ّInterim Dividends 40 - The Peninsula...Apr 28, 2020 · UN Sustainable Development ... Through...

Tuesday 28 April 2020

5 Ramadan - 1441

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8241

BUSINESS | 03 PENMAG | 06 SPORT | 12

FIFA proposes

5 subs to counter

potential fixture

congestion

Classifieds

and Services

section

included

Turkish chambers

union provides

6bn lira loans

to small firms

Amir directs sending urgent medical aid to Tunisia, Rwanda and Nepal

QNA — DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has directed sending urgent medical aid to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and the Republic of Rwanda, in support of the efforts of friends in both countries to fight the outbreak of the new

coronavirus pandemic.Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani has also directed sending urgent medical aid to the sisterly Republic of Tunisia, in support of efforts of the brothers in Tunisia to fight the outbreak of the pan-demic of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Amir exchanges

Ramadan

greetings with

Prime Minister

of Malaysia

QNA — DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani exchanged greetings with Prime Minister of Malaysia H E Muhyiddin Yassin on the occasion of the Holy Month of Ramadan, in a telephone call yesterday.

Workers’ health and safety paramount for Qatari public, private sector organisationsIRFAN BUKHARI, SIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

Qatar joins the international community today in marking the World Day for Safety and Health at Work with an aim to address challenge of an outbreak of infectious diseases at work, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The annual World Day for Safety and Health at Work, marked on April 28, promotes the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally and this year the day is being marked under the theme ‘Stop the Pandemic: Safety and Health at Work Can Save Lives’.

Recognising the great chal-lenge that governments, employers, workers and whole

societies are facing worldwide to combat the COVID-19 pan-demic, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work will focus on addressing the outbreak of infectious diseases at work, in particular, on the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations said on its website.

“The World Day for Safety and Health at Work will aim to stimulate national tripartite dialogue on safety and health at work. The ILO is using this day to raise awareness on the adoption of safe practices in workplaces and the role that occupational safety and health (OSH) services play. It will also focus on the medium to long-term, including recovery and future preparedness, in par-ticular, integrating measures

into OSH management systems and policies at the national and enterprise levels,” it adds.

With the spread of COVID-19 in the country, Qatar government took swift and decisive measures to curb its spread. �P2

Ramadan Timing

Today's Iftar:6:06pm

Tomorrow's Imsak:03:29am

Baladna DistributesFortyMillion QAR Interim Dividends

First Interim Resultsfor the Period ending

31 March 2020

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First Interim Results for the Periodending 31 March 2020

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Net Profit

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Retained earnings

Sheikha Moza joins global leaders in UN initiative 'Rise for All' to fight COVID-19QNA — DOHA

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, Chairperson of Education Above All and Silatech, joined prominent leaders today in a global advocacy effort, “Rise for All,” to support the UN Secretary-General’s call for soli-darity and urgent action in response to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, and to save lives and protect livelihoods, urging leaders in all countries, across all sectors, to address the human crisis of the pandemic.

The group comprised of global female leaders from various sectors was convened by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed to mobilise an extraordinary scale-up of international support and political commitment to “build back better” and ensure that people everywhere have access to essential services and social protection. This includes support for the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, an inter-agency mechanism designed to support low- and middle-income countries and people most exposed to the economic hardship and social disruption the pandemic has caused.

In her message, Her Highness said: “Before COVID-19, our world was already contending with other pandemics. They are called poverty, hunger, unemployment, illiteracy, war, conflict. COVID-19

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser

If we do not intervene, the effects of this crisis will have disastrous educational and economic effects on our young people. We will be leading them down a dangerous path of hopelessness and possibly extremism.

is exacerbating these current predic-aments exponentially. We cannot turn a blind eye from the long-term consequences that will likely imprint our children and youth.”

She continued: “If we do not intervene, the effects of this crisis will have disastrous educational and economic effects on our young people. We will be leading them down a dangerous path of hope-lessness and possibly extremism.”

Through online solutions, Edu-cation Above All and Silatech have worked to provide resources to affected children and youth globally to ensure the continuity of education and the accessibility of employment opportunities during this crisis.

Her Highness called on leaders

to be proactive and think long-term. “Let’s not waste this moment in time to merely react to combat COVID 19 Instead of working from fear, we must take this opportunity to narrow the digital gap and bring innovative solutions to our children and youth,” she said

Speaking on the Rise for All cam-paign, the UN Deputy Secretary-General said: “Like no other time in recent history, women are on the frontlines of COVID-19 and bearing the brunt of this human crisis. It is time for us to rise as women leaders, taking action to conquer the pan-demic and come out stronger so as to keep the world on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.” �P3

OFFICIAL NEWS

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad

Al Thani, and Prime Minister and

Minister of Interior, H E Sheikh

Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz

Al Thani, sent yesterday cables

of congratulations to the Pres-

ident of the Republic of South

Africa, H E Cyril Ramaphosa,

on the anniversary of his coun-

try’s Freedom Day. QNA

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin

Hamad Al Thani and Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad

Al Thani sent yesterday cables of

congratulations to H M King Wil-

lem-Alexander of the Kingdom

of the Netherlands on the occa-

sion of his country’s National Day.

The Prime Minister and Minister

of Interior, H E Sheikh Khalid bin

Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani,

also sent a cable of congratula-

tions to the Prime Minister of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands, H E

Mark Rutte, on the occasion of

his country’s National Day.QNA

Amir congratulates President of South Africa

Amir sends congratulations to King of Netherlands

02 TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020HOME

Amir greets Sierra Leone PresidentDOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani and Dep-

uty Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah

bin Hamad Al Thani sent yes-

terday cables of congratulations

to the President of the Repub-

lic of Sierra Leone, H E Julius

Maada Bio, on the occasion of

his country’s independence day.

The Prime Minister and Minister

of Interior, H E Sheikh Khalid bin

Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani,

also sent a cable of congratu-

lations to the Chief Minister of

the Republic of Sierra Leone, H

E Professor David John Francis,

on the anniversary of his coun-

try’s Independence Day. QNA

Amir sends greetings to President of TogoDOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani and Dep-

uty Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah

bin Hamad Al Thani sent yes-

terday cables of congratulations

to the President of the Republic

of Togo, H E Faure Essozimna

Gnassingbe, on the anniversary

of his country’s Independence

Day. The Prime Minister and

Minister of Interior, H E Sheikh

Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz

Al Thani, also sent a cable of

congratulations to the Prime Min-

ister of the Republic of Togo, H

E Komi Selom Klassou, on the

anniversary of his country’s Inde-

pendence Day. QNA

QF pioneer in taking safety of employees against virus FAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

Qatar Foundation (QF) made up of more than 50 entities working in education, research, and community development, was one of the first entities in the country to take precau-tionary measures against COVID-19 for the safety of its employees.

In line with the World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2020, being marked today with the theme to address chal-lenges of an outbreak of infec-tious diseases at work, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, The Peninsula spoke to Asma Al BInali, Head of Internal Communications, QF about the measures taken by the entity

for the safety of its employees. According to Asma, QF

launched a COVID-19 Page on March 3 on its intranet portal and is dedicated to COVID-19 updates that are relevant to QF community and Education City. The objective was to keep them well-informed and up to date with all information as we received them. The page also includes any national updates, hotline numbers or resources related to coronavirus.

QF later introduced remote working guidelines to its employees.

“As we transitioned into a digital workspace effective March 15, we have created a document for our employees to refer to and includes all the information they may need to

ensure business continuity,” said Asma.

“It included Microsoft Teams Tutorial (the software we use to collaborate and work remotely), extensive FAQ doc-ument (bilingual) that addresses any questions employees may have, whether it is Human Capital related or even IT-related, all areas were covered and ways of working

and code of conduct,” she added. A Health & Wellness Page was launched on April 19 to support the QF community in managing their health and well-being by adopting healthier habits into their daily lives.

“It is a dedicated page on our intranet platform that offers employees everything QF has to offer around health

and wellness, including tips on improving physical and mental well-being. This includes workout sessions, webinars and videos around these topic. The page gets updated on a regular basis,” said Asma.

As QF launched the health and wellness page on Maktabi portal in the same week QF organized the first virtual Dis-cover QF around the topic of mental health.

“We collaborate with WISH to give us and discussed on all on how employees can manage their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We had nearly 500 employees attend the session, the highest attended talk yet with over 30 questions submitted,” said Asma.

QF launched a COVID-19 Page on March 3 on its intranet portal and is dedicated to COVID-19 updates that are relevant to QF community and Education City. The objective was to keep them well-informed and up to date with all information as we received them.

Al Kuwari urges public to stay home to curb COVID-19 FAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

The Minister of Public Health H E Dr. Hanan Mohammed Al Kuwari has urged public to stay at home and go out only for essential things to help curb the spread of COVID-19, yesterday.

A post on Ministry of Public Health’s twitter handle and Hamad Medical Corporation’s Facebook account, featured the H E the Minister holding a post reading messages urging public to stay at home. It said, ‘I Stay at Work for You, You Stay at Home for Us’ both in English and Arabic.

H E the Minister is asking members of the public to please stay at home to help protect more vulnerable members of our population and to go out only for essential things.

The Minster has joined the trending social media campaign by frontline healthcare workers from around the globe, asking the public to help to curb the spread of the COVID-19 by lim-iting their social interactions.

‘We work for you, please stay at home for us,’ campaign started by healthcare practi-tioners across the world, with the main objective of self-iso-lation to ‘flatten the curve’ of the COVID-19 so as to not over-whelm the already stretched healthcare facilities.

Joining this effort on March 20, a group of healthcare leaders in Qatar including Dr. Yousef Al Maslamani, Medical Director at Hamad General Hospital had joined the global, ‘Stay home, save lives’ cam-paign encouraging the public to help to curb the spread of the COVID-19 by limiting their social interactions. The social

media campaign by Ministry has published a series of photo-graphs of healthcare practi-tioners and others at the fore-front of the COVID-19 fight in the country. The photos, posted on social media featured healthcare practitioners holding a sheet of paper that read mes-sages urging the public to stay at home.

“We are at work for you. Please stay home for us,” the posters reads in different lan-guages English, Arabic and others. As the number of COVID-19 cases continue to grow, one of the best courses of action is self-isolation to slow the spread of the virus. And this

is something that nurses and doctors have recommended people to do through the

#StayHome campaign, and hope citizens are following their calls for help.

A post on Ministry of Public Health’s twitter handle and Hamad Medical Corporation’s Facebook account featured the Minister holding a post reading messages urging public to stay at home. It said, ‘I Stay at Work for You, You Stay at Home for Us’ both in English and Arabic.

COVID-19: Total recovery hits 1,066 THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health has announced the registration of 957 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the recovery of 54 patients, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 1,066, yesterday.

The total number of pos-itive COVID-19 cases recorded in Qatar was 11,244 and there are 10,168 active cases under treatment, by yesterday. Also the Ministry has conducted 3,420 tests yesterday taking the total tests done so far to 85,709.

Most of the new cases reg-istered are due to expatriate workers working in different occupations who have been in contact with previously dis-covered cases, as well as recording new cases of COVID-19 among groups of workers from outside the industrial area who were iden-tified through testing by the Ministry of Public Health. This has contributed to the early detection of new cases, said the Ministry.

The remainder of new cases infected with the virus have come from citizens and

residents who have contracted the virus from members of their families, who in turn had contracted the virus through their workplaces or other places where they had been to exposed to infected people.

The Ministry said that the noticeablew increase in the number of confirmed new cases of coronavirus is due to several reasons, including that the spread of the virus has begun to enter the peak stage where numbers are expected to continue to increase before they begin to gradually decline.

NEW DEATHS

NEW RECOVERIES

TOTAL ACTIVE CASES

TOTAL RECOVERIES

TOTAL

DEATHS

TOTAL

RECOVERED

GLOBALLY

C VID-19

C VID-19

QATAR UPDATES ON 27 APRIL 2020

TOTOTOTOTOTATATATATALLLLL

DEATHS

TOTOTOTOTOTATATATATALLLLL

RECOVERED

3,029,452 210,374 887,814

NEW CASES ANNOUNCED

957

O

54 101681066

TOTAL

POSITIVE

The Minister of Public Health, H E Dr. Hanan Mohammed Al Kuwari, urging public to stay at home and go out only for essential things, yesterday.

Workers’ health, safety paramount for public, private sector firms FROM PAGE 1

All the public and private sector organisations have ensured safe-guarding workers from the viral infections through a number of nec-essary steps.

The Cabinet directed all organi-sations to have only 20 percent employees present at workplace while 80 percent staff was directed to work from home. The working hours for employees were also reduced and now wearing face masks at shopping centres, workplaces, con-struction sites has also been made mandatory along a number of other precautionary measures being adopted/implemented by all minis-tries and other public/private sector companies to protect workers’ safety and health.

Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) com-pleted about 40 million working hours without occupational diseases in 2019, including 33.7 million working hours in projects and 6.1 million working hours in services and tasks in the workplace, showing an excellent track record in the field of occupational safety and health.

Kahramaa took a number of pre-cautionary measures and actions to curb the spread of COVID-19 at its headquarters and worksites. These measures come within the framework of Kahramaa’s keenness to follow and apply the highest health, safety and security standards in all its premises, activities and operations, in accordance with its commitment to achieving its goal of ensuring a safe

and healthy work environment, Kah-ramaa said in a recent statement.

The interdepartmental committee at Kahamaa has taken a number of urgent measures to prevent and limit the spread of the COVID-19, including halting the use of the biometric scanners that require fingerprints to record the check-in and check-out of employees, and to use employee cards as an alternative to the finger-print in order to curtail transmission sources of coronavirus.

Qatar University, the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) and the General Directorate of Traffic have also taken a number of measures to protect their staff from contracting COVID-19.

The Director of General Services at Qatar University, Khaled Al Jabor, recently said that since the beginning of crisis, Qatar University has taken many steps in this regard, among them is stopping temporarily the work of many staff, including cleaning, hos-pitality, logistics and warehouse staff.

Al Jabor also said in short video posted on Qatar University website that student buses were fully sani-tised from the very beginning of the crisis to avoid any problems. He further said that these measures include also distance learning, and the university also reduced the number of employees at the uni-versity to 20 percent in implemen-tation of decisions taken by the State.

For its part, the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), has reduced daily working hours to four for those who are present at the

workplace of the committee’s head-quarters. The Committee also launched its hotline (8002222) to ensure providing integrated and con-tinuous services.

For safety and health at work, the General Directorate of Traffic has urged public to avail various services through Metrash2 app, in which more than 40 of its services are available. People no need to visit the department as most of the services are online, even all vehicles that are due for Isti-marah (registration) renewal are now exempted from reporting to a FAHES centre for technical inspection.

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) in coordination with the Ministry of Administrative Devel-opment, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA) has launched severe

inspection campaigns at workplaces and labor accommodations to confirm the compliance of contracting com-panies in implementing the precau-tionary and preventive measures taken by Ashghal based on the direc-tives of MADLSA.

These campaigns are part of the efforts exerted to protect workers involved in Ashghal projects from infection with the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Khalifa Avenue project is one of the vital projects that achieved 79 million working hours without work time injuries.

Ashghal has assured that the project implementing companies are aware of the seriousness of the issue and make them aware of all pre-ventive measures and procedures to minimize the spread of the virus, without affecting the workflow. These measures include regular and com-prehensive washing of hands, making sterilization dispensers available to all by placing it in noticeable places around work areas, besides strict compliance with prevention of gath-ering and maintain social distance, the Authority said in a recently released statement.

The Public Works Authority has also implemented a number of pre-cautionary measures based on the directives issued by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs.

In the context of efforts taken by the Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ in limiting the spread of COVID-19, Ashghal’s Road Projects Department

has also worked with its contractors and consultants to develop and implement an emergency plan that includes preventive measures to protect workers, employees and res-idents of the areas within the department projects.

The department directed con-tractors to divide workers in all housing and residence facilities into groups of up to 100 individuals, which helps in early detection of symptoms associated with COVID-19).

Moreover, Ashghal has taken several measures to stop the virus from spreading among workers in project sites, including reducing the number of workers using the buses in half and sanitising it regularly, and leaving sufficient distances between them on the bus, in dining halls and while on work sites. In addition, Ashghal regularly checks the availa-bility of gloves, masks, and sanitising supplies at work sites and offices.

Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar), in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health and relevant authorities, has implemented series of measures to limit the spread of coro-navirus in the ports which are not only keeping the workforce safe, but are also ensure uninterrupted supply of goods in the country. Al Meera Consumer Goods Company has taken a number of steps following the state preventive and precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Al Meera placed temperature screening devices and mounted sanitizers at its stores to protect the staffs and customers from coronavirus.

03TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020 HOME

Qatar participates in extraordinary meeting of GCC Executive Committee of Civil AviationQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar participated in the extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of Civil Aviation in the Gulf Coop-eration Council countries, which was held today via visual communication technology, to discuss efforts and measures taken in civil aviation bodies and departments in the GCC countries, to curb the spread of

the coronavirus.The State of Qatar was rep-

resented at the meeting by H E Abdullah bin Nasser Turki Al Subaie, Chairman of Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.

The meeting reviewed efforts made by the Gulf Coop-eration Council countries to confront the spread of the virus (Covid 19) and the economic and operational impacts on the air transport sector and

national carriers in the Gulf States due to the implications of its spread.

The joint emergency plans of the civil aviation sector were also discussed in order to manage such crises in the future, and coordination on recovery plans to ensure the smooth return of operation jointly after the pandemic recedes.

The Chairman of Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, H E Abdullah bin Nasser Turki Al Subaie, attending the meeting of the Executive Committee of Civil Aviation in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Ooredoo’s COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy keeps workforce safeSACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Ooredoo has been certified on ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) since 2018 which places Ooredoo as one of the few telecom operators in the world having an enterprise-wide scope of implementation.

As part of this BCMS imple-mentation, a comprehensive Pandemic Response Plan has been activated late January when the outbreak intensified in China. The plan includes an up-to-date resource planning strategy, Work From Home, Self-Quarantine and Office Hygiene Procedures taking into account various phases of the COVID-19 outbreak.

At the outset in late January, Ooredoo has formed a cross-functional COVID-19 Response Taskforce to prepare the organ-isation for worst-case scenarios and the following additional measures were taken early on, in order to mitigate potential risks even with the lowest like-lihood of occurrence in January:

There was regular commu-nication with our employees and contractors to enhance their awareness on COVID-19 and protection measures that they need to be aware of. Travel restrictions were imposed and there was self-quarantining of employees who had recently

travelled back from any country above 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Face to face meetings inside and outside the organization were avoided and there was encouragement for TP and video-conferencing instead.

There was close monitoring of visitor access to Ooredoo facilities and review of their travel history. There was quar-antining shipment received from affected territories for up to nine days and vast distri-bution of hand sanitizers in high risk areas, Ooredoo facilities and retail shops, were done.

Ooredoo secured appro-priate Personal Protective Equipment – PPEs (disposable face masks and gloves) stock for employees facing general public and there was strict implementation of social dis-tancing procedures across Ooredoo facilities and retail shops.

With the health and safety of its employees its highest pri-ority and to ensure Business Continuity, Ooredoo has suc-cessfully implemented Work-From-Home starting March 15. Currently, the company has more than 80 percent of its office-based staff and 95 percent of its call centre staff operating from home, fulfilling customer expectations and sup-porting the State of Qatar in slowing down the spread of the

virus by encouraging everyone to stay at home as much as possible

For employees working at Ooredoo facilities and at open Ooredoo shops, Ooredoo has put in place a number of pro-tocols to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection and transmission.

All personnel working at any Ooredoo premises are required to wear PPEs, including shoe covers, dis-posable gloves and face masks, which are provided at security checkpoints by Ooredoo.

All customers entering Ooredoo shops must wear masks, for their own safety and that of our staff. Similarly, staff working in shops is also required to wear masks.

And in a move designed to further reinforce its complete

commitment to protecting the health and safety of staff and customers, Ooredoo has installed a Fever Screening Thermal Camera System at its Al Sadd retail shop.

The camera screening system is capable of identifying individuals presenting with a body temperature of 37.3 degrees or greater, upon which an alarm will sound to notify staff. Such individuals will, in the interests of protecting the health and safety of those around them, not be permitted to enter the shop and will be advised to visit the nearest medical fac i l i ty for evaluation.

The system is also capable of identifying individuals attempting to enter the shop without a mask, in contra-vention of Ooredoo’s policy of

asking its customers to wear masks when visiting its premises.

