SPORT | 12BUSINESS | 01

QNB set tolaunch fresh

five-yearstrategic plan

ACL: Al Sadd, Al Duhail set for opening battles

Monday 10 February 2020

16 Jumada II - 1441

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 24 | Number 8163

Enjoy unlimited local data and callswith the new Qatarna 5G plans

Foreign Minister meets Bosnia and Herzegovina counterpartDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, met yesterday with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, H E Dr Bisera Turkovic, who is currently visiting Doha. They reviewed bilateral cooperation relations, in addition to issues of common concern.

47 hotels to offer NSD health, fitness dealsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Forty-seven hotels will be offering special health and fitness packages to commem-orate Qatar National Sport Day (NSD) 2020. The deals will be available at participating hotels from February 10 to 12.

The promotions are designed to highlight the broad range of sport and wellness facilities that Qatar’s hospitality sector enjoys, while encour-aging residents and visitors to adopt healthy lifestyles.

They include exclusive packages for families and indi-viduals, such as free access to hotel gyms and/or spas, dis-counts of up to 50 percent on gym memberships, and com-plementary fitness classes.

Foodies can also enjoy healthy buffets at special prices, while those seeking a staycation can avail of a ‘bed-and-healthy-breakfast’ combo at attractive rates for the duration of the offer.

Due to the wide variety of offers, QNTC advises residents and visitors to check a detailed listing of the hotel deals, which is available at http://visitqatar.qa/qnsd2020. Prior reserva-tions are required for all hotel offers – those interested should contact the hotel directly to make a booking.

The participating hotels are Al Aziziyah Boutiqe Hotel, AlRayyan Hotel Doha, Curio Collection By Hilton, Alwadi Hotel Doha Mgallary Hotel Col-lection, Centra West Bay

Residences & Suites Doha, Century Hotel Doha, City Centre Rotana Doha, Crowne Plaza Doha- The Business Park, Crowne Plaza Doha West Bay, Doha Palace Residence 2, Dou-bleTree By Hilton Doha - Old Town, Ezdan Hotel West Bay, Ezdan Palace Hotel, Fraser Suites Doha, Gokulam Park Doha, Golden Tulip Doha Hotel, Gulf Horizon Hotel, Hilton Doha The Pearl Residences, Hilton Doha West Bay, Holiday Villa Hotel & Residence Doha, Holiday Inn Doha - The Business Park, JW Marriott Marquis City Center Doha, Liberty Suites, Mandarin Ori-ental Doha, Marsa Malaz Kem-pinski, Millennium Plaza Doha, Movenpick Hotel West Bay Doha, Plaza Inn Doha. �P3

Tomorrow declared holiday for National Sport Day

QNA — DOHA

The Amiri Diwan yesterday announced that on the occasion of Qatar National Sport Day, which is marked annually on the second Tuesday of February, Tuesday 17 Jumada Al-Akhirah 1441 AH corre-sponding to February 11, 2020 will be an official holiday.

Citizens cautioned over travel to SingaporeQNA — SINGAPORE

The Embassy of the State of Qatar in Singapore has advised to all Qatari citizens wishing to travel to the Republic of Singapore to wait until the conditions related to the coro-navirus calms, except for the most urgent need.

The embassy stressed the importance of taking the nec-essary precaution, following the instructions issued by the local authorities through the website of the Singapore Ministry of Health, adhering to the procedures of the government of the Republic of Singapore and avoiding crowded places and malls, in addition to contacting the embassy in cases of emergency on phone number (+6565939900).

Qatari investment in UK reaches £35bn: AmbassadorSIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

Qatari investment in the United Kingdom has reached £35bn. The bilateral trade between Qatar and the UK was around £6.7bn at the end of third quarter of last year, said H E Ajay Sharma (pictured), the Ambassador of the UK to Qatar.

“Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Qatar was £6.7bn at the end of third quarter of 2019. Total UK exports to Qatar amounted to £4.3bn, while total UK imports from Qatar were £2.4bn at the end of third quarter of last year,” Sharma said at a press con-ference held yesterday at his res-idence on the occasion of com-

pletion of his tenure in Qatar.He added that Qatari gas

exports to the UK meet around 15-20 percent of the country’s gas needs, and the UK currently has over 600 companies regis-tered in Qatar.

Giving more details, the Ambassador, pointed out: “Of all UK exports to Qatar in the second quarter of last year, around £2.6bn (63.8 percent) were goods and £1.5bn (36.2 percent) were services, while of the total imports from Qatar, around £2.1bn (91.3 percent) were goods and £199m (8.7 percent) were services.”

The Ambassador also praised the level of relations and cooperation between the two countries, especially what has been achieved during the past

four years, whether on the eco-nomic, political or military level.

He also appreciated the Qatari achievements related to workers’ rights, the abolition of exit permit, the facilitation of

workers in moving to other company, and allowing many nationalities to obtain visas on arrival, which is an important and positive step.

Regarding Qatar’s respond

to GCC crisis, he said: “Qatar has responded extremely well to the crisis to the challenges at all levels. If we look in terms of economy it is really in good shape. Qatar is very active inter-nationally and has strengthened its relationship with many coun-tries in the world.”

Sharma also highlighted three important things regarding Qatar and UK relations saying: “The last four years were extremely positive in UK and Qatar relations. Everyone talks about the history of our rela-tionship whether it is relationship between government to gov-ernment, people to people or ties between the businesses, relations have grown stronger in every field.” �P4

Education Ministry campaign to reduce paper consumptionSANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has launched a nationwide campaign ‘printing rationalisation’ to reduce paper consumption under a theme ‘Less Printing More Sustaina-bility’ in a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Ministry yesterday.

The initiative ‘printing rationalisation’ has been launched following the efforts of the State Cabinet for digital gov-ernment strategy of 2020 which run the initiative ‘paperless gov-ernment’ to reduce the wastage of natural resources, rationali-sation of paper consumption and save the cost.

The paper consumption in Qatar reached over five million sheets in a day which are made of trees. The initiative will help protect the environment by safeguarding the trees throughout its paper rational-isation drive.

Under the initiative, the Ministry will implement a slew of alternative electronic services, rationalisation policies

and run an awareness cam-paign to reduce the con-sumption of paper in all depart-ments of the Ministry and schools.

The details about the initi-ative were given by the officials in the launch ceremony, attended by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Dr Ibrahim Al Nuaimi; Undersecretary for Education Affairs, Fawziya Al Khater and Director of Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), Meshal Al Shamari.

Ministry of Education and Higher Education signed an

MoU with QGBC to implement the ‘printing rationalisation’ ini-tiative which aims at reducing the printing of papers and create awareness in the com-munity about the importance of the rationalisation of paper consumption for the protection of environment.

The MoU was signed by Undersecretary for Education Affairs Fawziya Al Khater and Director of QGBC Meshal Al Shamari in a press conference held on the sidelines of the launch ceremony.

Addressing the event, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation Dr Ibrahim Al Nuaimi said that regarding the global challenges of climate change and environment protection, the Ministry is working hard to protect the environment and the natural resources of the country for the coming generations.

He said that Qatar has recog-nised the importance of the concept of sustainability and the preservation of the environment and natural resources, which led to be a fundamental pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030. �P3

Doha to host international conference on social media freedomTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) is set to host an international conference on ‘Social Media: Challenges and Ways to Promote Freedoms and Protect Activists’ on February 16 and 17.

The conference will be attended by over 300 interna-tional organisations, universities, think-tanks, journalist and trade unions, major specialised com-panies and social networks. It will discuss 40 papers in five sessions and four parallel

working groups over two days.The conference is being

organised by the National Human Rights Committee (QNHRC), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the European Par-liament, and the International Federation of Journalists.

The conference is expected to witness qualitative participation of journalist unions around the world including journalist unions from France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, and from other African and Asian countries.

H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al

Marri, Chairman of National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), said the conference will bring together more than 300 international organisations, uni-versities among other unions and networks. He added that the international conference on “Social Media: Challenges and Ways to Promote Freedoms and Protect Activists” which will be held at the Ritz-Carlton, Doha will discuss over 40 working papers in five interactive ses-sions along four working groups.

Al Marri pointed out that preparations for the conference

are at the final stage, praising cooperation and coordination between the organisers including NHRC, OHCHR, European Par-liament, and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

“We have witnessed great international interests, from international human rights organisations, networks and specialised international agencies as more than 300 international organisations, uni-versities, and think-tanks have confirmed their participation in the conference, along with major specialised companies, social

networks and journalist feder-ations across the world.

He added: “The conference will witness wide participation of prominent personalities from the European Union countries, some of whom will present working papers, such as the rep-resentative of the EU Counter-Terrorism Center, representative of the European Union for Human Rights, as well as the par-ticipation of deputies and com-mittees from the European Par-liament, and a number of special rapporteurs of the United Nations,” Al Marri said. �P4

Under the ‘printing rationalisation’ initiative, the Ministry will implement a slew of alternative electronic services, rationalisation policies and run an awareness campaign to reduce paper consumption.

Amir reviews bilateral ties with German ChancellorQNA — DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held yesterday a conversation via telephone with Chancellor of Germany, H E Dr Angela Merkel.

The call focused on reviewing bilateral rela-tions, and the means to enhance them to serve the mutual interests of the two friendly nations.

They also reviewed the most prominent regional and international issues. The call focused particularly on developments in the region and

discussed the contribution of the two nations and the international community in enhancing security, peace, and stability in the region and the world. The two sides also discussed the latest develop-ments in Libya in light of the outcomes of the Berlin Conference hosted by Germany last month.

For her part, the German chancellor praised the State of Qatar’s mediation efforts between Afghan parties in a bid to achieve a reconcili-ation and build a foundation to settle the political struggle in Afghanistan.

02 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020HOME

03MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 HOME

Culture Ministry says preparations for National Sport Day completeQNA — DOHA

Abdulrahman Muslim Al Dosari, Head of the National Sport Day Committee, said yesterday that the Ministry of Culture and Sports was keen on diversifying the venues all over the country to guarantee the highest rate of participation of all age and society segments.

Speaking at a press con-ference held at the Ministry of Culture and Sports, he announced the completion of all the preparations for the day in all parts of the state, and revealed the events and venues of the National Sports Day 2020.

Al Dossary said that the cel-ebrations this year will be dis-tributed to nine different regions that include all parts of the state, where the activities of the “East” will witness a cel-ebration of 55 parties being ministries, governmental insti-tutions, sports clubs, academies, schools, and more, while the “West” activities feature of about 25 bodies; the North will

see the celebration of about 12 bodies, and the South will see events of about 13 bodies.

He stressed that the Ministry of Culture and Sports has allo-cated 12 venues for women’s activities in the Lusail Circuit Club, the Women’s Sports Com-mittee and some parks, sports halls and schools.

He pointed that the National Sports Day comes within strategy of realizing Qatar National Vision 2030, which focusses on developing people through practicing sports.

Al Dosari said that National Sports Day is a unique initiative, that come to consolidate the concept of the importance of sport in the lives of members of societies, adding that the Sports Day reflects the keen interest of wise leadership in humans. He added that awareness of the importance of playing sports in the Qatari society, whether from Qataris or residents, has been increasing year after year, stressing the importance of uti-lizing the giant sporting facil-ities in the country.

Katara to host first-of-its-kind Gardens FestivalTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Cultural Village Foundation - Katara announced yesterday that it will host the first-ever Al Wasmi Gardens Festival from February 18 to 22 at Katara Hills.

The festival will showcase a number of gardens inspired by different countries around the world set against the lush green backdrop of Katara Hills.

Al Wasmi Gardens Festival will be open to the public from 10am to 10pm every day during the five-day event. Visitors can explore a beautiful array of garden designs, flowers, and plants, including the Qatar Airways French Garden, which has been designed in part-nership with Qatar Airways as sponsor to celebrate the Qatar-France Year of Culture 2020.

At a press conference at Katara Hills yesterday, Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, expressed his pleasure to launch the “Al Wasmi” Katara Gardens Festival, which is the first of its kind in Qatar and the region, noting that Katara seeks to reflect its status as a prom-inent tourist destination in

Qatar and the region, through its continuous endeavour to present innovative events that combine culture, tourism and entertainment.

A range of activities for the whole family are planned as part of the festival, including treasure hunts, food and bev-erage kiosks, floral art and craft workshops, relaxation areas, and live entertainment. In addition to the Qatar Airways French Garden, other gardens include the Tropical Garden, the Japanese Garden, and the Indian Garden, among many more. Qatar Airways Senior Vice-President Marketing and

Corporate Communications, Salam Al Shawa, said: “We are delighted to sponsor Al Wasmi Gardens Festival — a hugely exciting new concept for Qatar. The event is a unique oppor-tunity for visitors and residents to see visually stunning gardens from all around the world in one place at Katara Hills. I am especially excited to unveil the Qatar Airways French Garden, which is inspired by the sophis-tication of the traditional palace gardens of France and the Qatar Airways brand.” Moza Khaled Al Muhannadi, Director of Com-munity Service, Sponsorships and Strategic Media

Department at Ooredoo Qatar, expressed the company’s keenness to participate in sup-porting and sponsoring the fes-tival as the official communi-cation partner. She said that by sponsoring this festival, Ooredoo seeks to contribute to spreading awareness among members of society about the importance of preserving the environment and promoting green spaces, thanks to Katara for their outstanding initiative in hosting the Festival, and for its constant efforts in estab-lishing and organising many recreational and cultural events.

Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, announcing the first-of-its-kind Al Wasmi Gardens Festival during a press conference at Katara Hills, yesterday.

47 hotels to offer NSD health, fitness deals

FROM PAGE 1

Premier Inn Doha Education City, Radisson Blu Hotel, Retaj Al Rayyan Hotel, Safir Doha Hotel, Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel, Souq Al-Wakra Hotel, The Avenue A Murab Hotel, The Curve Hotel, The Pearl Doha, The Ritz-Carlton Doha, The Royal Riviera Hotel, The St.

Regis Doha, The Torch Hotel, The Westin Doha Hotel&Spa, Vichy Celestins Spa Resort- Retaj Salwa, W Doha Hotel and Residences, Warwick Doha Hotel, Wyndham Doha West Bay, Wyndham Grand Regency Doha, and Staybridge Suites Doha Lusail are also partici-pating with special offers on health and fitness packages.

The Director of Qatar Green Building Council, Eng. Meshal Al Shamari, and Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Fawzia Al Khater, during the signing of an MoU at the Ministry, yesterday. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA

Campaign launched to reduce paper consumption

FROM PAGE 1

The Undersecretary for Edu-cation Affairs, Fawziya Al Khater, said that the initiative to ration-alise printing requires the con-certed efforts and the collabo-ration of employees in each sector to implement the policies adopted by the government of Qatar. She said that the Ministry has issued directives to educational institu-tions to rationalise printing papers and use electronic alternative.

“All of our schools and kin-dergartens are characterised by high electronic efficiency in terms of providing modern devices, the Internet and qualified staffs, and there are no material or human

obstacles in applying the elec-tronic system as an alternative to paper printing,” said Al Khater.

The Director of QGBC Meshal Al Shamari said that the role of this initiative is not only limited to reducing paper waste in schools, but also extends to be part of students ’culture to be reflected in their consumption behaviour and environmentally friendly practice in their lives.

He said that the average con-sumption of printing paper in Qatar exceeds five million sheets per day, and this requires cutting more than 500 trees. Head of the e-learning team, Kholoud Al Maliki, said that necessary training has been provided to

school staff for using electronic alternatives means. She said that the Ministry has launched an

award which will go to the most rationalised schools in printing papers in the country.

04 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020HOME

Ministry of Education: Sport Day is culmination of great efforts that place Doha on global sport mapQNA — DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education will cele-brate the National Sport Day tomorrow, through many events that it holds on this occasion, as schools in all stages of boys and girls will have various sports and recreational activities, for students, children, adults and families.

In this context, the Min-istry noted that Qatar schools are considered the base for the sports sector, especially that physical education occupies a special importance in schools as a basic subject within the curriculum, as it helps raise the standard of active and healthy life, and encourages students to par-ticipate and enjoy physical activities. The Ministry pointed to the great support provided by the state to sports, including the prepa-ration of sports halls, various stadiums and curricula that motivate and encourage stu-dents to discover their sports energies, and prepare the dis-tinguished among them for the championship in various games.

The Ministry affirmed that National Sport Day is the cul-mination of great efforts that place Doha on the global sport map, with its sports facilities at a world level, pointing to Qatar’s sporting

successes including the orga-niation of continental and international championships, interest in juniors and cham-pions who have won cham-pionships and medals, and attracting the country through its world-class sports facil-ities, many international celebrities and athletes.

The National Sport Day is an affirmation of the impor-tance of sport in the life of the average citizen, and encour-aging it to live in a healthy and correct manner, as well as its importance in devel-oping and consolidating societal sports culture, and preparing the community for the success of major events in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Ministry called on all segments of society to partic-ipate in its activities and activities, and that this is what Qatar is doing, which makes it an example to be followed in this field, reviewing the many benefits that accrue to the individual and society from practicing sports of all kinds. The Ministry reaf-firmed that National Sport Day is a serious step on the path to achieving Qatar’s national vision, building a conscious and qualified society, with a genuine passion and a healthy body to build the country and achieve its renaissance and development in various fields.

QU signs MoU with RACA to share expertise QNA — DOHA

Qatar University (QU) and the Regulatory Authority for Char-itable Activities (RACA) signed a memorandum of under-standing yesterday, which will see the two institutions work together to exchange academic knowledge and expertise, and co-organise events related to research and analysis, such as workshops, conferences and seminars of mutual interest.

QU President Dr. Hassan Al Derham was on hand to sign the MoU along with General Manager of RACA, Ibrahim Abdullah Al Dehaimi.

The MoU also offers QU stu-dents the opportunity to join summer training programmes in QU’s specialised centres, supported by language centres

and the QU Library, and training for faculty. The MoU also offers employment oppor-tunities for fresh graduates.

Dr. Hassan Al Derham stressed the importance of this MoU in strengthening the ties

between QU and RACA, and commented that QU is always looking forward to cooperating with leading national institu-tions to support students in fields that will benefit them and allow them to service the

country. Ibrahim Abdullah Al Dehaimi stressed the impor-tance of the agreement saying RACA would benefit from the studies carried out by uni-versity professors and researchers.

The President of Qatar University, Dr. Hassan Al Derham, with General Manager of RACA, Ibrahim Abdullah Al Dehaimi, and other officials during the MoU signing.

Ooredoo’s Industrial Metering solution optimises energy and water usageTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ooredoo, the region’s leading enabler of digital business inno-vation, announced the new Industrial Metering solution, which enables organisations to capture the energy and water usage in their organisation and to optimise the consumption, costs, and safety.

Previously, Qatar’s organi-sations faced numerous chal-lenges with their energy and water usage – they wanted to reduce their spending, but did not know which departments or sections were consuming the most water and energy. Hence, they could not pinpoint how to start saving on their con-sumption costs.

For example, organisations with rented facilities or storage space, which were charging their tenants for the energy and water consumption, had to take time-intensive and error-prone manual readings of their sub-meters in facilities in order to collect usage data and charge the related costs to their tenants.

Now, with Ooredoo Indus-trial Metering, Qatar’s organi-sations can automatically

capture energy and water usage data, accessible from their central office. As a result, organisations can gain granular usage reports with breakdown by departments or building sec-tions, and can understand con-sumption patterns. Hence, they can now optimise energy and water consumption and costs based on benchmarking and actionable information.

Organisations with rented space, can automatically get updated readings from their sub-meters within facilities and easily generate cost reports to their tenants. They can even free up resources in avoiding manual readings, and can have more accurate and reliable data.

The captured real-time data can also be used to detect and alert critical events, such as water leakage, critical high consumption, or even power outages in sections. Organisa-tions can therefore lower the risk of severe impacts, and protect their related assets and goods.

Yusuf Abdulla Al Kubaisi, Chief Operating Officer, Ooredoo Qatar: “Our Industrial Metering solution continues to

expand our growing Internet of Things portfolio. This new solution help Qatar’s organisa-tions to better manage their costs, and to improve effi-ciencies and safety, both for their own operations and for their tenants. Industrial Meter-ing’s real-time analytics can allow organisations to transform and optimise their operations and to even enable new services to their clients.”

Ooredoo Industr ial Metering is an end-to-end cloud-based solution to auto-matically capture energy and water usage in facilities, and includes all components cov-ering hardware, mobile Internet of Things connectivity, and applications and services. The application, built on Ooredoo’s innovative IoT Platform, pro-vides a graphical dashboard with real-time analytics, granular reporting with his-torical data for benchmarking and alerts on such critical events. The platform is hosted in Ooredoo’s industry-leading Tier 3-certified Qatar Data Centre, so Qatar’s organisations can rest assured that their data is kept safe in-country under high security standards.

Registration for Qatari Imams' course closes todayQNA — DOHA The Mosques Department of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs has announced that the registration for the 15th training course of the new Qatari Imams will close today.

A number of conditions for enrollment in this course have been set, namely the applicant must be 20 - 45 year old Qatari citizen, in addition to memo-rising three parts of the Holy Quran, and passing a personal interview. The qualification course, prepared and super-vised by the Institute of Dawa and Islamic Sciences, will last for two months, from February 23 to April 21. The course will be held in the Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab Mosque, four days a week after Al Asr prayer to Al Isha prayer.

The course comes within the framework of Awqaf’s plan to prepare new batch of qual-ified Qatari imams.

Qatari investment in UK at £35bn FROM PAGE 1

He said that the cooperation in the field of sports has also increased and the UK wants Qatar to host a successful 2022 FIFA World Cup and “we want to be part of that success”.

“We are sharing our experience in this regard with Qatar. The UK is participating in the infra-structure works and is also working with Qatar in the field of security and on how to manage all people who will come to attend the FIFA World Cup 2022.” “I have to thank Qatar for its hospitality and its people’s friendly attitude.”

Doha to host international conference on social media freedomFROM PAGE 1

He said that the UN Special Rap-porteur on Privacy, the UN Special Rap-porteur on Minorities and the UN Special Rapporteur on Democracy will deliver working papers during the con-ference, in presence of personalities and representatives of the European Security and Cooperation Organization, and UN agencies, international organ-izations, social media organizations and networks.

Dr. Al-Marri further said, “The international conference on “Social Media: Challenges and Ways to Promote Freedoms and Protect Activists” is expected to come out with a number of recommendations and proposals that will be presented by the participants during the closing session.” The Chairman of NHRC said: “We have given great attention to the Gulf, Arab and African participation, and there will be organisations from the Gulf States; including Kuwait and the Sultanate of Oman, alongside Arab and African countries, Eastern Europe and Russia.”

“We also witnessed a remarkable turnout by journalists and the interna-tional media to attend the conference

and cover its activities, as well as a number of think-tanks,” Al Marri noted.

