AGENCIES — DOHA

US Secretary of State H E Antony Blinken has said that many countries have stepped up to help the evacuation and relocation efforts in Afghan-istan, but no country has done more than Qatar.

In a joint press conference with Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani, and US Secretary of Defence H E Lloyd Austin yes-terday, Blinken said Washington would continue to work with Qatar and other regional partners to evacuate US citizens and vul-nerable Afghans from Afghanistan.

“The strongest relationship that we and Qatar have built through this evacuation and relocation effort I know is going

to pay continued dividends across these so many other key areas in the months and years ahead,” Blinken said, Al Jazeera reported.

“What Qatar has done here – for Americans, for Afghans, for citizens of many other coun-tries – will be remembered for a long, long time,” he added.

Earlier yesterday, the two parties held a meeting that dealt with reviewing bilateral cooper-ation and following up on the latest security and political devel-opments in Afghanistan, as well as efforts made to enhance security and stability in it.

The US Secretaries of State and Defence expressed the United States of America’s thanks and appreciation to the State of Qatar for its effort and support of the peace process in

Afghanistan, and its pivotal role in facilitating the evacuation of US citizens, citizens of allied countries, and Afghan civilians, QNA reported.

Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah said: “We discussed

the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, evacuation efforts, and technical works needed for operating the airport in Kabul.”

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in the joint press conference, said that

the number of people who were evacuated through Qatar amounted to about 58,000 people, explaining that there are approximately 4,000 people currently going through the evacuation process. �P2

WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2021 www.thepeninsula.qa1 SAFAR - 1443 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 8738

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Al Baker lauds vaccine success as 'Shop Qatar'

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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, US Secretary of State H E Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defence H E Lloyd Austin during a press conference in Doha, yesterday.

QFA and SC host UEFA officials, discuss workers' welfareTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Football Association (QFA) and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) met with officials from UEFA – European foot-ball’s governing body–to outline Qatar’s progress on the road to

hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022.

The UEFA delegation included members of its workers’ rights working group, who were given an extensive overview of Qatar’s progress regarding workers’ welfare.

The SC outlined the various measures it had implemented over the past decade to protect workers, including numerous health and safety initiatives, the recruitment fee reim-bursement programme, inno-vative cooling workwear, and nutrition programmes, among

other special projects.QFA and SC representa-

tives also gave an overview of host country preparations. They led a visit to Ras Abu Aboud Stadium—the first fully dismountable tournament venue in FIFA World Cup history.

The 40,000-capacity stadium will be inaugurated during the FIFA Arab Cup, which will take place in Qatar later this year. The tournament will help Qatar fine-tune prep-arations ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which will kick off on November 21, 2022.

In addition to meetings with the QFA and the SC, UEFA members met representatives from the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO), the global trade union Building and Wood Worker’s International, and the National Human Rights Committee. �P3

Blinken: Qatar’s efforts in Afghanistan exceptional

The number of people who

were evacuated through

Qatar amounted to about

58,000 people. There are

approximately 4,000

people currently going

through the evacuation

process."

H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al ThaniDeputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Foreign Affairs

OFFICIAL NEWS

02 WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2021HOME

Amir sends congratulations to President of Brazil

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad

Al Thani and Prime Minister and

Minister of Interior H E Sheikh

Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz

Al Thani sent yesterday cables of

congratulations to President of the

Federative Republic of Brazil H E

Jair Bolsonaro on the anniversary

of his country’s Independence Day.

— QNA

Qatar participates

in GCC justice

ministries meeting

QNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar participated in the 23rd meeting of GCC Justice Ministers Undersecre-taries, which took place yesterday via video conference.

The State of Qatar was represented in the meeting by Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice for Real Estate Registration and Doc-umentation, Saeed Abdullah Al Suwaidi. The meeting dealt with a number of topics related to enhancing joint legal cooperation between GCC justice ministries.

Minister receives message from Sudan Transport MinisterTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti received a written message from Minister of Transport of the Republic of the Sudan, H E Mirghani Musa Hamad.

The message related to boosting coop-eration between the two brotherly coun-tries in the fields of transport, air transport, civil aviation and ports.

The message was handed over by Sudan’s Ambassador to the State of Qatar, H E Abd Al Rahim Al Siddig, during his meeting with the Minister at the Ministry of Transport and Communications head-quarters yesterday.

Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti meeting Sudan’s Ambassador to the State of Qatar, H E Abd Al Rahim Al Siddig, in Doha, yesterday.

Afghan robotics team gets scholarships to study at QFTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The members of an all-female Afghan robotics team evacuated from Afghanistan to Qatar will continue their education through scholarships to study at Qatar Foundation’s Education City, jointly funded by Qatar Fund for Development.

The team, known as the ‘Afghan Dreamers’, were flown to Doha on a flight organised by Qatari officials after their home country came under Taliban rule and are now being housed at Education City, where they will receive scholarships that enable them to keep pursuing their studies through a strategic partnership between Qatar Foundation (QF) and Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD).

QF’s Education City houses the largest education ecosystem of its kind in the world, com-prising eight universities — including branch campuses of some of the world’s leading uni-versities — and both main-stream and specialised schools, and offers education spanning K-12 to postdoctoral level.

The strategic partnership that has enabled the Afghan stu-dents to study at Education City

reflects QF’s belief that nothing should stand in the way of edu-cation and its commitment to ensuring people from Qatar and beyond can realise their potential, while also further demonstrating how Qatar and its people show support and solidarity for those experiencing hardship and upheaval.

“These talented, creative

students have been living through a time of uncertainty and upheaval, and at Qatar Foundation we want to do whatever we can to ease their concerns in the present while also helping them to look to the future,” said H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation.

“By providing them with scholarships to study at Edu-cation City, their education can now continue uninterrupted. We are currently assessing their specific needs to ensure they receive the learning experience within our schools and our pre-university preparatory pro-gramme that best suits their abilities and their goals.

“Our priority is to ensure that these students feel safe, cared for, and confident in the knowledge that their education will not be affected by this immensely difficult period in their lives.”

Director General of QFFD, Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari, said, “The educational pro-gramme jointly funded by QF and QFFD provides high-quality technical training in the use of modern technologies which will enable Afghan female students to acquire the skills and knowledge that will allow them to be appropriately qualified and in demand within the labour market.”

Roya Mahboob, the founder of the Digital Citizen Fund, parent organisation of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, said: “The team is excited and grateful for this opportunity to study abroad. QF’s Education City, a remarkable campus made of up of leading academic and research institutions from around the world, is a place where the girls can realise their full potential. The children of Afghanistan are eager and ready to continue making great contributions to the world.”

H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, with members of an all-female Afghan robotics team.

Saudi Deputy

FM receives copy

of credentials of

Qatar's envoy

QNA — RIYADH

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia H E Eng. Waleed bin Abdulkarim Al Khuraiji received yesterday a copy of the credentials of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipoten-tiary of the State of Qatar to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia H E Bandar bin Mohamed Al Attiyah.

The Deputy Foreign Min-ister wished the Ambassador success in his work assign-ments, and for bilateral rela-tions further development and prosperity.

5th International Hunting & Falcons Exhibition draws crowds SIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

The 5th edition of Katara Inter-national Hunting and Falcons Exhibition (S’hail 2021) opened yesterday, witnessing a huge turnout and a wide partici-pation of companies special-ising in hunting weapons, hunting supplies, falcons and trips.

Some of the new eye-catching features at S’hail this year include latest weapons and gadgetry, and display of life-size

wild animal artworks and world-class falcon sculpting and wood carving craft.

The opening day also wit-nessed visits by a number of ambassadors accredited to the State of Qatar, including ambas-sadors of Kenya, Sudan, Serbia, Syria and Peru. They were acquainted with the most prom-inent pavilions of the exhibition and the most prominent local, regional and international par-ticipants and their various products related to weapons and supplies for falcon hunting.

Around 160 national and international companies from 18 countries are participating in the exhibition.

The event is organised by the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara), and runs till Saturday (September 11). The exhibition is open to visitors from 10am to 10pm daily, except Friday when it will open at 2pm and close at 11pm. General Manager of Katara, Prof Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, expressed his happiness at the opening of the fifth edition of the exhibition.

“S’hail is growing in importance year after year and the fifth edition confirms its leadership as being the largest and most important international exhi-bition in the Middle East and North Africa in the field of hunting and falconry,” he said.

He also said that the exhi-bition continues to develop with rapid growth and increase, both in terms of additional spaces that have been allocated to accommodate all the pavilions of the participating companies and equipping them with

innovative and attractive designs and with impressive artistic and aesthetic features, or in terms of marketing.

The event provides an important platform to introduce international visitors to Qatari culture and heritage, as it dis-plays a main element of the her-itage of Qatari ancestors related to hunting and falconry.

This edition is characterised by the electronic falcon auction, which will be available through a special mobile application, and can be followed online from

anywhere in the world. It will display a group of the best types of falcons, of high quality and excellent performance in hunting. Visitors can view pic-tures and data of all types of participating falcons and see all the details of the auction.

Falcons at the exhibition are priced in the range of QR15,000 to QR100,000. To encourage innovation and creativity, a prize of QR20,000 has been announced for the most beau-tiful commercial pavilion at the exhibition.

Blinken: Qatar’s efforts in Afghanistan exceptionalFROM PAGE 1

The Deputy PM said that the entire process is carried out according to a prior agreement between Qatar and the United States.

