QNAAntalya

Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu

has praised the efforts of Qatar International Search and Rescue Group in the firefighting opera-tions taking place in his country, in co-ordination with the Turkish Disas-ter and Emergency Man-agement Authority. This came during the Turk-ish minister’s tour of the headquarters of the fire management department in Antalya.

Cavusoglu met with Staff Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah Eid al-Mohan-nadi, commander of the participating Qatari team.

Meanwhile, the Qa-

tar International Search and Rescue Group of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) continued its participation in the fi re-fi ghting, search and rescue operations as well as pro-

viding relief and medical aid to those injured in the aff ected areas owing to the fi res in the Turkish state of Antalya.

The Group, which con-sisted of fully-equipped

lifeguards, paramedics and medical staff , began early yesterday providing help and taking part in keep-ing the current situation in the aff ected areas under control.

QSE clarifi cationon disclosure

Messi to leave Barcelona as contract talks collapse

Biden off ers safe havento Hong Kongers in US

Israel’s fi rst Lebanon air strikes in 7 years

Covid cases cross 200mn worldwide

Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) yesterday clarified that the Investment Holding Group Q.P.S.C, a Qatari public shareholding company, has reported that there is no undisclosed information or decisions or news regarding the increase in demand for its shares. QSE indicated, in a statement on its website, that the QSE management, based on the principle of disclosure and transparency, had addressed the company regarding the high volume of demand for its shares, as the latter reported that there was no information or decisions undisclosed by it. QSE pointed out that the Investment Holding Group aff irmed its full commitment to the laws and legislations related to the principles of disclosure, the principle of transparency, and concern for the interests of dealers. (QNA)

Lionel Messi will end his 20-year career with Barcelona after the Argentine superstar failed to reach agreement on a new deal with the club, the Spanish giants announced yesterday. “Although an agreement has been reached between FC Barcelona and Leo Messi it cannot be formalised due to economic and structural obstacles,” said a statement from the club. “Faced with this situation, Lionel Messi will not remain linked to Barcelona. Both sides deeply regret that the wishes of both the player and the club cannot come true.” Sport Page 1

President Joe Biden announced yesterday that Hong Kong citizens currently in the United States who fear for their safety amid the political crackdown back home will receive temporary safe haven. Biden said the move recognises “the significant erosion” of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong by the Chinese government. Biden cited the “politically motivated arrests” of more than 100 opposition politicians, activists and protesters on charges under the national security law. More than 10,000 others have been arrested in relation to anti-government protests, he said.

The Israeli air force said it carried out air strikes on neighbouring Lebanon for the first time in seven years yesterday, following a second day of rocket fire across the border.Lebanon condemned the strikes as an “escalation”. “Earlier today (Thursday), rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the Israeli air force tweeted. It was the first time since 2014 that Israel had hit targets in Lebanon, the air force said. Lebanon’s Al-Manar television said Israeli aircraft carried out two strikes outside the town of Mahmudiya, some 11km from the border. Page 3

The number of Covid-19 infections recorded worldwide passed 200mn yesterday, an AFP count showed. The highly contagious Delta variant has driven the virus to return with a vengeance, the number of daily cases recorded worldwide rising by 68% since mid-June. But as more of the world gets vaccinated against the coronavirus, the number of deaths has increased at a slower rate, up 20% since the start of July, according to AFP’s count.

Turkish FM praises Qatari team’s rescue eff orts

SPORT | Page 1BUSINESS | Page 1

Industries Qatar net profi t surges to QR3.54bn in fi rst half

Aft er Tokyo, Fares targets Paris gold

GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978FRIDAY Vol. XXXXII No.11997

August 6, 2021Dhul-Hijjah 27, 1442 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

See Pages 4, 5 & 6

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

Voter registration process completed

The voter registration process for the Shura Council elections in its fi rst session, which lasted fi ve

days, ended last evening in all polling stations, and through text messages, and Metrash2 application. A source in the Supervisory Committee concerned with the Shura Council elections told QNA that the voter registration proc-ess ended yesterday, and that the Vot-ers Committee will begin preparing the preliminary lists of voters and an-nouncing them at the electoral district headquarters next Sunday, followed by the stage of receiving objections and grievances during the period from Au-gust 8-12, followed by the announce-ment of the fi nal lists of voters in the electoral headquarters on August 22.

