qatar signs concession agreement for development, operation ......2020/08/21 · affairs, h e dr....

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, affirmed that the Qatar-Libya relation is very old based on mutual respect and cooperation in all fields.

In an interview with Al Jazeera TV, H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah said: “There is importance to reach a political solution to the Libyan crisis, and this political solution comes through the political agreement and the outputs of the Skhirat Agreement in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions. There is no other option except a political solution, which is what we urge our brothers in Libya.”

On regional and international initiatives, H E Dr. Khalid said: “We cannot dictate to the brothers in Libya in which direction they go, but there must be intentions for a political solution and these intentions must be sincere and there must be partners.”

On the recent visit of His Excellency accompanied by the Turkish Minister of Defence to Libya, H E Dr. Al Attiyah said: “The meetings with the brothers in Libya and the Turkish Min-ister of Defence were all fruitful.

The meetings were for consul-tation and discussion about the best ways to protect the unity of Libya and how to combat mercenaries from any side.”

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of State for

Defence Affairs added the mer-cenaries cause anxiety in Libya. “We also talked about a political solution and openness to the parties that want a viable political solution to the Libyan crisis,” H E the Minister said.

His Excellency said: “What we have seen from the discus-sions in Libya with all the parties in the Government of National Accord is their openness to the political solution and we found great positivity in adopting this

option.” H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs said that the Government of National Accord has a sincere intention to stop the bloodshed and sit down to find a political solution that serves Libya and its people and thus results from a civilian government.

His Excellency added: “What we fear is the militari-sation of Libya, and at the core of the discussion of the three parties is to encourage how to avoid the militarisation of Libya and take Libya to safety, so that the Libyan parties reach a political solution for the civil state that all Libyans desire.”

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister affirmed that the interna-tional community has a great responsibility to ensure that Haftar’s actions and aggression against Libyan cities are not repeated, warning that if the Libyan issue is not set on the right track, which is the path of a political solution, it may result in problems for Libya and the neighbouring countries.

Friday 21 August 2020

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Qatar signs concession agreement for development, operation of Ukraine portTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti and the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure H E Vladyslav Kryklii have witnessed the initialling of the concession agreement for the development and operation of the SC Olvia Port - Ukraine, between QTerminals Qatar, QTer-minals SC Olvia, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, and the State Enterprise Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA), at a virtual signing ceremony in Doha and Kiev via vide-oconferencing.

The event was attended by Chairman of Qatar Navigation (Milaha) Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar’s Ambassador to Ukraine Hadi bin Nasser Al-Hajri and Ukraine’s Ambas-sador to Qatar Andrii Kuzmenko.

The agreement was initialled by QTer-minals Qatar CEO Neville Bissett, QTer-minals SC Olvia Executive Director Mohammed Al Lahham, Ukrainian State Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure

Buchko Volodymyr Anatoliiovych, and Acting Head of SE USPA Holodnytskyi Ole-ksandr Hryhorovych.

The term of the concession is 35 years, until 2056, during which QTerminals will invest about $140m to develop the port over the next five years provided that $3.5m out of that amount is allocated for the resto-ration of local infrastructure of Mykolaiv, the city where the port is located.

Additionally, during the first five years of the concession, QTerminals will invest in establishing a new fully-equipped grain terminal, improve existing warehouses, modernize the road and telecommunications networks and all Olvia utilities and buildings, and set up silos and loading equipment for all modes of transportation, such as railway and freight lines. �P3

QU ranks among top 700 universities globally in ARWU 2020 Ranking

FM reiterates Qatar's firm position in supporting Palestinian rightsQNA — DOHA

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held yesterday a phone call with H E Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Dr. Saeb Erakat.

During the call, they discussed developments in Palestine as well as regional a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l developments.

In the context of the Pal-estinian cause, H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed the State of Qatar’s firm position in supporting

the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people and adhering to international legitimacy and relevant Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative as a basis for achieving a just and sustainable peace that guarantees the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.

For his part, the Sec-retary-General of the Exec-utive Committee of the PLO affirmed the Palestinian side’s appreciation of the position of the State of Qatar and the efforts cur-rently underway to stop the attack on the Palestinian territories and innocent civilians in Gaza.

Members of the school health and safety committees to get training to implement COVID-19 measuresSANAULLAH ATAULLAH

THE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Public Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education will train members of the school health and safety committees to implement the precautionary measures in each school to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“These committees are essential in the coming stage to ensure the safety of students in schools,” said the Assistant Under-Secretary for Educa-tional Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation, Fawzia Al Khater urging committee members, parents and students to get more infor-mation about the pandemic.

She was speaking in a joint press conference to explain the back-to-school plan and safety

measures. The conference was also attended by Dr. Yousuf Al Maslamani, Medical Director, Hamad General Hospital from the Ministry of Public Health.

On the distance learning mechanism, Al Khater said: “The approved mechanism in

distance learning will continue as it was in the previous aca-demic year, as the education material is available.”

She said that those parents who will not be present during the morning to follow lessons with their children, the recorded

lessons will be available on the distance learning or Microsoft-Teams platform enabling them to follow up round the clock.

“We worked with Microsoft-Teams to solve some of the problems that were faced previ-ously, and we are trying to double the capacity on the platform to allow everyone benefit from the platform without hindrance, and parents should not be worried about this aspect,” said Al Khater.

As for the exams, Al Khater said: “The exams will be held at the school premises because it required to do so and parents must make an effort to follow up their students in the educational process.”

“During previous experience, I would like to say, that safe envi-ronments were provided for stu-dents and for administrative and academic staff during the exam period.” �P3

Adequate measures for the safety of students in schools.

Schools will be under keen monitoring of MoPH.

Students can register for bus service online through the

website of the Education Ministry.

School canteens will be closed at the beginning.

Distance learning on the pattern of last academic year will

continue.

Capacity of online platform will increase to allow everyone

benefit smoothly.

Minister of Transport and

Communications H E Jassim Saif

Ahmed Al Sulaiti and the Ukrainian

Minister of Infrastructure H E

Vladyslav Kryklii witnessed the

signing via videoconference.

The term of the concession is 35

years, until 2056, during which

QTerminals will invest about

$140m to develop the port over

the next five years.

$3.5m is allocated for the

restoration of local infrastructure

of Mykolaiv, the city where the

port is located.

Qatar wants peaceful political solution to Libya crisisDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for

Defence Affairs said that mercenaries cause

anxiety in Libya.

"Political solution comes through the political

agreement and the outputs of the Skhirat

Agreement in accordance with relevant Security

Council resolutions."

“What we have seen from the discussions in

Libya with all the parties in the Government of

National Accord is their openness to the political

solution."

“What we fear is the militarisation of Libya, and

at the core of the discussion of the three parties

is to encourage how to avoid the militarisation

of Libya and take Libya to safety."


According to the 2020 Aca-demic Ranking of World Uni-versities (ARWU), released on August 15 by Shang-haiRanking Consultancy, Qatar University (QU) has ranked 601-700 globally.

Qatar University has maintained its legacy since 2017. In 2017 QU ranked 601-700, in 2018 QU ranked 901-1000 and in 2020 QU ranked 601-700 according to ARWU.

On this occasion, QU Pres-ident Dr. Hassan Al Derham (pictured) said: “The university’s presence in this prestigious ranking is the result of deliberate work and concerted efforts of the university to improve the quality of education and scien-

tific research.”Since 2003, ARWU has

been presenting the world top universities annually based on transparent methodology and objective third-party data. It has been recognized as the precursor of global uni-versity rankings and the most trustworthy one. �P3

Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti during the signing ceremony.

02 FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020HOME

FAJR SUNRISE 03.48 am 05.09 am

W A L R U WA I S : 32o↗ 36o W A L K H O R : 29o↗ 43o W D U K H A N : 31o↗ 40o W WA K R A H : 27o↗ 4 4o W M E S A I E E D 27o↗ 4 4o W A B U S A M R A 29o↗ 40o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 05:00 – 18:05 LOW TIDE 01:20–12:39

Hot daytime with some clouds and slight dust at times.

Minimum Maximum34oC 43oC

ZUHR

MAGHRIB

11.38 am06.09 pm

ASR

ISHA

03.07 pm07.39 pm

Speaker of Shura Council attends conclusion of 5th World Conferenceof Speakers of ParliamentQNA — DOHA

The Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament concluded yesterday, with the participation of Speaker of the Shura Council H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud (pictured).

The conference, which was held via video conference, concluded with a declaration in which it affirmed belief in and support of the purposes and principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations, and that parliaments should lead by example in defending multilateralism and a rules-based international order, firmly standing up for the international system built around the United Nations.

It stressed that interna-tional cooperation and multi-lateral action are needed now more than ever, particularly in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact, pro-viding greater support to developing countries and helping them build their

capabilities to confront the epidemic.

It said that preventing the world economy from falling further into recession is an immediate priority by enhancing international mac-roeconomic policy coordi-nation and maintaining global financial markets, while stressing the need to deepen the partnerships and strengthen the architecture that bring that blueprint to fruition, and developing coop-eration between countries as

a basic means of imple-menting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Devel-opment and its Goals.

The Fifth World Con-ference of Speakers of Parliament, which was attended by H E the Sec-retary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, stressed that addressing climate change should be an important part of the future strategy.

The conference also called for non-politici-

sation of humanitarian efforts, commitment to protecting human rights and funda-mental freedoms, strength-ening the role of young men and women in parliaments and all state institutions, sup-porting the core values of democracy and enabling par-liaments to express the will of peoples.

It also stressed respect for international law as the bedrock of a world order based on solidarity and cooperation.

CRA participates in Regional Regulatory Roundtable Discussion at GSR-20THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Communications Regu-latory Authority (CRA) partici-pated yesterday in the Regional Regulatory Roundtable Discussion during the 20th Global Symposium for Regu-lators (GSR-20), which is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The roundtable meeting was conducted in virtual format, under the title “Competition Policy and Analysis in a Digital Apps Environment for the Arab

and Africa Regions”. The meeting was attended by rep-resentatives of the telecom and I n f o r m a t i o n a n d

Communications Technology (ICT) regulatory authorities, as well as other stakeholders from the Africa and Arab regions.

The meeting provided an analysis of the ICTs competition policy and regulation and the foundation for understanding the rules of competition and the regulatory powers that apply to the telecom sector, considering the wider competitive land-scape that now includes digital platforms. The speakers high-lighted digital strategies and innovative solutions adopted in terms of competition policy and

analysis in a digital apps environment.

Besides, the meeting explored the related challenges, opportunities and lessons learned in addition to the devel-opments in regional related reg-ulatory associations. Also, the meeting included a discussion about the GSR-20 Best Practice Guidelines, that will be adopted on September 1, 2020 as an outcome document of GSR.

“In line with CRA’s keenness to ensure the devel-opment of ICT sector in Qatar and transforming Qatar to a

digital country, we have par-ticipated in the Regional Reg-ulatory Roundtable Dis-cussion, which enabled us to meet with other regulatory authorities and stakeholders from the Africa and Arab regions. In addition to exchanging views and experi-ences related to regulating the telecom and ICT, discussing ways of cooperation, and checking the current best practices followed in the field,” said Eng. Abdulla Jassmi (pictured), Technical Affairs Department Manager at CRA.

Katara Art Centre presents virtual exhibition on Arabian horses and hunting falcons

Arabian horse and hunting falcon — two important elements of Arab culture and heritage — are the subject of a new virtual exhibition launched yesterday by the Katara Art Centre.

Titled “Drinkers of the Wind”, the exhibition show-cases unique poetic photo-graphic portraits by prominent photographer Tariq Dajani, reflecting his profound interest in Islamic and Middle Eastern traditions.

Born in England to a Pales-tinian father and an English mother, Dajani spent much of his life moving between Europe and the Middle East which brought him a deep under-standing and appreciation of varied cultures reflected on how he views and relates with the world around him.

Over the years, the artist has been able to find and develop his own artistic style in photog-raphy which projects truth and

emotion that can be felt by eve-ryone who encounters his pho-tographs and are evident in this new solo exhibition.

Dajani has attained wide acclaim for his distinctive style which exudes classical realism and intellectual depth he achieves by photographing his subjects with an intent not merely to document them but to bring out their personality and being.

Looking at the eight photo-graphs on show, one can

observe the seasoned artist’s unparalleled mastery in cap-turing on lens the very essence of the horses and falcons’ ethos which he has perfected with many years of experience in his art practice.

The photos on display have been produced as limited edition prints, each of which is signed and numbered by the artist.

Dajani’s artworks have been widely exhibited in different countries and are included in

several private art collections. His prints of horses and falcons are widely admired and are owned by art lovers around the world, including a number of royal and ruling families in the Middle East.

He now lives on a rural, organic farm in Galicia, north-western Spain, with his wife, and a family of Arabian horses and saluki dogs. He teaches photography and photogravure printmaking courses in his cen-tury-year old farmhouse studio.

Katara Art Centre has launched “Drinkers of the Wind”, a virtual exhibition featuring limited edition photos by prominent photographer Tariq Dajani.

RAYNALD C RIVERA

THE PENINSULA

HMC cautions onheat-related illness

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has urged people to start taking precautions to safeguard themselves against heat-related illnesses (HRI), such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

The body’s inability to cope with the heat can result in mild HRIs such as heat cramps and episodes of fainting, but can also advance to more severe conditions, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which can be life-threatening if not treated promptly, said Jefferson I. Lacson, Senior Clinical Dietician, Home HealthCare Services at HMC.

He has cautioned people to be aware of the warning signs of dehydration, heat exhaustion, and other forms of heat-related illness. He said while mild to moderate dehy-dration can normally be reversed by drinking more fluids, severe cases of dehy-dration and heat-related illness are medical emergencies and require immediate treatment.

“Dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are very common heat related ill-nesses that can be life-threat-ening if left untreated. This happens if an individual is overexposed to the sun and not drinking enough water,” Lacson told The Peninsula.

HRI occurs when a person’s body temperature rises above normal, due to prolonged exposure to heat in soaring temperatures, particularly as a result of high humidity and strenuous physical exercise.

Lacson said that the first signs of heat-related illness typically include skin redness and warmth, dizziness, nausea,

vomiting, tiredness, muscles cramps, difficulty breathing, and a racing heart rate. He said that if left untreated, heat cramps or heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke, which is the most serious heat-related illness and can be fatal.

According to him, depending on the extent of the illness, which ranges from mild to extreme, an individual may experience symptoms like muscle pain, dizziness, nausea, sweating, light-headedness, and extreme fatigue.

“Prolonged exposure to a hot environment and increased physical activity can then cause heat cramps and heat exhaustion and if those condi-tions continue, this can lead to heat stroke. People with heat exhaustion will often not realise the severity of their condition and may just complain of dis-comfort and uneasiness. They may experience excessive sweating, a throbbing headache, and dizziness – all of which are a result of the body’s temper-ature rising rapidly and the sweating mechanism failing. Essentially, the body loses its ability to cool down. Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability if emergency medical treatment is not received,” said Lacson.

He added that people need to ensure that they keep them-selves protected as much as possible from the heat during the hottest months by keeping away from direct sunlight and drink plenty of water, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and other high-water-content foods, wear lightweight, light-col-oured and loose clothing, sun-glasses, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunscreen. But avoid sugary and caffeinated drinks during summer.

FAZEENA SALEEM

THE PENINSULA

talabat first platform to deliver pharmaceuticals in QatarTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

talabat, the region’s leading food and grocery delivery app, has become the first platform in Qatar to provide pharma-ceutical delivery services.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar, Talabat has acquired a Pharmacy and Drug control permit, to continue to provide safety and convenience t h r o u g h o u t C O V I D - 1 9 pandemic.

Continuing its com-mitment to support the com-munity in Qatar, medicine

deliveries will offer an added level of convenience for talabat users. Pharmacies are crucial for the majority, espe-cially as we rely on medicine to tackle illnesses from home, or boost our immunity. Through this new service, customers can trust talabat to fulfill their needs with speed and efficiency.

Francisco de Sousa, Man-aging Director of talabat Qatar, said that the continued expansion of talabat’s oper-ations and services is designed to enhance cus-tomer experience while

encouraging safer practices in the community.

“Expanding into phar-macies is a natural step for talabat Qatar. Our key focus has been to support all com-munities through the services that we deliver, and now, we are here for our customers who rely on pharmacies for first aid and home medi-cation. We are currently in a period where it’s encouraged for us to stay home, especially when we’re ill. At talabat, we’re here to help you stay safe, and be there for you at all time.”

Sheikha Hessa Al Thani praises efforts of aid and relief workersQNA — CAIRO

Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the Arab League for Humanitarian Relief Affairs, H E Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Thani, praised the exerted efforts and great sacrifices of humanitarian and relief workers around the world.

This came in a statement delivered by H E Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Thani on the occasion of the celebration of the World Humanitarian Day, which falls on August 19 each year.

Her Excellency said, in the statement distributed by the Arab League, that the world is celebrating the humanitarian and relief workers, and there are always heroes who achieve epics in giving and sacrifice, and they deserve shedding light

on their field work and the impact they leave on societies, and their great sacrifices of time, and often their lives in order to offer others a better life.

Her Excellency added that there are hundreds of thou-sands of Syrian refugees who fled to neighbouring countries or were internally displaced, and the same tragic situation in Yemen and Libya, in addition to the displaced Iraqis in their countries, the displaced from Darfur in Sudan, and refugees from Somalia in various parts of the world, and next to our Arab world there are those looking for a refuge in African countries, fleeing civil strife, economic and environmental disasters.

H E the Special Envoy pointed out that this year, the

World Humanitarian Day comes, and the world continues its efforts to combat the coro-navirus pandemic that has changed the features of life, noting that health workers have set the most wonderful examples of dedication, giving and self-sacrifice in order to confront the deadly pandemic.

Her Excellency added that this day is celebrated, and the whole world shares Lebanon’s wounds and sorrows, after a large explosion rocked the city of Beirut and its suburbs Aug.4, leaving devastation and destruction with a diameter of at least 10km, and the number of victims reached more than 200 dead, more than 6000 wounded, and more than 300.000 homeless people who lost their homes.

MADLSA suspends 2 services through govt centres; available onlineTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA) has decided to suspend two services through government service complexes.

From August 23, pro-fession amendment requests and business licences services will be available only digitally through the ministry’s website.

“We inform you of the sus-pension of the following services, as of August 23, 2020: A profession amendment request and business licenses services through government services complexes, and you can apply for these services through the ministry’s website,” the min-istry said in a tweet yesterday.

The Ministry announced two new online services on its website recently. The new services are requesting a work permit for those who are on the residency of their relatives, and changing the profession, which benefits residents who wish to issue a new work permit or renew, cancel and extract a replacement for a lost one.

PM receives phone call from Lebanon’s caretaker PMDOHA: Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Kha-lifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani received a phone call from Caretaker Prime Min-ister of the Republic of Lebanon H E Dr. Hassan Diab yesterday.

At the beginning of the call, H E Dr. Hassan Diab expressed his thanks and appreciation to Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for the support extended by the State of Qatar after Bei-rut port explosion, and Qatar’s permanent

standing with the Lebanese people.During the call, they reviewed the

bilateral relations between the two countries, the prospects for strength-ening and developing them, and the latest developments in Lebanon. -QNA

03FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020 HOME


As part of its efforts to contin-uously share knowledge gained from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 preparations, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) is partnering with the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) to offer an online course under the title, “Sustainability and Major Sports Events”.

The course will be delivered in collaboration with the Josoor Institute, launched with the purpose of building the capacity of sports and events industries in Qatar and the MENA region, and edX, a non-profit online learning platform founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology, the SC said on its website.