This technology is being rolled out across 20 manned sites and retail shops, to be completed by mid-May. There is also a limit on the number of customers allowed in the shop at any one time; strict social distancing procedures are applied inside and outside the shops.

Ooredoo is risk averse when it comes to self-quar-antine procedure implemen-tation. The self-quarantine period adopted by Ooredoo is 28 days instead of the recom-mended 14 days. This ensures Ooredoo is effectively contrib-uting to limit the spread of the virus and limiting the risk of transmission to the minimum.

In addition, deep-cleaning and sanitisation are regularly taking place across all oper-ating facilities and retail shops to ensure the safety and health of our employees, customers and partners at all times.

Ooredoo is constantly mon-itoring the developments on the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, and implementing any nec-essary action in a timely manner accordingly.

At all times, Ooredoo is strictly following the directives of the Qatar government in support of its efforts to fight the ongoing spread of COVID-19.

At the outset in late January, Ooredoo has

formed a cross-functional COVID-19 Response

Taskforce to prepare the organisation for worst-

case scenarios and the following additional

measures were taken early on, in order to

mitigate potential risks even with the lowest

likelihood of occurrence in January.

QDB selects five teams to develop their ideas into innovative solutions to tackle coronavirusQNA — DOHA

Qatar Development Bank (QDB) announced yesterday, the names of five teams who won an initiative launched by the bank to develop pioneering ideas to contribute to reducing the repercussions of the corona pandemic (COVID-19).

To accomplish this initiative, QDB launched an electronic platform that gives owners of innovative ideas the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial ideas that will help in dealing with the various problems and challenges posed by the spread of the coronavirus, in part-nership with a number of min-istries, academia, private sector institutions, and business incubators.

The initiative witnessed a great turnout by citizens and residents, as the number of requests to participate in the national initiative exceeded 1,500 applications, the best 68 of which were chosen to go through the final stages that was held via a digital platform for four days.

The initiative was super-vised by experts and consultants from the various partner organ-isations, who provided all types

of supervision and guidance to develop the ideas of the teams participating in the initiative, so that the best five ideas are finally chosen by a specialized com-mittee made up of representa-tives of the partner agencies.

QDB mentioned that the five winning ideas were chosen with great care in view of the strength and convergence of the levels of all the participating ideas, based on the criteria of the pos-sibility of implementation and continuity in the event of con-verting it to a project based on the ground, and the commercial sustainability of the project, and the extent of the project’s influence in solving the problem that it will work to address, as well as the skills of the work team presenting the idea and its ability to implement the project during all its stages.

The winning ideas were: INVENT, a respirator with

advanced systems and modular designs, and WASLA, an inte-grated program that uses arti-ficial intelligence to analyze and address the risks facing supply chains, then BIZLEASE, a digital platform that connects supply and demand to the workforce, and ROBOTICS, an independent robot that features self-control for medicine and food delivery inside hospitals, and V-TECH, a silicone frame to ensure medical personnel are comfortable when wearing N-95 masks.

The CEO of Qatar Devel-opment Bank, Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, said that this national initiative is part of the banks continuous efforts to provide an opportunity for inno-vative ideas to contribute to overcoming a number of chal-lenges presented by the current circumstance.

He added that the initiative witnessed a great turnout by the various components of society, as all the ideas participating in the competition were inno-vative, which indicates a great eagerness on the part of citizens and residents to be effective in limiting the impact of the pan-demic on the various compo-nents of life and works during the current period.

Lulu implements measures for workers' safetySANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

Lulu Hypermarkets, which has 11 outlets with over 3,500 work-force operating across Qatar, has implemented a number of measures for occupational safety and health of its employees and workers at worksites with the outbreak of COVID-19.

“The international health and hygiene standards ‘HACCP’, which is also recognised in Qatar, are in place at all outlets of Lulu Hypermarkets,” Mohamad Althaf (pictured), Director of Lulu Hypermarkets told The Peninsula. He said to avoid food intoxication, Lulu has been fol-lowing a number of measures for many years for food handlers like washing hands, wearing face masks for food protection and routine medical checkup to detect the infectious diseases which is also helpful in this scenario.

“This year because of the epi-demic of COVID-19, we have extended the safety measures to customers. We issued our safety protocol at the beginning of the outbreak of coronavirus as the customers were suggested to follow the social distancing

putting stickers at 1.5 metre dis-tance,” said Althaf.

He said that Lulu has pro-vided masks to everybody including staff and customers by believing in masking policy as about 70 percent infection could be reduced by doing so.

“Following the universal masking policy, all staff of Lulu have to wear face masks. Com-pulsory temperature checking is also being conducted for eve-rybody, first it was introduced for staff and later extended to cus-tomers,” said Althaf.

He said that in a unique move to ensure the safety of staff and customers, Lulu placed safety barriers between cashier and customer at cash counters to

make physical distance following the preventive measures to curb the infection of coronavirus.

“Every employee of Lulu should wash hands after every 45 minutes. An alert system was installed to remind them,” said Althaf. He said that Lulu is going to introduce pre-packed goods to avoid the crowd of customers at the shelves for example at the sections of fruits, vegetables, bakery and meat.

The Director of Lulu Hyper-market lauded the local author-ities for making tremendous efforts to ensure the safety and health of the people at outlets of Lulu. He said that local authority became very strict in maintaining

social distance at the outlets and made wearing face mask and gloves compulsary.

“Health officials are working actively everywhere risking their lives going to the facilities. They hired international companies to sanitise our stores regularly,” said Althaf.

He said that officials with vol-unteers visit Lulu outlets on a daily basis to help maintain social distance and ensure everybody wearing face masks and gloves.

“Lulu plans to introduce automated sanitiser system making a tunnel for employees to walk through to get full body sanitised automatically,” said Althaf.

The staff of Lulu on duty wearing face masks.

Sheikha Moza joins

global leaders in

UN initiative

to fight COVID-19

FROM PAGE 1

The first to join this cohort are the President of Ethiopia, H E Sahle-Work Zewde; Co-Founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foun-dation, Melinda Gates; the Prime Minister of Norway and Sustainable Devel-opment Goals Advocate of the Secretary-General, H E Erna Solberg; Sustainable D e v e l o p m e n t G o a l s Advocate of the Secretary-General H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser; the Prime Min-ister of Barbados, H E Mia Mottley, Sustainable Devel-opment Goals Advocate of the Secretary-General,H E Dia Mirza; UN Women Goodwill Ambassador of Pakistan, H E Muniba Mazari, along with the Exec-utive Directors of Unicef Henrietta Fore, of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and of UNFPA, Natalia Kanem.

In the coming days, more women leaders from various streams, such as pol i t ica l , mut i la tera l , business sectors etc, are supposed to join the initi-ative and it will further boost the efficiency of the initiative to a greater level.

PHCC limits dental services to curb spread of COVID-19THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Following the directive by the Ministry of Public Health, Primary Health Care Corpora-tion’s (PHCC) dental services has restricted patient appoint-ments to reduce the risk of spreading the COVID-19.

PHCC has limited it’s dental services to urgent services across health centres temporarily.

To be seen at the health centre, a patient must have one or more of the following condi-tions: Severe toothache pain (not just a little pain), infection or a substantial risk of it, trauma (such as a broken tooth). Patients requiring PHCC services dental services can now dial 16000 and choose the PHCC option, they will then be routed to a PHCC Community Call Centre offering remote con-sultations for patients requiring both routine and urgent care dental services. The community

call centre operates seven days a week from 7am to 11pm. Clients accessing this service can expect a video or telephone consultation with a dentist that will provide them with advice and offer appointments if this is required. In addition, the service will assess those patients with routine conditions pro-viding guidance.

PHCC has advised that any patient feel sick before coming to see a dentist, for instance, if they have a fever, cough, shortness of breath and a sore throat, its essential to call the COVID-19 hotline #16000 first for advice on how to proceed.

Also to reduce the need to see a dentist is to keep good oral hygiene, brush your teeth twice a day with toothpaste that con-tains fluoride, gargle frequently with an antiseptic mouthwash or simply rinse mouth with salt water, which is a natural and cost effective way to keep the mouth clean.

The initiative saw great turnout by citizens and residents, as the number of requests to participate exceeded 1,500.

04 TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020HOME

Ooredoo presents Ali bin Towar Al Kuwari as new brand ambassadorTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ooredoo announced yesterday the appointment of Qatari personality Ali bin Towar Al Kuwari as its brand ambas-sador, joining footballing megastar Lionel Messi and world racing champion Nasser Al Attiyah representing the leading telecomms operator.

Ali bin Towar was chosen as a new brand ambassador due to his high profile and extensive following on social media, both in Qatar and further afield.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani, CEO of Ooredoo Qatar, said of the appointment: “We are pleased to announce Ali bin Towar as our new brand ambassador in Qatar, given his extensive

contribution to society and his prominent role as one of the

influential young personalities. He is an inspiration to many, and we seek to spread our vision through this partnership, especially with regards to digital transformation as Ooredoo is a pioneer in this field.”

Ali bin Towar Al Kuwari said: “I am very proud and grateful to have been chosen as a brand ambassador for Ooredoo, which is considered a leading telecomms company and is well-known for its social responsibility initiatives. I will do my best to make this partnership a success.”

Ali bin Towar is recognised as one of today’s most influ-ential young personalities in Qatar and the Gulf region. He maintains a continuous presence on Qatar TV and Al

Jazeera Documentary channels through the popular pro-gramme “Khota Rahhal”, in which he visits various coun-tries of the world to enrich viewers with engaging travel and cultural experiences among different people and communities.

He is known for his daily appearance on social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram, where he shares many stories on a variety of topics with his followers.

He has also written a book entitled “The Life of an Adven-turer” – published in early 2017 and available in Qatari and Gulf markets - docu-menting his exciting expe-rience of travelling across the Americas. Ali bin Towar Al Kuwari

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani, CEO of Ooredoo Qatar, said of the appointment: We are pleased to announce Ali bin Towar as our new brand ambassador in Qatar, given his extensive contribution to society and his prominent role as one of the influential young personalities.

QRCS distributes aid to 500,000 beneficiaries in SyriaTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The representation mission of Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) in Turkey has recently distributed supplementary food aid at the camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Idlib and Aleppo Governorates, northern Syria.

To meet their needs during the holy month of Ramadan, QRCS’s field workers distributed a total of 220 tons of dates,

Award winners praise SHATIU's great role in Arabic translation movementMOHAMMED OSMAN THE PENINSULA

Quite a large number of researchers have agreed that Franz Rosenthal’s works have brought to our knowledge various forms of Islamic liter-ature making his works an encyclopaedia which requires much efforts for translation.

Translators of ‘Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam’ for Franz Rosenthal, who are the winners of the first prize in the category of translation from English to Arabic in the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Under-standing (SHATIU) in its 5th round 2019, believe that the challenge to translate this book was great.

Yahya Al Qa’qa’a and Ikhlas Al Qananwah — the co-winners of the Award, also couple, see Rosenthal offered encyclopedic work while talking about the motive to translate this book.

Rosenthal was a linguist specialising in a number of Semitic languages, especially Arabic and Aramaic, for this he took advantage of philology to serve historical and cultural studies.

“It is an approach known for its seriousness and genuineness, which makes it a model method for the study of linguistics and phonology in general. Knowledge cannot be measured with what have been presented in a book or the quantity of information or its scarcity, but the value of the research

method used in presenting the knowledge,” they said, adding that the book has opened great door of knowledge to them and readers and a great opportunity that would not have achieved without translating it.

For the reason that made them choose this book among dozens, perhaps hundreds, of titles to translate it into Arabic, they said: “Dr. Fayez Al Sayagh (one of the winners of SHATIU in its first round) offered them in 2014 a number of books for translation. At that time Dr. Fayez was director of the Tur-juman Foundation and used to encourage us to take part in translation of a book on “Mar-riage conditions in a Palestinian village,” published by the Foundation.”

Another reason for choosing the book is that Ikhlas Al Qananwah holds a Ph.D in

semitic languages from the Free University of Berlin, and Rosenthal is an orientalist spe-cialised in semitic languages making both translator and author having same educational background.

“Following the success of this experiment, we selected Rosenthal’s book which won the first award and its contents is much needed for Arabic readers according to the translators.”

They said its content is needed at this stage because along the knowledge pre-sented in the book, people can learn much from the dis-tinctive approach used in the study. “The methodological approach has made the book a model for other similar studies which played a key role in addressing issues related to Islamic civilization and culture.”

Asked Al Qa’qa’a and Al Qananwah if they have similar translation contribution before this, from Arabic to English and vice versa, they said Al Qananwah had translated three of the Dead Sea Scrolls, within the framework of the “Jor-danian Project for the Dead Sea Scrolls”.

It was a work enriched the Arab library a lot, and these works include “What are the Dead Sea Scrolls: Why do they matter?” by David Noel Freedman and Pam Fox Kulken.

“Dead Sea Scrolls: What have we learned 50 years on” by Eileen M. Schuler; an essay: “The Old Testament: Hebrew, Greek, and Syriac,” by J. Dorival; “The monuments of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls”.

In regard to the role of this annual award in stimulation of translation, the co-winners said these awards contribute greatly to increasing the number of translations being issued annually.

“Looking closely at the quantity of translations works since the launch of this award we can see its tangible impact in encouraging translations to and from Arabic.”

About Award’s role in reviving the scientific and his-torical standing of translation and translator in the Arab region, the co-winners said SHATIU is one of the three largest prizes in the Arab world and the highest in its financial value.

The Sheikh Hamad Award contributed to the revival and

resurrection of the translation movement in the Arab world, and the competition became fierce in translating books, consistent with the criteria set by this award in order to win one of the categories of the awards.

This award also played a prominent role in appreciating the translated works and efforts by the translators, and this itself is a great achievement. As well the award has great goals, which have achieved a large part of it, and definitely it will achieve the rest of its goals.

Talking about challenges facing the contemporary Arabic translators, they mentioned some material and institutional challenges like what is paid to a translator is not consistent with the size of the effort, and the market is governed by com-mercial values.

Al Qa’qa’a and Al Qananwah are optimistic about what they called a great revival of the translation movement from different languages to

Arabic and vice versa, and they believe that the translation is no longer subject to the requirements of the market seeking material gains, rather a subject to the standards set by institutions seeking to provide knowledge seekers w i t h h i g h q u a l i t y translations.

They also believe that auto-mated and online translations will not replace traditional translation, as texts are often have contextual meaning that machine translations cannot pick out.

As winners of Hamad Award, they offer their advice to young translators to adhere to the standards being developed by specialised insti-tutions as the main goal of translation is to contribute to the transmission of knowledge.

Their second advice is to make sure that they are selecting books that contribute effectively to increasing knowledge and that their trans-lation is discreet and accurate and not business oriented.

Yahya Al Qa’qa’a Ikhlas Al Qananwah

Yahya Al Qa’qa’a and Ikhlas Al Qananwah are optimistic about what they called a great revival of the translation movement from Arabic to other languages and vice versa, and they believe that the translation is no longer subject to the requirements of the market seeking material gains, but rather a subject to the standards set by institutions seeking to provide knowledge seekers with high quality translations.

Ramadan provides an opportunity to quit smoking, says expertTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The holy month of Ramadan is an opportune time to quit smoking, said Dr Ahmad Al Mulla, Head of the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) Tobacco Control Center.

He said during the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast during daylight hours, which is currently around fourteen hours a day in Qatar. According to Dr. Al Mulla, fasting has a lot of positive effects on one’s health, and those benefits are especially prominent in tobacco users who give up smoking.

“For smokers, quitting is often easier during Ramadan as believers are already required to abstain from food and drink, as well as from smoking ciga-rettes and using other tobacco products, for fourteen hours,” said Dr. Al Mulla.

“The positive health effects of quitting smoking begin 20 minutes after your last ciga-rette. Your blood pressure and pulse will start to return to more normal levels. Within eight hours, the body also begins to cleanse itself of the excess carbon monoxide from the cigarettes and carbon mon-oxide levels in your body return to normal, increasing the body’s oxygen levels,” added Dr. Al Mulla.

Dr. Al Mulla said that within the first day of quitting, heart and brain function improves, with the risk of heart disease and stroke decreasing and a

person’s blood pressure beginning to drop. He said oxygen levels will also increase, improving energy and breathing function. He said one’s sense of smell and taste will also improve, as nerve endings responsible for the senses of smell and taste begin to heal.

Dr. Al Mulla said each year, in advance of Ramadan, the Tobacco Control Center – which was officially designated by the World Health Organi-zation (WHO) as the first WHO Collaborating Centre in Qatar and the GCC—increases smoking cessation resources available to the public.

“Each Ramadan, HMC’s Tobacco Control Center receives hundreds of requests from new patients. During March and April, we received three times the number of requests from new patients seeking support to quit smoking, which was in part due

to the relationship between more severe COVID-19 illness and tobacco use. Through our telephone-based consultations and treatment, we are con-tinuing to support those who wish to quit his harmful habit,” said Dr. Al Mulla.

Dr. Jamal Abdullah, Smoking Cessation Specialist at HMC’s Tobacco Control Center, said while Ramadan can make it easier for some people to quit smoking, heavy tobacco users who can go from smoking every two hours to not smoking for fourteen hours, can expe-rience withdrawal symptoms and should seek professional support.

“For many smokers, quitting is easier during Ramadan but to avoid the side effects of nicotine loss and to help the process of quitting, smokers should consult with a cessation clinic and get medical advice on the best way to stop the habit,” said Dr. Abdullah.

“Within eight hours of the last cigarette, carbon monoxide levels in the blood decrease by over 50 percent, which has pos-itive health benefits but can also trigger withdrawal symptoms such as strong cravings, poor concentration, nerviness, and headaches. These symptoms are normally most pronounced during the first week of quitting. Reading the Holy Quran and reciting Astaghfirullah can help promote spiritual healing, which can help reduce some of the symptoms of withdrawal,” said Dr. Abdullah.

Dr. Ahmad Al Mulla, Head of HMC Tobacco Control Center

A QRCS offical distributing aid to the camps of IDPs in Syria.

donated as a gift from the State of Qatar to the Syrian brothers and sisters.

The number of ben-eficiaries is around 110,000 families, or over 500,000 persons, of the IDPs and local communities across the two governorates. All the necessary safety measures were taken to ensure prevention of coronavirus.

The aid was dis-tributed by visits to each tent separately, to protect the workers against infection risks.

In coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other humanitarian providers working in the country, corona-virus control precau-tions are doing on effectively. Prepar-edness and response plans were developed, and preventive proce-dures are strictly fol-lowed at the health,

psychological, and c o m m u n i t y - b a s e d facilities operated by QRCS.

During the holy month of Ramadan, food baskets will be dis-tributed to 36,425 poor and displaced persons. Other food baskets will be delivered to 8,100 Syrian refugees in Lebanon and 8,700 Syrian refugees in Jordan. These distributions will cost a total of QR 2,923,543, to be funded from the donations of charity payers in Qatar.

Under the Zakat-ul-Fitr project, food baskets will be distributed to 8,700 and 24,296 Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, respectively.

To contribute to the Ramadan Iftar project, under QRCS’s Ramadan Campaign 1441 A.H., you can find information about all the charitable projects on QRCS’s website (www.qrcs.org.qa).

05TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020 HOME

AAB initiates campaign for homedelivery of Toyota vehiclesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

In line with Qatar Government’s effort to fight the spread of the COVID-19 and AAB’s commitment to ensure their customers Health & Safety is protected, AAB has initiated a special safety campaign to support those customers who wish to purchase their favourite Toyota models.

Any customer or organi-zation wishing to purchase Toyota vehicle can call AAB’s sales team on 50099188 to answer all customer enquiries as well as provide customized services to their door step. AAB team will ensure that all docu-mentation and payment options for the vehicle purchase is finalized and delivered directly to the customer’s home or pre-ferred location. AAB ensures that all employees wear protective gear at all time to safeguard cus-tomer health and wellbeing.

AAB is also making sure that all showrooms are sanitized reg-ularly including the vehicle exterior and interior touch points. In line with the Government directive, all sales executives do maintain a safety distance from customers while interacting and do wear protective masks and gloves to ensure customer health is prioritized and maintained at all time.

Toyota has a large line-up of

vehicles which includes the popular Corolla, New Era Sedan – Camry, Flagship – Avalon, Car of the future Prius, Fun-gineered RAV4, reliable Prado, King of 4-wheel – Land Cruiser. Toyota vehicles which are well known for their Quality, Dura-bility and Reliability are well sup-ported by AAB’s after sales facilities which include a net-work of 10 service centers set-up in various parts of the country.

