Friday 26 June 2020

5 Dhul-Qa'da - 1441

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8300

SPORT | 08BUSINESS | 01

France, UK offer

to limit digital tax

scope after US

threat

Australia and New

Zealand named

hosts for 2023

Women’s World Cup

Qatar sends medical aid to BelarusQNA — DOHA

Implementing directives by the Amir, H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, a shipment of urgent medical aid was sent yesterday to the Republic of Belarus, provided by the State of Qatar through the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), in support of the efforts of the

friendly Republic of Belarus to cope with the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The shipment, which Qatar Airways delivered, weighed seven tonnes and contained medical equipment and sup-plies, QFFD said in a statement.

In remarks on the occasion, Director-General of QFFD, Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari,

said this medical assistance reflects the great efforts made by the State of Qatar to combat the spread of the pandemic, which represents a common threat to the whole world.

The State of Qatar has pro-vided, through QFFD, urgent medical assistance to more than 22 countries since the pan-demic outbreak.

Qatar Airways increases flight frequency to AthensSACHIN KUMAR

THE PENINSULA

Qatar Airways continues to expand its network as travel restrictions around the world ease gradually.

The multiple award-winning airline has increased its flight frequency to Athens. From earlier three weekly flights, the airline is now offering daily service to the capital, which is also the largest city in Greece.

“We’ve increased our oper-ations to Athens, offering a daily service from today. A beautiful city steeped in history, and a gateway to some of the finest Greek islands,” said Qatar Airways on its official twitter account. The national carrier of the State of Qatar has also

announced that it would resume its services to Beirut from next month.

“The popular tourist desti-nation and major arts and cul-tural centre, Beirut, is re-joining our network with daily flights starting 1 July,” said the airline on its twitter account.

Over the past few weeks Qatar Airways has expanded its

network that has enabled it to maintain its position as the largest international carrier in the world. With over 1.3 billion revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) during the month of April, the share of the airline accounted for 17.8 percent of the global market which is over triple its nearest competitor.

“Qatar Airways maintains

its position as the largest inter-national airline in the world with over 270 weekly flights to more than 45 destinations,” said the airline in a tweet.

The airline is smoothly moving ahead on its earlier announced decision to grad-ually expand its network. Last month, the multiple award-winning airline had announced that it would expand its network in phased manner.

With easing of entry restric-tions around the world, the carrier is also seeing a rise in bookings due to the strong levels of trust built with pas-sengers as it took home over 1.8 million people safely and reliably during this crisis including many left stranded by other airlines.

The airline also continues

to operate daily flights to many key global destinations including Amsterdam, London Heathrow, Melbourne, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo and Zurich offering a resilient network that is designed for strong connectivity.

Qatar Airways has led the industry during these chal-lenging times accumulating unrivalled experience in car-rying passengers safely and reliably, especially in com-parison to airlines that have fully grounded their operations. Qatar Airways has further enhanced its onboard safety measures for passengers and cabin crew. The airline has implemented several changes, including the introduction of Personal Protective Equipment suits for cabin crew.

From three weekly flights previously, the Qatar's national carrier is now offering daily service to the Greek capital.

Qatar Airways is also resuming daily flights to Beirut from July 1.

QA maintains its position as the largest international airline in the world with over 270 weekly flights to more than 45 destinations.

Over 85% success rate in high school examsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi, announced yesterday the results of the final high school examinations for the academic year 2019/2020.

H E the Minister congratulated the students for their success and expressed pride in the excellent results they achieved in the tests they took under severe health conditions due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the psychological conditions due to the pressures they were subjected to.

Success rate for daytime education reached more than 85 percent, an increase of 3 percent over the previous academic year, while the rate for the Religious Institute was approximately 93.5 percent, up 15 percent from the previous academic year.

The technical high school has also witnessed an increase in the success rate of nearly 7 percent from last year, as the success rate this year has reached more than 86 percent, while the success rate in the Banking Sciences High School has reached more than 97 percent, an increase of 5 percent over the previous academic year. The success rate for high school adult education reached more than 31.5 percent, with a slight decrease of 0.5 percent.

Speaking at a press conference yes-terday, H E the Minister said the overall results achieved by students were sat-isfactory, and better than last year, indi-cating that this is due to students’ com-mitment to the educational curriculum

and their discipline and their studying and preparation for the tests in light of the coronavirus pandemic conditions, stressing that the combined efforts of all parties concerned enabled them to overcome this challenge safely.

In this context, His Excellency pointed to the stability of curricula and its development and modification, which affected positively the results this year.

What distinguished the exams this

year is that many students obtained an average of 90 percent or more marks. H E the Minister said more than 2,561 students obtained an average of over 90 percent marks, of whom 726 were Qatari, while 4 students got the full degree in all subjects. H E the Minister also noted the efforts made and state support to develop the educational process.

H E the Minister also touched on the tests for the second round next August and the ministerial decision issued regarding amending some pro-visions of the annual calendar for schools for the academic year 2019/2020, according to which exams for all grades from first to twelfth (day and adult education) for the academic year 2019-2020 will be held from August 23 to August 31, 2020.

For his part, the Assistant Under-secretary for Evaluation Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation, H E Khalid Al Harqan, said that the results of this year witnessed a remarkable increase in success rates, indicating that the number of appli-cants for the exams reached 11,457 male and female students, among them 6226 male and female Qatari students, while the number of non-Qataris male and female reached 5231, representing day time students, adult education and the religious institute. �P2

Qatar, FIFA to stage pan-Arab tournament in 2021THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Football Association (QFA) and FIFA have announced plans to deliver a pan-Arab tournament that will be played in Qatar in late 2021, with the competition acting as a crucial preparatory event for the FIFA World Cup 2022, that kicks off on November 21, 2022.

The competition proposal was presented to FIFA Council members via videoconference by H E Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) and Chairman of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC (Q22). The FIFA Council subsequently approved the formation of the competition.

The 22-team invitational tournament for men’s national teams will be contested by Arab nations from Africa and Asia. It will be played outside the International Match Cal-endar. The tournament, which will be held in Qatar from December 1-18, 2021, will be delivered by Q22 and will allow the organisers to use facilities and run operations that are also planned for the subsequent FIFA World Cup 2022. The tournament will take place during the same time-slot as the FIFA World Cup 2022, with the final taking place exactly one year before the Qatar 2022 final is scheduled to kick-off.

All tournament matches will be played at Qatar 2022 stadiums. In addition to uti-lising Qatar 2022 stadiums and training sites, the tournament will provide a vital opportunity for fans, players and officials to use host country facilities, including transport and accommodation. President of the QFA, H E Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmad Al Thani, said: “This is an exciting moment for Qatar and football fans across the region and around the world.” �P2

Officials pose with Qatari and Belarusian national flags on the occasion of dispatch of medical assistance from Qatar to Belarus.

Kuwaiti mediation met with rejection from blockade states: EnvoyQNA — WASHINGTON

Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the United States of America, H E Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani, has said that Kuwaiti mediation led by the Amir of the State of Kuwait, H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, to heal the Gulf rift has not stopped and continues to push for a solution, in addition to the valuable US efforts that help to end this crisis initiated by false allega-tions after the hacking of Qatar News Agency website, as the blockading countries continued to attack Qatar politically and economically based on these allegations.

In an interview with the Al-Monitor Podcast programme, H E Sheikh Meshal Al Thani added that the last attempt made by Kuwait and the dip-lomatic action accompanying it represented in the visit of Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah

to Qatar and the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to Kuwait in addition to the US efforts, was unfor-tunately met with rejection from the blockading coun-tries, expressing his belief that time is the guarantor of these countries returning to their senses and acknowledge that the only solution is through dialogue based on respect for all parties. �P2

Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi, addressing a press conference to announce high school exam results.

Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi praises excellent performance by students given the overall COVID-19 situation.

Minister says the state support to the education sector and curricula’s devel-opment and modification has also contributed to improving education standards.

Religious Institute students achieve a success rate of approximately 93.5 percent, up 15 percent from the pre-vious academic year.

Dialogue based on respect for all parties is the only solution to heal the Gulf rift.

H E Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani

OFFICIAL NEWS

Doha: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held yesterday via telephone a conversation with President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H E Mohamed Abdul-lahi Farmajo. They reviewed bilateral relations and the means of enhancing and developing them in various fields, in addition to discussing a number of issues of joint interest. -QNA

Doha: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent yesterday a cable of congratulations to President of the Republic of Slovenia,H E Borut Pahor on the occasion of Statehood Day. The Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdul-lah bin Hamad Al Thani also sent a similar cables to H Ethe President of the Republic of Slovenia.-QNA

Doha: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent yester-day a cable of congratulations to President of the Republic of Mozam-bique, H E Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, on the occasion of his country’s independence day. Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani also sent a similar cable toH E the President of the Repub-lic of MozambiquecShataiRotation:

Doha: The joint committee com-prised of the Legal and Legislative Affairs and Cultural and Information Affairs Committees held yesterday a meeting chaired by its Rappor-teur Nasser bin Rashid bin Saria Al Kaabi. The committee continued to examine a draft law regulat-ing journalism, publishing, media activities, and arts. It decided to present its recommendations to the Shura Council.-QNA

Doha: Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani held yesterday a telephone conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore H E Lee Hsien Loong. They reviewed the cooperation relations between the two coun-tries and ways of supporting and developing them, especially in the economic, commercial, and invest-ment fields. In this regard, both the Prime Ministers expressed their keenness to support and enhance the efforts of the Qatar-Singapore High Level Joint Committee. The call touched on the latest develop-ments of the coronavirus pandemic and strengthening cooperation in this regard.-QNA

Amir holds telephone conversation with President of Somalia

Amir sends congratulations to President of Slovenia

Amir sends greetings to President of Mozambique

Shura Council’s Joint Committee examines draft law

PM holds phone call with Singaporean counterpart

02 FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020HOME

FAJR SUNRISE 03.16 am 04.45 am

W A L R U WA I S : 32o↗ 35o W A L K H O R : 32o↗ 43o W D U K H A N : 29o↗ 38o W WA K R A H : 28o↗ 43o W M E S A I E E D 25o↗ 40o W A B U S A M R A 29o↗ 38o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 06:44 – 20:23 LOW TIDE 03:39– 14:00

Very hot daytime with slight dust to blowing dust at some places at times, relatively hot by night.

Minimum Maximum33oC 44oC

ZUHR

MAGHRIB

11.37 am06.30 pm

ASR

ISHA

02.59 pm08.00 pm

Qatar Airways announces sponsorship of AS Roma Women’s Football TeamTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Airways announced yesterday that it is the new Main Global Partner of AS Roma Women’s Team for season 2020-21.

This development sees the ‘World’s Best Airline’ extend its partnership with AS Roma to also include the women’s team. Qatar Airways’ extensive football sponsorship portfolio currently includes the men’s and women’s teams of both Boca Juniors in Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain. The airline is also proud to partner with German club FC Bayern München, Al Sadd Sports Club in Qatar and the Belgian club K.A.S. Eupen.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, H E Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is delighted to sponsor the AS Roma Women team as we see women’s football going from strength to

strength around the world. We are proud of our diverse port-folio of global sport sponsor-ships and are totally committed to supporting the women’s game, reflecting our belief in the power that sport has in bringing people together.”

Qatar Airways Senior Vice President Marketing and Cor-porate Communications, Salam Al Shawa, said: “We are thrilled to welcome the AS Roma Women team to the Qatar

Airways football family and look forward to seeing the players proudly sporting our logo on their shirts. Women’s sport has experienced unprec-edented growth in viewership, attendance and fan following in recent years and we are excited at the opportunities this part-nership presents the airline.”

AS Roma CEO, Guido Fienga added: “We are honoured to extend our partnership with Qatar Airways, and thank them

for their dedication to sup-porting women’s football. We are proud to reach such a sig-nificant milestone with Qatar Airways during this difficult time. The current pandemic has caused unprecedented chal-lenges for the entire football community; however, we at AS Roma continue working effort-lessly in support of our teams.”

Qatar Airways is proud to have developed a wide range of global sports sponsorships, supporting top-level sporting events and some of the world’s biggest football clubs. As official FIFA partner, Qatar Airways recently sponsored the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 and will sponsor the FIFA Club World Cup 2020 edition ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Qatar Airways is also partner of CONMEBOL, the gov-erning body for football in South America.

Minister: Students' dedication, parents' support help achieve high success rateMOHAMMED OSMANTHE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has managed to conclude this year’s Secondary School Certificate examinations, which were held in exceptional situations because of coronavirus outbreak. Giving credit of successful completion of exam-inations to all stakeholders, Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulwahed Ali Al Hammadi thanked parents, students and all educa-tional staffs for their commit-ments and compliance with plans and policies.

Addressing a press con-ference yesterday at the Min-istry, to announce the final result of the secondary exams, H E the Minister said that this year’s result was satisfactory with average of 85.29 percent which is higher than previous year’s and no subject has average less than previous year.

This year students secured higher rates and four students obtained 100 percent in all subjects. His Excellency said this is because 75 percent of the study in the academic year 2019/2020 was done regularly before the COVID-19 restric-tions were imposed and remaining 25 percent was taught through remote classes said H E the Minister, noting that many efforts have been made and facilities were pro-vided to ensure these achievements.

Along the students’ com-mitment, parents worked under pressure. The final curriculum was also helpful this year compared to the previous years he added.

We took into account the current situation in terms of number of questions and duration of exams he told The Peninsula, when asked whether the Ministry maintained the usual standards of exams or simplified questions comparing to the previous years to help students under COVID-19 pan-demic situation.

“The exam timings were reduced to 50 percent, and accordingly the number of questions was also reduced in order to avoid keeping students for long time in school”. But this was made as per the standards and ensuring that knowledge, skills and contents of the courses were covered,” H E the Minister added.

There were 110 students in quarantine who were not able to sit for exams, and special tests will be organized for them related to the second-round curriculum taking into account their health conditions.

This year we reviewed the assessment system, where more departments of the min-istry, experts from education department, Evaluation Department, and teachers took part in the preparation of the exams in order to assess the students’ performances from different dimensions taking into account individual differ-ences between students he added.

Earlier exams were pre-pared by the Evaluation

Department but this year dif-ferent competent departments of the ministry participated according to a plan set up before the COVID-19 situation, H E the Minister told The Peninsula.

In regards to change on the school calendar, H E the Min-ister said the second-round exams have been moved from June to August for grades 1 to 12, due to the health require-ments. The ministry has set more than one scenarios for the coming academic year 2020/2021 in line to the situ-ation and heath procedures and policies of the government.

For her part the Assistant Under-Secretary for Educa-tional Affairs at the Ministry of

Education and Higher Edu-cation, H E Fawzia Al Khater said: “Distance learning will be essential part of our education system hereafter, not only because of pandemic but it is important and effective due to the availability of facilities and technology.

This year’s experience will help us to improve and introduce the distance learning in the future with higher effi-ciency, H E added. There is a circular sent to all schools in Qatar to fill the gaps that may have occurred in curriculum coverage due to the sudden sus-pension of classes, she added.

Qatar successfully managed to overcome difficulties of COVID-19 by enabling our stu-dents to sit for Secondary School examinations and thus they will be able to join univer-sities of their choice, which is an advantage many students in the world have been deprived of, H E Al Khater stressed.

Replying to a question by The Peninsula that, can we expect change in the assessment and evaluation system next year or after by adopting continues assessment system where final result can be combined with the final assessment to calculate a final grade, instead of having first and second round of exams, the Assistant Undersecretary for Evaluation Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation, Khalid Al Harqan, said:

“There was a committee formed by Ministerial decision before the COVID-19 pandemic, to study and examine the assessment system and it is about to start its work and it is expected to produce a proposal which match with our new cur-riculum and policies”.

Qatar participates in Sudan Partners’ ConferenceQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar participated in the Sudan Partners’ Conference at the ministerial level that was organized by the Federal Republic of Germany in partnership with the Republic of the Sudan, the United Nations and the European Union.