“So far, about 100 media outlets from inside and outside Qatar have confirmed to cover the activities of the international conference, including about 30 media outlets, along with 25 journalists and media outlets from the local media, and 50 social media activists.”

The conference will witness an opening session entitled “Social Media: Challenges and Ways to Support Freedoms and Protection of Human Rights Defenders and the Creator of Professional Content” where Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri, Chairman of NHCR and Vice-President and Secretary General of the GANHRI; Michelle Bachelet from OHCHR; Georgette Gagnon, Director of the Field Opera-tions and Technical Cooperation

Division, OHCHR; and Eimon Gilmore, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights; Yunus Mjahed, Pres-ident of the IFJ; and Carlos Negret Mos-quera, President of the GANHRI.

The conference will also witness six interactive discussion sessions over two days, the first entitled “Creating an ena-bling environment for online civic space: Legal and institutional per-spective”, in which international experts from the UN, the EU and rep-resentatives of media federations will speak.

The second interactive session, which will be chaired by Eva Kaili, Chair of the Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel, from the

European Parliament in Brussels, will be entitled “Responses by social media companies to protect civil space”.

The conference will also witness holding of parallel working groups. On the first day, a working group meeting will be organized on “legislative frame-works regulating freedom of expression and social media”, while the second group will discuss the “human rights implications of blocking access to com-munications social media”.

On the second day of the con-ference, two working groups will be held; first working group on “Trans-parency and accountability in oversight of content in major technology com-panies”, while the second working session will be held to discuss “Can media platforms continue in the presence of social media? Interactive discussion sessions will continue to be held on the second day, with the fifth session on “Defining future activities to expand the scope of civil space in social media”, followed by the closing session that will be chaired by His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee.

DOHA: The State of Qatar voiced its strong condemnation and denun-ciation of the shooting rampage which took place in a shopping centre in Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand, leaving scores killed and injured.In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiter-ated the firm position of the State of Qatar on rejecting violence and ter-rorism, regardless of motives and reasons. The statement expressed the condolences of the State of Qatar to the families of the vic-tims, and to the government and people of Thailand, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. QNA

Qatar strongly condemns shooting incident in Thailand

Qatar,The Netherlands hold talk on human rights

The Chairman of National Human Rights Committee, H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri, met yesterday with the National Rapporteur on Combating Human Trafficking in The Netherlands, Herman Bolhaar. They discussed aspects of cooperation in the areas of human rights in addition to exchanging expertise and experiences in the rights fields.

Dr. Al Marri said: “The international conference is expected to come out with a number of recommendations and proposals that will be presented by the participants during the closing session.”

05MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 HOME

Qatari artist blurs the line between reality and imagination in paintingsRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Pioneering Qatari artist Masoud Rashid Al Bulushi showcases his signature style in 24 paintings on show at the “Unreachable Mirage” exhibition which opened on Saturday at W Doha’s Art 29.

Using oil and acrylic on canvas, Bulushi combines realism and abstraction in depicting portraits of women — one wearing veil and batoola, the other devoid of face cov-ering — arousing interest and sparking conversation among visitors.

Speaking to The Peninsula, the artist said the portraits rep-resent self-dialogue in which a person prefers to keep his thoughts to himself while there are times when he chooses to express his opinion to the public.

The duality of the portraits also arouses curiosity in the

beholder and prompts him to ask questions, thus continuing the dialogue, he added.

An award-winning artist, Bulushi has always had a fasci-nation with the face covering of Arab women, a subject which he has explored in his paintings in the past decades.

Blending traditional and contemporary elements, the

paintings present a unique style which a big number of artists and enthusiasts who attended the launch enjoyed.

“'Unreachable Mirage' truly reflects the concept of art as an international language, bringing people together and overcoming differences. Exhibiting at Art 29 is not just about showcasing my work but has also enabled me to share my thoughts, passions and perceptions of the world. I am really looking forward to taking art lovers through a journey that will bring together the community for the sake of art,” he said.

General Manager of W Doha, Wassim Daaje said, “At W Doha, we are committed to supporting and promoting Qatar’s evolving and dynamic art scene by shedding light on the success of talented home-grown artists. Visitors to ‘Unreachable Mirage’ at Art 29 will captivate the local com-munity as Masoud’s work is a

testament of his boundless passion and artistic instincts. I couldn’t be happier to host such talent at W Doha.”

A member of the Qatar Fine Arts Society and the Souq Waqif Art Center, Bulushi has exhibited both locally and inter-nationally receiving a string of

awards for his exceptional work including the Grand prize at the Youth Exhibition by Qatar Fine Arts Association in 2003 and the Second International Mini Art Exhibition for visual arts by the Ministry of Culture and Sports in Qatar in 2015.

His works had been

displayed in Paris, London, Morocco and Cuba and his solo exhibitions included ‘Behind the Dark’ at Souq Waqif in 2011 and ‘Al That’ at Katara in 2013.

“Unreachable Mirage” is open for public viewing at Art 29 from 10am to 10pm until March 8.

Qatari artist Masoud Al Bulushi with some of his paintings at the opening of his solo exhibition titled ‘Unreachable Mirage’ at Art 29 at W Doha Hotel on Saturday. RIGHT: A visitor views one of the paintings on show. PICS: QASSIM RAHMATULLAH/THE PENINSULA

Croatian Minister of Foreign, European Affairs meets Qatar’s AmbassadorMinister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, H E Gordan Grlic-Radman (left) met with Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Croatia, H E Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, on the occasion of the end of his tenure. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral cooperation and relations between the two countries, ways of supporting and developing them, and issues of common concern.

HMC to promote importance of healthylifestyle during National Sport DayTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) will observe Qatar National Sport Day with a series of events and activities aimed at promoting the importance of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle.

Supporting the Qatar National Vision 2030, each year since the first National Sport Day in 2012, HMC has organised a range of activities to mark the occasion. With a focus on raising awareness of the importance of sport and highlighting the role of physical activity in reducing the prevalence of health conditions associated with a sedentary life-style, such as type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, obesity, coronary heart disease, and depression, each year HMC-organised events aim to encourage patients, their families, and employees to engage in sport.

Ali Abdulla Al Khater (pictured), Chief Communica-tions Officer at HMC, said a number of activities will be held across Hamad’s network of hos-pitals promoting the importance

of physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle. “National Sport Day is a tangible example of Qatar’s commitment to pro-moting the importance of physical activity and sport as essential components of health and well-being. This special day provides staff with an opportunity to meet members of our community and to inspire them to improve their physical fitness and adopt a healthy lifestyle,” said Al Khater.

“We know that physical activity can improve one’s quality of life and prevent illnesses and National Sport Day is an oppor-tunity to demonstrate how little changes can make a big

difference and have a positive impact on one’s health,” added Al Khater.

This year a number of hos-pitals and departments across HMC will contribute to planned celebrations with the Ambulance Service, National Diabetes Centers, Tobacco Cessation Center, and the Blood Donation Unit all holding events. The Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, in col-laboration with the Geriatrics Department and the Kulluna for Health and Safety campaign, will also host activities for patients and members of the public.

The nursing and midwifery teams and staff from the Patient and Family Education Unit at the Women Wellness and Research Center will hold events for pregnant women highlighting the importance of regular exercise during pregnancy.

Several hospitals will also host free health checks, pro-viding members of the public with blood sugar, blood pressure, and body mass index checks at dedicated areas staffed by nurses, dietitians, and other health care professionals.

MoI receives ISO 28000 for industrial securityTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Interior (MoI), repre-sented by the General Directorate of Industrial Security, has received the international accreditation certificate ISO 28000 for quality in supply chain for industrial security.

Director General of Industrial Security Lt. Col. Khalifa Mohammad Al Attiyah affirmed that this certif-icate is an international accredi-tation for the level of security services carried out by the direc-torate in securing oil and gas pro-duction sources in the country, adding that obtaining the ISO 28000 certificate is an important milestone in the way of developing the direc-torate in order to improve the level of securing oil plants, in a manner that achieves and enhances security success in the tasks assigned to it.

After receiving the certificate from First Secretary of the British Embassy in Doha and Director of Trade & Investment, Department for

International Trade, Jinoos Shariati, Lt. Col. Al Attiyah highlighted the stages of the process of obtaining ISO certificate starting from the study and evaluation phase, through preparing for the application process phase, fol-lowed by documentation of the quality system phase, then the stage of the system internal audit, and

finally the phase of external audit.For her part, Jinoos Shariati said

that obtaining an ISO 28000 certi-fication, is a major achievement that places Qatari industrial security at an internationally advanced level, and makes it reliable in terms of securing the sources of oil and gas production at an international level.

Director General of Industrial Security, Lt. Col. Khalifa Mohammad Al Attiyah, receiving ISO 28000 certificate from First Secretary of the British Embassy in Doha and Director of Trade & Investment, Department for International Trade, Jinoos Shariati.

The artist combines realism and abstraction in depicting portraits of women — one wearing veil and batoola, the other devoid of face covering — arousing interest and sparking conversation among visitors.

Student inventors show off roboticskills at Qatar National LibraryTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar’s future engineers and inventors showed off their high-tech robotics projects in the second Student Robotics Exhibition, organised by Qatar National Library in collaboration with the Embassy of the United States of America in Doha.

More than 47 high school students responded to the challenge and put their engineering and programming skills to work ahead of the exhibition, held at the Library on 8 February. Visitors at the event got to see the students’ creativity and complex problem-solving abilities, and learned how they were able to create robots with the char-acteristics to perform a wide range of func-tions. The Library regularly offers robotics, coding and programming workshops and learning sessions as part of its program of events to encourage young learners with an interest in computer science and information technology.

Fahad Ali, a student from Birla Public

School who exhibited his invention at the Library, said: “Science is all about experi-menting and trying new things. Learning science can be easy and fun, and I would encourage other young people to come to the Library to not only improve your exper-iments, but also use your innovations to motivate others to study science.”

Bissan Albdulghani, a grade 8 student from Qatar Academy for Science and Tech-nology, said: “Studying science helps us understand how our world works, and dem-onstrating your experiments to others is a great way to learn. This exhibition was a great chance for me to share my innovations with people with different interests and viewpoints.”

Qatar Academy for Science and Tech-nology (QAST), Qatar Science and Tech-nology Secondary School for Boys, Birla Public School, Philippine School Doha, DPS-Modern Indian School, Philippine Interna-tional School Qatar, and American School of Doha took part in the exhibition.

Qatar Diabetes Association honours 150 volunteersTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Diabetes Association has honoured 150 volunteers for participating in their 2019 health and awareness programmes, including the Al Bawasil Camp, Walkathon for the World Diabetes Day, and Qatar National Day.

Fathi Al Yazidi, a Qatar Dia-betes Association (QDA) vol-unteer since 2010, noted how volunteering made him realise the value of helping others, and its positive impact on his per-sonal growth. “Volunteering was a new experience for me when I first participated ten years ago at the QDA’s Ado-lescent with Diabetes initiative,” he said.

“What motivated me to

continue volunteering with QDA is the feeling I get from supporting children who are diagnosed with diabetes, and getting to help them change their lives for the better by encouraging them to deal with the condition and follow a healthy lifestyle.”

Al Yazidi explained that he enjoys spending many hours volunteering. “I feel proud when I work as a volunteer, and I am always overwhelmed with happiness when I meet parents at the end of each camp or event organized by QDA. We receive positive feedback and honest appreciation by the parents for helping their children.

“My experience in volun-teering has positively affected

my relationships with both my family and co-workers. It helped me to deal with the pres-sures of work, and also

reinforced the concept of teamwork,” he added.

Wadhah Al-Marri, Volunteer Coordinator, QDA, said: “The

volunteering program started in 1996, which was the same time that Qatar Diabetes Association was founded. Since then, QDA’s

work to spread awareness about diabetes has been reliant on vol-unteers. We started with a small number of volunteers and now we have a large database of people from all nationalities and specializations.

“We provide training and awareness programs at QDA to prepare volunteers to partic-ipate in many programs that are in need of their help and support. Through their partici-pation in these training pro-grams, the volunteers gain lead-ership and organizational skills that help them achieve success professionally and personally.

“Furthermore, the noble message that QDA carries helps promote the concept of giving amongst its volunteers,” added Al-Marri.

Qatar Diabetes Association volunteers pose for a group photo.

06 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020HOME

VCUarts Qatar launches Art Therapy programTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) in Education City is launching a new program called, “Foun-dation in Art Therapy.”

The course is the only one of its kind in the region and is designed to appeal to anyone who is considering Art Therapy as a career. It will offer participants an opportunity to learn about the essence of Art Therapy and its implementation with different client groups and populations. The course will take place from March 29 to April 9 at VCUarts Qatar.

The tutors, who are experi-enced local and international art psychotherapists, will be pre-senting clinical work from their own Art Therapy practices. The course will be a combination of theory and practice, and will incorporate an experiential com-

ponent with group discussions.The program instructor is

VCUarts Qatar alumna Sara Powell, the founder of ATIC, a psychological and counselling center. She has an MA special-izing in Art Psychotherapy from LASALLE College of the Arts, Sin-gapore. She is a registered member of the professional asso-ciation for Creative Arts

therapists in Australia, New Zealand and Asia (ANZACATA). Sara has over nine years of clinical experience and has pro-vided art therapy to children, adolescents, adults, families, and has facilitated a variety of groups.

“Foundation in Art Therapy” is a British Association of Art Therapy (BAAT) accredited course.

Compass celebrates its international communityTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Compass International School Doha (Compass) celebrated its d i v e r s e i n t e r n a t i o n a l community of over 77 nation-alities with International Week activities at its Madinat Khalifa and Rayyan Campuses recently.

Every year, Compass stu-dents and their parents take part in a wide range of activ-ities to celebrate the school’s international community at each of its four campuses. During International Week, children honoured their home country by dressing up in national dress and parading around the school with their country’s flag.

Students had the chance to share their home country’s culture and traditions with their classmates and to learn more about countries around the world. Children showcased their learning with special assemblies and cultural per-formances, with parents invited into school to join the celebrations.

The International Breakfast was a highlight of International Week and it was an opportunity for families to share and enjoy food together from around the world.

Compass’ Gharaffa Campus celebrated International Week

last November and looks forward to International Week at Themaid in March.

Paul Holyome, Executive Principal at Compass Interna-tional School Doha said: “As part of Nord Anglia Education’s global network of 66 premium schools, Compass is proud to be part of a truly international school community. Interna-tional Week is a time to bring our school community together to celebrate the diversity in our school and for our children to learn more about the world around them.”

Compass International

School Doha is one of Qatar’s leading schools, providing the very best of British and inter-national curricula for over thirteen years.

Through bespoke global educational experiences, col-laborations with some of the world’s finest institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (MIT) and The Juilliard School, and a personalised approach to learning, Compass delivers excellent academic outcomes for children at all levels at its four campuses conveniently located across Doha.

Students of Compass International School Doha celebrating International Week.

Primavera, upscale Italian restaurant, opens at Al Aziziyah Boutique Hotel THE PENINSULA—DOHA

Italian food lovers found their new favourite spot at Primavera, the newest addition to the uniquely styled Al Aziziyah Boutique Hotel. Guests are in for an outstanding culinary experience, dining in unparalleled elegance.

Primavera is the epitome of Italian upscale dining, with the restaurant’s sleek elegance extending to the menu, serving regional Italian cuisine with a modern twist. With a menu offering traditional as well as signature dishes, featuring staples like gnocchi and cannoli, as well as innovative dishes and pizzas, served directly from the gold-tiled pizza oven, the gourmet desti-nation satisfies the most dis-cerning palate with modern Italian cuisine featuring premium seasonal ingredients sourced from Italy and exe-cuted with precision and finesse. The talented Italian Chef Nikolas di Virgilio is spear-heading the culinary operations of the restaurant.

On February 4, during a beautiful meet and greet evening at Al Aziziyah Boutique Hotel, food enthusiasts, social media

influencers and distinguished guests were brought together at the restaurant’s official opening.

Ambassador of Italy to Qatar, H E Alessandro Prunas who was the Honorary Guest during the inauguration said: “Food is not just entertainment, it’s more than that, it’s culture, so for us Italians, food is a real expression of our basic values, family, togetherness and enjoyment in all its aspects.”

Chef Nikolas di Virgilio said: “You are not our clients, you are our guests, you are in our home and you have to feel like you are in your home.”

Wael Al Sharif, General Manager of the hotel said: “The restaurant has a capacity of 48 covers and an outdoor terrace overlooking Aspire Park and the hotel’s outdoor swimming pool. We are thrilled to open this unique venue and introduce to the foodie audience of Doha, a menu that is innovative and deliciously approachable. Apart from the standard menu, a weekly set menu is introduced, which takes the guests though a dif-ferent culinary journey.”

With its Italian estate-style interiors, the venue has the Romanesque ambience of a mansion from another era. The hand-painted walls and ceiling, depicting nature scenes in a pastel coloured palette, com-plements its stylish interior.

Majestic, crystal chandeliers enhance the abundant natural light from the five windows which are decorated with rich drapes. Elegant, gold-rimmed dinnerware, silver cutlery and fresh red rose bouquets add the final touches to this chic venue.

The Ambassador of Italy to Qatar, H E Alessandro Prunas, with other officials opening the Primavera, upscale Italian restaurant, at Al Aziziyah Boutique Hotel.

Toyota converts drawing of Serah Maria to its replica

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Toyota Motor Corporation made the dream come true for little young girl, Serah Maria Rejeesh as they converted her dream car drawing ‘Toyota Go Green Car’ into reality by devel-oping its replica.

Serah Maria had recently won the ‘Engineering Inspi-ration Award’ in Japan at the 13th Toyota Dream Car Art Contest organised by Toyota Motor Corporation and Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co At a

function held in the Toyota Showroom at Al Abdulghani Tower, the replica car was pre-sented to Serah Maria Rejeesh by R K Murugan, Acting CEO of Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. in the presence of her father Rejeesh and senior man-agement from AAB.

Serah Maria Rejeesh, grade

3 student of DPS Modern Indian School had brought accolades to Qatar by winning the pres-tigious ‘Engineering Inspiration Award’. Serah believes her dream car will make the envi-ronment green and carbon free. Didier Leroy, Executive Vice President, Toyota Motor Cor-poration said that Serah’s

artwork ‘Toyota Go Green’ has given vigorous inspiration to Toyota’s manufacturing spirits.

The passion of making the air cleaner by a future car which is expressed in Sarah’s drawing is Toyota’s goal to achieve. It totally matches with our vision that Toyota has the aim of going beyond zero envi-ronment impact, hoping to achieve a net positive impact. In that sense, this artwork is very inspiring in terms of giving us courage and creativity for further challenge.

Toyota Dream Car Art Contest is a world-wide com-petition conducted as part of Toyota’s social contribution activities where the children under 15 years of age draw their dream car. Toyota Dream Car Art contest in Qatar is one of the popular drawing competition where the children look forward to draw their dream car. Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. will be launching the 14th Toyota Dream Car Art Contest in February.

Serah Maria Rejeesh of Qatar, winner of 'Engineering Inspiration Award' for her 'Toyota Go Green Car', receives the award during the 13th Toyota Dream Car Art Contest Award Ceremony in Toyota, Japan. Mercure Hotel to participate in

NSD with a cricket match Mercure Hotel will participate in the National Sport Day with a cricket match. The staff will also participate with sports activities at the Corniche. Guests will be able to enjoy a Healthy Buffet Lunch at La Brasserie Restaurant at a special price of QR50 net instead of QR95. Children between 4 to 12 years will get 50 percent discount. Guests can also choose the special Sport Day Room Package for a stay in the hotel.

HEC Paris Alumni session to highlight the benefits of the #1 International Executive MBA Program by Financial Times 2019THE PENINSULA — DOHA

HEC Paris, ranked #3 worldwide for Executive Education and #1 for the International Executive MBA (EMBA) by the Financial Times in 2019, held a ‘Meet the Alumni’ session where alumni members got together at the Marriott Marquis in Doha, to share their expe-rience about the International Exec-utive MBA learning journey at HEC Paris in Qatar.

The session was introduced by Dr. Pablo Martin de Holan, Dean of HEC

Paris in Qatar and The EMBA alumni panel consisted of Amr Metwally, Program Portfolio Manager, Hamad Medical Corporation (EMBA 2016); Jen-nifer Yakub, Head of Partnership & Business Development - PUE Qatar Foundation (EMBA 2018); Salman Shaban, Senior Manager, Lucky Star Alloys WLL (EMBA 2019); Nektarios Matthaiou, Contracts Experts, Qatar Railway Company (EMBA 2020); and Saket Chaudhary, Facilities Man-agement, Qatar Foundation (EMBA 2020).

The panellists at ‘Meet the Alumni’ session at the Marriott Marquis sharing their experience about the International Executive MBA learning journey at HEC Paris in Qatar.

An Art Therapy class in progress.

With its Italian estate-style interiors, the venue has the Romanesque ambience of a mansion from another era. The hand-painted walls and ceiling, depicting nature scenes in a pastel colored palette, complements its stylish interior.

Serah Maria Rejeesh, grade 3 student of DPS Modern Indian School, had brought accolades to Qatar by winning the prestigious ‘Engineering Inspiration Award’. Serah believes her dream car will make the environment green and carbon free.

07MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 HOME

The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa announcesseveral activities to mark Sport Day THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa has announced an array of activities to celebrate Qatar National Sport Day. The hotel has unveiled a series of offers which starts from February 10 to promote a healthy lifestyle among residents and visitors.

The offerings include a WEscape page to explore Heavenly Beds which includes Deluxe room and compli-mentary breakfast at Seasonal Tastes and one WestinWorkout class. In addition, visitors will get free access to WestinWorkout Fitness studio from February 10 to 12, and a 50 percent discount on 1 month and 3 months membership.

Also, a Sports Day Healthy Breakfast will be available at the hotel’s signature restaurant Seasonal Tastes, the buffet will consist of healthy, fresh ‘Eat Well’ options for

the whole family for only QR90.Commenting on the initiative,

Ammar Samad, General Manager, of The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa, said: “We attempt to spread wellness among our guests and we are com-mitted to the National Sports Day because we want to be part of the country’s vision for a healthier life-style. It is a great opportunity for us to provide such offerings to keep up the pace of new trends and respond to our guests’ demands.

He added: “We strongly believe that our members will be able to find during National Sports Day 2020 everything they look for in terms of health and beauty and experience wellness with each aspect at its best in an exceptional ambiance.”

HBKU Press launches latest children’s title by local professorsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press), in collaboration with FNAC, launched its latest children’s book, Spring Bloom, co-authored by two professors from Virginia Common-wealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), Sadia Mir and Summer Al Jarrah Bateiha.

Children of all ages enjoyed a cap-tivating book reading by the two authors in the Doha Festival City branch of FNAC on Friday, February 7, 2020. Using their imagination and their math skills, audience members embarked on an adventurous journey through the mangroves of Qatar to help the main characters of the book solve riddles in order to unlock a password that would take a poor lost falcon back to his family.

