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KABUL: Second Vice-Pres-
ident Mohammad Sarwar
Danesh inaugurated the Fifth
National Urban Conference ex-
hibition, at the Kabul Poly
Technic University, a statement
from his office said Monday.
The exhibition with the
motto of ‘City; a Bed for Devel-
VP Danesh opens 5th NationalUrban Conference exhibition
opment and Evolution is part of
the fifth national urban confer-
ence, showing various local
products, including handicrafts,
mine products, agriculture prod-
ucts, lands and city masterplans
from the country’s 34 provinces
in 62 booths, according to the
statement.
The conference, this year,
was held under three pivots
such as exhibition, scientific
pivots and proprietary, said the
statement. Vice-President Sar-
war Danesh addressing the par-
ticipants, said the results and
investigations of the fifth na-
tional urbanization conference
would be laid at the disposal of
researchers, universities and
scientific centers in written, in
order to help researches inves-
tigations.
“The more the structure of
urbanization and supplying ur-
ban service are important, the
more the culture of urbaniza-
tion is the key factor of the city
and urban life,” said the vice
president.
Holding of the fifth nation-
al urbanization conference, was
aimed at providing the ground
for better familiarity, as the
most important economic and
urbanization evolution cycle,
creation of proper opportunities
for exchange of views, securing
relations among scientific and
executive and offering modern
research achievements relating
to the urban precincts.
The Kabul Times
KABUL: First Vice-Presi-
dent, General Abdul Rashid
Dostum, met with the country’s
Head of National Directorate of
Security, Mohammad Masoum
Stanikzai and a number of Fary-
ab provincial commanders at his
office, on Monday, his office said
in a statement.
Both sides exchanged views
Militants controlled areasshould be retaken, VP Dostum
on security situation of the
northern zone of the country,
particularly Faryab province
and emphasized on retaking the
areas under the Taliban control,
said the statement.
First Vice-President Gener-
al Dostum instructed for deploy-
ing the armed men affiliated to
the provincial commanders,
who are fighting the enemy of
the people of Afghanistan, in
the framework of the local po-
lice and asked the local com-
manders to make their rows
stronger and firmly stay against
the enemy of the people of Af-
ghanistan, the statement said.
The Kabul Times
KABUL: President Moham-
mad Ashraf Ghani met yester-
day with Pakistan Foreign Min-
ister Shah Mehmood Qureshi
at Gul Khana Palace. In the
meeting, both sides discussed
bilateral relations, the Afghan-
led and Afghan-owned peace
President Ghanimeets Pakistan FM
process and next steps in intra-
Afghan negotiations, consider-
ing cooperation of regional and
world countries as significant in
this regard. According to anoth-
er report, acting minister of for-
eign affairs Salahuddin Rab-
bani in meeting with Pakistan
foreign minister said that rela-
tions between Afghanistan and
Pakistan was improving and con-
sidered Qureshi’s visit to Kabul
as sign of improvement of rela-
tions between the two countries,
stressing on direct talks between
Afghanistan government and the
Taliban group. In the meeting,
Pakistan foreign minister con-
sidered peace and stability in
Afghanistan as beneficial for Af-
ghanistan, stressing on further
efforts of his country for bring-
ing peace to Afghanistan.
The Kabul Times
KABUL: Acting minister of
information and culture Hasi-
na Safi visited Bakhtar News
Agency and heard its works and
problems.
In the visit to the agency,
director of BNA Khalil Menawi
briefed related to history of the
agency, activities of domestic
and foreign news departments,
website and various sections of
the agency.
Meanwhile, Menawi by
Minister Safi stresses better system forreforms within MoIC departments
pointing to achievements, works
and problems facing the agency
considered lack of sufficient sal-
aries and concessions, limited
possibilities, lack of transport
vehicles and lack of reporting
equipment as key problems of
the agency, asking the ministry
of information and culture for
attention in this regard.
Acting minister of informa-
tion and culture Hasina Safi
praised officials and employees
of Bakhtar News Agency for
their works, saying BNA was the
only news agency in Afghani-
stan.
Stressing on making better
system for bringing reforms in
relevant departments of the
ministry of information and
culture, Safi added necessary
steps would be taken for ad-
dressing problems of the respec-
tive agency.
The Kabul Times
Pakistan’s rolecrucial in
Afghan peaceprocess
KABUL: A 4,000-year-silverbowl with golden patterns,which was smuggled to Britain,returned home and submittedto the National Museum onMonday, BNA reported.
The looted valuable artifact,which was exhibited in the Lon-don Museum, has been re-turned to the country and hand-ed over to the director of Na-tional Museum, by the Turya-lay Gheyasi, head of cultural re-lations of the ministry of for-eign affairs, at the presence ofFazel Sancharaki, the deputy topublications ministry of infor-mation and culture, said theagency.
The deputy information andculture minister spoke on theoccasion and hoped all Afghan-istan’s historical and ancientrelics of the country to be re-
Valuable historical object returned to National Museum
turned home, with the effortsof the country’s political agen-cies abroad.
While submitting the his-torical object, Baba Khan Asla-mi, the first secretary of the
country’s political agency inLondon, briefed about it and saidthe artifact was seized from thesmugglers, by the British policeat an airport near London andtaken to the London Museum
for more investigation, accord-ing to the agency.
Experts branded the objectbelonged to Afghanistan, withits history returning to theBronze era and had a back-ground of nearly 4, 000-year ,the agency added.
The bowl has 12 centimeterslength and a capacity of twoglasses of water, made from ofthe country’s northern biggestsilver mine. Most of the coun-try’s ancient relics have beensmuggled out of countries, dur-ing the last civil wars and partof them have been recently re-turned to the country andlodged at the National Muse-um. This is while a vehicle tak-en to country before 70 yearssubmitted to the National Mu-seum earlier last week.
The Kabul Times
Kabul deeply saddened bytsunami in Indonesia
KABUL : Kabul on Monday
voiced its deep shock over the
loss of precious lives in a tsuna-
mi that battered Indonesia two
days back.
The Ministry of Foreign Af-
fairs in Kabul extended sympa-
thies and condolences to the
Indonesian government and
people over the death and de-
struction triggered by Satur-
day’s disaster.
Before the grief expressed
in a statement from the minis-
try, Chief Executive Abdullah
Abdullah tweeted: "Deeply sad-
dened by the losses and damage
caused by the tsunami in Indo-
nesia.
“Our thoughts and prayers
are with the victims, their fam-
ilies, government and people of
Indonesia," said Abdullah, a
former foreign minister.
The toll from the tsunami
touched off by a volcanic erup-
tion has climbed to 281 dead and
1,016 wounded, according to
media reports.
The Kabul Times
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Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Editorial
Twitter.com/thekabultimes
THE KABUL TIMES
Quoting western media,
some times before and simulta-
neously with Abu Dhabi meet-
ing, local media reported that
beside other issues in that meet-
ing, the issue of formation of
interim administration with the
participation of Taliban and
current government was draft-
ed by Taliban negotiators and
they had asked the US negotia-
tor that the leader of the inter-
im administration must be ap-
pointed by Taliban. But later on
this issue was rejected by Tali-
ban and the US chief negotia-
tor also strongly denied it and
said that such an issue has nev-
er been discussed.
