Qatar on Thursday reported 246 coronavi-rus (COVID-19) cases, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said in its daily report. Also, 239 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 114,797. Sadly, an 83-year-old patient succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll in the country to 195. In a statement, the MoPH said all the new cases have been introduced to isolation and are receiving necessary healthcare. (TNN)

COVID-19 recoveries reach 114,797 How to get chronic

condition certificate

BACK-TO-SCHOOL PLAN

QNADOHA

RESTAURANTS that have obtained ‘Qatar Clean’ pro-gramme accreditation can receive customers up to 100 percent their capacity from September 1, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has announced.

Restaurants that do not have a ‘Qatar Clean’ pro-gramme certificate can only receive customers up to a max-imum of 30 percent of their premises capacity.

All restaurants must ad-here to the requirements of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the Ministry of Municipality and Environ-ment (MME).

The restaurant adminis-trations must follow the pre-cautionary measures set by the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and So-cial Affairs.

As per the decision, res-taurants are not allowed to provide buffet and shisha ser-vices. The menus have to be pre-set and the restaurants are required to provide hand

sanitisers.They must paste safe-dis-

tance stickers on the floors.They are required to pro-

hibit smoking in the entrances to restaurant and remove all containers for cigarette waste, in addition to preventing the gathering of customers or Lim-ousines drivers at the entrance.

Restaurants must deny en-try to customers who do not wear face masks, whose body temperatures are above 38 de-grees Celsius and who do not have a green-colour-code on COVID-19 contact-tracing app Ehteraz.

Restaurants with Qatar Clean cert to receive customers at full capacity

Eateries without ‘Qatar Clean’ certi�cate will run at 30% capacity

QNADOHA

HIS Highness the Amir of State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. During the phone

call, HH the Amir and the US Secretary of State dis-cussed friendship relations and strategic cooperation between the two countries and the means of enhancing them. They also discussed key regional and international developments.

Amir, Pompeo review Qatar-US relations

STUDENTS — who suffer from chronic diseases or have a �rst de-gree relative with a chronic disease — can apply for an exemption from attending school in person as per the new back-to-school plan. In order to get an exemption from attending the school in person, students must apply for an approved medical certi�cate and submit it to their school along with their national address certi�cate.

PHASE FOUR REOPENING FROM SEPT 1

Starting from Friday, 150 more mosques will reopen to receive worshippers, the Ministry of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs has announced.

These 150 mosques have been added to the list of mosques that reopened earlier as part of the implementation of the phases of gradual lifting of the restrictions imposed due to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The ministry stressed the need to adhere to the precautionary measures and health preventive measures when going to mosques.

The ministry af�rmed that full compliance with the precautionary measures helps in reopening of all the mosques. (QNA)

● Restaurants are prohibited from offering buffet and shisha services

● They are required to provide hand sanitisers and paste safe-distance stickers on the floors

● Dining tables must be placed in a way that there is a distance of two metres between each table

● A maximum of five people will be allowed at a table (members of one family are excluded)

● Restaurants should encourage customers to pay with cards

● Customers without a face mask, body temperature above 38 degrees C and no green-colour-code on Ehteraz will not to be allowed to enter restaurants

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

THUNDERY rain accompa-nied by strong wind is ex-pected in some places on Fri-day, the Qatar Meteorology Department (QMD) has said.

“Numerical weather pre-diction charts indicate the possibility of local cloud de-

velopment tomorrow (Fri-day) afternoon with a chance of scattered rain, may be thundery at times, in some areas,” QMD said in a tweet on Thursday.

The QMD predicted hazy to misty weather conditions in some places, followed by hot daytime with clouds.

The minimum and maxi-

mum temperatures for the next two days will vary be-tween 31 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius, respec-tively.

On Friday, the wind is ex-pected to blow northwesterly to northeasterly at 5 KT to 15 KT and will reach 22 KT with thundery rain at places dur-ing the afternoon.

On Saturday, the wind is expected to blow mainly easterly to northeasterly at 5 KT to 15 KT and will reach 18 KT at places during the day-time.

Visibility, on Friday, will be 4 kilometres to 8 kilo-metres/2 kilometres or less in some areas at times. On Saturday, visibility is also

expected to be 4 to 8 kilome-tres/ 3 kilometres or less in some areas at first.

Sea waves on Friday will vary from 1-2ft inshore and will rise to 4ft in eastern ar-eas by evening.

Sea tides offshore will vary from 1-3ft and will rise to 5ft in eastern areas by evening.

Expect scattered rain today, says QMD

QNADOHA

THE Ministry of Com-merce and Industry (MoCI) has decided to allow the reopening of food courts in commercial complexes provided that the number of customers does not ex-ceed 30 percent of the total capacity. The reopening of prayer rooms in these com-plexes has also been allowed according to the capac-ity specified by the authorities concerned.

The an-nouncement was part of the fourth phase of the gradual lifting of restrictions im-posed on commercial com-plexes, shopping malls and restaurants. The fourth phase will start from Sep-tember 1

The ministry also al-lowed cinemas to resume their activities in accord-ance with the specified ca-pacity, procedures and pre-ventive measures, provided that persons under the age of 18 years are not allowed

entry.The decision also in-

cluded allowing the use of trial rooms according to specific health require-ment. The decision also allowed children’s barber-shops to resume their work in accordance with the pre-cautionary measures set for barbershops for adults, that include following the pre-reservation system, and the compulsory wear-

ing of masks for the child, his escort and the worker.

The deci-sion specified the controls and conditions for children’s barbershops,

including not allowing more than two children in the bar-ber shop, provided that one escort per child is allowed to be inside the shop.

The decision allowed children to enter commer-cial complexes and shop-ping malls, including retail stores and restaurants, while adhering to precau-tionary measures.

Food courts, prayer halls in malls to reopen: MoCI

150 MORE MOSQUES TO REOPEN TODAY

Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2

Six arrested for violating home-quarantine pledge

QNADOHA

Six persons were arrested on Thursday for violating the home-quarantine pledge they undertook as part of efforts to contain the spread of coronavi-rus (COVID-19).

The arrests were made as part of the precautionary measures approved by the health authorities represented by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and its supporting bodies to ensure public safety and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The arrested persons are Mubarak Jaber Muhammad Al Rabit Al Sunaid, Nasser Salem Abdullah Saeed Noura, Hamad Bakhit Ali Hamad Cruz, Muham-mad Ismail Muhammad Ahmad

Al Emadi, Walid bin Ezz Al Din Al Fathali, and Saeed Shaban Salem Al Jabri.

They are being referred to the competent prosecution of�ce.

The authorities have called on citizens and residents under-going home quarantine to fully adhere to the requirements set by MoPH for their safety as well as that of others.

Anyone who violates these conditions will be subjected to the penalties stipulated in accordance with the provi-sions of Article (253) of the Penal Code No (11) of 2004, and the provisions of Law No (17) of 1990 regarding the prevention of infectious diseases, and Law No (17) of 2002 regarding the protection of society.

Sports 10Tricky US Open pathfor Serena in searchof 24th Grand Slam

Business 7Bull run continues as QSE gains for fourth consecutive week

FRIDAYAUGUST 28, 2020MUHARRAM 9, 1442

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Amir congratulates president of MoldovaTHE Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent on Thursday a cable of congratulations to President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day. (QNA)

Deputy Amir greets Moldovan presidentTHE Deputy Amir His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani sent a cable of congratulations to President of Moldova Igor Dodon on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day. (QNA)

PM congratulates Moldovan counterpartPRIME Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani sent a cable of congratulations to Prime Minister of Moldova Ion Chicu on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day. (QNA)

Shura takes part in webinar on climate changeTHE Shura Council participated on Thursday in a parliamentary webinar titled ‘Compli-ance with the Paris Agreement’, organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in coop-eration with the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law. The webinar focused on exchanging best practices and current legislation to clarify how the participating parties can establish structures of law and governance for the opti-mal implementation of the provisions of the Paris Agreement. Shura Council Member Yousef bin Ahmed Al Kuwari represented the council at the webinar.

Quick read

Qatar ambassador to Japan visits QFFD’s $22.75mn Maskar Complex in Onagawa

QNADOHA

AMBASSADOR of Qatar to Ja-pan HE Hassan bin Moham-med Rafie Al Emadi and May-or of Onagawa City Yoshiaki Suda visited Maskar Complex, a Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) project, to support ar-eas hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Maskar Complex is a 7,760-sq metre multi-func-tional fish processing facil-ity established in northeast Japan’s Onagawa by QFFD’s Qatar Friendship Fund (QFF) at the total cost of $22,757,210 to support rebuilding of the af-fected areas.

The Qatari ambassador was accompanied during the visit by Minister Plenipoten-tiary at the embassy Abdul-lah bin Jassim Al Ziyara and Second Secretary Rashid bin Mubarak Al Khater. From the Japanese side, director of the

Onagawa’s education sector and a number of senior gov-ernment officials visited the complex. In his speech on the occasion, the head of Maskar Complex expressed gratitude to Qatar for its role in aiding areas affected by natural dis-asters in Japan.

He also made a presen-

tation on the work of the complex, describing it as a landmark that significantly contributed to revitalising the fishing industry, creating thousands of jobs, improving the livelihood of local residents and restoring normalcy to On-agawa and the whole region.

The project was inaugu-

rated in October, 2012 and was awarded the Good Design Award by Japan Institute of Design Promotion in 2013.

The Qatar Friendship Fund, financed by QFFD, has executed 12 projects in Japan at a total value of $100 mil-lion. These projects met the urgent and long-term needs of the residents of the areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami, focusing on four

main areas: education, fisher-ies, health care and entrepre-neurship.

The Qatar Friendship Fund’s projects in Japan, in addition to their sustainable economic benefits, have left a great moral impact on the residents of the affected areas and have contributed to the consolidation of the strong friendship ties between the peoples of the two countries.

MME receives state-of-the-art devices to monitor marine environment

‘Qatar gains prestigious international statusbecause of its support to countries in crises’

QNADOHA

QATAR has gained a prestigious international status because of the aid extended by the country to the world at large, Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Tulea has said.

He expressed his gratitude to the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the Qatari government for the medical aid sent by Qatar to combat coronavirus (COVID-19) in his country, adding that Qatar has become a reference on how to combat epidemics because of its timely measures.

In an interview published by a local Arabic daily on Thursday,

Tulea said his country would nev-er forget the support that Qatar provided during the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing out that Qa-tar is a true friend in times of cri-ses.

He noted that Qatar Airways played a significant role in trans-porting travellers to their coun-tries from all parts of the world

during the pandemic.On bilateral relations, the

Moldovan foreign minister point-ed out that Qatar and Moldova are cooperating actively on the principles of friendship, coopera-tion and mutual benefit since the establishment of their diplomatic relations in 1997.

He added that the Ministry of

Agriculture, Regional Develop-ment and Environment of Mol-dova and Qatar’s Ministry of Mu-nicipality and Environment have signed a cooperation agreement, in addition to 11 bilateral agree-ments between the two countries in the fields of culture, economy and commerce.

The two countries are also co-operating in tourism, investment, air services, health, educational, sports and medical and health services. He noted that there are five companies with Qatari capi-tal in Moldova with investments worth over $1.2 million.

The Moldovan foreign min-ister also praised Qatar’s ongo-ing preparations for World Cup 2022.

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

THE Environmental Moni-toring and Laboratory De-partment at the Ministry of Municipality and Environ-ment (MME) has received the latest, state-of-the-art devices for monitoring the quality of marine environment.

The concerned team of the ministry also received train-ing from the company officials manufacturing the devices on how to use them for precise monitoring in order to protect the marine environment of the country.

1,304 trees, 451,000 flower seedlings planted

in Umm Salal MunicipalityTHE Department of Ser-

vices Affairs in Umm Salal Municipality planted 1,304 Sidr and Washington trees on the service road parallel to the North Street, Al Sanea Station, Umm Al Amad and

Umm Salal Ali entrances in the first half of the year. The department also planted 451,000 flower seedlings in the municipality’s parks namely: Ali bin Jassim Park, Mohammed bin Jas-sim Park, Nasser Al Attiyah

Park, Al Kharaitiyat Fam-ily Park and Al Kharaitiyat Plaza Park.

The plantation pro-gramme was held in coop-eration with the Public Parks Department at Umm Salal Muhammad Kindergartens

for Boys and Girls and various other schools within the mu-nicipality.

Maintenance of the green spaces was also carried out, in addition to campaigns to eliminate weeds from the parks and streets of the

municipality.

Al Shehaniya Munici-pality holds sterilisation campaign

The Al Shehaniya Mu-nicipality, represented by the Services Affairs Depart-

ment, continues to hold its sterilisation and disinfection campaigns in Mawater, Umm Al-Zabar and Rawdat Rashid areas, as part of its commit-ment to implementing the highest standards of public health and safety.

The Qatari ambassador was accompanied during the visit by Minister Plenipotentiary at the embassy Abdullah bin Jassim Al Ziyara and Second Secretary Rashid bin Mubarak Al Khater. From the Japanese side, director of the Onagawa’s education sector and a number of senior government of�cials visited the complex.

Restaurants urged to strictly follow social distancingAS per the decision, the res-taurants are required to provide hand sanitisers and they must place safe distance stickers on floors. The restau-rants are required to place the dining tables in such a way that there is a distance of two metres between each table.

A maximum of five people

will be allowed to sit at a table (members of one family are excluded from this).

The ministry advised the restaurants to encourage cus-tomers to pay with cards and avoid using currency notes. The restaurants can obtain the ‘Qatar Clean’ programme certificate by applying for it on qatarclean.com.

They are required to regis-ter for the (Clean Qatar) pro-gramme on www.qatarclean.com. They need to download the form related to restaurant requirements, fill in the re-quired information and send it to restaurants@qatarclean.qa

The ministry called for continuously examining and

measuring the temperature of the restaurant’s workers, isolating the employees who show symptoms of infection, informing the authorities concerned to take the neces-sary precautionary and health measures, and sterilising all restaurant facilities, includ-ing administrative offices, stores, employee housing,

and transportation means of the restaurant.

The ministry indicated that these decisions are sub-ject to amendment and up-dating according to develop-ments in this regard, warning that any violation of the provi-sions of this decision exposes the perpetrators to legal pro-cedures and accountability.

Continued from page 1

Amusement parks and skating rinks at malls continue to remain closedTHE ministry confirmed the continuation of the decision to close game halls, amusement parks and skating rinks, and to prevent any artistic, cultural or entertainment activities in-side complexes and shopping malls.

The MoCI called on com-mercial complexes and centres to adhere to the precaution-ary and preventive measures set by the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, in-cluding not allowing visitors to enter except after verifying the colour of the health status on the Ehteraz app.

Visitors are required to wear mask throughout the time they are in the mall. The decision also called for measuring the temperature of visitors at the entrances, and not allowing individuals whose temperature exceeds 38 degrees Celsius, along with providing hand sanitis-ers in all commercial complex facilities, educating visitors to adhere to a safe distance of at least two metres, and not receiving more than 50 per-cent of the normal capacity of the commercial complex. The ministry also called for banning smoking at the en-trances to the mall, and for-

bidding visitors or limousine drivers from gathering at the entrances.

Besides, the MoCI has said that a single customer cannot try more than three pieces a day at a shop and that the con-cerned shops have the right to specify a smaller number, while sterilising clothes that were measured and not pur-chased and set them aside for a period of not less than 24 hours.

The MoCI called for put-ting safe distance stickers on store floors, receiving custom-ers according to the store’s ca-pacity, maintaining 9 square metres per person, encour-aging customers to pay with bank cards and avoiding the use of paper currencies.

It also called for the appli-cation of the remote work de-cision for employees over the age of 60, pregnant women, or individuals with chronic dis-eases.