Toyota known for its certified and high quality vehicles, enjoy the best after sales services of 10 service centers across Qatar were also some of the locations operate seven days a week. Toyota service locations include: Toyota Main Service Station in Industrial area, Landmark Quick Service Center, Abou Hamour Quick Service Center, Al Nayef Quick Service Center, Airport

Quick Service Center, Wakrah Quick Service Center, Aziz Quick Service Center, Al Shahania Quick Service Center, Al Khor Quick Service Center & Al Shamal road Quick service center.

M/s Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. W.L.L. was founded in the year 1958 by one of Qatar’s pioneering business families and is the leading automobile dis-tributor in Qatar. The company’s constant commitment to deliv-ering a great customer expe-rience coupled with the world class quality and reliability of Toyota vehicles has enabled the brand to enjoy the highest market share in the country.

AAB management takes this opportunity to wish all the people of the State of Qatar “Ramadan Kareem” on the holy month of Ramadan.

Students from QF partner Texas A&M at Qatar named research scholarsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Fifteen students from Texas A&M University at Qatar, a Qatar Foundation partner university, have been named undergraduate research scholars by Texas A&M’s main campus in College Station, Texas (USA).

This year’s Undergraduate Research Scholars are Elizabeth Abraham, chemical engineering senior; Syeda Akhter, mechanical engineering senior; Leen Al Homoud, electrical engineering senior; Fatima Al-Janahi, electrical and computer engineering senior; Fatima Al-Khuzaei, mechanical engi-neering junior; Dana AlYafei, mechanical engineering senior; Rahul Balamurugan, electrical and computer engineering senior; Maryam Buainain, mechanical engineering senior; Jerahmeel Corbane, petroleum engineering senior; Hadear Hassan, mechanical engi-neering senior; Hassan Haider, mechanical engineering senior; Muhammad Zahid Kamil, elec-trical and computer engineering senior; Taha Kubbar, chemical engineering senior; Farah Ramadan, chemical engi-neering junior; and Anurag Srivastava, mechanical engi-neering senior.

This is the largest group of students from Texas A&M at Qatar to be named Under-graduate Research Scholars. All projects were funded by the Qatar National Research Fund or by Texas A&M at Qatar.

Texas A&M at Qatar encourages students to partic-ipate in research, which enhances student learning by integrating undergraduates into

the branch campus’s existing research activities, said Dean César Octavio Malavé.

“Classroom instruction gives students knowledge,” Malavé said, “but hands-on activities such as research allow students a unique opportunity to apply those concepts to real-world problems and explora-tions. Our research program is tackling some of Qatar’s Grand Challenges, such as energy and water, and involving students in projects gives them a taste of what it is really like to be an e n g i n e e r a n d problem-solver.”

The scholars will submit a thesis on their work after

having traveled to Texas in Feb-ruary to attend the Third Annual LAUNCH Undergraduate Research Symposium. LAUNCH and other research conferences and events give students a chance to present their research on a wide variety of research topics and receive feedback on their presentations.

Haider — who partnered with Buainain — said that showcasing their research during the symposium gave him an opportunity to practice on his presentation and commu-nication skills. “I was excited to showcase what I accom-plished,” Haider said. “It was motivating to see students, just

like me, from different disci-plines making an impact at an undergraduate level. I received positive comments on not just the research topic but also my presentation skills, so it defi-nitely was a learning experience.”

Akhter, Hadear Hassan and Srivistava presented their project investigating drilling fluids with the goal of benefiting drilling engineers in Qatar. Akhter said, “It was a wonderful opportunity to present with people from different majors. We were able to present our research in a way that even people who were not engineers understood our research and offered advice on how it can be improved.”

Kubbar, Ramadan and Abraham presented their project, the design of an indus-trial processing park able to convert commonly found raw materials such as air, water, carbon dioxide, ammonia and natural gas into value-added products. The project was advised by chemical engi-neering faculty Dr. Patrick Linke and Dr. Dhabia Al-Mohannadi.

Balamurugan and Al-Janahi partnered on a project with electrical engineering associate professor Dr. Robert S. Balog on automating a testbed to gen-erate dc (direct current) arcs to study photovoltaic (PV) arc faults. The aim of the project is to develop a system that allows researchers and manufacturers to study the electrical properties of PV system arcs and test their detection algorithms inside the lab without having to wait for an actual failure in a deployed solar array.

Fifteen students from Texas A&M University at Qatar, have been named undergraduate research scholars by Texas A&M’s main campus in College Station, Texas

QU’s IIP Office marks World Intellectual Property DayTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar University’s The Inno-vation & Intellectual Property Office (IIP Office) marked World Intellectual Property Day. The office held second E-seminar titled “Intellectual Property, Innovation and Overcoming the Crisis of COVID-19”, yesterday through Webex.

With the participation of experts from Qatar University, The Ministry of Commerce and Industry and The Qatar Scientific Club, to discuss the role of intel-lectual property rights in enabling scientific research to confront crisis. In addition a discussion on the development and production of national innovations to overcome COVID-19 crisis.

Prof. Mariam Al Maadeed, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at QU welcomed the attendees and praised the efforts of researchers of the state agencies, she said: “The on-going pandemic urges to redouble our efforts towards our fight against coronavirus. Encourage inno-vation that qualify to support various sectors of the state and enable them to meet major chal-lenges. The awareness should be addressed from its legal and com-mercial aspects, but also from the consequences that human beings are facing.”

The seminar’s agenda included several sessions, where Amna Jaber Al Kuwari, Director of the Intellectual Property Rights Protection department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry discussed the role of the Department in facilitating the businessmen in Qatar to assist them in facing this crisis with the least possible losses.

Dr. Mohamed Salem Abouel-farag Elsaid Mohamed, Director of IIP Office and Associate Pro-fessor of Commercial Law at Qatar University, addressed the role of intellectual property rights in enabling scientific research to confront crisis.

The session of Dr. Abdul Majeed Hammouda, Associate

Dean for Academic Affairs at the College of Engineering at Qatar University, entitled “Research and Development”, in which he presented the relationship between research and devel-opment. He also discussed the importance of permanent and continuous research to keep pace with technological devel-opments, environmental changes and other matters that affect society in the world.

Last session entitled “Devel-opment and production of national innovations to overcome the crisis COVID-19 “ with the participation of Dr. Hareb Al-Jabri, Assistant Pro-fessor of Environmental Sciences at The College of Arts and Sci-ences at Qatar University, Dr. Mahmoud Abdul-Latif, Director of the Center for Entrepre-neurship at the College of Administration and Economics at Qatar University, and Abdul Rahman Saleh Khamis, Tech-nical Director at the Qatar Sci-entific Club.

Dr. Elsaid Mohamed pointed out the importance of such sem-inars to communicate with researchers, innovators and experts to exchange their expe-riences about inventions and innovations, how to develop them and preserve the rights of their ideas.

A file photo of Qatar University building.

beIN launches two new movie channelsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

beIN, the leading global sports and entertainment network, has announced the launch of two new channels on its platform - “beIN Box Office HD2” and “beIN CINEMA” - to entertain households across MENA with the best Hollywood movies curated for all ages, which will keep families enter-tained and at home during this difficult time.

A second pay-per-view (PPV) channel with a host of movies from different genres, beIN Box Office HD2 (available on channel #412) has been launched as part of beIN’s plan to keep its sub-scribers entertained and safe during the holy month of Ramadan. The new channel will compliment Box Office HD1 but offers more choice to subscribers, and allows them to rent more movies every week from the world’s greatest studios and networks including Disney, Sony, Warner and Paramount. The price remains low at just $4 per film.

The new beIN CINEMA service (available on channel #410) also offers incredible value for families. For the price of one cinema ticket ($10) per movie, the whole household can watch, enjoy, and share the entertainment that has never been seen before and wasn’t due to be

released to cinemas until later next month. beIN recently announced a ground-breaking cooperation with film distributors so that it can provide the latest movies that are not theatrically released due to the closure of cinemas because of the COVID-19 Pan-demic straight to subscribers , and these movies will now be available on this new premium pay-per-view channel.

The new cinema replacement service also offers vital support to film distrib-utors, who can now make their movies available to families across the region. More than 20

new movies will be released and available on the new beIN CINEMA channel in April and May.

With movies on offer such as “Frozen 2”, “The Gen-tlemen”, and “Just Mercy” – beIN’s Box Office channel also includes many hits during Ramadan. They include Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker,

Birds of Prey and Jumanji: The Next Level.

This latest beIN enter-tainment launch follows a range of major announcements from beIN to help entertain families during the holy month of Ramadan.

QFBA-Northumbria University launches 'Ramadan Show'THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Finance and Business Academy in part-nership with Northumbria University (QFBA-Northumbria University) launched its latest ‘Ramadan Show’ on its Instagram channel.

The show aims to engage with local res-idents, expats, current university students and high school students through its Instagram Channel to cover a wide array of topics and FAQs such as how to choose your academic major, post-secondary options available in Qatar, admissions requirements, how to improve your English language, employa-bility skills, the importance of one’s CV and how to navigate LinkedIN.

QFBA-NU kicked off its show on April 26, featuring a an introductory Instagram Live session with Khalifa Al Yafei, Director of Student Affairs at QFBA-NU, and Mohammad Al Janahi, Head of Outreach at Teach for Qatar. The session provided an introduction

about the show including its objective and target audience and discussed the importance of continuous learning in Islam and its need during this holy month of Ramadan in light of the current crisis situation.

It is important to note that the current COVID-19 outbreak and the shift to distance

learning mechanisms has presented a chal-lenge to many high school and university stu-dents across Qatar. QFBA-Northumbria sought to provide support to ease the com-munity throughout this transition with an engaging Ramadan oriented show.

Commenting on the show Khalifa Al Yafei, said: “Since this Ramadan is presenting new challenges for Qatar’s youth, our aim was to utilize our platform and expertise to support our community during a time of uncertainty. It’s crucial for one to maintain resilience despite the current COVID-19 situation, and continue to plan for their future. ” “We invite high school students and university students to watch the show which will be presented on QFBA-NU’s IG TV (@NorthumbriaQA), twice a week every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:00pm, through-out the holy month of Ramadan. “

QFBA-Northumbria University’s aim con-tinues to empower its students and the wider community to invest in their future.

The seminar’s agenda included several sessions, where Amna Jaber Al Kuwari, Director of the Intellectual Property Rights Protection department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry discussed the role of the Department in facilitating the businessmen in Qatar to assist them in facing this crisis with the least possible losses.

06 TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Reciting Holy Quran

Arab coalition rejects South Yemen self-rule declarationAFP — RIYADH

The Saudi-led Arab military coalition in war-torn Yemen yesterday rejected a declaration of self-rule by separatists in the country’s south and demanded “an end to any escalatory actions”.

The breakaway declaration made on Sunday threatens to reignite a “war within a war” in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, which is already gripped by what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

The secessionists’ move significantly complicates the country’s five-year-old wider conflict, fought by the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s inter-nationally recognised gov-ernment against Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control much of the north including the capital Sana'a.

Separatists in the south, which used to be an inde-pendent country, have repeatedly agitated to break away again — a campaign that was temporarily put to rest with a power-sharing, coalition-sponsored deal signed in Riyadh last November.

But on Sunday the Southern Transitional Council (STC) declared self-rule in southern Yemen, accusing the gov-ernment of failing to perform its duties and of “conspiring” against the separatists’ cause.

UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said yesterday he was concerned by the recent declaration, calling for expediting the implemen-tation of the Riyadh deal.

“The Riyadh Agreement provides for the participation of the STC in consultations on the final political solution to end the conflict in Yemen and serving the interests of Yemenis nation-wide,” he said in a statement.

Residents of the southern city of Aden, the government’s temporary capital, reported heavy deployments of STC forces. A separatist source said they had set up checkpoints “at all government facilities, including the central bank and port of Aden”.

The Yemeni government condemned the move and warned it could lead to a “cata-strophic and dangerous” outcome. The coalition said, according to Saudi Press Agency tweets, that “we re-emphasise the need to promptly implement the Riyadh Agreement”.

“The coalition demands an end to any escalatory actions and calls for return to the agreement by the participating parties.” Key coalition partner the United Arab Emirates, which has supported the STC, also stressed the importance of abiding by the Riyadh pact.

“Frustration over delay in implementing the agreement is not a reason to unilaterally change the situation,” UAE’s

minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted.

“We have full confidence in Saudi Arabia’s keenness to implement the agreement.”

The breakdown between the one-time allies comes as the coalition has extended a uni-lateral ceasefire that it says is aimed at fending off the coro-navirus pandemic — an olive branch that has been rejected by the Houthis. Compounding the country’s troubles, at least 21 people have been killed in flash floods this month, which left Aden’s streets submerged and homes destroyed.

The STC self-rule move was “an opportune moment” owing to various circumstances, Eliz-abeth Kendall of Oxford Uni-versity said. “International attention is focused on the Saudi-announced ceasefire with the Huthis and the alarming threat of COVID-19, and regional actors are distracted by the start of Ramadan,” the fasting month, Kendall said.

“Add to this the heightened tension after recent massive flooding caused widespread dev-astation, setting off a political point scoring match between the government and the STC, both of whom hailed the poor response as evidence of the other parties inability to govern.”

A Yemeni man and his daughter recite the Holy Quran at the Great Mosque of Sana’a during the fasting month of Ramadan, yesterday.

Lebanon protests hinder coronavirus testingAP — BEIRUT

Scattered anti-government protests broke out in several parts of Lebanon yesterday amid a crash in the local currency and a surge in food prices, leading to road closures that prevented medical teams from setting out from Beirut to conduct corona-virus tests across the country.

The Health Ministry said its teams would try again today, urging protesters to let the par-amedics work to evaluate the spread of the virus in the tiny country of 5 million people.

The protests came as the gov-ernment began easing a weeks-long lockdown to limit the spread of the new coronavirus in Lebanon, which has reported 710 cases and 24 deaths so far. The number of registered cases has dropped over the past two weeks, leading to the shortening of the nighttime curfew by one hour and allowing some businesses to resume work on Monday.

The Lebanese national cur-rency hit a new record low over the weekend, with 4,000 pounds to the dollar on the black market while the official price remained at 1,507 pounds. Coronavirus and the lockdown has worsened the

most serious economic and financial crisis to hit Lebanon since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

Around noon, Lebanese troops forcefully removed dozens of protesters from a major highway in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, and traffic resumed. Shortly afterward, it was blocked

again with burning tires.The Lebanese army said it

respects the people’s right to protest as long as the protesters don’t close roads or attack public and private property. “Our demands are simple and we are not asking for the impossible,” said protester George Ghanem

in Zouk Mosbeh, citing early par-liamentary elections and an independent judiciary. “We want to live in dignity... we will con-tinue and no one will remove us from the street.”

A woman carried a placard reading: “My salary buys me two cartons of milk.”

A Lebanese driver steps out of her car as she looks at burning tyres which anti-government protesters have set on fire, blocking the coastal highway north in the Dbayeh area, north of the capital Beirut, early yesterday.

Iran reports 96 deaths from virus; infections dropAFP — TEHRAN

Iran yesterday announced 96 deaths from the novel corona-virus, but said daily confirmed new infections fell below 1,000 for the first time in more than a month.

The latest fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours brought the overall death toll to 5,806, said health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour.

Detected cases of infection rose by 991 to total 91,472 since the start of Iran’s outbreak, the deadliest in the Middle East.

In addition, Jahanpour said more than 700 people had died of poisoning in the month to April 19 after drinking alcohol in the mistaken belief it can kill the virus.

Although its sale and con-sumption is banned in the Islamic republic, local media have repeatedly reported fatal poisonings from contraband alcohol.

Iran has struggled to contain the coronavirus since reporting its first cases on February 19

— two deaths in the Shia city of Qom.

At his briefing on Sunday, Jahanpour had announced 60 virus deaths, the lowest daily

toll in the country since March 10. But the number of casualties is widely thought to be much higher than the official figures.

The government has

allowed a phased reopening of shops and has lifted restrictions on movement within the country since April 11.

Schools, universities,

mosques, cinemas, stadiums and other public spaces remain closed across the country, where the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began on Saturday.

The authorities have in recent days raised the possi-bility of reopening mosques in little-affected areas, although they have yet to elaborate on such plans.

“We are examining the sit-uation every four days,” Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said late Sunday, signalling the possibility that restrictive measures could be reimposed. “Reopening does not mean nor-malisation,” he added.

State television yesterday broadcast footage of a highway in Tehran full of traffic.

Its journalists visited administrative offices where customers waited for service without respecting social dis-tancing rules.

The authorities were con-sidering making it compulsory to wear masks on public transport, Harirchi said.

Turkish citizens arrive at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport for the evacuation flight of Turkey’s national carrier amid the coronavirus pandemic in Tehran, Iran, yesterday.

Kuwait reports 213 new virus cases, two deathsQNA — KUWAIT

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health announced 213 new corona-virus (COVID-19) infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of infections to 3,288, while two deaths were reported as well, bringing the total fatal-ities’ toll up to 22.

Kuwait news agency (KUNA) said that two deaths were for a 53-year-old Kuwaiti who had been receiving medical care in intensive care for 30 days and the other for a 54-year-old resident.

The Health Minister Dr. Basel Al-Sabah announced the recovery of patients 206, bringing the total to 1,012

recoveries.Spokesman for the Ministry

of Health Dr. Abdullah Al Sanad said that the total number of cases in intensive care is 64, including 30 critical cases and 34 stable cases, while 112 people have ended the man-datory institutional quarantine period during the past 24 hours

The Ministry of Health in Oman yesterday announced the registration of 51 new coro-navirus (COVID-19) cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Sul-tanate to 2,049, in addition to 10 deaths. Thirty-seven of the new cases are Omanis and 14 are non-Omanis.

Gaza restaurants reopentoday as lockdown easesAFP — GAZA CITY

Restaurants in Gaza were to be allowed to reopen from today, the economy ministry in the Hamas-run enclave announced, following pleas from restaurant owners to ease economic suffering.

“It was decided to allow restaurants and cafes in the (Gaza) Strip to reopen their doors to customers starting from today, the ministry said in a statement.

Under the decision based on health ministry recom-mendations, restaurants must continue to observe social distancing rules, it said.

Since the middle of March, the Hamas government has imposed strict measures to avoid a widespread outbreak of COVID-19. Schools, universities, mosques and restau-rants have been closed.

So far Gaza has recorded only 17 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, all Palestinians returning from outside the Gaza Strip. Those who contracted the virus have been placed in isolation immediately upon their return.

There are no confirmed cases among Palestinians who stayed inside Gaza, according to Hamas, the Islamist movement that has controlled the coastal enclave since 2007. Gaza’s population is overwhelmingly Muslim and most people are observing the holy month of Ramadan, including fasting from sunrise to sunset before eating large meals with their families.

Salah Abu Haseera, head of the Committee for Restau-rants, Hotels and Touristic Services in Gaza, said the min-istry’s decision “came after an appeal to open restaurants to avoid further losses and a serious recession”.

Restaurants reopening could allow some 2,500 people to return to work, he said. Gaza, blockaded by Israel for 13 years, suffers from poverty rates close to 50 percent.

Turkey sends aid to

at least 57 countries

to fight pandemicANATOLIA — ANKARA

Turkey has so far delivered aid to at least 57 countries around the globe to help their fight against the coronavirus outbreak. “We provided medical equipment support to 57 coun-tries,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

While fighting the virus domestically with weekend lockdowns, quarantines and social isolation, Turkey con-tinues to supply medical aid to many countries.

After getting aid requests from over 100 nations, Turkey has sent aid, medical supplies, and protective equipment to five continents, including countries badly hit by the virus, such as the UK, Italy, and Spain.

To support the efforts against the pandemic, Turkey delivered medical aid to Germany, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia, as well as Balkan states such as Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Kosovo, as well as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Among others, Turkey also sent medical supplies to the US, Colombia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bang-ladesh, Kyrgyzstan, China, I n d o n e s i a a n d t h e Philippines.

Not neglecting Africa, Turkey also delivered aid to Sudan, Guinea, Somalia, Uganda, Lesotho, and Mozam-bique. The aid packages include such items as testing kits, medical masks, protective overalls, gloves, and disinfectants.

Last week, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko thanked his Turkish coun-terpart Fahrettin Koca for medical supplies purchased from Turkey.

The secessionists’ move significantly complicates the country’s five-year-old wider conflict, fought by the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s internationally recognised government against Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control much of the north including the capital Sana'a.

07TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Israeli strike on Syria kills four gunmen, three civiliansAP — BEIRUT

Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles towards areas near Damascus early yesterday, killing three civilians, the Syrian military and state media said while a war monitoring group said four Iran-backed fighters were also killed.

The military said Syrian air defences shot down some of the mis-siles in the attack, which happened around dawn. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that tracks the Syrian civil war, said the missiles hit positions belonging to Iran and its regional proxies, killing four fighters and causing damage south of Damascus. It did not give the nationalities of the dead gunmen.

The airstrike is the fourth in Syria in less than a month, despite the coronavirus pandemic gripping the region, and comes amid rising tensions between Israel and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group in Syria as well as along the Lebanon-Israel border.

The Syrian military statement, carried by state TV, gave no other details about the attack or what it targeted specifically. Syria’s state SANA news agency said shrapnel from the Israeli missiles hit homes in the Damascus suburbs of Hajira and Adlieh, killing three people there and wounding four. Both areas are close to the Sayyida Zeinab suburb that is home to a holy Shiite shrine and Iran-backed fighters have a presence there, according to opposition activists.

COVID-19 survivor Saul Sakudya talks with his wife Joyce during a nationwide lockdown to help curb the spread of the virus, in Harare, Zimbabwe.

After beating virus, Zimbabwe survivor lives with the stigmaREUTERS — HARARE

When Saul Sakudya arrived in an ambu-lance at a hospital in Zimbabwe’s capital after catching COVID-19, he said the medical staff wouldn’t go near him because they were afraid of becoming infected.

The 52-year-old businessman was among the first people in Zimbabwe to test positive for the new coronavirus after a trip to Dubai last month to buy supplies for his electronics shop, and hospital personnel had not yet been issued protective clothing.

“The way they dispersed was as if there were 10 hungry lions being released from the ambulance, imagine, yet I am just a human being,” Sakudya said. “I thought I would die.”

After a three-hour wait in the ambu-lance, doctors brought the father of four into an isolation ward at the Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital, he said.

Prosper Chonzi, health director for Harare city, which runs the hospital, said that when Sakudya was admitted, it had not yet implemented protocols to handle coronavirus patients. The national gov-ernment is now renovating the hospital to deal with such cases, said Chonzi.

Even in the best of times, Zimbabwe’s health system suffers from shortages of medicine and basic equipment. The gov-ernment has been raising donations of pro-tective clothing, but frontline health

workers say supplies are still inadequate. As of Friday, the country had recorded

31 cases of COVID-19 and four deaths. Sakudya’s symptoms were relatively

mild. So when his wife and two adult sons tested positive for the virus while he was in hospital, he opted to return home where the four could take care of each other.

He has since recovered and says his family members are also doing well. But he

fears they will have to live with the stigma of the disease for some time.

Although he was given the all clear after two tests, friends and relatives won’t visit or talk to him, even from a distance, he said.

“Some people somehow think I still have residue of the virus,” he said.

“I heard one person referring to my road as corona road, and some people now avoid the road altogether. It hurts, but I have to be mature and accept it.”

Russia asks Libyan mediators to push both sides for talksANATOLIA — TRIPOLI/MOSCOW

Russia yesterday urged inter-national mediators to refocus from trying to solve the Libyan crisis to working to get warring sides into direct talks.

Approaches to conflict set-tlement must be worked out by rival Libyan groups, while outside players should try to bring them to the negotiating table and find common ground, said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking to the stu-dents of the Moscow Institute of International Relations via video link.

A mother and child were killed east of Libya’s capital by militia affiliated with warlord Khalifa Haftar, the Libyan government media office said in a statement yesterday.

The statement added that Haftar militia shelling of resi-dential areas of the city of Al Qarbouli left three others injured along with damaging homes.

Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) forces also said that Haftar’s forces, since Saturday, continue to target residential areas in the town of Ain Zara, south of the capital Tripoli.

As part of measures against the novel coronavirus, a cease-fire took effect in Libya on March 21 but Haftar’s militias have continued attacks on the capital.

“We have always called for the principle that decisions must be approved directly by the parties to this conflict, and we will only help them to sit down at the negotiating table,” Lavrov said, adding that Russia will continue to help Libya emerge from its crisis.

As for the problem of illegal immigration, which became particularly acute after Libya’s collapse, it could be alleviated if the European Union cut

customs duties for agricultural products from Africa to zero, he said.

Doing so, said Lavrov, would have “a deterrent effect on the flow of migrants seeking a better fate, better conditions for employment. If agricultural products go to Europe from Africa duty-free, then employment in the countries will rise, they will improve their living standards, and there will be less temptation to seek hap-piness abroad.”

Libya’s internationally recognised government have been under attack by warlord Khalifa Haftar’s forces since last April, and international efforts to enforce a ceasefire have proven unsuccessful.

Since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: Haftar in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, which enjoys the UN and interna-tional recognition.

A damaged building south of the Syrian capital Damascus, after Israeli air strikes yesterday.

IS-allied militants execute Chadian soldierAFP — N'DJAMENA

Islamic State-aligned militants have executed a Chadian soldier and rejected President Idriss Deby Itno’s claim that they had been eradicated from the volatile Lake Chad region, officials said yesterday.

A video, authenticated by Chadian officials, showed a member of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) shooting a kneeling soldier in the head.

The victim was in Chadian military uniform. The killer dismissed Deby’s statement that militants had been routed from the Lake Chad region that encompasses Nigeria, Niger and Chad.

The dead soldier, the video said, was seized in an ambush at Litri on April 18 in which two Chadian soldiers had died.

Two senior Chadian mil-itary officers confirmed that the man shown in the video was one of the soldiers missing after the attack.

ISWAP, which split from the Boko Haram group in 2016, has focused on targeting mil-itary installations and troops since mid-2018. However there has recently been an increase in attacks on civilians blamed on ISWAP.

Boko Haram’s conflict in northeast Nigeria since 2009 has killed 35,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes.

The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting the for-mation of a regional military coalition to fight the Islamists.

On March 23, 98 Chadian soldiers were massacred in an attack on their base at Bohoma on the banks of Lake Chad.

Deby then ordered a

Burundi launches poll campaign despite coronavirus fearsAFP — NAIROBI

Burundi yesterday launched a campaign for next month’s pres-idential, legislative and municipal elections with giant rallies, brushing aside concerns about the coronavirus and reports of violence against the opposition.

Seven presidential candi-dates are running in the May 20 polls in the small East African nation, where life has pro-ceeded largely as normal with authorities claiming God will protect citizens from COVID-19.

The ruling party and the main opposition held rallies Monday that drew tens of thou-sands of supporters -- the kind of large gatherings that have been banned in many other parts of Africa and around the

world. Burundi has recorded 15 cases of COVID-19 and one death, though testing has been extremely limited in this country of 12 million.

Few precautions have so far been taken for the campaign period which ends on May 17.

One politician, a high-ranking member of the ruling CNDD-FDD party, said the elec-toral commission had issued buckets of soap and water for use during campaign activities but acknowledged this would likely be ineffective.

“We realise that this will be useless. Everybody is obsessed with the electoral stakes... We’ll think about the pandemic later,” said the politician, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity. The opposition

says the government’s decision to press ahead with the elec-tions is reckless. Amnesty International, in a statement Monday, said private institu-tions taking their own pre-ventive measures against coro-navirus “had been threatened with sanctions”.

General Evariste Nday-ishimiye, the CNDD-FDD’s presidential candidate, is pre-sented on campaign posters as the heir to President Pierre Nkurunziza, who is stepping down after a tumultuous tenure that began in 2005.

Nkurunziza’s controversial decision to seek a third term in 2015 plunged the country into crisis, and the associated unrest killed 1,200 people and forced 400,000 from their homes.

Coronavirus death toll in Africa tops 1,400ANATOLIA — ADDIS ABABA

COVID-19 deaths in Africa rose to 1,423 yesterday, the Africa Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)’s noon update showed.

The update that contains figures and regional distribution of the virus in Africa showed a relatively slower but steadily upward trend both in terms of people dying and getting infected.

Some 31,933 Africans have so far contracted the corona-virus, whereas the number of people who have recovered stands at 9,566.

Of the five geographic regions of the continent, North Africa has the highest toll, fol-lowed by West, Southern, East, and Central Africa.

Egypt and South Africa both registered 4,500-plus cases. In terms of the death toll, Egypt has 317 in sharp contrast to South

Africa’s 87. In North Africa, Algeria recorded the highest death toll at 425 while Morocco has registered 161 deaths so far.

In West Africa, 42 people died in Burkina Faso, 40 in Nigeria, 29 in Niger, and 23 in Mali.

The tiny nation of Djibouti is the hardest hit in East Africa with 1,000 cases and two deaths, while Somalia recorded 436 cases and 23 deaths. In Central Africa, Cameroon has 56 deaths so far and the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo 28.

Meanwhile, the third batch of donation for Africa made by Chinese billionaire philan-thropist Jack Ma arrived in Ethiopia yesterday.

The World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) assigned the Ethiopian Airlines Cargo and Logistics Service as a central supply hub to operate the international COVID-19

A Moroccan artist works on a mural thanking essential workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in the city of Sale, north of the capital Rabat, yesterday.

support supplies for Africa. Officials from the Africa

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, WFP, WHO and the Ethiopian government attended the handover of the donation, as the consignment was unloaded from a cargo

aircraft of the Ethiopian Airlines.

Fitsum Abadi, the head of the airline’s cargo and logistics service, said the third batch of materials included 61,000 kil-ograms of face masks and pro-tective gear as well as

ventilators.“We will begin transporting

the donation to 54 African countries beginning Tuesday,” he said. Ethiopian Airlines has been one of the worst-hit air-lines in Africa losing $550 to the COVID-19 onslaught.

Togo marks muted independence anniversaryAFP — LOME

Togo yesterday ditched its traditional military parade for the first time as restrictions over the coronavirus pandemic forced it to scale back celebrations of its 60th independence anniversary.

The West African nation of around 8 million had been planning major ceremonies across the country to mark its independence from France in 1960. But those were scrapped after President Faure Gnass-ingbe declared a “state of emergency” on April 1 to try to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The leader instead attended a small military cer-emony in the courtyard of the presidential palace that lasted only 5 minutes. Togo has so far recorded 99 confirmed infections from the novel coro-navirus, of which six have been fatal.

A mother and child were killed east of Libya’s capital by militia affiliated with warlord Khalifa Haftar, the Libyan government media office said in a statement yesterday. The statement added that Haftar militia shelling of residential areas of the city of Al Qarbouli left three others injured along with damaging homes.

The pandemic has hit small and medium-sized businesses, which often have little cash on hand, very hard - and government policy responses so far may be insufficient to avoid a cascade of resulting bankruptcies.

08 TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

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

[email protected]

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

[email protected]

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI [email protected]

EDITORIAL

QATAR is playing a crucial role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic with humanitarian assistance to countries in need across the globe. Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday directed sending urgent medical aid to Tunisia, Nepal and Rwanda, in support of the efforts of these countries to fight the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic.

The medical assistance provided by the State of Qatar comes within the framework of its support for brotherly and friendly countries to overcome the crisis, and Qatar’s contribution to the international efforts to combat the spread of the pandemic, which consti-tutes a threat to the whole world.

H H the Amir recently directed sending additional medical aid to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The medical aid, which Qatar Airways has delivered, weighed 15 tonnes and contained basic medical equipment and supplies, Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) said. The move follows the State’s continuous efforts to operate air bridges of urgent medical aid to countries where COVID-19 has spread.

In the past two months, Qatar has provided, through QFFD, many urgent medical assistance to sis-terly and friendly countries. This is not the first time for Qatar to send medical aid to Iran, as last month it sent 13 tonnes of supplies to fill the shortfall in medical supplies needed to combat the pandemic. Earlier this month, H H the Amir also directed sending urgent medical aid to the Lebanese Republic. This shipment, delivered by Qatar Airways, weighed 10 tonnes and contained medical equipment and supplies, QFFD said.

Qatar, under the wise leadership, has not forgotten its role and humanitarian duty towards friends, stressing its solidarity and standing beside them during prosperity and distress.

A shipment of 29 tonnes of medical aid and sup-plies was also delivered to the friendly Italian Republic. The move is part of a total of 260 tonnes of aid to be delivered in 12 flights. Qatar also delivered two field hospitals with a capacity of 1,000 beds for both hos-pitals, equipment and medical supplies.

H H the Amir directed urgent financial assistance to the sisterly State of Palestine, including medi-cines, medical supplies, foodstuffs, and fuel for gen-erators to operate the hospitals in Gaza Strip. Prior to that, Qatar had sent eight aircraft carrying 300 tonnes of urgent medical supplies to the People’s Republic of China. These humanitarian initiatives reflect the positive role Qatar plays during and in times of crisis.

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Quote of the day

The Bangladesh government should immediately

allow hundreds of Rohingya refugees stranded in

two trawlers in the Bay of Bengal to come ashore

and receive necessary food, water and healthcare.

Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

A police vehicle is seen near the Mall where the finish of the London Marathon was due to take place yesterday. The marathon was postponed following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in London.

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely leave us with an economy in which larger companies play an expanded role, representing a higher share of both employment and revenue. The stock market illustrates the phenomenon: The biggest firms have seen smaller stock market declines, on average, than smaller ones have. It’s the corporate version of the Matthew effect: The strong get stronger.

This shift began before the pandemic came along. From 1995 to 2013, the share of US workers employed by firms with 10,000 or more employees increased to about 28%, from 24%. McKinsey has

found that “superstar” firms (whose average revenue is seven times the median) raised their employment share to 30% in 2014-16, from 28% in 1995-97. There’s been much debate over why this is happening, especially the role that higher productivity plays. The International Monetary Fund recently concluded that “technology-driven changes in the structure of many product markets” have made a bigger difference than have individual countries’ regula-tions or antitrust policies.

The trend may be accel-erated now because, during the pandemic, bigger com-panies are less likely to run aground: They are perceived to have more liquidity than smaller companies do, and to be more spread out geo-graphically. The pandemic has hit small and medium-sized businesses, which often have little cash on hand, very hard - and government policy responses so far may be insufficient to avoid a cascade of resulting bank-ruptcies. It’s entirely possible that many small companies won’t survive, or return after the crisis subsides. At the same time, COVID-19 has hit different regions with varying force, policy responses have also varied, and these differences are likely to continue through the summer and beyond. Because larger companies are more diversified across markets, they’re better able to survive shocks whose force varies from place to place.

Another reason the

pandemic will hasten the growing dominance of large companies is that it will push supply chains to become ver-tically integrated, as larger firms exert more control over their supply and smaller com-panies in the chain need help. The crisis has exposed the vulnerabilities of depending on other companies for crucial supplies; many larger ones may be inclined to move production in house while also diversifying their geo-graphic locations. At the same time, as many smaller sup-pliers face financial distress, they will find it more attractive to combine with larger companies. Antitrust authorities have often viewed this kind of vertical inte-gration more favorably than horizontal mergers between companies in the same business - especially if a supply chain is in danger of collapse. (A caveat is that increased nationalism may impede certain potential combinations.)

One more reason that larger companies may now expand their market shares is simply that, during a crisis, people trust them more. Workers are more com-fortable accepting jobs at bigger firms, where employment appears more secure, while customers are more trusting of products and services from larger com-panies, whose name brands seem safer. Both kinds of trust allow larger firms to grow. Note that, as a result of the pandemic, the social value of two sectors with numerous large firms - biopharma and

technology - may come to be viewed more favourably.

Conventional wisdom suggests that smaller com-panies can benefit when eco-nomic activity shifts to the virtual world, as it has been with people staying home and as it likely will remain even after the pandemic ends, because they are more nimble in using information tech-nology. In reality, the effect may be the opposite, because larger companies are often positioned to use IT better than smaller ones do. Indeed, one analysis of pre-pandemic trends in productivity con-cluded, “It is sometimes argued that information tech-nology ‘levels the playing field’ by providing inex-pensive tools to small and young firms. This paper finds that much of the impact of IT may be, instead, to tilt the playing field in favor of those firms who are able to use it most effectively.”

The stock market reaction to the pandemic highlights the financial strength that comes with size: Among the top 1% of publicly traded firms ranked by their 2019 revenue - those with more than $52 billion - the weighted-average total stock return so far this year has been minus 9%. For com-panies with revenue of $200-550 million, the return has been closer to minus 40%. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the size distribution of companies will probably continue to shift toward large.

Peter R. Orszag is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.

PETER HOBSON, RAJENDRA JADHAV & SAQIB IQBAL AHMED — REUTERS

Gold loves a crisis, the old adage goes. And with prices up 13% this year to their highest since 2012 and many predicting further gains as investors search for safe places to put their money, it looks true for the coronavirus crisis so far. But, as indi-viduals and countries alike see a drop in income, tradi-tional gold consumers in India and China are buying less and central banks are cutting purchases. Without them, gold’s run higher may be hard to sustain.

For now, gold costs around $1,700 an ounce.

Driven by investors’ clamour for insurance against economic turmoil and the potential devaluation of assets

and currencies, some predict a bull run reminiscent of gold’s price rally to record highs just shy of $2,000 in 2011.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has even said it could touch $3,000 by the end of next year.

But if history is any guide, it takes a sustained period of rising demand to really drive gold higher, and given the depth of the economic recession econ-omists expect because of the coronavirus, individual con-sumers may be buying less gold for some time to come..

“You encounter a lot of conventional wisdom around gold, like that inflation drives it up, or a bad environment does,” Andrew Sheets, chief cross-asset strategist at Morgan Stanley, said.

But gold is not so straight-forward, he said. “Look at 2003-2012, gold basically

went up in every possible sce-nario. Boom, bust, crisis, no crisis. Then for a few years it just went down every year.”

Attend the trendIn the last half century,

gold has had two spectacular bull runs.

The first was triggered when governments gave up control of gold prices and relaxed prohibitions on private ownership around 1970.

That released a surge of pent-up demand, said Fergal O’Connor, a lecturer at Cork University in Ireland who has researched gold prices. Along with political and economic convulsions and a rush of speculative investment, this pushed gold from $35 an ounce to around $800 in 1980.

The rally peaked, and two decades of weakness fol-lowed as central banks sold thousands of tonnes of gold.

By 1999, an ounce cost $250.Then the tide turned, as

the structure of the market changed. European central banks agreed to coordinate sales, stabilising prices. China allowed more people to own gold, and purchases soared. Exchange traded funds (ETFs), which store gold on behalf of investors, also provided an easier way for people to hoard gold bars.

Between 2003 and 2011, annual gold demand rose from around 2,600 tonnes to more than 4,700 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council.

The rally ended as high prices punctured demand. Prices then stagnated until last year, when central banks began to lower interest rates, pulling down bond yields and making non-yielding gold more attractive.

COVID-19 pandemic will make big companies more dominant than ever

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Can gold love a coronavirus crisis?

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PETER R ORSZAG BLOOMBERG

09TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020 OPINION

To ensure that Africa doesn’t starve, and that it can weather the COVID-19 storm, it is essential to make sure people are guaranteed access to food, water, soap, masks, and cash transfers to support their families. The poorest and most vulnerable should be the priority. World governments with their donor partners, including the World Bank and the World Food Programme, will be counted on for support over the next four months.

“Nations palpably on the way down tend to earn the contempt of other nations in spades.” So wrote Michael Anton, a veteran right-wing thinker in Washington and a member of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, in a much-discussed essay published in the first months of Trump’s term. Anton is no longer at the White House, but through his thinking and writing, he tried to provide some intellectual scaffolding to Trump’s chest-thumping politics.

In the essay, Anton called into question the viability and value of the existing “liberal order,” and focused on the goal of restoring American “prestige” after years of apparent timidity and fecklessness on the world stage. “Pointless apol-ogies, gratuitous insults to allies and friends, failure to honor commitments, trans-parent groveling to enemies - these rub salt in the open wound of contempt,” he

wrote, citing, among other perceived humiliations, an incident in January 2016 when Iranian forces detained a number of US sailors for a day. “Perhaps the largest contributor to contempt, however, is a general sense of decline.” Anton’s words carry unintended irony three years later. The president he served has been pilloried precisely for his gratuitous insults to allies and friends, his failure to honour commit-ments, and, indeed, his sometimes transparent grov-elling before America’s putative adversaries.

But that hunger for primacy and “prestige” - which motivated Anton and still underpins Trump’s “America First” doctrine - is all the more conspicuous now in the midst of a pan-demic. Over the weekend, the official coronavirus death toll in the United States surpassed 50,000, less than two months after Trump waved away the threat, likening the virus to little more than the flu. The president’s divisive man-agement of the crisis includes relentless squab-bling with state governors and daily briefings that, as my Washington Post col-leagues have detailed, are replete with boasts and vitriol but bereft of the

empathetic and consensus-building rhetoric one would expect of a head of state at a time of national emergency.

