Wednesday 26 August 2020

7 Muharram - 1442

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8361

Choose the network of heroes Enjoy the Internet

BUSINESS | 13 PENMAG | 15 SPORT | 20

Anderson

becomes first

pacer to take 600

Test wickets

Classifieds

and Services

section

included

Qatar’s Free

Zones attract

global tech

leaders

Qatar stands by Lebanon in reconstruction phase: FM

QNA — BEIRUT

President of the Republic of Lebanon, H E General Michel Aoun met yesterday with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

At the beginning of the meeting, H E the Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Foreign Affairs conveyed the greetings of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to H E President of Lebanon, and H H the Amir’s wishes to the Lebanese people of further progress and prosperity.

His Excellency also conveyed the condolences of H H the Amir to H E the Lebanese President on the victims of the explosion that occurred in the Beirut port, and H H the Amir’s wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured.

For his part, H E the Lebanese Pres-ident entrusted H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs to convey his greetings to H H the Amir, wishing H H the Amir health and hap-piness and the people of Qatar more progress, development and prosperity.

H E the President of Lebanon also thanked Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for his stances in support of Lebanon at all times, and

appreciated the prompt response of the State of Qatar, under the directives of H H the Amir, to provide immediate relief aid to Lebanon after the explosion of Beirut port.

For his part, H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the State of Qatar is committed to stand by the brotherly Lebanese people in the reconstruction phase, support efforts to overcome the human-itarian catastrophe and continue support in light of its economic crisis in view of the aggravated coronavirus pandemic.

In remarks after his meeting with H E President General Michel Aoun, His Excellency said that Lebanon is going through a critical time, and that his visit is to convey the condolences of the State of Qatar to the Lebanese people, and to wish a speedy recovery for the injured in the Beirut port explosion.

He added: “H H the Amir’s direc-tives are clear to study the projects affected by this explosion, and we are about to complete a study of rebuilding public schools in partnership with Unicef, and rehabilitating some damaged hospitals in Lebanon.”

He confirmed the existence of a pre-plan by the State of Qatar to help the Lebanese people overcome the

economic crisis before this explosion, adding that the State of Qatar has views that will be discussed with the Lebanese government.

His Excellency said that there is no doubt that there is a need for political and social stability in Lebanon in order to support this reform process, hoping that all political and social forces in Lebanon place the interest of the Lebanese people

at the centre of these reforms, and ensure that these reforms stem from the needs of the Lebanese people not from any external pressures.

Caretaker Prime Minister of the Republic of Lebanon H E Dr. Hassan Diab also met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. During the meeting, H E the Deputy

Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed the condolences of the government and the people of the State of Qatar on the victims of the explosion in Beirut port, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured.

H E Caretaker Prime Minister of Lebanon expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for the State of Qatar’s solidarity and continuous support for Lebanon in all crises. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral cooperation relations as well as the developments in Lebanon, and Qatari assistance to support brothers in Lebanon after the explosion that occurred in Beirut port, in addition to issues of common concern. �P2

President of the Republic of Lebanon, H E General Michel Aoun, with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Beirut yesterday.

Cyber fraud gang arrested for duping bank customersTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

In an operation named ‘Uncov-ering the Mask’, the Economic and Cyber Crimes Department at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) arrested a criminal gang involved in cyber fraud operations and stealing funds from bank clients.

They used to transfer these funds abroad, pay bills and do online purchases after accessing clients’ bank data, said the Min-istry in report shared on its social media site. The total amount of these fraud transac-tions reached nearly QR10m.

Director of Economic and Cyber Crimes Department, said that the department had received

complaints stating that some bank customers have been sub-jected to cyber fraud and theft of their money. The gang used methods like sending a text message that the client’s bank card had been suspended and he had to call a specified phone number or that he had won a large amount of money as a prize.

Once the victim responds to these messages, the criminal asks the victims to send him the OTP or the verification code they receive on their phone (which is used by financial institutions as an extra step of security for cus-tomers). In order to claim the prize without any delay, the victim will give the code making

it easy for the criminals to break into the victim’s bank account.

Assistant Director Economic and Cyber Crimes Department added that using these methods, the criminals access the victim’s bank account and transfer money abroad, pay bills or make online purchases.

The Department formed a high-level search and investi-gation team and carried out an operation named ‘Uncovering the Mask’. The team gathered information, conducted inves-tigations and tracked suspicious money transfers. They moni-tored a number of persons from some Asian countries with the cooperation of the relevant

authorities in state institutions.After obtaining the permission

of the Public Prosecution, the investigation team arrested the gang members who were inside the country and seized many devices they used for fraud activ-ities. It was also found that some members of the gang are residing in other countries.

MoI called on all citizens and residents to exercise caution and not to respond to these types of suspicious messages and not to disclose personal and banking data to unknown individuals or institutions. MoI also advises the public to approach the banking authorities to verify the authen-ticity of the messages they receive.

Ashghal, Sports Ministry sign MoU for fast cycling trackTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places in Qatar at the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has signed a memo-randum of understanding (MoU) with the Qatar Cyclists Center of the Ministry of Culture and Sports regarding fast cycling track.

Through the MoU, Ashghal and Qatar Cyclists Center will provide all the necessary services to fast track users, such as electric bike parking spaces to serve cyclists in emergencies, as well as installation of necessary signage, periodic maintenance of irrigation systems, fast track asphalt and street lightings.

The signing of MoU was h e l d k e e p i n g t h e

social distancing and all other precautionary measures required to ensure safety of everyone in light of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Eng. Yousef Al Emadi, Director of Projects Affairs at Ashghal, said that the MoU signed with the Qatar Cyclists Center aims at educating the community and spreading the culture of cycling, in addition to using cycling as a safe and healthy means of transportation.

He also added that Ashghal seeks to create infrastructure that contributes to enhance sport culture among all segments of society, through provision of necessary requirements and Ashghal is all set to provide a network of cycling and pedes-trian paths of about 2,650km by the year 2022. �P2

Most parents prefer online classes in first semesterSANAULLAH ATAULLAH

THE PENINSULA

The report ‘Parents want classroom teaching postponed: Online survey’ which was published in The Peninsula on August 24, 2020 received massive feedback from the parents who while expressing concerns over the resumption of classes supported the idea of continuity of distance learning for the first semester of academic year 2020-21.

A large number of parents reacted to the report, which was based on an online survey con-ducted by the newspaper, and presented their arguments for distance learning while some parents in counter arguments endorsed the plan of reopening of schools.

The Peninsula received reactions of parents through

emails as well through its social media platforms. The major concerns are about running classroom teaching especially for kids in junior classes.

Most of the parents have urged the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to allow only online classes during the first semester for the safety of students.

Some parents supported blended learning for the first semester arguing that classroom teaching cannot be delayed for long as it might affect the mental growth and performance of students.

“We love Qatar and we respect Qatar’s decision but this is beyond our capacity as the matter is related to safety of our kids. Please keep online class at least for students from kinder-garten to grade 5. The small stu-dents do not know how to take care of themselves. Even schools will have a lot of problems in handling them,” said a parent.

Another parent urged the authorities concerned to postpone classroom teaching until COVID-19 cases become zero because children are not mentally ready to go to school being afraid of coro-navirus. �P2

In #Beirut today to reaffirm #Qatar’s support and solidarity with the people of #Lebanon in facing the repercussions of the economic crisis and mitigating the effects of the explosion that occurred in Beirut port.

H E the President of Lebanon thanked Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for his stances in support of Lebanon at all times.

H E Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs meets Lebanon President, Caretaker Prime Minister, Speaker of the Parliament, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Governor of Lebanon Central Bank, and leader of the Future Movement party.

“H H the Amir’s directives are clear to study the projects affected by this explosion, and we are about to complete a study of rebuilding public schools in partnership with Unicef, and rehabilitating some damaged hospitals in Lebanon,” FM said.

Call for online class at least for stu-dents from kindergarten to grade 5.

Primary school students are not much aware about COVID-19 preventive and precautionary measures.

Parents say children are not mentally ready to go to school because of coronavirus fears.

By sending text messages saying the client’s bank card had been suspended gang makes QR10m worth fraud.

MoI called on citizens and residents to not disclose personal and banking data to unknown individuals or institutions.

OFFICIAL NEWS

02 WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020HOME

Amir congratulates Uruguay PresidentDOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani, and Prime Minister and Min-ister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani sent yesterday cables of congratulations to President of the Oriental Repub-lic of Uruguay H E Luis Lacalle Pou on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day.-QNA

MoPH: 232 new COVID-19 cases, 219 recoveries

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 232 new confirmed COVID-19. According to the Ministry, among them 219 cases were from the community and 13 were travellers returning from abroad.

Another 219 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 114,318. All new cases have been introduced to isolation and are receiving necessary healthcare according to their health status.

The Ministry said that measures to curb COVID-19 in Qatar have succeeded in flat-tening the curve and limiting the spread of the virus. Qatar’s extensive testing of suspected cases enabled the MoPH in identify a high number of pos-itive cases in the community.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani with the caretaker Prime Minister of the Republic of Lebanon, H E Dr. Hassan Diab, in Beirut, yesterday.

Minister meets with Chinese Ambassador

Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the State of Qatar H E Zhou Jian at the Ministry offices, yesterday. They reviewed cooperation between the two friendly countries in the fields of ports, transportation and communications and means of further bolstering them.

Public school enrolment, transfer to end on Oct 7THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has announced that student enrolment and transfer in public schools for the academic year 2020-21 will reopen from August 23 through October 7, 2020.

Qatari siblings, children of Qatari mothers, and children of GCC citizens can complete the enrolments and transfers from August 23 to 24, said the Min-istry on its website.

Qatari students, children of

Qatari mothers and children of GCC citizens can do the same from August 25 to 31. All nation-alities can complete the enrol-ments and transfers from Sep-tember 1 to October 7.

Parents can complete the enrolment process online via the Public Service Portal. For appli-cations to be complete, it is important to attach all the required documents, along with the medical assessment certifi-cates for new students.

For more information, please read the school admission

and enrolment policy.In a related context,

medical examinations for new students are still underway in a number health centres des-ignated by the Ministry of Public Health. The medical certificates will officially be approved and linked directly to Ministry of Education and Higher Education’s (MOEHE) online enrolment system. Accordingly, parents can proceed with the online enrolment once the student is found medically fit.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani tours the site of the explosion at the Beirut port.

Foreign Minister tours blast site

Qatar stands by Lebanon in reconstruction phase: FMFROM PAGE 1

Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Lebanon H E Nabih Berri also met with Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani. H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs expressed the condolences of the government and the people of the State of Qatar on the victims of the explosion in Beirut port, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured.

H E the Speaker of the Par-liament of Lebanon expressed his gratitude and appreciation to H H the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for the State of Qatar’s solidarity and continuous support for Lebanon in all crises. During the meeting, they discussed bilateral coop-eration relations as well as the developments in Lebanon, and Qatari assistance to support brothers in Lebanon after the

explosion that occurred in Beirut port, in addition to issues of common concern.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of the Republic of Lebanon H E Charbel Wehbe. During the meeting, HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed the condolences of the government and the people of the State of Qatar on the victims of the explosion in Beirut port, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured.

They also reviewed bilateral cooperation relations as well as the developments in Lebanon, and Qatari assistance to support brothers in Lebanon after the explosion that occurred in Beirut port, in addition to issues of common concern.

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign Affairs also met with Governor

of the Central Bank of Lebanon (Banque du Liban) H E Riad Salame.

The Governor extended thanks and appreciation to the State of Qatar for its positions supportive to Lebanon, praising the $50m contribution provided by the State of Qatar at the International Conference on Support to Beirut and the Leb-anese People. The meeting reviewed Qatar’s support to Lebanon to face the economic crisis and the impacts of Beirut Port explosion on the economy, as well as issues of mutual concern.

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign Affairs also met with H E Saad Hariri, the leader of the Future Movement party in the Republic of Lebanon.

They reviewed bilateral cooperation relations, devel-opments in Lebanon, and issues of common concern.

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign

Affairs also met with Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian. The meeting reviewed the general situation and the conditions of the Lebanese people in the wake of Beirut Port explosion, in addition to issues of mutual concern.

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign Affairs also met with Sec-retary-General of the Lebanese Red Cross George Kittana.

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign Affairs praised the efforts made by the Lebanese Red Cross in the rescue and transport of the injured after Beirut explosion, as well as the cooperation between Qatar Red Crescent Society and the Lebanese Red Cross and the distribution of aid to those affected. The meeting reviewed means of promoting the cooperation, and the needs required during the next phase.

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign Affairs also met with H B Car-dinal Patriarch Moran Mor Bechara Boutros Al Rahi, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs offered the condolences of the government and people of the State of Qatar on the victims of the explosion which took place in Beirut Port, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

For his part, H B Patriarch expressed thanks and appre-ciation to H H the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for Qatar’s positions supportive to Lebanon and its continuous solidarity with Lebanon in all crises.

The meeting discussed the general situation and the con-ditions of the Lebanese people in the wake of Beirut Port explosion, and stressed the importance of stability and national unity.

Most parents prefer onlineclasses in first semester

FROM PAGE 1

“We should not force them to go to school. Children’s health is first priority. It will not be possible for kids to maintain social distancing and hygiene. This is a big threat. If we start school, (we) again give a chance to increase in coronavirus cases. Online classes are going very well, let them to continue,” he added.

“Please accept our request of postponing the opening of schools. Our kids are our wealth. All other things sec-ondary matters; please con-tinue online classes.”

Another parent said that primary school students are not much aware about COVID-19 preventive and precautionary measures therefore, it is requested to postpone the classroom teaching at least for primary school for year end.

“Everywhere there is restriction for kids. Then why they are opening school. We as parents are worried as we can take care of our kids but in school no body will take care. There must be an option for parents to take decisions for their kids,” augured another parent, requesting the authorities concerned to con-tinue with fully online classes until vaccine comes.

A parent said that higher secondary and university stu-dents can go to classroom if necessary but not for nursery

and primary children it is like risking the little lives along with their families.

There are also parents who support reopening of schools. A parent who sup-ported the classroom teaching said: “It is better to open school as it is very hard to continue online studies. We cannot continue this online studies. Kids are also dis-turbed a lot because of iso-lation,” he added.

“I understand that this is so confusing, but schools need to open even if partially. E-learning wasn’t as effective as going to school. One hour online is not as effective as 5-6 hours school day,” said a commentator.

“Children are disoriented. They don’t realize that they are in summer vacation and that they are moving to another grade since they did not have their ‘usual summer vacation’.”

One parent argued, “Schools need to be open now. Almost 6 months that kids are staying at home and they need to learn. Staying at home for a long time is not really good for them.”

A commentator said that schools need to open. “We cannot continue like this for another 12-18 months before the vaccine is developed and distributed. Our children will suffer badly from further iso-lation,” he added.

Ashghal, Sports Ministry sign MoU for fast cycling trackFROM PAGE 1

Eng. Mohamed Arqoub Al Khaldi, Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places in Qatar at Ashghal said the fast track for cyclists has been constructed and opened to the public. He said that the 33km long track allows speeding up to 50km per hour.

Dr. Abdulaziz Jaham Al Kuwari, President of Qatar Cyclists, said: “We seek to encourage all family members to use the fast track, including provision of first aid to those

who are on the track and pro-viding logistics services using motorcycles to provide emer-gency assistance.”

He said that through the MoU, events will be organised in cooperation with Ashghal including safety campaigns, first aid training for emer-gencies, as well as awareness sessions to educate riders on the right and safe riding methods through cycle paths.

Following the signing of the MoU, Abdel Fattah Al Saadi, Member of Board of Directors at Qatar Cyclist Center, said: “We hope that this agreement will contribute

to encouraging all segments of society to practice sport on a regular basis.”

Abdullah Al Hammadi, Member of Qatar Cyclists Center, said that through the agreement, first aid will be provided to fast track users and assistance will be pro-vided during emergencies using motorcycles.

Ali Bin Towar Al Kuwari, Media Committee In-charge at Qatar Cyclists Center, said: “We are pleased to sign the agreement today, which will help provide services to users of the fast cycling track on Al Khor Road.”

JEE Exam Centre in Doha changedTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Embassy of India has announced that National Testing Agency decided to change the examination centre in Qatar.

“National Testing Agency has decided to change the examination centre in Qatar for JEE (Mains) Exam 2020 to Birla Public School, Doha while observing necessary health and safety protocol,” the Embassy tweeted yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Embassy of India in Doha will remain closed on Sunday, August 30, 2020 on the occasion of Muharram.

Dr. Abdulaziz Jaham Al Kuwari, President of Qatar Cyclists and Eng. Yousef Al Emadi, Director of Projects Affairs at Ashghal, signing a memorandum of understanding.

QRCS extends medical support to Al-Jomhouri Hospital in Taiz

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

As coronavirus spread rates are rising in Yemen, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has gone on with supporting the local health professionals to protect their lives against the virus, thus ensuring that they would continue to serve the patients and do their medical job amid difficult humanitarian conditions suffered by the Yemeni people.

“QRCS are here to bring all the safety supplies for our medical staff,” said Dr. Ferial Mohamed Ahmed, Head of the Department of Isolation at the Al-Jomhouri Hospital in Taiz, as she met QRCS’s representative, who delivered the medical pro-tective supplies in the presence of the directors of the Taiz Public Health and Population Office and the hospital.

“With the previous support, our medical staff could resume their work without fear from infection. Today, we are even more reassured as all the staff of the isolation and other departments are given pro-tective equipment”.

In a statement, Dr. Rajeh Al-Maleeki, Director of the Taiz Health Office, commented, “QRCS played a significant role in providing medical aid to control the Coronavirus out-break.. ”

03WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020 HOME

Speaker of Shura Council meetsAmbassadors of Turkey, Greece QNA — DOHA

Speaker of the Shura Council H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud met yesterday with Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the State of Qatar H E Mehmet Mustafa Goksu.

During the meeting, they

reviewed aspects of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the parliamentary field and ways to enhance and develop them.

H E the Speaker of the Shura Council also met with H E Ambassador of the Republic of Greece to the State of Qatar

H E Constantinos Orphanides on the occasion of the end of his tenure in the country.

H E the Speaker of the Shura Council wished the Ambassador of Greece success in his future duties and bilateral relations between the two countries further development and growth.

Speaker of the Shura Council H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud meets Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the State of Qatar H E Mehmet Mustafa Goksu, in Doha, yesterday.

HMC launches programme to help COVID-19 patients breastfeed their newbornsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Women’s Wellness and Research Centre of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has launched a new breastfeeding programme which helped mothers who have been infected with the COVID-19 to breastfeed their newborns naturally.

HMC has implemented stringent infection control measures across all its facilities, including the country’s largest women’s tertiary hospital, the Women’s Wellness and Research Centre (WWRC), as part of the ongoing efforts to protect patients and staff from the spread of COVID-19. Thanks to a new guideline for breastfeeding and safe handling of breast milk among COVID-19 positive patients introduced at the WWRC’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), women have been able to safely provide their babies with breast milk regardless of their COVID-19 infection status.

Abigail Magallanes, who was

diagnosed with COVID-19 while 32 weeks pregnant, says she was initially worried about her unborn baby’s health.

“Upon learning that I had COVID-19, I became really worried about my baby and about how my pregnancy might be affected by the treatment I would require. I was also worried about other members of my family because I felt they might be positive too,” recalled Magallanes.

“I had planned to exclusively breastfeed my baby, so before I gave birth I informed my col-league who was gifted by God with a lot of breast milk that I

would need her assistance to get breast milk for my baby. She agreed (to donate some of her breast milk to my baby). However, when I gave birth, I was in a medically-induced coma so she informed my husband of our agreement and he coordinated with our family friend — a lactation consultant — who was able to help ensure the breast milk was donated to my baby,” said Magallanes.

“I made this arrangement because I knew from my pre-vious births that a breast milk shortage may be an issue for me and I knew my COVID-19 pos-itive status might also prevent me from breastfeeding initially. I did not want to deny my baby her right to exclusive breastfeeding. I’m happy to report that my baby is growing well and I am con-tinuing with my physiotherapy and occupational therapy at home. I continue to receive support from HMC while I recover at home,” added Magallanes.

HMC has implemented stringent infection control measures across all its facilities, including the country’s largest women’s tertiary hospital.

Ministry of Education and Higher Education holds seminars on research, educational reportsQNA — DOHA

The Educational Policy and Research Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education announced the end of the first series of seminars on research and educational devel-opment reports in the educa-tional system for the first season of 2020 in the field of scientific research and educational policies. The Department organised the seminars remotely.

Some of these seminars dealt with crisis management in light of (COVID-19) pandemic, the effects of repeated failure on

Qatar’s performance in interna-tional indicators, lessons learned from the results of the Pro-gramme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the reality of primary school stu-dents’ performance in Arabic language skills in national and international tests in gov-ernment schools.

