Thursday 6 August 2020

16 Dhul-Hijja - 1441

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8341

Choose the network of heroes Enjoy the Internet

BUSINESS | 13 PENMAG | 15 SPORT | 18

Softer tyres

throw up a fresh

challenge for

Hamilton

Classifieds

and Services

section

included

Islamic banks

urged to expand

operations to

Philippine market

Qatar sends field hospitals, medical aid to LebanonQNA — DOHA

In implementation of the directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to dispatch an urgent medical aid to the Republic of Lebanon, the first aircraft of the Amiri Air Force within an air bridge departed yesterday morning for Rafic Hariri International Airport.

The aircraft carried medical aid and supplies necessary to treat those injured by the explosion that occurred at the Beirut port on Tuesday.

The aid is in support of the brothers in Lebanon. Late yesterday, three more aircraft also departed to transport aid, which includes two fully equipped field hospitals with 500 beds each and equipped with respirators and the

necessary medical equipment and supplies.

In implementation of the directives of H H the Amir, to dispatch urgent

medical aid to treat those injured at the Beirut port yesterday, a fully equipped team from the Qatari Search and Rescue Team of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) also headed to Beirut to par-ticipate in the search and rescue operations.

Later, the aircraft belonging to the Qatari Amiri Air Force arrived at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut yesterday, within an air bridge, carrying urgent medical aid and supplies, and two fully equipped 500-bed field hos-pitals to treat those injured by the Beirut Port explosion.

The aircraft was received by Ambas-sador of the State of Qatar to the Leb-anese Republic H E Mohammed Hassan Jaber Al Jaber, Charge d’Affairs at the Embassy of the Republic of Lebanon in the State of Qatar Ambassador H E Farah Berri, Head of the Airport Security Authority, Brigadier General George Doumit, Commander of the Beirut Air Base Colonel Hassan Barakat, and the

staff working at Qatar Embassy in Beirut, as well as a number of ranking Lebanese officers. A search and rescue team with a high efficiency and extensive experience in the field of

searching and rescuing missing persons arrived on one of the aircraft, after coor-dination between the competent authorities in the State of Qatar and the Lebanese Republic. �P4

200 additional

mosques to open

for Friday prayers

on August 7

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs represented by the Mosques Management Department has announced to reopen additional 200 mosques for Friday prayer from August 7, 2020 totalling 400 mosques which were decided to reopen under gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions from mosques.

“The additional mosques will be reopened following the same preventive and precau-tionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 which are in place in all mosques which were reopened earlier in the country,’’ said Director of Mosques Management Department, Mohamad bin Hamad Al Kuwari in a statement.

Al Kuwari thanked all Imams and worshipers for cooperating with the department in following the preventive measures which ensure a smooth and safe prayer.

He said that the continuous adherence to the preventive measures will enable the department to reopen the remaining mosques across the country.

"The mosques in Qatar are being reopened in phases, in phase one on June 15, 2020, 500 mosques were reopened for five times prayers followed by the second phase on July 1, 2020 when additional 300 mosques were reopened,’’ said Al Kuwari.

He said that in third phase, on July 28, 2020 additional 300 mosques were reopened for five-time prayers and Eid Al Adha prayer was held in 400 mosques and prayer grounds on July 31, 2020 and Friday prayer was also held on July 31, 2020 in 200 mosques. �P4

QA adds new features to its mobile application THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Airways has announced significant updates to its mobile application that allow passengers to plan their travel with greater ease, helping minimise physical contact and interactions throughout their journey.

Members of Qatar Airways Privilege Club will earn 1,000 Qmiles when they download the mobile app.

With an updated, intuitively designed look and feel, the Qatar Airways mobile app now presents a personalised home screen that provides the most relevant information to each user. For those with an upcoming flight, the mobile app’s existing ‘My Trips’ feature will now be displayed on the home screen, highlighting the most important information at each stage of their journey. For those without a current booking, special offers will be displayed, tailored to their location.

Additionally, the mobile app is now available in the Arabic

language, demonstrating the airline’s commitment to Arabic-speaking customers around the world.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “Our refreshed mobile app is the perfect travel companion for our passengers, allowing them to take control of their travel plans, keep them informed at all times and, importantly in the current climate, limit physical contact throughout their journey.

“At Qatar Airways, we con-tinue to invest in award-winning, five-star products and services across all stages of our customers’ journey, and digital technology plays an important role in this. Our customers expect their digital interactions with the Qatar Airways brand to be as smooth and seamless as their journey onboard, and we are working to ensure that our digital products continue to be world-class.”

With the airline’s mobile app’s ‘MyTrips’ feature, now prominently presented on the home screen, passengers can

select their preferred seat and meals in advance, check-in online, download their boarding pass to a mobile wallet, and generate a baggage tag to print and attach to their luggage at home.

Passengers can also enable

notifications through the mobile app to receive important alerts about their upcoming flight’s departure times, check-in, boarding and baggage collection.

Throughout the passenger’s journey, the mobile app can be

used to track baggage and book Meet and Assist services at Hamad International Airport in Doha.

Other features of Qatar Airways’ mobile app will con-tinue to be offered to its cus-tomers. Before travel, cus-tomers can use the mobile app to check the latest information on country and travel require-ments, including visa and passport information.

Providing seamless booking options, the mobile app also includes a camera tool, allowing passengers to capture a photo of their passport or payment card without having to man-ually enter this information upon check out.

Meanwhile, members of Qatar Airways’ loyalty pro-gramme, Privilege Club, can use the app to seamlessly log in with fingerprint or facial recognition, book a trip using Cash + Qmiles, redeem Priv-ilege Club awards, manage their accounts, and much more. Customers can download the mobile app at qatarairways.com/App.

Deadline for scholarshipset for September 7SANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has announced that students can still apply for undergraduate or g r a d u a t e s c h o l a r s h i p programmes. The first round of online registration is open until September 7, 2020 for students seeking to enrol in the fall semester, the Ministry tweeted yesterday.

Undergraduate or graduate students of Qataris, non-Qataris (whose mothers are Qataris, Qatar-born or holders of Qatari travel documents) can apply for the scholarships

through scholarship student portal at the link https://schol-arship.edu.gov.qa/#.

The first round of regis-tration for scholarship began on July 7, 2020 and it will con-tinue until September 7, 2020 for fall semester 2020-21.

The second round of reg-istration for scholarship will begin on November 1 and it will end on December 31, 2020 for spring semester 2020-21.

The types of scholarship includes Amiri scholarship pro-gramme, government schol-arship programme and other major scholarship programme. �P4

Qatar Amiri Air Force aircraft carry two 500-bed field hospitals.

Other urgent supplies to treat victims of explosion dispatched to Lebanon.

A fully equipped team from Qatari Search and Rescue Team of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) reach Beirut to take part in operation.

Diplomats of Qatar and Lebanon receive medical aid in Beirut.

QNA — DOHA

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held yesterday via telephone a conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of the Republic of Lebanon H E Charbel Wehbe.

H E Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed the condolences of the government and people of the State of Qatar on the

victims of the explosion in Beirut Port, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured.

H E the Foreign Minister expressed the solidarity of the State of Qatar with Lebanon and its full readiness to provide all kinds of assistance nec-essary to mitigate the effects of this explosion. H E the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants thanked the State of Qatar for its sol-idarity and continuous support for Lebanon.

Foreign Minister condoles with Lebanese FM

A view of Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel illuminated with Lebanese flag in solidarity with Lebanon after the Beirut explosion, yesterday. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/ THE PENINSULA

Expressing solidarity with Lebanon

Privilege Club members will earn 1,000 Qmiles when they download the mobile app.

The refreshed app presents a personalised home screen that provides the most relevant information.

For those with an upcoming flight, the mapp’s existing ‘My Trips’ feature will now be displayed on the home screen.

For those without a current booking, special offers will be displayed, tailored to their location.

fresh

or

The fully equipped team from the Qatari Search and Rescue Team of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) heading to Beirut yesterday.

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Qatar sends medical aid to Lebanon

Ooredoo announces pre-orders for Samsung Galaxy Note20THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ooredoo announced yesterday that devices part of the all-new Samsung Galaxy Note20 and Galaxy Note20 Ultra are available for pre-orders for customers in Qatar.

At the same time, Ooredoo is also providing exclusive offers on the Samsung Note20 and Note20 Ultra with com-plimentary pairs of Galaxy Buds+ and Buds Live,

respectively, plus double Nojoom points.

Ooredoo customers can be among the first to get their hands on the coveted smart-phones by pre-ordering their device at ooredoo.qa/Samsung until August 20, 2020.

The Galaxy Note20 and Galaxy Note20 Ultra’s next-generation design and sophis-ticated appearance are per-fectly complimented by the mystic colour options.

Together, these factors combine to provide consumers with a device perfect for their dynamic lifestyles. What’s more, the screen, which is also the largest to date for a Galaxy Note model, is the driving force behind outstanding immersive experiences and unrivalled performance.

The world-class S Pen offers ease, simplicity, and conviction on every occasion to elevate standards of

working, while watching videos and playing games has never been easier thanks to the design the fits perfectly into one’s hand.

Sabah Rabiah Al Kuwari, PR Director at Ooredoo Qatar, said: “At Ooredoo we know our customers are hungry for the most up-to-date tech-nology, and they crave the very latest devices on the market, so it’s excellent to be able to supply them with the

new Note 20 Series on arrival. Unique special offers cele-brating this launch will make our products and services an even better proposition, enhancing our goal of com-plete customer satisfaction.”

Osman Albora, Head of Mobile Division, Samsung Gulf Electronics, said: “The highly anticipated release of the Samsung Galaxy Note20 and Galaxy Note20 Ultra in the region is nearing closer and

we are delighted that Ooredoo will again feature prominently in the build-up of our latest flagship devices.”

Ooredoo Qatar customers pre-ordering the Samsung Galaxy Note20 will get the Buds+, and those pre-ordering the Galaxy Note20 Ultra will receive the Buds Live. Plus, customers will get DOUBLE Nojoom points for every QR1 spent on a device from the Samsung Note 20 series.

SundanceTV Shorts competition launchedTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

SundanceTV has announced its first ever SundanceTV Shorts competition in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with beIN as official partner and Doha Film Institute (DFI) as cultural partner connecting established and aspiring film-makers to the competition.

The competition follows last year’s successful South Africa edition. This year’s winning entrant and three runners-up will have their films broadcast on SundanceTV on beIN channel 75 in MENA later in the year.

“The SundanceTV Shorts competition embodies the true spirit of the channel itself,” said Harold Gronenthal, Executive Vice-President, Programming and Marketing for AMC Net-works International. “Pro-viding a platform for inde-pendent storytelling, it shines a spotlight on new and emerging talent. We’re very excited to collaborate with Sun-danceTV’s exclusive MENA affiliate beIN and the Doha Film

Institute, a powerhouse of the regional film industry.”

Criteria for judging the Jury Prize for the 2020 SundanceTV Shorts Competition include cre-ativity, entertainment value, original storytelling and pro-duction values. The winners will be announced in November.

Submissions to the 2020 SundanceTV Shorts compe-tition can be made from August 4 to October 18 at https://www.bein.net/en/sundancetvshorts/. Entries can be submitted by the producer or director, who must provide proof of residence in the MENA. Films should be no longer than 15 minutes and must be delivered with English subtitles if English is not the spoken language. SundanceTV Shorts competition is open for all who have a story to share.

Entries must meet Sundan-ceTV’s official rules and tech-nical requirements, available on the website.

Commenting on the part-nership, a beIN MEDIA GROUP spokesperson said, “We are t h r i l l e d t o s u p p o r t

the first SundanceTV Shorts competition in the region and provide a platform for Arab filmmaking talent. The part-nership reflects our belief in the craftsmanship of Arab film-makers and our commitment to offering world-class content. We are honoured to be part of an initiative that promises to provide a global platform for culturally relevant content by local Arab filmmakers.”

Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Chief Executive Officer of DFI, said: “Over the past decade, the Doha Film Institute has worked tirelessly to support Arab film talent and empower the next generation of storytellers to find their voice and reach global audiences. We are proud to be a part of this exciting initiative, one that shares this same spirit and highlights the growing prominence of Arab storytelling on the global stage. It is an exciting time for Arab cinema, and we look forward to working with Sundance TV and beIN to deliver original stories from our region that resonate with the wider world.”

285 recoverfrom COVID-19;267 new casesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health yesterday announced the regis-tration of 267 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Another 285 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 108,254.

All new cases have been introduced to isolation and are receiving necessary healthcare according to their health status. The Ministry has also reported one death due to virus.

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 admis-sions has gradually declined over the past weeks.

However the Ministry has emphasised the importance of taking precautions against COVID-19. “Even though restrictions are being lifted, and numbers are declining, this does not mean that the COVID-19 pandemic is finished in Qatar – every day between 50 and 100 people are admitted to hospital with moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms.”

QRCS activates Disaster Management Center to respond to Beirut explosionQNA — DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has activated its Disaster Management Center to outline an immediate humanitarian intervention plan in response to the huge explosion on Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon.

