QNA/THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani witnessed yesterday morning, through video conference, the

signing of nine new construction contracts for roads and infrastructure development projects of citizens’ lands projects at a total value of around QR3.6bn, to serve more than 5,111 land plots in different

areas around the country.During the video con-

ference, a brief presentation was made about the plan of developing new and existing citizens’ lands projects for the year 2020, in addition to the advantages of infrastructure projects that were signed, which include roads, parking lots, sewage networks, surface and groundwater drainage, and treated water.

All phases of the event and the signing ceremony were remotely conducted using the video conferencing technology, in the presence of Minister of Municipality and Environment, H E Eng. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie; President of Ashghal, Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmad Al Muhannadi; Chairman of the Central Municipal Council (CMC) — Constituency 14, Mohammed bin Hamoud Al Shafi; and from Ashghal Director of Projects

Affairs, Eng. Yousef Al Emadi; and Manager of Roads Projects Department, Eng. Saoud Al Tamimi. The representatives of the newly-awarded com-panies also attended the event.

On this occasion, H E Eng. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie, the Minister of Municipality and Environment, said: “MME was keen to allocate new lands plots in various areas throughout Qatar in order to construct and develop roads and infrastructure to serve the citizens in these areas, meet current and future needs, and improve the quality of life

throughout the State of Qatar.” Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmad Al

Muhannadi, President of Ashghal, said that there are directives from Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani to continue working at the same pace and with the same commitment to implement all infrastructure projects for citizens’ sub-divi-sions in accordance with our plans, despite the current worldwide economic crisis.

He added: “During the last few years, Ashghal provided services for around 34,918 land

plots, out of which 5,045 plots are in new citizens’ sub-divi-sions, and 29,873 plots are in e x i s t i n g c i t i z e n s ’ sub-divisions.”

Ashghal President noted that a forum will be held during the coming period for contractors of the signed contracts and local manufacturers to enhance coop-eration and coordination on sup-porting the national products, ensuring their compliance with the authority’s standards and their ability to meet projects’ needs, and ensuring that these projects are delivered on schedule. �P2

Monday 6 July 2020

15 Dhul-Qa'da - 1441

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8310

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Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani witnessing the ceremony, held remotely, of contracts signing for nine major development projects, yesterday. Minister of Municipality and Environment, H E Eng. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie (left); and President of Ashghal, Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmad Al Muhannadi (right) also attended the ceremony.

Lusail MarinaVisitors walk through the fountains at Lusail Marina Eastern, in Lusail City, yesterday. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

Ashghal to implement 9 major development projects

Interior Ministry launches My Address service for publicTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has launched My Address service for people to get more information about their residential address.

Using six different options such as street name, electricity number, zone n a m e , n a m e o f a neighbourhood, coordinates or building number, the residents can know about their building or area.

My Address service will help the public in accessing

emergency services through 999 or for official purposes with General Directorate of Nationality, Borders and Expatriates Affairs, Traffic Services and other security departments.

With giving just the Kahramaa number on the My Address website, users will get the zone number, street number, and the pin code for the desired location.

Citizens and residents in Qatar may access the new service on the official My Address website.

Over 92,000 recover from COVID-19THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced the registration of 616 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Another 1,897 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 92,284.

In addition, the Ministry announced five new deaths from the coronavirus. The deceased were aged 50, 52, 58, 64 and 80. They were all receiving the necessary medical care. All new cases have been introduced to isolation and are

receiving necessary healthcare according to their health status.

The Ministry further said that measures to tackle COVID-19 in Qatar have suc-ceeded in flattening the curve and limiting the spread of the virus.

The number of daily new cases and hospital admissions has gradually declined over the past few weeks.

“We are seeing a rise in the number of deaths in recent weeks and this is due to the people who were infected at the height of the virus several weeks ago. There has been an increase in cases among

families,” the Ministry said, adding: “This is of great concern as this population group includes the highest percentage of the elderly and people with chronic conditions.”

The Ministry asked people to be careful and protect the most vulnerable.

“While the restrictions of COVID-19 are gradually being lifted in Qatar, it is important for everyone to play their role in controlling the virus by fol-lowing precaut ionary measures: adherence to physical distancing, wearing a face mask and washing your hands regularly.”

Katara to hold 4th S’hail exhibition in OctRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

The fourth edition of Katara International Hunting and Falcons Exhibition (S’hail 2020) is slated to be held in October, the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) has announced.

One of the biggest annual events organised by Katara, this year’s S’hail exhibition is being planned to be hosted at Katara’s southern area from October 13 to 17, Katara said in a recent Facebook post.

Last year, the five-day exhi-bition which was held at Katara Hall and Wisdom Square attracted around 128,000 vis-itors to more than 140 stalls representing local and interna-tional companies from 20 countries generating over QR42m in sales, according to

the event’s official website.Said to be the region’s

largest and most prominent event in the field of hunting and falconry, the exhibition com-prised several sections including hunting weapons and equipment, falcon auction, fal-conry accessories, safari equipment and vehicles in addition to handicraft and food among others.

Some of the most renowned world-class companies and manufacturers had presence at the exhibition since it has established itself as an important event since its launch in 2017 with numerous transactions and partnerships made by participants.

S’hail has emerged as an international hub for hunting and falcon enthusiasts from all over the world. �P2

QC platform to

help companies

hire skilled

labour locally

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Qatar Chamber (QC) has launched an online platform to facilitate the re-employment of skilled labourers in the local market.

The QC’s initiative is in cooperation with the Ministry of Administrative Devel-opment, Labour and Social Affairs. The platform aims to provide the opportunity for companies seeking to hire new labourers to contract with the laid-off employees due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will allow local companies to get skilled and ideal labourers they are looking for, Qatar Chamber’s Director General, Saleh bin Hamad Al Sharqi, said yesterday.

He noted that it allows firms seeking to hire new workers to choose appropriate labourers for the jobs they offer according to the required professions.

Al Sharqi assured that the platform aims at securing con-tinuity of businesses and projects in the local market and helping companies find skilled labourers through contracting with laid-off workers from other companies, thus avoiding any shortage of labourers that may cause the failure of projects of these companies.

The platform will be available via the Chamber’s website to enable companies to upload the information of their laid-off employees.

BUSINESS | 13 PENMAG | 15 SPORT | 20

Xavi to stay at

Al Sadd for

one more

season

Classifieds

and Services

section

included

Shell CEO does

not rule out

moving

HQ to Britain

Under directives by H E the Prime Minister, Ashghal

will continue working at the same pace and

commitment to complete all infrastructure projects

for citizens’ sub-divisions as per plans, despite the

current global economic crisis.

The 9 new projects, starting in Q3, 2020, will see

development of roads, parking lots, sewerage and

drainage networks at a total cost of around

QR3.6bn. They will serve more than 5,111 land plots

in different areas.

The projects will provide about 281km of roads,

over 10,350 lighting poles, and more than 15,800

car parks, in addition to 684km of sewerage and

drainage networks.

�See also Business P13

OFFICIAL NEWS

02 MONDAY 6 JULY 2020HOME

Amir congratulates President of Algeria

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin

Hamad Al Thani and Deputy Amir H H

Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani

sent yesterday cables of congratula-

tions to the President of the People’s

Democratic Republic of Algeria H E

Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the occa-

sion of his country’s Independence

Day. Prime Minister and Minister of

Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khal-

ifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani also sent

a cable of congratulations to Prime

Minister of the People’s Democratic

Republic of Algeria HE Dr. Abdelaziz

Djerad on the occasion of the anni-

versary of his country’s Independence

Day. — QNA

Prime Minister sends congratulations to new French PM

DOHA: Prime Minister and Minis-

ter of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin

Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani sent

yesterday a cable of congratulations

to H E Jean Castex on the occasion

of his appointment as Prime Minis-

ter of the French Republic. — QNA

Amir congratulatesVenezuela President

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al

Thani, and Prime Minister and Min-

ister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid

bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani

sent yesterday cables of congratu-

lations to President of the Bolivarian

Republic of Venezuela H E Nicolas

Maduro on the occasion of his coun-

try’s Independence Day. — QNA

Amir congratulates President of CaboDOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin

Hamad AlThani and Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al

Thani sent yesterday cables of con-

gratulations to the President of the

Republic of Cabo Verde, H E Jorge

Carlos Fonseca, on the occasion of

his country’s Independence Day.

Prime Minister and Minister of Inte-

rior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin

Abdulaziz Al Thani also sent a cable

of congratulations to the Prime Min-

ister of the Republic of Cabo Verde

H E José Ulisses de Pina Correia

e Silva on the occasion his coun-

try’s Independence Day.

FAJR SUNRISE 03.20 am 04.49 am

W A L R U WA I S : 32o↗ 42o W A L K H O R : 30o↗ 45o W D U K H A N : 30o↗ 4 4o W WA K R A H : 28o↗ 47o W M E S A I E E D 28o↗ 47o W A B U S A M R A 28o↗ 47o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 04:04 – 17:48 LOW TIDE 01:00– 11:31

Very hot daytime with slight dust at places at times and

some clouds.

Minimum Maximum36oC 46oC

ZUHRMAGHRIB

11.39 am06.30 pm

ASR ISHA

03.02 pm08.00 pm

Msheireb Museums reopens doorsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Msheireb Museums, the four heritage houses and the cultural destination at Msheireb Downtown Doha, has reopened its doors for visitors.

Msheireb Museums is open from Sunday to Thursday from 9am till 2.30pm. Msheireb Museums took all the necessary measures to secure safe tours, including social distancing, reducing the number of visitors, requiring visitors to show the Ehteraz app green code and wearing masks at all times.

The Museums also underwent a comprehensive sanitation campaign for its indoor and outdoor premises.

Dr. Hafiz Ali Abdullah, Msheireb Museums Director, said: “Msheireb Museums is delighted to welcome visitors again in its four heritage houses to enjoy educational and enter-taining experiences. The cultural landmark will receive visitors at dedicated times with limited capacity to ensure a safe journey to everyone. We, at Msheireb Museums, took all the precau-tionary measures and did a comprehensive sanitation cam-paign to guarantee a safe expe-rience to our staff and visitors.”

Msheireb Museums mark a very significant milestone for Msheireb Properties in realising the vision of Msheireb Downtown Doha, Qatar’s first sustainable regeneration project. The Museums celebrate the history of four historic her-itage houses in the heart of Msheireb Downtown Doha.

Located within the oldest part of the capital, they form an essential part of Qatar’s national history. These reconstructed buildings and gallery spaces allow the community to engage in the significant aspects of Qatar’s past and memories of life before the country’s rapid economic development.

Bin Jelmood House aims to raise awareness and play a pivotal role in the global abo-lition of human exploitation.

The house also showcases and pays tribute to human per-severance and acknowledges the cumulative social, cultural and economic contribution of formerly enslaved people to the development of human civilisations.

The Mohammed Bin Jassem House demonstrates Msheireb’s traditional values as the foun-dations for the future devel-opment of Doha and introduces the transformation of Msheireb over time through recalling memories of its past, showcasing its present and engaging visitors in the plans for the future.

The Company House nar-rates the story of the men who laboured not just to provide for their families but also to lay the foundations for their emerging nation. Radwani House repre-sents traditional Qatari family life and gathers, preserves and shares memories of Qatar in a time of historic social transformation.

‘Journey to the Heart of Life’ provides an opportunity to better understand the diversity of Qatar’s origins, people and cultures.

People with special needs to participate in second edition of Colour FestivalTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The members of the Qatar Society for Rehabilitation of Special Needs (QSRSN) will participate in the second Colour Festival for people with disabilities which will begin its activities remotely on July 10.

It is a global festival that shows shared social respon-sibility through joint cooper-ation between the Doha Inter-national Center for Special Needs, the Regional Network of Social Responsibility, the Bevol International Volunteer Platform, the Qatar Unified Awareness Team and the Arab Creators Forum in Turkey, and for the first time in the world a virtual exhibition is being held on a digital platform, spe-cialised for people with disa-bilities. The festival will be held under the slogan “Distin-guish Online”.

A large number of partici-pants from all over the world will participate in the festival in order to spread important messages to the world con-firming that “disability is a natural human diversity, and that it is the right of persons with disabilities to distinguish and innovate and they can do that.”

Another message that they want to send to the world is that disability is the disability of thought, not a body disa-bility, and that persons with disabilities, despite their dis-ability, possess distinct talents and creativity, and they do not know the impossible.

The members of the Qatar Society for Rehabilitation of Special Needs (QSRSN) will participate with creative artists through distinguished artistic paintings and a number of cre-ative people with disabilities from Gulf and Arab countries and from several countries around the world, with a virtual exhibition via the Internet.

The competition is super-vised by a group of artists, cre-ators and specialists in the dis-ability field through a special committee chaired by Dr. Hala Al Saeed, the initiative owner and director of the Doha Inter-national Center for Special Needs.

Valuable prizes are allo-cated for the winning works in the festival.

Ministry begins inspection of workers’ housing in Al RayyanTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA) has started the second phase of campaign of inspecting residential neigh-bourhoods in Al Rayyan.

The campaign is a continu-ation of the inspection cam-paigns conducted by the MADLSA of workers’ housing in the country’s residential neigh-bourhoods. The places include

Freej Al Mura, Muaither, Al Rayyan Al Ateeq in addition to Um Al Doom Street, Al Shafi and Muaither Street.

The campaign is being con-ducted in collaboration with Ministry of Interior and the Min-istry of Municipality and Envi-ronment and is based on imple-mentation of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Decision No. (18) for the year 2014 to determine the require-ments and specifications for

housing which is appropriate for workers.

The Ministry has urged employers to shift their workers to designated places in different workers’ cities. The first phase of campaign held during April 22 to June 30 resulted in inspecting 1,430 accommoda-tions and 6,025 companies. Many violations were caught during that drive.

The campaign included Al Najma, Al Mansoura, Bin

Dirham, Old Salta, Umm Ghu-wailina, Old Ghanem and New Doha in addition to many other places. The procedures of the second phase of campaign rep-resents inspecting and placing labels on violating accommoda-tions, with an indication of the inspection date, the number of inspectors, and the capacity for each accommodation.

Also, the warning will be given to companies and tenants to rectify their conditions within

a week from the date of inspection and evacuate the excess number of workers according to the capacity of each accommodation.

The Ministry stressed the need to adhere to the conditions and specifications for housing appropriate for workers in accordance with Ministerial Decision No. 18 of 2014, which states of providing a healthy environment inside the accommodation.

Ashghal to implement 9 major development projects FROM PAGE 1

Mohammed bin Hamoud Al Shafi, Chairman of the CMC — Constituency 14, pointed out that the contracts signed are distributed over the North and South of Qatar. He added: “We look forward to the progress that will be witnessed over the coming years regarding the roads and infrastructure in the areas included in the new contracts.”

