Friday 28 August 2020

9 Muharram - 1442

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8363

Choose the network of heroes Enjoy the Internet

SPORT | 16BUSINESS | 12

Fed to allow inflation to rise to

maximise job growth: Powell

After long playing career, Meshal eyes new chapter in football

Amir and US Secretary of State discuss strategic tiesQNA — DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held via tele-phone a conversation with Secretary of State of United States of America H E Mike Pompeo.

During the call, H H the Amir and H E the US Secretary of State discussed friendship relations and strategic coop-eration between the two coun-tries and means of enhancing them, in addition to discussing key regional and international developments.

Back to school: Guidelines for students to apply for chronic condition certificateTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has announced the criteria and guidelines for students to apply for a chronic condition certificate, which will allow a child exempted from attending school in person, in the first semester of 2020/21 academic year.

Students who suffer from chronic diseases and students who have a first degree relative with a chronic disease living in the same house can apply for an exemption from attending school in person if they wish, the Ministry said.

Students who fit the above criteria must apply for an approved medical certificate and submit this to their school along with their national address certificate.

Chronic condition certif-icate can be obtained via the MyHealth Patient Portal from today (August 28). The Ministry said that all patients (students) with a chronic condition who have been cared for at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) or Primary Health Care Corpo-ration (PHCC) will automati-cally have a certificate available for them in the portal.

The patients with chronic conditions who have not yet registered for the Patient Portal should do so immediately in order to access their certificate while the registration and

activation will take approxi-mately 24 hours.

Also all patients with a chronic condition who have a valid health card and have been cared for at HMC or PHCC can

request a certificate via an online form. https://ibusiness.wufoo.com/forms/qvaxov40lam2dh/

Certificates will be proc-essed and emailed to patients within seven days of the request.

Patient can complete a request form available on the PHCC webpage for all registered patients with a valid health card https://eservices.phcc.gov.qa/Runtime/Runtime/Form/ReleaseInformationRequest/

While, patients with chronic conditions and valid health card, but who have not previ-ously been cared for at an HMC or PHCC facility (and therefore do not have their condition doc-umented in their patient record), will need to make an appointment at their health center in order to record their chronic condition. According to the Ministry, patients can make an appointment and request at the health center for this certificate.

Patients with chronic con-ditions who do not have a valid health card can contact any semi-private or private health center in Qatar to request cer-tificate. A fee will be applied at private centers.

For more information related to school medical exemption certificates, people can call the HMC customer service team, Nesma’ak, on 16060 or PHCC’s customer service team, Hayyak, on 107.

To mention, the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation (MoEHE) has announced changes to its previous back-to-school plan for the 2020/21 academic year.

MoCI issues norms for malls and shopping centres in 4th phase of easing restrictionsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has issued guidelines for malls and other shopping centres as part of the fourth phase of the gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

This decision which will come into effect on Tuesday (September 1, 2020) taken to complement previous decisions issued by the State of Qatar to preserve the safety and health of citizens and residents and limit the spread of (COVID-19).

As per the decision, it will be allowed to reopen food courts in malls and shopping centres, provided that the number of cus-tomers does not exceed 30 percent of the normal capacity.

Prayer rooms in malls and shopping centres will reopen according to the capacity spec-ified by the concerned authorities, the Ministry made announcement on its official Twitter account.

Cinemas will be allowed to resume their activities in accordance with the capacity, procedures and preventive measures, specified that persons under the age of 18 are not permitted to enter. It was announced earlier that the occupancy should be a maximum of 15 percent.

It will be allowed to use of trial rooms following specific health requirements. Children’s barbershops will resume their work in accordance with the precautionary measures set for barbershops for adults, following prior appointment system and compulsory masks for children, companions and the hairstylists. It is not allowed to receive more than two children in barbers shop at a time and one com-panion per child is allowed to be

inside the shop.Children will be allowed to

enter malls and shopping centres, including retail shops and restaurants, while adhering to the precautionary and pre-ventive measures.

The decision to close play areas, amusement parks and skating rinks will continue, and it is prohibited to hold any artistic, cultural, or enter-tainment activities inside the malls and shopping centres.

Malls and shopping centres must adhere to the precau-tionary measures and pre-ventive measures set by the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Administrative

Development, Labour and Social Affairs, and they must implement the guidelines.

A visitors can enter only after showing a green status on the Ehtraz app. People without medical face masks are not allowed and visitors are required to wear them throughout the time they stay in a mall.

Measuring the temperature of visitors at the entrances is man-datory and individuals whose temperature exceeds 38 degrees Celsius are not allowed to enter the malls and shopping centres.

Hand sanitisers should be provided in all commercial complex facilities. Visitors will be educated to adhere to a safe

distance of at least two metres. It is not allowed to receive over 50 percent of the normal capacity of the commercial complex.

Smoking will be banned at the entrances of a mall and all ashtrays will be removed. Vis-itors and limousine drivers are asked to not to gather at the entrances to the mall.

The shops operating inside the malls and commercial centres are required to examine and measure body temperature of the workers continuously, isolate employees who show symptoms of infection and inform the authorities con-cerned to take the necessary precautionary and health

measures.They should implement

remote working system for employees over the age of 60, pregnant women, or individuals with chronic diseases. Shops should be committed to con-stantly sterilise fitting rooms handles, chairs and counters.

They are also required to set the maximum number of pieces that a single customer can try per day, provided that the maximum number does not exceed three pieces. The con-cerned shops have the right to specify a smaller number.

Shops should be committed to sterilising clothes that were measured and not purchased, and items that were returned by customers, and shops will not display them on shelves and set them aside for a period of not less than 24 hours.

They will put safety distance stickers on store floors and receive customers according to the store’s capacity, provided that it is not less than nine square metres per person.

The shops have been asked to encourage customers to pay with bank cards and avoiding the use of paper currencies. It is also required to keep steri-lising all facilities of the com-mercial store, including admin-istrative offices, warehouses, staff accommodations and means of transportation belonging to the store.

This decision shall be effective as of Tuesday, Sep-tember 1, 2020, and it is subject to amendment and updating according to developments in this regard, and any violation of what was stipulated, this decision exposes the perpe-trators to legal action and accountability.

Restaurants with ‘Qatar Clean’ certificate can operate with full capacityTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has issued guidelines for restaurants as part of the fourth phase of the gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

This decision which will come into effect as of Tuesday (September 1) came in comple-menting previous decisions taken by the State of Qatar to preserve the safety and health of citizens and residents and limit the spread of COVID-19.

As per the MoCI decision, all restaurants (that do not have a Qatar Clean certificate) will be allowed to resume their activ-ities (receiving customers) with only 30 percent capacity, while adhering to the requirements of the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.

Restaurants with a ‘Qatar Clean’ certificate will be allowed to carry out their activities (receiving customers) with 100 percent capacity, instead of 50 percent, while adhering to the requirements of the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.

The conditions for obtaining approval to work with a capacity of 100 percent includes registration for the Qatar Clean certificate on the website www.qatarclean.com

Any applicant can download the restaurant checklist form, fill in the required information and send it to the email address: restau-rants@qatarclean. The guide-lines are also available on the website. To view requirements for restaurant activities, the applicant can visit the Ministry of Public Health website: www.moph.gov.qa �P2

Food courts in commercial complexes allowed to reopen from September 1; customers not to exceed 30% of capacity.

Prayer rooms in commercial complexes and shopping centres will reopen.

Children will be allowed to enter commercial complexes and shopping centres, including retail shops and restaurants.

Cinemas will be allowed to resume their activities barring individuals below 18 years.

Fitting rooms at shopping complexes to follow specific health requirements.

Qatar Clean certificate can be obtained by registering on the website www.qatarclean.com.

Restaurant management should adhere to the precautionary and preventive measures.

Open buffet service not allowed and the restaurants can offer only food mentioned in predefined menus.

Six peoplearrested for violating homequarantine rulesQNA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health announced yesterday that the competent authorities arrested six people who violated the requirements of the home quarantine they had committed to follow and for which they are legally accountable for, in accordance with the procedures of the health authorities in the country.

It is in implementation of the precautionary measures in force in the country, approved by health author-ities represented in the Min-istry of Public Health (MoPH) to ensure the achievement of public safety and to curb the spread of the novel coro-navirus disease (COVID-19). �P2

Students who suffer chronic

diseases

Students who have a first degree relative with a

chronic disease living in the same house

1

2

Via an online request

form

2

Via MyHealth Patient Portal

Via PHCC

website

At a primary health center

1

3

4

At a semi-government or private health

center

5

OFFICIAL NEWS

02 FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020HOME

Amir congratulates President of Moldova

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani sent yesterday cables of congratu-lations to President of the Republic of Moldova H E Igor Dodon on the anniversary of his country’s Inde-pendence Day.

Prime Minister and Minis-ter of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani also sent a cable of congratulations to Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova H E Ion Chicu on the anniversary of his country’s Inde-pendence Day. -QNA

Shura Council participates in webinar on climate changeQNA — DOHA

The Shura Council partici-pated yesterday in a parlia-mentary webinar titled 'Compliance and Implemen-tation under the Paris Agreement', organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the United Nat ions Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law.

During the webinar, discus-sions focused on exchanging best practices and current leg-islation to clarify how the par-ticipating parties can establish structures of law and gov-ernance for the optimal imple-mentation of the provisions of

the Paris Agreement, and dis-cussing how to coordinate between the local legislative and executive bodies to activate i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e g a l obligations.

Shura Council member H E Yousef bin Ahmed Al Kuwari (pictured) represented the Council in the webinar.

International praise for Qatar’s commitment to Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventionsQNA — DOHA

The Secretariat of Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions on chemical and hazardous wastes have praised the State of Qatar’s commitment to implementing their provi-sions and cooperation in sending all reports related to the ban on the import and use of chemicals.

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment, represented by the national point of contact for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions at the Department of Radiation Pro-tection and Chemicals, received a letter of thanks and appreci-ation from the Secretariat, as the Ministry had banned the use and import of some chemicals

that were added to Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention at the latest meeting of the parties (COP-9).

The Ministry’s decision to ban the use and importation of some materials came on the basis of the environmental and health risks resulting from these chemicals use. The Ministry rec-ommended companies to use alternatives to these materials, within the framework of the State of Qatar’s constant keenness, as a signatory to international conventions, to implement their provisions.

The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions are multilateral environmental agreements, which share the common objective of protecting human health and the envi-

ronment from hazardous chem-icals and wastes.

In another context, the Environmental Monitoring and Laboratory Department of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment received a number of the latest devices for monitoring the quality of the marine environment, and trained a team of its staff on how to use and calibrate the devices in direct monitoring, with the aim of supporting pro-grammes to protect the marine environment in the country.

For its part, Al Rayyan municipality, in cooperation with a consulting services company, organised a number of training courses on the measures taken to limit the impact and spread of the novel coronavirus

(COVID-19) for workers in the food field in hotels, restaurants, public kitchens and consumer complexes.

Meanwhile, During the first half of the current year, the Department of Services Affairs in Umm Salal Municipality planted (1,304) trees (Spina-Christi and Washingtonia) on the service lane parallel to Al Shamal Road, Al Sanea Station, Umm Al Amad and Umm Salal Ali entrances, in addition to planting (451) thousand flower seedlings in the municipality’s gardens.

Al Rayyan municipality also organised a number of educa-tional and agricultural activities in cooperation with the Public Parks Department in a number of kindergartens and schools.

Qatar condemns attack in AfghanistanDOHA: The State of Qatar has voiced its strong condemnation and denun-ciation of the attack, which targeted a military checkpoint in northern Afghanistan, and left deaths and two injuries.

In a statement issued yester-day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the firm position of the State of Qatar on rejecting violence and terrorism, regardless of motives and reasons.

The statement expressed the State of Qatar’s condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Afghan-istan, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.-QNA

Vice-President of National Service Academy affirms pioneering role of the academyQNA — DOHA

Vice-President of the National Service Academy Brigadier General Ahmed Saud Al Kuwari affirmed the Academy’s pioneering role and its prom-inent role in nurturing future men, developing the sense of patriotism among intrepid persons and providing them with the capabilities to defend the homeland and its gains.

This came during the intro-ductory meeting organised by the Academy yesterday to receive the 14th batch of high school grad-uates 2020-2021, in the presence of the President of the Academy Staff Major General H E Saeed bin Hamad Al Nuaimi, parents and alumni.

Brigadier General Al Kuwari explained that the Academy’s programmes go through three stages, starting with foundation training, then specialised training, and the final phase, which aimed at enhancing skills and academic education.

During the meeting, the important aspects in the life of the intrepid were explained by a group of academy officers, as they touched upon the condi-tions of admission, the duration

of training, the requirements and duties in the life of the intrepid.

An introductory overview of the academy and the services it provides on the training,

academic and health levels in addition to moral guidance was also presented.

The academic programme of the National Service Academy aims to urge students

who do not have a high school diploma to complete their study in coordination with the Min-istry of Education and Higher Education, to qualify and prepare students to enroll in

universities inside and outside the State of Qatar, and to provide academic programmes with earned academic hours in cooperation with a number of educational institutions.

Restaurants with ‘Qatar Clean’ certificate can operate with full capacity

FROM PAGE 1

According to the decision, the restaurant management should adhere to the precau-tionary and preventive measures set by the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, and they must apply the following guidelines.

Customers are allowed to enter only after showing a green status on the Ehtraz app. Open buffet service not allowed and the restaurants can only rely on predefined menus. Shisha will also be not allowed.

Entry of people not wearing medical masks will be pro-hibited. It is mandatory to measure the temperature of customers at entrances and not allow individuals whose tem-perature is more than 38

degrees Celsius to enter a restaurant.

It is necessary to provide hand sanitizers at all restaurant facilities, to place safe distance stickers on restaurant floors and to rearrange tables leaving a distance of at least two meters between each table.

A maximum of five people allowed to sit at any table (members of one family are excluded from this). Restau-rants will encourage customers to pay with bank cards and avoid using paper currencies.

Smoking at entrances of restaurants will be prohibited therefore the restaurants will remove all ashtrays. Customers and limousine drivers will be not allowed to make gatherings at the restaurant entrance.

The decision also requires to keep checking and

measuring the temperature of the restaurant workers con-stantly, isolating employees who show symptoms of infection and informing the concerned authorities to take the necessary precautionary and health measures.

All restaurant facilities, including administrative offices, warehouses, staff accommodations and transpor-tation facilities of the res-taurant, are constantly sterilised.

This decision shall be effective as of Tuesday, Sep-tember 1, 2020, and it is subject to amendment and updating according to developments in this regard, and any violation of what this decision stipulated will expose the perpetrators to legal procedures and accountability.

MoPH: 239 more recover,246 new confirmed casesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 246 new confirmed COVID-19 cases. According to the Ministry among them 230 cases were from the community and 16 were travelers returning from abroad.

Another 239 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 114,797. All new cases have been introduced to isolation and are receiving necessary healthcare according to their health status.

In addition, the Ministry has announced one new death due to COVID-19. The person aged 83, was receiving the necessary medical care.

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

The Ministry asked people to be careful and protect the most vulnerable, while COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted.

“Even though restrictions are being lifted, and numbers are declining, this does not mean that the COVID-19 pan-demic is finished in Qatar – every day between 50 and 100 people are admitted to hospital with moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms,” said the Ministry.

QRCS backs Gaza Municipality's efforts against COVID-19THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has responded to the pressure on the health and services authorities of Gaza due to the 14-year blockade and the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, by providing much-needed aid to control the pandemic.

Currently, QRCS’s represen-tation mission in Gaza is working on a project to provide urgent COVID-19 preventive aid to Palestine’s Ministry of Health (MOH), the blockade’s main health service provider, with a total budget of $95,000.

The procurements accom-plished so far included 800 COVID-19 rapid test kits, as well

as disinfectants, gloves, and medical consumables delivered to MOH’s warehouses.

Also, 13,000 litres of disin-fectant (sodium hypochlorite), shoe covers, and heavy leather gloves were supplied to the Municipality of Gaza to enable them to clean and disinfect quarantine facilities and public places.

Dr. Ramy Al Abadleh, Infection Control Officer at MOH, said his ministry had to date recorded 81 confirmed cases, put under observation at the isolation hospital, in addition to thousands of quar-antine suspected cases.

“Everyday assessment, follow-up, and swabbing proc-esses are in progress. The 800

rapid test kits provided by QRCS were important for MOH, as the latter is taking ongoing

measures to protect the pas-sengers returning to Gaza, in an attempt to prevent and control

the spread of the virus, in the teeth of a growing shortage in medicines and medical sup-plies,” said Dr. Al Abadleh.

Eng. Maher Salem, Water and Sewage Consultant at the Municipality of Gaza, said the new supplies by QRCS would enhance the preventive measures adopted by the municipality to fight the pan-demic. “Municipality service providers will be protected against infection while dealing with solid waste, especially at quarantine facilities,” he added.

Dr. Akram Nassar, head of QRCS’s mission in Gaza, explained that this aid is an emergency response to min-imise the spread of the virus.

QRCS representative delivers disinfectants, shoe covers, and heavy leather gloves to the Municipality of Gaza.

Awqaf to reopen 150 additional mosques todayQNA — DOHA

The Ministry of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs has announced that 150 additional mosques will reopen to receive worshipers, starting from Friday prayers today.

These 150 mosques are added to the list of mosques that were previously reopened as part of the implementation of the phases of gradual lifting of the restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Endow-ments stressed the need to adhere to the precautionary measures and health pre-ventive measures when going to mosques. The Ministry affirmed that full compliance with the precautionary measures helps in reaching the full reopening of mosques.

Six people arrestedfor violating homequarantine rules

FROM PAGE 1

They are Mubarak Jaber Mohammed Al Rebeit Al Sunaid; Nasser Salem Abdullah Saeed Noura; Hamad Bakhit Ali Hamad Krouz; Mohammed Ismail Mohammed Ahmad Al Emadi; Walid bin Ezz Al Din Al Fathali and Saeed Shaban Salem Al Jabri.

The violators are currently being referred to prosecution. The authorities concerned called on citizens and residents under home quarantine to fully commit to the Ministry of Public Health’s conditions, to ensure their safety and the safety of others.

President of the National Service Academy, H E Staff Major General Saeed bin Hamad Al Nuaimi, and Vice-President of the National Service Academy, Brigadier General Ahmed Saud Al Kuwari, with alumni and parents attend the introductory meeting to receive the 14th batch of high school graduates 2020-2021, yesterday.

03FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020 HOME

Qatar's Ambassador to Japan visits QFFD’s Maskar ComplexAmbassador of the State of Qatar to Japan, H E Hassan bin Mohammed Rafie Al Emadi and Mayor of Onagawa City, H E Yoshiaki Suda made a visit to the Maskar Complex, a project of Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), for aiding the areas affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan.

Maskar Complex is a 7,760 sq metre multifunctional fish processing facility established in Onagawa, northeast of Japan by QFFD’s Qatar Friendship Fund (QFF) in Japan with a total cost of $22,757,210, part of its projects to support efforts to rebuild the affected areas.

H E the Ambassador of Qatar was accompanied during the visit by Qatar Embassy staff including Min-ister Plenipotentiary H E Abdullah bin Jassim Al Ziyara and Second Secretary Rashid bin Mubarak Al Khater. From the Japanese side, director of

the Onagawa’s education sector and a number of senior government officials.