The Educational Policy and Research Department also announced that with the beginning of the next academic year (2020-21), these seminars will start for the second season of 2020 by convening five more sessions, indicating its efforts to enrich educational research

practices in the State of Qatar, and increase intellectual mobility in the education sector.

Director of the Educational Policy and Research Department

Nouf Abdullah Al Kaabi affirmed the activation of the Depart-ment’s most important compe-tencies in seeking to keep pace with development priorities, by

preparing educational researches based on recent sta-tistical data and important edu-cational indicators.

Al Kaabi indicated that all those concerned should be given the opportunity to view the results of these studies and research and discuss them with full transparency as this con-tributes to opening development prospects and raising questions that can bring about changes to improve the education system.

For her part, head of the educational research section, Lulwa Rashid Al Nuaimi said that educational research is one of the main pillars from which

solutions to problems and chal-lenges in the public education system are found, and it also contributes to drawing educa-tional policies and decision-making, adding attention must be paid to activating the results of these research and finding mechanisms to implement recommendations.

Al Nuaimi praised the pos-itive impact of the concerted efforts of the Ministry’s depart-ments to achieve the objectives of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education’s strategy and thus contribute to achieving the goals of the National Devel-opment Strategy 2018-22.

Some of these seminars dealt with crisis management in light of pandemic, the effects of repeated failure on Qatar’s performance in international indicators, lessons learned from the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment, and the reality of primary school students’ performance in Arabic language skills in national and international tests in government schools.

04 WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020HOME

Minister bids farewell to Ambassadors of Iran and Greece

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi met yesterday separately with Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the State of Qatar, H E Mohammed Ali Subhani, and Ambassador of the Republic of Greece to Qatar, H E Constantinos Orphanides, on the occasion of the end of their tenure in the country. H E the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs thanked Their Excellencies the Ambassadors for their efforts in supporting and strengthening relations and wished them success in their future duties.

HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre highlights its experience in providing care for smokers during COVID-19 pandemicTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Tobacco Control Centre, a designated World Health Organisation (WHO) Collabo-rating Centre, recently partici-pated in a virtual meeting organised by the WHO.

The meeting discussed smoking cessation services and related treatments. The dis-cussion involved experts from the WHO in Geneva and the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

During the meeting, Dr. Ahmad Al Mulla, Head of HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre, pre-sented a scientific paper from Qatar which discussed the coun-try’s experience in providing treatment for smokers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 70 participants attended the meeting, with the list of speakers including Dr. Asmus Hammerich, Director, Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health and Dr. Fatimah El Awa, Regional Adviser for the Tobacco Free Initiative. Dr. Heba Fouad, Regional Surveillance Officer, Dr. Dongbo Fu, Medical Officer for Tobacco Cessation at WHO in Geneva, and Dr. Feras Al Hawari, Chief, Section of Pul-monary and Critical Care and Director, Cancer Control Office at the King Hussein Cancer Centre in Jordan were also in attendance.

Throughout the COVID-19

pandemic, HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre has continued to provide consultations and support, including medications and psychological support for tobacco-dependent patients through telephone-based consultations.

The Centre recently cele-brated its third anniversary of being a WHO Collaborating Centre. In 2017, HMC’s Tobacco

Control Centre was designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre, the first in Qatar and the region. WHO Collaborating Centre, which also includes research institutes and parts of univer-sities and academies, is desig-nated to carry out activities in support of the WHO’s man-dated international health agenda.

Dr. Ahmad Al Mulla, Head of HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre, presenting the experience of the Centre during a virtual meeting with WHO representatives.

QBRI collaborates with HMC on COVID-19 volunteer programmeTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) is providing its full support to Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) COVID-19 efforts through a volunteer programme, which was carried out in the summer months of 2020.

In June, QBRI employed all of its efforts to provide high-calibre volunteers to HMC. The research institute also placed the capabil-ities of its research staff at HMC’s disposal as they provided tech-nical assistance within the corpo-ration’s laboratories where needed.

QBRI conducted an infor-mation session in collaboration with HMC to encourage volun-teers to play an active role within the larger picture. One of the many aims of the information session was to explain the safety standards followed by the HMC and ensure the wellbeing of QBRI’s participants.

Dr. Afif Ben Mahmoud, Senior Research Associate, QBRI, said: “I volunteered because I always felt that assisting others is part of what makes us human. It was fulfilling to extend a helping hand to others and contribute through knowledge-sharing. It is only my hope that my efforts have con-tributed to this noble endeavour.”

Dr. Ilaria Poggiolini, Postdoc-toral Researcher, QBRI, said, “Vol-unteering has given me a sense of purpose during this challenging time and has allowed me to give

back to the country that is cur-rently hosting me.”

Aside from the implemen-tation of a successful volunteer programme, the QBRI jointly hosted a webinar which featured guest speaker Dr. Peter Coyle, Senior Consultant, Head of Virology, HMC. The talk focused on the Diagnostic Stewardship for COVID-19 and the viral kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 — the RNA virus responsible for the pandemic.

Dr. Fares Al Ejeh, Senior Sci-entist, QBRI, said, “It was a great honour and responsibility to orchestrate the volunteer pro-gramme and other aspects of the relationship between QBRI and the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at HMC. All of our appreciation goes to QBRI’s volunteers who com-mitted to the mission and worked around the clock to support HMC and increase its testing capacity”.

QBRI has also shared labo-ratory equipment with HMC,

while researchers with specific knowledge about molecular biology have volunteered to provide technical assistance for analysing COVID-19 samples. HMC has examined nearly 600,000 people since the out-break of the pandemic.

“We are proud to support HMC,” said Dr. Omar El Agnaf, Executive Director, QBRI.

“As one of Qatar’s leading healthcare providers, it is engaged in tremendously important work and our coop-eration once again highlights our responsibility to the local com-munity. As a rule, QBRI generally deals with non-communicable and non-infectious diseases; however, once our support was needed we offered all our expertise and relevant equipment to assist the inval-uable work being carried out by the corporation to fight this dev-astating virus. It is a team effort in every way possible.”

QBRI has employed all of its efforts to provide high-calibre volunteers to HMC.

Fifty One East and Sony Middle East & Africa announce ‘Ready for PlayStation5’ for current BRAVIA TVsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Fifty One East, Qatar’s favourite department store, and Sony Middle East & Africa yesterday announced a lineup of the latter’s current BRAVIA TVs, officially ‘Ready for PlayStation5’.

The new ‘Ready for PlayStation 5’ tagline has been created in part-nership with Sony Inter-active Entertainment (SIE) to make it easier for con-sumers to select the optimum TV in prepa-ration for the highly antic-ipated launch of Play-Station 5 (PS5), the next-generation game console releasing later this year.

The new TV lineup is now available at Modern Home on Salwa road, Fnac at Lagoona Mall and Doha Festival City, Virgin Megastore at Villaggio Mall, Landmark, Doha Festival City and Mall of Qatar and other major retailers around Doha.

The first ‘Ready for PlayStation 5’ TVs from Sony includes the standout X90H 4K HDR Full Array LED and Z8H 8K HDR Full Array LED

models . The X90H dis-plays gameplay images of up to 4K resolution at 120fps with a very low input lag of 7.2ms .

The Z8H is capable of displaying incredibly detailed 8K resolution images while also show-casing 4K resolution gameplay images at super-smooth 120fps2 (supporting spec varies by PS5 game). Both TVs will provide extremely smooth gaming experiences with the PS5 console.

‘Ready for PlayStation 5’ TV models also boast BRAVIA Game Mode, which allows users to automatically play games on the PS5 console with low latency. Thanks to BRAVIA Game Mode, users can wake both TV and PS5 with the DualSense wireless con-troller at once, while also seamlessly control their PS5 using just the TV remote .

Sony’s TVs deliver beautiful pictures with vibrant colour and stunning contrast, thanks to the best-in-class family of X1 processors. Addi-tionally, powerful sound that comes directly from the TV screen creates a highly realistic and capti-vating viewing expe-rience. With Sony’s cutting-edge proprietary technologies, users can become fully immersed in the true next-generation level of transformative play offered by PS5.

Sony, together with SIE, will continue to provide the ultimate gaming experience to PlayStation fans around the world with ‘One Sony’, a unique collabo-ration of creativity and technology across Sony entities.

The Ready for Play-Station 5’ TV models are now available in the Middle East and Africa.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre has continued to provide consultations and support, including medications and psychological support for tobacco-dependent patients through telephone-based consultations.

QRCS consultantperformsfirst-of-a kindsurgery in Gaza

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The thoracic surgeon team at the Al Shefaa Medical Complex in Gaza have performed a first-of-a-kind surgery to remove a 7kg cancerous tumour from a patient who had suffered eight months of dyspnea.

Headed by Dr. Raed Al Arini, the thoracic surgeon hired by Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), the team managed to save the patient’s life and bring a smile on his family’s face.

“I had felt severe pain, fatigue, and weight loss. At first, I was reluctant to go to hospital for treatment, out of fear of the coronavirus.

“As the pain became more terrible, however, my family admitted me to the Nasser Medical Complex, where I met Dr. Saber Al Sarfandi, QRCS’ consultant thoracic surgeon in Gaza, and started the diagnosis and treatment,” said Hamdan Awad (63), a resident of Rafah, southern Gaza.

Dr. Al Sarfandi said, “When Awad came to us, we made the standard medical examina-tions. X-ray showed a fluid swelling in the right lung, and then, the CT scan revealed a large tumour”.

05WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020 HOME

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THE PENINSULA

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation has reformulated its courses and adopted best virtual teaching and learning practices to be implemented in the new academic year 2020-2021, to align with COVID-19 restrictions.

The home grown graduate research-focused university has worked comprehensively to ensure that students will gain a multidimensional and quality learning experience in the challenging times, Dr. Emad El Din Shahin, Interim Provost at HBKU, told The Peninsula.

This academic year also

marks the beginning of HBKU’s 10th anniversary milestone. “We are truly looking forward to this academic term, because of the very reason that it is unlike any other term in the institution’s history.

We have worked exten-sively over the summer to ensure our success in these unique times: professional faculty trainings in virtual course design and online delivery; reformulating all our courses for delivery online, on-site, or in a blended format; revising learning outcomes to better assess a blended course; and developing a library of guidelines and resources for online teaching to support our faculty,” said Dr. El Din Shahin, who is also the Dean of the

College of Islamic Studies at HBKU.

“As a member of Quality Matters (QM), the international leader for quality assurance in online and innovative digital

teaching and learning environ-ments, we also are confident in our capacity to deliver a multi-dimensional learning expe-rience,” he added.

HBKU has also ensured the safety of staff and students by implementing COVID-19 safety precautions.

“While the institution has ensured maintaining or even exceeding the quality of its deliverables this year, we are also very cognisant of an even greater responsibility that is ensuring the highest standards of safety for our staff, students, and the wider community,” said Dr. El Din Shahin.

“Measures have been taken in line with the government’s guidelines as well as directives by QF, with clear requirements

for personal protective equipment, blocked seating in common spaces, Ehteraz app checkpoints, and the like. Our facility management team also has been trained in ensuring a safety and cleanliness protocol for our physical premises.”

“If anything the last few months have shown, it is that our challenges while steep are assuredly surmountable and we continue to put into action learned lessons along the way,” Dr. Shahin, added.

HBKU recently welcomed more than 360 newly enrolled students comprising 48 nation-alities, 22 percent of which are Qatari nationals, for the aca-demic year 2020-2021.

HBKU delivers multidisci-plinary undergraduate and

graduate programs through its six colleges, and provides opportunities for research and scholarship through its insti-tutes and centers.

“HBKU empowers its stu-dents by providing a world-class education complemented by a positive academic and cul-tural experience. This is not only reflected by the renowned experts that populate our col-leges, but also our dynamic and growing portfolio of academic programs,” said Dr. El Din Shahin.

“HBKU has consistently demonstrated over the past decade that it has its finger on the pulse in terms of courses offered and their relevance to current and future challenges,” he added.

Qatar’s Ambassador inspectsfacilities built by QFF in disaster-hit areas in JapanAmbassador of the State of Qatar to Japan H E Hassan bin Mohammed Rafi Al Emadi paid an inspection tour to three facil-ities that were completed within the projects of the Qatar Friendship Fund (QFF) to recon-struct the areas that witnessed widespread damage due to the earthquake and tsunami disasters in March of 2011.

His Excellency along with members of the embassy, Min-ister Plenipotentiary Abdullah bin Jassim Al Ziyara and Second Secretary at the embassy Rashid bin Mubarak Al Khater, began the tour by visiting “Intilaq Center” designated to entrepre-neurship innovators in Sendai city of Miyagi prefecture.

The innovative centre, which costs $16.5m, is part of a globally connected network of

start-up communities that foster entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship and seek to delve into new and innovative projects in addition to entrepreneurship.

The centre includes a room dedicated to the State of Qatar, which showcases a variety of posters, brochures and promo-tional materials to promote Qatari culture and heritage.

The tour also included the “Elem Project” in Sendai city, where His Excellency and members of the embassy learned about the progress of this project, which its costs is $6.9m, and is based on an edu-cational program aimed at pro-viding students with practical experience so that they can develop plans for their future lives.

HE the Ambassador and members of the embassy

concluded the inspection tour with a visit to the Qatar Science Campus at the Tohoku Uni-versity, which includes a scien-tific facility aimed at graduating a new generation of engineers and researchers. The cost of this project, located in Sendai, is $2.8m.

H E the Ambassador and the members of the embassy were warmly welcomed by the offi-cials of these three facilities, who explained the progress, work plans and expected accomplishments.

The officials expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the initiative of the State of Qatar and its support for the Japanese people during the dis-aster, as well as its kind human-itarian gesture by contributing to the efforts to rebuild the areas affected by disasters.

They pointed out that life

has returned to normal in the affected areas thanks to the contributions and achievements of QFF.

The officials also stressed that these projects will always be a symbol of the strong

friendship and joint cooperation between Japan and the State of Qatar.

It is worth mentioning that the QFF in Japan implemented 12 projects to meet the urgent and sustainable needs of the

residents of the areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami in three prefectures: Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima. The projects focused on the fields of education, fisheries, health care, and entrepreneurship.

QNA — DOHA

HBKU adopts best multidimensional practices in new academic year

Part 2 of 2030 art exhibition begins

A varied collection of artworks by Qatar-based contemporary artists are showcased at the second part of 2030 exhibition which started yesterday at Al Markhiya Gallery at the Doha Fire Station.

Running until October 2, the show offers art enthusiasts a selection of works in different media, from paintings to mixed media works to installations created by an exceptional group of talented artists.

One of the paintings on display is a tetraptych by prom-inent Qatari artist Ebtisam Al Saffar titled ME, WE - Our Vision and Mission which depict four portraits created in her sig-nature abstract style.

A couple of mixed media on canvas works by Abdulaziz Yousef titled Independent and Deprogrammed stand out for their complex colour, linear and textural compositions.

Known for his monumental works inspired by Arabic callig-raphy, international artist Sabah Arbilli is exhibiting a mixed media piece titled Beyond while Qatari artist Ali Dasmal Al Kuwari is displaying an art installation called Parenthood.

Shouq Al Mana’s two mon-ochrome mixed media on canvas works, a sculpture by Fatma Al Shebani, and a series of three mixed media works by Mubarak Al Thani titled Palm are among the pieces displayed at the exhibition.

Aptly titled 2030, this series of annual summer exhibitions launched in July celebrate the unique vision reflected in Qatar’s history and future aspi-rations. They are aimed to support and stimulate the ongoing development of a vibrant visual art community in the country by drawing together talented artists in Qatar from multidisciplinary art practices and engaging them in creative and intellectual encounters.

The inaugural show, which ran from July 14 to August 20, featured the works of Qatari artists Abeer Al Kuwari, Ahmed

Nouh, Mohammed Atiq, Khalifa Al Thani, Fatma Al Ghanim, Hassan Manasrah, Yasser Al Mulla, Nassar Al Attiyah, Mohammed Al Hamadi, and Maryam Faraj Al Suwaidi.

A pioneering private art gallery in Doha, Al Markhiya Gallery continues its mission of

promoting, exhibiting and selling Qatari and Arab contem-porary art. Doha’s oldest pri-vately owned art gallery, it is known for its flagship event ’40 Minus’ which is an annual exhi-bition that seeks to promote emerging artists under the age of 40.

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THE PENINSULA

ME, WE - Our Vision and Mission by Qatari artist Ebtisam Al Saffar on show at part 2 of 2030 exhibition which started yesterday at Al Markhiya Gallery at Doha Fire Station. PIC: RAYNALD C RIVERA / THE PENINSULA

Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Japan H E Hassan bin Mohammed Rafi Al Emadi with members of the embassy during his visit at “Intilaq Center,” in Sendai city of Miyagi prefecture, Japan.

Dr. Emad El Din Shahin, Interim Provost at HBKU

06 WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020 MIDDLE EAST

Rouhani: Talks possible if US returns to nuclear dealREUTERS — TEHRAN

If the United States wants an agreement with Iran, it must first come back to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers that Washington abandoned two years ago, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday.

“Washington’s maximum pressure policy on Iran has failed 100 percent...If Wash-ington wants an agreement with us, then they should apologise for exiting the deal and return to it,” Rouhani told a televised news conference.

Long-tense relations between the two adversaries have almost come to blows since 2018 when US President Donald Trump ditched the deal reached by his predecessor Barack Obama and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy.

In response to what Wash-ington calls its “maximum pressure” campaign to force Iran to negotiate a new deal, Tehran has breached key limits on nuclear activity imposed by the 2015 accord, under which the Islamic Republic accepted curbs on its uranium enrichment programme in return for relief from sanctions.

Trump has pledged to strike a new deal — under which he would seek stricter limits on enrichment, an end to Tehran’s ballistic missile program and involvement in various Middle

East conflicts — within weeks if he wins re-election in November.

“Trump has been talking a lot ... The next president, whether it is Trump or someone else, must adopt a different approach towards Iran,” Rouhani said.

In response to US sanctions, Tehran has breached key limits on nuclear activity imposed by the 2015 accord.

Last week, the United States moved to reinstate global UN sanctions on Iran, including an arms embargo, arguing Tehran was in violation of the 2015 nuclear deal even though Washington itself abandoned that agreement two years ago.

Council members France, Britain and Germany (E3), which along with Russia and China remain in the accord, have dismissed the move as void given Washington’s

departure from the deal and said it was harming efforts to restrain Iran’s nuclear activity.

But France’s foreign min-ister, echoing the stance of Britain and Germany, told his Iranian counterpart that Paris was worried about the impact of the arms embargo expiring in October.

“The minister reiterated our concern about Iran’s destabilising activities and the consequences of the expiration of the...embargo on conventional arms, and told him of the E3’s determination to seek solutions preserving security and regional stability,” ministry deputy spokesman Francois Delmas said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Iran’s arch-enemy in the Middle East, urged Britain to join the US bid to reimpose UN sanctions during a visit by British Foreign

Secretary Dominic Raab to Jerusalem.

“Look at Iran’s aggression today, without a nuclear

weapon. What a huge danger Iran would be to the entire world if it did get a nuclear weapon,” Netanyahu told Raab,

according to a statement released by the premier’s office.

Iran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons.

Gaza imposes lockdown after first local casesREUTERS — GAZA STRIP

Gaza reported its first cases of COVID-19 in the general popu-lation on Monday, as author-ities confirmed four infections in a refugee camp and security forces declared a full lockdown for 48 hours.

The cases were from a single family in central Gaza, a government spokesman said, amid concern over the terri-tory’s potentially disastrous combination of poverty, densely populated refugee camps and limited hospital capacity.

“A full curfew will be imposed starting tonight and in

all of the Gaza Strip,” said Salama Marouf, chairman of the government’s media office.

As rumours spread, people raced to supermarkets to stock up on food and hygiene sup-plies. Police vehicles toured the streets using loudspeakers to urge Gazans to abide by the curfew.

Gaza’s health ministry said the cases were uncovered after a woman traveled to the West Bank, where she tested positive. A health ministry spokesman urged everyone who might have visited a supermarket outside a hospital in central Gaza to quarantine themselves and report to medics

immediately.Until Monday, the 360 sq

km coastal strip, home to 2 million Palestinians, had reported no infections outside quarantine centres.

Arrivals had to spend 21 days in the centres on orders from Hamas, the armed Islamist group that has controlled Gaza for over a decade.

The 40-km-long area is flanked by Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the south. Both countries have imposed restrictions on movement, citing security concerns over Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and the United States.

Palestinian policemen stop vehicles in Gaza City amid a two-day lockdown due to first cases of COVID-19 in the general population, yesterday.

