The visit of the Qatar's Minister of Foreign Affairs is highly appreciated, and it expresses a fraternal feeling and reflects the sym-pathy of the State of Qatar with the Leb-anese people, Wehbe said, while wishing the State of Qatar more pros-perity and stability.

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Restrictions to ease for cultural, sports activities;public transport to resume from September 1THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management yesterday announced splitting the fourth phase of lifting of COVID-19 restrictions into two phases, further announcing reopening a number of activities from September 1.

The first phase (September 1) will include reopening of all mosques in the country to perform daily and Friday prayers, provided that precau-tionary measures are followed while toilets and ablution facil-ities remain closed.

Metro and public transport services with a capacity of 30%, according to the procedures which will be announced by the Ministry of Transport and Com-munications, will be resumed from September 1.

The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management has also allowed weddings with a maximum of 40 people indoors and 80 people outdoors,

provided that precautionary measures are followed, including activating the Ehteraz

application, maintaining a dis-tance of two meters between tables with a maximum of 5

people per table, and avoiding handshakes and kisses while greeting. “Individuals holding

parties at home as well as man-agers of wedding venues are required to keep records of the contact information of all invitees,” the Committee said.

Cinemas and theaters will also be opened from September 1 with a capacity of 15%, pro-vided that precautionary measures are followed and that only people who are 18 years and above are allowed entry.

“The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management thanks both citizens and residents for their commitment to adhering to the precautionary measures to combat coronavirus, which has contributed to limiting the spread of the virus. As the State of Qatar moves on to phase four, it is important for the community to continue to follow procedures to ensure that efforts are suc-cessful and the nation can fully reopen,” the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management statement said which was posted by the Government Communications Office (GCO) on its website. �P3

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Thursday 27 August 2020

BACK TO SCHOOLThursday 27 August 2020

Cabinet allows medical servicesat private health care facilitiesQNA — DOHA

The Cabinet yesterday allowed medical services in private health care facilities and also allowed temporary home services provided by cleaning and hospitality companies.

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani chaired the Cabinet regular meeting held at its seat at the Amiri Diwan yesterday.

Following the meeting, Min-ister of Justice and Acting Min-ister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi issued the statement.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Cabinet was briefed by H E Minister of Public Health on the latest develop-ments in efforts to curb coro-navirus (COVID-19). The Cabinet affirmed the continu-ation of work with the precau-tionary measures taken to combat the pandemic.

As part of the plan to grad-ually lift the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Cabinet decided following: The annulment of the Cabinet’s decision on the suspension of medical services in private health care facilities. The

annulment of the Cabinet’s decision on the suspension of the system of temporary home services provided by cleaning and hospitality companies. These decisions shall be effective from September 1, 2020.

The Cabinet also issued an amendment in its decision regarding holding all meetings for employees and workers in the government and private sectors remotely using tech-nology means to allow meetings to be held with the attendance of no more than 15 people. This decision shall also be effective from September 1, 2020, until further notice. �P3

Teachers and administrative staff to be examined ahead of academic year THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE), in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), issued a package of precautionary measures to ensure a safe and healthy environment in all public and private schools and educational institutions.

This came as part of the MOEHE’s efforts to keep the educational process going under sound frameworks and strict health requirements. The new package reflects the Min-istry’s keenness to provide proper protection for students, teachers and administrative staff from COVID-19.

According to the package, all public school staff members will undergo medical exami-nations by the MoPH and Hamad Medical Corporation and Primary Health Care Cor-poration, before the beginning of the school year to ensure that they are free of COVID-19.

All private school staff members will be examined by private health care providers before the beginning of the school year to ensure that they are free of the virus. The pri-ority of examination will be given to teachers followed by the administrative staff.

MOEHE stresses that all schools nationwide must comply with the precautionary health measures, which were previously announced by Health and Safety Department.

The Ministry warns that anyone who willfully or negli-gently violates the preventive measures relating to epidemics and infectious diseases will be subjected to legal liability.

Under Law No. (9) of 2020, which amends some provi-sions of Decree-Law No. (17) of 1990 regarding the pre-vention of infectious diseases, the relevant punishment shall amount to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years and a fine not exceeding QR200,000, or either of the two penalties.

Lebanese FM praises Qatar's rapid response to provide aid, supportQNA — BEIRUT

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants in the Lebanese caretaker government, H E Charbel Wehbe, praised the aid provided by the State of Qatar to Lebanon to face the reper-cussions of the Beirut port explosion, while lauding, in this regard, the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to Beirut on Tuesday.

In an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) cor-respondent in Beirut, Wehbe hailed the visit of H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to Lebanon, saying that it expressed Qatar’s empathy with the Lebanese people.

H E the Lebanese Foreign Minister pointed out that he discussed with H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani the exceptional cir-cumstances that Lebanon is going through, in addition to the situation in the region, while appreciating the assistance provided by the State of Qatar to support the sectors that are most in need.

The visit of the Qatar's Min-ister of Foreign Affairs is highly appreciated, and it expresses a fraternal feeling and reflects the sympathy of the State of Qatar with the Lebanese

people, Wehbe said, while wishing the State of Qatar more prosperity and stability.

H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met in Beirut on Tuesday with Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc in the Lebanese Parliament MP H E Mohammad Raad, Head of the Change and Reform Bloc in the Lebanese Parliament H E Gebran Bassil, Head of the Pro-gressive Socialist Party H E Walid Jumblatt, Head of the Lebanese Forces Party H E Samir Geagea, Head of Kataeb Party H E Sheikh Sami Gemayel, and Head of Marada Movement H E Suleiman Frangieh, separately. �P3Ashghal enhances traffic safety for

465 schools across the countryTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has completed improving the road safety fea-tures surrounding 465 schools across the country, accounting for 88 percent of the total number of schools included in the School Zone Safety Programme.

This is in addition to ongoing works to complete the implementation of safety plans for 38 schools, as part of Ashghal readiness for the new academic year 2020-21.

Ashghal continues to

implement a comprehensive and continuous plan with inter-national standards to ensure road safety features are in place on the roads surrounding schools, thus enhancing security and safety of stu-dents, parents and educational staff.

According to a study con-ducted by the Ministry of Edu-cation and Higher Education, Ashghal has coordinated with the Ministry of Interior and the National Road Safety Com-mittee to identify school areas in need of development.

The list of schools is

assessed and revised on a monthly and annual basis, with the number of schools in need of development increasing each year. This year priority was given to approximately 533 schools spread across various areas in Qatar.

In addition to the com-pleted and ongoing safety works, design plans are in progress for 25 schools and have been completed for five additional schools, with work expected to commence as soon as necessary approvals are obtained from concerned entities in the country. �P3

One of the safety features by Ashghal surrounding a school, yesterday.

All mosques in the country reopened to perform daily and Friday prayers.

Gatherings of a maximum of 15 people indoors and 30 people outdoors allowed.

Weddings allowed with a maximum of 40 people indoors and 80 people outdoors, provided that precautionary measures are followed.

Cinemas and theaters to open with a capacity of 15%.

Children allowed to enter malls and opening of food courts in malls with a capacity of 30%.

Resumption of metro and public transport services with a capacity of 30% according to the procedures to be announced by the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Souks to operate with a 75% capacity and raising the capacity at wholesale markets to 50%.

Amir affirms Qatar's support for peace in South SudanQNA — DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held a tele-phone conversation with Pres-ident of the Republic of South Sudan, H E Lt General Salva Kiir Mayardit, yesterday evening.

During the phone call which H H the Amir made to H E the President of South Sudan, they reviewed the bilateral relations and ways of enhancing and developing them.

In this regard, H H the Amir affirmed the support of the State of Qatar for the efforts of estab-lishing peace in South Sudan, and harnessing all capabilities to guarantee the success of reaching an agreement between all parties in order to ensure sta-bility and peace. H H the Amir also praised the efforts of H E the President to consolidate peace in South Sudan.

A number of issues of mutual concern were also dis-cussed during the phone call.

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Qatar strongly condemns explosions in Afghanistan

QNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar has expressed its strong condem-nation and denunciation of the two explosions which occurred in the provinces of Balkh and Ghor in north and central of Afghanistan, and resulted in the deaths and injuries of members of the Afghan army and civilians.

In a statement issued yes-terday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the State of Qatar’s firm stance on rejecting violence and ter-rorism regardless of motives and causes.

The statement expressed the State of Qatar’s condo-lences to the families of victims and the government and people of Afghanistan, wishing the wounded a speedy recovery.

Minister briefs Cabinet on plan for strategyof the Ministry of Culture and SportsQNA — DOHA

The Minister of Culture and Sports H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali gave a presentation on the detailed plan for the strategy of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The presentation is based on the directives of Prime Min-ister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani on pro-viding the Council of Ministers with plans related to the com-petencies of ministries and other government agencies, public bodies and institutions, including all implementation programmes and projects, the specified timetable for com-pletion as well as standards and indicators for measuring per-formance progress in line with the comprehensive devel-opment vision, Qatar National Vision 2030.

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

Thani chaired the regular meeting of Cabinet held at its seat at the Amiri Diwan yesterday.

Following the meeting, Min-ister of Justice and Acting Min-ister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi issued the statement.

H E the Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior stressed the need for the strategic plans of ministries and other gov-ernment agencies, bodies and public institutions to include what Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani affirmed in his speeches before the Shura Council that strategic plans are developed not only to complete a procedure in a formal manner, but to be applicable through clear implementation plans that include specific financial budgets for pro-grammes and projects within a specific time frame and clear criteria for measuring the success of implementation and for accountability to be

accordingly. The strategy of the Ministry of Culture and Sports included some main results and objectives. The main result is an active cultural, sports and youth movement based on an authentic value system that supports society in achieving civilised progress.

The Ministry will work through this strategy to create an active cultural, sport and youth movement that forms a framework for the society to uphold its national identity, value system and culture in light of its openness to the world and its constructive inter-action with other cultures.

The first intermediate result is culture as a framework for preserving identity and pro-moting citizenship and civilised communication.

The Ministry will, within the framework of its strategy, activate the role of the cultural scene by promoting cultural production that aims to enhance major perceptions of

national identity by developing attractive cultural activities that raise the level of societal par-ticipation culturally, work to discover and sponsor cultural talents, increase cultural pro-duction that enhances identity, and organise events that con-tribute to increasing cultural communication with resident communities. Work will also be undertaken to enhance Qatar’s cultural status regionally and internationally.

The executive framework for the ministry’s strategy con-sists of 35 goals that work to achieve one main result and four intermediate results.

The number of strategic objectives for the cultural enrichment and sports excel-lence sector, which the Ministry is working to achieve, is 21 goals, of which 13 goals will be achieved 100 percent by the Ministry, while the remaining goals will be achieved in coop-eration with some partners in varying proportions.

The Cabinet approved the Cabinet draft decision amending some provisions of decision No. (14) of 2017, forming the organising com-mittee to host international and regional sporting events, and the Ministry of Culture and Sports proposal to renew the term of membership of the committee for three years.

The committee, established at the Ministry of Culture and Sports, is specialised in several specialisations, including study of the proposals of sports authorities regarding hosting international or regional cham-pionships and sporting events and giving opinion regarding them in terms of the feasibility of holding these events and their benefit to the state; coordination measures with the concerned authorities regarding hosting tournaments and sporting events that have been approved; and study the estimated budget allocated to them by the State and give an opinion on it.

QFFD helps build Mogadishu-Afgoye road in SomaliaTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Asphalt paving work has started on the Mogadishu-Afgoye road in the Federal Republic of Somalia with the support of Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD).

This project is part of the Somalia Roads Project for the construction of two roads — Mogadishu-Jawhar Road and the Mogadishu-Afgoye Road, with a length of 112km. The length of the Mogadishu-Afgoye Road is 22km.

The project will contribute to providing an ideal infra-structure in the fraternal Republic of Somalia by estab-lishing highways between the capital Mogadishu and the neighbouring cities (Afgoye,

Balad and Jawhar).It will also contribute

mainly to moving the wheel of development in Somalia by exporting agricultural mate-rials from the city of Jawhar through the port of Mogadishu, in addition to contributing to creating jobs for the Somali people through construction works, as the Somali cadres are a major factor in the project.

The Publ ic Works Authority (Ashghal) provided technical support for the Estad P r o j e c t M a n a g e m e n t Company, which is partici-pating as a project supervision consultant.

Qatar Fund for Devel-opment laid the foundation stone for the two road projects last year during a ceremony

sponsored by the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia and in the presence of Khalifa Al Kuwari, Director General of the QFFD, in addition to a high-ranking del-

egation from the Fund. The ceremony was wit-

nessed by H E Hassan bin Hamza Hashem, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Somalia and a delegation from Ashghal. The Somali Prime Minister and a number of ministers, officials and parliamentarians attended the ceremony.

This important project comes within the framework of the Qatar Fund for Devel-opment’s interest in devel-opment projects as this is a project with a long-term impact, which guarantees a lot to the residents of the region in terms of stability for peo-ple’s lives, enhancing security and facilitating their lives in reaching the requirements of daily life.

A view of asphalt paving work on the Mogadishu-Afgoye road in Somalia. The project is being implemented with the support of Qatar Fund for Development.

This project is part of the Somalia Roads Project for the construction of two roads — Mogadishu-Jawhar Road and the Mogadishu-Afgoye Road, with a length of 112km. The length of the Mogadishu-Afgoye Road is 22km.

03THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020 HOME

Minister receives credentials of German and Dutch Ambassadors

Ministries’ projects nominated for WSIS Prize 2020 ContestTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has been nominated for the prizes of the 9th contest of the World Summit on the Infor-mation Society 2020, which is organised by the International Tele-communications Union (ITU) in Geneva, Swit-zerland.

The Ministry’s project titled ‘Centralised Connectivity in the Schools Network (CCSN)’ has qualified for category 2 prizes. It enables the Ministry to have a high speed centralised, mon-itored, secure, reliable and scalable internet infrastructure for all the public schools and preschools nationwide.

Tariq Al Emadi, Director of Information Technology, delivered an introduction to the nominated project during the WSIS Prizes 2020 Awards cer-emony, which was held

yesterday.Two additional projects

submitted by Qatar have been nominated for the WSIS Prizes 2020. These include C7: Open Data Policy and Portal, sub-mitted by the Ministry of Transport and Communications and C8: Multi Languages Elec-tronic Labour Contract System, submitted by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs. There are 18 winning projects and 72 champion projects that will be recognised at the WSIS Forum 2020.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi received separately yesterday copies of the credentials of Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, H E Dr. Claudius Fischbach, and Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Qatar, H E Marjan Kamstra. H E the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs wished the new Ambassadors success in their mission, and assured them of the availability of all support to upgrade bilateral relations between their countries and the State of Qatar for closer cooperation in various fields.

244 new virus cases, 240 recoveries: MoPHTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 244 new confirmed COVID-19. According to the Ministry, among them 230 cases were from the community and 14 were travellers returning from abroad.

Another 240 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 114,558. All new cases have been introduced to isolation and are receiving necessary healthcare according to their health status.

The Ministry further said that measures to tackle COVID-19 in Qatar have suc-ceeded in flattening the curve and limiting the spread of the virus. Qatar’s proactive and extensive testing of suspected cases has enabled the Ministry to identify a high number of positive cases in the community.

Week-long drive to remove abandoned vehicles in Al Khor and Al Zakhira MunicipalityTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Joint Committee for Removing Abandoned Vehicles at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) launched yesterday the third campaign to remove abandoned vehicles at Al Khor and Al Zakhira Municipality.

Over 200 abandoned vehicles are expected to be taken from a number of places across the municipality to Umm Sala Impounding Ground during the campaign, which will last for a week. The drive aims at maintaining health and hygiene at public places following the Law No. 18 of 2017 about general hygiene by removing abandoned vehicles to protect the health of people and preserve the environment.

The third campaign was launched in the presence of a number of senior officials from the MME and members of the joint committee. Assistant Director of Mechanical Equipment Department at the MME, Marzouq Al Mesaifir who is also a member of the Joint Committee said that campaign for removing abandoned vehicle began in July this year from Industrial Area of Doha Municipality.

“So far 1,500 abandoned vehicles have been removed from the Industrial Area. Afterward, the drive was moved to Al Rayan Municipality where over 700 abandoned vehicles were removed. Since the beginning of drive in July, a total of 2,200 abandoned vehicles have been removed from aforementioned areas,” said Al Mesaifir.

He said that the intensified inspection campaign will be launched to curb the phenomena of abandoned vehicles which were spotted at most of the residential areas, industrial areas and other places.

“As per the plan, Al Daayen Munic-ipality will be next target of the cam-paign to remove the abandoned vehicles like what is going on in Doha, Al Rayan and Al Khor and Al Zakhira municipal-ities,” said Al Mesaifir.

He said that once the job is done in aforementioned municipalities, the joint committee will move to the municipalities of Al Shamal, Al Shee-haniya and finally it will reach to Al Wakra Municipality where the drive will be concluded in October.

Head of the General Monitoring Section of Doha Municipality and a

member of the joint committee Hamad Sultan Al Shahwani said that the drive will continue until the removal of all abandoned vehicles and equipment from across the country. He thanked the committee for issuing hot-line No. 33238885 so they people can inform

the committee about the abandoned vehicles.

Director of Monitoring Department at Al Khor and Zakhira Municipality Abdula Aziz Ahmad said that about 200 abandoned vehicles were spotted which are being removed under the

campaign. He said that tickets are being issued to the erring vehicles alerting the owners to remove within given period, if they fail in doing so, legal actions are being taken to take it to Umm Salal Impounding Ground.

“The owners are being given three days grace period to remove their erring vehicles if it does not hinder traffic movement otherwise the vehicle will be removed immediately,” said Ahmad.

Lieutenant Yosuf Fahad Al Ali from General Directorate of Traffic who is a member of the joint committee said that abandoned vehicles are being kept three months for owner claim after that the licensing plat of the vehicle is removed.

The Joint Committee removed from 12,000 to 15,000 abandoned vehicles in a year. About 500 vehicles are being claimed by the owners in a day after paying the fine of QR1,000 and transport charges (QR500 for light vehicle, QR800 for heavy vehicle and QR2000 for equipment). The impounding grounds for abandoned vehicles locate at Umm Sala, Al Mashaf in Al Wakra and Mesaimeer.

Officials from the Joint Committee for Removing Abandoned Vehicles while removing abandoned vehicles at a place in Al Khor and Al Zakhira Municipality, yesterday.

Cabinet allows medical services at private health care facilities

FROM PAGE 1

The Cabinet also decided the continuation of work with the Cabinet’s decision that allowed, according to the need of work, no more than 80% of the total number of employees in the government sector to resume their work at their place

of work, while the rest of the employees to work remotely from their homes or upon request, depending on the circumstances.

It also decided the contin-uation of work with the Cab-inet’s decision that allowed no more than 80% of the total number of workers in the

private sector to resume their work at their place of work, and the rest of them to work remotely from their homes.

The Cabinet also decided the continuation of adherence to the precautionary measures, including wearing masks and maintaining a safe distance.

Restrictions to ease for cultural, sports activities;public transport to resume from September 1

FROM PAGE 1

The statement added: “Based on Qatar’s public health indicators and the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection rate in the com-munity, it has been decided to split phase four into two phases.