Head of Maskar Complex delivered a welcoming speech, renewing thanks and gratitude to the State of Qatar for its role in aiding in the areas affected by the natural disasters in Japan.

He also made a presen-tation on the work of the complex, saying that it is a landmark that significantly contributed to revitalising the fishing industry, creating thousands of jobs, improving the livelihood of local resi-dents, and restoring normalcy

to the city of Onagawa and the whole region.

The project is 7,760 square meter multifunctional fish processing facility that was inaugurated in October 2012 and was awarded the Good Design Award by Japan Institute of Design Promotion in 2013.

The Qatar Friendship Fund, financed by the Qatar Fund for Development, has executed 12 projects in Japan, with a total value of $100m. These projects met the urgent and sustainable needs of the residents of the areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and focused on four main areas: education, fish-eries, health care and entrepreneurship.

The Qatar Friendship Fund’s projects in Japan, in addition to their sustainable economic benefits, have left a great moral impact on the res-idents of the affected areas, and have contributed to the consolidation of the strong friendship ties between the peoples of the two countries.

QNA — TOKYO

Sport stars speak on mental health struggles at QF's online event

Some sport legends turned on spotlight on mental health challenges and breaking stigma, during an online event hosted by the World Inno-vation Summit for Health (WISH), Qatar Foundation’s global health initiative, on Wednesday.

The panel on ‘Mental health & sport: The challenge of balancing risk with reward’ featured double Olympic gold medal-winning athlete, Dame Kelly Holmes; former Liv-erpool FC and England foot-baller, Robbie Fowler; ex-Pakistan cricket captain, Wasim Akram; shared about the their struggles with mental illness and how they overcame the challenges.

Dame Kelly Holmes has inspired millions to reach for the stars, but behind closed doors she spent in the grip of anxiety, depression and self-harm. Now, she is using her experience to reach and help others. The double Olympic athletics champion shared

about her experience with mental health problems and explained how since the dev-astating loss of her mum, she is learning to more effectively manage her mental health.

“I self-harmed once for every day I had been injured, and I hid it because I had never known of anyone in my network dealing with the problem I had. Half of me was dying, and half of me was

living for my dream, because I had a World Championship to go to, and that kept me going. I won a silver medal, but nobody knew what was hap-pening with me. I just had to stay focused on my dream and hope that would keep me going,” said Kelly.

“Opening up to people has helped me deal with my life and realise that none of us can be anything more than we are.

Having the mental issues I have had, and learning to deal with them and talk about them, is perhaps one of the greatest successes I have had,” she added.

The cricket legend turned commentator and coach Wasim Akram, regarded as one of the best bowlers of all time told the webinar that at the time of his captaincy, his teammates – and friends

– rebelled against him, and he and his team were accused of deliberately losing a World Cup.

“When my team said they would not play under me, that was a dark time. Imagine playing in a team and not speaking to anyone in it for a month and a half. The culture in Pakistan was that we are mentally very tough and we didn’t talk about mental health. It took me two years to come back from it,” he said.

And Akram was only 29 years old when he was first told that he had Type 1 dia-betes, he got quite depressed. “I thought that won’t be able to play cricket anymore,” he said. But his late wife who was a psychologist had played a major role in his recovery from depression.

Akram also shed light on stigma against mental health problems. “Mental health remains a taboo in our culture and community. This phe-nomenon prevents people from having the awareness and access for help,” he said.

Fowler with a 19-year

football career shared about the challenges that fame and culture poses for young foot-ballers, and of the need for sports stars to be more open about discussing their mental health. “When times are tough having self-belief and thinking positively is so important. Struggling is not failure” he said.

The panel was joined by Professor Claudia Reardon, a psychiatrist specialising in sports at the University of Wis-consin and co-chair of the International Olympic Com-mittee’s working group on mental health and elite ath-letes. “There has been less stigma in recent years, but sport is still one of the final frontiers when it comes to mental health,” she said. “Mental illness is real and treatable like any physical health condition.”

The panel discussion was moderated by BBC sport and news presenter Dan Walker. The event was a fitting kick-off for the upcoming WISH 2020 summit, which will take place virtually from November 15 to 19.

A screengrab from the 'Mental Health & Sport: The challenge of balancing risk with reward' webinar.

FAZEENA SALEEM

THE PENINSULA

Georgetown’s virtual convocation ceremony blends tradition and technology to start new academic yearTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), a QF partner, welcomed 131 first-year students at its annual New Student Convo-cation, a virtual ceremony that recognizes the solemn occasion of the transition to university life and the formal initiation into Georgetown’s academic community.

Hailing from more than 40 different countries, the incoming students represent a broad spectrum of academic experiences and cultural back-grounds, but share a passion for scholarship, demonstrated leadership, and a commitment to their communities.

In his official address to the incoming students, the dean of GU-Q, Dr. Ahmad Dallal (pic-tured) reflected on these traits and on the value of a diverse student body, and said, “Class

of 2024, you are participating in convocation today with stu-dents who share your history of academic excellence and the commitment to service, and yet are different from you in many significant ways. That is the beauty of our community, the unique character of each student that enriches our dia-logue, broadens our

perspectives and sharpens our drive to serve all of humanity.”

With words that conveyed the university’s firm com-mitment to supporting each stu-dent’s academic journey ahead, the president of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Dr John J. DeGioia, said, “Our way of life is characterized by a core set of values that bind us together as a community; a commitment to academic excellence in the pursuit of knowledge; a commitment to engagement and dialogue; a commitment to our commu-nities of faith; and a com-mitment to service - to serving one another, our communities, and our global family.”

Taking part in this year’s convocation ceremony was international student Renée Mutare, who said “When I was growing up, I heard so many stories from the hospital where my mom worked as a nurse, stories based on poor healthcare infrastructure or lack of leadership. I want to take a Georgetown education back to Zimbabwe, and to help find solutions to some of these problems.”

Mohammed Zeyara, an officer cadet in the Academic Officer Programme, a joint project between QF, the Min-istry of Defence, and the Qatari

Armed Forces, also shares this deep commitment to service. His vision for his next four years, is “to build a very flexible discipline, because I am trying to think of the future. The more flexible my discipline, the broader my skill set, and the more I can do with my degree. That means I can help more people.”

For John Ewotu, taking part in Georgetown’s Model United Nations as a delegate for the African Leadership Academy in South Africa convinced him to apply at Qatar Foundation. “The Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) degree that is offered by GU-Q was really what I was looking for as a stepping stone to a career in Foreign Service.”

With the semester just beginning, the Class of 2024 will complete a foundation Liberal Arts programme before choosing a major.

The BSFS degree is offered in International Economics, International Politics, Culture and Politics, or International History, with an option to pursue a minor or earn a Cer-tificate in American Studies, Arab and Regional Studies, or the Media and Politics Certif-icate, a programme offered in collaboration with North-western University in Qatar.

The Head of Maskar Complex renewed thanks and gratitude to the State of Qatar for its role in aiding in the areas affected by the natural disasters in Japan.

Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Japan, H E Hassan bin Mohammed Rafie, and other officials during a visit to the Maskar Complex, in Onagawa, northeast of Japan.

Qatari Forum for Authors discusses emergence of literary forms in QatarQNA — DOHA

The Qatari Forum for Authors discussed during its weekly session on Tuesday the history of the emergence of literary forms in the State of Qatar, which were launched with local newspapers that contributed to establishing a relationship between local writers and readers and helped promote literary production.

The session was held in the Qatari Forum for Authors YouTube channel under the title “Read Me, I am this book” Initiative which was mod-erated by professor of liter-ature and critical studies at Qatar University Dr. Abdelhak Belabed.

During the session, the most important topics dealt with by author Kaltham Jaber Al Kuwari were highlighted, as she was the first Qatari woman to publish a collection of stories in year 1978 that detailed how Qatari women felt at that time in light of the changes that society experi-enced, which led to the gen-eration of mixed feelings; Al Kuwari embodied the indi-vidual crisis within the local community in her various works, which revealed the paradigm shift experienced by Qatari women and the beginning of their partici-pation in social life.

From the 1970s to present day, the book transferred the

peculiarity of society and the changes that gradually occurred to it, including changes in style and themes.

The short story reached artistic maturity in the 1980s.

The short story became the dominant art in the Qatari literary renaissance and Qatari women had a strong presence in the literary field as it was the best way to express women’s issues and concerns.

Among the most prom-inent works is the collection of stories by Al Kuwari titled, ‘You and forest silence and hesitation,’ which expressed the concerns of a generation and heralded a breakthrough for the short story due to the author’s courage in expressing the true feelings of a Qatari young woman looking for change and liberation of the mind.

The session pointed out that Al Kuwari adopted a mediating style between prose and poetry, which is appro-priate to the nature of the topic she dealt with, and con-sidered that her style is one of the truest, most accurate and disciplined methods of expressing human feelings, as she was keen to depict the echoes of reality on herself, her feelings and her heart, which made her writings more like poems as she merged issues with her style to form an integrated artistic unit.

“That is the beauty of our community, the unique character of each student that enriches our dialogue, broadens our perspectives and sharpens our drive to serve all of humanity,” said Dr. Ahmad Dallal.

QSTSS studenttops ‘FutureWriters’ contestTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Student Jassim Sultan Al Mosallam from Qatar Science and Technology Secondary School for Boys (QSTSS) won the first place of the ‘Future Writers’ competition for his story titled ‘My Name is Human’. The fourth edition of the competition was organised by Qatar Charity in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, said the Ministry on its website.

Jassim, along with Rashid Salem Al Athbah from the same school, have progressed to the first-round qualifiers of the competition. Around 2,355 students from 287 different schools nationwide and Qatar University have participated in this edition of the contest.

Future Writers is a pro-grammeme that aims at building and developing the creative and cultural ideas of students of all ages. It further seeks to enrich students’ knowledge and awareness by promoting a culture of reading, writing and thinking.

A screengrab shows representatives from Georgetown University in Qatar’s Class of 2024 during the virtual convocation ceremony.

04 FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

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AFP — PARIS

France yesterday urged Lebanon to undertake serious reform after the devastating Beirut port blast, warning the country risked “disappearing” as a state if it failed.

President Emmanuel Macron is due next week to visit Lebanon to hammer home the message of the need for change which he made on his last trip on August 6, two days after the explosion that left 181 dead.

The Elysee also confirmed a “working document” had been submitted by France to Lebanon ahead of the visit, outlining the issues to be discussed.

France wants to see the rapid formation of a new gov-ernment capable of dealing with Lebanon’s crisis and under-taking key financial reforms including an audit of the central bank.

“The risk today is of Lebanon disappearing so these measures have to be taken,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio.

“They are caught up between themselves in a con-sensus of inactivity,” Le Drian said.

“That can’t go on and we are saying that very clearly.”

“The President of the Republic said it when he went to Lebanon on August 6. He will say it again when he’ll be in Beirut on Tuesday.”

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

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

Premier Hassan Diab’s Cabinet has resigned over the blast, which was blamed on a

store of ammonium nitrate left for years in a port warehouse despite warnings.

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

A French diplomatic source said in Paris that the working document for the visit did not constitute a “roadmap” and France had no intention of meddling in Lebanese affairs.

“But as the president has said ‘a friend needs to be demanding with its friend’. It is this idea of being demanding that requires these elements to be discussed,” said the source, who asked not to be named.

“There is no question of offering a blank cheque,” added the source.

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

Gaza extends virus lockdown after infections spreadREUTERS — GAZA

Gaza will remain in lockdown at least until Sunday, health officials said yesterday after reporting two deaths and 26 new COVID-19 cases in the first public outbreak of the corona-virus in the blockaded Pales-tinian enclave.

As of two days ago, when the first four cases were dis-covered in a refugee camp in the 360 sq km territory, and a 48-hour lockdown was imposed, there had been no infections outside border quar-antine facilities for new arrivals.

But by late yesterday, health officials said 26 people in several locations had tested positive for COVID-19 and two patients had died — a sign the

world pandemic had penetrated Gaza’s forced isolation.

The 40km-long territory run by Hamas Islamists is

sealed off from the outside world by Israeli walls, watch-towers and gunboats along 90% of its border and coastline, and by Egypt along a narrow strip to the south.

Both countries impose tight restrictions on movement in and out of Gaza, citing security concerns over Hamas, which is regarded as a terrorist organi-sation by Israel and the US.

The new infections added to concerns among local and international health organisa-tions about Gaza’s potentially disastrous combination of poverty, densely populated refugee camps and limited hos-pital capacity.

Mosques, schools and most businesses have been ordered closed.

Syrian talks resume despite virus cases: UNAFP — GENEVA

UN-backed talks on a new constitution for Syria resumed in Geneva yesterday after Swiss health authorities gave the green light despite four dele-gates testing positive for COVID-19.

The discussions, aimed at rewriting the war-torn coun-try’s constitution, were put on hold almost as soon as they started on Monday when the test results came through.

UN envoy Geir Pedersen, who is moderating the tentative talks between representatives of President Bashar Al Assad’s government, the opposition and civil society, has voiced hope they could pave the way

towards a broader political process.

His office said in a statement that “following addi-tional testing and further medical and expert advice regarding four earlier positive tests for COVID-19”, Swiss authorities had determined the meeting could go ahead at the UN Palais des Nations.

The committee members — 15 each from the government, the opposition and from civil society — were tested for the new coronavirus before they travelled to Geneva, and were tested again on arrival in the Swiss city.

The positive second tests were found among delegates who arrived from Damascus,

opposition negotiations leader Hadi Al Bahra told a virtual press briefing on Tuesday.

One opposition delegate, one from civil society and two representing the government, tested positive, he said.

Pedersen said the com-mittee delegates seemed eager to resume dialogue as “a signal of the importance of this process.”

He hailed a “constructive” first meeting on Monday, and said delegates appeared keen to have “substantive discus-sions” for the remainder of the week.

The Constitutional Com-mittee was created in Sep-tember last year and first con-vened a month later.

Officials carrying out disinfection works at streets after Palestinian Ministry of Health extended a full lockdown for three more days as COVID-19 cases climbed, in Deir al Balah, Gaza, yesterday.

Pompeo pays surprise visit to OmanANATOLIA — ANKARA

US Secretary of State met with Omani Sultan in Muscat yesterday as part of his regional travel, country’s official media reported.

Mike Pompeo and H M Haitham bin Tariq Al Said discussed ways to strengthen bilateral rela-tions as well as “matters of mutual interest” between the two sides, according to official Oman News Agency (ONA).

Pompeo arrived in Oman yesterday morning for an unannounced stopover. Before Oman, Pompeo visited Israel, Sudan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

“I look forward to dis-cussing efforts to build unity among the Gulf Cooperation Council and build on the momentum to advance regional peace and pros-perity,” Pompeo wrote on his Twitter account.

Although his visit was not announced by the State Department, some media reports revealed that Pompeo is visiting the two countries that have developed relations with Israel.

The US top diplomat’s tour comes after the signing of a normalization deal between Israel and the UAE on Aug. 13 under the US sponsorship.

Palest inian groups, including the Palestinian

Authority, denounced the Israel-UAE deal, saying it does not serve the Palestinian cause and ignores the rights of Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority

said that any normalisation with Israel should be based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative on the principle of “land for peace” and not “peace for peace” as Israel calls.

H M Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said of Oman receiving US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at Al Barakah Palace, in Muscat yesterday.

France presses Lebanon to reform, avoid ‘risk of disappearing’ Unesco in massive fundraising drive for blast-hit BeirutAFP — BEIRUT

The UN’s culture and education organisation will organise two conferences to seek “considerable” funding for blast-hit Beirut, its director said yesterday in the Lebanese capital.

Audrey Azoulay told AFP during the visit of a school damaged by the colossal August 4 explosion at Beirut port that two events were in the works.

“The first one will be a meeting of the Global Edu-cation Coalition dedicated to Lebanon,” she said, referring

to a body set up since the COVID-19 pandemic to support remote learning.

“The country absolutely needs to be better prepared on this issue of remote learning,” she said.

According to Unesco, around 160 schools were destroyed or damaged by the blast, which left more than 180 people dead and devas-tated entire neighbourhoods of Beirut.

Azoulay said at least 85,000 children were directly affected by the destruction the explosion wreaked in Beirut.

Protests rockSouth Africansuburb afterdeath of teenAFP — JOHANNESBURG

Violent protests broke out in a Johannesburg suburb yesterday following the gunning down of a disabled teenage boy allegedly by South African police on patrol.

Police fired teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to repel hundreds of angry protesters in Eldorado Park, southern Johannesburg, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

Residents burnt tyres and hurled rocks at the police, setting up barricades along the streets and damaging a local police station.

The protests were sparked by the death of a 16-year-old boy killed the previous night.

Petunia Julius, sister to the slain teen named as Nathaniel Julius, told local television Newzroom Afrika that police opened fire after her brother failed to respond to questions due to his disability.

“Last night at 8:30 (1830 GMT) my brother was shot,” she said adding he went to buy biscuits and then proceeded to play with other children.

Police on patrol approached the group of children.

“They called my brother outside and they asked my brother questions but he could not answer because he is dis-abled and they knocked him down with one shot,” the sister said. “They never gave a warning shot.”

“My family is very hurt and broken just because my brother could not speak a word because he is disabled.”

Germany, Israel agree continued Iran arms embargo importantAP — BERLIN

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas agreed with his Israeli coun-terpart yesterday that an effort must be made to extend a weapon embargo on Iran, while stressing Germany still sees the landmark 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers as the best way to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

With a current UN arms embargo on Iran due to expire on October 18, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi told reporters in Berlin an extension was needed to prevent Iran from getting “more advanced weapons systems and spreading them around the Middle East.”

“We would like to see the European countries, not just Germany, preventing it,” he said. “It’s not helpful for the stability of the region.”

Ashkenazi was in Berlin to attend a two-day meeting of European foreign ministers at the invitation of Germany, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency.

The United States wants a full extension of the embargo on Iran, which would almost certainly be vetoed by Russia and China in the UN Security Council, Maas said.

“We are trying to reach a diplomatic solution so that there will be an arms embargo on Iran in the future,” he added.

Mali junta says it freedousted president Keita REUTERS — BAMAKO

Coup leaders in Mali have released President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and he has returned home, nine days after he was ousted and detained, his representative said yesterday.

A group of military officers has controlled Mali since August 18, when they detained Keita at gunpoint and forced him to resign in a takeover foreign powers fear could further destabilise the West African nation and undermine a fight against IS militants in the wider Sahel region.

Keita’s release is one of the demands of West Africa’s regional bloc, which sent a del-egation to Mali’s capital Bamako at the weekend to discuss a timeline for transition to civilian rule with the coup’s leaders.

Yesterday morning, Keita was freed from where he was being held outside the city, a spokesman for the junta, Dji-brilla Maiga, said.

The president’s former chief of staff, Mahamadou Camara, confirmed Keita had returned to his residence in Bamako’s Sebenikoro district.

“He has gone home. I do not know if he will travel,” Camara said, when asked if the leader planned to leave the country.

The UN peacekeeping force

in Mali said its head had visited Keita at his home yesterday.

The junta leaders say they mutinied because the country was sinking into chaos and insecurity which they blamed largely on the government. They have promised to oversee a move to elections within a “reasonable” time.

Earlier on Thursday, France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio the coup would not stop French military operations against affiliates of Al Qaeda and IS militant graup in Mali’s central and northern regions, but urged a swift transition of power.

