Wednesday 12 August 2020

22 Dhul-Hijja - 1441

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8347

Choose the network of heroes Enjoy the Internet

BUSINESS | 14 PENMAG | 15 SPORT | 20

Neymar takes

centre stage

as PSG eye

semi-final spot

Classifieds

and Services

section

included

Google turns

Android phones

into earthquake

sensors

QUARTER-FINALTODAY'S FIXTURES

Atalanta vs PSG Kick off at 10:00pm Qatar time

QA Holidays announces five more staycation offersTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Airways Holidays has announced five additional luxu-rious hotels to its generous stay-cation offers in collaboration with Discover Qatar for memo-rable and safe getaways in and around Doha.

With these new packages, residents in Qatar can now treat themselves to a stay at a host of luxurious hotels including La Cigale Doha; Marriot Marquis City Center Doha; AlWadi Hotel Doha MGallery; The Westin Doha; and W Hotel Doha. The offer is also still valid for Sharq Village & Spa; Hilton Doha, West Bay; InterContinental Doha, Ritz-Carlton, Doha; Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Con-vention Hotel; Al Najada Doha Hotel and Al Messila Luxury Collection Resort & Spa.

The staycation packages are carefully designed to provide customers in Qatar with a much-needed change of scenery in a safe and respon-sible manner. Beach lovers can enjoy a stay at one of Doha’s luxurious beach-front hotels, with pristine white sands and sparkling turquoise waters, minutes away from their room. Those that prefer to stay in the city can stay in luxurious palaces surrounded by lush botanical gardens.

For every booking made with Qatar Airways Holidays, customers will be treated to a complimentary Discover Qatar gift voucher that can be used to redeem a delightful three-course meal at one of the fol-lowing restaurants in Souq Waqif: Argan, Al Terrace, or La Patisserie.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, H E Akbar Al Baker, said: “As travellers are more limited in these unique times, we understand the high demand for people wanting something different. We are delighted to announce five additional luxu-rious hotels to our staycation packages. The extension of Qatar Airways Holidays stay-cation deals will allow people to experience Qatar’s world renowned Arabian hospitality while also staying safe. These very special offers are also a reminder to people in Qatar that there are many beautiful get-aways in the country we call home.”

Deals are available for couples and families and include fine dining in romantic settings, room upgrades, dis-counts on spa and health

treatments, sea view rooms, and much more. To take advantage

of Qatar Airways Holidays stay-cation packages, customers

must book by 30 August 2020 and stay until 31 August 2020.

People urged to follow precautions against COVID-19FAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

The Minister of Public Health, H E Dr. Hanan Mohammed Al Kuwari, has reminded people the importance of following recommended measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

H E the Minister of Public Health has emphasized that adhering to safety measures are very important now more than ever since the risk of the spread of COVID-19 is still high. The message of H E the Minister was posted on social media accounts of the Ministry of Public Health and Hamad Medical Corporation.

“Looking to our future, I would like to emphasise the importance of continuous cor-poration between everyone and always be careful as following the precautionary measures such as wearing masks and keeping a safe distance between individuals are very important now more than ever since the risk of the spread of COVID-19 is still high,” said the message.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior has also asked people to wear face masks while going out from home following strictly the preventive and pre-cautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“Your commitment to wearing a mask while you go out protects you and others from coronavirus and reflects your concern for public safety, espe-cially while you are in enclosed spaces and shopping complexes,” the MoI tweeted yesterday.

To mention, the Ministry of Public Health continuing to remind people that as the

restrictions of COVID-19 are gradually being lifted in Qatar, it is important for everyone to play their role in controlling the virus by following precau-tionary measures.

In continuous social media messages and campaigns, the Ministry has said that it is the right of everyone to ensure that precautionary measures are being implemented.

It has urged the people to keep physical distancing, avoid close contact with others, crowded places and confined closed spaces where other people congregate, wear a face mask, and wash hands regularly. �P2

Online enrolment in public schools to start on August 23

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has announced that student transfer and enrolment in Qatar’s public schools will be open from August 23 and it will continue until October 7, 2020.�P2

QSL: Fans return to stadiums as battle for title hots upFAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

The Qatar Stars League has decided to allow fans in the penultimate round of the QNB Stars League (QSL), which is expected to feature exciting games as title race goes down to the wire.

The QSL resumed behind closed doors on July 24 after the coronavirus hiatus with three rounds being held in the empty stadiums. However, the Qatar

Stars League yesterday announced the return of fans from Round 21, which begins tomorrow.

“As part of measures fol-lowing the resumption of 2019-20 season QNB Stars League and to gradually restore normalcy, the Qatar Stars League, in co-operation with the authorities concerned, has decided to allow fans at the sta-diums with a limited number of tickets for each match, as per the following precautionary

measures, starting from Week 21 of QSL,” it said in a statement.

It also mentioned a number of specific controls for each match to ensure the safety and security of everyone.

“Everyone must have a ticket to enter the stadium. Tickets will be available only online, on the official website (tickets.qsl.qa). Only General Admission tickets will be up for sale. Tickets for the left and right sides of VIP Stand will not be sold.”

Besides, children below 12

years old will be denied entry at the stadium, with all attendees must wear masks and Ehteraz mobile application must display green on their status.

“Maintaining social dis-tancing is a must at the stadium. The initial stage will be followed by several stages, after which the situation will be assessed according to the developments,” the statement added.

Just one point separate table-toppers Al Duhail (46 points) and Al Rayyan as QSL has reached a

crucial stage with plenty of thrilling action expected in the last two rounds . Al Duhail, were comfortably sitting on top four points clear but they suffered a blow after defeat to defending champions Al Sadd in Week 20. Al Sadd, who are third with 41 points, have slim chances of retaining the title.

Al Duhail will square off with Al Khor (11th with 16 points), while Al Rayyan meet Al Shahania (bottom of the table with 15 points). �P2

The new offers of luxurious hotels include La Cigale Doha, Marriot Marquis City

Center Doha, AlWadi Hotel Doha MGallery, The Westin Doha and W Hotel Doha.

Beach lovers can enjoy a stay at one of Doha’s luxurious beach-front hotels,

with pristine white sands and sparkling turquoise waters, minutes away from

their room and those preferring city life can choose palaces surrounded by lush

botanical gardens.

Deals are available for couples and families and include fine dining in romantic

settings, room upgrades, discounts on spa and health treatments, sea view

rooms, and much more.

Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Lebanon, H E Mohammed Hassan Jaber Al Jaber, with other officials taking a tour of the first Qatari field hospital which opened yesterday in the courtyard of Al Roum Hospital in Beirut.

Qatar field hospital at Al Roum Hospital in Beirut inauguratedQNA — BEIRUT

In the implementation of the directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Qatari field hospital was inau-gurated yesterday at Al Roum Hospital in Beirut, as part of the medical aid and supplies provided by the State of Qatar to support Lebanon.

Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Lebanon H E Mohammed Hassan Jaber Al Jaber, repre-sentative of the Lebanese Min-ister of Health in the caretaker government Dr. Mohammed Hayder, representative of the Lebanese Army Commander General Elias Shamiya, Director-General of Al Roum Hospital Edgard Joujou, the Qatari logistical and medical delegation that constructed of the hospital, and several

diplomats attended the inauguration.

The representative of the Lebanese Minister of Health thanked the State of Qatar for its standing and constant support for Lebanon. The rep-resentative of the Lebanese Armed Forces Commander also praised the efforts of the State of Qatar and its generous con-tribution in overcoming the human tragedy that afflicted Lebanon, appreciating the work of the Qatari medical and logis-tical team that completed equipping the hospital at a record speed with full prepa-ration and equipment.

Director-General of Al Roum Hospital praised the equipment available inside the field hospital and gave a detailed explanation about the hospital and its departments, which include several operating rooms, emer-

gency rooms, and a pharmacy.In a speech, H E the Ambas-

sador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Lebanon expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the explosion, wishing a speedy recovery for the wounded.

H E the Ambassador said that the inauguration of the field hospital presented by the State of Qatar came in imple-mentation of the directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to support of the Lebanese people after the port explosion. He explained that the hospital is equipped with the necessary medical equipment and includes 60 operating rooms and rooms for the injured and patients, adding that the second field hospital in the Lebanese Hospital Geitaoui will soon be operational after its completion.

Adhering to safety

measures are very

important now more

than ever since the

risk of the spread of

COVID-19 is still

high.

Ministry of Interior

has asked people to

wear face masks

while going out

from home.

As the restrictions

of COVID-19 are

gradually being

lifted in Qatar, it is

important for

everyone to play

their role in

controlling the virus.

Qatar strongly

rejects and

denounces Emirati

ruling in alleged

intelligence case

QNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar has affirmed that the ruling issued by the UAE Federal Court of Appeal to uphold the previous sentence of life imprisonment against the Omani citizen Abdullah Al Shamsi in the alleged case of intelligence with the State of Qatar contra-dicts justice and facts.

In a statement issued yes-terday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that these accu-sations are unfounded, have no basis in reality or law, and con-tradict the policy of the State of Qatar towards all countries, adding that the State of Qatar rejects and strongly condemns this false accusation.

The statement considered that this ruling lacks justice in its proper sense and is based on reasons that have nothing to do with the law, but rather for well-known reasons. It also reveals the unacceptable behaviour of the Emirati authorities that affects the rights of the Gulf citizen and violates the com-mitment to the rules and prin-ciples of respect for relations between countries.

OFFICIAL NEWS

02 WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020HOME

FAJR SUNRISE 03.44 am 05.06 am

W A L R U WA I S : 35o↗ 36o W A L K H O R : 33o↗ 41o W D U K H A N : 34o↗ 37o W WA K R A H : 28o↗ 43o W M E S A I E E D 28o↗ 43o W A B U S A M R A 33o↗ 38o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 13:02 – 00:00 LOW TIDE 04:43–17:13

Hot daytime with some clouds and slight dust to blowing

dust at some places at times.

Minimum Maximum34oC 43oC

ZUHR

MAGHRIB

11.39 am06.14 pm

ASR

ISHA

03.08 pm07.44 pm

Amir congratulates President of Chad

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al

Thani, and Prime Minister and Min-

ister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid

bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani

sent yesterday cables of congratu-

lations to President of the Republic

of Chad H E Idriss Deby Itno on

the anniversary of his country’s

Independence Day. -QNA

Amir congratulates President of Belarus

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin

Hamad Al Thani and Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad

Al Thani sent yesterday cables

of congratulations to H E Pres-

ident Alexander Lukashenko on

the occasion of his re-election as

President of the Republic of Bela-

rus. -QNA

Iraqi writer is Katara Prize for Arabic Novel’s Person of the YearRAYNALD C RIVERA

THE PENINSULA

The late Iraqi novelist Ghaib Tuma Farman is Person of the Year for the upcoming sixth edition of the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel to be held on October 13, the Cultural Village Foundation — Katara has announced.

Every year since its second edition, the Prize has been cel-ebrating an Arab literary figure who has left an indelible mark on Arab literature through which Katara seeks to honour the generation of pioneers who have contributed immensely in raising awareness in Arab societies through their literary and intellectual creations.

The event honours the chosen Person of the Year through a number of events and activities, including a photo exhibition documenting the most important milestones in his life, a symposium on his life and works, a book launch and a documentary film.

Born in Baghdad in 1927, Farman belongs to the pio-neering writers in Iraq. He is best known in Iraqi literature for his social-realist novels and for having contributed to the advancement of Iraqi literature during the 20th century. All his

novels were published when he was away from Iraq and living in Moscow where he died in 1990.

Previous Persons of the Year included Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who was the first Arab to win Nobel Prize for Literature, Sudanese writer Tayeb Salih described as the ‘genius of the modern Arabic novel’, foremost Palestinian novelist and activist Ghassan Kanafani, and prominent Tunisian writer and thinker Mahmoud Al Masaadi.

The sixth edition of the prestigious Katara Prize for Arabic Novel has achieved record participation with a total of 2,220 entries in various categories, a 20 percent increase from last year.

This year’s entries com-prise 1,005 unpublished novels, 930 published novels all released last year, 195 unpublished novels by young writers, 75 unpublished studies and 15 published

Qatari novels.In terms of geographical

distribution of participants, Egypt and Sudan came first in the Arab countries in terms of numbers with 986 partici-pants, followed by Maghreb countries with 565 entries, then the Levant and Iraq with 533 participation. Gulf coun-tries registered 124 partici-pants, while 12 entries came from non-Arab countries.

Women’s participation in the Prize this year reached 552 while 1,668 entries were by men.

This year has seen the addition of a new category, which is the Qatari novel aimed at enhancing the presence of Qatari novels in local and Arab literary scene as well as encouraging Qatari novelists to be more creative in this literary genre, which has been witnessing great momentum on the level of production where a number of young Qatari novelists have emerged.

talabat launches

#LunchforLebanon

initiative in support of BeirutTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The region’s leading food and grocery delivery app, talabat yesterday announced, on top of other initiatives that has already been rolled out this week, that 100 percent of all profit made from 12pm to 4pm today whether it is food or non-food orders will be donated to Lebanon through the #LunchforLebanon initi-ative.

Francisco de Sousa, Man-aging Director of talabat Qatar said: “The initiative ‘talabat solidarity with everyone affected’, by announcing that on top of other projects already rolling to donate to Lebanon, talabat will also contribute with the full profit made from 12pm to 4pm today, inviting all customers to participate.”

Tomaso Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer of talabat, said that talabat employees feel a strong sense of soli-darity with the people of Lebanon.

“I think we have all been affected by the tragedy which unfolded in Beirut, and the outpouring of support from the region has been

testament to that. Many of our employees, customers, and partners are Lebanese and are heavily affected by the situation in Beirut, and our hearts and thoughts are with them and their families. We – not only as talabat but as individuals — want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to help,” said Rodriguez.

“This means using our platform as a vehicle for support. Through #Lunchfor-Lebanon, every order placed between 12pm - 4pm across all the region will contribute to Lebanon. We will be donating 100 percent of our profits to the recovery efforts in Lebanon.”

Customers can download the talabat application from the Google Play Store or IOS App store to order their meals during #LunchforLebanon.

384 new COVID-19

cases and 331

recoveries

recorded in Qatar

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 384 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Another 331 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 110,324.

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

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

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

However the Ministry has emphasised the importance of taking precautions against COVID-19.

“Unless we follow all pre-cautionary measures, we may experience a second wave of the virus and see numbers increasing — there are already signs of this happening in other countries around the world. Now more than ever, we must be careful and protect the most vulnerable.”

Born in Baghdad in 1927, Farman belongs to the pioneering writers in Iraq. He is best known in Iraqi literature for his social-realist novels and for having contributed to the advancement of Iraqi literature during the 20th century.

ARC on way to achieve self-sufficiency in fish productionSANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Aquatic Research Centre (ARC) at Ras Matbakh has emerged as one of successful projects of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) to enhance the government plan and to ensure self-sufficiency of Qatar in fresh food production.