Sustainability has played a central part in the build-up to Qatar 2022 ever since Qatar won the right to host the major sports event in 2010. This includes a strong commitment

to incorporate the five pillars of sustainability – human, social, economic, governance and environmental – in all aspects of tournament readiness and the human legacy the event will have on Qatar and beyond.

“After running the course successfully last year, in which more than 900 people from around the world registered, we wanted to continue this collab-oration with HBKU because we truly believe in the power of Qatar 2022 in creating a sub-stantial shift in the way major sports events incorporate sus-tainability in every aspect of their delivery,” said Engineer Bodour Al Meer (pictured), Sus-tainability & Environment Senior Manager at the SC.

“From water and waste management to ensuring that the infrastructure we are building leaves a long-term legacy for all our communities, we strive to make sure that sus-tainability informs every aspect of our work. It is a culture and body of knowledge that we

want to share with the rest of the world,” added Al Meer.

For their part, HBKU sees the course as an opportunity to continue the work they are doing to provide world-class educational content through a series of innovative online courses that will be delivered through their recently launched HBKUx platform.

“With the launch of HBKUx, we are proud to be the first uni-versity in the Middle East to offer a robust online learning platform that makes quality academic programmes and

courses accessible to millions of learners around the world,” said Dr Susan Karamanian, dean of the College of Law at HBKU.

“Partnering with an organ-isation like the Supreme Com-mittee for Delivery & Legacy allows us to provide our stu-dents with unprecedented access to thought leaders who are working on delivering one of the world’s largest sports events,” added Dr. Ala Al-Fuqaha, Acting Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning at HBKU.

In order to receive the cer-tification, students must com-plete two different courses, one on planning and the other on implementation. The courses explore the concept of sustainability in the context of major sports events and help students learn how to for-mulate and write a sustaina-bility strategy. In addition, stu-dents are taught how to track the progress and impact of a sustainability action plan, ensure that procurement proc-esses and practices are sus-tainable, plan for and deliver

legacy and long-term impact, and create, target and deliver an effective communications campaign.

“Imparting the tremendous amount of knowledge gained from the experience of organ-ising a major event like Qatar 2022 is one of the most important parts of the legacy this tournament will leave,” said Talar Sahsuvaroglu, the SC’s Sustainability and Environ-mental Subject Matter Expert, who will be one of the many instructors to deliver the courses.

Partial traffic closure on University StreetTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced the implementation of a partial traffic closure on University Street, on the left lane in both directions of the street for a distance of one kilometer, between the junction of Omar Al Mokhtar/ University Streets and Lejbailat Intersection, and between Lejbailat Intersection and the junction of University/Al Sanaa Streets.

The closure starts tomorrow (August 22) and will be implemented over a period of 9 months. During this period, two lanes on University Street will remain open to traffic in each direction.

View across the bayThe Museum of Islamic Art is seen from MIA Park with traditional dhows in the foreground, in Doha. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

MoPH: 266 more recover; 268 new COVID-19 cases THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 268 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Another 266 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 112,924.

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.

The Ministry has also said

that Qatar has one of the lowest COVID-19 death rates in the world, as a result of, Qatar’s young population, proactive testing to identify cases early, expanding hospital capacity, especially intensive care to ensure all patients receive the medical care they need, pro-tecting the elderly and those with chronic diseases.

However, the Ministry has emphasized on the importance of taking precautions against COVID-19.

“Even though restrictions are being lifted, and numbers are declining, this does not mean that the COVID-19 pan-demic is finished in Qatar – every day between 50 and 100 people are admitted to hospital with moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms,” the Min-istry said.

SC teams up with HBKU to share Qatar 2022 sustainability knowledge

Qatar signs concession agreement for development of Ukraine portFROM PAGE 1

Commenting on the occasion, H E Minister Al Sulaiti stressed the strong relations between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Ukraine and the high level of bilateral cooperation between the two friendly countries.

“This concession is a major achievement for QTerminals that honors its strategy for expanding overseas investments as a Qatari company specialized in seaport management,” he said.

He noted that awarding the concession is a significant investment opportunity in one of Ukraine’s most important Black Sea ports and that all development works that QTer-minals will carry out at the Port of Olvia will contribute to sup-porting its operations and

relevant navigational and logistics services to meet the highest world standards in such a way that will enhance its operational revenues and provide every opportunity for the port to succeed in becoming an international hub for the grain trade.

H E the Minister also said that this step will bolster the eco-nomic cooperation with Ukrainian and international companies and contribute to sup-porting the operations of the maritime line between Ukrainian ports and Hamad Port, thus sup-porting the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

This investment, he noted, will represent a turning point in QTerminals’ contributions to the sustainability of the national

economy and the support for efforts to leverage Qatar’s com-petitiveness on the world map.

H E Minister Kryklii said that re-profiling the infrastructure in the region and developing it in such a way that responds to our aspirations and ambitions will give considerable impetus to the development of the region at large.

For the Ukraine, the agreement signed with QTer-minals is another significant step on the way on widening and re-unlocking the potential of the Port of Olvia, as the company will pay concessions and other fees to the country annually, in addition to QTerminals creating hundreds of new jobs needed by the local community in the city of Mykolaiv.

Bissett said that this agreement is “the first brick in our strategy of international expansion. We have the power, determination, desire and expe-rience to strengthen cooperation between Qatar and Ukraine in the sphere of port production in the Black Sea basin, and we look forward to achieving this in a short period of time.”

“We are firmly convinced and confident that the strong management of QTerminals, together with capabilities and expertise of Ukrainian ports will lead to fruitful results and a reality that is built on all factors of success, which we all look forward to,” he added.

Established in 1992, S.C. Olvia Port - Ukraine, located in the Mykolaiv region on the

Black Sea coast, has been seeing a significant year-on-year increase in grain and oil exports. Mykolaiv is a city in southern Ukraine and one of the region’s principal shipbuilding centers. On an area of 140 hectares, SC Olvia Port has 7 berths and a rail network for transporting cargo inside the port, in addition to several warehouses and storage areas. Its quayside is 1,530 metres long.

QTerminals was established as a joint venture between the Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) and shipping and logistics company Qatar Navigation (Milaha). QTer-minals operates Phase 1 of Hamad Port and is currently working on building Phase 2 of the port.

QU ranks among top 700 varsities globally

FROM PAGE 1

This year, the best 1,000 universities in the world are published. More than 40 uni-versities entered into top 1,000 list for the first time.

Universities are ranked by several indicators of academic or research performance, including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, highly cited researchers, papers published in Nature and Science, papers indexed in major citation indices, and the per capita academic per-formance of an institution.

For each indicator, the highest scoring institution is assigned a score of 100, and other institutions are calculated as a percentage of the top score.

Members of school health & safety committees to get training to implement COVID-19 measuresFROM PAGE 1

Al Khater assured that the students who are suffering from chronic diseases will be excluded from attending the school with the necessity to obtain a medical certificate con-firming their condition, as they are considered to be more at risk than others.

“Students who are staying with a member of his family of first degree with chronic disease also excluded from attending school, provided that they present an approved medical certificate stating that the student resides with a person suffering from a chronic disease with the national address of the patient staying at home.”

However, she said, these students will not be excluded from taking the exams at the school headquarters.

She assured that the Ministry of Education and Higher

Education will not take any decision that may put students at risk as it is important to create a safe and healthy school envi-ronment for students and school staff.

Dr. Yousuf Al Maslamani said that the Ministry of Public Health agreed with the Ministry of Education on certain measures for maintaining the safety of students while they are in the classrooms.

“We agreed with the Min-istry of Education and Higher Education that the number of students should be limited to a maximum of 15 students per class, and the spacing distance between students should be one and a half metres.”

He said that the measures also required wearing a face masks for preparatory and sec-ondary school students, stressing that wearing masks will not be mandatory for

primary school students. “We advise a student if he/

she has any symptoms of coro-navirus to stay at home and not go to school, and if he mixes with an infected person at home, the student must stay in the home quarantine for 14 days to avoid transmitting infection,” said Al Maslamani.

He said that the Hamad Medical Corporation and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education have set health guidelines for the safety of students and school staffs.

Dr. Yousuf Al Maslamani, Medical Director, Hamad General Hospital has said that the students are safer in school compared to any other place because trained people will be available in the schools to implement preventive and pre-cautionary measures.

Speaking in a Qatar TV pro-gramme, Dr. Al Maslamani said

that all indicators suggest that the cases of coronavirus are declining in the country, so the risk is low for the spread of the virus among school students.

“One class will be con-sidered as one family which will not mix-up with the students of other classes,” said Al Maslamani.

He said school management and teachers have been instructed to monitor the stu-dents in case anyone shows system of COVID-19 they know how to deal with this.

“If parents come to know symptom of coronaviurs in their children, they are recom-mended to not send the child to school to avoid infection,” Al Maslamani added.

“Ministry of Public Health will keep monitoring closely during first two weeks to take the stock of the situation. The teams from the Ministry for

tracing will focus on schools as the burden reduced on them with decreasing number of cases in the country.”

He said that after two weeks random screening will be con-ducted to ensure the situation of COVID-19 in schools and revise the decision for reopening schools.

Talking in the same pro-gramme, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Shared Services Affairs, Ali Abdullah Al Buainain said, that for the first three days, students will be trained on precautionary measures, in addition to handing them weekly attendance schedules and registering stu-dents for a seat on the bus.

He said that the students can register for bus service online through the website of the Min-istry of Education and Higher Education, a link for registration will be provided soon.

Adding that school canteen might not open in phase one which could be opened later. “We would like to advice to parents to provide meals to the students after wrapping it properly as it is better to bring foods from home,” said Al Buainain.

He said that as per the indi-cations from the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education will review when to open school canteens.

“We instructed schools to not allow students gathering at tables in canteen and let stu-dents to eat in classroom during breaks.”

“Bus drivers will also required to follow the pre-ventive and precautionary measures like not mixing up with other workers and undergo thermal screening,” said Al Buainain.

04 FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Iran seizes UAE ship amid row on territorial waters

US sanctions Syrian govt and military officials

Iran unveils missiles with increased rangeAFP — TEHRAN

Iran yesterday unveiled two missiles it said had a bigger range than before, naming them after commanders killed in January by a US strike in Iraq.

“Regarding cruise missiles, today we have gone from a range of 300 to 1,000km in less than two years,” said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, during a tele-vised ceremony in Tehran.

The revealing of the missiles comes a day after Washington said it will activate a contro-versial mechanism aimed at reimposing UN sanctions on Iran, the so-called “snapback” procedure.

“Snapback” aims to restore

all international sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the 2015 accord with Tehran that sought to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

One of the new missiles, the “Haj Qasem”, a ballistic missile, was named in honour of top Iranian general Qasem Sole-imani, killed in January in an American strike in Baghdad.

State television praised the speed of the ballistic missile as “Iran’s long arm for hitting the aggressors”, and called on people not to forget “Ain Al Assad”, the Iraqi military base housing Americans, hit by Iranian missiles in retaliation for Soleimani’s assassination.

The other, a cruise missile, was named in honour of Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, the Iraqi lieutenant of Soleimani, who was killed in the same Baghdad strike.

“I thank the Ministry of Defence for naming one of its most important missiles in honour of General Soleimani,” Rouhani said.

Defence Minister Amir Hatami said that “particular attention was paid to increasing the range” of the missiles.

“In the field of solid fuel bal-listic missiles, we have today reached a range of 1,40km,” Hatami said, adding that the missiles had demonstrated their “effectiveness” against “American criminals”.

A new cruise missile unveiled by Iran and called martyr Abu Mahdi is seen in an unknown location in Iran, yesterday.

Virus cases in Libya up 15-fold in 2 months: Red CrossANATOLIA — GENEVA

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Libya have risen more than 15-fold in less than two months, spiking from 571 in June to more than 9,000 today, the Red Cross said yesterday.

More than half a million people need healthcare assistance as conflict, COVID-19, and economic col-lapse threaten to plunge hun-dreds of thousands of civilians deeper into chaos, said the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

ICRC President Peter Maurer said at the end of a visit to the country this week that

Libyans are reeling from nine years of conflict. He said Libyan families had been bombed out of their homes, healthcare facil-ities destroyed, infrastructure has crumbled, and the economy has collapsed.

“In Benghazi and (the capital) Tripoli, I saw firsthand how civilians are suffering because of the catastrophic consequences of this conflict,” said Maurer.

The ICRC said that in Benghazi, Maurer met with eastern Libya-based warlord Khalifa Haftar. That was fol-lowed by a meeting in Tripoli with Fayez Al Sarraj, Prime Minister of Libya’s legitimate government, the Government

of National Accord (GNA). Following the ouster of late

ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya’s government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led political deal. Since April 2019, the government has been under attack by Haftar’s forces, based in eastern Libya, and more than 1,000 people have been killed in the violence.

Recently government forces have turned the tide and forced Haftar’s retreat, with Haftar’s forces leaving behind dan-gerous munitions and bombs in their wake.

Maurer added: “Neighbour-hoods on the former frontlines in Tripoli are badly scarred, and families have little to return to.

People are also at risk of being killed or injured by dangerous unexploded munitions.”

While all this happened, infrastructure all over the country, which spans at least 1.8 million sq km and is Africa’s fourth-largest, is falling apart, said Maurer.

“People have little elec-tricity, drinking water, sani-tation, or medical care in the middle of a growing pandemic.”

In Benghazi, Maurer also met the leadership of the Libyan Red Crescent, which he said has been playing a role in stopping the spread of COVID-19.

The ICRC said the conflict had battered Libya’s healthcare

system. Many hospitals and clinics have been damaged in the fighting, while others were forced to shut their doors because they were close to the frontlines. Other facilities are decaying from underinvestment.

The economic impact of the conflict and COVID-19 is also being felt. Most people surveyed by the ICRC said their liveli-hoods have suffered due to COVID-19.

Prices are expected to climb further since Libya imports most of its food, and oil pro-duction has ground to a halt due to a blockade by Haftar. Milk, vegetables, bread, and fuel are already in short supply, said the ICRC.

Colonel declares himself junta head in MaliREUTERS — BAMAKO

Army colonel Assimi Goita presented himself as head of the junta that ousted Mali’s president, as its spokesman sought to reassure citizens that daily life could resume as normal.

Junta members met gov-ernment ministry officials late on Wednesday to map out a return to stability, a day after detaining President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in a coup that has rocked a country already in the grip of a jihadist insur-gency and civil unrest.

It has also been con-demned by international powers and regional organisations.

“I am Colonel Assimi Goita, president of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP),” Assimi, dressed in military fatigues, told reporters after the meeting.

“Following yesterday’s event which led to the change of power we believed that it was our duty to state our position to (ministries’) general secretaries, so they may be able to work immediately.”

The capital Bamako was calm for the second straight day yesterday, a Reuters reporter said, as people appeared to heed calls from the junta’s presumed s p o k e s m a n , C o l o n e l Emmanuel Wague, to “freely

go about their business and restart activities.”

Crowds had poured into the streets of the capital on Tuesday to celebrate the coup.

Little is known about the backgrounds of the junta’s leadership, which includes several other colonels.

Wague read the statement early Wednesday morning that announced the military takeover, promising to organise national elections within a “reasonable” time.

Late on Wednesday he said civil servants should also return to work from Thursday, and that the junta was taking “all measures .. to protect the personnel and their belongings as well as their place of work.”

Colonel Assimi Goita (centre left) during a press conference at the Malian Ministry of Defence in Bamako, yesterday.

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ANATOLIA — TEHRAN

Iran yesterday seized a ship belonging to the UAE after signs of warming ties among the two countries gave way to fresh tension, with both sides accusing each other of violating their territorial waters.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry o said it had summoned the UAE envoy in Tehran after the Emirati coast guards opened fire at Iranian fishermen in the Gulf, killing two.

In a statement, the ministry said it had expressed strong opposition over the incident and communicated its protest to the envoy on Tuesday, a day after the incident took place.

Iranian officials claim that the Emirati coast guards had detained the Iranian fishermen and seized one of the vessels.

Tehran has asked the UAE to at once release the seized boat and fishermen. It also demanded the bodies of the two slain fishermen and compensation.

Reports in the Emirati media said the Iranian vessels had “illegally entered” UAE ter-ritorial waters near Sir Bu Nair Island in the Persian Gulf.

In a retaliatory move, Iran in turn seized a UAE ship on Monday and detained its crew, accusing them of illegally entering Iran’s territorial waters.

Tensions between the two countries have been escalating since Iran’s protest over the UAE’s normalisation of ties last week with Israel, whom Iran considers an “illegitimate entity.”

Last week, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani slammed Abu Dhabi for its controversial deal with Tel Aviv, warning the Gulf country against allowing Israel to “gain a foothold in the region.”

“We warn them against bringing Israel to the region,” he said. “That would be a dif-ferent story and they will be dealt accordingly.”

The official recognition of Israel by the UAE, experts say, is likely to have “serious impli-cations” on Iran-UAE ties, which had seen significant progress over the past year.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, held a video conference a week before the UAE-Israel deal, reaffirming commitment to improve bilateral ties.

Nigerian army says ‘in full control’ of northeast townAFP — ABUJA

The Nigerian army said yesterday it was in “full control” of a northeastern town where sources say hundreds of people have been taken hostage by IS militants.

Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters stormed the town Kukawa on Tuesday and seized hundreds of residents who had only just returned after fleeing their homes for nearly two years, according to locals and militia sources.

“The terrorists on 18 August 2020 attacked troops’ location in Kukawa town in Borno state where the attack was vehemently thwarted,” defence spokesman John Enenche said in a statement.

“The situation in Kukawa is now calm with troops in full control,” he said.

Kukawa’s residents had returned to their homes on August 2 under military escort, on the orders of the state government.

“The attack by the ter-rorists was... a deliberate attempt to reverse the mile-stone achievements recorded regarding IDPs (internally dis-placed persons) in the areas of peace building, reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement efforts by the government,” Enenche said.

Three soldiers lost their lives, two wounded while eight insurgents were killed during the gunbattle with the mili-tants, he added.

Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine report new virus casesANATOLIA — ISTANBUL

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) claimed more lives in Morocco and Tunisia yesterday, while Gaza reported new cases.

In Morocco, 29 more fatalities were reported from COVID-19, bringing the country’s death toll to 743, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

In addition, 1,510 more infections were reported, bringing the number of cases to 46,313, while a total of 31,576 people have recovered from the virus, it added.

Three deaths and 113 cases were recorded in Tunisia in the past 24 hours, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

The country’s death toll stands at 60 and the total number of cases at 2,427 while 1,395 people have recovered.

In Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported nine more coro-navirus cases in the past 24 hours.

The total number of cases stands at 109 and the number of recov-eries at 71.

REUTERS — WASHINGTON

The United States yesterday blacklisted senior Syrian government officials and leaders of several Syrian military units as Washington continues to impose sanctions aimed at cutting off funds for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s government.

The action, which follows the blacklisting of Assad, his wife and other individuals and entities, mark another round of sanctions in Washington’s bid to push Assad’s government back to UN-led negotiations and broker an end to the coun-try’s nearly decade-long war.

The United States imposed sanctions Luna Al Shibl, Assad’s top press officer, her husband Mohamad Ammar Saati bin Mohamad Nawzad, a prom-inent member of the Syrian Baath Party and former parlia-mentarian, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The US State Department yesterday also imposed sanc-tions on the leadership of several Syrian military units, including National Defense Forces commander Fadi Saqr, over their efforts to prevent a ceasefire, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a separate statement, warning Wash-ington will “aggressively pursue” sanctions against other military commanders.

