QNA — NEW YORK

President of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, has appointed Permanent Represent-ative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, H E Ambas-sador Sheikha Alya Ahmed Saif Al Thani and Permanent Repre-sentative of Poland, H E Ambassador Joanna Wronecka, to lead and facilitate negotiations on Security Council reform, in accordance with General Assembly resolutions calling for reform of the Council in terms of equitable representation and increasing the number of its members and other issues related to Security Council reform.

Bozkir said, in a letter to all UN member states, that the General Assembly decided to continue the intergovernmental negotia-tions on Security Council reform at an informal session of the General Assembly during its 75th session.

He added that this early appointment should provide an oppor-tunity for member states to start consultations on issues related to Security Council reform at an appropriate time.

Appointing Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed Saif Al Thani to this task comes in recognition of the role of the State of Qatar in the United Nations, its belief in the principle of multilateralism and its keenness to develop the mechanisms of work of the inter-national organisation to achieve its goals, including reforming the work of the Security Council.

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2 RIYALS

'Mental health an integral part of prosperous life'FAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani has said education systems need to create less anxious future for children and empower them with right tools to express themselves.

Sheikha Hind was in dis-cussion at a session on ‘The Role of Schools in Child and Ado-lescent Health’ during the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) 2020, which concluded yesterday.

The Countess of Wessex; WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti; and Professor in Adolescent Health, University College London, Prof. Russell Viner joined the

discussion which focused on whether health and education are being properly integrated.

“Mental health is a critical subject that is missing in our education systems, but I don’t believe adding it to school assignments or looking at it as a metric to improve school per-formance will solve the issue,” Sheikha Hind told the dis-cussion. “We need to take a step back and look at health as an integral component of living a fulfilled life.

“The first step becomes identifying how schools them-selves are contributing to the mental health crisis — what is the effect on children of regular exams, of bullying, of compet-itive sport? We should take an honest look at how we, as insti-tutions, can help to relieve that

stress, because if we are going to tackle student wellbeing, we need to be serious about cre-ating a less anxious future,” she said.

Sheikha Hind also high-lighted the importance of inte-grating health and education in teaching students about well-being. “What are the

physiological requisites that make mental wellbeing even possible, because half of the solution lies in asking the right questions. Teaching children the

right vocabulary to express themselves is something that I feel is often overlooked, so we should ask how we can give children the right language to express their feelings,” she said.

“The most important thing is to know how we empower children, and empowering a child comes from giving them the adequate tools that can cater to their unique needs and allow them to grow in a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment,” Sheikha Hind added. The Countess of Wessex, who is Patron of Vision 2020: The Right To Sight and Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, said she has seen first-hand “the effect that early intervention can have on preventing young eyes losing sight”. �P3

MME launches Festival of Qatari Farm Products SANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Agricultural Affairs Department of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) launched yesterday ‘The Festival of Qatari Farm Products’ under the slogan ‘Vegetables from Qatari farms are our first choice’ at the LuLu Hypermarket in Al Gharafa.

The initiative is in line with ‘Qatar Farms’ and ‘Premium Qatari Vegetables’ programmes for 2020 agricultural season.

The festival offers various types of premium quality vegetables and fruits from

local farms at competitive prices. Director of the Food Security

Department, Masoud Jarallah Al Marri, said over 150 farms are participating in the fes-tival with varieties of farm fresh vegetables and fruits.

He said that the annual festival which marks the beginning of the agricultural season aims to support local farms by pro-viding marketing platforms for their produce in major commercial outlets as part of the policy of the Ministry of Munic-ipality and Environment to help local farms increase production.

“The local farms have helped increase self-sufficiency rate of Qatar in agricultural production to 33 percent, doubling the pro-duction compared to three years ago,” said Al Marri.

He said that the Ministry launched a number of major projects in cooperation with the private sector, targeting to increase the self-sufficiency rate in agricultural pro-duction to 70 percent by 2023.

“The Ministry is providing various platform to market local agricultural produce which has reached 92,000 tonnes a year,” said Al Marri.

He pointed out that the launch of this annual festival at the start of the season in cooperation with LuLu Hypermarket aims at exhibiting Qatari products prominently to help the local produce to compete with imported products.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Head of the Farms Affairs Department, Ahmed Shaheen Al Kuwari; Head of the Guidance and Agricultural Services Section at the Agricultural Affairs Department of MME, Ahmed Salem Al Yafei; and Director of LuLu Group International, Dr. Mohamed Althaf. �P3

Director of the Food Security Department, Masoud Jarallah Al Marri; Head of the Farms Affairs Department, Ahmed Shaheen Al Kuwari; Head of the Guidance and Agricultural Services Section at the Agricultural Affairs Department of MME, Ahmed Salem Al Yafei; and Director of Lulu Group International, Dr. Mohamed Althaf inaugurating the festival at Lulu Hypermarket in Al Gharrafa yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/ THE PENINSULA

Qatar, Poland envoys to lead negotiations on UNSC reform

beIN SPORTS to mark 2 years to go until Qatar 2022THE PENINSULA — DOHA

beIN MEDIA GROUP, the global sports and entertainment broadcaster, and its flagship sports channel beIN SPORTS will broadcast the 2 years to go until the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 with dedicated programmes and a host of exclusive interviews throughout the day tomorrow.

The 2 years to go spectacle is a reminder to all sports enthusiasts and everyone else around the globe that in pre-cisely 2 years’ time (November 21, 2022), Qatar will welcome the world as the host of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

As the official broadcaster of the FIFA World Cup in the MENA region, beIN SPORTS is proud to witness such an extraordinary period that will indeed remain in people’s memories forever.

beIN SPORTS’ coverage for the 2 years to go until the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will

include never seen before footage of the best FIFA World Cup matches on the Free to Air (FTA) channel.

These contents would be accessible to all viewers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with back to back content, including historical matches, documentaries, and stories behind Qatar’s suc-cessful bid. Exclusive coverage begins tomorrow, November 21. It will continue until the early hours of Sunday morning when the CEO of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Nasser Al Khater, will be a special guest in the “Evening Show” studio on beIN SPORTS HD1.

beIN SPORTS’ English and Arabic channels HD1 and HD11 will also cover dedicated pro-grammes, and exclusive inter-views around the clock and between games — as the beIN SPORTS News channel will start main coverage from 13:00 Makkah Time.

Contributions on the beIN

SPORTS HD1 channel will be made from a host of experts, legends, and analysts, including Arsene Wenger, Ruud Gullit, Marcel Desailly, and Nasser Al Khater, CEO of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. Other experts

from the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) will also attend and discuss exclusive details of Qatar’s readiness to host the tour-nament, fan experience, com-munity engagement, and

technological advancements of the tournament.

beIN SPORTS will also host a special episode of the “Evening Show” starting from 1:15 Makkah Time with beIN presenter Hichem Al Khalsi and regular guests Abdulkareem Al Sha-mali and Fathi Almouldi.

The programme will feature dedicated Qatar 2022 branding in beIN SPORTS’ state of the art studio with news and stories on the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Commenting on the pro-gramme, Acting Director of Programs at beIN MENA, Duncan Walkinshaw, said: “As the official broadcaster of the FIFA World Cup, beIN SPORTS’ main focus is providing mil-lions of viewers with an excep-tional World Cup experience. With a strong and proud foot-print in the Middle East, we are tremendously excited and can’t wait for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 to kick off right here in Qatar." �P3

Qatar Airways to launch 3 weekly flights to AbujaTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Airways announced yesterday that it would operate three weekly flights to Abuja, Nigeria, via Lagos from November 27, becoming the sixth new destination announced by the national carrier of the State of Qatar since the start of the pandemic.

The Abuja service will be operated by the airline’s state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dream-liner featuring 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, H E Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are delighted to be launching flights to the capital of Nigeria. With the strong Nigerian diaspora in Europe, US and the UK, we are thrilled to now be flying to Abuja in addition to our existing Lagos flights which started back in 2007. �P3

beIN SPORTS’ coverage for the 2 years to go until the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will include never seen before footage of the best FIFA World Cup matches on the Free to Air (FTA) channel.

Qatari ambassador's appointment to this task comes in recognition of the State of Qatar's role at the UN, and its belief in the principle of multilateralism.

Qatar has 33% self-sufficiency in agri products, and MME aims to raise it to 70% by 2023.

33%

92,000Local farms are currently producing 92,000 tonnes of vegetables and fruits per annum.