His Excellency continued, “From our perspective, there was a 20-year war and it has ended, and we hope that there will be better prospects for Afghanistan. As mediators and facilitators, we have to help and support the post-war efforts so that Afghanistan returns to an inclusive, participatory country with an inclusive government that will be basis for the renais-sance of the Afghan people. We share the same goals and will continue this partnership across the region and beyond to work together in this regard.”

He said Qatari teams were continuing to work towards re-opening Kabul international airport, which the Taliban took control of when US troops left on August 30.

“We have already dis-patched our teams there to provide technical assistance that is required to bring the airport and make it up and running again,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said. “We have fixed a lot of the elements over there and we are about to get every-thing operational very soon.”

However, he added: “We didn’t reach yet an agreement on how to manage or to run the

airport. We are continuing the humanitarian support and we are chartering, almost on a daily basis, flights with humanitarian aid and also receiving supplies from different countries with humanitarian aid”.

Blinken added, “More than 58000 people transit through Doha towards a new, more peaceful and stable life, and you welcomed them with sym-pathy and generosity, and when any problem emerged, Qatar cooperated with us hand in hand to deal with it, as well as providing medical support that contributed to saving lives, including field medical services and medical services at Al Wakra Hospital, which was designated for the evacuees.”

He continued, “You pro-vided ten thousand meals three times a day to Al-Udeid camp. You also established the coor-dination cell in Al-Sailiya camp to contribute and help organize the efforts of all non-govern-mental organizations that send aid, with the provision of twenty flights via Qatar Airways to transport thousands of individuals to the United States and Germany, and you offered to do twenty more trips, and we thank your tre-mendous support that did not stop in very challenging cir-cumstances, and this is a tes-timony to the State of Qatar and its leadership.”

Anthony Blinken praised

Qatari diplomacy, noting the role of the State of Qatar in ending the war and facilitating talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government through the efforts it has made over many years, noting that it is not a coincidence that the United States of America trans-ferred its diplomatic work from Afghanistan to Doha, and there are a round 100 people with American citizenship who are in Afghanistan, expressing con-fidence that the State of Qatar will continue to work side by side with the United States of America.

“We appreciate the diplomacy of the State of Qatar and its endeavor to maintain an open corridor from Afghan-istan to the rest of the coun-tries, and we value the efforts made by Qatar and Turkey to reopen Kabul Airport,” he added.

Blinken said “somewhere around 100” American citizens – mostly dual citizens – remain in Afghanistan, and the US has been in contact with “virtually all of them”.

“It’s my understanding that the Taliban has not denied exit to anyone holding a valid doc-ument”, he said but added that those travelling in groups including individuals without proper travel papers may have been blocked.

Blinken added that the US was determining how many

Afghans who worked for the US government – and are eli-gible for special US visas – remain in Afghanistan.

US Secretary of Defense described the evacuation process as the largest complex operation in history, during which the State of Qatar, through the Qatari Armed Forces and in cooperation with its partners, transported more than 124,000 people to safety, stressing that this achievement would not have been achieved without the support of Qatar.

He indicated that cooper-ation between the State of Qatar and the United States of America is continuing on many levels, expressing his country’s gratitude for the State of Qatar’s continued hosting of US forces to ensure their presence in a strategic location.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in the press conference that US already has robust capabilities in the region, and “we have come a long way” in the last 20 years. He said no question it will be difficult to identify and engage threats that emanate from the region, following US pullout.

US Secretaries of State and Defense also visited Al Udeid Base. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also visited housing compound in Doha hosting Afghan evacuees where he also met girls of the Afghan Robotics Team.

MoPH: 110 local

COVID-19 casesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health reported 172 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. Among them 62 were travellers returning from abroad.

A total of 249 people recovered from COVID-19 yes-terday, bringing the total number of people recovered in Qatar to 231,127.

In addition, the Ministry announced one new death. The deceased was 87, had a history of chronic disease.

Deputy PM

receives call from

Canada minister

QNA — DOHA

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah received a phone call from Canada’s Minister of National Defence, H E Harjit Sajjan.

They reviewed military cooperation and relations between the two countries, and ways to enhance them. The latest developments in Afghanistan and the recent evacuations were also dis-cussed. The Canadian Minister of National Defence expressed his thanks and appreciation for the efforts by Qatar in the Afghanistan evacuation operations.

W ALRUWAIS : 30o → 35o

W ALKHOR : 30o → 39o

W DUKHAN : 30o → 38o

W WAKRAH : 29o → 38o

W MESAIEED : 29o → 38o

W ABUSAMRA : 30o → 40o

Hazy to misty at places at first,

becomes hot daytime with some

clouds, humid by night.

Minimum Maximum32oC 40oC

WEATHER TODAY

LOW TIDE 00:36 – 11:56

HIGH TIDE

04:29 – 17:17

PRAYER TIMINGSPPPPRAYRRRAAAYARA MMMMIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGMMMMMMMMMIIINNNNNNGGGGNNNNGGGIINNNNGNNNNNNNNN

PRAYERTIMINGS

FAJR

SUNRISE

03.59 am 05.17 am

DHUHR 11.32 am

ISHA 07.18 pmMAGHRIB

ASR 03.00 pm05.48 pm

03WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2021 HOME

Amwaj Group of CompaniesFrom the Management and StaffAmwaj Trading Establishment – Doha, QATAR

Gulf Catering and Distribution - Doha, QATAR

Amwaj International – Mumbai, INDIA

Ocean Oilfield Services Fze – Sharjah, UAE

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Ocean Oilfield Drilling Services SDN.BHD – KL, Malaysia

Ocean Oilfield Services INC – Texas, US

OUR DEEPEST AND HEARTFELT CONDOLENCESWe mourn the sad demise of our Managing Director

May God Almighty rest his soul in eternal peace, and give grace and

fortitude to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss.

MATHILAKATHUVEETIL EBRAHIMKUTTY MOHAMED

Qatar hands over Arab League presidency to KuwaitQNA — CAIRO

Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the Arab League H E Ambassador Salem bin Mubarak Al Shafi handed over the presidency of the Arab League at the delegate level to Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the Arab League H E Ambassador Ahmad Abdul Rahman Al Baker during the 156th session of the Arab League yesterday, in preparation for the Arab League’s meetings at the level of foreign ministers scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday).

In a speech before handing over the presi-dency, Ambassador Al Shafi said that Arab nations are going through rapid developments, the effects of which are certainly reflected on all their vital issues, foremost of which is the Palestine cause.

He reiterated Qatar’s firm and supportive stance for the Palestine cause and the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, foremost of which is their right to self-determination and the estab-lishment of their independent state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital

He said that the State of Qatar, while presiding over the work of the 155th ordinary session of the Arab League, did not hesitate to make any effort to support the cause of Palestine, in coordination and cooperation with brotherly Arab countries.

He added that Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani allocated a grant of $500m in

Qatar's Permanent Representative to the Arab League H E Ambassador Salem bin Mubarak Al Shafi (centre) handing over the presidency of the Arab League at the delegate level to H E Ambassador Ahmad Abdul Rahman Al Baker of Kuwait, in Cairo, yesterday.

Blinken visits Afghan evacuees housing complex

Blinken, Austin visit Al Udeid Air BaseUS Secretary of State H E Antony Blinken. along with Assistant Foreign Minister H E Lolwah Rashid Al Khater, meeting with an Afghan all-female robotics team members during his visit to a housing complex where Qatar hosted Afghan evacuees. Blinken expressed gratitude to the Assistant Foreign Minister and said in a tweet that he "was honored to meet several remarkable women & girls of the Afghan Robotics Team. Their journeys & STEM aspirations are inspiring."

US Secretary of State H E Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defence H E Lloyd Austin meet with Afghan interpreters at Al Udeid Air Base, in Doha, which Blinken said was the largest Afghanistan-related evacuation site worldwide helping more than 58,000 individuals transit through Doha. Blinken said he and Lloyd "thanked our diplomats, troops, interagency partners, and the government of Qatar for receiving almost half of all individuals evacuated from Afghanistan in Doha. We couldn’t have done this historic air lift without their 24/7 efforts.

May for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, as well as to meet the urgent

humanitarian needs of the brotherly Pal-estinian people in the Gaza Strip.

QFA, SC host UEFA officialsFROM PAGE 1

Nasser Al Khater, CEO, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC, said: “We’re pleased to have welcomed members of the UEFA working group to Doha to witness firsthand the important work being done in relation to workers’ welfare by the Government and various independent organisations that operate in Qatar. Being able to demonstrate progress in person and on the ground in Doha is always far more impactful."

Michele Uva, UEFA’s Football and Social Responsi-bility Director, said: “In our initial meetings, we agreed that the working group aims to con-solidate the commitment and subsequent input to share with the organisers from a UEFA per-spective. We wish to understand the impact the World Cup is having regarding human rights and labour rights. All of us agree that football can create mean-ingful change in these areas, and that’s why we feel it is our duty

to engage strongly in this discussion."

Gijs de Jong, Member of the UEFA Working Group and General Secretary of the Royal Netherlands Football Associ-ation, said: “It is clear that Qatar has made significant positive progress with human rights leg-islation in the last three years. There is no doubt this progress has accelerated as a result of the FIFA World Cup being awarded.”

Mansoor Al Ansari, Sec-retary-General of the QFA, said: “It was a pleasure to meet with representatives from UEFA here in Doha and discuss a range of aspects related to Qatar 2022. The working group was partic-ularly interested in learning about the SC’s workers’ welfare programme and recent national labour reforms, which has overseen a raft of initiatives to protect the health, safety, and well-being of everybody engaged in Qatar’s World Cup project.”

IRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

Ambassador of Tajikistan to Qatar, H E Khisrav Sohibzoda, has said that the relations between Qatar and Tajikistan stem from foundations of mutual trust and good under-standing and these ties are witnessing a steady growth to meet common interests.

Addressing a press con-ference yesterday at the Diplo-matic Club on the eve of the 30th anniversary of independence of Republic of Tajikistan, which will be celebrated tomorrow (Sep-tember 9), the Ambassador praised Qatari-Tajik relations at all levels and in various fields.

He said that the close and constructive cooperation between Qatar and Tajikistan is developing dynamically. He stressed that this level of coop-eration was put on priority by the leaders of the two countries, Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and President of Tajikistan H E Emomali Rahmon.

On political cooperation, the Tajikistan Ambassador pointed out that his country considers Qatar as one of its most important partners in the Arab world and the Middle East

therefore the development of ties with Qatar represents one of the priority directions in foreign policy of Tajikistan.

The Ambassador pointed out that his country is looking forward to the visit of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Tajikistan, stressing that it will be a “historic visit” and will set a new qualitative stage in the path of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

He said that the opening of the largest mosque in Central Asia, which was built with funding from the Qatari gov-ernment in the city of Dushanbe, will increase the his-

torical significance of His High-ness’s visit.

The Ambassador explained that the Joint Intergovernmental Committee for Economic, Com-mercial and Technical Cooper-ation represents a pivotal mech-anism and an important element for activating and following-up economic, commercial and investment cooperation between Tajikistan and Qatar.

He pointed out that the third session of the Joint Com-mittee was held in Dushanbe in 2018. “Coordination is underway between the two sides to hold the fourth session of the committee’s meetings and it is scheduled to be held

during this year in Doha.”The Ambassador praised the

wise policy of H H the Amir and the constructive diplomatic initiatives and endeavours taken by Qatar in order to maintain regional peace and security. He stressed that Qatar plays a constructive and prominent role in the process of activating the peace nego-tiations in Afghanistan and establishing security and sta-bility in Afghanistan.

Sohibzoda added that there are 20 agreements and memo-randa of understanding signed over the past years between the governments of the two coun-tries providing a solid legal

ground for activating and strengthening cooperation between Qatar and Tajikistan.

He indicated that Tajikistan is keen to sign a package of cooperation documents soon as there are 14 draft agreements and memoranda of under-standing prepared and a number of them have been agreed upon between the two sides while a number of them are still under study.

Regarding trade and eco-nomic ties, the Ambassador said that it need to be further developed and increased, expressing his aspiration that the coming period will witness more work from both sides to

utilize the full potential.“However, we are grateful to

Qatar for being a leading Arab country in investing in Tajikistan through “Dushanbe Diyar” project, which is being developed by Qatari Diar. The total cost of the project is estimated at $300m. The first phase of the project has been completed and the second phase is scheduled to begin this year. We hope that this project as a successful model for Qatari investments will be an incentive for Qatari investors to confidently enter the investment market in Tajikistan.”

He also expressed his coun-try’s aspiration to establish a joint development fund or to establish a Qatar Investment Bank in Tajikistan to support and implement small and medium projects aimed at improving the social situation and creating job opportunities for young people in Tajikistan, hoping that the establishment of such a fund or bank will be announced soon. The Ambas-sador stressed that "operating direct flights between Doha and Dushanbe is an important factor in promoting trade, tourism and cultural cooperation and further communication between our brotherly people".

04 WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2021HOME / MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

IN BRIEF

Kuwait recycles massive tyre graveyardREUTERS — KUWAIT

More than 42 million old vehicle tyres dumped in Kuwait’s sands have started to be recycled, as the Gulf state tackles a waste problem that created one of the world’s largest tyre graveyards.

The massive dump site was a mere 7km from a residential suburb. Resi-dents were bothered by periodic large fires releasing noxious black smoke.

But this month Kuwait, which wants to build 25,000 new houses on the site, fin-ished moving all the tyres to a new location at Al Salmi, near the Saudi border, where recy-cling efforts have begun. At a plant run by the EPSCO Global General Trading recy-cling company, employees sort and shred scrap tyres, before pressing the particles into rubbery coloured flooring tiles.

“The factory is helping society by cleaning up the dumped old tyres and turning them into consumer products,”

said EPSCO partner and CEO Alaa Hassan from EPSCO, adding they also export products to neighbouring Gulf countries and Asia. The EPSCO plant, which began operations in January 2021, can recycle up to 3 million tyres a year, the company said. Scrap tyres are a major environ-mental problem worldwide due to their bulk and the chemicals they can release. Oil-rich Kuwait, an OPEC member with a population around 4.5 million, had about 2.4 million vehicles in 2019, Central Statistical Bureau data shows, up from 1.5 million in 2010.

The government hopes Al Salmi will become a tyre recycling hub, with more factories planned. The Al Khair Group transported more than half of all the tyres to the new site using up to 500 trucks a day and is planning to open a factory to burn the tyres through a process called pyrolysis, its CEO Hammoud Al Marri said.

A general view shows used tyres in front of tyres recycling factory in Al Salmi area, Kuwait, yesterday.

Guinea junta consolidates takeover by naming governors

REUTERS — CONAKRY

The soldiers who seized power in Guinea over the weekend have consolidated their takeover with the installation of army officers at the top of Guinea’s eight regions and various adminis-trative districts.

West African countries have threatened sanctions following the overthrow of President Alpha Conde, who was serving a third term after altering the constitution to permit it, which his opponents said was illegal. Regional leaders will meet to discuss the situation on Wednesday - not Thursday, as suggested in a previous staff memo.

Coup leader Mamady Dou-mbouya, a former officer in the French Foreign Legion, has promised a transitional gov-ernment of national unity and a “new era for governance and eco-nomic development”. But he has not yet explained exactly what this will entail, or given a timeframe.

Sunday’s uprising, in which Conde and other top politicians were detained or barred from travelling, is the third since April in West and Central Africa, raising concerns about a slide back to military rule in a region that had made strides towards multi-party democracy since the 1990s.

Collective punishment against

Palestinian prisoners

RAMALLAH: Following the escape of six Palestinian prisoners from Israel jails, the occupation author-ities began to impose collective punishment against all Palestinians prisoners, said the Palestinian Pris-oners Society (PPS) yesterday.

It said the Israel Prison Services (IPS) began moving prisoners around, mainly those in section 2 of Gilboa prison, some of whom were moved to a prison in the Nagev desert in the south of the country as a first step towards moving all prisoners to other prisons and separating them from each other, according to Palestine’s news agency Wafa.

The IPS also canceled all TV privileges to the prisoners in all the sections and started interro-gating the Islamic Jihad leaders in the prison, as well as other punitive measures in all prisons in Israel, Wafa said. -QNA

Gunmen kidnap 18 villagers in

latest attack in northern Nigeria

KADUNA: Gunmen invaded a village in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna and kidnapped 18 residents including seven children, a community leader said on Tuesday, the latest in a wave of mass abductions disrupting every aspect of life in the region.

Gangs of ransom seekers have been kidnapping children from their schools, villagers from their homes and travellers from their vehicles across northwest Nigeria since last December.

Mallam Suleiman Keke, a community leader in the village of Keke B on the outskirts of the state capital Kaduna, said gunmen on motorbikes arrived late on Monday night and went from house to house seizing children and their parents. - Reuters

Effective pedagogies are key in improving education systems: ExpertFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

Effective pedagogies and wellbeing of individuals are vital in improving resilient education systems, said a senior expert at Qatar Foundation (QF), coinciding with the Interna-tional Literacy Day 2021 which is marked today under the theme ‘Literacy for a human-centred recovery: Narrowing the digital divide.’

International Literacy Day 2021 focuses on teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, with a focus on the role of edu-cators and changing teaching practices.

Director of Research and Content Development at QF’s WISE, Dr. Asmaa Al Fadala, told The Peninsula: “Effective peda-gogies are key in improving our education systems. QF schools are constantly evaluating the teaching and learning and are working to improve the quality of education they offer even through remote learning. Schools have adapted to change and were able to address some of the challenges brought about by the pandemic.”

“Schools adapting to the crisis show how important it is for our systems to be resilient. COVID-19 might not be the last crisis we will

face; our schools need to be pre-pared for future challenges at this scale,” she added.

According to Dr. Al Fadala, one very important lesson schools learned from COVID-19 is that we need to have crisis management plans and capabilities within out systems.

She emphasized that, although WISE is not a school and does not provide educational programs to children, it works with some schools within QF and supports some public schools as well.

“One example of our work with public schools is the Empowering Leadership of Learning (ELL) program which provides capacity building opportunities for school leaders on targeted areas for improving teaching and learning in their schools. This program has been running for over five years now and tens of public and private schools have benefited from its sessions,” said Dr. Al Fadala.

WISE has introduced a research track dedicated to wellbeing and learning sciences in which working on a number of research projects.

“One of our main projects is establishing an innovation hub within Qatar Foundation for schools to experiment with new learning approaches, innovative methods, and test new

technologies for teaching and learning. Another effort is a collab-orative research project where WISE works with WISH, several other QF entities, Doha Interna-tional Family Institute and Hamad Bin Khalifa University to under-stand the impact of the excessive use of digital technologies on ado-lescents in Qatar,” said Dr. Dr. Al Fadala.

