WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020 www.thepeninsula.qa17 RABIA II - 1442 VOLUME 25 NUMBER 8459

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Sport | 08

Qatar amongtop investment

destinations,says CEO

of QDB

Thomas Bach to stand unopposed for IOC Presidency

Business | 01

2 RIYALS

Katara Traditional Dhow Festival opens

Krasnodar 8:55pm Stade Rennais

Basaksehir 8:55pm Leipzig

Sevilla 11:00pm Chelsea

Club Brugge 11:00pm Zenit

Borussia Dortmund 8:55pm Lazio

Ferencváros 11:00pm Barcelona

Juventus 11:00pm Dynamo Kiev

Man United 11:00pm Paris Saint-Germain

TODAY’S SCHEDULEGROUP STAGE

Full report �Sport 12

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah met yesterday with the Commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command in the Middle East, Vice-Admiral H E Samuel Paparo. They reviewed bilateral cooperation in the military field and ways to enhance them. The meeting was attended by a number of senior officers in the Armed Forces.

HIA awarded 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety RatingTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hamad International Airport (HIA) has become the first airport in the Middle East and Asia to be awarded a 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety Rating by Skytrax.

The audit evaluated how effectively COVID-19 policies are implemented at Qatar’s airport against the Skytrax COVID-19 safety rating standards.

The COVID-19 on-site audit was conducted over three days in October and is based on a combination of procedural effi-ciency checks, visual observation analysis and ATP sampling tests, which measures the contami-nation of contact surfaces. The consistency of standards has been a key determinant in the final rating applied.

The Audit evaluated and verified the practicality and usefulness of physical dis-tancing protocols, as well as the quality and availability of hand hygiene facilities across HIA’s terminal.The audit also assessed cleaning effectiveness and identified any potential contamination sources to ensure that the airport’s hygiene standards are com-plying with the most stringent requirements.

During the audit, Skytrax inspected and evaluated the standards of staff personal pro-tective equipment (PPE) and their adherence to using them,

as well as the implementation of thermal temperature screening procedures, face mask regulations and the overall cleanliness and hygiene standards across the airport.

Chief Operating Officer at Hamad International Airport, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al Meer said: “We are proud that our COVID-19 policies and pro-tocols are recognised by Skytrax and that we are the first in the Middle East and Asia to be awarded a 5-Star COVID-19

Airport Rating. Since the inau-guration of Hamad Interna-tional Airport in 2014, Skytrax ranking has always played an important role in HIA’s self-assessment and served as a quality benchmark to keep up with passenger expectations and operational excellence. HIA prides itself on its status as a 5-Star Airport for the fourth consecutive year, and a 5-Star COVID-19 Airport by Skytrax.”

The Skytrax COVID-19 Airport Rating provides an independent analysis of an air-port’s COVID-19 hygiene and safety measures, assessing over 400 factors in a typical airport travel sequence. Conducted over a few days, auditors test and evaluate the airport’s COVID-19 procedures on-site.

Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said: “Hamad International Airport has achieved great success in delivering COVID-19 protocols that are providing a safe environment for customers and staff. In areas such as hand hygiene and social distancing, Hamad International Airport has good procedures in place. The airport is also meeting high standards of sanitisation across the high-contact points. The consistency of COVID-19 safety procedures and systems is excellent, and this is a critical factor behind being able to certify Hamad International Airport with the 5-star COVID-19 Safety Rating.” �P4

Sidra Medicine uses fish to diagnose diseases in humansTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

A little-known fact is that several species of fish have genes that are extremely similar to those of humans. One such fish is the zebrafish. Small and unassuming, the zebrafish shares 70 percent of its genes with humans making it an ideal organism to help further our understanding of human genetics and diseases.

This is exactly what the Zebrafish Functional Genomics Facility at Qatar Foundation’s Sidra Medicine is currently working on. Using these small organisms, researchers are able to make connections between genetic variations and the dis-eases they cause.

When patients approach Sidra Med-icine with unusual clinical presentation that leads to inconclusive diagnoses, they are referred for genetic testing. Although spe-cific tests are conducted in different clinics depending on the nature of their symptoms and suspected conditions; unsolved cases

get referral for genetic testing. The results of the genetic testing help

identify some novel variants that have not been reported before. Knowing that a novel variant exists is not enough information to determine that it is the

cause of a patient’s symptoms; so this data is provided to the zebrafish facility for research. The facility uses it to rec-reate a mini fish model of the patients’ genetic variation to study its relation to the disease.

The facility currently conducts research primarily on rare pediatric con-ditions of congenital abnormalities, neu-rological disorders and cardiovascular diseases.

“When we find genetic mutation or variation, we cannot approach a patient’s family and tell them that this is the cause of their child’s disease, as we cannot be sure. Being able to recreate it in the zebrafish model, give us a better under-standing of whether or not this really is the case. This allows for families to have a better understanding of what is hap-pening, as well as for clinicians to decide which treatments or methods of man-agement would be most effective,” said Laboratory Manager at the Sidra Zebrafish Facility, Dr. Sahar Da’as. �P2

Laboratory Manager at Sidra, Dr. Sahar Da’as, with zebrafish.

Qatari ports witnessed huge rise in cargo handling last monthIRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

Owing to robust growth in movement of containers and general cargo in the ports of country, Mwani Qatar has set record for handling container volume.

“Mwani Qatar has set a new monthly record for container volume having handled more than 133,000 TEU, a 14% increase over last November,” Mwani Qatari tweeted yesterday.

It added that general cargo increased by 268% to more than 233,000 tonnes, the second highest number handled in one month at HamadPort, RuwaisPort.

According to infographic shared with the tweet, the ports of Qatar handled 133, 401 TEUs; 233, 481 tonnes of general cargo; 6123 vehicles; 29, 528 heads of livestock and 41, 052 tonnes of building material in November 2020. The number of vessels visited Qatari ports last month stands at 322. It is to be noted that ports had handled 63, 413 tonnes of general cargo in November 2019.

QTerminals, terminal oper-ating company providing services at Hamad Port, also announced yesterday of han-dling highest volume of general and bulk cargo since company’s start in 2016.

“QTerminals has record

statistics this month as it has handled the highest number of TEUs, general cargo and bulk cargo since the company’s inception in 2016. We are

hugely proud of our staff for this excellent achievement,” QTer-minals tweeted yesterday.

Sharing details, QTerminals said that it handled 129, 747

TEUs; 44, 229 tonnes of bulk cargo; 141, 631 tonnes of break bulk cargo and 6010 vehicles at Hamad Port in November 2020. �P2

Qatar’s maritime tradition is very much alive at the 10th Katara Traditional Dhow Festival which started yesterday at Katara Cultural Village. Fishing and pearl diving are among the traditional marine activities that form the distinct features of the five-day festival being held at Katara Esplanade. �REPORT ON PAGE 3

The Skytrax COVID-19 Airport Rating provides an independent analysis of an airport’s COVID-19 hygiene and safety measures, assessing over 400 factors in a typical airport travel sequence.

Ports PerformanceNovember

2020

Container volume increased14% last month

Qatar, US sign military pactQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar and the United States of America signed a military agreement within executive arrangement framework between the minis-tries of defence of both coun-tries. The agreement pertains to marine activities and port calls to the State of Qatar.

The agreement was signed on behalf of the State of Qatar by the Commander of the Amiri Naval Forces Nautical Major General H E Abdullah Hassan Al Sulaiti, and for the US by the Commander of US Naval Forces Central

Command in the Middle East, Vice-Admiral H E Samuel Paparo, in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces Lieutenant-General (Pilot) H E Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanem.

The signing ceremony was also attended by President of the International Military Cooper-ation Authority Brigadier General Abdulaziz Saleh Al Sulaiti, and

Charge d’Affairs of the United States Embassy in Qatar Greta C. Holtz, and a number of officers in the armed forces.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, the Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces Lieutenant-General (Pilot) Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanem met with the Commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command in the Middle East Vice-Admiral Samuel Paparo. During the meeting, they reviewed the military cooper-ation relations between the two countries and ways to enhance them. �Picture on P2

The agreement pertains to marine activities and port calls to Qatar.

OFFICIAL NEWS

02 WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020HOME

Amir greets Romania President

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin

Hamad Al Thani and Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad

Al Thani sent yesterday cables of

congratulations to President of

Romania H E Klaus Werner Iohan-

nis on the occasion of his country’s

National Day. Prime Minister and

Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Kha-

lid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani

also sent a cable of congratulations

to Prime Minister of Romania H E

Ludovic Orban on the occasion of

his country’s National Day. -QNA

FM receives call from Azerbaijan counterpartDOHA: Deputy Prime Minister

and Minister of Foreign Affairs H

E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrah-

man Al Thani received yesterday

a telephone call from Minister of

Foreign Affairs of the Republic of

Azerbaijan H E Jeyhun Bayramov.

During the call they discussed

bilateral cooperation relations and

matters of mutual interest. The

Deputy Prime Minister and Min-

ister of Foreign Affairs renewed,

during the call, the State of Qatar’s

welcoming of the ceasefire agree-

ment between Azerbaijan and

Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh

region, considering that it rep-

resents a great step to end the

long-running conflict and realize

the sought-after peace, which

serves the interests of the two

countries and achieves stability

in the region. -QNA

Turkey Parliament

welcomes Shura

Council polls

announcement

QNA — ANKARA

Speaker of the Grand National Assembly (Parliament) of the Republic of Turkey H E Dr. Mustafa Sentop welcomed Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin H a m a d A l T h a n i ’ s announcement to hold elec-tions for the Shura Council in October next year.

Dr. Mustafa Sentop said in a statement that this decision is a significant development, expressing his great pleasure with that. The Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly also wished the upcoming Shura Council elec-tions would be for the good of the brotherly people of Qatar.

Education Ministry partners with ExxonMobil to sponsor energy labsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education signed a partnership agreement with ExxonMobil Qatar to sponsor energy laboratories at two new science, technology, engi-neering and mathematics (STEM) schools during a signing ceremony, whereby ExxonMobil Qatar becomes the exclusive sponsor of the energy laboratories in the two schools.

The ceremony was attended by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Ibrahim Al Nuaimi; Assistant Undersecretary for Educa-tional Affairs of the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation, H E Fawziya Abdulaziz Al Khater; President and General Manager for Exxon-Mobil Qatar, Dominic Genetti; and Vice President and Director of Public and Gov-ernment Affairs for Exxon-Mobil Qatar, Saleh Al Mana.

“The Ministry of Education and Higher Education con-siders increasing of the number of students that are enrolled in STEM subjects at government schools among its list of strategic priorities. The science and technology schools initiative was estab-lished to directly support this mission, and will be key to

fulfilling the Qatar National Vision 2030’s objective of building a knowledge economy and a generation of scientists, researchers and thinkers,” said Dr. Al Nuaimi.

“The partnership between the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and Exxon-Mobil Qatar is one of our strongest, and has led to

several successful and fruitful projects,” said Fawziya Al Khater during the signing ceremony.

“I am very proud of this cooperation that has the interests of Qatar’s students at its core, and I applaud Exx-onMobil’s commitment to the educational projects it sup-ports. We share the same goal of developing student skills in science, technology and scientific research,” said Al Khater.

Speaking during the cer-emony, Genetti confirmed that ExxonMobil Qatar would be the exclusive sponsor of an energy lab at each school, similar to its contribution to the first STEM school.

“ExxonMobil Qatar is com-mitted to supporting STEM learning, and this agreement with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education is one example of how we work with our partners to provide quality STEM learning experiences,” said Genetti.

Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, H E Fawziya Abdulaziz Al Khater and Vice President and Director of Public and Government Affairs for ExxonMobil Qatar, Saleh Al Mana signing the agreement as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Ibrahim Al Nuaimi and President and General Manager for ExxonMobil Qatar Dominic Genetti looks on.

The Romanian flag — blue, yellow, and red — projected on Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel yesterday on the occasion of Romania’s 102nd National Day anniversary. The Embassy of Romania in Qatar expressed its whole-hearted appreciation for the brotherly relations between the two countries on the occasion. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

Romania marks National Day anniversary

Qatar takes part in

25th Session of

Conference of

States Parties

QNA — THE HAGUE

The State of Qatar took part in the 25th Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CSP) of the Organi-zation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which was held in The Hague.

The delegation of the State of Qatar was led by Qatar’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Permanent Represent-ative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons H E Abdullah bin Hussein Al Jaber.

Armed Forces

conclude Al Da’am

Al Sarem 2020

ExerciseQNA — DOHA

The Armed Forces concluded yesterday the Al Da’am Al Sarem 2020 exercise, which was held under the patronage of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah. A number of units and commands from the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior participated in the exercise. The exercise was attended by Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces H E Lieu-tenant-General (Pilot) Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanem, alongside a number of senior officers in the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior.

PM condoleswith family ofJassim AbdulazizDOHA: Prime Minister and Min-

ister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid

bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani

offered condolence to the family of

a famous media personnel Jassim

Abdulaziz who passed away yes-

terday. “In Qatar we lost today one

of the pioneering media person-

nel, broadcaster Jassim Abdulaziz,

who passed away. Jassim was

model for a professional journal-

ist and loyal to his profession and

country. My sincere condolences

to his family, fans and the media.

May Allah have mercy on him. We

belong to Allah and to Him we shall

return,” the Prime Minister said in

a tweet yesterday. -QNA

Sidra Medicine

uses fish to

diagnose diseases

in humans

FROM PAGE 1

A specific case that stands out to Dr. Da’as is one where a child arrived at Sidra Medicine with a rare, complex neurological dis-order that only has 50 reported cases worldwide.

Upon detailing family history, doctors at Sidra Medicine found that the child’s mother had been complaining of reduced fetal movement while she was pregnant.

This complaint had not been identified in any of the other cases. This allowed researchers to recreate the genetic variant found in the child in zebrafish model and look for this unique symptom.

Sure enough, they found that when replicated in zebrafish, the variant caused brain abnormality, reduced motor skills and muscle movement at very early stages of development. While in this case, unfortu-nately, this did not offer much in the way of con-clusive therapies, it did help clinicians understand the cause in order to advise the parents on how to manage future pregnancies and seek help early.

Sidra Medicine also uses zebrafish for research in pediatric diabetes, cancer, and cardiac disease. According to Dr. Da’as, the fish lend themselves well to research for a number of conditions.

“Our goal at the moment is to understand the genetic mutations that present most commonly among the pedi-atric population.

“While we aim to conduct research on condi-tions and mutations that present in pregnant women and babies in-utero, we hope to also work on infertility issues in the future,” she said.

Al Hammadi meets

Guinea-Bissau counterpart,

Salvador Charge d’AffairesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H E Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi, met yesterday with Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Communities of Guinea-Bissau, H E Dino Sidi, who is currently visiting Qatar.

Bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual concern were discussed during the meeting.

H E Secretary-General of

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also met yesterday with Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of El Salvador to Qatar, H E Diego Alejandro Dalton Rosales, on the occasion of the end of his tenure in the country.

The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs extended thanks to the Charge d’Affairs for his efforts in promoting and developing the bilateral rela-tions, wishing him success in his future duties.

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H E Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi with Guinea-Bissau counterpart H E Dino Sidi, yesterday.

Al Muraikhi bids farewell to envoysof Cuba and Dominican RepublicMinister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi met separately yesterday with Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the State of Qatar H E Emilio Caballero Rodriguez (above) and Ambassador of the Dominican Republic H E Federico Alberto Coelho Camilo on the occasion of the end of their tenure in the country. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs thanked the two ambassadors for their efforts in supporting and strengthening bilateral relations, and wished them success in their new duties.

Qatar and the United States of America signed a military agreement. The agreement pertains to marine activities and port calls to the State of Qatar. The agreement was signed on behalf of Qatar by Commander of the Amiri Naval Forces Nautical H E Major General Abdullah Hassan Al Sulaiti, and for the US by Commander of US Naval Forces Central Command in the Middle East H E Vice-Admiral Samuel Paparo.

Qatar, US sign military agreement

Qatari ports witnessed huge rise in cargo handling last month

FROM PAGE 1The number of vessels

visited Hamad Port last month stands at 154.

The cargo movement at the ports of Qatar had also wit-nessed a significant increase in October 2020. The ports’ con-tainer handling had seen an increase of 17 percent in October 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 reaching nearly 128,500 TEUs.

The ports had handled 128, 498 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) containers; 36,625 tonnes of general cargo; 5822 vehicles; 33,163 heads of live-stock and 37, 558 tonnes of building material in October 2020. Hamad Port had handled 123,924 Twenty-Foot Equiv-alent Units (TEUs) containers; 30,270 general cargo; 5665 vehicles and 1768 heads of live-stock in October 2020.

03WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020 HOME

MoPH reports 216 recoveries and 168 new virus cases

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health ( M o P H ) y e s t e r d a y announced the registration of 168 new confirmed COVID-19 cases. Among them 18 were travellers returning from abroad, according to the Ministry.

Also, 216 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 136,306. The Ministry also announced one death of a person aged 67, who was receiving the necessary medical care.

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

Ministry of Education organises Virtual Universities ExhibitionQNA — DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education, represented by the Academic and Career Guidance Division of the Department of Educational Guidance, organised the First Virtual Universities Exhibition, in cooperation with INJAZ Qatar.

The three-day exhibition was attended by 20 univer-sities and colleges in addition to officials from the US embassy, the Canadian

embassy and the British Council in Doha. Students who participated in the exhibition reached about 500 students in various secondary schools in the country.

Director of the Educa-tional Guidance Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Moza Al Madhahka inaugurated the exhibition which aimed to educate high school students and introduce them to the majors and programs offered by the universities, the

requirements for admission and the conditions for

r e g i s t r a t i o n i n t h e s e universities.

In her speech, Al Madhahka said that the aim of the event is to support high school stu-dents in developing meaningful educational plans, according to their abilities, preferences and professional goals, and to introduce them to the special-izations required in the labor market.

For his part, Director of the Ministry’s Educational Super-vision Department at the Min-istry of Education Ahmed

Nasser Al Balam, stressed the importance of academic and professional counselling and its role in preparing students for the university stage and the labor market.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education is keen to continue implementing its important activities in a virtual manner, taking advantage of visual commu-nication technology, in line with the precautionary measures imposed by COVID-19 pandemic.

Qatar takes part in anti-corruption conferenceQNA — DOHA

Qatar has participated in the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), which runs via video conferencing in South Korea till December 4.

The delegation of the State of Qatar to the conference is led by President of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority H E Hamad bin Nasser Al Misned. Participants in the conference will discuss a number

of topic under the theme “Designing 2030: Truth, Trust and Transparency”, shedding light on the best ways to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 in general, and the sixteenth goal in particular,

which is related to peace, justice and strong institutions.

The conference will feature a number of workshops focused on the study and analysis of the various challenges combating corruption in all parts of the

world that are related to the environment, development, defense, using technology and digital government, combating corruption in economically fragile countries, and other emerging challenges.

Qatar saw only 4 cases of COVID-19 re-infectionsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar saw only four cases of COVID-19 reinfections and those people, who got infected again, were asymptomatic during their first and second infections.

Medical Director of the Communicable Diseases Center (CDC) of the Hamad Medical Corporation, Dr. Muna Al Maslamani said during “Al-Sabah Rabah” pro-gramme on Al Rayyan tele-vision that four cases of rein-fections were registered in Qatar and the gap between the first and second infections varied between 45 days to 87 days. The four cases did not show any symptoms during the first or second infections.

She pointed out that more studies are needed to know

the immune protection that a person infected with the virus acquires and to determine the exact period of persistence those antibodies have in the body. The Ministry of Public Health has signed deals with most important international manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccinations and Qatar will immediately obtain them as soon as it receives necessary approvals.

She added that there is a new test to detect the COVID-19 virus – antigen test - which takes 15 minutes and received approval recently. It has an accuracy rate of 97% and will be made available in relevant departments of HMC soon. The PCR examination has an accuracy rate of 100% but takes between 6-8 hours.

She also stressed the impor-tance of getting the seasonal

influenza vaccinations, espe-cially for children - 6 months to 5 years old - pregnant women, elderly and people with chronic diseases to prevent the virus, especially at a time of COVID-19 pandemic.

She explained that scien-tists have noticed increase in spread of COVID-19 virus if the temperature and humidity is low.

