Thursday 9 July 2020

18 Dhul-Qa'da - 1441

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8313

Get a new SIM from the safety of your home!

Do it online now.Online

BUSINESS | 13 PENMAG | 15 SPORT | 20

Futuristic

Education City

Stadium excites

Cahill

Classifieds

and Services

section

included

Hassad closes

‘Sunrise Foods

International’

acquisition

Amir meets President of 75th Session of UN General Assembly

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met yesterday morning at his office in Al Bahr Palace, with President of the 75th Session of the General Assembly, H E Volkan Bozkir, and the accompanying delegation on the occasion of their visit to the country. H H the Amir congratulated H E Bozkir on his election as President of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, wishing him success in his duties. For his part, H E Bozkir expressed his wishes to continue expanding cooperation further between the State of Qatar and the United Nations during his term as president. The meeting dealt with a number of regional and international issues, as well as the most prominent global developments.

Qatar 2022 to celebrate humanity

post COVID-19: Al ThawadiTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Football fans should expect outstanding hospitality, a family atmosphere and the chance to attend more than one match per day during Qatar 2022 — the first FIFA World Cup to be held in the Middle East and Arab world.

Those were the messages delivered by Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), during an event to mark the 45th anniversary of bilateral relations between Qatar and Mexico, the SC said on its website.

Al Thawadi was a special guest during the ‘45 Years of Bilateral Rela-tions Qatar-Mexico’ webinar, which also included contributions from H E Mohammed Al Kuwari, Qatar’s Ambas-sador to Mexico; H E Graciela Gomez, Mexican Ambassador to Qatar; Yon de Luisa, President of the Mexican Football Federation; Bora Milutinovic, the former Mexico head coach and now an adviser to the SC; and Mexican international Marco Fabian, who recently played for Qatari side Al Sadd. The webinar was

moderated by FOX Sports Mexico’s Marion Reimers.

During his opening address, Al Thawadi gave a progress update on tour-nament preparations and mentioned the CF Monterrey fans who travelled to Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup, which was held last year. “The construction of four stadiums has been completed, with four more currently under construction,” said Al Thawadi. “By next year, everything will have been completed. The telecom-munications and transportation infra-structure are almost complete. We are entering a very important period where we will be testing all our operations. Last year, we hosted the Club World Cup, where Monterrey played, and this was a golden opportunity to test our plans and procedures.”

Al Thawadi went on to highlight the importance of the tournament’s legacy. “For us, legacy is critical. This World Cup is a great opportunity to destroy the walls between us and explore what we have in common. That is the power of the World Cup. We want to open the eyes of the world to the culture of the Middle

East and Arab world and, at the same time, open our eyes to the outside world. Now it is more important than ever. After overcoming a common enemy, COVID-19, 2022 will be one of the first opportunities to celebrate humanity.”

The Qatari Ambassador discussed his country’s passion for football, which was stoked even further after the country’s AFC Asian Cup victory in 2019. “In Qatar, our passion for football runs deep. Winning the Asian Cup demonstrated our love for football and our ability to prepare players for the big stage.

In 2022, we want to welcome fans to our homeland and experience this unique event in the Middle East as one big family.”

The Mexican ambassador discussed her nation’s passion for football. “Every World Cup is an opportunity to cele-brate who we are, to resume that pride of being Mexican, not only in Mexico, but wherever we are in the world. In Qatar, we are already looking at prep-arations to put on a world-class show and to host visitors from anywhere in the world.”

Sheikha Moza attends designation of WCM-Q group as WHO partnerTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foun-dation, attended an event marking the official designation of a research group at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) as a World Health Organization (WHO) Collabo-rating Centre for combating COVID-19 and other selected infectious diseases in the region.

Under the new designation, the Infectious Disease Epidemi-ology Group (IDEG) at WCM-Q will support WHO’s regional and global efforts to promote health and wellbeing by providing sci-entific research and advice to inform policy decisions and public health programmes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). Led by Dr. Laith Abu-Raddad, WCM-Q professor of infectious disease epidemiology, IDEG has a special focus on viral hepatitis, which is especially prevalent in EMR countries and is one of the leading causes of deaths globally. The group con-tributed to efforts in combatting the spread of HIV/AIDS, repro-ductive tract infections, and, more recently, COVID-19. Since

the start of the COVID-19 pan-demic, IDEG has spearheaded WCM-Q’s efforts to work closely with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) in Qatar and Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) as they confront the infection’s spread, working with healthcare and policy experts to provide scientific technical analysis that has supported the

COVID-19 national response.Minister of Public Health, H

E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, said, “The members of the IDEG are doing fantastic work with senior experts and officials in MoPH and at HMC to ensure we minimise the spread of the coronavirus in the State of Qatar. Being awarded World Health Organization

Collaborating Centre status at WCM-Q is a huge achievement, and further strengthens Qatar’s ability to fight infectious dis-eases that affect communities all over the EMR region and beyond.”

She added, “This official des-ignation demonstrates the success of Qatar’s investment in the healthcare and research

sectors, and reinforces Qatar’s contribution to public health on a global level. On behalf of the health sector, I would like to thank Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, for her vision and leadership in creating a culture of research excellence in Qatar Foundation and in WCM-Q”. �P2

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser (centre), Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, during the event. Also seen are H E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari (left), Minister of Public Health, and Dr. Javaid Sheikh, Dean of WCM-Q.

Cabinet allows all business activities on weekends

QNA — DOHA

As part of the plan to gradually lift the restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19 outbreak, the Cabinet, in its regular meeting yesterday, decided to revoke its decision of closing shops and all commercial activ-ities on Friday and Saturday. The decision comes into effect from today.

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al

Thani chaired the regular Cabinet meeting which was held via video conferencing.

Following the meeting, Min-ister of Justice and Acting Min-ister of State for Cabinet Affairs, H E Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi said that at the beginning of the meeting, the Cabinet heard a presentation by H E the Minister of Public Health on the latest develop-ments to contain the corona-virus (COVID-19). The Cabinet

affirmed continued implemen-tation of the precautionary measures taken to combat this epidemic. The Cabinet approved a draft decision from the Minister of Administrative Development, Labor, and Social Affairs on determining the ratio of Qatari employees to non-Qatari employees in the private sector. The draft decision comes in implementation of the provision of the labor law no. 14 of 2004. The draft decision aims to raise the percentage of Qataris working at state-owned companies, or where the state is an investor to 60 percent.

The decision also includes other authorities that are subject to the retirement and pensions law. The draft decision also aims to raise the per-centage of Qataris in human resources to 80 percent in these authorities. The children of Qatari women are treated as Qataris when calculating the localisation ratio. �P3

New road cuts

travel time

between south and

north of country

Cabinet approves draft decision by Labor Ministry to determine the ratio of Qatari employees to non-Qataris in the private sector.

Step aims to increase number of Qataris in the workforce of companies owned by the state, or where the state is an investor to 60 percent.

Ratio of Qataris to be raised to 80 percent of human resources in authorities subject to retirement and pensions law.

On behalf of the health sector, I would like to thank Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, for her vision and lead-ership in creating a culture of research excellence in Qatar Foundation and in WCM-Q."

H E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari,Minister of Public Health

The construction of four stadiums has been completed, with four more cur-rently under construction . By next year, everything will have been com-pleted. The telecommunications and transportation infrastructure are almost complete. We are entering a very important period where we will be testing all our operations."

Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary- General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy

THE PENINSULA — DOHA The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) will open the 7km road linking Doha Expressway and Southern Doha Expressway on Mesaimeer Interchange on Saturday (July 11). The opening will ensure free and direct traffic flow from Mesaieed, Al Wakra and Al Wukair towards Doha, 22 February Street and Al Shamal Road.

Ashghal had opened the lanes to Al Wakra in March 2020 and will open the other lanes from Al Wakra to improve traffic in both direc-tions, since the route has 4 to 6 lanes in each direction to allow for 20,000 vehicles per hour in both directions, saving around 70% of travel time.

More importantly, the road will enable a direct link with the Stadiums of Al Janoub, Ras Bu Abboud and Al Thumama as it integrates with other major arteries, running from Umm Besher Interchange on G Ring Road and Southern Doha Expressway, through Al Wetiyyat Interchange on Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor, onto Mesaimeer Interchange along with Doha Expressway, E Ring Road, and Industrial Area Road and Rawdat Al Khail Street.

Ashghal will open the right access at Umm Besher Inter-change on G Ring Road from Al Wakra and Al Wukair via southern Doha Expressway, as well as two more accesses at Al Wetiyyat Interchange on Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor from Al Thumama, Air Force Inter-change and from Bu Hamour and Mesaimeer towards Mesaimeer Interchange.

The new openings will offer new alternative routes and shortcuts, alleviating traffic pressure at Airport Interchange and Air Force Interchange on Airport Street along with Al Thumama Interchange on Najma Street and shifting traffic to Al Wetiyyat Interchange, Mesaimeer Interchange and the roads connected with like Doha Expressway, Rawdat Al Khail Road, Industrial Area Road and E Ring Road. �P3

OFFICIAL NEWS

DOHA: Deputy Prime Minister

and Minister of Foreign Affairs

H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-

rahman Al Thani met yesterday

with the President-elect of the

75th United Nations General

Assembly (UNGA) H E Volkan

Bozkir, who is currently visiting

the country. During the meeting,

they reviewed bilateral coopera-

tion between the State of Qatar

and the United Nations General

Assembly, in addition to issues

of mutual interest. -QNA

02 THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020HOME

PotatoBag Pakistan8.50Q

AR

بطاطا كيس باكستان

Bengal Tiger SonaMasoori Rice 35kg85.00Q

AR

بنغال تايغر أرز سونا ماسوري ٣٥كغ

Lizol SurfaceCleaner 500ml8.00Q

AR

ليزول منظف السطح ٥٠٠مل

Cream Silk Hair Fall Defense Hair Reborn Conditioner 350ml

16.00QAR

كريم سيلك - بلسم مكافحةتساقط الشعر ٣٥٠ مل

Dettol Hand Wash Original 200ml9.00Q

AR

ديتول غسول اليد أصلي ٢٠٠مل

WatermelonIran 1kg1.75Q

AR

بطيخ إيران ١كغ

9 JULY - 11 JULY 2020

BBengal Tigerer SSononaغكغكغكغكغغ ٣٥٣٥٣٥٣٥ وري وريوري سوناسوناسونا ماسماسا زأ أرز أرز أرزأ ريغر يغرغيغر تاتا تال بنغابنغاغاال تال

YardleyLondon Asstd Talcum Powder 250gm x 2pcs

20.00QAR

ياردلي بودرة التلك ٢٥٠غ ×٢حبة

GeepasStay Cool 9 In 1 Re-chargeable Trimmer Set No: Gtr8612

62.00QAR

جيباس ٩ في ١ قابلة للشحن االنتهازي

SparxMens Shoe

59.00QAR

سباركس حذاء رجالي @٥٩ ق.ر

SparxMens Shoe

49.00QAR

سباركس حذاء رجالي @٤٩ ق.ر

Mapella Chocolate&HazelnutCream Spread 350gm10.00Q

AR

مابيل مابيال الشوكوالتة بالبندق انتشار ٣٥٠غ

Mrs.bectors Cremica Golden Bytes Biscuits 720gm x 2pcs9.50Q

AR

كريميكا جولدن بايتس بسكويت ٧٢٠غ×٢حبة

1Pc

1Pc

Zain Sunflower Oil 3Ltr13.50Q

AR

زين زيت دوار الشمس ٣ ليتر

FAJR SUNRISE 03.22 am 04.50 am

W A L R U WA I S : 31o↗ 35o W A L K H O R : 31o↗ 41o W D U K H A N : 29o↗ 37o W WA K R A H : 30o↗ 40o W M E S A I E E D 30o↗ 40o W A B U S A M R A 28o↗ 43o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 06:06 – 19:33 LOW TIDE 03:03– 13:21

Misty at places at first becomes hot daytime with some

clouds.

Minimum Maximum32oC 42oC

ZUHRMAGHRIB

11.39 am06.30 pm

ASR ISHA

03.03 pm08.00 pm

FM meets with President-elect of 75th UNGA

Amir congratulates Dominican President-electDOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad

Al Thani, and Prime Minister and

Minister of Interior H E Sheikh

Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz

Al Thani sent yesterday cables

of congratulations to H E Luis

Rodolfo Abinader on the occasion

of his victory in the presiden-

tial elections of the Dominican

Republic. -QNA

FM receives call from South Korean Foreign Minister

DOHA: Deputy Prime Minister

and Minister of Foreign Affairs

H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-

rahman Al Thani received a

telephone call yesterday from

H E South Korea’s Foreign Min-

ister Kang Kyung-wha. During

the call, they discussed bilat-

eral cooperation, in addition to

issues of joint interest. -QNA

FM receives call from Costa Rican Foreign Minister

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani received yesterday a video call from H E Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Costa Rica, Rodolfo Solano Quiros. During the call, they reviewed bilateral cooperation and issues of common concern. They also exchanged congratulations on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Embassy of the Republic of Costa Rica in Doha.

Qatar: Only way to solve Libyan crisis is to support Government of National AccordQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar confirmed that the only way to solve the Libyan crisis is to support the Government of National Accord and commit to implementing the Skhirat Agreement, Security Council resolutions, and the results of the Berlin Conference.

This came in a statement by the State of Qatar, delivered by Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani to a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Libya,

which was held on Wednesday via video conferencing.

HE the Foreign Minister said that more than a year ago, the Libyan capital, Tripoli, was the scene of unlawful militia attacks, which targeted innocent Libyan civilians and the internationally recognised legitimate gov-ernment, and committed serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, including attacks on health care facilities, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when a missile strike targeted a hospital equipped to treat COVID-19 patients in Tripoli.

HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs indicated that the landmines laid by those militias resulted in dozens of Libyan victims, not to mention the continued sys-tematic extrajudicial killings, pointing out that the interna-tional community also recently witnessed mass graves in areas that were controlled by illegal militias.

He said that the State of Qatar reiterated its condem-nation of these dangerous and illegal practices and warned against supporting a certain party against another. He added

that it has become clear that the only way to solve the Libyan crisis is to support the Gov-ernment of National Accord and commit to implementing the Skhirat agreement, Security Council resolutions, and the results of the Berlin conference.

H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pointed out that the UN Security Council unanimously approved the Skhirat Agreement, which rec-ognized the Government of National Accord as the only legitimate executive authority in Libya.

“Unfortunately, some coun-tries initially supported this agreement, but they did not respect it later after they sup-ported and enabled opposing factions against the government. This is how we got to where we are now,” he said.

he stressed that if the inter-national community is serious about resolving this situation, then any agreed political solution based on dialogue and understanding must include a clear and effective international mechanism to hold countries that do not abide by these agree-ments to account.

Sheikha Moza attends designation

of WCM-Q group as WHO partner

FROM PAGE 1

Dr. Ahmed Al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said, “The designation of IDEG of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar as a WHO Collaborating Centre rec-ognises a history of more than a decade of collaboration in the field of infectious diseases and provides a formal framework for future joint activities. Collabo-rating centres such as IDEG are our critical partners in our endeavour to achieve our vision for the region, ‘Vision 2023’, with its goal of ‘Health for All, by All’.

“The Collaborating Centre could also play an important role in support of another important joint initiative between WHO and the Qatar Fund For Devel-opment in addressing emer-gencies, including infectious dis-eases such as COVID-19, and the

provision of essential health services in selected countries of the region.” IDEG lead Dr. Abu Raddad, who also holds the position of Assistant Dean for Extramural Research Funding and Director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Biomathe-matics Research Core at WCM-Q, is one of the region’s leading epidemiologists.

He said, “It is very gratifying for our research team to receive this honourable designation from the WHO. We are very pleased and proud to be able to support the work of the WHO in combating infectious diseases and their impact on people in Qatar, the EMR region, and beyond. We also feel very priv-ileged to have been in a position to provide scientific technical support to MoPH and Qatar during the virus epidemic.”

03THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020 HOME

Qatar stresses role of digital tech in human progressQNA — GENEVA

The State of Qatar stressed yesterday the important role digital technology is playing in facilitating human progress, and the big contribution it is making in enhancing and protecting human rights and basic freedoms, but noted that the same technologies could be used in ways that threaten cyber security with methods such as fake news and manipulating social media platforms.

This came during the speech of the State of Qatar given by Second Secretary of the Per-manent Mission in Geneva Mohammed Abdulla Al Buainaine in the 44th regular session of the Human Rights Council on the opportunities and challenges that new digital tech-nologies pose on enhancing and protecting human rights.

Al Buainaine said that, in

light of the great development of the State of Qatar in the fields of sciences and information technology, the state started using technology to provide many of its services, particularly in critical fields like education and health among others.

He added that the e-learning program that has been imple-mented by the State of Qatar’s Ministry of Education for many years in public schools one of the initiatives that aim to develop the educational process and offer e-services, something that helped students continue learning during the COVID-19 crisis. He noted that the State of Qatar worked on implementing programs that facilitate the use

of technology and communica-tions in all segments of society.

One of those was a program providing training on Qatar’s e-Government services, which aimed to build the adminis-trative and leadership qualities of people from the two genders in order to ensure the success of the country’s digital transfor-mation. He added that it was one of the strategic goals of the vision for Qatar e-Government 2020.

Al Buainaine concluded his remarks by posing a question on how best to use digital tech-nology to face current global challenges led by epidemics, and how to make it more accessible to developing countries.

MoPH: 608 new

COVID-19 casesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 608 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Another 1,204 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 96, 107. Besides, the Ministry announced four deaths from the coronavirus.

The deceased were aged 50, 55, 67 and 74 were receiving the necessary medical care.

Shura Council participates in parliamentary meeting on Palestine issueTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Shura Council participated yesterday in a parliamentary meeting on the renewed support for the Palestinian issue in light of the repercus-sions of the deal of the century and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which was held by the League of Parliamentarians for Al Quds, via video conference.

The meeting aimed to revive communication between parliamentarians from the League’s members in the region, and to renew support for the Palestinian issue from within the parlia-ments of the regional league’s countries, as well as enhance the capabilities of participants in this field, exchange work experiences and develop debate in future work pro-grammes on the Palestinian issue.

The Shura Council was represented in this meeting by council member HE Saqr bin Fahd Al Muraikhi.

Health, Education Ministersdiscuss reopening of schoolsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi (pictured), yesterday held a meeting via video conference with Minister of Public Health H E Dr. Hanan bint Mohammed Al Kuwari.

The meeting dis-cussed the best percep-tions and manners for reopening of schools in light of coronavirus pan-demic crisis and running the educational process with full commitment following precautionary measures and social distancing without affecting the quality

of the education and achievement of students.

Ashghal completes road improvement works in Hazm Al Markhiya, Lejbailat areasTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ recently completed maintenance and development works on a number of roads in Hazm Al Markhiya and Lejbailat areas, part of the framework contracts for road maintenance in the country.

Ashghal assigned the works to local contractors, as multiple teams worked to complete the project within seven months instead of 12, and five months ahead of schedule. These works included paving, marking, maintenance and rehabilitation of the asphalt layer for about 21km of internal roads in both Hazm Al Markhiya and Lejbailat areas, using Qatari-manufactured materials.

Engineer Mohammed Al Khashabi, Civil Engineer at Roads Operation and Mainte-nance Department at Ashghal, said: “Ashghal installed 18 new lighting poles with LED lights,

while 18 old lighting lamps were replaced with new LEDs to improve visibility and save energy.

“In addition, to installing and rehabilitating around 7,000 square metres of side-walks within an area of 10,000 square meters, with the aim of providing a safe and better experience for road-travelers and residents of these areas.”

It is worth noting that maintenance and improvement works are carried out and iden-tified after inspecting internal roads and the safety elements surrounding them, from lighting, speed humps, pavement status, traffic and directional signs. Maintenance and development works included replacing the top asphalt layer in some roads, treating the asphalt defects in the main and local roads, developing lighting poles, replacing lamps, developing traffic lights.

Cabinet allows all

business activities

on weekends

FROM PAGE 1

The authorities in question are banned from appointing non-Qataris in jobs allocated by the Ministry of Adminis-trative Development, Labor, and Social Affairs for locali-sation. The Cabinet approved a draft law amending some provisions of decree law no. 11 of 2012 on government regu-lation of the buying and selling of chemical and petrochemical products that are produced in the State of Qatar.

The Cabinet reviewed a report of the State of Qatar’s population in 2019, and the outcomes of a study by the permanent population com-mittee and its remarks on the report. The Cabinet then took the appropriate decisions regarding the matter.

New road cuts travel time between south, north of country

FROM PAGE 1

Hassan Al Ghanim, from the Highway Projects Department, said the new road is a direct link between the south and north of the country, where road users coming from Mesaieed in the north and vice versa can use a direct and free route without traffic signals to shorten the travel time by about 70%.

Al Ghanim explained that most parts of Mesaimeer Inter-change have been opened to traffic, and that 92% work on the vital Interchange has been completed, pointing out that there is a tunnel to be com-pleted and opened soon so that the whole Interchange is open to traffic.

Those arriving from the southern part of Doha Expressway will be able to con-tinue on Umm Besher

Interchange on G Ring Road and then use the Al Wetiyyat Interchange on Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor, passing through Mesaimeer Inter-change reaching Doha Expressway and 22 February Street. Those arriving from Ras Bu Abboud Street, Al Wakra Road and G Ring Road will be able to turn right at Umm Besher Interchange and then use the Al Wetiyyat Interchange on Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor via Mesaimeer Interchange reaching Doha Expressway and 22 February Street.

The three-level Mesaimeer Interchange is the first of its kind in Qatar, because it con-tains nine underpasses pro-viding free flow traffic. The Interchange contains two main bridges connecting Rawdat Al Khail street and the Industrial Area Road in both directions.

"The State of Qatar has implemented programs that facilitate the use of technology and communications in all segments of society."

04 THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020HOME

Shura Council participates in parliamentary meeting on post-COVID-19 economic recovery

QNA — DOHA

The Shura Council yesterday participated in a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) on “post-COVID-19 economic recovery and support to SMEs, fintech, venture capital and start-ups”, via video conferencing technology.

The aim of the meeting was to review government policies and the most effective legislative tools in order to address the multiple economic challenges in the recovery phase at the national and regional levels, and to support small and medium-sized companies, investors and workers in terms of conditions for easy

access to credit and financial and monetary efficiency within a facilitated regional approach.

During the meeting, high-ranking officials from national governments and international institutions exchanged views and pro-posals on tackling the diffi-culties faced by governments and the productive sectors in the Euro-Mediterranean and Gulfs regions, and providing indicators on how to ensure a strong economic recovery in the current phase of the coronavirus epidemic.

The Shura Council was represented at the meeting by HE Mohamed Bin Ali Al Maadid, Member of the Council.

Shura Council member H E Mohamed bin Ali Al Maadid participating in a meeting of Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean via video conferencing, yesterday.

Joaan bin Jassim Joint Command and

Staff College holds graduation ceremonyQNA — DOHA

Joaan bin Jassim Joint Command and Staff College celebrated the graduation of the Joint Operations Course No. (2) and the Joint Command and Staff Course No. (6), in the presence of Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces Lieutenant-General (Pilot) H E Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanem.

A number of members of the various units of the armed forces and a number of members of the forces of countries participated in the courses. Joaan bin Jassim Joint Command and Staff College is in the process of becoming Joaan bin Jassim Academy for Defence and Security Studies, and is scheduled to have the first defence course in September.

Qatar expresses concern over women scribes being targeted in Arab worldQNA — GENEVA

The State of Qatar expressed yesterday deep concern that journalists in the Arab world are being targeted for prac-tising the profession of jour-nalism and for being women, and subjected to death and kidnapping threats and defamed on social media plat-forms by the so-called social bugs of some countries.

This came in the speech that was delivered by Second Sec-retary of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations in Geneva Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Suwaidi, during the interactive dialogue with Inde-pendent International Com-mission of Inquiry on the vio-lence against women, its causes and consequences.

Al Suwaidi expressed Qatar’s strong condemnation that

journalists, especially women, are being subjected to har-assment, abuse, threats, defa-mation, and fabrication of false news, as well as violence that sometimes reaches the point of killing, with the aim of under-mining their credibility.

Qatar pays great attention to the issue of freedom of expression as a basic human right, he explained, stressing the need to protect journalists and ensure their right of freedom of opinion and expression, and that no restrictions should be placed except within the framework permitted by international standards. He also stressed the importance of ensuring that journalist and the media provide accurate news coverage to help raise awareness that can save many lives, especially at a time when the world is facing the coronavirus pandemic.

Fall in prices of food items shows success of Ministry’s efforts during RamadanTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) said that the fall in Consumer Price Index (CPI) during Ramadan, particularly the decline in the price of food and beverages, reflects the efficacy of initiatives and measures taken to regulate prices.