“Another research project focuses on the wellbeing of teachers at schools in Qatar and in two other countries. In this project we are trying to understand what affects teachers’ wellbeing, moti-vation and morale positively and negatively, and how schools and systems can work to ensure the wellbeing of teachers. If teachers are happy and motivated, the stu-dents’ learning and wellbeing will improve,” she said.

Dr. Al Fadala said that schools that cater for children with special needs and learning difficulties were affected the most by COVID-19. At present WISE is con-ducting a research to understand the magnitude of the issue and help shape policies in collaboration with Cambridge University, will be shared with the outcomes of other research projects in the WISE Summit to be held in Doha in December.

Ties with Qatar witnessing steady growth: Tajikistan envoy

Report: 150 starved

to death in Ethiopia’s

Tigray in August

AP — NAIROBI

A least 150 people starved to death last month in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region amid a near-complete blockade of food aid by federal and allied authorities, the Tigray forces say, while close to half a million people face famine conditions.

The starvation deaths occurred in six communities as well as in camps for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people in the town of Shire, according to a briefing late Monday by the Tigray External Affairs Office. It is the largest public assessment yet of starvation deaths, though The AP reported at least 125 deaths in a single district earlier this year.

Food aid ran out last month in Tigray, a region of 6 million people, as the United Nations has described intense searches and delays of humanitarian cargo by Ethiopian authorities who fear aid will reach the Tigray forces who have been fighting Ethiopian and allied forces for the past 10 months after a political falling-out. “The complete depletion of food stocks has meant that IDP camps are receiving no aid and host communities, now running out of food themselves, are no longer able to support them,” the Tigray statement says.

We are grateful to Qatar for being a leading Arab country in investing in Tajikistan through “Dushanbe Diyar” project, which is being

developed by Qatari Diar. The total cost of the project is estimated at $300m. The first phase of the project has been completed and the

second phase is scheduled to begin this year. We hope that this project as a successful model for Qatari investments will be an

incentive for Qatari investors to confidently enter the investment market in Tajikistan.Khisrav Sohibzoda

Ambassador of Tajikistan to Qatar

05WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2021 ASIA

IN BRIEF

Taliban name new Afghan government

REUTERS — KABUL

The Taliban named Mullah Hasan Akhund, an associate of the movement's late founder Mullah Omar, as head of Afghanistan's new government yesterday and Sirajuddin Haqqani as interior minister.

Haqqani is the son of the founder of the Haqqani network, designated as a ter-rorist organisation by the United States. He is one of the FBI's most wanted men due to his involvement in suicide attacks and ties with Al Qaeda.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the move-ment's political office, was appointed as Akhund's deputy, main Taliban spokesman Zabi-hullah Mujahid told a news con-ference in Kabul.

Baradar's appointment as Akhund's deputy, rather than to the top job, came as a sur-prise to some as he had been responsible for negotiating the US withdrawal and presenting

the face of the Taliban to the world.

Baradar, also once a close friend of Mullah Omar, was a senior Taliban commander in charge of attacks on US forces. He was arrested and imprisoned in Pakistan in 2010, becoming head of the Taliban's political office in Doha after his release in 2018.

Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of Mullah Omar, was named as defence minister. All the appointments were in an acting capacity, Mujahid said.

It was not clear what role in the government would be played by Mullah Haibatullah Akhun-dzada, the Taliban supreme leader. He has not been seen or heard in public since the collapse of the Western-backed gov-ernment and the seizure of Kabul by the movement last month.

Akhund has been close to supreme leader Akhunzada for 20 years, and is longtime chief of the Taliban's powerful decision-making body Rehbari

Shura, or leadership council. He was foreign minister and then deputy prime minister when the Taliban were last in power from 1996-2001.

Mujahid, speaking against a backdrop of collapsing public services and economic meltdown, said an acting cabinet had been formed to respond to the Afghan's people's primary needs.

He said some ministries

remained to be filled pending a hunt for qualified people.

The appointment of a group of established figures from dif-ferent elements of the Taliban gave no indication of any con-cession towards protests that broke out in Kabul earlier in the day, which Taliban gunmen fired in the air to disperse.

Hundreds of men and women shouting slogans such

as "Long live the resistance" and "Death to Pakistan" marched in the streets to protest against the Taliban takeover.

The Taliban's rapid advance across Afghanistan last month triggered a scramble to leave by people fearing reprisals. US Sec-retary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was in contact with about 100 Americans who were still in Afghanistan.

Indonesia

records its

lowest positive

virus tests rate

REUTERS — JAKARTA

Indonesia’s daily coronavirus positivity rate dropped below the World Health Organisa-tion’s (WHO) benchmark standard of 5% this week for the first time, an indicator the country’s devastating second wave could be easing.

The positivity rate, or the proportion of people tested who are positive, peaked at 33.4% in July when Indonesia became Asia’s coronavirus epicentre, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.

On Monday that rate fell to 4.57%, the lowest since March 2020, when Indonesia’s first cases were reported, according to independent data initiative, Kawal COVID-19.

A rate above 5% indicates coronvirus is out of control, the WHO says.

Kawal co-founder Elina Ciptadi said the trend was a good sign, although she cau-tioned that official data could not capture a dearth of under-reported cases and deaths.

“All in all, what we are seeing is encouraging,” she said.

Since its July peak, the average positivity rate has fallen steadily, from 23.8% in the first week of August to 11.3% in the final week of that month, to 6.2% on average so far in September

Coronavirus restrictions were eased further on Monday, with most areas on Java island downgraded, allowing condi-tional operation of malls, fac-tories and restaurants.

But President Joko Widodo urged Indonesians not to be complacent.

“People need to realise that COVID is always lurking,” he said. “When our guards are down, (cases) can increase again.”

Epidemiologist Dicky Budiman from Australia’s Griffith University said testing and tracing efforts remain weak.

“I’m both happy and worried about the decline,” he said. “There were efforts from the government, but not strong enough to get us out of the crisis period,” he said, adding improvements were mostly in big cities.

South Korea monitoring North over military parade signsAP — SEOUL

South Korea’s military yesterday was closely watching North Korea amid signs the country was preparing to hold a new military parade to showcase its growing nuclear and missile capabilities.

The South Korean and US militaries were “thoroughly fol-lowing and monitoring North Korean preparations for large-scale events such as a military parade in connection with the North’s internal schedule,” said Colonel Kim Jun-rak, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. He didn’t specify what the allied militaries have seen or when they expect the parade to take place.

North Korea often celebrates major state anniversaries by

rolling out thousands of goose-stepping troops and its most advanced military hardware at a square in, Pyongyang.

There’s speculation its next military parade could come as early as tomorrow when it cel-ebrates the 73rd anniversary of the country’s founding. Another big date is October 10, the 76th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party.

During a military last parade in January, North Korea showcased new missiles being developed to be fired from sub-marines as it celebrated the closure of a rare Workers’ Party congress. There, leader Kim Jong Un vowed to expand his nuclear weapons program in the face of what he described as US hostility.

Meanwhile, the Workers’

Party’s Politburo yesterday elected an army general, seen as an influential figure in shaping the country’s ballistic missile program, as the newest member of its powerful pre-sidium, which consists of Kim and four other top officials, North Korean state media said.

Pak Jong Chon appears to be replacing Ri Pyong Chol, another senior military official who experts believe was sacked from the presidium after being held responsible for unspecified lapses in the country’s pan-demic response.

Kim in July had accused officials of causing a “great crisis” in national anti-virus efforts, but the North never revealed what those problems were and has yet to report a single coronavirus infection.

Philippines defers new COVID-19

plan, maintains capital curbsMANILA: The Philippines capital region will remain under the second strictest coronavirus containment measures, a senior official said yesterday, despite a day earlier announcing a relax-ation of curbs to spur business activity.

Imposition of the more relaxed “general community quar-antine” in Metro Manila has been deferred, presidential spokes-person Harry Roque said, without giving a reason.

The decision means a delay in the government’s planned shift to smaller and localised lockdowns, which Roque said had been approved in principle by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Philippines has among the highest number of corona-virus cases and deaths in Asia and has been battling an epidemic since March last year, which has hamstrung efforts to revive an economy that contracted more than 9% in 2020.

Cases in the past 30 days alone accounted for more than a fifth of the country’s 2.1 million cases, while total deaths have exceeded 34,400. — Reuters

REUTERS — KOCHI

An Indian court has ordered the government to offer a choice of a shorter four-week gap between doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine to those paying for the shots, down from 12 to 16 weeks now.

India doubled the gap between doses of the locally-produced Covishield vaccine in May, to help stretch scarce sup-plies, so as to give at least one dose to 57% of its 944 million adults. But just 17% have been fully immunised.

In an order posted on its website on Monday, the high court in the southern state of Kerala ordered changes in the health ministry’s vaccine-booking platform to permit the choice, in line with that offered to those flying abroad.

“There is absolutely no reason why the same privilege shall not be extended to others who want early protection in connection with their employment, education, etc,” the court said.

In its remarks, the court

drew a parallel with the gov-ernment’s permission for those planning overseas travel to choose between early and better protection from COVID-19 infections.

The decision followed a plea by two garment companies with a total of more than 10,000 employees.

The court asked the gov-ernment to enable scheduling of

the second dose within four weeks of the first for those who want it, in line with the gap spec-ified in initial vaccine protocols. The health ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Indian farmers stage protest outside

Delhi against farm lawsNEW DELHI: Thousands of Indian farmers gathered at a grain market outside New Delhi yesterday in protest against new agri-cultural laws they say threaten their livelihoods, condemning “brutal” actions by police during similar demonstrations last week.