The first step becomes identifying how schools themselves are contributing to the mental health crisis — what is the effect on children of regular exams, of bullying, of competitive sport? We should take an honest look at how we, as institutions, can help to relieve that stress, because if we are going to tackle student wellbeing, we need to be serious about creating a less anxious future.

H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani

OFFICIAL NEWS

Doha: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent yesterday a cable of condolences to Pres-ident of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H E Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo on the death of former prime minister Omar Arte Ghalib.Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani sent a similar cable of condolences to President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H E Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo on the death of former Prime Minister Omar Arte Ghalib. -QNA

Amir sends condolences to President of Somalia

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Shura Council participates in GCC Coordination meetingQNA — DOHA

The Shura Council participated yesterday in the 13th meeting of the Parliamentary Coordination and Foreign Relations Committee of the Shura, Representatives, National and Ummah Councils in the coun-tries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, through visual communication technology.

The meeting discussed preparations for the upcoming meeting of the heads of Gulf legislative councils, slated for Monday via video conference.

The Shura Council was represented in the meeting by Shura Council Members, H E Hadi bin Saeed Al Khayareen and H E Mohamed bin Ali Al Maadeed and Shura Council Secretary-General H E Fahad bin Mubarak Al Khayareen.

WISH awards grand prizes to selected innovatorsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) announced the grand prize winners of its two latest Innovation Award competitions during the closing ceremony of WISH 2020.

WISH CEO Sultana Afdhal, virtually presented the awards for the WISH Innovation Spark Competition to SOSO Care and the WISH Innovation Booster Competition to Ellen Medical Devices for its affordable dialysis machine.

“This year represents the first time we have hosted inno-vation awards at WISH. The awards recognise and support achievement in healthcare innovation, but – more impor-tantly – they shine a light on underlying issues in the inno-vation cycle, ensuring healthcare startups have access to funding and the mentorship they need to succeed,” Afdhal said.

SOSO Care is a micro mobile health insurance startup from Nigeria using an innovative approach to bring health insurance to millions of Nige-rians by enabling insurance payment in exchange for recy-cling waste. Ellen Medical

Devices’ affordable dialysis machine is the world’s first low-cost dialysis system. The Spark Award and Booster Award winners also received $5,000 and $10,000 respectively as part of the prize.

On receiving the award, Nonso Opurum, co-founder of SOSO Care, thanked the WISH community for confidence in their work. “I am grateful for your commitment to universal health,” he said.

Managing Director, Ellen Medical Devices, Professor John Knight, said: “Here at The George Institute for Global Health, our mission is to save

millions of lives; in this case, by providing affordable dialysis treatment to kidney patients all around the world. This award takes us one step closer to real-ising that dream.”

The WISH Innovation Spark Competition and WISH Inno-vation Booster Competition were launched in early 2020, inviting local, regional, and international entrepreneurs with innovative healthcare products or ideas to participate. The Spark competition aims to help early-stage startups to develop and validate a scalable project, while Booster targets entrepreneurs with exciting

innovations looking to scale up and grow.

The competitions received close to 500 applications from 43 countries, setting a record number for WISH, with 30 finalists being selected for exceptionally high caliber inno-vations. These innovators were given a platform at the WISH 2020 virtual Innovation Hub to showcase their work to global health experts and policy-makers during the summit.

Through its Innovation Award Program, WISH aims to promote a wide range of healthcare innovations that can improve healthcare quality while

also reducing cost. WISH has partnered with several renowned local and international inno-vation hubs to provide the winners the opportunity to receive expert mentorship and training workshops, in addition to the one-on-one interactions with potential investors during the WISH 2020.

All selected innovators will receive WISH media support for up to 12 months, and invitations to other summits and events as additional benefits. As WISH innovation program alumni ambassadors, they will also receive mentorship and cham-pionship for up to a year.

Professor John Knight (left), Managing Director, Ellen Medical Devices, and Nonso Opurum, Co-founder of SOSO Care, recipients of Innovation Awards at WISH 2020.

WISH CEO Sultana Afdhal virtually presented the awards for the WISH Innovation Spark Competition to SOSO Care and the WISH Innovation Booster Competition to Ellen Medical Devices for its affordable dialysis machine.

Qatar attends meeting of GCC Islamic Affairs and Endowment MinistersQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar participated in the sixth meeting of the Ministers of Islamic Affairs and Endowments in the Gulf Coop-eration Council (GCC) coun-tries, held via video yesterday.

03FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2020 HOME

The partnership will focus on empowering and educating vulnerable youth subjected to exclusion or violence. This includes working with refugees and displaced persons in Iraq, Myanmar, Uganda, and Argentina to inspire and provide them with key life skills through football to lead healthy and active lifestyles and work within their communities to promote social inclusion.

GA partners with IFRC to deliver football for development programme worldwideTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Generation Amazing (GA) has signed a partnership agreement with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to deliver football for development programmes to vulnerable youth in several coun-tries across the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America.

The announcement follows an official signing ceremony in Doha in March attended by Supreme Committee (SC) Sec-retary-General Hassan Al Thawadi and IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain. Also in attendance were representatives from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Qatar Red Crescent.

The partnership will focus on empowering and educating vulnerable youth subjected to exclusion or violence. This includes working with refugees and displaced persons in Iraq, Myanmar, Uganda, and Argentina to inspire and

provide them with key life skills through football to lead healthy and active lifestyles and work within their communities to promote social inclusion.

“We very much look forward to this partnership with

IFRC, the world’s largest humanitarian network, and the unique opportunity it presents to build robust evidence in support of the transformative power of football to improve the lives of vulnerable and at-risk youth in challenging contexts,” said Al Thawadi.

“Generation Amazing has built a meaningful history of impactful programming over the past ten years. We believe this partnership will further enhance our global pro-grammes and play a key part in showing the role that sport plays in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Devel-opment Goals and Qatar National Vision 2030.”

Chapagain commented, “We are proud to be part of this programme and excited to see work starting on the ground. In this COVID year, when young people have been facing increased pressure on their mental health and major

disruptions to their education, this kind of initiative could not be more important.”

The collaboration between Generation Amazing and the IFRC will begin with a pilot project involving the Gener-ation Amazing football for development methodology and the IFRC’s Youth as Agents of Behavioural Change initiative.

Generation Amazing will run its football for development programme with participants to teach essential life skills, such as communication and lead-ership. The project will include the establishment of football pitches and classrooms, with the attendees judged on the skills learnt on the football pitch and in the classroom.

The partnership will kick off in December 2020 and aims over the coming years to benefit thousands of young people to transform their situations and create an external ripple of change in their communities.

Qatar participates in GCC ministerial committee meetingThe State of Qatar participated in the 21st meeting of the ministerial committee of the following up the implementation of resolutions on GCC joint work. The meeting took place yesterday via video conference. The State of Qatar’s delegation to the meeting was chaired by Secretary-General of the Cabinet, H E Hamad bin Ahmed Al Mohannadi.

FROM PAGE 1

“In the past two decades, enormous progress has been made in ensuring children have the opportunity to learn about the impor-tance of eyecare, and in detecting problems at an early stage so that they can be successfully treated and managed,” she said.

WISH is dedicated to capturing and disseminating the best evidence-based ideas and practices in healthcare, with the goal of creating a healthier world through global collaboration.

The WISH report on ‘Building Healthy Societies: A Framework For Integrating Health And Health Promotion Into Education’ was also highlighted during the discussion. A co-chair of the report, Professor Russell Viner, said, “COVID-19 has taught us just how closely linked health and education really are. It is important for school envi-ronments to be resilient in many ways including preventing out-breaks.” “Schools must be engines of health as well as wealth – they already are, to some extent, but we need to tinker with how they operate to promote health in a more basic sense. We must look to build an edu-cation system with health threaded through it, so we produce young people who are healthier and have greater wellbeing,” he added.

‘Mental health an integral part of prosperous life’

beIN SPORTS to mark two years to go until Qatar 2022

FROM PAGE 1He added: “As we move closer to the biggest sporting event in this region’s history, we are delighted to share this historic moment with our millions of viewers across MENA. Our coverage of the 2 years to go until the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will showcase exciting behind the scenes content on the upcoming FIFA World Cup on our News channel, Free to Air channel, HD1, and HD11 channels — providing our viewers and subscribers with exhilarating back to back content.”