Mir, an Assistant Professor of English, and Bateiha, an Associate Pro-fessor of Mathematics, were inspired to write this book when they recog-nised a lack of resources regarding children’s math stories set in the region and based on local culture and char-acters. They hope to address a gap in multicultural texts and culturally diverse storytelling. Their main goal with this publication is that local Arab and Qatari students see themselves in the story and therefore identify with the concepts being taught.

“We believe that Spring Bloom will

provide students with the opportunities to engage in more meaningful learning by addressing inclusion, cultural rele-vance and representation,” explained Bateiha.

“Our hope is that Spring Bloom can illustrate how mathematics teachers can use stories to engage students play-fully in the processes of teaching and learning math,” continued Mir.

HBKU Press’s genre of Children’s books includes many narrative stories that can be used as a learning tool for education as storytelling can enhance academic instruction in primary education.

“HBKU Press is committed to giving local talents a platform to tell their unique stories,” explains Rima Ismail, Outreach and Special Projects Manager

of HBKU, “Spring Bloom embodies the standard of excellence that HBKU Press maintains in all of its publications. Spe-cifically, with regards to the Children’s genre, this book is a perfect example of how HBKU Press chooses publica-tions based on the lessons and values that they can teach children to promote knowledge and understanding about their local environment and of educa-tional concepts.”

The event marked one of many

collaborations between HBKU Press and FNAC, both of whom aim to high-light local talents in Qatar while engaging the local population to par-ticipate in literary events in an effort foster a love of reading and writing.

Jointly, the co-authors added: “We are pleased that HBKU Press has sup-ported this project to promote cultural representation both in the region and internationally. As well, we are for-tunate that HBKU Press recognises how

storytelling can be used as a way to teach different topics in a fun and enjoyable way. We also appreciate FNAC store’s commercial support in selling this book and providing a great venue for the launch.”

Spring Bloom is available in the HBKU Press Bookstore (located in the College of Islamic Studies building in Education City), in FNAC stores and in bookstores across Qatar, as well as on Amazon Kindle as an eBook.

Sadia Mir and Summer Al Jarrah Bateiha during the launch of children’s book, Spring Bloom. RIGHT: Books displayed at Doha Festival City branch of FNAC.

The event marked one of many collaborations between HBKU Press and FNAC, both of whom aim to highlight local talents in Qatar while engaging the local population to participate in literary events in an effort foster a love of reading and writing.

WCM-Q Grand Rounds: Pain management discussed at QF member universityTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Protocols and advice on general pain management for patients were discussed at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar’s Grand Rounds by Dr Karunakaran Ramaswamy, attending physician at Sidra Medicine.

D r R a m a s w a m y explained that physicians treating patients who are in pain should follow a sequence that begins with one very simple but effective step.

“Acknowledging some-one’s pain is very important,” he said. “If you are suffering and someone stops what they are doing, comes to you and says, ‘oh, you are in pain, let me help,’ it immediately makes you feel comforted. The effec-tiveness of this simple step should not be underesti-mated. This is all the more important when we con-sider that if you go to any hospital in the world, about 60 to 70 percent of patients there are in pain at any given time.”

Dr Ramaswamy then

discussed other simple but effective measures, such as offering the patient a com-fortable seat, a cold or warm compress and a drink all help a great deal. Once these measures have been implemented, the physician should then determine the severity of the pain and then begin to consider offering analgesic (pain-killing) medications. He then discussed the World Health Organisation’s

analgesic ladder, which explains which types of drugs to use for pain of dif-fering levels of severity.

But simply masking pain is not sufficient, said Dr Ramaswamy. “More important is this: what is the thing that is causing pain? That is what we need to worry about because when we give painkillers, yes, it ’s masking the pain, but that’s not going to cure the

pain,” he explained. “But until we can treat the pain, we must use all the modal-ities available to us to manage the pain.”

Dr Ramaswamy also explained the physiology of pain, the importance of lis-tening carefully to patients’ accounts of their pain, and the effectiveness of multi-disciplinary approaches to pain management involving a variety of different health professionals, such as an acute pain nurse, a physio-therapist, a clinical psy-chologist and a specialist physician. He added: “Treating pain is not just about writing a pre-scription. It’s about treating a patient as a whole, not just addressing one symptom.”

The lecture, titled General Pain Management was accredited locally by the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners-Accreditation Department (QCHP-AD) and interna-tionally by the Accredi-tation Council for Con-tinuing Medical Education (ACCME).

Dr Karunakaran Ramaswamy of Sidra Medicine discussing pain management at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar’s Grand Rounds.

Staybridge Suites Doha Lusail celebrates one year of operationTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Staybridge Suites Doha Lusail cele-brates a grand milestone as it reaches its 1st anniversary this February.

A simple celebration was held on February 5, 2020 from 6 to 7pm at The Kitchen Restaurant during its weekly Social Gathering held every Wednesday.

Residents, guests and colleagues were invited for a delicious dinner and Soha Zahar, General Manager of the hotel, was the featured speaker at the reception.

In line with this, Staybridge Suites Doha Lusail is also hosting a social media contest awarding one lucky winner a one-night stay for two, complete with breakfast buffet at The

Kitchen Restaurant as well as com-plimentary access to the hotel’s gym and pool for the day.

“It has been a pleasure to see Staybridge Suites Doha Lusail grow in our first year. We have achieved a lot in the past 12 months and I am excited to celebrate this wonderful milestone with both our valued guests and dedicated colleagues, which without whom we would never have prospered to what we are today. ” said Zahar.

Staybridge Suites Doha Lusail was established in February 2019 and is the 6th hotel of InterConti-nental Hotels Group in Doha, Qatar as well as the first hotel in the rapidly growing business district of Lusail.

Staybridge Suites Doha Lusail exterior

Ezdan Malls line up myriad of activities to mark NSD 2020THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ezdan Mall Company has announced the organisation of energetic and engaging activities in marking Qatar Sport Day on February 11, to all visitors of Ezdan Malls (Al Gharaffa and Al Wakra) for encouraging a healthy lifestyle. The events will include football, basketball, golf and running activ-ities.

The visitors and participants will

also receive gifts during competi-tions. The celebration agenda aims at raising awareness about sports and building a healthy community which contributes strongly and effectively to development and ful-fillment of the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.

Ezdan Mall is keen to organise seasonal events throughout the year, including national, cultural, and rec-reational ones, with the aim of achieving the utmost levels of

communication with the public and creating a familial atmosphere at the malls.

This approach has resonated suc-cessfully within a short period of time, where the mall is keen to par-ticipate in the celebration of the National Day through cultural events as well as holding summer festivals for shopping and entertainment, and distinct Ramadan activities that include seminars, lectures and reli-gious competitions.

The offerings include a WEscape page to explore Heavenly Beds which includes Deluxe room and complimentary breakfast at Seasonal Tastes and one WestinWorkout class.

Ammar Samad, General Manager, of The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa

The large-scale military offensives were launched as peace talks between the United States and the Taliban gained momentum and both sides sought to use battlefield gains to strengthen their hand at the negotiating table.

08 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

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

EDITORIAL

THE commitment of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) in finishing infrastructure works within stip-ulated time and that too ensuring utmost quality and care deserves huge round of applause. In fact, it is a key factor behind Qatar’s exemplary growth in all aspects.

Ashghal leaves no stone unturned in its mission to ensure better infrastructure facilities for the nation. The finishing of the development works of the roads leading to Al Rayyan Stadium, and the roads sur-rounding Al Bayt Stadium are an ideal example to highlight the commitment of Ashghal.

All roads within the two projects are open to provide a smooth traffic in the area and facilitate access to the two stadiums that will host a number of 2022 World Cup matches.

The fact that Ashghal finished these works before the completion of the works of the stadiums, depicts the loyal service of team Asghal for the development of the nation.

These two stadiums will host major games during the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the finished roadworks will play a strategic role in providing direct link to the stadiums.

The Manager of the Roads Projects Department at Ashghal, Eng. Saoud Al Tamimi, stressed that the completion of road works for Al Bayt and Al Rayyan Stadiums will significantly contribute to improving traffic in the area and reducing congestion during periods of hosting sporting events in the country. He explained that the projects facilitate access to bus and car parks around the two stadiums and connect with many important arterial roads such as Al Khor Road and Al Egda Street, as well as Dukhan Highway and Celebrations Street.

With meticulous planning and sighted moves, Ashghal gives all its projects a novel touch with all user-friendly amenities. Ideal bus and car access points in the parking spaces around the stadium, shared pedestrian and cycle paths of 11km in length and 8.5 metres in width, lighting systems using energy saving LED lights, and afforestation and landscaping in the area surrounding the stadium all give an elegant touch to the project.

Ashghal is also concerned about the protection of environment in every project. Ashghal executes all projects only in line with Qatar’s vision on sustainable development and its move to recycle and use con-struction wastes for developmental projects deserve appreciation.

The services of Ashghal are valuable assets and they will definitely support the nation in accomplishing its future missions.

Delivering with commitment

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OFFICE: TEL: 4455 7741 / 767FAX: +974 4455 7758

MANAGING EDITOR: TEL: 4462 7505

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR: TEL: 4455 7769

LOCAL NEWS SECTION: TEL: 4455 7743

BUSINESS NEWS SECTION: TEL: 4462 7535

SPORT NEWS SECTION: TEL: 4455 7745

ONLINE SECTION: TEL: 4462 7501email: INFO@PEN.COM.QA

PUBLIC RELATIONS: TEL: 4455 7613email: PR@PEN.COM.QA

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT: TEL: 4455 7837 / 780FAX: 4455 7870, email: adv@pen.com.qa

CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT: TEL: 4455 7857email: adv@pen.com.qa

SUBSCRIPTION & DISTRIBUTION: TEL: 4455 7809 / 839 FAX: 44557819, email: info@tawseelqatar.com

D-RING ROAD, POST BOX: 3488, DOHA - QATAR

EMAIL: editor@pen.com.qa

Quote of the day

The plan unveiled in late January represented the umpteenth violation of multiple United Nations and African Union resolutions. It was prepared without international consultation and that it trampled on the

rights of the Palestinian people.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, AU Commission Chairman

A file picture of Afghan National Army officers taking part in a training exercise at the Kabul Military Training Centre in Kabul.

In one of Afghanistan’s most insecure provinces, government forces say they made key terri-torial gains over the past year, retaking three districts that had been contested by Taliban forces for years. But for many civilians in the area, the military victories upended their lives and brought ongoing clashes.

Taliban fighters had con-verted an old fort along the main road in the small village of Say Qala into a checkpoint, for-bidding women from appearing in public unaccompanied and attacking nearby Afghan gov-ernment troops. Despite the restrictions, residents say they found a way to adjust to life under insurgent rule.

Muhammad Nassim, 30, a teacher in the village, said that for months, Taliban fighters allowed his then-pregnant wife to travel with a male guardian to a hospital in government-con-trolled Ghazni for checkups. But when Afghan forces began the push to retake this territory in September, the road became impossible to use.

Farzona went into labor in October just as the operations to retake her village reached their peak. She was forced to deliver at home and died soon after giving birth.

“We couldn’t get to a hos-pital,” Nassim said quietly.

Civilians in Afghanistan are increasingly caught in the middle of the war’s shifting front lines: More than 2,500 were killed and 5,600 injured in the first nine months of 2019, according the latest UN report, making it one of the deadliest years for civilians on record. Ghazni ranked as the fourth most dangerous province for civilians, according to the report.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense says its forces have retaken 10 Taliban-held districts and four Taliban-contested dis-tricts over the past year. The large-scale military offensives were launched as peace talks between the United States and the Taliban gained momentum and both sides sought to use bat-tlefield gains to strengthen their hand at the negotiating table.

The Taliban control or contest nearly half of Afghani-stan’s districts, according to a

January 2019 government watchdog report.

Afghan and US officials have hailed the territorial victories as game-changers that demonstrate their forces’ increased capabil-ities. But local officials and human rights groups caution that the ramped-up military cam-paigns are making life worse for civilians.

The top Afghan army officer in Ghazni province, Lt. Col. Tooryalai Hadi, boasted that control of the retaken districts was key because it also gave his forces control of critical highways that connect Ghazni to the rest of the country. But he acknowledged that the highways still had to be cleared of the Taliban’s roadside bombs each morning.

During a trip into Jaghatu in November to deliver aid sup-plies, a convoy carrying Ghazni’s mayor along with dozens of other military and government officials passed the charred wreckage of a small car ripped apart by a roadside bomb just hours before.

The blast wounded two pas-sengers and killed another. With only one engineering team available to clear the way, it took Afghan troops hours to reach the site and move the wounded to a hospital.

Wahidullah Kaleemzai, Ghazni’s provincial governor, said the recent installation of a surveillance balloon helped Afghan forces track where Taliban fighters were placing explosives, “but the balloon can’t see everywhere,” he said.

“We need more people, right now we don’t have enough troops (to hold the territory),” Kaleemzai said.

Afghan officials on the ground in Ghazni said they will be able to retain the territory because of how their forces are being reorganized - small out-posts are being combined to make larger checkpoints that are easier to defend. One such outpost, Baqawal, just five miles northwest of Ghazni city, was built in September after the sur-rounding area was retaken from the Taliban.

Leaning against a wall of earth-filled mesh barriers known as HESCOs,Afghan troops said they largely spend their time waiting for the Taliban’s nightly attacks.

Maj. Niaz Muhammad Shirzad, a young man stationed beside a guard post smelling of hashish smoke, described his duties as “just waiting for an enemy attack.”

Hadi pointed to a cluster of mud homes interspersed with

trees just a few hundred yards from the base across an open field.

“At night, the Taliban just walk through these villages. Sometimes they lay (roadside bombs),” he said. “Other times they launch attacks on this base.”

Hadi explained that, despite the predictability of the attacks, the Taliban fighters used only small-arms fire and his men could call in for artillery or air support.

Just 10 miles away at Camp Sultan, the main military base in the province, Afghan army Capt. Abdul Hafiz Bakhman said he gets calls for fire support every night. On average, the artillery company commander said, his forces launch 80 artillery shells a week, but some weeks it can be as high as 200.

During a recent visit, Bakhman and his team were firing at Taliban targets in the Shabaz area west of the base. “One hundred meters by 100 meters, they will be destroyed,” he said, between calculating firing data and yelling instruc-tions to his crew.

Bakhman was initially adamant when asked about the imprecision of his weapons.

“There are no people living there,” he said, referring to the small village on his map that he was ordering a strike on. As the clashes wore on, he acknowl-edged that the use of artillery in populated areas risked civilian casualties.

“But there is nothing else we can use to control (the Taliban),” he said. “This is our only option.”

After about an hour, he received a call that the Taliban had stopped firing and that the base had suffered no casualties. He and his men packed away their maps, calculators and ammunition.

“We’ll be back here again tomorrow night,” he said.

The residents of Say Qala village feel “a bit safer” since government forces moved in and heavy clashes with the Taliban have subsided, said Abu Raoof, a 62-year old farmer. Farmers like him can again tend their crops during daylight hours, and children are allowed to play outside. But, he said, gunshots and explosions still ring out along the main road every day after sundown.

“They retook the village,” he said, “but the fighting isn’t finished.”

Susannah George is The Wash-ington Post’s Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau chief.

Dangers for civilians in Afghan-Taliban conflict

/PeninsulaQatar

/ThePeninsulaQatar

/Peninsula_Qatar

/ThePeninsulaNewspaper

+974 6698 6188

www.thepeninsula.qa

Established in 1996

SUSANNAH GEORGE THE WASHINGTON POST

09MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 OPINION

In this obviously messy area, policies will have to be guided by some mixture of the empirical and the theoretical. When a self-driving car makes a choice and kills some children, it won’t be obvious how that decision was made. But people will want to know. And the rules at work had better survive systematic ethical scrutiny.

For weeks after the first reports of a mysterious new virus in Wuhan, millions of people poured out of the central Chinese city, cramming onto buses, trains and planes as the first wave of China’s great Lunar New Year migration broke across the nation. Some carried with them the new virus that has since claimed over 800 lives and sickened more than 37,000 people.

Officials finally began to seal the borders on Jan. 23. But it was too late. Speaking to reporters a few days after the city was put under quar-antine, the mayor estimated that 5 million people had already left.

Where did they go?An Associated Press

analysis of domestic travel patterns using map location data from Chinese tech giant Baidu shows that in the two weeks before Wuhan’s lockdown, nearly 70% of trips out of the central Chinese city were within Hubei province. Baidu has a map app that is similar to Google Maps, which is blocked in China.

Another 14% of the trips went to the neighboring prov-inces of Henan, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi. Nearly 2% slipped down to Guangdong province, the coastal manufacturing powerhouse across from Hong Kong, and the rest fanned out across China. The

cities outside Hubei province that were top destinations for trips from Wuhan between Jan. 10 and Jan. 24 were Chongqing, a municipality next to Hubei province, Beijing and Shanghai.

The travel patterns broadly track with the early spread of the virus. The majority of confirmed cases and deaths have occurred in China, within Hubei province, followed by high numbers of cases in central China, with pockets of infections in Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing as well.

“It’s definitely too late,” said Jin Dong-Yan, a molecular virologist at Hong Kong University’s School of Biomedical Sciences. “Five million out. That’s a big chal-lenge. Many of them may not come back to Wuhan but hang around somewhere else. To control this outbreak, we have to deal with this. On one hand, we need to identify them. On the other hand, we need to address the issue of stigma and discrimination.”

He added that the initial spread of travelers to prov-inces in central China with large pools of migrant workers and relatively weaker health care systems “puts a big burden on the hos-pitals ... of these resource-limited provinces.”

Baidu gathers travel data based on more than 120 billion daily location requests from its map app and other apps that use Baidu’s location services. Only data from users who agree to share their location is recorded and the company says data is masked to protect privacy. Baidu’s publicly available data shows proportional travel, not absolute numbers of recorded

trips, and does not include trips by people who don’t use mobile phones or apps that rely on Baidu’s popular location services.

Public health officials and academics have been using this kind of mapping data for years to track the potential spread of disease.

A group of researchers from Southampton Univer-sity’s WorldPop research group, which studies popu-lation dynamics, used 2013-2015 data from Baidu’s location services and interna-tional flight itineraries to make a predictive global risk map for the likely spread of

the virus from Wuhan.It’s important to under-

stand the population move-ments out of Wuhan before the city’s lock down, said Lai Shengjie, a WorldPop researcher who used to work at China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Maybe they hadn’t developed symptoms but could transmit the virus. We need to look at destinations across China and the world and focus on the main desti-nations and try to prepare for disease control and pre-vention,” he said.

The last trains left Wuhan the morning of Jan. 23, cutting off a surge of outbound travel that had begun three days earlier, Baidu data shows. Nearby cities rushed to impose travel restrictions of their own. From Jan. 23 to Jan. 26, the 15 cities that Baidu data shows received the most travelers from Wuhan - a combined 70% - all imposed some level of travel restrictions.

Other nations soon fol-lowed suit, including the United States, Australia, Sin-gapore, New Zealand and the Philippines, all of which have sharply restricted entry for people coming from China. Others, like Italy and Indo-nesia, have barred flights.

WorldPop researchers found that travel out of Wuhan has historically ramped up in the weeks before Lunar New Year’s Day. Based on historical travel pat-terns, they identified 18 high-risk cities within China that received the most travelers from Wuhan during this period. They then used 2018 flight itineraries from the International Air Transport Association to map the global connectivity of those cities.

They note that travel pat-terns after restrictions started rolling out on Jan. 23 will not match historical norms and that the cities they identified are initial ports of landing; travelers could have subse-quently moved elsewhere.

The top 10 global destina-tions for travelers from high-risk Chinese cities around Lunar New Year, according to their analysis, were Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Australia.

In Africa, Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya topped the list.

The African continent is particularly vulnerable because of the weaker health infrastructure in many coun-tries, and the longer cases go undetected, the more likely they are to spread.

“Capacity is quite weak in many African health services,” Dr. Michel Yao, emergency operations manager for the World Health Organization in

Africa, told the AP. This new virus “could overwhelm health systems we have in Africa.”

The Africa Centers for Disease Control, formed three years ago in response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, said screening has been stepped up at ports of entry across Africa. Egypt began screening passengers from affected areas in China on Jan. 16. Over the next eight days, Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mauritius and Kenya all put screening systems in place. No confirmed cases have been reported.

Lai and his colleagues said they found a “high corre-lation” between the early spread of coronavirus cases and the geographical risk pat-terns they identified.

The first case of the virus outside China was reported on Jan. 13 in Thailand, fol-lowed two days later by Japan, the countries with the highest connectivity risk, according to WorldPop’s analysis. Within 10 days of Wuhan’s quarantine, the virus had spread to more than two dozen countries; nine of the 10 countries with the most flight connections to at-risk mainland cities also had the highest numbers of confirmed cases, mostly afflicting people who had been in China.

The pattern isn’t perfect; Zhejiang province, for example, was not a top desti-nation from Wuhan this year, according to Baidu data, but now has among the highest numbers of confirmed cases.

“Our aim was to help guide some of the surveillance and thinking around the control measures,” said Andrew Tatem, the director of WorldPop, adding that his group plans to update their analysis.

“There was a huge amount of movement out of the Wuhan region before the con-trols came into place,” he said. “Now we’re getting to stage of having data from multiple places on the scale of out-breaks elsewhere.”

Many are now focused on what will happen after the second wave of the Lunar New Year rush as people once again crowd onto trains, buses and planes to head back to work. The Chinese government extended the holiday, which was supposed to end on Jan. 30, to Feb. 2. Shanghai, Beijing and several Chinese provinces ordered busi-nesses to remain shut through Sunday, leaving the nation’s great megalopolises feeling like ghost towns.

“It’s in cities where people interact much more,” Tatem said. “That’s potentially the worry of lots of people coming back in. A few people seeding that could result in a bigger problem.”

Where did they go? Millions left Wuhan before quarantine

Not too long ago, tech enthu-siasts were telling us that by 2020, we’d see self-driving cars hit the mainstream, with some 10 million on the roads. That turned out to be a wild overestimation. The actual number of vehicles in testing is thousands of times smaller, and they’re still driving mostly in controlled conditions. Companies have also scaled back their ambitions, aiming more for driver support than full autonomy, just as sober-minded transport experts told us to expect.

But slower development is probably just as well, as it should help improve vehicle safety and give engineers time to prepare for other threats, such as hackers turning cars into destructive weapons. Slower rollout also gives us a

chance to form some social consensus on the built-in ethics of autonomous vehicles, which will inevitably face decisions with moral implications - being forced to choose, for example, between killing the car’s passengers by hitting a tree or veering into a nearby group of pedestrians.