These measures were taken in a bid to bolster the purchasing power of citizens and residents and to alleviate the financial burden resulting from the unjus-tified hike in the price of various commodities, especially basic consumer goods.

The Ministry’s initiatives con-tributed to enhancing the pur-chasing power of citizens and residents and reducing the financial burden of unjustified hikes in the prices of various commodities, especially basic consumer goods.

The price decline was seen in the CPI report for the holy month of Ramadan for the year 1441 AH, which was issued by the Planning and Statistics Authority for the period between April 23 and May 24, 2020. The report showed a sig-nificant decrease in the CPI index during the holy month.

The Ministry noted that the CPI clearly demonstrated that consumer goods prices trended downward since March, and declined further during the holy month of Ramadan 1441 AH (corresponding to April 23 - May 24, 2020).

The CPI covered 12 major categories. These include food and beverages, which represent the most important categories in the report, and account for 13.45 percent of total family spending.

The category covers various food products, including Ramadan commodities, and constitute 13 percent of a total basket — the equivalent of 557 products.

The report noted that the drop in the price of basic food

products was evident during May, which coincided with most of the days of Ramadan.

The meat CPI decreased from 105.65 in March to approximately 101.97 in May, while the fish and seafood CPI fell from 85.89 in March 2020 to 75.76 in May. Meanwhile, the fruit price index fell from 100.86 in April to 100.75 in May, while the vegetable index fell from 99.93 in March to 97.12 in May.

The CPI for cereals declined from 101.44 in March to 96.92 in May, while the CPI for the milk, cheese and eggs group decreased from 101.72 in March to 95.64 in May.

Additionally, the price index for spices, salt and marinades decreased from 101.74 in March to 100.36 in May 2020. Each year, the Ministry issues a number of important decisions that fall within the framework of its Ramadan initiatives.

Among the most prominent was the joint national initiative between the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry, the Min-istry of Municipality and Envi-ronment, and Widam Food Company, which involved bol-stering local production and subsidising sheep meat prices during Ramadan 1441 AH, in order to ensure the availability of the product for citizens at reasonable prices, while also enhancing the balance between supply and demand.

The Ministry had also announced the launch of its dis-counted consumer goods initi-ative for citizens and residents.

The programme covered more than 500 products and included basic commodities such as flour, sugar, rice, pasta, chicken, oil, milk, and other food and non-food items whose consumption tends to increase during Ramadan.

This joint community initi-ative between malls and sup-pliers contributed significantly to the decline in food and con-sumer prices referred to in the CPI index for the month of June.

In this regard, the Ministry has been keen to engage and coordinate with suppliers to identify and provide products in demand at the most appro-priate prices during Ramadan. The list of discounted consumer goods was circulated to all major malls across the country.

The Ministry also intensified its inspection campaigns across all markets and commercial activities to uncover and crackdown on violations, in a bid to protect consumer rights.

In this context, the Ministry intensified its monitoring of fish, seafood, vegetables and fruit prices, in line with the daily price bulletin it issues in this regard, which resulted in the Ministry’s success in main-taining low and stable prices for these products.

Qatar National Library leads discussion on heritage trafficking in MenaTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar National Library brought together experts from the Arab region to discuss the fight against the illegal trafficking and smug-gling of manuscripts heritage items across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena).

The opening speech at the event was given by Dr. Hamda Al Sulaiti, Secretary-General of the Qatari National Committee for Education, Culture and Science.

Stephane Ipert, Director of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institu-tions (IFLA), Preservation and Conservation Center (PAC), Regional Center at Qatar National Library, was joined by Dr. Rajaa Ben Salamah, General Director

of the National Library of Tunisia, and Dr. Alsharqi Dahmali, Member of the Advisory Council of the International Council of Museums in Morocco. The event was moderated by Maxim Nasra, Coordinator of IFLA PAC Regional Center at the Library.

Stephane Ipert said: “Docu-mentary heritage is particularly at risk for trafficking, as it’s less likely to be protected by national legislation than other artefacts, and is easier to move illegally.

“For several years, trafficking and smuggling of heritage items from libraries and archives have been rising. In the Mena region in particular, this phe-nomenon is greater due to the number of nations suffering from conflict, upheaval and impoverishment.”

Ipert also spoke in March this year at the World Customs Organisation (WCO) in Brussels, Belgium, where he presented the activities of the IFLA PAC Regional Center to counter the

trafficking of manuscripts, books and archives in the Mena region.

Dr. Rajaa Ben Salamah, General Director of the National Library of Tunisia said: “Libraries play such important roles in the

preservation and restoration of documentary heritage and for-gotten treasure. We can help by building a network and raising awareness of the pricelessness and cultural value of artifacts, and making them available to all through digitalisation and pub-lishing, as well as preserving the

originals.”As a PAC Regional Center,

Qatar National Library aims to create a professional network of collaborative assistance to exchange knowledge and share successful experiences toward the preservation of documentary heritage throughout the region.

Experts from the Arab region discussed about the fight against the illegal trafficking and smuggling of manuscripts.

Graduation ceremony of Joaan bin Jassim Joint Command and Staff College in progress.

Ministry participates in seminar on best practices in work field with EU expertsQNA — DOHA

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs participated in a videoconference on best prac-tices in the field of work with the participation of experts from the European Union.

The seminar aimed to provide a platform for exchanging experiences and highlighting new practices in various countries of the region to address the coronavirus pandemic and its social and economic impacts, and to exchange views on the future of work towards achieving a s u s t a i n a b l e e c o n o m i c recovery.

Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs at the

ministry Mohamed Hassan Al Obaidly, stated that the gov-ernment of the State of Qatar has taken the necessary pre-cautions to confront the pan-demic, including a set of eco-nomic policies in the form of a package of financial incen-tives to assist the private sector and national security programmes while delaying the repayment of loans and interest.

He said at the level of the Ministry of Administrative Development Labour and Social Affairs, the necessary precautions have been taken, social protection policies for workers have been estab-lished and assistance provided to employers in responding and implementation of these

measures, and regulation of the contractual relationship between the two parties during the crisis to ensure business and employment sustainability. Besides pro-viding assistance and support, the ministry’s services have been made available remotely u s i n g i n f o r m a t i o n technology.

It is worth mentioning that the participants in the seminar exchanged experiences in the field of employment and labour, and viewed the expe-riences of European Union countries. It was also men-tioned that the Qatar Chamber has launched a re-employment platform in support of the country’s national strategy.

The measures were taken in a bid to bolster the purchasing power of citizens and residents and to alleviate the financial burden resulting from the unjustified hike in the price of various commodities, especially basic consumer goods. The Ministry’s initiatives contributed to enhancing the purchasing power of citizens and residents and reducing the financial burden of unjustified hikes in the prices of various commodities, especially basic consumer goods.

“Documentary heritage is particularly at risk for trafficking, as it’s less likely to be protected by national legislation than other artefacts, and is easier to move illegally. Trafficking and smuggling of heritage items from libraries and archives have been rising. In the Mena region, this phenomenon is greater due to the number of nations suffering from conflict, upheaval and impoverishment,” says Stephane Ipert.

05THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020 HOME

DFI hosts ‘Hezayah Screenwriting Lab’THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Doha Film Institute (DFI) is hosting the latest edition of its popular ‘Hezayah Screenwriting Lab’ for emerging screenwriters and writer-directors to assist in the development and writing of original feature-length screen-plays.

Delivered in three sessions of five-day workshops, taking place over a period of six months from June 2020 to January 2021, the lab is designed to assist emerging screenwriters and writer-directors to develop and write an original feature-length screenplay, built around in-depth group sessions and indi-vidual feedback.

Participants work in small groups with the support of expe-rienced mentors and are encouraged to develop personal stories that reflect contemporary life in the Middle East region. Par-ticipants are selected on the basis of the strength of their screenplay idea, their writing ability, their vision and approach, and their previous work.

Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Chief Executive Officer of DFI, said: “Screenwriting is both a foundation of film and an art form in itself. As an under-pinning aspect of film devel-opment, DFI’s long-running

specialised Hezayah Screen-writing Lab is a transformative experience where aspiring talents examine and explore their inner creativity and per-sonal voice.”

“It offers a comprehensive take on the screenwriting process, from initial character and theme development to the final pitching session, covering both the creative and practical perspectives. The lab helps par-ticipants realise the potential of their narratives and expand story ideas into compelling works of cinema, while making them attune to realistic budg-eting on different film pro-duction scales,” she added.

This year’s lab mentors include acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker, Annemarie Jacir, whose work has premiered as Official Selections in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, and Telluride; three of her feature films were Palestine’s official Oscar entries, and Script Con-sultant, Joelle Touma, a renowned screenwriter and script doctor with extensive credits in film and television. Lab Advisor, Matthieu Darras, leads and designs several pro-grammes of talent devel-opment and film consultancy that are active worldwide, including the First Cut Lab, the Pop Up Film Residency, and

the Full Circle Lab.The first session took place

online from June 12 to 16. The second session will be from September 24 to 28 and the final session in January 2021. The projects participating in the Lab are eligible to apply for the Pop Up Film Residency Award, which consists of a three-week film residency programme in one of the residences of the Pop Up Film Network next year.

The selected screenplay projects for the 2020 Hezayah Screenwriting Lab include Anas Khalaf’s The Photographer, the story of a Syrian man at the heart of the regime who decides to leave Syria and defect,; Ben

Robinson’s Sabah in which a Qatari teenager directs her drama group to broadcast their controversial performance live across social media; Hamad Al Tourah’s Passports, about a Texan woman living in Kuwait who runs into troubles in her marriage that begin to loosen her grip on life in the country; Cotton Queen by Suzannah Mirghani, the story of 15-year-old Nafisa who finds herself in an arranged marriage in a cotton-farming village in Sudan and must learn to stand up for herself; Wisam Al Jafari‘s The Hearse to the Final House of Happiness, follows Lina, the daughter of a hearse driver, who attempts to reach her sister prior to her wedding night; and Youssef Michraf’s Sweet Dispo-sition, about a young boy who searches the streets for a fifty year-old man to impersonate his father at his high school. Two projects helmed by Qatari screenwriters are also part of the workshop, Khalifa Al Marri and Abdulla Fakhroo’s Will I Ever Be Good Enough, about a father’s fervent search for his missing daughter that leads him to find a few surprises along the way; and Nadia Al Khater’s Democracy, about a class clown and teacher’s pet battle to win the presidency in a contentious student election.

One of the online sessions of the latest edition of DFI’s ‘Hezayah Screenwriting Lab.’

NU-Q student responds to COVID-19 pandemic in PakistanTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the globe, Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) alumni are reporting on the virus, while a NU-Q student launches a face-mask awareness campaign in Pakistan.

Adan Ali was in the middle of his freshman year at NU-Q when the pandemic hit, and he returned home to Pakistan to complete the semester. Back in Pakistan, he connected with some high school friends now studying at top schools in the US and Pakistan, including Mas-sachusetts Institute of Tech-nology, University of Pennsyl-vania, Lahore University of Management Sciences and the Institute of Business Adminis-tration in Karachi, and started an awareness campaign to promote the use of face masks in Pakistan.

The goal of the campaign, Mask Banao (or ‘Make a Mask’),

is to use two methods to get every Pakistani to wear a mask.

While the first initiative is a nationwide awareness cam-paign on various media plat-forms that encourages people to make their own masks, the second involved producing masks in a factory with the help of donations and distributing them to communities that are

unable to produce their own masks.

Shortly after establishing the campaign, some of his fellow students from NU-Q joined his team, including Iffah Abid Kitchlew, Abdul Rahman Abid, Zeest Marrium, Krishna Sharma, Shahan Ejaz, and Saad Ejaz.

“With seven NU-Q students

now serving crucial roles,” Ali noted, “Mask Banao is a living, breathing embodiment of what we are taught at NU-Q: to be grounded in facts, to tell the truth, only the truth, and to cast a light on stories that matter.” The campaign now includes 52 people working across eight time zones and 10 countries—from Qatar and Pakistan to Croatia and the US.

For NU-Q alumnus, Wijdan Al Khateeb, her skills in telling a story have been essential as an intern at the Qatar Foun-dation. Recently she has worked on a documentary with VCUQ FabLab, a fabrication laboratory team at Virginia Common-wealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, on how the lab is producing protective face shields for frontline healthcare workers in Qatar.

Al Khateeb was also involved in the creation of an educational video on how children will be affected by the

virus. According to Al Khateeb, the video is designed to start a conversation that will become critical after the crisis is over: “Will they act normally? Will they need more attention/help in certain aspects?”

“The pandemic taught me that we used to take everything for granted, down to the smallest things like being able to go and grab a cup of coffee,” Al Khateeb said. “These videos and projects are small ways in which we can educate, learn more ourselves, and try to create a more positive environment.”

According to Shereena Qazi, an NU-Q alum who now reports for Al Jazeera English’s website, providing accurate information is a way to give back to the community while in lockdown. She explains that for her and her fellow journalists working through the pandemic, this means being “on our toes trying to get facts out, as there is so

much misinformation about it.”Qazi also noted that

reporting in the middle of a global health crisis does not come without its challenges, as “constantly moving numbers” make coverage on COVID-19 a tricky business. “It has been a stressful few months reporting on the virus especially when it comes to documenting facts and numbers, as they move so quickly,” she said.

Echoing these concerns is Hangda Zhang, a Medill graduate on the Evanston campus who spent a semester in Qatar in 2016.

“My experience about COVID-19 news reporting,” she said, “is that, in times of crisis, there’s so much to report on and so much to follow for jour-nalists.” Zhang, who is working for AJ+ in Washington, DC, is also taking this moment to ensure that she can reach the people that benefit the most from her work.

Traffic Studies and Information Section holds webinar with Hamad Trauma Center

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Traffic Studies and Information Section at the General Directorate of Traffic yesterday held an online meeting with Hamad Trauma Center of the Hamad Medical Corporation.

The meeting comes within the framework of enhancing the existing cooperation between the two parties in exchanging information and data on deaths and severe injuries resulting from traffic accidents.

Captain Saleh Rashid Al Daaya, Head of Traffic Studies and Information Section, said that the meeting discussed the creation of a report based on data of traffic accidents during the period of pre-cautionary measures to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to compare it to traffic statistics for the

same period last year.“The meeting also discussed the pos-

sibility of Hamad Trauma Center to benefit from reports and traffic department data.

It also reviewed the possibility of training employees of the General Direc-torate of Traffic on how to deal with victims of traffic accident before the arrival of ambulances, in addition to training them about first aid,” Al Daaya said.

About other important points dis-cussed in the meeting, Captain Al Daaya said: “We have discussed the possibility of the Center’s participation in the activ-ities of the traffic awareness man-agement activities of the current year, especially back to school campaign in case of lifting of precautionary measures against COVID-19.”

Sidra Medicine supports nationwide blood donation driveTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

More than 100 staff from Sidra Medicine registered to donate blood at the mobile blood donation bus set up by Hamad Medical Corporation’s Blood Donor Center, yesterday.

Dr Jason Ford, Chairman at Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Sidra Medicine, encourages people to donate blood.

“I feel fortunate to be able to donate blood, to help sick children and adults in Qatar. As a consultant in blood trans-fusion I know that my blood will be used to save lives, as it can be used to help the children and mothers at Sidra Medicine as well as the patients at HMC and

throughout the whole country. Qatar has a very safe blood transfusion system. I hope other people will take the time to donate blood, which is needed now more than ever due to the pandemic,” he said.

Approximately about 40 units of blood were collected from the blood donation drive at Sidra Medicine which can help with lifesaving treatments for over 40 adults or 100 children.

HMC have highlighted that the country is in need of blood types O+, O-, A-, B- and AB-.

For those able to donate, please visit the Blood Donor Center near Hamad General Hospital or call 4439 1981 to check your eligibility.

Dr Jason Ford taking part in the blood donation drive at Sidra Medicine.

Captain Saleh Rashid Al Daaya, Head of Traffic Studies and Information Section at the General Directorate of Traffic, during the online meeting, yesterday.

Adan Ali during a video call.

20,000 small Hamour fish released in Qatari waters to enrich fish stocksTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment represented by Fisheries Resources Department has released 20,000 small Hamour fish in the Qatari marine waters.

The said quantity is the first batch produced by the Aquatic Research Centre opened in Ras Matbakh. The programme is in collaboration with the General Directorate of Coasts and Borders Security of the Ministry of Interior.

The operation of releasing small Hamour fish comes in order to enrich the local fish through fish farming and release it in Qatari waters to

contribute to increasing the stock of these species that pos-itively reflect on production.

The program is part of the second national development strategy 2018/2022 for natural resources, and is supervised by the Fisheries Resources Department, which aims to farm locally desired economic fish species and release of larvae in national waters to enrich the stocks of those types of fish which will contribute to achieving requirements food security.

The Aquatic Research Centre, which is key to coun-try’s food security, plays a stra-tegic role in developing Qatar’s fisheries wealth.

Katara holds virtual exhibition on Qatari heritageQNA — DOHA

Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) held a virtual exhi-bition “Heritage” to document an important aspects of Qatari heritage. The expo will continue until the end of December 2020.

The exhibition includes 12 artworks by Qatari artist Hassan Bu Jassoum, some of which were painted by Bu Jassoum during his home quarantine. The artworks reflect the artist’s vision and artistic style through which he invokes the Qatari heritage and memories that are still exist in his memory since childhood.

Bu Jassoum praised the virtual exhibitions organised by Katara on its social media platforms, as they contribute to reviving the fine art in Qatar and showcasing the artworks of artists.

Katara presents the exhi-bition to document the invet-erate patrimony and to revive the past that still exists in the memories and to retrieve this remembrance through paintings to be a witness of that important part of history.

Real estate deals

value reach

QR1.89bn

QNA — DOHA

The volume of real estate trading in sales contracts registered at the Department of Real Estate Registration at the Ministry of Justice during the period from June 28 to July 2 reached QR1.89bn.

The weekly bulletin issued by the Department showed that the list of real estate prop-erties traded for sale included vacant lands, houses, resi-dential buildings, residential towers, multi-purpose buildings and a residential complex.

The volume of real estate trading had reached QR215.29m during the period from June 21 to June 25.

06 THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020GULF / MIDDLE EAST

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Deputy Mustafa Sentop delivering a speech at the General Assembly after being reelected as the Speaker of the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, on Tuesday.

Erdogan congratulates speaker on reelectionANATOLIA — ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated Mustafa Sentop in a phone call for his reelection as speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the Communications Directorate said yesterday.

Sentop, a ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party law-maker hailing from north-western Tekirdag province, received 328 votes Tuesday in the third round of voting in the 600-seat Grand National Assembly.

A total of 557 lawmakers cast ballots, while seven votes were declared invalid.

Speaking to lawmakers fol-lowing the election, Sentop thanked them for participating in the process.

“The election is completed. There is no doubt that I will try to serve the grand parliament under the Constitution, bylaws and other rules of law and par-liamentary tendencies with justice and impartiality,” he said.

The ruling AK Party holds 291 seats in parliament, while the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has 138 seats, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) 58, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 49, the Good Party (IYI) 37, the Turkish Workers’ Party two and inde-pendents six.

The Democracy and Progress (Remedy) Party, Dem-ocrat Party (DP), Grand Unity Party (BBP), Saadet (Felicity) Party and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) hold one each.

Sentop, 51, earned a bach-elor’s degree in law at Istanbul University and a master’s degree and PhD at Istanbul’s Marmara University.

Meanwhile, a Turkish opposition leader yesterday voiced support for new regu-lations on social media in the country.

Speaking to her party’s parliamentary group, Good (IYI) Party leader Meral Aksener cited how European Union member states as well as many other countries have passed social media regulations to protect their public.

“We should also take these steps, but we should do it not by restricting freedoms or by putting a burden on the people, but with good sense,” she said.

Aksener added: “Let’s enact the necessary laws and take measures to deter immoralists, let’s guarantee right and justice for our nation.”

Last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on parliament to enact new regulations on social media fol-lowing insults directed at his daughter and other relatives.

Under the changes, social media companies would need to establish a legal presence in Turkey, along with other measures.

Aksener also urged that under new regulations, the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party would not be able to use special social media fol-lowers alleged to be paid to influence public debate.

UK set to resume Saudi arms sales despite Yemen concernsAFP — LONDON/RIYADH

Britain said yesterday it would resume arms sales to Saudi Arabia, halted last year after a UK court ruling over the Gulf kingdom’s bombing campaign in neigh-bouring Yemen.

Weapons exports were stopped in June 2019 after the Court of Appeal ordered the government to clarify how it assesses whether their use in Yemen’s civil war breaches international human-itarian law (IHL).

The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and triggered what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst existing humanitarian crisis.

However, the British government has concluded Saudi Arabia “has a genuine intent and the capacity to

comply with IHL”, according to Inter-national Trade Secretary Liz Truss, allowing for export licence reviews to restart.

“I have assessed that there is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL,” she said in a written statement to parliament

“The government will now begin the process of clearing the backlog of licence applications for Saudi Arabia and its coa-lition partners that has built up since 20 June last year.”

She said it could take “some months” to complete.

The announcement came just a day after Britain slapped sanctions on 20 Saudis for their suspected roles in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The weapons decision drew imme-diate criticism from arms control activists, with the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) saying it was con-sidering further legal steps.

“This is a disgraceful and morally bankrupt decision,” said Andrew Smith of CAAT.

“The Saudi-led bombardment of Yemen has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and the gov-ernment itself admits that UK-made arms have played a central role on the bombing.

“We will be considering this new decision with our lawyers, and will be exploring all options available to chal-lenge it.”

Government figures analysed by CAAT show that Britain had licensed nearly £5bn ($6.4bn) in weapons to the

kingdom since its Yemen campaign began in 2015. In its 2019 ruling, Eng-land’s Court of Appeal said the gov-ernment had broken the law by failing to assess properly whether the arms it sells to Riyadh violated its commitments to human rights.

The court ordered the UK to “recon-sider the matter” and weigh up future risks. Truss said it had now “developed a revised methodology” to assess alle-gations of violations by Saudi forces, and determined past incidents were “isolated”.

She said applications would be “carefully assessed” against the Consol-idated European Union and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. “A licence would not be granted if to do so would be a breach of the Criteria,” Truss said.

Israel warned of Europe’s response to annexationANATOLIA — MADRID/AMMAN

Europe will not stand idly by if Israel moves forward with its plan to annex parts of the Palestinian territory, Spain’s foreign minister said yesterday.

“The conversation that we, Spain, are having within the European Union, is that in the case that this unilateral annexation goes ahead — which we hope is not the case — there would have to be a European response,” Gonzalez Laya said at a news conference in Madrid alongside her Swedish counterpart Ann Linde.

Linde echoed Gonzalez’s statements, adding that Israel’s plans to annex the Pal-estinian territory would “violate interna-tional law”.

“Obviously this would affect the rela-tionship between the EU and Israel,” she added. Gonzalez said that Spain supports the “two-state solution” to the conflict and said “the only way to overcome the con-flict between Israel and Palestine is through dialogue.”

Encouraged by US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century,”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month announced his government would formally annex the Jordan Valley and all settlement blocs in the West Bank in July.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Jordan, and Egypt also voiced strong opposition to these plans.

The West Bank, including East Jeru-salem, is viewed as an occupied territory under international law, thus making all Jewish settlements there— as well as the

planned annexation — illegal. Palestinian officials have threatened to abolish bilateral agreements with Israel if it goes ahead with the annexation, which will further undermine the two-state solution.

The majority of the international com-munity, including the European Union members, do not recognize Israel’s sover-eignty over territories that it has occupied since 1967.

Meanwhile, Jordan and Turkey yes-terday reiterated their rejection of an Israeli plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

Speaker of Jordan’s House of Repre-sentatives (lower house of parliament), Atef Tarawneh, held talks in Amman with Turkish Ambassador Ismail Aramaz to discuss cooperation between the two coun-tries in the parliamentary, economic and investment fields.

“Amman and Ankara have historic rela-tions and bonds of friendship and cooper-ation which require maintaining coordi-nation and consultation regarding the issues of mutual interest.” Tarawneh said in a statement.

Women wearing protective face masks shop at a bazaar following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in Tehran, Iran, yesterday.

Iran virus death toll exceeds 12,000 as lockdown easesREUTERS — TEHRAN

Iran’s coronavirus death toll exceeded 12,000 yesterday, the health ministry said, with 153 deaths in the past 24 hours, amid a sharp rise in the number of daily infections and deaths in the past week as lockdown measures have eased.

The total number of infec-tions has reached 248,379, with 209,463 people having recovered, ministry spokes-woman Sima Sadat Lari said in a statement on state TV.

Iran recorded 200 deaths from COVID-19 within a 24-hour period on Tuesday, the highest official figure recorded by the ministry. President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday launched new measures to try to curb the spread. Iranians who do not wear masks will be denied state services and work-places that fail to comply with health protocols will be shut for a week, he said.

