Karachi,  31 Dec. 2022  (APP)

The Commissioning Parade of 118th Midshipmen and 26th Short Service Commission (SSC) was held on Saturday at Pakistan Naval Academy, Karachi.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir was the chief guest on the occasion, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release said.

Upon arrival at Pakistan Naval Academy, the COAS was received by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi. Addressing the parade, the COAS congratulated the commissioning term for the successful completion of training and becoming guardians of the maritime frontiers of Pakistan.

The COAS said, “The maritime domain is continuously shifting, mainly due to technological advancement, herein only those navies would prevail and prove effective that would align with professionalism and modern trends of warfare.”

The COAS appreciated Pakistan Naval Academy for imparting quality education not only to Pakistani cadets but to the cadets of friendly countries. He advised young officers as future leaders to lead by their conduct, character, professional acumen and foresight.

The Army Chief stated that Pakistan was passing through one of her most critical junctures and this required development of national consensus by all stakeholders to sail through the confronted challenges of economy and terrorism.

Later, the chief guest gave away awards to the prize winners. The prestigious Quaid-i-Azam Gold Medal was awarded to Lt Kashif Abdul Quyyom Pakistan Navy for his Overall Best Performance. Midshipman Naufil Malik was awarded the coveted Sword of Honour for his overall best performance.

In 1947, after the creation of Pakistan, the newly established Pakistan Navy started sending it's officers for training to Britannia Royal Naval College, UK. However, in 1960, the cruiser PNS Babur was converted into Cadets Training Ship. Due to the outbreak of 1965 Indo-Pak war, PNS Babur was was made available for operational requirements. It was then December 1970, Pakistan Naval Academy was commissioned at Manora, Karachi.

Ankara, 29 Dec. 2022 (Anadolu News)

The US has lost its balanced policy in issues related to Greece and Cyprus dispute, as Washington's weapons supplies to Athens is a "clear indication" of this, the Turkish foreign minister said on Thursday.

Türkiye has "clearly told the US that they are disrupting their balance (policy) on Greece and Cyprus," Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at an end-of-year press briefing in the capital Ankara.

"The fact that they have given so many weapons to Greece is a clear indication that they have lost this balance," he said.

Turkish politicians had pointed to the lifting of the embargo as evidence that the US had abandoned its policy of “balance” between the Greek Cypriot administration and its neighbor on the island, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which remains under international embargoes.

On Syria crisis, Cavusoglu said the Constitutional Commission meeting and Astana talks have not progressed as desired due to Assad regime's resistance.

Urging the Syrian regime and the opposition to reconcile, Cavusoglu said Türkiye is "the guarantor of the Syrian opposition."

"We do not act against the rights of the Syrian opposition, in fact, we continue our talks with aims to contribute to the consensus on a roadmap they would want.

"Assad regime wants Syrians to return home. It is important for them to return safely," he added.

Support to PKK terror group's violent protests in Paris 'unacceptable'

On "black propaganda" against Türkiye amid violent protests in the French capital, Cavusoglu said Ankara has told Paris that it is "unacceptable" that some French politicians have supported and participated in the violent protests of the terrorist PKK members and its supporters.

The Paris protests have shown "that the terrorist organization that you (France) tried to support for years under the cover of supporting Kurdish people, showed what the terror group could do to the host countries at the slightest opportunity."

Last Friday, after a gunman opened fire in Enghien Street, killing at least three people and wounding three others, supporters of the PKK terror group soon amassed in the area.

In the ensuing protests on Friday and Saturday, they perpetrated acts of violence and clashed with the police, with 31 injured, along with one protester. Police placed 11 people in custody.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the EU, and US, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Though officially recognized as terror group, last week’s violence highlighted how the PKK openly maintains a dangerous foothold in Europe.

Ankara, 27 Dec. 2022 (Anadolu News)

Türkiye on Tuesday revised up the amount of recoverable reserves in a gas field off its Black Sea coast, adding its latest discovery of 58 billion cubic meters.