Qatar Airways to launch 3 weekly flights to AbujaFROM PAGE 1

H E Akbar Al Baker added: “We look forward to working closely with our partners in Nigeria to steadily grow this route and support the recovery of tourism and trade in the region.”

With flights to more than 85 destinations in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and North America, passengers wanting to travel to or from Nigeria can now enjoy seamless connec-tivity via the Best Airport in the Middle East, Hamad International Airport. By mid-December, Qatar Airways will operate over 65 weekly flights to 20 destinations in Africa, including Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Casablanca, Dar es Salaam, Dji-bouti, Durban, Entebbe, Johan-nesburg, Kigali, Kili-manjaro, Lagos, Luanda, Maputo, Mogadishu, Nairobi, Seychelles, Tunis, and Zanzibar.

In line with the air-line’s expanding operations across Africa, pas-sengers can look forward to warm African hos-pitality onboard with the carrier’s multicul-

tural cabin crew including more than 30 African nationalities. Additionally, passengers across our network can also enjoy a variety of African movies, TV shows and music on Oryx One, Qatar Airways’ in-flight entertainment system.

Qatar Airways travellers from Africa can now enjoy new baggage allowances ranging from 46 Kg for Economy Class split over two pieces and 64 Kg split over two pieces in Business Class. This initiative is designed to offer passengers more flexibility and comfort when travelling on board Qatar Airways.

MME launches Festival of Qatari Farm Products

FROM PAGE 1

In the same context, Head of the Department of Farms, Ahmed Shaheen Al Kuwari said that produce offered at the festival are of premium quality local vegetables and fruits.

He said the local farms are offering high quality agricultural produce at competitive prices. Al Kuwari emphasised that the Ministry has provided marketing platforms at a number of major outlets to support local farms to get suitable prices for their produce. Muhammad Rashid Al Hashimi from LuLu Hypermarket said that the local farms are offering high quality produce at competitive prices. He said Qatari products are giving tough competition to imported products at retail outlets across the country. Al Hashimi said LuLu in cooperation with 120 local farms is offering over 25 vari-eties of locally-produced fruits and vegetables at all of its outlets in Qatar.

Qatar’s embassy delivers medical assistance to LiberiaQNA — MONROVIA

The Qatari Embassy to the Republic of Liberia has del ivered medical assistance provided by Qatar Charity to Liberia to help countering the spread of COVID-19.

Liberia’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Inter-national Cooperation and Economic Integration Shedrick Jackson; Libe-ria’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Afro-Asian Affairs Naomi Gray; Public Health Emergency Oper-ation Center (PHEOC)

Manager Abraham Nyenswah; and Charge d’Affaires at Qatar’s Embassy in Liberia Fahad Rashid Al Muraikhi attended the delivery of the assistance.

Liberian Assistant Foreign Minister for Inter-national Cooperation and Economic Integration made a speech extending the State of Qatar for the Assistance and generous support, which came in time to held the Liberian government advance its efforts to counter the pandemic.

He lauded the Qatari-Liberian strong relations.

For his part, Charge d’Affaires at Qatar’s Embassy in Liberia Fahad Rashid Al Muraikhi stressed that the assistance came to bolster bilateral ties, moving the standpoint of the State of Qatar’s con-tinued efforts to help address this global pan-demic through joint work and cooperation with friendly countries.

Three arrested for violating home quarantine rulesQNA — DOHA

The competent authorities arrested three persons yesterday

who violated the home quar-antine requirements; they committed to following, which they are legally accountable for,

per the procedures of the health authorities in the country. The arrested persons referred to the competent prosecution have been

identified as Ghanim Mohammed Rashid Al Ali Al Maadeed, Raed Adnan Muhammad Awad, and Abdul Raqeeb Rakheef Kel.

04 FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2020HOME

MoI participates in Qatar International Boat ShowTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of the Interior, represented by the General Directors of Coasts and

Borders Security and the Police Training Institute, is participating in the Qatar International Boat Show 2020. The event is being held at The Pearl-Qatar from

Customs foils smuggling attempt of prohibited pillsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The General Authority of Customs (GAC), through its air cargo and privates airports unit, thwarted the smug-gling of prohibited pills. The contraband items were hidden in one of the personal parcels.

Upon inspection, it was found that there were 25 drug packs of prohibited pills with psychological effects hidden inside the clothes.

The number of sei-zures reached 1,400 tablets. A seizure report w a s i s s u e d accordingly.

November 16 until today. The Direc-torate aims at spreading awareness about maritime safety measures, requirements for seagoing and dealing with marine accidents. It also introduces to the public tasks and capabilities of Coasts and Borders Security.

The Directorate displays long and short-range boats and cruisers and other boats that are used for the pro-tection of coasts and national borders and to carry out other responsibil-ities including 42 feet long Sayyaf,

which is locally made by the Qatari workforce and 36 feet long Glistream.

The Police Music Band of the

Police Training Institute performed police music during the opening cer-emony of the Qatar International Boat Show.

Qatar attends NAM and China ambassadors meetingQNA — THE HAGUE

The State of Qatar participated in the virtual meeting of ambassadors of members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and China accredited by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The State of Qatar was represented in the meeting by Ambassador to the Nether-lands and Permanent Representative to the OPCW, H E Abdullah bin Hussein Al Jaber (pictured). The meeting focused on dis-cussing the agenda of the 25th session of the Conference of the States Parties which will take place from November 30 to December 4 in The Hague.

132 people referred to Public Prosecution for not wearing masksQNA — DOHA

The designated authorities announced yesterday that 132 people were referred to the Public Prosecution for not wearing masks in places that required them.

They also referred 10 people to the Public Prose-cution for violating the maximum number of four people in a vehicle including the driver, except for cases when they are members of one family. The measure is in line with the cabinet decision, decree law no. 17 of 1990 on communicable diseases, and the precau-tionary measures in force in the country to contain the spread of the (COVID-19).

Artists give hope amid pandemic at 'Outbreak' exhibitionRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

'Outbreak', an art exhibition unveiled yesterday as part of the 8th Ajyal Film Festival, reaffirms the important role artists play during the pandemic in spreading awareness and giving people hope at a very challenging time.

The artworks on show are as diverse as the styles employed by the 24 partic-ipating artists, but they all centre on one major theme which is the pandemic— the most relevant and unprecedented issue confronting humanity today.

“Artists have many roles during the pandemic. Some choose to spread awareness while some choose to explore the idea of COVID-19, trying to look at the different sides, be positive, cooper-ative and more adjusted to the situation. It’s a very interesting dialogue and each artist may pick a different approach on how they handle the situation,” Mohammed Faraj Al Suwaidi, one of the artists taking part in the show.

An architect, animator and designer, the Qatari artist is showcasing a series of three related artworks which focus on consumerism in COVID-19 namely “Consumer Consumed (+)”, “Transmission”, and “Consumer Con-sumed (-)”. What stands out in the series is the duality of meaning of ‘transmission’, which he says refers to transmission of the virus and infor-mation from one person to another.

“We find ourselves in a situation filled with so much misinformation, a very difficult situation. At first we didn’t know how to deal with the situation, how it was supposed to be handled,” he explained. Information awareness results to the person being conscious of what is going on in his surroundings as well as consciousness of what he believes and doesn’t believe, he added.

Qatari artist Maryam Faraj Al Suwaidi who is behind the installation “Oblivious Habits” believes artists have the responsibility to convey a message, raise awareness and provide hope to

people amid the pandemic.“Like poets, philosophers, scientists,

researchers; artists have the responsibility of delivering a message. As an artist I feel I have the responsibility to express my per-spective of giving hope and a sense of acceptance of the situation. Not every person has the ability to express that and as an artist I feel honoured and obligated. I feel that all artists have the responsibility of delivering this message,” she said.

Using the concept of ‘art of destruction’, Maryam creates a pow-erful thought-provoking installation which conveys how people can embrace destruction and decay as part of life as nature takes its course. Dif-ferent objects she has deliberately chosen to include in the piece work together to express a sense of emotion, action, rejection and acceptance in the midst of the pandemic.

The exhibition arouses the interest of art enthusiasts with unique pieces such as AJ Al Thani’s “Sand Box”, Maryam Al Homaid’s “Screens and QR

Codes (The New Reality)”, Ali Al Man-nai’s “Stop Rumors” and and Reem Al Haddad’s “Isolation.”

