Temporary mobile station for vehicle inspections

Qatar condemnsattack in Kabul

Europe scrambles toease vaccine worries

83 killed in fightingin Sudan’s Darfur

Biden team outlinesplans for inauguration

Protest against Dutchcoronavirus lockdown

Navalny detainedon return to Russia

A temporary mobile station for the technical inspection of vehicles has been set up at Wadi Al Banat, north of Qatar University, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has announced on Twitter. The station operates from Sunday to Thursday, from 6am until noon.

Qatar has strongly condemned the killing of a female judge and a female employee of the Afghan Ministry of Education, and the wounding of a third woman in an attack targeting a vehicle in the capital, Kabul. In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs reiterated Qatar’s firm position of rejecting violence and terrorism, regardless of the motives and reasons. It expressed Qatar’s condolences to the families of the two victims and to the government and people of Afghanistan, wishing the wounded a speedy recovery.

France and Russia prepared to beef up their coronavirus inoculation programmes from next week, even as authorities yesterday sought to allay concerns about supplies of the vaccines while the global pandemic shows no sign of being brought under control. With infections surging past 94mn and more than 2mn deaths — and Europe among the hardest-hit regions — France and Russia were hoping to shift their vaccination programmes into a higher gear from today. Page 8

Over 80 people have been killed in two days of ongoing clashes in Sudan’s restive Darfur, doctors said yesterday, just over two weeks since a long-running peacekeeping mission ended operations. The violence is the most significant fighting reported since the signing of a peace agreement in October hoped to end years of war in the vast western region, that has left Darfur awash with weapons. Page 6

President-elect Joe Biden’s top advisers yesterday outlined his plans to tackle the nation’s multiple crises while balancing the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, as an historic inauguration week opens in the United States. Washington was under the watch of thousands of National Guard troops and ringed with security barriers ahead of Biden’s swearing in on Wednesday, in a nation still rattled by the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Page 8

Dutch riot police used water cannon to disperse around 2,000 people at an unauthorised protest in Amsterdam yesterday against a national lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus. The protesters gathered on a square in front of the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum art galleries, carrying signs reading “Freedom: stop this siege” and chanting “What do we want? Freedom!”.

Russia detained Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny at a Moscow airport yesterday shortly after he landed on a flight from Berlin. The country’s prison service, the FSIN, said in a statement it had detained Navalny at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport for “multiple violations” of a 2014 suspended sentence for fraud charges. “He will be held in custody” until a court ruling, it added. Page 8

GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978MONDAY Vol. XXXXI No. 11797

January 18, 2021Jumada II 5, 1442 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

World Handball: Qatar in main round with thrilling win over Japan

SPORT | Page 1BUSINESS | Page 1

QIB posts a net profi t of QR3.07bn in 2020 despite the impact of Covid-19

QOC secretary-general named OCA vice-president

Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) secretary-general Jas-sim Rashid al-Buenain has

been appointed as an Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) vice-president following the OCA’s approval of his nomination by QOC President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani.

As per the OCA Constitution, the QOC was entitled to nominate a can-didate for this position after Doha was

awarded the 2030 Asian Games. Al-Buenain was the CEO of the Doha 2030 Bid Committee and will be integral to Qatar’s preparations for the OCA’s fl agship event, a press statement not-ed.

Refl ecting on his appointment, al-Buenain said: “I am honoured to serve as a vice-president on the OCA Execu-tive Board. I would like to thank OCA President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad

al-Sabah and the whole OCA family for this opportunity to contribute to a brighter sporting future for Asia. I am also grateful to QOC President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani for the nomination and entrusting me to represent Doha 2030 on the OCA Ex-ecutive Board.

“As we said throughout our Doha 2030 bid, Qatar is ready to host the Asian Games now, so we are able to

use our cost savings on infrastructure to invest in sports development across the continent. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues on the OCA Executive Board and in NOCs throughout Asia to ensure Doha 2030 creates a positive legacy right away.”

Al-Buenain joins QOC second vice-president Dr Thani Abdulrahman al-Kuwari as a vice-president on the OCA Executive Board.Jassim Rashid al-Buenain

Age thresholdfor people toget Covid jabslowered to 60

All residents and citizens aged 60 years and above are eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine

in Qatar, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said yesterday while announc-ing an amendment to the age threshold for priority groups to receive the vac-cine.

Also, all 27 health centres under the Primary Health Care Corporation have started providing the vaccine while students who receive government scholarships and study abroad have also been included to receive the vac-cine.

The announcement on lowering the age threshold comes in continuation of the implementation of the national strategy for vaccination against Cov-id-19, which consists of four phases over the course of this year, the MoPH said in a statement.

This step represents a major expan-sion in the vaccination programme along with the addition of other cate-gories of people with chronic diseases. The programme aims to give priority in providing Covid-19 vaccines to peo-ple who are most vulnerable to severe complications related to the corona-virus, the main frontline workers in certain ministries and government institutions and students who have received government scholarships and study abroad.

The decision to amend the minimum age comes as part of the fi rst phase of the national plan, which requires the inclusion of younger age groups gradu-ally over the coming weeks.

The MoPH has also announced the launch of a new online registration process to allow citizens and residents to register their desire to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Dr Abdullatif al-Khal, chair of the National Health Strategic Group on Covid-19 and head of Infectious Dis-eases at Hamad Medical Corporation, said: “The expansion that has begun today (Sunday) in the Covid-19 vac-cination programme will enable us to provide the vaccine to a larger seg-ment of the community, and I invite all people who meet the requirements for vaccination to book appointments for the Covid-19 vaccine at the earliest opportunity.”

“Although this phase of the vaccina-tion programme allows us to provide the vaccine to more people, we con-

tinue to target the population groups most vulnerable to the health com-plications associated with Covid-19. They include the elderly and people with some severe chronic diseases, as well as key frontline workers in the health sector and key workers in other public sectors, including education, which will contribute to ensuring that protection is fi rst provided to those most vulnerable to serious complica-tions from Covid-19.

“In addition to ensuring continuity of work in the essential sectors, stu-dents with government scholarships will be given priority, which will al-low our students to travel easily and also provide them with the necessary protection against the virus in order to ensure that they do not stop study-ing.”

Dr al-Khal added: “This is the largest vaccination programme ever implemented in Qatar, and it is very important at the moment that eve-ryone continues to wear face masks and follow all precautionary meas-ures as we continue to see admis-sions into hospital and intensive care units due to Covid-19. It is also important that all members of soci-ety adhere to the four-stage national vaccination plan against Covid-19 and wait until it is their turn to get the vaccine as all individuals aged 16 years and above will be covered by the vaccine.”

As of Sunday, the Covid-19 vaccines will be available in 27 health centres, and the MoPH “invites all people aged 60 years and above, and people with severe chronic diseases who are keen to take the vaccine”.

More people to access vaccine as priority group age threshold lowered

27 health centres now provide Covid-19 vaccine Students who receive government scholarships

and study abroad included to receive vaccine

Dr Abdullatif al-Khal

The ‘Damascus, Levant’ Exhibition by artist Salah Eddin al-Bizri opened at Building 18, Katara - the Cultural Village Foundation, yesterday in co-operation with the Syrian embassy in Doha, Qatar News Agency reported. The exhibition features drawings inspired by the ancient Syrian capital. The artworks feature aspects of the ancient city, including charming alleys and heritage sites such as Bab al-Salam, one of the gates to the city, and Khan Asaad Pasha, next to Al-Buzuriyah Souq. Katara general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti said the event is one of the various exhibitions organised by Katara in co-operation with the embassies accredited to the state, aiming to promote artistic exchange and introduce Katara visitors to other cultures.

‘Damascus, Levant’ Exhibition opens at Katara

Traffi c sign vandals face steep fi nes: offi cial

Awareness campaigns yielding results with number of road accidents and fatalities going down in Qatar

By Shafeeq AlingalStaff Reporter

Damaging or altering traffi c signs can lead to the impo-sition of steep fi nes on of-

fenders, it was stressed at a virtual seminar on the country’s traffi c law yesterday.

“Destroying traffi c signs or any part of them, shifting them or chang-ing their content, information or di-rection, damaging them or damaging the road can result in imprisonment of a minimum one month and maxi-mum three years and/or a fi ne of a minimum QR10,000 and maximum

QR50,000,” said Capt Mohamed Ab-dullah al-Kuwari, offi cer at the Traf-fi c Awareness Department, General Directorate of Traffi c.

He was addressing a virtual semi-nar on Traffi c Law No 19/2007 yes-terday, organised by the Ministry of Interior (MoI’s) Public Relations Department in co-operation with the Traffi c Awareness Department at the directorate, as part of a series of awareness programmes.

The seminar was attended by rep-resentatives of various companies and community leaders.

He noted that awareness cam-paigns were yielding results with the number of road accidents and fatali-ties going down in Qatar. Accident cases are decreasing despite an in-crease in the number of vehicles, he added.

Capt al-Kuwari, who explained various traffi c off ences and the fi nes involved, said no violation would be

tolerated and asked motorists to fol-low the rules and stay alert as most roads are monitored by the directo-rate through surveillance cameras installed as part of the Talaa project.

Accidents have social and psycho-logical impacts and everyone should be careful while driving in order to avert undesirable situations on roads, he said, adding that fi nes are imposed not to make money but to ensure the safety of all.

He also referred to the ‘black points’ system that was introduced with the aim of preventing accidents and penalising errant drivers. He ex-plained there are provisions in which licences are suspended if the motorist concerned commits serious off enc-es on roads and gets the maximum number of ‘black points’.

He asked people to abstain from driving non-registered vehicles as well as driving without a valid licence and vehicle registration. To Page 4

MoPH launches online registration for vaccine

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has announced the launch of a new website regis-

tration process that will allows citi-zens and residents to register their desire to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

The new online registration form is now available, allowing people who meet the requirements for priority groups to request for an appointment to receive the vaccine, the MoPH has said in a statement.

People who are not among the pri-ority categories currently listed can also register their desire to receive the

vaccine. Their details will be saved by the MoPH and they will be sent a notifi cation as soon as they become eligible for the vaccine in the future.

According to instructions given on the website (https://app-cov-

id19.moph.gov.qa/en/instructions.html), one needs to log in using his/her National Authentication Sys-tem (NAS) Tawtheeq username and password in order to use the online service.To Page 4

QATAR

Gulf TimesMonday, January 18, 20212

CRA publishes ‘Qatar Spectrum Outlook’ on websiteThe Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has

published on its website the Qatar Spectrum Out-look, a “one-of-its-kind” document in the region

that provides stakeholders and interested parties with an overview of CRA’s overall approach in terms of the planned activities to manage the radio spectrum aff airs in Qatar un-til 2022.

The ‘Qatar Spectrum Outlook’ includes CRA’s priorities related to some of its planned programmes and projects for the radio spectrum until 2022, including its plans to update the National Frequency Allocation Plan, review the radio spectrum usage fees, and the mechanism of the quality of service mobile networks audit. Also, it highlights some of CRA’s strategic projects that will be implemented before the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

“It is a true pleasure to share the Qatar Spectrum Outlook with stakeholders and interested parties. This document was developed in line with CRA’s keenness to manage the radio spectrum eff ectively and transparently, as it will help us in enabling the stakeholders and interested parties to un-derstand CRA’s plans and future programmes related to the radio spectrum management, especially that the 2022 FIFA World Cup is very close,” said CRA president Mohamed Ali al-Mannai.

The document outlines CRA’s plans to address issues re-lated to access to radio spectrum and enabling new technol-ogies, and to make resources available to support telecom services and applications that are expected to require new or additional radio spectrum in the coming years, especially during the hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. CRA en-sures to appropriately and practically meet the radio spec-trum needs of a diverse range of actual and potential radio spectrum users.

During the development of the document, CRA ensured to take into consideration a wide range of factors that in-fl uence the demand for and the supply of radio spectrum, including end-user demand, technology changes or ad-

vancements, the international harmonisation of the radio spectrum, and relevant national or international policies.

The authority adopted the Qatar Spectrum Outlook af-ter taking into account the views and comments received earlier and related to CRA’s public consultation conducted in this regard. The views and comments were submitted by stakeholders, as well as concerned and interested parties from the local and international Information and Commu-nications Technology industry.

Document provides stakeholders

and interested parties with an

overview of CRA’s overall approach

on planned activities to manage radio

spectrum aff airs in Qatar until 2022

Qatar’s ambassador to Poland Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Fakhroo participated in a meeting held by Polish Minister for Foreign Aff airs Zbigniew Rau with the heads of Arab diplomatic missions in Warsaw. During the meeting, which was held via videoconferencing, they discussed relations between Poland and the Arab countries, and ways to enhance bilateral ties, in addition to political, international and regional developments.

Qatar attends heads of Arab diplomatic missions meeting with Polish minister

CRA president Mohamed Ali al-Mannai.

HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi met yesterday via videoconfer-encing with Iraqi Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr Nabil Kazem Abdel-Saheb. During the meeting, they discussed aspects of co-operation between Qatar and Iraq in higher education and scientific research and ways to support and develop them. A number of off icials from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education participated in the meeting.

QNADoha

Represented by the Environmen-tal Operations Department of the Environmental Aff airs Sec-

tor, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) participated in a meeting on communication eff ective-ness and transparency training, as well

as improving information dissemina-tion and the using of access tools, in co-operation with the Incident and Emergency Centre at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The meeting, which was held via vide-oconferencing, discussed the work plan of the Operations Manual for IAEA Assess-ment and Prognosis during a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency, in addition to the IAEA’s safety standards and related topics,

as well as analysing available information and predicating possible scenarios based on evidence, scientifi c knowledge and the capabilities of the member states.

The IAEA specialises in establish-ing or adopting safety standards to protect health and reduce the level of danger to life and property, and apply-ing these standards, in addition to pro-cedures that cover various aspects of emergency response.

Education minister meets Iraqi counterpart

MME takes part in meeting on IAEA safety standards

Father Amir Camel Racing Festival kicks off QNADoha

The annual purebred Arabian Camel Festival on the sword of His Highness the Father Amir

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani kicked off on Saturday, amid wide par-ticipation from diff erent fi elds.

The opening day of the festival, which was held on the camel race track in Al Shahaniya, saw 45 rounds, with 25 rounds held in the morning and 20 held in the evening.

In the morning competitions, Samha owned by Mohamed Faran al-Marri won the title of the main round

with a time of 6:07:68 minutes, ahead of Saraba owned by Fahd Hamad al-Hanzab, which fi nished second with a time of 6:08:84 minutes, followed by Al-Wathna owned by Nasser Mo-hamed al-Marri with a time of 6:12:60 minutes.

