SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 www.thepeninsula.qa25 MUHARRAM - 1442 VOLUME 25 NUMBER 8379 2 RIYALS

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Ashghal opens first phase of Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor

SANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced the opening of the first phase of the Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor. It will provide a free traffic flow all the way from Umm Lekhba Interchange on Al Shamal Road to Hamad Inter-national Airport and reduce traffic pressure on 22 February Street.

The first phase of the Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor opened with a length of 13km from Umm Lekhba Inter-change in the north to Bu Hamour Bridge in the south, shifting traffic along the road in order to complete the project and open it fully to traffic in the first quarter of 2021.

The new opening includes seven new bridges, bringing the

number of bridges that were opened around 21 out of 32 bridges that make up the vital road, including three bridges at Umm Lekhba Interchange and three bridges at Al Waab Inter-section including the longest bridge in a with a length of 2.6km, in addition to the cable stayed bridge with a length of 1.2km. The opening also includes Al Luqta Tunnel that intersects with Al Luqta Street to directly link Al Luqta and Al Gharrafa.

The new openings will provide a free traffic flow along the road passing over 12 at-grade intersections, which will shorten the travel time by over 50 percent, as the road currently accommodates more than 8,000 vehicles per hour in both directions, which will positively affect traffic on 22 February Street and provide new alternatives for road users.

Details about the projects

were given by Asghal officials during the opening ceremony held yesterday. President of Ashghal, H E Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmad Al Muhannadi said that the opening of the first phase of Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor came despite many challenges like unjust blockade and the COVID-19 pandemic which is evidence that the work progress is proceeding without interruption. He thanked the government for endless support and overcoming all obstacles to support infrastructure projects to complete them according to the deadlines.

Eng. Youssef Al Emadi, Projects Affairs Director said that Ashghal had preceded the completion of the first phase of the Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor as it came about a year and a half after the launch of the project in February 2019, indi-cating that the project is expected to be completed in 2021 to add a new achievement.

Eng. Bader Darwish, Manager of Highway Project Department confirmed that the new openings on Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor will provide a free traffic flow all the way from Umm Lekhba Inter-change on Al Shamal Road to Hamad International Airport, which will reduce traffic pressure on 22 February Street especially with the start of the new school year.�P4

Ashghal opened the first phase from Umm

Lekhba Interchange to Bu Hamour Bridge with

a length of 13km.

Seven new bridges opened, bringing the

number of open bridges to 21.

Al Luqta Tunnel that intersects with Al Luqta

Street also open for traffic.

Opens the cable-stayed bridge partially with a

length of 1.2km.

Al Arab daily

to resume

publishing soon

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

In a move, first-of-its-kind in Qatari media, the Board of Directors of Dar Al Sharq chaired by Dr. Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani, has decided to acquire Dar Al Arab for Publishing, Printing and Distri-bution by Dar Al Sharq Group.

Dar Al Sharq group is currently preparing a new strategy and vision for Al Arab, and conducting a comprehensive restructuring in preparation to resume its republi-cation in line with the rapid changes witnessed by the media sector and to keep pace with the requirements of the next stage.

Dar Al Sharq plans to make Al Arab a qualitative addition to the Group’s media strategy and to meet readers’ aspirations so it can be a part of the state’s media system.

With this acquisition, Dar Al Sharq Group’s presence in the media field will be strengthened, enabling it to provide quality media and advertising services with multiple options in the sector of print media and news media.

Al Arab was the first daily pub-lished in Qatar in 1972, and it will resume publishing soon, under the umbrella of Dar Al Sharq with its sister newspapers Al Sharq, The Peninsula and Lusail.

First intra-Afghan peace talks begin in Doha

AGENCIES — DOHA

As part of the efforts to achieve sustainable peace in Afghan-istan, Doha witnessed yesterday the launch of the Afghanistan Peace Negotiations with repre-sentatives from the Afghan government, the Taliban and Afghan civil society.

The inaugural session of the negotiations was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani, US Secretary of State H E Mike Pompeo, as well as the two parties to the negotiations represented by Abdullah Abdullah from the Afghan government and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar from the Taliban, in addition to several other officials, QNA reported.

Also virtually participating in the inaugural session of the Afghan Peace Negotiations were 14 foreign ministers and senior officials, including Minister of

Foreign Affairs of Norway, H E Ine Eriksen Soreide; State Coun-cillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic

of China, H E Wang Yi; the Min-ister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, H E Mevlut Cavusoglu; Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, H E Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi; Min-ister of External Affairs of the Republic of India, H E Dr.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar; Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, H E Retno Marsudi; Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, H E Arancha Gonzalez Laya; in addition to Secretary General of the United Nations, H E Antonio Guterres and Secretary General of Nato, H E Jens Stoltenberg, who emphasised the importance of a comprehensive and honest dialogue to reach a political solution to the crises in Afghanistan.

Following the US-Taliban Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan signed in February this year in Doha, the start of direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban is a historic first step towards the resolution of

decades-long conflict. Several goals for achieving peace in Afghanistan were discussed, including the road to a permanent cease-fire and a framework for Afghan reconstruction efforts.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani said in his opening remarks, “History has taught us over and over that using military force can never resolve the conflict in Afghanistan. The only way to do so is through adopting an immediate and per-manent ceasefire and paving the way for a constructive dialogue through negotiations to achieve a comprehensive political set-tlement across all spectrums in Afghanistan”.

Negotiation teams are also participating in discussions sur-rounding Afghan women and civil society, the future of human rights protections and democracy in Afghanistan. Their com-mitment to discuss key sub-stantive issues provides evidence

that the country can continue to move closer to a political set-tlement for the safety and sta-bility of future generations.

US Secretary of State H E Mike Pompeo urged the warring sides to seize the opportunity to strike a comprehensive peace deal, while acknowledging many challenges lay ahead. �P4

14 foreign ministers and senior officials attend

the negotiations virtually.

Following the US-Taliban Agreement signed in

February in Doha, the start of direct negotiations

between the Afghan government and the Taliban

is a historic first step towards the resolution of

decades-long conflict.

Teams are also participating in discussions

surrounding Afghan women and civil society, the

future of human rights protections and democracy

in Afghanistan.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani (second right), US Secretary of State H E Mike Pompeo (second left), US envoy H E Zalmay Khalilzad (left), and Minister of Foreign Affairs’ Special Envoy for Counterterrorism and Mediation in Conflict Resolution, H E Dr. Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani, during the launch of talks.

Doha hosts a historic opening ceremony of the intra-Afghan peace talks. We strongly believe that a constructive dialogue through negotiations to achieve a comprehensive political settlement across all spectrums is the way to achieve lasting peace in #Afghanistan

We believe firmly that protecting the rights of all Afghans is the best way for you to break the cycle of violence.

Mike PompeoUS Secretaryof State

After decades of conflict, these talks are the best chance of peace.

Jens Stoltenberg Nato Secretary-General

It is my hope that progress towards peace can lead to the return of mil-lions of Afghans displaced inter-nally and across borders to their homes.

Antonio GuterresUN Secretary- General

02 SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020HOME

Qatar funds reconstruction of educational facilities in AlbaniaQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar, represented by Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD), signed a $5m grant agreement with the government of the Republic of Albania to finance the reconstruction of two secondary schools and one kindergarten in the capital, Tirana.

The agreement was signed for QFFD by its Director-General Khalifa bin Jassem Al Kuwari, and for the Albanian side by Min-ister of State for Reconstruction, H E Arben Ahmetaj.

Two secondary schools are planned to be built on 8,000 and 3,632 sq m, in addition to a kindergarten to be build on 1,875 sq m. The new facilities will serve more than 3,000 people in Tirana. The ceremony was attended by Qatar’s Ambassador to Albania, H E Ali bin Hamad Al Marri, as well as the mayor of Tirana Municipality.

Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs meets US Secretary of State

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, met yesterday with US Secretary of State, H E Mike Pompeo, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Afghanistan peace negotiations. During the meeting, both sides reviewed the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the Afghan Peace Negotiations in Doha, in addition to a number of regional and international issues of common concern. During the meeting, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani affirmed the commitment of the State of Qatar to provide political support to the peace process in Afghanistan and to continue dialogue between all spectrums to reach a political solution.

MoPH: 276 more recover from virusTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 236 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Among them 16 are travellers returning from abroad.

Another 276 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 118,475.

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

Qatar and Italy sign agreement for cooperation in education and trainingQNA —ROME

The State of Qatar, repre-sented by the Ministry of Defence, has signed a tech-nical arrangements agreement with the Italian Republic, represented by the Italian Ministry of Defence.

The agreement was signed for Qatar by Com-mander of the Amiri Land Forces, H E Major General Saeed Hesayen Al Khayarin, and for Italy by Chief of Army Staff, H E Lieutenant General Sal-vatore Farina.

T h e a g r e e m e n t , which was signed in the Italian capital, Rome, includes cooperation between the two sides in the fields of education and training.

Ashghal opens 1.2km cable-stayed bridge to traffic on Salwa Road SANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) announced yesterday partial opening of a cable-stayed bridge, first of its kind in Qatar, with a length of 1.2km on Salwa Road.

The cable-stayed bridge, part of Sabah Al Ahmad Cor-ridor will cause a big leap in traffic due to its strategic location above Haloul and Faleh bin Nasser Intersections on Salwa Road, where it will receive traffic coming to and from Hamad International Airport and will reduce traffic pressure on parallel streets such

as the Wholesale Market Street and Doha Expressway / 22 Feb-ruary Street.

The Cable-Stayed bridge was designed pillar less for a distance of 150 meters, taking into account all safety factors when constructing the bridge, including supporting the bridge with 120 cables and 754 precast concrete pieces of more than 200 tonnes in weight and setting up 20 columns and 16 piers to reach the highest point of the bridge to 30 meters.

Eng. Ali Darwish, from the Highway Projects Department, speaking at the opening cer-emony yesterday said the Cable-Stayed bridge is the first

of its kind in Qatar and opening it provides a free flow of traffic between Al Waab and Bu Hamour passing by Haloul and Faleh bin Nasser Interchange on Salwa Road,

He said that it was opened on a temporary asphalt layer to temporarily accommodate traffic in both directions until traffic is later diverted to the northern part of it, in order to preserve the quality of the final layer of asphalt.

In order to allow the con-struction work of the Cable-Stayed bridge, Ashghal had announced a partial closure of Haloul Interchange for a period of one month.

FM: Doha talks seek to achieve peace for Afghan peopleTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, has underlined that in implemen-tation of the wise directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the State of Qatar has continued its efforts to commence the intra-Afghan negotiations in order to reach a political solution that ensures the achievement of peace for the Afghan people and fulfils its aspiration for stability and prosperity.

The Deputy PM and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs extended thanks to the United States for its cooperation and appreciated efforts to facilitate the convening of these negotiations.

He expressed the State of Qatar’s pride for hosting these

important historic negotia-tions, which follow the con-clusion of the peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban in Doha in February.

This came in the speech by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs at the opening of Afghanistan Peace Negotiations in Doha yesterday.

At the outset of his speech, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani con-veyed the greetings of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to the heads and members of the negotiation delegations from the sisterly Islamic Republic of Afghan-istan, and H H the Amir’s wishes that these negotiations will be a success and achieve their desired goals.

The Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that in

the lives of peoples, decisive days leave immortal imprints in the records of history, and generate traces that time cannot erase, because they constitute a turning point in their path. From this standpoint, those who are characterised by wisdom and insightful vision, when facing turning points in their destiny, must assume respon-sibility and make fateful deci-sions that commensurate with the challenges of the situation,

and to rise above all forms of division, fulfil the aspirations of their peoples for unity, and stop their pain by reconciliation on the win-win principle.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs added that the lessons and experiences of history have proven that military force cannot resolve any conflict in Afghanistan, and that the only way to do so is to immediately and permanently cease fire and

open avenues for constructive dialogue through the negoti-ating table, in order to achieve a comprehensive political set-tlement among all spectrums of the Afghan people.

“Is any spectrum of the fra-ternal Afghan people still not believe that building bridges of understanding and coex-istence is the only sure guar-antee for the sustainability of peace, stability, and building the rule of law and devel-opment in Afghanistan?” the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs wondered.

These negotiations con-stitute an important and crucial stage for the Afghan people to find solutions to all controversial issues, he stressed.

Qatar’s top envoy under-lined the need to overcome the unfortunate past and focus on

the future and its hopes while not forgetting the lesson learnt from the past. This requires everyone to embark on the future with a steadfast spirit and firm belief in the right of the Afghan people to enjoy security, stability and unity, and to catch up with progress and never be left behind.

H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani praised the cooperation among the parties to the negotiations, expressing his confidence that they will value the responsi-bility entrusted to them, and will put the interest of the Afghan people in mind as a beacon for their dialogue and negotiation, in order to fulfil the aspirations of the Afghan people for peace to be an alter-native to a war that lasted nearly forty years, and for security and stability to prevail in all parts of Afghanistan.

The Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs says lessons and experiences of history have proven that military force cannot resolve any conflict in Afghanistan, and that the only way to do so is to immediately and permanently cease fire and open avenues for constructive dialogue through the negotiating table, in order to achieve a comprehensive political settlement.

GCO highlights

Qatar’s past

mediation efforts

IRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

The Government Communi-cations Office (GCO) has said that since 2008 Qatar has mediated in approximately 10 key regional and international issues.

“Qatar has made diplo-matic efforts at regional & international levels to mediate between factions, entities and countries. Hosting Afghanistan peace negotiations demon-strates Qatar’s commitment to its role as a facilitator to find sustainable solutions to con-flicts & differences,” the GCO tweeted yesterday sharing a motion graphic showing Qatar’s success in mediation in different parts of the world in last many years.

The graphic reveals that since 2008, Qatar has mediated in approximately 10 key regional and international issues. Sharing details of Qatar’s successful past medi-ation efforts, the GCO said that in 2008, Qatar brokered the Doha agreements between rival Lebanese factions which ended an 18-month long political crisis. In 2009, Qatar mediated between Sudan and Chad who signed the Doha Accord.

Then from 2008-2013, Qatar took a leadership role in peace efforts in Sudan hosting peace talks in Doha. According to the GCO, in 2010 Qatar mediated a ceasefire agreement over a border dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea ending an armed con-flict between the two parties.

In 2011, Qatar mediated between Sudan and Eritrea and in 2012 Qatar mediated the 2012 Doha Agreement between Fatah and Hamas. Then in 2015 Qatar success-fully mediated between the rival Tebu and Taureg tribes in Libya resulting in the signing of a peace and reconciliation agreement in Doha.

In 2020, Qatar mediated the signing of an agreement between the US and the Taliban to bring peace in Afghanistan and now again in 2020 Qatar is facilitating direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban during Afghanistan Peace Negotiations.

Pompeo stresses Qatar's important role in bringing peace to AfghanistanTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The US Secretary of State H E Mike Pompeo has affirmed the role of the State of Qatar and its great support in bringing peace to Afghanistan.

The Qatar News Agency (QNA) has reported that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in his speech during the opening session of the Afghan Peace Negotiations which began yesterday in Doha, “This is a moment in which we must dare to hope and look forward to the light and remember the darkness of the past four decades and the lives and opportunities that we have lost. But it is really good that suf-fering, pain, blood and destruction now lead to hope for the entire Afghan people and a lot of its friends.”

Pompeo expressed his hope that the talks and negotiations would lead to the desired peace and that everyone would be up to the responsibility entrusted to them, noting that the whole world wants their success and depends on them to achieve peace in the region.

The US Secretary of State affirmed that his country sup-ports Afghanistan that is ‘sov-ereign’, ‘united’ and ‘represent-ative for all’ and at peace with itself and with its neighbours, explaining that he intends, that with the same sovereignty, it has to decide its fate by itself and without any external inter-ference and enjoy relations and cooperation with international partners and neighbours on the basis of mutual respect.

Pompeo indicated that he meant a ‘united’ Afghanistan to overcome the negative impact of the divisions and wars that it lived through over the past 4 decades through a compre-hensive negotiation process and reaching an agreement on the future of Afghanistan for the benefit of all segments of the Afghan people.

He called on all participants in the negotiation process to interact with all segments of the Afghan people, including women, minorities, victims of long war, and to produce a political settlement that rejects the use of violence for political ends.

Eng. Yousef Abdulrahman Al Emadi, Projects Affairs Director of Ashgal, and other Officials at the opening of the first 13-km phase of Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor to traffic. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

03SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 HOME

Dar Al Sharq set to establish first Arab public relations websiteTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

To be the first and best in providing public relations services, Dar Al Sharq has started executive procedures for establishing the first Arab public relations website specialised in providing integrated services to members of public relations in the Gulf and other Arab coun-tries.

An agreement has been signed to sponsor and support the website between Dar Al Sharq and Power International Holding Company. The project aims to meet the growing needs of public relations sector and will provide basic and important database on the public relations profession, its needs, areas of specialisation

and its sciences, in order to be a reference for public relations and media professionals.

Commenting on this, Assistant to the CEO of Dar Al Sharq, Jassim Fakhro, said: “The public relations website, which is set be established, is the fruit of Dar Al Sharq’s strategy as a full-service media organisation to be the first in providing the best in the fields of media and public relations.”

“This website will be the first-of-its-kind in the Arab world and distinguished in its integrated services that include news, studies, research, database and specialities in addition to interacting with site visitors and responding to all inquiries and questions and providing immediate advice by

experts and scientific institu-tions,” he said.

Fakhro also noted that the step comes from Dar Al Sharq’s belief that public relations is one

of the most important bridges of communication between society and institutions and also an effective tool to create trust between all stakeholders and the public.

“Dar Al Sharq decided to be a pioneer in providing this dis-tinctive service to the public that will contribute to sup-porting the public relations sector and achieving a quali-tative leap in this vital sector that is rapidly growing in Qatar and the Arab world.”

The agreement was signed by Jassim Fakhro and Moataz Al Khayyat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Power International Holding, in order to promote pioneering media projects that serve the community.

Al Khayyat, on this occasion, said: “We are happy with our strategic partnership with Dar Al Sharq as it is a leading insti-tution in providing distin-guished services in the field of media, advertising and public relations. We will work together to take the public relations pro-fession to new heights through the strategy of Al Sharq, which seeks to provide the latest solu-tions for public relations employees in the Gulf and the Arab world.” The Power Inter-national Holding Power is a diversified business conglom-erate, grouped into five main sectors: General Contracting, Agro-Food Industries, Real Estate Development, Lifestyle (Hospitality, Entertainment & Catering) and General Services.

Assistant to the CEO of Dar Al Sharq, Jassim Fakhro.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Power International Holding, Moataz Al Khayyat.

Abdullah Abdullah praises Qatar’s role in Afghan reconciliation QNA — DOHA

The Chairman of the High Council for National Reconcili-ation of Afghanistan (HCNR), Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, has praised the role of Qatar and its keenness to bring peace to his country and its efforts to organise this round of negotia-tions and the keenness of all parties participating in the nego-tiations to reach a lasting peace and stop the bloodshed.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah affirmed, speaking at the opening ceremony of the Afghan Peace Negotiations that began yesterday in Doha, that all those involved in the negotiations are full of good intentions to stop the bloodshed and reach a per-manent and just agreement, especially since the legitimate demands of the Afghan people call for an end to war and suf-fering and the enjoyment of comprehensive peace and order, based on the supremacy of the constitution and what achieves stability.

He pointed out that reaching a lasting and dignified peace can be achieved when the will and sincere intentions of the partic-ipants in these negotiations are available, and that they are responsible before God to respect the free will of the people, respect its aspirations and hopes to stop killing and destruction in the country, to

reach peace. He reviewed the efforts made to cease fire and bring peace to his country including the establishment of the House of Elders to build a national consensus, the holding of local and international con-ferences to end the war, the establishment of HCNR, and the formation of the negotiation team. He said with the achievement of permanent peace and the establishment of a comprehensive system that preserves the rights of all, “women, minorities, and war victims”, the negotiating parties would be heroes, and if recon-ciliation extended, the people’s suffering would end and lasting peace would inevitably be achieved.