He explained that the citizen who applied for registration and did not fi nd his or her name in the voters list has the right to fi le a grievance, just as the voter has the right to object to the registration of another voter, and to provide justifi cations for this objec-tion. He pointed out that the relevant committee will consider and decide on all grievances and objections, and

then announce the fi nal lists of voters on August 22.

The source confi rmed that the proc-ess of registering voters took place eas-ily and smoothly, whether through the Metrash2 application, text message or at electoral headquarters.

He said the Ministry of Interior pro-vided all the necessary needs to receive voters during the registration process

in electoral headquarters, and that the ministry’s advanced technological in-frastructure gave citizens the oppor-tunity to register through their smart-phones without the need to come to these headquarters.

In his statement to QNA, he praised the citizens’ turnout for registra-tion processes, and said it refl ected the level of awareness that the Qatari

voter enjoys, and his or her keenness to participate in the electoral process in a way that enhances the process of development and modernisation in our beloved country.

Receiving applications from those wishing to run for the Shura Council elections will begin on August 22, and will last fi ve days, through a central committee. (QNA)

The Shura Council election voter registration in progress.

The Voters Committee will announce the final lists of voters in the electoral headquarters on August 22

Qatar in UK amberlist from Sunday

Qatar will be moved to England’s amber list eff ective from 4am BST on Sunday, August 8, the

British embassy announced yesterday.“This means that travellers from Qa-

tar arriving in England after this date will no longer be required to complete 10 days isolation in a managed hotel quarantine facility,” it was explained in a tweet.

“However, unless travellers have been vaccinated in the UK, the US or the European Union, they will still be required to isolate for 10 days at a pri-vate address.

“In England, travellers can opt-in to the test to release scheme and may be able to end their isolation early subject to a negative day fi ve Covid-19 test.

“Travellers need to book their Cov-id-19 tests before entering the UK to be taken after arrival. Further details can

be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england

“We’ve been working with the Gov-ernment of Qatar and would like to thank them for their co-operation,” the embassy added.

British Prime Minister Boris John-son said yesterday that more coun-tries would be opened up for travel as more Covid-19 vaccines are rolled out globally, after scrapping quarantine for fully-vaccinated travellers from France.

“You’ve got to balance our very strong desire to get people travelling with the need to protect us against new variants... The great thing about the double jabs is that it does allow us now to travel to and from European countries and from the United States,” Johnson told broadcasters.

‘Covid vaccines in Qatar highly eff ective against Delta strain’

The Covid-19 vaccines being ad-ministered in Qatar are highly eff ective at preventing infection

and severe disease due to the highly in-fectious Delta strain which is in circu-lation in the country, a top healthcare offi cial has said.

“The clinical evidence here in Qatar clearly shows that the vaccines are safe and highly eff ective,” Dr Abdullatif al-Khal, chair of the National Strategic Group on Covid-19 and head of the Infectious Diseases Division at Hamad Medical Corporation, emphasised.

“There have been very few inci-dences in recent months where fully vaccinated patients have been admit-ted to hospital with Covid-19. Almost all patients admitted to hospital wards or the intensive care are either not vac-cinated or have only had one dose,” he explained in an interview published yesterday by the Ministry of Public Health.

Referring to the decision to ease some of the restrictions under Phase 3 of the Gradual Lifting of the Covid-19 Restrictions, Dr al-Khal thanked the community’s adherence to the phased lifting of restrictions and their over-whelming response to the vaccination

programme, which have contributed to relatively low number of cases in Qatar in recent weeks. There has been a slight increase in Covid-19 cases following the recent Eid holiday, but this mini-mal increase was expected.

“With many people returning to Qa-tar in the next three weeks following travel abroad, there is a real risk that Covid-19 cases could increase during this time, particularly with the highly infectious Delta strain circulating in Qatar and many countries around the world,” Dr al-Khal cautioned.

Considering this potential risk pre-sented by returning travellers, he feels, it is risky to move to the full Phase 4. However, the changes coming into ef-fect today will allow the easing of a set of restrictions throughout August.