As for the evening competitions, Al-Sabahiya of Al Shaqab won the title of the main round with a time of 5:54:50 minutes and was awarded golden shal-fa and QR300,000, ahead of Talia of Al Shahaniya, which came in second place with a prize of QR150,000 and a time of 5:54:80 minutes. Dosha of Al Shahaniya came in third place, with a prize of QR100,000 and a time of 5:55:14 minutes.

In a statement, director of Dukhan Security Department Major General Abdul Hadi Dhafer al-Ahbabi said that the preparations for the festival were done at the highest level in order to make it a success.

He added that all security matters are proceeding normally, pointing to the co-operation of the fans and lovers of this ancient heritage sport, as well as all participants in the festival.

For his part, Vice Chairman of the Camel Racing Organising Committee Abdullah bin Mohamed al-Kuwari de-scribed the festival as very strong and ideal, highlighting the need to main-tain all precautionary and preventive measures throughout the race days.

Inspection drive fi nds violations at retail outlets in Mesaieed

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has carried out an inspection campaign, jointly

with Qatar Petroleum, at retail outlets in Mesaieed Industrial City.

The campaign was conducted in a bid to monitor the degree of compli-ance with laws and resolutions regu-lating commercial activities, includ-ing Law No 5 of 2005 on Commercial Registration, and Law No 5 of 2015 on Commercial, Industrial and Similar Public Shops, and Street Vendors, the ministry said in a press statement yes-terday.

The campaign resulted in the “sei-zure and recording of two violations”, namely commercial licence expiration and failure to comply with the general and special requirements, the state-ment noted.

The inspection campaign comes as part of the ministry’s eff orts to moni-tor and regulate markets and commer-cial activities across Qatar, and moni-tor the degree of compliance with laws and regulations governing commercial activities, in a bid to uncover and crack down on violations.

The MoCI stressed that it would not tolerate any negligence in terms of meeting obligations stipulated in Law No 5 of 2005 and Law No 5 of 2015, and that it would intensify its inspec-

tion campaigns to crack down on such practices.

The ministry has urged all mer-chants and shopkeepers to comply with the applicable laws and regula-tions governing commercial activi-ties, and invited them to review such laws and regulations on its website, www.moci.gov.qa, to avoid legal

accountability and penalties. The MoCI has also urged all citizens and residents to report any violations or infractions related to registration and commercial licensing through the call centre: 16001 and the min-istry’s social media accounts - Twit-ter: @MOCIQATAR and Instagram: MOCIQATAR.

MoCI carries out

campaign in

co-operation with Qatar Petroleum in

Mesaieed Industrial City

An inspector at work during the campaign.

QATAR3Gulf Times

Monday, January 18, 2021

QNB launches Qatar’s fi rst Mastercard World Elite Exclusive

QNB, in partnership with MasterCard, has launched Qatar’s fi rst

Mastercard World Elite Exclu-sive.

The card is the most exclusive within the Mastercard product suite and will be available to QNB private banking customers on an invitation-only basis, QNB has said in a press statement.

The stylish metal-hybrid card off ers cardholders a unique ex-perience to suit the requirements

of QNB’s elite customers. The card off ers an extensive range of lifestyle privileges through Louis Fourteen, including access to personalised lifestyle manage-ment services, unique rewards, reduced waiting time at the world’s most coveted restaurants and private dining experiences with renowned Michelin-star chefs.

Other benefi ts include the “ability to locate, source and de-liver unattainable luxury items

at the world’s most celebrated retail establishments”, the state-ment noted.

Adel Khashabi, general man-ager, QNB Group Asset & Wealth Management, said: “Drawing on our global expertise and deep understanding of our ever-changing customer needs and demands, we are very proud to have designed this tailor-made product. We pride ourselves on being the fi rst bank in Qatar to off er this card to selected cus-

tomers through our strategic partnership with Mastercard.”

“The launch of QNB’s Mas-tercard World Elite Exclusive metal-hybrid credit card is another testament to our cus-tomer-centric approach and market-leading offerings. We continue to invest and innovate in technology to ensure that our customers’ demands and changing lifestyle needs are met,” he added.

Nadia Ghissassi, Mastercard

country manager for Qatar, Ku-wait, Iraq & Oman, said: “The GCC is home to a growing af-fluent market, with consumers increasingly seeking new tai-lor-made, exclusive and curat-ed lifestyle experiences. A first for Qatar, the QNB Mastercard World Elite Exclusive caters to these evolving needs, giving cardholders a host of unparal-leled benefits and unmatched experiences. We’re pleased to build on our longstanding rela-

tionship with QNB to introduce game-changing products that provide Priceless benefits to their lives.”

QNB continues to be the forerunner in launching highly relevant, safe and techno-logically advanced payment products in the market, the statement added. The new so-phisticated offering combines the latest technology and safety features available in the global payments industry, including

contactless payment features.QNB Group’s presence

through its subsidiaries and associate companies extends to more than 31 countries across three continents providing a comprehensive range of ad-vanced products and services. The total number of employ-ees is more than 28,000, serv-ing 20mn customers operating through 1,000 locations, with an ATM network of over 4,300 machines.

Ingenious practices help recovery of hospitality industry amid pandemicBy Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

New ideas and safe practices implemented in various busi-nesses, particularly in the food

and beverage (F&B) sector, have helped attract more customers amid the Cov-id-19 outbreak, further boosting the recovery of the industry, it is learnt.

“Diners have seemed to very seam-lessly transition to the new practices employed in dining establishments so far, like e-menus and absence of buff ets, so the positive response has defi nitely encouraged a lot of new business ideas and practices that are yielding great results, maybe even higher than in the previous years,” Ya-zan Latif, hotel manager at Sharq Vil-lage & Spa, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, told Gulf Times.

“In my opinion, the winter months are the best to capitalise on outdoor dining venues and coff ee shops ow-ing to the fact that patrons can enjoy good weather while they dine as well as avoid confi ned indoor spaces that car-ry a higher risk of infection,” he said.

It is learnt that several other res-taurant off erings continue to entice a growing number of guests who have become more confi dent going out and dining with families and friends.

Latif noted that patrons now prefer the ‘set menu’ or ‘family-style’ din-ing “because there is value in seeing a complete 4-5 course meal, which turns out to be fairly similar to the abun-

dance of options off ered in buff et-style dining”.

He said ‘live’ stations, which allow guests to watch how their food is pre-pared, remained to be “a very enticing option” as it provides comfort to them and an assurance of hygiene standards being maintained.

“Of course in this case ‘show kitch-ens’ of ‘gueridon-style’ cooking and service techniques come into play and are a new investment for some es-tablishments but defi nitely a profi t-

able one in the long run,” Latid added.About the recovery of the hospitality sector in the coming months and in a post-Covid-19 scenario, as well as with the new and positive develop-ments in the country and the region, he said it “has noticed a slow but steady recovery that has occurred over the past few months in phases released by the Ministry of Public Health”. The dining sector, he added, “has particu-larly had to remain conservative and comply fully with the Qatar Clean pro-gramme that has immensely benefi ted the opening progress with regular au-dits conducted, ensuring no establish-ment is fl outing social distancing and hygiene procedures”.

“At Sharq Village & Spa, we have taken extreme care to ensure social distancing is maintained in restaurants and lounges by limiting seating capac-ities as well as high-touch frequencies by changing our food presentation from buff et-style to ‘live’ station and set menu-style, due to which there are lesser contamination chances,” Latif said.

The hotel, he noted, removed high-touch communication surfaces such as physical menu cards and guest infor-mation dockets, among others, replac-ing all communication with QR code-enabled ones.

“I reckon the upcoming months will defi nitely benefi t from this posi-tive development but at the same time, require patrons to ensure to follow the guidelines while still enjoying dining out,” Latif said.

Judo world champion visits Sidra MedicineSidra Medicine welcomed Clarisse

Agbegnenou, a judo world cham-pion and French sportswoman, on

a tour of the hospital recently.Agbegnenou, who was in Qatar

for the International Judo Federation (IJF) Doha Masters 2021, was at Sidra Medicine as part of a personal mission to meet the parents of preterm babies.

She is an ambassador of SOS Prema, a French organisation that helps par-ents of premature babies, to highlight the importance of optimal care and the value of family involvement.

The judoka (judo exponent) was welcomed by a Sidra Medicine delega-tion led by new chief executive offi cer Dr Barbro Fridén, acting chief medical

offi cer Prof Ziyad M Hijazi, division chief of Neonatology Dr Charlotte Tscherning, and Prof Younes Boud-jemline, senior attending physician from the Heart Centre.

Agbegnenou was taken to Sidra Medicine’s Neonatal ICU unit where she met staff and some of the parents of preterm babies.

Yazan Latif

GU-Q professor’s lecture to focus on political strategy

for limiting climate change

The Center for International and Regional

Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) will be host-ing the award-win-ning climate change author, GU-Q profes-sor Anatol Lieven, for a virtual public lecture titled ‘A New Political Strategy for the Strug-gle to Limit Climate Change’ at 4pm today.

In a lecture based on his latest book, Climate Change and the Nation State: The Realist Case, a 2020 Financial Times Book of the Year in the environment category, Dr Lieven will set out a new political strategy to mobilise support for the eff ort to limit climate change.

The event is part of the CIRS Environmental Studies Ini-tiative focusing on human-induced climate change which features GU-Q faculty members with core expertise on the environment working with a global network of scholars to produce new research fi ndings, reports, journal articles and public events. GU-Q dean Dr Ahmad Dallal said, “This event builds on our previous initiatives at CIRS that address important questions related to environmental issues, and underscores GU-Q’s renewed commitment to engagement with the public on our environmental research eff orts, be-cause we are all stakeholders in the eff ort to work towards an ecologically sustainable future.”

At the lecture, the author will be refocusing the debate about climate change on the national rather than the global

level. “While international agreements and movements are valuable, in the end their purpose is to get states to act, be-cause (as the pandemic response demonstrated) only states can take the measures and mobilise the resources required. For this to happen, states and their populations have to be convinced that climate change is not just a threat to human-ity in general, but a danger to the vital interests and the long-term survival of their own nations,” Dr Lieven said.

Registration for the online event is available at https://www.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/ClimateChange.

At GU-Q, Dr Lieven teaches classes on international rela-tions, foreign policy and nationalism.

Dr Anatol Lieven

4 Gulf TimesMonday, January 18, 2021

QATAR

College of Islamic Studies launches new Astrolabe edition

The College of Islamic Studies (CIS) at Ha-mad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) has launched a new volume of Astrolabe: A

CIS Student Research Journal, featuring faculty-reviewed papers developed by graduate students through their transdisciplinary coursework.

In keeping with CIS’s aim to highlight the applied nature of Islamic Studies, the new edition of ‘As-trolabe’ examines critical topics aff ecting Muslim communities in the contemporary global context.

The nine articles explore interfaith eff orts and expression, contemporary understanding of Sha-riah and Qur’anic exploration.

Other subject areas are Islamic art analysis, the quality of elementary education, fi nancial devel-opment in nascent industries, reframing ideas within the developing Islamic fi nance fi eld, and an exploration of veganism through the lens of Islam.

The articles were selected from submissions produced by all academic programmes at CIS, which includes the PhD in Islamic Finance and Economy, the Master of Science in Islamic Fi-nance, the Master of Science in Islamic Art, Ar-chitecture and Urbanism, and Master of Arts programmes in Islamic Studies, Applied Islamic Ethics, and Islam and Global Aff airs.

The ‘Astrolabe’ journal is published by HBKU Press on behalf of CIS.

Dr Remah Gharib, associate dean of academic and student aff airs, CIS, said: “‘Astrolabe’ is an expression of our students’ engagement in ex-ploring new knowledge possibilities. I am greatly encouraged to see this spirit of academic discov-ery and feel certain that readers will be enriched by the thought-provoking content.

“I’d like to express my appreciation to our faculty on the Astrolabe Advisory Committee, and to all our faculty members for nurturing these student voices and encouraging a vibrant academic dialogue.”

Sabika Shaban, academic journals and publica-tions specialist, CIS, added: “‘Astrolabe’ provides a robust platform for students to showcase their forays into graduate-level research and share

their explorations on issues that fascinate them.“Each paper underwent a review process with

the support of our esteemed faculty to ensure aca-demic credibility, and it was a learning experience for students to participate in a publishing proc-ess from responding to calls for papers, managing multiple deadlines, engaging with the publishing party over their work, and the well-earned satis-faction of seeing their work in a published form.”

With a view to encouraging the global exchange of knowledge and sharing the fi ndings with the broader community in Qatar and beyond, ‘As-trolabe: A CIS Student Research Journal’ is freely available to download at www.hbku.edu.qa/en/cis/astrolabe.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), in co-operation with Q-Auto, dealer of Volkswagen in Qatar, has announced a recall of Volkswagen Tiguan model of 2020 due to the possibility of the brake pedal not being welded to the brake pedal plate properly, which may lead to the brake pedal plate’s deformation or detachment.Also, in co-operation with Almana Motors Company, dealer of Ford in Qatar, the MoCI has announced a recall of Ford F-MAX model

of 2019 due to a malfunction of the shifting gear lever. Sometimes the lever may not move while attempting to change to ‘N’ or ‘R’.The recall campaigns come within the framework of the ministry’s continuous eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.The MoCI has said it will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and communicate with

customers to ensure that they have carried out the necessary repairs.The ministry has urged all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, which processes complaints, enquiries and suggestions through the call centre: 16001, e-mail: info@moci.gov.qa, Twitter: @MOCIQATAR, Instagram: MOCIQATAR and the ministry’s mobile app for Android and iOS: MOCIQATAR.

Volkswagen, Ford models recalled

The designated authorities have referred 150 people to the Public Prosecution for not wearing masks in places where they are mandatory. The measure is in line with the Cabinet decision, Decree Law No 17 of 1990 on infectious diseases, and the precautionary measures in force in the country to contain the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19). The authorities called on the public to adhere to the precautionary measures in place to ensure their safety and the safety of others. (QNA)

150 face prosecution for not wearing masks

MoPH reports 143,858 total Covid recoveriesQNADoha

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday reported 188 new confi rmed cases of coro-

navirus (Covid-19) during the last 24 hours, of which 149 were from com-munity and 39 from travellers return-ing from abroad who are subject to quarantine.

The MoPH also recorded 246 recov-eries from the virus during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 143,858.

All new cases have been introduced to isolation and are receiving neces-sary healthcare.

Anyone suff ering from Covid-19 symptoms should either contact the 16000 helpline or go directly to one of the designated health centres to un-dergo the necessary checks: Muaith-er, Rawdat Al Khail, Umm Slal, or Al Gharrafa health centres. This is im-portant as the earlier the disease is detected the easier it will be to receive the right treatment and recover from it.

The MoPH has urged people to visit its website for regular updates and new information.

Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Co Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Co opens largest Nissan Quick opens largest Nissan Quick Service Centre in Al RayyanService Centre in Al RayyanSaleh Al Hamad Al Mana Co., the exclusive agent of Nissan in Qatar, has opened its largest Nissan Quick Service Centre and Genuine parts shop in Al Rayyan. The new Nissan 2S facility (Service & Spare Parts), located on Al Shafi Street, Al Rayyan, off ers convenient timings with easy access to quick service, genuine parts and accessories for Nissan customers residing in and around Al Rayyan, the company said in a statement.The newly-opened Nissan Quick Service Centre is the ninth service centre by Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Co in the growing network of aftersales facilities that are being established to cater to customers across Qatar. The service centre has 11 dedicated service bays and a spare parts shop equipped with genuine parts and accessories. Customers visiting the facility can avail of Nissan’s Express Service, with a promise of a 60-minute vehicle processing time from receipt to release, on prior appointment basis, the statement notes.Nassim Mourani, general manager – Automotive Group, Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana

Co, said: “We are extremely pleased to off er our customers increased service options. Our latest and largest Nissan Quick Service Centre in Al Rayyan enables customers to enjoy preventive and full maintenance services at a centre that is convenient from their home or off ice. The network expansion of our after-sales facilities enables us to continue to strive for excellence and forge strong customer relationships and loyalty.”

Equipped with the latest state-of-the-art diagnostics equipment, world-standard tools, a team of highly trained technicians and a service advisory team, the new Nissan 2S after-sales facility in Al Rayyan off ers customers express service of their vehicles while utilising Nissan genuine parts, the company has stressed.The opening of this latest Nissan after-sales facility “demonstrates Saleh Al Hamad

Al Mana Co’s commitment to customer ease and convenience”, the statement adds. Nissan also off ers a fleet of mobile service vans to provide quick services at customers’ residences. This facility is open from 7am to 11pm, from Saturday to Thursday. To avail of the Express Service at the new Nissan Quick Service Centre in Al Rayyan, it is recommended to book ahead by visiting Nissanqatar.com.

The service centre has 11 dedicated service bays and a spare parts shop equipped with genuine parts and accessories.

A view of the exterior.

Work on new Al Khor health centre ‘set to be completed soon’Construction of a new

health centre at Al Khor is set to be completed within

a short period and it will replace the existing Al Khor Health Cen-tre after being equipped with the necessary devices and facilities.

Dr Aisha al-Nuaimi, director of the Primary Health Care Cor-poration’s Al Khor Health Cen-tre, told local Arabic daily Ar-rayah that the new health centre in Al Khor is expected to be ready for use this year after the com-pletion of all preparations and installation of equipment.

She noted that all services provided by the PHCC would be available there in line with its vi-sion.

Dr al-Nuaimi informed that 53,032 people are currently reg-istered at the Al Khor Health Centre, 20% of whom are Qa-taris and 80% expatriates.

The Covid-19 vaccine has been available at the health centre since January 4, and it is adminis-tered to the public in accordance with the strategy followed by the Ministry of Public Health. It also provides the Covid-19 testing service, which is conducted while the person concerned is seated in his/her vehicle and does not have to enter the centre.

Work is being carried out to implement the annual plan adopted to develop the centre’s work and services according to

the PHCC’s strategic plan. She said the telephonic medical con-sultation service is continuing though the system of personal attendance of patients for medi-cal appointments has resumed.

She said the average number of telephone consultations hov-ered between 140 and 170, which dropped in November and De-cember last year to around 77 calls a day due to the possibility of patients visiting the centre in person.

The offi cial added that around 11% of patients do not respond to the calls of doctors at the given time for the required consulta-tion. Doctors have to try calling again at intervals in such cases.

Traffic sign vandals face steep fines: official

MoPH launches online registration for vaccineFrom Page 1

“If you don’t have an NAS account, you can create one on the following link: https://www.nas.gov.qa/self-service/register/se-lect-user-type?lang=en,” the website states. “If you forgot your NAS account credentials, you can reset your password on the following link: https://www.nas.gov.qa/self-service/reset/personal?lang=en.”

The website explains that the “service will enable you to register with the MoPH your in-terest to take the Covid-19 vaccine, and if you are in one of the fi rst priority groups, enable you to request an appointment to take the vaccine.

“Even if you are not in one of the listed pri-ority groups, your interest to take the vaccine will be recorded and saved by the MoPH, and you will be contacted when you are eligible.”

For more information on Covid-19 vaccine-related matters, one has to visit the Ministry of Public Health website for a full list of health centres that provide the vaccine or get general information about the vaccine and the online form for requesting for the vaccine.

From Page 1

Further, Capt al-Kuwari said making changes and altering vehicles without written permission from the authorities is also a violation that results in getting ‘black points’ and a fine of QR3,000. He urged vehicle owners to inform the authorities if the number plate is damaged and replace it accordingly in order to avoid a fine of QR500. Capt al-Kuwari also gave instructions for driving schools and trainers. He urged drivers to follow the speed limit and properly apply brakes, noting that violations in such cases may cause accidents.

QATAR5Gulf Times

Monday, January 18, 2021

The Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) announced yesterday that it recently launched a new

project to dig wells and rehabilitate water projects in Yemen.

About 120,000 people in fi ve gov-ernorates – Taiz, Al-Dhalea, Saada, Hajjah, and Rayma – will benefi t from the latest project, with a total cost of $1,097,870.

In a statement, the QRCS said this project came to expand access to clean drinking water and to meet the needs of the most vulnerable communities in Yemen as well as providing more sup-port to service institutions.

During the inauguration ceremony of the project in Taiz Governorate, representative of the committee in Dabaa al-Dakhil of Al-Shamayatayn district, Mamoun Abdul Karim Mo-hamed, said: “We thank the Qatar Red Crescent for its intervention and its response to the humanitarian need of the people in Dabaa Al-Dakhil.

“We rehabilitate the well (Al-Lus) with the support of our people in Qa-

tar, and about 1,000 people will ben-efi t from it.

“It is decided that the well will be deepened, maintained and linked to a local water distribution network, to alleviate the suff ering of the people, especially with the scarcity of water in the winter season.”

Project manager Engineer Yunus al-Ariqi said that the project will carry out drilling and rehabilitation works for 53 manual wells, in addition to in-stalling solar-powered pumps, build-ing and rehabilitating 15 water tanks with a capacity of 50 cu m, and reha-bilitating 73 wells.

The required needs will be provided as a contribution from the QRCS.

The depth of the hand wells in the Yemeni countryside is between 25-30m, with some of them provid-ing drinkable water and others, in the coastal areas, with salt water.

Water projects in rural areas have been suspended due to the increase in the number of displaced people fl ee-ing confl ict areas to the countryside, the successive failures of the pumps of artesian wells, the worn-out and dam-aged pipes, the weakness of water in the wells, and the high prices of petro-

leum products in light of the economic crisis.

According to the UN annual needs document 2019, more than half of Yemen’s districts are in urgent need of support in the fi eld of sanitation, and more than 55% of the population in 197 districts cannot access any source of safe drinking water.

With limited access to safe drinking water, local communities are resorting to unsafe water sources; only 24% of families treat water at home.

The response continues to focus on supporting the infrastructure and rehabilitating the existing water and sanitation networks, to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, dengue fever, and scabies.

It is worth mentioning that the QRCS has previously completed a similar project for digging hand wells and rehabilitating water projects, for a total of 34 manual wells in eight di-rectorates in Taiz and Al-Hodeidah governorates.

That project cost $400,000 – fund-ed by donations of philanthropists in Qatar – and benefi ts about 35,000 people.

QRCS startsnew project in Yemen for water accessQNADoha

According to the UN annual needs document 2019, more than 55% of the population in 197 districts cannot access any source of safe drinking water.

The Qatar Leadership Centre (QLC) has announced the be-ginning of its new cycle of Na-

tional Leadership Programmes, using advanced elements of virtual learning.

Expanding on the centre’s man-date to develop and empower leaders with the ability to adapt and overcome challenges, QLC general manager Dr Ahmad Abdulla al-Kuwari said: “Through close collaboration, the Centre and its partners are set to de-liver a groundbreaking National Lead-ership Programmes experience, pro-tecting the health of its participants, guest professors, and staff without compromising the quality of the lead-ership education.”

The QLC’s management made the decision in careful adherence to the Ministry of Public Health’s require-ments, and after close consultation

with its international academic part-ners and designed to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The decision to rely on virtual learn-ing will be subject to periodic assess-ment, in line with prevailing safety guidelines in Qatar, a press statement notes.

Dr al-Kuwari added: “At the QLC,

we have taken every measure to ensure that the profi ciency our participants will acquire will continue to hold the same prestige and value in Qatar as they always have.

“The professors have gone to great lengths to cultivate a digital class-room environment that will encour-age networking and teamwork among participants, while challenging them and simultaneously growing their ca-pabilities with fl exible and interactive tools.”

The QLC has co-ordinated with academic partner professors to design these customised programmes, focus-ing on delivering leadership education through digital means and providing valuable resources to facilitate partici-pants’ coursework, including virtual offi ce hours and access to digital part-nering libraries.

QLC announces national leadership programmes through virtual learning

Dr al-Kuwari

Every January, fi lm lovers await the annual Sundance Film Festi-val, Robert Redford’s long-run-

ning celebration of independent fi lms.In 2021, the festival is being held

virtually, between January 28 and Feb-ruary 3.

In the spirit of the festival, Sundan-ceTV, which is available in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) on beIN Channel 75, has cherry-picked some of the best independent fi lms.

Viewers can tune in for festival gems as well as winners of the SundanceTV Shorts competition, held in the Middle East and North Africa for the fi rst time in late-2020.

The “thought-provoking competi-tion entries gave the opportunity for fresh voices and perspectives to be heard, while taking viewers on a jour-ney through time and space”, accord-ing to a press statement.

On January 18, viewers can follow the titular Dayveon as he spends the

sweltering summer days roaming his rural Arkansas town in the wake of his older brother’s death.

Dayveon (2017) airs at 9pm Makkah time (same time in Doha).

On January 25, Terri (2011) invites viewers into the world of a misfi t teen, airing at 9pm Makkah time.

Winners of the SundanceTV Shorts competition will be aired on January 30 as well.

Viewers are invited to tune in be-tween 8pm and 9pm Makkah time for the debuts of groundbreaking talent from across the Middle East.

Films include As You Can See by di-rector Ghada Fikri (Egypt), which won the fi rst place, The Red Mountain by Kamel Harb (second place, Lebanon), Huit Ans – 8 Years by Ziad Mazraany (third place, Lebanon), and How My Grandmother Became a Chair by Nico-las Fattouh (fourth place, Lebanon).

Beit Byoot by Palestinian fi lmmaker Mayar Hamdan received an honour-able mention by the judges, and will also be shown during this segment.

In 2020, Mena hosted the fi rst ever SundanceTV Shorts competition, at-tracting 371 submissions from the re-gion.

The jury included Golden Globe winner, Academy Award and Prime-time Emmy Award nominee Uma Thurman, Palestinian fi lmmaker and poet Annemarie Jacir, Qatari-Ameri-can writer and artist Sophia al-Maria, and television industry veteran Ha-rold Gronenthal, the executive vice-president (Programming and Market-ing) for AMC Networks International, broadcaster of SundanceTV outside of North America.

In addition to these independent fa-vourites and outstanding short fi lms, viewers can enjoy the 2006 fi lm Walk-er Payne.

The fi lm will air on January 22 at 9pm Makkah time.

I’m Still Here (2010) will show on January 30, and follows Joaquin Phoe-nix in the fall of 2008 as he announces his retirement from a successful fi lm career and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician.

The fi lm will air at 9pm Makkah time.

Film lovers in for treat as SundanceTV celebrates annual fi lm festival SundanceTV is available in Mena exclusively on beIN

A scene from Walker Payne (2006), which will air on January 22 at 9pm Makkah (9pm Doha) time.

Left: A scene from Huit Ans – 8 Years by Ziad Mazraany (Lebanon), which won third place in the SundanceTV Shorts competition.

A scene from Red Mountain by Kamel Harb (Lebanon), which won second place in the SundanceTV Shorts competition.

REGION/ARAB WORLD

Gulf TimesMonday, January 18, 20216

At least 83 killed in Darfur clashes: medicsAFPKhartoum

Over 80 people have been killed in two days of on-going clashes in Sudan’s

restive Darfur, doctors said yes-terday, just over two weeks since a long-running peacekeeping mission ended operations.

The violence is the most sig-nifi cant fi ghting reported since the signing of a peace agreement in October hoped to end years of war in the vast western region, that has left Darfur awash with weapons.

The violence has reportedly pitted tribes against each other in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state.

It was reported to have ini-tially started as a local dis-pute, before quickly morphing into broader fi ghting involving armed militias.

“The death toll from the bloody events that occurred in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State, has risen since Sat-urday morning...to 83 dead, and 160 wounded including from the armed forces,” the Central Com-mittee of Sudan Doctors said.

Sudanese authorities have imposed a state-wide curfew in West Darfur, while the Khar-toum government dispatched a “high-profi le” delegation to help contain the situation.

Citing the doctors’ union, the state-run SUNA news agency said that casualties are expected to increase as the fi ghting con-tinues.

The union’s local branch also “called for the securing of health facilities” and urged transport be made available for medics to

assist the wounded. Yesterday, the head of Sudan’s ruling body, army chief General Abdel Fat-tah al-Burhan, met top security chiefs to discuss the violence.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, an umbrella group which spearheaded protests against ousted president Omar al-Bashir, said the violence hit camps for internally displaced people.

“Parts of Kerindig camp were burned, and sustained signifi -cant damages forcing people to leave for safe areas,” it said in a statement.

“These events showed that the spread of weapons across Sudan, and especially in Darfur, are the main reasons for the de-teriorating situation.”

On December 31, the hybrid United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) formally ended its operations in the region, 13 years after it came into being.

It plans a phased withdraw-al of its approximately 8,000 armed and civilian personnel in-side six months.

The Sudanese government “will take over responsibility for the protection of civilians” in Darfur, UNAMID said, as its mandate ended.

Fearing deadly violence, Dar-fur residents held protests in late December against UNAMID’s departure.

Also in late December, clash-es in South Darfur state left at least 15 people dead and dozens wounded, prompting the gov-ernment to send troops to the area.

Darfur was the scene of a bit-ter confl ict that erupted in 2003, leaving around 300,000 people

dead and 2.5mn displaced, the United Nations says.

The fi ghting erupted when ethnic minority rebels rose up against the government in Khartoum, which responded by recruiting and arming a militia known as the Janjaweed.

The main confl ict has subsid-ed over the years but clashes still fl are periodically, largely pitting nomadic pastoralists against settled farmers from ethnic groups.