Iran Presiden Hassan Rouhani making a speech as he holds a meeting with local media managers within the State Week in Tehran, yesterday.

“Trump has been talking a lot ... The next president, whether it is Trump or someone else, must adopt a different approach towards Iran,” Hassan Rouhani said.

Iran hails ‘constructive’ talks with visiting IAEA chiefAFP — TEHRAN

Iran’s nuclear body said it held “constructive” talks yesterday with the visiting head of the International Atomic Energy Agency amid tensions over a US bid to reimpose UN sanctions.

The trip is Rafael Mariano Grossi’s first to the Islamic republic since the Argentine took the helm of the Vienna-based UN agency last year.

It comes more than two

years after US President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 landmark international agreement that put curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Grossi first met with the head of Iran’s atomic agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, and later held talks with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“A new chapter has started with this visit,” Salehi said after their meeting, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

“Today’s talks were con-structive,” he added.

“It was decided that the agency continue its work pro-fessionally and independently and Iran, too, act in the f r a m e w o r k o f i t s commitments.”

Salehi said Iran’s “enemies will not rest” but noted that Tehran has “so far been able to manage the issue”.

Access to the two disputed sites has been blocked for months, prompting a diplo-

matic row.Iran has argued that the

IAEA’s access requests are based on allegations from the country’s arch-enemy Israel and have no legal basis.

The two sides were working on a statement which would be announced “in due time”, Salehi added.

Grossi tweeted later that the two sides were working on “reaching an agreement on IAEA’s safegaurds verification activities in Iran.”

Syrian opposition offers to take peace talks onlineANATOLIA — GENEVA

The co-chair representing the Syrian opposition suggested yesterday peace talks could continue virtually after they were put on hold due to participants testing positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19).

“It is the only key solution to the Syrian tragedy,” said Hadi al Bahra from the Syria National Council (SNC).

He said that four and not three representatives, as reported earlier, at the talks which started on Monday tested positive for COVID-19.

“During this time, we will continue our work with the representatives of SNC in the Constitutional Committee through virtual communication tools.

“We will discuss as well with the UN special envoy, Geir O Pedersen, the possible options to pursue our work as soon as possible based on authorisation from the medical authorities in Geneva,” said al Bahra.

Jennifer Fenton, the spokeswoman for the UN special envoy for Syria, said the talks are “on hold,” but did not elaborate on the format they might take.

The UN statement did not say which delegation among the 45 participants was found to have the virus, but oppo-sition sources said that they believed those who tested

positive had come from Damascus, Syria’s capital.

“Having informed the Swiss authorities and the United Nations Office in Geneva, immediate measures have been taken consistent with protocols to mitigate any risks, and tracing of anyone who may have been in close contact with affected persons,” said the UN office.

The UN said that all the committee members — 15 each from three delegations — were tested before they traveled to Geneva and again on arrival.

Ahmad Kuzbari, repre-senting the Syrian regime, was not available for comment after the talks halted.The talks are guided by UN Security Council Resolution 2254 for a nego-tiated settlement to end the civil war.

The resolution calls for the release of those detained and abducted, a nationwide cease-fire to end violent conflict, and a safe, calm and neutral envi-ronment that enables the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of refugees.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unex-pected ferocity.

Since then, over 5 million civilians have become refugees. Turkey hosts 3.6 million of them, more than any country in the world.

Turkey detains IS suspect planning ‘sensational’ attack

AP — ANKARA

Police in Istanbul have detained a suspected IS militant who was allegedly planning a “sensational” attack in the city, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported yesterday.

The report said that the suspect, identified by the ini-tials HS, was detained in an operation at a hotel in the low-income Kucukcekmece dis-trict. Police seized an auto-matic rifle, spare magazines and bullets during the raid, the report said.

The suspect had scouted Istanbul’s main Taksim Square and surrounding areas with the aim of carrying out a “sensa-tional” attack, the report added. He had illegally crossed into Turkey from Syria and made his way to Istanbul, the report said.

It wasn’t immediately clear when the man was detained. Anadolu said the suspect has appeared before a court which ordered his formal arrest.

It was the second time this month that police reportedly foiled possible attacks by the IS militants. Two weeks ago, police in northwestern Bursa province detained a suspected IS militant.

Turkey has suffered a string of attacks by IS over the last five years, including an attack at an Istanbul nightclub during New Year’s celebra-tions in the early hours of 2017 that killed 39 people.

Turkish forces seize ammunition in IraqANATOLIA — ANKARA

Turkish forces seized a large cache of ammunition from PKK terrorist hideouts in northern Iraq, the coun-try’s Defense Ministry said yesterday.

The raids were carried out in the Operation Claw-Eagle region which Turkish forces cleared of terror elements earlier this year.

The ammunition was destroyed, the statement added.

Operation Claw-Eagle was launched in June to ensure the safety of Turkish people and the country’s borders by neutralizing the threat of PKK and other terrorist groups, who often use northern Iraq to plan cross-border attacks.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US, and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Lebanon service sector vows to defy new lockdownAFP — BEIRUT

A representative of Lebanon’s hospitality sector said yesterday that service and tourism busi-nesses would defy a newly rein-stated coronavirus lockdown that has compounded the blast-hit country’s economic woes.

“From tomorrow, we will open our doors,” said Tony Ramy, head of the syndicate of owners of res-taurants, cafes, clubs and pastry shops.

“The arbitrary and demagogic decision to close down, whether partially or fully, does not concern us anymore,” he said in a televised statement from a Beirut street heavily affected by the August 4 explosion.

An AFP photographer said dozens of people gathered in

support of the announcement, some holding signs that read “Tourism is the pulse of Lebanon” and “For us, the state vanished with the blast.”

The declaration, made on behalf of a wider tourism body also representing hotels and seaside resorts, came four days after authorities imposed a two-week coronavirus lockdown to stem a string of record daily infections.

Lebanon has registered 13,155 novel coronavirus cases, including 126 deaths.

Under the latest rules, malls, clubs, gyms, swimming pools, res-taurants and coffee shops have been ordered to close.

Restaurants, coffee shops and pastry shops can deliver, but with a night-time curfew in place, are

only allowed to operate between 6am and 6pm.

Ramy blamed the government for the devastating explosion at Beirut’s port and the huge losses it has caused the tourism industry, which he estimated at around $1bn, of which $315m for restau-rants alone.

He called on the sector to engage in “civil disobedience” against the state by severing commercial ties with the gov-ernment and depriving it of tax money.

“We will not pay a single penny until we have a new state,” he said.

The coronavirus-related restrictions have dealt a fresh blow to a private sector already reeling from a series of crises.

Even before the explosion of a

huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate at the port that killed more than 180 people, Lebanon was grappling with its worst economic downturn in decades.

Poverty rates have doubled to more than half of the population, according to UN estimates, and tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs or a large part of their income as a result of the crisis.

The Beirut traders’ association this week also said businesses wanted to re-open from today.

Authorities fear Lebanon’s fragile health sector would struggle to cope with a further spike in novel coronavirus cases, especially after some hospitals near the port were damaged or taken out of commission in the explosion.

07WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Sudan PM: Govt has no mandate to normalise Israel tiesREUTERS — KHARTOUM

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday that he was not mandated to normalise ties with Israel, and the issue should not be linked to Sudan’s removal from a US state sponsors of terrorism list.

Pompeo arrived from Israel on what he said was the first official non-stop flight between the two countries, as the United States looks to strengthen Sudan-Israel ties.

He met Hamdok and ruling council head Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, tweeting that Sudan’s democratic transition was a “once in a generation opportunity”. He discussed the Sudan-Israel relationship with both Hamdok and Burhan, according to State Department statements.

The United States has been restoring relations with Sudan following the ousting of former Islamist leader Omar Al Bashir in 2019 after mass protests. The country is one year into a 39-month political transition in which the military and civilians are sharing power.

Its economy is in crisis and authorities have been pushing to end the US terrorism listing, which prevents Sudan from

accessing financing from inter-national lenders.

Sudan’s removal from the list “remains a critical bilateral priority for both countries”, the State Department said.

Pompeo’s visit follows an accord between Israel and the UAE this month to forge full relations, and comes as Israel and the United States push more Arab countries to follow.

In February, Burhan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda, a meeting condemned by Sudanese protesters. He after-wards cast doubt on any rapid normalisation of relations, though Israeli aircraft soon began overflying Sudan.

Ties with Israel are a sen-sitive issue in Sudan, which was among the hardline Muslim foes of Israel under Bashir. The

government sacked its foreign ministry spokesman last week after he called the UAE decision to normalise relations with Israel “a brave and bold step”.

Hamdok’s transitional gov-ernment “does not have a mandate ... to decide on nor-malisation with Israel”, he told Pompeo, and the matter would

be decided after all Sudan’s interim bodies had been estab-lished, according to government spokesman Faisal Saleh.

“The Prime Minister called on the US administration to sep-arate the process of removing Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism and the issue of normalisation with Israel,” Saleh said.

A legislative body to serve alongside the ruling council and the government is yet to be formed, a step that Pompeo noted was “crucial”.

Washington imposed sanc-tions on Sudan over its alleged support for militant groups and the civil war in Darfur. Trade sanctions were lifted in 2017.

Pompeo and Hamdok also

agreed that reaching a deal over the operation of the Grand Ethi-opian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was “crucial to regional sta-bility”, according to the State Department.

Sudan discussed the issue yesterday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was on a separate visit to Khartoum.

Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok, meets US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Khartoum yesterday.

Africa declared polio-free after long battleBLOOMBERG — ABUJA

Even as Africa grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the continent has eradicated another disease: the wild polio virus.

Africa was declared free of the wild poliovirus yesterday, with no new cases reported in the last four years, the Africa Regional Certification Com-mission for Polio Eradication said in a statement. Polio, a disease that mainly affects children under five years of age, sometimes causing irreversible paralysis or death, is now only endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“This is a momentous mile-stone for Africa,” said Mat-shidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa. “Now future gener-ations of African children can live free of wild polio.”

The milestone paves the way for polio to become the second-disease ever to be wiped out globally after small pox. At a point about $1bn a year was being spent by partners of a worldwide

eradication initiative, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO and Rotary International to stamp out the disease. The certifi-cation comes after a long process of surveillance, immu-nization and field verification visits to all 47 member states in the region.

The decades-long push has faced several setbacks over the years. In 2016, Nigeria — the last polio-endemic country in Africa at the time — recorded a case of the wild poliovirus in the insurgency hit northeastern part of the country, setting the clocks back.

Some African countries

have reported cases of vaccine-derived polio, but only coun-tries with what is called “wild polio virus” are considered endemic. While rare, the vaccine-derived strand can occur when the weakened live virus in the oral polio vaccine passes among under-immunised populations.

A man on crutches officiates as victims of polio disease sitting on rollers play the game of para-soccer in Abuja, Nigeria, recently.

“The Prime Minister called on the US to separate the process of removing Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism and the issue of normalisation with Israel,” Faisal Saleh said.

Normalisation won’t achieve peace, says Palestine PresidentANATOLIA — RAMALLAH

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that peace in the region will not be achieved through “leaping over the Palestinians” towards normalising rela-tions between the Arab coun-tries and Israel.

“There is neither peace nor stability in the region without the Palestinian people gaining their inde-pendence,” Abbas said during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in Ramallah.

“Israel is still building set-tlements and has not aban-doned the annexation plan [in the West Bank] which are practices that destroy any peace process,” Abbas added.

‘UFO’ in Congo jungle turns out to be Internet balloonREUTERS — GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

An unidentified flying object parachuted into dense Congo jungle to the confusion of local authorities, who detained two people for questioning until a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet confirmed the device was an Internet balloon.

Images shared on social media showed people inspecting a large silver-col-oured contraption fitted with solar panels and wires, which had landed in the tropical forest of Bas-Uele province in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo, trailing a large deflated balloon.

Locals alerted the security services after the object fell to earth around 1pm local time on Monday, Bas-Uele Governor Valentin Sengasaid after visiting the site around 10 km south of the provincial capital Buta.

“I’m not able to say exactly what kind of device I observed,” he said by phone yesterday. “What intrigues us is that neither the intelligence services nor the local aviation author-ities claim to have any infor-mation on the overflight of Con-golese air space by this aircraft.”

He said police had detained two people, a Congolese and a Pakistani national, who had arrived in Buta with the purpose of searching for the device.

The mystery was solved when Loon, a subsidiary of Alphabet, claimed the object. “I can confirm that Loon executed a controlled landing of one of our stratospheric balloons in this region,” a Loon spokesman said in a statement.

Loon’s balloons travel 20 km above the earth’s surface on the edge of space to deliver internet services to people in remote areas around the world.

Virus lockdowns limit IS attacks in many nations: UNAFP & AP — UNITED NATIONS

Coronavirus lockdowns appear to have reduced the threat of IS militant group attacks in many countries, but the risk is greater in Iraq and Syria, a UN official said.

While IS is now a shadow of the organisation that occupied swathes of Iraq and Syria just a few years ago, it still has an estimated 10,000 fighters between those two countries.

However, movement curbs against the virus pandemic have reduced IS’s ability to launch raids elsewhere.

“Measures to minimise the

spread of COVID-19, such as lockdowns and restrictions on movement, seem to have reduced the risk of terrorist attacks in many countries,” said Vladimir Voronkov, under sec-r e t a r y g e n e r a l f o r counter-terrorism.

He did not specify which nations, but IS militats has claimed attacks in countries ranging from France to the Philippines.

Voronkov said that the pan-demic’s impact on the group’s recruitment and finances is unclear, though the threat of cybercrime as a funding source has increased as more people are online due to the

contagion. He added there is evidence

IS jihadists are regrouping in conflict zones like Iraq and Syria.

Yet for the moment, authorities have not seen a clear indication of a strategy change under new leader Amir Mohammed Said Abd al-Rahman Al Mawla, who replaced Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi after his death in a raid by the US special forces in October last year.

A former officer in the army of Saddam Hussein, Mawla joined the ranks of Al Qaeda after the US invasion of Iraq and Hussein’s capture in 2003,

according to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) think-tank.

Voronkov also said that more than 10,000 IS fighters are estimated to remain active in Iraq and Syria two years after the militant group’s defeat, and their attacks have significantly increased this year.

He told the UN Security Council that IS fighters move freely “in small cells between the two countries.”

He said the IS extremist group — also known as IS, ISIL and ISIS _ has regrouped and its activity has increased not only in conflict zones like Iraq

and Syria but also in some regional affiliates.

“However, in non-conflict zones, the threat appears to have decreased in the short term,” he said.

“Measures to minimise the spread of the COVID-19, such as lockdowns and restrictions on movement, seem to have reduced the risk of terrorist attacks in many countries.”

Nonetheless, Voronkov said, “there is a continued trend of attacks by individuals inspired online and acting alone or in small groups, which could be fueled by ISIL’s opportunistic propaganda efforts during the COVID-19 crisis.”

Zambian court acquits minister accused of graftREUTERS — LUSAKA

A Zambian court yesterday acquitted Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya after ruling that the prosecution had brought insufficient evidence against him.

On July 16, Chilufya had appeared before a Lusaka magistrate and denied four counts of corruption.

Prosecutors had alleged that the health minister, on four separate occasions, used money believed to be proceeds from crime to acquire property, shares in a tourism firm and a passenger boat from the United Arab Emirates, in the period between December 2016 and January 2018.

When the case returned to court yesterday, state pros-ecutor Clifford Moono said the state had no further evidence to bring.

Magistrate Lameck Mwale said following the decision by the prosecution not to bring further evidence, he had decided to acquit Chilufya.

“Given the the position taken by the state to offer no further evidence and consid-ering the available evidence, the accused is hereby acquitted,” he said

The prosecution had called five witnesses, including one who ended up testifying in favour of Chilufya.

Chilufya, 47, who faced up to five years in jail if convicted, declined to talk to journalists after his acquittal.

Chilufya’s arrest was seen as a test of the Zambian gov-ernment’s willingness to keep a promise to tackle graft amidst increased scrutiny by foreign holders of the coun-try’s massive debt. The oppo-sition had been demanding that he be removed from office so that he does not interfere with the case.

Ankara rejects US criticism after Erdogan hosts Hamas leadersREUTERS — WASHINGTON

The United States said yesterday it strongly objected to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s recent hosting of two leaders of Hamas in Istanbul, prompting a swift riposte from Ankara.

The State Department said the officials were Specially Des-ignated Global Terrorists and the United States was seeking information about one for his involvement in multiple ter-rorist attacks, hijackings and kidnappings.

A Turkish government statement on Saturday said

Erdogan received Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas Political Bureau, and an accom-panying delegation.

Yesterday, Turkey’s foreign ministry said Ankara “fully rejects” the US criticism and called on Washington to use its influence for a “balanced policy” that will help solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, instead of “serving Israel’s interests.”

The State Department said the Saturday meeting was the second time this year Erdogan had welcomed leaders of the armed Islamist group that has controlled Gaza for over a

decade, after a meeting on Feb-ruary 1.

“President Erdogan’s con-tinued outreach to this terrorist organisation only serves to isolate Turkey from the inter-national community, harms the interests of the Palestinian people, and undercuts global efforts to prevent terrorist attacks launched from Gaza,” it said in a statement.

“We continue to raise our concerns about the Turkish government’s relationship with Hamas at the highest levels.”

In its statement, Turkey’s foreign ministry said: “Declaring the legitimate representative of

Hamas, who came to power after winning democratic elec-tions in Gaza and is an important reality of the region, as a terrorist will not be of any contribution to efforts for peace and stability in the region.”

US ties with Nato ally Turkey have been strained over a variety of issues including Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 defence systems, which prompted Washington to suspend Turkish involvement in its F-35 jet programme and threaten sanctions.

Yesterday’s exchange came just hours after US President Donald Trump praised Erdogan

for releasing American pastor Andrew Brunson last year after two years of detention.

“I have to say that, to me President Erdogan was very good,” Trump told Brunson in a meeting with Americans freed from overseas captivity aired on the first night of the Repub-lican National Convention on Monday.

“And I know they had you scheduled for a long time, and you were a very innocent person, and he, ultimately, after we had a few conversations, he agreed. So we appreciate that, and we appreciate the people of Turkey,” Trump said.

Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. The siege has inflicted severe hardship on residents. The poverty rate among Gaza’s population has reached 53 percent, while extreme poverty stands at 33.8 percent.

08 WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020VIEWS

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EDITORIAL

QATAR is one of the few countries in the world where workers enjoy equal rights and best of facilities such as world-class healthcare, comfortable accommodation, convenient and hassle-free transport, entertainment opportunities and above all timely wage payment. For the last few years, the country has been gradually changing its rules and regulations making it more lenient towards the workforce and sealing off all loopholes to avoid any possible exploitation by employers. These reforms and the country’s treatment of its workers have drawn appreciation from respected international labour groups and trade unions such as International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Trade Union Confeder-ation (ITUC), Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) to name a few.

But it is surprising to see that there are still some organisations who are either turning a blind eye towards labour reforms in the country or deliberately trying to malign the pristine image of Qatar by fabricating allega-tions and speak out on totally inaccurate data, which they might have been fed with by the detractors of the country.

The Government Communications Office (GCO) recently said in a statement that the Human Rights Watch misled readers while performing a disservice to those they claim to be assisting by falsely reporting about workers in Qatar. “The current report contains repeated inaccuracies around policies and does not reflect the current situation in Qatar. Nearly all individuals who come to Qatar for employment never experience any form of wage abuse”, the GCO said.

Qatar considers its migrant workers as guests and true to the word the country extend them amenities and facilities fit for guests, which even the so-called advanced countries cannot even dream of. During the time of COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar’s treatment of its workforce has been excellent and exemplary. With dedicated hos-pitals, quarantine and isolation centres, nutritious food, entertainment facilities and of course the best possible health care, everything free of cost, the country extended an unmatched service to the workers. A visit to one of the labour accommodations will serve as an eye opener for any critic. It is the duty of any international organi-sation to gather enough facts, data and get information directly from authorities concerned before coming out with allegations. If the reports are spiced with hearsay and inaccuracies it will only serve to dent the credibility of the authors of the report.

The country has a fool-proof system to ensure the workers are getting their wages without delay as it is mandatory for employers to transfer wages through bank. Any company found violating labour rules such as work timing, wage transfer and other requirements is promptly dealt with by competent authorities.

In Qatar, workers are guests

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Quote of the day

It has been so painful to see how tourism has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry employs one-in-every-ten people on Earth and provides livelihoods to hundreds of millions more.

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General

A Palestinian observation point is seen along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel near Kibbutz Nir Am.

The threat of a new Gaza war continues to rise as Palestinians demand an end to the devas-tating 13-year-long blockade and Israel tightens the screws on Gaza’s economy while targeting Hamas positions.