When the humidity is low, the virus stays in the air for longer periods, and when the temperature is low, the virus lives outside the body more.

The end of the pandemic depends on the existence of a vaccine or treatment for this virus, as well as on human behavior by adhering to pre-cautionary measures, which are an important factor in preventing infection.

QM lines up several activities this monthTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Museums (QM) has announced a number of events and activities catering to a wide array of interests and artistic passions, to be hosted across its cultural institutions throughout the month of December.

The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) is organising a host of work-shops which can be booked through www.qm.org.qa/en/program-calendar Among these workshops are focused on callig-raphy including “Kufic Advanced” for adults to be held from 4pm to 6pm on December 6, 13, 20 and 27 and “Ruq’ah Advanced” and “Diwani for Beginners” which are both for children and teenagers and are scheduled from 10.30am to 12.30pm on December 12, 19 and 26. Other workshops include “Recycling!” for children and youth aged 8 to 14 to be held from 10am to 12pm on December 5, “Painting for Adults based on the

exhibition “A Falcon’s Eye: Tribute to Sheikh Saoud Al Thani” from 5.30pm to 7.30pm from December 13 to 16, and “Clay inspired by A Falcon’s Eye: Tribute to Sheikh Saoud Al Thani” from 5pm to 7pm from December 21 to 23.

MIA is also organising a dis-cussion on “The Man & the Mystery: The Making of Sheikh Saoud” which will focus on how Sheikh Saoud has defined history, and what remains of his lasting legacy. Those interested to join in the discussion on December 9 from 5pm to 6.30pm may contact islamicartclub@qm.org.qa

There will also be two curator-led tours on the current MIA exhibition “A Falcon’s Eye” on December 8 from 11am to 12pm and on December 10 from 6pm to 7pm, the latter focused on photography. To sign up, interested persons may contact whatsonatmia@qm.org.qa

The National Museum of

Qatar (NMoQ), on the other hand, is organising three webinars including “Travelers to Qatar from the Past” to be held from 6pm to 7pm on December 2; “Story of the National Flag” on December 9 from 6pm 7pm; and “Exploring the Poetry of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani” on December 16 from 6pm to 7.30pm.

These webinars will be held in Arabic, with simultaneous English translation and can be booked by emailing program-snmoq@qm.org.qa

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art is hosting “Artist Encounters with artist Ebtisam Al Saffar” from December 6 to 10 from 4pm to 7pm. Mathaf offers a unique opportunity for adults to work with artists to design a series of workshops that link an element of their personal creative process with an aspect related to the creation of the art-works in the Mathaf Collection.

The 3-day exhibition was attended by 20 universities and colleges in addition to officials from the US embassy, the Canadian embassy and the British Council in Doha.

Maritime heritage palpable at Katara Dhow FestivalRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s centuries-old maritime tradition is palpable at the Katara Traditional Dhow Festival which opened yesterday on a high note, marking a successful decade of reviving the country’s marine heritage.

The Minister of State and President of Qatar National Library H E Dr. Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, Former Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada, and General Manager of Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, along with ambas-sadors and other dignitaries attended the opening of the fes-tival yesterday.

From land to sea, the festival teems with a diverse showcase of different types of dhows, tra-ditional marine handicrafts and artworks along with perform-ances and competitions, alto-gether resulting to an ambience reminiscent of the country’s rich

past anchored on its close rela-tionship with the sea shared with other countries taking part in the festival including Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, India, and Tanzania.

“The festival has reached the hearts and souls of visitors and heritage lovers which include cit-izens and residents of all nation-alities of Qatar. This festival through heritage, history and story-telling brings folklore alive to the people through the dis-tinctive activities that also con-tribute to the spread of culture as well as reflecting contemporary generations,” said Dr. Al Sulaiti.

He stressed how the festival plays a significant role in creating a bond between old and new generations through culture and heritage as well as displaying Qatar’s and other participating countries’ maritime heritage.

The festival is being held fol-lowing all precautionary and safety measures in accordance with Ministry of Public Health protocols to fight the spread of COVID-19, he said.

Visitors to the festival can

witness a number of distinct fea-tures and activities related to pearl diving and fishing tradition.

As with previous editions, a major highlight of the festival is an impressive collection of tra-ditional dhows which can be seen at Katara Esplanade, on the beach and in the sea.

Visitors can also witness various workshops showcasing the process of building dhows and ancient crafts as well as live painting by a number of local artists. There are pavilions dis-playing traditional handicrafts such as pottery, fishing and pearl diving tools in addition to a fish market.

Among the entertaining activities are storytelling, tradi-tional stage shows and perform-ances including by an Omani folk band, in addition to a number of exciting marine competitions such as Al Shoush, Al Haddaq and Al Tafris.

The festival is open to the public today, tomorrow and on Saturday from 10am to 10pm and on Friday from 1pm to 11pm.

Minister of State and President of Qatar National Library H E Dr. Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari (left), Former Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada (right), and General Manager of Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti (centre), along with ambassadors and other dignitaries at the launch of the 10th Katara Traditional Dhow Festival at Katara yesterday.

QU and CRA sign MoU for ICT research THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar University’s College of Engineering (QU-CENG) and the Communications Regu-latory Authority (CRA) signed a memorandum of under-standing (MoU) to cooperate in the fields of academic, research and student training and support in terms of Infor-mation and Communications Technology (ICT) yesterday.

The MoU was signed by QU President, Dr. Hassan Rashid Al Derham, and President of CRA, Mohammed Ali AlMannai, during a ceremony held at the QU headquarters and in the presence of officials from both institutions.

The MoU shall be valid for four years from the effective date. The cooperation framework and scope include coordination and cooperation in various fields, such as

exchanging experiences and information to enhance coop-eration in scientific research related to ICT. Also, it consists of coordination and collaboration in organising seminars, work-shops, and training courses related to ICT.

Besides, the cooperation framework and scope include implementing joint programs related to public awareness and consultation, cooperating in research studies for telecom services, networking, systems, in addition to modern and future applications. Finally, cooper-ating in any other possible fields of common interest.

Commenting on the MoU, QU President Dr. Hassan Rashid Al Derham said: “The MoU high-lights QU’s continuous efforts to provide solutions to local chal-lenges in line with national pri-orities towards a knowledge-based economy. It will also serve

to facilitate knowledge and tech-nology transfer and provide consultancy and research services, which will contribute to driving socio-economic development and sustainability in the State of Qatar.”

President of CRA, Mohammed Ali Al Mannai, said: “The CRA welcomes the signing of the MoU. It will enhance our cooperation and support training and develop skills of youth and increase their knowledge of ICT. This con-tributes to achieving one of the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030 and creating a balance between an oil-based and a knowledge-based economy, helping diversify the country’s economy.

“The MoU will open windows to exchange experi-ences and information, thereby enriching scientific research and research studies related to

ICT. Finally, I would like to thank QU for their cooperation, and we look forward to starting working and cooperating with them within the MoU framework..

On the sidelines, the awards ceremony for the winners of the Qatar Internet Exchange Point (QIXP) website design compe-tition was held. The competition was conducted in cooperation between CRA, QU, and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers — State of Qatar Chapter (IIEE-SQC) and was open to all students who are living in Qatar.

The evaluation committee evaluated the designs and selected the design submitted by Nasir Hafez Moulana Yaqub Ali as the first-place winner.

The winner will continue working on the design devel-opment until the QIXP website goes live.

QU President, Dr. Hassan Rashid Al Derham, and President of CRA, Mohammed Ali Al Mannai, after signing the MoU at QU headquarters.

AYENI OLUSEGUNTHE PENINSULA

HEC Paris in Qatar (HEC-Q) is offering scholarships in Inter-national Executive MBA (EMBA) and Specialised Master’s in Strategic Business Unit Management (SBUM) to mark its 10th anniversary in Qatar, Dean Dr. Pablo Martin de Holan announced yesterday.

The Qatar Foundation affil-iated business school ranked second worldwide for Executive Education in 2020 and first for International Executive MBA in 2019 by the Financial Times, will give out 11 scholarships under both programmes. The EMBA will include two schol-arships in Women in Lead-ership, Global Diversity, Qatar National Vision, while one scholarship will be awarded in the Dean’s Scholarship cat-egory, valued at $35,000.

For the SBUM, two scholar-ships each will be given for International Exposure and Entrepreneurial Success with a value of $20,000. The scholar-ships aim to encourage partic-ipants whose professional and personal experience has had considerable international exposure and to inspire entre-preneurial journey in any capacity.

HEC-Q aims to emphasise diversity in its current pro-gramme from nationalities,

age, and particularly empow-ering more women to achieve leadership roles. The scholar-ships were created to foster the diversity the classroom needs.

“We believe that a diverse classroom helps people learn better. Hence, we created the scholarships in these categories. A degree in business schools accelerates careers. One of the strategic priorities for HEC Paris in Qatar for the next ten years is to push for women in lead-ership. We have created the scholarship category exclu-sively to bring more women into the Executive MBA,” Dr. Pablo said.

“We want to have more women in our programmes

because they bring a different perspective. Part of Qatar’s residual of talent comes from women, there’s a lot of potential in the female population, and we want to enhance that. Having women take a look at business enhances the quality, bringing a much richer expe-rience into the classroom,” he added.

The programme’s diversity will also enable residents and citizens to participate and create an opportunity for non-residents. The scholarship is open to students based in tra-ditionally underrepresented areas in HEC Paris in Qatar EMBA, such as Latin America, Africa, Russia, and the former USSR states, the Pacific Islands,

and South East and North Asia.“The Qatar National Vision

2030 scholarship category will be given to people who have shown a significant impact on the implementation of vision 2030. Not many countries have grown like Qatar has from an extractive economy essentially into a knowledge economy. Not many people have succeeded in doing that, but we need to do it with people,” Dr. Pablo noted.

The scholarships apply for next January’s SBUM and Feb-ruary’s EMBA intakes. The SBUM application deadline is December 29, 2020, and the EMBA’s deadline to submit the scholarship application will be January 28, 2021. All candidates must have been admitted to the programs to qualify for schol-arship consideration.

04 WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020HOME

One of the strategic priorities

for HEC Paris in Qatar for the

next ten years is to push for

women in leadership. We

have created the scholarship

category exclusively to bring

more women into the

Executive MBA.

Dr. Pablo Martin De Holan

Dean, HEC Paris in Qatar

Safari ‘10, 20, 30’ promo starts

HEC Paris in Qatar launches specialised scholarships

Dean of HEC Paris in Qatar Dr. Pablo Martin De Holan, during a press conference in Doha yesterday. PIC. ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

Sidra Medicine all set to host

virtual PMFG 2020 symposiumTHE PENINSULA – DOHA

Sidra Medicine is all set to host the fifth edition of its flagship “Precision Medicine and Func-tional Genomics 2020” (PMFG 2020). The symposium will be launched online from December 5 to 7 and will provide resourceful “remote learning” opportunities on account of current pandemic restrictions.

Attendees to PMFG 2020 will receive 14.25 hours credits for learning as approved by the Qatar Council of Healthcare Practitioners (QCHP). The con-ference is being billed as one of the major scientific symposiums from the Middle East, dedicated to covering topics relevant to the current pandemic as well as the importance of precision medicine.

Registered attendees will be able to access various sessions - from live and on-demand programming – and hear from notable local and international speakers. PMFG 2020 will ded-icate a special session on COVID-19, which sheds light on the testing and treatment strat-egies that are now in place, including examples of recent methods developed and enhanced in Qatar.

Chief Research Officer at Sidra Medicine, Dr. Khalid Fakhro: “Precision Medicine is a key focus area for our con-ference program and indeed, for Qatar. Sidra Medicine has been working closely with our local partners to build capacity

in this area in recent years, and considering growing global interest in making precision medicine a reality for patients, we are excited to share early success stories. PMFG 2020 will provide an engaging platform for speakers to present best practices, discuss case studies and explore future opportu-nities. It will also be a forum to present innovations using pre-cision technologies, in tackling a variety of ongoing health challenges such as diabetes, cancer and COVID-19.”

PMFG 2020 will feature global and local thought leaders including Professor Sir Mark Caulfield - Chief Scientist, Genomics England, UK, who will talk about the “100,000 Genomes Project” and health transformation. Other notable speakers include Professor Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, Dr. Stephen Hunger, Chief, Division of Pediatric Oncology Director, Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, USA and more.

Dr. Khalid Fakhro

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

Doha’s popular hypermarket chain Safari’s popular promotion ‘10, 20, 30’ started on November 30 with a number of promotions and gift schemes that no one else can emulate. Many local and foreign consumers are waiting for this promotion as they can get many food items and other daily necessities at very low prices.

Unlike other retailers in Doha, Safari understands the needs of its customers and brings offers suitable to their budgets without compromising on the quality. Through this promotion, thousands of products including fruits, veg-etables, fish, meat, bakery, hot food, other food products, cos-metics, house hold, readymade, footwear, electronics and com-puter accessories are displayed for Safari customers.

Almadina 2 packets Chicken 800 gram for just QR10, Nur-jahan Basmati Rice 5 kg bag for QR20 and Lenovo branded Bluetooth Live Pods for just QR30 are the main highlights of this 10, 20, 30 promotion.

The Safari Bakery & Hot Food section also has a wide range of dishes to choose from. We have prepared excellent combo offers including Western, South Indian, North Indian, Arabic and Chinese dishes as well as different dishes. It also serves fish curry, beef roast, burgers, muffins, donuts and more. The 10, 20, 30 promotion

also includes salads and other cheese items in the Deli section of Fresh Food, including Butter Block, Beef Mortadella, Edom Cheese, Mix Pickles, Green Salad and Halawa.

As well as there are a variety of multi-purpose products in the household segment In the cos-metics category, various types of soaps, face washes and body lotions are also available for Safari customers in connection with this promotion. Perfumes, body sprays and makeup sets from leading brands such as Olay, Himalaya, Sebamed, Nivia and Enchanter are available at Safari outlets in the 10, 20, 30 promotion.

The stationery section has a list of stationary items in this promotion for school children as well as of office use. Faber Castle, mapped school kits,

ladies and kids umbrellas, and a range of 10, 20 and 30 riyals items available in the toys and sports category is beyond peo-ple’s expectations.

In Buy One Get One Free promotion shirts, jeans and trousers from selected brands such as Park Avenue, Next Look, Parks, Raymond, Zodiac and Zed Three are available and this promotion is available at all Safari outlets from November 29 to December 13 only.

Safari Win 25 Nissan Sunny Car offers golden opportunity to win 25 Nissan Sunny cars as a gift through a mega pro-motion. Anyone can participate in the coupon draw by pur-chasing just QR50 worth item from Safari’s any outlet. In every draw, Safari will give away 5 Nissan Sunny cars.

Shoppers at the Safari hypermarket during the ongoing ‘10, 20, 30’ promotion.

Shura Council panel studies law on private associations

QNA — DOHA

The Shura Council’s Public Services and Utilities Committee held yesterday a meeting chaired by its rapporteur HE Mohammed bin Mahdi Al Ahbabi. During the meeting, the Committee studied Decree Law No. 21 of 2020 regarding private asso-ciations and institutions, and decided to further review it in its next meeting.

HIA awarded 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety RatingFROM PAGE 1

As Qatar’s state-of-the-art hub continuously prioritises passenger convenience and safety, the airport recently installed 15 PPE vending machines across its terminal to ensure passengers can easily access various disposable and washable PPE equipment, including masks, gloves, hand sanitisers, and face shield products. Physical distancing floor stickers are installed in front of every PPE vending machine to safeguard

passengers safety. HIA also invested in Smart Screening Helmets

- wearable intelligent helmets that are portable, safe, and effective in enabling contactless tem-perature measurement. This is in addition to UV disinfectant robots, which are fully autonomous mobile devices, emitting concentrated UV-C light that eliminates the majority of infectious micro-organisms. The robots are being deployed in vul-nerable high passenger flow areas to reduce the

55 referred to prosecution for not wearing masks

QNA — DOHA

The designated authorities referred yesterday 55 people to the Public Prose-cution for not wearing masks in places where they are mandatory. The measure is in line with the cabinet decision, decree law No. 17 of 1990 on infectious diseases, and the precautionary measures in force in the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

spread of pathogens. Additionally, HIA recently installed C2 tech-

nology, the latest security screening system, which is a significant counter COVID-19 measure, that reduces possible cross-contamination in passenger carry-on bags. The implementation of the tech-nology elevates the airport’s hygiene standards, by limiting human contact at security checkpoints, making the process safer and faster for both staff and passengers.

HIA is also one of the few global airports to offer a contactless and paperless airport experience with the introduction of biometric identification tech-nology, in addition to touchless elevator keys.

HIA maintains stringent cleaning procedures in line with international standards. The airport con-tinues to implement a 1.5m physical distancing across all passenger touchpoints around the airport, through floor markings, signage, and distanced seating.

All passenger touchpoints are sanitised regu-larly and all gates and bus gate counters are cleaned after each flight. The airport also conducts regular disinfection of all baggage trolleys and tubs. HIA’s retail and food and beverage outlets encourage con-tactless and cashless transactions through cards and are considering introducing online or in-app purchases in the future.

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

Three high school students won four prizes, including two first places, a third place, and a special prize out of 720 partic-ipating projects from various schools and educational insti-tutions in the National Scien-tific Research and Innovation Competition 2020. All the research involved is distin-guished by its distinction, quality of ideas, and innovative solutions that serve different sectors and fields in energy, industry, environment, and agriculture.

Anfal Al Sulaiti from Zubaida secondary school for girls won first place in the Chemistry and Material Sci-ences category for research titled “Polymeric nano-com-posite coating for the protection of steel.” The importance of this coating lies in its versatility in industry, production, and pres-ervation of the environment.

Two students, Abdullah Al Janahi and Abdullah Al Nasr, from Qatar Science and Tech-nology secondary school for boys, won third place for another research titled “Smart and robust nano-composite fibers for self-powering elec-tronic devices” in energy. This research presents a new, inno-vative, and more efficient way to produce safe electricity for the environment.

Tamim Al Rashed and Yousef Al Mahmoud from the Qatar Banking Sciences and Business Administration sec-ondary school for boys won first place in the category of plant

and animal sciences, and a special prize for research entitled “Hydrogel sensor for agricultural applications.”

This research aims to improve soil properties by cre-ating a smart sensor to irrigate crops according to soil needs and increasing soil fertility and agricultural production by using agricultural incentives such as Arabic Gum. This project will revolutionize agriculture in the State of Qatar, seeking self-suf-ficiency in basic crops.

Director of the Qatar Uni-versity Young Scientists Center, Dr. Noora Al Thani, said, “Sci-entific research is of great importance in developing soci-eties and refining skills by com-bining query and knowledge and conducting experiments with data analysis, which leads to the creation of solutions and products.”

“I always feel proud of our students who are used to

winning in local and interna-tional competitions for research and innovation.”

She also praised the efforts of the Center’s sponsors, namely Ras Laffan Industrial City Community Outreach Program, and partners, like Unesco-Doha Office and Qatar National Commission for Edu-cation, Culture and Science.

“In our modern world, sci-entific research is the only window to economic, social, cultural, and intellectual progress. All scientific,

industrial, and technological revolutions are nothing but the frui ts of knowledge accumulation.

That is why the Qatar Uni-versity (QU) Young Scientists Center devotes tremendous efforts and resources to instill the foundations of scientific research and enriching knowledge capital in the younger generation to achieve strategies and goals pivotal in achieving the visions of the country’s development,” Dr. Noora added.

05WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020 HOME

Scientific research is of

great importance in

developing societies and

refining skills by

combining query and

knowledge and

conducting experiments

with data analysis, which

leads to the creation of

solutions and products.

Dr. Noora Al Thani,

Director of the Qatar

University Young

Scientists Center

The hospital is the first private healthcare facility to use only disposable material and equipment for anesthesia in the oper-ation theatres since the last five years and even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Mohamed Abdul Karim Al Hashimy.

The training sessions

provided an introduction

to legal frameworks

surrounding the

circulation of art and

cultural goods, and gave

important information

about how the risks

related to looted works

of art can be reduced.

This initiative and the

subsequently published

book, ‘Together ……

Apart,’ reflect both the

importance of literacy as

a means to communicate

and the spirit of cultural

exchange that is

essential to HBKU

Press’s mission.