Abroad, the Trump administration and its allies nurse grievances over China’s handling of the outbreak and are working to defund and undercut the World Health Organization, the UN health agency, for its supposed con-nivance with Beijing. On Friday, the WHO led a virtual meeting with world leaders to better coordinate efforts to produce a coronavirus vaccine. The United States

opted not to attend, an absence that underscored yet again the contrast between this White House and its dis-taste for multilateral diplomacy and its prede-cessor, which a decade ago was at the heart of a global response to the financial crisis.

Now, few governments elsewhere are even looking to Washington for leadership. That’s not just a consequence of Trump’s unique brand of politics, but also of that per-ceived decline recognized by Anton and other skeptics of the post-Cold War liberal status quo. It extends well beyond Trump, threading its way back to the aftershocks of 9/11 and the costly US war efforts that followed.

“We need to change the way we think about national security and foreign policy,” wrote Ben Rhodes, a former adviser in President Barack Obama’s White House National Security Council. “In the Obama administration, efforts to ramp up climate-change and global-health security didn’t mesh well with America’s sprawling counterterrorism infra-structure, or with the interests of Congress.

” The rest of the world can see the results of that posture. At loggerheads with the federal government, indi-vidual US states have at times looked abroad for medical supplies and assistance. Countries such as Germany and South Korea - two nations that emerged as regional economic powers thanks to American pro-tection and aid - are the exemplars in the coronavirus response, particularly when it comes to testing. Meanwhile, the tens of millions who joined the ranks of the unem-ployed in the past month have showcased the precariousness of life inside the world’s sole superpower.

“America has not done badly, it has done excep-tionally badly,” Dominique Moïsi, a French political sci-entist and senior adviser at the Paris-based Institut Mon-taigne, told the New York Times in an interview in which he also decried the “brutal” nature of the United States’ capitalist system com-pared with Europe’s more humane social democracies. “America prepared for the wrong kind of war,” Moïsi added. “It prepared for a new 9/11, but instead a virus came.” “The numbers turning to food banks are just

enormous and beyond the capacity of them to supply. It is like a third world country,” Nobel Prize-winning econ-omist Joseph Stiglitz said in an interview with the Guardian last week. “The public social safety net is not working.” Stiglitz, a frequent critic of Trump, also lamented the president’s disinterest in building global alliances and forging meaningful cooper-ation at a time of crisis. “I hope we emerge from this with the perspective that mul-tilateralism is even more important than we thought,” he said.

There’s little indication that that’s a lesson getting internalized by the White House, which seems more interested in weaponising the pandemic to pursue a far-right, anti-immigration agenda than in holding out a hand to the rest of the world.

“We are not leading in the pandemic response, we are trailing other countries by a long shot,” presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told Politico. “This is a crip-pling blow to America’s prestige.”

Ishaan is a former senior editor at Time magazine, and now writes on foreign affairs for The Washington Post.

Pandemic and the waning of American prestige

“It is easy to see the begin-nings of things and harder to see the ends,” Joan Didion wrote in “Goodbye to All That.” Her words resonate in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when no one has a clue whether we’re at the beginning, in the middle or near the end. In sub-Saharan Africa the not knowing is especially worrisome, because it’s difficult to tell whether the continent’s fragile food supply systems will weather the strain.

While the continent has made great strides toward economic security over the past several decades, COVID-19 could stymie that progress. Conditions vary greatly from country to country, but many struggle to ensure that their citizens have access to basic essentials: soap to clean hands, potable water and nutritious food to keep immune systems strong. Hunger and food insecurity have not gone away. Twenty three percent of people in

sub-Saharan Africa are undernourished. Because of the global economic fallout from COVID-19, the number of people worldwide facing acute food insecurity could nearly double this year to 265 million, the United Nations World Food Programme esti-mates, and much of that impact will be felt in Africa.

At the same time, obesity and noncommunicable dis-eases (heart disease and dia-betes, for example) are rising in many low-income coun-tries, Africa included, and both are proving to be serious complications for people infected with COVID-19. Much of the continent is also still dealing with other complex infectious diseases - HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other neglected tropical illnesses - that will make it more difficult to treat COVID-19 infections.

As it expands on the con-tinent, COVID-19 will put further stress on already strained health systems - with limited numbers of ventilators and proper beds, minimal personal protective equipment and, in some places, too few health care workers.

At the same time, food supply chains are starting to falter. Lockdowns in 30 African countries have made it very challenging for farmers

to sell their goods in markets or for workers to get to fields. Food assistance is not always making it to those most in need. Many informal markets - the infamous wet or open-air markets, where most Africans shop for food - are closed, further imperiling food insecurity and threat-ening malnutrition. Reports from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition’s offices in Nigeria and Mozambique note that prices of food, par-ticularly fruits and vegetables, have increased significantly.

In many African cities, social distancing and self-iso-lation are a recipe for disaster. Slums and informal settle-ments are overcrowded and lack basic services such as running water, cooking facil-ities and electricity. And even if people infected with the coronavirus had safe places to isolate, some feel they must work to keep their families fed. Commutes to work often involve overfilled buses and long traffic jams - which increase the spread of disease.

With global unem-ployment rising, remittances worldwide are also are expected to fall - by 20%, or nearly $110 billion, according to the World Bank. In sub-Saharan Africa, they may drop by 23%. This will push more people to go to work, increasing their exposure.

To be sure, African coun-tries have a few things working in their favor. For one, they have experience with massive infectious dis-eases - HIV/AIDS, Ebola and polio, to name a few - and public health systems have been strengthened over the past decade. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been hard hit by Ebola, but there are signs of progress with a declining case load in early 2020.

In the current crisis, African governments can take some early lessons from the rest of the world that has been grappling with the pandemic a month or two longer, and work to keep the food supply moving. The continent is still 60% rural, and many urban Africans have close ties to the countryside, owning land or family plots. With luck, lower population density in rural areas may slow the spread of COVID-19, allowing farmers to continue to grow food - that is, if they can get access to seeds and the technologies needed to plant and harvest. Support to food producers is an absolute necessity.

Sub-Saharan Africa is also fortunate to have a relatively young population, which may make it better able to weather outbreaks of COVID-19 with less hospitalization and death.

Still, it remains hard to see

the end. Some people hypoth-esize, with little evidence, that Africa may not be hit as hard as other places because of its warm climate. Perhaps, they say, the spread will be slower in Africa, and that will buy extra time. Given how easily COVID-19 has spread in other warm places such as Sin-gapore and Thailand, that’s not something to count on.

To ensure that Africa doesn’t starve, and that it can weather the COVID-19 storm, it is essential to make sure people are guaranteed access to food, water, soap, masks, and cash transfers to support their families. The poorest and most vulnerable should be the priority. World governments with their donor partners, including the World Bank and the World Food Programme, will be counted on for support over the next four months. Businesses that make food products need support as well. We must all help to make sure they come through.

Jessica Fanzo is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of global food and agricultural policy and ethics at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, the Berman Institute of Bioethics and the Department of International Health of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

COVID-19 threatens to starve Africa

ISHAAN THAROOR THE WASHINGTON POST

JESSICA FANZO BLOOMBERG

There’s little indication that that’s a lesson getting internalized by the White House, which seems more interested in weaponising the pandemic to pursue a far-right, anti-immigration agenda than in holding out a hand to the rest of the world.“We are not leading

in the pandemic response, we are trailing other countries by a long shot,” presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told Politico. “This is a crippling blow to America’s prestige.”

Now, few governments elsewhere are even looking to Washington for leadership. That’s not just a consequence of Trump’s unique brand of politics, but also of that perceived decline recognized by Anton and other skeptics of the post-Cold War liberal status quo. It extends well beyond Trump, threading its way back to the aftershocks of 9/11 and the costly US war efforts that followed.

Streets seen nearly empty in the popular Manhattan shopping district of SoHo, yesterday, in New York City.

10 TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020ASIA

UN urges Bangladesh to accept Rohingya boatsAFP — DHAKA

A top UN official has urged Bang-ladesh to let two stranded boat-loads of starving Rohingya Muslims land amid mounting fears yesterday over the fate of the refugees.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned of a “human tragedy of terrible proportions” unless action is taken to help the Rohingya.

The appeal was made to the Bangladesh government after Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the South Asian country would not accept the boats. His declaration last week set alarm bells ringing as it came only days after dozens of

Rohingya died on a boat that waited at sea for two months before it could land.

The two new boats are believed to be in international waters hoping to get an oppor-tunity to reach Malaysia. The Malaysian navy rebuffed one boat last week and has increased patrols as it expects increased attempts to smuggle people into the country.

The one million Rohingya in camps in Bangladesh, where they fled a military crackdown in their native Myanmar, favour going to Malaysia as it is Muslim majority country with more work opportunities.

“In a spirit of solidarity and at the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan, I appeal to you in the strongest terms to open your ports and allow the

boats to land,” Bachelet said in the letter.

“The reportedly more than 500 men, women and children aboard these boats have been at sea for an extended period of time, and we understand that they require urgent rescue, food, medical care and other necessary humanitarian assistance.”

Bachelet said “dangerous interception practices and col-lective expulsions, including pushing back boats that are trying to land, must be scrupulously avoided”.

The government did not immediately respond.

A coast guard spokesman said no boat had been spotted since the rescued of a trawler carrying 396 starving refugees

on April 15. At least 60 people died on the boat.

Bangladesh vessels and hel-icopters have conducted a “huge search” in the Bay of Bengal over 10 days for the two new boats, Lieutenant Commander Hamidul Islam said. The foreign minister said last Thursday that the navy and coast guard had been ordered “not to let these boats enter Bangladesh”.

Thousands of refugees died in the Andaman Sea in 2015 on rickety fishing vessels that tried to reach Malaysia and Thailand.

Amnesty International says it believes there could be “at least three boats in the high seas” stranded for several weeks “without food and water, at high risk of death”.

Thailand to extend stateof emergency overvirus until end of MayREUTERS — BANGKOK

Thailand will extend a state of emergency over the coronavirus until the end of May, but will consider easing some restric-tions on businesses and public activities as the number of new cases has eased, a government spokesman said.

Thailand yesterday reported nine new coronavirus cases and no new local virus transmission in Bangkok for the first time since the outbreak began in January. It has reported 2,931 cases in total and 52 fatalities, while 2,609 patients have recovered. Concerns over a pos-sible second wave of outbreaks prompted the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to rec-ommend extending emergency

powers and a nationwide night time curfew for another month.

It also recommended con-tinuing restrictions on travel between provinces and large scale public activities, extending a work from home policy and delaying four public holidays in May.

“The state of emergency has enabled swift and effective actions that led to the domestic reduction of new daily infection,” said CCSA spokesman Taweesin Wisanuyothin.

The new measures are subject to Cabinet approval today. Cabinet would also discuss easing some restrictions for businesses and public activ-ities due to the improvement in the number of cases, Taweesin said. He did not give details on the types of changes or a date

when restrictions will be lifted.“The prime minister wants

to pick activities that can be restarted at the same time

throughout the country, but we have to be confident and ready for it,” Taweesin said.

The Civil Aviation Authority

of Thailand also extended a ban on all incoming international passenger flights, introduced on April 4, until May 31.

A woman wearing a protective face mask gets her temperature checked at a checkpoint amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Yala province, Thailand, yesterday.

Tokyo reports

fewest new

cases in 4 weeks

REUTERS — TOKYO

Metropolitan Tokyo confirmed 39 more cases of coronavirus infection yesterday, Governor Yuriko Koike said, the fewest since March 30 and the second consecutive day of new cases below triple digits.

But Koike stressed at a video conference that the sit-uation offered no grounds for optimism, saying that the number was usually low on Mondays as fewer test samples are brought in.

“We can’t let our guard down,” she said.

Hokkaido University pro-fessor Hiroshi Nishiura, one of the infectious disease experts guiding the govern-ment’s response to the out-break, told the conference the pace of decline had been slow.

Japan declared a state of emergency in Tokyo, the country’s coronavirus epi-centre, and six other areas on April 7 that it later extended nationwide to fight a wid-ening outbreak.

The government will decide during its Golden Week holiday between April 29 and May 6 whether to extend the month-long state of emergency, government and ruling party sources said last week.

Japan as a whole has 13,504 confirmed cases and 377 deaths, public broad-caster NHK said.

In Tokyo, 3,947 cases in total have been confirmed.

As schools remain closed, Hirofumi Yoshimura, gov-ernor of the western Japan prefecture of Osaka, said the government should consider beginning the Japanese school year in September instead of April.

Vietnam jails Facebook user over postsREUTERS — HANOI

A court in Vietnam yesterday sentenced a man to 1-1/2 years in prison for uploading anti-state posts to Facebook, the security ministry said, days after Facebook sources said they had agreed to censor more content in the Southeast Asian country.

Chung Hoang Chuong, who posts under the name “Lucky Chuong” on the social media platform, was charged with “abusing the rights to democracy and freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State” at a one-day trial in the southern province of Can Tho, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said in a news release.

Chuong, 43, was accused of writing “anti-state” posts and making comments which insulted three policemen killed in a clash with pro-testers near Hanoi in January this year, the MPS said.

India: Recovered Tablighi Jamaat members to donate plasmaANATOLIA — NEW DELHI

More than 200 Tablighi Jamaat members who have recovered from COVID-19 infection in the Indian capital New Delhi have pledged to donate plasma for the treatment of other patients, according to health authorities.

The capital Delhi’s Health Department said the plasma collected will be used to treat critically infected patients through the procedure called the convalescent plasma therapy.

The COVID-19 Coordinator of Health Department, Mohammad Shoaib, said that they have started to receive plasma samples.

“We received 10 samples from Tablighi Jamaat members yesterday who had recovered. We are hoping to collect 50 more samples. When we requested for blood plasmas, 200 people came forward. The plasmas can only be collected from those, who first tested pos-itive and later recovered,” said Dr Shoaib.

Over 2,300 people had been evacuated from the head-quarters of Jamaat called Markaz located in Nizamuddin locality of Delhi towards the end of March. Out of which 1,080 had tested positive for COVID-19. So far 869 members have recovered from the infection, said local media reports.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday had called for plasma donations stating that the plasma will help save the lives of critical COVID-19 patients.

According to doctors, people who recover from the pandemic develop antibodies in their blood to fight the disease. This, in turn, is called

convalescent plasma, and the process of transferring it is known as convalescent plasma therapy.

“Coronavirus disease can happen to anyone irrespective of one’s faith. Come forward and donate plasma. We all want to recover and survive the coro-navirus crisis.

“If tomorrow, a patient is Hindu and is serious, who knows maybe the plasma of a Muslim person can save him or vice versa,” said Kejriwal.

Analysts described it as an important message in the wake of far-right Hindu groups dubbing Jamaat members and Muslims for spreading pan-demic as part of the conspiracy.

The Indian government had come hard on Jamaat for organising an event from March 13-15 in New Delhi, attended by thousands of Muslims from within and outside the country.

On April 18, the Health Ministry claimed that 30 percent of the then 14,378 cases

were linked to the group. As the anti-Muslim hate

campaign surfaced in the country, the rights body of the Organisation of Islamic Coop-eration (OIC) called on New Delhi to stop Islamophobia.

Maulana Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi, the head of the Tablighi Jamaat in India, is facing criminal charges for organising the event.

He released a statement on Tuesday, asking Jamaat attendees to donate blood plasma.

“During this crisis, it is important to save the life of a sick person. People, who are now cured of COVID-19, should donate blood plasma to others who are still fighting the disease and are under treatment. It is my humble request to all Muslims to show this act of kindness,” stated Maulana Saad in his letter.

According to the US-based John Hopkins Coronavirus Resources Centre, India has so far reported 27,977 infected cases with 884 deaths.

A health worker (right) checks the body temperature of motorists at a checkpoint, in Ahmedabad, yesterday.

Indonesia hopes for return to ‘normal lives’ by JulyREUTERS — JAKARTA

Indonesia hopes its citizens will be able to resume normal lives by July, as the Southeast Asian nation targets lowering new coronavirus infections by June, its COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardo said yesterday.

The world’s fourth most populous country has officially reported 9,096 coronavirus cases, the second highest number in Southeast Asia after Singapore, although some medical experts are concerned relatively low testing is masking a much higher rate of infection. Indonesia, which has reported 765 deaths, the highest number in East Asia outside China, has also been slower to bring in restrictions on movements than some neighbouring countries.

“The president has asked that we work harder, for the people to obey and be more dis-ciplined, and for the authorities to be more stern so that by June, we’re hoping we can lower the

infections in Indonesia,” Monardo said after a cabinet meeting.

“In July, we’re hoping to resume our normal lives,” he said, pledging to increase testing between April and May “massively”.

Indonesia had tested more than 59,000 people as of yes-terday, but the number was well below Singapore, which with a population of only 5.6 million people has tested 82,644 people.

Malaysia has tested 131,491 as of Sunday.

The struggle by Indonesia, which has a population of over 260 million, to increase testing has been partly put down to a lack of staff to conduct tests and a shortage of reagents needed for testing.

Monardo said 479,000 additional reagents had been dispatched from South Korea and China.

Ariananda Hariadi, the deputy chairman of the

Indonesian Medical Biology Association, said the effec-tiveness of testing also hinged on having more capable regional laboratories.

Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said 46 labs across the country could now conduct tests.

Monardo said the infection

curve in the Indonesian capital Jakarta was flattening, due to large scale social restrictions measures limiting public gath-erings and mass transportation that have been in place until May 22.

According to official data, Jakarta has recorded 3,869 infections and 367 deaths, the

most in all 34 provinces.At the start of the Muslim

fasting month of Ramadan, Indonesia has also temporarily halted air and sea travel, with some exceptions, until May 31 in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. The country has the world’s largest number of Muslims.

Healthcare workers take a swab sample of a worker, in Bogor, West Java province, yesterday.

South Korea’s

former strongman

goes on trialAFP — SEOUL

Former South Korean dictator Chun Doo-hwan went on trial yesterday for defaming an activist priest who docu-mented a brutal crackdown by his troops on pro-democracy demonstrators.

An uprising in the southern city of Gwangju against Chun’s military government four decades ago ended in a bloodbath by martial law troops that left around 200 people dead or missing, according to official figures.

Activists say the toll may have been three times as much.

The 89-year-old Chun remains hugely divisive in South Korea and is accused of defaming late priest Cho Chul-hyun, who repeatedly testified that helicopters had opened fire on civilians in Gwangju.

In a 2017 memoir, Chun accused Cho of lying and called him “Satan in a mask”.

The two new boats are believed to be in international waters hoping to get an opportunity to reach Malaysia. The Malaysian navy rebuffed one boat last week and has increased patrols as it expects increased attempts to smuggle people into the country.

11TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020 ASIA

New Zealand PM claims winning COVID-19 battleANATOLIA — WELLINGTON

New Zealand has “no wide-spread undetected” novel coro-navirus cases, since the country has reported single-digit cases for eight days now, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday.

Addressing a news con-ference in Auckland, Ardern, said: “There is no widespread community transmission in New Zealand. We have won that battle.”

New Zealand will move to alert level-three, during which it will ease out of complete lockdown measures imposed a month ago to stem the spread of COVID-19.

A total of 19 people have died due to the virus among 1,469 people were infected in New Zealand.

According to the daily New Zealand, Ardern was “opti-mistic” that the country had “el iminated COVID-19 currently.”

“Elimination means we may well reach zero, but we may well then have small numbers of cases coming up

again,” she added. The coun-try’s health chief Ashley Bloomfield added that the low number of new cases “gives us confidence that we have achieved our goal of elimination.”

“But, it does mean we know where our cases are coming from,” he added.

Ardern said: “That doesn’t mean we have failed; it just means that we’re in the position to have that zero-tol-erance approach to have very aggressive management of those cases and keep those numbers low.”

On whether the country would collaborate with Aus-tralia on fighting COVID-19, Ardern said her government was focusing on fighting the virus domestically at present.

“We do not want to jeop-ardise the work done by New Zealanders in combating COVID-19 by opening our borders [with Australia] too early. This also applied to Pacific Island nations,” she said.

New Zealand imposed a strict lockdown closing educa-tional institutions, offices and restaurants including delivery services on March 26 to halt the spread of the disease.

It closed borders and quar-antined those who returned home from abroad.

Authorities had strictly banned people from visiting beaches, waterfronts and playgrounds.