Four Malian solders were killed and 12 wounded yes-terday in the violence-plagued central region of Mopti, after militants ambushed a military

anti-poaching patrol, the army said.

Reinforcements have been sent to the area of the attack near the town of Konna, the army said in a statement.

The junta, which calls itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), has told the delegation of West African mediators they want to stay in power for a three years, while the regional bloc is seeking a transitional government of no more than one year, Nigeria said on Wednesday.

The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has taken a hard line on the coup, shutting borders and halting financial flows.

The sanctions are already disrupting economic transac-tions between landlocked Mali and its neighbours, a group of international non-govern-mental organisations said, calling on ECOWAS to guar-antee humanitarian aid flows not be affected.

Mali has struggled to regain stability since a Tuareg uprising in 2012 was hijacked by Islamist militants. Since 2018, the country has seen a sharp increase in violence and inse-curity that has driven more than half a million people from their homes.

French foreign minister said that the coup would not stop French military operations against Al Qaeda and IS militant group in Mali’s central and northern regions, but urged a swift transition of power.

05FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020 ISLAM

The ideal Muslim in the communityT

HE Muslim community is based on sincerity, purity of human feelings and ful-fillment of rights and needs to every member. The Muslim has a mission

in life. Within the community he calls the people to Islam with good preaching and the best character. He teaches from what he learns and deals with those whom he comes in contact with based on Islamic values and morals. All this is done seeking the pleasure of Allah, the Exalted, while striving to attain the reward of His Paradise.

Wherever the Muslim is, he should be a beacon of guidance and a positive source of correction and education, through both his words and deeds.

The true Muslim has a refined social personality of the highest degree, which qualifies him to undertake his duty of calling others to Islam. He dem-onstrates the true values of his religion and the practical application of those values by attaining beautiful Islamic attributes. His distinct social character represents a huge store of Islamic values, which can be seen by the way in which he interacts with the people around him.

The Muslim, as Islam meant him to be, is a unique and remarkable person in his attitude, conduct and relation-ships with others at all levels. He treats them well by being friendly with them, humble, gentle of speech and avoiding offence. He likes others and is liked by them. He tries to follow the example of the Prophet (PBUH) as he was the best of people in his attitude towards others. He (PBUH) said: “Nothing will weigh more heavily in the Balance of the believing slave on the Day of Res-urrection than a good attitude towards others.” [At-Tirmithi]

Because Islam is based on truth-fulness, the Muslim is always truthful with all people. Truthfulness leads to goodness and goodness leads to Par-adise. Therefore the Muslim strives to be true in all his words and deeds.

The Muslim never gives false state-ments, because this attitude is forbidden in the Quran. Allah, the Most Glorified, Says (what means): “…And shun the word that is false.” [Quran 22: 30]

The Muslim seeks to offer sincere advice to everyone he comes in contact with. It’s not just the matter of volun-teering to do good out of generosity; it is a duty enjoined by Islam. The

Prophet (PBUH) said “(The essence of) Religion is (offering sincere) advice.” [Muslim]

By the favour of Allah, the Muslim is a guide for others to righteous deeds, whether by his actions or words. He never cheats, deceives or stabs in the back. These shameful acts are beneath him, as they contradict the values of truthfulness. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “…whoever cheats is not one of us.” [Muslim]

When the Muslim promises some-thing, he means to keep his promise. This attitude stems naturally from truthfulness, and indicates the high level of civility attained by the one who exhibits it. Allah says (what means): “And fulfill every engagement, for [every] engagement will be enquired into [on the Day of Reckoning].” [Quran 17: 34]

One of the worst characteristics that Islam abhors is hypocrisy, therefore the Muslim can never be a hypocrite; he is frank and open in his words and opinions. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “One of the worst people is a double-faced man, who comes to

one group with one face and to another group with a totally different face.” [Al-Bukhari]

Islam does not approve of begging. It makes it a sin that a person should beg when he has enough to satisfy his immediate needs. Therefore, the Muslim does not beg. If he is faced with difficulty and poverty, he seeks refuge in patience, whilst doubling his effort to find a way out. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever refrains from asking from people, Allah will help him…” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

A sign of one’s excellence in Islam, is his ignoring what does not concern him. The Muslim should only partic-ipate in what concerns him, such as anything that is his property, right, obligation or under his control. To be concerned with something entails pre-serving and taking care of this thing that one is allowed to be concerned with. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “A sign of a person’s being a good Muslim is that he should leave alone that which does not concern him.” [At-Tirmithi]

The Muslim never searches for people’s faults or slander their honour.

He doesn’t slip into the error of pride, boasting and showing off. He judges fairly, is never unjust (even to those whom he does not like) or biased by his own whims, and avoids suspicion. He does not rejoice in the misfortunes of anyone. He carefully avoids uttering any word of slander, cursing, malicious gossip and foul language.

He does not make fun of people but is gentle, kind, compassionate and merciful, strives for people’s benefit and seeks to protect and help them.

One of the virtues of such a great value and importance that Islam, not only recommends, but also orders Muslims to characterize themselves with, is generosity.

Therefore, the Muslim is generous and gives freely without waste to those who are in need. When he gives, he does not remind people of his gener-osity. He is patient, tries hard to control his anger and is forgiving. He does not bear grudges or resentments, and is easy on people, not hard.

One of the worst diseases of the heart is envy, which leads to foul conduct and bad behaviour. Therefore

the Muslim is not envious, because he knows that the pleasures of this life are as nothing in comparison to the reward that Allah has prepared for the believers, and that whatever happens in life happens according to the decree of Allah.

The Muslim, who truly understands the teachings of his religion, is gentle, friendly, cheerful and warm. He mixes with people and gets along with them. He is humble and modest; and does not look down at other people.

He is lighthearted and has a sense of humour and does not disdain others. His jokes are distinguished by their legitimate Islamic nature. He is keen to bring happiness to people. It is an effective means of conveying the message of truth to them, and exposing them to its moral values, because people only listen to those whom they like, trust and accept.

The Muslim keeps secrets; keeping secrets is a sign of maturity, moral strength, wisdom and balanced per-sonality. He is concerned about the affairs of people in general. He is happy to welcome his guests and hastens to honour them.

The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Every religion has a (distinct) characteristic and the characteristic of Islam is modesty.” [Ibn Majah]

The Muslim adheres to the prin-ciple of modesty in all things. He does not accept every custom that is widely accepted by others, for there may be customs which go against Islam.

The Muslim does not enter a house other than his own without seeking permission and greeting people. He sits wherever he finds room when he joins a gathering. He avoids whispering and conversing privately when he is in a group of three. He gives due respect to elders and those who deserve to be respected (like scholars etc.).

Allah Almighty says (what means): “Invite mankind to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious.” [Quran 16:125]

The Muslim is aware of his duty to call others to Islam, and does not spare any effort to do so. He enjoins what is good and forbids what is evil and mixes with righteous people. He visits the sick cheerfully. He attends the funeral of the Muslim and accompanies the body until it is buried.

www.islamweb.net

Respect for the truthThe greatness of a person

lies in the greatness of what he believes in, what he is willing to

sacrifice for, and what he defends. Our true religion, to which we proudly belong, urges us to love and respect the truth and embrace it as it is, without any polishing or distortion.

Indeed, one of the Names of Allah, The Exalted, is Al-Haqq (The Truth), our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was sent with the truth, and the heavens and earth were created and established upon the truth.

Verily, verifying the authen-ticity of the information that we hear or read is the first step we need to take to determine our stance towards it and start our journey in supporting and defending the truth.

Nowadays, you hear much circulated news and read much content online, and you notice that a great part of such content is of unknown origin, some of its writers use pseudonyms, and the chains of transmission of most narratives that we hear are unknown.

All this urges us not to rush into believing everything we hear and hasten to convey it and post it so as not to become accom-plices in circulating fake and

unfounded news, and you know what Allah, The Exalted, Says in this regard; He Says (what

believed, if there comes to you a wicked person with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful.} [Quran 49:6]

when you go forth [to fight] in the cause of Allah, investigate; and do not say to one who gives you [a greeting of] peace, “You are not a believer,” aspiring for the goods of worldly life...} [Quran 4:94] The second verse is a divine directive for the believers during wartime not to hasten the killing before it becomes clear to them who is a believer and who is not.

What does this mean? It means the following:

1 — Train yourselves not to believe everything you hear, start questioning the authen-ticity of the information that reaches you, and judge for yourself. Train yourselves as well to convey less of what you hear; the Prophet (PBUH) said: “It is enough lying for a man to transmit everything he hears.”

2 — Always look for the source of the information that you hear, try to identify the people trans-

mitting it, and verify their credi-bility and trustworthiness.

3 — The authenticity of what you watch is often greater and stronger than the authenticity of what you hear. Also, the longer the chain of narrators and trans-mitters of the information is, the greater the possibility of error and misunderstanding.

4 — Countless experiences and incidents prove that oral transmission tends to be less accurate as narrators add to the orally transmitted messages according to their own under-standing, moods, and personal whims. Therefore, do not accept the narrations you hear to the letter, and do not trust all their details.

5 — Whenever the infor-mation sounds odd and unfa-miliar, we should stop and inves-tigate it further because much of such information is often incorrect or exaggerated.

6 — The exact magnitude of a matter and the extent to which it is true or false can only be known after it ends, and therefore, you should wait before issuing judgment until the speaker completes his statement and the writer con-cludes his work, which he might publish in several parts.

www.islamweb.net

Three steps to a happy life

Happiness is the uni-versal goal of people from all walks of life – be they philoso-

phers of a high intellectual caliber or unlettered labourers — everyone strives in search of happiness and looks for ways to escape the worries of life.

However, most people achieve only partial or super-ficial happiness, which provides temporary relief from their problems. In order to search for everlasting happiness that will lead a person to true success, one must keep an open heart and mind, as the wise one is he who searches for the truth and adopts it immediately.

1. The most important means of happiness and the foundation of all felicity is to have sound belief and perform righteous deeds.

Allah, The Almighty, Says

righteousness (whether male or female) while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islamic Mon-otheism) verily, to him We will give a good life (in this world with respect, contentment and lawful provision), and We shall pay them certainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do (i.e. Paradise in the Hereafter).} [Quran16: 97]

Allah, The Almighty, promises whoever possesses sound belief and performs righteous deeds that he will have a happy life and will also be rewarded in the eternal Hereafter. The reason for this is obvious: those who have the correct belief which leads to righteous deeds, reformed hearts and refined manners, have the basic foundation that they can refer to in any event — regardless of whether these are matters which cause joy and happiness or sorrow and dejection.

The Prophet (PBUH) described this quality of the true believers when he said: “How wonderful is the affair of the believer! All of his affairs are

good and this is the case for nobody else except a believer. If he is blessed with prosperity, he thanks (Allah) and that is good for him; and if he is afflicted with adversity, he per-severes and that is also good for him.” [Muslim]

The Prophet (PBUH) informed us that a believer’s reward would be multiplied many times over, regardless of whether what befalls him brings him joy or sorrow.

2. Keeping oneself busy in performing beneficial deeds and acquiring useful knowledge. By doing so, one’s heart is diverted from whatever causes it grief and sorrow, to the extent that a person may completely forget his worries and unhappiness and become happy and energized.

This is something that is common to believers and others, but the believer is dis-tinct due to his belief, sincerity, and his hope for reward while learning or performing bene-ficial deeds. If this deed is an act of worship, then he will receive the reward for it, and if it is a worldly task which is accompanied with a good intention, such as working for the sake of being able to worship Allah, The Almighty, better, then this will have a strong effect in removing his anxiety and grief.

3. Concentrating on the tasks at hand, not being anxious about the future and not crying

over the past is another way of attaining happiness.

This is why the Prophet (PBUH) sought refuge with Allah, The Almighty, from anxiety and sorrow. Usually, a person experiences sorrow due to what has passed and cannot be retrieved, whereas grief is due to anxiety for the future and the fear of what may happen.

A believing slave of Allah, The Almighty, should live for the current moment, focus, and exert the utmost effort to utilize his time in the best possible way. This will enable him to accomplish his tasks and forget his sorrow and grief.

When the Prophet (PBUH) made a particular supplication or guided his nation to do so, he would also encourage them to exert efforts to obtain what they supplicated for and shun everything which might prevent the supplication from being answered.

As the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Be keen to do that which will benefit you, rely on Allah, and do not be lazy (by not exerting effort) and do not say when a problem befalls you: ‘If only I would have done such and such, then the result would have been such and such’; rather, one should say: ‘This was decreed by Allah and He does what He wills.’ Saying ‘If’ opens the gate for Satan (to cause discontent).” [Muslim]

www.islamweb.net

06 FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020ASIA

New Zealand mosque shooter sentenced to life without paroleAP — CHRISTCHURCH

The white supremacist who slaughtered 51 worshippers at two New Zealand mosques was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the first time the maximum available sentence has been imposed in the country.

Judge Cameron Mander said the crimes committed by 29-year-old Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant were so wicked that a lifetime in jail could not begin to atone for them. He said they had caused enormous loss and hurt and stemmed from a warped and malignant ideology.

“Your actions were inhuman,” Mander said. “You deliberately killed a 3-year-old infant by shooting him in the head as he clung to the leg of his father.”

After the sentence was announced, survivors of the shootings raised hands and fists in celebration and greeted sup-porters waving signs with painted hearts and carrying roses outside the court building.

The March 2019 attacks tar-geting people praying at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in

Christchurch shocked New Zealand and prompted new laws banning the deadliest types of semi-automatic weapons. They also prompted global changes to social media protocols after the gunman livestreamed his attack on Facebook.

During the four-day sen-tencing hearing, 90 survivors and family members recounted the horror of that day and the trauma they continue to feel. One of those who spoke was Temel Atacocugu, who survived being shot nine times during the attack at the Al Noor mosque.

Atacocugu said he felt

relieved at the sentence.“Finally we can breathe

freely, and we feel secure, and my kids feel secure,” Atacocugu said. “The justice system has locked up this ideology forever.” Tarrant pleaded guilty in March to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism, reversing his earlier not guilty pleas.

He fired his lawyers and told the judge he didn’t wish to speak at his sentencing. A standby lawyer appointed by the court told the judge that Tarrant did not oppose the maximum sentence.

The judge said Tarrant recently told a psychiatrist that he now rejects his extremist views and considers his attacks “abhorrent and irrational.”

But Mander said he was skeptical Tarrant had aban-doned his ideology, especially considering that the gunman told police after the attacks he wished he’d killed more people. Mander said Tarrant had shown no empathy toward his victims and remained detached and self-centred.

Tarrant arrived in New Zealand in 2017, never sought work, and began planning for

his attack by stockpiling high-powered weapons and joining shooting clubs, the judge said.

“It appears that while trav-elling in Europe you developed deep-seated radical views regarding the migrant popu-lation of some Western coun-tries,” the judge said.

Tarrant flew a drone over the Al Noor mosque and researched the layout, according to prosecutors. On the day of the attacks, he drove to the mosques with six guns, including two AR-15s.

“You committed mass murder,” the judge said. “You slaughtered unarmed and defenceless people. You maimed, wounded and crippled

many others. Your victims include the young and the old, men, women and children.” Dressed in a gray prison tracksuit, Tarrant showed little emotion during his four-day sentencing. He watched the speakers, occasionally giving a small nod or covering his mouth as he laughed at jokes, often made at his expense.

He was noticeably thinner than when he was first arrested. He didn’t show the brazenness he did at his first court appearance the day after the attacks, when he made a hand gesture sometimes adopted by white supremacists.

The sentencing hearing gave survivors and family members

a chance to confront the gunman. As the hearing went on, the speakers became more emboldened and the numbers who signed up to speak swelled.

“No sentence will bring our loved ones back,” she said. “But at least we can close this chapter and move on.” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was praised glo-bally for her empathy and lead-ership after the attacks, said the crime was still raw for many.

“Nothing will take the pain away but I hope you felt the arms of New Zealand around you through this whole process, and I hope you continue to feel that through all the days that follow,” Ardern said.

Members of the public gather in front of the High Court to support relatives of victims killed in the 2019 twin mosque shootings during the last day of the sentencing hearing for Brenton Tarrant, in Christchurch yesterday.

Coronavirus threatens isolated Indian island tribeAFP — PORT BLAIR

Ten members of India’s dwin-dling Great Andamanese tribe have tested positive for coro-navirus, officials said yesterday, fuelling concerns about the safety of the group and other indigenous people in the remote archipelago.

Six of the 10 have recovered and are in home quarantine, officials said, while the rest are undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

Just over 50 Great Anda-manese people survive today and live on the tiny Strait Island where the Indian government looks after their food and shelter.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a chain in the Indian Ocean with a population of some 400,000, has reported 2,268 coronavirus cases so far

with 37 deaths.Indian authorities sent a

team of health officials to Strait Island on Sunday after six members of the tribe tested positive in the archipelago’s capital Port Blair recently.

Some of the tribe’s members travel to Port Blair where they have government jobs.

“The team tested 37 samples and four members of the Great Andamanese tribe were found to be positive. They are admitted in hospital,” Avijit Ray, a senior health officer in charge of disease management in the Andamans, told AFP.

Sanjiv Mittal, a senior gov-ernment officer for tribal welfare, said authorities were doing their best to keep all the members safe and healthy.

Anthropologists and activists for isolated tribal com-munities say more than 5,000

Great Andamanese lived in the islands when British settlers arrived in the 19th century.

However, hundreds were killed in conflicts as they defended their territories from British invasion, and thousands more were wiped out in epi-demics of measles, influenza and syphilis, according to Sur-vival International.

In recent days, concerns have grown for the safety of the Great Andamanese and other tribes, including the remote Jarawa and the Sentinelese people. Poachers continue to invade their territory despite strict government restrictions.

Last week, eight fishermen were arrested for illegally entering the Jarawa’s territory, local media reported.

In 2018, a 26-year-old American missionary seeking to convert the nomadic

hunter-gatherer tribe was killed after he secretly visited the North Sentinel island.

His body was never retrieved.

Outsiders are banned from visiting the island, to protect the Sentinelese way of life and avoid exposing them to infec-tious diseases.

As one of the most isolated tribes in the world, the Sen-tinelese are extremely vul-nerable to diseases from out-siders, especially during a global pandemic such as the corona-virus, experts say.

“The Andaman authorities must act urgently to prevent the virus reaching more Great Andamanese and to prevent infection in the other tribes,” said Sophie Grig, a senior researcher with Survival.

“The waters around North Sentinel must be properly

policed and no outsiders should enter the territories of any of the Andaman tribes without their consent.” She added: “We’ve certainly seen in the US, in Brazil, in Peru, indigenous com-munities (being) disproportion-ately hit. In Brazil where there are more than a hundred uncon-tacted tribes still living, (the) fear of the disease is getting into those communities.”

The virus has already hit tribes in Brazil and Peru hard, including some of the isolated Amazon tribes.

According to the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples’ Associ-ation, 26,000 indigenous people have been infected and 690 have died during the coun-try’s pandemic.

India is the third worst-hit country in the world behind the US and Brazil, with more than three million coronavirus cases.

Rain lashes SrinagarA man carrying his child walk under an umbrella during a monsoon rainfall in Srinagar, India, yesterday.

Proposed foreign veto powers not aimed at China: Australian PMREUTERS — SYDNEY

A proposed Australian law that would give the federal government powers to cancel any agreements local author-ities and public institutions make or have made with foreign governments is not aimed at China, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday.