He said all participants rep-resent a political system that enjoys the support of millions of women and of various political and ethnic backgrounds in the country, and all want to close the door to war and open the door and prospects for peace that have exceeded so that harmony be achieved among all spec-trums of Afghan people.

He pointed out that all share a spirit of sincerity and goodwill to achieve reconciliation, wishing to unite the people under one roof after 42 years of violence, and participants must seize the precious opportunity to move forward to a better future. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah

expressed his confidence that achieving peace in Afghanistan provides prosperity and stability and helps to address any local, regional or international threats. It can also pave the way for the return of millions of refugees who have spent long years facing difficulties to integrate with the rest of the people.

He pointed out that it is not important to agree on all points, but rather to adopt basic and fundamental steps, reach points of convergence, suggest alter-natives, and adopt a compre-hensive and inclusive agenda that leads to reconciliation and settlement acceptable to the people.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah stated that issues of the constitution, elections, freedom of expression, women’s and minority rights, the rule of law, democracy and civil and political rights are among the most prominent achievements that must be built upon, pointing out the impor-tance of preserving and sup-porting infrastructure projects and national institutions, including security that has been restored during the past 19 years.

He expressed his thanks and gratitude to the host country, Qatar, and all the international partners who have stood by the Afghan people over the past years to restore peace to the region.

Qatar attends event marking Singapore Convention on Mediation coming into forceQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar participated in the digital event to mark the entry into force of the Singapore Convention on Mediation, yesterday.

In his speech delivered vir-tually on this occasion, Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, H E Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi, congratulated on behalf of Qatar Government, the Republic of Singapore on the entry into force of the agreement and on the number of signatory

countries, which reached 52 countries since the signing in August 2019.

Al Nuaimi emphasised that this matter reflects the awareness and will of the inter-national community of the importance of strengthening and activating mediation, as one of the important means for set-tling commercial disputes, through reaching appropriate solutions that are acceptable by all parties, which saves a lot of time and money.

He pointed out that the State of Qatar was at the forefront of

countries that joined and rat-ified the agreement, in order to establish a Qatari legislative and legal system that keeps pace with the rapid developments in the international community and the movement of interna-tional trade, and in support of the international system in eve-rything that would achieve prompt justice, uphold the rule of law and provide a suitable environment and this is in line with the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030 in all its dimensions.

The Minister affirmed that

resorting to mediation to resolve disputes enhances the achievement of prompt justice, reduces the burden on the judicial apparatus, and achieves successes for states in estab-lishing the desired justice. His Excellency expressed his hope that this event would achieve the desired goals for this purpose.

Qatar was at the forefront of the signatories of this con-vention, as part of its efforts aimed at facilitating litigation procedures and providing alternative means to resolve

disputes in the fastest way, according to the latest

methods to consolidate prompt justice.

Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, H E Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi attending the virtual event to mark the entry into force of the Singapore Convention on Mediation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, meeting with Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) of Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of the Afghanistan Peace Negotiations, in Doha, yesterday. They reviewed bilateral cooperation and relations, the Afghanistan Peace Negotiations, in addition to issues of common concern.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, meeting with Head of Taliban’s Political office in Qatar, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of the Afghanistan Peace Negotiations, in Doha, yesterday. During the meeting, the Afghan peace negotiations in Doha were reviewed, and the role of Qatar and its efforts aimed at achieving reconciliation between all Afghan parties was emphasised in order to achieve the aspirations of the Afghan people for security, stability and peace.

Mullah Baradar thanks Amir for hosting Afghan Peace NegotiationsQNA — DOHA

The Head of Taliban’s Political office in Qatar, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has thanked Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for Qatar’s hosting of the Afghan Peace Negotiations.

In a speech during the opening session of the Afghan Peace Negotiations that began yesterday in Doha, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar thanked Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani, appreciating the role of Qatar and all inter-national efforts made to achieve the peace process in Afghanistan.

He stressed the Taliban’s desire to build peace and sta-bility for the future of Afghan-istan through negotiations, noting the points of disa-greement that might obstruct the negotiations, stressing that the Taliban took into consider-ation all points of agreement and built on them, and called on the other party to do the same to make the process proceed smoothly.

He asked both sides to pay attention during the negotia-tions to the teachings of the true Islamic religion, taking into account the interests of all spectrums of the people of

Afghanistan and not part of it.He pointed to the problems

and obstacles that may face the negotiation process, stressing the need to push for negotia-tions and move forward with patience and caution and make all efforts in the interest of the people of Afghanistan.

He noted that the Taliban are working in the interest of the people, assuring that Taliban will pursue peace nego-tiations and will pave the way for achieving stability in Afghanistan. He stressed the need for the world to support these negotiations in order to unite the country and to achieve progress and development in the presence of a system that takes into account the interests of all people.

Baradar expressed his aspi-ration for the future of Afghan-istan to be based on cooper-ation with all countries and to

enjoy relations of mutual respect with the international community.

In speeches broadcast via video conference technology, a number of officials from the Friends of Afghanistan group expressed their happiness at the organization of the Afghan peace negotiations in Doha, expressing their thanks to Qatar for hosting this important event.

They expected that these negotiations would result in stopping the war and bringing peace to Afghanistan, stressing that they are fully prepared to provide assistance if asked to do so. They stressed the impor-tance of agreement and over-coming obstacles that may face negotiations, in order to write a new chapter for the future of Afghanistan that fulfils the aspi-rations and hopes of the people, and turns the page of wars and armed conflicts.

Baradar stressed the need for the world to support these negotiations in order to unite the country and to achieve progress and development in the presence of a system that takes into account the interests of all people. He expressed his aspiration for the future of Afghanistan to be based on cooperation with all countries and to enjoy relations of mutual respect with the international community.

04 SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020HOME

A-G meets Minister of Higher Education in Tunisia

Qatar’s Attorney-General and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Lusail University H E Dr. Ali bin Fetais Al Marri, met yesterday with Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Republic of Tunisia H E Olfa Benouda Sioud. The meeting dealt with a number of issues related to cooperation in the educational field and scientific research. H E Qatar’s Attorney-General and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Lusail University also reviewed the Qatari experience in establishing Lusail University, its partnerships with other universities, and the possible collaboration with Tunisian universities in the context of strengthening academic cooperation between the two countries. The meeting was attended by Qatar’s Ambassador to Tunisia H E Saad bin Nasser Al Hamidi.

Shantiniketan Indian School students celebrate Teachers’ DayTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Students Council Members of Shan-tiniketan Indian School (SIS)

organised a programme under the theme ‘Our Teachers Our Heroes’ to mark Teachers’ Day.

The students and alumni paid tribute to their mentors on the occasion of the Teacher’s Day. The programme was organised on the Zoom Platform, streamed live on You tube which was wit-nessed by teachers ,parents and alumni members.

Children expressed their

gratitude with sheer passion and love. The students from all the sections recorded songs and dances to entertain their teachers. A short video of selfies taken by children with heart warming messages were also played as an expression of love for their teachers.

Principal of Shantiniketan Indian School, Dr. Subhash B Nair expressed happiness at the children coming up so well in spite of all the difficulties prevailing in the world.

Students of SIS taking part via Zoom in Teachers’ Day celebrations.

MoCI ensures implementation of precautionary measures at mallsSIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is conducting daily inspections on all malls, cafes and other commercial outlets in different areas of the country to ensure implementation of preventive measures to limit the spread of coronavirus.

“We have a special department for inspection that performs daily inspections on all commercial complexes in all areas in Qatar. We will spare no effort in preserving the safety of citizens,” said Hassan Issa Al Mohannadi, Head of the Regis-tration and Commercial Licenses Department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Speaking to Qatar Radio recently, he said: “We are con-stantly monitoring malls, restau-rants, cafes and others, to make sure that they are applying all

preventive measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.”

The daily inspection cam-paigns carried out by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry come after the great success achieved by the Ministry of Public Health in reducing daily cases infected with coronavirus.

On preventive measures, Al Mohannadi said: “Malls and com-mercial centres must continue adhering to preventive measures to prevent the spread of the virus, as many procedures are con-firmed in all complexes before the entrance of shoppers.”

“The commercial complexes do not allow any shopper to enter before making sure of some pro-cedures like a visitor can enter only after showing a green status on the Ehtraz app. Also, people without face masks are not allowed entrance to complexes and visitors are required to wear them throughout the time they

stay in the premises of any shopping complex,” he said, adding that measuring the tem-perature of visitors at the entrances and not allowing indi-viduals whose temperature exceeds 38 degrees Celsius to enter the mall are also compulsory.

Al Mohannadi emphasised that these commercial malls are providing sanitisers in all malls and raise awareness of the need for shoppers to adhere to the pro-cedures especially social distance.

As part of first stage of the fourth phase of the gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the Min-istry had issued guidelines for malls and other shopping centres. At the start of September, Ministry had allowed the reopening of food courts in commercial complexes, provided that the number of cus-tomers does not exceed 30 percent of the normal capacity.

Ashghal opens first phase of Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor

FROM PAGE 1

Eng. Ali Ibrahim, from the Highway Project Department, noted that the three new bridges at Umm Lekhba Interchange provide new entrances and exits to Al Gharrafa area to provide an alternative option to Al Gharrafa Interchange, (known as the Immigrat ion Interchange).

Engineer Mohammad Sami, from the Highway Projects Department, indicated that Al Waab Interchange is witnessing its first opening after converting the traffic light to a three-level intersection, where the rest of the vital intersection work is being completed and opened to traffic completely in 2020.

Ashghal has opened new parts on Al Waab Interchange, where it opened a main bridge 2.6km long, as the longest bridge in Qatar, as it extends from Al Rayyan Tunnel, passing over the well-known Lekhwya Inter-change and Al Waab Street Interchange.

A bridge was also opened to connect traffic coming from Rashida Interchange to the main bridge (Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor) with a length of 386 meters, and the opening of a third bridge linking traffic coming from Al Sadd at Al Waab Interchange with Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor towards Salwa and includes a lane of 823 meters.

Three new bridges were opened at Umm Lekhba Inter-change, bringing the number of bridges that were opened at the largest intersection in the country to five out of nine, as the opening includes the link bridge from the north in the direction of Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor and Al Gharrafa to include two lanes in one direction, with a length of 1100 meters.

The bridge opposite Al Gharrafa and Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor towards Al Shamal opened to include two lanes in one direction, with a length of 1,400 meters, the bridge linking traffic coming from Doha in the direction of Al Gharrafa and

S a b a h A l Ahmad Cor-ridor was opened to include one lane in one direction also with a length of 1000 meters.

The three bridges will

greatly facilitate traffic movement in the area and reduce traffic pressure on 22 February Street, especially on Al Gharrafa Interchange or (known as the Immigration Interchange).

The opening includes the Luqta Tunnel that intersects with Khalifa Street, as two lanes will be opened in each direction

as well, directly linking Al Luqta and Al Gharrafa, providing an alternative road to the nearby tilted intersection.

In parallel to the opening of the first phase of Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor, Ashghal opened the new parts of the traffic signal below Al Duhail Interchange, where the effi-ciency of the old roundabout

was increased by converting it into traffic lights.

Ashghal had opened on August 15, 2020, Duhail Al Gharrafa Bridge, along with parts of the traffic light, which contributed to improving traffic movement at the northern entrance to Doha, especially Duhail and Al Gharrafa.

First intra-Afghan peace negotiations begin in DohaFROM PAGE 1

“The choice of your political system is yours to make,” he told the opening ceremony in Doha. “We believe firmly that protecting the rights of all Afghans is the best way for you to break the cycle of violence,” Reuters reported.

The Head of Taliban’s Political office in Qatar, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar thanked Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for Qatar’s hosting the Afghan Peace Nego-tiations. In a speech during the opening session, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar thanked Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of

Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, appreciating the role of Qatar and all international efforts made to achieve the peace process in Afghanistan. He stressed the Taliban’s desire to build peace and stability for the future of Afghanistan through negotiations.

The Chairman of the High Council for National Reconcil-iation of Afghanistan (HCNR), Dr. Abdullah Abdullah also praised the role of Qatar and its keenness to bring peace to his country and its efforts to organise this round of negotia-tions and the keenness of all

parties participating in the negotiations to reach a lasting peace and stop the bloodshed.

According to Reuters, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that an inclusive peace process in which women, youth and victims of conflict are meaning-fully represented offers the best hope of a sustainable solution. “It is my hope that progress towards peace can lead to the return of millions of Afghans displaced internally and across borders to their homes,” he added.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “A

humanitarian ceasefire must be the priority at the beginning. Fighting and talking cannot go together. Afghanistan will need the international community’s support more than ever... We are ready to contribute to this process in every possible way including hosting one round of the talks.”

China State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that cessation of violence and durable peace is the strongest wish of over 37 million Afghan people and the shared expec-tation of the regional countries and the international community.

European Union top dip-lomat Josep Borrell said: “We urge the parties to accompany the start of the peace talks with an immediate, comprehensive, nationwide and unconditional ceasefire. With this new chapter opening, a mere reduction of violence is no longer enough.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qreshi said: “A long night is ending. A new dawn is upon us. This journey has not been easy. There have been obstacles and setbacks; moments of doubt and despair. Yet, progress has been made, and preserved... This success belongs, first and foremost, to

the Afghans.”NATO Secretary General

Jens Stoltenberg said: “After decades of conflict, these talks are the best chance of peace. We have to embrace them wholeheartedly and keep in mind the ultimate goal: to end the violence... A peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in every-body’s interest.”

India’s External Affairs Min-ister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said: “”Any peace process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled... The interests of the minorities, women and the vulnerable must be ensured.”

05SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 HOME

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The prospects for education in a world turned on its axis by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it needs to be protected and serve the needs of global youth, are to come under the spotlight in the latest edition of Qatar Foundation’s Education City Speaker Series.

Held in partnership with Education Above All and Qatar Foundation’s (QF) World Innovation Summit for Edu-cation, the online panel dis-cussion on Wednesday will see experts and activists explore ways in which edu-cation can be disrupted, safe-guarded, and made more accessible, and the role of young people in building more resilient societies and econ-omies as world aims to rebuild

from the coronavirus crisis.The virtual edition of QF’s

global platform for dialogue – titled Building The Future Of Education: How To Prepare Our Youth For A New Normal – is taking place in the wake of the United Nations’ first Interna-tional Day to Protect Education from Attack, adopted following a proposal by H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Education Above All. It also comes as new academic year begins amid an ongoing

pandemic, which has created huge challenges for educators.

The panellists will be Pres-ident of Qatar University, Dr. Hassan Rashid Al Derham; Global Director for Education, The World Bank, Dr. Jaime Saavedra; United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al Nashif; Deputy Director within the Division of Resilience and Solu-tions at the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, Dr. Mamadou Dian Balde; CEO of Room to

Read, a non-profit organisation focused on children’s literacy and girls’ education in Asia and Africa, Dr. Geetha Murali; and a South African student and education activist who founded EdConnect, Obakeng Leseyane,

Moderated by Dominic Regester, Program Director with non-profit organisation Salzburg Global Seminar, the discussion will focus on topics such as how the lessons edu-cation systems have learned during the pandemic may help to transform them; the actions and solutions required to ensure

every child’s right to an edu-cation is respected; and what education needs to become if it is to prepare young people for an uncertain and rapidly-changing world.

The talk will be the fourth online edition of the Education City Speaker Series, which, in keeping with QF’s commitment to ensuring dialogue never stops, has continued during the COVID-19 pandemic and drawn tens of thousands of viewers from around the world. Launched in 2018, the initiative enables audiences from Qatar

and beyond to hear from, and interact with, experts and thought-leaders on key topics shaping global society.

Its latest edition will take place from 4 to 5.30pm Doha time on September 16, with a 45-minute discussion being fol-lowed by an opportunity for the online audience to put their questions to the panellists.

It will be available to view on Microsoft Teams with English, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Italian subtitles, and also on QF’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

Education City Speaker Series to explore how education can be disrupted and protected

FROM LEFT: President of Qatar University, Dr. Hassan Rashid Al Derham; Global Director for Education, The World Bank, Dr. Jaime Saavedra; and United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al Nashif.

WISH opens up a new world of healthcare dialogue through its virtual 2020 summitTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The transformations made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic have driven institutions around the world to find new ways of continuing the work they do, including the World Innovation Summit for Health, Qatar Foun-dation’s global health initiative.

While preparing to host the next edition of the WISH Summit — a gathering of global expertise designed to build a healthier world through collaboration — it aims to capitalise on the new opportunities that take the November 15-19 event entirely online, and making it an unprec-edented experience for unprec-edented times.

Since the pandemic began, it has ensured dialogue and the exchange of perspectives and experiences continue about the most pressing global health issues facing global society via virtual platforms. And that approach also applies to the forthcoming flagship event in the World Innovation Summit for Health’s (WISH) calendar.

As Sultana Afdhal, CEO of WISH said, “We are going fully virtual for WISH 2020. Our original plan was to hold a blended event, with the summit being held in its traditional location at Qatar National Con-vention Centre, and participants being involved remotely as well.

“Ultimately, our decision to host a fully virtual summit was driven by the global situation we are all encountering, but WISH’s global community comprises many healthcare workers and leaders, who are experiencing the most complicated and busiest time of their lives this year, and

by being fully virtual we are ensuring that they will still be able to participate from wherever they are in the world.”

Although virtual events have become the norm over recent months, the face-to-face net-working experience is one of the hallmarks of a ‘physical’ event, and WISH is making sure it can recreate these in virtual form for its upcoming summit.

“We loved welcoming people to Doha for previous WISH Summits,” Afdhal said. “And although they will not be physi-cally coming to Doha this year, we want to make sure the feeling that this is a platform whose roots are in Qatar remains. We have always been proud of the opportunity to showcase Qatari innovation in health, and the work of Qatar Foundation, and we have been careful to ensure that people from around the world will be able to recognise it in virtual form as well.

“With so many international participants, we want to

emphasise Qatar’s focus on and achievements in healthcare innovation and for participants to have a full perspective on the innovations that are being developed here.”

According to Nick Bradshaw, WISH’s director of partnerships and outreach, innovating and creating solutions to make the virtual WISH 2020 Summit as much of a success as its physical predecessors is an ongoing chal-lenge, but an exciting one. “WISH 2020 will not be like a conference call,” he said. “It is going to be very immersive and interactive.

“People will be able to ‘vir-tually’ enter Qatar National Con-vention Centre, arriving under Maman [the spider sculpture at the heart of venue], and will be able to enjoy many different elements of the summit from there, with opportunity to interact and explore exhibition spaces”. Previously held over two days, WISH 2020 Summit will have an expanded programme spanning five days.

Nick BradshawSultana Afdhal

Held in partnership with Education Above All and

Qatar Foundation’s World Innovation Summit

for Education, the online panel discussion on

Wednesday will see experts and activists explore

ways in which education can be disrupted,

safeguarded, and made more accessible.

HMC doctors perform brain tumour surgery on awake patientTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) doctors have performed an intricate and life-saving surgery on a 55-year-old female patient while she was awake, marking the first time this procedure has been successfully performed in Qatar using cortical brain mapping technology.

“The surgery — known as an Awake Craniotomy — was performed on a patient with a brain lesion and metastatic brain tumour,” said Dr. Sira-jeddin Belkhair, Head of the Neurosurgery Department and Neurosurgery Residency Program Director at HMC.

“We used cortical mapping and stimulation to identify an important area of the brain.”

Awake brain surgery is per-formed while the patient is awake and alert. When the brain is exposed, neurosur-geons and an electrophysiology team perform a procedure called cortical mapping. The procedure involves stimulating the brain’s surface with a tiny electrical probe and is used to treat brain (neurological) con-ditions such as tumours, epi-leptic seizures, and brain vas-

cular abnormalities.Dr. Belkhair said awake

brain surgery allows surgeons to ask patients to perform a series of speaking, reading, and movement tests while stimulating the exposed brain, enabling them to map the safest route to a tumour.

