People carry the coffin of a male student, who was killed in Tuesday's attack on the Army Public School, during his funeral in Peshawar on December 17. Fayaz Aziz/Reuters
People carry the coffin of a male student, who was killed in Tuesday's attack on the Army Public School, during his funeral in Peshawar on December 17. Fayaz Aziz/Reuters

Pakistan mourns 148 killed in Taliban school massacre



PESHAWAR // Pakistan was mourning the deaths of 148 people, including 132 children, on Wednesday, following a Taliban school massacre that has put the government under new pressure to combat militancy.
The death toll had risen overnight on Tuesday from 141.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed Tuesday's terror attack — the deadliest in Pakistan's history — in which heavily armed militants rampaged through an army-run school, killing indiscriminately.
Across the country on Wednesday, many schools were closed as a mark of respect, while others held special prayers for those killed in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Colleges, offices and markets were also closed across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, which has suffered the worst of the TTP's bloody seven-year insurgency.
Funerals were held for victims of the massacre, many of whose bodies were pulled from the school, still wearing their blood-drenched green uniforms.
The worst of the bloodshed took place in a large auditorium where 200 teenage students were attending a lecture on basic first aid. Around 100 bodies were found there, the army said.
Children's shoes, notepads and spectacles remained scattered amid pools of blood on Wednesday, the walls of the auditorium pockmarked with bullet holes. Outside, soldiers patrolled from the rooftops.
Mohammad Hilal was in the auditorium when he heard a loud bang. He remembers falling to the floor with a gunshot wound as other students dropped dead around him.
"[The gunman] kept firing for what seemed like two or three minutes and then left," the 14-year-old said from a bed in the Lady Reading Hospital, where he was recovering from three gunshot wounds to the leg and one in his arm. "Then he came back after a minute or two and started firing on the students still standing."
All seven attackers entered through the auditorium and shot down on students from the stage, military spokesman Asim Bajwa said.
"Most children died when they tried to run toward the doors," Mr Bajwa added.
After killing students in the auditorium, the attackers moved to the administrative offices. They eventually detonated suicide vests after security forces surrounded them.
Blood and bullet holes also marked the walls of a staff room, where cabinet doors remained thrown open, furniture splintered, windows broken and doors knocked off their frames. Thirteen employees of the Army Public School were also among the dead.
The principal's office was completely black, with reports suggesting that she had been burnt by the attackers while trying to stop them from killing children.
The streets around the school were quiet on Wednesday. Police vehicles with mounted guns were parked at major intersections, and officers with AK-47 rifles patrolled the streets.
Crowds thronged the Lady Reading Hospital on Tuesday night, looking at lists of the dead children that hung in the lobby. Most were 14.
Doctors and nurses urged frantic parents to allow them to treat the patients in the main rooms. Family members wept outside of the emergency room.
Tuesday's attack brought international condemnation as well as promises of a decisive crackdown on militants from political and military leaders.
Following a meeting of major political leaders in Peshawar, prime minister Nawaz Sharif said the leaders "vowed to continue this war with all our strength until elimination of the last terrorist from this land".
Mr Sharif also announced that a six-year moratorium on the death penalty would be lifted for those convicted of terror offences.
Meanwhile, Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan called off a four-month long protest movement to topple the government, saying it was the "need of the hour".
"We are backing off right now from our protest because it is [the] need of the hour. I thank the women, the children, the youth and everyone for participating in our movement," he said to supporters outside parliament.
Mr Khan's announcement came just a day ahead of a planned countrywide shutdown intended to force the prime minister to resign. Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party are also calling for an impartial inquiry into allegations of fraud in the 2013 election.
Across the border in India, prime minister Narendra Modi also put aside acrimony with the Pakistani government, asking schools to observe a two minutes' silence to honour the dead.
* Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg

Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site

The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.

Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador

The bio

Who inspires you?

I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist

How do you relax?

Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.

What is favourite book?

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times

What is your favourite Arabic film?

Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki

What is favourite English film?

Mamma Mia

Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?

If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.  

 

The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

Roger Federer's 2018 record

Australian Open Champion

Rotterdam Champion

Indian Wells Runner-up

Miami Second round

Stuttgart Champion

Halle Runner-up

Wimbledon Quarter-finals

Cincinnati Runner-up

US Open Fourth round

Shanghai Semi-finals

Basel Champion

Paris Masters Semi-finals

 

 

Europe’s rearming plan
  • Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
  • Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
  • Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
  • Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
  • Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital