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PAKISTANINDEPENDENCEDAY AUGUST 14, 2020

QUARTER-FINALS

TODAY'S FIXTURE

Barcelona vs Bayern Munich Kick off at 10:00pm Qatar time

YESTERDAY'S RESULT

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Friday 14 August 2020

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www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8349

Choose the network of heroes Enjoy the Internet

SPORT | 16BUSINESS | 12

US holds off on extra tariffs in

EU Airbus dispute

Bounedjah’s last-gasp strike seals win for Al Sadd

HIA implements new procedures for entry to QatarTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Following the gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions across Qatar, Hamad International Airport (HIA) is applying newly modified procedures for arriving passengers.

The airport has customised its procedures based on the cat-egorization of arriving pas-sengers, hence ensuring a smooth return to the country.

Group one includes Qatari citizens, their spouses and children, permanent residency holders. Group two includes vulnerable passengers that have certain identified medical con-ditions or are aged 55 and above. Group three includes passengers arriving from ‘low-risk countries, and Group four includes passengers arriving from ‘high-risk countries’.

The updated low-risk

countries which will come to effect from August 15, 2020 are Brunei,Thailand, China, New Zealand, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea, Cuba, Hungary, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Italy, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, Ireland, G e r m a n y , S l o v e n i a , Japan,Denmark, Cyprus, UK, Canada, Turkey, Poland, A u s t r i a , A l g e r i a , Netherlands,Iceland, France, Croatia, S witzerland, Morocco, Australia, Malta, Portugal, Czech Republic and Sweden.

The latest list of countries classified as high and low-risk of COVID-19 is available on the website of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH)

All arriving passengers will be thermally screened at the airport. Passengers must have the Ehteraz mobile application downloaded and installed on a

smartphone which requires a SIM card. Volunteers are available to help set up pas-sengers with the Ehteraz App. Smartphones and SIM cards are also available for purchase at the airport.

All passengers must also fill out a health assessment form and sign a quarantine pledge agreement, preferably filled prior to arrival into Doha and submitted upon arrival.

Passengers arriving from ‘high-risk countries’ will proceed to immigration whilst presenting their hotel booking to the immigration officer. Once all arrival formalities have been completed, passengers will be transported to their quarantine hotel with Discover Qatar.

All other arriving pas-sengers will be diverted to des-ignated airport testing facilities where they will receive swab

tests. Once testing is complete, passengers will then proceed to immigration for entry processing. Those passengers

can use private transportation to their home quarantine. The airport’s taxi pavilion is also available. �P2

Three Qatari aircraft with aid arrive in LebanonQNA — BEIRUT

Three aircraft carrying medical and humanitarian aid provided by the State of Qatar to the brotherly Lebanese people arrived in Lebanon yesterday.

Two aircraft of the Amiri Air Force landed at Rafic Hariri

International Airport with 44 tons of medical and humani-tarian aid onboard.

Another cargo plane car-rying 50 tonnes of relief and food aid and other essential necessities for those affected by the Beirut explosion arrived as well.

The aid was received by

H E Qatar’s Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon H E Mohammed Hassan Jaber Al Jaber, in the presence of director of Qatar Charity Office in Lebanon Badr Al Halahleh, and the represent-ative of the Lebanese Army Commander Brigadier General Roger Helou.

Officials with one of the cargo aircraft with aid for Lebanon.

Qatar, GGGI sign institute’s host country agreementQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar, represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) signed, via video conferencing, the Institute’s host country agreement, on the occasion of the official opening of the Insti-tute’s office in Doha.

The Agreement was signed by Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H E Dr. Ahmed Hassan Al Hammadi and GGGI Director-General Frank Rijsberman, in presence of Qatar’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea H E Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Haiki and GGGI’s Deputy Director General Hyoeun Jenny Kim.

The State of Qatar was one of the sixteen founding coun-tries of the Global Green Growth Institute in 2012, an intergovernmental organi-zation dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive

and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies.

In 2019, the GGGI and the Qatar’s Ministry of Munici-pality and Environment launched a cooperation program on activities that enhance the environmental balance in Qatar, in light of the unprecedented urban, eco-nomic and social progress that has been made.

Speaking on the occasion, H E Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered congratulations to GGGI for its expansion in the State of Qatar.

His Excellency affirmed that the State of Qatar was among the first countries to join the treaty establishing the Institute in 2012, when it con-tributed $10m, pointing that the State of Qatar represented by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment is a member of the institute’s advisory board for the next two years. �P2

Foreign Minister meets US Counterterrorism CoordinatorQNA — DOHA

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met yesterday with Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the US State Department H E Ambas-sador Nathan A Sales, who is currently visiting the country.

During the meeting, they reviewed the strategic part-nership between the State of Qatar and the United States in combating terrorism, espe-cially Qatar’s effective partic-ipation in the international coalition to defeat ISIS, in addition to issues of common concern.

Education Ministry directs public schools to adopt e-learning

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

In preparation for the reopening of schools early September, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education made direc-tives to all public schools nationwide to adopt e-learning as an essential method of teaching for the upcoming academic year.

This will apply to both dis-tance learning and face-to-face classes, said the Ministry on its website.

According to the directives, all public schools are urged to inform parents of the need to provide a computer for each student. Whichever device is chosen, it will need to meet the following specifications, as a minimum.

Operat ing system: Windows 10 (Version 1809 or later), or Mac OS X10.13 or later. CPU speed: 1 GHz, Memory: 512MB, Hard disk space: 5GB, Internet con-nection: Fixed Internet con-nection with a minimum of 2Mbps/ High speed broadband.

Browser: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Firefox, High speed broadband, Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Fixed internet connection with a minimum of 4 Mbps without camera, Fixed internet con-nection with a minimum of 6Mbps with camera. �P2

Call to create safe zone for elderly at homeTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Chair of the National Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of the Infectious Diseases Division at Hamad Medical Corporation, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal has said that vaccination against COVID-19 is expected to be available by the end of this year or by the beginning of next year.

“Until the provisions of an effective and safe vaccination residents — citizens and expa-triates are recommended to adhere strictly to preventive and precautionary measures,” said Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal while addressing a press conference on Qatar TV yesterday.

He said that the measures put in place have succeeded in lowering the number of new daily cases over the past two months.

“At the peak of the virus in Qatar, we saw more than 2,000 new confirmed cases a day, yet for the past few weeks the number has constantly remained under 500,” said Dr. Al Khal.

He said that this is a consid-erable achievement but the evi-dence from countries around the world shows that it is very difficult to completely eradicate the virus.

“School students must wear masks in school and classroom, maintaining a safe distance, and not mixing with students from other classes,” said Al Khal.

He said that if indications suggest a worrying increase in the number of infections of coronavirus, the Ministry of

Public Health may recommend the government to delay fourth phase of reopening.

“If the number of positive cases continues to increase, this may lead to re-imposing some of the previous measures or delaying the transition to the fourth stage of the lifting

restrictions plan,” said Al Khal. “We do not expect a new

wave of infection, despite recent indications, but we expect an increase in the number of cases through some pockets concen-trated in families in the capital and outside it.”

He said that the positive

COVID-19 cases which reached 35 percent of total screened people during the peak, decreased to five percent at the beginning of this month.

“We expect a low, but con-sistent, number of new cases to be identified each day for many months. It is clear that the world will be living with COVID-19 for some time to come.”

“Although we are lifting restrictions across the country and many aspects of our daily lives are returning to some sort of normal, we must not become complacent,” said Dr. Al Khal.

He said that a second wave of COVID-19 is very real threat — as several other countries around the world are now experiencing.

“We are mid-way through Phase 3 of the lifting of restric-tions, but progression to Phase 4 relies on continued improve-ments in the number of new daily cases and unless we adhere to all preventive measures there is real risk of returning to earlier phases,” said Dr. Al Khal.

He said that despite the total number of new cases declining considerably in recent weeks and months, there has been a worrying trend of increasing cases within the Qatari national and expat professional popu-lation groups. �P2

Dr. Ahmad Al Romaihi and Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal during the press conference yesterday.

School students must wear masks in school and classroom, maintaining a safe distance.

If indications suggest a worrying increase in number of infections, the Ministry of Public Health may recommend government to delay fourth phase of reopening.

Creating a safe zone in the house for elderly relatives is an important action you can do by making one designated area of the house for these at-risk people.

There has been a worrying trend of increasing cases within the Qatari national and expat professional population groups.

Group one passengers include Qatari citizens, their spouses, children and permanent residency holders.

Passengers with certain identified medical conditions or are aged 55 and above are in Group two.

Group three includes passengers from ‘low-risk countries, and Group four includes passengers arriving from ‘high-risk countries’.

OFFICIAL NEWS

02 FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020HOME

FAJR SUNRISE 03.45 am 05.07 am

W A L R U WA I S : 34o↗ 37o W A L K H O R : 35o↗ 4 4o W D U K H A N : 34o↗ 39o W WA K R A H : 31o↗ 46o W M E S A I E E D 31o↗ 46o W A B U S A M R A 32o↗ 40o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 14:24 LOW TIDE 05:56

Very hot daytime with some clouds and slight dust to blowing dust at some places at times.

Minimum Maximum36oC 45oC

ZUHR

MAGHRIB

11.39 am06.12 pm

ASR

ISHA

03.07 pm07.42 pm

Qatar strongly condemns explosion in Afghanistan DOHA: The State of Qatar has expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the explosion that targeted the police in Afghanistan’s western Farah province and led to the deaths and injuries of civilians.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiter-ated the State of Qatar’s firm stance on rejecting violence and terrorism regardless of motives and causes.

The statement expressed the State of Qatar’s condolences to the families of victims and the govern-ment and people of Afghanistan, wishing the wounded a speedy recovery. -QNA

Members of QA Privilege Clubcan earn 75% bonus QmilesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Airways’ loyalty programme, Privilege Club, yesterday announced an exclusive flash offer, enabling members to earn 75 percent more Qmiles if they buy, gift, or transfer them.

This exclusive offer ends at 23:59 (GMT+3 ) on August 14, celebrates Qatar Airways’ Priv-ilege Club’s new, multi-year partnership with Points – a loyalty solutions platform and a global leader in powering the loyalty market. From August 15 to September 1, members can also enjoy up 60 per cent more when they buy, gift, or transfer Qmiles.

The partnership will see Qatar Airways Privilege Club use Points’ platform to deliver its buy, gift, and transfer services in an easier, more

convenient method. This rich offer follows several new enhancements that Qatar Airways Privilege Club has introduced for its members in the recent months, including the newly enhanced Qmiles policy for Qmiles that last longer, removal of award seat fees and generous tier exten-sions offered in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pan-demic on travel plans.

Qatar Airways Chief Com-mercial Officer, Simon Talling-Smith, said: “At Qatar Airways, we are leading the industry with the products and services we offer to our passengers. Our Privilege Club members are our most valued customers, so our priority is not only to ensure that they can rely on us to fly them safely and comfortably, but also to offer generous rewards that are relevant to

them.“As we rebuild our network

to over 80 destinations and the world starts to open up again, we hope that our members will enjoy our flash offer – available over the next two days – to earn 75 per cent more Qmiles when they buy, gift or transfer. With newly resumed destinations, including the Maldives, Zan-zibar, and Lisbon, it is the perfect time for our members to take advantage of their Qmiles for a well-deserved holiday.”

Members who take advantage of the first flash offer for 75 per cent more Qmiles will be able to earn 24,000 more Qmiles when they buy, gift or transfer 32,000 Qmiles — good for a return Economy class ticket to Istanbul or a one way Business class ticket to the Maldives.

Al Marri meets US Counterterrorism CoordinatorAttorney-General H E Dr. Ali bin Fetais Al Marri met yesterday with Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the US State Department H E Ambassador Nathan A Sales. During the meeting, a number of issues of common interest and ways to enhance cooperation in the fields of combating terrorist financing and money laundering between the two friendly countries were discussed.

Ministry bans catching kingfish in Qatar by nets from August 15THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment, represented by the Department of Fisheries, has announced to ban on fishing kingfish using fishing nets in Qatari waters, starting from August 15 to October 15, 2020 during breading season to increase the fish stock in the sea.

During this period, the decision prohibits the transfer and circulation of kingfish fishing nets in fishing boats, said the Ministry in a statement

The fishing boats licensed by the Department of Fisheries are allowed to hunt kingfish during the stipulated ban period by using the line only without other fishing tools.

The ban does not apply to the licensees for the purpose of scientific research after obtaining a license to do so from the Ministry of Munici-pality and Environment, spec-

ifying the term of the license. Banning fishing during the

breeding season for fish is con-sidered one of the most suc-cessful ways to preserve fish stocks and ensure the conti-nuity of marine life.

It is also one of the sound methods for rational man-agement of fisheries to reduce fishing effort in the breeding seasons, as preventing fishing or reducing fishing effort in any season is considered a positive step towards preserving and developing the stock.

The Fisheries Department has started implementing a system to reduce fishing effort during the breeding season (April and May) for most of the eco-nomic fish, including kingfish, since 2008, and work is still con-tinuing with this program.

The hunting of kingfish in Qatar is considered one of the important fishing, as it repre-sents 13 percent of the total catch.

NHRC Chairman participates in inauguration of Colombian Human Rights Foundation HQQNA — DOHA

Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) and Secretary-General of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri, participated in the opening ceremony of the new headquarters of the Colombian Human Rights Foundation, via video conference technology.

The ceremony was attended by President of the Republic of Colombia H E Ivan Duque, Chair-person of the Global Alliance of National Human Institutions (GANHRI) H E Dr. Carlos Negret Mosquera, and a number of guests and heads of national human rights institutions around the world.

In his speech, Chairman of the National Human Rights

Committee (NHRC) said that the new headquarters of the Colombian Human Rights

Foundation is more than just a building, as it represents the very long Colombian history of

defending human rights, and the relentless will to make it veri-fiable despite the various chal-lenges that Colombia has faced throughout its history.

He expressed hope that this will be one of the many future d e v e l o p m e n t s a n d achievements.

His speech confirms the commitments announced after his election as Secretary-General and Vice-President of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, where he affirmed his readiness to work hard during his mandate to strengthen the independence and performance of national human rights insti-tutions in accordance with Paris Principles, and the commitment to defend and protect human rights globally.

Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri participates virtually during the opening of the Colombian Human Rights Foundation new headquarters.

Education Ministry directs public schools to adopt e-learning

FROM PAGE 1

Schools are required to educate parents about how to verify their usernames and passwords in order to follow up on their students’ learning over online platforms. In case of any technical issues, parents should call the Min-istry-dedicated hotline at 155.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education earlier announced that the opening of all public and private schools, including kinder-gartens, for the 2020/21 aca-demic year will take place in three phases.

Phase one will start from September 1 to 3. Attendance will be limited to one-third of students body in all grades.

Call to create safe zone for elderly at homeFROM PAGE 1

“This is due to a minority of people within these population groups who continue to ignore preventive advice - putting themselves and those around them at risk.”

“We have seen repeated examples during both Eid hol-idays and throughout Ramadan of the virus spreading within families due to one or two indi-viduals not adhering to social and physical distancing guide-lines,” said Dr. Al Khal.

He said that this is of par-ticular concern as it is the elderly and those with chronic diseases who are most at risk of serious complications from COVID-19, and the Qatari and expat professional population makes up a large proportion of these vulnerable people.

Director of Health Pro-tection Public Health and Com-municable Disease Control at the Department and co-chair

of the National Pandemic Prep-aration Committee, Dr. Ahmad Al Romaihi said that only when a reliable vaccine becomes available we can confidently believe the threat of COVID-19 is passed.

“As we have highlighted, we expect to be living with COVID-19 to some degree for some time to come. If people adhere to preventive measures we can expect to keep the virus under control but total eradi-cation is unlikely in the near future - therefore we must learn to live with the virus and find ways to protect our most at risk groups,” said Al Romaihi while addressing the press conference.

He said that creating a safe zone in the house for elderly relatives is an important action you can do by making one des-ignated area of the house for these at risk people

“Anyone who enters this zone must wash their hands,

wear a mask and maintain physical distancing, thoroughly sanitize the safe zone and keep as clean as possible. Keep the number of people who visit and interact with elderly relatives and those with chronic condi-tions to a minimum.”

He said that this small group of people should ensure they follow preventive advice at all times to minimise their risk of contracting the virus and passing it onto the vulnerable family members and at the first sign of any symptoms these people should isolate them-selves and get a test.

“We have given up a lot of our normal daily lives throughout our fight against COVID-19 and our sacrifice has been rewarded with the decline of the virus - but the battle is not yet won and we must con-tinue to do everything that we can until COVID-19 is no longer a threat to our community,” said Al Romaihi.

HIA implements new procedures for entry to Qatar

FROM PAGE 1

HIA has planned and exe-cuted comprehensive COVID-19 safety procedures, keeping every passenger journey in mind whether they are arriving, departing, or transferring through the five-star airport.

To ensure the health and wellbeing of its staff and passengers,

The HIA introduced a series of unprecedented measures including the imple-mentation of robotics and advanced thermal screening helmets.

The five-star airport is keen on the safety of its pas-sengers and employees and are continuously cleaning and disinfecting all high contact areas every 10 to 15 minutes.

Hand sanitisers are also readily available for pas-sengers at key locations across the airport.

The airport maintains 1.5m social distancing across all passenger touchpoints around the airport, through floor markings, signage, and dis-tance seating.

Qatar, GGGI sign institute’s host country agreementFROM PAGE 1

He also referred to that the State of Qatar had adopted the proposal, on opening an office for the Institute, since it was presented in 2012 by the Institute’s officials, until signing an agreement to host the office of the Global Institute for Green Growth in Doha.

He valued the State of Qatar’s strategic partnership with the Institute and expressed hope for the continuation of coop-eration between the two sides to enhance environmental development, which is one of the pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030.

In conclusion, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed the State of Qatar’s position in support of the Institute to achieve its environmental goals which are con-sistent with the thirteenth goal of the United Nations sus-tainable development goals, “the climate action.”

It is worth noting that the host country agreement rep-resents the commitment of the State of Qatar to continue its cooperation with the Global Green Growth Institute to promote environmental development.

Qatari Forum for Authors launches 'I Choose For You From QNL' initiativeQNA — DOHA

The Qatari Forum for Authors broadcasted the first session of the “I Choose For You From Qatar National Library (QNL)” initiative, which was launched in cooperation with the library in the framework of its efforts to strengthen relations with various bodies working in the field of culture, to serve authors and introduce their literary works.

The session shed the light on the novel “Started Coinci-dentally, Ended up Forever” by the author Mariam Al Ansari, and was broadcasted on the forum’s YouTube channel.

The first session was pre-sented on Wednesday by Eman Al Shammari, an information librarian at QNL, who said that she chose to discuss this novel, considering that it was one of the best-sellers at the 2019 International Book Fair in Kuwait, and stressed that Al Ansari is considered one of the significant young authors who have taken interest in high-lighting the national identity through their work, as it coin-cided with the International Youth Day.

The sessions of “I Choose For You From QNL” will con-tinue over the next three weeks.

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H E Dr. Ahmed Hassan Al Hammadi during the signing of Global Green Growth Institute’s (GGGI) host country agreement.

03FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020 HOME

Ashghal begins installing steel structure pedestrian bridge on Doha ExpresswayTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced the commencement of installing a steel structure pedestrian bridge on Doha Expressway (Al Amir Street) between New Al Mirqab Street and Talha bin Khalid Street at Nasser Bin Salmeen Al Suwaidi Inte-section, as part of Qatar’s projects plan to build pedes-trian bridges to enhance traffic safety throughout the country.