Other artists who are showcasing their artworks at the show are Ibrahim Al-Baker, Shouq Al-Manaa, Hamad Al-Fayhani, Noor Al-Nasr, Saad Al-Mus-lamani, Roda Al-Thani, Bothayna Al-Zaman, Anfal Al-Kandari, Mohammed Al-Hammadi, Marsya Abdulghani, Elie

Fahed, Abdulaziz Yousef, Adriane De Souza, Paul Valentine, Sharefa Al-Mannai, Maha Al-Subaey, Nasser Al-Kubaisi, and Ghada Al-Khater. Pre-sented by Doha Film Institute, ‘Outbreak’ is open for public viewing until December 10 from 10am to10pm from Saturday through Thursday, and from 2pm to 10pm on Fridays in Sikkat Wadi Msheireb in Msheireb Downtown Doha.

Qatari artists Mohammed Faraj Al Suwaidi (left), and Maryam Faraj Al Suwaidi with their works at “Outbreak” exhibition which opened yesterday. PICS: RAYNALD C RIVERA/THE PENINSULA

MoPH: 208 new cases and 218 recoveriesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 208 new confirmed COVID-19. According to the Ministry among them 49 were travellers returning from abroad.

Another 218 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 133,691.

One of the Coast Guard boats being displayed at the show.

RAYA SHOKATFARD

God has always chosen prophets with the best of characters, morals and spirits. Since God is All-Knowing, All-Wise, and has

ordained human’s destiny before their birth, it is feasible to think that He has already chosen His Prophets before even their entrance to the world.

Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was not an exception. God bestowed on him the best of characters, one of which was his exceptional tol-erance which is manifested in his life and teachings: And verily, you (O Muhammad) are on an exalted (standard of) character. (Al Qalam 68: 4)

We will examine some examples of his tolerance at the advent of Islam and during its expansion process. In the next article, we will examine his treatment of non-Muslims.

In MakkahDuring the first thirteen years of

his life in Makkah, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his followers faced much persecution. Muslims were not ordered by God to fight back due to the fact that they had no military strength yet due to the small following which gradually increased. It was only in Madinah when his following and military power rapidly grew that fighting to protect themselves and the new religion was allowed.

When the Prophet’s (PBUH) oppo-nents greatly increased their perse-cution, his companions asked him to curse them. At this the Prophet (PBUH) replied:“I have not been sent to lay a curse upon men but to be a blessing to them.” (Muslim)

His opponents continued to treat him and his companions unjustly and cruelly, but he always prayed for them.

He once decided to personally visit the village of Ta’if, to the east of Makkah, to invite its inhabitants to Islam. The people rejected him, stoned him, ejected him, and made him to bleed. Angel Gabriel came to him and said:

“Allah has heard what your people say to you and how they reject you. He has ordered the angels of the moun-tains to obey whatever you tell them to do.” The angel of the mountains called him, greeted him and said, “Send me to do what you wish. If you wish, I will crush them between the two mountains of Makkah.”

The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Rather, I hope that Allah will bring forth from their loins those who will worship Allah alone and not associate anything with Him.” (Al Bukhari)

In the early Makkan period when the enemies of the new religion far exceeded the Prophet’s (PBUH) com-panions in number, it often happened that when the Prophet (PBUH) would stand to pray, his foes would come near him and whistle and clap in order to disturb him, but the Prophet (PBUH) would not even once show his anger at such acts. He always opted for the policy of tolerance and avoidance of confron-tation. In one instance when the Prophet (PBUH) was praying at the Ka’bah while his enemies were watching his every move and action, one of his adversaries put on his back the intestine of a slaugh-tered camel during his prostration. The Prophet (PBUH) did not react and stayed in that position. His daughter, Fatimah, rushed to take the filth off his back and cleaned him up.

In MadinahLater, when Prophet Muhammad

(PBUH) and many of his companions migrated to Madinah, again his great

character in dealing with his com-panions and enemies was further man-ifested. In Madinah, the Muslims were in the process of establishing the new Islamic state. Yet, their enemies in Makkah did not spare much time to wage war against them and pursue them even in Madinah.

In the battle of Uhud, when his Makkan enemies attacked the Muslims, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) suffered head injury and his front teeth got smashed. When the blood started to seep from his head, he swabbed it saying: “If a drop of my blood fell on the earth, those infidels will be destroyed by Allah.” Umar told him, O Messenger of Allah, Curse them! The prophet replied: “I wasn’t sent (by Allah) to curse. I was sent as a mercy.” Then he said: “O Allah, Guide my people!” (Authenticated by Al Albani)

God confirms his blessed character by saying: And We have not sent you forth but as a mercy to mankind. (Al Anbiya’ 21:107)

The Prophet (PBUH) once said: “A true believer is one with whom others feel secure.” (Al Bukhari)

He manifested these words with action and was not fast to revenge or rebuke a wrong doer.

A Bedouin once entered the mosque and started to urinate in it. Mosques at that time had no walls and carpeted floors and the ceilings were palm leaves held up by palm stems. The people ran to (prevent and restrain) him. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Do not interrupt his urination (i.e. let him finish). Then the Prophet asked for a pitcher of water to be poured over the place of urine. (Al Bukhari)

One of Jesus’ famous saying is: “Love your neighbour like yourself.” Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) compli-mented this by saying: “By God, he is not a believer, by God, he is not a believer, by God, he is not a believer, with whom his neighbours are not secure.” (Al Bukhari)

The enmity of his worst enemy towards his most beloved was also met with awesome goodness.

Hamza was among the Prophet’s (PBUH) most beloved uncles. During one of the battles, Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, the arch enemy of the Prophet,

had ordered her slave to find Hamza and pierce him with his arrow. Upon seeing him dead, she rushed to his body and cut out his liver and started chewing on it while filled with rage. Upon the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet did not seek revenge on her and accepted her and her husband as new converts and gave them full protection.

Anas ibn Malik, who served the Prophet (PBUH) for ten years, said that the Prophet never rebuked him: “When I did something, he never questioned my manner of doing it; and when I did not do something, he never questioned my failure to do it. He was the most good-natured of all men.” (Al Bukhari)

Such manners of tolerance gained him the respect even of his enemies, and his followers stood by him through all kinds of hardship and misfortune.

Although his worse enemies were the Makkan Arabs at the beginning, but in Madinah, the Jews did not spare any effort to conspire against him, even after treaties were signed with them. However, he tried to be as fair with them as possible and only waged war against them when they broke treaties which caused much loss of life of Muslims.

Once, when the Prophet (PBUH) was sitting at a place in Madinah, along with his companions, a funeral pro-cession passed by. On seeing this, the Prophet stood up. One of his com-panions remarked that the funeral was that of a Jew. The Prophet replied: “Was he not a human being?” (Muslim)

Since Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) wished to avoid war at all costs, he strove to bring about a peace agreement between him and the Makkans. After great efforts on his part, the non-Muslims agreed to a ten-year peace treaty, which was drafted and signed at Al Hudaybiyyah, a place outside Makkah. During this important meeting, the Makkans insisted on a number of extremely provocative acts. For instance, the agreement mentioned the Prophet’s (PBUH) name as “Muhammad the Messenger of Allah.” They insisted to replace by “son of Abdullah.”The Prophet (PBUH) accepted peacefully and deleted the appellation.

Similarly, they made the condition that if they could lay their hands on any Muslim they would make him a hostage, but if the Muslims succeeded in detaining any non-Muslim, they would have to set him free. The Prophet (PBUH) even relented on this point for establishment of peace in the region. He was clearly setting examples of fairness and tolerance while exposed to injustice and intolerance.

Despite all the concessions Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) made with the Makkans, the later violated the same treaty they signed earlier. It was then that the Prophet (PBUH) finally marched with his huge army to Makkah and without any resistance conquered the city which was once the abode of his worse enemies. As mentioned earlier, the Prophet (PBUH) and his followers suffered a

great deal during their thirteen years of living in Makkah and after their migration to Madinah. His own tribesmen and even family members continue to oppose him in not only in Makkah but rose to fight him in Madinah for over 20 years.

They did not spare any effort to inflict the worse humanly possible hardship on them. In Makkah, it included, torture, sanctions, taking their lives’ belonging, separating family members and slaughtering them where ever they could find them. With God’s help and his and his companions’ steadfastness in Madinah and upholding the message of Islam, they finally conquered Makkah. Its leaders came to him fearing that he would kill them as all conquerors do. But instead, he said: “Go! You are all free!” (Authen-ticated by Al Albani)

Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) mercy and tolerance did not exclude his worse enemies. Such tolerance awed his enemies who were now the newly converted Muslims. The end result is a clear history that is regis-tered to this day. Message of Islam spread across the world, to include on fifth of the global population.