In a press briefing on the new natural gas reserves discovered in the offshore Sakarya field, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez noted that the country's drill ship Fatih had started drilling work in the Caycuma-1 well on Oct. 29.

"We finished two months of work there with a discovery. According to this discovery, we calculated recoverable reserves (in the Caycuma-1 well) to be 58 billion cubic meters (bcm)," Donmez declared, adding that the well is located in the northwest of the Sakarya gas field.

Türkiye announced its first natural gas discovery in the Black Sea about two years ago in the Tuna-1 well, which holds 405 bcm and was the world's largest offshore find in 2020. It made another discovery in 2021 in the Amasra-1 well, holding reserves of 135 bcm.

Ankara has been working with DeGolyer and MacNaughton, a leading independent consulting firm focused on the petroleum industry, on the Black Sea reserves' re-evaluation after the country completed drilling works in 13 wells and 3D modelling of the Sakarya gas field, according to Donmez.

After these re-evaluation efforts, the reserves in the field were revised up from 540 bcm to 652 bcm, Donmez said, adding that the total amount of recoverable reserves in the Sakarya Field is now calculated to be 710 bcm with the latest discovery in Caycuma-1.

"Our teams are working at full speed in accordance with the (latest) business plan. In the 100th year of our republic, we hope to bring this gas (to our citizens). Hopefully, we will have supplied the first of the gas to the system towards the end of March."

 

Doha, 28 Dec. 2022 (QT)

By Ashraf Siddiqui

NON-RESIDENT Nepali Association (NRNA), Qatar Chapter, and National Coordinating Council-Qatar (NCCQ) marked their 20th foundation day at the Oasis Beach recently.

NRNA Qatar was established on December 11, 2003 as the second chapter of its parent body in the world with Dr Dev Kaji Dangol as its founding president.

resent on the occasion were Ambassador of Nepal to Qatar HE Dr Naresh Vikram Dhakal, President of NRNA Qatar Mohammad Muktda Musalman, NRNA ICC Vice-President RK Sharma, Youth Vice-President Raj Regmi, Women VicePresident Yasmin Begum Syed; Secretary Praveen Gurung, CoTreasurer Homnath Sharma, Middle East Coordinator Manoj Kumar Shrestha, past presidents Rajendra Aryal, founding member Sagar Nepal, Council members, officials of Nepalese
forums, guests and members of the Nepalese community.

Ambassador Dr Dhakal congratulated the present and past leadership of NRNA Qatar for their dedicated services to their fellow expatriate nationals in the last two decades.

Dr Dhakal, who arrived in Qatar over five months ago, lauded the contributions of Nepalese workers to the historical development of Qatar as well as towards their motherland through their remittances.

He advised the Nepalese community to focus on their jobs and keep working hard for the good name of their country and their own better future.

Praising the bilateral relations between Qatar and Nepal, the envoy said that, in addition to several ministerial and other high level visits to Qatar, President Bidva Devi Bhandari paid official visit to Qatar in 2018 and former President Dr Ram Baran Yadav had visited in 2011, while former King Gayanendra and Queen Komal paid official visit to Qatar in October 2011 and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala visited in 1998.

He said part of his priorities during his tenure as country’s ambassador to Qatar will also be to try to arrange official visit of the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Nepal.

NRNA President Mohammad Muktda Musalman thanked the Nepalese ambassador for gracing the event and to all the participants, especially former presidents and other officials for joining the occasion of 20th anniversary celebrations.

He briefed the audience on the achievements of NRNA in the past and about its future plans. Musalman said Qatar chapter is exemplary for Nepalese communities living in the Middle East, describing the region itself as a great example for Nepalese living around the world. He said the occasion was the right time for them to come together and play their role in NRNA main body worldwide.

Earlier, Javi Chamling Rai, NRNA Qatar first vice-president, welcomed the guests. General Secretary of NRNA Padam Giri conducted the event, which was addressed by several community leaders who appreciated the remarkable works of NRNA Qatar.

The ambassador of Nepal led a cake cutting ceremony and in lighting a panas lamp.