“The United States and its allies are united in continuing to apply pressure on Assad and his enablers until there is peaceful, political solution to the conflict. Assad and his foreign patrons know the clock is ticking for action,” Pompeo said. “The US will continue to impose costs on anyone, any-where who obstructs a peaceful political solution to the Syrian conflict.”

Yesterday’s move freezes any US assets of those black-listed and generally bars Amer-icans from dealing with them.

A crackdown by Assad on protesters in 2011 led to civil war, with Iran and Russia backing the government and the US supporting the opposition. Millions of people have fled Syria and millions more have been internally displaced.

“The United States will con-tinue to impose costs on those facilitating the Assad regime’s ongoing war against its own people,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

The US will continue to impose costs on anyone, anywhere who obstructs a peaceful political solution to the Syrian conflict: Mike Pompeo

05FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020 ISLAM

The virtues of Muharram and fasting on Ashura

THE sacred month of Muharram is a b l e s s e d a n d important month. It is the first month of the Hijri cal-

endar (Islamic calendar which started with the migration of Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) from Makkah to Madeenah) and is one of the four sacred months concerning which Allah says (what means): “Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year) so was it ordained by Allah on the day when he created the Heaven and the Earth; of them four are Sacred - that is the right religion, so wrong not your-selves therein….” [Quran 9:36]

Abu Bakrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “The year is twelve months of which four are sacred, the three con-secutive months of Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab which comes between Jumaada and Sha’baan.” [Al-Bukhari] Muharram is so called because it is a sacred (Muharram) month and to confirm its sanctity.

Allah’s words (which mean) “so wrong not yourselves therein….”, mean: Do not wrong yourselves in these sacred months, because sin in these months is worse than in other months.

Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that this phrase “so wrong not your-selves therein….” referred to all the months, then these four were singled out and made sacred, so that sin in these months is more serious and good deeds bring a greater reward.

Qutaadah, may Allah be pleased with him, said con-cerning the same phrase that wrongdoing during the sacred months is more serious and more sinful than wrongdoing at any other time. Wrongdoing at any time is a serious matter, but Allah gives more weight to whichever of His commands He wills.

Allah has chosen certain ones of His creation. He has chosen from among the angels Messengers and from among mankind Messengers. He chose from within speech the remem-brance of Him. He chose from upon the earth the mosques, from among the months Ramadan and the sacred months, from among the days Friday and from among the nights Laylat Al-Qadr, so ven-erate that which Allah has told us to venerate. People of under-standing and wisdom venerate the things that Allah has told us to venerate. [Tafseer of Ibn Katheer]

Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘The best of fasting after Ramadan is fasting Allah’s month of Muharram’.” [Muslim] The phrase “Allah’s month”, con-necting the name of the month to the name of Allah in a

genitive grammatical structure signifies the importance of the month.

Al-Qaari, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The apparent meaning is all of the month of Muharram.” But it was proven that the Prophet (PBUH) never fasted any whole month apart from Ramadan, so this Hadeeth (Prophetic narration) is probably meant to encourage increasing one’s fasting during Muharram, without meaning that one should fast the entire month.

It was reported that the Prophet (PBUH) used to fast more in Sha’baan. It is likely that the virtue of Muharram was not revealed to him until the end of his life, before He (PBUH) was able to fast during this month.

Al-‘Izz Ibn ‘Abd As-Salaam, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “Times and places may be given preferred status in two ways, either temporal or reli-gious/spiritual. With regard to the latter, this is because Allah bestows His generosity on His slaves at those times or in those places by giving a greater reward for deeds done, such as giving a greater reward for fasting in Ramadan than for fasting at all other times, and also on the day of Ashura, the virtue of which is due to Allah’s generosity and kindness towards His slaves on that day…”

Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The Prophet (PBUH) came to Madinah and found the Jews fasting on the day of Ashura. He (PBUH) said: ‘What is this?’ They (Jews) said: ‘This is a righteous day, it is the day when Allah

saved the Children of Israel from their enemies, so Moosa (Moses, may Allah exalt his mention) fasted on this day.’ He (PBUH) said: ‘We have more right to Moosa than you,’ so He (PBUH) fasted on that day and commanded [the Muslims] to fast on that day.” [Al-Bukhari] It was also reported that the Prophet (PBUH) used to fast on Ashura in Makkah, before he migrated to Madinah. When He (PBUH) migrated to Madinah, he found the Jews celebrating this day, so he asked them why, and they replied as described in the Hadeeth quoted above. He (PBUH) commanded the Muslims to be different from the

Jews, who took it as a festival.Apparently the motive for

commanding the Muslims to fast on this day was the desire to be different from the Jews, so that the Muslims would fast when the Jews did not, because people do not fast on a day of celebration.

Fasting on Ashura was a gradual step in the process of introducing fasting as a pre-scribed obligation in Islam. Fasting appeared in three forms.

When the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, came to Madinah, he told the Muslims to fast on three days of every month and on the day of Ashura, then Allah made fasting obligatory in the verse (which means): “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting …” [Quran 2:183]

The obligation was trans-ferred from the fast of Ashura to the fast of Ramadan, and this is one of the proofs in the field of Usool Al-Fiqh (Judicial fun-damentals) that it is possible to abrogate a lighter duty in favour of a heavier duty.

Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: “I

never saw the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, so keen to fast any day and give it priority over any other than this day, the day of Ashura, and this month, meaning Ramadan.” [Al-Bukhari] The meaning of his being keen was that He (PBUH) intended to fast on that day in the hope of earning the reward for doing so.

The Prophet (PBUH) said: “For fasting the day of Ashura,

I hope that Allah will accept it as expiation for the year that went before.” Ibn Qudaamah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram..”.

It was what was reported by Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: ‘The Mes-senger of Allah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, commanded us to fast Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram.’ [At-Tirmithi].

The Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Fast the ninth and the tenth, and do not be like the Jews.’ It is likable to fast on Tasua and Ashura (means ninth and tenth). ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with them,

said: “When the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, fasted on Ashura and commanded the Muslims to fast as well, they said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, it is a day that is ven-erated by the Jews and Chris-tians.’ The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘If I live until the next year, we will fast on the ninth day too.’ But it so happened that the Mes-senger of Allah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, passed away before the next year came.” [Muslim]

Al-Shaafi’i and other scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, said: “It is likable to fast on both the ninth and tenth days, because the Prophet (PBUH) fasted on the tenth, and intended to fast on the ninth.” On this basis, it may be said that there are varying degrees of fasting Ashura, the least of which is to fast only on the tenth, and the best of which is to fast the ninth as well. The more one fasts in Muharram, the better it is.

An-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The scholars – our companions and others – mentioned several reasons why it is likable to fast on Tasua:

- The intention behind it is to be different from the Jews, who only venerate the tenth day. This opinion was reported from Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him.

- The intention is to add another day’s fast to Ashura. This is akin to the prohibition on fasting a Friday by itself, as was mentioned by Al-Khattaabi, may Allah have mercy on him, and others.

- To be on the safe side and make sure that one fasts on the tenth, in case there is some error in sighting the crescent moon at the beginning of Muharram and the ninth is in fact the tenth.”

Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The Prophet (PBUH) forbade

imitating the People of the Book in many Ahaadeeth (narrations), for example, his words con-cerning Ashura: ‘If I live until the next year, I will certainly fast on the ninth day.’” [Al-Fataawa Al-Kubra]

Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his com-mentary on the Hadeeth: “If I live until the next year, I will certainly fast on the ninth day”: “What He (PBUH) meant by fasting on the ninth day was probably not that he would limit himself to that day, but would add it to the tenth, either to be on the safe side or to be dif-ferent from the Jews and Chris-tians, which is more likely. This is also what we can understand from some of the reports nar-rated by Muslim, may Allah have mercy on him.”

Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him said: “Fasting on the day of Ashura is expiation for a year, and it is not disliked to fast only that day…” Imaam An-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “Fasting on Ashura expiates for all minor sins, i.e., it brings for-giveness of all sins except major sins.” Then he said: “Fasting the day of ‘Arafah (ninth day of Dhul-Hijjah) expiates for two years, and the day of Ashura expiates for one year. If when a person says ‘Aameen’ it coin-cides with the ‘Aameen’ of the angels, he will be forgiven all his previous sins… Each one of the things that we have men-tioned will bring expiation. If there are minor sins for which expiation is needed, expiation for them will be accepted; if there are no minor sins or major sins, good deeds will be added to his account and he will be raised in status… If he had com-mitted major sins but no minor sins, we hope that his major sins will be reduced.”

www.islamweb.net

The benefits of hoping for the bestHaving hope in Allah The Almighty bears fruit to the following:

and exert greater effort in per-forming acts of worship.

inclined to be constantly obe-dient to Allah The Almighty.

closer to Allah The Almighty, and makes one experience the thrill of supplicating to Him.

servitude to and need for his Lord, and makes him realise that he cannot do without the favours and kindness of his Lord, even for a period that is as rapid as the blinking of an eye.

that His slaves ask favors of Him and supplicate to Him; He is angered by those who shun supplicating and asking Him. The one with hope usually sup-plicates much more than others who are not, and Allah The Almighty is angry with those who do not harbor any hope in the mercy and kindness of Allah The Almighty. Thus having hope rescues one from the wrath of Allah The Almighty.

person enjoy his journey towards Allah The Almighty and

the Hereafter; it makes him steadfast upon the path because had it not been that people hoped for Paradise and that their rewards be multiplied, then nobody would have been able to continue on their path towards Allah The Almighty and the Hereafter.

his love for his Lord, because the more he gets what he asked and hoped for, the more his love for his Lord will increase and the more grateful he becomes to his Lord – which is one of the implications of the state of servitude.

state of being thankful; which is what servitude is all about.

more into the Names and Attributes of Allah The Almighty.

with fear of Allah The Almighty, because the one who hopes for the mercy of Allah The Almighty and His Paradise will fear that he may not be doing enough to be worthy of them; this is indeed a wonderful rela-tionship between the two dif-ferent states of the believer’s heart: hope and fear.

something and Allah The Almighty grants it to him, this encourages him to ask for more and strive harder to please Allah The Almighty, which conse-quently increases his level of faith and brings him close to the All-Merciful.

harbor during this life, the more they will rejoice when attaining what they have hoped for in the Hereafter, and the best and highest of all causes for rejoicing is seeing Allah The Almighty and attaining His pleasure.

Furthermore, Allah The

Almighty wishes that His slaves fulfil the other ranks of ser-vitude, such as humbling them-selves before Him, relying on Him in everything, seeking His support, fearing Him, perse-vering through His decrees and thanking Him for His bounties.

Thus, Allah The Almighty decreed that people sin in order for him to fulfil these ranks, so His slaves seek the forgiveness of Allah The Almighty and humble themselves before Him in order to be forgiven. If people did not sin, they would not feel the need to humble themselves before Him or seek His

forgiveness, nor would they repent to Him; this is why Allah The Almighty tests people with these sins, in order to purify their hearts by this humility and seeking His pardon. Thus, a very important aspect of servitude is fulfilled.

After the slave sins, he humbles himself before Allah The Almighty, and then begins to have hope that Allah The Almighty will forgive his sin. This results in the slave’s heart becoming more attached to his Lord.

There are three types of hope, two of which are praised and one dispraised:

1. The hope of an obedient person who hopes for the reward from Allah The Almighty.

2. The hope of a sinful person who hopes for the for-giveness of Allah The Almighty.

3. The hope of a negligent person who continuously sins and then hopes for the for-giveness of Allah The Almighty, without exerting any effort to attain His forgiveness. This is a false hope and wishful thinking, which deceives no one but the one who harbours it; it is by no means considered to be real hope in Allah The Almighty.

www.islamweb.net

06 FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020ASIA

Sri Lanka Presidentvows to scrap reformslimiting his powerAFP — COLOMBO

Sri Lanka’s president vowed yesterday to abolish a contro-versial constitutional provision restricting his powers as he opened a new parliamentary session following his party’s sweeping election victory.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, cam-paigned for voters to give their party a two-thirds parlia-mentary majority in the August 5 poll so they could roll back reforms brought in by the pre-vious administration.

Their Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) won 145 seats and secured the support of six allies, one seat more than the minimum number needed to change the constitution in the 225-seat legislature.

“The people have given us the mandate we wanted for a constitutional amendment,” Rajapaksa said in his address to parliament, adding it would be “our first task”.

He also repeated a previous assertion, without giving further details, that he wanted an entirely new constitution to replace the current one intro-duced in 1978 when Sri Lanka changed to a presidential system.

The Rajapaksa brothers are

adored by the Sinhala-Buddhist majority for spearheading the defeat of Tamil separatist militants in 2009 to end the bloody 37-year civil war when Mahinda was pres-ident and Gotabaya was secretary to the ministry of defence.

But they have also attracted criticism from the international community, with the security services they controlled accused of war crimes committed in the final months of the conflict.

Mahinda was ousted from the presidency after a decade in power when he lost the 2015 elections.

But with Gotabaya’s election in the November 2019 presi-dential poll, and his appointment of Mahinda as PM, analysts warn that the brothers would try to ensure they do not lose power again.

Gotabaya’s remarks came as the new parliament opened its first session yesterday with a murderer and an accused killer among its ranks.

One member of the new leg-islature was convicted of murder

only after nominations closed for the August 5 polls — allowing him to run for a seat — while another is awaiting trial.

Premalal Jayasekara, a returning MP from the ruling SLPP, was found guilty in the killing of a political activist in 2015.

Jayasekara — who did not appear in person for the first parliamentary session — is appealing against the verdict as well as the death sentence he was given.

He is the first convicted murderer to serve as an MP in Sri Lanka, where there is no provision under the law to dis-qualify him until he serves six months behind bars.

Sivanesathurai Chan-drakanthan, in parliament for the first time after winning a seat for a minor party in an alliance with the SLPP, was escorted from prison to attend Thursday’s parliamentary session.

He is awaiting trial for allegedly killing a legislator during a 2005 Christmas mass.

Brushes with the law are no bar to a career in politics in South Asia.

More than 40 percent of lawmakers in neighbouring India’s parliament face criminal charges -- some as serious as murder and rape -- according to an electoral reform group, the Association of Democratic Reforms.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (right) greets former president Maithripala Sirisena (left) at the national Parliament in Colombo, yesterday.

COVID-19 infections in South Korea back ‘in full swing’REUTERS — SEOUL

South Korea’s coronavirus infections are back “in full swing” and spreading nationwide after members of a church attended a political demonstration, authorities said yesterday, threatening one of the world’s COVID-19 success stories.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 288 new cases as of midnight on Wednesday, marking a week of triple-digit daily increases, although down slightly from the previous day’s 297.

“This is a grave situation that could possibly lead to a nationwide pandemic,” Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told a briefing.

Without aggressive contact tracing, the country could expe-rience the types of spikes and continued infections witnessed in the United States and Europe, said KCDC deputy director Kwon Jun-wook.

“Consider the COVID-19 pandemic now to be in full-swing.” South Korea was one of the first countries outside China to see an explosive spread of the new coronavirus, but intensive tracing and testing had brought

infections under control and quelled a subsequent series of spikes.

The latest outbreak is driven by hundreds of infections among members of a church run by a far-right preacher. They had attended an anti-gov-ernment protest in Seoul on Aug. 15, the 75th anniversary of the Japan’s World War Two sur-render and the end of colonial rule.

Kwon urged all demon-strators to get tested immedi-ately at nearby public health clinics to protect the vulnerable around them.

The demonstration may

have been a “catalyst” for the nationwide outbreak, as churchgoers chartered buses to the capital from their homes across the country, including the southern port of Busan, Kwon said.

South Korea has reported 16,346 cases of the new coro-navirus with 307 COVID-19 deaths.

If infections continue rising at the current rate or accelerate, authorities say they will likely impose the strictest level of social distancing - closing schools, requiring employees to work from home and limiting gatherings to 10 people.

“Please do not make physical contact. Exchange nods instead of handshakes,” Kwon said. “Refrain from physical contact such as hugging.” At least 53 of the new infections are linked to the Sarang Jeil Church, bringing the group’s total to 676. Hundreds more church members are being traced for testing.

Infections from the Seoul rally and one on August 8 include people from nine cities and provinces. Health author-ities said epidemiological work is underway in 150 facilities, including the workplaces of infected church members.

Union Peace Dialogue in MyanmarMyanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attends a meeting of the Union Peace Dialogue during the 4th Union Peace Conference (21st Century Panglong) at the Myanmar International Convention Center in Naypyidaw, yeserday.

India study suggests millions more may have caught virusAFP — NEW DELHI

More than a quarter of New Delhi’s 20 million residents may have caught the novel coronavirus without showing symptoms, a study released Thursday indicated, raising fresh doubts about India’s official case numbers.

Extrapolated, the antibody study on 15,000 residents means 5.8 million people in the bustling capital could have caught the virus — more than 37 times the official tally of 156,139 infections.

India is already officially the third worst-hit country after the US and Brazil, and the health ministry reported a record daily jump of 69,652 new infections on Wednesday — taking the total to 2.84 million.

Yesterday, Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain said blood tests on 15,000 residents conducted earlier this month found 29.1 percent of them had virus antibodies.

Scientists say, however, that antibody tests should be treated with caution because they also pick up other coronaviruses, not just the latest COVID-19.

A similar survey in June-July said 23 percent of people tested had been exposed to the virus in the city.

Surveys in other Indian cities have also suggested more infections than the official numbers suggest.

In the western city of Pune, 51.5 percent of respondents in five badly affected pockets had antibodies in their blood, a recent survey showed.

Another in late July found 57 percent of those tested in Mumbai’s slums had the infection — far more than official data suggests.

“Such studies are useful and necessary but it is important how it is interpreted,” said Rajib Dasgupta, who heads the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Flood victims take to social media as rains cause chaosREUTERS — NEW DELHI

Heavy rains flooded parts of Gurugram, an Indian city that plays host to some of the world’s biggest tech companies, and residents took to social media to seek help by posting pictures of water-logged roads and apartments.

Gurugram, a satellite of New Delhi, is one of India’s wealthiest cities and has offices of global corporations such as Google, Facebook and Uber.

It had been showcased as India’s “Millennium City”, but clogged drains and poor civic amenities cause flooding almost every monsoon season.

The weather office on Thursday warned of “very heavy rainfall” over northern parts of India, including New Delhi and neighbouring cities, which could make the Gurugram floods worse.

After torrential rains, res-idents used Twitter to post pic-tures of floating cars, flood-waters inundating upscale apartment blocks, and large sinkholes on roads that connect the city to New Delhi.

TV footage showed miles-long traffic jams, overflowing sewage and three men rowing an inflatable lifeboat.

Local traffic authorities in Gurugram tweeted pictures of waterlogged areas to help commuters avoid long jams.

ANI said local police had evacuated residents from a four-storey building after it leaned over to one side.

“Hello Gurugram, nice rivers — why don’t you ever change! Stay safe, people!,” Twitter user Nidhi Arora said, posting pictures of flooded roads.

Many Twitter users said they were stranded for hours in their cars on flooded roads.

Hong Kong government slams US decision to suspend treatiesAP — HONG KONG

The Hong Kong government yesterday condemned the US’ decision to suspend bilateral extradition and tax exemption treaties with the semi-auton-omous Chinese city, saying it was being used as a pawn in geopolitics.

On Wednesday, the US sus-pended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, becoming the latest country to do so after Canada, Australia and Britain suspended such agreements. The US also suspended a bilateral agreement with Hong Kong on the reciprocal tax exemptions on income derived

from the international oper-ation of ships.