Those found violating the restrictions orders were penalised, including a former

minister who was once in Ard-ern’s cabinet. Ardern said that around 400,000 would be able to return to work today as the country eases restrictions.

She has received appreci-ation from the international community for the leading fight against COVID-19, Ardern said New Zealand was 11 hours

away from moving out of the “strictest constraints” in coun-try’s modern history.

“We did. And we did it together,” she added.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield (left), arrive for a media briefing on the new coronavirus at Parliament House, in Wellington, yesterday.

New Zealand imposed a strict lockdown closing educational institutions, offices and restaurants including delivery services on March 26 to halt the spread of the disease. It closed borders and quarantined those who returned home from abroad.

China to keep virus testing focused on high-risk groupsREUTERS — BEIJING

China will focus testing for COVID-19 on high-risk groups such as people from infected areas or with symptoms, the head of a top state research institute said yesterday, suggesting that authorities are not about to rush into large-scale testing.

The government said recently that it intends to carry out more widespread testing to quickly identify and isolate carriers, fol-lowing spikes in cases linked to people arriving from abroad and new local transmissions.

But China also said accuracy of tests must be improved and more laboratories should be set

up. It is also unclear who would pay for any mass testing of hun-dreds of millions of people — the state, employers or the individual.

“(The country’s) current testing strategy matches our epi-demic control and prevention strategy,” said Jin Qi, president of the Institute of Pathogen Biology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College.

Tests are being carried mostly on high-risk groups such as people with symptoms or from infected areas, schools and hos-pitals, Jin told reporters at a briefing in Beijing.

Other groups that request

testing, such as those returning to work that involves a high density of people, will receive tests as far as is possible, he added. While people running a high fever and suffering from breathing problems are easy to identify, some carriers of the novel coronavirus show few or none of the usual symptoms and are just as capable of infecting others.

As of Sunday, 974 asympto-matic cases were under medical observation, Chinese health authorities said, after testing pos-itive for the virus. There is no official estimate of the number of asymptomatic carriers who are yet to be tested. Wuhan in central

Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak in China, has doubled the number of tests to 60,000-65,000 a day since a lockdown on the city ended on April 8, to ensure that only resi-dents who test negative leave the city.

To keep track of people’s test status, the government recently launched an online mobile service allowing people to retain a history of their test results.

But not all are convinced that mass testing is needed.

“I don’t think it is necessary to get tested if people stay in the city and show no symptoms,” said Meng, 32, who works for an overseas education services

company in Beijing.“Besides, there are people

who show symptoms two days after the coronavirus test. If I do the test today, can I guarantee that I will not be exposed to the virus tomorrow?”

There are also financial con-siderations for the individual paying for tests. In China, the nuclei acid test, which involves swabbing the back of a patient’s throat or respiratory tract to detect the virus’ genome, costs at least $28.26 on average.

The cost for people who need multiple tests over a period of time could be significant, espe-cially those earning low wages such as migrant workers.

Kazakhstan to ease virus restrictionsREUTERS — ALMATY

Kazakhstan will start easing some restrictions imposed over the coronavirus though a state of emergency will continue until at least May 11, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said yesterday.

Businesses including banks, logistics firms and factories will be allowed to reopen in most parts of the Central Asian nation of 19 million today, and flights will resume on Friday between its two main cities, Almaty and Nur-Sultan.

People will be allowed to go out for walks in the coming days though Tokayev extended the state of emergency declared in mid-March, saying Kazakhstan had not yet passed the peak stage of infection. He said the state of emergency, which had been due to end on April 30, could finish on May 11 if there were no new mass outbreaks.

Tokayev also ordered the healthcare ministry to increase the number of daily coronavirus tests to 20,000-25,000. Kaza-khstan, which has reported 2,835 cases of COVID-19 and 25 deaths form the respiratory disease that the coronavirus can cause, has so far carried out around 180,000 tests in about 40 days.

Information minister Dauren Abayev said on state tel-evision that flights would follow strict distancing rules after their resumption and passengers wishing to travel would have to present certificates proving they are free of the coronavirus.

Abayev said Kazakhstan would continue bringing home Kazakhs stranded abroad. It would repatriate dozens from the United States, Europe and the Middle East and more than 6,000 people from Russia, he said.

Over 2 million Australiansdownload app to tracecontacts; testing expandsREUTERS — SYDNEY

More than two million Australians have downloaded an app to trace contacts of COVID-19 patients hours after its release, the government said yesterday, as states set out plans to expand testing for the infection.

Prime Minister Scott Mor-rison has said more testing and widespread use of the CovidSafe phone app — which has angered some privacy campaigners — are among the main conditions for easing nationwide lockdowns.

Australia has so far con-firmed around 6,700 cases of the novel coronavirus and just 83 related deaths, way below figures reported in the United States and other hotspots — something the government has put down to its border closures and other measures.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the tracing app launched late on Sunday had been downloaded by more than 2 million people —

about 8 percent of the popu-lation— as of 7pm yesterday.

The government has said it wants that proportion to reach 40 percent.

“This effort will help protect ourselves, our families, our nurses and our doctors,” Hunt said in an emailed statement.

The app, which is based on Singapore’s TraceTogether software and uses Bluetooth signals to log when people have been close to one another, is meant to help medics trace people potentially exposed to infections.

Civil liberties groups have raised fears that apps being con-sidered and used by a number of governments could invade privacy. But Canberra says its software does not record people’s location and has safeguards built in.

Just seven new infections were reported across Australia in the last 24 hours, according to a tally of announcements from

state and territory healthy departments.

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said yesterday officials will expand testing to start tracing asymptomatic cases — people who have caught the infection without showing symptoms.

Daniel Andrews, premier of Australia’s second most populous state, Victoria, said staff would open pop-up testing sites in shopping centre car parks and test people in their homes and offices. The states of Queensland and Western Australia have already said they will ease some

restrictions this week, as both have had new cases in the low single digits in recent days.

The most populous states of Victoria and New South Wales, which have the country’s coro-navirus hotspots, are maintaining strict social and business restrictions.

Local officials in protective gear wait at a hotel in Adelaide for the arrival of residents stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 outbreak, who will go through a mandatory 14-day quarantine after returning on a repatriation flight, in Australia.

Lockdown threatens livestock in Pakistani desertANATOLIA — KARACHI

A prolonged lockdown imposed by the Pakistani government to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus poses a potential threat to the survival of hundreds of thousands of live-stock in the country’s south-eastern Thar Desert, said local residents and experts.

The crippling restrictions have not only stopped the tra-ditional annual migration of the desert’s dwellers, or Tharis, to adjoining districts in search of water and fodder for the live-stock — their main source of livelihood, which accounts for 80 percent of the local economy — but has also barred the trans-portation of fodder from nearby districts.

From April to June, the three driest months in the region, thousands of Tharis migrate to the adjoining districts of

Mirpurkhas, Badin and Sanghar, where they not only find water and fodder for their cattle but also temporary jobs as har-vesters on farmlands.

The desert covers a region of 200,000sq kms has a popu-lation of 1.5 million and is ranked by the World Food Pro-gramme as the most food insecure region in the country. Its annual rainfall is 250 millimeters.

While the Tharis have been able to struggle through pre-vious droughts, each year makes the situation more des-perate, and now many of their traditional go-to sources of water have gone dry.

“At present, overall condi-tions are tough due to the ongoing lockdown. But the sit-uation concerning the livestock is harder,” Nashad Samoon, a resident of a remote village in the town of Mithi, said.

The administration, he said, was not allowing the traditional migrants to move to the irri-gated districts, whereas the unavailability of transport has led to an acute shortage of fodder in addition to water scarcity. Many of those who attempted to travel to the nearby districts were forced to return halfway by security forces, he added.

“We have been left with no other choice but the rationing of fodder for our cattle,” Samoon said.

“There might be alternative sources of income in other parts of the country. But here for us, there is no alternative source besides livestock,” he said.

“If this [source of income] is wiped out, that means eve-rything is destroyed for us.” Khatau Jani, a local journalist, endorsed Samoon’s view, arguing that a lingering drought

coupled with untimely rains and a recent onslaught by locusts in the region had led to a severe shortage of water and fodder for the livestock.

“Thar is one of Pakistan’s poorest regions, where 95 percent of the population lives in remote villages with only a single source of income,” he said.

“No other area has been affected by this lockdown more than Thar.”

Many Tharis trudged through the hot sand and roads to get to the adjoining districts days before the lockdown was imposed, but thousands are still waiting for the restrictions to ease, according to Samoon.

“Even those who managed to move are also facing troubles. Some have been forced to return while others are still stranded at different points,” he said.

North Korean leaderis ‘alive and well’AFP — SEOUL

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (pictured) is “alive and well”, a top security adviser to the South’s President Moon Jae-in said, downplaying rumours over Kim’s health following his absence from a key anniversary.

Conjecture over Kim has grown since his conspicuous no-show at April 15 celebra-tions for the birthday of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the North’s founder — the most important day in the country’s political calendar.

“Our government position is firm,” said Moon’s special adviser on national security Moon Chung-in, in an interview with CNN on Sunday.

“Kim Jong Un is alive and

well.” The adviser said that Kim had been staying in Wonsan — a resort town in the country’s east — since April 13, adding: “No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”

Kim has not made a public appearance since presiding over a Workers’ Party politburo meeting on April 11, and the fol-lowing day state media reported on him inspecting fighter jets at an air defence unit.

12 TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020EUROPE

Too risky to relax lockdown yet, says JohnsonREUTERS — LONDON

Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work yesterday after recovering from COVID-19 with a warning that it was still too dangerous to relax a stringent lockdown hammering Britain’s economy for fear of a deadly second outbreak.

Looking healthy again after a life-threatening bout of the coronavirus, Johnson compared the disease to an invisible street criminal whom Britons were wrestling to the floor.

“If we can show the same spirit of unity and determi-nation as we’ve all shown in the past six weeks then I have abso-lutely no doubt that we will beat it,” the 55-year-old said outside his Downing Street home a month and a day after testing positive.

“I ask you to contain your impatience because I believe we are coming now to the end of the first phase of this conflict and in spite of all the suffering we have so nearly succeeded.” With unemployment soaring, many companies crippled and a recession looming, Johnson said he understood the concerns of business and would consult with opposition parties pressing for clarity on a pathway out of lockdown.

But with Britain suffering one of the world’s highest death

tolls — 20,732 hospital deaths reported as of Saturday — he stressed it was still a time of maximum risk and there would be no swift lifting of restrictions.

“We simply cannot spell out now how fast or slow or even when those changes will be made, though clearly the gov-ernment will be saying much more about this in the coming days,” he said.

“We must also recognise the risk of a second spike, the risk of losing control of that virus and letting the reproduction rate go back over one because that would mean not only a new wave of death and disease but also an economic disaster.”

The lockdown has left Britain facing possibly the deepest recession in three cen-turies and the biggest debt splurge since World War Two. Johnson’s government, party and scientific advisers are divided over how and when the world’s fifth-largest economy should start returning to work, even in limited form.

The government is next due to review social distancing

measures on May 7. Johnson ini-tially resisted introducing the lockdown but changed course when projections showed a quarter of a million people could die.

Since the lockdown on March 23, his government has faced criticism from opposition parties and some doctors for initially delaying measures, for limited testing capabilities, and for a lack of protective equipment for health workers.

His spokesman said the government may not know if a target of 100,000 tests per day by the end of April had been met on Thursday because of a time lag with data.

The spokesman added that Johnson will meet opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer this week after he urged the prime minister to say when and how restrictions might be eased.

In his statement, Johnson said the government would take decisions on the lockdown with maximum transparency.

“I want to share all our working and our thinking, my thinking, with you the British

people,” he said, adding he wanted to bring in other parties to reach consensus.

Latest data on Sunday showed deaths related to COVID-19 in hospitals were up by 413 in the previous 24 hours, the lowest daily rise this month. Some 29,058 tests were done

on April 25. Based on those sta-tistics, the United Kingdom has the fifth worst death toll in the world, after the United States, Italy, Spain and France.

But the full British toll is much higher as statistics for deaths outside hospital - for example in care homes - are

slower to be published.However, Stephen Powis,

medical director of the National Health Service in England, said the “very definite” downward trend in coronavirus cases in hospital demonstrated that social distancing was reducing virus transmission and spread.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a statement outside 10 Downing Street as he returns to work following recovering from coronavirus, in London, yesterday.

Coronavirus deaths surpass 23,000 in FranceREUTERS — PARIS

France became the fourth country to report more than 23,000 coronavirus-linked fatalities yesterday, while the number of new confirmed cases rose at its sharpest pace in almost two weeks.

The latest figures from the Health Ministry come a day before Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is due to present to parliament the government’s plan to unwind national

lockdown that has been in place since March 17 and is due to expire on May 11.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 — the lung disease caused by the new coronavirus — fell for the 13th day running to 28,055, while the number of people in intensive care decreased for the 19th con-secutive time to 4,608.

But the number of deaths rose by 437 to 23,293, its sharpest rate of increase in four days. And the total number of

confirmed cases was up 3,764, at 128,339. This 3 percent increase was the highest since April 14.

The number of probable cases in nursing homes was more or less stable at 37,503, giving an overall total of con-firmed and probable cases of 165,842 cases.

In its statement, the Health Ministry also mentioned “prom-ising results” in a clinical trial, led by Paris University Hospital AP-HP, involving tocilizumab,

which is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The 129 patients involved in the trial were selected on the basis of hospitalisation for mod-erate or severe COVID-19 pneu-monia, but did not require resuscitation at the time of admission.

“It has been established that the patients treated with tocili-zumab showed a lesser need of ventilation and a lesser death rate after 14 days of treatment,” the health ministry said, adding

the results would be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

“The is the first tested drug where a positive effect is seen in a clinical trial.”

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi said yesterday the results of a study of their rheu-matoid arthritis drug Kevzara indicated it may only help the sickest coronavirus patients, dampening hopes the medicine could benefit a wider group of those infected.

Italy’s Veneto region defies govt, lifts curbs earlyREUTERS — PADUA

The northern region of Veneto, one of Italy’s early coronavirus hotspots, broke ranks with the national government yesterday and announced it would lift some lockdown restrictions a week ahead of schedule.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Sunday set May 4 as the long-awaited start date to begin rolling back the coronavirus curbs, which are among the toughest in the world.

However, his plan envisaged only a gradual easing of measures over the coming month, dashing the hopes of many Italians who have been confined to their homes for seven weeks and were looking for a more rapid reopening.

“This is the best way to fuel social conflict,” Veneto governor Luca Zaia said, referring to the government’s softly-softly approach.

“We can’t become a labo-ratory or guinea pigs, we also have to live,” said Zaia, a veteran politician with the League party, which rules a swathe of northern

Italian regions but is the main opposition party in the national parliament.

Using his powers as a regional chief, Zaia said he was authorising residents in Veneto, which includes the cities of Venice and Verona, to leave their homes from 6pm yesterday and exercise freely, including going for bike rides.

Previously, people were able only to go for walks or jog in the close vicinity of their own homes.

From today morning, people would be able to travel around the region to visit second homes, if they had them, or to carry out maintenance work on boats, if they needed to. Drive-through takeaway outlets will also be able to open.

“The approach must be a bit more rational and understand that sacrifices can be made but without prolonging them in this way,” Zaia said, explaining his decision to speed things up.

Almost 27,000 people have died in Italy after contracting the coronavirus since the contagion first came to light in Veneto and neighbouring Lombardy on

February 21 — the second highest death toll after that of the United States.

After an initial surge, the number of cases rapidly slowed in Veneto, while Lombardy has struggled to contain the spread. As of Monday, Veneto had regis-tered 17,579 cases against 73,479 in Lombardy, which is also run by a League administration.

Conte has warned repeatedly

about the need for caution, saying a rapid easing of restrictions could lead to a new outburst, which Italy could ill-afford to tackle.

No other governors appeared ready to join Zaia in removing some curbs immediately.

However, Conte faced tough criticism from other quarters for his highly circumspect approach, including from the Roman

Catholic Church, which was upset over his decision to maintain a ban on religious services, including Masses.

In a strongly worded statement, Italy’s bishops said they could “not accept seeing the exercise of freedom of religion being compromised” and accused the government of “arbi-trarily” excluding Mass from the rollback timetable.

A Red Cross volunteer checks temperature of a customer at the entrance of an open-air food market that has been reopened in Cisternino, Italy, yesterday.

Spain eyes more easing after children reclaim streetsREUTERS — MADRID

Spanish authorities cautiously prepared further steps to loosen one of Europe’s toughest coro-navirus lockdowns yesterday after children were allowed to leave their homes for the first time in six weeks, causing concern about crowds in some areas.

Having suffered one of the world’s deadliest outbreaks of the COVID-19 respiratory disease, Spain has been under strict lockdown since March 14, but recently begun to ease restrictions as it reined in the infection rate.

Daily fatalities from the virus rose by 331 yesterday to a total of 23,521, edging up from 288 the previous day but well below the daily peak of more

than 900 recorded in early April. Cumulative cases rose to 209,465 from 207,634 the day

before.In the most significant

relaxation of the lockdown yet,

on Sunday children under 14 were granted one hour of daily supervised outdoor activity, while adhering to social-dis-tancing guidelines and staying within 1 km of their homes.

But some local authorities complained parents were allowing their kids to flout the rules, and TV footage showed large crowds gathering in parks and on boardwalks across the country.

“Local police have detected numerous instances of non-compliance...We appeal for people to be responsible,” city hall in the southeastern city of Alicante said in a tweet.

In an interview with broad-caster TV3, Catalan regional interior secretary Miquel Buch called for more nuanced regu-lations such as allowing

children of different ages out at different times.

However, the national Interior Ministry in Madrid said that generally Spaniards had stuck to the social-distancing rules and breaches were few. “There was no widespread or major breach of the rules, beyond a few isolated areas where we are going to increase enforcement,” a ministry spokesman said.

On Saturday Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that Spaniards of all ages would be allowed to exercise outdoors from May 2 if the coronavirus toll continues to fall.

He also said his cabinet would approve today a wider plan to lift restrictions and grad-ually restart the country’s stut-tering economy.

Healthcare workers applaud in return as they are cheered outside a hospital in Madrid, yesterday.

Germany should

only carefully

lift virus curbs,

says MinisterREUTERS — BERLIN

Germany’s economy minister urged its 16 federal states yesterday to go slowly in lifting coronavirus restrictions to avoid the outbreak spreading further and possibly force them to reintroduce another round of lockdown measures.

Under Germany’s decen-tralised political system, the states have the power to implement and rescind the social distancing measures on which the federal government is relying to limit the contagion of the virus. Chancellor Angela Merkel is resisting pressure from business groups to ease restrictions more rapidly.

Germany has had around 155,000 diagnosed cases of coronavirus, according to official figures published yes-terday, but only 5,750 deaths, a far lower proportion of fatal-ities than Italy, Spain, France and Britain.

“As a person who believes in fact-based decisions, I rec-ommend to all of us to proceed very carefully in order not to be forced into eventually rescinding easing measures,” Economy Minister Peter Alt-maier, one of Merkel’s closest allies, told Deutschlandfunk radio yesterday.

Helge Braun, Merkel’s chief of staff, wrote in a letter to law-makers of the ruling coalition that Germany should be optimistic.

He added: “In the interest of the entire population, to avoid overburdening the health system in the long-term, it’s too early to lift social distancing.”

The low death rate in Germany, Europe’s largest and most pivotal economy, is attributed in part to it having imposed a strict lockdown earlier than other countries rel-ative to when the first case was detected.

Federal and state govern-ments introduced the first lock-downs during the week beginning March 22, though the details and dates varied from state to state.

The Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases saidye-sterday that confirmed cases of COVID-19, the lung disease caused by the new coronavirus, had risen by 1,018 to 155,193. On Sunday cases increased by 1,737 and on Saturday they rose by 2,055.

As the number of new infections has fallen, many businesses such as smaller stores or car dealerships have been allowed to reopen and some students are returning to schools.

Looking healthy again after a life-threatening bout of the coronavirus, Johnson compared the disease to an invisible street criminal whom Britons were wrestling to the floor.

13TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020 EUROPE

Russia registersmore COVID-19cases than ChinaREUTERS — MOSCOW

Russia overtook China in the number of confirmed corona-virus cases yesterday when its tally climbed above 87,000, as pressure rose on the government to consider easing lockdown restrictions for busi-nesses to help shore up the rattled economy.

Russia, the world’s largest country by territory, has been on lockdown since President Vladimir Putin announced the closure of most public spaces on March 25. These measures are due to expire on April 30 and Putin has not yet said if he plans to extend them.

Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s safety watchdog Ros-potrebnadzor, told state tele-vision yesterday that, in her view, restrictions should be in place until May 12.

Earlier Prime Minister Mikhail Mishushin asked his government to submit pro-posals by Thursday to ease some of the restrictions on

businesses. Many firms have warned that they risk going bankrupt if the lockdown con-tinues, and thousands of jobs have been laid off.

“As soon as situation will be changing for good, we would need to consider a step-by-step cancellation of restrictions on certain companies... opera-tions,” Mishustin told an online government meeting.

Yesterday, the authorities reported 6,198 new cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the total to 87,147, with 794 deaths.

Russia, one of the world’s top oil and gas exporters, is par-ticularly vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus at production sites. Most are located in remote areas

accessible by only air, meaning the workers in close proximity, increasing their risk of infection.

Citing local officials, Interfax said yesterday that an airport in Sabetta in the northern Yamal peninsula had been shut down for quarantine after cases of the new corona-virus were detected at the Yamal LNG production site con-trolled by Novatek.

A total of 143 cases were confirmed in Sabetta, the local crisis response center said

separately.In the northwestern region

of Murmansk where Novatek is building a plant to supply its next LNG project, the Arctic LNG 2, over 800 workers tested pos-itive for coronavirus, the local crisis response centre said on Sunday.

Velesstroy, a sub-contractor for the plant, temporarily sus-pended work at the site near Murmansk but said in a statement that the project will remain on schedule.

To limit the risk of con-tagion at over 1,000 power plants in Russia, including nuclear ones, over 200,000 employees — or nearly a third — were recently tested for the virus, the energy ministry said.

It did not say how many of those tests returned positive.

Mainland China, where the new coronavirus first emerged, reported a total of 82,830 cases yesterday. China is now fighting an increased number of new cases coming from Russia.

Ambulances transporting people suspected of being infected with the coronavirus queue at Saint Petersburg’s Pokrovskaya hospital, in Russia, yesterday.

Russia has been on lockdown since March 25. These measures are due to expire on April 30.

Virus: Five UN Council members agree to hold video-summitAFP — MOSCOW

Russia said yesterday that the permanent members of the UN Security Council have agreed to hold a video conference on the coronavirus pandemic.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that “all the leaders of the other countries of the ‘five’ have supported this initiative.”

The five permanent UN Security Council members (the “P5”), a powerful group that can

stop any resolution, are Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States.

Lavrov said “the ‘five’ is considering now how to make its own contribution to creating ways to fight the coronavirus.” “With this aim, a video con-ference has been agreed in principle. Now it’s being decided on what precise day it could happen,” the diplomat said in an online address.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists a date

had not been set yet. The Security Council has been largely silent since the start of the pandemic, silenced by strong divisions between the permanent members — notably, the United States, China and Russia.

The United States and China have engaged in a war of words over COVID-19’s origins, while Russia and China are not keen to see the Security Council treat the issue as more than a health and economic matter.

Putin discussed holding a video summit during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month, the Kremlin said.

The Russian foreign min-istry said at the time that Lavrov had “agreed to closely coop-erate” on summit preparations with US counterpart Mike Pompeo. Macron and US Pres-ident Donald Trump urged talks between P5 leaders early this month. The Security Council is finally expected this week to

adopt its first resolution on the pandemic, amid calls for inten-s i f i e d i n t e r n a t i o n a l cooperation.

A draft resolution jointly proposed by Tunisia and per-manent member France, calls for “enhanced coordination among all countries,” a “ces-sation of hostilities” and a “humanitarian pause” in coun-tries in conflict.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a global ceasefire last month.

Primary schools reopen in NorwayAFP — OSLO

Norway, which says it has the new coronavirus epidemic under control, reopened primary schools to the youngest students yesterday, in another step toward a gradual normal-isation, though some parents expressed concern.

One week after nursery schools, pupils aged six to 10 started returning to their school desks after six weeks of remote learning from home in the Nordic country.

Classes were however reduced to a maximum of 15 students.

At the Levre school in the residential suburb of Baerum outside Oslo, children streamed back to school in the rain.

Outside the building, flowers painted on the ground marked the social distancing guidelines to be respected, one of several playful reminders of the threat posed by the illness.

Tilde, 7, was bursting with impatience to reconnect with her friends and teachers at 9.00 am. (0700 GMT).

“She was ready at 6 o’clock this morning, three hours early. She was so excited to go back. No alarm clock, we didn’t need that,” her mother Karine Rabbe said.

Signs hung at the entrance welcomed the students back to school.

“Nice to have you back,” they read. One poster featured a rainbow with the text “Eve-rything will be fine” in Norwegian.

But not everyone was at ease with the return to school.

On Facebook, a group called “My child should not be a guinea pig for COVID-19” has garnered almost 30,000 members.

“If it were up to me entirely, I would probably wait a couple of more weeks because I don’t think we have all the infor-mation we need at this point,” Rabbe said.

The school’s principal, Kathrine Wilsher Lohre, took a reassuring approach.

“There is anxiety in society everywhere. That’s why

information is very important,” she said.

“Under the circumstances, it’s as safe as it can be.” Norway has progressively begun lifting restrictions imposed on March 12 to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Hair salons and dermatol-ogists have also been also authorised to resume business.

But many other restrictions remain in place, such as bans on sporting and cultural events, as well as social distancing and hygiene recommendations.

By Sunday, Norway, a country of 5.4 million people, had reported 7,505 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 193 deaths, while the curve of hos-pitalised cases has dropped sig-nificantly in recent weeks.

Austria’s Kurz pledges less tax for workers, more for multinationalsREUTERS — VIENNA

Austria, which has started easing its coronavirus lockdown, will ensure workers pay less tax and press multina-tionals to pay more as it seeks to speed up the revival of its economy, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said yesterday.

His government, a coalition between his conservatives and the left-wing Greens, has already pledged up to ¤38bn in aid — around 10% of last year’s economic output — to keep firms afloat and prevent layoffs in the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on the 75th anni-versary of the founding of Aus-tria’s Second Republic, Kurz said more than ¤14bn had already been paid out and he hinted at additional fiscal measures to come.

“Whether care workers, security forces, supermarket employees or many others - whoever works hard should in future have more in their pocket. That is a question of social justice but also in times like these it is also necessary to stimulate domestic con-sumption,” Kurz said.

Austria acted early in its outbreak to close schools, bars, restaurants, theatres, non-essential shops and other gath-ering places six weeks ago. It has told people to stay at home and work from there if possible.

That has helped reduce the daily increase in infections to less than 1% and keep the number of deaths relatively low at 542 so far, which the gov-ernment says justifies reo-pening parts of the economy step by step.

DIY and garden centres as well as shops of up to 400 square metres — roughly twice the playing area of a singles tennis court — were allowed to reopen on April 14. They are due to be followed by larger shops, hairdressers and other service providers from Friday.

While pledging to pursue plans to cut taxes for those on low and middle incomes, Kurz said he would also press mul-tinationals to pay more tax.

Austria already has a 5% digital tax on large interna-tional firms’ digital advertising revenue, targeting Internet giants like Google and Facebook.

King’s Day celebrations in the Netherlands muted by lockdownREUTERS — AMSTERDAM

Dutch King Willem-Alexander urged all people in the Nether-lands to stay at home yesterday, instead of flocking onto the streets clad in orange as they normally do for the annual cele-bration of King's Day.

“This promises to be a unique King's Day, and mainly because I hope it will be the last King's Day-at-home ever. Try to make the best of it,” the king said in a TV speech broadcast live from his home.

King's Day normally attracts millions of people to festivities in Amsterdam and throughout the Netherlands, highlighted by sprawling street markets and

massive concerts. This year, however, the Dutch are forced to stage their parties at home, as all public events have been can-celled until September 1 in an attempt to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus infections in the country. “Sad, but inevitable,” the king said of the decision to scrap all public festivities for his 53rd birthday.

“I can understand very well that many people had hoped to be able to have more freedom to move by now, but the coro-navirus cannot be told what to do. We have to keep at it, also after today.” As of Sunday, the number of confirmed corona-virus infections in the Nether-lands had risen to 37,845, with

4,475 deaths. King's Day was kicked off by the Royal

Concertgebouw orchestra, which pieced together solo

at-home performances by its members into a special rendition of the national anthem, inviting all people in the Netherlands to join in from their balconies and gardens.

To keep the house parties going, people can tune in to the traditional King's Day music fes-tivals, which have been trans-formed into online versions fea-turing special shows by interna-tional Dutch music stars such as DJs Martin Garrix and Tiesto.

The street markets, in which the Dutch usually try to earn a few euros by cleaning out their attics or showcasing their musical talents, will be replaced by online versions and even a prime time TV show.

Flags hang outside apartments to celebrate King’s Day (Koningsdag) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, yesterday.

US pursuing confrontation in Arctic, says Russian envoy

REUTERS — COPENHAGEN

Russia’s ambassador to Denmark has accused Wash-ington of provoking confron-tation in the Arctic in order to achieve dominance in a region where Moscow has invested heavily.

The accusation came after the United States last week announced $12.1m in eco-nomic aid to Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to strengthen ties and boost the country’s hunt for mineral resources.

“Now, the United States instead of dialogue and coop-eration relies exclusively on the policy of confrontation in the region, hoping thereby to achieve dominance in this part of the world,” Russian envoy Vladimir Barbin told daily Politiken.

Barbin referred to a recent statement by the US ambas-sador to Denmark, Carla Sands, who called Russian activities in the Arctic “aggressive” and a challenge to Western peace ambitions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in May last year crit-icised Russia’s and China’s behaviour, and later President Donald Trump offered to buy Greenland from Denmark.

“There is a sick attitude to large-scale investment projects of other states, as well as the advancement of various conspiracy theories and con-jectures regarding economic activities in the Arctic of other states,” Barbin said.

Greenland is strategically important for the U.S. military and its ballistic missile early-warning system.

Romania to keep

schools, varsities

shut till September

AFP — BUCHAREST

Schools, kindergartens and universities will remain closed in Romania for the rest of the academic year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, President Klaus Iohannis said yesterday, with a re-opening planned for September.

“We gave up on the idea of reopening schools. It would be impossible, for example, for students to respect social distancing rules, so we are trying to avoid major risks,” Iohannis said during a televised speech.

An exception will be made for students in the final year of primary and sec-ondary schools who, for ten days in June, will be allowed to attend classes in order to prepare for final exams.

Over the coming months, instead of going to school students will continue to take part in distance learning programmes.

Education Minister Monica Anisie decided last week that online classes be made compulsory, a measure criticised by students’ associations.

“Hundreds of thousands of students don’t have access to digital instruments and cannot take part in online classes,” the National Council of Students said in a statement, calling the measure “discriminatory”.

Romania is one of the poorest countries in the European Union, with 38 percent of children at risk of social exclusion and poverty, according to Eurostat.

The country has so far reported 11,339 infections of the new coronavirus, and 631 deaths.

Two months after it was brought in, the country’s state of emergency will be lifted on May 15, when restrictions on movement will end, but wearing a face mask will become mandatory on public transport and in other enclosed public spaces.

A view of the Vikasen school, as it reopened after few weeks in Trondheim, Norway, yesterday.

14 TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020AMERICAS

Argentina blocks ticket salesfor flights until SeptemberREUTERS — BUENOS AIRES

Argentina has banned until September ticket sales for commercial flights as part of its coronavirus response, prompting an industry outcry that the new measure will put massive strain on airlines and airports.

While the country’s borders have been closed since March, the new decree goes further in preventing until September 1 the sale and purchase of com-mercial flights to, from or within Argentina.

The spread of coronavirus “does not allow certainties” for the end of social isolation measures, which would threaten commercial air trans-portation, the decree said.

“It has been understood to be reasonable to set September 1, 2020 for the purpose of rescheduling regular operations or requesting authorizations for

non-regular operations of pas-senger air transport subject to the effective lifting of restric-tions imposed on commercial air transport and operating modalities,” the decree by the National Civil Aviation Admin-istration said.

Part of the decree’s aim is to prevent airlines from tick-eting flights not approved by the government.

“The problem was that air-lines were selling tickets without having authorization to travel to Argentine soil,” a spokesman for President Alberto Fernandez said.

The decision prompted industry groups including ALTA, which lobbies on behalf of Latin American airlines, to warn that

the decree represented “imminent and substantial risk” to thousands of jobs in Argentina.

“It is our responsibility to express the deep concern gen-erated by the resolution in question, which was not shared or agreed with the industry and, furthermore, runs counter to the efforts of all the actors in the sector to propose and implement a plan for respon-sible and safe reactivation that re-establishes commercial activities and an essential service for the population,” the groups said in a statement.

T h e p r e s i d e n t i a l spokesman, however, said the decision resulted from a “con-sensus between the government

and the airline sector.” The Sep-tember 1 timeframe was arranged with the airlines “to give time to our authorities to bring all the Argentines who are abroad and want to get back,” the spokesman said.

The South American nation

had already closed its borders and blocked entry to foreigners from “affected zones,” including Europe, China and the United States.

Argentina has been under a national lockdown since March 20. The government, over the

weekend, extended the quar-antine until May 10, but said it had been successful in slowing the rate at which new cases double.

The country has 3,892 con-firmed cases of coronavirus and 192 deaths.

Aerolineas Argentinas’ passenger planes are seen parked on the runway of the Jorge Newbery airport, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, recently.

Mexico empties migrant

centers to contain virusREUTERS — MEXICO CITY

Mexico has almost entirely cleared out government migrant centers over the past five weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, returning most of the occupants to their countries of origin, official data showed on Sunday.

In a statement, the National Migration Institute (INM) said that since March 21, in order to comply with health and safety guidelines, it had been removing migrants from its 65 migrant facilities, which held 3,759 people last month.

In the intervening weeks, Mexico has returned 3,653 migrants to Guatemala, Hon-duras and El Salvador by road and air, with the result that only 106 people remain in the centers, it said.

The institute’s migrant centers and shelters have a total capacity of 8,524 spaces, the INM said.

Victor Clark Alfaro, a migration expert at San Diego State University, said the announcement went hand in hand with the Mexican govern-ment’s readiness to keep migrant numbers in check under pressure from US Pres-ident Donald Trump.

“Today, Mexico’s policy is to contain and deport,” he said.

There are dozens of other shelters run by a variety of

religious and non-governmental organizations throughout the country that continue to harbor migrants.

Among those who remained in the INM centers were migrants awaiting the outcome of asylum requests or judicial hearings, and others who had expressly sought per-mission to stay, a migration official said.

The vast majority of those sent back were migrants detained by authorities because they were in Mexico illegally, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Some no longer wished to stay in centers because of the risk of coronavirus infection, the official added.

Most of the migrants passing through Mexico to reach the US border are from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

More than 80 Guatemalan migrants deported to their homeland from the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Mexico's health ministry on Sunday reported 835 new con-firmed cases of coronavirus infections and 46 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 14,677 cases and 1,351 deaths. The government has said the real number of infected people is significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

Bolivians stranded in Chile return home Bolivian citizens, who were stranded in Chile after the border was closed as a COVID-19 preventive measure, prepare to board buses to travel to the border between Chile and Bolivia to cross to their country and comply with a preventive quarantine at Pisiga town, in Iquique, Chile, yesterday.

Ecuador to ‘color-code’ regions for risk level

AFP — QUITO

Ecuador will gradually ease restrictions after seven weeks of coronavirus lockdown, the president said, with cities colour-coded according to their risk level.

The South American country has recorded over 22,000 COVID-19 infections and almost 600 deaths, according to the US Johns Hopkins tally.

Lenin Moreno confirmed on

Sunday Ecuador’s borders would remain shut, there would be no travel allowed between provinces, and big-crowd events remain banned and schools suspended.

But from May 4, he said regions “depending on their health indicators” would be identified according to traffic-light colors — red, yellow and green — and “this will determine the gradual and careful reopening of some sectors.” Red areas will remain

under shutdown orders, although online delivery services would be expanded.

But yellow and green regions will see transport restrictions partially lifted, curfew hours scaled back, up to 70 percent of employees allowed to return to work, and some shops reopened.

However, Moreno empha-sized: “At the slightest indi-cation of the virus re-emerging, the initial situation of isolation and curfew will return”.

COVID-19 restrictions in HondurasSuyapa Avenue in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is seen almost empty due to precautionary measures taken against the spread of the new coronavirus on Sunday.

Ronaldinho: Arrest, confinement was ‘a very hard blow’AFP — ASUNCION

Former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho said yesterday that his arrest and subsequent house arrest in Paraguay for using a false passport was “a very hard blow”.

“I would never have imagined myself in such a sit-uation,” said the former Bar-celona and Paris Saint-Germain striker in an interview with the Paraguayan newspaper ABC.

Ronaldinho and his brother

Roberto de Assis Moreira are accused of entering Paraguay in possession of false passports.

“I was completely caught off guard when I found out that these passports were not valid,” Ronaldinho said in his first public statement since his arrest two days after arriving in Asuncion at the beginning of March.

After more than a month behind bars, the 2005 Ballon d’Or winner and his brother

paid bail of $1.6m. Since April 7 they have been under house arrest at the Palmaroga Hotel in the historic centre of the Par-aguayan capital.

Ronaldinho said he hopes to be released “as soon as pos-sible” after cooperating with the P a r a g u a y a n p o l i c e investigation.

“We came to participate in the launch of an online casino and the publication of my auto-biography with the company in charge of exploiting the rights

for Paraguay,” he said.He said he was originally

scheduled to be back in Brazil on March 7 for his son’s birthday.

“The first thing I would do once I leave Paraguay is to go and give my mother a hug and then digest what this situation has generated,” said Ronaldinho, who turned 40 on March 21.

Ronaldinho and his brother face up to five years in prison if found guilty.

Cuba evacuates over 2,000 citizens amid outbreakANATOLIA — ANKARA

Cuba has brought back more than 2,000 citizens from 15 countries amid the corona-virus outbreak, the Caribbean nation’s foreign minister said.

“In the midst of a complex international epidemiological situation, more than 2,000 Cubans have returned to the national territory from 15 countries,” Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said on Twitter, thanking the efforts of the Cuban authorities and their counterparts in the countries involved.

Rodriguez emphasized that Cuba’s Consulates “provide timely information to their nationals abroad, keep track of the situation of stranded compatriots in dif-ferent countries and [provide] support as much as possible.”

Cuba has nearly 1,400 cases and 54 fatalities from the, according to the running tally of US-based Johns Hopkins University. More than 500 coronavirus patients have also recovered in the country.

Cuban medical experts have so far travelled to more than 20 countries to provide COVID-19 assistance.

Most Mexicans back Obrador’s handling of pandemic: Poll

REUTERS — MEXICO CITY

A large majority of Mexicans support the work done by Pres-ident Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to contain the coro-navirus outbreak and agree with a decision to extend quar-antine measures until the end of May, an opinion poll showed on Sunday.

The April 17-21 telephone survey of 549 Mexicans con-ducted by pollster Buendia & Laredo showed 73% gave a positive appraisal of Lopez Obrador’s efforts, with only 17% of the opposite view. The remainder gave no assessment.

Fully 82% of respondents said the government had done well in reducing the spread of coronavirus, which as of Sat-urday evening had led to nearly 14,000 confirmed cases of infection and over 1,300 deaths in Mexico.

Deaths have doubled in the past week and Mexico’s gov-ernment on Tuesday said it was entering the most serious phase of the pandemic. Earlier, it extended quarantining until May 30, a decision that some 72% of survey respondents supported.

Mexico’s government has ordered schools and non-essential businesses to close but it has not imposed a strict curfew, unlike some countries in Latin America.

Mexicans were less sure about Lopez Obrador’s eco-nomic management of the crisis, but the balance of opinion was still favorable. Some 62% said the gov-ernment had made good deci-sions to reactivate the economy, with 32% disagreeing.

The government is issuing millions of loans to businesses to help them through the pan-demic, and has gradually stepped up relief measures. Still, their scope is modest compared with some countries.

The decision prompted industry groups to warn that the decree represented “imminent and substantial risk” to thousands of jobs.

El Salvador authorizes use of lethal force against gangsREUTERS — SAN SALVADOR

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on Sunday authorized the use of “lethal force” by police and military against gang members to crack down on heightened violence amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Central American country reported 24 homicides on Friday, the worst one-day toll since Bukele took office in June, prompting him to order a 24-hour lockdown in prisons housing gang members.