The construction of the pedestrian bridge aims to enable residents and visitors of the area to pass through Doha Expressway, reaching com-mercial facilities, and reduce accidents that pedestrians may be exposed to, especially since the bridge is located in a vital area that witnesses traffic con-gestion throughout the day, in addition to facilitating the con-nectivity between the people of Al Mirqab and Al Sudan.

The bridge, which is 62.40 metres long and 4.30 metres wide, is equipped with ele-vators on both sides that can accommodate a large number of users, including those with

special needs, and is equipped with lighting systems, surveil-lance cameras, protection and firefighting systems, and a system for counting the number of bridge users.

Ashghal continues to implement the construction of the pedestrian bridge in coop-eration with the implementing entities to complete mechanical and engineering works in final-ising the last touches on the bridge so that it will be opened to public by the end of 2020.

In order to facilitate the works, Ashghal will implement a temporary closure on Doha Expressway for 9 hours today from 2am to 11am. Traffic will be closed in both directions, as the main road will be closed for a distance of about 3.2km from Al Rayyan Interchange to Nasser Bin Salmeen Al Suwaidi Inter-section tunnel while keeping traffic on the service road open as well as the traffic signal.

Traffic will also be closed on the service road from Nasser Bin Salmeen Al Suwaidi Inter-section in the direction of Doha, and traffic from Doha in the direction of Nasser Bin Salmeen Al Suwaidi Intersection.

Film on ‘father of African cinema’ focus of DFI Film ChatRAYNALD C RIVERA

THE PENINSULA

The third instalment of Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) online Film Chat will focus on ‘Sembene!’ - a 2015 documentary film on the inspiring story of the “father of African cinema.”

“Our upcoming Film Chat celebrates the father of African cinema: Ousmane Sembene whose career has been bril-liantly captured by Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman in their acclaimed doc ‘Sembene!’,” DFI announced on its social media accounts on Wednesday.

The film chat, which will be held via Zoom on Monday at 7pm, is open to the public. Those who wish to join the in-depth discussion should watch the film first via Amazon Prime, iTunes or Vimeo On Demand, and register on DFI’s website.

DFI said the chat will have

as its special guest Rooney Elmi, a culture writer, documentary producer, and film programmer with a hyperfocus on nonfiction cinema. Elmi is the co-founder of No Evil Eye Cinema which curates an eclectic mix of indie films and educational workshops.

‘Sembene!’ tells the true story of Ousmane Sembene, a self-taught novelist and film-maker considered the “father of African cinema” who fought,

against enormous odds, a mon-umental, 50-year-long battle to give African stories to Africans. The film is told through the experiences of his colleague and biographer Samba Gadjigo, using rare archival footage and more than 100 hours of exclusive materials.

The online discussion on ‘Sembene!’ will be at the heart of DFI’s third Film Chat series which delve into “Visions of Power” which explores how cinema can be a catalyst for change. It explores a film selection which “presents what Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane

Sembène suggests is the potential of cinema as the most accessible art form and tool for activism.”

Film Chat is one in a series of online initiatives launched by DFI to engage filmmakers and cinephiles during the COVID-19 pandemic. The monthly Film Chat focuses on a thought-provoking film which is watched first before its various elements are dis-cussed virtually, from plot, character development and scene analysis to broader issues such as cinema history and filmmaking techniques.

The first Film Chat held on May 11 focused on Hayao Miya-zaki’s critically acclaimed film “The Wind Rises.” It was fol-lowed on June 11 by a discussion on another critically acclaimed film “Theeb” - the first Jor-danian film nominated at the Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film category.

Ousmane Sembene (left) and Samba Gadjigo in a screengrab from the documentary “Sembene!”

Enchanting view

Customs foils attempt to smuggle banned pills into Qatar

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

The General Authority of Customs has foiled an attempt to smuggle banned pills into the country through cargo.

In a video posted on its Twitter handle, the Authority said that 140 Lyrica pills and 43 Captagon pills were secretly hidden in 14 packages of sweets. The authority has been issuing continuous warning to those attempting to carry illegal substances into the country.

Customs officials in the country are provided all means of support including developed means of systems and continuous training to read body language of pas-sengers and to be aware of the latest methods followed by smugglers.

A general view of Souq Waqif. Also seen are the Museum of Islamic Art and Fanar Centre. PIC:ABDUL BASIT / THE PENINSULA

Doha Institute department program receives NASPAA accreditationTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI) School of Public Administration and Devel-opment Economics (SPADE) Department of Public Policy has officially received the accredi-tation of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) for the first time in the Gulf, the second in the Middle East, and the fifth outside the United States.

NASPAA is highly respected, and one of the highest aspira-tions of schools of public administration and public

policy around the world. This accreditation, which only a few universities outside the United States have obtained, will serve as to evidence the quality of education offered by SPADE at the Doha Institute.

NASPAA sent an official letter to the Doha Institute stating that the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA) found the Master of Public Policy to be in substantial conformity with NASPAA Standards. The program is accredited through August 31, 2027 and will be included on the Annual Roster of Accredited Programs.

The Public Policy Program is now part of the global com-munity of over 200 accredited graduate programs in public service. The Commission praised the program for its

commitment to diversity, par-ticularly its dedication to cre-ating a truly bilingual envi-ronment and implementing diversity initiatives throughout all components of strategic

program management.Head of Public Policy

Program at DI, Dr. Nizar Jouini said, “NASPAA accreditation of Public Policy Program is an unprecedented achievement that was accomplished only four years after its inception. It is a testimony of appreciation for the rigorous and professional com-mitment of SPADE and DI faculty members and staff, which will stimulate greater excellence in the future.”

“The program will provide an opportunity for Qatari and Arab students to learn about the latest science and theories in public policy, to prepare them

to integrate into different decision-making positions with high efficiency and capacity in order to find practical solutions to real problems,” he added.

Notably, NASPAA enjoys more than 300 members in 15 countries, all of which award master’s degrees in public administration and public policy. NASPAA is the global accrediting body for master’s programs in these fields.

Universities from the United States, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Mexico, Italy, Holland, The United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates fall under its accrediting purview.

The DFI said the chat will have as its special guest Rooney Elmi, a culture writer, documentary producer, and film programmer with a hyperfocus on nonfiction cinema.

MoPH: 343 new COVID-19 cases, 330 recoveriesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 343 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Another 330 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 110,957.

All new cases have been introduced to isolation and are receiving necessary healthcare according to their health status.

The Ministry further said that measures to tackle COVID-19 in Qatar have suc-ceeded in flattening the curve and limiting the spread of the virus. The number of daily new cases and hospital admissions has gradually declined over the past few weeks.

Ministry of Culture and Sports marks International Youth DayQNA — DOHA

The Ministry of Culture and Sports celebrated on Wednesday the International Youth Day, which falls on August 12 each year, by organising a variety of virtual activities in the Ministry’s youth centres and clubs.

The Ministry of Culture and Sports is keen to mark the occasion annually in order to stress the importance of engaging the youth in addressing the global chal-lenges, thus contributing to directing the policies towards achieving their ambitions, while indicating that the empowerment is a joint responsibility based on the active participation in addressing the challenges of the society and their significant role in achieving prosperity and development of the societies.

The theme of this year is

“Youth Engagement for Global Action”, which highlights the efforts and ideas that can be contributed by young people to enrich various national and international institutions and sectors.

Marking the occasion, the Ministry of Culture and Sports organised a variety of activities, including a seminar for the “Start Your Business” workshop hosted by the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science; a seminar of the Qatari youth and devel-opment; a seminar on the Qatari youth and their local contribu-tions and international ambi-tions and others, with the par-ticipation of an elite of youth.

The Qatar Scientific Club held a discussion session on the role of Qatari youth in the face of the coronavirus pandemic which discussed the role of the Club during the crisis.

Qatar’s C-17 flights deliver 75,000 lbs of private donations to LebanonTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Two Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) C-17 Globemaster IIIs carried 75,000 lbs of private donations from the people of Q a t a r t o o k o f f t h i s morning from Al Udeid Air Base to Beirut.

Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Qatar Ambas-sador Greta Holtz was joined by US Air Forces Central Command Deputy Commander Maj Gen Michael Koscheski, Qatar Emiri Air Force Airlift Group Commander Brigadier Meshaal Al Naser, and US Defense Attaché Colonel David Keesey at Al Udeid Air Base to witness the loading of the aircraft, said a statement of the US embassy in Qatar.

“The United States values its strategic military and diplo-matic relationship with Qatar,” Ambassador Holtz stated. “This shipment of aid would not have been possible without close cooperation from the United States, Qatar, and our partners in Lebanon. Today’s flight is a true testament to the mutual support and friendship among our countries.”

“This was an incredible

effort between US military fam-ilies and the local community in Doha, the 379th AEW, our US Embassy colleagues, and our v a l u e d Q a t a r i partners,” added Col Frederick “Trey” Coleman, 609th Air and Space Operations Center com-mander. “The compassion dem-onstrated by everyone involved

is remarkable, and the way the entire community came together to get all of these sup-plies collected in less than 24 hours, then transported to the Air Base, palletized, and flown to the Lebanese people in their time of need is truly inspiring.”

The donations were received in Beirut by Qatari Embassy for

distribution to the people of Lebanon. In addition to four earlier flights by the QEAF with two field hospitals, a search and rescue team, and humanitarian aid, USCENTCOM conducted five other C-17 support mis-sions carrying more than 266 tonnes of US aid to Lebanon earlier this week.

US and Qatar officials despatching humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

04 FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Military gets sweeping powers after Beirut blastAP — BEIRUT

Lebanon’s Parliament yesterday approved a state of emergency in Beirut in its first session since the catastrophic August 4 explosion, granting the military sweeping powers amid rising popular anger at official corruption and misman-agement and political uncer-tainty.

The government resigned after the blast that killed more than 170 people, injured at least 6,000 and wrecked the capi-tal’s port and caused wide-spread damage across the capital.

The disaster has raised popular fury toward Lebanon’s leaders to a new level as the country reels from an unprec-edented economic and financial crisis, along with the corona-virus pandemic.

Before it resigned, the gov-ernment declared the state of emergency that gave the mil-itary the power to declare curfews, prevent public gath-erings and censor the media, as well as refer civilians to military tribunals for alleged security breaches. The action required approval by lawmakers, which they granted yesterday.

The move has been

criticised by rights groups and others who say the civilian gov-ernment already was operating with increased powers because of the coronavirus outbreak. Some pointed to the military crackdown on protesters last week, fearing the extended powers could lead to silencing dissent.

Parliament met outside its regular location to observe social distancing amid a surge of coro-navirus cases and because of nearby ongoing protests by those who want the entire political class to step down.

The session opened with a moment of silence for those killed in the blast. It then moved to discuss the resignation of nearly a dozen lawmakers last week to protest the govern-ment’s handling of the blast. A major Christian party bloc is boycotting the session.

It still was not known what caused the fire responsible for igniting nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate that were stored for years in Beirut’s port. But documents have emerged that show the country’s top leadership and security officials were aware of the stockpile.

After the government resigned Mn onday, the Cabinet is in a caretaker capacity.

It was not immediately clear if Parliament had technically extended the government decision on the state of emer-gency for 15 days or simply imposed it to take effect starting Thursday, said rights lawyer Nizar Saghieh.

“There is incredible chaos,” Saghieh said. He said the state of emergency’s only justification is to extend the power of the state and security agencies and “control the opposition.”

“We were waiting for the army to help in reconstruction, not be an extension of power,” he said.

Lebanon’s political land-scape has been shaken by the events. Before resigning, the caretaker prime minister pro-posed early elections, an idea that was not supported by the Parliament speaker and other political groups.

Since the resignation, there has been a flurry of closed-door meetings and political haggling to form a government that meets the approval of domestic and international powers. Leb-anon’s complicated sectarian-based political system requires the prime minister to be chosen from among Sunni Muslims. It wasn’t clear if there would be a national unity government - which would mean the partic-ipation of all political parties

— or an emergency transition government.

Israel attacks Gaza, halts fuel suppliesAFP — GAZA CITY, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Israel attacked targets of militant group Hamas in Gaza and halted fuel supplies to the enclave yesterday in the latest retaliation against fire bombs suspended from balloons that have been released from the Palestinian territory.Israeli warplanes and tanks struck overnight in the fourth military attack over the past week, causing no reported casualties but leaving one unex-ploded missile inside a UN-run school’s compound in Gaza’s Shati refugee camp.

A Palestinian security official in Gaza said “an unex-ploded missile fired by an

Israeli plane” had impacted inside the school area and that “explosives engineering teams are working to disarm it”.

Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesman for UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Pal-estinians, also said the missile had come down in one of its schools, where children had just returned Sunday after a five-month suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We closed the school and are awaiting an investigation to the determine the facts and extent of damage,” he said.

Israel’s defence ministry said the fuel sanctions came “in light of the continued launching of incendiary balloons from the Strip toward the territory of the

State of Israel and of the under-mining of security stability”.

The latest round of hostil-ities has seen firebombs attached to bunches of balloons floating into Israel, setting agri-cultural fields and scrubland ablaze. Sometimes kites are used in the makeshift attacks.

Israeli fire services in the south of the country reported 60 fires caused by balloons on Tuesday, and 24 on Wednesday, without recording any casualties.

Hamas yesterday con-demned Israel’s attacks on Gaza and its sanctions as “dangerous and aggressive behaviour”, warning in a statement of “con-sequences” the Jewish state will bear.

Iraq seeks Arab help to push Turkish troops outAFP — BAGHDAD

Iraq has urged its Arab allies to help persuade Turkey to withdraw its troops from Iraqi territory, where they have been raiding Kurdish militant posi-tions, the foreign ministry said yesterday.

Its comments come two days after a Turkish drone strike killed two high-ranking Iraqi officers in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, amid heightened tensions between Ankara and Baghdad.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said yesterday that one of its commanders had also been killed in the strike, saying the drone had targeted a meeting between its fighters and Iraqi border guards.

On Wednesday, the Iraqi foreign ministry, for the third time, summoned Turkey’s envoy to Baghdad to protest against the strike, which it denounced as a “flagrant aggression” and a violation of its sovereignty.

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said he had con-tacted his Egyptian, Jordanian, Saudi and Kuwaiti counterparts as well as the Arab League to seek their diplomatic support in confronting Ankara.

Hussein said he pleaded for “major Arab efforts to avoid dangerous developments” and

for “a united position to force Turkey to pull out its troops who have infiltrated into Iraq”, the ministry said.

Turkey in mid-June launched a cross-border oper-ation against the PKK, black-listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies.

The PKK has waged an insurgency against Ankara since 1984 and has long used the rugged terrain of northern Iraq as a rear base to wage attacks on Turkey.

Over the past 25 years Turkey has set up a dozen mil-itary positions inside Iraqi ter-ritory to fight the PKK.

Yesterday, Turkey’s ambas-sador to Baghdad Fatih Yildiz issued a statement accusing Iraq of “turning a blind eye to the presence of PKK terrorists on its soil”.

Kurdish sources say efforts to persuade Turkey to withdraw its forces will not be easy, as Ankara is determined to stay put.

Authorities in the auton-omous Kurdish region, domi-nated by the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP), see the PKK as rivals but have never been able to uproot them from their northern Iraqi bases.

At least five civilians have been killed in northern Iraq since the start of the latest Turkish campaign, according to local officials.

Floods: South Sudan declares emergencyANATOLIA — JUBA

South Sudan’s president has declared a state of emergency in areas of the country affected by floods.

Salva Kiir, president of the East African nation, placed Jonglei state and the Pibor Administrative Area under a state of emergency due to com-munal violence and floods.

“The president has declared a state of emergency in the areas which are flooded. The

reason for the emergency is to help people, not to detain them,” Ateny Wek Ateny, pres-idential spokesman, said by phone yesterday.

He added that after the order, the Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Min-istry will seek international support for the flood victims. Thousands of people displaced by heavy rains and floods in Jonglei are now facing the twin threats of hunger and disease.

The water level in flood-hit

areas has risen 1.5metres. Aid agencies fear the floods will aggravate the prevailing food crisis in the region.

Many health facilities and nutrition centers used to shelter people are currently under water.

Lack of access to basic services and markets has made people more vulnerable. Disease is spreading due to water contamination. Access to hygiene and sanitation is limited, especially for women.

Displaced people walk with their belongings in a flooded area after the Nile river overflowed after continuous heavy rain, in Bor, central South Sudan.

The move has been criticised by rights groups. Some pointed to the military crackdown on protesters last week, fearing the extended powers could lead to silencing dissent.

IS-linked fightersseize key portin MozambiqueAFP — MAPUTO

Militants occupied a key port in gas-rich northern Mozam-bique on Wednesday following days of attacks claimed by an IS-affiliated group, a military source and local media said.

“The port of Mocimboa da Praia was captured by the ter-rorists at dawn,” the Moz24Horas website reported, while a military source said that the small town and its port had “fallen”.

The assault is the latest in an intensifying insurgency in the country’s north since 2017 which has killed more than 1,000 people and complicated plans to develop its offshore gas reserves.

Mozambique’s defence forces (FDS) confirmed that “terrorists” had launched “sequenced attacks” on several villages surrounding the port over the past week in an attempt to occupy the town.

“At the moment, there are ongoing actions to neutralise the terrorists that are using populations in the affected areas as shields,” the FDS said in a statement.

Mocimboa da Praia lies less than 80km south of Afungi peninsula where a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, one of Africa’s biggest single investment projects, is located.

UN: 8 children die within days in Syria camp for IS families

AP — BEIRUT

At least eight children under the age of five have died in recent days from health problems linked to the dire conditions in a camp in northern Syria housing tens of thousands of female supporters of the IS militant group and their children, the UN said yesterday.

The UN children’s agency says the eight died between August 6 to 10 from malnu-trition or dehydration from diarrhea. The camp has yet to report any outbreak of the new coronavirus, which has sickened people in other parts of war-torn Syria.

“Any child’s death is tragic. It is even more so when the death could have been averted,” Unicef said in a statement.

It said nearly 40,000 children from 60 countries lan-guish at the Al Hol camp. It is operated by US-allied Kurdish forces that played a key role in dismantling the extremist group’s self-styled caliphate, which once sprawled across large areas of Syria and Iraq.

The detainees at Al Hol mainly consist of the wives of IS fighters and their children, who were captured or surren-dered to Kurdish forces.

The detainees “lack access to basic services and have to contend with the sweltering summer heat and the trauma of violence and displacement,” Unicef said.

FBI to join portblast probeAFP— BEIRUT

The FBI will join investigators probing the causes of a huge port blast that destroyed swathes of Beirut, the top career diplomat at the US State Department said.

“The FBI will soon join Lebanese and international investigators, at the invitation of the Lebanese, in order to help answer questions that I know everyone has about the circumstances that led up to this explosion,” David Hale told reporters during a tour of a heavily damaged neigh-bourhood near the port.

A man inspects a Palestinians’ construction machine, which was allegedly damaged by Jewish settlers, in Nablus, West Bank, yesterday.

Israel and UAE to normalise relationsREUTERS — DUBAI/JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON

Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced yesterday that they will normalise diplo-matic ties and forge a broad new relationship, a move that reshapes the order of Middle East politics from the Pales-tinian issue to Iran.

The agreement was the product of lengthy discussions between Israel, the UAE and the United States that accelerated recently, White House officials said.