Israeli warplanes and tanks bombed Hamas military sites in response to the incendiary bal-loons launched from Gaza towards Israel’s south, according to an Israeli army statement.

It was the 15th day in a row that Israel launched attacks against Hamas’s infrastructure and agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. Gaza’s military factions did not respond, although they pre-viously launched rockets towards Israel after attacks last week. No serious injuries were reported on either side.

Over the past two years, fol-lowing the momentum of the Great March of Return protests, multiple deals were reached between Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel.

According to local Palestinian media reports, Israel has failed to extend Gaza’s allowed fishing zone to 20 nautical miles, allow the construction of a new power line into the Gaza Strip, permit Gaza’s power plant to operate on natural gas, and facilitate the movement of goods, including the entry of 1,200 trucks a day, through the Karem Abu Salem crossing.

In response to the launching of incendiary balloons, Israel has taken punitive measures against Gaza by restricting goods coming through the crossing, fully closing the sea to Gaza’s fishermen, and

halting fuel supplies, causing the territory’s sole power plant to shut down with electricity reduced to four hours a day.

“The current escalation is a confrontation between the Pales-tinian factions who are fighting to lift the blockade on Gaza, and Israel who is fighting twice as hard to keep the blockade in place,” political analyst Husam Al Dajani told Al Jazeera.

“Whenever the Palestinians protest and demand that the blockade be lifted or even alle-viated, Israel responds by further tightening the blockade and further exacerbating the crises in Gaza,” he added.

“By doing this, Israel is adding more fuel to the fire and directing the situation towards further esca-lation and instability. You solve a problem by addressing its cause, not by exacerbating the cause.”

Al Dajani said the standoff could lead to another full-blown military confrontation.“And now Israel is threatening Gaza with another military operation, it’s astonishing that Israel wouldn’t even consider easing its blockade on Gaza and would contemplate any other alternative,”.

Hamas official Basem Naim told Al Jazeera despite efforts to “prevent the situation from exploding”, Israel continues to escalate the Gaza siege and evade committing to previous agreements.

“The Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip are living under unbearably miserable and grim conditions … Gaza’s factions have told the mediators that Gaza will not remain silent under these tragic conditions.”

Gaza’s Joint Chamber of the Palestinian Resistance Factions,

which includes 13 armed groups, issued a statement.

“We will not allow the enemy to continue the unjust siege on our people ... It is the right of our people to express, by all appro-priate means, their rejection of the blockade,” it said.

Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007 when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip.

The siege has inflicted severe hardship on residents. The poverty rate among Gaza’s popu-lation has reached 53 percent, while “extreme poverty” stands at 33.8 percent, according to sta-tistics by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

About 68 percent of families do not have enough to eat, while 80 percent of Gazans are dependent on aid. The area’s unemployment rate stands at 45.1 percent, according to PCBS.

“The Israeli occupation wants to keep the blockade in place on the Gaza Strip,” said Talal Abu Zarifa, senior member of the Democratic Front for the Liber-ation of Palestine. “Israel wants to enforce calm in Gaza without lifting the siege, and the Pales-tinians reject that equation.”

Abu Zarifa added: “When the occupation closes the crossings and prevents fishing at sea, these acts constitute collective pun-ishment and this is against inter-national and humanitarian law.”He noted “the occupation” bears responsibility for everything that happens in the Gaza Strip.

The international community must pressure Israel to lift the blockade and stop all forms of collective punishment on the Palestinian people.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Promising that "united we can and will overcome this season of darkness," Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination for president. At 77, the longtime former senator from Delaware and two-term vice president may hardly seem like a radical choice. But, given the ethos of our times, his nomination is a bold one. Biden represents a cooperative, opti-mistic style of politics that the country has been losing, grad-ually over the past decades of accelerating polarisation — and drastically during the past four years of insults, lies and conspiracy-mongering.

"I will draw on the best of us, not the worst," he pledged. "While I'll be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president," he said. "I will work as hard for those who

didn't support me as I will for those who did. That's the job of a president."

This is not to say that Biden lacks policy substance; here, too, he contrasts with the incumbent. His proposals put substance behind his pledge to "build back better," starting with taming COVID-19 "on day one." "No miracle is coming," he said, but the United States can test more, not less, and ensure that protective gear is available while a vaccine is developed. Yet Biden noted that the pandemic is only one of "four historic crises," along with the economic downturn, the need to address racial injustice and "the existential threat posed by climate change." By merely identifying these as critical priorities, he distinguishes himself from a Republican Party in the grips of wide-ranging reality-denial.

He promised to protect the Affordable Care Act and pump up infrastructure spending to build a new foundation for eco-nomic growth. Biden spoke of rolling back the Trump tax cuts to pay for these investments. He promised to rebuild tattered alliances and to refuse to cozy up to foreign dictators.

Yet Biden's case is as much about how he wants to govern as what he wants to accom-plish. Democrats noted that Biden was the person to whom lawmakers turned during the Obama administration to round up votes to pass the 2009 eco-nomic rescue package. Before he was vice president, he was famous on Capitol Hill for forging relationships with law-makers from far left to far right. A lifetime of building goodwill helped persuade Republicans such as former Ohio governor John Kasich and Cindy McCain

to speak at a Democratic con-vention. Though many of the Republicans who appeared this year spoke because President Donald Trump is such a threat, they could offer not only warnings about the nation's current course but also heartfelt affirmations of Biden's decency.

During his speech, he relentlessly pivoted back to a message of unity. "America's not just a collection of clashing interests," he declared.

It is easier in today's climate to play the zealot than to look for the best in one's opponents. Coalition-building wins few adherents on Twitter and rarely makes for exciting tele-vision. But it gets things done. And in contrast to Trump's strategy to divide, deny and despoil, Biden's invitation to all Americans to join in a more hopeful vision represents welcome and dramatic change.

Gaza will not remain silent as Israel escalates siege

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Victims vent fury at NZ mosque shooterAFP — CHRISTCHURCH

Two survivors of the New Zealand mosque massacre abandoned prepared statements to vent their anger directly at gunman Brenton Tarrant in a Christchurch court yesterday, drawing applause from fellow victims as they called him a terrorist who deserved to die.

Tarrant — coming face-to-face with his victims for the first time — has admitted 51 charges of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one of terrorism over the attacks at two Christchurch mosques on March 15, 2019.

The 29-year-old — who is expected to be the first person jailed for life without parole in New Zealand — has maintained an impassive demeanour throughout the hearing, which began on Monday, as the grief-stricken sur-vivors unleashed their anger in an

outpouring of emotion.“I did not see any regrets and

shame in the eyes of this terrorist and he does not regret anything, so I decided not to read my impact statement but to show him the pain I suffered,” an incensed Mirwais Waziri told judge Cameron Mander on day two of Tarrant’s sentencing.

White supremacist Tarrant did not flinch as the gallery applauded when Waziri turned to him and said: “Today you are a terrorist and us as Muslims are not terrorists.”

Zuhair Darwish, whose brother died in the attacks, told

Tarrant: “You act like a coward and you are a coward. You live like a rat and you deserve that. You’re going to die alone, like a virus eve-rybody avoids being with.

“The fair punishment for him would be the death penalty. I know under New Zealand law they removed the death penalty for humans, but unfortunately he’s not a human, he doesn’t deserve to be judged like a human.” A witness whose name has been suppressed by the court appealed to the judge to give Tarrant “the highest pun-ishment that you can. I want you not to let this man see the

sun, never, ever.“This man has to stay in prison

forever. As his mother said, some-thing in his head, he is a sick man, he is not a human being.” Tarrant occasionally stroked his chin as speakers referred to him as “a devil” and a “hateful lowlife” who had destroyed lives but made the New Zealand Muslim community stronger.

Ambreen Naeem lost both her husband Naeem Rashid and son Talha in the rampage.

Naeem Rashid was hailed as a hero who saved lives when he charged at Tarrant in Christchurch’s central Al Noor mosque and partially knocked him down, allowing others to escape while Tarrant stood up and shot him dead.

“Since my husband and son passed away, I’ve never had a proper, normal sleep. I don’t think I ever will,” Ambreen Naeem said. “It is an irreparable damage to me,

that is why his punishment should continue forever.

“Every time I think of him, I think of the biggest loser. For myself and my family, I feel vic-torious.” There was no reaction from Tarrant when Noraini Milne, whose son Sayyad was killed, pointed at him and said: “You are already dead to me. Whatever punishment you are going to receive in this world will never be enough.” Mohammad Siddiqui was shot in the arm when “the devil” arrived at Al Noor mosque.

“Yes, I call him a devil because you entered the house of God with evil intentions to kill innocent people. You’ve killed the dreams of my friends and family with... your gutless action.” Tarrant, a former gym instructor in Australia, has said he wanted to instil fear into those he described as “invaders”, including New Zea-land’s Muslim population.

Rescuers pull 4-year-old survivor from collapsed building in India; toll climbsAFP — MAHAD

Rescuers in India pulled a four-year-old boy from the rubble of a collapsed building to loud cheers yesterday, hours after the five-storey apartment block came down “like a house of cards”, killing 11 and burying up to 60 others.

The accident late on Monday in the western town of Mahad led three disaster-response teams and sniffer dogs to work through the night, combing tin sheets, twisted metal and broken bricks.

Officials said many resi-dents of the 47 flats inside the building were spared because they had already fled the town to escape the coronavirus pandemic.

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear but building collapses are common during India’s June-September monsoon, with old and rickety structures buckling after days of non-stop rain.

National Disaster Response Force spokesman Sachidanand Gawde told reporters that locals and emergency workers had retrieved the bodies of 11 victims in addition to the little boy who survived the collapse.

Video of the rescue effort showed onlookers applauding and cheering as the child was plucked out of the wreckage and hauled up on a stretcher.

Estimates of the number trapped ranged from 20 to 70 yesterday morning after dozens managed to flee when the building began to shake.

“No one knows how many people are actually stuck inside,” a Mahad police official sid on condition of anonymity, adding that authorities had ini-tially feared much worse, with early estimates as high as 200.

Mahad legislator Bharat Gogawale said that many of the building’s occupants appeared to have been out shopping when the accident occurred around 7pm.

Others had left the town alto-gether, preferring to wait out the pandemic in their home villages. “Many families were not residing in the building as they went to their native places due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown,” district official Nidhi Choudhari told the Press Trust of India.

As emergency workers made their way through the wreckage, looking for survivors, distressed relatives watched, desperate for news of their loved ones. “Three people from my family are stuck under the rubble — my mother, my sister and my nephew,” said Gazala,

a doctor who preferred to give only her first name.

Mustafa Chafekar, a res-ident who had been in home quarantine after testing positive for the virus, told the Mumbai Mirror that he and his family of five initially thought they were experiencing an earthquake.

Virus cases inIndia top globaltally for 18thconsecutive day

REUTERS — MUMBAI

India reported yesterday the highest number of new coro-navirus cases globally for the 18th straight day, remaining well ahead of the United States and Brazil, a tally based on official reporting showed.

It took India from the end of January, when the country’s first case was reported, until July to reach around 1.6 million cases, a period when the gov-ernment imposed a strict lockdown.

However, infections have rocketed by another 1.5 million since the start of August, taking the total to around 3.1 million, behind only Brazil and the United States.

The rate of new cases in India is increasing rapidly, climbing by 60,975 in the latest 24-hour period, according to the federal health ministry.

“If we cross the absolute numbers (in Brazil and the United States), I won’t be sur-prised, but we also have a larger population,” Giridhar Babu, epidemiologist at the non-profit Public Health Foun-dation of India, told Reuters.

But deaths have remained comparatively low — at 58,390, or 1.84 percent of total cases — lower than the global mortality percentage of 3.4% India reported its first COVID-19 fatality in mid-March, with the death toll rising to around 35,700 by the end of July. In August so far, around 22,600 deaths have been recorded. Deaths are considered a lagging indicator, given the two-week incu-bation period of the disease.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has said it is reassured by the high recovery rate — around 75 percent of the total 3.1 million cases are no longer infected, according to data from the federal health ministry.

Amid the race to develop a vaccine, the ministry said India was in conversation with Russia regarding Sputnik-V, its exper-imental COVID-19 vaccine.

Rescue workers search for people in the rubble of a collapsed five-storey apartment building in Mahad, Maharashtra state, yesterday.

Virus death tollin Bangladeshtops 4,000; cases near 300,000

ANATOLIA — DHAKA

Coronavirus fatalities in Bang-ladesh have passed the grim milestone of 4,000, while the number of cases is now just shy of 300,000, authorities said yesterday.

At least 45 fatalities over the past day raised the death toll to 4,028, as the overall case count increased by 2,545 to reach 299,628, according to a Health Ministry statement.

Some 3,881 more COVID-19 patients recovered, taking the total to 186,756 and bringing the recovery rate up to 62.33 percent.

The country’s death rate has risen to 1.34%, the daily infection rate has dropped to 17.98%, and the total infection rate now stands at 20.38 percnet, the statement said.

Bangladesh has conducted over 1.47 million COVID-19 tests so far, with 14,153 more done over the past 24 hours.

However, experts continue to call for more tests and intro-duction of other testing methods to curb the spread of the virus.

The capital Dhaka saw a 56% rise in infections in August compared to last month, according to government figures.

The fatality rate in Dhaka division stands at 48.29%, the data showed.

The Bangladesh gov-ernment has cancelled the nationwide primary education board examinations.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education’s proposal was approved by the prime minister’s office on Tuesday, ministry official Akram Al Hossain told reporters in Dhaka.

Pandemic keeps Rohingya indoors on ‘genocide’ anniversaryAFP — KUTUPALONG

Almost a million Rohingya refugees stuck in Bangladesh marked three years since escaping from Myanmar yesterday, with coronavirus forcing them to hold a day-long “silent protest” inside their flimsy, leaky huts.

An August 2017 military operation that has triggered genocide charges at the UN’s top court drove 750,000 Rohingya out of Myanmar’s Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh, to join 200,000 who fled earlier.

Three years later, and with no work or decent education for their children, there is little prospect of a return to Myanmar, where members of the mostly Muslim minority have long been treated as inferior intruders.

Myanmar’s military “killed more than 10,000 of our people. They carried out mass murders and rapes and drove our people from their home”, Mohib Ullah, a Rohingya leader in the camps, said.

For the second anniversary last year, Ullah led a rally of about 200,000 protesters at Kutupalong, the largest of the network of camps in southeast Bangladesh, where 600,000 people live in cramped and unsanitary conditions.

But the Bangladeshi author-ities, increasingly impatient with the Rohingya and who a year ago cut Internet access in the camps, have banned gath-erings because of the corona-virus pandemic.

There have been fewer than 100 reported infections and six deaths.

The sprawling camps have

been cut off from the rest of Bangladesh, with the military erecting barbed-wire fences around the perimeters. Inside, movement has been restricted.

With people marking “Gen-ocide Remembrance Day” with silence and prayers inside their rickety homes, the camps bore a deserted look, with shops and the usually teeming tea stalls closed as heavy rain pounded the camps.

Rohingya groups have dis-tributed leaflets and flyers and pasted posters showing Myan-mar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi and its military chief Min Aung Hlaing.

One poster read: “Aung San Suu Kyi is a terrorist, not a Nobel Peace prize winner”. Another called for the Interna-tional Court of Justice to hang Min Aung Hlaing.

“I have been waiting for

justice for the last three years,” Hanufa Begum, 44, whose husband and two sons were killed in 2017, said as she sat outside her shanty home.

Bangladesh has signed an agreement with Myanmar to return the refugees, but the Rohingya refuse to go back without guarantees for their safety and proper rights.

About 600,000 Rohingya remain in Myanmar, but most are not regarded as citizens, living in what Amnesty Inter-national describes as “apartheid” conditions. The Rohingya doubt the “sincerity of the Myanmar authorities”, Bangladesh foreign secretary Masud bin Momen said.

Desperation had led hun-dreds to flee the camps for other countries this year on rickety boats often arranged by unscru-pulous trafficking gangs.

“I cannot describe how much suffering we have gone through for the past three years,” said Mohammad Bashar, 30, a madrasa student in Myanmar border town of Maungdaw who lost his father and uncles in 2017.

“Living here in the camps like beggars and unwanted, I often see my tree-shaded homestead, cows and my happy family in my dreams, but that world has been shattered and devastated,” he said.

“Myanmar needs to accept an international solution that provides for the safe, voluntary return of Rohingya refugees, while an understandably stretched Bangladesh should not make conditions inhospi-table for refugees who have nowhere to go,” said Brad Adams from Human Rights Watch.

This file photo taken on November 12, 2019 shows residents defending a property from a bushfire at Hillsville near Taree, 350km north of Sydney.

Climate change fuelled Australia bushfires: ProbeAFP — SYDNEY

Australia’s devastating 2019-2020 bushfires were “clearly” fuelled by climate change, a government inquiry reported Tuesday following some of the largest forest fires ever recorded worldwide.

With this year’s fire season already underway, authorities recommended urgent action to limit the impact of extreme blazes, expected “to become more frequent” in future.

The deadly bushfires raged for nine months to March and were most severe in New South Wales state, where 11,000 fires burned over 5.5 million hec-tares — the size of many countries.

After months of consul-tation and expert testimony, the

New South Wales government yesterday published a 436-page report on the crisis that destroyed more than 2,400 homes in the state and left 26 people dead.

The text included dozens of recommendations and featured a blunt rebuke of those who insisted the fires were nothing to do with climate change.

“Climate change as a result of increased greenhouse gas emissions clearly played a role in the conditions that lead up to the fires and in the unrelenting conditions that supported the fires to spread,” it read.

The report noted it was impossible to say what precise role climate change had played in producing the complex range of climatic conditions that helped fuel the fires.

White supremacist Tarrant did not flinch as the gallery applauded when Mirwais Waziri, one of the survivors, turned to him and said: “Today you are a terrorist and us as Muslims are not terrorists.”

10 WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020ASIA

Militants wanted to avenge death of IS leader, says army chief of PhilippinesAGENCIES — MANILA

Abu Sayyaf militants may have staged suicide bombings that killed 14 people to avenge the death of a Filipino leader of the Islamic State group in the southern Philippines following a clash with troops last month, the army chief said yesterday.

Army commanding general Cirilito Sobejana said Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan was wounded in a July 6 gunbattle in a jungle near Patikul town in Sulu province and most likely died a few days later. Troops have been searching for his buried remains, he said.

Two militants blew them-selves up in suicide attacks on Monday that killed at least 14 people, including soldiers, and injured 75 others in Jolo town in Sulu, in the country’s worst extremist attack this year. Mil-itary officials accused Sawad-jaan’s nephew, Mudzrimar “Mundi” Sawadjaan, of plotting the midday bombings.

“They wanted to avenge his death,” Sobejana said. “It’s also a very desperate move because they have lost strength and wanted to create an impression that they still exist.”

Sobejana said he is “90 percent sure that Sawadjaan is gone. We’re reserving the 10 percent until we find his body as concrete evidence.”

Recently captured Abu Sayyaf militants provided infor-mation about his death, including how he was wounded and eventually died and was buried by a group of militants. His followers have launched an

effort to pick a replacement, Sobejana said.

An earlier US Department of Defence report to Congress said without elaborating that it believed Sawadjaan was the “acting emir,” or leader, in the Philippines of the Islamic State group.

Most of the victims of Mon-day’s bombings, including children, were caught in the first blast, near two parked army trucks in front of a grocery store and computer shop in a downtown plaza where the town cathedral is located, military officials said.

In the second blast, the attacker blew herself up near a group of soldiers and police, killing one soldier and one police commando and wounding several others, a military report said.

The military is trying to determine if the two suicide bombers were the widows of

Abu Sayyaf militants.The nation’s southern region

has been the scene of decades of Muslim separatist unrest. The Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent group, has been listed by the United States and the Philip-pines as a terrorist organisation for bombings, ransom kidnap-pings and beheadings.

A few of its armed factions, including the largest one led by the Sawadjaans, are aligned with the Islamic State group.

The twin bombings were the latest suicide attacks in the predominantly Muslim province of Jolo.

Sobejana, said re-imposing martial law in Sulu could help isolate and track down the Abu Sayyaf network.

Martial law was lifted at the end of last year in the Mindanao region, which includes Sulu, two-and-a-half years after it was imposed to fight Islamic State-inspired militants who took over Marawi City.

“The situation dictates, calls for it, with that recent incident with many casualties, to better control the population,” Sobejana told reporters.

Largely confined to Jolo’s poverty-wracked mountain settlements all his life, Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan was born to a peasant family in Jolo and likely only finished grade school. Poverty drove him to work as a lumberjack in the jungles off Patikul town, where he married a woman from Tanum, the mountain village where he would base his Abu Sayyaf faction years later, according to a military officer.

Long queue for free COVID-19 test in PhilippinesFilipinos queue to get free COVID-19 swab testing amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines, yesterday.