“The US’ unilateral decision reflects its disrespect for bilat-eralism and multilateralism under the current adminis-tration and should be con-demned by the international community,” the statement said.

“The HKSAR Government strongly objects to and deplores the US’ action, which is widely seen as a move to create troubles in China-US rela-tionship, using Hong Kong as a pawn.” The government said that the bilateral agreements were not preferential treatment given to Hong Kong, but were negotiated in good faith to

benefit both parties.Hong Kong has faced

mounting international pressure over the implemen-tation of a national security law, approved by Beijing, which has been viewed as an attack on the “one country, two systems” framework under which the city has been governed since its return to China in 1997.

Jeffrey Bader, a former US diplomat, said the actions taken so far are unlikely to dissuade China.

“Hong Kong is an issue that’s going to be with us for quite some time, and in a frus-trating way,” said Bader.

“It’s part of China and things

that are internal to China, even if they have an international dimension, like Hong Kong and Xinjiang, the Chinese have a demonstrated disdain for outside opinion and are inflexible in reaction to it.”

Separately yesterday, law-makers from Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy party, the Dem-ocratic Party also said they planned to hold a poll and debate to determine whether they will continue serving in the legislature another year, following the post-ponement of elections due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Opinions within the pro-democracy camp differ on whether lawmakers should

boycott the extension of their term or stay to have a voice in the legislature. Lawmakers in favour of boycotting say staying sets a precedent to delay elections.

“The public opinion is still very divided, we want the sol-idarity of the people,” said James To, a member of the Democratic Party, at a news conference. “We would prepare at least one debate in order … to have a comprehensive range of arguments and points so that the whole society can decide.” The elections were to be held in September but have been postponed a year after the city’s virus outbreak grew again.

“The people have given us the mandate we wanted for a constitutional amendment,” Rajapaksa said and repeated a previous assertion, without giving further details, that he wanted an entirely new constitution to replace the current one introduced in 1978.

China bomber on disputed islands ‘jeopardises peace’: Vietnam

REUTERS — HANOI

The presence of Chinese bombers on the disputed Paracel islands in the South China Sea “jeopardises peace”, Vietnam’s foreign ministry said yesterday, in another sign of disapproval in the region of Beijing’s increased defence activities.

China, which has for years been locked in maritime dis-putes with other coastal states in the South China Sea, has in recent months boosted its presence and exercises in dis-puted parts of the strategic waterway, at a time when other claimants are battling coronavirus outbreaks.

“The fact that relevant sides sent weapons and bombers... not only violates Vietnam’s sovereignty but also jeopardises the situation in the area,” ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a briefing, when asked to comment on the presence of at least one Chinese bomber on the Paracel islands.

Vietnamese and Chinese media have reported that China has recently deployed fighter jets and at least one bomber, the H-6J, to the Paracels, one of two groups of South China Sea islands that China claims historical own-ership of.

Hang did not say when the bomber was seen at the Paracels.

China’s foreign ministry referred questions to the defence ministry, which did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

China’s defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang late last month said H-6G and H-6J bombers had participated in high intensity training in the area.

07FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020 ASIA

China faces queries over ‘vaccinated’ workers sent abroadAFP — BEIJING

China faced demands yesterday to explain why a state-backed firm claimed it had vaccinated dozens of staff against the coro-navirus before sending them back to work at a mine in Papua New Guinea.

The China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) —which con-trols a major nickel mine in the country — warned local author-ities that 48 staff who returned from China this month may test positive for the virus because they had received a vaccine.

In response, Papua New Guinea authorities called for “immediate clarification” from Beijing and blocked a charter flight full of Chinese workers that was due to land yesterday.

The pandemic has disrupted operations at several lucrative

mines in Papua New Guinea, one of the Pacific’s poorest nations.

While moving its staff into place, MMC’s subsidiary firm Ramu NiCo told Papua New Guinea authorities that any pos-itive coronavirus test results were “the normal reaction of the vac-cination and not due to infection”, according to a Chinese and English-language statement.

The 48 members of staff at its multi-billion-dollar mine

had “been vaccinated with SARS-COV-2 vaccine” before their return, it said.

China has previously indi-cated that it would test vaccines on military personnel and staff at state-backed companies, but it is not clear whether these tests were carried out on workers heading overseas.

“It takes around seven days to produce antibodies in the vaccine recipient’s body after

being vaccinated,” the statement reads. “If they need to be tested again for COVID-19, it is suggested to be conducted at least seven days after the vac-cination date.”

Papua New Guinea’s pan-demic tsar David Manning said he wanted answers and had blocked the arrival of a flight with around 150 Chinese workers on board due in Port Moresby yesterday. “I am demanding an explanation from the Chinese ambassador as to how this has happened,” he said.

“I have written to the Chinese government through the Chinese ambassador — to explain how these 48 employees of this state company were vaccinated.”

There are growing concerns that Ramu NiCo staff may have circumvented arrival quarantine procedures, that the

vaccinations may have been administered unlawfully in Papua New Guinea, or that they were tested on Papua New Guinea citizens.

Anyone arriving in Papua New Guinea must receive a coronavirus test before boarding their flight and undergo quarantine on arrival.

In a letter from Manning to the Chinese ambassador, he demanded “immediate clarifi-cation” and stated that Papua New Guinea “does not currently acknowledge a vaccine” for coro-navirus and will not until national regulators and the World Health Organisation have given their approval.

He also issued a decree banning coronavirus testing, trials and unapproved vaccine treatments in Papua New Guinea.

Chinese ambassador Xue Bing

said: “We don’t have any com-ments for the moment. However, one thing is for sure, China is not doing (coronavirus) tests here in PNG.” Papua New Guinea — which has an already under-resourced health sector — had largely dodged the worst of the virus outbreak until recent weeks.

The country saw 12 new cases yesterday taking its total to 359, with 159 active cases amid low rates of testing. At least three people have died from the virus.

Coronavirus clusters recently forced the closure of major mines including the vast Ok Tedi copper and gold mine.

China’s Ramu NiCo is no stranger to controversy and was temporarily shuttered in late 2019 after spewing slurry into the Bismarck Sea and turning parts of the surrounding coastline ochre red.

Thailand police arrest rapper, activists in crackdown on protestAP — BANGKOK

Thai police arrested a rapper and four pro-democracy activists in a crackdown on growing protests that have emerged as the most serious threat to the government led by a former army general they accuse of incompetence and corruption.

Among those arrested is Dechathorn Bamrungmuang, a key member of Rap Against Dictatorship. He posted photos Thursday on his Facebook page of getting arrested and being taken to a police station for processing.

The activists facing sedition charges have called on Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his administration to resign. The protests, fanned by thou-sands of students, are the most serious threat yet to an ex-army chief who seized power in the 2014 military coup and then retained it in a 2019 election widely seen as rigged to guar-antee his victory.

With key Cabinet posts still in the hands of former generals, the opposition to the military’s continuing influence and Pray-uth’s leadership has grown louder.

“If we carry on protesting just within our school grounds, other people won’t be aware of it. The wider we spread awareness the better for the cause,” one 15-year-old high-school protester said.

The protests have declared three core demands: holding new elections, amending the military-imposed constitution and ending the intimidation of critics of the government.

Protest leaders triggered controversy earlier this month when they expanded their original agenda, publicly criti-cizing Thailand’s constitutional monarchy and issuing a 10-point manifesto calling for its reform.

Their action was virtually unprecedented, as the mon-archy is considered sacrosanct and any criticism is normally kept private. A lese majeste law

calls for a prison sentence of up to 15 years for anyone found guilty of defaming the king.

One of the activists who allegedly made critical remarks, Arnon Nampha, was arrested Wednesday and charged with sedition and violation of a public assembly law for partic-ipating in a Harry Potter-themed protest on August 3.

Three other political and labor activists also were also arrested

on Wednesday, according to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. They were charged with sedition and other offenses related to a protest in July.

The group also tweeted that Arnon was denied bail and will be brought to the criminal court Thursday morning.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Thai author-ities should drop all charges and release the detained pro-

democracy activists.“The Thai government’s

repeated promises to listen to dissenting voices have proven meaningless as the crackdown on pro-democracy activists continues unabated,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should right their wrong and immediately drop the charges and release Arnon and other detained activists.”

Anon Nampa and other leaders of recent anti-government protests do a three-fingered salute after being granted bail, outside the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.

Taliban rebuke US charges on ties with Al QaedaANATOLIA — KABUL

The Taliban in Afghanistan yesterday “strongly rejected” a US Defense Department report about their alleged cooperation with Al Qaeda.

“Our Mujahideen (Taliban insurgents) are strong enough to combat the enemy and are not in need of support from any foreign side or organization,” said Zabihullah Mujahed, the group’s spokesman, two days after the release of a Department of Defence Inspector General quarterly report on Operation Freedom Sentinel in Afghanistan.

He added that such “pro-vocative” reports only serve to make Afghans even more sceptical about US intentions for peace.

On the Doha pact with the US signed this February, Mujahed said: “We remain committed to the aforemen-tioned agreement and have so far implemented and will con-tinue to honour our part of the agreement.” One article of the pact states that the Taliban will not allow any of its members, other individuals, or groups, including Al Qaeda, to use Afghan soil to threaten the security of the US or its allies.

Separately, Afghan Pres-ident Ashraf Ghani yesterday urged the Taliban to lay down their arms and commence without any delay the proposed intra-Afghan peace talks.

“We have not only shown our will and commitment, but have taken practical steps toward achieving that [peace]; Taliban prisoners’ release and the Loya Jirga are notable instances of our efforts,” he said.

China denounces 'slander' over envoy on people’s backs in KiribatiREUTERS — BEIJING/MELBOURNE

China denounced as slander yesterday criticism of its ambassador to the Pacific nation of Kiribati over a picture of him walking on the backs of prostrate islanders that a top US diplomat derided as unac-ceptable behaviour.

China’s ambassador, Tang Songgen, was taking part in a traditional welcome ceremony “at the cordial request of the local government and people,

and out of respect for the culture and traditions of Kiribati”, Chinese foreign min-istry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily briefing in Beijing.

Some people have tried to slander China over this incident, but their attempts to damage China’s relationship with island nations will not succeed, Zhao said.

The grainy photograph that appeared on social media showed a man in a white shirt and grey trousers stepping on

the backs of about 30 people lined up on the ground.

Tang said on social media he had made a trip to Kiribati’s outer islands this month, after taking up his post when China resumed diplomatic relations late last year.

The photograph stirred con-troversy in the Pacific where China has been trying to expand its influence to the conster-nation of the United States and its old ally, Australia.

Kiribati’s foreign ministry

did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US defence attaché in neighbouring Fiji took the opportunity to questioned Tang’s behaviour.

“I simply cannot imagine any scenario in which walking on the backs of children is acceptable behaviour by an ambassador of any country (or any adult for that matter!),” the diplomat, Commander Con-stantine Panayiotou, said on Twitter.

“Yet here we are thanks to China’s ambassador to Kiribati.” In Taiwan, which lost Kiribati as a diplomatic ally to China last year, the foreign ministry said they were as shocked as everyone else at the picture.

“This is not the Kiribati we know, and we didn’t know Kiribati had this kind of wel-coming ceremony. Taiwan would not treat our allies and their people like this,” said spokeswoman Joanne Ou.

A flooded bus terminal is pictured after heavy monsoon rains in Lahore, yesterday.

17 killed in rain-related accidents across Pakistan’s PunjabINTERNEWS — LAHORE

At least 17 people were killed and several others were injured in rain-related accidents in different parts of Pakistan’s Punjab province yesterday.

According to a rescue team spokesperson, the roof of an old house collapsed in Ibrahim Colony located in Lahore’s Har-banspura area, killing four

people and injuring five others.Following the incident,

rescue workers rushed to the spot and recovered the two bodies, whereas, seven others were injured - among whom two died during treatment while the condition of the remaining injured is said to be out of danger.

Meanwhile, the roof of a house on Muridke Road in

Sheikhupura collapsed, killing two people and injuring seven others. Moreover, five people, including a woman and four children, were killed when the roof of their house collapsed in Mandi Bahauddin.

A landslide occurred in a coal mine in Qasba Bhal of Chakwal, causing three labourers to get crushed to death and five others injured.

Lawyer’s aide held for aiding murder of US blasphemy suspectREUTERS — PESHAWAR

Police have arrested a man believed to have helped a teenage murder suspect to bring a gun into a courtroom and kill an American who was on trial for blasphemy in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, police said yesterday.

The victim, Tahir Naseem, 57, from Chicago, was appearing for a bail hearing last month when Faisal Khan, 15, allegedly pulled out a gun and shot him in the courtroom, telling bystanders.

Investigators now believe Khan was given the gun by a man named Tufail Zia, who was able to smuggle the weapon past security check-points because he was asso-ciated with the legal fraternity, the Peshawar police chief’s office said.

Zia, who was arrested on Tuesday, was exempt from a pat-down search by court security, police said. The head of the city’s bar council said Zia was an apprentice to one of the prosecuting lawyers.

Coordination body formed for improvement in KarachiINTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD/KARACHI

Leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan met for the third time in a short span of one week and decided to form a coor-dination committee for collabo-ration between the federal and Sindh governments in six areas for the betterment of Karachi.

However, the PPP-led Sindh government claimed that the coordination committee was for the entire province and not for Karachi alone.

First two meetings between the three parties were held in Islamabad and Karachi, respec-tively, in the presence of a senior member of the security establishment, which is very much concerned over the state of affairs in the provincial metropolis and wanted all stakeholders to find out a solution to the problems of Pakistan’s commercial hub.

“We have serious political difference with the Sindh gov-ernment but we will work together with it for the devel-opment of the city which gen-erates most of the revenue of

the country,” Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar told a press conference in Islamabad after meeting Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and his team.

Umar said a six-member committee had been formed and it would not be headed by anyone and both sides would work on a mutual under-standing. The committee was to start its work from yesterday and next meeting would be held in Karachi tomorrow, he added.

He said the federal and Sindh governments reached a consensus for the development of Karachi and identified six areas for collaboration.

Accompanied by federal ministers Aminul Haque of the MQM-P and Ali Zaidi of the PTI, Umar said: “The areas of col-laboration include solid waste management, clean drinking water projects and anti-encroachment drive, infra-structure development, road construction and transport management in the port city.” He said it was decided in the meeting that all bottlenecks in the long-standing projects would be removed through mutual consultations.

Papua New Guinea’s pandemic tsar David Manning said he wanted answers and had blocked the arrival of a flight with around 150 Chinese workers on board due in Port Moresby yesterday. “I am demanding an explanation from the Chinese ambassador as to how this has happened,” he said.

From the United Nations and OECD to more radical proposals from the extreme ends of the political spectrum — clean or green jobs are considered vital to chart-ing a way to a clean and prosperous world for all.

08 FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMAN

DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK [email protected]

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED SALIM [email protected]

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED OSMAN ALI [email protected]

EDITORIAL

JOB seeking has never been so easy, thanks to national employment platform ‘Kawader’ launched by the Ministry of Administrative Development Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA). The platform aims at pro-viding citizens with the opportunity to obtain jobs that suit their qualifications in in government bodies as well as private entities.

Qatar seeks to provide jobs to national cadres in the government and private sectors as it works to raise the rate of Qatarization in the private sector to 60 percent by simplifying procedures, removing bureau-cratic obstacles, and speeding up the completion of conversion of all services provided to the public into electronic services.

The Minister of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs H E Yousuf Mohammed Al Othman Fakhroo said Kawader comes as a part of the efforts taken to enhance the Ministry’s role in registering and following up on employment for jobs seekers in the public and private sectors, as the number of recruit-ments for 2019 reached 3,570 job seekers.

H E The Minister called on job seekers of various qualifications and experience to take advantage of the services provided by Kawader through the link pro-vided by the platform.

Job seekers will be able to register on the platform as of August 24 this year. Around 4,800 jobs will be offered in all specialties of various scientific qualifica-tions starting September. This number is subject to increase and includes all specializations and all qual-ifications. Kawader has been designed in an easy, scalable and secure manner and adopts data confi-dentiality and secures privacy. The appointment of any employee is only for those registered with MADLSA.

H E the Minister noted that national cadres wishing to obtain jobs should complete academic education in areas that are compatible with the requirements of the labor market to ensure rapid access to suitable job opportunities, or join the government scholarship program or professional training programs that allow them to choose the required specializations in the labour market, which will ensure them to get the right job.

It must be mentioned that last month Qatar Chamber announced that it has successfully developed its initiative called the Labor Re-employment Platform in a way that enables companies seeking to hire new employees to login to the platform and select their preferred candidates. It said that companies that are willing to make new hires could register on the platform contract them through MADLSA in accordance with the laws and procedures of the state.

Boosting employment

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Quote of the day

We see that the United States of America is an ally, and a strong ally for Iraq. And we will continue to protect this alliance and to deepen it and expand it.

Fuad Hussein, Iraq Foreign Minister

Employees are seen as they leave Google's global headquarters in Mountain View, California in this file photo.

Anyone living in a major city in 2020 has likely noticed a new feature in the urban landscape: Tech campuses where the academic and the entrepreneurial come together to transfer physical and cognitive tasks from workers to computers. The tech industry is also increasingly visible in places far away from centres of growth - shipping centres for online merchants are replacing high street shops and coal mines in small towns across the Western world.

For many, these crystalline new buildings, together with the tech industry’s promise of offloading manual and cognitive labour onto machines, represent a new “green” vision of growth in which corporate value rapidly expands, but causes minimal greenhouse gas emissions or land destruction.

In the developed world, Big Tech has led much of the eco-nomic growth of the 2010s, while industries typically seen as dirty - like agriculture and manufacturing - have retreated. The belief that a transition towards services is the economic conclusion of devel-opment, and could grow our economy cleanly in the 21st century, is central to the sus-tainable development agenda. From the United Nations and OECD to more radical proposals from the extreme ends of the political spectrum - clean or green jobs are considered vital to charting a way to a clean and prosperous world for all.

But booming tech industries have also spurred affluence and consumption among its well-paid workers. This shopping spree is almost never accounted for in assessing the environmental friendliness of economic sectors. Can we still claim the tech industry is “clean” if we consider the envi-ronmental impacts of the affluence it generates?

In a study published in June, we attempted to answer this question by modelling the global economy in a way that attributed the environmental impacts of workers’ household consumption to the industries that employ them. This enabled us to more fully measure the environmental clean-liness of different industries, and better understand the ramifica-tions of growing one industry over another.

We found that services like tech industries were as damaging to global climate, land, and water as agriculture and manufacturing when household consumption was included in the accounting. This is because tech is labour-intensive, and its numerous workers tend to be affluent con-sumers, whose habits cause large environmental impacts. By con-trast, sectors typically seen as “dirty”, like farming and manufac-turing, generate less affluence, and thus encourage less consumption and environmental damage.

The hidden environmental impacts of workers’ consumer habits applied not only to the tech industry. They followed high-wage service jobs wherever we looked. Public sector industries like education, healthcare, and government administration were just as high-impact per dollar created as tech. The bulk of envi-ronmental impacts can be traced to consumption by service workers because they pay out half of all wages globally, with the

highest proportion of highly paid workers of any sector. Those workers may not degrade the environment directly through their jobs, but still consume impactful foods, goods, and travel.

In other words, services may appear “clean” when using incom-plete accounting, but in reality are as dirty as any other sector. This means that a booming service sector cannot reduce the environ-mental impacts of our economy, unless its workers consume less. Our data further undermine the dubious idea that economic growth, even if led by “clean” sectors, can be green.

