs.

Hiba Harahsha, who launched the initiative, said the idea came to her after she noticed that walls in the city only display the phone numbers of advertisers and other inappropriate phrases.

"We wanted to turn these walls into beautiful works of art. The plan was to organise an event one Saturday, but then we decided to make it a regular event every Saturday," she told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Harahsha said the team now organises graffiti events in areas like Abu Nseir, Ras Al Ain and Jubeiha. They also work on painting walls near the Interior Ministry Circle.

She noted that around 30 volunteers and 10 painters took part in past activities.

"The theme of the paintings depends on the imagination of the painter, but we also suggested some themes".

The activity is part of Baderah, a voluntary initiative established in 2012 with the aim of encouraging the spirit of volunteerism among young people.

Harahsha said most volunteers did not have enough experience in painting, so artists used to draw the sketch and the volunteers coloured them.

The team has supervised 15 paintings on walls near the Interior Ministry Circle, in addition to several other locations.

Rawan Rimawi, one of the volunteers, said she decided to keep working with the initiative after she saw the positive public reaction it received.

"Two old men told me that they have been using the stairs in Abu Nseir area for 30 years and they always feel tired when climbing them. But now, the graffiti distracts them and they don't break a sweat," she added.

The paintings make these areas more beautiful and give another cultural dimension to Amman's neighbourhoods, Rimawi told The Jordan Times.

Harahsha said the next step is underway to write verses taken from the work of Jordanian poets in graffiti around the capital.

"This measure will introduce these poets to a great number of people. We will draw each poet's face alongside the verses that he/she wrote."

AMMAN — Members of the National Initiative for Building (Zamzam) on Saturday organised a brainstorming session with ex-ministers, opinion leaders and journalists to discuss issues related to the reform process.

Attendees stressed the importance of drafting a new elections law as the basis of the envisioned reform.

Rheil Gharaibeh, former deputy overall leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and Zamzam co-founder, explained that Jordan can play a pivotal regional role in the light of its stability, which needs to be safeguarded to avert the turbulence sweeping other regional countries.

Former ministers Nabil Sharif and Musa Maaytah also stressed the need for achieving reform, indicating that dialogue should be the formula to reach a new elections law.