The first phase will com-mence on September 1, and the situation will be assessed on an ongoing basis, including the re-imposing and/or lifting of some restrictions based on developments mid-Sep-tember. The second phase will commence at the beginning of the third week of September.”

The country will continue following the Council of Min-isters’ decision, which limits the capacity in workplaces to a maximum of 80% of employees in both public and private sectors while gath-erings of a maximum of 15 people indoors and 30 people outdoors have been allowed.

Playgrounds and leisure centres remain closed while local exhibitions with a capacity of 30%, according to the procedures which will be announced by the National Tourism Council, have been allowed from September 1.

The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management has announced continuing to allow personal boats and yacht rentals with a capacity of 30%, including boat

workers. Qatar’s travel policy will continue to be followed while the Ministry of Public Health will continue to update the list of low-risk countries periodically.

The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management also announced continuing the operation of driving schools with a capacity of 50% while suspension of summer camps as well as the use of sports equipment in public parks will continue.

The Committee has allowed audiences to attend sporting events with a capacity of 20% indoors and 30% outdoors, according to procedures which will be announced by the relevant authorities. It also allowed private health clinics to resume work in full capacity.

Normal working hours at malls will continue while keeping capacity to 50%.

The Committee allowed opening of food courts in malls with a capacity of 30% also allowing children to enter malls.

The Committee also allowed the increase in res-taurants capacity starting with 30%, according to the proce-dures which will be set by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

It allowed allowed souks to operate with a 75% capacity and raising the capacity at wholesale markets to 50%. It

also allowed museums and public libraries to operate in full capacity and normal hours provided that all precau-tionary measures are followed.

The statement announced continuing the work of health clubs, gyms and public swimming pools at half capacity (50%) and allowing massage and sauna services at a capacity of 30% in approved facilities, as well as opening indoor swimming pools at a capacity of 30%.

T h e C o m m i t t e e announced continuing the suspension of home beauty, barber, massage and fitness training services as well as continuity of the work of private education and training centers at a capacity of 50%.

It announced resuming cleaning and hospitality services in workplaces at a capacity of 30% as well as allowing the resumption of these services at homes.

The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management has emphasised that the evalu-ation of lifting further measures depends on the cooperation of all and the commitment to following precautionary measures, including wearing masks while outside, washing hands, maintain a safe distance, and activating the Ehteraz application.

Ashghal enhances traffic safety for 465 schools across the country

FROM PAGE 1

All schools which were included in the school zone safety plan for 2020 are in dif-f e r e n t s t a g e s o f implementation.

Engineer Hassen Al Hamadi, Head of Highways Operation & Maintenance Section, said that Ashghal gives the School Zone Safety Programme high priority, as it is one of the key elements to achieve the National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) 2013-22. It aims to ease traffic conges-tions in these areas, separate vehicles from pedestrians and improve unpaved roads to achieve higher safety levels, ensuring safe entry and exit of

students and parents from schools.

He said that the school zone safety programme works include the establishment and development of roads at the highest level of safety in the school zones by providing des-ignated car parks, building medians and small roundabouts in order to manage traffic flow in those areas.

“As part of the programme, Roads Operation and Mainte-nance Department (ROMD) at Ashghal installs a number of directional signs and provides road markings near schools to alert drivers of the speed limit set at 30 km/h,” said Al Hamadi.

Lebanese FM praises Qatar’s support

FROM PAGE 1

During the meetings, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani offered the condolences of the government and people of the State of Qatar on the victims of the explosion which took place in Beirut Port, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign Affairs was briefed on the opinions of the heads of the parties and parliamentary blocs on the various Lebanese issues. In this context, H E stressed the need to work to achieve the national unity during the next stage in order to uphold the interest of the brotherly Leb-anese people, wishing them success in forming a gov-ernment that fulfil the demands and aspirations of the people.

04 THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020HOME

Qatar’s Ambassador to Japan participates in opening ceremony of Onagawa School

QNA — TOKYO

Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Japan, H E Hassan bin Mohammed Rafi Al Emadi partic-ipated in the opening ceremony of Onagawa Elementary and Junior High School in Onagawa City, Miyagi Prefecture.

It is one of the projects funded by the Qatar Friendship Fund (QFF), which is affiliated with Qatar Fund for Devel-opment, to reconstruct the areas that witnessed widespread damage due to the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

H E the Ambassador was accompanied by the members of the embassy, Minister Plenipo-tentiary H E Abdullah bin Jassim Al Ziyara and the Second Sec-retary at the Embassy Rashid bin Mubarak Al Khater. They were received by Mayor of Onagawa

H E Yoshiaki Suda, director of the city’s education sector and a number of senior Onagawa gov-ernment officials.

The welcome speeches were made in which the participants from the Japanese side expressed their thanks and appreciation for the role of the State of Qatar in supporting reconstruction efforts in the affected areas.

H E the Mayor of Onagawa appreciated the initiative of Qatar to stand with the Japanese people during the crisis and the kind humanitarian gesture of contrib-uting to the reconstruction efforts in the areas affected by disasters. He said that these areas are grad-ually returning to normalcy, thanks to the contributions and achievements of Qatar Friendship Fund.

The school is of great impor-tance to the residents of

Onagawa and the surrounding areas as 90 percent of the schools were destroyed by dis-asters and many of them have not been rebuilt, he added.

He pointed out that the school is a good model for the reconstruction process and will contribute positively to create an effective and constructive society in these areas.

He said that the Onagawa school will have a good return in

terms of consolidating the strong partnership between Qatar and Onagawa, stressing that it will be keen to activate communication channels between students in Qatar and Onagawa to raise gen-erations that work in bridging communication, cooperation and understanding between Japan and Qatar in the future.

For its part, Qatar’s embassy provided gifts, including sta-tionery, school supplies and

souvenirs to all 300 students of the school.

Qatar Friendship Fund in Japan contributed with a fund of $10m to the school project. It was built with advanced technologies as a pioneering institution working to provide a high-quality educational environment.

The school has a special wing for Qatar, which includes posters and brochures introducing Qatari heritage and culture.

Ambassador of Qatar to Japan, H E Hassan bin Mohammed Rafi Al Emadi; Minister Plenipotentiary H E Abdullah bin Jassim Al Ziyara, and Mayor of Onagawa H E Yoshiaki Suda during the opening ceremony of Onagawa Elementary and Junior High School in Onagawa City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.

Qatar Toastmasters Club hosts public speaking meeting remotelyTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Toastmasters club, the largest public speaking club in Qatar, collaborated with Petra Toastmasters and Commercial Bank Toastmasters clubs to host a special online meeting for over 50 professionals from different backgrounds and experience who thrived to share their communication, interper-sonal skill through prepared, impromptu speeches and received constructive feedback

during the evaluation session.The presidents of the three

clubs, TM Senthil Kumar, TM Anas Zyoud and TM Abdulla Al Fadli expressed their joy to have successfully grouped the members of the three clubs in one meeting and showing good examples of leadership.

Commenting on his journey in toastmasters for more than 12 years and a past president of Qatar Toastmasters club, Wil-liams Antony, DTM said: “Toast-masters have been an amazing

experience. Being a Toast-master is investing in oneself and one’s best possible future. It is a place where you will gain confidence, shed fear, make friends, continuously encourage and be encouraged.”

The theme of the meeting was ‘Area 14 Airways’ in ref-erence to Area 14 which hosts the three clubs under its wings. Members of the three clubs shared the hosting of the meeting by having each section lead by a member of each club.

TM Shareef, Qatar Toast-masters Club, was the Toast-master of the Day and he ener-gised the meeting with his aspiring introduction and the shared knowledge on how to become a professional speaker.

The prepared speeches session was full of inspiring speeches that were profes-sionally delivered by TM Athira Sasidharan, TM Sondos Salih and TM Mahmoud Alami. TM Sondos Salih‘s speech titled ‘Vive Sin Miedo’ was

voted, by the three club members, as the best speech of the meeting.

Members and guests of the meeting had the chance to practise their public speaking skills by participating in the impromptu speech session called ‘Table Topics’, headed by TM Abdulla Al Fadli who asked intriguing questions to the participants. TM Sandeep Wagle was named as the best table topics speaker of the meeting.

MES students shine at INDIQA online quiz competition

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Soubiksha Rajesh and Amina Shahal of MES Indian School won the first and the second places respectively at the ‘INDIQA’ online quiz compe-tition organised on August 15 in connection with the 74th Independence Day Celebra-tions of India in Qatar.

The participants had the rapid-fire session of the com-petition in which they had to answer 30 questions in two minutes.

Soubiksha Rajesh and Amina Shahal secured the first and the second places respec-tively in the open category of the quiz competition.

The Principal of MES Indian School, Hameeda Kadar congratulated the winners for t h e i r o u t s t a n d i n g achievements.

Amina Shahal

Soubiksha Rajesh

H E the Mayor of Onagawa appreciated the initiative of Qatar to stand with the Japanese people during the crisis and the kind humanitarian gesture of contributing to the reconstruction efforts in the areas affected by disasters. He said that these areas are gradually returning to normalcy, thanks to the contributions and achievements of Qatar Friendship Fund.

05THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020 HOME

QNL to hold inspiring online lectures in SeptemberTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar National Library (QNL) has curated a diverse catalog of online events in September for researchers, science enthu-siasts, budding public speakers, creative writers and inquisitive young minds.

On September 7, partici-pants can start their sustaina-bility journey. To bepresented by the Doha Environmental Actions Project, this session will allow participants to learn about how plastic pollution affects marine life in Qatar, as well as some of the simple changes they can make in their lives to help ease the problem.

On September 8, take part in the fifth session of the Pro-ductive Researcher series. Part of the Postgraduate Peer Support Network Program, these lectures are aimed at encouraging researchers in Qatar through peer-learning with leading academics from around the world. Interact with these experts to find out more about the habits and thinking processes that make them so successful in their field. The sixth session of the series will take place on September 22.

On September 12, join the Library’s experts in public speaking to learn how to

present achievements and suc-cesses in a team or interview with supreme confidence. Their tips will help participants become assured public speakers in next to no time.

On September 13, learn more about how the trafficking and smuggling of heritage items from libraries and archives are on the rise globally. In the MENA and West and Central Africa regions, this phe-nomenon is bigger due to the greater prevalence of conflict and insecurity. The guest speaker will be Dr. Alsharqi Dahmali, a member of the Advisory Council of the Inter-national Council of Museums in Morocco.

While, on September 18, the Science Book Forum returns with “What the Moon is Really Made Of.” NASA scientist Dr. Essam Heggy will discuss his team’s latest discovery that the subsurface of the Moon might be richer in metals like iron and titanium than researchers

previously thought. This finding could help paint a clearer picture than ever before of the relationship between Earth and the Moon.

On September 20, join the Library for “Readings in Qatar National Library’s Manuscript Collection: Prominent Copies of Hanafi Fiqh.” This is the fourth in a series of lectures and talks providing readings of rare historical works from the Her-itage Library’s collection of manuscripts.

On September 30, parents, caregivers and educators are invited to “Visual Aids for Children with Autism.” Visual supports are non-verbal ways for children with an autism spectrum disorder to commu-nicate their needs and make sense of the world around them. This online training session will introduce the dif-ferent types of visual schedules and the importance of using these schedules, as well as ways to use them effectively at home.

QRCS, OCHA support life-saving therapeutic nutrition in SyriaTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

With funding from United Nations Office for the Coordi-nation of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has commenced the execution phase of a project to support life-saving thera-peutic and preventive nutrition services in Syria.

In the preliminary phase, the staff were hired and trained, and the target centres were rehabilitated. The project is coordinated with the local authorities and humanitarian organisations operating in the target areas.

A total of 127,000 persons will benefit from this project, which covers 15 towns and 24 camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northwestern Syria. Those include 16,000 pregnant women and 27,000 young girls and boys.

The purpose of the project is to save lives and reduce health problems and mortality rates among young children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers from the most vul-nerable groups in the northern part of the country, whether the IDPs or host communities.

It involves screening for mild, moderate, and severe malnutrition, providing

micronutrients and nutritional supplements, referring the cases to specialized centers for treatment, and promoting public awareness about feeding newborns and young kids in emergency and other related topics.

To offer nutritional services, there will be seven centers and two rapid response teams comprising 34 health

workers. This will ensure a broader outreach to the most affected populations of remote and priority areas.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, some adjustments were made to the nutritional programmes to minimise the risks of infection while ensuring continuous pro-vision of life-saving nutri-tional services.

Representatives of QRCS conducting a medial test on a child under a project to support life-saving therapeutic and preventive nutrition services, in Syria.

NU-Q opens new academic year with largest class to dateTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Northwestern University Qatar’s (NU-Q) largest class to-date was officially welcomed to the school by its dean, the president of the student union, and the dean of NU-Q’s School of Communi-cation.

In welcoming the new class, Dean Marwan M Kraidy told them that Northwestern Qatar is ‘a magical space of encounter, a special community sitting in Doha, at the confluence of con-tinents,’ where their creativity can flourish, and their talent will be met with support and opportunity.

With the students beginning their university career during a global pandemic, Kraidy assured the students that “every crisis carries within it the seeds of renewal, that the human spirit always overcomes adversity,” encouraging them to seize this opportunity at Northwestern Qatar for personal and profes-sional growth, keeping their curi-osity alive as they navigate the next four years as undergraduates.

Throughout his address, Kraidy recalled turning points in his life where he, like the incoming class, had to embrace uncertainty. For Kraidy, it was the Lebanese civil war in 1989. “As the war raged on, I attended classes when I could, wrote papers, spent time with family and friends, and hid in shelters when it rained fire. When things got better, I was ready to reap the harvest I had sown,” he said,

reminding the class to use their time wisely, to find their strengths and hone new skills.

A similar message was delivered by Hamad Alfayhani, president of Northwestern Qatar’s Student Union, who reflected on his personal growth and encouraged the students to embrace the changes around them, “to adapt and find new ways to be able to get ourselves back on track.”

Also drawing from his life experiences, speaker E Patrick Johnson, dean of Northwestern’s School of Communication, shared life skills and values that shaped his upbringing and career.

Johnson, who is a renowned

scholar of ethnography and com-munication, recalled an incident from his childhood when he was racially discriminated against by his teacher who called him a “coloured boy.” Turning to his mother for answers, Johnson said he came to understand his teacher’s remarks and that he needed to learn to rise above them and not be defined by them.

In learning how to do this, Johnson said, he learned how to listen – whether it was to his mother’s advice, or to people he interviewed when researching, for Johnson, listening was key.

“Listening,” he said, “includes asking questions, which provokes authentic exchanges and deepens relationships.”

16 QU alumni join MoPH volunteer programme to fight COVID-19THE PENINSULA — DOHA

As part of social responsibility of the College of Health Sciences (CHS) in Qatar University, 16 public health graduates volun-teered at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) through the National Volunteering Campaign initiated by MoPH to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health volun-teers joined the Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control Division at MoPH.

During the first two months of the pandemic, public health volunteers supported the team at the ministry in tracking the implementation of some epi-demic measures, assessing public needs, and developing awareness plans.

They enhanced public awareness by organising booths in public places and working at the call centre at MoPH to

respond to public concerns. They also helped in collecting data about patients in quar-antine, and assessing workers’ needs in different settings to plan for distant awareness sessions.

Regarding how important this experience for the public health graduates and for the college, Dr. Hanan Abdul Rahim, the Dean of CHS, said: “Volun-teering with MoPH has been a tremendous opportunity for

graduates of the Public Health programme to witness up close the tremendous efforts on all fronts, including disease sur-veillance and community health education, as well as to put into practice what they have been learning in their academic lives. We are very grateful to the col-leagues at the Ministry of Public Health for their efforts in men-toring the graduates.”

Regarding her volunteering experience, one of the

volunteers said: “As public health graduates we believe that it is a moral duty and profes-sional responsibility to support the team at the ministry in fighting the COVID-19 pan-demic in Qatar. We volunteered at the MoPH and quickly made valuable contribution and became part of a dynamic team. This opportunity enabled us to utilize our health education knowledge and expertise. Our participation was extremely

valuable; we have gained hands-on and practical expe-rience and enhanced our capa-bilities to be better public health educators.”

Public health volunteers are working at the MoPH in morning and evening shifts to support tackling COVID-19 in Qatar. Currently, they are sup-porting the team at the MoPH in case investigation, contact tracing, data entry and analysis.

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To be presented by the Doha Environmental Actions Project, the first session, which will be held on September 7, will allow participants to learn about how plastic pollution affects marine life in Qatar.

Some of the QU alumni who volunteered at MoPH to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

06 THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020MIDDLE EAST

UN blocks US bid to reimpose Iran sanctionsAFP — UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations blocked a controversial bid by the US to reimpose international sanctions on Iran, with the Security Council saying it could not proceed with the disputed move.

The presidency of the Council, assumed in August by Indonesia, is “not in a position to take further action” on Washing-ton’s request, said Indonesian ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani. In a video conference on the Middle East, he cited the lack of consensus in the UN’s highest body on the US strategy as the main reason.

The Trump administration accuses Tehran of failing to comply with the terms of the his-toric 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and is demanding the Security Council reimpose sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Washington insists on its legal right to trigger the disputed procedure, called “snapback” — despite pulling out of the deal two years ago.

Thirteen of the 15 Council members had written to the Indonesian presidency to reject its validity.

The US “is alone” in their approach, and “their ultimate goal is to destroy the nuclear agreement when they have already imposed (national) sanc-tions on Iran,” one diplomat said.

Macron to return to Beirut to press for reformAFP — PARIS

President Emmanuel Macron, the first world leader to visit Lebanon after the devastating Beirut port blast, will return there next week to press for reform and reconstruction.

Macron will depart on Monday for a full day of meetings Tuesday in a bid to boost the reconstruction effort but also looking at political issues as Lebanon searches for a new government, the French presidency said.

Macron visited Beirut on August 6, two days after a massive explosion at the port killed 181 people and wounded thousands.

On August 9, he chaired a video conference that saw world leaders pledge more than $295m for Lebanon.

But he has made it clear that the country needs political reform as well as financial help, a message that has struck a chord with many Lebanese tired of decades of rule by the same political dynasties.

The need for profound change meant “it is the time of

responsibility for Lebanon today and its leaders” who required “a new pact with the Lebanese people in the coming weeks”, Macron said in Beirut on August 6.

Premier Hassan Diab’s Cabinet has resigned over the blast, which was blamed on a store of ammonium nitrate left for years in a port warehouse despite warnings.

But in a pattern all-too-familiar to the Lebanese, the country today appears no closer to forming a new government.

France has repeatedly indi-cated that aid is not a blank cheque and Lebanon must deal with its political and economic problems that led to crisis even before the blast.

“The catastrophe should not be used as a pretext to obscure the reality that existed before of a country that is on the brink of the abyss... and which cannot reform itself,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said this week.

“We want the Lebanese authorities to take the necessary leap for a government tasked

with starting the essential reforms,” he said, adding it was “not for us to replace the Leb-anese government, it is up to the Lebanese to assume their responsibilities.”

Lebanon was under French mandate from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of World War I until its independence in November 1943.

Members of the French military holding boxes during a joint effort to clear the rubble from port of Beirut following the explosion, as part of a tour organised for media and journalists in Beirut, yesterday.

Iran allows UN access to 2 nuclear sitesAFP — TEHRAN

Iran agreed yesterday to allow a UN watchdog the access it has requested to two alleged nuclear sites, as the head of the agency ended his first visit to Tehran.