The new legislation comes as Canberra seeks to curtail Beijing’s influence in Australia amid concerns over issues including trade and security, but Morrison denied the new law was designed with China specifically in mind.

“These laws are about Aus-tralia’s national sovereign interests,” Morrison said.

Under the new law, the country’s foreign minister would be able to cancel any agreements made by state and territory governments, local councils or public universities with foreign administrations if they “adversely affect Australia’s foreign relations” or are “incon-sistent with Australian foreign policy”.

The legislation will also be retrospective, and Morrison said Australia is aware of 130 agreements that government entities have struck with 30 dif-ferent countries.

Recent controversial deals include lease by the Northern

Territories’ government of Port of Darwin to Chinese-owned Landbridge Group in 2015 and a spate of large agricultural land purchases.

Australia’s Victoria state also signed up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2018, a decision Morrison criticised at the time. Details of any projects under consideration have not been made public.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews, grappling with an outbreak of COVID-19, hit back at Morrison over the proposed legislation. “If the prime min-ister has got time to do these things, then that’s fine for him... I don’t, I’m exclusively focused on fighting this virus,” Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.

Nearly all Australian states have in recent years also signed cooperation deals with Chinese provinces, covering industries such as mining, education and tourism.

Australian universities have also sought to foster closer ties with China. Foreign students are worth about A$35bn ($25bn) a year to the Australian economy, with Chinese stu-dents accounting for about a third of that figure.

On Wednesday, one of China’s most senior diplomats in Australia said there was a “shadow” over the bilateral relationship.

Photos highlight plight of Indonesia’s vulnerable doctorsREUTERS — JAKARTA

Photographs of a grieving wife bent over the coffin of her dead husband, an Indonesian medical doctor, have drawn attention to the high death toll of healthcare workers in the Southeast Asian nation.

The photographs, taken at Wahidin Sudirohusodo hospital in Makassar, South Sulawesi, yesterday morning and shared by Indonesia’s Medical

Association (IDI), have been widely shared on social media.

They show a woman, whose face is barely visible, dressed in a pink hazmat suit, gloves, and turquoise mask, alone as she rests her head on a white coffin.

The Indonesian medical association said the woman’s husband, Dr. Titus Taba, who was head of the IDI in West Papua, was the 94th Indonesian doctor to die from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused

by the novel coronavirus.Halik Malik, spokesman for the

association, said that the limited amount of protective equipment, isolation rooms and low screening of patients, had led to a high fatality rate among doctors.

“The number of doctors dying in Indonesia is still rela-tively high, even increasing in the past two months,” he said.

Indonesia is grappling with one of the worst outbreaks of the virus in the region. In India, a

country with more than three times the population and more than 3 million cases, almost 200 doctors have died from COVID-19, the Indian Medical Association told local media in early August.

Indonesia reported its biggest daily increase of coro-navirus infections yesterday, with 2,719 new cases. It has recorded 162,884 coronavirus cases and 7,064 deaths, the highest death toll in Southeast Asia.

Australia to phase out waste exports, boost recycling

AP — CANBERRA

The Australian government introduced legislation yesterday that would phase out exports of waste plastic, paper, glass and tires beginning January next year.

The legislation introduced to Parliament aims to end the export of 645,000 metric tonnes of unprocessed trash that Aus-tralia ships overseas each year, usually to Asian ports. Waste glass exports would be banned from January 1, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

“It’s our waste. It’s our responsibility,” Morrison said.

“We’ve got to deal with it and recycle it and repurpose it and reuse it here to both drive jobs in the recycling sector and also to improve the quality of our environment,” he added.

Morrison said waste plastic was a key issue that he had raised with Australia’s South Pacific neighbors and with the East Asian Summit and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Waste plastic in oceans is destroying communities, it’s destroying their livelihoods, it’s destroying their health,” Morrison said.

Waste disposal has become an increasingly pressing problem around the world since 2017 when China, previously its main desti-nation, barred imports of almost all foreign waste.

The Australian legislation would establish a national industry framework for recy-cling and create a A$190m ($138m) recycling moderni-zation fund.

The government also plans to create 10,000 new jobs in the waste and recycling sector, a 32 percent increase on current staffing levels.

Judge Cameron Mander said the crimes committed by Tarrant were so wicked that a lifetime in jail could not begin to atone for them. He said they had caused enormous loss and hurt and stemmed from a warped and malignant ideology.

07FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020 ASIA

Death toll from Afghanistan flooding surpasses 150REUTERS, AP — CHARIKAR

The death toll from two days of heavy flooding in northern and eastern Afghanistan rose to at least 150 yesterday, with scores more injured as rescue crews searched for survivors beneath the mud and rubble of collapsed houses, officials said.

Heavy rains, compounded by mudslides, often threaten remote areas of Afghanistan, where infrastructure is poor. Summer often brings heavy rainfall and flooding to the coun-try’s north and east.

Flash floods inundated the city of Charikar in northern Parwan province starting Tuesday night. The Health Min-istry said the local hospital was partially destroyed and many injured were being transferred to the capital Kabul.

Powerful flood waters in the mountainous province

dislocated thousands of large rocks that caused major injuries and destroyed entire homes, burying people under the rubble, officials said. Several excavators reached the area and were digging for those stuck beneath the rubble.

Mohammad Qasim Haidari, Afghanistan’s deputy minister for disaster management, said the casualty toll may rise as rescue teams and volunteers were still working to locate

people buried under destroyed houses.

He said 102 people died in Parwan, 19 in the capital Kabul, 17 in northern Kapisa, seven in eastern Wardak, three in northern Panjshir, two in eastern Nangarhar and one in eastern Paktia and over 200 others were injured.

Meanwhile, Taliban fighters killed four civilians yesterday during clashes with Afghan forces in the central province of

Parwan, amid rescue work, offi-cials said.

It was the latest violence amid peace talks between the warring sides that have been delayed over the issue of prisoner releases, as part of efforts to end the US-led war in Afghanistan, which has spanned nearly two decades.

“Taliban fighters opened fire on civilians fleeing areas worst hit by the flash floods,” said Abdul Shukoor Qudoosi, a dis-trict official in Bagram, home to the country’s biggest US military base and the site of the clashes.

“Taliban were clashing with Afghan forces and they killed civilians who were in an autor-ickshaw near an army check-point,” Qudoosi said, adding that it appeared as if the Islamist mil-itants mistook the passengers for Afghan soldiers.

One Afghan soldier was killed and two were injured.

A Taliban spokesmen was not immediately available to comment.

Wahida Shahkar, spokes-person for the Parwan provincial governor, said soldiers and police were deployed to help people search for their loved ones under the mud.

The head of the provincial hospital, Abdul Qasim Sangin, said every 30 minutes to an hour a corpse was being delivered to the hospital. He said several children were among the dead and some of the injured are in critical condition.

A popular vacation desti-nation for many Afghans, Cha-rikar was the location of many of Parwan province’s casualties and also suffered much property destruction in the flooding.

Hamid Agha, 50, a Charikar resident, said he lost all his family members to the floods except two sons who are truck

drivers and were delivering goods in another province.

Agha was able to pull himself out of the rising waters but was unable to save his family. “Out of 11 family member in the house only I am alive,” he said.

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

More than 2,000 houses were destroyed in Parwan and over 1,000 people were dis-placed, he said.

Ground and air support sent to help those trapped by the flooding reached the provinces, Azimi said. The ministry had warned residents of possible flooding in the region with a social media alert late Tuesday, he added.

Typhoon floods roads, damages buildings on Korean PeninsulaAP — SEOUL

A typhoon barrelled through the Korean Peninsula yesterday, damaging buildings, flooding roads and toppling utility poles before weakening into a tropical storm.

No casualties have been immediately reported in either South or North Korea as a downgraded Typhoon Bavi headed into China after passing near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, South Korea’s weather agency said.

Bavi had packed maximum winds of 133km per hour when it made landfall early yesterday in a western coastal region of North Korea that is a major source of farming and fishing in a nation that deals with chronic food shortages.

After the strong winds and rain stopped, pedestrians and cycl is ts returned to Pyongyang’s wet streets yes-terday afternoon, moving between scores of uprooted

trees and at least one bent traffic sign.

The North’s Korea Central TV showed footage of snapped trees and utility poles and flooded roads.

It reported damage to houses and public facilities in North Hwanghae and South Hwanghae provinces, where the typhoon made landfall. Roads were also flooded in the city of Nampo, which is closer to Pyongyang.

In South Korea, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported damages to buildings, walls, roads and other structures.

By Thursday afternoon, power had been restored to most of more than 9,300 South Korean homes, including over 3,500 in cities and towns near Seoul and around 900 in the southern resort island of Jeju, which was hit by the typhoon on Wednesday.

More than 470 domestic flights in and out of Jeju and the

southern mainland city of Busan were cancelled.

South Korean authorities also halted some railroad services, shut down public parks and sea bridges and moved hundreds of fishing boats and passenger vessels to safety.

Workers in Seoul and other major cities were restoring makeshift coronavirus testing

stations that had been dis-mantled out of concerns that the tents and booths wouldn’t have withstood the strong winds.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said earlier this week that leader Kim Jong Un had called for thorough preparations to min-imize casualties and damage from the typhoon. Fishing boats

were moved and buildings, farms and railroads reinforced, according to state media.

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

A man walks past a fallen tree as Typhoon Bavi passes by in Pyongyang, yesterday.

Afghanistan govt, Taliban peace talks to start in September

REUTERS — KABUL

Peace talks between warring Afghan sides will begin in September said the country’s top peace negotiator yesterday in Kabul, a crucial diplomatic process needed to end about two decades of war in Afghan-istan.

Abdullah Abdullah, a prominent politician and the chairman High Council for National Reconciliation said the Afghan officials were ready to hold talks with the Taliban from September.

His comments come at a time when prospect of peace talks between were looking bleak over the issue of last batch of Taliban prisoner release.

US President Donald Trump’s team has been pushing both sides to resolve difference and sit across the negotiating table, paving way to end one of America’s longest war.

Report: China fires ‘carrier killer’ missile in disputed seaAP — BEIJING

China’s military test-fired two missiles into the South China Sea, including a “carrier killer” military analysts suggest might have been developed to attack US forces, a newspaper reported yesterday.

The DF-26B and DF-21D missiles fired Wednesday tar-geted an area between the southern island province of Hainan and the Paracel Islands, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported, citing unidentified sources close to the Chinese military.

The Ministry of Defence said the People’s Liberation Army conducted military exercises in

the area but gave no confir-mation of missiles being fired or other details.

“Based on annual military training arrangements, the mil-itary conducted exercises around the Nansha Islands and the waters and airspace of the northern part of the Xisha Islands,” said the spokesman, Wu Qian, using the Chinese names for the Spratly Islands and the Paracels to the north.

“The exercises do not target any other country.” Disputes over control of the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest trade routes, are a growing irritant in Beijing’s relations with Washington and its southern neighbors.

The Trump administration this year rejected most of Bei-jing’s claims to sovereignty over the majority of the sea, portions of which also are claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and other governments. Over the last few years, China has deployed troops, aircraft, radar and missiles stations on some of the seven man-made islands it built atop corral reefs, allowing it to expand its military reach beyond its shores.

Wednesday’s launches fol-lowed Chinese complaints that a US U2 spy plane entered a “no fly zone” declared by Beijing during a military drill off its northern coast.

The DF-21 is unusually

accurate and was dubbed “carrier killer” by military ana-lysts who believe it was developed to target US aircraft carriers that might be involved in a potential conflict with China.

The DF-26B was launched from the northwestern province of Qinghai while the DF-21D was fired from Zhejiang province south of Shanghai on the east coast, The South China Morning Post said.

The DF-26 is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads. That would violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by Washington and Moscow during the Cold War. The Trump administration cited

China’s development of the DF-26 and similar weapons when it withdrew from the treaty last year.

On Wednesday, the US State Department said it was imposing sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for the military buildup in the South China Sea.

Apart from US travel bans against an undisclosed number of Chinese officials including business people, the Commerce Department said it had added 24 state-owned Chinese enter-prises to its commercial blacklist. That means most US exports to those firms must be licensed by the federal gov-ernment and overcome a pre-sumption of denial.

Hong Kong activists released on bailPro-democracy lawmakers Ted Hui (left) and Lam Cheuk-ting leaving the West Kowloon Magistrates Court yesterday, after being granted bail following their arrest the day before in a police operation focused on last year's huge protests in Hong Kong.

Thai headmaster accused of killing 3 gets death sentenceAP — BANGKOK

A court in Thailand handed a death sentence yesterday to an elementary school principal convicted of fatally shooting three people including a toddler during a robbery of a gold shop earlier this year.

The Bangkok Criminal Court found Prasitthichai Khaewkao guilty on charges including first degree murder, killing in commission of another crime, illegally car-rying a gun and illegal pos-session of a war weapon in the January 9 robbery at a shopping mall in Lopburi, about 145km north of Bangkok.

During the robbery, the gunman began shooting wildly, killing a sales clerk, a security guard and a 2-year-old boy, and wounding four other people.

Security video that was widely broadcast after the incident showed a man dressed in a black ski mask and camou-flage trousers, with a backpack across his chest, carrying a pistol with a silencer as he entered the Robinson Lopburi mall.

Video from a separate camera at the gold shop showed the man firing his pistol, and the toddler, who had been walking hand-in-hand with an adult, suddenly falling limp to the ground. The man grabbed a number of gold necklaces worth 664,470 baht ($21,280) before fleeing.

Public shock at the killings put intense pressure on the police to solve the case, and they apprehended Prasitthichai in just under two weeks.

“I am so sorry, and I apol-ogize to the victims and their families, especially to little brother Triton,” Prasitthichai said, referring to the 2-year-old victim by his name.

Families of missing Thai activists plead for closureAFP — BANGKOK

Relatives of missing Thai activists pleaded yesterday for a long-stalled bill criminalising political disappearances to be made into law, as calls for accountability grow louder from a burgeoning youth-led pro-democracy movement.

Thailand has seen weeks of near-daily protests by students demanding an overhaul of the military-aligned government and reforms to the monarchy — a long taboo subject in the kingdom.

One of the catalysts for the movement was the disap-pearance in June of Wan-chalearm Satsaksit, a pro-democracy activist self-exiled in Cambodia who was allegedly snatched off the streets.

At recent protests students have displayed posters bearing his image — as well as those of other activists whose disap-pearances over the years have

gone unsolved.“I will not let this story be

silenced or forgotten,” his older sister Sitanan Satsaksit Thursday.

Speaking at an event in Bangkok to mark the Interna-tional Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Sitanan said there has been “no progress” from the Thai and Cambodian authorities in the 87 days since her brother’s disappearance. “We are in the dark,” she said.

The United Nation has recorded at least 82 cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand since 1980, but experts say the number is under-reported.

Rights activists accuse Thai authorities of being involved, but perpetrators are rarely —if ever — brought to justice.

A draft law on criminalising torture and enforced disap-pearances has stalled for more than a decade.

Flash floods inundated the city of Charikar in northern Parwan province starting Tuesday night. Powerful flood waters in the mountainous province dislocated thousands of large rocks that caused major injuries and destroyed entire homes, burying people under the rubble. Several excavators were digging for those stuck beneath the rubble.

With no recorded cases since 2016, the African region has received certification as wild polio virus free by the World Health Organization (WHO) - and this is one of the greatest achievements in public health history.

08 FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMAN

DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

QATAR'S efforts to lift COVID-19 restrictions in a phased manner is bearing fruit. Based on Qatar’s public health indicators and the infection rate in the community, the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management decided to split Phase 4 of the easing of curbs in two phases. The first phase will commence on September 1 and the situation will be assessed on an ongoing basis, including the re-imposing and/or lifting of some restrictions based on developments mid-September. The second phase will commence at the beginning of the third week of September.

Measures taken to tackle the pandemic in Qatar have succeeded in flattening the curve and limiting the spread of the virus with the number of new daily cases and hospital admissions continuing to decline each week.

Qatar has one of the lowest COVID-19 death rates in the world. This is a result of very high quality of care provided thorough the public healthcare sector for COVID-19 patients, Qatar’s proactive and extensive testing of suspected cases early, expanding hospital capacity, especially intensive care, to ensure that all patients receive the medical care they need, and pro-tecting the elderly and those with chronic diseases.

The Cabinet, in its meeting on Wednesday, put out a number of important and thoroughly-studied deci-sions within the framework of a gradual plan to lift the imposed restrictions due to the coronavirus. The key decisions included cancelling the suspension of medical services in private health care facilities as well as can-celling the suspension of the system of temporary home services provided by cleaning and hospitality companies.

The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management said the first phase of Phase 4 will include the reopening of all mosques in the country to perform daily and Friday prayers, with ablution facilities remaining closed, as well as limiting the capacity in workplaces to a maximum of 80 percent of employees in both public and private sectors, in addition to significant other decisions. The Committee thanked both citizens and residents for their commitment to adhering to the precautionary measures to combat COVID-19, which has contributed to limiting the spread of the virus.

The Ministry of Public Health said the lifting of restric-tions and declining cases does not mean that the COVID-19 pandemic is over.The Ministry said it is now more important for everyone to play their role in con-trolling the virus by adhering to physical distancing, avoiding close contact with others, and staying away from crowded places in addition to wearing a face mask and washing hands regularly.

Significant headway

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Quote of the day

Young school children and those from the poorest families or living in rural areas are more likely to lose digital education. For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, there was

no such a thing as remote learning.

Henrietta Fore, Unicef Executive Director

A healthcare worker vaccinating children at a nursery school in Nigeria.

“Could you patent the sun?” This is how American virologist Jonas Salk responded when asked whether he would be patenting his breakthrough polio vaccine.

The polio virus, which once killed or maimed hundreds of thousands of children every year and led to summertime lock-downs, is a step closer to being consigned to the history books.

With no recorded cases since 2016, the African region has received certification as wild polio virus free by the World Health Organization (WHO) - and this is one of the greatest achievements in public health history.

Delivering polio vaccines to every child in the African region and wiping out the wild virus is no small feat, and the human resources, skills and experience gained in the process leave behind a legacy in how to tackle diseases and reach the poorest and most marginalised communities with lifesaving services.

Leadership from all levels of government across party lines, a historic public-private partnership which raised billions, millions of health workers reaching children across the region - from conflict zones to remote areas only acces-sible by motorbike or helicopter - and a culture of continual improvement were all critical to overcoming challenges and bottlenecks.

As countries work to suppress COVID-19, many of the same basic traditional public health methods used in polio eradication, including contact tracing and surveillance, are key to breaking the chains of transmission and saving lives and livelihoods from the first corona-virus pandemic in human history.

As recently as 2012, half of all

globally recorded cases of wild polio virus were in Nigeria - the last country in the region to rid itself of the virus. However, as with the COVID-19 pandemic, the lesson is that it is never too late to turn a disease outbreak around. Through hard work, new innova-tions and ensuring that no child was missed, Nigeria and the entire African region have now defeated polio.

Across the region, health workers go village to village and door to door vaccinating children multiple times and offering health advice and support to the com-munity. It is a remarkable effort started by Rotary International, which in the 1980s - when there were hundreds of thousands of cases every year - made a global call for eradication.

The unique public-private partnership was spearheaded by governments from across the world that politically and finan-cially backed the effort, as well as a host of partners including Rotary International, WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

There is a very good reason why the world’s best scientists are racing to find a vaccine for COVID-19. Bringing polio to the brink of eradication was only pos-sible because of safe and effective vaccines that were developed jointly by the United States and the USSR at the height of the Cold War.