QU YSC students win prizes in science competition

Students working on a project.

Al-Ahli Hospital records zero cross infection rate during surgeriesFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

Due to implementation of high standards of safety measures, Al-Ahli Hospital has maintained zero cross infection rates during anesthesia in the operation rooms. The hospital is the first private healthcare facility to use only disposable material and equipment for anesthesia in the operation theatres since the last five years and even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Head of Anesthesia Department at Al-Ahli Hospital, Dr. Mohamed Abdul Karim Al Hashimy.

Al-Ahli Hospital has been in the forefront of ensuring safe and right care for its guests. “Our mission is to provide safe services to our guests. We have most advanced and safe drugs and methodologies used at the Al-Ahli Hospital. We provide the best care to our guests ensuring their safety, comfort and high quality services,” said Dr. Al Hashimy.

“Since we had introduced use of full disposable material and equipment at operating the-atres many years ago, with COVID-19 we had to take only few extra safety measures,” he added. Dr. Al Hashimy also emphasized that respiratory infection is one of the possible cross infections during surgeries and it was more important to control such infections during COVID-19. A cross infection is the transfer of harmful micro-organisms, usually bacteria and viruses. The spread of infections

can occur between people, pieces of equipment, or within the body.

“These infections can cause many complications. So, medical professionals at Al-Ahli Hospital work hard to ensure equipment’s safety and a clean environment,” said Dr. Al Hashimy. The Al-Ahli Hospital which performed only emer-gency surgeries during the

pandemic has resumed elective surgeries with the gradual decline of COVID-19 cases.

“Guests should do a PCR test 72 hours prior to the surgery, green notification in Ehteraz App, normal body tem-perature. Also we follow all required safety measures for the staff,” said Dr. Al Hashimy.

“Therefore our guests can feel very safe to undergo a surgery in Al-Ahli Hospital,” he added.The Department of Anesthesiology at the Al-Ahli Hospital is staffed with 15 highly trained anesthesia con-sultants and specialists and equipped with advanced instruments and facilities. They cover the main three types of anesthesia as local anesthetics, regional anesthetics and general anesthetics. Con-sultants at the Clinic for Department of Anesthesia will first evaluate the guests and ensure that they are ready to go with the planned procedure or surgery (fit for anesthesia). They discuss the anesthesia plan and all steps. If the assessment outcome and the results of any tests are favo-rable, a consent will be signed. The guests will be advised and educated on what steps to take beforehand, such as fasting or taking special medication.

“It is compulsory for guests to Al-Ahli Hospital to have the Ehteraz contact-tracing app installed on mobile devices. The app is inspected (it should be green) and the guests’ temper-atures are checked as they enter the hospital.

Dr Mohamed Abdul Karim Al Hashimy

916,650 people benefit fromQRCS response to COVID-19pandemic in Panama

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has concluded a COVID-19 pandemic control project in the Republic of Panama, at a total cost of $20,000.

The project is aimed at sup-porting public authorities and the fellow National Society in the fight against COVID-19; reaching out to vulnerable communities that have high sources of COVID-19 contam-ination; and delivering food, medical, and protective aid to inaccessible areas.

Under the project, food parcels, personal protection equipment (PPE), cleaning sup-plies, and medicines were dis-tributed under the supervision of Larissa Rodríguez, General Director of the Panamanian Red Cross.

About 916,650 people were reached out directly (51% men and 49% women) in three prov-inces: Colón, Panamá Oeste, and Veraguas (covering more than 80% of the country’s total population highly affected by the pandemic).

Several partners were involved in the implementation of the project, including Inter-national Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Soci-eties (IFRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Spanish Red Cross.

In addition, volunteers of the Panamanian Red Cross l a u n c h e d c o m m u n i t y awareness campaigns to send messages to the public about the risks and prevention of the virus.

An all-terrain vehicle was purchased to help with the humanitarian work of the Pan-amanian Red Cross’ Emergency Operations Center.

The project is part of QRCS’s initiative to back the fellow National Societies in 22 countries across six con-tinents, aimed at protecting 320,000 persons against the virus, with a total budget of QR2,236,827.

The beneficiary countries are Palestine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Laos, Vanuatu, Ethiopia, Chad, Senegal, Mau-ritania, Ivory Coast, Mali, Sierra Leone, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Vene-zuela, El Salvador, Peru, and Panama.

The list of activities con-ducted by QRCS in support of those countries includes pro-vision of equipment and sup-plies for health facilities, pro-vision of medicines and medical supplies, protection for medical professionals and volunteers, provision of food and shelter for families worst affected by loss of income, and provision of protective sup-plies (masks, gloves, sanitisers).

HBKU Press publishes ‘Together...Apart’ documenting COVID-19 lockdownTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press) has published the outcome of a global call for submissions launched in April 2020 for literary and/or artistic works inspired by life in confinement due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the personal changes that have occurred as a result of the world in crisis.

The book, titled ‘Together……Apart’, compiles the personal thoughts, reflections, and analysis of over 100 individuals worldwide and is now available online as an Open Access book found on the HBKU Press website.

Outreach and Special Projects Manager at HBKU Press Rima Ismail said, “When we opened the call for submis-sions at the start of the lockdown period for many countries around the world. We aimed to document the history and provide a literary outlet for people to share their varied thoughts and perspectives about this experience that the world was collectively facing.”

“We were both shocked and humbled by the response. We received hundreds of submissions from a total of 23 countries around the world, all of them pro-viding very raw and real accounts and reflections on the different facets of the pandemic.”

An editorial committee was established to review the submis-sions whereby each editor pro-vided a recommendation for its inclusion in the book. The final pieces chosen offered unique and thoughtful perspectives,

enriching academic insight, and very poignant reflections of the times.

The narratives, articles, poems, artwork, academic analysis, and stories from around the world that were chosen exemplify the very real and raw human emotions that defined the first few months of the pandemic: fear, hope, uncer-tainty, love, depression, faith, curiosity, loneliness, and grat-itude. The book is divided into three sections, aptly titled, The Virus, The Impact, and The

Takeaway, to highlight the notion that when it seems all fell apart, and everything was broken, it was and never will be beyond repair. Each section and the whole book whole demon-strate how the COVID-19 pan-demic has forced us, in so many different ways, to challenge the status quo and to question and redefine our concept of ‘normal’.

“This initiative and the sub-sequently published book, ‘Together ……Apart,’ reflect both the importance of literacy as a means to communicate and the spirit of cultural exchange that is essential to HBKU Press’s mission,” added Ismail.

“We hope that this book becomes a testament to the human spirit and how, at our darkest moment, we remained connected. We built the foun-dations for countless moments of light — small gestures of compassion and acknowledg-ments of gratitude that allow us to show who we are, how we want to live, and what matters to us.”

QNL helps in reducing international heritage traffickingTHE PENINSULA – DOHA

Qatar National Library has trained this week experts from 18 countries in laws surrounding the looting and trafficking of important artifacts across the world.

The guidance, which took place online over three days, was provided by intellectual property and art lawyer Sydney Chiche-Attali. Around 35 spe-cialists from Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mau-ritania, Iran, USA, the United Kingdom and France attend the programme Combating Smug-gling and Illicit Trade in Artistic Works and Documentary

Heritage. The training sessions pro-

vided an introduction to legal frameworks surrounding the circulation of art and cultural goods, and gave important information about how the risks

related to looted works of art can be reduced.

The course forms part of Qatar National Library’s role as the IFLA PAC Regional Center for the preservation

conservation of library mate-rials for Arab countries and the Middle East, and in support of preserving documentary her-itage in the region. Chiche-Attali’s guidance this week was

part of the Himaya project, a venture which was developed by Qatar National Library alongside a number of regional and global partners to support efforts to combat trafficking and illicit circulation of docu-mentary heritage in the Middle East, North Africa and neigh-boring countries. Director of Distinctive Collections and Director of the IFLA Regional Center at the Library, Stephane Ipert said: “The training session this week was vital for ensuring the success of our efforts to combat trafficking of artistic works and docu-mentary heritage in this part of the world. This type of her-itage is particularly at risk from trafficking, as it’s less

likely to be protected by national legislation than other artifacts and is easier to move illegally. Knowing the legal framework is vital to this process.“For many years, traf-ficking and smuggling of her-itage items from libraries and archives has been rising.

In the MENA region in par-ticular, this phenomenon is greater due to the number of nations suffering from conflict and upheaval.

The important role that Qatar National Library plays cannot be overlooked, and we were delighted to be able to use our status as IFLA PAC Regional Center for the MENA region to educate experts and answer their questions.”

06 WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020GULF / MIDDLE EAST

Iran MPs seek hardening of nuclear stanceAGENCIES — TEHRAN

The Iranian parliament’s backing yesterday of a plan to end nuclear inspections after the assassination of the coun-try’s top nuclear scientist has met immediate opposition from the government.

The government promptly said the move could not change Iran's nuclear policy, which was the province of the Supreme National Security Council.

Deputies supported a draft bill “for the lifting of sanctions and protection of the Iranian people’s interests”, saying they wanted to achieve the objec-tives of “martyred” scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Fakhrizadeh was assassi-nated on a major road outside Tehran on Friday in a bomb and gun attack that the Islamic republic has blamed on its arch

foe Israel. The vote to approve the bill, which would also require approval by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, was a show of defiance after the killing of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist last month. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all nuclear policies.

Parliament Speaker Mohmmad Baqer Ghalibaf was quoted by state TV as saying lawmakers were “hopeful to remove sanctions through this stern decision.”

The official Irna news agency said 251 lawmakers in the 290-seat chamber voted in favour, after which many began chanting “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

“The government has explicitly announced that it does not agree with (this) plan” which it considers “neither

necessary nor useful”, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a news con-ference.The draft bill calls on

the government to end UN inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities and to “produce and store 120kg per year of uranium enriched to 20 percent”.

Such steps would run counter to commitments made by Iran as part of a landmark nuclear deal agreed with world powers in 2015.

The deal offers Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme and UN-verified safeguards to prove it is not developing nuclear weapons. The Islamic republic has always denied it is seeking such weaponry.

Seemingly in response to Israel’s characterisation of Fakhrizadeh as the father of a secret nuclear weapons pro-gramme, Khatibzadeh said that the scientist had been “one of the main assistants behind the scenes in discussions” that led

to the 2015 accord.State news agency Irna

released undated pictures of Fakhrizadeh being awarded a medal by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani for his “con-tribution” to the Vienna agreement. The multilateral accord has been hanging by a thread since 2018, when Pres-ident Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimposed sanctions that have battered Iran’s economy.

The Islamic republic has retaliated by gradually rolling back most of its commitments under the nuclear deal. In its latest report last month, the Inter-national Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had enriched uranium over the 3.67 percent limit set out in the 2015 accord.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog said that Iran had not exceeded the threshold of 4.5 percent and

that the country was still com-plying with its strict inspections regime.

Speaking to reporters, Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei emphasised that the only institution mandated to make decisions on the country’s nuclear programme was the Supreme National Security Council.

He also noted that any deci-sions made by that body require approval by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In an interview on Monday, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said Iran had nothing to gain from ending inspections of its nuclear facilities. “We understand the distress but at the same time it is clear that no-one, starting with Iran, would have anything to win from a decrease, limi-tation or interruption of the work we do together with them,” Grossi said.

Rebel shelling kills seven Yemen childrenAFP — DUBAI

Rebel shelling of government-held districts of Yemen has killed seven children over the past two days, medics and relief agencies said.

In Yemen’s third largest city Taez, which is government-held but almost surrounded by rebel forces, two young girls, one just nine months old, were pro-nounced dead on Monday evening after a rebel bom-bardment that also wounded seven other people, medics said.

There was no immediate reaction from the rebels, who have repeatedly played up the high civilian death toll from air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition that has been supporting the beleaguered government.

Relief organisation Doctors without Borders appealed to “all armed groups to abide by inter-national humanitarian law and take all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties”.

On Sunday, five children were among eight civilians killed in rebel shelling of the government-held district of Al Durayhimi on the Red Sea coast, medics and government source said.

The United Nations con-firmed the death toll from the bombardment, which it said was part of an uptick in fighting in and around the nearby aid port of Hodeida, where a fragile UN-brokered truce has largely averted major fighting.

A total of 74 civilians were killed or wounded in Hodeida province in October as hostil-ities escalated, the UN mission said.

“Five children and three women were killed and another three children and three women were injured when artillery shells hit a house in Al Ghaza village in Al Durayhimi,” said Altaf Musani, UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen. “This attack on women and children is unacceptable and unjustifiable.”

A total of 74 civilians were killed or wounded in Hodeida province in October as hostil-ities escalated, the UN mission said.

The United Nations says all sides have been responsible for multiple war crimes in the con-flict that has gripped Yemen since 2014, creating what UN agencies describe as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Hamas chief in Gaza contracts coronavirusAFP — GAZA CITY

The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar (pictured), yesterday tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly across the Palestinian enclave, the Islamist group said.

“Yahya Sinwar, the head of the political bureau of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, was infected with the coronavirus today,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.

“His general health con-dition is good. He is working as usual but in isolation.”

Sinwar is the latest Pales-tinian leader to contract the virus. Long-time chief Pales-tinian negotiator Saeb Erekat died from coronavirus-related complications last month.

Hamas official Salah El Arouri has also tested positive for the virus. Yesterday's announcement came as Gaza battles surging infections.

The small and densely populated enclave of around two million people, under Israeli-blockade since 2007, initially held off a major coro-navirus outbreak.

As the much of the world went into lockdown in March and April, Hamas imposed draconian controls, hoping to ensure its already weak health system was not overwhelmed.Gaza had recorded just 100 cases until mid-August, but the crisis has escalated in recent weeks. The territory’s con-firmed caseload now stands at more than 21,400, with 11 deaths. Daily infection have recently ranged between 700 and 800.

Top health officials in Gaza have warned the situation was spiralling out of control.

“The number of intensive care beds is very limited, as are medicines,” Mahmud al-Khaz-indar, director of a private hos-pital in Gaza, told AFP last month. “If the number of cases increases, a choice will have to be made between the care of the elderly, the young and patients with another diseases.”

Meanwhile, the Omani Ministry of Health announced yesterday that the total of reported cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Sultanate reached 123,908, QNA reported. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 reached 1,430, while the recoveries stood at 115,441, bringing the recoveries up by 93.1 percent, the Ministry said in a statement carried by Oman News Agency. Patients who have been isolated in hos-pitals due to infections in the past 24 hours reached 18, bringing the total to 199.

Lavish poll campaign events off the menu in KuwaitAFP — KUWAIT CITY

Lavish banquets served in opulent marquees are nowhere to be seen this election season in Kuwait, where the coro-navirus pandemic has forced a ban on traditional over-the-top campaign events.

Lambs on spits, mountains of rice, and platters of sweets usually attract hordes of potential voters to campaign events in the small Gulf state, which holds parliamentary elections on Saturday.

Kuwait has a dynamic political life with an active parliament that doesn’t hesitate to take the government to task. Its election campaigns are equally lively — in normal years.

In elections past, Fahd Mohammed Al Moutairi used to organise feasts for half a dozen candidates, all aiming to impress voters with their generosity, in his restaurant “Tayba”, located north of the capital Kuwait City.

“We usually prepare grilled lamb and rice for dinners during the campaign that can run for up to two months. But the coronavirus blew it all away,” he said. The loss of business is another blow to restaurateurs who suffered during months of lockdown to stem the spread of the virus in Kuwait, which has regis-tered more than 142,000 infections and nearly 900 deaths. Campaign events can cost between 3,000 and 7,000 Kuwaiti

dinars (about $10,000-23,000), and draw as many 2,000 guests in the coun-try’s tribal regions, according to the Kuwaiti Federation of Restaurants.

Along with restaurants, companies that organise banquets under large tents, serving coffee and dates to voters, will be the big losers in this campaign, said the association’s director, Fahd Al Arbach.

“This period is usually the main driver of their business in normal times,” he said. The weekend elections are the first since the new Amir H H Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, took office on September 29 following the death of his half-brother, 91-year-old H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah.

But with the opposition weakened in recent years, no major political shifts are expected. A few electoral banners dotted through the streets are the only reminder of the nation’s political cal-endar. Instead, this year’s campaign is mainly being fought on social networks and in the media.

Tweets, Snapchat videos, Instagram “lives” and electoral meetings via Zoom have taken the place of traditional cam-paigning, and candidates are pumping the money saved on catering into virtual campaigns. The cost of advertising has shot up as a result, said Faysal Al Sawagh, head of the Kuwaiti Federation of Elec-tronic Media.

“Kuwaitis are using social networks to make their voices heard and hear ideas from the candidates,” he said.

The usual themes of election cam-paigns are a constant though, from promises to fight corruption and plans for youth employment to freedom of expression, housing, education and the thorny issue of the “bidoon”, Kuwait’s stateless minority.

The frugality imposed by the health crisis has saved politicians a fortune, considering the average expense of fighting an election campaign can reach KD100,000 (about $327,000), said one contender, Ali Al Ali.

“Spending has increased on elec-tronic and traditional media instead,” the young lawyer said.

“These unusual circumstances are giving young candidates a better chance of winning, as they have already linked with voters in the past few years through social networks,” he said.

Another candidate, Sheikha Al Jassem, is also pleased to have reduced her costs by not having to host the elab-orate dinners that politicians would nor-mally throw a couple of times a week in the lead-up to the vote.

The philosophy professor, who is campaigning on a platform of defending women’s rights, said she is redoubling her efforts to promote herself on Twitter and Instagram.

“This time, social networks have become the battleground of the parlia-mentary elections,” she said.

Kuwaitis attending an electoral campaign meeting ahead of the upcoming election scheduled for later in the week, in Kuwait City, yesterday.

Yemeni vendors sell vegetables and herbs at a market in the northern district of Abs, in the Hajjah province, yesterday.

Yemen war claims 233,000 lives: UNQNA — NEW YORK

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humani-tarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has confirmed that 233,000 people have so far died as a result of the conflict in Yemen, or died due to other war-related causes, including diseases, epidemics and hunger.

“This staggering number is

unacceptable,” the UN office said on Twitter, adding “Yemen has reached a tipping point. A ceasefire is needed now.”

UNOCHA also pointed out that the difficult health and living conditions facing the Yemenis have reached cata-strophic levels, reiterating its warnings of a real danger for a large part of the Yemeni

population to face famine if the donors and international organizations do not move to provide the necessary human-itarian and relief support.

Yemen has been witnessing an armed conflict since 2015, which led to the country being dragged into a humanitarian crisis that the United Nations described as the worst in the world.

Air strike kills IRGC commander at Iraq-Syria border: OfficialsREUTERS — BAGHDAD

An air strike killed a commander of Iran’s Revolu-tionary Guards at the Iraq-Syria border sometime between Saturday and Sunday, Iraqi security and local militia offi-cials said.

They could not confirm the identity of the commander, who they said was killed alongside

three other men travelling in a vehicle with him.

The vehicle was carrying weapons across the Iraqi border and was hit after it had entered Syrian territory, two Iraqi security officials separately said.

Iran-backed Iraqi paramil-itary groups helped retrieve the bodies, the two officials said, without elaborating or

giving the exact time of the incident.

Local military and militia sources confirmed the account, although Reuters was unable to verify independently that an Iranian commander had been killed.

The incident came just days after Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assas-sinated in Tehran in a killing

that Iran has blamed on Israel.Israel launched air raids

against what it called a wide range of Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria last week, sig-nalling that it will pursue its policy of striking Iranian targets in the region as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to leave office.

Iraqi officials fear a confla-gration ahead of President-elect

Joe Biden taking office because he is viewed as less confronta-tional with Iran than the Trump administration.

Iran-backed Iraqi militias are still reeling from the US assassination of Iranian military mastermind Qassem Soleimani in January and their Iraqi leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis and have vowed revenge against the United States.

The vote to approve the

bill, which would also

require approval by the

Guardian Council, a

constitutional watchdog,

was a show of defiance

after the killing of a

prominent Iranian

nuclear scientist. The

government promptly

said the move could not

change Iran's nuclear

policy, which was the

province of the Supreme

National Security Council.

Shopping during the pandemic

07WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020 AFRICA

Ethiopia war may turn into guerrilla insurgencyREUTERS — ADDIS ABABA

Ethiopia’s nearly month-long war against rebellious northern forces may be transforming into a guerrilla conflict, experts said yesterday, even though federal troops declared victory after capturing the Tigrayan regional capital at the weekend.