State TV has regularly aired interviews in recent days with reporters questioning people on public transport and in shopping malls why they were not wearing masks.

Some said they did not feel a sense of urgency, others said t h e m a s k s w e r e uncomfortable.

Hezbollah chief blasts US envoy as ‘military ruler’AFP — BEIRUT

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah blasted the US ambassador to Lebanon as a “military ruler” who was inciting tensions after she accused the party of stealing billions from state coffers.

Tensions have soared between the pow-erful Iran-backed Shia party and the out-spoken envoy, Dorothy Shea, since she accused the party last month of spiriting away billions of dollars of state money at a time of acute economic crisis.

In an interview with Saudi-owned news channel Al Hadath, Shea also said the US was reviewing Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government’s links with Hezbollah, considered by the US as a terrorist organisation.

“Since the new ambassador arrived in Lebanon...she has dealt with Lebanon as though she is a military ruler, or a high com-missary, as though she has

authority,” Nasrallah said. “Every day she attacks (Hezbollah)... she insults and offends us,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech, criticising the government for keeping silent.

“She is pushing the Lebanese towards infighting, sedition and civil strife,” he said.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah lawmakers in parliament will ask the foreign ministry to summon Shea and reprimand her.

The Lebanese Shia movement and its allies command a majority in parliament and the cabinet. Shea was already sum-moned for a meeting with Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti late last month following her interview with Al Hadath which prompted a south Lebanon judge to issue a non-binding and now-defunct order banning the Lebanese press from reporting her comments.

Shea is “interfering in appointments and in government and in the economy,” Nasrallah said. “She is attacking the Leb-anese and inciting them towards sedition and strife.”

The dispute comes as Lebanon grapples with its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. The Lebanese pound has nosedived against the dollar on the black market, sending prices soaring.

Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah delivering a televised speech from an undisclosed location in Lebanon, yesterday.

US general sees smaller but enduring troop presence in Iraq

AP — WASHINGTON

Six months after a deadly American airstrike in Baghdad enraged Iraqis and fueled demands to send all US troops home, the top US general for the Middle East is talking optimistically about keeping a smaller, but enduring military presence there.

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of US Central Command, met on Tuesday with Iraq’s new prime minister, Mustafa Al Kadhimi, and said afterward that he believes the Iraqis welcome the US and coalition troops, especially in the ongoing fight to keep Islamic State militants from taking hold of the country again.

“I believe that going forward, they’re going to want us to be with them,” McKenzie told a small group of reporters, speaking by phone hours after he left Iraq. “I don’t sense there’s a mood right now for us to depart precipitously. And I’m pretty confident of that.”

Tensions spiked between the US and Iraq in January after a US drone strike near the Baghdad airport killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis. Angry Iraqi lawmakers, spurred on by Shia political factions, passed a nonbinding resolution to oust all US-led coalition forces from the country.

“Obviously this would affect the relationship between the EU and Israel,” Spain’s Foreign Minister Gonzalez Laya said. She added that Spain supports the “two-state solution” to the conflict and said “the only way to overcome the conflict between Israel and Palestine is through dialogue.”

Lebanese convicted

of financing Hezbollah

in US returns home

AP — BEIRUT

A Lebanese businessman serving a five-year sentence in the United States for providing millions of dollars to the militant Hezbollah group arrived in Beirut after his early release, local media reported.

Kassim Tajideen was sen-tenced last year in a federal court in Washington for his role in a money laundering conspiracy aimed at evading US sanctions. He was arrested in Morocco and extradited to the US in 2017, where he was charged with laundering money for Hezbollah.

ANATOLIA — MUSCAT/KUWAIT

The coronavirus pandemic continued to claim more lives in Oman and Kuwait yesterday, as the Middle East struggles to curb the outbreak.

In Oman, the Health Ministry said nine patients had died from COVID-19, while 1,210 people were sickened over the past 24 hours. The country’s count now rose to 50,207 cases, including 233 deaths, and 32,005 recoveries.

In Kuwait, two people succumbed to the disease, in addition to 762 new cases and 593 recoveries,

according to the Health Ministry. The Gulf state’s new figures bring the tally to 52,007 cases, including 379 deaths, and 42,108 recoveries.

The coronavirus pandemic yesterday claimed 94 more lives in Iraq and sickened 123 people in Morocco. The Iraqi Health Ministry said the country’s nationwide death toll rose to 2,779 after 94 died from the virus, while 2,741 cases were registered. In Morocco, the Health Ministry said 123 people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours, bringing the total cases in the North African country to 14,730.

Virus deaths continue to rise in Oman, Kuwait

07THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

‘Turkey to continue supporting legitimate Libyan govt’

AFP — ANKARA/TRIPOLI

Turkey is working to establish stability in the region, including through supporting Libya’s legitimate government, as Turkey’s security is directly connected to its neighbours’ security and to issues in the Mediterranean, according to presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.

“When it comes to Turkey’s security, it is also about the security of Iraq, the security of Iran, as well as of all our neighbors and the issues in the Mediterranean,” Kalin told Anadolu Agency, explaining how in our era national security cannot be provided just within national borders, as security is a global issue.

“Libya is our maritime neighbour across the Mediter-ranean,” Kalin said, also high-lighting how Turkey’s geo-graphical location extends to Central Asia, from the Middle East to North Africa and the Caucasus. “The tiniest crisis,

tension, clash, or war in these regions will directly affect Tur-key’s security,” he said.

The effect may come in the form of terrorism, migration, or something else, he said, adding that the country has seen this “so many times.”

“Issues in Libya directly concern the security of both the Mediterranean and NATO,” Kalin noted.

Libya has been torn by a civil war since the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country’s new government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led agreement, but efforts for a long-term political settlement failed due to a military offensive by warlord Khalifa Haftar’s forces.

The UN recognizes the Libyan government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj as the country’s legitimate authority, as Tripoli battles Haftar’s militias.

In a counteroffensive against Haftar’s attacks on the capital Tripoli and elsewhere, government forces recently lib-erated strategic locations,

including Al-Watiya airbase and the city of Tarhuna, Haftar’s last stronghold in western Libya.

Kalin urged that all inter-national actors establish rela-tions with Libya’s legitimate government recognized by the UN. While many countries, including the US, failed to forge ties with the Al Sarraj gov-ernment, Turkey’s support both

on the ground and diplomatic areas started to alter this balance, according to Kalin.

“Of course, we never want Libya to become a war zone for militias and foreign merce-naries,” he said, adding that for a political solution, those mil-itary solutions should “cer-tainly” be left aside.

“But when we look at what

international actors have unfor-tunately done in Syria, we see that a similar scene is slowly emerging in Libya,” he warned.

Reiterating that Turkey’s support to Libya’s government in Tripoli will continue, Kalin said a recent attack on the key al-Watiya airbase was done by Haftar’s forces. “It is known that the Haftar side did it,” he

said, adding that despite various reports claiming various coun-tries were responsible, “another truth was revealed by this attack; it is obvious who really wants peace and stability there, and who wants the continuation of clashes.”

On Sunday, unidentified warplanes carried out airstrikes on strategically important Al-Watiya airbase west of the capital Tripoli.

No casualties were reported following the incident, but some equipment recently brought to boost the airbase’s air-defense capabilities was damaged.

The overnight attacks were the first since the Libyan Army captured the airbase from Haftar’s militia in May.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday that foreign interference in the Libya conflict has reached “unprecedented levels,” with sophisticated equipment and mercenaries involved in the fighting.

Guterres denounced the sit-uation during a ministers-level UN Security Council video con-ference, expressing particular concern about the military forces massing around the city of Sirte, halfway between Tripoli in the west and Benghazi in the east.

Dispatchers for the Rescue.co free ambulance service look at computer screens during the coronavirus night curfew in Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday.

Free ambulance helps save mothers and babies in Kenya lockdownREUTERS — NAIROBI

As soon as Kenya introduced a coronavirus curfew, Dr. Jemimah Kariuki, an obste-trician-gynecologist at Nairobi’s Kenyatta Hospital, started seeing more death and compli-cations.

“Every time I went to the hospital it was fewer numbers but more complications...and when women died alone in childbirth, I was like ‘in 2020?’ You are dying? Alone?,” she said.

Mothers in labour and their babies die more frequently during disease outbreaks in Africa. Women are either too afraid of infection to give birth in hospitals, or drivers are too afraid to take them if police are e n f o r c i n g m o v e m e n t restrictions.

That means disruptions to health systems caused by COVID-19 could result in an additional 1.1 million additional child deaths and 56,700 maternal deaths in low and

middle-income countries, a study by Johns Hopkins researchers showed.

In 2014, amid Sierra Leone’s Ebola outbreak, the number of women delivering babies at health facilities plunged by 30%,

a study by the United Nations Population Fund found. That year, Sierra Leone’s maternal mortality ratio rose 3.5%, World Health Organisation data shows.

In the f i rs t 10

days of neighboring Uganda’s coronavirus lockdown, the lack of transportation killed seven women and two babies, a rights group said.

Kariuki was determined not to let that happen. Police had

already beaten a motorobike driver to death after he trans-ported a woman in labour to hospital after curfew and she knew Kenya, like most African nations, had no public ambu-lance services.

So she started Wheels for Life, a free ambulance service for mothers in labour after dark. The program has received more than 5,000 calls and delivered around 600 babies.

Patients call ‘1196.’ A worker at a call center checks if it is an emergency. If not, they send a taxi with an overnight movement pass. If it is, the call goes to Rescue.co, a subscription-based Uber service for ambulances that runs a dispatch center.

One such call was from Christine Wanjiru, whose waters broke at midnight. She was stunned when an ambu-lance appeared within five minutes. “I didn’t expect that,” Wanjiru said. “I was so happy.”

Wheels for Life is free. Public partners and corporate donors are covering costs.

Nigeria restarts

domestic flights

amid easing

virus restrictions

REUTERS — ABUJA

Nigeria resumed domestic flights yesterday after a hiatus of around three months as Africa’s most populous country relaxes restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the new coronavirus.

The airports for the capital, Abuja, and commercial hub Lagos reopened for flights. A handful of other airports will open on July 11 and the remainder of airports will resume flights on July 15.

The resumption of flights is the latest step by the gov-ernment to reopen Africa’s biggest economy, which has also been hit hard by low oil prices. In recent weeks it has lifted a ban on interstate travel, allowed some pupils to return to school and permitted places of worship to open.

A witness said passengers waiting to enter the airport in the capital, Abuja, used markings on the floor to observe social distancing and some used newly installed handwashing facilities outside the building. Only a relatively small number of people were waiting to travel.

Other safety measures in place included airport workers taking the temperature of pas-sengers and spraying bags with decontamination fluids.

“We are not out to punish anybody. We are interested in their wellbeing that is why we have put all of these things in place, and so we expect them to please abide by all of these procedures,” said Henrietta Yakubu, a spokeswoman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, on Tuesday as authorities prepared for flights to restart.

No date has been given for the resumption of interna-tional flights.

Despite efforts to kickstart the economy, health officials have expressed fears that the outbreak in Africa’s most pop-ulous country might become much worse.

Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases now above half a millionAP — JOHANNESBURG

Africa now has more than a half-million confirmed corona-virus cases. The continent-wide total is over 508,000, according to figures released yesterday by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after South Africa recorded another day of more than 10,000 confirmed cases as a new global hot spot.

The true number of cases among Africa’s 1.3 billion people

is unknown as its 54 countries continue to face a serious shortage of testing materials for the virus. “A tremendous problem, a real crisis of access,” the World Health Organization’s Africa chief, Matshidiso Moeti, said last week.

So far most testing has been concentrated in capital cities, but infections in many cases have spread beyond them.

Africa’s health systems are the most poorly funded and thinly staffed in the world, and

already more than 2,000 health workers have been infected by the virus, according to the WHO.

This week alone, some anxious health workers in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Congo and Sierra Leone have gone on strike or demonstrated for adequate protective gear or better pay. The African continent has just 2.2 health workers - and 0.3 doctors - per 1,000 people, according to the WHO.

Experts have warned that even if badly needed supplies

such as ventilators are pro-vided to African nations, another challenge is having enough trained workers to operate them.

Africa reaches the half-million-case milestone as a growing number of its countries decide to reopen their skies to commercial flights, saying their economies are sick, too. Months of closed borders bought time to prepare for the pandemic but hurt the delivery of badly needed humanitarian aid.

Prime Minister of Libya, Fayez Al Sarraj holding a meeting on Turkish companies with the officials of government agencies in Tripoli, Libya, yesterday.

Sudan eases lockdown measures as economic crisis escalatesAFP — KHARTOUM

Sudan began loosening lockdown measures yesterday in and around the capital after three months of tight restric-tions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The usual bustle of pedes-trians and car traffic returned to Khartoum’s streets, with shops and restaurants reopening.

Authorities had in April halted government services and shuttered local markets and restaurants in Khartoum province — severely restricting daily life in the capital and its twin city Omdurman — to contain the spread of COVID-19.

They also imposed a curfew between the hours of 3pm and 6am (1300 GMT to 0400 GMT),

while allowing small grocery stores and pharmacies to remain open for limited hours.

The official news agency SUNA quoted government spokesman Faisal Saleh as saying that the night-time curfew will remain in place in Khartoum state, but starting from the later time of 6pm to 5am (1600 GMT to 0300 GMT), as of yesterday.

Saleh also said that gov-ernment services will gradually resume from Sunday July 19, according to SUNA.

Sudan’s health ministry has so far tallied nearly 10,000 COVID-19 cases including more than 620 fatalities.

The confinement measures have compounded Sudan’s eco-nomic crisis, characterised by galloping inflation and foreign currency shortages.

Yesterday, many in local markets complained of dra-matic rises in the prices of basic foodstuffs.

“Living conditions have become extremely hard and

were made worse by the long days of the lockdown,” said Abdelrahman Mohamed, a daily labourer in Khartoum.

Salma Othman, a Sudanese housewife, likewise complained

that prices had soared in recent weeks.

Sudan’s economy lurched from crisis to crisis under the later years of president Omar Al Bashir’s rule.

People shop at a street market in the Sudanese capital’s twin city of Omdurman, yesterday as the country eases lockdown measures following three months of tight due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hundreds of protesters keep up rally in Sudan’s DarfurAFP — KHARTOUM

Hundreds of Sudanese protesters have kept up a demonstration in Central Darfur for more than a week, calling on the government to beef up security in the long-marginalised region. The angry demonstrators have camped outside a government building in the town of Nertiti since late June following multiple recent killings and looting incidents on farmland and properties.

This week, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok sent a dele-gation to address the protesters’ demands. The delegation sacked several local security officials and ordered a security force be formed to defend the region. But protesters insist on staying put until their demands are met.

“Libya is our maritime neighbour across the Mediterranean. The tiniest crisis, tension, clash, or war in these regions will directly affect Turkey’s security,” said Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.

08 THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

HAMAD International Airport (HIA) continues to stride on the path of operational excellence, despite uncer-tainty created in global aviation sector by COVID-19 outbreak. HIA recently became one of the first airports in the world to be awarded ISO 22301:2012 Business Continuity Management System Certification by British Standards Institution (BSI). The certification has dem-onstrated airport’s ability to keep critical operations up and running during times of crises.

ISO certifications are international benchmarks that highlight strong Business Continuity Management System parameters to deal with disruptive incidents, in order to continue operating essential functions. It is one of the most rigorous and well-regarded standards in the world and ISO 22301:2012 standard specifies the requirements for a management system to reduce the likelihood of disruptions, ensuring that a business recovers from disruptive incidents.

The scope of the certification covers essential departments of HIA namely Strategy & Commercial Development Facilities Management, Human Resources, Airport Operations, Information Technology, Security, Marketing & Communications.

HIA’s operational excellence has also been vali-dated by several awards it has won in the past. HIA, in May this year, was ranked the “Third Best Airport in the World”, among 550 airports worldwide, by the SKYTRAX World Airport Awards 2020. Rising from fourth position in 2019 to third in 2020, HIA has been steadily rising in the ‘World’s Best Airports’ rankings since the start of its operations in 2014.

HIA also continues to retain its five-star airport clas-sification since 2017. These achievements are a result of the hard work and determination demonstrated by the airport staff, to make HIA the ‘world’s fastest growing airport’. HIA’s rankings are also a result of its opera-tional excellence. During 2019, the airport served a record 38,786,422 passengers, the most since the airport began operations in 2014.

HIA registered a 4.7 per cent increase in cargo oper-ations in the first quarter of this year, primarily attributed to Qatar Airways’ and HIA’s continued efforts to provide freighter services in response to the increased demand for essential goods and medical supplies, locally and internationally. This includes the transportation of urgent medical relief aid and humanitarian assistance, which is pivotal to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

With passengers at the heart of the airport’s strategy, HIA has been investing in cutting edge smart technol-ogies, automation and self-service, as part of its smart airport vision. Despite all the challenges that the avi-ation sector faces now a days, the airport is success-fully helping travellers reach their home countries safely.

Recognising HIA's excellence

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OFFICE: TEL: 4455 7741 / 767FAX: +974 4455 7758

MANAGING EDITOR: TEL: 4462 7505

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR: TEL: 4455 7769

LOCAL NEWS SECTION: TEL: 4455 7743

BUSINESS NEWS SECTION: TEL: 4462 7535

SPORT NEWS SECTION: TEL: 4455 7745

ONLINE SECTION: TEL: 4462 7501email: INFO@PEN.COM.QA

PUBLIC RELATIONS: TEL: 4455 7613email: PR@PEN.COM.QA

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT: TEL: 4455 7837 / 780FAX: 4455 7870, email: adv@pen.com.qa

CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT: TEL: 4455 7857email: adv@pen.com.qa

SUBSCRIPTION & DISTRIBUTION: TEL: 4455 7809 / 839 FAX: 44557819, email: info@tawseelqatar.com

D-RING ROAD, POST BOX: 3488, DOHA - QATAREMAIL: editor@pen.com.qa

Quote of the day

The Libyan conflict has entered a new phase with

foreign interference reaching unprecedented levels,

including in the delivery of sophisticated equipment

and the number of mercenaries involved in the

fighting.

Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General

A file photo shows European Union Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and British Prime Minister’s Europe adviser David Frost at the start of the first round of post -Brexit trade deal talks between the EU and the United Kingdom, in Brussels, Belgium.

Britain has stepped up its crit-icism of Beijing and Moscow as it seeks to establish a place for itself in the world after Brexit.

China’s ambassador to London warned of “conse-quences” if Britain treats his country as a “hostile” power in its dealings over Hong Kong and Huawei Technol-ogies Co., while Russian offi-cials topped the list of people sanctioned for human rights abuses, sparking a threat of retaliation from the Kremlin.

“As we forge a dynamic new vision for a truly global Britain, this government are absolutely committed to the United Kingdom becoming an even stronger force for good in the world,” Foreign Sec-retary Dominic Raab told Par-liament as he introduced the sanctions. He pledged “to keep the flame of freedom alive for those brave souls still suffering in the very darkest corners of the world.”

The announcement of tar-geted sanctions on 49

individuals and organizations for human rights abuses immediately sparked calls from senior lawmakers in Prime Minister Boris John-son’s Conservative Party for similar curbs on China.

The demands highlight a tension for the UK as it seeks trade deals around the world after Brexit while trying to assert itself as a champion of freedom. The country is now free to set its own sanctions regime, after leaving the European Union in January. For Johnson, the difficulty is balancing his desire to crack down on international viola-tions against the risk of exposing the UK to potential retaliation from sanctioned countries.

“Britain’s future means balancing different interests and some tough choices,” said Tom Tugendhat, a Conserv-ative and chairman of Parlia-ment’s Foreign Affairs Com-mittee. “But to get through this we need to remember what really matters and hold on to core beliefs -- none more than the rule of law.”

Tugendhat was joined by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith as senior MPs called for the sanctions, cur-rently limited to Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea, to be extended to Chinese officials for the sup-pression of protests in Hong Kong and human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. Some said Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam should be added to the list.

Raab didn’t rule out including Chinese nationals and said he is already working

on the next round of sanctions, which he told MPs are “a forensic tool” and have to be legally watertight before they are applied. The escalation of tensions came after it emerged Britain is preparing to phase Huawei out of plans for fifth-generation telecommunica-tions networks, sparking a robust response from Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambas-sador in London.

He accused the UK of fol-lowing the bidding of the US over the Chinese technology giant and criticized its response to a crackdown on demonstrations in Hong Kong. Last week Johnson offered a fast-track to citi-zenship to almost 3 million residents of Britain’s former colony.

“We want to be your friend, we want to be your partner, but if you want to make China a hostile partner you have to bear the conse-quences.” Liu said on a video call with reporters Monday. “If you dance to the tune of other countries, how can you call yourself Great Britain?”

A report from the UK’s National Cybersecurity Centre concluded that new US sanc-tions mean Huawei will have to use untrusted technology, making security risks impos-sible to control, a person familiar with the matter said.

Officials are drawing plans to speed up the removal of existing Huawei kit, although an exact timetable is yet to be set, said the person, who asked not to be named dis-cussing unpublished proposals.

Johnson, who set a US trade deal as the centerpiece

of his international plans after Britain leaves the European Union, has been under heavy pressure from US President Donald Trump’s adminis-tration to drop Huawei from his plans. Washington warned future security cooperation could be under threat if London pressed on with the company after ministers cleared its participation in January.

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond warned the “alarming” rise in anti-Chinese attitudes in the Conservative Party could backfire.

“We are in a position where we need to build our trade relationships around the globe, and China is Britain’s third largest trading partner,” he told BBC Radio. “We have to find a way -- and I think we’ve done it in the past with many countries -- of con-tinuing to trade, continuing to invest and welcome investment from countries with which we have frank disagreements about political issues.”

Monday’s sanctions were announced as Raab set out the British version of the US Magnitsky Act. They included visa bans and assets freezes for 20 Saudi citizens sus-pected of involvement in the killing of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and two government entities in charge of North Korea’s prison camps.

The action against Saudi nationals marks a change for the UK, which has long regarded the kingdom as a crucial ally and trade partner in the Middle East.

BARBARA ORTUTAY AP

A two-year audit of Face-book’s civil rights record found “serious setbacks” that have marred the social network’s progress on matters such as hate speech, misinformation and bias.

Facebook hired the audit’s leader, former American Civil Liberties Union executive Laura Murphy, in May 2018 to assess its performance on vital social issues. Its 100-page report released Wednesday outlines a “seesaw of progress and set-backs” at the company on everything from bias in Face-book’s algorithms to its content moderation, adver-tising practices and treatment of voter suppression.

The audit recommends that Facebook build a “civil rights infrastructure” into every aspect of the company,

as well as a “stronger inter-pretation” of existing voter suppression policies and more concrete action on algo-rithmic bias. Those sugges-tions are not binding, and there is no formal system in place to hold Facebook accountable for any of the audit’s findings.

“While the audit process has been meaningful, and has led to some significant improvements in the platform, we have also watched the company make painful decisions over the last nine months with real world consequences that are serious setbacks for civil rights,” the audit report states.

Those include Facebook’s decision to exempt politicians from fact-checking, even when President Donald Trump posted false infor-mation about voting by mail. Facebook CEO Mark Zuck-erberg has cited a

commitment to free speech as a reason for allowing such posts to remain on the platform, even though the company has rules in place against voter suppression it could have used to take down - or at least add warning labels to - Trump’s posts.

Last month, Facebook announced it would begin labeling rule-breaking posts - even from politicians - going forward. But it is not clear if Trump’s previous contro-versial posts would have gotten the alert. The problem, critics have long said, is not so much about Facebook’s rules as how it enforces them.

“When you elevate free expression as your highest value, other values take a back seat,” Murphy told The Asso-ciated Press. The politician exemption, she said, “elevates the speech of people who are already powerful and disad-vantages people who are not.”

More than 900 companies have joined an advertising boycott of Facebook to protest its handling of hate speech and misinformation.

Civil rights leaders who met virtually with Zuckerberg and other Facebook leaders Tuesday expressed skepticism that recommendations from the audit would ever be implemented, noting that past suggestions in previous reports had gone overlooked.

“What we get is recom-mendations that they end up not implementing,” said Rashad Robinson, the exec-utive director of Color for Change, one of several civil rights nonprofits leading an organized boycott of Facebook advertising.

Sheryl Sandberg, Face-book’s chief operating officer, said in a Facebook newsroom post that the company has a long way to go, but is making progress.

Britain chooses fights as it seeks its place in a post-Brexit world

/PeninsulaQatar

/ThePeninsulaQatar

/Peninsula_Qatar

/ThePeninsulaNewspaper

+974 6698 6188

www.thepeninsula.qa

Facebook civil rights audit: ‘Serious setbacks’ mar progress

Established in 1996

THOMAS PENNY & KITTY DONALDSON — BLOOMBERG

The demands highlight a tension for the UK as it seeks trade deals around the world after Brexit while trying to assert itself as a champion of freedom.

09THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020 ASIA

Rain pounds central Japan as death toll rises to 61AFP — KURUME, JAPAN

Torrential rain pounded central Japan yesterday as authorities said 61 people were feared dead in days of heavy downpours that have triggered devastating landslides and terrifying floods.

Rains that began early Sat-urday on the island of Kyushu have already inflicted wide-spread damage across a swathe of the southwestern portion of the country, causing rivers to burst their banks and hillsides to collapse.

As the weather front moved north, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned of heavy rain in central Gifu and Nagano prefectures, but downgraded its advisories from their top level. Evacuation orders were lifted for hundreds of thousands of people.

Nevertheless, a JMA official warned of “an unprecedented level” of rain for parts of central Japan.

“Especially in areas desig-nated as high risk for landslides and flooding, the possibility is extremely high that some kind of disaster is already hap-pening,” he added.

At least 80,000 rescue

workers have already been deployed to reach survivors stranded by flooding and land-slides, with another 10,000 troops set to join them.

The toll in the disaster has risen steadily as the rescue operation continues.

An official of the hardest-hit Kumamoto region told AFP that there had been 55 deaths and “four people are in cardio-respiratory arrest” — the term used before confirming death.

There were also two deaths in Omuta city, also in Kyushu.

More than a dozen people are still missing and authorities are investigating whether six other deaths are linked to the disaster.

In hardest-hit Kyushu, the rains had mostly stopped by yesterday morning, leaving res-idents to pick up the pieces.

Keisuke Masuda, a 67-year-old resident of Hitoyoshi city told the Jiji news agency he had

watched in horror as a tide of water from the swollen Kuma river carried away a neighbour.

“He was swept away right before my eyes,” Masuda said.

The elderly man had been clinging to a bush trying to withstand the flood water but eventually could hold on no longer, Masuda said, describing his neighbour waving to his wife as he was washed away.

“I was overcome with a sense of helplessness,” Masuda added. Elsewhere in the city, Naomi Nishimura told Japan’s NNN broadcaster that her parents died after refusing to leave their home.

“Even though a neighbour came over and pleaded with my parents to evacuate, they didn’t go... because I had told them that I’d come home (that day),” the tearful woman said as she attempted to clean her parents’ flood-devastated home.

Non-mandatory evacuation

orders were lifted in many places, though nearly 900,000 people were still under the warnings.

The coronavirus has com-plicated evacuation efforts, with the need to maintain social dis-tancing reducing capacity at shelters.

Japan has been relatively lightly affected by the pan-demic, with just over 20,000 cases and fewer than 1,000 deaths. But local media reported

some people were preferring to sleep in cars rather than risk infection at shelters.

At some facilities, cardboard was used to separate families and try to reduce the risk of infection.

Yoshihisa Nakamoto, head of the JMA forecasting division, told reporters “the rain front would linger until at least Friday and a wide swathe of the country... will likely have heavy rains.” “Please be extremely

vigilant for potential landslides, flooding rivers and inundation on low-lying areas,” he warned.

Japan is in the middle of its annual rainy season, which fre-quently unleashes deadly floods and landslides.

Experts say climate change has intensified the risks of heavy rains, because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.

In 2018, more than 200 people died in devastating floods in western Japan.

Debris litter a village following heavy rain in Kumamura, in Japan's Kumamoto prefecture, yesterday.

India arrests S Korean CEO, 11 others for gas leak at LG PolymersREUTERS — CHENNAI

Indian police have arrested 12 LG Polymers officials, including its South Korean Chief Executive Sunkey Jeong, an officer said yesterday, two months after a gas leak at the company’s south Indian chemical plant killed 12.

The arrests were made under a case of culpable homicide filed against the company, a unit of South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd, and its officials, stemming from the leak that occurred in the early hours on May 7 in the port city of Visakhapatnam, the city police commissioner Rajiv Kumar Meena said.

“A total of twelve members including the CEO and two directors were arrested on Tuesday evening,” Meena said, adding that among those arrested were two directors, one of whom was a South Korean.

LG Polymers said it had nothing to share in an email responding to a Reuters request for a comment on the arrests.

Toxic styrene gas leaked from the chemical plant choking many people who were sleeping.

This week, a government-a p p o i n t e d c o m m i t t e e

recommended that the plant should be shifted away from human habitation and called for action against the top employees. It said LG Pol-ymers had been negligent and warning systems were not working.

The company had ignored potent ia l ly hazardous chemical reactions at the plant in April before the leak, when it was working with reduced staff due to a coro-navirus lockdown, the com-mittee said.

The temperature inside the oldest of the three storage tanks holding styrene monomer, a liquid used in making polystyrene products, rose to more than six times the permitted level, after which it evaporated, the committee found.

LG Chem Ltd said on Monday it had co-operated with the investigation and would respond to the probe result and take corresponding measures.

The police case included counts of culpable homicide, negligent handling of poi-sonous substances and causing hurt and endangering public life.

Meena said the charges could draw prison terms of up to eight years if proven in court.

Working at dizzying heights Technicians working on an electricity transmission tower on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, yesterday.

Dangerous journeyPassengers wearing protective masks travel on an over crowded train towards capital city, amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, yesterday.

Sri Lanka, Maldives declared measles-freeAFP — COLOMBO

Measles and rubella have been eradicated from Sri Lanka and the Maldives after decades of immunisation programmes, the World Health Organization said yesterday.

“Coming at a time when the entire world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, this success is encouraging and demonstrates the importance of joint efforts,” WHO regional director Khetrapal Singh said in a statement.

The Maldives recorded its last endemic case of measles in

2009 and rubella in October 2015, the global health body said.

Sri Lanka’s last endemic cases of measles and rubella were reported in May 2016 and March 2017 respectively, it added.

There has been no evidence of endemic transmission of the two viruses for over three years “in the presence of a well per-forming surveillance system,” the WHO said.

Bhutan, North Korea and East Timor were also declared to be measles-free.

The declarations came amid

measles outbreaks in developed countries, including the United States.

An anti-vaxxer movement in the US and elsewhere has surged with the social media-fuelled rise of conspiracy theories.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted healthcare systems in South Asia and Southeast Asia, the WHO added, including immunisation and surveillance programmes.

It said it was committed to supporting member countries and partners “fully revive” such activities.

New Zealand to

charge COVID-19

patient who went

shopping

AP — WELLINGTON

New Zealand authorities said they will press charges against a coronavirus patient who escaped quarantine in Auckland and went shopping at a supermarket.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the head of managed iso-lation and quarantine, said the 32-year-old man escaped through a fence at the Stamford Plaza hotel and was gone for just over an hour before returning. The man later tested positive for the virus.

Webb said the man was a New Zealand citizen who had recently returned from India and his actions were “com-pletely unacceptable.” New Zealand has eliminated com-munity transmission of the virus and is trying to contain cases at the border by placing new arrivals into a 14-day quarantine at various hotels. The man could face a fine or a maximum of six months in jail if found guilty.

Millions in Australia brace for lockdownsREUTERS — SYDNEY

Five million Australians yesterday faced a heavy police clampdown from midnight yesterday to contain a flare-up of coronavirus cases, with checkpoints to be set up around Melbourne to ensure people stay at home.

State police said they would conduct random checks of vehicles on major roads sur-rounding the country’s second most populous city, creating a “ring of steel” as partial lock-downs are reinstated for six weeks to stem a surge in infections.

“The community can expect to see...checkpoints anytime and anywhere,” Vic-toria state police said in a statement.

Melburnians will be allowed to leave home only for essential business for the next six weeks. Cafes, restaurants and gyms will shut again.

The renewed lockdown follows the closure of the country’s busiest border, between Victoria and Aus-tralia’s most populous state New South Wales, on Tuesday night. “The rest of the country knows that the sacrifice that you’re going through right now is not just for you and your own family, but it’s for the broader Australian com-munity,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said during a tele-vised media conference.

Morrison said he would take a proposal to a national Cabinet of state and territory leaders on Friday, seeking to slow down the number of Aus-tralian citizens and permanent residents returning home from overseas. The two groups have been the only arrivals allowed since Australia closed its inter-national border in March.

New Zealand announced on Tuesday that its national airline will not take new inbound bookings for three weeks to reduce the burden on overflowing quarantine facilities. In Australia, red flags have been raised by potential quarantine breaches that the Victorian state government believes led to returnees spreading the virus. Officials have begun an inquiry.

Melbourne is the capital of Victoria state, which reported 134 new infections yesterday, down from the previous day’s record 191 but well over the low single digit daily increases elsewhere in the country.

Fears of a broader second wave were underscored by an official report of three new COVID-19 cases in the national capital, Canberra. Two of the infected people had returned from Melbourne last week, and the third was their housemate.

China dismisses Australian warning of arbitrary detentionAP — CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA

The Chinese Embassy yesterday dismissed Australia’s warning to travellers of arbitrary detention in China as “ridiculous” and “disin-formation” in the latest diplomatic spat to mar a deteriorating relationship.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Tuesday in an updated travel advisory for China that authorities have detained foreigners because they’re “endan-gering national security,” adding that Aus-tralians may also be at risk.

China’s embassy in Australia replied in a statement: “This is completely ridiculous and disinformation.” “Foreigners in China, including the Australians, as long as they abide by the Chinese laws, have no need to worry at all,” the statement said.

It is not clear what prompted the warning, which comes as relations between the free trade partners have plummeted over Aus-tralia’s calls for an independent investigation into the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Min-ister Scott Morrison yesterday appeared to dis-tance himself from the issue, saying travel advice was the responsibility of bureaucrats. “From time to time, travel advisories are changed and on this occasion, the officials have upgraded that advice,” Morrison told reporters.

At least 80,000 rescue workers have already been deployed to reach survivors stranded by flooding and landslides, with another 10,000 troops set to join them.

10 THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020ASIA

Beijing’s national security office opens in Hong KongAP — HONG KONG

Beijing’s national security office was inaugurated in Hong Kong yesterday, just over a week after China’s central government imposed a tough new law on the city that critics view as a further deterioration of freedoms promised to the former British colony.

The inauguration came as Hong Kong’s education bureau announced yesterday that schools must not allow students to play, sing or broadcast the protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong” because it contains political messages. Last week, the city criminalised the pro-democracy slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time” under the new national security law, which took effect on June 30.

The national security law prohibits what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive or ter-rorist activities or as foreign

intervention in the semi-auton-omous territory’s internal affairs.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam joined her predecessors Leung Chun-ying and Tung Chee-hwa in marking the opening of the Office for Safe-guarding National Security in Hong Kong. Chinese Communist Party officials were also present, and security was tight.

Following a flag-raising cer-emony, at which the Chinese flag was hoisted outside the office, Lam and the former Hong Kong leaders unveiled a plaque bearing the name of the new agency. Officials present then congratulated one another on

the opening.Under the national security

law, police now have sweeping powers to conduct searches without warrants and order Internet service providers and platforms to remove messages deemed to be in violation of the legislation.

Critics see the law as Bei-jing’s boldest move yet to erase the divide between Hong Kong’s Western-style system and mainland China’s authoritarian way of governing.

The fear is that the law erodes the special freedoms enjoyed in Hong Kong, which has operated under a “one

country, two systems” framework since China took control of the city from Britain in 1997. That arrangement has allowed Hong Kong’s people freedoms not permitted in mainland China, such as public dissent and unrestricted Internet access.

After the law was imposed, a slew of tech companies, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, said they would stop processing requests from law enforcement officials for user data in Hong Kong, as they assess the ramifications of the law. Microsoft and Zoom

yesterday said they would take similar action.

TikTok announced on Tuesday that it would stop oper-ations of its app in Hong Kong, and by Tuesday the app could not be downloaded from Hong Kong’s Apple and Google app stores.

FROM LEFT: Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, Luo Huining; Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam; former Hong Kong chief executives Tung Chee Hwa and Leung Chun-ying; and head of the Office for Safeguarding National Security, Zheng Yanxiong, inaugurating the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong, yesterday.

US has not sought meeting with North Korea: EnvoyAFP — SEOUL

US Deputy Secretary of State and North Korea envoy Stephen Biegun yesterday poured cold water on reports Washington had sought a meeting with Pyongyang officials, with nuclear discussions at a stand-still.

Biegun is on a four-day trip to Seoul and Tokyo to discuss N o r t h K o r e a ’ s denuclearisation.

The visit triggered specu-lation in the South that Wash-ington was trying to rekindle diplomacy with Pyongyang ahead of the US presidential election in November — even though the North has repeatedly said it had no interest in talks.

“I’ve seen some press com-ments that the North Koreans are not prepared to meet with

me on this visit,” Biegun told reporters after talks with his

South Korean counterpart.“It’s somewhat strange

because we did not request a visit with North Koreans,” he said, adding: “Let me absolutely be clear, we did not request a visit.”

Talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal have been stalled since a Hanoi summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed in early 2019 over what the North would be willing to give up in exchange for sanctions relief.

Kim declared in December an end to moratoriums on nuclear and ballistic missile tests. Biegun also suggested last month that another meeting between Trump and Kim was unlikely, although he held out hope for progress in nuclear negotiations.

The US envoy said yes-terday that the North Koreans

“will find us ready” at any time to return to talks.

Rumours surrounding the possibility of another summit swirled last week after former US national security advisor John Bolton reportedly said Trump might pursue another meeting with Kim in October if it would help his re-election chances.

But hours before Biegun arrived in Seoul on Tuesday, the North again ruled out the pos-sibility of resuming talks, saying Pyongyang had “no intention to sit face to face with the United States”.

The North’s state media reported that leader Kim paid respects to his grandfather and predecessor Kim Il Sung at his Kumsusan Palace of the Sun mausoleum yesterday, the 26th anniversary of his death.

People lay flowers and pay their respects before the statues of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on the occasion of 26th anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s death, at Mansu hill in Pyongyang, yesterday.

Central Asia struggles with resurgent coronavirus after reopeningREUTERS — BISHKEK

A man in is 60s, distraught and tearful, cries “I don’t know what to do now” as medical staff in protective gear carry the body of his dead wife out of a former bakery converted into a make-shift clinic in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian nations are strug-gling with a surge in COVID-19 cases which is now testing their healthcare systems to breaking point after they relaxed tough lockdown restrictions in May.

Uzbekistan, the region’s most populous nation, said yes-terday it would impose a second lockdown from July 10 to August 1, with the closure of all non-food shopping malls, cafes, r e s t a u r a n t s , p a r k s

and entertainment venues. Neighbouring Kazakhstan also imposed a second lockdown from July 5, citing a jump in COVID-19 cases.

Authorities in the region, located between Russia and China, are converting sports arenas, hotels and other venues into temporary hospitals and mobilising interns, fresh grad-uates and even doctors who were struck off due to criminal convictions.

“The situation is dire,” said Nurilya Cholponbay, a bank marketing executive who has become a volunteer in Bishkek.

“Many people arrive in grave condition... They opened a day patient facility in the Sports Palace, but people with severe cases started arriving there and all it has is beds, lights

and intravenous drip stands.” The former bakery is also

not properly equipped to handle severe COVID-19 cases but patients can visit to get intra-venous drips, preferably using medicines they have bought themselves.

It is also one of few places where Bishkek residents can see a doctor at all as hospitals are full.

Such makeshift facilities exist largely thanks to donations from businessmen and

volunteers who raise funds and organise supplies of food, pro-tective gear, medicines and ventilators through social net-works and messenger apps.

Kyrgyzstan, with a popu-lation of 6.5 million, saw a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections in June and has now confirmed 8,486 cases with 112 deaths.

Many ordinary Kyrgyz do not bother with tests. Akzhol, a 40-year-old unemployed econ-omist, said he developed COVID-19 symptoms such as the loss of smell after attending a funeral of his friend’s mother who died from pneumonia two weeks ago.

“I did not even try to get hospitalised,” he said. “The rush was on already by that time, hospitals were not taking in patients. People would queue

up and pay $200-300 (in bribes) to get a family member in as soon as a bed freed up.” The Kyrgyz government con-sidered the idea of re-imposing a state of emergency but decided against it.

“The reintroduction of tough restrictions including halting work in most sectors of the economy would be devas-tating for businesses and for cit-izens’ welfare,” Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov said this week.

Kazakhstan, an oil-exporting nation of 19 million people, reimposed its second, albeit softer, lockdown this week after its number of COVID-19 cases more than tripled in June.

Kazakh authorities have introduced rationing of

high-demand medicines such as popular anti-fever drug para-cetamol and are cracking down on its illegal trade which they say has flourished amid wide-spread shortages.

Kazakhstan has confirmed more than 51,000 COVID-19 cases with 264 deaths and also reported that hospitals are full in some major cities.

Uzbekistan, with 34 million people, has confirmed almost 11,000 cases and only 40 deaths, but more than half of those fatalities occurred within the last two weeks.

Khabibulla Okilov, a member of the Uzbek state COVID-19 task force, said on Wednesday: “It would not be an exaggeration to say the resources of the healthcare system are exhausted.”

An aerial view shows buildings and farmlands partially submerged in floodwaters following heavy rainfall in Duchang county, Jiangxi province, China, yesterday.

Landslide buries 9 in China after heavy rainsREUTERS — BEIJING

A landslide buried nine people yesterday in China’s Hubei province, the People’s Daily newspaper reported, after some of the heaviest rain in decades brought floods that have killed

more than 100 people.The landslide occurred in

Huangmei County in the early hours and efforts were being made to rescue the people, the newspaper said.

From June 1 to July 7, accu-mulated rainfall in the regions

of Hubei, Anhui, Zhejiang and Chongqing has reached the highest levels for this time of year since 1961, with rainfall in some places two to three times higher than normal, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

Pakistan PM for

global efforts to

protect labourers

from virus impact

INTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the world community to formulate a combined strategy to protect the vulnerable segments of society especially the labourers from the impacts of COVID-19.

He was addressing an online ILO Global Summit on COVID-19 and the World of Work.

The Prime Minister pointed out that many countries including Pakistan depend upon remittances sent by the overseas workers. He said though the host countries are also faced with many problems due to coronavirus, we need to convince them to be more sympathetic to these labourers.

Imran Khan emphasised that the lockdown has hit the labour community the most. He said the future is very uncertain as we do not know how long the economy will take to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

He said we are praying that vaccines come out as a cure to the virus but in the meantime we need to share our experi-ences and exchange ideas to protect our vulnerable groups.

Sharing the initial lockdown experience of Pakistan, the Prime Minister said it rendered our daily wage workers and labourers unemployed.

Hence, he said, his gov-ernment came up with the smart lockdown idea under which public gatherings were stopped but we allowed other activities like reopening of construction and agriculture sectors.

Khan said his government has provided cash assistance to the labourers under Ehsaas Programme after completing their registration process.

Taliban suicide bomber kills three as violence rises despite peace pushREUTERS — KANDAHAR/KABUL

A Taliban suicide bomber deto-nated an explosive-packed military vehicle on the approach to the provincial governor’s residence and police headquarters in the Afghan province of Kandahar yesterday, killing at least three people, authorities said.

Bloodshed is escalating anew in Afghanistan even as the United States tries to broker a peace deal between the Taliban and Afghan gov-ernment after almost two decades of war.

“At around 4am, a suicide bomber driving a large (Afghan security force) truck came under fire from security forces before reaching his goal, but detonated explosives near police headquarters and the governor’s residential complex,” the governor’s spokesman, Bahir Ahmad

Ahamdi, said. Three members of the security forces were killed and 14 people wounded, including civilians, in the attack in the Sha Wali Kot district of Kandahar, he said, and the police headquarters and gov-ernor’s compound suffered severe damage.

The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying in a statement that the police head-quarters had been used as a military hub for security force operations against the Taliban.

Diplomats say the resur-gence of attacks is heightening mistrust just as the Afghan gov-ernment and Taliban are set to enter peace negotiations and as the United States withdraws forces under a deal with the Taliban struck in February.

On Tuesday, a car bomb blast in the eastern province of Nangarhar killed a local police commander and three other people, and wounded 11.

Under the national security law, police now have sweeping powers to conduct searches without warrants and order Internet service providers and platforms to remove messages deemed to be in violation of the legislation.

Uzbekistan, with 34 million people, has confirmed almost 11,000 cases and 40 deaths from COVID-19.

11THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020 EUROPE

Violence as Serbia plans to reimpose virus curfewBLOOMBERG — BELGRADE

Thousands of protesters clashed with police in Serbia’s capital after the president said he’d reinstate one of Europe’s strictest lockdown regimes to confront a spike in new cases of COVID-19 in the city.

Riot police used tear gas to repel rock-throwing, mostly right-wing demonstrators who briefly broke into the par-liament building in central Bel-grade in the biggest outbreak of violence against President Ale-ksandar Vucic since he came to power in 2014. Seven protesters and 13 police were injured, according to police.

The crowd of about 5,000 smashed several shop windows and set five police cars on fire, while smaller groups rallied peacefully in the biggest northern city of Novi Sad and in the central city of Kragujevac. The government, led by Vucic’s dominant Serbian Progressive Party, denounced the violence.

“The state and all its insti-tutions will preserve and protect our constitutional order,” Prime

Minister Ana Brnabic said late Tuesday.

She condemned opposition politicians “behind the violent charge into Serbia’s parliament at the moment when the state and the health system are facing the biggest onslaught of coro-navirus since the pandemic began.”

The former Yugoslav republic of 7 million lifted its lockdown restrictions — which included overnight and weekend curfews and banned inter-city travel — in May along with the rest of Europe after the social-distancing restrictions helped stifle contagion.

However, a new surge in cases hit the country following

June 21 elections, with the head of Serbia’s government office for Kosovo, the speaker of par-liament and the defense min-ister all testing positive.

The protests have little chance of unseating Vucic’s party, which won a constitu-tional majority in the vote. At the news conference where he announced the renewed lockdown, he said a new gov-ernment would be formed by August 25.

Protesters gathered at the parliament building shortly after the president spoke, demanding his resignation. Aside from opposing the plan for the new lockdown, they chanted “We don’t want migrants” and “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia,” the latter of which underscores the Balkan state’s dispute with its neighbour, which declared independence a decade after the two sides fought a war.

The violence was instigated by “just a handful of hooligans,” said Police Chief Vladimir Rebic, distinguishing them from peaceful protesters.

The new surge in infections

is overwhelming the national health-care system, and Serbia will quickly build a new hos-pital with 800 to 1,000 beds, Vucic said.

“I was thinking about imposing the lockdown in the entire country once again,” Vucic said Wednesday in an online panel discussion with Hungarian Prime Minister

Viktor Orban and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa. “But if we’d done that, we’d have no c h a n c e t o s u r v i v e economically.”

Four other Serbian cities are also strongly affected, with 13 new deaths from coronavirus on Tuesday, the country’s highest daily death toll since the pandemic began. Some 330

have died from Covid-19.There’s also the risk that the

disease will persist into the winter, when it may coincide with the seasonal flu, Vucic said.

“The situation in Belgrade is alarming,” he told a televised news conference late Tuesday. “We’ll be facing a difficult a u t u m n w i t h t h e coronavirus.”

Demonstrators and security forces clash during a protest against a lockdown planned for the capital this weekend to halt the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Belgrade, yesterday.

Russian journalists fear growing media persecution after treason arrestREUTERS — MOSCOW

Russian journalists have launched a petition demanding treason allegations against a former reporter be made public, fearing the case is bogus and that media are being increas-ingly persecuted.

Ivan Safronov, a former newspaper journalist working at Russia’s space agency since May, was detained by security agents outside his flat on Tuesday and accused of

passing military secrets to the Czech Republic. He denies the charges.

At a closed hearing, the court ordered Safronov to be held in custody for two months. One of his lawyers, Ivan Pavlov, said the hearing was unusual as the state investigator had not presented any evidence.

“Now they’ve taken Ivan Safronov,” read the petition cir-culated online by journalists at investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta and signed by

nearly 7,500 people.The petition said that the

case should be declassified and the allegations made public, adding: “Otherwise it’s fake. The evidence is hidden when it is fake.”

The Kremlin noted what it described as some emotional media reactions, but said those outlets had not seen the evi-dence, which would be reviewed in court. It said it had seen no signs of a campaign of pressure against reporters.

Several journalists were photographed staging one-person pickets in various Russian cities yesterday, demanding Safronov be freed. Dozens of people, including journalists, were detained by Moscow police on Tuesday.

On Monday, a court in the city of Pskov found another journalist guilty of justifying ter-rorism. She denied the charge.