Continued from page 1

Islam

HE is Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah, may Al-lah be pleased with him, the chief of the Khazraj, and the carrier of the banner of the Ansaar. His mother is ‘Amrah

bint Mas’ood. He was nicknamed Abu Thaabit and Abu Qays. He embraced Islam very early and attended the sec-ond ‘Aqabah Pledge of Allegiance along with seventy men and two women from among the Ansaar, and was among the twelve leaders.

Although Sa‘d, may Allah be pleased with him, was the chief of his people, his position did not protect him from the harm of the Quraysh. After the second ‘Aqabah Pledge of Allegiance was over, and the Ansaar got ready for the journey of return to Al-Madeenah, the Quraysh learnt about the pledge of allegiance they gave to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and their agreement with him on his migra-tion to Al-Madeenah in order to support him against the forces of the Quraysh. They were furious and pursued the Mus-lims and succeeded to catch hold of Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah. They tied his hands to his neck and brought him to Makkah, turned round him and beat him, trou-bling him with the most severe harm.

Commenting on that, Sa‘d, may Al-lah be pleased with him, said: “By Allah, while I was in their hands, behold! Some men from the Quraysh appeared to them, and among them there was a bright-faced man, meaning Suhayl ibn ‘Amr. I said (to myself): ‘If there is good in any-one of them, it then would not go beyond this man.’ But when he came close to me, he raised his hand and punched me hard, as a result of which I said to myself: ‘No,

by Allah, they have no good after that.’ By Allah, I was in their hands and they were dragging me, behold! A man from among them called me: ‘Woe to you! Do you not have any right of protection be-tween you and anyone of the Quraysh?’ I said: ‘Yes, I used to give the right of protection to the merchandise of Jubayr ibn Mut‘im and protect them from any injustice to be committed against them in my territory; and the same is true of Al-Haarith ibn Harb ibn Umayyah.’ The man said: ‘Then, call the names of both men, and mention the right of protection between you and them.’ I did according-ly, and the man went to them and found them in the Ka‘bah, and told them that a man from the Khazraj was being beaten in Al-Abtah, and he called their names, and mentioned that there was a right of protection between him and them. They asked him about my name and they were told that it was Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah. They said: ‘He has told the truth, by Allah.’ They then came and saved me from their hands.” [Ibn Sa‘d]

When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blesssings of Allah be upon him, and his Companions emigrated to Al-Madeenah, Sa‘d received them with great warmth, and put his property at their service. He was known for his mu-nificence and generosity, and his fame for this was far-reaching. He always asked Allah for more sustenance and good, saying: “O Allah! Grant me glory. O Allah! There is no glory without a deed, and there is no deed without prop-erty. O Allah! Little is unfit for me, nor am I fit for it.” [Al-Haakim]

A man from among the Ansaar might host one, two or three (maxi-

mum), whereas he used to host as many as eighty. His caller used to ascend the roof of the house and call at the top of his voice: “Whoever likes fat and meat, let him come here.” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, supplicated Allah for him saying: “O Allah! Confer Your blessings and mercy upon the family of Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah.”~~ [Ahmad]

Sa‘d, may Allah be pleased with him, was a good archer and extraordinar-ily brave. About him, Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “In all the battlefields, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had two banners: the banner of the Muhaajiroon with ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib, and the banner of the Ansaar with Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah.” [‘Abdul-Razzaaq and Ah-mad]

The situation of Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah, may Allah be pleased with him, on the Day of Badr indicated his courage. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, sought the counsel of the Ansaar, thereupon Sa‘d, may Allah be pleased with him, stood and encour-aged fighting. He said: “O Messenger of Allah! If you order us to set out to Bark Al-Ghimaad, we would surely do.” [Ah-mad and Muslim]

In the Battle of Khandaq, the dis-believing tribes gathered against Islam, and besieged Al-Madeenah. The tribe of Ghatfaan offered to withdraw from the army of the Confederates in return for receiving one-third the fruits of Al-Madeenah. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, consulted both Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah and Sa‘d ibn Mu‘aath, may Allah be

pleased with them. Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah said: “‘O Messenger of Allah! Is it some-thing you like, so that we would do for your sake or Allah Has Commanded you to do, so that we should do accordingly, or you do it only for us?’ The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: ‘It is something I do for your sake just when I saw the Arabs hav-ing gathered collectively against you.’ He said, ‘By Allah, O Messenger of Al-lah, they have never coveted that from us during the pre-Islamic days. Then, how could it take place now, given that Allah Guided us through you, Exalted and Honoured us with you? By Allah, they deserve nothing but the sword until Allah Judges between us.’ On that, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: ‘Then, let it be as you like.’” [Ibn Hishaam]

After the death of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the Ansaar gathered in the shed of Bani Saa‘idah, and supported Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah, calling that the suc-cessive authority of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, be from among the Ansaar. But ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab and Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn Al-Jarraah, may Allah be pleased with them, saw that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, had more right of the successive authority after the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and the Muslims concurred, and Sa‘d gave Abu Bakr the pledge of allegiance for the ca-liphate.

He died during the caliphate of ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him.

“The truthful man is turned about forty times a day, while the show-off is �xed in the same state for forty years.” – [Al-Junayd Al-Baghdadi]

Be careful of what bene�ts you and seek help from Allah, and do not yield to de�ciency; and if something befalls you, do not say, ‘Had I done such and such, it would have been such and such.’ Rather, say, ‘Allah decreed and did what He willed’, for ‘if’ opens the [way for the] work of the devil.” – [Muslim]

Distortion of previous scriptures

Recommended books and contemporary scholars of Tafseer

Question: In The Name of Allah, The Ever Mer-ciful, The Most Merciful. Where are the previous divinely-revealed Books?

Answer: All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is His Slave and Messenger.

If you mean by the previous divinely-revealed books: the Torah, the Gospels, the Psalms and the Scriptures of Ibrahim (Abraham), it should be known that these books were distorted by addition and dele-tion and some of them are totally lost, and the remain-ing parts are mixed with distorted texts. They are avail-able in the hands of those who follow the distorted forms of Christianity and Judaism.

Now, there is no divinely-revealed Book safe from corruption and distortion but the Noble Qur’an, of which Allah Took it upon Himself to guard it and did not entrust this task to humans. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian.} [Qur’an 15:9]

That is because the Qur’an is the last revealed Book to the last Prophet. So, it must be preserved to remain a proof among people and a miracle for the last Prophet.

Allah Knows best.

Question: As-Salamu ‘Alaykum, I have several questions regarding Tafseer. Is Tafseer At-Tabari the best Tafseer and do you know if it available in English? Secondly, I wish to become a mufassir or study Tafseer deeply at the very least. Can you tell me how to go about it? Any entry level primer books on Tafseer you can recommend for me? Who are our foremost present day scholars of Tafseer? What are the foundations of a good Tafseer? Jazaakumu Allahu Khayran!

Answer: All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is His Slave and Messenger.

You have done well to engage in learning the Tafseer of the Qur’an. We ask Allah The Exalted to help you re-alise this goal and we advise you to obtain this science (Tafseer) by sitting with a trustworthy Shaykh (scholar) and not only depending on reading books.

Regarding Tafseer At-Tabari, we do not know if it has been translated into English or not; but there is no doubt that it is one of the best books on Tafseer. There are two books that we rely upon for translating the meanings of the Qur’an (into English). They are: The Sa-heeh International translation from Al-Muntada Al-Islami in London and the Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur’an in the English Language by Dr. Muham-mad Muhsin Khaan and Dr. Muhammad Taqiyy Ad-Deen Al-Hilaali, published in Saudi Arabia. We recommend this second one to you.

Other books that are decent introductions to Tafseer include: Muqaddimah fee Usool At-Tafseer (An Introduc-tion to the Principles of Tafseer) by Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, a bene�cial summary that is useful to under-standing this topic. There is also the introduction of the Tafseer of Ibn Katheer, which contains many bene�ts and useful notes, and the introduction of the Tafseer of Al-Qaasimi, called Mahaasin At-Ta’weel.

As for good contemporary works, there is At-Tahreer Wat-Tanweer by At-Taahir ibn ‘Aashoor and Tayseer Al-‘Aliyy Al-Qadeer by Abu Bakr Jaabir Al-Jazaa’iri, but we do not know if these two were translated to English or not.

Other contemporary scholars of Tafseer include the knowledgeable scholar ‘Abd Ar-Rahmaan Naasir As-Sa‘di, who wrote Tayseer Al-Kareem Ar-Rahmaan Fee Tafseer Kalaam Al-Mannaan, and the ‘Allaamah Mu-hammad Al-Ameen Ash-Shanqeeti, who wrote Adhwaa’ Al-Bayaan Fee Eedhaah Al-Qur’an Bil-Qur’an.

Finally, the optimal way to perform Tafseer of the Qur’an is by using the Qur’an itself, the Prophetic Ahaadeeth, the sayings of the Salaf (righteous prede-cessors), and by referring to the Arabic language.

Allah Knows best.

(http://www.islamweb.net) Under the guidance and supervision of Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) and Islamic Affairs

THERE is no doubt that a vir-tuous person does not find it easy to utter obscenities lest he or she expose him/herself to the Wrath of Allah

The Almighty and disgrace in the eyes of people. Although vulgarity is certainly dispraised and forbidden, foul words in-deed abound.

Motives behind this behaviourObscenity originates from wicked-

ness and ignobility. It is either motivated by the intention of harming others or is a habit acquired from socialising with evil and debauched people, who are ac-customed to insulting others. Whatever the case, Allah The Almighty has forbid-den crude language in the verse (which means): {Allah does not like the public mention of evil except by one who has been wronged. And ever is Allah Hearing and Knowing.} [Qur’an 4:148]

Moreover, in His Book, He illustrated obscenity as characteristic of hypocrites, describing their conduct with believers, saying (what means): {But when fear de-parts, they lash you with sharp tongues, indisposed toward [any] good.} [Qur’an 33:19]

A believer does not imitate the inso-lent and crass people, preferring to stick to chivalry for the sake of preserving his or her honour. It was said in this regard, “Tolerating an abusive man is better than being like him and forgiving the ig-norant is better than copying him.”

Examples of obscenityThere are many situations and times

when people of weak faith and bad man-ners resort to vulgarity. Imam Al-Gha-zaali, may Allah have mercy upon him, exemplified that by saying: “Situations of obscenity are various. They can generally be limited to any state that a person feels ashamed to overtly divulge. In this case, explicit words are considered obscenity. Therefore, one must discuss such issues in vague terminology.” Most of the rel-evant examples would be those concern-ing sexual intercourse and its related matters. While wicked people employ graphic and crass words when speak-ing about this, the righteous avoid such crude language and express themselves with figurative speech. Are we not aware that even Allah The Almighty spoke in-directly about sexual intercourse, men-tioning instead, words like touching, entering with [women] and companion-ship?

There is also obscenity in making re-marks about women or defects in men that they may be ashamed of, such as a limp or baldness. Any such comments,

if necessary, should not be explicitly referred to.

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, classi-fied obscenity as a branch of hypoc-risy and said, “In-deed, Allah hates the indecent and obscene person.” Moreo-ver, he, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, mentioned that vulgarity leads to Hell, when he said: “Modesty is from faith, and faith is in Paradise; [whereas], obscenity is from sever-ity, and severity is in Hell.”

Please note that crassness is also to use names of animals to describe peo-ple. Imaam An-Nawawi, may Allah have

mercy upon him, said: “Among the vilified words which are usu-

ally used is a person say-ing to his enemy, ‘O

donkey; you goat; you dog’, and the like. It is ugly to utter these ex-pressions be-cause they are lies and harm-ful to others.”

Dear broth-er, the Prophet,

peace and bless-ings of Allah be

upon him, even forbade abusing

roosters, when he in-structed, “Do not insult the

rooster, for it wakes [people] to perform prayers.’’ Bearing this in mind, could it be appropriate to affront peo-ple who bear witness to the testimony of truth [i.e., Muslims]?

The admonition of the righteous pre-decessors

Our forefathers from the Compan-ions and their successors were the far-thest people from obscenity and inde-cency. They seriously warned others against this great evil which originates from lack of faith.

‘Abdullaah ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The most wicked trait a believer may possess is vulgarity.” Similarly, Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “I will tell you about the worst of diseases: the crude tongue and bad morals.”

That is why, when Abu Ad-Dardaa’, may Allah be pleased with him, saw an abusive woman, he remarked, “Had she been dumb, it would have been better for her.”

We supplicate to Allah The Almighty to purify us from whatever displeases Him; and may peace and blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad, sallAl-lahu ‘alayhi wa salam.

There are many situations

and times when people of weak faith and bad manners

resort to vulgarity. Imam Al-Ghazaali, may Allah have mercy upon him,

exemplified that by saying: “Situations of obscenity are various. They can gener-ally be limited to any state that a person

feels ashamed to overtly divulge. In this case, explicit words are

considered obscenity.

Obscenity – The Root of Evil and Sins

THE GENEROUS, SA‘D IBN ‘UBAADAH

03Friday, August 28, 2020

AFPBAGHDAD

FRENCH Defence Minister Florence Parly held talks in Baghdad on Thursday, pledg-ing continued support for Iraq’s fight against remnants of the Is-lamic State group.

Parly is the second French minister to visit the Iraqi capi-tal this summer after Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian last month.

She held talks with her counterpart Jumaa Inad and President Barham Saleh, and is due to meet Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi before travelling to the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

During a brief press confer-ence with Inad, she said France was hoping to resume its train-ing and arming of Iraqi security

forces “as soon as possible”.Support was suspended

earlier this year in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Parly said she and Inad also discussed boosting Iraq’s surveillance methods, “by land and in its airspace”, to squeeze IS sleeper cells still operating in desert areas.

“We are convinced that the fight against (IS) is not over,” she said. “We are by your side.”

Ahead of her trip, the French defence ministry said it wanted to make sure opera-tions against IS in Iraq would not be derailed by heightened tensions between the US and Iran.

In January, a US drone strike on Baghdad killed top Iranian and Iraqi officials, and Iran retaliated with strikes against US troops in western Iraq.

AFPPORT BLAIR

TEN members of India’s dwindling Great Andamanese tribe have tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Thursday, fuelling concerns about the safety of the group and other indigenous people in the remote archipelago.

Six of the 10 have recov-ered and are in home quaran-tine, officials told AFP, while the rest are undergoing treat-ment at a local hospital.

Just over 50 Great Anda-manese people survive today and live on the tiny Strait Is-land where the Indian govern-ment looks after their food and shelter.

The Andaman and Nico-bar Islands, a chain in the In-dian Ocean with a population of some 400,000, has report-ed 2,268 coronavirus cases so far with 37 deaths.

Indian authorities sent a team of health officials to Strait Island on Sunday after six members of the tribe tested positive in the archipelago’s capital Port Blair recently.

Some of the tribe’s mem-bers travel to Port Blair where they have government jobs.

“The team tested 37 sam-ples and four members of the Great Andamanese tribe were found to be positive. They are admitted in hospital,” Avijit Ray, a senior health officer in charge of disease management in the Andamans, told AFP.

Sanjiv Mittal, a senior gov-ernment officer for tribal wel-fare, told AFP authorities were doing their best to keep all the members safe and healthy.

Anthropologists and ac-tivists for isolated tribal com-munities say more than 5,000 Great Andamanese lived in the islands when British set-tlers arrived in the 19th cen-tury.

However, hundreds were killed in conflicts as they de-fended their territories from British invasion, and thou-sands more were wiped out in epidemics of measles, influ-enza and syphilis, according to Survival International.

In recent days, concerns have grown for the safety of the Great Andamanese and other tribes, including the re-mote Jarawa and the Sentine-lese people.