Appreciation certificates were presented to the officials for the services rendered by Engineer Raju Syed; Shani Kumar Oli, Chanak Pokharel, Bimal Subedi, Mohammad Aziz Ali, Ramhari Gayre, KB Hamal, Naresh Shrestha, Kumar Khadka, Kranti Singh, Dr Nitesh Aryal, Maya KC, President of Nepali Business Association Qatar Mahendra Chamlagai, Editor of Janaswal National Daily Ramji Bagale Lgaet.

There are around 400,000 Nepalese working in Qatar. Diplomatic relations between Qatar and Nepal were established in January 1977. Nepal embassy was established in Doha on July 11, 2000 and Qatar embassy was established in Kathmandu in August 2011.

Istanbul, 26 Dec. 2022 (Anadolu News)

By Hamza Karcic (The author is an associate professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Sarajevo).

In 3 questions, Evaluated The Steps Taken To Enhance Qatar's Soft Power And The Contribution Of The Latest World Cup To The Country's Image.

• How can we define soft power?

In an article published in Foreign Policy in 1990, Harvard University professor Joseph Nye introduced and then popularized the concept of “soft power.” This is the type of power “which occurs when one country gets other countries to want what it wants.” Nye further argued that “co-optive power is the ability of a country to structure a situation so that other countries develop preferences or define their interests in ways consistent with its own.”

While Nye pointed out that ideological and cultural appeal as well as institutions were fundamental, much has changed since the article got published more than three decades ago. Yet the idea of soft power has persisted and soft power is now being exercised in novel ways. American soft power has been the primary focus of Nye’s writings but a number of other countries have developed and enhanced their own soft power in different ways.

• What were the steps to Qatar's soft power?

At the beginning of 1995 with Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani's ascent to power, Qatar undertook a number of steps to position the country on the map of rising powers. The best-known project was the establishment of Al Jazeera first in Arabic and then in English. While Al Jazeera Arabic changed the media landscape in the Middle East, its English platform went global. Over the past decade and a half, Al Jazeera English has emerged as one of the most influential media outlets internationally.

Unlike the largely Western-centric reporting of its competitors, Al Jazeera English has managed to offer a multitude of perspectives from across the globe. Its reporting and documentaries about the everyday lives of people on different continents have been a welcome shift away from the previous media reporting mainly centered on political decisions in global capitals. Al Jazeera’s regional branches such as Al Jazeera Balkans have contributed immeasurably to enriching the media landscape in eastern Europe.

There are a number of other Qatari initiatives such as mediation in conflicts which have positioned the country as a relevant political factor beyond its borders. The Gulf state acted as a mediator in Sudan, Yemen, and Lebanon. Doha played host to talks between the US and the Taliban and Qatar has a crucial role in the evacuations from Afghanistan last year. However, winning the bid to host the football World Cup this year turned out to be a major step which propelled international interest in the Gulf state. Back in 2010, Qatar was selected to host the most important event and became the first country in the Middle East to host the World Cup.

• Has the latest World Cup contributed to Qatar's soft power?

Over the past years and continuing into the World Cup tournament, there were a number of articles published in certain Western media outlets raising concerns about Qatar and its ability to host such a large and prestigious event. However, these skeptics and critics were proven wrong. In fact, the World Cup proceeded successfully in a safe and secure environment. In meeting the variety of organizational logistics, Qatar proved its ability to host prestigious global events.

Media reports indicate that Qatar may have invested as much as $220 billion in little over a decade to build the infrastructure and logistics for the World Cup. This is a figure far beyond what has been invested in the previous World Cups. In fact, FIFA president Gianni Infantino described the World Cup in Qatar as the “best in history”.

Apart from the organization, the latest World Cup will be remembered particularly for the thrilling finals held on December 18 between Argentina and France. FIFA estimated that the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia were watched by 3.57 billion people. Once all the statistics are in, the figure for the finals in Qatar may well surpass the 2018 record.