The State of Qatar was represented at the conference by Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Counterterrorism and Mediation in Conflict Resolution, H E Dr. Mutlaq bin Majid Al Qahtani.

The conference highlighted political and economic support for the transitional government in Sudan, as well as economic and political reforms, the peace process and stabilization in Sudan.

MoPH withdraws cheese products as precautionQNA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced yesterday the withdrawal of Primula cheese products originating from the United Kingdom from the sales outlet in Qatar as a precautionary measure for possible contami-nation of the Clostridium botu-linum bacteria based on an inter-national notification in this regard.

In a statement, the ministry clarified that upon the arrival of the notification, all Primula cheese products of this type were with-drawn from the sales outlet of the importing company and were seized until destroying them, as the products expire from December 25, 2020, to January 28, 2021.

Samples of all types of Primula cheese, which were not included in the notification, were sent for laboratory testing at the central food laboratories of the Ministry of Public Health.

The Ministry of Public Health indicated that the imported quan-tities of this type of cheese are very limited and that the precau-tionary measures taken in this regard aim to reduce any potential risks expected to reach the consumer.

The Ministry emphasised the highest standards of work that ensures the safety and security of food products in the State of Qatar and called on all consumers to refer to official sources to inquire about any news that is circulating about food products.

MoPH reports 1,060 new COVID-19 cases, 1461 recoveriesQNA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) reported yesterday 1,060 new confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), and 1,461 recov-eries in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people recovered from the disease in the State of Qatar to 74,544 cases. The Ministry also recorded two new deaths due to the virus.

The MoPH said that, in the last 24 hours, 11 cases were admitted to intensive care due to health complications resulting from the virus, bringing the total of cases currently receiving intensive care to 212.

The MoPH pointed to the decrease in the number of daily cases that require intensive care, as the number of daily cases that require hospitalization is decreasing, but warned that infections may rise again if the community’s commitment to precautions and pre-ventive measures decreases.

The Ministry explained that the new cases had the infection transmitted to them from people who had been previously infected, as the Ministry continues to conduct investigative and proactive investigations, which contributes to the early detection of cases.

The new confirmed cases have completely isolated in the various medical facilities in the country, where they are receiving the necessary health care according to the health status of each case. The MoPH stated that the two deaths that were recorded yesterday had received the necessary medical care, and were aged 57 and 60 years old.

The Ministry pointed out that the coronavirus epidemic is grad-ually declining in the State of Qatar due to the precautions and preventive measures implemented by the state and the com-mitment of members of the community to them with a recent decrease in the number of infections.

Addressing a press conference, the Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulwahed Ali Al Hammadi, said that this year’s result was satisfactory with average of 85.29 percent which is higher than previous year’s and no subject has average less than previous year.

Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulwahed Ali Al Hammadi during a press conference at the Ministry, yesterday.

03FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020 HOME

Risks to vulnerable girls highlighted during QF conference

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Experts have urged world leaders to place vulnerable girls at the centre of new education systems as countries begin to rebuild and re-imagine learning in a post- COVID-19 world, at an international conference organised by Qatar Foundation.

Speaking at Education Dis-rupted, Education Reimagined Part II — an event hosted by the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), Qatar Foun-dation’s global education initi-ative—Safeena Husain, Founder of Educate Girls, said: “As we try to rebuild in a way that allows for greater equity, access, inclusion, and innovation, it is important to keep the most vul-nerable girls at the center of any new design. Only then can we bring real transformation in the way education systems address the needs of the generations to come.”

Husain delivered a keynote speech at the conference, in

which she highlighted a recent United Nations report that sug-gested 35 million people who had risen out of poverty will fall back into it this year alone, and 130 million people may be living in extreme poverty before the end of 2030.

“In the last 12 years, what I have realised is that poverty and patriarchy are the key barriers to girls’ education,” she said. “Now with COVID-19, both of these challenges have become much, much worse. The eco-nomic shock due to job losses and reverse migration has plunged families back into poverty.

“There is also an emerging regression to all old gender roles in the household, as fam-ilies are cooped up, anxieties are high, and children are not in school. We’re seeing domestic duties fall straight back onto the shoulders of young girls. We’re seeing a 17-times increase in domestic abuse cases. With patriarchy back at play, and

girls’ vulnerability shooting back up, school will become a distant memory for so many, and re-enrollment will become near impossible.

“Before COVID-19 hit, we were acutely aware of the global learning crisis, and, despite huge strides, we had about 130 million girls out of school. With so many countries still in lockdown, we can only estimate the impact the COVID-19 crisis will have. One thing we know for sure is that the crisis has widened inequal-ities and hit hardest those already struggling, ignored, excluded, or lagging behind.”

Echoing Husain’s views, Meagan Fallone, Director and CEO, Barefoot College Interna-tional, explained that the pan-d e m i c h a s h a d a

disproportionate impact on girls, saying: “It was clearly going to happen, as that is hap-pening to women across the world – economically, socially, and in many other ways.

“I think that this model that we’ve developed [at Barefoot College International] is even more relevant as it directly takes education to girls in last-mile communities in a way they can access it – so that it doesn’t interfere or conflict with their other responsibilities – and in a safe environment where fam-ilies feel like it’s OK for them to attend.

“We have to stop talking down, and start listening up to designing and reacting quickly with education and knowledge transfer, in ways that respond to what people tell us they need

– even more than what we may think they need. I think this is a moment for deep humility, and deep innovation – really taking away the barriers, and really thinking about how we want to develop great citizens in the long run and what needs to be put into communities to do that.”

The importance of engaging communities by placing them at the center of education systems was another key topic highlighted during the WISE conference.

“We’re having one COVID right now, but that could reoccur, and I think it probably will become a reoccurring sit-uation of disruption. So what we really need to be building is systems for education that are able to adapt to a variety of

different disruptions,” said Fallone.

“In order for that adapta-bility to be inherent in the pro-grams, communities need to be a central part of it. We need their strength to support, to be resilient, and to create the infra-structure, even if that’s very grassroots infrastructure. Com-munities are incredibly able to innovate solutions to the things they want to have and that they feel are important.

“If we don’t put them in a position of power with respect to the education of their children, we are losing probably the most essential piece of infrastructure that needs to be there to support a dynamic approach to a systems-changing mindset around education.”

Safeena Husain (left) delivering keynote speech at the conference organised by Qatar Foundation. RIGHT: Experts at the conference.

Katara virtual exhibition showcases paintings by Syrian artistRAYNALD C RIVERA

THE PENINSULA

“Patches”— an art exhibition which spotlights on works by Syrian contemporary artist Hadi Qasous — becomes the latest in a series of virtual art exhibitions recently launched by the Cultural Village Foundation - Katara.

Accessible through Katara’s website starting last Wednesday, the exhibition fea-tures 16 of Qasous’ latest paintings in which he integrates calligraphy into stunning colours and shapes resulting in unique works of art.

In these paintings, the beauty of the mosaic of Arabic scripts are further enhanced by the interplay of hues and forms created employing the artist’s own technique pro-viding each painting dis-tinctive character.

Born in Salqin - a town in Idlib in Syria, the artist formally studied Fine Arts in Lebanon. He is a member of different art organisations and has featured in solo and group exhibitions

internationally. Qasous has won many accolades for his works, some of which can be found in permanent collec-tions of many institutions and individual collectors in Syria, L e b a n o n a n d o t h e r countries.

The launch of the exhibition follows “Culture Collision” by Hassan Taleb Alsalat which showcases 14 interesting art-works that place famous cartoon characters in a the Gulf setting in which familiar objects in the region are depicted in the paintings.

Prior to this, Katara had also organised virtual shows fea-turing two more Qatari artists kicking off with “The Result” displaying stunning paintings by Fatima Al Nuaimi. The 19 acrylic on canvas works reflect both unanticipated and foreseen results combined in one artwork to demonstrate the comparison between them.

It was followed by “Al Taybeen” focusing on 17 realist paintings by Ali Dasmal Al Kuwari depicting traditional objects and Qatari architecture

which comprise a significant element of local culture and tradition.

With a number of exciting features, these exhibitions, which can all be accessed via Katara’s website, make it pos-sible for people to see artworks up close anytime as if they were

visiting Katara’s galleries in person.

With the COVID-19 pan-demic, cultural institutions around the world have devised new ways to bring art and culture from museums and galleries to people at home. In doing so, cultural entities

underpin the great importance they accord to uplifting arts and culture during these chal-lenging times when the threat of coronavirus renders it impossible for people to per-sonally visit galleries and museums to interact with works of art.

Some of the latest works by Syrian artist Hadi Qasous on show at “Patches”, a virtual exhibition launched by Katara on its website on Wednesday.

A recent United Nations report that suggested 35 million people who had risen out of poverty will fall back into it this year alone, and 130 million people may be living in extreme poverty before the end of 2030, said Safeena Husain, Founder of Educate Girls.

Minister of Culture and Sports holds discussion with WADA PresidentQNA — DOHA

Minister of Culture and Sports, H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali met yesterday with the Pres-ident of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) H E Witold Banka.

The meeting was held via video confer-encing. During the meeting, which was attended by a number of advisors and directors at the Ministry of Culture and Sports, they dis-cussed ways of cooperation between the two sides, in addition to a number of common issues, future plans and current challenges.

Over 85% success rate in high school exams

FROM PAGE 1

As for Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Fawzia Al Khater, she discussed, in her speech at the press conference, the remote education plan, confirming the ministry’s keenness on its constants regarding its standards, hours of study and preparation for student service.

Al Khater said that the Ministry of Education and Higher Education has arranged its affairs with regard to remote edu-cation that was applied in the previous period, through a new platform taking into account the circumstances of fam-ilies and all related challenges and focus on some criteria for student service, stressing that remote education will be part from the education plan in Qatar.

Kuwaiti mediation met with rejection from blockade states: EnvoyFROM PAGE 1

He pointed out that the economy of Qatar today is stronger than it was three years ago. The evidence is the report of the World Bank that said that the Qatari economy is growing and will continue to grow unlike the economy of the blockading countries, he said, adding that Qatar today is more inde-pendent and its food security is better.

H E Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani stated that with the advent of a new US administration, the blockading countries tried to mislead that admin-istration by sharing false information about the Qatari activities, but only weeks later the US administration

realised that something is wrong, and that what these countries claim is not true.

After that, they started pushing towards reconciliation and dialogue between Qatar and the blockading countries, but those efforts met with rejection from these countries, while the Qatari-US relations continued to develop and witnessed many initia-tives on the political and economic levels. “I believe that one of the most important successes achieved is the strategic dialogue between the two countries held in 2018, which shows the strength of the Qatari-US relations.”

H E the Ambassador appreciated “the role that US plays to maintain stability in our region, and we will continue to work with it”, pointing to strong rela-tions between Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and US President H E Donald Trump. They consult regu-larly on many issues and H E President Trump appreciates the role played by H H the Amir and Qatar in signing the peace agreement in Afghanistan, H E the Ambassador added.

On the fight against the coronavirus and the low number of deaths com-pared to the number of infections, H E the Ambassador said that the rapid response of the Qatari government and

the absorptive capacity of the health system enabled Qatar to achieve this achievement along with extensive and free checks and provision of health conditions in the workplace, in addition to the government’s quick step regarding closing schools, universities and public places, stressing that this integrated mix of procedures enabled Qatar to reduce mortality.

H E the Ambassador affirmed that a large number of projects related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup have been completed and delivered. H E also con-firmed that Qatar will organise an amazing edition of the World Cup that all fans of the game will enjoy, saying:

“Sport builds bridges between people and we want the world to view the Middle East not only as a place of conflict.”

Regarding the situation of Asian workers in Qatar, H E Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani stressed that Qataris respect and value everyone who works with them to develop their country, adding that Qatar has done a great job when it put in place many regulations and instructions for com-panies that work and invest in infra-structure for the World Cup. “We will continue to develop relevant legis-lation, and we feel confident that we are able to address any issue we face.”

Qatar, FIFA to stage pan-Arab tournament in 2021

FROM PAGE 1

President of the QFA added, “This new pan-Arab tournament will see teams from across the region go head-to-head in state-of-the-art FIFA World Cup venues and allow teams and fans to expe-rience Qatar as a tournament host country. This tournament marks an important footballing mile-stone for the country and the region, and everyone involved in delivering it will gain more essential experience ahead of the Qatar World Cup.”

Al Thawadi said: “This exciting tournament will act as a perfect preparatory event for Qatar ahead of the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and Arab world. “Qatar has hosted many events since it was awarded the World Cup hosting rights back in 2010, but this will be our biggest yet and it will prove essential in utilising facilities and services ahead of 2022. The tournament is also being held at exactly the same time as the World Cup, meaning fans, players and officials will get a taste of what’s to come in 2022. Full details of tournament participants, along with the match schedule, will be shared in due course. The delivery of the event will be led by Q22 staff, supported by the QFA, FIFA and the SC.

04 FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020 MIDDLE EAST

With 134 new deaths, Iran COVID-19 toll tops 10,000 AFP — TEHRAN

Iran yesterday announced 134 new deaths from the novel coronavirus took the overall toll in the Middle East’s dead-liest outbreak past 10,000.

The country has struggled to contain the spread of the virus since it reported its first cases in the city of Qom in late February.

Official figures have shown a rising trajectory in new con-firmed cases since early May, when Iran hit a near two-month low in daily recorded infections.

But officials deny the upward trend amounts to a second wave.

“We lost 134 of our compa-triots in the past 24 hours and the total number of victims is 10,130,” said health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari.

It was the deadliest day since April 6, when 136 deaths were reported, and the seventh straight day that Iran has reported more than 100 coro-navirus deaths.

Lari said another 2,595

people had tested positive for the virus over the same 24-hour period, bringing the country’s overall caseload to 215,096.

Hospital admissions were highest in the provinces of Bushehr, Hormozgan, Ker-manshah, Khuzestan and Kurdistan, while they were increasing in Tehran and Fars, she said.

“We call on all our compa-triots to follow the health pro-tocols, especially the elderly and those with underlying dis-eases,” Lari told a televised news conference.

“We also urge children and young people not to be present in crowded centres, to keep

their distance from the elderly, grandparents, and to help them to stay at home as much as possible.”

There has been scepticism at home and abroad about Iran’s official figures, with con-cerns the actual toll could be much higher.

On Sunday, Health Minister Said Namaki denied Iran was facing a second wave of infec-tions and said “the peak of the disease has not passed”.

“Even in provinces where we think the first coronavirus wave is behind us, we have not yet fully experienced the first wave,” semi-official news agency ISNA quoted him as saying.

5.4-magnitude quake hits eastern Turkey; 5 injuredAP — ANKARA

A moderately strong earth-quake hit southeast Turkey yesterday, causing damage to some homes and slightly injuring five people.

The 5.4-magnitude quake struck the town of Ozalp, in Van province, near Turkey’s border with Iran, at a depth of 6.9 km, Turkey’s Disaster and Emer-gency Management Presidency

said.It was also felt in neigh-

bouring provinces, HaberTurk news channel reported.

The governor of Van, Mehmet Emin Bilmez, said the quake caused “moderate” or “strong” damage to homes in some 15 neighbourhoods in Ozalp as well as in a dozen nearby villages.

Five people were hospi-talised with slight injuries after

trying to escape damaged struc-tures, the governor said. “No citizen was trapped under rubble,” he said.

Turkey is crossed by two major fault lines, and earth-quakes are frequent in the country.

Turkey’s worst quake in decades was in 1999, when a pair of strong earthquakes struck in the northwest, killing around 18,000 people.

A damaged house is seen after 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit Gurpinar district, Van, Turkey, yesterday.

Thursday was the deadliest day since April 6, when 136 deaths were reported, and the seventh straight day that Iran has reported more than 100 coronavirus deaths. But officials deny the upward trend amounts to a second wave. Total recorded COVID-19 cases have reached 215,096.

West Bank annexation would be ‘declaration of war’: HamasAFP — GAZA CITY

Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank would be a “declaration of war”, Gaza rulers Hamas said yesterday, as a UN envoy warned the move could fuel extremism.

Israeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu aims to table annexation plans from July 1, despite opposition from the Pal-estinians and much of the inter-national community.

In a televised address, Hamas’s military wing said such a move would prompt a war with the Palestinians.

“The resistance considers the decision to annex the West Bank and the Jordan Valley to be a declaration of war on our people,” said spokesman Abu Ubaida.

Gaza has been under a crip-pling Israel blockade since 2007, when Hamas took control of the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas and Israel have fought three wars in recent

years, with the latest conflict in 2014 killing 2,251 Palestinians and 74 people on the Israeli side.

There are no official rela-tions between the two sides and the Palestinian Authority, a sep-arate administration based in the West Bank, last month cut its cooperation with Israel.

Israel’s proposal to annex its settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley form part of a broader US peace plan pub-lished in January.

The proposals foresee the ultimate creation of a Pales-tinian state on the remaining West Bank territory and including the Gaza Strip.

But the plan falls far short of Palestinian aspirations, with a state on reduced territory and without east Jerusalem as a capital.

Palestinian officials cut dip-lomatic relations with Wash-ington in 2017, over its pro-Israel stance, and have rejected the US peace plan.

The United Nations has

raised alarm bells in recent weeks over Netanyahu’s inten-tions, warning they could do irrevocable damage to Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Speaking in Jerusalem yes-terday, the UN’s Middle East

envoy Nickolay Mladenov said annexation may also fuel extremism.

If Palestinians “feel that there is no prospect of a peaceful resolution to the con-flict, that only creates

opportunities for radicals,” he told journalists.

Mladenov pointed to a “long litany of such developments” in the Middle East, referring to the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Mladenov was speaking a day after a UN Security Council session in which Secretary General Antonio Guterres, as well as European and Arab powers, called on Netanyahu to end his annexation ambitions.

They view the move as illegal under international law, although the US has broken with this consensus and said Israel has the right to decide.

While countries are yet to announce retaliatory measures, Mladenov warned Israeli annexation could spark a regional conflict.

“Nobody wants another war, another flare-up of vio-lence in the Middle East, and certainly not one that has such a potential to ignite conflict way beyond its borders,” he said.

A Palestinian man argues with an Israeli soldier during a protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, in Jordan Valley, on Wednesday.

Lebanon President warns against unrest as economy crumblesAFP — BAABDA, LEBANON

Lebanon’s president Michel Aoun yesterday warned against any attempt to destabilise “security and the street”, after angry protests over the coun-try’s worst economic crisis in decades.

“Civil peace is a red line, and... it is everyone’s responsi-bility,” Aoun said at the presi-dential palace in Baabda.

The President was speaking at a national meeting that was boycotted by opposition leaders including several Christian political party heads and former premiers, such as former prime minister Saad Hariri.

Those who did not attend criticised the current leader-ship’s performance, and said priority should be on swift reforms to save a crumbling economy that has sparked protests.

In several nights of unrest two weeks ago, young men defaced shop facades and

clashed with police after the Lebanese pound hit a new low on the black market.

“What happened in the street in recent weeks... has to be a warning to all of us to beware of the security dangers opening the way to strife under the pretext of social demands,” Aoun said.

Lebanon has entered talks with the International Monetary Fund, hoping to secure billions of dollars in aid to boost its tanking economy.

“No rescue is possible if some continue to tamper with security and the street, foment sectarian feelings,” and hamper progress, he said.

Many in recent days have criticised Aoun and the govern-ment’s handling of the crisis, as the Lebanese currency slid to a record low of 6,000 pounds to the dollar on the black market, compared to the official peg of 1,507.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on

Wednesday he would not attend the Baabda meeting.

“The only solution is for the ruling group to leave and step aside to let others save the country,” he said.

Former cabinet heads in a statement on Monday called the meeting in Baabda a “waste of time” when the country really needed “different approaches to lift it out of the severe crisis”.

“Lebanese today only care about one thing: How much is the exchange rate?” Prime Min-ister Hassan Diab said during the meeting.

“They don’t care what we say. They just care what we will do.” Dozens protested on the road leading up to the presi-dential palace, where security forces were deployed in force.

Demonstrators criticised government inaction over alleged undue force against protesters and sectarian slogans during protests across the nation in recent months.

The economic crisis has caused tens of thousands to lose jobs or income, and has plunged 45 percent of the population into poverty.

Lebanese anti-government protesters carry a large national flag during a demonstration near the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, yesterday.

Kuwait sees 909 new virus cases;1,366 in Oman

QNA — KUWAIT/MUSCAT

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health reported yesterday two deaths and 909 new cases of corona-virus (COVID-19) during the past 24 hours, raising the count to 339 deaths and 42,788 infections.

The latest infections included 479 Kuwaiti citizens, while the 430 remaining cases are of several other national-ities, the ministry’s Spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al Sanad said.

Earlier today, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health announced 558 virus-free patients in the past 24 hours, raising to 33,367 total number of recoveries so far.

Meanwhile, the Omani Ministry of Health announced yesterday 1,366 new cases of COVID-19, including 680 among Omanis and 686 from non-Omanis, noting that 548 have recovered, bringing the total number of cases regis-tered in Oman to 33,760 and 144 deaths.

UN aid chief says Yemen will fall off a cliff if no new fundsAP — UNITED NATIONS

The UN humanitarian chief warned that without massive financial support, Yemen will “fall off the cliff,” with many more people starving to death, succumbing to COVID-19, dying of cholera and watching their children die because they haven’t been immunizsed for

killer diseases. Mark Lowcock told a closed Security Council meeting on Wednesday that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across Yemen and about 25% of the country’s confirmed cases have died — “five times the global average.”

“With the health system in collapse, we know many cases and deaths are going

unrecorded,” he said. “Burial prices in some areas have increased by seven times com-pared to a few months ago.”

Lowcock said the corona-virus “is adding one more layer of misery upon many others” including “appalling multi-cas-ualty incidents” and the coun-try’s economy, which is “heading for an unprecedented

calamity.” He pointed to the rapid depreciation of the Yemeni currency, a 10% to 20% rise in food prices in just two weeks, and the best available data indicate remittances may have already fallen between 50% and 70%. A virtual pledging conference for Yemen hosted by the UN and Saudi Arabia on June 2 saw 31 donors pledge

$1.35bn for humanitarian aid, including about $700m in new funds, Lowcock said.

“That’s only about half of what was pledged last year,” he said, and far below what’s needed to keep humanitarian programs going. “Reduced pledges from the Gulf region account for essentially all of the reduction,” said Lowcock.

Turkish official denounces Bolton memoirAP — ANKARA

A top Turkish official has denounced a memoir by former US national security adviser John Bolton, saying it contains "misleading, one-sided and manipulative” accounts of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s conversations with his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

In a series of tweets, Turkish presidential commu-nications director Fahrettin Altun said the book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” was driven by political considera-tions and personal gain.

“We find it reprehensible that former high-level officials attempt to use serious diplo-matic conversations and efforts to resolve outstanding issues between allies like the US and Turkey for their domestic political agendas,” Altun said.

Bolton claimed in the memoir that Trump sought to interfere in an investigation into Turkish state-owned bank, Halkbank, in an effort to cut deals with Erdogan.

Altun said Erdogan “clearly outlines Turkey’s priorities and advocates for them vigor-ously” including the Halkbank issue.

Altun tweeted: “We are confident that the US-Turkey relationship will survive such efforts and even thrive at the end. President Erdogan will continue his frank, honest, and straightforward conversations with the US President Donald Trump.”

Overnight curfew lifted in UAE BLOOMBERG — DUBAI

The United Arab Emirates lifted a curfew put in place three months ago to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Citizens and residents will now be able to move freely after the completion of its san-itation drive, state-run WAM reported. The restrictions had been gradually eased over the past months, but a 10 pm to 6 am lockdown had remained in place in most places.

The UAE aims to have a coronavirus vaccines available “by end of 2020 or earlier 2021,” after it allowed a Chinese state-owned vaccine developer to test in the country, WAM said.

Some restrictions however remain in place. Abu Dhabi still requires residents to obtain a permit before entering the oil-rich emirate as it carries out mass-testing.

The Middle East business hub is expecting tourists to begin flying back by July 7 for the first time in months.

05FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020 ISLAM

Repentance: A bountiful blessingSUHAIB WEBB

Success is a tough word, it haunts us at work, home and school. And like a beneficial medicine, it is not

easy to swallow. The reality of success is that it is anchored in the tangible; it is not a theoretical enterprise, but, as we say in the United States, “requires one to strap on his boots”.

The Arabs understood this well, thus the word for success (falah) is associated with the one who farms or harvests Al falaah because the latter cannot come without diligence and hard work. So, repentance is a sub-stantial enterprise, an effort, a struggle towards spiritual inventory. Caliph Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Audit yourselves before you are audited by Allah.”

Returning to Allah while struggling to swim the deep seas of life is a dif-ficult enterprise, no one likes to hear bad things about themselves. But if we are able to sit and audit ourselves, to take account of our spiritual principals; investigating our true state and relation with Allah, family and others, we will have reaped the fruits of a blessed harvest; setting the stage for a new course in our relationship with the Most Merciful.

Once the Prophet (PBUH) ascended the pulpit and at each step he was heard saying, “Ameen”. Later the com-panions enquired about the Prophet’s (PBUH) statement upon which he responded that Gabriel came to him supplicating against three types of people, one was he who failed to repent during the month of Ramadan thereby failing to be forgiven for his sins.

Overcoming the obstacles There are a number of obstacles

that lurk hidden for the one who seeks repentance. Perhaps the greatest is the feeling of fear and despondence. Many feel that it is simply too late to change: “I’ve done my dirt and there is simply no way to get back on track.”

Firstly, let’s understand that sinning is part of human nature. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Every person commits sins. And the best sinners are those who repent.” Many have claimed that the feelings of profound guilt and depression regarding their state, chain them from turning to Allah. This is one of the greatest tricks of the Devil; closing the door of hope to Allah’s mercy after sinning. Once a man came to the mosque of the Prophet com-plaining about his sins; the man was so overcome and saddened by his state that the Prophet (PBUH) said to him, “Say this: O Allah, your forgiveness is greater than my sins and my hope in Your mercy is greater to me than my [evil] actions.”

The man said this and the Prophet (PBUH) said to him, “Say it again.” The man repeated it, then the Prophet (PBUH) said to him, “Say it again.” The

man did it and the Prophet (PBUH) said to him, “Arise for, indeed, Allah has for-given you!”

For this reason Ibn Kathir reports that the Prophet (PBUH) said about the verse, “Say (Muhammad) to My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins and He is the One who forgives and is Merciful”, “It is more beloved to me than anything under the Heavens and on Earth.”

Secondly, sins should be seen as a strategy for one to turn in humility back to Allah. One of the early scholars said that, “A person could enter Par-adise because of a sin he committed.” Upon hearing this, his student chal-lenged him by asking, “How could that be?”

The scholar responded: “The sinner persistently thinks about it, which causes him to fear it, regret it, weep over it and feel humiliated in front of his Lord due to it. He stands before Allah, broken-hearted, with his head lowered in humility. So this sin is more

beneficial to him than doing many acts of obedience, since it caused him to have humility and humbleness – which leads to his happiness and success – to the extent that this sin prevents him from entering Paradise.”

Thirdly, rebounding from sin is one of the simple fruits related to our success. If we were to ask many people what it was that brought them back to faith, many would mention a mistake they made in the past. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Repentance is regret.” That regret is one of our greatest fears. In reality, however, it is a mercy from Allah which pricks at our conscience until we ultimately return to Him.

Allah says: “And He also forgave the three who were left behind (and regretted their error) to the point that the Earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness, and their souls confined them and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.” (9:118)

Notice the wording at the end of

this verse “Then He turned to them so they could repent.” Thus, repentance doesn’t start with the sinner, but begins when Allah turns to him with His mercy, love and compassion; awak-ening his heart with guilt, gently guiding him to His forgiveness. The sinner was lost in a sea of confusion and misery and Allah found him, guided him and forgave him.

The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Allah has greater joy at the repentance of one His servants when he turns towards Him than one of you would have over his mount, which, having escaped from him saddled with food and drink in the middle of the desert, so that he has despaired of finding it and gone to a tree to lie down in its shade, it suddenly appears standing by him while he is in that state, so that he takes its reins and then says out of the intensity of his joy, ‘O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Lord!’ getting confused because of his intense joy.”

Fourth, I’ve done so many things in the past and failed to repent. How

is it that, after all of these years, I could face Allah with such a blackened record? The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Allah the Mighty and Majestic accepts the repentance of His servant as long as his death-rattle has not begun.” Thus, no matter when, as long as one turns to Allah seeking His forgiveness, only then can that person expect to be forgiven.

Furthermore, there is no sin greater than Allah’s ultimate mercy and for-giveness. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Allah the Almighty has said: ‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds in the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and were you then to face Me, without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earthful of pardon.’”

Ibn Rajab noted that this Prophetic tradition begins with “O son of Adam” because of its context, repentance and forgiveness. Thus, when one despairs over his mistakes and shortcomings, he should recall Allah’s favour upon mankind, exercised upon their fore-father Adam. Thus, just as Adam repented to his Lord and, as noted in the Quran, “He immediately forgave him,” his offspring should do the same. Scholars noted that sound repentance should be coupled with the following qualities: Leaving the sin Regret, and Resolving never to return to the sin again. www.IslamiCity.com

Narrated by Ibn UmarAllah’s Apostle (peace be upon him) said: Islam is based on the five principles: 1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle. 2. To offer the (com-pulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and per-fectly. 3. To pay Zakat (obligatory charity) . 4. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan and 5. To perform Haj (Pilgrimage to Makkah).

Narrated by Abu HurairaThe Prophet (PBUH) said: “Faith (belief) consists of more than sixty branches (i.e. parts). And Haya (This term “Haya” covers a large number of concepts which are to be taken together; amongst them are self respect, modesty, bashfulness, and scruple, etc.) is a part of faith.” Narrated by ‘Abdullah bin ‘AmrThe Prophet (PBUH) said: “A Muslim is the one who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue and hands. And a Muhajir (emigrant) is the one who gives up (abandons) all what Allah has forbidden.”

Narrated by Abu MusaSome people asked Allah’s Apostle (PBUH), “Whose Islam is the best? i.e. (Who is a very good Muslim)?” He replied, “One who avoids harming the Muslims with his tongue and hands.”

Narrated by ‘Abdullah bin ‘AmrA man asked the Prophet (PBUH): “What sort of deeds or (what qualities of) Islam are good?” The Prophet replied, ‘To feed (the poor) and greet those whom you know and those whom you do not Know.

Sayings of the ProphetThe power of trust in GodMOHAMED HAGMAGID ALI

Of the Quran’s more than 6,000 verses-a number greater than the stars one can see in even the

darkest sky-one stands out. So great is it that verse that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once called it “Al Sayyidah” (the chief) and encouraged us to recite it after every fard salaat (Compulsory Pray) and just before sleeping. We call it Ayat Al Kursi:

“0 God. There is nothing worthy of worship but He, the Living, the Sustainer. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. His is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and behind them, and they can grasp only His knowledge He wills. His throne embraces the heavens and Earth, and it tires Him not to uphold them both. He is the High, the Formidable”. (Quran 2:255).

God’s fullest self-descriptionThis verse is God’s fullest self-

description to humanity, a jewel that enables us to know Him as more than a mere abstraction so that we can connect to Him. Let’s take a moment to ponder its myriad meanings.

After commencing with the profession of faith, this verse mentions two of God’s names: Al Hayy (the Living) and Al Qayyum (the Sustainer). We might wonder -why these two names follow the profession of faith. One possibility is that they help clarify what elevates someone to be worthy of worship. As we know, what is worthy lasts forever, and what is unworthy does not.