The violence often centres on land ownership and access to water. Sudan is undergoing a rocky political transitional af-ter Bashir’s April 2019 ouster.

Bashir, who is currently in custody in Khartoum, is want-ed by the International Crimi-nal Court for alleged genocide and war crimes in Darfur per-petrated more than a decade ago. The transitional govern-ment, a power sharing arrange-ment comprised of generals and civilian figures, signed in October a peace agreement with rebel groups in Sudan’s main conflict zones, including Darfur.

But two rebel groups refused to join a recent peace deal, in-cluding the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Abdelwahid Nour, which is be-lieved to maintain considerable support in Darfur.

The Sudanese Professionals Association said the violence in West Darfur shows the “defi-ciencies” of the peace deal. The deal, it added, “strayed away from addressing the roots of the crisis in Darfur, and the is-sues of people who suffered the scourge of war, and the spread of weapons”.

Children look on as they stand next to a tent at a flooded camp for Syrians displaced by conflict near the village of Kafr Uruq, in the northern rebel-held Idlib province, yesterday.

Tough life for displaced in Syria

UN welcomes decision tohold Palestinian electionsQNANew York

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the an-

nouncement from Palestin-ian President Mahmoud Abbas of the fi rst full parliamentary and presidential elections in 15 years, scheduled to begin in May.

The holding of elections in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza will be a crucial step towards Pales-tinian unity, which would give renewed legitimacy to national institutions, including a demo-cratically elected Parliament and Government in Palestine,

said a statement issued on be-half of Antonio Guterres.

Guterres also called on Pal-estinian authorities “to facili-tate, strengthen and support women’s political participation throughout the electoral cycle.”

The UN chief said he hoped that the planned parliamentary elections in May, and presiden-tial vote in July, would “con-tribute to restarting a process towards a negotiated two-State solution based on the pre-1967 lines, and in accordance with relevant UN resolutions, bilat-eral agreements and interna-tional law.”

He said the UN stood ready to support all eff orts on the part of Palestinians to be able to exer-cise their full democratic rights.

Palestinians walk past the entrance of the Legislative Council building in Gaza City, yesterday.

Oman to close land borders again to curb coronavirusReuters/AgenciesDubai

Oman will close its land borders for one week from today to curb the

spread of the coronavirus, es-pecially a more contagious variant, state news agency ONA said yesterday.

The measure will come into effect from 6pm(1400 GMT) today and can be extended for longer than the initial one week closure, ONA said, cit-ing a decision by the Gulf state’s coronavirus emergency committee. The committee is concerned about a new coro-navirus variant – although it didn’t specify which one – as well as lax adherence with the wearing of face masks and avoidance of large social gath-erings.

Oman earlier this month registered its first case of

the variant of the virus that emerged in Britain, in a resi-dent who arrived from the UK.

It reopened its land, air and sea borders on Dec 29 after a one-week shutdown over the new variant.

Neighbouring United Arab Emirates has seen a surge in daily infections to above 3,000 while the other five Gulf states, including Oman, have seen daily cases drop be-low 500.The UAE yesterday reported 3,453 new infections taking its total to 225,374.

Oman had registered a to-tal of 13,1790 cases and 1,512 deaths as of yesterday.

It has rolled out an immu-nisation campaign using the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for its popula-tion of roughly 4.2mn, with a first phase prioritising ex-posed healthcare workers, people over 65 years of age and those with chronic diseases.

The health minister, receiv-ing his second jab yesterday, said Oman had so far received around 38,900 doses. The health ministry has said that 24,204 people have received their first dose and that ad-ministration of second doses would start again.

UAE LOWERS AGE TO GET VACCINE

The United Arab Emirates has lowered the minimum age requirement to receive a Cov-id-19 vaccination to 16, from 18 previously, the ministry of health said, Reuters reported.

The UAE, made of up sev-en emirates, is offering all residents and citizens free of charge a vaccine manufac-tured by Chinese state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinop-harm. The emirate of Dubai alone is offering citizens and residents the choice of either the Sinopharm or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The statement carried by the country’s National Emer-gency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority did not specify which vaccine the new minimum age applied to.

Meanwhile, the Kuwait Ministry of Health reported 378 new cases of coronavi-rus (Covid-19) in the past 24 hours, bringing the total of confirmed cases in the coun-try to 157,777, QNA reported from Kuwait. The ministry’s spokesman Dr Abdullah al-Sanad said that no deaths have been recorded due to the virus in the past 24 hours, leaving the number of deaths at 947 cases so far, adding that the patients in intensive care units have reached 54.

The Kuwait Ministry of Health announced earlier the recovery of 464 people over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 151,142.

Zarif dismisses French charge on nuclear workIranian Foreign Minister Mo-hamed Javad Zarif yesterday dismissed a claim by France that Tehran was in the process of building up its nuclear weapons, calling it “absurd nonsense”. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche published on Saturday, said Iran was building up its nuclear weapons’ capacity and it was urgent that Tehran and Washington return to a 2015 nuclear agreement. Zarif dismissed the charge in a Twitter post. French President Em-manuel Macron’s government has drawn criticism from some countries and rights groups over its support of actions and allowing weapons to be sold potentially to be used in the Yemen operations.. Iran, which denies seeking to make nuclear bombs, rejected a statement on Saturday by three European powers party that warned the Islamic Republic against starting work on uranium metal-based fuel for a research reactor, saying it violated the nuclear pact and had serious military implications.

Tunisia govt says dozens arrested in night disturbancesAFPTunis

Tunisian security forc-es arrested dozens of young people during

consecutive nights of distur-bances in the capital and other cities, a government spokes-man said yesterday.

The disturbances come amid a nationwide lockdown imposed since Thursday – the 10 year anniversary of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s fall from power – as part of eff orts to rein in surging coronavirus infections. Interior ministry spokesman Khaled Hayouni said that dozens of young peo-ple, mostly aged between 14 and 17, were arrested after they took to the streets to loot and vandalise shopfronts and cars.

He also said those arrested stood accused of throwing stones at police in several loca-

tions across the country in two nights of violence that peaked on Saturday night.

Videos circulating on social media showed young people burning tyres on roads, insult-ing the police and throwing stones. Even before the recent lockdown, a four-day measure meant to expire yesterday, Tu-nisia had since October been under a night-time curfew.

Footage also showed people forcing the doors of shops and stealing household appliances.

Sousse – a magnet for for-eign holidaymakers in normal times, but hit hard by the on-going pandemic – and other cities were also hit by the dis-turbances.

A decade on from the revo-lution, many Tunisians are increasingly angered by poor public services and a politi-cal class that has repeatedly proved unable to govern co-herently.

Aoun and Hariri urged to reconcileReuters Beirut

Lebanon’s top Christian cleric has urged Presi-dent Michel Aoun to set

up a reconciliation meeting with Prime Minister-desig-nate Saad al-Hariri to form a cabinet and end the country’s political deadlock.

The country’s fractious politicians have been unable to agree on a new adminis-tration since the last one quit in the aftermath of the Aug 4 Beirut port explosion, leaving Lebanon rudderless as it sinks deeper into economic crisis.

Tensions between Aoun and Hariri, who publicly traded

blame in December after fail-ing to agree a cabinet, came to a head last week when a leaked video showed Aoun apparently calling Hariri a liar.

Maronite Patriarch Be-chara Boutros al-Rai said at his sermon yesterday that the situation in Lebanon was now “tragic” and there was no ex-cuse to further delay forming a government. “We wish that his excellency the president take the initiative and invite the prime minister-designate to a meeting.”

Veteran politician Hariri was named premier for a fourth time in October, promising to form a cabinet of specialists to enact reforms necessary to unlock foreign aid.

Egypt unveils treasures found at ancient siteAFPSaqqara

Egypt unveiled yesterday ancient treasures found at the Saqqara archaeologi-

cal site south of Cairo, including sarcophagi over 3,000 years old, a discovery that “rewrites his-tory”, according to famed Egyp-tologist Zahi Hawass.

Saqqara is a vast necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, a Unesco World Her-itage Site home to more than a dozen pyramids, ancient mon-asteries, and animal burial sites.

A team headed by Hawass made the fi nds near the pyramid of King Teti, the fi rst pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom.

More than 50 wooden sar-cophagi dating to the New King-

dom (16th century BC to 11th century BC) were found in a burial shaft. “This discovery re-writes the history of Saqqara and more specifi cally the history of the New Kingdom, which began 3,000 years ago,” Hawass told AFP yesterday.

He said his team had discov-ered a total of 22 shafts.

“One of the coffi ns belonged to a soldier. We found the axe that he used to fi ght,” Hawass said.

A stone sarcophagus was also found, he added, as well as “a papyrus around fi ve metres long, masks, wooden boats, games the ancient Egyptians used to play”. The games, known as Senet and Game 20, he said, were placed in the tombs so the dead could play on in the afterlife.

Those who win at Senet “will go to the other world, to the fi eld

of Aaru – this is the paradise of ancient Egypt,” said Hawass.

“It is a rare and new discovery because most of the artefacts we

found are dated back to the New Kingdom, whereas in Saqqara, it’s usually more around 500 BC,” he added. Objects includ-

ing human skulls and bones were displayed to the media yester-day, while excavations of the site are ongoing. The artefacts un-earthed by the team so far rep-resent only 30% of what is ex-pected, Hawass said, adding that 70% still remains buried under the sands of Saqqara.

Egypt’s tourism and antiqui-ties ministry had announced Saturday “major discoveries” at Saqqara, where there has been a fl urry of excavations in recent years.

The ministry said the team had also discovered the “funer-ary temple of Queen Nearit, the wife of King Teti, which had al-ready been partially discovered in recent years”. Three ware-houses made of bricks were also found on the site and were used to store ritual off erings to the deities, it said.

An unearthed stele is displayed during the off icial announcement of the discovery by an Egyptian archaeological mission of a new trove of treasures at the Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo, yesterday.

UN troopsrecaptureC African cityfrom rebelsAFPBangui, Central African Republic,

UN peacekeeping troops said they have retaken control of a city in the

Central African Republic cap-tured two weeks ago by armed groups waging an off ensive against the government of President Faustin Archange Touadera.

Rebels abandoned their po-sitions in Bangassou, 750kms east of the capital Bangui, and fl ed the city following an ulti-matum on Friday from the UN peacekeeping force MINUS-CA, the mission’s spokesman Vladimir Monteiro said.

“The city of Bangassou is under the complete control of MINUSCA,” Monteiro said, though he added that the UN force “remains on alert” to prevent any rebel return or other actions against civilians, the state authority and UN troops.

Armed groups waging a na-tionwide off ensive captured the city on January 3, forcing many residents to fl ee across the border to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“It’s a great joy,” Juan Jose Aguirre, the bishop of Bangas-sou, told AFP, following the UN operation to regain control of the city.

“After 13 days sleeping out-doors, people will be able to re-turn to their homes,” he added.

Lieutenant Colonel Ab-doulaziz Fall, spokesman for MINUSCA’s military compo-nent, said the UN force in-tervened to stop attempts at looting overnight Friday to Saturday.

“The situation is calm and under control and positions that had been occupied by armed groups are no longer,” Fall said.

“The looting of the city of Bangassou by the rebels...be-fore their retreat on the arrival of the reinforcements made

up of elements of the Rwan-dan contingent of MINSUCA, shows up one of the aims of these foreign mercenaries: loot our riches and the property of our people,” Prime Minister Firmin Ngrebada said in a Fa-cebook post.

Six of the most powerful armed groups, who have occu-pied roughly two-thirds of the country for eight years, united a month ago to wage an off en-sive.

The coalition announced their off ensive ahead of the December 27 presidential and legislative vote, aimed at pre-venting Touadera’s re-elec-tion.

On January 4, Touadera was declared the victor, although the political opposition cried foul.

The results accounted for only about half of registered voters, as hundreds of thou-sands were unable to cast their vote in areas held by rebels.

On Wednesday, the rebel forces mounted their closest attack yet to Bangui before be-ing pushed back with the loss of a peacekeeper, the UN said.

The UN refugee agency UN-HCR said on Friday that the number of people fl eeing vio-lence following the presiden-tial election had doubled in a week to 60,000.

More than 50,000 of those had fl ed across the Ubangui River to the Democratic Re-public of Congo – with 10,000 people arriving in the DRC on Wednesday alone as rebels at-tacked near the Bangui.

Landlocked Central African Republic is one of the world’s poorest nations and has seen a string of coups and wars since it gained independence from France in 1960.

In 2013, it spiralled once more into bloodshed when then-president Francois Boz-ize, who had himself seized power in a coup a decade ear-lier, was ousted by a coalition called the Seleka.

Ugandan opposition partyto challenge election resultReutersKampala

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine’s party yester-day said it was preparing

to challenge President Yoweri Museveni’s election victory and condemned what it called the house arrest of Wine and his wife.

“We have evidence of bal-lot stuffi ng and other forms of election malpractice and after putting it together we are going to take all measures that the law permits to challenge this fraud,” Maathias Mpuuga of Wine’s Na-tional Unity Party (NUP) told a news conference.

On Saturday, the electoral

commission declared Museveni the winner of Thursday’s vote, with fi nal counts showing the president won 59% of votes to Wine’s 35%.

Announcing the results, the commission congratulated Ugandans on a peaceful and suc-cessful process.

The US and Britain issued statements on Saturday calling for investigations into fraud re-ports and other concerns over the electoral process.

The campaign and election were marked by a deadly crack-down by security forces on op-position candidates and their supporters and an internet shut-down.

The African Union sent an observation mission but has not

issued a statement. An African election monitoring group that deployed 2,000 Ugandan observ-ers reported irregularities.

Museveni, 76, in power since 1986 and one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, said after he was declared winner that the elec-tion may turn out to be the “most cheating free” in Uganda’s his-tory.

In his victory speech, Musev-eni he said he was in politics to address historical challenges and reiterated a pre-election message that his government would deal decisively with anyone who dis-rupted peace in the country.

Wine’s party said at the news conference that the opposition leader and his wife are unable to leave their home, which it said is

surrounded by soldiers and po-lice who are blocking members of his party and journalists from entering.

Wine, a 38-year-old musi-cian-turned-lawmaker whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was not reachable yesterday.

On Friday and Saturday Wine told Reuters that he believed his life was in danger, that he was being silenced by Museveni’s government, and that he urged Ugandans to reject the election results.

He also called on Western gov-ernments who have provided bil-lions of dollars in aid to Uganda to hold the government account-able for what he called “mockery of democracy.”

Wine’s party also said that

one of its MPs, Francis Zaake, was arrested on Friday while trying to access their leader’s compound.