Exponents of the knowledge economy propose seemingly air-tight logic: If humans can produce unbounded knowledge and innovation, then infinite growth on a finite planet is pos-sible. But people in tech cannot eat software, nor do they take virtual vacations. No job can really be green in an over-con-sumptive economy, so employing more people in services can only reduce the toll on the planet if paired with lighter living.

Sustainability is not about where we work or what parts of the economy we grow. When the vast majority of what is produced is destined for household con-sumption, both “green” and “brown” jobs lead to environ-mental degradation. To achieve a sustainable economy, we need to revise our concept of the good life, reconsider our economic model, and live lighter. If not, a sustainable future is a fantasy.

Daniel Horen Greenford is a PhD candidate in Geography, Planning and Environment at Concordia University, Canada and Corey Lesk is a PhD candidate in Earth and Environ-mental Science at Columbia University, US.

JAPAN NEWS - YOMIURI

The huge amount of garbage generated in the event of a disaster hinders restoration work. Local governments must expedite efforts to establish a system that will enable them to promptly dispose of such waste.

Every time an earthquake or typhoon hits, local govern-ments have struggled to deal with disaster waste. If it is left on the street, automobile and human traffic is obstructed. As furniture, home appliances, clothing and other goods are mixed together, the sanitary environment could deteriorate due to foul odors and bacteria. There is also a risk of fire.

Due to the torrential rain in the Kyushu region in July, local residents are having trouble disposing of a large amount of

garbage. In the areas hit by Typhoon Nos. 15 and 19 last autumn, more than 2 million tons of waste were generated. It is said that it will take about two years to complete the dis-posal work from the time the garbage was generated.

In some cases, disaster-hit municipalities did not decide on temporary storage sites for the garbage in advance. It is undeniable that insufficient preparations led to a delay in the disposal of the waste.

In 2016, the central gov-ernment asked municipalities across the country to draw up plans to dispose of disaster-generated waste. The plans are aimed at facilitating garbage disposal work smoothly by selecting temporary storage sites in advance and estab-lishing procedures for trans-

portation, sorting and final dis-posal, among other things.

However, only half of all municipalities have formulated such plans, and 90% of munici-palities that have yet to work out their plans have a popu-lation of less than 100,000. It may be difficult for them to create their own plans due to a lack of specialist personnel.

In prefectures where damage from a massive earth-quake in the Nankai Trough is expected, cities, towns and vil-lages tend to draw up plans at a high rate. Prefectural govern-ments that have a low rate of devising such plans need to heighten their sense of urgency. The central and prefectural governments should help municipalities create their plans by dispatching officials or holding training sessions.

With climate change, typhoons and heavy rain dis-asters are becoming more severe and widespread. There is a limit to the disposal of huge amounts of garbage by the afflicted municipalities alone. It is also essential for prefectural and municipal governments to strengthen a wide-reaching cooperative framework, such as by expanding agreements among them to accept garbage.

In Kumamoto Prefecture, hit by the torrential rain in the Kyushu region, only residents of the prefecture were accepted as volunteers, to prevent infections with the novel coronavirus, so there was a shortage of people to remove garbage from damaged houses. Each local government should consider how to secure personnel in advance.

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On average, 26,000 new cases are being reported everyday in Europe, according to the WHO. Young people, who tend to experience milder symptoms and lower mortality rates, account for a growing share of cases.

09FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020 EUROPE

People are seen walking around as streets and squares become busy as in its normal days amid the novel coronavirus pandemic in Moscow, Russia, yesterday. The number of confirmed coronavirus case reached 942,106 with 16,099 deaths in Russia.

Europe frets over virus spikes as WHO warns against lockdownsAFP — BERLIN

European concerns were growing yesterday over spikes in coronavirus cases in Germany and France but the World Health Organization (WHO) said the continent should be able to fight the pan-demic without reimposing full lockdown measures.

Germany and France recorded their worst daily infection rates in months with concerns growing yesterday that coronavirus cases could spike in Europe just as holiday-makers return home and children go back to school.

Germany reported 1,707 new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest daily toll since the peak of the pandemic in April.

Much of the rise has been blamed on returning holiday-makers as well as parties and family gatherings. Schools already resumed last week in parts of Germany.

France on Wednesday recorded new coronavirus cases at the fastest daily rate since May. Almost 3,800 COVID-19 infec-tions were confirmed in the past 24 hours, the health ministry’s DGS public health division said. Toulouse became the first French city to declare face masks compulsory outdoors.

Masks are already man-datory on public transport in France and indoors in public

places, amid fears that a mass movement of people as the summer break draws to a close will lead to a spike in infections.

Spain recorded 6,700 new infections in 24 hours on Wednesday, bringing the total to more than 370,000, the highest caseload in western Europe. Ukraine also reported a record daily increase in coro-navirus cases, exceeding 2,000 new infections for the first time.

In Finland, the government on Wednesday removed most EU countries from its “green travel list”, meaning that only people arriving from a handful of states will be able to enter the country without corona-virus restrictions from Monday.

Meanwhile, the WHO said yesterday that Europe can combat the new coronavirus without full lockdowns now that authorities are better prepared

and have gained knowledge about how to fight it in recent months.

“With the basic nationwide and additional targeted measures, we are in a much better position to stamp out these localised virus flare-ups,” the head of the WHO’s European branch, Hans Kluge, told reporters. “We can manage the virus and keep the economy running and an education system in operation,” he added.

Europe has seen a steady rise in the number of cases for the past two months, he said. In the first week of August, 40,000 more cases were reported than in the first week of June when cases were at their lowest.

On average, 26,000 new cases are being reported eve-ryday in Europe, according to the WHO. Young people, who tend to experience milder symptoms and lower mortality rates, account for a growing share of cases.

However, Kluge stressed the importance of reopening schools as countries gradually return to normal, noting the negative consequences that school closures have had on children. The WHO’s European region, which covers 55 coun-tries, has registered almost four million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 215,000 deaths linked to the virus, according to the organisation.

Russia to test 'Sputnik V' vaccine on 40,000 people next weekAFP — MOSCOW

Russia said yesterday that it would start clinical trials of its controversial coronavirus vaccine next week, involving tens of thousands of people.

President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that Russia had become the first country to reg-ister a coronavirus vaccine, though the announcement was met with caution from scientists and the World Health Organi-zation who said it still needed a rigorous safety review.

Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which finances the vaccine project, said yesterday t h a t t e s t s o f t h e

“immunogenicity and safety of the Sputnik V vaccine” will begin next week involving more than 40,000 people. It said the tests were the equivalent of the Phase 3 trials that other vac-cines are undergoing.

Kirill Dmitriyev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told an online briefing that the vaccination of at-risk groups, including medical per-sonnel, would also start next week on a voluntary basis.

More than 20 countries have made requests to purchase over a billion doses of the vaccine, he said, adding that Russia had agreements with several coun-tries to produce it. He said mass

vaccinations in Russia are expected to start in October and the first foreign deliveries in November or December.

The vaccine — named after the pioneering 1950s Soviet sat-ellite — was announced with much fanfare in Russia but drew warnings from Western scientists that Moscow may be moving too quickly.

Dmitriyev said scepticism was starting to wane. “We have seen a significant change in tone from the WHO. At first, yes, they did not have enough infor-mation on the Russian vaccine, now official information has been sent and they will evaluate it,” he said.

Alarm as Greenland ice sheet sheds half-a-trillion tonnesAFP — PARIS

Greenland’s massive ice sheet saw a record net loss of 532 billion tonnes last year, raising red flags about accelerating sea level rise, according to findings released yesterday.

That is equivalent to an additional three million tonnes of water streaming into global oceans every day, or six Olympic pools every second.

Crumbling glaciers and tor-rents of melt-water slicing through Greenland’s two-to-three-kilometre thick ice block were the single biggest source of global sea level rise in 2019, accounted for 40 percent of the total, or 1.5 millimetres,

researchers reported in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

Last year’s loss of mass was at least 15 percent above the previous record in 2012, but even more alarming are the long-term trends, they said.

“2019 and the four other record-loss years have all occurred in the last decade,” lead author Ingo Sasgen, a glaciologist at the Helmholtze Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, said. If all of Green-land’s ice sheet were to melt, it would lift global oceans by seven metres (23 feet).

Even a more modest rise of a couple of metres would redraw the world’s coastlines and render

land occupied today by hundreds of millions of people uninhab-itable. Until 2000, Greenland’s ice sheet — covering an area three times the size of France — generally accumulated as much mass as it shed.

Runoff, in other words, was compensated by fresh snowfall. But over the last two decades ago, the gathering pace of global warming has upended this balance. The gap is widening at both ends, according to the study, which draws from nearly 20 years of satellite data.

Changing weather patterns — also a consequence of climate change — has resulted in less cloud cover, and thus less snow. These high pressure systems

have also resulted in more, and warmer, sunny days, acceler-ating the loss of mass.

In 2019, the ice sheet lost a total of 1.13 trillion tonnes, about 45 percent from glaciers sliding into the sea, and 55 percent from melted ice, said Sasgen. It gained about 600 billion tonnes through precipitation.

A study in the same journal last week concluded that the Greenland’s ice sheet has passed a “tipping point”, and is now doomed to disintegrate, though on what time scale is unknown.

Sasgen says it is too soon to know if we have reached a point of no return, but agrees that the ice sheet is likely to continue losing mass, even in colder years.

“But that doesn’t mean that trying to limit warming doesn’t matter,” he added.

“Every decimal degree you save in terms of warming will save a certain amount of sea level rise — both in magnitude and speed.” Experts not involved in the research were not surprised by the findings, but expressed concern nonetheless.

“The ice sheet has lost ice every year for the last 20 years,” said Twila Moon, a research sci-entists at the University of Colorado. From 1992 to 2018, Greenland lost about four trillion tonnes of mass, causing the mean sea level to rise by 11 millimetres, according to a December 2019 study in Nature.

Manchester bomber’s brother jailed for lifeAFP — LONDON

The brother of a suicide bomber who killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in the British city of Manchester was yesterday jailed for life for playing an “integral part” in the attack.

Hashem Abedi (pictured), 23, was convicted of murder, attempted murder and con-spiring to cause explosions at a trial that ended in March, after one of the worst terror attacks on British soil.

The Islamic State group-inspired bombing, carried out by his 22-year-old brother

Salman, detonated among crowds of mostly young people leaving the concert at the Man-

chester Arena.The youngest victim was

aged just eight. Others included parents who had come to pick up their children. Prime Min-ister Boris Johnson called the attack in northwestern England a “horrifying and cowardly act of violence which targeted children and families”.

In court, judge Jeremy Baker said Abedi would spend a minimum of 55 years in prison for playing an “integral part” in the preparation of the pre-mediated attack. The trial heard he was in Libya when the attack took place on May 22, 2017 but

helped his brother plan it for several weeks, including by obtaining chemicals for the homemade bomb. “The defendant and his brother were equally culpable for the deaths and injuries caused,” he said.

The judge said Abedi could not be given a whole-life term — ensuring he would never be released — because he was aged under 21 at the time of the offences. The almost three years that Abedi has already spent in custody would count towards the sentence until he was eli-gible for parole. But he added: “He may never be released.”

Battle to save life of Kremlin critic after suspected poisoningAFP — OMSK, RUSSIA

Russian doctors were fighting to save the life of leading oppo-sition figure Alexei Navalny (pictured) yesterday after he was rushed to intensive care in Siberia suffering from what his spokeswoman said was a sus-pected poisoning.

Navalny, a 44-year-old lawyer and anti-corruption campaigner who is among President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, was in a coma in hospital in the city of Omsk after he lost consciousness on a flight and his plane made an emergency landing.

“Doctors aren’t just doing everything possible. The doctors are really working now on saving his life,” the hospi-tal’s deputy head doctor Anatoly Kalinichenko told jour-nalists in Omsk.

Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said he was on a ventilator and tests were being carried out, while he was in a serious but stable condition.

“Alexei has toxic poi-soning,” Yarmysh wrote on Twitter, describing how he had taken ill during the flight from the city of Tomsk to Moscow and had to be taken off the plane.

She pointed the finger at Putin, saying: “Whether or not

he gave the order personally, the blame lies with him.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he knew of Nav-alny’s illness and “as with any citizen of Russia, we wish him a speedy recovery”.

He said claims of poisoning were “only assumptions” until tests proved otherwise.

Kalinichenko said no diag-nosis had yet been reached, while the regional health min-istry said Navalny was in a natural, not induced, coma.

Navalny’s wife Yulia arrived at the hospital in the city which lies about 2,200km east of Moscow.

Yarmysh said police and investigators had also arrived and journalists reported seeing FSB security service agents at the hospital. “We think that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed in his tea. That was the only thing he drank in the morning,” Yarmysh wrote on Twitter.

Greta Thunberg in fresh push for climate actionSwedish founder of the “School Strike for Climate” movement Greta Thunberg (centre) and German climate activist from the “Fridays for Future” movement Luisa Neubauer (centre, right) walk from Berlin’s main railway station towards the Chancellery. Thunberg urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be "brave" in the fight against global warming as she sought to breathe fresh life into a climate movement overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Belarus opens criminal case into effort to ‘seize power’AFP — MINSK

Belarus opened a criminal investigation into attempts by the opposition to “seize power” yesterday as President Alexander Lukashenko moved to assert his authority after days of protests over a dis-puted election.

The leader claimed a sixth term after an August 9 ballot that sparked historic protests and a police crackdown that was condemned by European leaders. Allies of main oppo-sition challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya this week formed a Coordination Council to oversee efforts for a peaceful transition of power.

The group, whose members include Nobel Prize-winning author and outspoken Lukashenko critic Svetlana Alexievich, called for a new election and talks with the authorities during its first meeting on Wednesday.

Prosecutor General Alex-ander Konyuk said in a video statement that the Council’s cre-ation was unconstitutional and amounted to an attempt to topple Lukashenko’s government. “The creation and activities of such a council are aimed at seizing power,” Konyuk said.

He announced that investi-gators were opening a probe into “calls for actions aimed at under-mining national security”, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of five years behind bars.

“We must elect a president... who will bring all of us together — Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indigenous — to achieve the future we collectively want. We must elect Joe Biden,” she said.

An emotional Obama urged Americans to vote, warning that Trump and his Republican allies can win only by suppressing and undermining votes, rather than on the merits of their policies. “Do not let them take away your power,” Obama said. “Do not let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you’re going to get involved and vote.”

10 FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020AMERICAS

Kamala Harris accepts historic V-P nod with call for change

REUTERS — WASHINGTON

US Senator Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nom-ination for vice-president on Wednesday, imploring Amer-icans to elect Joe Biden in November and accusing Pres-ident Donald Trump of failed leadership that had cost lives and livelihoods during a pandemic.

Making history as the first Black woman and Asian-American on a major US pres-idential ticket, Harris said Trump’s divisive leadership had brought the country to an “inflection point” and made a direct appeal to the party’s diverse electorate whose vote is crucial to defeat Trump on November 3.

“The constant chaos leaves us adrift, the incompetence makes us feel afraid, the cal-lousness makes us feel alone. It’s a lot,” the California senator and former prosecutor said, speaking from an events center in Wilmington, Delaware.

“We must elect a president... who will bring all of us together — Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indigenous — to achieve the future we collectively want. We must elect Joe Biden,” she said.

Harris’ nomination capped the third night of a party convention

that has featured a crush of women headliners, moderators and speakers, showcasing the growing power of women in pol-itics and in the Democratic Party. Biden leads Trump in opinion polls, bolstered by a big lead among women voters.

Harris outlined her back-ground as a child of immigrants from India and Jamaica who as a district attorney, state attorney general and now vice-presi-dential candidate shattered gender and racial barriers. She said she was able to make history because of the trailblazing efforts of women before her who fought for the right to vote.

“That I am here tonight is a testament to the dedication of generations before me,” she said. “They organized , marched , and fought - not just for their vote , but for a seat at the table.”

Throughout the convention, Democrats have appealed directly to women voters, high-lighting Biden’s co-sponsorship of the landmark Violence Against Woman Act of 1994 and his proposals to bolster

childcare and protect family healthcare provisions.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren cited Biden’s proposal to make childcare more affordable as a vital part of his agenda to help working Amer-icans. “COVID-19 was Trump’s biggest test. He failed mis-erably,” Warren said. “Joe and Kamala will make high-quality childcare affordable for every family, make preschool uni-versal, and raise the wages for every childcare worker.”

Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee who lost to Trump, told the convention: “This can’t be another woulda coulda shoulda election,” she said. “No matter what, vote. Vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, because they are.”

Clinton said Biden needs to win overwhelmingly. “Joe and Kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose,” she said. “Take it from me. So we need numbers overwhelming so Trump can’t sneak or steal his way to victory.”

US democracy at risk: ObamaAP & REUTERS — WASHINGTON

Former President Barack Obama painted a unsparing portrait of American democracy on the brink if President Donald Trump wins in November, warning in a scathing, and at times emotional, address on Wednesday that his successor is both unfit for office and apa-thetic to the nation’s founding principles.

“This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win,” Obama said in unflinching remarks on the third night of the Democratic convention. He spoke from Philadelphia, where the United States Constitution was drafted and signed.

Obama's remarks revealed the full extent of both his per-sonal disregard for the current president and his belief that Trump presents an existential threat to democracy in the United States.

Obama said he had initially held out hope that Trump would grow into the job of pres-ident - but he has now con-cluded that Trump not only hasn’t, he simply can’t. Instead, he said Trump has focused on using the presidency to benefit his friends and family and turned the nation’s most pow-erful office into “one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves”.

He called out in particular to young people who took to the streets of American cities earlier this year to protest police brutality against Black Americans, casting them as the heirs to the legacy of civil rights leaders such as Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who died earlier this summer. “You can give our democracy new meaning,” he said. “You’re the missing ingre-dient - the ones who will decide whether or not America

becomes the country that fully lives up to its creed.”

Obama blamed Trump for the 170,000 Americans who have died from the coronavirus, the millions of jobs lost to the ensuing recession and the diminishment of the country’s democratic principles at home and abroad.

“The one constitutional office elected by all of the people is the presidency,” he said. “So at a minimum, we should expect a president to feel a sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of all 330 million of us.... But we should also expect a president to be the custodian of this democracy.” Trump, he said, had failed those tests.

Obama delivered a full-throated endorsement of Biden and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, saying they

“actually care about every American, and they care deeply about this democracy”.

Obama, 59, was unsparing in his praise for his former vice president, saying Biden became a “brother” to him. “For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision,” he said. “He made me a better president - and he’s got the character and the expe-rience to make us a better country.”

An emotional Obama urged Americans to vote, warning that Trump and his Republican allies can win only by suppressing and undermining votes, rather than on the merits of their pol-icies. “Do not let them take away your power,” Obama said. “Do not let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you’re going to get involved and vote.”

Harris, Obama tear into Trump

Senator from California and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention, being held virtually at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware.

Former President Barack Obama speaking from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the third day of the convention

Judge rejects Trump bid tohalt release of financial recordsAFP — NEW YORK

A US federal judge refused yesterday President Donald Trump’s effort to block the release of his financial records subpoenaed by a New York grand jury in a case focused on hush money payments and possibly bank fraud.

Judge Victor Marrero rejected Trump’s argument that the investigating jury’s demand for eight years of tax records from his accountants Mazars USA was too broad and consti-tuted political harassment.

The Manhattan federal court judge said Trump’s rea-soning amounted to a “back door” attempt to invoke absolute immunity after the president’s lawyers’ were denied by the US Supreme Court in July.

For three years Trump has been successful at fending off Congressional demands for his records in probes targeting his financial ties to Russians, his possible record of tax avoidance and other issues involving his real estate business.