Poachers continue to in-vade their territory despite strict government restrictions.

Last week, eight fishermen were arrested for illegally en-tering the Jarawa’s territory, local media reported.

In 2018, a 26-year-old American missionary seeking to convert the nomadic hunt-er-gatherer tribe was killed after he secretly visited the North Sentinel island.

His body was never re-trieved.

Outsiders are banned from visiting the island, to protect the Sentinelese way of life and avoid exposing them to infec-tious diseases.

As one of the most isolated tribes in the world, the Senti-nelese are extremely vulner-able to diseases from outsid-ers, especially during a global pandemic such as the corona-virus, experts say.

“The Andaman authorities must act urgently to prevent the virus reaching more Great Andamanese and to prevent infection in the other tribes,” said Sophie Grig, a senior re-searcher with Survival.

“The waters around North Sentinel must be properly po-liced and no outsiders should enter the territories of any of the Andaman tribes without their consent.”

She added: “We’ve cer-tainly seen in the US, in Brazil, in Peru, indigenous commu-nities (being) disproportion-ately hit. In Brazil where there are more than a hundred un-contacted tribes still living, (the) fear of the disease is get-ting into those communities.”

The virus has already hit tribes in Brazil and Peru hard, including some of the isolated Amazon tribes.

According to the Brazil-ian Indigenous Peoples’ As-sociation, 26,000 indigenous people have been infected and 690 have died during the country’s pandemic.

India is the third worst-hit country in the world behind the US and Brazil, with more than three million coronavi-rus cases.

There, some 60,000 peo-ple have died from the infec-tion so far.

Lebanon backtracks on virus lockdown, shortens curfew hoursDPA

BEIRUT

LEBANON on Thursday eased lockdown measures prompted by a renewed outbreak of the coronavirus and cut back the hours of a night-time curfew.

The country has been suf-

fering from its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, a plight made worse by the pandemic and subsequent restrictions on business and public life.

The Interior Ministry said most businesses, malls, mar-kets, gyms and restaurants

would be allowed to open at 50 per cent of their capacity start-ing Friday. The curfew will also be shortened by four hours, to be enforced daily from 10 pm to 6 am. However, a ban on all social events and gatherings remain in place, ac-cording to the ministry.

Last Friday, Lebanon im-posed a general lockdown for two weeks in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The lockdown was supposed to re-main until September 6.

The easing comes after owners of hard hit restaurants and cafes in Lebanon threat-

ened earlier this week to defy the government by reopening and not paying taxes.

Lebanon has experienced a spike in the virus caseload since a massive blast hit the Beirut port on August 4, which killed at least 180 people and injured 6,000 others.

DPAGAZA

HAMAS authorities have ex-tended a comprehensive lock-down in the Gaza Strip which was initially imposed on Mon-day after first coronavirus cas-es were detected outside quar-antine facilities in the densely populated area.

The lockdown is being extended by 72 hours, Ha-mas’ information office said Wednesday. A further lock-down was not being ruled at

the close of the 72 hours.Additional coronavi-

rus cases were detected on Wednesday.

According to Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, four new cases of the new coronavirus were recorded, all members of the same family in the Al-Mughasi refugee camp, where around 120,000 people live.

Under the lockdown, which begin on Monday night, educational institutions, mosques and markets must

remain closed.There are about 20 quar-

antine facilities in the Gaza Strip - all outside the densely populated areas. All 105 other coronavirus cases have been registered in theses facilities.

Since the first coronavirus cases were found in the Pales-tinian Territories on March 5, quarantine has been manda-tory for every person entering the country.

Some 72 infected persons are considered to have recov-ered from COVID-19.

A �le photo shows Boat Island in the Andaman Islands, a remote Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. Ten members of India’s dwindling Great Andamanese tribe have tested positive for the coronavirus, of-�cials said on Thursday. (AFP)

News in brief

ABIDJAN The head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, was re-elected for a second �ve-year term, the bank announced Thursday, after a prolonged storm about governance that was resolved by an independent inquiry.

Adesina, a 60-year-old former Nigerian agriculture minister, “obtained 100 percent of the votes of all regional and non-regional members of the bank,” the AfDB said after its annual meeting in Abidjan, adding that his next term will begin on September 1.

Adesina was the sole candidate, but his bid for a second term had been clouded by whistleblower allegations -- later re-jected by the bank’s ethics committee and an external inquiry -- that graft, poor management and favouritism had �ourished under his watch. (AFP)

Pompeo discusses Gulf crisis, regional developments in OmanAMMAN United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrapped up his Middle East tour with talks in Oman on Thurs-day, focusing on efforts to end a three-year-old Gulf crisis and encouraging more Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel.

On his �nal stop in Oman’s capital Muscat, Pompeo met Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, who took power earlier this year after the death of his predecessor, Qaboos.

“Met today with Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarik Al Said on the importance of building regional peace, stability, and pros-perity through a united Gulf Cooperation Council. Grateful for our strong security partnership and economic ties,” Pompeo said on Twitter.

According to the state-run Omani News Agency, the two of�cials discussed bilateral relations and issues of common interest. (DPA)

Mali junta says it freed ousted president ahead of ECOWAS summitAFP

BAMAKO

MALI’S new military rulers said Thursday that former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was detained dur-ing the country’s coup on Au-gust 18, had been freed.

The announcement came on the eve of a summit by Mali’s neighbours, who are to decide whether to ratchet up pressure on the fledgling junta.

Keita’s ouster by rebel troops sent shockwaves through the region and in France, which sees Mali as a linchpin in its campaign against jihadism in the Sahel, where more than 5,000 French troops are based.

“President IBK is free in his movements, he’s at home,” a spokesman for the junta, Dji-

brila Maiga, told AFP, referring to Keita by his initials, as many Malians do.

The junta, calling itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), said on Facebook it was “informing public and in-ternational opinion that former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been released and is currently in his residence”.

A Keita relative, speak-ing on condition of anonym-ity, said the 75-year-old former leader had returned overnight to his house in the Sebenikoro district of the capital Bamako.

Former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, heading a team from the regional bloc ECOWAS, was given access to the former president last Saturday, and said he seemed

“very fine.”The announcement Thurs-

day came on the eve of a virtual summit by the 15-nation ECO-WAS -- the Economic Commu-nity of West African States -- which has imposed sanctions against Mali for the coup.

Those measures include a closure of borders and a ban on trade that threaten to wors-en Mali’s already severe social and economic troubles.

Jonathan’s three-day mis-sion to Bamako foundered on the question of the transition

to civilian rule.The junta have promised to

enact a political transition and stage elections within a “rea-sonable time” but not spelt out details.

Discussing progress with Nigeria’s President Muham-madu Buhari, Jonathan said the coup leaders wanted to stay in power for a three-year transi-tion period, an offer rejected by the mediators, according to a statement from the presidency.

“We also told them that what would be acceptable to ECOWAS was an Interim Gov-ernment, headed by a civil-ian or retired military officer, to last for six or nine months, and maximum of 12 calendar months,” Jonathan was quot-ed as saying in the presidency statement late Wednesday.

COVID-19 hits India’s dwindling, isolated Andamanese tribe

France offers surveillance help for Iraq war on IS

Ramaphosa vows virus ‘watershed’ in South Africa graft fight

AFPCAPE TOWN

SOUTH Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thurs-day that corruption around procurement of coronavirus supplies in the continent’s worst-hit country must be a “watershed moment” for tack-ling graft.

Ramaphosa told lawmak-ers during his quarterly ques-tion and answer session in parliament that it was “dis-graceful” and a “huge stench” that some companies sought to “criminally benefit” from a national crisis.

But he vowed it would be “a watershed moment that marks the start of a new era in trans-parency and accountability in... procurement”.

At least 11 government agencies are probing graft al-legations tied to the pandemic.

The head of the country’s Special Investigating Unit last week told a parliamentary

committee that his agency was investigating $292 million worth of irregularly-awarded government tenders for coro-navirus supplies.

On Wednesday, the Na-tional Treasury published the names of dozens of companies that won coronavirus-related government contracts.

“This is a moment that we now need to capitalise on, in terms of ensuring that we strengthen our resolve” to fight corruption, Ramaphosa said.

State corruption is far from new in South Africa, but it worsened during the nine-year tenure of former president Ja-cob Zuma.

The president said South Africa was not the only country on the continent battling cor-ruption involving COVID-19 supplies.

South Africa has 615,701 confirmed coronavirus cases and 13,502 deaths, accounting for more than half of infections across the continent.

NEW Delhi India’s COVID-19 infections surged by a record 75,760 over 24 hours, taking the total to past 3.3 million, Health Ministry data showed on Thursday.

India still trails the United States and Brazil in the total number of cases but has re-ported more infections daily than either of these countries for most of August.

The death toll now stands at 60,472, with 1,023 fatalities since Tues-day, but the Health Ministry says the mortality rate remains lower than many countries at 1.8 per cent and the recovery rate had reached over 76 per cent.

The western state of Maharashtra - and its capital Mumbai - is the worst-hit by the disease followed by three southern states: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

India has been reporting 60,000 to 70,000 cases every day since early August and the latest surge is at-tributed to a spike in several states including Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.

India’s population of 1.3 billion is much larger than the US or Brazil and experts say it would not be surpris-ing if the 70,000-plus mark of infections continues for a while and rises further.

“The number of recover-ies in India today exceeds the active cases by 3.5 times,” a Health Ministry release said. (DPA)

India reports biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 infections

Palestinian medical workers are pictured outside during a break at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Thursday during a lockdown due to increasing cases of coro-navirus infections. (AFP)

04 Friday, August 28, 2020

A general view of the Grand Market in Bamako. Over a week after the military coup that deposed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, the capital Bamako continues its daily life with its usual dif�culties. (AFP)

Afghan head of peace process hopeful of talks with Taliban ‘next week’

AFPKABUL

AFGHANISTAN’S government and the Taliban will next week begin long-delayed peace talks aimed at ending the war in the country, a top official leading the reconciliation process said Thursday.

The US-backed talks were supposed to have begun in March, but both sides are at loggerheads over a controver-

sial prisoner swap that includes hundreds of Taliban fighters tied to deadly attacks conduct-ed over the past two decades.

Abdullah Abdullah, who heads Afghanistan’s recon-ciliation council, told an event organised by a Kabul-based think tank: “I can say with rela-tive confidence that the intra-Afghan talks will begin next week.

“The negotiation team of the Islamic Republic of Af-

ghanistan is prepared for the talks with a firm determination to represent the strong and united voice of the Afghan peo-ple for a durable and dignified peace.”

The Taliban made no im-mediate comment in response to Abdullah’s remarks.

Abdullah’s comments came after Pakistan pushed senior Taliban leaders to start the talks during a meeting in Is-lamabad this week.

Gaza Strip lockdown extended by 72 hours

African Development Bank re-elects Nigeria’s Adesina

World

Pandemic Founders Show Us How To Let Go Of Fear

WHEN COVID-19 struck, I was pre-pared that some of my clients would be forced to retrench. What I did not

expect was that I would take on new clients who were launching startups in the midst of this pandemic. What can we learn from the fearlessness with which these founders are innovating and creating as they enter the market for the first time?

When the universe doesn’t conspire with your plans, when you set targets that you don’t succeed in meeting, or when you try new things that don’t work out, it’s nor-mal to adjust ambitions downward and set new goals that you feel more certain you will meet. It’s understandable right now that you’d be taking fewer risks. Yet, stuck in fear of failure it’s hard to bounce back. Founders of pandemic startups remind us that risk-taking and experimentation are vital to the success of any business.

Of course, not all the businesses launched since March will survive, and not every prod-uct they’re launching will succeed. But, as

they take risks to do things differently, their founders are letting go of the fear around repeating past mistakes. I would encourage you to think of all your failures, breakdowns, and aborted attempts as the necessary step-pingstones to your future success.

Change the voice in your head. “What makes you think you can do that now?” “You’ll make a fool of yourself!” “It will all end in failure.” This kind of advice is typical of the conversations many of us have been having with the “voice” in our head. Yes, that voice.

Especially right now, with the future so uncertain, when it comes to planning for the future, the voice in your head will always remind you of your past failures. It may seem to be helpful, but it nearly always comes from a place of fear, which is why it’s often called your saboteur. Focused on steering you away from failure, rejection, or pain, your saboteur invariably stops you from taking risks necessary for growth, connection, and success.

Adopt a bounce-back champion. To supplant the advice you normally give yourself, if you know a founder of a pandem-

ic startup, ask yourself, what would they say or do in this situation? If not, can you think of an entrepreneur or leader who failed mul-tiple times before succeeding? I highly rec-ommend channeling them as your personal bounce-back champion.

Soichiro Honda left school at 15 to become an apprentice at an auto repair shop where he created automotive parts that Toyota rejected. He went on to found Honda Motor Company, valued today at $59 billion. “Success,” said Honda, “is 99 percent failure.”

Dave Barnett is the founder of Pop-Sockets, a company worth approximately $500 million. A former college professor who grew frustrated with his headphones’ always getting tangled in his pocket on his way to work, Barnett came up with an in-novative idea to glue buttons to the back of his cellphone. This allowed him to wrap his headphones tightly around the but-tons to prevent a tangled mess. Because cellphones are constantly changing, his invention never took off. But, instead of giving up, Barnett went back to the draw-ing board and removed the case altogether

and replaced it with adhesive backs. This meant PopSockets could be used on any mobile device, including cellphones, tab-lets, and music players. Barnett’s company took off and has sold more than 35 million PopSockets in over 40 countries.

Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia are the founders of Airbnb, a company valued at approximately $25.5 billion. In 2008, at the time of the last global recession, Chesky and Gebbia were low on money, racking up debt, and unable to make their rent pay-ment, which is how they got the idea to rent out space in their apartment. They emailed seven major investment companies in 2008. Two never replied and five responded de-clining any involvement. “Never assume you can’t do something. Push yourself to rede-fine the boundaries,” says Chesky.

When the voice in your head is scream-ing out “Don’t do it,” why not channel the advice of your own personal pandemic founder, or be guided by Honda, Barnett, or Chesky? You can easily imagine what they’d advise you to do: “Go for it.” “What’s the worst that can happen?” Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Think lean. Successful pandemic start-ups think lean, prioritising only what’s im-portant and focusing on products or services with minimal outlay.

If you were launching a new business tomorrow, what products or services would you deliver? Describe a sustainable future-focused company that you would feel excited to run for the next 10 years. How many core staff does this business need? Where would it be based? What premises does it require?

Add value. As the founders of success-ful startups understand, more than ever, customers are drawn to businesses that give back. Acting on what matters most to you as the founder and articulating your company’s values is not only a matter of pride, it’s also good for business.

You may discover that the startup you have dreamed up is more viable, more purposeful, and more exciting to you as the founder than the business you are cur-rently trying to rescue. If so, perhaps now is a great time to pivot. “Don’t carry your fear from past failures with you. You’ll make this work.” Isn’t that what the founder of a pan-demic startup would say?

�ink of all your failures, breakdowns, and aborted attempts as the necessary stepping stones to your future success

Opinion

DESPITE the successes of South Ko-rea’s testing-led efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 to date, a recent spike in new cases emphasises this ap-proach is still only a short-term solu-

tion. Last Saturday the country reported 397 new infections, up from the 30 reported on August 1, prompting new government meas-ures to prevent a second outbreak that could roll back significant progress made in public health and the domestic economy since late February. Amid these fears, the threat of a second wave seems to have renewed the sense of urgency for producing a vaccine.

Like many other major economies, South Korea has been rushing to find a vaccine for the coronavirus since the beginning of the year. The government has pursued a two-pronged approach to eventually meet its goal of securing enough vaccines for all 50 million South Koreans – or at least the 70 percent of the population necessary to develop herd im-munity. The first prong is promoting the work of local companies while the second is geared toward the international community.