Mediazona, a private media outlet, wrote that it looked like law enforcement agencies were

trying to “force us to stay silent”.Police opened a criminal

case this week against Media-zona’s publisher, Pyotr Verzilov, for failing to declare dual Canadian citizenship. He is an anti-Kremlin activist.

The US embassy’s spokes-woman wrote on Twitter it was “starting to look like a con-certed campaign against #MediaFreedom.”

“Mind your own business,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry responded.

5 killed, 9 injured by wildfires in UkraineAP — KIEV

At least five people have been killed and another nine have been injured by wildfires raging in Ukraine’s east, officials said yesterday.The wildfires triggered by extreme heat and fanned by strong winds have destroyed about 100 houses and affected several villages.

The authorities said that more than 1,600 emergency workers and 400 soldiers have been deployed to battle the blazes.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zel-enskiy, who visited the eastern region on Wednesday, promised that the government will offer a compensation of 300,000 hry-vnias (about $11,000) to each family that lost a house. Firefighters extinguish a wildfire, in the Lugansk region, yesterday.

Virus pandemic poses greatest challenge ever to EU: MerkelANATOLIA — BRUSSELS

The European Union is facing the greatest challenge in its history in the coronavirus pandemic and its economic and social fallout, German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel (pictured) said yesterday.

“Europe can emerge from the crisis stronger than ever if we overcome our differences, strengthen cohesion and soli-darity,” she told the European Parliament, introducing to MEPs the priorities of Ger-many’s six-month EU presidency.

As the president of the

Council of the European Union, thorough December 31 members of the German

government will chair the meetings of EU ministers and diplomats, as well as enhance European decision-making by formal and informal events.

“I deliberately chose to come to the heart of European democracy,” Merkel said, marking her visit to Brussels, her first foreign trip since the outbreak.

She outlined five main tasks of the German presidency: fun-damental rights, cohesion between EU states, climate pro-tection, digitalisation, and Europe’s responsibility in the world.

Merkel said it had been

particularly difficult for her to see basic fundamental rights restricted during the pandemic in order to stem the virus’ spread, as she spent the 35 first years of her life in the com-munist state of East Germany, where many freedoms were limited.

At the same time, she said she was convinced that the bloc will be able to maintain its freedoms.

The most imminent chal-lenge of the Germany presidency is to find a compromise on the bloc’s budget for 2021-2027, including the coronavirus recovery fund, which has

already deeply divided EU states.The chancellor also urged

the European Parliament to find a compromise over the budget, referring to how EU lawmakers already drew red lines on passage of the financial framework and recovery fund.

During her visit, Merkel will also negotiate with the presi-dents of the three main European institutions — the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament — on the budgetary compromise.

Leaders of the 27 EU states will hold a summit on the same subject next Friday.

Lithuania bans

Russian TV

channel RT over

ties with Kremlin

Two people dead after rockfall in Austrian gorgeREUTERS — VIENNA

Two people died yesterday after a rockfall in the Baeren-schuetzklamm, a spectacular mountain river gorge popular with hikers in the Austrian province of Styria, the provincial head of the mountain rescue service said.

Seven people were injured, some of them seriously, Michael Miggitsch said.

The Baerenschuetzklamm, overlooked by towering lime-stone cliffs some 30km north of the city of Graz, is one of the longest gorges in Austria and can only be reached on foot.

Hikers use more than 160 vertiginous wooden bridges and ladders and climb 2,500 rungs to traverse the 1,300 metre-long ravine, ascending 350 metres in the process.

The rescue operation, which unfolded after the rockfall around noon, was dif-ficult and still continuing in late afternoon, according to a member of local fire brigade.

Rescuers and their equipment had to be roped down rock walls or climb for an hour to reach the scene of the accident.

A canyoning rescue team searched the Mixnitz river, which runs along the gorge, supported by three heli-copters, police said.

Protesters gathered at the parliament building shortly after the president spoke, opposing the plan for the new lockdown and demanding his resignation.

Johnny Depp denies slapping ex-wifeAFP — LONDON

Hollywood actor Johnny Depp yesterday denied claims that he slapped his ex-wife Amber Heard, as he faced a second day of questioning in his high-profile libel trial in London.

The “Pirates of the Car-ibbean” star is suing British tabloid The Sun for a 2018 article which claimed he was a “wife-beater”.

Both Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, were in court as lawyers for The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), questioned him about

allegations of violence during the couple’s time together.

NGN is disputing the claim for libel, and said there is “over-whelming evidence” that he attacked Heard while under the influence of drink and drugs between 2013 and 2016.

The couple first met on the set of the 2011 film “The Rum Diary”, married in 2015 but divorced two years later.

Lawyer Sasha Wass, repre-senting NGN, put it to Depp that he had slapped Heard three times after she made fun of a tattoo on his arm in March 2013.“I’m sorry but that is not

true, you are mistaken... I didn’t hit Ms Heard,” the actor replied.

NGN is relying on 14 sep-arate claims of domestic vio-lence in its defence, all of which Depp denies.

The case opened at the High Court on Monday with Depp insisting in a witness statement that had “never abused Ms Heard, or, indeed any other woman” in his life.

He said Heard, an actress, was calculating, sociopathic, narcissistic and emotionally dishonest, with a diagnosed borderline personality disorder, and was intent on destroying

his life.His legal team called

Heard’s allegations “complete lies”. They said she was a

“complex individual”, prone to wild mood swings under a variety of prescription medi-cation and other drugs.

Amber Heard (left) and US actor Johnny Depp

REUTERS — VILNIUS

Lithuania took Russian broad-caster RT off-air yesterday, citing the channel’s ties to EU-sanctioned Russian media executive Dmitry Kiselev.

The move follows a similar ban on RT in Latvia last week, where regulator called RT “propaganda” and also said that the channel was controlled by Kiselyov, the head of Rus-sia’s state-backed Rossiya Segodnya news agency.

“RT is controlled by Kiselev who is sanctioned by EU due to his substantial role in Russian propaganda sup-porting the 2014 annexation of Crimea, and the ongoing Russian military activities in Ukraine’s east and south east,” Lithuania’s TV watchdog said in a statement.

Kiselev heads the state Rossiya Segodnya that includes the RIA Novosti news agency and the Sputnik news service directed at foreign audiences.

The ban includes five RT channels — RT, which shows news and current affairs pro-grammes, RT HD, RT Spanish, RT Documentary and RT Doc-umentary HD.

RT is “spreading content which favours Kremlin,” the watchdog said, adding that the ban was enforced on the advice of Foreign Affairs Ministry.

A Russian embassy spokesman denied that Kiselev controls RT.

“We see this unfriendly decision by Lithuanian author-ities as one more step in its fight against the alternative opinion and freedom of media,” he told local BNS wire.

Lithuania stripped Kiselev of a state decoration in 2014, awarded for his role during Soviet Army assault in Vilnius in January 1991 which killed 14 civilians.

Drive-in cinema

12 THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020AMERICAS

US infections top three million as Trump begins WHO pulloutAFP — WASHINGTON

Coronavirus infections in the United States topped the three million mark yesterday, as President Donald Trump began withdrawing the country from the World Health Organization.

The US remains by far the worst affected country, with over 131,000 deaths, while Brazil — whose virus-sceptic President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for the disease — is a distant second with close to 67,000 deaths from almost 1.7 million cases.

Despite the figures, both Trump and Bolsonaro have continued to argue against lock-downs and other restrictive

measures, reflecting a wider divide over the response to the crisis.

Trump yesterday called for students to return in the fall despite the virus surging in several southern state hotspots.

The virus has infected almost 12 million people worldwide and killed more than 500,000 since it emerged in

China late last year.Having just a handful of

cases at the start of February, the US infection rate passed the one million milestone on April 28 and hit two million on June 11, according to an AFP tally of official sources.

All the while, the death toll has been creeping up to its current figure of 131,480, almost

one-quarter of the global total. Top US infectious diseases

expert Anthony Fauci has warned that the country is still “knee-deep” in only its first coronavirus wave, but Trump said on Tuesday America was “in a good place” and that he disagreed with Fauci.

To the consternation of experts and political opponents, Trump formally started with-drawing from the WHO on Tuesday, making good on threats to deprive the UN body of some $400m in funding after he accused it of being too close to China.

Joe Biden, who will face him in a presidential election in November, promised to rejoin

the WHO “and restore our lead-ership on the world stage” if he wins.

Underlining America’s uni-lateral approach, the gov-ernment yesterday announced more than $2bn in funding for research into vaccines and treatments.

In its biggest grant yet, $1.6bn was awarded to biotech firm Novavax.

The company has agreed to deliver 100 million doses if suc-cessful and said it would now move with “extraordinary urgency”.

Several potential vaccines are being developed around the world — $1.2bn was recently awarded to drug firm

AstraZeneca as part of another project in Britain.

Following in the footsteps of world leaders including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Bolsonaro was the latest statesman to test positive for COVID-19.

He has consistently played down the risks of the disease, mocking it as a “little flu”.

The 65-year-old said he felt “tiredness, illness and a fever” but insisted he was feeling “good, calm” and took off his mask to emphasize the point.

Experts have criticized the US and Brazil for stoking the virus by failing to enforce rig-orous social distancing measures and lockdowns.

Mexican president meets Trump for first time with business on the menuREUTERS — WASHINGTON

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met his US counterpart Donald Trump for the first time yesterday, in a potentially tricky encounter that may broach tensions over Mexico’s treatment of US energy sector investors.

The leftist leader has brushed off criticism at home to push ahead with plans to meet Trump, a Republican widely disliked in Mexico because of his incendiary remarks about its people.

The meeting ostensibly aims to celebrate the start of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal, but disputes over energy sector contracts in Mexico could arise as the two men got together in the afternoon.

Mindful of the coronavirus pandemic, which is still surging in Mexico and the United States,

the two did not shake hands as they met outside the White House. Neither wore face masks.

The USMCA was crafted in long negotiations headed by U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer.

Two people familiar with preparations for the meeting said the private sector was eager for Trump to raise con-cerns about Lopez Obrador’s attempts to renegotiate billions of dollars worth of contracts in energy infrastructure.

One said the issue had been put high on Lighthizer’s agenda for the meeting, though despite promptings from his own ambassador in Mexico, Trump has made little of it so far. Light-hizer’s office did not reply to a request for comment.

Lopez Obrador’s gov-ernment is slowly rolling back a 2013-14 opening of the energy industry in favor of a state-led

model, and has called a number of major contracts into question.

A senior US official said on Monday evening Mexico’s gov-ernment had pledged to uphold those contracts.

“So, we are certainly hoping that they will keep their word,” the official told reporters.

Mexican-US cooperation over Trump’s immigration pol-icies could feature prominently, although one source familiar with the matter said the talks aimed to prioritize business.

The summit was pitched to mark the start of USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement that Trump long lambasted. But the two-day gathering was scaled back to a single day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opted out amid new US threats of tariffs on Canadian goods.

Lopez Obrador is being joined by a delegation of

business officials, including Mexico’s richest man, tel-ecoms magnate Carlos Slim. They will dine on Wednesday evening with Trump and American business executives

at the White House. Lopez Obrador’s critics and

some US Democrats say Trump wants to use the meeting to drum up support among His-panic voters ahead of the

November 3 presidential election. Opinion polls show Hispanic voters favour Trump’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden. Lopez Obrador will not meet Biden on the trip.

US President Donald Trump welcomes Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as he arrives for meetings at the White House in Washington DC, US, yesterday.

The US remains by far the worst affected country, with over 131,000 deaths, while Brazil — whose virus-sceptic President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for the disease — is a distant second with close to 67,000 deaths from almost 1.7 million cases.

Canada ‘lost

track’ of 35,000

foreigners slated

for removal:

Audit report

AFP — OTTAWA

Canada’s Border Services Agency “lost track” of two thirds of some 50,000 foreigners who had been hit with expulsion orders, an audit presented to parliament yesterday found.

The agency, which is responsible for enforcing removal orders, were unable to locate 34,700 for-eigners, mainly asylum seekers slated for depor-tat ion because their requests had been rejected, the report by the Office of the Auditor General said.

In remaining 15,300 pending cases, the agency knew their whereabouts but in many cases had delayed action for several years.

“Most orders had been enforceable for years, including criminal cases and failed asylum claimants,” the report said.

“The accumulation of enforceable removal orders has been an ongoing issue for the Canada Border Services Agency,” it said, adding that enforcement was hindered by poor data and flaws in case management.

Also contributing to the backlog were deficiencies in information sharing with Canada’s immigration, refugee and citizenship min-istry, it found.

At the time of audit, Canada had also suspended expulsion to some 15 countries, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Iraq.

During the 2018-2019 period, the agency said it had deported nearly 9,500 for-eigners but in reality 2,800 of those were turned away at the border and never formally admitted to the country.

Canada has received a growing number of requests for asylum in recent years, increasing from about 50,000 in 2017 to 64,000 in 2019.

US seizes 81 vehicles in Venezuela smuggling ringAP — FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA

Federal investigators said yesterday they have seized 81 vehicles worth an estimated $3.2m that were bound for Venezuela as part of a smug-gling ring operated for wealthy and politically connected people.

Anthony Salisbury, chief of the Miami Homeland Security Investigations office, said the vehicles were to be smuggled in violation of U.S. export laws and sanctions against the s o c i a l i s t V e n e z u e l a n

government,“This is all part of an

ongoing effort to combat foreign public corruption and in particular for public cor-ruption in Venezuela and the laundering and the fleecing of the Venezuelan people’s wealth and the stealing of the Venezuelan wealth from the national treasury for the gain of a few politically exploited, exposed people, kleptocrats and their associates,” Salisbury said.

According to Salisbury, many of the vehicles are linked

to Venezuelans already facing indictments in the US, including billionaire Raul Gorrin. Gorrin is a gov-ernment-connected media magnate wanted in the US for allegedly masterminding a graft network that stole $2.4bn from state coffers through fraudulent currency deals with Venezuela’s oil monopoly.

Gorrín did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A former resident of Miami, Gorrin was involved last year in a furtive effort to bridge

differences with the Trump administration by brokering a potential soft exit for Vene-zuelan President Nicolas Maduro in exchange for sanc-tions relief. As part of the effort, he traveled to Washington and managed to get his photo taken shaking hands with Vice-Pres-ident Mike Pence.

No charges have been brought in relation to the seized vehicles, which were on display Wednesday at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. Many of them are equipped with police packages, such as flashing lights

and sirens, officials said.Salisbury said the overall

scheme is much larger, calling the seized vehicles “the tip of the iceberg, or a drop in the bucket for what we’ve started to identify for this illegal exploi-tation scam.”

Since 2017, Salisbury said HSI and federal prosecutors have seized more than $450m in bank accounts as well as yachts, luxury properties, horses and other assets linked to Venezuelans charged with money-laundering in the US and elsewhere.

Colombia’s ELN rebels propose ceasefire during pandemicAFP — BOGOTA

Colombia’s leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels have proposed a three-month ceasefire to the government of right-wing President Ivan Duque.

The guerrilla movement — the last of its type still fighting government forces in Colombia — asked the gov-ernment late on Tuesday to “agree a bilateral 90-day ceasefire” in response to a call from the United Nations to reduce violence and conflicts during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our Dialogues Delegation that is in Havana is empowered to process all the operational details,” said the ELN in a statement.

The offer received short shrift from Duque, who wrote on Twitter: “I will never stop complying with the constitu-tional duty to confront crimi-nality throughout the territory,” adding that the ELN is a “ter-rorist group.”

“Colombia demands that they free the hostages and put an end to their criminal acts.”

The ELN suspended its operations during April and

asked Duque to return to the negotiation table to discuss a bilateral ceasefire, but said that was ignored.

The coronavirus has infected 124,000 Colombians and left 4,300 dead.

The rebels said a truce “would create a climate of humanitarian detente” con-ducive to restarting peace talks that have been sus-pended since the ELN carried out a bombing on a police academy in January 2019 that left 22 recruits dead.

Duque has said he will only return to the negotiating table if the ELN releases all hostages and stops “criminal activities.”

The ELN has refused arguing that such conditions are one-sided.

Formed in 1964, the ELN is believed to comprise about 2,300 fighters and operates in about 10 percent of the country.

Since the historic 2016 peace accord that turned Rev-olutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels into a communist political party after a half century of armed conflict, the smaller ELN is considered the last active guerrilla group in the country.

People watch a movie at a new drive-in cinema, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, in Sabaneta municipality near Medellin, Colombia, yesterday.

Canada handled the coronavirus outbreak better than US: PMREUTERS — OTTAWA

Canada handled the novel coro-navirus outbreak better than many of its allies, including the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday, in a rare public comment on the faltering US effort.

Canada — with a population one-tenth the size of the United States - has so far recorded 8,711 deaths and 106,167 cases and

Trudeau said the situation was stabilizing, although some hot spots remained.

In contrast, the United States has recorded more than 3 million cases and 131,336 deaths. Author-ities have reported alarming upswings of daily case loads in roughly two dozen states over the past two weeks.

“We were able to control the virus better than many of our allies, particularly including

our neighbour,” Trudeau told a briefing, saying Canada’s success would help efforts to restart the economy.

Canada and the United States have blocked nones-sential travel between the two nations since March and are discussing whether to extend the ban when it expires on July 21. Canadian health officials said the death toll could hit 8,900 by July 17.

Through Batelco and Ooredoo Kuwait’s longstanding partnership, the two entities will be able to further strengthen their ties and help their customers and partners to reach new markets.

BUSINESSPAGE | 14 PAGE | 14

13THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020

Womenomics

pioneer tells

bosses to nurture

female talent

GECF holds

36th executive

board

meeting

Ooredoo and Batelco partnered to launch ‘Global Zone’ in Kuwait

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ooredoo Telecom, the first to introduce innovative digital services in Kuwait, and Batelco, the leading digital solutions provider in Bahrain both announced yesterday the estab-lishment of “Global Zone Kuwait”, which will offer an ecosystem platform to further support the enablement of digital transformation in the region.

In line with Batelco’s stra-tegic agenda to cater to the ever-growing regional data demands, Batelco has selected Ooredoo as a strategic partner to enable the rollout of Global Zone’s regional expansion and support the growing regional ICT and connectivity needs.

As a result of further growing Global Zone and expanding into new markets, a seamless data center intercon-nection is created and entirely powered by FASTtelco, the leading internet service pro-vider (ISP) in Kuwait; acquired by Ooredoo in 2016. Featuring state-of-the-art high density designed systems, Global Zone Kuwait is being developed rapidly and supported by a superhighway network infra-structure. This entails Batelco’s wholly owned terrestrial cable system, Batelco Gulf Network (BGN), ensuring both cost effective solutions to the end customers and superior performance.

Through Batelco and Ooredoo Kuwait’s longstanding partnership, the two entities will be able to further strengthen their ties and help their customers and partners to reach new markets, while eliminating the complexity of getting connected to other players.

Global Zone, a carrier-neutral data center, which was launched in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2019, has a rich digital business solutions port-folio including Manama-IX, a carrier-neutral internet exchange, Cloud Connect solu-tions, and IPT solutions, which

will also be available in Global Zone Kuwait, where Ooredoo Kuwait/FASTtelco and Batelco’s partners can avail of these solu-tions for their business needs.

In a statement delivered while announcing this part-nership, Abdulaziz Al Babtain, Chief Business Officer at Ooredoo Kuwait said, “The expanded partnership with Batelco will give FASTtelco – Ooredoo’s owned ISP - access to a new set of products to further grow its portfolio by offering AWS DX, Global Zone, MPLS and MN-IX.”

“The establishment of Global Zone Kuwait - this extensive regional footprint - will provide our clients with access to

additional global fiber routes for minimized latency and ultra-high performance and I am certain that it will significantly boost FASTtelco’s capacity to support local and regional busi-nesses and organizations to meet demanding cloud applications,” Al-Babtain added.

Commenting on the occasion, Adel Al-Daylami, Chief Global Business Officer at Batelco said, “Batelco has always sought to broaden its reach, with the aim of meeting the needs of customers and partners across the region. Batelco also has a continued focus on developing the eco-system required to meet the needs of its global customers and partners. We are very pleased to have Ooredoo Kuwait as a strategic partner to support our regional rollout plans for Global Zone to deliver enhanced services to our cus-tomers and to support business innovation that will ultimately benefit the entire region from carriers through to end users.”

Batelco’s expansion of Global Zone into the Kuwaiti market is essentially a stepping-stone into the ultimate rollout plan for the region that will eventually extend globally through Batelco’s strategic partnerships, robust global network, and digital ecosystem.

Abdulaziz Al Babtain, CBO, Ooredoo Kuwait

Adel Al Daylami, Chief Global Business Officer, Batelco

Hassad closes ‘Sunrise Foods International’ acquisition with 25% equity stakeTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hassad, Qatar’s leading investor in the food sector announced yesterday that it has successfully closed the acquisition of significant minority shareholding in “Sunrise Foods International” with 25 percent equity stake. The transaction was completed after both parties fulfilled all the requirements under the share purchase agreement.

On this occasion, Mohamed Al Sadah (pic-tured), Hassad CEO stated, “It is our pleasure to announce the successful closure of the “Sunrise Foods International “acquisition. Al Sadah con-firmed that this transaction is in line with the company’s investment strategy, and con-tributes in achieving food security for the State of Qatar.

Hassad’s CEO further explained that the demand for organic products in the global markets continues to grow, and

he emphasized that the Hassad will benefit significantly over the coming years from this investment, on both the com-mercial and strategic sides.

Sunrise Foods is the world’s largest supplier of organic grains and oilseeds is based in Canada. Sunrise Foods markets its products in the United States as well as to European markets. The company has facilities in the United States, Canada and Turkey, and its business spans from the Black Sea Region across Europe to North America.

Nakilat transitions LNG carrier Bu Samra to in-house managementTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Nakilat has assumed full ship management and operations of Q-Max LNG carrier Bu Samra from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (Shell) with effect from July 8, 2020, as part of the second phase of its planned fleet management transition programme.

With a cargo carrying capacity of 266,000 cubic meters, Bu Samra is

wholly-owned by Nakilat and chartered by Qatargas. The vessel was built in South Korea by Samsung Heavy Industries, delivered in December 2008 and has been in service ever since.

Bu Samra is the third vessel that will come under the man-agement of Nakilat Shipping Qatar Ltd. (NSQL) this year, bringing the total number of vessels managed by NSQL to 22, comprising of 18 LNG and 4 LPG carriers.

Qatar Petroleum wins distinguished Wood Mackenzie exploration awardTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Petroleum has received the “New Venturer of the Year Award” as part of the Wood Mackenzie Exploration Awards 2020, in recognition of its outstanding and growing inter-national exploration presence around the globe.

In announcing the award, Wood Mackenzie said, “Qatar Petroleum embodies the future in terms of high-impact explo-ration from National Oil Com-panies. It is building an impressive acreage footprint in many of the world’s most exciting basins, partnering with some of the best operators in these plays, the majors. This strategy has already brought success in South Africa, in Cyprus, and in Guyana.” Qatar Petroleum is the first National Oil Company to win such award fol-lowing a competition with energy icons like ENI, BP, Total, Exxon-

Mobil, PTT Exploration and Pro-duction, and Petronas.

Commenting on this occasion, H E Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum said, “We are pleased to be the first ever National Oil & Gas Company to receive this prestigious explo-ration award. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues in QP for their hard work and dedication, as one team, that is leading us to achieving our aspirations” Al Kaabi added, “This award con-stitutes an important testimony from across our peer group in the energy industry, and comes as recognition of Qatar Petroleum’s world-class international

exploration portfolio, which is guided by our vision to become one of the best national oil & gas companies in the world, with roots in Qatar and a strong inter-national presence.” The award is based on an annual exploration survey of 250 senior industry leaders and experts, and analysis of licensing and farm-in deals over the year. It is a recognition that sheds light on QP’s world-class growing exploration port-folio, which it continues to develop; and presents an important testament to QP’s growing international footprint and enhanced position on the global energy map, in line with its established upstream strategy.

Qatar Petroleum is the third winner of this prestigious award after Total (2019) and Exxon-Mobil (2018). Wood Mackenzie is a trusted source of commercial intelligence for the world’s natural resources sector. It has

used its long heritage to create a global research and consultancy business. Having cultivated deep expertise in upstream oil and gas, Wood Mackenzie has broadened its focus to deliver detailed insight for every interconnected sector of the energy, chemicals, metals and mining industries around the world.

Qatar Petroleum is an inte-grated national oil corporation responsible for the sustainable development of the oil and gas industry in the State of Qatar and beyond. Qatar Petroleum’s activ-ities encompass the entire spectrum of the oil and gas value chain locally, regionally, and inter-nationally, and include the explo-ration, production, processing, marketing and sales of oil and gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), natural gas liquids (NGL), gas to liquids (GTL) products, refined products, petrochemicals, fertilizers, steel and aluminium.