Programmers will have to prepare cars to make such decisions when certain condi-tions arise, and they will need some justifiable basis to do so. This need is creating a somewhat bizarre research alliance, as professional ethi-cists work alongside experts in artificial intelligence. We have a lot to learn - and many mistakes to make - before we find acceptable solutions.

So far, only one national government has laid out actual guidelines for how autonomous vehicles should make decisions. That nation is Germany, where official guidelines take a strongly egalitarian view: “In the event of unavoidable accident situa-tions, any distinction based on personal features (age, gender, physical or mental

constitution) is strictly pro-hibited. It is also prohibited to offset victims against one another. General pro-gramming to reduce the number of personal injuries may be justifiable.”

This position tries to steer clear of any weighing of one person over another - male versus female, old versus young, skilled surgeon versus well-known local drug dealer. All people, in this view, count equally. This seems natural enough, although such egali-tarian notions could run up against local cultural varia-tions in moral attitudes, as is clear from a large survey of people’s moral intuitions.

A couple of years ago, researchers used a website to collect some 40 million choices involving theoretical self-driving dilemmas from people in 233 regions around the world, spanning many cultures. They found that while people do generally pri-oritize human lives over animal lives, and they would like to save more rather than fewer lives, they also tend to prefer saving the young over

the old. People from countries in Central and South America tended to prioritize the lives of females and the physically fit. In many regions, people also expressed a preference for high-status individuals - valuing an executive over a homeless individual.

Studies of this kind offer a rough guide to real moral preferences and how they vary from place to place, and trying to align with them might be a good starting point for engineers. Even so, surveys can’t be the only guide, either, as pre-vailing moral attitudes change with time. Histori-cally, in many places, explicitly racist or sexist values have held sway, despite widely being viewed as unethical by most people.

A better way to identify reliable rules, some experts argue, would be to combine the survey-based approach with analysis based on pre-vailing ethical theories developed by moral philos-ophers. One might start with public views but then put these through the filter of

ethical theory to see if a rule is, on closer scrutiny, truly defensible. Ethicists refer to views that survive this test as “laundered preferences.” For example, all ethical the-ories would reject prefer-ences for one gender over another, even though the survey found such prefer-ences in some regions. In contrast, preferences to save the largest number of people would survive, as would a preference for the very young over the very old.

In this obviously messy area, policies will have to be guided by some mixture of the empirical and the theoretical. When a self-driving car makes a choice and kills some children, it won’t be obvious how that decision was made. But people will want to know. And the rules at work had better survive systematic ethical scrutiny.

Mark Buchanan, a phys-icist and science writer, is the author of the book “Forecast: What Physics, Meteorology and the Natural Sciences Can Teach Us About Economics.”

How to build a morally ethical self-driving car

ERIKA KINETZ AP

MARK BUCHANAN BLOOMBERG

The top 10 global destinations for travelers from high-risk Chinese cities around Lunar New Year, according to their analysis, were Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Australia. In Africa, Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya topped the list.

The travel patterns broadly track with the early spread of the virus. The majority of confirmed cases and deaths have occurred in China, within Hubei province, followed by high numbers of cases in central China, with pockets of infections in Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing as well.

The streets are empty and the parks are so quiet the only sound is of birds chirping. It’s not just Beijing. Shanghai, China’s financial hub, and other cities in the world’s most populous nation have turned into ghost towns after the government extended a holiday and asked residents not to go out because of the coronavirus.

10 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020GULF / MIDDLE EAST

West Bank: US warns Israel against ‘unilateral’ movesREUTERS — TEL AVIV

A US envoy warned Israel yesterday not to declare sover-eignty over West Bank land without Washington’s consent, pushing back against calls for immediate action by ultra-nationalists within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, unveiled on January 28, envisages Israel keeping key swathes of the occupied ter-ritory where Palestinians seek statehood. But the question of timing has opened up a rare rift between the allies.

Netanyahu initially pledged a speedy “application of Israeli law” — de facto annexation — to Jewish settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley, delighting his religious-rightist base ahead of Israel’s March 2 election, where he hopes to win a fifth term.

But he was forced to back-pedal after the White House made clear it wanted a US-Israeli mapping process — likely to take weeks or more — completed first. The Palestinians, for their part, have rejected the Trump plan as a non-starter.

With Defence Minister Naftali Bennett and other Israeli ultra-nationalists urging an immediate cabinet vote on sov-ereignty in the West Bank, the US ambassador intervened.

“Israel is subject to the com-pletion (of) a mapping process by a joint Israeli-American committee. Any unilateral action in advance of the com-pletion of the committee process endangers the Plan & American recognition,” envoy David Friedman tweeted.

In a separate speech, Friedman elaborated that his message was “a little bit of patience, to go through a process, to do it right, is not something which we think is too much to ask for”.

“With the news out that the (Israeli) cabinet was about to be pushed in a direction that was potentially adverse to our view of the process, we just let people know where we stand,” he told the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) think-tank.

“It was not a threat.”In parallel, Netanyahu

invoked the White House position. “The (US) recognition is the main thing and we don’t want to endanger that,” the premier told his cabinet yesterday.

At the JCPA, Friedman said the mapping process was unlikely to be completed before March 2. But he held out the possibility of implementation even if the election does not produce a clear winner, as was the case twice in the last year.

Asked if Washington first wanted a permanent Israeli government — as opposed to a caretaker government of the kind Netanyahu has headed by default for months - in place, Friedman said: “We have not made that demand.”

Most countries consider Israeli settlements on land cap-tured in the 1967 Middle East war to be a violation of inter-national law. Trump has changed US policy to withdraw such objections and the prospect of Israeli annexations have drawn widespread condemnation.

Palestinians say the settle-ments make a future state unviable. Israel cites security

needs as well as biblical and historical ties to the land on which they are built.

“Any unilateral step is rejected whether it is taken before or after the election,” said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “Facts can’t be created on the ground and they will never become a reality.”

“The only thing we can accept is the Palestinian map on the 1967 borders,” Abu Rdainah added. On Saturday, Netanyahu told an election rally that the mapping process with the Americans was already under way. “We’ve been waiting since 1967 and some people are making a big deal out of a few weeks,” he said, alluding to rightist rivals.

Israel yesterday imposed a ban on Palestinian agricultural exports, in a move the Pales-tinians blasted as a “dangerous” escalation in a five-month trade war. “Starting from today... export abroad of Palestinian agricultural product through the Allenby crossing will not be allowed,” COGAT, the Israel defence ministry unit that oversees civilian activities in the Palestinian territories, said in a statement.

The Israeli-controlled Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank is the only route through which Pales-tinian goods can reach foreign markets.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators taking part in a rally to protest against US President Donald Trump’s proposed Middle East peace plan, in Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday

Malaysia holds conference in support of Jerusalem, PalestiniansANATOLIA — KUALA LUMPUR

International parliamentarians gathered in Malaysia to defend the city of Jerusalem as well as the Palestinians.

On the second and last day of the 3rd Conference of the Inter-parliamentary Jerusalem Platform in Kuala Lumpur yes-terday, the parliamentarians came together to discuss Jeru-salem and the US’ so-called “Deal of Century” Mideast peace plan.

During regional sessions titled “Towards an effective strategy to end the occupation of Israel,” parliamentarians from Turkey, Tajikistan, Kaza-khstan, and Kyrgyzstan spoke on the flashpoint city.

Hasan Turan, chairman of the Turkish parliament’s Turkey-Palestine Friendship Group, said that not just Muslims, but humanity opposes the persecution in Palestine.

“I listened to the speeches

of deputies from Latin America at yesterday’s session. They’re not even Muslims, but they underlined that if needed, they would bear arms” for the cause, added Turan.

Turan also said 128 coun-tries have rejected US President Donald Trump’s so-called peace plan.

Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century,” announced last month, refers to Jerusalem as “Israel’s undivided capital” and recognises Israeli sovereignty over large parts of the West Bank, including illegally built settlements.

Alpay Antmen, a deputy of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said that the entire Turkish nation supports the Pal-estinian cause and that their human rights are being violated in Jerusalem.

Earlier yesterday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also sent a message to the

conference, saying, “We do not recognise the US plan, which means annexation of Palestinian lands, completely destroys Pal-estine, and completely seizes Jerusalem. We never accept this attempt, which accepts a two-state solution on the surface but actually means legitimising the Israeli occupation under the mandate of the American administration.”

Italian parliamentarian Michele Piras, representing Italy at the conference, said: “Jeru-salem is, of course, the capital of Palestine, but it is also the spiritual capital of the world and the capital of peace and dialogue.”

Piras added: “Turkey and Italy can prepare an alternative peace plan for Palestine to counter Trump’s so-called peace plan. For this, we must ensure that Palestinians have their true freedom, that is, not only cultural but also economic independence.”

An image grab shows the launch of the new Raad-500 missile, a short-range ballistic missile by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), yesterday.

Oman confirms no coronavirus casesQNA — MUSCAT

The Ministry of Health in the Sultanate of Oman confirmed that no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus have been registered in the Sultanate.

The Ministry also under-lined the readiness of its health institutions to deal with any case that might come to the Sultanate’s lands by imple-menting plans that were pre-viously laid out at health insti-tutions in governmental and private sectors as well as the land, sea and air borders in cooperation with the relevant authorities.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation of Oman has announced that, as of February 2, 2020, all civil aviation flights to China have been suspended. The Ministry of Health applies the quarantine to those coming from areas endemic with the emerging coronavirus for 14 days from the date of their departure, and they are fol-lowed up daily by a specialized staff to ensure that no disease symptoms appear to them and early dealing with them.

The Ministry renewed its appeal to citizens and resi-dents to cooperate with it by avoiding traveling to China and the affected areas, except in the case of extreme necessity, and to disclose their travel to health authorities at the border points when returning from these areas.

Meanwhile, Spain con-firmed its second case of the new virus in Majorca, a popular vacation island in the Mediterranean Sea.

The National Microbiology Centre in Madrid confirmed, in a statement released today, a second case infected with the Coronavirus, after testing four suspected men on the island of Majorca. The Center said that one person was confirmed to be infected among the four, while the result was negative for the others, pointing out that the four patients were taken under observation.

Iran unveils new, more accurate ballistic missile technologyAP — TEHRAN

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has unveiled a new ballistic missile, the country’s state TV reported yesterday, amid heightened tensions with the US. Iran routinely unveils what it describes as technological advances for its armed forces ahead of the February anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

State television said the missile, called Raad-500, or thunder, had half the weight of a similar ballistic missile, Fateh-110, but had 200km more range. The fourth generation of Fateh-110 has 300km range. The Guard also unveiled a new missile engine that uses solid fuel and a satellite carrier that has “movable nozzle technology.” The technology increases a missile’s accuracy in hitting targets.

The US alleges such activities defy a UN Security Council reso-lution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at a military base in Iraq housing American troops in January, after a US drone strike killed its top general Qassem Soleimani outside Baghdad.

Turkey hints at ‘Plan B’ if Idlib deals violatedAFP — ISTANBUL

Turkey will change track in northwestern Syria if agree-ments over Idlib, a rebel bastion, continue to be violated, the country’s defence minister warned in remarks published yesterday.

Turkey and Russia have brokered a ceasefire for Idlib where Syrian regime forces backed by Russian air strikes have pressed ahead with an offensive to retake the province from rebel groups.

“If the agreement kept being violated, we have Plan B and Plan C,” Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said, in an interview with the Hurriyet daily.

“We on every occasion say ‘do not force us, otherwise our Plan B and Plan C are ready’.”

He did not give details, but referred to Ankara’s military campaigns in Syria since 2016.

As part of a 2018 deal with Russia, Turkey set up 12 obser-vation posts in Idlib and Turkish security sources said this week three of them have now been encircled by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given Damascus until the end of the

month to pull back from the outposts and urged Russia to convince the regime to halt its offensive.

Eight Turks were killed on Monday by regime shelling prompting a response by the Turkish army.

Since Friday, Turkey has shipped large convoys of

vehicles carrying commanos, tanks and howitzers to shore up its military posts in Idlib.

“Our observation posts there will remain in place within the agreement,” Akar said. Turkey keeps on shipping supplies to its outposts in coor-dination with Russian author-ities, he added.

“Despite this, if there is any obstacle, we put it clearly that we will do what’s necessary.”

Idlib has long been a desti-nation for civilians and rebel fighters who were either dis-placed or fled the regime’s offensive elsewhere in Syria. Ankara backs rebels seeking Assad’s ouster.

A Russian delegation on Sat-urday met with Turkish officials for two rounds of talks in Ankara to discuss steps towards peace and push ahead with a political process in Idlib, according to a Turkish diplo-matic source.

Ankara and Moscow have worked closely in recent years to resolve the situation in Idlib despite being on opposing sides of the conflict.

“Our primary goal is to prevent migration and human-itarian tragedy. We are working to establish a ceasefire as soon as possible and stop the bloodshed,” Akar said.

Meanwhile, Syria's military vowed yesterday to keep up its campaign to regain control of the whole country, days after capturing large chunks of ter-ritory from the last rebel holdout in northwestern Syria.

Russia has heavily backed the Syrian government's offensive. The fighting led to the collapse of a fragile cease-fire that was negotiated with Turkey in 2018. The advance of forces supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad into rebel-held areas of Idlib and Aleppo province has also sparked a lar-gescale humanitarian crisis.

Syrians loading their belongings into a truck parked next to a Turkish military vehicle in the village of Qaminas, about 6km southeast of Idlib city, in northwestern Syria, yesterday.

“Israel is subject to the completion (of) a mapping process by a joint Israeli-American committee. Any unilateral action in advance of the completion of the committee process endangers the Plan & American recognition,” envoy David Friedman tweeted.

11MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

African leaders reject Trump’s Mideast planAFP — ADDIS ABABA

African leaders yesterday condemned US President Donald Trump’s Mideast peace plan as illegitimate, taking advantage of an African Union (AU) summit to voice solidarity with “the Palestinian cause”.

AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told assembled heads of state that the plan unveiled in late January represented the “umpteenth violation of multiple United Nations and African Union resolutions”.

He said that it was prepared without international consultation and that it “trampled on the rights of the Palestinian people”, a line that drew applause in the main hall at AU headquarters.

Trump’s long-delayed peace pro-posals were immediately rejected by the Palestinians, who have boycotted his administration over its pro-Israel stance.

The proposals include giving Israel

the green light to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank, the largest part of the territories the Palestinians see as their future state.

South African President Cyril Ram-aphosa, compared Trump’s proposals to regulations in place during his coun-try’s apartheid period.

“As I listened to it and as I read eve-rything that’s written about it, it brought to mind the horrible history that we in South Africa have gone through,” he said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud

Abbas, who regularly attends AU summits, did not travel to Ethiopia this year. Palestinian officials said last week that Abbas was heading to the UN to push for a Security Council resolution condemning Trump’s peace proposals.

The resolution will almost certainly be vetoed by the US.

Abbas was represented by Pales-tinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who reiterated Palestinian leaders’ position that the Trump plan “has no legitimacy whatsoever”.

Demonstrators taking part in a protest against the US President Donald Trump’s Mideast peace plan, in Rabat, Morocco, yesterday.

Thousands rally in Morocco against US planAFP — RABAT

Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of the Moroccan capital yesterday to protest against a new US Middle East peace plan which the Pales-tinians say favours Israel.

Carrying Palestinian flags, the demonstrators, including local politicians and trade unionists, marched in Rabat chanting “Long Live Palestine”.

They called for a boycott of American products, denounced the United States as “enemies of peace” and chanted “Palestine is not for sale”.

Some of the demonstrators, who wore red-black-green-white scarves in the colours of the Palestinian standard, burned an Israeli flag and spoke against any attempt by Morocco “to nor-malise” ties with the Jewish

state. Morocco has warming but quiet relations with Israel, and no formal diplomatic ties.

Israel and Morocco opened “liaison” offices in each other’s countries in the mid-1990s but Rabat closed them after an esca-lation of Palestinian-Israeli vio-lence in 2000.

Elsewhere in North Africa, hundreds of Tunisians also pro-tested against the US peace plan, in the eastern city of Sfax. Tuni-sia’s powerful UGTT labour union, which organised the march, called the proposal an “accord of shame”.

Last month, US President Donald Trump unveiled his Middle East plan for peace between Israel and the Pales-tinians which the Palestinians have rejected as biased in favour of the Jewish state.

Under the plan, Israel would retain control of the disputed

city of Jerusalem as its “undi-vided capital”, and annex set-tlements on Palestinian lands. Palestinians however want all of east Jerusalem to be the capital of any future state.

The plan has also been rejected by the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation — two bodies in which Morocco is a prominent member.

After Trump unveiled the plan, the foreign minister of Morocco, a key US ally, said Rabat “appreciates the con-structive efforts for peace deployed by the US adminis-tration for a durable solution in the Middle East”.

Nasser Bourita went on to reiterate that Morocco’s position is to support the cre-ation of an independent Pal-estinian state with east Jeru-salem as its capital.

Cameroon elections overshadowed by violence, boycottAFP — YAOUNDE

Cameroon voted yesterday in polls over-shadowed by a partial opposition boycott and separatist violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Elections for the central African country’s legislature and local councils are taking place for the first time in seven years, after two postponements.

They are unlikely to ruffle the enduring rule of President Paul Biya, one of the world’s oldest and longest-serving leaders, who has held a tight grip on power for 37 of his 86 years.

As voting began large numbers of police and soldiers were seen deployed on the streets of Buea, the capital of the Southwest Region, one of two provinces gripped by bloody separatist violence.

But polling stations in the city were quiet with no violence reported about four hours after they opened at 8am (0700 GMT). Most of the morning’s voting appeared to have been done by members of the security forces, deployed to keep the peace.

The main opposition party, the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) is refusing to field a single can-didate. The boycott will all but guarantee a crushing victory for the ruling Cam-eroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC in its French initials), which in the outgoing legislature had 148 out of

180 seats. The other large opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), which currently has 18 seats, will take part in Sunday’s vote, going back on a threat to snub it.

In the capital Yaounde, it appeared that enthusiasm for the vote was subdued, with no crowds outside polling stations in the district of Briqueterie.

“People went to mass first, there’ll be more coming in the afternoon,” said

one election official. “I want to do my duty as a citizen,” said Abdias Lah, one of the few voters to cast an early ballot.

Cameroon is struggling with two conflicts. In the two English-speaking regions — the southwest and northwest — the armed forces are battling separa-tists who want to secede from the majority French-speaking country.

The conflict has claimed more than 3,000 lives and caused more than

700,000 people to flee since it began over two years ago, according to tolls compiled by NGOs.

Amnesty International said there has been a “surge in violence” by the Cam-eroon military in the weeks leading up to the vote, resulting in killings and the displacement of thousands in the English-speaking regions.

“In recent weeks, brutal military operations have been conducted while crimes committed by armed separatists continue unabated. Civilians are finding themselves trapped in a spiral of vio-lence,” said Fabien Offner, Amnesty’s Lake Chad Researcher.

The SDF traditionally draws much of its support from the anglophone regions but now fears that it has been outflanked by the radicals -- and says its candidates there have come under attack. Similar worries are being voiced for the safety of polling stations in Cam-eroon’s Far North region, which has been battered by Boko Haram jihadists crossing from Nigeria.

The government on Friday announced that all of Cameroon’s borders would be closed until Monday, and shops and drink outlets had to close on polling day.

MRC leader, Maurice Kamto, spent nine months in jail after his defeat in 2018 presidential elections and is now abroad.

Voters checking the voters' list during the general and municipal elections in Yaounde, Cameroon, yesterday.

AFP — NAIROBI

Kenyans formed long queues yesterday to glimpse the body of the country’s longest-serving leader, Daniel arap Moi, which is on public display ahead of a state funeral service.

Moi, who is respected by many despite a 24-year rule infamous for corruption and the crushing of opposition voices, died on Feb-ruary 4 aged 95. The body of the late president who towered over Kenya between 1978 and 2002 was escorted by military guard through the streets of the capital to the parliament building, drawn on a gun carriage and wrapped in the national flag.

He will be on public view in Nairobi for three days, until a memorial service with full civilian and military honours on Tuesday.

Many queued for hours to pay their respects to a ruler they revered, while others stood in disbelief that the man they had long feared was gone.

Kenyans queue to see body of Moi, country’s longest-serving ruler

Video of Chinese man caning Kenyan worker sparks outrageAP — NAIROBI

Kenya police say four Chinese migrant workers have been arrested following a widely circulated video appearing to show one of them caning a Kenyan worker for arriving late at a restaurant they all work in.

The video has led to outrage by many Kenyans on social media who likened it to the treatment of Kenyans by British colonists or slavery.

Police said three of those arrested yesterday have no valid work permits while one had an expired visitors visa. Authorities said Deng Hailan, the suspect who appeared to be caning the Kenyan, works as a chef at the Chez Wou res-taurant in Nairobi but does not have a valid work permit.

Kenya, as well as other African nations, has seen an increase in Chinese workers and investment. China’s out-reach to African nations aims to build trade, investment and political ties with a continent often seen as overlooked by the US and other Western nations.UN-brokered Libya talks end

with no formal ceasefire dealAP — CAIRO

Libya’s warring sides ended several days of UN-brokered talks without reaching a deal to consolidate a provisional cease-fire in and around the capital, the UN said.

Another round of talks was proposed for later this month “as both sides agreed to the need to continue the negotia-tions,” according to a statement from the UN support mission in Libya. The current cease-fire was brokered by Russia and Turkey on January 12. It marked the first break in fighting in months, but there have been repeated viola-tions from both sides.

Oil-rich Libya is split between rival governments,

each backed by an array of foreign countries apparently jockeying for influence in order to control Libya’s resources.

A UN-supported but weak administration, led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, holds only a shrinking area of western Libya, including the capital Tripoli. It’s been fending off an offensive since last April by forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who is allied with a rival government that controls much of Libya’s east and south, including key oil fields and export terminals. Outside nations continue to break a UN arms embargo on Libya by sending equipment, weapons and even foreign fighters to both sides.

The UN statement said

there was “broad consensus” between the two sides on “the urgency for Libyans to safe-guard the sovereignty and ter-ritorial integrity” and to “stop the flow of non-Libyan fighters and send them out of the country.”

Haftar’s forces are backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia.

The UN statement said there was “widespread con-sensus” between the two sides to continue the fight against UN-identified militant groups, such as the Islamic State, Al Qaeda and Ansar Al Sharia.

The UN proposed a new round of ceasefire talks in Geneva on February 18.

A man selling t-shirts bearing the photo of late Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi, as civilians queue to view his remains, outside Parliament buildings in Nairobi, yesterday.

Sudan asks UN to deploy peacekeeping missionANATOLIA — KHARTOUM

Sudan’s government is requesting that the UN deploy a peacekeeping mission in the country to help during the transitional period, a spokesman for Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok said yesterday.