In a statement, QRCS said that H E Secretary-General of QRCS Ambassador Ali bin Hassan Al Hammadi, QRCS’ Chief Executive Director and Acting Director of the Relief and International Development Division Eng.

Ibrahim Abdullah Al Maliki and the relevant heads of

departments held an emer-gency meeting to review the destruction in Beirut and decide on the required aid to be delivered in cooperation with the Lebanese Red Cross and the office of the International Fed-eration of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Beirut.

Awqaf to reopen 200 additional mosquesFROM PAGE 1

“On August 7, 2020, an additional 200 mosques for Friday prayer will be reo-pened totalling 400 mosques for Friday prayers which were reopened under the gradual lifting of the restrictions from the mosques,’’ Al Kuwari added.

He said that the Ministry launched online service ena-bling worshipers to find the nearest mosque for Friday prayer and five-time prayers as per the area and geo-graphical location and lists of the mosques are also available on the social media handler of the Ministry.

The Ministry is running a drive to educate worshipers about the preventive and pre-cautionary measures which are in place in the mosques to

protect all from coronavirus, said Al Kuwari adding that

awareness materials were also circulated to all mosques.

Deadline for scholarship set for September 7

FROM PAGE 1

Regarding the eligibility, the undergraduate candidates should obtain minimum of 75 percent (Qataris) or 80 percent (non-Qataris) in high school.

In addition to the candidates should be unemployed, produce unconditional acceptance letter from accredited university and pass interview. The graduate candidates should be Qatari national, nominated by employer, holding acceptance letter from the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs and unconditional acceptance letter from accredited university.

The candidate can register through a new account at the scholarship portal. Regarding terms and conditions to apply, the graduate scholarships are open only to Qataris and in local universities. Incomplete appli-cations would not be accepted after registration is closed. Reg-istering and reviewing the request does not mean accepting it.

The candidates have been asked to submit request with all required documents and wait for a period of two week for response.

As much as 30 universities are listed in Amiri scholarship

program including Browns Uni-versity of USA, California Institute of Technology of USA, Columbia University of USA, Cornell University of USA & Qatar, Dartmouth University of USA, Duke University of USA, Georgetown University of Main Campus in USA only, Harvard University of USA, Imperial College of London of UK, Johns Hopkins University of USA.

Other universities under Amiri scholarship programme are Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of USA, McGill University of Canada, New York University of USA, Northwestern University of main campus in USA only, Princeton University of USA, Rice University of USA, Stanford University of USA, Uni-versity of College London of UK and University of British Columbia of Canada.

University of California, Berkeley of USA, University of California, Los Angeles of USA, University of Cambridge of UK, University of Chicago of USA, University of Melbourne of Australia, University of Mich-igan-Ann Arbor of USA, Uni-versity of Oxford UK, University of Pennsylvania of USA, Uni-versity of Tokyo of Japan and Yale University of USA are also listed under Amiri scholarship programme.

Worshipers performing prayer at a mosque following the preventive and precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Officials with one of Qatar Amiri Air Force aircraft carrying urgent medical aid to Lebanon, yesterday.

05THURSDAY 6 AUGUST 2020 HOME / MIDDLE EAST

13 Doha-based artists featured in virtual exhibitionRAYNALD C RIVERA

THE PENINSULA

An eclectic medley of artworks created by 13 Doha-based contemporary artists are on show at a virtual exhibition launched yesterday by Al Markhiya Gallery for the eighth edition of its highly successful “50x50” exhibition.

Viewable via Al Markhiya Gallery’s IG TV channel until September 12, the show takes visitors on a virtual tour of the works of Aisha Al Fadhala, Alaa Bata, Ameera Alaji, Hayfaa Al Khuzai, Khalid Al Fahad, Maryam Al Homaid, May Al Mannai, Noor Abuissa, Noor Al Thani, Rasha Alem, Shaha Al Khulaifi, Talal Al Qasemi, Thamer Al Dossari.

For this group exhibition, each of the artists created three artworks, all of which are 50cm by 50cm in size, providing art collectors affordable and compact art pieces.

Despite the fact they are identical in size, the pieces exhibit diversity in the media

used, — from acrylic, ink, and print to digital art, pottery and mixed media — as well as in the artists’ styles and subjects.

This is the second “50x50” exhibition which is presented in virtual format following the success of its seventh edition in June and July which put the spotlight on works by 14 artists, including Ahmed Al Haddad,

Ahmed Sultan, Aisha Al Sowaidi, Ali Al Naama, Hadeer Omar, Khalifa Al Marri, Lina Al Aali, Manar Al Muftah, Maryam Al Mousa, Moza Al Kuwari, Mubarak Al Malik, Noor Qussini, Wurood Azzam and Zeina Abbara.

Currently running on Al Markhiya Gallery’s Artsy page is “Radiant Darkness” exhibition

featuring paintings by Doha-based Iraqi artist Salem Mathkour.

Other online exhibitions presented by Al Markhiya recently included “Reformat”, featuring works by Algerian artist Hamza Bounoua, “Social Distancing” which displayed works by Qatari artist Mubarak Al Thani, “Heroes of the

Experiment” by Palestinian artist Hayyan Monawar and “Quarantine Diaries” by Qatari artist Sara Al Buainain.

Art lovers who wish to per-sonally visit Al Markhiya Gallery at the Fire Station still have until August 20 to view the works on display at the gallery’s inau-gural “2030” exhibition fea-turing Qatari artists Abeer Al

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

Doha’s oldest privately owned art gallery, Al Markhiya Gallery promotes, exhibits and sells Qatari and Arab contem-porary art.

FROM LEFT: “Al Dafna”, digital art on canvas by Khalid Al Fahad; “Infinite Space 3” pottery by Talal Al Qasemi; Mixed media artworks by Hayfaa Al Khuzai on display at Al Markhiya Gallery’s “50x50 Part 8” virtual exhibition.

Entering Phase 3 of re-opening: Experiences learned at HBKU’s research institutesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

With Qatar now in Phase 3 of its re-opening, we spoke to all three research institutes at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).

Senior representatives of Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), Qatar Bio-medical Research Institute (QBRI) and Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) shared their thoughts on lessons learned from the pan-demic, reasons to be hopeful and cautious, and their predictions for what the future may hold in their respective fields.

Since the pandemic’s onset, QCRI has worked tirelessly to support Qatar’s response. It developed artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies for several problems such as mod-elling and visualising the out-break’s progress, analysing public reaction on social media, organising scientific literature for medical research, contact tracing, and monitoring social distancing. These technologies were utilised by Qatar’s health authorities, and some even adopted by other nations.

“Likewise, we are proud of the resilience shown by our staff and their adaptability working from home. We modified work processes and put in place the necessary supporting technol-ogies, quickly returning to full efficiency. We also paid close attention to the well-being of our staff, for instance by developing a “buddy system,” ensuring that every employee has at least one

colleague for regular exchanges,” said Dr. Ashraf Aboulnaga, Senior Research Director at QCRI.

“Looking beyond QCRI, it’s encouraging to see countries worldwide embracing science as the primary means to respond to the outbreak. The effectiveness of Qatar’s response to the pandemic and how it is now controlled, pro-vides reason to be positive. However, we have to remain vigilant since the disease is still with us, and infection rates can again rise if we are not careful,” he said.

From a technology per-spective, the response relied heavily on technologies that support global logistics, video conferencing, social distancing, and medical research. As tech-nologists, we were delighted to see these proving to be up to the challenge and crucial in ensuring an appropriate response, which will play an even more prom-inent role in the future.

While, through COVID-19, QBRI has learned to be adaptable and prepared for any eventuality. Although working

remotely has meant less time to conduct research in laboratories, it has afforded our scientists the opportunity to devote more time to analyse data and develop sci-entific research papers. Fur-thermore, the global crisis has enabled QBRI to collaborate with local entities to mobilise resources in support of national efforts in the fight against the pandemic. While QBRI’s research is focused on non-com-municable diseases, the global spread of COVID-19 has encouraged our institute to utilise existing expertise to support national needs and rethink our future research pri-ority areas.

During this time, QBRI has played a key role in raising awareness and keeping the wider community informed about COVID-19 through the dis-tribution of well-researched, reliable and trusted information as well as the hosting of webinars relating to the virus. Most importantly, tackling the pandemic has underscored the importance of working together and combining expertise to yield tangible results in diagnostics

and testing. Adopting an inter-disciplinary approach and focusing on capacity building are integral to the success of col-lective efforts in tackling the virus.

“COVID-19 has also high-lighted the crucial role of the bio-medical field and science and research in times such as these. Overall, there are many inval-uable lessons learned that will inform how QBRI enhances its existing efforts to manage any future outbreaks, and we will continue to develop new diag-nostics tools, such as the COVID-19 test kits developed in collaboration with Hamad Medical Corporation, and to revise plans to assess core research areas from various per-spectives,” said Dr. Omar El-Agnaf, Executive Director at QBRI.

Over the last few months, QEERI has seen the real meaning of resilience and innovation. With the onset of remote working in March 2020, QEERI quickly shifted gears and

focused on how can adapt the research work to support Qatar tackle the pandemic.

“Although stepping away from their labs was difficult for our scientists, it was not a time to slow down and we are truly proud of how our team has stepped up to the challenge,” said Dr. Marc Vermeersch, Exec-utive Director at QEERI.

“Moving forward, as Qatar and the world starts approaching the ‘new normal’, we need to think about what our approach to research is going to be. We may see a massive shift, not just at a national level, but globally. Beyond the stressful aspects of this pandemic, COVID-19 has provided opportunities for change across our entire spectrum of research areas, by not only triggering adaptation strategies but also reinforcing our strength as a research institute oriented towards prac-tical and operational aspects of its activity,” he said.

QEERI’s mandate is indeed to support Qatar in tackling its

grand challenges related to energy, water and the envi-ronment. In line with Qatar National Vision 2030, and the country being a signatory of the Paris Agreement, our primary goal is research, development and innovation, including tech-nology development, related to climate change — through exploring sustainable energy, water desalination and treat-ments, air quality, and corrosion, among others.

“We aim to keep providing science-based insights to leaders and policymakers and raising community awareness on these vital topics. We will continue to build partnerships within Qatar, and interna-tionally, to work in a spirit of solidarity, collaboration, and coordination, to achieve our common goals. In any case, as much as we have managed to do over the last few months, we are definitely also looking forward to heading back to the office, and back to our labs,” said Dr Vermeersch.

The HBKU Research Complex

Since the pandemic’s onset, QCRI has worked tirelessly to support Qatar’s response. It developed artificial intelligence-based technologies for several problems such as modelling and visualising the outbreak’s progress, analysing public reaction on social media, organising scientific literature for medical research, contact tracing, and monitoring social distancing.

Not cashing in: Virus hits Iran-US money trade in IraqAFP — SULAIMANIYAH

In Iraq’s Kurdistan region and at the country’s Shia holy sites, trading US dollars for rials from Iran was once big business.

But the money exchange trade has been hard hit by lockdown restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19, and by deep economic woes in both countries.

Traders in Sulaimaniyah, the second city of Iraqi Kurdistan and close to the border with Iran, have seen dramatic changes.

In March, before restrictions to stem the pandemic which has killed more than 5,000 Iraqis and infected more than 130,000 others, one dollar traded for 150,000 Iranian rials.

Today, one dollar fetches 250,000 rials, money changer Amanaj Saleh said.

Tehran and Washington may be at loggerheads — coming close to open war in Iraq at the beginning of the year — but Iraqis have no problem keeping a mix of the rival ban-knotes in their wallets.

Betting on a rebound in the Iranian currency — and hoping the coronavirus crisis would pass quickly — many Iraqis rushed to snap up rials on the

cheap. The dollar-rial trade

seemed like a welcome alter-native income during the financial turmoil, which has d e s t r o y e d c o u n t l e s s livelihoods.

A survey by the Interna-tional Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organisation has found 87 percent of people questioned said they could no longer work because of the disease.

Iraq is going through its worst economic crisis in its recent history, hit by a slump in oil prices that account for almost all public revenues.

Government austerity cuts are expected to be severe.

“Since the appearance of coronavirus and the economic crisis it has caused, people who can no longer work are investing in Iranian currency to make their capital work,” said Saleh.

But the trader, a man with a small grey moustache sitting under a huge framed repro-duction $100 bill, warned that not all had found profit in the gamble.

“Those who had bought Iranian rials at the exchange rate of 200,000 rials for one dollar, now resell them at the lower rate: 250,000 rials for a dollar,” he said.

Many Iraqis use American dollars and their own dinars interchangeably, with the rates stable between the two currencies.

It is the big swings between dollars and Iran’s rial that attract those hopeful of winning on the difference.

American sanctions have long stifled the Iranian economy, and the closure of official border crossings between Iran and Iraq has added to the woes.

Hazar Rahim, a labourer in Sulaimaniyah, found this out the hard way.

“A few days ago, I bought five billion Iranian rials,” he said.

“I was betting on the market but I was taken by surprise. In a few hours, the rial dropped, and I’d lost 13,000 dollars.”

Two of the most holy sites for Shiites, Karbala and Najaf, are both in southern Iraq. Mil-lions of Shiite pilgrims, the majority from Iran, visit every year.