Sheikh Ali bin Hamad Al Thani, a representative of Hamad Bin Khalid Contracting Company, praised Ashghal’s efforts and focus on encouraging Qatari companies to take part in the infrastructure development in Qatar. He added: “We signed today with Ashghal a contract for the construction of Package 1 of Umm Slal infrastructure project at a value of QR623m. We are very happy with this cooperation and will proudly provide the technical knowledge and expe-rience during the different phases of construction.”

Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Thani, a repre-sentative of Al Jaber & Partners Construction & Energy Projects, who signed with Ashghal the contract of Semaisma South Roads and Infrastructure Project (Package 2), said “The govern-ment’s commitment to the imple-mentation of vital projects that serve the citizens of Qatar during the current conditions is an evi-dence on its resilience. We, as local companies, are happy to cooperate with the government to achieve more success for Qatar.”

Ali Al Mostafawi, Qatar Building Company’s represent-ative, said: “We signed today with Ashghal a contract valued at QR384m for the infrastructure project in Al Ebb and Leabaib (Package 2). This is not the first time that we collaborate with Ashghal as we have already been working on several projects for infrastructure development, and we are very keen on delivering projects to the standards set by the authority.”

For his part, Saleh Al Sulaiti, Boom Construction company representative, said: “we value the visible efforts of all parties concerned with developing Qatar’s infrastructure for the benefit of the country and the citizen. We are happy to renew cooperation with the Public Works Authority to implement the first and second packages of the roads and infrastructure project in Mebaireek.”

Hashim Abdulla Al Hashmi, representative of Al Tawfeeq & Partners Contracting, which signed with Ashghal the contract for Package 8 of the infra-structure project in Al Meshaf South, said: “We thank Ashghal for putting its trust in the Qatari contractors and in their ability to deliver development projects of the highest standards.”

For his part, Eng. Yousef Al Emadi, Director of Projects Affairs at Ashghal, said: “The authority is currently working on completing 33 infrastructure projects for citizens’ sub-divi-sions which are under con-struction, at a total cost of QR13.7 billion. These projects will serve

over 30,000 residential plots in 17 areas, including Al Kharaitiyat, Rawdat Egdaim, Izghawa, Al Wukair South, Al Shamal, Al Mearad, Southwest of Muaither, Al Ebb and Leabaib, Al Duhail South, Umm Lekhba, Jeryan Nejaima and Ain Khaled North, among other areas.”

Eng. Saoud Al Tamimi, Manager of Roads Projects Department (RPD) at Ashghal, pointed out that signing the new contracts is part of Ashghal’s plan to provide well-developed roads and infrastructure for the new sub-divisions in different areas in Qatar, as the awarded projects cover 6 areas; Semaisma South, Al Ebb and Leabaib, Umm Slal Mohammed, Al Wajba East, Mebaireek and Al Meshaf South.

During the live streaming event, Eng. Mooza Al-S Al Sowaidi, Head of Doha City Section at Ashghal’s Roads Project’s Department, gave a brief presentation on the citizens’ new and existing sub-divisions projects, and benefits of the projects signed, which will provide about 281 km of roads, more than 10,350 lighting poles, and more than 15,800 car parks. In addition, sewage, surface and groundwater and TSE networks will be provided with a total length of 684 km.

The presentation was fol-lowed by an online signing cer-emony, where the contracts were signed simultaneously by Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmad Al-Muhannadi, President of Ashghal, and the

representatives of the awarded companies. The 9 new projects are scheduled to start during Q3, 2020.

It is noteworthy that as part of the authority’s keenness to support local products, and as Ashghal regards this as a high pri-ority and a strategy to support the economy and achieve Qatar National Vision 2030, these new projects will rely to a higher degree on local manufacturers to provide all materials that can be supplied locally, including lighting poles and lamps, man-holes, different types of drainage pipes, road marking and signs, traffic signal poles, interlock, kerbstone, bitumen, electricity cables, safety barriers, and other materials.

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani (left) witnessing the signing of contracts for nine development projects, held remotely, yesterday. Minister of Municipality and Environment, H E Eng. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie (right); and President of Ashghal, Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmad Al Muhannadi also attended the ceremony.

Katara to hold

4th S’hail

exhibition in Oct

FROM PAGE 1

It has attracted merchants and buyers who have come to check the latest technol-ogies in this field.

Every year, the event features a number of exciting events that run parallel to the exhibition including falcon auctions which witness hundreds of falcon enthusiasts bid for the finest breeds, as well as competi-tions such as the best falcon hood and the best display booth.

S’hail exhibition takes its name from a star which signals the start of the hunting season and which hunters eagerly await to shine in the sky to begin their journey.

Many legendary Arabic poets have also taken inspi-ration from S’hail in their writings.

The event provides an important platform to introduce Qatari culture and heritage to international vis-itors displaying a main element of the heritage of Qatari ancestors related to hunting and falconry.

Falconry is an indispen-sable part of Qatar’s rich cul-tural heritage integrating many cultural, social, art and entertainment events which attract huge number of par-ticipants and visitors from different parts of the world.

03MONDAY 6 JULY 2020 HOME

Education Above All Foundation conducts virtual conferenceTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Education Above All (EAA) Foundation’s programme Al Fakhoora, with the support of its strategic partner Qatar Fund for Development and in part-nership with UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People successfully conducted the first completely student-led virtual conference, “Rethinking Higher Education: A New Way of Learning to Become” on June 29 and 30.

The webinar series pre-sented through the conference were developed and conducted by Palestinian students from Gaza and the West Bank, and Syrian refugees from across the Mena region who are directly affected by COVID-19 as an additional challenge to the already complex situations in which they live.

The aim of the conference was to address key aspects of higher education that have been affected by COVID-19 in the Mena region, specifically related to marginalised youth, focusing on four main perspectives: that of policy makers, INGOs, edu-cational experts, and, most importantly, the youth themselves.

During the opening session, Stefania Giannini, Unesco Assistant Director-General for Education, said: “Education is public good and a fundamental

human right. Unesco projects now that 70 million children and youth are at the risk of not returning to care centres, schools and universities in 2020. It is a very concrete risk now. The highest reduction is expected at tertiary level with 5 million people at risk. We will not overcome the current edu-cation crises without the renewed global commitment and inclusion”.

The conference featured five panels focusing on four main themes: Online learning, e-work, mental health, and community in times of crisis. Beneficiaries of the Al Fakhoora Scholarship and Empowerment programme moderated and participated in these panels, alongside experts from different fields. Discussions centred on defining a new “better normal,” and on ensuring that margin-alised youth, who are already affected by conflict, are not excluded from this global dia-logue that, in so many ways, will

shape their future. The con-ference allowed these youth to bring to the forefront their con-cerns and opinions about the uncertain and possible futures that lie ahead.

Mubarak Al Thani, Commu-nication Manager and Head of Advocacy, Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, said: “The topics addressed in the con-ference, ‘Rethinking Higher Education: A New Way of Learning to Become’ are of great importance to our shared global development. We must take the lessons of innovation and problem-solving being used during this crisis forward to reach our sustainable devel-opment goals. The leading role of youth in designing and organising such conferences not only enhances their capa-bilities and boosts their self-confidence, but it gives them a voice in shaping a more sus-tainable, equitable and just future.”

In its Human Development

Report, UNDP has warned that the digital divide is re-opening gaps that had closed in the edu-cation sector taking us back to a time before the Sustainable Development Goals or even the Millennium Development Goals, and threatening the hard work of the past 30 years.

With up to 100 million more people being pushed into extreme poverty in 2020, and record level unemployment and loss of livelihoods,

COVID-19 is putting an entire generation at risk.

By allowing those most affected to lead the discussion, and bringing various stake-holders to the table to re-think how higher education and inno-vation can work for margin-alized youth in the region.

Yvonne Helle, UNDP Special Representative of the Adminis-trator highlighted that the pan-demic also presents an oppor-tunity to make societies more

inclusive and efficient with higher levels of resilience at individual and institutional levels so that no one is left behind.

“Higher education has a role to play in shaping the COVID-19 future and triggering a learning revolution that will lead to a world that uses technology in a smart way, create opportunities for all people to learn and access jobs wherever they are in the world,” Helle said.

MoTC holds online symposia on latest COVID-19 apps, researchTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Qatar Digital Government Training Program (QDGTP) at the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) is holding a series of virtual symposia and discussions on the latest technology research and applications relating to the coro-navirus COVID-19 pandemic and how to utilise them to face the challenges during this crisis.

The 21st symposia and dis-cussions conducted between June 21 and July 8, are targeting IT employees at government departments.

Talks include experts and academics and will be hosted in

collaboration with national and global academic institutions such as Hamad bin Khalifa Uni-versity, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, HEC Paris and international corporations like Huawei.

These events will discuss national research and key emerging technologies including data analytics and Blockchain, and how to use them to assist in the global response to the COVID-19 crisis.

They will also discuss how the pandemic is impacting global supply chains.

These events come as part of the continuing support from MoTC for the IT sector across government entities to help them better face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and access the latest technol-ogies, in addition to sharpening the technological, technical and leadership skills of ICT employees in such a way that

contributes to achieving the objectives of the Qatar Digital Government.

One of the key symposia is “Managing & Leading Remote Team” which will be held on July 8 in collaboration with HEC Paris, to be attended by Dean of HEC Paris in Qatar Dr. Pablo De Holan and Prof Patrick Delamaire.

It will highlight the most effective remote team man-agement tools from the stand-point of leaders and managers across organisations. The audience will be able to ask questions and share real-life challenges and learn how to overcome them.

MoTC had earlier announced it would continue its QDGTP training workshops for IT employees of the government sector. All workshops are now virtual, observing social dis-tancing rules.

As for the training plan for Q3 & Q4 of 2020, the QDGTP is set to deliver more than 39 training courses remotely.

QDGTP is also scheduling some 26 training courses with Microsoft in early August. More information on how to join these online events can be gained by visiting QDGTP at https://www.motc.gov.qa/en/qdgtp or sending mail at qdgtraining@motc.gov.qa

4,267 inspection campaigns conducted by Al Khor & Al Thakhira MunicipalityTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Municipality of Al Khor & Al Thakhira has conducted 4,267 inspection drives during the first half of this year. It has also shut down 16 commercial shops for violating Law No. 8 of 1990 on the regulation of human food control.

During this period, veteri-narians also inspected 13,722 slaughtered animals at the Municipality’s abattoirs, among 241 were destroyed. The veter-inarians also checked more than 1m kg of fish at the fish market and Fardat Al Khor, and destroyed 4,000kg which were founded unfit for human consumption.

The Health inspectors at the

Health Monitoring Section checked 997,000 boxes of veg-etables and fruits at Al Khor and Al Thakhira yard for selling local agricultural products.

The inspectors also conduct daily visits to review the man-ufacturing phases and their compliance with health requirements, in addition of taking samples and sending them to the central laboratory to ensure their safety and com-pliance with the Qatar specifi-cations. Since the beginning of this year, about 105 samples were sent to the central laboratory.

Meanwhile, the Department has received 36 complaints and took the necessary procedures in this regard.

The conference featured five panels focusing on four main themes, online learning, e-work, mental health, and community in times of crisis.

The Municipality of Al Khor & Al Thakhira shut down 16 commercial shops for violating Law No. 8 of 1990 on the regulation of human food control.

The webinar series presented through the conference were developed and conducted by Palestinian students from Gaza and the West Bank, and Syrian refugees from across the Mena region who are directly affected by COVID-19 as an additional challenge to the already complex situations in which they live.

The 21st symposia and discussions conducted between June 21 and July 8, are targeting IT employees at government departments.

‘A nurse’s workplace is their second home, that’s why they need our support’THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Nurses need to be given the right psychological support and a clear career ladder to avoid them turning their backs on the profession through stress or frustration, according to a Qatari researcher whose analysis of job satisfaction in the field of nursing has been published through Qatar Foun-dation.

Aisha Al Qahtani — herself a nurse — is among the authors of a study that looks at key reasons why nurses retain or lose their commitment to their jobs, a topic that has assumed even greater relevance as healthcare workers around the world find themselves in the frontline of tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published by Qatar Foun-dation’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press), The Impact of Job Satisfaction

on Nurses’ Work Lives: A Liter-ature Review, finds that the work environment, emotional factors, opportunities for career progression, and accountability all shape how happy nurses are in their jobs — and that healthcare leaders and policy-makers must recognise this, and act on it.

“As a nurse, I know that not all nurses are satisfied in their jobs, and many have decided to change their profession,” explained Al Qahtani, who co-authored the report with Bridget Stirling and Daniel Forgrave.

“When I have asked nurses why this is, they often have very different reasons for their dis-satisfaction, which is why I decided to study the topic in greater depth. Nursing is one of the cornerstones of healthcare; we need to support those who are already in the field, and encourage others to enter it.”

The researchers studied 18 articles assessing nurses’ job satisfaction around the world – from Qatar, New Zealand, Slo-vakia, the Czech Republic, the US, China, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, and South Korea to identify trends and conclusions. These studies contained the views of 13,458 nurses, including almost 3,696 from the Middle East.

Their findings — developed before COVID-19 broke out

— showed that nurses who have opportunities to continue their education during their careers are generally more likely to stay in their jobs, although such opportunities often lead to nurses moving into leadership positions or other areas and away from frontline nursing instead. It added that nurses also need to be equipped to handle the “hostility” they can expe-rience from frustrated or fearful patients and their families.

Workplace relationships were highlighted as central to nurses’ job satisfaction, high-lighting that “negativity and tedious work” lead to them becoming disenchanted, while the emotional strain of the role can increase risk of burnout.

Meanwhile, the report also emphasised the importance of professional development pro-grams that “empower the self-development of nursing staff”, saying: “In any healthcare

organisation, there should be a career ladder platform — if nurses see a pathway for bet-tering themselves and their workplace situation, they will be more satisfied and less likely to leave the organisation and the profession”.

According to Al Qahtani: “There are many findings from this report, and many reasons that lead to nurses’ dissatis-faction with their jobs.

“What surprised me is that most of the reasons are con-nected to each other. The chal-lenges for a female nurse often relate to the difficulty in finding the balance between our work lives and our home lives, and we simply have to do our best to manage.

“In the end, all we want to do is be able to find the best way to work effectively while also having a happy home life. Our job is to help people, and being able to find this balance helps

us to do that.”The authors’ work has now

been published on HBKU Press’ online academic publishing platform QScience.com, and Al Qahtani says that while the reasons for nurses’ job satis-faction increasing or draining away have been clearly iden-tified, there remains a need for “a clear pathway” to be developed for putting in place the right measures to address the factors that determine how they see their jobs.

“It is so important to support nurses in both their personal and work lives,” she said.

“The workplace is like a second home for them. This is why they need both support in different areas of their lives — the physical and the psycho-logical. And it is why healthcare leaders have to be adept at dealing and communicating with nurses, and encouraging them in different ways.”

Aisha Al Qahtani — herself a nurse — is among the authors of a study that looks at key reasons why nurses retain or lose their commitment to their jobs.