Under the accord, which US President Donald Trump helped broker, Israel has agreed to suspend its planned annexation of areas of the occupied West Bank. The agreement also firms up oppo-sition to regional power Iran, which the UAE, Israel and the United States view as the main threat in the conflict-riven Middle East.

Israel had signed peace agreements with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. But the UAE, along with most other Arab nations, did not recognise Israel and had no formal dip-lomatic or economic relations with it until now. The UAE becomes the first Gulf Arab country to reach such a deal with Israel.

A joint statement said Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed had

“agreed to the full normali-sation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates”.

“This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region,” the statement said.

The agreement, to be known as the Abraham Accords, also gives Trump a foreign policy accomplishment as he seeks re-election on November 3.

“Huge breakthrough today! Historic Peace Agreement between our two Great friends, Israel and the United Arab Emirates,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

In the White House Oval Office, Trump said similar deals are being discussed with other countries in the region.

A senior Israeli official said applying Israeli sovereignty to areas of the West Bank was still on the agenda, adding, “The Trump administration asked us to temporarily suspend the (sovereignty) announcement so that the historic peace agreement with the UAE can be implemented.”

Netanyahu said the agreement represented a “his-toric day” for his country. It could also be a personal boost to Netanyahu.

05FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020 ISLAM

Devote yourself in worship and obedience

In a comprehensive advice to Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, and all Muslims after him, the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) said: “Know Allah in prosperity, and

He will know you in adversity.” [This addition was authentically attributed to the Prophet (PBUH) cited by At-Tir-mithi and others, and a number of scholars classified it as authentic]

This is an invaluable piece of advice for you, dear Muslim, if you wish that Allah, The Exalted, protects you during times of adversity and tribulation, shields you against misfortune and afflictions, and guards your religiosity against temptations that lead you astray. So know Allah at times of pros-perity. When a slave of Allah fears his Lord at times of prosperity, honors His boundaries, fulfils His Rights over him, obeys His Commandments, avoids His Prohibitions, and glorifies Him at all times and in all states, he develops a special knowledge of Allah and a love and affection for Him that entail earning His Protection at times of adversity.

If you are enjoying good health and wellness, wealth and richness, safety and welfare, (find) comfort in your family, tranquillity in your marital life, your children are obedient to you, and your affairs are favourably going well, as you wish, then you are indeed rel-ishing prosperity and bliss. This should not hinder you from devoting time to worship, abundantly supplicating Allah, reciting Holy Quran and Thikr (expressions of remembrance of Allah), and performing good deeds.

Do not be an ungrateful slave who only knows his Lord and turns to him during times of need and destitution.

Do not be an ungrateful slave who supplicates his Lord (only) when afflic-tions befall him, then, whenever He bestows upon him a blessing, he forgets Him Whom he once called upon and ascribes equals to Him!

Instead, accustom yourself to resort to Allah before adversities befall you. All people are good at turning to Allah during times of adversity and need.

Allah, The Exalted, says (what means) about them: {And when they board a ship, they supplicate Allah, sincere to Him in religion. But when He delivers them to the land, at once they associate others with Him.} [Quran 29: 65]

A brother related to us that he once boarded a plane departing from an Arab capital city and heading to Moscow. The plane carried a large number of those who say: “There is no God.” During the flight, the plane flew into a thundercloud and was tossed violently in extreme turbulence, so much so that all the passengers were certain of their imminent demise! He said: “Every single passenger on that plane raised his hands asking Allah to save him.”

Allah, The Exalted, spoke the truth when He said (what means): {It is He Who enables you to travel on land and sea until, when you are in ships and they sail with them by a good wind and

they rejoice therein, there comes a storm wind and the waves come upon them from everywhere and they assume that they are surrounded, sup-plicating Allah, sincere to Him in religion, “If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the thankful.” * But when He saves them, at once they commit injustice upon the earth without right...} [Quran 10: 22-23]

Heroism is not in remembering Allah, The Exalted, at times of need, destitution, adversity, and distress. Everyone is good at that, as we said before. True heroism, rather, is in remembering Him at times of pros-perity, showing gratitude to Him for His Blessings, striving to earn His Pleasure (through good doing), ful-filling His Rights, and adhering to the (straight) path He chose for you.

As for those who do not know their Lord except at times of adversity and forget Him at times of bliss and well-being, Allah, The Exalted, rebuked their behaviour and dispraised them in

many verses of the Quran.

adversity touches man, he calls upon his Lord, turning to Him [alone]; then when He bestows on him a favour from Himself, he forgets Him Whom he called upon before, and he attributes to Allah equals to mislead [people] from His way. Say, “Enjoy your dis-belief for a little; indeed, you are of the companions of the Fire.”} [Quran 39:8]

he calls upon Us, whether lying on his side or sitting or standing; but when We remove from him his affliction, he continues [in disobedience] as if he had never called upon Us to [remove] an affliction that touched him. Thus is made pleasing to the transgressors that which they have been doing.} [Quran 10:12]

upon man, he turns away and distances himself; but when evil touches him, then he is full of extensive suppli-cation.} [Quran 41:51]

There are many verses to the same effect, and they point to a reality that most of us live. As long as we are rel-ishing well-being, we are heedless of Allah, far from Him, far from wor-shiping and obeying Him, and neglectful of supplicating Him. However, the moment an adversity, anguish, disease, or tribulation befalls us, we raise our hands to Him with extensive supplication.

During times of adversity, Allah, The Exalted, only answers the suppli-cations of those who knew Him and turned to Him during times of pros-perity. Therefore, accustom yourself to resort to Allah before adversity befalls you, sharpen your arrows (of supplication) before shooting them (to ensure their acceptance), and increase your credit (of good deeds) with Allah, The Exalted, at the time of ease so that you could withdraw from it at times of need and distress.

Ponder over how Allah, The Exalted, treated His slave Yoonus ibn Matta (Prophet Jonah), may Allah exalt his mention, when the whale swal-lowed him. He called upon his Lord while enveloped in three layers of darkness: the darkness of the night, the darkness of the sea, and the darkness of the whale’s belly. Allah, The Exalted, Says (what means): {…And he called out within the darknesses, “There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrong-doers.”} [Quran 21:87]

Allah also says (what means): {So, We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers.} [Quran 21:88]

Allah, The Exalted, clarified the reason for accepting his supplication and saving him from this strange place from which no one ever comes out alive. He says (what means): {And had he not been of those who exalt Allah,

* He would have remained inside its belly until the Day they are resur-rected.} [Quran 37:143-144]

This means that if it were not for his abundant remembrance of Allah, supplication, and obedience at time of prosperity, He would not have saved him during times of distress and adversity.

On the opposite end is Fir‘awn (Pharaoh), may Allah curse him, who was blessed with Allah’s favours but arrogantly disobeyed Him, disbelieved, and stubbornly failed to show gratitude to Him for His Blessings and Grace. When he was drowning, he supplicated his Lord – just as Yoonus did – but the response was drastically different; Allah, The Exalted, Says (what means): {Now? And you had disobeyed before and were of the corrupters?} [Quran 10:91]

It means, “At the time of prosperity, you disbelieved, turned arrogant and tyrannical, and you forgot your Lord, and therefore, you do not have any credit with Us like the credit Yoonus had, so: {...today We will save you in body that you may be to those who succeed you a sign...} [Quran 10:92]

The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever wishes that Allah answers his supplication during hardship and grief, let him supplicate plentifully at times of ease.” [At-Tirmithi, and Al-Haakim: authentic]

If you wish that Allah, The Exalted, aids you at the time of misfortune the way you like, then you should devote yourself to Him (in worship and obe-dience) at the time of prosperity the way He likes. If you wish Allah to know you at the time of adversity, you should know Him at the time of blissfulness and ease, as the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Know Allah in prosperity, and He will know you in adversity.”

www.islamweb.net

Virtues of maintaining the ties of kinshipV

erses of the Noble Quran and various Hadeeth of the Prophet (PBUH) call strongly for the

upholding of kinship ties and encourage this by offering worldly and religious rewards.

There is no doubt that a society whose members maintain family relations and treat each other mercifully forms an invincible fort and a fortified castle. It produces close-knit families and a solid social structure that provides the world with leaders, instructors, thinkers, teachers, callers and reformers, who carry the torch of guidance to their nation and to all of humanity.

Kinship ties refer to a per-son’s bond with his paternal and maternal relatives; and, main-taining them implies being good and kind to one’s relations in both words and deeds. This includes visiting them, asking after them, supporting the needy among them and helping them with their affairs. There are many virtues of upholding kinship ties, as doing so is:

1: A sign of faith: Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be hospitable to his guest; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should

maintain his kinship ties; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should speak well or remain silent.” [Al-Bukhari]

In this Hadeeth, the Prophet (PBUH) referred to three things that make people cooperate with each other and love one another: extending a warm welcome to visitors, preserving the ties of kindred and using kind words. In fact, He (PBUH)established a connection between these qualities and faith, in effect, saying that anyone who believes in Allah, The Almighty, and the Last Day does not sever his kinship ties; because maintaining kinship ties is a sign of faith.

2: A cause for increased blessings in one’s provisions and age: All people want to have a luxurious and prolonged life, because the desire for posses-sions and life are two basic instincts in every human being. Therefore, whoever wants to achieve this should have good relations with his or her family, as Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever loves to be granted ample pro-visions and a long life, should maintain good ties with his or her relatives.” [Al-Bukhari].

In a different wording, ‘Ali, (may Allah be pleased with him), related that the Prophet (PBUH) added that if such a man also “desires to be protected against

an evil end [of life], let him fear Allah The Almighty and maintain good ties with his relatives.” [Al-Bazzaar and Al-Haakim]

3: A reason for Allah, The Almighty, to also maintain ties with a servant and honor him or her: ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) related that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “The womb [ie, ties of kinship] is sus-pended from the throne [of Allah The Almighty], saying: Whoever preserves me, Allah will uphold ties with him [or her] and he who severs me, Allah will sever the bond with him.” [Muslim]

Allah, The Almighty, posi-tively responds to this plea, thereby treating with kindness,

those who keep good relations with family and cutting off those who do not. And, certainly, it would be horrible for a weak, helpless slave if Allah, The Almighty, severed ties with him.

4: A factor that enables one to be admitted to Paradise: The Prophet (PBUH) said: “O people exchange greetings (ie, say: ‘As-salaamu ‘Alaykum’ (peace be on you) to one another), feed people, maintain kinship ties and pray at night when others are asleep, so that you may enter Paradise in peace.” [Ahmad, At-Tirmithi and ibn Maajah]

Maintaining ties of kinship does not mean visiting, helping or serving one’s relatives in

return for similar deeds on their part. True upholding of family relations is to do so with those kith and kin who sever their bond with us. Thus, it refers to visiting relatives who do not visit us, and being good to those who wrong us.

‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “A man who perfectly maintains the ties of kinship is not he who recompenses the good done to him by his relatives; rather, he is the one who is on agreeable terms with those kin who have severed [their] bond with him.” [Al-Bukhari]

In another Hadeeth on the

authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) it was mentioned that a man came to the Prophet (PBUH) and said: “I have rela-tives whom I maintain ties with, but they cut me off, and I treat them kindly, but they deal badly with me. I am gentle with them, but they are harsh to me.’’

Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) replied: “If you are as you say, it is as if you are feeding them hot ashes; you will have a supporter from Allah against them, as long as you continue to act the way you are.” [Muslim]

Imaam An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: “Hot ashes are used as a metaphor to demonstrate that such relatives bear as much guilt as the pain and agony experienced by the person who eats these ashes. As for the one who treats such relatives kindly, there is no argument against him; rather, they are the ones who commit a grievous sin by mistreating and harming him.”

Moreover, this Hadeeth is a consolation for the many who are afflicted with rude relatives; in their repayment of evil with good and the former’s meeting their wickedness with goodness, it is evident that it is only the latter who are the real losers.

www.islamweb.net

If you are enjoying good health and wellness, wealth and richness, safety and welfare, (find) comfort in your family, tranquillity in your marital life, your children are obedient to you, and your affairs are favourably going well, as you wish, then you are indeed relishing prosperity and bliss. This should not hinder you from devoting time to worship, abundantly supplicating Allah, reciting Holy Quran and Thikr (expressions of remembrance of Allah), and performing good deeds.

06 FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020ASIA

New Zealand scrambles to contain virus as it heads toward electionREUTERS — WELLINGTON

New Zealand was scrambling to trace the source of its first coronavirus outbreak in more than three months, reporting 13 new community infections yesterday, after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had sought to eradicate the virus with a hard lockdown.

The resurgence of COVID-19 comes just weeks before a scheduled general election, increasing pressure on Ardern to get the outbreak under control amid growing criticism.

Ardern swiftly reimposed tight movement restrictions in Auckland and social distancing measures across the rest of the country after the discovery this week of four infected family members in the city.

“Once again we are reminded of how tricky this virus is and how easily it can spread,” she said during a tel-evised news conference yes-terday. “Going hard and early is still the best course of action.”

Officials reported 13 new cases in the community yes-terday, and one overseas arrival who had not left quarantine since arriving in the country, bringing the total number of active cases to 36.

Ardern said it was a positive sign that all 13 new community cases were linked back to one infected family, either via work or broader family connections, and that all were being trans-ferred into quarantine facilities.

She said that experience

showed “things will get worse before they get better”, and more cases were likely to be reported in coming days.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said that he sus-pected the cause of the out-break came from quarantine, and that confirmation should come soon.

“I think there’s been a breach inside our quarantine system, and I think, when that comes out very shortly, in a matter of maybe less than a day, we’ll find out that was the case,” Peters told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Peters said he had been informed of the details by a New Zealand journalist.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said health officials were getting “closer every hour” to finding the patient zero of the outbreak.

Bloomfield had raised the possibility earlier on Wednesday that the virus had arrived in New Zealand via freight, given one of the initially

infected family members works in a cool store that takes imported frozen goods from overseas.

Ten of the new cases were either cool store staff or their family members. The cool store is operated by the New Zealand unit of US-based Americold Realty Trust.

Yesterday, Bloomfield said that importing the virus via freight was considered “a low possibility” as the infection source, but officials wanted to formally rule it out. China has reported the virus on frozen food packaged in South America.

Some prominent local health experts suggested it was more likely the virus had been quietly spreading in Auckland for weeks, despite Ardern’s efforts to eradicate it with an initial five week hard lockdown.

This possibility has allowed the major opposition National Party to seize on potential flaws in Ardern’s approach ahead of the September 19 election, which she described as a “COVID election” when launching her campaign.

Ardern is on track to easily win the election, according to recent polls, but the National Party is pressuring her to delay the vote until at least November, arguing their ina-bility to campaign gives Ardern an unfair advantage.

Ardern said she will announce a decision on the election date after she reveals on Friday whether lockdown measures will be extended. The election must be held by November 21.

Malaysian coroner visits Franco-Irish teen's death siteAFP — SEREMBAN, MALAYSIA

A coroner in Malaysia inspected a resort and nearby jungle yesterday ahead of an inquest into the death of a Franco-Irish teenager during a family holiday there last year.

Nora Quoirin, 15, disap-peared from the Dusun Resort and her unclothed body was found later after a massive hunt through dense rainforest not far from where she had been on holiday with her London-based family.

Her parents say they believe there was a “criminal element” to her death as the teen had learning difficulties and would not have wandered off alone, but Malaysian police insisted there was no sign of foul play.

The girl disappeared on

August 4 last year, a day after arriving at the resort, triggering a 10-day hunt involving hun-dreds of people, helicopters and sniffer dogs.

An autopsy found Nora probably starved and died of internal bleeding after about a week in the jungle, and author-ities classified the case as “requiring no further action”.

But her family pushed for an inquest, and a coroner has set dates from August 24 to Sep-tember 4 for one to take place.

Yesterday, the coroner, prosecutors and the family’s lawyer, under police escort, inspected the resort and the area where her body was found in the town of Seremban, Negeri Sembilan state, 63km south of Kuala Lumpur.

“The coroner took the

opportunity to visit the place where the victim stayed and where the body of Nora was found,” Negeri Sembilan deputy police chief Che Zakaria Othman told reporters after the three-hour tour. Zakaria said the visit was to give the coroner “preliminary insight” on the location of the tragedy.

The Quoirin family’s new lawyer, S. Sakthyvell, described the site visit as “quite thorough”.

“She (the coroner) visited the Dusun resort, the waterfall, she walked in a stream and went to the location where the body was found,” Sakthyvell said.

He added that the teen’s parents would not be present during the inquest proceedings due to coronavirus-related restrictions, but would be inter-viewed by the coroner.

A member of the Royal Malaysia Police carries a cooler box as he walks towards the location where the body of Franco-Irish teenager Nora Quoirin body was found, near the Dusun resort, in Seremban, yesterday.

India pledges $500m investment to build bridges in MaldivesAFP — MALÉ

India yesterday pledged $500m to build bridges and causeways in the Maldives, as New Delhi seeks to counter growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.

The Maldives borrowed bil-lions of dollars from Beijing and hired Chinese firms for infra-structure projects under previous President Abdulla Yameen.

This stoked concerns in India and the West that China was saddling countries in Asia and beyond with unsus-tainable debts while expanding its sphere of influence.

Under the new Maldives government, India has sought to regain influence in the archi-pelago nation of 340,000 people and 1,192 islands located on major East-West shipping lanes.

The new investment announced takes India’s total pledged outlay to over $2bn since President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih came to power, India’s foreign ministry said.

Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid said the new money was part of a financial package to build bridges and causeways linking the capital Male to three neighbouring islets.

“Once completed, the project will be the single largest infrastructure project in the Maldives,” Shahid said in a statement.

In total, they will also be more than three times longer than the $200m “China-Mal-dives Friendship Bridge” com-pleted under Yameen with Chinese loans which has since been re-named.

It was not clear how long the new project would take.

Shahid also said his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in their talks Thursday had pledged $250 million to meet urgent needs and support efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The virus has infected over 5,300 people and claimed 21 lives in the Maldives, where its crucial tourism industry took a battering.

Priest who shared stage with Modi tests COVID-19 positive AGENCIES — LUCKNOW

India reported another record jump in its surging coronavirus cases on yesterday with nearly 67,000 new infections, among them a religious leader who shared a stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a ceremony to launch construction of a grand temple.

Nritya Gopal Das, an 82-year-old Hindu priest, was the latest public figure to test pos-itive after a string of Modi’s top cabinet colleagues were stricken with COVID-19, including Interior Mminister Amit Shah.

With yesterday’s jump of 66,999 cases India now has nearly 2.4 million infections, according to the Health Ministry, behind only the United States and Brazil. For the last fortnight, it has been reporting 50,000 cases or more each day as it opens up the country after a months-long lockdown. Its COVID-19 death toll stands at 47,033.

Modi and Das were among 170 people who attended the Aug. 5 launch of the temple con-struction in the northern town of Ayodhya.

Dr. Murli Singh, director of information in Ayodhya, said

Das had tested positive and was being moved to a hospital near Delhi. But he added that at the time of the ceremony the priest tested negative and so had not posed an infection risk to Modi.

Television footage showed Modi held Das’ hands and bowed before him. Modi’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Singh said people invited for the launch were all clear of the virus at the time.

“Guidelines were sent to all that only COVID-19 negative people will be allowed in the ceremony,” he said, adding

doctors on the ground in Ayodhya had run tests before the event started.

The planned temple at Ayodhya is on a disputed site where Hindu groups have cam-paigned for decades.

Separately on Wednesday, a government committee said that the country would utilise its large vaccine manufacturing capacity to urgently deliver any potential COVID-19 vaccine to its neighbours and low-income countries.

Several Indian ministers have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past few days.

Shripad Yesso Naik was the latest to test COVID-19 positive. Naik, who heads the ministry of Ayush that oversees the practice of alternative medicine including ayurveda, yoga and homeopathy, posted in a tweet on Wednesday evening that he was infected and was isolating at home. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and two other junior ministers have also tested positive.

Former president Pranab Mukherjee, who had tested pos-itive for the virus and underwent brain surgery in an army hospital in the capital New Delhi, is in critical condition.

Independence Day rehearsal in IndiaPolice officers wearing masks take part in a full-dress rehearsal for India’s Independence Day celebrations, in Kolkata, yesterday.

Duterte to skip Philippine trial of Russia virus vaccineAFP — MANILA

The Philippines will begin large-scale human testing of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine in October, but President Rodrigo Duterte will not receive the inoculation until regulators guarantee its safety, his spokesman said yesterday.

Duterte had offered himself up as a guinea pig for the very first jab, expressing “huge trust” in the vaccine, despite growing scepticism about i ts effectiveness.

But his spokesman Harry Roque said the president was scheduled to receive the vaccine no earlier than May 1 — weeks after the Russian-funded Phase 3 clinical trial in the archipelago is due to end in March.

The country’s Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the vaccine — developed by the Gamaleya research institute and the Russian defence min-istry — in April.

“May 1 is when the PSG (presidential security group) may allow him, once all req-uisite tests have been finished,” Roque told reporters.

Moscow says it has developed the world’s first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the corona-virus and is in the final stage of tests involving 2,000 people.

Roque said Philippine experts will review next month the results of Russia’s Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials before the Southeast Asian country starts its Phase 3 testing.

Australian anti-aircraft gunner recounts WWII bombing of DarwinREUTERS — SYDNEY

Lindsay Dufty remembers seeing the pilots’ faces as Japanese bombers descended on Darwin in February 1942, the first ever enemy attack over Australian soil.

He remembers that, with no artillery experience at the time, he felt worried he might let down his mates in an anti-air-craft gun team.

“Unfortunately, we were totally unprepared,” said the

spry, white-haired Dufty, 97, who now lives in Sydney’s northern beach area.

“There was no radar, we had no fighters, we had no Bofors, the light anti-aircraft guns for low flying aircraft. We just had to handle as best we could.” Today he remembers the quiet relief he felt when World War Two ended in the Pacific theater 75 years ago, on September 2.

Japan had invaded and occupied parts of Asia and the

Pacific during the war, after aligning itself with Germany and Italy to become one of the so-called Axis powers.

From February 19, 1942 until November 1943, dozens of air raids pounded the northern port city of Darwin, sometimes described as Australia’s Pearl Harbour.

Darwin was a major base for Allied forces, with ships and planes supporting operations in the nearby South Pacific islands.

Dufty, a wool classer trained in examining the quality of fleeces, was sent to Darwin as an 18-year-old in 1942 soon after enlisting in the army.

Shortly after his arrival, 240 Japanese aircraft bombed the city in two raids on Feb. 19, killing 240 civilians and Aus-tralian and US troops. Japanese forces sank eight ships in the harbour, Australian government records show.

“There were heavy bombers and there were dive bombers

and there were Zero fighters and they were right down at treetop level,” Dufty said, referring to the long-range fighter aircraft.

His crew of about 10 had little protection, Dufty said, with the ground too rocky for a trench, and explosives piled up nearby.

Dufty smiles as he recalls being sprayed with rocks from a nearby blast during one of the scores of raids he weathered. He emerged from the indirect hit clasping the hand of a crew mate, “much to my embarrassment”.

Officials reported 13 new cases in the community yesterday, and one overseas arrival who had not left quarantine since arriving in the country, bringing the total number of active cases to 36.

07FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020 ASIA

North Korea N-reactor site ‘threatened by flooding’REUTERS — SEOUL

Satellite imagery suggests recent flooding in North Korea may have damaged pump houses connected to the coun-try’s main nuclear facility, a US-based think-tank said yesterday.

Analysts at 38 North, a website that monitors North Korea, said commercial satellite imagery from August 6-11 showed how vulnerable the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center’s nuclear reactor cooling systems are to extreme weather events.

The Korean peninsula has been hammered by one of the

longest rainy spells in recent history, with floods and land-slides causing damage and deaths in both North and South Korea.

Located on the bank of the Kuryong River about 100km north of North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, Yongbyon is home

to nuclear reactors, fuel re-processing plants and uranium enrichment facilities that are thought to be used in the coun-try’s nuclear weapons programme.

The five-megawatt reactor —- believed to be used to produce weapons-grade

plutonium — does not appear to have been operating for some time, and an Experi-mental Light Water Reactor (ELWR) has not yet come online, but such flooding in the future would likely force a shutdown, the 38 North report said.

“Damage to the pumps and piping within the pump houses presents the biggest vulnera-bility to the reactors,” the report said.

“If the reactors were oper-ating, for instance, the inability to cool them would require them to be shut down.” While there was further flooding downstream, it did not appear

to reach the Yongbyon facility’s Uranium Enrichment Plant and by August 11 the waters appear to have somewhat receded, 38 North said.

North Korea’s state media has not mentioned any damage to Yongbyon, but reported this week that senior leaders had been touring flood-stricken areas, delivering aid and pro-viding guidance on how to prevent the high waters from damaging crops.

South Korea’s Ministry of Defence declined to comment on the 38 North report, but said it is always monitoring devel-opments related to North Korea’s nuclear and missile

programmes and maintaining close cooperation with the US government.

At a summit with US Pres-ident Donald Trump in Vietnam in 2019, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered to dis-mantle Yongbyon in exchange for relief from a range of inter-national sanctions imposed over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

At the time Trump said he rejected that deal because Yongbyon is only one part of the North’s nuclear programme, and was not enough of a con-cession to warrant loosening so many sanctions.

A vendor holds a Pakistani flag as he waits for customers beside his stall alongside a street in Islamabad yesterday, ahead of the country’s 74th Independence Day, today.

Pakistan Independence Day today

Taiwan to raise defence spending as China details combat drillsREUTERS — TAIPEI

Taiwan unveiled a T$42.1bn ($1.4bn) increase for next year’s planned defence spending yesterday, as China announced details of its latest combat drills near the democratic island.

China has stepped up its military activity near Taiwan, which it regards as a breakaway province.

On Monday, Taiwan said Chinese fighters briefly crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, the same day US health chief Alex Azar met President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei. China had denounced Azar’s trip.

Tsai’s Cabinet is proposing T$453.4bn in military spending for the year starting in January, versus T$411.3 billion budgeted for this year, up 10.2 percent according to calculations.

“The steady increase in the defence budget will facilitate the implementation of various military-building and war-preparation tasks... and ensure national security and regional peace and stability,” Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said.

About three hours after the budget announcement, China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said its forces had in recent days carried out combat drills in the Taiwan Strait and to the north and south of the island, implying they were aimed at Azar’s trip.

“Recently, a certain large country has continued to make negative moves on Taiwan-related issues, sending serious w r o n g s i g n a l s t o

‘Taiwan independence’ forces, and seriously threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” it said.

“The theatre command’s organising of patrols and exer-cises are necessary actions taken in response to the current security situation across the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty,” the statement added.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said the situation was normal and people should not worry.

Tsai has made modernising Taiwan’s armed forces and increasing defence spending a priority.

The budget must be approved by lawmakers, though Tsai’s Democratic Pro-gressive Party has a large majority in the legislature, making it unlikely to be blocked.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and has denounced the United States for arms sales to the island. Washington is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

Taiwan is in discussions with the United States to acquire sea mines to deter amphibious landings, as well as cruise missiles for coastal defence, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to United States said on Wednesday.

Last year, the US State Department approved arms sales worth US$10 billion for Taiwan.

Taiwan’s military is well-armed, but dwarfed by that of China.

Landmine blastin Afghanistanleave five ofa family deadANATOLIA — KABUL

A landmine blast in Afghani-stan’s Kandahar province yesterday killed at least five civilians and injured six others, all members of a single family, officials confirmed.

Jamal Nasir, spokesman for the local police command, said the incident took place in the province’s Panjwai district. He said women and children are among the dead and wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, apparently aimed at the family members of a local police commander.

Condemning the attack, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani urged the Taliban to respond positively to calls for peace and to stop planting roadside bombs.

Earlier, the Interior Ministry accused the Taliban of killing at least 121 civilians and wounding more than 300 in the past two weeks as the two sides gear up for key talks on peace.

It said the Taliban staged attacks in 29 out of the coun-try’s 34 province, with Kan-dahar, Baghlan, Nangarhar, and Logar suffering the worst.

“Targeting civilians is against all principles and the values of humanity, religion, morality, and war, which the Taliban have always ignored,” it said in a statement.

The Taliban issued a rebuff, with spokesman Zabi-hullah Mujahid claiming in a tweet that casualties come from its “enemy’s aerial bombings, raids and (using) heavy weapons in attacks.”

Pakistan to reopen Kartarpur Corridor for all Sikh pilgrimsINTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan has decided to reopen Kartarpur Corridor for all the Sikh pilgrims.

In a tweet, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan has conveyed its read-iness to the Indian side to reopen Kartarpur corridor on the occasion of the death anni-versary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh.

The Kartarpur Corridor was inaugurated on 09 November last year by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The

opening of the Corridor on the eve of the 550th Birth Anni-versary of Baba Guru Nanak fulfilled the long awaited desire of Sikh devotees of the international community.

The Kartarpur Corridor is a true symbol of peace and reli-gious harmony. This landmark initiative by the Government of Pakistan has been immensely appreciated by the Sikh com-munity all over the world including India.

The first Guru of Sikhism, Baba Guru Nanak Saheb, had spent the last 18 years of his

life in Kartarpur.The Corridor was tempo-

rarily closed on 16th of March this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the religious places are gradually opening up around the world, Pakistan has also made necessary arrange-ments to reopen Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for Sikh pilgrims.

To ensure adherence to the health guidelines, Pakistan has invited India to work out nec-essary SOPs for reopening of the Corridor.

China cracks down on ‘big stomach kings’ in fight against food wastageREUTERS — SHANGHAI

China’s biggest short-video and social media platforms said they will punish users seen to be wasting food in their broad-casts, cracking down on so-called “big stomach kings” as the government urges against food wastage in the middle of a pandemic.

President Xi Jinping called food wastage “shameful” this week as China also seeks to curb a growing trend among Internet celebrities who have gained hordes of fans in recent years by eating large amounts of food in a short time on video.

Short-video platform Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok owned by ByteDance, said users searching for key-words such as “eating broadcast” or “big stomach kings” would now be shown prompts urging them to “reject waste and eat reasonably”.

“With respect to any actions that waste food, once dis-covered, the platform will at the first moment impose pen-alties according to the degree of the violations,” Douyin said in a statement, without specifying.

China said in May it would draft a response plan for ensuring food security in 2020, as it worried about the disrup-tions to the agriculture supply

chains from the global pandemic.

Xi on Tuesday said in a speech published by state media that the amount of food that was wasted in China was “shocking” and urged the country to maintain a sense of crisis about food security, prompting many local govern-ments to launch related cam-paigns and restaurants to raise penalties on buffet wastage.

“Big stomach kings” lives-treamers, in particular, were called out by a programme by state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday as encouraging wastage. The trend of celebrities, often with slim figures, eating copious amounts of food quickly first started in Japan and South Korea, according to local media.

Another short-video platform Kuaishou said on Thursday it would shut down any live broadcasts or ban accounts if users were found to be promoting the eating of large amounts or encouraging vomiting to eat more.

China’s popular Twitter-like Weibo platform said in a sep-arate statement that it would restrict videos that posted similar content and urged eating bloggers to promote a “correct” concept of consumption.

“We call on users to not overeat while creating,” Kuaishou said.

Thai Premier appeals for unity as protests continueAFP — BANGKOK

Thailand’s prime minister called for unity and urged the kingdom to “say no to the politics of hate” in a televised address yesterday, following weeks of anti-government protests that have grown bolder in targeting Thai power.

The country has seen near-daily demonstrations by pro-democracy student-led groups demanding an overhaul of Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s admin-istration and a rewrite of a 2017 military-scripted constitution.

In his address yesterday evening, the former army chief appealed to every Thai citizen to “redefine” the country’s pol-itics. “We must... break the mould of old-world politics and ‘us versus them’,” the leader said.

“The future belongs to the young... let them lead the way and provide the moral lead-ership to show us all how to take the hard path of collabo-ration with people who may disagree with us.”

Thailand has long been locked in a cycle of violent pro-tests and coups, with the latest putsch in 2014 staged by Prayut.

His hold on power was extended with last year’s election that took place under an army-authored constitution which analysts say tipped the scales in favour of his military-aligned party.

Discontent has risen after coronavirus lockdowns sent the economy into freefall and protesters have called for

Prayut to step down.A massive protest on

Monday also saw organisers read out demands for the unas-sailable monarchy and activists call for frank discussion about its role.

The super-rich royal family, which commands an estimated fortune of up to $60 billion, sits at the apex of Thai power, sup-ported by the powerful military and the elite billionaire class.

It is shielded from criticism thanks to the kingdom’s con-troversial royal defamation law, which carries a sentence of up

to 15 years in prison per charge for anyone perceived as vio-lating it.

The pro-democracy pro-testers have called for the law to be abolished.

Prayut said earlier yes-terday that much of the country does not believe in the pro-democracy cause, calling the demands of the movement “risky”. “It is unacceptable to the majority of Thais,” he said.

Since Monday’s demon-stration at Thammasat Uni-versity, more than 140 lecturers from all over the country have

signed a petition supporting the organisers, saying their opinions were “based on the basic principles of democracy”.

But about a dozen royalist demonstrators gathered Thursday near the Thammasat campus carrying signs calling for authorities to “prosecute those who insult the monarchy”.

Prosecutions under the royal defamation law have slowed in recent years, but legal observers say the government has pivoted to other legislation to target dissent.

Student protesters gather at an anti-government rally at Srinakhrinwirot University in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.

Analysts at 38 North, a website that monitors North Korea, said commercial satellite imagery from August 6-11 showed how vulnerable the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center’s nuclear reactor cooling systems are to extreme weather events.

The State of Qatar stressed the need to address various dimensions in the framew-ork of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, calling for the response to be integrated and coordinated and to be based on a peacekeeping perspective.

08 FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMAN

DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

QATAR has emerged as one of leading countries in the world in terms of adopting new technologies, innovation and system automation. Being the most digitally developed country in the region and beyond, the State ranked top in terms of Internet readiness, policy support and adaptability of new technology, a study by globally renowned research and analysis firm said.

The Inclusive Internet Index prepared by The Econ-omist Intelligence Unit, a research division of the London-based Economist Group said Qatar ranks 2nd in the region and 28th globally in the overall ranking. Qatar topped in the world among 100 countries in terms of Internet ‘readiness’ studied for the index.

The ‘readiness’ category examines the capacity to access the Internet, including skills, cultural acceptance, and supporting policy. Other parameters evaluated for the index include literacy, availability and affordability.

Qatar has secured 11th position in the Internet ‘Avail-ability’ category globally, which is essentially a remarkable performance. Many advanced economies such as the United States (16th), France (17th) and Germany (20th) are not in top 10 in this category’s list. The ‘Availability’ category examines the quality and breadth of existing infrastructure required for access and levels of Internet usage.

All thanks to Qatar’s leading telecommunications operator Ooredoo Group’s strong digital capabilities and innovative technology. Digital transformation continues to be a driving force for Ooredoo and these efforts has enabled the Group to stay true to its mission of enriching the digital lives of customers. With digitalization at its core, the Group continues to invest in new products and services to power the future of connectivity.

In December last year, Qatar topped the region and stood second globally in terms of mobile Internet speed. The country had ranked second in the global mobile broadband speed test in November, in Ookla’s Global Speed Test Index.

Ooredoo withstood significant pressure and strengthened its leadership position during the first half of 2020, despite the unique challenges created by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Ooredoo detailed how it responded to massively increased demands on its network during the lockdown period. Internet speeds were doubled, free of charge, across homes and businesses so customers could stay con-nected, informed and entertained. Networks were opti-mised in order for educational establishments to con-tinue providing lessons to the many students learning from home.

The strength of Ooredoo’s network proved an important asset during the period, as the company re-optimised its mobile and fixed network to accommodate a significant increase in data traffic demand and extended network and telecom support to hubs across the country.

Yet another milestone

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Quote of the day

Access to water, sanitation and hygiene services is essential for effective infection prevention and control in all settings, including schools. It must be a major focus of government strategies for the safe reopening and operation of schools

during the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General

A file photo of Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, H E Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani addressing the UN Security Council meeting.

The State of Qatar affirmed its commitment to support the work of the United Nations and the importance of international cooperation to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the unilateral measures it is facing that impede international coop-eration and coordination under the umbrella of international and regional organizations.

The State of Qatar stressed the need to address various dimensions in the framework of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, calling for the response to be integrated and coordinated and to be based on a peacekeeping perspective.

This came in a statement delivered by the State of Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations H E Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani before the UN Security Council, which held a virtual meeting on “Pandemics and the Challenges of Sustaining Peace.”

Her Excellency reviewed the steps and measures taken by the State of Qatar to respond to the COVID-19 crisis since the beginning at the local level, pointing to the precautionary measures and the harnessing of necessary resources to enhance health care, as well as the adoption of other measures to reduce the effects of the disease, such as developing distance learning methods for students schools closed.

The Ambassador said explained that these measures were coupled at the national level with unremitting efforts at the international level, including the provision of urgent financial and in-kind assistance to help address the threat of the pandemic.

She pointed out that the State of Qatar continues its efforts to support sustainable devel-opment, noting that the State has taken into account that paying attention to the coronavirus crisis has contributed to dis-tracting attention from priority issues at a time when attention is most needed more than ever before, especially for the effective response to the corona-virus and its impacts.

Qatar’s Permanent Repre-sentative to the UN said that the burden of COVID-19 crisis is double on countries and societies affected by conflicts, countries in transition and post-conflict countries, referring to the fra-gility of these countries’

economies, the deterioration of their health systems, humani-tarian crises, and the social, security and logistical challenges that complicate and hinder pre-ventive and remedial measures to confront the virus and its effects.

H E the Ambassador con-tinued to say that in light of these multifaceted threats posed by the pandemic, the minimum thing that should be done is to put an end to armed conflicts and silence the guns in order to direct all efforts and energies towards fighting the common enemy, which is the Coronavirus.

She warned that the spread of the pandemic would lead to the loss of peace-building gains, stressing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s call for a comprehensive ceasefire and the contents of Security Council Res-olution 2532 (2020).

Given the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on building and maintaining peace, HE said that the UN Security Council as well as the UN Peace-building Commission must play an important role in an inte-grated and coordinated response. She also noted the importance of tasks performed by peace-keeping operations to support peacebuilding efforts, ensuring their continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this context, H E Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani said that the State of Qatar, out of its recognition of the importance of continuous work of the inter-national organization in these circumstances, facilitated the movement of United Nations personnel to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the work of peacekeeping missions.

Since the beginning of this year, the crisis caused by the spread of COVID-19 has been at the top of the concerns of coun-tries and societies around the world, H E said, adding that the pandemic has become among the concerns of the United Nations, including the Security Council, not only because of the

impact of the disease on those infected with it, but also because its effects extend to everyone in all parts of the world.

She also warned of the complex and intertwined impacts of the pandemic in various security, economic, social and developmental aspects and of the long-term effects on peace and its sustainability.

She indicated that it is not feasible in the context of building and maintaining peace to be restricted to security aspects, rather, the social, economic, political and developmental dimensions of the crises must be addressed.

She also stressed the need to address various dimensions in the framework of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, pro-vided that the response is inte-grated and coordinated and based on peacekeeping per-spective, not just the health aspect.

Her Excellency stressed that the coronavirus is a global threat, stressing the importance of a joint international effort to address this pandemic. She drew attention to the important role of the United Nations, its agencies and programs in coordinating efforts to address the spread of the virus and the effects it causes on the sustainability of peace and development.

In conclusion, H E Ambas-sador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani affirmed the com-mitment of the State of Qatar to support the work of the United Nations and the importance of international and regional coop-eration despite the unilateral measures it is facing that hinder this cooperation and coordi-nation under international and regional organizations.

She said that what everyone needs in light of these excep-tional circumstances is the necessity to harness all efforts and energies to confront the coronavirus and other global threats to security, peace and stability for all without discrimination.

Qatar affirms commitment to support UN work to confront COVID-19 pandemic

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Her Excellency stressed that the coronavirus is a global threat, stressing the importance of a joint inter-national effort to address this pandemic. She drew attention to the important role of the United Nations, its agencies and programs in coordinating efforts to address the spread of the virus and the effects it causes on the sustainability of peace and development.

According to the WHO, nearly 3.7 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Europe since the start of the pandemic, and 218,383 deaths.

09FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020 EUROPE

WHO says food safe from coronavirusAFP — GENEVA

The World Health Organi-zation (WHO) yesterday urged people not to fear catching the novel coronavirus from food, after Chinese testers found traces on food and food packaging.

The virus was found Tuesday in the Chinese city of Shenzhen during a routine check on samples of frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil, city authorities said.

The authorities said they immediately screened people who had been in contact with the contaminated products, plus their relatives, and all the tests came back negative.

In China’s eastern Anhui province, the mayor of Wuhu announced that the virus had been discovered on the pack-aging of shrimp imported from Ecuador, which had been kept in a restaurant freezer.

The WHO said there was no need to panic — and there were no examples of the res-piratory disease being trans-mitted through food.

“People are already scared enough and fearful enough in the COVID pandemic,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual press con-ference in Geneva. “People should not fear food or food packaging or the processing or delivery of food. “There is no evidence that food or the food chain is participating in the transmission of this virus.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, said: “If the virus is actually in food — and we have no examples of where this virus has been transmitted as a food-borne, whereas someone has consumed a food product — the viruses can be killed, like other viruses as well, if the meat is cooked.”

People hold flowers while lining up along a traffic way during a demonstration against violence following recent protests to reject the presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, yesterday.

Thousands form human chains in Belarus after post-vote crackdownAFP — MINSK

Thousands of protesters formed human chains and marched in Belarus yesterday in a growing wave of peaceful demonstra-tions over President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed re-election and an ensuing police crackdown.

Russia claimed the protests were being orchestrated from abroad to destabilise its ex-Soviet neighbour while European coun-tries condemned police violence and backed fresh sanctions against Lukashenko.

Men and women, many wearing white and holding flowers, took to the streets of the capital Minsk to protest against police brutality during four nights of unrest since Sun-day’s vote.

Lukashenko’s opponents accuse him of rigging the election to defeat his main rival,

popular opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has left the ex-Soviet country for neighbouring Lithuania.

Protesters took to the streets across the country to contest the vote results but police used stun grenades, rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannon and, in at least one case, live fire to disperse protesters.

At least two people have died and hundreds have been wounded in the violence while nearly 7,000 have been arrested.

On Thursday, some demon-strators held placards reading “Change!” and “No violence” and sported white bracelets that have become a symbol of the oppo-sition movement. “We are against violence, against explo-sions on our streets, we are in favour of freeing all the detained,” Nastya, a 26-year-old protester, said.

Several dozen performers

from the Belarusian State Phil-harmonic staged a rally in Minsk, singing and holding up letters of the alphabet reading: “They stole our voices.” Similar spontaneous rallies were reported in other cities.

Russia’s foreign ministry yesterday denounced what it called “clear attempts at outside interference” aiming to desta-bilise its neighbour. It said it was “concerned” at the “viola-tions of public order.”

Western governments have criticised the violence, however, and EU foreign min-isters are set to discuss Belarus at an extraordinary meeting today.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said yesterday that it would address “the question of sanctions”. EU diplomats yesterday laid flowers in Minsk at the spot where a demon-strator died.

Europe tightens rules as virus cases increaseAFP — PARIS

The total number of people killed by the novel coronavirus around the world passed 750,000 yesterday, with some European countries toughening control measures as caseloads once again creep up.

Italy, one of the worst-hit countries in Europe, imposed mandatory coronavirus testing for all travellers arriving from some fellow EU nations and banned all visitors from Colombia. Health officials worry that Italians returning from foreign holidays may bring home the virus and pass it on at summer events.

Less attention to control measures during the summer holidays is partly to blame for increased numbers of cases, especially among younger people, World Health Organi-zation epidemiologist Richard Peabody said. “If you take... the pressure off the virus, then it will come back,” he warned.

Elsewhere, the first case was reported in one of Greece’s overcrowded island camps housing migrants and asylum seekers, and Spain’s Galicia and Canary Islands regions banned public smoking where social distancing was not possible.

Finland reversed a long-held policy by recommending mask-wearing in public places.

And a smartphone app designed to help track virus transmission in Britain will undergo new trials, officials confirmed, following a failed launch in June and a switch to technology designed by Apple and Google.

In a further sign of how

tough it will be to safely return to normal life, the UN highlighted that 43 percent of all schools lacked basic hand-washing facil-ities before the pandemic. “We must prioritise children’s learning. This means making sure that schools are safe to reopen,” said UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed earlier this week his country had developed the first inoculation offering “sus-tainable immunity”. But scien-tists and the WHO complained that vital data were missing — including a “Phase 3” trial with thousands of volunteers.

Moscow is pressing ahead with production and distribution and says it has pre-orders from 20 countries for one billion doses. The Brazilian state of Parana signed a deal on Wednesday to test and produce Russia’s potential vaccine, though officials stressed they would have to be sure of its safety and effectiveness first.

According to the WHO, nearly 3.7 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Europe since the start of the pandemic, and 218,383 deaths. Around the world, over 20 million confirmed cases have been reported.

Belgian students to self-collect saliva in large virus testing experimentREUTERS — BRUSSELS

Thousands of students at a Belgian university will collect weekly from September a sample of their saliva for a rapid COVID-19 test replacing more commonly used swabs — one of Europe’s largest experiments with the new testing method.

The pilot scheme could be applied in other universities, schools or companies if it proves successful in faster identifying clusters of infections among stu-dents, Belgian researchers and government officials said.

Belgium, among the European countries hardest hit by the pandemic, plans to boost its testing capacity from the autumn. Around 30,000 stu-dents and academic staff at the Belgian University of Liege will use the self-tests at home and take the tube with the saliva sample to the university labs every week through December.

“They will have the results in the evening,” Fabrice Bureau, deputy director for research at the university, said. aliva at-home tests could vastly increase testing capacity, as they are simpler and

faster than common nasopha-ryngeal swabs, which some people find unpleasant.

But they are less accurate as the virus is more likely to be found in the nose and in the back of the throat than in the saliva, especially in individuals with a low viral load, a study by the Belgian medicine agency said last week.

Nasal swabs detect the virus in 80% of positive cases, while saliva tests have a 60% rate of success, Bureau said. This could lead to a higher number of infected people being wrongly

reported as not having con-tracted the virus. However, the weekly repetition of saliva tests would partly offset this shortfall, Bureau said.

The saliva test, developed by the university itself, is expected to be used in Belgium under a special authorisation granted by national authorities before it obtains a EU mark of safety., according to the minister in charge of testing, Philippe De Backer.

Saliva tubes significantly reduce the time and the staff needed to perform tests as the inactivation of the virus potentially

collected in the samples - the most time-consuming part of the testing process - is done in the tube itself with the automatic release of chemicals once its cap is sealed.

Usually this part of the testing process is performed in high-security labs by medical experts. Asked whether at-home tests could expose healthy people to the virus if the tube was not properly closed, Bureau said there was a risk. De Backer played down the dangers, saying infected people could contaminate others even without the tube.

An employee holds a copy of ‘Finding Freedom’, an unofficial biography on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, at a Waterstones bookshop in London, Britain.

UK urgently checks network after deadly train crashAFP — EDINBURGH

The British government ordered urgent safety checks on the rail network yesterday after a passenger train derailed in northeast Scotland, leaving three people dead.

The 06:38 am service from Aberdeen to Glasgow came off the tracks on Wednesday morning near the town of Stonehaven, which had been hit by flooding following heavy rain. The driver, conductor and a passenger were killed and six people were hospitalised with minor injuries, while four fire-fighters were hurt battling the ensuing fire.

Police said the train had luckily not been busy. Travel in the region is currently restricted due to tighter coro-navirus measures imposed fol-lowing a localised surge in cases of COVID-19.

On a visit to the crash site yesterday, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it was a “harrowing” scene and offered his condolences to those affected. He said the derailment was “probably related to a landslip of some form”, but said investigators would also look at the train’s speed among other factors.

A landslip had been reported close to where the train derailed at 09:43am (0843 GMT). With more heavy rain forecast, Shapps said he had ordered immediate checks across the railways and a report by September 1 into the “wider resilience of the whole British network”.

“We’re very, very keen to learn the lessons,” he told Sky News television, adding: “What’s happened here is hor-rendous, and we need to understand why.” Britain’s last major rail derailment was in 2007 in Cumbria, in northwest England, which left one pas-senger dead and 30 others injured.

Rail infrastructure body Network Rail said it was inspecting high-risk trackside slopes and working with mete-orologists to improve the infor-mation it gets about flash flooding.

Scottish Transport Sec-retary Michael Matheson, who also visited the site, highlighted the challenge of “localised, intense weather events”. “One of the things we will see what comes from the investigation is whether the pace of that type of mitigation work needs to be stepped up,” he said.

Disappearanceof four-year-oldboy grips ItalyAFP — ROME

He was last seen with his mother, whose body has been recovered in suspicious cir-cumstances. Now a race in the fierce summer heat to find missing four-year old Gioele is gripping Italy.

Viviani Parisi, a 43-year old DJ, was last seen on the morning of August 3, climbing over a motorway barrier in Sicily after a minor road col-lision. One witness says she was carrying a child, another says she was alone.

Her body was found five days later in a nearby forest close to the town of Caronia, lying at the foot of a high-voltage pylon. A photograph of the blond musician with her wide smile, hugging Gioele, illustrates the media’s daily updates on the case.

Prosecutor Angelo Cavallo, who heads up the investigation, has said his team have been unable yet to rule out accidental death, suicide or murder. If it was an accident — perhaps a fall from the pylon — police say the boy may have wandered off and got lost. If Parisi was mur-dered, perhaps he was snatched.

According to the pathol-ogist, Parisi likely died where her body was found. Her corpse bore no visible wounds — though one arm was broken in several places — and the state of decomposition made it impossible to determine whether she was strangled.

Viviana and Gioele disap-peared after the DJ told her husband she was going to Messina to buy shoes. She was not spotted shopping, but her grey Opel Corsa was photo-graphed on a slip road entering the motorway. It was not pos-sible to establish from the blurred images whether Gioele was alive in the back.

Gioele’s father, Daniele Mondelo, told the Corriere della Sera daily his wife had been suf-fering from depression, which was aggravated by the corona-virus lockdown. But friends insisted to journalists that she would not harm a fly.

Prince Harry and Meghan move to new California family homeAFP — LOS ANGELES

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have purchased and moved into a new family home in Santa Barbara, an affluent seaside city outside Los Angeles, media reports said.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex — who quit frontline British royal duties this year — were previously living in Meg-han’s hometown Los Angeles, where they became quickly

embroiled in a legal battle with paparazzi over photos taken of their son Archie. The pair “moved into their family home in July of this year” and have “settled into the quiet privacy of their com-munity,” a spokesperson said.

According to People and Page Six, their new house is in Santa Barbara, a wealthy com-munity 100 miles up the coast from Los Angeles which is also home to Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres. “This is where

they want to bring Archie up, where they hope he can have as normal a life as possible,” a source said. The pair filed a lawsuit last month in Los Angeles against paparazzi whom they accuse of taking pictures of their son without permission.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex relocated to California via Canada after announcing in January that they intended to quit royal life and “work to become financially independent”.

Democrats widely accuse Trump of mishandling the US response to a pandemic that has claimed more than 166,000 lives, the world’s highest death toll.

10 FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020AMERICAS

America is crying out for leadership: HarrisAFP — WILMINGTON

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris launched their joint White House bid late on Wednesday, with the newly-minted vice-presidential nominee saying Americans are “crying out for leadership” to overcome the triple crisis of a pandemic, racial injustice and a ravaged economy.

Making their f irst appearance as running mates, before a small crowd of reporters and staffers at a Del-aware high school closed to the public due to coronavirus con-cerns, the Democratic duo vowed to end Donald Trump’s presidency and, in Biden’s words, “rebuild this country”.

“Everything we care about,” said Harris. “It’s all on the line.” A formidable 55-year-old US senator from California and a daughter of immigrants, Harris has already made history as the first woman of color tapped for a major party presidential ticket.

Describing a country at the crossroads, she left little doubt of her determination to go on the attack, saying Trump “just isn’t up for the job” and has left the nation “in tatters”.

“America is crying out for leadership, yet we have a pres-ident who cares more about himself than the people who elected him,” said Harris.

Harris appeared telegenic and confident in her first speech as vice-presidential nominee

— for which she and Biden both arrived wearing facemasks. “The case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut,” said the former Cal-ifornia attorney general as she assailed the President’s “failures of leadership” on containing the deadly pandemic and an economy hobbled by measures to fight the contagion.

The daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants to the United States sought to tap into the nationwide upheaval over police violence and racial disparities.

“We’re experiencing a moral reckoning with racism and sys-temic injustice that has brought a new coalition of conscience to the streets of our country

demanding change,” she said.Biden spoke of why he

chose Harris as his partner, stressing she was a tough and experienced legislator who is “ready to do this job on Day 1”. And he said that Harris’ story as the child of immigrants and a woman of colour who fought her way to the top ranks of US legal and political circles would inspire the country.

“Her story’s America’s story,” Biden said. “She’s worked hard (and) she’s never backed down from a challenge.” He also laced his remarks with optimism about the future, promising that a Biden-Harris administration will do what it takes to “turn the corner on this pandemic”.

Biden and Harris focus White House campaignon coronavirus crisisAFP — WILMINGTON

Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris put the corona-virus pandemic front and center in their campaign yesterday, targeting Donald Trump’s response to the health and eco-nomic crises ahead of Novem-ber’s election.

Fresh off Wednesday’s campaign rollout that featured the pair together for the first time showcasing their vision for the nation, they met with public health experts in Delaware.

“As the (former) vice-pres-ident has been saying since the beginning of this pandemic, it should be the public health pro-fessionals that are leading policy in our country to address this lethal pandemic,” Harris told reporters as she and Biden held a virtual meeting with five health experts.

The panel included former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, who has been an advisor to Biden throughout the corona-virus crisis.

Democrats widely accuse Trump of mishandling the US response to a pandemic that has claimed more than 166,000 lives, the world’s highest death toll. Critics have blamed him for voicing falsehoods about the virus, including that children are “almost immune” to COVID-19, and ignoring or sidelining some chief scientists and health offi-cials in his administration.

By staging the day’s events at the start of their campaign, Biden and Harris are signaling to voters that the virus crisis is a top priority — and a major election issue.

On Monday, the Democratic National Convention begins — online — to formally nominate Biden and his running mate.

Harris was announced as Biden’s V-P on Tuesday, sparking a grassroots fund-raising spree that the campaign said raised an eye-popping $34.2m by the end of Wednesday.

At the rollout, Harris said Trump’s “mismanagement” of the pandemic has plunged the nation into its deepest health crisis in a century and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

“There’s a reason (the coro-navirus) has hit America worse than any other advanced nation. It’s because of Trump’s failure to take it seriously from the start,” she said.

Harris lamented “his refusal

Democratic presidential nominee, former US Vice-President Joe Biden (right), and vice-presidential running mate, US Senator Kamala Harris, receive a briefing on COVID-19 from health experts in Wilmington, Delaware, yesterday.

to get testing up and running. His flip-flopping on social dis-tancing and wearing masks. His delusional belief that he knows better than the experts”.

Trump, meanwhile, said the economy was experiencing a “v-shaped recovery,” despite millions of American families suffering and analysts warning that the country remains in an unemployment crisis.

“As we continue to confront the China virus, we’re rebuilding America’s economy like nobody thought possible, actually,” Trump said Wednesday at the White House. “We’re doing incredibly well.”

US braces for evictions crisis as aid talks stall in WashingtonAFP — NEW YORK

Activists and relief groups in the United States are scrambling to head off a monumental wave of evictions nationwide, as the coro-navirus crisis leaves tens of mil-lions at risk of homelessness.

The jobs catastrophe sparked by the global health emergency and the tepid rebound in the world’s largest economy have left Americans struggling to pay rent and vul-nerable to eviction.

Hopes for relief in the form

of a fresh aid package from Washington were dashed as partisan bickering scuppered the latest negotiations.

The housing crisis is “already a tsunami,” said Bambie Hayes-Brown of Georgia Advancing Commu-nities Together, a coalition of nonprofit housing and com-munity development groups.

“We got some funding from the United Way and we went through it so fast. We were just inundated.” Mariatou Diallo, who lives in New York, has not

paid her rent since March, when her work in the health care industry dried up. The future frightens her. “Right now, I’m very worried because I have an eight-year-old and if I’m evicted, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said this week at a rally for rent relief in the Bronx.

Weekly census data shows that more than 30 percent of renters in the United States have no or “slight” confidence in their ability to pay rent next month.

The Aspen Institute esti-mated as many as 40 million

people could be at risk of eviction in the coming months, leading to “destabilization of communities” across the country.

Landlords have filed for nearly 35,000 evictions during the pandemic in 17 cities tracked by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, though 10 of those cities are blocking the move.

In some cases, renters have fallen months behind, but the crisis is only coming to a head now because eviction mora-torium orders in several states

have expired. In addition, housing courts have reopened after being shuttered for months due to coronavirus-related restrictions.

Another factor is the ending on July 31 of federal supple-mental unemployment benefits that provided $600 a week to workers laid off due to the pandemic.

“Without the $600, nobody can pay the rent,” said Yudy Ramirez, who lost her job as a housekeeper at a Manhattan hotel in March.

Facebook, Google step up election protection effortsAFP — SAN FRANCISCO

Facebook yesterday launched its voting information center as internet platforms unveiled fresh moves to protect the November US election from manipulation and interference. The hub was described as central to defending against deception and confusion in what promises to be an election roiled by the pandemic and efforts to dupe voters.

The move comes amid a coordinated effort by Facebook, Google and other online platforms to curb the spread of disinformation and thwart efforts to manipulate voters. Google, separately, announced new features for its search engine to provide detailed information about how to register and vote, directing users to local election administrators.

Google-owned YouTube will take down content aimed at manipulation, including “videos that contain hacked information about a political candidate shared with the intent to interfere in an election,” according to a statement.

YouTube will also remove videos promoting efforts to interfere with the voting process such as telling viewers to create long voting lines.

The announcements come a day after an industry group, members of which include

Google, Microsoft, Reddit, Pin-terest and Twitter, met with federal agencies including the FBI’s foreign influence task force to step up coordination on election interference.

A joint industry statement said the tech platforms, including the Wikimedia Foun-dation which operates Wiki-pedia, would be on the lookout for disinformation.

“We know that disinfor-mation and misinformation are at their most virulent in an information vacuum,” Facebook head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher said on a briefing call with reporters.

“Getting accurate infor-mation to voters is one of the best vaccines against disinfor-mation campaigns.” Facebook has set a goal of helping 4 million people registered to vote in the US.

The hub, which Facebook announced earlier this year, will be prominently posi-tioned at Facebook and Instagram and “will serve as a one-stop-shop to give people in the US the tools and information they need to make their voices heard at the ballot box,” the social media giant said.

Expected attacks include “hack-and-leak” tactics along the lines of what was used against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, Facebook said.

Huge fire in north of LA prompts evacuationsThe Lake Fire burns in mountains north of Los Angeles, California. A fast-moving brush fire north of Los Angeles prompted mandatory evacuation orders for some 500 homes as firefighters battled the flames that had burned 10,000 acres. More than 300 firefighters backed by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft were deployed to fight the blaze.

Mexico City reopens museums, cinemasAFP — MEXICO CITY

Mexico is reopening museums and cinemas in the capital after months of lockdown, but face masks and social distancing are the new normal for culture vul-tures in a city still battling the coronavirus.

At the iconic Soumaya Museum, security guards wearing face shields and gloves watch over mask-wearing vis-itors snapping selfies with art-

works and wandering the near-empty hallways. The museum, with a curving facade inspired by Auguste Rodin’s sculptures, houses more than 60,000 pieces of art including works by Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh.

Visitors to the attraction, founded by Mexican magnate Carlos Slim, must wear a mask and have their temperature checked before entering.

For those who cannot be

there in person, the museum also offers virtual tours, its director Alfonso Miranda said.

At the newly disinfected Cineteca Nacional, popular with aficionados of art house and foreign movies, most of the seats were marked as reserved to ensure social distancing.

Signs on the floor reminded users to keep a healthy distance, while the message “Welcome. Cineteca Nacional misses you” appeared on-screen.

US aims to ease water rules after Trump’s shower moanAFP — WASHINGTON

The US government is looking at easing regulations on shower fittings following com-plaints from President Donald Trump who has regularly railed against water conser-vation rules in his quest for “perfect hair”.

On Wednesday the Department of Energy (DOE) said it was proposing to amend the definition of a showerhead to allow multiple showerheads on a single fitting, which would get around water conservation measures brought in under president George H.W. Bush.

The 1992 rules established a maximum water use of 2.5 gallons per minute for showers but the amendment means that will apply to each showerhead rather than a single shower fitting. The announcement comes after Trump complained about the lack of water pressure in showers.

“Showerheads — you take a shower, the water doesn’t come out,” he said in July at the White House announcing a rollback in regulations.

“You want to wash your hands, the water doesn’t come out. So what do you do? You just stand there longer or you take a shower longer? Because my hair — I don’t know about you, but it has to be perfect. Perfect.” Bathroom fittings and water pressure have long been a bugbear for the President.

In December, he told reporters the Environmental Protection Agency would be “looking very strongly at sinks and showers and other ele-ments of bathrooms”. “They take a shower, the water comes dripping out, it’s dripping out very quietly, people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times as opposed to once, they end up using more water,” Trump said. “So EPA is looking at that very strongly, at my suggestion.”

Andrew deLaski, executive director of the energy conser-vation group Appliance Standards Awareness Project, said the plan was part of Trumps’ “repeated false complaint that toilets, faucets, and other household fix-tures have been ruined by federal efficiency standards”.

Brent crude was down 10 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $45.33 a barrel by 1348 GMT, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 1 cent, or less than 0.1 percent, at $42.68 a barrel.

BUSINESSPAGE | 12 PAGE | 13

11FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020

German businessman

in Wirecard

probe dies in

Philippines

US jobless claims

below 1 million

for first time in

pandemic

ssman

Nakilat transitions LNG Al Sadd to in-house managementTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Nakilat has assumed full ship management and operations of Q-Flex LNG carrier Al Sadd from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (Shell) with effect from yes-terday, as part of the second phase of its planned fleet man-a g e m e n t t r a n s i t i o n programme.

With a cargo carrying capacity of 210,200 cubic metres, Al Sadd is wholly-owned by Nakilat and chartered by Qatargas. The vessel built in S o u t h K o r e a b y

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering was delivered in September 2011 and has been in service ever since.

Al Sadd is the fifth 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 24, comprising of 20 LNG and 4 LPG carriers.

Nakilat, a Qatari public shareholding company, was originally listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange in 2005. As a shipping and maritime company, Nakilat provides an

essential transportation link in Qatar’s LNG supply chain. Its LNG shipping fleet is the largest in the world, com-prising of 69 LNG vessels. Nakilat also owns and manages one FSRU and four large LPG carriers.

Nakilat operates the ship repair, industrial and offshore fabrication facilities at Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard in Ras Laffan Industrial City via strategic joint ventures: N-KOM and QFAB. Nakilat also offers a full range of marine support services to vessels operating in Qatari waters. A provided picture of LNG Al Sadd vessel.

MPHC reports QR135m net profit for H1, 2020THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPHC), one of the region’s premier diver-sified petrochemical conglom-erates, reported a net profit of QR135m for the half year ended June 2020 (H1, 20). The first half net profit for 2020 is down by 56 percent, com-pared to the same period last year. Total revenues reached QR975m, down by 37 percent, when compared to the previous year. The company recorded an earnings per share (EPS) of QR0.011 (11 dirhams) for the first six months of the year, compared to QR0.024 for the same period last year.

MPHC’s financial per-formance was impacted by the deteriorating global macroeco-nomic uncertainty, slowing GDP growth and trade con-flicts, including COVID-19 and volatile oil prices, which con-tinue to weigh on the demand for MPHC products and resulted in declining selling

prices, which declined by 24 percent as compared to the same period last year.

When compared to the first quarter of 2020, the company’s revenue declined by 11 percent, while net profit increased by 37 percent. Sales volumes improved by 1 percent mainly due to improved production volumes which increased by 33 percent. The company’s liquidity position continue to

remain robust with closing cash and bank balances of QR1.5bn for the first half of the year, with total assets recorded at QR15.7bn.

Ahmad Saif Al Sulaiti, Chairman of the Board of Directors at MHPC, said: “In spite of distressed market sit-uation, we remained resilient and continued to implement our business strategy to strengthen our market position, while driving cost optimisation programmes and preserving shareholder value. During the first half of 2020, as planned, we successfully implemented planned preventive mainte-nance shutdowns within the defined timelines and budget”.

Al Sulaiti added that the company also implemented several measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pan-demic to ensure the health and safety of its manpower and ensure business continuity. “These measures will remain in place until the global economy recovers, and impacts

of the pandemic are fully erad-icated, in order for us to ensure our businesses continue to remain resilient and maintain its competitiveness,” he said.

The petrochemicals seg-ment’s revenue for the first half of the year stood at QR743m, a decrease of 38 percent from previous year. The profit was QR82m, down by 78 percent compared to the same period last year. The revenue was impacted by the drop in sales volumes by 19 percent and selling prices by 23 percent. Production dropped by 22 percent due to the periodic planned turnaround.

The chlor-alkali segment reported a revenue of QR232m, a decrease of 34 percent from previous year. The profit was QR5m, a decline of 93 percent from the previous year. Pro-duction dropped by 16 percent due to the periodic planned turnarounds, which is nec-essary to maintain the plant lives and ensure HSE standards.

Given the current sluggish

market and macroeconomic outlook due to the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, MPHC has initiated several cost opti-misation initiatives.

These measures included optimising human capital structures, reducing direct costs in relation to utilities and maintenance, reducing non-production related expendi-tures including corporate and administrative expenses. Sim-ilarly, the company reviewed its capital expenditure pro-grammes across all segments and identified expenditures that can either be avoided or deferred, while ensuring HSE standards remained buoyant.

MPHC will host an IR earnings call with investors to discuss its H1, 2020 results, business outlook and other matters on August 18, 2020 at 1:30pm Doha Time.

The IR presentation that accompanies the conference call will be posted on the pub-lications page of MPHC’s website.

The company’s liquidity position continue to remain robust with closing cash and bank balances of QR1.5bn for the first half of the year, with total assets recorded at QR15.7bn.

Qatargas warns against investment scams on social mediaTHE PENINSULA - DOHA

Qatargas yesterday warned against investment scams impersonating the company on social media. In a statement, Qatargas said its identity has been imper-sonated on various social media platforms through fraudulent advertisements spreading false information about investment opportu-nities in Qatargas stock.

It also warned the resi-dents to be aware that this is a scam and Qatargas will never offer shares as part of an exchange on social media.

The company urges the public not to respond to these fraudulent investment solici-tations, and under no circum-stances should they send any money in response to them. Qatargas shall not bear any legal liabilities as a result of fraudulent advertisements.

Oil prices held largely steady after IEA lowers demand forecast, US stocks fallREUTERS — LONDON

Oil prices held largely steady yesterday after the Interna-tional Energy Agency lowered its 2020 oil demand forecast following unprecedented travel restrictions and data showing a decline in US inventories pro-vided some support.

Brent crude was down 10 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $45.33 a barrel by 1348 GMT, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 1 cent, or less than 0.1 percent, at $42.68 a barrel.

“The oil market enjoys some calm summer weeks, seemingly taking a break from the turbulent times earlier this year,” said Norbert Rücker, analyst Swiss bank Julius Baer.

The International Energy Agency cut its 2020 oil demand forecast yesterday and said reduced air travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic would lower global oil consumption this year by 8.1 million barrels per day (bpd).

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) also said on Wednesday that world oil demand will fall by 9.06 million bpd this year, more than the 8.95 million bpd decline expected a month ago.

Russian Energy Minister

Alexander Novak said yes-terday he did not expect any hasty decisions on output cuts when a monitoring committee of OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, meets next week as the oil market has been stable.

Last month OPEC+ eased the cuts to around to 7.7 million bpd until December from a pre-vious reduction of 9.7 million bpd, reflecting a gradual improvement in global oil demand.

Prices found some support as US crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories dropped last week as refiners ramped up production and demand improved, a government report showed.

Oil prices have been

range-bound since mid-June with Brent trading between $40 and $46 per barrel, and WTI between $37 and $43.

“The market moved from chronic oversupply in April-May to a deficit by June,” said Ehsan Khoman (pictured), head of MENA research and strategy at MUFG. “The under-lying oil market deficit is becoming more evident and, along with a broader reflation narrative, is keeping oil prices on an even keel.”

Markets are still awaiting a breakthrough on a US stimulus package and keeping watch on frayed US-China ties ahead of trade talks on August 15.

Gold, silver jump after swings amidweak dollar and economic woesBLOOMBERG

Spot gold headed for back-to-back gains as investors weighed the outlook for the metal’s record-setting rally after this week’s dramatic price swings. Silver climbed the most in more than five years.

Rising US bond yields helped spark a sharp selloff in gold and silver on Tuesday and early Wednesday, followed by a rebound. Both metals have resumed their uptrend as the dollar falls a second straight day. They remain among the best-performing commodities this year, aided by negative real yields and vast stimulus to combat the fallout from the pandemic.

Gold gained as much as 2.6 percent yesterday as concerns over the outlook for economic recovery persist and central banks and governments signal further support for their econ-omies. Two senior Federal Reserve officials said Wednesday that the US failure to control the coronavirus pan-demic has undermined the nation’s economic recovery, further bolstering support for precious metals as haven assets.

“We’re not out of this crisis yet,” Jeffrey Currie (pictured), global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, said by phone. “Even if a vaccine is rolled out in November it won’t be rolled out

until at best the first quarter of next year, which means you still need to provide stimulus to the global economy. More stimulus means more downside risk in real rates. That’s what drives the upside in gold.”

Spot gold rose 2.4 percent to $1,962.22 an ounce by 1:46 p.m. in New York. On Tuesday, prices dropped 5.7 percent , the most in seven years, following a rally to an all-time high last week. Futures for December delivery advanced 1.1 percent to settle at $1,970.40 on the Comex in New York.

Silver for immediate delivery climbed as much as 8.7 percent to $27.7207 an ounce, the biggest intraday increase since December 2014. The metal rose 2.9 percent on Wednesday and slumped 15 percent on Tuesday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index headed for a second straight decline.

“The dollar index broke down a bit today, but there’s a lot of people that are on the side-lines that are looking to get back in and are chasing back into gold

and silver right now,” Phil Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago, said by phone.

“We still hold a positive view on gold, targeting a retest of the level of $2,000 an ounce by the end of this year,” said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS Group AG. “The Fed should reit-erate its dovish message and US real yields and the broad US dollar will likely fall further.”

The death toll from the virus continued to climb, with India’s total surpassing the UK’s, according to the latest data col-lated by Johns Hopkins Uni-versity. There were signs of resilience to the economic harm wrought by the pandemic though. Australia added four times as many jobs as forecast in July, withstanding a fresh lockdown in Victoria and con-cerns about infection spreading.

The scope of the drop in gold prices earlier this week may limit the pace of recovery, some analysts said.

“The extent of this selloff was so severe that I think it’s caused jitteriness about longs getting back in so quickly,” Edward Meir, an analyst at ED&F Man Capital Markets in New York, said by phone. “I think the more likely scenario is we will start a consolidation range. So we might bounce around between $1,850 and $2,050 for the next six weeks or so. Things don’t go up forever.”

12 FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020BUSINESS

Initial jobless claims in regular state programmes fell by 228,000 to 963,000 in the week ended August 8, Labor Department data showed yesterday. Continuing claims, the total number of Americans claiming ongoing benefits in state programmes, decreased to 15.5 million in the week ended August 1, the lowest since early April.

US jobless claims below 1 million for first time in COVID-19 pandemicBLOOMBERG

The number of Americans applying for state unem-ployment benefits fell below 1 million for the first time since the pandemic began in March, suggesting the economic recovery is gaining some traction amid a deceleration in coronavirus infections.

Initial jobless claims in regular state programmes fell by 228,000 to 963,000 in the week ended August 8, Labor Department data showed yes-terday. Continuing claims, the total number of Americans claiming ongoing benefits in state programmes, decreased to 15.5 million in the week ended August 1, the lowest since early April.

US stocks were mixed at the open, a day after the S&P 500 benchmark closed within 0.2 percent of its all-time high. Economists were expecting initial claims of 1.1 million and continuing claims of 15.8 million, based on median esti-mates. Both figures remain well above the highs reached during the last economic downturn.

The bigger-than-expected drops in claims follow an ebbing in new coronavirus cases, underlining how important controlling the virus is to an economy that remains well below pre-crisis measures in most respects. The decline

potentially supports the argument by some businesses and Republicans that the $600 supplemental weekly jobless benefit, which expired in July, was keeping people from returning to work. That could reduce the pressure on the White House and lawmakers to agree on a new stimulus package.

At the same time, other high-frequency indicators, such as credit-card spending, show a gradual or stalled economic rebound. With unemployment above 10 percent in July, the labor market still faces chal-lenges including a high level of virus cases and widespread business closures and bank-ruptcies, as well as online

learning that’s forcing Amer-icans to take care of their children at home.

“It’s clear that the pace of layoffs is beginning to mod-erate, but it’s still an enormous number of people filing for unemployment insurance ben-efits,” said Ryan Sweet, (pic-tured) head of monetary policy research at Moody’s Analytics. “One concern for both the job market and the broader economy is the lack of urgency in passing another round of fiscal stimulus. The economy needs more fiscal stimulus.”

The latest declines in initial claims spanned states where coronavirus cases had bloomed in prior weeks, such as Cali-fornia and Florida, as well as New York, where counts have remained low. On an unad-justed basis, initial claims had already dropped below 1 million the prior week, and last week fell about 156,000 to 832,000.

President Donald Trump last weekend authorised the payment of $300 a week in federal aid to unemployed Americans, smaller than the $600 benefit that expired in

July, and limited by funds that could run out within two months.

States can choose to bolster that $300 with additional $100, but the Labor Department clar-ified on Wednesday that the $100 can consist of regular ben-efits already paid by states. The legality and effectiveness of the move, along with a four-month deferral of payroll taxes, remains unclear.

In addition to applications for benefits in regular state pro-grammes, states reported 488,622 initial claims for Pan-demic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, in the week ended August 8. That’s the federal programme offering jobless benefits to those who don’t qualify for the state pro-gramme, such as the self-employed and gig workers.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all pro-grammes decreased to 28.3 million in the week ended July 25, though this figure likely still reflects states’ overcounts of reported PUA continued claims. Still, it’s the lowest in almost three months.

Deutsche Telekom ups full-year guidance on US merger boostAFP — FRANKFURT

German telecoms operator Deutsche Telekom boosted its guidance for the full year yes-terday after reporting a jump in second-quarter revenues thanks to its acquisition of US rival Sprint.

The Bonn-based company said it now expected adjusted earnings of €34bn ($40bn) for 2020, up from a previous forecast of €25.5bn.

Between April and June, group revenues climbed 37.5 percent year-on-year to €27bn, it said in a statement.

The $26bn merger between Deutsche Telekom’s US unit T-Mobile and Sprint was completed in April, allowing Sprint and its mil-lions of US customers to be included in the German group’s second-quarter figures.

“The merger in the US is a historic step for the group,” chief executive Tim Hoettges said.

Deutsche Telekom booked a net profit of €754m for the quarter, a fall of 20 percent compared with a year earlier.

Deutsche Telekom said it had already indicated that “the costs of integrating the two companies would have a negative impact on net earnings.”

The coronavirus pan-demic had a “limited impact”, it added, primarily in the cor-porate customer unit where new orders slowed.

Mobile roaming revenue also fell on the back of travel restrictions.

Deutsche Telekom is now the second-largest US mobile telecoms provider in terms of customers, with more than 98 million users, it said.

The Sprint brand has been retired and replaced with T-Mobile.

In its German home market, the company reported 87,000 new broadband cus-tomers, “its most successful quarter in broadband business in two years,” it said.

US holds off on extra tariffs in EU Airbus disputeAFP — WASHINGTON

Washington said Wednesday it would hold off on its threat to impose higher tariffs on $7.5bn worth of EU goods in its long-running dispute over subsidies to European aircraft maker Airbus.

Last year the World Trade Organization authorised the US to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on $7.5bn in European goods.

Washington then slapped 25 percent taxes on a number of EU products including wine, cheese and olives. A 10 percent tariff on Airbus planes was

increased to 15 percent in March.

The European Union last month said it had brought itself into compliance with WTO rulings and called for the tariffs to be lifted.

W a s h i n g t o n s a i d Wednesday the bloc had not done enough but signaled it was willing to seek a solution.

“The EU and member states have not taken the actions nec-essary to come into compliance with WTO decisions,” US trade representative Robert Light-hizer (pictured) said in a statement.

“The United States,

however, is committed to obtaining a long-term reso-lution to this dispute.

“Accordingly, the United States will begin a new process with the EU in an effort to reach an agreement that will remedy the conduct that harmed the US aviation industry and workers and will ensure a level playing field for US companies.” In June it had threatened to levy tariffs on another $3.1bn in EU goods as it has been authorised to do under a WTO ruling.

Washington made minor modifications to its list of goods on Wednesday but left the amount of products subject to

tariffs at $7.5bn, and rates were unchanged at 15 percent for air-craft and 25 percent for other products. The European Com-mission gave a cautious welcome to “the US decision not to

exacerbate the ongoing aircraft dispute.” It said EU Trade Com-missioner Phil Hogan would con-tinue to work with Lighthizer to find “a solution based on con-structive dialogue and mutual benefits rather than on conflict.” “The current economic slowdown, specifically its impact on the air travel and aircraft sectors, provide a particular urgency to resolving this dispute,” it tweeted.

But Airbus said it “profoundly regrets” the US decision to maintain tariffs on its planes “despite Europe’s recent actions to achieve full compliance.” “Airbus trusts that Europe will

respond appropriately to defend its interests and the interests of all the European companies and sectors, including Airbus, targeted by these tariffs.” The epic legal battle between Airbus and Boeing at the WTO began in 2004 when Washington accused Britain, France, Germany and Spain of providing illegal subsidies and grants to support the production of a range of Airbus products.

Airbus said in late July it had reached agreement with the French and Spanish governments that raised the interest rates on funds provided to help develop its long-haul A350 jet to levels the WTO considers appropriate.

Bankrupt Alaska airline seeks bonus for its CEO Dave PfliegerAP — ANCHORAGE

The largest rural airline in Alaska has declared bankruptcy and laid off more than a thousand workers but wants to award $250,000 in bonus money to its chief executive and other employees.

Anchorage-based RavnAir Group filed the request Tuesday in Delaware bankruptcy court, arguing that the bonuses are justified because of long hours and the hard work that went into selling the company’s assets after it shut down during the coronavirus pandemic, Alaska Public Radio reported.

The final sale of all the assets is expected to generate

more than $55m, exceeding what the company anticipated. Chief Executive Officer Dave Pflieger has already collected $1.4m in salary, bonuses and expense payments over the past year.

It is unclear how much of the $250,000 would go to Pflieger and to the other employees. Company spokeswoman Debbie Reinwand did not respond to a request for comment.

Pflieger was not involved in conversations about his own potential bonus, but did partic-ipate in discussions about them for other employees, company officials said.

The state of Alaska and the aviation industry have

questioned why the company agreed to sell several of its big planes and two of its operating certificates to California-based FLOAT Shuttle, when other companies offered to pay more money for the same assets.

One of those companies was Juneau-based Alaska Seaplanes, which offered $9m for the same assets FLOAT Shuttle bought for $8m, company President Kent Craford said.

Republican Gov. Mike Dun-leavy’s administration expressed “limited support” for Alaska Seaplanes’ position and said it was concerned that “all bidders were not given a full opportunity to participate in a transparent auction process.”

Scholz may succeed Chancellor MerkelSPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz (centre) arrives wearing a face mask during his visit with a citizen dialogue at an old coal mine in Ahlen, western Germany, yesterday. Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats have nominated Finance Minister Olaf Scholz to lead them in the race to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in next year’s federal election.

Crowne Plaza Doha West Bay wins 2020 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice AwardTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Crowne Plaza Doha West Bay has announced that it has recently won the 2020 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best award, based on a full year of TripAdvisor’s reviews, ratings and travel saves. Award winners exemplify traveler’s ultimate favorite, and are considered among the top 10 percent of overall hos-pitality businesses around the globe.

Najib Nasser, General Manager at Crowne Plaza Doha West Bay, said: “We are thrilled to be acknowledged in the top 10 percent of the hotels worldwide within two years from our hotel’s rebranding. A heartfelt thank you to our guests and clients for their continuous support and love. This achievement would not have been possible

without the fabulous team of colleagues who deliver true hospital ity with their relentless efforts and laser focus on guest satisfaction.”

Kanika Soni, Chief Com-mercial Officer at Tripadvisor, added: “Winners of the 2020 Travelers’ Choice Awards should be proud of this distin-guished recognition. Although it has been a challenging year for travel and hospitality, we want to celebrate our partners’ achievements. Award winners are beloved for their excep-tional service and quality. Not only are these winners well deserving, they are also a great source of inspiration for travelers and diners as the world begins to venture out again.”

Crowne Plaza Doha West Bay, a prestigious business hotel located in the West Bay area, is a part of the IHG Group

under the Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts with a brand promise of “making business travel work.” The hotel pro-vides various business-ready services, a sleep advantage programme, fast and fresh food 24/7, personalised m e e t i n g r e q u i r e m e n t assistance and adheres to the IHG Clean Promise - the hotel’s adjustment to new travel norms and expectations with enhanced guest experi-ences, and redefined cleanliness.

This promise reassures guests that “Good isn’t good enough, we’re committed to high levels of cleanliness. That means clean, well-maintained, clutter-free rooms that meet our standards. If this is not what you find when you check-in then we promise to make it right,” the company said in a statement.

Crowne Plaza Doha West Bay, recognised among Best of the Best Hotel category, based on exceptional traveler reviews.

13FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020 BUSINESS

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 9,602.49 +0.52 %

QE Total Return Index 18,460.46 +0.52 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index - Price 2,201.94 +0.85 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,928.19 +0.85 %

QE All Share Index 2,989.79 +0.40 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 4,110.04 +0.28 %

QE All Share Industrials 2,790.88 +0.97 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,892.17 +0.53 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,609.12 -0.22 %

QE All Share Insurance 2,044.13 -0.01 %

QE All Share Telecoms 902.56 -0.07 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 7,746.29 +0.55 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

13-08-2020Index 9,602.49

Change +49.39

% +0.52%

YTD% -7.89

Volume 250,763,185

Value (QAR) 463,908,724.26

Trades 10,315

Up 28 | Down 15 | Unchanged 02

12-08-2020Index 9,553.10

Change +54.01

% -10.59

YTD% -8.37

Volume 184,055,941

Value (QAR) 503,765,538.38

Trades 8,009

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR202.8618 grammeSILVER QR1.7958 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low All Ordinaries 4207.354 110.624 2.7 5069.5 3829.4

CAC 40 Index/D 3176.13 -0.06 0 4169.87 2979.87

DAX - Composit/D 531.14 8.71 1.67 667.98 485.74

DJ Indu Average 0 0 0 12876 9936.39

Egypt Cma Gn Idx 675.91 13.3 0.95 1567.23 143.08

Hang Seng Inde/D 19783.67 452.97 2.34 24468.64 18868.11

ISEG Overall/D 2510.71 44.36 1.8 3037.89 2333.35

Karachi 100 In/D 11311.29 276.37 2.5 12768.4 11032.2

Nikkei 225 Index 9038.74 94.26 1.05 10891.6 8227.63

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 1370.58 1039.7

Straits Times/D 2821.09 -62.91 -2.18 3280.77 2847

Currency Buying (QAR) Selling (QAR)

US$ 3.6305 3.6500

Pound Sterlig 4.4682 4.5313

Swiss Frnac 3.7067 3.7591

Japanese yen 0.03355 0.0342

Australian Dollar 2.2895 2.3346

Canadian Dollar 2.5502 2.6003

Indian Rupee 0.0474 0.0483

Pakistan Rupee 0.0225 0.0231

Philipine Peso 0.0712 0.0726

Bangala Takka 0.0425 0.0433

Sri lanka Rupee 0.0187 0.0191

Nepalese Rupee 0.0297 0.0302

South African Rand 0.1887 0.1925

Euro 3.8966 3.9508

SoftBank-backed AI startup is said to eye Hong Kong and China IPOBLOOMBERG

SenseTime Group, China’s largest artificial intelligence company, is exploring a dual listing in Hong Kong and China as it closes in on $1.5bn of pre-IPO financing, according to people familiar with the matter.

The SoftBank Group-backed company is seeking a pre-funding valuation of about $8.5bn before kicking off an initial public offering, the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private. Sensetime is leaning toward a dual listing in Hong Kong and China though it hasn’t finalised a timeline, the people said. Its IPO plans are preliminary and could be subject to change, they added.

The startup is kickstarting plans for an IPO that had been waylaid by pandemic-induced market volatility as well as a US blacklisting that threatens to curtail its access to vital American technology. It’s now considering tapping markets in Hong Kong and mainland China simultaneously, betting

on a recent resurgence of investor interest in new listings.

SenseTime is at the van-guard of a rising crop of Chinese players that have ben-efited from the country’s rapid adoption of facial recognition technology and AI across a plethora of sectors. The

company is working with 127 cities across its home country to use cameras to analyse eve-rything from traffic to resi-dential complex security.

A representative for SenseTime declined to comment.

SenseTime became the world’s most valuable AI startup after it raised about $2.5bn in 2018. It was valued at more than $7.5bn, drawing investors including SoftBank and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, people familiar with the deal said at the time.

The firm, which competes with Alibaba Group Holding-backed Megvii Technology, specialises in systems that analyse faces and images on an enormous scale and works with policing bodies, retailers and health-care researchers across China and interna-tionally. The startup has said it experienced exponential growth in past years as it encompassed more industries, from cameras in retailer Suning.com’s stores to driv-erless cars for Honda Motor.

The SoftBank Group-backed company is seeking a pre-funding valuation of about $8.5bn before kicking off an initial public offering, the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private.

German businessman in Wirecard probe dies in PhilippinesAFP - MANILA

A German businessman in the Philippines wanted for ques-tioning over the Wirecard accounting scandal has died, the justice minister said yesterday.

Christopher Reinhard Bauer died from “natural causes” on July 27 at a hospital in the capital Manila and was later cremated, Menardo Gue-varra (pictured) told AFP.

“He was the same person summoned by the NBI (National Bureau of Investi-gation) in connection with the Wirecard fraud investigation,” he said, after the government obtained official documents that confirmed earlier reports of Bauer’s death.

German payments giant Wirecard filed for insolvency in June after admitting that the €1.9bn ($2.2bn) missing from its accounts, which it initially claimed to be deposited in two Philippine banks, did not exist.

A Philippine probe showed the missing money had never entered the country’s financial system. The Philippine lenders dragged into the scandal also denied transacting with Wirecard.

Bauer, his wife and their company were under

investigation for potentially flouting the Philippines’ anti-money laundering law, the country’s central bank gov-ernor Benjamin Diokno previ-ously told AFP.

Investigators did not specify Bauer’s role in the accounting scandal, but the Financial Times has described him as a former Wirecard Asia Pacific executive.

Guevarra said previously that investigators had flagged a 2015 remittance from Wire-card’s Asia operations to Bauer’s account, “reportedly for consultancy services rendered”.

Bauer’s wife did not respond to AFP’s questions sent to her Facebook account, which has since been deactivated.

Philippine investigators

also announced yesterday they had filed charges against two immigration officers who allegedly falsified records to show ex-Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek had briefly visited the country after he was sacked from the collapsed company.

German and Philippine authorities want to question the former chief operating officer as part of their separate investigations into the scandal, but his whereabouts are unclear.

Entries in the Bureau of Immigration database show Marsalek arrived in the Phil-ippines on June 23, the day after he was fired, and left for China on June 24.

Guevarra said previously CCTV footage, airline manifests and other records prove Mar-salek was not in the country on those dates.

The NBI said Marsalek had been in the Philippines in early March but there were “no indi-cations” that he was still there.

The faked records “appear to be mere diversionary in order to divert the attention of the authorities in Europe to focus its attention in the Phil-ippines and not in their juris-diction,” NBI said in a statement.

14 FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020SPORT

‘Excited’ Djokovic confirms US Open participationAFP — PARIS

Novak Djokovic (pictured) confirmed yesterday he will play at the US Open, the world number one ending specu-lation about his presence at the first Grand Slam tournament since the season restarted following the coronavirus-enforced shutdown.

“I’m happy to confirm that I’ll participate at #CincyTennis and #USOpen this year,” the 33-year-old Serbian star tweeted.

“It was not an easy decision to make with all the obstacles and challenges on many sides, but the prospect of competing again makes me really excited,” added the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

The US Open gets under way behind closed doors in New York on August 31, with Djokovic arriving in the

United States tomorrow to tune up in the Western and Southern Open, which is normally played in Cincinnati but has been moved to New York this year.

H i s decision to take part is a major boost for the US Open after a h o s t o f headline names pulled out.

The list of a b s e n t e e s i n c l u d e s f o u r -t i m e

champion Rafael Nadal, woman’s world number one Ashleigh Barty and her fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios. Five-time winner Roger Federer is

also missing as the Swiss legend recovers from

knee surgery.Djokovic makes

his competitive return after being heavily criticised for hosting a charity tennis event in the Balkans in June at which he and a raft of players tested

positive for

COVID-19. Kyrgios was among those to serve up verbal volleys, describing Djokovic’s decision to put on the ill-fated Adria Tour as “boneheaded”.

Djokovic, president of the ATP Player Council, said he was “so deeply sorry” that the event “caused harm”, but described the level of criticism as “like a witch hunt”.

Confirmation that he will bid for a fourth US Open title came after he initially expressed scepticism over strict protocols, describing limits on players’ entourages at the tournament as “extreme” and “impossible”.

In a statement on his website he wrote: “I am aware that this time around it will be very different with all the pro-tocols and safety measures that are put in place to protect players and people of NY.

“Nevertheless, I have

trained hard with my team and got my body in shape so I am ready to adapt to new conditions.”

He said he had completed “all the check-ups”, was fully recovered from coronavirus and was “ready to get back on court fully committed to playing my best tennis”.

The winner of a record eighth Australian Open before

the season went into lockdown said he respected and appre-ciated the “time, effort, and energy” taken to put on the two events which are being staged in a quarantine environment without spectators at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.

He had expressed hope that the existing ban on South American players travelling to compete would be eased before the US Open began.

“Unfortunately for the players and the game itself, the current situation is not allowing everyone to travel and compete at the same level of risk, and I hope the situation will change soon and we will all be back to doing what we love and do best.”

The US Open, which fin-ishes on September 13, is fol-lowed a fortnight later by the rescheduled French Open.

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moved to New York this year.

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The list of a b s e n t e e si n c l u d e s f o u r -t i m e

time winner Roger Federer isalso missing as the Swiss

legend recovers fromknee surgery.

Djokovic makeshis competitivereturn after beingheavily criticised forhosting a charitytennis event in theBalkans in June atwhich he and a raftof players tested

positive for

IPL teams taking their own net bowlers to UAE

REUTERS — NEW DELHI

Indian Premier League (IPL) teams are planning to take their own practice bowlers to the United Arab Emirates as the bio-secure ‘bubble’ surrounding the Twenty20 tournament prevents them from using local cricketers, franchise officials said.

The IPL was scheduled to begin in late March but was indefinitely postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak before being switched to the UAE earlier this month.

Strict bio-security measures are being put in place for the 53-day tournament, which begins on September 19, and the IPL’s eight teams will have to arrange their own net bowlers while maintaining the league’s health protocols.

“We’re planning to take around eight-10 net bowlers,” Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Chief Executive Kasi Viswa-nathan said by telephone.

“We have a list of players from Tamil Nadu to pick from and most of them will be first class cricketers.”

CSK would hold a training camp in Chennai from Sunday before flying to UAE on August 21, he added.

Kings XI Punjab Chief Executive Satish Menon confirmed they too would fly with their own set of net bowlers.

Delhi Capitals said they were yet to finalise how many net bowlers they would take when the players fly out next week.

Kolkata and Rajasthan franchises will also follow suit, according to local media reports.

However, Rajasthan will have to fly without fielding coach Dishant Yagnik, who has tested positive for COVID-19. He must return five negative results -- two in India and three in the UAE -- before he can rejoin the side.

Punjab dismissed media reports that batsman Karun Nair had recently recovered after contracting COVID-19.

“He had some mild fever, that’s all. Nothing to do with coronavirus. He’s per-fectly alright,” franchise CEO Menon said.

Mercedes star Hamilton says F1 chiefs ‘always trying to slow us’AFP — BARCELONA

Lewis Hamilton yesterday said Formula One was “always trying to slow” Mercedes before he brushed aside a threatened ban on their “party mode” qualifying set-up.

The world champion said a ban, as presented this week by the FIA, was unlikely to cause serious problems for the champions.

The ban plan, which could hit Mercedes’ high-speed qualifying laps, was revealed in a letter sent this week to all Formula One teams, relating to various proposed new tech-nical and sporting rules.

The plans include a total ban on all differing engine modes, including boosting engine power and car speed for a qualifying run, to enforce the use of one mode of power unit performance throughout both qualifying and the race.

The sport’s ruling body, the

International Motoring Fed-eration (FIA), hopes to introduce the ban as soon as the Belgian Grand Prix later this month.

It is widely viewed as a bid to stop six-time champion team Mercedes from running away with the 2020 title.

They have won four of the five season-opening races, but were soundly beaten by Red

Bull in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone last Sunday. “It’s not a surprise,” said six-time world champion Hamilton.

“They’re always trying to slow us down, but it doesn’t really change a huge amount for us so it’s not a problem.”

Speaking during a video news conference ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix,

Hamilton was upbeat about the moves and made clear he had confidence in Mercedes’ ability to maintain their speed and competitiveness.

“The guys at our team have just done such a good job with the engine,” he explained.

“It’s obviously (being done) to slow us down, but I don’t think it’s going to get the result that they want. But it’s totally fine if they do it.”

The world championship leader’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who powered to pole position at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, said he found it difficult to estimate how much any rival teams might lose from the ban of their own modes.

“It’s impossible to know, with other engine manufac-turers, how much they can actually gain when they pull it all out in qualifying and if we’re actually gaining more or not,” he said.

Lewis Hamilton

Binder and KTM looking to exploit home advantageAFP — SPIELBERG

South African Brad Binder (pictured) will try to serve up another dose of last weekend’s wizardry at his KTM team’s home Austrian MotoGP on Sunday.

Binder smashed a series of firsts when winning the Czech MotoGP for his maiden success at only the third attempt in his rookie season in the elite division.

He was also the first South African to win at this level and KTM’s breakthrough MotoGP success too - the perfect way to celebrate his 25th birthday on Tuesday.

“It would be fantastic to have another good weekend for this home race,” said Binder yesterday.

KTM’s motorsport director Pit Bierer spoke feelingly about their “long fight” from the time they first decided to aim for MotoGP, starting with “a white sheet of paper”, to Sunday’s

“outstanding” win, and all the hard punches in between.

Binder’s unscripted victory put the brakes on Fabio Quartararo, the rising French rider who leads the championship after back-to-back wins in the first two races at Jerez on his Yamaha.

World champion Marc Marquez is absent in Spielberg for the third consecutive race as the Spaniard recovers from two bouts of surgery on a broken arm sustained in his season-opening race crash.

The Honda star’s misfortune has left him trailing Quartararo by already 59 points ahead of Sun-day’s fourth leg of the coronavirus-curtailed season.

Anderson strikes as Alam’s long wait ends with a duckAFP — SOUTHAMPTON

England great James Anderson returned to form with two wickets against Pakistan at Southampton yesterday as Fawad Alam’s long wait for a Test recall ended with a duck.

Pakistan were 126-5 at stumps after a combination of rain and bad light cut short play on the first day of the second Test.

Anderson had taken 2-35 from 15 overs to move to within eight wickets of becoming the first paceman with 600 in Tests.

All of England’s four quicks enjoyed success, with only Pakistan opener Abid Ali -- dropped twice in the slips -- offering prolonged resistance during an innings of 60.

Anderson came into this match having taken just six wickets in three previous Tests this season, at an expensive average of over 41.

By his own admission, he had not been at his best with a match haul of 1-67 during England’s three-wicket win in the first Test at his Old Trafford home ground last week.

But the 38-year-old denied rumours he was con-sidering retirement, with England captain Joe Root saying on the eve of this match: “To question Jimmy’s ability and his record -- do that at your own peril.”

And it was not long before England’s all-time leading wicket-taker struck after

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali won the toss.

In humid conditions con-ducive to Anderson’s bowling, he needed just eight balls to have Shan Masood, fresh from his Test-best 156, lbw for one with an inswinger to the left-hander.

Masood was so clearly out, he did not bother to review the decision.

Pakistan should have been 7-2 but Abid, on one, was reprieved when third slip

Dom Sibley dropped an edge off Stuart Broad.

Azhar, under pressure after a run of just one fifty in 10 innings since becoming skipper in November, was nearly out for seven when, playing defensively at in-form all-rounder Chris Woakes, the ball trickled onto his stumps without dislodging the bails.

Woakes suffered again when he had Abid, on 21, got dropped by second slip Rory

Burns. But Pakistan’s luck ran out when Azhar, on 20, edged a full-length Anderson delivery and this time Burns held a good, low catch to leave Pakistan 78-2.

The only bowlers to have taken more than Anderson’s 592 Test wickets are a trio of retired spinners.

Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Mura-litharan leads the way with 800, while Australia’s Shane Warne has 708 and India’s Anil Kumble 619. Abid com-

pleted a 99-ball fifty fea-turing six fours after tea.

But left-arm seamer Sam Curran, recalled in place of fast bowler Jofra Archer, had Abid taken in the slips by Burns with a ball that angled across the right-hander fol-lowing a couple of inswingers.

Sibley, to his evident relief, held a slip catch off Broad as Asad Shafiq fell cheaply.

Alam, a prolific run-scorer in Pakistan domestic cricket, played the last of his three previous Tests, in which he averages over 41, against New Zealand in Dunedin in November 2009.

The 34-year-old was the only change to the side after replacing leg-spinning all-rounder Shadab Khan.

But Alam lasted just five minutes at the crease.

Batting with an extremely open stance, Alam was lbw for a four-ball nought to in-form all-rounder Woakes.

Alam was initially given not out but an England review revealed the ball had pitched in line, with a squared-up Alam in front of his stumps.

England, as well as recalling Curran, made an expected change when batsman Zak Crawley returned in place of Ben Stokes.

Star all-rounder Stokes is missing the final two matches of this series for personal reasons after travelling to New Zealand to be with his ill father.

England’s Chris Woakes appeals successfully for the wicket of Pakistan’s Fawad Alam on the first day of second Test yesterday.

Pakistan 1st InningsShan Masood lbw b Andersonl ...................... 1

Abid Ali c Burns b Curran l ............................60

Azhar Ali c Burns b Anderson l ....................20

Babar Azam not out l .................................... 25

Asad Shafiq c Sibley b Broad l ........................5

Fawad Alam lbw b Woakes l ......................... 0

Mohammad Rizwan not out l ........................ 4

Extras (b4, lb7) l ............................................ 11

Total (5 wkts, 45.4 overs, 212m) l ..... 126To bat: Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas,

Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah

Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Masood), 2-78 (Azhar),

3-102 (Abid), 4-117 (Shafiq), 5-120 (Alam)

Bowling: Anderson 15-3-35-2; Broad 13-4-31-

1; Curran 10-2-23-1; Woakes 7.4-1-26-1;

SCOREBOARD

15FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020 SPORT

AFP – MONACO

American sprint star Noah Lyles (pictured) will bid to put his aggravated psychological problems to one side as he heads a stellar line-up of athletes when competitive track and field resumes in Monaco today in a season almost wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic.

Following exhibition events in Oslo and Zurich in June and July, the Diamond League meeting in Monaco will mark the start of the competitive season. Meetings in Eugene, London, Paris, Rabat, Gateshead and Shanghai have all cancelled because of coronavirus.

Six more Diamond League meets are currently scheduled, in Stockholm, Lausanne, Brussels, Rome, Doha and a

yet-to-be-decided venue in China, running from August 23 until October 17.

Lyles, who won the world 200 metres and the 4x100m relay in Doha last year, has admitted to psychological problems worsened by the COVID-19 outbreak, the Black Lives Matter movement and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics at which he was hotly tipped for success.

“It’s a kind of perfect storm,” Lyles said of those triple concerns.

Lyles scorched to a meet record of 19.65sec in the 200m the last time he raced in Monaco, in 2018.

And the 23-year-old warned that he was targeting another fast race.

“I told my coach after the virtual Zurich Diamond League

that I really wanted to run a fast time in Monaco,” said Lyles, who will be racing his brother Josephus -- making just his third Diamond League appearance -- and 2017 world champion Ramil Guliyev of Turkey.

“I know it’s going to be a really good track, I know it’s probably going to be wind legal. I want to do everything in my power to make sure that this race is really fast.”

While admitting to being on anti-depressants, Lyles said his experience during lockdown had not been all negative.

“We probably stayed in our house for about three weeks. There wasn’t a lot of time where I wasn’t training or going out,” he said.

Lyles aside, 10 other reigning world champions will compete at the Stade Louis II in the first

elite athletics meet of the season.There will be a reduced

capacity of 5,000 spectators, while athletes have had to undergo COVID-19 tests before departure and on arrival to show they are not infected.

Sifan Hassan will be up against strong Kenyan duo Bea-trice Chepkoech and Hellen Obiri in the women’s 5,000m. Obiri won the world title at that distance last season while Hassan -- a member of the now-disbanded Nike-backed group of disgraced coach Alberto Salazar -- took the 1,500m and 10,000m double.

World record holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden goes head-to-head with American Sam Hendricks in the men’s pole vault. And Norway’s Karsten Warholm, the world 400m hurdles champion, said the

Monaco Diamond league meet was “exactly what we need now”. “For me, Monaco is the most special meet to come to because it’s the only thing that we get this year that is normal. That is what I want and I think that it’s also what the spectators want,” he said.

Other world champions on show include American Donavan Brazier (800m), Ven-ezuela’s Yulimar Rojas (triple jump) and British heptathlete Katharina Johnson-Thompson, who competes in the high jump.

World champion Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya reprises his duel with Norway’s Ingebrigtsen brothers, Filip and Jakob, in the men’s 1500m, while Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, the world 10,000m champion, is targeting a world record in the 5000m today.

Lyles bids to banish COVID-19 woes as athletics returns

Longines Hathab Series: Stage set for Round 11

Bayern Munich players taking part in a training session ahead of their Champions League quarter-final match. PIC: TWITTER / @FCBAYERNEN

Barcelona, Bayern meet in battle of past championsAP – LISBON

The two former champions still left in the Champions League have to face each other for a chance to end their title drought in Europe.

Lionel Messi will lead Bar-celona against Robert Lewand-owski and Bayern Munich in today’s high-profile quarter-final in Lisbon.

Both are five-time European champions, and both are in the quarter-finals for a record 18th time, but neither has lifted the European trophy recently. Barcelona’s last title was in 2015, and Bayern last won it in 2013.

Bayern and Barcelona are the only teams among the last eight to have won the compe-tition. Atlético Madrid is the only other team to have made it to a final.

It will be the first time the European powerhouses meet in the Champions League since 2015, when Barcelona elimi-nated Bayern in the semifinals. They also met in the semi-finals when Bayern last lifted the trophy in 2013, with the German team advancing 7-0 on aggregate.

No team has more victories over Barcelona in the Cham-pions League than Bayern - five in eight matches - and it is coming off a streak of eight straight victories in this season’s European competition. The last win was against Chelsea last week to secure its spot in the last eight.

“We know the potential of our rival, we are not going to downplay that,” Barcelona coach Quique Setién said yesterday.

“It’s true that they have an extraordinary potential, but so do we. It’s going to be an even match, and I’m certain that we will have our chances as well.”

Lewandowski has been Bayern’s biggest weapon, helping the team score a total of 24 goals in the group stage. The Polish forward has 34 goals in all competitions this season, only two behind Lazio’s Ciro Immobile.

“Lewandowski is truly extraordinary,” said Barcelona midfielder Arturo Vidal, a former Bayern player. “He is very dangerous and it will be very hard to defend against him, but we will be prepared.”

Lewandowski is the top scorer in this season’s Cham-pions League with 13 goals. He needs one more to reach 50 with Bayern in the competition. His total of 66 makes him the fourth highest scorer in Cham-pions League history, behind Raúl González (71), Lionel Messi (115) and Cristiano Ronaldo (130).

Barcelona could see the return of Ousmane Dembélé to help in attack. The French forward has recovered from a long injury layoff and Setién said he may get some minutes off the bench during the tour-nament in Lisbon.

Messi is Barcelona’s leading scorer with 25 goals this season,

a disappointing one for the Catalan club. It could be the first for Barcelona without a major title since 2007-08. The team’s complicated season included a coaching change and public dis-putes between players and team officials.

Barcelona struggled after the Spanish league resumed amid the coronavirus pan-demic, relinquishing the league lead - and the title - to Real Madrid. It eliminated Napoli in the round of 16 of the

Champions League, but only the European title will bring some peace back to the club and Setién.

“It’s the most important match of the year for us,” Vidal said. “We are hopeful that we can win this title. We know that Bayern had a spectacular year and that it will be difficult for us. But we are Barcelona and if we do what we know we can do, we have great chances of advancing. We will give every-thing we have.”

UEFA confident fans will be able to attend Euro 2020AFP – LISBON

UEFA is hopeful that the post-poned European Champi-onship will go ahead next year with fans able to attend, pres-ident Aleksander Ceferin said yesterday.

However, the head of European football’s governing body did not rule out the pos-sibility of having to change the controversial format for the tournament, which is due to be staged in 12 cities all across the continent.

“What didn’t seem strange in January seemed strange in March. Maybe something that seems strange now will not seem strange in December or January,” Ceferin told AFP in an exclusive interview in Lisbon, where the Champions League is being played to a con-clusion after a long sus-pension due to the corona-virus pandemic.

No repeat of CL ‘Final Eight’ in future, says UEFA chiefAFP – LISBON

The ‘Final Eight’ format for the Champions League will not be repeated in future, UEFA Pres-ident Aleksander Ceferin has told AFP, saying it is “impos-sible” to find space in an already packed calendar.

“This tournament might be interesting in the future, but I don’t think we can do it, because the calendar is so dense,” Ceferin told n an exclusive interview in Lisbon, where this season’s Cham-pions League is being played to a conclusion.

“I don’t know where I can put a tournament for a week or two in May. I think it’s impossible,” he said.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, UEFA was busy contemplating changes to the format of the Champions League from 2024 onwards.

This year, all ties from the quarter-finals onwards are being played as one-off matches behind closed doors in the Portuguese capital as UEFA rushes to finish the com-petition after an enforced hiatus of five months because of the pandemic.

This season’s final was supposed to be played in Istanbul at the end of May. Now it will go ahead in an empty Estadio da Luz on August 23, with the Turkish city having been awarded the hosting of next year’s final instead.

But that is subject to the pandemic being under control by then.

“I am optimistic by nature, and I think that things will get better into next year and we will have normal football back, good old football with spec-tators, so we don’t have a Plan B,” Ceferin said.

Matuidi joins Beckham’s Inter MiamiAFP – MILAN

France’s World Cup winner Blaise Matuidi will join David Beckham’s Major League Soccer club Inter Miami, the American club announced yesterday.

Matuidi, 33, has left Italian champions Juventus by mutual consent after three years, for the club co-owned by Beckham, his former Paris Saint-Germain teammate.

“I made my decision a few weeks ago to join Inter Miami, rise to my friend David Beck-ham’s challenge and win new trophies there. My family and I can’t wait,” Matuidi wrote on Twitter.

Matuidi joined the Turin giants from Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 and had one year left on his contract.

“I couldn’t be happier to welcome my friend Blaise to Inter Miami. He is an exciting and gifted player and a great person,” said Beckham.

Aleksander Ceferin

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (left) and team-mate Antoine

Griezmann taking part in a training session at the Luz

Stadium in Lisbon yesterday, on the eve of the UEFA Champions

League quarter-final match against Bayern Munich.

Riders are seen with their horses at the vet check ahead of the 11th round of the Longines Hathab Qatar Equestrian Tour which kicks off today. Action begins with Small Tour at 16:00 while the individual and team competitions of the Medium Tour will start at 18:45. The annual series is organised by Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) and Al Shaqab. Longines, ExxonMobil and Salam International are the official partners of the popular series.

FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

If a team possesses a striker of Baghdad Bounedjah’s calibre no opposition can rule them out until the final whistle. The Algerian striker proved that once again, scoring the winner in the final minute of stoppage time to give Al Sadd a much-needed 1-0 victory over Qatar SC yesterday.

Despite making numerous attacks against Qatar SC, defending champions Al Sadd were unable to score a goal against a stubborn defense on their home turf, until Bounedjah headed the ball into the goal in (90+8 minutes) on a corner kick to give Al Sadd their fourth con-secutive victory since the league resumed on July 24.

It was Bounedjah’s 14th goal in the season, making him favourite to retain his golden boot. With a win in the penul-timate round that witnessed gradual return of fans, Al Sadd

moved to 44 points on third position but their chance of retaining the title remains slim. Table toppers Al Duhail (46 points) and second strongest contenders for the title, Al Rayyan (45 points) will be seen in action in their Round 21 fix-tures today.

Earlier, Al Sailiya also reg-istered a 1-0 win over Al Arabi in yesterday’s other match at the Al Janoub Stadium.

Mohammed Abuzraik scored the all-important goal in the 47th minute as Al Sailiya consolidated their fifth place with 28 points.

Also yesterday, Al Wakrah moved to sixth place with 27 points after securing full points, beating Al Ahli 1-0 at Al Janoub Stadium. Al Arabi (25 points) slipped to seventh spot.

Cristian Ceballos scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 74th minute.

Title contenders Al Duhail, Al Rayyan

eye wins Meanwhile, Al Duhail and

Al Rayyan will be looking for maximum points in their penultimate round matches against the relegation-threatened oppositions.

Al Duhail will take on 11th-placed Al Khor at Al Sadd Stadium while Al Rayyan will meet bottom-placed Al Sha-hania at Al Janoub Stadium, with both the matches scheduled to kick off at 7:30pm.

Al Duhail, who defeated Al Khor 3-2 in the first leg, are

seeking another win against their opponents to retain at least their one-point lead against Al Rayyan on top of the table.

“We must beat Al Khor. We hope to remain in high spirit as we did in all previous matches, especially against Al Sadd in the last round, even though we failed to get any point from that game,” Al Duhail coach Walid Regragui told a pre-match press conference.

“The match will not be easy, but the advantage we

have is that we still control our fate and we must win the next two matches in order to win the league. This is what I told my players. We now think only about the Al Khor match,” he added.

Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre said today’s game against Al Shahania is nothing short of a final for his side.

“Our loss in this match means losing the dream of winning the league, so the match will be a final for us.

"The Al Shahania match

will be difficult mainly because they are playing for survival, so we have to offer our best on the field. We will try to win because we do not want to lose any point and this is our last chance to compete for the title,” he said before adding Al Sadd’s 1-0 win over Al Duhail in last round raised Al Rayyan’s chances of winning the title.

In other match today, Al Gharafa, who secured fourth spot last week will meet 10-placed Umm Salal at Al Janoub Stadium.

WEEK 21 RESULTS Al Sailiya 1 - 0 Al ArabiAl Ahli 0 - 1 Al WakrahQatar SC 0 - 1 Al SaddTODAY'S FIXTURES

Umm Salal vs Al Gharafa (16:00, Al Janoub Stadium) Al Shahania vs Al Rayyan (19:30, Al Janoub Stadium)

Al Duhail vs Al Khor (19:30, Al Sadd Stadium)

SPORT | 14

Anderson strikes

as Alam's long

wait ends

with a duck

SPORTLyles bids

to banish

COVID-19 woes as

athletics returns

SPORT | 15

FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2020

AP – LISBON, PORTUGAL

American midfielder Tyler Adams scored in the 88th minute to give Leipzig a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid yesterday and send the German club to its first Champions League semifinal.

Adams came off the bench in the second half and scored with a shot from outside the area that deflected off a defender, ensuring that Leip-zig’s surprising European run will continue into the last four.

Dani Olmo had opened the scoring for Leipzig in the 51st and João Félix equalized for Atlético from the penalty spot in the 71st.

The result ended yet another title run for Atlético, which was seen as a big favorite to reach the semifinals but again will endure a disap-pointing elimination. Diego Simeone’s team knocked out defending champion Liverpool in the last 16 and was looking to return to the last four for the

first time since 2017, a year after it lost its second final in three seasons.

Leipzig, founded 11 years ago with investment by Red Bull, will next face French pow-erhouse Paris Saint-Germain, which eliminated Atalanta in Wednesday’s quarterfinal in Lisbon.

The Champions League is finishing the season amid the coronavirus pandemic with a last eight tournament in Lisbon. The semifinals will be next week and the final will take place on August 23.

Today, two former cham-pions still left in the Champions League, Barcelona and Bayern Munich will face each other for a chance to end their title drought in Europe.

Arturo Vidal yesterday warned Bayern Munich his Bar-celona team are the best team in the world ahead of the crunch tie. And Barca coach Quique Setien was in confident mood too, insisting Bayern’s in-form striker Robert

Lewandowski is “clearly” not at the level of his captain Lionel Messi. Their comments come after former Bayern midfielder Lothar Matthaus told German newspaper Bild earlier this

week Lewandowski has over-taken Messi as the best player in the world and he no longer fears Barcelona. Vidal spent three years at Bayern, who are deemed heavy favourites to

reach the semis after winning the German title and ham-mering Chelsea, while Barca crumbled in La Liga. But Vidal said Barcelona’s opponents should not be complacent.

“They are very confident but tomorrow they aren’t playing against a Bundesliga team, they’re playing against Barca and Barca is the best team in the world.”

Bounedjah’s last-gasp strike seals win for Al SaddAFC ranks Xavi's effort as one ofthe best

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

The Asian Football Confeder-ation (AFC) yesterday ranked Barca legend Xavi's effort during the 2018 AFC Cham-pions League match against Iran's Persepolis among the best.

"The Spaniard’s supreme awareness was key to this Baghdad Bounedjah goal, a glance over his shoulder coming just before he swivels and dumbfounds the two Persepolis centre-backs with the smartest of balls to enable the Algerian to double Al Sadd’s advantage," the AFC mentioned on its '5 of the Best' poll on its web site.

The match saw Bounedjah scoring a brilliant double as the hosts defeated Persepolis 3-1.

"Arguably one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Xavi made his AFC Champions League debut in 2018, lighting up games with his vision, cre-ativity and even the odd goal to boot," it said.

Fans can vote to select the top assist on https://www.the-afc.com/competitions/afc-champions-league/latest/news/5-of-the-best-assists before August 20.

Fans return to stadiumsA spectator getting his temperature measured before entering Al Janoub Stadium yesterday as the QNB Stars League opened match venues to fans after a long break due to the coronavirus pandemic. All guidelines issued by MOI to avoid the spread of virus were followed as fans returned to the stadiums. Children below 12 years are not allowed while all attendees must wear masks and the EHTERAZ mobile application must display green on their status.PICTURES: TWITTER / @MOI_QATAREN

Leipzig stun Atletico to reach last four

Leipzig’s players celebrate after winning their UEFA Champions League quarter-final match against Atletico Madrid at the Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, yesterday. BOTTOM: Leipzig’s US midfielder Tyler Adams (centre) scoring their winning goal.