They bring Iranian rials to spend and trade. In past years, the visitors brought in up to five billion dollars — crucial in a country where almost all tourism is to religious sites.

It also provided hundreds of thousands of jobs and accounted for around 2.5

percent of GDP, according to official figures.

But with travel restric-tions in place because of the virus, the shops and restau-rants once busy with visitors are closed.

Iranian arrivals had already slowed amid deep economic woes at home since the United States in 2018 withdrew from the Iranian nuclear agreement and reinstated punishing sanctions.

Coronavirus in Iran — the worst in the region with more than 17,000 deaths and 310,000 infections — has only worsened the situation of the country.

The crisis has reduced Iran’s exports, causing devalu-ation and inflation.

According to the Interna-tional Monetary Fund, Iran’s GDP is expected to shrink six percent in 2020, after con-tracting 7.6 percent last year.

In Iraq, meanwhile, tougher times loom as well. The economy is expected to con-tract almost 10 percent this year. But with few apparent alternatives, dozens of Iraqis keep coming to the money traders in the hope that times will change, the rial will rise, and they can cash in.

Turkey announces new measuresto curb spread of COVID-19AP — ISTANBUL

Turkey’s interior ministry announced new measures yesterday to curb the spread of COVID-19 as daily confirmed cases peaked back above 1,000.

In a circular, the interior ministry said its units would conduct “one-on-one moni-toring” for people who have been required to self-quarantine, especially in the first seven days of isolation. The ministry warned it would not accept any violations of the obligation to wear masks and maintain social distancing iat gatherings such as weddings or circumcision ceremonies, on pain of fines and temporary clo-sures. It said gatherings after funerals would be restricted.

To encourage precautions,

businesses and transport services that meet safety requirements would be awarded a “safe space” logo after three inspections, the ministry said. The ministry also said contact tracers would be assisted by law enforcement in urban and some rural areas, or by teachers and imams else-where. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu tweeted that a wide-ranging inspection would take place across Turkey today.

Latest statistics show nearly 235,000 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 5,765 fatalities in Turkey. Daily cases had dropped below 1,000 before Turkey began reopening businesses in early June to prop up the economy, especially tourism, but went up to an average of 1,360 after mid-June.

A Turkish Health Ministry official doing a study on the coronavirus, in Ankara, yesterday.

06 THURSDAY 6 AUGUST 2020MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Beirut explosion death toll climbs to 135

REUTERS — BEIRUT

Lebanese rescue workers searched for survivors in the mangled wreckage of buildings and investigators blamed negli-gence for a massive warehouse explosion that sent a devas-tating blast wave across Beirut, killing at least 135 people.

Around 5,000 people were injured in Tuesday’s explosion at Beirut port and up to 250,000 were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland.

The death toll was expected to rise from a blast that officials blamed on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material stored for years in unsafe conditions at the port.

The explosion was the most powerful ever to rip through Beirut, a city still scarred by civil war that ended three decades ago and reeling from an eco-nomic meltdown and a surge in coronavirus infections. The blast rattled buildings on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, about 160km away.

President Michel Aoun said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures, after it was seized.

He said in a national address the government was “deter-mined to investigate and expose what happened as soon as pos-sible, to hold the responsible and the negligent accountable.” An official source familiar with

preliminary investigations blamed the incident on “inaction and negligence”, saying “nothing was done” by committees and judges involved in the matter to order the removal of hazardous material.

The cabinet ordered port officials involved in storing or guarding the material since 2014 to be put under house arrest, ministerial sources said. The cabinet also announced a two-week state of emergency in Beirut.

Ordinary Lebanese, who have lost jobs and watched savings evaporate in Lebanon’s financial crisis, blamed politi-cians who have overseen decades of state corruption and bad governance.

“This explosion seals the collapse of Lebanon. I really blame the ruling class,” said Hassan Zaiter, 32, a manager at the heavily damaged Le Gray Hotel in downtown Beirut.

The health minister told Al Manar television that the death toll had risen to 135, with some 5,000 wounded and tens still missing, as the hunt for victims continued after shockwaves from the blast hurled some of the victims into the sea.

Relatives gathered at the cordon to Beirut port seeking information on those still unac-counted for. Many of those killed were port and custom employees, people working in the area or those driving nearby during the Tuesday evening rush hour.

The Red Cross was coordi-nating with the Health Ministry to set up morgues as hospitals

were overwhelmed.Beirut’s Clemenceau

Medical Center was “like a slaughterhouse, blood covering the corridors and the lifts”, said Sara, one of its nurses.

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud told broadcaster LBC the blast had caused damage worth up to $5bn, and possibly more, and left up to 250,000 people without homes.

“This is the killer blow for Beirut, we are a disaster zone,” Bilal, a man in his 60s, said in the downtown area.

Offers of international support poured in. Gulf Arab states, who in the past were major financial supporters of Lebanon but recently stepped back because of what they say is Iranian meddling, sent p lanes with medical equipment and other supplies. Iran offered food and a field hospital, ISNA news agency said.

The United States, Britain, France and other Western nations, which have been demanding political and eco-nomic change in Lebanon, also offered help. Germany, the Netherlands and Cyprus offered specialised search and rescue teams.

For many, it was a dreadful reminder of the 1975-1990 civil war that tore Lebanon apart and destroyed swathes of Beirut, much of which had since been rebuilt.

“This is a catastrophe for Beirut and Lebanon,” Beirut Mayor Jamal Itani told Reuters while inspecting damage.

Officials did not say what

caused the initial blaze at the port that set off the blast. A security source and media said

it was started by welding work being carried out on a warehouse.

Beirut driver Abou Khaled said ministers “are the first that should be held accountable for this disaster. They committed a crime against the people of this nation with their negligence.”

The port district was left a tangled wreck, disabling the nation’s main route for imports needed to feed a nation of more than 6 million people. Lebanon has already been struggling to house and feed refugees fleeing conflict in neighbouring Syria and has no trade or other ties with its only other neighbour Israel.

“On a scale, this explosion is scaled down from a nuclear bomb rather than up from a con-ventional bomb,” said Roland Alford, managing director of British explosive ordnance dis-posal firm Alford Technologies. “This is huge.”

Lebanon President Michel Aoun (centre) inspects the site after a fire at a warehouse with explosives at the port of Beirut led to massive blasts in the city, yesterday.

� Toll expected to rise as workers search rubble for missing ��Port warehouses stored highly explosive material � Government orders port workers detained ��Offers of international support pours in

Volunteers gather aid supplies to be distributed for those affected by Tuesday’s blast in Beirut’s port area, yesterday.

Court delays

verdict in Hariri

murder case

after Beirut blast

AFP — THE HAGUE

A UN-backed tribunal said yesterday it had suspended a verdict on the 2005 murder of former Lebanese premier Rafic Hariri following the deadly blast in Beirut.

The court’s decision was due tomorrow but the ruling has been postponed until August 18, the court said in a statement.

The death toll from Tues-day’s huge blast at Beirut port has risen to at least 113, Leba-non’s Health Minister Hamad Hassan said earl ier yesterday.

It has been blamed on an unsecured store of ammonium nitrate at the port.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) “is deeply sad-dened and shocked by the tragic events that shook Lebanon yesterday,” the court said in a statement.

“The Tribunal expresses its solidarity with the Lebanese people in these difficult times.” The STL issued “a scheduling order postponing the pro-nouncement of the Judgment,” and said the verdict would now be delivered on August 18. The court’s flag was flown at half-mast “to honour those who lost their lives, who were wounded and who are still missing as a result of the explosion in Beirut”.

COVID-19 cases slow in South Africa’s hotspot provincesREUTERS — JOHANNESBURG

Three South African provinces considered coronavirus hotspots have seen new infec-tions slow in recent weeks, though it is too early to say whether the country’s peak has passed, the health minister said yesterday.

South Africa has the world’s fifth highest number of infec-tions, with cases passing 500,000 over the weekend, despite a strict lockdown since late March.

Yesterday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was sending a “surge team”

of 43 experts to the country to help the Health Ministry with “surveillance and streamlining of epidemiological systems and WHO global COVID-19 response guidelines”.

Financial hub Gauteng, tourist centre Western Cape and the Eastern Cape have seen steep rises for months, with total cases at roughly 183,000, 97,000 and 80,000 respectively.

“The number of new infec-tions is increasing at a lower rate than what had been hap-pening in the whole of June and up to the middle of July. That clearly indicates to us that there

is a declining trend,” Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told a news conference, referring to Gauteng.

Mkhize noted a presentation showing the average number of new cases in the country’s nine provinces and said that in Gauteng, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, surges in infec-tions might have peaked.

Despite signs of progress, Mkhize warned that two other provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State, had seen high rates, and that a failure to follow con-tainment measures such as wearing masks could see infec-tions rebound.

Palestinians donate blood during an event organised by the municipality, the Red Crescent, and the Ministry of Health in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, yesterday, in support of Lebanon in the aftermath of a massive explosion which rocked Beirut on Tuesday.

Palestinian blood donation drive for Lebanon

Egypt, Sudan suspend talks with Ethiopia over disputed damAP — CAIRO

Egypt and Sudan suspended talks with Ethiopia after it proposed linking a deal on its newly constructed reservoir and giant hydroelectric dam to a broader agreement about the Blue Nile waters that would replace a colonial-era accord with Britain.

The African Union-led talks among the three key Nile basin countries are trying to resolve a years-long dispute over Ethi-opia’s construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile.

Ethiopia says the dam will provide electricity to millions of its nearly 110 million citizens, while Egypt, with its own booming population of about 100 million, sees the project as an existential threat that could deprive it of its share of the Nile waters. The confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile near the Sudanese capital of Khartoum forms the Nile River that flows the length of Egypt.

A colonial-era deal between Ethiopia and Britain effectively prevents upstream countries

from taking any action — such as building dams and filling res-ervoirs - that would reduce the share of Nile’s water which the deal gave downstream coun-tries, Egypt and Sudan. Blue Nile is the source of as much as 85 percent of the Nile River water.

Sudan’s Irrigation Minster Yasir Abbas said that Ethiopia’s proposal on Tuesday threatened the entire negotiations, which had just resumed through online conferencing on Monday.

Sudan and Egypt object to Ethiopia’s filling of the reservoir on the dam without a deal among the three nations. On Monday, the three agreed that technical and legal teams would continue their talks on disputed points, including how much water Ethiopia would release downstream in case of a major drought.

Ethiopia on Tuesday floated a proposal that would leave the operating of the dam to a com-prehensive treaty on the Blue Nile, according to Abbas, the Sudanese minister.

“Sudan will not accept that lives of 20 million of its people who live on the banks of the

Blue Nile depend on a treaty,” he said. He said Sudan would not take part in talks that link a deal on teh dam to a deal on the Blue Nile.

With the rainy season, which started last month, bringing more water to the Blue Nile, Ethiopia wants to fill the reservoir as soon as possible.

Ethiopia’s irrigation min-istry said yesterday the proposal was “in line” with the outcome of an African Union summit in July and Monday’s meeting of the irrigation ministers. It said the talks are expected to reconvene on August 10, as pro-posed by Egypt.

Ethiopian Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele tweeted on Tuesday that his country would like to sign the first filling agreement as soon as possible and “also continue negotiation to finalize a comprehensive agreement in subsequent periods.” The issue of Ethiopia’s dam also threatens to escalate into a full-blown regional con-flict as years of talks with a variety of mediators, including the US, have failed to produce a solution.

Guinea PM pitches for Conde at party election conventionAFP — CONAKRY

Guinean Prime Minister Kassory Fofana yesterday proclaimed his support for President Alpha Conde at a party convention likely to confirm whether he runs for a third term in office, a scenario that has stirred bloody protests in the West African state.

Fofana made the appeal at the start of a two-day convention of the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) to select a can-didate for a presidential vote expected in October.

“This convention is being held at a particular time, when the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic and where violence is widespread,” Fofana told around 350 delegates gathered in the parliament building in Conakry.

“The difficult times are men-acing, but I am sure we will emerge victorious under the leadership of President Alpha Conde.” Conde is near the end of his second five-year term in office -- the maximum under the old constitution, which has just been revised and approved by a referendum.

Critics say the changes are a ploy to enable the 82-year-old to reset his time in power.

Under the new constitution, presidential terms are also limited to two but extended from five years to six, which could

theoretically enable Conde to govern for another 12 years.

Conde was a long-time dis-sident under iron-fisted regimes that ruled Guinea after it gained independence from France in 1958. He came to power by the ballot box in 2010 — a first in a country with a chronic history of military coups.

Voters returned him to office five years later, although his opponents say his presidency has since lurched towards authoritarianism.

Protests over suspicions that he sought to engineer a third term erupted last October, trig-gering clashes costing dozens of lives.

Conde himself has been ambiguous about whether he intends to run again, saying that it is “the party which will decide.”

Delegates to the convention were tested for coronavirus before they attended.

Many said they enthusiasti-cally supported the presidential incumbent.

“This is the convention which will anoint Professor Alpha Conde. We want him to be our candidate,” said Fan-tamady Diakite, a delegate from the central region of Upper Guinea. The electoral com-mission has proposed that the presidential poll be held on October 18, but Conde has yet to issue a decree to confirm a date.