“At the start of the oper-ation, during skin incision and removing the skull, the patient was given a small dose of sedative medication

by the anaesthesia team. Then I woke her up when we exposed her brain,” said Dr. Belkhair.

“While I was doing the surgery, I was chatting with the patient and asking her to move her right upper and lower extremities to make sure that we were preserving her function. We also used a special navigation system to precisely locate the tumour in the patient’s brain. Monitoring

brain performance as the surgeon operates helps ensure the brain remains safe while the tumour is removed,” added Dr. Belkhair.

The surgery took less than three hours and an MRI scan done the following day showed the complete removal of the brain tumour.

“We were able to discharge the patient two days after the surgery. Being able to remove the tumour using this technique

enables patients to recover faster and this leads to a better quality of life by significantly reducing the chance of oper-ative complications,” said Dr. Belkhair. The surgery was per-formed in collaboration with the Anaesthesia Department and the Lead Anaesthetist was Dr. Jafar Faraj, Senior Consultant.

Dr. Abdulla Al Ansari, Chief Medical Officer at HMC said the success of the procedure was a

milestone for the Neurosurgery team and for HMC.

“We are continually striving to bring the latest advanced techniques to the people of Qatar and to improve the quality of care we can provide. With our highly trained neurosurgery team being able to provide this procedure successfully in Qatar for the first time, this means our patients do not need to travel for this type of specialised care,” said Dr. Al Ansari.

A group photo of the team of HMC doctors who performed the surgery.

HMC doctors performing a brain tumour surgery on a 55-year-old female patient while she was awake. This procedure was successfully performed in Qatar first time using cortical brain mapping technology.

QRCS delivers medical, food aid to Sudan flood-affected communitiesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

In the aftermath of recent unprecedented flash floods, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has intensified efforts to help the people of Sudan, under the ‘Peace for Sudan’ campaign, launched by the Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activ-ities (RACA) and co-implemented by QRCS and Qatar Charity (QC).

In the presence of Eng Ibrahim Abdullah Al Maliki, a live fundraising campaign was broadcast on all the media channels supervised by Qatar Media Corporation (QMC). In total, individual and institutional donors in Qatar have so far donated QR89,669,812. You can still donate online (http://bit.ly/Sudan-Campaign), call the donor service number (66666364), or text via WhatsApp (66644822).

In a statement Eng Al Maliki said, “QRCS deployed 25 tonnes of medical aid to be distributed to health centres and hospitals. Health facilities are the worst affected by the disaster. Together with the Turkish Red Crescent, the aid cargoes were delivered to Sudan”.

QRCS acted immediately by activating its Disaster Information

Management Center (DIMC). Its representation mission in Sudan took part in distributing food aid with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS).

“We adopt an integrated methodology that covers the urgent relief needs, such as sup-porting ambulance and health facilities, distributing food baskets to the affected families, and repairing homes,” said Eng Al Maliki.

“At the same time, we con-sider recovery and capacity-building, through risk reduction programmes, sustainable live-lihood interventions, and first aid and emergency awareness”.He thanked the organisations that contributed to the cam-paign, including RACA, QC, QMC, Qatar TV, Al Rayyan TV, Qatar Radio, Quran Radio, and Sout Al-Khaleej Radio.

An interview was made with Ali bin Hassan Al Hammadi, Sec-retary-General of QRCS, from Khartoum, Sudan, to talk about QRCS’s emergency response to the flooding. According to him, QRCS is at the forefront, pro-viding medical aid to control the coronavirus (COVID-19) out-break in partnership with the Turkish and Sudanese peers.

“It is necessary to stand together in the face of this tragic situation,” he stated.

“There are concerns of pos-sible epidemic due to this crisis, the first of its kind in 100 years. We joined hands with SRCS and Sudan’s Ministry of Health (MOH) to assess the needs. We share the same goal of helping the people of Sudan. I would like to thank Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) for sup-porting the emergency inter-vention programme. We will continue to pursue our joint humanitarian operations”.

QRCS’s field personnel in Sudan distributed food aid and hygiene kits to the most affected families in Khartoum State, with funding from QFFD. So far, 2,000 families have received food baskets, with plans to reach out to 20,000 families over the coming few days.

The delegation handed over medical aid to the Ibrahim Malik University Hospital. More medical deliveries are set to be made to enable health facilities to combat the virus, which is worsened by the floods and subsequent pressure on the health care system.

QRCS officials during a visit to the flooded areas in Sudan.

Although virtual events have become the norm over recent months, the face-to-face networking experience is one of the hallmarks of a ‘physical’ event, and WISH is making sure it can recreate these in virtual form for its upcoming summit.

06 SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 MIDDLE EAST

Iranian naval ships parading during the last day of a military exercise in the Gulf, near the strategic strait of Hormuz in southern Iran, yesterday.

Iranian military exercise in the Gulf

Iran executes wrestler for murder during 2018 protestsAFP — TEHRAN

Iran said it executed a wrestler yesterday over the murder of a public sector worker during a wave of anti-government protests in 2018, eliciting shock from the International Olympic Committee.

Navid Afkari was executed at a prison in the southern city of Shiraz, provincial prosecutor general Kazem Mousavi was quoted as saying on state tele-vision’s website. The 27-year-old had been found guilty of “voluntary homicide” for stabbing to death Hossein Torkman, a water department employee, on August 2, 2018, the judiciary said. Shiraz and several other urban centres across Iran had been the scene that day of anti-government protests and demonstrations over economic and social hardship. The International Olympic Committee said it was “shocked” by the execution and that it was “deeply upsetting” that pleas by athletes around the world and international bodies had failed to halt it.

Lebanese protestersclash with army near presidential palaceAP — BEIRUT

Lebanese soldiers yesterday fired rubber bullets and live rounds in the air to disperse hundreds of protesters trying to march to the presidential palace during an anti-government demonstration.

Tension is high in Lebanon following last month’s devas-tating explosion at Beirut’s port that killed nearly 200 people, and after another mysterious and huge blaze at the same site Thursday.

The August 4 explosion was caused by the detonation of nearly three thousand tons of ammonium nitrates that had been improperly stored at the port for years. More than five weeks later, it is still not clear what started the fire that ignited the chemicals, and no one has been held accountable so far.

The explosion, which created

a massive shockwave that shat-tered glass and blasted windows, doors and injured 6,500 people, came on top of an unprecedented economic and financial crisis blamed on decades of corruption and mismanagement by the country’s political class.

Protesters had called for the march yesterday to the presi-dential palace in the suburb of Baabda to express their anger and call for accountability.

Supporters of President Michel Aoun called for a counter-protest at the same location, adding to the tension.

Hundreds of Lebanese sol-diers separated the two camps. Later, as anti-Aoun protesters attempted to break a security cordon blocking their path on the highway leading to the palace, troops fired at first live rounds in the air, then rubber bullets, in an effort to disperse them.

Some protesters threw stones and tree branches at the troops, injuring several of them. Some sat in the middle of the highway vowing to stay there. A group climbed on a sign post and hung ropes tied into nooses. The public blames the corruption and neg-ligence of Lebanon’s politicians, security and judicial officials, many of whom knew about the storage of the chemicals that exploded and did nothing.

Daily virus cases in UAEhit record high of 1,007AFP — DUBAI

The United Arab Emirates said its daily novel coronavirus cases hit an all-time high of 1,007 yesterday, exceeding the levels they reached at the last peak in May.

Authorities sounded the alarm earlier in the week when daily cases jumped five-fold compared with a month ago, and warned residents and cit-izens to abide by measures designed to curb the disease.

“Those who violate the pre-ventive measures in place, whether an individual, shops, or restaurants, will be held accountable,” Farida Al Hosani, spokeswoman for the Emirates’ health sector, said on Thursday.

Hosani said 12 percent of cases were among residents or citizens returning to the UAE from abroad, even though they received negative tests from their destination countries, which are a requirement for entry. The remainder of the cases were among those infected as a result of social events, contact in the work-place, or other gatherings.

Yesterday’s infection rate of 1,007 — breaching the

1,000-mark for the first time — came after rates steadily climbed during the week.

During the first wave of cases, the numbers peaked at 994 on May 22 before steadily declining, and then rising again a month ago.

Hosani said the spike in cases was due to people not abiding by measures such as social distancing and com-pulsory mask-wearing, as well as continuing to gather in large numbers in homes, shops and restaurants.

The UAE, which has a pop-ulation of approximately nine million, has so far recorded 78,849 novel coronavirus cases, including 399 deaths.

The nation’s vast com-munity of migrant workers, who live in crowded and some-times unsanitary conditions, were particularly hard hit by the disease.

The country, a collection of seven emirates, went into strict lockdown in March to suppress infections. But Dubai in par-ticular is now largely open for business and tourism, although entering the capital Abu Dhabi still requires a negative coro-navirus test.

Istanbul introduces limits to gatherings as virus spreadsAP — ISTANBUL

The governor of Istanbul has banned boating companies from hosting weddings and similar gatherings as part of new measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 in Turkey’s most populous city.

The governor’s office also reintroduced a ban on concerts and festivals in open spaces. A statement from the office on Friday said the restrictions were needed because people were not adequately heeding precautions like physical dis-tancing and confirmed virus

cases have increased.The bans were to go into

effect yesterday but were post-poned until today.

Coronavirus infections and deaths began increasing in Turkey after the government loosened restrictions on public activity in June, returning to levels last seen in mid-May.

On Friday, the Health Min-istry announced 56 more deaths and 1,671 new cases, bringing the country’s total death toll in the pandemic to 6,951 and cases to nearly 290,000.

Officials have cited

engagement parties and wed-dings as a key source for new infections and introduced restrictions on social gath-erings. Some turned to holding celebrations on party boats that cruise Istanbul’s scenic Bosporus strait, which bisects the city of about 16 million.

Yesterday, Turkish soccer team Besiktas announced that technical director Sergen Yalcin had tested positive for the coro-navirus during a check ahead of the club’s next match.

Besiktas is one of the top soccer teams in Turkey.

Negotiations for Israel-Hamas prisoner swap under wayAFP — GAZA CITY

Egypt is brokering negotiations on a proposed prisoner swap between Israel and the Hamas rulers of Gaza, taking advantage of a renewed truce between them, a Hamas source said yesterday.

A delegation led by General Ahmed Abdel Khalek, Pales-tinian affairs chief in the Egyptian intelligence service, has shuttled between the two sides in a bid to broker what would be the first such exchange since 2011, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The delegation held a round

of talks in Israel sandwiched between two rounds of talks in Gaza on Thursday and Friday.

“The Egyptian intelligence delegation talked with Hamas and with the occupier and delivered messages,” the source said.

Hamas demanded that Israel restore the freedom of all prisoners who had been arrested since their release under the last swap deal in 2011.

They also requested the release of “children, women and sick people” held by Israel in return for information about Israelis held by Hamas.

Hamas is holding at least two Israeli civilians who slipped

across the border illegally in 2014 and 2015.

It also holds the remains of two Israeli soldiers who were killed in 2014 in the most recent of the three wars that have pitted Hamas against Israel since the Islamists seized Gaza in 2007.

“The delegation is currently seeking to finalise a swap deal and we hope that it will be com-pleted as soon as possible,” the Hamas source said. The last prisoner exchange between the two sides in 2011 centred on Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, cap-tured by Hamas in 2006, in return for whom Israel released 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Protesters had called for the march yesterday to the presidential palace in the suburb of Baabda to express their anger and call for accountability.

07SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Thousands protest in Mauritius over giant oil spillAFP — MAHÉBOURG

Thousands of Mauritians marched yesterday for the second time in a month as public anger festers over the government’s handling of a devastating oil spill off the coast.

A sea of colourful demon-strators waving flags and chanting slogans descended on Mahebourg on the southeast coast, where a cargo ship ran aground in July and leaked more than 1,000 tonnes of fuel into the pristine sea.

The spill has inflicted untold damage to the Indian Ocean archipelago of 1.3 million people that depends crucially on its fabled coastline for fishing and ecotourism.

Prime Minister Pravind Jug-nauth and his government has been accused of not acting fast enough to prevent the worst environmental crisis in the country’s history.

Demonstrators thronging the coastline at Mahebourg chanted “He Must Leave!” and waved placards calling for the government to resign over the disaster.

“We are here to call on the government to pack their things and go. The people no longer trust this government,” said Marie, a protester who only gave her first name.

It was the second major protest over the spill after a huge rally on August 29 in the capital Port Louis.

Police said 60,000 attended that protest though organisers said the turnout was more than double that. An official estimate was not yet available for Saturday’s rally.

The MV Wakashio crashed off Mauritius on July 25 with 4,000 tonnes of fuel aboard but did not begin leaking oil for more than a week.

By the time Jugnauth issued an urgent appeal for interna-tional help the slick had reached the shore, coating mangrove forests, fragile eco-

systems and coral reefs.An army of volunteers

scrubbed the coastline but the stricken bulker kept leaking, even after salvage crews declared the last of the fuel aboard having been removed on August 12.

“The MV Wakashio (incident) illustrates the incom-petence of this government,” said Bruno Laurette, one of the protest organisers.

“Criminal negligence has had an impact on the flora and fauna of our country. Enough. They have to be put out of harm’s way.”

The ship eventually split and the larger piece was towed out to sea and sunk, further angering conservationists. The smaller section remains stranded on the reef and is visible from Mahebourg.

The washing ashore of

nearly 50 dead melon-headed whales only spurred further outrage, as did the death of two sailors involved in the salvage process when their tugboat col-lided with a barge.

The Japanese owner of the MV Wakashio pledged this week to pay at least $9.4 million to help fix the damage caused by the spill.

It is still unclear why the

Wakashio was so close to shore when the accident occurred. Jugnauth has commissioned a formal investigation and promised a full and transparent inquiry.

Protesters wave national flags and signs as they take part in a demonstration calling for the government to resign over the oil spill after a cargo ship ran aground in July, in Mahebourg, Mauritius, yesterday.

Mali junta vows 18-month transition govt as opponents cry foulAFP — BAMAKO

Mali's military junta yesterday vowed to establish an 18-month transition government to return the country to civilian rule after last month's coup, but key figures protested the army's continued influence.

A junta-appointed com-mittee adopted a "transition charter" by acclamation at the close of talks on the handover of power, a move that paves the way for a placeholder gov-ernment taking over before

staging fresh elections.But one of the most conten-

tious issues remains unclear: Whether the transition gov-ernment will be headed by a civilian or a soldier.

While AFP has not seen the final version of the charter, an earlier version stated that another junta-appointed com-mittee would appoint the tran-sition president, raising questions about the military's influence.

And some of the forum's roughly 500 delegates cried out in protest as the rapporteur for

the committee overseeing the talks, Moussa Camara, announced that the transition charter had been adopted.

The three-day forum was marked by stark divisions over issues such as the length of the transition government, and the military's role in it, notably among members of the June 5 Movement.

The loose coalition of oppo-sition groups, religious leaders and civil figures engineered a months-long wave of protests against President Ibrahim

Boubacar Keita, which led up to his ouster and arrest in a mil-itary coup on August 18.

Sy Kadiatou Sow, a leading M5 member and former gov-ernment minister, said earlier yesterday that the charter had been "butchered" and did not reflect earlier discussions. "This is not democratic at all," she said. "I am very sad and worried".

At the forum's closing cer-emony, the head of the junta, Colonel Assimi Goita, addressed delegates and vowed to establish the transition government. "We

make a commitment before you to spare no effort in the imple-mentation of all these resolutions in the exclusive interest of the malian people," he said.

"We ask and hope for the understanding, support and assistance of the international community in this diligent and correct implementation of the Charter," he added. Last month's coup came after months of pro-tests, stoked by Keita's failure to roll back a bloody jihadist insur-gency and fix the country's many economic woes.

South Sudan to reopen schools after closure over COVID-19

ANATOLIA — JUBA

Authorities in South Sudan yesterday ordered all schools to reopen across the country after nearly six months of closure to help prevent the spread of the novel corona-virus.

According to Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth, the decision was made in a cabinet meeting on Friday to reopen primary and secondary schools, as well as universities, following a pres-entation by Health Minister Elizabeth Achuei that indi-cated a significant decline in the number of COVID-19 cases and infections.

In her report, Achuei said the number of coronavirus cases had fallen in the country in recent weeks.

As of Friday, South Sudan had a total of 2,578 cases, including 49 deaths and 1,438 recoveries.

“The cabinet has decided that all the higher institutes of learning and schools should resume and should be open,” Lueth said in the capital Juba.

He added that the exact date of the reopening would be determined by the minis-tries of higher education and general education.

The General Education Ministry said an assessment was ongoing to determine how many schools needed to be disinfected before classes started, as well as the general hygiene and safety rules that would be enforced.

Schools in South Sudan were closed in March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Algeria parliament approves draft constitutional changeANATOLIA — ALGIERS

Algeria’s Council of the Nations, the upper house of parliament, yesterday approved a draft amendment of the constitution, ahead of a popular referendum on November 1.

“I officially announce the approval of the consti-tutional draft unanimously,” said Acting Speaker Salah Goudjil, after the draft was passed in a public session.

According to Goudjil, 127 lawmakers voted in favour of the draft amendment.

Only one MP abstained from voting in a session attended by 128 members of the 144-seat council.

“I convey to you the thanks of the President of the Republic and the gov-ernment for supporting the project,” said Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad, who attended the

session.“On November 1, the con-

stitution will be put to a popular referendum to have the people say their final word with full freedom,” he said.

On Thursday, the National People’s Assembly, the lower house of par-liament, unanimously voted in favour of the amendments, amid a boycott of the oppo-sition blocs.

The draft came in a pre-amble and seven chapters, the most important was to oblige the president to appoint a prime minister from the party that has the majority in parliament.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune considers the con-stitutional amendments as a cornerstone of the radical reforms he promised before and after his accession to power on December 19.

A Palestinian woman wearing a protective face mask walks past a concrete block graffiti of a masked man as part of a campaign to raise awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, yesterday.

COVID-19 awareness campaign

COVID-19 deaths, cases falling in South AfricaANATOLIA — JOHANNESBURG

Cases of the novel coronavirus and deaths related to the disease have started to decline in South Africa, the country’s health minister said yesterday.

“Today, we cautiously but optimistically breathe a sigh of relief as we continue to see our detected cases, hospital admis-sions, deaths and even excess deaths declining,” Zweli Mkhize said at a nursing conference, where his statements were posted on Twitter.

He said the country’s recovery rate was now almost at 90 percent and the mortality rate

was stable at around 2 percent.The country’s top doctor

further revealed that mothers affected by COVID-19 had given birth to healthy babies.

“They are breastfeeding and physically bonding with their children, laying foundations for wholesome upbringing and solid building blocks for a healthy and prosperous society,” he said.

Mkhize added that these achievements were possible because of the passion, dedi-cation and sheer diligence of the country’s nurses and midwives.

“We thank you for braving the threat of being infected yourself, and even of death,” he

told nurses. He said over 31,000 health care workers, many of them nurses and midwives, con-tracted COVID-19, including 240 who died of the disease.

South Africa, which has the highest number of COVID-19 infections in Africa and is the eighth most affected country glo-bally, has 646,398 cases and 15,378 deaths.

The daily case rise dropped to less than 3,000 compared to June and July, when infections hovered between 8,000 and 10,000 a day.

At least 574,587 people have recovered from the pandemic in the country.

More than 50 killed at collapsed gold mines in eastern Congo

AP — KINSHASA

More than 50 people are dead after landslides caused the collapse of three artisanal gold mines near the city of Kamituga in eastern Congo’s South Kivu province on Friday, officials said.

Heavy rains for days led to the disaster.

“The diggers and the trans-porters of the stones were swal-lowed up by the waters,” said the Kamituga mayor, Alexandre Bundya.

“A team of rescuers with motor pumps came to recover the bodies of the victims.” Diwa Honoré, who survived the tragedy, said more than 50 people had been in the three mines, which are about 50 meters (54 yards) deep.