And how many are the finite things that we may revere. We may busy our minds and bodies with the material (food, money, and possessions) or the immaterial (pleasure, fame, and security) things of life, but to what end? Even the wealthiest, most

famous, best fed, and most secure people can still find themselves spiritually unsat-isfied. The wise person must thus do as Abraham did: While contemplating the various objects of human worship, including the stars, he said: “I do not love those that set” (Quran 6:76). As we think about God’s next self description, that He is not over-taken by slumber or sleep, let’s reflect upon what an extraordinary attribute this is. How often do we yearn to speak to someone about something wonderful that has hap-pened or seek their consolation in moments of grief, only to find that their cell phone is turned off, they are in a meeting, have gone to sleep, and so on? Yet God is always available whenever we call upon Him. He never asks us to “hold on” or call back. Even in the depths of night, He remains closer to us than our jugular vein (Quran 50:16).

God then mentions His dominion over the heavens and Earth. This important statement clarifies our relationship to Earth and its creatures. Earth is not a gift that has been given to us unconditionally, but rather a sacred trust in our hands for safekeeping. The mountains and valleys, animals and plants, water and air are thus ultimately borrowed property that He will recall one day. As Muslims, we are bound to preserve them in the best manner possible.

So too do we – our bodies and – talents – belong to God. This is important, because we may wonder why we are bound to the rules He has established for us. For example, why can we not drink alcohol if we want to socialise, or skip our prayers if we find their timing inconvenient? The answer is that our bodies are trusts given to us for our benefit from the Divine Mercy, but none-theless property that He will recall one day. Just as a teenager who borrows the family car must accept the parents’ conditions, such as washing it once a month, so are we bound by the terms of the trusteeship of our body. Yet so merciful is God that He

requires nothing in return. Moreover, all of His requests are strictly for our own benefit.

God’s all encompassing knowledgeIn the middle of the verse, God describes

His knowledge as encompassing all that is before and after us. Take a moment to con-sider the unease we all experience when a police officer appears in our car’s rear-view mirror. How many of us begin to pay extra careful attention to our speedometer lest we accidentally exceed the speed limit? Yet God sees infinitely more than any police officer ever could. Why does God’s knowledge of our acts so often fail to stir us the way a police officer’s does?

God says: “One day … the Book [of Deeds] will be placed [before you], and you will see the sinful in great terror because of what is [recorded] therein. They will exclaim: ‘Ah! Woe to us! What a Book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great, but takes account thereof!” (Quran 18:47-49).

Moreover, when cited for a traffic vio-lation, we usually accrue points and receive a ticket. Yet when we violate God’s law, if we “pay our ticket” (sincerely repent), He converts our bad deeds into good deeds – as if paying a ticket resulted in a deduction of points and a financial reward!

Trust in GodSometimes we experience difficult times

and become frustrated, even despondent. Our health can fail and our wealth can dis-appear. Worse, we can feel that there is no one to turn to, no one who can fully under-stand our plight. When this happens, remember God’s promise: “If anyone puts his/her trust in God, sufficient (is God) for him/her” (65:3). Ayat Al Kursi reminds us of God’s splendour and majesty, closeness and understanding, mercy and care. Indeed, there is no One more worthy of our worship than Him. www.IslamiCity.com

“Allah the Almighty has said: ‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds in the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and were you then to face Me, without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earthful of pardon.” Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

06 FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020AFRICA

Western, Arab states pledge $1.5bn for SudanREUTERS — BERLIN/KHARTOUM

Western and Arab countries pledged $1.5bn at a conference hosted by Germany to help Sudan ease an economic crisis hampering its transition towards democracy after the fall of autocratic leader Omar Al Bashir.

The European Union pledged ¤312m ($350.13m), the United States $356.2m, Germany ¤150m and France ¤100m for various specific projects, among them planned cash transfers to poor families with the help of the World Bank,

officials said at the online event.The United Kingdom

pledged £150m ($186.17m) and the United Arab Emirates $300m. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, running Sudan under a precarious, transitional power-sharing deal with the military since Bashir’s over-throw in a popular uprising last year, is desperate for more foreign support.

Hamdok warned that without it, instability could spread through a volatile region in east and northeastern Africa and disaffected young people would keep migrating by sea to

Europe. “We expect our partners to support us to have a successful transition,” he said. “I do not want to paint a rosy picture. Any transition is messy and there are so many challenges.”

Inflation topped an annual 100% last month and Sudan’s

currency has plunged to 141 to the dollar on the black market compared to 55 at the official rate. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for “massive” aid, saying the region needed a stable and democratic Sudan. He gave no figure but the pledges reported so far were

well below the $8bn in aid that Hamdok said in August 2019 was needed to turn around an economy in crisis since Sudan lost almost all its oil revenue when South Sudan seceded in 2011.

The family cash scheme is seem as key to softening the blow from a removal of fuel and other subsidies demanded by would-be Western donors and which cost an estimated $3bn annually. Finance Minister Ibrahim Al Badawi told the event the government was reforming fuel subsidies, without giving details.

Half a million Senegalese pupils return to schools after 3 monthsAFP — DAKAR

Half a million Senegalese schoolchildren returned to class yesterday, under instructions to wear face masks and keep a distance from each other, after three months of absence.

The government in the West Africa state shut schools in mid-March in a bid to curb coronavirus infections.

It initially intended to open them again on June 5, but delayed the decision at the last minute after several teachers were found to have caught the virus.

Yesterday’s reopening affects 551,000 children out of some 3.5 million in Senegal, with only pupils who are sitting exams this year returning to class.

“We have reduced the number of pupils in the classes, some of which have fewer than 20 (people),” said Abdoul Diop, a headmaster in the capital Dakar,

where class sizes are often large.Diop explained that all his students

were wearing masks — which the school had made available, alongside hand sanitisers. Senegal has recorded 6,233 coronavirus cases to date, with 94 fatal-ities. But as with other poor countries in the region, there are concerns about the government’s ability to handle a large outbreak.

Cases continue to rise, and President Macky Sall went into quarantine on Wednesday after coming into contact with an infected person, according to his office, which added that he had nonetheless tested negative for COVID-19.

Closing schools in March has dis-rupted Senegal’s normal school year, which usually ends in July. This year, examinations have been pushed back until late August and early September.

Malawi opposition leader heading for poll win: MediaAFP — BLANTYRE, MALAWI

Malawi’s opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera appeared headed for victory yesterday in a re-run of a presidential vote that was scrapped over massive irregularities, unofficial tallies showed.

Voters went to the polls on Tuesday for a second time in a year to elect a president after the Constitutional Court ordered fresh elections in a his-toric vote seen as a test for democracy in the southern African country.

Results compiled from each of the 5,002 polling centres and tallied by the public broadcaster MBC and Times newspaper, gave Chakwera a dominant 59 percent lead ahead of incumbent President Peter Mutharika’s 38 percent.

Mutharika, in power since 2014, won 38.5 percent of last year’s discredited vote in which

Chakwera garnered 35.4 percent.

The country’s electoral commission said yesterday it had received results from 26 of the country’s 28 districts — rep-resenting 82 percent of the total

vote. But it did not say when it would release the full results as it appealed for patience and calm. The cancellation of Muth-arika’s victory, was historic as it made Malawi just the second country south of the Sahara to

have presidential poll results set aside, after Kenya in 2017.

Rarely do courts in Africa annul election victories of incumbent presidents.

Opposition politicians in neighbouring countries have already congratulated the 65-year old Chakwera.

“New life to Malawi! Con-gratulations to the President Elect. Kudos to state organs’ professionalism & citizens’ vig-ilance. Well done Malawi!,” tweeted Nelson Chamisa, Zim-babwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance (MDC-A).

Mmusi Maimane, the former leader of South Africa’s main opposition, the Democratic Alliance also tweeted: “My friend, brother and leader has just won the Malawian elec-tions. I just got off the phone with him and celebrate his achievement... Change is coming.”

Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera addresses supporters in Lilongwe, Malawi, on February 4, 2020.

Cars drive along a street in Abuja, Nigeria, yesterday.

COVID-19 outbreak could impoverish 5 million in Nigeria, says World BankREUTERS — ABUJA

Nigeria’s coronavirus outbreak may push 5 million people into poverty as it triggers the worst recession in the African powerhouse since the 1980s, the World Bank has said.

The twin shock of the pandemic and a global oil price crash has pummelled Nigeria, which has Africa’s largest economy mainly because it is the continent’s top crude producer.

But Nigeria also has the highest number of people living in extreme poverty in the world, and has not recovered from another recession

in 2016. The World Bank forecasts Nigeria’s economy will shrink 3.2-7.4 percent this year, depending on the severity of the COVID-19 out-break. In a worst case scenario, the recession could continue into 2021 when the economy could contract two percent, it said.

“Today’s unprecedented crisis will require an equally unprecedented response from the entire Nigerian public sector (and) private sector to contain the outbreak and protect the lives and livelihoods of low-income and vulnerable communities,” the Bank said in a report on Nigeria’s economic development.

DR Congo declares end to Ebola epidemic in eastAFP — KINSHASA

Congo yesterday officially declared an end to an Ebola epidemic that broke out in the east of the troubled country two years ago and went on to claim over 2,000 lives.

The outbreak was “the longest, most complex and deadliest” in the 60-year history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Health Min-ister Eteni Longondo said.

It has only been surpassed by the 2013-16 Ebola epidemic in West Africa that killed 11,300 people.

On June 1, as the epidemic in the east waned, a new out-break — the DRC’s 11th since Ebola was identified in 1976 — was announced in the country’s northwest. For an outbreak to

be officially over, there have to be no new cases reported for 42 days, which is double the incu-bation period of the deadly haemorrhagic microbe.

The eastern outbreak was just three days from reaching the finishing line in April when a new case was reported. Further cases meant that the clock was restarted on May 14.

The World Health Organi-zation (WHO) reacted with joy to the announcement yesterday from the biggest country in sub-Saharan Africa.

“#Ebola outbreak in #DRC is OVER! WHO congratulates all those involved in this tough and often dangerous work to end the almost 2-year long out-break,” it said on Twitter.

The DRC is also struggling with the new coronavirus, with

6,411 cases including 142 fatal-ities, and measles, which has killed more than 6,000 people since early 2019.

The epidemic in the east broke out in August 2018 and killed a total of 2,227 people.

It was declared by the WHO in July 2019 to be a Public Health Emergency of Interna-tional Concern — a move that steps up international support — given the epicentre’s close proximity to neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda. The worst-hit area was North Kivu, a province battered by militia killings and ethnic violence.

“Chronic insecurity” helped make the epidemic “highly complex,” Longondo said.

Eleven workers and patients were killed, including a Cam-eroonian doctor, the UN said.

Two experimental vaccines were brought in to help roll back the disease.

More than 320,000 people received the jab, and the success means that “people are demanding to have the vaccine. It makes the campaign easier,” said Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, in charge of the anti-Ebola fight.

The Ebola virus is passed on by contact with the blood, body fluids, secretions or organs of an infected or recently deceased person. It has a natural res-ervoir in nature, which is believed to be a species of bat.

The death rate is typically high, ranging up to 90 percent in some outbreaks, according to the WHO.

The northwest’s outbreak, about 1,000 km away from the

one in the east, is focused on Mbandaka, a transport hub on the Congo River in the province of Equateur.

It has claimed 13 lives out of 24 cases, according to the WHO.

Equateur was previously hit by Ebola between May and July 2018. Thirty-three people died.

Ebola experts said the expe-rience of the eastern outbreak would be vital for informing further action against Ebola.

One problem was an influx of wealth among health workers and their escorts in the armed forces — guards were given per-diem expenses of $300-400 per month in a country where per-income capita is around $500 a year.

The river of money created envy that militia groups readily exploited, they said.

Sudan warns millions at ‘risk’ if Ethiopia fills dam without deal

AFP — KHARTOUM

Sudan warned yesterday that millions of lives will be at “great risk” if Ethiopia unilat-erally fills its Nile mega-dam without reaching a deal with downstream Cairo and Khartoum.

Tensions are high between upstream Ethiopia and the two other countries after recent talks failed to produce a deal on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renais-sance Dam. Addis Ababa plans to start filling the dam, located on the Blue Nile, next month.

In a statement, Sudan’s water ministry said it had sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council urging it to “prevent all parties from taking unilateral measures including on filling the res-ervoir of (Ethiopia’s) renais-sance dam before reaching an agreement.”

It said filling the dam uni-laterally “will compromise the safety of Sudan’s Roseires Dam and thus subject millions of people living downstream to great risk”.

On Sunday, Sudan’s Water Resources Minister Yasser Abbas said it was important that Ethiopia share infor-mation about water supplied from the dam, otherwise “we will not know the amount of water discharged from the Renaissance dam, which might cause flooding and the Roseires dam itself will be at risk” of being overwhelmed.

The ministry warned that the remaining time for the countries to agree is “tight and critical”.

It also urged the Security Council to “invite leaders of the three countries to show political will and commitment to resolve the few remaining issues.” Khartoum recently proposed breaking the ongoing deadlock by raising the status of the talks to prime ministerial level.

Egypt, which views the hydro-electric barrage as a threat, itself appealed on Friday for the UN Security Council to intervene in the dispute, citing Ethiopia’s “non-positive stances”. Egypt fears that the dam would severely cut its Nile water supply, which provides nearly 97 percent of the country’s fresh-water needs. Ethiopia says the barrage is indispensible for its development, and insists that downstream countries’ water supply will be unaffected.

Angola mulls arrest warrant for Isabel dos SantosAFP — LUANDA

Angola’s attorney general said yesterday that he did not rule out issuing an inter-national arrest warrant against billionaire business-woman Isabel dos Santos, suspected of corruption in her native country and Portugal.

“We are working in cooperation with the Portu-guese authorities. And if the need arises... to get to that point, we will see how to proceed,” Helder Pitta Gros said in response to questions at a press conference in the capital Luanda.

“These are procedural issues, (and) as you can imagine I cannot say more about a process that is under way. We are working on it,” he said.

Dos Santos, 47, described by Forbes as the wealthiest woman in Africa, is accused of diverting billions of dollars from state companies during her father Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s near four-decade rule of the oil-rich African nation.

She has strongly denied the allegations, describing them as “a coordinated political attack” devised by the Angolan government.

Last December, a civil court in Luanda issued a “preventative” order to freeze her business assets as part of a crackdown on graft by the former president’s successor, Joao Lourenco.

A month later and after analysing a trove of more than 700,000 leaked docu-ments, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) also accused her of looting state coffers.

Subsequently, Portugal froze her assets in that country, where she has invested mainly in banking and telecommunications.

One of dos Santos’s lawyers, Dan Morrison, told AFP this month that Angola’s order to freeze her assets was “manifestly unfair, improper” and based on “faked” documents.

There was no immediate response to AFP’s request for comment from dos Santos’ communications represent-atives yesterday.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has warned that without foreign support, instability could spread through a volatile region in east and northeastern Africa and disaffected young people would keep migrating by sea to Europe.

A pupil washes his hands with the assistance of the school nurse in Dakar yesterday, on the opening day of the classes for the students in the examination class in Senegal.

07FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020 ASIA

29 million New Delhi residents to be surveyed for coronavirusAP & REUTERS — NEW DELHI

India says it will carry out a massive survey for the corona-virus targeting the entire popu-lation in New Delhi of 29 million.

Officials will go to each household to record every res-ident’s health details, and administer a virus test to those who show or report symptoms.

The survey will be com-pleted by July 6, according to the government of New Delhi, the worst-hit city in the country with 70,390 confirmed cases.

Police will enforce physical distancing and prevent the mixing of the population inside more than 200 containment zones in the capital, where large clusters of cases have been con-firmed. Surveillance cameras or drone monitoring will also be used.

India yesterday registered another record high of 16,922 new cases, taking the total to 473,105. The Health Ministry also reported 418 more deaths, taking fatalities to 14,894. The ministry said the recovery rate was continuing to improve at 56%.

New Delhi’s government has projected that cases in the capital area alone could expand to more than half a million by

late July, and is considering taking over luxury hotels and stadiums to convert into field hospitals.

Armed forces personnel are providing medical care and attention to coronavirus patients kept in railroad coaches that have been turned into medical wards at nine loca-tions in the capital.