Whereas the foreign media
Interim government to pushAfghanistan towards crisis
who released this report enjoy
particular reputotion and posi-
tion and its unlikely to publish
such an issue without scrutiny
and access to sources. Taking
into account the background
such as Bonn conference and
establishment of interim ad-
ministration with the partner-
ship of the then political move-
ments and parties some experts
believe that the issue of inter-
im administration was dis-
cussed somehow during these
talks, but due to possible reac-
tions, has been ignored for the
moment or denied.
Some political analysts have
also drafted such a plan and ex-
pressed opinion that it could be
a road in the direction of peace
restoration in Afghanistan.
Nevertheless the idea of for-
mation of interim administra-
tion is not adaptable with our
present conditions and current
realities of our society. Our to-
day’s situation frankly differs
from the conditions in 2001 in
which the participants of Bonn
Conference had agreed on in-
terim administration which lat-
er became an introduction to
formation of Afghanistan legal
government. At present Afghan-
istan is ruled by a lawful gov-
ernment based on the constitu-
tion which was approved in the
constitutional Loya Jirga, which
has been officially recognized
by absolute majority of the
world countries and interna-
tional organizations including
the UN. This government rep-
resents the Afghan people at the
global arena and has signed in-
ternational comentations on be
half of Afghan people and since
2001 has been an active and pos-
itive member of the internation-
al community, while before the
Bonn conference Afghanistan
lacked a lawful and national
government too. The Afghan
people have voted to it and in
all these years, sustained
countless sacrifices for its pro-
tection and safeguarding, here-
after they are ready to every
devotion. The Kabul Times
Pakistan foreign minister
Shah Mehmood Qureshi has
started his visit to regional coun-
tries. Qureshi paid a visit to
Kabul on Monday and briefed
Afghan leadership on recent
efforts for peace and reconcili-
ation in Afghanistan and ap-
prised them on efforts Pakistan
was undertaking for bringing
synergy among other regional
and international stakeholders
to facilitate an intra-Afghan di-
alogue.
While being accompanied
by the foreign secretary and oth-
er senior officials of Pakistan’s
ministry of foreign affairs,
Qureshi will also visit Iran,
China and Russia. The visit
came after two-day negotiations
held last week between US spe-
cial peace envoy to Afghanistan
ZalmayKhalilzada and repre-
sentatives of the Taliban group
in United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to reports, issues
of mutual interest, progress on
Afghan peace and reconcilia-
tion process and economic and
trade issues were discussed be-
tween Pakistan delegation led
by foreign minister and Afghan
side.
Pakistan FM visits Kabul tofacilitate intra-Afghan dialogue
Role of Pakistan in connec-
tion with Afghanistan peace-re-
lated issues has become much
highlighted. After the three-way
meeting between foreign min-
isters of Afghanistan, Pakistan
and China, the country claimed
that they would provide pave-
ment for the third round of di-
rect meeting between US offi-
cials and representatives of the
Taliban group in UAE.
Besides detailed exchange
of views on important areas of
bilateral cooperation, views will
also be exchanged on the fast-
changing regional and interna-
tional environment. Recent de-
velopments concerning peace
and reconciliation in Afghani-
stan would also be discussed
during these meetings.
“Pakistan has always main-
tained that the solution to the
conflict in Afghanistan lies in
an Afghan-led and Afghan-
owned peace process. Interna-
tional community’s recent con-
sensus to adopt this as the guid-
ing principle to resolve the 40-
years old Afghan conflict, vin-
dicates Pakistan’s long-held
view,” a press release from Pa-
kistan foreign ministry has
said.
Afghanistan government
has always asked Pakistan to
organize its policy based on
mutual interests and stop sup-
porting terrorist groups having
safe havens in Pakistan. There
is a vision that Pakistan wants
this time to cooperate with Af-
ghanistan in counter terrorism
as well as maintaining peace
and stability in the country.
In consideration to impact of
tensions in relations between
Afghanistan and Pakistan on re-
lations of Islamabad with the
region and the world, Pakistan
by adopting wisely policy can
improve better relations with
Kabul, or gap in relations be-
tween the two countries will
further increase.
Afghan experts believe that
peace talks with the Taliban
group have regional and world
dimensions; therefore, only
world pressures on Pakistan can
convince the country to help in
Afghan peace process. Although
Pakistan has pledged to pave the
way for intra-Afghan dialogue,
the Taliban group has not shown
readiness to hold direct talks
with Afghanistan government so
far.
LailumaNoori
The “war on terror” failed to bear the desired result and the mili-tary mission of the foreign forces was reduced to advisory role since-December 2014 and the Afghan forces remained in first line of thecombat against the insurgents.Despite of the sacrifices given in waron terror and establishing peace and stability in the country, the mil-itary action revealed not todiminish militancy in the country.
To mitigate insurgency, both Kabul and Washington sought to bringthe Taliban to negotiating table via Islamabad, which was believed tocarry much weight in this regard. Meanwhile, Pakistani officials prom-ised to use their “leverage” with a view to persuade the Taliban outfitto hold negotiations with Afghan government.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his dele-gation met with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in Kabul hereyesterday, Presidential Palace said in a statement. The two sides dis-cussed Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, bilateral issues, Afghan-led andAfghan-owned peace process and next steps after intra-Afghan talks,the statement said.
In this meeting, the importance of regional and world countries’cooperation was highlighted in the peace process of Afghanistan andPakistan’s Foreign Minister Qureshi said he had productive meet-ings with Afghan leaders on peace affairs.
“I’ve had productive meetings with the Afghan leadership. The peaceprocess is making positive headway. Next stop is Iran. Regional con-nectivity and a collective outlook are essential for progress,” Qureshitweeted.
The most important factor at this juncture of time is that Pakistanmust pursue its commitments with true intentions. Without Pakistan’ssincere support, no peace would be achieved in the country and it hasto understand that without combating the terrorism jointly it is im-possible to defeat it in both countries as they share a lengthy and po-rous border.
As president Ghani’s words, Afghans are seeking a long-seatedpeace; peace between Afghanistan and Pakistan and peace among thegovernment and armed opponents. There is an unexpected hostilitybetween the two countries, an issue which our friends in Pakistan havealso accepted, but in reaching to a prosperous future, it is neededtore-new efforts and joint cooperation, because militancy threats Afghani-stan, Pakistan and the whole region.
It is also important that both the countries must leave behind thepast and renew their efforts in this regard, as President Ghani says,“In order to reach to our future goals, we have to overcome the past.But going forward requires a movement and joint cooperation againstthe threats.”
Meanwhile, the regional stakeholders are of the belief that mili-tary deal will not tackle the unmitigated insurgency urging Pakistanto play its crucial role in Afghan peace process and push Taliban fortalks with Afghan government.
Therefore, if the neighboring country willing to see peace and sta-bility in Afghanistan, then it should push the group and for negotia-tions and shun those religious schools that training militants and sui-cide bombers.
There is no doubt in the fact that terrorism is now a regional andglobal problem and all the countries in the region and that of the worldmust support Afghanistan’s peace process, as it has been suffering themost from its loathsome consequences.
Pakistan’s role crucial inAfghan peace process
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Twitter.com/thekabultimes
In the course of history of
Afghanistan violence against
women is one of facts and bitter
realities and non-indulgent
that is existed always and in
some cases is changed into a
family tradition.
It is seen mostly that during
hearing of women problems and
challenges faced by her, the men
regard it as a shame and easily
the same remained unheard.
This causes the head-band of
family slowly descending and
finally causes a crisis. Love and
sentiments replace by violence
and cruelty.
The first members who taste
the bitter flavor of this behave
are the offsprings of the family
that instead of happiness and
kindness, they face with grim
faces of parents.
