The Ministry of Interior (MoI) yesterday announced that 164 people have been referred to the Public Prosecution for not wearing face masks in places where they are mandatory.The authorities have also referred seven persons to the Public Prosecution for violating the rule specifying the maximum number of people allowed in a vehicle, the MoI said in a statement on social media.Under the rules, a maximum of four people are allowed in a vehicle, including the driver, except when the occupants are members of the same family.The measures are in line with a Cabinet decision and Decree Law No 17 of 1990 on the prevention of infectious diseases, as well as the precautionary and preventive measures put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country, the ministry explained. The authorities have called on the public to adhere to the Covid-19 precautionary and preventive measures in force to ensure their safety and that of others.The MoI has been issuing reminders to the public on the need to follow the

Covid-19 measures through regular messages on social media. “Compliance with precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus is your national and moral duty. Please ensure that there are no more than four persons, including the driver, in a car while going out except for (members of) the same family,” it tweeted yesterday. “Wearing a face mask protects you and others from the risk of coronavirus and reflects your commitment to public safety.”“Compromising on safety measures against the coronavirus in commercial complexes and public places will lead to an increase in the spread of infection,” the MoI had said in a recent post on social media. Using a face mask, practising social distancing and keeping the Ehteraz app activated are essential measures to control the spread of Covid-19, the MoI said.

GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978FRIDAY Vol. XXXXI No. 11731

November 13, 2020Rabia I 27, 1442 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Ooredoo gesture to customers overservice disruption

Travellers from Qatar exempt from UK quarantine list

Amir holds phoneconversation with Afghan president

Ooredoo has announced its engineers have resolved network issues which occurred while upgrading the main server, and led to an outage recently and aff ected mobile services. The telecom operator also said as a gesture of thanks, its postpaid customers will have 50% of the monthly charge removed from their November bill, while Hala customers have been given 500 Flexi points they can use until the end of November. Page 3

The UK has added Qatar to its list of travel corridors, the Qatar embassy in London said in a tweet yesterday. This means people arriving into the UK from Qatar are exempt from quarantine, starting at 4am tomorrow. According to information available on the UK government’s website, Qatar has been added to the travel corridor list following a decrease in risk from coronavirus in the Gulf country. Passengers arriving into the UK from Qatar will no longer need to self-isolate “so long as they haven’t been in or transited through any other non-exempt countries in the 14 days preceding their arrival”, the website states.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday held telephone conversation with Afghanistan President Mohamed Ashraf Ghani, during which they discussed bilateral relations and means to enhance them. The two sides also discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan and the Afghan peace negotiations hosted in Doha. The Afghan president expressed his thanks and appreciation to HH the Amir for Qatar’s eff orts and its constant support to establishing peace, security, and stability in Afghanistan to realise the aspirations of the Afghan people for unity and prosperity.

See Pages 5,6 & 7

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

Injaaz Stud’s Lekhraib lands sprint feature in thrilling fi nish

SPORT | Page 7BUSINESS | Page 7

IMF eyes relationship reset with biggest shareholder

Siege nations must lift anti-Qatar steps,ban on freedom of speech: UN expertBy Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

A UN Special Rapporteur has urged the Saudi-led bloc to withdraw unjust measures,

particularly those that violate human rights, it imposed on Qatar in June 2017.

Saudi Arabia, along with three other countries, announced the severing of diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5, 2017, shutting their land borders, air and sea ports, and airspace to Qataris.

“The Special Rapporteur urges the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt to immediately withdraw all sanctions / measures aimed at establishing re-strictions on freedom of expression, movement, access to property, trade barriers, and ban tariff s, quotas, non-tariff measures, including those which prevent fi nancing the purchase of medicine, medical equipment, food, other essential goods for people living in Qatar in violation of international legal standards,” UN Special Rappor-teur on the negative impact of unilat-eral coercive measures on the enjoy-ment of human rights, Alena Douhan, told reporters at a press briefi ng held at Ritz-Carlton Doha yesterday.

The UN expert was sharing prelimi-nary fi ndings of her mission to assess the impact of unilateral sanctions im-posed by the blockading countries on the enjoyment of human rights by peo-ple living in Qatar, in the four countries imposing sanctions, and other aff ected people.

Douhan, who was in Doha from November 1 to 12 meeting the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and several other senior government of-fi cials, will present a full report to the UN Human Rights Council in Septem-ber 2021.

“The Special Rapporteur calls on the four states to guarantee freedom of opinion and expression by annulling all Qatar sympathy laws, to take all nec-essary legislative and organisational measures to guarantee that activities

under their jurisdiction and control are taken without any discrimination, to not initiate hatred towards people living in Qatar; and to drop all cases related to the application of the Qatar sympathy laws to guarantee that no discrimination is applied,” she said.

The Special Rapporteur said that demands to shutdown Al Jazeera and other Qatari news organisations – “the banning of them on their territories and the criminalisation of expressions of sympathy with Qatar by the King-dom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain – violate the rights of freedom of opinion and expression.”

Such act, she said, “is contrary to the international human rights obligations which are legally binding for all fi ve countries and clearly undermines free-

dom of expression, creating a chilling eff ect that stifl es civil society as well as provokes uncertainty and fear among writers and journalists.”

In her report, Douhan noted that the Four States implemented a series of concerted unilateral measures against Qatar, including the expelling of al-most 3,000 Qataris from their territo-ries; and removing to Qatar livestock belonging to Qataris.

They also blocked access to Qatar-based media channels and websites; criminalised the expression of sympa-thy with Qatar; and allegedly sponsor-ing a campaign to incite hatred or dis-trust of Qatar and Qataris over social and traditional media with references that Qatar is involved in terrorism fi -nancing and poses threats to regional security. To Page 4

‘Implement provisional measures decided in favour of Qatar’

UN expert lauds steps taken to alleviate blockade effects

The Special Rapporteur stressed the importance of fully implementing decisions and provisional measures decided by the competent international bodies, including:

families that include a Qatari, separated by the measures adopted by the four states on 5 June 2017, shall be reunited;

Qatari students aff ected by the measures adopted by the four states on 5 June 2017 and later are given the opportunity to complete their education in the four countries or to obtain their educational records if they wish to continue their studies elsewhere; and

Qataris aff ected by the measures adopted by the Four States on 5 June 2017 and later are allowed access to tribunals and other judicial organs of the four countries without

discrimination of any kind; “In accordance with customary norms of international law, all states are obliged to guarantee that activities under their jurisdiction or control in any area, including cyber space, do not aff ect the rights of other states and their nationals and residents,” Alena Douhan said.“The Special Rapporteur thus urges the Four States to guarantee that no discrimination is applied towards people living in Qatar; that sport, cultural and academic events are used to enhance co-operation and development of people without any discrimination; and that any form of incitement to hatred is addressed, discontinued and prosecuted as required by international human rights law, article 20 of the ICCPR.”

An independent UN expert lauded all the steps taken by the Qatar government to mitigate the negative eff ects of the sanctions imposed on people living in the country, including those from the four blockading countries.UN Special Rapporteur on the

negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena Douhan, highlighted the Qatar government’s eff orts to help many citizens of blockading countries who want to remain in Qatar by relaxing residency permit requirements. Page 4

Alena Douhan at the press briefing yesterday. PICTURE: Thajudeen

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Aff airs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah yesterday met with the Defence Minister of the Government of National Accord in Libya, Dr Salah Eddine al-Namrush, who is visiting Qatar. The meeting dealt with bilateral relations in the military field and the means to enhance them. The meeting also saw the signing of a co-operation agreement in training and building military capabilities. The agreement was signed between the Qatari Ministry of Defence and Government of National Accord’s Ministry of Defence. The meeting was attended by ambassador Sheikh Mohamed bin Nasser al-Thani, several off icers of the armed forces, and members of the Libyan delegation. Page 2

Qatar, Libya sign military pact

164 face action for not wearing masks

Doha uniquely positioned to deliver certainty, sustainability, excellence

The Doha 2030 Asian Games Bid Committee yesterday showcased to the OCA Evalua-

tion Committee how Doha is unique-ly positioned to deliver certainty, sustainability and excellence for the whole of Asia, at a time when it is needed most.

On their second day in Doha, the Olympic Council of Asia Evaluation Committee, was taken on a tour of the city’s extensive, existing state-of-the-art infrastructure and presented with the Bid Committee’s plans to deliver a seamless, athlete-focused

Games plan, with sustainability at its core.

The expert delegation saw fi rst-hand how Doha’s tried and tested sports venues and medical facilities, which have catered for the world’s best athletes in the world’s biggest events, are ready to provide the ulti-mate Games experience in 2030. The tour began at Al Bidda tower, home of the Supreme Committee for De-livery and Legacy of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The delegation was presented with the Committee’s im-pressive sustainability strategy and

commitment to delivering a carbon-neutral event, which will be leveraged by Doha 2030 to contribute to one of the most environmentally friendly Asian Games ever held.

The Evaluation Committee was then taken to the Aspire Dome before moving onto the world-leading Aspe-tar sports medicine hospital, the FIFA World Cup Al Bayt Stadium and the Lusail Arena, just some of the existing world class venues that feature in the Doha 2030 Games plan. Presidents of the National Federations of gymnas-tics, athletics and table tennis, and

the President of the Women’s Sport Committee joined the tour, meeting with promising young athletes, in a demonstration of the bid’s full sup-port from all levels of the Qatar sports community. Doha 2030 CEO and QOC Secretary-General HE Jassim bin Rashid al-Buenain outlined the importance of certainty and sustain-ability in the current climate.

The Evaluation Committee experi-enced the city’s ultra-modern Metro and was also given an insight into Do-ha’s wealth of history, culture and en-tertainment. Sport Pages 1,2 and 3

The Evaluation Committee at the Aspetar.The Evaluation Committee at Al Bayt Stadium, where the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 will take place.

OCA Evaluation Committee witnesses Qatar’s extensive, existing state-of-the-art infrastructure

The Ministry of Com-merce and Industry (MoCI) has issued up-

dated guidelines pertaining to the gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions on gymnasiums in the country.

The revised rules, which came into effect yesterday, al-low the reopening and use of toilets and changing rooms in gymnasiums.

“In line with the previ-ous decisions and measures taken to preserve the safety and health of Qatar’s citizens and residents and to limit the spread of Covid-19, it has been decided to make new amend-ments to the decision issued on July 28, 2020, during the third stage of the gradual lift-ing of restrictions on gymna-siums with regard to the in-structions that gyms should comply with,” the MoCI said in a statement yesterday.

Gymnasiums shall comply with the precautionary and preventive measures out-lined by the Ministry of Pub-lic Health and the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, and implement the following guidelines:

Limiting the occupancy rate in a gym by ensuring the commitment of employees and customers to maintain a safe distance of at least 3m to ensure social distancing.

Checking and measuring the body temperature of gym staff and clients upon arrival, and denying entry to individ-uals whose temperature ex-ceeds 38C.

Allowing staff and clients entry only after checking the colour code identifying their health condition on the Ehter-az app.

Only ‘Green’ code holders are allowed to enter.

Requiring staff and clients to wear masks while they are inside the gymnasium.

Requiring employees and clients to maintain a safe dis-tance of no less than 3m from each other. The area sur-

rounding each fitness trainer must be at least 2sqm in all directions.

Indoor group exercise is strictly prohibited, and fitness trainers are allowed to train only one person at a time, with a commitment to maintaining physical distancing and leav-ing a safe distance of no less than 3m.

Outdoor group exercise is allowed while maintaining physical distancing and leav-ing a safe distance of no less than 3m.

Allowing the reopening of toilets and changing rooms in gyms.

Providing hand sanitisers and soap in all facilities of the gymnasium.

Urging customers to bring and use their own towels, per-sonal hygiene kits, and water bottles.

Gymnasium staff must clean and sanitise gym equip-ment every two hours at a minimum.

The decision came into ef-fect yesterday and may be subject to amendments and updates based on the latest developments in this regard, the statement noted, adding that any violation of the deci-sion will subject perpetrators to legal accountability and procedures.

The MoCI had stressed that the success of each stage of the comprehensive plan for the gradual lifting of restrictions depends on the adherence of all citizens and residents to the required preventive and precautionary measures.

2 Gulf TimesFriday, November 13, 2020

QATAR

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Aff airs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah yesterday met with the Defence Minister of the Government of National Accord in Libya, Dr Salah Eddine al-Namrush, who is visiting Qatar. The meeting dealt with bilateral relations in the military field and the means to enhance them.

Defence minister meets Libyan counterpart

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met yesterday with Defence Minister in Libya’s Government of National Accord Dr Salah Eddine al-Namrush, who is currently visiting Doha. During the meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral co-operation relations and the latest developments in the situation in Libya, in addition to topics of mutual interest. HE Sheikh Mohamed aff irmed Qatar’s support for the sovereignty of Libya, and reiterated welcoming the declaration of a ceasefire in all Libyan territories.

FM meets Libyan Defence MinisterAmir condoles with Ghanaian president

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani sent yesterday cables of condolences to President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo on the occasion of the death of former president Jerry Rawlings.

Amir sends congratulations to president of Cote d’Ivoire

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani sent yesterday cables of congratulations to President of Cote d’Ivoire Alassane Ouattara on the occasion of winning a new presidential term.

Protecting human rights a strategic choice: MoIQNADoha

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) stressed yesterday that protecting human

rights is the backbone of the comprehensive policy reforms undertaken by Qatar.

This came during the speech of Director of the Human Rights Department Brigadier General Abdullah Saqr al-Mohannadi to mark the Qatar Human Rights Day which falls on November 11 of every year, which coincides with Amiri Decree no. 38 of the year 2002 establishing the Na-tional Human Rights Commit-tee.

He said that the occasion marks a renewal of Qatar’s com-mitment to human rights na-

tionally, regionally, and inter-nationally. He added that the protection of human rights is a national responsibility, accord-ing to the UN Charter.

The Director of the Human Rights Department at the Min-istry of Interior noted that the Qatari Human Rights Day is an affi rmation that commitment to human rights is a strategic right for Qatar, and that provid-ing the necessary guarantees for it has become an integral part of all state institutions, in addition to promoting the rule of law and good governance.

He highlighted the co-op-eration between the ministry and the National Human Rights Committee in terms the process-ing of human rights complaints among other initiatives related to promoting human rights.

Brigadier General al-Mohannadi emphasised that promoting and protecting human rights repre-sents the backbone of the com-prehensive reform policy pur-sued by Qatar, as development of human capital along with the protection and promotion of hu-man rights are at the top of the country’s priorities.

The Director of the Human Rights Department at the Min-istry of Interior indicated that Qatar is paying increasing at-tention to the issue of promot-ing and protecting human rights and in enhancing the legislative and institutional structure for human rights, and in the state’s commitment to present and discuss its reports with the in-ternational monitoring mecha-nisms concerned with human rights.

NHRC rings in 18th anniversaryQNADoha

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) marked Qatar

Human Rights Day, which falls on November 11 each year and coincides with the 18th anni-versary of its founding.

The NHRC celebrated the frontline volunteers and health leaderships who contributed to the work during the corona-virus (Covid-19) pandemic, in recognition and gratitude for their efforts in confronting this pandemic.

NHRC Secretary-General Mariam Abdullah al-Attiyah said the celebration of this oc-casion highlights the accom-plishments achieved by Qatar in promoting human rights, and renews the commitment to supporting the efforts towards more achievements and con-tinuing the pace of reforms and development in the legislative system that enhances the rights of citizens and residents alike, which made Qatar take the lead in the protection and develop-ment of human rights in the re-gion, with the testimony of the international community and many international organisa-tions.

She underlined the keenness of the National Human Rights Committee on making this an-nual celebration a station for evaluating the achievements in the field of human rights, and an opportunity to support the development of the human rights system in the country

through the efforts and rec-ommendations the Commit-tee submits through its various periodic reports to the Qatari government.

She praised the efforts of the volunteers who formed the “front line of defence” in the face of the coronavirus in the country, noting that the NHRC was keen to be present in the field, and to organise field trips to educate the citizens and resi-dents about this disease and the importance of preserving health.

She stated that celebrating Qatar Human Rights Day rep-resents an opportunity to em-phasise the achievements has been made by a country to de-velop and protect human rights, especially the series of laws and legislations it has adopted to develop human rights, in-cluding laws concerned with improving work and residence

conditions for expatriates. She noted the NHRC welcome of Law No. (17) of 2020 issued by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, re-garding the minimum wage for workers and domestic workers, in addition to Decree Law No. (19) of 2020 amending the pro-visions of Law No. (21) of 2015 on regulating the entry, exit and residency of expatriates, considering these measures a “milestone in the history of em-ployment in the region, so that Qatar takes the lead in adopt-ing the non-discriminatory minimum wage in the region.” She added that these decisions are a true indication that Qatar is proceeding steadily towards preserving the rights of workers and taking care of them in line with its international, regional and national commitments.

In addition, these decisions and reforms come in the con-

text of improving the living conditions of workers in Qatar, showing respect and promoting the basic principles of human rights.

She indicated that the hier-archy of reforms undertaken by the State have had a significant impact in reducing workers’ rights violations, noting Qatar’s accession to many international agreements and conventions, including accession to the In-ternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the In-ternational Covenant on Eco-nomic and Social Rights, which reflected positively on Qatar’s national strategies, policies and laws, most notably Qatar National Vision 2030, which included a package of reforms based on human rights.

In addition, the State adopted a policy of gradual transition from a caring approach based on providing social services that guarantee the rights of the citizens to an enabling approach that stimulates active citizen-ship and popular participation.

NHRC Secretary-General Mariam Abdullah al-Attiyah re-iterated that Qatar has become a pioneering country in human rights in a short time, and this is reflected through the imple-mentation of its international obligations and its firm posi-tions on regional human rights issues, noting that the Univer-sal Periodic Review Working Group of the Human Rights Council praised the rule of law that distinguishes the State and the steady presence of its in-stitutions that preserve human rights.

NHRC observes Qatar Human Rights Day on November 11 every year.

In implementation of the directives of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, two aircraft of the Qatar Amiri Air Force landed in Beirut yesterday carrying medical equipment provided by Qatar to Lebanon. The new shipment is provided by Qatar Fund for Development, to prepare two field hospitals sent on Wednesday that will be built in the cities of Tyre and Tripoli, as part of Qatar’s continuing support to Lebanon. The consignment will help to deal with the shortages taking place in hospitals as a result of the spread of the coronavirus, and to support the eff orts of the country in containing the epidemic. The two aircraft were received at Rafic Hariri International Airport by Acting Charge d’Aff aires in the Qatari embassy in Beirut Ali Mohamed al-Mutawaa. On Wednesday, two aircraft of the Qatar Amiri Air Force landed in Beirut carrying two fully equipped field hospitals with a capacity of 500 beds each.

Two aircraft carrying medical equipment arrive in Lebanon

MoCI updates guidelines for gyms Revised rules

allow reopening of toilets, changing rooms in gyms

Updated guidelines came into eff ect on Thursday

QATAR3Gulf Times

Friday, November 13, 2020

Resumption of labour recruitment approvals welcomedBy Peter AlagosBusiness Reporter

Stakeholders in Qatar’s la-bour market have lauded the Ministry of Admin-

istrative Development, Labour and Social Aff airs (MADLSA) decision to resume the process of issuing labour recruitment ap-provals from November 15.

The process was temporarily suspended following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic across all sectors here and abroad.

According to Qatar-Indone-sia Business Council president Farhan al-Sayed, the decision of MADLSA will benefi t many companies looking for human resources, especially business-es planning to embark on new projects or those already involved in ongoing major projects.

“This will not only help com-panies in Qatar to take on new projects but it also assures them of a continuous source of work-ers,” al-Sayed told Gulf Times yesterday.

“The local workforce is the backbone of Qatar’s business development. Considering that Qatar is on the verge of com-pleting major infrastructure projects related to its hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2022, having a continuous supply of workers is a guarantee that these projects will be completed on

time, if not ahead of schedule,” al-Sayed stressed. A recruitment agency specialising in the hir-ing of workers for the hospitality industry lamented that restric-tions related to Covid-19 created a huge backlog in their hiring process.

“We have a lot of pending ap-plications; at the height of the pandemic, we were unable to supply our clients in Qatar with the needed workforce because of these health restrictions,” the recruitment agency offi cial said.

The agency offi cial said, “To make matters more challenging, the suspension on overseas hir-ing coincided with the repatria-tion of many expatriates to their respective home countries, so local hiring or outsourcing was a very diffi cult process for us dur-

ing that time.” “At the height of the pandemic, we were out of work for almost four months, so we were compelled to let go of some of our employees and send them back home to cut down on costs.

“But we’re beginning to be more optimistic now that the markets have opened, and that is also why we very much welcome MADLSA’s decision. This is good news to the industry,” the offi cial added.

According to the recruit-ment agency offi cial, there is a high demand for workers now that most of the markets in Qa-tar have opened and many busi-nesses have resumed operations. “The opportunities to work abroad remain high. And in light of MADLSA’s decision, we can now resolve our backlog and to proceed with the hiring process. There is a considerable number of applicants from other coun-tries who want to fi nd employ-ment in the Qatari market,” the offi cial said.