“Kamituga is in mourning,” wrote Dieudonné Bazika,

sharing a video on social media showing the aftermath. Hun-dreds of people gathered to observe and help in rescue efforts. Most of the dead were young people, according to a statement from the office of the governor of South Kivu, Theo Ngwabidje Kasi, who offered condolences to families.

“Investigations continue to identify our deceased compa-triots, to provide assistance and to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies,” the statement said.

Artisanal mining quarries are often unsafe in eastern Congo and the Kasai region. Women and children also work in the mines to make ends meet. Deadly collapses occurred earlier this year in Maniema and in Katanga, killing at least 18 people.

Yemeni army takes control of Houthi command centreANATOLIA — SANA'A

The Yemeni army announced yesterday it took control of the Houthi command centre in the northern province of Al Jawf.

Army units took control of command and communication centers in the Nudud front, according to a report published on the military website, Sep-tember Net.

It said casualties were suf-fered by Houthi militias during the operation and armoured mil-itary vehicles were destroyed. The operation continues on the Nudud front and efforts to clear the region of Iran-backed Houthi militias is also ongoing.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including

the capital, Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains. Tens of thousands of Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has led to one of the world’s worst humani-tarian crisis as millions remain at risk of starvation.

Ambulance hits

landmine in Mali,

killing six

REUTERS — BAMAKO

Six civilians, including a pregnant woman, were killed in southern Mali when the ambulance they were trav-elling in struck a landmine, the health ministry said yesterday.

It was not clear who was responsible for laying the mine, but the incident on Friday represented a first for the southern Sikasso region, said Mama Coumare, the min-istry’s secretary-general.

Militants linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State routinely attack soldiers and civilians in northern and central Mali, but the country’s south has been largely spared. “The ambulance had left Yorosso to bring a pregnant woman to Boura,” Coumare said.

A sea of colourful demonstrators waving flags and chanting slogans descended on Mahebourg on the southeast coast, where a cargo ship ran aground in July and leaked more than 1,000 tonnes of fuel into the pristine sea.

Constitutional changes are also expected to be high on the agenda, and big in many Afghans’ minds will be the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic rules.

08 SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

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

EDITORIAL

AFTER six months of signing the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the United States of America and the Taliban in Doha, the intra-Afghan talks kicked off yesterday in Doha. Doha again gets the Taliban and the Afghan government sit face-to-face on the negotiating table for the first time. This achievement was not possible unless the Qatari mediation and all parties concerned put their joint exerted efforts to create a favourable atmosphere by resolving the outstanding problems to smooth the ground to have fruitful negotiations.

For the well-experienced and skilled Qatari medi-ators may be it is a matter of time to get the warring sides reach an agreement to end nearly two decades of war that claimed lives of tens of thousands and dis-placed internally and across borders millions of Afghans.

The high level participation of key actors of the Afghani war, and regional powers reflect the sincere desire and will of these parties to put an end to the suf-fering of the Afghan people and this was expressed in the speeches and comments leaders made pertaining to these talks.

Key speakers at the opening ceremony yesterday included US Secretary of State H E Mike Pompeo, Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Chairperson of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, and Taliban deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. All of them pushed towards ending the ongoing misery of war in Afghanistan calling on the two warring parties to “seize the opportunity” and decide their political future as US Secretary of State Pompeo stated.

Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said both parties must “rise above all form of division ... by reaching an agreement on the basis of no victor and no vanquished”.

The entire world wants these talks to succeed as many see it an ideal chance for lasting peace in Afghan-istan. The United Nations, Organization of Islamic Coop-eration (OIC), and Nato welcomed the start of intra-Afghan talks and UN chief Antonio Guterres considered the talks a “major opportunity to achieve the long-held aspirations of the people of Afghanistan for peace”.

The State of Qatar which is investing its diplomatic and political efforts in settling regional and international conflicts has gained trust of factions, entities and coun-tries, with ability to create a conducive environment for complex peace talks and now it appeals to all Afghan leaders to work together to bring lasting peace to their people.

For lasting peace in Afghanistan

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Quote of the day

Pakistan will always support a peaceful, stable,

united, democratic, prosperous and sovereign

Afghanistan, at peace with itself and with its

neighbours.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister of Pakistan

A general view of talks between the Afghan government and Taliban in Doha, yesterday.

Historic negotiations between the Taliban and Afghanistan’s political leadership opened in Qatar yesterday, offering the best chance of peace after decades of war.

The US had hoped negotia-tions would start within two weeks of February 29, when it signed a peace deal with the Taliban, effectively acknowl-edging a military stalemate after nearly two decades of conflict. The agreement called for direct intra-Afghan negotiations but required both sides to release prisoners as a sign of good faith ahead of talks.

The Afghan government, which was in the throes of a political crisis over a disputed presidential election held last September, balked at being told to free 5,000 Taliban but even-tually relented.

US peace envoy Zalmay Kha-lilzad, who invested a year and a half negotiating the peace deal, called negotiations between Afghanistan’s warring sides “a historic opportunity for peace ... one that benefits all Afghans and contributes to regional stability and global security.”

But as negotiations begin, the issues that separate the two sides are many, the mistrust is deep and the way forward is fraught with uncertainty.

Here’s where things stand going into the talks.

Big agenda items One of the first items on the

agenda will be a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire.

The government has been

relentless in its demand for one, and the Taliban have repeatedly said it would be one of the first items on the agenda when nego-tiations begin. The big hurdle is likely to be what to do with tens of thousands of armed Taliban fighters and the militias loyal to government-allied warlords.

Protection of rights, particu-larly women’s, will also be high on the agenda. Afghanistan, including the government, is deeply conservative and in 19 years has refused to pass a women’s rights bill. The eyes of the international community are likely to be the biggest motivator for making progress for women.

The Taliban have already said yes to women and girls attending school, women working, women in politics and as lawyers and judges. However, they say they draw the line at a woman pres-ident or Supreme Court chief justice.

The Associated Press has sur-veyed numerous political leaders in Kabul - men and even a few women - who say this is a com-promise they can live with. Not everyone agrees, including the former head of Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission, Sima Samar.

Constitutional changes are also expected to be high on the agenda, and big in many Afghans’ minds will be the Tali-ban’s interpretation of Islamic rules. Other housekeeping issues include deciding on the name of the country: Islamic Republic or Islamic Emirate?

At the negotiating tableOn the Taliban side, the

20-member negotiating team is a solid group that includes 13 members from the movement’s leadership council. It is led by Taliban chief justice Abdul Hakim, whose appointment last weekend came as a surprise. He replaced Sher Mohammed Abbas Stanikzai, who is now deputy

head of the Taliban team.Taliban chief Maulvi Hibat-

ullah Akhunzada reshuffled the negotiating committee throughout August, removing a key negotiator Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi, who is considered close to Afghanistan’s neighbor Pakistan. He added another four from the leadership council. The strength of the team means they can make decisions pretty much on the spot.

The man who negotiated the peace deal with the Americans and is a co-founder of the movement, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, heads the organization’s powerful office in Qatar’s capital, Doha.

The Afghan government’s negotiating team is led by Mohammad Mamoon Stanikzai, no relation to the Taliban head negotiator. He is a former head of Afghan intelligence who was forced to resign after an anti-ter-rorist intelligence unit was impli-cated in civilian deaths.

The real power to make deci-sions will rest with the High Council for National Reconcili-ation led by Abdullah Abdullah, who was given the post in a political compromise with Pres-ident Ashraf Ghani after chal-lenging Ghani’s win in contro-versial presidential elections last year. Abdullah’s council will seek expert opinions on legal, reli-gious and constitutional issues as they come up before reaching any agreement.

Washington’s watchdog, the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, has expressed concerns that Taliban fighters returning to their homes could be targeted by corrupt offi-cials or threatened by authorities. This happened in 2001 when former fighters went home after their government was ousted by the US-led coalition for har-boring Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

CAROLYN Y JOHNSON THE WASHINGTON POST

A coronavirus vaccine trial resumed yesterday in the United Kingdom after the study was paused for a week because of an unexplained illness in a trial participant.

The recommendation to resume human testing of the vaccine candidate being developed by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca was made by an independent safety review committee and by the UK health regulator. Author-ities made no further infor-mation available about the nature of the participant’s illness, citing privacy protections.

“Globally some 18,000 individuals have received study vaccines as part of the trial. In large trials such as this, it is expected that some

participants will become unwell and every case must be carefully evaluated to ensure careful assessment of safety,” the University of Oxford said in a statement.

AstraZeneca released a statement that it was working with global health authorities to “be guided as to when other clinical trials can resume,” including the 30,000-person trial in the United States that began in late August.

The temporary hold on the trial because of a single illness was seen by many experts as evidence that systems in place to protect patient safety are functioning properly. National Institutes of Health director Francis S. Collins testified before Con-gress that the illness that stopped the trial was trans-verse myelitis, an inflam-mation of the spinal cord, but

the diagnosis was not con-firmed by the drug company or by Oxford researchers.

Transverse myelitis is a rare, treatable condition. It can occur in patients with multiple sclerosis but can also be “idiopathic,” the medical term for a condition that has no clear cause. Years of inves-tigation to try to understand if it could be triggered by vacci-nations have never shown a clear link.

“It can be very difficult, if not impossible, to ever con-clusively prove what a trigger was for idiopathic transverse myelitis,” said Benjamin Greenberg, a neurologist at the University of Texas South-western Medical Center who treats the condition.

With hundreds of millions of vaccinations given each year, Greenberg said, people inevitably -- and by coinci-dence -- fall sick in the days

or weeks after receiving the inoculation. A person may have a heart attack the day after taking an aspirin, for example, but it doesn’t mean the medication caused the event. The important thing is to study whether it’s likely that a vaccine triggered any adverse event, Greenberg said.

Greenberg said in an interview a day before the trial resumed that safety guardrails appeared to be working in the vaccine trial.

“It’s nice to see the system worked in terms of vaccine development ... the study being put on hold out of an abundance of caution, despite the fact there are enormous pressures to get a vaccine developed and available,” Greenberg said. “Everybody did what they are supposed to -- that was very reassuring.”

Historic Afghan peace talks

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Coronavirus vaccine trial resumes in UK after week-long pause

Established in 1996

KATHY GANNON AP

09SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 OPINION

Satellite images taken by Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator founded by former Nasa scientists, and Google Earth show that Myanmar started building on the sites of at least a dozen destroyed villages soon after residents fled in 2017. Myanmar is constructing bases for the security forces, buildings for government departments and homes for Buddhists, according to people in the area.

As President Donald Trump repeatedly touts the possi-bility of a COVID-19 vaccine winning approval by Election Day, the companies he needs to make that happen are pushing back. And that’s a good thing all around.

Nine major corona-virus vaccine developers - including Pfizer Inc., Astra-Zeneca Plc, and Moderna Inc. - signed a joint pledge under which they committed not to submit their inoculations for Food and Drug Adminis-tration approval until they demonstrates safety and efficacy in a large, late-stage

trial. It’s an unusual statement; typically, the FDA is the one defending high standards, while drug manu-facturers try to push bound-aries. Unprecedented political pressure, combined with public unease over what some fear may be a rushed process, has forced a role reversal.

The statement is a laudable first move by an oft-criticised industry. The FDA and drugmakers have laid the groundwork for proper evaluation, with the agency requesting and pharma running 30,000 person trials to prove that the vaccine can prevent or cut the severity of disease by at least 50%. If everyone is patient, these studies will give reliable answers, which is what you want for shots that will even-tually be used by millions. But the president’s calls for speed and seemingly limited resistance from FDA

commissioner Stephen Hahn have created concern that the agency might prematurely approve a vaccine and sow dangerous doubts. Someone had to step up to grow trust in the process, and the phar-maceutical industry may

have felt it had no other choice. After all, the stakes are high: A successful vaccine represents the most prom-ising way out of the pan-demic. It’s not a situation where errors are acceptable.

Hahn says that a vaccine could be available before November 3, an unusual statement from a regu-lator, and that he would con-sider authorizing one before advanced phase 3 trials are complete. But companies are responding to more than just soundbites. His agency appeared to bow to the administration with its approval of hydroxychloro-quine to treat COVID-19, a move that was soon retracted amid health concerns. More recently, and just shortly after the president effectively accused FDA staff of working to harm his election chances, the agency approved plasma from recovered patients as a coronavirus treatment based on limited data and exag-gerated its benefits.

The drug indus-try’s vaccine pledge should give some comfort that approval will rely on solid data. And yet, it could go even further to ensure public confidence in the process.

The signatory companies said they will ‘only submit for approval or emergency use authorisation after dem-onstrating safety and efficacy through a Phase 3 clinical study that is designed and conducted to meet requirements of expert regulatory authorities such as FDA.’ The statement doesn’t detail exactly what ‘demonstrating safety and efficacy means.’

The FDA has documented its expectations for full approval and will reportedly hold to the same guidelines for emergency authorisation, which offers a faster pathway with lower and more flexible standards. But it’s hard to

trust that the agency will stand up to pressure from the White House, and that should prompt the industry to fill in the blanks.

Ideally, companies would explicitly commit to delaying any application or distribution until phase 3 trials are fully enrolled with patients and firmly prove that it protects at least 50% of those inoculated. It’s not so overwhelmingly high a bar that companies should be trying to duck under it. And while a preliminary answer on protection from the virus could come fast if a vaccine is highly effective, companies should commit to waiting to file with the agency until there’s at least a month of reported side-effect data for most vacci-nated participants to bolster safety confidence.

Finally, the data sub-mitted to the FDA should be made publicly available to the greatest extent and as quickly as possible. Further review by external scientists can only bolster confidence and the case for approval.

The FDA and industry must get this right. Approving a vaccine too quickly risks new side effects emerging or a longer pandemic if protection proves wanting or waning. People also need to believe in the shot. If they feel the approval is rushed or politi-cized, then they are less likely to get a vaccine when it’s available. A bad result could permanently damage trust in medicine in the US.

The industry is already showing bravery by standing up to the president, and though difficult, a few further steps could do even more to bolster its reputation and shore up public confidence.

Max Nisen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering biotech, pharma and health care.

Vaccine politics demand more from big pharma

Three years ago, Myanmar’s military burned the Rohingya village of Kan Kya to the ground and bulldozed over its remains. Last year, the government erased its name from official maps, according to the United Nations.

About 3 miles (5 km) from the Naf River that marks the border between Myanmar’s Rakhine state and Bangladesh, Kan Kya was home to hun-dreds of people before the army chased 730,000 Rohingya out of the country in 2017 in what the United Nations described as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” The Myanmar mil-itary, now facing charges of genocide, said it was con-ducting “clearance operations” targeting militants.

Where Kan Kya once stood, there are now dozens of government and military buildings including a sprawling, fenced off police base, according to satellite images publicly available on Google Earth and historical images provided to Reuters by Planet Labs. The village, in a remote region in the northwest of the country closed off to for-eigners, was too small to be named on Google Maps.

On maps produced in 2020 by the United Nations mapping unit in Myanmar, which it says are based on Myanmar gov-ernment maps, the site of the destroyed village is now nameless and reclassified as part of nearby town Maungdaw. The unit makes maps for the use of UN bodies, such as refugee agency UNHCR, and humanitarian groups that work with the United Nations in the field.

Kan Kya was one of almost 400 villages destroyed by the Myanmar military in 2017, according to satellite images analysed by New York-based Human Rights Watch. And it is one of at least a dozen whose names have been erased.

“Their intention is that we do not return,” said religious leader Mohammed Rofiq, a former chairman of a village close to Kan Kya who now lives in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, referring to the Myanmar government.

The Ministry of Social Welfare, which oversees Myanmar’s rebuilding activ-ities in Rakhine state, declined to answer questions from Reuters about the erasure of village names or the govern-ment’s policy concerning the return of Rohingya refugees. The ministry referred ques-tions to the General Adminis-tration Department (GAD), which did not respond.

A representative of the Myanmar government, led by state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, also did not respond to a request for comment.

The United Nations’ map department has produced at least three maps since the start of the year that show a number of Rohingya village names have disappeared or been reclassified by Myanmar.

The United Nations said it removed some maps of Rakhine state from its website in June and started a study to assess the impact of the gov-ernment’s policies on villagers and returning refugees after the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation, a UK-based Rohingya rights group, com-plained to the United Nations about the removal of village names. The United Nations said the study has not reached any conclusion.

Yanghee Lee, a former UN human rights envoy to Myanmar, said the gov-ernment was purposefully making it hard for refugees to return to places with no name and no evidence that they ever

lived there. “This is a way of exterminating their basic identity,” she said.

Lee said the United Nations was complicit in allowing that to happen by not challenging the Myanmar government: “There hasn’t been any lead-ership that will say, ‘Wait a minute, the buck stops here, we’re not going to let this con-tinue.’” Several UN officials interviewed by Reuters declined to directly address why the United Nations had raised no objections or tried to stop it.

Ola Almgren, head of the UN mission to Myanmar, said he had not raised the issue of erasing village names with the Myanmar government, but said he had urged the Myanmar government to create “conditions conducive” to the return of refugees.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Sec-retary-General Antonio Guterres, said the reclassifi-cation of some villages as wards was a “routine admin-istrative procedure.” The UN mapping unit “utilizes the official government names of places so as to avoid con-fusion among aid workers and government officials in the field,” he said. “The standing UN practice worldwide is to employ officially designated place names for all publicly distributed maps and products.” Dujarric said that changing the legal status of villages may become “an additional layer of com-plexity” in refugees reclaiming their former homes, without providing specifics.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar denies citizenship to Muslim Rohingya, whom many regard as interlopers from neighbouring Bang-ladesh despite their centuries-long presence in the country. Myanmar has said it is open to the return of Rohingya ref-ugees who fled the crackdown in 2017, but said it must be done through an orderly process.

Talks on that process between Myanmar and Bang-ladesh - where more than 1 million Rohingya live in refugee camps - have stalled. In recent months, the few dozen refugees who have tried to return have been arrested for illegal entry by Myanmar officials who cited concerns about refugees spreading the new coronavirus.

Satellite images taken by Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator founded by former Nasa scientists, and Google Earth show that Myanmar started building on the sites of at least a dozen destroyed vil-lages soon after residents fled in 2017. Myanmar is con-structing bases for the security forces, buildings for gov-ernment departments and

homes for Buddhists, according to people in the area.

The satellite images show the base built on the site of Kan Kya doubled in size in the past year and two helipads were added. A new road has been built over the site of another razed village nearby called Gone Nar, which has also been reclassified as part of the expanded Maungdaw town.

A spokesman for the mil-itary did not respond to a request for comment on the building of security bases on the sites of destroyed Rohingya villages. Local offi-cials could not be reached for comment.

In September 2019, an order by the GAD, part of the civilian Ministry of the Office of the Union Government, reclas-sified 16 villages, most of them formerly Rohingya, as wards of Maungdaw, according to the UN mapping unit in Myanmar. Six of the village names were retained in the names of the new wards they were reclas-sified as belonging to, but 10 village names disappeared from the maps, according to the United Nations.

Five of these villages were destroyed in 2017. GAD figures show Rohingya, which it clas-sifies as “foreigners” from Bangladesh, now account for about 60% of the Maungdaw population, compared with 93% in 2017, before the crackdown.

Hundreds of other destroyed villages have not had their names changed or erased, according to UN maps.

The United Nations said 11 other villages had been reclas-sified over the last five years as wards of a new town named Myin Hlut, where one Myanmar government min-ister has proposed a beach and seafood tourist area.

These small villages along the coast were mostly destroyed in the 2017 crackdown, though two remained intact until

authorities bulldozed them in 2018. Six new guard stations with watchtowers have been erected in the area, according to a satellite imagery analyst at Amnesty International.

As the Rohingya villages disappeared from the maps, two villages for Buddhist set-tlers were added to UN maps in 2020.

In Inn Din, a village where Myanmar soldiers killed 10 Muslim men in one incident during the 2017 crackdown, the 6,000 Rohingya people who lived there have all fled and their homes have been destroyed.