These are only a few among many examples of the Prophet’s (PBUH) tol-erance and noble character. Aisha, the wife of the Prophet (PBUH) was asked regarding the character of the Prophet (PBUH). She said very simply, that: “The character of the Prophet (PBUH) was the Quran.” (Muslim)

Clearly, the Prophet (PBUH) molded his own life in accordance with the ideal pattern of life that he pre-sented to others in the form of the Quran revealed to him by God. He never beat a servant, or a woman, or anyone else. He did, of course, fight for what was right. When he had to choose between two alternatives, he would take the easier course, provided it involved no sin. No one was more careful to avoid sin than he. He never sought revenge on his own sake for any wrong done to him personally. He was tolerant. Only if God’s commandments had been broken would he meet out retribution for the sake of God. It was such conduct which gained the Prophet (PBUH) universal respect.

One may say, since he was the last Prophet and messenger to mankind, no other can ever be quite like him. This is true because none shall ever have to shoulder a fraction of the responsibilities he had to bear. However, we, as his followers, have the easy part which is to seek and adopt his gentle qualities and high moral standards into daily practice; for the Prophet’s life was divinely chosen to function as a practical manual of how one should better himself. Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) character and qualities are not only for the Muslims to follow, but the sincere seekers who learn about him, praise his noble char-acter and wish to follow it.

Goethe, a famous German writer, artist, and politician of the 1800s, mar-velled over the achievements and status of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) saying: “We Europeans with all our concepts and ideas have not yet attained that which Muhammad (PBUH) attained, and no one will ever surpass him. I searched in history for the loftiest example for man to follow, and I found it in the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Thus the truth must prevail and become supreme, because Muhammad (PBUH) suc-ceeded in subjugating the whole world by means of the message of Divine Oneness.” onislam.net archives

05FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2020 ISLAM

Goethe, a famous German writer, artist, and politician of the 1800s, marvelled over the achievements and status of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) saying: “We Europeans with all our concepts and ideas have not yet attained that which Muhammad (PBUH)attained, and no one will ever surpass him. I searched in history for the loftiest example for man to follow, and I found it in the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Thus the truth must prevail and become supreme, because Muhammad (PBUH) succeeded in subjugating the whole world by means of the message of Divine Oneness.”

Prophet: The master of tolerance

Unparalleled generosity and sacrificeThrough the declaration of broth-erhood, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) successfully solved two major problems that immigrants face: Housing and food.

He asked Ansars of Madinah to share their houses with their migrating Makkan brothers, and they did: they would divide their houses in half and give the second part to their brothers and sisters. Also, they shared their food.

This helped immigrants to stand on their own feet. The most interesting part of this brotherhood is that it was not bound by force but by conviction. When the helpers shared their houses and food with the immigrants, they were doing it from their own will and from the depth of their hearts, without being forced.

Until the Quranic revelation came and put new legal regulations on inher-itance, the tradition of being each others’ heirs remained.

This tradition became an example of generosity throughout the history of Islam. One of the collectors of the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH),

Muslim bin Hajjaj (d. 874 C.E.), men-tions in his Sahih these stories of the generosity of the companions of the Prophet (PBUH), the immigrants and the helpers, under the title of “The Merits of Companions.”

Just to show how strong the gen-erosity and sacrifice were, one can think of the following example. In the interpretation of the Quranic verse... “And they prefer their brothers and sisters over themselves even if they are in need.”

The famous Quranic commentator Al Tabari narrates the following story. A hungry man among immigrants came to the Prophet (PBUH) to be his guest. The Prophet (PBUH) didn’t have any food to provide. Therefore, he asked if anyone could host him. One of the helpers, Abu Talha, took the man to his home. He advised his wife to honour the Prophet’s guest, yet they were also not very rich. Their food was enough only for one person. So, the helper dimmed the lights and put his children to bed. He talked to his wife and decided that they would

pretend to eat, so that there would be food for this hungry immigrant. The Quranic verse praises their gen-erosity and sacrifice.

The tradition of brotherhood that the Prophet established prevented several possible conflicts. It prevented animosity based on tribalism and racism. It also prevented arrogance based on wealth. A compassion and respect developed between immigrants and helpers. One can argue that this declaration of brotherhood can be con-sidered one of the most important and exemplary practices of integrating dis-parate fragments of society in human history.

At this juncture, it is important to elaborate on the implications of this tradition in our modern-day context. Today, we witness a great number of immigrants around the world, espe-cially from the war-torn Syria and other places. America itself is an immi-grant society.

However, these examples almost seem irrelevant as far as worldwide immigrant situations are concerned.

We don’t have any such financial and spiritual help for immigrants. If we have a chance to listen to stories of early immigrants in the US, for example, they will tell us of the hard-ships they faced at the time of their migration. Although naturally American society is open to immi-grants, we still have not solved racism. Slavery was abolished, but there are immigrants who work for wages far lower than the wages of non-immigrants.

The Prophet of Islam asks employers to pay the wage of employees before their “sweat is cold.” That is to say, do not delay their pay. Despite their sacrifices, most immi-grants face big challenges in stabilising their lives after migration.

What one can see and learn from historical events in Islam is that admin-istrators can provide a warm and good environment for immigrants in order to integrate them with the regular cit-izens, as the Prophet did in the city of Madinah. And the potential power of immigrants will be dramatically

strengthened and the economy and social harmony will boom as a result.

The Dome of the Rock in the Al Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site, in the old city of Jerusalem.

The tradition of brotherhood that the Prophet established prevented several possible conflicts. It prevented animosity based on tribalism and racism. It also prevented arrogance based on wealth. A compassion and respect developed between immigrants and helpers. One can argue that this declaration of brotherhood can be considered one of the most important and exemplary practices of integrating disparate fragments of society in human history.

06 FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2020MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

WHO warns of deadly 2nd wave of virus across Middle EastAP — DUBAI

As winter nears and coronavirus cases surge across the Middle East, the regional director for the World Health Organization said yesterday that the only way to avoid mass deaths is for countries to quickly tighten restrictions and enforce preventative measures.

In a press briefing from Cairo, Ahmed Al Mandhari, director of WHO’s eastern Med-iterranean region, which comprises most of the Middle East, expressed concern that

countries in the area were low-ering their guard after tough lockdowns imposed earlier this year.

The fundamentals of pan-demic response, from social-distancing to mask wearing, “are still not being fully prac-ticed in our region,” he said, adding that the result is apparent throughout the region’s crowded hospitals.

Noting that the virus had sickened over 3.6 million people and killed more than 76,000 in the region over the past nine months, Al Mandhari warned

“the lives of as many people — if not more — are at stake,” urging action to “prevent this tragic premonition from becoming a reality.”

More than 60% of all new

infections in the past week were reported from Iran, Jordan and Morocco, he said. Cases are also up in Pakistan and Lebanon, which went under lockdown earlier this week. Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon have reported the biggest single-day death spikes from the region.

Worst off in the region has been Iran, where infections have soared in recent months, filling up hospitals and driving up the death toll. Iran shattered its single-day death toll six times in the last two weeks, bringing the total count of

fatalities past 43,400 — the highest in the Middle East.

Surging deaths have pushed the Iranian government, long reluctant to impose a lockdown for fear of cratering its sanc-tions-hit economy, to tighten restrictions in the capital of Tehran and other major cities. But with little enforcement, the outbreak shows no sign of abating.

Tunisia is another country that thought its worst virus days were in the past, only to see cases soar in recent weeks. It loosened restrictions in a bid “to

cautiously coexist” with the virus, said Faycal Ben Salah, director general of health, after officials decided the lockdown was killing the economy and creating “catastrophic social consequences”.

While Al Mandhari cau-tiously welcomed news of viable vaccine candidates, he said the pandemic was far from over. “We cannot — and should not — wait until a safe and effective vaccine becomes readily available for all,” he said. “We simply do not know when this will be.”

Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon have reported the biggest single-day death spikes from the region.

Palestinians condemn Pompeo's West Bank visitPalestinian demonstrators prepare to release balloons during a protest against US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit, near the Israeli settlement of Psagot in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Wednesday. The Palestinians condemned Pompeo's unprecedented visit to a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank yesterday as well as Washington's decision to label exports from settlements as Israeli. "The decision blatantly violates international law," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, dismissing it as yet another biased, pro-Israeli move by President Donald Trump's administration.