The Centre, a nucleus for fish farming projects released yes-terday 51,000 baby fish of black seabream locally called ‘Al Sham’ weighing 5gm each in Qatari sea to enrich the strategic stock of fish in the sea.

The baby fish was produced in the Aquatic Research Centre of MME at Ras Matbakh under the project which aims to increase strategic stock of local fish with economic value, said the Ministry in a release.

The Aquatic Research Centre at Ras Matbakh is run by Fish Affairs Department of the MME, which eyes to increase the self-sufficiency rate of Qatar in fish production from 74 percent in 2018 to 90 percent in 2023.

To serve the purpose, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment launched Strategic

Food Security Projects 2019-23 under which a number of fish farming projects on floating cages are under construction which will see the light of the day soon.

The increasing production of baby fish at the hatchery of the Aquatic Research Centre will play a key role in achieving the goals of fish farming projects by supplying various species of baby fish to them.

The baby fish of balck sea-bream were released in two batches — 21,000 baby fish in first batch and 30,000 baby fish in second batch yesterday.

The release operation was conducted under the supervision of a team from the Aquatic Research Cantre. Over 200,000 baby fish of black seabream will be released in the sea as per the plan of the MME.

The baby fish were selected to release in Qatari water as per the scientific specifications and requirements providing suitable environment for their growth safely. By the end of July, 2020, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment had released the second batch of 4,300 baby Hamour fish in Qatari sea water as part of the pilot project to

increase the strategic stock of fish in the sea.

In the first batch, in the second week of July this year, the Ministry had released 20,000 larvae of Hamour fish in the sea for the same purpose.

The Aquatic Research Centre stretches over 101,000sqm in Ras Matbakh comprising of a marine fish hatchery, a marine shrimp hatchery, scientific lab-oratories and administrative buildings.

According to earlier report of the MME, as per the plan, the production capacity of the fish hatchery unit is expected to reach gradually over 2.4 million fish seeds through four seasons of hatchery per year.

The production capacity of the shrimp hatchery unit is expected to reach 2 million shrimp seeds through four hatchery seasons per year.

Members of a team from the Aquatic Research Centre at Ras Matbakh releasing baby fish of black seabream in the sea to increase fish stock of the country.

Qatar field hospital at Al Roum Hospital in Beirut inaugurated

Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Lebanon H E Mohammed Hassan Jaber Al Jaber with other officials after the inauguration of the first Qatari field hospital in the courtyard of Al Roum Hospital, in Beirut.

The Centre yesterday released 51,000 baby fish of black seabream in Qatari sea to enrich the strategic stock of fish in the sea.

Public urged to

follow COVID-19

precautionsFROM PAGE 1

“Most importantly, it is vital that we continue to protect the elderly and those with chronic medical condi-tions. When spending time at home with elderly family members or those with chronic diseases, ensure you wash hands regularly, wear a mask and maintain social and physical distancing,” said the Ministry.

Anyone suffering from COVID-19 symptoms are advised either contact 16000 helpline or go directly to one of the designated health centers to undergo the nec-essary checks at Muaither, Rawdat Al Khail, Umm Slal, or Al Gharafa Health Centers.

Online enrolment in public schools to start on August 23

FROM PAGE 1Parents can complete the

enrolment process online via the Public Service Portal which is available at the link: https://eduservices.edu.gov.qa/Service.aspx?service=PreEnrollStudent.

For applications to be com-plete, parents will need to upload all the required docu-ments for admission, along with the medical assessment certificates for new students, said the Ministry in a statement

on its website yesterday.In a related context,

medical examinations for new students are still underway in a number of pre-determined health centers.

The official medical certif-icates issued by health centers will determine whether stu-dents are medically fit for admission.

The certificates will also be linked to the Ministry’s online enrolment system.

QSL: Fans return to stadiums as battle for title hots up

FROM PAGE 1

Both the matches will be played on Friday simultane-ously at Al Sadd and Al Janoub stadiums respectively. While Al Duhail and Al Rayyan are eyeing title, Al Khor and Al Shahania will be battling to avoid rele-gation in these games.

Tomorrow, Al Sadd – the only side to win all three

games since QSL resumption – will take on Qatar SC hoping to continue their winning streak.

Another tomorrow’s clash between Al Sailiya and A Arabi will be noted more as both teams are on same number of points (25) and the latter are placed fifth on better goal difference.

Tomaso Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer of talabat, said that talabat employees feel a strong sense of solidarity with the people of Lebanon.

03WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 HOME

Qatar takes part in meeting on Environment Outlook Report for GCC member statesQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar, represented by the environmental moni-toring and laboratory department of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment and the Qatar General Elec-tricity and Water Corporation, participated in the technical meeting of the team tasked with water resources chapter of the Environment Outlook Report for the Gulf Cooperation Council member states, which includes national experts in the field of water resources and focal points from the ministries and agencies of the envi-ronment in the GCC countries.

The meeting, which was held remotely, came in the context of the agreement between the GCC General Sec-retariat and the West Asia Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), under which the first report of the state of the envi-ronment outlook for the GCC countries will be issued.

The report deals with the state of the environment of the member states in the areas of air quality, water resources, biological diversity, land resources, coastal and marine environments, and discusses

technical issues related to modern data and indicators in the field of water resources

according to the methodology of the integrated environmental assessment of the UNEP.

Qatar participates in the technical meeting for the Environmental Outlook Report for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Diplomatic Institute, University of Houston-Clear Lake sign MoUQNA — HOUSTON

The Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with the University of Houston-Clear Lake, in the presence of a number of officials.

Consul General of the State of Qatar in Houston H E Rashid bin Abdullah Al Dehaimi and President of University of Houston-Clear Lake Dr. Ira Blake signed the MoU.

The remote signing cer-emony was attended by H E Director of the Diplomatic Institute Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al Horr, in addition to the presence of the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Trade and International Affairs Chris-topher Olson, and a number of senior members of the admin-istrative and educational body of the university.

In a speech, Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner praised the MoU signed between the Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the University of Houston-Clear Lake, describing it as innovative and important in Houston, which is home to more than 95

consulates. He expressed his happiness with this partnership, which would provide a lot to diplomats and students in the city, and thanked the State of Qatar for its continuous support to the city of Houston.

For his part, the Director of the Diplomatic Institute expressed, in a speech, his hap-piness for participating in the signing ceremony of the Mem-orandum of Understanding, and said that it was the right time more than ever for such a part-nership, and that diplomacy faces many challenges in the contemporary world and is no longer limited to practice in conducting negotiations and public relations, pointing out that the Diplomatic Institute always seeks to find new

programmes to sharpen the skills of Qatari diplomats. He hoped that work to implement the agreement would begin as soon as possible.

In her speech, the President of University of Houston-Clear Lake said that the institute of diplomacy at the University of Houston will be the platform to demonstrate the university’s commitment to supporting the best results of cooperation and diplomatic partnership.

She expressed her happiness at starting this work with the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noting that such partnerships and support are not strange for Qatar which supported Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina and the City of Houston during Hurricane Harvey.

Consul General of the State of Qatar in Houston, H E Rashid bin Abdullah Al Dehaimi, and President of University of Houston-Clear Lake, Dr. Ira Blake, signing a Memorandum of Understanding.

Scientists at HBKU develop new technology to remove oil from seawaterTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Scientists at the Qatar Envi-ronment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) have developed a new type of filtration technology which can remove small oil droplets from seawater.

The filtration technology features a new type of mem-brane which has unique chemical and physical prop-erties, making it more efficient and fouling-resistant during the oil/water separation process. The technology and membrane were developed by QEERI’s Water Centre with support from the Computational-Materials and Processes Centre.

Seawater desalination is the main water source in Qatar and provides up to 99 percent of potable water needs while sup-porting a broad range

of commercial, industrial and agricultural activities. Although thermal desalination is exten-sively used, Qatar is slowly moving towards the construction of more energy-efficient reverse osmosis (RO) membrane desali-nation plants. However, desali-nation facilities, especially RO membranes, are vulnerable to oil contamination in seawater.

The common strategies for oil spill response include spraying chemicals on the sea-water surface to disperse oil slicks, and deploying floating booms to contain and collect oil. However, these practices stop short of preventing small oil droplets seeping into the sea-water intake ports of desali-nation plants and causing damage or shutdown.

Dr Jenny Lawler, senior research director at the Water Center at QEERI, said, “Oil spill threats are a matter of concern

all across the Gulf, as these could potentially cause a complete shutdown of some desalination facilities, which could in turn

affect the availability of clean drinking water for Qatar’s pop-ulation. Accordingly, the devel-opment and deployment of

mitigation strategies to prevent such catastrophic interruption of seawater desalination from oil contamination is vital to the State of Qatar. Our team at QEERI is actively involved in developing the science and tech-nological solutions to make the desalination process efficient and effective.”

In line with Qatar National Vision 2030, QEERI’s Water Centre conducts research in water resources, water desali-nation, wastewater treatment and reuse. Dr Marc Vermeersch, executive director at QEERI, said: “At QEERI, our primary objective is to help Qatar tackle its grand challenges in energy, water and environment, and we do this through cutting-edge research, development and innovation. Providing customised techno-logical solutions for issues facing Qatar is a top priority.”

QEERI’s Water Centre Oil and

Water Separation Team of accomplished researchers includes Eng Radee Al Rewailly, Dr. Jayaprakash Saththasivam, Dr .Oluwaseun Ogunbiyi and Dr Zhaoyang Liu. The team per-forms design, experimental and modeling studies with support from Dr. Said Ahzi from the Com-putational-Materials and Proc-esses Centre. Their focus is on the development of novel materials, components and processes for the mitigation of oil fouling in various industries, including municipal drinking water pro-duction and the oil and gas sectors.

As a culmination of a number of years of continued research and development, the team has also filed multiple patents for oil/water separation technology, which cover key markets including the United States, China, the European Union and the Middle East.

Scientists at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute at Hamad Bin Khalifa University who have developed a new type of filtration technique that promises more efficient oil and water separation process.

QRCS marks International Youth Day 2020THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has celebrated Interna-tional Youth Day 2020, desig-nated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999.

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

There is a need to signifi-cantly enhance their represen-tation and engagement in formal and institutional activ-ities, to ensure better and more sustainable policies and to build trust in public institutions, especially among youth.

As humanity has been facing the risks of COVID-19, youth were at the forefront of combating the virus and

supporting the economy and population against it.

A chief aspect of QRCS’s humanitarian and medical response to the pandemic was recruiting thousands of young women and men through the Volunteer for Qatar campaign.

Paying attention to capacity-building, QRCS equipped those volunteers with the knowledge and skills needed to undertake their national and humanitarian responsibilities.

The top priority was to ensure their safety, so that they are better able to perform their tasks properly.

Under its development strategy, QRCS designs its humanitarian operations and voluntary initiatives in con-formity with the UN 2030 Agenda, which introduces the concept of youth social

entrepreneurship. QRCS has numerous

foreign youth-oriented humanitarian projects. With funding from Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), the Alternative Energy Training Institute in Al Bab City, Syria, was supported to educate the displaced Syrians in the tech-nology of solar panels, natural gas, and wind turbines.

So far, 660 trainees with special needs have been grad-uated, including 56 females and 23 males. The institute created 60 jobs for the graduates.

The Architecture Institute of Al Bab helped 480 persons and created 300 jobs, under QUEST, a tripartite partnership of QRCS, QFFD, and Silatech to back the labor market.

The first 100 graduates were given building toolkits to start their own business.A view of vocational training for persons with disability by Qatar Red Crescent Society.

Georgetown’s innovative EdTech tools ensure learning never stops at QFTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

At Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), ongoing strategic capacity building with educa-tional technology and a growing suite of digital teaching tools allowed the QF partner to continue delivering its rigorous multidisciplinary curriculum in international affairs virtually, despite the disruptions by the pandemic.

From digital learning man-agement systems that enhance educational environments, to guidance on effective teaching practice and student assessment techniques, to student learning and support, the university’s

resources ensure academic success amidst a health crisis that continues to impact education sectors around the world.

According to the dean of GU-Q, Dr. Ahmad Dallal, “Our academic teaching design and support efforts are core to the mission of the university. By staying at the forefront of the latest innovations in education technologies and teaching prac-tices, we were better prepared to navigate the disruptions of the crisis when it happened. And we have continued to expand our infrastructure and support services to ensure that we are ready to support the academic mission of the university for the

duration of the public health emergency and beyond.”

Headed by Dr. Anne Nebel, Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning and Assessment, GU-Q’s Office of Academic Services led the quick transition to an online teaching and learning environment, and has continued to develop and enhance programming to sustain high academic standards.

“GU-Q has dedicated instruc-tional design support to help faculty transition and develop their courses in the virtual envi-ronment, including one-to-one consultations, group webinars, and custom-designed training videos and guidebooks.”

In a speech, Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner described the MoU as innovative and important in Houston, which is home to more than 95 consulates. He expressed his happiness with this partnership, which would provide a lot to diplomats and students in the city, and thanked the State of Qatar for its continuous support to the city of Houston.

04 WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020HOME

HBKU co-sponsors, participates in first round of major policy & development conferenceTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The College of Public Policy (CPP) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) recently co-sponsored and participated in a series of webinars forming the opening round of the II International Conference on Policy Diffusion and Devel-opment Cooperation.

First held in 2016, this biannual conference brings together researchers from around the world to examine the dynamics of policy making and development initiatives. In doing so, the gathering provides a space for scholars to consider issues, concepts and methods to improve understanding of policy diffusion and devel-opment cooperation. The last edition in 2018 attracted more than 270 participants from the fields of political science, soci-ology, geography, and more, to discuss how policies travel and governments cooperate.

Start ing Ju ly 20,

the conference’s webinar series discussed an eclectic mix of issues and subjects shaping contemporary policy making and development discourse. Topics included the growing influence of far-right groups and leaders, the impact of state capacity on policy transfers, and the role of digital tech-nology and Internet knowledge hubs in policy making. Key talking points from these and other webinars will inform panel discussions scheduled for

January 25 to March 19, 2021 and concluding plenaries expected to begin March 22, 2021. The CPP will continue to co-sponsor and participate in next year’s proceedings.

“The relevance of the II International Conference on Policy Diffusion and Devel-opment Cooperation should not be underestimated,” said Dr. Leslie Pal, Founding Dean, CPP. “Policymaking in all its forms occurs in many different ways across parts of the world, and involves a diverse array of actors. Practices are also shaped

by unequal power relationships and contrasting social, eco-nomic and cultural conditions. This conference not only brings these and related issues into focus, it also explains and explores them with greater precision.”

“Accordingly, it’s imperative that CPP makes its presence keenly felt through this like-minded conference. Doing so reflects the priority we place on supporting and contributing to effective policy development and implementation for Qatar National Vision 2030.”