“I urge community members to ad-here to the preventive measures and the restrictions to help control the spread of the virus and to prevent any

further rise in cases. We are all eager to return to normalcy as soon as possible, but what is most important is that we do not rush this process and jeopardise all the achievement we have made to get to where we are now.”

Dr al-Khal stressed that over the past three or four months, the Delta strain has become the most dominant strain of Covid-19 in many countries around the world.

“Our strict travel and return policy helped to delay the entry of the Delta strain into Qatar but it has recently be-gun circulating in our community,” he said.

“The Delta strain is a much more contagious strain of the virus than the strains we had previously seen in Qatar and causes more severe infection. It is important to realise that more than one third of those infected will suff er from long lasting complications of the disease such as fatigue, chronic headache, diffi -

culty with memory or diffi culty breath-ing even if they get a mild infection.

“For this reason, it is more impor-tant than ever before for people to get vaccinated and get protected. Vaccina-tion not only protects the person being vaccinated from getting sick; it also helps to protect other people around you as the vaccine reduces the ability to transmit the virus to other people.”

Dr al-Khal observed that since the launch of the National Covid-19 Vac-cination Programme the community’s response has been very encouraging.” To Page 2

Dr Abdullatif al-Khal

Night sky turns orange as Turkey’s wildfires rage on at the shores of Cokertme village near Bodrum earlier this week. (Reuters)

Dr Abdullatif al-Khal, chair of National Strategic Group on Covid, cautions public against Delta implications

2 Gulf TimesFriday, August 6, 2021

QATAR

Minister for Foreign Aff airs and East African Co-operation of Tanzania Liberata Mulamula met yesterday with ambassador of Qatar to Tanzania Hussein bin Ahmed al-Humaid. The meeting dealt with reviewing bilateral co-operation. — QNA

Tanzanian FM meets Qatari ambassador

The Embassy of Pakistan commemorated the life and services of Abdul Latif Baloch, a long-standing member of the mission, at an event hosted by ambassador Syed Ahsan Raza Shah yesterday. Baloch served at the embassy in various capacities for almost half a century, a press note said. The event was attended by the family members of Baloch and a cross-section of Pakistani community in Qatar. Rich tributes were paid to late Baloch for his immense contribution as an embassy member as well as active community member. He has also been recommended for Pakistan’s National Award by the embassy. Speaking on the occasion, the ambassador recalled his own close association with Abdul Lateef Baloch and paid homage to his long-standing services. He remembered Baloch as a hardworking, sincere, upright and dedicated team member who was always willing to go even beyond the call of duty in the course of his service. Prayers for the departed soul were off ered on the occasion.

Pakistan ambassador Syed Ahsan Raza awarding a letter of appreciation, in recognition of late Latif Baloch’s services, to his son on the embassy premises yesterday. Ambassador Syed Ahsan Raza with members of the Baloch community at the event.

Pakistan embassy pays tribute to long-serving member

Qatar participates in swearing-in ceremony of Iranian presidentQNATehran

HE the Minister of Com-merce and Industry and Acting Minister of Fi-

nance Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari participated in the swearing-in

ceremony of President Ebrahim Raisi, who was sworn in as Presi-dent of Iran in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

HE the Minister conveyed to Iranian president the congratu-lations of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and His Highness’ wishes

for the relations between the two countries further development and prosperity.

For his part, the Iranian presi-dent conveyed to the minister his greetings to the Amir and his wishes for the Qatari people further progress and prosperity. Page 3

Total recoveries of Covid-19 increase to 224,384: MoPHQNADoha

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) reported yesterday 117 new con-

fi rmed cases of Covid-19 among community and 64 among trav-ellers. The MoPH recorded 99 recoveries from the virus during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases recovered in Qatar to 224,384.

Vaccination data 3,916,863 Covid-19 vac-

cine doses have been adminis-tered since the start of the pro-gramme. 43,974 Covid-19 vaccine

doses have been administered in the past 24 hours.87.3% of the eligible popu-

lation has now received at least one dose of the vaccine. 98.6% of over 60s (the most

vulnerable population group) have been vaccinated with at least one dose, while 93.7% have received both doses.

In recent weeks, the combined impact of Covid-19 restric-tions and increasing vaccination rates, and the overwhelming support of the community, has resulted in a consistent reduc-tion in the number of new daily

infections in the country. How-ever, it is still important to be cautious as the second wave is not yet over and there are still two highly contagious and high-ly virulent strains of the virus that are actively circulating in the community.