“A large number of farmers are attending the meeting to ask the government to punish those responsible for using force against unarmed and elderly farmers,” said Balbir Singh Rajewal, a senior farmers’ leader.

The grain market where farmers met is about 150km from New Delhi, in neighbouring Haryana state. After initial talks with government officials failed, farmers later marched from the market to the main government office in the Karnal district of Haryana to press their demands, Rajewal said. Some farm union leaders have been arrested by Haryana police, but farmers are going to stay put there, he said. — Reuters

Typhoon hits eastern Philippines,

causing power outagesMANILA: A strong typhoon slammed into the eastern Philippines yesterday, bringing high winds that caused power outages in several provinces.

Typhoon Conson carried sustained winds of 120kmph with gusts of up to 150kmph, first making landfall at the coastal town of Hernani in Eastern Samar province before hitting nearby Samar province, the state weather service said. “We only have minor damage here, thank God,” Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone said in a text message. He said work had been suspended in government offices.

Power systems operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said some transmission lines were affected. Power outages were reported in Eastern Samar, Samar and Leyte prov-inces. Local officials reported some flooding in Tacloban City.

The weather bureau said late yesterday afternoon that Coson had weakened into a severe tropical storm as it moved west-northwestward over the Sibuyan Sea. Its sustained winds declined to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour, it said.

The weather bureau warned of destructive winds and heavy rainfall within 18 hours in portions of seven provinces including Quezon, Masbate, Albay and Samar. — AP

Indian court backs shorter dose gap for vaccine

People wait in queues to receive a dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, outside a community centre in Kochi, India, yesterday.

Myanmar opposition calls for national uprising against armyAP — BANGKOK

The main underground group coordinating resistance to Myanmar’s military government issued a sweeping call for a nationwide uprising yesterday, raising the prospect of spiralling unrest.

The National Unity Gov-ernment, which views itself as a shadow government, was established by elected legis-lators who were barred from

taking their seats when the mil-itary seized power in February.

The group’s acting president Duwa Lashi La declared what he called a “state of emergency” and called for revolt “in every village, town and city in the entire country at the same time.” A video of his speech was posted on Facebook.

Some 1,000 civilians have been killed in the seven months of clashes that followed the

army takeover. A spokesman for the ruling

military downplayed the call for renewed protests. Major General Zaw Min Tun blamed exile media for exaggerating the opposition’s strength, in a statement posted on the Telegram app by state tel-evision MRTV.

Myanmar has been wracked by unrest since the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, with ini-tially peaceful demonstrations

against the ruling generals mor-phing into a low-level insur-rection in many urban areas after security forces used deadly force.

There has been more serious combat in rural areas, especially in border regions where ethnic minority militias have been engaging in heavy clashes with the government troops.

The shadow government’s prime minister, Mahn Winn

Khaing Thann, said in a sep-arate statement posted online that the new move was taken due to “changing circum-stances” that required the com-plete abolition of the ruling mil-itary government. He did not elaborate.

The call for an uprising came a week ahead of the con-vening of the UN General Assembly. The National Unity Government is hoping to have the assembly formally recognise

Kyaw Moe Tun, who supports the opposition group, as Myan-mar’s legitimate envoy to the world body. He had been the official representative of the government previously, but switched his loyalty to the resistance in late February.

“It’s not uncommon for armed resistance forces to seek media attention ahead of a major event,” noted David Mathieson, an independent analyst of Myanmar politics.

Taliban soldiers control the crowd during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday.

Mullah Hasan Akhund will head of Afghanistan's new government, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was appointed Akhund's deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani interior minister and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, was named defence minister.

06 WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2021EUROPE

IN BRIEF

Johnson plans tax hike to tackle health, social care crisisREUTERS — LONDON

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out plans yesterday to raise taxes on workers, employers and some investors to try to fix a health and social care funding crisis, angering some in his governing party by breaking an election promise.

After spending huge amounts of money to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson is returning to an election pledge to address Britain’s creaking social care system, where costs are pro-jected to double as the population ages over the next two decades. He also moved to try to tackle a backlog in Brit-ain’s health system, which has seen mil-lions waiting months for treatment from the state-run National Health Service, after resources were refocused to deal with COVID-19.

“It would be wrong for me to say that we can pay for this recovery without taking the difficult but respon-sible decisions about how we finance it,” Johnson told parliament.

“It would be irresponsible to meet the costs from higher borrowing and

higher debt,” he said, outlining increases that broke a promise made in his Con-servative Party’s 2019 manifesto not to raise such levies to fund social care.

British politicians have tried for years to find a way to pay for social care, though successive Conservative and Labour prime ministers have ducked the issue because they feared it would anger voters and their own parties. Ignoring disquiet in his party, Johnson outlined what he described as a new health and social care levy that will see the rate of National Insurance payroll taxes paid by both workers and employers rise by 1.25 percentage points, with the same increase also applied to the tax on shareholder dividends.

He said the increases would raise 36 billion pounds ($50bn) over three years. The pound fell against the euro and dollar after the announced measures, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies said would increase Britain’s tax burden to 35% of GDP — a peacetime record.

Johnson has tried to cool anger within his party, which has for decades positioned itself as a defender of low

taxes, over the hikes, which some law-makers fear could lose them support at

an election due in 2024. Parliament will debate the measures further today.

Johnson explained that elderly Britons would no longer face crippling care costs that have forced many to sell their homes, and said he could not have predicted the coronavirus pan-demic which has further stretched services.

“You can’t fix health and social care without long-term reform. The plan I’m setting out today will fix all of those problems together,” he said, to jeers and laughter from opposition Labour Party lawmakers.

“I accept that this breaks a mani-festo commitment which is not some-thing I do lightly, but a global pan-demic was in no one’s manifesto.” Shortly afterwards, his work and pen-sions minister, Therese Coffey, said Britain would not raise state retirement pensions in line with earnings next year, breaking another election commitment to maintain the so-called “triple lock”.

Labour leader Keir Starmer was quick to pounce on Conservative fears.

“This is a tax rise that breaks a

promise that the prime minister made at the last election... Read my lips, the Tories (Conservatives) can never again claim to be the party of low tax,” Starmer said. Some British businesses said the rise in national insurance would only compound damage done to firms by the pandemic.

“This rise will impact the wider economic recovery by landing signif-icant costs on firms when they are already facing a raft of new cost pres-sures and dampen the entrepreneurial spirit needed to drive the recovery,” said Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce. Trade body Make UK said the move might put jobs at risk just as pandemic job support programmes end.

“Putting a tax on jobs and workers at a time when Government is pulling the furlough scheme is ill-timed as well as illogical,” its chief executive Stephen Phipson said. Like many Western leaders, Johnson is facing demands to spend more on welfare even though government borrowing has ballooned to 14.2% of economic output - a level last seen at the end of World War Two.

Merkel implores German voters to back her would-be successorREUTERS — BERLIN

Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned plea to German voters yesterday to back her would-be successor Armin Laschet at this month's national election, as an opinion poll showed support for their conservatives slumping to an all-time low.

The Forsa poll for RTL/n-tv put support for the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) at 25%, extending their lead over the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, who dropped 2 points from the previous week to 19%, which n-tv said was a record trough.

The SPD only took a poll lead last month, an upset that has blown wide open the election to determine the future course of Germany, Europe's largest economy and most pop-ulous country, after 16 years of steady, centre-right leadership under Merkel.

She plans to step down after the poll.

"Citizens have the choice in a few days: either a government that accepts the support of the (far-left) Linke party with the SPD and the Greens, or at least does not exclude it," Merkel told lawmakers in the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

"...or a federal government led by the CDU and CSU with Armin Laschet as chancellor — a federal government that leads our country into the future with moderation," she added, in what was likely her last speech to the chamber.

After losing their lead in polls, the conservatives are increasingly relying on warnings of a lurch to the left under an SPD-led coalition to try to revive their struggling campaign.

The far-left Linke pitched themselves on Monday as would-be coalition partners for the SPD and Greens, both of

whom would be uncomfortable with such a red-green-red alliance. The SPD's candidate for chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has repeatedly distanced himself from the Linke, calling the party unfit for government as long as it does not clearly commit to the NATO military alliance, the transatlantic partnership with the United States and solid public finances.

Merkel said Laschet would lead a government that stands for "stability, reliability, moder-ation and the middle ground - and that is exactly what Germany needs".

But Laschet's promise of "steadfastness" is failing to res-onate with voters worried about climate change, immigration and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking after Merkel, Scholz told the Bundestag: "A new beginning is needed, and I hope and I am sure that it will succeed."

EU seeks penalties on Poland over judicial reformREUTERS — WARSAW/BRUSSELS

The European Commission said yesterday it had asked the EU’s top court to fine Poland over the activities of a judges’ disciplinary chamber, stepping up a long-running dispute with Warsaw over the rule of law.

The EU says the Polish chamber is being used to pressure judges or exert political control over judicial decisions and its top court, ruling that it undercuts EU law, has ordered that it be dis-solved. The Polish government said three weeks ago that the chamber would be dismantled as part of wider judiciary reforms in coming months, but the executive Commission said it was now taking action.

“The Commission is asking the Court to impose a daily penalty payment on Poland for as long as the measures imposed by the court’s order are not fully implemented,” the Commission

said in a statement. The European Commission argues that, while the chamber may not be accepting any new cases, it is still working through existing cases.

Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller said it would present its proposals for judicial reform in the autumn.

“This is a very uncommon step... and it’s not an easy step to take for the Commission,” a senior European Commission official said. EU Justice Commis-sioner Didier Reynders told private broadcaster Polsat News that Brussels wanted to put “real pressure” on Warsaw with fines that were higher than the 100,000 euros a day demanded for logging in the Bialowieza forest, a Unesco World Heritage site. The EU is also at loggerheads with Poland over issues ranging from a challenge by its gov-ernment to the primacy of EU law to gender rights and press freedoms.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on as the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia and candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet speaks during one of the last sessions before the federal elections, in Berlin, Germany, yesterday.

‘Uncontrolled’ Spanish wildfire was started deliberately: AuthoritiesREUTERS — MADRID

A wildfire in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia that has burned through 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of forest was started deliberately, local authorities said yesterday.

The blaze near the small town of Ribas de Sil began on Monday afternoon and sent huge plumes of smoke high into the air, blocking local roads and train lines. Regional envi-ronment chief Manuel Rod-riguez told a news conference that the fire was “clearly intentional”.

“Investigators have iden-tified various points that ignited simultaneously... Whoever did this knew perfectly well it would cause a lot of damage,” he said.

“You can’t explain this...It’s difficult to put yourself in the head of someone who would want to do this.” Authorities have alerted residents of the village of Rairos, which could be in the path of the blaze, but

said no houses are at risk for now. Spain’s military emer-gency unit sent reinforcements to back up the local fire brigade, which deployed 49 ground teams, eight planes and 14 hel-icopters to quell the flames - but these have not yet been able to control the fire.

“We have a perimeter around the fire but it is not sta-bilised or under control,”

Rodriguez said. Hot weather and low humidity complicated the efforts of the firefighters on Monday night, and communi-cations were also down.

So far this year, wildfires have ravaged 74,260 hectares in Spain, above the average of the last 10 years but still some way off the 190,000 hectares destroyed in 2012, the worst year in the past decade.

Smoke is seen after a wildfire near Ribas de Sil, northwestern Spain, yesterday.

Lawyer leaves Russia citing govt pressure

AP — MOSCOW

A prominent lawyer who repre-sented both a former Russian journalist accused of treason and the team of imprisoned oppo-sition leader Alexei Navalny said yesterday that he has left Russia after authorities launched a criminal probe against him.

A rights group that the lawyer headed has also shut down under government pressure. In a statement posted on the Tel-ergram messaging app, Ivan Pavlov said has left for Georgia and drew attention to restrictions imposed on him as a suspect in a criminal probe.

“I was barred from using means of communication and the internet, from talking to defendants and some of my col-leagues. In a nutshell, I was pro-hibited (to do) all things without which the work of a defense lawyer can’t be effective,” Pavlov said.

“The bans didn’t apply to one thing - leaving the country. It was a sign pointing to a way out.” Russian authorities charged Pavlov in April with disclosing information related to a police

investigation - a criminal offense punishable by a fine, community service or detention of up to three months. Pavlov was barred from contacting witnesses in the case or to use either the Internet or a mobile phone until investigators completed their probe.

Pavlov has said the accusa-tions against him were connected to his defence of Ivan Safronov, a former Russian journalist charged with treason in a case that has been widely seen as retribution for his journalistic work. The lawyer maintained his innocence

and said he considered the case against him “revenge” for his work on cases investigated by Russia’s Security Service, or FSB.

The probe targeting Pavlov was opened shortly after he started representing the Foun-dation for Fighting Corruption, set up by President Vladimir Putin’s longtime foe and opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The foun-dation and the sprawling network of Navalny’s regional offices have been outlawed as extremist earlier this year. Opposition sup-porters, independent journalists and human rights activists have been facing increasing gov-ernment pressure in Russia ahead of the September parliamentary election, widely seen as an important part of Putin’s efforts to cement his rule ahead of the 2024 presidential vote.

Team 29, an association of lawyers and journalists special-ising in cases of treason, espi-onage and freedom of infor-mation that Pavlov headed announced in July that it was shutting down after authorities blocked its website for allegedly publishing content from an “undesirable” organisation.

Ivan Pavlov

Sweden to remove

most remaining

COVID-19 curbs

STOCKHOLM: Sweden will push ahead with easing COVID-19 restrictions at the end of this month, removing most curbs and limits on public venues such as restau-rants, theatres and stadiums, the government said yesterday.

“The important message is that we now take further steps in the return to normal eve-ryday life,” Health and Social Affairs Minister Lena Hal-lengren told a news con-ference. “Our view has all the time been that restrictions should be lifted as soon as pos-sible.” -Reuters

Kosovar activists

disrupt war crimes

court meeting

PRISTINA: Kosovar activists yesterday tried to disrupt a meeting of war crimes court officials with civil society members, accusing the court adjudicating cases from Kosovo’s war of independence of equating the victim with the aggressor.

The incident happened as Kosovo Special Chamber court President Ekaterina Trenda-filova and her team were holding an outreach meeting in the capital, Pristina with civil society officials and the journalists. Two activists who claimed membership to left-wing Social Democratic Party spoke out against the court, accusing it of trying to “change Kosovo’s history” by por-traying the war as a conflict “between two aggressors” and not a war of liberation and independence. -AP

Three suspects nabbed after €10m jewel heist in ParisREUTERS — PARIS

Police in Paris caught three suspected armed robbers after opening fire on their car as they made their getaway from a 10 million euro ($12m) jewellery heist at a Bulgari store in the French capital yesterday.

Three individuals, wearing sharp suits and armed with guns, robbed the recently revamped boutique on the Place Vendome in central Paris where the Ritz hotel is located, shortly before midday, police said.

The three fled in a car while four accomplices took flight on scooters. Police fired

shots at the car near the Les Halles shopping mall, less than 2 kilometres away, forcing the trio to try and flee on foot.

The three were arrested after ditching some of their loot, an officer at the scene said, while a manhunt was under way for the four who left on scooters.

Bulgari, which is owned by Bernard Arnault’s LVMH, said no one was hurt during the heist.

Jewellery stores in Paris have suffered a spate of armed robberies in recent months. Crime and security are likely to feature heavily among voters’ main concerns in the 2022 presidential election.

It would be wrong for me to say that we can pay for this recovery without taking the difficult but responsible decisions about how we finance it.

Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister

07WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2021 AMERICAS

IN BRIEF

Biden surveys NY and NJ storm damageAP — HILLSBOROUGH TOWNSHIP

Pointing accusingly at climate change, President Joe Biden toured deadly Northeast flood damage yesterday and said he was thinking about the all families who suffered “profound” losses from the powerful remnants of Hurricane Ida.

Biden was in New Jersey, and planned to visit New York City, to survey the aftermath and call for federal spending to fortify infrastructure to better defend people and property from future storms in the region and far beyond.

“Every part of the country, every part of the country is getting hit by extreme weather,” Biden said in a briefing at the Somerset County emergency management training centre attended by federal, state and local officials, including New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy.

Biden said the threat from wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and other extreme weather must be dealt with in ways that will lessen the devas-tating effects of climate change.

“We can’t turn it back very much, but we can prevent it from getting worse,” he said. Biden added that scientists have been warning for decades that this day would come and that urgent action was needed.

“We don’t have any more

time,,” he said. Biden’s plan to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure nationwide is pending in Congress.

“I’m hoping to be able to see the things we are going to be able to fix permanently with the bill that we have in for infra-structure,” he said as he left the White House.

On the way to the briefing, Biden’s motorcade drove through a neighbourhood where piles of damaged furniture, mattresses and other household items were stacked outside homes. The route also included many supporters of Republican former President Donald Trump with signs opposing Biden.

Focusing on the personal calamities, Biden said, “The losses that we witnessed today are pro-found.... My thoughts are with all those families affected by the

storm and all those families who lost someone they love.”

At least 50 people were killed in six Eastern states as record rainfall last week overwhelmed rivers and sewer systems. Some people were trapped in fast-filling basement apartments and cars, or were swept away as they tried to escape. The storm also spawned several tornadoes. More than half of the deaths, 27, were recorded in New Jersey. In New York City, 13 people were killed, including 11 in Queens.

Biden’s visit follows a Friday trip to Louisiana, where Hur-ricane Ida first made landfall, killing at least 13 people in the state and plunging New Orleans into darkness. Power is being slowly restored.

Manville, situated along New Jersey’s Raritan River, is almost always hard-hit by major storms. It was the scene of catastrophic flooding in 1998 as the remnants of Tropical Storm Floyd swept over New Jersey. It also sustained serious flooding during the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Biden has approved major disaster declarations, making federal aid available for people in six New Jersey counties and five New York counties affected by the devastating floods. He is open to applying the declaration to other storm-ravaged New

Jersey counties, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said.

Both Murphy and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio spent part of Labor Day touring damaged communities. Deanne Criswell, the former New York City emer-gency management director, now in charge at the Federal Emer-gency Management Agency, joined the mayor.

Biden also used his appearance in Louisiana to pitch his plan, pending in Congress, to spend $1 trillion on modernizing roads, bridges, sewers and drainage systems, and other infra-structure to make them better able to withstand the blows from major storms.

Past presidents have been

defined in part by how they handle such crises, and Biden has seen several weather-induced emergencies in his short presi-dency, starting with a February ice storm that caused the power grid in Texas to fail. He has also been monitoring wildfires in the West.