07THURSDAY 6 AUGUST 2020 ASIA

Record virus deaths in Australia trigger tighter curbsREUTERS — MELBOURNE

Australia reported a record 15 deaths from COVID-19 yesterday, all in Victoria state, which was preparing to close much of its economy to control a second wave of infection that threatens to spread across the country.

The second-most populous state in Australia reported a record rise of 725 new COVID-19 cases despite having reimposed a lockdown on Mel-bourne, the state capital with a population of five million people, four weeks ago.

New South Wales and Queensland states introduced new measures to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, which has claimed 247 lives across the country.

In Victoria, the state gov-ernment imposed a night

curfew and tightened restric-tions on people’s movements across greater Melbourne on Sunday, and ordered most busi-nesses to stop trading from Wednesday night in a massive blow to the national economy.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said yesterday further restrictions would include shutting most child-care centres and expanding a ban on elective surgery to the whole state to free up medical resources for coronavirus cases.

“The notion of more than

700 cases is not sustainable. We need to drive the numbers down and this strategy is designed to do just that,” Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.

Australian Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd urged Victorians to comply with the state’s tight restrictions.

“I hope it won’t be the case, but it may be, that the numbers will go even higher over the coming days before they start to come down as a result of the impact of the restrictions,” Kidd

told reporters in Canberra. The tighter lockdown will

delay an independent inquiry into Victoria’s hotel quarantine programme. Hearings which were due to begin on Thursday will start on August 17, with the final report now due on November 6.

State health officials believe the mingling of security guards with infected travellers in hotel quarantine was the main source of the resurgence of the virus in Melbourne over the past two months.

Victoria accounts for about a quarter of the nation’s economy and has nearly two-thirds of Australia’s almost 19,500 COVID-19 cases.

I n n o r t h e a s t e r n Queensland state, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said travellers from New South Wales and the capital

Canberra would be barred from Saturday. The state is already closed to Victorians.

“We have seen that Victoria is not getting better, and we’re not going to wait for New South Wales to get worse. We need to act,” Palaszczuk told reporters in Brisbane.

After two months of no community transmission in the state, Queensland now has at least three such cases. Queensland reported one new infection yesterday, while New South Wales (NSW), the most-populous state, reported 12.

Travellers returning from Victoria to NSW through Sydney airport will be required to self-quarantine in hotels for 14 days from midnight on Friday, the NSW government said.

NSW Premier Gladys Bere-jiklian said that while case numbers in the state were

“pleasingly stable, we continue to be at high risk”.

The closure of businesses in Victoria and curbs on con-struction activity, meatworks and warehouses are set to cost 250,000 jobs, doubling the number of jobs already lost in the state due to the pandemic.

In another blow to the economy, Australia’s number two airline, Virgin Australia Holdings, said it would axe 3,000 jobs under its prospective new owner Bain Capital.

Australia’s central bank expects the nation’s jobless rate to spike to 10 percent later this year.

S&P Global Ratings said it may lower Victoria’s AAA long-term rating as the current lockdown and border closures would hit the economy “sub-stantially more than we previ-ously expected”.

Rajapaksas set to consolidate powerin virus-delayed Sri Lanka voteAFP — COLOMBO

Sri Lankans voted in large numbers yesterday despite the coronavirus pandemic as the ruling Rajapaksa brothers sought to expand their mandate through the virus-delayed parliamentary polls.

The election — postponed twice due to the epidemic — closed at 5pm local time (1130 GMT) after 10 hours of voting, with strict hygiene measures in place to prevent the spread of the disease.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his older brother Mahinda, the prime minister, are seeking a two-thirds par-liamentary majority to roll back constitutional changes intro-duced by the previous admin-istration that limit the presi-dent's powers.

Analysts expect them to easily secure a majority in the 225-seat parliament. Counting begins early today and the first results are expected by

Thursday evening. The final results are due late tomorrow.

More than 70 percent of the 16.23 million electorate was estimated to have turned out to vote, Election Commission chief Mahinda Deshapriya told reporters.

Turnout in the November presidential election was more than 83 percent.

Deshapriya said there were "no major issues anywhere" to warrant the annulment of results from any booths, adding there were only minor com-plaints of voter intimidation.

People had begun lining up outside polling stations even before they opened across the island.

Deshapriya was among the first to vote, saying he wanted to send a message that it was safe and that authorities had made detailed preparations to guard against the virus.

Face masks were man-datory, voters were required to keep a social distance, and had

to bring their own pen or pencil to mark their ballot papers.

The health measures made the poll Sri Lanka's most expensive at 10 billion rupees ($54 million), the Election Com-mission said.

After winning the presi-dency in November, Gotabaya appointed his brother Mahinda, a former president, as prime minister in a minority government.

Since then Sri Lankans have largely embraced their populist platform, which emerged from a wave of nationalism in the wake of the deadly 2019 Easter bombings by Muslim radicals that killed 279 people.

The brothers are also viewed as heroes by the Sin-halese majority for orches-trating the military's ruthless campaign that ended the decades-long Tamil separatist war in 2009 during Mahinda's presidency.

Huge economic challenges await the new parliament. The

economy had scarcely recovered from the blow of the deadly bombings before the coronavirus epidemic struck.

On Wednesday, official figures showed that growth contracted by 1.6 percent in the

first quarter of this year.The Asian Development

Bank expects the island's economy to shrink by an unprecedented 6.1 percent this year.

Still, Sri Lanka appears to

have escaped the worst of the contagion.

Test result figures are con-sidered dubious by opposition parties, but authorities have reported just 11 deaths from fewer than 3,000 cases.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa casts his ballot at a polling station in their home village Madamulana, 178km south of Colombo, yesterday.

New Zealandwarned to bracefor return ofCOVID-19

BLOOMBERG — WELLINGTON

New Zealand must prepare for another local outbreak of the coronavirus, the Director-General of Health has warned.

It’s inevitable that there will be a case of community transmission of COVID-19, Ashley Bloomfield told Radio New Zealand yesterday.

“It’s a matter of when, not if,” he said. “We are working on the basis it could be any time, of course coupled with doing everything we can to intercept the virus at the border.”

New Zealand achieved the rare feat of eliminating the virus and has so far managed to catch and isolate any infected people coming into the country as they arrive at the border. There are currently 22 active cases in quarantine. It’s been 95 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source, according to the Ministry of Health.

Still, with Australia strug-gling to contain an outbreak in the state of Victoria, New Zealand’s government remains on high alert and is urging people not to be complacent. A return of the virus could cause significant economic damage and potentially influence the outcome of the September 19 election.

Bloomfield encouraged the public to use the government’s contact-tracing app so that any new cases can be quickly con-tained and the country can avoid having to go into another lockdown.

If an outbreak occurred and became established, the health ministry’s view was that mask wearing should become compulsory “early rather than late, because it’s going to help reduce the transmission of the virus,” he said.

Wait of centuries is over, says Modi as temple construction beginsREUTERS — AYODHYA

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday launched the construction of a Hindu temple on a site that has been contested by Muslims for decades in a dispute that has sparked some of India’s most bloody communal violence.

The Supreme Court ruled last year that Hindus, who believe the site in the northern town of Ayodhya is the birthplace of Lord Ram, a physical incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, be allowed to build a temple there, ending years of litigation.

Modi, whose Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaigned for more than three decades for the temple, unveiled a plaque at the site in an elaborate ceremony to inau-gurate construction.

“The whole country is thrilled, the wait of centuries is ending,” Modi said in a speech, after taking off a white mask that he wore as a novel corona-virus precaution.

“See the amazing power of Lord Ram. Buildings were destroyed, there was a lot of effort to eradicate his existence, but Ram remains in our mind

even today.” Hindus say the site was holy for them long before the Muslim Mughals, India’s most prominent Islamic rulers, built the Babri Mosque there in 1528.

Hindu protesters demol-ished the mosque in 1992, trig-gering riots in which about 2,000 people, most of them Muslim, were killed.

Many Muslims in Ayodhya have welcomed construction of the temple in the hope that it would end years of acrimony with Hindus and help bring economic growth but an influential Muslim group spoke out against it.

“Usurpation of the land by an

unjust, oppressive, shameful and majority-appeasing judgment can’t change its status,” the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board said on Twitter.

“No need to be heartbroken. Situations don’t last forever.”

Many members of India’s Muslim minority saw last year’s court ruling awarding the site to Hindus as part of a pattern by the Hindu-nationalist government aimed at sidelining Muslims.

The government denies that.

Yesterday’s launch of con-struction came on the first anni-versary of the scrapping by

Modi’s government of special privileges for India’s only Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, another highly contentious issue for Muslims.

The BJP had long called for disputed Kashmir’s special autonomy to be revoked. The government said the change was necessary to develop the strife-torn region and integrate it with the rest of India.

Before the launch of con-struction of the temple, Modi took part in Hindu rituals that included the chanting of Vedic mantras by saffron-clad priests to bless the site.

Pelican landing in Australia

An Australian pelican (centre) trying to make its space on a street light pole on Botany Bay in Sydney.

CBI takes over probe into Bollywood star’s deathAFP — MUMBAI

India’s top anti-crime agency is taking over the investigation into the death of movie star Sushant Singh Rajput, whose suicide has shaken Bollywood and sparked bitter recrimina-tions.

Rajput, 34, was found dead in June in his Mumbai apartment — with police saying he took his own life — setting off a debate over mental health in the multi-billion-dollar industry.

His former girlfriend, fellow actor Rhea Chakraborty, peti-tioned the Supreme Court yes-terday after Rajput’s family dis-puted reports that he suffered from depression and accused her of stealing his money and harassing him.

Chakraborty strongly denied the allegations and asked the country’s highest court to transfer the case from local police in Rajput’s home state of Bihar.

Government solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the hearing that the Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s top federal crime agency, would take charge of the case, which

has grabbed media headlines for weeks.

Born in Bihar, Rajput quit engineering studies to pursue a career in acting and dance. He got his big break in 2013 with Kai Po Che, a film about cricket, love, and politics that won acclaim at the Berlin film festival.

He was also lauded for his portrayal of Indian cricket hero Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the 2016 hit MS Dhoni: The Untold Story.

In an interview in 2016, Rajput spoke of the emotional rollercoaster he experienced while filming the movie, which portrayed the heartbreak suf-fered by Dhoni when the crick-eter’s girlfriend died. “After we did the preparation, in my head I was him and everything that was happening was actually affecting me,” he said.

Rajput’s deathrekindled discussions about mental health in the industry.

Stars such as Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma, who have spoken about their own battles with depression and anxiety, posted messages about the importance of seeking help.

At least 17 die in Bangladesh boat accidentAP — DHAKA

A passenger boat carrying more than 40 people capsized yesterday in a marshy wetland in northern Bangladesh, killing at least 17 people, an official said.

The incident happened in Netrokona district, and divers

recovered at least 17 bodies, said Bulbul Ahmed, the area’s top government official.

Nearly 50 people were on board the boat and about 30 swam to safety, Ahmed said, adding that the cause of the accident was not immediately known. The area is 134km north of Dhaka.

Such accidents are common in Bangladesh, a delta nation that is crisscrossed by more than 230 rivers. About one-third of the country of 160 million people was flooded this year as a result of monsoon rains and an onrush of waters from upstream India.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said yesterday further restrictions would include shutting most child-care centres and expanding a ban on elective surgery to the whole state to free up medical resources for coronavirus cases.

Now big companies and their employees are being forced to operate on the same playing field, competing with people who are native to the new virtual world and have already found success working this way. The old hierarchies and the roles of the gatekeepers may never be the same.

08 THURSDAY 6 AUGUST 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 yet again has proven its humanitarian stance and readiness to help others in trying times. Immedi-ately after the devastating explosion in Beirut’s port, Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani telephoned President of Lebanon H E Michel Aoun and promised whatever support the country needs and expressed His Highness’ deep sadness and condolences for the victims of the blast wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani said that the directives of H H the Amir to extend a helping hand to the brothers came to reflect a quick Qatari response at the highest levels to support Lebanon in this difficult circumstance.

In implementation of the directives of H H the Amir to sent urgent medical aid to the country, the first air-craft of the Amiri Air Force within an air bridge departed for Rafic Hariri International Airport yes-terday morning itself carrying medical aid and sup-plies necessary to treat those injured in the explosion. Three more aircraft transported aid, including two fully equipped field hospitals with 500 beds each and equipped with respirators and other essential medical equipment and supplies later.

Lebanon, at this juncture of unprecedented crisis, needs the unequivocal support of the international community, whether it is moral, material or financial. The blast, which claimed more than 110 innocent lives and injured thousands deepens the tragedy for the Lebanese people who have been suffering for months from crippling economic crisis.

Lebanon is a country which had to live through several adversities and tragedies are nothing new to its people. The country has been facing continuous attacks by Israel keeping the people under a war-like situation for a long time. Adding to this were political turmoil, unstable governments and a damaging eco-nomic crisis to cap all the worries. The people have been out in the streets in recent months demanding more economic reforms to ease their struggle to meet bare minimum necessities of daily life. The quick assistance from Qatar was immediately appreciated with gratitude by the Lebanese officials led by the Pres-ident, and the Acting Charge d’Affaires at the Lebanese Embassy, Farah Berri, who expressed her country’s appreciation for the immediate support from Qatar.