The fi rst phase of the gradual lifting of precautionary restric-tions began on May 28, and is part of a four-stage plan to be implemented over the coming months. The date of implemen-tation and the duration of each phase will depend on the epi-demic indicators which depend to a great extent on the degree of compliance of the commu-nity members with the cur-rent measures, restrictions and guidance by the government.

It is important during the current period that all members of society, including those who have received the vaccination, continue to wear masks as rec-ommended and continue to ad-here to social distancing.

Anyone suff ering from Cov-id-19 symptoms should contact 16000 helpline immediately. This is important as the earlier the disease is detected the easier it will be to receive the right treat-ment and recover from it. Visit the MoPH website for regular up-dates and new information.

‘Covid vaccines in Qatar highly eff ective against Delta strain’

From Page 1

“Among our eligible popula-tion — 12 years and over — 85% of people have received at least one dose and we continue to administer more than 20,000 doses a day on average.

“This is a very encouraging vaccination rate and the more people that are vaccinated and protected from the virus, the safer our community will be and the faster we will return to-wards normal life.

“There is still a small minor-

ity of eligible people who have not yet accepted their invita-tions to get vaccinated. If you are one of these people, I ask you to please take the matter seriously as the new Delta strain is more contagious and virulent and to please play your part in beating Covid-19 epidemic and helping the community return to normal life as soon as pos-sible.

“It is especially important that people in the following groups get vaccinated: Elderly; people with chronic diseases;

and pregnant women. Nine out of 10 people over 65 years have been vaccinated but older peo-ple remain those most at risk of severe disease due to Covid-19, so it is important that every single one of our elderly popu-lation is fully vaccinated.

“Pregnant women are at higher risk of severe Covid-19 compared with women of child-bearing age who are not preg-nant, so it is very important for pregnant women to get the vac-cine. Around the world, hun-dreds of thousands of pregnant

women have been vaccinated and no notable safety concerns have been identified.

“I wish to remind people, including those who are fully vaccinated, of the importance of adhering to wearing masks when in public places and when visiting or socialising with oth-ers who are not from the same household.

“This will help them sig-nificantly reduce their risk of catching the new Delta strain of the virus and keep them and their loved ones safe.”

269 face prosecution for Covid violations

In line with the cabinet decision based on Law No. 17 /1990 regarding infectious diseases, the competent authorities referred 269 persons to the Public Prosecution for violating the Covid-19 preventive and precautionary measures in force. A total of 240 persons were booked for not wearing a mask, 23 for not maintaining a safe physical distance, five for not installing the Ehteraz app and one person for violating the limit for number of passengers permitted in a vehicle, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) tweeted yesterday. The competent authorities urge the public to adhere to the precautionary and preventive measures in force to protect them and others from the spread of coronavirus, the MoI tweet added.

REGION/ARAB WORLD3Gulf Times

Friday, August 6, 2021

Six Sudan paramilitary offi cers sentenced to death for killings of student protestersReutersKhartoum

A Sudanese court said yes-terday it had sentenced to death six offi cers in

the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for the 2019 killing of six students who were protesting at economic hardship as civilians negotiated power-sharing with

the military. The prosecution of personnel from the RSF — which is commanded by the deputy head of Sudan’s transitional gov-erning body — over these killings and others alleged is seen as a test of the government’s commit-ment to democratisation after decades of autocratic rule.

In a statement on the convic-tions of the RSF offi cers, the ci-vilian court in Elobeid, where the

killings occurred, said the de-fendants broke RSF law and be-haved individually, adding “their actions have no relation to the forces they were part of.”

It was not immediately known whether the six would appeal against the verdict.

The teenage victims were part of a student protest following the June 3, 2019 killing of dozens of protesters demanding a faster

transition to civilian, democratic government after an uprising that toppled veteran President Omar al-Bashir. Members of the RSF, which emerged out of the Janjaweed militias loyal to Bashir that were accused of atrocities during the Darfur confl ict in the early 2000s, were widely blamed for the post-uprising bloodshed.

In May, another RSF member was convicted and sentenced to

death for running over a protester soon after the June attack.