Real estate trading

value exceeds

QR3.8bn in June

QNA — DOHA

The trading volume of regis-tered real estates in June 2020 at the Ministry of Justice’s real estate registration department stood at QR3,815,705,365.

The data of the analytical real estate bulletin issued by the Ministry of Justice showed 456 real estate transactions were recorded during June.

The municipalities of Doha, Al Rayyan and Al Daayen were the most active trades in terms of financial value, followed by the municipalities of Umm Salal, Al Wakra, Al Khor, Al Thakhira, Al Shamal, and Al Shahaniya.

The value of the transac-tions of Doha municipality amounted to QR 2,810,635,713, while that of Al Rayyan m u n i c i p a l i t y w a s QR406,753,403. The value of Al Daayen municipality trans-actions amounted to QR 368,048,756, while that of the municipality of Umm Salal was QR87,006,533, and that of Al Wakra municipality stood at QR64,890,431.

The municipality of Al Khor and Al Thakhira recorded trading amounting to QR44,492,125, while that of Al Shamal municipality reached QR 32,808,239 and that of the municipality of Al Shahaniya reached QR 875 million.

In terms of the traded area index, indicators showed that the municipalities of Doha, Al Daayen and Al Rayyan were the most active municipalities in the areas of real estate traded during June 2020.

04 MONDAY 6 JULY 2020HOME

Experts discuss prospects of Arabic translation in BangladeshThe media team of Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Under-standing (SHATIU) organised a webinar on “The Reality and Prospects of Translation in Bangladesh from and to Arabic” on Thursday in which several Bengali academics and trans-lators participated.

Dr. Abu Jamal Muhammad Qutb Al-Islam Nomani, Pro-fessor of Arabic Language at Dhaka University, Bangladesh, spoke about Bangladesh’s expe-rience in translating into Arabic and vice versa.

He spoke about the rule of Bengal and introduction of Islam, the most famous and first translations in Bengali, including the translation of the Holy Quran several times due to the great demand and its popularity.

He also talked about the insti-tutions that were interested in translation in Bangladesh, including the Islamic Foundation, which is one of the largest insti-tutions concerned with trans-lation, especially translation of Islamic books and others.

About individual efforts, Dr. Qutb said that individual efforts in translation were not less important than the efforts of institutions drawing attention to the scarcity of translation from Bengali to Arabic due to the lack of market and the high financial cost.

Dr. Qutb Al Islam stressed on the importance of translation from Arabic to Bengali due to the keenness of people to understand Islam, and Arabic books translated into Bengali enjoy more popularity.

Dr. Mahfouz Al Rahman M u h a m m a d Z a h e e r , Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Islamic University of Kushtia, Bang-ladesh, talked about his own experience of translation from and to Bengali pointing out the prevalence of religious trans-lation in Bangladesh because translators know religion, and they do not know other fields like philosophy, which pre-vented them from working in translation in other fields outside of religious sciences.

He also spoke about his per-sonal experience in translation as a translator specialised in

translating religious, literary and historical books, but he translates some literature books at the request of some spe-cialized institutions.

The third speaker, Dr. Abdullah Al Maamoun Abdul Latif, known as Al Azhari, and lecturer at the Department of Islamic Studies at Shantou Maryam University of Creative Technology Dhaka, spoke about areas of translation in the Bengali language (literature and humanities) and their nature. Dr. Abdullah said over 189 million people speak Bengali language globally.

He noted the interest of Bangladesh in translation and interpretation, and detailed history of translation in Bengali at ages including the middle ages (1200 - 1600) and after (1601 up to present).

He reviewed books that were translated into Bengali from Arabic in literature and religious sciences, translations and interpretations, poems, etc, and dealt with some translators of Bengali literature into Arabic such as the poems of Farooq Ahmed Khan, as he also empha-sized, that the translations into

Bengali are still few except for religious books.

For his part, Professor Abu Muhammad Salih, who is Pro-fessor at the Department of Daawa and Islamic Studies at the Islamic University in Kushtia, Bangladesh, spoke about the history of translation and the extent to which people read it.

He emphasised that the translation into Bengali started with the translation of the Magus and Hindu scriptures, citing the paradox that these translations were at the request of Muslim sultans, which con-firms their awareness of the importance of translation.

He pointed out that the motivation behind the trans-lation from Arabic to Bengali is

the religion adding that most of the individual translations from Arabic to Bengali faces weak institutional support under lack of educational institutions that train translators.

In response to a question by a follower of the symposium via Facebook, he answered that Youssef Zulekha’s book is the first to be translated from Arabic to Bengali in the year 1500 AD.

Dr. Imtenan Al Smadi praised the role of Professor Islam for his organization and coordination of the symposium, which is one of the first open seminars through the virtual system with translation.

In conclusion, Dr. Hanan Al Fayyad, media adviser to the award, spoke about the award’s

goals, vision, the mechanism for distributing the annual financial value in addition to the award categories. She stressed the importance of choosing the Korean language as one of the five languages in the achievement category for this season, and the award’s efforts to choose Persian as a second main language besides English, and the selection of five new languages in the achievement category, which are: Pashto, Bengali, Swedish, and Hausa in addition to Korean.

Dr. Al Fayyad asked inter-ested people to look at the award’s website (www.hta.qa) to download the nomination forms and other benefits that enrich them about the nature of the award.

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Diversity is cornerstone of survival: Former Indian AmbassadorTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

H E P Kumaran, former Ambassador of India to Qatar, has said that Indian community has set example of survival and endurance for the world by demonstrating imitative lessons of mutual cooperation regardless of their wide-ranging diversity.

“By preserving this feature, Indian com-munity can overcome any future crisis as well,” former Indian Ambas-sador H E P Kumaran

has said. “This spirit of

togetherness and caring that we have showed at this crisis period is com-mendable. This way we could reach out to the needy and weaker sec-tions of our community and were able to support them. By this, as a nation, we were able to mark a good impression on the State of Qatar and its beloved people leading to improve the Indo-Qatar cultural relation,” he added.

H E P Kumaran was

attending a farewell cer-emony organised by Center for Indian Com-munity, Qatar (CIC) in his honour as the out-going ambassador to Qatar.

CIC President KT Abdurahman said that H E P Kumaran will be remembered as the ambassador who took the Indo-Qatar relations to new heights both at the government and community levels.

“It was his efforts that helped thousands of our people to leave

Qatar and reach home by using the Ehteraz App instead of the corona-virus (COVID-19) neg-ative test as prescribed by Kerala government.

“He (P Kumaran) was not only successful in dealing with urgent matters of public interest, but also took care to hold the com-munity organisations together in all matters of the community,” former CIC President KC Abdul-latif observed.

“He was a popular ambassador who

unreservedly took care of Indian community. It was his humble behaviour that has helped him attract both Indian as well as Qatari communities in Qatar,” said Dr. Taj Aluva, Pres-ident of Cultural Forum, Qatar.

Dr. Abdurahman, member of the CIC medical team said that H E P Kumaran was an ambassador who sup-ported all social initia-tives of the Indian com-munity, including the Asian Medical Camp.

Land Rover defender means business as hard top name returns for new commercial modelTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Land Rover has confirmed the new commercial Defender 90 and 110 models will restore the Hard Top name to its rugged 4x4 family.

The versatile and durable Defender Hard Top will be launched late this year, com-bining unstoppable all-terrain capability with 21st-century connectivity to give profes-sionals a unique combination of cargo space, practicality and premium comfort.

The Hard Top name dates back to 1950, when the intro-duction of demountable Hard Tops gave early Series Land Rovers added security and pro-tection from the elements. New Defender Hard Top continues this ethos, sharing its fixed metal roof and silhouette with the iconic original.

Defender’s aluminium-intensive D7x body architecture is three times stiffer than the best body-on-frame designs. Sharing its strong body structure and next-generation Electrical Vehicle Architecture (EVA 2.0) with passenger models, the Defender Hard Top is being developed by Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations to deliver unrivalled durability, practicality and toughness.

Michael van der Sande, Managing Director, Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, said: “We will maximise the functionality and usability of New Defender’s cargo area, with tough materials and clever storage solutions to ensure it surpasses the capability of any previous Defender Hard Top.”

The 90 and 110 Hard Tops will both feature independent coil-sprung suspension, with advanced electronic air sus-pension also available on the 110. Both set-ups will provide out-standing off-road geometry, with ground clearance of 291mm, while the 110 Hard Top will have approach, breakover and departure angles of up to 38, 28 and 40 degrees respectively (in Off-Road height). Full technical details will be confirmed later this year.

N i c k Collins, Land Rover Vehicle Line Director, said: “New Defender 90 and 110 Hard Top will be the toughest, most capable and most con-nected com-mercial 4x4s we have ever

produced. They have been engineered to meet global safety standards and deliver impressive long-haul comfort, giving businesses and profes-sionals the best of all worlds.”

An impressive payload and towing capacity of up 3,500kg will combine to make New Defender the ultimate com-mercial 4x4. The flexible cabin has no second or third-row seats, but the optional front-row jump seat means it will still accommodate up to three people. Land Rover’s clever ClearSight Rear View mirror system preserves rearward vis-ibility when the jump seat is occupied, or when the load space is full. It uses a live video feed from a rear-facing camera to give drivers an unobstructed view at all times.

Experts during the webinar on “The Reality and Prospects of Translation in Bangladesh from and to Arabic”.

Al Hazm Mall welcomes visitors

05MONDAY 6 JULY 2020 HOME

Msheireb Downtown Doha welcomes back visitorsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Msheireb Downtown Doha, the smart and most sustainable city district in the heart of Doha, reopened retail and dining outlets to visitors from July 1, 2020, in accordance with Phase 2 of gradual lifting of restric-tions announced by the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management (SCCM).

Visitors can access 40 stores, restaurants and cafes at MDD, in addition to restaurants and lounges in the city’s three hotels: Park Hyatt, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Doha, and Alwadi Hotel Doha MGallery. The Food and beverage outlets will now be able to provide dining-in options for all guests — at a decreased capacity to maintain safe distancing — as well as their normal take away and delivery services.

Ali Al Kuwari, Acting CEO of Msheireb Properties said: “We are delighted to announce the

reopening of retail and dining outlets in our landmark city development, Msheireb Downtown Doha. We look forward to welcoming visitors again to enjoy our facilities, safely and comfortably, as all operating outlets will adhere to the precautionary and prevent-ative measures outlined by the authorities.”

Msheireb Properties released several precautionary measures that must be followed, such as the wearing of masks at all times, maintaining social dis-tance, following hygiene prac-tices, and complying with security in the area.

Additional measures to enter the stores and food and beverage outlets include pre-senting Ehteraz’s app green code and undergoing body tem-perature checks. To main safe distancing, many of the F&B outlets have redistributed their furniture to limit seating capac-ities. Customers will be encouraged to pay for services using credit cards rather than cash.

Msheireb Downtown Doha is the world’s first sustainable downtown regeneration project, reviving the old commercial heart of the city through a new architectural language. The

environmentally conscious development blends traditional Qatari heritage and aesthetics with modern technology.

From design and planning, to the delivery of infrastructure and transportation, through to improving overall lifestyle, the

city aims to provide a place where it is enjoyable to live, work, shop, visit, and spend time with family and friends.

The visitors at the Al Hazm Mall which was reopened with new air conditioning facility that lowers outdoor temperatures to 20°c. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA

GU-Q students make summer learning fun for children of QF faculty and staffTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

With classes in diplomacy, creative writing, photography and more, a virtual summer camp run by Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) student volunteers called Hoya-cation, offered a variety of enrichment opportunities for the children of faculty and staff facing a long and isolated summer at home.

Over 40 participants at the age 6 to 16 have enrolled in the 12 different workshops that are being held over six weeks in June and July. The program, which combines the word Hoya, meaning a Geor-getown student, and vacation, gave participants the option of mixing and matching a combination of interactive live courses for a tailor-made virtual summer camp experience.

Program organiser Afsha Kohli, the associate director for student development at Qatar Foundation partner institution GU-Q, said: “This program has been such a surprise hit, and our eight GU-Q student volunteers and many young participants have all gained so much from the experience. This program is just one of the many ways our com-munity has come together to

uphold our education and service mission during this crisis.”

In International Politics major Khushboo Shah’s (GU-Q’22) creative writing course, aspiring writers are inspired by idea prompts, finding ways to connect by sharing their work digitally. “It’s important for each individual to develop their creative voice,” she said, because young people “can use writing as a way to under-stand the world around them better.”

Managing three courses aimed at older students, Model United Nations, Event Planning, and Graphic Design, Fiza Shahzad (GU-Q’21) said she took on the teaching challenge because “I am a big believer of Georgetown values, particularly People for Others.”

The International History major encourages creativity and interaction to be engaging and to create a real classroom experience.

Iman Ismail (GU-Q’22) was already interning virtually with

the US Department of State’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with their EcoLearn program since last year, where she taught local classes on environmental awareness and sustainability to kids aged 4 to 15. Now she’s finding new ways to share what she’s learned. “The Hoyacation program gave me the chance to continue teaching throughout the summer, and with my internship advisors permission I jumped on this opportunity.”

For participating high school student Aya, the crisis meant an end to summer plans. “I was worried, because this is the last summer before I graduate next year, and I really wanted to spend this time brushing up my skills and working on my college appli-cations. I love that I can now add introduction to Persian, graphic design, and event planning to my experiences. This summer wasn’t a loss after all.”

WCM-Q Dean to give webinar on impact

of physical distancing on mental health

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Dr. Javaid Sheikh, Professor of Psychiatry and Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q), will give a live webinar on ways to minimize physical contact but maximize social contact during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The webinar, which will take place at 4pm on Wednesday, is titled ‘A Tale of Two Distances: Promoting Physical but Minimizing Social Distance During the COVID-19 Pandemic’ and is part of the ‘COVID-19 Live Webinar Clinical Series’ offered by the division of Continuing Profes-sional Development at WCM-Q.

The webinars are aimed at physicians and other healthcare professionals, are designed to meet identified continuing pro-fessional development needs,

and are based on the latest sci-entific and medical develop-ments that will increase com-petence, enhance performance in practice and lead to improved healthcare for patients.

The webinars are accredited locally by the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practi-t i o n e r s - A c c r e d i t a t i o n Department (QCHP-AD) and internationally by the Accred-itation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

Visitors can access 40 stores, restaurants and cafes at MDD, in addition to restaurants and lounges in the city’s three hotels: Park Hyatt, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Doha, and Alwadi Hotel Doha MGallery.

A customer being served at a coffe shop.

MoCI announces recall of BMW 7 Series 2020 model

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), in cooperation with Al Fardan Automobiles, dealer of BMW in Qatar, has announced the recall of BMW 7 Series model of 2020, over dashboard panel might not have installed correctly.

The recall campaign comes within the framework of the Ministry’s con-tinuous efforts to protect consumers and ensure that dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

The MoCI said that it will coor-dinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with cus-tomers to ensure that they carried out the necessary repairs. The Ministry has urged all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Pro-tection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department.