Three South Korean companies are cur-rently developing COVID-19 vaccines, all of which are already in clinical trials or are on pace to start them before the end of the year. South Korean biotech firm Genexine was the first to launch human clinical trials within the country; that project involves collaboration by South Korean-based companies and in-stitutions such as the Korea Advanced Insti-tute of Science & Technology. Pharmaceutical company GeneOne Life Science and SK Bio-science are developing their own vaccines as well, but are still in the animal testing phase. SK’s efforts have garnered support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, though the company has also signed on to be a sup-plier for other major vaccine candidates.

On August 13, SK Bioscience penned a deal with US biotech company Novavax to manu-facture a key antigen for its vaccine, which is entering the second stage of trials and already has purchase agreements with the US and UK governments. SK is also directly involved in another front-runner vaccine candidate being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford Uni-versity. Last month SK, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and AstraZeneca reached an agreement to make core elements of the vac-cine in SK’s facilities in Andong. In both cases SK and the Moon administration worked out that the vaccines resulting from this coopera-tion would be made locally available.

In terms of international cooperation, the Moon administration has publicly expressed interest in the COVAX Initiative – led by the World Health Organization and other major international institutions dedicated to vacci-nations – to quickly distribute a vaccine once

one that is safe and effective becomes availa-ble. Though chiefly set up to ensure access for developing countries, South Korea’s support for the facility would still allow for – at least as planned – some early access to a vaccine in case of otherwise limited access. The chal-lenge, however, remains that some of the gov-ernments host to the most promising candi-dates have not publicly endorsed the scheme.

Of course, the race to find a COVID-19 vaccine is highly competitive with major pos-sible geopolitical implications. The current positioning of players suggests South Korea’s best bet for relatively fast access to a vaccine is either of SK’s collaborations, not any of the three domestically led endeavors. However, the global race is not yet over. Who reaches a vaccine first, how they go about meeting high demand, and how quickly other vaccine can-didates are able to follow in getting to market will be key in determining how the rest of the contest will play out for South Korea.

The backdrop of deteriorating US-China relations and the rise of nationalism could certainly have a significant impact on South Korea’s search for a vaccine. Of the nine vac-cines that COVAX is tracking – considered the leading candidates – three originate in the United States while two come from China. In recent years, Seoul has increasingly found itself in the uncomfortable position of being stuck between Beijing and Washington – its largest trading partner and most important ally, respectively. China has already been reaching out to strategic partners such as the Philippines and Pakistan promising to pro-vide doses of a finished vaccine. The White House has not publicly discussed plans to send vaccines overseas, but comments from the administration as well as the severity of the virus in the US imply vaccines are not be-ing as seriously considered as a diplomatic tool. South Korea may ultimately not need any Chinese vaccines, but it could prove a

sticking point with the United States if a substantial bilateral agreement with Beijing is worked out. This, however, could prove a moot point come the US presidential elec-tions in November.

More broadly, “vaccine nationalism” could prove even more problematic. Much as some countries hoarded vital medical sup-plies such as respirators and surgical masks in earlier stages of the pandemic, they do the same for vaccines. Without hoarding we should still expect a long wait once a vaccine reaches market as it will take time to scale up production to meet the massive demand. Should the country hosting the first success-ful vaccine candidate decide to amass doses at home, this would only further strain vital access for everyone else. In this sense, even if the vaccine candidates South Korean com-panies are involved with are not among the first to market, there is reason to push ahead quickly with production beyond the bottom line of these individual firms. Additionally, SK Bioscience’s agreements with leading US vaccine candidates cannot effectively ensure against Washington making South Korea less of a priority than Seoul would like. In such a case, the three South Korean-led candidates could serve as a backstop, though avoiding this scenario would be more ideal.

Throughout the pandemic Seoul has been one of the most ardent supporters of multi-lateralism and would do well to continue to push for international cooperation on the production and distribution of a success-ful vaccine. While South Korean companies have made substantial progress on their own vaccine candidates and are embedded in the supply chain of others, many unknowns still lie ahead. The best way now to hedge against these risks and meet this critical need is seem-ingly to help promote more open access to a COVID-19 vaccine through global initiatives such as COVAX.

South Korea’s Search For A COVID-19 Vaccine

KYLE FERRIER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

�e threat of a second wave seems to have renewed the sense of urgency for producing a vaccine

(TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE)

THE tragedy unfolding in Kenosha, Wisconsin, worsened on Tuesday night in ways that are at once shock-

ing but also seemingly inevitable. Two people were shot dead and another wounded as protesters and self-styled militiamen faced off during a third night of street demonstrations after police on Sunday shot and gravely wounded yet another apparently unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake.

Details of the latest violence remained sketchy on Wednesday, but videos and photographs show verbal confrontations between protesters and heavily armed volunteers who said they were trying to protect a gas station in the area racked by vandalism, theft and arson the previ-ous night. “They’re a militia,” Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told reporters. “They’re like a vigilante group.”

In one of the videos, a young white man carrying a military-style rifle can be seen running down a street pursued by a small group of people as one person yells, “He shot someone!” One man knocks the gunman to the ground, and in the scuffle the gunman opens fire, appearing to hit two people at close range. He then gets back onto his feet and walks calmly down the road toward emergency vehicles. Po-lice later reported the arrest of Kyle Rit-tenhouse, 17, in Lake County, Illinois, in connection with the deaths.

So why does this escalation of violence seem inevitable? Because of the guns.

Protests have roiled the nation for three months now following the death of George Floyd in the custody of Min-neapolis police and the shooting death of Breonna Taylor during a police raid in Louisville, Kentucky. Those pro-tests have at times turned destructive and violent, which is bad enough. But there’s been a lethal element too — the slayings in Kenosha add to at least a dozen others connected with protests across more than 100 cities this sum-mer, an emotional outpouring of frus-tration over the nation’s inability to counter anti-Black racism.

Self-styled militias have also shown up at sites of peaceful protests in organised and unwelcome displays of firepower, ostensibly to protect life and property but in reality just ratch-eting up tension with their overt at-tempts at intimidation. The militias aren’t the cause of all or even most of the violence, of course, but their pres-ence is an unnecessary infusion of yet more volatility.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a 31-year-old man, part of a group in-tending to stop demonstrators from harming a statue of Spanish conquista-

dor Juan de Onate, was arrested in June after allegedly shooting and wounding one of the protesters. The same month, police in California charged an Air Force sergeant affiliated with the “boo-galoo” movement — right-wing provo-cateurs intent on fomenting civil war — in the shooting deaths of a federal security guard in Oakland and a Santa Cruz sheriff’s deputy.

This is democracy in action: Peace-ful protests against institutional racism and the deaths of unarmed Black people at the hands of police. Peaceful protests against statues erected to venerate the nation’s white supremacist roots. Peace-ful protests against public health orders. And counterprotests against all those other protests. Voices raised together to demand change, to defend the status quo, to complain about government ac-tions or to make whatever other point they might want in the free exercise of their First Amendment rights.

But then, violence.There is, of course, plenty of blame

to go around. Protesters shouldn’t re-sort to vandalism — at least 34 fires have been set in Kenosha since Blake was shot on Sunday — and opposing sides in a public debate shouldn’t start push-ing, shoving and swinging signs at each other. But they do. And the introduction of firearms into such scenes makes it al-most inevitable that a gun will eventu-ally get used.

The details will, of course, frame our understanding of what happened in Kenosha. But what is already clear is that self-styled militia, or civilian patrols, or whatever they want to call themselves, have no business assign-ing themselves the armed defenders of the public peace.

As we’ve seen over and over again, as a society we have yet to properly balance the role of the trained police in main-taining public safety in this country. Adding armed vigilantes to the mix just elevates tensions and increases the like-lihood that violence will spin off in ever wider and consuming circles.

Shooting Deaths In Kenosha Seemed Tragically Inevitable

Self-styled militia or armed civilians only bring threat of violence to what is supposed to be peaceful protests

REMY BLUMENFELD TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THE OPINION AND ANALYSIS PAGES ARE THE AUTHORS’ OWN. QATAR TRIBUNE BEARS NO RESPONSIBILITY.

ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2006

HAMAD BIN SUHAIM AL THANI CHAIRMANADEL ALI BIN ALI MANAGING DIRECTORDR HASSAN MOHAMMED AL ANSARI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

05Friday, August 28, 2020

News in brief

SEOUL: South Korea’s parliament was shut down on Thursday and a group of lawmakers were in self-quarantine as the country recorded more than 400 new coronavirus infections.

The country endured one of the worst early outbreaks of COVID-19 outside mainland China before bringing it broadly under control with extensive tracing and testing, but is now battling several clusters mostly linked to Protestant churches. Thursday’s 441 new cases were mostly in the greater Seoul area and are the latest in a series of near-six-month highs after several weeks with numbers generally in the 30s and 40s. The National Assembly was closed after a photojournalist who covered a ruling party meeting on Wednesday was later tested and con�rmed to have contracted COVID-19. (AFP)

South Korean parliament closed over virus fearsROME: Twenty-seven migrants who were rescued at sea have been stuck on a cargo ship near Malta for more than three weeks, German charity Sea-Watch announced on Thursday.

The Danish-�agged Maersk Etienne tanker picked up the migrants on August 4 after being alerted by Sea-Watch, the charity said in a timeline of events.

Maersk Tankers’ head of communications Kis Soegaard con�rmed this, and directed DPA to an August 19 statement by the Danish Shipping association. The Etienne took in “27 migrants - includ-ing a child and a pregnant woman.” Ever since, its crew has been providing them “with food, water and blankets and helped them as best they can,” it said. (DPA)

27 migrants stuck for over three weeks on cargo ship off Malta

AFPPARIS

MAJOR European nations France, Germany and Spain announced tougher infection control measures on Thurs-day, joining the ranks of coun-tries battling an increase of coronavirus cases.

France expanded a mask-wearing order across capital Paris, while Germany trailed a 50-euro ($59) fine for those caught without a mask where it is compulsory and said fans may have to stay away from sports stadiums until at least

December.Madrid said children as

young as six will be required to cover their nose and mouth at Spanish schools, while Britain reversed earlier guidance that pupils aged 11-18 did not need to wear masks.

Countries worldwide are struggling to balance the need for populations to get back to work and study with keeping cases under control -- fearing above all a return to draconian lockdowns.

The pandemic has killed more than 826,000 people worldwide since surfacing in

China late last year, and more than 24 million infections have been recorded.

While travel has been blamed in part for the rise in cases in Europe, attempts to salvage at least some of the vi-tal tourist trade across Europe were not enough for Paris

Fourteen million fewer tourists explored the French capital in the first six months of 2020 compared to last year, Ile-de-France (Paris region) president Valerie Pecresse said.

“We have seen the pan-demic shatter an extremely

dynamic and flourishing sec-tor,” Pecresse added.

The impact has been felt by global businesses tied to trav-el, with aircraft engine maker Rolls Royce losing £5.4 billion ($7.1 billion) in January-June, while Air New Zealand lost US$300m over its full finan-cial year.

Adding to a growing list of country-by-country travel re-strictions, Britain said Thurs-day it would require arriv-als from the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Jamaica to quarantine themselves from Saturday.

European nations beef up virus measures to combat surge

France’s health minister Olivier Veran talks to media after visit-ing the European laboratory in Marseille, southeastern France, on Thursday. (AFP)

Pentagon slams Chinese missile launches in South China SeaAFP

WASHINGTON

THE US Defence Department said on Thursday that Chinese test launches of ballistic mis-siles in the South China Sea were threatening peace and security in the region.

Confirming reports that Beijing’s forces launched as many as four ballistic mis-siles during military exercises around the Paracel islands, the Pentagon said the move called into question China’s 2002 commitment to avoiding pro-vocative activities.

China’s “actions, including

missile tests, further destabi-lise the situation in the South China Sea,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

“Such exercises also violate PRC commitments under the 2002 Declaration on the Con-duct of Parties in the South China Sea to avoid activities that would complicate or esca-late disputes and affect peace and stability,” it said, referring to China by the initials of its official name, the People’s Re-public of China.

Over the past decade China has built up military installa-tions on several disputed reefs and outcroppings in the South

China Sea to assert its sover-eignty over much of the region against territorial claims by Vietnam, the Philippines, Ma-laysia, Taiwan and Indonesia.

The Pentagon said the Chinese military’s August 23-29 military exercises near the Paracels -- which it calls Xisha -- were “the latest in a long

string of PRC actions to as-sert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors.”

It said the United States had urged China in July to re-duce its “militarization and co-ercion” in the region.

Instead, “The PRC chose to escalate its exercise activities by firing ballistic missiles,” it said.

Earlier on Thursday Bei-jing blasted Washington over its blacklisting of two dozen state-owned Chinese compa-nies involved in building and supplying China’s South China Sea bases.

AFPLAKE CHARLES, US

HURRICANE Laura tore roofs off buildings and blew out win-dows in the southern US state of Louisiana as it slammed into the coast early on Thursday killing at least one person, with shaken residents emerging to survey the damage.

Forecasters warned of the continued risk of a “life-threat-ening” storm surge as the hur-ricane -- one of the strongest to ever hit the region -- moved inland and weakened rapidly.

Television footage showed windows in office buildings in the city of Lake Charles being blown out by ferocious gusts that also uprooted trees and road signs.

Streets were flooded, de-bris flew through the air and some buildings were left sub-merged by water or partially destroyed.

More than half a million people were without power in Louisiana and neighbouring Texas, according to the Power-Outage.us site.

“The threat Laura poses to Louisiana is ongoing. Stay home, continue to heed the warnings and instructions of local officials,” tweeted Loui-siana Governor John Bel Ed-wards.

He told MSNBC that one girl died when a tree fell on her home in the Leesville area of the state.

The National Hurricane Center said on Thursday a storm surge “with large and destructive waves” could still impact 40 miles (65 kilom-

eters) inland and that flood water would not recede for several days.

The NHC had earlier warned of an “unsurvivable” storm surge as evacuation or-ders were issued for hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents.

“Hurricane Laura remains a deadly hurricane with dev-astating coastal storm surges, destructive winds, and flash flooding,” the White House

said in a statement, add-ing President Donald Trump vowed to deploy all necessary resources to help those in need.

Satellite images revealed the immense size of the hur-ricane as it made landfall as a Category 4 storm at around 1:00am (0600 GMT) near the town of Cameron, close to the border with Texas, packing sustained winds of 150 miles (240 kilometers) an hour.

Between five to 10 inches

(13 to 26 cms) of rain was expfected in parts of the Gulf Coast between Wednesday and Friday.

By Thursday morning, the hurricane had weakened to a Category 1 storm.

Texas Governor Greg Ab-bott had warned Laura’s power was “unprecedented” and told citizens to “get out of harm’s way.” “Your property can be replaced,” Abbott said. “Your life cannot.” Vice President

Mike Pence, speaking on the third night of the Republican Party convention, urged peo-ple in the storm’s path to “heed state and local authorities.” Coronavirus loomed over the emergency response, with au-thorities trying to ensure that evacuees use hand sanitizer, get their temperatures taken and maintain a distance of six feet.

The National Guard mobi-lised more than 1,000 mem-bers in Texas, including 20 air-craft personnel and more than 15 shelter teams.

One evacuee in Lake Charles, Patricia Como, said other family members had stayed behind but she was “not going to take a chance.” “I’m not going to play with the good lord,” Como said.

In New Orleans, devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the historic French Quarter was empty of tourists. Sand-bags were piled up in front of the doorways of colonial-style buildings and windows were boarded up with plywood.

The city remains trau-matised from Katrina, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm, flooding 80 percent of the city and killing more than 1,800 people.

Laura earlier caused flood-ing in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, killing at least 25 people.