The Rakhine state gov-ernment has built new dwellings for Buddhists in the area, Reuters reported in 2018. Satellite images show the site has expanded further since then, while in neighboring Kyauk Pandu, a Rakhine Bud-dhist settlement has doubled in size.

Dujarric, the UN spokesman, noted that the International Court of Justice, which is investigating charges of genocide against Myanmar over the 2017 crackdown, has ordered the government to preserve any evidence related to the charges, which Myanmar has agreed to do.

He did not say whether the United Nations believed the erasure of village names con-travened that order or what the United Nations was doing to stop it.

A Bangladesh official with knowledge of the process of repatriating Rohingya refugees told Reuters that Myanmar showed no change in its policy towards the Rohingya.

In March, the official said, Myanmar sent to Bangladesh a list of names of 840 Rohingya it had approved to return to two areas in northern Rakhine: Hla Poe Kaung and Thet Kay Pin.

But the refugees were not from that area, the official said, and the list included single members from large families including women unlikely to travel alone.

Three years after exodus, Myanmar erases names of Rohingya villages

POPPY MCPHERSON REUTERS

The industry is already showing bravery by standing up to the President, and though difficult, a few further steps could do even more to bolster its reputation and shore up public confidence.

Nine major coronavirus vaccine developers - including Pfizer Inc, AstraZeneca Plc and Moderna Inc - signed a joint pledge under which they committed not to submit their inoculations for Food and Drug Administration approval until they demonstrates safety and efficacy in a large, late-stage trial.

MAX NISEN BLOOMBERG

10 SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020ASIA

Hospitals facing oxygenshortage in Indian stateREUTERS — MUMBAI

Oxygen supply has grown scarce in some parts of India hard hit by coronavirus, hospital and local government officials said, as India reported a record daily jump in cases for a second consecutive day, logging 97,570 new infections yesterday.

With total cases of more than 4.65 million, India is the world’s second worst affected country, trailing only the United States, which has more than 6.4 million cases.

Total COVID-19 deaths stood at 77,472, putting India in third place in a ranking of coun-tries’ fatalities. But the growth in infections in India is faster than anywhere else in the world, as cases surge through urban and rural areas.

The western state of Mahar-ashtra has been particularly hard-hit, with total confirmed

cases breaching the 1 million mark late on Friday, making it the first state or province anywhere in the world to cross that mark.

If the state, which is India’s richest, were a country, it would rival Russia for the fourth highest number of coronavirus cases globally.

In some parts of the state, medical oxygen was becoming hard to find. Dr. Amit Thadhani, Medical Director of Niramaya Hospitals in Panvel, a suburb of India’s financial capital Mumbai, said the shortage in his area was acute. “The problem is that the filling stations are themselves not getting supply of oxygen from the manufac-turers. Supplies are extremely limited,” Thadhani said.

“If we ask for 50 cylinders, we may get about 5 to 7.”

An official from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation in a neighbouring suburb said they had received reports from multiple hospitals about dwin-dling oxygen supplies and made requests to state authorities. “Demand has risen in last few day because of rising cases,” the official said. The Corporation’s commissioner Abhijit Bangar was not immediately available

for comment.Government officials and

experts said the unabated rise in cases in Maharashtra and other parts of the country were likely a result of economic activity restarting, local festivals

and lockdown fatigue.“I am so disappointed with

the pandemic situation in India,” Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan, who has been

tracking India’s COVID situation closely, said on Twitter. “It is getting worse and worse each week but a large part of the nation seems to have made the choice to ignore this crisis,” she said.

A health worker in personal protective equipment collects a swab sample from a woman amid the spread of the coronavirus disease at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

Five Indian nationals detained in China handed over: ArmyAGENCIES — NEW DELHI

Five Indian nationals from a remote eastern state who had been detained by Chinese authorities in a region bordering Tibet were handed over to Indian authorities yesterday, the Indian army said.

“Individuals will now be quarantined for 14 days as per COVID-19 protocol and will thereafter be handed over to their family members,” Lieu-tenant Colonel Harsh Wardhan Pande, a spokesman for the Indian army, said in a statement.

Pande said the five youths had “inadvertently strayed” across the de-facto border while foraging and hunting, adding that two other such inci-dents had taken place this year

in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state, which borders China.

However, a Chinese state-backed tabloid said the five were Indian intelligence agents dressed as hunters, disputing claims that they had been kidnapped.

Bilateral relations have been unusually tense since a clash at a disputed border area in June that killed 20 Indian sol-diers, with an unknown number of Chinese casualties.

On Tuesday, following reports that five Indians from the state of Arunachal Pradesh had gone missing, an Indian minister said that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army con-firmed they had been found in China.

Their disappearance coin-cided with a border

confrontation that week in the western Himalayas, during which both accused the other of firing in the air.

The two sides have long observed a protocol avoiding the use of firearms in the unde-marcated frontier, though vio-lence has erupted in the past.

On Thursday, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi and Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met in Moscow and agreed to de-escalate the border tensions.

Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin said on the Chinese Twitter-like app Weibo that China-India relations were stabilising. Observers of China’s foreign relations often watch Hu’s messages on social media to gauge sentiment from Beijing policymakers.

“It seems that the successive meetings between the Chinese and Indian defence ministers and foreign ministers have played a positive role in cooling the situation,” Hu wrote.

“In addition, the People’s Liberation Army defended every inch of the country’s land, and the Indian Army ultimately failed to take advantage of it.”

Meanwhile, the armies of India and China held an inter-action yetserday where they dis-cussed withdrawing forces from the points where there are in eyeball-to-eyeball situations.

Brigade commanders of both sides met at Chushul and held an interaction from 11 am to 3 pm but the talks remained “inconclusive”.

Both the countries’ military delegates are continuously in talks

since September 7, the day Chinese People’s Liberation Army made a move to occupy Indian territory at the LAC that was thwarted by the Indian Army.

Both countries have now decided to hold their sixth round of top-level military talks within the next few days. The corps commanders - 14 Corps commander Lieutenant General Harinder Singh and South Xin-jiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin have not met since August 2.

A senior government officer stated there is a complete breakdown of trust between both the militaries. China has mobilised thousands of soldiers, tanks and howitzers within shooting distance of each other in the Pangong Tso-Chushul area

Nepal reportsspike in viruscases in thelast 24 hours

IANS — KATHMANDU

With 1,454 new cases, Nepal witnessed a record high single-day spike in the number of infections recorded in the last 24 hours.

The last record high number was recorded on Sep-tember 4 with 1,354 new infec-tions in a day, reports Xinhua news agency.

“With the new cases, the total COVID-19 cases in Nepal reached 51,919,” Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Popu-lation, said at a press conference.

Cases started to resurge in the country since the gov-ernment officially ended the nearly four-month-long lockdown on July 22 allowing most of the economic activ-ities to resume.

The cases have nearly tripled from 17,994 reported on July 21.

Nepali officials expect a continued rise in the cases in the upcoming days.

“In the worst case sce-nario, we have expected the cases to surge up to 90,000,” Sameer Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson at Ministry, told Xinhua.

Despite rising cases, the local administrations in the Kathmandu Valley have eased restrictions imposed on transport services and business activities starting for a week which started on Thursday.

The valley has emerged as a major COVID-19 hotspot in the country with 696 out of the 1,454 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry.

While the total cases were largely confined initially among the Nepali migrant population who had returned home after the pandemic, it has now spread in the communities.

According to Adhikari, more than 95 percent cases are locally transmitted in the recent days.

Nepal also reported five new COVID-19 deaths on Friday, increasing the overall death toll to 322.

Many rally in Aucklandagainst lockdown curbsREUTERS — MELBOURNE

Large crowds of people rallied in Auckland yesterday against the government’s social distancing restrictions imposed on the coun-try’s largest city after an outbreak of the novel coronavirus last month.

Local television footage showed tightly packed crowds, with many people not wearing masks, with estimates of the attendance varying in reports between a thousand and a few thousand people.

“We are all here today because we believe we need to stand up for our rights,” the public Television New Zealand cited Jami-Lee Ross, the leader of the Advance New Zealand party, one of the organisers of the protest, as saying. “We’re all here today because we believe it’s time to stand up and say, ‘We need to get our rights and freedoms back’.” There were no immediate reports of arrests.

New Zealand, a nation of five million, had appeared to have succeeded in halting community transmission of COVID-19, but a fresh outbreak in Auckland in August prompted the government to place the city back in lockdown.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is facing a general election on October 17, scaled back the restrictions earlier this month, but the city is still under alert level 2.5, meaning social gatherings of more than 10 people are not allowed. Masks are mandatory on public transport across the country.

Yesterday, New Zealand reported two new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing its total number of infections to 1,444.

Residents barricade streetsin Yangon as infections riseREUTERS — YANGON

Some residents of Myanmar’s biggest city used pieces of wood and corrugated iron to make barricades around their neighbour-hoods late on Friday, trying to keep out COVID-19 as the country grapples with a second wave of infections.

The Southeast Asian nation has reported a total of 2,625 coro-navirus cases and 15 deaths. The number of infections has quad-rupled since mid-August, when the virus resurfaced in the western state of Rakhine after weeks without a domestic case.

Many of the recent cases have been in Yangon, the commercial capital and biggest city. Residents started erecting the makeshift roadblocks to stop people freely entering and leaving their districts.

Last week, government authorities issued stay-at-home orders for residents, and airlines and buses suspended services in and out of the city. Aung Zaw Min, the chief of a district in Kyimy-idaing township who was guarding one of the barriers, said res-idents had been careless about keeping the virus at bay after the previously low rate of infections.

“Now we have to realise we cannot underestimate the mass infection caused by Sittwe,” he said, referring to Rakhine’s state capital, where many recent cases were detected.

The barricades were built without permission from local authorities, who swiftly ordered the removal of the biggest bar-riers, though some were still in place on Saturday.

Some social media users mocked the barricades, joking that the residents had turned city neighbourhoods into “mini republics”.

“It’s like the border gate between South and North Korea,” said Lu Zaw Oo, standing in a street that had been sealed off on Saturday. “The barricade is not really necessary,” he added.

A man is detained during an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday.

Protesters defy warnings in MelbourneREUTERS — MELBOURNE

Protesters in Melbourne defied a coronavirus lockdown for the second straight weekend yesterday, prompting 14 arrests and 51 infringement notices for breaching public health orders, as new infections in the Australian hotspot continued to fall.

Around 100 people pro-tested in various locations in Melbourne, Victoria Police said, after about 200 people gathered the weekend before.

“Despite all the warnings, it was disappointing to see

individuals turn out to protest in the city today, putting the lives of Victorians at risk,” the police said in an e-mailed statement.

New coronavirus infections cases in Victoria, the country’s second-most populous state, continued to fall from a peak of more than 700 in a single day in early August. It reported 37 new cases yesterday, its lowest since late June.

It also reported six new deaths related to the corona-virus over the past 24 hours, bringing its total to 716, or more than 90 percent of the 803

deaths in Australia.The state, home to one-

quarter of Australia’s 25 million people, now accounts for about 75 percent of the country’s more than 26,500 COVID-19 cases. Its capital, Melbourne, has been under a strict lockdown for weeks.

The lockdown, which was initially to end otoday, has been extended for another two weeks. “You can only keep numbers low if you first drive them down to very low levels,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told a news briefing.

Sri Lanka Navy plugs fuel leak on fire-damaged tankerAFP — COLOMBO

Sri Lankan military divers fixed a fuel leak from the engine of a fire-damaged oil tanker off the island’s east coast, the navy said yesterday, in a salvage operation after the huge week-long blaze.

While the navy says no crude oil has escaped the cargo of the New Diamond, leaked diesel fuel had created a two-kilometre-long slick in the Indian Ocean that was visible from the air.

The fuel was seeping into the water through damaged

pipes connected to a ballast water intake on the ship’s star-board side, according to a navy statement.

That leak was plugged on Friday along with an inlet on the port side of the Panama-registered tanker, it said.

Dutch salvage company SMIT said its experts had boarded the crippled vessel and found the 270,000-tonne crude oil cargo unaffected by the fire.

“The cargo tanks with the crude are intact,” the firm said in The Hague on Friday. “Dis-cussions are ongoing on the

destination of the vessel to transfer the crude.” Sri Lanka’s environmental authorities fear a marine disaster if the tanker is allowed to transfer its oil to another ship in the country’s waters.

The fire was completely doused on Wednesday, but an unspecified amount of the ship’s 1,700 tonnes of fuel leaked when storage tanks ruptured in the blaze that destroyed the engine room and much of the vessel’s super-structure.

“The Sri Lankan navy, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and

tug boats that were involved in fire-fighting are still in the area,” the navy said.

It added that an Indian air-craft used to spray chemicals to disperse the diesel slick in the past two days was on standby.

Sri Lanka has asked the ship’s owners to tow it away from the country’s exclusive economic zone, or 370km from its coast.

The New Diamond issued a distress signal a week ago while passing Sri Lanka on its way to the northeast Indian port of Paradip when a boiler exploded, killing a Filipino crewman.

India reported a record daily jump in virus cases for a second consecutive day, logging 97,570 new infections yesterday. With total cases of over 4.65 million, India is the world’s second worst affected country.

11SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 ASIA

People shout slogans during a protest in Karachi, yesterday.

Tens of thousands march in KarachiAFP — KARACHI

Tens of thousands of anti-Shia protesters including demon-strators linked to Sunni extremists rallied in Pakistan’s Karachi yesterday, in the second day of protests that have sparked fears of sectarian violence.

Vast crowds of men thronged downtown Karachi —Pakistan’s largest city and a major business and industrial hub — many of them waving pro-Sunni flags and chanting Sunni-power slogans.

The rallies follow a raft of

blasphemy accusations against Shia leaders in Sunni-majority Pakistan after a broadcast of a procession last month showed clerics and participants allegedly making disparaging remarks about historic Islamic figures.

A security official said yes-terday’s crowd was estimated to exceed 30,000 people. There were no immediate reports of violence.

The rally was organised by the Sunni organisation Jamaat Ahle Sunnat and by the hardline Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which

has organised huge and often violent protests over alleged blasphemy in the past.

“If you play with the reli-gious sentiments of the Sunni, we will not tolerate it,” Karachi TLP chief Allama Abid Mubara told the rally.

But Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman, who was the event’s main speaker, insisted the rally aimed to “promote peace.”

“Our movement is not against any sectarian group, our movement is against those individuals who desecrate our revered personalities,” Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman said.

Sindh education

institutions may

not have winter

vacations

INTERNEWS — KARACHI

The Sindh province of Paki-stan’s government announced that there will be no winter vacations this year for educa-tional institutions that reopen from September 15 across the country.

This was stated by Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani as he addressed a press conference at the Sindh Assembly building.

Ghani said that educa-tional institutions will also continue to teach on Saturdays and there will be no winter vacations this year.

He explained that the ongoing school academic year in the province would last till April 15, 2021 and that the cur-ricula of all the classes had been slashed this year due to the closure of the educational institutions for many months.

Speaking about next year, the minister said that the aca-demic year will begin on May 3, 2021 next year. Summer vacations next year will only be reduced to a single month in July, he said, as schools had remained close for a lot of months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The minister said that parents who were not satisfied with safety arrangements and precautions for their children would be given the option of online education.

According to the education minister, some 2,262 schools had been registered and training given to 20,997 teachers under a programme initiated by the education department to conduct online classes with Microsoft’s support.

Ghani cautioned private schools from receiving addi-tional charges from students owing to the COVID-19, adding that as per the Supreme Court’s orders, only a 5 percent fee hike has been permitted.

Japan PM hopeful says he may need help from Abe on diplomacyAP — TOKYO

Japanese prime minister hopeful Yoshihide Suga said yesterday that he lacks the kind of diplomatic skills that outgoing leader Shinzo Abe has, including Abe’s personal friendship with President Donald Trump, and that he will need his assistance if he assumes the top job.

Abe in late August announced his intention to step down as prime minister due to health problems. He has led Japan since he returned to power in December 2012 for a second stint as prime minister.

Suga, the chief Cabinet sec-retary, is expected to win tomorrow’s party election and then be endorsed in a parlia-mentary vote on Wednesday because of the majority held by the ruling bloc.

Abe has travelled to 80 overseas destinations during his tenure, bringing stability and consistency to Japanese diplomacy and raising the country’s profile in the interna-tional community, experts say. He was noted especially for developing a personal friendship with Trump.

“Prime Minister Abe’s lead-ership diplomacy was truly

amazing. I don’t think I can match that,” Suga said as he joined the two other contenders at a public debate. Former Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida are also in the race.

“I think there is a diplomatic stance that would fit me and I will stick to my own style, while also seeking assistance from the Foreign Ministry. And of course I will consult with (Abe),” Suga said.

Suga said his top priorities are fighting the coronavirus and turning around an economy bat-tered by the pandemic. When asked about his policies on the e c o n o m y , w o m e n ’ s

empowerment and other areas, he repeatedly noted achievements under the Abe-led government.

Suga served as a policy coordinator and adviser to Abe, the point man behind the cen-tralized power of the Prime Minister’s Office and its influence over bureaucrats in implementing policies. The son of a strawberry farmer in northern Japan and a self-made politician, Suga is a rarity in the country’s largely hereditary world of politics.

But despite his influence and his political skills at home, Suga has hardly traveled overseas, and his diplomatic

skills are unknown, though he is largely expected to pursue Abe’s priorities. Yesterday, he noted the importance of Japan-China relations and said he would patiently work to improve ties with the world’s No. 2 economy.

Abe failed to achieve his goals to settle a territorial row and sign a peace treaty with Russia or to normalize ties with North Korea.

China continues its assertive actions in the East China Sea. He will have to decide what to do with the Tokyo Olympics, and tackle COVID-19 and the economic fallout.

North Korean leader visits flood relief construction siteNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visiting a flood relief construction site in Unpa county, North Hwanghae province, yesterday.

Scribe accused of

defaming army

freed in Pakistan

REUTERS — KARACHI

Pakistani police released a local journalist accused of defaming the military yesterday as a court reprimanded the police for overstepping their mandate, a lawyer for journalist Bilal Farooqi said.

Farooqi, a vocal critic of both the military and the gov-ernment, was arrested on charges of defaming the coun-try’s army and spreading reli-gious hatred on Friday.

Farooqi’s arrest and sub-sequent release is the latest in a spate of moves against jour-nalists who have been critical of the government. It comes just days after Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated that Pakistan has a free media. “The court asked the police if a FIR (first information report) does not stand ground, who has given you authority to pick up people from home,” Ghulam Shabbir, Farooqi’s lawyer said.

Iran deports hundreds of illegal Pakistani migrantsINTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

As many as 1,000 Pakistani citizens, who were arrested in different parts of Iran, were deported by Iranian authorities through Taftan border in Paki-stan’s southwest Chagai district.

According to Levies Force officials in Taftan, they have received these deported Paki-stanis between Sunday and Thursday as Iranian authorities handed over 200 migrants each day.Sources in the local administration said that this practice had been continued for several months.

Majority of these migrants hailing from different parts of country, particularly from Punjab, tried to reach European countries via Iran without having valid travel documents,

the sources said, adding that the illegal immigrants preferred rugged ways along the Pak-Iran border to cross the border with the help of organised human traffickers.

“As per routine procedure all deportees are being handed over to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for further inter-rogation,” FIA sources said.

The illicit human trafficking practice has increased as smug-glers are also using the main Quetta-Taftan RCD highway to run their business in different small and long vehicles.

Dalbandin Assistant Com-missioner Mohammad Javed Domki said that following his instructions Levies Force had arrested 12 illegal migrants who were traveling in a truck at Padag checkpoint on Thursday.

UN, OIC and Nato hailintra-Afghan talksANATOLIA — ISLAMABAD

The United Nations, Organi-sation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Nato welcomed the start of intra-Afghan talks in Qatar yesterday, saying the process presents an ideal chance for lasting peace after decades of conflict in Afghan-istan.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said the talks are a “major opportunity to achieve the long-held aspirations of the people of Afghanistan for peace.”