By late afternoon on Sunday, police had registered another 29 murders, prompting Bukele to introduce tougher measures against gangs he said were

taking advantage of the fact security forces were busy helping to contain the virus out-break. “The police and armed forces must prioritize safe-guarding their lives, those of their companions and of honest citizens. The use of lethal force is authorized in self-defense or in defense of the lives of Salva-dorans,” Bukele said.

The government this weekend also ordered members of rival gangs into shared cells in a bid to break up lines of com-munication between members of the same group, and carried out searches in at least five prisons. Some 12,862 gang members are incarcerated in El Salvador.

15TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020 AMERICAS

US states ease curbs, plot economic path forwardREUTERS — ATLANTA, US

Georgia started letting residents dine at restaurants and watch movies at theaters yesterday as more US states from Minnesota to Mississippi took steps to ease coronavirus restrictions even though health experts warned it may be too early.

Keen to revive their battered economies, Colorado, Montana and Tennessee were also set to reopen some businesses. Alaska, Oklahoma and South Carolina, along with Georgia, previously took such steps following weeks of mandatory lockdowns that threw millions of Americans out of work.

In the hardest-hit states of New York and New Jersey, part of a metropolitan region of about 32 million people, state gov-ernors signaled that even limited restarting of business activities was at least weeks away.

President Donald Trump and some local officials had criticized Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for orders that enabled restau-rants and theaters to join a list of businesses, such as hair and nail salons, and barber shops, he allowed to reopen last week with social-distancing restrictions. One restaurant chain was imposing seating arrangements in Georgia that kept patrons at least six feet apart, stricter san-itization measures and a requirement that employees wear masks.

Some restaurant owners and managers in Atlanta said they would not reopen on Monday.

“I have a daughter and I want to be around for her,” Steve Pitts, general manager of Manuel’s Tavern, a fixture in the Georgia capital for more than 60 years, said.

Business shutdowns have led to a record 26.5 million Amer-icans filing for unemployment benefits since mid-March with forecasts by the Trump admin-istration that the jobless rate would likely hit 16% or more in April.

Public health authorities warn that increasing human interactions and economic activity may spark a fresh surge of infections just as social-dis-tancing measures appeared to be bringing coronavirus cases under control.

The number of known infections in the United States topped 970,000 and deaths to COVID-19, the highly conta-gious respiratory illness caused by the virus, surpassed 55,000, according to a Reuters tally. ROADMAPS Officials in New

York, New Jersey and Massa-chusetts have for weeks empha-sized that more testing and contact tracing for the virus needed to be in place before they could implement roadmaps for relaxing stay-at-home orders and other restrictions.

Contact tracing involves tracking down and testing people who may have been around anyone already infected.

Federal guidelines issued by Trump called for a state to record 14 days of declining case numbers before moving ahead with a phased-in relaxation of restrictions.

States were also required to implement a rigorous program of testing and contract tracing. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at his daily briefing on Monday that any easing would need to be coordinated and monitored, and fit into an

overall multi-state plan.Cuomo said he would likely

extend the stay-at-home order in many parts of the state on May 15, but he was looking to reopen some businesses, including manufacturing and construction, in parts of the state with fewer cases of the virus. They would need to meet the criteria of the federal health guidelines.

“We have to coordinate as a region,” he said. “So

everybody in that region has to have the same policy... when it comes to testing, when it comes to tracing - and that region’s plan has to fit into our overall multi-state plan.” Hospitali-zation rates remained flat in New York, epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, as deaths declined for a second straight day to 337, Cuomo said, the lowest daily toll since March 30.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said at a news con-ference that hospital discharges again exceeded admissions. He said he would put off announcing details of a plan for one more day, adding: “Public health must precede economic health.” New Jersey’s stay-at-home order, issued on March 21, would remain until there was a 14-day sustained decrease in new cases and other COVID-19 measures, Murphy said. In Colorado, Governor Jared Polis gave the green light for retail curbside pickup to begin on Monday. Hair salons, barber shops and tattoo parlors may open on Friday, with retail stores, restaurants and movie theaters to follow.

In a further step to ramp up supplies to fight the pandemic, Trump planned to meet with American textile industry rep-resentatives on Monday as clothiers seek to shift their pro-duction lines to face masks and other critical items, the White House said.

The number of known infections in the United States topped 970,000 and deaths from COVID-19 surpass 55,000.

The USNS Comfort navy hospital ship is docked at Pier 90 in Manhattan, New York, as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey, yesterday.

White House briefings hit turbulence as Trump attacks ‘enemy’AFP — WASHINGTON

The White House abruptly canceled — and then reinstated — yesterday’s coronavirus media briefing after President Donald Trump, ridiculed for his suggestion to inject patients with disinfectant, railed against “enemy” journalists.

The afternoon press confer-ences — which began as a way to inform Americans about developments in the crisis but eventually took on the com-bative tone of Trump’s cam-paign rallies — have been a daily fixture since March.

On Thursday, a free-wheeling Trump ran into a

public relations disaster when he suggested people could pos-sibly inject disinfectants to fight the virus, prompting a barrage of scorn, alarm and criticism around the world.

The next day, an angry Trump left the briefing without taking questions. Over the weekend, no briefing was held.

And yesterday, the White House first scheduled a briefing, then called it off — and then added it back into the agenda.

Trump’s new press sec-retary, Kayleigh McEnany, said the topic would be “additional testing guidance and other announcements about safely opening up America again.” In

the wake of the turmoil, White House strategic communica-tions director Alyssa Farah chipped in with a light-hearted dig.

“We like to keep reporters on their toes,” she tweeted, adding a winking emoji.

There’s been no such humor coming from the Oval Office — except, possibly, for the sar-castic kind.

Trump has been incensed by unflattering newspaper reports about his work habits and use of the sometimes two-hour briefings to praise himself, while battering rivals.

He tried damage control after his disinfectant comment

by claiming it was sarcasm aimed at journalists during the press conference, although he’d clearly been talking directly to his medical advisors, not the journalists, and there was no sarcasm apparent in his voice.

Over the weekend, he also used the sarcasm defense to explain a bizarre tweet in which he told journalists whom he believes treat him unfairly to give back their “Noble Prizes.”

When the Twitterverse lit up with questions about why Trump was misspelling the Nobel Prize, which is not even awarded to journalists, and whether he really meant the

Pulitzer Prize, the President complained: “Does sarcasm ever work?” Yesterday, Trump kept up an anti-media tweet storm, writing: “FAKE NEWS, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” “There has never been, in the history of our Country, a more vicious or hostile Lamestream Media than there is right now, even in the midst of a National Emergency, the Invisible Enemy!” Trump also wrote.

The Republican incumbent, whose re-election campaign is staggering from the economic shutdown in response to the coronavirus threat, faces huge pressure to demonstrate his leadership.

Pelosi endorses JoeBiden for presidentREUTERS — WASHINGTON

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Joe Biden for pres-ident, joining a list of top Demo-crats to back the former vice-president since he emerged as the party’s presumptive nominee to take on President Donald Trump in the November 3 election.

Pelosi’s endorsement of the Democratic presidential can-didate follows that of US Sen-ators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, former Pres-ident Barack Obama and former Vice President Al Gore, who all threw their weight behind Biden earlier this month.

In a video statement released yesterday, Pelosi cited

Biden’s experience in gov-ernment, including his role in passing the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, as evidence of his leadership qualities. She said Biden is well positioned to lead the country amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

“As we face coronavirus, Joe has been a voice of reason and resilience, with a clear path to lead us out of this crisis,” Pelosi said in her endorsement.

The endorsement comes at an opportune time for Biden, who has struggled to maintain a high profile during the COVID-19 pandemic and sustain the momentum he had built up in his lightning-quick run toward becoming the Dem-ocratic nominee.

The Democrats are eager to project unity heading into the presidential race against Trump for the November 3 general election. In recent weeks, the more moderate Biden has made attempts to win the support of Sanders and Warren’s liberal backers.

US Representative Pramila Jayapal from Washington state, a leading progressive in Con-gress and an ally of Sanders, yesterday endorsed Biden, calling the former vice-pres-ident “a deeply dedicated public servant with the ability to unite the American people.”

A file photo of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Breaktime for metro driver A metro bus driver takes a break outside the New Carrollton Metro Station, which remains mostly empty due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Canada begins staggered lifting of pandemic lockdownAFP — OTTAWA

Canada began a staggered loosening of pandemic restrictions yesterday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged vigilance and baby steps to avoid a COVID-19 resurgence.

The Atlantic coast province of New Brunswick, after seeing no new cases in a week, was first to relax social distancing rules starting with the opening of parks and beaches.

Saskatchewan is set to allow busi-nesses to reopen next week.

And Ontario and Quebec, which recorded the most coronavirus cases, largely at nursing homes, were to unveil their respective schedules this week for the reopening of their economies.

“Different provinces and terri-tories will be able to move at a dif-ferent pace,” Trudeau told a daily

briefing. He stressed the need for a gradual and coordinated approach “to make sure we do this very care-fully, based on absolutely the best sci-entific advice.”

“If we get this wrong, everything we have done, everything we have sacrificed over the past many weeks, could have been in vain,” he warned.

Federal guidelines for reopening of businesses include ramping up testing for the coronavirus and ensuring there is sufficient healthcare capacity “to handle a possible surge” in cases. Each province, however, is responsible for setting its own con-ditions for lifting restrictions.

Trudeau said he has “tremendous confidence” in each province’s plan.

However, he said Canadians should brace for a resurgence of cases in the fall and not expect a return “to normal” anytime soon.

El Paso shooting

victim dies,

death toll 23AP — EL PASO

A man shot in the August 3 attack targeting Latinos in an El Paso Walmart died after months in the hospital, raising the death toll from the attack to 23, according to a hospital official.

“After a nearly nine-month fight, our hearts are heavy as we report Guillermo ‘Memo’ Garcia, our last remaining patient being treated from the El Paso shooting, has passed away,” said Del Sol Medical Center CEO David Shimp.

Garcia and his wife Jessica Coca Garcia were fundraising for their daughter’s soccer team in the Walmart parking lot when the suspected gunman opened fire that Sat-urday morning.

Garcia is survived by his wife, who suffered leg wounds but recovered. A week after the shooting, she rose from her wheelchair to give a speech across the road from the county jail where the sus-pected shooter was being held.

“Racism is something I always wanted to think didn’t exist. Obviously, it does,” she said.

The suspect, 21-year-old Dallas-area man Patrick Crusius, remains in the same jail awaiting trial. State pros-ecutors have charged him with murder and are pursuing the death penalty, and federal prosecutors charged him with hate crimes. Police said they arrested Crusius after he sur-rendered to officers, telling them he was targeting “Mex-icans.” They also attributed to him a four-page racist screed that decried a Hispanic “invasion” of Texas and the U.S., and called for ethnic and racial segregation.

US House panel

to probe Trump’s

suspension

of WHO funds

AFP — WASHINGTON

A US congressional committee yesterday demanded that the State Department produce documents to explain Pres-ident Donald Trump’s decision to slash funds to the World Health Organization amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democratic-led House Foreign Affairs Committee asked the State Department to list all meetings since December in which WHO funding was discussed and to hand over unredacted assess-ments on the decision’s impact in fighting COVID-19.

Representative Eliot Engel, the committee chairman, warned that Congress could force the State Department to turn over documents if it does not do so by May 4 at 5pm.

“To date, the Department of State’s justification for cutting WHO funding has come to the Congress in the form of a one-page talking points ‘fact sheet’ that con-tains few facts, no plan and no explanation of how sus-pending funds for the WHO will save lives here at home or around the world,” Engel said.

While acknowledging mis-takes by the WHO, he called the UN body’s role “inval-uable” and charged that Trump was seeking to deflect from his own failings in con-fronting the virus, which has infected some three million people worldwide.

16 TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2020MORNING BREAK

New antiviral coating canprotect surfaces for 90 daysREUTERS — HONG KONG

Researchers at a Hong Kong university say they have developed an antiviral coating which could provide 90 days of “significant” protection against bacteria and viruses such as the one causing COVID-19.

The coating, called MAP-1, took 10 years to develop and can be sprayed on surfaces that are frequently used by the public, such as elevator buttons and handrails, researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) say.

“These places are frequently touched, and, at the same time, serve as a very effective medium for transmission of dis-eases,” said HKUST Adjunct Professor Joseph Kwan, one of the chief researchers in the team that developed the product.

The coating that forms after spraying has millions

of nano-capsules containing disinfectants, which Kwan says remain effective in killing bac-teria, viruses and spores even after the coating has dried.

Unlike common disinfecting methods such as diluted bleach and alcohol, MAP-1 is further boosted by heat-sensitive pol-ymers that encapsulate and release disinfectants upon human contact, Kwan said.

It is non-toxic and safe for skin and the environment, the researchers say.

Following clinical tests this year at a Hong Kong hospital and a home for the elderly, the coating has been made available for commercial pur-chase by Germagic, a unit of the

university’s industrial partner, Chiaphua Industries Ltd.

The coating was approved for official and mass consumer use in February, and will hit Hong Kong stores next month.

With help from a local charity, the non-toxic coating has already been sprayed around the homes of more than a thousand low-income fam-ilies in the city.

“I feel like it has strengthened our protection against the virus,” said Law Ha-yu, a mother of two who lives in a 110-square-foot sub-divided unit that was recently sprayed with the coating.

The researchers said shopping malls, schools and

sport training facilities in the city have adopted the coating.

Applying the coating at schools costs HK$20,000 ($2,600) to HK$50,000,

depending on the size of the sprayed area. The company also plans to introduce 50ml and 200ml domestic use versions with prices ranging from HK$70

to HK$250.Hong Kong reported no new

coronavirus cases on Sunday, keeping the total at 1,038 infec-tions and four deaths.

A man demonstrates how to spray MAP-1, an antimicrobial coating that a team of university researchers claimed to be effective in killing virus, bacteria and spore, at a bedspace apartment in Hong Kong, recently.

Anxious about public speaking? Talking to Alexa might helpIANS — NEW YORK

Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed a public-speaking tutor on the Amazon Alexa platform which can be helpful for individuals who fear to talk in front of a crowd.

The tutor enables users to engage in cognitive restruc-turing exercise — a psycho-logical technique that helps anxious individuals recognise and modify negative thinking behaviours.

When users deployed the tutor in a recent study, their pre-speech anxiety was relieved, according to the researchers.

“This study represents a sig-nificant shift in our use of smart speakers, from a tool that answers questions to one that acts as a helper or coach,” said study researcher S Shyam Sundar from Penn State Uni-versity in the US.

According to the study lead author Jinping Wang, users’ interactions with Alexa not only helped to ease their speech anxiety, but their feedback suggests that the tutor could be a viable alter-native to person-to-person coaching sessions.

“There is often a concern of being judged by human tutors or human therapists,” said Wang. “If we can use a machine

like Alexa to provide such training to individuals with speech anxiety or social anxiety, we can help them get rid of their concern about being judged by a human.”

In the study, participants were guided to interact with an Amazon Echo smart speaker and were randomly assigned to interact with either a highly social Alexa or one that was less social in its greetings and expressions.

The participants were then encouraged to use what they learned to prepare and present a short speech through a virtual reality application that simu-lated a room with a 20-person audience.

According to the researchers, who released their findings in the Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, participants completed a ques-tionnaire about their experience after their speech.

They found that the high-sociable condition — through which Alexa adopted a more personal conversation style- provided a better user expe-rience by establishing a sense of interpersonal closeness with the user.

“If you think about the usual interactions with Alexa, they’re quite dry and very functional but providing some sort of social cues seems to

result in positive outcomes for users,” said researcher Saeed Abdullah.

“People are not simply anthropomorphising the machine, but are responding to increased sociability by feeling a sense of closeness with the machine, which is associated with lowered speech anxiety,” Sundar said.

The approach has the potential to assist individuals who are anxious about public speaking, from the comfort of their own homes.

Smart speakers could be utilised similarly in future work to explore aiding individuals with other forms of anxiety, the researchers noted.

The coating that forms after spraying has millions of nano-capsules containing disinfectants, which remain effective in killing bacteria, viruses and spores even after the coating has dried: Professor Joseph Kwan

Tailors in London swap costume designing to make medical uniformsREUTERS — LONDON

As Britain faces a shortage of personal protective equipment for health care workers battling the coronavirus outbreak, London’s tailors are putting their cutting and sewing machines to use to fill the void.

The British government has faced repeated criticism from National Health Service staff that doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are facing shortages of masks, gloves and other protective equipment.

In response, a group of more than 50 professional and amateur sewers have formed a group called the South London Scrubbers, which is distributing hundreds of medical uniforms, masks and kit bags to local hospitals.

Ian Costello, 53, usually makes uniforms, which have featured in James Bond and

Batman films and major London theatre productions. But since closing his business because of the national lockdown, the former Savile Row tailor has been making medical clothing.

“The country is in crisis and people need to help out,” he said. “People are banding together and trying to do some-thing. It is a feel-good factor for everyone.”

The sewers range from teenagers to a lady in her nineties. Some are working from their dining tables or living-room floors. There are other volunteers involved in organising the supply chains and delivering the uniforms.

The British Medical Associ-ation warned earlier this month that doctors and nurses treating patients with COVID-19 are putting their lives at risk because of a lack of protective kit for frontline staff.

Britain’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said last week there is enough personal protective equipment nationally, but there are local shortages.

Sarah Trindle is one of the sewers, who normally runs a

clothing and alterations company. She said that it is essential that medical staff are given the best possible uniforms.

“I just felt very passionately that you wouldn’t send a

soldier to the front line without proper equipment,” Trindle said.

“I felt passionately that these scrubs should be made up professionally, finished to the highest standard.”

Sarah Trindle, a professional tailor who is managing a group of 30 other sewers, makes scrubs at her home, in London, yesterday.

Michelle Obama documentary ‘Becoming’ to premiere on Netflix

REUTERS — LOS ANGELES

Michelle Obama’s (pictured) tour to promote her best-selling 2018 memoir “Becoming” has been turned into a documentary film for Netflix.

“Becoming,” a behind-the-scenes look at the former first lady’s 34-city tour, will be released on May 6, Obama and Netflix said in a statement yesterday.

The tour in 2019 and 2020 included public events in large concert stadiums across the United States and in Europe, where Obama held conversa-tions with the audience and the likes of actress Sarah Jessica Parker, Gayle King and Stephen Colbert.

“Those months I spent traveling — meeting and con-necting with people in cities across the globe — drove home

the idea that what we share in common is deep and real and can’t be messed with,” Obama said.

“Becoming,” in which Obama wrote about moth-erhood, politics, and finding her voice, was released in the fall of 2018 and quickly became the bestselling hardcover book of that year. To date, it has sold more than 10 million copies, according to the book's publisher

Penguin Random House.The documentary is part of

a 2018 deal between Netflix and the Higher Ground production company formed by former US President Barack Obama and his wife to produce content for the streaming service.

Their first release, “American Factory” about auto workers laid off in Ohio, won the Oscar for best documentary in February.

Microsoft Word:2 spaces betweensentences an errorIANS — SAN FRANCISCO

Some users may have already noticed that Microsoft Word has started flagging two spaces after a full stop as an error, settling the great space debate once and for all.

First spotted by University of Denver law professor Alan Chen, the change is being rolled out gradually across Microsoft Word.

“The one-spacers have won. The Microsoft Word now showing 2 spaces after a period as an error,” Chen said in a tweet earlier this month.

According to a report in The Verge, Microsoft started testing the update with the Word’s desktop version, but it may take some time before the change is made available for all users of Microsoft Word.

The great space debate originated from the days of the typewriter when characters like “i” and “m,” used to get the same amount of space, giving rise to the need of two spaces after a full stop to make the differences between two sen-tences more apparent.

With Microsoft Word and other similar apps which make fonts proportional, it is not dif-ficult to note the differences between sentences even with single space.

But some people still vouch for two spaces. And two spacers may still stick to their stylistic choice even with the new change that Microsoft has introduced for some Word users.

All one needs to do is right click on the error and ask Word to ignore the cor-rection when it comes up next. Alternatively, they can remove spacing from the list of errors.

FAJR SUNRISE 03.39 am 05.00 am

W A L R U WA I S : 24o↗ 30o W A L K H O R : 23o↗ 33o W D U K H A N : 23o↗ 33o W WA K R A H : 23o↗ 34o W M E S A I E E D 23o↗ 34o W A B U S A M R A 24o↗ 34o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 06:14– 20:38 LOW TIDE 3:03 – 13:48

Relatively hot daytime with some clouds and mild by night.

Minimum Maximum26oC 34oC

ZUHRMAGHRIB

11.31 am06.06 pm

ASR ISHA

03.00 pm07.36 pm

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