However, New York federal district attorney Cyrus Vance opened last year an investi-gation into Trump’s payments in 2016 to allegedly buy the silence of two women who claimed to have had affairs with him. Court documents have suggested that Vance’s grand jury probe has now expanded to possible banking and insurance fraud.

Marrero suggested that Trump’s most recent argu-ments were simply an effort to delay the proceedings, potentially running out the clock on time limits for pros-ecutions, and risking the loss of witnesses.

Pandemic scuppers Latin America coming-of-age quinceanerasAFP — MONTEVIDEO

The coronavirus pandemic has robbed millions of Latin American teenage girls of their 15th birthday parties, a coming-of-age ritual that many had been planning for months and even years.

Some were planning huge lavish bashes, others more modest but equally exciting affairs — but just as jobs, sports events, tourism, air travel and public works projects have ground to a halt, so too has this

unique local custom, known as the “quinceanera”.

Six months into the global pandemic and without concrete signs of an end in sight, girls are still crossing their fingers that 2021 might provide a chance for a belated quinceanera.

For some, the news that their party was off came in sudden and brutal fashion — just days or even hours ahead of time. “I felt terrible because it was a day before, but thank-fully I was at school and my friends were there to support

and console me, and also the teachers,” Argentine teen Mia Minutillo said as she carefully laid out the white dress she had hoped to wear for the occasion. Since mid-March, it has gathered dust in her wardrobe.

The white chiffon and satin gown embroidered with rhine-stones fits a little loosely now, but Minutillo says there’s time to have it adjusted before next March, when she hopes to be able to celebrate belatedly.

Her mother, though, gives a sober assessment of where

such a disappointment stands in the greater scheme of things.

“It didn’t happen to Mia, it didn’t happen to her friend... it happened to the world, it hap-pened to 15-year-olds the world over,” said Veronica Rivero.

She’s hopeful the cele-bration will take place once there’s a vaccine or “if people are respectful” of the con-tainment measures to prevent further spread of the virus.

Families put a lot of time, effort and money into the cele-bration. Oftentimes, they begin

saving when their daughters are still young children, or they rack up debts because the occasion merits “throwing the house out of the window.” Valeria Halit Carreno says she felt “a mix of bitterness and sadness” when her quinceanera was cancelled.

“I thought this year was going to be my year, I was going to be able to celebrate my quinceanera, I was going to have my big party,” said the Panamanian teen. Her mother, Yamileth Pastor, said her daughter “cried for many days, many nights.”

Trump's former aide Steve Bannon arrested in border wall fraud caseAFP — NEW YORK

President Donald Trump's former top strategist Steve Bannon was arrested and charged yesterday along with three others for defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in a Mexico border wall fundraising campaign -- a blow to the Republican incumbent.

The online crowdfunding campaign known as “We Build the Wall” raised more than $25m, prosecutors said, which the defendants promised would be used on construction but which they instead funneled to their own pockets.

The arrest is the latest in a string of high-profile criminal probes into Trump’s inner circle, and comes just months before November’s vote the Republican hopes will win him re-election.

Shortly after the charges were announced the President aimed to distance himself, saying: “Don’t know anything about the project at all.”

“I think it’s a very sad thing for Mr. Bannon. I think it’s sur-prising,” Trump said, adding he felt “very badly” and he hasn’t “been dealing with him for a long

period”. Manhattan federal pros-ecutors said Bannon, the organ-ization’s founder Brian Kolfage, venture capitalist Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea “received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds from We Build the Wall, which they each used in a manner incon-sistent with the organization’s public representations.”

The initiative began in 2018 as a GoFundMe campaign to raise money organizers said would go towards the border wall Trump had promised during his 2016 campaign, which Bannon orchestrated.

One week after launching, the online appeal took in $17m, which raised suspicions at the crowdfunding site and prompted it to temporarily shut the campaign down. GoFundMe said organizers would need to identify a legitimate nonprofit where the money was headed or it would be returned.

The four men began using both a Bannon-controlled non-profit and a Shea-led shell company, as well as vendor agree-ments and fake invoices, to conceal their tracks, court docu-ments said.

Brazil supermarket’s corpse cover-up sparks outcryAFP — SAO PAULO

A supermarket chain in Brazil apologized on Wednesday for its handling of an employee’s death at one of its stores, which covered the man’s body with boxes and umbrellas and remained open for business.

The Brazilian subsidiary of French supermarket group

Carrefour said it regretted how its store in the northeastern city of Recife reacted after a sales repre-sentative it identified as Moises Santos died of a heart attack.

The employee died on Friday, but the incident went viral on social media on Wednesday, along with images of the man’s body lying in an aisle, cordoned off with

cardboard boxes and covered up with large green parasols.

“A worker died in a Carrefour supermarket in Recife, which covered up his body to remain open. Welcome to Brazil in the year 2020,” one Twitter user wrote. “Carrefour apologizes for the inappropriate way it handled the sad and unexpected passing,” the firm said in a statement.

For a livingVictor Hernandez, 65, plays the trumpet on the street to earn money after he lost his job as a swimming instructor due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Mexico City yesterday.

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11FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020

Australia’s

Qantas posts

$1.9bn loss,

confirms job cuts

ECB signals

September to be

key month to read

the economy

QFC Regulatory Authority takes disciplinary action against former CEO of GWMQTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The QFC Regulatory Authority yesterday announced it had taken disciplinary action against David Russell, former CEO of Guardian Wealth Man-agement Qatar LLC (GWMQ) (in liquidation) for misconduct, and imposed a financial penalty and a three-year prohibition from carrying out a controlled function in the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).

In 2018, the Regulatory Authority took disciplinary action against GWMQ, an insurance intermediary, and fined the firm QR3.592m for contraventions relating to com-pliance with the implemen-tation of its Anti-Money Laun-dering and Combating Terrorist

Financing (AML/CFT) policies, procedures, systems and con-trols and AML/CFT programme as required by the AML/CFT Rules 2010 and other issues of regulatory compliance. In July 2019, the Regulatory Authority also announced the disciplinary action it had taken against indi-vidual board members of GWMQ relating to the same matters.

Russell was the CEO and approved individual in the Senior Executive Function and Executive Governance Function for GWMQ. The financial penalty and prohibition fol-lowed the completion of an investigation, which found that Russell’s conduct fell below the standard of conduct required of a senior manager under the

Regulatory Authority’s rules. Russell’s contraventions were: Failing to act with due skill, care and diligence in relation to his

oversight of GWMQ’s com-pliance with the Regulatory Authority’s requirements; and Failing to deal with the Regu-latory Authority in an open and cooperative manner and keep the Regulatory Authority promptly informed of any matters relating to GWMQ of which the Regulatory Authority would reasonably expect notice.

The actions taken by the Regulatory Authority against GWMQ, its board members and senior management emphasises the standards required of approved individuals of authorised firms to ensure effective compliance with Reg-ulatory Authority rules, including those rules required to ensure that firms have effective systems and controls

in place to combat illicit finance. Russell appealed the Regu-

latory Authority’s decision to impose a financial penalty of $50,000 and a three-year pro-hibition from carrying out a controlled function in the QFC. The QFC Regulatory Tribunal dismissed the appeal and upheld the action taken by the Regulatory Authority. The Tri-bunal noted that the financial penalty and prohibition imposed by the Regulatory Authority was appropriate given Russell’s conduct but, given issues of financial hardship encountered by the former GWMQ CEO and the exceptional circumstances related to the COVID-19 pan-demic, the Tribunal commuted the financial penalty.

Trade talks with US coming soon, says Chinese officialAP — BEIJING

Chinese and US trade envoys will hold a meeting by phone “in the near future” to discuss an agreement aimed at resolving a tariff war, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said yesterday.

The spokesman, Gao Feng (pictured), gave no details of the timing at a ministry news briefing.

Under the “Phase 1” trade agreement signed in January, both governments agreed to suspend potential additional penalties on each other’s goods in a fight that erupted in 2018 over Bei-jing’s technology ambitions and trade surplus.

The truce called for talks to be held after six months, but those were delayed due to the coronavirus pan-demic. A meeting scheduled for last week was to be held online but was postponed.

“Both parties have agreed to hold a call in the near future,” Gao said.

The two governments have rolled back some pen-alties but most of the punitive tariffs imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other’s goods remain in place.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (left) and Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes shake hands during the signing ceremony of a new decree that facilitates access to credit for small business and fight the economic impacts resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, at Planalto Palace in Brasilia.

Oil falls on Opec+ oversupply and US jobless dataREUTERS — LONDON

Oil fell yesterday after Reuters reported Opec+ needed to address daily oversupply of more than 2 million barrels, and the number of US unem-ployment benefit claims rose unexpectedly, signalling a slow economic recovery.

Brent crude fell $1.24, or 2.7 percent, to $44.13 a barrel at 1350 GMT, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down $1.31, or 3 percent, at $41.62 a barrel.

“While oil-market funda-mentals may have started to normalise, much of the progress comes from the supply side, while demand continues to disappoint,” said Emily Ashford, energy analyst at Standard Chartered Bank.

A firmer US dollar, which makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies, also put pressure on prices, analysts said, leaving them stuck in a narrow trading range.

Oil prices have been range-bound since mid-June, with Brent trading from $40 to $46 per barrel and WTI between $37 and $43.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known an Opec+, said on Wednesday the pace of the oil market recovery appeared to be slower than anticipated with growing risks of a prolonged second wave of the pandemic.

Prices came under renewed pressure after Reuters reported that some Opec+ members would need to cut output by an extra 2.31 million barrels per

day (bpd) to make up for recent oversupply.

Markets also turned sour as the number of new US claims for unemployment benefits rose back above 1 million last week.

The setback came a day after several US Fed members said additional monetary policy easing may be needed because a rebound in employment was already slowing.

“All roads in global and regional economies lead to the containment of the virus and the end of these roads is not in sight yet,” said oil broker PVM’s Tamas Varga.

The US Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday US fuel demand fell by more than 2 million bpd to 17.2 million bpd in terms of product supplied. Overall fuel demand in the last four weeks is down 14 percent from year-ago levels. As the summer driving season comes to a close, fuel demand tends to decline.

However, stockpiles of crude in the United States fell for a fourth straight week, even as net imports rose, the EIA said.

Energy giant Shell explores sale of Norwegian natural gas businessBLOOMBERG

Royal Dutch Shell said it’s con-sidering a sale of a Norwegian natural gas supplier, as the energy major continues to selectively dispose of assets.

The company is exploring a disposal of its Gasnor unit, a spokesperson confirmed in response to Bloomberg queries. Shell has approached infra-structure funds and private equity firms about a deal, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified as discussions are

private. Gasnor delivers liq-uefied natural gas to industrial and marine customers in Norway via 22 trucks and two tankers, according to its website. Shell agreed to take control of the business in 2012, paying $74m for shares it didn’t already own at the time.

A potential sale comes at a time when Shell, like many of its peers, is looking for ways to transition to low-carbon energy. A string of divestments in countries including Argentina, Canada and the UK helped it cut greenhouse gas

emissions in 2019, according to a report from the company. Shell sold part of its holding in the Nyhamna gas-processing plant in Norway last year.

The coronavirus outbreak has also exposed the vulnera-bility of some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies, with the pandemic expected to hit long-term demand and reduce oil and gas prices. Shell’s adjusted net income was $638m in the second quarter, down 82 percent from the same period a year.

Its shares are down 48

percent this year, giving the company a market value of around $115bn.

While the value of deal-making in the energy sector has fallen by more than a third year-on-year in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, there have been signs of a strong recovery in activity. The value of energy transactions has risen 93 percent in the last three months to $139bn, compared with the same period a year ago, the data show.

EU seeks tighter asset-manager rules as Brexit date loomsBLOOMBERG

The European Union’s top markets regulator is asking for rule changes that could limit Lon-don’s role as a hub for asset management.

It comes as the deadline for Brexit trade talks approaches, threatening to heighten tension at a fraught moment in the nego-tiations. The EU has previously warned that it’s not planning to grant easy cross-border access to

markets in the short-term, and that banks and other financial firms must prepare to do more

business from their offices in the bloc.

EU-based funds routinely del-egate portfolio management to teams in London, New York and other places outside the bloc. The European Securities and Markets Authority said this practice increases risk, and is recom-mending a rule change to limit it. The regulator is also seeking to reduce the use of so-called sec-onded staff from professional

services firms or consultancy businesses based outside the region.

The recommendations are “an attack on London,” according to Jake Green (pictured), financial regulatory partner at law firm Ashurst. It “could lead to serious repercussions, because it may materially impact current struc-tures and flexibility in using UK-based portfolio managers and expertise,” he said in an emailed

statement.ESMA’s suggestions are part

of a review of EU rules for so-called alternative investment funds, a category that includes private equity, real estate and hedge funds.

The EU has been tightening the rules on asset managers ever since the UK voted in mid-2016 to leave the bloc. Regulators have said they want to keep firms from having thinly staffed “letterbox”

companies in the EU to gain access to the single market, while in fact running the funds from countries that aren’t subject to the bloc’s rules.

The recommendations could have implications beyond London and result in “collateral damage to US and other global managers” who are delegated work from EU funds, according to Leonard Ng, a London-based partner at Sidley Austin LLP.

A firmer US dollar, which makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies, also put pressure on prices, analysts said, leaving them stuck in a narrow trading range.

In 2018, the Regulatory Authority took disciplinary action against GWMQ, an insurance intermediary, and fined the firm QR3.592m for contraventions relating to compliance with the implementation of its Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) policies.

12 FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020BUSINESS

A sharp initial rebound had some officials speculating in the run-up to the gathering that the ECB might not need to spend the full €1.35 trillion ($1.6 trillion) earmarked for purchases under its pandemic programme.

ECB signals September to be key month to read the economyBLOOMBERG

European Central Bank policy makers expressed uncertainty at their latest policy meeting about the economic outlook and the extent to which they’ll have to deploy monetary stimulus.

The account of their July session showed officials were reluctant to draw conclusions from early signs of economic recovery after pandemic lock-downs were eased. Chief econ-omist Philip Lane (pictured) told the gathering that the breadth and scale of the recovery remained uneven and partial.

“At its September meeting the Governing Council would be in a better position to reassess the monetary policy stance and its policy tools,” the account of the meeting showed. “This would provide more clarity regarding the medium-term inflation outlook” and prospects for economic activity.

A sharp initial rebound had some officials speculating in the run-up to the gathering that the ECB might not need to spend the full €1.35 trillion ($1.6 trillion) earmarked for pur-chases under its pandemic

programme. That debate was reflected in the account, with some policy makers arguing that “the net purchase envelope should be considered a ceiling rather than a target.”

Other officials countered that the “current presumption” was that the envelope of the programme “would have to be used in full.”

Since then, prospects for the economy have darkened, with some indicators suggesting activity has plateaued. Lane

warned earlier this month that uncertainty about the corona-virus will weigh on consumers and businesses for some time.

Infections are rising again across Europe as peak vacation season is under way. That’s forced some governments to reinstate travel warnings and tighten restrictions on mask-wearing and social contact.

At the same time, unem-ployment is beginning to creep up, despite generous furlough schemes in many countries. The numbers are likely to rise further in the coming months as governments start to phase out support programmes.

That’s why some cautioned during the meeting against reading too much into initially strong data. A “technical” rebound was to be expected,

they said, but that “didn’t answer the question of how steady the recovery would be in the period ahead.”

Forward-looking indicators, such as new orders have remained well below their average levels, according to some of the participants.

In the US, central bankers backed off in July from an earlier readiness to set a clearer bar for raising interest rates. Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting published Wednesday showed officials are committed to keeping policy ultra-loose so long as the coronavirus crisis is signifi-cantly holding the economy back.

As ECB officials bid their time to decide if more stimulus is needed, most economists predicted ahead of the July meeting that the central bank would increase pandemic pur-chases this year.

“While it was underlined that the Governing Council should avoid creating new expectations of further mon-etary-policy action, it should also emphasize that it had the tools and policy space to take further action if needed,” according to the account.

Volkswagen Chairmansettles another marketmanipulation caseBLOOMBERG

Volkswagen Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch (pictured) settled a market-manipulation case that alleged he and other former executives informed markets too late about impli-cations of its diesel-emissions rigging for Porsche Automobil Holding, VW’s majority shareholder.

Poetsch agreed to pay €1.5m ($1.8m) to end the case, a spokeswoman for Stuttgart prosecutors said by phone. The investigators also ended the probe against former VW CEO Matthias Mueller, who at the time also served on the Porsche board. He didn’t have to pay a fine. The probe against Martin Winterkorn, former CEO of both companies, will continue.

“Porsche Automobil Hold-ing’s supervisory board is still of the opinion that the board members didn’t violate their duties. The allegations are baseless,” the company said in a statement. “The board, after a diligent review and consid-eration, decided to cover the amount imposed on Poetsch.” It’s the second investigation

Poetsch settled. In May, he and VW CEO Herbert Diess agreed to pay €4.5m to end the criminal case in a court in Braunschweig, after prose-cutors there charged them alongside Winterkorn, alleging they delayed informing markets about the US probe into the manipulation of diesel engines. VW also decided to cover those fines. The diesel scandal, exposed by American regulators in September 2015, has cost the world’s largest automaker more than €30bn.

Both VW and Porsche Auto-mobil are still facing civil suits from investors over the same allegations, claiming they lost money because the executives didn’t inform them in a timely manner about the scandal.

Avianca airline magnates held in Brazil graft probeAFP — SAO PAULO

Two of South America’s wealthiest brothers, the Bolivian-born airline magnates German and Jose Efromovich, were arrested Wednesday in Brazil as part of the country’s sweeping anti-corruption probe, “Operation Car Wash.” The brothers are the biggest shareholders in Colombian airline Avianca, the second-largest in Latin America.

However, prosecutors said their investigation was not related to the airline but to con-tracts another from Efromovich firm, the shipbuilder EISA, Estaleiro Ilha, made with Transpetro, a subsidiary of Bra-zilian state-run oil company Petrobras.

The brothers are suspected of paying 28m reals (about

$15m at the time) in bribes from 2009 to 2013 to Transpetro’s former chief executive, Sergio Machado, in exchange for lucrative contracts with the transport and logistics firm, prosecutors said in a statement.

Investigators raided homes and four businesses belonging to the brothers, who were arrested in Sao Paulo, prose-cutors said.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the brothers were assigned to house arrest, according to a court ruling seen by AFP.

German Efromovich, 70, is a former chairman of the board at Avianca, but was forced from the post last year.

He and Jose, 65, hail from a Polish Jewish family that emi-grated to South America after World War II.

Turkey investing more in AfricaAbdulmenan Sherif, a Turkish-educated business administration director, is seen at Turkish Demka Textile and investment plc company which hopes to start production amid COVID-19 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Japanese startup raises $28m to help fund moon missionBLOOMBERG

Ispace, a Tokyo-based space startup, has raised $28m from Japanese investors to help bankroll its first mission to the moon.

The Series B round was led by an investment vehicle managed by Incubate Fund, with participation from Space Frontier Fund, Takasago Thermal Engi-neering and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, ispace said in a statement yesterday. That brings the total amount raised by the company to about $125m.

Ispace was founded a decade ago to compete for Google’s Lunar XPrize, a $20m award for the first pri-vately-funded team to land on the moon, travel 500 metres and beam high-def-inition video back to Earth. While the competition con-cluded without a winner in 2018, a number of teams per-sisted, betting that increased government spending on moon missions and the falling cost of achieving orbit could support a cottage industry of would-be space explorers. Ispace has billed itself as the lunar version of FedEx, with plans to even-tually make money by hauling scientific equipment and commercial goods to the moon.