In an address via video link, he called for a complete cease-fire “to protect civilians and to de-escalate the conflict in order to save lives and to create a conducive environment.”

Guterres stressed the need for participation of women in the peace process and the future development of Afghan-istan, for which he said the UN will extend its full support.

“I hope progress towards peace can lead to the return of millions of Afghans displaced internally and across borders to their own country with a safe environment,” he said.

“It is of crucial importance that all Afghans leaders and members of the international community do everything pos-sible to make this a reality.” Yousef Al Othaimeen, Sec-retary-General of the OIC, hoped that the “historic”

moment marks the start of a journey towards durable peace in Afghanistan.

“This is a historic oppor-tunity and I, on behalf of the OIC, appeal to all leaders in Afghanistan to work together to bring an immediate and lasting peace in Afghanistan,” he said.

He commended the coun-tries who played a key role in making the talks possible, while urging all parties to ensure that the negotiations prove to be constructive, help resolve dif-ferences, and lead to compre-hensive reconciliation.

“Dialogue is the only option that leads to peace, security, and stability for the people of Afghanistan and their country,” he said.

Al Othaimeen also urged the Afghan government and Taliban to immediately end all fighting and move forward for reconciliation and peace.

He said the top Islamic organization will support the peace process and all efforts for development in Afghanistan.

For this part, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said the mil-itary bloc had always pushed for a peaceful resolution to the Afghan conflict.

He said the many sacrifices made by Afghans and Nato forces were the reason that “Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for international terrorists.”

Pakistan always supports peaceful Afghanistan: FMAGENCIES — ISLAMABAD

Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi (pictured), has said that Pakistan will always support a peaceful, stable, united, democratic, prosperous and sovereign Afghanistan, at peace with itself and with its neigh-bours.

Speaking virtually at the opening session of intra-Afghan negotiations which started in Doha yesterday, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said: “We meet today to mark a historic occasion, when our Afghan brethren take a major step forward in their long quest for peace. Indeed, a long phase of tribulations seems ending. A new dawn is upon us. This journey has not been easy. There have been obstacles and setbacks; moments of doubt and despair. Yet, progress has been made, and preserved. Arriving at this inflection point has been an accomplishment, and this success belongs, first and foremost, to the

Afghans.”He added: “Pakistan has walked

alongside you in every possible way, by encouraging reduction in violence and by urging dialogue and negotia-tions. Pakistan has fully facilitated the process that culminated in the US-Taliban Peace Agreement in Doha on February 29, 2020 and has reached

this juncture.“Commencement of intra-Afghan

negotiations, today, is the fruit of our combined efforts. Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan has long main-tained that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. Political solution is the only way forward. We are gratified that our perspective is

now widely shared across the interna-tional community. We are also grat-ified that we have fulfilled our part of the responsibility. It is now for the Afghan leaders to seize this historic opportunity, work together construc-tively, and secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement.”

He said that forthcoming negotia-tions are for the Afghans to decide about their future. “The Afghans alone must be the masters of their destiny, without outside influence or inter-ference. Spoilers, from within and from without, will pose formidable chal-lenges. Constants vigilance will be required to guard against their machinations.”

He said that Pakistan hoped all sides will honour their respective com-mitments, persevere in the face of all challenges and setbacks, and remain unflinchingly committed to achieving a positive outcome.

“Besides Afghanistan, Pakistan is

the country that has suffered the most from the Afghan conflict. Over the past 40 years, we have endured terrorist attacks, loss of precious lives, mass population displacements, instability at the borders, and huge economic costs.

“But we have persevered in the face of all difficulties and negativity. Our citizens and law enforcement per-sonnel have rendered invaluable sac-rifices. Our leadership has decisively demonstrated that Pakistan will only be a partner for peace.”

He said that at this historic juncture, it is imperative that the mistakes of the past are not repeated. “The Afghan people must not be abandoned, as hap-pened before. The progress achieved must not be frittered away. A peaceful and stable Afghanistan will bring new opportunities for the progress and prosperity of the Afghan people. It will also open new vistas of cooperation and connectivity in the region and beyond.”

“The Afghans alone must be the masters of their destiny, without outside influence or interference. Spoilers, from within and from without, will pose formidable challenges. Constants vigilance will be required to guard against their machinations.”

12 SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020EUROPE

Johnson accuses EU of plotting food ‘blockade’ on UKAFP — LONDON Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accused the European Union of threat-ening to tear the UK apart by imposing a food “blockade” between Britain and Northern Ireland, throwing new fuel on the fire of simmering Brexit talks.

Writing in yesterday’s Daily Tele-graph newspaper, Johnson said the EU’s stance justified his government’s intro-duction of new legislation to rewrite its Brexit withdrawal treaty — a bill that is causing deep alarm among his own MPs.

Talks between London and Brussels on a future trading relationship are deadlocked as both sides struggle to prise apart nearly 50 years of economic integration, after British voters opted for a divorce.

“My assessment is that an unregu-lated situation (no deal) would have very significant consequences for the British economy,” German Finance Min-ister Olaf Scholz warned yesterday after a meeting of EU finance ministers in Berlin.

“Europe would be able to deal with it and these would not be particularly difficult consequences after the prep-arations we have already made,” he added.

But absent a deal by the end of this year, when the full force of Brexit kicks in, Johnson said the EU was bent on an “extreme interpretation” of rules for

Northern Ireland under the divorce treaty both sides signed in January.

“We are being told that the EU will not only impose tariffs on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, but that they might actually stop the transport of food products from GB to NI,” he wrote.

“I have to say that we never seri-ously believed that the EU would be willing to use a treaty, negotiated in good faith, to blockade one part of the UK, to cut it off, or that they would actually threaten to destroy the eco-nomic and territorial integrity of the UK.” Johnson said the EU’s stance would “seriously endanger peace and stability in Northern Ireland”, and stressed he remained committed to finding agreement with the EU by the end of the year, but the new UK Internal

Market Bill was a “legal safety net”. The EU, however, has threatened

Britain with legal action unless it with-draws its unilateral changes by the end of September, and leaders in the European Parliament on Friday threatened to veto any trade pact if London violates its promises.

Paolo Gentiloni, the EU’s economics affairs commissioner, said it was up to Britain to “re-establish trust” with the bloc. “And in any case... we are prepared to deal with extraordinary negative

outcome of this discussion,” the former Italian prime minister added in Berlin.

The government’s claim that the treaty contains unforeseen problems was undercut by a Financial Times report yesterday that British civil servants explicitly highlighted the potential issues in January, at least a week before Johnson signed it.

Under the EU withdrawal treaty, Northern Ireland will enjoy a special status to ensure no return of a border with EU member Ireland, in line with a

1998 peace pact that ended three decades of bloodshed.

The food dispute centres on the EU’s refusal so far to grant Britain “third country” status, which acknowledges that nations meet basic requirements to export their foodstuffs to Europe.

The EU is worried that post-Brexit Britain could undermine its own food standards, as well as rules on state aid for companies, and infiltrate its single market via Northern Ireland.

Johnson’s article appeared after he held a chaotic videoconference on Friday evening with mutinous Conserv-ative MPs who are aghast at the prospect of the government tearing up an inter-national treaty.

Senior Conservative backbencher Robert Neill was unimpressed by John-son’s calls to push the bill through and prevent a renewal of the Brexit infighting that paralysed parliament last year.

“I believe it is potentially a harmful act for this country, it would damage our reputation and I think it will make it harder to strike trade deals going forward,” Neill told Channel 4 News.

The government crowed at one breakthrough Friday in clinching its first post-Brexit trade pact, with Japan. But critics noted it would boost Britain’s long-term economic output by just 0.07 percent, and that trade with the EU is far higher.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson waving as he leaves Downing Street in London.

Low turnout at new French ‘yellow vest’ protestsAFP — PARIS

A few hundred people gathered in Paris yesterday as France’s “yellow vest” demonstrators attempted to stage a September comeback after months of virus lockdown and summer holidays, falling short of hoped-for numbers.

In 2018-19, tens of thou-sands rallied to repeated pro-tests against President Emmanuel Macron’s perceived prioritisation of business and the rich over struggling ordinary families.

The demonstrations some-times descended into scenes of violence and looting that drew harsh police responses, which were in turn criticised in France and beyond.

With its weak turnout Sat-urday, “the movement is dead, I’ll say that clearly, but we’re here because we have nothing to lose. This is a kind of last stand,” said Michael, a 43-year old protester who joined a 100-strong crowd at Place de

Wagram in northwestern Paris.Stephane, a 48-year-old

who had travelled from the Paris suburbs to join the rally, disagreed.

The yellow vests movement “has been struggling for a few months but it will never die,” he said. “As more people are laid off from their jobs, they’ll increasingly wake up.” Hun-dreds of police were deployed at the Champs-Elysees avenue in central Paris where city a u t h o r i t i e s b a n n e d demonstrations.

Officers checked the identity cards of passers-by and searched their bags, while many storefronts were boarded up in anticipation of looting which occurred repeatedly during last year’s violence.

“We can’t have destruction and chaos on the Champs-Elysees,” Paris police chief Didier Lallement said yesterday morning. “There’s a need for calm on this avenue which is a showcase for our country. So I banned the demonstrations.”

Ahead of yesterday’s protests, police had said they expected up to 5,000 people to attend, with 1,000 of them potentially violent.

Some 81 people had been arrested by around 11 am (0900 GMT) especially for carrying objects like screwdrivers, ice axes and knives that “have no place at a demonstration,” the police posted on Twitter.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin had announced slightly tougher rules on how police use controversial rubber bullets and other crowd-control weapons on Friday ahead of the expected marches.

Officers must now ask supervisors for permission to fire the projectiles, which have been responsible for injuries including destroying the eyes

of some protesters like leading light Jerome Rodrigues.

“Yellow vest” marches had been announced for other major cities in France including Marseille, Toulouse, Lyon and Lille.

Authorities in past protest hotspot Toulouse banned the planned demonstration there, c i t i n g c o r o n a v i r u s restrictions.

Hundreds of people gather during a demonstration called by the “yellow vest” movement in the French capital Paris, yesterday.

France reports more than 10,000 daily virus casesAFP — PARIS

France reported more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases yesterday, its highest daily number since wide-scale testing was launched in the country.

The number rose to 10,561 new cases yesterday, up from the previous day’s 9,406 new cases on Friday, the French public health agency said.

Over the 24-hour period, 17 people died in hospital, bringing the country’s total to 30,910.

A total of 417 new patients were admitted to intensive care over the last week — 28 yesterday, the agency said.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex warned Friday there was a “clear worsening” in the country’s outbreak, and that a recent increase in Covid-19 hospitalisations was particu-larly worrying.

However he did not announce any major new restrictions, shortening the quarantine period for people who catch the virus to just seven days from 14.

“We have to succeed in living with this virus, without returning to the idea of a gen-eralised lockdown,” he said in a televised statement from his official residence in Paris.

Castex himself ended a stint in isolation after twice testing negative for COVID-19.

Fears were briefly raised after he spent part of last weekend with the boss of the Tour de France Christian Prud-homme, who tested positive for COVID-19.

Protests against coronavirus curbs in Germany, PolandAFP — MUNICH

Several thousand people protested in German cities yesterday against measures imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, while hundreds marched in the Polish capital Warsaw.

Some 8,000 people marched in the southern German city of Munich, according to a police estimate, most of them ignoring a city ordinance requiring the wearing of masks.

At least a thousand turned out in Hanover, central Germany and there was another demonstration in the western city of Wiesbaden.

Tens of thousands turned out for similar demonstrations

last month in Berlin.The movement is made up

of a number of different groups, from self-declared “free thinkers” to anti-vaccine cam-paigners, conspiracy theorists and far-right activists.

Although clashes marred the last protest in Berlin late in August there have been no reports of trouble so far yesterday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement on Saturday that she understood why some people had a problem with the restrictions being imposed. She acknowl-edged that people were free to criticise government policy in peaceful protests.

And in what appeared to be a response to some protesters’

claims of being censured, she pointed out that many people envied Germany for the freedom accorded people to publicly disagree and demonstrate.

In the Polish capital Warsaw meanwhile, several hundred people joined a similar protest that marched through the city centre.

Some protesters carried placards denouncing what they say are the “lies” told about the pandemic.

Others placards denounced the Microsoft billionaire turned philanthropist Bill Gates — the target of conspiracy theories about the virus — opposed any new lockdown, or called for the r e s i g n a t i o n o f t h e government.

Italy shaken up by brutal death of young Black manAP — ROME Hundreds of people in Italy walked in a funeral procession yesterday for a young Black man whose brutal beating death has shaken up the country and drawn condemnation from the highest levels of government.

Premier Giuseppe Conte and Italy’s interior minister attended the funeral of 21-year-old Willy

Monteiro Duarte, who was killed during a fight in Colleferro, a city on the outskirts of Rome, in the early hours of September 6.

Four Italians have been arrested, including a pair of brothers with police records, but to date prosecutors haven’t indi-cated if the slaying was racially motivated.

Italian news reports have quoted witnesses as saying

Monteiro Duarte, who was born in Rome and whose family is from the African island nation of Cape Verde, intervened while seeing a friend get beaten up in the fight and was then fatally beaten himself.

The funeral procession fea-tured hundreds of people, most wearing white shirts and face-masks, walking toward the sporting stadium where

Monteiro Duarte was honored and then clapping in respect as his casket was carried out. It was a strong show of solidarity for the young man, who was described as hard-working and upstanding by those who knew him.

Italy’s premier has dis-played dismay over Monteiro Duarte’s death. He called the family to express his

condolences. In a statement, Conte demanded justice and asked rhetorically what it means that someone could be killed in Italy for having tried to help a friend.

“Will we tell our children to turn their heads away? Not to intervene to quell disputes or to try to protect weaker friends or friends in obvious difficulty,” Conte said.

UK police arrest man over London package

REUTERS — LONDON

British police said counter-terrorism officers arrested a man yesterday on suspicion of attempting to cause an explosion over a package sent to an address in north London earlier this week.

Police said the man, in his 20s, had been arrested by armed officers in Cambridge, central England, over the sus-picious item sent to a property in Cricklewood in north London on Thursday. “Specialist officers attended and made safe what was assessed to be a small improvised explosive device,” they said in a statement.

The man is being ques-tioned at a south London police station while two addresses in Cambridge are being searched. There was no risk to the local community, police said.

Germany to investigate Navalny poisoning case, if he agrees

REUTERS — BERLIN/MOSCOW

Berlin prosecutors said on Friday they would investigate the case of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who is being treated in Berlin for suspected poisoning, and hand information to Moscow — if he agreed.

The German government had earlier said it would not investigate the case because the poisoning took place in Russia.

It has accused Russia of trying to poison Navalny and demanded an explanation from Moscow for what it said was the banned Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok found in his body by German doctors after he was airlifted from Russia for treatment.

Moscow has insisted it has seen no evidence he was

poisoned and earlier on Friday said it would ask to send inves-tigators to Berlin in response to the German demands.

The prosecutor’s office in the German capital said it had been commissioned by the regional justice department “to provide legal assistance over the Russian request for legal assistance and to obtain infor-mation on the state of health of A. Navalny — subject to his consent”.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s highest-profile critic, was flown to Germany last month after falling vio-lently ill while travelling in Siberia. He is very unlikely to agree to Germany sharing information with the Russian government, which his sup-porters have accused of attempted murder.

Writing in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, Johnson said the EU’s stance justified his government’s introduction of new legislation to rewrite its Brexit withdrawal treaty — a bill that is causing deep alarm among his own MPs.

13SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 EUROPE

Migrants on Lesbos islandurged to shift to newcamp amid health fearsAFP — LESBOS ISLAND

Thousands of asylum seekers sleeping rough around the Greek island of Lesbos were urged to move to a makeshift tent camp yesterday as tensions with local people simmered four days after a fire destroyed Europe’s largest migrant facility there.

Round-the-clock efforts to find temporary shelter for over 11,000 people including thou-sands of children were still inadequate, rights groups said as local authorities continued to oppose camp reconstruction plans.

“As thousands are now left sleeping rough in the hills around Moria or on the streets, tensions between local resi-dents, asylum seekers, and police are increasing,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement yesterday.

The camp of Moria, which until this week housed over 12,000 people in dismal san-itary conditions, burned down in successive fires on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Many of the mostly Afghan asylum seekers have spent months on the island, hoping in vain to be allowed to cross tightly shut European borders.

Army and fire service

helicopters have been used to bypass roadblocks set up by locals to try to prevent a new temporary camp from being built near the ruins of Moria.

Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi yesterday said the camp, a few kilometres (miles) from Moria, would open to asylum seekers later on.

“Rapid tests for coronavirus will be conducted at the entrance,” Mitarachi told Skai TV.

Officials have blamed migrants for the fires at Moria,

the first breaking out shortly after 35 people tested positive for coronavirus and were facing isolation measures.

“We are sleeping in the dirt or on the road under the open sky,” a group of asylum seekers from the former camp said on Facebook, noting that some people had even found shelter under the trees of the local Greek cemetery.

Volunteer groups have faced difficulty in keeping them supplied with food and water.

Sleeping on the roadside

and in parking lots, the asylum seekers have made use of whatever they can find in nearby fields, pinning tarpaulins on tree branches and reeds in a bid for privacy and protection from the beating sun.

The local mayor has rejected the temporary camp initiative as “unrealistic”.

“Any thought to rebuild this sort of thing should be for-gotten,” Mytilene Mayor Stratis

Kytelis told Antenna TV on Friday. “The island’s society cannot take any more... for reasons of health, social cohesion, national security.” Kytelis said.

Hundreds of asylum seekers staged a street protest on Friday, demanding to be allowed to leave the island.

“Moria burned and instead of taking this seriously they want to do the same mistake.

Why do a small camp again? People will burn it again,” 18-year-old Omar from Burkina Faso said.

The plight of the stranded families has prompted other European countries to offer to take in hundreds of asylum seekers, particularly unaccom-panied youngsters.

But Greece has long com-plained that, aside from pro-viding funds, its EU partners have done too little to help.

Efforts in the past to create a quota system, which would have seen all European coun-tries agree to take in refugees from Greece, have floundered due to opposition from right-wing governments, in particular in Poland and Hungary.

Woman and children react as refugees and migrants from the destroyed camp of Moria clash with riot police, on the island of Lesbos, in Greece, yesterday.

UN chief calls on EU to share out migrantsAFP — PARIS

The UN secretary-general urged European Union members yesterday to take in thousands of migrants and asylum seekers who have been left homeless and destitute in Greece after a devastating blaze at a camp.

“It’s an immense tragedy,” UN chief Antonio Guterres told French channel TV5monde in an interview broadcast yes-terday. “In my opinion the only solution is transferring

these refugees to the continent and I hope there will be European solidarity.”

The former Portuguese prime minister continued: “You can’t expect the country (Greece) on the frontline to resolve everything. There needs to be shared responsi-bility within the European Union.”

Tensions rose on Lesbos yesterday after hundreds of asylum seekers protested after a third night of sleeping rough in doorways and by roads.

Law enforcement officers scuffle with demonstrators during a women’s rally against police brutality following protests to reject the presidential election results in Minsk, yesterday.

Hungarian Premier backs Trump’s re-election bidAFP — BUDAPEST

Nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (pictured) backed US President Donald Trump for re-election, hailing him as good for Central Europe.

The two firebrand leaders tout a close relationship.

Trump, who shares Orban’s anti-immigrant sentiment, last year welcomed the Hungarian to the White House and praised him despite criticism of the erosion of democracy in the EU country.

Orban, in power since 2010, said Trump had called him at home on Thursday, and they

discussed the November election in the US and the han-dling of the new coronavirus pandemic.

“The US president is on par-ticularly close, one could almost say friendly terms with all the Central Europe leaders,” Orban said during his weekly public radio interview.

“This is why we, or at least I am personally supporting him to win the election,” he added.