There is little doubt that successfully hosting the World Cup enhanced Qatar’s image and prestige globally. While many in different corners of the world may not have known much about this Gulf state, Qatar has been in the spotlight for the past four weeks. Numerous articles, documentaries, and media reporting are a testament to the rising interest in the World Cup host state.

Furthermore, this World Cup will be a boost not only to Qatar and the Middle East but to the rest of the non-Western countries. It also strengthens the case for holding the World Cup in different regions of the world where it was not organized before.

Now that the World Cup is over, Qatar has an eye for the 2036 Olympic Games. This bid would fulfill Qatar’s objective of being host to global sporting events. In fact, hosting the most watched sporting events is one of the most effective ways of promoting a country's image.

*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu Agency.

Ankara, 24 Dec. 2022 (Anadolu)

Türkiye and Azerbaijan are laying the foundations of a new era in the region, the country's president announced on Saturday.

"With Azerbaijan, we are laying the foundations of a new era in the region. Things will accelerate as Armenia shows progress in peace, security, and tranquility," said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at an event in the eastern province of Erzurum.

He emphasized that Türkiye was preparing for the most important breakthrough in its thousand-year-old history in the region under the vision of the "Century of Türkiye" initiative.

In late October, Erdogan, who is also the chairman of the Justice and Development (AK) Party, unveiled a series of programs, projects, and targets ahead of the next year's presidential and general elections as the country prepares to celebrate its centennial in 2023.

"On the one hand, we are strengthening our relations with the Islamic world. On the other, we are integrating with the Turkic world. Meanwhile, we are uniting with Africa and the Balkans," he said, adding that Ankara has not forgotten of its ties with Russia, China, Ukraine, the US, either.

Noting that the eastern Erzurum province is one of the most critical locations allowing Türkiye to become a hub for oil and natural gas transport and trade from Asia to Europe, Erdogan said Türkiye is "resolving conflicts and tensions in the Caucasus, which are the biggest obstacle to the effective use of the region's potential, one by one."

He affirmed that Türkiye was "working round the clock" to connect the gas it discovered in the Black Sea to its national grid.

"On Monday, we will share the good news with our nation," he said, adding that Türkiye would receive more good news once the Black Sea gas is in use.

Doha, 21 Dec. 2022

Qatar Rail announced today that 18.2 million passengers used Doha Metro and Lusail Tram networks during 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar between November 20 to December 18, 2022.

Among 18.2 million included 17.4 million and 0.8 million passengers travelled respectively by Metro and Lusail Tram.

This translates to an average daily ridership of 600,000 for Metro, and 27,000 for Tram.

Doha Metro trains performed a total of more than 79,000 trips, travelling a total of almost 1.5 million kilometers, equivalent to two journeys to the moon and back.

The total distance passengers travelled during the tournament exceeded 200 million kilometers, which is 1.4 times the distance to the sun.

Throughout the tournament, metro and tram services witnessed a huge turnout, especially during the first thirteen days when the group stage saw four daily matches played across eight stadiums.

With the tournament hitting the highest-ever attendance in FIFA’s history during group stages, Doha Metro & Lusail Tram made an exceptional contribution to providing a safe and reliable travel experience to fans who attended up to four matches a day in addition to carrying them to fan zones, event areas, and key destinations across the city.

During this period, Doha Metro trains were amongst the busiest trains anywhere in the world.

Managing Director and CEO of Qatar Rail, Dr. Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Subaie said: 'This edition of the World Cup was undoubtedly an exceptional one, the successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 represents a historical milestone for the state of Qatar and the successful delivery of this global event will shine a bright light, through which the world will see the State of Qatar.

'At Qatar Rail, we are indeed proud of the tournament's success, which we attribute to the high level of preparedness and coordination among all key stakeholders.'

'We highly prize the Ministry of Transport for its continuous support, the intensive preparations and the operational and strategic planning set into motion, and the expertise put forth by employees, which collectively played an instrumental role in our success and our ability to present an exemplary model for transport services during mega-events', he added.

The statement says that the network’s high demand during the World Cup also led to the breaking of several operational records.