The White House has sought to portray Biden as in command of the federal response to these natural disasters, making it known that he is getting regular updates from his team and that he is keeping in touch with gov-ernors and other elected officials in the affected areas.

As president, Donald Trump casually lobbed paper towels to people in Puerto Rico after

Hurricane Maria’s devastation in 2017, generating scorn from critics but little damage to his political standing. Barack Obama hugged New Jersey Republican Gov Chris Christie after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, a brief respite from par-tisan tensions that had threatened the economy. George W Bush fell out of public favour due to a poor response after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans in 2005.

Ida was the fifth-most pow-erful storm to hit the US when it made landfall in Louisiana on August 29. The storm’s remnants dropped devastating rainfall across parts of Maryland, Penn-sylvania, New York and New Jersey, causing significant dis-ruption in major cities.

US President Joe Biden speaks to reporters before departing the White House in Washington, to survey storm damage from Hurricane Ida in New York and New Jersey, US, yesterday.

US President to outline plan to curb Delta as cases growREUTERS — WASHINGTON

President Joe Biden tomorrow will present a six-pronged strategy intended to fight the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus Delta variant and increase US COVID-19 vaccina-tions, the White House said yesterday.

The United States, which leads the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths, is struggling to stem a wave of infections driven by the variant even as officials try to persuade Americans who have resisted vaccination to get the shots. Rising case loads have raised concerns as children head back to school, while also rattling

investors and upending company return-to-office plans.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters traveling with Biden aboard Air Force One that he will lay out the six-pronged strategy “working across the public and private sectors to help continue to get the pan-demic under control.” Asked about possible new mandates, Psaki said the White House would offer more details later about the plan and acknowl-edged that the federal gov-ernment cannot broadly mandate that Americans get vaccinated.

“We need to continue to take

more steps to make sure school districts are prepared and make sure communities across the country are prepared,” Psaki added.

Yesterday, Biden was scheduled to meet with White House COVID-19 advisers.

The United States has recorded roughly 650,000 COVID-19 deaths and last week exceeded 40 million cases. Data shows that more than 20,800 people have died in the United States from COVID-19 in the past two weeks, up about 67% from the prior two-week period.

Hospitalisations have grown, with seven US states - Alaska,

Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Ken-tucky, Tennessee and Wash-ington — reporting records this month. Biden previously announced plans to offer booster shots more widely, pending reg-ulatory approval. His chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci yesterday said officials are still aiming to do so starting the week of September 20.

US Food and Drug Adminis-tration advisers are scheduled to meet on September 17 to consider a possible third shot of Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE’s two-dose vaccine, the only COVID-19 vaccine yet to receive full approval from the agency.

Bolsonaro supporters march in Brasilia, held back from Supreme CourtREUTERS — BRASILIA

Supporters of Brazilian Pres-ident Jair Bolsonaro gathered outside Congress in Brasilia yesterday to back the far-right leader in his dispute with the Supreme Court, exacerbating a conflict that has rattled Latin America’s largest democracy.

On Monday night, hundreds of demonstrators dressed in the green-and-yellow colours of the Brazilian flag breached one police cordon and trucks honking horns advanced towards Congress.

They were blocked by police barriers then, and again yesterday, from reaching the Supreme Court, which some demonstrators have vowed to occupy in a protest modelled on the January 6 assault on the US Capitol by supporters of

then-President Donald Trump.The court has authorised

investigations of Bolsonaro allies over accusations they attacked Brazil’s democratic institutions with misinfor-mation online. Bolsonaro has called the court-ordered probes a violation of free speech rights.

Congress and the courts also resisted Bolsonaro’s attempt to introduce paper voting receipts as a backup to an electronic voting system which he says is vulnerable to fraud. The elec-toral court maintains the system is transparent and safe.

Bolsonaro urged gov-ernment supporters to turn out in record numbers, hoping for an overwhelming display to offset his slipping support in opinion polls and setbacks in his clash with the judiciary.

“From now on I won’t

accept one or two people acting outside the constitution,” Bol-sonaro said in comments to supporters yesterday morning, echoing his recent criticism of certain Supreme Court justices, before he donned the presi-dential sash and rode in an open Rolls Royce to a military event marking Independence Day.

In Rio de Janeiro, along Copacabana Beach, rows of trucks draped in Brazilian flags parked along the esplanade, as yellow-clad bikers roared past, honking their horns. “I’m here because I’m Brazilian and as a Christian. Today we have a president who believes in God and the family,” said Claudio Mattos, 44, wearing yellow face paint and a camouflage cap. He said he was an off-duty military police officer.

Supporters of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro march in a show of support for his attacks on the country’s Supreme Court, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, yesterday.

Mexico urges US to invest in region to stem migration

REUTERS — MEXICO CITY

Mexico’s government yesterday pressed the United States to commit funds to the economic development of Central America and southern Mexico to help contain a sharp increase in immigration at the US-Mexico border this year.

Speaking ahead of eco-nomic talks between US and Mexican officials tomorrow that will also broach migration, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a news conference the two countries needed to take a holistic approach to immigration.

Lopez Obrador had vowed to send a letter to US President Joe Biden before the Wash-ington meeting, and he said it would make the case for granting temporary work visas for Central Americans to help supply demand for labour in North America.

“Now, with President Biden, we believe it’s time, with actions, to begin to develop the South, the countries of Central America,” Lopez Obrador said, adding that investment pledges made by the previous US gov-ernment had not been kept.

Lopez Obrador praised Biden for ramping up stimulus spending to increase growth following the coronavirus pandemic.

“But the bulk of that money ends up the markets of Asia, because the home appli-ances, the goods, have to be bought in Asia when we could be making in North America all the home appliances we use,” he added.

Trudeau hit by gravel on campaign

trail dogged by anti-vax hecklersOTTAWA: Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was hit by a handful of gravel on Monday, television images show, as he made his way to his campaign bus past a crowd shouting their opposition to COVID-19 vaccines.

A CTV camera captured what looks to be white gravel hitting Trudeau and one of his bodyguards as he walked toward his cam-paign bus in London, Ontario. The Liberals cancelled an event late last month because of safety concerns linked to anti-vax pro-testers. Trudeau played down the incident on his plane later, saying he may have been hit on the shoulder, and once he had pumpkin seeds thrown at him, according to a video posted on Twitter by Global News TV reporter Abigail Bimman. -Reuters

US CDC warns against travel to

Sri Lanka, Jamaica and BruneiWASHINGTON: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday warned against travel to Sri Lanka, Jamaica and Brunei because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

The CDC raised its travel advisory to “Level 4: Very High” for those countries, telling Americans they should avoid travel there.

The CDC also eased its ratings for the Netherlands, Malta, Guinea-Bissau and United Arab Emirates from “Level 4: Very High” to “Level 3: High,” which urges unvaccinated Americans to avoid travel to those destinations.

The CDC also raised Australia from “Leve1 1: Low” to “Level 2: Moderate.” In addition, the CDC raised its advisory level for Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ghana, Grenada, Turks and Caicos Islands to “Level 3.” The CDC issues travel recommenda-tions by countries and for US territories but does not list recom-mendations for individual US states. It currently lists about 80 destinations out of around 200 ranked as “Level 4,” including some US territories. -Reuters

Venezuela govt, opposition pledge

to address people’s needsMEXICO CITY: Representatives of Venezuela’s government and opposition agreed on Monday to find ways to deal with the pressing needs of Venezuelans, especially in combatting the coronavirus pandemic.

In a joint statement issued at the close of their first round of negotiations in Mexico’s capital, the parties said they decided to “establish mechanisms for the restoration and achievement of resources to meet the social needs of the population with special emphasis on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The statement offered no specifics on what might be done, though it indicated they would be relying on help from multilateral organizations.

The parties said the first point of the next round of talks will be discussions on Venezuela’s justice system and respect for its con-stitutional institutions. Last month’s release from prison of oppo-sition leader Freddy Guevara, as well as the opposition coalition’s announcement this week that it would participate in upcoming regional elections, were seen by both sides as the first results of the process, which is expected to last at least six months. -AP

Blinken to testify in US Congress

on Afghanistan next weekWASHINGTON: Secretary of State Antony Blinken will testify at least twice in Congress next week as lawmakers examine the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, after Senate and House of Repre-sentatives committees promised aggressive investigations.

Blinken will address the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a public hearing on Monday, at 2pm EDT (1800 GMT) and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at 10am EDT (1400 GMT) in a public hearing yesterday, the committees said. Other congressional com-mittees are likely to hold their own hearings in the weeks to come about the chaotic end last month to America’s longest war. Oppo-sition Republicans have blamed Democratic President Joe Biden for events surrounding the collapse of Afghanistan’s US-backed government and the takeover by the Taliban. -Reuters

Biden said the threat from wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and other extreme weather must be dealt with in ways that will lessen the devastating effects of climate change.

08 WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2021VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

CONFLICTS pose many challenges to a country, espe-cially to the children and most of them specifically from the marginalised communities, often pay the biggest price for the conflicts, in which more often they play no role. Conflicts are the worst enemies of education and now the pandemic ravaging the whole universe is sti-fling education as children across the world are deprived of in-person classes which in turn affect their physical and mental developments.

Several internal conflicts have displaced millions of people in different countries in the Middle East and North Africa region such as Syria, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen etc for years now and the children among this displaced people get few chances to pursue their edu-cation. Most of them were forced to flee to a foreign country just to save their life and they are living at the mercy of somebody, more often international agencies and in such situation education becomes a luxury.