CMU-Q launches online showcase of student researchTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, a partner university of Qatar Foundation, transformed its annual research symposium, Meeting of the Minds, into a digital showcase of student work.

Meeting of the Minds was started at Carnegie Mellon’s main campus 25 years ago as an opportunity for students to present their work to the com-munity, and it has been an annual event at the Qatar campus since 2007. While the pandemic restrictions pre-vented an in-person event, it was critical that CMU-Q find a

new mode for students to share their projects.

Michael Trick, dean of CMU-Q, notes the importance of sharing research with the com-munity: “At Carnegie Mellon, our research is driven by challenges and questions in the real world. We encourage our students to communicate their complex, sometimes very technical, projects to a general audience. It is the con-nection between research and people that makes our approach to research distinctive.”

There are 27 student projects showcased on the Meeting of the Minds website, including project abstracts,

posters and faculty advisors.In past years, judging panels

of both external and CMU-Q experts have critiqued the projects and determined award winners. This year, CMU-Q opted for a more collaborative approach. “While awards have their place, this year our students have overcome the obstacle of a pandemic to finish their projects and present their work beauti-fully,” said Trick. “At its essence, research is about collaboration, and the Meeting of the Minds website reflects the Carnegie Mellon culture of mentoring, teamwork and innovation, especially in challenging times.”

Call for ending airstrikes in Yemen

06 MONDAY 6 JULY 2020GULF / MIDDLE EAST

Rockets target US embassy, military installations in IraqAFP — BAGHDAD

Two rocket attacks targeted American diplomatic and military installations over-night, Iraq’s security forces said yesterday, a little over a week since unprecedented arrests prevented a similar incident.

Since October, US dip-lomats and troops across Iraq have been targeted by around three dozen missile attacks which Washington has blamed on pro-Iranian armed factions.

In the first move of its kind, elite Iraqi troops in late June arrested more than a dozen Tehran-backed fighters who were allegedly planning a new attack on Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to the US and other foreign embassies.

Iraqi government officials said the raid would serve as a “message” to deter future attacks, but early yesterday, militants made another attempt.

One rocket fired at the Green Zone landed near a home, wounding a child, according to the Iraqi military.

“At the same time, our forces were able to thwart another attack and seize a Katyusha rocket and launcher that were targeting the Taji base north of Baghdad,” where US-led coalition troops are based, it added.

The attempts came just hours after the US embassy tested a new rocket defence system known as a C-RAM, according to a senior Iraqi security source.

The C-RAM, set up earlier this year at the embassy, scans for incoming projectiles and explodes them in the air by tar-geting them with several thousand bullets per minute.

A series of muted blasts could be heard across Baghdad on Saturday as the system was apparently tested, leaving pas-sersby confused and Iraq’s par-liament outraged.

Deputy speaker Hassan al-Kaabi slammed the trial as “provocative” and “unac-ceptable” as it could put resi-dential areas in danger.

There was no immediate comment from the embassy on whether the system was used against the rocket overnight.

Iraq has long been caught in a tug-of-war between its two main allies Iran and the US —arch-enemies whose relations have further crumbled since Washington pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018.

Baghdad carefully balances its ties to the two countries, but the repeated rocket fire risks rocking its tightrope.

The US blames the attacks on Kataeb Hezbollah, a Tehran-backed faction within Iraq’s state-sponsored network of armed units known as the

Hashed Al Shaabi. Washington has demanded

Iraqi authorities be tougher on the group. Local forces had long hesitated, fearing that direct action against such a powerful actor would risk broader confrontations.

But last month, state security forces carried out the first raid of its kind against a Kataeb Hezbollah base on the edges of Baghdad, seizing rockets and arresting 14 fighters allegedly planning an attack on the Green Zone.

The move was hailed by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said rogue groups are “the single biggest obstacle to additional assistance or eco-nomic investment” for Iraq.

“Baghdad’s actions are a step in the right direction and we applaud them,” he said last week. But within days, all but one of the fighters were released and some were seen burning US and Israeli flags and stepping on pictures of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi.

Kadhemi has repeatedly vowed to put an end to the missile fire, and the continued attacks are seen as a challenge to his authority.

Kataeb Hezbollah in par-ticular is deeply suspicious of Kadhemi, accusing him of com-plicity in the US killing of Iranian General Qasem Sole-imani and the Hashed’s deputy chief in a January drone strike in Baghdad.

The group first began fighting US troops in 2003, fol-lowing the American-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

According to paramilitary expert Michael Knights, it is the top armed Iraqi ally of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Washington has desig-nated a “terrorist” group.

Israel begins construction of 164 housing units in occupied BethlehemQNA — OCCUPIED JERUSALEM

Israeli occupation authorities embarked on the construction of 164 housing units in the illegal settlement of Neve Daniel, illegally built on Pales-tinians’ land near the city of Bethlehem, south of the occupied West Bank, local sources said.

Director of the office of the Segregation Wall and Coloni-zation Resistance Commission in Bethlehem, Hasan Burejiya told the Palestinian News Agency WAFA that the new units will be built on lands belonging to Palestinian cit-izens from the nearby villages of Nahalin and Al Khader.

He said occupation author-ities have been making use of the ongoing coronavirus

lockdown to illegally size more land and build more housing units in the i l legal settlements.

Israeli settlement activities in occupied Palestine are illegal in international law, and have been the subject of condemna-tions by the world countries over the past years.

The international com-munity considers the estab-lishment of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied terri-tories illegal on one of two bases: that they are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, or that they are in breach of interna-tional declarations.

Meanwhile, Israeli occu-pation forces arrested yes-terday seven Palestinians from the West Bank and occupied

Jerusalem.The Palestinian Prisoner’s

Club said in a statement that a young man was arrested from Al Aroub camp north of Hebron after he was beaten by the occupation forces during his arrest, noting that a student at Birzeit University was also arrested at a checkpoint near Khan Al Ahmar village.

Five other Palestinians were arrested from Isawiya town and At-Tur neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, the statement added.

The Israeli occupation forces also raided Idhna town, west of Hebron, and searched several houses without arresting them.

During the past two days, the occupation forces arrested at least six Palestinians.

Iran reports new record one-day virus death toll of 163AFP — TEHRAN

Iranian health authorities yesterday announced 163 new deaths due to the COVID-19 disease, the country’s highest official one-day toll since the outbreak began in February.

The previous record of 162 deaths was announced on Monday in the Islamic republic, which has been bat-tling the Middle East’s dead-liest outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The new deaths bring the total toll in Iran to 11,571, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on state television.

“In the past 24 hours, 2,560 people have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 240,438,” Lari added.

Official figures have shown a rising trajectory in fatalities and new confirmed cases since Iran reported a near-two month low in daily recorded infections in early May.

The increase has prompted the government to make the wearing of masks mandatory in enclosed public spaces, with some officials and state tele-vision anchors wearing masks on camera as part of a campaign to encourage their use.

Authorities have repeatedly urged the public to respect

hygiene rules aimed at reining in the outbreak.

But footage on state tele-vision showed people still trav-elling without face coverings on public transport, where masks have been obligatory for more than two months.

The Islamic republic has not imposed a full-scale lockdown but has introduced restrictions, including on religious and com-mercial sites.

But with its US sanctions-strapped economy in crisis, the country had progressively lifted measures from April, as infection numbers had declined.

Official figures show that the virus has rebounded since then.

Lari said almost a third of Iran’s 31 provinces were classed “red”, the highest cat-egory in the country’s virus risk ranking.

Authorities say infections in the nine provinces, all on Iran’s borders, have yet to peak.

Mask-clad workers loading refilled oxygen cylinders to be delivered to hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic, at a factory in Taji district, north of Iraq’s capital Baghdad, yesterday.

QNA — KUWAIT

Kuwait’s Ministry of Health announced yesterday 638 new infections of the coronavirus, raising the total to 49,941. Deaths reached 368 with the addition of three fatalities.

Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) quoted the official spokesperson of the Ministry Dr. Abdullah Al Sanad as saying that the 638 infections included 463 Kuwaitis and 175 non-Kuwaitis.

Currently, there are patients 157 receiving treatment at intensive care wards, Dr. Al Sanad revealed.

The health authorities con-ducted 3,043 swab tests in the past 24 hours, raising the whole

count to 405,984, Dr. Al-Sanad added.

Earlier, the Health Ministry announced recovery of 520 people from the COVID-19, bringing the recoveries tally to 40,463.

Lebanon’s clerics blast politicians as hunger bitesREUTERS — BEIRUT

Lebanon’s Christian authorities slammed politicians yesterday for failing to remedy an economic meltdown that has left many poor, piling pressure on the country’s leaders as it spirals deeper into crisis.

In a sermon, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al Rai, the top Christian cleric, accused politicians of thinking only of their own vested interests and urged the pres-ident to take action.

“It appears politicians want to hide their responsibility in emptying the treasury and not

enact any reforms,” he said. Hopes of salvation through

an IMF deal have retreated, with the government unwilling or unable to enact reforms, ham-strung by the conflicting agendas of sectarian leaders who don’t want to yield power or privileges.

The crisis, which has deci-mated the local currency and raised fears of mass hunger, is seen as the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since its 1975-1990 civil war.

“Political officials...do not have the courage nor the freedom to meet and find ways out of the suffering,” Rai said.

He warned this was depriving the country of help it needs from foreign donors.

Economic woes, rooted in state waste and corruption, came to the fore last year after capital inflows slowed and pro-tests erupted against leaders in power since the war.

Lebanon’s sectarian political system parcels out state posts based on religious sect, with the presidency reserved for a Maronite Christian.

The largest Christian bloc, President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement, is close to the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. Both backed the

current cabinet, which took office in January.

In another sermon in a central Beirut church, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi also lambasted the political elite. “Oh respected leaders, I address whatever conscience remains in you,” he said. “Do you sleep comfortably at night while those under your care starve, and die of thirst and by suicide?”

Earlier this week, dozens of people mourned a man who killed himself in a busy Beirut district, blaming the country’s leaders for the hardship which they said caused his death.

Israel, Palestinians face restrictions amid virus surgeAP — TEL AVIV

Israel ordered thousands of people into quarantine after a contentious phone surveillance program resumed while Pales-tinians in the West Bank returned to life under lockdown amid a surge in coronavirus cases in both areas.

A statement from Israel’s Health Ministry said “many” messages had been sent to Israelis following the renewed involvement of the Shin Bet domestic security agency. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that more than 30,000 people were notified they must enter quarantine since Thursday.

After imposing strict measures early on during a first wave of infections, Israel and the Palestinian territories appeared to have contained their outbreaks, with each reporting only a few dozen new cases a day in May. But an easing of restrictions led to a steady uptick in cases over the past month.

“We are at the height of a new corona offensive. This is a very strong outbreak that is growing and spreading in the world and also here,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a meeting of his Cabinet yesterday. “We are in a state of emergency,” he said.

Israel is now reporting around 1,000 new cases a day, higher than its peak during the previous wave and it is set to reimpose restrictions in response, limiting occupancy in bars, places of worship and event spaces to 50 people. It is requiring citizens wear masks and has urged more stringent social distancing.

With its contact tracing apparatus struggling to keep up with the mounting caseload, Israel last week redeployed the Shin Bet to use its sophisticated phone surveillance technology to track Israelis who have come in contact with infected people and then notify them that they must enter home quarantine.

638 COVID-19 infections, three deaths in Kuwait

Chairman of Yemen's Tribal Assembly Association, Sheikh Deifallah Rassam, speaking to the press during a protest to demand Saudi-led coalition to stop the airstrikes and lift the blockade, in front of the United Nations office in the capital Sana'a, yesterday.

One rocket fired at the Green Zone landed near a home, wounding a child, according to the Iraqi military. Since October, US diplomats and troops across Iraq have been targeted by around three dozen missile attacks which Washington has blamed on pro-Iranian armed factions.

Fire at Iran’s nuclear facility caused significant damage

REUTERS — DUBAI

A fire that broke out at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility on Thursday has caused signif-icant damage that could slow the development of advanced centrifuges, an Iranian nuclear official said yesterday.

Iran’s top security body said that the cause of the incident had been determined and would be announced later. Some offi-cials have said it may have been caused by cyber sabotage and one warned that Tehran would retaliate against any country car-rying out such attacks.

07MONDAY 6 JULY 2020 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Members of the Oromo Ethiopian community in Lebanon taking part in a demonstration to protest the death of musician and activist Hachalu Hundessa, in the capital Beirut, yesterday. Hundessa was shot and killed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on June 29, 2020. His death has sparked ongoing protests around the world.

Tunisia’s Ennahda party to review stance on govtREUTERS — TUNIS

The moderate Islamist party Ennahda will review its stance on Tunisia’s coalition government over an alleged conflict of interests involving Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh (pictured), the party said yesterday.

Ennahda gave no details of what action it would consider taking, but sources close to the party said the withdrawal of its seven ministers from the gov-ernment was among the pos-sible options.

Fakhfakh has rejected accusations of corruption but is under pressure from the oppo-sition to resign after an inde-pendent member of parliament published documents last month indicating that companies the prime minister owns shares in had won deals worth 44m dinars ($15m) from the state.

Fakhfakh has told par-liament he is ready to resign if any violation is proved, but said he had sold his shares in the companies.

“The suspicion of a conflict of interest by the prime min-ister... has harmed the image of the governing coalition, and requires a reevaluation of the

(party’s) position about the gov-ernment,” Ennahda said in a statement.

Ennahda’s comments will increase pressure on the fragile government formed in Feb-ruary following an election last

September that produced a fractured parliament.

A judge has opened an investigation into the allega-tions against Fakhfakh, and the anti-corruption minister has assigned a public watchdog to look into the issue and report back within three weeks.

The state anti-corruption commission has said Fakhfakh did not inform it that companies where he has shares had com-mercial deals with the state. Its head, Chawki Tbib, told par-liament the firms’ contracts with the state should be cancelled.

Tunisia is trying to put state finances on a sounder footing after years of deficit spending and mounting public debt - issues complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uneasy calm in Ethiopia after protests; official death toll at 166REUTERS — ADDIS ABABA

An anti-government protests in Ethiopia last week has claimed 166 people , according to an official statement yesterday, as the capital and other hotspots remained closely guarded by security forces and a blanket Internet shutdown entered its sixth day.

Large protests broke out in Addis Ababa and spread to the surrounding Oromia region on Monday night after popular Oromo musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was shot dead by unknown gunmen in a killing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said was “an evil act”.

Haacaaluu sang in the Oromo language of Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group. His killing tapped into grievances fuelled by decades of government

repression and what the Oromo describe as their historic exclusion from political power.

The government initially said 80 people had been killed during the protests, which lasted for two days. The unrest is the deadliest since Abiy, who is Oromo, took power in 2018 with the promise of wide ranging reforms.