In 2016, Orban was the first European premier to endorse Trump, calling him a “better option” for the European Union

than his then rival Hillary Clinton.

Since then, while often voicing support for Trump, Orban has also forged close ties with both Moscow and Beijing, part of what he calls a “prag-matic” foreign policy.

He has often been at odds with Brussels amid interna-tional criticism of government restrictions on media, academic and other freedoms, as well as its strict stand against refugees.

Hungary closed its borders to foreigners this month, citing virus fears while exempting the

Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia — countries of the so-called Visegrad group that often align on EU policy, especially migration.

The EU has warned Budapest over the exemption, noting that discriminating among member states violates rules governing the EU’s passport-free Schengen area.

Hungary’s near 10 million population has so far been spared the worst of the pan-demic — reporting on Friday a total of 10,909 infections and 631 deaths — but cases have surged in recent weeks.

Slovenia woman jailed for cuttingoff own hand to claim insuranceAFP — LJUBLJANA

A Slovenian court has sentenced a 22-year-old woman to two years in prison after finding her guilty of cutting off her hand to claim insurance.

The woman’s 30-year-old partner, accused of putting her up to it, was given three years in prison by the Ljubljana Dis-trict Court on Friday, the coun-try’s news agency STA reported yesterday.

It was not clear if the pair, who had pleaded not guilty, would appeal the verdict.

The woman, Julija Adlesic, was detained early last year for allegedly cutting off her hand at the wrist with a circular saw to get nearly $470,000 in insurance compensation.

The woman is thought to

have staged the incident, together with three others, earlier this year shortly after the group signed life and injury insurance contracts with five d i f f e r e n t i n s u r a n c e companies.

The woman was hoping to get around 380,000 euros of compensation and a life-long monthly payout of some 3,000 euros, according to police.

The group intentionally left the hand behind rather than bringing it with them to the hospital, hoping to receive three times higher compen-sation for permanent disability after what she claimed was an accident, police had said.

But authorities managed to pick up the hand in time, and doctors in a hospital in the capital Ljubljana were able to reattach it.

Mytilene Mayor has rejected the temporary camp initiative as “unrealistic,” adding that, “the island’s society cannot take any more... for reasons of health, social cohesion, national security”.

Belarus police detain women protestersAFP — MINSK

Belarusian riot police yesterday violently detained several dozen women demonstrators and threw them into vans, as thou-sands took to the streets of the capital to protest against police violence and electoral fraud.

Unprecedented demonstra-tions broke out in Belarus after s t rongman Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet state for 26 years, claimed to have defeated oppo-sition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and won re-election with 80 percent of the vote on August 9.

Ahead of a massive new protest expected today, columns of female protesters gathered in central Minsk for a peaceful women’s protest.

Some beat saucepans with ladles and others chanted “Bring back our Masha”, referring to opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova by her diminutive name.

Kolesnikova, 38, was jailed this week after she resisted forced expulsion by ripping up her passport.

But scuffles broke out in Minsk’s Freedom Square as men in black face masks and green uniforms without insignia sought to detain women pro-testers, showed footage broadcast by Belsat TV channel and Tut.by, a Belarusian inde-pendent outlet.

Some women pushed back and tried to unmask the uni-formed men. Another video showed riot police officers roughly throwing female pro-

testers into police vans.The Viasna rights group said

more than 40 people had been detained.

The spokeswoman for the interior ministry, Olga Chem-odanova, said that “women had been detained” but could not say how many or provide other details.

In a video appeal, Tikhanovskaya, who was forced out of the country and was granted refuge in EU member Lithuania, urged riot police to stop the violence. “You will be ashamed of what you are doing today,” she said, calling the vio-lence “outrageous.”

Belsat, a Warsaw-based opposition television channel, said on Telegram that two of its journalists covering the protest had also been detained.

Denmark PMrules out snapelectionsBLOOMBERG — COPENHAGEN

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who has enjoyed rising support in opinion polls over her handling of the virus outbreak, said she doesn’t plan a snap election that could extend her time in power.

Frederiksen, a Social Dem-ocrat who runs a minority government based on support mainly from left-wing parties, said she will instead focus her time on policy areas over-shadowed by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are still a very new government,” Frederiksen said at a press conference in Tallinn, where she was meeting Estonian peer Juri Ratas.

“We need all the time within four years to solve all the other challenges and problems, so no elections are coming up in Denmark.”

Frederiksen won general elections in June 2019 on a pledge to increase welfare spending and reduce carbon emissions.

She gained international attention in August 2019 when US President Donald Trump cancelled a state visit to Denmark following her refusal to sell Greenland, an auton-omous territory of Denmark.

In recent polls, the Social Democrats have been set to receive twice the support of the largest opposition party.

Denmark’s prime minister has the power to call elections at any time but must do so at least every four years.

Eurasia, Central Asia report more virus casesANATOLIA — KIEV

Over 3,900 new coronavirus cases and more than 80 fatal-ities were reported across several Eurasian and Central Asian countries yesterday.

Ukraine continues to report the highest numbers in the region, with 3,103 more COVID-19 cases and 72 deaths recorded over the past 24 hours.

The overall count in the country stands at 151,859, including 3,148 fatalities and 68,346 recoveries, which increased by 1,341 over the past day, according to Health Min-ister Maksym Stepanov.

In Georgia, 158 more coro-navirus cases raised the total to 2,116.

Recoveries increased by nine to reach 1,363, while the death toll remains at 19.

Armenia’s tally increased to 45,675 as 172 more cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours.

The virus claimed two more lives in the country, raising the death toll to 911, the Health Ministry said.

Some 41,605 people have recovered so far, while 2,878 patients are under treatment.

A total of 338 more infec-tions were confirmed in Uzbekistan, bringing the total to 46,498, the Health Ministry said.

Five more fatalities were reported over the past day, moving the death toll up to 382.

Recoveries increased by

166 to reach 43,023, which translates to a recovery rate of about 93 percent, the ministry said.

Some 3,093 patients are under treatment in the country, with around 100,000 more being monitored.

Kazakhstan’s case count rose by 68 to reach 106,729.

According to the Health Ministry, five patients died over the past day, taking the death toll to 1,656, while 109 more recoveries raised the total to 100,518.

In Kyrgyzstan, 67 more COVID-19 cases raised the overall count to 44,828.

At least 38 more cases pushed Tajikistan’s overall count to 8,977, including 7,747 recoveries and 72 fatalities.

The overall death toll from the Western fires that began in August jumped to 25 after seven people were reported killed in mountains north of Sacramento, California, and Oregon’s fifth fatality was reported in Marion County, outside of Salem, the state capital.

14 SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020AMERICAS

Wildfires torch hundreds of homes in Oregon; Trump to tour scorched CaliforniaREUTERS — PORTLAND

Deadly wildfires raging across Oregon kept half a million people under evacuation alert yesterday as President Donald Trump announced plans to visit California for a close-up view of damage wrought by the largest fires in the state’s history.

Thousands of homes have burned down in recent days in Oregon, which has become the latest epicenter in a larger summer outbreak of fires sweeping the western United States, collectively scorching a landscape the size of New Jersey and killing at least 25 people.

In California, tens of thou-sands of firefighters were bat-tling 28 major wildfires across California as of yesterday

morning, according to the Cal-ifornia Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Most were

being contained to some degree except for one in Siskiyou County, which grew out of control.

The White House said Trump, a Republican, will meet with local and federal officials in McClellan Park near the Cal-ifornia state capital of Sacra-mento tomorrow.

His Democratic opponent, the former senator and vice- president Joe Biden, said yes-terday that the wildfires showed there was “no challenge more consequential to our future than meeting and defeating the onrushing climate crisis”.

The firestorms, some of the largest on record in California and Oregon, were driven by high winds that howled across the region for days in the midst of record-breaking heat. Scien-tists say global warming has also contributed to extremes in wet and dry seasons, causing vegetation to flourish then dry out, leaving more abundant fuel for wildfires.

With at least five people already confirmed dead from the fires in Oregon this week, state officials warned of pos-sible “mass fatality incidents” as they searched scorched ruins for dozens of people who had been reported missing.

The Pacific Northwest as a whole has borne the brunt of an incendiary onslaught that began around Labor Day, darkening the sky with smoke and ash that has beset northern California, Oregon

and Washington with some of the world’s worst air-quality levels.

“This is a climate damn emergency. This is real and it’s happening. This is the perfect storm,” California Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters on Friday from a charred moun-tainside near Oroville, California. More than 4,000 homes and other structures have been incin-erated in California alone over the past three weeks.

In southern Oregon, an apocalyptic scene of charred residential subdivisions and trailer parks stretched for miles along Highway 99 south of Medford through the neigh-bouring towns of Phoenix and Talent, one of the most devas-tated areas. Molalla, a com-munity about 40km south of downtown Portland, was an ash-covered ghost town after its more than 9,000 residents

were told to evacuate, with only 30 refusing to leave, the city’s fire department said.

The logging town was on the front line of a vast evacuation zone stretching north to within 4.8km of downtown Portland.

In Portland, the Multnomah County Sheriff chastised resi-dents who had taken it upon themselves to set up check-points and stop cars after con-spiracy theories spread that left-wing activists who oppose Trump were starting some of the blazes, which local author-ities say is groundless.

Governor Brown told a news conference that more than 500,000 people were under one of three evacuation alert levels, advising them to pack and be vigilant, to be ready to flee at a moment’s notice, or to leave immediately.About 40,000 of those had already

been ordered to leave.After four days of treacher-

ously hot, windy weather, a glimmer of hope arrived in the form of calmer winds blowing in from the ocean, bringing cooler, moister conditions that helped firefighters make headway against blazes.

The overall death toll from the Western fires that began in August jumped to 25 after seven people were reported killed in mountains north of Sacramento, California, and Oregon’s fifth fatality was reported in Marion County, outside of Salem, the state capital.

Paradise, a town blasted by California’s deadliest wildfire in 2018, posted the world’s worst air quality index reading at 592, according to the PurpleAir mon-itoring site, as two of the state’s largest blazes burned on either side of it.

The Bobcat Fire burns through the Angeles National Forest, north of Monrovia, California.

Vehicles lie damaged in the aftermath of the Obenchain Fire in Eagle Point, Oregon, US, on Friday.

Canada reports zero COVID-19 deaths for first time since MarchREUTERS — TORONTO

Canada reported zero COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours for the first time since March 15, according to public health agency data released late on Friday.

Canada’s death toll from the pandemic stood at 9,163 as of September 11, the same as the number of the deaths reported on September 10, government data showed. The number of

positive cases rose by 702 to 135,626 on September 11 from the previous day, the data showed.

With most provinces easing lockdown restrictions and as schools reopen for in-person classes, Canada’s infections have seen a mild pick-up in recent days. Authorities have been on high alert to avoid fresh outbreaks, and provinces including British Columbia have imposed new curbs to tackle the spread of the virus.

Still, Canada’s situation looks relatively healthy compared to its southern neighbor. Across the border in the United States, more than 190,000 people have died from the pandemic and more than 6.38 million people have been infected.

Canada’s experience dealing with SARS, or severe acute res-piratory syndrome, helped health officials be better prepared. SARS killed 44 people in Canada, the only country outside Asia to

report deaths from that outbreak in 2002-2003.

Canada’s first recorded case of coronavirus was in Toronto, on January 25. Both Ontario, the country’s most populous province, and neighboring Quebec turned into the hot spots for COVID-19 infections.

Both provinces struggled with outbreaks in long-term care homes. Canada’s first COVID-19 death was reported on March 9 at a British

Columbia long-term care facility.

As COVID-19 cases began to spike in mid-March, Canada shut its international borders to all foreign nationals and ramped up tests in an effort to isolate infected patients. Ontario and Alberta faced out-breaks among temporary foreign workers on farms and meat-processing plants, which slowed reopening in certain regions.

Unrest in MexicoPeople observe a fire that broke out after members of a feminist collective vandalized the facilities of the state of Mexico’s human rights commission, in support of victims of gender violence, in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, Mexico, on Friday.

Peru Congress approves Vizcarra impeachment motionREUTERS — LIMA

Peruvian President Martin Viz-carra faced a fresh challenge to his leadership on Friday after Congress approved a motion to start impeachment proceedings against him over leaked audio tapes and alleged ties to a singer involved in a fraud case.

Whether to remove Viz-carra from office for “moral incapacity” is due to be debated and voted upon in the next week, which risks plunging the world’s second-largest copper producer further into crisis as it battles one of the worst coro-navirus outbreaks globally amid its deepest recession in decades. Vizcarra vowed not to resign.

Fifty-two votes from the 130-member Congress were

needed to approve the start of impeachment proceedings, and impeachment itself needs 87 votes in order to remove Viz-carra from office. Friday’s vote was 65 in favour, 36 opposed and 24 abstentions.

Lawmakers in Peru’s Con-gress, a mosaic of parties from the left and right with no overall majority, heard recordings of two private conversations between Vizcarra and gov-ernment officials about meetings with Richard Cisneros, a little-known singer.

Cisneros, who goes as Richard Swing, was awarded government contracts for moti-vational talks worth 175,400 soles ($49,500), which are being investigated by Congress and Peru’s auditor general along

with claims of alleged links to the presidency.

Lawmakers said the recordings revealed Vizcarra attempting to downplay his meetings with Cisneros.

Vizcarra took office two years ago after former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s resig-nation over allegations of cor-ruption. Last September, Vizcarra faced down a previous attempt to impeach him for incapacity and dissolved Congress.

He told reporters on Friday that the new challenge repre-sented “a plot to destabilize the government”. “I am not going to resign, I have a commitment to Peru and I will fulfill it until the last day of my mandate,” he said.

Presidential elections are due to be held next year and Vizcarra

has already said he will not run again. “We now hope Vizcarra will come to give his justifica-tions,” said lawmaker Edgar Alarcon, head of the congres-sional oversight commission who shared the audios in Congress.

Alarcon added that the date for the debate was being dis-cussed but was expected to be late next week.

Julio Ruiz, an economist specializing in Peru for the Bra-zilian bank Itaú BBA, said the new turmoil risked adding to jitters from recent “market unfriendly” measures, a ref-erence to Congress passing laws allowing Peruvians to withdraw early from their pensions funds, and a separate recent bid to push out the country’s economy minister.

Virus deaths surpass 130,000 in BrazilAFP — RIO DE JANEIRO

Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 130,000 on Friday, amid cautious optimism over signs the virus is finally slowing in the hard-hit South American country.

With the second-highest death toll in the pandemic after the United States, Brazil has been devastated by the new coronavirus, which has now claimed 130,396 lives in the country, according to the health ministry.

Brazil, home to 212 million people, has registered nearly 4.3 million infections, behind only the US and India. After a seemingly endless plateau in which the number of daily deaths was regularly over 1,000 from June to August, Bra-zil’s curve appears to be descending at last.

The average number of deaths per day for the past week was 696. “The models indicate we are past the peak... and starting a descent, albeit with levels that are still unacceptably

high,” immunologist Guilherme Werneck told a seminar this week organized by Brazil’s leading public health research institute, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz).

Brazilian President Jair Bol-sonaro faces criticism for his handling of the virus, which he has downplayed as a “little flu”. Now on his third health min-ister of the crisis — an army general with no prior medical experience — the far-right president regularly attacks the stay-at-home measures rec-ommended by global health authorities, insisting the eco-nomic damage would be worse than the disease.

Instead, he is pushing the anti-malaria drug hydroxy-chloroquine as a remedy, despite studies showing it is ineffective against Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the virus has proved devastating for some of Brazil’s most vulnerable groups, notably residents of impover-ished favelas, or slums, and indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest.

Confirmed coronavirus deathtoll in Mexico tops 70,000REUTERS — MEXICO CITY

The confirmed coronavirus death toll in Mexico on Friday topped 70,000 after the government reported more than 500 new deaths, a grim milestone for a country among those most affected by the pandemic. Making matters worse, excess mortality data from mid-March through early August indicates that the total number of deaths beyond the official count is likely tens of thousands higher.

Health officials late on Friday reported 534 new deaths linked to the virus, bringing the total to 70,183. Another 5,935 cases bring the total to 658,299. Based on official data, Mexico is the nation with the fourth highest number of deaths globally. But earlier this month, the health ministry said it recorded more than 120,000 “extra” deaths from mid-March through August 1.

Venezuela says ‘US spy’ captured near oil refinery complexREUTERS — CARACAS

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday that a “US spy” was captured while spying on the largest refining complex in the country, which is going through a severe fuel shortage crisis.

In a live broadcast on state television, Maduro said the man was arrested on Thursday in the northwest state of Falcon where he was spying on the Amuay and Cardon oil refineries.

They captured “a marine, who was serving as a marine on CIA bases in Iraq,” Maduro said. “He was captured with spe-cialized weapons, he was cap-tured with large amounts of cash, large amounts of dollars and other items.” Maduro did not give further details, but said the detainee was giving a statement in custody.

Neither the US State Department nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.

Word of the alleged US spy came after a Venezuelan court last month sentenced two former US Green Berets to 20 years in prison for their role in a failed incursion in May.

Separately during Friday’s broadcast, Maduro said that in recent days security forces had also foiled a plot to cause an explosion at another oil refinery, El Palito in Carabobo state. He did not elaborate.

In Wisconsin, Biden now has the backing of 48% of likely voters to Trump’s 43%. In Nevada, Biden received 46% support compared with 42% for Trump, while in New Hampshire he led by a narrower margin over Trump, 45% to 42%. Biden is further ahead in Minnesota, gaining 50% of backing versus 41% for Trump, the poll shows.

15SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 AMERICAS

Biden holds lead over Trump in 4 key states: PollBLOOMBERG / AFP/ AP — WASHINGTON

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden holds a lead over US President Donald Trump in four key battleground states though the race is tight-ening in some places as the economy improves after the initial coronavirus shutdowns, a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College shows.

In Wisconsin, which Trump won in 2016 despite a history as a solidly Democratic state, Biden now has the backing of 48% of likely voters to Trump’s 43%. Biden’s lead marks a sig-nificant drop from the 11 per-centage-point lead he had in June, when the Times last polled the state.

A full 51% of likely voters in the state said they trusted Trump more on the economy, compared with 43% for Biden.

That said, Trump’s weeks of law-and-order messaging appears to have energized his supporters on the right, but not improved his standing enough to put him in the lead.

In Nevada, Biden received 46% support compared with 42% for Trump, while in New Hampshire he led by a narrower margin over Trump, 45% to 42%. Biden is further ahead in Minnesota, gaining 50% of backing versus 41% for Trump, the poll shows.

Biden, meanwhile, slammed Trump’s “reckless” decision to hold a rally in Reno, Nevada, the

venue for which had to be changed because the event breached local COVID-19 restrictions.

“Months after admitting to misleading the American public about the pandemic, he still has no plan to contain COVID-19, a virus that has killed more than 1,400 Nevadans, afflicted more than 72,000 residents and devas-tated the livelihoods of hun-dreds of thousands of workers across the Silver State.

“Nevadans don’t need more bluster from the President, and don’t need his reckless rallies that ignore the realities of COVID-19 and endanger public health,” Biden added.

As of yesterday, the coro-navirus had infected 6,452,607 Americans and killed 193,177, making the country by far the hardest-hit in the world for both tolls.

Trump had originally sought to speak at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, but local officials warned the event would violate the state’s ban on gatherings of more than 50

people, aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. The President instead booked a space at the Minden-Tahoe Airport, a smaller airport 69km south of the original venue.

It’s the kind of political fight that Trump’s team relishes and underscores the growing importance of Nevada in Trump’s quest for 270 electoral votes as the race against Biden looks tight in a number of pivotal states.

Trump scheduled an event in Minden, about 72km south of Reno. He planned to host a “Latinos for Trump” roundtable today morning in Las Vegas, fol-lowed by an evening rally at a manufacturing facility in neigh-boring Henderson.