Al-Sayed also lauded how the Ministry of Public Health ad-dressed the challenges of the pandemic and how it managed to control the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

He said the health regulations established by the government would also help assure that the health of workers in Qatar are strictly monitored.

Qatar-Indonesia Business Council president Farhan al-Sayed.

Firms await directives on Qatar Visa CentersBy Santhosh V PerumalBusiness Reporter

Qatar’s move to resume the process of issuing labour contract approv-

als will not only give confi dence to the private sector in taking up projects but also address the key issue of shortage; even as it sought more clarity, including on the opening of Qatar Visa Cent-ers (QVCs) in various global ju-risdictions.

The MADLSA (Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Aff airs) on Wednesday said it will resume the process of issuing labour re-cruitment approvals, which had been temporarily suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, from November 15. It will issue re-cruitment approvals according to the actual needs of companies and establishment.

Terming the MADLSA’s move as a right step in the right di-rection, Jayaraj Kaniyattu Ram-akrishnan, president of the Ker-ala Business Forum (KBF), said

“the government has given us the confi dence in taking up the projects.”

Although the market has opened up and there are more projects in the offi ng, he said the private sector was unable to re-spond to the increasing demand mainly due to the labour short-age.

But it (the latest move of re-sumption of the process of issu-ing labour contract approvals) will now help the businesses to respond dynamically and it has been possible because the gov-

ernment could rightly sense and gauge the pulse of the private sector,” he said, adding the pri-vate businesses have always been ready to follow and comply with the various protocols, including that of the pandemic.

“Now with (labour) shortage being addressed, the works on projects could be fastened,” said Jayaraj, who is also the regional manager of Techno Steel.

However, the KBF president sought to know whether the companies, which already had approvals to bring labour (before the pandemic) but had not uti-lised fully, need to apply afresh and also on the opening of the QVCs.

Moreover, clarity was also sought on whether the new move includes approval to project and other short term visas, consider-ing that there has been no clarity on the opening of QVCs.

In the last six months, there has been shortage of manpower due to the Covid-19 restrictions, which led to spiralling of the la-bour costs, which according to some estimates have gone up

more than 50% in the unskilled blue-collar jobs.

Firoz Salam, the country man-ager of Sarens Gulf, a leading heavy equipment rental com-pany, said the MADLSA move is the fi rst step towards normali-sation in the post Covid-19 new normal.

“It will greatly help in the la-bour mobilisation and timely completion of the projects, given the tight schedule,” he said.

The offi cial said he would wait for more details to emerge, espe-cially on the opening of QVCs, which are the focal point in the labour supply chain.

A top offi cial of a contracting company said there are cred-ible signs of buoyancy return-ing in the Qatar’s multi-billion dollar project market, especially considering the works in the free zones and special economic zones; but the issue has been shortage of labour across verti-cals. The move by the govern-ment would greatly help in the return of those people, who had lost jobs as part of manpower ra-tionalisation.

Jayaraj Ramakrishnan

Ooredoo, Qatar’s leading telecommunications op-erator, has announced its

engineers have resolved network issues which occurred while up-grading the main server, and led to an outage recently and aff ected mobile services.

In a video address to custom-ers, Ooredoo deputy group CEO and Ooredoo Qatar CEO Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulla al-Tha-ni explained the reason for the service interruption, and reas-sured customers its engineering teams had both identifi ed and fully resolved the issues that led to the outage, and were closely monitoring networks to ensure

continuation of service.Due to the failure of a main

server while conducting the up-grade, many customers found themselves unable to access their mobile services. Engineers at-tended both the aff ected main server and the relevant sub-servers and worked around the clock to both identify the source of the problem and complete the necessary works to get the net-work back up and running again as soon as physically possible.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulla al-Thani, said: “I would like to off er my apologies on behalf of all Ooredoo employees to our valued customers for the problems that occurred over the past few days, which aff ected mobile services. We realise how communication has become a cornerstone of our lives, and that’s why we worked hard, day and night, and didn’t settle until the issue was resolved once and for all, by the grace of Allah.”

Sheikh Mohamed also con-fi rmed, as a gesture of thanks to Ooredoo’s valued customers for their patience and loyalty during this time, its postpaid customers – Shahry, Qatarna, and Data plan – will have 50% of the monthly charge removed from their No-vember bill, while Hala custom-ers have been given 500 Flexi points they can use until the end of November.

Ooredoo announces complete

resolution of network issuesPostpaid customers to get 50% off November bill and prepaid customers will be given 500 Flexi points Ooredoo deputy group CEO

and Ooredoo Qatar CEO Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulla al-Thani

Ooredoo opens pre-orders for iPhone 12 series

Ooredoo has opened pre-orders for the lat-est iPhone range –

the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini. The iPhone 12 series is the technology giant’s first 5G-enabled device, much awaited in the market.

Customers can pre-order the latest iPhones via the Ooredoo website, with prices starting from QR2,999 and availability expected from November 20.

Alongside 5G capability, the new iPhone 12 series boasts the Apple-designed A14 Bionic chip – billed as the fastest chip

in a smartphone – as well as a sleek new design, unrivalled new camera systems, a Ceramic Shield front cover and edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays for an immersive visual experi-ence.

Sabah Rabiah al-Kuwari, di-rector PR at Ooredoo, said of the launch: “We know being able to get their hands on the latest, most covetable devices is a huge priority for our cus-tomers, and with Apple smart-phones being some of the most sought-after on the market, it’s imperative we’re able to offer pre-orders to ensure our

customers are among the first to own such devices. We were delighted to be able to arrange pre-orders for the long-await-ed iPhone 12, and look forward

to being able to deliver them to our customers soon.”

Customers can pre-order the new iPhone 12 of their choice at preorder.ooredoo.qa

New mobile payment app YouGo PayWay launch teasers

YouGo Online Services Ecommerce, promoters of YouGo PayWay, a new

mobile payment application be-ing launched in Qatar, has un-veiled its ‘Coming Soon’ English and Arabic teasers. YouGo Pay-Way president Sheikh Hassan bin Hamad al-Thani and vice-pres-ident Sheikh Abdulla bin Suood al-Thani launched the teasers. Managing director Dr Abdul Rah-man Karinchola presided over the ceremony.

“Following two years of devel-opment in Qatar, we are launching a safe, secure and user-friendly application,” General manager Kennath John Clark said.

“As one of the leaders in this fi eld, we have been working closely with Qatar Central Bank to ensure our product meets all their Fintech requirements. We are already THEQA Certifi ed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications and we are awaiting SSQA Certifi cation,” he explained.

“YouGo PayWay is a mobile payment application accessible through mobile phone or online, to make payments in a simple, contactless, fast and secure way for a variety of services. “Many of YouGo PayWay’s customers are

currently reliant on cash as they do not have full bank accounts or access to debit and credit cards. YouGo PayWay reduces the need for them to carry cash and is a contactless solution, satisfying the preference of most retail out-lets these days.

“Our customers can re-charge their YouGo Wallets by cash, via our growing number of agents in Qatar or, directly through debit and credit cards. The funds in the YouGo Wallet can then be used for an increasing variety of services

including Scan & Pay at our net-work of merchants or, for the pur-chase of mobile phone re-charges or fl ight tickets.

“To meet customer demand, we are adding more services in the near future like event and cinema tickets and more travel options. We will also encourage customers to download the application and re-charge their YouGo Wallets by off ering incentives such as cash backs, referral bonuses and com-petitions with YouGo Wallet refi ll prizes,” the offi cial added.

YouGo PayWay president Sheikh Hassan bin Hamad al-Thani and vice-president Sheikh Abdulla bin Suood al-Thani with managing director Dr Abdul Rahman Karinchola and general manager Kennath John Clark at the teasers launch function.

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced that a one-year closure will be implemented on Khalifa Bin Ahmad Street in Al Muraikh area, in both directions between Khaled Bin Abdullah Al Attiyah Intersection and Muraikh Rounda-bout, starting tomorrow (Saturday), and in co-ordination with the General Directorate of Traff ic. During the closure, road users are required to use surrounding streets such as Al Senbouk, Wadi Al Markh, Umm Al Hool and Al Nuqaib streets to reach Al Furousiya Street and Muraikh Roundabout to reach their destinations, as shown on the map. The diversion is to implement infrastructure development works on Khalifa Bin Ahmad Street, such as developing sewage and rainwater networks, installing street lighting, and others. Ashghal will in-stall directional signs to alert road users of this traff ic change. The Authority urged all commuters to abide by the speed limit and follow the road signs to ensure safety.

Traffic closure on Khalifa Bin Ahmad Street in Al Muraikh

MoPH reports 132,153 total Covid recoveries

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced yesterday 245 new confi rmed cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) during the last 24 hours, of which 192 are from community cases and 53 from

travellers returning from abroad who are subject to quarantine. There was also one new death, a 70 year-old who received all the necessary medical attention.

The MoPH also recorded 227 recoveries from the virus during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases that recovered in Qatar to 132,153. All new cases have been introduced to isolation and are receiving necessary healthcare according to their health status.

Measures to tackle Covid-19 in Qatar have succeeded in fl atten-ing the curve and limiting the spread of the virus and the number of new daily cases and hospital admissions is continuing to decline each week. Qatar’s proactive and extensive testing of suspected cases has enabled the authorities to identify a high number of positive cases in the community. Qatar has one of the lowest Covid-19 death rates in the world. This is a result of:

1- Very high quality of care provided through the public healthcare sector for Covid-19 patients

2- Qatar’s young population3- Proactive testing to identify cases early4- Expanding hospital capacity, especially intensive care, to ensure

all patients receive the medical care they need5- Protecting the elderly and those with chronic diseases.

Drop in humidity from tomorrow, rain and winds today: Met

A significant decrease in humidity levels is expected in the country from tomorrow, the Qatar Met department has said, while also forecasting thundery rain and strong winds at times today. Thundershowers have also been forecast in off shore areas today along with windy conditions and high seas by noon.The weather off ice yesterday tweeted that the drop in humidity will happen as the wind direction turns to northwesterly, fresh to strong, at times. There

will also be a relative fall in temperature at the beginning of next week, with the minimum ranging from 15-22C in various regions. The country had been experiencing humid conditions, marked by mist and fog in some areas at night and early in the morning, over the past few days. In a separate report issuing today’s forecast, the Met department said poor visibility is expected in the early hours due to misty to foggy conditions in some places, followed by relatively hot conditions during

the daytime. Scattered clouds are also likely, and there is a chance of rain that may turn thundery. Blowing dust is also expected at times. Off shore areas are likely to see cloudy conditions occasionally today and there is a possibility of scattered rain, which may become thundery at times.The wind speed may go up to 25 knots in both inshore and off shore areas today during thundery conditions, with the sea level rising to 8ft. The temperature is expected to range from 25-34C in Doha today.

QATAR

Gulf Times Friday, November 13, 20204

An independent UN ex-pert has lauded the steps taken by the Qatar gov-

ernment to mitigate the eff ects of the sanctions imposed on peo-ple living in the country, includ-ing those who hail from the four blockading countries.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of uni-lateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena Douhan, highlighted the

Qatar government’s eff orts to help many citizens of blockading countries who want to remain in Qatar by relaxing residency per-mit requirements.

“It (Qatar) did not stop fulfi ll-ing its duties arising from multi-lateral and bilateral international agreements and from its GCC and Arab League memberships,” she told reporters at the press briefi ng held at Ritz-Carlton Doha yesterday.

Apart from welcoming Kuwaiti eff orts for mediation, Douhan also lauded Qatar’s position of not taking any retaliatory acts, which she believes can only worsen the situation.

She cited Qatar’s adherence to the rule of law and attempts to appeal to the competent interna-

tional organisations as the means of peaceful settlement of inter-national disputes between the states involved, and its eff orts to implement international human rights standards.

Douhan said she welcomed re-cent progress of Qatar in improv-ing its domestic legislation and practice in countering terrorism, citing its active participation in the global fi ght against terrorism.

“In addition, Qatar is a party to 15 multilateral agreements relating to security and coun-ter-terrorism, and it is an ac-tive contributing member of the Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, a non-profi t foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland, and the fi rst global eff ort to support local commu-

nity eff orts to build resilience to violent extremism,” she said.

Qatar, she noted, is also known for setting examples of pioneer-ing of the promotion of freedom of expression in the region.

The Special Rapporteur said that demands to shut down Al Jazeera and other Qatar news organisations – “the banning of them on their territories and the criminalisation of expres-sions of sympathy with Qatar by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain – violate the rights of freedom of opinion and expression”.

Such an act, “is contrary to the international human rights obli-gations which are legally binding for all fi ve countries and clearly

undermines freedom of expres-sion, creating a chilling eff ect that stifl es civil society as well as provokes uncertainty and fear among writers and journalists”.

“The reported and well-doc-umented anti-Qatar incitement campaigns in the media of the four states also violate the rights to freedom of expression, as well as obligations to take all neces-sary measures to prevent and prosecute incitement to racial discrimination,” Douhan said. “Insuffi cient transparency adds to forming the feelings of fear and uncertainty that result in mental suff ering.”

The Special Rapporteur urged Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain – all GCC members – to re-establish their close co-op-

eration and use existing dispute settlement mechanisms.

She said that the “extraterri-torial character” of international crimes such as human traffi cking and terrorism, among others, can be eff ectively fought through co-operation and mutual assistance.

“The Special Rapporteur would like to call on all parties to defuse tension and tackle to-gether the seriousness or severity of hate speech that may under-mine traditional coherence and historical peaceful co-existence of people living in all fi ve coun-tries, through full respect of fun-damental human rights stand-ards protecting free speech and expression, as well as six criteria and indicators derived from the Rabat Plan of Action,” she said.

UN expert lauds Qatar’s response to blockadeUN Special Rapporteur highlights steps taken by Qatar to alleviate blockade eff ects

By Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

‘Siege nations must lift anti-Qatar steps’From Page One

“The Special Rapporteur ech-oes the calls of the UN Special Procedures mandate holders and UN treaty bodies to the Four States to review the defi nition of terrorism and terrorism fi nanc-ing in their laws and bring it into line with international hu-man rights norms, and to refrain from using anti-terrorism and other forms of national security legislation to stifl e peaceful and non-violent activities through the designation of people, jour-nalists and NGOs, including Qatar Charity, as well as others not included in the UN Security Council lists,” she stressed.

“The designation of people and companies as being involved in terrorist activity can only be done bona fi de and based on clear standards with due ac-count for fair trial and judicial guarantees under the control of the UN Security Council,” Dou-han said.

The Special Rapporteur ex-pressed serious concern over “the sudden, forced departures and the restrictions on return or entry of separated families of mixed Qatari origin; suspension of the studies of Qataris enrolled in universities in Saudi, the UAE and Bahrain; Qataris compelled to abandon real and personal property; Qataris’ and Qatar residents’ loss of employment or inability to operate their busi-nesses in those states; and Qa-taris prevented from continuing to receive medical treatment in these countries”.

The Supreme Committee for De-livery & Legacy (SC) Secretary-General Hassan al-Thawadi will

deliver a keynote address at the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) 2020 conference, taking place virtually from November 15-19.

Tasked with overseeing the infra-structure and development projects for the FIFA World Cup 2022, he will ad-dress the interrelationship of health and the Middle East’s fi rst-ever World Cup.

Al-Thawadi will join a host of expert Qatari and Qatar-based voices drawn from academia, industry, and health-care providers at the biennial event,

taking place virtually for the fi rst time as a result of the current coronavirus pandemic.

They will hold discussions that ad-dress a global community of health-care leaders on topics such as precision medicine, dementia, and cancer care.

In addition to delivering his speech, al-Thawadi will join an international panel discussing health challenges in major sporting events.

Explaining the importance of hav-ing strong local representation at the global summit, WISH chief executive Sultana Afdhal said: “WISH has been an active contributor to the continued

development of healthcare policy in Qatar within the framework of Qatar’s National Health Strategy.

“We believe it’s important to invite Qatar’s leaders to share their knowl-edge and lessons learned with our glo-bal community, so we were very happy when al-Thawadi agreed to speak at WISH this year in order to share his experience of leading the planning of a major world event.

“We’re also pleased that many other representatives of local organisations will be part of our event this year.”

Other Qatar-led discussions will be held around the topics of nursing and of

child and adolescent mental health.Local speakers include representa-

tives from the Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, the Pri-mary Health Care Corporation, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, University of Calgary in Qatar Genome Programme, Sidra Medicine, and from WISH itself.

Qatar-based panellists will be joined by leading international counterparts.

WISH is Qatar Foundation’s global health initiative.

Register to attend the virtual WISH 2020, taking place under the ban-ner of ‘One World, Our Health’ at ht-tps://2020.wish.org.qa/register/

Al-Thawadi to speak at WISH 2020 conference

Al-Thawadi: will join a host of expert Qatari and Qatar-based voices at the biennial event.

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has reminded the public of the traff ic diversion at Nuaija (The Mall) Intersection from today.Ashghal recently announced that traff ic movement at the intersection will change, and one lane heading towards the south and north will be removed starting today.

Over a period of six months, as shown on the map, the traff ic change will facilitate improvement works undertaken by Ashghal at Nuaija Intersection on D-Ring Road.The works include increasing the number of lanes to four in each direction from three, which will help raise traff ic capacity and reduce congestion.

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced a closure at Bani Hajer Interchange for traff ic coming from Doha towards Bani Hajer, from midnight today until 5am tomorrow.The closure will be implemented in co-ordination with the General Directorate of Traff ic to complete Khalifa Avenue works, Ashghal has said in a tweet.During this traff ic change, road users from Doha

heading towards Bani Hajer will be able to use the bridge towards Al Rayyan, make a U-turn at Al Shafi Interchange on Al Rayyan Rd and then use Bani Hajer Underpass leading to Bani Hajer, the authority has explained.This comes as part of a two-night closure, with Ashghal scheduling the previous traff ic change from midnight on Thursday until 7am today.

Mall Intersection traff ic change from todayAshghal announces closure at Bani Hajer Interchange

MoCI detects 120 violations of consumer protection rules

Inspection campaigns conducted by the Ministry of Commerce and In-dustry (MoCI) in October resulted

in the detection of 120 violations of consumer protection regulations in the country.

The penalties included administra-tive closures and fi nes ranging between QR5,000 and QR30,000, in line with the laws and decisions governing the work of the Consumer Protection De-partment, the statement explained.

The ministry carried out the inten-sive inspection campaigns in October to monitor the compliance of suppliers (retail outlets) with their obligations under laws and ministerial resolutions on consumer protection.

The campaigns fall within the framework of the MoCI’s eff orts to monitor markets and commercial ac-tivities in Qatar in a bid to control pric-es and uncover violations to protect consumers’ rights.

The full list of violations detected in October is as follows: selling expired products (17 violations); off ering pro-motions without obtaining the neces-sary licence from the competent de-partment (16); failing to issue invoices in Arabic (16); failing to input the stock

of strategic goods in the strategic stock management system (16); failing to note all data related to the product (12); failing to provide spare parts, delays in after-sales service and failing to pro-vide a replacement vehicle (six viola-tions); off ering discounts without ob-taining the necessary licence from the competent department (six); failing to comply with the guarantees relating to a commodity (fi ve); failing to comply with the mandatory price bulletin for vegetables and fruits (four); false or misleading product display, descrip-tion and advertising (four); failing to display prices (three); failing to dis-play prices in Arabic (three); failing to use Arabic in descriptive data relating to the displayed product (two); failing to comply with the mandatory price of Arabic bread (one); failing to off er service warranty for an appropriate period, refunding customers or reof-fering the service in an appropriate manner (one); failing to comply with safety-related conditions and the terms of the document or contract signed with the consumer (one); fail-ing to clearly display prices (one); fail-ing to issue invoices (one); failing to issue complete invoices (one); failing

to clearly defi ne the service’s features, characteristics and prices (one); failing to comply with public health and safe-ty requirements (one); failing to adhere to religious values, customs and tradi-tion (one); and imposing the purchase of certain quantities of the commodity or the purchase of a similar commod-ity (one).

The MoCI stressed that it would not tolerate any violations of the Consum-er Protection Law (Law No 8 of 2008) and its regulations and will inten-sify its inspection campaigns to crack down on illegal practices.

The ministry also noted that it would refer those who violated laws and min-isterial decisions governing the work of the department to the competent authorities, who would, in turn, take appropriate action against the perpe-trators in order to protect consumer rights.

The MoCI urged all consumers to report violations and infringements and share complaints and suggestions through the call centre: 16001, e-mail: info@moci.gov.qa, Twitter @MOCIQ-ATAR, Instagram MOCIQATAR, and the ministry’s application on iPhone and Android devices: MOCIQATAR

Bid to smuggle chewing tobacco foiled

The General Authority of Cus-toms (GAC), represented by the Maritime Customs, has

foiled an attempt to smuggle 7,493kg of a prohibited chewing tobacco

(tambaku) into the country through Hamad Port.

Informing this via a tweet yesterday, the GAC explained through a video that the contraband was found inside

three shipments of materials used in bitumen mixtures.

The GAC had earlier foiled several attempts to smuggle tambaku into Qatar.

An attempt to smuggle 7,493kg of tambaku has been foiled.