But a senior regional security official said yesterday that the death toll was at least double that, with 145 civilians and 11 security personnel killed.

Jibril Mohammed, head of the Oromia Security and Peace Bureau, said more deaths might be reported due to the number of injuries being treated in hospitals.

Another 10 people were killed in Addis Ababa, a source

in the national police service said.

The military, called in to quell the protests on Wednesday, were out in the streets of Oromia towns, two residents from the town of Adama and another from the town of Shashemene told Reuters. Authorities shut down the Internet after the protests began, and they are yet to switch it on again, residents said.

“The (Oromia) region is now relatively calm and there is no violence or protests at the moment. Businesses have also re-opened,” Jibril told Reuters by phone.

International human rights watchdog Amnesty Interna-tional has called on the gov-ernment to bring its killers to justice.

The Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh has rejected accusations of corruption but is under pressure from the opposition to resign. Ennahda gave no details of what action it would consider taking, but sources close to the party said the withdrawal of its seven ministers from the government was among the possible options.

Mali president meets head of protest movementAFP — BAMAKO

Mali’s president has met the leader of a protest movement that has brought many thou-sands on to the streets, the pres-idency said yesterday.

A video posted on the pres-idency’s Twitter account showed the meeting between President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Mahmoud Dicko, an imam and leading figure of the so-called June 5 movement, in the capital Bamako on Saturday. It was the first official meeting between the two men since two demonstrations last month

drew tens of thousands to the streets.

The protests have chan-nelled deep-seated frus-tration over militant attacks and inter-ethnic violence that have claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes since 2012.

“We talked about every-thing that concerns this crisis and the country in general. I think that with the will of eve-ryone and of all the parties con-cerned, we will, God willing, find the solution,” Dicko said in the video.

“My role as an imam, as I have said, obliges me to be someone who always considers peace as being essential: peace in our country, the sub-region and in the world.”

Keita, who has been in power since 2013, also met rep-resentatives of other political parties with the aim of “easing the political situation”, the pres-idency said.

The opposition coalition of religious leaders, politicians and civil society figures said on Wednesday that Keita’s resig-nation would no longer be a condition for talks.

However, they outlined a list of demands including the dissolution of parliament and the formation of a transitional government whose prime min-ister would be appointed by the movement and could not be removed by the president.

The slow pace of political reform, a flagging economy, a lack of funding for public services and schools and a widely shared perception of government corruption have fed anti-Keita sentiment.

Last month’s protests fol-lowed demonstrations in May over the results of March’s

long-delayed parliamentary elections —which Keita’s party won— as well as over corona-virus restrictions. The 75-year-old president has taken a concil-iatory stance since the demon-strations began, mooting a national unity government in a June 14 address to the nation. Protest leaders rejected that offer.

One of the poorest coun-tries in the world, Mali has been engulfed in conflict since a insurgency emerged in the north in 2012 and spread to the fragile centre of the country in 2015, as well as to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Libyan minister says ‘will respond’ to airstrikes on Al Watiya airbaseANATOLIA — TRIPOLI

Libya will respond to recent overnight airstrikes on strate-gically important Al-Watiya airbase, said Libya’s deputy defense minister yesterday.

Writing on social media, Salah Al Namroush said the airstrikes by foreign fighter jets supporting “war criminal

Khalifa Haftar” were a failed attempt to distract from recent victories by the Libyan Army.

He said the response to the attacks would be given at the “right time and the right place.”

A military source said that the airbase was struck by uni-dentified planes.

No casualties were

reported following the incident, but some equipment recently brought to boost the airbase’s air-defense capabil-ities was damaged.

The overnight attacks were the first since the Libyan Army captured the airbase from Haftar’s militia in May.

Libya has been torn by a civil war since the ouster of

Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country’s new government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led agreement, but efforts for a long-term political settlement failed due to a military offensive by warlord Khalifa Haftar’s forces.

The UN recognises the Libyan government headed by Fayez Al Sarraj as the country’s

legitimate authority, as Tripoli battles Haftar’s militias.

The government launched Operation Peace Storm against Haftar in March to counter Haftar’s attacks on the capital Tripoli, and recently liberated strategic locations, including Al Watiya airbase and the city of Tarhuna, Haftar’s final stronghold in western Libya.

Sudan fires top police officials after protestsREUTERS — KHARTOUM

Sudan’s police chief and his deputy were fired yesterday, the transitional government said, days after large protests demanding more measures against officials linked to ousted President Omar Al Bashir.

Adel Mohamed Bashaer, director-general of Sudan’s Police Force was “relieved of his duties” and replaced with Ezz Eldin Sheikh Ali, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said on Twitter without elaborating.

Later, the cabinet said in a statement that Othman Mohamed Younes, Bashaer’s deputy,

was also dismissed. No further details were given.

One person was killed and several others injured during largely peaceful demonstrations across Sudan on Tuesday, as tens of thousands of people took to the streets demanding faster reform and a greater role for civilians in the coun-try’s transition towards democracy.

Protesters and pro-democracy groups link the two fired police officials with the adminis-tration of Bashir, who was removed from power in April 2019 after months of protests.

The two men could not be immediately reached for comment.

People holding banners during a demonstration, demanding the securing of Nertiti district of Central Darfur, in Khartoum, Sudan, yesterday. Demonstrators gathered in front of the Presidency of the Cabinet building, carried banners reading ‘No to War - We Are All Nertiti”.

Sudan protesters remain camped in Darfur, seeking securityAP — TUNIS

A Sudanese government delegation arrived yesterday in Central Darfur province for talks with hundreds of protesters camped outside a government building demanding better security condi-tions, state media said.

Comprised mostly of internally displaced persons and refugees, the week-long protest camp in the town of Nertiti is calling for the resignation of security officials in the province and a halt to attacks by government-sanctioned armed groups, according to Adam Regal, a spokesman for a local organization that helps run displacement camps in the Darfur region.

The protest is the latest challenge for Sudan’s transitional gov-ernment, which is struggling to revive a battered economy and to end decades-long rebellions in some areas, including Darfur. Sudan is on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow former autocratic president Omar Al Bashir in April last year.

A government delegation headed by Mohammed Hassan al-Taishi, a member of the sovereign council, was set to meet with the protesters at the sit-in, according to Sudan’s state-run SUNA news agency.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok tweeted over the weekend that the protesters’ demands were “fair and worthy,” vowing to work to carry them out for “the security and stability” in the region.

Malawi cancels independence celebrationsAFP — LILONGWE, MALAWI

Malawi’s president Lazarus Chakwera yesterday called off planned independence cele-brations and drastically scaled back on his inauguration ceremony following a spike in coronavirus infections in the southern African country.

The cancellation will put a dampener on the euphoria generated by the historic opposition triumph in a recent landmark election re-run after last year’s fraudulent polls were overturned.

Chakwera comfortably won the June 23 election with 58.5 per cent of the vote -- beating Peter Mutharika, whose re-election last year was anulled by the courts over “grave”, “widespread and sys-tematic” irregularities.

His formal inauguration had been slated for today at a giant stadium in the capital to coincide with the country’s 56th independence celebra-tions. Already on Saturday, he had slashed the stadium audience by half to 20,000 to limit the virus spread.

But in an address yes-terday, the president called off the stadium festivities and shifted his inauguration event to a military barracks to be witnessed by only 100 spe-cially-invited guests.

Malawi, which has not been placed under a lockdown, has registered 1,613 cases so far with 7 percent of those infections detected in the last 24-hour reporting cycle.

At least 64 percent of the new infections were from community transmission.

“In view of this acceler-ation rate of local transmission and its wide geographical spread I have decided to cancel the celebration,” said Chakwera in a brief address to the nation. “Your health and sanity is of paramount impor-tance,” he said. “The corona-virus is spreading..., it is spreading faster than before and it is spreading with the power to kill,” he said.

The Israeli government may begin taking steps toward unilaterally annexing portions of the West Bank soon. This move would present a grave threat to any possibility of a future two-state outcome that allows Israelis and Pales-tinians to live in freedom and security, each in a state of their own. It would also shatter the paradigm that has governed resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. Israeli annexation would herald a new era of unilateralism, the conse-quences of which would be a policy shift on the Palestinian side of the equation as well.

Annexation is far from a foregone conclusion. Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz, Arab leaders, former vice president Joe Biden and nearly every Democrat in Congress have voiced concern or out-right opposition. The Trump administration’s position is unclear, as it envisioned annexation in the context of a larger peace plan that the Israeli government seems more reluctant to endorse.

If annexation does occur, however, and it is recognized by the Trump administration, the two-state solution will stand on the precipice of irrelevance. In such a world, it will be critical to take steps to bolster its renewal and establish a new set of facts on the ground that shape a two-state environment. The most

effective and meaningful response by US supporters of a two-state solution - espe-cially in Congress - is to advocate formal recognition of the state of Palestine.

Annexation would be an unmistakable sign that Israelis are moving away from two states. But no less significant would be the impact on Pales-tinians, who would no longer believe that a state of their own is achievable. Polling in the Pal-estinian territories already shows support for two states at its lowest point since Israelis and Palestinians began negoti-ating in 1993 with the signing of the Oslo accords. The oppo-sition is based not on the sub-stance of an agreement, but in the lack of belief that it is pos-sible in the face of 25-plus years of failure and the growth of Israeli settlements on land supposedly designated for a Palestinian state.

Unilateral Israeli annex-ation, designed to demon-strate to Palestinians that Israel will not be held hostage to a Palestinian veto over its

borders and territory, would have a far more expansive effect. It would hasten the process of deterioration of Palestinian institutions toward further dysfunction and authoritarianism, as they would be increasingly be seen by Palestinians as tools for Israeli occupation, not prepa-ration for statehood. Even-tually, this lack of legitimacy would cause the Palestinian Authority to collapse.

Recognition of a Pales-tinian state would be a huge political boost to Palestinian supporters of two states by providing symbolic achievement of a long-desired national aspiration. It would boost the Palestinian Authority’s legitimacy and forestall its collapse. US rec-ognition should make clear that while the final borders of Israel and Palestine must be negotiated between the parties, they should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed on land swaps, grounding US policy in 50 years of precedent.

US recognition would almost certainly cause most partners in Europe, who have thus far refrained from recog-nizing a Palestinian state, to follow. But even if a US admin-istration chose not to rec-ognize Palestine, simply sign-aling to European countries that the United States would not oppose them taking this action could trigger a wave of international recognition that would boost Palestinians at a moment of despondency.

Recognition would also be an appropriate counter-measure to Israeli unilater-alism that puts a two-state outcome at severe risk. Just as Israeli annexation is an attempt to skip negotiations

and jump to the endpoint of recognition of Israeli terri-torial claims in the West Bank, recognition of a Palestinian state would be a similar leap to the endpoint of Palestinian goals in any negotiating process.

While recognition of Pal-estine may appear extreme at first glance, it actually consti-tutes the middle ground inside the Democratic Party in the wake of annexation. More conservative voices will argue that convincing Israel not to take annexation any further than it has, or even with-drawing President Donald Trump’s recognition of what has taken place, would be sufficient. But this will merely give lip service without taking concrete action to save the two-state solution.

Progressives will argue that instead the United States should start conditioning the $3.8 billion it provides in security assistance to Israel every year wouldn’t really res-onate inside Palestinian society and wouldn’t move either side closer to two states.

Ultimately, let’s hope that Israel makes the right decision and chooses not to unilaterally annex West Bank territory. But if it does, supporters of the two-state solution in Congress, as well as the many advocacy organizations, and Jewish and Arab community leaders who engage on this issue with the United States, should call for US recognition of the state of Palestine as the best way to preserve any hope for a two-state solution in a new era of Israeli-Palestinian unilateralism.

Goldenberg is the director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

Recognition of a Palestinian state would be a huge political boost to Palestinian supporters of two states by providing symbolic achievement of a long-desired national aspiration. It would boost the Palestinian Authority’s legitimacy and forestall its collapse.

08 MONDAY 6 JULY 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

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

EDITORIAL

QATAR, the region’s sport hub, is bracing for action to resume more than three months after competi-tions were suspended due to the COVID-19 pan-demic sweeping the globe. QNB Stars League football action is set to return on July 24. Competi-tions under the Qatar Olympic Committee will also get go ahead after July 20.

The authorities have devised a multi-phase plan to resume sports after consultations with the Min-istry of Public Health (MoPH) in order to maintain the safety of all those involved. The plan is in place and the moment which sports fans of the country were waiting for anxiously is round the corner. It will be a sight to behold when football stars will be seen in action after 100 days of hiatus at the QSL grounds that will also include the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 venue – Al Janoub Stadium. A series of thrilling action is on the cards in the coming weeks.

At this stage the teams including players, tech-nical administrative staff and referees are under-going phased return plan which also involves several rounds of coronavirus tests. The game’s stake-holders are complying with the protocol set by the MoPH but there is a consistent need to adhere to the safety measures until situation returns to normal. We have already seen how little carelessness or irresponsible attitude can spoil hard work done by the organisers as top-notch action made a return to many countries last month.

The controversy of Adria Tour in Zadar, Croatia, is still fresh in our minds after the tennis tournament was cancelled before the final following Grigor Dim-itrov’s positive test. Later more players including World No.1 Novak Djokovic, who was seen in the pictures not following the safety guidelines, con-tracted the coronavirus.

Another tennis player Alexander Zverev is also under heavy criticism and maybe withdrawn for upcoming tournaments after footage emerged of him partying despite pledging to ‘follow self-iso-lating guidelines’. These are some examples of inci-dents occurred in the last few weeks of how all joy can vanish because of irresponsibility on one’s part. We all know the virus is highly contagious and fol-lowing the safety guidelines strictly is the only solution to stay away from it.

As Qatar will soon welcome the return of sports action, it is paramount that all stakeholders must make safety guidelines a top priority and let fans have what they had been waiting for.

Stick to MoPH guidelines

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Quote of the day

Everything we do within Algeria domestically …

thinking we have some ulterior motives, we have

none, no ulterior motives against our brothers in

Morocco or the king of Morocco.

Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Algerian President

Palestinians, holding flags and posters, march during a protest against Israel’s annexation plan of some regions located in West Bank, in Khan Yunis, Gaza.

JAPAN NEWS-YOMIURI

Negotiations are taking place amid the unforeseen circum-stances of the novel corona-virus pandemic. As Britain leaves the European Union, the two sides must swiftly reach an agreement on their new relationship.

The two sides have resumed face-to-face talks that had been postponed due to the coronavirus crisis. The scope of negotiations is extensive, covering the signing of free trade agree-ments, the creation of rules on fishing rights, mechanisms for resolving conflicts and anti-terrorism measures.

The problem is there are only six months left.

Britain left the EU at the end of January but will be treated as equivalent to a

member state until the end of this year. If an FTA is not signed within this transition period, tariffs between Britain and the EU will be restored. This will be a burden on the activities of businesses on both sides and will inevitably disrupt logistics networks.

It is feared that multina-tional companies with pro-duction bases in Britain will also be affected. It will be to Britain’s detriment if those companies move their bases out of the country.

The EU has asked Britain to bring its subsidies and environmental standards up to EU standards as a condition for signing an FTA. Britain is poised to pursue its own pol-icies. The gap between the two sides remains wide.

The EU’s response to the coronavirus crisis has seen its

members fall out of step over the provision of medical assistance to Italy. The question is whether the EU will be able to maintain unity during nego-tiations with Britain. The administration of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to “regain political and economic independence on Jan. 1 next year.” It hinted the idea of the transition period ending even if no agreement has been reached with the EU, which is worrisome.

Britain and the EU should adopt a flexible stance, extending the transition period if negotiations are unsuccessful. Europe has already been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.

More than 40,000 people have died in Britain, and EU member states also have seen many deaths. There are also

aftereffects from the strict lockdowns. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the economies of Britain and the eurozone will shrink by 10.2% this year.

To prevent further deteri-oration of the global economy, the two parties must do their utmost in nego-tiations and transition smoothly to a new rela-tionship. Japan has started negotiations on a trade agreement with Britain. Japan has an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union, but Britain will not be included in the agreement after the transition period.

The relationship between Japan and Britain must be strengthened, with the possi-bility of Britain joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership in mind.

Recognizing the state of Palestine is the only appropriate response to Israeli annexation

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Britain, EU must do everything possible to swiftly negotiate FTA

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ILAN GOLDENBERG THE WASHINGTON POST

09MONDAY 6 JULY 2020 ASIA

India reports 24,850 new virus cases in 24 hoursANATOLIA — NEW DELHI

With 24,850 new cases and 613 deaths in the last 24 hours, India yesterday saw its biggest surge in COVID-19 cases.

The country’s tally of infec-tions rose to 673,165 as the death toll zoomed to 19,268, according to the Health Ministry data.

The total number of cases in the country includes 244,814 active cases and 409,083 cured/discharged/migrated.

With the new recoveries, the recovery rate in India has risen to 60.77 percent from Fri-day’s 60.7 percent.

This is the ninth consecutive day when cases have risen by over 18,000. India is now only 800 cases behind Russia, the third worst-hit country globally.

The worst-hit western state of Maharashtra set a new record yesterday, with the biggest jump of 7,074 new coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time since the global coronavirus

outbreak, taking the total case count to 200,064. With 295 new deaths, the death toll in the state rose to 8,671, the official figures showed. Delhi is the third worst-affected state in the country with 2,505 fresh cases taking its total tally to 97,000. The death toll has mounted to 3,004 with 55 new fatalities.

The national capital has shown a decline in COVID-19 positivity rate to 10.58 percent from earlier 37 percent. The recovery rate has risen to 70 percent.

“Less and less people in Delhi are now requiring hospi-talisation, more and more people are getting cured at home. While there were around

2,300 new patients daily last week, the number of patients in hospital has gone down from 6,200 to 5,300. Today, 9,900 corona beds are free,” tweeted Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister.

With a single-day all-time high of 4,280 fresh coronavirus cases, the second worst-hit southern state of Tamil Nadu’s tally reached 107,001.

After 17 days of intense lockdown, the state eased restrictions in some cities yes-terday. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that 9,789,066 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the country till Saturday, of these 248,934 were tested yesterday.

The ICMR confirmed that it is fast-tracking efforts to develop the COVAXIN vaccine in

collaboration with the Bharat Biotech company, thus the country’s first made-in-India

coronavirus vaccine will be launched no later than August 15, India’s Independence Day.

A plasma donor is seen at the newly inaugurated plasma bank at the state-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences Hospital for treatment of patients suffering from the coronavirus disease amidst the spread of the disease, in New Delhi, yesterday.

COVID-19: Infections in Bangladesh pass 160,000 markANATOLIA — DHAKA

Coronavirus cases in Bang-ladesh surpassed the 160,000 mark yesterday, according to the latest update by the Health Ministry.

South Asia’s overcrowded country recorded 2,738 news cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 162,417.

It also registered 52 new casualties to bring the death toll to 2,052.

Bangladesh first recorded a virus case on March 8 while the first death was reported on March 18 after the novel coro-navirus was first detected in China last December.

To stem the spread of the virus, Bangladeshi authorities imposed a two-month coun-trywide lockdown from March 26 to May 31.

It was lifted on June 1 over

economic interest and people’s needs amid the escalating spread of the virus.

The country is now divided into three zones — red for high risk, yellow for medium-infected regions and white for no risk.

Country’s educational insti-tutes, however, are still closed.

Meanwhile, infection among the front line health workers in the war against the disease has topped the 5,000 mark in Bangladesh, according to the apex body of the coun-try’s physicians.

Bangladesh Medical Asso-ciation (BMA) said in a statement yesterday that at least 62 physicians died of COVID-19 since March 8.

Besides, at least 5,001 health workers, including 1,725 physicians, 1,351 nurses and 1,925 other health care staffers

have been infected by the virus across the country, while some of them have recovered already and joined their service again, the statement added.

Dr . Mostafa Ja la l Mohiuddin, the president of

BMA, said that they are working with experts and the government to control the infection among health workers and to provide more health safety and security.

Also a member of the

national technical committee on coronavirus, he observed that some patients hide that they are carrying the virus and have received treatment in hospital, which makes their job difficult and unsafe.

People wait at a coronavirus testing centre at a hospital, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

India to reopen

Taj Mahal with

social distancing

and masks todayREUTERS — NEW DELHI

Visitors to the Taj Mahal will have to wear masks at all times, keep their distance and not touch its glistening marble surfaces when India’s 17th-century monument to love reopens on Monday after a three-month COVID-19 shutdown.

Only 5,000 tourists will be allowed in a day, split into two groups, a far cry from peak levels of 80,000 a day who would swarm the mausoleum built in the northern city of Agra by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his wife, in a 22-year effort.

“All centrally protected monuments & sites shall be bound by the protocols like san-itisation, social distancing & other health protocols,” the federal tourism ministry said in a tweet.

Authorities are reopening the Taj and other monuments, such as New Delhi’s historic Red Fort, just as India’s coronavirus infections are rising at the fastest pace in three months.

Yesterday, the health min-istry reported a record single-day spike of 24,850 new cases and more than 600 deaths, pushing the overall case tally to 673,165, closing in on Russia, the third-most affected country globally.

But the government has been lifting a vast lockdown of India’s 1.3 billion people that has left tens of thousands without work and shuttered businesses. While international flights remain suspended, domestic travel has been opened up, and the government is hoping vis-itors will start to trickle back to some popular destinations.

Agra, one of India’s first big clusters of the virus, remains the worst-affected city in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state.

“All around the Taj are con-tainment zones,” said a local dis-trict administration official. Containment zones, areas iden-tified as most affected by the virus, remain under strict lockdown, with restricted access and movement of only essential goods and services.

Premier of Australia’s Victoria defends hard COVID-19 lockdownREUTERS — MELBOURNE

The premier of Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, defended yesterday his decision to put nine public housing towers in a complete lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to rise in Melbourne’s suburbs.

The state recorded 74 cases new cases yesterday, after

Saturday’s 108 cases prompted Premier Daniel Andrews to order about 3,000 people not to leave their homes for at least five days and to place police to guard the buildings.

“This is not going to be a pleasant experience for those residents, but I have a message for those residents: this is not about punishment but pro-tection,” Andrews said in a tel-

evised conference.Promising two weeks of free

rent and hardship payments to the residents, Andrews said public health workers would test every resident of the buildings, except those who have previ-ously tested positive.

The communal nature of the facilities, which house people on low incomes, has “genuinely explosive potential for the

spread of the virus,” said Victo-ria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. In addition to the com-plete lockdown orders, more than 30 Melbourne suburbs are also under strict social-dis-tancing orders, but people there can leave their houses to go to work, school or to buy groceries.

Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, reported

14 new coronavirus cases yes-terday, all returning travellers from overseas.

Overall, Australia has weathered the coronavirus pan-demic better than most other nations, with just over 8,400 cases and 104 deaths so far, but the recent spike in Victoria is being closely watched by the rest of the country, which has moved to ease restrictions.

Thousands rally at Black Lives Matter protests in AustraliaAP — SYDNEY

Several thousand people rallied in Black Lives Matter protests across Australia over the weekend to call for racial equality and highlight deaths of Indig-enous people while in police custody.

About 500 people protested yesterday in Newcastle, north of Sydney, after the New South Wales state Supreme Court approved the rally following an attempt by police to have it banned. A rally in Sydney yes-terday began with a ceremony at

which people mourned the Indig-enous Australians who have died in police custody.

There have been more than 400 Indigenous deaths in custody since a royal commission into the issue ended in 1991. No convic-tions have been recorded in any of the deaths.

“We went through the lawful process, we sat through that process of the coronial inquiry, we listened to that process and we received no justice from that process,” Sydney rally organiser Paul Silva told SBS Television. “This is our process to demand

justice.” On Saturday, Australians took part in Black Lives Matter rallies in the cities of Brisbane, Darwin, Perth and Adelaide. Many of the protesters work masks and attempted to maintain social distancing due to corona-virus concerns.

Australia’s Indigenous people are the most disadvantaged ethnic minority in the country. They have higher-than-average rates of infant mortality and poor health, as well as shorter life expectancy and lower levels of education and employment than other Australians.

Hong Kong’s COVID-free streak may end as two test positive: RTHKBLOOMBERG — HONG KONG

Hong Kong’s three-week stretch of no new local COVID-19 cases may have been broken after two people tested positive for the virus on Saturday, Radio Tele-vision Hong Kong (RTHK) reported, citing unidentified people.

A 59-year-old man is in stable condition at Princess Mar-garet Hospital after testing pos-itive for coronavirus, RTHK said.

The results of a second check to confirm the infection have yet to be announced, according to the report. The last locally trans-mitted case in Hong Kong was reported on June 12.

The other new suspected locally transmitted case is a nurse who works at a clinic in Cheung Sha Wan, RTHK cited sources as saying. Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong fell 99.9 percent on year in May to 8,139 due to the border-control policies, according to data

from the city’s Tourism Board.The financial hub of around

7.5 million people — roughly the same population as New York City — has been successful in keeping the coronavirus in check, with 1,259 cases as of July 4 and just seven related deaths. Most residents continue to wear pro-tective masks in public, even as life slowly returns to normal.

Hong Kong further relaxed social-distancing measures in mid-June, allowing public

gatherings of up to 50 people. The city’s government is in talks with Guangdong provincial author-ities for a plan to ease cross-border travel restrictions, including lifting the 14-day man-datory quarantine for qualified people.

The neighbouring city of Macau is also easing social restrictions. The special admin-istration region of China will permit 3,000 applications for exemption from mandatory

quarantine every day from July 6 for people entering the mainland through its border with Zhuhai for business purposes or special needs. Under the new rules, Macau residents with the exemption will be allowed to visit nine cities in China’s Greater Bay Area, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen, according to a Zhuhai government statement Sunday. At present, the only Chinese city they are permitted to travel to is Zhuhai.

The country’s tally of infections rose to 673,165 as the death toll zoomed to 19,268, according to the Health Ministry data. The total number of cases in the country includes 244,814 active cases and 409,083 cured/discharged/migrated.

Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally, calling for an end to police brutality against Black people in the United States, in Perth, Australia, yesterday.

10 MONDAY 6 JULY 2020ASIA

Japan floods leave up to 34 dead, many at nursing homesAP — TOKYO

Deep floodwaters and the risk of more mudslides that left at least 34 people confirmed or presumed dead hampered search and rescue operations yesterday in southern Japan, including at elderly home facil-ities where more than a dozen died and scores were still stranded.

Helicopters and boats rescued more people from their homes in the Kumamoto region. More than 40,000 defence troops, the coast guard and fire brigades were taking part in the operation.

Large areas along the Kuma River were swallowed by flood-waters, with many houses, buildings and vehicles sub-merged almost up to their roofs. Mudslides smashed into houses, sending people atop rooftops waving at rescuers.

At a flooded elderly care home in Kuma Village, where 14 residents were presumed dead after rescuers reached them on Saturday, rescue con-tinued yesterday for the dozens of remaining residents and

caregivers.Sixty-five residents and

about 30 caregivers were trapped at the riverside care facility Senjuen when flood-waters and mud gushed in. All remaining 51 residents, including three who had hypo-thermia, had been rescued by boats and taken to hospitals for treatment by the afternoon yes-terday, officials said.

Shigemitsu Sakoda, a local rafting company operator who joined defence troops in the rescue effort at the nursing home, said floodwaters were still high on the first floor when they arrived at the scene on rafts. “So we smashed windows with a hammer to get in,” he told Japanese broadcaster NHK.

Soldiers went up to the roof to rescue survivors who were

able to go upstairs while the waters rose, he said.

“Unfortunately, some of the residents could not make it to the second floor” Sakoda said.

Overall, 18 people were confirmed dead, while 16 others, including those at the nursing home, were presumed dead. Fourteen others were still missing as of yesterday afternoon. Dozens of others were still trapped in inundated areas waiting to be rescued, according to the Fire and Dis-aster Management Agency.

In Hitoyoshi City, the deluge poured into houses near the main train station. “The water rose to the second floor so fast and I just couldn’t stop shiv-ering,” a 55-year-old woman who was visiting her relatives told the Asahi newspaper.

She and her relatives ran upstairs, swam out of a window and eventually took refuge on the roof to wait for their rescue.

As floods eased in parts of Kumamoto on Sunday, vending machines and cars lay scattered on mud-coated streets. Some people were cleaning their homes, taking out damaged fur-niture and rinsing off mud.

More than 200,000 resi-dents in Kumamoto prefecture were urged to evacuate fol-lowing pounding rains on Friday evening and into Sat-urday. But the evacuation was not mandatory and many people opted to stay home because of concerns over catching the coronavirus, even though officials say shelters are

adequately equipped with par-titions and other safety measures.

Flooding also cut off power and communication lines, further delaying the search and rescue. Nearly 6,000 homes in Kumamoto were still without electricity yesterday, according to the Kyushu Electric Power Co.

Residents are evacuated from flood-affected area by rubber boats in Kuma village, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, yesterday.

Pakistan reports

93 deaths, 3,191

new coronavirus

cases in 24 hours

INTERNEWS — KARACHI

At least 93 deaths have been reported while 3,191 new coro-navirus cases surfaced during 24 hours across Pakistan.

According to government’s health portal, the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country have reached 228,274. The total number of fatalities due to the disease is 4,712 while recoveries tally is 129,830.

Similarly, 2,419 corona-virus patients are in critical condition while 25,527 tests have been conducted. The total number of tests done so far is 1,398,352.