On November 24, 2022, the tournament’s 5^th day marked a new record in daily metro ridership when 827,135 passengers were safely transported to and from stadiums and other destinations, exceeding the previous record patronage of 333,000 passengers who were transported on the Qatar National Day (QND) in 2019.

The 2022 QND also saw an equally exceptional turnout, with a total of 810,000 passengers carried during the day.

Doha Metro’s busiest stations were Msheireb, Lusail QNB, and DECC, while Legtaifiya and Lusail Central were the busiest stops along Lusail Tram.

As for the network’s interchange stations, up to 400,000 passengers daily used Msheireb, which connects all three metro lines.

Meanwhile, Al Bidda Station, where the Green and Red Lines intersect, received up to 150,000 passengers during the event.

Eng. Abdulla Saif al-Sulaiti, Chief of Service Delivery at Qatar Rail, said: “Throughout the tournament, Doha Metro provided the highest levels of operational performance, despite witnessing record attendance at stadiums and holding up to four matches per day'.

'Our main objective during the World Cup revolved around delivering a safe and reliable travel experience, with a special focus on the implementation of our operational plans and crowd management systems towards boosting our capacity to accommodate this record patronage, especially during the group stage. We also continued to focus on offering world-class customer service by providing travel information, facilitating passenger flow, and providing an integrated experience to fans and passengers.”

In addition to directly connecting fans to five of the tournament’s eight stadiums, Doha Metro proved to be a reliable mobility partner for fans and facilitated their access to activation areas, especially at the Corniche and its surrounding areas, including the FIFA Fan Festival at Al Bidda Park.

Due to the various events and activities’ popularity among fans, the seven metro stations in this area, namely Corniche, Al Bidda, West Bay Qatar Energy, DECC, Souq Waqif and Msheireb, welcomed up to 870,000 passengers per day starting or ending their journey, or transferring between lines.

Lusail QNB Station was also popular among fans since it is located near the Darb Lusail Festival.

Thanks to the metro, fans and visitors were also able to easily access other event areas across the country such as the Arcadia Music Festival through Ras Bu Fontas station, the ARAVIA live music experience by MDLBEAST through Al Wakra station, the Fan Village Caravan City through Al Messila station, and Darb Al Saai festival through Al Rayyan Al Qadeem station.

Due to the compact nature of the tournament, and to cater for the high demand for its services during the tournament, Qatar Rail implemented special operational plans, where in coordination with key partners, the company’s preparations for the event translated into an integrated travel experience that contributed to making the Qatar edition of the World Cup among the safest and most secure yet.

In this context, Qatar Rail and its partners and stakeholders developed an ecosystem of integrated skillsets, systems, plans, and procedures to strategically implement an effective crowd management system that optimizes passenger flow and provides rapid response when needed.

Eng. Jassim Al Ansari, Chief of Program Delivery at Qatar Rail commentd:  “every decision by the team at the ICC was made to improve our passengers’ experience after having a full overview of the network.

This enabled us to react in a timely manner, for instance by bringing trains on hot standby into service in the busy times and therefore, minimize the impact on the passengers’ journey.

Meanwhile, our maintenance team ensured a rapid response time by allocating resources in strategic locations across the network and scheduling maintenance activities intelligently.

This allowed us to achieve 100% fleet availability during the tournament despite the limited engineering hours available.”

Accordingly, Qatar Rail mobilized more than 5,000 additional staff to support its operational plans for the World Cup and manage crowds at the stations in collaboration with RKH Qitarat, the operator of Doha Metro & Lusail Tram.

Qatar Rail also coordinated with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy to install over 560 wayfinding signages across stations in order to make it easy and convenient for fans to access stadiums and other destinations in Qatar.

Qatar Rail's crowd management plans and ongoing efforts included the enhancement of Doha Metro’s operational capacity, with the network’s entire fleet of 110 trains serving the World Cup, operating at headwyas as low as 165 seconds across all three metro lines.

In parallel, advanced systems played a key role in providing real-time information on passenger flow at stations, which enhanced the ability to deal with various scenarios related to crowd management safely and effectively.