China protests at US surveillance of military drills, ratchets up tensionREUTERS — HONG KONG

China has lodged “stern repre-sentations” with the United States, accusing it of sending a US U-2 reconnaissance plane into a no-fly zone over Chinese live-fire military drills yesterday, further ratcheting up tensions between Beijing and Washington.

China has long denounced US surveillance activities, while the United States has com-plained of “unsafe” intercepts by Chinese aircraft. While such missions happen regularly, for China to talk about them pub-licly is unusual.

China’s Defence Ministry said the U-2 flew without per-mission over a no-fly zone in the northern military region where

live fire drills were taking place, “seriously interfering in normal exercise activities”.

This could easily have caused a misunderstanding or mis-judgement or an “unexpected incident”, the ministry added.

“It was an act of naked prov-ocation, and China is resolutely opposed to it, and have already lodged stern representations with the US side.” While it did not say exactly where the incident took place, China is cur-rently carrying out drills in the Bohai Sea. Other exercises are also happening in the Yellow Sea and South China Sea.

The ministry added that the US move ran counter to China-US rules on behaviour at sea and in the air and international norms.

“China demands the US side immediately stop this kind of provocative behaviour and take actual steps to safeguard peace and stability in the region.” Relations between Washington and Beijing have worsened over everything from trade and human rights to what the United States sees as aggressive moves by China’s armed forces, especially in the disputed South China Sea and around Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

In April 2001, an intercept of a US spy plane by a Chinese fighter jet resulted in a collision that killed the Chinese pilot and forced the American plane to make an emergency landing at a base on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

China logs 9th day with no local transmission of COVID-19

REUTERS — SHANGHAI

China reported its ninth consec-utive day with no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, as a major university in the city of Wuhan opened for face-to-face classes yesterday for the first time in eight months.

The daily update from national health officials, which provided data for Monday, showed the recent streak without any new locally transmitted cases stretched into another day.

There were 14 new imported cases, involving travellers returning from overseas, down from 16 the previous day. There were also 16 new asymptomatic cases - patients who are infected with the coronavirus but not exhib-iting any symptoms - com-pared with 27 a day earlier.

In the central city where the virus was first detected, Wuhan University opened its doors to more than 9,100 stu-dents on Monday.

The official Xinhua news agency reported that the uni-versity had been deep cleaned and disinfected. Students returning for on-site lectures would receive temperature checks and be required to wear a mask in the library, it added.

Wuhan, which reported the first death from the novel coronavirus in early January, has received widespread attention for the speed at which life is returning to normal after months of robust restrictions and widespread virus testing.

Taliban truck bomb, other attacks kill 17: Afghan officialsAP — KABUL

A wave of attacks across Afghanistan yesterday left at least 17 people dead and scores more wounded, officials said, including a Taliban truck bombing in the country’s north that targeted a commando base for Afghan forces.

The violence comes as expectations had been rising that negotiations could soon get underway between the Afghan government and the insurgents as part of a February agreement between the US and the Taliban.

The truck suicide bomber struck in northern Balkh province, killing three people,

including two Afghan com-mandos and a civilian, according to Munir Ahmad Farhad, the spokesman for the provincial governor.

According to Hanif Rezaie, the spokesman for the Afghan army corps in the north, initial military report said at least six commandos and around 35 civilians were wounded in that explosion, which also destroyed or damaged dozens of nearby civilians houses.

“Most of the wounded civilians are women and children,” said Rezaie.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the Balkh

attack in a tweet, claiming that “tens” of military personnel were killed. The Taliban often exag-gerate their battlefield claims.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack in Balkh and said the Taliban have increased their attacks on major Afghan cities despite the February agreement. “The Taliban’s insistence on con-tinuing war and violence is chal-lenging peace opportunities,” he said in a statement.

Ghani’s statement said the Taliban must stop fighting and killing Afghans, accept a cease-fire and start direct talks with the Afghan government. “By committing crimes and

violence, they can achieve nothing but hatred and disgust of the people,” he said.

In a separate attack in Balkh, gunmen shot dead five people, including former warlord Abdul Raouf, two of his sons ages 10 and 11 and two other men in a vehicle in the Charkent district, said Adil Shah Adil, spokesman for the pro-vincial police chief.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Adil said the target was Raouf and police are investigating.

Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of the war across the country, despite efforts to

launch peace talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban, and find a road map for post-war Afghanistan. The talks were envisaged under a US-Taliban peace agreement signed in February, but their start has been hampered by a series of delays that have frustrated Washington. Some had expected the negotiations to begin earlier this month.

Also yeserday, an attack on a checkpoint of pro-government forces in western Ghor province killed eight troops and wounded five, said Arif Aber, spokesman for the provincial governor. The attack in Shahrak district set off five hours of gun battle.

South Korea closes most schools in Seoul area to battle resurgent virusREUTERS — SEOUL

South Korea yesterday ordered most schools in Seoul and surrounding areas to close and move classes back online, the latest in a series of precau-tionary measures aimed at heading off a resurgence in coronavirus cases.

The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 280 new coronavirus cases as of midnight on Monday, bringing the country’s total to 17,945 with 310 deaths.

That represents a drop in daily new infections from 397 reported as of midnight Sat-urday, the highest daily tally since early March.

With most of the new cases centred in the densely popu-lated capital area, however, health authorities say the country is on the brink of a nation-wide outbreak and have called on people to stay home and limit travel.

“It would be too hasty to say that the curve has flat-tened,” KCDC deputy director Kwon Jun-wook told a briefing. “There is still a high risk that cases could continue to rise.” The past week has seen three times as many serious cases compared to past spikes, he said, raising concerns that the

death toll could rise.All students, except for high

school seniors, in the cities of Seoul and Incheon and the province of Geonggi will take classes online until Sept. 11, the Ministry of Education said on Tuesday.

The beginning of the spring semester had been postponed several times since March, but as daily coronavirus cases dropped sharply since a February peak, most of South Korea’s schools reopened in stages between May 20 and June 1.

Over the past two weeks, at least 150 students and 43 school staff have tested positive in the greater Seoul area, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae told a briefing.

Seoul on Monday ordered masks to be worn in both indoor and outdoor public places for the first time, and has ordered places like churches, nightclubs, karaoke bars and other high-risk venues closed.

Health Minister Park Neung-hoo on Tuesday pleaded with thousands of doctors who have been staging walkouts to return to work.

“We sincerely ask the medical staff to promptly return to the medical ground, where the patients are awaiting,” he said at a meeting.

Typhoon Bavi approaches South KoreaHigh waves batter the coastline in Seogwipo on the southern island of Jeju yesterday, as Typhoon Bavi approaches South Korea.

Thai court issues new arrest warrant for Red Bull scionAP — BANGKOK

A Thai court issued a new arrest warrant yesterday for an heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune, a month after news of the dropping of a long-standing charge against him caused widespread anger.

Assistant National Police Chief Lieutenant Genearl Jaruwat Waisay confirmed that

Vorayuth Yoovidhya, com-monly known by the nickname “Boss,” faces charges of causing death by negligent driving and use of a narcotic substance.

“This was the recommen-dation by the police committee investigating the case,” he said by phone. “We are confident that we can move forward on this, otherwise this decision would not have been made.”

Vorayuth is the grandson of Chaleo Yoovidhya, one of the creators of the globally famous Red Bull brand. Forbes puts the family’s net worth at $20bn.

Around dawn on September 3, 2012, Vorayuth was at the wheel of a Ferrari that struck the back of a traffic policeman’s motorcycle on a main Bangkok road. The officer was flung from his motorbike and died at the

scene, while Vorayuth drove home.

The family does not dispute he was the driver but says the policeman caused the crash by veering suddenly across his path. A forensic examination at the time put his speed at around 177km per hour in an 80km per hour zone, and medical tests allegedly found traces of cocaine in his bloodstream.

The army commanding general said re-imposing martial law in Sulu could help isolate and track down the Abu Sayyaf network. “The situation dictates, calls for it, with that recent incident with many casualties, to better control the population,” he added.

11WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020 EUROPE

Coronavirus re-infections raise concerns about immunityREUTERS — AMSTERDAM/BRUSSELS

Two European patients are con-firmed to have been re-infected with the coronavirus, raising concerns about people’s immunity to the virus as the world struggles to tame the pandemic.

The cases, in Belgium and the Netherlands, follow a report this week by researchers in Hong Kong about a man there who had been re-infected with a different strain of the virus four and a half months after being declared recovered - the first such re-infection to be documented.

That has fuelled fears about the effectiveness of potential vaccines against the

virus, which has killed hun-dreds of thousands of people, though experts say there would need to be many more cases of re-infection for these to be justified.

Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst said the Belgian case was a woman who had contracted COVID-19 for the first time in March and then again with a different coronavirus strain in June. Further cases of re-infection were likely to surface, he said.

Van Ranst told Reuters TV the woman in her 50s had very

few antibodies after the first infection, although they might have limited the sickness. Re-infection cases were probably limited exceptions, he said, although it was too soon to tell and many were likely to surface in coming weeks.

He added that the new coronavirus appeared more stable than the influenze virus, but it was changing.

“Viruses mutate and that means that a potential vaccine is not going to be a vaccine that will last forever, for 10 years, probably not even five years.

Just as for flu, this will have to be redesigned quite regularly,” he said.

Van Ranst, who sits on some Belgian COVID-19 committees, said vaccine designers would not be surprised. “We would have loved the virus to be more stable than it is, but you can’t force nature,” he said.

The National Institute for Public Health in the Nether-lands said it had also observed a Dutch case of re-infection. Virologist Marion Koopmans was quoted by Dutch broad-caster NOS as saying the patient

was an older person with a weakened immune system.

She said cases where people had been sick with the virus a long time and it then flared up again were better known.

But a true re-infection, as in the Dutch, Belgian and Hong Kong cases, required genetic testing of the virus in both the first and second infection to see whether the two instances of the virus differed slightly.

Van Ranst said such testing showed the Belgian patient had caught different strains of the virus. WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a UN briefing in Geneva regarding the Hong Kong case that, while anecdotal reports of re-infec-tions had surfaced now and

then, it was important to have clear documentation.

Some experts say it is likely that such cases are starting to emerge because of greater testing worldwide, rather than because the virus may be spreading differently.

Still, Dr David Strain, a clinical senior lecturer at the University of Exeter and chair of the British Medical Associa-tion’s medical academic staff committee, said the cases were worrying for several reasons.

“The first is that it suggests that previous infection is not protective,” he said. “The second is that it raises the pos-sibility that vaccinations may not provide the hope that we have been waiting for.”

Initiator of sun-powered stratospheric SolarStratos plane project Raphael Domjan jumps during a successful world record attempt by jumping with a parachute from a solar-powered plane in Payerne, western Switzerland, yesterday.

Parachutist makes world’s first jump from solar-powered planeREUTERS — PAYERNE

A parachutist completed the world’s first jump from a solar-powered aircraft yes-terday after the plane soared to a height of 1,520 metres (nearly 5,000 ft) over western Switzerland, Swiss organisers said.

The two-seater prototype plane made the test flight in good weather and to promote

renewable energy. Parachutist Raphael Domjan reached a speed of 150km per hour during his jump, landing near the project base in Payerne.

“Today there were many firsts but the most important is [this is] the first time ever that someone jumped from an electric aircraft. And this is something that is changing the future for this sport for sky divers,” said Domjan, the

instigator of the SolarStratos project and who co-piloted the plane.

“It was the first time we did a solar skydive, I climbed with the energy coming from the solar cells of the plane,” he said.

In 2022, the team aims to carry out a high-altitude flight powered exclusively by solar energy, seeking to reach the stratosphere with an altitude of 20,000 metres.

UK officials dismiss claim in 'Times' that Johnson to step downBLOOMBERG — LONDON

Is Boris Johnson (pic-tured) planning to retire as UK prime min-ister in six months? That’s the eye-catching claim in the Times of London, which cited a conversation one of its readers had with the father-in-law of Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s chief adviser.

According to the newspa-per’s Diary column, Humphry Wakefield chatted to Times reader Anna Silverman when she visited his castle in northeast England last week. Johnson, Wakefield is reported to have said, is still suffering the after-effects of his coronavirus infection and will never fully recover, and therefore plans to resign early next year.

Johnson’s press office declined to comment and Wake-field couldn’t be reached, but the prime minister’s officials pri-vately described the story as nonsense. Still, the Times column has not gone unnoticed, despite the newspaper placing it in a section known more for trivia than political scoops.

The fact that it has gained traction on social media points to the fact that the pandemic has

taken some shine off Johnson’s lead-ership even though he won a landslide general e lect ion in December. Ques-tions about John-son’s health have lingered since he emerged from intensive care in April following

treatment for COVID-19. Missteps in the govern-

ment’s coronavirus response have led some members of his Conservative Party to speculate he would step down before the next general election, due in 2024 — an idea previously dis-missed by Johnson’s office.

There’s even speculation that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak — perceived as having performed best during the pandemic among Johnson’s top team -- is already being lined up for 10 Downing Street.

Typically, a political party would wait before replacing a leader until close to the next election to allow the successor the chance to ride any bounce in the polls. But any such talk — credible or not — of stepping down early is corrosive to a prime minister and is unlikely to be welcomed by Johnson.

Pandemic pace slows worldwide: WHOREUTERS — GENEVA

The COVID-19 pandemic is still expanding, but the rise in cases and deaths has slowed globally, except for southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean regions, the World Health Organization said.

In its latest epidemiological update, issued on Monday, it said that the Americas remains the hardest-hit region, accounting for half of newly reported cases and 62% of the 39,240 deaths worldwide in the past week.

More than 23.65 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and 811,895 have died, according to a Reuters tally yes-terday. “Over 1.7 million new COVID-19 cases and 39,000 new deaths were reported to WHO for the week ending 23

August, a 4% decrease in the number of cases and (a 12% decrease) in the number of deaths compared to the pre-vious week,” the WHO said.

Southeast Asia, the second most affected region, reported a jump accounting for 28% of new cases and 15% of deaths, it said. India continues to report the majority of cases, but the virus is also spreading rapidly in Nepal.

In WHO’s eastern Mediter-ranean region, the number of reported cases rose by 4%, but the number of reported deaths has consistently dropped over the last six weeks, the WHO said. Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan reported the highest increase in cases compared to the previous week.

The number of cases and deaths reported across Africa

decreased by 8% and 11% respectively in the past week, “primarily due to a decrease in cases reported in Algeria, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal and South Africa”, it said.

“In the European region, the number of cases reported has consistently increased over the last three weeks,” it said. “However, only a slight decrease (1%) was reported in the most recent week, and the number of deaths have con-tinued to decrease across the region.”

In WHO’s western Pacific region, the number of new cases dropped by 5%, driven by less spread in Japan, Australia, Singapore, China and Vietnam. South Korea reported an 180% jump in cases, “mainly due to an increase in cases associated with religious gatherings”.

Kremlin defies calls to probe Navalny illnessREUTERS — MOSCOW

The Kremlin said yesterday that it saw no need for now to investigate circumstances leading up to opposition poli-tician Alexei Navalny’s grave illness, and that a German clinic’s initial diagnosis of poisoning was not yet conclusive.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday called for an inves-tigation and for Russia to hold the perpetrators accountable after German doctors found indications of a toxic substance in his body. Navalny, an out-spoken opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was airlifted to Germany for treatment on Sat-urday after collapsing on a plane while flying back to Moscow from Siberia.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the German clinic had not conclusively identified the substance behind Navalny’s illness and that it was unclear why German doctors were “rushing” to use the word

poisoning. “There must be a reason for an investigation. For the moment, all you and I see is that the patient is in a coma,” Peskov told reporters.

Any suggestions, he added, that Putin was somehow involved in Navalny’s illness were untrue and “hot air” that the Kremlin would not take seri-ously. He said that if poisoning was definitively established as the cause, “then of course, this will be a reason for an investi-gation”. In response to the Krem-lin’s comments, Navalny’s spokes-woman Kira Yarmysh said it was “obvious the crime wouldn’t be investigated properly and the criminal found”.

Demands from abroad for an independent probe are intensifying. German doctors treating Navalny at a Berlin hospital said on Monday that medical examinations indi-cated poisoning with some kind of cholinesterase inhibitor, although the specific substance is not yet known.

Belarus jails two opposition leadersREUTERS — MINSK

Belarus jailed two opposition leaders for 10 days yesterday as the government pursued a crackdown on the few figures still at large, while schoolteachers led a new protest of thousands against President Alexander Lukashenko.

Despite most major opposition figures being in jail or exile, Lukashenko has so far failed to put down protests against his 26-year-old rule, more than two weeks after an election his oppo-nents say was rigged.

Olga Kovalkova and Siarhei Dyleuski were brought to separate courts where they were each

jailed for 10 days. Kovalkova is the main repre-sentative still in Belarus of opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and Dyleuski has led strikes at Minsk’s flagship tractor factory.

Both are senior figures in an opposition Coor-dination Council, set up last week with the aim of negotiating with the authorities. They were arrested on Monday. Lukashenko has accused the new council of attempting to seize power, and prosecutors have launched a criminal case.

In the latest protest, thousands gathered at the ministry of education to demonstrate against a threat by Lukashenko to fire schoolteachers who do not support his government.

BBC plungedinto ‘Rule Britannia’ censorshipdebateREUTERS — LONDON

Every year millions tune in to watch a pomp-laden cele-bration of all things British with flag-waving music lovers boisterously singing along to patriotic anthems performed at the last night of the BBC’s Promenade concerts.

But a decision by the public broadcaster to omit the words from two of the best known songs in this year’s concert from London’s Royal Albert Hall has sparked a bitter row over censorship and the coun-try’s imperial past.

The BBC said an orchestral-only version of “Rule Britannia!” and “Land of Hope and Glory” would be performed to reflect how the Last Night of the Proms concert would take place on September 12 with no audience and a small orchestra due to COVID-19.

However, the move follows a media report that the conductor believed the time had come “to bring change” to the concert. Rule Britannia! includes the line: “Rule, Bri-tannia! Britannia rules the waves; Britons never, never, never, shall be slaves.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had to address the subject. “I think it’s time we stopped our cringing embar-rassment about our history, about our traditions and about our culture, and we stopped this general bout of self-recrimi-nation and wetness,” he told broadcasters. “I wanted to get that off my chest.”

Outgoing BBC boss Tony Hall said it would be very hard to recreate the atmosphere of a 5,000-strong audience, but declined to say whether the lyrics were dropped because of any colonial links. He said he suspected the lyrics would be back next year.

The BBC’s decision to drop the words made the front pages of Britain’s right-leaning news-papers, with the Daily Mail decrying the move as “Sur-render” and commentators on some news websites and social media sites saying the BBC had censored the songs.

The BBC said it very much regretted the “unjustified per-sonal attacks” on Dalia Sta-sevska, the principal guest con-ductor, and said this year’s concert would mark the tradi-tions and spirit of the event while reflecting the need for a smaller choir to social distance.

Struggling against windPedestrians struggle against the wind in Glasgow city centre yesterday, as Storm Francis brings rain and high winds to the UK.

Belgian, Dutch patients infected months after initial recoveries Belgian case involved different strain of coronavirus Mutating virus poses challenges for vaccine makers

Blake remained in intensive care following surgery and would require more operations. Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times his son was paralyzed from the waist down.

12 WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020AMERICAS

All the President’s kids: Trump clan rules Republican conventionAFP — NEW YORK

US President Donald Trump is keeping it all in the family at this week’s Republican con-vention, giving his four children prime speaking slots alongside his wife Melania and high-lighting the unprecedented role they have played in the political affairs of the United States.

The children and spouses of US candidates normally partake in the rituals of presi-dential campaigns: Last week’s virtual Democratic convention saw Joe Biden flanked by his children and grandchildren, who highlighted the qualities of their 77-year-old patriarch.

But the Trump side is markedly different, says political science professor Costas Panagopoulos, because the President’s family members “can not only comment on the candidate and his character... but also on substance, on policy issues that they have been directly involved in during the administration”.

“They have been closely linked to the administration or Republican politics and they have played important roles in governing,” the scholar based at Northeastern University said. “They are no longer family members, they are politicians and they are part of this administration.”

Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric Trump — the three children the billionaire had with his first wife Ivana — all either bear official White House titles or are ardent supporters of his policies and involved in his campaign. The eldest, 42-year-old Donald Jr, stayed in New York with Eric to officially take

over the family’s Trump Organ-ization while their father was off to Washington.

But he has simultaneously become a star of the Trump base, fiercely backing White House policies and routinely defending his father on Twitter, retweeting memes and con-spiracy theories and developing his brand of provocation.

On Monday, the Trump scion — who has hinted at his own political aspirations — delivered a heated critique of the Demo-crats, accusing them of “attacking the very principles on which our nation was founded.” He said they were closing their eyes to “rioting, looting and van-dalism” along with rising crime in major US cities.