Violence against women has
historical roots in Afghanistan
and in the course of various
changes of the country appeared
in various figures.
Within recent one hundred
years, the situation, social and
legal position enjoying from
much ups and downs that had
their own impacts in their po-
litical destiny.
With taking the throne by
Amanullah Khan, in 1919 the
advocate king of revival of Af-
ghanistan constitution in Loya
Jirga of Paghman, he allotted
some articles of constitution to
social women freedom and
rights.
Premature marriages, hav-
ing multi-husband and expan-
sion of foreign languages and
compulsory education of wom-
en were mentioned in it.
Some articles of constitu-
tion were impressed by world
approach and the west consid-
eration that had no harmony
with the situation ruling in Af-
ghanistan in that time.
So, these reformation faced
with serious reaction of spiri-
tual figures of Afghanistan that
had much influence in the soci-
ety of this country.
Acceptance of forbidding of
multi-husbands was in contra-
diction with the instruction of
holy Quran as well as learning
of foreign languages was unac-
ceptable by religious scholars.
Finally, as a result of their
Roots of violence againstwomen in Afghanistan
measures, Amanullah Khan
was forced to cancellation and
adjustment of these two articles
and learning of religious teach-
ings prioritized over learning of
foreign languages.
King Amanullah began re-
moval of veil from his lady and
following it, he proclaimed that
after this, the women have no
right to enter into bazaar and
society along with veil and fe-
male also should dressed with
uniform and instead of giving
salutation, they should take
their hats from their heads.
Amanullah Khan failed to
execute his new laws and he
only did to reconcile his refor-
mation with traditional society
of the then Afghanistan.
The measures adopted by
Amanullah Khan in connection
with social situation of women
were exaggerated and had no
considerable achievement be-
hind.
The religious scholars stood
against reformation of Amanul-
lah Khan and the formers also
didn’t definite the social and
legal position of women from
Islamic point of view.
Islamic behave with women
in Afghanistan is always stylis-
tic, extremist and stems from
definition and wrong off-take
from religious jurisprudence.
Illegal fanaticisms were im-
posed on them and rule of Tali-
ban spured more the oppression
of women in Afghanistan and
the latters deprived from all
their civil, social and political
rights.
The doors of seminaries
and schools were closed before
women and they changed into
internal guardians of their fam-
ilies.
After collapse of Talban re-
gime and establishment of dem-
ocratic system in the country,
the definition of social life of
women was the issue that
should be executed seriously.
Adopting of measures in
this connection placing the con-
dition comparing the past to
positive change.
Referring of girls to schools
and universities, creation of
educational programs for giving
awareness to women about their
rights and law of non violence
against women created some
optimism in the connection.
One of the measures adopt-
ed during the rule of Hamid
Karzai in regard with social
stance of women was ratifica-
tion of convention for removal
of all forms of discriminations
against women that realization
of its provision is one of impor-
tant goals of ministry of women
affairs.
The important achievement
in the connection is ratification
of law of non violence against
women that based on 79th arti-
cle of constitution of Afghani-
stan and no.16th resolution of
council of ministers of Afghan-
istan is ratified by the then pres-
ident in 4 chapters and 44 arti-
cles.
In 2013, this law sent to par-
liament for approval that some
of its articles were belong to the
removal of compulsory marriag-
es and children situation.
As the violence against
women has its roots in our tra-
ditions that have wrong off takes
from religious teachings, com-
pilation of its legal articles had
their own problems and regard-
ed in contradiction with ground
reality of the society.
Creation of every kind of law
of forbidding of violence against
women should be in accord with
religious jurisprudence.
Anyway, removal of every
kind of violence against women
as the verses of holy Quran and
Islamic narrations confirm is
necessary.
The issue of divorce and its
daily increasing, forces thou-
sands of children to problems
such as deprivation from litera-
cy and in long run this causes
the process of human resources
be threatened and led the soci-
ety into a non haltering crisis.
The events occurred within
recent years such as stonning,
Kangaroo courts, beatings,
compulsory marriages and rape
in Afghanistan displayed bar-
baric picture against women.
Unfortunately, the thought
of extremism and petrified still
existed before social life of
women that wants serious fight-
ing in the connection.
The Kabul Times
Recently, in a decree issued
by the presidential palace, two
former heads of National Direc-
torate for Security (NDS) Asa-
dullah Khalid and Amrullah
Salih have been appointed as
the acting ministers of interior
and defense.
Welcoming the presidential
decree, a number of lawmakers
and experts call the step effec-
tive in ensuring security and a
serious message to the Taliban.
These changes have been
appeared while the presidential
elections is about to be held in
near future from one side and
peace efforts have been inten-
sified from the other.
A military expert, Atiqullah
Amarkhil says that currently
clashes are ongoing in a num-
ber of provinces and however,
the insurgents are willing to
peace talks, but besides, they
have also intensified their at-
tacks.
Appointment of Amrullah
Salih and Asadullah Khalid as
key security officials can be im-
perative to ensure security and
bring reforms in security enti-
Lawmakers, experts’ views onreplacing of senior security officials
ties, besides, these two figures
are expected to be severely the
opponents of the Taliban and
Pakistan, he added.
This comes as the presiden-
tial office says that the govern-
ment has planned to bring a se-
ries of reforms in the adminis-
trations’ leadership in which
selection of Amrullah Salih and
Asadullah Khalid as acting
ministers of interior and de-
fense is part of it.
Calling introduction of
these two figures important to
security entities, lower house of
the parliament says that they
can play key role in Afghani-
stan’s security situation im-
provement.
Right now, Afghanistan
needs such experienced individ-
uals, besides, the ministries of
interior and defense were in
need of some changes, they
stressed.
A lawmaker, Akbar Qasemi
said, “Considering current sit-
uation of Afghanistan, the se-
curity entities need military
leaders and the Afghan securi-
ty forces need professional min-
isters whom to be familiarized
with war methods.”
He believes that Amrullah
Salih and Asadullah Khalid
whom had earlier been work-
ing in security entities are ca-
pable enough to manage the
ongoing war.
Political experts say if essen-
tial authorizations are given to
these two candidate ministers,
positive changes would appear
in the country’s security situa-
tion, an action that would be a
good message to all citizens.
The step taken while 7000
US forces are expected to leave
Afghanistan in upcoming
months.
Experts believe that the in-
ternational community should
assure the newly appointed fig-
ures that they would continue
their financial assistances to
Afghan security forces even if
the peace process followed with
positive results, because, Af-
ghanistan needs professional
forces as the government
achievements’ protection is also
depended to them.
Suraya Raiszada
Water shortages worsen inAfghanistan as drought persistsAfghans are facing water
shortages due to the persistent
drought that has ravaged the
country this year.
In many places, including
the capital Kabul, local resi-
dents have to carry containers
to fill at water points several
times a day.
''Water used to be available
24 hours every day, but now it is
only available three to four
hours. More than 500 families
gather here to get water during
these few hours,'' said Sayed
Ali, a local resident.
In the past year, the amount
of precipitation dropped by more
than 50 percent compared with
that of average levels in most
parts of Afghanistan. Sixteen
out of 34 provinces are suffer-
ing from drought. This year is
even worse. La Nina has had a
devastating effect on the plant-
ing season, with a rain, snow
and sleet deficit of 70 percent
prevailing across most of the
country. In the 20 provinces
most affected by the drought,
nearly 15 million people rely on
farming, livestock or labour op-
portunities in agriculture. Of
these, an estimated 2 million
people will become severely
food insecure due to the drought.