Station capacities were also increased with 20 additional ticket machines and 35 additional passenger gates installed at strategic locations across the network to accommodate the growing demand for Doha Metro’s services throughout the event.

in addition, Qatar Rail has raised it security readiness to ensure providing safe travel experience to the fans specially with having large number of crowds at the network during the tournament.

“Our multi-faceted plan provided the World Cup fans with a safe and secure experience onboard our networks. This extended beyond the stations and included critical systems infrastructure protection and was augmented by the Railway Conditions of Carriage and User Regulations for passengers, which achieved an exceptional level of compliance throughout the tournament.

We’ve also achieved the highest standards of environmental sustainability during this period.

Moreover, and despite the record patronage, no major incidents were reported, thanks to our security preparedness for the event”, Abdulrahman Ali Al Malik, Senior QSHESE Directo at Qatar Rail explained.

Complementing their in-station experience, customers also enjoyed access to 5G Wi-Fi services at all stations, as well as a unique shopping experience through more than 250 retail shops that offer a multitude of products and services across the Doha Metro and Lusail Tram networks.

Qatar Rail’s commitment to constantly enhancing its customers’ experience also translated into another feat, as 97% of incoming calls answered by the customer service center within 15 seconds of receiving them, which complemented the comprehensive customer communication plan put in place in coordination with partners and stakeholders.

In this connection, the metro amassed the attention of international journalists and fans alike, who praised the metro network, its cleanliness, modernity, and safety during the tournament.

Fans’ comments also highlighted the trains’ interior design and comfort as well as the stations’ distinctive architecture and spaciousness, which helped accommodate the influx of visitors and maintain a steady flow of passengers across the network.

By the same token, Qatar Rail’s worldwide media coverage featured a large number of articles published in international newspapers underpinning Doha Metro’s central role in the success of the World Cup and how it became a melting pot for cultural exchange among fans from all countries and walks of life.

The Metro was also a huge hit on social media platforms, where many videos and fan experiences went viral the world over.

Qatar Rail’s journey with the World Cup culminated with a special ceremony at AlRayyan Park to celebrate the success of Doha Metro & Lusail Tram’s operational plan for the tournament.

The event was held in the presence of Dr. Al-Subaie, who attended alongside the senior and executive management officials of Qatar Rail and RKH Qitarat.

Qatar Rail and RKH Qitarat’s staff were honored during the event, in recognition of their exceptional efforts and valuable contributions to the success of this international mega-event.

Doha, 21 Dec. 2022 (QT)

By Ashraf Siddiqui

The just concluded FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was not only a show of world-class superb performances by the world’s top 32 national teams but also a historical get-together for millions people, including the football fans who visited Qatar from across the world to interact with the local population.

The get-together helped people to learn about one another’s culture, behaviour, understanding and beliefs. Adding to the glamour of the celebration, a large number of passionate Qataris took the unique and historical occasion as an opportunity to display their skills and showcase their passion promoting local heritage, culture, cuisines and sports before the millions of football fans visiting Qatar.

Various local institutions, including the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara), Darb Al Saaii, Qatar Foundation, supported these members of the society to play their part in projecting the local traditions, heritage and culture to the world during FIFA World Cup tournament.

Katara alone offered 50 pavilions to exhibit maritime heritage collections, handicrafts, clay cookware utensils, local majlis meetings, local hospitality serving Arabic coffee and dates, falconry, girls and boys traditional sports, among others.

Qatar Tribune met Engineer Khaled Al Bader, a man in his mid-60’s, who displayed his rich collection of Qatari marine heritage and narrating to the visitors living conditions and lifestyle of local Qataris before the discovery of oil and gas.

Bader, a highly educated personality is among the first batch of aeronautical engineers of Qatar. He is a graduate of aviation school in Scotland, the UK, and Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) Melbourne, Florida, USA. He has served in both airline and marine industries.