The announcement came only hours after Iran’s arch foe the United States suffered a humiliating defeat when the United Nations blocked its con-troversial bid to reimpose inter-national sanctions on the Islamic republic.

Iran agreed yesterday to grant the International Atomic Energy Agency the access it has sought to two sites that were suspected of having hosted undeclared activity in the early 2000s.

“Iran is voluntarily pro-viding the IAEA with access to the two locations specified by the IAEA,” the two sides said in a joint statement, adding they had agreed on dates for the access and the verification activities there.

The announcement came at the end of IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi’s first visit to Iran since the Argentine took the post last year.

In their statement, the two sides said the agreement fol-lowed “intensive bilateral con-sultations” and that the IAEA had no further access requests.

“Based on analysis of available information to the

IAEA, the IAEA does not have further questions to Iran and further requests for access to locations,” they said.

“Both sides recognise the independence, impartiality and professionalism of the IAEA continue to be essential in the fulfilment of its verification activities,” they added.

The IAEA’s board of gov-ernors had passed a resolution in late June put forward by Britain, France and Germany, urging Tehran to provide inspectors access to the two dis-puted sites.

Grossi met with Iran’s Pres-ident Hassan Rouhani yesterday before wrapping up his visit.

“Iran, like before, is ready to closely cooperate with the agency in the framework of safeguards,” Rouhani said, according to the government’s official website.

He called the agreement “favourable” and said it can help “finally settle issues”.

Rouhani also called on Grossi to consider that Iran has “sworn enemies” with nuclear weapons who do not cooperate with the IAEA and are “always seeking to cause issues” for Tehran.

The IAEA monitors Iran’s nuclear activities as part of the 2015 nuclear agreement between the Islamic republic

and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany.

Since the US pullout, the remaining participants to the deal have been struggling to save it.

Access to the two disputed sites had been blocked for months, prompting a diplomatic row.

According to the spokesman for Iran’s nuclear body, one of

the two is located in central Iran between Isfahan and Yazd provinces, and the other is close to Tehran.

Iran had argued that the IAEA’s access requests are based on allegations from Israel and have no legal basis.

After meeting Grossi, head of Iran’s atomic agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, said a “new chapter” had started in relations between the country and the agency.

Iran President Hassan Rouhani (right) meets Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Tehran, yesterday.

President Hassan Rouhani and Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a joint statement that: “Based on analysis of available information to the IAEA, the IAEA does not have further questions to Iran and further requests for access to locations.”

Israel strikes Hezbollah posts in Lebanon after firing at troopsREUTERS — TEL AVIV

The Israeli military struck what it said were posts belonging to Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah movement yesterday morning after shots were fired from the other side of the border towards its troops.

After a meeting, Lebanon’s Supreme Defence Council denounced the incident which it called “an Israeli assault” and said a complaint would be filed to the United Nations.

Tension has been running high on the border. Last month, Israel said Iran-backed Hez-bollah had carried out an infil-tration attempt, which the group denied.

The Israeli military said no troops were wounded in the firing yesterday. Soldiers deployed illumination flares, smoke shells and live fire after the shots from the Lebanese side of the frontier, it said.

“In response, overnight, IDF attack helicopters and aircraft struck observation posts belonging to the Hezbollah

terror organisation in the border area,” the military said in a statement, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. The two sides last fought a deadly month-long war in 2006.

Witnesses in south Lebanon said Israel had fired scores of flare munitions at border villages.

The statement from the Lebanon’s defence council, which includes the president and top security officials, made no mention of any shots fired from the south towards Israel.

It said Lebanon’s army commander had briefed the council on “the denounced Israeli assault which took place last night at the southern border.”

“Israel views with great gravity Hezbollah’s firing at our forces,” Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu said in a statement yesterday morning. “We will respond mightily to any attack on us.”

COVID-19 claims 72 more lives in Iraq, 2 in KuwaitANATOLIA — ANKARA

Iraq, a country that has imple-mented strict measures to contain the spread of the new novel coronavirus (COVID-19), continues to struggle with the outbreak.

The Middle Eastern state confirmed 3,837 new infections, and 72 virus-linked fatalities in the past 24 hours.

The new figures brought its total infections to 215,784, including 6,668 deaths and 157,215 recoveries.

Other Arab countries also reported new numbers.

In the United Arab Emirates, one more fatality was reported besides 399 infections.

Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry registered two fatalities and 698 fresh cases over the past 24 hours.

The Gulf state’s figures now stand at 82,271 confirmed cases, including 521 deaths, and 73,906 recoveries.

Since originating in China last December, the pandemic has claimed over 820,200 lives in 188 countries and regions.

More than 23.93 million cases have been reported worldwide, while over 15.6 million patients have recovered so far, according to figures com-piled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

Armed men abduct six, injureothers in Libya rally: AmnestyAFP — TUNIS

At least six peaceful protesters were abducted and others were wounded in Libya’s capital after armed men used live fire to disperse a demon-stration, Amnesty International said yesterday.

“At least six peaceful protesters were abducted and several others were wounded after armed men fired live ammunition including from heavy machine-guns to disperse a demon-stration in Tripoli” on Sunday, the rights group said in a statement.

The demonstration was one of several to take place in Libya that day, including others in Misrata and al-Zawyia, against poor public services and living conditions.

Amnesty said that the attack took place in a district controlled by a militia aligned to Tripoli’s UN-recog-nised Government of National Accord (GNA), and that witness testimony gave “strong indications” that the militia was responsible.

The attack was carried out by “unidentified armed men wearing mil-itary-style camouflage clothes (who) opened fire,” Amnesty said, citing video evidence, photos and witnesses.

Witnesses said that no warning was given before the live rounds were fired.

“Videos also show assailants using a heavy machine-gun mounted on a pick-up truck to fire live rounds into the air to disperse the protesters,” the rights group said.

The GNA’s Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha had called those respon-sible for Sunday’s violence “outlaws who infiltrated the security forces”.

The UN mission in Libya, UNSMIL, had on Monday called for an “imme-diate and thorough investigation into the excessive use of force by pro-GNA security personnel” the previous day.

GNA leader Fayez Al Sarraj was heading a security meeting on “the clashes” in the capital with a view to determining “all aspects” of the situ-ation and to ensure citizens’ security, his administration said on its Facebook page yesterday.

Further protests took place in the capital on Monday and Tuesday, but the GNA ordered a four-day lockdown yesterday starting from 6:00pm local time to forestall a fourth consecutive day of protests.

Sarraj on Monday backed Libyans’ “legitimate right” to protest and announced a cabinet reshuffle, in a bid to appease protesters. But he also said the protesters had failed to secure necessary approvals.

Amnesty said there was no evi-dence to support GNA claims that armed “infiltrators” had been present at the protests.

Libya has endured almost a decade of violent chaos since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed veteran dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The country’s main military fault-line is between forces that back the GNA and eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar, who runs a rival administration.

07THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Mali protest coalition offers to work with juntaAFP — KATI

A Malian protest coalition that had campaigned against former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said yesterday it was willing to work with the junta which ousted him in a process to restore civilian rule.

The new military rulers for-mally received the leaders of the June 5 Movement, known as the known as the M5-RPF, for the first time since seizing control of the crisis-hit country in a largely bloodless coup on August 18.

“We are willing to work with this process, we came here to exchange views and to reaffirm that we have the same positions” as the military, said Issa Kaou Djim, a leading figure in the protest movement.

“We have been reassured (by the fact) that these troops are soldiers, great intellectuals. Mali, across the entire spectrum, is in a drive to bring everyone together,” he said.

Keita, 75, was forced out by young army officers who led a mutiny at a military base at Kati, 15km from Bamako.

They headed into the capital

where they detained the pres-ident, along with Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other leaders.

The putsch — the second in eight years — has once more placed the spotlight on one of Africa’s most unstable coun-tries, which is battling a jihadist revolt and economic slump.

The coup leaders were cheered by a large rally on Friday organised by the June 5 Movement, although they have been condemned by the coun-try’s neighbours, the United States, African Union, the UN and European Union, with Brussels saying Wednesday it was suspending its programme of army and police training in Mali.

Named after the day and month that it was launched, the June 5 Movement comprises a diverse association of grassroots groups, political parties and religious figures cemented by the demand for Keita’s resignation.

Following the roughly hour-long talks, the protest leaders were keen to present them-selves as joint partners in forging a “new Mali”.

“We told the junta that it would be useful to have sub-stantive discussions afterwards. They agree, and they said they will consult the people,” said Modibe Kone.

The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Sat-urday, attended by the junta’s leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, who did not take part yesterday, according to people at the talks.

Within hours of the coup, the junta, which calls itself the National Committee for the Sal-vation of the People, promised to enact a political transition and stage elections within a “reasonable time”.

A mediation mission by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) failed

to reach a deal on the details of the transition, but said the junta had vowed to return the country to civilian rule within less than a year.

ECOWAS is due to hold a summit on Friday to decide whether to maintain sanctions imposed after the coup, including a ban on travel and

trade with Mali which threatens to deepen the country’s social and economic troubles.

Keita was elected in 2013 as a unifying figure in a fractured country and was returned in 2018 for a second five-year term.

But his popularity nosedived as he failed to brake a bloody

jihadist campaign that has claimed thousands of lives and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes, and to reverse the country’s downward economic spiral.

Despite international oppo-sition to the coup, analysts say Keita’s return to power is now highly unlikely.

Kaou Djim, spokesperson for the strategic committee of M5-RFP, speaks to the press after a meeting with CNSP (National Committee for the Salvation of the People) leaders at the CNSP headquarters on the military base, in Kati, outside of Bamako, yesterday.

Members of Yemen’s southern separatist forces gather in front of a base of the Saudi-led military coalition, on the outskirts of southern port city of Aden, yesterday.

Yemen separatists withdraw from peace talksAFP — ADEN

Yemen’s southern separatists said yesterday they had with-drawn from talks over a Saudi-sponsored power-sharing deal with the internationally recog-nised government, in the latest setback for the troubled process.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) said in a statement that it had sent a letter to the Saudi authorities confirming “the suspension of its participation in the ongoing consultations to implement the agreement”.

The Riyadh Agreement which was struck late last year was designed to mend a rift between allies in the war against Houthi rebels who have seized much of Yemen’s north.

It sought to quell the “civil war within a civil war” and was hailed as a possible stepping stone towards ending

the wider conflict.But the on-again, off-again

process saw the STC proclaim self-governance in the south in April, only to abandon that stance last month and pledge to implement the stalled peace deal.

The separatists said yes-terday that their decision to pull out of the talks was due to ongoing military escalation in the flashpoint province of Abyan, and the rupture of an agreed ceasefire.

They also complained about the failure to pay public sector salaries, and a collapse of services in the south — a bugbear that helped trigger the declaration of self-rule in April.

The STC’s Vice-President Hani Ben Brik said in a tweet that the separatists were com-mitted to the original agreement but that their move was aimed at pushing for a full

commitment to the deal.There was no immediate

reaction from the Saudi government.

The breakdown between the STC and the government has complicated the long and separate conflict between the Saudi-led military coalition and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels who control the capital Sana’a.

The separatists said they came back to the Riyadh Agreement in late July under pressure from United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which had proposed a plan to “accelerate” the power-sharing process.

The plan called for the Yemeni prime minister to form a new government within 30 days, as well as the appointment of a new governor and security director for the second city Aden, where the government is now based.

Airstrike kills six Al Shababextremists in Somalia: USAP — JOHANNESBURG

The US military says it killed six Al Shabab extremists with an airstrike in Somalia after the Al Qaida-linked group attacked Somali forces while US forces were nearby.

The US Africa Command statement said Monday’s air-strike was carried out near Dar-asalam village in southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region after Al Shabab fighters attacked from a building in the area. The statement said three Al Shabab fighters were wounded.

No US forces were killed or wounded, the statement said,

dismissing an Al Shabab claim of US casualties. Somalia’s gov-ernment in a separate statement said the US forces were there to advise and assist local ones.

Al Shabab remains the most active extremist group in Africa, and the US under President Donald Trump has increased the number of airstrikes against it. The US Africa Command calls the group a “danger to Africa and the United States.”

In January, Al Shabab killed a US service member and two US contractors in an attack on a military airstrip in neigh-bouring Kenya.

“We are willing to work with this process, we came here to exchange views and to reaffirm that we have the same positions” as the military, said Issa Kaou Djim.

14 dolphins die in Mauritius near Japanese ship’s oil spillAP — JOHANNESBURG

At least 14 dead dolphins have washed up on the coast of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, where a Japanese ship ran aground last month and spilled more than 1,000 tons of fuel, environmental groups and experts said yesterday.

Other dolphins stranded on shore and appeared seriously ill, environmental consultant Sunil Dowarkasing said.

“This is a terrible day. We are seeing these dolphins swim up to the shore in distress and then die,” said Dowarkasing, a former member of parliament. “We have never seen deaths of these very intelligent marine mammals like this. Never.”

More dolphins may have died out at sea and tests will be done to determine the cause of death of those found on shore, he said.

“I think there are two pos-sibilities: Either they died from tons of fuel spilled in the sea, or they were poisoned by the toxic materials on the bow of the ship that was sunk off-shore,” Dowarkasing told AP.

“We’ve been worried about this. The oil spill and sinking of

the bow are ruining what had been the best-preserved area of our island,” he said.

The Japanese bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef near the eastern coast of Mauritius on July 25. Pounded by the surf for days, the ship’s hull cracked and on August 6 it began leaking fuel into the waters of the Mahe-bourg Lagoon, fouling a pro-tected wetlands area, man-groves and a small island that was a bird and wildlife sanctuary.

The ship’s captain and first officer have been charged with “endangering safe navigation.” It’s not yet clear why the ship strayed miles off course.

The environmental group Greenpeace has called for an investigation.

“This is a deeply sad and alarming day for the people of Mauritius and for its singular biodiversity,” said Happy Khambule, Greenpeace Africa’s senior climate and energy cam-paign manager. The long-term impacts of the oil spill will likely affect whales, turtles, seabirds and much of the marine life in the area, Green-peace warned.

A boy touches the carcass of melon-headed whale at the beach in Grand Sable, Mauritius, yesterday.

44,000 people in Africa officially missing: ICRCANATOLIA — ANKARA

Some 44,000 people in Africa — 45 percent of them children — are recorded as missing by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), while COVID-19 restrictions create new challenges in finding them, an ICRC report said yesterday.

“This caseload is a drop in the ocean to the true scale of people whose family members are searching for them,” Sophie Marsac, the ICRC regional advisor for the missing and their families in Africa, was quoted as saying in the report.

“Conflict, violence, migration and climate shocks have not stopped separating families in the

pandemic, but our work to find missing people has become even harder,” she added.

Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia, Libya, South Sudan, the Dem-ocratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon “make up 82 percent of ICRC’s missing caseload in Africa,” the report said.

Nigeria, meanwhile, with roughly 23,000 recorded missing people, said the report, “is ICRC’s largest caseload of

missing people in the continent, driven almost entirely by the conflict in the northeast of the country,” by Boko Haram terrorists.

“Dear son Konyi, if you are still alive and listening to me, your sisters, brothers, aunties, and the whole family are waiting for you. We just want to hear your voice and see you,” the report quoted Juma Kedai Korok, 52, whose son, 31, was abducted

four years ago by an armed group in South Sudan, as saying.

As the report was issued ahead of August 30, Interna-tional Day of the Disappeared, Marsac stressed that the day “should remind us that an untold number of families in Africa are searching for a loved one, many of them parents looking for a child.”

The ICRC called on African authorities “to acknowledge the tragedy of missing people” and “do everything in their power to prevent people from going missing … to search for those who are missing, and to provide information to families on the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones,” said the report.

“Conflict, violence, migration and climate shocks have not stopped separating families in the pandemic, but our work to find missing people has become even harder,” said Sophie Marsac, ICRC regional advisor.

UNHCR condemns killing, suicide in Kenya refugee camp

ANATOLIA — ANKARA

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) yesterday expressed sadness over a killing, and suicide in one of Kenya’s refugee camps.

“The UN Refugee Agency is deeply saddened by the recent tragic loss of two refugee lives in two separate incidents in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya,” it said in a statement.

A refugee was killed and another one wounded during a burglary incident in Kakuma refugee camp 1, block 5, according to the UN agency.

“We are also deeply dis-heartened by the apparent suicide of an asylum-seeker who took his own life a few days after his arrival in the camp on 18 August,” the UNHCR said.

The deceased person, it said, was under mandatory coronavirus quarantine in the Kakuma Reception Centre.

“He was being closely fol-lowed by our medical partners, including a psychiatric nurse, as he was withdrawn, appeared disoriented and had refused to eat. He was placed under surveillance but managed to leave the center late Saturday night, 22 August.”

His body was discovered on August 24 in a wooded area adjacent to the reception center, according to the organisation.

The Kakuma refugee camp is located in the northwestern region of Kenya. It was estab-lished in 1992 following the arrival of the “Lost Boys of Sudan.”

During that year, large groups of Ethiopian refugees fled their country after the fall of the Ethiopian government.

Somalia had also experi-enced high insecurity and civil strife causing people to flee.

Lack of sleep may weaken the body’s ability to fight disease. When we do not get enough sleep, our bodies produce fewer cytokines - a type of protein that targets infection and inflammation, creating a vital immune response to effectively fight any virus!

08 THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMAN

DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

ALL public, private schools and other higher educational institutes are set to open from September 1 after a long break of summer vacations and COVID-19 related restrictions.

Like the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ministry of Public Health; the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has also finalized all preparations to facilitate back-to-school activity.

Along executing a number of mega development and beautification projects in the country, the Public Works Authority has also completed improving the road safety features surrounding 465 schools across the country, accounting for 88 percent of the total number of schools included in the School Zone Safety Programme.

This is in addition to ongoing works to complete the implementation of safety plans for 38 schools, as part of Ashghal readiness for the new academic year 2020-21.

The School Zone Safety Programme works include the establishment and development of roads at the highest level of safety in the school zones by providing designated car parks, building medians and small round-abouts in order to manage traffic flow in these areas.

Ashghal continues to implement a comprehensive and continuous plan with international standards to ensure road safety features are in place on the roads surrounding schools, thus enhancing security and safety of students, parents and educational staff.

According to a study conducted by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ashghal has coordinated with the Ministry of Interior and the National Road Safety Committee to identify school areas in need of development. In addition to the completed and ongoing safety works, design plans are in progress for 25 schools and have been completed for five additional schools, with work expected to commence as soon as necessary approvals are obtained from concerned entities in the country.

Meanwhile to serve the needs of community, the Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places in Qatar at Ashghal has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Qatar Cyclists Center of the Ministry of Culture and Sports regarding fast cycling track.

Through the MoU, Ashghal and Qatar Cyclists Center will provide all the necessary services to fast track users, such as electric bike parking spaces to serve cyclists in emergencies, as well as installation of necessary signage, periodic maintenance of irrigation systems, fast track asphalt and street lightings.

No doubt that through such initiatives and projects, Ashghal is contributing to promote the sport culture in the country. Ashghal is all set to provide a network of cycling and pedestrian paths of about 2,650 km by the year 2022.

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Quote of the day

France needs to return to work as well and avoid falling into an economic and social crisis that would be much more dangerous than the health crisis.