After being beaten by secu-rity forces, he was hospitalised for treatment of injuries, party spokesman Joel Seenyonye said at the news conference.

Police, military and govern-ment spokespeople did not im-mediately respond yesterday to requests for comment on the scene at Wine’s house, or on Zaake.

The government said during pre-election campaigning that it arrested opposition members and their supporters for breaking laws governing public order and Covid-19 restrictions on gather-ings.

Rains hamper hunt forIndonesia quake survivorsAFPMamuju, Indonesia

Torrential monsoon rains yesterday hampered the hunt for anyone still bur-

ied alive under buildings fl at-tened by a powerful earthquake on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, after the huge tremor killed at least 81 and left thousands homeless.

Excavators and cranes were deployed across the devastated seaside city of Mamuju, where buildings were reduced to a tan-gled mass of twisted metal and chunks of concrete, including a hospital and the regional gover-nor’s offi ce.

It was unclear how many peo-ple – dead or alive – could still be under mountains of debris in the aftermath of Friday’s 6.2-magni-tude quake.

“The rain poses risks because damaged buildings could col-lapse if it gets too heavy...and af-

tershocks could move them too,” said rescuer Octavianto.

Excavating debris too fast with heavy equipment could crush and kill any buried survivors, he added.

“All the victims we’ve found so far were dead,” said Octavianto, 37.

“It is most likely any more vic-tims are already dead if 24 hours has passed,” he added.

Scores of rescuers combed through the destruction, fi lling body bags with corpses, while po-lice yesterday deployed a K-9 unit of sniff er dogs to help in the search at a badly damaged hospital.

“We also use our own sense of smell to fi nd possible victims,” said rescuer Kustang Firman at the hospital scene.

“If there’s a strong scent (of decay), we’ll focus on that spot.”

Most victims were found in Mamuju, but some were also recovered south of the city of 110,000 people in West Sulawesi province. Friday’s tremor trig-

gered panic among residents of the island, which was hit by a 2018 quake-tsunami disaster that killed thousands.

“We heard a roaring sound and the house started shaking,” said survivor Jumardi, 50, from a shelter where he and six fam-ily members took refuge. “All I had in my mind was that I would die... Everyone was panicking.”

Authorities have not given a fi gure for how many survivors have been rescued.

A pair of young sisters plucked from under the mass of concrete and other debris were treated in hospital.

Meanwhile, corpses were re-covered from under a collapsed hospital, while fi ve members of a family of eight were found dead in the crumpled remains of their home. Doctors treated patients with broken limbs and other in-juries at a makeshift medical centre, set up outside the only hospital in Mamuju that survived relatively intact.

Paraplegic climbsHong Kong skyscraperReutersHong Kong

Lai Chi-wai became the fi rst in Hong Kong to climb more than 250 metres of a

skyscraper while strapped into a wheelchair as he pulled himself up for more than 10 hours to raise money for spinal cord patients.

The 37-year-old climber, whose car accident 10 years ago left him paralysed from waist down, could not make it to the top of the 300 metre-tall Nina Tower on the Kowloon peninsula.

“I was quite scared,” Lai said. “Climbing up a mountain, I can hold onto rocks or little holes, but with glass, all I can really rely on is the rope that I’m hanging off .” The event raised HK$5.2mn ($670,639) in donations.

Lai, prior to 2011, was crowned Asia champion four times for rock climbing and at one point ranked eighth globally.

After his accident, he resumed climbing by attaching his wheel-chair to a pulley system.

Five years ago he ascended the 495-metre high Lion Rock mountain, a local folk culture symbol of Hong Kong’s strength and grit. “Apart from just liv-ing, I wondered what drives me? So I began to chase that, know-ing that there was a possibility I could climb mountains, even in a wheelchair,” Lai said.

“In a way, I forgot that I was a disabled person, I could still dream and I could still do what I liked doing.”

Although he did not make it to the top of the skyscraper, due to safety concerns, Lai hoped to send a message.

“Some people don’t under-stand the diffi culties of disabled people, some people think that we are always weak, we need help, we need assistance, we need people’s pity,” Lai said.

“But, I want to tell everyone, it doesn’t have to be like that.

“If a disabled person can shine, they can at the same time bring about opportunity, hope, bring about light, they don’t have to be viewed as weak.”

Rescuers yesterday detected signs of life from 22 gold miners trapped underground in east China, a week after the workers were cut off by an explosion. The blast on January 10 badly damaged the exit lad-der from the mine and the communications system, leaving authorities unable to contact the workers in the mine located near Qixia city in eastern Shandong province. Rescuers yesterday afternoon drilled down into the mine and heard “knocking sounds”, the off icial Xinhua news agency said, although they still “needed confirmation”. Local off icials plan to lower food and telephone lines into the mine, owned by the Shandong Wucailong Investment Co, which was under construction when the accident happened.

A helicopter crashed in southern Philippines killing seven people on board. The Philippine military said in a statement that among the dead were the two pilots of a UH-1 “Huey” aircraft that crashed in a vil-lage in Bukidnon province. The military helicopter was on a resupply mission when it crashed due to engine failure, the military said, adding that all the five other crew members on board were also killed. The military and security helicopter crashes are frequent incidents in the Philippines due to the ageing of the fleet. The last such incident occurred when a police helicopter crashed during taking off in Laguna Province last March in the south of the capital Manila, wounding seven people.

A cluster of new coronavirus cases has emerged in Australia’s New South Wales State, health off icials said, just as the country appeared on the verge of snuff ing out all community transmission. Authori-ties were still investigating a mystery case in a man who tested positive on Friday in the Sydney suburb of Berala. All six locally acquired cases registered yesterday were close contacts of the man. Australia, which has managed the coronavirus better than many other nations through targeted lockdowns and high rates of testing and contact tracing, last week recorded a day of zero locally acquired cases, raising hopes that outbreaks in three states over the summer holidays had been brought under control.

Nigerian troops regained control of a military base in the northeast hours after it was seized by militants, sources said yesterday. Fighters aligned with the Islamic State militant group captured the base in Borno state on Saturday, after launching raids earlier in the week. Off icials blamed the violence on Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a group that split from Boko Haram in 2016. The army has claimed some success recently, destroying at least one of the group’s camps located on islands in Lake Chad, on the borders of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad. The army said its troops along with the air force had “eff ectively destroyed seven Boko Haram/ISWAP ter-rorists’ gun trucks” and killed several of the fighters.

Rescuers detect signs of life from 22 trapped miners

Philippines helicoptercrash kills seven

Covid cluster emergesin Sydney suburb

Nigeria army retakesmilitary base from rebels

SEARCHTRAGEDY OUTBREAK MILITANCY

A graff iti calling to free Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, is seen on a street in Kampala, Uganda, yesterday.

Lai Chi-wai attempts to climb the 320-metre tall Nina Tower using only his upper body strength, in Hong Kong, China.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (second right) welcomes China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) during a courtesy call at the Malacanang Palace in Manila.

ASIA/AFRICA7Gulf Times

Monday, January 18, 2021

AMERICAS/BRITAIN/EUROPEGulf Times Monday, January 18, 20218

The world is falling short of promises made under the Paris climate deal to help

the most vulnerable nations deal with the increasingly devastat-ing impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations.

Adaptation – reducing the fallout among communities and increasing their capacity to deal with climate-related disasters such as fl oods and drought – is a pillar of the 2015 accord, which aims to chart a path away from catastrophic warming.

The deal requires signatories to implement adaptation meas-ures through national planning, but also through funding to at-risk countries.

The UN Environment Pro-gramme (UNEP) Adaptation Gap report found that the current fi nance levels of around $30bn annually for adaptation fell far short of the annual cost in devel-oping nations of $70bn.

It said the true cost of adapt-ing to climate impacts in these nations could be as high as $300bn every year.

“The hard truth is that climate change is upon us,” said Inger Andersen, UNEP executive di-rector. “Its impacts will intensify and hit vulnerable countries and communities the hardest – even if we meet the Paris Agreement goals of holding global warm-ing this century to well below 2° Celsius.”

The UNEP called for a drastic scale-up of public and private fi nance for adaptation, as well as increased investment in nature-based solutions such as protect-ing and sustainably restoring ecosystems.

With just over 1C of warming since the start of the industrial era, Earth is already experiencing more intense and frequent ex-treme weather such as droughts and fl ooding, as well as storms supercharged by rising seas.

Much of the devastation wrought by climate-linked dis-asters falls on developing na-tions, and despite promises to help out fi nancially, richer coun-tries still aren’t hitting their ad-aptation funding targets.

The UNEP said funding for adaptation currently represent-ed just 5% of all climate fi nance.

With the cost of natural disas-ters set to skyrocket this century, hard-hit nations are fi nding it diffi cult to secure the fi nance to rebuild after extreme events.

Mozambique, which was bat-tered by twin cyclones in early 2019, said that one year since the disasters, it had received less than a quarter of the estimated $3bn it needed to recover.

The UN report found that cut-ting greenhouse gas emissions will provide a long-term eco-nomic benefi t by reducing costs associated with climate change.

Achieving the 2C Paris Agree-ment temperature rise limit could curb losses in annual growth to 1.6%, compared with 2.2% for 3C of warming – the current trajectory if nations’ current Paris pledges are upheld.

Under the deal’s “ratchet” mechanism, countries are sup-posed to fi le new emissions reduction plans – known as nationally determined contribu-tions, or NDCs – every fi ve years.

The deadline for the fi rst round of new NDC submissions was December 31, 2020.

However just 71 countries, representing under one-third of global emissions, have done so.

The UNEP says global emis-sions must fall 7.6% annually this decade to keep the more am-bitious Paris temperature target of 1.5C in play.

UN: Nations

failing

to fund

climate

adaptation

By Patrick Galey, AFPParis

France and Russia prepared to beef up their corona-virus inoculation pro-

grammes next week, even as authorities sought to allay con-cerns about supplies of the vac-cines while the global pandemic shows no sign of being brought under control.

The coronavirus causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

With infections surging past 94mn and more than 2mn deaths worldwide – and Europe among the hardest-hit regions – France

and Russia were hoping to shift their vaccination programmes into a higher gear from today.

That is when France, which saw its death toll rise past 70,000 at the weekend, is set to begin inoculating people aged over 75 and Russia will begin mass vaccinations.

The vaccination campaigns come amid concerns that delays in the delivery of the Pfi zer-Bi-oNTech vaccine could hamper the rollout in Europe, which critics have already condemned as too slow.

US drugmaker Pfi zer, which developed the jab in collabora-tion with Germany’s BioNTech,

said it was working to “signifi -cantly” scale up production at its plant in Belgium in the sec-ond quarter.

After a short delay, deliveries should be back to the original schedule to the EU from Janu-ary 25.

“There’s a dip,” France’s Eu-rope minister Clement Beaune told Franceinfo radio. “But it’s better that it happens now when we have stockpiles than when the wider vaccination campaign starts.”

Until vaccination is wide-spread, countries across the globe are still having to rely on lockdowns, curfews and social

distancing to control the spread of the virus.

Switzerland and Italy are tightening their restrictions from today and Britain will re-quire all arrivals to quarantine and show negative tests.

Newspaper reports suggest-ed the UK could try to emulate countries such as Australia and New Zealand in requiring trav-ellers to self-isolate in hotels at their own expense.

The foreign minister, Dominic Raab, said that such a system could be diffi cult to manage but “we need to look at that very carefully based on the experi-ence of other countries”.

Austria, currently in its third national lockdown, said that the current curbs will be extended by another two weeks until Feb-ruary 8.

Yesterday Spain began ad-ministering second vaccine doses to people who had already received the fi rst at the end of December, mostly nursing home residents and care staff .

In Norway, where 13 frail eld-erly people died after a fi rst vac-cine injection, the Medical Med-icines Agency, after assessing the cases, suggested last week that the deaths could be linked to side eff ects of the jab.

But agency offi cial Steinar

Madsen told public broadcaster NRK that the there was no cause for alarm.

“It is quite clear that these vaccines present very little risk, with the minimal exception of the most fragile patients,” he said.

In Belgium, 111 people in an elderly care home – or two-thirds of all residents and staff – tested positive for the British variant of the novel coronavirus, which is feared to be more con-tagious.

Three of them have died.Belgium has registered 20,396

Covid-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Europe Covid-19 vaccine rollout shifts up a gearAFPParis

Guatemalan police fi red tear gas yesterday to disperse thousands of

Honduran migrants trying to make it to the United States on foot, with soldiers beating back a group trying to push through barricades, AFP journalists witnessed.

Security forces surrounded the migrant caravan on a road in the southeastern Guatemalan town of Vado Hondo, near the border with Honduras.

Amid the deafening explo-sions of gas and smoke cannis-ters, some 1,000 of the migrants turned back, while hundreds of others fl ed into nearby moun-tains.

Many dropped their sparse belongings in their haste to get out of harm’s way.

Some who tried to break through a fence were beaten back by uniformed soldiers kit-ted out with clubs and plastic shields.

A health offi cial from the region, who did not give her name, said that several mi-grants were struck and injured.

Saying they are seeking to es-cape poverty, unemployment, gang and drug violence and the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes, the migrants set out to cross Guatemala and Mexico to the United States on foot, an arduous journey of thousands of kilometres.

“They have no heart, we are risking our lives,” lamented Dixon Vazquez, 29, who begged the Guatemalan authorities to let the group continue. “There is no work in Honduras.”

“We will continue trying un-til they allow us to pass. Just make way for us because we’re not going to stay in Guatemala, our goal is to get to the United States,” added Vazquez, who said he had left his wife behind in Honduras.

“We have no work nor food, so I decided to go to the United States,” said Dania Hinestrosa, a 23-year-old domestic worker,

who was travelling with her daughter.

She left behind a child of three years and twins aged four.

But Guatemala migration head Guillermo Diaz insisted on Saturday that the group “will

not be able to pass” and urged the migrants to turn back.

Some of the police at Vado Hondo yesterday were carrying fi rearms.

Migration authorities said about 1,000 people have al-

ready been returned to the Honduras border, including 163 children.

A fi rst group of men, women and children – many wearing masks due to the coronavirus pandemic – pushed their way

on Friday past police on the border at El Florido, an AFP correspondent said.

A police offi cial said the mi-grants were allowed to enter Guatemala because there were many families with children.

They said offi cers feared tear gas could cause casualties.

Border agents asked the mi-grants for their papers – and proof of negative coronavirus tests – but appeared to let many through who did not meet those requirements.

Offi cials said at least 6,000 people had arrived in Vado Hondo out of some 9,000 who have left Honduras in recent days.

They have been stuck at Vado Hondo since Saturday night, their progress slowed by the mountainous terrain.

The Guatemalan govern-ment in a statement denounced what it said was a violation of its national sovereignty, and urged Honduras to “contain the massive departure of its inhab-itants, through permanent pre-ventive actions”.