Putting the common interest of humanity before nationalistic endeavours was a worthy act that paid off not only for the US and the USSR, but for the whole world.

Using the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which aims to fast track diagnostics, ther-apeutics and vaccines, WHO is currently working with the public and private sectors to hasten the scientific process and ensure that when new tools are available, they reach those who need them.

Learning from past cooper-ation and sharing finite supplies

strategically and globally is actually in the national interest of every country.

With the African region hitting the golden number of zero cases of wild polio, the world’s attention will now shift to the remaining places where the virus hides. And the good news is that the two remaining countries that still reg-ister cases of wild polio, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have resumed polio vaccination after a brief sus-pension due to COVID-19.

A surge of resources and effort is needed to ensure that the world uses this critical window of oppor-tunity to protect all children in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the upcoming low season, during which there is a natural decline in cases of the polio virus.

Now is the moment to work with all partners and put child vac-cination first so that we can end polio and the global health com-munity can go on to tackle other childhood diseases like measles, pneumonia and rotavirus diar-rhoea which can be prevented with a vaccine.

While thanking and congratu-lating governments, health workers, civil society and all groups that have been part of this titanic struggle, it is important to use the momentum to invest further in health systems, as well as the health worker force, to protect people from this pan-demic, and prepare them for future disease outbreaks.

Polio and COVID-19 both demonstrate that the best ways to break the chains of disease trans-mission are working together in solidarity, accelerating the science and continually cooperating to solve problems on the ground and improve service delivery.

Salk’s vision of a polio-free world is within our grasp. Let us grab it with both hands and use it as our inspiration for a safer, healthier world.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is Director-General of the World Health Organization and Holger Knaack is President of Rotary International.

BLOOMBERG

In politics, what looks like sordid intrigue often turns out to be garden-variety incompe-tence. Case in point: After much testimony and investigation, it seems likely that the US Postal Service was not engaged in a plot to derail November's election by slowing down the mail, as many of President Donald Trump's critics have alleged in recent weeks. The truth about the service's recent decline is, in all probability, mundanely disheartening rather than sinister.

Anecdotal reports - some quite grim - of foul-ups and

delays in the postal system have been circulating for months. Complaints about delayed prescriptions and other deliveries have prolif-erated. New data seems to bear these stories out: According to a report released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, there have been signif-icant holdups and reductions in service since the beginning of July.

One theory held that this was intentional. Down in the polls and knowing that mail-in votes could prove critical during the COVID-19 pan-demic, Trump hoped that gridlock in the postal system

might give him an excuse to question the vote's legitimacy, the story went. It was an idea tailor-made for an era of drama and distrust, and fevered speculation soon gripped social media. Tales of backroom postal malfeasance spread. Photos of locked-up mailboxes assumed a grave new significance. Even usually sober-minded commentators joined the rumor mill.

The reality, two days of congressional testimony suggest, was more prosaic. The mail system slowed down because the service's lead-ership was trying to cut costs. Under Postmaster General

Louis DeJoy's leadership, the agency has tinkered with overtime rules, made opera-tional changes and tried to introduce other economies. These had the predictable effect of worsening the service, as economies often do.

From the start, US history has been punctuated by moments of paranoia and discord not unlike the present. On each era, Americans have managed to overcome their divisions and reaffirm their shared values. Doing so this time will require not only more gen-erosity and broadmindedness on both sides. It will require recommitting to a shared reality.

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website shifted from its position that all close contacts of known COVID-19 cases should be tested, suggesting that those with no symptoms “do not necessarily need a test”. When asked about the shift, the WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove said the UN health agency recommends that “contacts, if feasible, should be tested, regardless of the development of symptoms".

09FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020 EUROPE

COVID-19 contacts should be tested regardless of symptoms, says WHOAFP — GENEVA

People exposed to someone diagnosed with coronavirus should be tested whether they show symptoms or not, the World Health Organization said yesterday, after US health authorities said they were not needed.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website earlier this week shifted from its position that all close contacts of known COVID-19 cases should be tested, sug-gesting that those with no symptoms “do not necessarily need a test”.

When asked about the shift, the WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove did not mention the US situation specifically but told reporters the UN health agency recom-mends that “contacts, if feasible, should be tested, regardless of the development of symptoms.

“We know that people who have symptoms transmit, and we know that people who don’t have symptoms can transmit the virus as well,” she said.

The WHO had developed guidelines for countries at dif-ferent stages in their outbreaks, leaving it up to them to adapt their testing strategy to their needs and capacities, depending on the intensity of transmission, she said.

To date, the novel corona-virus has killed more than 826,000 people of the over 24 million infected since the disease first surfaced in China late last year.

While the main focus of testing is on those who develop symptoms, Van Kerkhove said that especially when investi-gating clusters of cases, “testing may need to be expanded to look for individuals who are on the more mild end of the spectrum or who may indeed

be asymptomatic”.“What is really important is

that testing be used as an opportunity to find active cases so that they can be isolated and so that contact tracing can also take place,” she said. “This is really fundamental to breaking chains of transmission.”

The controversial policy shift at the CDC was made quietly on its website on Monday amid reports of political interference from the White House.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the United States should do less testing, and has blamed mass testing for making it appear as though the country is doing poorly against the pandemic. This is not true: Though the

United States is testing at a high level, its outbreak is worse than any other country in the world, with more than 5.8 million con-firmed cases and almost 180,000 deaths.

The CDC’s site previously said: “Testing is recommended for all close contacts of persons with SARS-CoV-2 infection." The site now says: “If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) of a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes but do not have symptoms, you do not neces-sarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or State or local public health officials rec-ommend you take one.”

In a call with reporters, senior health department

official Brett Giroir said that the documents had been seen by other senior officials including the widely respected Anthony Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergies and Infec-tious Diseases.

Fauci later denied this, telling CNN: “I was under general anesthesia in the operating room and was not part of any dis-cussion or deliberation regarding the new testing recommenda-tions. “I am concerned about the interpretation of these recom-mendations and worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact, it is,” he added.

Fauci voiced concern that the new CDC recommendations “will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact, it is.”

The CDC has previously emphasised that between 40-50 percent of people with COVID-19 are asymptomatic, and therefore getting tested is important to stop the spread of the virus.

Putin vowsmilitarysupport for LukashenkoAFP — MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed military support for embattled Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko yes-terday, while urging a peaceful resolution to unrest and dem-onstrations that erupted after a disputed election.

EU ambassadors in the capital Minsk yesterday denounced a crackdown on the opposition in the wake of the presidential poll, in which Lukashenko claimed a land-slide reelection with some 80 percent of the vote.

The Belarusian strongman’s relationship with Putin had soured ahead of the August 9 ballot because Minsk refused closer integration with Russia .

Yet Putin yesterday promised military backing for Belarus and said Russia had set up a reserve group of law enforcement officers to deploy if the post-vote situation dete-riorated. “It won’t be used unless the situation starts to get out of control,” Putin said, unless “extremist elements... begin setting fire to cars, houses and banks, begin seizing admin-istrative buildings”.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said Russia should stay out of the Belarus crisis saying it was a “sovereign and independent state”. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki mean-while said any Russian inter-vention would be a breach of international law and the “human rights of Belarusian people, who should be free to decide their own fate”.

But Putin also called on the authorities in Minsk and the opposition to “find a way out” of the crisis peacefully. He conceded there were problems in Belarus, saying, “otherwise people wouldn’t take to the streets”.

People wearing face masks wait near electric scooters on the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris, yesterday.

Germany agrees tougher rules to fight rising infectionsAFP — BERLIN

Germany plans to keep fans out of stadiums until at least the end of the year and get tougher on mask-wearing to combat a worrying rise in coronavirus infections.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is holding talks with the leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states to officially agree a package of new measures, which will apply nationwide. The talks are aimed at creating a more coherent approach to the pan-demic after daily infection numbers in recent weeks soared to highs not seen since April.

Although Germany has weathered the pandemic well so far, the recent rise in coro-navirus cases “must be taken very seriously”, a draft agreement reads. “The goal of the federal government and the states is to work together to reduce the infection numbers as much as possible.”

The new regulations will include a minimum fine of €50 ($59) for anyone caught without a face mask in places where wearing one is com-pulsory, such as in shops and on public transport.

Germany also plans to extend a ban on large events from the end of October until December 31. It will apply to everything from festivals and concerts to large sporting events with spectators.

The decision deals a blow to German football clubs that had been hoping to welcome supporters back into stadiums this autumn. It also goes against Interior Minister Horst See-hofer’s earlier suggestion that

it should be possible to hold Bundesliga football games “with just a few spectators keeping a large distance”.

The draft text does however allow for exceptions to the ban in regions with low infection rates “and where it can be guaranteed that participants are exclusively from this region or nearby regions” with simi-larly low case numbers.

When it comes to smaller gatherings, German authorities want to limit parties in private homes to 25 people. The draft urges citizens “to limit the number of people they come into contact with”, to keep a distance of 1.5 metres and to opt for gatherings “in the open air” over indoor ones.

Under Germany’s federal system each state has the right to impose its own coronavirus regulations, leading to a patchwork of rules critics say can be confusing. The current pen-alties on flouting mask rules for instance vary wildly, from €40 in Hamburg and €250 in Bavaria to no fines at all in Brandenburg.

As in other countries, Ger-many’s surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks has been mainly blamed on summer travel and friends and family gatherings. Germany earlier this month introduced free man-datory tests for travellers returning from high-risk areas and free voluntary tests for those coming back from elsewhere.

But following concerns that German labs were becoming overburdened, the draft document says it will scrap the free tests for those returning from non-risk areas from September 15.

Masks compulsory throughout Paris as virus cases mountAFP — PARIS

France’s prime minister announced yesterday that face masks will become compulsory throughout Paris as he detailed a national trend of expanding coronavirus infections.

Jean Castex said 19 depart-ments have been added to a map with “red” zones of active virus circulation, meaning 21 of France’s 94 departments are now classified as such.

Official figures released on Wednesday showed more than 5,400 confirmed new cases in just 24 hours, with admissions to hospital and intensive care units on the rise.

There was an “undeniable resurgence” of the COVID-19 epidemic throughout France, Castex told a press conference,

with an incidence rate of 39 positive tests per 100,000 of the population — four times the level of a month ago, and rising in all age groups.

The “positivity rate” — the percentage of tests that come back positive — was up from one percent in May to 3.7 percent today, and the so-called “R” rate of viral transmission is now 1.4 nationwide, meaning 10 infected people are infecting 14 others on average.

More than 800 coronavirus patients are being admitted to hospital on average each week, up from 500 six weeks ago, the prime minister said. “The epi-demic is gaining territory, and now is the time to intervene” to curb exponential infection growth, he said.

Castex announced that

Paris, one of the 21 zones with active virus circulation, will make face masks compulsory throughout the city, though he did not give a date.

Masks are already oblig-atory on public transport nationwide and in most enclosed public spaces, including the workplace.

Local authorities in some cities and towns, including Paris, have used executive powers to make face coverings compulsory outdoors as well, in busy public areas.

On Tuesday, the Mediter-ranean port city of Marseille — also in a red zone — made masks compulsory in public places throughout the city, also outdoors, and announced clubs and restaurants would close every day at 11pm.

Russia: No signs of crime in Navalny coma case so farAP — MOSCOW

Russian authorities said yes-terday that they have found no indication so far that opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s coma, which his allies and German doctors treating him believe may have been brought about by poisoning, was caused by a criminal act.

A preliminary inquiry launched last week hasn’t found any indication of “delib-erate criminal acts committed against” Navalny, Russia’s Pros-ecutor General’s office said.

The statement comes amid growing pressure from the West to investigate the sudden illness of the Kremlin’s fiercest

critic and Russian authorities’ apparent reluctance to do so.

Navalny, an opposition politician and corruption investigator who is a longtime foe of President Vladimir Putin, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on August 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.

Over the weekend, he was transferred to the Charité hos-pital in Berlin, where doctors found indications of “cholinesterase inhibitors” in his system. They are yet to identify a specific substance.

Found in some drugs, pes-ticides and chemical nerve

agents, cholinesterase inhib-itors block the breakdown of a key chemical in the body, ace-tycholine, which transmits signals between nerve cells.

The Russian doctors who treated Navalny in Siberia have repeatedly contested the German hospital’s conclusion, saying they had ruled out poisoning as a diagnosis and that their tests for cholinesterase inhibitors came back negative.

Yesterday, Russian police said they have been conducting a preliminary probe — an inquiry to determine whether a criminal investigation should be launched — to “establish all the circumstances of the incident.”

Virus cases in UK jump to highest since June 12

REUTERS — LONDON

Britain reported its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases since June 12 yesterday, although for now infection rates remain well below those in Spain, France and other parts of Europe suffering a second wave of the disease.

The government said 1,522 people received a laboratory-confirmed positive COVID-19 test result yesterday, up from 1,048 on Wednesday, and announced a tightening of restrictions on some overseas travel. Britain has suffered Europe’s highest death toll from the disease, due largely to a failure to control its spread in the early stages of the pandemic.

A further 12 people were reported dead yesterday, taking the death toll on the British government’s preferred measure — which counts people who died no more than 28 days after their first pos-itive test result — to 41,477.

London zoo weighs animalsZookeeper Tony Cholerton uses an electronic identification chip reader on a squirrel monkey as it stands on a weighing scale at the ZSL London Zoo weigh-in and measurement, in London, yesterday.

A full assessment of the damage wrought by the Category 4 system was likely to take days. But initial reports offered hope that Laura, despite leaving entire neighbourhoods in ruins and more than 875,000 people without power, was not the annihilating menace that forecasters had feared.

10 FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020AMERICAS

An aerial view shows damage to a neighbourhood by Hurricane Laura outside of Lake Charles, Louisiana, yesterday. Hurricane Laura slammed into the southern US state of Louisiana and the monster Category 4 storm prompted warnings of “unsurvivable” ocean surges and evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents. RIGHT: The facade of a building is seen damaged after Hurricane Laura passed through Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Laura carves destructive path through Louisiana; 4 deadAP — LAKE CHARLES

One of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the US pounded the Gulf Coast yesterday, shearing off roofs and killing a least four people, as Laura bar-reled across Louisiana and maintained ferocious strength while carving a destructive path hundreds of miles inland.

A full assessment of the damage wrought by the Cat-egory 4 system was likely to take days. But initial reports offered hope that Laura, despite leaving entire neighbourhoods in ruins and more than 875,000 people without power, was not the annihilating menace that forecasters had feared.

“It is clear that we did not sustain and suffer the absolute, catastrophic damage that we thought was likely,” Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said. “But we we have sustained

a tremendous amount of damage,” he said. He called it the most powerful hurricane to strike Louisiana, meaning it sur-passed even Katrina, which was a Category 3 storm when it hit in 2005.

The hurricane’s top wind speed of 150 mph put it among the most powerful systems on record in the US. Not until 11 hours after landfall did Laura finally weaken into a tropical storm as it plowed north and thrashed Arkansas with pow-erful winds and heavy rain.

The storm came ashore in low-lying Louisiana and clob-bered Lake Charles, an indus-trial city of 80,000 people. On Broad Street, many buildings had partially collapsed, and those didn’t were missing chunks. Windows were blown out, awnings ripped away and trees split in half in eerily mis-shapen ways.

“It looks like 1,000 tornadoes went through here. It’s just destruction everywhere,” said Brett Geymann, who rode out the storm with three family members in Moss Bluff, near Lake Charles. He described Laura passing over his house with the roar of a jet engine around 2am. “There are houses that are totally gone. They were there yesterday, but now gone,” he said.

Not long after daybreak offered the first glimpse of the destruction, a massive plume of smoke visible for miles began

rising from a chemical plant. Police said the leak was at a facility run by Biolab, which manufactures chemicals used in household cleaners such as Comet bleach scrub and chlorine powder for pools. Nearby residents were told to close their doors and windows and turn off air conditioners.

The fatalities included a 14-year-old girl and a 68-year-old man died when trees fell on their homes in Louisiana, authorities said. No deaths had been confirmed in Texas, which

Republican Governor Greg Abbott said would amount to “a miracle”. President Donald Trump said he would visit the Gulf Coast this weekend to tour the damage.

More than 580,000 coastal residents were ordered to join the largest evacuation since the pandemic began and many did, filling hotels and sleeping in cars. Although not everyone fled from the coast, officials credited those who did leave for mini-mizing the loss of life.

More than 700,000 homes and businesses remained without power in the Texas and Louisiana, according to the website PowerOutage.Us.

Forecasters had warned that the storm surge of 15 to 20 feet would be “unsurvivable” and could push 40 miles inland. Edwards said the storm surge wound up being measured in the range of 9 feet to 12 feet

- still bad, but far from the worst forecast. He was hopeful that damaged homes could quickly be made habitable. The priority was search and rescue, followed by efforts to find hotel or motel rooms for those their homes.

Officials in Texas and Loui-siana have both sought to avoid traditional mass shelters for evacuees over fears of spreading COVID-19, and Edwards was concerned that the storm would inhibit coronavirus testing at a time when schools and univer-sities are reopening.

Laura hit the US after killing nearly two dozen people on the island of Hispaniola, including 20 in Haiti and three in the Dominican Republic, where it knocked out power and caused intense flooding. It was the seventh named storm to strike the US this year, setting a new record for US landfalls by the end of August.

Wisconsin city calm but activists call for charges in police shootingREUTERS — KENOSHA

Relative calm returned to Kenosha, Wisconsin, yesterday after multiple nights of looting and two deaths, even as activists pushed for charges against the white police officer involved in the shooting of a Black man that sparked the unrest.

Wisconsin Attorney-General Josh Kaul on Wednesday iden-tified Rusten Sheskey as the officer who on Sunday fired seven shots at the back of Jacob Blake after the 29-year-old opened his car door. Kaul also said investigators found a knife on the floor of Blake’s car.

That announcement, com-bined with the arrest of a 17-year-old suspect charged with homicide over the pre-vious night’s gunfire, set the stage for what could have been another night of chaos in Kenosha, about 60km south of Milwaukee.

Shockwaves from the events in the city of 100,000 were felt across the United States as pro-fessional athletes went on strike and anti-racism protests inten-sified in other cities. In an effort to ease tensions, White House adviser Jared Kushner said he would reach out to basketball superstar LeBron James fol-lowing a one-day boycott of playoff games.

But in Kenosha, after three nights of civil strife — including arson and the shootings that killed two people on Tuesday — calm appeared to take hold, perhaps helped by the deployment of hundreds of addi-tional National Guard troops.

At a press conference yes-terday, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson lamented what he called a “pattern of killing

Black people” and blamed President Donald Trump for creating a culture in which police were encouraged to use excessive force.

“That climate, top-down, a kind of moral desert, hurts all of America,” said Jackson, who called for Shuskey and two other officers at the scene of Blake’s shooting to be indicted.

“We need police that are not

above the law.” Jackson’s com-ments came after a night of comparative calm in Kenosha.

About 200 protesters defied a curfew and marched peacefully through city streets, chanting, “Black lives matter” and “no justice, no peace”, but law enforcement officers kept a low profile, and armed militia figures were notably absent.

A view shows the damage at Car Source, a used car lot on Sheridan Road, after protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, US, yesterday.