Dr. Leslie Pal

InterContinental Doha partners with L’Occitane to provide unforgettable staycation THE PENINSULA — DOHA

InterContinental Doha has announced its month-long partnership with world-renowned brand L’Occitane en Provence to provide its guests an even more unfor-gettable staycation.

Beginning from August 16 until stocks last, L’Occitane has provided InterContinental Doha’s guests with an exclusive Summer Hydration Kit with skin care essentials for face and body. The kit is designed to provide hydration to the skin while maintaining a perfect, yet natural complexion.

InterContinental Doha

opened on July 1, 2020 for staycations, keeping in mind safety precautions and measures. Its much-loved res-taurants La Mar, Belgian Café, Mykonos, Pool Terrace, and The Lounge have also opened its doors, along with the private beach and swimming pool.

Basking under the sun for too long can damage the skin, that’s why L’Occitane pro-vided an all-around Summer Hydration Kit.

Guests who book any Club InterContinental room or suite will automatically receive a complimentary Summer H y d r a t i o n K i t f r o m L’Occitane.

Beginning from August 16 until stocks last, L’Occitane has provided InterContinental Doha’s guests with an exclusive Summer Hydration Kit with skin care essentials for face and body.

Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center launches Turkish language courseTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

With participation of 113 students, Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center in Doha launched on Sunday free and intensive courses to teach the Turkish language for the beginners.

The virtual zoom classes included 113 students for both first and second levels of the language course and will continue until August 31, (12 hours per week), through the Zoom platform for distance education.

Dr. Seljuk Kuja, Director of Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center said: “The free intensive educational courses for teaching the Turkish language for the beginners has enrolled 113 partic-ipants, 70 of them at level 1, and 43 in level 2. The course is being taught by experienced and highly qualified teachers in small groups.”

He said that in line with health pre-cautionary measures the classes con-ducted through Zoom. Dr. Kuja expressed his pleasure for the success

of the previous courses and students’ interaction with the teaching and learning processes witnessed.

“The Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center keeps pace with the continuous developments in order to facilitate the educational process and equip the participants with the necessary capa-bilities to develop their skills and

enhance language command,” said Dr. Kuja.

He said that providing the language courses comes at the forefront of the center’s activities to spread the Turkish culture and language, which are activ-ities that reflects the effective role the Yunus Emre Center playing in the field of cultural diplomacy.

Turkish Cultural Center in Doha recorded and broadcasted the aca-demic levels of the first and second phases of its educational courses via the center’s YouTube channel.

In addition to the continuing free language courses through its website (Learnturkish.com), where the center concluded successfully the previous courses with online exams in which 90 students participated in five academic levels, applying the direct interactive lessons system

using ‘Zoom’ program.The Center also launched the

‘Rethinking, Re-Expression’ program through live broadcasts on its social media sites. The program witnessed fruitful interaction meetings mod-erated by Prof.

Sharaf H President of the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Institute hosted a group of thinkers, famous figure on literature and arts as part of the institute efforts to introduce the Turkish culture and arts.

Students taking Turkish language course virtually.

Dr. Seljuk Kuja, Director of Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center

The Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center keeps pace with the continuous devel-

opments in order to facilitate the educational process and equip the participants with

the necessary capabilities to develop their skills and

enhance language command.

ISL Qatar welcomes Interim Head of SchoolTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The International School of London (ISL) has welcomed Interim Head of School, Dr. Sergio Pawel (pictured).

Dr. Pawel who has been involved with the devel-opment of ISL Qatar since its inception 11 years ago as the

Chief Academic. Dr. Sergio Pawel has over

30 years of experience in the field of education in the UK, South America and the Middle East. Dr. Pawel holds an MSc in Nuclear Physics, MPhil in Philosophy of Science and PhD in Sc Education. He partici-pated in the development of

the Science English National Curriculum, the IB Science in the Middle Years and the IB D i p l o m a P h y s i c s Programmes.

Dr. Pawel held various roles as an IB coordinator, IB DP Physics examiner, IB workshop leader, IB evaluator visitor, chair of CIS and NEASC

accreditation, and Head of school.

He has also worked as a consultant for setting up new international schools and lectures courses at Western University for a Master’s pro-g r a m m e i n s c h o o l leadership.

Dr. Pawel has been involved with the devel-opment of the ISL London for a long time and has been one of the key players in estab-lishing the ISL Group.

His research interests range from authentic labo-ratory-based learning prac-tices to the study of cultural diversity as a learning resource, and he is a member of the review board for the Science Education Review journal.

Dr. Pawel is a regular presenter at conferences on the themes of international academic leadership, Mother Tongue and EAL programmes and school i n s p e c t i o n s a n d accreditations.

ISL Qatar has an out-standing reputation for high academic standards, prestigious International Baccalaureate (IB) pro-grammes and an impressive record of admission to the b e s t u n i v e r s i t i e s worldwide.

The student body of 1,180 are aged from 3 to 18. ISL Qatar offers 12 mother tongue language pro-grammes integrated in the curriculum.

First held in 2016, this biannual conference brings together researchers from around the world to examine the dynamics of policy making and development initiatives. In doing so, the gathering provides a space for scholars to consider issues, concepts and methods to improve understanding of policy diffusion and development cooperation.

05WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 MIDDLE EAST

Iran N-deal at risk as UNSC set to vote on arms embargoREUTERS — NEW YORK

The UN Security Council (UNSC) is preparing to vote this week on a US proposal to extend an arms embargo on Iran, a move that some diplomats say is bound to fail and put the fate of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers further at risk.

A last-minute attempt by Britain, France and Germany to broker a compromise with Russia and China on an arms embargo extension appeared unsuccessful so far, diplomats said. Russia and China, allies of Iran, have long-signaled oppo-sition to the US measure.

A Chinese diplomat at the United Nations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that “extending the arms embargo on Iran in whatever form lacks legal basis and will undermine efforts to preserve” the nuclear deal, adding that

there is “no chance” the US text will be adopted.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft said Russia and China wanted to benefit from the end of the arms embargo. “Russia and China are waiting to be able to sell arms to Iran,” Craft told Fox News.

The embargo is due to expire in October under a 2015 deal among Iran, Russia, China, Germany, Britain, France and the United States that prevents

Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in return for sanctions relief.

Even though US President Donald Trump’s administration quit the accord in 2018 — with Trump dubbing it “the worst deal ever” — Washington has threatened to use a provision in the agreement to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran if the Security Council does not extend the arms embargo indefinitely.

Renewed sanctions — a move known as snapback —would likely kill the nuclear deal because Iran would lose a major incentive for limiting its nuclear activities. Iran has already breached parts of the nuclear deal in response to the US withdrawal from the pact and Washington’s imposing strong unilateral sanctions.

“This US administration’s goal is to terminate the Iran nuclear deal,” said a European

diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook alluded to the United States wanting to reimpose all UN sanctions when he said last week, “We need to restore the UN Security Council standard of no enrichment.”

A snapback of UN sanctions would require Iran to suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and devel-opment, and ban imports of anything that could contribute to those activities or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.

It would reimpose the arms embargo, ban Iran from devel-oping ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and reimpose targeted sanc-tions on dozens of individuals and entities. States would also be urged to inspect shipments to and from Iran and authorized

to seize any banned cargo. Richard Gowan, UN

director for conflict prevention advocacy body the International Crisis Group, said there was “zero chance” the US attempt to extend the arms embargo would be adopted and that it was “a ploy to get to snapback.”

The council is operating vir-tually so once a vote is called the 15 members would have 24 hours to submit their decision and the result would be announced at a public meeting, but diplomats say there is little support for the current US text.

The draft resolution needs at least nine votes in favor to force Russia and China to use their vetoes, but some dip-lomats question whether Wash-ington can even secure those nine votes.

“Everyone at the UN under-stands that this resolution is just the curtain-raiser for a much bigger fight over the Iranian

nuclear deal,” said Gowan.Washington argues it can

trigger the sanctions because a Security Council resolution enshrining the nuclear deal names it as a participant. But the remaining parties to the agreement are opposed to such a move, and diplomats say the United States would face a tough, messy battle.

“It’s highly likely ... a number of countries will be saying they have no intention of implementing further sanc-tions, until the UN Security Council decides whether or not snapback has been carried out legally,” said a senior council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“I don’t see how the council can decide that given the divi-sions that will be within it,” the diplomat said. “I don’t see any rush to re-establish sanctions regimes therefore around the world.”

Port blast: Lebanese call for downfall of Aoun, other officialsREUTERS — BEIRUT

Angry and grieving demon-strators yesterday read aloud the names of at least 171 people killed in last week’s explosion at Beirut port and called for the removal of Lebanon’s president and other officials they blame for the tragedy.

Gathered near “ground zero”, some carried pictures of the victims as a large screen replayed footage of the mushroom cloud that rose over the city last Tuesday after highly-explosive material stored for years detonated, injuring some 6,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

“HE KNEW” was written across an image of President Michel Aoun on a poster at the protest venue. Underneath, it read: “A government goes, a government comes; we will continue until the president and the parliament speaker are removed.”

A report said that the pres-ident and prime minister were warned in July about the ware-housed ammonium nitrate,

according to documents and senior security sources.

Aoun, who has pledged a swift and transparent investi-gation, tweeted yesterday: “My promise to all the pained Leb-anese is that I will not rest until all the facts are known.”

Residents of Beirut were still picking up the pieces as search operations continued for 30 to 40 people still missing and security forces fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters in the fourth such day of unrest.

“Our house is destroyed and we are alone,” said Khalil Haddad. “We are trying to fix it the best we can at the moment. Let’s see, hopefully there will be aid and, the most important thing: hopefully the truth will be revealed.”

Lebanese have not been pla-cated by Monday’s resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government and are demanding the removal of what they see as a corrupt ruling class they blame for the country’s woes.

“We will not forget until nooses are erected (for the leaders),” said one man at yes-terday’s demonstration after he

read out some of the victims’ names shown on the screen.

Diab, announcing his cabi-net’s resignation, blamed endemic graft for the explosion, the biggest in Beirut’s history and which compounded a deep financial crisis that has ravaged the currency, paralysed the banking system and sent prices soaring.

“I said before that cor-ruption is rooted in every juncture of the state but I have discovered that corruption is

greater than the state,” he said, blaming the political elite for blocking reforms.

For many Lebanese, the explosion was the last straw in a protracted crisis over the col-lapse of the economy, cor-ruption, waste and dysfunc-tional government.

The blast left a crater more than 100 metres across on dock nine, the French ambassador said on Twitter following a visit to the site by French forensic scientists supporting an inves-

tigation into the disaster.The Beirut port mirrors the

sectarian power system in which the same politicians have dominated the country since the 1975-90 civil war. Each faction has its quota of directors at the port, the nation’s main trade artery.

“It’s a good thing that the government resigned. But we need new blood or it won’t work,” said silversmith Avedis Anserlianin in front of his demolished shop.

People taking part during a vigil for the victims lost in a massive explosion, in Beirut, yesterday.

Iran arrests five people for spying for foreign states: Judiciary

REUTERS — DUBAI

Iranian authorities have arrested five Iranians on charges of spying for Israel, Britain and Germany, convicting and handing down prison sentences on at least two of them, the judi-ciary said yesterday.

Addressing an online news c o n f e r e n c e , j u d i c i a r y spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili named one of the five as Shahram Shirkhani, saying he had spied for Britain and tried to recruit some Iranian officials for the British MI6 espi-onage service.

He added that Shirkhani had passed on sensitive infor-mation about banking and Defence Ministry contracts, and had been convicted and received a prison sentence.

Masoud Mosaheb, the co-chairman of the Iranian-Aus-trian Friendship Society, was sentenced to 10 years impris-onment for sharing information on Iran’s “missile and nuclear projects” with Israel’s Mossad and the German intelligence service, Esmaili said.

The Austrian Foreign Min-istry said efforts to achieve the release of Mosaheb, an

Iranian-Austrian dual national, continued unabated and at the highest level.

“Since the person detained in Iran is an Austrian-Iranian dual citizen ... Iran does not allow the monitoring of legal proceedings, visits to prison or access to trial and medical records,” the ministry said in a statement.

Iran does not recognise dual nationally. Austrian media reported that Mosaheb, 72, had been imprisoned in Iran since January 2019.

Esmaili gave no details on the other three detainees, but

indicated that they were working in state bodies. “We had the arrests in the foreign, defence and energy ministries as well as in the Atomic Energy Organisation,” Esmaili said.

Separately, the Intelligence Ministry said in a statement “a number of spies related to foreign intelligence services were identified and arrested”.

“They sought to spy on sen-sitive and vital centres in the economic, nuclear, infra-structure, military and political areas for the CIA, the Mossad and some European countries,” said the statement read on TV.

Israel closes Gaza goods crossing over balloon attacksAFP — JERUSALEM

Israel closed its goods crossing with the Gaza Strip yesterday after militants in the Hamas-run territory fired rockets into the Mediterranean and launched waves of incendiary balloons into the Jewish state.

The Kerem Shalom crossing will be closed until further notice to all traffic except humanitarian equipment and fuel, COGAT, the defence min-istry unit that oversees the crossings, said in a statement prior to the closure.

The move comes in response to “continued launching of incendiary bal-loons” from Gaza, it added.

Defence Minister Benny Gantz said yesterday in a statement, “In the south, Hamas is continuing to enable explosive balloon attacks to be

launched into the State of Israel. We are not prepared to accept that and have closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing as a result.”

Israeli fire services in the south of the country reported 60 fires caused by balloons yes-terday alone, without recording any casualties.

“There will be a very heavy price for the balloon terrorism. We shall not tolerate it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to an air force base yesterday.

Hamas denounced the Kerem Shalom closure as an “aggressive” move that testified to Israel’s “insistence on laying siege” to Gaza, and said it could cause further worsening of the humanitarian situation in the coastal strip.

The Palestinian territory has been under an Israeli blockade

since 2007. Explosives tied to balloons

and kites first emerged as a

weapon in Gaza during intense protests in 2018, when the makeshift devices drifted across

the border daily, causing thou-sands of fires in Israeli farms and communities.

A member of Palestinian Hamas security forces stands outside the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, yesterday.

A Chinese diplomat at the United Nations said that “extending the arms embargo on Iran in whatever form lacks legal basis and will undermine efforts to preserve” the nuclear deal.

UN sends Lebanon 50,000 tonnes of wheat to avert food crisisBLOOMBERG — BEIRUT

The United Nations is sending grain to Lebanon to avert a food crisis following last week’s explosion in Beirut that killed over 160 people and destroyed grain silos.

The World Food Pro-gramme (WFP) will ship 50,000 tonnes of wheat flour to Beirut, enough to supply Lebanon for three months, it and the Office for the Coordi-nation of Humanitarian Affairs, another UN body, said yesterday. The first batch of 17,500 tonnes will arrive in 10 days.

The shipments will go to bakeries and millers and “ensure there is no food shortage,” OCHA said.