Jean Castex, French Prime Minister

We all know that sleep is a person’s basic need, like breathing, eating and drinking. Thus, many studies have high-lighted the close links between the hours and quality of sleep we get and health problems that we may develop, such as high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes. So getting a sound sleep is crucial for good health and quality of life.

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in the past months has greatly impacted every aspect of people’s lives through social or physical distancing and the accompanying quarantine or home isolation. It has affected in one way or another the working time, family time, play time and also our mood and, maybe our level of stress and our tolerance as human beings.

And if you are like many people, quarantine and physical distancing have also resulted in your symptoms of depression and completely disrupted your sleep cycle, destroying what would have been the most of the eight hours you could expect to be the quietest of your day.

However, it is important to mention that people who previ-ously had insomnia, sleep distur-bances and delayed sleep-wake phase disorder, will be most likely to be affected by the coronavirus related sleep disturbance. Of course, insomnia disorder is usually characterized by difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite having adequate chance of sleeping.

Not to mention that insuffi-cient sleep adversely affects hormone levels, brain function and exercise performance, in addition it contributes to obesity and the risk of development of other disease. For instance, lack of sleep may weaken the body’s ability to fight disease. When we do not get enough sleep, our bodies produce fewer cytokines - a type of protein that targets infection and inflammation, cre-ating a vital immune response to effectively fight any virus!

Indeed, we must be aware that, the two main factors respon-sible of sleep deterioration are changes in stress levels and changes in sleep behaviors asso-ciated with this pandemic. This is a reality that everyone has noticed and how the coronavirus has created a set of new

challenges even for people who previously did not have sleep problems.

People are concerned not only about the virus and the disease itself, but because there are health issues that a person suffers from already, which has not been treated optimally, as well as financial problems and other psychological and personal stress. Probably we must realize here, that different sleep and wake-up times can also have a detrimental effect on sleep itself. I might exaggerate if I said that (routine is important), the worst thing you can do is to change the time of going to bed and waking up longer and spoiling your body clock. Consequently, your sleep will not be good and you will face more sleep problems. It is first for anyone to aim for a fairly con-sistent wake-up time and not to spend more time in bed than you need to sleep!

On the other hand, many people complain and report strange dreams and the truth of this, is a direct result of increased anxiety, when people are more anxious and have this excessive alertness during a 24-hour period, here your body produces more of the stress hormone cortisol, and this may keep your body awake and activate your mind leading unfortunately to interrupted sleep and insomnia. In addition, during this pandemic, most people were restricted to work from home, and they did not have a specific time to wake up every day or eat meals.

This remarkably disrupted the body’s natural sleep and wake-up cycle or the body’s circadian rhythm, especially as some spent less time outside his house in the sunshine every day! Regretfully, this resulted in a lot of us staying in front of the screen longer than ever before, whether by watching TV or other electronic devices. These devices emit blue light that disrupts the production of

melatonin, a hormone that helps in regulating the sleep-wake cycle, in body at night.

Fortunately insomnia will be a temporary condition for most people, as we are in this pan-demic .What I do suggest that it is important for individuals to focus on maintaining good sleep habits, a regular sleep and wake schedule and avoiding naps and prolonged time in bed. Of course, you should avoid coffee and related stimulants, for instance six hours before bed and continue to exercise regularly and be exposed to daylight every day, especially in the early morning.

Additionally, during this period, individuals are likely to spend more time on the Internet or using electronic devices. To prevent such behavior from inter-fering with sleep, they should use a low blue light filter during the evening and try to stop using the device at least an hour before bed. Most importantly, if you are awake in the middle of the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep, take a break from trying to sleep, focus on relaxing and do something relaxing like reading or listening to content you enjoy.

At the end, in these times of stress, it is extremely important to engage in strategies that can help manage stress such as regular exercise, healthy meals and relax-ation. We do not want people to lie in bed afraid of not being able to sleep, instead everyone should focus on trying to maintain a regular sleep pattern and adhere to good sleep practices, in order to avoid the development of chronic insomnia disorder, or related sleep disorders that require specialist intervention in such cases.

Dr Yousuf Ali Al Mulla is a physician, medical innovator and writer. For any queries regarding the content of the article, he can be contacted at: dryusufalmulla@gmail.com

ANDRE PAULTRE AND SARAH MARSH REUTERS

Haiti’s school children missed class this year first due to months of violent unrest, then the coronavirus pandemic. Now, as schools are finally reopening, many parents can no longer afford it, raising the prospect hard-won gains in education could be lost.

While the pandemic has disrupted education worl-wdwide, the situation is espe-cially acute in Haiti, where just an estimated two-thirds of adults can read and write.

“We’ve never seen a crisis quite on this scale before,” said Beatrice Malebranche at United Nations children’s agency Unicef in Haiti. Virtual schooling has been impossible for most in the Caribbean country where more than half the population lives on less than $3 per day and has little internet and television access.

Meanwhile, given the

weakness of the Haitian state, suffering from years of unrest and mismanagement, and still struggling to recover from a devastating 2010 earthquake, four out of five schools in the Caribbean nation are private.

And while fees are typically low, they have become unaf-fordable for many as the pan-demic has worsened Haiti’s already dire economic plight.

Even families whose children have scored coveted places at public schools are struggling just to buy them stationery or decent shoes.

The education ministry has little firepower to tackle the problem, with it receiving 11% of the total budget down from 16%. The global average is 20% of total spending.

Spokesman Miloody Vincent told Reuters it would provide financial aid to at least 50,000 of the most vul-nerable families, which will not go far in the country of 11 million.

The situation is a setback after Haiti hiked its primary school attendance rate to 84% from 76% over the last decade, said Malebranche. While coronavirus has left Haiti rela-tively unscathed healthwise, the education ministry has mandated that staff and pupils wear masks.

The government has also ordered the most over-crowded schools divide up classes to ensure physical dis-tancing and rotate each in shifts of two to three days a week, raising concerns over the fact they would provide fewer lessons per child.

Yet directors of five private schools in low-income areas visited by Reuters said only around half of their pupils had returned so far. Overcrowding is no longer a problem - school finances are.

“I haven’t been able to pay teachers since March,” said Leonard Turenne, director of the Pierre Fermat secondary

school. “The state promised us some financial aid but we haven’t received anything yet.” Some already underfi-nanced schools will likely close, with teachers switching to other professions, experts say.

Etienne’s father, Jackson Dorceus, 53, used to be a teacher himself but in the 1990s switched to working as a bodyguard because his school had not paid him for a year.

The unrest last year finan-cially ruined many businesses which were unable to get back on their feet before corona-virus hit, while double-digit inflation is ravaging household incomes and remittances are falling.

“Most our clients owe us money,” said Dorceus, standing outside their corru-gated iron one-room house. Like many parents, he said he would seek to negotiate the fees with the school.

COVID-19 impacts sleep!

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Haiti’s schools reopen but many parents now can’t afford them

Established in 1996

DR YOUSUF ALI AL MULLA

A traveller taking a nap at Galeao International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

09THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020 ASIA

India reports world’s highest daily rise in virus casesAGENCIES — NEW DELHI

India recorded the world’s highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases, with 67,151 new infections, the country’s Health Ministry data revealed yesterday.

The fresh cases have taken the national tally past the 3.23 million mark.

The death toll in the country rose to 59,439, as 1,059 new fatalities were reported over the past 24 hours.

More than 2.46 million patients have recovered from the virus, pushing the recovery rate to 76.29 percent. The total number of active coronavirus cases in the country reached 707,267.

According to the Health

Ministry, a total of 925,383 tests were conducted in the country over the past day, bringing the tally to nearly 37 million.

“Early identification through testing, prompt and effective treatment through supervised home isolation and quality medical care, and innovative graded policy measures have resulted in almost 100 percent increase in recovered cases in the last 21 days,” the Health

Ministry said in a Tweet.Five most affected states in

terms of number of cases are Maharashtra (703,823), Tamil Nadu (391,303), Andhra Pradesh (371,639), Karnataka (291,826), and Uttar Pradesh (197,000).

On Tuesday, the Indian Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that eye-banking guidelines advised temporary suspension of donor cornea retrieval and elective corneal

transplantation surgeries when active COVID-19 lockdown measures were being implemented.

“This led to almost negli-gible cornea retrieval in April-May with more than 90% fall in corneal transplant surgeries. I am now happy that eye banking activities have now resumed,” he added.

Over 6.8 million people suffer from corneal blindness in the country, according to the Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, more than two million Indian students will sit for admission tests to medical and engineering schools next week, the government said yes-terday, despite growing concern that the move could fuel a jump in coronavirus infections.

Now the government is pushing for a return to nor-malcy to lessen the economic pain, after having imposed a strict early lockdown of India’s 1.3 billion people in March.

“We are very mindful of the safety of our students, we will take full precautions,” Edu-cation Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal told state radio, adding that the tests had to be held to ensure students did not lose a year.

Already twice postponed this year, the tests will be spread over several days and held at more centres than usual, to ensure there is no crowding.

But many students have to travel long distances and there was a risk of infections, said the All-India Students’ Union, a

leftist group that represents uni-versity students.

It urged students to wear black armbands and join online protests to put pressure on the government to delay the tests until infections fall.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thurnberg also waded into the dispute, urging a postponement.

“It’s deeply unfair that stu-dents of India are asked to sit national exams during the COVID-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods,” Thurnberg said on Twitter on Tuesday.

Parts of eastern India are also struggling with floods caused by annual monsoon rains.

Survivors and grieving families reject NZ mosque shooter’s ‘white supremacist’ world viewREUTERS — WELLINGTON

The father of slain three-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim, the youngest victim in the New Zealand mosque shootings, told the white supremacist who gunned down his son that “true justice” awaited him in the next life and it would be more severe than prison.

“You have killed my son and to me it is as if you have killed the whole of New Zealand,” Aden Ibrahim Diriye said in a statement read by a family member during a sentencing hearing for Brenton Tarrant yesterday.

“Know that true justice is waiting for you in the next life and that will be far more severe. I will never forgive you for what you have done.” Gunman Brenton Tarrant, a 29-year-old Australian, is scheduled to be sentenced this week after pleading guilty to 51 murders, 40 attempted murders and one charge of committing a terrorist act during the 2019 shooting rampage in the city of

Christchurch which he lives-treamed on Facebook.

A murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The judge can impose a life term without parole, a sen-tence that has never been used in New Zealand.

Survivors and families of victims have addressed the court this week and many have urged the judge to sentence Tarrant to the most severe sentence.

Diriye, a refugee from Somalia who moved to New Zealand 25 years ago, told the court his son had been robbed of a future.

“He used to engage and play with the police; at home he would run around the house pretending to be a cop and wear police uniform. We thought one day he might become a police officer,” he said in his statement.

While most of Tarrant’s victims were at Al Noor mosque, including Mucaad Ibrahim, he killed seven people at the Linwood mosque.

The casualty list would

likely have been higher if it weren’t for Abdul Aziz Wahab-zadah, who was commended for his courage on Wednesday by High Court Judge Cameron Mander after confronting Tarrant at the Linwood mosque.

After shots rang out in the mosque, Aziz engaged Tarrant outside, throwing a bank card machine at him and drawing fire when the gunman returned to his car, loaded with high-powered weapons, ammunition and incendiary devices.

“I didn’t want him to go inside the mosque because we had 80-100 people praying at that time,” Aziz said yeserday.

Aziz took cover, and weaved through parked cars, to stop Tarrant getting a clear shot. Tar-rant’s plan frustrated, he left quickly in his car and was detained en route to a third mosque.

Ahad Nabi, who lost his 71-year-old father in the attack, stared at Tarrant before deliv-ering a passionate statement, demanding that Tarrant should “never walk free” for his

cowardly actions on March 15, 2019.

“You are weak, a sheep with a wolf’s jacket on for only 10 minutes of your whole life,” said Nabi, referring to the shooting rampage.

“This world was created with colour, a peasant like you will never change the human race.” Sara Qasem, daughter of victim Abdelfattah Qasem, said she would miss smelling her father’s garden sauce cooking and

wanted to hear his stories about the “olive trees in Palestine”.

“You made a choice here — a conscious, stupid, irresponsible, cold-blooded, selfish, disgusting, heinous, evil choice,” Qasem said, looking at Tarrant, seated and surrounded by guards.

Tarrant, who is representing himself, will not speak ahead of his sentencing, court officials said yesterday. He has directed a lawyer assisting the court to make a brief statement on his

behalf. The judge has previously said sentencing would not occur before today.

Prosecutors have told the court that Tarrant wanted to instil fear in those he described as invaders and that he care-fully planned the attacks to cause maximum carnage.

Live reporting from the courtroom was banned, and other restrictions were put in place on what the media could report.

Abdul Aziz (right), who was hailed a hero when he chased the gunman from the Linwood mosque, gestures towards Australian Brenton Tarrant during Tarrant’s third day in court for a sentence hearing in Christchurch, New Zealand, yesterday.

Judging the right passRohingya refugees play soccer in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh, yesterday.

Australia aims forcoronavirus antibodytherapy trial in 2021REUTERS — SYDNEY/MELBOURNE

Australian researchers hope to start human trials of a corona-virus antibody therapy in early 2021, while a large-scale trial of a vaccine could begin by the end of this year, scientists said yesterday.

The research targets came as the country’s virus hotspot, Victoria state, recorded its second-most deadly day of the pandemic with 24 deaths.

Just 156 new cases were reported nationwide on Wednesday, mostly in Victoria, well down from daily rises of more than 700 about three weeks ago.

Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute has made good progress in identifying the most potent antibodies that could neutralise the spike protein on the virus that causes COVID-19, stopping it from being able to enter human cells, researcher Wai-Hong Tam said.

Antibody therapies would be most useful for the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, she said.

Almost 64 percent of Aus-tralia’s 549 deaths from COVID-19 have occurred among residents of aged-care homes, mostly in Victoria.

“If we’re very hopeful, we are looking at clinical trials early next year,” Tam told reporters.

Separately, the University of Queensland said its scien-tists had reported to the Inter-national Society for Vaccines that their “molecular clamp” vaccine had been found to be effective in hamsters and could be manufactured at scale.

Assuming the team’s

ongoing phase 1 clinical trial shows adequate safety and immune responses, its partner, CSL Ltd, could start a large-scale study before the end of this year, UQ project co-leader Keith Chappell said.

The “molecular clamp” technology adds a gene to viral proteins to stabilise them and trick the body into thinking it is seeing a live virus so it makes antibodies against it.

The Australian government meanwhile committed A$80m to ensure Southeast Asian and Pacific nations would have affordable access to any COVID-19 vaccines.

With new cases declining, Victoria’s government has come under fire for seeking to extend a state of emergency by another year.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the government needed the legal certainty to be able to set restrictions, which would be the “lightest touch possible” while the economy reopens.

“The opening up process and the repair work will not be quick. It will take time,” Andrews told reporters.

To help the national eco-nomic recovery, Prime Min-is ter Scot t Morr ison announced a A$1bn ($719m) investment to boost the defence industry.

Australia’s total COVID-19 cases rose to 25,205, with 549 deaths, much lower than most other developed nations on a per-capita basis.

N e i g b o u r i n g N e w Zealand, which extended a lockdown in its biggest city Auckland this week to contain an outbreak, reported five new cases, for a total of 1,344 cases.

Former presidentof Maldivestests positive for COVID-19

REUTERS — MALE

The former president of the Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, said he had tested positive for COVID-19, as the tourist-dependent island nation reports a pick-up in cases since re-opening its borders last month.

“I have tested positive for COVID-19. May Almighty Allah bless me and all other sick people with a speedy recovery and good health,” Gayoom said in a tweet on Tuesday night.

The 81-year-old former president was one of Asia’s longest serving leaders, having ruled the Maldives for 30 years.

According to a family source, the former autocrat was tested for COVID-19 following a medical consultation on Tuesday morning, after he developed a fever on Monday night.

The source said Gayoom is doing well and is expected to be admitted to the newly built Dharumavantha Hospital in the capital, Malé.

Heavily reliant on foreign tourism, the Indian Ocean archi-pelago lifted a lockdown in the capital in June and opened up its borders for tourists in July.

Since the end of the lockdown in June, the number of COVID-19 cases in the Mal-dives has tripled, while deaths have risen from five to 28.

The Maldives Health Pro-tection Agency has confirmed a total of 7,047 COVID-19 cases in the country, out of which 2,580 cases are currently active.

Just over 5,000 tourists visited the Maldives in the month to August 15, according to Maldives Immigration, a fraction of last year’s monthly average of more than 100,000.

Myanmar shuts schools after biggestsingle-day rise in coronavirus casesREUTERS — YANGON

Myanmar ordered all schools to close after reporting 70 new coronavirus infections yesterday, its biggest daily rise, as authorities try to tackle a resurgence of the virus following weeks without confirmed domestic trans-mission.

All but one of the new cases announced on Wednesday were in the western state of Rakhine, found in nine different locations, each linked to an out-break in the state capital Sittwe, where a lockdown and curfew were imposed last week.

Myanmar’s outbreaks has been relatively small com-pared with other countries in the region, with just six deaths and 574 infections in total, but an increase in COVID-19 cases

by nearly 35 percent in just over a week is causing some concern.

“We have called all the schools and instructed them to close from tomorrow,” Ko Layy Win, director general of the country’s Department of Basic Education, said.

“The central committee of COVID decided to do that since the local transmission in the country is high.” One of Wednesday’s cases was in the biggest city Yangon, in an indi-vidual seeking medical clearance to travel.

The virus resurfaced in Myanmar on August 16 after a month without community transmission, with the majority of those cases in Sittwe.

Sittwe is also home to crowded camps where about 100,000 Rohingya Muslims

have been confined since vio-lence erupted in 2012. Rohingya mostly face strict curbs on freedom of movement and access to healthcare.

Myanmar has restricted internet access in much of the region on security grounds. Humanitarian workers have urged the authorities to restore it at higher speeds to ensure reliable health information is available.

Among the 179 domestic infections since early last week, authorities have detected a mutation thought to be more contagious than previously seen in Myanmar.

To keep COVID-19 at bay, Myanmar has since late March closed its borders to all but returning citizens, who are required to undergo quarantine.

More than 2 million Indian students will sit for admission tests to medical and engineering schools next week, the government said yesterday, despite growing concern that the move could fuel a jump in coronavirus infections.

10 THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020ASIA

Floods leave at least 100 dead in Afghanistan

AP — KABUL

Heavy flooding has killed at least 100 people and injured scores of others as heavy seasonal rains drenched northern and eastern Afghan-istan, officials said yesterday.

Annual heavy rains, com-pounded by mudslides, often threaten remote areas of Afghanistan, where infra-structure is poor. Summer often brings heavy rainfall in northern and eastern parts of the country, leading to floods that leave hundreds dead every year.

State Minister for Disaster m a n a g e m e n t G h u l a m Bahawudin Jilani said that in northern Parwan province, water inundated the central city of Charikar, where the Health Ministry said the local hospital was partially destroyed and many of the injured were being

transferred to the capital, Kabul.The provincial spokes-

woman, Wahida Shahkar, said the number of casualties may rise as people and rescue teams were still working to locate people buried under destroyed houses. The head of the provincial hos-pital, Abdul Qasim Sangin, said several children were among the dead and some of the injured are in critical condition.