The mission’s mandate would be under Chapter 6 of the UN charter and would be deployed in the entire country, said a

statement by spokesman Elnazir Alnazir.The mission would contain “political

agents” to push forward the peace process in the country, said the statement, but did not specify whether it would include mil-itary forces or not.

“Sudan’s government has submitted a request to the United Nations asking for a UN Security Council mandate to deploy a peace-building mission under Chapter 6

of the UN charter,” the statement said.It added that the mission should also

help in implementation of the constitutional declaration governing the country’s tran-sitional period until the general elections in 2022.

Sudan’s government is leading negoti-ations with armed groups in the country in various areas, including Darfur, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and eastern Sudan.

Jailed brother of Algeria’s ex-president launches appeal

AFP — BLIDA, ALGERIA

An Algerian military court started hearing an appeal against the 15-year jail term for the brother of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was brought down amid anti-regime protests last year.

Said Bouteflika, 62, had long served as a key presi-dential aide and was seen as the real power behind the presidency after the head of state suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013. Abdelaziz Bouteflika quit office in April last year following weeks of mass protests against his bid for a fifth term running the North African country.

African Union (AU) Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told assembled heads of state that the plan unveiled in late January represented the “umpteenth violation of multiple United Nations and African Union resolutions”.

12 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020ASIA

Soldier kills 29 in Thailand before being shotREUTERS — NAKHON RATCHASIMA

A soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations in and around the northeastern Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima before he was shot dead early yesterday.

Most of the victims were at the city’s Terminal 21 shopping centre, where the shooter held out against an overnight siege with an assault rifle and ammu-nition stolen from his army base.

Police named him as 32-year-old soldier Jakrapanth Thomma. He initially posted written messages on Facebook during the attack before his account was shut down by the company.

“It was a personal conflict...over a house deal,” Prime Min-ister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters yesterday from Nakhon Ratchasima after trav-elling there to meet wounded survivors.

Prayuth added that the con-flict was with a relative of the soldier’s commanding officer.

Thailand’s worst mass shooting prompted soul searching in the southeast Asian country of 69 million, where the army has long styled itself as the protector of the nation and dominated politics for decades either overtly or from behind

the scenes.Prayuth, a former military

ruler, came in for criticism over his handling of the incident after he waved and smiled during a visit to the scene and made a heart gesture with his fingers. The hashtag #RIPPrayuth was trending on Thai social media.

“If you have a heart like kind Thais, you should respect relatives of the deceased with a calm and mournful manner,” commented Jirayu Houngsub, an opposition member of parliament.

At a morgue in Nakhon Ratchasima, the family of 13-year-old Ratchanon Karn-chanamethee sobbed as they identified his body.

“He’s my only son. He hasn’t even had dinner,” said his f a t h e r , N a t t h a w u t Karnchanamethee.

“I allowed him to do

anything he wanted to. I never set expectations for him. I only wanted him to be a good person.”

Led by police and soldiers, hundreds of shoppers fled the mall during the 12-hour standoff. Crouching low, they escaped in small groups, dazed and exhausted. At one point, armed forces emerged at a run carrying small children.

“It was frightening because I could hear the occasional gunshot...we waited a long time for the police to come and help us, many hours,” said Suvanarat Jirattanasakul, 27, her voice trembling.

Another survivor told local Amarin TV that the shooter was “aiming for the heads” and said his colleague died on the scene.

“He was shooting every-where and his shots were very precise,” said the man, iden-tified as “Diaw”.

The province’s governor, Wichien Chantaranochai, yes-terday night said a total of 29 people had been killed and 57 were wounded.

Also known by the historical name Korat, Nakhon Ratch-asima has a population of about 250,000. It is close to a national park popular for its wild ele-phants but the relatively poor northeastern region is one of the less visited areas for Thai-land’s tens of millions of tourists.

CCTV footage from inside the mall posted on social media showed the gunman dressed in black and wearing a mask, his gun slung over his shoulder with no sign of other people around.

According to local media, Jakrapanth worked at an army base close to Nakhon Ratch-asima, which is about 250km from the capital Bangkok.

He was a sharp shooter and took many special courses on

carrying out attacks, including planning ambushes, army sources said. Thai media reported he often posted photos of weapons on social media.

The killings began at around 3pm on Saturday when the soldier opened fire in a house before moving to an army camp and then driving to the mall in a stolen Humvee.

The soldier’s commanding officer was one of the people reported killed before the

soldier moved on to the shopping mall and began shooting. At some point during the day, the soldier raided the army camp’s weapons storage to arm himself, said Lt. General Thanya Kiatsarn, Commander of the Second Area Command.

“He attacked the guard to the weapon arsenal, who later died, and he stole an official jeep and an HK33 gun and an amount of ammunition to do what he did,” Thanya said.

Most of the victims were at the city’s Terminal 21 shopping centre, where the shooter held out against an overnight siege with an assault rifle and ammunition stolen from his army base.

People pray for the victims of a mass shooting in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, yesterday.

Thousands from cruise ship in Hong Kong freed after virus testsAFP — HONG KONG

Thousands of people stranded aboard a cruise ship in Hong Kong for five days were allowed to disembark yesterday after its 1,800 crew tested negative for the deadly new coronavirus.

Health authorities in the Asian financial hub said the crew and a similar number of passengers had been released from a quarantine imposed because of fears some staff could have contracted the deadly virus on a previous voyage and passed it on.

The World Dream carried

three Chinese passengers to Vietnam between January 19 and 24 who were later found to be infected with the SARS-like coronavirus, which has killed more than 800 people in China since it emerged in December.

The government grounded the ship on its arrival in Hong Kong Wednesday while tests were carried out on the crew, but said the passengers need not undergo examination as they had no contact with the three sick holidaymakers on the January trip.

First found in the city of Wuhan in central China last

December, the virus has infected more than 36,000 people on the Chinese mainland and at least 26 in Hong Kong.

The passengers and crew isolated on the vessel had been expecting to stay aboard until tomorrow after Hong Kong authorities said testing would take at least four days.

But chief port health officer Leung Yiu-hong said yesterday “all tests have results this afternoon and are all negative”.

He added that passenger testing was deemed unnec-essary because they were at

relatively low risk. All 3,600 onboard will not be required to self-quarantine after leaving.

As he left the ship, pas-senger Rocky Chan said quar-antine conditions had been “okay”, though his time on board had caused him a few problems.

“My job was somewhat affected due to the time I had to spend here,” he said, but added that a letter he received from the Department of Health should smooth out any issues.

Vice-president of marketing at Dream Cruises, Phoebe Yip Ching-man said the company

arranged for dozens of coaches to take passengers into the city, while free hotel rooms were booked for the more than 100 foreign passport holders on board who needed them.

Hong Kong on Saturday began enforcing a 14-day quar-antine period on all people arriving from mainland China in a fresh bid to curb the spread of the virus. The city’s health minister yesteday morning said 468 people had so far been ordered to stay at home, in hotel rooms or at a government quar-antine camp since the policy took effect.

Coronavirus: 138 under observation in KarnatakaIANS — BENGALURU

The Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Services Department has kept under observation 138 persons across the state in the wake of coro-navirus scare, a health official said on Saturday.

“We are observing 138 people across the state, including in Bengaluru,” the department’s Communicable Diseases Wing Joint Director Prakash Kumar said.

Though no coronavirus-positive case has been reported from Karnataka so far, four persons have been admitted in state hospital under medical observation, Kumar confirmed.

Of the 104 samples sent for testing from the state, 85 have so far been declared negative.

As many as 130 persons across the state were kept under home-isolation observation.

6.2 magnitude earthquake hits Papua New GuineaAFP — SYDNEY

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Papua New Guinea yesterday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake hit just after 4pm local time at a depth of 31km some 122km south of Kokopo, the capital of PNG’s East New Britain province, the USGS said.

Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Trevor Allen said coastal communities near the epicentre would have felt “quite strong ground shaking” as the tremblor was close to the shore.

But, he said, the area was relatively sparsely populated and flexible building design locally helped limit exposure to damage from quakes.

“The East New Britain region is one of the most seis-mically active regions in the world and would generally tend to get an earthquake of this size once or twice a year,” he said..

Indian artistes demand end to violence against womenAP — NEW DELHI

Dozens of artistes and activists gathered in India’s capital yesterday to demand an end to violence against women in a country where such crimes are rising despite tough laws enacted seven years ago.

Dozens of artistes per-formed a play in a park in central Delhi at the event in solidarity with the global One Billion Rising movement.

Traditional drummers and musicians played tunes to the cheers of the crowd to focus attention on abuse in India.

“Men, women and children who love and respect women should rise and say no more violence, enough is enough,”

said Kamla Bhasin, South Asia coordinator for One Billion Rising.

Violent crimes against women have been rising in India despite tough laws enacted in 2013.

The crimes are so common that they are generally given only a few lines in the coun-try’s leading newspapers.

In 2012, the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a bus in New Delhi prompted hun-dreds of thousands of Indians to take to the streets to demand stricter laws against rape.

The outrage over the attack spurred quick action on legislation doubling prison terms for rapists to 20 years

and criminalizing voyeurism, stalking and the trafficking of women.

Indian lawmakers also voted to lower the age at which a person can be tried as an adult for heinous crimes to 16 from 18.

Even if cases of rape or retaliatory killings become big news, they often have little effect on how the country’s overburdened court system works for most people.

“We all need to stand up because it could be anybody,” said Bulbul Dhar- James, a political science professor at Sunday’s event.

“It could be me next. We need to understand that,” she said.

People taking part in a rally in support of the military in Yangon, Myanmar, yesterday.

Protest rally in Myanmar

Duterte seeks military pact exit as US touts ‘strong’ ties BLOOMBERG — MANILA

President Rodrigo Duterte plans to order the termination of a longstanding military pact with the US, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported, though the US State Department reiterated that relations between the nations remain strong.

The Inquirer report, citing presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo, follows Duterte’s threat in January to end the agreement after Washington cancelled a visa for a senator who used to lead his drug war.

Such a move could upend the decades-long alliance as Beijing continues its rise as a mil-itary power from the contested waters of the South China Sea to nations across Asia. The threat hasn’t been officially confirmed by the government. The US has been seeking to reassure allies in Southeast Asia of its com-mitment to the region.

A State Department official said in an emailed statement on Saturday that the US-Philippine alliance remains a cornerstone of US efforts to promote a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific region, citing comments by Sec-retary Michael Pompeo and Pen-tagon chief Mark Esper on their visits to Manila last year.

The US alliance with the Philippines is its oldest in the region and remains as important as ever, the official said, without directly addressing the Inquirer report.

Duterte “has made threats in the past to scale down Manila’s security relations with Wash-ington, and he’s never followed through,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Programme at Washington-based Wilson Centre.

“The reality is that the

Philippines may seek China’s economic largess, but there’s no substitute for the US defence umbrella.”

Since becoming president in 2016, Duterte has repeatedly threatened to “break up” the Southeast Asian nation’s alliance with the US, while warming ties with China. He previously warned of cancelling military agreement with the US due to deferred aid.

Manila’s Foreign Affairs Sec-retary Teodoro Locsin will be instructed to officially inform the US government that the Southeast Asian nation will ter-minate the Visiting Forces Agreement, Panelo was quoted as saying by the Daily Inquirer. The pact sets the terms for U.S. military personnel operating in the Philippines. Yet, Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Saturday that there are no official orders so far to Cabinet officials to notify the US on ending the military agreement. Panelo didn’t reply to requests for comments.

Locsin told a Senate hearing on Thursday that terminating the pact will “negatively impact” defence and economic ties between the two nations.

Esper said in November that the US remains committed to the treaty that binds it to aid the Phil-ippines in case of an armed attack, adding that the pact applies to the South China Sea.

He said at a media briefing that American forces are con-ducting more patrols to signal to China that it intends to maintain freedom in a crucial area for global trade.

Pompeo said last year that the mutual defense treaty with the Philippines would apply if its vessels or planes were attacked in the South China Sea.

13MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 ASIA

Afghan soldier kills two US troops in Nangarhar attackAFP — KABUL Two American troops were killed and six others wounded by an Afghan soldier armed with a machine gun, the US military confirmed yesterday.

The deaths come at a sen-sitive time in the 18-year-old war, with President Donald Trump eager to bring troops home and end the longest con-flict in US history.

The incident occurred late Saturday at a base in Sherzad district, in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan.

“Current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined US and Afghan force with a machine gun,” US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Sonny Leggett said in a statement yesterday.

The defence ministry said one Afghan soldier was killed and three local security forces injured during the shooting, and added that an investigation had been launched while vowing to continue fighting “terrorism” with the US.

“Incidents such as this fail to have negative effects on the

friendship and spirit of cooper-ation and between the ANDSF and USmilitary forces,” the min-istry said in a statement.

Provincial governor Shah Mahmood Meyakhil had earlier said it was not immediately clear if the incident was a deliberate act by an “infiltrator” or an accident.

“It was not a clash between the forces. We are investigating,” Meyakhil said.

Leggett also stressed the cause or motive behind the

attack were not immediately known. In a tweet, the US Army’s 7th Special Forces Group (Air-borne) said “several” of its sol-diers had been killed or injured during combat operations in Afghanistan.

According to Sherzad res-ident Najeebullah — who goes by one name — gunfire could be heard coming from an Afghan security forces base nearby late Saturday followed by immediate air evacuations.

“We heard the sounds of gunfire and immediately heli-copters landed inside the base and evacuated the casualties,” added Najeebullah.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the incident. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid later declined to comment on the incident, saying the insurgents were “investigating” the attack.

Last year was the deadliest for US forces in Afghanistan since combat operations offi-cially finished at the end of 2014, highlighting the challenging security situation that persists.

Depending on how one qual-ifies combat deaths, about 20

American troops were killed in 2019. Since the US-led invasion in October 2001, about 2,400 US troops have been killed in combat in Afghanistan. In December, Taliban infiltrators in the Afghan military killed nine Afghan soldiers in central Afghanistan.

In July, an Afghan soldier killed two US troops as they were visiting an Afghan army

base in Kandahar. Such insider attacks are sometimes called “green-on-blue” incidents.

That came two weeks after another Afghan soldier shot and killed an influential Afghan army colonel while he was conducting a security assessment in Ghazni province.

US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been negotiating with the Taliban for about 18

months for a deal that would see the Pentagon pull thousands of troops from Afghanistan.

In return, the Taliban would guarantee the country is not used as a militant safe haven.

Many are sceptical of the proposed deal and Trump himself declared talks “dead” in September amid continued Taliban violence. Negotiations have since resumed in Qatar.

An Afghan security force member stands guard near the scene of an incident where two US soldiers were killed a day before in Sherzad district of Nangarhar province, in Afghanistan, yesterday.

Pakistan rescues Canadian, Finnish climbers by helicopterAP — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s military launched a helicopter evacuation of a Canadian and a Finnish mountain climber who were stranded on a peak in the coun-try’s north, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan.

The two climbers — Donald Allen Bowie of Canada and Lotta Henriikka Nakyva of Finland — were evacuated due to severe

altitude sickness, according to Alpine Club secretary Karrar Haidri. Altitude sickness is char-acterized by headache, nausea, dizziness and exhaustion.

An initial statement from Pakistan’s military listed Bowie as American, but the Alpine Club confirmed he’s originally from Alberta, Canada.

The two climbers were part of an international winter expe-dition to the 26,000-foot Broad

Peak, the world’s 12th highest mountain. The team was led by Russian-Polish climber Denis Urubko.

Nkyava described the ordeal in a post on social media, saying,

“We got caught in a storm. My right hand was going numb, along with my toes. I was frozen to my core. We kept on climbing until somewhere around 6600m when Don made the decision to set camp.”

“Long story short, we stayed there for 2 nights, all digits alive, we ran out of food, low on gas (dehydration), took a beating from some winds when coming down but eventually got down to basecamp,” she said.

A photo released by Paki-stan’s military showed the climbers apparently in good spirits, smiling and sitting in a helicopter.

Broad Peak is located in the

Karakoram range on the border of Pakistan, India and China. The Karakoram range is among a complex of ranges including the Himalayas. Broad Peak is located around 10km from K2 mountain, the second highest peak in the world.

In March, an Italian and a British climber died on Paki-stan’s Nanga Parbat, known as “Killer Mountain” because of its dangerous conditions.

Surrendered Pakistani Taliban spokesman escapes custody

AFP — ISLAMABAD

A leading member of the Pakistan Taliban has escaped custody more than two years after surrendering to author-ities, a senior security official said yesterday.

The confirmation comes days after Ehsanullah Ehsan — the former spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — released an audio message claiming he had escaped detention and was now in Turkey.

A senior security source said Ehsan was “one of our major assets in identifying and later tracking down militants”.

The source was unable to confirm claims that Ehsan was in Turkey, or provide details of how he escaped.

Ehsan was infamous for issuing chilling claims following TTP attacks and has been linked to some of the country’s most bloody attacks — including the bombing at a park in Lahore during Easter 2016, and the tar-geting of education activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

Ehsan surrendered to authorities in 2017 and later gave high-profile interviews on Pakistani television, angering many in the country who believed he was being pam-pered by authorities after years of helping lead the bloody insurgency.

Pakistani security officials argued, however, that he had supplied valuable intelligence in the fight against militants.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown insurgency for over a decade, with thousands of civilians and security per-sonnel dying in extremist attacks.

Overall levels of extremist-linked violence have dropped dramatically last year, with 2019 seeing the fewest deaths since 2007 when TTP was formed.

Bangladesh aircrew refuse to work on Wuhan evacuation flight

AFP — DHAKA Aircrew from Bangladesh’s national carrier Biman have refused to work on a flight aimed at repatriating citizens from virus-hit Chinese cities, forcing the government to scrap the evacuation plan.

The South Asian nation last week evacuated 312 people, mostly students, from the epi-centre of the deadly outbreak, and had planned a second flight for another 171 Bangladeshis.

“We can’t bring them because we can’t send any flight,” Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters on Saturday.

“No crew wants to go there. The crew who went there earlier don’t want to go either.” The outbreak, which has killed more than 800 people and infected tens of thousands across China, has spread to nearly more than two dozen other countries and sparked global concern.

There have been no cases recorded in Bangladesh.

The evacuees and aircrew who returned to Dhaka on February 1 are being quaran-tined for 14 days at a camp.

Health officials say none have tested positive for the virus.

Azerbaijan votes in snap parliamentary pollsAFP — BAKU

Azerbaijanis voted yesterday in snap parliamentary elections decried by the opposition as a sham ballot that will strengthen President Ilham Aliyev’s grip on power without bringing any real change.

Critics say that Aliyev, 58, seeks to address growing public discontent over an economic slowdown and to improve his government’s image by holding early elections and replacing discredited old elites with younger technocrats.

The opposition accused the government of limiting their ability to campaign and several parties are boycotting the vote.

One of the leaders of the opposition Musavat party, Gulaga Aslanly, decried “mass e l e c t o r a l v i o l a t i o n s ” yesterday.

He reeled off a litany of alleged irregularities, saying some ballot boxes were not transparent and that others had openings that were too wide.

“One can even drop a mid-sized book into these boxes,” he said, adding that monitors faced “obstacles” and pointing to problems with voter lists.

Video footage showed a smiling Aliyev and his family voting at a polling station in the capital Baku.

Vafa Alekperova, a 43-year-old schoolteacher, said she voted for a candidate of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party.

“I trust the party and my

hopes for a better future are tied to it,” she said.

At the same polling station in Baku, 58-year-old taxi driver Ilgar Gasymov said he “voted for an opposition candidate because only the opposition cares about ordinary people’s problems”.

More than 5.3 million people are eligible to vote. Turnout stood at more than 27 percent as of 0800 GMT, election officials said.

Parliamentary elections

had been scheduled for November this year, but in December 2019 Aliyev called early polls after a surprise self-dissolution of the legislature that is dominated by his ruling party.

The move followed a replacement of the prime min-ister and a number of veteran officials within the presidential administration and the government.

Aliyev’s party, which faces little challenge from the

embattled opposition, is expected to retain its majority in the legislature.

It promised that the election would be democratic.

Yeni Azerbaijan campaign chief Mubariz Gurbanly insisted that “the elections are free, fair, and democratic”.

Electoral commissions are controlled by Aliyev’s party and all of country’s television sta-tions have refused to allocate airtime to representatives of the opposition.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during a snap parliamentary election in Baku, yesterday.

Private hospitals reserve beds for coronavirus cases in PakistanINTERNEWS — PESHAWAR

Around 100 private hospitals of Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have reserved a total of 387 beds at the health department’s request as part of efforts to deal with the threats posed by the outbreak of the novel corona-virus (2019-nCoV) in China, officials say.

“We are thankful to the administrations of 98 private hospitals across the province for allocating beds for the sus-pected coronavirus cases. We’ve issued guidelines to

them for the management of suspects,” said provincial Director-General (health) Dr Tahir Nadim Khan.

The DG said focal persons had been nominated for all dis-tricts, while beds had been reserved for suspected cases.

He said seven suspected cases had so far been reported in the province. Dr Tahir said five of those cases were sent home after they tested negative for the disease, while the remaining two were being managed in Swat and Swabi hospitals as the results of their lab tests were awaited.

Taiwan scrambles jets as Chinese Air Force flies around islandREUTERS — TAIPEI

Taiwan’s air force scrambled yesterday to intercept Chinese jets that flew around the island claimed by Beijing as its own, in a move denounced by Taiwan’s Defence Ministry as a threat to regional peace and stability.

China has been flying what it calls “island encirclement” drills on-off since 2016 when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen first took office.

Beijing believes Tsai, who won re-election last month, wishes to push the island’s formal independence. She says Taiwan is an independent country called

the Republic of China, its official name.

In a statement, Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said Chinese J-11 fighters and H-6 bombers flew into the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan, then out into the Pacific before heading back to base via the Miyako Strait, located between Japan’s islands of Miyako and Okinawa, to the northeast of Taiwan.

“During this period, the national military appropriately used air reconnaissance aircraft and air defence forces in accordance with combat read-iness regulations,” it said.

The ministry provided a

picture of a Taiwan air force F-16 shadowing one of the Chinese H-6 bombers.

“The Chinese Communist’s long-range far-out-at-sea mis-sions have impacted regional security and stability and endanger the peace and welfare shared by all parties in the region,” the ministry said.

There was no immediate comment from China’s Defence Ministry. China has brushed off such drills in the past as nothing out of the ordinary.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing have further plummeted in the past few weeks following the outbreak of the new

coronavirus in China, with Taiwan accusing China of pre-venting the island from accessing full information from the World Health Organization (WHO) or attending its meetings.

Taiwan is not a WHO member due to China’s objec-tions, which says the island is merely a Chinese province whose interests in the health body are adequately represented by Beijing.

But in one small diplomatic breakthrough for Taiwan, the WHO said Taiwanese experts will participate this week in an on-line meeting of experts about the virus.