The Atlantic storm sea-son, which runs through No-vember, could be one of the busiest ever this year, with the NHC predicting as many as 25 named storms. Laura is the 12th so far.

Hurricane Laura wreaks havoc on US south coast, 1 dead

Capitol One Bank Tower is seen with its windows blown out in the downtown area after Hurricane Laura passed through, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Thursday. (AFP)

463 million children worldwide can’t access virtual schooling: UNAFP

NEW YORK

AMID the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread school closures, at least one-third of students af-fected around the world lack access to virtual education, ac-

cording to a UN study released on Wednesday.

In all, an estimated 463 million children lack the equip-ment or electronic access to pursue distance learning, said the report from UNICEF.

“The sheer number of chil-

dren whose education was com-pletely disrupted for months on end is a global education emergency,” Henrietta Fore, ex-ecutive director of the UN Chil-dren’s Fund, said in a statement.

“The repercussions could be felt in economies and societies

for decades to come,” she said.The UN estimates that 1.5

billion children worldwide have been affected by lockdowns or school closings occasioned by the pandemic. The report under-lined gaping geographical differ-ences in children’s access to dis-

tance education, with far fewer affected in Europe, for example, than in Africa or parts of Asia.

The UN report is based on data gathered from roughly 100 countries, measuring public ac-cess to the internet, to television and to radio.

AFPMOSCOW

RUSSIA announced on Thurs-day it had launched a police “check” into opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s illness and asked German medics treat-ing him to share his medical records while the Kremlin con-tinued to insist there were no grounds for a criminal probe.

The German doctors have said tests on the 44-year-old politician and anti-corruption campaigner indicate that he

was poisoned, and his allies have pointed the finger of blame at President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview on state-controlled television on Thurs-day, Putin made no mention of the case.

Prosecutors said they had “no evidence” of a deliberate crime committed against Na-valny and requested that Ger-man medics hand over “the evidence for the initial diag-noses they gave” including test results.

DPAMOSCOW

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin defended his decision to fast-track the approval of his country’s new coronavirus vac-cine on Thursday, and said a second vaccine would be ready in September.

“We have done this strictly in line with Russian law,” Putin said in an interview with televi-sion channel Rossiya 1. “Rus-sian laws are fully in line with global practice and regulations

in other countries.” Russia’s vaccine, called Sputnik-V, was approved for public use two weeks ago, before the results of phase 3 studies were available.

Large-scale testing is car-ried out during phase 3 trials to identify how effective a vaccine is and whether there are any side effects.

Putin said tests on animals and volunteers showed the vaccine leads to “stable immu-nity.” The WHO is presently in talks with Russia, the organisa-tion has said.

Russian police launch initial ‘check’ into Navalny case

Putin defends early approval of Russian coronavirus vaccine

Putin vows military support for Belarus’ Lukashenko

AFPMOSCOW

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin vowed military sup-port for embattled Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday, while urging a peaceful resolution to un-rest and demonstrations that erupted after a disputed elec-tion.

EU ambassadors in the capital Minsk on Thursday denounced a crackdown on the opposition in the wake of the presidential poll, in which 65-year-old Lukashenko claimed a landslide reelection with some 80 percent of the vote.

The Belarusian strong-

man’s relationship with Putin had soured ahead of the Au-gust 9 ballot because Minsk refused closer integration with Russia -- and even claimed Moscow had sent mercenaries across the border to organise riots.

Yet Putin on Thursday promised military backing for Belarus and said Russia had set up a reserve group of law enforcement officers to deploy if the post-vote situation dete-riorated.

“It won’t be used unless the situation starts to get out of control,” Putin said, unless “extremist elements ... begin setting fire to cars, houses and banks, begin seizing adminis-trative buildings”.

06 Friday, August 28, 2020

● More than half a million people were without power in Louisiana and neighbouring Texas

● The White House said ‘Laura’ remains a deadly hurricane with devastating coastal storm surges, destructive winds, and flash flooding

Trump to announce deal to buy 150 million rapid COVID-19 tests

AFPWASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump will announce a deal for 150 million rapid COVID-19 tests as he eyes a return to normal life ahead of November’s elec-tions, White House officials told AFP.

The purchase from Abbott Laboratories is part of a $750 million deal with the compa-ny, a senior administration of-ficial said. It comes a day after the Food and Drug Adminis-

tration granted emergency ap-proval for a rapid test made by the Illinois-based firm that is billed as costing $5 and giving results in 15 minutes.

“This is a major develop-ment that will help our country to remain open, get Americans back to work and kids back to school,” White House com-munications director Alyssa Farah said.

“The Trump Administra-tion is proud to partner with Abbott labs to make this pur-chase possible to help the

American people.”CNBC reported President

Trump will debut the deal in a speech accepting his par-ty’s nomination for a second White House term on the final night of the Republican Na-tional Convention.

Abbott did not respond to a request for comment.

The United States is home to the world’s worst coronavi-rus outbreak, with more than 180,000 deaths and 5.8 mil-lion cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.

EU signs deal for 400 million doses of potential COVID-19 vaccine

BRUSSELS: The EU has signed a deal for the supply of up to 400 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine by British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, the EU Commission said on Thursday, weeks after announcing the agreement.

“Today’s agreement is the �rst cornerstone in implementing the European Commission’s vaccines strategy,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was quoted as saying in a press release.

“This strategy will enable us to provide future vaccines to Europeans, as well as our partners elsewhere in the world,” she said. Should the vaccine be found to be safe and effective, it could be acquired for all of the EU’s 27 member states and distributed according to population and need. (DPA)

“China’s actions, including missile tests, further desta-bilise the situation in the South China Sea,” the Pentagon said

World

SATYENDRA PATHAK DOHA

QATARI stocks continued its gaining trend for the fourth week in a row as Qatari, GCC, Arab institutional investors and foreign retail investors remained bullish throughout the week.

The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Index increased 1.19 percent during the week to close at 9,882.93 points on Thursday, last trading day of the week.

The week saw market cap-italisation of QSE increase 1.1 percent to reach QR574.4 bil-lion as compared to QR568.4 billion at the end of the previ-ous week.

Qatari, GCC, Arab institu-tional investors and foreign

retail investors remained net buyers at the end of trade for the week on Thursday.

Qatari institutional in-vestors bought shares worth QR553.562 million, account-ing for 21.051 percent of the total buy during the week. They sold shares worth QR436.249 million, making Qatari institutional investors net buyers for the week.

Trading value during the week decreased by 1.7 per-cent to reach QR2.629 billion against QR2.674 billion in the previous trading week.

Mazaya Qatar Real Es-tate Development was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR223.6 million.

Trading volume increased by 9.6 percent to reach 1.715

billion shares against 1.565 billion shares in the previous trading week.

Investment Holding Group (IGRD) was the top volume traded stock during

the week with total traded volume of 302 million shares.

The number of transac-

tions, however, increased by 2.6 percent to reach 56,058 against 54,632 in the previ-ous week.

Industries Qatar (IQ), Woqod and Masraf Al Rayan were the primary contribu-tors to the weekly index gain.

IQ was the largest con-tributor to the index’s weekly performance, adding 103.3 points to the index. Woqod was the second biggest con-tributor to the mentioned gains, tacking on 12.3 points to the index. Moreover, Mas-raf Al Rayan contributed 8.5 points to the overall index.

Mazaya Qatar Real Es-tate Development was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 27.1 percent. On the other hand, Gulf Warehousing Company

(GWC) was the worst per-forming stock with a decline of 3.5 percent.

Of the 46 listed compa-nies, 31 companies ended the week higher. While 14 stocks fell, there was no change in the share price of the remaining one stock.

The week saw five of the seven sector indices close in the positive territory. The All Share Industrial Index, which gained almost 5 per-cent on the back of 9.43 per-cent rise in the share price of Industries Qatar, was the best performing sector index for the week.

All Share Real Estate In-dex also made an impres-sive gain of 2.61 percent to lift the main index higher for the week.

Bull run continues as QSE gains for fourth consecutive week

SATYENDRA PATHAKDOHA

QATAR’S domestic tourism has witnessed a rapid rebound driv-en by a multi-phase roadmap ex-ecuted by Qatar National Tour-ism Council (QNTC) as part of its Qatar Summer Programme, top hotel executives in the country have said.

Prominent players in the in-dustry have experienced a surge of interest from domestic tour-ists as many families are spend-ing their summer vacations in Qatar and not travelling abroad this year due to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“QNTC’s Qatar Summer Pro-gramme contributed significant-ly to achieving high occupancy while ensuring the safety of our guests,” Sheraton Grand Doha Resort and Convention Hotel General Manager Belal Al Kadry said.

“Sheraton Grand Doha is Qa-tar’s iconic hotel and the most recognisable social landmark in the country. We always seek to incorporate the heritage and lo-cal element into the experiences we put. Our guests thronged the hotel during the holidays, enjoying a variety of offerings and amenities while adhering to health and safety guidelines and protocols,” Kadry said.

As part of its Qatar Summer Programme, QNTC has part-nered with hotels to bring resi-dents a wide range of staycation packages and other hospitality deals at more than 40 establish-ments across the country.

These packages include dis-counts of up to 50 percent on room bookings, hotel packages with an additional free night stay, beach and pool packages, as well as special food and beverage (F&B) promotions.

According to industry insid-ers, domestic tourism is a safe alternative to travelling abroad especially when Qatar provides attractive tourist choices such as beaches, tourist resorts,

and hotels.The Ritz-Carlton Doha Gen-

eral Manager Christian Sack said the hotel has witnessed the high-est occupancy rates and hotel revenues have picked up since February this year.

“A large number of Qatari and expat families visited our hotel

and took advantage of the vari-ous staycation and family experi-ence packages. Through fruitful collaboration with QNTC, The Ritz-Carlton Doha developed at-tractive promotions and activa-tions to strengthen the tourism industry and to reinforce Qatar’s

position as a preferred tour-ist destination for families with many choices for residents to ex-plore the unique experience Qa-tar can offer,” Sack said.

The effective management of the pandemic by Qatar has resulted in a gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in the

country. “The Qatari government was

decisive, strategic and methodi-cal in tack-

ling the pandemic,” industry insiders said.

“The gradual lifting of COV-ID-19 restrictions has greatly encouraged domestic tourists. Domestic tourism is now seen as one of the most important eco-nomic sectors of the country,” they said.

Qatar saw a strong pick- up in numbers with hotels creating offerings to meet the pent-up de-mand for staycations.

“The Qatar Summer Pro-gramme is a great step taken by the National Tourism Council to help create a one-stop-shop for all the residents of the country to experience the best of what the hotels have to offer. Whether you are seeking the sun, sea and beach or a fun-filled holiday in close proximity to exciting shop-ping and entertainment hotspots, the initiative has got you covered and we’re happy to be part of the vast lineup of brands represent-ed as part of the programme,” Movenpick Hotel Doha General Manager Sami Aawar said.

“We put emphasis on creat-ing extremely attractive stayca-tion packages for new and regu-lar guests alike. It has positively impacted the business and given an opportunity to locals and ex-pats who have not been able to travel abroad a chance to unwind locally in a safe and secure envi-ronment,” Aawar said.

From an early stage, beach properties also registered higher occupancy rates over the week-end.

Ahmad Al Abdullah, execu-tive assistant manager of Sealine Beach, A Murwab Resort, said, “Sealine Beach, A Murwab Re-sort is one of most attractive des-tinations in the country. Qatar Summer Programme is a highly successful programme which at-tracts and encourages inbound tourism that will reflect positive-ly on occupancy levels of most of the hotels in Qatar.”

Domestic tourism �ourishes in Qatar

The week saw market capitalisation of Qatar Stock Exchange increase 1.1 percent to reach QR574.4 billion.

QNTC’s Qatar Summer Programme contributes signi�cantly to achieving high occupancy at most of the hotels in Qatar, say industry insiders

We put emphasis on creating attractive staycation packages

for new and regular guests alike. It has given an opportunity to locals and expats to unwind locally in a safe and secure environment.

Movenpick Hotel Doha General Manager Sami Aawar

Qatar has positioned itself as a preferred tourist destination for

families with many choices for residents to explore the unique experience the country can offer to them.Ritz-Carlton Doha General Manager Christian Sack

Qatar Summer Programme is a highly successful programme

which attracts and encourages inbound tourism that will re�ect positively on occupancy levels of most of the hotels in Qatar.

Ahmad Al Abdullah, executive assistant manager of Sealine Beach, A Murwab Resort

QNTC’s Qatar Summer Programme contributed

signi�cantly to achieving high occupancy while ensuring the safety of guests at our hotel.

Sheraton Grand Doha Resort and Convention Hotel General Manager Belal Al Kadry

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28 , 2020

Aerospace giant Rolls-Royce logs £5.4 bn H1 loss on virus PAGE 8

Fed to allow in�ation to rise for job growth: Powell PAGE 9

DOW QE

SILVERWTIBRENT

28,520.72+188.80 PTS

1,927.28 -1.39%

27.22 -1.41%

9,882.93-16 PTS

39,113.47+39.55 PTSSENSEX

PRICE PERCENTAGE45.08 -1.23%

PRICE PERCENTAGE42.89 -1.15%

GOLD

Economy & Business

AFPSAN FRANCISCO

FACEBOOK on Wednesday said a mobile software up-date about to be released by Apple will slash revenue for developers relying on its in-app ad network.

Changes coming to iOS software powering iPhones and iPads includes requir-ing apps to ask permission of users to collect and share device-identifying data.

“With iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and tvOS 14, you will need to receive the user’s permission through the AppTrackingTransparency framework to track them or access their device’s ad-vertising identifier,” Apple said in an online post aimed at developers.

“Tracking refers to the act of linking user or device data collected from your app with user or device data collected from other companies’ apps, web-sites, or offline properties for targeted advertising or advertising measurement purposes.”

Such data is relied on for targeting ads in ways that make them more rel-evant and likely to make money, according to Face-book.

Apple is expected to re-lease the new iOs mobile operating system later this year.

But tests found that revenue from the Audience Network platform that lets Facebook’s system work behind the scenes to target ads in apps fell by more than half when personali-zation was thwarted, an on-line post explained.

“In reality, the impact to Audience Network on

iOS 14 may be much more, so we are working on short-and long-term strategies to support publishers through these changes,” Facebook said in the post.

“Ultimately, despite our best efforts, Apple’s up-dates may render Audience Network so ineffective on

iOS 14 that it may not make sense to offer it on iOS 14.”

Facebook won’t collect the ad targeting data on its apps tailored for Apple mobile devices, but didn’t expect its own advertising revenue to take a big hit, according to the post.

“We understand that iOS 14 will hurt many of our developers and publishers at an already difficult time for businesses,” Facebook said.

“This is not a change we want to make, but unfortu-nately Apple’s updates to iOS14 have forced this deci-sion.”

The internet firm’s sys-tem will still be able to tar-get ads in apps made for Android-powered smart-phones or tablets, Face-book said.

Facebook says Apple mobile software will cut ad revenue

Deserted, New York subway threatens drastic cut in services

AFPNEW YORK

NEW York’s transport au-thority warned on Wednes-day it will have to cut services significantly if it does not receive $12 billion in federal aid to compensate for a sharp drop in ridership due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The US financial capi-tal has managed to keep the pandemic under control for several weeks, but many New Yorkers continue to work from home and avoid trains and buses from the outer boroughs, pushing the Met-ropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to consider

reducing services by 40 per-cent.

“The MTA has never, even in the Great Depression, seen ridership declines as severe and sustained as we are ex-periencing right now,” MTA chairman Patrick Foye said during a board meeting, a video of which was shared online.