Now it’s Melania’s turn to vouch for her husband: The First Lady and third wife of the President will surely be keen to keep the pundits from bringing up her 2016 con-vention speech, which included phrases curiously similar to Michelle Obama’s 2008 con-vention address.

Eric is also hitting the cam-paign trail for his father despite helming the family’s Trump Organization conglomerate and dealing with legal battles related to the company. He’s expected to speak along with his sister Tiffany — Trump’s only child with second wife Marla Maples — before his wife Lara hits the stage Wednesday.

Ivanka Trump — who with her husband Jared Kushner is a White House adviser — will play a starring role on Thursday, introducing her father’s nomination acceptance speech which will close the convention.

Wisconsin city burns, braces for third night of protests

REUTERS — KENOSHA

Authorities in Kenosha, Wis-consin, yesterday were readying for a third night of unrest after arsonists torched much of the city’s Black business district following the shooting of a Black man in the back by police.

Kenosha County Board of Supervisors member Zach Rod-riguez said the board would hold an emergency meeting on seeking federal help, such as US Marshals Service officers, to quell the unrest after some 300 rioters looted businesses and set fire to buildings overnight.

“Essentially, our city was burned to the ground, building by building,” Rodriguez said. “Enough is enough.” Smoke bil-lowed over central Kenosha after police in riot gear clashed with protesters as they defied a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Monday night and yesterday morning, near where police gunned down Jacob Blake, 29, on Sunday.

Blake remained in intensive care following surgery and would require more operations, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Blake family, told

ABC News yesterday. Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times his son was paralyzed from the waist down.

Blake, who had been attempting to break up a fight between two women, was struck by four of the seven shots, all fired by one officer, in front of his sons aged 3, 5 and 8, Crump said.

Video captured by a neighbour shows Blake walking toward the driver’s side door of his SUV, away from two officers who were pointing guns at his back. After he opens the door, seven shots ring out, with one of the officers tugging at his shirt. It remains unknown what the officers may have seen inside Blake’s car.

Crump said there was “no indication he was armed”. The shooting is under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which has not released any details. Kenosha police have referred all ques-

tions to the state investigators.But the incident, the latest in

a litany of cases to focus attention on police treatment of African Americans, unleashed outrage in Kenosha, a Lake Michigan city located north of Chicago and south of Milwaukee. Firefighters from about 30 fire departments around the region came to Kenosha to help put out the blazes across swaths of the city.

Unrest flared again else-where in the United States with overnight clashes reported in Portland, Oregon; Seattle and Minneapolis. In New York City, marchers swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge, social media video showed.

Basketball star LeBron James, who has emerged as a national leader on issues of race, lent his voice to the pro-tests, telling reporters covering the National Basketball Associ-ation playoffs that “we are scared as Black people in

America.... We are terrified.” Black Lives Matter activists

are demanding the immediate firing or arrest of the Kenosha officers, who have been placed on administrative leave.

Hours into Monday night’s curfew, the mostly peaceful demonstration turned violent, with some protesters setting off fireworks. Local police, who had support from National Guard troops, fired tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke bombs to disperse the crowd, which grew to several hundred, according to protester Porche Bennett, 31, of Kenosha.

Fires destroyed much of the Black business district, Bennett said, adding that the instigators she saw were white. “It’s people from out of town doing this. We’ve been shopping there since we were kids and they set it on fire,” Bennett said. Social media images showed both white and Black agitators.

A police armoured vehicle patrolling an intersection in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Fire crews make progress battling California blazesAFP — LOS ANGELES

Thousands of firefighters made small progress as they battled to contain his-toric wildfires in California, with poten-tially dangerous lighting storms proving milder than expected and temperatures easing.

Governor Gavin Newsom said some 625 fires were burning throughout the state and had scorched more than 1.2 million acres — nearly the size of the Grand Canyon. Of those fires, 17 were considered major, he said, including the LNU Lightning Complex and the SCU Lightning Complex — which comprise several fires each and have become two of the largest blazes in the state’s history as far as acreage burned.

The LNU Lightning Complex which erupted north of San Francisco on August 8 was 22 percent contained on Monday.

The SCU Lightning Complex, which also erupted August 8 and is burning southeast of San Francisco, was 10 percent contained early in the day.

Another major fire — the CZU Lightning Complex — has burned through areas closer to the coast.

The fires have for the most part been sparked by so-called dry lightning strikes in the central and northern part of the state. “We are essentially living in a mega-fire era,” said Jake Hess, a unit chief in Santa Clara for state firefighting agency Cal Fire. “We have folks that have been working for Cal Fire for the last five years and that’s all they understand, it’s mega fires since they’ve started.”

The fires have destroyed more than 100 homes and other structures and are threatening 100,000 more buildings, officials said. Some 14,000 overstretched and exhausted firefighters — some from other states or even Canada and Aus-tralia — have been struggling to contain the flames.

The staggering scale of the fires, coming this early during fire season which normally runs from August to November, is unprecedented.

Still, there was some relief for fire

crews overnight as high temperatures and low humidity that have fanned the flames in the past week eased a bit.

Lightning storms overnight also were

not as widespread as initially feared. But authorities urged people not to let down their guard as more lighting strikes could hit the region.

A burned residence is seen during the LNU Lightning Complex fire in Vacaville, California.

Hurricane Laura tracks toward US Gulf Coast after slamming HaitiAFP — NEW ORLEANS

Storm Laura was upgraded to a destructive hurricane yes-terday and is forecast to make landfall along the Texas or Lou-isiana coasts tonight, after earlier causing 20 deaths in Haiti.

“Laura has become a hur-ricane with maximum sus-tained winds of 120km/h, with higher gusts,” the US National Hurricane Center reported.

“Significant strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Laura is expected to be a major hurricane at landfall,” it added, warning of storm surges, flooding and tor-rential rain. The storm surge “will be accompanied by large and destructive waves” in places, and up to 12 inches of rain could cause flash flooding.

On Monday, the storm pounded Cuba unleashing heavy rain and coastal flooding, after killing at least 20 people, including a baby and an eight-year-old child, in Haiti.

The storm also killed four in the Dominican Republic’s capital Santo Domingo.

In Cuba, winds gusting up

to 65 miles per hour were reported in the capital Havana on Monday, and waves of more than 10 feet battered the Maisi area of Guantanamo province.

The high winds tore tin roofs off homes and downed trees as authorities had evac-uated at least 160,000 people in the provinces of Guan-tanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Camaguey.

The Atlantic storm season, which runs through November, could be one of the busiest ever

this year, with the Hurricane Center predicting as many as 25 named storms. Laura is the 12th so far.

Tropical Storm Marco — which also churned through the Gulf of Mexico — was down-graded from a hurricane and dis-sipated on Tuesday off the coast of Louisiana before reaching land. Marco’s weakening winds spared the Gulf what would have been twin hurricanes, unprece-dented since records began 150 years ago.

This RAMMB/NOAA satellite shows Hurricane Laura moving Northwestern in the Gulf of Mexico towards Louisiana yesterday.

Need a visa to visit the US? Expect much longer wait times: OfficialsREUTERS — WASHINGTON

The US agency in charge of processing immigration appli-cations said yesterday that it had avoided a planned fur-lough of 70% of its staff but warned that it still faced financial hardship that could result in some applicants experiencing longer wait times.

U.S. Citizenship and Immi-gration Services (USCIS), the agency in charge of processing work permits, so-called green cards and other visas, said that it had avoided furloughs planned for August 30. But aggressive spending cuts the agency planned to put in place would impact all operations, including naturalizations, it said in a statement.

USCIS is dependent on fees from new immigration appli-cations. The agency reported a 50% drop in fees in June due to less immigration during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

But immigration experts and former officials say even before the onset of the pan-demic, the agency had seen rev-enues fall sharply as a result of slowdowns in processing and other limits placed on immi-gration applications.

Republican President Donald Trump has made curbing immigration a priority during his nearly 3-1/2 years in office.

USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow warned in the statement there was no guarantee the agency can avoid future furloughs and called on the US Congress to ensure that the agency had sufficient funding for fiscal year 2021, which starts in October.

USCIS had asked for a $1.2bn bailout from Congress in May to avoid the projected furloughs, but lawmakers pushed back, arguing that the agency had the funding it needed to continue operations through the fiscal year.

More US colleges see spike in COVID-19 cases after classes resumeREUTERS — NEW YORK

More US colleges were grap-pling with high numbers of stu-dents testing positive for the coronavirus just days into the start of the fall semester after some universities rolled back their campus reopening plans in recent weeks.

The University of Alabama on Monday reported more than 550 people across its campuses had tested positive for COVID-19 since it resumed in-person classes on August 19. Most of those infected were students, faculty and staff at the university’s main campus in Tuscaloosa.

Kellee Reinhart, the univer-sity’s vice-chancellor for com-munications, said the school had an “ample amount” of space for COVID-19 positive students to isolate and that it was enhancing testing of various groups.

The university has con-ducted more than 46,000 tests, according to a dashboard it released this week, and the

positivity rate stood at about 1%. The number of positive cases does not include the 400 stu-dents who tested positive upon returning to University of Alabama campuses before classes began last week.

Alabama is not alone in scrambling to deal with COVID-19 college outbreaks. The University of Southern California (USC), which resumed education almost entirely online on August 17, on Monday said that more than 100 students at the Uni-versity Park Campus in Los Angeles were in a 14-day quar-antine after exposure to the virus. All cases were related to students in “off-campus living environments”.

Ohio State University this week issued more than 200 interim suspensions for students following a string of large parties where health and safety rules were largely ignored, according to media reports. Last week, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill cancelled in-class instruction after positive cases of COVID-19 shot up dramatically.

BUSINESSPAGE | 14 PAGE | 14

13WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020

ExxonMobil booted

from Dow Industrials

in major embrace

of tech

US consumer

confidence slumps

to six-year low

on job views

c

Aveva buys OSIsoft for $5bn as virus fuels cloud demandAFP - LONDON

British industrial software group Aveva yesterday announced it had agreed to buy US rival OSIsoft for $5bn, as the corona-virus pandemic pushes clients to expand their online cloud services.

In a statement, Aveva pointed to strong growth this year at OSIsoft, “as the imper-ative for digital transformation has continued through the COVID-19 crisis”.

As the virus causes office staff to work from home and carry out meetings online, com-panies are seeking expanded cloud systems for securely housing and accessing their data.

Aveva yesterday said it was “capitalising on the technological megatrends that are driving digital transformation of the industrial world.

Part of French group Sch-neider Electric, Aveva said the purchase would allow the British

company “to accelerate the market adoption and expansion of OSIsoft Cloud Services and other cloud-based offerings”.

Aveva added that during the pandemic, demand for its own software had been “robust, due to its ability to drive efficiency, flexibility and sustainability for customers across a wide range of industries, with particularly good demand for cloud solutions”.

Aveva CEO Craig Hayman said the acquisition “will accel-erate the enlarged group’s role in the digitisation of the indus-trial world, which is being driven by a need for sustainability, the industrial Internet of things, cloud, data visualisation and artificial intelligence”.

Headquartered in California and employing around 1,400 staff, OSIsoft has customers across 127 countries using its PI data system that will sit as a business unit in the enlarged group.

Industries Qatar to hold EGM on September 13THE PENINSULA - DOHA

Industries Qatar (IQ), one of the region’s industrial giants with holdings in petrochemicals, fer-tilizers and steel producers, has announced yesterday to hold an Extra Ordinary General Assembly (EGM) meeting elec-tronically, using Zoom appli-cation platform, on Sunday, Sep-tember 13, 2020 at 4:30 pm Doha Time.

In compliance with the instructions of Qatar to prevent all forms of gatherings, amid efforts to contain the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Extra Ordinary General Assembly meeting will be held electronically to take shareholders’ approval on pur-chase of 25 percent stake in Qatar Fertiliser Company (QAFCO). In addition, there are additional agenda items that has been added, the details are available at the end of this press release.

It should be noted that IQ had previously announced on

August 23, 2020 in relation to the Board of Directors’ proposal to convene an Extra Ordinary General Assembly meeting to take approval from the share-holders on the purchase of 25 percent stake in Qafco and other matters, briefing in detail all the aspects of the agenda items.

Providing clarification on the participation and voting proce-dures for the meeting, IQ said that shareholders intending to attend the meeting virtually are requested to provide the following information and documents through an email to the email address: iq@qp.com.qa and/or alphaqatar2020@gmail.com

Documents include: Copy of Identification document (Qatar ID or passport); mobile number; NIN number; and a copy of proxy and supporting documents for representatives of individuals and corporate entities. At first, a Zoom appli-cation link will be sent electron-ically via email to those share-holders, who expressed their interest in attending the meeting

and whose contact details are received. Based on the link, the shareholders will be required to register for the meeting. Based on the completion of the regis-tration process, the shareholder will be sent another link which will direct him/her to the virtual meeting room based on Zoom application platform.

Registration process will start at 2:30 pm Doha Time on the date of the meeting i.e. Sunday, September 13, 2020. Shareholders intending to attend this meeting can share their details earlier, so that they can join the registration process on time.

Attendees will be able to discuss the agenda items, address their questions, if any, to the Board of Directors or the External Auditor, virtually by sending their questions or com-ments in the chat box, available within the Zoom application, during the course of the meeting. As for the voting on the meet-ing’s agenda items, a shareholder who has an objection on an item

must raise their hand, using Zoom application’s in built optionality, at the time of voting on the agenda item to express his/her objection. In the event that the shareholder does not raise his/her hand, this will be considered as an endorsement for the agenda item.

The agenda of the Extra Ordinary General Assembly meeting include seeking approval for the purchase of the 25 percent stake in Qatar Ferti-liser Company (QAFCO) from Qatar Petroleum for a purchase consideration of $1bn and the proposed amendments to the Company’s Articles of Associ-ation concerning the constitution of the Company’s Board of Directors. The new composition of the Board of Directors shall come into effect from the upcoming term of the Board that will start from the date of holding the General Assembly meeting to approve the financial state-ments of the financial year ending 31 December 2020, among others.

Ezdan Hotels receive 'Qatar Clean Compliant' certificationsTHE PENINSULA - DOHA

Ezdan Holding Group-owned chain of hotels, namely Ezdan Hotel West Bay Towers and the five-star Ezdan Palace Hotel, have succeeded in obtaining “Qatar Clean” programme accreditation; a multi-phased programme developed as a col-laborative effort by the National Tourism Council, Ministry of Public Health, and both hospi-tality and tourism sectors. It aims at maintaining the safety of hotel guests and workers.

The programme sets bench-marked and mandatory standards for sterilisation and disinfection for all hotel prop-erties. Ezdan Hotels Man-agement has observed all the guidelines mandated by the programme, which included performing staff drilling and training workers to conduct sterilisation operations for facilities daily. They were also trained to perform sanitisation for air-conditioning systems, equipment, closets, and toilets, in addition to ensuring intensive sterilisation of areas where the staff becomes in contact with guests, especially reception points & helpdesks, and other common areas.

Ezdan Hotel West Bay has

shown due care and alertness to checking the temperature of all their employees daily before starting work, isolate any member with remarkable symptoms that may indicate infection, communicate regu-larly with the Ministry of Public Health, and apply all require-ments to suppliers and guests, as well as limiting the capacity of elevators to about 30 percent maximum.

The hotel staff also employ mobile applications or other technologies to conclude deftly

checking in and out procedures without contact, and to maintain a safe distance between individuals.

For its part, Ezdan Palace Hotel management assured that all measures are observed to maintain complete sterilisation of all hotel rooms and facilities, which allows guests to enjoy accommodation in tranquility and luxury, as well as applying modern techniques to serve guests and uphold maximum safety while observing social distancing.

A provided picture of one of the certificates.

INJAZ Qatar to host Mubadara 2020 AwardsTHE PENINSULA - DOHA

INJAZ Qatar, a non-profit organisation and a member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide, will host the Mubadara Awards Ceremony online via Zoom on August 31, 2020, under the patronage of H E Dr. Mohammed Abdulwahed Al Hammadi, Minister of Edu-cation & Higher Education.

Mubadara, also known as the Annual Young Entrepre-neurs Competition Awards Cer-emony seeks to recognise some of Qatar’s most outstanding young entrepreneurs. The company program and Mubadara are INJAZ Qatar’s most interactive and popular education program and event during which student enter-prises are established through Junior Achievement’s globally recognised “Company Program”.

It has evolved to become a prominent event in the INJAZ Qatar calendar of activities. Student teams were provided with the unique opportunity to establish and run a real business over a period of five months with the guidance of profes-sionals from leading businesses across Qatar. Seventeen student teams made it to the final stage of the program; 10 student teams from Qatar’s inde-pendent, private and

international secondary schools and 7 teams from universities in Qatar. During the program, students go through the entire life cycle of a startup venture as they develop a business idea, form a team, raise capital of up to QR11,000, devise business plans, and produce and sell a product or a service. Towards the end of the five months of activity, students present their entrepreneurial ideas before a judging panel of business leaders from the local market.

In the upcoming Mubadara 2020 Awards Ceremony, the innovative products and services developed by the student companies will be exhibited and the winners of this year’s competition will be announced giving them the opportunity to represent Qatar at the INJAZ Al Arab regional finals.

Students will receive one of seven awards, which are: The Best Company of the Year award sponsored by Exxon-Mobil, the Most Innovative Product/Service award spon-sored by Qatar Development Bank, the Best Marketing Plan award sponsored by Ooredoo, the Best Social Impact Award sponsored by HSBC, the Public Choice Award sponsored by Frame along with the Best Company Report and Best Public Presentation awards.

The team winning Best Company of the Year Award (University level) will be given ongoing support by Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) and seed funding of QR35,000 from BOEING to start their real business.

Ibrahim Al Mannai, Exec-utive Director of Advisory & Incubation at QDB, said: “Investing in the human capacity and the development of local talent is one of our top priorities at QDB. We are therefore very delighted to be a partner in this program and pioneering initiative. We con-tinue to support and nurture the next generation of entre-preneurs by incubating their winning projects and contrib-uting to building an ideal business environment for them. This is part of the strategy that both the bank and its partners follow in Qatar as part of the two key pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030. These are fostering a healthy and capable national workforce to achieve a pros-perous society and developing and diversifying the national economy.”

The Awards Ceremony will host INJAZ Qatar’s Board Members and representatives from the private and public sector including the education sector in Qatar.

Qatar’s Free Zones attract global tech leadersLANI ROSE R DIZON

THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s free trade zones are increasingly becoming an attractive destination for global tech leaders seeking to expand regionally and globally. While both industry giants Microsoft and Google have already pre-viously announced setting up their operations at the country’s free zones, the Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA) continues to receive a growing demand from companies specialising in emerging technology, in addition to other sectors.

To date, the QFZA oversees the Airport Free Zone at Ras Bufontas, which is directly linked to the world-class Hamad Inter-national Airport; and the Port Free Zone at Umm Alhoul, which is connected to the Hamad Port, also known as the world’s largest

greenfield port. “Ras Bufontas is linked

directly to the airport. So we have a lot of demand here from logistics companies, companies specialising in emerging tech-nology, light manufacturing and the aviation sector. The big German investor that we announced recently is Volkswagen. They’re based in Ras Bufontas and they want to deploy their first autonomous vehicle project here in Qatar, in this area. Another big investor is Google, which has decided to launch their cloud services here.

“We’re currently talking to an online retailer based in the Silicon Valley, which wants to also base their company here due to the access to Qatar Airways. So we have quite a lot of demand for Ras Bufontas, although we’re still within our soft opening,” Fahad Al Kuwari,

Markets Manager at QFZA said during the online Qatari-German Business Forum held recently.

He added that Volkswagen,

one of the leading automobiles company in the world which has embarked on a journey towards becoming a software-driven company, has set up an office at

the Free Zones to conduct its research and development on autonomous vehicles.

Previously, Google Cloud has signed its first strategic collabo-ration agreement in the Middle East with the QFZA to launch a new cloud region in Doha; while Microsoft has also announced its plans to establish a new cloud datacenter region in Qatar and expand the Microsoft global cloud infrastructure to 55 cloud regions in 20 countries.

At a recent webinar with leading US firms, Minister of State and QFZA Chairman H E Ahmad bin Mohamed Al Sayed, also reiterated the Qatar Free Zones’ strategy to be a premier hub for technology companies that lead to the New Economy. He added that the Free Zones are particularly focused on bringing in international companies that make up the New Economy and

specialise in technologies like the Internet of Things, cloud services, cyber security, and industrial intelligence that are contributing to the fourth indus-trial revolution.

He also noted that Thales has recently inked an agreement with QFZA to establish a centre for digital competencies that will provide its cross-sector services for companies across the region.