The defence ministry said one Afghan soldier was killed and three local security forces injured during the shooting, and added that an investigation had been launched while vowing to continue fighting ‘terrorism’ with the US.

14 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020ASIA

Coronavirus deaths climb to 811, surpassing SARSREUTERS — SHANGHAI/BEIJING

China raised the death toll from its coronavirus outbreak to 811 yesterday, passing the number killed globally by the SARS epidemic, as authorities made plans for millions of people returning to work after an extended Lunar New Year break.

Many of China’s usually teeming cities have almost become ghost towns during the past two weeks as Communist Party rulers ordered virtual lockdowns, cancelled flights, closed factories and shut schools.

Even today, a large number of workplaces and schools will remain closed and many white-collar employees will work from home.

China’s cabinet said yes-terday it would coordinate with transport authorities to ensure the smooth return to work of employees in key industries such as food and medicines.

The State Council’s special coronavirus group also said workers should return in “batches”, rather than all at once, in order to reduce infection risks.

China’s ambassador to Britain described the newly identified virus as “the enemy of mankind” in an interview with BBC television yesterday, but added it “is controllable, is preventable, is curable”.

“At this moment is very dif-ficult to predict when we are going to have an inflection point,” Liu Xiaoming said.

“We certainly hope it will come soon, but the isolation and quarantine measures have been very effective.” China’s National Health Commission recorded another 89 deaths on Saturday, pushing the total well above the 774 who died from SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syn-drome in 2002/2003.

Total confirmed corona-virus cases in China stood at 37,198, commission data showed. New infections recorded the first drop since February 1, falling back below 3,000 to 2,656 cases. Of those, 2,147 cases were in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The virus has also spread to at least 27 countries and regions, according to a count based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China - both of Chinese nationals.

As millions of Chinese pre-pared to go back to work, the public dismay and mistrust of official numbers was evident on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

“What’s even more frus-trating is that these are only the ‘official’ data,” said one user.

“We all know we can’t pur-chase masks anywhere, why are we still going back to work?” said a second.

“More than 20,000 doctors and nurses around the country have been sent to Hubei, but why are the numbers still rising?” asked a third.

Authorities had told busi-nesses to tack up to 10 extra days on to holidays that had been due to finish at the end of January and some restrictions continued.

Hebei province, which sur-rounds Beijing, will keep schools shut until March 1, the People’s Daily newspaper said. Several provinces have shut schools until the end of February.

The local government in the southern manufacturing hub of Shenzhen, meanwhile, denied a report in the Nikkei business daily that it had blocked a plan by Apple Inc supplier Foxconn Technology Co Ltd to resume production in China from today. The company would restart once inspections were com-pleted, it said.

Among the latest deaths, 81 were in Hubei.

An American hospitalised in the provincial capital Wuhan,

where the outbreak began, became the first confirmed non-Chinese victim. The Wash-ington Post identified him as Hong Ling, a 53-year old genet-icist who studied rare diseases at Berkeley.

Joseph Eisenberg, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the Uni-versity of Michigan, said it was too early to say whether the epidemic was peaking.

“Even if reported cases might be peaking, we don’t

know what is happening with unreported cases,” he said.

Major cities and capitals announced new travel restric-tions as concern over the spread of the virus increased.

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong introduced a two-week quar-antine on Saturday for all people arriving from the mainland, or who have been there during the previous 14 days. Malaysia expanded its ban on visitors from China.

France issued a new travel

advisory for its citizens, saying it did not recommend travelling to China unless there was an “imperative” reason. Italy asked children travelling from China to stay away from school for two weeks voluntarily.

The latest patients outside China include five British nationals staying in a mountain village in Haute-Savoie in the Alps, French health officials said, raising fears of further infections at a busy period in the ski season.

Passengers wearing face masks and covered with plastic bags walk outside the Shanghai railway station in Shanghai, China, yesterday.

Scientists race to develop vaccine to tackle outbreakAFP — SINGAPORE

Scientists from the United States to Australia are using new tech-nology in an ambitious, multi-million-dollar drive to develop a vaccine in record time to tackle China’s coronavirus outbreak.

Coming up with any vaccine typically takes years, and involves a lengthy process of testing on animals, clinical trials on humans and regulatory approvals.

But several teams of experts are racing to develop one quicker, backed by an interna-tional coalition that aims to combat emerging diseases, and Australian scientists hope their’s could be ready in six months.

“It is a high-pressure situ-ation and there is a lot of weight on us,” said senior researcher Keith Chappell, part of the group from Australia’s University of

Queensland.But the scientist added he

took “some solace” knowing several teams around the world were engaged in the same mission.

“The hope is that one of these will be successful and can contain this outbreak,” he said.

But even a timeframe of six months looks agonisingly slow with the virus, believed to have emerged from a market selling wild animals, killing close to 100 people every day in mainland China.

Efforts are being led by the Coalition for Epidemic Prepar-edness Innovations (CEPI), a body established in 2017 to finance costly biotechnology research in the wake of an Ebola outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people.

With a mission to speed up the development of vaccines,

CEPI is pouring millions of dollars into four projects around the world and has put out a call for more proposals.

The projects hope to use new technology to develop vaccines that can be tested in the near future.

The body’s CEO, Richard Hatchett, said the aim was to start clinical testing in just 16 weeks.

German biopharmaceutical company CureVac and US-based Moderna Therapeutics are devel-oping vaccines based on “mes-senger RNA” — instructions that tell the body to produce proteins — while Inovio, another American firm, is using DNA-based technology.

DNA- and RNA-based vac-cines use the genetic coding of the virus to trick the body’s cells into producing proteins identical to those on the surface of the

pathogen, explained Ooi Eng Eong, deputy director of the emerging infectious diseases programme at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.

The immune system learns to recognise the proteins so that it is ready to find and attack the virus when it enters the body.

The Australian researchers are using “molecular clamp” technology invented by the uni-versity’s scientists that allows them to rapidly develop new vaccines based solely on a virus DNA sequence.

French scientists at the Pasteur Institute are modifying the measles vaccine to work against the coronavirus, but do not expect it to be ready for about 20 months.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has also started developing vaccines, according

to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Health authorities weigh the risks and benefits in vaccine approvals and if there is a public health emergency, the process could be shortened, said Ooi of the Duke-NUS Medical School.

But he added that “paradox-ically, if the situation improves, then actually the pathway for vaccines would be longer”.

“If there’s a lot of these new coronavirus cases around, then you accept some risk, because of the tremendous amount of benefit you can derive, whereas if there are not many cases, the tolerance for risk would be very low.”

While there is no vaccine for the coronavirus, some doctors are trying out a potent brew of anti-retroviral and flu drugs to treat those infected, but the science is inconclusive as to whether they are effective.

Philippines evacuates 30 from WuhanREUTERS — MANILA

Thirty Filipinos returned to the Philippines yesterday from Wuhan City in China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 800 in the mainland, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

Twenty-nine adults and an infant flew on a chartered flight arranged by the foreign affairs and health departments which landed in Clark Air Base, located about 40 miles northwest of the capital, Manila.

The returning passengers and a 10-member government team were transferred from the plane into buses that brought them to the nearby Athlete’s Village in New Clark City in Tarlac province for a 14-day quarantine, the DFA said in a statement. There were about 300 Filipinos in Hubei, based on the Philippine government’s estimate, but it said not all had wanted to be evacuated.

The Philippines has reported three positive cases of the coro-navirus infection in the country, including a 44-year-old Chinese man who had travelled from Wuhan and died in a gov-ernment-run hospital in Manila after developing severe pneumonia.

There were more than 230 “patients under investigation” for coronavirus infection in the country as of Saturday.

Wild weather as cyclone, storms lash Australia

REUTERS — MELBOURNE

Severe bushfires burned through parts of Western Australia yesterday, with other areas of the state dealing with the aftermath of a powerful cyclone, while the country’s east coast was facing potential life-threatening flash flooding.

After months of destructive wildfires that have razed mil-lions of hectares of land, Aus-tralia has been hit in recent weeks by wild weather that has alternately brought heavy downpours, hail storms, gusty winds and hot and dry air.

About a dozen fires were burning in Western Australia (WA) yesterday, with severe fire danger expected in several dis-tricts, according to fire services and the state’s Bureau of Meteorology.

Daytime temperatures in some of the districts were

forecast at up to 42 degrees Celsius.

The state’s upper parts were battling yesterday the aftermath of a tropical cyclone Damien that made a landfall on Saturday afternoon, bringing gusty winds of up to 200km per hour. No immediate damages were reported and the cyclone was expected to weaken as it moved inland, but winds were seen to blow at more than 100 kph.

“Al though Tropical # C y c l o n e D a m i e n h a s weakened significantly from the thrashing it gave Karratha and Dampier on Saturday,

areas around Tom Price and Paraburdoo are receiving sig-nificant rainfall and squally conditions,” the state’s Bureau of Meteorology said on its Twitter account.

On the opposite coast of Australia, Sydney and the state of New South Wales were in danger of potential life-threat-ening flash flooding as rain kept bucketing down for a third day in a row in downpours not seen since 1998.

Rainfall in some parts of the state approached half the annual average, but the falls were welcomed after the state saw its driest year on record in

2019, at 55 percent below average.

The state’s Bureau of Mete-orology said there was potential for heavy “rainfall and life-threatening flash-flooding,” and coast erosion, although little danger of river flooding as water levels have been low due to a persistent drought.

In Queensland, meteorolo-gists also warned of flash and riverine flooding yesterday, fol-lowing heavy falls overnight.

An emergency flood alert was issued for residents of Dalby due to a creek over-flowing, some 200km west of Brisbane.

Six more virus cases on cruise ship in Japan

BLOOMBERG — TOKYO

Another six passengers on a cruise ship quarantined in Japan have been infected with the new coronavirus, according to a statement by the operator of the ship.

Princes Cruises confirmed the number following a test by the Asian nation’s health min-istry, the statement said. That brings the total number of infec-tions on the Diamond Princess cruise ship to 70, making it the biggest centre of infections outside of China. The health ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Japan’s Health Minister Kat-sunobu Kato said yesterday that the official number of infections in the country has reached 26.

The minister also said the country will give priority on virus inspections to elderly people on the ship in Yokohama. There are about 600 people on the vessel who need medicine, he said.

Malaysia expands China traveller ban

REUTERS — KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia has expanded a ban on visitors from China to include Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, after China’s decision to lock down cities in the provinces to curb the spread of the corona-virus outbreak that has claimed over 800 lives.

The Southeast Asian nation on January 27 imposed a tem-porary ban on travellers arriving from the city of Wuhan, the epi-centre of the outbreak, and the surrounding province of Hubei.

Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the decision follows China’s move to extend its lockdown to five cities in Zhejiang and two in Jiangsu. China’s Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital, has been on lockdown since January 23.

“Travel restrictions will be enforced in accordance with the lock-down region imposed by the Chinese Government,” Wan Azizah said in a statement yes-terday. The restriction will be imposed on all tourists regardless of nationality who have visited Hubei, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, she added.

Malaysia has reported 17 confirmed cases of the corona-virus as of yesterday, three of which had been discharged.

Trees sway as tropical cyclone Damien hits Dampier, Western Australia, yesterday.

After months of destructive wildfires that have razed millions of hectares of land, Australia has been hit in recent weeks by wild weather that has alternately brought heavy downpours, hail storms, gusty winds and hot and dry air.

Total confirmed coronavirus cases in China stood at 37,198, commission data showed. New infections recorded the first drop since February 1, falling back below 3,000 to 2,656 cases. Of those, 2,147 cases were in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

15MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 EUROPE

Salvini says he was defending Italy by blocking migrants: ReportBLOOMBERG — ROME

Matteo Salvini (pictured) insisted that he defended Italy by refusing to let stranded migrants enter the country when he was interior minister, as parliament prepares to vote this week on whether he should be prosecuted.

“It’s crazy, I don’t know how much it costs in terms of men and money to show I’m a criminal, but I’m not afraid and I’ll explain in court that I defended my country,” Salvini,

leader of the anti-migrant League party, told newspaper La Stampa.

The full chamber of the Senate will vote on Wednesday on whether Salvini should face prosecution for kidnapping for refusing to allow a coast guard ship that had rescued 131 migrants crossing the Mediter-ranean to dock in Sicily in July.

Salvini says he was applying government policy and waiting for other European Union coun-tries to accept the migrants.

A Senate panel voted last

month to allow prosecution in a non-binding decision. Parties in Premier Giuseppe Conte’s ruling coalition are expected to vote for prosecution to go ahead.

Asked by La Stampa whether he was jealous of a trip by his right-wing ally Giorgia Meloni, of the Brothers of Italy party, to Washington and whether he saw her as a dan-gerous competitor, Salvini replied: “Everyone is entitled to their own path and their trips. A party like the League with

30% support mustn’t be afraid of anything or anyone.”

Meloni, whose party is surging in opinion polls and is part of the League-led center-right bloc, spoke in Washington at the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this week.

Salvini abandoned Conte’s first coalition during the summer in a failed bid to trigger a snap general election. His party has been the biggest force in opinion surveys ever since, with support far ahead of rivals in government.

Hurricane-force winds batter UK and Europe, halt travelAP — LONDON

Storm Ciara battered the UK and northern Europe with hurricane-level winds and heavy rains that halted flights and trains yesterday and produced heaving seas that closed down ports. Soccer games, farmers’ markets and other events were canceled as authorities urged millions of people to stay indoors, away from falling tree branches.

Named by the UK Met Office weather agency, the storm brought massive gusts that hit 150kph at the northern Welsh village of Aberdaron and 138kph at the Welsh town of Capel Curig. Storm surges ate away at beaches and pounded rock cliffs and cement docks.

In response, the Met Office issued 190 emergency flood warnings and another 170 flood watch alerts, urging people not to try to drive through flooded roads.

Residents in the town of Appleby-in-Westmorland in northwest England battled to protect their homes amid severe flooding as the River Eden burst its banks.

Three people were injured after a pub roof partially

collapsed on Saturday evening in the city of Perth in central Scotland.

At least 10 rail companies in Britain sent out “do not travel” warnings, while nearly 20 others told passengers to expect extensive delays. The strong winds damaged electrical wires and littered train tracks with broken tree limbs and other debris, including a family trampoline.

London’s Heathrow Airport and several airlines consoli-dated flights yesterday to reduce the number cancelled by heavy winds. British Airways offered to rebook customers for domestic and European flights out of Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports. Virgin Air-lines canceled some flights.

Brussels Airport also saw delays or cancellations.

Two huge ports on either side of the English Channel, Dover in England and Calais in France, shut down operations amid high waves. Ferries were canceled across the region, including in the turbulent Irish Sea.

The Humber Bridge in northern England alsol shut down, a move its website said was only the second time the massive bridge had been

entirely closed.Heavy snow was predicted

today in some parts of the UK.In Ireland, power was

knocked to an estimated 10,000 homes, farms and businesses. National weather agency Met Eireann warned that a combi-nation of high tides, high seas and stormy conditions had created a significant risk of coastal flooding, particularly in the west and northwest.

Fierce winds knocked out electricity in northern France

as well. Parks and cemeteries in the city of Lille and nearby towns shut down as strong winds cracked heavy branches and threatened to fell trees. Open-air markets also closed early yesterday.

Luxembourg announced that all schoolchildren could stay home today as a result of the storm. In Germany, where the storm is known as “Sabine,” national railway operator Deutsche Bahn canceled long-distance trains to destinations

most at risk from the storm, including Emden and Norddeich in Germany’s northwestern corner, the northern city of Kiel and the North Sea island of Sylt.

In the world of sports, dozens of soccer games, horse races, rugby matches and other events were called off, including the Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham. A 10k run in London that was expected to draw 25,000 participants was also canceled.

A man enters a house on a flooded street in Mytholmroyd, northern England after the River Calder burst its banks as Storm Ciara swept over the country, yesterday.

Kew Gardens in London to help protect Australia’s plants after wildfiresREUTERS — LONDON

Britain is to protect Australia’s plants and trees by helping the emergency collection of seeds in areas devastated by wildfires and storing some of the rarest specimens in the world’s biggest wild seed bank.

Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London will help the emer-gency seed collection and store precious specimens at its Mil-lennium Seed Bank (MSB), a

giant trove of seeds which acts as an insurance policy for plants and trees.

Over 2.3 billion seeds from 190 countries are stored in air-tight glass containers stacked in huge -20°C freezers under-ground and can be used to grow a new generation of plants in years to come. It currently has 41,000 different species.

For the collecting, Kew sci-entists will work alongside col-leagues in the Australian Seed Bank Partnership.

“We ... are pleased to be able to support their efforts, as part of our ongoing partnership to address biodiversity loss through seed-banking in Aus-tralia,” said the MSB’s Elinor Breman in a statement.

She added: “Kew’s scientists will work with the ASBP to conduct emergency seed-col-lecting in areas devastated by the bushfires and longer-term germination research, which will hopefully aid the interna-tional effort to restore habitats

more quickly in this precious and biodiverse region.”

Kew has worked with Aus-tralian seed banks since 2000, sharing expertise on seed col-lection processes, conservation and research so that the seeds of plant species considered rare or threatened can be banked and conserved for the future.

So far, 12,450 seed collec-tions representing 8,900 Aus-tralian species, all of which are saved in local seed banks, have been duplicated and

stored in Kew’s MSB.Australia’s wildfires have

burned through an area the size of Greece since September, in what the government there has called an ecological disaster.

The protected species of Wollemi Pines — prehistoric trees which outlived the dino-saurs — survived the wildfires.

Others were not so lucky: wood-chopping company Kan-garoo Island Plantation Timbers suspended trading in its shares after severe fire-damage meant

90% of its tree crop was no longer productive.

The collaboration with Kew was announced by British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. “This further collabo-ration between the Australian Seed Bank Partnership and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, will help protect Australia’s precious biodiversity following the terrible bushfires. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Australian people in the face of this challenge”.

France arrests 32 people in “Yellow Vests” protestsANATOLIA — PARIS

French police said that 32 demonstrators were arrested in France during the Saturday “Yellow Vests” protests against the government.

Protesters gathered at the Palais Royal Square despite the police ban.

The demonstration, held under intense security measures, ended without any trouble.

According to Paris Police Department, besides arrests, 140 people were fined for par-ticipating in the demonstration without permission.

Meanwhile, protesters clashed with the police in Bor-deaux. Police used tear gas and plastic bombs to disperse demonstrators.

Some protesters broke windows of some restaurants and banks.

Saturday marked the 65th week of “Yellow Vests” pro-tests, which started in reaction to fuel hikes and economic conditions and spi-raled into deadly anti-gov-ernment riots.

Protesters use yellow vests, part of the standard safety kit in French cars, to make members more easily visible.

Since the “Yellow Vests” movement began in November 2018, demonstrations have frequently erupted into vio-lence and clashes with riot police.

Although the scale of the protests has diminished since the worst of the troubles seen in December 2018, demon-strators have nevertheless continued to gather on Sat-urdays to protest against P r e s i d e n t E m m a n u e l Macron’s government, whose policies they say favour the richest members of the society.

Sinn Fein demands place in Irish government after electoral ‘revolution’REUTERS — DUBLIN

Left-wing Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein yesterday demanded to be part of the next Irish government after tallies indi-cated it secured the most votes in an election that leader Mary Lou McDonald described as a ballot box “revolution”.

The former political wing of the Irish Republican Army, which has reinvented itself as the main left-wing party, secured 24% of first preference votes, almost doubling its vote from the last election four years ago, a tally by Virgin Media TV showed.

That put it narrowly ahead of the party of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and fellow centre-right rival Fianna Fail. However, Sinn Fein is likely to fall behind at least one of its rivals in terms of seat numbers as it stood far fewer candidates and can aim at best to be a junior partner in a government.

Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who have between them led every government since the foundation of the state, consist-ently ruled out a coalition with Sinn Fein ahead of the election, citing its policies and history.

Analysts suggested that

resolve may be tested in the coming days in what many described as a seismic shift in Irish politics away from the century-old, centre-right duopoly.

“This is certainly an election that is historic... this is changing the shape and the mould of Irish politics. This is just the beginning,” McDonald told a media scrum after arriving at her election count to a huge ovat ion f rom party supporters.

“I do not accept the exclusion or talk of excluding our party, a party that represents now a quarter of the electorate and I think that that is fundamentally undemocratic.”

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, who predicted his party would win the most seats, declined to repeat his earlier

refusals to consider a coalition with Sinn Fein, saying only that there were significant incom-patibilities on policy.

“Our policies and our prin-ciples have not changed over-night, in 24 hours, but what is important is that the country comes first,” he told reporters in Cork.

He later added that Fianna Fail’s issues with Sinn Fein’s history had not gone away.

The first parliamentary seats under Ireland’s complex single transferable vote system began to be declared from 1600 GMT.

The final and potentially decisive results may not be known until today or even later.

Sinn Fein has moved on from the long leadership of Gerry Adams, seen by many as the face of the IRA’s war against British rule in Northern Ireland — a conflict in which some 3,600 people were killed before a 1998 peace deal.

Irish tricolour flags were flown at a Dublin count centre as Sinn Fein supporters were led in a chorus of the Irish rebel song “Come Out Ye Black and Tans” by Dessie Ellis, a re-elected lawmaker who was jailed on possession of explo-sives in 1981.

Early tallies showed McDonald had more than twice the number of votes needed for election in her constituency - and the Sinn Fein candidate was well ahead of Varadkar in his four-seat Dublin West constituency.

The tallies showed a rea-sonable result for Varadkar’s Fine Gael, in power since 2011, after opinion polls a week ago showed it in third place.

But the party’s focus on the fastest growing economy in the EU and success in negotiating

a Brexit deal that avoided a hard border with Northern Ireland failed to capture the imagination of voters, who were far more focused on issues like health and housing, where Sinn Fein has been strong.

Just 1 percent of the exit poll respondents said Britain’s exit from the EU was a factor in how they voted, Ipsos MRBI found.

Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail said before the election that they would look to smaller

parties to form what would likely be another minority gov-ernment - requiring support of the other from the opposition benches via a “confidence and supply deal.”

“The issue really is what kind of confidence and supply agreement could be put together and are we in a position where that’s a realistic option,” Fine Gael minister Richard Bruton told Reuters, adding he saw “no flinching at all” in his party’s ruling out of Sinn Fein.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald looks on as supporters cheer at a count centre, during Ireland’s national election, in Dublin, yesterday.

Sinn Fein secured 24 percent of first preference votes, almost doubling its vote from the last election four years ago, a tally by Virgin Media TV showed.

16 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020EUROPE

Plane crash-lands on belly, no injuriesAFP — MOSCOW

A Russian plane carrying 100 people crash-landed on its belly in the north of the country after experiencing problems with landing gear yesterday, the company and officials said, adding that no one was seri-ously hurt.

The Utair Boeing was buf-feted by a sudden change in wind direction as it was landing at Usinsk airport in the northern Komi region, the airline said, and it was already on the tarmac when it suffered a malfunction.