Worldwide 463 million children can’t access virtual schooling: UNAFP — UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread school clo-sures, at least one-third of stu-dents affected around the world lack access to virtual education, according to a UN study released on Wednesday.

In all, an estimated 463 million children lack the equipment or electronic access to pursue distance learning, said the report from Unicef.

“The sheer number of children whose education was completely disrupted for months on end is a global edu-cation emergency,” Henrietta Fore, executive director of the UN Children’s Fund, said. “The repercussions could be felt in economies and societies for decades to come,” she said.

The UN estimates that 1.5 billion children worldwide have been affected by lock-downs or school closings occa-sioned by the pandemic.

The report underlined gaping geographical differ-ences in children’s access to distance education, with far fewer affected in Europe, for

example, than in Africa or parts of Asia. The UN report is based on data gathered from roughly 100 countries, measuring public access to the internet, to television and to radio.

Even children with ade-quate access may face other obstacles to distance education — whether the lack of a good workspace at home, pressure to do other work for the family, or a lack of technical support when computer problems arise, the Unicef report said.

Among students around the world unable to access virtual education, 67 million are in eastern and southern Africa, 54 million in western and central Africa, 80 million in the Pacific and East Asia, 37 million in the Middle East and North Africa, 147 million in South Asia, and 13 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. No figures were given for the US or Canada.

With the new school year soon getting under way in many countries — including in-person classes in many places — Unicef urged governments to “prioritize the safe reopening of schools when they begin easing lockdown restrictions”.

Colombia takes first step to reopen international flightsREUTERS — BOGOTA

Colombia’s government said yesterday that it was taking the first step toward re-opening international flights after more than five months, saying it was unlikely to increase trans-mission of the coronavirus.

The health ministry did not give a date for renewed flights. It said other authorities including the civil aviation agency will evaluate its re-opening proposal.

“In consideration of the current state of the pandemic in Colombia, given it is unlikely international flights will increase transmission, and the

progressive opening permitted by the new state of emergency, the conditions to keep interna-tional flights to and from the great capitals of the country closed do not persist,” the min-istry said in a statement.

The ministry said it had ana-lyzed international studies about flight infection risks, which con-cluded that risks varied depending on the pandemic’s behavior in departure and des-tination locations. The Andean country halted international and national flights and closed its land and water borders in March as it began a national lockdown set to end at the close of this month.

Law and order is on the ballot: PenceAFP — BALTIMORE

US Vice-President Mike Pence took center stage at the Republican convention late on Wednesday to warn voters they “won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America” — casting Donald Trump as their protector against the “radical” left.

Pence was the keynote speaker in a parade of Trump acolytes who sought to uplift the president as an economic virtuoso and champion of conservative and pro-life values, law enforcement and civil rights.

They also spoke of dark forces intent on ending the American dream, and said losing to their Democratic rivals is not an option. “Law and order is on the ballot,” Pence stressed on the third night of a

convention overshadowed by violent unrest in Wisconsin and the approach of Hurricane Laura to the southern US coast.

He addressed the event from Fort McHenry in Baltimore. With that backdrop, Pence made the patriotic case for Trump getting a second term instead of allowing the nation to be “fundamen-tally transformed” by a Biden adminis-tration he warned would take an uncharted path towards socialism and mob rule. “The hard truth is, you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America,” said the 61-year-old Pence.

Pence’s address came amid a new flare-up of racial tensions in the United States, with protests spreading over the latest police shooting of an African-American

man, Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.Addressing the latest unrest, Pence

struck a tough tone. “Let me be clear. The violence must stop whether in Minneapolis, Portland or Kenosha,” he said. “We will have law and order on the streets of this country for every American.”

Touting Trump’s strong economic record before the COVID-19 epidemic struck and his ongoing efforts to revive it — Pence urged voters to ask themselves “who do you trust to rebuild this economy?”

As a traditional conservative Pence seeks to reassure old-school Republicans, while also praising the new generation of Trump loyalists — a balancing act that will likely play out within the party ahead of the presidential election in 2024.

Brent crude futures for October, which expire today, fell 50 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $45.14 a barrel by 1359 GMT. The more active November Brent contract was down 55 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $45.61 per barrel.

BUSINESSPAGE | 12 PAGE | 13

11FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020

UK in COVID-19 storm

may face worse

to come, warns

business chief

EU Commission

chief says her

team could face

a reshuffle

Turkey, Ukraine boost economic tiesMinister of Industry and Technology of Turkey, Mustafa Varank (right) and Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, Oleh Urusky pose for a photo during their meeting at the ministry in Ankara, Turkey, yesterday. The two countries are planning to focus on joint projects, product development and joint technological research.

China’s biggest carmaker posts 39% drop in first-half profitBLOOMBERG

SAIC Motor, the Chinese partner of Volkswagen and General Motors, reported a 39 percent decline in first-half net profit as the Covid-19 outbreak kept people away from showrooms.

Net income fell to 8.4 billion yuan ($1.2bn) in the six months through June, the Shanghai-based company said in a statement yesterday. Revenue dropped 25 percent to 274.5 billion yuan. The performance improved in the second quarter, however, with net profit rising 32 percent from a year earlier to 7.3 billion yuan as the car market started to recover.

US economy plunged an annualised 31.7% in second quarter of this yearAP — BALTIMORE

The US economy shrank at an alarming annual rate of 31.7 percent during the April-June quarter as it struggled under the weight of the viral pandemic, the government estimated yes-terday. It was the sharpest quarterly drop on record.

The Commerce Department downgraded its earlier estimate of the US gross domestic product last quarter, finding that the devastation was slightly less than the 32.9 percent annu-alised contraction it had esti-mated at the end of July. The previous worst quarterly drop since record-keeping began in 1947 was a 10 percent annu-alised loss in 1958.

Last quarter, businesses shuttered and millions of workers lost jobs as the world’s largest economy went into lockdown mode in what suc-ceeded only fitfully in limiting the spread of reported viral infections. The US economy fell an annualized 5 percent in the

first three months of the year as the coronavirus began to make its presence felt in Feb-

ruary and March.A bounce-back in hiring as

many businesses reopened suggested that the economy began to recover in June with third quarter growth esti-mated to be around 20 percent annualised. But economists say a full recovery remains far off given that the virus has yet to be contained and the gov-ernment’s financial support has faded.

“As we approach the fall, we see four important risks for the economy: a failure to provide further f iscal

stimulus, a second wave of COVID-19 infection during the flu season, major election uncertainty and rising trade tensions with China,” said Lydia Boussour (pictured), senior US economist at Oxford Economics.

Unemployment is still high at 10.2 percent, and roughly 1 million people are applying for jobless aid each week even as the amount of aid they receive has shrunk. Consumer confi-dence has tumbled. Though the stock market and home sales are surging, the broader economy shows signs of stalling, and millions face potential evictions from their homes.

The challenges reflect the unusual nature of the downturn. Many US households have increased their savings and paid off debt-which could either signal a hesitancy to spend as they have in the past or pent-up demand that could be unleashed once the pandemic ends.

Oil prices slip as HurricaneLaura forces oil rigs andrefineries to shut downREUTERS — LONDON

Oil prices fell yesterday as a massive hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico made landfall in the heart of the US oil industry, forcing oil rigs and refineries to shut down.

Brent crude futures for October, which expire today, fell 50 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $45.14 a barrel by 1359 GMT. The more active November Brent contract was down 55 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $45.61 per barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 39 cents or 0.9 percent to $43 a barrel.

Hurricane Laura made landfall early yesterday in southwestern Louisiana as a category 4 storm, one of the most powerful to hit the state, with forecasters warning it could push a wall of water 40 miles inland from the sea.

Oil producers on Tuesday had shut 1.56 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude output, or 84 percent of the Gulf of Mexico’s production, evacuating 310 off-shore facilities.

At the same time, refiners that convert nearly 2.33 million bpd of crude oil into fuel, and account for about 12 percent of US processing, halted operations.

“Perhaps traders are waiting to see what the damage is but the limited impact so far may also just be a reflection of the current oil market dynamics. Temporary disruptions are easily covered,” OANDA analyst Craig Erlam (pictured) said. Oil prices also shrugged off US

crude inventory declines and signs that gasoline demand in the world’s biggest oil consumer were improving.

Crude oil stockpiles fell last week as exports soared the most in 18 months and refineries boosted production to the highest rate since March, Energy Information Administration data showed on Wednesday. Gasoline stocks also fell.

“It appears that the gasoline inventory reduction was due first and foremost to increased demand, gasoline demand rose to a six-month high of around 9.2 million bpd,” Commerzbank said.

UK considers troubled loans’ future as payment breaks expireBLOOMBERG

As Britain’s pandemic-driven breaks on loan payments approach their end, regulators are moving toward how to handle the reckoning for bor-rowers and their banks.

The so-called mortgage holiday programme, where borrowers can postpone pay-ments, comes to an end October 31. The Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday that a majority of such borrowers are expected to resume regular payments. But for the rest, banks should consider “tailored support”, extending the repayment term, or restructuring the mortgage, the FCA said.

Simultaneously, the Bank of England issued guidance that said it will soon be time for the banks to consider accounting for troubled loans once the mortgage holiday expires.

The government has so far not opted for a second extension to the payment holiday, despite people familiar with the matter saying in May that a break of as long as a year and a half was being considered. In the first half of this year, British banks set aside more than £17bn ($22.4bn) to anticipate loans turning sour, including mortgages.

“Many will remain in

financial difficulty” after October 31, the FCA said. That’s the same month that Britain’s furlough programme ends. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak (pictured) has so far resisted calls to extend that programme.

Britain’s economy con-tracted more than 20 percent in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic and its associated lockdown shuttered stores and restaurants, throwing hundreds of thou-sands of people out of work.

Borrowers granted for-bearance shouldn’t automat-ically be considered significant risks by lenders, the Bank of England said. Deferrals previ-ously hadn’t been a good indi-cator of credit risk, as some people who weren’t in financial difficulty took advantage of an opportunity to delay payments.

Lebanese banks told to encourage some clients to repatriate cashBLOOMBERG

Lebanon’s central bank asked lenders to encourage clients con-sidered politically exposed to return part of the money they transferred abroad since 2017 to boost liquidity.

In a circular issued yes-terday, the central bank said

lenders should urge those clients who transferred at least $500,000 abroad from July 2017 until now to deposit 15 percent of the amount for five years within Lebanon. Politically exposed persons should deposit 30 percent of the amount trans-ferred, it said. Banks should use

these deposits to finance their foreign operations to stimulate the Lebanese economy and were also asked to adopt a legal agreement between them and their clients to return deposits upon maturity, according to the document.

The central bank

additionally told lenders to conduct a fair valuation of their assets and liabilities to restructure their capital or increase it by the first quarter of 2021. It said bank clients can convert their deposits into shares or redeemable, tradable and convertible perpetual bonds.

Aerospace giant Rolls-Royce logs £5.4bn H1 loss on virusAFP — LONDON

British aerospace giant Rolls-Royce yesterday logged a vast net loss for the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak grounded aircraft worldwide and sparked a crisis in air transport.

Rolls, which operates in the air, defence and energy sectors, posted a net loss of £5.4bn ($7.1bn, €6.0bn) in the six months to June.

It also unveiled a £2.0bn asset disposal programme as part of its ongoing overhaul. The dire first-half performance compared with a year-earlier loss of £909m, it added in a results statement. The company, whose

products power Airbus and Boeing aircraft, has also ramped up its cash holdings to help nav-igate the damaging fallout from the ongoing global health emergency.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected our 2020 performance, with an unprece-dented impact on the civil avi-ation sector with flights grounded across the world,” Chief Exec-utive Warren East (pictured) said in the earnings release.

“We have responded rapidly to increase our liquidity, with £6.1bn at the end of H1 and a further £2.0bn term loan agreed in H2, to help weather the con-tinued uncertainty around the

timing and shape of the recovery in the civil aviation sector.

“We have made significant progress with our restructuring, which includes the largest reor-ganisation of our civil aerospace business in our history.”

Rolls-Royce has been hit hard by the pandemic grounding passenger planes worldwide and causing airlines to cuts thousands of jobs and slash costs. Rolls is also doing the same, announcing in May that it was shedding 9,000 jobs, or 17 percent of its global workforce.

Yesterday it added that it expected to raise more cash from asset disposals to help it weather the downturn.

“While our actions have helped to secure the group’s immediate future, we recognise the material uncertainties resulting from Covid-19 and the need to rebuild our balance sheet for the longer term. We have identified a number of potential disposals that are expected to generate proceeds of more than £2.0bn.

“Furthermore, in light of ongoing uncertainty in the civil aviation sector, we are con-tinuing to assess additional options to strengthen our balance sheet to enable us to emerge from the pandemic well placed to cap-italise on the long-term oppor-tunities in all our markets.”

The Commerce Department downgraded its earlier estimate of the US gross domestic product last quarter, finding that the devastation was slightly less than the 32.9 percent annualised contraction it had estimated at the end of July.

12 FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020BUSINESS

EU Commission president says her team could face a reshuffleAP - BRUSSELS

The European Commission pres-ident said yesterday her team could face a reshuffle after the resignation of the Irish trade commissioner over a contro-versy involving his questionable adherence to COVID-19 rules.

Ursula von der Leyen (pic-tured) insisted it was far from clear that Ireland could simply replace Phil Hogan and ensure holding on to the powerful trade portfolio. She indicated she would wait for Ireland to come up with new candidates and decide “at a later stage” where the replacement would be slotted into the 27-strong team.

“I will invite the Irish gov-ernment to propose a woman and a man” as candidates before she would decide what portfolio

would be available.Each EU member state has

one commissioner and the easiest solution would be a straightforward replacement, leaving the rest of the Com-mission team intact.

The search for a new trade chief comes at an awkward time,

in the midst of the pandemic crisis, amid fraught trade rela-tions with the United States and China, and as the final months of talks on a future deal with post-Brexit Britain approach.

Hogan resigned late Wednesday because the scandal about his whereabouts and suspect adherence to COVID-19

rules “was becoming a dis-traction from my work,” he said. He came under fire in his home country amid allegations he skirted rules other Irish citizens have to live by to contain the second wave of the pandemic.

“As Europe fights to reduce the spread of the coronavirus and Europeans make sacrifices and accept painful restrictions, I expect the members of the college to be particularly vig-ilant,” von der Leyen said about Hogan’s travel decisions over the past month in Ireland.

Not only had Hogan attended a posh golf dinner with some 80 guests when maximum attendance should have been much lower, but he was also crit-icised for traveling in parts of Ireland where a lockdown was in force, and for emerging early

from a mandatory two-week quarantine.

He contested some perceived errors but also acknowledged a fundamental flaw in not paying enough attention to the rigors of the anti-COVID-19 fight while the public at large was con-strained from morning till night.

“I fully understand (people’s) sense of hurt and anger when they feel that those in public service do not meet the standards expected of them,” he said. “As a public representative I should have been more rigorous in my adherence to the COVID guide-lines.” The EU has consistently underscored the importance of obeying all restrictions imposed by the 27 member countries, and turning a blind eye to infractions by its own top officials would undermine that effort.

Sweden’s crisis aid likely to cost less than first estimated

BLOOMBERG

Sweden’s finance minister, Magdalena Andersson (pic-tured), expects to spend less on ailing businesses than first esti-mated after demand for emer-gency programmes dwindled, according to local media.

Measures intended to help companies cope with lost business due to the COVID-19 crisis will end up costing just 7bn kronor ($798m), and not the 39bn kronor originally budgeted, Andersson said, according to a report by TT.

The plan targeted com-panies expected to lose at least 30 percent of their revenues. But it’s now clear that far fewer businesses than feared experi-enced a slump of that mag-nitude in March and April.

The government’s estimate for the cost of its furlough plan, its biggest support programme, has also been more than halved to 43bn kronor, while measures intended to provide rent support also ended up costing less than expected.

Andersson was due to present new economic forecasts yesterday.

British advertiser WPP tumbles into loss on virusAFP - LONDON

British advertising giant WPP yesterday posted a huge first-half loss on asset writedowns linked to the coronavirus pan-demic but forecast booming digital demand from online-savvy consumers shunning high streets.

WPP said it suffered a net loss of £2.6bn ($3.4bn, €2.9bn) in the six months to the end of June, after a net profit of £312m a year earlier.

The advertising giant, which was hit hard by cor-porate cost-cutting in the face of the health crisis, added that it has taken £2.7bn in impair-ments linked to the impact of

COVID-19. Revenues sank 12.3 percent to £5.6bn compared with the last time around.

WPP, considered a bell-wether for the advertising industry, forecast that the world ad market will shrink 11.8 percent this year after a 6.2-percent expansion in 2019.

However, it predicts a strong jump in digital revenues as more and more consumers spend increasing amounts of time in front of computer screens and smartphones.

“Digital media is expected to increase to 54 percent of total spend in 2020, from 48 percent in 2019, as the impact of COVID-19 accelerates an underlying structural trend,”

WPP said. “As consumers increased their time at home, we generally saw heightened levels of consumption of media and a rapid expansion of e-commerce activity. As a result, businesses are looking to grow their e-commerce and multi-channel capabilities.” WPP believes the impact of COVID-19 will be more pro-nounced in Europe, which has been particularly hard hit by the deadly disease and was already a sluggish market prior to the outbreak.

Chief Executive Mark Read (pictured) argued that the worst is over for the sector, provided that there is no second wave or re-imposition

of lockdowns.“Assuming there is no

second wave nor major lock-downs, the second quarter is expected to be the toughest period of the year, although we remain cautious on the speed of recovery,” Read said.

“Our strategic transfor-mation remains on track but as COVID-19 accelerates the change in our sector, we are accelerating our plans.

“We continue to attract new talent, invest in tech-nology and e-commerce, and train our people in the skills they need for the future.” He added: “We are working with our clients to help them get back to business, adapt their

marketing strategies at speed and reshape their operations for a new world. Brands are seeing increases in online sales of 100 percent and more, and we are supporting eight of our top ten clients on e-commerce strategies.”

Only 1 in 5 staff in UK cities back in workplaces: Think-tankREUTERS - LONDON

Only 17 percent of workers in British cities had returned to their workplaces by early August, underscoring the chal-lenge for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to steer the country away from its coronavirus shutdown, data published yes-terday showed.

The Centre for Cities said the data, based on mobile phone signals, showed no increase in the footfall of workers going to city centres between late June and the week starting August 3.

Johnson last month encouraged people working from home to get back to their workplaces to help the economy recover from its 20 percent con-traction in the April-June period, the biggest fall among big developed economies.

“The costs of office closure are becoming clearer by the day,” Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confed-eration of British Industry, an employers group, said.

“Some of our busiest city centres resemble ghost towns, missing the usual bustle of passing trade. This comes at a high price for local businesses, jobs and communities,” she wrote in an article for the Daily Mail newspaper.

Separate figures published by Britain’s statistics office showed almost one in four busi-nesses in accommodation and food services and arts, and the entertainment and recreation industries rated their risk of insolvency as moderate or severe. The Office for National Statistics also said footfall in mid-August in high streets, retail parks and shopping centres had increased to around 70 percent of its level a year earlier.

Vehicle traffic levels on August 24 were just six per-centage points lower than in early February, before the pan-demic struck.

TikTok chief Kevin Mayer quits company as tension between US and China soarsAFP - LOS ANGELES

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer (pictured) said Wednesday he has quit the company as ten-sions soar between Wash-ington and Beijing over the Chinese-owned video platform.