Trump narrowly lost Nevada in 2016 to Hillary Clinton, and the state has trended further toward the Democrats in the past decade. But Trump’s campaign has invested heavily in the state, relying on its ground game to turn out voters. Democrats, by contrast, have largely relied on virtual campaign efforts during

the pandemic. “The Democrats are scared. They know Pres-ident Trump has the momentum,” said the state GOP chairman, Michael McDonald.

Bill Stepien, Trump’s cam-paign manager, told reporters in recent days that he was encouraged by where things stood in Nevada. But there has been a scarcity of public polling in the state.

Nationally, polls show Biden maintaining a lead over Trump, though recent polls in many of the battleground states suggest a much tighter race.

The tightening race in a

number of the most contested states has led to a renewed effort for Trump to expand his electoral map.

The campaign has lavished attention on three Great Lakes states that flipped his way nar-rowly in 2016. Several polls earlier this summer suggested Trump may be in trouble, but a handful in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin following the nominating conventions showed a close race.

Polling in North Carolina and Florida also shows a com-petitive race, and there is increasing concern within the

Trump campaign about Arizona. Once considered fairly safely in Trump’s column, Arizona has been ravaged by the corona-virus and the Trump team has grown worried about a slip in support among the state’s older residents.

The President on Monday planned to return to Arizona, which he has visited multiple times since he resumed traveling during the pandemic. If Arizona slips away, Trump campaign officials privately acknowledge that it would complicate his path to 270 elec-toral votes.

Supporters of US President Donald Trump hold rallies in a New Jersey town in Parsippany, yesterday.

US 'expelled' 8,800 migrant children under virus rulesREUTERS — WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump’s administration has expelled about 8,800 unaccompanied migrant children intercepted at the US-Mexico border since March 20 under rules seeking to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to court doc-uments filed on Friday by the Justice Department.

The administration had declined to disclose the numbers since June, when it

said about 2,000 children had been expelled. Immigration advocates had argued that many more were likely subject to the rules, but the scope of the expul-sions was not clear until Friday.

The administration imple-mented new border rules on March 21 that scrapped decades-old practices under laws meant to protect children from human trafficking and offer them a chance to seek asylum in a US immigration court. The admin-istration said the emergency rules were designed to avert coronavirus

outbreaks inside migrant holding facilities and among the broader US population.

Since then, US officials have been quickly removing migrants, including unaccompanied minors, without standard immi-gration proceedings.

Trump, seeking re-election on November 3, has taken a hard line toward legal and illegal immigration as president. Immi-gration advocates have argued that the new regulations put migrants, especially children, at grave risk. The federal

government has been holding them for days or sometimes weeks in hotels with unlicensed contractors to look after them.

Attorneys have said the chil-dren’s personal information is not recorded in the usual com-puter systems, making them almost impossible to track.

In June, US Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan said that about 2,000 unaccompanied children had been expelled under the order.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the administration

over the order in June, and the agency has declined to update the numbers since then, citing pending litigation. The gov-ernment produced the figures in a Justice Department filing to the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals objecting to a Sept. 4 order that it stop holding children in hotels before expelling them.

In addition to expelling about 8,800 children, the gov-ernment said it had expelled 159,000 migrants overall, and 7,600 family units.

Tropical system to bring flooding rains across Gulf coast

BLOOMBERG — FLORIDA

A tropical depression west of Miami will likely become a hurricane once it gets over the warm Gulf of Mexico waters and is set to bring flooding rains along the coastline from the Florida Panhandle to New Orleans next week.

The storm, likely to be called Sally once its winds reach 63km per hour, will probably make landfall between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, the National Hurricane Center said. Its top winds are likely to reach 75 mph by late Monday, which would make it a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.

Its structure and path mean it won’t have a great effect on offshore oil and natural gas fields, and it will miss areas devastated by Hur-ricane Laura in August.

Flooding is the primary risk: the system could bring 10 to 20 inches of rain along the Gulf coast, said James Geb-hardt, a meteorologist with Maxar. “It is going to slow down. There will be heavy rains from Monday through early Thursday. It is a large rainmaker.”

Tallying Costs On its current track, the storm looks set to cause about $1bn of losses and damage, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research. If it blows water from Lake Pontchar-train toward New Orleans, or the flooding gets worse, there’s a chance the costs will rise.

The evolving system is cur-rently dubbed the season’s 19th by the National Hurricane Center. If it takes the moniker Sally, though, it will be 2020’s 18th named storm in the Atlantic, the earliest that tally has been reached in records going back to 1851, said Phil Klotzbach, lead author of Colorado State University’s seasonal hurricane forecast.

The previous record was set by Stan, which formed in October 2005. So far seven storms have hit the US in 2020, including Laura, which devas-tated southwest Louisiana, and Hurricane Isaias, which tempo-rarily knocked out power to millions in the Northeast.

Tropical Storm Paulette is also forecast to strengthen into a hurricane as it nears Bermuda late on Sunday and a hurricane warning has been issued.

Fauci disagrees with Trump on virus,cites disturbing US statisticsREUTERS — WASHINGTON

Top government infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday that he dis-agreed with President Donald Trump’s assessment the United States has “rounded the corner” on the coronavirus pandemic, saying the statistics are disturbing.

Fauci, the outspoken director of the National Insti-tutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the United States was starting the flu season with a high baseline of around 40,000 new COVID-19 cases a day and deaths are averaging around 1,000 daily.

Trump, who has admitted playing down the severity of the virus since it emerged early this presidential election year, said on Thursday that he believed

the United States was “rounding the corner” on the crisis.

“I have to disagree with that, because, if you look at the thing that you just mentioned, the statistics... they are dis-turbing,” Fauci said on MSNBC.

“If you’re talking about getting back to a degree of nor-mality which resembles where we were prior to COVID, it’s going to be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021,” he said.

Fauci said he hoped the country did not see a spike in cases after the Labor Day weekend as it did after other long holiday weekends since May.

It was important to get those infection rates down before the autumn and winter seasons when people will be spending more time indoors.

“You don’t want to start off already with a baseline that’s so high,” Fauci said.

Asked about the outdoor campaign rallies Trump has resumed before his November 3 matchup against Democrat Joe Biden, Fauci said they are “absolutely” risky.

“Just because you’re out-doors does not mean that you’re protected, particularly if you’re in a crowd and you’re not wearing masks,” he said.

Fauci, who has contradicted Trump’s statements about the virus, denies the administration is pressuring him to keep quiet.

“Anybody that tries to tell me what to say publicly, if they know anything about me, realizes that’s a fool’s errand,” Fauci said. “No one is ever going to pressure me or muzzle me to say anything publicly.”

Pelosi voices optimism about passing coronavirus aid billREUTERS — WASHINGTON

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday said she was opti-mistic about Congress passing coronavirus relief legislation before the November 3 presi-dential election.

“I’m optimistic. I do think that we should have an agreement,” Pelosi said in a CNN interview. “That’s what we all want.”

The US Senate on Thursday killed a Republican bill that would have provided around $300bn in new coronavirus aid, as Democrats seeking far more funding — around $3 trillion — prevented it from advancing.

Pelosi said she was proud to see Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer “reject that ter-rible skinny bill to a massive problem that we have”. She did not refer to any planned

negotiations with the White House or congressional Repub-lican leaders on a new bill.

President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has become a focus of the 2020 presidential race. The pandemic has led to the deaths of more than 190,000 people in the United States and more than 910,000 worldwide.

Earlier this year, Congress rapidly passed four bills pro-viding about $3 trillion to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Democratic-controlled House passed a fifth bill in May that would provide another $3 trillion in aid, but the Repub-lican-led Senate did not take it up. The Republican bill defeated on Thursday would have renewed a federal unemployment benefit, but at a lower level than Democrats sought.

The Floyd family, led by their Attorney Ben Crump, hold their fists up outside the Hennepin County Family Justice Center during a court hearing for police officers charged in death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, on Friday.

Floyd death case: Judge bars ‘sloppy’ prosecutorsREUTERS — MINNEAPOLIS

The judge in the criminal case against four former Minne-apolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death dis-qualified four local prosecutors on Friday because of “sloppy” work, while a special prose-cutor said the defendants had “acted together” and should face trial together.

The hearing before Hen-nepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill focused on various motions in the criminal case arising from Floyd’s death.

It was the first time all four defendants — Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — appeared together since the May 25 death of Floyd, who was Black.

Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. He faces the most serious charge of second-degree murder.

While Cahill did not rule on any major motions, he dealt a blow to the prosecution by dis-qualifying Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and three other lawyers in his office from participating in the case because of a meeting they had with the medical examiner with no outside attorneys present. The medical examiner is the official who looked into the cause of death.

“It was sloppy not to have someone present. Those four attorneys are off the case,” Cahill said. “They are now witnesses."

16SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2020

W ALRUWAIS : 31o → 38o W ALKHOR : 30o → 40o W DUKHAN : 28o → 38o W WAKRAH : 29o → 38o W MESAIEED : 29o → 39o W ABUSAMRA : 28o → 42o

Misty at places at first becomes hot daytime with local clouds and chance of scattered rain.

Minimum Maximum30oC 42oC

WEATHER TODAY

LOW TIDE 05:32 – 22:29

HIGH TIDE 14:11 – 00:00

PRAYER TIMINGSPPPPRAYRRRAAAYARA MMMIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGMMMMMMMMMIIINNNNNNGGGGNNNNGGGIINNNNGNNNNNNNNN

PRAYERTIMINGS

FAJRSUNRISE

04.01 am 05.19 am

DHUHR 11.30 am

ISHA 07.09 pmMAGHRIBASR 02.58 pm

05.39 pm

New film makes stark warningabout extinction of species AFP — LONDON

Renowned TV naturalist David Attenborough, in a new docu-mentary, gives his starkest warning yet for humanity to safeguard species from mass extinction for the sake of our own survival.

His one-hour fi lm “Extinction: The Facts”, airing today on the BBC in Britain, does not hold back in por-traying the devastating conse-quences of mankind’s encroachment on natural hab-itats — and draws a clear link to pandemics such as the coro-navirus crisis.

It comes after international experts warned in a report this week that global animal, bird and fish populations have plummeted more than two-thirds in less than 50 years due to humanity’s rampant over-consumption.

“We are facing a crisis,” Attenborough warns at the start of the documentary, according to the BBC, “and one that has consequences for us all”.

The broadcaster said the programme contained “horrific scenes of destruction”, such as monkeys leaping from trees into a river to escape a huge fire. In another, a koala limps

across a road in a doomed search for shelter from a forest blaze. The new film from the maker of “Blue Planet” and “Planet Earth” also tracks the suspected origins of COVID-19 to populations of bats living in caves in the Chinese province of Yunnan.

It shows the Chinese “wet market” in the city of Wuhan, specialising in the sale of wild animals for human con-sumption, which scientists believe was at the root of this year’s deadly pandemic.

The film gives dramatic visual reinforcement to this week’s Living Planet Index report, which warned that con-tinued loss of natural habitats increases the risk of future pan-demics as humans come into ever closer contact with wild animals.

Attenborough also portrays the world’s last two northern white rhinos, a mother and daughter in Central Africa.

“Over the course of my life I’ve encountered some of the

world’s most remarkable species of animals,” the 94-year-old said. “Only now do I realise just how lucky I’ve been — many of these wonders seem set to disappear forever.” There is hope, however, as Attenborough retraces an iconic film he made in the 1970s showing a fast-dwindling band of mountain gorillas on the border between Rwanda and the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo.

Their population has recovered from just 250 then to more than 1,000, thanks to a determined conservation campaign in Rwanda, and Attenborough meets the off-spring of a playful young female he met four decades ago.

“I may not be here to see it, but if we make the right deci-sions at this critical moment, we can safeguard our planet’s eco-systems, its extraordinary bio-diversity and all its inhabitants,” he concludes in the docu-mentary. “What happens next is up to every one of us.”

Oscar-tipped road movie ‘Nomadland’ races between festivalsAFP — LOS ANGELES

Frances McDormand’s Oscar-t i p p e d r o a d m o v i e “Nomadland” raced from Venice to Toronto to California on Friday as major global festivals joined forces to jump-start the pandemic-struck film industry.

The movie about a com-munity of elderly, nomadic ide-alists who roam across America in worn-out vans was greeted by raucous honking horns and flashing headlights at a drive-in US premiere in Pasadena, on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Hours earlier, double Oscar-winner McDormand had received loud applause in Venice for her role as a widow

forced to take to the road after a mine closes, wiping her tiny community from the map.

“I told my husband... when I turned 65, I was gonna change my name to Fern, start smoking Lucky Strikes and hit the road in my RV. I got to do that four years early,” McDormand told the California screening.

Speaking to an audience of Hollywood industry and press — unable to travel to foreign festivals this year due to coro-navirus — McDormand said living on the road in basic con-ditions during filming had taught her humility.

The movie has received glowing reviews, with the Hol-lywood Reporter calling it “a unique portrait of outsider

existence” and Variety a “tender ode to American inde-pendence.” Its fast-rising director Chloe Zhao will oversee next year’s Marvel superhero epic “Eternals.” In regular years, movie festivals compete to host world pre-mieres of such buzzy titles.

But a truce has been struck in 2020, with Toronto festival co-head Cameron Bailey telling AFP it “didn’t make sense to be competitive this year, with so much at stake.”

The night’s California screening was organised by the Telluride festival — one of several forced to entirely cancel its regular screenings due to a pandemic that has delayed the Oscars and halted filming

across Hollywood.Also debuting in multiple

timezones this week was “One Night in Miami,” an adaptation of a play imagining a heated 1964 motel room conversation between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown.

Director Regina King (“Watchmen”) told a Toronto festival virtual press conference she “wanted to do a film that was a love story with a his-torical backdrop.” As well as depicting the four men’s real-life friendship, the movie examines how each coped with the hostility faced by successful African-American men in the civil rights era.

Completed in the wake of

George Floyd’s killing and mass anti-racism protests this summer, the movie’s themes are “just as relevant now as they were 60 years ago,” added King.

Halle Berry, another Academy Award-winning actress showing her debut feature as director in Toronto, said it was “heartbreaking” no other black woman had won the best actress Oscar since her triumph for “Monster’s Ball” almost two decades ago.

She stars as a former martial arts fighter struggling to regain custody of her son in “Bruised,” reportedly purchased by Netflix on Friday, hours before its Toronto premiere.

9/11 Tribute in LightThe Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center are seen as the Tribute in Light shines in downtown Manhattan to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on Friday.

Antarctica is still free of coronavirus. Can it stay that way?AP — JOHANNESBURG

At this very moment a vast world exists that’s free of the coronavirus, where people can mingle without masks and watch the pandemic unfold from thousands of miles away.

That world is Antarctica, the only continent without COVID-19. Now, as nearly 1,000 scientists and others who win-tered over on the ice are seeing the sun for the first time in weeks or months, a global effort wants to make sure incoming colleagues don’t bring the virus with them.

From the UK’s Rothera Research Station off the Ant-arctic peninsula that curls toward the tip of South America, field guide Rob Taylor described

what it’s like in “our safe little bubble.” In pre-coronavirus days, long-term isolation, self-reliance and psychological strain were the norm for Ant-arctic teams while the rest of the world saw their life as fas-cinatingly extreme.

How times have changed.“In general, the freedoms

afforded to us are more extensive than those in the UK at the height of lockdown,” said Taylor, who arrived in October and has missed the pandemic entirely. “We can ski, socialise normally, run, use the gym, all within reason.” Like teams across Antarctica, including at the South Pole, Taylor and his 26 colleagues must be proficient in all sorts of tasks in a remote, communal environment with

little room for error. They take turns cooking, make weather observations and “do a lot of sewing,” he said.

Good Internet connections mean they’ve watched closely as the pandemic circled the rest of the planet. Until this year, conversations with incoming colleagues focused on preparing the newcomers. Now the advice goes both ways.

“I’m sure there’s a lot they can tell us that will help us adapt to the new way of things,” Taylor said. “We haven’t had any practice at social distancing yet!”

At New Zealand’s Scott Base, rounds of mini-golf and a filmmaking competition with other Antarctic bases have been highlights of the Southern

Hemisphere’s winter, which ended for the Scott team when they spotted the sun last Friday. It had been away since April.

“I think there’s a little bit of dissociation,” Rory O’Connor, a doctor and the team’s winter leader, said of watching the pandemic from afar.

“You acknowledge it cere-brally, but I don’t think we have fully factored in the emotional turmoil it must be causing.” His family in the UK still wouldn’t trade places with him. “They can’t understand why I came down here,” he joked. “Months of darkness. Stuck inside with a small group of people. Where’s the joy in that?” O’Connor said they will be able to test for the virus once col-leagues start arriving as soon as

Monday, weeks late because a huge storm dumped 20-feet snowdrifts. Any virus case will spark a “red response level,” he said, with activities stripped down to providing heating, water, power and food.

While COVID-19 has rattled some diplomatic ties, the 30 countries that make up the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs teamed up early to keep the virus out. Offi-cials cite unique teamwork among the United States, China, Russia and others that else-where might engage in diplo-matic sniping.

As a frightened world was locking down in March, the Ant-arctic programmes agreed the pandemic could become a major disaster.

People walk past a poster for the Disney movie “Mulan” at a bus stop on the day the movie opened in Beijing, on Friday.

After much anticipation, ‘Mulan’ opens with stinging reviews in ChinaBLOOMBERG

After days of controversy, Walt Disney Co.’s “Mulan” received mixed reception at its Friday debut in China, a crucial market for the $200m live-action remake based on a Chinese folk song. Stinging local reviews criticising the way the movie presents Chinese culture — particularly the makeup of female characters that some found too comical or scary — have discouraged some movie goers from heading to the cinemas.

Disney’s drawing power is being put to the test in the world’s second-largest film market at a time when the enter-tainment giant is counting on the success of “Mulan” to help revive

revenue growth hit by the coro-navirus pandemic. Chinese tick-eting platforms are predicting disappointing sales for the movie, which was originally scheduled to release almost six months ago.

As of Friday afternoon, “Mulan” grossed about 83 million yuan ($12.1m), and total collec-tions may reach about 311 million yuan, ticketing platform and data aggregator Maoyan Enter-tainment estimates.

That compares with the pre-dicted Chinese ticket sales of 462 million yuan for “Tenet,” the Warner Bros. blockbuster released last week. Chinese-language his-torical war drama “The Eight Hundred,” has taken in 2.6 billion yuan so far of the predicted 3 billion yuan, Maoyan said.

Visionary UK

designer Terence

Conran dies at 88

AGENCIES — LONDON

British designer Terence Conran, whose Habitat chain brought high-end furniture and homeware to the high street in the Swinging Sixties, died yesterday at the age of 88.

Conran “passed away peacefully today” at his imposing country house outside London, his family said in a statement, acclaiming him as a “visionary who enjoyed an extraordinary life and career”.

Born in London’s suburbs in 1931, Conran began his career making and selling fur-niture before opening restau-rants across the capital and launching Habitat in 1964.

The chain made chic designs accessible to the middle classes, and Conran was credited with pioneering flat-pack furniture years before Swedish giant Ikea con-quered the world.

In 1989, he founded the Design Museum in London.

“Terence Conran was instrumental in the re-designing of post-war Britain and his legacy is huge,” the museum’s director Tim Marlow said.

“He is revered by genera-tions of designers, from Mary Quant and David Mellor to Thomas Heatherwick and (Apple’s) Jony Ive,” he added.

Conran bought the Michelin Building in London in 1987, refurbishing it to become a home for the Conran Shop, Octopus publishing and the Bibendum restaurant.

Conran's ambitions expanded across the Atlantic. As early as 1976, he opened a Habitat shop at the Citicorp. building in Manhattan under the name Conran.

In the 1990s, his interna-tional operations grew further, with the opening of a Conran Shop in Tokyo in 1994. Con-ran's five children — Sebastian, Jasper, Tom, Sophie and Ned — from his four marriages have followed in their father's footsteps, forging successful careers in the creative sector.

Experts say global animal, bird and fish populations have plummeted more than two-thirds in less than 50 years due to humanity’s rampant over-consumption.