The Health Ministry said it has ramped up testing to more than 200,000 per day across the country, raising the total number of tests so far to nearly 7.3 million.

Meanwhile, authorities in New Delhi worked to convert a spiritual centre into a huge quarantine facility yesterday as novel coronavirus cases in the Indian capital overtook the financial hub Mumbai for the first time.

Delhi now has 70,390 coro-navirus cases, with more than 40,000 detected in the last two weeks. That is more than

Mumbai’s 69,528, though the city, long considered one of India’s biggest coronavirus hot spots, has seen a higher rate of deaths.

Nationally, a record 16,922 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, federal data released yesterday showed, taking total cases in the country to nearly half a million with nearly 15,000 deaths.

That is behind only the United States, Brazil and Russia, and five times that of China, that has a similar-sized population and where the virus originated late last year. Embassies have warned their citizens living in Delhi that hospital beds are running out, urging them to consider leaving the country.

But unlike some other states, Delhi has tested its cit-izens aggressively, a fact experts hope will help over the next few weeks, when cases could peak in the capital.

“Most of the cases detected

Workers make disposable beds out of cardboard at the campus of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a spiritual organisation, where a coronavirus disease care centre has been constructed for the patients amidst the spread of the disease, in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

now are directly a function of increased testing. Going forward, this should help in the early isolation of those who are infected,” said Giridhara R Babu, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India.

The federal government has sent in border police to manage the quarantine facility at a centre for spiritual organisation Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Yesterday, dozens of staff were installing fans and

assembling rudimentary beds made out of cardboard.

When complete the facility will have capacity for more than 10,000 patients, housed in a vast hangar usually used for lec-tures given by its spiritual leader. A section of the tem-porary hospital is scheduled to open today.

In another development, Sri Lanka has opened a new labo-ratory capable of conducting 500 coronavirus tests per day,

Previously, Sri Lanka only had the capacity to conduct 300 tests a day. The lab was built with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank. Sri Lanka has conducted 100,000 tests so far and health authorities say the disease is under control, with new patients belonging to two clusters - navy sailors and those came from abroad. The country has reported 2,007 cases and 11 deaths.

Indian army chief visits troops near China borderAP — NEW DELHI

India’s army chief visited the border with China in the Hima-layan region to review his troops’ preparedness after hand-to-hand combat between Indian and Chinese soldiers left 20 Indians dead earlier this month, the army said yesterday.

The trip by General M M Naravane to the Ladakh region on Wednesday and yesterday as two Indian security officials reported that Chinese soldiers have entered Indian-controlled territory in another strategi-cally important area despite ongoing talks between mil-itary commanders and dip-lomats to ease tensions.

The officials said Chinese troops had advanced in the Depsang Plains, also in Ladakh, in violation of border man-agement and jointly agreed patrolling protocols between the two countries.

Depsang is a strategically important area close to Daulat Beg Oldie, where India in recent years made an airstrip close to China operational.

The Indian officials said a similar Chinese entry in the area took place in 2013, but the two sides resolved it through diplomatic channels.

Japan confirms scrapping US missile defence systemAP — TOKYO

Japan’s National Security Council has endorsed plans to cancel the deployment of two costly land-based US missile defence systems aimed at bolstering the country’s capa-bility against threats from North Korea, the country’s defence minister said yesterday.

Defence Minister Taro Kono said the country will now revise its missile defence programme and scale up its entire defence posture.

The council made its decision on Wednesday, and now the government will need to enter negotiations with the

US about what to do with pay-ments and the purchase con-tract already made for the Aegis Ashore systems.

Kono announced the plan to scrap the systems earlier this month after it was found that the safety of one of the two planned host communities could not be ensured without a hardware redesign that would be too time consuming and costly.

“We couldn’t move forward with this project, but still there are threats from North Korea,” Kono said at a news conference yesterday.

Japan will discuss ways to better protect the country and

the people from the North’s missiles and other threats, he said.

The Japanese government in 2017 approved adding the two Aegis Ashore systems to enhance the country’s current defences consisting of Aegis-equipped destroyers at sea and Patriot missiles on land.

Defence officials have said the two Aegis Ashore units could cover Japan entirely from one station at Yamaguchi in the south and another at Akita in the north.

The plan to deploy the two systems already had faced a series of setbacks, including questions about the selection of

one of the sites, repeated cost estimate hikes that climbed to 450bn yen ($4.1bn) for their 30-year operation and mainte-nance, and safety concerns that led to local opposition. Kono said Japan has signed contract worth nearly half the total cost and paid part of it to the US. He said Japan is trying to get the most out of what it has already paid, though he did not elaborate.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has steadily pushed to step up Japan’s defence capability, said last week that in light of the scrapping the government would need to reconsider Japan’s missile defence program and do more

under the country’s security alliance with the US.

Abe said the government would consider the possibility of acquiring preemptive strike capability, a controversial plan that critics say would violate Japan’s war-renouncing Constitution.

Kono yesterday also raised concern about China’s increas-ingly assertive activity in regional seas and skies. He said Chinese coast guard vessels are repeatedly in and out of Jap-anese waters around disputed East China Sea islands, and a Chinese submarine recently passed just off Japan’s southern coast.

Bangladesh judge dies from COVID-19ANATOLIA — DHAKA

For the first time a judge in Bangladesh died due to the novel coronavirus in the country’s main military hospital in the capital Dhaka, said official sources.

Ferdous Ahmed, 58, was a Women and Children Repression Prevention Tri-bunal judge, who was posted in the country’s northern border district of Lalmonirhat. “He was infected by the virus during performing duties at virtual court,” Saifur Rahman, the spokesman of the coun-try’s highest court, said.

Amid the outbreak of the lethal virus, Bangladesh approved judicial activities through virtual means on May 7, citing people’s needs.

Till date, 40,000 convicts have been granted bail after hearings on around 75,000 petitions in the country’s lower courts, according to official records.

Ahmed was admitted to the country’s main military hospital in Dhaka on June 7 after testing positive for the virus.

Japan to disband panel of coronavirus experts after criticism

REUTERS — TOKYO

Japan is to disband a panel of medical experts advising Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet on the response to the novel coronavirus after crit-icism of its transparency and lack of independence.

Japan has been spared the kind of explosive coronavirus outbreak seen elsewhere, with some 18,000 cases and 969 deaths, but it is far from over and questions about the gov-ernment’s response linger.

The number of daily new cases in Tokyo climbed to 55 on Wednesday, the highest tally in 1-1/2 months. The panel’s independence from gov-ernment influence has come into question and Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said it would be disbanded and a new one created with a broader range of specialists.

Rohingya plea for refugee camp cemeteriesANATOLIA — DHAKA

A Rohingya rights group has asked the Bangladeshi refugee commissioner’s office to allocate a plot of land for members of the minority group to bury the bodies of deceased Rohingya.

The official application, sub-mitted on June 14 by the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH) lamented that after two years encamped near the country’s southeastern town of Cox’s Bazar, the refugees had nearly run out of cemetery space.

“The local people are wor-rying for their people to get enough spaces in the cemetery for the future. So they are not allowing the refugees to bury continuously in their cemetery,” said the application reached by Anadolu Agency.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world’s most per-secuted people, have faced

heightened fears of attack in Bangladesh’s neighboring Myanmar since dozens were killed there in communal vio-lence in 2012.

According to Amnesty Inter-national, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a brutal crackdown in August 2017.

No land has officially been set aside for Rohingya burials at the crowded camps, leaders of the group said.

Small areas have been unofficially fixed as cemeteries in most Rohingya camps, with reports that some have had to bury more than one body in a single grave.

With a single grave, in con-ventional cemeteries costing at least 3,000-15,000 Bangladeshi takas ($35-$176), the already destitute refugees have been hard-pressed in procuring a spot to lay their dead to rest.

Having expressed their gratitude for the hospitality of their hosts, the group none-theless bemoaned the hardship that this caused the refugees.

“It is right from their part keeping the spaces for their own villagers. But it is the most difficult and big burden for the Rohingya refugees,” it said, urging authorities to allocate a specific graveyard for all 32 Rohingya camps to “urgently” resolve the issue.

“We need the cemetery for each camp. We cannot create other ways to bury dead peoples’ bodies. Please accept our request and manage the cemetery as quickly as possible.”

According to an approx-imate calculation by the ARSPH, since the mass exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh in August 2017, as many as 17,480 Rohingya have died in the camps which house over 1.2 million refugees.

Bangladesh’s Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Com-missioner Mahbub Alam Talukder told Anadolu Agency that officials had received the application, but that a decision was pending.

“They [Rohingya] need many things and they are demanding for many things, but we have to deal with it as per our capability and prevailing situation,” said Talukder.

He added that Rohingya were still burying the bodies of deceased people at a certain space in every camp. “Con-cerned officials are looking into it.” The refugees, however, say they need sufficient dedicated space for every camp as cemeteries.

“At least we need to bury our people at a specific place so we can visit the graves of our demised and pray for the departed souls,” Abdul Karim, a refugee at the biggest Kutupalang camp, said.

Acehnesse fishermen help evacuate Rohingya children from Myanmar onto the shorelines of Lancok village, in Indonesia’s North Aceh Regency, yesterday.

Nearly 100 Rohingya rescued off IndonesiaAFP — LHOKSEUMAWE, INDONESIA

Nearly 100 Rohingya from Myanmar, including 30 children, have been rescued from a rickety wooden boat off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, a maritime official said.

Images shot from Indo-nesian rescue boats showed dozens of children and adults, many weeping, after they had been plucked from their vessel by local fishermen.

“The boat with Rohingya onboard was broken and floating in the middle of the sea when the fishermen found them,” said Muhammad Nasir, head of the maritime authority in Sumatra’s

northernmost Aceh province. They had gone without food

for several days, officials said. Malaysia and Indonesia are

favoured destinations for Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar, with thousands trying a perilous escape via smugglers across the sea every year.

Around a million live in squalid refugee camps in Bang-ladesh, where human trafickers also run lucrative operations promising to find them sanctuary abroad.

Their plight has been com-pounded in recent months by the coronavirus, with boats of asylum seekers turned away for fear they may be harbouring the deadly virus.

New Delhi’s government has projected that cases in the capital area alone could expand to more than half a million by late July, and is considering taking over luxury hotels and stadiums to convert into field hospitals.

The treaty stipulates that no side will take unilateral action that will undermine the interests of the other side. But annexation undermines Jordanian interests, which lie in the creation of a Palestinian state.

08 FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMAN

DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

DUE to concerted efforts made by the government, the COVID-19 outbreak has been slowed down in Qatar and the cases are gradually declining. The outbreak is into the fourth month in the State of Qatar, with a total of 91,838 confirmed cases detected so far. However, as many as 74,544 patients have already fully recovered from the disease. There have been 106 deaths to date. As the country has passed the peak of the outbreak, officials say the number of people requiring hospitalisation has also fallen.

The government has allowed all public and private entities to resume work with 50 percent of their staff at the workplaces, while the private healthcare facil-ities have been allowed to operate at 60 percent capacity from July 1. Under the gradual reopening plan, many shopping centres and public parks have also opened, though with strict precautionary measures in place.

Country’s top health experts have, however, advised the public to stay vigilant against the virus, which is still present in society. The elderly and people with chronic diseases particularly need to be protected from the infection as they are more vulnerable to com-plications from the disease. Health statistics show that the average age of people with COVID-19 who require intensive care is 50 years. People with chronic dis-eases are also at greater risk from COVID-19 as sta-tistics show that death rate among COVID-19 patients with heart disease is 13 percent, with diabetes 9 percent, and those with blood pressure 8 percent.

As the country gradually lifts COVID-19 related restrictions, public have been advised to keep fol-lowing the safety guidelines including maintaining social distance, hand hygiene, use of a face mask when in public or near another person. Community members also need to take extra care to protect their older family members or people who are already ill. Social visits, if necessary, should be kept short and while main-taining social distance and using face masks.

Qatar’s strategy against the pandemic has been effective and successful with the country achieving a very high recovery rate. Qatar’s mortality rate from COVID-19 is among the lowest in countries with major outbreak.

Despite reassuring results, the authorities have remained alert and steadfast in their efforts to control the pandemic. Qatar’s flagship public healthcare pro-vider, the Hamad Medical Corporation, has announced to increase its daily COVID-19 testing capacity to 30,000 by the end of July, from the current capacity of 20,000 tests per day. It has already conducted 337,000 COVID-19 tests since late February.

Success against COVID-19

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Quote of the day

It’s a challenge for all of us to decide how and when to open up our economies and our societies. Everybody’s trying to figure that out.

Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State

A sign with the colours of the Palestinian flag at the separation wall near the Israeli settlement of Mod'in.

Israeli plans to annex swathes of the West Bank would violate its peace treaty with Jordan, heaping pressure on Amman to review its ties with Israel, analysts say.

But ultimately cash-strapped Jordan, which depends on over a billion dollars in annual aid from the United States, will be unable to stop the move which has been green lighted by Washington, they say.

Jordan is, along with Egypt, the only Arab nation to have signed a peace treaty with Israel.

But opinion polls have repeatedly shown that the 1994 treaty -- signed one year after Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians -- is overwhelm-ingly opposed by Jordanians.

King Abdullah II, who has often complained of a “cold peace” with Israel, has already warned that annexation would lead to a “massive conflict”.

“I don’t want to make threats and create a loggerheads atmos-phere, but we are considering all options,” the king told German magazine Der Spiegel in May.

Ordinary Jordanians mean-while told AFP it poses an “exis-tential threat” for a country where more than half of the 10 million population are of Palestinian origin.

Jordan would be “forced to review all aspects of our relations with Israel”, Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz has said.

Analysts say there are many options on the table.

Jordan could cancel the peace treaty or scrap some of its key clauses -- namely those con-cerning security and intelligence cooperation -- shutter Israel’s embassy in Amman or recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv.

“Jordan must send a decisive message to Israel and the Amer-icans that says if you take that path (annexation) we will cancel the

peace treaty,” said Oraib Rintawi of the Al-Quds Centre for Political Studies.

Former Jordanian information minister Mohammed al-Momani said Israel’s planned annexation of Jewish settlements and other ter-ritory in the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley that runs along Jordan’s border, would be a clear “violation” of the peace treaty.

The treaty stipulates that “no side will take unilateral action that will undermine the interests of the other side”. But annexation “undermines Jordanian interests, which lie in the creation of a Pal-estinian state,” he said.

“This is a direct threat to Jor-dan’s national security,” added Momani, saying Amman could urge UN Security Council inter-vention or complain to the Inter-national Court of Justice.

Analysts say Jordan signed the peace treaty specifically because it believed it would pave the way for the creation of a Palestinian state and solve a problem that has bedevilled the kingdom for decades. Sandwiched between Israel and Jordan, the West Bank -- including east Jerusalem -- had been under Jordanian adminis-tration until Israel occupied it in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Following the conflict, hun-dreds of thousands of Palestinians fled to Jordan to join an influx of others who sought refuge there after the creation of Israel in 1948.

Jordanians of Palestinian origin account for more than half of Jordan’s 10 million people and 2.2 million Palestinians are regis-tered with the United Nations as refugees.

Palestinians say annexation would make it impossible to form a coherent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

King Abdullah shares that view and has repeatedly said there can be no alternative to a Pales-tinian state and no permanent set-tlement of Palestinian refugees in

Arab host countries. On the streets of Amman, Jor-

danians questioned by AFP echoed the king’s views and expressed their own fears.

“The annexation plan is an existential danger for Jordan and Palestine,” said shopkeeper Abdullah Musa, 44, who sells elec-trical appliances.

“There will be nothing left to establish a Palestinian state,” he said.

Photographer Luay Malhass said “tens of thousands of Pales-tinians will be forced to flee the West Bank”.

“Annexation... will create a dilemma for Jordan by forcing on it the option of an alternative state for the Palestinians and their per-manent settlement,” Malhass said.

Cancelling the peace treaty with Israel would be the king’s “most important decision of his reign”, Musa added.