Mayer’s resignation comes days after TikTok filed a lawsuit challenging a crackdown by the US gov-ernment over claims the wildly popular social media app can be used to spy on Americans.

TikTok has been at the center of a diplomatic storm between the US and China, and President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans 45 days to stop doing business with TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, effec-tively setting a deadline for a sale of the app to a US company.

TikTok, which has been downloaded 175 million times in the US and more than a billion times around the world, argued in the suit that Trump’s order was a misuse of the International Emer-gency Economic Powers Act because the platform, on which users share often playful short-form videos, is not “an unusual and extraor-dinary threat.” The platform’s kaleidoscopic feeds of clips feature everything from dance routines and hair-dye tuto-rials to jokes about daily life and politics.

The company holds firm that it has never provided any US user data to the Chinese government, and Beijing has blasted Trump’s crackdown as political.

Former Disney executive Mayer, who has only been in

the post since May, said in a letter to staff that the “political environment has sharply changed” in recent weeks.

“Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company,” he wrote.

“I understand that the role that I signed up for, including running TikTok globally, will look very different as a result of the US administration’s action to push for a sell-off of the US business.” TikTok said in a statement: “We appre-ciate that the political dynamics of the last few months have significantly changed what the scope of Kevin’s role would be going forward, and fully respect his decision. We thank him for his time at the company and wish him well.” ByteDance con-firmed to AFP that current general manager Vanessa Pappas will become its interim head. According to Pappas’ LinkedIn profile, she formerly worked as global head of creative insights at YouTube.

Software giants Microsoft and Oracle are possible suitors to take over TikTok operations following Trump’s executive order.

Fed to allow inflation to rise to maximise job growth: PowellAFP - WASHINGTON

The US central bank has shifted policy and now will let inflation rise to allow the economy to produce more jobs for the benefit of all workers, but especially lower income families, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell (pictured) said yesterday.

The change means inflation can stay above the 2.0 percent target “for some time” before the Fed will need to act by raising interest rates, Powell said in a speech.

The aim is to correct the “shortfalls” in achieving the Fed’s goal of maximum employment, and a recognition that with changes in the global economy, a tight job market does not nec-essarily drive prices higher.

“This change reflects our appreciation for the benefits of a strong labour market, particu-larly for many in low- and

moderate-income communities,” he said, adding that the Fed is prepared to use “our full range of tools to support the economy.” Prior to the coronavirus pan-demic the US unemployment rate had hovered near 50-year lows at 3.5 percent, which brought many people back into the workforce as firms struggled to fill open positions.

The policy shift, though tel-egraphed in recent statements,

is a significant change for the Fed and central banking more gen-erally, as inflation for decades has been the economic villain to be stamped out at every turn.

But Powell, in his speech to the annual Jackson Hole mon-etary policy conference, said the past 10 years since the 2008 global financial crisis has shown that warnings about low unem-ployment causing price hikes were exaggerated.

“This change may appear subtle, but it reflects our view that a robust job market can be sustained without causing an outbreak of inflation,” he told the virtual conference.

Inflation for years has stayed below the 2.0 percent target, and Powell said the goal now is “to achieve inflation that averages two percent over time” although he stressed that it will not be tied “to a particular mathematical formula.”

Each EU member state has one commissioner and the easiest solution would be a straightforward replacement, leaving the rest of the Commission team intact.

French firms ready to rebuild Beirut’s portFrench managing director of Greenpeace, France Jean-François Julliard (left), talks with European MP of EELV (Europe Ecology – The Greens) Yannick Jadot as they attend a session of the employers’ association MEDEF’s summer meeting at The Longchamp horse racing complex, in Paris yesterday. The Mouvement des entreprises de France (Movement of the Enterprises of France, MEDEF) has announced that French companies are ready to work alongside the Lebanese people in a project to rebuild Beirut’s port after the devastating explosion on August 4.

13FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020 BUSINESS

UK in COVID-19 storm may face worse to come, warns business chiefBLOOMBERG

The UK is still in the eye of the coronavirus storm and more challenging times may yet follow, according to an influential business chief who urged the government to take further steps to support corporate Britain.

The pandemic and lockdown thrust the economy into the worst slump in Europe, but support rolled out by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak staved off the worst effects of the slowdown by preserving more than 9 million jobs. But according to British Chambers of Commerce Director General Adam Marshall, the UK faces a moment of renewed danger as the winding down of that support threatens to coincide with a potential winter resurgence of the virus.

“We’ve been through the first wave of the storm, which is damaging and difficult and distressing, but in fact it’s the second leg of a hurricane or a typhoon that often causes the most damage,” Marshall said Thursday in an interview. “That’s what we have ahead of us.”

It’s another reminder of the balancing act facing Sunak as he determines how to keep up government support for businesses and workers while also containing runaway spending that’s pushed the U. debt over £2 trillion ($2.6 trillion) for the first time. The chancellor has repeatedly said that the gov-ernment’s flagship wage support program must end at the end of October.

In addition, Marshall urged the gov-ernment to provide “significant” assistance to businesses in areas that go into local lockdown, including grants and wage support.

He said failure to do so would lead to a “checkerboard map of Britain” contrasting areas able to restart with those that can’t, potentially causing “decades of damage”Called for employment support beyond the end of the government’s fur-lough program on October 31, suggesting the “easiest” measure would be to cut employers’ National Insurance payments.

He said there may need to be special support for sectors unable to reopen so far, such as night clubs, and those with a huge fall in demand, such as aviation, travel, and the aerospace supply chain. He also said the gov-ernment should also extend the Coro-navirus Business Interruption Loans programme, under which commercial lenders lend money that’s 80% backed by the state, suggested the government should allow companies to harness the state’s purchasing power to buy cheaper coronavirus tests so they could test employees more regularly. Marshall’s voice carries weight, because as the head of one of the coun-try’s biggest business lobby groups, he represents tens of thousands of com-panies around the U.K., employing almost 6 million people. He and his officials hold regular meetings with the chancellor an others in the Treasury.

Sunak has promised a budget in the coming months, and Marshall called for a firm date and for the chan-cellor to be “bold” in his

announcements.“It is not yet time for Treasury

orthodoxy to reassert itself,” Marshall said. “We have always argued that the UK’s market credibility depended on its strong fiscal position, but our country, like the rest of the world, is in a pretty unprecedented situation right now and there is a period of time during which it will be important to continue to offer significant support to business and to economic growth.”

A file photo of Adam Marshall, British Chambers of Commerce Director General.

Online retailer THG clicks on £4.5bn London share saleAFP - LONDON

British online retailer The Hut Group, which sells cosmetic and nutrition products across the world, yesterday unveiled plans for London’s biggest stock market flotation so far this year.

The Hut Group, whose portfolio includes beauty website Lookfantastic and nutrition brand Myprotein, is seeking an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that values the entire business at £4.5bn ($5.9bn), it said in a statement.

THG added that will sell at least 20 percent of its stock, in both new and existing shares, but it did not specify any time-frame. The company, which is based in Manchester in north-western England and was founded in 2004, has seen its popularity surge this year as the coronavirus lockdown sparks a global online shopping boom.

Against the backdrop of the pandemic, THG’s revenues surged by almost 36 percent to £676m in the six months to the end of June, compared with a year earlier. It employs

7,000 staff. “Our intention to float

THG on the London Stock Exchange reflects the achieve-ments of the past but also our strong belief in the significant potential for THG in the future,” said founder Matthew Moulding, who is chief exec-utive and chairman.

“The brands we own today give us leading strategic posi-tions in prestige beauty and nutrition.”

Revenues soared by almost a quarter last year to stand at £1.1bn, while earnings before interest, taxes, depre-ciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at £111.3m.

THG added that more than 610 million visits were made to websites using its Ingenuity technology platform last year, while more than 80 million products were dispatched globally.

The company’s operations comprise product devel-opment, manufacturing, content creation and mar-keting, as well as digital com-merce via its payment, hosting, courier and logistics networks.

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 9,882.93 -0.16 %

QE Total Return Index 18,999.60 -0.16 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic

Index - Price 2,275.41 -0.03 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 4,059.26 -0.03 %

QE All Share Index 3,066.91 -0.02 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 4,162.46 +0.13 %

QE All Share Industrials 2,963.78 -0.62 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,843.41 -0.76 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,669.12 +1.07 %

QE All Share Insurance 2,114.50 -0.34 %

QE All Share Telecoms 919.14 0.00 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 8,199.65 +0.40 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

27-08-2020Index 9,882.93

Change -16.00

% -0.16%

YTD% -5.20

Volume 523,990,268

Value (QAR) 646,922,922.08

Trades 12,553

Up 29 | Down 12 | Unchanged 0526-08-2020Index 9,898.93

Change +54.01

% -10.59

YTD% -5.05

Volume 218,280,736

Value (QAR) 430,047,421.42

Trades 8,824

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR207.7520 grammeSILVER QR1.7958 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low All Ordinaries 4207.354 110.624 2.7 5069.5 3829.4

CAC 40 Index/D 3176.13 -0.06 0 4169.87 2979.87

DAX - Composit/D 531.14 8.71 1.67 667.98 485.74

DJ Indu Average 0 0 0 12876 9936.39

Egypt Cma Gn Idx 675.91 13.3 0.95 1567.23 143.08

Hang Seng Inde/D 19783.67 452.97 2.34 24468.64 18868.11

ISEG Overall/D 2510.71 44.36 1.8 3037.89 2333.35

Karachi 100 In/D 11311.29 276.37 2.5 12768.4 11032.2

Nikkei 225 Index 9038.74 94.26 1.05 10891.6 8227.63

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 1370.58 1039.7

Straits Times/D 2821.09 -62.91 -2.18 3280.77 2847

Currency Buying (QAR) Selling (QAR)US$ 3.6305 3.6500

Pound Sterlig 4.4682 4.5313

Swiss Frnac 3.7067 3.7591

Japanese yen 0.03355 0.0342

Australian Dollar 2.2895 2.3346

Canadian Dollar 2.5502 2.6003

Indian Rupee 0.0474 0.0483

Pakistan Rupee 0.0225 0.0231

Philipine Peso 0.0712 0.0726

Bangala Takka 0.0425 0.0433

Sri lanka Rupee 0.0187 0.0191

Nepalese Rupee 0.0297 0.0302

South African Rand 0.1887 0.1925

Euro 3.8966 3.9508

AFP — LONDON

Pakistan captain Babar Azam will try to overcome a quick change in formats in the first of three Twenty20 interna-tionals against England at Old Trafford today.

Babar, the world’s top-ranked T20 batsman, featured throughout during Pakistan’s 1-0 loss to England in a three-Test series only completed on Tuesday -- where he was 63 not out at the finish of a drawn match in Southampton.

While none of England’s Test side will feature today, with the hosts maintaining separate red and white-ball squads in a Covid-19 hit season, Babar will be facing the very different demands of T20 cricket in Manchester.

“It’s really difficult to come from red-ball to white-ball,” Babar told reporters yesterday.

“We only got one day for practice, yesterday we had a little bit with the white ball. It’s all in the mindset, we hope that we will come up with a good performance.”

Pakistan, however, do have white-ball specialists in their tour squad, with Babar adding: “But T20 specific players have been practising so the aim is to win the series.

“We will not take England lightly. They have good white-ball players.”

Babar’s 69 during Paki-stan’s three-wicket defeat in the first Test at Old Trafford earlier this month was his fifth successive half-century at that level, with his previous five matches yielding four hundreds.

That innings prompted former England captain Nasser Hussain to proclaim Babar was now among the world’s leading batsmen.

“They keep going on about the ‘Fab Four (India’s Virat Kohli, Australia’s Steve Smith, New Zealand’s Kane Wil-liamson and England’s Joe Root) -- it’s the ‘Fab Five’ and Babar Azam is in that,” Hussain said.

Babar, while “disap-pointed I didn’t do what I set out to do in the Test series”, where he scored 195 runs,

with two fifties, at an impressive average of nearly 49, said he did not feel under a crushing weight of expec-tation given all the praise that had come his way.

“There’s no pressure, I will just play my natural game,” insisted Babar, who has scored 1,471 T20 international runs at an impressive average of 50.72, second only to Kohli’s 50.80, with a top score of 97 not out in a 58-ball innings against the West Indies in 2018.

“I definitely have a game-plan, I want to spend more time at the crease so that my team will get more runs.”

By contrast, England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan has long been a limited overs spe-cialist, with the 33-year-old Irishman playing the last of his 16 Tests in 2012.

The pair were once team-mates in the Twenty20 Pakistan Super League, and England’s 50-over World Cup winning captain was in no doubt of Babar’s talent.

“He’s a fantastic player, I played with him at Karachi Kings a couple of years ago,” said Morgan, who averages nearly 31 from 89 Twenty20 internationals, with a highest score of 91 from 41 balls against New Zealand in 2019.

It’s really difficult to come

from red-ball to

white-ball. It’s all in the

mindset, we hope that we

will come up with a good

performance: Babar Azam

14 FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020SPORT

Tour de France on virus ‘red alert’ as teams gear up for Nice kick-offAFP — NICE

Tour de France ‘Grand Depart’ host city Nice scrambled to impose tighter health protocols yesterday as the region was reclassified as a COVID-19 red zone.

With the gathering con-tenders mulling the likely sprint finish on the Mediter-ranean city’s celebrated sea-front Promenade des Anglais, it was announced only a few dozen fans could get to see the race start tomorrow.

Authorities in the chic seaside town decided yester-day’s team parade and fan park could only host 1,000 spectators.

Fines of 135 euros were dished out to anyone without a protective face mask in Nice’s terrace-lined squares and along the beachfront walkways.

The Alpes-Maritimes region where Nice is situated was reclassified as a COVID-19 red zone, along with 18 other French depart-ments in a decision from French Prime Minister Jean Castex.

There was an “undeniable resurgence” of the Covid-19 epidemic throughout France, Castex told a press con-ference, with 39 positive tests per 100,000 population -- four times the level of a month ago, and rising in all age groups.

“We knew it was coming,” regional prefect Bernard Gonzalez said.

“We are shifting from tight conditions, to very tight conditions,” he said, flanked by Nice mayor Christian Estrosi and Tour de France o r g a n i s e r C h r i s t i a n Prudhomme.

The Promenade des Anglais start line will allow just 100 spectators, reserved for municipality staff “who

worked so hard to get this to happen” Gonzalez said.

There will also be no camper vans or pop-up vil-lages on the summits in the mountains behind Nice on stage two.

“People should stay home and watch on television,” Gonzalez said, without going as far as banning people from gathering by the roadside for an event generally witnessed by 10 million fans a year.

Anyone involved in the Tour -- riders and the rest of the caravan -- have undergone nasal tests for coronavirus symptoms.

“It’s unpleasant (the nasal swab) but necessary. We are all here ready to race after all,” said Astana’s Colombian

captain Miguel Angel Lopez.The Nice mayor went

even further.“Inside the Tour is where

you are most protected from the spread of the virus,” said Estrosi.

The Tour de France, however, appears to be suc-ceeding where the Tokyo Olympics and football’s Euros failed, in getting their event staged in 2020, albeit late and in reduced circumstances.

The mountainous 21-day race starts tomorrow with a run around the outskirts of Nice but avoids the low Alps behind it until stage two, meaning the first stage should end in a mass bunch sprint.

The winner of stage one will wear the overall leader’s

yellow jersey, but in the long term will be targeting the green jersey awarded to the best sprinter.

Lotto-Soudal’s Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan, who stands at 5ft 5in (1.65m), is a red hot favourite to win the opener.

“I feel more pressure than last year at the start of my first Tour de France,” says Ewan who won three stages including the clincher on the Champs-Elysees in 2019.

“I’ve stepped up again another level and I’m ready to take up the challenge on Saturday,” said the affable 26-year-old.

“Stage one is not too hard for me.

“The conditions may be rainy and lower temperatures suit me better,” said the man from New South Wales, who lives down the coast from Nice in Monaco.

Ewan said he hadn’t looked too closely at the course as a whole, but was wary of its mountainous nature.

“There should be about six opportunities for the sprinters this year.”

“Some sprinters are missing but there are still riders like Elia Viviani, Sam Bennett and Andre Greipel and as always, it’ll be hard to win. Because of my three wins last year, there are expectations based on that, so I feel more pressure.”

Temperatures tomorrow are expected to be around 26C with frequent showers.

Team Arkea-Samsic rider Nairo Quintana of Colombia raises his arm during the teams presentation ceremony, yesterday.

With the gathering contenders mulling the likely sprint finish on the Mediterranean city’s celebrated seafront Promenade des Anglais, it was announced only a few dozen fans could get to see the race start tomorrow.

NBA players vote to continue play-off seasonAFP — MIAMI

NBA players voted to resume the post-season yesterday, a day after a boycott by the Milwaukee Bucks forced the league to halt the play-offs and left the campaign hanging in the balance, reports said.

ESPN and The Athletic website said players attending a meeting in Orlando had agreed to resume the play-offs, although games scheduled yesterday were postponed.

The decision followed a day of tumult in the NBA on Wednesday, when the Bucks refused to play their first round game against the Orlando Magic in protest at the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday.

The NBA later postponed the entire slate of Wednesday fixtures following the Bucks’ no-show.

At a players meeting late on Wednesday, the powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers voted to abandon the season.

The Lakers’ LeBron James and Clippers star Kawhi Leonard both spoke in favor of ending the play-offs.

However, The Athletic reported that the Lakers and Clippers had changed course at Thursday’s meeting, with the two teams said to be “on board” with a resumption.

James had on Wednesday tweeted angrily over the shooting of Blake, who was shot seven times in the back by police as he got into a car containing his three children.

“WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT,” James wrote on Twitter.

Yesterday, James renewed calls for action against racial inequality and social injustice.

Captain Babar facing turnaround challenge in England T20 series

Pakistan T20 captain Babar Azam (right) speaks with head coach Misbahul Haq during a training session yesterday.

England’s Morgan calls on fringe players to seize the momentREUTERS — MANCHESTER

England captain Eoin Morgan (pictured) has urged his players to seize their chance against a dangerous Pakistan side in the three-match Twenty20 inter-national series that provides an early audition for next year’s World Cup.

The teams meet at Old Trafford today with England much changed from what would be considered their first-choice squad as players who featured in the recent Test series against Pakistan are rested.

Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood are all missing, while Jason Roy is absent through injury, handing opportunities to the likes of Tom Banton, Dawid Malan and Lewis Gregory.

“It gives guys the chance to stake their claim to be in that final 15-man squad for the World Cup next year,” Morgan told reporters yesterday.

“Given the circumstances surrounding COVID and the restrictions w e h a v e s e l e c t i o n -wise, this is an opportunity for guys who would potentially sit outside that 15 to try

and present their best case for the upcoming winter tours and the World Cup.

“Opportunities like this don’t come around all that often when we have our squad at full strength.”

Morgan knows that with the likelihood of a crammed cal-endar across all formats in 2021, opportunities to field what he would consider England’s best Twenty20 lineup on a regular basis will be slim ahead of the October-November World Cup in India.

“One of the challenges between now and then is going to be getting our strongest team on the park as often as we can to define their roles,” he said.j y g

the likes of TomMalan and Lewis

ys the chance tom to be in that squad for the t year,” Morgan

yesterday.circumstances OVIDions

dsit

to tryto try

CSA fire controversial cricket chief MoroeAFP — JOHANNESBURG

Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced yesterday that suspended chief executive Thabang Moroe had been fired.