According to the Afghani-
stan National Disaster Manage-
ment Authority, about two mil-
lion Afghans have been affect-
ed by the drought. Years of con-
flict have damaged the country's
infrastructure, making the sit-
uation even worse.
''Afghanistan lacks infra-
structure. The construction of
water projects including dams
has been slow. So when water
flows past Afghanistan, there is
no way to store it and just let it
flow right into neighbouring
countries,'' said Aslam Sayas,
the deputy director of Afghani-
stan National Disaster Manage-
ment Authority. Local media say
the drought has caused a fall in
crop production in the western
and northern parts of Afghani-
stan, and people in these areas
are on the edge of famine.
The total displacement due
to the drought has now reached
275,000 people. Aljazeera
Pakistan and strategy ofinfluence in Afghanistan
While nowadays Pakistan is
boosting on sincere cooperation
in the direction of Afghan peace
and Islamabad authorities ges-
ture before the public opinion
as well as the western officials
that have managed to bring Tal-
iban representatives to talks
table and have sat them face to
face with US special envoy. But
certain reactions of government
and secret services of that coun-
try indicate that as it was pre-
dicted and has always been in
this way that Pakistan govern-
ment has been exploiting the
phenomenon of peace talks in
favor its goals and strategy.
Based on the believe of cer-
tain aware sources, if the Tali-
ban representative say that they
do not talk with Afghan govern-
ment, or prior to everything the
timetable for foreign troops
withdrawal from Afghanistan
should be prepared or accord-
ing to some media reports that
the Taliban proposed formation
of an interim administration
and Taliban would introduce its
leader but later denied it, all
and all are advice and instruc-
tion of Pakistan to Taliban
aimed to prolong the talks pro-
cess or involvement of the oth-
er side.
The Pakistani authorities
specially the I.S.I networks
force the Taliban to extend the
talks process with taking up of
impractical and irrelevant is-
sues so either the opposite side
to submit to their demands or
become fed up and give up the
talks.
Experts believe that due to
its colonial nature before Af-
ghanistan and the region, ex-
ploiting its proxy forces, Paki-
stan intends to extend it influ-
ence into the region and maxi-
mamlly take advantage avail-
able opportunities for imple-
mentation of its short and long
term goals, otherwise in no cir-
cumstances and at no price the
Pakistanis allow Taliban and
other proxy elements to enter
talks deliberately and agree on
an effective and reliable solu-
tion. Instead they try to advice
and instruct Taliban negotia-
tors to pave the way for ensur-
ing of Pakistan interests and
goals.
Through exerting influence
on Taliban and their negotia-
tors the Pakistani authorities
want to set up their domination
on our country’s situation, ex-
tend it into our system and par-
ticularly plan to make further
investments in the province
along the Durand Line.
Seeking their strategic
depth into our country, the Pa-
kistani rulers have always been
attempting to exploit the limi-
tation of India’s interests ac-
cording to their opinion and
extension of their trade towards
Central Asia and even Russian
Federation.
Pakistan is thirsty of Cen-
tral Asia energy sources and is
in urgent need of markets for
selling of its products and
strongly believe that if a weak
and pro-Pakistan government
rule Afghanistan, she would
better and easier achieve and its
goals, would either have access
to energy sources of central Asia
or make economic transactions
through Afghanistan in over-
seas territories.
Taliban are Pakistani proxy
force in war and politics. Due to
their undeniable and frank in-
fluence and domination on Tal-
iban, Pakistan exploits them
simply in the direction of their
goals and strategy.
According to political ana-
lysts, Pakistan is playing indeed
with a card in the name of Tali-
ban and it has been proved that
in no case Pakistan gives au-
thority of talks and negotiation
to this faction and neither a
Taliban element is allowed to
negotiate deliberately and with-
out permission of Pakistan spy
agency with others. As prior to
this, every Talban who wanted
to take a step without Pakistan
permission and instruction on
war and peace, either was killed
or jailed.
The western negotiators are
required to notice this thrick of
Pakistan government and spy
agency and should know that the
practice of these two bodies are
different in word and action and
both lack essential sincerity.
Pakistan intends to deceive
the west, appears in the dress of
help and assistance in peace
process and end of war but in-
stead discussing impracticable
issues, to prolong the talks and
pave the way further for their
penetration into Afghan admin-
istration.
The Kabul Times
New technical training sec-
tion has been opened at Afghan-
Korea Vocational Training
Center (AKVTC) as the center
has increased further efforts to
provide better professional
trainings to Afghan youths in
capital Kabul.
A Memorandum of Under-
standing (MoU) for establish-
ment of the section has been
signed between officials of min-
istry of labor, industries associ-
ation and the AKVTC.
In opening ceremony of the
new technical section at the
center held the other day, min-
ister of labor, social affairs,
martyrs and disabled Faizullah
Zaki expressed hope that grad-
uates from the section could
address technical problems of
manufacturing factories in the
country.
“Ministry of Labor, Social
Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled
in coordination with AKVTC
will first train students for tech-
New technical training sectionopened at AKVTC
nical and administrative sec-
tions as electricity, computer
and developed parts of facto-
ries,” Zaki said, adding through
the section many people will
probably get employment.
According to officials to the
Afghan-Korea Vocational
Training Center (AKVTC), cur-
rently hundreds of Afghan
youths are engaged in receiv-
ing various vocational and pro-
fessional sections at the respec-
tive center.
“Training process of Afghan
professional workers and stu-
dents is underway at the center
based on demand of market,”
director of AKVTC said, adding
nearly 8,000 students including
female workers have graduated
from the center since 2005.
Meanwhile, deputy of Af-
ghanistan Chamber of Com-
merce and Industries Khanjan-
Alokozay says more technical
and professional workers of the
country’s manufacturing facto-
ries fare foreign citizens, but
hoping graduates of the cen-
ter’s technical section will re-
place most of them.
Nevertheless, a number of
Afghan youths graduating from
Afghan-Korea Vocational and
Training Center or from high-
er education institutes are fac-
ing with unemployment prob-
lem.
“Employment circumstanc-
es are critical in Afghanistan as
most of those youth graduating
from vocational centers even
higher education institutes are
employed. For example, I’ve
graduated from medicine, but I
am unemployed,” a medical fac-
ulty graduate Habibullah said,
asking the government to
launch uplift projects so that the
people can get job.
In the meantime, a Kabul
resident Asmatullah told The
Kabul Times: “Receiving voca-
tional training is a need for
youth in particular those who
are unemployed.”
He added that by receiving
training in computer, tailoring,
carpentry, electricity and other
technical sections Afghan
youths can get good-pay jobs and
resolve their problems, asking
the government of the Republic
of Korea to expand such train-
ing centers in all provinces of
the country so that those living
in remote provinces can receive
such vocational training.
Afghan experts also believe
that ministry of labor, social af-
fairs, martyrs and disabled has
the responsibility to provide
employment facilities to Afghan
youths, adding the ministry
should further work in collabo-
ration with donor countries to
launch short-term and long-
term training courses for Af-
ghan youth so that they can re-
ceive vocational and technical
courses and through this they
can get jobs in the country.
Shukria Kohistani
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
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Tuesday, December 25, 2018Provincial News
Air Forces target terrorists’hideouts; 6 rebels killed
TARINKOT CITY: Nearlysix anti-government militiaswere killed during an air attackcarried out by Afghan air forcesin southern Urozgan province.