Ministry of Culture to announce Doha Prize for drama todayThe Ministry of Culture and Sports will announce today the winners of the Doha Prize for Drama Writing.The announcement will be made at a virtual ceremony hosted by Qatar National Theatre at 7pm today.The event will be telecast on the Doha 360 YouTube channel, Zoom, and through the social media platforms of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and a number of TV channels.The first winners will be announced among the five finalists in each category of the award, out of 819 participants who competed in the fields of television, cinema, and theatre scripts.The total value of the Doha Prize for Drama Writing in its three categories (Theatrical Text – TV Scenario – Film Scenario) is $300,000, with $100,000 for each category of the award, in addition to the award certificate and shield.

Doha-based Pakistani singer’s popularity growsBy Mudassir RajaStaff Reporter

A young and talented Qa-tar-based Pakistani sing-er has fast been making

his mark on the music scene as his rhythmic tones and melodi-ous voice continues to attract online views as well as crowds in live performances.

Twenty-year-old Hesham Khan, born and brought up in Qatar, is an emerging singing talent and increasingly popular YouTuber.

His fi rst composition – Yehi

Pyaar Hai (This is the love) – has so far earned him over 100,000 views on YouTube.

Though he has been singing the masterpieces of legendary Pakistani singers, his own songs can usher in new recognition and popularity for the youngster.

A graduate from American Academy School Doha, Khan has been nourishing his love for mu-sic since his childhood. “I have always loved listening to mu-sic and have been singing since my childhood. Growing up and studying in Qatar has helped me pursue the dream of making my name as a singer,” said Khan dur-

ing an interview with Gulf Times.The young talent started his

professional career in 2018 when he wrote and composed his own song. “I penned and composed the fi rst song two years ago. The song was, however, released a year later in 2019.

“My only interest is singing Urdu songs targeting a Pakistani audience. I am inspired by Atif Aslam, Ali Zafar, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and other singing greats from Pakistan. I like the love genre in music and have plans to create some quality love songs. I like to relate my songs with the lives of people as it develops a

sense of connection between the listeners and the music.”

The young singer from Doha has been gaining popularity both in Qatar and Pakistan. “My fi rst-ever live performance was in Islamabad in March 2019 when I sang before a small audience. However, just after four months, I did my second performance in the capital city where over 2,000 people were in attendance. I was little nervous but the energy of the crowd boosted my spirits and I sang in full swing.

“As far as Qatar, I have been singing for small groups for some time. The love and reception

given to me by the expatriate Pa-kistani community has been very encouraging for me. The biggest opportunity so far for me came in February this year when I per-formed in front of some 3,000 people in Al Wakrah. There was a festival organised by the commu-nity and I was invited to sing. The reception and appreciation was very reassuring for me.”

Khan sees music as a means of connectivity. “Music connects people. It communicates subtle feelings. People have diff erent inclinations in music. Some love pop and others go for classical. I personally like the love genre

and will try my best to come up with some engaging songs. I am at an early stage of my career but I will continue putting in my best.”

The youngster expressed opti-mism about the future of the mu-sic industry in Pakistan. “There is a lot of hidden or underrated young talent in the country that has regularly been producing singing legends. I think more and more opportunities should be given to the young singers. They need to be appreciated and men-tored. Audience appreciate the young singers if there is some tal-ent and something new.”

Speaking about his plans in fu-ture, Khan said: “I would fi rst like to fi nish my education. I intend to study business at university level. As far as my singing career goes, I will continue to give my best. I wish to sing for Pakistan’s fi lm and drama industries. I see there is scope and I believe I will make it there some day.”

Regarding his early life in Qa-tar, the young talent said: “Liv-ing in Qatar has helped me dream of pursuing my talent. I got the chance to learn from some Do-ha-based Pakistani singers. I got initial recognition and apprecia-tion for my music in Qatar.”

Hesham performing at Al Wakrah. (Right) Hesham giving a live performance in Islamabad.

Cric Qatar holds annual general body meetingCric Qatar has announced

a number of new initia-tives to promote cricket

in Doha and to keep the Asian community together through the medium of sports.

Cric Qatar, well-known cricket tournament organis-ers of Doha, recently held its annual general body meet-ing, wherein a new board of directors and board members were selected. The meeting started with a welcome speech by Preeti Trivedi, Mrs India UK – Community Queen. She welcomed all the directors and

guests. Speaking on the occa-sion M S Bukhari, Cric Qatar’s chief patron, congratulated all the board of directors and wished Cric Qatar all the best and praised Syed Rafi, chair-man of Cric Qatar, and his team’s dedication and com-mitment towards encouraging sports in Doha.

Syed Rafi said Cric Qatar’s board of directors comprised people from diff erent walks of life such as Gadde Srinivas and Bhoomanna of Dana World Contracting Company, S S Rao of Snowking, Ram of Positive

Trading, Mahboob Hussain of Medgulf, Zeeshan of TDG-IServ, Amjad Khan and Syed Gulrez of Indian Hyderabadi Spices Restaurant, Rabi Noor of HPG International, Preeti Trivedi of Qatar Rail, Pankaj of Qatar Design Consortium, Atif of GHD and Irfan of AECOM. Rafi added: “It is always easy to unify people and communi-ties through sports. Sports have a special place in the hearts of everyone because we all love to be active and healthy. It is also a simple but eff ective instrument to build friendship.”

COMMUNITY5Gulf Times

Friday, November 13, 2020

Ideal Indian School (IIS) and Media Pen in association with Radio Malayalam 98.6, One FM and Qatar Stories launched the school community based agriculture project – Agriventure – recently. The programme is initiated and managed in order to educate and bring awareness among students, parents and others on the importance of agricultural practices and organic farming.As part of the project, a practical farming area has been set up in the school premises. Diff erent varieties of vegetable saplings were planted on the occasion. Dr Hassan Kunhi M P, IIS president, inaugurated the project by planting a sapling. Speaking on the occasion, he said that activities of ‘Agriventure’ will provide students with hands-on

Agricultural project launched at IIS

learning experience about farming, food and nutrition and will also enhance the chance for them to adopt healthy eating and agricultural practices beyond the classroom.Syed Shoukath Ali, IIS principal; Binu Kumar, Media

Pen general manager; Anwar Hussain, 98.6 FM CEO;’ heads of sections, heads of departments, and Media Pen off icials were also present on the occasion. The students, teachers and parents took part in the programme by planting a variety of saplings.

Indian Meetup Friends takes part in Qatar Sustainability WeekQatar Green Building Council contin-

ued its national campaign to build a sustainable society with the recently

concluded fi fth edition of Qatar Sustain-ability Week (QSW). Indian Meetup Friends (IMF), community group based in Qatar, for the fi rst time participated in a wide range of sustainability-oriented activities to raise awareness among the community and to pro-mote the nation’s sustainability vision.

The workshop on ‘Wealth out of Waste’ was conducted by Hrithika Bhagat, eco-art-ist and art therapist, via Zoom. The workshop focused on a recycling initiative that works towards spreading awareness about recycling used bottles and newspapers by creating dif-ferent arts and decorative piece, and also encouraging people to segregate and dispose waste responsibly.

The second online event – Environmental Awareness Photography – was about raising awareness through photography. The initia-tive included a collection of photos contrib-uted by every member of the community. The third and last event was – Quiz Night – held

at Barwa City. The quiz had 30 questions on various topics related to global warming and

environment sustainability. Each participants was gifted a plant as a token of appreciation.

Diaspora of Malappuram inauguration todayThe Diaspora of Malappuram (DoM Qatar), an association for Malappuram district residents in Qatar, will be inaugurated today at a Zoom event, from 2pm.P Sreeramakrishnan, speaker of the Kerala legislative assembly, will inaugurate the function. Other prominent guests include: Dr Deepak Mittal, India’s ambassador to Qatar; Dr K T Jaleel, Minister of Higher Education, Kerala; P K Kunjalikutty, E T Mohammed Basheer, P V Abdul Wahab and A P Anilkumar - MPs from Malappuram district;

K Gopalakrishnan, Malappuram district collector; and professor Gopinath Muthukad, magician and motivational speaker.Achu Ullattil, prominent expatriate and cultural activist, and Abdul Rasheed Tirur, convener, will supervise the event. Other highlights of the event include; orchestra led by Atul Narukara, Edappal Viswan, and Fazila Banu, who have made a name for themselves in the field of folk music. Some other programmes are: musical shows and theme music

presentation of DoM Qatar, which is composed by Bappu Velliparamb. The launch of the DoM Qatar logo, prize distribution for the logo contest winner, and the launch of the website will also take place. DoM Qatar logo will be released by K T Jaleel. V C Mashhood, DoM Qatar president; Abdul Aziz, general secretary; and Keshav Das, treasurer; have welcomed people from Malappuram district and others to the inaugural function.

6 Gulf TimesFriday, November 13, 2020

COMMUNITY

Vibrant colours of Dominican Vibrant colours of Dominican Republic go on display at KataraRepublic go on display at KataraBy Mudassir RajaStaff Reporter

A collection of outstanding expression of the Dominican culture is on show in Doha presenting an unforgettable experience of looking at the artistic presentation of the country’s diverse colours.The ongoing exhibition – the Republic of Color – at Building 47 of Katara presents 25 works produced by as many artists. The show that continues to attract art lovers in Doha provides insight into an insular reality rich in nuances and contents, both individual and collective versions of the Dominican Republic.In his opening speech, Dr Federico Alberto Cuello Camilo, ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic to Qatar, said he felt delighted to inaugurate the first-ever exhibition from his country.

“I am delighted to be in my favourite place in Qatar – Katara. I feel even better because this time we are opening this first-ever exhibition of 25 Dominican paintings by an equal number of masters.”The exhibition is curated by artists – Danilo de los Santos, Marianne de Tolentino, Mary Loly de Severino and Myrna Guerrero Villalona. Their first selection of works was proposed late in 2016 for exhibition at the Tate Modern, museum of modern art in London.The ambassador added: “With my move to Doha, unexpected possibilities were opened up by the existence of generous hosts, fabulous venues and above all a public eager to immerse themselves in the cultural production of other countries. I am very fortunate to have the support of Dr Khaled al-Sulaiti, general manager of Katara Cultural Village. I also extend my thanks to Maryam al-Saad, international director of Katara, for

supporting this initiative so warmly from day one.”The artists whose work is on display include; Chassériau, the only Dominican disciple of Ingres; Celeste Woss Y Gil, excellent portraitist and one of the most prominent precursors of feminism; and José Vela Zanetti, the muralist of the UN headquarters in New York.“Most of the artists were born in the Dominican Republic. Others came fleeing the wars that ravaged their native lands. None could avoid being intoxicated by the Caribbean intensity of our tones, the subtleties of our feelings and the spirits that prevailed during their time in our Republic of Colour” ambassador Federico said.Covid-19 has forced people to be even more creative. Due to transport restrictions, the works are presented in photographic reproductions printed on canvas at the highest possible resolution.

“I trust that it will be unforgettable to experience this outstanding expression of the Dominican culture, a nation already famous for its music, its landscapes and its protected areas – with more than seven thousand endemic species – its infinite kilometres of white sands bathed by turquoise waters and, above all, its charming people,” the ambassador noted.He added: “I would like to conclude my remarks by thanking His Excellency Ambassador Roberto Álvarez Gil, Minister of Foreign Aff airs for the Dominican Republic, and Carmen Heredia de Guerrero, Minister of Culture for the Dominican Republic, for having allowed us to bring this to fruition so soon after the start of the new government of President Luis Abinader Corona, the first descendant of Arab immigrants to reach the constitutional presidency of the Dominican Republic.”

Dr Federico Alberto Cuello Camilo, ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic to Qatar.

BPS inter-school contest results tomorrowBirla Public School (BPS)

recently hosted the Vir-tual Vista 2020, an inter-

school competition on Zoom. A P Sharma, BPS principal, and Rajesh Pillai, vice principal (co scholastic), inaugurated the initiative. The event focused on changing the tempo of the students from curricular to co-curricular activities.

There were four major cat-egories for the students from Grade-I to XII, two for the pri-mary school and one for the middle and senior section each.

A host of events comprising quiz, speech, music, and art competitions were included. Diff erent topics portrayed cul-ture and heritage of both Qatar and India and the Qatar Na-tional Vision 2030.

Students from various Indian schools in Qatar participated and showcased their talents.

Nearly 200 students were part of the virtual competi-tion. The quiz, show and tell, and speech contestants were

livestreamed on Zoom. Entries for painting, music, and poster making were received by the host school and judged accord-ingly. The school also included a painting competition for SEN

students in keeping with the inclusive policy of CBSE.

The leadership team at BPS encouraged the participants with their motivating address. Jalees Bukhari, co-scholastic

co-ordinator, and the team of the Virtual Vista were instru-mental in hosting and organising the competitions. The results for the various competitions will be announced tomorrow.

The kindergarten (KG) section at Birla Public School (BPS) recently arranged a virtual journey for children stuck at homes during the Covid-19 pandemic. During the visit to an aquarium, the students of KG-1 virtually swam through the blue waters to experience life underwater. The KG-2 students also hitched a virtual ride – experiencing the excitement of riding a fire truck and an ambulance. To cherish their experience, the students recreated what they imbibed through the virtual tour on a canvas which will leave an everlasting imprint in their minds.

BPS conducts virtual tour for KG students

DPS-MIS holds Uthbhavam 2020

DPS-Modern Indian School (DPS-MIS) re-cently marked ‘Kerala

Day’ with a myriad of online events replete with soothing music, mesmerising dance and hues of colours. The occa-sion was graced by Sreedharan Kunniramath, DPS-MIS direc-tor; as the chief guest, Asna Nafees, school principal; vice principals, headmistress and faculty.

The programme commenced with a prayer song, followed by a welcome address by Tancy Jacob, head of Malayalam de-partment.

The chief guest appreciated the eff orts of the Malayalam de-partment for conducting such a meaningful programme that educated the attendees on the cultural heritage of the land. He also urged the students to learn the language and preserve the uniqueness and culture of the state. The principal encouraged the students to learn diff er-ent languages, understand the

value of culture, preserve their own identity and be a responsi-ble global citizen.

The virtual programme ti-tled ‘Uthbhavam 2020’ was an ebullient display of talent, aes-

thetic expressions and soulful music. The enthralling classi-cal dance, enchanting songs and fascinating poem recitation added glitz to the celebration. The event ended with the vote

of thanks proposed by Arya Saran, student of Grade-IX. The programme was anchored by Sreeparvathi Ajayakumar, Grade-VIII/H, and Zehraan Abeeb, Grade-VI/F.

DPS-MIS senior boys top debate leagueSenior boys of DPS Modern

Indian School (DPS-MIS) topped the Qatar School De-

bate League-I for Boys, which was hosted online via Discord recently.

As many as 96 speakers, 32 teams and 27 diff erent institu-tions from all over Qatar partici-pated enthusiastically.

DPS-MIS team – Aarav Bedi, Sparch Choudhary, and Sajish Varghese – topped the tourna-ment followed by the team of Jaefar Shameem, Azhar Moham-ed, Aryan Dubey in the second position.

Pratyush, Aritra Ghosh, Vidit Dalal came third. In the indi-vidual category as well, top posi-tions were secured by DPS-MIS debaters.

Jaefer and Sparsh were tied at the top spot followed by Pra-tyush in third, Azhar, Aaarav,

Vidit, Sajish and Aritra in sev-enth and Aryan in 15th position.

The tournament consisted of three rounds ranging from top-ics related to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement to ‘Energy Conservation’ and ‘Pooling Do-nation from Charities’.

The three motions gave a deep

insight and understanding of the burning issues of the world.

All in all, it was a fun-fi lled and enriching experience for everyone. “The tournament defi nitely helped the debaters enhance their experience in the fi eld of debate”, said Asna Na-fees, DPS-MIS principal.

COMMUNITY7Gulf Times

Friday, November 13, 2020

LEISURE/HOROSCOPE

Codeword

Wordsearch

Every letter of the alphabet is used at least once. Squares with the same number in have the same letter .in. Work out which number represents which letter

Puzz

les

cour

tesy

: Puz

zlec

hoic

e.co

m

Adam

Pooch Cafe

Garfield

Bound And Gagged

Sudoku

Sudoku is a puzzle based

grid. The grid ٩x٩ on a

is also divided into nine

boxes. You are given (٣x٣)

a selection of values and

to complete the puzzle,

you must fill the grid so

that every column, every

.anone is repeated

ABBAFACESSPINNERSBEACH BOYSFOUR TOPSSTEELY DANBEATLESGENESIS

SUPREMESBEE GEESHOLLIEST REXBLONDIEJETHRO TULLWHOCARPENTERS

KINKSWINGSDOORSOSMONDSEAGLESQUEEN

ARIESMarch 21 — April 19

CANCERJune 21 — July 22

LIBRASeptember 23 — October 22

CAPRICORNDecember 22 — January 19

TAURUSApril 20 — May 20

LEOJuly 23 — August 22

SCORPIOOctober 23 — November 21

AQUARIUSJanuary 20 — February 18

GEMINIMay 21 — June 20

VIRGOAugust 23 — September 22

SAGITTARIUSNovember 22 — December 21

PISCESFebruary 19 — March 20

Your intuition should be very high right now, Aries, as is your power

of manifestation. Today you need to try to curb your thoughts and

only think beautiful things, because you might find that whatever

you think about seems to manifest! Some powerful dreams and

visions can open up new lines of intellectual exploration for you that

can have a potent eff ect on your immediate future. Go to it.

Obstacles that you encountered in attaining your cherished goals

could suddenly seem to melt away, clearing the way to make your

dreams come true, Cancer. This could involve physical health, plans

for future travel and education, and self-expression. You could also feel

especially positive now, so a nice evening with someone special would

be particularly enjoyable. You feel great, so look your best, too!

Events over which you seem to have no control seem to be coming

together to make things happen for you, Libra. You might find this a bit

frightening, but don’t let it get to you. Go with the flow. You’ve worked

hard for what’s happening today, and you deserve to enjoy the results.

The exhilaration you feel could manifest as abundant physical energy.

This could be too much of a good thing. Don’t overdo.

Some fascinating conversations with friends, relatives, and others

close to you could take place today, bringing new ideas your way,

Capricorn. You have both the physical energy and the inner power

to make things happen, so you should make the most of it. Carefully

consider your needs and aspirations and formulate a plan of action

to make them a reality. The results might surprise you!

Your immediate goals and wishes might suddenly appear to come

together today, seemingly of their own accord. This might be strange,

Taurus, and perhaps a bit frightening, but your inner power is especially

strong now, and your higher self is manifesting what you’ve worked

long and hard to achieve. At times like this, it’s important to remember

those who helped you along the way.

A lot of activity could occur at home today, Leo. Perhaps you will have

visitors or do some work on the house. Your intuition is particularly

strong right now, and you could pick up too much of the thoughts

and feelings of others, even strangers. You will probably be most in

tune with your family. Take care to guard your thoughts. Today you

might find that whatever you think of could actually manifest.

Your energy is probably high today, almost to the point where

you feel you might be able to run a marathon! Seriously, Scorpio,

you’re probably thinking in terms of getting out of town for a while.

Exercising or participating in solo sports could also be appealing.

You might direct some of this energy into creative projects. Take

care not to overdo it. You could still get too tired.

Your career and financial goals should be within your grasp,

Aquarius. Both your physical energy and inner power are operating

at their peak, making this an ideal day to make clear plans. Also, if

you’ve been working to improve your health, you might see some

definite results. If not, this is a great day to start a new health and

exercise regimen. Go to it!

If you’ve been working toward manifesting extra money in your

life, Gemini, you will probably see it happen today. Copious physical

and emotional energy gives your inner power of mind over matter

a special impetus, and you might see the results you’ve wanted in

finance and other matters. Professional interests should also be

going well, as well as any personal projects. Keep up the good work!

Whatever goals you’ve been trying to reach may finally become

reality today, Virgo. Finalising everything could involve a lot of

running around in the car and meeting with other people, but you’re

likely to feel exhilarated all the same. Powerful people could prove

to be of valuable help to you. As a result, matters should be going

very well right now. Make the most of it!

Your inner power is probably at an all-time high, Sagittarius. You

should be feeling especially confident. You’re likely to have a stronger

influence on others than usual. You could exercise the power of mind

over matter. You could think of something only to have it happen at

some point during the day. Today you should guard your thoughts

and be careful what you wish for. You just might get it!

Today you’re likely to feel like the powerful creature you are, Pisces.

Your physical energy is high, and you look and feel great. Your

intellect is sharp, so if you indulge in any kind of learning process,

you will benefit greatly. Your creative energy is also high, so it’s a

good day to work on artistic projects.

Across4 Plans to produce starch (6)8 A cricket ground for the aristocracy (5)9 Instrument making some kaleidoscopic colours (7)10 Man left in – he made people laugh (7)11 Stagger from a labyrinth (5)12 Irishmen name passenger ships (9)17 Sailor a foot nearer the stern (5)19 X, defined by the crossword setter – that’s what we hear in bar (7)21 Food for stolen animals (3,4)22 Slip back over river for daggers (5)23 Slough produces gold in bulk (6)24 On Friday satellite TV is lively (6)

Super Cryptic Clues

Solution

Down1 Course for 99 in college (6)2 A wreath of flowers for Judy? (7)3 Support for an artist (5)5 Replacement for the acre! (7)6 Woman distributing hoard (5)7 Many small kernels (6)9 Poor female swan on river steamship (9)13 He appears in panto, but put on weight (7)14 Agrees with boringly orthodox people (7)15 On the border a month of malicious damage (6)16 Woolly garment for a cow? (6)18 Current tour without upper-class thespian (5)20 A tree that’s cared about (5)

Answers

Co

dew

ord

Word

search

Colouring Horoscope

ASIA/AFRICA/AUSTRALASIA

Gulf Times Friday, November 13, 20208

Palestinian men walk past street art showing doctors mask-clad due to the pandemic, in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, yesterday.