There have been calls from ci-vilian Sudanese leaders — who share power with the long domi-nant military on the Sovereign Council — as well as world pow-ers for the RSF to be folded into the regular armed forces. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, com-mander of the RSF and deputy head of the Sovereign Council,

has voiced reluctance to take such a step.

The Sovereign Council has said it will guide the country to free elections in 2024. The Elobeid court acquitted two other RSF offi cers, ruling that they had not carried weapons and tried to prevent the fatal shootings of protesters. One of the nine RSF personnel originally accused in the case was found guilty but re-

ferred to a minors court for sen-tencing as he was underage at the time of the crime, the court said.

At the time of the mid-2019 unrest, military commanders ac-cused protesters of having been infi ltrated by militants and that they had attacked markets and banks. Protest leaders said the demonstrators were peaceful and accused soldiers of shooting “in-discriminately.”

Raisi says Iran backs moves to lift sanctions but won’t bow to pressureAFPTehran

President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran backs any moves to lift US sanctions but that the

Islamic republic will not bow to pressure, as he took the oath of offi ce yesterday.

Raisi, who won a June 18 elec-tion marked by record absten-tion, takes offi ce with Iran facing an economy battered by US sanc-tions, a grinding health crisis and thorny negotiations on its nucle-ar programme.

“Sanctions against the nation of Iran must be lifted. We will support any diplomatic plans that will realise this goal,” Raisi told his swearing-in ceremony in parliament. But he stressed that “the policy of pressure and sanc-tions will not cause the nation of Iran to back down from following up on its legal rights”.

The former judiciary chief of-fi cially began his four-year man-date on Tuesday when he was inaugurated by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Raisi succeeds Hassan Rouhani, whose landmark achievement during his two-term presidency was the 2015 nuclear agreement be-tween the Islamic republic and six world powers.

His swearing-in ceremony was attended by around 70 foreign dignitaries, including Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Is-mail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas in Gaza. Security was stepped up for the ceremony with traffi c restrictions imposed around the parliament and fl ights suspended for two and a half hours in Tehran and the adjacent provinces of Al-borz and Qazvin.

Iran has been grappling with a deep economic and social crisis following former president Don-ald Trump’s decision to unilater-ally withdraw the United States from the nuclear deal in 2018 and impose crushing sanctions.

In response, Tehran pulled back from most of its main com-mitments in the deal formally known as the Joint Comprehen-sive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. The 60-year-old also faces warnings to Iran from the United States, Britain and Israel over a deadly tanker attack last week, for which Tehran denies respon-sibility.

Iran is also battling the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, with more

than 4mn cases and upwards of 92,000 deaths. Six rounds of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers were held in Vienna between April and June in an at-tempt to revive the accord. The last round concluded on June 20, with no date set for another.

Raisi’s presidency is due to consolidate power in the hands of conservatives following their 2020 parliamentary election vic-tory, which was marked by the disqualifi cation of thousands of reformist or moderate candi-dates. The new president got to work on Wednesday, chairing a coronavirus task force meeting and also seeing ministers from the Rouhani administration, the presidency said.

Raisi will have his work cut out for him on several fronts, several Iranian newspapers noted after his inauguration. US sanctions have choked Iran and its vital oil exports, and the economy con-tracted by more than 6% in both 2018 and 2019. Raisi will have to “face multiple challenges due to the high number of problems”, an editorial in the ultraconservative Kayhan newspaper said Wednes-day, including “unprecedented infl ation”, steep housing prices, a private-sector recession and “corruption”.

Daily Javan called on the new government to “implement spe-cifi c plans to resolve the urgent” problems.

It cited “water and electricity,

basic products and vaccinations” as among issues that need to be resolved in the short term.

Rolling blackouts began in Te-hran and other large cities last month, with offi cials blaming the impact of drought on hydroelec-tric power generation as well as surging demand. Demonstrators took to the streets of Khuzestan province in the southwest over water shortages.

Reformist newspaper Shargh expressed the hope that “political games will make way for healthy intellectual rivalry and diff erent discourse and voices” in the new government. “That will only be possible by promoting press and media freedom and great toler-ance on the part of government members,” it added.

Iran’s newly elected President Ebrahim Raisi gestures during his swearing-in ceremony at the Iranian parliament in Tehran yesterday.