He hails from a pearling family as his grandfather was a dhow captain leading group of around 100 sailing boats leaving for long pearling voyage in deep waters.
He said it was mandatory for all the young male members of the area to go along with pearling group in the sea in various capacities as young person staying back was not seen with respect in society.

He pointed out that due to conflicts and invention of artificial pearls by the Japanese, local  pearling industry got affected and source of income for large local population was badly hit. “However, the living condition of the region started reshaping towards betterment soon after discovery of oil and gas during 1940’s and end of the Second World War,” Bader said.

Talking about the football tournament in Qatar, Bader said, “The World Cup was a unique opportunity for us to let the world know that Qataris and Arabs are civilised, educated, and can easily communicate with the world. We, the Arabs, enjoy the best available world’s facilities in a hygienic, safe and secure  environment.

Look at the iconic designs of each and every stadium used for the World Cup tournament and Qatari culture displayed through these amazing structures.

We, the Qataris and Arabs, respect our guests and always traditionally take care of their safety and health” , he added.

Washington, 19 Dec. 2022 (Anadolu)

The House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol recommended on Monday that the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against former President Donald Trump.

In what is the final public hearing after 18 months of investigating the violent assault, the bipartisan committee's nine members voted unanimously to ask the Justice Department to pursue charges against Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Those include obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and inciting, assisting or providing aid and comfort to an insurrection.

Committee member Jamie Raskin left the door open to prosecutors pursuing additional charges against Trump and his allies, noting the committee "does not attempt to determine all of the potential participants in this conspiracy."

"Our understanding of the role of many individuals may be incomplete even today, because they refuse to answer our questions," he said. "We trust that the Department of Justice will be able to form a more complete picture through its own investigation."

The former president has long denied the validity of the 2020 election, which he lost by some 7 million votes, claiming rampant fraud. But in the two years since, he has not put forth any evidence to substantiate his claims, and has lost over five dozen court cases. His allegations were further rejected by his attorney general, William Barr.

Trump called his supporters to the US capital on Jan. 6, urging them to march on the federal legislature as lawmakers prepared to carry out their constitutionally-mandated duties of certifying election results.

"At the beginning of our investigation, we understood that tens of millions of Americans had been persuaded by President Trump that the 2020 election was stolen by overwhelming fraud," Liz Cheney, the panel's top Republican, said.

"Our legal system functioned as it should, but our president would not accept the outcome. Among the most shameful of this committee's findings, was that President Trump sat in the dining room of the Oval Office, watching the violent riot at the Capitol on television for hours, and would not issue a public statement instructing his supporters to disperse and leave the Capitol, despite urgent pleas from his White House staff and dozens of others to do so," she added.

Trump's inaction, Cheney said, was tantamount to "an utter moral failure and a clear dereliction of duty."

The panel's vote is largely symbolic, and does not compel the Justice Department to act. The agency will now decide whether it will take up any charges against Trump or his allies for their actions.

Five people died as a result of the violence on Jan. 6, and the Capitol itself was badly damaged. Four law enforcement officers died by suicide in the aftermath.

The attack marked the first time the Capitol had been occupied since British forces torched it during the War of 1812.

Doha, 18 Dec. 2022

As Qatar Deserved The Best so the World Cup Qatar - 2022 concluded this evening leaving behind the greatest game ever played in the history of FIFA World Cup tournaments.  After 64 matches between 32 World's best teams, the final match between Argentina and 2018 Champion France on Sunday at the over packed 80,000 seats Lusail stadium kept the spectators on half way breath taking and deep emotional suspense till last kick of the tournament, 3-3 goals draw match won by Argentina on penalties score.

Lionel Messi, 35, the all times legend Argentina player completed his t 1,000th of his career game in Qatar Cup. Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad AlThani presented traditional Bisht, FIFA's president Gianni Infantino was also present.

The emir of Qatar (left) dresses Lionel Messi in a traditional bisht as the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino

French soccer hero Kyiian Mbappe, 23' broke 56 years old since World Cup England -1966, record of only player Sir Geoff Hurst scoring first hat trick in a men's final world cup match with Germany.