Shahkar said the flooding started in the central part of the province overnight, following heavy rains and destroying many homes. She called on the gov-ernment to deliver aid and provide immediate support for workers digging through mud to reach those who were trapped.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in a statement ordered aid be delivered to Parwan and other provinces while expressing his condolences to the victims’ families.

Ahmad Tameem Azimi, spokesman of the Disaster Man-agement Ministry, said flooding blocked highways to eastern and northern provinces. “Along with rescuing people we are working to open the highways back to traffic,” he said.

Azimi said at least 300 houses were destroyed in Parwan and over 1,000 people were displaced. He said ground and air support sent to help those trapped by the flooding had reached the prov-inces. The ministry warned resi-dents of possible flooding in the region with a social media alert late Tuesday, he added.

The flooding waters and rushing mud in the

mountainous Parwan province carried thousands of large rocks that caused major injuries and destroyed entire homes, burying people under the rubble. Several excavators had reached the area and were digging for those stuck beneath the rubble.

“Nobody could run,” said Shah Arian, 22 one of the victims. He said it all started around midnight, when people were asleep.

“Fifteen people from our two neighborhoods died,” he said, appealing for government help. “Everything I had is under the mud.” Azimi, the spokesman, said hundred of

acres of agricultural land have been destroyed, with the heavy rain wiping out all the corps in eastern Nuristan province. Houses and roads were destroyed in northern Kapisa, Panjshir and eastern Paktia provinces, Azimi said.

In eastern Maidan Wardak province two people died and five were injured when flooding destroyed several houses, he added.

The office of the Nangarhar governor said in a statement that two members of a family died and four others were injured Wednesday morning when the wall of their house collapsed in flooding.

A villager reacts next to his destroyed house as rescuers search for bodies after a flash flood affected the area at Sayrah-e-Hopiyan in Charikar, Parwan province, Afghanistan, yesterday.

Total number ofvirus cases inSoutheast Asianear 434,000

ANATOLIA — JAKARTA

The total number of corona-virus infections in Southeast Asian countries reached 433,762 on Tuesday, including 10,329 virus-linked deaths and 317,257 recoveries, according to health authorities.

At least 7,762 new cases and 187 fatalities were con-firmed in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations over the last 24 hours.

In Philippines, the worst-hit in the region, total infec-tions climbed to 202,361 after 5,277 new cases.

The archipelagic country reported 99 more virus-related fatalities, raising the nationwide death toll to 3,137. Recoveries increased by 1,131 to reach 133,460.

Some 86 people died of the virus in Indonesia, bringing the countrywide death toll to 6,944.

A further 2,306 infections were recorded, bringing the caseload to 160,165. Recoveries rose by 2,524 to reach 115,409.

In Singapore, 60 new cases were registered, pushing the total to 56,495, including 27 deaths.

The neighbouring Malaysia confirmed six more cases, pushing the total to 9,291, while recoveries reached 8,978. The fatality country remained unchanged at 125.

Vietnam reported 12 new infections, raising the total to 1,034. Two more people died after contracting the novel strain, taking the tally to 29.

Thailand confirmed just one new virus infection, taking the tally to 3,403, of which 3,237 patients have recovered.

Army helicoptersto pick peoplefrom inundatedKarachi city

AP — KARACHI

Pakistan’s military said yesterday it will deploy rescue helicopters to Karachi to transport some 200 families to safety after canal waters flooded the city amid monsoon rains, displacing scores of people, officials said yesterday.

Rescuers could not use boats to reach the marooned families because of fast-moving floodwaters in the city’s low-lying neighbour-hoods and the military said helicopters would fly when the weather was clear.

Although rains have lashed many parts of Pakistan, the southern port city of Karachi, located near the Arabian sea, has been the hardest-hit. Streets were flooded on Tuesday with sewage water. Sewage and drainage systems in the city are outdated.

There were no immediate reports of casualties yesterday, but 90 people have died in rain-related incidents across Pakistan since Sunday, the country’s national disaster management agency said.

Video footage showed parts of the city under water as troops tried to repair an embankment of a canal. Water started pouring out of the canal Tuesday amid heavy rains, inundating nearby areas.

Yesterday, some families displaced by the rain said the muddy water was waist-deep when they left houses carrying small bags with essential items. Although volunteers and troops were able to reach several rain-hit areas with food, people in affected areas complained they were still waiting for help.

“You can see water is eve-rywhere and muddy water has also entered my home and we have not received government help,” said Manzoor Ali, a res-ident in Karachi’s rain-hit n e i g h b o u r h o o d D u r Mohammad Goth. He said water damaged their household items.

The rains were expected to continue the rest of the week in Karachi, where Prime Min-ister Imran Khan earlier this month sent troops to help local authorities pump out rain-water from residential areas.

North, South Korea brace for strong typhoonAP — SEOUL

Hundreds of flights were cancelled in South Korea while North Korea’s leader expressed concern about a possible loss of lives and crops as the countries braced for a fast-approaching typhoon forecast as one of the strongest to hit their peninsula this year.

Packing a maximum wind speed of 155km per hour, Typhoon Bavi was already lashing South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju yesterday afternoon, flooding roads, top-pling trees, ripping off sign-boards and knocking down

lampposts as it passed over waters off the island’s western shores. There were no imme-diate reports of casualties.

South Korea’s weather agency said the typhoon would begin affecting the mainland at night before making landfall in western North Korea early today. The agency warned of possible severe damage caused by very strong winds and heavy rainfall.

In Jeju, strong winds and rain knocked out power to hundreds of homes and damaged buildings, trees, street lamps, telephone poles, road barriers and signboards,

the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said.

More than 480 domestic flights in and out of Jeju and the southern mainland city of Busan were canceled as of yes-terday evening. South Korean authorities also shut public parks and sea bridges and moved hundreds of fishing boats and other vessels, the ministry said.

In the capital, Seoul, and other cities, health workers dis-mantled at least 75 makeshift coronavirus testing stations over worries that the tents and booths might not withstand strong winds.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said that during a ruling party meeting on Tuesday, the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, called for thorough prepara-tions to minimise casualties and damage from the typhoon.

The storm comes weeks after torrential rains caused flooding and massive damage to homes and crops in North Korea, inflicting further pain to an economy ravaged by pandemic-linked border clo-sures and US-led sanctions over the North’s nuclear programme.

KCNA said earlier that a typhoon warning was issued in most areas of the country, with officials moving fishing boats and applying protective measures to buildings, farms and railroads.

In China, authorities sus-pended ferry services across the Yellow Sea from the northern port of Dalian to the cities of Weihai and Yantai on the Shandong Peninsula as the typhoon closed in on the region. The government of Dalian, a city of 7 million people, urged people to stay indoors as much as possible yesterday and today.

China firm over detention of 2 Canadians after FMs meetAP — BEIJING

China said yesterday it remains firm in its insistence that Canada make the first move to end the detention of two Cana-dians, following a meeting of the two countries’ foreign ministers.

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor have been held in China on unspecified national security charges for more than 620 days in apparent retaliation for Can-ada’s late 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, an executive at tech giant Huawei and the daughter of the company’s founder.

Meng was detained at Van-couver’s airport at the request of the United States, which wants her extradited to face fraud charges over the com-pany’s dealings with Iran. Her arrest enraged Beijing, which calls it a political move aimed at constraining China’s rise as a global technology power.

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne urged Beijing to release the two Cana-dians during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Rome on Tuesday.

The two are suspected of engaging in “activities endan-gering China’s national

security” and their cases are being handled “in strict accordance with the law while protecting their legal rights,” foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing yesterday.

China has “made it clear to the Canadian side that it should respect the spirit of the rule of law and China’s judicial sover-eignty,” Zhao said, adding that China was not responsible for the current difficulties in bilateral relations.

”The Canadian side is well aware of the crux of the problem and should immedi-ately take effective measures to correct the mistakes and create

conditions for the bilateral rela-tionship to get back on track,” Zhao said.

In addition to detaining Kovrig and Spavor, China has also restricted various Canadian exports to China, including canola seed oil, in an apparent attempt to pressure China into releasing Meng, who is residing in one of her Vancouver man-sions under a form of house arrest.

Since her detention, China has also sentenced four Cana-dians convicted on drug charges to death, an unusually high number for foreign suspects held in China.

W h i l e t h e

Canadian government has made no indication it will trade Meng for Kovrig and Spavor, calls have arisen among the Canadian public for a deal to be made.

“The blind adherence to the use of the rule of law and no ransom ensures that Kovrig and Spavor will remain forgotten within Chinese prisons for the foreseeable future,” former foreign service officer Gar Pardy wrote in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper last week.

“The offering of Meng Wanzhou in exchange for Kovrig and Spavor is the only answer,” Pardy wrote in the opinion piece.

Thai pro-democracy leaders granted bailPro-democracy leaders Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree and Panumas Singprom speak to media after being granted bail, outside the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.

Philippines FM wants USmilitary presence in AsiaREUTERS — MANILA

The United States military presence in Asia is needed as rivalry between Washington and Beijing intensifies, the Phil-ippines foreign minister said yesterday.

The two powers are arguing over issues from trade to what the United States sees as aggressive moves by China’s armed forces, especially in the disputed South China Sea and around Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

“We have a balance of power situation,” Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin said in an interview with ANC News Channel. “We need the US presence in Asia”.

The United States has long opposed China’s territorial claims on the South China Sea, regularly sending warships to demonstrate freedom of nav-

igation there.It hardened its position last

month by rejecting Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea, a move which China condemned.

Locsin said it would be in the Philippine’s interest for the United States to maintain its military presence in the region and he reiterated the country “never stopped cooperation” with its long-time security ally.

In June, President Rodrigo Duterte suspended his decision to scrap a two-decade-old troop deployment agreement with the United States that has given the Philippines access to scores of annual training exercises, including expertise in tackling militants and maritime threats.

The US military also for-merly had two huge military bases in the Philippines — Subic Bay and Clark — but was evicted from them in 1992.

State Minister for Disaster Management said that in northern Parwan province, water inundated the central city of Charikar, where the Health Ministry said the local hospital was partially destroyed and many of the injured were being transferred to Kabul.

11THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020 EUROPE

Don’t panic, saysFrench Premier asinfections mountAP — PARIS

France’s Prime Minister said yesterday that reopening schools is “one of the essential conditions” for a restart of the country’s economy, which is hobbled like elsewhere by the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite confirmed virus cases rising, Jean Castex insisted that France needs to return to work as well and avoid “falling into an economic and social crisis that would be much more dangerous than the health crisis.”

Speaking on France-Inter radio, and later at an annual forum of an association of business chiefs, Medef, Castex urged compatriots to wear masks more but insisted that rising coronavirus infections across the country are “nothing to panic about.” Still, he told the Medef meeting that “we are ready” in a worst-case scenario, while “doing everything to avoid a general reconfinement.” France is now reporting more than 25 positive virus tests per 100,000 people, up from five per 100,000 a month ago. Neighboring countries are requiring quarantines for vis-itors from parts or all of France.

There has also been a small but steady uptick in the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care, though the sit-uation is far from the crisis levels that French hospitals faced in March and April.

While he acknowledged in

his radio interview that wearing a mask all the time is “a little annoying,” Castex urged people protesting mask requirements “to think of others, hospital workers, medical workers, vul-nerable people.... It’s not because you feel invincible that you can go (and) contaminate others.”

Castex said France is looking for a return to school “in condi-tions as normal as possible.” “Our schools will resume, must resume,” Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told jour-nalists separately Wednesday, pushing ahead with the start of term on Sept. 1.

“We will benefit from the experience of May and June,” when French schools partially reopened after a two-month lockdown, he said.

In the event of new out-breaks, authorities could take

localised measures to close classes or schools. But Blanquer said the government wouldn’t publish all its preparatory measures until after school resumes.

All middle school and high school students will be required to wear masks whenever they are in school, as well as all per-sonnel, in line with World H e a l t h O r g a n i z a t i o n recommendations.

As for returning to the office, the prime minister said France is striving for a balance between presence at work and working from home.

Castex urged a careful return to cultural venues, pledging ¤2bn for the French culture industry to help it survive a plunge in revenues for museums, movie theaters and other sites.

The money will be part of a ¤100bn ($118bn) economic recovery package to be unveiled next week.

“t’s imperative that we get the engine running again,” Castex said at the Medef forum.

Without providing details, he said the recovery package would “very largely” be directed at French regions, including much-neglected rural zones, and a balance would be struck between large and small companies.

The tax on production will be lowered by 10 billion euros a year and there will be a reform of real estate taxes on local industries, he said.

Activist Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, leads a demonstration against the lockdown and the use of face masks, outside the offices of The Behavioural Insights Team, in London, Britain, yesterday.

UK govt changes its mind on masks in English schoolsAFP — LONDON

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday sought to reassure pupils about the risks of going back to school, after a policy reversal on facemasks sparked fresh questions about the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The government back-tracked on its insistence that students in England should not have to cover their nose and mouth when they return to class from next week, amid concern about a rise in new infections.

The change is being seen as another policy U-turn, just weeks after ministers were forced to scrap the use of an algorithm which gave 17- and 18-year-olds lower-than-

expected exam grades.On a visit to a school in

central England, Johnson thanked students for enduring months at home because of the outbreak, which he said had helped the country get the disease under control.

“The risk to your health is not from Covid because after all, sta-tistically speaking, your chances of suffering from that disease are very, very low,” he said.

“The greatest risk you face now is of continuing to be out of school.” The new guidance advises secondary school stu-dents aged 11-18 and staff to wear face coverings in corridors and communal areas, in places with local coronavirus restrictions.

Teaching unions had called for the UK government, which is

responsible for education in England, to follow Scotland, which has a separate education system, and already requires pupils to cover up between lessons.

But while welcoming the change, critics including the main opposition Labour party said min-isters had shirked their responsi-bility by leaving enforcement to individual schools.

Labour’s education spokes-woman Kate Green slammed a “half-baked U-turn” and said clearer guidance should have been given earlier.

Under-fire Education Sec-retary Gavin Williamson had insisted masks were not required in schools and John-son’s office earlier this week said there was no plan to review the policy.

UN prosecutors say Mladic’s life sentence should be upheld

REUTERS — AMSTERDAM

Prosecutors yesterday called on United Nattions judges to uphold former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic’s life sentence for war crimes, including genocide, while his lawyers are calling for an acquittal or a retrial.

Mladic, 77, was the com-mander of Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-95 Bosnian War and trial judges found he was responsible for overseeing the murder of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica, Bosnia in 1995.

“Srebrenica was Mladic’s operation, and the trial chamber was right to conclude that he was criminally respon-sible for these crimes,” prose-cutor Laurel Baig said on the second and final day of appeal hearings.

Mladic shook his head in disagreement at times as Baig spoke.

Trial judges found Mladic was responsible for “ethnic cleansing” campaigns against Bosnian Muslims and Croats, and murdering and terror-ising civilians in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo during a 43-month siege, as part of a plan to forge a “Greater Serbia” out of parts of the former Yugoslavia.

Mladic will have the opportunity to speak for 10 minutes at the end of Wednes-day’s hearing.

“Any illegal killings in Sre-brenica that were outside of combat are reprehensible, but they are not tied to Mr. Mladic,” said defence lawyer Dragan Ivetic during arguments on Tuesday.

The appeal is being held at a UN court in The Hague set up to hear appeals and the remaining cases from the former Yugoslav Tribunal, which closed in 2017.

The proceedings are being broadcast by video because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Appeals judges have yet to set a date for a decision, likely to be in 2021.

Pressure mounts on Russia to probe Navalny poisoningAP — MOSCOW

The Kremlin said yesterday it doesn’t want the illness of Russia’s opposition leader, who is in a coma in a German hospital after a suspected poisoning, to affect relations with the West as international pressure mounted on Moscow to investigate Alexei Navalny’s condition.

The statement came two days after doctors at the Berlin hospital where the 44-year-old is being treated said tests indi-cated he was poisoned, and minutes before UK Prime Min-ister Boris Johnson joined other Western officials in demanding

a transparent investigation.“The poisoning of (Alexei)

Navalny shocked the world,” Johnson said in a Tweet. “The perpetrators must be held accountable, (and) the UK will join international efforts to ensure justice is done.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reit-erated Wednesday that Moscow “categorically” disagreed with “hasty” conclusions that Navalny was a victim of an intentional poisoning, and said it doesn’t want the situation to affect its ties with the West.

“Of course, we wouldn’t want that... Secondly, there is no reason whatsoever for it,” Peskov told reporters. “We are

absolutely, no less than others, interested in understanding what led to a coma.” Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator who is one of Putin’s fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Thursday and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.

Over the weekend, he was transferred to the Charité hos-pital in Berlin, where doctors found indications of “cholinesterase inhibitors” in his system.

These act by blocking the breakdown of a key chemical

in the body, acetycholine, that transmits signals between nerve cells. Navalny is being treated with the antidote atropine.

His allies say the Kremlin is behind the illness of its most prominent critic, accusations that officials denounced as “empty noise.” The pressure on Moscow mounted after Charité revealed its findings. Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a thorough investigation into Navalny’s condition. Officials in France and Norway echoed her sentiment, and the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US “stands ready to assist” with a probe, if reports of a poisoning “prove accurate.” Pompeo’s

deputy Stephen Biegun met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other dip-lomats on Tuesday. According to Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Biegun warned that if Navalny’s poisoning is confirmed, the U.S. could take steps that will exceed Washington’s response to findings of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

The ministry said Russian diplomats warned Biegun against making unfounded accusations and noted that Russian authorities stand for a “thorough and maximally objective investigation of what happened.”

Germany bans protests, to end mandatory virus tests for travellersAP — BERLIN

Germany will end mandatory coronavirus tests for travellers returning from high-risk areas abroad and again focus its testing strategy on people with symptoms or possible exposure to COVID-19 patients, the coun-try’s health minister said yetserday.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said that over the summer vacation period the number of virus tests performed in Germany nearly doubled, to 900,000 per week, in part to identify people who caught the virus during trips abroad.

People coming home from coronavirus risk areas were offered free tests at airports, train stations and highway stops, allowing them to cut short the required two-week quarantine if their result came back negative.

Travellers returning from high-risk areas, which include most countries outside the European Union and some regions inside the bloc, will in the future be required to go into mandatory quarantines for at least five days before taking a test, which may no longer be free unless ordered by a doctor.

“With the end of the vacation period... this risk is going down again,” Spahn told reporters in Berlin. “We have

to focus more on patients with symptoms and those who had contact with COVID patients.” Spahn did not say when exactly the testing strategy would change, but it is likely that decision will be made at a meeting on Thursday between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s 16 state governors.

The change in the country’s testing strategy is also due to Ger-many’s labs reaching the limits of their capacities, Spahn said.

The operators of Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s biggest, criticized the decision to focus on quarantining, rather than testing travellers.

Stefan Schulte, the chief exec-utive of Fraport, said the move amounted to a second lockdown for the airline and travel indus-tries. He called on the government to instead improve the existing system of testing travelers from high-risk areas rather than to dis-mantled it again.

On Wednesday, Germany’s disease control center reported 1,576 new confirmed corona-virus cases. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has reported 236,429 cases and 9,280 virus-related deaths. The average age of infected indi-viduals has declined to 32 from around age 50 at the beginning of the pandemic.

Belarus detains over 50 during protestsAP — MINSK

Police in Belarus detained over 50 people across the country during protests demanding the resignation of Belarus’ author-itarian leader, officials said yesterday.