Street artMacron envoy in Lebanon to save French rescue planAFPBeirut

An adviser to French Presi-dent Emmanuel Macron met top Lebanese offi cials

yesterday in a desperate bid to save a plan Paris put forward to rescue the country’s agonising economy.

Patrick Durel, who arrived in Beirut on Wednesday, held talks with President Michel Aoun and other key players, including par-liament speaker Nabih Berri.

A statement from the presi-dency quoted Aoun as saying that he “adheres to the French initia-tive, which is in the interest of the country”. Yet Lebanon’s ruling class has ignored the deadlines set by France, which has spearheaded eff orts to stop the country’s col-lapse since a crushing currency crisis and a cataclysmic explosion at Beirut port.

On September 1, Macron gave political leaders two weeks to form a non-sectarian govern-ment of experts tasked with car-rying out urgent reforms capable

of unlocking billions in aid. On September 27, Macron gave an-other deadline of “four to six weeks” which also went unheed-ed. French offi cials have voiced their exasperation with Lebanese politicians’ unwillingness to put the interest of the country before their own.

After Lebanon’s ambassador to Germany was designated to form a government and failed, Aoun last month asked Saad Hariri to

return and attempt to forge a con-sensus on a cabinet line-up.

Hariri, who has held the posi-tion twice, was forced to resign last year, under pressure from an unprecedented popular pro-test movement. Lebanon, which defaulted on its debt this year, is experiencing its worst ever eco-nomic crisis and is still reeling from a devastating explosion at the port that gutted entire neigh-bourhoods of Beirut on August 4.

President Michel Aoun meeting with Patrick Durel, adviser to the French president for North Africa and the Middle East in Baabda on the outskirts of Beirut.

Abiy claims control of west Tigray as confl ict escalatesAFPAddis Ababa

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said yesterday his army had made major gains in Ethio-

pia’s north, where a week-old confl ict has caused thousands to fl ee the country, stoking fears of a humanitarian crisis.

Abiy, the winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, last week sent troops and warplanes into the restive northern region of Tigray, whose ruling party Abiy blames for instigating a confl ict many fear could spiral into a protracted civil war.

On November 4, Abiy accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of attacking two federal military bases, which the party denies. A communications blackout in the region has made it diffi cult to verify competing claims on the ground. In a Face-book post, Abiy said government forces had “liberated” the west-ern zone of Tigray – made up of six zones, plus the capital and surrounds.

Abiy also accused TPLF-aligned fi ghters of “cruelty”, saying that when the army took control of the town of Sheraro they “found bodies of executed defence force personnel whose hands and feet were tied”. There was no immediate reaction from the TPLF, which dominated na-tional politics for nearly three decades before Abiy took offi ce in 2018.

Hundreds of Ethiopians in Addis Ababa donated blood yes-terday for troops fi ghting at the front, while authorities in the capital said grenades, guns and 4,000 rounds of ammunition had been seized in raids across the city.

“We have also arrested 242 in-dividuals who had instructions to commit conspiracies from the anti-peace TPLF,” city police commissioner, Getu Argaw was

quoted by the Ethiopian Broad-casting Corporation as saying.

Long-running tensions be-tween Abiy and the TPLF hit a new low in September when Ti-gray pressed ahead with its own elections, insisting Abiy was an illegitimate leader after national polls were postponed due to the coronavirus.

The confl ict has seen multi-ple rounds of airstrikes targeting arms and fuel depots along with heavy fi ghting in western Tig-ray. The UN says some 11,000 Ethiopians have sought refuge in neighbouring Sudan, which says it will house the infl ux in a camp for victims of a 1980s famine.

Exhausted refugees, mostly women, youths and children, arrived on foot or by bicycle and motorised rickshaw, a corre-spondent for AFP reported from the Hamdait border area of Su-dan’s eastern Kassala state.

Many sought shelter from the blazing sun in the shade of hous-es and cars, while hundreds more were waiting to cross a river in the border zone between the two countries.

Sudanese Prime Minister Ab-dalla Hamdok, quoted by state news agency SUNA as he hosted Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, on Wednesday called for a “stop to the fi ghting as soon as possible” and a return to the ne-gotiating table.

The African Union has also called for an immediate stop to fi ghting and for dialogue, as in-ternational concern mounts over the prospect of a long and bloody war in Africa’s second most populous country. But Ethio-pia reiterated yesterday that the “cruelty” of the TPLF “cannot be addressed or redressed by sitting at a table for a negotiation”.

“Negotiation makes sense only when there is good faith and a desire for peace,” it said in a “context document” distrib-uted by Abiy’s offi ce. “The fed-eral government is determined to

enforce the rule of law in the re-gion.” Lawmakers have approved a plan to install a “caretaker ad-ministration” in Tigray assuming the federal government can as-sert control over the region.

Yesterday they voted to lift the immunity of 39 TPLF mem-bers including Tigray regional president Debretsion Gebrem-ichael, though the signifi cance of the move was unclear given that TPLF MPs resigned en masse last month.

There are mounting worries about how Tigray’s population is faring. In a report published Wednesday, the UN’s humani-tarian aff airs offi ce warned that lack of relief access in Tigray means “food, health and other emergency supplies have no way to make it into the region”.

It also noted “increasing con-cern for the protection of civil-ians against hostilities”. Abiy said on Facebook that “the army is giving humanitarian aid” in western Tigray. William Davi-son, an analyst for the Inter-national Crisis Group, said the

TPLF had “signifi cant support” from the people and seeking to remove them would have serious ramifi cations.

“This means that there is like-ly to be considerable resistance to the intervention and that the eff orts to remove the TPLF may well therefore end up harming the Tigrayan people,” he said.

Addis Ababa Mayor Adanech Abebe, whose offi ce organised yesterday’ blood drive, said city residents were unifi ed against the TPLF. “The attack done by TPLF to our army is shameful for Ethiopia. Never happened in our history. We want to condemn this,” said Adanech, who donated blood herself.

A volunteer donates blood for the injured members of Ethiopia’s National Defense Forces (ENDF) in Addis Ababa.

Volunteers hold an Ethiopian flag as they gather to donate blood for the injured members of Ethiopia’s National Defense Forces (ENDF) fighting against Tigray’s special forces on the border between Amhara and Tigray, at the stadium in Addis Ababa.

Former Ghana leader Jerry Rawlings dies AFPAccra

Ghana’s former president Jerry Rawlings, a member of the radical and charis-

matic generation of fi gures who emerged in West Africa in the 1980s, died yesterday aged 73, the presidency said. The former air force fl ight lieutenant led two coups in 1979 and 1981, railing against corruption and stamping his authority on the nation before ushering in democracy.

Under his uncompromising command, several former heads of state and army bigwigs were executed, but to many of Ghana’s poor, Rawlings was their cham-pion. The son of a Scottish father and Ghanaian mother, the larger-than-life fi gure became a national icon as he headed Ghana for 20 years until 2001, being voted in as president at the ballot box in 1992 and re-elected in 1996. Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo said in a statement that Rawlings had died “after a short illness” on Thursday morning at hospital in Accra.

“A great tree has fallen, and Ghana is poorer for this loss,” the president said. Akufo-Addo or-dered fl ags around the country to be lowered to half-mast for seven days of national mourn-ing from Friday and said he was suspending campaigning for the upcoming election in December. The candidate from Rawlings’ National Democratic Congress candidate, John Mahama, wrote on Twitter that he was also halt-ing his rallies “following news of

the passing of our Founder and former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings”. “May his soul Rest In Peace,” Mahama, also a former president of Ghana, said.

African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, said “Africa has lost a stalwart of Pan-Africanism and a charismat-ic continental statesman”.

“My sincere condolences to his family, the people and the gov-ernment of Ghana,” he wrote on Twitter. Rawlings got the fi rst taste of power in 1979 when he banded together with other jun-ior offi cers frustrated over wide-spread corruption to take control. He quickly handed the reins to an elected president but was soon back at the top following another coup on 31 December 1981.

Starting out as a populist in-spired by the left-wing policies of the Soviet Union and Cuba, he eventually turned to free-market economics to boost Ghana’s suf-fering economy.

He was a contemporary and later a friend of Thomas Sankara – “Africa’s Che Guevara,” the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary who came to power in Burkina Faso in 1983 at the age of 33. But Rawlings also heeded the calls for multi-party democracy that swept Africa in the early 1990s, and in 1992 held the fi rst elections in his homeland since 1979.

With all the levers of power at his disposal, he beat out the opposition and then claimed re-election four years later in 1996. He fi nally left offi ce for good in 2001 after seeing the NDC lose its grip on power as his vice-presi-dent lost at the polls.

Jerry Rawlings with Nelson Mandela in a file picture.

Major fl oods in Manila as typhoon batters PhilippinesAFPManila

The third typhoon to hit the storm-battered Phil-ippines in as many weeks

caused major fl ooding in Manila yesterday, trapping people on rooftops and claiming at least 11 lives in other parts of the country.

Typhoon Vamco packed winds of up to 155km per hour as it swept across the country’s larg-est island of Luzon after making landfall overnight.

Authorities warned of land-slides and potentially deadly storm surges along the coast. Heavy rain eff ectively shut down

Manila, the sprawling capital of 12mn people, and surrounding areas, turning streets into rivers.

“A lot of places are submerged. Many people are crying for help,” said Rouel Santos, 53, a retired disaster offi cer in Rizal province, next to the capital.

Santos said the fl ooding caused by Vamco brought back memories of the devastating Typhoon Ketsana, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Ondoy, that hit in 2009 and claimed hundreds of lives. An offi cial from the country’s Of-fi ce of Civil Defense said rainfall dumped by Vamco so far was “near the volume” during On-doy, warning that fl ooding could

worsen as runoff from nearby mountains fl owed into already swollen waterways.

The Philippine Red Cross, police, military and other rescu-ers used boats to reach people stranded in their homes in Ma-rikina City, one of the hardest-hit areas of the capital, where the water in some streets was up to shoulder height.

Residents who were able to es-cape on foot carried pet dogs, tel-evisions, bicycles and other be-longings as they waded through the murky, debris-strewn water. “The magnitude of what we’re experiencing now is comparable to Ondoy,” Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro told CNN

Philippines. “We have so many people who until now are strand-ed on their rooftops or trapped on the second fl oor of their houses. Some areas that were historical-ly not fl ooded, such as the City Hall, are submerged.”

At least 11 people died and nine others were missing, according to disaster agency reports for two regions of Luzon.

But complete data for all af-fected areas on the island has not yet been released and the toll is likely to rise as authorities assess the destruction. Requests for help were piling up, said Casiano Monilla, Civil Defense deputy administrator for operations. He said many people had not heeded

warnings to evacuate ahead of the typhoon, urging them to do so “while there’s still time”.

“I didn’t expect it to be like this,” said Rosalinda Opsima, who fl ed her home with her husband after the fast-rising water caught them by surprise. Schools, which have been empty since the start of the coronavi-rus pandemic in March, are be-ing used as emergency shelters along with gymnasiums. Around 180,000 people were in evacua-tion centres, Civil Defense said.

The weather service warned of life-threatening storm surges along parts of the coast, includ-ing in Manila, that could inun-date low-lying areas.

Australia Post will deliver mail to Aboriginal place names

Australia’s postal service has started delivering mail addressed to indigenous place names, in response to an online campaign calling for the change. Australia Post said it had updated its guidelines so Australians could include traditional place names in the addresses of senders or recipients. “Acknowledging the traditional custodians of this land, their ancestors, elders and the commitment to reconciliation with indigenous Australians is very important to us,” the company said on Instagram on Wednesday. “That’s why we’ve worked on how you can include traditional place names when sending and receiving your parcel.” The move comes in response to a social media campaign launched in August by indigenous woman Rachael McPhail, who lives in Wiradjuri Country. More than three percent of Australians identify as indigenous, according to the country’s Bureau of Statistics, and most regions and towns have an Aboriginal place name, whether they are commonly known by it or not. Central Sydney, for example, is located in the Eora Nation – traditionally home to almost 30 Aboriginal clan groups – while Brisbane is in Yuggera and Melbourne is in Woiworung. Almost 15,000 people signed a petition backing McPhail’s push to make original place names a standard part of addresses. “Australia has an amazing history, that spans back at least 60,000 years, and can be celebrated by all Australians,” she said on Instagram in August.

AMERICAS9Gulf Times

Friday, November 13, 2020

US President-elect Joe Bi-den moved ahead with planning his new admin-

istration yesterday as his fellow Democrats in Congress blasted Republican “shenanigans” chal-lenging Donald Trump’s elec-tion loss and urged action on the coronavirus pandemic.

The Republican president has refused to concede the election and his allies in Congress have declined to acknowledge Biden as the winner while Trump’s campaign pursues legal chal-lenges to vote counts in several states, based on unsubstantiated claims of voting fraud.

The two top Democrats in Congress – House of Repre-sentatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer – yesterday urged Republicans to join them in passing legislation to address the pandemic and buttress the battered economy.

“We just had a divisive and hard-fought presidential elec-tion,” Schumer told reporters. “But instead of working to pull the country back together so that we can fi ght our common enemy, Covid-19, Republicans in Congress are spreading con-spiracy theories, denying real-ity and poisoning the well of our democracy.”

The Covid-19 respiratory dis-ease is caused by the coronavi-rus.

“The Republicans should stop

their shenanigans about an elec-tion that President Trump has already lost and focus their at-tention on the immediate issue at hand – providing relief to a country living through the Cov-id health and economic crisis,” Schumer added.

Eff orts to pass such legislation before the election stalled.

Biden has won enough of the battleground states to surpass the 270 electoral votes needed in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the next president.

He is also winning the popular vote by more than 5.2mn votes, or 3.4 percentage points, with a few states still counting ballots.

Biden in the last few days has not publicly engaged with Trump’s long-shot challenge, instead focusing on planning his administration.

He named long-time adviser Ron Klain on Wednesday as White House chief of staff , his fi rst major appointment before taking offi ce on January 20.

Trump’s campaign has fi led a series of lawsuits aiming to challenge vote counts in piv-otal states as he makes claims of widespread election fraud.

State election offi cials have said no such widespread fraud occurred.

“They’re engaged in an absurd circus right now, refusing to ac-cept reality,” Pelosi said.

In a sign of weakening sup-port for Trump’s eff orts, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, owned by major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, ran an edito-

rial yesterday saying that Trump “seeks to delay the inevitable”.

“There is no evidence that fraud cost Mr Trump the elec-tion, no matter how much the president tweets the opposite and his supporters wish it,” the editorial said.

New records for daily coro-navirus infections and hospi-talisations in the United States ensured that the presidential transition will be dominated by

the response to the pandemic, which has worsened since the election.

Klain, who served as Demo-cratic president Barack Obama’s “Ebola czar” in 2014 during an outbreak of that virus in West Africa, is expected to take a lead-ing role in the Biden administra-tion’s response to the nation-wide spike in Covid-19 cases.

About 242,000 Americans have died of Covid-19.

The US again set records on Wednesday with more than 142,000 new infections, accord-ing to a Reuters tally.

Attention is now expected to shift to Biden’s picks for Cabinet posts, though aides have so far given few clues about when an-nouncements will be made.

On foreign policy, diplomat and long-time confi dant An-tony Blinken is seen as a possible choice for secretary of state or

national security adviser.Whoever is chosen for treas-

ury secretary will have to cope with a recession and joblessness, as well as serving as the fulcrum to address wealth inequality, cli-mate change and other issues.

Foreign allies have congratu-lated Biden.

Since major news organisa-tions called the election for Bi-den on Saturday, Trump has maintained a minimal public schedule, preferring instead to air his grievances on Twit-ter, and has not addressed the climbing virus caseload.

In the past day, two Repub-lican senators – James Lank-ford and Chuck Grassley – have called for Trump’s administra-tion to allow Biden access to presidential daily intelligence briefi ngs.

A US president-elect tradi-tionally receives such briefi ngs from the intelligence commu-nity in order to be up to speed on threats facing the United States ahead of taking offi ce.

Trump’s team has also been raising money to pay for legal challenges.

But a donor would have to give more than $8,000 before any money goes to an account established to fi nance election challenges.

Small-dollar donations in-stead will go to the Republican National Committee or a newly-formed political action commit-tee, which can use the cash for other purposes such as travel expenses or other political cam-paigns.

Biden moves ahead with new US administrationReutersWashington/Wilmington, Delaware

‘Elders’ group founded by Mandela urges Trump to accept defeat

The Elders, a group of prominent former world lead-

ers, voiced concern yesterday at US President Donald

Trump’s refusal to concede electoral defeat, saying

that it showed disrespect for the integrity of American

democracy.

The group was founded by late former South African

president Nelson Mandela and is now chaired by

former Irish president Mary Robinson.

It includes Mandela’s widow Graca Machel, former UN

secretary-general Ban ki-moon, Nobel Peace Prize-

winning former presidents of Colombia and Liberia,

and an array of other former world leaders.

Former US president Jimmy Carter is an emeritus

member.

Trump’s position was “putting at risk the functioning

of American democracy”, the group said, calling for

him to accept the verdict of the ballot box.

Trump has focused on eff orts to overturn the Novem-

ber 3 election’s results in closely contested states,

despite presenting no evidence of irregularities that

could aff ect the outcome, and a sceptical reception

from judges.

“The continued assertions of electoral fraud by the

president and some senior members of the admin-

istration and of the Republican Party, off ered as yet

without any compelling evidence, convey a lack of re-

spect for the integrity and independence of the demo-

cratic and legal institutions of the United States,”

the Elders said in a statement. “Those who stand to

benefit from the current impasse are autocratic rulers

and malign actors who wish to undermine democracy

and the rule of law across the world.”

Robinson, who served as UN human rights chief,

noted that The Elders had previously commented on

“volatile and undemocratic situations in states such

as Kenya, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe”.

Facebook, Google extend political ad ban amid misinformation rise

Facebook and Google have extended their bans on

political ads in the United States amid misinformation

circulated aimed at bolstering claims by President

Donald Trump of fraud in his loss to Joe Biden.

Facebook product manager Rob Leathern announced

that the social media giant would keep in place a ban

on election ads for an unspecified period while await-

ing the certification of the November 3 election result.

“We’re temporarily extending a number of measures

we put in place to protect the election process,” Leath-

ern tweeted. “Everyone on Facebook and Instagram in

the US continues to see the labels we’ve been running

on candidate posts saying Biden is the projected

winner.”

Google is also extending its ban, according to media

reports.

Images of terrifi ed protesters fl eeing police and gunfi re have shaken one of Mexico’s

top beach resorts and dealt an-other blow to a tourism indus-try already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

The crackdown on Monday in front of Cancun city hall, where hundreds were demon-strating against the murder of a local woman, sparked national outcry and protests in Mexico City.

Three people were injured when police fi red in the air for several minutes and chased the mostly female demonstrators through a budget hotel district after property was vandalised.

“We’re living in the worst horror movie,” said Abelardo Vera, hotel association presi-dent in Cancun, a jewel of the country’s tourism industry lo-cated in Quintana Roo state on the Caribbean coast.

“Not to mention robber-ies, extortion and people being murdered and mutilated every day. It’s unacceptable,” he said.

Vera said the crackdown had further tarnished the reputa-tion of Cancun, a magnet for foreign tourists that has already been hit by plunging visitor numbers due to the pandemic.

“Of course this type of situa-tion aff ects Cancun. It’s already in all the international media. It’s completely reprehensible,” he said.

Tourism is a pillar of the

Mexican economy and usually accounts for almost 9% of gross domestic product (GDP).

But it has been battered by the slump in international trav-el due to the coronavirus, which has left more than 96,000 peo-ple dead in Mexico – one of the world’s highest tolls.

Live fi re by police against protesters is unprecedented in Cancun and rare across Mexi-co, where security forces usu-ally limit themselves to using shields and sometimes pepper spray.

It was criticised by authori-ties at the regional and national

level, cost the local police chief his job, and led to the suspen-sion of Quintana Roo’s head of security.

The crackdown shocked tourists lured to the Riviera Maya by its sun-kissed white sand beaches and turquoise waters.

Colombian university stu-dent Dayana Gomez said she heard about the shooting when she was about to get on a plane and almost abandoned her trip.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said.

“It’s the fi rst time I’ve trav-elled outside of Colombia and on my own,” she told AFP.

In the end she went ahead with her holiday but gave up on the idea of backpacking through a country plagued by violence, much of it linked to drug cartels.

“I knew that Mexico’s not very safe, but I didn’t think that about Cancun,” she said.

There is growing anger in Mexico that the authorities are not doing more to tackle the problem of gender violence.

Ten women are killed eve-ry day in the Latin American country, according to the UN.