A huge blast on August 4 tore through major grain silos in Beirut’s port, stoking fears of deeper food scarcities in a nation already reeling from an economic crisis. The explosion, which caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage, occurred next to a grain store and left the country with only six weeks of flour reserves, half the standard amount to ensure food security, the UN said. “Grain silos have been mostly destroyed, causing fears of skyrocketing food prices.”

Lebanon relies on privately owned mills to ship wheat from Ukraine, Russia and other European countries. Other food is also mostly imported.

“The explosion was yet another cruel blow to the people of Lebanon who were already reeling from an unprecedented economic and financial crisis,” Najat Rochdi, a UN coordinator for Lebanon, said. “Even before this tragedy, too many children were already going to bed hungry. The far-reaching implications of the blast will only put more pressure on families already at the brink.”

Turkey confirms 1,183 new cases of COVID-19ANATOLIA — ANKARA

Turkey yesterday confirmed 1,183 more cases of COVID-19, raising the tally to 243,180.

“There has been a 32 percent decrease in hospital-isation for the last three days,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter, citing the min-istry’s data.

However, he added that the number of seriously ill people, which is one of the important indicators of the process, continues to increase.

The country also con-firmed 1,185 more recoveries from the novel coronavirus, pushing the total to 226,155, he added. The death toll rose to 5,873 after 15 more people died over the last 24 hours.

Health care professionals conducted 61,716 tests to diagnose the disease over the past day, taking the tally to over 5.38 million.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 737,500 lives in 188 countries and regions since it originated in China last December.

The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries in the world.

More than 20.13 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 12.38 million, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, Russia claimed yesterday that it has developed the world’s first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the coronavirus.

06 WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Iraq military says Turkish drone kills 2 commandersAP — BAGHDAD

A Turkish drone strike killed two senior Iraqi security offi-cials, Iraq’s military said yesterday, marking the first time Turkey’s operation to root out Kurdish rebels in Iraq’s north produced fatalities among high-ranking Iraqi personnel.

The drone targeted a vehicle belonging to the Border Guards in the Bradost area, north of Irbil, the military statement said, causing the deaths of two commanders and the vehicle’s driver.

Gen. Mohammed Rushdi, commander of the Border Guards’ 2nd Brigade and Brig. Zubair Hali, commander of the 3rd Regiment, were killed in the attack Ihsan Chelebi, the mayor of Bradost, told said, adding that, they had been establishing new posts in the area.

Attempts to reach Turkish military officials for comment were not immediately

successful.Two Iraqi security officials

said the Border Guard com-manders were meeting secretly with members of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, during the attack. Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist organisation and has bombed their positions inside northern Iraq in several operations.

The security officials said five others were also killed in the attack. They did not say whether they were military personnel or civilians.

A PKK official in northern Iraq said the meeting had taken place in Bradost. “The purpose of the meeting was to bring sta-bility to the area,” he said.

The officials spoke on con-dition of anonymity in line with regulations.

On June 17, Ankara launched an airborne-and-land offensive into the border region of Haftanin, some 15km from the Turkey-Iraq border.

The operation drew the ire of Iraqi officials who on two occasions summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Baghdad to deliver a protest note. The killing of the high-ranking Iraqi officials is expected to further strain Iraq’s relations with Turkey.

Turkey has defended its operations in northern Iraq, saying neither the Iraqi gov-ernment nor the regional Iraqi Kurdish administration have acted to remove PKK insurgents who allegedly use Iraq’s ter-ritory to stage attacks on Turkey.

Sudan imposes curfew in eastern city after clashes leave 13 deadAP — CAIRO

Sudanese authori t ies yesterday imposed a round-the-clock curfew in an eastern port city after tribal clashes earlier this week killed more than a dozen people and wounded more than 40 others.

The fighting in Port Sudan in the Red Sea province erupted earlier this week between the Beni Amer tribe and the displaced Nuba tribe. It wasn’t the first time the two tribes clashed in Port Sudan or elsewhere in the county.

The Sudan Doctors’ Com-mittee said at least seven corpses arrived at hospitals Monday, bringing the death toll to 13 since the clashes began over the weekend. At least 42 others were wounded, many from gunshots, it said.

Red Sea Gov Abddalla Shinqrai Ohag declared a state of emergency across Port Sudan yesterday until further notice.

Security forces earlier this week deployed more troops to the city to help contain the clashes.

The tensions between the two tribes date back to May 2019 in the eastern city of Qadarif, mainly over water and other resources.

Protesters urge Mali President to resignAFP — BAMAKO

Malians took to the streets in the capital Bamako yesterday, despite rainfall and pleas from mediators to stay home, to demand the resig-nation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Protesters numbering in the low thousands assembled in a central square, a journalist saw, blowing plastic vuvuzela horns and carrying placards bearing anti-government slogans.

“We want real change in Mali,

IBK get out,” read one placard, using the acronym by which Keita is known.

Other people carried umbrellas against the rain, and toted signs asking the prime minister to resign too.

After the crowd sung the national anthem, prominent opposition leader Choguel Maiga told them: “We will continue our fight until the end of IBK and of his regime.”

The gathering marks the first time the June 5 Movement has staged a protest since July 21, when the

opposition group declared a tem-porary truce in a months-long push to topple Keita.

It staged the demonstration despite a call to stay home from Nigeria’s ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, a mediator for the Eco-nomic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Mali’s crisis.

“Demonstrations do not solve problems per se,” Jonathan told a news conference on Monday evening, adding that opposition figures needed to enter dialogue.

His appeal came after the June 5 Movement repeatedly spurned compromise pro-posals put forward by ECOWAS, as it has con-tinued to insist on Keita’s resignation.

Mali’s political impasse has struck fear into the poor Sahel state’s neighbours and allies, who are keen to avoid it sliding into chaos.

The June 5 Movement — so called after the date of its first protest — has been channelling deep anger over a dire economy, perceived government corruption and Mali’s eight-year IS conflict.

But tensions snow-balled in crisis last month, when 11 people died over three days of unrest fol-lowing an anti-Keita protest, in the worst political strife the country has seen in years.

Imam Mahmoud Dicko giving a speech during a protest to renew the calls for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to step down in Bamako, yesterday.

COVID-19: US donates 200 ventilators to NigeriaANATOLIA — ANKARA

The US government has donated Nigeria some 200 ventilators to help its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the aid-receiving country said yesterday.

The delivery of ventilators took place during a ceremony where US Ambassador in Abuja Mary Beth Leonard officially handed over the devices to Nigeria’s top health official Osagie Ehanire, the Health Ministry said on Twitter.

“This donation consists of 200 ventilators which are critical components of the response strategy that will help to save the lives of persons who

have been severely impacted by #COVID19,” Ehanire was quoted as saying. “These ven-tilators will be of great benefit to the people of #Nigeria.”

For her part, Leonard was quoted in local media as saying: “The United States has been pivotal in supporting Nigeria’s membership in the ‘Every Breath Counts’ Coalition. Nigeria is now one of just two countries in Africa to have an ‘oxygen roadmap’ that seeks to fight against pneumonia, hypoxemia, and now COVID-19.”

“I hope to see Nigeria con-tinue this trajectory as an example for other nations to follow,” Premium Times cited her.

Zimbabwe govt defends arrests, denies kidnappings and hardshipAFP — JOHANNESBURG

Zimbabwe’s government spokesman Nick Mangwana yesterday denied the country was in crisis despite a recent clampdown on dissent that sparked international outrage and shed light on long-standing social and economic woes.

In a telephone interview with AFP, Mangwana defended the arrests of around 20 activists and opposition figures for peacefully protesting against the government on July 31.

The demonstrations — de-facto banned by anti-corona-virus measures — had been called to denounce alleged state corruption and ongoing eco-nomic hardship two years into President Emmerson Mnan-gagwa’s first term.

“The broken window theory indicates that if you let small crimes take place then bigger crimes will happen,” Mangwana said. “You have to make sure that a broken window is repaired and that the person who broke that window is

arrested,” he added, noting that the detainees were “high-profile” but not numerous.

Among the demonstrators snatched from the street were top Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga and Fadzayi Mahere, a lawyer and spokes-woman for the main opposition party Movement for Democratic Change Alliance. Both were charged with inciting public violence and released on bail.

Mangwana said justice was “blind” to a person’s social position and that laws applied

to everyone.He rejected all notions of

“crisis” in Zimbabwe, claiming it was invented by political opponents seeking to “come into power”.

“Somebody lost an election in 2018 and refused to accept that loss,” Mangwana explained. “For there to be a case for inter-national intervention, what they constantly do is say there is a crisis.”

Last week, the president vowed to “flush out” what he called “bad apples” and

“detractors” that “weaken our systems”. Rights groups say close to 100 Zimbabwean activists and opposition figures have been abducted and bru-talised by suspected state agents operating under Mnangagwa.

“People are faking abduc-tions,” his spokesman rebutted. “When you want to demonise a government you accuse it of all the worst kind of atrocities... it causes all sorts of outrage, and that it exactly the type of neg-ative propaganda Zimbabwe is grappling with at the moment.”

Two Iraqi security officials said the Border Guard commanders were meeting secretly with members of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, during the attack.

Macron vows tighter security in SahelAFP — PARIS

France pledged yesterday to ramp up security for its nationals in the Sahel region following an attack in Niger at the weekend in which eight people, six of them French, were murdered by militants.

“I’ve decided to boost security measures for our expa-triates in the region,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted after a Cabinet meeting on what he described as “man-ifestly a terrorist attack”.

Macron did not elaborate on the exact nature of the measures envisaged.

Seven of the victims worked for the French humanitarian NGO, Acted.

They were attacked on Sunday in Koure National Park, just 60km from the Nigerien capital of Niamey.

The killings were the first by militan gunmen in that area, a destination for weekend leisure trips by Niamey resi-dents, including foreigners.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex described the killings as an “odious crime” and an act of “cowardice that is difficult to put into words”.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the region around Niamey has become a hideout for militant groups including the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), which has killed hun-dreds of troops and driven thousands of people from their homes.

Macron vowed there would be consequences, including military ones, from the attack.

The French military has a 5,100-member anti-jihadist force in the Sahel, which covers five countries, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

“We’re pursuing action to eradicate the terrorist groups, with the strengthened support of our partners,” Macron said.

A team of 11 specialist French investigators left for Niger yesterday, police and judiciary sources said.

In Paris, French anti-terror prosecutors have launched an investigation into “murders with links to a terrorist enter-prise” and “criminal terrorist association”.

The NGO Acted, which has a network of 200 employees in Niger, said it would suspend its activities in the country.

Nonetheless, it would remain present in Niger, despite its horror at what it described as “senseless killings”.

“There’s no question of leaving the country or the region. We’re there to help,” Acted president Frederic de Saint-Sernin told French radio, RFI.

“The international com-munity must recognise the con-tradiction in asking us to support people who live in such dramatic conditions, while at the same time leaving us alone to confront the violence of which we have become such easy targets,” Acted co-founder Frederic Roussel told a news conference.

French President Emmanuel Macron (right) during a Defence Council video-conference on Niger at the Fort de Bregancon, in southern France, yesterday.

07WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 ASIA

New cases end New Zealand’s ‘COVID-free’ statusREUTERS — WELLINGTON

New Zealand announced yesterday it was shutting down its largest city, Auckland, after four new cases of COVID-19 were discovered in the city, the first evidence of domestic trans-mission after being corona-virus-free for 102 days.

New Zealand’s successful fight against COVID-19 was hailed globally and the Pacific island nation of five million was seen as one of the safest places, as the pandemic raged globally.

Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said the four cases were within one family in South Auckland. One person is in their 50s. They had no history of international travel. Family members have been tested and contact tracing is under way.

News of the cases sent panic across the country with media reporting people rushing to supermarkets to stock up, and businesses preparing to shut.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Auckland would move to level 3 restriction from noon on Wednesday as a “pre-cautionary approach”, which would mean people should stay away from work and school, and gatherings or more than 10 people would again be restricted.

The restriction would be

applied for three days until Friday, which she said would be enough time to assess the sit-uation, gather information and make sure there was wide-spread contact tracing.

“This is something we have prepared for,” Ardern said in a surprise news conference, adding that the increased caution was as the source of the virus was unknown.

“We have had a 102 days and it was easy to feel New Zealand was out of the woods. No country has gone as far as we did without having a resur-gence. And because we were the only ones, we had to plan. And we have planned,” she said.

New Zealand is set to vote in a national election on September 19, in which Ardern is seen to winning comfortably, according to opinion polls, on the back of her handling of the pandemic.

But the return of the virus could backfire on the government.

Ardern said she has not given any consideration to the impact of the new restrictions on the polls at this stage.

“This will come as a shock to all New Zealanders who believed what we had been told - that we had got on top of this virus,” the main opposition National Party leader Judith Collins said in a statement.

Parliament is scheduled to be dissolved on Wednesday to make way for the election.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said: “I am urging Aucklanders to come together like we did last time to stamp out community transmission. Please remain calm, please do not panic buy and please follow the lockdown rules.” Ardern said travel into Auckland, on the North Island, would be restricted unless you lived there.

She said the rest of New Zealand would enter alert level 2 from midday on Wednesday for three days. This would mean social distancing measures would be applied again and

mass gatherings would be limited to 100 people.

New Zealand was placed under a tight lockdown for weeks after reported its first known case on Feb. 26 and the last case of community transmission was

detected on May 1. It marked 100 days without a domestic trans-mission of the coronavirus on Sunday, but warned against complacency as countries like Vietnam and Australia which once had the virus under

control now battle a resurgence.

Bloomfield said the unknown nature of the new cases meant it was likely there would be more positive case in the coming days.

Shoppers shop at a supermarket in the suburb of Johnsonville in Wellington yesterday. Auckland has been place at level 3 lockdown and the rest of the country has moved to level 2.

Top AirAsia officials suspended as pilot alleges safety lapsesBLOOMBERG — NEW DELHI

India’s aviation regulator suspended two senior execu-tives at the local affiliate of AirAsia Group Bhd after a pilot alleged there were safety lapses at the airline and subsequently was fired.

AirAsia India’s head of operations, Manish Uppal, and head of safety, Mukesh Nema, were suspended for three months, Arun Kumar, chief of India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said yesterday in a text message, confirming local media reports.

In a video posted in June that’s been viewed more than 6 million times on YouTube,

pilot Gaurav Taneja questioned AirAsia India’s policies on sick leave, landing procedures and handling of the coronavirus. Taneja posts under the username Flying Beast and has more than 3.5 million YouTube subscribers.

AirAsia India counted sick days as mandatory break days for pilots, depriving them of the required rest before flying an aircraft, Taneja said. He alleged that the airline sets targets for pilots to land using a specific fuel-saving approach, which can be more dangerous at certain airports. AirAsia India also didn’t follow standard operating pro-cedures related to flying during the pandemic, Taneja alleged.