Turkey to buy Chinese COVID-19 candidate vaccine, in talks with PfizerREUTERS — ANKARA

Turkey will sign a contract within days to buy at least 20 million doses of a COVID-19 candidate vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech, the health minister was cited as saying, adding that Ankara was also in talks to buy doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine.

“We will be able to procure at least 10 million doses of the Chinese vaccine in December. We want to increase this number. It will be just as much in January, too,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

“This figure can easily double, probably. A contract will be signed on this in one or two days,” he said at his minis-try’s budget presentation in parliament on Wednesday.

Turkey would become the second buyer of the Chinese

vaccine after Brazil.Preliminary trial results

have shown that Sinovac’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac triggered a quick immune response, but the level of antibodies produced was lower than in people who have recovered from the virus.

CoronaVac and four other experimental vaccines developed in China are in late-stage trials to determine their effectiveness.

The report follows news this month from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech and from Moderna, as well as from Russia, of exper-imental vaccines that have been more than 90% effective based on interim data from large, late-stage trials.

Pfizer and BioNTech may secure emergency US and European authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed it had a 95% success

rate and no serious side effects, the drugmakers said on Wednesday.

Koca said Turkey was in talks to buy their vaccine as well, once it obtained its license.

“If so, the number that can be given to Turkey is 1 million. We have talks right now to gradually go up to 25 million within the year starting from January,” Koca was quoted as saying.

While some countries including Turkey have been conducting tests for Sinovac’s experimental vaccine, Brazil is currently the only country which has agreed to receive doses of it. The Sao Paulo state will start importing 46 million doses this week.

In a statement yesterday, Turkish Airlines said its freight carrier Turkish Cargo had delivered a shipment of vac-cines from Beijing to Sao Paolo.

Ethiopia moves on Tigray capital, denounces WHO boss TedrosREUTERS — ADDIS ABABA

Ethiopia said yesterday it was bearing down on the capital of Tigray region in a two-week-old war, and tore into the World Health Organization (WHO) head with accusations of diplo-matic lobbying for the rebels.

The conflict has killed hun-dreds, sent 30,000 refugees into Sudan, and called into question whether Prime Min-ister Abiy Ahmed can hold his ethnically-divided nation together.

As international alarm grew over spreading instability in the Horn of Africa, US President-elect Joe Biden’s team appealed

for an end to fighting and pro-tection for civilians.

Abiy’s government says its troops have won a string of vic-tories and will soon reach state capital Mekelle, a highland town of about 500,000 people, where the regional ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), with a battle-hardened history, has strong support.

“Our defence forces are moving forward and closing in on Mekelle,” government spokesman Redwan Hussein told reporters. “There are a number of towns that have fallen.” The war has pitted the central government against one of the most heavily militarised

of 10 ethnic states that make up Ethiopia. Tigrayans from the TPLF effectively ruled Ethiopia for decades as the strongest force in a multi-ethnic coalition, until Abiy took power two years ago. The government says the TPLF has turned renegade and is holding power in Tigray ille-gally. The TPLF says the war is part of an unconstitutional assault on regional rights. Both sides accuse the other of atroc-ities and blocking humanitarian aid.

The government-appointed head of a newly-named interim administration for Tigray, aca-demic Mulu Nega, said new local elections were planned to

restore peace to the region when TPLF leaders were ousted.

Ethiopian soldiers were advancing along roads from the south and northwest of Mekelle, a diplomat tracking the conflict said. The TPLF leader told Reuters that while it had lost ground in the south and federal soldiers had taken the town of Shire to the west, it still held the town of Axum, about 215km (130 miles) north west of Mekelle, implying resistance was fierce.

“Attempting to rule the people of Tigray by force is like walking on a burning flame,” the TPLF warned on

Wednesday. Assertions by all sides have been impossible to verify because Internet and phone connections to Tigray have been suspended and the government has restricted access. Ethiopia’s military yes-terday accused the most prom-inent Tigrayan abroad, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghe-breyesus, of trying to procure arms and diplomatic backing for the TPLF.

Bihanu provided no evi-dence, and Tedros and the WHO offered no immediate response.

Ethiopia is a major US ally whose army supports peace-keeping missions in Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia.

16 killed in Uganda protests over singer politicianREUTERS — KAMPALA

Sixteen people have been killed in Uganda in operations by military and police personnel battling to put down protests over the arrest of presidential candidate and pop star Bobi Wine, authorities said yesterday.

Since early Wednesday youths have been burning tyres and blockading streets in the capital Kampala and other towns to demand Wine’s release.

Yesterday soldiers clutching AK-47 assault rifles fanned out across the city, some in armoured vehicles, and together with police used teargas, live bullets and water cannons to disperse and detain protesters.

In a statement, police said a total of 16 people had died while 65 were injured, and added the death toll could rise. A further 350 were arrested in the clashes.

Those arrested are to be charged with various offences including “participating in unlawful demonstrations, inciting violence, malicious damage to properties, assault, theft and robbery.” Police accused the protesters of dam-aging vehicles, looting prop-erties and throwing stones at security personnel.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was detained on Wednesday after authorities accused him of vio-lating anti-coronavirus measures by holding mass rallies.

He has emerged as the strongest challenger to veteran leader Yoweri Museveni who has ruled the east African country of 42 million since 1986 and is currently Africa’s third-longest reigning leader.

Voters are due to go to the polls on January 14 to elect their next pres ident and lawmakers.

Moments after he was detained while campaigning in eastern Uganda, spontaneous protests erupted in Kampala and several major towns. Security personnel responded with tear gas. A journalist said he had seen troops firing auto-matic rifles. Wine has amassed a large following among the country’s youth, attracted by his bold criticism of government mingled in his lyrics.

African continent tops 2 million coronavirus casesAP — NAIROBI, KENYA

Africa has surpassed 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases as the continent’s top public health official warned yesterday that “we are inevi-tably edging toward a second wave” of infections.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the 54-nation continent has seen more than 48,000 deaths from COVID-19. Its infections and deaths make up less than 4% of the global total.

The African continent of 1.3 billion people is being warned against “prevention fatigue” as countries loosen pandemic restrictions to ease their econ-omies’ suffering and more people travel.

“We cannot relent. If we relent, then all the sacrifices we put into efforts over the past 10 months will be wiped away,” Africa CDC director John Nken-gasong told reporters. He expressed concern that “many countries are not enforcing public health measures, including masking, which is extremely important.” While the world takes hope from promising COVID-19 vaccines, African health officials also worry the continent will suffer as richer countries buy up supplies.

“Let’s celebrate the good news” first, Nkengasong said. But he warned that the Pfizer vaccine requires storage at minus 70 C (-94 F), and such a requirement “already creates

an imbalance in the fair distri-bution or access to those vac-cines” as richer countries will be better equipped to move quickly.

A storage network at -70 C was put in place for West Africa’s devastating Ebola out-break a few years ago, but that was localised, Nkengasong said. “If we were to deploy across the whole continent, it would be extremely chal-lenging to scale it,” he said.

The Moderna vaccine requires storage at -20 C, which Nkengasong called promising. But the price of any COVID-19 vaccine is another factor in their fair distribution, he said. “So if a vaccine is $40 it becomes almost exclusive to parts of the world” that can afford it.

But he offered an optimistic early look at attitudes across Africa toward any COVID-19 vaccine.

Early data from a vaccine perception survey in 11 coun-tries show 81% of respondents would accept a vaccine, he said. “So that’s very, very encour-aging news.”

Nearly 20 countries in Africa are now seeing a more than 20% increase in cases over the past four weeks, WHO said. This time the surge is driven not by South Africa, but by North African nations as tempera-tures fall there.

Several African countries have confirmed virus cases in the six figures. South Africa leads with more than 750,000.

Nigeria denies report its army killed protestersBLOOMBERG

Nigeria has dismissed an investigative report by CNN alleging that its security forces killed unarmed protesters last month in the country’s largest city of Lagos, accusing the news organisation of disinfor-mation.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed yesterday reit-erated the government’s position that troops had fired blank bullets into the air to dis-perse a crowd assembled in Lagos on October 20, accusing the US television network of publishing unverif ied information.