As the Lebanese people are looking at the stark reality of the devastation with surprise, mere words of condolences and sympathy are not enough and will not give any relief to their sufferings. It is time for the world to follow words with solid action by extending material, financial and human resources too to the country. Qatar has set an example as always and it is now the turn of others to chip in.

Qatar stands with Lebanon

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Quote of the day

We all want our sport back. We're just going to

have to be careful for a good bit longer. Right

now, it's hard to see those fully re-opened

venues.

Michael Ryan, WHO Emergencies Director

A student takes online classes at home, with his companions, using the Zoom App amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in El Masnou, north of Barcelona, Spain.

There’s more to the virtual work trend than days full of Zoom calls from a home office. It also means the possibility of new ways of getting work done. In the physical world, work at a company or university exists in a hierarchical structure; in a virtual world, that work can get done in a more decentralized, democratic manner. Those who lacked influence suddenly can acquire much greater visibility and prom-inence, all without the approval of traditional gatekeepers. This potential for expanded partici-pation from previously excluded voices is an underappreciated disruption that could change the way society operates.

The story of Nathan Tankus, recently written up by Bloomberg Businessweek, is one such example. Despite not even having a bachelor’s degree yet, he’s become an influential voice on economics and monetary policy, writing in a clear and compelling manner on the subject. We might not give credit to working from home or virtual work for this, but those lines have become blurred in economics and finance. Long gone are the days where traders had to be on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, or where econo-mists and academics had to be in Washington, New York or on a college campus to contribute to the field.What’s notable about Tankus is the progressive angle of his

views, which might be related to not having to get past the sentries in academia or Wall Street to make his views heard. He’s found an audience on his own, is building a base of subscribers to his news-letter and can expand from there. The more economics, media and financial industries become detached from physical offices, the more opportunities there are for people like Tankus without tradi-tional pedigrees to influence debates from which those like him were once excluded.

Another example is the growing community known as Election Twitter. A generation ago, the political campaign infrastructure and media was concentrated in Washington, with a focus on the national and state parties and their leadership. Increasingly, that’s hap-pening in a more decentralized manner and on the Internet, with Election Twitter being an extreme example of how that can play out in practice. Many members of this community are quite young -- some are even in their teens -- and their hobby is generating color-coded maps for past elections and scrutinizing political polls.

And they may be in the process of going from observing elections to shaping them. Noticing that national trends might mean Alaska races in 2020 could be competitive, but lacking polling for the state, they set out to crowdfund a poll to gauge the state of the race there. They suc-ceeded, and the poll they com-missioned showed a close race. With that information now public, campaigns in Alaska can show that poll to their supporters, leading donors to target the race in a way they might not have oth-erwise. It’s another example of people working remotely, coor-

dinating to get things done.Music is another industry

that’s been reshaped by virtual work. Last year’s viral sensation, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, was a song that was a product of virtual work. It was a beat that Lil Nas X, living in suburban Atlanta at the time, bought from a pro-ducer he didn’t know and had never met who lived outside of Amsterdam, turned into a song, and then marketed on social media platforms such as Sound-Cloud, TikTok and Twitter before he had a record deal or had even performed the song in public.

Taylor Swift’s latest album was produced virtually as well. Different parts of the album were created in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and Wisconsin, with nobody meeting face-to-face because of coronavirus travel restrictions. Although the music industry may continue to be anchored in traditional hubs like Los Angeles, New York and Nashville, Tennessee, it’s now possible to participate from any-where with talent and luck.

What ties all of these stories together is the blurring of working virtually and the way content is created and distributed on Internet. Even before the pan-demic led to the closure of offices, people were responding to work calls and emails on their phone, and companies were putting out corporate communications on Facebook and Twitter. Now big companies and their employees are being forced to operate on the same playing field, competing with people who are native to the new virtual world and have already found success working this way. The old hierarchies and the roles of the gatekeepers may never be the same.

THE WASHINGTON POST

President Donald Trump’s preferred strategy to defeat the Chinese government seems to be to emulate the Chinese government. At least, the White House response to the problems posed by popular smartphone app TikTok seems modeled on Xi Jinping’s brand of nationalist industrial policy.

The TikTok saga has moved over the past few days at the whiplash speed of a video going viral on the platform - from news that a national security review had determined that Beijing-based parent ByteDance should divest TikTok, to news that Trump wanted to ban TikTok, to news that, after all, he supported a bid by Microsoft to buy it. That

outcome would be better than several of the alternatives. Local laws in China almost ensure that the regime could get its hands on US citizens’ data held by TikTok should it so desire, and this data is hardly limited to memes and dance compilations. Yet pro-hibiting the app’s use here, to the extent that the gambit succeeded at all, would have stifled expression. Having an experienced US firm control the popular platform is pref-erable to shutting it down or accepting the current security risks.

How this promising outcome occurred, however, presents plenty of concerns on its own. A blog post from Microsoft published Sunday gives away the game: four mentions of the president, including the company’s

appreciation for his “personal involvement,” plus a com-mitment not only to conduct a data protection review but also to provide “proper eco-nomic benefits to the United States.” Trump’s initial deter-mination to doom the deal shows that he was less inter-ested in national security than in national grandstanding. He changed his mind when Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella called him up directly to negotiate - and as he magnanimously delivered the public go-ahead on Monday, he declared bizarrely that “a very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the Treasury of the United States.”

Microsoft, which has six weeks to haggle with ByteDance over the deal, says this likely is just a reference to

the same jobs and taxes that the company already has promised as “proper eco-nomic benefits.” The pres-ident has in essence con-ducted a shakedown, threat-ening a shutdown and then providing his blessing to a private business deal once it pleased him. This is an affront to free enterprise generally. It’s also an affront to the American enterprise of pre-serving an open outlook toward the world - and encouraging other nations to welcome US investors. Microsoft appears to have pledged to allow only domestic investors to hold a minority stake in TikTok should it take ownership - another way the president is, as he ostensibly takes aim at a closed society, closing off his own.

Virtual work strengthens the outsiders and the weak

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09THURSDAY 6 AUGUST 2020 ASIA

US plan for 'highest-level' Taiwan visit angers ChinaAFP — TAIPEI

The United States announced yesterday its highest-level visit to Taiwan since it switched diplomatic recognition to China in 1979, a move Beijing blasted as a threat to “peace and stability”.

The visit, headed by health chief Alex Azar, comes as rela-tions between the world’s two biggest powers plunge to his-toric lows.

“This marks... the first Cabinet member to visit in six years, and the highest level visit by a US Cabinet official since 1979,” said Washington’s de facto embassy, the American Institute in Taiwan, with no date yet given for the visit.

Washington remains the leading arms supplier to the island but has historically been cautious in holding official con-

tacts with it.Beijing views Taiwan as its

own territory — vowing to one day seize it — and bristles at any moves by other countries to recognise or communicate with Taipei.

“China firmly opposes official exchanges between the US and Taiwan,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Min-istry of Foreign Affairs, said as he called for the visit to be cancelled.

“We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle... to

avoid seriously endangering Sino-US relations, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

Taiwan said Azar would meet President Tsai Ing-wen.

“(The) timely visit is another testament to the strong Taiwan-US partnership based on our longstanding friendship and shared values,” Tsai wrote on Twitter.

Relations have warmed dra-matically under President Donald Trump, who has used embracing democratic Taiwan

more closely as a way to hit back at authoritarian Beijing as he clashes with China on a host of issues, including trade and coronavirus.

Taiwan’s success at stopping its own virus outbreak — and its emergence as one of Asia’s most progressive democracies — has also earned the island growing bipartisan support in Washington.

“The Trump administration is increasing its relations with Taiwan to a record-high level, sending a message to China that the US will not sacrifice Taiwan for its relations with China,” Eric Huang, an international rela-tions analyst at Tamkang Uni-versity in Taipei, said.

Shortly after Trump’s election win in 2016, Tsai phoned to congratulate him, making him the first president — sitting or newly elected — to

speak directly with a Taiwanese leader since 1979.

Taiwan is massively out-gunned by China and Trump’s administration has sold a number of big-ticket military items — including fighter jets — that previous presidents more wary of angering Beijing had balked at.

Trump also signed a bipar-tisan bill in 2018 upgrading relations and allowing more high-level visits to take place.

In their statements Wash-ington and Taipei painted Azar’s visit as linked to Taiwan being a leading example in the battle against the pandemic.

Despite its proximity and close economic ties to China — where the outbreak emerged late last year — Taiwan has fewer than 500 cases and just seven deaths thanks to a world-class tracing and testing regime

and a virtual shutdown of its borders.

But Beijing sees Azar’s visit as part of a wider attempt to give Taiwan greater interna-tional recognition.

It has ramped up diplo-matic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan ever since the 2016 election of Tsai, who rejects Beijing’s view that the island in part of “one China”.

It keeps Taiwan diplomati-cally frozen out of global bodies such as the World Health Organization, and has poached its dwindling number of official allies.That pressure campaign has only bolstered Tsai, who won a landslide re-election earlier this year.

The last cabinet-level trip to Taiwan was in 2014 with the then head of the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2000, a transport secretary visited.

“We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle... to avoid seriously endangering Sino-US relations, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, ” Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said.

Contagion ‘under control’ in Vietnam virus epicentreREUTERS — HANOI

A new coronavirus outbreak in Vietnam spread to two more provinces yesterday, the coun-try’s health minister said, as the COVID-19 task force declared the contagion “under control” in the central city where the outbreak began.

Aggressive contact-tracing, targeted testing and strict quar-antining had helped Vietnam contain earlier outbreaks, but it is now battling infections in at least 10 cities and provinces, after going more than three months without domestic transmission.

The health ministry con-firmed 43 new cases yesterday, bringing Vietnam’s total infec-tions to 713, with 8 deaths.

The new outbreak was first

reported on July 25 in the tourist resort city of Danang and has spread to major urban centres like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, which have since closed entertainment venues, restricted gatherings and tested tens of thousands of people.

Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long told state media that the outbreak had expanded to the provinces of Bac Giang near Hanoi and Lang Son, bor-dering China, both linked to the Danang infections.

The outbreak in Danang, currently under lockdown alongside Quang Nam province, was “under control”, the gov-ernment’s COVID-19 steering committee said late Tuesday. Deputy health minister Nguyen Truong Son said he expected

the current outbreak to peak in the next 10 days, state media reported yesterday.

The source of the Danang outbreak remains unclear.

All but six of its cases have been traced to three of the city’s hospitals, the committee said, and the six had not infected anyone else.

“The second wave of the pandemic may be happening elsewhere in the world, but we are determined to not let that happen in Vietnam,” committee head Vu Duc Dam said in the statement, which predicted more cases and deaths ahead.

“We do not intend to repeat the story of a widespread, national lockdown either. If eve-rything is done well, we are con-fident we can fight the disease”.

Workers making medical protective masks at An Phu company’s production facility for domestic and international markets, amid the spread of COVID-19, in Bac Ninh province, Vietnam, yesterday.

Over 10 million Afghans infected with virus: PollANATOLIA — KABUL

At least 10 million Afghans have been infected with the novel coro-navirus, a recent survey by the country’s Health Ministry said yesterday.

Sharing details of this nationwide survey, Health Minister Ahmad Jawad Usmani said COVID-19 has infected at least 31.5 percent of the total population in the war-ravaged country.

Afghanistan, however, has recorded 36,829 confirmed cases after conducting 89,822 tests by yesterday.

“The survey shows 37 percent of tested urban population and 27 percent of tested rural population have been infected with coro-navirus,” said Usmani.

The study showed the capital Kabul is the worst affected city with 53 percent of all cases, while the central highlands comprising mountainous provinces of Daikundi and Ghor had the least number of cases.

The survey came a day after the Afghan Cabinet approved reo-pening of universities across the country from Wednesday. Public offices in Kabul and all provinces also began working with normal routine. However, schools across the country still remain closed.

Indonesia releases 25 sea turtles rescued in raidREUTERS — KUTA, INDONESIA

Indonesian authorities released 25 green turtles into the sea on the island of Bali yesterday, returning them to freedom after they were rescued last month during a raid on illegal traffickers.

The population of the endangered turtle, a protected species in Indonesia, has declined significantly in recent years due to hunting, loss of beach nesting sites, over-har-vesting of their eggs and being

caught in fishing gear.Officials stroked and gently

patted the heads of the turtles as they were lined up on the beach, some digging their flippers into the sand before slowly pulling themselves into the sea as waves crashed over them.

There were 36 turtles in total rescued and the remaining 11 will be released next week.

Agus Budi Santoso, head of the Bali Natural Resources Con-servation Center, said the

turtles needed to be assessed fully to ensure they were healthy and able to cope in the natural environment.

If they cannot adapt to the environment, we cannot release them,” Santoso said.

Indonesia has become a hub of international trafficking of marine turtles, feeding demand in countries like Malaysia, Vietnam and China. Anyone convicted of involvement in the trade can be jailed for up to five years.