But some analysts believe Jor-dan’s ability to stand up against the US-backed Israeli plans is limited.

“Jordan’s options will be diminished because it is bound by strategic relations with Wash-ington... and is very much dependent on US aid,” said Ahmad Awad, head of the Phoenix Centre for Economics and Informatics Studies.

Kirk Sowell, analyst with Utica Risk Services, believes Jordan will not confront Israel.

“Jordan can suspend the treaty if it wishes... (but) Jordan is not going to do anything tangible to stop annexation,” he said. It could also “formally suspend security cooperation... but security cooper-ation would continue, informally, because Jordan cannot survive otherwise,” he added.

Even suspending the gas agreement between the two countries would hurt Jordan more than Israel. “There will be lots of rhetoric about opposition to it, but there is nothing Jordan can do,” he said.

THE WASHINGTON POST

The decision of a three-judge US Court of Appeals panel to throw out the Michael Flynn case is a serious setback to those who hoped for some accountability for Flynn's admitted lies to the FBI and the suspicious decision by Attorney General William Barr to walk away from prosecuting them. The appeals court decision interrupts an important process that ought to be allowed to finish.

Flynn agreed in 2017 to plead guilty to making false statements to the FBI when he said he did not remember his discussions with Russia's then-Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in 2016 concerning US sanctions against Russia. The FBI interview with him was part of the investigation into Russia's interference in the US election. As part of the plea deal, Flynn

agreed to cooperate with the investigation. On December 1, 2017, Flynn entered a guilty plea. Asked by the judge, "Did you, in fact, do what the gov-ernment has stated it can prove at trial?" Flynn replied under oath, "Yes." Flynn later changed lawyers, stopped cooperating with the investigation and moved to withdraw his guilty plea, contradicting his own sworn prior admissions of guilt. This was followed by Barr's stunning turnabout, aban-doning the prosecution before Flynn could be sentenced.

Under all but extreme cir-cumstances, it is up to prose-cutors to decide what to pros-ecute - an essential executive branch function. But in this case, there is substantial reason to question the government's conduct, dropping a case in which a politically favored

defendant had pled guilty. Flynn's subsequent attempt to muddy the waters, and claim that his original statement to the FBI wasn't material to the investigation, has been rejected by the court.

US District Judge Emmet Sullivan, presiding over the case, set up a mechanism to examine the prosecution's withdrawal, including a request for a critique of the govern-ment's motion by John Gleeson, a former federal judge, and a hearing set for July 16. Gleeson found"clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power" and concluded that "the gov-ernment has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit apolitcal ally of the president."

Now, the three-judge appeals court panel has knocked the legs out from Sulli-van's process. The panel argues

that the judge has gone too far, that the choice of whether to prosecute is solely up to prose-cutors except in extraordinary circumstances, such as malfea-sance, like bribery. This is clearly not that. However, the decision to drop the Flynn case is not simply business as usual. It reeks of political manipu-lation at the highest levels of the United States government. The full appeals court should overrule the three-judge panel and allow Sullivan to proceed with the hearing, rule on the prosecution's request, and go ahead with sentencing if he thinks it warranted.

There would be ample opportunity then for full judicial review of Sullivan's course of action. But it is a mistake to short-circuit the proceedings now. The only proper end to this case is to hear it to the end.

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09FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020 ASIA

Pakistan to ground 150 pilots for cheatingAP — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s state-run airline said yesterday it will ground 150 pilots, accusing them of obtaining licences by having others take exams for them after a probe into last month’s crash that killed 97 people in Karachi.

Abdullah Hafeez, a spokesman for Pakistan Inter-national Airlines, didn’t give additional details about the cheating but said a process to fire the pilots had been initiated.

“We will make it sure that such unqualified pilots never fly aircraft again,” he said. He said the safety of passengers was the airline’s top priority.

The move by PIA to ground the pilots comes a day after the country’s aviation minister, Ghulam Sarqar Khan, said 262 out of 860 Pakistani pilots had

“fake” licences. He made the revelation while presenting preliminary findings of a probe to parliament into the May 22 Airbus A320 aircraft crash.

The announcement stunned lawmakers present in the National Assembly and shocked family members of passengers who died last month when Flight PK8303 after departing from the eastern city of Lahore went down in a congested res-idential area in Karachi, killing 97 people, including all the crew members. There were only two

survivors and a girl died on the ground.

Neither Khan nor Hafeez released additional details about the alleged methods used by the pilots to wrongfully obtain licences to fly com-mercial planes. Khan said only that they did not take examina-tions themselves to get the required certificates, which are issued by the civil aviation authority.

But officials familiar with the process involved in issuing pilot’s licences said an

unspecified number of people who had the skills to fly a plane but lacked technical knowledge had in the past bribed qualified persons to take exams for them. They didn’t elaborate.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said Pakistan Interna-tional Airlines learned about the scandal two years ago and had fired at least four pilots at the time on accusations of falsifying exams to obtain a licence from the civil aviation authority.

Shortly after the crash, Pakistan announced it would probe the incident and share its findings.

Khan presented preliminary findings of the investigation into last month’s crash to parliament Wednesday. He said the pilot, before making his first failed landing attempt, did not pay attention to warnings from the

air control tower when he was told the plane was too high to land. However, he said the pilot and co-pilot were medically fit and qualified to fly.

The crash took place when the plane attempted to land a second time. Air traffic control told the pilot three times that the plane was too low to land but he refused to listen, saying he would manage, Khan said. The minister added that, for its part, air traffic control did not inform the pilots about damage caused to the engines after the plane’s first failed landing attempt.

“The engines of the plane were damaged when they scraped the runway but the air traffic control did not inform the pilot,” he said.

Hafeez said notices were being issued to all those pilots who he believed had tainted licenses.

Vietnam family held after spreading news of land disputeAFP — HANOI

Four members of a Vietnamese family who spread news online about a deadly land dispute have been arrested, authorities said yesterday, as the communist government cracks down on dissent ahead of its party congress.

Vietnam’s authoritarian rulers typically move swiftly to muzzle critics and dissidents posting online, and the run-up to a leadership transition in January poses an especially tense period for the paranoid state.

The arrest of the four family members comes months after a violent dispute in a village near Hanoi, where residents had been resisting the military’s attempts to build an airport on their land.

Can Thi Theu — who has already served two prison sen-tences — and her family are believed to have been the first to spread news of the clash in January, in which three policemen and a villager were killed.

Theu, two sons in their 30s, and another relative were arrested on Wednesday, the ministry of public security said, on the charge of “making, hoarding and disseminating propaganda” against the state.

Their detention was con-demned by Human Rights Watch (HRW), who warned Vietnam “to stop trampling on the rights of its people”.

“Demanding respect for rights and calling out officials involved in rapacious land grabs should not be a crime,” said HRW’s Phil Robertson.

“It has been an unfortunate tradition in Vietnam that every time the Communist Party of Vietnam is gearing up for a congress, there is a crackdown on activists and dissidents and this is no different,” he added.

Taliban members hand over weaponsMembers of the Taliban hand over their weapons and join in the Afghan government’s reconciliation and reintegration programme in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, yesterday.

Divided Koreas mark 70 years since war began, but no treaty in sightREUTERS — SEOUL

Seventy years after the Korean War began, prospects for a peace treaty to officially end the conflict appear as distant as ever, as the two Koreas held low-key commemorations yesterday amid heightened tension.

The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving US-led UN forces technically still at war with North Korea.

South Korean leaders in 1953 opposed the idea of a truce that left the peninsula divided and were not signa-tories to the armistice.

South Korean war veterans gathered to commemorate the anniversary, including one event where US President Donald Trump and other inter-national leaders delivered video messages.

“The war isn’t really over and I don’t think peace will come while I’m still alive,” said 89-year-old veteran Kim Yeong-ho, who attended an event in the South Korean border town of Cheorwon.

“The nightmares just keep coming back to me every day.” North Korea released a 5,500-word report blaming the United States for starting the war, committing atrocities and maintaining decades of hostile policies that left Pyongyang no choice but to pursue nuclear weapons of its own.

As long as the United States

clings to a “pathological and inveterate hostile policy” towards North Korea, “we will continue to further build up our strength to contain the per-sistent nuclear threats from the US”, the Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Disarmament and Peace said in the report, which was carried by state media.

Two years ago, a flurry of diplomacy and summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the presidents of the United States, South Korea, and China raised hopes that even if the North’s nuclear arsenal was undiminished, the parties might agree to officially end the war.

A series of follow-up meetings and working-level talks failed to close the gap, however, and North Korea has taken an increasingly confron-tational tone, resuming short-range missile launches, blowing up an inter-Korean liaison office and severing communi-cation hotlines with South Korea.

On Wednesday, North Korea said it had decided to suspend plans for unspecified military action against South Korea, but warned it to “think and behave wisely”.

While South Korea’s mil-itary stands ready to counter any threat, Seoul does not wish to force its political or eco-nomic systems on the North, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said at an anniversary event.

Indonesia surpasses 50,000 virus casesAP — JAKARTA

The number of coronavirus cases in Indonesia surpassed 50,000 yesterday, an increase that is worrying experts at a time when the government is allowing businesses to reopen amid increasing economic pressure.

The surging cases in the world’s fourth-most populous country align with its increasing testing capacity, which has averaged close to the govern-ment’s daily target of 20,000 over the past week, said

Achmad Yurianto, spokesman for the National COVID-19 Task Force.

But skepticism remains over the ability of the government to conduct enough tests to determine the true spread of the virus in the Southeast Asian nation, home to more than 270 million people living on thou-sands of islands.

The task force said the coro-navirus has infected 50,187 people and killed at least 2,620, the highest number of cases and fatalities in Southeast Asia. That’s up from just two positive

cases in early March.A total of 20,449 patients

have recovered from the illness nationwide.

Since the first cases were confirmed, Indonesia has tested fewer than 430,000 people, according to government data.

That’s far from the World Health Organization’s recom-mendation of testing one percent to 1.5 percent of a country’s pop-ulation, said Laura Navika Yamani, an epidemiology expert at Airlangga University.

“In terms of epidemiological measures, the situation in

Indonesia is indeed not safe,” Yamani said. “Without suffi-cient testing, the full extent of COVID-19 transmission will remain unknown.” The soaring number of cases is deepening Indonesia’s economic gloom.

Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa recently said that up to 5.5 million Indonesians may lose their jobs because of the pandemic.

Already, 9.4 percent of the population lived below the national poverty line last year. He said the poverty rate is expected to rise to 10.2 percent.

Royal Thai Navy chief Admiral Luechai Ruddit (third left) inspects Royal Thai Marines during a visit at the Chulabhorn Camp in Thailand’s southern province of Narathiwat, yesterday.

Thai army holds ceremony countering pro-democracy protestersREUTERS — BANGKOK

Thailand’s army has joined the debate over history and democracy in the Southeast Asian nation by holding a ceremony on the same day that pro-democracy demonstrations were held at memorials to the 1932 revolution that ended centuries of absolute monarchy.

A military statement yes-terday confirmed that army officials had honoured leaders

of a failed 1933 insurrection known as Boworadet Rebellion in a ceremony inside the army headquarters in Bangkok.

The disputes over history come as more Thais are speaking out against a mil-itary-dominated political system and as monuments to the 1932 establishment of democracy, including the one celebrating victory over the Boworadet Rebellion, have been mysteriously removed

from public spaces.The military has cited pro-

tection of the monarchy as jus-tification for staging coups in 2006 and in 2014.

Historians have commonly described the Boworadet Rebellion — named after a prince who led it — as an attempt to re-establish the absolute monarchy, but the army statement said that it was opposing “dictatorial” governance.

Indonesia jails IS-linked couple who tried to assassinate ministerAFP — JAKARTA

An Indonesian couple with links to the Islamic State (IS) group who tried to assassinate the country’s chief security minister were jailed yesterday.

A Jakarta court handed a 12-year sentence to Syahrial Alamsyah, 51, and nine years to his wife Fitria Diana, 21, after convicting them on terrorism charges for trying to kill then security minister Wiranto in October last year. The sen-tences were below prosecutors’ demands for a 16-year and 12-year term, respectively.

But the court rejected the couple’s defence that they were solely motivated by anti-gov-ernment sentiment, ruling that Alamsyah belonged to a local extremist group allied to IS.

“We rule that the defendant is guilty of terrorism together with his wife,” presiding judge Masrizal, who like many Indo-nesians goes by one name, told the West Jakarta District Court.

A third defendant was also sentenced to five years on terror charges linked to a sep-arate attack planned with Alamsyah last year.

The hearing was held by video conference due to

coronavirus concerns, with lawyers and judges wearing facemasks with the defendants listening via videolink.

The trial had heard that Alamsyah stabbed the now 73-year-old Wiranto as he exited a car during a visit to Pandeglang regency on Java island.

Alamsyah and his wife, who injured a member of Wiranto’s entourage, were wrestled to the ground by security personnel.

Wiranto sustained knife wounds to his abdomen, but survived the attack, in which several others were also injured.

Days before the assassi-nation attempt, the pair pledged allegiance to late IS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the court said in its ruling.

Alamsyah was a member Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an IS-linked extremist group responsible for a string of attacks, including suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia’s second-biggest city Surabaya in 2018 that killed a dozen people.

JAD is among dozens of radical groups that have pledged loyalty to IS in Indo-nesia, the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation, which has long struggled with Islamist militancy.

US terrorism report ‘disappoints' Pakistan

ANATOLIA — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan yesterday said it was disappointed by a recent terrorism report by the US, saying it gave a selective and self-contradictory account of the country’s efforts to counter terrorism and terrorist financing.

In a Foreign Ministry statement, Islamabad said the US State Department’s 2019 Country Report on Terrorism ignored its “crucial role” in degrading Al Qaeda in the region and “diminishing the threat that the terrorist group once posed to the world.” “Sim-ilarly, the Report acknowledges the sharp decrease in the inci-dence of terrorist attacks in Pakistan. However, it neglects to explain that this was only possible because Pakistan’s res-olute counter-terrorism oper-ations have targeted proscribed groups and outfits without dis-crimination,” said the statement.

Rejecting allegations that Pakistan had provided safe haven to “any group or entity to use its territory against any country,” it said: “On the con-trary, it is Pakistan that faces the threat of terrorism from exter-nally based and foreign spon-sored groups, like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Islamic State-Khorasan Province and others.”

Officials familiar with the process involved in issuing pilot’s licences said an unspecified number of people who had the skills to fly a plane but lacked technical knowledge had in the past bribed qualified persons to take exams for them.

10 FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020EUROPE

Germany increases donation to WHO but demands reformsAP — GENEVA

Germany yesterday announced that it is giving half a billion euros to support the World Health Organisation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but said reforms are necessary to make the agency more transparent and accountable.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn, said the country remains a “critical friend” of the World Health Organization.

Speaking at a meeting of some member states at WHO h e a d q u a r t e r s i n Genevayesterday, Spahn said Germany would do its part to give WHO the political, financial and technical backing it required.

He said most of the more than ¤500m was for the agency’s plan to stop the coro-navirus pandemic. Part of the money — ¤110m — had been announced previously.

“This comes with the clear expectation that remaining challenges are adequately addressed and needed reforms are pushed forward,” Spahn said.

Last month, WHO bowed to member countries’ request for an independent probe of how it managed the global response to coronavirus.

“We need a strong, efficient, transparent and accountable WHO today more than ever,” Spahn said. He added it is c r i t i c a l t o h a v e

“decision-making processes driven by the facts, and not by politics.”

In recent weeks, WHO has come under siege from US President Donald Trump and others, who have blasted its performance during COVID-19 and accused the agency of col-luding with China to hide the extent of the outbreak when the virus first emerged.

Trump had previously declared he was suspending US funding to WHO and pulling his country out; it provides about $450m a year as the agency’s single biggest donor.

An Associated Press inves-tigation found China delayed sharing critical information with WHO for weeks and that the agency publicly praised China while voicing internal frustrations at Chinese officials’ lack of cooperation.