Solid asset quality, liquidity buffers will help banks to weather current stormSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

Supported by their solid asset quality, strong capitalisation levels and liquidity buffers, the GCC banks are capable of weathering the current storm triggered by the pandemic and the slump in oil prices, Raja Ghoussoub, senior economist at NBK noted yesterday.

Generally, asset quality deterioration is the prime reason for bank failures globally. GCC banks exhibit solid asset quality metrics compared with their global peers, the NBK economist said in his latest research note.

In the GCC, non-performing loan (NPL) ratios of 2 percent to 3 percent (and even lower) are common while 4 percent to 5 percent ratios are considered relatively “high”. In contrast, NPL ratios globally tend to be higher across the credit cycle.

The discrepancy in terms of NPL coverage ratios i.e. provisions divided by NPLs is much starker with GCC ratios usually in excess of 100 percent while they tend to be significantly lower globally.

On top of their generally good asset quality indicators, GCC banks exhibit very solid capital adequacy ratios that are way higher than the minimum requirements of Basel 3. In fact, the regulators in the GCC have imposed higher minimum requirements than those pre-scribed by Basel 3, in addition to extra buffers such as the countercyclical buffer and the domestic systemical ly important banks (D-SIB) buffer. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, some central banks in the region have relaxed, fully or partially, some of the required buffers such as the capital conservation buffer and

the D-SIB, which have widened the banks’ lending capacity.

NBK noted that credit growth in this environment is not expected to be strong, putting less pressure on capital consumption. “Overall, we think the GCC banking sectors as a whole are in a comfortable position when it comes to capital adequacy, although on an individual bank level, some of them may need to boost their capital bases especially if the current weak environment drags on”, Ghoussoub said.

However, higher loan pro-visioning and lower NIMs will pressure banks’ profitability in 2020. Furthermore, if liquidity tightens then cost of funding will increase, which will put further stress on NIMs and hurt profit-ability even more. The latter is also expected to suffer from muted fee income on the back of weak projected credit growth.

Warren Buffett

donates $2.9bn to

Gates Foundation,

family charities

REUTERS — NEW YORK

Warren Buffett has donated roughly $2.9bn of Berkshire Hathaway Inc stock to four family charities and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the latest but not largest contri-bution in his plan to give away his fortune.

In a statement yesterday, Berkshire said Buffett’s 15th annual donation comprised 15.97 million Class B shares of Berkshire. It boosted his dona-tions to the charities to more than $37.4bn since Buffett, who turns 90 on August 30, began giving his Berkshire shares away in 2006.

Four-fifths of the dona-tions go to the Gates Foun-dation. The rest goes to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for Buf-fett’s late first wife, and char-ities run by his children Howard, Susan and Peter: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Sherwood Foundation and the NoVo Foundation. Buffett’s largest donation was $3.61bn in 2019, when Berkshire’s stock price was higher.

BLOOMBERG

Japan has hit a wall on progress for working women after a big push, and the pioneer of “womenomics” thinks she has the answer.

It’s been 20 years since Kathy Matsui, vice chair of Goldman Sachs Japan, first showed how empowered women could bolster the economy of the rapidly aging and labor-starved country, in a series of reports that helped spur the government to take action.

Japan’s female labor force participation is now higher than in the US, but it’s fallen well short of its target of getting women into 30 percent of supervisory positions in all fields by 2020. And that’s not entirely the fault of authorities, Matsui said in an interview with Bloomberg. Companies need to learn to retain and train women, across the region, not just in Japan.

“Governments can only do

so much, they can’t intervene in the inner workings of an organization,” Matsui said. “That’s going to be where the next stage is, if we really want to hit those targets.” Her book “How to Nurture Female Employees” will be published by Chuko Shinsho Rakure in Japanese on Thursday.

To be effective, diversity policies need to be run right from the top of companies, which should establish net-working opportunities for female employees to discourage them from quitting, she said. Mentors and sponsors can help promising women succeed.

“I grew up in America, thinking boys and girls are exactly identical, there’s abso-lutely no difference and why should we be treated differently,” Matsui said. “Over my almost 30-year career in this industry, I’ve come to realize there are def-inite differences.” She said she often sees a confidence gap, with women questioning their own

qualifications for a new role, focusing on the negative side of evaluations and sometimes needing to be asked twice before accepting a promotion.

“Rarely does that second conversation happen,” Matsui noted, adding that she asks CEOs: “Why didn’t you push? Why didn’t you ask her again and say I’ll back you?” She

explains that the worst career advice she ever received as a young woman was to work hard and keep her head down. Managers need to tell women to keep “their antennae up,” be aware of opportunities and learn to promote themselves, she said.

Matsui’s book comes as the number of women employed

in Japan fell in April for the first time in more than eight years, reflecting the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic. Most working women in Japan lack full-time status, which means they have fewer benefits and little job security.

Yet the pandemic hasn’t been all negative for working women with families, because it has spurred a move toward remote working, Matsui said. Fujitsu, for example, said this week it will cut its office space in Japan by 50% over the next three years, encouraging 80,000 office workers to pri-marily do their jobs from home.

Disappointed that Japan has failed to reach its targets for women managers - media reports indicate they may be delayed for another decade - Matsui wants the government to explain and address the obstacles, which include tax incentives for married women to work full time.

Japan already boasts

generous parental leave rights and companies are required to publish data about the status of their female employees and managers. The government has also passed a law meant to stop companies from paying full-time workers more than their part-time colleagues if they perform the same tasks.

From the investment side, a belated rush in Japan to so-called Environment, Government and Governance or sustainable assets is also pressuring companies to do more to improve diversity. From less than a trillion yen ($9bn) in assets under man-agement five years ago, it grew to 340 trillion yen last year, according to Matsui.

For her, enabling women to reach their potential at work is not a matter of corporate social responsibility.

“This is a war for talent, particularly in this country,” she said. “If you want to win, you want to compete, you’ve got to attract the best people.”

14 THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020BUSINESS

The Executive Board also appraised progress on the GECF Gas Research Institute (GRI), the Study on the Assessment of Natural Gas Hubs, and the Policy and Procedure document of the GECF Awards. Further, the meeting reviewed reviewed the comprehensive management report of the Secretary General, the Secretariat’s budget and Programme of Work for 2021, and other legal, financial and administrative matters pertaining to the GECF Secretariat’s functioning.

GECF holds 36th executive board meetingTHE PENINSULA _ DOHA

The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the global platform of the leading gas producing nations, held its 36th Executive Board Meeting, via videoconference. The board meeting was joined by all Member Countries of the Forum as well as four Observers.

The 36th Executive Board Meeting was attended by Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equa-torial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Norway, and the United Arab Emirates participated as Observers. The GECF Secretary General Yury Sentyurin welcomed the gath-ering with his introductory remarks and handed over the proceedings to the chair of the meeting Ms. Yazmín Ramírez, the Executive Board member from Venezuela.

During the meet, which spanned over three days, the gathering discussed several sig-nature tools of the GECF, for instance, the 2020 edition of the GECF Global Gas Outlook 2050; a publication that uniquely cap-tures on an annual basis the worldwide energy outlook of natural gas, the Short-Term Gas Market Report; a series of monthly and yearly reports that provide updates on the natural gas and LNG industry worldwide, and the GECF Data Exchange Mechanism; an instrument of collaboration

between the GECF Member Countries on sharing of data and statistics.

The Executive Board also appraised progress on the GECF Gas Research Institute (GRI), the Study on the Assessment of Natural Gas Hubs, and the Policy and Procedure document of the GECF Awards.

Further, the meeting reviewed the comprehensive management report of the Sec-retary General, the Secretariat’s budget and Programme of Work for 2021, and other legal, financial and administrative matters pertaining to the GECF Secretariat’s functioning.

The Executive Board is a

governing body of the GECF; second only to the supreme authority vested in the Minis-terial Meeting. It directs the operational affairs of the Forum, implements the decisions of the Ministerial Meetings, and con-siders the yearly Programme of Work of the Secretariat for further approval by the

Ministerial Meeting, in accordance with the GECF Statute, Long-Term Strategy, and the 5-Year Working Plan. It was decided that the next meeting of the GECF Executive Board will be held on 13-14 October 2020, either in person or through videoconferencing, in Doha, Qatar.

The 36th Executive Board Meeting in progress

Barwa Bank announces July draw winners of its Thara’a savings prizeTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Barwa Bank announced the names of the most recent round of draw winners for Thara’a, its Shariah compliant savings account, at the Bank’s headquarters.

As the draw results showed, the bank clients Marlo Enriquez and Baina Al-Marri each won a cash prize of QR50,000. Also, a cash prize worth QR25,000 was awarded to Miskath Sharifdeen and Mohamed Alabadi. The draw was conducted under the super-vision of a representative of the qualitative license and market control department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

On a monthly basis, there are 42 winners per draw for the cash prize of QR5,000 each, as well as 2 winners per draw for the cash prize of QR10,000. Additionally, quarterly there are 2 winners per draw for the cash prize of QR25,000 each, 2 winners per draw for the cash prize of QR50,000 each, and yearly there is 1 winner of the grand prize of QR1,000,000. Rewarding 365 winners in total with cash prizes up to QR3,290,000.

Vodafone Qatar launches ‘Shater’ entertainment app for kidsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Vodafone Qatar has partnered with Digital Virgo to develop an exclusive new digital content environment called “Shater”. Accessible both over the web and as an iOS or Android app, this safe and fun digital space for children - www.shater.qa - is the first of its kind in Qatar.

Providing a tailored mix of popular local and global digital content, filtered by age, “Shater” comes with full parental controls and a usage dashboard lets parents monitor the time spent by their children on all the activ-ities. The range of content is based on the preferences of children in Qatar and includes learning activ-ities, 200 games and videos.

Customers who purchase the ‘Explorer Plan’, Vodafone’s Postpaid plan for children below 18 years, will get a free subscription to Shater content. As a promotional offer, every Vodafone Postpaid customer can enjoy access to the Shater app free of charge for the first month. Prepaid customers can also enjoy access to the Shater app free of charge for 7 days. After the promotional period, customers will be charged QR40 per month to access the entire catalogue of videos, games and activities.

The new app comes after the

recent launch of Gamester, a Vodafone Qatar gaming platform developed by Digital Virgo Lev-eraging Digital Virgo’s digital marketing expertise and direct carrier billing technology, Vodafone Qatar’s 1.7m users now have access to quality gaming content from mobile enter-tainment partners and the ability to pay for this content securely with their monthly phone bills.

Diego Camberos, Chief Oper-ating Officer, Vodafone Qatar, said: “We are delighted to offer this safe new digital space “Shater”. In working with a partner like Digital Virgo, we kept in mind the safety concerns of parents about unsupervised access to digital media but also what youngsters enjoy. With Shater, they get a full range of age-appropriate content to keep their curious young minds happily and safely occupied this summer.” Pascal Dufour, Vice

President MENA & Turkey, com-mented: “Shater is a unique and engaging environment for children with no compromises on safety, giving parents com-plete control over the content. We are pleased to see our part-nership with Vodafone Qatar go from strength to strength, in line with our commitment to expand our footprint across the Middle East.” Vodafone Qatar has made online safety a priority with the launch of AmanTECH, its digital safety programme. The ‘AmanTECH Augmented Reality App game’ helps children aged 7-13 learn greater online awareness while online resources for parents including a digital parenting guide and safety tips are freely accessible at www.vodafone.qa/AmanTECH.

The new Shater app is available to download from the Google Play Store and Apple Store.

Hyundai Motor Group becomes most awarded automotive group in the J.D. Power 2020 US IQSTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hyundai Motor Group received the most model-level awards in the J.D. Power 2020 US Initial Quality Study (IQS), as seven models ranked highest in their segments.

For Hyundai, J.D. Power ranked Hyundai Tucson as the best compact SUV in initial quality, while Hyundai Veloster also earned the top score in the compact sporty car segment. In addition, Hyundai Accent and Elantra both finished second in their respective seg-ments, while Santa Fe finished third.

The 2020 US Initial Quality Study is based on responses from 87,282 purchasers and lessees of new 2020 model-year vehicles who were sur-veyed after 90 days of own-ership. The study, which pro-vides manufacturers with information to facilitate the identification of problems and drive product improvement, was fielded from February through May 2020.

The 2020 study, rede-signed for its fifth generation, is now based on a 223-ques-tionnaire covering nine vehicle

categories: infotainment; fea-tures, controls and displays; exterior; driving assistance (new for 2020); interior; pow-ertrain; seats; driving expe-rience; and climate.

Womenomics pioneer tells bosses to nurture female talent

Kathy Matsui, Vice-Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan

Merkel urges

swift agreement

on EU virus

package

AFP — BRUSSELS

German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday urged EU countries to show solidarity and overcome deep divisions to approve a massive corona-virus recovery plan this summer.

The leaders of the 27 EU states meet in Brussels next week for a crunch summit aimed at agreeing a €750bn ($843bn) plan to tackle the economic devastation wrought by the pandemic.

But a group of countries, a so-called “Frugal Four”, are trying to rein in spending, which is earmarked mainly for the poorer countries of southern Europe hardest hit by the COVID-19 epidemic.

“We need extraordinary solidarity, everyone is ready, especially Germany, to overcome the pandemic, to deal with its consequences”, Merkel told the European Parliament in a speech to mark Germany taking over the EU’s rotating presidency for six months.

Next week’s summit -- the first physical meeting of leaders since travel restric-tions were put in place to try to stem the spread of corona-virus -- is set to be a fraught affair.

J.D. Power ranked Hyundai Tucson as the best compact SUV in initial quality, while Hyundai Veloster also earned the top score in the compact sporty car segment. In addition, Hyundai Accent and Elantra both finished second in their respective segments, while Santa Fe finished third.

Thursday 09 July 2020 To advertise contact: Tel: 44557 857 or email: adv@pen.com.qa

16 THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020CLASSIFIEDS

SITUATION VACANT

Urgently Required

HEAVY TRUCK DRIVER, 3 NOS.

Must have valid Qatar Heavy Truck Driver LicenseAsian National Preferred

Candidates must have NOC for Transferable Visa

Please send your CVaireen@jsl-global.netMobile No: 33870326

17THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020 CLASSIFIEDS

GEM ADVERTISING & PUBLICATIONS(Overseas Newspaper Advertisements) Tel: 44442001 - GSM: 55783303

ADVERTISING OVERSEAS NEWSPAPER

ATTESTATION

CALIBRATION SERVICES

ASIA TRANSLATION & SERVICES CENTRELeading Legal Translators & Document Legalization Since 1987. Indian Certificate Attestation. Head Office: 44364555/50233133 - Al Hilal Branch: 44621334 - Salwa Road Branch: 66038181 Mobile Contacts: Sufiyan - 66192881/Yoonus - 77813190

ARMSTRONGWindow/Split/Package/Central Units. Sales, Services, Spare Parts/Window/Split & Central A/C. Annual Contracts. Mobile: 555 54 274 (Kumar)E-mail: service@armstrongmachinery.com www.armstrongmachinery.com

A/C MAINTENANCE & SERVICES

ALWASEEM TRANSLATION & SERVICES CENTERAuthorized Translators - Company Formation and PRO Services (Opp-Karwa Bus Stat. Doha, Al-Saeed Buil.2nd Floor.) M : 50822292 / 31586616 T : 44116727 E-mail : info.alwaseemtranslation@gmail.com Web : www.alwaseemtranslation.com

BUSINESS SET-UP

HELPLINE GROUPCertificate attestation from INDIA| UK | USA | CANADA | PHILIPPINE and Gulf Countries20 Years of experience and ISO Registered CompanyHELPLINE GROUP, C Ring Road Tel:(+974)-44271100Mob: 31550149 Email: info@Qatarhelplinegroup.com

HELPLINE GROUPCompany Registration, Local Sponsorship, Trademark, Feasibility Study, Tax systems and PRO Services. Our branches QATAR| KUWAIT | UAE | INDIA | UK | CANADA. (formed more than 3000 companies)HELPLINE GROUP, C Ring Road Tel: (+974)-44271100MOB: 77711129 Email: cf@qatarhelplinegroup.com

AL HAYIKI TRANSLATION & SERVICES EST.Authorized Translation & Certificate Attestation since 1992Sofitel Complex (Mercure Hotel) Ground Floor, Office No. 25Mob: 33411150 & 33411153, Tel: 44367755 & 44181990E-mail: hayiki4u@gmail.com Web: www.alhayikitranslation.com

IMMIGRATION SERVICES

HELPLINE GROUPComplete Manpower SolutionsBusiness Structure and Business PlanningTel: (+974)-44271100 Mob: 77711129 Web: helplinehrconsulting.com

HR CONSULTATION

CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE

AL MUTWASSIT CLEANING & PEST CONTROLComplete General Cleaning For Residential & Commercial. Supply of Cleaning Staff on Contract Basis. Pest Control Services. Office: 44367555 Mob: 30029977/55875920 E-mail: info@amcqatar.co

CAPITAL CLEANING COMPANY W.L.L.Complete General Cleaning Services for Old and New VillasTel: 44582257 Mobile: 33189899/ 55565328E-mail: capitalcleaningwll@gmail.com

SCAFFOLDING

APOLLO ENTERPRISES SCAFFOLDING DIVISIONContract/Hire/Sale - Salwa Road. Tel: 44693334 Fax: 44416274 GSM: 55521089/55560246/55536285 www.apollo-qatar.net - E-mail: apolloscaff@qatar.net.qa

REAL ESTATE

AL MUFTAH SERVICESTel: 44634444/44010700 Mob: 55542067/55823100 E Mail: reservations@rentacardoha.com Website: www.rentacardoha.com

RENT A CAR

AL MUFTAH RENT A CARMain Office: D’ Ring Rd, T: 44634444/44010700 Branches: Airport: 44634433 Al Khor: 44113344 E Mail: reservations@rentacardoha.com Website: www.rentacardoha.com

OASIS RENT A CARYOU RENT MORE THAN A CAR WITH OASISAllen: 6641 7354 Tel: 4413 0011 - OasisCars.com Rental@OasisCars.Com - - Great deals on long term rentals

REGENCY FLEETS (A Regency Group Co.)Special Corporate leasing and Rental rates. Price includes Comprehensive Insurance, Maintenance, Replacement Vehicle etc. Driven by Values. E-mail: info@regencyfleets.com Tel: 44433822/44554046/44554048 Fax: 44554047 Airport Branch (24hrs): Tel.: 70482655

NATIONAL - ALAMO RENT A CARCars - 4WDs - Pickups - Buses - Chauffeur Drive Call: 5547 8150, 5040 0624 Web: www.national-qatar.comE-mail: info@national-qatar.com

BUDGET RENT A CARCompetitive Rates for Car Rental & Leasing, 24/7 Airport Rental Section,Free Road Side Assistance, Easy & Fast Booking ProcessHead Office: Barwa Village T: 44325500 M: 66971703 Toll Free: 800-4627Email: info@budgetqatar.com Website: www.budgetqatar.com

ARMSTRONGAblution & Event Toilets Rental, Porta Cabins, Chemical Toilets & Other Equipment Rental.Mobile : 557 80 396 (Steve) E-mail: portacabins2@iescoqatar.comwww.iescoqatar.com

EVENT RENTALS/ ABLUTIONTOILETS

MASSAGE

KOTTAKKAL AYURVEDIC MASSAGE CENTREAyurvedic Massage, Philippine & Thai Massage. Near Badriya Signal, Bin Mehmood. Tel.: 44360061 GSM: 33453697

MEDIHERB MASSAGEKerala Ayurvedic, Thai, Philippine Massage (Gents & Ladies) for back pain, body pain, arthritis etc shirodhara, steam, Moroccan Bathe, Body Scrub etc. E-Ring Road,

Near ICC Signal, Nuaija. Tel: 66167700 - 50736611

ARMSTRONGRepairs/Spare Parts & Rentals. Power from 5KVA to 2000KVA Sales/Services/ Spare Parts & Rentals. Annual Contracts.Mobile: 555 54 274 (Kumar) E-mail: secretary@armstrongmachinery.com www.armstrongmachinery.com

GENERATORS SERVICING

HOME CARE

WOKEER INDUSTRIAL AREAFrom 150 - 200 LaborsMobile: 660 02 704 (Steve)E-mail: portacabins@iescoqatar.com

LABOUR CAMP FOR RENT

ARMSTRONGPorta Cabins/Pre-Fabricated Buildings/Toilets/Security Cabins. Fire Rated/Non Fire Rated. Mobile: 557 80 396 (Steve)E-mail: portacabins2@iescoqatar.com www.iescoqatar.com.

PORTA CABINS (Sales & Rentals)

MEDIA SERVICES

ARMSTRONG1000-4000 Gallon Tankers - Daily/Monthly/Yearly Contracts. Mobile: 660 41 449 (Neil)E-mail: portacabins6@iescoqatar.comwww.iescoqatar.com.

SEWAGE & WASTE REMOVAL

TRANSLATION

HELPLINE GROUPAuthorized Translation Centre.We speak more than 100 Languages. C Ring Road, Near by Toyota Signal Tel: (974)-44271100 Mob: 70114857 Email: info@helplinetranslation.com

WATER TANK CLEANING

AL MUTWASSIT CLEANING & PEST CONTROLKharaba st, Behind white Mosque. Fax: 443679 99 - GSM. 55875920/55860432

CAPITAL CLEANING COMPANYCleaning Water Tanks & Pest Control. GSM: 55565328/ 33189899 Tel: 44582257 E-mail: capitalcleaningwll@gmail.com

WOKEER INDUSTRIAL AREAAvailable Sizes: 358/415/510/830/1340 Sqm.Mobile: 660 02 704 (Steve)E-mail: portacabins@iescoqatar.com

WAREHOUSE FOR RENT

ARMSTRONGNew & Used Containers - Sales/Rental (Certified & Uncertified) Mobile: 557 80 396 (Steve)E-mail: portacabins2@iescoqatar.com www.iescoqatar.com.

USED CONTAINERS (Sales & Rentals)

ARMSTRONGFive Peals-USA Sales/Rental Service/Cleaning, Sewage Removal. Daily/Monthly/Yearly. Mobile: 557 80 396 (Steve)E-mail: portacabins2@iescoqatar.com www.iescoqatar.com.

PORTABLE & CHEMICAL TOILETS (Sales & Rentals)

CHANGE OF NAME

I, Carol Nathanial NathanialHolder of Pakistan Passport No. AF9442742

(Qatar ID No. 26358601481)

hereby change my name to

CAROL

NATHANIELAny objection, please contact the Immigration and Passport Office within 15 days from the publication of this notice.

I, Jennierose Lachica MarianoHolder of Philippines Passport No. P1483815B

(Qatar ID No. 27760800926)

hereby change my name to

JENNIEROSE

MARIANO DAYDAYAny objection, please contact the Immigration and Passport Office within 15 days from the publication of this notice.

I, Riham Ahmed Elsayed MansourHolder of Egypt Passport No. A22559622

(Qatar ID No. 29781800246)

hereby change my name to

RIHAM

MANSOURAny objection, please contact the Immigration and Passport Office within 15 days from the publication of this notice.