A spokesperson for AirAsia India, which is 51 percent owned by Tata Group, said the airline has made interim appointments to fill the two posts, in accordance with direc-tions from the aviation regulator.

“As an airline that priori-tizes safety above all, we con-tinue to engage with the author-ities,” the company said in an emailed statement. The airline hadn’t responded previously to Taneja’s accusations.

Taneja’s allegations come with aviation safety under the spotlight in South Asia. In May, a Pakistan International Airlines Corp jet crashed in Karachi, killing all but two of the 99

people on board, and on August 7 an Air India Express flight overshot a runway in the southern Indian state of Kerala and fell down a hillside, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 100.

COVID-19 placed unprece-dented pressure on airlines around the world, with air travel virtually drying up. Air-Asia’s Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes has described the coronavirus crisis as “by far the toughest challenge” the airline has faced. Auditor Ernst & Young last month said the ability of AirAsia and its long-haul unit AirAsia X to continue as going concerns could be in “significant doubt.”

India air safety watchdog to check airports hit by heavy rain after crashREUTERS — NEW DELHI

India’s air safety regulator plans to conduct special audits of airports across the country affected by heavy rain, the watchdog’s chief said, days after an air crash killed 18 people and raised questions about safety.

An Air India Express plane with 190 people on board, overshot the rain-soaked runway at an airport near the southern city of Kozhikode on Friday. The Boeing 737 landed in tailwind, skid off the runway and broke in half.

“We will conduct additional checks at major, busy airports across India that are affected by the monsoon rains,” Arun Kumar, head of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in an interview late on Monday.

“We will review everything — the condition of the runway, its incline, the lighting as well as drainage.” Kumar said the special audit was over and above the DGCA’s routine checks and could cover a dozen airports including those in Chennai, Kochi, Trivandrum as well as Mumbai, all of which get heavy annual rains.

Air India Express is the low cost arm of state carrier Air India. The flight was repatri-ating Indians stranded in Dubai due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The black boxes have been recovered and their data is being examined.

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the probe into the crash. Boeing and the US National Transpor-tation Safety Board are also

taking part in the effort, Kumar said.

“Once the findings are finalised, and if something is amiss we will take action to rectify it,” he said.

The crash was the worst in India in a decade, and the second fatal accident on a “table-top” runway which is typically found in high-altitude areas.

Table-top runways are built by excavating the peaks of hills and have steep drops at one or both ends, increasing the danger if pilots under- or over-shoot their approach.

At Calicut airport, where the plane crashed on Friday, the pilot landed a third of the way along the runway, Kumar said on Sunday, leaving less room to bring the plane to a halt.

Airports with table-top runways are subject to the same rigorous regulatory require-ments and are periodically audited for safety, Kumar said.

In 2010, an Air India Express plane overshot a similar runway in the southern city of Mangalore. It fell down a hillside and burst into flames, killing 158 people.

A government-led com-mittee looking into that crash had suggested installing an Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) on table-top airports. EMAS is a special surface usually installed at the end of the runway to quickly stop an aircraft.

However, a second com-mittee suggested that if the runway safety area was increased at Calicut airport, the EMAS would not be needed, Kumar said.

New Sri Lanka PM formally assume duties

Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa signs a document during a ceremony to formally assume duties for the next five-year term, at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Colombo yesterday.

India's former president on ventilator support, criticalIANS — NEW DELHI

Former President Pranab Mukherjee is critical and is on ventilator support after he underwent brain surgery, said the Army Research and Referral Hospital yesterday. Mukherjee was also found to be COVID-19 positive.

He was admitted to the hospital at 12.07pm on August 10 in a critical condition. “Workup at the hospital revealed a large brain clot for which he underwent emer-gency life saving surgery. Post surgery he continues to remain critical on ventilatory support,” the hospital said in a statement.

On August 10, Mukherjee had stated that he has tested positive for Covid-19. “On a visit to the hospital for a

separate procedure, I have tested positive for COVID-19 today. I request the people who came in contact with me in the last week, to please self-isolate and get tested for COVID-19,” he tweeted.

As Mukherjee went to the hospital, wishes for his speedy recovery started pouring in, including from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Union Min-ister and Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee said, “Concerned to hear about Former President Pranab Mukherjee Da testing positive for COVID-19. My prayers are with him and his family during this time and I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Grandson of

Singapore founder

to pay fine for

Facebook post

AFP — SINGAPORE

The grandson of Singapore’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew and nephew of the current prime minister said yesterday he will pay a fine for a Facebook post that questioned the independence of the city’s judiciary.

Li Shengwu, an academic based in the United States at Harvard University, was ordered to pay a S$15,000 ($11,000) fine or serve a week’s jail by the High Court last month over the 2017 post in which he described the Sin-gapore government as “very litigious and has a pliant court system”.

He said he would pay “in order to buy some peace and quiet” and to avoid giving the government an excuse to attack him and his family but added that he did not admit guilt.

“The government claims that my friends-only Facebook post ‘scandalized the judi-ciary’. The true scandal is the misuse of state resources to repress private speech,” he wrote in a Facebook post yesterday.

“I disagree that my words were illegal. Moreover, civilized countries should not fine or jail their citizens for private com-ments on the court system.” The Attorney-General’s Chambers had described his post as “an egregious and baseless attack” on the city’s courts.

Li is the eldest son of business executive Lee Hsien Yang, who has been at logger-heads with his brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, over their father’s legacy.

He made the Facebook post as their family feud raged publicly following the death of the Lee family patriarch in 2015.

Coronavirus infections stabilise in Australia’s virus epicentreREUTERS — SYDNEY

Australia’s second-most populous state reported only a small rise in new COVID-19 infections, boosting hopes that case numbers are stabilising after a second wave forced authorities to put the city of Melbourne back into lockdown.

Victoria state, which cur-rently accounts for nearly all of Australia’s new cases, detected 331 COVID-19 infections and 19 deaths in the past 24 hours, up from 322 infections and the same number of fatalities a day earlier, health officials said.

Daily infections in Victoria peaked at 725 on August 5 and have been trending lower in recent days, following the

imposition of a hard lockdown in Melbourne on July 19.

While the lockdown has caused significant economic harm, authorities said the restrictions that will run until September are bearing fruit.

“We continue to see numbers coming down. Exactly how long that takes and to what the lowest number is we can get to, only time will tell,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.

New South Wales state reported 22 new cases, the biggest one-day rise since April 17.

About a third of those cases were linked to an outbreak at a school in Sydney, the source of which remained unknown, NSW health officials said.

“It’s not always possible to determine the source and that’s what worries us most,” NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.

No other cases were reported elsewhere in Australia. The country has confirmed almost 22,000 infections and 332 deaths from COVID-19, far fewer than many other developed nations.

Still, Australia was recording less than 20 new cases a day as recently as June, when lockdowns were eased.

Quarantine breaches in Vic-toria are believed to be the source of the state’s second wave. Victorian Premier Andrews appeared as a witness on Tuesday at an inquiry into the state’s handling of the outbreak.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Auckland would move to level 3 restriction from noon on Wednesday as a “precautionary approach”, which would mean people should stay away from work and school, and gatherings or more than 10 people would again be restricted.

08 WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

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

EDITORIAL

OVER the past couple of decades terrorism has been appearing in diverse garbs promoted by varied groups to promote and force upon others their own ideologies, beliefs and conviction. The phenomenon has wreaked havoc by debilitating a large number of people, including women and children, inflicting disastrous impact on the economy of countries and ultimately creating an envi-ronment of fear and helplessness in societies.

When an act of terrorism happens, countries are quick to condemn, but after sometime everybody forget about it until the next such incident happens.

Qatar is among the league of a few countries where terrorist could never get a foothold. But Qatar is con-cerned about the impact of terrorism on the humanity and it has played major role in preventing and mitigating violence by supporting and cooperating with different organisations and agencies especially the United Nations. Recently, Qatar has reiterated its commitment to con-tinue such cooperation within the framework of interna-tional cooperation, in a statement to the UN Security Council during an official meeting on “addressing the links between terrorism and organised crime”.

Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations H E Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani expressed Qatar’s belief in the importance of evidence-based policies and an understanding of the causes and forms of links between terrorism and organised crime, stressing the country’s endeavour to enhance information security, encourage international cooperation to combat cybercrime, and provide a safe and robust cyber environment.

H E the Ambassador explained Qatar’s anti-terror efforts saying that the country has hosted and partici-pated in several international conferences and studies aimed at tackling terrorism in all forms. Qatar hosted an international academic conference on April 25, 2018 in Doha, about the relationship between organised crime and terrorism in cooperation with United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the College of Law at Qatar University. In May 2017, Doha hosted a workshop on stopping terrorist financing, held in part-nership the with UNODC and the Financial Action Task Force in the Middle East and North Africa. Qatar also participated in sponsoring a conference on international and regional cooperation in combating terrorism financing through illicit drug trafficking and organised crime, held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in May last year.

These are only a few examples of Qatar’s efforts in the recent past. The country never supported violence as peace and harmony occupy a prominent niche in its diplomacy and it never failed to condemn acts of vio-lence in any corner of the world, because the county values and respect human life irrespective of ethnicity, cast or creed.

Qatar’s role in anti-terror fight

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Quote of the day

What is needed to be done (in Eastern

Mediterranean) is to engage in solving all the open

issues in line with principles of good neighbourly

relations, international law, and positive engagement.

Peter Stano Stona, European Union Spokesman

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Established in 1996

The State of Qatar is also encouraging young people to participate in decision-making and activate their role in achieving development and facing challenges, as well as reducing the gap between them by expanding the scope of mutual dialogue.

QNA — DOHA

The International Youth Day is marked on August 12 of each year, and this year the world will celebrate it today under the theme “Youth Engagement for Global Action”.

This year’s celebration seeks to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multi-lateral institutions and proc-esses, as well as draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.

According to international reports, the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will make it more difficult for young people to access the labor market, and recent estimates indicate that 600 million jobs must be created over the next 15 years to meet the needs of youth employment.

In 1999, the General Assembly endorsed the rec-ommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers

Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) that 12 August be declared Interna-tional Youth Day.

International Youth Day gives an opportunity to cele-brate and mainstream young peoples’ voices, actions and initiatives, as well as their meaningful, universal and equitable engagement. The commemoration will take the form of a podcast-style dis-cussion that is hosted by youth for youth, together with independently organized commemorations around the world that recognize the importance of youth partici-pation in political, economic and social life and processes.

The State of Qatar is cele-brating this occasion, which constitutes an important incentive for youth to work with a promising future vision to face all challenges and achieve goals in all fields.

The State of Qatar is working to empower youth and prepare them to make a full contribution to society, development and peace in order to achieve sustainable human development, and to encourage innovation and leadership because youth are the present and the future, and they are the hope and basis for building a safe society.

The State of Qatar is also encouraging young people to participate in decision-making and activate their role in achieving development and facing challenges, as well as reducing the gap between them by expanding the scope of mutual dialogue.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message on the occasion of the International Youth Day: “The theme of this year’s International Youth Day - “Youth Engagement for Global Action” - spotlights the ways in which the voices and activism of young people are making a difference and

moving our world closer to the values and vision of the United Nations Charter. This year’s Youth Day occurs as the lives and aspirations of young people continue to be upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have lost their lives, and many have seen family members and other loved ones perish”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for more investment in inte-grating the youth and ensuring their participation in the interest of their organiza-tions and initiatives. He called on leaders and adults every-where to do their best to enable the world’s youth to enjoy a safe, dignified life full of opportunities and to con-tribute to the maximum of their enormous potential.

The UN said that the COVID-19 pandemic has had severe economic and social impacts around the world and that the youth have a key role to play in managing recovery efforts, pointing out that young innovators are already reacting to the virus outbreak through social impact innova-tions. Around the world, several initiatives are being developed to capitalize on youth efforts to provide support to populations at risk or already affected by the pandemic.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) reported that more than one in six young people have stopped working since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, while those who remain employed have seen their working hours cut by 23 per cent. The ILO’s report stated that youth are being disproportionately affected by the pandemic, and the substantial and rapid increase in youth unem-ployment seen since February is affecting young women more than young men.

The report pointed out

that the pandemic is inflicting a triple shock on young people. Not only is it destroying their employment, but it is also disrupting edu-cation and training, and placing major obstacles in the way of those seeking to enter the labor market or to move between jobs.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said, “The COVID-19 eco-nomic crisis is hitting young people, especially women, harder and faster than any other group. If we do not take signif-icant and immediate action to improve their situation, the legacy of the virus could be with us for decades. If their talent and energy is side-lined by a lack of opportunity or skills it will damage all our futures and make it much more difficult to rebuild a better, post-COVID economy.” Unicef estimates that the number of youth in the world is more than 1.8 billion, adding that youth can change the world if they are provided with support and empow-erment, further emphasizing that a very large number of them currently cannot achieve their goals or cannot contribute to their local communities. It added that there are more than 200 million adolescents who are not enrolled in school, and many of them do not learn the skills they need, in addition to millions of others who are affected by poverty and vio-lence and live their lives amidst fear.

Unicef stressed the need to build a world in which all young people feel empowered, learn without fear and acquire the skills and knowledge they need in order to thrive, and highlighted the urgent need for investment, action and change in youth issues, as well as the importance of having a vision for the future, especially since visions lead to inspiring dia-logues that lead to action and change to make a better world.

AFP — PARIS

With Russia’s announcement yesterday that it had become the first country to approve a vaccine against COVID-19, here is a look at the more than two dozen other candidates currently in development.

‘Sputnik’ Russian President

Vladimir Putin shocked the international community by claiming the new vaccine -- dubbed “Sputnik V” after the Soviet satellite -- conferred “sustainable immunity” against the novel coronavirus.

He said that one of his daughters had been

inoculated with the vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya research institute and the Russian defence ministry.

A vector vaccine — meaning it employes another virus to carry the immune response into human cells — Sputnik is based on similar technology to a Chinese prototype.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said she hoped the vaccinations could begin within weeks, but details about the process were scant.

Last week the World Health Organization urged Moscow to follow established

guidelines and “go through all the stages” needed to develop a safe vaccine.

Eleanor Riley, professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease at the University of Edinburgh, said larger, phase 3 trials were needed for Sputnik. Phase 3 trials test the safety and efficacy of new medicines and can last several years.

Advanced trials The WHO says there are

26 “vaccine candidates” cur-rently undergoing clinical trials worldwide.

Several are in the final phase 3 stage, whereby devel-opers -- testing on large

cohorts, up to tens of thou-sands of people -- monitor for efficacy and potential toxicity prior to eventual submission for approval.

Dozens of candidates Beyond the tests already

under way, the WHO is moni-toring a further 139 potential vaccines which are still at the pre-clinical evaluation stage, involving testing in the lab or on animals. US biotech company Novavax said last week its experimental COVID-19 vaccine had elicited a robust immune response, producing more antibodies than are present in recovered patients.