The parliament house in Tehran.

President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during his swearing-in ceremony at the Iranian parliament in Tehran yesterday.

Israel conducts fi rst Lebanon air strikes in 7 years: militaryAFPJerusalem

The Israeli air force said it carried out air strikes on neighbouring Lebanon for

the fi rst time in seven years yes-terday. Lebanon condemned the strikes as an “escalation” that could mark a change of tactics by Israel, while UN peacekeepers urged restraint.

“Earlier today (Thursday), rockets were fi red from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the Israeli air force tweeted.

“In response... fi ghter jets struck the launch sites and in-frastructure used in Lebanon from which the rockets were launched.”

Israeli jets routinely strike Pal-estinians in Gaza. But it was the fi rst time since 2014 that they had hit targets in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Al-Manar tel-evision said Israeli aircraft car-ried out two strikes at around 12:40am outside the town of Mahmudiya, some 11km from the border. Lebanon’s offi cial National News Agency also re-ported the strikes, but provided few details.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said “Israel’s use of its air force to target Lebanese villages is the fi rst of its kind since 2006, and suggests an intention to es-calate attacks” against Lebanon.

The UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, which has been de-ployed in Lebanon since 1978 and has patrolled the border since the 2006 confl ict, said that Israel and Lebanon should “act with

urgency” to deescalate tensions.Meeting with Israeli and Leba-

nese military offi cers at a UN position in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL’s head of mission Stefano Del Col called on the sides “to ex-plore ways to reinforce security and stability along the Blue Line,” referring to the UN-demarcated border.

“In the most imperfect times, this mechanism has served you well, and now is the time to re-commit to it, not allow the spoil-ers to have the better of us,” Del Col said, in remarks relayed by UNIFIL.

Israeli warplanes last struck Lebanese territory near the bor-der with Syria in 2014, but they have not targeted south Leba-non strongholds. The Israeli army said it had carried out three

rounds of retaliatory shelling of south Lebanon. It triggered mul-tiple brush fi res in the tinder-dry conditions, but there were no re-ports of casualties.

The Lebanese army said 92 ar-tillery shells fi red by Israel landed in southern Lebanon following the Wednesday rocket fi re.

It said it was investigating who fi red the rockets. The ex-change came as thousands of grief-stricken Lebanese marked the fi rst anniversary of a devas-tating explosion in Beirut port, that killed at least 214 people and irreparably scarred the nation’s psyche.

The then government resigned in the face of a wave of popular anger but a year later, despite a worsening economic meltdown, no new cabinet has been formed.

A Lebanese army member holds the remains of Israeli ammunition as he stands near the damage in the aftermath of Israeli air strikes in Marjayoun yesterday, near the border with Israel.

Tunisia’s Ennahdha ready for ‘self-critique’AFPTunis

Tunisia’s Ennahdha party said yesterday it was ready for “self-critique”, days

after President Kais Saied sus-pended parliament and sacked the prime minister. The largest party in parliament and leading an unwieldy coalition govern-ment, Ennahdha had been at log-gerheads with Saied for months before his shock move on July 25, which it branded a “coup”.

Ennahdha has been part of almost all parliamentary coali-tions since Tunisia’s 2011 revolu-tion that ousted Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Its Consultative Coun-cil “stresses the necessity of the party undertaking a profound internal self-critique of its poli-cies”, a statement said.

It also cited the need for “re-visions and renewal” of its pro-grammes and leadership struc-tures. The council, which met Wednesday, “expresses under-standing of the growing popular anger, particularly among youth, as a result of economic and social failings” a decade after the revo-lution.

It said it held “the whole polit-ical class” responsible and urged “a speedy return to normal con-stitutional order and lifting the suspension of parliament”.

The council also called for the presentation of a new govern-ment before the assembly. En-nahdha is ready for “positive interaction to help overcome ob-stacles and secure the best con-ditions for resuming the demo-cratic process”, it added. Saied’s

shock measures included sus-pending parliament for 30 days, lifting parliamentary immu-nity and sacking prime minister Hichem Mechichi, who also held the interior ministry. The move came after months of political crisis and amid growing public anger over deep economic woes and spiralling coronavirus cases.