In addition to the cash, Spahn said Germany would also be providing medical equipment including masks for countries struggling to deal with the pandemic.

“This is a clear sign for our dedication to the work of WHO,” Spahn said, warning that “isolated national answers to international problems are doomed to fail.”

French health minister Olivier Veran said France has previously announced it would give WHO ¤90m to build an academy in Lyon, in addition to another ¤50m announced by President Emmanuel Macron. He also said France would be providing 100 million masks.

“The French contribution is not aimed to replace the US con-tribution. The French contri-bution is there to remind the World Health Organisation that it can count on the friendship of the European Union,” Veran said.

Spahn said it was unclear how Trump’s announcement of suspended American funding would affect WHO.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked Germany and France for their support, saying “we are getting all the support we need, political and financial.”

Both Spahn and Veran said they were committed to making a COVID-19 vaccine accessible to all people who need it, but did not specify how that might be done.

Britain’s Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (second left), meets scientists including Christina Dold (right) during a visit to the manufacturing laboratory where a vaccine against the coronavirus has been produced at the Oxford Vaccine Group’s facility at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, west of London.

England COVID-19 test and trace system fails to reach a quarter of positive casesREUTERS — LONDON

England’s COVID-19 test and trace system could not reach a quarter of people who had their cases transferred to the system after a positive test for the new coronavirus, UK’s Department of Health said yesterday.

Of 6,923 people who had their case transferred to the contact tracing system in its third week of operation, 1,791, or 25.9 percent, could not be reached, with no contact details provided for a further 263 people.

The department said 30,286 people were identified as close

contacts of positive COVID-19 cases, and of these 24,734 people, or 81.7 percent, were reached and asked to self-isolate.

Those running the test and trace service say that it is early days in its operation and is working well but needs con-tinued co-operation from the public to help get to grips with the pandemic.

The test and trace system is seen as key to efforts to lift the lockdown in England, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson allows a growing number of busi-nesses to re-open.

“In just three weeks, NHS

Test and Trace has already reached more than one hundred thousand people who may have otherwise unknowingly spread the virus,” said Dido Harding, executive chair of England’s test and trace system.

“It will take all of us working together to stop the spread of the virus in our com-munities and that will continue to be true as the country starts to open up again.” Since the programme’s launch on May 28, it has reached 113,925 close contacts of the 21,105 people who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Austrian ski resort has record rate of coronavirus antibodies: StudyREUTERS — VIENNA

A study of residents in the Alpine ski resort of Ischgl, the site of Austria’s biggest coro-navirus outbreak, has found 42% have antibodies for the virus, the highest rate ever proven, the university that carried out the study said on Thursday.

Thousands of people were infected at the resort, which marketed itself as the “Ibiza of the Alps”, as the virus found a breeding ground in crowded apres-ski bars early in Aus-tria’s outbreak.

The first positive test result in Ischgl was on March 7, days after Iceland alerted the Aus-trian authorities to several of its nationals who it believed caught the virus there.

A quarantine was declared a week later but tourists were allowed to leave, further spreading the virus across Europe.

“The seroprevalence of study participants from Ischgl is 42.4 percent,” the director of the Medical University of Innsbruck’s Institute of Virology, Dorothee von Laer, who led the study, said in a statement by the university.

“We are dealing in Ischgl with the highest sero preva-lence ever proven in a study. Even though at that rate herd immunity cannot be assumed, Ischgl’s population should be protected (from the virus) to a large extent,” she added.

German slaughterhouse outbreak brings police, mass testingAP — VERL, GERMANY

German police deployed hundreds of officers yesterday across two western regions that have been placed under a renewed pandemic lockdown in an attempt to contain a coro-navirus outbreak linked to a slaughterhouse.

Swathed in white protective gear, officers accompanied local council workers making house calls on people who were under quarantine to make sure they were at home.

Some of the checked-on

individuals worked at the large slaughterhouse that has had about 1,300 people test positive for COVID-19. But caught in the same net — or rather, behind steel bar-ricades erected by authorities — were workers at other local com-panies who happen to live in the same apartment buildings as those from the slaughterhouse owned by the Toennies Group, Germany’s biggest meat processing company.

Many are migrants from Eastern Europe who come to Germany legally in the hope of earning many times what they

might make in their home coun-tries. Now, they rely on food delivered by their companies or help from friendly neighbors such as Aved Elias, who brought trolleys full of goods to quaran-tined residents on Wednesday.

“At the moment, we’re not thinking about business,” he said. “We’re just thinking about the people. Everything else is secondary.” Elias’ comment reflect widespread sympathy in the city of Guetersloh for the migrant workers, whose often dire workplace and living con-ditions have been put in the

spotlight by the coronavirus outbreak. Like other companies in the German meat industry, Toennies has long used subcon-tractors for much of the work in its plants, a practice that critics say allows the company to avoid the stricter oversight it would face if it employed workers directly.

North Rhine-Westphalia state governor Armin Laschet, whose center-right party has received significant donations from Toennies over the years, acknowledged this week that the company’s “readiness to

cooperate could have been greater.” Officials on Thursday announced the opening of five new coronavirus testing centers in Guetersloh, where the slaughterhouse is located.

Sven-Georg Adenauer, the head of the regional adminis-tration, said authorities want to be able to conduct 10,000 tests per day, free of charge.

The service is expected to be widely used as some regions of Germany have said they’ll only allow people from the two districts to visit if they can provide proof of a negative test.

Italian public life limps back to normalcyPassengers wearing protective face masks travelling on a bus, following the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Rome, Italy, yesterday.

Polish presidential vote puts government’s reforms on the lineREUTERS — WARSAW

Poles vote on Sunday in a closely-fought presidential election critical to the nation-alist Law and Justice (PiS) government’s hopes of imple-menting its conservative agenda, including judicial reforms the European Union says undermine democracy.

The vote had been due to take place on May 10 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pan-demic. Poles will now have the option of voting by postal ballot in Sunday’s hastily rescheduled election to avoid having to visit polling stations.

With the COVID-19 death toll in Poland much lower than in most of western Europe - around 1,400 people have died, in a population of 38 million - the campaign has focused largely on PiS’s socially con-servative agenda, including its opposition to gay rights.

PiS has painted its candidate, the incumbent Andrzej Duda, 48, as a guardian of the party’s gen-erous welfare programmes and its traditional family values, which it says are under attack from the liberal West.

“As long as I live, I promise to defend our family, our Polish family model. I will not allow any experiments to take place here, particularly those involving children,” Duda told supporters in his conservative heartland in southern Poland.

PiS opposes allowing gay

couples to adopt children or to marry.

Opinion polls put President Duda on around 40 percent and his nearest rival, Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, 48, on just under 30 percent. But Duda’s lead has been nar-rowing and he needs to win more than 50 percent to avoid a second round on July 12.

Some polls show Trza-skowski, candidate of the cen-trist Civic Platform (PO), winning the runoff.

A victory for Trzaskowski would put Poland on a path towards repairing its tense relations with the EU, which has launched unprecedented rule of law proceedings against the country.

It would also raise ques-tions over the nationalists’ f ragi le par l iamentary coalition.

Under Polish law, the pres-ident can veto legislation and PiS does not have enough seats in the legislature to overturn it.

In Poland’s first election allowing postal votes on a large scale, some Poles abroad said they were having trouble reg-istering or had not received ballot papers in the post.

Iwona Bereza, 46, who has lived in Britain for eight years at the same address, said the new system rejected her postal ballot application, citing problems with her residence. The foreign ministry said it was working on fixing glitches.

UK Labour leader sacks top colleague over anti-SemitismAFP — LONDON

UK Labour leader Keir Starmer yesterday sacked a leading rival from his top team for sharing an “anti-Semitic conspiracy theory”, in a move that risks reigniting bitter splits in the main opposition party.

Rebecca Long-Bailey was asked to step down as edu-cation spokeswoman after endorsing an interview with an actress who claimed US police accused of killing George Floyd learned their tactics from Israeli secret services.

“The article Rebecca shared

earlier today contained an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory,” a spokesman for Starmer said.

“As leader of the Labour party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority.

“Anti-Semitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it.” Starmer was elected Labour leader in April to replace Jeremy Corbyn, whose tenure at the helm of the centre-left party was marked by bitter splits.

His socialist views attracted thousands of new members but Corbyn’s team was accused of

failing to act on repeated inci-dents of anti-Semitic behaviour. It denied this.

Long-Bailey, a loyal sup-porter of Corbyn, ran for the leadership against Starmer and after missing out, he brought her into his top team in a public display of unity.

In a statement, Long-Bailey said she retweeted the article with actress Maxine Peake -- who she described as an “absolute diamond” -- because of the long-time Labour sup-porter’s call for party unity.

“In no way was my retweet an intention to endorse every

part of that article,” Long-Bailey said.

She added that she would continue to support Labour under Starmer’s leadership as an MP and “work towards a more equal, peaceful and sus-tainable world”.

John McDonnell, who served as Corbyn’s finance spokesman, said she should not have been sacked, offering her “solidarity”.

“Throughout discussion of anti-Semitism it’s always been said criticism of practices of Israeli state is not anti-Semitic,” he said.

Speaking at a meeting of some member states at WHO headquarters in Genevayesterday, Health Minister said Germany would do its part to give WHO the political, financial and technical backing it required.

11FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020 EUROPE / AMERICAS

Russians cast early votes in ballot to extend Putin’s ruleAFP — MOSCOW

Russians were casting early ballots yesterday in a nationwide vote on contro-versial constitutional reforms that could keep President Vladimir Putin in power until 2036.

Election officials opened polling stations in the lead-up to the official voting day on July 1 to reduce the risk of over-crowding that could spread the coronavirus infection.

Masks and disinfectant gels are being made available to 110 million eligible voters across 10 time zones. Voters sported masks and election officials distributed ballot papers wearing gloves.

The Kremlin reluctantly postponed the vote originally scheduled for April 22 as COVID-19 cases increased and officials imposed restrictions to slow the spread.

Putin — in power as pres-ident or prime minister since 1999 — introduced the reforms to the 1993 constitution in January.

They were hastily adopted by both houses of parliament and regional lawmakers and the outcome of the vote is seen as a foregone conclusion.

Putin insisted that Russians vote on the changes even it is not legally required, arguing a plebiscite would give the amendments legitimacy.

Opposition campaigner Alexei Navalny has slammed the vote as a populist ploy designed

to make Putin “president for life”. “It is a violation of the con-stitution, a coup,” he has said.

Among other changes, the reforms would reset Putin’s presidential term-limit clock to zero, allowing him to run two more times and potentially stay in the Kremlin until 2036.

Under today’s rules, the 67-year-old’s current term in the Kremlin would expire in 2024.

Rallies scheduled in April in Moscow against the move were barred under virus restrictions against public gatherings.

The website of the “NO” campaign that collected signa-tures of Russians opposed to the reforms was blocked by a Moscow court in March.

Critics say the vote is even more vulnerable to fraud than regular polls because of a new system of online voting.

Sergey Panov, a 45-year-old in Russia’s second city, Saint Petersburg, said he drove to his polling station before work

specially to vote against the reforms.

“This is the only thing I can do to keep my conscience clear and so I know that I did every-thing I could, even if it doesn’t affect the final result,” he said.

Other Russians backed the changes however.

One amendment guarantees the minimum wage will not be lower than the minimum sub-sistence level, another says the state pension will be adjusted annually to inflation.

“We have lots of problems and the amendments solve them in part. For me and my children and granddaughter they are good,” said 62-year-old Moscow metro worker Vladimir Bodrov.

Senior political officials have stressed the importance of giving Putin a chance to remain in power.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sob-yanin said the reforms were nec-essary to “guarantee stability”.

After casting his ballot without a mask or gloves in Moscow, former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said the reforms would protect people who had lost income or their jobs due to the pandemic.

They will “ensure targeted support to people, and help families with many children,” he told reporters.

Putin said last week he had not decided whether to seek another term, but added that it was important that he have the

option of running again.“We must work and not

look for successors,” he said.With the revised constitution

already on sale in Moscow book-stores, the outcome is seen as a foregone conclusion.

Experts at state-run pollster VTsIOM this week projected that as many as 71 percent of voters would cast their ballots in favour.

Yet the vote comes as Putin is suffering historically low approval ratings over his han-

dling of the coronavirus pan-demic and the economy.

The independent polling group Levada published a survey last month that showed his ratings at an all-time low of 59 percent.

But on top of resetting Putin’s term limits, the reforms promise to enshrine conserv-ative values that the Kremlin hopes will resonate with voters and attract a large turnout.

They include a mention of Russians’ “faith in God” despite

a long history as a secular country, and a stipulation against gay marriage, which is not allowed under current legislation.

Ballot leaflets, posters, and billboards throughout Moscow do not mention Putin or length-ening the president’s term limits.

The campaign instead fea-tures scenes from family life, like a child kissing her grand-mother with the slogan “for a guaranteed retirement”.

A local resident fills in documents as members of an electoral commission hold a mobile ballot box outside his house during a seven-day vote on constitutional reforms, in the village of Lutsino in Moscow region, Russia, yesterday.

Belarus president accuses Russia, Poland of poll interference

AFP — MINSK

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko yesterday accused Russia and Poland of interfering in the upcoming presidential election, claims that were quickly denied by the Kremlin.

The interference is coming from “those who live in Poland and those who incite from Russia,” Lukashenko said at a meeting with newly appointed government officials.

Lukashenko said he would discuss the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in the near future but cautioned that the situation remained “extremely difficult”.

The strongman leader of authoritarian ex-Soviet Belarus is seeking his sixth term as president in the election scheduled for August 9.

Many of his critics have been jailed in recent weeks and opposition figures who enjoy robust support from the public have fought hard to get on the ballot, observers say.

Lukashenko, who just Wednesday was in Moscow, said there are “horrific fakes” being spread about him, some in Russian anonymous social media accounts. “It’s not ours, the information is coming from Russia,” he said.

“There are the most modern false technologies being used, there is inter-ference from abroad into our elections, our domestic affairs.” The Kremlin flatly denied allegations it was med-dling in the ballot, saying it did not interfere in election cam-paigns in other countries, par-ticularly close allies.

Russia “isn’t meddling, and isn’t going to meddle in the electoral processes of any country, let alone those under way in our ally, Belarus,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Lukashenko’s main election rival Viktor Babaryko was arrested this month on suspicion of committing financial crimes and the next day the president announced his government had foiled a foreign plot to stage a popular uprising in Belarus.

“Obviously, puppeteers are behind them,” Lukashenko said of his political opponents. “They are from both sides. They contribute from Poland and from Russia.”

Kosovo PM cancels trip to US for talks with SerbiaAP — PRISTINA

The Prime Minister of Kosovo yesterday cancelled his plans to attend a White House meeting with leaders of Serbia following the indictment of Kosovo’s pres-ident on war crimes charges stemming from the 1990s armed conflict between the two Balkan countries.

Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said he informed US presidential envoy Richard Grenell of his decision, which is likely to torpedo the talks. Grenell expected Hoti to fill in for Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and co-lead the talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Thaci called off his trip to Washington after learning Wednesday of the indictment charging him and nine other former Kosovo rebel fights with crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder.

The White House meeting on Saturday was to be the first talks between Serbia and Kosovo in 19 months. Kosovo declared inde-pendence from Serbia in 2008, a move Serbia has not recog-nized. The United States and the European Union have been working to help normalise ties between the two countries.

The EU has been leading negotiations for nine years, and the Washington meeting wasn’t

coordinated with Europe. EU spokesman Peter Stano did not comment on the White House talks Thursday, He repeated that the EU was committed to facilitating the dialogue and said it would resume in Brussels next month.

“There is no alternative to the EU-facilitated dialogue to address the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia,” Stando said.

There has been no reaction from Grenell so far, who imme-diately after the announcement of Thaci’s indictment had tweeted that Hoti would co-lead the White House meeting with Serbia’s president.

Hoti met yesterday in Brussels with European Council President Charles Michel to talk about visa rules, the corona-virus impact and other issues.