Fighting since November 4 is believed to have killed thou-sands of people, as well as forcing refugees into Sudan, dragging in Eritrea, and wors-ening hunger and suffering among Tigray’s more than 5 million people.

Reports of clashes between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s soldiers and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) were still coming out of the region, though communications remain largely cut and outside access blocked.

Abiy accuses the TPLF of treason, specifically for attacking an army base, while the Tigrayans say their ex-mil-itary comrade and partner in government wants to dominate their ethnic group for personal power. Both sides scoff at the other’s accusations.

Federal forces took Tigray’s highland capital Mekelle in hours on Saturday. TPLF leaders fled to the hills, saying they were resisting and taking prisoners.

Asked about ongoing fighting, TPLF head Debretsion Gebremichael said in a text: “Yes. On three directions. Two around Mekelle. One 50km away.” There was no imme-diate response from the government.

Two regionally-run

Tigrayan TV stations, including the TPLF’s “Dimtsi Woyane” (“Voice of the Revolution”), were still on air, although it was unclear where they were broadcasting from. Gov-ernment-affiliated media have not yet broadcast any images from Mekelle.

A United Nations aid worker in touch with people in Tigray said large areas remained outside federal control and fighting was still taking place on several fronts. There was still scant coordi-nation with aid workers, the source added.

“There are skirmishes con-tinuing in many parts of Tigray and we are seeing the hall-marks of the beginning of an insurgency,” Horn of Africa expert Rashid Abdi told an online forum.

“The terrain, geography and history suggest this will be a long, drawn-out insurgency.”

Both the federal army and the TPLF have long military experience - from toppling a Marxist dictator in 1991 to fighting neighbouring Eritrea from 1998-2000.

Though outnumbered and expelled from their capital, the Tigrayans can exploit their mountainous terrain and long borders with Sudan and Eritrea.

The UN refugee agency appealed for access to 96,000

Eritrean refugees in Tigray, where food was thought to be running out.

“Our extreme worry is that we hear about attacks, the fighting near the camps, we hear about abductions and forced removals,” spokesman Babar Baloch told a news briefing in Geneva.

In a speech to parliament on Monday, Abiy urged the more than 45,000 Ethiopians who fled into Sudan to return.

One aid worker in the area said numbers crossing to Sudan at the main transit point of Hamdayet were down to a trickle. Refugees were saying that Ethiopian militia and sol-diers were trying to impede them, he said.

“The accounts of the people are that it’s getting harder and harder to get to the border,” he said, adding that three refugees had also said there were flyers going round with messages not to speak in Tigrayan

There was no immediate government response to those accusations, but federal officials vehemently deny discrimi-nation against Tigrayans or harassment of civilians.

Though Tigrayans make up only about 6% of Ethiopia’s 115 million people, they dominated national government for nearly three decades until Abiy took office in 2018.

A bulldozer clears land at the Um Raquba camp in Sudan’s eastern Gedaref province to make room to house more Ethiopian refugees fleeing fighting from northern Tigray province.

UN: Food has run out for nearly 100,000 refugees in EthiopiaAP — NAIROBI

The United Nations says food has now run out for the nearly 100,000 refugees from Eritrea who have been sheltering in camps in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, which has been cut off from the world for nearly a month amid fighting.

“Concerns are growing by the hour,” UN refugee spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva yesterday. “The camps will have now run out of food supplies — making hunger and malnutrition a real danger, a warning we have been issuing since the conflict began nearly a month ago. We are also

alarmed at unconfirmed reports of attacks, abductions and forced recruitment at the refugee camps.”

Today marks a month since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that fighting had erupted in the Tigray region between federal forces and regional ones, as each gov-ernment now regards the other as illegitimate due to a dispute over holding elections during the pandemic. Communications and transport links to the Tigray region of 6 million people have been severed, and the UN and others have pleaded for access to deliver badly needed food, med-icines and other supplies.

Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, has rejected the idea of dialogue with the Tigray regional leaders, who are on the run but say they continue to fight even after Abiy over the weekend declared victory in the deadly conflict.

Ethiopia’s government has said it will create and manage a “humanitarian corridor” for the delivery of aid, but the UN wants access that is neutral and unhin-dered. The UN has said some 2 million people in Tigray now need assistance and some 1 million people are displaced, including more than 45,000 Ethiopians who have fled into Sudan as refugees.

People buy clothes at a store, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in Benghazi, Libya.

UN experts call for South Sudan arms embargo to continue

AFP — UNITED NATIONS

A UN committee of experts monitoring sanctions on South Sudan recommends main-taining the arms embargo imposed in 2018 in a report to the Security Council released yesterday.

The eastern African nation is struggling to emerge from a six-year civil war that claimed some 380,000 lives and offi-cially ended with the creation of a government of national unity in February.

Violence has soared in recent months between rival communities, often over cattle raiding which leads to cycles of brutal revenge killings.

In the report, the experts call on the Security Council, which is due to consider enforcement provisions against South Sudan in December, to “take measures t o i m p r o v e t h e implementation.”

They say Uganda was guilty of a “violation” of the embargo when the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) entered South Sudan’s territory this year, including on October 27.

“A resupply of weapons and ammunition to gov-ernment security forces or non-state armed groups... would further threaten civilians and risk the peace and security of South Sudan,” the experts say in their report.

They also noted that the signatories to the 2018 peace agreement have not honored their commitments to implement it.

In a statement on Monday, the NGO Amnesty Interna-tional called for the arms embargo to be maintained after the “surge in violence against civilians in 2020.”

The implementation of the 2018 agreement “has mostly stalled” and the government has less and less financial means to implement it, UN experts said. They report again that “weapons have been illicitly diverted from government stockpiles to supply militias and other non-state armed groups.”

Tanzanian security services tortured Burundi refugees: HRWAFP — NAIROBI

Security forces in Tanzania have arbitrarily detained, tortured and forcibly disap-peared at least 18 Burundian refugees since late last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW)said in a new report.

Police officers this year snatched seven refugees and asylum seekers living in camps in the western Kigoma region, near the border with Burundi, the New York-based watchdog said.

The whereabouts and fate of the detainees are unknown and “additional Burundians

may have suffered similar abuse,” the report said.

“Between October 2019 and August 2020, Tanzanian police and intelligence services for-cibly disappeared, tortured, and arbitrarily detained at least 11 Burundians for up to several weeks in abysmal conditions in a police station in Kibondo, Kigoma region.”

Three of the captives were freed inside Tanzania, while in August the authorities forcibly repatriated the eight others to Burundi, where they were detained without charge, HRW said. The “enforced disappear-ances of Burundian refugees

and asylum seekers in Tanzania are heinous crimes, not least because of the anguish and suf-fering caused to family members, many of whom fled similar abuses in Burundi,” said Mausi Segun, Africa director at HRW.

In testimony gathered by the NGO, nine of the detainees at Kibondo were reportedly tor-tured before they were returned to the Mtendeli and Nduta camps in Kigoma.

“The Burundians said that Tanzanian police detained them in rooms with no electricity or windows, took them to a sep-arate building on the police

station grounds, and hanged them from the ceiling by their handcuffs,” the report said.

“Some said that police and intelligence agents gave them electric shocks, rubbed their faces and genitals with chili, and beat and whipped them.”

In certain cases, police and intelligence officers told ref-ugees that they had been given information about them by Burundian authorities, “sug-gesting collusion between agents from the two countries,” the report said.

In 2015 more than 400,000 people fled their homes in Burundi for neighbouring

countries during a violent crisis caused by then president Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a contested third term.

Dozens of people died in a brutal crackdown on protest, but the Constitutional Court ruled that the third term was legal. Nkurunziza won an election boycotted by the opposition and remained in power until his death in June this year.

At the end of October, Tan-zania was still host to more than 150,000 refugees in three camps, but almost 100,000 people have returned to Burundi since September 2017.

Rescue efforts slowed a week after Zimbabwe mine collapseAP — HARARE

Rains and flooding have slowed rescue efforts at a Zimbabwean mine where a shaft collapsed last week, trapping at least 10 artisanal miners.

Hopes of finding survivors are vanishing and relatives camped at the site on Tuesday expressed their desperation for decent burials of their loved ones who they now presume are dead.

The mine shaft in Bindura town, about 70km northeast of the capital, Harare, collapsed on Wednesday after artisanal miners digging for gold blasted a support pillar, said deputy minister Polite Kambanura.

The mine was no longer operational, and the artisanal miners who use rudimentary and unsafe methods took over, he said while touring the site yesterday.

Rescuers retrieved one body on Monday, but given the rains and flooding, rescue efforts have been hindered, he said.

Kambanura said about 10 miners are trapped under rubble and water. An associ-ation representing small scale miners, however, estimated 40 miners were trapped. Ascer-taining the actual number is difficult due to the haphazard nature of artisanal mining in the economically struggling southern African country.

“Maybe, by some miracle we might find some still alive,

it has happened before,” said Kambanura, referring to an incident when some artisanal miners survived after days of being trapped underground last year.

But some relatives of the miners camped at the site were less optimistic.

“No one survives this long in water and under all those rocks. My fear is the bodies are rotting in there. They should just give me the body, I want to give my son a decent burial,” said Nyangu Kajuda, sitting with about a dozen other women inside a tent pitched by a private funeral parlor.

Artisanal mining has been rampant in Zimbabwe for decades, but it has surged fol-lowing the shutdown of most economic activities due to a COVID-19 induced lockdown, according to conservation groups that have been trying to get the government to end the menace.

Zimbabwe’s mineral rich national parks, abandoned mines, rivers and even towns are often swarmed with people, including young children, seeking gold. Violent and polit-ically connected gangs often try to control the activities.

A report by the Interna-tional Crisis Group last week alleged that “hundreds of miners’ lives” have been lost in the violence, while some, such as the Bindura miners, succumb to frequent collapse of mine shafts.

South Africa tries to delay wage dispute hearing, unions opposedREUTERS — JOHANNESBURG

South Africa’s government has asked for a court hearing over a wage dispute with public sector trade unions to be postponed until after February 1, a letter seen by Reuters showed, but unions are opposed to the delay.

The unions took the gov-ernment to court after officials said the state could not afford to pay salary increases that were due to come into force in

April 2020 as part of a three-year wage deal struck in 2018.

Economists view the dispute as critical because of the dire state of public finances, and it has important political ramifications as the governing African National Congress (ANC) is in an alliance with some of the unions involved in the dispute.

“I am instructed by the Department of Public Service and Administration to suggest that the parties consent to

postpone the hearing of the wage dispute application before the Labour Appeal Court (LAC), from 2 December to after 1 Feb-ruary 2021,” the letter from the state attorney’s office to the unions’ lawyers said.

“Settlement would be pref-erable where there is a rea-sonable chance that the current dispute will go beyond the LAC and will only be finally deter-mined much later,” the letter continued.

Reports of clashes between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s soldiers and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) were still coming out of the region, though communications remain largely cut and outside access blocked.

08 WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

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

EDITORIAL

THE Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) on Monday announced the resumption of the final phase of General Census of Population, Housing and Establishment 2020. The census which started yesterday will run till January 7, while field census will resume from December 13 to mid-January. People who wish to fill in the census form can log on to PSA’s dedicated web platform, access and fill in the necessary details.

Field enumerators will be visiting houses from December 13 and deliver the census questionnaires in a special packet to curb the spread of virus infection. After entering the data, the respondents can return the questionnaires at their own convenience, even on the next day. The final phase of the census which was stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic is resuming after obtaining necessary approval from the Ministry of Public Health and the process will be done strictly fol-lowing precautionary measures mandated by the author-ities and in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior.

Taking part in the census is a national duty as the participation of everybody by providing accurate data will help in the creation of a valuable database which can be the basis for planning future development and welfare measures.

The census will provide a reliable data bank for com-parisons and projections of demographic details and will reveal the social and economic characteristics of the society as a whole. It will create a clear picture of the population, its social and economic characteristics, age gender composition, level of education and the nature of the current workforce in the country. Such information is imperative in planning development requirement for the country such as educational insti-tutions, housing and transportation infrastructure, healthcare, entertainment etc.

This is particularly important during such times as the current time of pandemic as the demography, age, gender etc play a crucial role in designing and providing treatment methods by creating essential infrastructure and roping in necessary healthcare professionals in a war footing. Obtaining clear data about housing and com-mercial establishment will help in planning residential areas and shopping centres avoiding shortage or glut in the availability of such facilities. So is the case with edu-cation for different communities in Qatar. With the census, the authorities will have an insight into the needs for more community schools and higher education facilities.

So, let us all realise that active participation in the census is a service and duty to ourselves which will serve as valuable contribution from our part to the overall development of Qatar. It is a golden chance for eve-rybody to take steps in the march of Qatar to the pin-nacle of welfare and advancement.

A national duty

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Quote of the day

The refugee camps in Ethiopia will have now

run out of food supplies - making hunger

and malnutrition a real danger. Concerns are

growing by the hour.

Babar Baloch, UN Refugee Spokesman

Workers prepare cool boxes to be transported by an airplane as Brussels International Airport and its partners prepare a massive logistic operation of carrying new vaccines and vaccine candidates for the coronavirus disease through Brussels International Airport, in Brussels, yesterday.

News that the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccine candidates show approxi-mately 95 percent efficacy and that an AstraZeneca candidate is at least 70 percent efficacious is very encouraging. Prospects of other front-line vaccine candidates demonstrating effectiveness also look good. A safe and effective vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic would be a major triumph for science - but developing a vaccine will be of little use if not enough people take it.

Studies suggest that many Americans will not accept this new vaccine - at least not right away. In a recent Pew Research Center survey, only 51 percent of US adults indi-cated their willingness to take a coronavirus vaccine. Dis-trust is even higher among communities of colour. This hesitancy may impede herd immunity even once a safe vaccine is available in wide supply. A lot of this mistrust is likely to be a result of recent attempts, especially by Pres-ident Donald Trump and his aides, to interfere in the scien-tific and regulatory review process. In the Pew survey, only 19 percent had a high level of confidence that the vaccine development process will yield a safe and effective product.

Building trust in a new vaccine starts with ensuring a transparent, science-based regulatory process. Despite political pressure by the Trump White House, career profes-sionals at the Food and Drug Administration, backed by a few political appointees, have taken steps to ensure evidence-based review of candidate vac-cines in recent weeks.

These steps are essential for restoring vaccine confi-dence, but they are not suffi-cient. A large enough number of people won’t take the vaccine without a national communication and edu-cation campaign. Unfortu-nately, there has been minimal investment in such a campaign and other efforts to increase confidence in a vaccine. While the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention received $200m for vaccine preparedness from the Cares Act, this money is supposed to cover all activities, including distri-bution and administration, not just communication and education. This money is not enough for vaccine distri-bution, let alone for commu-nication and education.

The United States has never immunized its popu-lation in the numbers needed to establish herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2. That means we’ll be embarking on an immunization program of unprecedented scale - which requires a communication campaign to match. Fortu-nately, there is money already authorized for communica-tions about COVID-19, about $250m. Unfortunately, the Trump administration origi-nally earmarked it for a Department of Health and Human Services advertising campaign to counteract “COVID despair,” which has since been canceled. But that money could be reallocated for informing people about the vaccine, either now or after the Biden administration takes over in January.

A national vaccine com-munication and education campaign needs to fulfill three goals: It must restore trust in vaccines, be national in scope and - at the same time - engage local communities, particularly communities of colour. Here are a few strat-egies that could help accom-plish these goals.

First, leverage trusted vaccine endorsers. In a survey experiment, my colleagues

and I found that a coronavirus vaccine endorsed by Dr. Anthony S Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dis-eases, increased acceptance of the vaccine as well as will-ingness to take it among Democrats, Republicans and independents. We found that a bipartisan endorsement of a vaccine by Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had about one-third to one-half as large an impact as an endorsement by Fauci. A joint endorsement by prom-inent Republicans and Demo-crats as well as prominent sci-entific leaders would go a long way. This is not a pipe dream, either: There has been bipartisan support for vac-cines in Congress. For example, prominent congres-sional Democrats and Repub-licans - including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCo-nnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor - have a history of supporting vaccines.

Ethnic and racial minority groups in the United States have been disproportionately harmed by the pandemic: African Americans had a COVID-19 mortality rate twice that of Whites. Higher mis-trust of a vaccine in commu-nities of colour is grounded in the ugly history of public health and medical exploi-tation of people of colour.

This distrust will not be easy to overcome. But the glaring racial and ethnic dis-parities in the impact of the pandemic will only get worse if authorities don’t address mistrust of vaccines among those disproportionately

harmed, which will com-pound this tragedy.

Getting communities engaged with the vaccine will be easier with a scalable tem-plate. One approach involves pairing a community vali-dator (e.g. a Black church leader) with an expert (e.g. a Black physician with roots in the same community) and replicating this model across the country. Organizations with deep roots in commu-nities of color (such as histori-cally Black colleges and uni-versities), the National Medical Association and the National Hispanic Medical Association will be essential partners in such an effort.

I have researched vaccine acceptance in many populations and countries. Reasons for vaccine refusal can vary from place to place, but one thing is constant: Healthcare providers are the most trusted source of vaccine information - even among those who end up refusing vaccines. This makes them an indispen-sable resource for ensuring high uptake of a vaccine. But, because of a lack of training in vaccine commu-nication, healthcare pro-viders are ill-equipped for communicating with their patients using evidence-based techniques, such as presumptive communication (which presents vaccination as the default choice to nudge patients into accepting a vaccine) and informed declination (in which the patient has to be counseled about the conse-quences of vaccine refusal).

JAPAN NEWS-YOMIURI

For the economy to recover, the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus must be stopped. One can only feel frustrated at the government’s response.

Regarding the Go To Travel tourism promotion campaign, the government excluded travel to the cities of Osaka and Sapporo from the subsidized program, based on a proposal by a subcommittee of experts on measures against coronavirus infection.

But soon after, the subcom-mittee asked the government to also exclude travel that departs from those two cities, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called for people to refrain from trips that originate there. Because the government claims that it is difficult to specify where users of the campaign live, it did not go

beyond asking for people to refrain from travel that starts from the two cities. It is ques-tionable whether that call will be effective while the gov-ernment continues to provide subsidies for such travel.

The Go To campaigns are symbolic measures to encourage people to go out. The government’s review of the campaigns’ operations appears to be minimal because it fears criticism that its policies have failed.

It is important to stimulate consumption, to strike a balance between measures against the infectious disease and economic activities. But it is reasonable to postpone stimulating consumption at a time when the number of infected people is rapidly increasing. The government should be flexible in changing its policies. The government

has designated the period through around Dec. 15 as the “critical three weeks,” asking the public to take thorough measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. However, the public will be confused if the government encourages them to travel while also stressing that this is a critical time for containing infections.

To have the public share its sense of crisis, the government should send a message based on clear guidelines. If infec-tions are not brought under control, it will not only delay economic revitalization but also heighten people’s anxiety about the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for next year. For the time being, the gov-ernment needs to give top pri-ority to preventing infection.

Economic Revitalization Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura,

who also is in charge of the response to the coronavirus, said he wants prefectural gov-ernors to decide first whether to suspend the campaign. Although the situation varies from region to region, it is hard to understand the central gov-ernment’s stance to wait for requests from local governments.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said it was the central gov-ernment that should ponder whether to suspend the cam-paign. This is not a time to shift blame onto each other. In urban areas, the percentage of hospital beds being utilized has increased and the number of patients with serious symptoms has also grown. It is essential for the central and local governments to coop-erate so that delays in making decisions will not lead to irreparable consequences.

Rapid development of a vaccine won’t help much if people refuse to take it

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It's time to prioritize infection prevention over economic activities

Established in 1996

SAAD B OMER THE WASHINGTON POST

09WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020 OPINION

Foreigners often meddle in the internal battles of other countries - and outsiders are getting increasingly meddlesome. The data reveal that outside interventions in civil wars have increased in recent years, both in terms of absolute numbers and in the proportion of ongoing wars.

KIIZA AFRICA, MAMKA ANYONA AND SIDDHARTHA MEHTA — AL JAZEERA

Earlier this year, Joe Biden won praise in mainstream policy circles in the United States for making the case for “why America must lead again”. In the wake of his victory in the presidential election, some health experts hoped this would include making the US “a global health leader again”.