Largely peaceful demon-strations against police bru-tality, which began in early October and spread throughout Africa’s most pop-ulous country, became a key test of President Muhammadu Buhari’s authority. While he agreed to disband the widely hated police unit that was ini-tially the focus of the pro-testers’ anger, the rallies con-tinued, drawing a more forceful response from the government.

CNN said on Wednesday it had analysed hours of footage “to tell a story radically dif-ferent to the one the author-ities are telling.” The report concluded that the Nigerian military and police used live ammunition against protesters who were gathered at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos in defiance of a curfew. The army removed a number of bodies from the scene and some pro-testers are still missing, CNN said, citing witnesses.

At least 10 people were killed at Lekki, according to a separate investigation by London-based rights group Amnesty International. The hashtag #LekkiMassacre has been widely used on social media in the last month.

Calling for CNN to face sanctions, Mohammed said CNN’s report was “patently irresponsible” and based on unverified videos circulating on social media. “Sadly the purveyors of fake news and disinformation succeeded in deceiving the entire world that indeed there was mass killing in Lekki,” he said. “Not a single body has been produced.”

A supporter of Ugandan musician turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi , also known as Bobi Wine, carries his poster as they protest against the arrest of Kyagulanyi in Kampala, Uganda, on Wednesday.

07FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2020 ASIA

Australian forces ‘unlawfully killed’ 39 in AfghanistanAFP — CANBERRA

Australia’s elite special forces “unlawfully killed” 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners, including summary executions as part of initiation rituals, according to evidence in a searing military inquiry now being referred to a special war crimes prosecutor.

A years-long internal inves-tigation into military misconduct was released yesterday, prompting the Chief of the Aus-tralian Defence Force to admit a “destructive” culture of impunity among special forces leading to a string of alleged murders and cover-ups spanning years.

“Some patrols took the law into their own hands, rules were broken, stories concocted, lies told and prisoners killed,” General Angus Campbell said, apologising “sincerely and unreservedly” to the people of Afghanistan.

“This shameful record includes alleged instances in which new patrol members were coerced to shoot a prisoner in order to achieve that soldier’s first kill, in an appalling practice known as ‘blooding’.” The report also reported evidence that troops were engaged in “body count competitions”, and covered up unlawful killings by staging skirmishes, planting weapons and adding names to target lists retrospectively.

The military’s own inspector general produced the

harrowing 465-page official inquiry into events between 2005 and 2016 that detailed dozens of killings “outside the heat of battle”.

It recommended 19 indi-viduals be referred to Australian Federal Police, compensation be paid to the families of victims, and the military makes a slew of reforms.

Campbell went a step further, saying those involved had brought a “stain” on their regiment, on the armed forces and on Australia, and would be referred to the office of the special investigator for war crimes.

He also moved to revoke distinguished service medals awarded to special operations forces who served in Afghan-istan between 2007 and 2013.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, more than 26,000

Australian uniformed personnel were sent to Afghanistan to fight alongside US and allied forces against the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other Islamist groups.

Australian combat troops officially left the country in 2013, but since then a series of often-brutal accounts have emerged about the conduct of elite special forces units.

They range from reports of troops killing a six-year-old child in a house raid, to a prisoner being shot dead to save

space in a helicopter. Prime Minister Scott Mor-

rison attempted to cushion the blow of the report, telling Aus-tralians last week to brace for the “honest and brutal truths” contained within the heavily redacted document, which censors many highly inflam-matory details.

Morrison also called his Afghan counterpart on Wednesday to foreshadow “some disturbing allegations” that the government was taking

“very seriously”. The office of President Ashraf Ghani said Morrison had “expressed his deepest sorrow over the misconduct”.

The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs labelled the actions detailed in the report as “unforgivable” but acknowl-edged its publication as an “important step towards justice”.

Last week, Morrison announced the appointment of a special investigator to pros-ecute the alleged war crimes, a

move aimed at forestalling any prosecution at the International Criminal Court.

The revelations will “defi-nitely” be used by the Taliban to restate calls “for foreign forces to withdraw from Afghanistan”, Srinjoy Bose, an international relations lecturer at the University of New South Wales, said.

“I would imagine that the Aus-tralian presence in Afghanistan, for the coming weeks and months, will be afforded greater protection.” The revelations are also a serious blow to the prestige of the coun-try’s military, which is widely revered by Australians.

Its historic campaigns -- from Gallipoli in World War I to Kokoda in Papua during World War II -- have played a crucial role in fostering the country’s identity, independent of colonial power Britain.

“It speaks to a failure that is bigger and deeper than the sol-diers involved in the atrocities,” said John Blaxland of the Aus-tralian National University, which has close ties to the security establishment.

“It speaks to an inadequate sense of perspective on what we were committing our forces to do and the circumstances they would face.” Australia’s gov-ernment had spent years trying to suppress whistleblower reports of the alleged wrong-doing, with police even inves-tigating reporters involved in bringing those accounts to light.

An honour guard at Defence Headquarters ahead of the release of the Australian Defence Force findings from the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry in Canberra, yesterday.

Delhi quadruples mask fines as cases soarAFP — NEW DELHI

Officials in India’s capital yesterday quadrupled the fines dished out for people not wearing face masks as corona-virus cases soar in the megacity, overwhelming hospitals and graveyards even as the government resists calls for another lockdown.

The penalty hike to Rs2,000 ($27) announced by New Delhi’s chief minister came as India’s total coronavirus caseload neared nine million, the second-highest in the world.

“At times when words alone don’t do the trick, we have to get a bit tougher,” chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told a news conference, also tweeting that the city of 20 million was on a “war footing”.

India imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in March, but the restrictions dealt a severe blow to the economy and the government has since eased them.

Few people wear masks — particularly outside major cities — and in recent weeks shoppers have thronged markets in prep-arations for a series of religious festivals.

Though new cases in India have dipped to less than half in recent weeks from a peak of 100,000 infections a day in September, authorities fear a surge in coming weeks.

The western city of Ahmadabad late yesterday announced an indefinite night curfew after reporting an uptick in cases following the Diwali festival weekend.

The major city in Gujarat state has recorded around 47,000 cases and close to 2,000 deaths.

In Delhi, almost 500,000 people have been fined since June for not wearing masks, 370,000 for ignoring social dis-tancing rules and 3,500 for spitting.

This week the number of cases in the metropolis passed half a million, with a record rise in daily cases and deaths.

Over 90 percent of Delhi intensive case beds with venti-lators were occupied as on Thursday, a government mobile app showed.

The problem has been exac-erbated by choking haze and pollution which grips the city this time each year.

“My father’s oxygen

saturation level dipped... and we rushed to the nearby hos-pital but there were no beds available,” Delhi resident Rajeev Nigam said.

“We ran all night from one hospital to another but it was the same story everywhere,” he said, attacking the “unpre-pared” city government which is working to increase the number of hospital beds.

Kejriwal this week announced that the number of guests at weddings would be cut to 50 and asked the central gov-ernment for authority to close down markets if they become virus “hotspots”.

“I only have space left for about 50-60 burials. Then what? I have no idea,” Mohammed Shamim, a gravedigger at one of Delhi’s biggest cemeteries, said.

Japan records high of daily virus casesAP — TOKYO

Japan reported a record number of daily coronavirus infections yesterday, amid a worrying spike in a country that has been spared the worst of the pandemic and hopes to host the Olympics next year.

Compared to many other countries, Japan has done well combatting the virus, reporting just under 2,000 deaths in a nation of 126 million since the pandemic began. But Tokyo saw a record number of single-day cases twice this week, and the Health Ministry said Thursday that the national number hit a record with 2,179 new cases.

That’s the first time Japan has had more than 2,000 daily cases since the pandemic began. The previous high was set on Saturday.

Those figures are still quite low compared to many places around the world experiencing dangerous surges, and, while Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged the thorough use of masks Thursday, he did not call for reissuing restrictions on travel or business.

But experts on Tokyo’s coronavirus panel called for officials to secure more beds for patients and hotel rooms for those with less serious symptoms before infections climb further.

“We must stop further esca-lation of the infections, no matter what,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told reporters. Koike expressed concerns about rising infections among elderly people, who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill when infected and could strain

the medical system.Experts say Japan’s wide

use of face masks as well as cultural traditions that don’t include handshakes or kissing might have helped keep the country’s caseload low.