On Wednesday, the prose-cutor for the Kosovo Specialist Chambers said Thaci and the nine others “are criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders” of Serbs and Roma, as well as Kosovo Albanian political opponents. Other charges include enforced dis-appearance, persecution and torture, he said.

A pretrial judge at The Hague-based court is studying the indictment and could still reject it if there is not enough

evidence to back it up.The Washington meeting

will not now happen, said inde-pendent analyst Agron Bajrami, adding that the future of the entire Kosovo-Serbia dialogue is in doubt.

“It will be very difficult for him (Thaci) to continue acting as a president, if not for any-thing else but for the fact that he cannot be part of the dia-logue now that this has occurred,” said Bajrami.

Isa Mustafa, leader of the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo, said that the country’s political parties should first convene and talk before meeting with Serbia.

Members of Civil Protection and paramedics are seen at an apartment building damaged by an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 that struck southern Mexico’s Pacific coast on Tuesday, in Mexico City, Mexico, yesterday.

Mexico quake toll rises to 10 as residents clear rubbleREUTERS — MEXICO CITY

The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck southern Mexico yesterday has risen to 10 people, authorities said on Wednesday, as locals began clearing the rubble and assessing the damage from the temblor.

The area surrounding the popular Huatulco beach resort in the southern state of Oaxaca was hardest hit by the 7.4 mag-nitude quake, but the shaking could be felt as far away as Mexico City, where tall buildings swayed and thousands of people raced into the streets.

Roughly 30 buildings in the capital were damaged, and in a northern neighbourhood that was hard hit by a 2017 earth-quake, some residents had to evacuate their homes.

“This apartment has always been my home. It’s where I was born, where I grew up, where I

have all my memories,” Aura Preisser said while removing her belongings from the building.

“If I lost it, I would lose not only my home, but a large part of my heart.” In Oaxaca, crews of workers cleared the roads clut-tered with debris from the earth-quake, while residents of humble communities searched for their belongings among the rubble.

“Everything was damaged, the whole house was taken away. Everything we have done in our lives is gone,” said Vicente Romero in the town of La Crucecita, on the Pacific coast, showing the damage to his home as neighbours cleared debris.

Educational centers and his-torical sites, including four archaeological zones, suffered damage, according to a statement from the Oaxaca state government, which put the death toll at 10 people.

Peru govt strikes agreement with private clinics on virusREUTERS — LIMA

The Peruvian government yesterday said it had struck an agreement with the country’s private health clinics on the cost of COVID-19 care after Pres-ident Martin Vizcarra warned on Wednesday they would be expropriated within 48 hours if negotiations did not progress.

The clinics had for three weeks wrangled with Vizcarra’s government over a fair rate for care. The haggling began amid reports of overcharging for the sickest patients, who require mechanical ventilators and intensive care.

The health minister, Victor Zamora, said the agreement was finalized on Wednesday evening after a meeting with representatives of the Associ-ation of Private Clinics of Peru.

“The important thing here is people’s health. We cannot delay treatment,” Zamora told RPP local radio.

Peru’s coronavirus out-break is second only to Brazil’s in Latin America, with 264,689 confirmed cases and 8,586 deaths. The pandemic has caused a deep economic crisis in the Andean country and brought its health system to the brink of collapse.

Teachers in Chile take class to studentsAFP — CARAHUE

In the south of Chile, a rural school is bringing the classroom to students, deploying vans to help teach pupils who might not otherwise have access to education during the corona-virus lockdown.

Students once rode in the vehicles to attended the Dream House School in the small town of Catripulli, located in Arau-cania, one of the poorest regions in Chile.

In this cold, rainy and rural part of the country, the vans now travel to a handful of students’ homes, after hundreds of children were left adrift when classes were suspended in March.

Approximately 70 percent of Dream House School’s 101 pupils are Mapuche, an indig-enous people who live in Chile and Argentina.

Most don’t own computers and even fewer have access to the Internet, meaning the stu-dents can’t take part in online classes.

The coronavirus has emptied Chile’s schools, forcing millions of children to follow their lessons online, but there are regions where up to 76 percent of pupils don’t have access to the Internet, according to a study by the Digital Country Foundation.

And while children may have been supplied with school

work on paper, they still don’t have the sort of teaching support that is available online.

Preschool teacher Marcela Cea, 29, and van driver Alexis Araneda, 34, are among those who are traveling to pupils’ homes to give lessons.

“It seems super good to me, because there are tasks that one cannot understood, not even the parents, so the teachers can come and give extra classes,” Katalina Zuniga, an 11-year-old student who receives lessons in front of her home, told AFP.

Her mother, Modesta Caniunir, says the effort helps parents and now the “pupils are not going to get behind on their homework.”

Masks and disinfectant gels are being made available to 110 million eligible voters across 10 time zones. Voters sported masks and election officials distributed ballot papers wearing gloves.

12 FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020AMERICAS

Cuomo says NY ‘bent the curve’ as new COVID-19 cases rise in other statesREUTERS — NEW YORK

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo celebrated a new mile-stone of declining coronavirus hospitalizations in his state yesterday as the number of new cases elsewhere in the United States kept climbing, especially in the West and South.

More than 36,000 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded nationwide on Wednesday, a few hundred shy of the record 36,426 on April 24, concentrated on states that were spared the brunt of the initial outbreak or moved early to lift restrictions aimed at curbing the virus’ spread.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar played down the surging numbers as “localized.” “So we’re working aggressively with states and local leaders in this situation but it’s important for the American people to know this is a localized situation, the counties that are in hotspots are three percent of American counties,” Azar told Fox News.

“That’s not to minimize the situation. It’s really important that we get to the bottom of why we’re seeing the surge in cases.”

The focus of the pandemic has moved to the US West and South, including more sparsely populated rural areas, from the early epicenter around New York, where more than 31,000 deaths were recorded, more than a quarter of the country’s total.

The numbers in the Northeast dropped after

governors imposed severe lockdown measures, some of which remain in place in hardest-hit New York City.

Cuomo said yesterday that his state reached a new mile-stone as the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 fell to 996, the first time since March 18 below 1,000.

“Together we bent the curve,” he said on Twitter. “And we aren’t stopping now.” The number of daily deaths in New York also has been in a long-term decline, dropping to 17 on Wednesday from a high of more than 1,000, Cuomo said earlier on CNN.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Wednesday ordered travelers from eight states, as well as tri-state resi-dents returning from those areas, to self-quarantine for two weeks on arrival.

Twelve states have reported record rises in cases this week: Alabama, Arizona, California,

Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Mis-souri, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.

Cuomo, a Democrat, accused Republicans, including President Donald Trump and governors such as Florida’s Ron DeSantis, of putting politics and business above science in their handling of the outbreak.

“You played politics with this virus and you lost,” he said on CNN. “You told the people of your state — and he told the people of this country, White House — ‘Don’t worry about it, just open up go about your business, this is all Democratic hyperbole.’”

Shares of Walt Disney Co opened two percent lower yes-terday after it delayed the reo-pening of theme parks and resort hotels in California until it receives approval from state offi-cials, as the state is hit by a huge spike in new coronavirus cases.

Unions had said they were not convinced the theme park would be safe enough to reopen by the company’s target date of July 17.

The company has also come under pressure to delay the July 11 reopening of Walt Disney World in Florida.

Apple Inc is temporarily shutting some stores again in Texas, Florida, Arizona, South Carolina and North Carolina following the increase in cases there.

While some of the increased numbers of cases can be attributed to more testing, the percentage of positive results is also climbing.

US President Donald Trump exits the presidential limousine prior to boarding Air force One as he departs Washington for travel to Wisconsin from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, yesterday.

Supreme Court bolsters Trump’s power over rapid deportationREUTERS — WASHINGTON

The US Supreme Court yesterday enhanced the ability of President Donald Trump’s administration to quickly deport illegal immigrants including asylum seekers with limited judicial review, handing him a victory in a case involving one of his signature issues in an election year.

The justices ruled 7-2 in favour of the administration in its appeal of a lower court ruling that a Sri Lankan farmer named Vijayakumar Thurais-sigiam had a right to have a judge review the government’s handling of his bid for asylum.

The ruling, written by con-servative Justice Samuel Alito, found that limiting judicial scrutiny of his rapid depor-tation case, known as expedited removal, did not violate key safeguards of individual liberty in the US Constitution. Two of the court’s four liberal justices, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined the five con-servative justices on the outcome but did not embrace Alito’s reasoning.

Alito wrote that it has long been recognized that people who have yet to be granted legal entry to the United States do not have the full range of constitu-tional rights and that Congress has some authority to determine what rights they do possess.

“While aliens who have established connections in this country have due process rights in deportation proceedings, the

court long ago held that Con-gress is entitled to set the con-ditions for an alien’s lawful entry into this country,” Alito wrote.

Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.

The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019 ruled that under the Constitution’s suspension clause - relating to a person’s ability to challenge con-finement by the government - courts must have the power to review Thuraissigiam’s claims.

The administration con-tended that the 9th Circuit ruling would defeat the purpose of quick deportation and “impose a severe burden on the immigration system.” Trump’s hardline policies on immi-gration and deportation have been a center piece of his pres-idency and his bid for re-election on November 3.

The American Civil Lib-erties Union, representing Thuraissigiam, had warned that the administration’s stance, if accepted by the court, could be used to deport millions of illegal immigrants without meaningful judicial review.

Last week, the Supreme Court delivered a blow to Trump by blocking his attempt to rescind a government program that protects “Dreamers” — mostly immi-grants from Latin America brought to the United States illegally as children — from deportation.

Trump returns to a changed Wisconsin to shore up supportAP — MADISON

The last time President Donald Trump visited Wisconsin he staged a massive, raucous rally at an arena in downtown Milwaukee.

When he returned yes-terday to the battleground state, he was to be reminded how much has changed since January.

The Republican president planned a trip to conservative, rural Wisconsin for a private tour of a shipyard far from Mil-waukee, where coronavirus restrictions now prevent large rallies. A day earlier, the gov-ernor activated the National Guard in the capital to protect state property from angry pro-tests against racial injustice.

When Trump last cam-paigned in the state in January, the unemployment rate was 3.5

percent. Now, 12 percent of Wisconsin workers are jobless.

Trump’s standing in Wis-consin appears to be suffering from the extraordinary period of turmoil, and his visit was part of a concerted effort to shore up support in friendlier areas that can make or break his ree-lection chances.

Besides the visit to Mari-nette, he intended to participate in a town hall to be broadcast by Fox News Channel from an airport in Green Bay. The trip comes days after he dispatched Vice President Mike Pence to the conservative Milwaukee suburbs.

The two parts of Wisconsin targeted by Trump this week - suburban Milwaukee and the Green Bay media market in northeast Wisconsin - are areas where he needs to run up a big vote advantage in November.

Some polls have suggested Trump has ground to make up in Wisconsin. A Marquette Uni-versity Law School poll released Wednesday showed Democrat Joe Biden with an 8 percentage point lead over Trump. Trump trailed Democrat Hillary Clinton in nearly every poll conducted in Wisconsin in 2016 — often by similar margins —before he won the state by fewer than 23,000 votes.

Marinette County helped deliver that win. Trump carried the county, about 170 miles north of Milwaukee along the shores of Lake Michigan’s Green Bay, with 65 percent of the vote.

Unlike Trump’s rally in Oklahoma last weekend and his visit to a Phoenix mega-church Tuesday, his tour of the Fincan-tieri Marinette Marine shipyard was not scheduled to be open to the public.

US urges Russia, China to give Venezuela more virus aidREUTERS — GENEVA

The United States called on Russia and China yesterday to provide more humanitarian aid to their ally Venezuela in its fight against the growing COVID-19 epidemic.

Venezuela, which has so far reported 4,048 cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths to the World Health Organization (WHO), has jailed doctors and journalists for trying to expose the true extent of infections, Special Representative Elliott Abrams told a diplomatic event organised by the US mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

“We do think the numbers are tragically a good deal higher,” Abrams added.

Referring to China and Russia, he said: “We would like to see them contribute more on the humanitarian side. There has been, I believe, some con-tribution of goods with respect to COVID-19 by Russia and China.

“But the scale, the dollar amount of this aid, is really quite low in comparison to the needs,” he said.

The Opec member’s economy is reeling from a six-year recession and a prolonged political crisis that has driven

at least 4.5 million Venezuelans to flee abroad.

Abrams said opposition leader Juan Guaido and his interim government — recog-nised by more than 50 coun-tries — would soon provide $20 million in assets to the Pan-American Health Organisation — the WHO’s regional office — and other aid groups.

Abrams said the gov-ernment of President Nicolas Maduro holds 450 political pris-oners and has sought to usurp institutions, including the Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court is now completely subservient to the

regime,” he said.Abrams reiterated a US offer

of March 31 for a power-sharing deal under which it would begin lifting sanctions - including against Venezuela’s oil sector - if the opposition and members of Maduro’s Socialist Party form an interim government without him.

“That framework is not an ultimatum, it is not a take it or leave it. It is a proposal that clarifies the conditions under which US sanctions would be lifted and provide a starting point for Venezuelans to discuss a pathway forward,” he said.

US House to vote on Democratic police reform billREUTERS — WASHINGTON

The US House of Representatives was to vote yesterday on sweeping Democratic police reform legislation that is opposed by Pres-ident Donald Trump and Republicans, in the latest sign that congressional efforts to rein in police misconduct have hit an impasse.

The Democratic-controlled House is due to consider the legislation a month to the day after George Floyd’s May 25 death in police custody set off worldwide pro-tests against police brutality. A vote was expected between 7pm and 7.30pm EDT(2300 and 2330 GMT).

The bill, which mandates concrete changes in laws and policy to rein in police misconduct, is widely expected to pass the House. But the Republican-led Senate is unlikely to agree to the measure as written, after Senate Democrats blocked a Repub-lican reform bill on Wednesday.

Democrats and Republicans are deadlocked

over how to address racial inequities in American policing despite strong public sen-timent for effective reform after Floyd died in Minneapolis after a white policeman knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Senator Tim Scott, the Senate’s only Black Republican and author of the cham-ber’s failed police reform bill, accused Dem-ocrats of rejecting Republican input on the House bill to deny Trump.

Canada’s Trudeau rejects call to swap Huawei executive for detainees in ChinaREUTERS — OTTAWA

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday rejected a call to swap an imprisoned Huawei Technologies Co Ltd executive for two citizens held by Beijing, saying such a move would set a bad precedent and harm Canada.

Shortly after Vancouver police arrested Huawei Chief

Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on a US arrest warrant in December 2018, Beijing detained two Canadian man on security charges. Last week they were charged with suspected spying.

A group of 19 prominent figures, including former cabinet ministers and dip-lomats, this week wrote a letter to Trudeau urging Ottawa to

halt the extradition pro-ceedings against Meng. This, they said, would boosting the chances of China freeing the two men.

Trudeau, who has dis-missed repeated calls from China to intervene in the case against Meng, said the signa-tories were wrong to call for her release.

“(This) would endanger the

millions of Canadians who live and travel overseas every single year. We cannot allow political pressures or random arrests of Canadian citizens to influence the functioning of our justice system,” he told reporters.

The wife of one of the detained men on Tuesday urged Canada’s justice minister to consider intervening in the case,

saying her husband was in an i n c r e a s i n g l y d i r e predicament.

Although Beijing insists there is no connection between the Meng and the two Cana-dians, Trudeau said there was a clear link.

“We deplore what China did... and will continue to remain steadfast and strong,” he said, adding that it would be

“absolutely unacceptable” to let Beijing think it could get what it wanted by arresting Canadians.

China has also blocked imports of Canadian canola seed and meat products.

Trudeau, asked whether Ottawa might impose sanctions on Chinese officials, said Canada was looking at a range of options but gave no details.

US Representatives accompany Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi arrive at an event on police reform at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, yesterday.

The focus of the pandemic has moved to the US West and South, including more sparsely populated rural areas, from the early epicenter around New York, where more than 31,000 deaths were recorded, more than a quarter of the country’s total.