The terrorists have been tar-
geted and killed by Afghan airforces in relevant areas ofTarinkot city the provincial cap-ital of the province.
Top ANA commander for thesouth of the country told BNA
correspondent, six militantswere killed and their hideoutcompletely have been destroyedfollowing the attack.
The insurgents were busy
on organizing a series of ter-
rorists and destructive activities
that targeted and killed, the
source added.
The Kabul Times
ANDSF discover, foil 33various type of mines
KANDAHAR CITY: AfghanNational Defense and SecurityForces (ANDSF) succeeded todiscover and defuse 33 round ofdifferent type of mines in south-ern Kandahar province.
The mines have been dis-covered and neutralized by Af-
ghan security personnel in vi-cinity of Spin Boldak district ofthe province.
Senior commander of Af-ghan National Army in thesouth of the country said BNAreporter, the mines had beenplanted by Taliban militants in
crowded areas of Spin Boldakdistrict.
No one was arrested yet, butefforts are underway to identi-fy and capture the culprits of themine plantings, the source add-ed.
The Kabul Times
Seven civilians martyred in roadsidemine blast in Ghazni
GHAZNI CITY: At least sevencivilians were martyred due toroadside mine blast in centralGhazni province the other day.
Mohammad Aref Noori spokes-man for Ghazni governor toldBNA reporter, the civilians waswas moving from Ghazni prov-
ince toward Paktia province thattheir vehicle was hit by a roadside mine in Shakhog region,Deh Yak district of Ghazni prov-
ince. Including women and chil-dren seven civilians were mar-tyred following the blast, Noori
added. The Kabul Times
Nine loyalists of Taliban,ISIS-K terrorist groups killed
JALALABAD CITY: At least9 loyalists of Islamic State forIraq and Syria-Khurasan andTaliban were killed during re-cent conflicts in eastern Nan-
garhar province.The terrorists have been tar-
geted by Afghan security forcesin relevant areas of Koot, DuorBaba and Sarkh Road districts
of the province. Spokesman ofNangarhar governor, AtaullahKhogyani told BNA reporter, asa result 9 fighters of Taliban andISIS-K were killed. The insur-
UNHCR provides assistance tovulnerable Afghans as harsh
winter arrivesKABUL: The United Nations
High Commissioner for Refu-gees (UNHCR) has providedwhat it said a life-saving assis-tance to some 150,000 of themost vulnerable people aimedat helping them survive theharsh winter, a statement fromthe organization said Monday.
“Afghanistan’s harsh win-ters mean that heating is a mat-ter of survival for people inmany parts of the country. Dur-ing the 2017-2018 winter sea-son, 33 out of 34 provinces wereaffected by extreme weatherconditions including heavysnowfall, avalanches and othernatural disasters,” said thestatement.
This winter, as part of coor-dinated efforts to provide emer-gency assistance to vulnerablepeople displaced by drought andconflict as well as vulnerablehost communities, recent re-turnees and refugees, the UNRefugee Agency (UNHCR), to-gether with the Ministry of Ref-ugees and Repatriation (MoRR)and a number of partners, aredistributing cash assistance tofamilies in all 34 provincesacross the country, according tothe statement.
As of 24 December 2018,over 58,000 of the most vulner-able have been reached as partof the annual winterization pro-gram. In total, UNHCR plans tosupport more than 150,000 Af-ghan returnees, internally dis-placed persons (IDPs), refugeesand members of host communi-ties across the country.
As part of the program, UN-HCR and MoRR are now dis-tributing assistance to some17,500 vulnerable Afghans in
Kabul. “Provision of support inthe form of unconditional cashassistance, approximately $200,for identified beneficiaries willhelp keep them dry and warmwhile long-term sustainablesolutions for protracted dis-placement are pursued,” saidFathiaa Abdalla, UNHCR’s Rep-resentative for Afghanistan.
From 1 November, UNHCRand MoRR, together with theirpartners, have jointly identifiedthose among the Afghan popu-lation who are most vulnerableto the winter conditions, includ-ing female heads of householdand families without income. Itis expected that some 30,000 in-dividuals in the Central region,including Kabul, will receivesupport to help them get throughthe harsh winter months. UN-HCR has already provided win-terization assistance to morethan 17,000 individuals in theNorth and North-Eastern prov-inces, over 33,000 in the West-ern region, and nearly 6,500 inthe Eastern region.
A total of 620,000 people areestimated countrywide to be inneed of assistance this winter.While humanitarian agenciesand the Afghan Governmentwill be able to provide over420,000 individuals (60,000 fam-ilies) with winterization assis-tance, there remains a gap of atleast 28,000 families still inneed.
Within this program, UNH-CR and its partners will supportsome 60,000 refugees from Pa-kistan along with the commu-nities hosting them in Khostand Paktika provinces to ensurethey are prepared for the win-ter. Cash-based interventions
provide social safety nets for thewinter and help ensure thatfamilies can priorities fueltypes according to the local mar-ket. It has become increasinglyclear that cash-based interven-tions play a key role in assist-ing people who have been dis-placed.
Additionally, as lead agencyof the Emergency Shelter andNon-Food Items Cluster thatsupports IDPs across the coun-try, UNHCR and its partners, incoordination with the AfghanGovernment, are also distribut-ing over 15,000 tents to drought-affected IDPs as part of a coor-dinated humanitarian re-sponse.
The distribution of family
tents to some 480 displaced fam-
ilies in Herat is ongoing while
it is expected to begin in
Badghis province this week.
These efforts are aimed at ad-
dressing the immediate critical
humanitarian needs of more
than 21,000 drought affected
families currently displaced
throughout the Western region.
Most of the displaced families
currently live in displacement
sites in Herat City and in sites
scattered in and around the
provincial capital of Badghis,
Qala-e-Naw.
So far this year, a total of
316,470 people have been veri-
fied as being displaced by con-
flict in 2018, according to
OCHA’s Displacement Track-
ing System (DTS). Overall, the
number of people displaced so
far this year is nearly 35 per-
cent less than the same period
last year of 485,310.
The Kabul Times
gents were busy on organizinga series of terrorist and destruc-tive activities that targeted andkilled, Khogyani added. TheKabul Times
�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
Tuesday, December 25, 2018Facebook.com/thekabultimes
A local cooking school is of-
fering classes for Afghan wom-
en who want to learn about Ca-
nadian food.
Run out of Mary Jane's
Cooking School, Flavours of
Home is a 12-week course that
covers everything from how and
where to buy ingredients, to safe
food handling practices, to de-
tailed recipes.
"That's an important part of
settlement, and to feel like you
belong as a Canadian," says
Mary Jane Eason, owner of
Mary Jane's Cooking School.
"If you go to a new country you
want to know how to cook their
food."
Eason has been running the
school for almost 20 years. It's a
registered charity funded by
The Winnipeg Foundation.
By trade, she's a trained nu-
tritionist, so healthy, organic
and environmentally friendly
cooking is a main tenet in all of
her classes. And Flavours of
Home is no exception.
Eason runs the class along-
side Ariana Yaftali, who immi-
grated from Afghanistan 15
years ago.
Yaftali is also the founder
of the Afghan Canadian Wom-
en's Organization. Earlier this
year, she approached Eason with
the idea for the class. She says
she thought it would really help
some of the women she works
with to settle in to a new com-
munity here in Winnipeg.
"Some of the women have
been here for years, and others
only two months," says Yaftali.