The highest number of cases have been reported in Sindh with 92, 306 cases, fol-lowed by Punjab with 81,317 coronavirus patients. Simi-larly, 27,843 cases surfaced in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 10,766 in Balochistan, 13,409 in Islamabad, 1,545 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 1,288 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Coronavirus cases are on the rise in Pakistan and it is feared that the virus will be at its peak in July. The gov-ernment eased lockdown and restrictions to support economy that led to an alarming increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

On June 11, Prime Minister Imran Khan warned the people and business com-munity of taking a strict action for violating safety guidelines issued by the government to stem the spread of COVID-19.

30 more Pakistani pilots with fake degrees terminated: MinisterINTERNEWS — RAWALPINDI

Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said degrees of 30 more pilots out of the 262 suspected of obtaining dubious licences have turned out to be fake and they have been terminated.

Addressing a press con-ference in Rawalpindi, Khan said that out of the overall pilots who were alleged to have dubious credentials, 141 belonged to the Pakistan Inter-national Airlines (PIA) while

nine of them work for private carriers Air Blue and Serene Air.

“They (pilot) have been grounded immediately,” the minister said.

“We will take strict action against pilots found possessing dubious or fake licenses,” Khan said, while terming the PIA pilots as one of the most pro-fessional ones in the world.

The Aviation Minister added that they were cleaning the mess of the previous gov-ernments, saying neither any

pilots were recruited after 2018 nor any test was conducted to issue licences during the period.

He added the Aviation Min-istry saw political recruitments with 11 chief executives of the PIA replaced during the past 10 years, noting that when they took over, PIA was Rs462bn in debt.

Speaking about the European ban, Khan said flight operations to Europe have been suspended temporarily and that the PIA had the right

to appeal the decision.“The national flag carrier

has not purchased any plane since 2006,” Khan said.

“We have to rectify our errors to make PIA one of the best airlines,” he said, adding that the case of five Civil Avi-ation Authority (CAA) officials posted at the licensing section would be referred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and no one would be spared for committing fraud-ulent activities.

He said airlines across the

globe had suffered losses of $350bn due to COVID-19 pan-demic and have terminated their staff due to the ongoing situation.

“In the current situation, we have brought down PIA losses from Rs4bn to Rs1bn,” he said, adding that overall losses suffered by the national flag carrier during the pan-demic have reached up to Rs6bn. The Aviation Minister said that similarly the CAA was suffering losses of Rs2bn weekly.

China reports 8 new coronavirus casesREUTERS — BEIJING

China recorded eight new coro-navirus cases for July 4, up from three a day earlier, the national health authority said yesterday, while city officials in Beijing said nearly all the cases in a recent outbreak in the capital were mild.

Of the new cases, six were imported and two were in Beijing, which has been scram-bling to quash an outbreak

traced to a massive wholesale market in the city early last month. In Beijing, 47 percent of the 334 confirmed cases since June 11 were staff at the Xinfadi market, Pang Xinghuo, a senior Beijing disease control official, told a media briefing yesterday.

Of all the cases in the city since then, 98 percent were “mild and normal,” she said.

Xu Hejian, spokesman of the capital city told the briefing

the new coronavirus situation in Beijing was “stabilising” and “controllable”, but transmission risks remain.

Also yesterday, China reported seven new asympto-matic patients, up from four a day earlier. As of Saturday, mainland China had 83,553 confirmed coronavirus cases, the health authority said. China’s death toll from the COVID-19 remained 4,634, unchanged since Mid-May.

Personnel of Beijing railway station wearing face masks arrive for work in Beijing, yesterday.

Tokyo governor wins 2nd term, buoyed by handling of virusAP — TOKYO

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (pictured) has won a second term to head the Japanese capital, propelled to an election victory yesterday by public support for her handling of the coronavirus crisis despite a recent rise in infections that has raised concerns of a resurgence of the disease.

In her victory speech, Koike, the first woman to lead Tokyo, pledged to continue to take measures to protect the city’s 14 million people amid the pan-demic, calling it her “most pressing task”. “Now is a very important time to prepare for a

possible second wave, and I will continue to firmly take steps,” she said.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK said its exit polls showed that 74 percent of respondents supported Koike, with 63 percent saying they approved of her handling of the corona-virus crisis.

Koike, 67, is a veteran con-servative who has served in key Cabinet and ruling party posts, and is viewed as a potential candidate to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when his term ends in September 2021. For now, she says she’s focused on protecting the lives of the people of Tokyo, a megacity

with a $1 trillion economy.“The next four years is a

crucial time for Japan’s capital, with the Olympics and Paral-ympics coming up, and

coronavirus measures are needed,” she said. “I’m fully committed to my duty as gov-ernor.” Tokyo’s infections started to rebound in late June, with the city reporting 111 new cases yesterday, topping 100 for a fourth straight day. New daily cases have spiked throughout Japan in recent weeks, with the country approaching 20,000 cases and 1,000 deaths.

Koike said, however, that another state of emergency nationwide or in Tokyo would be difficult because the economy had already been bat-tered by seven weeks of restric-tions in April and May. She instead pledged to balance

disease prevention and the economy, while suggesting “pinpoint” measures in specific areas.

A record 22 candidates ran in yesterday’s election.

Koike’s challengers included popular actor-turned-politician Taro Yamamoto and veteran lawyer Kenji Utsu-nomiya. Yamamoto wanted to cancel the Tokyo Olympics —which were postponed from this summer to next summer due to the pandemic - and use the funds to help people hurt by the coronavirus crisis. Utsu-nomiya called for better welfare support for a more inclusive and diverse society.

South Korea has

60-plus new

cases for 3rd day

AP — SEOUL

South Korea has recorded 60-plus COVID-19 cases for a third consecutive day, a continuation of a virus spread beyond the greater Seoul area.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention said yesterday it has confirmed 61 additional cases, bringing the national total to 13,091. It says the death toll remained at 283.

The agency says 43 of the newly-reported cases were locally-infected patients. All but two of those cases were either from the Seoul metro-politan area or two central cities, Gwangju and Daejeon. The remaining 18 cases were linked to international arrivals.

South Korea has been grappling with an uptick in new infections since it eased social distancing rules in early May.

More than 200,000 residents in Kumamoto prefecture were urged to evacuate following pounding rains on Friday evening and into Saturday. But the evacuation was not mandatory and many opted to stay home because of concerns over coronavirus.

Kazakhstan imposes 2nd round of restrictions as coronavirus surgesAFP — ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakhstan yesterday imposed a second round of nationwide restrictions to counter a huge surge in coronavirus cases since the previous lockdown, which has overwhelmed the oil-rich country’s healthcare system.

Shopping centres, gyms, swimming pools, hairdressers and beauty salons have all closed down for the next two weeks, a measure that author-ities may choose to extend.

Kazakhstan imposed a strict lockdown in late March that saw important sectors of the economy grind to a halt and prevented most travel.

But it was one of the first Central Asian countries to lift restrictions in late May, when it had less than 9,000 con-firmed cases.

Since then however, coro-navirus cases have risen more than five-fold, reaching over 47,000 with 188 fatalities.

The new restrictions are notably less stringent — travel between most cities remains possible and citizens can fly in and out of the country.

Darya, a 17-year-old Almaty resident, said she felt

the second lockdown was not strict enough.

“In parks, people are walking around without masks and gathering in big crowds,” she said, adding that several of her friends were currently ill with the virus.

The growth in cases is putting acute strain on hos-pitals, with several hospital chiefs reporting that they are full or nearing capacity.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev earlier this week ordered a 50-percent expansion in the number of hospital beds.

Almaty’s Halyk Arena, a sports stadium that usually stages ice hockey and vol-leyball matches, is being con-verted into a temporary hos-pital with the capacity to receive up to 1,000 coronavirus patients in the coming weeks.

The arena is already being used as coronavirus testing point.

Aliya Baygaliyeva, the doctor in charge, told AFP that the centre had a capacity of up to 800 tests per day, but until recently had been hampered by a two-week delay in sup-plies of reagents from South Korea.

11MONDAY 6 JULY 2020 EUROPE

Croatia votes for new govt as virus woes loomAFP — ZAGREB

Croatians went to the polls yesterday for a government to navigate the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, in a tight race pitting ruling conservatives against leftist rivals and a new nationalist party on the rise.

The pandemic has put Croatia’s tourism-dependent economy on course for a con-traction of nearly 10 percent —its steepest decline in decades — even as the country’s own health situation has remained stable.

The ruling conservative HDZ party, which has led the Adriatic country for most of its independence, has been touting its relative success in containing the country’s virus outbreak thus far, with an official tally of roughly 110 deaths and 3,000 infections.

But a fresh rise of cases in recent weeks, with dozens recorded daily, has renewed fears over the health situation and given the opposition fresh ammunition.

“Whoever wins will face major economic problems to deal with in autumn. It won’t be easy,” said Igor Ivic, a 49-year-old economist among the first crowd of voters to cast ballots in Zagreb.

Polls put Croatia’s two main camps — Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s HDZ and the left-leaning ‘Restart’ coalition led by the Social Democrats (SDP) —in a close contest.

With neither expected to carve out an absolute majority in the 151-member house, tricky coalition talks are expected to follow the vote.

That leaves the new populist ‘Homeland Movement’ of folk s inger-turned-poli t ic ian Miroslav Skoro, polling in third, a potential kingmaker.

With the European Union member facing a fresh uptick infections, voters were advised to wear masks and bring their own pens to polling stations.

Officials also paid home visits to the collect the ballots of 500 people — some 10 percent of those in self-isolation — who requested to vote, while

others infected with the virus can do so through a proxy.

SDP leader and prime min-ister candidate Davor Bernardic has accused the government of “consciously pushing Croatia into a risk” by deciding to go ahead with the election in the middle of the pandemic.

He and other rivals also highlight HDZ’s history of graft,

which has been brought back to the fore with a recent scandal involving a top official.

“We have offered...a clear alternative, clear changes for Croatia’s new start,” 40-year-old Bernardic said after casting his vote in the capital.

Plenkovic, meanwhile, is hoping the uncertainty of the health crisis will inspire voters

to stick with HDZ, in power since 2016.

Now is the time for “serious choices and not for political quackery,” said the former MEP with strong backing from Brussels, who has dismissed his rivals as ill-prepared.

“Croatia doesn’t have time for experiments like Bernardic or Skoro,” he said.

Pink ice in Italian Alps sparks algae probeAFP — PASSO GAVIA

Scientists in Italy are investi-gating the mysterious appearance of pink glacial ice in the Alps, caused by algae that accelerate the effects of climate change.

There is debate about where the algae come from, but Biagio Di Mauro of Italy’s National Research Council said the pink snow observed on parts of the Presena glacier is likely caused by the same plant found in Greenland.

“The alga is not dangerous, it is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the spring and

summer periods in the middle latitudes but also at the Poles,” said Di Mauro, who had previ-ously studied the algae at the Morteratsch glacier in Switzerland.

The plant, known as Ancy-lonema nordenskioeldii, is present in Greenland’s so-called Dark Zone, where the ice is also melting.

Normally ice reflects more than 80 percent of the sun’s radiation back into the atmos-phere, but as algae appear, they darken the ice so that it absorbs the heat and melts more quickly.

More algae appear as the ice melts more rapidly, giving them

vital water and air and adding red hues to the white ice at the Passo Gavia, altitude 2,618 metres.

“Everything that darkens the snow causes it to melt because it accelerates the absorption of radiation,” said Di Mauro. “We are trying to quantify the effect of other phe-nomena besides the human one on the overheating of the Earth,” he said, noting that the presence of hikers and ski lifts could also have an impact on the algae.

Tourists at the glacier lament the impact of climate change.

Biagio di Maio, researcher at CNR (National Research Council) taking samples of pink coloured snow on the top of the Presena glacier near Pellizzano, yesterday.

A citizen arrives to cast her ballot at a polling station during the parliamentary election amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Sarajevo, yesterday.

Spain imposes second local virus lockdownREUTERS — MADRID

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia imposed restrictions on about 70,000 people yesterday following a coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, a day after Catalonia also introduced a local lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

People living in A Marina along Spain’s northern coast in the province of Lugo will not be able to leave the area from mid-night until Friday, two days

before regional elections in Galicia on July 12.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, speaking at a local political rally in Bilbao yes-terday, urged people not to lower their guard, but called for calm as “the early detection of these outbreaks shows the

health system is much better prepared” than in March.

The regional government said people will be allowed to move around A Marina, but only those who need to travel for work will be allowed to leave or enter the area.

Regional Health minister

Jesus Vazquez Almuina told a news conference that the biggest outbreaks were linked to several clubs in the area. Regional health authorities said there were now 258 cases in Galicia, of which 117 were in Lugo.

Capacity in clubs and res-taurants will be reduced to 50 percent and people will have to wear a face mask even if out-doors on beaches or at swimming pools, the authorities said.

According to Spain’s Health

Minister Salvador Illa the min-istry was following the situa-tions in Galicia and Catalonia very closely.

“Social distancing and lockdown measures were the key to flattening the curve. Now they are needed again to stop the outbreaks,” he said in a tweet.

Spain has registered 205,545 coronavirus cases and 28,385 deaths according to health ministry data, making it one of Europe’s worst-affected countries.

UK government sets one-year challenge to fix social careBLOOMBERG — LONDON

The head of England’s National Health Service set the UK government a challenge to fix the country’s social-care system within a year.

“We do not have a fair and properly resourced adult social-care system,” Simon Stevens, chief executive officer of NHS England, said on the 72nd anni-versary of the founding of the service. He said he hoped the sector’s funding problems could be solved by its 73rd birthday.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC yesterday

that about 30 percent of UK deaths from COVID-19 had been in care homes, a pro-portion he said compared favo-rably with other European nations. Yet the pandemic exposed weaknesses in the system, as care homes around Britain struggled to get the nec-essary protective equipment and outbreaks killed thousands of elderly residents.

“We must use this as a moment to resolve, once and for all, to actually properly resource and reform the way in which social care works in this country,” Stevens said.

Successive governments have grappled with how to fund adult social care as an aging population puts increased pressure on limited resources. Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged in his mani-festo for last December’s election to build a “cross-party consensus” on how to fund the sector.

“That consensus will con-sider a range of options but one condition we do make is that nobody needing care should be forced to sell their home to pay for it,” Johnson’s Conservatives said in their manifesto.

The opposition Labour Party’s finance spokeswoman, Anneliese Dodds, said that the country had gone into the pan-demic with 120,000 vacancies in the social-care sector, and that a national service to deliver the needed care could save costs elsewhere.

“We’re seeing enormous problems and these are not problems that don’t result in costs elsewhere in the system. We know for example lots of people end up in the NHS because they’re not receiving that social care.”

The National Audit Office

said last month that the situ-ation in care homes had been exacerbated during the pan-demic by the discharge from hospitals of about 25,000 patients into such homes, without them being tested for the virus.

That represented just 3 percent of people discharged from hospital, and was a lower number than those discharged in the same period last year, Stevens said.

“They were all because the clinicians felt that that was the medically appropriate thing to do”.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for calm as “the early detection of these outbreaks shows the health system is much better prepared” than in March.