“Qatar’s position within 25 economies, within 3,000km, all accessible through Qatar Airways, that’s $6 trillion worth of combined GDP. What we try to do at QFZA is allow the foreign investors to own their businesses completely and to partner with leading Qatari companies should it be mutually beneficial. We help our own companies grow and we help foreign companies grow as well,” added Al Kuwari.

Minister of State and QFZA Chairman H E Ahmad bin Mohamed Al Sayed.

We’re currently talking to an online retailer based in the Silicon Valley, which wants to also base their company here due to the access to Qatar Airways. So we have quite a lot of demand for Ras Bufontas, although we’re still within our soft opening.

14 WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020BUSINESS

The Conference Board’s index decreased to 84.8 from a revised 91.7 in the prior month, undercutting the previous pandemic low of 85.7 in April.

US consumer confidence slumps to six-year low on job viewsBLOOMBERG

US consumer confidence dropped in August to the lowest since 2014 as consumers soured on employment and business conditions, indicating Amer-icans are becoming despondent amid persistently high joblessness.

The Conference Board’s index decreased to 84.8 from a revised 91.7 in the prior month, undercutting the previous pan-demic low of 85.7 in April, according to a report issued yesterday. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a reading of 93 in August. The group’s gauge of expectations fell 3.7 points to 85.2, the lowest since 2016, while household sen-timent about current conditions dropped 11.7 points to 84.2.

The report points to a bumpy economic recovery, and risks for President Donald

Trump’s reelection, as Amer-icans grapple with high unem-ployment and uncertainty about future federal stimulus, with a new version of jobless aid just starting to reach Americans. The confidence gauge also remains well below pre-crisis levels, illustrating the depth of the eco-nomic hole created by the pandemic.

“Consumer spending has rebounded in recent months but increasing concerns amongst consumers about the economic outlook and their financial well-being will likely cause spending to cool in the months ahead,” Lynn Franco (pictured), senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said in a statement.

In fact, respondents

indicated they were less likely to make big purchases in the months ahead: the share expecting to buy major appli-ances fell to 44.8 percent, the lowest since 2015, while those planning to buy a car dropped to 9.7 percent, the second-lowest since 2010.

US stocks swung between gains and losses after the report, while yields on 10-year Treas-uries briefly fell before rising again. Other data yesterday were more upbeat: New home sales jumped to the highest since 2006, while a regional measure of manufacturing was the strongest in almost two years.

The share of consumers saying jobs are hard to get jumped to 25.2 percent from 20.1 percent. About 30 percent of consumers said they expect better economic conditions six months from now, down from 31.6 percent in July.

Credit Suisse to shut 37 bank branches in SwitzerlandAP - BERLIN

Swiss bank Credit Suisse said yesterday that it plans to close 37 branches in its home country as part of an effort to streamline its business, and said that some job cuts are inevitable.

Credit Suisse said it expects to implement the changes by the end of this year, reducing the number of branches in Switzerland to 109 from 146. Some of the reduction will result from merging its Neue Aaargauer Bank subsidiary in northern Aargau canton (state) with the main Credit Suisse business.

The bank said that, in just the last two years, there has been a 40 percent increase

in the use of online banking at Credit Suisse, while use of its mobile banking option has more than doubled. It added that “the COVID-19 crisis has further accelerated these trends” and the number of visits to branches has been falling for years.

The company said that “a headcount reduction is inev-itable” at Neue Aargauer Bank and Credit Suisse itself, but didn’t give any figures. It said that it is in consultation with employee representatives, with the aim of finding jobs inside the bank or elsewhere for as many as possible.

Credit Suisse forecast annual cost savings of about 100m francs ($110m) starting in 2022.

Finnair to cut 1,000 jobs as virus end ‘not in sight’AFP - HELSINKI

Finnish national carrier Finnair announced plans yes-terday to cut 1,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its workforce, amid dire warnings about the eco-nomic impact of the coronavirus.

“A rapid turn for the better in the pandemic situation is unfortunately not in sight,” chief executive Topi Manner (pictured) said in a statement.

“Our revenue has decreased considerably and that is why we simply must adjust our costs to our new size,” Manner said.

Scandinavian rival SAS posted a sharp loss in its third quarter profit meanwhile, as cost-cutt ing measures including around 4,800 job cuts failed to offset the huge drop in airline traffic.

The 1,000 job cuts at Finnair will not apply to cabin and flight deck crew, the airline said, although flying staff will remain on furlough “until further notice”.

The vast majority of its 6,700 employees are currently on temporary layoffs.Alongside job cuts, the carrier will make other structural

changes and yesterday updated its savings target from €80m ($94m) to €100m.

Finnair, which is majority owned by the Finnish state, cut 90 percent of its flights on April 1 and issued a profit warning as coronavirus restrictions pounded interna-

tional travel.The company has been

particularly hard hit by the drop in long-haul traffic, with flights between Helsinki and Asia a key part of the group’s growth strategy.

The carrier sold €500m worth of shares in June to

boost liquidity.Finland’s government

further tightened coronavirus travel restrictions last week, banning tourists from all but a handful of EU member states. In Stockholm, SAS said that its third quarter that runs from May through July, ended

with a net loss of 2.37bn kronor (€228m, $270m), more than reversing the profit of 1.2bn kronor earned during the same period a year earlier.

“Despite our immediate measures to reduce costs to adapt to a new reality, the cost reduction of 67 percent did not offset the sharp decline in revenue” that was triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, a statement said.

SAS revenues plunged by more than 80 percent to 2.5bn kronor, and the number of passengers was down by 86 percent. The airline fur-loughed around 90 percent of its staff in mid-March, and said in April that around 40 percent of its positions, or 4,800 jobs, would be eliminated.

A file photo of Finnair A350 XWB landing at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

Alibaba’s Ant Group files for IPO in Hong Kong, ShanghaiAP - HONG KONG

Ant Group, the financial tech-nology arm of Chinese e-com-merce giant Alibaba Group, yesterday filed for a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in what may be the largest share offering since the coronavirus pandemic began.

The initial public offering will be the first dual listing on the Hong Kong exchange and Shanghai’s STAR Market. The company’s filing did not dis-close the timetable for its public offering or how much money it hopes to raise.

Ant Group operates Alipay, one of China’s two dominant online payments services. Over a billion users use Alipay to pay for purchases both online and in stores, to send money to friends and to pay bills. In the 12 months that ended in June, Ant Group tallied 118 trillion yuan ($17 trillion) in transaction volume.

In the filing, Ant Group said it plans to use the funds raised from the listing to expand its service offerings, invest in research and development, and to expand its payments business internationally.

Ant Group was valued at $150bn in a private fundraising round in 2018, making it the most valuable startup company in the world.

The company posted revenue of 72.5bn yuan ($10.5bn) in the first half of this year, an increase of almost 40 percent from the same period in 2019.

The company also runs one of the world’s largest money market funds as well as Zhima Credit, a private credit rating system for its users.

Germany runs public deficit on virus spending, revenue fallAFP - FRANKFURT

Germany, long adverse to being in the red, yesterday posted a public deficit of €51.6bn for the first half of 2020, with corona-virus lockdowns undercutting government revenue as it increased spending.

The emergency spending has been credited with helping Europe’s top economy weather the pandemic-induced shock better than many of its neigh-bours, and a separate survey yesterday showed German companies were optimistic about the rebound.

The German economy posted a deficit of 3.2 percent

of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the six months to June, according to federal statistics agency Destatis, above the 3.0 percent limit under EU rules that Brussels suspended due to the pandemic.

In the same period of 2019, Germany recorded a public surplus of 2.7 percent of GDP, or around €46.5bn.

For the first time since 2010, state revenue was down year-on-year, Destatis said, while government spending soared 9.3 percent as it tried to support the economy.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said last week that Germany will take on yet more

debt in 2021 to lessen the impact of the pandemic, forcing it to suspend its cher-ished policy of keeping a bal-anced budget.

Scholz previously said Germany planned to borrow around €218bn in 2020 to help pay for a huge rescue package to steer the country through the c o r o n a v i r u s - i n d u c e d downturn.

Destatis revised upwards the GDP estimate for the second quarter of 2020 to show a contraction of 9.7 percent, better than the initially reported 10.1 percent slump. It is still “the sharpest decline s ince quarterly GDP

calculations for Germany began in 1970,” the agency said, worse than at the height of the financial crash, when GDP fell 4.7 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

The German economy is expected to see a sharp recovery in the third quarter of 2020 however, after the relaxation of pandemic restric-tions allowed economic activity and public life to resume.

A key survey separately found that business morale improved again in August for the fourth consecutive month.

The Ifo institute said its monthly barometer rose to 92.6 points, from 90.4 points in July.

“The German economy is on the road to recovery,” Ifo President Clemens Fuest said.

The index had plummeted to a record low in April when Germany’s coronavirus restric-tions closed factories, restau-rants and shops, before starting a rebound the following month as the economy gradually reopened.

“Today’s Ifo index keeps the hopes for a V-shaped rebound alive,” ING Economist Carsten Brzeski said. “However, the fact that a rebound is not necessarily the same as a recovery will be the main theme of the coming months.

ExxonMobil booted from Dow Industrials in major embrace of techBLOOMBERG

The dominance of technology companies has eclipsed every other story in 2020’s pandemic-upended stock market. Now it’s helping speed changes to the world’s most famous equity benchmark.

In the biggest reshuffling in seven years, ExxonMobil, Pfizer and Raytheon Technologies were kicked out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, making way for Salesforce.com, Amgen and Honeywell Inter-national to enter the 124-year old equity gauge a week from today. The actions were prompted when Apple, cur-rently 12 percent of the 30-stock index, announced a stock split that reduced the sway of com-puter and software companies in the price-weighted average.

The changes mark a

stunning fall from grace for Exxon, the world’s biggest company as recently as 2011, whose ejection reflects the steady decline of commodity companies in the American economy. They represent an equally significant embrace of technology firms, whose giant rallies have caused the Dow to trail other indexes this year.

“Those changes are a sign of the times, out with energy and in with cloud,” said Chris Zaccarelli (pictured), chief investment officer for Inde-pendent Advisor Alliance.

The latest reshuffling comes as technology companies have surged past every other industry in a trend amplified by this year’s Covid 19 lockdowns. While the Dow average is still 4.2 percent off its February record, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is almost 20 percent above

the pre-pandemic all-time high.While any change to the

Dow is notable, the ejection of Exxon Mobil, the longest-serving member, marks a par-ticularly rapid shift in fortunes. Worth $525bn in 2007 and

more than $450bn as recently 2014, the stock had fallen in four of six years before 2020 and is down another 40 percent since January. It’s now worth about $180bn.

Founded in 1999, Salesforce was one of the best-performing stocks of the bull market fol-lowing the global financial crisis, rising 27-fold since March 2009. Amgen is among the world’s biggest biotechnology com-panies with a market value of about $137bn, though it’s replacing a company, Pfizer, that is about $90bn larger.

Stocks of the affected com-panies were quick to price in the shake-up. Shares of Exxon dropped 2 percent as of 6:10pm in New York, in after-hours trading, while Raytheon fell 3 percent. Honeywell climbed 3.5 percent and Salesforce.com rose 4 percent. Pfizer dropped 1.9

percent and Amgen rose 4 percent.

“This action does not affect our business nor the long-term fundamentals that support our strategy,” Exxon said in an email. “Our portfolio is the strongest it has been in more than two decades, and our focus remains on creating shareholder value by responsibly meeting the world’s energy needs.” This is the second time a stock split by Apple has had big consequences for the Dow. The first was in 2014, when its 7-for-1 split lowered the price of its shares enough to make inclusion fea-sible. Apple’s decision to do it again this year effectively lowered its sway on the price-weighted average, making the influence of technology com-panies too small in the eyes of the Dow’s handlers.

Under-representation in

technology has penalized the Dow in 2020, when it has fre-quently trailed the market-cap weighted S&P 500, whose con-centration on megacap com-panies like Amazon and Alphabet has juiced its returns. Neither of those companies are effectively eligible for the Dow given their $1,000-plus share prices.

The blue-chip index weights its constituents by price rather than market value, making it dif-ferent from the broader S&P 500. A committee chooses members in an effort to maintain “adequate” sector representation and favours a company that “has an excellent reputation, demon-strates sustained growth and is of interest to a large number of investors,” according to its website. Other major indexes add and subtract members on a rules-based process.

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Mickelson fires 10-under 61 on debut at PGA Tour Champions circuit

18 WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020SPORT

Ailing Djokovic advances, Serena claws out victoryAFP — NEW YORK

World number one Novak Djokovic battled through neck pain on the way to a 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 victory over Ricardas Berankis at the Western & Southern Open, where second seed Dominic Thiem crashed out.

Djokovic, who pulled out of doubles with a sore neck on Sunday, made it through to the round of 16 despite the ailment, for which he received treatment on court.

“It’s getting better,” he said after the 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 win.

“It’s been four days. It’s not yet where I’d like it to be but it’s heading in the right direction.”

That’s good news with the US Open starting on August 31 on the same New York hard-courts hosting this week’s tour-nament, which was moved from Cincinnati to establish a quarantine bubble for the upcoming Grand Slam.

Djokovic twice went down a break in the second set, but broke back both times. He let out a roar when he broke for a 5-4 lead then calmly served it out.

He next faces American Tennys Sandgren, a 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) winner over 15th-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The upset of the day was at the opposite end of the men’s draw, as 32nd-ranked Filip Krajinovic of Serbia toppled Austria’s Thiem 6-2, 6-1.

Thiem, who pushed Djokovic to five sets in an Aus-tralian Open runner-up finish in January, couldn’t find his

rhythm in his first match since the ATP tour resumed after a five-month coronavirus hiatus.

“It was just a horrible game by myself,” Thiem said. Didn’t play well at all, didn’t get any rhythm.

“I had really troubles with returning.”

Krajinovic lined up a meeting with Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, who ousted 14th-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dim-itrov 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.

Former world number one Andy Murray also notched an upset, surprising world number seven Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 for his first win over a top-10 player in more than three years.

The Scot was facing defeat when Zverev served for the

match at 5-4 in the third, but reeled off three straight games to seal the win.

Murray won the Cincinnati Masters in 2008 and 2011, but the former world number one is now ranked 129th after a string of injuries, including a pelvic injury at the Davis Cup last November that, combined with the ATP’s pandemic shutdown, kept him out of com-petition until this week.

In women’s action, third-seeded Serena Williams bucked the upset trend that saw top seed Karolina Pliskova and number two Sofia Kenin ousted on Sunday.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion battled back from the brink against Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus, dominating a

third-set to win 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (7/0).

Williams dropped four straight games in the second set against the hard-hitting left-hander, who has never won a WTA title.

After rallying from 0-40 down in the opening game of the third she looked to have turned the tide with a service break on the way to a 3-0 lead.

Serving for the match at 5-3 in the third, Williams was broken to love, Rus winning the next two to give herself a chance to serve it out.

She was broken, and Wil-liams crushed her in the tie-breaker to wrap up a bruising victory in two hours and 49 minutes.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns a shot to Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania during the Western & Southern Open.

NBA: Miami Heat finish first-round sweep of Indiana PacersREUTERS — NEW YORK

Bam Adebayo collected a game-high 19 rebounds to go with 14 points, leading the fifth-seeded Miami Heat to a 99-87 victory over the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers and a four-game sweep of their first-round Eastern Conference play-off series near Orlando.

The Heat advanced to the Eastern semi-finals, where they await the winner of the first-round match-up between top-seeded Mil-waukee and eighth-seeded Orlando.

Kelly Olynyk’s layup gave the Heat the lead for good in the fifth minute of the second quarter, and Miami went on to lead by as many as 13 points in completing its first-ever play-off sweep of Indiana.

Goran Dragic paced Miami with 23 points, while Tyler Herro added 16 and Olynyk had 11. Victor Oladipo led the Pacers with 25 points, and Myles Turner notched 22 points and 14 rebounds. TJ Warren added 21 for Indiana.

Milwaukee Bucks 121 - Orlando Magic 106

Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo totaled 31 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, and fellow All-Star Khris Middleton caught fire late to push top-seeded Mil-waukee past eighth-seeded Orlando to take a com-manding 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round play-off series.

It was the most

competitive the Magic have been since their Game 1 upset. Orlando hung around until the fourth quarter, when Milwaukee opened on a 20-5 blitz to open up a 102-83 advantage. Middleton scored 13 of his 21 points during the stretch, including three 3-pointers.

Magic center Nikola Vucevic finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Markelle Fultz added 15 points (including three go-ahead buckets in the third quarter), seven assists and five rebounds. Orlando also made 18 3-pointers, a nec-essary counter to a stingy Bucks defense that focuses on protecting the rim.

Oklahoma City Thunder 117 - Houston Rockets 114

Dennis Schroder con-verted a key turnover into a layup and Oklahoma City evened its Western Con-ference first-round series with Houston with a victory in Game 4.

Oklahoma City erased a 15-point, third-quarter deficit to post a second consecutive victory and square the series at two games apiece with Game 5 set for Wednesday.

Schroder scored 30 points off the bench to lead the Thunder, while Chris Paul added 26 points, six rebounds and three steals. James Harden led Houston with 32 points, 15 assists and four steals, and Eric Gordon added 23 points. Houston attempted an NBA posts-eason-record 58 shots from 3-point range, converting 23.

Don’t burst coronavirus bubble, RCB skipper Kohli warns IPL stars

AFP — DUBAI

India captain Virat Kohli (pictured) has warned Indian Premier League players of serious “repercussions” for the tournament if they breach coro-navirus safety rules.

With all eight teams now in quarantine in the United Arab Emirates ahead of the Sep-tember 19 start, the Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper said: “One mistake from us could literally spoil the whole tournament.”

The IPL, originally scheduled to start in March, has been moved from India because of the coronavirus’s raging

spread across the country, now the third worst hit in the world.

Kohli made the warning in a virtual meeting with players which was posted online by the Bangalore team. All teams are in quarantine in Dubai hotels for six days, during which each player will undergo three coro-navirus tests.

Players can only start training for the behind-closed-doors tour-nament after passing the tests, and in the tour-nament bubble they will be barred from contact with anyone w h o h a s n ’ t undergone the quar-antine period.

But con-c e r n s r e m a i n a b o u t players

breaking the bio-security con-ditions before the seven-week tournament wraps up on November 10.

Several sportsmen have found it tough to stay within coronavirus bubbles, including cricketers. England bowler Jofra Archer missed the second Test against the West Indies for a

breach, and Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez had

to go into self-isolation after a golf outing during their tour of England.

The IPL is a massive earner for

the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and a contract to be signed

by each player is understood

t o

impose financial penalties for coronavirus breaches.

The pre-IPL quarantine has been a culture shock for many of the top stars now in Dubai.

South Africa paceman Chris Morris said he was “a little bit nervous” about linking up with Bangalore in Dubai.

Rajasthan Royals’ Jaydev Unadkat said: “We are not allowed to go out of the room. We have been asked to stay inside our rooms. To kill time I have brought FIFA games.”

Another unnamed player told the Indian Express news-paper of his surprise on entering the luxury Dubai hotel. “We thought it was rose water as we walked into the lobby, but it turned out to be sanitiser.”

The world’s richest Twenty20 tournament will be held in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai over 53 days. It is the third time the IPL has been held outside India, although previ-ously it was moved to avoid clashes with elections.

Players can only starttraining for the behind-closed-doors tour-nament after passing the tests, and in the tour-nament bubble they will be barred from contact with anyone w h o h a s n ’ t undergone the quar-antine period.

But con-c e r n sr e m a i na b o u t players

breach, and Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez had

to go into self-isolation after a golf outing during their tour of England.

The IPL is amassive earner for

the Board of Control for Cricket in India, anda contract to be signed

by each player is understood

t o

One mistake from us could literally spoil the whole tournament: RCB captain Virat Kohli

Mickelson fires 10-unndddddeeeerrrr61 on debut at PGA TTTooooouuuurrr Champions circuitAFP — LOS ANGELES

Phil Mickelson impressed in his PGA Tour Champions circuit debut firing 11 birdies in a 10-under par 61 at Ozarks National

to lead the Charles Schwab Series event.Mickelson birdied three of the par-fives on the

course at Ridgedale, Missouri, storming home with five straight birdies to lead Australian David McKenzie by one stroke.

Five-time major champion Mickelson became eligible for the Champions circuit when he turned 50 in June. He said earlier this season he didn’t expect to take advantage this season as he pre-

ferred to keep his focus on the PGA Tour.But he changed his mind after he

missed the cut at the Northern Trust at TPC Boston on Friday and was

eliminated from the FedEx Cup Play-offs. He opened with a birdie, then drove

the green at the 350-yard par-four third and was five-under through seven before a

bogey at the ninth. He added another birdie at 11 then

rolled in a 20-footer at 13 to launch his closing run -- which also included birdie

bombs at 15 and 16. “I had a lot of fun,” said Mickelson,

who played alongside Retief Goosen and Steve Stricker.