The migrants are hoping for a welcome in Joe Biden’s America after years of tough anti-im-migrant policies under Donald Trump, but US authorities have already warned off the group.

Mark Morgan, acting com-missioner of US Customs and Border Protection, urged the migrants last week not to “waste your time and money”.

The US commitment to the “rule of law and public health” is not aff ected by the change in administration, he said in a statement.

Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras have an agreement with the US to stop north-bound migratory fl ows.

More than a dozen caravans, some with thousands of mi-grants, have set off from Hon-duras since October 2018.

The Mexican government said it would not allow the “il-legal entry” of any migrant caravans and has deployed 500 immigration offi cers to the bor-der states of Chiapas and Ta-basco.

Guatemala police clash with US-bound caravanAFPVado Hondo, Guatemala

Hondurans, taking part in a new caravan of migrants set for the United States, clash with Guatemalan soldiers as they try to cross into Guatemalan territory, in Vado Hondo, Guatemala.

Kremlin critic Navalny arrested at Moscow airport

Russian police detained Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny at passport control after he flew home to Russia yesterday, his lawyer, the prison service, and Reuters witnesses said.It was the first time Navalny has been back home since he was poisoned last summer.His plane was diverted to another Moscow airport at the last minute in an apparent eff ort by authorities to thwart journalists and supporters greeting him.Navalny was detained when he showed his passport to border guards before formally entering Russia, Reuters witnesses said.His wife, Yulia, his spokeswoman and his lawyer were allowed to enter Russia.It was not immediately clear why he had been detained.But the Russian capital’s prison service had said beforehand it would do everything to arrest him once he returned, accusing him of flouting the terms of a suspended prison sentence for embezzlement, a 2014 case he says was trumped up.

President-elect Joe Biden’s goal of delivering 100mn doses of coronavirus vac-

cine within the fi rst 100 days of his presidency “is absolutely a doable thing”, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Insti-

tute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said yesterday.

Fauci, speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, said two new vaccines under development by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson could “very soon” be presented to US regulators for approval, which would increase the pace of vaccinations.

“We’re weeks away, not

months away, for sure,” he stat-ed.

He said that more vaccina-tions – coupled with mask-wearing and avoiding crowds – would be the best way for the US to tackle a new, more infectious strain of the coronavirus.

About 10.6mn Americans have so far been vaccinated, about half as many as President

Donald Trump’s administration hoped would have received in-jections by the end of 2020.

“One thing that’s clear is that the issue of getting 100mn doses in the fi rst 100 days is ab-solutely a doable thing,” Fauci said. “The feasibility of his goal is absolutely clear. There’s no doubt about that, that that can be done.”

100mn vaccinations in 100 days ‘doable’: Fauci

ReutersWashington

Man with gun and over 500 rounds of ammo arrested at security checkpoint

A man with a loaded handgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition has been arrested in Washington at a security checkpoint near the US Capitol, authorities said.Wesley Allen Beeler, of Virginia, had driven to a checkpoint on Friday evening and tried to use a phony credential to access the restricted area where President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated next week, according to a document filed in Washington, DC Superior Court.As off icers checked against an authorised access list, one of them noticed decals on the back of Beeler’s pick-up truck that said “Assault Life,” with an image of a rifle, and another with the message: “If they come for your guns, give ‘em your bullets first.”Under questioning, Beeler said he had a handgun in the vehicle.A search uncovered a loaded handgun, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the gun.

Five shot dead in Mexico City attack

Five people were shot dead in central Mexico City, the local security secretariat said on Saturday, a rare attack in the capital and likely linked to organised crime, according to local media.The attack occurred late on Friday at the town hall in Miguel Hidalgo, one of the most prosperous districts of the city.Police responding to an alert found “five people on the ground with gunshot wounds”, according to a statement.Medical services certified three men dead at the scene while the other two were transferred to a nearby hospital where they later died, the security secretariat said.Local media reports said one of the victims was a member of the local Union Tepito cartel.Despite growing drug cartel violence in Mexico, shootings and multiple killings are rare in the capital.

US President-elect Joe Bi-den will wait for a recom-mendation from his intel-

ligence advisers on whether to share classifi ed information with his predecessor, Donald Trump,

after the Republican leaves offi ce on Wednesday, Biden’s top aide said yesterday.

Ron Klain, the incoming White House chief of staff , made the comment after former principal deputy director of national in-telligence, Sue Gordon, wrote an op-ed arguing against sharing such information with Trump

once he has left the presidency.“With this simple act – which

is solely the new president’s pre-rogative – Joe Biden can miti-gate one aspect of the potential national security risk posed by Donald Trump, private citizen,” Gordon said in a Washington Post piece headlined A former presi-dent Trump won’t ‘need to know’.

Cut off his intelligence.Asked about Gordon’s recom-

mendation, Klain told CNN’s State of the Union that Biden would want to hear from his own intelligence professionals before making any decision.

Gordon, who resigned in 2019, said any former president was a foreign intelligence target, but

Trump “might be unusually vul-nerable to bad actors with ill in-tent”, citing, among other things, his business interests abroad.

Democratic House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff was more blunt, tell-ing CBS’s Face the Nation pro-gramme: “I don’t think he can be trusted with it.”

Biden will wait for advice on sharing secrets with TrumpReutersWashington

Prince Harry ‘happy’ despite royal split

Britain’s Prince Harry is heartbroken over his split with the royal family but he and his wife Meghan are happy in their new lives in the United States, broadcaster and confidant to the couple Tom Bradby said in an interview aired over the weekend.Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, moved to Los Angeles with baby son Archie last year after they gave up their off icial royal roles following disagreements with other family members and in the face of huge media attention.“I think he is heartbroken by the situation with his family,” Bradby said in an interview for ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh show. “But are they unhappy out there? No, I don’t think that’s right, I think they are pretty happy actually, but I think they wrestle with their position in life, I think they all do.”

INDIA9Gulf Times

Monday, January 18, 2021

Only talks canresolve rowwith farmers,insists NaiduIANSNew Delhi

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday said the current standoff between

the protesting farmers and the Centre will be resolved only through dialogues.

“We cannot forget the farm-ers’ eff orts in increasing the food production even during the Covid times,” Naidu said while speaking at an awards ceremo-ny jointly organised by Rythu Nestham and Muppavarapu Foundation at the Swarna Bharat Trust in Hyderabad.

He also added that he sees the possibility of a certain meeting ground.

“Restriction-free marketing of farm produce has been a long-standing demand. One country and one food zone has been the demand for a long time. The development of the country is closely tied to farmer’s progress,” Naidu said.

Comparing the farmers’ com-passion with that of a mother, he said: “It is the duty of everybody to support the farmers.”

The vice president lauded the farmers for rendering a great service to the nation during the pandemic by producing record food grains despite hardship.

He also appreciated the eff orts shown by the doctors, sanitation workers, police and media per-sonnel during the pandemic.

“Both the Centre and state gov-ernments should work as ‘Team India’ in addressing the needs of the farmers. Apart from ensuring remunerative prices, the farmers should be provided with timely and aff ordable credit. There was also a need to increase cold stor-age facilities and number of ware-houses at all levels.

“As a matter-of-fact, every district must have a cold storage facility,” Naidu added.

Referring to a FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) report which cautioned about the food crisis in the coming times, Naidu asserted saying, “If we support our farmers, India would not only be food secure, but would also be able to feed the world.”

Meanwhile, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar yesterday

again appealed to the farmers un-ions to suggest ways to resolve the deadlock over the agrarian reforms implemented by the government.

Prior to the next round of talks scheduled for January 19, the minister said if the farmer unions could suggest any alternative so-lution, apart from the repeal of the three Central farm laws, the gov-ernment would certainly consider it.

On the other hand, as the on-going farmers’ agitation at the borders of the national capital entered its 53rd day, the farmer unions have clearly said they will continue with all their pro-grammes announced earlier to intensify the protest.

The minister in a statement said in the next round of talks, the farmers unions should dis-cuss the three farm laws point-wise and express their reserva-tions, and the government would consider these.

Apart from repeal of the three laws, the government would seri-ously consider whatever alterna-tives the farmers suggest, he added.

With a view to improving agriculture and allied sectors, the government implemented the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Fa-cilitation) Act 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.

Though the Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of these laws and set up am expert committee to resolve the issue, the government has kept open the path for dialogue with the farmer unions.

Tomar, who is leading the nego-tiations on behalf of the govern-ment, has repeatedly reiterated that whatever provisions would be appropriate in the interests of the farmers of the country, the Modi government would consider in-cluding them in the new farm laws.

But the leaders of farmer un-ions are adamant on that the three laws be repealed.

The government has said it is ready to present its case before the committee set up by the Su-preme Court to fi nd solutions to the problems of the farmers, but the protesting farmer unions are not ready to appear before it.

Only 447 adverse eventspost-vaccination: govtIANS/AFPNew Delhi

A total of 447 Adverse Events Following Immu-nisation (AEFI) have been

reported in the last two days of the massive inoculation drive against Covid-19 that is now underway in the country.

Of them, three cases were se-rious in nature and required hos-pitalisation, the Union health ministry said yesterday.

The three cases occurred at diff erent hospitals-cum-vac-cination centres, the ministry added.

“One has been discharged from Northern Railway Hos-pital Delhi within 24 hours. One has been discharged from AIIMS Delhi. One is under ob-servation in AIIMS Rishikesh and is fine,” the health and

family welfare ministry said.Meanwhile, as many as

2,24,311 benefi ciaries have re-ceived doses of Covid vaccines in 553 sessions of vaccination till yesterday held across the coun-try, the ministry added.

The ministry stressed that the majority of the the adverse event are minor in nature and may or may not be related to the vacci-nation process.

“An adverse event following immunisation is any unexpected medical occurrence which fol-lows immunisation. It may or may not be related to vaccine or vaccination process. Majority of the AEFIs are minor in nature: pain, mild swelling at injection site, mild fever, body ache, nau-sea, giddiness and mild allergic reactions like rashes, etc,” it said.

The government plans to im-munise some 300mn people out of its population of 1.3bn by July.

Just six states carried out vac-cinations yesterday, the second day of the rollout.

The government has advised local authorities to limit inocu-lations to four days a week so as to reduce disruptions to routine health services.

The updated vaccination fi g-ures came as a doctors’ repre-sentative body at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi wrote a letter asking for the Covishield vaccine to be supplied instead of Covaxin.

Authorities have given emer-gency-use approval for two jabs – “Covishield”, a version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and the Indian-made “Covaxin”, which has yet to complete its Phase 3 trials.

“The residents are a bit ap-prehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Cov-axin and might not participate in

huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination,” said the letter addressing the hospital’s medical superintendent.

“We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield, which has completed all stages of trial be-fore its rollout.”

Pathologist Arvind Ahuja said he shared some of the con-cerns. “I hope when the data comes out, it is good. Ideally, they should have waited for one month at least as then we would have known better about its ef-fi cacy,” the 45-year-old said.

PM fl ags off eight trains toStatue of Unity in GujaratIANSNew Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday flagged off eight trains connect-

ing major destinations in vari-ous states of the country with the Statue of Unity in Gujarat’s Kevadiya, via video-confer-encing. The trains will connect Kevadiya to Varanasi, Dadar, Ahmedabad, Delhi’s Hazrat Ni-zamuddin, Rewa, Chennai and Pratapnagar.

These trains will facilitate seamless connectivity to the Statue of Unity.

During the programme, Modi also inaugurated the Dabhoi-Chandod Gauge converted broad gauge railway line, the Chandod-Kevadiya new broad gauge rail-way line,the newly-electrifi ed

Pratapnagar-Kevadiya section and the new station buildings of Dabhoi, Chandod and Kevadiya.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vi-jay Rupani and Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal were also present on the occasion.

The prime minister said that, perhaps, for the fi rst time in the history of railways, trains have been fl agged off for the same destination from diff erent cor-ners of the country.

While addressing the audi-ence, Modi said the train con-nectivity will be benefi cial for tourists coming to see the Statue of Unity in Kevadiya and it will also help in changing the lives of the tribal community of the re-gion.

“The connectivity will bring new opportunities for jobs and self-employment,” said Modi, adding “100,000 tourists will

visit Kevadiya every day after im-provement in connectivity”.

Mentioning that one of the Kevadiya-bound trains is origi-nating from ‘Puruchi Thaliaivar’ M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, the prime min-ister paid tribute to Bharat Ratna and Tamil fi lm icon ‘MGR’ on his birth anniversary.

“This will benefi t both the tourists and local tribals as this will bring new avenues of self-employment and employment. The railway line will provide connection to places like Karnali, Poicha and Garudeshwar on the Narmada.”

Continuing with the develop-ment journey of Kevadiya, Modi asserted that Kevadiya is no longer just a small block in some remote area, as it has emerged as one of the biggest tourist desti-nations of the world.

A healthcare worker reacts as she receives a dose of Covishield during a vaccination campaign at Mathalput Community Health Centre in Koraput district of Odisha.

Left Front, Congressleaders hold talksIANSKolkata

Top leaders of the CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress held a meeting

here yesterday to discuss the seat-sharing and other elec-tion-related strategies, leaders of both the parties said, add-ing that their candidates would be finalised by the end of this month.

However, both the Congress and Left leaders said that they would hold more such meet-ings this month to finalise the candidates’ list for the up-coming Assembly elections, expected to be held in April-May.

Both the party leaders are to meet again on January 25 and 28 to settle the seat-sharing issue and other poll-related prepared-ness.

In 2016 West Bengal Assem-bly elections, the two parties had forged an alliance and won 76 seats in the 294-member As-sembly.

Post meeting, Left Front chairman and CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose said that their discussion with the Con-gress was cordial and fruitful.

“To defeat the communal force BJP and the fascist TMC (Trinamool Congress), the Con-gress-Left parties’ alliance is necessary. The alliance would defi nitely thrash the binary rule in Bengal,” the veteran Left lead-er told the media.

Bose said leaders and work-ers of Left parties and the Congress should fight against the BJP and the TMC shoulder to shoulder.

Party sources said that the Congress wanted to contest in 130 seats but the Left leaders did not concede to the demand.

Six people were killed and seven injured in Rajas-than’s Jalore district when a bus caught fire after coming in contact with a high tension wire, police said yesterday. The bus was on its way to Ajmer from Nakoda when the incident happened. The driver apparently lost his way while following the google map and reached a small village. While mak-ing its way through the narrow lanes of the village, the bus came into contact with the high tension wire. The dead included the driver and the bus conductor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot have expressed their grief over the accident.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa yesterday equated Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, country’s first deputy prime minister. “Shah is the only leader who has grown in stature of Sardar Patel. Like Patel, Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are ushering in revolution and taking the country to greater heights,” said Yediyurappa in Kannada at a public rally in Karnataka’s Bagalkot town. “Under Modi and Shah, the BJP will win over 150 seats in the state’s next assembly elections in 2023, as our government is doing its best to ensure all-round development,” asserted Yediyurappa.