The renewed crackdown on protesters, who have been taking to the streets for over two weeks, comes as author-ities crank up pressure on the opposition, jailing several activists, summoning others for questioning and selectively ordering dozens of demon-strators to appear in court.

The Interior Ministry said 51 protesters were detained Tuesday at rallies that spanned several cities. According to the Viasna human rights group, 15 people were detained in Minsk, the country’s capital, where several thousand people rallied at Independence Square despite heavy rain, pushing for the country’s longtime President Alexander Lukashenko to resign.

Protests broke out after official results of the Aug. 9 pres-idential election were announced, giving Lukashenko his sixth consecutive term, with 80 percent of the vote.

They continued despite violent crackdowns during the first days after the election, when police detained nearly 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs. At least three people died.

The brutal suppression of peaceful rallies fueled public anger, helping swell the number of protesters, reaching an unprec-edented peak of about 200,000 participants on two consecutive Sundays. The huge crowds forced the government to back off and allow the demonstrations to take place largely unhindered for the past two weeks.

People take part in a rally to protest against presidential election results, in Zhodino, Belarus, yesterday.

Speaking on France-Inter radio, and later at an annual forum of an association of business chiefs, Medef, Jean Castex urged compatriots to wear masks more but insisted that rising coronavirus infections across the country are “nothing to panic about.”

12 THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020AMERICAS

Hurricane Laura takes aim at Texas-Louisiana coastREUTERS — GALVESTON

Hurricane Laura was expected to rapidly strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane yesterday on a steady track to hit the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast after dark, causing catastrophic damage, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm, already a Cat-egory 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale for measuring hurricane intensity, was about 465km southeast of Galveston, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 185km per hour, the Miami-based forecaster said. Category 4 hurricanes can pack winds of up to 1250km per hour.

Skies were dark and a light rain was falling on Wednesday morning in the island city of Galveston, which was mostly boarded up.

Randall Gilmore, a 48-year-old maintenance worker, was riding his bike along the city’s sea wall, watching the clouds roll in. Work had prevented him from evacuating yet, but he planned to move to nearby Texas City in the afternoon.

“This storm doesn’t look like it’ll be bad so far, but I feel it’s better to leave. You never know what to expect with these storms. Sometimes hurricanes can fuel tornadoes, and I don’t want to be here in Galveston if that happens,” Gilmore said.

More than 420,000 Texas residents and another 200,000 people in neighbouring Loui-siana were under mandatory evacuation orders yesterday.

“You only have a few hours to prepare and evacuate for #HurricaneLaura. Wherever you are by noon is where you’ll have to ride out the storm,” Louisiana Governor John Edwards tweeted Wednesday morning.

Crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been para-lyzed as companies batten down operations. Output cuts are nearing 90 percent, a level not seen since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

State and federal emergency management agencies were rushing to provide shelter accommodations and get first

responders in place.Federal Emergency Man-

agement Agency Administrator Pete Gaynor posted pictures of teams bringing portable shelters to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana on Tuesday, and Texas Gov-ernor Greg Abbott said his state’s National Guard was in place with high-water vehicles and rescue helicopters.

The storm was moving at about 24km per hour yesterday morning. Storm surge along the Gulf Coast could raise water levels to as high as 3.7 metres to 4.6 mete in Intracoastal City and Morgan City, Louisiana, and Laura would likely drop13 to 25cm of rain over the region, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

“This storm surge could pen-etrate up to 30 miles inland from the immediate coastline in southwestern Louisiana and far southeastern Texas,” the NHC said in a yesterday morning advisory. “All preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion in the next few hours.”

The storm was also expected to spawn tornadoes Wednesday night over Loui-siana, far southeastern Texas, and southwestern Mississippi, the NHC said. It added there would likely be widespread flooding in urban areas from far eastern Texas across Louisiana and Arkansas from yesterday

to today.Laura battered the Caribbean

over the weekend, killing 24 people between the Dominican Republic and Haiti and damaging thousands of homes and elec-tricity infrastructure.

Texas is just coming down from a period of peak COVID-19 cases and deaths, and there are currently some 108,000 active cases of the virus, according to

the state health department. More than 41,000 hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday, including more than 12,000 in Houston and Galveston, state data showed.

Hidalgo County, Texas, urged voluntary evacuation in the coastal region surrounding Houston, and shelters were set up in San Antonio, Dallas and Austin. Thousands of evacuees

would be sheltered at hotels in Austin to encourage social dis-tancing, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Houston, which lies in Laura’s path and has closed public COVID-19 testing sites ahead of the storm, was pum-meled in 2017 by Hurricane Harvey, which killed at least 68 people and caused $125bn in property damage.

Louisiana National Guard Sergeant Aaron Dugas prepares a boat for the arrival of Hurricane Laura yesterday in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Harris to be Democrats’ main counter to Trump todayAP — WASHINGTON

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris today plans a speech condemning President Donald Trump, hours before he is set to accept renomination for a second term, for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Harris will detail a “pro-found failure of leadership” from Trump and highlight pro-posals by Democratic presi-dential nominee Joe Biden to control the virus and confront the economic fallout, Biden’s campaign said.

With Trump planning an

evening address from the White House lawn, Harris’ afternoon remarks from Washington will be the Democrats’ main counter to the president on the final day of the Republ icans ’ convention.

Biden has made similar arguments about Trump for months and Harris picked up on that criticism in both her introductory speech as Biden’s pick and when she accepted the party’s nomination last week during the Democratic con-vention But the California sen-ator’s words on Thursday are billed as her most focused denunciation of Trump since

joining the ticket. Her tack will test an argument that the former prosecutor tried last summer, as a White House can-didate, to show that she is ready to “prosecute the case” against Trump and his “rap sheet.”

Harris’ address come as she steps up her activity as Biden’s running mate. The two have been mostly quiet since the Democrats’ virtual convention last week. Harris has been in Washington working virtually with Biden’s campaign staff, and yesterday was scheduled for three virtual fundraisers and an online discussion focused on Black women in Michigan.

Suspect arrested after 2 killed at Kenosha protestAP — KENOSHA

Illinois police arrested a juvenile yeserday after two people were shot to death during another night of Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Commander Norman Johnson of the Antioch Police Department said the suspect - a young man whose name was not released because he is under 18 - was arrested on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide.

Antioch is about 15 miles from Kenosha, which has seen three straight nights of unrest since the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake.

Two people were shot to death during another night of Black Lives Matter protests in a possible vigilante attack carried out by a young white man who was caught on cell-phone video opening fire in the middle of the street with a semi-automatic rifle.

“I just killed somebody,” he could be heard saying at one point Tuesday night.

Sheriff David Beth said that investigators had reviewed footage and that he was con-fident a suspect would be arrested soon.

The gunfire erupted just before midnight, during the third straight night of unrest in Kenosha over the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake.

“We were all chanting ‘Black lives matter’ at the gas station and then we heard, boom, boom, and I told my friend, `‘That’s not fireworks,’” 19-year-old protester Devin Scott told the Chicago Tribune. “And then this guy with this huge gun runs by us in the middle of the street and people are yelling, ‘He shot someone! He shot someone!’ And everyone is trying to fight

the guy, chasing him and then he started shooting again.”

Scott said he cradled a lifeless victim in his arms, and a woman started performing CPR, but “I don’t think he made it.” One victim was shot in the head and the other in the chest, the sheriff told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. A third person suffered gunshot wounds not believed to be life-threatening.

According to witness accounts and video footage, police apparently let the young man responsible for the shootings walk past them with a rifle over his shoulder as members of the crowd were yelling for him to be arrested because he had shot people.

The sheriff told the Journal Sentinel that armed people had been patrolling the city’s streets in recent nights, but he did not know if the gunman was among them.

“They’re a militia,” Beth said. “They’re like a vigilante group.” The FBI said it is assisting in the case.

Wisconsin Lieutenant Gov-ernor Mandela Barnes, who is Black, said in an interview with the news program “Democracy Now!” that the shootings were not surprising and that white militias have been ignored for too long.

“How many times across this country do you see armed gunmen, protesting, walking into state Capitols, and eve-rybody just thinks it’s OK?” Barnes said. “People treat that like it’s some kind of normal activity that people are walking around with assault rifles.” Witness accounts and video show that the shootings took place in two stages: The gunman first shot someone at a car lot, then jogged away, stumbled and fell in the street, and opened fire again as members of the crowd closed in him.

Firm drops bribesuit against Venezuela’sformer oil czar

AP — MIAMI

A Houston energy firm has dropped a lawsuit against Venezuela’s former oil czar, who it had accused of orches-trating demands for a $10 million bribe to approve an asset sale in the South American country.

The dismissal came in a filing in Houston federal court yesterday by Harvest Natural Resources. No reason was given for the sudden reversal. Lawyers for Harvest and Ramirez wouldn’t comment.

Harvest in 2018 won a default judgment against Rafael Ramirez for $472m after the former Venezuelan official failed to contest the civil lawsuit. He later appeared in the case and vigorously fought the accusations, man-aging to get the default judgment dismissed.

Ramirez oversaw the OPEC nation’s oil industry for a decade as oil minister and president of its national oil company, PDVSA. But he angrily fell out with fellow socialist Nicolas Maduro while serving as the Venezuelan president’s ambas-sador to the United Nations. After being removed, he went into exile in Europe.

Harvest had alleged that starting in 2012, it refused a $10 million bribe demand from a Florida-based oil consultant who said he was acting in the name of Ramirez. The company had reached an agreement to sell its stake in a joint venture with PDVSA for $725m to Indonesia’s Pertamina.

Warding off virusMen wear face masks as they walk by a mural in downtown Caracas yesterday, the government eased a nationwide lockdown.

Colombia may participatein more virus vaccine trialsREUTERS — BOGOTA

Colombia is in discussions to join other phase three clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine, the health minister said on Tuesday, and will not reverse an end to its national quarantine.

The government said on Monday that Colombia, which has nearly 552,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and is fin-ishing more than five months of lockdown at the end of August, would participate in trials with Johnson & Johnson.

“We are also talking with other companies about the pos-sibility of holding clinical trials,” Health Minister

Fernando Ruiz said in a tele-phone interview. He could not name the companies because of confidentiality restrictions.

The price per vaccine dose is still uncertain, Ruiz said, but Colombia is estimating a cost of $20 and investment of some 1.5 trillion pesos ($390 m to ini-tially vaccinate health workers and other high-risk people.

“Our strategy is to look for multilateral mechanisms where countries get together to buy and that ensures coverage for 20 percent of the population,” Ruiz said. “Colombia has to be a careful buyer because it’s not a country with unlimited resources.”

Melania Trump offers sympathy on virus, racial sufferingREUTERS — WASHINGTON

First Lady Melania Trump offered sympathy for victims of the coronavirus pandemic and a plea for racial understanding in a Republican convention speech on Tuesday aimed directly at the women voters who have abandoned US Pres-ident Donald Trump.

On the convention’s second day, the speech’s warm tone was out of step with a Repub-lican gathering that featured harsh rhetoric about Demo-cratic challenger Joe Biden and sometimes apocalyptic warnings about the dangers of Democratic governance.

Trump’s wife acknowledged the pain of the pandemic in sharp contrast to most other speakers at the party’s national convention, notably her

husband, assailed by Democrats for his lack of solace during a US health crisis that has killed more than 178,000 people.

“I want to acknowledge the fact that since March, our lives have changed drastically,” Melania Trump told a crowd seated in the White House Rose Garden, the president in the front row. “My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one.” “And my prayers are with those who are ill or suffering. I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless. I want you to know: You’re not alone.”

With opinion polls showing Trump shedding support among college-educated women turned off by his combative style, Melania Trump and other women featured on Tuesday appeared to be trying to sway the critical voting bloc ahead of the

November 3 presidential election.The first lady reflected on the

racial unrest that has swept the country in the months since the death in May of a Black man, George Floyd, under the knee of a white policeman in Minnesota. Protests flared anew this week after a Black man was shot and left paralysed by police in Wisconsin.

“I urge people to come together in a civil manner so we can work and live up to our standard American ideals,” she said. “I also ask people to stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice and never make assumptions based on the color of a person’s skin.” The speech by Melania Trump, whose 2016 convention address was marred by plagiarism of lines from a 2008 Michelle Obama speech, capped a day when Republicans sought to

reshape the narrative around the economy by largely ignoring millions of jobs lost to the coro-navirus pandemic.

Trump, 74, still scores well in opinion polls on the economy, even as approval of his handling of the pandemic and other issues has plunged.

An array of officials and eve-ryday Americans cited Trump’s efforts to loosen economic reg-ulations, put “America First” in trade deals and preserve reli-gious freedom as reasons to back him against Biden, 77.

“Our economic choice is very clear. Do you want eco-nomic health, prosperity, opportunity and optimism, or do you want to turn back to the dark days of stagnation, recession and pessimism?” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said.

The storm, already a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, was about 465km southeast of Galveston, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 185km per hour.

The committee recommended boosting coordination between the chamber and the Single Window to identify the most important services offered by the chamber which can be provided through the Single Window.

BUSINESSPAGE | 14 PAGE | 14

13THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020

France will erase

cost of virus

recovery from debt

pile by 2025

Qatar can play vital

role in Sri Lanka’s

strategic expansion,

says EDB chief

Qatar’s monthly trade surplus for July up 6.6% at QR6.3bnTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar’s monthly foreign mer-chandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, showed a surplus of QR6.3bn in July 2020, registering an increase of nearly QR400m, or 6.6 percent, compared to June 2020.

When compared on yearly basis, the July trade surplus was down by QR6.9bn, or 52.3 percent compared to the corre-sponding month in the previous year (July 2019), preliminary figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) show.

In July 2020, the total exports of goods (including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports) amounted to about QR13.6bn, showing a decrease of 38.8 percent com-pared to July 2019; and an increase of 6.9 percent compared to June 2020.

On the other hand, the imports of goods in July 2020 amounted to around QR7.4bn, showing a decrease of 19.5 percent over July 2019. However, on a month-on-month (M-o-M) basis the imports increased by 7.1

percent compared to June 2020. The year-on-year (July 2020 to July 2019) decrease in total exports was mainly due to lower exports of Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons (LNG, condensates, propane, butane, and others) reaching QR7.8bn approximately in July 2020, i.e. a decrease of 41.9 percent, Petroleum oils & oils from bituminous minerals (crude) reaching QR2.3bn nearly, decreased by 39.7 percent, and decrease in the Petroleum oils & oils from bituminous minerals (not crude) reaching QR1.2bn, decreased by 41 percent.

In July 2020, China was at the top of the countries of destination of Qatar’s exports with close to QR2.8bn, a share of 20.6 percent of total exports, followed by Japan with almost QR2bn and a share of 15 percent, and India with about QR1.7bn, a share of 12.2 percent.

During July 2020, the group of “Turbojets, Turbopropellers & Other Gas Turbines; Parts Thereof” was at the top of the imported group of commodities, with QR600m, showing a decrease of 29.9 percent com-pared to July 2019.

Nearly 58% of businesses in Qatar aware of new tax rules: PwC studyMOHAMMAD SHOEBTHE PENINSULA

The Transfer Pricing (TP) land-scape in the Middle East region has changed and evolved signif-icantly over the last 12 months. And more than half of the busi-nesses in Qatar are aware of the new rules related to transfer pricing, noted a latest survey on transfer pricing by a leading consulting firm.

In line with many other countries of the region, the results of the survey in Qatar also demonstrate a high level of awareness of the new rules among relevant professionals. However, the findings of the study also suggest that in many cases, impact assessments have yet to occur in the country, according to the PwC’s Middle East Transfer Pricing Survey 2020.

The combination of extensive new compliance requirements, a refresh of business models (also pushed by COVID-19) and TP controversies means that today TP in the Middle East is no longer a tax related afterthought, but instead,

has become a fundamental pillar of tax and business strategy for most groups.

Last year, the region has seen key developments in this field around the GCC, including in Qatar, Jordan, and Oman among others. To assess these changes and their impact on businesses, PwC has conducted a survey of over 120 finance and tax professionals globally who deal with a taxable presence for their businesses in the Middle East in positions ranging from tax managers to C-suite execu-tives in various industries. 53 percent of respondents work in organisations headquartered in the Middle East, 20 percent in Europe and 17 percent in North America. The survey took place between February and June 2020 taking into account views on COVID-19’s impact on TP.

“Qatar’s results demonstrate a high level of awareness of the new rules among relevant pro-fessionals. However, our findings revealed that in many cases, impact assessments have yet to occur. As we continue to adapt post COVID-19, TP is playing an integral role from a finance, tax

and business perspective,” said PwC in a statement released yesterday.

Qatar’s recent implemen-tation of the Country by Country Reporting rules that have been in place globally since 2016, has increased the importance of these rules for groups operating in the region. New and updated economic substance and TP reg-ulations in the Middle East, pressure from the economic impact of COVID-19, and new global developments, have forced TP functions to prioritise TP actions accordingly, creating an opportunity for businesses to revisit their TP processes. Afterall, TP arrangements are underpinned by well-defined and implemented processes, where TP technology is expected to play a significant role.

The results reflect the fact that 93 percent of businesses feel that TP as a concept is either important or very important to their group; and although, 81 percent of respondents prepare TP documentation, the approach used varies significantly. Addi-tionally, 53 percent of respondents expect there to be

some changes to their TP pol-icies or the introduction of new transactions due to COVID-19.

Taking a closer look at the responses from Qatar, overall, 58 percent of groups in the country were aware of the new rules in the country, with 31 percent having already assessed the impact on their business. However, 42 percent, a signif-icant portion, were unsure of the rules.

As deadlines approach, the General Tax Authority expects all relevant documentation to be submitted in the first year of implementation. As such, PwC recommends that taxpayers in Qatar carry out a review of the new rules as soon as possible to ensure compliance.

Mohamed Serokh, PwC Tax Partner & Middle East Transfer Pricing Leader, PwC Middle East, said: “In 2020, businesses across the region, as the rest of the world, are trying to navigate uncertainty and adapt to a new normal and the subject of TP now plays an integral part of this process from a finance, tax and u l t i m a t e l y b u s i n e s s perspective.”

QC committee reviews adding new electronic services to 'Single Window'THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Chamber’s (QC) Regis-tration and Membership Com-mittee recently held its third meeting to discuss mechanisms of updating members’ database.

QC General Manager Saleh bin Hamad Al Sharqi, who is also the committee chairman, presided over the meeting, which discussed activating the electronic linking between the Chamber and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) to remove the cancelled com-panies from the database, in addition to add new companies and update a joint database of commercial sectors between the ministry and the chamber.

The meeting was also attended by Saleh bin Faraj Al Marri, Assistant Director of the Commercial Registration and Licenses Department at the MoCI, and Mohamed Hamad Al

Nuaimi, Director of the Single Window, and members of the Committee from the Chamber.

The meeting reviewed the possibility of adding the cham-ber’s electronic services to the Single Window, so that these services will be easily available for the chamber’s members, and in a way that contributes to achieving Qatar e-Government 2020 Strategy.

The committee recom-mended boosting coordination between the chamber and the Single Window to identify the most important services offered by the chamber which can be provided through the Single Window.