FedEx, UPS are out to prove they can profit in holiday onslaughtBLOOMBERG

United Parcel Service and FedEx, riding high from record package deliveries amid the coronavirus pandemic, are moving on to their next challenge: showing investors they can boost profit in the approaching onslaught of the holidays.

FedEx followed UPS and the US Postal Service this week in setting aggressive peak-season fees, signaling increased pricing power with retailers ahead of what’s expected to be an unprec-edented year-end surge of packages. The couriers will also compete with Amazon to hire hundreds of thousands of sea-sonal drivers as the e-commerce giant ramps up its distribution network.

The holiday rush sets up a final exam of sorts for UPS and FedEx, which are finally winning over Wall Street after plowing billions of dollars into automated

sorting centers, air freighters and routing software. With their sea-sonal price increases, they’re seeking to prove they can extract more profit from the flood of residential deliveries while keeping customers satisfied. That also means dodging the risk of a logjam, which is already stoking anxiety at big shippers.

“We are going to hit a capacity crunch this peak season and there is no silver-bullet solution for it,” said Glenn Gooding (pictured), president of iDrive Logistics, a consulting firm that helps shippers lower delivery costs. “There’s just not enough available capacity to handle the influx.” The pandemic already has pushed more retail sales online and spurred soaring delivery demand at UPS and FedEx. That’s helped propel the companies to a share gain of 37 percent apiece this year, placing them in the top 10 of a Standard & Poor’s index of US industrial

companies. The broader gauge slipped 6.1 percent.

“The parcel sector has become investable for the first time in several years,” said Allison Landry, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group.

Quarterly delivery volumes have climbed about 20 percent from a year earlier for UPS and FedEx, and 50 percent for the post office. In the holiday season, total package volume is set to jump as much as 70 percent from last year, said Mike

Lambert, chief operating officer at Green Mountain Technology, a consulting firm for shippers.

For UPS and FedEx, home shipments are costlier than those to businesses, where each location tends to receive more packages and the distance between stops is usually shorter. The flood of residential deliv-eries and the extra cost to protect workers from Covid-19 have pressured profit margins at both companies, and it’s unclear if the extra holiday fees will stem that erosion.

What is clear is that shippers are chafing under the couriers’ newfound pricing power. Mean-while, on-time delivery has deteriorated since the pandemic hit and both major couriers sus-pended service guarantees in March. In July, the percentage of on-time deliveries dropped to the low 90s from high 90s before the virus, according to SJ Consulting.

In response to the sur-charges, retailers will likely encourage consumers to pur-chase earlier than usual. Stores may promote curb-side pickup of online orders and use crowd-sourcing companies for home delivery, said Jess Dankert, vice president of supply chain for the Retail Industry Leaders Associ-ation, a trade group. Walmart and Ace Hardware are handling deliveries from stores themselves.

Retailers are also looking to alternatives such as regional package carriers, but many can’t keep up with demand.

DHL, a unit of Deutsche Post that uses the post office for final delivery, stopped accepting new customers on August 1, two months before the normal cutoff for peak season. The peak-season packages handled by DHL could double from last year, said Lee Spratt, who runs the company’s e-commerce operation in the

Americas. DHL has a waiting list of about 500 customers for when peak season is over.

“We’ve seen a lot of large retailers that have sole-sourced contracts and that is going to change,” Spratt said. “You’ll see a lot of customers working much harder on more diverse delivery strategies as we go forward.” Stores could make deliveries more efficient by consolidating orders rather than trying to compete with Amazon on next-day and two-day deliveries, said Satish Jindel, founder of SJ Con-sulting. Consumers are more concerned with packages arriving on time than with the speed of delivery, he said.

The price increases won’t stop with the holiday surcharges announced this month, Jindel said. UPS and FedEx have raised rates about 5 percent annually for the last several years and will probably boost prices at least 7 percent next year, he said.

Weekly US jobless claims rise more than expected to 1.1 millionAFP — WASHINGTON

Just over 1.1 million people filed new claims for jobless benefits in the week that ended August 15, the US Labor Department said yesterday, defying expec-tations for a more moderate rise.

That was an increase of 135,000 from the week prior and brought new claims back above the one million mark, only the third time new appli-cations have increased since the beginning of April in the early weeks of the coronavirus

pandemic.And new applications under

the special pandemic program for those not normally eligible for benefits also rose, increasing by more than 53,000, according to the report.

The US is facing both the world’s worst coronavirus out-break and massive unem-ployment, with the latest data well above any single week of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

But the volume of new claims has been trending down, and the four-week moving

average fell by 79,000 in the latest week to 1.75 million.

The mixed report comes as Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration have yet to agree on additional emer-gency spending to boost the flagging US economy after the expiration of key provisions of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act relief measure.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow described talks as “rather stalled” in yes-terday’s interview with Fox Business Network.

The CARES Act apportioned

an extra $600 in weekly pay-ments to unemployed workers while creating the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to give loans and grants to com-panies struggling amid the downturn, but both programs expired and investment banker Dan Alpert linked that to the jump in claims.

“These elevated claims are driven by repeat layoffs, not first-time claimants,” Alpert said on Twitter. “Workers who were laid off, put back on pay-rolls under the Payroll Pro-tection Program, which covered

eight weeks of salaries, and then laid off again when the money ran out.” In the absence of a new aid package, President Donald Trump earlier this month signed an executive order to try to address the gap, including one that would give as much as $400 in extra ben-efits to laid-off workers but only a handful of states have signed on so far.

Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics said despite the low uptake, the Trump’s order may have influenced the latest figures.

13FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020 BUSINESS

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 9,767.18 -0.47 %

QE Total Return Index 18,777.08 -0.47 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index - Price 2,230.74 -0.56 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,979.57 -0.56 %

QE All Share Index 3,038.51 -0.43 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 4,172.87 -0.64 %

QE All Share Industrials 2,822.97 -0.29 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,900.27 -0.39 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,626.60 +0.05 %

QE All Share Insurance 2,113.41 +0.30 %

QE All Share Telecoms 918.86 -0.41 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 8,058.06 +0.07 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

20-08-2020Index 9,767.18

Change -46.60

% -0.47%

YTD% -6.31

Volume 272,999,968

Value (QAR) 481,663,149.32

Trades 10,153

Up 15 | Down 31 | Unchanged 01

19-08-2020Index 9,813.78

Change +54.01

% -10.59

YTD% -5.87

Volume 302,884,774

Value (QAR) 541,157,784.71

Trades 11,122

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

Australia’s Qantas Airways posts $1.9bn loss; confirms job cutsAFP - SYDNEY

Australian flag carrier Qantas yes-terday posted an almost $2bn annual loss after a “near-total col-lapse” in demand due to the coro-navirus pandemic.

Strict restrictions on travel to Australia and a near-blanket ban on citizens leaving spelled a stat-utory pre-tax loss of Aus$2.7bn ($1.9bn), including the cost of mothballing its Airbus A380s and huge redundancy payouts.

Revenues collapsed 82 percent between April and June.

Facing “the most challenging period” in its 99-year history, Qantas said it would move ahead with retrenching 6,000 staff and has grounded 100 planes for up to a year in a $10bn cost-cutting blitz.

The airline reported a “strong first half of the year” followed by “a near-total collapse in travel demand” as virus restrictions were introduced.

“We were on track for another profit above Aus$1bn ($718m) when this crisis struck,” CEO Alan Joyce (pictured) said.

The global aviation industry is facing perhaps its biggest crisis to date, with numerous big-name carriers seeking billions of dollars to stop them from going under, while others have gone out of business.

In Australia, the sector has received hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds as the government scrambled to save it from collapse.

Joyce said the industry’s recovery will “take time and it will be choppy”.

“COVID is reshaping the com-petitive landscape and that presents a mix of challenges and opportunities for us,” he said.

Qantas said “fast action to rad-ically cut costs and place much of the flying business into a form of hibernation” helped minimise the financial impact from the pan-demic shutdown.

Despite the ongoing uncer-tainty, the carrier believes it remains “well positioned” to take advantage of the eventual return

to air travel.Its main competitor, Virgin

Australia, went into voluntary administration in April shortly after Australia closed its international borders and domestic travel plunged.

Virgin announced earlier this month it would close budget sub-sidiary Tigerair Australia and lay off 3,000 staff as it prepares to relaunch under the new own-ership of US private equity giant Bain Capital.

Joyce said the pandemic would continue to have a “huge impact” on Qantas, with expecta-tions of a “significant loss” in the

coming financial year.Several domestic state borders

remain closed while Qantas has said it does not expect to return to international flights approaching pre-pandemic levels until mid-2021.

Australia, which has recorded just over 24,000 cases of corona-virus and 463 deaths to date, has limited the number of its own cit-izens who can return home from overseas in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.

Government officials have said the island nation will not reopen to overseas travellers until a vaccine for COVID-19 is found.

A file picture of Qantas Airways aircraft standing on the tarmac at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia.

Alibaba’s growth isn’t the recovery investors were looking forBLOOMBERG

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s strong rebound in both revenue and profit last quarter are impressive. Sales climbed 34 percent and operating income jumped 42 percent after paltry results the quarter before. But investors should be aware just where those numbers are coming from before they cel-ebrate a recovery.

While primarily an e-com-merce company - accounting for half of revenue last financial year - the single-biggest con-tributor to growth in the June period was what the Chinese company calls “new retail.” In the backward world of online sales, this actually refers to brick-and-mortar businesses such as supermarkets. That category, lumped together as “others,” climbed 88 percent from a year prior.

Its actual e-commerce business expanded just 21 percent. The only time it’s been worse was the March quarter, when the fallout from the-Covid-19 pandemic resulted in growth of just 1.1 percent.

Within that business, commis-sions rose 17 percent and advertising 23 percent.

Alibaba’s other major growth driver was its up-and-coming cloud division, which expanded 59 percent. On the s u r f a c e , t h i s i s laudable; however, that business continues to bleed money with operating loss margins running at 14.4 percent, the same level as three months earlier. Sure, this margin has narrowed over the past year, but as yet there’s little indication that Alibaba can be expected to deliver sustained economies-of-scale as that category grows, especially in the face of stiff competition from the likes of Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Leveraging its investments in new areas such as physical retail isn’t a bad thing. It shows a pragmatic approach to investment as management seizes new opportunities for growth.

Yet investors who want to cheer a recovery for China’s largest e-commerce company should keep in mind what it is they’re celebrating.

14 FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020SPORT

Pakistan’s 10-year run under threat in last England TestAFP — SOUTHAMPTON

Pakistan head into today’s third Test at Southampton facing a first series defeat against England in 10 years.

The tourists are 1-0 down in a three-match campaign after a three-wicket defeat in the first Test at Old Trafford, a match where Pakistan were on top until the closing stages, was fol-lowed by a draw in a second Test at South-ampton where neither side had a chance of victory in a match blighted by bad weather.

There had been con-cerns that, as happened to the West Indies’ fast bowlers during their 2-1 defeat by England in a preceding behind closed door series that marked international cricket’s return from lockdown, Pakistan’s quicks would be worn out by three back-to-back Tests.

But the lack of action in the second match -- Pakistan had bowled just 43.1 overs in England’s first innings when a draw was agreed -- should mean a

first-choice pace attack of S h a h e e n A f r i d i , Mohammad Abbas and Naseem Shah are all fit and firing for today’s finale at the Ageas Bowl.

Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq was confident fatigue would not have been an issue in any event, with the former captain, in a blog for the Pakistan Cricket Board’s website, writing that “fitness has been an important part of our strategy as a team” since he took charge in September.

Despite little play in the second Test, Misbah was heartened by the determi-nation of Mohammad Rizwan, who top-scored with 72, the resilience of Pakistan’s top-order in “testing conditions” and the fact an attack featuring leg-spinner Yasir Shah took four wickets.

“The seamers also bowled really well...That last session, even as the game drifted towards a draw, gives us a lot of con-fidence going into the last Test,” Misbah added.

“It’s a big game and we want to end the series on a good note.”

Meanwhile England face another selection dilemma.

There will be a strong temptation to stick with the tried and tested pace trio of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes, so effective in the kind of overcast English conditions that are likely to be a factor in the third Test as they were in the second.

But with English cricket constantly obsessing about the next Ashes series, a 2021/22 tour of Australia, team management would like to give express fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood more Test-match game time before they head ‘Down Under’.

“It’s very difficult,” said England coach Chris Silverwood.

“You look at what you need for the here and now and you look down the line for what we potentially need (in Australia).

“It’s a difficult balance to get...There’s various factors we look at and pace is one of them: it’s pace, movement, bounce, left or right arm...all these things come into account,” he added.

Pakistan players during a training session ahead of the third Test.

The third Test between England and Pakistan that begins today at the Ageas Bowl will feature revised playing timings to accommodate for poor weather conditions, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said yesterday. Play can begin at 1030 local time (0930 GMT), 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled 1100 start if time is lost due to bad light or rain earlier in the Test, the ECB said in a statement.

REVISED START TIMES

No holding back, says Root ahead of finaleAFP — LONDON

England captain Joe Root (pictured) said yesterday he wants his players to give it their all in the third Test with Pakistan which gets underway this week as it could be their last for a while.

England lead 1-0 and have to avoid defeat at the Ageas Bowl today to seal what would be their first series win over Pakistan in 10 years.

It would make it a perfect summer having beaten the West Indies 2-1 earlier in the season.

England ‘s next scheduled Test series is in India in the new year but the coronavirus pan-demic may make that impossible -- playing it in the United Arab Emirates could be a possibility.

However, Root says the players should

perform as if this is the last Test till next summer and “leave no stone unturned.”

“My message to the guys today was quite simple really,” he said at his eve of match press conference.

“We don’t know when the next time is that we’ll play Test cricket.

“Let’s make sure we leave no stones unturned and we give everything to each other and the badge going into this last game.

“I fully expect eve-ryone to give everything over the next five days and make sure we give ourselves the best chance of finishing the series 2-0.”

Root, who missed their only Test defeat of the summer in the first clash with the West Indies due to

becoming a father, said even playing without spectators beat what he feared might happen at the beginning of the season.

“We feel extremely lucky to have got the opportunity to play right now,” sa id the 29-year-old.

“At the start of the summer, we were dreading the thought of not seeing any interna-tional cricket.”er and the

nto this last

xpect eve-verythingfive days we give

he besthing the

missedt defeat er in ash est to

tional cricket.”

Australia, England stars may avoid IPL quarantine, says Bangalore chairman

AFP — NEW DELHI

Cricketers from Australia and England might be able to feature from the start of the Indian Premier League despite a series between their countries ahead of the Twenty20 tournament, according to chairman of the Bangalore franchise.

Top stars including England’s Ben Stokes and Steve Smith of Australia will be involved in the limited-overs series that ends three days before the start of the IPL in the United Arab Emirates on September 19.

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed IPL out of India and according to tournament protocols the players will have to undergo a week’s isolation and testing before they can join their teams.

But Sanjeev Churiwala of the Royal Challengers Bangalore -- led by India skipper Virat Kohli, and with Aaron Finch of Australia and England’s Moeen Ali in the squad -- feels the three will already be in a bio-bubble in England.

“For the players landing after the England and Aus-tralia series, on September 17, that is very close to our matches,” Churiwala said.

“The BCCI have also issued very detailed SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and procedures to be followed by these players in terms of their participation.

“What the SOPs say very clearly (is) that they can participate without quarantine, provided they satisfy certain very stringent conditions.

“Very clearly after the players have played the (international) series, they have to continue to be in the biosecure bubble.”

He added: “Right from the biosecure bubble, they have to go straight to the charter flight without getting into the extensive migration procedures, and without getting in touch with the general public.”

A total of 29 players from England and Australia are part of the eight IPL squads.

South Africa confirm two COVID-19 cases in national squad

REUTERS — CAPE TOWN

Cricket South Africa yesterday reported two positive COVID-19 tests among national team players who were due to participate in a squad camp taking place this week.

CSA tested 50 players and officials prior to the camp, which began on Tuesday and runs to tomorrow, and confirmed two positive cases among the group, without naming those infected. The camp is focused on team bonding and was arranged after CSA came under heavy criticism from some former players who claimed there was a culture of racism within the side.

“There were no replacements made for the two players who tested positive. All those unable to attend the camp will join the proceedings virtually,” CSA said in a statement yesterday.

Another absentee is former captain Faf du Plessis, due to the imminent birth of his second child.

South Africa have this year missed a mix of test and limited overs series against India, Sri Lanka and West Indies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of their leading players are contracted to play in the Indian Premier League, which is due to start next month.

Olympics: Torch relay schedule intact for next year, says reportREUTERS — TOKYO

Tokyo Olympic organisers plan to follow roughly the same schedule, delayed by a year, for the nationwide torch relay preceding the postponed summer Games, Kyodo News reported yesterday.

The relay is expected to start on March 25, 2021, in Fukushima pre-fecture from the J-Village soccer training centre, a symbol of Japan’s reconstruction from the 2011 earth-quake and tsunami, Kyodo said, citing unidentified officials with knowledge of the matter. Runners are to pass through all 47 of Japan’s prefectures in the relay lasting 121 days, as origi-nally planned, the news agency said.

The relay had been scheduled to start in J-Village on March 26 this year, but just days before that, the Interna-tional Olympic Committee and Jap-anese government decided to postpone the Games by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organisers aim to stick to the event as originally planned but could still make changes to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Kyodo said.

“We are continuing to respect the original framework as much as pos-sible while we review how we organise the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay,” the organising committee said in an emailed statement in reponse to the report.

Star pair of Bryan brothers not on US Open entry listREUTERS — NEW YORK

Bob and Mike Bryan, the most successful doubles pair in the history of tennis, were not on the entry list for the US Open released, raising the prospect that the 42-year-old twins may have chosen to end their professional careers.

The Californian pair, famous for their trademark chest-bump celebration, had previously announced they would bid farewell after this year’s tournament at Flushing Meadows, scene of their Grand Slam debut in 1995.

In an interview last month after a World Tennis Tour event at the Greenbrier in West Virginia, they said they had not yet decided whether they were finished competing. “We love this life. We had a great run if

this is over,” Bob Bryan said.“We’re gonna sit down

and if we decide to come back and play in 2021, then you’ll probably see us play the US Open just to keep it going. If we decide to shut it down in 2021, this might be it. So who knows.”

Playing almost exclu-sively with each other throughout their 25-year careers, the Bryans captured a professional era record 119

titles, including 16 Grand Slam wins, 39 ATP Masters 1000s and the ATP Finals title four times. The Bryans also won Olympic gold at London 2012 and were part of the US Davis Cup-winning team in 2007, the accomplishments they have said they are the most proud of.

Mike claimed two more Grand Slam titles with Jack Sock in 2018 after Bob was sidelined with a hip injury.

Bob Bryan (left) and his brother Mike Bryan of the US kiss their trophy after they defeated Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez of Spain in their men’s doubles final at the 2014 US Open in this September 7, 2014 file photo.

The Californian pair,

famous for their

trademark chest-

bump celebration,

had previously

announced they would

bid farewell after this

year’s tournament at

Flushing Meadows,

scene of their Grand

Slam debut in 1995.

Coronavirus case found in ‘bubble’AFP — NEW YORK

A positive test for coronavirus has been found in the New York tennis bubble where the US Open is set to take place later this month, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced yesterday.

USTA medical officer Bernard Camins revealed that the person who has con-tracted the virus “is not a p l a y e r ” a n d i s asymptomatic.

The finding comes after 1,400 tests for the disease were conducted since August 13 in the bubble at the Billie Jean King centre in New York City, where the Cincinnati ATP event and the US Open are to be staged.