Turtles being released to the sea from the Indonesia resort island of Bali after over 50 endangered green turtles were rescued from poachers, in Bali province, yesterday.

Deadly explosion in North Korean city near Chinese border reportedAP — SEOUL

A video obtained by AP shows plumes of black smoke rising from a North Korean city near the border with China amid reports that deadly explosions occurred there earlier this week.

There has been no official word from North Korea or China about what happened in the North Korean city of Hyesan on Monday.

But South Korean media and outside monitoring groups reported that gas explosions in a residential area left dozens of people dead or injured. The AP couldn’t independently confirm the reports.

The video shows orange flames and black smoke shooting into the sky from Hyesan as loud explosion-like sounds are heard. A few people can be seen watching the scene from the Chinese side of the border.

The video was provided by Wang Bo, a travel agent who said he shot it from a park in the Chinese border town of Changbai.

“I just saw explosions and there were a lot of onlookers who were looking in that direction. We don’t know the reason why there were explo-sions,” Wang said.

Wang, who said he has pre-viously visited Hyesan, said the

explosions happened not far from the city’s orphanage and tourism office.

Many Chinese border towns are very close to North Korea, separated only by the river border.

Wang said from Binjiang Park in Changbai where he shot the video, “in summer, we can see North Koreans swim in the river, and in winter, people can walk on the frozen Yalu River.”

The AP verified the location after examining other tourist videos of the park that show the same structures and lights. Other videos of the reported explosions have been circu-lating on Chinese and South Korean social media.

Pakistan approves costliest China-aided project to dateREUTERS — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s top economic body yesterday approved its costliest project to date as part of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement, giving the go-ahead for a $6.8bn project to upgrade its railway lines, the government said.

CPEC has seen Beijing pledge over $60bn for infra-structure projects in Pakistan, central to China’s wider Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to develop land and sea trade routes in Asia and beyond.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the railway project, known as Mainline-1 (ML-1), on a cost-sharing basis between Islamabad and Beijing, Paki-stan’s finance division said in a statement.

Under the project, Paki-stan’s existing 2,655km railway tracks will be upgraded to allow trains to move up to 165km per hour - twice as fast as they currently do - while the line capacity will increase from 34 to over 150 trains each way per day.

“The execution of the project shall be in 3 packages and in order to avoid com-mitment charges, the loan

amount for each package will be separately contracted.”

CPEC has come in for crit-icism from some western coun-tries, particularly the United States, which says that the projects under it are not suffi-ciently transparent and will saddle Pakistan with the burden of expensive Chinese loans.

Both China and Pakistan have continuously downplayed such concerns over the years. The move ahead on ML-1, which has been on hold for years, will dispel notions that the gov-ernment of Prime Minister Imran Khan is seeking to roll back some of the mega projects that he himself had questioned when in opposition.

At $6.8bn, the ML-1 project alone is almost equal to Paki-stan’s entire development budget for fiscal 2020/21, which stands at $7.9bn.

Under the project, Pakistan’s 2,655km railway tracks will be upgraded to allow trains to move up to 165kph, while the line capacity will increase from 34 to over 150 trains each way a day.

Thai army chief says ‘hatred of nation’ bigger threat than virusAFP — BANGKOK

Thailand’s powerful army chief yesterday told cadets that the “hatred of the nation” plaguing the country was a bigger threat than the corona-virus, as a nascent pro-democracy movement grows bolder.

The kingdom has seen near-daily protests for more than two weeks by mostly young Thais, fuelled by their anger at a pro-military royalist government headed by former army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha.

The most overt show of discontent came on Monday night, when young students dressed in Harry Potter robes cheered on a lawyer as he led a discussion on the monarchy’s role in Thailand.

During a visit to a military academy yesterday, army chief Apirat Kongsompong —an arch-royalist who has slammed pro-democracy figures in the past — spoke obliquely about the “disease” of criticising one’s country.

“COVID-19 can be cured... but the disease that cannot be cured is the hatred of the nation,” the general said. “We cannot cure people who hate their nation.”

Thailand’s politics has long been defined by a cycle of violent protests and military coups, in apparent zealous protection of the monarchy.

Premier Prayut, who led the last coup in 2014, is seen as a product of the military’s legacy in politics, and much of his Cabinet is stacked with generals and royalist estab-lishment elite.

His administration has faced criticism for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has slammed the Thai economy and left millions jobless.

Social-media savvy pro-testers have called for his gov-ernment’s ouster and amend-ments to a 2017 military-scripted constitution, which critics say unfairly stacks the power in favour of the mil-itary-aligned ruling party.

10 THURSDAY 6 AUGUST 2020 EUROPE

Thousands rescued from forest fires in FranceAFP — MARTIGUES

Almost 3,000 people were evacuated Tuesday night, some by boat, from homes and camping sites near Marseille in southern France as forest fires tore through 1,000 hectares of vegetation.

About 1,800 firefighters battled blazes fanned by strong winds overnight and 14 sustained light injuries, offi-cials said. No civilians were hurt.

The occupants of an old people’s home and other locals, as well as tourists from France and abroad, had to be rescued as flames devoured the Blue Coast — a pine tree-lined area between Marseille and Martigues on the Mediter-ranean shore.

Homes and eight camp-sites near Martigues, where the fire started, and Sausset-les-Pins were evacuated “as a preventative measure”, the fire service said.

Some people had to be saved by sea from camping sites and beaches.

“It was an exceptional fire, unheard of: it was advancing at the speed of a tornado,” said firefighter Jean-Eric Lepine, his eyes reddened by fatigue.

“Every three minutes, there were gas explosions because of the bottles installed

in the bungalows,” he said. “Fortunately, the fire did not cause any casualties and we were able to save about 15 houses”.

“It is like a movie set,” said Parisian Luisa Amoura, con-templating the blackened carcass of her mobile home, devoured by flames which reduced the Lou Cigalou caravan park to a graveyard of scarred trees, burnt-out bungalows and cars.

The site next door, Tamaris, was similarly burnt to the ground.

Amoura recounted that “people were packing bags in a panic... we climbed some rocks near the beach to take refuge.” In hot, dry summer conditions, the fires broke out late Tuesday afternoon, and spread quickly, fanned by the wind — up to 8km in two hours, firefighters said.

“There was panic, we had to go down to the beach and we could see the flames coming closer,” said Maryse Escuder, 83, who was on vacation with her family and great-grandchildren at the La Source campsite.

They spent the night in a gymnasium in Martigues.

“We left everything behind,” added Gisele Aberlen,

a retiree who abandoned her mobile home in one of the destroyed camps and spent the night on a camp bed in an emergency reception centre.

Many others were taken in by locals whose homes were spared.

The blazes were brought under control Wednesday, said a firefighter, as winds eased.

One of the fires, near the industrial port of Marseille-Fos, destroyed 130 hectares and damaged a home and several businesses.

The cost of the material damage has yet to be evaluated.

Between 2015 and 2019, some 9,300 hectares of forest burnt on average each year on France’s Mediterranean coast.

A man walks with a garden hose to drench his house before being evacuated as a wild fire burns in the background, in La Couronne, near Marseille, on Tuesday.

Macron to visit Lebanon todayAFP — PARIS President Emmanuel Macron will seek to rally urgent aid for Lebanon but is also expected to press for overdue reform in France’s ex-colony on the first visit by a world leader to Beirut after the deadly port blast.

His trip today comes just two days after the blast — blamed on an unsecured store of ammonium nitrate at the Beirut port — killed over 100 people and destroyed entire neighbourhoods.

“I will go to Beirut tomorrow (Thursday) to bring the Lebanese people a message of fraternity and sol-idarity from the French,” Macron wrote on Twitter.

“We will discuss the situ-ation with the political author-ities,” he added.

The president’s Elysee Palace office said Macron will “meet all political actors”, including President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab.

“The fact that Emmanuel Macron has so rapidly taken the bull by the horns and is coming to Beirut is being warmly welcomed in Lebanon,” said Karim Emile Bitar, professor of interna-tional relations at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.

Petitions target former king Juan Carlos after he leaves SpainREUTERS — MADRID

Students in Madrid want their King Juan Carlos University to change its name, a few towns plan the same for parks or streets, and memes mocking the former monarch are circu-lating widely after he left the country amid a corruption scandal.

The constitution, political fragmentation and opinion polls that for years have shown the population is divided on the issue mean the latest scandal is unlikely to change Spain’s political system soon.

But the former king’s abrupt departure abroad to an undisclosed location — announced on Monday and which he said was to allow his son King Felipe to reign

without being affected by his woes — is making waves at home.

The municipality of Gijon, in northern Spain, will change the name of its Juan Carlos I avenue because it considers the former monarch “does not rep-resent the institutional, moral and democratic values of our society anymore,” spokes-woman Marina Pineda was quoted as saying by La Voz de Asturias newspaper.

In Madrid, an online petition to change the name of the university had passed 41,000 signatures by Wednesday morning.

“Corruption cases sur-rounding the Royal Family keep appearing, torpedoing the image of a monarchy that had been presented to us as

‘wholesome’ and ‘humble’,” the petition read, while the univer-sity’s name was trending on Twitter. Amid a flurry of memes on the former mon-arch’s departure, one Twitter user said the university should be renamed “The university of the exiled king.”

Juan Carlos came to the throne in 1975 after the death of General Francisco Franco and was widely respected for his role in helping guide Spain from dictatorship to democracy. But recent scandals have tarnished his image, prompting him to abdicate in 2014 and now to leave the country.

In recent months, Swiss and Spanish prosecutors have begun investigating allegations of bribes relating to a high-speed

Saudi rail contract and offshore accounts.

While Juan Carlos is not for-mally under investigation, details of the probes were leaked to the media, piling on pressure for the king to take action to protect the monarchy. Through his lawyer Juan Carlos has repeatedly declined to comment on the case.

Authorities in the Madrid suburb of Pinto last week approved changing the name of its Juan Carlos I park and taking down a statue of him.

“It is not conceivable that the most emblematic space in our city has a name that can be con-sidered as suspicious in the field of ethics or morals,” a spokes-woman for the local gov-ernment, Lola Rodriguez, said in a statement.

Juan Carlos’s whereabouts remain a mystery, with Spanish media saying he is either in the Dominican Republic or Portugal. Dominican authorities said the king’s last stay in the country was between February 28 and March 2 and they had no information about a possible arrival.

Adding to the confusion, La Vanguardia newspaper reported that the ex-monarch had told friends his exit was temporary.

“I’m not on holiday and I’m not abandoning Spain. This is just a parenthesis,” he said in a message to friends, according to the newspaper. A Royal Palace spokesman and a lawyer for Juan Carlos both said they had nothing to say. They have made no public comment beyond Monday’s announcement of the king’s departure.

German neo-Nazi

on trial over

politician murder

admits to killing

AFP — FRANKFURT

A German neo-Nazi on trial over the murder of pro-refugee politician Walter Luebcke admitted yesterday to the killing that has shocked the nation and highlighted the growing threat of right-wing extremism.

“I fired the shot,” Stephan Ernst, 46, told the court of the killing in a statement read out by his defence.

Federal prosecutors have said Ernst was motivated by “racism and xenophobia” when he allegedly shot Luebcke in the head on June 1, 2019.

Luebcke’s killing is believed to be Germany’s first far-right political assassination since World War II.

Apologising to the victim’s family, Ernst said he had carried out a “cowardly and cruel” act.

He insisted that he did not act alone but along with co-defendant Markus Hartmann, who stands accused of helping him train with firearms — including the murder weapon.

“I know that what I and Hartmann did to you will always be inexcusable. What we did was wrong,” he told the family in the statement.

“No one should die because he has another view,” said Ernst, adding that he had been “misled by wrong ideas”.

Luebcke belonged to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU party and headed the Kassel regional council in the western state of Hesse. He supported Merkel’s 2015 decision to open the coun-try’s borders to refugees, with more than one million arriving since then, and spoke in favour of hosting asylum seekers in a local town.

Scotland shuts restaurants

in Aberdeen to stem

COVID-19 outbreakREUTERS — LONDON

Scotland imposed new restric-tions on the oil city of Aberdeen yesterday to tackle an outbreak of COVID-19 cases, closing clubs and restaurants and ordering visitors to stay away.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said an outbreak in the city had now accounted for a total of 54 known cases in recent days, and that in the last 24 hours there had been 64 new cases across the whole of Scotland.

“This virus hasn’t gone away — if you doubted that, then today we have evidence of how true that is,” she said.

“It is still out there and it is still highly infectious and it is still highly dangerous. The outbreak in Aberdeen is a sharp reminder

of that. It shows what can happen if we let our guard drop.” Aberdeen is Scotland’s third-largest city by population and one of its wealthiest, serving as a hub to the North Sea oil industry.

Britain has been the hardest-hit country in Europe by COVID-19 with more than 46,000 deaths. Having peaked in April and May, new cases have substantially declined, but offi-cials are worried about a resur-gence as the economy reopens after months of total lockdown.