You can understand why these experts yearn for a dif-ferent approach from the White House. Donald Trump’s four-year rule occasioned disengagement from the global health system, most evident in his withdrawal of the US from the World Health Organization (WHO) amid an unprecedented pandemic. In contrast, Biden has already promised to rejoin the organi-sation, with his newly released COVID-19 plan hailed by insiders as “a big reset”.

While reversing President Trump’s global health policies would benefit global health, we should also challenge Biden’s back to the future approach.

Today’s global health architecture has its roots in the International Sanitary Conferences, organised in the

19th Century to protect Euro-peans from diseases brought home by armies returning from brutal colonising cam-paigns abroad. In the modern era, global health governance has evolved into an arena for advanced economies to manage public health in the Global South. It is no surprise then that the US has been the dominant player.

The transition of power that we should care about is not just one from Trump to Biden, but from the US to the rest of the world.

Well before Trump, the global health system was failing. It entrenched inequal-ities in access to healthcare and, all too frequently, placed the lives of people across the world at the mercy of American domestic politics and trade policy.

Take the WHO for instance, the leading global organisation mandated with coordinating public health across the world.

The WHO is kept on a tight financial and policy leash. It receives less than one-fifth of its funding from mandatory contributions. The rest is funded through voluntary contributions, before the Trump presidency, the majority coming from the US government. Voluntary funders influence

WHO priorities, sometimes in conflict with the priorities negotiated by its appointed decision-making body, the World Health Assembly.

The consequence is that global health policy ends up reflecting US domestic policy: curtailed access to medicines, contraception, and abortion treatments, and blocked access to generic treatments to protect the profits of phar-maceutical companies, instead of the health of mil-lions. A particularly egregious example of this undue influence is the so-called “global gag rule”. The policy has been enforced by every Republican administration since Reagan, prohibiting US-funded organisations from providing women with legal abortion services, leading to an increase in unsafe abortions.

Sure, Biden might suspend this policy for the years he is in office, but the underlying system would remain intact under his plan. The pro-corporate global health agenda would con-tinue to drive organisations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to create an unequal playing field in health and trade agreements, prioritising the

interests of American com-panies over public health. In the most recent iteration, the WTO member states voted to reject the application for a waiver on intellectual property rights for the coro-navirus vaccine advanced by India and South Africa to allow local manufacture of vaccines for faster and cheaper provision to citizens.

Beyond this undesirable past, consider Biden’s COVID-19 response plan’s anti-Chinese flavour: To “expand the defenses … to predict, prevent, and mitigate pandemic threats, including those coming from China”. Not content with continuing Trump’s new cold war rhetoric, Biden’s transition team seems to be embedding it into an aggressive approach to “global health security”.

Some might dismiss such statements as mere political posturing, yet the recent past demonstrates the destructive power of the US presidential whim. One result of the US adminis-tration withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and imposing increased sanctions was to reduce Iran’s ability to access essential medicines. When the pandemic hit, this lack of medicines and treat-ments increased the coun-try’s death toll, which had already reached a shocking 42,000 by the end of March.

A return to the past, perhaps with a more aggressive anti-China twist, would damage global health. However, there are alterna-tives. Even as the US failed to provide global leadership during the COVID-19 pan-demic, individual countries built innovative and effective ways to manage local responses.

With a population of 95 million, Vietnam, which shares a long border with China, has suffered only 35 deaths from COVID-19. In fact, countries ostracised internationally at the behest of the US played a crucial role in supporting the global pan-demic response. Cuba, for example, sent doctors to countries across the world to support strained health workforces.

The burden of death, ill-health, and destitution brought on by the pandemic

has fallen on the historically marginalised peoples of the world.

This unfair impact has its roots in racial and colonial hierarchies that have yet to be eradicated from their origins found in the days of the first international sanitary confer-ences. The enduring impact of this history makes recent calls to “decolonise global health” particularly critical.

As it returns to the global health stage, the US could play a vital role, but only if it radically changes course, not only from the Trump era but the policies that came before it. That would mean putting collective health outcomes first, through allowing the pursuit of universal healthcare around the world, undoing sanctions and cor-porate welfare regimes that restrict access to essential medicines, and sharing vaccine technology to end this pandemic.

The WHO and other global health organisations need to claim their autonomy so they can truly act in the interests of global health. That means pressuring donor govern-ments to commit to unre-stricted funding and com-pelling pharmaceutical com-panies to transfer technology to qualified vaccine manufac-turers around the world. Countries in the Global South can aid this process by investing in their own inno-vation and health systems as well as advocating loudly for a more equitable global health system.

As Trump leaves the White House, merely resetting to what came before him is not the answer. Global health was in desperate need of reform four years ago, as much as it does now. Rather than returning to business as usual, we must democratise global health, based on solidarity, and respond in an equitable and just manner, to the chal-lenges of COVID-19. Global health governance does need new leadership, and pro-gressive activists around the world are already showing us the way.

Kiiza Africa is a researcher, activist, and development anthropologist ; Mamka Anyona is a global health governance researcher; Siddhartha Mehta is a member of People’s Health Movement.

On global health, Biden needs to achieve more than just a reset

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered troops into the northern region of Tigray on Nov. 4, accusing a powerful faction of traitorous behavior. On Saturday, the government claimed its military took control of the region’s capital city, Mekele. On Monday, the Tigray lead-ership accused Ethiopian troops of launching a “geno-cidal campaign” in the region.

Tensions have been brewing with the Tigray People’s Liber-ation Front (TPLF), once a dom-inant force in Ethiopia’s regime, since Abiy gained power. The conflict erupted soon after Abiy claimed that the TPLF crossed a “red line” when Tigrayans attacked a federal military base in early November. Fears of mass atrocities grew after Abiy’s 72-hour ultimatum for the TPLF’s surrender expired last week.

Could Abiy’s offensive turn into a broader civil war, and draw in neighboring countries? Tens of thousands of civilians have fled into Sudan, threatening its sta-bility. And earlier this month, Tigray forces reportedly fired multiple rockets into Eritrea, a long-standing rival of the TPLF. If Sudan or Eritrea decides to intervene, other

outsiders may follow.My research explains why

foreign interference in Ethio-pia’s conflict is predictable - and why interventions by external militaries tend to make bad situations worse.

Civil wars are rarely purely domestic affairs

Foreigners often meddle in the internal battles of other countries - and outsiders are getting increasingly med-dlesome. The data reveal that outside interventions in civil wars have increased in recent years, both in terms of absolute numbers and in the proportion of ongoing wars.

During the Cold War, most interventions were shaped by the US-Soviet rivalry. After the fall of the Soviet Union, coun-tries focused on finding nego-tiated settlements and deploying peacekeeping forces to keep the peace. But the United States, regional powers and neighboring countries became less hesitant to intervene after Sept. 11, 2001, and as the U.S.-led liberal order began showing signs of decay.

Most full-fledged civil wars today include foreign militaries, groups and fighters.

Why do foreign militaries intervene?

Foreign militaries are not innocent bystanders to civil wars. In fact, internal conflicts attracted external militaries last year more often than at

any time since World War II. We may have been underesti-mating the extent of external involvement in African con-flicts in particular.

One reason for these interventions is because the ill effects of a localized conflict are never neatly contained within the confines of a war-torn country. Refugees, rebels and weapons - along with drugs and other illicit mate-rials - can spread easily beyond national borders, threatening the stability of nearby countries.

A record number of ref-ugees are living abroad - the highest totals in the post-World War II period - as recent civil wars displace greater numbers than in pre-vious decades. Large numbers of refugees pose risks to weaker host countries. The strain on financial resources, threats to internal security, shifts in local demographics or new animosities among populations can create incen-tives for intervention.

Tigray absorbed an esti-mated 100,000 Eritreans from a previous war, many of whom could be displaced yet again. The rapid pace of Ethi-opians now arriving in Sudan reportedly is overwhelming aid organizations - and the numbers seeking safety are likely to continue to climb. Sudan itself is in the middle of

a fragile transition after its longtime dictator was toppled last year, and is poorly placed to absorb the influx.

Conflicts also affect econ-omies in neighboring coun-tries. Research indicates that the negative economic effects can stretch hundreds of miles outside the country at war, with losses in regional investment and increases in illegal trade. So neighbors care about conflicts in their own backyard.

- Civil wars heighten the risk of wars between nations

Analysts argue that one of the best predictors of civil war is if there is another civil war in the region. The negative tran-snational effects of wars can aggravate domestic tensions and spark internal conflicts in other countries. Conflicts spread and contagion happens.

External militaries inter-vening to prevent negative spill-overs can also instigate a broader international dispute. Likewise, regimes waging domestic battles may see a reason to conduct cross-border counterinsurgency campaigns or attack foreign rivals that are supporting oppo-sition groups. Political scientist Idean Salehyan finds that more than half of all rebel groups rely on external sanctuaries during civil wars, so governments often want to chase down their enemies abroad.

When external military

forces get involved, they often harm internal and interna-tional security. In Syria and Yemen, for instance, the reality that so many outsiders are involved in these conflicts means that fighting is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Interventions typically provoke additional interven-tions by rival countries. And once there are several com-peting foreign forces involved, civil wars tend to last longer, the research shows. It’s simply harder to find a compromise that makes enough people happy during negotiations - potential solutions are compli-cated by more parties with unique interests.

If parties agree to peace, interventions make conflicts more likely to recur again - that was the case in Afghan-istan, Congo and Somalia.

Local struggles can escalate rapidly into proxy wars, when a major power benefits by having others fight a conflict. Take the war in Libya, for example. The sheer number of outsiders - Egypt, France, Jordan, Qatar, Russia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States - has trans-formed the conflict into something quite different from when it started. Proxy wars often drag on, and it’s always possible for them to escalate into wider conflicts.

Why Ethiopia’s conflict could spill beyond its bordersDAVID KAMPF THE WASHINGTON POST

Well before Trump, the global health system was failing. It entrenched inequalities in access to healthcare and, all too frequently, placed the lives of people across the world at the mercy of American domestic politics and trade policy.

US President-elect Joe Biden wears a boot after he twisted his ankle while playing with his dog, as he departs after an event at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, yesterday.

10 WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020ASIA

Protesting farmers rejectgovt proposal in IndiaAP — NEW DELHI

The Indian government and protesting farmers were unable to reach common ground in talks held yesterday, with the farmers saying their demon-strations against new agri-culture laws will continue as will their blockades of key highways.

The farmers rejected the government’s offer to set up expert committees to discuss the new laws, which deregulate crop pricing, even as the agri-culture minister appealed for an end to agitation and invited the farmers for further discus-sions tomorrow.

“Our movement will con-tinue and we will definitely take back something from the gov-ernment - be it bullets or a peaceful solution,” Chanda Singh, a farmer leader who was part of the talks, told reporters in New Delhi.

Farmers have been pro-testing the laws for nearly two months in Punjab and Haryana states - where they have been blocking key highways. The sit-uation escalated last week when tens of thousands of them

marched to the Indian capital, where they clashed with police who used tear gas, water cannons and batons against them.

The farmers have since camped along at least five major highways on the outskirts of New Delhi and have said they won’t leave until the gov-ernment rolls back what they call “black laws.” The farmers say the laws passed in Sep-tember will lead the gov-ernment to stop buying grain at

minimum guaranteed prices and result in exploitation by corporations who will push down prices.

The laws add to already existing resentment from farmers, who often complain of being ignored by the government in their push for better crop prices, additional loan waivers and irrigation systems to guar-antee water during dry spells.

The government has argued the laws bring about necessary reform that will allow farmers to market their produce and boost production through private investment.

Agriculture supports more than half of India’s 1.3 billion people, but farmers have seen their economic standing diminish over the last three decades. Once accounting for a third of India’s gross domestic product, they now produce only 15 percent of GDP, which is valued at $2.9 trillion a year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his allies have both tried to allay farmers’ fears about the new laws while also dismissing their concerns. Some of his party leaders have called the farmers “misguided” and

“anti-national,” a label often given those who criticize Modi or his policies.

Many opposition party leaders, activists and even some allies of Modi’s party have called the laws anti-farmer and expressed support for those protesting. The demonstrations have also started to draw inter-national attention.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday noted the protests and said “Canada

will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protest.” “We’ve reached out through multiple means to the Indian authorities to highlight our con-cerns” Trudeau said in a video address without elaborating.

India’s Foreign Ministry did not directly name Trudeau but said comments by some Canadian leaders were “ill-informed” and “unwarranted.” “Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs

of a democratic country,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

Yesterday, thousands more joined the protests at multiple locations on the outskirts of the capital. The farmers, driving tractors and trucks, brought food, fuel and firewood to sustain themselves.

“We are here to stay,” said Manjeet Singh, a farmer who was part of a team making meals for the protesters.

Farmers having food at a site of a protest against the newly passed farm bills at Singhu border near New Delhi, yesterday.

AstraZeneca partner SII sticks with two full dose regimen in trialsREUTERS — PUNE

Serum Institute of India (SII), which has partnered with AstraZeneca to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine, will continue to test a two full dose regimen of the shot despite it showing a lower success rate than a half and full dose regimen in pivotal trials, a top executive said.

The British drugmaker has said its COVID-19 vaccine could be up to 90 percent effective if administered as a half dose fol-lowed by a full dose, but some scientists have questioned the robustness of that result because only a few thousand people were given that regimen in late-stage UK trials.

The global trials showed the efficacy rate of the shot was 62 percent if the full dose was given twice, as it was for most study participants in trials in

Britain and Brazil. AstraZeneca has said it is likely to run an additional global trial to evaluate the lower dose regimen.

SII which is currently running trials in India testing the safety of AstraZeneca’s vaccine as well as the immune response it triggers, has no plans currently to alter them to include the half dose-full dose regimen, according to Dr. Suresh Jadhav, an executive director at SII.

“Anything which is beyond 50 percent is always going to be a plus, plus,” Jadhav said in an interview on Monday, referring to efficacy rates. He added that changing the dose regimen now would delay the trials.

A combination of two dif-ferent measures could also complicate rapid distribution efforts, according to Jadhav,

who has worked on vaccines for over four decades.

“When it is one common dose it becomes very easy. Whether it is the first dose, or second it is the same vaccine, same dose,” he said.

Over the weekend, SII said that it planned to apply for an emergency use licence for the vaccine in India in the next two weeks.

The 62 percent efficacy rate on AstraZeneca’s broader two full dose trial is above the 50 percent that US regulators say is the minimum required to consider a drug for emergency authorisation.

SII, based in the western city of Pune, is the world’s top manufacturer of vaccines by volume. Beyond AstraZeneca, it has also partnered with other companies to potentially man-ufacture their shots, including US biotech firm Codagenix; its

rival Novavax and Austria’s Themis.

But in the global race to develop vaccines to beat the pandemic, AstraZeneca’s vaccine is one of the front-runners despite having lower efficacy rates than some rivals.

US drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna have said their coro-navirus vaccines have an efficacy rate of 95 percent and 94.5 percent respectively but AstraZeneca’s drug is cheaper and easier to transport because it can be stored for long periods a t n o r m a l f r i d g e temperatures.

Those advantages are par-ticularly important for many developing countries and, therefore, for SII. As part of a deal outlined in June, Astra-Zeneca has licensed SII to supply one billion doses of its vaccine to dozens of low and middle-income nations.

Most of the nations that are part of the COVAX initiative, which has been set up to provide COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries, have indi-cated they would accept and use a proven vaccine, if it showed more than 50 percent efficacy, according to Jadhav.

Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of SII, said affordability, scala-bility and ease of storage and transportation were key factors for India and other emerging economies as they look to decide on large scale purchases of vaccines.

“A vaccine that cannot pen-etrate and be given in a large population to provide high vaccine coverage you may as well not give it at all,” Poona-walla said.

“If it’s not affordable and logistically transferable, even if it is 110 percent effective what is the sense?”

Protesters give the three-finger pro-democracy salute during a “Bad Student” rally outside the Ministry of Education, in Bangkok yesterday.

Thai court issues warning on eve of PM rulingAFP — BANGKOK

Thailand’s constitutional court yesterday warned against “vulgar” criticism of its rulings, on the eve of a crucial judgement that could see Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha forced out of office.

The court will today hand down a verdict on whether Prayut has broken rules by living in an army house, despite the fact the former general is no longer in the military top brass.

Losing the case could see Prayut, who came to power in a 2014 coup, thrown out as premier.

The ruling follows months of street protests calling for Prayut to quit, and one

pro-democracy group plans to rally outside the court today.

But the court urged people to stay away and warned that excessive criticism could lead to prosecution.

“A person shall enjoy the liberty to express opinions, but criticism of rulings made with vulgar, sarcastic or threatening words will be considered a vio-lation of the law,” the court said in a statement.

The pro-democracy movement is already facing legal action, with five key leaders charged on Monday under Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws — the first time they have been used in two years.

As well as calling for Prayut

to go, protesters also want reforms to the army-drafted constitution and for changes to the monarchy — a taboo-smashing demand in a country that has long revered its royal family.

Prayut has previously argued his family must stay at the army house on a military base for security reasons.

He appeared relaxed on Tuesday ahead of the decision, saying he would send his lawyers to the court but would not go in person.

“I’ve had cases filed against me before. If the court rules that you’ve done wrong then you’ve done wrong... if not then that’s the end of the story. It’s just like any court case,” he told reporters in Bangkok.

Cambodia oppn figuresplan to return from exileAP — PHNOM PENH

Senior executives of the disbanded opposi t ion Cambodia National Rescue Party yesterday announced their plan to return from self-imposed exile to fight criminal charges against them in court.

The party leaders are among about 130 opposition supporters and other dissidents who are due to be tried early next year on charges including treason and incitement to commit felony. The CNRP exec-utives also face the charge of planning an attack involving violence that could hurt the state and its institutions.

Most of the opposition party leaders, and others among the group to be tried, fled Cam-bodia in late 2017, when Prime Minister Hun Sen launched a sweeping crackdown on his opponents and the CNRP was forced by the high court to disband and its lawmakers removed from Parliament.

Many people believe the court acted to ensure that Hun Sen’s Cambodia People’s Party won the 2018 general election, which it did by sweeping all the seats in Parliament.

Hun Sen has been in power for 35 years and has often been accused of heading an author-itarian regime.

Several Western nations have imposed sanctions on his government, mainly after con-cluding that the 2018 election was neither free nor fair.

The plan by CNRP leaders to return represents their second attempt to rejoin the political struggle at home.

In November last year, Sam Rainsy, the party’s co-founder,

sought to return from exile with several colleagues but was blocked by the government.

He has been in exile since 2016 to avoid serving a prison sentence for a defamation con-viction he insists was politically motivated.

He is not one of the party executives that the CNRP announced would return on Jan. 4. The most prominent would-be returnee is deputy party leader Mu Sochua, a former lawmaker who holds dual Cambodian and American citizenship and now lives in the United States.

Many of the cases against the nearly 130 facing trial, who are mostly charged with treason for taking part in nonviolent political activities over the past three years, involve planning for Sam Rainsy’s abortive return.

On Thursday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court began hearings in those cases, but quickly adjourned, saying it would split the large number of defendants into two groups to make the proceedings easier. The first group will have its initial hearing on Jan. 14 and the other on March 4.

Australian

telescope maps

deep space at

record speed

REUTERS — MELBOURNE

A powerful new telescope in outback Australia has mapped vast areas of the universe in record-breaking time, revealing a million new galaxies and opening the way to new discoveries, the coun-try’s national science agency said yesterday.

The A$188m ($138m) radio telescope, dubbed the Aus-tralian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), was able to map about three million gal-axies in just 300 hours. Com-parable surveys of the sky have taken as long as 10 years.

“It’s really a game changer,” said astronomer David McConnell, who led the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organi-sation (CSIRO) study of the southern sky at the Murchison Radioastronomy Observatory in Western Australia.

What makes this telescope unique is its wide field of view, using receivers designed by CSIRO, which allow it to take panoramic pictures of the sky in sharper detail than before.

The telescope only needed to combine 903 images to map the sky, compared with other all-sky radio surveys that require tens of thousands of images.

“It is more sensitive than previous surveys that have covered the whole sky like this, so we do see more objects than have been seen in the past,” McConnell told Reuters.

Having a telescope that can survey the sky in a few weeks or months means the process can be repeated again and again in a relatively short space of time, allowing astron-omers to systematically spot and track changes.

The party leaders are among about 130 opposition supporters and other dissidents who are due to be tried early next year on charges including treason and incitement to commit felony.

Heat wave returns

to Australia

REUTERS — SYDNEY

An intense heat wave returned to Australia’s south and east yesterday, the first day of the southern hemisphere summer, raising risks of bush fires after the country sweltered through its hottest November on record.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteor-ology (BoM) expects temperatures to break records in the coming days due to the heat wave, which has been building across much of the country’s outback interior over the last week.

“While bursts of heat and heat wave are normal for this time of year, what’s making this burst is temperatures up to 18 degrees above average,” BoM Meteorol-ogist Dean Narramore said.

The farmers rejected the government’s offer to set up expert committees to discuss the new laws, which deregulate crop pricing, even as the agriculture minister appealed for an end to agitation and invited the farmers for further discussions tomorrow.

11WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020 ASIA

China rejects report ‘Kim received vaccine’REUTERS — SEOUL

China has provided North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family with an experimental coronavirus vaccine, a US analyst said yesterday, citing two unidentified Japanese intel-ligence sources.

Harry Kazianis, a North Korea expert at the Center for the National Interest think-tank in Washington, said the Kims and several senior North Korean officials had been vaccinated.

It was unclear which company had supplied its drug candidate to the Kims and whether it had proven to be safe, he added.

“Kim Jong Un and multiple other high-ranking officials within the Kim family and leadership network have been vaccinated for

coronavirus within the last two to three weeks thanks to a vaccine candidate supplied by the Chinese government,” Kazianis wrote in an article for online outlet 19FortyFive.

Citing US medical scientist Peter J Hotez, he said at least three Chinese companies were developing a coronavirus vaccine, including Sinovac Biotech Ltd, CanSinoBio and

China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), an unlisted Beijing-based company.

Sinopharm says its candidate has been used by nearly one million people in China, although none of the firms have unveiled results of Phase 3 clinical trial of their experimental COVID-19 vaccines, which are under way outside China.

Hua Chunying, a Chinese

foreign ministry spokeswoman, neither denied nor confirmed when asked about the reported vaccines for North Korea at a regular briefing, saying she had not heard about them.

Some experts doubted that Kim would use an experimental vaccine.

“Even if a Chinese vaccine had already been approved, no drug is perfect and he would not take that risk when he has numerous shelters which can ensure almost complete iso-lation,” said Choi Jung-hun, an infectious disease expert who defected from North Korea to the South in 2012.

Mark Barry, an East Asia analyst and associate editor of the International Journal on World Peace, said Kim would prefer proven European vaccines to one supplied by Beijing.

“The risk is too great. But he’s happy to get Chinese per-sonal protective equipment,” Barry said on Twitter.

North Korea has not con-firmed any coronavirus infec-tions, but South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has said an outbreak there cannot be ruled out as the country had trade and people-to-people exchanges with China - the source of the pandemic - before shutting the border in late January.

Microsoft said last month that two North Korean hacking groups had tried to break into the network of vaccine devel-opers in multiple countries, without specifying the com-panies targeted.

The NIS said last week it had foiled North Korea’s attempts to hack into South Korean COVID-19 vaccine makers.

Pakistan court

resumes appeal

hearing in Pearl

murder case

AP — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s top court yesterday resumed the hearing of an appeal from the family of American journalist Daniel Pearl against the acquittal of a British-born Pakistani man convicted over the 2002 beheading of the Wall Street Journal reporter.

The key suspect in Pearl’s slaying, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, was sentenced to death and three others were sen-tenced to life in prison for their role in the plot. But a lower Pakistani court in April acquitted him and three others, a move that stunned the US government, Pearl’s family and journalism advocacy groups.

The acquittal is now being appealed separately by the government and Pearl’s family, a process that under Pakistani law could take years. The government has opposed Sheikh’s release, saying it would endanger the public. He is to remain in custody until the appeals are resolved.

Government lawyer Farooq Naek began opening arguments yesterday in the capital of Islamabad, and would continue today.

The case was adjourned in late October for four weeks due to the absence of Naek, who was unwell, and following the request of Sheikh’s defence lawyer.

Sheikh had been convicted of helping lure Pearl to a meeting in the southern Paki-stani port city of Karachi in which he was kidnapped. Pearl had been investigating the link between Pakistani militants and Richard C Reid, dubbed the “Shoe Bomber” after trying to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoes.

Pearl, 38, of Encino, Cali-fornia, was abducted Jan. 23, 2002. In Sheikh’s original trial, emails between Sheikh and Pearl presented in court showed Sheikh gained Pearl’s confidence sharing their expe-riences as both waited for the birth of their first child. Pearl’s wife Marianne Pearl gave birth to a son, Adam, in May 2002.

Thousands flee eruptingvolcanoes in IndonesiaAP — JAKARTA

Indonesian authorities are closely monitoring several volcanoes after sensors picked up increased activity in recent weeks, prompting the evacu-ation of thousands of people.

Hot ash tumbled as far as 3,000 metres down the slopes of Mount Semeru early yes-terday, triggering panic among villagers, said Raditya Jati, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman. Falling ash and sulfur blanketed several villages around its slopes.

The 3,676-metre mountain in Lumajang district is the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely island of Java.

Jati said authorities are still trying to evacuate about 550 people living on the mountain’s slopes. There were no reports of injuries or serious damage, he said.

Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Miti-gation Centre did not raise Semeru’s alert status, which already was at the third-highest level since it began erupting in May. Villagers and tourists are advised to stay four kilometres from the crater, the agency said.

Yesterday’s eruption came two days after Mount Ili

Lewotolok shot out columns of hot clouds as high as 4,000 metres into the sky. More than 4,600 people were evacuated from the slopes of the mountain, located on Lembata island in East Nusa Tenggara province.

The volcanology agency raised Ili Lewotolok’s alert to the second-highest level on Sunday after sensors picked up increased activity. The 1,423-metre mountain has been rum-bling since October 2017.

The Transportation Ministry said a flight warning was issued after the eruption and a local airport was closed as ash rained down on many areas of the island.

In another part of Java island, authorities have evac-uated more than 1,800 people living on the volatile Mount Merapi volcano’s fertile slopes since early November fol-lowing an increase in volcanic activity.

Local administrations in Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces are closely moni-toring the mountain after the geological agency raised Mer-api’s alert to the second-highest level and people were advised to stay five kilometres from the crater.

The 2,968-metre mountain

is about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Yogyakarta city center. About a quarter million people live within a 10km radius of the volcano.

Merapi spewed ash and hot gas as high as six kilometres into the sky in June, but no cas-ualties were reported. Its last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and caused the evacuation of 20,000 villagers.

Authorities in North

Sumatra province are also closely monitoring Mount Sinabung after sensors picked up increasing activity since August. Villagers were advised to stay five kilometes from the crater and be aware of the peril of lava.

Mirzam Abdurrahman, a volcanologist from the Bandung Institute of Technology, said volcanic activity can increase relatively simultaneously in the different mountains with the

same triggers, because the vol-canoes are in the same Sunda Arc which covers the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.

The mountains are among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.

Residents gather at a community hall after being evacuated from Supiturang village following the eruption of Mount Semeru volcano, in Lumajang of East Java province of Indonesia, yesterday.

Papuans rally for

independence as

group declares

govt in exile

REUTERS — JAKARTA

Hundreds of Papuans held rallies across at least eight cities in Indonesia yesterday to renew calls for independence, as a separatist group declared it had established a provisional government in exile.

The demonstrations marked the anniversary of West Papua declaring inde-pendence from Dutch rule in 1961, which was followed by a contentious UN-sanctioned referendum in 1969 that brought Papua under Indo-nesian control.

Among more than 100 stu-dents who marched in the capital Jakarta, Papuan Roland Levy said the date remained significant decades on.

“My goal in joining the rally today is to commemorate 59 years of the proclamation of independence of the West Papuan nation that was annexed by Indonesia,” he said, as demonstrators waved banners calling for the right to self-determination.

Some Papuans regard the 1969 plebiscite as unfair and say intimidation was used to influence the outcome, which Jakarta has rejected.

The protests coincided with a declaration from the United Liberation Movement for West Papua that a provi-sional “government-in-waiting” had been formed, led by exiled independence figure, Benny Wenda.

Britain-based Wenda said the group would push for independence and no longer “bow down to Jakarta’s illegal martial rule”.

Hong Kong TV station layoffs stoke media freedom concernsREUTERS — HONG KONG

A Hong Kong television station said yesterday about 100 staff were “affected” by a shake-up as it seeks to remain compet-itive in a challenging economic environment, a move that has re-ignited worries over media freedom in China’s freest city.

Local media said 40 workers had been laid off from i-Cable, including the entire team from the station’s award-winning investigative section, News Lancet.

i-Cable said the restructure “does not have anything to do with media censorship”.

“In the face of daunting challenges, the group has devoted to adopting various measures to explore new business opportunities for com-petitiveness enhancement and sustainable development,” the station said in a statement, adding that about 100 positions among the group’s 1,300 staff would be affected.

“Under this circumstance, after a comprehensive review, it was unavoidable for the group to carry out an organisational restructure of various depart-ments.” The pay TV station did not say how many had been sacked.

Wong Lai-ping, deputy chief of the station’s China News team, which covers human rights on the mainland and reported from Wuhan province on the coronavirus outbreak, told reporters she was among those laid off. Ten other members of the team had resigned in protest against the lay-offs, she added.

i-Cable journalists told Reuters the lay-offs had prompted the heads of the sta-tion’s China News, Hong Kong General News, Finance News and Editing desk to resign.

Yau Ting-leung, 22, a jour-nalist from the News Lancet

segment who said he was fired after about six months with the company, said he was sceptical of the reason behind the decision. “It’s definitely media censorship. It’s a pity they sacked the entire team. There aren’t many TV investigative news programmes in Hong Kong,” Yau said.

The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee of freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including freedom of speech. Protesters who took to the streets for months last year complain that Communist Party rulers in Beijing are whittling

away at those freedoms, a charge Beijing denies.

The Hong Kong Journalists’ Association said it was watching the situation closely as media have already come under pressure in the wake of a new national security law intro-duced by Beijing on June 30.

“This time the whole ‘News Lancet’ team of Cable News was laid off and the team has often reported against/on the police or the regime in the past year,” HKJA said in a statement.

i-Cable was founded in 1993 and is now owned by David Chiu, chairman and CEO of Far East Consortium.

Polio vaccination driveA health worker administers polio vaccine drops to a child during a polio vaccination door-to-door campaign in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, yesterday.

Jakarta governor contracts

COVID-19 as cases spikeREUTERS — JAKARTA

Anies Baswedan, the governor of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, said yesterday he had tested positive for COVID-19, as the world’s fourth most populous country struggles to contain a spike in the number of infections.

The 51-year-old governor of Southeast Asia’s biggest city is among a number of politi-cians and officials to contract the virus. Indonesia’s transpor-tation and religious affairs min-isters have previously been treated for the virus.

In a video posted on his Instagram account, the gov-ernor said he was currently asymptomatic and would self-isolate. “I would like to remind everyone that COVID is still around and can come to anyone,” he said.

His deputy, Ahmad Riza Patria, also tested positive to the virus on Sunday, according

to the city’s website. Indonesia, a country of 270 million people, has posted three days of record-high case numbers in the past week.

With more than 530,000 infections and nearly 17,000 deaths, the country has the highest tallies in Southeast Asia, though some health experts say limited testing and contact tracing is masking a far higher caseload.

Jakarta, a bustling meg-acity, has also recorded new record highs in infections over the past month, with an average of around 1,240 cases per day in the past week. Unlike some neighbouring countries, Indonesia has not brought in strict national lockdowns but opted for local curbs.

Since October, Jakarta’s governor has relaxed curbs to reinstate “large-scale social restrictions,” which means malls and restaurants can operate though with shorter hours.

Harry Kazianis, a North Korea expert at the Center for the National Interest think-tank in Washington, said the Kims and several senior North Korean officials had been vaccinated. It was unclear which company had supplied its drug candidate to the Kims and whether it had proven to be safe, he added.

12 WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020EUROPE

Johnson urges MPs to back regional COVID-19 curbsREUTERS — LONDON

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged lawmakers to support his new system of regional coronavirus restric-tions yesterday, arguing in the face of criticism from his party that the system was needed to keep the virus under control.

More than 40% of people in England will be subject to the toughest tier of restrictions on their daily life from today, when the government shifts to a region-by-region approach after a month of national lockdown, with just 1% in the lowest band.

“With the spread of the epi-demic varying across the country, there remains a com-pelling... case for regional tiers in England,” Johnson told par-liament, batting away criticism from several unhappy lawmakers.

“All we need to do now is to hold our nerve until these vac-cines are indeed in our grasp and indeed being injected into our arms... let’s work together to control the virus.”

The tiered system has ignited a rebellion in Johnson’s Conservative Party, with as

many as 80 of the 364 elected Conservatives already criti-cising the plan as draconian, badly implemented or based on insufficient evidence.

The measures were to be approved by a vote in par-liament later yesterday despite the anticipated rebellion because the main opposition Labour Party has chosen to abstain rather than vote against the government.

The new system dictates what citizens can and can’t do and, while it is less strict than the two nationwide lockdowns England has endured this year,

it is still a restriction of social and commercial freedoms pre-viously unheard of outside wartime.

Shops and schools will stay open in all tiers, but in the top tier pubs and restaurants will be closed except for takeaway services.

Travelling to or from top tier regions is not allowed and mixing indoors with other households is banned in the top two tiers. The government esti-mates 23 million people will be in the toughest tier and 32 million in the middle tier - together accounting for just under 99% of England’s population.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all implement their own restrictions set by their devolved governments.

Johnson responded to members of his party who raised complaints about the allocation of their regions into tiers by acknowledging the dif-ficulty they would cause and promising decisions would be reviewed every two weeks.

“The government will look at how we can reflect as closely as possible the reality of what is happening on the

ground,” he said.He also announced a

one-off payment of 1,000 pounds ($1,335) to clubs that would be unable to reopen under the new rules, seeking to address one of the most acutely affected industries.

The rebellion — due at a vote around 1900 GMT — will underscore how Johnson’s han-dling of the pandemic has weakened his grip on the ruling Conservatives since they secured a landslide election win a year ago.

Last month Johnson sought to reset his relationship with rank and file Conservative law-makers, replacing his most senior adviser Dominic Cum-mings — whom many Conserv-atives distrusted — with a more conventional appointment.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks ahead of a vote on government proposals for stricter COVID-19 tiers across England, in a hybrid, socially distanced session at the House of Commons in London, yesterday.

EU regulator to decide on Pfizer vaccine on December 29AP — BERLIN

The European Medicines Agency will convene a meeting on December 29 to decide if there is enough data about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for it to be approved, the regulator said yesterday.

The agency also said yes-terday it could decide as early as January 12 whether to approve a rival COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna Inc.

The German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer said earlier yes-terday that they had asked the regulator for speeded-up, con-ditional approval of their coro-navirus vaccine, concluding the rolling review process they ini-tiated with the agency on October 6.

The move comes a day after rival Moderna said it was asking US and European regulators to allow the use of its COVID-19 vaccine. BioNTech said if the

vaccine, currently named BNT162b2, is approved, its use in Europe could begin before the end of 2020. The companies said last month that clinical trials with 44,000 participants showed the vaccine is 95% effective. The efficacy rate in particularly vulnerable older age groups was more than 94%, they said.

In a statement, the EU med-icines regulator said it had already begun a “rolling review” of the Moderna vaccine based on laboratory data previously submitted by the company and would now assess data on how well that vaccine triggers an immune response and whether it is safe enough for broad use across Europe.

The agency said that “if the data are robust enough to con-clude on quality, safety and effectiveness,” then it could approve the Moderna vaccine at a meeting scheduled for January 12.

BioNTech and Pfizer have already submitted a request for emergency approval with the US Food and Drug Administration and the UK regulator MHRA, as well as rolling submissions in other countries including in Aus-tralia, Canada and Japan.

“We have known since the beginning of this journey that patients are waiting, and we stand ready to ship COVID-19 vaccine doses as soon as potential authorizations will allow us,” Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla said in a statement.

BioNTech said it stands ready to ship stockpiles of vac-cines where they are needed when the Amsterdam-based agency or the FDA approve the vaccine.

“Depending on how the authorities decide we can start delivering within a few hours,” said BioNTech’s chief operating officer, Sierk Poetting.

The European Union’s top official said around 2 billion

doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines have been secured for the bloc’s 27 nations, with the first deliveries likely to start before the end of the year.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said EU nations have started working on their vaccination plans and on the logistics for delivering tens of mil-lions of doses across the bloc, a major challenge for the EU.

“If everything goes well, the first European citizens might already be vaccinated before the end of December,” Von der Leyen said.

“And it will be a huge step forward toward our normal life. In other words, I just wanted to say there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has secured deals allowing to purchase doses with Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, BioNTech-Pfizer and CureVac.

Von der Leyen however

urged EU citizens to remain “dis-ciplined till we have reached finally a vaccination that is appropriate to eradicate this virus.”

Germany’s science minister said Tuesday that the same safety standards are being applied in the approval process for coronavirus vaccines as for other drugs and that this would be key to gaining the widest pos-sible public acceptance for COVID immunisation.

Anja Karliczek cited the fact that Europan regulators plan to hold a public hearing on Dec. 11 about the approval request by BioNTech and Pfizer.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Karliczek stressed that the vaccine will be voluntary and that authorities will work hard to inform the public about pos-sible side effects that a small per-centage of recipients might experience after immunization, such as headaches, exhaustion and fever.

76 nuns test

positive for virus

in Germany

AP — BERLIN

Seventy-six Catholic nuns have tested positive for COVID-19 after an outbreak at a Fran-ciscan convent in northwestern Germany, church authorities said yesterday.

Another 85 nuns received negative test results at the mon-astery in Thuine, not far from the Dutch border, the convent’s Mother Superior said.

“We are grateful that so far nobody is in the hospital,” Sister Maria Cordis Reiker said.

Local health authorities put the entire monastery under quarantine late last week after the first cases of virus were dis-covered there. Overall in Germany, 13,604 more people tested positive over the last 24 hours and 388 others died of COVID-19, the country’s national disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, reported.

Germany bans

far-right ‘Wolf

Brigade 44’

REUTERS — BERLIN

Police found a crossbow, machete, knives and Nazi symbols in early-morning raids yesterday after banning a far-right extremist group called “Wolf Brigade 44” which the government says wants a Nazi state.

Swastikas were among the Nazi symbols uncovered in searches of the homes of 11 members of the group in the states of Hesse, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and North Rhine-Westphalia in the early hours of yesterday, the interior ministry said in a statement.

“There is no place in our country for a group that sows hate and propagates the re-establishment of a Nazi state,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said. Members of the “Wolf Brigade” openly pledge alle-giance to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and seek to end the dem-ocratic state, while propagating racism and anti-Semitism, the ministry said.

The government also banned the symbols of the group, such as a skull with two grenades marked with the number 44. In Nazi code, the four stands for the letter D as the fourth letter in the alphabet, the number 44 being an abbre-viation for the so-called “Division Dirlewanger”. This alludes to a unit of the Nazi’s paramilitary SS during World War Two that was particularly brutal and bore the name of Oskar Dirlewanger, who is accused of ordering massacres against civilians in Belarus in the 1940s.

Madrid opens huge new hospital for virus patients

AFP — MADRID

Madrid yesterday inaugurated a huge, controversial new hospital built in just three months and capable of treating more than 1,000 patients during a health emergency.

The Isabel Zendal complex, which covers 80,000 square metres cost nearly 100 million euros ($120m).

Its purpose is to ease pressure on hospitals in the Madrid region, which has suf-fered one of the most deadly outbreaks of the novel coronavirus.

Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the con-servative leader of Madrid’s regional government who kicked off the project, attended the opening of the vast complex near Barajas airport on the city’s eastern flanks.

Wires could be seen dan-gling from the ceiling of the still-empty hospital, with the first patients expected to arrive next week.

So far, the region has recruited 116 medical staff to

work there, but has not said whether it intends to contract more. The hospital “is adapted to suit any situation we might go through” said Diaz Ayuso, indicating its intensive care unit would be “the most advanced in Madrid”.

Set to open in stages, Isabel Zendal will be mainly used to reduce pressure on other hos-pitals so they can gradually recover non-COVID-19 activity, from waiting lists to surgeries and medical care consultations, the region said last week.

But the hospital’s con-struction has sparked oppo-sition, with dozens of healthcare professionals demonstrating outside the new building to crit-icise a project they say is “useless” at a cost that came in twice the initial budget.

“They’re inaugurating a hospital which we see as unnecessary. There are unused beds in other hospitals,” said Olga Álvarez, a lab technician at the city’s Gregorio Maranon hospital and member of the MATS health workers union.

The money used to build Isabel Zendal could have been funnelled into resources that were “really necessary like contact tracers, personnel or material,” she added.

“A public hospital can’t be bad news for anyone, except for those with a political agenda,” remarked Diaz Ayuso,

pointedly referring to the absence from the opening of Salvador Illa, health minister i n S p a i n ’ s l e f t w i n g government.

The Madrid region’s hos-pitals were overwhelmed during the first wave, prompting the military to set up a vast field hospital in an

exhibition centre to cope with soaring patient numbers.

Spain has been badly hit by the pandemic, so far counting more than 1.6 million cases and losing over 45,000 lives.

Of those figures, one in four deaths occurred in the Madrid region as well as just over a fifth of all infections.

Health workers protest during the inauguration of the Enfermera Isabel Zendal new hospital in Madrid, Spain, yesterday.

French authorities evacuate obese man trapped in his homeAFP — PERPIGNAN

Around 50 police, rescue workers and doctors mobilised in southern France yesterday to remove an obese man who was no longer able to raise himself from the floor of his bedroom, and too big to be carried out through the door or down the stairs.

Alain Panabiere, 53, had been stranded for months at his home

in central Perpignan “in all like-lihood after breaking his leg,” his lawyer Jean Codognes said.

He had been fed by his brother but his condition dete-riorated rapidly, and in late October the lawyer wrote to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin pleading for an emer-gency rescue. A few days later, Panabiere, who weighs some 300kg, and France’s Anti-Obesity League also filed a legal

complaint alleging “failure to assist a person in danger.”

“This is a high-risk oper-ation,” Codognes said, as police cordoned off the narrow street as the rescue got underway at Panabiere’s two-storey home.

Police said neighbours were also asked to leave their homes in case of accident.

Having reinforced the build-ing’s structural stability, workers cut open a passage through an

exterior wall on the upper floor, according to journalists at the scene. Panabiere was then fitted with an IV drip and carefully carried to a metal storage box suspended from a crane outside, so he could be lowered while lying down to a waiting ambulance.

“When you get a person moving again after they’ve been immobilised for two to five years, there’s a risk of cardiac

decompensation and vein throm-bosis,” said Antoine Avignon, head of endocrinology, diabetes and nutrition at the nearby hos-pital in Montpellier.

“You’re reviving a cardio-vascular system that has been at rest for a long time,” he said.

Panabiere will be treated in the city of Montpellier before being transferred to a rehabili-tation centre in a few weeks, Avignon said.

More than 40% of

people in England will

be subject to the

toughest tier of

restrictions on their

daily life from today,

when the government

shifts to a region-by-

region approach after a

month of national

lockdown.

13WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020 EUROPE

Belarus oppn tocompile ‘book ofcrimes’, abusesAP — KIEV

Belarus’ opposition will compile a register of law enforcement officers accused of abuses against peaceful demonstrators protesting the reelection of the country’s authoritarian leader, an oppo-sition leader said yesterday.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition challenger in Belarus’ August presidential vote, said in a video call from Vilnius, Lithuania, that the “book of crimes” will include accounts of police abuse that will be verified by independent lawyers.

“Impunity will not last forever,” said Tsikhanouskaya, who was pressured by Bela-rusian authorities to leave for neighboring Lithuania after the vote. “No one will be able to deprive hundreds of thousands of people who are striving for justice from speaking out.”

Belarus has been swept by mass protests that were trig-gered by President Alexander Lukashenko’s reelection to a sixth term in office by a land-slide in the Aug. 9 election that the opposition said was riddled with fraud.

Police have cracked down hard on the largely peaceful demonstrations, using

stun grenades, tear gas and truncheons to disperse pro-testers. Thousands of people have been detained - and many of them badly beaten - since the protests began, human rights advocates say.

The rallies, the biggest of which drew up to 200,000, have continued despite the increasingly tough police response.

The United States and the European Union have intro-duced sanctions against Bela-rusian officials accused of involvement in vote-rigging and the post-election crackdown.

Tsikhanouskaya said that the opposition will use the reg-ister of law enforcement officers accused of abuses to push for Western sanctions against them.

Mother arrested for locking up her son for 28 yearsAFP — STOCKHOLM

A mother in Sweden has been arrested on suspicion of locking her son inside their apartment for 28 years, leaving him under-nourished and with almost no teeth, police and media reports said yesterday.“The mother is suspected of illegal deprivation of liberty and causing bodily harm,” Stockholm police spokesman Ola Osterling said.

He said the man had been “locked up for a very long time” in the apartment in a southern Stockholm suburb, but would not comment on reports in dailies Expressen and Afton-bladet that he had been held for 28 years.

According to the reports, the mother had pulled her son out of school when he was 12 and kept him locked inside the apartment since then.

An unnamed relative found the now 41-year-old man on Sunday after the mother, in her 70s, had been taken to hospital, Expressen reported.

The man had infected sores on his legs, could barely walk, had almost no teeth and limited speech ability, the reports said.

Osterling would not comment on those details, saying only: “The man is in hos-pital. His injuries are not life-threatening.”

The mother has denied the crimes, the Swedish Prose-cution Authority said.

Doctors at the hospital had alerted police to the case.

Police tape was stretched across the apartment’s door

yesterday, and crime scene technicians were seen leaving the scene around midday, an AFP photographer said.

The apartment is located in a non-descript grey and yellow low-rise building in the working class suburb of Handen in Haninge municipality.

The unidentified relative who found the man said the apartment looked like it had not been cleaned in years.

“There was urine, dirt and dust. It smelled rotten,” she said, adding that she had to wade through piles of junk to get

through the hallways.“No one could have cleaned

that home for many years.”“I’m in shock, broken-

hearted, but at the same time relieved. I’ve been waiting for this day for 20 years because I figured out that she was totally controlling his life, but I never imagined the extent of it,” she said. “I knew he was there and that he must be scared because his mother was his only sense of security and now she was gone”.

There was no immediate explanation for the mother’s

alleged actions.“She stole his life from him

and manipulated the people around her in order to keep her secret,” the relative said. “I’m just thankful that he got help and is going to survive.”

One unidentified neighbour, who lived in the same building, told Aftonbladet that she ran into the man at a nearby grocery store a few months ago.

“I know who you are, you’re my neighbour,” the man had told her, recognising her after having seen her through the window, she said.

Police technicians enter an apartment house yesterday in Haninge, south of Stockholm, a day after a man in his 40s who was kept locked by his mother was found there.

UN: Pandemic to fan surge in humanitarian needs in 2021AP — GENEVA

The UN humanitarian office says needs for assistance have ballooned to unprecedented levels this year because of COVID-19, projecting that a staggering 235 million people will require help in 2021.

This comes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and global challenges including conflicts, forced migration and the impact of global warming.

The UN Office for the Coor-dination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, expects a 40 percent increase in the number of people in need of such assistance in 2021 compared to this year — a sign that pain, suf-fering and torment brought by the coronavirus outbreak and

other problems could get worse even if hopes of a vaccine are rising.

OCHA made the projections in its latest annual Global Humanitarian Overview yes-terday, saying its hopes to reach 160 million of those people in need will cost $35bn. That’s more than twice the record $17bn that donors have pro-vided for the international humanitarian response so far this year — and a target figure that is almost certain to go unmet.

“The picture we’re painting this year is the bleakest and darkest perspective on human-itarian needs we’ve ever set out, and that’s because the pan-demic has reaped carnage across the most fragile and

vulnerable countries on the planet,” said UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock, who heads OCHA.

“For the first time since the 1990s, extreme poverty is going to increase, life expectancy will fall, the annual death toll from HIV, tuberculosis and malaria is set to double,” he said. “We fear a near doubling in the number of people facing starvation.”

Lowcock told a UN briefing in New York on the overview that he thinks the UN appeal will probably raise a record $20bn by the end of the year — $2bn more than last year. But he said the gap between needs and funding is growing and the UN is looking to “new players” coming on the scene in 2021,

including US President-elect Joe Biden’s new administration.

The UN aims to reach about two-thirds of those in need, with the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations trying to meet the rest, Lowcock explained.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said human-itarian aid budgets are now facing dire shortfalls as the impact of the COVID-19 pan-demic continues to worsen, and said extreme poverty has risen for the first time in more than a generation.

“The lives of people in every nation and corner of the world have been upended by the impact of the pandemic,” he said. “Those already living on a knife’s edge are being hit

disproportionately hard by rising food prices, falling incomes, interrupted vacci-nation programs and school closures.”

The overview, which is billed as one of the most com-prehensive looks of the world’s humanitarian needs, has put together nearly three dozen individual response plans for a total of 56 “vulnerable” countries.

Lowcock said it’s not the pandemic, but its economic impact that’s having the greatest effect on humanitarian needs. “These all hit the poorest people in the poorest countries hardest of all. For the poorest, the hangover from the pandemic will be long and hard,” he added.

“Impunity will not last forever. No one will be able to deprive hundreds of thousands of people who are striving for justice from speaking out,” said Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Rights court faults Russia over physicist’s spying convictionAFP — STRASBOURG

The European Court of Human Rights said yesterday that Russian authorities denied a top physicist a fair trial ahead of his 2004 conviction on claims of passing state secrets to China, which saw him imprisoned in Siberia for eight years.

Accused of spying for China as well as embezzlement, Val-entin Danilov was arrested in 2001, shortly after former KGB agent Vladimir Putin ascended to the presidency for the first time.

The case revived fears of the Soviet-era terror and the authorities’ paranoid hunts for traitors among academics and others with potential links to foreigners.

At the time, Danilov was director of the thermo-physics centre at Krasnoyarsk State University, and claimed his shared work with a Chinese engineering firm did not

involve any classified information.

Despite being initially cleared of the charges by a jury, Russia’s Supreme Court rejected the verdict and another court later sentenced Danilov to 13 years in prison.

Danilov, now 72, vowed to clear his name when he was released early in 2012.

In his appeal to the European court based in Stras-bourg, he said he was not allowed to cross-examine experts whose testimony helped secure his conviction, nor to present his own experts for his defence.

He also claimed potential bias on the jury, since four of the twelve members had state security clearance.

The ECHR sided with Danilov on both claims, saying the Russian court “had infringed his fair-trial rights.”

Russia was ordered to pay Danilov $25,200 in damages.

Russia sees shortage of drugs to fight virusREUTERS – MOSCOW

Russia is trying to import foreign-made drugs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic due to a shortage of products at home, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said yesterday, as authorities reported a record 569 new daily deaths from the coronavirus.

Russia has several vaccines against the virus in the works and produces some drugs domestically, including Coro-navir and Avifavir, both of which are based on favipiravir, which was developed in Japan and is widely used there as the

basis for treatment.During a meeting with

senior government officials yesterday, Murashko said there was a problem with the supply of favipiravir in some regions.

“Supply volumes of anti-clotting agents have increased. But we still see that a shortage for the network remains, and so we are working with the trade and industry ministry on additional deliveries from abroad,” he said.

New daily infection numbers, which stood at 26,402 yesterday, have been gradually decreasing since hitting a record high on November 27. Anna Popova,

head of consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said the growth of the disease was slowing.

However, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the sit-uation remained quite tense in many of Russia’s more than 80 regions.

In 17 regions, hospital bed capacity was less than 5 percent, said Murashko, with Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad and St Petersburg presenting the greatest cause for concern.

Russia has resisted imposing lockdowns during the second wave of the virus, pre-ferring targeted curbs.

Pedestrians walk near a skating rink past signs requesting to wear protective face masks and to keep a social distance amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, as heavy fog covers a square, in Stavropol, Russia, yesterday.

Hungary summonsUkraine envoyover raids on ethnic organisationREUTERS — BUDAPEST

Hungary summoned the Ukrainian ambassador and accused its neighbour of intim-idation on Monday after Ukraine’s state security service (SBU) raided offices of ethnic Hungarians, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

The two countries have repeatedly clashed in recent years over what Hungary said were curbs on the rights of around 150,000 ethnic Hun-garians living in Ukraine to use their native tongue, especially in education, after Ukraine passed a law in 2017 restricting the use of minority languages in schools.

Last month Ukraine barred entry of two Hungarian gov-ernment officials over what it called meddling in local elec-tions, an accusation Hungary denied.

The Hungarian Cultural Association in Transcarpathia said in a statement that forces of Ukraine’s security service had raided their headquarters and the home of their chairman, searching for evidence of “activ-ities aimed at violently changing the borders.” They said the house searches were related to an earlier court case.

The Association called on Ukrainian authorities to end what it called a “witch hunt.”

Szijjarto said Hungary had protested against the raids at Ukraine’s foreign ministry and added he would also raise the issue at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers.

“It is unacceptable that while a country ... wants to be part of the transatlantic com-munity, it continuously intim-idates and puts pressure on a minority belonging to a Nato member,” Szijjarto said in a video statement.

Ukraine aims for closer ties with NatoAFP — KIEV

Ukraine said yesterday it hopes to build closer ties with Nato in 2021 despite objections from Moscow and the continued conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the east.

Speaking to Nato ambas-sadors in Kiev, Defence Min-ister Andriy Taran said Ukraine hopes to be invited next year to join a Membership Action Plan, the first formal step towards

becoming a part of the Western military alliance.

“We look forward to your... support for such a decision at the next Nato Summit in 2021,” Taran said, adding that mem-bership for Ukraine and fellow ex-Soviet aspirant Georgia would have “a significant impact on Euro-Atlantic security and stability, in par-ticular in the Black Sea region”.

Ukraine’s pro-Western leadership closely cooperates

with Nato and last year par-liament adopted constitutional changes spelling out its aspira-tions to join the alliance and the European Union.

The amendments cemented Kiev’s goal of obtaining full membership in both blocs and obliged the president, gov-ernment and parliament to stick to this course.

Kiev sees Nato accession as a key way to bolster its defences against Moscow.

14 WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020AMERICAS

Armed bandits invade city in southern Brazil, loot bankAP — RIO DE JANEIRO

Dozens of criminals armed with assault rifles invaded a city in southern Brazil overnight and took control of the streets as they assaulted a local bank.

Video from residents that was broadcast on the Globo tel-evision network showed hooded men dressed in black walking the streets of Criciúma in the state of Santa Catarina, and locals being held hostage. Shots rang out across the city of some 220,000 people.

There were at least 30 crim-inals in 10 cars, Anselmo Cruz, the head of the state police’s robbery and kidnapping department, told television network Globo News. They blocked access points to the city t o p r e v e n t p o l i c e

r e i n f o r c e m e n t s f r o m responding swiftly.

“It was an unprecedented action for the state. There was never anything with this scope, this violence,” Cruz said yesterday.

The takeover began around midnight and lasted roughly two hours. Images on Globo showed a bank vault with a square-shaped hole in it and a convoy of criminals’ vehicles as they made their escape. Bills were scattered across the ground in one area of the city.

Police later located the attackers’ vehicles in a neigh-bouring municipality, Cruz said.

State-run Bank of Brazil said in an emailed statement that its branch in Criciuma will remain closed, and that it doesn’t provide information

regarding the amount of money taken.

It didn’t respond to a request for comment about

local media reports the branch was a regional treasury.

The brazen robbery resembles another that took

place in July in the city of Botucatu, in Sao Paulo state.There, around 30 armed men blew up a bank branch, took residents hostage and exchanged gunfire with police officers before making their getaway.

Criciuma’s Mayor Clésio Salvaro took to Twitter last night while the terror was still unfolding to warn locals of the “robbery of great proportions, by very well-prepared thieves.”

“As mayor of Criciúma, I ask that you stay home, don’t leave home, exercise all precaution,” Salvaro said in a video he posted just before 2 am local time.

“Tell your friends and fam-ilies. Let the police do their job.” Two injuries were reported during the robbery.

Police officers carry recovered bags with money, after a gang robbed a bank in Criciuma, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, yesterday.

Chile: Guaido rightful leader ofVenezuela despite assembly voteREUTERS — BRUSSELS

Juan Guaido will still be Vene-zuela’s legitimate head of state even if he loses his seat as head of the country’s parliament on Sunday, Chile’s foreign minister said yesterday, saying the December 6 vote for a new assembly lacked any credibility.

Opposition leader Guaido is recognised by dozens of countries, including the United States and most of the European Union (EU), as the nation’s rightful leader following the disputed 2018 re-election of President Nicolas Maduro.

But his institutional standing rests on his post as head of the national assembly, which he is almost certain to lose from January as Maduro seeks to take control of the opposition-held assembly in a vote that many countries believe will be rigged.

“We assign no legitimacy to the elections next Sunday,” Chile’s Foreign Minister Andres Allamand told reporters during a visit to Brussels, where he met EU lawmakers and diplomats.

“We continue to work under the premise that the legitimate authority that exists in Venezuela is Guaido,” said Allamand, whose country gave protection to another Vene-zuelan opposition politician, Leopoldo Lopez, in 2019 at its diplomatic residence in Caracas.

Maduro has said he is bound by Venezuela’s constitution to hold the vote on December 6, a date the EU has said is too rushed to allow for interna-tional observers and ensure it is free and fair.

Like the United States, most of Latin American and the EU want a new presidential election to reverse Venezuela’s spiral into authoritarian rule and economic collapse.

Allamand called on European, North American and Latin American governments who have led different diplo-matic initiatives to come together, denounce Sunday’s vote results and find a path to free presidential elections in Venezuela. Some 4.5 million refugees and migrants have fled Venezuela since 2015, according to official figures, but the real figure is higher, the United Nations has said.

Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon surges againAFP — SAO PAULO

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon surged again over the past year, hitting a 12-year high, according to official figures released on Monday that drew a chorus of condemnation of President Jair Bolsonaro’s government.

A total of 11,088 square kilometres (4,281 square miles) of forest was destroyed in Brazil’s share of the world’s biggest rainforest in the 12 months to August, according to the Brazilian space agency’s PRODES monitoring programme, which analyses satellite images to track deforestation.

That is equivalent to an area larger than Jamaica, and was a 9.5-percent increase from the previous year, when deforestation also hit a more than decade-long high.

“Because of such deforestation, Brazil is probably the only major greenhouse gas emitter that managed to increase its emis-sions in the year the coronavirus pandemic paralysed the global economy,” said the Brazilian Climate Observatory, a coalition of environmental groups.

Forests such as the Amazon play a vital role in controlling climate change because they suck carbon from the atmosphere.

However, when trees die or burn, they release their carbon back into the environment.

Bolsonaro, a far-right climate-change sceptic, has presided over rising

deforestation and wildfires since taking office in January 2019.

His government is pushing to open pro-tected lands to mining and agribusiness, and has slashed funding for environmental protection programmes.

Environmentalists say those policies fuel the destruction of the Amazon, about 60 percent of which is in Brazil.

“The Bolsonaro government’s vision of development for the Amazon is a throwback to the rampant deforestation of the past. It’s a regressive vision that’s far from the effort needed to deal with the climate crisis,” Greenpeace spokeswoman Cristiane

Mazzetti said in a statement. Vice President Hamilton Mourao, who

presented the figures in a press conference, defended the government’s committment to fighting deforestation.

“The message I bring in the name of President Bolsonaro is that we will con-tinue working with science and technology to support the work of environmental pro-tection agencies,” said Mourao, a retired army general who heads Bolsonaro’s Amazon task force. The latest annual defor-estation figure was the highest since 2008, when 12,911 square kilometers of forest were destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon.

An aerial view of a deforested area close to Sinop, Brazil, on August 07, 2020.

Guatemalans block roads in anti-government protestAFP — GUATEMALA CITY

Thousands of indigenous Mayans blocked a major highway in western Guatemala on Monday, the latest in a series of protests calling for the resig-nation of President Alejandro Giammattei.

