New Fund Set up to Protect Endangered Heritage Sites
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SUBSCRIPTION SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2016 RABI AL-AWWAL 5, 1438 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Deep roots: How Brazil mourns Costa keeps Ramos plants play an fallen football Chelsea flying rescues Real important role in team in as Man City in El Clasico Kuwait 4history pouring7 rain lose18 their cool stalemate19 New fund set up to protect Max 22º endangered heritage sites Min 13º High Tide 01:18 & 15:50 France pledges $30m towards $100m initiative Low Tide 08:59 & 20:52 40 PAGES NO: 17070 150 FILS ABU DHABI: Representatives of around 40 countries yes- terday approved plans to establish a fund to protect her- itage sites in war zones and a network of safe havens for endangered artworks. A closing statement issued after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi did not specify the total amount pledged for the fund but French President Francois Hollande said a target of $100 million remained achievable. The meeting, co-sponsored by France and the United Arab Emirates, was spurred by the systematic destruction and looting of archaeological treasures in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State group. The world watched in dismay as the militants system- atically destroyed temples and tower tombs in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra last year. In Iraq, videos showed IS using bulldozers and explosives to destroy Nimrud, a jew- el of the Assyrian empire, and ransacking pre-Islamic treasures in the Mosul Museum. “This is the first time that countries, organizations, experts and donors have come together to protect the property of humanity and to pro- vide the means to achieve it,” said Hollande. But proposals for ancient artifacts to be taken abroad for safekeeping met with reservations from some coun- tries - notably Greece and Egypt - which saw treasured ABU DHABI: (From right) HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- artworks removed for display in museums in Europe and Sabah, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, French North America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. President Francois Hollande and UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid KUWAIT: Lightning strikes in the sky over Salmiya early yesterday. — Photo by Participants in the meeting, who also included Al-Maktoum pose for a group picture during the closing ceremony of an internation- Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 5) Continued on Page 13 al conference on protecting the world’s cultural heritage yesterday. — AFP China irked by Trump Taiwan call Duterte: Trump hails Philippine drug crackdown NEW YORK: US President-elect Donald rhetoric during Trump’s election campaign Trump broke with decades of foreign poli- - labeled the call a “ploy by the Taiwan side 9 dead, many cy to speak with the president of Taiwan, that simply cannot change... the One prompting Beijing yesterday to accuse China framework” “I do not think it will Taipei of a ploy but saying the move change the one-China policy that the US missing after would not affect US-China ties. It was not government has insisted on applying over immediately clear whether Trump’s tele- the years,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi told phone call with President Tsai Ing-wen Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV, in a muted US party fire marked a deliberate pivot away from response. “The One China principle is the OAKLAND, California: At least nine people were dead Washington’s official “One China” stance, cornerstone of the healthy development and about 25 were unaccounted for after a massive but fuelled fears he is improvising on inter- of Sino-US relations, and we do not want fire broke out during a late-night party in a ware- national affairs. any interference or disappearance of this China regards self-ruling Taiwan as part political foundation.” ABU DHABI: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (left) and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi house in Oakland, California, the city’s fire chief said yesterday. Fire officials were still trying to determine of its own territory awaiting reunification As he came under fire for the move, and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE armed forces Sheikh Mohamed bin under Beijing’s rule, and any US move that Trump defended his decision to speak Zayed Al-Nahyan arrive for a reception at the presidential airport yesterday. — AFP how the blaze started at about 11:30 pm on Friday, said Chief Teresa Deloach-Reed. The roof of the two- would imply support for independence with Tsai, saying the island’s president initi- storey warehouse in the city’s Fruitvale district col- would likely trigger fury. ated the call and brushed off the resulting Saudi king starts Gulf lapsed during the fire, complicating efforts to recover During Friday’s discussion, Trump and criticism. “Interesting how the US sells bodies, she told a press briefing. Tsai noted “the close economic, political Taiwan billions of dollars of military equip- Officials did not know if any of the 25 missing peo- and security ties” between Taiwan and the ment but I should not accept a congratula- tour with visit to UAE ple were among the nine confirmed victims. “There is United States, according to the president- tory call,” Trump tweeted. a large majority of that building that has not been elect’s office. “President-elect Trump also President Barack Obama’s White House DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman yester- Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the congratulated President Tsai on becoming said the outgoing US administration had day arrived in the United Arab Emirates to UAE’s official news agency (WAM) report- searched,” Deloach-Reed said during a press briefing. “We are hoping that the number nine is what there is President of Taiwan earlier this year,” it said. not changed its stance. begin a regional tour aimed at strength- ed. An official reception was held for King China - the target of much bombastic Continued on Page 13 ening relations with four neighboring Gulf Salman at the airport, and the Saudi and that there are no more,” the fire chief said, refer- allies. The UAE visit will be followed by national anthem was played, along with a ring to the number of known fatalities. Deloach-Reed said some of those who were miss- stops in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait in the 21-gun salute, it said. ing may have brought themselves to the hospital or days ahead. It’s his first Gulf tour since tak- Commenting on the tour, the Saudi elsewhere. She said she did not know how many peo- ing power in Jan 2015. The seven-state royal diwan said in a statement the Saudi ple were at the party. The warehouse housed units Emirates federation includes the Mideast king is keen to communicate with GCC where people lived and worked - makeshift artist stu- commercial hub of Dubai and the oil-rich leaders in serving the GCC peoples and dios carved out with partitions, the fire chief said. “A capital Abu Dhabi. It is the second-largest enhancing brotherhood bonds among flea market of items” were inside, she said. A Arab economy after Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and other GCC states. During Facebook event page showed 176 people planned to King Salman was welcomed by UAE the Gulf tour, the Saudi king is expected attend the party, which featured a performance by Vice President and Prime Minister and to meet GCC leaders and senior officials to the electronic music act Golden Donna. The page, Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin review relations and ways of enhancing which listed 355 others as interested in going, carried (Left) Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen speaks with US President-Elect Donald Rashid Al-Maktoum, and Sheikh them in all fields as well as to discuss posts from people who were either missing or Trump through a speakerphone in Taipei on Friday. (Right) Philippines’ President Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown regional and international issues of com- accounted for. — Reuters Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he talks to Trump on the phone at Legaspi Suites in Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme mon interest, the diwan said. — Agencies Davao City. — AP/AFP Syrian army retakes over half of rebel east Aleppo ALEPPO: Syria’s army advanced deeper into east into areas under regime or Kurdish control. Aleppo, where by yesterday it controlled more than half Assad’s forces have made swift gains in east Aleppo, of the former rebel stronghold after a fierce assault that and its loss would be the biggest blow yet to Syria’s has sparked an international outcry. Tens of thousands opposition in the more than five-year-old war. More of civilians have fled eastern neighborhoods of the bat- than 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict tered city since President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime started with anti-government protests in March 2011, began its latest offensive in mid-November. Overnight, and over half the country’s population has been dis- government troops and allied forces seized the district placed. The government has trumpeted its advances, of Tariq Al-Bab where heavy fighting had raged a day and state television yesterday showed buses full of resi- earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. dents going from west Aleppo back to their homes in Yesterday, regime forces also secured a zone neighborhoods retaken by the army. around the road from regime-held western Aleppo to More than 310 civilians have been killed in the gov- the international airport just east of the city, taking two ernment’s assault on east Aleppo since November 15, whole districts while fighting continued in a third. The the Britain-based Observatory says.