After being shut for nearly 10 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools in Delhi are set to reo-pen today for students of class X and XII. However, parents are still in a quandary on whether to allow their wards to attend. The Delhi government has decided to reopen schools, shut since the first 21-day nationwide lockdown was imposed in March, 2020, in the view of the upcoming CBSE board exams. Schools that reopen will have to follow the standard operating procedures. The directorate of education has made it clear that the school administration cannot compel physical attendance of their students.

The information and broadcasting ministry has issued notice to Amazon Prime, seeking its response to the complaints against its web series Tandav starring Saif Ali Khan. Ministry sources that notice has been issued to the platform as it had released the series, and came as the ministry took serious notice of complaints against Tandav. The web series had faced charges of inflaming religious tension and some police complaints have also been filed. According to the sources, a proper response to all the allegations has been sought from Amazon Prime, failing which action would be taken against it.

Richa Dubey, wife of slain gangster Vikas Dubey, has sent a legal notice to the author of a book and the makers of a film on her husband’s life. Richa has sought a ban on any material based on her husband’s life and the Bikru mas-sacre in which eight policemen were allegedly killed on July 3 last year by Vikas and his men. Vikas was killed in an encounter on July 10 after his arrest from Madhya Pradesh. Richa has sent the notice through her lawyers and has said that if she did not receive a satisfactory reply within seven days, she would file a petition in the high court.

Yediyurappa equates Shah with Sardar Patel

Delhi schoolsto reopen today

Six killed as bus hits high-voltage cable

Amazon Prime issued notice over web series

Slain gangster’s wife objects to film on his life

TRAGEDY COMMENTEDUCATION CONTROVERSY PEOPLE

Punjab Cabinet Minister Om Parkash Soni distributes clothes to people in need, in Amritsar yesterday.

Charity initiative

Vaccines procured at infl ated prices: CongressThe Congress yesterday questioned the procurement of Covid vaccines, alleging that the government has procured the vaccines at inflated prices de-spite the manufacturers claiming they would supply the vaccines without seeking profit. Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, addressing a press conference, said, “Why should the Modi government pay Rs95 per dose more to Bharat Biotech for a vaccine that has been

developed with the expertise and experience of scientists of government-run ICMR and pay more for a vaccine that has only been tested on 755 individuals and is yet to be cleared after phase-3 trials?” The Congress leader said the price of such a vaccine must be cheaper than AstraZeneca-Serum Institute of India’s Covishield. “Why is the price of the vaccine at Rs1,000 per dose in the open market?” he asked.

By Elizabeth Wellington

It’s mid-January, almost a year into the coronavirus pandemic and we are still waiting for the horror story that was 2020 to end.

After waiting months for scientists to develop the vaccine, we are now waiting to get it, so our lives can return to some kind of “normal.” We’re waiting to see the full economic fallout of the corona-mess and what our careers will look like when it’s over.

The waiting goes beyond learning the outcome of our post-coronavirus lives.

We spent much of 2020 waiting for the election, and now we wait — and pray — that we make it through the presidential inauguration. Once President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are sworn into offi ce, with the insurrection at the Capitol still fresh, we have to wait for America to reclaim its standing as the defender of democracy.

And here is my big question, after watching Black Lives Matter come to the forefront in 2020 as a mass move-ment: Will Black Americans have to wait another 400 years for true equal-ity?

And the wait for all these things is painful. Sure, I’d like to return to a world where I can leave my house wearing red lipstick and no mask and take trips to the Caribbean, but will our new normal support that? Up until now, I assumed my future would be a stable one, but, like many others, that certainty is now gone.

Will 2021 simply be another year of waiting? This is why it’s so hard, and how to make it easier.

It’s not just you: Americans are ter-rible at waiting.

Life is full of waiting. Still, said Eric

Zillmer, a professor of neuropsychol-ogy at Drexel University, we aren’t very good at it.

And with the introduction of high-speed internet and next-day Amazon delivery, we’ve gotten worse at it. Our consumer-driven society has made us less likely to wait for anything, Zillmer said. We are spoiled. Because of the advances of technology waiting for any-thing “frustrates us and causes major anxiety.” We are at the point Zillmer said that if there is too long of a wait, “Americans just won’t do it. They will look for diff erent options immediately.”

According to psychologists, the wait to get our lives back on track is harder than anything we’ve gone through before for two reasons.

The fi rst is that it’s seemingly endless, which makes it impossible to plan. “We all feel that we’ve been robbed of the power to manage our own destiny,” said New York-based psychologist Richard Orbe-Austin. “The goal post keeps moving: fi rst we were waiting for sum-mer, then we were waiting to go back to school, then we were waiting to get past the elections, then it was the holidays. All of these moments have passed and we are still waiting for our lives to return to some semblance of normalcy.”

The second reason this wait is even more taxing: it’s both hopeful and scary said Crystal Reeck, a Temple University marketing professor in the Fox School of Business, who studies consumer behaviour. We are optimistic that there are better days ahead, but also afraid of what will happen tomorrow, and these two forces are pulling us in opposite emotional directions. “One motivates us to avoid; the other pushes us to ap-proach,” Reeck said and living with this push day in and day out is tough. “Men-tally this can be a very hard place to be and it’s all very unprecedented.”

What’s more we are over the unfair-ness of it all, Zillmer said. Many people are fl agrantly breaking the rules, acting like the world has already returned to normal. People have continued to gather or travel despite CDC warn-ings to stay put. Others treat masks as largely optional. While many of us wait patiently, it feels like others are trying to skip the line.

And while the rest of us wait for the system to work, we do this knowing that it doesn’t treat everyone equally. The Inquirer reported Covid-19 vaccines have mostly gone to white Americans. For some, unemployment benefi ts are running out. And for many others, the stimulus checks don’t even come close to providing the help that’s needed Black people and their allies are met with violence when they ask police of-fi cers to stop people of colour, while it appears that Capitol insurgents were in-vited to cause mayhem. “Fairness is in-grained in our most basic of democratic principals,” Zillmer said. “If Americans see something as unfair, they won’t wait it out. They are more likely to rebel.”

And so this wait feels depressing. We are isolated. We are scared. And the waiting is adding to the mental health crisis, because people feel hopeless, Zillmer said. “Everything we do impacts our community. It has a global eff ect. That’s not something Americans are used to dealing with,” Zillmer said.

How to get better at waiting1. Shift your focus. If we want to be

better waiters, we have to learn how to value the process more than the outcome, Orbe-Austin said. We have to settle into this as our new normal. “Every time we run through diff erent outcomes, we increase our sense of dread, fear and concern,” Orbe-Austin said. “This is why meditation during

these times is helpful. It teaches us how to embrace the waiting.”

2. Take action. Now that our calen-dars are clear from the distractions of the holidays, Orbe-Austin suggests we use this time to act. If you have dreams of starting a business, this is when you can research what it will take to get it off the ground. Taking safe actions inspires us “embrace waiting so we are able to reframe, recharge and prepare for our futures even though we don’t know exactly what they will look like.” Your vaccine questions, answered.

Other action steps you can take while waiting If you are waiting to get the vac-

cine, stay informed. Find out when and where you will be eligible to get the vac-cine so that you are fi rst in line. If you are waiting to see what hap-

pens to the economy, fi nd a fi nancial advisor or make an appointment with your own to help you plan a strategy if your job is in jeopardy, or how you can plan now for your future. If you are waiting to see what your

future will hold, journal about how you want your life to look. It helps to visualise how your life will look so you can take steps to get there. Be optimis-tic. “We need optimism to motivate us,” Reeck said. If you are waiting for racial justice,

continue to speak up and out. Find groups what you can support, donate to or volunteer at so you can be part of the solution. If you are waiting for politics to get

better, try not to dwell on possible bad scenarios. There are many, true. But there comes a point where you can’t control the outcome, you can only con-trol your response to it.

— The Philadelphia Inquirer/Tribune News Service

Gulf Times Monday, January 18, 2021

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CHAIRMANAbdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFaisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka

Deputy Managing Editor

K T Chacko

Impeachment only way to prove that insurrection, civil unrest not the same

The House of Representatives last Wednesday took the historic step of impeaching a US president for the second time. It was the harshest punishment it could render to a head of state who incited an insurrection in an attempt to overturn an election.

In the end, it was not the fi nal bipartisan vote tally that was so astounding. The arguments Republicans made for why Donald Trump should face no consequences for his actions are what should give us pause.

One after the other, House Republicans took to the fl oor to compare the January 6 violence in Washington with the violence that occurred across the country last summer after Minneapolis police killed an unarmed Black man.

This is how Republican Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania linked the two events.

“I know my colleagues on the left want America to believe that the president incited a spontaneous riot that they like to call an insurrection. … The truth is the multiple lawless and violent events last summer, including the months-long siege of the federal courthouse, burning, looting and physical violence in so-called sanctuary cities more closely fi ts the defi nition of insurrection.”

Perry’s argument was that an insurrection and civil unrest are the same. They are not.

It is a legitimate argument that violence of any kind must be condemned. No-one of good conscience, Democrat or otherwise, should try to defend the summer of looting and violence that left at least

19 people dead and destroyed businesses.What we saw this past summer was an uprising primarily by

minority groups that had long been oppressed in America. It was a demand that the government treat everyone equal, and that police be held accountable for killing George Floyd, who was held face down on the pavement with an offi cer’s knee pressed on his neck.

The Washington riot was something entirely diff erent. It was born from a lie, perpetrated by a president who refused to acknowledge that he had lost a fair and democratic election.

He set out to convince his loyal followers that the election was rigged against him. He promoted the voter fraud lie until it reached a pinnacle on January 6, before a crowd that descended on Washington to stop Congress from certifying the election.

No-one incited the violence this summer. But last week, according to the article of impeachment, the president of the United States incited an insurrection.

“He reiterated false claims that ‘we won this election, and we won it by a landslide,’” the document stated. “He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol, such as: ‘if you don’t fi ght like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.’”

As a result, members of the crowd “unlawfully breached and vandalised the Capitol, injured and killed law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress, the Vice President, and Congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive and seditious acts.”

So the insurrectionists swarmed the Capitol building, scaling its walls, tearing down doors and breaking windows in an attempt to stop the joint session of Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.

There simply is no comparison between storming the US Capitol and looting a Nike store for a pair of sneakers. Anyone who thinks the two are the same does not understand what it means to be an American. — Tribune News Service

There simply is no comparison between storming the US Capitol and looting a Nike store for a pair of sneakers

After the vaccine

ANXIETY: A pharmacist dilutes the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine while preparing it to administer to staff and residents at the Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads, a senior living community in Falls Church, Virginia. (AFP)

PAKISTAN11Gulf Times

Monday, January 18, 2021

InternewsLahore

Hidden away in the slums of Lahore sits Heera Mandi — the

city’s infamous Red Light dis-trict. Many don’t know how but the ‘mandi’ got its name from Heera Singh, the son of a minister of Ranjit Singh’s royal court. Heera was also a minis-ter of Sher Singh’s court during the Sikh period.

The area was fi rst developed by the British in the old Anarkali Bazaar of Lahore for the recrea-tion of the British soldiers. After that, it shifted to Lohari Gate and then to Taxali gate. But they seem to have spent more time at the latter rather than other plac-es. Thus they settled in Heera Mandi and one can still fi nd the traces of that.

The tales of the past have been echoing through the walls of the district, longing for sto-rytellers to revive them. And now, it seems like they may have fi nally found their calling. Cele-brated Bollywood director San-jay Leela Bhansali has expressed a desire to work on a venture about Heera Mandi. And if the latest reports are to be trusted, his dream project is fi nally set to roll.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, it has been reported that the Saawariya fi lmmaker has joined hands with streaming giant Netfl ix to make a period drama/web-fi lm. While the wait con-tinues for it to go on the fl oors, Pakistani star Mansha Pasha has a few questions.

Taking to Twitter, the ac-tor has pointed out how Indian production houses are making fi lms on subjects that would be

deemed questionable in Paki-stan.

“India is making a fi lm on Lahore and the infamous Heera Mandi of yesteryears because we live in a country where the fi ctional narrative is often cen-sored and everyone keeps argu-ing about what is or isn’t ‘mor-ally acceptable’ fi ction,” the star began.

“Others make most of the op-portunity, taking up the stories that are native to our country, brand them and sell them to the rest of the world. In the end, what will be left will be our sto-ries told from someone else’s mouth.”

Many fans have since agreed with Pasha’s stance. “It is un-fortunate that India makes fi c-tional fi lms on our country, be it Mohenjo Daro, Lahore or even Malala Yousufzai, while our fi lm-makers are only focused

on commercial or controversial subjects, instead of fi ctionalised subjects like Harappa or Dr Ab-dus Salam,” shared a user.

“Sanjay Leela Bhansali is going to do this. Given his past mov-ies and the thorough research he undertakes for his projects, screenplay and cinematography are going to be very interesting,” said another.

“Couldn’t agree more and it is a sad state of aff airs to see our stories being narrated by an-other country. We could’ve done it more beautifully if we weren’t under the attack of censorship,” penned a fan.

But a well-known media an-chor begged to diff er. “While I have criticised Pemra (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) for its ridiculous ban over a Gala (biscuit) ad and I agree with what you said, I want to remind you that India is a

country where Padmavaat was banned and Deepika Padukone was given death threats because she played Padmavati. India is not ideal either!” they said.

To this, Pasha retorted: “Mo-di’s regime is known for its fa-naticism but I don’t think it’s right to use that as a benchmark to defend the censorship that is prevalent here for decades.”

While Pakistani cinema is still on its journey to revival, the thought of making fi lms on so-cial taboos such as prostitution should always be entertained. It would be interesting to see how Bollywood takes on Heera Mandi.

The upcoming venture seems to be a star-studded aff air with the likes of Aishwarya Rai Bach-chan, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt and Madhuri Dixit-Nene rumoured to have been roped in for the project.

Star questions why local fi lmmakers ignore content the foreigners covet

CANDID: “Others make most of the opportunity, taking up the stories that are native to our country, brand them and sell them to the rest of the world,” says Mansha Pasha.

ON TOP OF THE WORLD: A general view of the Mt K2 Base Camp in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. Right: A team of Nepali climbers and Sherpas posing for pictures after reaching the summit of Mt K2, which is the second highest mountain in the world, at the Base Camp. (AFP)

Historic K2 team make it back safely to base camp

The triumphant team of Nepali climbers who made history when they became the first to summit Pakistan’s K2 in winter arrived safely back at base camp yesterday, off icials said.