One of them was Bianca “Alexis” Lorenzana, a 20-year-old from Cancun whose dis-membered body was found on Sunday in plastic bags, a day after she was reported missing.

Activists accuse the local authorities of putting the repu-tation of a resort that attracts more than 14mn visitors a year before the safety of the women who live there.

“There’s concern that a lot of information isn’t disclosed be-cause it may aff ect the tourism industry,” said Monica Franco, a gender violence researcher in Cancun. “They care more about covering it up than preventing it and that’s very serious because it creates a pressure cooker.”

Police crackdown rocks top Mexican tourist resortAFPCancun

Activists confront riot police during a demonstration on Wednesday, in front of the Quintana Roo State house in Mexico City, over the murder of Bianca Alejandrina Lorenzana Alvarado, who was found dead on November 8 in Cancun, and against the police that fired into the air to disperse a demonstration held in the same city to protest her murder.

A US appeals court upheld yesterday Harvard Uni-versity’s use of race in

undergraduate admissions, re-jecting a challenge by affi rmative action opponents who said the Ivy League school’s policy dis-criminates against Asian-Amer-icans.

Opponents of the decision by the 1st US Circuit Court of Ap-peals in Boston promised to ap-peal to the Supreme Court, where

legal experts believe the 6-3 con-servative majority could use the case to end more than 40 years of allowing race as a factor in higher education admissions.

The appeals court rejected claims by Students for Fair Ad-missions (SFFA), a non-profi t founded by anti-affi rmative ac-tion activist Edward Blum, which drew support from Republican President Donald Trump’s ad-ministration.

The SFFA said Harvard en-gaged in impermissible “racial balancing” to make it easier for blacks and Hispanics to win ad-

mission, and did not narrowly tailor its use of race.

It said this violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which the school must comply with in order to receive federal funding.

US Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch, however, said Harvard’s use of race was not “impermis-sibly extensive” and was instead “meaningful”, because it pre-vented diversity from plummet-ing.

“Harvard’s race-conscious admissions programme ensures that Harvard can retain the ben-

efi ts of diversity it has already achieved,” she said.

Blum in a statement pledged to ask the Supreme Court “to end these unfair and unconstitution-al race-based admissions policies at Harvard and all colleges and universities”.

The Supreme Court has al-lowed race to be used in college admissions to promote diversity in the classroom.

Harvard spokeswoman Rach-ael Dane said yesterday’s deci-sion refl ected eff orts to “create a diverse campus that promotes learning and encourages mutual

respect and understanding ... now is not the time to turn back the clock on diversity and oppor-tunity”.

The 2-0 decision upheld an October 2019 ruling by US Dis-trict Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston.

A third judge on the appeals court panel, Juan Torruella, died last month.

Burroughs had concluded that Harvard’s admissions pro-gramme was “not perfect” but that it the school had no “work-able and available race-neutral alternatives”.

Judge Lynch said that the na-ture of Harvard’s admissions process, including that ap-plicants win approval from a 40-person committee before being off ered admission, “off set any risk of bias”.

The US Justice Department had under Trump backed the SFFA, arguing in a “friend-of-the-court” brief that Harvard “actively engages in racial bal-ancing that Supreme Court prec-edent fl atly forbids”.

The Trump administration fi led a similar lawsuit on Octo-ber 8 against Yale University, ac-

cusing that Ivy League school of discriminating against Asian and white applicants.

Yale said it “does not discrimi-nate against applicants of any race or ethnicity” and would not change its admissions policies because of what it called the gov-ernment’s “baseless” lawsuit.

The SFFA is also pursuing a similar case against the Univer-sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill challenging its consideration of race as a factor in its admis-sions process.

A non-jury trial in that case began on Monday.

US court upholds Harvard race-based admissionsReutersBoston

Belize elects new PMReutersBelize City

Belize resoundingly voted to elect opposition leader Johnny Briceno to replace

long-time Prime Minister Dean Barrow in Wednesday’s general election as the Central American nation seeks to revive an econo-my battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The leader of Barrow’s con-servative United Democratic Party (UDP), Patrick Faber, con-ceded defeat after the election in Belize, one of the few countries that still has diplomatic rela-tions with Taiwan, which quick-ly congratulated Briceno.

Briceno’s centre-left People’s United Party (PUP) said it had won 16 of 31 parliamentary seats, compared with fi ve seats for the UDP.

Offi cial results will be an-nounced later.

“Today begins the work of putting the country on the path of recovery in the short term, and growth in the medium and long term,” said Briceno in a televised speech late on Wednesday.

The election came at a time of widespread discontent over the state of Belize’s economy, which was in the doldrums long before measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus decimated tourism, the main driver of pros-perity.

Voters cheered the PUP’s win, saying yesterday that they were ready for a change after Barrow, who ruled the country for more than a dozen years.

“I feel happy and relieved that many people fl ipped (parties) because it just shows how des-perately we want a change,” said Halle Popper, a teacher.

The Caribbean country’s economy shrank on an an-nual basis in every quarter from April-June last year through to the second quarter of 2020, the latest period for which data is available, according to govern-ment statistics.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen sent her congratulations to Briceno early yesterday morn-ing, underlining the importance of the small east Asian country’s diplomatic connection to Belize.

Belize is one of a dwindling number of countries that still recognises self-ruled Taiwan, which is claimed as its own by China.

In his concession speech, Faber celebrated the democratic process in the former British colony.

“While there were winners and losers, the democracy that we have continued to enjoy throughout the life of this great young nation, is by far the great-est winner today,” he said.

Power outage delays local polls in Brazil stateLocal elections in the Brazilian city of Macapá slated for Sunday have been postponed due to security concerns because of a state-wide power outage, according to a Supreme Electoral Court ruling.Amapá, a remote state in the Amazon rainforest on the border with French Guiana, has been virtually without electricity for over a week since transformers were knocked out by a fire at the main substation in Macapá, where most of the state’s 862,000 inhabitants live.Court Chief Justice Luis Roberto Barroso said the ruling applies to the first round of voting due to be held on Sunday and the second round scheduled for November 29.The elections will only be held when electricity is restored.According to security agencies, the disruption in energy supply in the state of Amapá has triggered an increase in crime and raised the risk of social upheaval.Local media have reported protests across the state.The power failure has made it impossible to monitor the coronavirus outbreak in the state, the Amapá government has said, and new cases have not been counted for a week.Only elections in the state capital Macapá have been postponed.On Sunday Brazilians go to the polls in 5,570 local elections across the country in a vote that will gauge the 2022 re-election chances of President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government has been criticised for acting slowly to resolve the nine-day blackout in Amapá.

1.5 tonnes of drugs in crashed plane

Guatemalan police have recovered more than 1.5 tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated $20mn from a crashed plane near the Mexican border, the attorney-general’s off ice said yesterday.The partially burned-out plane was located on Wednesday in the Laguna del Tigre forest reserve, the Public Prosecutor’s Off ice said in a statement.The area is part of the Peten jungle, a known drug traff icking route on the border with Mexico and Belize, about 370 miles (600km) north of Guatemala City.According to Guatemala’s Off ice for Drug Crimes, “the approximate value of the shipment is more than $20mn”.

EUROPE

Gulf Times Friday, November 13, 202010

More than 10,000 people worldwide have died from the novel corona-

virus in the last 24 hours as both Europe and the United States are battling a second wave of the pandemic, according to an AFP tally at 1100 GMT yesterday.

The highly-contagious coro-navirus causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

With 10,010 recorded in the past 24 hours, it is the fi rst time since the start of the pandemic that the daily number of deaths worldwide has surpassed the symbolic level of 10,000.

The European region, includ-ing Russia, accounted for nearly half of those deaths, with 4,961 fatalities in a single day; Latin America and the Caribbean reg-istered 1,868, and the United States 1,330.

More than 52.29mn people have been reported to be infect-ed by the novel coronavirus glo-bally and 1,286,963 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Of these, at least 33,563,800 are now considered recovered.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the fi rst cases were identifi ed in China in De-cember 2019.

The tallies, using data col-lected by AFP and Reuters from national authorities and infor-mation from the World Health Organisation (WHO), probably refl ect only a fraction of the ac-tual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.

Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were United States with 1,330 new deaths, followed by Italy with 623, and the United Kingdom with 595.

The United States is the worst-aff ected country with 241,808 deaths from 10,402,274 cases.

At least 3,997,175 people have been declared recovered.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 163,373 deaths from 5,748,375 cases, India with 128,121 deaths from 8,683,916 cases, Mexico with 96,430 deaths from 986,177 cases, and the United King-dom with 50,365 deaths from 1,256,725 cases.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Belgium with 119 fatalities per 100,000 in-habitants, followed by Peru with 106, Spain 86, and Brazil 77.

China – excluding Hong Kong and Macau – has to date de-clared 86,299 cases, including 4,634 deaths and 81,252 recov-eries.

Latin America and the Carib-bean overall has 417,104 deaths

from 11,817,331 cases, Europe 322,177 deaths from 13,625,939 infections, and the United States and Canada 252,477 deaths from 10,678,117 cases.

Asia has reported 179,581 deaths from 11,255,051 cases, the Middle East 66,603 deaths from 2,824,871 cases, Africa 46,277 deaths from 1,920,306 cases, and Oceania 941 deaths from 29,974 cases.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late pub-lication of data, the fi gures up-dated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day’s tallies.

Meanwhile, an international conference in Paris aims to raise more than $500mn towards en-suring fair access to coronavirus tests, treatment and vaccines for all, including poor countries, the organisers said yesterday.

The third edition of the Paris Peace Forum, which seeks to come up with concrete solutions to global issues, is dedicated to fi nding ways to ease the pain caused by the coronavirus pan-demic.

It takes place as the number of cases is rising rapidly across Eu-rope and beyond.

It also comes just days after American pharmaceutical gi-ant Pfi zer and its German part-ner BioNTech reported highly promising results for their vac-cine candidate.

During the forum, several countries are expected to an-nounce funding for the so-called

ACT-Accelerator, a mechanism led by the WHO that aims to en-sure access to tests, treatments and vaccines for all.

According to a statement by the organisers, France will be announcing a commitment of €100mn, Spain €50mn, and the European Commission €100mn, specifi cally for the vaccines part of ACT-A.

The British government is also set to declare a contribution of one additional pound for each four dollars announced.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said that they would pledge $70mn for vaccines.

WHO Director-General Te-dros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, French President Emmanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Minis-

ter Pedro Sanchez, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, will take part in an online discussion set to be streamed online.

In September, the United Na-tions estimated that the ACT-Accelerator had only received around $3bn of the $38bn need-ed to meet the goal of produc-ing and delivering 2bn vaccine doses, 245mn treatments, and 500mn diagnostic tests over the next year.

Forum members also prom-ised the creation of a high-level expert panel which would curate all available science concerning the interactions between hu-mans, animals and changes in the environment.

“The pandemic showed us

how much correlation there is between the health of humans, that of animals, and that of the planet,” German Foreign Minis-ter Heiko Maas told the forum.

At the fi nance part of the Peace forum, a group of devel-opment banks pledged to re-focus their investments to take account of climate and develop-ment targets set by the UN and the Paris accord of 2015.

Public development banks invest $2.3tn every year, about 10% of the world’s total invest-ments.

The banks also promised to promote projects that reduce in-equalities, protect the environ-ment and pursue “sustainable development” goals, without of-fering examples.

Global dailyCovid deaths top 10,000$500mn to be pledged for Covid vaccine access at Paris forum

AFP/ReutersParis

French doctor to face charges over hydroxychloroquine claims

A controversial French professor who touts the anti-

malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus

treatment – without evidence, scientists say – will ap-

pear before a disciplinary panel charged with ethics

breaches, an order of doctors said yesterday.

Marseille-based Didier Raoult stands accused by

his peers of spreading false information about the

benefits of the drug.

His promotion of hydroxychloroquine was taken up

by US and Brazilian Presidents Donald Trump and

Jair Bolsonaro, who trumpeted its unproven benefits

in a way critics say put people’s lives at risk.

No clinical trials have yet found in favour of using hy-

droxychloroquine against the coronavirus, and critics

say that due to potential serious side eff ects, treating

coronavirus patients with hydroxychloroquine is

worse than no treatment at all.

In June, the British-led Recovery trial team said that

hydroxychloroquine does nothing to reduce corona-

virus mortality.

A group representing 500 specialists of France’s

Infectious Diseases Society (SPILF) filed a complaint

with the national Order of Doctors of the Bouche-du-

Rhone department, which includes Marseille, in July.

They accused Raoult of breaking nine rules of the

doctors’ code of ethics.

Other doctors and patients have also lodged com-

plaints.

Yesterday the Order confirmed that it had given the

go-ahead for a disciplinary hearing after reviewing

the complaints against Raoult.

A hearing will likely only take place next year.

Raoult’s lawyer Fabrice Di Vizio confirmed they had

received notice of the decision, but insisted his client

would be cleared.

If found guilty, Raoult could be fined, merely warned,

or barred from practising.

Raoult, who heads the infectious diseases depart-

ment of La Timone hospital in Marseille, said in

March that his study of 80 patients showed “favour-

able” outcomes in four out of five treated with

hydroxychloroquine.

But his peers insist there is no scientific evidence to

back up the claim.

Pope off ers Rome’s homeless free Covid-19 tests at Vatican

Pope Francis is off ering free coronavirus tests for

Rome’s poor and homeless as part of the Roman

Catholic Church’s World Day of the Poor activities,

the Vatican said yesterday.

The swabs are being off ered at a clinic off St Peter’s

Square that the Pope set up several years ago to

provide basic medical care to destitute people, some

of whom live on the streets in the neighbourhood

around the Vatican.

Italy surpassed the 1mn infections mark on Wednes-

day, leap-frogging Mexico to become one of the top

10 worst-aff ected countries globally, according to a

Reuters tally.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella told reporters that some

50 coronavirus tests a day were being done and the

initiative would continue indefinitely.

Those who test negative get a certificate to enter a

shelter and those who test positive are directed to

further treatment.

Many of Italy’s homeless are foreigners who do not

have a family doctor with the national health system

and Italians who become homeless, because of

economic diff iculties, often are too embarrassed to

return to their family doctors.

The Pope established the World Day of the Poor four

years ago to bring attention to the needy, particularly

in developed countries.

It is being marked this Sunday.

In past years, he has held Mass for thousands of poor

people in St Peter’s Basilica and then treated 1,500

homeless people to lunch in a Vatican auditorium.

Because of coronavirus restrictions, only 100 poor

people will attend Mass in the vast basilica.

The lunch has been cancelled but about 5,000 food

parcels will be delivered to poor families, including

2.5 tonnes of pasta donated by a food company.

More than 350,000 masks will be given to students

in Rome’s less aff luent outskirts.

Measles cases surgingReutersLondon

Measles surged to infect almost 870,000 peo-ple across the world in

2019, the worst fi gures in almost a quarter of a century as vacci-nation levels fell below critical levels, a report said yesterday.

Millions of children are at risk of the disease again this year as restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic fur-ther disrupt immunisation pro-grammes, the report co-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

The coronavirus causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

Measles is one of the most contagious known diseases – more so than Covid-19, Ebola, tuberculosis or fl u.

More than 207,000 people died of it last year alone, the re-port found.

With immunisation coverage below the critical 95% needed for community protection, in-fections rose in all WHO regions last year to the worst levels since 1996, it said.

“These data send a clear mes-sage that we are failing to protect children from measles in every region of the world,” the WHO’s Director-General, Tedros Ad-hanom Ghebreyesus, said in a statement.

The surge in fatal cases means global measles deaths have risen nearly 50% since 2016.

The report, co-led by the United States Centres for Dis-ease Control and Prevention (CDC), cited a collective failure to fully immunise children on time with two doses of measles vaccine as the main driver of the deadly increases.

Looking ahead to 2020, the re-port warned that disruptions to vaccination due to the coronavi-rus pandemic have crippled ef-forts to curb measles outbreaks.

As of this month, more than 94mn people were at risk of missing measles vaccinations due to paused immunisation campaigns in 26 countries, it said.

“Covid-19 has resulted in dangerous declines in immuni-sation coverage,” Seth Berkley, chief executive of the GAVI glo-bal vaccine alliance, said.

He described the “alarming” measles report was “a warning that, with the coronavirus pan-demic occupying health systems across the world, we cannot af-ford to take our eye off the ball”.

After steady downward progress from 2010 to 2016, measles cases began rising again from 2017.

The report said there were a total of 869,770 measles cases, with 207,500 deaths, in 2019.

The WHO and the UN chil-dren’s fund Unicef urged gov-ernments last week to act now to prevent epidemics of measles, polio and other infectious dis-eases.

Britain has given the green light to a $2.2bn tun-nel under Stonehenge

aimed at hiding a nearby main road that has long blighted the mysterious prehistoric circle of stones in southern England.

Stonehenge, one of the world’s most famous prehis-toric monuments, includes a 5,000-year-old ditch and a Neolithic stone circle with early Bronze Age burial mounds near-by.

It is a World Heritage Site.Yesterday Transport Sec-

retary Grant Shapps granted development consent for the £1.7bn ($2.2bn) project which includes a new dual carriageway with a two-mile tunnel beside Stonehenge.

“The Secretary of State agrees the benefi ts of the development would include enabling visitors to Stonehenge to see the stone circle without the visual and aural distraction of road traffi c,” Shapps said in a letter approving the project.

England’s highways agency said that the road beside Stone-henge is a congestion hotspot with traffi c fl ow double what it was designed for, and that the

tunnel amounts to the biggest investment in English roads for a generation.

Highways England said the project will remove the sound of traffi c from the site and thus restore a measure of tranquillity to Stonehenge.

But some archaeologists

and local residents oppose the project.

They say the tunnel is too short and will damage the ar-chaeological surroundings of Stonehenge.

They have called for a deep-bored tunnel at least 4.5km (three miles) long.

The Stonehenge Alliance, which opposes the project, said it deeply regretted Shapps’s de-cision and would discuss its op-tions.

There is now a six-week pe-riod in which the decisions may be challenged in the High Court, Highways England said.

UK okays $2.2bn Stonehenge tunnel projectReutersLondon

Security off icers are seen patrolling the perimeter of the Stonehenge stone circle during sunset, near Amesbury, Britain.

Two tonnes of cocaine worth $250mn seized in British Virgin Islands

A record 2.35-tonne haul of cocaine worth more than $250mn has been discovered in the British Virgin Islands after a covert operation that led to the arrest of one local police off icer, the islands’ police force said.When police arrived at the property, several people fled but off icers discovered 2,353kg of cocaine in a container unit.“This seizure has a conservative estimated ‘street value’ of some $250,000,000,” BVI Police Commissioner Michael Matthews said in a statement.“It is the largest seizure ever made in the BVI and the largest single seizure in the history of the RVIPF. It is also potentially one of the largest ever seized by a UK force,” he said.Potential production of pure cocaine hydrochloride in Colombia was up by 1.5% last year to 1,137 metric tonnes, the United Nations Off ice on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in June, even as the areas planted with primary ingredient coca decreased.Despite decades of anti-narcotics eff orts, Colombia remains one of the world’s top cocaine producers.Leftist rebels, crime gangs and former right-wing paramilitaries are all involved in production and transport to consumers based largely in North America and Europe.The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico.

Britain saw record use of food banks between April and September this year, a charity said yesterday, as the coronavirus pandemic’s economic toll tipped more people into poverty.The Trussell Trust, which supports more than 1,200 food banks across the UK, said its network experienced a 47% increase in usage during the six months from April.On average, it handed out 2,600 emergency food parcels to children every day, as part of more than 1.2mn packages distributed to struggling Britons.The charity said that made it “the busiest ever half-year period for food banks”, breaking the previous record set during the same period in 2019.

“This pandemic has shown the unexpected can hit us suddenly, with devastating consequences for people’s lives,” Emma Revie, Trussell Trust chief executive, said in a statement. “But it’s not right that any of us are forced to a charity for food, at any time of year.”The economy has also been heavily aff ected by the pandemic, registering its deepest ever recession, although off icial data yesterday suggested a record rebound in the third quarter.Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 15.5% in the July-September period, as an initial coronavirus lockdown was eased, according to the Off ice for National Statistics.

UK food bank use reached record levels, says charity

Armenia has arrested 10 leading opposition fi g-ures for violently protest-

ing against a Russian-brokered peace deal that ended weeks of fi ghting with Azerbaijan and sparked fury with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Prosecutors announced the arrests hours ahead of a fresh demonstration by the opposition against the accord that sees Ar-menia give up swathes of disput-ed territory in Nagorno-Karaba-kh to their long-standing foe.

More than 3,000 people con-

verged on the streets of Yerevan yesterday evening, marching to-wards the state security service building, which was cordoned off by police, and shouting “Nikol the traitor” and “Nikol resign”.

“Pashinyan has sold our homeland and now is trying to stay in power,” Naira Zoghraby-an, a deputy from the Prosperous Armenia party, shouted to the crowd.

“Nikol, resign peacefully while it’s still possible,” Zoghrabyan said at the protest, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.

The 10 opposition politicians face up to a decade behind bars for their role in “illegal violent

mass disorder”, prosecutors said in a statement.

Protesters stormed and ran-sacked government buildings on Tuesday over Pashinyan’s agree-ment to end the fi ghting and took to the streets again in their thou-sands on Wednesday to demand the government resign.