After Japan issued non-binding stay-at-home and business closure requests in the spring, the number of cases lev-elled off, even as many people still commuted, picnicked in parks and dined at restaurants that stayed open. During a surge in the summer, Japan saw larger number of daily infec-tions, but serious cases and deaths remained low.

The nationwide spike in cases now, especially in the populated Tokyo capital region and Hokkaido in the north, are alarming experts ahead of an upcoming three-day weekend and the winter holiday season, typically filled with travel and parties.

Koike, the Tokyo governor, urged residents to increase their vigilance, asking them to meet in small groups when dining, to avoid sharing chop-sticks or glasses, and to quickly leave after eating. She said stricter measures are not nec-essary at this point because the number of seriously ill patients is still at manageable levels.

“Your cooperation deter-mines our fate,” Koike said. “The key is not to have serious cases and that’s the red line.” Prime Minister Suga, meanwhile, instructed Cabinet ministers to do their utmost to tamp down on infections, but he said his government’s tourism and dining incentives will continue, including the “GoTo eat” cam-paign that subsidizes dining out.

Chock-a-block traffic in DhakaA man watches as vehicles are stuck in heavy traffic on a road in Dhaka, Bangladesh, yesterday.

Duterte agrees to pay for vaccines in advance to ensure supplyREUTERS — MANILA

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has previously crit-icised Western manufacturers for asking fees to reserve vaccines, has agreed to pay drugmakers in advance to secure millions of COVID-19 shots, his spokesman said yesterday.

Duterte had also “approved in principle” an executive order so that vac-cines, which had been approved overseas for emer-gency use, can be utilised in the Philippines, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said.

“We agreed to pay in advance because if we don’t, we might be the last among countries to get the vaccine,” Roque told a media briefing.

The Philippines, which has the second highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Southeast Asia, plans to procure an initial 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to ensure at least a quarter of its 108 million population gets inoculated next year.

Carlito Galvez, a former general leading the country’s task-force to tackle the pan-demic, said the government was in talks with several vaccine makers, including Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc, over possible supply deals.

Pfizer said on Wednesday it could secure emergency US and European authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed it had a 95 percent success rate and no serious side effects.

Thai leader orders police crackdown on protestsAFP — BANGKOK

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered security agencies yesterday to crack down on pro-democracy protesters, as rights groups condemned police for using tear gas and water cannon at a Bangkok rally.

The country has been rocked since July by youth-led protests demanding a new con-stitution, unprecedented calls to reform the untouchable monarchy, and for Prayut to resign.

Clashes outside parliament Tuesday between pro-democracy protesters and hardline royalists marked a

steep rise in violence, with six people shot.

A day later, some 20,000 people massed in Bangkok’s main shopping district, and pro-testers daubed anti-royal graffiti outside the Thai National Police headquarters.

Prayut, who seized power in a 2014 coup, issued a statement yesterday warning protesters will be hit with the full force of the law.

“The situation is still not resolved in any good direction and is likely to develop into more conflict leading to more violence,” he said.

“If this is left... it may damage the nation and the most beloved institution,” he

added, referring to the monarchy.

He said the government and security agencies need to “intensify their practices”, and enforce all sections of all laws.

This could mean more charges under the country’s harsh royal defamation laws, which are routinely interpreted to include any criticism of the monarchy — including content posted or shared on social media.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn asked the Thai government in June to suspend using the lese majeste laws, but human rights critics say there is a host of other legislation that authorities

can use to target democracy activists.

Asked if the government was giving the nod to police to pursue lese majeste charges, spokesman Anucha Burapach-aisri did not rule it out.

“The protesters should respect all laws in general. We don’t specify whether we would be enacting any laws specifi-cally,” he said.

Human Rights Watch con-demned the police tactics as “excessive” and urged Thai authorities to heed a UN call for restraint.

The group’s Asia director, Brad Adams, called for a trans-parent and impartial investi-gation into Tuesday’s violence

and police tactics.On Wednesday a

spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about the growing unrest in Thailand.

“I think it’s very important that the government of Thailand refrain from the use of force and ensure the full protection of all people in Thailand, who are exercising a fundamental peaceful right to protest,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, some 175 protesters have been charged with sedition or public assembly offences since July.

“Some patrols took the law into their own hands, rules were broken, stories concocted, lies told and prisoners killed,” Chief of the Australian Defence Force said, apologising “sincerely and unreservedly” to the people of Afghanistan.

08 FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

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

EDITORIAL

QATAR health authorities are expecting that a safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine will be available in the country by the end of this year or early next year. The Ministry of Public Health has signed deals with Moderna as well as Pfizer-BioNTech, the two vaccine developers that have reported that their respective candidate vaccines are 95% effective after large-scale phase 3 trials.

MoPH has welcomed the progress reported by both the firms and is awaiting final regulatory and safety approvals before the vaccine can be rolled out for global use. Qatar’s approach to procure the vaccines have proved effective. Apart from these two firms, the MOPH has been in discussions with multiple international pharmaceutical companies since the early days of the pandemic to ensure Qatar’s population has early access to COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they demonstrate safety and efficacy and are approved for use.

Never before have so much effort and resources been put into the development of a vaccine. This investment is now starting to pay off and we have seen very promising early results from two different vaccines. “We eagerly await further results of the trials and regulatory approval of the vaccines and there is good reason to be optimistic that the COVID-19 vaccines on the horizon can enable life to return to normal sooner rather than later,” said Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, Chair of the National Health Stra-tegic Group on COVID-19 and Head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation.

Moderna is expected to manufacture between 500 million to one billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine next year. Based on the agreement the Min-istry of Public Health has with Moderna, the supply of vaccine will be during the first half of 2021.

Since the first cases of the novel coronavirus infection were identified in China in December 2019, around 1,348,720 people have died from the pan-demic, out of the more than 56.24 million cases detected to date globally.

And even as a safe, effective vaccine is likely to be rolled out soon, health experts say a combination of both the vaccination and the precautionary measures will be needed to end the pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, who addressed the Qatar Foundation’s World Innovation Summit for Health 2020 on Wednesday, thinks preventive measures will need to continue along with vaccination until an overall protection umbrella is all over the world, which he said might take a year or two.

Vaccine on the horizon

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Quote of the day

Wider access to health care, with an emphasis on prevention and public health, is needed to secure economies and prosperity.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General

A file photo of a worker dumping pre-consumer food waste before being fed to black soldier fly larvae at the Enterra Feed Corporation in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.

On September 29, the UN Food and Agri-culture Organization (FAO) and UN Envi-ronment Programme observed the first-ever International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. They urged everyone to take action to reduce food loss and waste across the entire agricultural value chain. This is a timely message. Today, in a world where food worth more than $1 trillion is lost or wasted every year, more than 800 million people are hungry. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only made the problem worse. According to the FAO, one-third of food produced for human consumption worldwide is annually lost or wasted along the chain that stretches from farms to processing plants, marketplaces, retailers, food-service operations, and our households. And there are many factors that contribute to food loss including limitations on crop production and other resource-saving agri-cultural techniques, inadequate transport and storage infrastructures, changing climate and excess purchases and portions.

Surprisingly, the proportion of food produced but not consumed within

developing and developed nations are similar. However, the reasons for food waste in developed and developing coun-tries are significantly different.

In developing countries, food waste happens during food production and is mainly due to climate-induced crop failures and inadequate infrastructures to transport food to the market and to store it once it is produced. By contrast, in the developed world, food is wasted mainly due to consumers buying or cooking more food than they need. In addition, according to a 2016 survey by the Harvard Food Law and Policy clinic, many consumers throw away perfectly good food because of con-fusing expiry date labels. Despite most of the wastage taking place at the very end of the value chain, developed countries con-tribute significantly to global food waste. In the US, approximately 36 million tonnes of food – between 30-40 percent of the food supply – is wasted every year. In the UK, households waste 4.5 million tonnes of food each year. In Australia, nearly 7.3 million tonnes of food is wasted.

Associated with food waste are the eco-nomic costs that arise from the resources used to produce food. Farmers, for example, use £1.8bn of nitrogen fertiliser and £1.5bn of phosphorous fertiliser annually to grow wasted crops while applying more than 750 million pounds of pesticide to protect food that often ends up wasted. According to FAO, “direct economic consequences of food wastage (excluding fish and seafood) run to the tune of $750bn annually”. All these depressing statistics can lead people to think individual actions would not make a difference. In the fight against food waste, however, everyone’s contribution matters. So what can indi-viduals, businesses, organisations, and cor-porati