Qatar has been an active player in the international efforts to alleviate the hardships of refugees or victims of conflicts. Recently Education Above All (EAA) Foun-dation, with the support of Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), through Qatar Scholarship Programme, has entered into a cooperation agreement with the American University of Beirut and the Luminus Technical Uni-versity College to develop scholarship programmes, which will award scholarships to 1,200 disadvantaged youth over the next four years.

The programme implemented by EAA’s Al Fakhoora programme, will serve the marginalised youth in Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Syria, providing them with oppor-tunity to access quality education, student support services and civic engagement opportunities.

Director General of QFFD Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari said: At QFFD, the support of quality education is positioned at the forefront of supporting communities around the world. We believe that the support of edu-cation results in empowering the youth and therefore they will be able to build a community that nourishes and brings justice and peace.” These words prove the true nature of Qatar’s thinking. Qatar had realised the power of education long back and has been tirelessly working to make available the best inthe world in edu-cation in the country.

Qatar’s quest for education doesn’t stop here, but the country has been striving hard to make education accessible to millions of out-of-school children and youth across the world, especially in the developing and least developed countries.

EAA, founded in 2012 by H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, aims to contribute to human, social and eco-nomic development through the provision of education, with a particular focus on those affected by poverty, conflict and disaster. EAA has been active in the field of education ever since its foundation providing not only education, but also employment opportunities to millions of children and youth in areas of conflicts and disasters in different parts of the world.

Championing education

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

Quote of the day

Only a negotiated and inclusive

settlement will bring sustainable

peace to Afghanistan.

Farhan Haq, UN Spokesperson

A Palestinian argues with Israeli troops during a protest against Israeli settlements, near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, yesterday.

OMAR KHALIFAH AL JAZEERA

On a recent visit to Palestine (I belong to a category of Jordanian Palestinians who can visit Palestine using an Israeli-issued ID card), a Palestinian friend of mine in Ramallah invited me to drive with him to Bethlehem. Thirty minutes into the trip, we stopped at an Israeli checkpoint, pulling into a huge queue of cars. The place was engulfed by an apathetic silence, perhaps indicative of how normal the situation was for those experiencing it. I, however, felt increasingly impatient, and I asked my friend if it would take too long before we were allowed to move. My friend responded, rather sarcastically, “This is Palestine. You can never predict when to move or to stop. People have lost any sense of what a meeting time means. You arrive when you arrive.”

For most people now-adays, colonialism is part of a bygone era. The majority of the world’s population has no first-hand experience of it, and many cannot imagine what it means to live under total foreign control. Today we have museums of colonialism, where people can go to learn about how this form of rule affected natives’ freedoms to live, to move, to speak, to work, and even to die peace-fully. We live (supposedly) in a postcolonial world, and museums of colonialism serve to transport visitors back to a cruel era, granting them a glimpse of the damage this type of governance wrought on native communities.

What if, however, there were an actual place in our world today where coloni-alism and post-colonialism co-existed? Herein lies the sad, almost incomprehensible Palestinian contribution to the museum industry. If museums of colonialism reimagine the past in a modern setting, Pal-estine is both past and present – a colonial and postcolonial reality. In Palestine, there is no need to create a museum of colonialism: the whole country functions as such.

At any museum, you can expect to be able to explore dif-ferent sections on different themes. The same holds true in Palestine – it has various sec-tions, each displaying a dif-ferent layer of colonialism. There is the West Bank, where you can see illegal Israeli settle-ments, expropriated land, a separation wall, and a physi-cally controlled population. Then there is Gaza, where open-air museum meets

open-air prison, as two million Palestinians have been living under an Israeli blockade for more than 15 years. And if you are more into surveying a surreal case of colonialism, then head to Israel proper and find out how Palestinians who stayed in historic Palestine after the foundation of Israel live. There, you will learn about stolen houses, demolished vil-lages, second-class citizens, and institutionalised racism.

Open-air museums seek to give visitors a direct expe-rience of what it was like to live in the past. When I tell foreign friends that settler-only roads surround my tiny village, Burin, located a few kilometres southwest of Nablus in the West Bank, they respond with a disbelieving gasp. For many, it is incon-ceivable to imagine colonial-era conditions in our time, and yet they have been the status quo in Palestine for decades. People who would like to learn about colonialism need look no further than Palestine. It is colonialism incarnate.

Recognising 21st century Palestine as an open-air museum of colonialism casts the longstanding Palestinian-Israeli conflict in a different light. During the latest war in Gaza, some supporters of Israel legitimised its use of force by noting that any sovereign state would have reacted similarly to defend itself had it been under rocket fire from another state. Hamas launched rockets into Israeli territory, so this logic goes, and so Israel has a right to fight back.

This repeated argument ignores one crucial reality of the situation: Gaza is not a state. The West Bank is not a state either. In fact, there is no Palestinian state. The conflict between Israelis and Pales-tinians is not one between two sovereign states. Rather, it is a conflict between a colonised

people and their coloniser. Framing Palestine as a colonial question is essential to under-standing the peculiarity of the Palestinian condition. For many people around the world, Palestine is an enigma. How is it that for so long Pal-estinians have been stuck in a situation that is seemingly so unchangeable, fixed, intrac-table? Statelessness, uprooting, refugeehood, and resistance have practically become permanent descriptors of Palestinians. The conflict between Pales-tinians and Israelis has evolved into a cornerstone of our modern soundscape – something always happens there, except what happens never brings about any serious change to the status quo.

If Palestine is often viewed as a persistent dilemma whose resolution is long overdue, it is because Palestine is more of an anomaly than an enigma. Palestinians have not enjoyed the kind of history that most people in the colonial era have. In most cases, the story of former colonies followed a linear path: colonialism, anti-colonial struggle, and then independence – a new nation-state. This pattern was so forceful and the defeat of colo-nialism so successful that the last few decades have wit-nessed the emergence of a powerful new field of intel-lectual inquiry aptly named “postcolonial studies”. Ironi-cally, one of the grand masters of this field was Palestinian – the late Edward Said.

Not so for Palestinians. Unlike other would-be nations in the Middle East, such as Jordan, Iraq, and Syria, Pal-estine did not witness an end to a British or French Mandate that would lead to the for-mation of an independent nation-state. Rather, the ter-mination of the British Mandate of Palestine in 1948

led to what Palestinians view as another form of colonialism.

The Zionist movement, which would form Israel and result in the destruction of Pal-estinian society and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine (a series of events known in Palestinian historiography as the Nakba, or Catastrophe), has successfully managed to halt the linear pro-gression of Palestinians’ path to self-determination. Both before and after 1948, Palestinians have been struggling to resist first, British and then, Zionist colonialism; realise their dream of a free, independent state; and cast off their own specific, multilayered experiences of imperialism.

Put bluntly, Palestinians have yet to enter the postco-lonial world order. As indi-viduals, they live in the 21st century, but as a stateless nation, they are still captive to the pre-1948 colonial moment. This is the anomaly of Pales-tinian time: as Columbia Uni-versity professor Joseph Massad characterises it, Pal-estine can be understood as a “postcolonial colony”, a region where two periods, two world views, two eras, fiercely collide.

It is dangerous to view Pal-estine as solely a human rights issue – it is drastically more. Palestinians are a living dem-onstration of what colonialism looks like. They simultaneously belong and do not belong to the postcolonial order. For them, 1948 is not just a memory – it is an ongoing reality, a moment in time that has been stretched to define who they are, and who they are not. Palestine has been turned, brutally, into a permanent museum of coloni-alism whose doors should have closed long ago.

Omar Khalifah is an asso-ciate professor of Arabic liter-ature and culture at Geor-getown University in Qatar.

CATHY O’NEIL — BLOOMBERG

The battle lines in the war on covid-19 have been getting blurrier, as infections surge and studies offer changing and sometimes conflicting data on exactly how much protection vaccines provide. Amid the fog, we mustn’t lose sight of a crucial truth: Vaccines still work, and they’re still a miracle.

Not long ago, the goal seemed clear: If enough people achieved immunity through vaccination or infection, the pandemic would peter out for lack of targets. Now that “herd immunity” seems ever more distant. The delta variant’s

enhanced transmissibility has raised the bar. The virus still roams freely in places with low vaccination rates. Iso-lation-weary people are heading out and taking their chances. As school restarts and new variants emerge, the situation is likely to get worse.

Meanwhile, the most crucial data points about vac-cines - how well they protect against hospitalization and death - are in flux.

Early in the vaccination drive, the chances of an inoc-ulated person dying of covid-19 appeared to be about one in a million. Delta has probably driven that up somewhat, but a dearth of adequate information makes

it difficult to say by how much.

News stories tend to freak people out by focusing on “breakthrough cases,” in which people get covid despite vaccines. Most official data cover the whole period since vaccinations began, so they obscure the more recent effect of delta. Just looking at the share of vaccinated among the hospitalized and dead isn’t great, either: If eve-ryone were vaccinated, it would be 100%.

In the absence of good data, the message about vac-cines keeps getting foggier. The information that filters through often ends up pro-viding fodder for

anti-vaxxers. What people hear is, don’t bother getting vaccinated because you can still get covid and even die.

What’s needed is a reporting system that would allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to calculate covid-related hospi-talization and death rates among the vaccinated and the unvaccinated on a regular basis, at the state and national level. With, say, weekly or even daily reporting on cases per 100,000 people, it would be much easier to see whether and by how much delta and other emerging var-iants were actually wearing down the vaccines’ most important protections.

Palestine: An open-air museum of colonialism

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