Referring to the arrests of at least two of its members, Lilit Galstyan from the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party said: “We consider this to be an act of po-litical persecution.”

“This government has no mor-al right to stay in power,” Galsty-an added.

Pashinyan earlier in the week accused the protesters who over-

ran government buildings of be-ing controlled by “oligarchs who were looting our army, our sol-diers, our country for 20 years”.

The 45-year-old former news-paper editor, who swept to power in 2018 promising to root out endemic corruption, denounced the demonstrators for stirring up unrest when security services were on the frontlines.

But residents of Nagorno-Karabakh at the demonstration yesterday said that they were outraged by the peace deal, hav-ing been forced to seek refuge in Armenia due to the fi ghting.

“We lost our homes. Who will answer for this? We are in de-spair,” said 39-year-old Siranush

Sarkisyan at the protest in Yer-evan.

Slavik Esayan, 58, said he would not return to Nagorno-Karabakh while there were no se-curity guarantees.

“The authorities of Armenia and Artsakh must be held re-sponsible for this,” he said us-ing the Armenian name for the breakaway province of Azerbai-jan.

Fighting between Armenian separatists in the Nagorno-Ka-rabakh region of Azerbaijan and Baku’s army erupted in late Sep-tember and raged for six weeks, leaving more than 1,400 dead and forcing thousands to fl ee their homes.

Armenia authorities detain critics of Karabakh peace dealAFPYerevan

Negotiations to secure an EU-UK trade deal will stretch to next week,

offi cials said yesterday, with an EU leaders summit on Novem-ber 19 perhaps the last chance to strike an accord.

“We are working hard for a deal. Talks will continue in London over the weekend and will take place in Brussels next week,” EU spokesman Daniel Ferrie told AFP.

Negotiations between Lon-don and Brussels have been snagged on the same issues

for months, mainly fi sheries and ensuring the “level playing fi eld” to maintain fair competi-tion between UK and EU fi rms.

An EU diplomat said that despite their intensity, “noth-ing has changed” and that the UK had even backtracked on earlier compromise positions.

“The deal will have to be done in Brussels next week, otherwise there is no deal,” the diplomat warned, circling an EU video summit next Thurs-day as the deadline.

Time is short since both the EU and UK parliaments must ratify the pact by January 1, when a post-Brexit transition period comes to a close.

Brexit talks extendedAFPBrussels

INDIA11Gulf Times

Friday, November 13, 2020

Logistic challenges maylimit access to Pfi zer jabThomson Reuters FoundationNew Delhi

Despite hopes raised by Pfi zer’s Covid-19 vaccine, it will take huge eff orts

for India to defeat the corona-virus, with its 1.3bn population and the world’s second-highest caseload.

But the Pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at temperatures matching an Antarctic win-ter – a logistical nightmare for India with heatwaves exceed-ing 50 degrees Celsius (122°F), few ultra-cold freezers, patchy power and a largely rural popu-lation.

“The new two-shot vaccine from Pfi zer has to be maintained at minus 80°C – nowhere on the planet does the logistical capac-ity exist to distribute vaccines at this temperature,” said Toby Pe-ters, a professor at Britain’s Uni-versity of Birmingham.

“This is a new challenge to

be urgently managed,” Peters, an expert in cooling technolo-gies who is studying plans to roll out Covid-19 vaccines, told the Thomson Reuters Founda-tion.

About 100 drug development teams worldwide are racing to develop coronavirus vaccines, with the hope of distributing them globally on a scale never before witnessed.

The country has been scram-bling to secure 500mn doses of coronavirus vaccines by July from various manufacturers, in addition to developing its own government-backed Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin.

The country has a strong record on vaccination, with the world’s largest programme dis-tributing 400mn vaccines a year, said Peters.

But nearly half of the lead-ing Covid-19 vaccine candidates need cold storage as low as minus 80°C, researchers say, requiring seamless cold chain distribution

from manufacturers to airports to remote villages.

“The success of any Covid-19 vaccination programme will critically depend on robustness of the cold chain,” said Peters.

“The key challenge for Cov-id-19 immunisation will likely be the last mile distribution and ensuring that each vaccination site is equipped with both ade-quate fi xed and outreach cooling equipment to maintain effi cacy of the valuable...vaccine.”

He said this would require in-vestment in new cold chain sys-tems and could include innova-tive approaches like using drones and new mobile rechargeable micro-chillers.

The health ministry did not respond to requests for com-ment.

To ease distribution, Pfi zer has announced that it will provide a “dry ice pack” container for its vaccines that is able to maintain a temperature of minus 70°C for up to 10 days.

Election results show people back PM: ShahIANSGandhinagar

Union Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday said the recently held election re-

sults showed that 1.35bn people of the country are standing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shah was speaking at a pro-gramme held for the Border Areas Development Programme (BADP) at Dhordo, Kutch in Gujarat.

“Some people in the country see negative in everything and anything, even if it is positive and complain about the Modi gov-ernment’s decisions and see it as failures. But recent results of elections in 11 states have sent out a clear message that the 1.35bn people of India are standing like a rock with Prime Minister Modi.”

Shah added, “The people of India have wiped out such nega-tive forces in the recently held elections.”

Shah was visiting the Tent City of Dhordo in Kutch to address the fi rst Sarpanchs Convention of

border villages, in which chiefs of 158 villages on Gujarat’s bor-der with Pakistan, from three districts, Kutch, Patan and Ba-naskantha participated.

Earlier in the day, Shah also inaugurated the exhibition held on the work done in the border area by the Border Security Force (BSF) and also by the Gujarat government.

“I promise that under the lead-ership of Prime Minister Modi everyone should be rest assured that no one can turn a greedy eye towards our country and no one can break us. The soldiers on our borders are also confi dent that the prime minister will be behind them in all matters,” Shah added.

Speaking to the village chiefs, the minister said “this is the fi rst such programme, but many will follow for the development of border areas. This is a a four-pronged programme for develop-ment of border areas, to prevent migration and increase the devel-opment, awareness and the secu-rity of the border areas. This is the thought of our prime minister.”

Congress letdown by Biharpoll results:ChidambaramIANSNew Delhi

Congress leader P Chidambaram yesterday said the party was disap-

pointed with the Bihar results and the Congress Working Com-mittee will take note of it and de-liberate on the issue.

Asked about the Bihar assem-bly results at a press conference yesterday, Chidambaram said, “we are defi nitely disappointed with the Bihar results but the vote diff erence between NDA and Grand Alliance was just 3% and the CWC will discuss and take view on it.”

At the same time, another senior Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh, asserted that the man-date is against Nitish Kumar and accepted that the Congress could have done much better.

The Congress leader said that despite 15 years of Nitish as chief minister Bihar remains one of the poorest states.

Congress general secretary Tariq Anwar has also accepted that due to the weak show by Congress the Grand Alliance could not form a government in Bihar.

The Congress, which contest-ed on 70 seats, could only win 19 seats and has been the weakest link in the Grand Alliance since it had lowest strike rate in the Ma-hagathbandhan.

Anwar said, “We should accept the truth that due to weak show by the party, the Grand Alliance could not make a government. The Congress should introspect where it had made a mistake. The entry of the AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) in Bihar is not a good sign,” An-war added.

The same sentiments were echoed by Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Shivanand Tiwari, who feels that more seats were given to the Congress.

CPI-ML (Liberation) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya too said that the Congress should introspect why it lost so many seats.

Some Congress leaders in Bi-har are upset with state party in-charge Shakti Singh Gohil and screening committee chairman Avinash Pandey for not listening to local leaders.

Taking a dig at the central par-ty leadership who were involved in Bihar polls, former state min-ister Shakiluzaman Ansari said, “They did not listen to the state leaders and kept us in the dark on the tie-up. They even conceded those seats to the RJD, which could have been won by the Con-gress.

“Also, our strong candidates were denied ticket. Avinash Pan-

dey, the chairman of the screen-ing committee, completely ignored the suggestions put for-ward by state leaders.”

The Congress mainly won the seats where it was in direct con-test with the BJP.

Ansari claimed that the caste equation was ignored during ticket distribution and the Mus-lims and the OBCs were taken for granted and ignored.

He said though the Congress contested 70 seats, an umbrella alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) could have been stitched to strengthen the grand alli-ance.

The Congress, which had a chance to stop the BJP in Bihar, lost an opportunity, Ansari said.

He added that accountability should be fi xed and heads should roll as the party has been suff er-ing continuously.

As part of its ongoing crackdown on Bollywood-drugs mafia links, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) questioned South African model Gabriella Demetriades, the girlfriend of actor Arjun Rampal, for the second consecutive day yesterday, off icials said. Gabriella, 33, was questioned for over six hours on Wednesday by the central agency off icials. Gabriella arrived at the NCB off ice in Mumbai yesterday morning. The NCB had raided Rampal’s house on Monday. Rampal has also been summoned by the NCB for questioning since Gabriella’s brother Agisialos Demetriades was arrested in a drugs-related case on October 19.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal were involved in a war of words on Twitter yesterday over the South Western Railway’s track-doubling project in and around Mollem village in south Goa. Soon after Aam Aadmi Party supremo Kejriwal urged Sawant to “listen to the voice of people of Goa” and stop the central government from “foisting” the project on Goa, Sawant taunted Kejriwal by suggesting that he was an “expert in creating rifts” between the Centre and states. The Twitter exchange comes amid a running feud in Goa between members of the ruling BJP and a resurgent AAP over environmental issues.

Bollywood actor Asif Basra, 53, allegedly committed suicide at his palatial rented residence in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, yesterday. The actor had been staying here for nearly four years, the police said. Basra committed suicide by hanging himself with a leash of his pet dog. As per the police, just before the alleged suicide, he had returned from a stroll in the locality along with his dog. No suicide note has been recovered. It has been learnt that Basra, who was under depression, was staying here with a British woman. Known for his character roles in films like Black Friday, Parzania, Jab We Met and Kai Po Che, among many others.

Four Iranian nationals were taken into custody by the Kerala Police from a Thiruvananthapuram hotel. The police later found out that the four were part of a 24-member gang involved in raiding financial institutions, not just in Kerala but across major cities in the country. The four were detained by the police on Wednesday night. The police uploaded the pictures of the four Iranians in the off icial group of the Kerala Police. And soon, police off icials from Alappuzha district attached to the Chertala Police station identified them as criminals. The Chertala Police said that there was a case registered against the four in their station and they were on the lookout for them.

A young widow, who had accused a constable of raping her, ended her life after the accused died in a road accident. The woman, a resident of Brahmnagar, Kanpur, alleged that she was repeatedly raped by constable Jitendra on the pretext of marriage. The constable was suspended thereafter. On November 4, Jitendra was injured in a bike accident and died during treatment on November 9. The woman’s neighbours yesterday heard some commotion from her house and rushed there to find her hanging from the door frame. “She had left a note stating she loved Jitendra and could not live without him,” an off icer said.

NCB grills actor’s girlfriend in drugs probe

Delhi, Goa CMs spar on Twitter over rail project

Bollywood actor Basrafound dead in Dharamsala

Four Iranian nationalsheld by Kerala Police

Woman ends life afterdeath of rape accused

LAW AND ORDER CONTROVERSYPEOPLE CRIME TRAGEDY

I will stayon in MP: Kamal Nath

IANSNew Delhi

After losing the Madhya Pradesh bypolls, the Con-gress is seeking fresh faces

in the Gwalior-Chambal region to counter Jyotiraditya Scindia who has proved his mettle.

The party could win only nine out of 28 seats in the bypolls.

Former chief minister Kamal Nath has asserted that he will not leave state politics and is not keen on returning to national politics.

Nath said at a party meeting in Bhopal,”those who say that he will leave the state must realise I will serve Madhya Pradesh till I am alive. We will fi ght and win.”

Politically Kamal Nath, who is the state president, wants to quell all speculation about leav-ing the state and to stall any move of him being replaced from the state president’s post.

But the real challenge for the Congress is to regain its hold in the Gwalior – Chambal region where the exodus of legislators led to the fall of the government.

The Congress has to fi nd a new leader in the area, said a party insider.

“People thought after the de-parture of Scindia, the Congress would end. But a new Congress has stood up.”

The Congress has the double challenge to counter Scindia’s popularity in the area as well as the BSP which has damaged the Congress in the Bundelkhand re-gion. Phool Singh Baraiya who lost by less than 200 votes from Bhander seat could be a good bet for the party as he has been former state chief of the BSP.

The Congress is indicating it may provide opportunities to fresh faces in the state.

In Madhya Pradesh, 25 out of 28 seats that went to poll were necessitated after ‘Operation Kamal’ which toppled the Kamal Nath government followed by former Congress legislators joining the BJP.

The BJP won 19 seats out of 28 here. Interestingly, out of 22 former Congress leaders-turned BJP candidates, 15 emerged vic-torious. The BJP won a greater number of seats, even when the margins are as low as 161 as was the case of Raksha Santram Sa-ronia, who defeated popular Dalit leader Phool Singh Baraiya in Bhander.

Women stand under an umbrella as heavy rains lashed Chennai yesterday.

Heavy rains in Chennai

Union Minister of State for Defence Shripad Y Naik yesterday launched the fifth of the Indian Navy’s Kalvari Class submarines under the ongoing Project-75 Scorpene programme at the Mazagaon Dock Ltd. Two submarines of Project-75 programme at MDL – Kalvari and Khanderi – have already been commissioned into the Indian Navy.

Submarine launched

Nitish likely to take oath as new CM on Nov 16

Janata Dal-United leader and NDA ally Nitish Kumar is likely to take oath as the Bihar chief minister for another term on November 16 after the NDA victory in Assembly elections. In the results out on November 10, the NDA that fought the elections under its chief ministerial candidate Kumar managed to bag 125 seats in the 243-member Assembly. Even as the NDA top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has announced that Kumar will be the new CM, there is also a buzz that the new Cabinet will have two deputy chief ministers from the BJP, similar

to the arrangement in Uttar Pradesh. The role of Kumar is thus expected to undergo a change in the new government since his party has won only 43 seats, much lower than the BJP’s 74 seats. As a result, the JD-U will play the role of ‘younger brother’ in the new cabinet. The BJP cannot however aff ord to take a risk by putting pressure on Kumar for the chief minister’s post since its top leadership knows that he has the option to switch sides. Kumar will also face challenges to keep the NDA forces united as the alliance has just three seats more than a simple majority of 122 seats.

PAKISTAN

InternewsIslamabad

With tropical heat, re-mote island com-munities, a dearth of

ultra-cold freezers and a limited quantity available, many Asian countries and developing na-tions aren’t betting on Pfi zer’s experimental vaccine solving their Covid-19 crisis any time soon.

The world cheered when Pfi z-er Inc announced its shot, jointly developed with BioNTech SE, was more than 90 per cent eff ec-tive based on initial trial results.

Yet health experts cautioned that the vaccine, should it be approved, was no silver bullet

— not least because the genetic material it’s made from needs to be stored at temperatures of mi-nus 70 degrees Celsius or below.

Such requirements pose a particularly daunting challenge for countries in Asia, as well as in places like Africa and Latin America, where intense heat is often compounded by poor in-frastructure that will make it diffi cult to keep the “cold chain” intact during deliveries to rural areas and islands.

That is a problem for every-one in the world, given the World Health Organization (WHO) esti-mates about 70pc of people must be inoculated to end the pandem-ic, and Asia alone is home to more than 4.6 billion — or three-fi fths of the global population.

Some Asian countries are pri-oritising containing the novel coronavirus rather than looking to stockpile vaccines, while oth-ers are looking for alternatives to the messenger RNA technology used by Pfi zer that requires such ultra-cold storage.

In addition, Pfi zer can manu-facture only a limited quantity of the vaccine next year about 1.3 billion doses, according to a report by NPR. But more than 80pc of the supply is already spoken for by the United States, the United Kingdom, the Euro-pean Union, Canada and Japan.

This means that there is hard-ly anything left for the rest of the world, particularly poorer coun-tries.

“What’s left in that pie is not

a lot,” Rachel Silverman, at the nonprofi t Center for Global De-velopment in Washington, DC, told NPR.

“For most people in low- and middle-income countries, this vaccine is not likely to be avail-able, at least, by the end of next year,” according to Silverman.

“On the cold chain require-ment of -70 degrees, that is a hefty requirement. We do not have such facilities,” Philippines’ Health Secretary Francisco Du-que told Reuters.

“We will have to wait and see for now,” he added. “The tech-nology Pfi zer is using is new technology. We don’t have expe-rience with that, so risks can be high.”

Pfi zer told Reuters that it had

developed detailed logistical plans and tools to support vac-cine transport, storage and con-tinuous temperature monitoring.

“We have also developed packaging and storage innova-tions to be fi t for a range of loca-tions where we believe vaccina-tions will take place,” it said.

Pakistani experts however say it is premature to celebrate Pfi zer vaccine.

According to a top govern-ment scientist from Pakistan, Pfi zer’s coronavirus vaccine is not suitable for developing countries due to cold storage re-quirements.

Professor Attaur Rahman, head of the Task Force on Sci-ence and Technology, told Voice of America that it would be pre-

mature for Pakistan and other developing nations to celebrate Pfi zer’s announcement.

“The cold storage infrastruc-ture and chains to take this from the airport, across cities and countries are missing in the de-veloping world,” he told the pub-lication.

He added that patients would require two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart and a “low temperature carriage” makes it all the more diffi cult to carry out inoculation.

These sentiments were also echoed by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.

“It will be a major challenge for us to maintain the cold chain of the vaccine. Our cold chain

system may not cater to the tem-perature so we will have to make arrangements to maintain the temperature during nationwide supplies,” the special assistant told Dawn, a leading Pakistani daily.

Dr Ghazna Khalid, who is also a member of the task force on Cov-id-19, told the newspaper that as the vaccine was being developed, a framework for cold storage was also being prepared.

“The vaccine becomes admin-istrable in one-and-a-half hours but I believe people will be ad-vised to come to the cold storage to get vaccinated. Unfortunately, our Expanded Programme of Im-munisation is entirely in Islama-bad; it should be developed in provinces as well,” she said.

Scepticism in country over Pfi zer vaccine effi cacy

AFPKarachi

A fi ery online series about a group of women who un-leash revenge on men has

sparked a backlash in Pakistan, where tough censorship rules prevent such shows from ap-pearing on television.

Filmed in Karachi but released by an India-based streaming service, Churails (Witches in English), centres on four women who open an underground de-tective agency under the guise of a clothing store to catch cheating husbands.

The storylines cover often un-touched topics such as taboo re-lationships, sexual exploitation, male dominance and obsession with fair skin.

It caused a buzz among much of its audience online — often limited to affl uent Pakistanis who can aff ord the platform’s subscription fee — but infuriated conservatives when clips began to circulate on social media.

“When all of us read the script for the first time we thought to ourselves, ‘Are we even allowed to do this?’,” said

actress Mehar Bano.She plays Zubaida, a young

woman from a poor and tradi-tional family who loves boxing but is forbidden from practicing the sport.

“We knew what we were get-ting into, we knew that some-thing like this would garner a lot of hate,” she told AFP.

It is a rare women-centred script for strait-laced Pakistan, where shows are often limited to the stormy relationships be-tween stay-at-home wives and their demanding mothers-in-law.

“Before this, I had not heard or seen these women on television or on digital platforms or cin-ema, even though I knew they existed,” said British-Pakistani fi lmmaker Asim Abbasi, who wrote the 10-episode series.

He faced relentless accusa-tions of “making immorality glamorous” once the show be-gan streaming, especially after a clip from the series went viral on social media.

It portrayed a successful busi-nesswoman character who dis-cussed getting intimate with her boss in order to be promoted.

Zee5 later temporarily pulled

the series while it “addressed” a complaint from the Pakistan Television Authority.

“How do we fi x something

when it’s not being talked about? It keeps the status quo in place,” said Bano of complaints by the “moral police”.

The actress, whose character is rescued from a forced wed-ding while her parents are held at gunpoint, said the familiar

portrayal of women as respectful and subservient was keeping Pa-kistani women at a disadvantage.

Abbasi said he would never have been able to produce the show for Pakistani television, which faces heavy censorship from authorities particularly re-lated to sexuality.

International subscription streaming platforms do not face the same constraints, but tech companies do risk outright prohibition — Pakistan briefl y banned Chinese short video app TikTok in September because of “immoral” content.

Series star Sarwat Gillani told AFP people were “living in de-nial,” with the lives of Pakistanis “sugarcoated” for television.

“We weren’t telling a lie,” she says of Churails, in which she plays a rich trophy wife who founds the detective agency af-ter discovering her husband has been texting dozens of women.

“We weren’t telling a story of another country. We were telling a story about our people,” she adds.

Pakistan’s censorship crusade against supposedly indecent media has been gathering pace under Prime Minister Imran

Khan, a former cricket star with a playboy past, who has sought to placate powerful conservative and religious constituencies.

“The problem is that you can-not defi ne indecency. It has a to-tally diff erent defi nition for diff er-ent segments of the population,” complained science minister Fa-wad Chaudhry, who opposes the government bans and says they are harming the country’s tech in-dustry.

In the past few months, foreign-made dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr have been blocked and YouTube has been threatened.

There has been an “erosion of the kind of things we can talk about”, said fi lmmaker Hasan Za-idi, a former head of the Karachi Film Festival.