Restrictions have already been reimposed in other areas, including the city of Leicester and large urban areas in the north west of England to try to limit any outbreaks and avoid the need for another

national lockdown.Sturgeon said indoor and

outdoor hospitality would be required to close by 1600 GMT,

and advised against travel other than for work or education. She also said people should not visit other households.

The action would be reviewed in 7 days and was taken in part to prioritise the reopening of schools.

Residents walk in Aberdeen, eastern Scotland yesterday, following the announcement that a lockdown has been imposed on the city after a spike in the number of cases of coronavirus.

UK court says Meghan can keep friends secret for ‘time being’ in tabloid lawsuitREUTERS — LONDON

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, won a court battle yesterday to keep the names of five of her friends private for the time being as part of her legal action against a British tabloid which she accuses of invading her privacy.

Meghan, wife of Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince Harry, is suing Associated Newspapers over articles in the Mail on Sunday that included parts of a handwritten letter she had sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018.

As part of its defence, the

paper argues that it published the letter in February 2019 after five of Meghan’s friends gave anonymous interviews to the US magazine People.

The duchess argues that she did not authorise her friends to speak to People and that the Mail on Sunday only wanted to name them to exploit the legal dispute for commercial reasons. She says naming them would pose a threat to their “emotional and mental wellbeing”.

Judge Mark Warby ruled at London’s High Court that their names could not be published for the moment, but that this could change.

“I have concluded that for the time being at least the Court should grant the claimant the orders she seeks, the effect of which will be to confer pro-tection on the sources’ iden-tities,” he said.

The anonymity issue is one of a number of preliminary matters with the full trial not expected until next year. Warby said the case had already taken 10 months and was still “some way from trial”, saying it needed to move forward at a greater pace.

“The duchess felt it was necessary to take this step to try and protect her friends — as any of us would — and we’re

glad this was clear,” said a source close to Meghan, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We are happy that the judge has agreed to protect these five individuals.”

Meghan and Harry are now living in Los Angeles with their baby son Archie having stepped down from their royal roles at the end of March.

Increasingly hostile rela-tions between the royal couple and some British newspapers they accused of intrusive, inac-curate and sometimes racist coverage was one of the reasons why the couple left Britain for the United States.Former Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle

Homes and eight campsites near Martigues, where the fire started, and Sausset-les-Pins were evacuated ‘as a preventative measure’, the fire service said.

Land used for farming is expanding every year, often to the detriment of natural havens such as forests, home to wild animals that carry numerous diseases from which humans can fall ill.

11THURSDAY 6 AUGUST 2020 EUROPE / AMERICAS

Intensive farming heightens pandemic risk: StudyAFP — PARIS

Intensive farming makes future pandemics such as COVID-19 more likely as wild animals car-rying diseases known to infect humans are forced into increas-ingly close contact with us, research showed yesterday.

Writing in the journal Nature, a team of researchers from University College London warned that animal pathogens are increasingly likely to make the leap to humans as land use changes benefit animal hosts.

The United Nations esti-mates that three quarters of

land on Earth has been severely degraded by human activity since the start of the industrial

era. An insatiable surge in food consumption means that one third of all land and three quarters of all fresh water is given over to agriculture.

Land used for farming is expanding every year, often to the detriment of natural havens such as forests, home to wild animals that carry numerous diseases from which humans can fall ill.

The UCL team looked at more than 6,800 ecological com-munities from six continents and found that animals known to carry pathogens — such as bats, rodents and birds — are more

common in landscapes inten-sively used by humans. They said their findings show a clear need to change how we exploit land in order to reduce the risk of future pandemics.

“The way humans change landscapes across the world, from natural forest to farmland, has consistent impacts on many wild animal species, causing some to decline while others persist or increase,” said Rory Gibb, from UCL’s Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research.

“Our findings show that the animals that remain in more human-dominated environments

are those that are more likely to carry infectious diseases that can make people sick.”

More than half of agricul-tural land increase is being carved out of Earth’s forests, according to the UN’s biodi-versity panel. COVID-19, which has infected more than 18 million people and killed more than 700,000, is almost certain to have originated in animals before passing to and spreading among humans.

The novel coronavirus is just one of several deadly viruses that have made the leap from animals, which carry thousands

of types of microbes that may be harmful to humans.

And as the disease reservoir gets squeezed ever tighter, the risk of leaks rises. Research co-author Kate Jones said the findings showed how govern-ments should view agriculture and food supply as intrinsically linked to human health.

“As agricultural and urban lands are predicted to continue expanding, we should be strengthening disease surveil-lance and healthcare provision in those areas that are under-going a lot of land disturbance,” she said.

Biden and Trump scramble toreplan nomination speechesAFP — WASHINGTON

The US election plunged deeper into unprecedented territory yesterday when challenger Joe Biden announced he would accept his nomination virtually and President Donald Trump suggested breaking tradition by holding his own ceremony at the White House.

Citing coronavirus health risks, the Biden campaign said he would make his speech — the high point of a candidate’s race — from his Delaware home where he has spent most of the last months. He had planned to attend the August 17-20 Dem-ocratic convention in Mil-waukee, which was already heavily scaled-down from the massive event typical before US elections.

But the party said the risk was still too high, and switched to a fully virtual affair. “From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first,” said Dem-ocratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez. “That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves.”

Trump, whose reelection bid is struggling with a badly

wounded economy and surging COVID-19 pandemic, signalled he may also accept his nomi-nation from home — in his case, the White House.

“I love the building. I’m there right now. I spend a lot of time here,” he told Fox News. Trump’s August 27 acceptance speech was originally planned for North Carolina, but that was scrapped due to the corona-virus, as was the back-up location, leaving the Republican scrambling for alternatives.

However, presidents are required to separate their cam-paigning from taxpayer-funded governing. If he goes ahead, Trump would be breaking at the very least with presidential decorum by turning the South Lawn of the iconic building into his personal campaign stage.

Trump defended the idea as “by far the least expensive” and said that logistically it would require far less movement of staff and guests. He said he would rethink “if for some reason someone had difficulty with it.” In the interview with Fox News the president acknowledged that his reelection had got harder.

“The election was going to be a walk, a walk in the park,”

he said. With characteristic optimism, he cited polls that have not been made public and insisted that “we’re doing well.”

The president railed, as he does almost every day now, against increased use of mail-in ballots, which states are rolling out so that people don’t have to go in person to polling stations. Trump says this would lead to a fraudulent election.

There is no evidence that this would happen and several states already rely heavily on the mail-in method, without any significant problem.

Democrats say Trump fears more mail-in voting because this will increase turnout and would hurt his chances. According to Trump, a big increase in mail-ins will swamp the system, meaning no clear winner can be announced for possibly “months or years. They will never be able to tabulate their votes.”

Trump again said the virus would soon vanish, repeating his numerous sunny predictions about a health crisis that has so far killed 156,000 people in the US. “This thing’s going away. It will go away like things go away and my view is that schools should be open,” he said.

Protest for PPEA nurse participates in a national protest for PPE and safer working practices, as the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Los Angeles, California, yesterday.

Belarus vote threatens rupture in ‘brotherly’ ties with RussiaAFP — MINSK

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko seems set on burning once “brotherly” bridges with the Kremlin during a volatile election campaign that has seen him arrest Russian citizens and raid a bank with links to Moscow.

The strongman leader of ex-Soviet Belarus has accused “puppeteers” and “Telegram channels” with ties to Moscow of meddling in the August 9

elections in which he is expected to secure a sixth term.

His security services stormed Belgazprombank — a subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom — which was once headed by a now jailed opposition candidate, and Gazprom criticised the instal-lation of new management.

The 65-year-old authori-tarian leader has also called for military exercises near the Russian border.

But the biggest upset came

last week when his KGB security services arrested 33 Russians, calling them mercenaries who were dispatched over the frontier to stir unrest.

Belarus is more tightly linked to Russia than any other country and the two form a “union state” with an integrated economic zone, military alliance, and potential for even deeper unification.

But the partnership has come under strain in recent years, and Lukashenko’s recent

moves could act as a final blow that ruptures the special rela-tionship. During a televised address to the nation this week, Lukashenko said Belarus was important to Russia because Moscow “does not have any other close allies left”.

He has raised the prospect of a “point of no return, when rela-tions between the two countries turn from brotherly and strategic into ordinary and practical,” said Arseniy Sivitski, director of the Center of Strategic and Foreign

Policy Studies in Minsk.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry

Peskov described the vote as a domestic issue in Belarus. But the outspoken leader of the nation-alist LDPR party Vladimir Zhiri-novsky accused Lukashenko of being addicted to power after ruling over Belarus for 26 years.

“Power... is the scariest drug, Lukashenko can’t get enough,” Zhirinovksy said., calling on the Belarusian president to withdraw from the race so the polls could be “beautiful.”

Bulgaria Premier eyes taking a back seat amid anti-govt protestsAFP — SOFIA

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said yesterday that he might take a back seat as premier but keep his cabinet in power following weeks of anti-government protests dem-anding his resignation.

“I will continue talks with my coalition partners and will propose options, including the option for me to go and the government to remain,” Borisov told a meeting of his conservative GERB party.

Thousands have taken to the streets in the capital Sofia and other towns daily since July 10 in the biggest anti-gov-ernment protests in years, accusing Borisov and the chief prosecutor of dependence on behind-the-scenes oligarchs.

Protesters have occupied three key crossroads in downtown Sofia since last week, blocking all traffic and prompting a re-routing of public transportation in the capital of over two million people.

The protest organisers said that at least four people at the blockades have started hunger strikes since last week, and one 58-year-old man was hospi-talised yesterday after refusing food and water for six days.

But Borisov — who has resigned his previous two terms in office only to bounce back to power — said he would seek ways for his three-party coa-lition to finish their term until March 2021. That would mean he cannot resign — as then his whole administration would fall — but rather may take a step back and appoint one of his ministers to lead the country.

“I am ready to go at any time. I have done it before, and I don’t want to be the reason for tension,” the 61-year-old said, but warned of hard times ahead for the economy.

East Terrace Garden to open on August 8Castle employees pose during a photocall in the East Terrace Garden at Windsor Castle in Windsor yesterday. The East Terrace Garden at Windsor Castle will open to visitors at weekends for the first time in decades from August 8. The large formal garden, overlooked by Windsor Castle’s east facade, features beds of roses planted in a geometric pattern around a central fountain, and gives views across the surrounding Windsor parkland.

At least five dead in US as Isaias reaches CanadaAFP — NEW YORK

Tropical storm Isaias left at least five people dead as it pounded the US eastern sea-board with driving winds and heavy rain, leaving millions without power, before moving across Canada yesterday.

Isaias was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone late on Tuesday as as it streaked across the border into south-eastern Canada after wreaking havoc across several US states.

A tornado ripped through a mobile home park in North Carolina killing two people while two more died as trees fell on their cars — one in New York and one in Maryland.

In Delaware, an 83-year-old woman was found dead under a large branch close to her home. Forecasters warned of heavy rain across Quebec and wind gusts up to 80km per hour after the storm littered streets with debris and forced the cancellation of scores of flights in the US.

Video footage from New Jersey showed a roof being torn off a house as residents were told to stay indoors because of a threat of tornadoes.

About three million houses were without power by early yesterday, utilities companies reported — with New Jersey

and New York worst hit by the outages. Isaias quickly moved up the East Coast after slamming into the coast of North Carolina at hurricane strength.

“Isaias hit North Carolina head-on,” Governor Cooper, adding that roads were being cleared and electricity restored.

“As clean-up continues, don’t forget the pandemic is still with us. So help your neighbor, but do it safely by wearing your mask, keeping your distance and bringing your hand sanitizer.”

New York authorities, ever-wary of the devastating damage caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, set up temporary flood barriers in Lower Manhattan in case of storm surge.

The orange flexible tubes known as “Tiger Dams” were put up in low-lying areas. Public transport services were also briefly suspended including New York’s famous Staten Island ferry.

But the rain turned out to be less heavy than feared. “The storm has been much more of a wind event than flooding so far, thank God,” New York mayor Bill de Blasio told local news station NY1.

At least 78 flights were can-celed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. There were 55 cance-lations at JFK.

Virus kills Brazil indigenous chief AritanaAFP — BRASÍLIA

One of Brazil’s leading indig-enous chiefs, Aritana Yawalapiti, died yesterday of respiratory complications caused by COVID-19, his family said.

Aritana, 71, a chief of the Yawalapiti people in the Amazon, was known for fighting to protect the world’s biggest rainforest and the rights of the indigenous peoples who live there.

“He was a great advocate in the struggle to preserve and perpetuate his people’s culture for future generations and a tireless activist against the effects of deforestation,” his family said in a statement.

Known for sporting his tra-ditional feather headdress, jewelry and body paint even at meetings with international dignitaries,

Aritana was diagnosed with

the new coronavirus about two weeks ago, after having trouble breathing.

He was taken from his village in the Xingu indigenous reserve to a hospital in the town of Canarana, in the west-central state of Mato Grosso.

When his condition deteri-orated, he was transferred to an intensive care unit in the city of Goiania, capital of the neigh-bouring state of Goias.

Colombian top court orders house arrest for UribeAFP — BOGOTA

Colombia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday placed former pres-ident and current senator Alvaro Uribe under house arrest as he faces charges of fraud and witness tampering.