Chechen dissident shot dead in Austria: OfficialsAFP — VIENNA

Austrian police have arrested a Russian from Chechnya over the fatal shooting of a Chechen dissident, officials said yesterday.

A 43-year-old was found dead with gunshot wounds near the capital Vienna on Sat-urday, police said in a statement.

They arrested a 47-year-old in the city of Linz, some 200km from Vienna, adding: “The motives for the crime are unclear.”

The dead man had given evidence in a 2017 murder case in Ukraine in which a man who had plotted to murder Russian President Vladimir Putin was injured and his wife killed in a gun attack near Kiev, the Ukrainian interior ministry said.

The Austrian police said the dead Chechen was an asylum seeker but declined to comment further.

A prosecution spokesman identified the dead man as Chechen government critic Martin B., adding prosecutors were seeking a court order to keep the suspect in detention.

The suspect lives in Austria but is originally from the Chechnya region.

The Austria shooting comes amid growing concern over the security of Chechen dissidents living in exile.

In February, an exiled Chechen blogger also critical of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov fended off an attacker armed with a hammer.

A month earlier, Chechen opposition leader Imran Aliev was found dead in a hotel room in the northern French city of Lille, stabbed 135 times.

Greek PM says it won't accept strict EU conditions on virus aid: ReportREUTERS — ATHENS

Greece will not accept strict European Union conditions on the use of the coronavirus emergency aid, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (pictured) told the Financial Times news-paper in an interview published yesterday.

“Greeks have matured a lot. And we want to do our own reforms”, he was quoted as saying

A six-monthly review of economic performance carried out by the European Com-mission was sufficient and that there was no need for any “additional strict condition-ality,” he said.

The prime minister told the FT that Greece had a very “aggressive reform agenda” that would focus on “the green transition”, “the digital tran-sition” and encouragements to investments in part through a privatisation programme.

On Friday, while speaking in parliament, he announced new measures worth $4bn to support businesses hurt by a lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Greece emerged from a decade-long debt crisis in 2018 and was hoping for strong growth in 2020. But the nationwide lockdown imposed in March to prevent corona-virus infections has turned those expectations upside down. The Greek economy is expected to shrink by about 8 to 10 percent this year before recovering in 2021.

UK historian quits Cambridge University over slavery claimAFP — LONDON

A British royal historian who said slavery was not genocide has quit his honourary position at Cambridge University and been dropped by his publisher HarperCollins.

The comments from Pro-fessor David Starkey came during a period of soul searching in Britain over its colonial past.

The Black Lives Matter movement that gained momentum after the death of George Floyd in US police custody in May saw the statue of a major slave trader dumped in an English harbour as pro-tests hit cities across the UK.

Starkey is an expert on Brit-ain’s Tudor period — a time in the 1500s when the slave trade was growing as European col-onies across the Caribbean and the Americas expanded.

He said in a June 30 online interview with the right-wing UK commentator Darren Grimes that the BLM movement represented “the worst side of American black culture”.

“Slavery was not genocide. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many blacks in Africa or in Britain, would there? An awful lot of them survived,” Starkey said.

“We had religion emanci-pation at pretty much exactly the same time that we got rid of slavery in the 1830s. We don’t

go on about that because it’s part of history, it’s a question that’s settled,” he added.

The remarks prompted Sajid Javid — a former finance and interior minister who has talked about how his Pakistani father faced discrimination after coming to Britain — to call Starkey a racist.

“We are the most successful multi-racial democracy in the world and have much to be proud of,” Javid tweeted on Thursday.

“But David Starkey’s racist comments are a reminder of the appalling views that still exist.”

Javid’s tweet was picked up by British media, and Cam-bridge University’s Fitzwilliam College accepted Starkey’s res-ignation the next day.

Canterbury Christ Church University in southeastern England also terminated Star-key’s contract as a visiting professor.

“His comments are com-pletely unacceptable and totally go against our university and community values,” the university said in a tweet.

HarperCollins UK called Starkey’s views “abhorrent”.

“Our last book with the author was in 2010, and we will not be publishing further books with him,” it said. “We are reviewing his existing backlist in light of his comments and views.”

12 MONDAY 6 JULY 2020AMERICAS

Rapper Kanye West announces 2020 presidential runAFP — WASHINGTON

Kanye West (pictured), the entertainment mogul who urges listeners in one song to “reach for the stars, so if you fall, you land on a cloud,” claimed on Saturday that he is challenging Donald Trump for the US pres-idency in 2020.

“We must now realise the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION,” the born-again billionaire rapper tweeted as Americans marked Independence Day.

West offered no further details on his supposed cam-paign, four months before the November election, and it is unclear if he has officially reg-

istered to run for office.Hundreds of thousands of

Twitter users reacted to the star’s announcement and “Kanye” shot to become the top trending term on the platform, although many questioned whether the volatile rapper would go through with his plan and others claimed it was a publicity stunt.

His wife, reality star Kim Kardashian, replied with a US flag emoji, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote: “You have my full support!”

The 43-year-old has men-tioned running for president several times and he said last year he would run for president in 2024.

West long ago broke ranks with most of the left-leaning entertainment industry to

loudly voice his support for Trump. In 2018, they met in the Oval Office — a surreal tete-a-tete that included a hug from the rapper as well as an on-camera rant featuring an expletive not often repeated for the White House press corps.

That year, West also delivered a lengthy soliloquy to

a president who many deem racist, telling him he loved him — to the dismay of many Dem-ocrats and fellow artists.

But in 2019, during an interview with Zane Lowe of Apple Music’s Beats 1 show, he said his support for Trump had been a way to razz Democrats — and announced his own pres-idential ambitions.

“There will be a time when I will be the president of the US, and I will remember... any founder that didn’t have the capacity to understand cul-turally what we were doing.”

It was unclear to whom the artist was referring.

The announcement came days after West, who has taken a very public turn towards Christianity in recent years, released a new song, “Wash Us

In the Blood,” along with an accompanying video including imagery from recent anti-racism protests.

West has also opened up about his mental health, partic-ularly his struggle with bipolar disorder, telling talkshow host David Letterman he feels like he has “a sprained brain, like having a sprained ankle.”

Since 2018, Kardashian has formed her own contacts with the White House as she champions criminal justice reform: she has successfully lobbied Trump to pardon a sexagenarian woman for a non-violent drug offense.

For weeks now Trump, crit-icised for his response both to the coronavirus pandemic and to anti-racism protests, has been lagging in the polls behind his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.

US holiday fuels worries on skyrocketing virus casesAP — ST. PETE BEACH

The United States has dipped under 50,000 new daily infec-tions for the first time in four days, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, but experts fear celebrations for the July 4th weekend will act like rocket fuel for the nation’s surging coronavirus outbreak.

Johns Hopkins yesterday counted 45,300 new corona-virus infections reported on Sat-urday in the US after three days in which the daily count reached as high as 54,500 new cases. The lower figure does not mean the situation in the US is improving, it could be due to reduced reporting on a national holiday.

The US has the most infec-tions and virus-related deaths in the world, with 2.8 million cases and nearly 130,000 dead, according to the university. Experts say the true toll of the pandemic is significantly higher, due to people who died before they were tested and missed mild cases.

Worldwide, nearly 11.3 million people have been infected and over 531,000 have died, with outbreaks surging in India, South Africa, Pakistan, Brazil and several other Latin American countries. In a first, South Africa yesterdayreported more than 10,000 new con-firmed cases in a single day.

To show just how steep the

US infection curve is, author-ities were reporting under 20,000 new infections a day as recently as June 15. On Sat-urday, Florida and Texas reported more record daily increases in confirmed cases and virus-related deaths have begun to rise.

Despite warnings by health experts to limit gatherings, President Donald Trump went ahead with a speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Friday and an evening of tribute and fireworks on Saturday on the National Mall in Wash-ington. Trump used the nation’s Independence Day as an occasion to assail those who do not support him and did not mention the horrific death toll from the pandemic.

Pat Lee of Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania, and two friends, none in masks, gathered near the event in Washington.

“POTUS said it would go away,” Lee said of the pan-demic, using an acronym for president of the United States.

“Masks, I think, are like a hoax.”In another worrying sign,

the World Health Organization (WHO) said member states reported more than 212,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world on Saturday, the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic. The Geneva-based organisation said more than 60 percent of the confirmed cases reports it received were in the Americas, which includes the United States and Brazil.

Faced with rising infections, many US communities canceled parades and fireworks and cau-tioned people against hosting large gatherings.

Texas, which reported a record daily increase of 8,258 confirmed coronavirus cases Saturday, is retreating from what had been one of the coun-try’s swiftest reopenings. Much of the state began mandating face coverings Friday, with a $250 fine for scofflaws.

In Florida, which reported 11,445 confirmed infections on Saturday, clubs statewide are shut down and some regional attractions, such as Zoo Miami and Jungle Island, have closed. Officials in South Florida also closed beaches through the weekend.

The holiday weekend coin-cided with a big step back this week for California’s efforts to reopen the state’s economy.

Mexico becomes 5th hardest hit country in pandemicAFP — MEXICO CITY

Mexico’s death toll from the new coronavirus rose to 30,366 on Saturday, propelling it past France to become the country with the fifth-highest number of fatalities in the global pandemic, according to the health ministry.

“As of today, 30,366 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 in the laboratory have died,” Jose Luis Alomia, national director of the Department of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health, told a press conference.

The US remains the hardest-hit country in the world, followed by Brazil, Britain and Italy, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Alomia also reported 252,165 confirmed cases of the virus, with the number of infec-tions rising by 6,914 since Friday — a record daily figure since COVID-19 reached Mexico.

The Latin American country, with 127 million inhab-itants, had surpassed Spain in the number of deaths last Wednesday.

In the Americas, the

epicenter of the pandemic, it is the third-most affected country after the US and Brazil.

At the end of May, Hugo Lopez Gatell, the deputy health minister in charge of the fight against the pandemic, said in an interview that if con-tainment measures were not taken, the number of deaths could rise to about 30,000.

Mexico City, the capital, is the urban centre most affected by the disease — but that has not prevented municipal authorities from starting a partial economic reopening at the beginning of July.

The lower figure (COVID-19 cases) does not mean the situation in the US is improving, it could be due to reduced reporting on a national holiday.

Statue of Christopher Columbus toppled by race protesters in BaltimoreAFP — WASHINGTON

Protesters in the US city of Baltimore pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus, local media reported yesterday, the latest monument to be toppled in anti-racism demonstrations.

Statues of figures connected to colonialism and slavery have been ripped from their plinths in the United States and around the world since Black Lives Matter protests were sparked

by the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Min-neapolis in May.

Footage published by the Baltimore Sun showed pro-testers using ropes to pull down the statue of Columbus — the Italian navigator who reached the Americas in 1492 — ear the city’s Little Italy district and rolling it into the Inner Harbor on the night of July 4.

Long hailed as the so-called discoverer of “The New World,”

Columbus is considered by many to have spurred years of genocide against indigenous groups in the Americas. He is regularly denounced in a similar way to Civil War generals of the pro-slavery South.

President Donald Trump earlier mentioned the sailor in his speech to mark the July 4 holiday, when Americans typi-cally celebrate their 1776 decla-ration of independence from Britain.

“Together we will fight for the American dream, and we will defend, protect, and preserve American way of life which began in 1492 when Columbus discovered America,” he said in an address in which he railed against protesters demanding racial justice. “We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and the people who, in many instances, have abso-lutely no clue what they are

doing,” he said. “We will never allow an

angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children.”

The president last month signed an executive order pledging to enforce prosecution for protesters who vandalise public memorials, promising “long prison terms” for “lawless acts against our Great Country!”

A statue of Columbus was taken down in San Francisco

last month because the explorer’s actions “do not deserve to be venerated,” city officials said, and another was removed from California’s state capital Sacramento.

Elsewhere, a statue of Bel-gium’s King Leopold II — who ruled over a brutal regime in Africa — was removed in the port city of Antwerp and a mon-ument to slave trader Edward Colston was ripped down in Bristol in the United Kingdom.

A worker sanitizes a ball boy before the start of a Mexican tournament football match between Guadalajara and Atlas in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, on Saturday.

Two dead, 8 hurt in South Carolina club shootingAP — GREENVILLE

A shooting at a club early yesterday left two people dead and eight wounded in South Carolina, a sheriff’s official said.

Two Greenville County sheriff’s deputies noticed a dis-turbance at Lavish Lounge just before 2am, and saw a large crowd running out of the building, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at a press conference. There was “active gunfire from inside the building,” Lt. Jimmy Bolt said in an initial statement, and Lewis said all the shots were fired inside.

“I was in bed and all of a sudden you hear this ‘Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!,’” local resident Mike Riley told the Greenville News, adding that he heard four or five shots. He said he’s been worried about the club before yesterday morning’s shooting — both about violence and whether the club is violating rules designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He wants it shut down. “It’s a danger to everyone.”

Lewis and Bolt initially said 12 people had been wounded — with at least four in critical condition, Lewis said - but according to Bolt two victims were likely counted twice in the confusion at the hospital.

No one was immediately taken into custody. The sher-iff’s office was looking for two suspects, but couldn’t provide names or descriptions.

“We don’t really have a person of interest that we can name,” Lewis said.

A “very large crowd” was at the club for “some type of concert.” A post on Lavish Lounge’s Facebook page advertised a July 4 per-formance by rapper Foogiano.

Venezuela’s I-day celebration in Brasilia

Voters in Dominican Republic brave virus to elect new leaderAFP — SANTO DOMINGO

Voters in the Dominican Republic braved a roaring coronavirus epidemic yesterday to cast their ballots for a new president and legis-lature of the Caribbean country.

Luis Abinader, the front-runner in the presidential race, is seeking to end 16 years of unbroken rule by the centre-left Dominican Liberation Party, whose candidate Gonzalo Castillo was running second in a six-man field, according to pre-vote polls.

Looming over the elections was a rapidly spreading epi-demic, with polls opening the day after the number of new cases soared by more than 1,000, a one-day record in a country that has had 36,184 confirmed cases and 786 deaths from the disease.

Outgoing President Danilo Medina, who cannot seek another term under the

country’s constitution, was forced to impose a national lockdown, easing it only last week as parties made a final drive.

Abinader, a 52-year-old businessman, had to suspend his campaign after testing pos-itive for the coronavirus, but recovered sufficiently to lead a closing election rally on Wednesday.

The elections were sup-posed to have been held May 17, but were pushed back until Sunday, when election author-ities said they would proceed “come what may.”

“Respecting social dis-tancing, exercise your right to vote today,” the head of the central election board, Julio Cesar Castanos, said in announcing that polls were open.

An observer team from the Organization of American States (OAS) is monitoring the vote.

Supporters of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro attending a ceremony to celebrate the 209th anniversary of Venezuela’s Independence Day in front of its Embassy in Brasilia, yesterday.