Dr. Camins said the male individual initially tested neg-ative but then a second test two days later came up pos-itive. He added that the per-son’s hotel roommate has also been placed under

quarantine. “It would have been nice if he was positive the first time. But the reason we added the second test at 48 hours was to account for the time we couldn’t be cov-ering,” Dr. Camins said.

The US Open, which was rescheduled to start on August 31, has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a host of top players pulling out of the tournament.

Among those not taking part are men’s world number two -- and last year’s champion at Flushing Meadows -- Rafael Nadal and the majority of the top 10 from the WTA women’s tour rankings.

Ranked second in the world, on Monday Simona Halep became the latest star to skip the American Grand Slam, joining women’s world number one Ashleigh Barty and reigning US Open champ Bianca Andreescu.

15FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020 SPORT

A true final of champions awaits in LisbonREUTERS – LISBON

After four thrilling quarter-finals, the upsets stopped at the last four stage in the Champions League, setting up Sunday’s final between Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain.

Bayern, five-times winners, are back in the final for the first time since 2013 after ending a streak of four losses in the semi-final stage with Wednesday’s comfortable 3-0 win over Olym-pique Lyonnais.

PSG are in the big game for the first time, having struggled to translate their dominance of the French league into a real challenge in Europe until wins here over Italian club Atalanta and Germany’s RB Leipzig secured their place.

For the first time since 1998, the Champions League final will feature two teams who entered the competition as domestic champions, a throwback to the day’s of the old European Cup when only a country’s title winners were allowed to enter.

While no fans will be present to witness the clash at the

Estadio da Luz, home of Portu-guese club Benfica, millions across the globe will watch the game which is the most-watched annual sports event in the world.

And there is plenty of interest for those outside of Germany and France.

PSG’s attack is led by Brazil’s biggest star Neymar, the exciting French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe and the crafty Argentine winger Angel Di Maria.

It will be fascinating to see if the French side can expose Bay-ern’s high defensive line which was breached several times by a wasteful Lyon.

“Paris are a great team,” said Bayern coach Hansi Flick, “We will analyse some things, we know they have quick players. We will look to organise our defence, but we know our biggest strength is p u t t i n g

our opponents under pressure.” Bayern’s top scorer is Polish

striker Robert Lewandowski, who leads the tournament’s scoring charts with 15 goals this season and has found the target

55 times in all competitions.The club’s 19-year-old left

back Alphonso Davies has been the most exciting young player in the tournament and was born in a refugee camp in Ghana before moving to Canada, who he represents at national team level.

On a tactical level, the final pits two German coaches against each other for only the second time in the tournament’s history.

PSG’s Thomas Tuchel, the ex-Borussia Dortmund coach, has managed to

give the French

champion’s expensively assembled squad the balance and steel they have lacked in recent years.

Flick only took over as Bayern coach in

November but has had an aston-ishing impact.

Since mid-December, Bayern have enjoyed 28 wins and a s o l i t a r y d r a w ,

scoring 97 goals and con-

ceding just 22.B a y e r n ,

w h o thrashed Barcelona 8-2 in their quarter-final, also have expe-rience on their side.

The Bavarians have already featured in the European Cup or Champions League final on ten occasions, winning their fifth title in 2013.

PSG have only reached the last four once before and their best performance in Europe came in the old Cup Winner’s Cup which they won in 1996.

PSG title favourites for virus-threatened Ligue 1 season

No fanzones in Paris for Champions League finalAFP – PARIS

There will be no fanzones in the French capital for this week-end’s Champions League final that pitches Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern Munich, French police told AFP yesterday.

The mayor’s office also opposed fanzone plans that had been pitched by Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu on Wednesday.

That idea was “a bad sug-gestion”, Paris health official Anne Souyris told AFP.

PSG take on Bayern in Lisbon on Sunday, but their progress has coincided with several departments in the Ile-de-France region around Paris passing the “alert threshold” of 50 new daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

“All I see is an massive cluster,” Souyris said of a potential fanzone, recom-mending gatherings in small groups of 10 or less in cafes where social distancing is possible.

French police arrested 36 people including three minors after clashes following PSG’s semi-final victory on Tuesday.

Police were deployed in big numbers both on the Champs-Elysees, the iconic Parisian avenue that connects the Arc de Triomphe with the Place de la Concorde, and around PSG’s home ground of the Parc des Princes in the west of the city.

Thousands of PSG fans, for the most part not wearing masks in line with coronavirus health and safety protocols, paraded down the Champs-Elysees in cars, and on mopeds and scooters, in a cacophony of horn-blowing and chanting.

For the final, PSG have organised a live transmission of the game for the regle-mented number of 5,000 spec-tators at the Parc des Princes.

Liverpool to begin Premier League title defence against LeedsAP – LONDON

Leeds' first game in the Premier League in 16 years couldn't be tougher: a trip to champion Liverpool.

The schedule for the new season was released on Thursday, with Manchester City and Manchester United not playing on the opening weekend to give them more rest after their involvement in European competition this month.

Liverpool can, therefore, get a head-start on two of its biggest rivals and will open its first title defense since 1990 with a match against promoted

Leeds on September 12, fol-lowed by games at Chelsea and against Arsenal at home.

The trip to Anfield for Leeds will be Argentine coaching great Marcelo Bielsa's first game in the Premier League after guiding what is regarded as a sleeping giant of English soccer back to the top division by winning the second-tier Championship.

Leeds - a three-time English champion - was one of the country's top teams in the 1960s and 70s, won the English league title in 1992, and reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2001.

Man City's home match

against Aston Villa and Man United's trip to Burnley on the opening weekend have been postponed as a result of the agreement among all Premier League clubs for every squad to get a minimum of 30 days between their final game of the 2019-20 season and their first of the new campaign.

City lost to Lyon in the Champions League quarter-finals on Saturday, while United lost Sevilla in the Europa League semifinals on Sunday.

So, City's first game in the Premier League will be on the weekend of September 19-20 at Wolverhampton Wanderers, with United starting at home

against Crystal Palace the same weekend.

The first meeting between last season's top two teams, Liv-erpool and City, has been scheduled for November 7 at City's Etihad Stadium, with the return game at Anfield coming on the first weekend of February.

The Manchester derbies will take place on the weekends of December 12-13 and March 6-7.

Looking to wrest the title back from Liverpool, City has a difficult-looking start with its next three games after Wolves being against Leicester, at Leeds and then against Arsenal.

Similarly for United, after

opening the campaign against Palace and at Brighton, the team must play Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal in three of its next four league games.

On the final weekend of the season, Liverpool will host Palace, City is at home against Everton, and United will travel to Wolves.

The season is starting about a month later than normal because of the late finish to the last one as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak. The 2020-21 campaign is scheduled to run through May 23, with the winter break - introduced for the first time to the English top division last season - put on

hold for a season. With compe-tition organizers having to fit a full season into one less month, midweek matches are at a premium in the Premier League. The first four rounds of the Carabao Cup, for example, account for the first four midweek slots of the campaign.

FA Cup replays also have been scrapped for the season to further ease the burden on squads.

Premier League clubs are waiting to learn when they will be able to play in front of a crowd again, with matches cur-rently held in empty stadiums because of the pandemic.

Ligueeee 1111111 sssssssssseeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaasssssssooooooonnnn

Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte with the players during training yesterday.

Sevilla players during training ahead of the UEFA Europa League final against Inter Milan.

Sevilla eye 6th Europa title as Inter seek glory

ANATOLIA – ANKARA

Spanish club Sevilla is aiming for a record sixth UEFA Europa League title in today’s final against Italian power-house Inter Milan.

Both sides have the form and the pedigree to be con-fident of winning what will be their first-ever encounter in European football.

Sevilla is the most successful team in the second tier of Europe’s elite club competition, having won the trophy five times in the past 15 years - 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

For Inter, this is the first Europa League final since 1998, when they claimed the title - known then as the UEFA Cup - by beating Lazio 3-0 in an all-Italian final in Paris.

The UEFA Cup was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League in the 2009-10 season, the year of

Inter’s last European triumph - the Champions League title under Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho.

The Italian club won the UEFA Cup three times in the 1990s - 1991, 1994, and 1998 - and Antonio Conte’s men now have the chance to end Inter’s 22-year wait for a fourth title.

Inter’s main threat for the final will be Belgian star Romelu Lukaku, who has scored six and assisted two goals in five Europa League matches.

The Italian side’s other forward Lautaro Martinez is also in top form, scoring twice in the

semi-final victory over Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk. Spanish forward Munir El Haddadi has led from the front in Sevilla’s charge to the final, netting five goals and assisting two more on the way.

The 2020 final will kick off at 1900GMT in the western German city of Cologne with all the measures, including an empty stadium, necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic. The winner will go on to meet this year’s Champions League holders in the UEFA Super Cup on September 24.

Sevilla and Inter have

won eight titles in

Europe’s second-tier

competition between

them, with the Spanish

side chasing a

record-extending sixth

trophy against their

in-form rivals.

here is plenty of r those outside of nd France.tack is led by Brazil’s Neymar, the exciting

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o

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scoring 97 goals and con-

ceding just 22.B a y e r n ,

w h o thrashquartrience

ThfeaturChamoccatitle

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arget in a refugee camp in Ghanbefore moving to Canada, whohe represents at national team level.

On a tactical level, thefinal pits two German coaches against each other for only the second time in thetournament’s history.

PSG’s ThomasTuchel, the ex-Borussia Dortmund coach, has managed to

give the French

For the first time since 1998, the Champions

League final will feature two teams who entered

the competition as domestic champions, a throwback to the day’s

of the old European Cup when only a country’s title

winners were allowed to enter.

On a tactical level, the final pits two German coaches

against each other for only the second time in the tournament’s history.

Thomas Tuchel Hans Flick

REUTERS – PARIS

With Champions League finalists Paris St Germain way above the cut, the question in France is not who will win the Ligue 1 title, but how the season will be played amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Olympique de Marseille were scheduled to play the curtain-raiser against St Etienne today but four confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus at the Pro-vence club meant that the French League postponed the match.

Girondins de Bordeaux will host Nantes instead as the LFP started to reshuffle the calendar before the first kickoff of the season. The 2019-20 season was cut short with 11 games left amid the pandemic.

“I’m pessimistic. I don’t see this league happening in normal conditions. We’re not going to have so many dates for postponed games and soon we’re going to hit a wall,” St Etienne coach Claude Puel said.

PSG are expected to retain Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as they aim for an eighth title in nine years. Even if coach Thomas Tuchel has some remodelling to do with captain Thiago Silva leaving, it will take some special achievement to dethrone the capital side.

Olympique Lyonnais, however, are hoping to mount a challenge after being deprived of any European competition when they finished the pre-vious season in seventh place.

Sports director Juninho said the club would “lose” talented midfielder Houssem Aouar and striker Moussa Dembele, but OL have plenty of home-grown talent, notably midfielder Rayan Cherki, who could step up this term.

Coach Rudi Garcia, however, conceded the staff would have “some psychological work to do” to quickly focus on domestic duties and avoid a bad start after being eliminated in the Champions League semi-finals by Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Monaco, the only club to break PSG’s recent dom-ination, hope they can find some stability after former Bayern coach Nico Kovac was appointed to lead the 2017 champions.

Marseille, runners-up last season, have found stability under Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas - who wanted to leave but said his players convinced him to stay.

“It was very hard for me to go back on my word after I had exposed myself publicly. The players, and only the players, were the key in making me change my mind,” he said.

OM, who are under the watch of UEFA after breaking financial fair play regulations, will hope to retain most of their top players after France winger Dimitri Payet extended his contract and agreed to a pay cut.

CHINTHANA WASALA THE PENINSULA

Al Sadd ended their 2019-20 QNB Stars League (QSL) campaign with a 1-1 draw against Al Gharafa while Al Khor and Al Shahania shared points after a two-all draw which confirmed the latter's relegation to the second division, yesterday.

The defending cham-pions, Al Sadd's position in the QSL standings was already confirmed even before yesterday's Round 22 match which was played at Al Janoub Stadium as Xavi Hernandez-coached side finished third ahead of Al Gharafa who rounded up the top four.

In yesterday's match, Al Gharafa took the lead through Ahmed Alaa’s 65th minute goal, before Akram Afif equalised from the penalty spot in the 91st minute, having missed another penalty moments earlier.

The game saw Al

Gharafa defender Almahdi Ali get sent off in the 77th minute for a dangerous challenge, while their coach Slavisa Jokanovic was also shown the red card for arguing with the officials in stoppage time.

The match got off to an intense start, with both sides looking for an early break-through. Al Gharafa looked to capitalise on an error from Meshaal Barsham in

the fifth minute, but Sofiane Hanni’s shot flew over the crossbar. A few minutes later, Baghdad Bounedjah went clear on goal at the other end, but the referee blew his whistle for offside.

Al Gharafa's goal came after a scramble in the box. The Al Sadd defence failed to clear the ball and Ahmed Alaa was able to finish past Meshaal Barsham to give his side a 1-0 lead.

Finally, Al Sadd won a penalty when Afif was fouled in the box in the 86th minute. However, the forward saw his effort rebound off the bar and go out. A second chance arrived a few minutes later, when Hanni was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box. This time, Afif made no mistake and scored his 15th goal of the season to go top of the scorers chart.

The result meant Al Sadd ended the season with 45 points, nine ahead of Al Gharafa.

Later, at the same venue, Al Khor sealed their 11th place finish after sharing points with Al Shahania.

Al Khor's points tally stood at 17 while Al Sha-haniya, placed at the bottom of the standings, completed the season with 16 points.

Al Khor's goals were scored by Thiago Bezerra and Luca Burges, while Ramin Semeskandi scored both of Al Shahania's goals.

The result means Al Khor will now play the decisive match against the second-division champi-onship runners-up for a place in next season's QSL.

In the third match of the day, Al Sailiya and Umm Salal were locked in a goalless draw at the Al Sadd Stadium as they finished their campaigns with 29 and 18 points respectively.

FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

The QNB Stars League (QSL) 2019-2020 edition champions will be decided today, with Al Duhail entering the final round as favourites to lift the Falcon Shield. For Al Rayyan - the other title contenders - they will be needing much more besides winning their last match to end the league as triumphant.

Table toppers Al Duhail - who led in the best part of the season – will take on Al Ahli at Al Janoub Stadium, knowing their one point lead over Al Rayyan will be enough to give them the title, if they defeat their eighth-placed opponents today.

Al Rayyan will take on sixth-placed Al Wakrah at Al Sadd Stadium, targeting for a win as well as hoping for an upset at Al Janoub Stadium. Both the matches will kick off simulta-neously at 7:30pm.

Al Duhail coach Walid Regragui, who replaced Rui Faria during the second half of the season, is upbeat that his team will defeat Al Ahli and

become the QSL champions. “We are ready to face Al

Ahli, win the match and finish the league. It is like a Cup final,” Walid Regragui said at a pre-match press conference.

“A month ago, we knew that we had five decisive matches. We would have liked to win the title early, but we were not suc-cessful. Now, we have a match to win, and we knew that Al Rayyan would be chasing us,

but we will win and celebrate the title,” Regragui said.

The coaches expressed sat-isfaction over his team’s per-formance to retain their top spot since QSL resumed last month after a long break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We did not feel pressure in previous matches, especially because our destiny is still in our hands and victory will make us win the league. If

there is pressure, it will be pos-itive. We have confidence in ourselves and we have to win this match and clinch the title,” Regragui said before adding that he is unlikely to make changes in the squad for today’s crucial match.

“We will miss the services of Yousef Msakni, Assim Madibo and Bassam Al Rawi. At the same time, Ahmed Yasser has returned to training.

There will be no major changes in the squad. I think we will play with the same squad, the players must put in efforts on the field and I trust all of them,” the coach added.

“The season was long and difficult. Now, the important thing for me is the recovery of injured players because we need them to prepare for the AFC Champions League and fortu-nately Al Duhail have many options,” said Regragui.

Meanwhile, Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre has urged his players to focus on winning against Al Wakrah.

“We are ready to give best show against Al Wakrah to win the game. The title is not in our hands. For me, I do not prefer waiting for the result of the other match. We have to focus on our game because it is difficult. If we cannot win, we will not have a chance to win the title and we must do our job until the last moment,” said Aguirre.

“My advice to the players is to just focus and do the best on the field in order to win,” said Aguirre.

“The preparations for Al Wakrah game were very good. We do not have any excuses, we

have to continue winning and achieve victory in this game. We are required to focus, maybe something good will happen. We may or may not win the title,” he added.

Aguirre praised his side for taking the QSL title fight down to the wire.

“The season, in general, was good because we competed for the title until the last round. It is a good thing for Al Rayyan, espe-cially with some new players who joined at the beginning of the season,” he said.

Today’s first match will be played between Al Arabi and Qatar SC at Al Janoub Stadium.

SPORT | 14

No holding back, says

Root ahead of finale

SPORTA true final of champions awaits in Lisbon

SPORT | 15

FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2020

QSL: Al Rayyan hope for ‘good’ thing to happen in last round

Al Duhail confident of clinching title

WEEK 22YESTERDAY'S RESULTSAl Sadd 1-1 Al Gharafa

Al Khor 2-2 Al Shahania Al Sailiya 0-0 Umm Salal

TODAY'S FIXTURESAl Arabi vs Qatar SC

(16:00, Al Janoub Stadium)Al Duhail vs Al Ahli

(19:30, Al Janoub Stadium) Al Wakrah vs Al Rayyan (19:30, Al Sadd Stadium)

We are ready to face Al Ahli,

win the match and finish the

league. It is like a Cup final.

A month ago, we knew

that we had five decisive

matches. We would have

liked to win the title early,

but we were not successful.

Now, we have a match to

win, and we knew that Al

Rayyan would be chasing

us, but we will win and

celebrate the title: Al Duhail coach Walid Regragui

We are ready to give

best show against Al

Wakrah to win the

game. The title is not in

our hands. For me, I do

not prefer waiting for

the result of the other

match. We have to focus

on our game because it

is difficult. If we cannot

win, we will not have a

chance to win the title

and we must do our job

until the last moment:

Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre

Ooredoo Cup semi-finals to take place on August 29

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

The long-awaited semi-finals of the 2019-20 Ooredoo Cup will be played on August 29, Qatar Stars League announced yesterday.

The last four-stage of the popular tournament, originally planned to be held in March, got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Al Rayyan will meet Al Arabi in the first semi-final while Al Ahli will play against Al Sadd in the second. Both matches will be played at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium with kick off set for 16:00 and 19:00 respectively.

The date and the venue for the final has not yet been decided.

Al Arabi beat Al Wakrah 1-0 in the first quarter-final to make it to the semis with Pierre-Michelle Lasogga netting the winning goal.

Al Ahli entered the semis by knocking out two-time defending champions Al Gharafa following a goal by captain Nabil El Zhar.

Al Sadd defeated Qatar SC in tie-breaker in the third quarter-final.

There was high drama in the last quarter-final before Al Rayyan edged Al Khor in sudden death (7-6) after the regular time ended 1-1 and tie-breaker ended 5-5.

Interestingly, the current QNB Stars League table toppers Al Duhail failed to clear the group stage after finishing fifth in Group B with three points.

Al Sadd snatch point with late Afif strike;Al Shahania relegated after Al Khor draw

Al Sadd's Akram Afif in action against three Al Gharafa players during their Round 22 match yesterday.

Al Duhail players in action during a practice session ahead of today's QNB Stars League Round-22 match against Al Ahli.

Al Rayyan players in action during a practice session.

qatar signs concession agreement for development, operation ......2020/08/21 · affairs, h e dr....

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