Images online showed a

Boeing sitting on its belly on the snow-covered tarmac as passengers scrambled to evacuate.

None of the 94 passengers or six crew members were badly injured, the airline said, adding however that one pas-senger sought medical assistance.

“Thanks to the crew’s quick and highly-professional actions it was possible to keep the plane on the landing strip until it came to a full stop,” Utair said.

It praised its “experienced” crew, saying the chief pilot has more than 6,900 hours of flight time.

A spokeswoman for the local branch of the emergencies ministry said that “the plane landed on its tail”.

The passengers and crew evacuated via emergency slides, she said.

“What’s happened at Usinsk airport today is unac-ceptable,” head of the Komi region Sergei Gaplikov said in a statement.

“Thank God no one has been seriously hurt.”

The country, with poor air-craft maintenance and lax safety standards, has one of the worst air safety records in the world, critics say.

A view shows the UTair Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane following a hard landing at Usinsk airport, Komi Republic, in Russia, yesterday.

Greece asylum to refugees ‘not indefinite’ and reversible: MinisterAFP — ATHENS

Greece will only grant refugee protection for three years as it struggles to integrate foreigners, the government’s Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said.

Greece last year was the first EU port of entry for migrants and has struggled to manage the influx, with many kept in overcrowded camps on the Aegean Greek islands.

“The asylum we grant has a duration of three years, it is not indefinite,” Mitarachi told To Vima weekly. “If conditions change in a country (of origin), asylum may not be renewed”.

“It is difficult to integrate different populations,” he added.

More than 36,000 asylum-seekers are currently crammed into camps on five islands, where the official capacity is for 6,200 people and in conditions repeatedly condemned by aid agencies.

Since the migration crisis erupted in 2015, mainly fuelled by the war in Syria, Greece has granted asylum to around 40,000 people, Mitarachi said. “Another 87,000 asylum applications are pending,”.

Repatriation of asylum-seekers whose applications are rejected are to be discussed in an overhaul of EU migration policy next month, the min-ister said. “Joint return oper-ations will figure prominently in new European commission proposals expected in March and April.”

Spain, UK see new virus cases; France hunts carriersAP — LISBON

The UK confirmed its fourth case of the new virus from China and Spain reported its second case as European authorities pressed yesterday to contain the spread of the coronavirus by hunting down those who came into contact with infected people.

Both the new cases were acquired during trips to France, officials said.

French medical authorities were zeroing in on a ski resort in the Alps where five British citizens, including a 9-year-old child, contracted the virus. Offi-cials were testing hundreds of children and their families in Contamines-Montjoie.

French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn visited the resort yesterday and sought to reassure residents and tourists that they can “live normally” there because there’s a “very weak risk” of catching the virus.

Even so, the fact that a British man who had become infected during a business trip to Singapore could infect others days later in the French Alps underscored the potential for the outbreak to spread further.

Italian health authorities in Tuscany, meanwhile, were trying to re-trace the steps of a Taiwanese couple who stayed four days in a Florence hotel. They flew to Hong Kong and then to Taiwan on February 1 and were later confirmed to have the virus.

The new UK case is a known contact of a previously confirmed

case there, the country’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said, adding that “experts ... continue to work hard tracing patient contacts.”

In Spain, authorities were working to identify everyone who came into contact with a British man whose case was detected in Mallorca, a popular vacation island in the Mediter-ranean Sea, Spain’s National Microbiology Center said.

The man, who lives on the island, contracted the virus at the end of January at a French ski resort, according to Fernando Simón, head of Spain’s Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies. He did not say whether it was Contamines-Montjoie.

The man, who was not iden-tified, is healthy but was being kept in isolation in Palma de Mallorca, Simón told a news conference in Madrid. His wife

and two daughters tested negative.

In Britain, a plane evacu-ating more than 200 people from the Chinese city at the centre of the epidemic landed yesterday at RAF Brize Norton. British officials said it brought back 105 British citizens and family members, as well as 95 European citizens and family members. In a carefully coor-dinated ballet of secure planes and buses, those passengers were distributed around Europe.

The British passengers were taken to a hotel-conference center in Milton Keys, where

they will be quarantined for 14 days.

Some 20 people from Germany on the British flight were taken to Berlin, to be tested and quarantined at a hos-pital for two weeks. Another 17 European evacuees were flown to Berlin and were being trans-ported on to Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria and Romania on special flights.

Thirty-five French citizens on the British flight were flown to southern France and were immediately taken into quar-antine. The French government had already brought hundreds of Europeans and Africans from

Wuhan back on two earlier flights to France.

Eight Italians on the British flight were flown to Italy by the Italian air force and were trans-ferred to a Italian military hos-pital in Rome to be quarantined. Aboard the same flight to Italy were also seven Danes, three Swedes and two Greeks.

The virus death toll in China rose yesterday to 811, passing the number of fatalities in the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic, and offi-cials said nearly 37,200 people have been infected there.

Europe has seen a total of 39 infections in nine countries, including 14 in Germany.

Coronavirus ‘fake news’ network busted in HungaryAFP — BUDAPEST

Hungarian authorities said that it has busted a network of “fake news” websites that reported alleged coronavirus-related deaths in Hungary, so far free of reported infections from the deadly virus.

A man and woman are suspected of “operating dozens of fake news portals and linked Facebook pages” claiming that several people have been infected and died from coronavirus, said a statement on the police website.

The sites, whose articles carried sensational headlines, were aimed at increasing traffic and boosting advertisement revenue, said the police.

“A 37-year-old Hungarian woman has collapsed and died in Budapest, probably from coronavirus,” read a headline from one of the sites displayed by the police.

Computer equipment was seized at several locations during raids, said the statement.

Personal belongings of Srebrenica genocide victims to go on permanent displayANATOLIA — BELGRADE

Personal belongings of the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, where over 8,300 Muslims were killed by Serbian forces, are set to go on permanent display, conveying the brutality of the massacre to future generations.

The items are set to be showcased at a museum within the Potocari Memorial Cem-etery in the city of Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia and Herze-govina, said Azir Osmanovic, the museum’s curator.

The museum will spotlight items found during excavations of mass graves as well as per-sonal items donated by the victims’ relatives.

It aims to show the reality of genocide, so it is not for-gotten, as a lesson for future generations. So far, wrist-watches, torn clothes, and ID cards of the victims are among the donated items.

Osmanovic said that they started the project about three months ago, in order to not forget the brutality of a quarter-century ago and so it is never repeated.

“We also collect items we think belong to the victims by combing over places where those who tried to escape the genocide were,” he said.

He added that they have collected nearly 350 items so far and each tells a story.

Hajra Catic, who lost her son Nihad during the genocide,

is one of the donors. Nihad, just 26, was a jour-

nalist during the war, and his mother believes that he was unable to reach a safe zone.

Nihad’s body has yet to be found, but his mother clings to the hope that at least some part of his remains will turn up someday.

“If we want the genocide to not be forgotten, we should write and talk about it and deliver the evidence we have,” said Catic.

Amra Begic Fazlic, who lost her father Resid during the genocide, said that they did not know how to protect her father’s belongings.

“I donated my father’s last letter, wristwatch, and glasses that he sent us via Red Cross vehicles.”

Srebrenica was besieged by Serb forces trying to wrest ter-ritory from Bosnian Muslims and Croats to form their own state.

The UN Security Council had declared Srebrenica a “safe area” in the spring of 1993. However, Serb troops led by Gen. Ratko Mladic — later found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide — overran the UN zone.

The Dutch troops failed to act as Serb forces occupied the area, killing about 2,000 men and boys on July 11 alone. Some 15,000 Srebrenica residents fled into the surrounding mountains, but Serb troops hunted down and killed 6,000 of them in the forests.

Merkel to back Left party politician to run Thuringia, says reportBLOOMBERG — BERLIN

Chancellor Angela Merkel (pictured) may back a political rival from the Left party to lead the regional government in Thuringia as she tries to contain the crisis over her party’s flir-tation with the far right in eastern Germany.

Merkel wants the state’s former prime minister, Bodo Ramelow, to take the helm again, Bild am Sonntag reported, without citing where it got the information. His suc-cessor, Thomas Kemmerich, resigned on Saturday under pressure from Merkel’s gov-erning coalition.

Kemmerich’s election with the votes of Merkel’s party in

Thuringia and the nationalist Alternative for Germany had set off the political firestorm.

The CDU in Thuringia

backed the deal in defiance of Berlin.

That led the leaders of the Social Democrats, Merkel’s coa-lition partner, to threaten to bring down the national government if Kemmerich remained in office.

To enable Thuringia to get a new prime minister quickly, Merkel now wants her party’s colleagues in the state to abstain from voting when Ramelow stands for election, Bild am Sonntag reported. Merkel’s Christian Democrats have ruled out a direct collaboration with the Left party given its historic roots in communist East Germany.

Ramelow said in an interview with Bild he hopes Liberals and Merkel’s Christian

Democrats will enable him to be elected as prime minister in a first round of voting. He ruled out being elected with a majority relying on the far right AfD. Ramelow’s term as state leader would probably be limited because governing parties in Berlin have called for an early election in Thuringia.

New elections would could be launched after the summer break, Ramelow told Bild. Holding one sooner would pose a problem with electoral law that could only be bypassed by the state interior minister, he said, pointing out that Thuringia still hasn’t got one. Quick elec-tions would also pose the risk of being contested in the courts, Ramelow added.

The turmoil in Thuringia was triggered by October elec-tions, when Alternative for Germany more than doubled its support to 23.4% and pulled ahead of a slumping CDU. The AfD has exploited frustration over lower wages and the lack of opportunity in eastern Germany, where many people have a sense of being second-class to the more affluent western part of the country 30 years after reunification.

That led to the February 5 election of Kemmerich, whose FDP party barely made it into the state legislature but was eager for a share of power.

The turmoil reflects the tense state of German politics as the AfD makes inroads and

Merkel prepares to retire from politics at the end of her term in 2021 at the latest. The fact that the local CDU chapter defied Berlin, also heaps pressure on party Chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was already struggling to sustain her position as Merkel’s heir.

In a Germany-wide opinion poll for broadcaster RTL pub-lished on Saturday, voter support for the Free Democrats halved to 5%, voter preference for AfD fell by 2 percentage points to 9%. Backing for Mer-kel’s CDU/CSU remained stable at 28%. The Social Democrats and the Left party each gained 2 percentage points to 15% and 10% respectively.

A man cleaning a stretcher outside the Son Espases University Hospital where a British man has been diagnosed with coronavirus, in Palma de Mallorca, yesterday.

French medical authorities were zeroing in on a ski resort in the Alps where five British citizens contracted the virus. Officials were testing hundreds of children and their families in Contamines-Montjoie.

17MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 AMERICAS

Sanders, Buttigieg trade barbs as New Hampshire vote nearsAFP — MANCHESTER, US

Bernie Sanders and Pete Butt-igieg carried their fight for the Democratic presidential nomi-nation to the nation’s airwaves yesterday as they scrapped for votes with just two days to go before New Hampshire’s closely-watched primary.

The 78-year-old Vermont senator and the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, came in atop the first contest in Iowa — marred by messy confusion about the result — giving each important momentum as Democrats seek a candidate to take on Donald Trump in November.

Sanders, a leftist whose state borders New Hampshire and who won there by a land-slide in 2016, holds a lead in that state in four polls released yes-terday, each of which had the moderate Buttigieg in second followed by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren then former vice-president Joe Biden.

“I think we have an excellent chance to win,” Sanders told CNN’s “State of the Union,” lining up political talk show appearances before a final

push on the ground in the small northeastern state.

With the primary season under way in earnest, some of the earlier collegiality among Democrats has fallen away.

“I am running against a can-didate, Pete Buttigieg, among others, who has raised contri-butions from more than 40 bil-lionaires,” Sanders told CNN. “Our support is coming from the working class of this country.” His campaign, based heavily on small donors, says it raised $25m last month.

Buttigieg, appearing sepa-rately on CNN, turned aside the billionaire charge, quipping, “Well, Bernie’s pretty rich, and I would happily accept a con-tribution from him.”

Turning serious, the 38-year-old Indiana politician added: “This is the fight of our lives. I’m not a fan of the current campaign finance system, but I’m also insistent that we’ve got to go into this with all of the support we can get.” He said he was “building the movement that is going to defeat Donald Trump,” boosted by donations from some two million people.

Both Buttigieg and Biden — whose status as national

frontrunner for the nomination was shaken by a damaging fourth-place showing in Iowa’s caucuses — said it would be much harder for the party to defeat Donald Trump in November if Sanders is its flag-bearer.

Sanders’ positions at the very left of the American spectrum, with expansive pro-grams like extending the Medicare program to all Amer-icans, have been eagerly seized

on by Trump, who told an inter-viewer last week, “I think he’s a communist.” Buttigieg said it would be “a lot harder” for the party to win behind Sanders than behind a more moderate candidate.

And Biden told ABC’s “This Week” that “I think it’s going to be incredibly more difficult” to win with Sanders, though he vowed to “work like hell for him” if the senator does win the nomination.

Sanders shrugged off the criticism that he is too radical for American voters.

“The truth is that our agenda is precisely the agenda that the overwhelming number of people want,” Sanders told CNN, pointing to his enthusi-astic support among young voters.

As Buttigieg has risen from practical anonymity to near the top of the Democratic heap, he has faced ever sharper criticism

— including in a cutting ad aired over the weekend by the Biden camp — for his lack of national experience and his supposed difficulty connecting with black voters, a key demographic.

“He’s not been able to unify the African-American com-munity,” Biden said, adding that the eventual nominee will have to perform well in states far larger and more diverse than predominantly white Iowa and New Hampshire.

LEFT: Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg attends a campaign rally in Nashua, New Hampshire, yesterday. RIGHT: Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign event in Plymouth, New Hampshire, yesterday.

Iowa laggards Biden, Warren shift ad spending to stay in race

BLOOMBERG — MANCHESTER

Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden are shifting ad spending in early voting states as they fight to re-energize their pres-idential bids following poor showings in Iowa.

At the same time, Iowa’s surprise delegate leader Pete Buttigieg is bulking up his spending, buying ad time in places he hadn’t expected to compete in hopes of a strong showing in New Hampshire.

It’s not unusual for candi-dates to shift resources shortly after an election, either to cap-italize on a strong finish or to shore up perceived weak-nesses. Biden is working to save face after a “gut punch” fourth-place finish in Iowa. Although he set expectations low during Friday’s debate by declaring he was unlikely to win New Hampshire’s primary, he’s moving money to the Granite State to stave off another embarrassment.

This week, Biden pulled $148,000 from South Carolina, where he has a comfortable lead, and added $90,200 to the Boston market, which includes southern New Hampshire. Looking further ahead, Biden boosted Nevada spending by more than $100,000 by putting $161,336 into broadcast and radio time while cutting $58,372 from local cable outlets. Nevada holds a caucus on February 22.

Warren spent more than she took in at the end of 2019 and is trimming back on ad spending in some early-voting states.

Trump defends removing army officer who gave evidence against himAFP — WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump on Saturday defended his decision to fire an army officer who gave damning evidence against him during the impeachment probe.

Lieutenant Colonel Alex-ander Vindman was escorted Friday out of the White House, where he worked on the National Security Council as an expert on Ukraine. His lawyer called the move an act of revenge by the president, two days after he was acquitted by the Senate.

“Fake News @CNN & MSDNC keep talking about ‘Lt. Col.’ Vindman as though I should think only how won-derful he was,” Trump tweeted, apparently referring to news outlet MSNBC.

“Actually, I don’t know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I don’t believe!) but, he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my ‘perfect’ calls incorrectly.” “In other words,

‘OUT’.” Vindman was present during a now famous July 25 phone call during which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open an investigation into his political rival Joe Biden.

House Democrats argued that the call was part of a con-certed effort to coerce a weak foreign ally at war with Russia into helping him cheat in November’s presidential election.

Subpoenaed by Congress to testify at the House impeachment hearings, the Ukrainian-born Vindman, who received a Purple Heart for wounds suffered in Iraq, said Trump’s actions were “improper.”

Vindman’s lawyer David Pressman on Saturday called Trump’s tweet “a series of obvi-ously false statements con-cerning Lieutenant Colonel Vindman.” “They conflict with the clear personnel record and the entirety of the impeachment

record of which the President is well aware,” he said in a statement to US media.

“While the most powerful man in the world continues his campaign of intimidation, while too many entrusted with political office continue to remain silent, Lieutenant Colonel Vindman continues his service to our country as a dec-orated, active duty member of our military.”

Democratic Senator Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Forces Com-mittee, on Saturday slammed Trump’s “personal insecurities and vindictiveness.” “By firing Lieutenant Colonel Vindman and Ambassador Sondland like this, the Trump Administration signaled it won’t tolerate people who tell the truth,” he said in a statement.

“This is a dangerous moment for our democracy and the non-partisan institutions charged with defending it and upholding the law.”

Protest against new gun lawA group of men with their firearms and a Trump flag pose for pictures at a protest against new gun legislation at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday. The protestors are opposing new gun legislation that they say will restrict their US second amendment rights. Utah is an open carry state.

Brazil nationals return from WuhanBrazilian citizens evacuated from China’s coronavirus-affected Wuhan, arrive at the Air Force base of Anapolis, State of Goias, Brazil, yesterday.

Gunman ambushes NYC cops twice in 12 hoursAP — NEW YORK

A gunman was taken into custody after he ambushed police officers in the Bronx, New York, twice in 12 hours, wounding two in attacks that ignited outrage from officials who blamed the violence on an atmosphere of anti-police rhetoric.

The man, whose name was not immediately released, was captured after he walked into a police station in the Bronx and started shooting early

yesterday, hitting a lieutenant in the arm and narrowly missing other police personnel before he ran out of bullets, lay down and tossed his pistol, police said.

That attack came just hours after the same man approached a patrol van in the same part of the Bronx and fired at two officers inside, wounding one, police said.

Despite multiple shots fired in both incidents, nobody was killed and all are expected to recover, police said.

“It is only by the grace of God and the heroic actions of those inside the building that took him into custody that we are not talking about police officers murdered inside a New York City police precinct,” New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a press conference yesterday.

Shea called the gunman a “coward” and said he had a lengthy criminal history, including a 2002 shooting and carjacking in which he also fired a gun at police officers.

Shea said the man was paroled from prison in 2017 after an attempted murder conviction.

The commissioner also lashed out at criminal justice reform activists who have held demonstrations against excessive force by police in recent months, including a large protest in Grand Central Ter-minal. He suggested that the protests helped create an anti-police environment.

Mayor Bill de Blasio also suggested that anti-police sen-timent had gotten out of hand.

Police arrestman carryingknife outsideWhite HouseAP — WASHINGTON

A man carrying a knife was arrested outside the White House after he told a US Secret Service officer that he was there to kill the president, police said.

Roger Hedgpeth, 25, was arrested on Saturday afternoon on a charge of making threats to do bodily harm, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

Hedgpeth approached a Secret Service officer who was patrolling outside the White House and said he was there to “assassinate” President Donald Trump and “I have a knife to do it with,” according to a police report.

Police found a 3 1/2-inch knife in a sheath on his left hip, and Hedgpeth also had an empty pistol holster on his right hip, authorities said.

Hedgpeth was taken into custody and brought to a hos-pital for a mental health eval-uation, police said.

Officers also impounded his vehicle.

A telephone number listed for Hedgpeth in public records rang unanswered yesterday.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Hedgpeth lives or whether he had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.

Canada to send second plane to evacuate nationals from WuhanBLOOMBERG — TORONTO

Canada’s Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has said a second chartered plane is departing to Asia to bring another load of nationals out of Wuhan, the Chinese city locked down over the coronavirus outbreak, Canadian Press reported.

“The plane would be leaving on the 10th of February, bringing back the last group of Canadians who want to be repatriated on the 11th,” Champagne said in Ethiopia yesterday.

Last Friday, a first Canada char-tered plane with 176 passengers landed at a military base in Ontario. Separately a smaller group arrived in an American flight. The total number of Canadians that have been repatriated is 215.

The evacuation of Canadian cit-izens follows other countries that in the past days have rescued cit-izens from the virus-stricken region. Countries including the US and Australia have issued travel bans on foreign nationals who had recently visited China or who arrived directly from the mainland in order to quell the spread of the epidemic.

The government is also moni-toring 285 Canadians who are subject to quarantine on two cruise ships off the coast of Japan and Hong Kong.

There are seven Canadians with confirmed cases of the virus that were contracted aboard one of the ships, which is docked in the port city of Yokohama. They’re being treated in Japanese hospitals, the news wire said.

18 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020AMERICAS

Argentina won’t repay IMF debt till recession over: V-PREUTERS — HAVANA

Argentine Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said on Saturday that the government will not pay “even half a cent” of its debt back to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before the country has exited recession.

“The first thing we have to do in order to be able to pay is to exit the recession,” Fern-andez de Kirchner said at a presentation of her book “Sin-ceramente” (Sincerely) at Havana’s international book fair.

“If there is a recession no-one will pay even half a cent and the way you exit recession is through a lot of state

investment.” Argentina needs to restructure $100bn in sov-ereign debt with creditors, including part of a $57bn credit facility that the IMF extended the country in 2018.

Dealings with the IMF are key as Argentina hopes to avoid a default amid a currency crash, steep inflation and a con-tracting economy.

An IMF technical mission is

expected in Buenos Aires next week to discuss obligations owed to the fund.

Fernandez de Kirchner said Argentina should get a “sub-stantial haircut” on its IMF debt.

A leftist and militant Per-onist, she has traveled fre-quently to Communist-run Cuba over the past year to visit her daughter Florencia Kirchner who is undergoing medical treatment there.

Her book presentation was attended by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and a raft of other officials.

The former Argentine pres-ident launched Sincerely, a compilation of personal anec-dotes and reflections, in Argentina last year.

Argentine Vice-President and President of the Senate, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, speaks during the International Book Fair, in Havana, Cuba, on Saturday.

Bolivia's Morales says he resigned to avoid bloodshedANATOLIA — BUENOS AIRES

Exiled former Bolivian pres-ident Evo Morales has said that when police and the armed forces joined a coup against his government late last year, he had no choice but to resign to avoid a deadly confrontation that would have costs lives.

The US thinks it has “acquired the right to make a coup wherever there are pro-gressive presidents and leftist governments” in the region, he said.

“The first thing President [Donald Trump] did in my resigning process was congrat-ulate the (Bolivian) armed forces for their participation in the coup. And now the US is the first to recognize the putschist Jeanine Anez, the dictatorship,” he said.

Anez, a religious conserv-ative, was second in command of the Senate and became interim president when Morales fled to Mexico, where he was granted asylum.

He pointed to an economic rationale behind his ouster by drawing attention to policies he championed during three terms in office.