International Youth Day highlights ‘Youth Engagement for Global Action’

New Russian virus vaccine one among many

09WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 ASIA

China extends Hong Kong legislature by at least a yearAFP — BEIJING

Chinese lawmakers have extended the term of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council by at least a year in order to deal with the vacuum left by post-poning the city’s elections, state media said yesterday.

Hong Kong’s leader said in late July that local elections planned for September would be postponed because coro-navirus cases had surged in the international finance hub, a move which infuriated democracy supporters and drew concern from Western governments.

The city’s Legislative Council, known as LegCo, will continue to perform its duties “for no less than one year” until the term of the next council begins, reported

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV — although the fate of four opposition lawmakers barred from seeking re-election remains unclear.

Beijing’s top lawmaking body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, had convened a four-day session on Saturday to discuss whether to extend the term of the current Hong Kong legis-lature — which will expire on September 30 — or to appoint a new “transitional body” to govern the semi-autonomous territory.

Election officials had earlier disqualified four pro-democracy legislators, saying their calls for foreign govern-ments to impose sanctions on Beijing and Hong Kong vio-lated the new national security law, which is criticised for

eroding the city’s political freedoms.

Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s sole representative in the top decision-making body of China’s parliament, said yesterday the resolution to extend the term of LegCo was passed unanimously.

However, the resolution did not mention how the 70 incumbent lawmakers would be handled, including four dis-qualified from running for re-

election last month.LegCo president Andrew

Leung added that the disqual-ification of the four law-makers would apply to the next term, not the extended one.

“What’s not mentioned in the resolution is supposed to be handled by the Hong Kong government,” Tam said.

He dismissed concerns that the resolution would technically allow the Hong

Kong legislature, which has been dominated by Beijing loyalists, to work in unlimited extension instead of reshuf-fling members through election.

In Hong Kong, 42 pro-Beijing lawmakers issued a joint statement supporting the decision.

“The resolution reflects that the NPCSC fully considered the current special situation faced by Hong Kong society and respected the opinion of the Hong Kong government,” the statement said.

They also called on “all lawmakers who get to stay” to cooperate and ensure effective operation of the legislature.

Pro-democracy lawmakers, however, restated their oppo-sition to the postponement of the election, charging that the

vacuum was “fabricated” and that the submission to the National People’s Congress was “unnecessary”, superseding Hong Kong’s constitutional system.

“Around 4.5 million voters’ rights to vote regularly have been deprived. The legislative council... will no longer be authorised by the people,” it said in a statement.

But Beijing’s Hong Kong Liaison Office said the Standing Committee’s decision was in line with the consti-tution and Basic Law. The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council called the decision “important and timely”, while Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said the move would ensure the regular governance and operations of the city.

US health chief attacks China’s virus responseREUTERS — TAIPEI

US Health Secretary Alex Azar attacked China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic yesterday and said that if such an outbreak had emerged in Taiwan or the United States it could have been “snuffed out easily”.

The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised Beijing for trying to cover up the virus outbreak, first identified in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, and prevaricating on information sharing. China a n g r i l y d e n i e s t h e accusations.

“The Chinese Communist Party had the chance to warn the world and work with the world on battling the virus. But they chose not to, and the costs of that choice mount higher every day,” Azar said in Taipei, capital of self-ruled Taiwan, an island China claims as its own.

As the virus emerged, China did not live up to its “binding” international obligations in a betrayal of the cooperative spirit needed for global health, he added, wearing a face mask as he has done for all his public events in Taiwan.

“I believe it is no exagger-ation to say that if this virus had emerged in a place like Taiwan or the United States, it might have been snuffed out easily: rapidly reported to public health authorities, who would have shared what they knew with health professionals and with the general public,” Azar said.

“Instead, Beijing appears to have resisted information sharing, muzzling doctors who spoke out and hobbling the world’s ability to respond.” The United States has the highest number of coronavirus infec-tions and deaths in the world and President Donald Trump has come under scathing attack from critics at home for not taking what he calls the “China virus” seriously enough.

Taiwan has been praised by health experts for its early and effective steps to control the outbreak, with only 480 infec-tions, including seven deaths.

Azar arrived in Taiwan on Sunday as the highest-level US official to visit in four decades, a trip condemned by China.

China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has vowed to bring it under its

rule, by force if necessary.Chinese fighter jets on

Monday briefly crossed the median line of the sensitive Taiwan Strait, and were tracked by Taiwanese anti-aircraft mis-siles, part of what Taipei sees as a pattern of harassment by Beijing.

Washington broke off official ties with Taipei in 1979 in favour of Beijing but is still Taiwan’s biggest arms supplier. The Trump administration has

made strengthening its support for the democratic island a pri-ority as relations with China sour over issues including human rights, the pandemic, Hong Kong and trade.

Azar said the world should recognise Taiwan’s health accomplishments and not try to push it out, pointing to Tai-wan’s exclusion from the World Health Organisation due to Chinese objections.

“This behaviour is in

keeping with Beijing’s approach to WHO and other international organisations. The influence of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) far outweighs its investment in this public health institution — and it uses influence not to advance public health objectives, but its own narrow political interests.” Both China and the WHO say Taiwan has been provided with the help it needs during the pandemic, which Taiwan disputes.

US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, gives a speech at a university in Taipei, Taiwan, yesterday.

Pentagon aims for fewer than 5,000 US troops in Afghanistan

AFP — WASHINGTON

The United States is counting on further military withdrawal from Afghanistan to poten-tially fewer than 5,000 troops as inter-Afghan peace talks progress, the Pentagon said on Monday.

“Over the next four months, the United States will continue to drawdown its force levels in Afghanistan based on conditions in-country,” the Department of Defence said in a statement.

“Our current trajectory expects to see the number of US service members in Afghanistan be below 5,000 by the end of November.” “As always, such drawdowns remain conditions-based and are implemented after consultation with Congress and in direct coordination with our Nato allies and partners,” the Pentagon added.

“The US military presence in Afghanistan remains focused on capabilities — not numbers.” The Pentagon’s statement was further clarifi-cation for statements by Defence Secretary Mark Esper, who appeared on Saturday to announce an impending troop withdrawal.

“We are going down to a number less than 5,000 before the end of November,” Esper said, adding that the Pentagon would first have to ensure that the US “is not threatened by terrorists coming out of Afghanistan.” The US currently deploys 8,600 soldiers in Afghanistan, in accordance with a bilateral agreement signed February 29 in Doha between Washington and the Taliban.

‘Pakistani govt’s decisions, people’s cooperation helped controlling COVID-19’INTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

Pakistani Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar says the government’s correct decisions and people’s cooper-ation have led to largely controlling COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Addressing a news con-ference in Islamabad yes-terday, he said the govern-ment’s policies of contact tracing, smart lockdown and

public awareness have con-tributed greatly to contain spread of the pandemic in a short period.

The Minister said the gov-ernment enforced 2,350 lock-downs across the country, and at present there are 85 smart lockdowns in twenty districts. He said the government is now heading toward micro smart lockdown to target only the specific places affected by the pandemic. He said at present,

there are over 7,000 corona-virus cases in the country, and the government is trying to arrange home isolation for them.

The Planning Minster said majority of people followed the standard operating proce-dures, which yielded positive results. He said the media also ran effective public awareness campaigns to deliver the mes-sages to people about the contagion.

Asad Umar, however, warned that the pandemic is not yet over in the country, and the cases may again rise if people discontinue following the SOPs. He urged people to strictly adhere to the precau-tionary measures to com-pletely overcome the pandemic.

Chairman National Tourism Coordination Board Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari says the reopening of tourism sector in

the country has become pos-sible due to effective policies of government against the coronavirus pandemic.

In a tweet, he said Pakistan is one of the few countries that made fastest recovery during the COVID-19, leading to r e v i v a l o f m u l t i p l e businesses.

He said Pakistan’s tourism sector reopens but it relies upon the public’s behaviour, who must follow the SOPs.

Protesters ‘went too far’ by demanding monarchy reform, says Thai PMREUTERS — BANGKOK

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said yesterday student protesters had gone too far after some issued a 10-point call for reform of the monarchy, which is considered sacred in the country’s conservative culture.

About 3,000-4,000 pro-testers chanted “Long live democracy” at Thammasat University on the outskirts of Bangkok on Monday night. Speeches were delivered calling for the resignation of Prayuth, who first took power in a 2014 coup, and an end to military domination of politics.

But protesters from the Thammasat University Pro-Democracy Group also issued a 10-point call for monarchy reform, becoming at least the third student protest group to break a decades-long taboo on questioning its role and powers.

Thailand has strict “lese-majeste” laws against insulting

or defaming the king, pun-ishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Palace officials declined to comment on the student pro-tests or on any criticism of the monarchy.

Prayuth, a former chief of the armed forces, told reporters he had watched the protests and was very concerned.

“There are a lot of people in trouble waiting for their problems to get fixed, not just the young people. So is doing all of this appropriate?” “It really went too far,” Prayuth said, without directly com-menting on the demands on for royal reform.

In June, Prayuth warned protesters against involving the monarchy in their protests but said King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who took the throne after the death of his father in 2016, had asked him not to arrest anyone under the “lese majeste” laws.

The monarchy remains a sensitive subject in Thai society and Monday’s protest

prompted a public statement by Thammasat University apol-ogising for the event. It said that while the university was supportive of freedom of expression it did not condone

“some references on the mon-archy that impact people’s feelings”, and that legal action would be taken.

The students’ new demands included reversal of a 2019

order that transferred two army units to the king’s per-sonal command, and a 2017 law that gave him full control of the crown’s extensive property holdings.

Pro-democracy students light up their cell phones as they attend a rally to demand the government to resign, dissolve the parliament and to hold new elections under a revised constitution, at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.

Sinovac launches

phase 3 trial for

COVID-19 vaccine

in Indonesia REUTERS — JAKARTA/BEIJING

China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd launched a late-stage human trial yesterday that will involve as many as 1,620 patients in Indonesia for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate that it is developing with Indonesian state-owned peer Bio Farma.

Separately, Sinovac released details yesterday from a mid-stage, or phase 2, study in which it said the vaccine candidate appeared to be safe and induced detectable antibody-based immune responses in subjects.

The candidate, known as CoronaVac, is among a few potential vaccines that have entered late-stage trials for a large-scale study to gather proof of efficacy for regulatory approval.

CoronaVac is already undergoing a late-stage trial in Brazil and Sinovac expects to also test it in Bangladesh.

Sinovac’s Indonesia trial comes as Southeast Asia’s most populous country grapples with spiking infection numbers, with over 127,000 cases recorded as of yesterday.

The city’s Legislative Council, known as LegCo, will continue to perform its duties “for no less than one year” until the term of the next council begins, reported Chinese state broadcaster CCTV — although the fate of four opposition lawmakers barred from seeking re-election remains unclear.

10 WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020EUROPE

Putin: Russia first country toapprove COVID-19 vaccineREUTERS — MOSCOW

President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move hailed by Moscow as evidence of its scientific prowess.

The vaccine still has to com-plete final trials, raising con-cerns among some experts at the speed of its approval, but the Russian business conglomerate Sistema has said it expects to put it into mass production by the end of the year.

Russian health workers treating COVID-19 patients will be offered the chance of volun-teering to be vaccinated in the coming weeks, a source said last month.

Regulatory approval paves the way for the mass inocu-lation of the Russian population and authorities hope it will allow the economy, which has been battered by fallout from the virus, to return to full capacity.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of Rus-sia’s sovereign wealth fund, hailed the development as a his-toric “Sputnik moment”, com-parable to the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of Sputnik 1, the world’s first satellite.

The vaccine will be mar-keted under the name ‘Sputnik V’ on foreign markets, he said. State media have trumpeted the news.

But the speed at which Russia has moved, approving a vaccine before the final stages of clinical trials to test safety and efficacy are over, has worried some scientists, who fear Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety.

Speaking at a government meeting on state television, Putin dismissed those con-cerns, saying the vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, was safe and that it had even been administered to one of his daughters.

“I know that it works quite effectively, forms strong immunity, and I repeat, it has passed all the needed checks,” said Putin.

He said he hoped mass pro-duction would start soon.

The vaccine’s approval by the health ministry comes before the start of a larger trial involving thousands of partic-ipants, commonly known as a Phase III trial.

Such trials, which require a certain rate of participants catching the virus to observe the vaccine’s effect, are normally considered essential precursors for a vaccine to receive regu-latory approval.

The Moscow-based Associ-ation of Clinical Trials Organi-zations (ACTO), a trade body representing the world’s top drugmakers in Russia this week urged the health ministry to postpone approval until that final trial had been successfully

completed.In a letter to the ministry, it

said there were high risks asso-ciated with registering a drug before that happened.

“It is during this phase that the main evidence of a vaccine’s efficacy is collected, as well as information on adverse reac-tions that could appear in certain groups of patients: people with weakened immunity, people with concom-itant diseases and so forth,” it said.

Some international experts have also questioned the speed at which Russia approved its vaccine.

“Normally you need a large number of people to be tested before you approve a vaccine,” said Peter Kremsner from the University Hospital in Tue-bingen, currently testing Cure-Vac’s COVID-19 vaccine in clinical trials.

“In that respect, I think it’s reckless to do that (approve it) if lots of people haven’t already been tested.”

Duncan Matthews, a pro-fessor of intellectual property law at Queen Mary University of London, said news of a potential COVID-19 vaccine was to be welcomed, “but safety must be the priority”.

“The US Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have fast-track approval procedures for emergency humanitarian use and we need to see evidence that Russia is adopting an equally prudent approach,” Matthews said in an

e-mailed comment.More than 100 possible vac-

cines are being developed around the world to try to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. At least four are in final Phase III human trials, according to WHO data.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, yesterday.

Britain presses France to halt ‘unacceptable’ migrant crossings

The vaccine still has to complete final trials, raising concerns among some experts at the speed of its approval, but Russia's Sistema has said it expects to put it into mass production by the end of the year.

WHO cautions Russia on COVID-19 vaccineANATOLIA — GENEVA

The World Health Organi-zation (WHO) said yesterday it is following Russia’s progress in developing a COVID-19 vaccine, but cautioned that progress in fight against the virus should not compromise on safety.

Commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s earlier announcement that Russia had registered the world’s first coronavirus vaccine at a UN press briefing, a WHO spokesman said the “pandemic is threatening lives and economies.”

“It’s vital that we apply all public health measures that we know are working, and we need to continue to invest in and accelerate the devel-opment of safe and effective treatments and vaccines that will help us reduce disease transmission in the future,” said spokesman Tarik Jasarevic.

“We are in close contact with the Russian health authorities, and discussions are going on with respect to pos-sible pre-qualification of the vaccine,” he noted, adding pre-qualification of any vaccine needs rigorous review and assessment.

He said as soon as the “absolutely essential clinical trial data” is available, national regulatory bodies need to be ready to review the safety and efficacy data before using it.