The conservative Uribe, who served as president from 2002-2010, is the country’s most popular politician and political mentor to President Ivan Duque.

The court said Uribe will be detained at home “and from there can mount his defense with all the guarantees of due process.” On Tuesday, the court held a hearing into his case, in which Uribe is accused of using his position as a senator to tamper with a witness.

“Being deprived of my freedom is very sad for me, my wife, my family and for the Colombians who still think I did something good for the homeland,” Uribe tweeted.

Uribe, 68, must now wait to be eventually called for a trial before the Supreme Court, the body that judges law-makers. He faces bribery and procedural fraud charges and could serve up to eight years in prison if convicted.

County elections results showed Tlaib with 63,650 votes to Jones’ 32,582 with 89.9% of precincts reporting in the nomination contest. Tlaib, 44, born to Palestinian immigrants, was one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.

12 THURSDAY 6 AUGUST 2020AMERICAS

Rashida Tlaib defeats primary challenger in ‘Squad’ winREUTERS — DETROIT

US Representative Rashida Tlaib (pictured), one of the most visible progressive Dem-ocrats in Congress, claimed victory yesterday in the Dem-ocratic primary election against challenger Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones.

County elections results showed Tlaib with 63,650 votes to Jones’ 32,582 with 89.9% of precincts reporting in the nom-ination contest.

Tlaib, a member of the “Squad” of four progressive congresswomen first elected in 2018, has so far declined to endorse the party’s presumptive nominee, former Vice-Pres-ident Joe Biden, for his November face-off with Repub-lican President Donald Trump.

“Voters sent a clear message that they’re done waiting for transformative change, that they want an unapologetic fighter who will take on the status quo and win,” Tlaib said in a statement. The race for the district, which contains Detroit and some of its suburbs, had been a rematch of a close 2018 election that Jones lost by fewer than 1,000 votes.

Tlaib, 44, born to Pales-tinian immigrants, was one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.

Tlaib had a fundraising and polling edge over Jones going into the election. But Jones, 60, a prominent politician in the predominantly Black city of Detroit who has endorsed Biden, had the backing of numerous local leaders and the state’s Dem-

ocratic Black caucus.The primary had been seen

as a test of whether the Demo-cratic contender for the House seat would stay with the more progressive side of the party or steer closer to its political center. Tlaib’s fellow “Squad” member Ilhan Omar, congresswoman from Minnesota’s 5th District, faces a primary next week.

US Representative Roger

Marshall won the Kansas Republican primary for the Senate yesterday, defeating anti-immigration firebrand Kris Kobach with the help of the party establishment, which feared Kobach would hurt Republican chances in the fall.

Marshall beat a crowded field. With 3,217 of 3,577 pre-cincts reporting, he had 40% of the vote, with Kobach at 26%, results from the Kansas sec-retary of state said. A third can-didate, Bob Hamilton, had 19%.

In Missouri, Representative William Lacy Clay was ousted by progressive challenger Cori Bush in the Democratic primary. Bush, 44, won the Democratic primary in Missouri’s 1st congressional district, , with 48.6% of the vote to 45.5% for Clay.

The race was among a number of Congressional primary contests in five US states on Tuesday. The out-comes in Kansas, Michigan,

Arizona, Missouri and Wash-ington will establish the nom-inees for the November 3 elec-tions to the House of Represent-atives and Senate that will determine the balance of power in Congress. Republicans cur-rently have a 53-47 Senate majority, and non-partisan ana-lysts see the competition for Senate control as either a toss-up or slightly favoring Democrats.

In Kansas, Representative Steve Watkins of Kansas, who faces felony charges of illegal voting, was defeated in the Republican primary by the state treasurer, Jake LaTurner.

In Arizona, Republican primary voters picked Senator Martha McSally over challenger Daniel McCarthy, the New York Times said. McSally trails astronaut Mark Kelly, who won the Democratic nomination uncontested, in the polls and has about half of his $21m cam-paign war chest.

An election worker instructs cars where to drop off their ballots outside of the City of Detroit Department of Elections during the Michigan Primary Election in Detroit, Michigan.

Biden unveils $280m campaign ad blitzREUTERS — NEW YORK

Democrat Joe Biden’s (pictured) presidential campaign will blanket television and social media with $280m in adver-tising by Election Day, the cam-paign announced yesterday, more than his rival’s campaign has spent in total since 2017.

The hefty advertising across 15 states marks a sharp increase for the former vice-president, who once struggled to find money during his party’s primary and only aired his first general election ad blitz in June.

Trump has reserved nearly $150m in television ads across 11 states so far for the fall, according to media research companies. To date, Trump has significantly out-spent Biden on Facebook, Google and on television.

The new Biden ad reserva-tions, which include $60m allocated to digital ads, would exhaust all of the $242m his campaign reported having available to spend last month and all but guarantee that the Trump-Biden showdown will be the most expensive US election in history.

National polls showing Biden ahead of Trump have given the campaign new con-fidence, as did the $282.1m in cash they and their Democratic allies collected from donors from April to June, the first time they out-raised Trump over a full quarter.

The states where Biden will advertise include key swing states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as Republican-leaning states that the campaign hopes

to put in play this fall, such as Arizona and Georgia.

The list reflects the cam-paign’s intent to go “on offense", campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said. The ads will show Biden as an empathetic leader, in contrast to his opponent, she added.

“This election is a clear ref-erendum on Donald Trump and his failed leadership on COVID and also on the economy,” she told reporters.

Trump ran an insurgent campaign largely relying on free media coverage in 2016. But his re-election campaign, which started in 2017, has spent $237m so far, running attack ads against Biden even before he clinched his party’s nomination.

Current ads from the Trump campaign characterize Biden as under the control of radical left-wing activists. Both campaigns will compete for the attention of voters stuck at home because of the corona-virus as the election enters its final three-month stretch.

Biden and a soon-to-be-announced running mate will accept his party’s nomination at a largely virtual convention in two weeks. The Republican convention will follow the week after.

A file picture shows a sign on the FDR Drive advising precautions amid the coronavirus pandemic in New York City.

NYC to enforce traveller quarantine with checkpointsREUTERS — NEW YORK

New York City will put up COVID-19 quarantine check-points at key entry points to ensure that incoming travellers from 35 states with outbreaks comply with the state’s 14-day quarantine mandate, Mayor Bill de Blasio said yesterday.

The measure underscores the determination in what was once the epicenter of the US outbreak to prevent a resur-gence of cases emerging else-where. While cases are down 5% nationally, they soared last week in Oklahoma, Montana, Missouri and 17 other states.

On average, 1,000 people die a day nationwide from COVID-19 with the death toll now over 157,000 with 4.8 million cases. “Travellers coming in from those states will be given information about the quarantine and will be reminded that it is required, not optional,” de Blasio said. He

added that, under certain cir-cumstances, fines for not observing the quarantine order could be as high as $10,000.

The Sheriff’s Office, in coor-dination with other law enforcement agencies, will begin deploying checkpoints at major bridge and tunnel crossings into New York City.

“This is serious stuff and it’s time for everyone to realize that if we’re going to hold at this level of health and safety in this city, and get better, we have to deal with the fact that the quar-antine must be applied consist-ently to anyone who’s trav-elled,” de Blasio said.

A fifth of all new cases in New York City are from out-of-state travellers, said Dr. Ted Long, who oversees the city’s contact tracing program. Teams will be deployed at Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan today, he said, to ensure travellers stop to complete a travel form.

“We’re going to offer you things like free food delivery, help with medications, direct connections to doctors by the phone, or even a hotel stay,” Long added.

The city, which once had over 800 deaths in a single day,

has reported no coronavirus fatalities for the past three days and the mayor said the city’s infection rate had been under 3% for the past eight weeks.

In Illinois, where COVID-19 cases have risen for six weeks in a row, Chicago Public Schools

will start the new academic year conducting all classes remotely, school officials said. Teachers in the district, the country’s third largest with 350,000 students, had resisted a plan by city leaders to launch a hybrid model in which parents could choose to have their children attend in-person instruction in pods of 15 pupils twice a week.

Los Angeles and San Diego schools also will go online only. President Donald Trump has called for all schools to open for in-person learning.

Five states are mandating in-person learning: Florida, Iowa, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas, according to Edu-cation Week magazine. Virginia and North Carolina are man-dating all learning be online while elsewhere governors, mayors and school district offi-cials have proposed a range of ideas for reopening schools in August and September.

Quarantine, racial strife and Trump have Michelle Obama feeling downAFP — WASHINGTON

Former First Lady Michelle Obama said she is suffering from “low-grade depression” from coronavirus quarantine, racial strife in the United States and the “hypocrisy” of the Trump administration.

Obama made the remarks in the latest episode of “The Michelle Obama Podcast” released on Spotify yesterday.

“I’m waking up in the middle of the night because I’m worrying about something or there’s a heaviness,” the 56-year-old former First Lady said.

“I try to make sure I get a workout in, although there have been periods throughout this quarantine, where I just have felt too low,” she said.

Obama said she has been going through “those emotional highs and lows that I think eve-rybody feels, where you just don’t feel yourself”.

“These are not, they are not fulfilling times, spiritually,” she said. “I know that I am dealing with some form of low-grade depression.

“Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the

racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting.”

Michelle Obama and Barack Obama, America’s first black president, took up residence in Washington after he left the White House in January 2017.

She also said it is “exhausting” to be “waking up to yet another story of a black man or a black person somehow being dehumanized,

or hurt, or killed, or falsely accused of something.” “And it has led to a weight that I haven’t felt in my life, in a while,” she said.

Obama said it was important to remember that “we’ve been through tough times in this nation” before.

“We are in a unique moment in history,” she said. “We are living through some-thing that no one in our life-times has lived through.”

In this file photo taken on November 18, 2019 former First Lady Michelle Obama meets with fans during a book signing on the first anniversary of the launch of her memoir “Becoming” at the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, DC.

US jails man who bought Lamborghini with govt loanAFP — WASHINGTON

Instead of speeding off in a $200,000 Lamborghini Urus, a Texas man got a slower ride to jail on Tuesday after US authorities arrested him for using $1.6m in government pandemic aid to go on a spending spree.

Lee Price III, 29, was charged with fraud after he secured two government loans under the Paycheck Protection Program to pay employees he did not have, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Instead he spent the funds on lavish goods like a sports car and a Rolex watch, as well as real estate, an F-350 pickup truck, and thousands of dollars at Houston clubs, the statement said.

Price secured two loans: Price Enterprises Holdings allegedly received more than $900,000, while 713 Con-struction was approved for over $700,000, but neither has employees and “the individual listed as CEO on the 713 Con-struction loan application died in April 2020, a month before the application was submitted,” according to the complaint.

Congress approved the PPP program in late March to help small businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic, granting loans that could be forgiven if they were used to pay wages, rent and utilities.

Mulan to premiere on Disney+

AFP — LOS ANGELES

Disney’s much-delayed block-buster Mulan will skip the big screen and premiere on streaming platform Disney+ next month, as coronavirus keeps theaters shut across much of the United States.

Mulan, a mega-budget live action remake of the tale of a legendary Chinese warrior, will be available from Sep-tember 4 in homes to Disney+ subscribers for an additional $29.99.

Mulan cost an estimated $200m to produce.

'Like an animal': Astronauts describe jolting descentAFP — HOUSTON

SpaceX’s crewed capsule isn’t called Dragon for nothing.

The two Nasa astronauts brought back to Earth on Sunday said they felt they were inside the belly of a beast as it careened into the atmosphere at 17,500mph.

“It came alive,” said mission commander Bob Behnkhen at a virtual press conference held on Tuesday in Houston, Texas. The thrusters were firing to keep the capsule, called “Endeavour,” pointed precisely at its target site off the coast of Pensacola, for the first water landing by a US spaceship since 1975.

“The atmosphere starts to make noise, you can hear that rumble outside the vehicle and as the vehicle tries to control, you feel a little bit of that shimmy in your body,” con-tinued the 50-year-old.

“It doesn’t sound like a machine, it sounds like an animal coming through the atmosphere with all that all the puffs that are happening from the thrusters and the atmos-pheric noise,” he added.

Not only was ride down deafening, but each time the vessel carried out descent

sequences like jettisoning its “trunk” that contained the power system and firing parachutes, it was also bone-jarring. “Very much like getting hit in the back of the chair with a baseball bat, you know, just a crack,” he said, describing the sensation.

Behnken and crewmate Doug Hurley, 53, are best friends in real life and both are married to fellow astronauts.

They were addressing jour-nalists, as tradition dictates, two days after their return from a six-month stay on the Inter-national Space Station.

The success of the demon-stration mission for SpaceX Crew Dragon, the first crewed US spaceship to achieve orbit since the Space Shuttle era, means it will likely soon be cer-tified for regular service.

The next mission is already planned for September. “The mission went just like the sim-ulators, from start to finish, all the way there was really no surprises,” said Hurley.

One person who will partic-ularly benefit from Behnken’s knowledge: Astronaut Megan McArthur, who is slated to make the same voyage in the spring of 2021 on the same spacecraft, and is Behnken’s wife.