The president also fi red the defence, justice, economy and communications technology ministers, as well as top offi cials.

New economy and commu-nications technology ministers were named on Monday, while a new interior minister was named in late July.

Meanwhile, Tunisia’s anti-corruption authority aired pho-tographs dated yesterday of ex-prime minister Hichem Me-chichi declaring his properties at the agency’s headquarters, his fi rst public appearance since his July 25 dismissal by President Kais Saied.

Saied invoked a national emer-gency in taking executive control of the government and freezing parliament in a move that was welcomed by protesters disgrun-tled over years of disorder and stagnation but branded a coup by his political opponents.

The anti-corruption author-ity’s photos of Mechichi, posted on its website, appeared to dispel unconfi rmed reports that he was under house arrest.

US Senate Foreign Rela-tions Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and ranking member Jim Risch said yesterday they were “deeply concerned” by growing tension and instability in Tunisia.”

Areas of Iraqi northernprovince lose power after attack on pylonsAFPSamarra

Iraq’s northern Salaheddin province was left partially without power after “ter-

rorists” blew several pylons, the government said yesterday, as increasing attacks add to the strain on Iraq’s electricity net-work. “Terrorist elements” using “explosive devices” carried out attacks on 13 pylons over the past 48 hours, the electricity ministry said in a statement.

Provincial authorities distrib-uted photos showing the dam-aged pylons. Several districts in Salaheddin have since been without power, including some neighbourhoods in Samarra, one of the province’s largest cities, an AFP correspondent said.

Unclaimed attacks on Iraq’s electricity network have been in-creasing since the start of sum-mer. Authorities normally ac-cuse “terrorists” of being behind the attacks, without identifying a particular group. Oil-rich Iraq produces just 16,000 megawatts of power – far below the 24,000 megawatts needed, and even further from the expected future needs of a country whose popu-lation is set to double by 2050, according to the UN.

The country buys gas and electricity from neighbouring Iran to supply about a third of its power sector, which has been worn down by years of confl ict and poor maintenance, and is unable to meet the needs of the

country’s 40mn population. Last month, areas in the country’s south were plunged into dark-ness for several days after a series of similar attacks. Around the same time, Iran briefl y suspend-ed its gas and electricity exports because of Iraq’s failure to pay a $6 billion energy debt.

The US blacklisted Iran’s energy industry in late 2018 as it ramped up sanctions, but has granted Baghdad a series of temporary waivers, hoping that Iraq would wean itself off Iranian energy. The failure of Iraq’s power system is particularly acute in the baking hot summer months, often a time of social protest exacerbated by electricity shortages, when tem-peratures shoot past 45C.

Energy consultant Harry Istepanian said factors contrib-uting to Iraq’s energy crisis in-cluded not only the Iranian ex-port suspension but also a “lack of enough generation capacity and fuel supply, lack of main-tenance of the existing genera-tion units, high demand... high technical and commercial losses, vandalism and sabotage”.

The failure of Iraq’s power system is particularly acute in the baking hot summer months

DPS – MIS in top position

Bhavan’s School does it again

Perfect score for Olive International

Rajagiri Public School shines

DPS – Modern Indian School announced that its students had retained the top position both in Qatar and the Gulf region in the 2020-21 grade X exams of the Central Board of Secondary Education. The school secured 100% pass percentage with 355 stu-dents registered. Gouthami Gireesh Varma and Theertha Aravind earned the title of school toppers with 99.8% aggregate followed

by Tejaswi Manoj and Miraat Gupta with 99.6% and Diya Krishna Kuroor and Samriddhi Bhardwaj with 99.2%.A total of 171 students secured 90% and above, school average is 87.20%, number of centum 62 and 47 got A1 in all the subjects.The management, principal, vice principals, headmistress and staff congratulated all the students for their outstand-ing performance.

Bhavan’s Public School-Doha maintained its legacy of 100% result for the seventh consecutive year in the CBSE class X results. Out of 110 students who appeared for the exam, 42 students secured 90% and above in aggregate.Vedha Mahadevan is the school topper with 98.8%, followed by Harshi Bhavesh Modi with 98.6% and Deepayan Mukher-jee with 97.8%.In addition to the three toppers, six more students secured

‘A1’ grade in all the subjects. They are Sairam Hariharan, Tanisha Gnanasekaran, Miftah Ul Falah, Sarvagna Nandyala, Maruf Hossain and Faizul Islam Khan.A total of 84% of students scored above distinction marks. Others scored 70% and above marks.The chairman J K Menon, director administration Anjana Menon, principal M P Philip, vice principal Dharmaraj Kumar, and the management members complimented the students and staff for the achievement.