“We are following the progress in the development of COVID-19 vaccines, and we maintain the draft landscape of candidate vaccines, which is updated every week on our website,” said the spokesman. “WHO lists 25 candidate vac-cines in clinical evaluation and 139 in a pre-clinical evaluation.”

Jasarevic said the WHO has its accelerator program

seeking to speed up research for an effective vaccine for all countries. “At the same time, we are supporting the building of manufacturing capabilities and buying supplies ahead of time so that we have doses that could be equitably distributed in 2021,” he said.

Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resources Center said yesterday that the world has 20,113,592 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 737,022 deaths recorded and more than 12 million recoveries.With 895,691 cases, Russia has the world’s fourth-highest COVID-19 case tally.

Police bust biggest Dutch cocaine laboratory; arrest 17 suspectsAP — THE HAGUE

Dutch police have dismantled what they describe as the biggest cocaine laboratory ever discovered in the Netherlands — hidden at a former horse riding school — and arrested a total of 17 people from Colombia, Turkey and the Netherlands.

Police said in a statement yesterday that they discovered tens of thousands of liters of chemicals and 100kg of crack cocaine when they raided the riding school on Friday. They also found sleeping quarters for staff in the building in Nijeveen, 120km northeast of Amsterdam.

André van Rijn, chief inspector at the police

organisation that dismantles such production facilities, said the lab was equipped to produce 150 to 200kg of cocaine a day, with a street value of 4.5-8 million euros.

Police video showed equipment and supplies including plastic barrels and vats of chemicals and a row of five red cement mixers that were used to extract cocaine from products like clothing that are impregnated with the drug before being exported to the Netherlands.

Police said that 13 of the suspects in custody are Colom-bians and one other suspect has dual Dutch and Colombian nationality. They are due to appear before an investigating magistrate today.

French watchdog launches probe into TikTokREUTERS — PARIS

France’s data privacy watchdog CNIL said yesterday that it has opened a prelim-inary investigation into Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok after it received a complaint.

TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, is already under investigation over privacy concerns by US, European Union and Dutch authorities.

“A complaint about TikTok was received in May. This complaint is now under inves-tigation,” a CNIL spokesman said, confirming a Bloomberg report.

In the United States, offi-cials have said that TikTok poses a national security risk because of the personal data it handles.

President Donald Trump has threatened to ban TikTok and has given ByteDance 45 days to negotiate a sale of Tik-Tok’s US operations to Microsoft.

In June, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) said it would set up a task force to assess TikTok’s activities across the bloc after a request from an EU lawmaker con-cerned about its data col-lection methods and security and privacy risks. In May, the Dutch privacy watchdog said it would investigate how TikTok handles the data of millions of young users.

Slovakia expels Russian diplomats for alleged spyingBLOOMBERG — BRATISLAVA

Slovakia expelled three Russian diplomats on suspicion of spying, a person familiar with decision said, marking a shift in the the Nato and European Union member’s approach toward Moscow.

The three officials must leave the country by the end of the week, the person, who requested anonymity because the information was confi-dential, said Monday. The decision was taken last week

by the new administration of Prime Minister Igor Matovic.

In the past, Slovakia has refrained from retaliation against Russia, which provides most of its energy needs.

Slovakia didn’t take part when the US, Nato and 25 allies including Germany and France expelled nearly 130 Russian dip-lomats in support of UK, after the 2018 poisoning there of ex-spy Sergei Skripal. Former parlia-mentary Speaker Andrej Danko also made frequent trips to Moscow to meet Duma Speaker

Vyacheslav Volodin, who’s on EU and US sanctions lists.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry will respond to the expulsions with reciprocal diplomatic measures, Interfax reported.

The Slovak move follows a report from the investigative journalist group Bellingcat that an accomplice of a Russian secret service-backed assassin of a Georgian asylum seeker in Berlin obtained his visa to the EU’s passport-free Schengen area at the Slovak consulate in St. Petersburg.

UK schools start to re-open amid spike in virusAFP — EDINBURGH

Scottish children went back to school for the first time in five months yesterday as leaders across Britain try to kickstart a return to education despite a resurgence in the number of coronavirus cases.

Scotland’s devolved gov-ernment has ordered pupils in different parts of the country to return gradually through this week, with all classes set to have resumed fully by next Tuesday.

In England, where plans to

restart schooling in June had to be abandoned following oppo-sition from teaching unions and some parents, the government is adamant that children will return in early September.

But the reopenings come as Britain, which has recorded the highest death toll in Europe from COVID-19 with more than 46,000 fatalities, could be wit-nessing the start of resurgence.

On Sunday, officials recorded more than 1,000 new cases in 24 hours for the first time since June, as a months-

long lockdown has been grad-ually eased.

Restrictions have recently been reimposed in some local areas in central and northern England, as well as in the Scottish city of Aberdeen last week, where pubs and restau-rants had to close and travel restrictions were renewed.

However, across Scotland, which has recorded more than 19,000 cases and 2,491 deaths, there have been no fatalities from the virus in more than three weeks.

A sign is seen at a Job Centre Plus office, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, yesterday.

AFP — PARIS

A British minister yesterday pressed France to intensify efforts to halt the “completely unacceptable” numbers of migrants crossing the English Channel in often unseaworthy small boats.

Immigration Minister Chris Philp met French officials in Paris as concern grows in London over the numbers of migrants entering British waters from France.

“French authorities are doing a great deal of work... but the sheer numbers crossing the

Channel are completely unac-ceptable. Unacceptable to the French government and unac-ceptable to the UK gov-ernment,” Philp told reporters.

“So it’s quite clear that more needs to be done,” he said, adding that the countries were working on a comprehensive action plan “with the objective in mind of completely cutting this route.”

Britain’s right-wing Con-servative Party government has looked to increase pressure on France to prevent migrants coming into UK waters.

British Prime Minister Boris

Johnson on Monday said illegal migrant crossings were “very bad and dangerous”, adding they needed to be stopped in cooperation with France.

“We are committed to taking action to make this route — facilitated by dangerous criminals — completely unviable and that is an objective the French government shares,” said Philp.

British Interior Minister Priti Patel and French counterpart Gerald Darmanin signed an agreement last month creating a new joint police intelligence unit to combat migrant

traffickers, but it is unclear whether this has had any impact.

French officials insist France is doing all it can, with additional security forces deployed, to prevent the crossings. But they acknowledge the numbers have increased sharply this year.

Since January 1, authorities in northern France have recorded 342 attempts or crossings involving 4,192 migrants, compared with 203 attempts and 2,294 migrants for the whole of 2019.

Philippe Sabatier, deputy

prosecutor in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the northern French coast, said that attempts hit a peak on July 30 when 232 people attempted the crossing.

French officials believe that migrants pay smugglers some $3,500 per person for the crossings which use inflatables the traffickers buy online or even more rudimentary equipment.

“When the weather condi-tions allow it, they (the smug-glers) deliver the boat to the coast and then make sure that their clients reach the embar-kation point,” Sabatier said.

France’s 7-day moving average of new infections climbed to 1,691 yesterday from 1,056 on July 31.

11WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020 EUROPE / AMERICAS

Landmark UK court ruling finds police use of facial recognition unlawfulREUTERS — LONDON

A British court said yesterday that a police force’s use of facial rec-ognition to hunt for suspects was unlawful, in a ruling that privacy campaigners hailed as a “major victory” in their fight against the surveillance technology.

In a case that judges described last year as the first of its kind globally, the Court of Appeal found that South Wales Police (SWP) — the first British force to adopt the technology - had breached privacy, data protection and equality regulations.

The appellant, Ed Bridges, a

resident of the Welsh capital of Cardiff, lost an earlier case in September, when the High Court dismissed his claim that police breached his human rights by scanning his face without consent.

“The Court has agreed that this dystopian surveillance tool violates our rights and threatens our liberties,” Megan Goulding, a lawyer for civil rights group Liberty, which represented Bridges, said in a statement.

“It is time for the Government to recognise the serious dangers of this intrusive technology. Facial recognition is a threat to

our freedom — it needs to be banned.” SWP said it would not appeal the judgment, but remained committed to the careful development and deployment of the technology.

“The whole aim of facial recognition technology is to keep the public safe and assist us in identifying offenders and protecting communities from individuals who pose a risk,” Deputy Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan said in a statement.

“I believe the public will continue to support our use of all the available methods and technology to keep them safe,

providing what we do is legit-imate and proportionate.”

From malls to airports, facial recognition is increasingly pervasive worldwide, raising concerns over privacy and dis-crimination, with critics saying the technology is prone to errors and tends to misidentify ethnic minorities.

SWP has been trialling facial recognition since 2017, deploying cameras to check passersby against a database of offenders at dozens of locations, including football matches and rock con-certs, according to its website.

An identified suspect can be

stopped on the spot, while others are not identified and their data is discarded, it said.

SWP said the technology has resulted in 61 arrests including for robbery and theft, and for court warrants.

Bridges, a 37-year-old civil rights campaigner, said his face was scanned at an anti-arms protest and on a second occasion when he was Christmas shopping. While the lower court said last year that the police’s action was lawful, yesterday's ruling upheld three out of five points that Bridges made in his appeal. The court said the police

were given too broad discretion, with no clear guidance on where the technology could be used and who could be put on a watchlist.

It also found that SWP failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain whether its software held racial or gender bias and that an impact assessment, required for processing sen-sitive data, was deficient.

Bridges said he was “delighted” by the ruling. “We should all be able to use our public spaces without being subjected to oppressive surveil-lance,” he said in a statement.

French PM: Virus spread may get harder to controlREUTERS — PARIS

The renewed spread of coro-navirus in France could become harder to control without a collective effort to stop a rise in the infection rate, its Prime Minister said yesterday.

The public was becoming careless, Jean Castex warned, speaking shortly before health authorities said new daily infections were up by 1,397 over 24 hours, almost twice as much as Monday, to reach 204,172. “If we don’t act collec-tively, we expose ourselves to the heightened risk that the rebound in the epidemic becomes hard to control,” Castex said during a visit to a hospital intensive care ward in southern France.

A health ministry statement also reported 15 new deaths in hospital due the disease, com-pared to an increase of 16 over a three-day period between Monday and Saturday, with the total death toll standing at 30,354.

France’s 7-day moving average of new infections climbed to 1,691 yesterday from 1,056 on July 31. The 7-day measure reached a post lockdown low of 272 on May 27, a little over two weeks after France eased one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns.

But as in most neighbouring European countries, new clusters have mushroomed as people let their hair down on holiday, families hold reunions and workers return to offices and France is des-perate to avoid another full-scale lockdown.

Earlier yesterday, President

Emmanuel Macron held a video conference with top ministers from his Riviera summer retreat. During the meeting, it was decided France would draw up new restrictions for the 20 largest cities to curb the rising infection rate and that a ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people would be extended until October 31.

Some cities have already taken action. Paris on Monday joined Toulouse, Lille, Biarritz and others in imposing a man-datory face mask order in crowded outdoor zones. They are already compulsory nationwide in shops and banks.

The Prime Minister said testing was “more than satis-factory”, with more than 600,000 tests being conducted weekly, but said more could still be done to target those with symptoms, the prime minister said. Talking of the risk of another lockdown, Castex said: “no one wants to live through that again.” Later, on a visit to a Mediterranean seaside resort, Castex said he had started talks with employers and unions with a view to making mask-wearing in workplaces as widespread as possible.

Hospitals are not at this stage overwhelmed by the uptick in the disease, as the number treated for the infection fell by 33, to 5,012.

Belarus oppn leader flees to LithuaniaAFP — MINSK

The main challenger in Bela-rus’s disputed presidential election said yesterday that she made a “difficult decision” to leave the country, after a second night of street clashes between police and opposition supporters left a dead.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory over authoritarian President Alex-ander Lukashenko in Sunday’s vote, said she had left out of concern for her children. Lithuania said she was “safe” after going to the neighbouring country. “I have made a very dif-ficult decision,” Tikhanovskaya said in a short video.

“Children are the most important thing we have in life,” said the 37-year-old, whose five-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son had earlier been taken out of the country for their safety.

Tikhanovskaya decided to run for president after the authorities jailed her husband, popular blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, and barred him from contesting the election. He remains in prison in Belarus.

“I know that many will understand me, many will judge me, and many will begin to hate me,” Tikhanovskaya said. “But God forbid anyone face the choice I had.” Belarusian state media released a second video where Tikhanovskaya urged supporters not to protest or break the law, apparently reading from a script.

Maria Kolesnikova, one of Tikhanovskaya’s campaign partners, said “we think this video was recorded under pressure from law enforcement authorities”.

UN says pandemic could inflict severe damage on youthAFP — GENEVA

The United Nations warned yesterday that the coronavirus crisis could have a severe and lasting impact on the life pros-pects of young adults without swift remedial action.

The International Labour Organization said the career prospects of people aged 18 to 29 were taking a hit from the pandemic, while students faced a “gloomy outlook” for its effects on their education.

The ILO report entitled “Youth and COVID-19: impacts on jobs, education, rights and mental well-being” said young adults had been disproportion-ately affected by the crisis.

The report was based on the Global Survey on Youth

and COVID-19, a study of more than 12,000 young people aged 18 to 29, con-ducted online in 23 languages across 112 countries between April 21 and May 21.

The respondents were largely educated young adults with internet access, repre-senting students and working young people with a tertiary education. “The study finds the impact of the pandemic on young people to be systematic, deep and disproportionate. It has been particularly hard on young women, younger youth and youth in lower-income countries,” the report said.

“Unless urgent action is taken, young people are likely to suffer severe and long-lasting impacts from the

pandemic.” The survey found that 13 percent had been left without any access to courses, teaching or training, while more than 70 percent said they were adversely affected by the closure of their educa-tional establishments.

“The pandemic is also inflicting a heavy toll on young workers, destroying their employment and undermining their career prospects,” the ILO report said. It found that 17 percent who were employed before the outbreak had stopped working altogether.

Working hours among employed youth fell by nearly a quarter and 42 percent reported a reduction in their income. Some 17 percent were “probably affected” by anxiety and depression.

Rio to make beachgoers reserve space via appAFP — RIO DE JANEIRO

Seeking to contain COVID-19, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro announced on Monday that the iconic Brazilian beach city will require sunbathers to social distance and reserve space on the sand in advance via an app.

Mayor Marcelo Crivella said Rio’s world-famous beaches could only fully reopen with clearly demarcated areas to keep people apart.

But implementing the measure could prove difficult in a city where the sand has already been packed in recent weeks despite the threat of a 107-real ($20) fine.

“People will be able to remain in demarcated areas, based on the time they arrive and also by reserving via an app,” Crivella said.

“That way, we can better organize something that’s not working well today.” Rio authorities closed beaches in March to fight the spread of the new coronavirus, which has killed more than 100,000 people in Brazil, the second-highest death toll in the pan-demic, after the United States.