“And our sin, our crime, is to have proven that Bolivia can develop without the capitalist system, without the IMF [Inter-national Monetary Fund],” Morales added.

Bolivia’s first indigenous president won a fourth term in October but was immediately

hampered by fraud accusations by the Organization of American States (OAS). The regional bloc is often accused of being a Washington puppet and mouth piece for US policies.

Morales resigned Nov. 10 under military pressure and fled the country, first to Mexico and then Argentina, where he has been staying as a political refugee since Dec. 12.

He told Anadolu Agency the OAS committed the real fraud in the Oct. 20 elections.

“[The OAS] report says irregularities have been found in 226 ballot boxes out of 35,000. It is less than 0.5%.,” he said.

“We add it up. If there had been irregularities in 226 boxes and if we register all the votes of the 226 boxes to the oppo-sition party Civic Community (Comunidad Ciudadana) that came second, we would still have won in the first round. But if there had been irregularities, what had to be done from a legal perspective, was to renew elections for those boxes. That was the decision of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. But they made a political decision and stole the election, rather than a legal or technical decision,” Morales said.

He went on to accuse the current interim government of abusing the armed forces in a bid to intimidate the electorate, but he said Bolivians have stood in solidarity against the coup in

the face of challenges.“For example, before Jan.

22, which is the National Day of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, they mobilized tanks, in a dictatorship style,” he said.

But despite his resignation, which was done to prevent bloodshed, security forces killed 35 Bolivians and injured many others, he said.

Morales contemplated his decision to seek a fourth term in a long political career that saw his rise from a local

organizer to leader of a nation.“Maybe it was a mistake for

me to agree to run again,” he said, referring to a Constitu-tional Court decision that allowed him to run in 2016.

“But there was a Constitu-tional Court decision. And also everything was fine in Bolivia — economic growth, reduction of inequalities, poverty reduction and, above all, political stability,” he said.

A constitutional referendum in 2016 allowed the president

and vice president to run for a third consecutive term under the 2009 Constitution. Giving Morales’ term before 2009, it would have been his fourth term in office.

Morales said his immediate plan is to return to Bolivia and then figure out what to do next.

“Actually my plan was to finish this last term that we have won from 2020 to 2025, and then leave politics. But now that they provoked me, I will con-tinue to be in politics,” he said.

A supporter holds a flag with an image of Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales during a Movement for Socialism (MAS) party campaign rally in El Alto, on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia, on Saturday.

40th anniversary of the Workers Party Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and Uruguay’s former President Jose Mujica attending celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Workers Party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday.

In El Salvador, government's effort against criminal gangs bears fruitAFP — SAN SALVADOR

Since his arrival in office in June, Salva-doran President Nayib Bukele has stepped up the country’s war on criminal gangs, an effort that is bearing fruit according to experts who point to a falling murder rate.

The country of 6.5 million is one of the most violent in the world and its citizens also face chronic poverty which has prompted many to flee northward towards the United States, including in infamous migrant caravans.

In January, El Salvador recorded 119 murders, its lowest monthly tally since the end of its civil war in 1992,

the president said recently.Its murder rate, meanwhile, has

dropped massively between 2018 and 2019, from 51 to 35.6 inhabitants per 100,000.

When Bukele assumed office, criminal gangs intensified their activity in an apparent attempt to force the new government to make concessions such as easing jail conditions, analysts said.

Far from buckling, the government toughened its stance on jailed gang members.

“The message was clear: The gangs know that if they challenge the pres-ident, the jailed leaders will pay the consequences,” said analyst Juan Ramon Medrano, a professor at Fran-

cisco Gavidia University.Justice and Security Minister

Rogelio Rivas has repeated several times: “Now the government is in control of the country’s prisons.” El Sal-vador’s criminal gangs, which are involved in extortion, drug-trafficking and other crime, boast around 70,000 members, including 17,000 who are incarcerated.

According to Janette Aguilar, a researcher at the Central American University (UCA) of El Salvador, pressure from authorities has led to the gangs reigning in their activities.

She suggested that “an agreement has been reached between the main rival gangs” Barrio 18 and Mara

Salvatrucha, more commonly known as MS-13, to reign in their violent activ-ities against each other.

Carlos Carcach, a researcher from the Higher School of Economics and Business said that “something is hap-pening inside the gangs that explains them reducing their violence levels.”

Bukele, 38, enjoys sky-high popu-larity ratings and his security policies have been well-received among weary Salvadorans.

Medrano says the public believes that under Bukele the police, with help from the military, are “trying harder” to combat criminal gangs while working “more intelligently.”

While there are fewer murders not

all of the gangs’ activities are on the decline.

“There’s been no decrease in extortion, which is the gangs’ oxygen,” said Medrano.

The president’s biggest challenge is “to stop extortion and get to the root of the problem,” which means pre-venting the gangs from recruiting new young members, he added.

But to do that, “youngsters need to have the opportunity to work and study to better themselves,” he said.

Greater reduction of gang violence would open the way for more investment in El Salvador’s poorest communities therefore helping the youngsters, he added.

Four-year-old dies of gunshot believed to be self-inflictedAP — PEMBERTON, NEW JERSEY

A 4-year-old boy who gained access to an unsecured handgun in a New Jersey home died after an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

Police and emergency medical personnel were called to a home in the Country Lakes section of Pemberton Township shortly after 7pm on Friday and found Lincoln Mack with a gunshot wound, the Burlington County prosecutor’s office and township police said.

The boy was transported to Capital Health Emergency Department at Deborah Hos-pital, where he was pro-nounced dead at 8pm.

Prosecutors said the inves-tigation indicates the boy gained access to an unsecured

handgun in the home.“The evidence indicates

that the shooting was acci-dental and appeared to be self-inflicted,” prosecutors said.

The boy’s parents and two siblings were home at the time of the shooting, prosecutors said. The investigation is ongoing and no charges were immediately filed, they said.

“Our hearts are with Lin-coln’s family in the wake of this unspeakable tragedy,” Prose-cutor Scott Coffina said.

“However, an accident like this is entirely preventable. I urge everyone who owns a gun to go — right now — and make sure it is secure and not acces-sible to any children in their home.” “It’s a very, very unfor-tunate situation,” Mayor David Patriarca said earlier. “My heart goes out to the family.”

Mom, 6 kids diein Mississippihouse fire

AP — CLINTON, MISSISSIPPI

A mother and her six children died when a fire destroyed their home early Saturday in central Mississippi, authorities said.

The father was the lone survivor of the 12:30am blaze in Clinton, a city of about 26,500 people just outside the capital city of Jackson. He tried unsuccessfully to save family members and suffered smoke inhalation, burns, cuts and bruises, city spokesman Mark Jones said.

He was taken to a local hospital but “wanted to stay at the scene,” Jones said.

Jones later released a list of those killed: Brittney Presley, 33, and her children Landon Brookshire, 15; Lane Presley, 13; Lawson Presley, 12; Grayson Presley, 6; Malcom Presley, 4; and Felicity Presley, 1.

The scene at the house later in the day was one of devastation. The charred remains of the single-story wood frame house partially covered with melted siding could be seen along with the remains of an SUV in the burned-out garage.

Clothes, toys and furniture were strewn on the yard in the aftermath of firefighters’ fighting the blaze. Burglar bars could be seen in the windows or, in some cases, on the lawn. It was not immediately known if they had hindered escapes from the fire.

Nearby, under a tree, someone had left a bouquet of carnations.

The state Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire, Jones said. He said the house was built around 1951. He had no infor-mation on whether it was equipped with smoke detectors.

Fire officials will inves-tigate whether bars on the windows of the home pre-vented the mother and her six children from escaping the fire, the city spokesman said.

The bars were intended to keep burglars out. Investi-gators will also be looking for smoke alarms at the home.

Neighbors and friends said they are devastated. "It’s just horrible," West Browning, a childhood friend of the father, told WLBT.

WLBT identified the father as Jake Presley.

An IMF technical mission is expected in Buenos Aires next week to discuss obligations owed to the fund.

19MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020 HOME

CROSSWORD MALL ROYAL PLAZA

The QF Doc who’s running around the clock

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

For Qatar Foundation academic and avid runner Dr. Jeremie Arash Rafii Tabrizi, Education City is about to become Endurance City.

At 4pm today, the professor of genetic medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar – whose love of running has seen him tackle terrain ranging from deserts to mountains – will start running his first 6km loop around Qatar Foundation (QF). He won’t run his last one until 24 hours later.

During that time, Dr. Tabrizi will cover a distance equivalent to between three and four mar-athons, running around the same Education City route time after time, with only brief stops for

food and water. And with his “ultra-run” challenge stretching into National Sport Day, when QF will welcome Qatar’s com-munity to enjoy activities focused on sport and active living, he’s inviting people to lend their support as he goes through the pain barrier by running, jogging, or walking a loop with him.

An ultra-run is any foot race longer than a standard marathon

length, and Dr. Tabrizi says: “I do one every year, because if you do too many the sense of adventure and victory goes away, and after doing a 200km run in Italy last year I was looking for something for 2020.

“An athlete and trainer who I know told me that he did a 24-hour race around the same 400M track, because the challenge was not so m u c h t h e

physical side as the mental aspect

– seeing the same things hour after hour, using the same muscles all the time.

“I found this interesting, and thought about how I could bring an ultra-run into the community, to share it with people who might then decide to run a marathon or even an ultra-race themselves.”

Dr. Tabrizi, who has been ultra-running for 14 years, decided Education City should be the venue for his test of endurance because of his pride in the emphasis that QF and Qatar place on education.

“I go to other countries and people tell me how they see QF as a model for the region and how they would love their country to have universities like those at QF,” he explains. “It shows how QF is setting the standard for the region in terms of education.

“The concept of my run is to highlight this, which is why I decided to run a loop around the universities at QF rather than just run around a track. I just feel it’s a way of acknowledging the work that QF, and everyone within it, does.”

The first 24-hour run to be held in Qatar is open for eve-ryone, of all ages, to join at any time, with members of the Qatar Ultra Runners group among those who will be participating.

Dr. Tabrizi – who will set off from Education City’s Green Spine outside Weill Cornell Med-icine-Qatar, a QF partner uni-versity, today – plans to run for 50-55 minutes at a time, pausing only to rehydrate and refuel, and will adjust his pace according to who joins him. By the time he fin-ishes, he expects to have covered between 120-150km.

“I’m excited about it,” he says. “I know it will be hard, but ultra-running is an adventure, and you become addicted to that adventure.

“At some point, you have to dig deep inside yourself and find something positive and uplifting that gets you to the finish; you just find a way of dealing with whatever comes. I wanted to bring a run like this into the com-munity so people can see that something they may have thought was impossible is actually achievable, and this may inspire them to make a change in their own lives or lifestyles.

“My goal is just to get as many people as possible running a loop or part of a loop with me, and I’m very grateful for all the support I’ve had already. People can even come at midnight or 2am and run a loop, and I’d imagine not many have ever thought of doing that, so it’s an adventure for them. It gives them a chance to live something different, and it helps me because running through the night is difficult – you’re cold, exhausted, a bit lonely, and what gets you through is having people alongside to talk to.”

Dr. Tabrizi is adamant about the psychological – as well as the physical – benefit that running, and physical activity in general, brings. “I started running when I was a medical student, after lec-tures, because it was a way of disconnecting and alleviating pressure, and I’ve continued ever since,” he says.

“When you run, you’re away from your phone, you’re there with your thoughts, you often find ideas coming to you, and you de-stress. Even in a world with as much technology as ours, it’s not impossible to just find 30 minutes or an hour a day for physical activity, even if it’s just walking – because that’s the time when we connect with ourselves.”

Dr. Jeremie Arash Rafii Tabrizi, Professor of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar.

Dr. Jeremie Arash Rafii Tabrizi

Dr. Tabrizi, who has been ultra-running for 14 years, decided Education City should be the venue for his test of endurance be-cause of his pride in the emphasis that QF and Qatar place on education.

Ayyappanum Koshiyum is a 2020 Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by Sachy. It was produced by Ranjith and P. M. Sasidharan under the company Gold Coin Motion Picture Company.

AYYAPPANUM KOSHIYUM

Anveshanam (2D/Malayalam) 4:30pm; The Room (2D/Drama) 4:30pm; Birds Of Prey (2D/Action) 6:30pm; Malang (2D/Hindi) 9;00pm; Latte And The Magic Waterstone (2D/Animation) 2:15pm; Frozen II (2D/Comedy) 4:00 & 6:00pm; Vaanam Kottatum (2D/Tamil) 2:00pm; Jaanu (2D/Telugu) 11:30pm; Terra Willy: Unknown Planet (2D/Animation) 2:30pm; Anjaam Pathira (2D/Malayalam) 6:15 & 11:30pm; Varane Avashyamund (2D/Mal) 8:30pmAyyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 7;30, 8:30, 10;30 & 11:00pm

Birds Of Prey (2D/Action) 11:30am, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30 & 12:00 midnightVarane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 11:45am, 2:45 & 8:30pm; Jaanu (2D/Telugu) 11:00amAnveshanam (2D/Malayalam) 5:45 & 11:30pmMalang (2D/Hindi) 2:00 & 8:00pmVaanam Kottatum (2D/Tamil) 5:00pm

LANDMARK

AL KHOR

Anjaam Pathira (2D/Malayalam) 3:15pm Shylock (2D/Malayalam) 8;30pm Anveshanam (2D/Malayalam) 12:30, 3:00, 5:30, 8;00, 10;30pm & 1:30amVarane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 12:30, 3:15, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30pm & 2:15amMalang (2D/Hindi) 1:00, 6:00 & 11:00pmJaanu (2D/Telugu) 12:30pmVaanam Kottatum (2D/Tamil) 6:00pm

ASIAN TOWN

ROXY

FLIK Mirqab Mall

Bad Boys For Life (2D/Action) 11:20am, 1:45, 2:55, 4:10, 6:35, 7:10, 8:35, 9:00 & 11:30pmBirds Of Prey (2D/Action) 10:30am, 11:10am, 11:40am, 12:40, 1:20, 1:50, 2:50, 3:35, 4:00, 5:00, 6:10, 7:10, 7:35, 8:20, 9:20, 9:45, 10:30, 11:30pm, 12:00 midnightDolittle (2D/Comedy) 11:10am, 2:30, 1:40, 3:05 & 5:30pmLatte And The Magic Waterstone (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 1:10 & 2:30pmMalang (2D/Hindi) 7:20, 9:35 & 0:20amSpies in Disguise (2D/Animation) 10:30amTerra Willy: Unknown Planet (2D/Animation) 10:50am, 11:50am, 3:40 & 5:20pmThe Room (2D/Drama) 11:00pmThief Of Baghdad (2D/Arabic) 4:20, 5:50, 7:55, 10:00pm & 0:05amThe Gentlemen 12:40, 5:05 & 6:20pmVarane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 10:10pm

Anveshanam (2D/Malayalam) 11:00am, 1:50, 4:45 & 9:10pm; Bad Boys For Life (2D/Action) 11:00am, 1:00, 5:40, 6:00 & 10:30pm; Birds Of Prey (2D/Action) 11:00am, 1:10, 3:20, 3:30, 3:40, 5:50, 6:00, 8:10 & 8:20pm; Dolittle (2D/Comedy) 10:30, 11:00, 12:30, 1:10, 2:20, 3:20 & 5:30pm; Jaanu (2D/Telugu) 6:10, 10;30 & 11:45pm; Latte And The Magic Waterstone (2D/Ani-mation) 12:30, 4:20, 4:30, 6:20 & 6:30pmVarane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 10:10pmMalang (2D/Hindi) 8:10, 8;20 & 11:00pmVaanam Kottatum (2D/Tamil) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 7:40, 8:20,8:30 10:00, 10:40, 11:20 & 11:30pm

Anveshanam (2D/Malayalam) 2:00pmBad Boys For Life (2D/Action) 5:00pm,Varane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 7:00pmBirds Of Prey (2D/Action) 9:30pmFrozen II (2D/Comedy) 2:00 & 3:45pmVaanam Kottatum (2D/Tamil) 11:30pmLatte And The Magic Waterstone (2D/Animation) 2:00pmTerra Willy: Unknown Planet (2D/Animation) 3:30pmAyyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 8:00 & 11:15pmMalang (2D/Hindi) 5:30pm

Varane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 5:00pm Anveshanam (2D/Malayalam) 6:45pmThe Room (2D/Drama) 5:00pmMalang (2D/Hindi) 9:00pm; Birds Of Prey (2D/Action) 7:00pm; Latte And The Magic Waterstone (2D/Ani-mation) 5:30pm; Terra Willy: Unknown Planet (2D/Animation) 2:15pm; Vaanam Kottatum (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm; Jaanu (2D/Telugu) 2:00pmAnjaam Pathira (2D/Malayalam) 2:30pmFrozen II (2D/Comedy) 3:45 & 5:00pmAyyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 7:30, 8:30, 10:45 & 11:30pm

The Snow Moon

20 MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020MORNING BREAK

FAJR SUNRISE 04.55 am 06.12 am

W A L R U WA I S : 17o↗ 20o W A L K H O R : 17o↗ 22o W D U K H A N : 16o↗ 20o W D O H A : 18o↗ 23o W M E S A I E E D 17o↗ 22o W A B U S A M R A 16o↗ 20o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 03:15 – 12:31 LOW TIDE 10:54 – 20:19

Moderate temperature daytime and partly cloudy to cloudy with a chance of scattered rain and slight dust to blowing dust at some places.

Minimum Maximum18oC 23oC

ZUHRMAGHRIB

11.48 am05.26 pm

ASR ISHA

03.00 pm06.56 pm

A Snow Moon appeared at its fullest over the Empire State Building during sunset in New York City, yesterday. Northeastern Native American tribes referred to the second full moon of winter as the Snow Moon because of February's heavy snow.

Orbiter set to launch missionto reveal Sun’s secretsAFP — MIAMI

The European Space Agency is set to embark upon one of its most ambitious projects to date, with the launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral of its Solar Orbiter probe bound for the Sun.

The mission, due to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center at 11:03 pm (0403 GMT today), is set to last up to nine years. Scientists say the craft, developed in close cooper-ation with NASA, is expected to provide unprecedented insights into the Sun’s atmos-phere, its winds and its mag-netic fields.

It will also garner the first-ever images of the Sun’s uncharted polar regions.

“It will be terra incognita,” Daniel Muller, ESA project sci-entist for the mission in the

Netherlands, was quoted as telling the NASA website. “This is really exploratory science.”

After a fly-by of Venus and Mercury, the satellite is set to hit a maximum speed of 245,000km per hour (150,000 mph) before settling into orbit around the Sun.

The 10 state-of-the-art instruments on board will record myriad observations to help scientists unlock clues about what drives solar winds and flares.

Those winds and flares emit billions of highly charged particles that impact the Earth, producing the spectacular Northern Lights. But they can also disrupt radar systems, radio networks and even, though rarely, render satellites useless.

Orbiting relatively close to the Sun -- at nearly one-quarter Earth’s distance from its star

-- Solar Orbiter will be exposed to sunlight 13 times stronger than that reaching Earth.

With a custom-designed titanium heat shield, it is designed to withstand temper-atures as high as 500 Celsius (930 Fahrenheit). Its heat-resistant structure will also protect its instruments from extreme particle radiation emit ted f rom solar explosions.

The only spacecraft to pre-viously fly over the Sun’s poles was another joint ESA/NASA venture, the Ulysses, launched in 1990. But it got no closer to the Sun than the Earth is.

“You can’t really get much closer than Solar Orbiter is going and still look at the Sun,” Muller said. The mission will be controlled from the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany.

Robert Conrad, star of The Wild, Wild West, dies at 84AP — LOS ANGELES

Robert Conrad (pictured), the rugged, contentious actor who starred in the hugely popular 1960s television series “Hawaiian Eye” and “The Wild, Wild West,” died yesterday. He was 84.

The actor died of heart failure in Malibu, California, family spokesperson Jeff Ballard said. A small private service is planned for March 1, which would have been his 85th birthday.

“He lived a wonderfully long life and while the family is saddened by his passing, he will live forever in their hearts,” Ballard said.

With his good looks and strong physique, Conrad was a rising young actor when he was chosen for the lead in “Hawaiian Eye.” He became an

overnight star after the show debuted in 1959.

Conrad played Tom Lopaka, a daring private investigator whose partner was Tracy Steele, played by Anthony Eisley. They operated out of a fancy office overlooking the pool at a popular Waikiki hotel.

The two private eyes alter-nated on simple investigations

with help from the island’s colorful characters, including a singer named Cricket Blake (Connie Stevens) and a ukulele-strumming taxi driver named Kazuo (Poncie Ponce).

After five seasons with the show, Conrad went on to embrace the television craze of the time, period Westerns, but with a decidedly different twist.

In “The Wild, Wild West,” which debuted in 1965, he was James T. West, a James Bond-like agent who used innovative tactics and futuristic gadgets (futuristic for the 1800s anyway) to battle bizarre vil-lains. He was ably assisted by Ross Martin’s Artemus Gordon, a master of disguise.

The show aired until 1970.The series “Baa Baa Black

Sheep” followed in 1976 and was roughly based on an auto-biography by Marine Corps ace

and Medal of Honor recipient Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, who wrote of the raucous fliers he commanded during World War II. Conrad played Pappy Boyington, so nicknamed because he often rescued his pilots from severe punishment. Bringing his customary intensity to the role, he even learned to fly.

The CBS series was enjoyed by male viewers but not so much by women and it was dropped after its first season. It was revived in December 1977 as “Black Sheep Squadron,” after the network’s new shows failed to find audiences. It con-tinued on for another season.

He was born Konrad Robert Falkowski in Chicago on March 1, 1935. His great-grandfather had emigrated from Germany, and his grandfather founded several meat shops in Chicago called Hartman’s.

Bill Gates buys $645m hydrogen-powered superyachtIANS — SAN FRANCISCO

Microsoft co-founder and the world’s second richest man Bill Gates has commissioned himself a futuristic superyacht that’s powered entirely by liquid hydrogen — meaning its only emission is water — for $645m.

Gates is a regular superyacht holidaymaker but has not previously owned his own vessel and has preferred to rent during his summer trips.

The plans of buying the superyacht were unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show last year in December.

Notably, this is the first of its kind being powered by liquid hydrogen.

The luxury liner is

370ft-long and comprises five decks complete with space for 14 guests, 31 crew members, a gym, yoga studio, beauty room, massage parlour and cascading pool on its rear deck, The Daily Mail reported yesterday.

Hydrogen fuel works by creating electricity to power a battery and motor by mixing hydrogen and oxygen in spe-cially treated plates, which are combined to form the fuel cell stack.

The fuel cell stacks and bat-teries have allowed engineers to significantly shrink these components to even fit neatly inside a family car, although they are also commonly used to fuel buses, other larger vehicles and now superyachts, according to Unilad.