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DE TELEGRAAF
De Telegraaf ("The Telegraph") is the largest Dutch-language daily morning newspaper. It has a daily circulation of about 430,000. Founded in 1893, it is headquartered in Amsterdam. Its political alignment is considered right wing.
No More Monkey Business: Antwerp Zoo Bans Woman From Seeing Her Chimp Chum
WHAT THE WORLD
Hannah Steinkopf-Frank

No More Monkey Business: Antwerp Zoo Bans Woman From Seeing Her Chimp Chum

"He loves me and I love him. Why would you take that away?"

There's only so much monkeying around the Antwerp Zoo will tolerate. Belgian woman Adie Timmermans learned this recently, having developed what she called a special "relationship" with Chita, a 38-year-old chimpanzee whom she visited almost every day for four years. Zoo authorities now think the bond might have grown too strong and decided to ban Timmermans from visiting her monkey friend.

Whenever Timmermans came to the zoo, Chita would walk over to the glass enclosure, blowing kisses and scratching his head. So why separate the interspecies pals? Sarah Lafaut, the zoo's mammal curator, tells Belgian news channel ATV that Chita ended up paying too much attention to Timmermans and was at risk of being excluded from his primate peers.


Adie Timmermans and Chita kissing through the Antwerp Zoo glass enclosure — Source: De Telegraaf screenshot

The Belgian woman received a letter from the zoo, saying that she could still visit, but was only allowed to take a quick look at the chimpanzee habitat. As curator Lafaut explains to ATV, "Of course, we are happy when our visitors connect with the animals, but animal welfare comes first here."

Chita's interest in humans likely comes from her growing up as a household pet until the age of 8, when he was given to the zoo because of behavioral issues. While he eventually learned to live among other chimpanzees, his attachment to people remained.

As for Timmermans, she believes she is being unfairly singled out, as she tells Flemish newspaper the Nieuwsblad: "That animal really loves me and I love him. Why would you take that away?"
Geopolitics

Bloody Weekend Covers Dutch Front Page

De Telegraaf, Dec. 12, 2016

Deadly blasts in major cities around the world returned, seemingly in sync the past two days. Dutch daily De Telegraaf"s Monday front page reads: "Weekend of attacks' above two pictures of crying women, one in Istanbul where 44 people died Saturday, the other in Cairo, where at least 25 were killed on Sunday.

The death toll of a twin bomb explosion outside an Istanbul stadium on Saturday has risen to 44, including 36 police officers, with dozens more wounded, Hurriyetreports. After the attack, which was claimed by Kurdish terrorists, Turkish police arrested 118 officials from the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP.

In Cairo, at least 25 worshippers were killed yesterday in a bomb explosion at the city's largest Coptic cathedral that also left many wounded. Mada Masr reports that the explosion occurred just before communion, when the church is the most crowded. "The choice of this time would ensure the highest casualty count," a church deacon said. No organization has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, the worst on Egypt's Christian minority in years.

The bloody weekend was also marked by the death of at least 20 people as a car bomb filled with explosives rammed into the main entrance of a port Sunday morning in Mogadishu, Somalia.