Rio Governor Wilson Witzel admitted at the time the measure amounted to “heresy” in a place known for its love of the beach. With more than 14,000 deaths, Rio state has

been hit harder by the virus than any other in Brazil except for Sao Paulo.

On July 31, Crivella reo-pened the Rio ocean front for swimming, but sitting on the sand is still off-limits.

Despite that, throngs of people have crowded leg-endary beaches such as Copac-abana and Ipanema on recent weekends, soaking up the sun, playing football in the sand and gazing at the green mountains dotting the turquoise water.

Crivella did not set a date for the reopening, saying offi-cials would give more details soon. In July, the mayor had said he would only allow people back on the beach when there was a coronavirus vaccine. Other beach destina-tions have also experimented with technology to reopen.

Spain is using drones, Belgium is using sensors and cell-phone location trackers, and various places are asking beach-goers to reserve via websites or booking apps.

Rio also authorized business conferences and cor-porate events again, effective immediately. On July 29, Brazil reopened to foreign visitors arriving by plane after a four-month suspension, hoping to revive its lockdown-devastated tourism industry despite its struggles to contain the virus.

WHO says delay routine dental work due to virus riskAFP — GENEVA

The World Health Organization said yesterday that routine, non-essential dental work should be delayed until COVID-19 transmission rates drop sufficiently, cautioning against procedures that produce aerosol spray from patients’ mouths.

The WHO said check-ups, dental cleanings and preventive care could be postponed, as it released guidance for dentists on how to minimise the risk of

transmission during the corona-virus pandemic. The UN health agency said now that dental services had begun to resume in many countries, several proce-dures could be done in a way that minimised aerosol, or micro-droplets that hang in the air.

“WHO advises that routine non-essential oral health care — which usually includes oral health check-ups, dental cleanings and preventive care — be delayed until there has been sufficient reduction in COVID-19 transmission rates from

community transmission to cluster cases,” the guidance says.

“The same applies to aes-thetic dental treatments. However, urgent or emergency oral health care interventions that are vital for preserving a per-son’s oral functioning, managing severe pain or securing quality of life should be provided.” WHO said that if possible, patients should be remotely screened before their appointments.

The interim guidance, dated August 3, was aired by the WHO on Tuesday. The WHO said

dentists were at high risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

“Oral health care teams work in close proximity to patients’ faces for prolonged periods,” the organisation said.

“Their procedures involve face-to-face communication and frequent exposure to saliva, blood, and other body fluids and handling sharp instru-ments. Consequently, they are at high risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 or passing the infection to patients.”

Royal visitSpain's King Felipe VI (second right), his wife Queen Letizia (second left) and their daughters Spanish Crown Princess Leonor (left) and Princess Sofia (centre) pose for a picture with Margalida Jorda, President of the Naum cultural centre, during a visit to the centre in Palma de Mallorca, yesterday.

A file photo courtesy of the Calgary Zoo shows adult female panda Er Shun. A pair of pandas on loan from China to a Canadian zoo are facing a food shortage as their supply of fresh bamboo dries up, officials warned.

Canada pandas running on empty as bamboo dries upAFP — OTTAWA

A pair of pandas on loan from China to a Canadian zoo are facing a food shortage as their supply of fresh bamboo dries up, officials warned.

And plans to send them back to China, where bamboo is abundant and easy to access, according to a Calgary Zoo statement, have been stalled by pandemic-era changes to import and quarantine regulations.

Er Shun, a female, and Da Mao, a male, each require around 90 pounds (40kg) of fresh bamboo daily. Calgary Zoo turned to farms in British Columbia for a temporary domestic supply after international borders were closed in a bid to limit the spread of COVID-19.

But that supply will run out in September, it said. “You can’t give them just any bamboo because they won’t eat it,” a Calgary Zoo spokes-woman said. “Our fridges need to be replenished with fresh bamboo every three days in order to meet their dietary needs.”

Trump went on to praise the US Secret Service, which is in charge of guarding the President, as “fantastic people, the best of the best”. “I feel very safe with Secret Service,” he said.

12 WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2020AMERICAS

Man shot outside White House, Trump evacuated from press conferenceAFP — WASHINGTON

US Secret Service agents shot and wounded a man who was apparently armed outside the White House on Monday, President Donald Trump said, after being briefly whisked away in the middle of a press conference.

A 51-year-old male approached a Secret Service officer standing at the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, one block from the White House, according to Tom Sullivan, the chief of the Secret Service Uniformed Division.

The suspect told the officer he had a weapon and ran “aggressively” towards him, drawing an object out of his clothes, Sullivan said in a statement that was broadcast on Twitter.

He then assumed a “shooter’s stance” as if he intended to fire, whereupon the Secret Service officer shot him in the torso, Sullivan added.

Officers on the scene administered first aid, and emergency medical services were called. Both the suspect and the officer were taken to hospital.

“The Secret Service Office of Professional Responsibility will be conducting an internal review of the officer’s actions,” Sullivan said, adding the DC Metropolitan Police Department had been contacted.

As the President was speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room, a Secret Service bodyguard

abruptly approached him and interrupted, saying in a quiet voice, “Sir, could you please come with me?” Trump and staff members left. Doors to the briefing room, still filled with journalists, were locked.

Outside, black-clad Secret Service agents with automatic rifles could be seen rushing across the lawn and took up positions behind trees. According to Fox News, whose camera team was outside, two shots were heard.

Minutes later, Trump reap-peared at the press conference and announced that someone had been shot by the Secret Service outside the White House grounds. “Law enforcement shot someone, it seems to be the suspect. And the suspect is on the way to the hospital,” he said.

Trump, a Republican who faces a tough and bitterly divisive election on November 3, said he knew nothing about the identity or motives of the person shot. “It might not have had anything to do with me,” he said.

There was no immediate precise information on what sort of threat the person allegedly posed.

But when asked if the person had been armed, Trump answered: “From what I under-stand, the answer is yes.” Trump said the incident took place “on the outside” of the White House perimeter, which is currently being reinforced by a new iron fence twice the height of the previous version.

“I don’t believe anything was breached, they were rela-tively far away,” he added.

“The White House complex was never breached during the incident, nor were the Secret

Service protectees ever in danger,” Sullivan said.

Returning to the podium after the disruption, Trump appeared calm. He resumed his virulent criticism of opposition Democrats and praise for his handling of the coronavirus crisis, which polls show two-thirds of Americans believe he has botched.

Questioned on whether the security incident had rattled him, Trump answered: “I don’t know, do I seem rattled?” “It’s unfortunate that this is the world, but the world’s always been a dan-gerous place,” he said.

Philipos Melaku, one of a

small group of veteran pro-testers who camp out near the White House, said he had heard a shot.

“I heard a gunshot and before that I heard screaming,” he said. “It was a male voice,” he said. “After that immediately, pointing their AR-15s, at least eight or nine men came in running.”

Trump went on to praise the US Secret Service, which is in charge of guarding the Pres-ident, as “fantastic people, the best of the best”. “I feel very safe with Secret Service,” he said. “A lot of terrific-looking people ready to go if something was necessary.”

A Secret Service agent escorts US President Donald Trump from a COVID-19 pandemic briefing after a shooting outside the White House in Washington, DC, US.

Facebook takes out 7 millionposts for sharing false information on coronavirus

REUTERS — NEW YORK

Facebook Inc said yesterday that it removed 7 million posts in the second quarter for sharing false information about the novel coronavirus, including content that promoted fake pre-ventative measures and exag-gerated cures.

Facebook released the data as part of its sixth Community Standards Enforcement Report, which it introduced in 2018 along with more stringent decorum rules in response to a backlash over its lax approach to policing content on its platforms. The company said it would invite external experts to independ-ently audit the metrics used in the report, beginning 2021.

The world’s biggest social media company removed about 22.5 million posts con-taining hate speech on its flagship app in the second quarter, up from 9.6 million in the first quarter. It also deleted 8.7 million posts connected to extremist organizations, com-pared with 6.3 million in the prior period.

Facebook said it relied more heavily on automation tech-nology for reviewing content during the months of April, May and June as it had fewer reviewers at its offices due to the pandemic. That resulted in company taking action on fewer pieces of content related to suicide and self-injury, child abuse and exploitation on its platforms, Facebook said in a blog post.

Pre-orders of COVID-19 vaccine top 5.7 billionAFP — WASHINGTON

Although none of the corona-virus vaccines under devel-opment has proved its efficacy yet in clinical trials, at least 5.7 billion doses have been pre-ordered around the world.

First shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine created by Western laboratories have often been snapped up by the United States. Five vaccines — three Western and two Chinese — are in Phase 3 efficacy trials involving thousands of people.

In a surprise announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed yesterday that a vaccine dubbed “Sputnik V” — after the

Soviet satellite — conferred “sus-tainable immunity” against the novel coronavirus.

As research laboratories around the world race to develop a vaccine, manufacturers have received financing to help them prepare to have millions of doses ready to administer in 2021 or even before the end of the year.

Oxford University, working with the Swedish-British phar-maceutical group AstraZeneca, hopes to have results by Sep-tember while the US biotech company Moderna, partnering with the US National Institutes of Health, is aiming for the end of the year, possibly November.

President Donald Trump

has launched “Operation Warp Speed” in a bid to develop, manufacture and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine to all Amer-icans by January 2021.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been directed to vaccine developers including nearly $500m to Johnson & Johnson at the end of March.

The United States has allo-cated funding to more com-panies than other nation in the hope that one of them will come up with the vaccine to counter the highly contagious virus. So far, Washington has handed out at a total of least $9.4bn to seven vaccine developers and signed manufacturing contracts

with five of them to provide 700 million doses.

Two vaccine developers — Oxford/AztraZeneca and Sanofi/GSK — have signed or are in advanced negotiations with the European Commission to provide a combined 700 million vaccine doses.

Britain is negotiating a sep-arate pre-order of 250 million doses from four developers. Japan is counting on 490 million doses from three suppliers including 250 million from Novavax of the United States.

Japanese pharmaceutical giant Takeda bought the rights to a Novavax vaccine for Japan, which has funded the research.

It would be produced locally.Brazil chose a similar model,

ordering 100 million doses from AstraZeneca, and partnering with China’s Sinovac to produce 120 millions of “CoronaVac,” which is already undergoing testing with Brazilians.

Clinical tests of two Chinese vaccine candidates — Sinovac and Sinopharm — are well under way but only a few international partnerships have been announced. Russia said 20 nations have pre-ordered 1 billion doses of Sputnik V and that with foreign partners it would be able to produce 500 million doses a year in five countries.

Trump says ‘great’ bond with China’s Xi changed after pandemicREUTERS — WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump yesterday said his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping has frayed in the wake of the novel coronavirus pan-demic and that he has not spoken to his Chinese coun-terpart in a long time.

“I used to have a very good relationship with him,” Trump told Fox Sports Radio in an interview, citing their Phase One trade deal hammered out last year and signed in early 2020. “I had a great rela-tionship with President Xi. I like him, but I don’t feel the same way now.” Trump said his feelings changed amid COVID-19.

“I certainly feel differently. I had a very, very good rela-tionship, and I haven’t spoken to him in a long time.” Trump, who is seeking re-election in the November 3 US election, made challenging China a key part of his 2016 presidential campaign and touted his friendly ties with Xi during much of his first term in office as he sought to make good on his trade deal promises.

But he said yesterday that the fallout from the outbreak was worse than the conflict over trade. “This is a thousand times the trade deal what happened with all of the death and... the world had to shutdown. It’s a disgrace,” he told Fox.

First reports of the virus emerged from China in late 2019 and it has now infected more than 20 million people and killed at least 735,369 worldwide, including at least 5.1 million cases and at least 163,160 deaths in the US.

US-China ties have also frayed over Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong and the disputed South China Sea, among other issues. Asked about the arrest of pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong under China’s new security law, as well as issues over Taiwan, Trump pointed to his administration’s steps to end Hong Kong’s special trading status. He did not address the arrest of Jimmy Lai, one of the city’s most prominent activists.

Obamas to anchor key speeches at Biden’s Democratic conventionAFP — WASHINGTON

Former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will deliver keynote speeches during next week’s Democratic National Convention when Joe Biden will be confirmed as the party’s White House challenger in the November election.

The Democratic Party announced yesterday that Obama will give a primetime address next Wednesday, the convention’s penultimate evening, while former first lady Michelle Obama will address the convention on Monday, opening night.

The schedule details were released amid mounting antic-ipation over who Biden will choose as his running mate.

The 77-year-old Demo-cratic veteran is expected to reveal his vice presidential pick this week, and he has pledged to choose a woman. Biden served for eight years as Obama’s vice-president and will formally accept the Dem-ocratic nomination on the four-day convention’s final day, August 20.

“Joe Biden will speak about his vision for uniting America to move us forward out of con-stant chaos and crisis, and for delivering on that promise for all,” the party said.

Obama remains one of America’s most popular

politicians. He has campaigned virtually with Biden in recent months and has helped him raise millions of dollars in cam-paign cash.

The convention had been set for Milwaukee, in the bat-tleground state of Wisconsin.

But the coronavirus pan-demic has upended the plans of both parties, forcing them to convert the normally raucous in-person events into online affairs driven by video presen-tations and appearances.

The sudden shakeup has caused logistical challenges for both campaigns, but especially for Democrats who were hoping to use a boisterous, crowded live event as a launchpad for Biden’s final sprint to the election on November 3. Democrats have revealed what they hope will be an inspiring lineup of speakers, including standard-bearers of the progressive left like first-term congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a two-time presidential hopeful whose liberal policies like uni-versal health care and free college have pushed Biden leftward, has been given a Monday speaking slot, along with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The speaker’s list includes many everyday Americans like emergency responders, teachers and factory workers.

Scepticism over Flynn’s bid to end caseREUTERS — WASHINGTON

US appeals court judges yes-terday voiced scepticism toward a bid by President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn to compel a federal judge to immediately drop the criminal case against him as the Justice Department has demanded despite Flynn twice pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.

Ten judges from the US Court of Appeals for the District of

Columbia Circuit heard fresh arguments in the politically charged case after a three-judge panel of the same court, in a 2-1 ruling on June 24, had directed US District Judge Emmet Sullivan to grant the Justice Department motion to clear Flynn.

Flynn, a retired Army lieu-tenant general, was charged under former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that detailed Russian inter-ference in the 2016 US election to boost Trump’s candidacy.

Some of the judges ques-tioned whether it would be pre-mature for them to end the case now, before Sullivan has even ruled on the Justice Depart-ment’s request for dismissal.

“The integrity and inde-pendence of the courts is also at play here,” Judge Cornelia Pillard told Justice Department lawyer Jeff Wall, asking whether any “self-respecting” federal district judge “would simply jump and enter an order without doing what he can to understand both sides”.

#BidenSayNo protest Protestors gather for #BidenSayNo protest outside BlackRock headquarters in New York City, yesterday. The #BidenSayNo protest calls on presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to “reject BlackRock executives as potential presidential appointees”.