During the event, it was also recommended to update the members’ data, creating a tech-nological environment that sup-ports the electronic link between the chamber and the ministry, as well as studying the

conditions and possibilities of providing the chamber’s

services to the institutions that do not have a commercial

registry and have a commercial license, and those with

professions and other activities whose work requires providing services from the chamber.

It was agreed that the com-mittee would hold a monthly meeting to follow up all issues related to company registration and classification according to their economic sectors, devel-oping e-services and enhancing cooperation between both sides in this regard.

Saleh bin Hamad Al Sharqi (left), Qatar Chamber Director-General; and Saleh bin Faraj Al Marri, Assistant Director of the Commercial Registration and Licenses Department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, during the meeting held at the QC headquarters, recently.

Power International Holding partners with SAP on digital transformationTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Power International Holding (PIH), one of Qatar’s largest con-glomerates, has entered into partnership with global tech company SAP in its digital trans-formation programme, taking part in Qatar’s diversified eco-nomic growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

PIH, which started in building contracting nearly four decades ago, has now expanded into a highly successful con-glomerate with 28 companies and 40 brands across five sectors including general contracting, real estate development, agri-culture and food industries, life-style, and general services. However, diversification and rapid growth create significant business and operational chal-lenges. Thanks to its digital transformation with SAP and channel partner LTI, PIH has integrated 16 different Enterprise

Resource Planning (ERP) systems to gain full visibility and real time business insights.

“We truly believe in embracing a comprehensive digital transformation that will gear the group to perform future big leaps, becoming data-driven

makes us future ready,” said Ramez Al Khayyat, Vice Chairman and Group CEO at PIH.

He added: “PIH is an entre-preneurial company that is growing extremely fast, and there is no limit to our ambitions.

Our aim is to be the model con-glomerate, and with SAP we now have the flexibility to expand and diversify into more sectors, and the right infrastructure in place if we wish to acquire, divest, or spin off any of our businesses into separate listed companies

in the future.”As part of its 3-year digital

transformation, PIH is devel-oping a future-proof system that can provide a common framework across all its current businesses but with the flexibility to move into new industries as the company continues to expand. PIH is running on the SAP S/4HANA real-time business suite, the SAP SuccessFactors human capital management suite, and the SAP Ariba pro-curement solution.

“In Qatar, every part of the business needs to be more effi-cient, responsive and agile, par-ticularly in the post COVID-19 world,” said Mazen Raad, Man-aging Director at SAP Qatar.

Raad added: “PIH is showing best practices in how Qatar’s con-glomerates can run in real-time to drive new digital business models, leverage procurement innovations to maintain business continuity, and cater for Qatar’s

growing needs”Using SAP S/4HANA means

that PIH now has one ERP system across every business with harmonised processes and a single chart of accounts. PIH has become data-driven from top to bottom, with easy access to information.

Data can now flow automat-ically from everywhere, such as Internet of Things assets and point-of-sale systems, straight into the SAP systems, and eve-rything that happens across the company can be seen on dashboards.

Jasim Abdul Rahman, Group Chief Information Officer at PIH, said: “Our goal is to become an intelligent enterprise, a digital-first, data-driven company that has the flexibility to evolve, diversify and grow. SAP has the right capabilities and roadmap in place and shares our purpose of adding value to society for a better lifestyle”.

FROM LEFT: Ramez Al Khayyat, Vice-Chairman and Group CEO at Power International Holding; Mazen Raad, Managing Director at SAP Qatar; and Jasim Abdul Rahman, Group Chief Information Officer at Power International Holding.

14 THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020BUSINESS

The French government will unveil details of the post-pandemic rescue plan to haul the €2.3 trillion economy out of its deepest slump since World War Two on September 3.

France will erase cost of virus recovery from debt pile by 2025REUTERS — PARIS

France will erase the €100bn ($117.89bn) cost of its economic recovery plan from its debt pile by 2025, Prime Minister Jean Castex said yesterday.

Castex said the recovery plan would focus on supporting com-panies and production rather than spurring demand.

“The recovery plan should not weigh on public finances, quite the contrary,” Castex told the Medef employers’ federa-tion’s annual end-of-summer conference.

The French government will unveil details of the post-pan-demic rescue plan to haul the €2.3 trillion economy out of its deepest slump since World War Two on September 3.

The government has already said money will be pumped into creating jobs, especially for young people, and training for those who lost their jobs during an unprecedented recession.

Some €30bn will target investment in tackling climate change.

Earlier Castex reiterated a government promise that taxes would not be increased to help finance the recovery stimulus and that planned cuts to business taxes would be maintained.

France will receive 40 billion euros in European Union sub-sidies to meet the initial cost of the recovery.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex (centre) reacts next to French Employers’ association (Medef) President Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux after he delivered his speech during the MEDEF union summer forum “La Rencontre des Entrepreneurs de France, LaREF”, at the Paris Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, yesterday.

South Africa’s central bank expects economy to shrink 40.1%BLOOMBERG

South Africa’s economy probably contracted by an annualized 40.1 percent in the second quarter, according to central bank forecasts.

The monetary policy committee used that estimate for the quarterly drop in gross domestic product at its July meeting, where it cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, the Pretoria-based Reserve Bank said in an emailed response to ques-tions. That compares with a forecast for a 32.6 percent contraction shown in its June 29 annual report and will be the biggest decline since at least 1990.

The contraction in the second quarter is mainly due to strict lockdown measures to contain the coronavirus that resulted in plunging pro-duction and demand for goods and services, and a decrease in income and employment levels, the

central bank said. Supply chains were disrupted as the nation’s trading partners were also impacted by the pandemic.

South Africa shut down industries from March 27 to limit the spread of the virus, with almost all activity except essential services halted for five weeks. The restrictions were eased from May 1, allowing the phased reo-pening of some businesses and sectors. Still, many com-panies have closed down per-manently and some of those that resumed operations are still limited as to which services they may offer.

The Reserve Bank said in July that the economy may contract 7.3 percent this year. The projections used at MPC meeting that month show GDP will expand on a quar-terly basis in the three months through September, which means the technical recession will be over after four quarters.

Britain's economy loses £22bn as virus ravages tourism: StudyAFP — LONDON

Britain’s economy will lose about £22bn ($29bn, €24bn) this year on the coronavirus-induced collapse of global travel, which could imperil three million jobs, an industry body forecast yesterday.

International visitor spending could plunge by 78 percent from 2019, equating to a loss of £60m per day or £420m a week, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicted in a key report.

“Travellers and tourists are staying away from the UK in droves because of con-tinuing uncertainty around travel restrictions designed to curb the spread of COVID-19,” the WTTC stated.

It continued: “The severe impact on UK travel and tourism is laid bare by WTTC as the economic fallout from coronavirus continues to burn its way through the sector.

“Nearly three million jobs in the UK supported by travel and tourism are at risk of being lost in a ‘worst case’ scenario mapped out by WTTC economic modelling.” The nation’s economy shrank by one fifth in the second quarter, more than any European neighbour, as the lockdown plunged the country into its deepest recession on record. Tourists remain reluctant to visit

because Britain is the European country worst hit by the coronavirus.

Travel has also been dis-couraged after the UK gov-ernment recently re-imposed quarantine on those returning from nations including Austria, Croatia, France, the Netherlands and Spain.

The WTTC added yes-terday that London has been hardest hit by the travel col-lapse because around 85 percent of tourist spending in the capital is from foreign visitors.

“The economic pain and suffering caused to millions of households across the UK, who are dependent upon Travel & Tourism for their livelihoods, is evident from the latest figures,” added WTTC President Gloria Guevara (pictured) in the report.

“The lack of international travel caused by the

pandemic could wipe out more than £22bn from the UK economy alone, from which it could take years to recover.

“It could also threaten London’s position as one of the world’s premier hubs for business and leisure travel which could see other desti-nations take over.

“We urgently need to replace stop-start quarantine measures with rapid, com-prehensive and cost-effective test and trace programmes at departure points across the country.”

British tourism’s lobbying body VisitBritain had forecast Tuesday that the number of foreign tourists will plummet by 73 percent in 2020 to 11 million people on the back of the pandemic, which has grounded aircraft worldwide.

International visitor spending could plunge by 78 percent from 2019, equating to a loss of £60m per day or £420m a week, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicted in a key report.

Qatar can play vital role in Sri Lanka’s strategic expansion, says EDB chiefTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar can play a vital role in Sri Lanka’s strategic expansion as the South Asian country seeks to diversify its markets in the Middle East region and beyond, Sri Lanka Exports Development Board’s Director General Chitranjali Dissanayake has said at a webinar on the ‘Bilateral and Synergistic Opportunities between Qatar and Srilanka’ hosted by Doha Bank yesterday.

During the event, Dissa-nayake spoke on the topic of ‘Potential exports from Sri Lanka to Qatar and the Country’s Export Strategy’, while reiter-ating that the two countries have had cordial diplomatic relations for the past four decades.

“Sri Lanka aims to be a prominent and efficient trade hub in the South Asian region. Currently, Sri Lanka exports agriculture products to Qatar. Imports include plastic and petroleum. Export opportunities for Sri Lanka to Qatar also include agriculture, fisheries and apparel. Joint venture opportu-nities in Qatar can also be looked,” she added.

Doha Bank CEO Dr. R.

Seetharaman also highlighted the bilateral relationship between the two countries. He said: “The Sri Lankan economy is expected to contract by 0.5 percent in 2020. Sri Lanka Vision 2025 has given thrust on FDI and exports and to improve per-capita income. Sri Lanka can support Qatar in the food sector. Qatar Airways and Sri Lankan Airlines also announced a significant codeshare expansion in December 2019”.

Also speaking during the event, Sanjay Mohottala,

Director General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, said that Sri Lanka which is going through interesting period for investments, seeks to have 6-7 percent GDP growth in 10 years.

He added that the country is a global hub for hotels chains, and has a skilled workforce where education and reskilling is vital. “Srilanka has cost effective labour and has the lowest tax rate for companies. The country has much higher quality of life index in South Asia and provides connectivity to

South Asia, Africa and East Asia,” said Mohottala.

Dr. Chandranath Amar-asekara, Director of Economic Research Department at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, high-lighted the ‘Macroeconomic developments and debt service obligations and financing arrangements’ in the country. He said Sri Lanka was able to contain the COVID-19 pan-demic due to people-centric policies.

He added that exports have seen a V-shaped recovery, while imports have witnessed decline due to restrictions imposed. “The economy is seeing a narrow trade deficit. Domestic production is improving. Workers’ remit-tances is a huge chunk of the economy at $7bn annually. It witnessed a dip in March to May 2020. Tourism sector is the most affected sector. The exchange rate has stabilised since April 2020. Official reserves reached $7bn by the end of July 2020. Inflation is under control and by the fourth quarter of 2020, we expect the economic activity to accelerate and go back to normalcy by next year,” he added.

Doha Bank CEO Dr R Seetharaman (top left), and Sri Lanka Exports Development Board’s Director General Chitranjali Dissanayake, with other officials during the webinar, yesterday.

US blacklists Chinese individuals, firms for South China Sea workAFP — WASHINGTON

The United States yesterday announced sanctions and restrictions on two dozen Chinese companies and associated officials for taking part in building artificial islands in disputed waters in the South China Sea.

The 24 state-owned firms include subsidiaries of con-struction giant China Com-munications Construction, telecommunications firms and a unit of the China Ship-building Group.

The move was the latest step in Washington’s efforts to pressure Beijing over its military buildup in areas of the South China Sea where sovereignty is contested by several countries.

The US Commerce Department said the com-panies “enabled China to construct and militarise dis-

puted outposts in the South China Sea.” “Since 2013, the PRC (People’s Republic of China) has used its state-owned enterprises to dredge and reclaim more than 3,000 acres on disputed features in the South China Sea, desta-bilising the region, trampling on the sovereign rights of its neighbors, and causing untold environmental dev-astation,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured) said in a statement.

The 24 companies were placed on the Commerce Department’s “Entity List” which allows it to block exports of US goods and materials to them.

In addition, Pompeo said individuals associated with the South China Sea opera-tions will be unable to obtain visas to visit the United States. The names of the individuals were not made available.

VW to test fleet of self-driving cars in China’s newest EV hubBLOOMBERG

Volkswagen plans to roll out its first fleet of self-driving test cars in Hefei, an eastern Chinese city that’s emerging as a hot spot for the nation’s electric vehicle ambitions.

Ten Audi e-trons, VW’s premium electric SUV model, will be deployed in the city’s Haiheng district in a com-munity that’s home to about 400,000 people and about 80 kilometers (50 miles) of roads with intelligent car-friendly infrastructure. Residents will be able to hail one of the Audis using a VW app.

“This is our first-ever pilot project in China” that seeks to link the automotive, electrical and digital worlds to the benefit of consumers, Volkswagen China Executive Vice President Weiming Soh (pictured) said. The trial, dubbed Project Tiger, may be replicated in other cities although there isn’t any specific timetable, he said.

The venerable German group is doubling down on a market that’s struggling to revive from a coronavirus-induced slump. Electric vehicle sales in Europe exceeded Chinese EV sales in the first half for the first time since 2015.

China is nevertheless a critical, albeit increasingly crowded, market for the devel-opment of autonomous-driving technology.

Its scores of new auton-omous-vehicle developers

include the Renault-Nissan-Mit-subishi Alliance-backed WeRide. Some of the nation’s biggest names in tech, including Baidu, also are pushing into the space.

Government Relations Hefei, in Anhui province, has also been positioning itself as the place for new-age carmakers to be. Chinese EV manufacturer NIO got a $1bn investment from the city in April, while VW is seeking a 50 percent stake in Anhui Jian-ghuai Automobile Group Holdings and an interest in battery maker Guoxuan High Tech. NIO also has a factory in Hefei, which it operates with Jianghuai.

Jianghuai’s listed unit, JAC Motor, is VW’s smallest partner in China. It has bigger collabo-rations in the country with SAIC Motor and China FAW Group.

VW selected Hefei due to its already close relationship with JAC and the city’s commitment to new driver technologies, Soh said.

“We are very close with the Hefei government. They have the desire to do this and we jumped in,” he said. “Imagine if you want to build cars, you’re going to need a lot of suppliers, and that creates employment and so on. If we pick it as our base, we’re starting to do that.”

Along with the test fleet, VW announced five planks to underpin the project: self-driving system, battery-electrified vehicle, fleet operations, mobility platform and services, and content.

Thursday 27 August 2020 To advertise contact: Tel: 44557 857 or email: adv@pen.com.qa

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18 THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020SPORT

Serena falls, Djokovic reaches quartersAFP — NEW YORK

An out-of-gas Serena Williams crashed out of the Western & Southern Open, losing in three sets to 13th seeded Maria Sakkari 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 in New York.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner finished with a whimper at the end of the two-hour, 17-minute match as Sakkari clinched the victory with a backhand down the line that a dejected Williams just watched without making an effort to move.

At other points in the match, Williams flung her racket into the spectator-less stands and rebuked the chair umpire for slapping her with a time violation.

Sakkari, of Greece, advances to the quarter-finals of the no-spectator event where she will face Johanna Konta who cruised past Vera Zvonareva in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.

The joint WTA and ATP tournament was moved from Cincinnati to New York where the same quarantine bubble will house the US Open starting on

August 31. It was the second straight two-hour-plus match for Williams who at 38 was trying to become the oldest winner of the event. She still holds the record, having won this event in 2015 at age 33.

Williams survived a scare in her opening match, prevailing in a two hour, 48-minute mar-athon over qualifier Arantxa Rus. It was her longest match since 2012.

“It is hard to play the way I have been playing and stay pos-itive,” Williams said.

“To play nine hours in a week is too much. I don’t usually play like that. It is all new for me.”

Williams made seven double faults and won just 66 percent of her first serve points against Sakkari.

After losing the second set in a tiebreaker she tossed her racket over her shoulder into the empty stands behind her.

Williams, who has lost her cool at events in New York before, also admonished chair umpire, Aurelie Tourte of France, during a changeover for calling a time violation for slow play.

On the men’s side, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic won his 20th straight match of 2020 with a hard-fought 6-2, 6-4 victory over Tennys Sandgren.

Djokovic, who captured the Australian Open in February, needed six match points to tough out the straight sets victory and reach the quarter-finals of the hardcourt

tournament. Djokovic breezed through the final game by winning four straight points, closing it out with a cross-court forehand winner to take it in 88 minutes on Tuesday.

“All in all it was a great per-formance,” said Djokovic.

“I felt better and played better than last night. I am going in a great direction.”

American Sandgren, who is ranked 55th in the world, made the Serb work for the victory as he survived five match points in the ninth game of the second set.

Djokovic advances to the quarters where he will play German Jan-Lennard Struff, who defeated seventh seed David Goffin 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Djokovic had pulled out of doubles on Sunday with pain in his neck, but did not appear to be bothered by the injury against Sandgren.

Also on the men’s side, hard-serving Canadian Milos Raonic routed Brit Andy Murray 6-2, 6-2 and third seeded Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, swept past Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-3.

In other women’s action, fourth seeded Naomi Osaka rolled over Dayana Yastremska in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to advance. Osaka, who is the only top 10 player left in the women’s draw, clinched the victory when Yastremska was called for a foot fault while serving on match point.

Japan’s Osaka blasted eight aces, won 83 percent of her first serve points and broke Yast-remska’s serve four times.

Osaka moves to the quarter-finals where she will face Anett Kontaveit, who defeated Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-3.

Yastremska, who at 20 was the youngest player left in the field, made six double faults and won just 38 percent of her second serves.

Maria Sakkari hits the ball against Serena Williams during their Western & Southern Open match in New York. INSET: Serena reacts during the match.

Quitting captaincy never crossed my mind, says Pakistan's AzharREUTERS — SOUTHAMPTON

Pakistan’s Azhar Ali (pictured) came in for criticism over his form and leadership during their 1-0 series defeat in England but the 35-year-old said the thought of stepping down as captain never entered his mind.

Pakistan dominated much of the opening test in Man-chester but England pulled off a memorable three-wicket victory by riding a 139-run sixth-wicket partnership between Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes.

The hosts’ dra-matic win proved decisive as the next two matches ended in draws.

Pace great Wasim Akram was among those who felt Azhar’s p a s s i v e

captaincy allowed Woakes and Buttler to snatch victory in Manchester.

“There were tough times when we lost the first Test, and it was blamed entirely on me,” Azhar told a virtual media con-ference when asked if he con-sidered stepping down as captain following the criticism.

“It was not easy but I focused only on how we could turn the series around, with my own performance and per-formance from the entire team. No such thought was in my

consideration.” After managing 0, 18

and 20 in the first two Tests, Azhar scored an unbeaten 141 in the drawn third match, though it was not enough to avoid follow-on.

“The first Test match cost us, of course. If

we’d won that match, we’d be

sitting here as s e r i e s winners,” he said.

Mickelson seals 4-shot lead at Tour ChampionsREUTERS — LOS ANGELES

Phil Mickelson is in the driving seat to win on his PGA Tour Champions debut after the American surged to a four-shot lead heading into the final round of the Charles Schwab Series, which he is using to prepare for next month’s US Open.

Hall of Famer Mickelson has won 44 events on the regular PGA Tour, including five major championships, and qualified for the senior circuit having turned 50 in June.

Mickelson followed up his opening round of 61 with a 64 on Tuesday to go 17-under for the tournament in Ridgedale, Missouri, with Rod Pampling and Tim Petrovic trailing him going into the final round at Ozarks National.

Mickelson fired five birdies in seven holes on the front nine before a lone bogey immediately after the turn. But he recovered with three more birdies in the next four holes.

Anderson has raised the bar, says Australia great Glenn McGrath

REUTERS — SOUTHAMPTON

England seamer James Anderson has raised the bar for fast bowlers around the world, much like India great Sachin Tendulkar did for batsmen, former Australia paceman Glenn McGrath said.

Anderson, playing in his 156th match, became the first seamer to capture 600 wickets in the game’s longest format, as England settled for a draw against Pakistan after a rain-hit final day of the third Test on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old’s feat left him fourth in the list of leading test wicket-takers, with only spin bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (708) and Anil Kumble (619) ahead of him.

“He’s set the bar a bit like Sachin has,” McGrath, who previously held the record for most wickets by a pace bowler with 563, told the BBC. “No one is

ever going to catch Sachin in Test cricket for the amount of runs he’s scored (15,921) and the matches he’s played (200). Jimmy’s done the same for fast bowling.

“I didn’t have the skill level Jimmy has. When he’s swinging that ball, both ways, in control, there’s no one better.”

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan said they were “witnessing true greatness”.

“I’d be lying if I said we thought we had a bowler that would get this many wickets. We thought we had a bowler of great promise and skill.

Stuart Broad said he had been inspired by Anderson throughout his career.

“He’s a role model to follow for every English cricketer... He’s always searching to be better and better and 600 won’t be the stopping of him."James Anderson

tween Jos Buttler and Chrisoakes.

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George leads Clippers to win; Nuggets stay aliveAFP — LOS ANGELES

Paul George says his struggles are over as he scored a team-high 35 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a domi-nating 154-111 play-off victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

George rebounded from three sub-par performances to combine offensively with Kawhi Leonard and give the Clippers a 3-2 series lead.

George opened up after the game about his struggles with coping inside the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida where the players have to adhere to strict health and safety measures and no spectators are allowed into the arena.

George says after being in a “dark place” he has finally got rid of the demons and is ready to help the Clippers with their playoff run.

“The bubble got the best of me. I was in a dark place,” said George, who spoke with a team therapist before game five. “I wasn’t here, I checked out.

“I was just in a bad place. I found my way. I am back and I look forward to the rest of this run. A shout out to people that stood behind me and were in my corner.”

George said he is now using mental tricks to raise his level of play.

The Clippers shot a spec-tacular 63.1 percent from the floor and 62.9 percent (22-of-35) from beyond the arc.

Leonard finished with 32 points and Montrezl Harrell added 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for Los Angeles.

Mavericks top scorer Luka Doncic finished with just 22 points after scoring 43 and nailing the game winner in overtime in game four.

Tim Hardaway scored 19 points and Trey Burke had 15 for the Mavericks, who were without star forward Kristaps Porzingis.

Also, Jamal Murray scored 42 points and Nikola Jokic had 31 as the Denver Nuggets avoided elimination with a 117-107 victory over the Utah Jazz in game five of their playoff series.

Denver looked tired in game three, but they bounced

back nicely in games four and five and now trail three games to two in the best-of-seven Western Conference series.

Canada’s Murray scored 33 of his points in the second half, taking over the game with four minutes to go and the score even at 101-101.

Michael Porter had 15 points and Jerami Grant added 13 for the Nuggets, who swept the regular season series over the Jazz.

The Nuggets also figured out how to slow down Donovan Mitchell, who fin-ished with 30 points on Tuesday.

The third-year guard scored a career-high 57 points in the overtime loss in game one and was averaging 39.5 points heading into game five.

Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson had 17 points each, and Rudy Gobert had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Utah. Joe Ingles added 13 points, and Royce O’Neale scored 10.

With 80 seconds to go in the fourth, Murray drained a step back jumper to put the Nuggets ahead 110-101.

Mitchell knocked down a three-pointer with 18 seconds left, but Grant helped seal the victory by hitting four free throws in the final 14 seconds.

Western ConferenceDenver 117 Utah 107

(Utah leads series 3-2)LA Clippers 154 Dallas 111

(Los Angeles leads series 3-2)

NBA PLAY-OFF

19THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020 SPORT

Hamilton favourite to keep the party going at SpaREUTERS – STAVELOT

Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton heads to Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix in the form of his life and favourite to keep the

party going for champions Mercedes.

The Briton, who leads Red

Bull’s Max Verstappen

b y 3 7 points, has

w o n four of s i x

races so far and is fast approaching a seventh title and Michael Schumacher’s record 91 wins. Hamilton has 88 victories so far.

A decision to ban engine power unit ‘party’ modes in qual-ifying has been delayed until the next race in Monza in a further boost for his chances at Spa-Francorchamps.

“I’m always talking about perfect races and that was one of them,” said Hamilton after winning the previous round in Spain. “I think it just felt like I was at a high. I think I’m just in my

highest form.” Sunday’s race marks the start of the third ‘triple-header’ run of three consecutive races after a weekend off.

Verstappen will be doing all he can to slow his Mercedes rival’s charge at a race that counts as home territory after the Dutch Grand Prix was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The high speed track may not play to his car’s strengths but after a surprise win at the 70th Anniversary race in Sil-verstone, the 22-year-old Dutch driver is not ruling any-thing out in a race held without

spectators like all the others.“We don’t expect this race will

be our favourite this year in terms of the layout suiting our package, but we will be pushing hard as we have done at every race,” said the only non-Mercedes winner so far this season.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc faces a difficult weekend on more than one level.

The Monegasque took his first F1 win at Spa last year while mourning the death of his friend Anthoine Hubert, who was killed in a Formula Two race on the Saturday.

“It will be difficult to return to this track and he will be in our thoughts all weekend,” said the 22-year-old, whose hopes may well rest on the capricious Spa weather.

“In terms of expectations, it will be tougher for us in terms of performance this time around as we do not have the same level of competitiveness as we did in 2019.”

Williams, the only team yet to score points this year, will also be in the spotlight after announcing their sale to US-based Dorilton Capital last week.

Top clubs circle as Messi calls time at BarcelonaAFP – BARCELONA

Lionel Messi’s bombshell request to leave Barcelona is expected to spark a legal battle over a multi-million-dollar buy-out clause but also raises the question of which club could afford him in the heat of the coronavirus pandemic.

Messi’s priority has always been to be part of a “winning project” at Camp Nou, and newly-appointed sporting director Ramon Planes on Wednesday hailed the Argentinian a “winner” the Catalan club was working hard to keep.

As it stands, Messi is Barca’s record scorer and has been part of a team that has amassed four Champions League titles, 10 La Liga titles and six Copa del Rey trophies.

The 33-year-old’s latest season, however, was not only devoid of tro-phies (for the first time since 2008), it was also defined by chaos and ended in humiliation with a 8-2 Champions League quarter-final defeat by eventual champions Bayern Munich.

Messi, a six-time Ballon d’Or winner, has not asked for a transfer to put his feet up for the final years of his career. This is a considered move aimed at bol-stering his successes, and in one com-petition in particular.

The Champions League has become his obsession, which puts all of Europe’s super-clubs in contention and eliminates the less intensive, or more romantic, options, at least for now.

With a reported weekly salary of nearly €1m, those able both to afford Messi, and convince him, may only be Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, with Inter Milan a third, more distant option.

City would appear favourites but the club have always trodden carefully around the prospect of Messi. Their sporting staff, including coach Pep Guar-diola, sporting director Txiki Begiristain and chief executive Ferran Soriano, all have connections with Barcelona they are keen to respect.

For PSG, whose frustration in Europe has been comparable to City’s, even if they broke new ground by reaching last weekend’s final, Messi would also rep-resent a seismic addition to the Qatari project.

A Neymar-Messi-Kylian Mbappe front three would not be a difficult sell.

Staying at Barcelona remains a pos-sibility, however, particularly if under-

pressure president Josep Maria Bar-tomeu decides to resign.

But despite calls from fans and rival candidates, there is no suggestion yet that Bartomeu is considering his position.

Bartomeu’s new sporting director Planes, named in place of Eric Abidal a day after Quique Setien was sacked as manager following the Bayern defeat, said on Wednesday that Messi’s want-away demand was “a very important story”.

Planes added: “You have to have enormous respect for what Messi is and for his history.

“I think the future is positive. I am an optimist. We need experienced players, like Leo Messi... We are putting every effort into ensuring that the rela-tionship between Barca and Messi will continue. We are working internally to convince Leo.” Planes stressed that there was “not an argument between Messi and Barca -- neither deserves it”.

“We are working to make Barca a winner. There is no division within the club over Leo. Anyone who knows football wants him to stay here to win again. He’s a winner.”

Barcelona are understood to believe Messi’s release clause expired in June, and that he remains under contract until the end of the 2021 season.

“In principle, this clause expired on June 10, but the unusual nature of this season disrupted by the coronavirus opened the way for Messi to ask to be released from his contract now,” wrote Marca newspaper.

“It’s the first step towards opening negotiations over his departure, on the basis of which his release clause amounts to 700 million euros ($828m).” Messi joined Barcelona’s youth academy at the age of 13 and made his debut in 2004 as a 17-year-old, before going on to score a club-record 634 goals.

According to Spanish media, Messi met with new manager Ronald Koeman last week and told the Dutchman he currently saw himself “more out than in” at the club.

Koeman has vowed to “fight to put Barca back on top” and said at his unveiling he was hopeful Messi would remain at the club for several more years.

The Lisbon loss to Bayern, Barca’s heaviest in Europe, exposed an ageing team that Messi repeatedly had said was simply not good enough as his relations with the club hierarchy grew increas-ingly strained.

Fans want management out, not MessiREUTERS – BARCELONA

Angry Barcelona fans chanted for the resignation of the club president Josep Maria Bartomeu after captain Lionel Messi announced on Tuesday that he wished to leave the Catalan side.

“We love you, Messi stay, Messi stay!” and “Bartomeu resign!” chanted several hundred fans outside Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium on Tuesday night.

“It’s a huge outrage. I never thought this would ever happen ... you can take defeats in sports but I can’t handle Messi leaving,” said Oriol, 40.

“We will defend him until death. He is not the one to blame. The blame is on (Barcelona’s) board.”

Goals, records and trophies: Messi's glittering career

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Riders set for thrilling weekend at Longines Hathab grand finale

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

The in-form Big Tour points-leader Hamad Nasser Al Qadi will be up against his close rivals Faleh Suwead Al Ajami and Khalid Mohamed Al Emadi as riders head to the final leg of the Longines Hathab Equestrian Series.

The 12th leg of the popular series, which is on it's third season, will take place at the Qatar Equestrian Federation's Indoor Arena

from today.Hamad leads the

Big Tour with 180 points and will go

into the final round as a favourite.

H o w e v e r , with 30 points

up for grabs, the contest is still open for the rest of the pack with just seven points separating

the top four showjumpers.Al Qadi, who has been in

brilliant form in the recent rounds, winning three times and finished runner-up once in his last four outings, is just three points ahead of Al Ajami (177).

The 2019 Amir’s Sword winner is two points above Khalid (175) in the points table.

Salman Mohamed Al Emadi (173) is fourth, and both Khalid and Salman can make a difference at the top if they clinch a win this weekend.

The organisers of the Series, Qatar Equestrian Fed-eration and Al Shaqab – have done an excellent job in con-ducting 10th and 11th legs of the series in a safe envi-ronment while following the guidelines sanctioned by the Ministry of Public Health.

As the three-day affair begins today, overall titles of Medium and Small Tour cat-egories are also up for grabs.

In the Medium Tour, leader Mohamed Khalifa Al Baker has a tough fight on his hands as he will try to stave off a late challenge for the title from Mohamed Saeed Haidan.

Al Baker enjoys a four-point cushion over Haidan going into the final round, but the latter has been in imperious from since the resumption of Hathab, having won the last two rounds. Ghanim Nasser Al Qadi is third in the standings but a 10-point deficit to Al Baker makes his job difficult.

In the Small Tour, Khalifa Abdulla Al Khaldi (188.5) has a seven-point lead. He is fol-lowed by Mohamed Nasser

Al Qadi (181.5) and Mohamed Al Ghazali (178).

Today, the event begins with Small Tour class at 4pm, followed by Medium Tour at 6:45pm and Big Tour at 8:45pm.

Hathab Event Director Ali Al Rumaihi yesterday expressed his delight regarding the success of the previous two rounds and praised the level of the riders in the last two rounds despite them competing after a long break.

"Hathab has been a huge success despite the diffi-culties in organising the last three rounds. The organisers have achieved its goals set for the championship, the riders have performed exceptionally, which only shows their development in the last three years,” Al Rumaihi said.

LONGINES HATHAB SERIES: OVERALL STANDINGS

BIG TOUR: 1. Hamad Nasser Al Qadi 180 points; 2. Faleh Suwead Al Ajami 177; 3. Khalid Mohammed Al Emadi 175; 4. Salman Mohammed Al Emadi 173; 5. Nasser Al Ghazali 169MEDIUM TOUR: 1. Mohammed Khalifa Al Baker 188; 2. Mohammed Saeed Haidan 184; 3. Ghanim Nasser Al Qadi 178; 4. Mohammad Hazim Abara 174; 5. Alqaqa Adel Nassar 170SMALL TOUR: 1. Khalifa Abdulla Al Khaldi 188.5; 2. Mohamed Nasser Al Qadi 181.5; 3. Mohamed Al Ghazali 178; 4. Ali Mohammed Al Marri 161; 5. Abdulaziz Ghanim Al Nuaimi 158

AFP – BARCELONA

Lionel Messi was the teenage prodigy who blossomed into Barce-lona’s record scorer and is still operating at the highest level at 33.

After announcing he wants to leave the Catalan club, AFP Sport examines the career highlights of one of football’s all-time greats.

BARCA ACADEMYMessi, from Rosario in Argentina, was a diminutive 13-year-

old and suffering from growth hormone deficiency when he joined the academy at Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his $1,000-

a-month treatment.Despite severe homesickness at the outset, Messi rose

through the ranks and made his first-team debut aged 17 in 2004, becoming Barcelona’s youngest goal-scorer later that season.

OLYMPIC GOLDMessi helped Argentina to their second straight

men’s football gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, winning all six of their games and conceding just

two goals.Messi, playing in a team that included Javier

Mascherano and Angel di Maria, later described it as his most cherished title. But

Barcelona may never have allowed him to play if not for the intervention of newly appointed coach Pep Guardiola, who won Olympic gold with Spain in 1992.

BALLON D’ORMessi eclipsed Cristiano Ronaldo,

then newly arrived at Real Madrid, to be named the world’s best footballer by

a record margin in 2009.It capped a brilliant campaign where

he inspired Barcelona to the Champions League trophy, scoring nine goals and

sealing the 2-0 final victory over Manchester United with Barca’s second goal.

Guardiola’s Barcelona also won the Copa del Rey and La Liga, claiming the first treble in Spanish history. Messi picked up his sixth

Ballon d’Or, another record, last December.MULLER TIME

Messi enjoyed a sensational 2011-12, setting a La Liga record of 50 goals in a season and scoring 73 in all competitions, breaking Gerd Muller’s European record of 67.

GOALS, GOALS, GOALSMessi was just 24 when he broke Cesar Rod-

riguez’s 57-year-old club record of 232 goals, smashing a hat-trick past Granada in March 2012.

He has gone on to amass 634 for his club, including a record 444 in La Liga, and an unsur-passed 36 hat-tricks in the Spanish top flight.

700-UPAnother milestone fell when Messi scored

his 700th goal for club and country -- a cheeky Panenka penalty -- in a 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid in June.

Big Tour points-leader Hamad Nasser Al Qadi in action in this file photo.

SPORT | 18

Serena falls,

Djokovic reaches

quarters in

New York

SPORTTop clubs

circle as Messi

calls time at

Barcelona

SPORT | 19

THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2020

1.75QAR WATERMELON

Iran 1kg

بطيخ ايران

19.00QAR MilmaGhee 500ml

ملما السمن ٥٠٠ مل

5.00QAR Raisin gold

500gm

زبيب ٥٠٠غ

18.00QAR Cashew nut

Plain 500gm

جوز الكاجو ٥٠٠غ

3.25QAR Nestle milk cream

Can 160gm

نستله قشطة الحليب ١٦٠ جم

10.00QAR Eastern Turmeric 180gm

+coriander 180+chilli 180gm

ايستارن مسحوق كركم + كزبرة + فلفل ١٨٠ غ

19.50QAR Nirapara sortex matta

rice long grain 5kg

نيرابارا سورتكس أرز ماتا طويل حبة ٥ كجم

6.00QAR Onion

Small India 1kg

بصل صغير الهندي

15.00QAR

لوز ٥٠٠غ

AlmondPlain 500gm2.50Q

AR Cucumber

Iran 1kg

خيار ايران

6.00QAR Apple

Newzealand 1kg

التفاح نيوزالند

27AUGUST - 31AUGUST - 2020

Fans to be allowed at stadium for Ooredoo Cup semi-finals

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

The Qatar Stars League has decided to keep allowing fans at the Al Sadd Stadium, at the 2019-20 Ooredoo Cup matches, while following precautionary measures to ensure the safety and security of everyone .

The Ooredoo Cup semi-finals will be played at the Al Sadd Stadium on Saturday.

Al Rayyan, who fin-ished second behind champions Al Duhail in the QNB Stars League, will face Al Arabi at 16:00 in the first semi-final while Al Ahli meet Xavi-Hern-andez-coached Al Sadd at 19:00 in the second semi-final.

Fans can buy tickets only on the official website (tickets.qsl.qa).

2027 Asian Cup: Qatar hands over bid file at AFC headquarters in KLQNA – KUALA LUMPUR

The Asian Football Confeder-ation (AFC) yesterday received the Qatar Football Associa-tion’s (QFA) bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027, after Qatar’s Ambassador to Malaysia H E Fahad bin Mohammed Kafood visited the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur to officially submit the necessary bidding documen-tation. The Ambassador handed over the QFA file to the AFC Secretary-General.

Qatar, the reigning cham-pions of the AFC Asian Cup in 2019, are aiming to be the first Asian country to stage the Con-tinent’s premier national team competition for the third time having hosted previously in 1988 and 2011.

The Qatari file includes all the requirements for hosting conditions, supported by a great legacy in hosting tour-naments, and includes what sports facilities in Qatar will look like in the coming years and their full readiness to host any event after the FIFA World

Cup Qatar 2022.Qatar has a rich sports record in

hosting international, continental and regional tournaments, therefore hosting

the 2027 Asian Cup will be an extension of its successes recognised by everyone in the Asian continent, not to mention that it is preparing to receive the

largest football event in the world, which eve-ryone is expecting to be an exceptional World Cup in 2022, and work continues for hosting this event as planned, at the level of stadiums and infrastructure in the country.

Four other AFC Member Associations have also indicated their intentions to host Asia’s crown jewel in 2017.

The AFC Executive Committee had earlier agreed to provide future hosts for the AFC Asian Cup, beginning with the 2027 edition, with more preparation time ahead of the event as part of the AFC’s con-tinued commitment towards strengthening

its competitions.The host nation for the 19th edition

of the AFC Asian Cup will be announced next year.

Qatar’s Ambassador to

Malaysia, H E Fahad bin

Mohammed Kafood (right)

handing over the bid documents

to and official at the AFC House

in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.