"They can gather and learn
from each other, and from Mary
Jane.
"They've come from differ-
ent backgrounds, social class,
even education, ethnic back-
ground. But what we do, we pro-
mote that if you're open to learn
and share, then you are most
welcome."
Yazidi refugee family cel-
ebrates Eid with solemn memo-
ries of loved ones
'It's comforting for them':
Program pairs refugee children
with culturally similar dolls
and stuffed bears
Yaftali says food can be a dif-
ficult part of the transition to
Canada for some Afghans. Many
of the ingredients they're used
to aren't available here and
Winnipeg doesn't have any Af-
ghan restaurants.
She says this class gets to
the heart of that difficulty.
"With the class the women
will know what to look for in
the grocery store and how to ask
for help finding it," says Yafta-
li.
Another big part of the class
is the language component.
Many of the women are still
learning English so the instruc-
tors make the recipes into mini
English lessons.
Eason instructs, while
Yaftali translates to Farsi or
Dari, and they hand out the pa-
per recipes in English.
Yaftali says it took a few
classes for some of the women
to catch on to the methods used
in Canadian cooking.
"They are all skilled cooks
in their own right but they
aren't really used to recipes,"
says Yaftali. "Afghan cooking
is about instinct."
She says she learned to
cook by watching her mother
and other elders. For those who
learned that way, exact mea-
surements can be a new con-
cept.
But that hasn't stopped any
of the women in the class from
jumping right in.
Tamama Afzaly, one of the
students in the class, says she's
having a lot of fun learning new
recipes — especially the ones
that involve baking.
Afzaly came to Canada al-
most two years ago. She does
most of the cooking for her hus-
band and their seven-year-old
daughter.
"[My daughter] likes cook-
ies and cakes; she likes the
sweet things," says Afzaly.
She says it's been harder to
get her daughter to eat some of
the other dishes she brings
home from the class but she's
going to keep trying because all
of the recipes are healthier than
what she learned to cook grow-
ing up in Afghanistan.
"That's what I like about
Canadian food," says Afzaly.
"In Afghanistan we don't use
like low salt-oil. Canadian food
is so healthy."
Hoping to keep the class go-
ing
The 12-week course came to
an end on Dec. 16, but they have
one more event planned to cap
the whole thing off.
Eason and Yaftali will hold
a completion ceremony for the
women and their families.
They'll gather at the school on
Sunday to hand out certificates,
share what they learned during
the course and enjoy some
homemade food.
"It's become a gathering
place for the women," says
Yaftali.
She says the women have
formed their own little commu-
nity and she hopes they can all
keep that going.
As for the class itself, she
wants to run it again in the new
year. Yaftali says she hopes to
get even more Afghan women
joining the next time around.
Eason says the school plans
to submit an application to the
Winnipeg Foundation for more
funding. She wants to open the
program to marginalized groups
throughout the city. She says
ideally, they'll be able to offer
classes to more than just new-
comers. CBC
Cooking class helps Afghanimmigrants feel at home in Canada
Top French court orders review ofAfghan interpreter's asylum request
France's highest adminis-
trative body, the Conseil d'Etat,
has ordered the authorities to
reconsider the visa request of
an Afghan man, who has re-
ceived threats from the Taliban
after working as an interpreter
for the French army.
The interpreter took his
case to French court after his
visa application was rejected in
2015.
French authorities have
been given a week to ensure the
safety of the interpreter and his
family by relocating them to a
secure part of the Afghan capi-
tal, Kabul, while his request is
reconsidered over the next two
months.
Caroline Decroix, vice-pres-
ident of a group of former Af-
ghan interpreters, said the de-
cision could provide a lifeline
for other former aides to the
French army who face threats
at home because they are con-
sidered traitors.
"The ruling by the Conseil
d'Etat gives the right of protec-
tion to aides and assistants. That
means all those whose requests
have been refused will have the
right to appeal."
More than 800 Afghans were
employed by the French army
up until its withdrawal in 2012.
Only 173 Afghan temporary
recruits have obtained visas to
come to France. RFI
The Second International Photography CompetitionTehran ICH Centre
Intangible Cultural Heritage and the YouthIntroduction
The Regional Research
Centre for Safeguarding Intan-
gible Cultural Heritage in West
and Central Asia, Under the
Auspices of UNESCO (Tehran
ICH Centre) works towards
achieving the following goals in
the central and west Asian re-
gion:
- to promote the Convention
for the Safeguarding of the In-
tangible Cultural Heritage
(ICH) - known as the 2003 Con-
vention - and its implementa-
tion in west and central Asia;
- to promote public aware-
ness and expert capacities in the
field of Intangible Cultural
Heritage;
- to strengthen capacities
and cooperation in the region
for identifying, inventorying
documenting and studying In-
tangible Cultural Heritage to
contribute to its safeguarding;
- to promote peace and
friendship, synergy, and sus-
tainable development in the re-
gion;
The geographical area as-
signed to Tehran ICH Centre
includes 24 countries. These
countries in alphabetic order
are: Afghanistan, Armenia, Az-
erbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia,
Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan,
Kuwait, the Kyrgyz Republic,
Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Pal-
estine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turk-
menistan, the United Arab
Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Ye-
men.
In alignment with the above-
mentioned goals and to attract
various demographics, especial-
ly the youth, to the concept of
ICH, and its expressions and
manifestations, Tehran ICH
Centre held its first interna-
tional photography competition
with the subject of “Intangible
Cultural Heritage in its Con-
text”.
What is Intangible Cultur-
al Heritage?
The “Intangible Cultural
Heritage” (ICH) means the
practices, representations, ex-
pressions, knowledge, skills –
as well as the instruments, ob-
jects, artefacts and associated
cultural spaces that communi-
ties, groups and, in some cases,
individuals recognise as part of
their cultural heritage. This In-
tangible Cultural Heritage,
while being transmitted from
generation to generation, is
constantly recreated by commu-
nities and groups in response
to their environment, their in-
teraction with nature and their
history, and provides them with
a sense of identity and continu-
ity, thus promoting respect for
cultural diversity and human
creativity.
For the 2003 Convention,
consideration will be given sole-
ly to such Intangible Cultural
Heritage as is compatible with:
- existing international hu-
man rights instruments,
- the requirements of mutu-
al respect among communities,
groups and individuals,
- And sustainable develop-
ment.
Within the framework of
the 2003 convention, only the
part of ICH that satisfies the
below conditions is considered
valid:
- be compatible with exist-
ing human rights instruments,
- adhere to the requirements
of mutual respect among com-
munities, groups and individu-
als
- be loyal to the principles
of sustainable development.
ICH Manifestations
The ICH manifestation can
be categorised to at least five do-
mains:
A- Oral traditions and ex-
pressions: songs, nursery
rhymes, lullabies, storytelling,
word games, work songs, etc.
B- Performing arts: music,
calligraphy, dance, puppet
shows, traditional theatre, etc.
C- Social practices, rituals
and festive events: festivals,
mourning ceremonies, gather-
ings, games, etc.
D- Knowledge and practices
concerning nature and the uni-
verse: traditional medicine, tra-
ditional architecture, tradition-
al navigation systems, tradi-
tional methods of utilising clean
energy, traditional manage-
ment systems;
E- Traditional craftsman-
ship: traditional knowledge and
skills of pottery-making, tex-
tilemaking, woodwork, metal-
work, jewellery-making, resto-
ration, painting, etc.