The numbers are stag-gering: despite major daily disinfections, the mandatory wearing of masks and the closure of some 420 different stations from 1:00 am to 5:00 am since May -- a first since 1904 -- subway ridership has plunged 75 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The MTA’s two main lines, which primarily serve the Long Island borough and

upstate New York, have seen a similar drop.

Buses, often considered

safer during the pandemic, are faring better, with only a 35 percent drop in ridership.

In total, the MTA, which is legally obligated to balance its budget and cannot declare bankruptcy, is losing about $200 million per week, or about 40 percent of its rev-enues, according to chief fi-nancial officer Robert Foran.

However, no measures to reduce services have been taken for the time being, Foye stressed. The idea is to sound the alarm and convince the federal government to inject some $12 billion into a net-work that he called “essen-tial” to the economic recovery of New York and the US in general.

The call for aid is part of wider efforts by New York’s Democratic leadership to obtain federal aid in dealing with the expenses and tax shortfall generated by the pandemic.

In May, the Democratic-majority House of Representa-tives passed a $3 trillion aid package for state and local gov-ernments that the Republican-held Senate did not vote on.

Recent negotiations be-tween the two parties to reach a compromise also failed.

AFPPARIS

TOURISM in Paris, one of the world’s most visited cities, has plunged due to the corona-virus, sparking fears of mass closures for thousands of busi-nesses that rely on eager visi-tors from home and abroad, its senior regional official said Thursday.

Fourteen million fewer tourists explored the French capital in the first six months

of 2020 compared to last year, Ile-de-France (Paris region) president Valerie Pecresse said.

“Tourism is an extremely precious economic activity for Ile-de-France which repre-sents 500,000 jobs and seven to eight percent of regional growth,” Pecresse said at a press conference.

“For the past four years, we had been announcing re-cord number of visitors. So it is with great sadness that we

have seen the pandemic shat-ter an extremely dynamic and

flourishing sector,” Pecresse added.

The income generated by tourism slumped to 3.8 billion euros ($4.5 billion) over the first six months of 2020 from 10.2 billion euros ($12 billion) in the same period last year.

As many planes remain grounded and long-haul flights limited, 68 percent few-er international tourists vis-ited the city of lights, whereas the drop was of 54 percent for national tourists.

Tourists from abroad tend to spend between twice and three times as much as those who live in France, meaning that the fall in income was that much sharper.

One of Paris’s main attrac-

tions, the Louvre Museum, said Thursday it had received 75 percent fewer visitors in July and 60 percent fewer in August compared to the same months in 2019.

Nearly eighty percent of those who did come were from France, up from about 20 to 25 percent in other years.

Half of the Paris region’s businesses expect an improve-ment of affairs by the end of October, thanks to French cli-ents and tourists from neigh-bouring European countries.

But the 80-percent drop in reservations for long-haul flights means many entrepre-neurs remain wary.

Pecresse insisted that Par-is was a safe destination, and said she was dismayed to learn that Germany and Belgium had designated the region as risky.

The Ile-de-France region is working on a health security label, comprising very strict measures, to reassure foreign tourists, Pecresse added.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday that face masks will become compulsory through-out Paris after a surge in cases.

Masks are already obliga-tory on public transport na-tionwide and in most enclosed public spaces.

Coronovirus pandemic shatters ‘�ourishing’ Paris tourism

AFPLONDON

BRITISH aerospace giant Rolls-Royce on Thursday logged a vast net loss for the first half of 2020 as the coro-navirus outbreak ground-ed aircraft worldwide and sparked a crisis in air trans-port.

Rolls, which operates in the air, defence and energy sectors, posted a net loss of £5.4 billion ($7.1 billion, 6.0 billion euros) in the six months to June.

It also unveiled a £2.0-billion asset disposal programme as part of its on-

going overhaul.The dire first-half per-

formance compared with a year-earlier loss of £909 million, it added in a results statement.

The company, whose products power Airbus and Boeing aircraft, has also ramped up its cash holdings to help navigate the damag-ing fallout from the ongoing global health emergency.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected our 2020 performance, with an unprecedented impact on the civil aviation sector with flights grounded across the world,” Chief Executive War-

ren East said in the earnings release.

“We have responded rap-idly to increase our liquidity, with £6.1 billion at the end of H1 and a further £2.0-billion term loan agreed in H2, to help weather the continued uncertainty around the tim-ing and shape of the recovery in the civil aviation sector.

“We have made signifi-cant progress with our re-structuring, which includes the largest reorganisation of our civil aerospace business in our history.”

Rolls-Royce has been hit hard by the pandemic grounding passenger planes

worldwide and causing air-lines to cuts thousands of jobs and slash costs.

Rolls is also doing the same, announcing in May that it was shedding 9,000 jobs, or 17 percent of its glob-al workforce.

On Thursday it added that it expected to raise more cash from asset disposals to help it weather the down-turn. “While our actions have helped to secure the group’s immediate future, we recog-nise the material uncertain-ties resulting from Covid-19 and the need to rebuild our balance sheet for the longer term. We have identified a

number of potential dispos-als that are expected to gen-erate proceeds of more than £2.0 billion.

“Furthermore, in light of ongoing uncertainty in the civil aviation sector, we are continuing to assess addi-tional options to strengthen our balance sheet to enable us to emerge from the pan-demic well placed to capital-ise on the long-term oppor-tunities in all our markets.”

The group has spent the past two years cutting thou-sands of management roles following weak demand for its power systems used by the marine industry.

A Rolls Royce Trent XWB engine on view on the assembly line at the Rolls Royce factory in Derby. (File photo) (AFP)

Severely hit‘The MTA has never, even in the Great Depression, seen ridership declines as severe and sustained as we are experiencing right now,’ MTA chairman Patrick Foye said during a board meeting, a video of which was shared online

�e Covid-19 pandemic has signi�cantly a�ected our 2020 performance: CEO Warren East

A near-empty tourist bus passes by on Trocadero Square in Paris recently. (AFP)

HARD TIMES

Many New Yorkers continue to work from home and avoid trains and buses from the outer boroughs

People ride a nearly-empty Manhattan subway in New York on Wednesday. (AFP)

Changes coming to iOS software powering iPhones and iPads includes requiring apps to ask permission of users to collect and share device-identifying data

�e income generated by tourism slumped to $4.5 bn in H1 2020

08 Friday, August 28, 2020

Aerospace giant Rolls-Royce logs £5.4 bn H1 loss on virus

GOLD FALLS AS INVESTORS DIGEST POWELL’S JACKSON HOLE SPEECH

QNADOHA

QATAR Stock Exchange-listed Masraf Al Rayan has com-pleted the issuance of global sukuks worth $750 million with a term of five years under the bank’s existing $2 billion sukuk programme.

The sukuk issuance was 4.4 times oversubscribed.

The overwhelming de-mand from investors has al-lowed the bank to increase the issue size from an initial $500 million to $750 million. The issuance was priced at a spread of 185 basis points over the five-year mid swap carry-ing a fixed profit rate of 2.21 percent per annum.

Masraf Al Rayan’s sukuk issuance has attracted inves-tors from across the globe with 41 percent from Europe, 28 percent from Asia, 24 per-cent from MENA region and 7 percent from US offshore ac-counts.

By investor type, 69 per-cent were allocated to fund managers, 15 percent to banks and private banks, 8 percent to Agencies and 8 percent to insurance and pension funds.

The success of the issu-ance was based on a compre-hensive marketing strategy that aimed to demonstrate the strong fundamentals of MAR and the strength of the Qatari economy to the international investors.

Masraf Al Rayan completes issuance of $750 million global sukuks

AFPLONDON

BRITISH advertising giant WPP on Thursday posted a huge first-half loss on asset writedowns linked to the coro-navirus pandemic but forecast booming digital demand from online-savvy consumers shun-ning high streets.

WPP said it suffered a net loss of £2.6 billion ($3.4 bil-lion, 2.9 billion euros) in the six months to the end of June, af-ter a net profit of £312 million a

year earlier.The advertising giant, which

was hit hard by corporate cost-cutting in the face of the health crisis, added that it has taken £2.7 billion in impairments linked to the impact of Covid-19.

Revenues sank 12.3 percent to £5.6 billion compared with the last time around.

WPP, considered a bell-wether for the advertising in-dustry, forecast that the world ad market will shrink 11.8 per-cent this year after a 6.2-percent expansion in 2019.

However, it predicts a strong jump in digital revenues as more and more consum-ers spend increasing amounts of time in front of computer screens and smartphones.

“Digital media is expected to increase to 54 percent of total spend in 2020, from 48 percent in 2019, as the impact of Cov-id-19 accelerates an underlying structural trend,” WPP said.

“As consumers increased their time at home, we gener-ally saw heightened levels of consumption of media and a

rapid expansion of e-commerce activity. As a result, businesses

are looking to grow their e-commerce and multi-channel capabilities.”

WPP believes the impact of Covid-19 will be more pro-nounced in Europe, which has been particularly hard hit by the deadly disease and was already a sluggish market prior to the outbreak.

Chief Executive Mark Read argued that the worst is over for the sector, provided that there is no second wave or re-imposi-tion of lockdowns.

“Assuming there is no sec-

ond wave nor major lockdowns, the second quarter is expected to be the toughest period of the year, although we remain cau-tious on the speed of recovery,” Read said.

“Our strategic transforma-tion remains on track but as Covid-19 accelerates the change in our sector, we are accelerat-ing our plans.

“We continue to attract new talent, invest in technology and e-commerce, and train our peo-ple in the skills they need for the future.”

British advertising giant WPP tumbles into loss on virus impact

Digital media is expected to increase to 54 percent of total spend in 2020, from 48 percent in 2019, as the impact of Covid-19 accelerates an underlying structural trend.WPP

New US jobless benefit claims drop

AFPWASHINGTON

ONE million people in the United States made new claims for jobless benefits in the week ended August 22, the Labour Depart-ment said on Thursday, a slight improvement from the week prior.

The result was in line with expectations and a decrease of about 100,000 claims from the prior week, however the num-ber of people filing under a special programme pro-viding benefits to work-ers normally ineligible in-creased by about 82,000 to 607,806 in the latest week.

The US has seen tens of millions of layoffs since mid-March when busi-nesses shut down to stop the coronavirus, though the initial wave has de-creased since its peak later that month.

While there have been signs of rehiring, the week-ly claims data has yet to fall below the level seen in the worst week of the global fi-nancial crisis.

The Labour Depart-ment data showed the rate of continuing claims, which measures people actually

receiving benefits, declin-ing by 0.2 points to 9.9 percent in the week ended August 15, the latest period for which data was avail-able. The four-week mov-ing average of new claims also ticked downwards to around 1.1 million, drop-ping about 107,000 in the week ended August 22.

All told, the data show 27 million people are still receiving some form of government assistance, a massive number.

And while Congress passed legislation early in the pandemic offering $600 in extra payments to the unemployed each week, that money ran out at the end of July and law-makers have yet to agree on whether or not to ex-tend it in a future bill.

“The decline in con-tinuing claims for a fourth straight week is even more encouraging and is indicative of ongoing hir-ing, though it could also be reflective of individuals exhausting their benefits,” said Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Econom-ics. However she pointed to the continuing high rate of new filings as evidence that layoffs may be ongo-ing, reflecting an under-lying weak economy that may persist far longer than anticipated.

One million people in the United States made new claims for jobless bene�ts in the week ended August 22,

EU trade commissioner’s resignation sparks successor scrambleAFP

DUBLIN/BRUSSELS

IRELAND on Thursday scram-bled to assemble potential can-didates to succeed EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan after his resignation for breaching coronavirus guidelines.

Hogan, one of the bloc’s most senior officials and a pow-erful force in Brexit talks, quit on Wednesday after a week-long stream of revelations caused rising public anger.

European Commission ex-ecutive vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis of Latvia has

stepped up to take over tempo-rarily.

Commission president Ur-sula von der Leyen, who spoke to Irish Prime Minister Mi-cheal Martin by phone, asked Dublin to submit one man and one woman as candidates to succeed Hogan.

Her spokesman said she wanted a replacement “rap-idly”.

Von der Leyen meanwhile issued a stern warning to other commissioners to comply with Covid-19 rules.

As “Europeans make sacri-fices and accept painful restric-

tions, I expect the members... to be particularly vigilant about compliance with applicable na-tional or regional rules or rec-ommendations”, she said in a statement.

Martin told Ireland’s state broadcaster RTE on Thursday that he would meet his govern-ment coalition partners to dis-cuss Hogan’s replacement.

He refused to be drawn on specific names, even as ru-mours swirled linking past prime ministers, current cabi-net ministers and European parliamentary officials to the job.

But he added: “It’s fair to say that at this stage our shared objective will be that a person of very, very high calibre will be nominated by the Irish govern-ment.”

Yet there is no guarantee Ireland will retain the trade portfolio, which is regarded as a key asset protecting the Re-public’s interests during Brexit trade talks with Britain.

Among those touted in the Irish media as potential succes-sors are former prime minister Leo Varadkar, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. But

all three hold key positions in Martin’s two-months-old coali-tion government, and Donohoe was recently appointed head of the eurozone group of finance ministers.

Martin is also considered unlikely to want to weaken his administration, which has already been hit by a series of resignations and is facing a surge in coronavirus cases.

RTE raised European Par-liament vice-president Mairead McGuinness and former depu-ty prime minister turned MEP Frances Fitzgerald as possible replacements for Hogan.

Phil Hogan at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday. (EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET)

GOLD slumped over 2% in volatile trading on Thursday as the US dol-

lar and Treasury yields rose after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell shifted the central bank’s in�ation target in a widely expected move.

Spot gold fell 1.5% to $1,925.19 per ounce by 11:42 a.m. EDT (1542 GMT). Prices had risen as much as 1.1% during Powell’s speech.

US gold futures were down 1.4% at $1,924.60 per ounce.

“Powell’s speech sparked a roller coaster ride for as-set markets especially gold, which rallied nearly $50 but completely reversed as mar-ket realized he didn’t provide any surprises that hadn’t been mooted earlier,” said Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals derivatives trading at BMO.

AFPWASHINGTON

THE US central bank rolled out a major policy change on Thursday that gives greater weight to its mission of maxi-mizing employment to ben-efit lower income families, while ratcheting back its em-phasis on fighting inflation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the aim is to correct the “shortfalls” in achieving the Fed’s goal of maximum employment and to recognize that, with chang-es in the global economy, a tight job market does not nec-essarily drive prices higher.

In practice, the change will keep borrowing rates low for much longer than in prior economic expansions -- something President Donald Trump has loudly demanded, though for more political rea-sons.

“This change reflects our appreciation for the benefits of a strong labor market, par-ticularly for many in low- and moderate-income communi-ties,” Powell said in a speech unveiling the policy.

The new policy makes it clear the central bank will al-low inflation to stay above its

2.0 percent target “for some time” before officials will need to take action by raising interest rates.

The policy shift, though telegraphed in recent state-ments, is a significant change for the Fed and central bank-ing in general, as inflation for decades has been the eco-nomic villain to be stamped out at every turn. It also rep-resented a defeat for inflation hawks, though the change was approved unanimously.

Powell, in his speech to the annual Jackson Hole monetary policy conference,

said the past 10 years since the 2008 global financial cri-sis has shown that warnings about low unemployment causing price hikes were ex-aggerated.

“This change may appear subtle, but it reflects our view that a robust job market can be sustained without causing an outbreak of inflation,” he told the virtual conference.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the US unemploy-ment rate had hovered near 50-year lows at 3.5 percent, which brought many people back into the workforce as

firms struggled to fill open positions.

Inflation for years has stayed below the 2.0 percent target, and Powell said the goal now is “to achieve infla-tion that averages two per-cent over time,” although he stressed that would not be tied “to a particular math-ematical formula.”