Phil Mickelson

19WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020 SPORT

Sprint king Bolt tests positive for COVID-19AP – KINGSTON

Jamaica’s Minister of Health says legendary sprinter Usain Bolt has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Minister Christopher Tufton said Bolt was aware of the results and his recent contacts were being traced.

“It is now public knowledge that Mr. Bolt has tested positive. He has been for-mally notified, I’m told by the authorities,’’ Tufton told reporters on Monday evening. “It triggers an approach to questioning, interrogation if you will, which we follow through with contact tracing.”

Bolt said on social media on Monday that he was awaiting the result of a coro-navirus test and was quarantining himself as a precaution.

The 34-year-old retired sprinter who won gold in the 100 and 200 meters at the last three Olympics posted a video on social media to explain the situation.

“Good morning everybody. Just waking up. Like everybody, checked social media and saw that social media says I’m confirmed of COVID-19,” he said. “I did a test Saturday, because I work. I’m trying to be responsible, so I’m going to stay in and stay here for my friends.”

Bolt, who appeared to be lying in bed in the video, said he has no symptoms.

“Just to be safe, I’ll quarantine myself and just take it easy,” he said.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness said police are investigating the case. He didn’t specify what offense might have been committed, though Jamaica has imposed social distancing requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They’re looking into all aspects of the matter. So no one is going to be treated with any exemption or given any special treatment. All Jamaicans have a duty,” he said.

Jamaica has had fewer than 1,700 cases, a relatively low number in a country of nearly 3 million.

On the track, Bolt was known for his poses - his “Lighting Bolt” became iconic - and of course his post-race celebrations. His speed and charisma made his sport can’t-miss viewing whenever he lined up in the blocks.

Bolt set the world records in the 100 and 200 meters at the 2009 world championships in Berlin. He retired in 2017.

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Speculation grows over Suarez's future at Barca

Brazil legend Ronaldinho released in ParaguayAP – ASUNCION, PARAGUAY

Retired Brazilian football star Ronaldinho was released from house arrest Monday after spending five months detained in Paraguay for entering the country with a false passport.

Paraguayan judge Gustavo Amarilla handed down a sus-pended sentence of two years in prison for Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto de Assis Moreira, and granted their release. The brothers will also have to pay a fine of $200,000 between the two of them.

Both were arrested last March for possession and use of false Paraguayan passports with which they entered the country to conduct business activities.

He was earlier released from a high-security jail in Paraguay but ordered to serve house arrest at a luxury hotel while he was investigated. Ronaldinho will be able to return to Brazil immedi-ately. Defense attorneys Tarek Tuma and Alcides Cáceres said their clients will establish resi-dence in Rio de Janeiro.

Ronaldinho, a world champion with Brazil in 2002 and a former star of Barcelona, Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, among other clubs, turned 40 years old in Paraguay.

He came to the country invited by a local foundation. Ronaldinho had his Brazilian passport seized at home due to an investigation, but the doc-ument was returned to him in September. The former Bar-celona star could have spent up to five years in jail.

England call up Maguiredespite trial in GreeceREUTERS – LONDON

England defender Harry Maguire (pictured) was called up to the Nations League squad yesterday despite the Manchester United captain having last week been detained by police over a brawl on the Greek island of Mykonos.

Centre back Maguire pleaded not guilty and was released from police custody after his arrest on Thursday. The 27-year-old was being represented by his lawyers in court at a hearing yesterday.

“It is clearly a decision that is not straightforward and a decision that I could only take on the information I have,” Southgate told a news con-ference after selecting Maguire.

“I have spoken to Harry, I have the insight to the story which is very different to what is being reported. Clearly if facts change or information changes, I have to review that decision.

“Harry’s been an out-standing character for us. I’ve no reason to doubt what he’s telling me and it’s important he knows he’s got my support at this moment.”

But the England manager said Maguire did have regrets about how the incident had affected the team.

“Harry regrets the fact he has brought that sort of focus and attention to the team - he apologised for that - but also has his own side of the story,” added Southgate.

England captain Harry Kane is available for the Nations League matches against Iceland and Denmark

next month despite currently being in quarantine following a trip to the Bahamas.

Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood, Man-chester City’s Phil Foden and fellow midfielder Kalvin Phillips of Leeds United will all have chance to make their international debuts.

Goalkeeper Dean Hend-erson, back at Manchester United after a loan spell with Sheffield United last season, also earns a call-up along with regular first-choice keeper Jordan Pickford and back-up Nick Pope.

Midfielder Jack Grealish, who helped Aston Villa retain their Premier League status last season, has not been included in the squad nor has Burnley defender James Tarkowski.

With Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw injured, there is no recognised left back in the squad, meaning one of the right backs will have to switch sides, which Southgate conceded was “not ideal”.

His England side have not played since November last year due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pan-demic, which also forced Euro 2020 to be pushed back a year.

England face Iceland on September 5 in Reykjavik before taking on Denmark in Copenhagen on September 8.

Liverpool’s Williams gets first Wales callREUTERS – LONDON

Wales have handed Liverpool teenager Neco Williams (pictured) a maiden senior call-up for September’s Nations League matches, while Gareth Bale was also included in Ryan Giggs’ squad yesterday.

Williams, 19, made 11 appearances for Premier League champions Liverpool in all competitions last season. The full back is one of two new faces in the 26-man squad along with Swansea City’s 20-year-old centre back Ben Cabango.

Bale has been selected for national team duty after making just two appearances for Real Madrid since Spanish football returned in June after the novel coronavirus lockdown.

Striker Hal Robson-Kanu has returned to the Wales set-up for the first time since 2017 after previously announcing his retirement from international football.

Midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who has been linked with a move away from Juventus by Italian media, was also included along with free agents Ashley Williams and Chris Gunter.

Wales visit Finland on Sep-tember 3 before returning to Cardiff to play Bulgaria three days later.

REUTERS – BARCELONA

After six years sprinkled with goals that have brought Barcelona 13 trophies, Luis Suarez may be heading for an unceremonious exit from the Camp Nou.

The Uruguayan was Barca’s second-highest scorer last season behind captain Lionel Messi. But speculation about his future has grown since he was absent from a list of players Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu declared were not for sale as he promised big changes after the side’s seismic 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Catalan radio station Rac1 reported on Monday that the striker had been told by new Barca coach Ronald Koeman that he was not in his plans for next season.

Spain’s sports papers followed suit on Tuesday: “Adios Suarez” read the front cover of Barcelona-based Sport, while the 33-year-old also appeared on the front of the other three national sports dailies.

“Koeman doesn’t want them”, said Mundo Deportivo, picturing Suarez, midfielders Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal and defender Samuel Umtiti. “The clear out begins”, said newspaper AS, while Marca showed Suarez walking out of a door below the headline ‘Clean up at Barca’.

Barcelona and Suarez’s repre-sentative did not wish to comment on the reports, although the Uru-guayan made his discontent known

in a Sunday interview with news-paper El Pais.

“People are talking about the names the president gave, of the changes that could happen, but no-one has told me they want to get rid of me,” he said.

“I’ve spent six years at Barca - enough time for them to tell me what they think.” Suarez has scored 198 goals in 283 games for Barca and overtook Laszlo Kubala as the club’s third-highest scorer of all time last July, only trailing the late Cesar and runaway leading scorer Messi.

Suarez recognised that he was among those blamed for the humil-iating loss to Bayern, the club’s heaviest defeat ever in European competition, but said the answer was not to get rid of every player who had spent a long time at the club.

“Everyone looks at those who have spent the most time at the club. That’s normal, but it’s also foolish,” added Suarez, who joined Barca from Liverpool in 2014 for a then club record fee of 82 million euros.

“Look at when Real Madrid were beaten by Ajax last year and they said Toni Kroos was finished, they wanted to retire Luka Modric, they said Sergio Ramos was a disaster and no-one was worth anything.

“Then the next year they did better, and everyone was saying they were all superstars. Everyone knows when there is a defeat people take shots at everyone. I honestly believe there is a lack of coherence, patience and above all memory.”

Sheikh Hamad becomes President of Qatar SC

QNA – DOHA

H E Sheikh Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani won the presidency of the Qatar Sports Club for the 2020/2024 session after the second list, which included H E Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Nasser Al Thani and Ali Al Mannai, withdrew from the elections before the General Assembly meeting that was held on Monday.

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad announced during the General Assembly meeting his official withdrawal in appreciation of Sheikh Hamad, who is a symbol of Qatar Sports Club.

The meeting, which was attended by a number of members of the General

Assembly, discussed many items on the agenda, including the financial report, during which Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad said that the club’s financial position was good.

The members’ proposals were also discussed, and the election and membership affairs committee was formed for the next session, consisting of five persons, headed by Ahmed Mohammed Al Kuwari, and the membership of Mohammed Rabia Al Kuwari, Mohammed Hamid Al Midfa, Mohammed Ali Al Kubaisi and Talal Ali Al Mawlawi. The list of alternate members included Fahad Abdullah Al Maliki, Khalifa bin Abdulaziz and Khaled Abdullah.

QSL officials, coaches meet ahead of new season's kick-offTHE PENINSULA – DOHA

As part of preparations and arrangements being made ahead of the launch of 2020-21 season QNB Stars League, the Qatar Stars League (QSL) held a co-ordination meeting with club coaches at its head-quarters in Al Bidda Tower, in accordance with the precau-tionary measures and general plan.

The meeting was attended by Ahmed Khellil Abbassi, Executive Director of Compe-titions and Football Devel-opment at the QSL, Neji Jouini, Executive Director of the Ref-erees Department of Qatar Football Association, and its members Abdullah Al Balooshi and Khaled Saleh.

The attendees thanked the efforts made by all clubs during the 2019-20 league

championship and for their commitment to the protocol that led to successful resumption of football activity and matches.

The importance of such meetings was emphasized, in line with the continuous com-munication process and co-ordination with the aim of developing football and raising the technical standards of tournaments and players.

At the meeting, the general plan for the 2020-21 season’s league championship, which will start on September 3, was reviewed.

Preparations being made by the clubs and the health protocol for the next stage were discussed in addition to the remarks by some coaches and attendees, which were taken into account, and queries were answered.

ENGLAND SQUAD GOALKEEPERS: Dean

Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope

DEFENDERS: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Eric Dier, Joe Gomez, Michael Keane,

Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Kieran Trippier, Kyle

Walker MIDFIELDERS: Phil Foden,

Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse, Harry Winks

FORWARDS: Tammy Abraham, Mason

Greenwood, Danny Ings, Harry Kane, Marcus

Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling

WALES SQUADGOALKEEPERS: Wayne

Hennessey (Crystal Palace), Danny Ward (Leicester City),

Adam Davies (Stoke City) DEFENDERS: Chris Gunter, Ashley Williams, Ben Davies (Tottenham), Conner Roberts (Swansea City), Tom Lockyer

(Charlton Athletic), Ethan Ampadu (Charlton Athletic),

James Lawrence (Anderlecht), Ben Cabango (Swansea City),

Neco Williams (Liverpool) MIDFIELDERS: Aaron Ramsey (Juventus), Jonathan Williams

(Charlton Athletic), Harry Wilson (Liverpool), David Brooks

(Bournemouth), Matthew Smith (Manchester City), Daniel James (Manchester United), Will Vaulks (Cardiff City), Joe Morrell (Bristol City), Dylan Levitt (Manchester

United) FORWARDS: Gareth Bale (Real

Madrid), Hal Robson-Kanu (West Brom), Tyler Roberts

(Leeds United), Rabbi Matondo (Schalke), Kiefer Moore (Cardiff

City)

Luis Suarez

AFP – SOUTHAMPTON

England paceman James Anderson cemented his place in cricket history by taking his 600th Test wicket as the rain-marred third and final Test against Pakistan at Southampton ended in a draw yesterday.

Fresh downpours prevented play on the last day until 1515 GMT, meaning England, who were 1-0 up in the series, did not have enough time to force a victory.

But despite the tame end to the series, all eyes were on Anderson and the 38-year-old did not disap-point, striking with his 14th ball of the day to reach the 600-wicket milestone.

Defying a docile pitch, he pro-duced a rising delivery that moved away from Pakistan captain Azhar Ali, a first-innings century-maker, with England skipper Joe Root holding a head-high catch at first slip.

There was applause and cheers from Anderson’s team-mates, with the nick off the shoulder of Azhar’s bat clearly audible at an empty Ageas Bowl.

Azhar’s exit for 31 left Pakistan, following on, 109-3 -- still 201 runs adrift of England’s first innings 583-8 declared.

After Anderson struck, the remaining energy in the contest appeared to drain away and a draw was agreed as the match entered the last hour.

The result meant England secured their first series win over Pakistan in a decade.

Anderson is only the fourth bowler -- and first paceman -- to reach the mark of 600 Test wickets.

The only men ahead of him in the all-time Test list are three retired spinners -- Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Australia’s Shane Warne (708) and India’s Anil Kumble (619).

Kumble tweeted: “Congratula-tions @jimmy9 on your 600 wickets! Massive effort from a great fast bowler. Welcome to the club.”

Former Australia paceman Glenn McGrath, whose tally of 563 wickets was passed by Anderson in 2018, told the BBC: “Absolutely incredible, I’m a big fan of Jimmy’s. Just the fact he’s still playing now, in his 156th Test match, which in itself is just incredible.

“The rigours, the stresses that fast bowlers put on their body day in day out, to turn around and front up and just work your backside off is just absolutely incredible.” After Anderson struck, Babar Azam com-pleted a 76-ball fifty featuring six fours.

But when it seemed the match was petering out, part-time spinner Root had Asad Shafiq caught by sub-stitute fielder James Bracey at short leg to leave Pakistan 172-4.

The next over saw England take the new ball to suggest they might press for victory but after just one

Stuart Broad delivery in the statutory last hour, a draw was agreed.

Babar was 63 not out, with Pakistan finishing on 187-4.

Anderson’s innings return of 2-45 from 19 overs gave him match figures of 7-101.

Zak Crawley, however, was named man of the match for his stunning 267 -- the 22-year-old Kent batsman’s maiden Test century.

Together with Jos Buttler (152) he shared an England record fifth-wicket stand of 359.

Anderson had been left just one wicket shy of 600 as a combination of poor catching, bad weather and determined Pakistan batting thwarted him on Monday.

He might even have reached the landmark late on Sunday but he was frustrated by a clutch of dropped chances.

One of those at fault was

long-time pace partner Broad, who paid tribute to his team-mate yesterday.

“It doesn’t feel two minutes ago he broke Glenn McGrath’s record at The Oval against India with such scenes of taking the final wicket to win the Test match.

“He has got better with age and is someone who has inspired me throughout my career, watching him. The last five years in par-ticular, since leaving South Africa in 2016, he’s just gone from strength to strength and he’s a role model to follow for every English cricketer and young cricketer coming through.”

SPORT | 18

Ailing Djokovic

advances,

Serena claws

out victory

SPORTSpeculation

grows over

Suarez's future

at Barca

SPORT | 19

WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2020

Tune-up for IHF World Championship: Qatar to host Four-Nation tournamentFAWAD HUSSAIN

THE PENINSULA

Qatar Handball Association (QHA) yesterday announced it will host the Qatar Interna-tional Championship later this year that will see four nations including three continental champions in action ahead of January’s IHF World Champi-onship 2021.

The QHA said the event, which will take place from December 25 to 29 will feature Asian champions Qatar, European champions Spain, and South American winners Argentina besides African runner-up Tunisia.

The four-team competition will give Qatar a fine tune-up for the IHF Men’s Handball World Championship - Egypt 2021 that will take place from January 13 to 31.

The teams are currently waiting for the draw of the World Championship, which will be held on September 5 at the Giza Pyramids Plateau.

A total of 30 teams have already qualified for the

tournament while the two remaining teams will be decided later. It will be the first that 32 teams will compete in t h e I H F W o r l d Championship.

The World Championship draw is expected to announce tough, exciting and thrilling games between top teams that also include Qatar, which has become a strong side under

Spanish coach Valero Rivera Lopez.

The Al Anabi qualified for the tournament after winning the Asian Men’s Championship 2020 - their fourth

consecutive continental title after their triumphs in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 editions.

Qatar have made seven appearances in the World Championship, with a second

place in Doha 2015 edition their best result in the event. In doing so, they became the first Asian side to play the semi-finals, and the first non-European team to qualify for the final.

Team Qatar to undergo two training camps

According to details, the Qatar team management is planning to start preparations for the World Championships from October that will involve two training camps and several practice matches besides par-ticipation in the Qatar Interna-tional Championship .

One training camp will be held in Doha while the national team will also travel abroad for the other training camp.

Denmark, who defeated Norway in the 2019 final, will defend their world crown in Egypt. The 32 participating teams will be divided into eight groups of four teams, with top three teams from each group will be qualifying for the main round.

The event, which will take place

from December 25 to 29 will

feature Asian champions Qatar,

European champions Spain,

and South American winners

Argentina besides African

runner-up Tunisia.

Anderson becomes first pacer to take 600 Test wickets as England bag series

Leading wicket-takers

in Tests Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) - 800 in 133 matchesShane Warne (Australia) - 708 in 145 matchesAnil Kumble (India) - 619 in 132 matchesJames Anderson

(England) - 600

wickets in 156

matches

Glenn McGrath (Australia) - 563 in 124 matchesCourtney Walsh (West Indies) - 519 in 132 matchesStuart Broad (England) - 514 in 143 matchesDale Steyn (South Africa) - 439 in 93 matchesKapil Dev (India) - 434 in 131 matchesRangana Herath (Sri Lanka) - 433 in 93 matches

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ENGLAND, 1st Innings 583-8 decPAKISTAN, 1st Innings 273PAKISTAN, 2nd Innings (Following-on, overnight 100-2)

Shan Masood lbw b Broad ................................... 18Abid Ali lbw b Anderson .......................................42Azhar Ali c Root b Anderson .................................31Babar Azam not out ..............................................63Asad Shafiq c sub (Bracey) b Root ...................... 21Fawad Alam not out ................................................0Extras (lb9, nb3) ................................................... 12Total (4 wkts, 83.1 overs, 360 mins) ....... 187Did not bat: Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem ShahFall of wickets: 1-49 (Masood), 2-88 (Abid), 3-109 (Azhar), 4-172 (Shafiq)Bowling: Anderson 19-3-45-2; Broad 14.1-5-27-1; Woakes 8-2-14-0; Archer 14-8-14-0; Bess 21-4-54-0; Root 6-0-17-1; Sibley 1-0-7-0 (3nb)ENGLAND: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (capt), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wkt), Chris Woakes, Dom Bess, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James AndersonResult: Match drawnPlayer of the match: Zak Crawley (ENG)Series: England win three-match series 1-0England player of the series: Jos ButtlerPakistan player of the series: Mohammad Rizwan

SCOREBOARD

Anderson is only the

fourth bowler to reach the

mark of 600 Test wickets.

The only men ahead of him in the

all-time Test list are three retired

spinners -- Sri Lanka’s Muttiah

Muralitharan (800), Australia’s Shane

Warne (708) and India’s Anil Kumble

(619).

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MuraMuralithlithaaran (800), Australia’s Shane

Warne (708) and India’s Anil Kumble

( )(619).

James Anderson celebrates after taking the wicket of

Pakistan’s Azhar Ali, his 600th Test scalp, yesterday.

HISTORY-MAKER ANDERSONBORN: July 30, 1982 in Burnley, LancashireMAJOR TEAMS: England, Auckland, Lancashire� Made his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's in May 2003,

having broken into the ODI team the previous year.� Took his 100th Test wicket by dismissing South

Africa's Jacques Kallis in 2008 and his 200th by remov-ing Australia's Peter Siddle in the 2010-11 Ashes series.

� Had New Zealand's Peter Fulton caught at sec-ond slip by Graeme Swann in 2013 to become only the fourth Englishman to reach the milestone of 300 Test wickets.

� Became England's highest wicket taker in his 100th Test, claiming his 384th victim against West Indies in 2015.

� Claimed his 400th Test wicket when he had New Zealand's Martin Guptill caught at slip by Ian Bell later that year.

� Became only the sixth bowler to take 500 Test wickets when he ripped West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite's mid-dle stump out of the ground with an inswinger in 2017.

� Took his 564th wicket in 2018 to overtake Australia's Glenn McGrath to become the leading fast bowler in Test history.

� Claimed his 28th five-wicket haul against South Africa in January to move past Botham on the all-time list of Test five-fors in an England jersey.

� After a frustrating start to the summer, during which he had to dismiss talk of retirement, Anderson claimed his 600th Test wicket by dismissing Pakistan's Azhar Ali.