The ruling party-dominated Congress was forced to withdraw a controversial business-friendly budget last week amid opposition claims it favoured private business interests over badly needed health and education funding.

The impoverished Central American country’s Congress needed “to act in accordance with the needs of the country,” Santiago Cux, one of the leaders of the protest, told a local radio station.

He said Monday’s demon-stration was supported by 83 communities in Guatemala’s western Solola department — an area with a population of around half a million — “to let the central government and the dep-uties know that the actions they have taken lately with the 2021 budget leave much to be desired.”

Shopping centres and stores in the departmental capital Solola were shut in solidarity with the protesters, he said.

Only pharmacies remained open.

Juan Carlos Aquino, spokesman for the state roads authority, said four sections of the Pan-American Highway had been blocked by indigenous groups, using rocks and heavy vehicles.

University students walk in front of a line of police guarding a bus placed by demonstrators to block a street during a protest demanding the resignation of Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei, outside the Congress in Guatemala City, on Monday.

WHO: Rising

virus trend in

Mexico ‘very

worrisome’REUTERS — GENEVA

The head of the World Health Organization said on Monday that Mexico is in “bad shape” regarding the coronavirus as infections and deaths surge, while the Mexican government forecast the pandemic would likely continue worsening until January.

Mexico’s coronavirus death tally, the fourth highest in the world, stands at almost 106,000. Confirmed cases are in excess of 1.1 million, though public health experts say the true figure is likely signifi-cantly higher.

“The number of increase in cases and deaths in Mexico is very worrisome,” WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a press briefing in Geneva. Citing the increase in the number of weekly deaths from 2,000 the week of October 12 to around 4,000 by November 23, “This shows Mexico is in bad shape,” he said. At least seven of Mexico City’s 54 public hos-pitals treating COVID-19 patients are at full occupancy for coronavirus beds with res-pirators, according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The OCHA said another 14 health centers risk being stretched, with COVID-19 bed occupancies exceeding 70%. It noted that Mexico’s Health Ministry reported 63% of all general hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in the capital are occupied.

“When both indicators, deaths and cases, increase I think this is a very serious problem and we would like to ask Mexico to be very serious,” said Tedros. Speaking later at an evening news conference, Mexico’s deputy health min-ister, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, said he had “great respect” for Tedros and that he did not have to answer him.

Brazil-Paraguay diplomacyParaguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez (third left) and his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro (centre) wave as they pose for pictures at the construction site of the international bridge linking Foz do Iguacu in Brazil and Presidente Franco in Paraguay, yesterday. Abdo Benitez and Bolsonaro met at the border to observe the progress of the construction of the international bridge over the Parana River, among addressing other bilateral issues.

Outrage in Haiti over spike in kidnappingsAFP — PORT-AU-PRINCE

Staff at multiple Haitian healthcare facilities went on strike on Monday to protest the kidnapping of an intern, part of widespread public outrage at a recent increase in abduc-tions on the island.

Hans David Telemaque was kidnapped early Saturday morning in a street near the State University of Haiti Hos-pital (HUEH), in Port-au-Prince. He was freed Sunday evening following a ransom payment of an unknown amount, local media reported.

“When you leave your home, you have doubts about whether you’re going to return. Mothers, fathers, spouses, parents... We all live in daily and constant anxiety,” said Bead Charlemagne Charlorin, an HUEH intern who joined the protests on Monday in the streets of Port-au-Prince.

In solidarity with the dem-onstration by interns at the island nation’s main hospital, multiple healthcare facilities suspended all non-urgent care activities Monday.

“Every day, at least four cases of kidnapping followed by demands for ransom are recorded. Some parents, they’re very rare, talk about it. The majority are content to pay the ransom for their child, for their relative, to get them back,” said Marie Rosy August Ducena, of the National Human Rights Network.

Furthermore, residents of the Haitian capital share an atmosphere of panic as members of the police force have been accused of being involved in acts of kidnapping. “Several victims have actually said they were approached by police officers, abducted in Haitian national police vehicles,” Ducena said.

“We believe it is up to the inspector general of the national police to intervene, investigate and punish all police officers who are involved at one level or another in the perpetration of these acts,” she said.

Juan Guaido, recognised

by several countries to

be the rightful leader,

may lose his post of

national assembly head

in December 6 polls.

15WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020 AMERICAS

Trump files lawsuit challenging Wisconsin election resultsAP — MADISON

President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit yesterday in Wisconsin seeking to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots in the state’s two most Democratic counties, a longshot attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the battleground state he lost by nearly 20,700 votes.

Trump filed the day after Democratic Governor Tony Evers and the chairwoman of the Wisconsin Elections Com-mission certified Biden as the winner of the state’s 10 Elec-toral College votes. Trump asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case directly, rather than have it start in a

lower court, and order Evers to withdraw the certification.

The state’s highest court, controlled 4-3 by conservatives, also is considering whether to hear two other lawsuits filed by conservatives seeking to inval-idate ballots cast during the presidential election.

Trump repeats many claims he made during a recount of votes in Milwaukee and Dane counties that large swaths of absentee votes were illegally cast. Local officials rejected his claims during the recount, and Trump is challenging proce-dures that have been in place for years and never been found to be illegal.

Trump is not challenging

any ballots cast in conservative counties he won.

Evers’ spokeswoman Britt Cudaback referred to comments Evers made on Monday that the election was “safe, fair, and effi-cient.” “The people of Wisconsin deserve election processes with uniform enforcement of the law, plain and simple,” Trump’s Wisconsin attorney, Jim Troupis, said in a statement. “During the recount in Dane and Milwaukee counties, we know with absolute certainty illegal ballots have unduly influ-enced the state’s election results.”

In Phoenix, a judge has scheduled a Thursday trial in Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli

Ward’s lawsuit that seeks to annul Biden’s victory in the state. A judge is letting Ward’s lawyers and experts compare the signatures on 100 mail-in ballot envelopes with signatures on file to determine whether there were any irregularities. Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ office, which cer-tified Arizona’s election results on Monday, said there was no factual basis for conducting such a review.

Trump is running out of time to have his legal cases heard. The Electoral College is scheduled to meet on December 14 and Congress is to count the votes on January 6.

Trump’s Wisconsin lawsuit

seeks to discard 170,140 absentee ballots where there was not a written application on file and all absentee ballots cast in person during the two weeks before Election Day.

People who vote in person early fill out a certification envelope in which they place their ballot and which serves as the written record. But the vast majority of absentee requests these days are made online, with a voter’s name entered into an electronic log with no paper record. Trump wants to toss 5,517 ballots where election clerks filled in missing address information on the certification envelope where the ballot is inserted.

Biden rolls out economy team, says ‘help is on the way’AP — WILMINGTON

President-elect Joe Biden yesterday introduced top advisers he says will help his administration rebuild an economy hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, declaring, "I know times are tough but I want you to know that help is on the way.”

Biden said he'd chosen a "first rate team” that is "tested and experienced" to tackle "this ongoing economic crisis.”

He picked liberal advisers who have long prioritised the nation’s workers and gov-ernment efforts to address eco-nomic inequality, as unem-ployment remains high and as the COVID-19 outbreak widens the gulf between average people and the nation’s most well off.

As he did frequently while campaigning, Biden promised that the US would eventually emerge with an economy that was dramatically remade to better stamp out economic

inequality. "From the most unequal economic and job crisis in modern history, we can build a new American economy that works for all Americans, not just some,” Biden said as he intro-duced his choices for some of the government's top economic posts during a speech at a theatre in Wilmington, Del-aware, where he has led his transition to the presidency.

Yesterday also marked Biden's first appearance since breaking two small bones in his right foot while playing with one of his dogs over the weekend.

The president-elect wore a

black walking boot and moved gingerly but tried to keep things light. As he emerged from his motorcade, Biden pointed to his boot and lifted his leg briefly to show it off. Asked about his foot by reporters, Biden responded only, "Good, thanks for asking.”

Biden repeatedly evoked his work as vice president when the Obama administration oversaw the economic recovery fol-lowing the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent Great Recession, noting that many of those on his newly-formed eco-nomic team worked closely with him then.

Most of his choices will require confirmation from the deeply divided Senate, where some top Republicans have already begun voicing oppo-sition. Biden said he hopes "that we will be able to work across the aisle in good faith, move forward as one country.”

Janet Yellen, Biden’s nominee for treasury secretary, served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018,

when she placed a greater emphasis than previous Fed chairs on maximising employment and less focus on price inflation. Biden also named Cecilia Rouse as chair of his Council of Economic Advisers, and Heather Boushey and Jared Bernstein as members

of the council.Yellen called the economic

havoc the pandemic has wrought "an American tragedy.”

"To the American people: We will be an institution that wakes up every morning thinking about you,” Yellen said "your jobs, your paychecks,

your struggles, your hopes, your dignity and your limitless potential.”

Yellen, if confirmed by the Senate, would be the first woman to serve as treasury sec-retary, after breaking ground as the first woman to chair the Fed.

US President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event to name his economic team at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, yesterday.

Special adviser to Trump on coronavirus quitsREUTERS — WASHINGTON

Dr. Scott Atlas has resigned as special adviser on the corona-virus to President Donald Trump, a White House official said on Monday, after a contro-versial four months during which he clashed repeatedly with other members of the coronavirus task force.

Voters’ unhappiness with Trump’s response to the global pandemic that has killed hun-dreds of thousands helped propel his challenger, Democrat Joe Biden, to victory in the November 3 election.

“I am writing to resign from my position as special adviser to the president of the United States,” Atlas said in a letter to Trump dated December 1 that he posted on Twitter.

Public health experts, including Anthony Fauci, the leading US infectious disease expert, have sharply criticised Atlas, a neuro-radiologist, for providing Trump with mis-leading or incorrect information on the virus pandemic.

“Dr. Scott Atlas’ resignation today is long overdue and underscores the triumph of s c i e n c e a n d

truth over falsehoods and mis-information,” his peers at Stanford University’s medical school said in a statement issued late Monday.

In September they had issued a letter denouncing his views.

“His actions have under-mined and threatened public health even as countless lives have been lost to COVID-19. We will continue to advocate for evidence-based public health policies that are grounded in established science, including the use of proven preventative measures like mask-wearing and social-distancing, and the safe testing and delivery of effective therapies and vaccines.”

In his resignation letter, Atlas, a senior fellow at Stan-ford’s Hoover Institution, listed what he considered accom-plishments in reopening schools and expanding virus testing while also defending himself against his many critics.

“Like all scientists and health policy scholars, I learned new information and synthe-sized the latest data from around the world, all in an effort to provide you with the

best information to serve the greater good,” he wrote.

Atlas was considered a special government employee on a 130-day detail that expires this week. Fox News first reported his resignation.

Atlas has repeatedly down-played the importance of masks and this month said lockdowns had been “an epic failure” in stopping the spread of the virus.

He also had to apologise this month for an interview with Russia’s Kremlin-backed tele-vision station RT, saying he was

unaware it was a registered foreign agent. Dr. Celine Grounder, a member of Biden’s advisory panel on the crisis, greeted the news of the resig-nation with relief.

“I’m relieved that in the future, people who are qual-ified, people who are infectious disease specialists and epide-miologists like me will be helping to lead this effort,” she told broadcaster CNBC.

“You wouldn’t go to a podi-atrist for a heart attack and that was essentially what was happening.”

A file photo of Dr. Scott Atlas.

An aerial view of cars lining up for COVID-19 testing at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, on Monday.

US reveals rapid rollout plan for vaccine after record surgeREUTERS — WASHINGTON

US officials yesterday unveiled details for the swift distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to millions of Americans after the United States broke records for new coronavirus infections and hospitalisations.

The rampant virus infected 4.36 million more people in November, more than doubling the previous month, as large numbers of Americans still refuse to wear masks and travel for holiday gatherings against the recommendations of health experts.

With outgoing President Donald Trump’s coronavirus strategy relying heavily on a vaccine, the chief adviser of his

administration’s Operation Warp Speed programme said yesterday that 20 million people could be vaccinated by the end of 2020, and that by the middle of 2021 most Americans will have access to highly effective vaccines.

“Within 24 hours, maybe at most 36 to 48 hours, from the approval, the vaccine can be in people’s arms,” Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline exec-utive, said at an event con-ducted by The Washington Post.

Operation Warp Speed, charged with accelerating development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, could help provide the United States with 60 million to 70 million doses per month by January.

Canada: US

border measures

to last until virus

is under control

AP — TORONTO

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday the ban on nonessential travel with the United States will not be lifted until COVID-19 is significantly more under control around the world.

Canada and the US have limited border crossings since March, extending the restric-tions each month.

“Until the virus is signifi-cantly under more control everywhere around the world, we are not going to be releasing the restrictions at the border,” Trudeau told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

“We are incredibly lucky that trade in essential goods, in agriculture products, in pharmaceuticals is flowing back and forth as it always had,” he said. “It’s just people not travelling, which I think is the important thing.” Trudeau said although President-elect Joe Biden has an “obvious” dif-ferent approach to the pan-demic than President Donald Trump, the situation in the US remains serious and it will take awhile to change that.

Trudeau has come under criticism from opposition parties for saying Canadians won’t be among the first to get a vaccine against COVID-19 because the first doses will likely go to citizens of the countries they are made in.

But Trudeau said at a news conference yesterday that Canada was among the first to pre-order Moderna’s vaccine candidate and, “We are guar-anteed some of Moderna’s first batch if the vaccine is safe and approved.”

“Already, Moderna has submitted their candidate for Health Canada review, as have Pf izer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford."

Pentagon official

overseeing

counter-IS effort

has resigned

AP — WASHINGTON

The civilian official overseeing the Pentagon’s campaign to defeat the Islamic State group in the Middle East has resigned in the latest jolt to Pentagon leadership in the waning weeks of the Trump adminis-tration.

The Pentagon said in a statement that the acting defence secretary, Christopher Miller, on Monday accepted the resignation of Christopher Maier, who had provided policy oversight of the mili-tary’s counter-IS effort since March 2017.

Maier was director of the Defeat-ISIS Task Force, which has been disbanded. Its responsibilities have been absorbed by counterterrorism staffs headed by appointees who President Donald Trump placed in senior Pentagon positions in a shakeup that included his firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper on November 9.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Maier had been forced out.

In its statement, the Pen-tagon gave no reason for Maier’s departure but said the decision to disband the task force he led was a recognition of the “success of the military fight to destroy” the Islamic State’s grip on territory in Iraq and Syria. “The Department of Defense will continue to engage with our partners and allies to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS and encourage the repatriation of foreign ter-rorist fighters for prosecution,” the Pentagon said.

Nearly 900 US troops are still in Syria to work with local groups aiming to prevent an IS resurgence. The US also has about 3,000 troops in neigh-bouring Iraq working with local security forces toward the same goal. The counter-IS campaign began during the Obama administration.

Most of his choices will

require confirmation

from the deeply divided

Senate, where some top

Republicans have

already begun voicing

opposition.

16WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2020

W ALRUWAIS : 24o → 26o W ALKHOR : 22o → 28o W DUKHAN : 23o → 25o W WAKRAH : 20o → 27o W MESAIEED : 20o → 27o W ABUSAMRA : 21o → 26o

Misty at some places at first

becomes moderate temperature

daytime and partly cloudy with

chance of scattered rain.

Minimum Maximum24oC 28oC

WEATHER TODAY

LOW TIDE 13:23 – 23:49

HIGH TIDE 06:04 – 16:25

PRAYER TIMINGSPPPPRAYRRRAAAYARA MMMMIINNNNNNNGGGGGGMMMMMMMMIIINNNNNGGGGNNNGGGIINNNNGNNNNNNN

PRAYERTIMINGS

FAJRSUNRISE

04.41 am 06.02 am

DHUHR 11.23 am

ISHA 06.15 pmMAGHRIBASR 02.23 pm

04.45 pm

Amid race for vaccine, COVID-19 origin still a mysteryAFP — PARIS While many scientists are racing to find vaccines to tame the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, other researchers are probing the past, trying to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of the virus: exactly where it came from.

The World Health Organi-zation has assembled an inter-national team of 10 scientists to trace the origins of the virus.

They will have to investigate both the suspect animals and how the first patients may have been infected.

“We want to know the origin and we will do everything to know the origin,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Monday.

But success is by no means assured. The first cases were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan a year ago, before

countries across the world began to record growing infections.

The WHO said the first cases in Wuhan are believed to date from the beginning of December.

But “where an epidemic is first detected does not neces-sarily reflect where it started”, it added in a November report.

In recent months, researchers in various countries have suggested that cases may have gone unnoticed long before December 2019, based on analysis of wastewater or blood samples.

But there is a lack of “clear evidence” to back up these claims, said Etienne Simon-Loriere, of the virology department at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.

Scientists agree that the disease has an animal origin.

“The big question is what

led it to jump into humans,” Etienne Simon-Loriere told AFP. Suspicions have fallen on bats, which are “a major res-ervoir for coronaviruses”, he adds. But there would likely have been an intermediary animal to shepherd SARS-CoV-2 into people.

The pangolin — a mammal subject to rampant regional wildlife smuggling — was iden-tified as a likely carrier early on based on genetic analysis. But the case is not settled.

WHO investigators will need to clarify this point by probing the wet market in

Wuhan, which sold live and wild animals and has been linked to many of the early cases. The team will be armed with clues we did not have at the start of the pandemic.

Simon-Loriere said they could look out for an animal with a virus receptor, a protein called ACE2, similar to the one found in humans.

It is through this receptor that the virus latches onto cells.

Some animals such as mink and ferrets have been found to have a very similar receptor to humans, while others are quite different.

Another origin theory that swirled in conspiracy rumours for months was that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was involved in the outbreak.

Against the backdrop of dip-lomatic tensions, US President Donald Trump touted the idea, claiming the virus could have

leaked from the biosafety lab.China has rejected the

accusations.While Simon-Loriere said it

was not yet possible to com-pletely rule out the idea that the virus escaped accidentally, he stressed that there was “no indi-cation it was manmade”.

“All the elements of its genome have already been observed in nature, mainly in bat coronaviruses,” he said.

WHO has warned that the process of tracing how a disease jumped from animals “is a riddle that can take years to solve”. “The introduction of a new virus to the human popu-lation is one of the greatest mysteries an epidemiologist can hope to unravel,” it said.

The goal is to “understand the mechanism and put in place measures to avoid the emer-gence of a new SARS-CoV-3, 4, etc.”, said Simon-Loriere.

Day after new US chart record, BTS granted military call-up delayAFP — SEOUL

Trailblazing South Korean boyband BTS have became the first group to have a foreign-language song enter the US Bill-board chart at number one, as parliament in Seoul cleared the way for them to delay compulsory military service.

“Life Goes On”, sung predominantly in Korean, topped the US Hot 100 in its debut week, Billboard said on Monday, the first foreign-language song to do so in the chart’s 62-year history.

More good news arrived for the seven stars when South Korea’s par-liament yesterday revised the military conscription law to give entertainers who have received a government medal for raising the national profile an extra two years to perform before enlistment.

All seven BTS members were awarded the distinction in 2018.

South Korea requires all able-bodied men to serve in uniform to defend it

against the nuclear-armed North, usually for 18 months once they turn 28.

The South remains technically at war with the North and maintains a

compulsory conscription system to defend itself against Pyongyang’s 1.2 million-strong army.

The issue had been threatening to

disrupt BTS’s progress, with their oldest member Jin, 27, previously unable to delay his service beyond the end of 2021.

BTS — or Bangtan Sonyeondan, which translates as Bulletproof Boy Scouts — have become one of the biggest acts in the world since they launched seven years ago, and made a billionaire of their managing agency’s founder.

Their latest single is also the first mainly-Korean song ever to top the chart. The band’s success marks the growing appeal of the South’s popular culture in the US, after the subtitled Korean movie “Parasite” won four Oscar awards in February, including Best Picture.

BTS’s earlier track “Dynamite” debuted atop the chart in September but it was sung entirely in English, making it radio-friendly in Anglophone coun-tries. “Dynamite” is still in the chart at number 3 and they have another five tracks in the Top 100.

A file photo of the members of South Korean K-pop band BTS.

WHO says the process of

tracing how a disease

jumped from animals 'is

a riddle that can take

years to solve'.