The History of Photography
Competition
In 2017 Tehran ICH Centre
held its first international pho-
tography competition, titled
“ICH in the Context” in Te-
hran.
In the first round of the com-
petition, 12 countries - Iran,
Tajikistan, Armenia, South
Korea, India, France, Kyr-
gyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbeki-
stan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Af-
ghanistan – participated. After
its initial evaluation, the refer-
ee panel put forward 403 photo-
graphs related to the subject of
the competition to the Secretar-
iat. After a specialised assess-
ment, 55 of the works were cho-
sen for the final stage of the
competition and the exhibition.
Finally, the referee panel rec-
ognised three works as the fi-
nal competition winners who
also received a cash prize. The
referee panel recognised five
works as deserving a certificate
of appreciation.
Subject of the Competition
Tehran ICH Centre will be
holding its second internation-
al photography completion ti-
tled “Intangible Cultural Heri-
tage and the Youth”.
It can be said that as future
generations of bearers and prac-
titioners of intangible cultural
heritage elements, the role of
the youth in the viability of in-
tangible cultural heritage is
such that the survival of the in-
tangible cultural heritage is
dependent on it blending with
the daily lives of the youth.
To accomplish this, the ef-
forts of the present generation,
in transferring intangible cul-
tural heritage to the next gen-
erations and creating a sense of
belonging to the heritage in
young people are essential.
This issue becomes more impor-
tant, given that the youth are
victims of the wave of cultural
homogenization at the nation-
al, regional, and global levels
the in the modern world. There-
fore, by organising this compe-
tition, Tehran ICH Centre in-
tends to attract the attention of
the people, especially the youth,
to the examples and manifesta-
tions of the intangible cultural
heritage as well as encouraging
them to protect and safeguard
their cultural heritage.
Youth receive the intangible
cultural heritage from their
previous generation and trans-
fer them to their next genera-
tions. As stated on the website
of UNESCO, regarding the
“transfer” of intangible heri-
tage: “Safeguarding ICH
means ensuring its viability
among today’s generations and
its continued transmission to
the generations of tomorrow.
Communities and groups of
practitioners and other tradi-
tion bearers everywhere in the
world have developed their own
systems for transmitting their
knowledge and skills, which
unfortunately, depended on oral
methods rather than written
texts”.1 On the other hand,
some experts claim, none of the
manifestations of intangible
heritage, even if repeated, are
identical, and clear signs of va-
riety, colourfulness, and recre-
ation can be seen in them. One
of the most prominent examples
of such manifestations is the
holding of national or regional
celebrations in which the diver-
sity of customs is evident both
in geographical and intergen-
erational levels. Moreover, Ar-
ticles 14 and 15 of the 2003
Convention are clear on the
above. To meet its goals and
duties, and to demonstrate di-
versity, colouration, and recre-
ation of intangible cultural her-
itage, and most importantly the
transfer of cultural heritage to
next generations, Tehran ICH
Centre aims to dedicate its sec-
ond international photography
competition to the subject of
“Intangible Cultural Heritage
and the Youth”.
The works should contain at
least one of the following: ?
Showcasing the presence and
participation of young people in
intangible cultural heritage
manifestations; ? Showcasing
the transfer of the cultural her-
itage element to the next gen-
eration; ? Showcasing diversi-
ty in the implementation or per-
formance or expression of an
element of cultural heritage
among generations; ? Showcas-
ing the participation of girls and
women.
Competition Objectives
1- To promote public aware-
ness on ICH,
2- To attract various groups
and communities, especially
the youth, to the expressions of
the intangible cultural heritage
and its importance in their ev-
eryday lives,
3- To attract the participa-
tion of photography enthusiasts
to help in identification and
highlighting the expressions of
ICH,
4- To create an appropriate
context for documentation of
the expressions of the intangi-
ble cultural heritage,
5- To identify and emphasise
the great role and the impor-
tance of photography in the
safeguarding of ICH.
Contest Participation Con-
ditions and Regulations
- The subject of sent works
must cover the ICH of 24 coun-
tries over the region
- It is free for anyone who is
interested in photography,
whether professional or ama-
teur.
- There no age limitations
for the competition.
- The Secretariat does not
put any limitation regarding
photography tools.
- Size of sent works should
be in the range of 500 kb up to 2
Mb in JPEG format. To display
the selected works at the final
exhibition, participants need to
send their selected photos with
the highest quality to Secretar-
iat.
- Participants need to pro-
vide Secretariat with the expla-
nation about the subject of their
works, as well as the time and
place.
- The sent photos must com-
ply with the regulations of the
Islamic Republic of Iran and
social norms. - Any change that
affects the genuineness of the
photos in anyway results in re-
moval from the competition.
- Evaluation in this compe-
tition will be done on every sin-
gle photo.
- The referee panel will
judge the photo subjects in ad-
dition to the technique.
- Insertion of any signs, sig-
natures, watermarks, dates, log-
os etc. results in the removal of
works from the competition.
- Participants should keep
the raw files of sent works so
that they can be sent to the Sec-
retariat if needed.
- The participants can only
send their entries to the Secre-
tariat, accompanied with their
complete details, using
ich_youth@tichct.ir.
- The Secretariat recognis-
es the sender of the photos as
the owner, and the Secretariat
has no responsibility for any
third-party claim.
- The Secretariat, while ob-
serving the copy rights of the
owners, is permitted to use the
sent works according to its dis-
cretion.
- Women, children and
young people are especially en-
couraged to participate.
- Sending the works and
participation in the competition
is considered the acceptance of
all the competition regulations
including the Secretariat deci-
sions in force majeure matters.
Competition Timeline
- Applicants have to send
their competition entries to
Afghanfolklore1@gmail.com
and ich_youth@tichct.ir, by end
of January.
- The works accepted in the
stage one of the competition
will be in the coming month.
- Final winners will be an-
nounced by early March, and
the awards ceremony will be
held with prior notice.
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Jadi 04, 1397 HS Tuesday, December 25, 2018 thekabultimes.gov.af
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Indonesia on alert as death tollfrom devastating tsunami rises
Rescue workers are steppingup efforts to reach many areasdevastated by a deadly tsunamithat hit an Indonesian strait al-most without warning in thedarkness, smashing into hous-es, hotels and other buildings.
As doctors worked to helpsurvivors and hundreds of peo-ple searched on debris-strewnbeaches along the Sunda Straitfor more victims, Indonesianofficials said on Monday morn-ing that the death toll had risento at least 281, with 1,016 in-jured.
Dozens are missing fromthe disaster areas along thecoastlines of western Java andsouthern Sumatra islands. Thenumbers could increase onceauthorities hear from all strick-en areas.
The waves that swept terri-fied people into the sea on Sat-urday night followed an erup-tion and possible landslide onAnak Krakatoa, a volcanic is-land that emerged from the seain the 1920s.
Government and non-gov-ernment aid trickled in to Pan-deglang, the worst-affected areaon Java's west coast. In Lam-pung, in southern Sumatra,dozens of people have been re-ported dead.
Authorities have warnedresidents and tourists in coast-al areas around the SundaStrait to stay away from beach-es, with a high tide warning inplace until Tuesday.
Al Jazeera's Andrew Tho-mas, reporting from Pantai Tu-maritis, on the western coast ofJava, said officials were wary ofa possible recurrence.
"All Monday morning, therehas been a low rumbling noisethat occasionally peaks from thevolcano some 47km out to seadirectly from where we are," hesaid, reporting from a hotelwhere two young children werefound dead.