In a brief statement, CSA said the board had decided to end Moroe’s employment with immediate effect following an independent forensic investi-gation that found he had “com-mitted acts of serious misconduct”.

The acts of misconduct were not specified.

Moroe was suspended last December soon after the accreditation of five journalists

was withdrawn. During his two years at the helm, first as acting chief executive and in a full-time role from July 2018, Moroe was involved in several controversies.

He had several clashes with the SA Cricketers’ Asso-ciation (SACA), which sued CSA over what it claimed were breaches by Moroe of an agreement between the two bodies.

At the time of Moroe’s sus-pension, SACA and two major sponsors called for the board to resign for allowing adminis-trative chaos under Moroe’s watch.

Hamilton says he will not boycott Belgian GPREUTERS — LONDON

Six-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton said yesterday he would not boycott Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix after a wave of player protests in the United States against the police shooting of a Black Man forced the postponement of sporting events.

The NBA’s Wisconsin-based Milwaukee Bucks started the boycotts when they refused to take the court for their play-off game on Wednesday while other teams followed suit in an unprece-dented show of athlete solidarity.

The protests spilled over into Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the Women’s NBA and tennis as Japan’s twice Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka pulled out of a tournament a f t e r r e a c h i n g t h e semi-finals.

In the police shooting that sparked the latest wave of outrage, Jacob Blake was shot in the back at close range by a white officer in an incident captured on video.

“Firstly, I think it’s incredible what many out there in the States are doing within their sports all the way down to the people that are hosting, commentators for example,” Briton Hamilton, Formula One’s first and only Black driver, told reporters via video conference yesterday.

“But that is in America and I don’t know really if me doing it here will particularly have any effect.

“We’re in Belgium, we’re not in the United States.”

Hamilton, who is on course to equal German great Michael Schumacher’s record haul of seven titles this season, has been a vocal sup-porter of the campaign to end racism that has swept global sport since George Floyd died on May 25 after a Minneapolis policeman knelt on his neck.

REUTERS – NEW YORK

Australian Open finalists Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem are on a collision course to meet again in the US Open final after they were placed at opposite ends of the draw.

World number one and top seed Djokovic clinched the

year’s first Grand Slam when he beat Austrian

Thiem in five sets and the Serbian is unbeaten with a 21-0 record in a season upended by the C O V I D - 1 9 pandemic. With five-times winner

Roger Federer and defending champion Rafa Nadal skipping the tournament due to injury and COVID-19 concerns respectively, Thiem was named the second seed.

Djokovic opens his cam-paign for an 18th Grand Slam victory and fourth title at

Flushing Meadows against Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur while Thiem plays Spaniard Jaume Munar.

Last year’s runner-up Daniil Medvedev is seeded third and Stefanos Tsitsipas fourth. Alexander Zverev, seeded fifth, has a potentially

tough first-round match against big-serving

Kevin Anderson who reached the final in 2017.

Wildcard Andy Murray, playing in his first Grand Slam since u n d e r g o i n g h i p

surgery after last year’s Australian Open, has a

f i r s t - r o u n d c l a s h

w i t h

Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. With six of the women’s top

10 skipping the tournament in New York, the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova is top seed and she begins her quest for her first Grand Slam title against Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina.

Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin is seeded second and she faces Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer.

Serena Williams, looking to clinch a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam, is the third seed and she meets compatriot Kristie Ahn. Serena’s unseeded sister Venus, playing in her 22nd US Open at the age of 40, takes on 20th seed Karolina Muchova.

Former champion Naomi Osaka plays fellow Japanese Misaki Doi while wildcard Kim Clijsters, who made a second comeback from retirement this year, plays 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.

AP – MADRID

Lionel Messi’s surprise decision to leave Barcelona has dealt a blow to the club’s restructuring project even before it began.

Shortly after the humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barcelona said it wanted to make “profound changes to the first team.”

Barcelona was basing its revamp on Messi, hoping he would help the team rebuild with new players and a new coach. But the type of changes the team began implementing may have actually turned him away. Messi hasn’t been happy with club directors all season, and he apparently also didn’t like when incoming coach Ronald Koeman began telling some key players they were not in his plans.

What might have upset him the most was the decision to get

rid of Luis Suárez, Messi’s longtime teammate and

friend. Messi’s and Suárez’s families are close and often spend vacation time together. This year, they

were seen on a boat off the

coast of Ibiza enjoying the Balearic Islands.

Other players reportedly not wanted by Koeman include Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti. Spanish media said the coach intended to keep Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets, but there were still doubts about the future of other players who had been with Messi for a long time.

With its aging team, Barcelona endured one of its toughest seasons, the first without a title since 2007-08. After the loss to Bayern, the club also announced a “wide-ranging” restructuring of the club. Koeman was immedi-ately brought in to replace coach Quique Setién, and new presi-dential elections were called for next March.

The squad changes quickly began, but the decisions appar-ently were being made with the understanding that Messi would still be on the team. Both Koeman and club president Josep Bar-tomeu said the project revolved around the Argentina forward.

Even after the surprise burofax announcement made by Messi saying he wanted to leave

after nearly 20 years with the club, Barcelona was not giving up on him. Ramon Planes, the club’s technical director, said on Wednesday that Barcelona wanted “to rebuild for the future together with the best player in history.”

Newly arrived forward Fran-cisco Trincão, one of the many youngsters the club is counting on amid its revamping process, was hopeful he would still get to learn from Messi.

Messi hasn’t left yet, and Bar-celona isn’t ready to let him go, either.

Barcelona claims the contract clause invoked by Messi - which allowed him to leave for free after the season - had already expired when he made his decision, meaning his contract wouldn’t end until June 2021. Messi will contend the clause was valid until the end of the season, which was moved back this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. A lengthy legal batter would further hurt Barcelona’s restructuring project, as would Messi’s departure without any financial compensation.

AFP – OHIO

World number one Novak Djokovic cruised into the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA Western & Southern Open on Wednesday while Japan's Naomi Osaka withdrew to protest the shooting of a black man by police in Wisconsin.

Djokovic, who launches his bid for a fourth US Open title and 18th Grand Slam crown on Monday, needed only 62 minutes to rout Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-1.

The 33-year-old Serbian, who seeks a fourth US Open title and 18th Grand Slam crown, advanced to a Thursday semi-final against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut, who upset defending champion Daniil Medvedev, last year's US Open runner-up from Russia, by 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Djokovic had no issues with a prior neck injury, testing himself well on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts in the same

spectator-less Covid-19 bubble quarantine atmosphere where the US Open will be played.

"It was great. I feel very good," said Djokovic who is 21-0 this year.

Fourth seed Osaka, a two-time Grand Slam champion, rallied to defeat Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a quarter-final.

But she withdrew from her semi-final yesterday against Belgian 14th seed Elise Mertens, who eliminated American Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-3.

The move came in the wake of African-American Jacob Blake being shot in the back on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

"Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach," Osaka posted in a Twitter statement.

"Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman. And as a black woman I feel as though there

are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis.

"I don't expect anything

drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a con-versation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction."

Mertens reached a Friday final against the winner between two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who beat Tunisia's Ons

Jabeur 7-6 (11/9), 6-2, and Brit-ain's Johanna Konta, who beat Greece's 13th-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-3.

The other men's semi-final will send Greek fourth seed Ste-fanos Tsitsipas, who advanced down 5-6 when American Reilly Opelka retired, against Canada's Milos Raonic, who defeated Serbian Filip Krajinovic 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5.

Djokovic won this event, typically played in Cincinnati, in 2018 after five prior finals losses and looks like he could claim a second title in three tries while warming up for the US Open and testing the improvements made to his games since the COVID-19 shutdown. Bautista Agut, ranked 12th, fought back after being blasted in the first set.

His reward is an on-form Djokovic, who has won five of the past seven Grand Slam titles as he chases Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- both absent from the New York bubble -- for the all-time Slam title record.

I don't expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction: Naomi Osaka

15FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020 SPORT

Messi’s departure jeopardises Barcelona’s restructuring plan

Spain to lose €50m with Messi’s exitANATOLIA –ANKARA Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi’s exit will deprive the Spanish Treasury of €50m ($59m) paid in tax per annum.

Spanish daily Sport said on Wednesday that the Argentine No. 10’s leave from the club will jolt both Barca and the Spanish Treasury.

Messi, 33, is a pure Bar-celona product coming from the club’s famous youth academy, La Masia. He has been playing for Barcelona since 2005.

The football star earned $104m this year, according to Forbes.

“His current Barcelona con-tract is through 2020-21 and pays him over $80m annually,” Forbes said.

In addition, Messi earns $32m from endorsements.

Pogba tests positive for COVID-19AP – PARIS

France midfielder Paul Pogba has tested positive for COVID-19 and been left out of the national team squad, coach Didier Deschamps said yesterday.

“I had to make a change at the last minute because Paul Pogba was supposed to be in the squad,” Deschamps said.

“Unfortunately for him, he had a test yesterday which was positive this morning.”

The Manchester United midfielder’s place in the squad will be taken by 17-year-old Rennes midfielder Eduardo Camavinga ahead of upcoming Nations League qualifiers against Sweden and Croatia.

Djokovic cruises into semis as Osaka withdraws in protest

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action during

the quarter-finals of the Western &

Southern Open at the USTA Billie Jean King

National Tennis Center.

FC Barcelona fans gather outside the Camp Nou stadium

in Barcelona after Argentinian

forward Lionel Messi announced his desire

to leave the club.

Ronaldo pledges to ‘reach higher’ in 3rd year with Juventus

AP – TURIN

While Lionel Messi’s future remains a major question in world football, longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo has professed his complete dedication to Juventus entering the third season of a four-year contract with the Italian club.

“As I’m getting ready for my third season as a bian-conero, my spirit and ambition are as high as ever,” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram yesterday. “Goals. Victories. Commitment. Dedication. Professionalism. With all my (strength) and with the precious help from my teammates and all of the Juventus staff, we work once again to conquer Italy, Europe and the World!” While the 35-year-old Ronaldo has helped Juventus win Serie A in each of his two seasons in Turin, he has not been able to lead the team to its stated goal of winning the Champions League.

The Bianconeri were eliminated by Lyon in the round of 16 this year after losing to Ajax in the quarterfinals during Ronaldo’s first season in Turin.

“Breaking records. Overcoming obstacles. Winning titles and achieving personal goals. To do more and better once and again. To reach higher and to succeed in all chal-lenges that may come our way,” wrote Ronaldo, who scored 37 goals in 46 matches across all competitions for Juventus last season.

Serie A is scheduled to start September 19.“Making every year into an adventure better than the

one before and winning everything for our fans and sup-porters,” Ronaldo added.

“To be the bearers of this amazing and unique passion that is Juventus, and to live up to it’s history, elevating our name, our values and our standards as high as possible.” With Messi having told Barcelona this week that he wants to leave the club, there has been speculation in Italy that the Argentina standout could revive his rivalry with Ronaldo by joining Inter Milan. However, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are widely seen as Messi’s

most likely destinations.

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US Open: Djokovic, Thiem on collision courseREUTERS – NEW YORK

Australian Open finalists Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem are on a collision course to meet again in the US Open final after they were placed at opposite ends of the draw.

World number one and topseed Djokovic clinched the

year’s first Grand Slam when he beat Austrian

Thiem in five sets and the Serbian is unbeaten with a 21-0record in a seasonupended by the C O V I D - 1 9 pandemic.

Rctarn

pv

World number one and top seed Djokovic who is unbeaten

with a 21-0 record so far in the season, clinched the year’s

first Grand Slam when he beat Austrian Thiem.

With five-times winner Roger Federer and defending

champion Rafa Nadal skipping the tournament due to

injury and COVID-19 concerns respectively, Thiem has

been named the second seed.

With six of the women’s top 10 skipping the

tournament in New York, the Czech Republic’s

Karolina Pliskova is top seed.

Serena Williams, looking to clinch a record-

equalling 24th Grand Slam, is the third seed.

, ptough first-round matc

against big-servinKevin Anderson whreached the final 2017.

Wildcard AndMurray, playing in hfirst Grand Slam sinu n d e r g o i n g h i

surgery after last yearAustralian Open, has

f i r s t - r o u nc l a s

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nch a record-

he third seed.

Novak Djokovic

Dominic Thiem

Japan's Naomi Osaka leaving after defeating Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the quarter-final.

CHINTHANA WASALA THE PENINSULA

Popular rider Nasser Al Ghazali won the Big Tour with Quel Homme as the final weekend of the Longines Hathab Equestrian Series kicked off at the Qatar Equestrian Federation Arena yesterday.

Galwaybay Merbreaker, with Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi in the saddle (Small Tour) and Miss Chili, ridden by Mohammed Saeed Haidan (Medium Tour) also emerged victo-rious yesterday.

Al Ghazali and his 17-year-old gelding completed a round in 62.62 seconds with no errors as the rider won QR4,125 in prize money on the first day of the 12th round of the annual series.

The Toymaker, with Salman Mohammed Al Emadi in the saddle, spent a time of 65.88 secs to join Al Ghazali on the podium by finishing second as he got richer by QR3,375.

Zorro Z and Khalid Mohammed Al Emadi were quicker than both of them (60.80 secs), but four errors cost them a lot as they fin-ished third. Al Emadi won QR2,625.

Longines Hathab Sport Coordinator, Abdullah Al Merri presented the trophies to the Big Tour winners.

Earlier, in Small Tour, Al Qadi enjoyed two spots on the same podium. He topped a field of 32 entries with his reliable 10-year-old gelding, completing the task in 50.82 secs to win QR1,250. Then he clocked a time of 51.78 secs with Vlacido to win QR750 after finishing third.

Dusty, with Khalifa Abdulla Al Khaldi in the saddle, completed the routine in 51.77 secs. Both Al Qadi and Al Khaldi made no errors during their routines.

Mohamad Sultan Al Suwaidi, Al Shaqab

Equine Education Department Manager, pre-sented them the awards.

Meanwhile, Medium Tour winner Haidan also completed an errorless routine with Miss Chili to top the field in his class. Haidan's 12-year-old grey mare clocked a time of 58.58, as the Qatari rider got richer by QR2,500.

Rashid Towaim Al Marri, who guided Lamm Addiction Z in a routine that lasted for 59.88 secs, won the second place while Jaber Rashid Al Amri, astride Argelith Squid, com-pleted the podium with a time of 61.51.

Medium Tour winners were presented awards by Vice-Chairman of the Longines Hathab Organising Committee, Omar Al Mannai. Round 12 action continues today.

SPORT | 14

Captain Babar

facing turnaround

challenge in

England T20 series

SPORTDjokovic cruises

into semis as

Osaka withdraws

in protest

SPORT | 15

FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2020

After long playing career, Meshal eyes new chapter in footballFAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

On a day when Al Duhail lifted their QNB Stars League title, Meshal Abdullah played his last top-flight football game, saying goodbye to a long career that lasted for over two decades.

The 36-year-old Meshal brought curtain down to his career sporting Al Wakrah jersey in their match against Al Rayyan on Friday, ending an era of bril-liance and achievements.

Starting his career in 1999 with Al Ahli, the former Qatari star played over 300 games in club football besides repre-senting Al Anabi in 43 matches.

“The decision to retire was one of the most difficult deci-sions of my life,” Meshal said in an interview.

“It is tough to leave football after playing for so many years but this stage comes in life of every player,” he added.

Meshal was given a warm farewell in his last match by Al Wakrah and Al Rayyan players besides fans who attended the crucial game.

“The support from eve-rybody present there made me proud. I had a mixed feeling of sadness and pride while playing my last game. The love of people who wished me on the ground and on the social media through their posts made me happy. It was a wonderful feeling when fans chanted my name,” he added.

Meshal had three stints with Al Ahli while he also

represented Al Gharafa, Al Sailiya, Qatar SS and Al Wakrah during his stay for 21 seasons in the Qatari football.

“During my service with all the clubs, my goal was to bring an added value to that side and take my team on top with hardwork. I am thankful to all those who supported me throughout my career,” said Meshal.

He added that he will

continue to be a part of football set-up in the country but expressed his reluctance in joining the coaching career.

“I am looking to work in analytical or administrative field for one of the clubs. I hope that I will succeed and help the club in whatever role I take,” he said.

Meshal hoped Qatar will deliver a good performance at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 after their Asian Cup triumph due to a presence of exceptional talent.

“I am confident the national team will show a good per-formance because of talented young players. It will be a his-toric event for us as the World Cup will come to the region for the first time. I am hopeful that team Qatar will achieve good results,” he said before advising upcoming players to never leave the hardwork.

“ Commitment and perse-verance are must in anybody’s career. The youngsters should set a goal for themselves as they cannot achieve something without setting a goal,” he said.

During my service

with all the clubs,

my goal was to

bring an added

value to that

side and take

my team on top

with hardwork.

I am thankful to

all those who

supported me

throughout my

career: Meshal Abdullah

Al Khor (top) and Al Markhiya (bottom) players in action yesterday, during their final training sessions ahead of today's play-off match which will decide the remaining place in the next QNB Stars League (QSL) season. The match will be played at the Al Janoub Stadium. The kick-off is at 18:30. Al Markhiya finished Second Division runner-up on Sunday while Al Khor finished 11th in the QSL.

Al Khor, Al Markhiya battle for QSL spot

Al Ghazali wins Big Tour with Quel HommeLONGINES HATHAB EQUESTRIAN SERIES

ROUND 12 - DAY 1 RESULTS

COMP. (1) SMALL TOUR, ONE ROUND AGAINST THE CLOCK, 100-115CM, PRIZE MONEY QR5,000- Rk, Horse, Rider, Time (faults), Prize Money - 1: Galwaybay Merbreaker, Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi, 50.82 Secs,

QR1,250

2: Dusty, Khalifa Abdulla Al Khaldi, 51.77, QR1,000

3: Vlacido, Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi, 51.78, QR750

COMP. (2) MEDIUM TOUR, ONE ROUND AGAINST THE CLOCK, 120/130CM, PRIZE MONEY QR10,000 1: Miss Chili, Mohammed Saeed Haidan, 58.58, QR2,500

2: Lamm Addiction Z, Rashid Towaim Al Marri, 59.88, QR2,000

3: Argelith Squid, Jaber Rashid Al Amri, 61.51, QR1,500

COMP. (3) BIG TOUR, ONE ROUND AGAINST THE CLOCK, 130/145 CM, PRIZE MONEY QR15,000 1: Quel Homme, Nasser Al Ghazali, 62.62, QR4,125

2: The Toymaker, Salman Mohammed Al Emadi, 65.88, QR3,375

3: Zorro Z, Khalid Mohammed Al Emadi, 60.80 (4), QR2,625

Action begins in final round of Longines Hathab Equestrian Series

Mohammed Saeed Haidan guiding Miss Chili over a hurdle during the Medium Tour on Day 1 of the final round of the Longines Hathab Equestrian Series at the Qatar Equestrian Federation Arena yesterday. Haidan receiving the

winner's trophy from Vice-Chairman of the Longines

Hathab Organising Committee, Omar Al

Mannai.

Longines Hathab Sport Coordinator, Abdullah Al Merri, presenting the award to Big Tour winner Nasser Al Ghazali.

Mohamad Sultan Al Suwaidi, Al Shaqab Equine Education Department Manager, presenting the Small Tour winner's trophy to Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi.