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HYDERABAD

THE HINDU

Iraq forces sight victory in Ramadi

Madhesi leader, 15 others injured

All Islamic State fighters have left the government compound, says spokesperson of the counter-terror force

ihadist fighters abandoned their

last stronghold in Ramadi on
Sunday, bringing Iraqi federal
forces within sight of their biggest victory since last years
massive offensive by the Islamic
State group.
The elite counter-terrorism
service was hours away from
moving into the former government complex in Ramadi, which
IS had fiercely defended for several days, the forces spokesman
said.
All Daesh (IS) fighters have
left. There is no resistance, Sabah al-Numan told AFP. The
operation is almost wrapped up.
Our forces will enter in the coming hours.
It was not immediately clear
whether any pockets of jihadist
fighters
remained in the
city centre but
most of them
OPERATION were thought to
have regrouped
RAMADI
east of Ramadi.
Mr. Numan
Gains against IS said
a major
clearing effort
was needed to
allow forces to
move in because IS had rigged
the entire area with roadside
bombs and booby traps.
For that reason, the military
and government did not immediately declare victory, but some
people were already celebrating
on the streets of several Iraqi cities.
After months of preparation,
Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led
coalition air strikes had punched
into the centre of Ramadi on
Tuesday, in a final push to retake
the city they lost in May.
The fighting over the past two
days had been concentrated
around the government complex, whose recapture had become synonymous with victory
in the battle for Ramadi. The
U.S.-led coalition said its aircraft
carried out 31 air strikes in the
Ramadi area over the past week.
According to medical sources
in Baghdad, 93 members of the

Caliphate doing well,

says Baghdadi in
audio message

Smoke rises after Iraqi security forces blew up a car bomb belonging to a suicide bomber in the Huz
neighbourhood of downtown Ramadi on Saturday. PHOTO: AP

security forces were brought in

with injuries on Sunday alone.
Estimates a week ago were
that the Islamic State had around
400 fighters to defend central
Ramadi, many of them protecting the government compound.
Those numbers were thought
to have drastically declined over
the past two days, with several
fighters retreating from the main
battle and dozens of others
killed in fighting or in suicide
attacks.
Ali Dawood, the head of the
neighbouring Khaldiya council,
said IS fighters used civilians as
human shields to slip out of the
government complex.
According to the International
Organization for Migration, Anbar residents account for more
than a third of the 3.2 million Iraqis who have been forced from
their homes since January 2014.
Ramadi lies about 100 km west
of Baghdad and is the capital of
Anbar, which is Iraqs largest
province and borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. AFP

BEIRUT: The Islamic State group on

Saturday released a new message
purportedly from its reclusive
leader, claiming that his self-styled
caliphate is doing well despite an
unprecedented alliance against it
and criticising the recently
announced Saudi-led Islamic
military coalition against
terrorism. In the 24-minute audio,
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said air
strikes by the international
coalition only increase his groups
determination and resolve. The
message was hi first since May, and
comes amid ISs battlefield
setbacks. Baghdadi also taunted
the U.S. for not putting boots on
the ground. They do not dare to
come, because their hearts are full
of fear from the mujahideen, or
holy warriors, he said. AP

Colleges warnings about

Paris attacker were ignored
BRUSSELS: A police commission is

interviewing staff at a Brussels

college after education authorities
failed to act on concerns that a
student who later became one of the
Paris suicide bombers had been
radicalised, two Belgian newspapers
said on Saturday.
Bilal Hadfi (20), named as one of
the attackers who detonated a
suicide bomb outside the Stade de
France in Paris on Nov. 13, attended
the Anneessens-Funck college in
Brussels until he dropped out in
February to travel to Syria.
The two Belgian Dutch-language
newspapers, De Morgen and Het
Laatste Nieuws, cited documents that
said staff were seriously concerned
about Hadfis extremist views, which
were evident in the classroom.
The reports did not elaborate on

Bilal Hadfis extremist views had

raised concerns among staff at
the Anneessens-Funck college in
Brussels. FILE PHOTO: AFP

the exact nature of the documents

but said they showed the college
director informed the Brussels

education board in April that Hadfi, a

French national, had travelled to Syria.
Committee P (le Comite
Permanent de Controle des Services
de Police), as the Belgian police
oversight authority is known, is
investigating why the information
was not passed on to police, the
newspapers said. Neither the college,
Committee P nor the Brussels
education board were immediately
available for comment.
Belgium has faced international
accusations that underfunding and
political in-fighting had left its
security services the weakest link in
Europes counter-terrorism defences.
It was not clear when Belgian
security officials became aware that
Hadfi has travelled to Syria. But on his
return to Europe he evaded the
intelligence services. AFP

KATHMANDU: A top Madhesi

leader was among 16 people

injured in clashes near
Indo-Nepal border between
Nepalese police and agitators
opposing the new
Constitution.
Rajendra Mahato, the

YANGON: Myanmars army

chief has called on Thailand
to review the sentencing of
two countrymen to death for
murdering a pair of British
backpackers after a
controversial trial that
sparked protests. General
Min Aung Hlaing (in picture),
head of the countrys
influential military, has asked
Thailand for a review of the
evidence against the two
men, the state-run Global
New Light of Myanmar

BEIJING: China officially ended

its controversial one child
policy, allowing couples to
have a second child amid deepening demographic crisis of
shrinking workforce and ageing population in the worlds
second-largest economy.

Legislative approval
Chinese lawmakers passed
a historic decision allowing
all couples to have two children from January 1, ending
its over three-and-half decades old policy that prevented over 400 million births in
the country.
The state advocates that
one couple shall be allowed
to have two children, the
state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the newly revised

Lightning illuminates a house after a tornado hit the Jefferson County, Alabama, damaging
several houses, on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Emergency talks in U.K.

following floods
LONDON: Britains government

was holding emergency talks

on Sunday as flooding in
northern England forced
hundreds of people to leave
their homes, including in the
historic tourist destination of
York. Prime Minister David
Cameron was to chair a call of
the COBRA emergency
committee. Hundreds of flood
warnings were in place

reported on Sunday. Zaw Lin

and Win Zaw Tun were found
guilty on Thursday of killing
David Miller (24) and the rape
and murder of Hannah
Witheridge (23), their bodies
found on a Thai beach. AFP

China officially ends

one-child policy

CHICAGO: Rare December torna-

state of emergency to deal with

the flooding just before Christmas Day tornados uprooted
trees and tore off rooftops. In
Mississippi, where Governor
Phil Bryant declared a state of
emergency to deal with flooding, severe storms are forecast for late Sunday through
Monday, the state Emergency
Management Agency said.
Flood warnings and advisories also remained in effect in
parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and
other areas in the southeast.
AFP

chairman of Sadhbhawana
Party, was injured in police
action in Biratnagar on
Saturday.
Clashes erupted as police
intervened when the Madhesi
cadres tried to blockade the
Rani Customs point in
Jogbani-Biratnagar area near
Indo-Nepal border.
Mr. Mahato sustained
injuries to his head and chest
as the police baton charged
and fired teargas shells at
demonstrators. PTI

Review death sentence: army chief

25 dead as storms and tornados

wreak havoc in southern U.S.
dos knocked cars off a highway
and flattened homes in Texas,
bringing the death toll to 25 in
days of storms tearing across
the southern United States.
The extreme weather, fuelled
by unseasonably warm air, is
likely to continue for the next
few days, the National Weather
Service (NWS) reported, snarling holiday travel across a
large section of the country.
The late Saturday deaths in
Texas came as millions of residents in the southern U.S.
struggle to recover from fierce
storms and heavy flooding,
with more rain in the forecast.
At least 17 people were killed in
storm-related incidents since
Wednesday in Mississippi,
Tennessee and Arkansas, local
officials said.
At least eight people were
killed as tornados touched
down in parts of the densely
populated Dallas-Fort Worth
metroplex, local officials and
media reported. A twister
struck around 6:45 pm (0045
GMT Sunday) in Garland, Texas, city officials said in a statement.
In Alabama, heavy flooding
continued Sunday following
several days of heavy rain that
began on Thursday. Governor
Robert Bentley declared a

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2015

around the country, with 31 of

them severe, signalling a risk
to life. Police have advised up
to 400 people to evacuate
their homes near rivers in
York. Hundreds of people
have also been evacuated from
other parts of Yorkshire and
Lancashire. Over 7,000 homes
in Greater Manchester and
Lancashire were also without
electricity. AFP

Law on Population and Family Planning as saying.

The law was passed by the
159-member National Peoples Congress Standing
Committee, the top organ of
Chinas Parliament.
The NPC approval was a
formality as the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC),
headed by President Xi Jinping, had already approved an
end to the policy in October.
Despite massive publicity
to the lifting of the one-child
policy being implemented
since 1978, the-two child rule
has evoked less enthusiasm
with official surveys indicating that people were not keen
to have second child due to
heavy costs involved in bringing up another child. AFP

Talks with Taliban

the focus of Pak.
Army chiefs visit
KABUL: The powerful head of

Pakistans Army, General Raheel Sharif, met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday,
the latest in a series of encounters between officials to
prepare the way for new
peace talks with the Taliban.
Officials and politicians
from Pakistan, Afghanistan
and India have met in recent
months in what are seen as
cautious moves towards easing long-standing tensions
between Islamabad, New Delhi and Kabul. Mr. Ghanis office said the talks on Sunday
had focused on security, joint
efforts to tackle terrorism and
the resumption of peace talks
with moderate elements of
the Taliban after nearly 15
years of war.
Both sides have agreed to
continue the peace process
with groups of Taliban that
are ready for negotiation and
reconciliation and to act
against those groups that resort to terrorist actions and
violence, his office said in a
statement.
The two sides agreed to coordinate counter-terrorism
operations and work to prevent the mountainous frontier regions of their respective
territories, where government authority is weak, being
used as a base for cross-border insurgents. Reuters

Tamil council to push for

constitutional safeguards

Swedens remarkable tilt towards a cashless future

T. RAMAKRISHNAN

STOCKHOLM: Parishioners text

COLOMBO: The Tamil Peoples

Council (TPC) will impress

upon the Sri Lanka government to ensure that enough
safeguards for Tamils are provided in the proposed Constitution, the TPCs chairperson
and Chief Minister of the
Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, said on Sunday.
Contending that the Tamils
had been experiencing adverse effects of the 1972 Constitution, which was not accepted
by
the
Tamil
leadership, the Chief Minister
pointed out the Constitution
did not have a provision
equivalent to Section 29 (2) of
the Soulbury Constitution of
1948 on the issue of protection
of minorities rights.
Calling upon all Tamil political leaders to join the
CM
YK

Tamils have been

experiencing the
adverse effects of
the 1972
Constitution
Council, he also stated that
Just because some hold
views different to ours, we do
not regard them as enemies.
We seek cooperation of everyone as the Council is a
movement of the Tamil people. We are not prepared to
leave out or ignore anyone,
P. Lakshman, co-chair of
the TPC, told The Hindu that
the Councils main task was to
adopt a bottom up approach
in obtaining inputs from the
people and this was why it
should not be viewed as a
challenger to the Tamil National Alliance.

LIZ ALDERMAN

Cash represents
just 2 per cent of
the economy,
compared with 7.7
per cent in the U.S.

tithes to their churches. Homeless street vendors carry mobile credit-card readers. Even
the Abba Museum, despite being a shrine to the 1970s pop
group that wrote Money,
Money, Money, considers
cash so last-century that it
does not accept bills and coins.
Few places are tilting toward
a cashless future as quickly as
Sweden, which has become
hooked on the convenience of
paying by app and plastic.
Banks dont accept cash
This tech-forward country,
home to the music streaming
service Spotify and the maker
of the Candy Crush mobile
games, has been lured by the
innovations that make digital
payments easier. It is also a
practical matter, as many of the
countrys banks no longer ac-

Nystrom caf and (right) the Abba Museum, both in Stockholm, which are run in a completely
cashless manner. PHOTOS: NYT

cept or dispense cash.

At the Abba Museum, we
dont want to be behind the
times by taking cash while
cash is dying out, said Bjorn
Ulvaeus, a former Abba member who has leveraged the
bands legacy into a sprawling

business empire, including the

museum. Not everyone is
cheering. Swedens embrace of
electronic payments has
alarmed consumer organisations and critics who warn of a
rising threat to privacy and increased vulnerability to so-

phisticated Internet crimes.

Last year, the number of electronic fraud cases surged to
140,000, more than double the
amount a decade ago, according to Swedens Ministry of
Justice.
Older adults and refugees in

Sweden who use cash may be

marginalised, critics say. And
young people who use apps to
pay for everything or take out
loans via their mobile phones
risk falling into debt.
Bills and coins now represent just 2 per cent of Swedens
economy, compared with 7.7
per cent in the United States
and 10 per cent in the euro area.
This year, only a fifth of all consumer payments in Sweden
have been made in cash, compared with an average of 75 per
cent in the rest of the world, according
to
Euromonitor
International.
Cards are still king in Sweden with nearly 2.4 billion

credit and debit transactions in

2013, compared with 213 million 15 years earlier. But even
plastic is facing competition,
as a rising number of Swedes
use apps for everyday
commerce.
At more than half of the
branches of the countrys biggest banks, including SEB,
Swedbank, Nordea Bank and
others, no cash is kept on hand,
nor are cash deposits accepted.
They say they are saving a significant amount on security by
removing the incentive for
bank robberies.
The government has not
sought to stem the cashless
tide. If anything, it has benefited from more efficient tax collection, because electronic
transactions leave a trail; in
countries like Greece and Italy,
where cash is still heavily used,
tax evasion remains a big problem. New York Times
News Service
HY-HY