"With audio evidence thatthe volcano is continuing toerupt - it has been erupting onand off for months now, andSaturday's wasn't a particular-ly big one - there is a very realconcern that there could be fur-ther tsunamis."
Aljazeera
Yemen’s Houthis violate Sweden agreement,
block UN delegations from entering TaizThe Houthi militias have
blocked a UN delegation fromentering the Taiz province,southwest of Yemen, the Yeme-ni legitimate government re-ported, stating that this was aclear violation of the Swedentalks.
Yemeni Minister of LocalAdministration and chairman ofthe Higher Committee for Re-lief in Yemen Abdul RaqeebFateh, said the militias prevent-ed the UN World Food Program(WFP) delegation from visitingthe province of Taiz, which wasscheduled for Sunday, andblocked its entry into the prov-ince through the eastern portof Al-Houban.
He added that the militiasblocked several vehicles carry-ing aid from entering Taiz, aswell as stopping three UN dele-gations from entering, includ-ing former United Nations Un-der-Secretary-General Stephen
O’Brien. The delegation wasforced to inform local authori-ties in the province that theywould postpone the planned vis-it to next week, passing throughthe temporary capital of Aden.
The Yemeni official stressed
that the siege imposed by themilitias on most of the entranc-es of the Taiz province has beengoing on for more than threeyears, calling on the interna-
tional community to exert allpressure on the militias to liftthe siege on the province andareas under their control.
According to the sources,this action is contrary to theagreement on Taiz, signed by
the legitimate government withthe Houthi militias at the con-clusion of the Stockholm talkssponsored by the United Na-tions recently. Alarabiya
Two Kurdish Syrian Democratic Councildelegations reach Moscow
Two delegations from theSyrian Democratic Council(SDC) arrived in the Russiancapital and are expected to meetwith Russian officials on Mon-day, official sources in Moscowtold Al Arabiya English.
“There are two Kurdish del-egations that arrived in Moscow,one of them is scheduled to meetwith officials from the RussianForeign Ministry on Mondayafternoon,” one of the sourcessaid.
While Kamal Akef, thespokesman of the DiplomaticRelations Center of the Demo-cratic Society Movement, didnot provide any details aboutthe visit, he confirmed to Al Ar-abiya that there is an SDC del-egation in Moscow, adding that“both parties did not reach anagreement yet.”
High-level sources from thejoint presidency of the SDC
pointed out that the delegation,which arrived in Moscow “daysago” is headed by Dr. AbdulKarim Omar, the co-chair of theForeign Relations Commissionin north Syria.
Moscow is the second capi-tal after Paris, which served asa meeting point for SDC repre-sentatives since the WhiteHouse last week announced thewithdrawal of its military forc-es from Syria in a period of 60to 100 days.
Meanwhile, sources saidthat another SDC delegation isheaded to the Russian Khme-imim airbase.
A source from Syrian Obser-vatory for Human Rights hadalso confirmed that “a meetingbetween SDC forces and Rus-sian authorities will happen inthe coming hours in Moscow.”
“The core of these meetingsis to discuss the future of the
area east of the Euphrates Riv-er which poses a threat to An-kara,” he added.
According to the observato-ry, Russia made an offer to theSDC that guarantees thespread of border guards loyal tothe Assad regime along the bor-der with Turkey in areas underits control.
The SDC has not yet agreedto this offer.
According to sources, theSDC rejects posting more re-gime forces, and wants officialborder guards under Russianauspices.
During this trip, SDC rep-resentatives are looking toreach a peaceful solution thatguarantees Turkish forces willnot invade areas controlled bythem east of the Euphrates andwest, as well as Manbij whichTurkey is continuously threat-ening to invade. Reuters
Anti-government protestscontinue in Sudan for fifth day
Protests in parts of Sudancontinued for the fifth consecu-tive day on Sunday, as doctorsprepared to strike over the ris-ing cost of bread and fuel.
At least 10 people have beenkilled since demonstrations be-gan on Wednesday after thegovernment hiked the price ofa loaf of bread from oneSudanese pound to three (about$0.02 to $0.06), exacerbatinggrievances over price rises,shortages of basic commoditiesand a cash crisis.
Protesters are calling forPresident Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been in powerfor three decades, to step down.
"Fuel and bread shortagesmay have triggered protestsacross the country, but otherfactors now seem to be helpingto keep them going," AlJazeera's Hiba Morgan, report-ing from the capital, Khartoum,said.
"People seem to be frustrat-ed not just by the economic cri-sis, but by the way the countryis being run and they want to
see change."On Sunday, residents in Um
Rawaba, 200km southwest ofthe capital Khartoum, told AFPnews agency that some 600 peo-ple gathered in the marketchanting, "the people want thefall of the regime".
Protesters burned tyres andbranches in the streets and at-tempted to storm a governmentbuilding before being turnedback by security officials, wit-nesses said.
In Atabara, 300km northeast
of the capital, riot police andplain-clothed operatives de-ployed tear gas against hun-dreds of protesters, a witnesssaid.
Police also fired tear gas onprotesters in Khartoum afterhundreds of protesters blockeda road in the centre of the citylate on Sunday. Earlier in theday, there was a tense calm asschools and universities wereshuttered by a nation-wide gov-ernment suspension and riotpolice equipped with batons andtear gas guarded buildings.
"We were asked to leave thismorning," said a universitystudent from northern Khar-toum.
Sudanese queued outsidebakeries in the city, where ven-dors were refusing to sell morethan 20 loaves of bread per per-son.
"I have a big family and thisbread is not enough for threedaily meals," a local residenttold AFP.
A bakery worker said a se-curity guard standing nearby
was not allowing the shop to sellany more.
Doctors are also set to go onstrike on Monday in the first ofa series of work stoppages, an-nounced by an umbrella coali-tion of professional unions.
In a statement, the coalitionsaid the doctors will continueto deal with emergencies dur-ing the strike, which aims to"paralyse" the government anddeny it much-needed revenues.The coalition also called on cit-izens to continue their streetprotests. Aljazeera
China slams UK, EU ‘dual standards’ on row with CanadaChina has slammed the United Kingdom and the European Union for adopting a double-standard approach towards the issue of
human rights, saying the Westerners voice concerns over Beijing's detention of Canadians while remaining silent on the case of aChinese national arrested in the North American state. Speaking at a news briefing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman HuaChunying expressed Beijing's “strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition” to comments by Canada, the United States and otherson the detained Canadians. Two Canadians were detained in China earlier this month for what Beijing called engaging in activitiesthat “endanger China’s security.” A third Canadian is also being held, pending deportation for working illegally in the Asian country.
The arrests came after Canadian police detained China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou,on December 1 in Vancouver, Canada. On Saturday, Ottawa said it will maintain a high-level campaign in the coming days to seeksupport from allies as it pressures China to free the two detained Canadians. Presstv
KABUL: Deputy minister ofyouth affairs for informationand culture Dr. Kamal Sadat ina meeting with a number ofrepresentatives of Kabul youthsbriefed related to programslaunched for improvement oftraining and education situa-
President Ghani supportingyouths, Dr. Sadat
tion of Afghan youth, saying fo-cus of leadership of the govern-ment in particular PresidentGhani was on the country’syouths.
Meanwhile, a number ofyouth representing othersspoke and asserted that they
were supporting the economic
and political programs of the
country’s President. They also
enumerated a range of youths’
problems in the field of employ-
ment and training.
The Kabul Times
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