“The avenues and space availa-ble for creativity have really shrunk in Pakistan,” he said.

Series star Bano added that she understood it was “uncomfort-able” for Pakistanis to see the fl aws in their own society but said enter-taining narratives gave audiences a chance to refl ect.

“Because of this banning cul-ture, there are a lot of problems that are being swept under the rug,” she said.

Mehar Bano, one of the casts of the drama serial Churails, during the interview in Karachi. (AFP)

Fiery online series sparks backlash but stays course

Naya Pakistan Certifi cates for overseas PakistanisPM says economy is stabilising at launching ceremony, hails record remittances, regained strength of rupee

InternewsIslamabad

Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the much anticipated Naya Paki-

stan Certifi cates for overseas Pakistanis here yesterday to incentivise investment.

The ceremony was attended by government offi cials, in-cluding Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar and Minister for Economic Aff airs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, among others.

Shariah compliant Is-lamic certifi cates would also be available for a period of 3 months to 5 years.

The depositor will be able to withdraw the capital even be-fore the stipulated period. No tax fi ling will be required with only 10% holding tax applica-ble on net profi t.

The investment in Naya Pakistan Certifi cate is fully refundable and no approval would be required to transfer these funds abroad.

In September, Prime Min-ister Imran Khan inaugurated the Roshan Digital Account, which provides innovative banking solutions for millions of non-resident Pakistanis (NRPs) seeking to undertake fund transfers, bill payments and investment activities in Pakistan.

Opening the Roshan Digital Account requires a basic set of information and documents, and only take 48 hours once all

documents are complete.The customer can choose

either a foreign currency or rupee dominated account, or both. Funds in these accounts will be fully repatriable, with-out the need for any regulatory approval.

The PM informed the gath-ering that there had been no increase in the country’s debts in the past four months. Ex-pressing satisfaction at the turnaround, he pointed out that Pakistan’s current ac-count balance in the previous quarter had gone into surplus for the fi rst time in 17 years. But he regretted the develop-ment “had not been highlight-ed” by the media.

The premier also noted that the infl ow of remittances has been on the rise owing to ex-

cellent incentives by the State Bank and urged the central bank’s governor, Reza Baqir, to continue eff orts to ensure that overseas Pakistanis stack their money in Pakistan.

The Naya Pakistan Certifi -cate, the prime minister said, is an important step in this regard as it off ers returns to overseas residents at a time when interest rates across the world had fallen.

He said thanks to the in-crease in remittances, the rupee was getting stronger and the economy stabilising “without any spending” by the government. He felt the economic situation of Paki-stan would have been much better if the incumbent ad-ministration “did not have to bear the burden of past gov-

ernments’ policies”.Earlier today, the State Bank

of Pakistan (SBP) data had re-vealed that remittances dur-ing the month of October had risen 14.1 per cent year-on-year to $2.3 billion, clocking in above the $2bn mark for the fi fth consecutive month.

During July-October FY21, workers’ remittances in-creased to $9.4 billion, record-ing a growth of 26.5 per cent over the same period last year.

The SBP informed that a large part of year-on-year in-crease in October 2020 was sourced from Saudi Arabia (30%), United States (16%) and United Kingdom (14.6%).

The SBP noted that im-provements in Pakistan’s FX market structure and its dy-namics, eff orts under the Pa-

kistan Remittances Initiative (PRI) to formalise the fl ows and limited cross-border traveling had contributed to the growth in remittances.

Despite the Covid-19 pan-demic, the workers’ remit-tances have managed to post strong growth. Remittances sent by overseas Pakistan in-creased by 31.2 per cent or $544 million to $2.283 billion in September 2020 compared to $1.74 billion received in the same month of the last fi scal year.

Since June, the country is receiving over $2 billion home remittances monthly. June saw remittances soar to $2.47 bil-lion, while the country received highest-ever workers’ remit-tances — $2.76 billion — in July and $2.09 billion in August.

Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing the launching ceremony of Naya Pakistan Certificates in Islamabad yesterday.

Iran yesterday announced the opening of a border crossing point with Pakistan for facilitating trade, as the two countries agreed to deepen their bilateral cooperation.The announcement was made by Iranian Foreign Minister Dr Javad Zarif during his meetings here. He was on a two-day visit to Pakistan, leading a senior delegation comprising political and economic experts.The Iranian foreign minister met Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.This was his fourth visit to Pakistan since the PTI came into power about two-and-a-half years ago.The Foreign Off ice said the trip was part of the regular high-level exchanges between the two countries aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and developing a better understanding of each other’s perspective on regional issues.Dr Zarif told the Pakistani leaders that Iran would open the Rimdan crossing point, located about 130km from Chahbahar port in its Sistan and Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, next week. He expressed the hope that Pakistani authorities too would open their side of the border — Gabd crossing point — so that trade could be promoted. Rimdan border crossing is believed to be suitably located for export and import of fruits, livestock, construction material, and petroleum products.The Iranian side of the crossing point has been equipped with modern communication systems, livestock and vegetable quarantine, and other required facilities for import of mango and livestock.Dr Zarif urged Pakistan to open Pishin-Mand crossing as well.Prime Minister Khan, in his meeting with Dr Zarif, said that increased bilateral cooperation, particularly better trade and economic ties, would be mutually beneficial for the two countries.Foreign Minister Qureshi, in his meeting with Dr Zarif at the Foreign Off ice, apprised the latter of the steps taken by the Pakistan government to develop trade and economic cooperation with Iran.

Iran to open another border point for trade

The UN General Assembly’s main committee has adopted a Pakistan-sponsored resolution by overwhelming majority under which the 193-member Assembly would reaff irm the urgent need to reach an early agreement on eff ective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon states against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.The resolution “Conclusion of eff ective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon states against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons” was adopted by a majority of 119 votes in favour to none against, with 60 abstentions.A large number of states belonging to Non-aligned Movement as well as China and Japan supported it, while US and European States as well as India abstained.It would come up for formal endorsement of the General Assembly next month along with three of Pakistan’s regional disarmament-related resolutions.The resolution would appeal to all countries, especially nuclear-weapon states, to work actively towards early agreement on a common approach leading to a legally binding international instrument.

UNGA adopts Pak resolution on security assurances

Amid the mushrooming coronavirus cases among students and teachers, the federal minister for education and vocational training Shafqat Mahmood yesterday called a special meeting of the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference next week.According to news reports, the meeting will discuss the pandemic-related issues and a proposal for early and extended winter vacation for students to ensure their protection from the pandemic.

Early, extended winter vacations in schools likely

12 Gulf TimesFriday, November 13, 2020

PAKISTAN

Some of the Ahaadith of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam (may Allah exalt his mention), are quite terse yet

convey a multitude of meanings, and this is no surprise since they were produced by the one who was given the keys of eloquent speech and wise sayings. Some of his statements serve as fundamental principles, general rules, and just standards. On every given topic, there are Ahaadith that are considered all-inclusive fundamental principles under the heading of which all the respective subtopics fall. Some of these terse Ahaadith address the topic of wealth, establishing the correct Islamic viewpoint on wealth and setting fi xed criteria for dealing with it and ways of disposing of it.

One of these is the following Hadith, which was narrated on the authority of ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, may Allah be pleased with him: “The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, sent for me, commanding me to pack my clothes and arms and go to him. I did what he asked and came to him while he was performing ablution. He looked at me from head to toe then said: ‘O ‘Amr, I want to send you in charge of an army so that Allah will bless you with spoils, and I will give you your lawful share of the spoils.’ I said: ‘I did not become Muslim in pursuit of wealth; I became Muslim out of the desire for embracing Islam so that I would be with the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam!’ He said: ‘O ‘Amr! How excellent lawful wealth is in the hands of a righteous person!’” [Ahmad and Al-Bukhari. Abu ‘Awaanah, Ibn Hibbaan, Al-Haakim, Al-Albaani: authentic]

According to its very wording, the Hadith clearly states that wealth is praiseworthy if it is lawfully gained and in the hands of a righteous person. The lawfulness of wealth means that it is pure and earned through lawful means, and the righteousness of the owner means that he uses his lawful wealth in what benefi ts him and his community. He fulfi ls the Rights of Allah with regard to his wealth by paying the obligatory Zakaah on it and may spend it in charity voluntarily. This is a praiseworthy attitude towards wealth, as evidenced by his saying “How excellent lawful wealth is…” In the same vein, another Hadith lauded wealth when it is lawfully earned and rightfully spent. It was narrated on the authority of Abu Sa‘eed, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “This wealth is sweet (alluring); whoever earns it lawfully and spends it rightfully, then what excellent

help it is!” [Al-Bukhari] In this case, wealth is an excellent means for a Muslim to fulfi l the due rights over him, uphold the ties of kinship, relieve the distressed, and spares himself from the humiliation of begging for money, as well as all the other benefi ts of wealth. The Shari‘ah texts that laud wealth and commend richness should be interpreted in this light.

By the same token, the Hadith indicates the gravity of the affl iction when wealth is in the hands of a wicked, corrupt person; he withholds the Rights of Allah with regard to his wealth, and therefore, it becomes a destructive tool incurring his own destruction and a means of causing mischief on earth. Such a person may also combine the sin of acquiring wealth unlawfully with that of wastefulness. This meaning was stated by the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, in the second part of the previously-cited Hadith narrated on the authority of Abu Sa‘eed, may Allah be pleased with him: “...and he who obtains it wrongfully is like one who eats but is never satisfi ed.” [Al-Bukhari] This is in addition to having a gluttonous soul and a heart overcome by the Fitnah (temptation) of wealth. The Shari‘ah texts that dispraise wealth, warn against extravagance, and encourage asceticism and renouncing greediness for the worldly pleasures should be interpreted in this light.

This Hadith and the other supporting ones about the enjoined attitude towards wealth – like the one narrated by Abu Sa‘eed, may Allah be pleased with him, in its two parts: “This wealth is sweet (alluring); whoever earns it lawfully and spends it rightfully, then what excellent help it is! He who obtains it wrongfully is like one who eats but is never satisfi ed,” – they are considered a Prophetic standard and an Islamic methodology of moderation in pursuing wealth, with neither excessive asceticism nor the dispraised accumulation of wealth and exceeding the proper limits in its acquisition and spending.

These Ahaadith, therefore, direct the Muslims towards the correct viewpoint on the true nature of wealth and underline that Islam does not dispraise wealth in an absolute sense, as some Sufi s claim, nor does it praise it in an absolute sense. The subject matter of the praise and dispraise here is not the wealth itself but rather the states of people in acquiring, spending, or disposing of it. Whoever seeks (lawful) wealth with the intention of providing for himself and his dependants and

reforming the universe with such wealth by investing and spending it on what is good and benefi cial to the individual and community, then how excellent such wealth is!

Some of the Companions were wealthy and successful traders. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, was a trader, and his wealth was well spent in support of Islam and the Muslims. It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “No wealth has benefited me as much as the wealth of Abu Bakr.” Thereupon, Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, wept and said: “O Messenger of Allah! I and my wealth are only for you, O Messenger of Allah!” [Ibn Maajah, Al-Albaani: authentic] There were many other rich Companions whose wealth was a source of mercy and help for people and which was spent in support of the Islamic causes, like that of the third caliph, ‘Uthmaan, may Allah be pleased with him, who equipped the Muslim army for the Battle of Tabook with nine hundred and fifty camels and rounded them up to one thousand with fifty horses.

As for those who seek after wealth to accumulate it and boast about it, turning it into a means to cause mischief on earth and corrupt the economy through engaging in forbidden transactions such as Riba and gambling, they contribute to the poverty and unemployment in their societies by concentrating wealth in the hands of one social class. Accordingly, wealth, in their hands, becomes a means of destruction and evil, just like Qaaroon, whose story was related in the Qur’an. He wronged his people by dealing with Riba with their wealth and claiming that he had earned and obtained such wealth exclusively by means of his knowledge and eff orts! This corrupt viewpoint on wealth and the economic injustice were enough sin for him to deserve the immediate destruction that befell him. Contrary to his aspirations to dominate the earth, Allah, The Exalted, destroyed him by causing the earth to swallow him, and he will continue to sink until the Day of Resurrection. Allah, The Exalted, Says (what means): {And We caused the earth to swallow him and his home. And there was for him no company to aid him other than Allah, nor was he of those who [could] defend themselves.} [Qur’an 28:81]

Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/

It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu

‘alaihi wa sallam (may Allah exalt his mention), said: “Whoever relieves a believer of some worldly distress, Allah will relieve him of some of the distress of the Day of Resurrection. Whoever alleviates the hardship of an insolvent debtor (i.e. grants him respite or writes off his debt), Allah will alleviate his hardship in the worldly life and the Hereafter. Whoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in the worldly life and the Hereafter. Allah continues to help a slave so long as he is helping his fellow brother. Whoever treads a path in quest of knowledge, Allah will direct him to a path leading him easily to Paradise. Whenever a group of people assemble in a House of Allah (mosque) to recite and study the Qur’an, tranquillity will descend upon them, mercy will engulf them, the angels will surround them, and Allah will make mention of them to those (the angels) in His proximity. He who lags behind in good doing (i.e. hindered because of his evil deeds), his noble lineage will be of no avail to him (on the Day of Judgment).” [Muslim]

ExplanationIslam fosters noble morals,

encourages them, holds them in a refi ned status, and designates great and abundant rewards for adhering to them, as underlined in this Hadith cited in Saheeh Muslim.

In the beginning of his directive, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, urged us to relieve the distress of the believers. There is no doubt that this is a great good deed in the sight of Allah, The Exalted, and is highly appreciated by people. Life is full of hardships and diffi culties, and we are destined to face sundry suff ering and sorrows in it. Distress may overwhelm a believer so much that his heart and mind would be clouded with confusion and remain unable to fi nd a way out!

At such harsh times, how great it

is for a Muslim to hasten to assist his fellow Muslim brother, extend a helping hand to him, and strive to relieve or mitigate his distress. This gracious expression of sympathy has a deep impact on the heart of the distressed person, and therefore it is appropriate that its reward should be that Allah, The Exalted, would relieve the doer of a graver and harsher distress (on the Day of Judgment); which is the distress of standing before Him for reckoning and being held accountable for one’s deeds, and receiving the due punishment. How great and generous this reward is!

Among the noble morals is forgiving the debts of insolvent debtors. Islam urges creditors to give respite to insolvent debtors in straitened circumstances until their situation improves. Allah, The Exalted, Says (what means): {And if someone is in hardship, then [let there be] postponement until [a time of] ease.} [Qur’an 2:280] What is even more rewardable is for a creditor to give up some of his rights and forgive part of the debt he is owed. This is evidenced by what was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “A man used to give loans to the people, and he would say to his servant: ‘If the debtor is in hardship, relieve him of the debt so that perhaps Allah may relieve us (i.e. forgive us).’ So when he met Allah (i.e., when he died), Allah relieved him (i.e. forgave him).” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

The Hadith then urges concealing the faults of the Muslims and refraining from fi nding fault in them and pursuing their mistakes and lapses. This is another example of the refi ned morals with which our glorious Shari‘ah is adorned. Verily, the infallible person is the one whom Allah grants infallibility. No matter how pious and righteous a Muslim may be, he is still liable to error. He might commit a sin; however, he dislikes his neglect in fulfi lling the rights of Allah and hates that people be aware of his error and negligence.

So if a Muslim sees or learns of his fellow Muslim’s faults, he should conceal them rather than expose them, without neglecting the duty

of off ering him sincere advice and reminding him of Allah.

The virtue of such concealing of faults was reported in the Sunnah.

It was narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Whoever conceals the fault of his Muslim brother, Allah will conceal his fault on the Day of Judgment.” [Ibn Maajah] Meanwhile, pursuing people’s faults is repulsive to the sound human nature as well as forbidden by the Shari‘ah. Stern warnings against it were reported in the Shari‘ah texts. It was narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, once ascended the pulpit and called out with a raised voice: “O you who accepted Islam with his tongue while faith has not reached his heart! Do not harm Muslims, nor disgrace them, nor spy on them to expose their secrets. For indeed whoever pursues his Muslim brother’s faults, Allah will pursue his faults and expose him, even if he were in the depths of his house.” [At-Tirmithi]

Given the high position and refi ned status of knowledge in Islam, the Hadith emphasised its virtue and signifi cance. It is the path that leads a person to Paradise. Those who devote themselves to knowledge are the guiding beacons that illuminate the way before the Muslim nation and the heirs of the Prophets and Messengers of Allah. Therefore, Allah, The Exalted, honors them with this refi ned status and high position. It was narrated on the authority of Abu Ad-Dardaa’, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “The angels lower their wings in approval of the seeker of knowledge, and everyone in the heavens and on earth seeks forgiveness for the scholar, even the fi sh in the sea. The superiority of a scholar over a worshipper is like the superiority of the moon over all other heavenly bodies.” [Ahmad] They are the people of Thikr (remembrance of Allah) and piety; how vast the gap between a knowledgeable and an ignorant person is!

The best fi eld of knowledge to

which a Muslim should devote his time is learning the Qur’an and promoting its sciences, as stated in the authentic Hadith that reads: “The best amongst you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.” This superiority is derived from the relatedness of such knowledge to the Speech of Allah, The Exalted; the distinction of a given fi eld of knowledge is commensurate to the distinction of its subject matter.

Now contemplate the rewards that Allah, The Exalted, promised those who assemble in a mosque, reciting the Qur’an and pondering over its meanings. He promised them four things: tranquillity will descend upon them, the divine mercy will engulf them, the noble angels will surround them, and the fourth and greatest reward of all is that Allah will make mention of them to those (the angels) in His proximity and praise them before His angels. If this was the only reward received for reciting Thikr, it would indeed be enough!

However, such great rewards are only earned through diligence and striving, and they have nothing to do with a person’s (social) status and prestige. None should be tempted by his noble descent and status because the sole criterion of superiority between people in the sight of Allah is righteous deeds. There is no consideration for a person’s social status or prestige if he neglects performing good deeds , and this is why Allah, The Exalted, Says (what means): {So when the Horn is blown, no relationship will there be among them that Day, nor will they ask about one another.} [Qur’an 23:101] Even the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, did not avail his uncle Abu Taalib anything before Allah! He, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, underlined this meaning in his comprehensive statement: “He who lags behind in good doing (i.e. hindered because of his evil deeds), his noble lineage will be of no avail to him (on the Day of Judgment).”

Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH13Gulf Times

Friday, November 13, 2020

‘Whoever relieves a believer of some worldly distress...’

How excellent lawful wealth is in the hands of a righteous person! Miracles of Prophet

MuhammadThe Noble Qur’an

The polytheists of the Quraysh gathered to consult each other on a strategy to prevent Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam (may Allah exalt his

mention), from inviting people to Islam, especially as the Haj (pilgrimage) season was nearing, and the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, would surely call people to embrace Islam during it. They agreed on warning people against listening to the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam. Among the pilgrims was At-Tufayl ibn ‘Amr Ad-Dawsi, the chief of the tribe of Daws. The polytheists warned him about listening to the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, and claimed that he was a sorcerer and a poet, so At-Tufayl put pieces of cotton in his ears so that he would not be able to listen to the Prophet.

Once, At-Tufayl went to the Ka’aba and found the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, praying and reciting the Qur’an and Allah The Almighty willed that At-Tufayl listened to him. When he listened, he knew that what he had listened to was neither poetry nor magic, as At-Tufayl was a poet himself. Thus, when the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, fi nished his prayer, At-Tufayl followed him home and told him what the polytheists had said. Then he asked the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, to explain Islam to him. When he heard the Da‘wah (call) of Islam, he believed in Allah The Almighty, His Messenger and the Book the Prophet was sent with. The reversion of Tufayl was one of the blessings of the Qur’an. After this, he went to his tribe and invited them to Islam.

The Noble Qur’an is the Speech of Allah The Almighty and the eternal miracle of His Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Allah The Almighty sent it down to the people of rhetoric and challenged them to compose one Surah (Chapter) or even one verse like it, but they were unable to do so. The Qur’an is the fi rm Rope of Allah The Almighty, and whoever adheres to it will be saved by it; whoever follows it will be guided to the right path.

The splitting of the moonImaam Al-Bukhari and Imaam Muslim, may

Allah have mercy upon them both, narrated that Abu Jahl, Al-Waleed ibn Al-Mugheerah, Al-‘Aas ibn Waa’il and a large number of the polytheists from the Quraysh went to the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, and said: “O Muhammad! If you are truthful in what you say, then split the moon for us into two pieces.” The Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, invoked Allah The Almighty to split the moon and Allah The Almighty answered his invocation. The moon split and people saw it and the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, made them bear

witness [to that], but they disbelieved.Al-Israa’ and Al-Mi‘raaj (The Prophetic Journey

and the Ascension)When the polytheists intensifi ed the harm they

had infl icted on the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, Allah The Almighty wanted to relieve his pains and bring him closer, so the journey of Al-Israa’ and Al-Mi‘raaj took place. Jibreel, may Allah exalt his mention, went to the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, with Al-Buraaq (a riding mount). The Prophet mounted it and he was taken from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa where he led all the Prophets in prayer, then he was taken to the upper heavens. During this journey, prayer was ordained, and the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, returned to Makkah on the same night.