18 THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020CLASSIFIEDS

SITUATION WANTEDSENIOR ACCOUNTANT - PART TIME / FULL TIME. Female Chartered Accountant with 14+ years of experience in Qatar, Bahrain and India in Finalization of Financial Statements, Cash Flow Management, Financial Planning, AR, payroll , In-vestment accounting, MIS Reporting, Internal Control, Internal & External Audit. Can join immediately. Contact: 66339837 Email: neethajolly2@gmail.com

IT SUPPORT/SYSTEM ADMIN. BEng graduate in computer Networking 02 year experience in IT Support.Experience instal-���������������� �� ��� ������������������������������������Active Directory.TCP/IP,DHCP,DNS,FTP, LAN,WAN. Antivirus ����������������!� �"�� #�� $�� ���� #���� ���� �� ���� ���Switches. (CCNA) Looking for Job. Transferable VISA with NOC. Mob: 55180848 Email: shamiknizar@gmail.com

MECHANICAL ENGINEER (UPDA LICENSE HOLDER):B.E in Mechanical Engineering 4 years working experience in execution of HVAC (Chiller) and adequate knowledge in !%'*;<=>�� $<��� $<>?G<=>K� <� �#� ����� ��� ��� #"� �U����"� ���translate latest and creative ideas, desire for projects completion on the ground of successful execution. My foundation of techni-cal expertise brought me to a handsome development and lead-ership background with management and implementation expe-rience.visa status transferable with Noc, I can join immediately. Contact: 30913076, Email: gokulcac@gmail.com

Sri Lankan Male, Professional Diploma with 7 Years of Experience (04 Years of GCC Experience) in large scale construction companies with expert knowledge on pre & post con-tract activities including take-off, estimation, tendering, IPA to Cli-ent, Subcontractor Payments, variations, claims & contra-charges and cost control. Available with Transferable QID with NOC. E-mail: nazath93rna@gmail.com Contract: +974 3130 9493

Procurement and Shipping Coordinator. Master of Busi-ness Administration (MBA), I have experience in Delta Infralogis-tics company as Logistics executive & worked in Royal Arabian DMC as Tour executive - Operations. Email: Imad.uddin377@gmail.com Mob: +97431506913

Female, IT Engineer with visa, Indian IT engineer with more than 1 year expereince in IT administartion, System admin-istration and Development & deployement - DELPHI, PHP. Look-ing for suitable opening & able to join immediately. Under hus-band sponsorship with valid QID. Contact: 50202870 / 50672150, email : aneesasuv@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT - Indian male M.Com (Finance) having 4 years of experience in handling AR,AP, Bank reconciliation, Gen-eral ledger, Petty cash, Report. Excellent in Tally ERP9, Ms Word, Excel etc.Having valid Work Visa with QID ready to join immediately. Contact: 31613616, email: kvlukman@gmail.com

�������������� �������������������������������. 9 years experience in Middle East Projects. Ready to join immedi-ately. Mob: +91-8383039770 Email: shivankenator@gmail.com

Electrical/MEP Engineer. Open to work Engineer / Supervi-��������[ �� �������� ��������\�*�!�����K�]^" ����G������_� -rience Including 5+ years in qatar. Valid Engineering visa with Noc. Ready to join immediately. Contact no - 77784169Email- stalinthangam2014@gmail.com

Sr.Project Control Engineer: With 16 years of experience (8 years GCC) civil, High-rise buildings, Infrastructural, and oil&-Gas projects. Experience in Lean Construction, Planning, Scheduling, and Delay Analysis(EOT). In-depth knowledge in all ��[ ������������ K�%����������������������"���#����*������-tractor. Contact:77166152, email:achiakum@yahoo.com

Architect with exp. in Landscape, High/Mid/Low ��������������������� �������������!���"�� ���designs. Email:allan.cabatu@gmail.com MOB:33492351

Payroll Accountant/ Assist. Accountant. Filipino, 30, Male. 10 years of work experience in Finance. 7 years in Qatar in Con-struction Company. BSBA – Management Accounting Graduate. !����� �������_� �����!��G���"��`��� �{���� ��|!}���"����K�?���-ing transferable visa with NOC. Contact: 33751509,Email: rey_tano90@yahoo.com

Mechanical Maintenance Engineer having more than 5 years of experience in HVAC MEP Project. Transferable Visa with NOC and able to join immediately Email: hamshadb@gmail.com Mobile: 31569021

����#�$%�$�����$���������'!� �̀� ���� ����������" ���� _-perience with 5yrs in doha metro rail construction and education city tram. 2yrs onshore oil and gas 2yrs offshore oil and gas, 1yr building and 1yr road construction. Driver’s license available. Transferrable visa with NOC. e-mail: drone3299@yahoo.com. Mobile: 33488358

Document Controller/Admin Assistant -Indian Bachelor Degree Holder with 5+ years experience in Qatar. ( Civil, MEP, Road & Infra ) as DC & Administration Assistant. Transferable Visa, Can join Immediately.Email: rehnuhana@gmail.com, Mob : 66546156

��&�&�!���!���������'�� ���"�*�����+�� Job with a total of 3 years’ experience in Sales and marketing of Hard-ware materials and driving. Able to speak English, Possible to work with fast-paced, under pressure, target reach environ-ment, and teamwork. The applicant of Qatar driving license. Transferrable visa with NOC. Call: 50217133 Email: m.mafaz78@yahoo.com

Diploma in civil engineering having total 14 years experi-ence in GCC Countries in construction and maintenance works OFFSHORE / ONSHORE NOC available for visa transfer. Hav-ing valid qatar driving license . Looking for a civil construction / maintenance supervisor post.Contact no is 33931258 Email: masthan6904@gmail.com

A Sales Professional having a master degree & 3+ years of experience in Qatar and India looking for suitable open-ings in sales/ Marketing/ operation. Available for immediate join-ing. NOC & Qatar Driving Licence available. Contact : 70646318Email : stephinkurishingal1994@gmail.com

�#��&���"#�$%�$���1��"�������������459years Experience (6 years in Qatar) in Construction Field, High Rise Building and Infrastructure Projects. Good Knowledge in Design and MEP coordination, Inspection, Testing and Com-missioning, QA/QC Activities. Experience in ELV, Telecom, Se-curity System installation. Ready to join immediately. Transfera-ble Visa with NOC Available. Email: syedabbas1723@gmail.com Contact: +974 30052422

Looking for Execuitive/Superviosr/Coordinator roles ��� *��� �� � � ���[�}�� ��� ����� ���� ��[ �� ���� �� ��#�K� <� [�� �8+years experience in Qatar retail market (In Research back-ground). Graduate in Economics and Education.Valid Qatar driving licence and work visa with NOC.Email :riyaasck@gmail.com Contact :66704598

������+;PRO). I have more than two years experience in *�����U������ ������������� ���"�������������`�#������ �� ���Hamad international Airport more than one year and 8 months. I know Arabic and English very well this potion is more suitable for me. Email: rilarazik@gmail.com

HSE or safety departments. Motivated Care Assistant with 10 years of experience in the Care industry in GULF & PAKISTN Offering expertise in person-centred care, implementation and monitoring of individual care plans and management of resident ��� ��# ���������� �KE-mail: rwaheeduddin@yahoo.com Mob: +974 33859241

DOCUMENT CONTROLLER. Indian Male having 5 years experience in al rayyan Express highway project Qatar skillful in the use of EDMS & other softwares like word,excel, PowerPoint & outlook,auto cad.ready to join immediately,transferable visa. Contact:33662308 Email: gafoorpc95@gmail.com

ADMIN COORDINATOR / ADMIN OFFICER / RECEP-TIONIST / DATA ENTRY. Sri Lankan with 2 years Experi-ence in Qatar Strong literally in English. Quick learner and self - motivated, Available with NOC / Transferable Visa, Joining at earliest.Contact: +97450179531 Email: badeenmujahidh99@gmail.com

DIPLOMA IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING From the Anna University. 3 + YEARS OF ON GOING EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. Work Transfer-able Visa. Mobile: 30830624 Email: sakareem1999@gmail.com

����"���*�����������������!�<=�!���"����-��������� <=�!��> 13 years of experience in Customers, Guests and Passengers service Industry. I have performed the ��� ���������̀ ���"����̀ �#��������������� �������������������#- �� } ���� � ��� �� ������� #"� � ��� � [�� � ������� ��[� ������Airways. I am open to accept all the new challenges that will come across to handle the new work environment.Mobile: +974 6604-0208 Email: hirani83@gmail.com

Cashier / Accountant. Accounting Package (Tally), Diploma in Application Programming (DAP). More than 6 years experi-ence at Family Food Centre as a post of Cashier (Cash Counter). Mob: 70398565 Email: mdajim1991@yahoo.com

"������������� ? <=�!� "��������> Experience of 20 years in the gulf (Saudi, Kuwait, Dubai and Qatar). I know lan-guages English, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. (English and Arabic i know speaking, reading, writing and typing).Mobile: +974 77969746 Email: naina5rose@gmail.com

ADMIN ASSISTANT AND OFFICE ASSISTANT. A bach-elor Of degree & with work experience for admin works and of-�� �̀ �������������������������� ����" ���K�}��������� ���"�������-lish & Arabic. Quick learner and self- motivated. Available with NOC/ transferable visa.Contact: 30836205 Email: hasanimran73@gmail.com

Dental trainee. General dentist from India completed the course with 1 year internship on June 2019. Seeking an oppor-tunity to join as dental trainee. Family visa. Experience: 1 year (Designation: Dental intern)Mobile: 33759204 Email id: hrmscaps@gmail.com

Sr. Document Control / Administrator with more than ���" ��������� �������� _� �� �� �����[ �� ���������# ���control using online Project Management System (ACONEX, Constructware & Wrench). Holder of Diploma in Document �������� *���� # ��� ��[� `��� _� � ������� � ����� � <� [�� �ability to work accurately under pressure to meet the project targets and work requirements. Mobile: +974 5054 7037 Email: quasi.abulasar@yahoo.com

�#���������> 3 years of experience in ELV department in Everest technical services .worked as a project Engineer on systems like structural cables, Access control, CCTV, BGM, <!G���;*}��"�� #���� �����#��"�� #K�?�������U����"����� �� �the drawings. coordinate at site, attend meetings with clients & Testing & commissioning. Mobile : +974-70007469, +974-70431708Email : mdaslamahmed7338@gmail.com

���!���!����#���������> I am a skilled professional with over 5+ years commercial experience. I have been involved in Design installation commissioning testing of ELV system, CCTV, `�� ��� ��������� �� � ����#�� ��U���� ���� ��K� <� �#� � ������ � ����� _�U� ����� �������[ ��U����"�������������������"����������������team. Email: junaid4nzb@gmail.com Mob: 30722409

��=��*<=�!��> Have a total of 12 Year’s experience as HSE {�� �K� | ��� _� �� �� �� ��� � ��� �� }� �"� � ��K���� ��� � ��[�knowledge with all documentation in safety management viz. Accident/incident investigation and reporting, safety evalua-tions, client/consultant correspondence etc.Project HSE plans, Training programs, Safety policies & Emergency procedures.Mobile: 70196107 E mail: bijukthse@gmail.com

QA/QC ENGINEER. Electrical engineer with practical knowl-edge in quality assurance and quality control procedure with 6years of experience in handling the projects. Educational Quali-����������� �������������� �������������� ������<����������*���-tenance and Safety, CIRCUIT BREAKER SAFETY. Contact: 77250416 Email: shukoor2707@gmail.com

Parts Consultant / Parts Sales Executive and Ser-vice Coordinator. 14 years work Experience in Automotive Company as Parts Consultant / Parts Sales Executive and Ser-vice Coordinator With Qatar Drivers License. Mob: 66657497Email: ganiaelbert@yahoo.com

SENIOR FIXED ACCOUNTANT. Indian, B.com, MBA, 10 " ����� _� �� �� �<�������K�!����� ������$�_ ��`�� ���*���� -ment with Knowledge of ERP system MS Dynamics 365.Cover-ing Catering, Restaurants, and Facility Management & Con-struction Industries. Seeking a Job in a similar Position. Possess Qatar Driving License.Contact: 30192170 email: afaq.ahmshk@gmail.com

Experienced PRO have 13 years experience in Qatar, hold-ing driving license with car, Looking for suitable post and can join immediately. Contact Mob: 66864240, email: nassarvk@gmail.com

�#�?�������� with Extensive Experience in (Testing, Com-missioning, Installation & Programming) has more than 10-year experience (6 years in GCC) in ELV Security System, worked project International Airport, Football stadium etc Available Per-manent Visa with Transferable NOC, Driving License & own Car. Contact: 55781486 Email: mudassir425@gmail.com

#��'��� =�� "!!������� B�+. Financial Account (Ac-counts Manager – Sr.Accountant). 12 years of Corporate Fi-nance experience includes responsibilities such as Finance & Accounts, MIS, Internal auditing and so on.Mobile: 70111972 Email: forkaleem580@gmail.com

Finance / Accounts. Indian Male, 13 plus years experience in overall accounting (AP, AR, Bank Recon, Auditing, GL, Pay-roll (WPS), reporting & Month end activities in leading compa-�� �� ��� ������ \� <������ !����� ��� ��� ��!�}� ��� � }`!� \� G���"��Transferable RP with NOC available.Contact: 66970866 Mail id - veerastfc83@gmail.com

Restaurant Manager / Supervisor. Having 10 Years Ex-perience in Hospitality 6 years Supervisory Skills. Expertisedin Food and Beverage Sector at Five Star Hotel 6 years in Saudi Arabia and 8 years in France. Multi Lingual Skills as Able to Communicate Well in English French Arabic Hindi. Available to Join Immediately with Transferable Visa with NOC.Contact 77130041 Email: irshad.captain1976@gmail.com

Civil Engineer graduated from Calicut University and have 2 years experience in India and now i am available in Qatar and looking for a job. GSM: +974 33950906 Email : suhailket@gmail.com

Project Engineer. Working as a Project Engineer with Ten years in reputed organizations. Most of the projects I have worked in have been executed successfully. My work responsi-bilities include but are not limited to Project Management, Plan-ning Phase, Construction Phase, based on scope of work for the completion of project within the time frame. I am a respon-sible and highly committed individual who can put in all his ef-forts to ensure the success of a project. My leadership skills help me to bring out the best of individual working to succeed on the professional front. Email: augustine.dixson@gmail.com

Administration / Accounts Department. Looking for an opportunity in any department of administration or in the accounts department. Contact no. +974 55404599

Housekeeping Supervisor. Diploma in Hospitality Man-agement and Catering Technology. Broadly trained and highly disciplined Hospitality Management professional with solid nine plus years of experience in planning, coordinating and overseeing house-keeping operations in the area of hotel man-agement. Highly skilled in attending to foreign dignitaries and corporate executives with highest level of time management.Mobile: +97466911857 Email: ranjithrock@gmail.com

�&�!�������������!������������ having 28 years experience with MMUP Qatar registered, need a job as a Con-struction manager in any Construction company.Email: shabbirhyderkhan.sk@gmail.com

QA QC/PROJECT ENGINEER, having 09 years of experi-ence in Infra, Road, Utility, Construction & Structural projects. Sound knowledge in Lean Six Sigma and TQM. Having trans-ferable visa with NOC. Can join immediately. Contact - 3318 7159 Email - ppraiz@gmail.com

SAP EP Consultant. Master of Computer Science (M.Sc.). I have 13+ Years of experience out of which 12+ years of strong experience in SAP Netweaver Portal.Mobile: +974 5096 9571 / +91 80560 81414E-Mail:-venkatesh.kaliappan@gmail.com

OPERATIONS / ADMINISTRATION / LOGISITCS / PURCHASE JOB WITH MORE THAN 13 YEARS EXPERI-ENCE IN QATAR AND AVAILABLE TO JOIN IMMEDIATLEY WITH VALID VISA TILL 2022 AND NOC. CONTACT: 50832221 EMAIL: rathimeena5@yahoo.co.in

HSE Engineer/Supervisor (Ashghal Approved Safety In-spector) with 12 years of experience in road construction, airport, high rise building, metro and rail, MEP, stadium, infrastructure and civil construction having bachelor degree, Nebosh IGC, IOSH MS, ISO 45001 etc. looking for immediate job placement. Contact: 55601688 Email: nzegwudonald@gmail.com

IT project Manager. Master of Information Technol-ogy. I am an IT Project Manager and an IT expert. Additional strong points incorporate IT strategic planning, IT manage-ment, IT quality assurance and business analysis.Mob: +974-70140678 Email: Adnanbleik@hotmail.com

Translator/Editor/Writer. 20 years experienced Translator/Editor/Writer. I speak Arabic as mother tongue, I have Translat- �� ���� |��� � ��� #�� � �[��� ���� �� � ��� � ����� #�� � �[���100,000 pages. Mob: 50339882 Email: alnabig@gmail.com

Electrical and Electronics Engineer. Electrical and Electronics Engineering. To Obtain An Electrical Engineer Po-sition In An Organization Where I Can Apply My Engineering Experience In Electrical Field To Help In The Progress Of The Organization There By Developing My Knowledge.Mob: 30555842 Email: Muhammedshabab786@gmail.com

INDIAN (KERALA) MALE, �"K���4Z*�����=�[ �����!�in the HR, Recruitment, Administration, Employee Relation, Construction, Procurement Hospitality, ex-perience in Qatar, UAE & India. Can Join Immediately with NOC. Mob.+974- 50085823, email: maxbobqatar@gmail.com

���!���!����������>�>������!���!��\���!�����!�>���" ������_� �� �� � ����� ��������� ��� ��� �<����������� ��`��-port, Tram/Metro, Substation 22kv, Hospitals and Hotels Build-ings construction (MV/LV/ELV, MEP, Wet & Dry Services/Utili-ties) focusing on economy, safety, reliability, quality and sustainability. Having a comprehensive understanding of elec-trical health and safety regulations Components.Mob : 70651593 Email : mohammed.tanweer08@gmail.com

#��'���=��B�+��"!!��������]����!�>������ ��� �-��� ��#���� # ����������������*`�'}`����[�#��� �������-nance (BCom + MCom) having a year of working experience In <$�}K�̀ ����������� �������������}`!��������*}��_� ���<$�}K�#�����U���[���������K��#�*�U��^�����������

Senior Piping Engineer. Bachelor of Mechanical engineer-ing. 13 years of experience in Upstream and downstream oil and gas industry.^���������]����^������]���������� �#�"�"�[��K��K��

����������K���4^*�����[ �����!����&�����\Service in Doha with Valid Qatar Driving License is looking for suitable opportunities.Mobile : 77248436 Email :Sajidjaisam@gmail.com

��!����!����������;��1�!�������_` Indian, Male, �K�^�" ������ _� �� �� ����{�������>���� ���������������������for job. Transferable Visa with NOC and Qatar Driving Licence. Ready for an industry switch. Available to join Immediately. Contact No. 33485203, email: georgejo1993@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineering. 4 years of experience in Imple-mentation of Total Quality Management (Deming Application Prize) & Total Productive Maintenance. Internal auditor - ISO 14001, ISO 9001, Total productive maintenance, Total Quality management Availability - Immedediet Email : mayursalave@gmail.comPhone : 00974 33699181 / 33685895

}�� ��\�;���� ���� � ���# ������ ���[������ _� �� �� � ���Administration / Sales / Business Development/ Branch / Retail Management with more than 15 years experience in Qatar market. Looking for suitable opportunities.Contact : 77331129 Email: saif.nfsus@gmail.com

HR/ Admin Specialist Indian lady, Masters (MBA) in HRM; professional experience of 8 + years in Qatar in Construction, Contracting & Real Estate, Hotel and Manufacturing Sectors; !����� ������?�<}��� �����# ����!�"������|!}���!����� ��\����-� ��� ����#���" �� �����������#� ��������\�; � �����<����-ance, Contracts, Immigration rules, Visa, End of Service & Qa-tar Labor Law. Spouse’s sponsorship.Contact: 55184153, reshnusnathan@yahoo.co.in.

An Electrical Engineer(MMUP Grade-A) available with 24 years overall experience in Oil & Gas projects, worked as Lead Design Electrical Engineer and support to site execution teams, for various clients like Qatar Petroleum, Qatargas etc. Having Resi-dent permit, driving license and NOC availability, looking for suita-ble opportunity in Qatar.Mob.: 33572548 and umesh.poojari697@gmail.com

STRUCTURAL DESIGN ENGINEER: UPDA Grade A certi-� ��}��������������� ���*��� ����[��������^�" ���� _� �� �� ����consultancy seeking part time jobs for structural design and de-sign review works. Email: slizwil@gmail.com / Mob: 3392 2033.

�&�!�;��!�_. I am an Engineer with 2 year experience in 3D laser scanning.I am still working in EXCELIZE .I would like to work in your company as an 3d scanning survey engineer.Email: adarshsudhakaran94@gmail.com MOB : 33054086

Civil/Structural/Project Engineer- Transferable Visa/Driv-ing License with 6 years of experience in Qatar on mega projects e.g. Al Thumama Stadium, 40+ Storey Towers. Expert of site & project management, shop drawings, QA/QC protocols, design detailing, AutoCAD, Primavera, ETABS, ACI, BS, ASCI, QCS14.Contact: 70374717 Email: iftiazhossein@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT: Indian Male with B. Com and ACCA Finalist having more than 10 years of experience (6 yrs in GCC including Qatar ) . Well experienced in Finalization of Ac-counts, month/year end closing, Account receivable/ payable, in depth knowledge of MIS reporting,costing, banking, LC import - exports documentation, reconciliation, budgeting etc.. having good experience in MS Dynamics AX, advanced Excel, Sage/Peachtree & Tally etc.. with NOC and Qatar driving licence. Can join within month. Contact: 66315724, Email: jestin680@yahoo.com

HR Professional with 5 years experience in Qatar with reput-ed companies.Expert knowledge in HR functions and HR man-�� # ��K������� ����[�;��[ �����������U� ����������## ���� �"�with NOC. Contact 77757324 email fazrathr@gmail.com

Female, IT Engineer with visa, Indian IT engineer with more than 1 year expereince in IT administartion, Development & de-ployement - DELPHI, PHP & System administration. Looking for suitable opening & able to join immediately. Under husband sponsorship with valid QID. Contact: 50202870 / 50672150, email : aneesasuv@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer with nearly 6 years (GCC) of experi- �� � ���*�!�� ��� �� � �������� ������[��� ����������� #�������position in a growth oriented MEP -consulting/contracting/ con-struction organizations where there is ample scope for individual and organizational growth. (My experienced projects in Qatar: Hamad doha port project , Msheireb downtown project , PHCC health center & qatar university water network project )contact: 33120933 Email: jasim4mep@gmail.com

AUTO CAD DRAFTSMAN: Architectural and interior Drafts-man indian male with more than 13 years experience in G.C.C high rise building projects having sound knowledge of preparing shop drawings, as built drawings, architectural and interior drawings. Well versed with AutoCad. Transferable visa, Ready to join immediately.Contact: 55696179, Email: vipinkk222@gmail.com

����!����� ���=��������+�� ��������> I’m particularly interested in this opening which relates strongly to my 9 years of ��#�� [ ���� � _� �� �� ���� ���� ���������������� �����-tions, or other technical information including detailing of all RCC Structural Elements including the Bar Bending Schedule.Email: aarjunvinod@gmail.com Mob: 70075498

AUTO CAD operator with 5 years of experience. I have great Drafting skills in Electrical Design, Network Design, Data Centre Design, Shop Drawings, and excellent communication skills, ����� _�U� ������������[ �#��������� ���������� ���� �#"�#���-vations and encouragement.Mob: 55351204 Email: salman.ek6@gmail.com

I am an experienced engineer possessing more than 44*���q�K��'�[ �����!������������+����������* with various multinational brands in GCC and India. Fluency in the Arabic language. I was a Senior Service Advisor cum Assistant Works Manager at Maruti. I am associated with various job respon-sibilities that evolve as a works manager. Prior to my present as-signment I worked with Al Futtaim Group U.A.E, Toyota Saudi Ara-bia and Volkswagen. Mob: 31160163 Email: jmj0666@gmail.com

System Admin/ IT Support Indian male Bsc graduate in computer science 10 year experience in system administration and planning.Experience installation of windows server �����������*�� ������������������������������������`���� ���-� ����"KG�!�<!��?�!��=}�$G!�� %`=�|`=K`��������� ��������-tions, ERP system,Firewall maintenance. Looking for part time/Short term Job. Mob: 55927944 Email: fawas123@hotmail.com

19THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020 SPORT

Former champ Alonso set for F1 comeback with Renault

Thailand announcestentative MotoGP plansAFP – BANGKOK

Thailand hopes to hold its MotoGP race in late November after an eight-month delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, officials said yesterday as they announced a bid to host until 2025.

The kingdom’s third fixture on the premier motorbike racing calendar was slated for March 20-22, but the event was axed as the disease started spreading rapidly around the world.

Officials have since grad-ually reopened the country’s borders to business travellers and medical tourists, with some restrictions.

Organisers are now eyeing a rescheduled race for November 21-22, said deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Traisaranakul.

Thailand will also submit a bid to continue hosting MotoGP for five more years, with the government paying for half of the €50m ($56m) copyright, Traisuree said. The sleepy northeastern city of Buriram hosted its first MotoGP race in 2018. Besides attracting thou-sands of motorsport fans to Thailand, it brought in three billion baht ($96m) each of the last two years it was held, according to official figures.

Thailand has recorded around 3,100 COVID-19 cases since the start of the year.

This year’s virus-delayed MotoGP season will finally begin on July 19 at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

Zverev withdraws from Berlin tournament amid Kyrgios-Thiem spatAFP – BERLIN

Under-fire Alexander Zverev announced his withdrawal yesterday from a tennis tour-nament in Berlin next week with the German at the centre of a war-of-words between Nick Kyrgios and Dominic Thiem, who are still due to play in the German capital.

“I was planning this month to play in Berlin, but I have made the decision to stay put and train with my team and not play any tour-naments at the moment,” Zverev, ranked seventh, wrote on social media.

“It’s never nice to miss the chance to play at home, but I will be back soon,” added Zverev who said that ex-pro David Ferrer has joined his coaching team on a trial basis.

Earlier on Wednesday, the organiser of the invita-tional exhibition tournament in Berlin, which starts Monday, had said he doubted Zverev would play.

Even with Zverev out, the presence of Kyrgios and Thiem in Berlin could provide an

explosive mix with tensions running high.

Recent footage of the 23-year-old German par-tying in a busy bar despite pledging to “follow self-iso-lating guidelines” after playing in Novak Djokovic’s coronavirus-hit Adria Tour sparked a spat between Kyrgios and Thiem.

Yersterday, Kyrgios said Austria’s Thiem wasn’t on the same “intellectual level” after the Austrian called his crit-icism “cheap” and claimed it was “bad luck” that Zverev was caught partying after promising to self-isolate.

Djokovic says he is still undecided over US OpenAFP – BELGRADE

Novak Djokovic, who recently tested negative for coronavirus after testing positive during his Balkans charity event, told a Serbian newspaper yesterday that he still was not sure if he would play the US Open.

“I still do not know if I will play the US Open,” the tennis world number one said in an interview with the Sportski Zurnal daily paper.

“I will certainly not play Washington or Cincinnati as planned.” The ATP and WTA tours are set to resume next month, even though several professional players have contracted COVID-19.

The US Open will be the

first Grand Slam following the restart, due to get underway behind closed doors in New York on August 31.

Djokovic resumed training on Tuesday and said he would take part on clay events.

“Participation at Roland Garros is certain for now, Madrid and Rome are part of my agenda,” he said.

The Serbian said he thought the ATP’s revised ranking system, due to be introduced in August, was “correct”.

Djokovic said on July 2 that he and his wife Jelena had both tested negative for coronavirus after testing pos-itive during the Adria Tour in late June.

AFP – SPIELBERG

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will return to Formula One with Renault for the 2021 season, the team announced yesterday.

“Renault DP World F1 Team is pleased to confirm Fernando Alonso alongside Esteban Ocon in its driver line-up for the 2021 season,” Renault said in a statement.

Alonso, who has notched up 32 wins and 97 podiums in 314 Grand Prix starts, will replace Australian driver Daniel Ric-ciardo, who is McLaren-bound at the end of this season.

Alonso, who won his two world championship titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006, said the French team had given him his “fondest memories” in Formula One.

“Renault is my family,” the 38-year-old Spaniard said.

“It’s a great source of pride and with an immense emotion I’m returning to the team that gave me my chance at the start of my career and which now gives me the opportunity to return to the highest level.” Alonso left Formula One in 2018 after four fruitless years at McLaren and is due to make a third attempt to win the Indianapolis 500 with McLaren in August.

Alonso said he had bought into Renault’s project for the coming season.

“Their progress this winter gives credibility to the objectives for the 2022 season and I will

share all my racing experience with everyone from the engineers to the mechanics and my team-mates,” he said.

“The team wants and has the means to get back on the podium, as do I.” Cyril Abiteboul, man-aging director of Renault Sport Racing said the signing of Alonso was a sign of Renault’s “plan to continue its commitment to F1 and to return to the top of the field”.

“His presence in our team is a formidable asset on the sporting level but also for the brand to which he is very attached,” Abit-eboul said.

“The strength of the bond between him, the team and the fans make him a natural choice. In addition to past successes, it is a bold mutual choice as well as a project for the future.” Abiteboul added: “His experience and deter-mination will enable us to get the best out of each other to take the team towards the excellence that modern Formula 1 demands.

“He will also bring to our team, which has grown very fast, a culture of racing and winning to overcome hurdles together. Alongside Esteban, his mission will be to help Renault DP World F1 Team prepare for the 2022 season in the best possible con-ditions.” F1 teams are in Austria preparing for the second race of the season this Sunday after Mer-cedes driver Valtteri Bottas took the chequered flag in the opening race of the coronavirus-delayed season, also in Austria, last weekend.

FERNANDO ALONSO

Nickname: “Nando” Date of birth: July 29, 1981 Place of birth: Oviedo, SpainNationality: Spanish Height: 1.71 metres (5ft 6in) F1 ACHIEVEMENTSWorld Champion: 2005 and 2006Grands Prix driven: 312 Teams: Minardi (2001), Renault (2002, test driver), Renault (2003-2006), McLaren-Mercedes (2007), Renault (2008-2009), Ferrari (2010-2014), McLaren-Honda (2015-2017) then McLaren-Renault (2018) First start: Australia 2001First win: Hungary 2003 Last win: Spain 2013 Victories: 32 Total Podiums: 97 Pole positions: 22 Fastest laps: 23 Points scored: 1,899 World Drivers’ Championship: 1st (2005, 2006), 2nd (2010, 2012, 2013), 3rd (2007), 4th (2004, 2011), 5th (2008), 6th (2003, 2014), 9th (2009), 10th (2016), 11th (2018) 15th (2017), 17th (2015), 23rd (2001) ENDURANCE RACING ACHIEVEMENTS: WEC World Champion (2019), victory at the Six Hours of Spa (2019) 2019 Sebring (2019), 1,000 Miles (2019), Le Mans 24 Hours (2018, 2019), all driving for Toyota Victory in Daytona 24 Hours (2019) driving for CadillacIndianapolis 500 (driving for Andretti, withdrew in 2017, for McLaren did not qualify in 2019) One participation in Dakar Rally, finishing 13th in 2020

play any tour-the moment,”

nked seventh, ial media.er nice to miss o play at home, e back soon,”v who said thatd Ferrer has

aching team on

n Wednesday,r of the invita-ion tournamentwhich startssaid he doubted d play.h Zverev ooututututututtutututututtututuuuuu , e of and rlin e an

icism “cheap” and claimed it was “bad luck” that Zverevwas caught partying afterpromising to self-isolate.Ryder Cup postponed until 2021

AFP – MIAMI

This year’s Ryder Cup golf showdown between Europe and the United States was postponed to 2021 yesterday, becoming the latest major sports event disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Europe and the US PGA Tour announced the 43rd edition of the biennial matches, which had been set for Whistling Straits in Wisconsin on September 25-27, will instead be staged on September 24-26, 2021.

A planned 2021 Presidents Cup between a US squad and a non-European internationals team will be delayed until September 22-25,

2022 with a Ryder Cup in Rome pushed back a year to 2023.

The postponement is the first for the Ryder Cup since 2001, when September 11 terrorist attacks upon New York and Washington prompted the matches to be delayed a year. The Cup also went unplayed from 1939-1945 due to World War II. Holders Europe will keep for another year the trophy won in France in 2018 by 17 1/2 - 10 1/2.

The worldwide COVID-19 outbreak has prevented spectators from attending golf events, including US PGA Tour tournaments, after its return in June from a three-month shutdown.

Guidance from the US Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention as well as state and local officials prompted the decision, with health considerations the top priority.

“Unlike other major sporting events that are played in existing stadiums, we had to make a decision now about building facilities to host the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits,” PGA of America chief executive officer Seth Waugh said.

World number one Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and fellow four-time major champion Brooks Koepka of the United States were among the top players who did not want to see a Ryder Cup staged without fans, whose passionate cheers, songs and shouts create a unique atmosphere at Cup matches.

Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez scores their second goal against Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Britain, yesterday.

Al Sadd extend Afif's contractTHE PENINSULA _ DOHA

Last year's Asian Player of the Year, Qatari striker Akram Afif (pictured) will continue to serve the defending QNB Stars League (QSL) champions Al Sadd until 2025, details revealed yesterday.

The Club yesterday announced the renewal of the contract of Afif, a driving force behind Qatar’s Asian Cup title victory last year.

Afif is one of the most prom-inent stars of Al Sadd team and the 22-year-old played a key role in the team's success over the years.

Afif expressed happiness to sign the new deal and thanked the board of the club for their confi-dence in his abilities. Afif vowed to exert all his effort to help the team capture more local and con-tinental titles.

Al Sadd's coach Xavi Hern-andez who extended his stay with

the Wolves for another season, had earlier said that Afif’s contract and securing replacements for Gabi and Marco Fabian are top of his list as Qatar's football is gearing up for restart after a long break.

Al Sadd are currently occu-pying the third spot in the QSL standings behind table toppers Al Duhail and Al Rayyan.

Al Sadd will meet Al Khor at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium behind closed doors on July 24.

Al Sadd underwent quar-antine at the Ritz Carlton fol-lowing the second round of COVID-19 tests which came back negative. The protocols have been developed by the Qatar Stars League Management and approved by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH).

Leaders Al Duhail face Umm Salal at the Education City Stadium on July 25.

Al Duhail , under Moroccan coach Walid Regragui, are leading the standings with 42 points, four more than second-placed Al Rayyan.

Al Duhail have regained the services of Qatar internationals Mohammed Al Bakri, B a s s a m A l R a w i , Mohammed Ayash, Sultan Al Breik, Assim Madibo, Karim Boudiaf, Abdullah Abdulsalam, Ismail Mohammed, Abdulrahman Mohammed, Mohammed Muntari and Almoez Ali following the end of senior national team’s training camp.

Man City thrash Newcastle 5-0

David Silva scored one goal and made two more as Manchester City put on a passing masterclass to overwhelm Newcastle United with a 5-0 Premier League

victory yesterday.Gabriel Jesus put the home side ahead in the 10th minute and Riyad Mahrez

made it 2-0 in the 21st minute. Things went from bad to worse for Newcastle in the second half when Matt Ritchie's last-ditch attempt to dispossess Jesus hit

fellow defender Federico Fernandez and flew into the goal to put City 3-0 up.Silva got himself on the scoresheet in the second half, stroking home a beautiful free kick from the edge of the box in the 66th minute before

setting up substitute Raheem Sterling for a simple goal in stoppage time to make it 5-0.

Alexander Zverev

Al Duhail , underoccan coach Walid agui, are leading the

dings with 42 points, more than second-

ed Al Rayyan. Al Duhail haveined the services of ar internationals ammed Al Bakri,s a m A l R a w i ,ammed Ayash, Sultan Al k, Assim Madibo, Karimdiaf, Abdullah Abdulsalam,il Mohammed, Abdulrahman ammed, Mohammed MuntariAlmoez Ali following the

of senior national m’s training camp.

SPORT | 19

Former champ

Alonso set for

F1 comeback

with Renault

SPORTDjokovic says

he is still

undecided

over US Open

SPORT | 19

THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020

Futuristic Education City Stadium excites Cahill

QNA – DOHA

The Secretary-General of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain attended the GCC Olympic Committees Secre-taries-Generals workshop via videoconference on Tuesday.

The workshop was organised by the GCC Secretariat General to discuss the effects of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the sports sector at the GCC nations.

During the workshop, Al Buenain thanked the GCC Secretariat General for holding the workshop to focus on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the GCC sports sector and wished the meeting achieve its goals.

The meeting also discussed the measures taken by the GCC nations and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports activities and the Olympic movement in general.

Moreover, the participants reviewed the means to tackle the current and expected chal-lenges of the pandemic, as well as arrangements for the return of sports activities at the national, GCC, and international levels.

The workshop came up with several rec-ommendations and suggestions, to be submitted to the Council of Presidents of the GCC National Olympic Committees at their next meeting.

Asia Cup T20tournament called off, says Ganguly

AFP – NEW DELHI

India’s cricket chief, Sourav Ganguly, said yesterday the Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament has been called off amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The event, which had Pakistan as original hosts, was scheduled for September with the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka front-runners to stage the tournament.

“Asia Cup has been cancelled. It was due in September,” Ganguly, who turned 48 yesterday, said in an instagram chat with an Indian tele-vision station.

Ganguly’s statement comes after Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan said last month the Asia Cup would go ahead as scheduled in either Sri Lanka or the UAE.

The tournament was not to be held in Pakistan due to India’s refusal to tour the country over political tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The International Cricket Council this month will also decide on the future of the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled for October-November in Australia. If these tournaments are scrapped, it will pave the way for this season’s lucrative Indian Premier League -- which was postponed amid the nationwide lockdown -- to find new dates.

“We don’t know when will IPL happen because it is difficult to get a window,” said Ganguly. “ICC is trying that World T20 takes place in October. Because ICC generates a lot of revenue from this.

Ganguly said the Board of Control for Cricket in India would be keen to host the IPL, which is estimated to generate more than $11bn for the Indian economy.

“We will try and host it in India, that will be our first target. Try and find a place where there are three-four venues and no Covid. But if it cannot happen then we will think about taking it overseas. So all options are open. We will have to wait and watch.”

The Sri Lankan and UAE cricket boards have already shown interest in hosting the T20 tour-nament, which attracts global superstars.

Secretary-Generalof QOC participatesin GCC Olympic Committees Workshop

England, West Indies take a knee as rain spoils return of international cricketAFP – SOUTHAMPTON

International cricket resumed after a four-month coronavirus shutdown yesterday as England and West Indies players took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement under grey skies in Southampton.

England stand-in captain Ben Stokes won the toss following a rain delay and opted to bat but just three overs were possible before the weather intervened again.

The players gathered in a semi-circle on the pitch before play started to observe a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the coro-navirus and West Indies great Everton Weekes, who died last week at the age of 95.

They then dropped to one knee in support of the global campaign against racial injustice following the death in the United States of George Floyd in May.

Both teams are wearing BLM logos on their shirts during the three-match series.

West Indies players also wore black gloves on their right hands in an echo of the “Black Power” pro-tests made famous by US athletes at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

All three Tests are taking place behind closed doors at “bio-secure” grounds, with the first at the Ageas Bowl and the second two at Old Trafford.

The morning was lost to rain and when play eventually started, England lost Dom Sibley off the 10th ball, when he was bowled by Shannon Gabriel.

England were then 0 for 1 but had moved on to 35-1 when, after two rain stoppages, bad light forced an early tea even though the floodlights

were on. Recalled opener Rory Burns was 20 not out and Joe Denly 14 not out.

Stokes, standing in for Joe Root, who is missing the first Test due to the birth of his second child, spoke of the excitement ahead of the restart of cricket.

“I know everybody has been craving this, certainly from a players’ point of view but I also think from a spectators’ and fans’ view,” he said on Tuesday.Players and officials are staying at on-site hotels to stop the

spread of COVID-19 and bowlers are not allowed to use saliva to shine the ball as part of strict measures to control the spread of the virus.

West Indies coach Phil Simmons praised administrators for staging the series.

“It’s a huge blueprint for how cricket can move forward,” said Simmons, whose side quarantined and trained at Old Trafford from June 9 before travelling south.

England left out veteran paceman Stuart Broad, their second most

successful Test bowler behind James Anderson, who did start, as well as Chris Woakes.

West Indies omitted specialist spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, with batsman Roston Chase to provide some slow bowling in support of a four-man pace attack of Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Alzarri Joseph and captain Jason Holder.

West Indies have not won a Test series in England since 1988, but they hold the Wisden Trophy after a 2-1 series win in the Caribbean last year.

West Indies’ Shannon Gabriel (second left) celebrates after taking the wicket of England’s Joe Denly at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, yesterday.

TIM CAHILL WWW.QATAR2022.QA

Although I would have much preferred to be there in person, I was still honoured and excited to take part virtually when the completion of Education City Stadium – the third tournament-ready venue for the next FIFA World Cup – was marked in Doha, Qatar.

Having been there for the opening of Al Janoub Stadium, in May 2019, I can vouch that there is nothing like seeing these stunning buildings up close – however the digital launch of Education City Stadium, dedicated to frontline workers, was a fitting tribute consid-ering the challenges the world has faced throughout 2020.

On that note, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been involved in the relief efforts throughout this year. From the frontline health workers who have risked their own safety to provide care to others, through to all those people who have continued to provide essential services. So many people throughout communities have made personal sacrifices in order to help the world get through such a dif-ficult time – and they deserve acknowledgement. It has been truly humbling and moving to see so many people put the welfare of others before their own.

I have spoken before about the power of sport to unite us and to help us heal. For me, this was one of the

reasons why the opening of Edu-cation City Stadium was so exciting, not only because of the incredible design and appearance, but because of what Education City, and the stadium itself, represent.

Education City Stadium repre-sents the crossover of two fields I am extremely passionate about – sport and education. Whenever I speak to young kids, I always tell them to train hard and follow their dreams, but I also tell them to make an equal effort in school and with their homework. It’s something that I take very seri-ously as a father. As much as we enjoyed family games and activities during the lockdown period, taking on the role of teacher and making sure all my kids kept up with their school work was just as important to me. It’s also something that I’ve tried to share beyond my immediate

circles through my Tiny Timmy chil-dren’s books series. Since 2015, I’ve been writing stories from my own football career, told with fun char-acters and storylines that share important messages about health, education and inclusiveness.

On a personal level, I didn’t com-plete high school as I left early to pursue my dream of becoming a footballer. But I made sure not to forget about my education. Once my career was over, I enrolled in uni-versity and studied the business of entertainment, media and sports at Harvard in the US.

Having spent time in Education City, I can tell that the students and teachers have that same passion. The area is full of schools and university campuses from global institutions, such as Georgetown and Carnegie Mellon. Education City Stadium is going to be a great addition to one of my favourite parts of Doha.

In addition to the larger signifi-cance of the stadium, the design is truly one of the best I have ever seen. I’ve spent my life around football sta-diums – so it takes something pretty special to impress me – but every-thing about this building is state-of-the-art.

I also think it is important to highlight the positive legacy that the stadium will leave. Following the World Cup, it will serve the Edu-cation City area as

a space for events and classrooms, while half the seats will be removed and donated to projects in developing countries. This demonstrates how Qatar’s World Cup will be used as a vehicle to benefit local communities, as well as those around the world.

I can’t wait until travel restrictions are lifted and I am able to fly to Qatar and see the completed Education City Stadium in person. It marks one step closer to Qatar 2022, which I’m truly excited to be a part of.

Tim Cahill is an ambassador for Supreme Committee for

Delivery & Legacypepepepepepepepepepepepepeepeepp nntn timimimmmmmmmmmmmmmmimmmmmmmmeeeee e ee inininininninninnnnnnnnnnnnnnnin EE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEdududududududududuuuudududddddudududududdddududuuuducacaccccccaccc tionnlllllllllll t tt t tttttttttttt t ttthahahahahahahahahaaaaahaahahaaaaaahaahahahahaaahahhhhhh t t tttt tttttttttttttttttttt ththththhhhhthththththhhthttt e eee stststtsttttttttudududduddudududududududdudududduddududddduuuuuuuuuuuuu ents andndddddnddddddddddddddd

e e e eeeeeeeee thththththththththhththhthththtttttttt atatatat ssssamamamammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmme e eeeeeeeeeeeeeee papapaap sssssssssioioioioioioooioiooioiooioioioioiooioiooooiioioon.n.n.nn.n.n.n.n.n.nn.n.n.nn.nnn.nn.nnnn..n.n.nnnnn..n....nnn...n. T T TTTTTTTTTTTTT TTTTTTTTTTTTTT TTT TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTThehehehhehhhhheheehehhhhhhehehhhhhhehhhhhhhehehhhehhehhehehehheheeeehhehhscscscscscscscscsccsccscscsccscccccssscssscccchohohohohohohohohohohohohohohoohohohoohohohohohhhhohhhohoololollololololollololololollolololloloollolollooololololloloooooooooooooo sss sssssssssssssss ananananaaananaaananaaaaaa dddddddddd ddddddd ununununnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnniviviviviviviviviviviivivvivivivvivvivivivivivivivviviviivivivivivivivivvvvvviivviiiii eereersisityty

oooooooooooom m mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm glglobobobbalalalalll iii i iii iiiii i i iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinsnsnsnsnnnnnnsnnsnsnsnsnssnsnsnnnnnsnsnssnsnsnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn titititututionons,s, rrgegegg toownwnwnwnwnwnwnwnwnwnwnwnwnwnwnwnnwnwnwnnnnnnnnnnwnnnnnwnnwnnwnnn a a a aaaaa a aaa aaaaaa aaaaaaaandndndndnddndnddndndndndddndndnddndndnnnnddndnddnnddnndnddddddddd C C C CCC CCCCCCCCCCCC CCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCC C arararararararaarrarararrararaaarrraraararararaaaararrrrarararaarararrrararaaraaa neneneneneeneneneeneeeneneeeennnnnneneneneneneneneenenenenenennenenennneenn gigigigigiigigigiggigigiigiggiggigigigigigigiggigggigiiigigigggigiggggigiigigggggiigigigigiiigigigigigggggggggggggggggiggggg e e eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccatattttttttttioioiooioiooioioiooioioioioooioioioioioooooooooiooioooooooi nnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnn CCity Stadididididididididdididididididiidididiiiiidiiiiddiiididdiiddiddddddddddd umumuuuuuuuuuuuumuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu i is sgggrgrgrgrgrggrgrggggggggggggggg eat additititiiiiiiiiiiionononononnonnonononnnonononnononononononononnonononnnnnonononononononnonnonnononnnoooooooooooo t tto one ofof pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppararaaraaraarararrrarararaararaaaarrraaa tststsstttssststssstststsststssstsststts ooooooooooooooooo ooooooooofffffffffffffff ffffffffffffffff ffff ffffffff DoDoDoDoDDoDDoDDDDDoDoDDoDoDDDDoDDDDDDoDDDDDDoDDDDDDDDDDoDooDDooohahaahahahhahahahhahaahahhhahahahhaa.....

oooon n nn tototototoo t ttthehehh llllarrrarrgegeggegegegeg rr r rrrr isiisisisiiisiisisiiggggngngggnggggg ffiiffifiiffiffiifififffiiiiiiiiiiii-ssssstatatatatatt dididiidiumumuuumumummmuuuu , , , ththhthe e dededeeeeeeeesisssisisissisisisisisss gngngngn ii is s sss

heeehehehe bbb b b bbbbeseesesestt t ttttt I IIIIII hhahavevee ee eeeeeeveveveveeeeveeeeerr rrr rrrr seseseseseseseenenennenenennn. ...lililillililiifefefefefefe a a aaaaarororooororooooooounuununuuuuuund d dd dd fofofofofof ototototototttbabababababbababababbabababbbabab llllllllllllllllllllllllllll s s ssssssss sss ss ss sstatatatatatatataatatataaatatatatataaaaaaaatatataaaaaaataaaaaaaatataaa-------------tatataatakekkekekekees ssssss soooooossoooosoommemememememmmm ththtththiinininnininnninninnnnnggggg gg gggggggggggggggggggg prprprpprprprprprrprpprprprprprprrrrprrrrprpreteteteteteteteteteteteteteteteteteeteeteteeeeteteteeeeettte tytytytytytytytytyytyyyytytytytyytytyyyyyytyytytytyttytytytyttytyyyyyyy pprerressssssssssssssss m mmmmmmmm mmmmeeee e eeeeeee eeee –– bububububbbuttttt t tttttttttt t eeeevevevevevevvevevvveveeveevvevvveverererererererereererererererererererrerryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-------

uuutttt t thththhhhhisissss bbbbbbbbbb bbbbbbbuiuiuuiuu ldlddddddddddddddiiiiiiininnnnnnnniinnnninggggg g g g ggg gg gg ggg gg gg gggg isiiiisisiisisisisisiisiisisiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaartrtrtrtt..ttthihinnnnknnnnknnnnnn iiiiiitt t t tt t isisssss hhhhhhhhhhh hh h h hhigigigiggggigigggigigigigigigggggiggggggggghhhhhhlhlhlhhhhlhlhlhlhlhhhhlhh igigggggiggiggggggggggigggiggigggigigigigggggigggghththtttthththhththhthhhthhhthhthhhhhhthhhhhthhhhht llllllllegegeeeegegegegeeegacaacacacacaacacacaaacccy yy y yyyy yyyyyyyyyy

umumumumumummmmmmmmmmummmummmummmummmmmm w w w w w w wwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwiliiliiliiliiililililililiiiliiiiiiillliilliliiii l lllllllll llll loooowwwiwiwiiwiiwiwwiiwiwiwiwwiwwwwwwwwww ngngngngngngngnggngngngnggngggggggg uuuup,p,p,p,p i i it t tEEEEEEEdudududddud ---ea as eaaeaeaae aaaaasss

Having been there for the

opening of Al Janoub Stadium,

in May 2019, I can vouch that

there is nothing like seeing

these stunning buildings up

close – however the digital

launch of Education City

Stadium, dedicated to frontline

workers, was a fitting tribute

considering the challenges the

world has faced throughout

2020: Tim Cahill

Tim Cahill

SCOREBOARDENGLAND, 1ST INNINGSR. Burns not out .............................................. 20D. Sibley b Gabriel .............................................0J. Denly not out ................................................ 14Extras (nb 1) ......................................................1Total (1 wkt, 17.4 overs, 82 mins) ....... 35To bat: Z Crawley, B Stokes, O Pope, J Buttler, D Bess, J Archer, M Wood, J AndersonFall of wickets: 1-0 (Sibley)Bowling: Roach 6-4-2-0; Gabriel 5-1-19-1; Joseph 3.4-1-11-0; Holder 3-1-3-0 (1nb)WEST INDIES: Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Shai Hope, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder (capt), Shane Dowrich (wkt), Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel

Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain

Players ‘take a knee’ before the

start of the match in support of the

Black Lives Matter movement.