Advocates of the new re-gime have argued the central bank needed to let the infla-tion rate drift higher to aver-age 2.0 percent over the long run.

High unemployment for years

The Fed chief grew pas-sionate as he described the impact of hearing from low-

income workers about the dramatic change the higher employment rate had on their communities in recent years.

Going forward, “In con-ducting monetary policy, we will remain highly focused on fostering as strong a labor market as possible for the benefit of all Americans,” he said.

In addition, he pledged the Fed will use “our full range of tools to support the economy.”

Responding to questions after the video speech, Powell sounded a note of optimism about the recovery from the pandemic, as well as a note of caution.

The pandemic hit a solid economy like a natural dis-aster, he said, noting that “there’s is still a healthy econ-omy under here, except for this area that’s been directly affected by COVID.”

But millions of workers in travel, hotels and restaurants have been directly impacted, which means “a couple of years of... relatively high un-employment.”

People in those industries are “really going to struggle to find work... We need to sup-port them.”

Fed chair announces major shift that could mean long periods of cheap mortgages and business loans

Fed to allow in�ation to rise to maximize job growth: Powell

This change re�ects our appreciation for the bene�ts of a strong labor market, particularly for many in low- and moderate-income communities.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell US stocks

extend rallyAFP

LONDON

US stocks extended a recent rally Thursday after US Fed-eral Reserve chief Jerome Powell took a major step to stimulate the economy by saying he would not rush to raise interest rates and could allow inflation to stay above his two-percent target “for some time.”

Allowing inflation to over-shoot is expected to boost job creation as the Fed pursues its goal of “maximum em-ployment”, while also recog-nising that greater employ-ment has not been driving prices significantly higher in recent years.

Economy & Business 09Friday, August 28, 2020

AFPORLANDO

THE Milwaukee Bucks staged an unprecedented boycott on Wednesday over the police shooting of a black man, forc-ing the NBA to halt its play-off schedule and prompting a wave of walkouts by teams and players across other sports.

The NBA postponed its entire slate of Wednesday fix-tures after the Bucks refused to play game five of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Orlando Magic in protest at the shooting of African-American man Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday.

Blake was seriously injured after being shot point blank in the back seven times by police officers in a confrontation cap-tured in video footage.

“Over the last few days in our home state of Wisconsin, we’ve seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, and the additional shooting of protestors,” the Bucks players said in a statement explaining their boycott.

“Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball.”

The Bucks’ no-show prompted the NBA to scrap two other games scheduled for Wednesday: Houston’s clash with Oklahoma City Thunder

and the Los Angeles Lakers’ matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Games scheduled for Thursday were also in doubt as NBA players held an emer-gency meeting in Florida late Wednesday.

The boycotts spread to other sports, with the Milwau-kee Brewers’ game against the Cincinnati Reds becoming one of several Major League Base-ball games to be postponed.

In tennis, two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka abruptly announced her with-drawal from the WTA Western & Southern Open semi-finals, where she was due to play on Thursday but later reversed her decision.

“As a black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate atten-tion, rather than watching me play tennis,” Osaka said.

The Women’s NBA post-poned its scheduled fixtures for Wednesday, while Major League Soccer also called off five of six games.

Dramatic escalationThe NBA postponements marked a dramatic escalation in the league’s calls for racial justice, which have reverber-ated across the sport in the months since the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May.

Los Angeles Lakers su-

perstar LeBron James voiced solidarity with the decision in a tweet shortly after the Bucks boycott.

“WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT,” James wrote.

The NBA’s players union also backed the protest.

“The players have, once again, made it clear – they will not be silent on this issue,” National Basketball Players

Association executive direc-tor Michele Roberts said in a statement.

A renewed wave of anger had swept the NBA after Sun-day’s shooting of Blake.

The 29-year-old was shot repeatedly in the back as he attempted to get into his car, which contained his three children. Protests have erupt-ed in Kenosha since the shoot-ing, with two people killed af-ter a teenager opened fire on demonstrators with an assault rifle on Tuesday.

‘Horrifying, maddening’The NBA’s coronavirus-halted season resumed last month in Orlando against the backdrop of nationwide protests follow-ing Floyd’s death.

NBA teams have knelt in protest during the pre-match playing of the US national an-them, while the words “Black Lives Matter” have been paint-ed onto each court staging games in Florida.

Players, many of whom took part in protests against Floyd’s killing, have been al-lowed to wear jerseys bearing social justice messages.

The first hints of boycotts over Blake’s shooting came from Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse, who revealed that his players had discussed re-fusing to play their game with Boston on Thursday.

Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens described Blake’s shooting as “horrifying.”

NBA walkout sparks historic US sport boycott

AFPNEW YORK

SERENA Williams could see plenty of fellow Americans in her US Open quest for a 24th career Grand Slam title, including Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in a semi-final match.

The women’s draw unveiled Thursday ahead of Monday’s start of the Flushing Meadows fortnight in a spectator-less COVID-19 quarantine bubble offers some challenges for the 38-year-old third seed.

Williams, one Slam singles crown shy of matching Mar-garet Court’s all-time record, could meet 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the third round and 2017 US Open runner-up and seventh seed Madison Keys in a quarter-final before a chance at Kenin in the semis and potentially Czech top seed Karolina Pliskova in the final.

And that’s not even count-ing a possible fourth-round matchup against Greek 15th seed Maria Sakkari, who ousted Williams from this week’s US Open tuneup event in New York.

Williams lost in the US Open and Wimbledon finals each of the past

two years, and with the England grass event wiped off the sched-ule by the pandemic, the US Open marks a chance to break through and claim a seventh title on the same courts where she captured her first Slam crown in 1999.

Williams will open against 97th-ranked American Kristie Ahn with Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig or Russia’s Margarita Gas-paryan awaiting if she advances.

Spanish 10th seed Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one, is the high-est-rated rival in Keys’ section of the draw.

Kenin, who opens against Belgium’s Yanina Wickmeyer, could face another Belgian in the fourth round, either 16th seed Elise Mertens or Kim Cli-jsters, a three-time US Open champion making a comeback at age 37.

Clijsters, who also owns an Australian Open title, will open against Russian 21st seed Ekaterina

Alexandrova.

Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion and twice a US Open winner, plays her first match against Czech 20th-seed Karolina Mu-chova. The 40-year-old sister of Serena could face British ninth seed Johanna Konta in the third round. Konta will

open against fellow Briton Heather Watson.

The Williams sisters could meet in a semi-final.

Top seed Pliskova will open against

Ukraine’s An-helina Kalinina

with France’s Caroline Garcia

or Italy’s Jasmine P a o l i n i

awaiting if she makes

the second round. Croa-tian eighth

seed Petra Martic could await in the quarter-finals.

Japanese fourth seed Nao-mi Osaka, the 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open champion, could face Czech sixth seed Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals and Pliskova in a semi-final.

Osaka opens against Ja-pan’s Misaki Doi and faces a potential third-round matchup against US teen Coco Gauff.

DJOKOVIC COULD FACE ZVEREV IN SEMIS, THIEM IN FINALOn the men’ side, world num-ber one Novak Djokovic’s path to a 2020 US Open ti-tle could include a semi-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev.

The 33-year-old Serbian star, a 17-time Grand Slam winner who has captured five of the past seven men’s singles Slam crowns, begins his quest for a fourth US Open title against Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 107th-ranked Damir Dzumhur.

Austrian second seed Domi-nic Thiem, who pushed Djoko-vic to five sets before falling in this year’s Australian Open fi-

nal, was placed on the opposite end of the bracket, setting up the possibility of a rematch in the championship match on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.

With fellow “Big Three” players Rafael Nadal and Rog-er Federer absent, Djokovic has a prime chance to close the gap on his record rivals in a field of 128 that is missing several standouts.

Swiss legend Federer, who is injured, owns a record 20 men’s Grand Slam titles with Spaniard Nadal, the 2019 US Open winner, next on 19.

The tournament begins Monday in a spectator-less quarantine bubble at the US National Tennis Center in New York, with COVID-19 testing and other measures designed to safeguard players from the deadly virus that forced Wim-bledon to be called off.

Djokovic would meet either Britain’s Kyle Edmund or Ka-zakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in the second round with US 16th seed John Isner a potential fourth-round foe. His highest-ranked possible quarter-final opponent would be Belgian sev-enth seed David Goffin.

The other draw quarter in the upper half of the men’s bracket has Greek fourth seed Tsitsipas and Germany’s fifth-seeded Zverev as possible quarter-final opponents. Each young star is chasing a first Slam crown.

Tsitsipas plays his first match against Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas while Zverev launches his title bid against South African Kevin Anderson.

Thiem opens against Spain’s Jaume Munar and has a possible third-round encounter with former US Open winner Marin Cilic.

Tricky US Open path for Serena in search of 24th Grand Slam

Serena Williams in action during the Western & Southern Open at the USTA

Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Tuesday. (GETTY IMAGES/AFP)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2020

A worker removes the balls from the court after the Milwaukee Bucks sit out Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round in protest during the 2020 NBA Playoffs against the Orlando Magic at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US, on Wednesday. (GETTY IMAGES/AFP)

Osaka reverses course, will play WTA semi-�nal

AFPNEW YORK

JAPAN’S Naomi Osaka re-versed her decision to with-draw from the WTA Western & Southern Open semi-finals on Thursday, saying she will now play the match that has been rearranged for Friday.

The two-time Grand Slam champion said in a statement on Wednesday that she had pulled out of her last-four clash with Belgium’s Elise Mertens in protest at the police shoot-ing of black man Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

However, after WTA and ATP chiefs announced a sus-pension of play at the tour-nament following anger over Blake’s shooting, Osaka said she has now changed her mind.

“As you know, I pulled out of the tournament yesterday in support of racial injustice and continued police violence,” Osa-ka said in a statement first re-ported by Britain’s The Guard-ian and The New York Times.

“I was (and am) ready and prepared to concede the match to my opponent.

“However, after my an-

nouncement and lengthy con-sultation with the WTA and USTA, I have agreed at their request to play on Friday.

“They offered to postpone all matches until Friday and in my mind that brings more at-tention to the movement.

“I want to thank the WTA and the tournament for their support.”

In her statement on Wednesday, Osaka had said she was not ready to play tennis following the Blake shooting.

“Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman. And as a black woman I feel as though there are much more impor-tant matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis,” Osaka said.

“I don’t expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a con-versation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction.”

Her move camed after the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted their NBA playoff game over the shooting, forcing the league to halt Wednesday’s schedule of postseason fixtures.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan. (PIC: WTA)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the Western & Southern Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Wednesday. (GETTY IMAGES / AFP)

Bob Bryan (left) and Mike Bryan of the US. (AFP)

Bryan brothers bring curtain down on

legendary double actAFPPARIS

US men’s doubles duo Bob and Mike Bryan announced the end of their legendary record-shat-tering tennis career on Thurs-day, just days before the US Open where they made their Grand Slam debut in 1995.

“Our loyalty toward each other never wavered and we are leaving professional tennis with zero regrets,” announced Bob, who with his twin broth-er Mike captured an Open era team record 119 trophies.

That haul included all four Grand Slams, all nine ATP Masters 1000s and Olympic gold at London 2012.

The brothers hold the all-time team record of 16 major titles from 30 grand slam finals.

“We’ll miss the competi-tion and camaraderie amongst the players. We’ll also miss the excitement of gearing up for a big match and playing for the roar of the fans,” Bob added.

Mike Bryan said they had

felt now was “the right time to walk away”. “We’ve given over 20 years to the Tour, and we are now looking forward to the next chapter of our lives,” he said.

“We feel very blessed to have been able to play the game of doubles for so long. We are grateful to have had the opportunities in the begin-ning of the year to play and say our goodbyes to the fans.

“Winning our final event in Delray Beach and clinching the Davis Cup tie in Honolulu are moments we’ll forever re-member and cherish.”

At their peak, the Bryans were a formidable doubles duo, rising to No.1 in the rank-ings for the first time in 2003.

They spent a total of 438 weeks at the top of the rank-ings and ended 10 seasons as the No. 1 team.

ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi commented: “It’s difficult to put into words what they have brought to the game, not only on the court but also off it.

Paul Pogba tests positive,left out of France squad for Nations League

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

NASSER Al Ghazali, who has been one of the youngest mem-bers of the Qatari international show jumping team and who clinched a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games, pitchforked himself into contention for a podium finish in the Big Tour class of the annual domestic showjumping series – Longines Qatar Equestrian Tour Hathab 2019-20 on Thursday.

Ghazali, riding his bay gelding Quel Homme re-turned a flawless and swift-est (62.62secs) routine to top the Table A, One round against the clock, Art. 238.2.1 (130/145cm) event on the opening day of the three-day 12th and final round at the Indoor Arena of Qatar Eques-trian Federation.

Al Ghazali was overall fifth in the Big Tour standings with 169 points at the start of the 12th leg. The best seven results of the total twelve rounds are taken into consideration in de-ciding the annual champions in various categories.

Salman Mohammed Al Emadi too tried to do his best but had to be content with the runners-up place finishing in 65.88secs on his well-known mount The Toymaker.

Khalid Mohammed Al Emadi, running third in the standings, slipped to the third place on Zorro Z commiting four faults while trying to be fast as he needed only 60.80secs to complete the routine.

In the Medium Tour, Mo-hammed Saeed Haidan contin-ued his impressive showing as he topped the (12/130cm) class of One round against the clock in 58,58secs and having made no mistake with his horse Miss Chili. Rashid Towaim Al Marri finished second on Lamm Ad-diction while Jaber Rashid Al Amri was 3rd on Argelith Squid.

The Small Tour competition saw Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi excel on Galwaybay Merbreaker

as he finished in 50.82secs in the (100/115cm) class to take the top podium spot.

Khalifa Abdulla Al Khaldi on Dusty was second while

Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi on Vlacido finished third.

The second day of the 12th round will continue on Fri-day while Saturday will see the

grand finale of the annual com-petition of Hathab in its third year now being initiated by HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President, Qatar Olympic

Committee, and which carries a total prize of QR 1.2mn.

Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi tops Small Tour

Nasser Al Ghazali makes a winning start; Haidan excels in Medium Tour

AFPLONDON

PAKISTAN captain Babar Azam will try to overcome a quick change in formats in the first of three Twenty20 inter-nationals against England at Old Trafford on Friday.

Babar, the world’s top-ranked T20 batsman, featured throughout during Pakistan’s 1-0 loss to England in a three-Test series only completed on Tuesday.

While none of England’s Test side will feature on Fri-day, Babar will be facing the very different demands of T20 cricket in Manchester.

“It’s really difficult to come from red-ball to white-ball,” Babar told reporters on Thursday.

“We only got one day for practice, yesterday we had a little bit with the white ball. It’s all in the mindset, we hope that we will come up with a good performance.”

Pakistan, however, do have white-ball specialists in their tour squad, with Babar adding: “But T20 specific play-ers have been practising so the aim is to win the series.

“We will not take Eng-land lightly. They have good

white-ball players.”Babar’s 69 during Paki-

stan’s three-wicket defeat in the first Test at Old Trafford earlier this month was his fifth succes-sive half-century at that level, with his previous five matches yielding four hundreds.

That innings prompt-ed former England captain Nasser Hussain to proclaim Babar was now among the world’s leading batsmen.

“They keep going on about the ‘Fab Four (India’s Virat Kohli, Australia’s Steve Smith, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and England’s Joe Root) – it’s the ‘Fab Five’ and Babar Azam is in that,” Hussain said.

Babar, while “disappoint-ed I didn’t do what I set out to do in the Test series”, where he scored 195 runs, with two fif-

ties, at an impressive average of nearly 49, said he did not feel under a crushing weight of expectation given all the praise that had come his way.