Increasing small amounts of foodDuring the Battle of the Trench, the polytheists

besieged Madinah, and the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, and his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were digging a trench around Al-Madinah in order to prevent the polytheists from entering it. The Muslims ran out of food and they were starving. Jaabir, may Allah be pleased with him, wanted to provide the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, and his Companions with food, but he had a small amount of barley and a small sheep.

Thus, Jaabir, may Allah be pleased with him, went to the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, and invited him along with a small number of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with him, but the Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, called out loudly: “O people! Jaabir has made food for you, so let us go!” The Prophet ordered Jaabir to wait for him before he prepared the food, and when he arrived there, he blessed the food. The Companions entered in groups until they all ate and the food remained the same. Jaabir said: “By Allah! The fi ghters were one thousand on that day.” [Al-Bukhari]

The trunk of a palm tree longs for the Prophet

The Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, used to deliver his Khutbah (sermon) while standing beside the trunk of a date palm tree. When the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, made a pulpit for him, he, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, left the trunk and stood on the pulpit. The Companions heard a sound that was similar to the sound of a she-camel. The Prophet, sallallaahu ’alaihi wa sallam, knew that it was the trunk weeping for having been separated from him. He went to it and placed his hand over it, so it calmed down. [Ahmad and At-Tirmithi]

Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/

It’s imperative President-elect Joe Biden takes a whole-government approach to climate action right from the get-go

By Michael R. BloombergWashington

During the presidential cam-paign, much of the debate around climate change cen-tred on what Congress should

do. That’s an important question, but if history is any guide, it will take time for Congress to settle on a bill — and there is no guarantee of success, even if Democrats beat the odds and end up gaining control of the Senate. In 2008, Democrats won both houses of Congress and spent nearly two years de-veloping and debating a cap-and-trade bill that ultimately failed — leaving it to cities, states and businesses to act largely on their own.

This time, it’s imperative that President-elect Joe Biden take a whole-government approach to climate action right from the get-go. To his credit, his ambitious climate plan recognises that there is much he can accomplish without Congress — and some of the most important steps he can take have nothing to do with the Environmental Protection Agency.

I have no doubt Biden will appoint a talented EPA administrator who will start reversing some of the damage of the past four years, but that must be only the beginning. It’s essential that he appoint leaders committed to climate action to lead other key agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — which oversees interstate energy transmission, including oil and

gas pipeline applications — as well as the departments of energy and transportation.

The president-elect should expect each member of the Cabinet to prioritiae climate action and integrate it throughout the agency’s operations. For instance: The Department of Defense should invest in its facilities’ resilience, which is critical to our national security. The same is true for other infrastructure that the federal government supports and the public relies on, including roads and rail, airports and ports, and telecommunication systems.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development can raise environmental requirements for construction projects it funds. And all agencies can integrate climate change considerations into their procurement processes, lowering the carbon footprint and environmental impact of the goods and services that taxpayers buy through the federal government.

There are other agencies that have the potential to have an enormous impact on emission reductions, though their power is less widely recognised. It’s critical, for instance, that the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission recognise that climate change is a risk to the global fi nancial system — and act on it. The SEC requires public companies to disclose information about their fi nancial health and can broaden those requirements to include more information about climate risks and preparedness, information that investors need to make smart decisions.

This week, the United Kingdom became the latest country to announce that it will require companies to report climate risks. More than 1,500 companies, regulators and fi nancial institutions have voiced support for guidelines published by the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on

Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, which I chair. But there is a growing risk countries will adopt diff ering standards, making it extremely diffi cult for investors to make apples-to-apples comparisons and blunting the power of the marketplace to drive change.

Investors and consumers — and global economic stability — are well-served by more uniform fi nancial reporting standards, a lesson that became painfully clear after the 2008 crisis. At the same time, increased and uniform disclosure of climate risk is one of the most powerful tools we have in reducing emissions, because more transparency will create stronger incentives for companies to take action, by driving more private investment to those that do.

A global standard for climate reporting is critical, but it will not happen without US leadership. Just as Franklin Roosevelt gathered fi nancial representatives from the allied powers at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to agree upon a set of monetary principles which have been the foundation for unprecedented global growth, we need a President Biden to convene a similar group for the purpose of adopting a set of climate-disclosure standards. If Biden seizes the opportunity, it may prove to be one of the most important turning points in the global fi ght against climate change.

The SEC is not the only fi nancial agency that can accelerate our progress. The role of the Federal Reserve Board is to support economic stability and growth, and climate change is a threat to both. Monetary policy can be used to reduce the costs of borrowing for investments that help to cut emissions, increase resilience and take climate change into account — and to increase costs for those that don’t. The president doesn’t dictate monetary policy, but he can appoint members who recognise the value of policies that incentivise

resilience and emissions reductions, and who will work to ensure that the fi nancial system and individual banks take into account the risks associated with climate change.

There is also an enormous amount that the Biden administration can accomplish by empowering its strongest allies: US cities, states and businesses, all of which have taken big strides to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and are eager to do more. (Bloomberg is on track to our goal of achieving 100% clean energy.) The White House can help each group accelerate their plans by ensuring that any future stimulus funding supports economic recovery in ways that also cut emissions, build resilience and create jobs in green industries.

The latest report by America’s Pledge — a coalition of cities, states and businesses that I launched in 2017 with former California Governor Jerry Brown — found that with strong federal leadership the US can still reach and exceed our Paris Agreement goal. Rejoining the agreement, as Biden will do, will give the US the leverage and authority to work with other countries to raise their ambition and speed up their progress — and send a strong signal to investors. The Biden administration should lead by example by submitting a new, bolder national emissions commitment and outlining how we will get there.

Whatever happens — or doesn’t happen — in the next Congress, our best hope for bold climate action begins with a whole-government approach. And to succeed, it’s critical that President-elect Biden begins laying the groundwork now.

Michael R Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, and served as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013.

Gulf Times Friday, November 13, 2020

COMMENT14

To Advertise advr@gulf-times.com

Display 44466621 44418811

Classified 44466609 44418811

Subscription circulation@gulf-times.com

© 2020 Gulf Times. All rights reserved

GULF TIMES

P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar

editor@gulf-times.com

44350478 (News),

44466404 (Sport),

44466636 (Home delivery)

44350474

facebook.com/gulftimes

twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar

CHAIRMANAbdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFaisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka

Deputy Managing EditorK T Chacko

Beyond the virus,a pandemic ofdivision in the US

After a week that felt like forever, the end of the Trump presidency is fi nally in sight.

President-elect Joe Biden has won the largest number of votes of any candidate in the nation’s history. More than 77 million people stood up to say they are sick of the collateral damage caused by a deadly virus.

But we’re not talking about the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 238,000 lives and counting. No, in our view, the continuing spread of Covid-19 has been a symptom of an even more widespread illness: a political system that uses race-baiting and nativism to pit Americans against one another.

The common term for this pathogen is divisiveness. The kind that makes a lifesaving act like mask-wearing into a symbol of politics, and that makes Black and brown people disproportionately likely to die of Covid-19 or face harm at the hands of police. Like racism and other oppressive forms of exclusion, divisiveness is about “othering” people who look, believe or behave diff erently than you.

The president’s power is deeply rooted in this attitude. Victimhood and its evil twin, entitlement, help him justify demonising, name-calling and using the government to punish those with whom he disagrees.

Trump — and his enablers in the Republican Party —

began losing this election not long after he won the last one. The day after his inauguration, more than a million people turned out for women’s marches across the United States.

Barely a week later, activists, immigrants, people of colour and white suburban women alike showed up to protest Trump’s Muslim ban. In 2018, millions nationwide decried his family separation policy — which we now know has left 545 immigrant children still separated from their parents.

And throughout the long summer of 2020, millions of protesters have shown up to say yes, Black Lives Matter, creating the largest social movement in US history.

That is why today, groups — both demographic and issue-driven — have found common cause in rejecting the administration’s overt acts of racism, xenophobia, misogyny and attacks on American democracy.

We see it in Georgia, a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in nearly 30 years, as well as in Arizona and in Pennsylvania. It’s not just the fact that young people, joined by a powerful surge of Black voters, rejected Trump.

Voters across a broad political spectrum have clearly been hungry for a leader who will unify Americans. A Wall Street Journal/ NBC poll taken in mid-October found that more than half of respondents cited “Trump will divide the country” as their top concern, ahead of the economy or Covid-19.

Voting Trump out was a critical step toward healing the deep divides this president and his enablers have sown. People are ready for justice. This includes immigrants who live in fear of losing family members to deportation, Black people exhausted by racism, people of all races stressed by police violence toward communities of colour and an economy that is leaving all but the wealthy behind.

But when the fi nal vote is counted, it will be the beginning of the work, not the end of it.

It will only be when people treat the actual illness plaguing the United States — divisions from one another — that Americans can protect the democracy so many before them fought, protested and died for. Because there’s no vaccine for that. — Tribune News Service

Voting Trump out was a critical step toward healing the deep divide this president and his enablers have sown

A big climate opportunity

BACK TO THE FUTURE: President-elect Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Chase Center last Saturday in Wilmington, Delaware.

A Trump pushed outside the legal moat that sur-rounds the White House becomes, for the most part, a Trump who can be sued and penalised just as any other American can

By Timothy L O’BrienWashington

Donald Trump is the luckiest man alive. Unlike almost, well, everyone, he’s been protected from the conse-

quences of his own mistakes his entire life.

Born into a wealthy family, he was insulated from lukewarm academic prospects and serial business crack-ups by his father’s money. (“I often say that I’m a member of the lucky sperm club,” is how he put it in one of his books.) Emerging as a reality-TV star in the early 2000s, Trump discovered that fame allowed him to be as predatory as he pleased without repercussions. (“When you’re a star, they let you do it.”) And his 2016 ascent to the White House opened his eyes to the presidency’s legal armour — which he interpreted broadly and often inaccurately. (“I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”)

Although Trump has over the years juggled, among other diffi culties, ho-hum grades, the threat of personal bankruptcy, sexual assault accusations, an intensive federal investigation and an impeachment, he has ploughed ahead relatively unwounded and unencumbered by regret. Wealth, celebrity and the presidency have kept him buoyant. All that insulation

has also meant that he hasn’t learned from his mistakes. Every personal and public reckoning has been postponed or shunted aside.

Now, however, Trump is staring at two threats that loom after he leaves the White House in January. One is fi nancial, the other legal. Neither is entirely under his control. And both may help explain, along with his perennial inability to accept losing, why Trump won’t acknowledge that President-elect Joe Biden is going to succeed him and why he has enlisted the Republican Party to help him gaslight Americans about the outcome of the presidential election.

Trump and the patchwork of businesses he houses inside the Trump Organization are saddled with more than $1 billion in debt, which Dan Alexander of Forbes has helpfully tallied. A portion of that total has been divulged over the past few years in the president’s personal fi nancial disclosures, on fi le with the Offi ce of Government Ethics. The New York Times recently revealed that Trump has personally guaranteed at least $421 million of the debt, with more than $300 million coming due within four years.

In other words, Trump is on the hook for a lot of money that he may have to scramble to repay in a Covid-19-battered economy in which his industries — hotels, leisure, urban real estate — have been particularly pummelled. Forbes estimates his assets are worth $3.7 billion; Bloomberg News pegs them at about $3.2 billion. He’s not going broke. But if the economy continues to struggle in coming months, those valuations will be tested. And much of what Trump holds isn’t liquid, meaning he may be hard-pressed to sell assets quickly if he needs to raise funds. Among Trump’s most valuable holdings, for example, are minority

stakes in two properties controlled by Vornado Realty Trust. Rumours of fire sales might further depress the value of his portfolio.

Another thing that would weaken Trump’s ability to negotiate sweetheart fi nancial deals or forgiveness: leaving the presidency.

On the legal side of the ledger, Trump, his children and their company

face aggressive investigations into their fi nances, accounting practices and tax payments.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Offi ce is investigating Trump for possible tax fraud and falsifi cation of business records, according to appellate court fi lings. In this probe, which is also examining the president’s payment of hush money to two women

who allegedly had intimate encounters with him, the DA’s offi ce is seeking eight years of Trump’s tax returns. It is also taking a look at whether Trump infl ated the value of his properties and other assets in order to secure funds from lenders and investors.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has launched another investigation, also focused on whether

the Trump Organization and the Trump family manipulated valuations to secure funding or engineer tax benefi ts. James’s probe is a civil case, which could bring hefty fi nancial penalties against Trump but no prison time (unless she fi nds reasons to recast it as criminal case). Vance’s investigation is a criminal matter, however, and if the Trump crew is found guilty of felonies, prison time is on the table.

Trump’s team has fought back hard against the Vance investigation, including arguing before the US Supreme Court that a sitting president is immune from state criminal prosecutions. While the court rejected that notion in a landmark ruling over the summer, it would become a moot argument in any venue once Trump is no longer president.

A Trump pushed outside the legal moat that surrounds the White House becomes, for the most part, a Trump who can be sued and penalised just as any other American can. That could also give fresh traction to the sexual assault cases against him.

It’s unclear how aggressive law enforcement offi cials in the Biden administration will be toward Trump. They could resurrect some of the obstruction charges that have gone fallow since former Special Counsel Robert Mueller ended his probe. On the other hand, the political fi restorm that could ignite might persuade Biden to hold back.

What’s clear is that Trump’s money and freedom are in play. As he comes to grips with losing the 2020 election, he will continue responding ferociously and unpredictably, like a man who for 74 years has been accustomed to getting away with almost anything.

Timothy L O’Brien is a senior columnist for Bloomberg Opinion.

COMMENT

Gulf Times Friday, November 13, 2020 15

Q&A: 5 important questionsabout Pfi zer’s Covid vaccineBy Arthur Allen

Pfi zer’s announcement last Monday that its Covid-19 shot appears to keep 9 in 10 people from getting the disease sent

its stock price rocketing. Many news reports described the vaccine as if it were our deliverance from the pan-demic, even though few details were released.

There was certainly something to crow about: Pfi zer’s vaccine consists of genetic material called mRNA encased in tiny particles that shuttle it into our cells. From there, it stimulates the immune system to make antibodies that protect against the virus. A similar strategy is employed in other leading Covid-19 vaccine candidates. If mRNA vaccines can protect against Covid-19 and, presumably, other infectious diseases, it will be a momentous piece of news.

“This is a truly historic fi rst,” said Dr Michael Watson, the former president of Valera, a subsidiary of Moderna, which is currently running advanced trials of its own mRNA vaccine against Covid-19. “We now have a whole new class of vaccines in our hands.”

But historically, important scientifi c announcements about vaccines are made through peer-reviewed medical research papers that have undergone extensive scrutiny about study design, results and assumptions, not through company press releases.

So did Pfi zer’s stock deserve its double-digit percentage bump? The answers to the following fi ve questions will help us know.

How long will the vaccine protect patients?

Pfi zer says that, as of last week, 94 people out of about 40,000 in the trial had gotten ill with Covid-19. While it didn’t say exactly how many of the sick had been vaccinated, the 90% effi cacy fi gure suggests it was a very small number. The Pfi zer announcement covers people who got two shots between July and October. But it doesn’t indicate how long protection will last or how often people might need boosters.

“It’s a reasonable bet, but still a gamble that protection for two or three months is similar to six months or a year,” said Dr Paul Offi t, a member of the Food and Drug Administration panel that is likely to review the vaccine for approval in December. Normally, vaccines aren’t licenced until they show they can protect for a year or two.

The company did not release any safety information. To date, no serious side eff ects have been revealed, and most tend to occur within six weeks

of vaccination. But scientists will have to keep an eye out for rare eff ects such as immune enhancement, a severe illness brought on by a virus’s interaction with immune particles in some vaccinated persons, said Dr Walt Orenstein, a professor of medicine at Emory University and former director of the immunisation programme at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Will it protect the most vulnerable?

Pfi zer did not disclose what percentage of its trial volunteers are in the groups most likely to be hospitalised or to die of Covid-19 — including people 65 and older and those with diabetes or obesity. This is a key point because many vaccines, particularly for infl uenza, may fail to protect the elderly though they protect younger people. “How representative are those 94 people of the overall population, especially those most at risk?” asked Orenstein.

Both the National Academy of Medicine and the CDC have urged that older people be among the fi rst groups to receive vaccines. It’s possible that vaccines under development by Novavax and Sanofi , which are likely to begin late-phase clinical trials later this year, may be better for the elderly, Offi t noted. Those vaccines contain immune-stimulating particles like the ones contained in the Shingrix vaccine, which is highly eff ective in protecting

older people against shingles disease.

Can it be rolled out eff ectively?The Pfi zer vaccine, unlike others

in late-stage testing, must be kept supercooled, on dry ice around 100 degrees below zero, from the time it is produced until a few days before it is injected. The mRNA quickly self-destructs at higher temperatures. Pfi zer has devised an elaborate system to transport the vaccine by truck and specially designed cases to vaccination sites. Public health workers are being trained to handle the vaccine as we speak, but we don’t know for sure how well it will do if containers are left out in the Arizona sun too long. Mishandling the vaccine along the way from factory to patient would render it ineff ective, so people who received it could think they were protected when they were not, Offi t said.

Could a premature announcement hurt future vaccines?

There’s presently no way to know whether the Pfi zer vaccine will be the best overall or for specifi c age groups. But if the FDA approves it quickly, that could make it harder for manufacturers of other vaccines to carry out their studies. If people are aware that an eff ective vaccine exists, they may decline to enter clinical trials, partly out of concern they could get a placebo and remain unprotected. Indeed, it may be unethical to use a placebo in such trials. Many vaccines

will be needed in order to meet global demand for protection against Covid-19, so it’s crucial to continue additional studies.

Could the Pfi zer study expedite future vaccines?

Scientists are vitally interested in whether the small number who received the real vaccine but still got sick produced lower levels of antibodies than the vaccinated individuals who remained well. Blood studies of those people would help scientists learn whether there is a “correlate of protection” for Covid-19 — a level of antibodies that can predict whether someone is protected from the disease. If they had that knowledge, public health offi cials could determine whether other vaccines under production were eff ective without necessarily having to test them on tens of thousands of people.

But it’s diffi cult to build such road maps. Scientists have never established correlates of immunity for pertussis, for example, although vaccines have been used against those bacteria for nearly a century.

Still, this is good news, said Dr Joshua Sharfstein, a vice dean at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a former FDA deputy commissioner. He said: “I hope this makes people realise that we’re not stuck in this situation forever. There’s hope coming, whether it’s this vaccine or another.” — Kaiser Health News Services

Why Trump fears leaving White House

UNRELENTING: US President Donald Trump walks on the south lawn of the White House in Washington, DC.

SPOTLIGHT: Pfizer Inc. signage is seen in New York City. Pfizer and German biotechnology firm BioNTech have agreed to supply the US government with 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine under a $1.95 billion deal.

f

WARNINGInshore : Poor visibility at first

and thunder rain associated with strong wind at times

Offshore : Expected thunder rain associated with strong wind and high sea by noon

WEATHERInshore : Misty to foggy at places

at first becomes rela-tively hot daytime with scattered clouds and chance of rain maybe thundery, blowing dust at places

WINDInshore : SE-SW 07-17/25 KTOffshore : SE-SW 05-15/25 KT

Visibility : 3-8/2 KMOffshore : 2-4/8 FT

TODAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Maximum Temperature : 340c

Minimum Temperature : 250c

Maximum Temperature : 300c

Minimum Temperature : 220c

Maximum Temperature : 290c

Minimum Temperature : 230c

BaghdadKuwait City ManamaMuscat Tehran

Athens

Beirut BangkokBerlinCairoCape TownColomboDhakaHong KongIstanbulJakartaKarachiLondonManilaMoscowNew DelhiNew YorkParisSao PauloSeoulSingaporeSydneyTokyo

Weather

Today

Sunny

P Cloudy

Sunny

Sunny

Rain

Max/min

26/12

26/16

31/24

32/22

09/06

Weather

Tomorrow

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

P Cloudy

Max/min

26/11

26/14

28/24

32/23

11/05

Around the region

Around the world

Max/min

20/12

24/19

28/23

09/04

26/15

28/16

30/25

32/21

24/19

17/11

32/25

34/19

13/11

29/26

02/-1

28/14

18/11

14/08

26/18

17/03

31/26

24/18

19/08

Weather

Today

M Sunny

Sunny

Showers

P Cloudy

M Sunny

Sunny

S T Storms

Sunny

Sunny

P Cloudy

S T Storms

Sunny

P Cloudy

S T Storms

P Cloudy

Sunny

Showers

M Sunny

T Storm

Sunny

P Cloudy

S T Storms

Clear

Max/min

20/10

24/20

32/21

11/08

27/17

21/14

30/24

32/21

22/20

16/11

32/25

33/17

13/09

31/26

02/-1

28/13

13/07

16/11

26/18

18/02

32/26

24/18

19/10

Weather

Tomorrow

M Sunny

Sunny

P Cloudy

P Cloudy

Sunny

P Cloudy

I T Storms

Sunny

Cloudy

P Cloudy

P Cloudy

Sunny

S Showers

P Cloudy

Cloudy

Sunny

S Showers

S Showers

T Storm

P Cloudy

P Cloudy

S T Storms

Cloudy

Fisherman's forecast

Three-day forecast

QATAR

Gulf Times Friday, November 13, 202016