The 10 climbers reached the top of the world’s second-highest moun-tain on Saturday, the last peak above 8,000 metres (26,000 feet) to be con-quered in wintertime.

“All the 10 Nepali climbers arrived in the base camp this afternoon. They are in good health and relaxing,”

Faizullah Firaq, a spokesperson for the Gilgit-Baltistan government, told AFP.

One of the successful climbers, Nirmal Purja, who is also known as Nimsdai, posted on social media: “The full team are now back... All safe and sound... It has been an overwhelming journey.”

Thaneshwor Guragain from Seven Summit Treks, a leading mountaineer-ing company behind one of the ex-peditions, said more climbers are still

hoping to reach the top.Unlike Mount Everest, which has

been topped by thousands of climbers young and old, K2 is a much lonelier place. But this winter, dozens of ad-venturers converged on the mountain hoping to take the record.

K2 is known as the “Savage Moun-tain” because of its punishing condi-tions: winds can blow at more than 200 kilometres per hour (125 miles per hour), and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 76

Fahrenheit). The descent can be just as dangerous as going up.

Saturday’s successful summit was overshadowed by the death of a Span-ish climber from another team, Sergi Mingote, lower down the perilous peak.

His body was evacuated from base camp yesterday to nearby Skardu city by an army helicopter, the Alpine Club of Pakistan’s Karrar Haidri told AFP.

Mingote was at an intermediate camp and fell on his way down to the base camp, injuring his leg, ac-

cording to his team.Purja said his team were “deeply

saddened to hear that we have lost a friend” and added, “Rest in peace my brother!”

The 10 Nepali climbers had been spread across diff erent expeditions at the start, but formed a new group in order to claim the summit in Nepal’s name, singing the national anthem as they reached the top.

Despite being famed for their climb-ing expertise, there has never before

been a Nepali climber on the first win-ter ascent of a peak higher than 8,000 metres.

Pakistan felicitated the team for making history. Located on Pakistan’s side of Karakoram range, K2 is one of the world’s 14 tallest mountains.

In a tweet, Foreign Off ice spokesper-son Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri termed the expedition as one of the most coveted achievements in mountaineering while underlining Pakistan as the “ultimate destination of mountaineering”.

Govt approved vaccine to be available in MarchInternewsIslamabad

Federal Minister for Plan-ning and Development Asad Umar said yesterday

the government has approved purchasing of coronavirus vac-cine and it would be available in March.

In an interview, he said gov-ernment has given approval of “AstraZeneca”, vaccine while discussion with a Chinese company, “Sinopharm” is also under progress.

Umar said the Drug Regula-tory Authority of Pakistan has given green signal for import-ing the vaccine to protect the masses from coronavirus.

He said priority would be given in provision of vaccine to health workers and people fall-ing between 60-65 years of age.

He said around 300,000 healthcare workers have been imparted training for anti-co-rona vaccination.

In response to a question, the minister said the private sec-tor can import the vaccine after following the necessary proce-dure.

He also announced that reg-istration of frontline health workers for coronavirus vacci-nation across the country had been completed.

A statement issued by Min-istry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives on Twit-ter stated, “About 300,000 healthcare workers have been registered so far.”

The minister maintained that health care workers deputed to inject the Covid-19 vaccine had already been trained in admin-istering the jabs.

Umar pointed out the gov-

ernment had given a clear pol-icy that Covid vaccine will not only be procured by the gov-ernment but that the private sector, provinces and hospitals can also procure it which will be registered with Drug Regu-latory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).

He said: “The government is trying to make the vaccine available in the country from more than one source.” He said priority for the vaccine dos-es will not only be the health workers but it will be also ad-ministered to people over 65 years of age.

“We have multiple sources for the coronavirus vaccines slated for delivery in February-March. So the vaccines will be procured and rolled out in the fi rst quarter of this year.”

He stated that Sinopharm and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19

vaccines have been approved for emergency use in Pakistan.

Umar said at the moment there are two anti-coronavirus vaccines authorised for emer-gency use while phase III clini-cal trials of the third vaccine by CanSino will be completed by the fi rst week of February.

“From day 1, the NCOC has adopted the policy that the fed-eral government shall not have the monopoly to import anti-coronavirus vaccines,” the fed-eral minister said.

Meanwhile, 43 more people died of coronavirus while 2,521 new infection cases were re-ported across the country dur-ing the last 24 hours.

According to latest statistics, there are now over 34,700 ac-tive cases of coronavirus in the country. More than 473,000 people have so far recovered from the disease.

We have multiple sources for the vaccines, says minister

Telecom revenue

surges 129%

amid lockdown

InternewsIslamabad

The contribution of the telecom sector to the national exchequer in-

creased by 129% in the fi scal year ending June 2020 compared to a year ago owing to Covid-19 lockdown, the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA).

Sharing its Annual Report 2020, PTA highlighted that the surge in demand for telecom services due to lockdown result-ed in signifi cant growth not only in the subscriber base but also in the usage of telecom services.

Data usage by the end of De-cember 2020 was 4,498 peta-bytes (PB) compared to 2,545PB in December 2019 a growth of more than 77%, the report noted. One PB is equal to 1,000 terabytes (TB).

“This substantial growth would not have been possible if the networks were not up-graded,” PTA said, adding that currently the country has inter-national bandwidth connectiv-ity of 3.1TB and with 47,000 cell sites, of which 90% are 4G-en-abled sites.

Broadband subscribers crossed 90 million in the coun-

try by the end of 2020, showing a growth of around 8% against 2019.

Total broadband penetra-tion across the country reached 42.2%. Telecom networks are currently available for 87% of the population.

The report said that PTA was working with operators to in-crease their network coverage for remaining 13% unserved people of the country. Total teledensity in the country currently stands at 82%, the report added.

Due to higher business vol-umes, telecom sector emerged as a prominent contributor to Pakistan’s economy in FY20 compared to FY19 despite the economy being under pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The sector contributed Rs278bn in FY20 against Rs121bn in the previous fi scal year.

The PTA annual report high-lighted that in the last fi ve years, total broadband subscription in the country grew by 175%.

Despite the negative impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) across the economy due to global lockdowns, the share of telecom sector was 25% or $623mn in the total FDI made in the country during the fi scal year ending on June 2020..

98% target of

polio achieved

countrywide

InternewsKarachi

In a major milestone, the gov-ernment’s fi rst anti-polio drive for this year has achieved

98% of the set target across Paki-stan, local media reported yester-day.

According to a report compiled by the Anti-Polio Task Force, the drive received an overwhelming response, leading to the desired results. It highlighted that over 40 million children under the age of fi ve years were administered anti-polio drops by the vaccinators.

The report stated that 99% of the target of vaccinating the children against the crippling disease was achieved in Punjab and Sindh provinces, while 96% and 95% targets were achieved in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, respectively. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir 99% of the set target of the drive was achieved while the 100% target was achieved in Gilgit Baltistan.

Vaccinators, who took part in the anti-polio drive across the country, were trained before the campaign in compliance with the coronavirus related SOPs. On Jan-uary 11, a fi ve-day national polio immunisation drive commenced to vaccinate over 40 million chil-dren under the age of fi ve across Pakistan.

Aligning with the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture, Western Kentucky Uni-

versity (WKU) is to name one of its halls the QatarDebate Majlis.

The accolade refl ects the ef-forts of QatarDebate – a mem-

ber of Qatar Foundation (QF) – towards promoting a culture of debate and dialogue through various programmes, in co-oper-ation with the WKU and several other American universities, the QF has said in a statement.

QatarDebate seeks to promote the Arabic language and enrich the experience of its learners by employing debate as a tool for developing their language skills.

2020 represented a milestone

in the partnership between Qa-tarDebate and the WKU, as both parties were scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in March on the sidelines of the fi fth International Schools Debating Championship.

The coronavirus pandemic put a hold on those plans, but both sides remained committed to the partnership and signed the MoU in December 2020, the statement noted.

WKU president Timothy Caboni said: “The relation-ship between QatarDebate and Western Kentucky University is rooted in an infi nite quest for knowledge.

“We value critical thinking in the rigours of reasoned discus-sion, through constructive and open dialogue.”

The agreement will provide a basis for future co-operation to spread the culture of debate and discussion in the Arabic language

at the WKU and in the US.QatarDebate executive direc-

tor Dr Hayat Maraafi said: “In the fall of 2020, we worked with the WKU to off er debate skills cours-es to students, with a focus on developing their Arabic speaking skills.

“In February of 2020, we or-ganised the fi rst edition of the US High School Debating Champi-onship in Arabic, with the partic-ipation of four schools vying for a coveted league title and to repre-sent the US at the QatarDebate-organised fi fth International Schools Debating Championship in Doha.

“After the success of the fi rst US Universities Arabic Debating Championship 2019, QatarDe-bate will be organising the sec-ond edition of this tournament in 2021, with the fi nal dates to be confi rmed.”

With the goal of advancing the Arabic language, QatarDebate, in collaboration with several US ed-ucational institutions, delivered university courses that teach debate skills for Arabic language learners at four US universities: the University of Utah, the WKU, the University of Illinois, and the University of Chicago.

QatarDebate developed a close relationship with many US edu-cational institutions, in particu-lar WKU, which participated in the International Universities Debating Championships (IUDC) in 2017 and 2019, both held in Doha.

“We’ve been welcoming stu-dents from Qatar to the WKU for more than three decades, and are thankful for QatarDebate for hosting Western Kentucky Uni-versity students, both in Doha and in the United States,” said Caboni.

QATARGulf Times Monday, January 18, 202112

Croatia envoy joins tree-planting drive

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME)’s Public Parks Department, in co-operation with the embassy of Croatia in Doha, has held a tree-planting event at New Salata Park. A number of trees suitable for the local environment and climate were planted as part on the initiative to plant 1mn trees in the country, the MME said. The event was attended by Dr Drago Lovric, ambassador of Croatia to Qatar, and Nasser Darwish from Doha Municipality’s Gardens Section, in addition to other off icials from both sides.

Striplings plantingsaplingsThe Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME)’s Public Parks Department has held a tree-planting event in co-operation with Al Razi Independent Preparatory School for Boys. The event came in continuation of the “Qatar Beautification and our Kids Planting Trees” campaign to plant 1mn trees in the country. The school’s students and staff planted 30 seedlings as part of the initiative.To date, more than 366,000 trees have been planted as part of the campaign, according to information available on the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) website.

QatarDebate in pact with topUS universityAligning with Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture, the Western Kentucky University is to name one of its halls QatarDebate Majlis

Left: The team members at the fifth IUDC 2019.

Members of the US training programme.

A museum dedicated to exploring journalism, communication, and

media at Northwestern Univer-sity in Qatar (NU-Q), a Qatar Foundation (QF) partner, has claimed a top international dig-ital award.

The Media Majlis at the NU-Q – one of the interna-tional universities based at QF Education City – won the Educational Environments cat-egory at the 2020 Digital Sig-nage Expo APEX Awards, which recognise excellence in using digital displays and interactive technology to engage visitors and viewers.

Opened in May 2019, the Me-dia Majlis is the Arab world’s

fi rst media museum, with its APEX Award being secured in a category that saw it competing against the Bill & Melinda Gates Centre for Computer Science & Engineering, and the South Florida Science Centre and Aquarium.

The accolade has been awarded to the QF and Moseco, the contractor that delivered the Media Majlis project, fol-lowing judging by professionals from across the digital industry.

The Media Majlis is also Qatar’s fi rst university mu-seum, with its content and programmes focusing on com-munication, journalism, and media in the Arab world, while also contributing to the global

conversation on the constantly changing media landscape.

It hosts exhibitions that ad-dress major themes and ideas in the media fi eld that have rel-evance to the region, and enable visitors to engage and partici-pate through interactive fea-tures that use digital technolo-gies to challenge narratives and provide a 360° view on local, regional, and global stories.

The museum’s digital and physical content allow the mu-seum to explore stories from multiple perspectives.

Currently, the Media Majlis is hosting an exhibition titled Breaking News? How the Smart-phone Changed Journalism, which runs until May 29.

NU-Q’s Media Majlis wins award

The Media Majlis at Northwestern Qatar.

Visible effectParts of the country are expected to continue experience misty to foggy conditions this morning, the Qatar Met department has said. As a result, poor visibility of 2km or less is likely in some places in the early hours of the day. Doha and other areas experienced mist and fog formation from Saturday night until morning yesterday, with the chances of similar conditions returning last night. The Met department also issued a safe-driving advisory in view of the sharp drop in visibility due to fog, with some roads in external areas recording zero visibility.PICTURE: Jayan Orma

The short and long-term implications of the coronavirus (Covid-19)

pandemic on media and tech-nology will be the subject of an upcoming symposium hosted by Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q)’s Digital Ad-vancements and Media Appli-cations Lab (Dama Lab).

The conference – Media In-novation Symposium: Respons-es to the Pandemic – will feature a series of panels with media experts who will address topics that include the digitisation of sport, journalism in the digital age, and creative writing during the pandemic.

The symposium will take place virtually on January 28 from 11.30am.

“This past year, the world had to move quickly to respond to restrictions imposed by the pandemic,” said Dama Lab manager Eric Espig. “Through this symposium, we are bring-

ing together media and tech-nology leaders who will unpack the reality of the changes in the media and communication world and shed light on what we can expect in the near future.”

A panel on Covid-19, sport, and media, which will be mod-erated by Craig LaMay, a North-western professor who is also an expert in sports media, will address the slowdown in the growth of global sport, the dif-ference between US and Euro-pean models of sport, the rise of hybrid sport, digitisation of sport, and the demand for online streaming of sports by media giants Amazon and Face-book, among other topics.

Joining LaMay will be Mike Rowbottom of InsideThe-Games, and Gerard Akindes, from the Josoor Institute.

To address the challenges and opportunities for business owners in the socially-distant, digital age, Northwestern Qatar

professor Venus S Jin will mod-erate a second panel with Heba Q Almasri, director of the start-up accelerator Qatar Sport-sTech, and Ramy Abdulzaher, co-founder and chief operating offi cer of Bonocle Incorporated.

The panel will provide a local perspective on how start-ups had to reinvent their business models to survive the restric-tions imposed by the pandemic by turning towards e-solutions and fi nding innovative ways to meet the market’s needs.

For creative writers, the pan-demic has been a diff erent ex-perience due to the fl exibility of their profession.

Authors Hala Alyan and Khaled Khalifa will join a panel moderated by NU-Q professor Aaron LaDuke to discuss the opportunities and challenges writers face from a creative per-spective and how they were af-fected from a business and pub-lishing standpoint.

Northwestern Qatar to host media innovation symposium