By contrast, England white-ball captain Eoin Mor-gan has long been a limited overs specialist, with the 33-year-old Irishman playing the last of his 16 Tests in 2012.

The pair were once team-mates in the Twenty20 Pa-kistan Super League, and England’s 50-over World Cup winning captain was in no doubt of Babar’s talent.

“He’s a fantastic player, I played with him at Karachi Kings a couple of years ago,” said Morgan, who averages nearly 31 from 89 Twenty20 internationals, with a high-est score of 91 from 41 balls against New Zealand in 2019.

Pak’s Babar facing turnaround challenge in England T20s

AFPBERLIN

BAYERN Munich forward Thomas Mueller jokingly con-ceded Thursday the European champions do not have the fi-nancial resources to sign Bar-celona star Lionel Messi if he becomes available.

“I spoke to our financial director once or twice over the past months. And I don’t think there’s anything we can do,” a jestful Mueller said when asked about the possibility of signing Messi at a promotional event in Munich.

Messi reportedly earns an annual salary upwards of 50 million euros ($59 million), almost three times more than Bayern’s highest-paid players, such as Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer and Mueller.

Mueller admitted he never foresaw Messi leaving Barce-lona before retiring as a player but said he understood why the prospect of the Argentine’s Camp Nou exit was drawing such huge interest.

“The fact that some change is happening now might also be interesting for the football-ing world,” said Mueller.

Messi to Bayern? ‘We can’t afford it’, jokes Mueller

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

AL Khor coach Andre Lima has said that the Knights would have to dominate Al Markhiya on Friday when both teams meet in the QNB Stars League playoff match.

Al Khor finished 11th at the end of the 2019-20 league sea-son which earned them a rel-egation playoff clash against the second-placed team from the second division. Though the stronger and more es-tablished side, Al Khor face a tough opposition in Markhiya who have this season beat heavyweights Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan in the Amir Cup

“It is going to be a decisive match. We are not afraid of facing any team, but we have to dominate Al Markhiya, a team that reached the semifi-nals of Amir Cup, beating Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa on the way. They are able to spring surprises, so we must avoid all mistakes that can cost you goals. We must impose our style on the field by believing in our abilities and respecting Al Markhiya from the first min-ute until the end of the game,” Lima who took over from Omar Nadji with two games left said ahead of the match.

“We cannot relax and we must not lose our focus from the first minute till end. The conditions and atmosphere in the team are good despite our situation in this season. We lost points in many games, which we did not deserve to lose,” said Andre Lima.

Also veteran defender Naif al Buraiki said, “Our role as senior players throughout the season is to motivate other players and explain to them that any match is a football match. Our game against Al Markhiya is special because it is a play-off match. Because we were playing in the First Division, it is natural that we are under pressure and our role is to support the players in order to play without any pressure. We must respect Al Markhiya a lot because they are a good team. We must ex-ploit their weaknesses.

The 40-year-old lamented the team’s playoff position but added the players will give their best to remain in the top flight.

“We did not want to be playing the play-off match. But we, as players, put ourselves in this situation. No one can take us out of this situation except ourselves, so we must pass this stage and make the cut,” he added.

Al Khor must dominate Al Markhiya to retain league status: Lima

Longines Qatar Equestrian Tour Hathab 2019-20 Final Round

Sports 11Friday, August 28, 2020

Big Tour winner Nasser Al Ghazali receives his prize from Abdullah Al Merri, Sport coordinator, Longines Hathab, at QEF on Thursday.

Mohamad Sultan Al Suwaidi, Manager, Al Shaqab Equine Education Department honours Small Tour winner Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi.

Medium Tour winner Mohammed Saeed Haidan astride Miss Chili during the Table A, One round against the clock event at the QEF’s Indoor Arena on Thursday. (Inset) Haidan receives his prize from Omar Al Mannai, Vice-Chairman, Organising committee Longines Hathab.

BIG TOURTable A, One round against the clock, Art. 238.2.1 (130/145cm); Prize-Money: QR15,0001. Rider: Nasser Al Ghazali; Horse: Quel Homme; Faults: 0; Time: 62.62secs; Prize: QR4,1252. Salman Mohammed Al Emadi; The Toymaker; 0; 65.88secs; QR3,3753. Khalid Mohammed Al Emadi; Zorro Z; 4; 60.80secs; QR2,625.MEDIUM TOURTable A, One round against the clock, Art. 238.2.1 (120/130cm); Prize-Money: QR10,0001. Rider: Mohammed Saeed Haidan; Horse: Miss Chili; Faults: 0; Time: 58.58secs; Prize: QR2,5002. Rashid Towaim Al Marri; Lamm Addiction Z; 0; 59.88secs; QR2,0003. Jaber Rashid Al Amri; Argelith Squid L; 0; 61.51secs; QR1,500SMALL TOURTable A, One round against the clock, Art. 238.2.1 (100/115cm) Prize QR5,0001. Rider: Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi; Horse: Galwaybay Merbreaker; Faults: 0; Time:50.82secs; Prize: QR1,2502. Khalifa Abdulla Al Khaldi; Dusty; 0; 51.77secs; QR1,0003. Mohammed Nasser Al Qadi; Vlacido; 0; 51.78secs; QR750.

Results (Day 1)

Al Khor coach Andre Lima speaks during a press conference.

PSG say goodbye to ‘legend’ Thiago Silva

AFPPARIS

PARIS Saint-Germain paid a fond tribute to departing cap-tain Thiago Silva on Thursday, calling him “one of the greats” ahead of a reported move to Premier League side Chelsea.

“Thiago, thank you for eight years of unforgettable memo-ries, leadership and commit-ment. You are one of the greats and your legendary status at PSG will live forever,” PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi said in a club statement.

“My very best wishes to you and your family for your new adventures, you will al-ways be part of our family and our history, Merci Captain.”

Silva, 35, underwent a medical in London on Thurs-day and is expected to sign a two-year deal with Chelsea, according to reports in Britain.

The Brazil centre-back en-joyed eight trophy-laden years with the French champions, winning the Ligue 1 title seven times and five French Cups while making 315 appearances for PSG.

Silva could become the latest signing for Chelsea in a busy close season that has

seen the arrivals of Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell and Malang Sarr. The Blues are also interested in Bayer Leverkusen rising star Kai Havertz.

Paris Saint-Germain paid a fond tribute to departing captain Thiago Silva on Thursday, calling him “one of the greats”.

Baby on way for Virat, AnushkaNEW DELHI: India cricket captain Virat Kohli and Bol-lywood actor Anushka Sharma are expecting their �rst child in January, they announced in social media posts on Thursday. “And then, we were three! Arriving Jan 2021,” both of them posted on their Twitter ac-counts. Kohli, 31, and Sharma, 32, got married in Italy in 2017. They are one of India’s most popular couples with millions of followers on social media. Sharma’s post generated 240,000 likes within three hours. Kohli is currently in Dubai to play in the Indian Pre-mier League Twenty20. Anushka Sharma is a success-ful actor and producer in the Hindi �lm industry. (DPA)

Pakistan T20 captain and batsman Babar Azam. (AFP)

Tour de France on ‘red alert’ as teams gather for Nice start

AFPNICE (FRANCE)

TOUR de France ‘Grand Depart’ host city Nice scrambled to im-pose tighter health protocols on Thursday as the region was re-classified as a Covid-19 red zone.

With the gathering con-tenders mulling the likely sprint finish on the Mediterra-nean city’s celebrated seafront Promenade des Anglais, it was announced only a few dozen fans could get to see the race start on Saturday.

Authorities in the chic sea-side town decided Thursday’s team parade and fan park could only host 1,000 spectators.

Fines of 135 euros were dished out to anyone with-out a protective face mask in Nice’s terrace-lined squares and along the beachfront walkways.

India cricket captain Virat Kohli tweeted this picture of him and wife Anushka, saying ‘And then, we were three! Arriving Jan 2021’.

Nation

MES student secures 3rd prize in short �lm contest

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

BHAVYASREE Rajesh, a stu-dent of grade XI at the MES In-dian School, won the third prize and a cash award of QR5,000 in the short film competition organised by the Ministry of Education and Higher Educa-tion for grades 1-12 students in collaboration with the Doha Film Institute in April 2020. The theme of the contest was ‘The Bright Side.’

The competition, which was organised in three catego-ries, aimed at providing stu-dents with new skills and dis-covering and sponsoring media talent as a meaningful platform for students in their free time. Bhavyasree received her certifi-cate and cash prize of QR5,000 from Mrs Balkis, Asst. Director of Public Relations & Commu-nications. The school principal, Hameeda Kadar, has congratu-lated the winner.

‘Volunteering has the power to change lives’TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

IT’S something worth taking a mo-ment to picture in our minds: how it would look today if everyone volun-teered some of their time and effort to help change someone’s life or give something back to society.

The question becomes even more relevant when humanity is experiencing one of its toughest cri-ses, focusing on how reaching out to help others can bring direct benefits to their daily lives. And members of the community of the Qatar Foun-dation, who are driven to commit themselves to volunteer, can testify to their own reward.

Meghna Dey, a member of the communications team of the Qa-tar Foundation, has been engaged in voluntary work independently since 2004. She realized that she had a clear urge to give back to her society, and it wasn’t long before she decided what she wanted to do. It started when she decided to support her home-help children with their studies back home. Since then, she has been involved in educating low-income children.

“I never set an agenda or made a conscious decision to become a vol-unteer. It was an inner voice that I listened to, a voice that was triggered by a sense of fulfillment, “she said.

“If I can expand the perception and awareness of a child – espe-cially for children from underprivi-leged backgrounds who do not have

enough opportunities – and make them see things from a different perspective, I hope I can give them a chance to improve the quality of their lives and those of their families.

“Education is certainly their best opportunity to do this and to play the least part in providing them with such an opportunity that matters to me. My hope was that a child would then take their experiences back to their communities and inspire their friends.

For Meghna, helping to plant a seed of change that could grow has become a lifestyle. She saw sponta-

neously the areas where she felt she could help make a difference, and she acted on that feeling.

“Besides educating children, I also became involved in animal welfare about four years ago, when I adopted my first rescue dog,” she explained.” Ever since then, if I have the opportunity to do something that helps to get an animal off the street, I try to take it, either by offering my time to put an animal in a shelter home or rehoming them or by sup-porting animal shelters and their ini-tiatives financially.”

Each volunteer feels that they

have a greater purpose. In the case of Meghna, the greatest reward knows that whoever gave her time to help – whether she was an animal or a per-son – is safe.

“Education gives you the power to make choices and decisions from an informed place,” she said. “Chil-dren from low-income backgrounds, wherever they are in the world, can very easily go astray in the way that they start taking drugs, and become violent or a nuisance to society. Edu-cation gives children the power to choose the opposite option – to be safe themselves, and to keep their friends and family safe,”

“This applies to animals as well. Once an animal has been picked off the streets and is with a shelter or at a foster home, you can’t help but think

that you’ve saved a life. It’s a power-ful feeling when you know you are able to make a difference in alife.”

For Amy Johnson, QF’s Com-munity Engagement Director and four-year - old mother, volunteer-ing is also a major part of her life. In spite of her busy schedule as a work-ing mother, she decided to set aside a specific time during her week to help others.

The idea of volunteering came from her goal of engaging children in activities that could get them away from simply watching TV, computer, or phone screens, so that – together with her own children – she started supporting children at children’s-fo-cused events in Qatar, such as help-ing to set up and operate events.

Recently, in search of an oppor-

tunity to use her skills to help others, she joined QF ‘s internal virtual vol-unteer program. She is now support-ing the teaching of conversational French to young children who seek to improve their language skills.

Speaking of what she gives her from the voluntary work she does, she says, “It’s a special feeling to know that your time is spent helping someone else improve and advance their own lives — it’s one of those feelings in life that money can’t buy.

“I am also very fortunate to be part of the QF Community Devel-opment Team. The work we do for the community every single day is a similar feeling to the one I get from volunteering. Knowing that we are providing the community with unique services and opportunities that would otherwise not be available is such a rewarding feeling.

To Amy, giving is invaluable and inspiring. “I hope that when people see the benefits that volunteers get from their actions, they will be in-spired to offer even the slightest time to help someone else during their day or week, share their own story, and help so many lives on so many levels,”

“We can all get so caught up and busy with our day-to-day lives that sometimes it’s important to take a step back and remember that even one hour of helping others can make a huge difference in someone’s life. And if you inspire others to do the same thing, that one hour can turn into thousands of hours.

DPS-MIS raises awareness about waste reduction by hosting ‘Junk Art’ contest

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

YOUNG artists of DPS-Modern Indian School (DPS-MIS) have proved that the proverb “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is true to the core.

This was clearly demonstrated when the school conducted a ‘Junk Art Competition’ online for the students of grades III, IV and V as a part of the co-curricular activities.

The competition aimed to raise the awareness of the students through promoting the ‘3R con-cept’ and motivate them to contribute to achiev-ing a pollution-free world.

Despite the closure of the school, the talented students used their imagination and creativity to use broken bangles, plastic bottles, waste nails, peanut shell, beads, old CDs etc. to make a variety of artworks such as wall hangings, night lamp and paper flowers. “The large number of beautiful and creative entries made judging incredibly chal-lenging. It was amazing to see how scrap material could be transformed into useful and attractive articles,” said Principal Asna Nafees.

“Through the artworks, the students proved that all waste stuff are not necessarily to be dis-posed of, and a little creative thought can trans-

form even scrap into something beautiful. The best entries will be awarded the E-Certificates,” she added.

QRCS supports Gaza Municipality’s efforts to contain COVID-19

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

QATAR Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has been supporting the health services authori-ties of Gaza in dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19) by providing the much-need-ed aid to fight the pandemic.

Gaza, which is facing a 14-year old blockade, is un-der immense pressure due

to the shortage of medicines and medical supplies.

Currently, QRCS’ repre-sentation mission in Gaza is working on a project to pro-vide urgent COVID-19 pre-ventive aid to the Palestine’s Ministry of Health (MoH), the main health service pro-vider, with a total budget of $95,000.

The procurements ac-complished so far included

800 COVID-19 rapid test kits as well as disinfectants, gloves, and medical con-sumables delivered to MoH’s warehouses.

Also, 13,000 litres of dis-infectant (sodium hypochlo-rite), shoe covers and heavy leather gloves were supplied to the Municipality of Gaza to enable them to clean and disinfect quarantine facilities and public places.

Dr Ramy Al Abadleh, In-fection Control Officer at the MoH, said his ministry had to date recorded 81 confirmed cases, put under observa-tion at the isolation hospital, in addition to thousands of quarantine suspected cases.

“Everyday assessment, follow-up and swabbing pro-cesses are in progress,” said Dr Abadleh.

“The 800 rapid test kits

provided by QRCS were im-portant for the MoH, as the ministry is taking measures to protect the passengers returning to Gaza, in an at-tempt to prevent and control the spread of the virus, in the teeth of a growing shortage in medicines and medical sup-plies.”

Eng. Maher Salem, Water and Sewage Consultant at the Municipality of Gaza, said

the new supplies by QRCS would enhance the preven-tive measures adopted by the municipality to fight the pan-demic. “Municipality service providers will be protected against infection while deal-ing with solid waste, espe-cially at quarantine facili-ties,” he added.

Dr Akram Nassar, head of QRCS’s mission in Gaza, explained that this aid is an

emergency response to mini-mise the spread of the virus. According to him, clean-ing and disinfection are key to protection, particularly where the infected and sus-pected cases are quaran-tined. “Our latest interven-tions helped to improve the services provided by MOH and the Municipality of Gaza to protect against Coronavi-rus,” he concluded.

The Qatar Foundation community deliberates about how sel�ess work contributes to society and enhances their own existence

Meghna with her rescue dog

Jello-Lucky

12 Friday, August 28, 2020