Olive International School, has secured 100% pass in CBSE grade X examinations. Alisha Brigit Binu emerged school topper with 93.8% marks. Fathima Rifa (second topper) and Avil Pinto (third topper) secured 92.2% and 90.6% respec-

tively. The school congratulated all the teachers who have given their best during the pandemic times and never failed to motivate the children to perform to the best of their ability.

Rajagiri Public School’s grade X students recorded 100% result in the CBSE 2020-2021 examinations with a school average of 82%. Zoya Asif Khan Dalwai stood first with 471 marks out of 500, followed by Ruth Sunil Thomas (464) and Huda Abdul Samad (457).While 28% students scored 90% and above, 69% students scored 80% and above and 100% of them scored above

60% on their aggregate marks.Out of 32 students, 26 students secured distinction.Principal Sanjeev Kumar congratulated and thanked the students, parents and teachers for the accomplishments. He thanked each and every one who worked as a spirited team in making the school ebullient and proud.Managing director George Jacob and other members of the school board of directors also conveyed their happiness.

Diya Krishna Kuroor

Adithya Krishnakumar Nair

Huda Afreen

Harshi Bhavesh Modi

Alisha Brigit Binu. Ruth Sunil Thomas

Theertha Aravind

Miraat Gupta

Anne Saji Mathews

Sehla Theruvath Kallungal Kabeer

Vedha Mahadevan

Avil Pinto. Huda Abdul Samad

Samriddhi Bhardwaj

Tejaswi Manoj

Arnab Chakraborti

Edwin Siby

Deepayan Mukherjee

Fathima Rifa. Zoya Asif Khan Dalwai

Gouthami Gireesh Varma

BPS excellence continuesBirla Public School, Doha once again secured 100% pass in the Central Board of Secondary Education’s grade X exams. The school’s 14th batch consisted of 518 students. Adithya Krishnakumar Nair emerged the topper scoring 99%, followed by Arnab Chakraborti (98.8%) and Anne Saji Mathews (98.4%).The school secured a total of 64 centum, 242 students scored more than 90% marks, 214 scored above 75% and 83 students scored A1 grade in five subjects. The subject

wise list of students who obtained A1 grade: Mathematics Standard (188), Science (195), Social Science (141), Math-ematics Basic (7), Information Technology (123), Computer Application (3), English (289), Second Languages (87).Birla Public School acknowledged the pivotal role played by the teachers and parents in their children’s accomplish-ment especially during the tiring times of the pandemic. School chairman Gope Shahani and the board of directors congratulated the students.

Outstanding results from MESMES Indian School produced outstanding result in the Class X CBSE Examination 2021 with a top score of 98.2%. A total of 548 students registered for the Board examination and the school secured 100% pass with 163 candidates securing 90% and above and a total of 364 students securing distinction.Sehla Theruvath Kallungal Kabeer with 98.2% was the school topper, followed by Edwin Siby (98%) and Huda Afreen (97.8%).Students who secured 100 marks in various subjects are Sehla Theruvath Kallungal Kabeer, Edwin Siby, Ramsha, Haleema Abdul Fathah, Danny Johny, Yousuf Ghouse Mo-hiuddin, Gayathri Greenid and Safura Arif Kasu.A total of 30 students secured A1 in all five subjects. They are: Sehla Theruvath Kallungal Kabeer, Edwin Siby, Huda Afreen, Yousuf Ghouse Mohiuddin, Angelin Jacob, Kolala Manjanna Yashaswini, Ramsha, Alwin Jacob, Fanhal Fathima Yaseer, Fatma Ridha, Gayathri Greenid, Fathima Ubaid, SafuraArifKasu, Syed Mahmoud Pasha, Ayesha Erum, Krishna Priya Thayyil Jayarajan, Lena Ann Kuria-kose, Emmanuel Shijo Antony, Johnpaul Lorance, Athulya

Chathambally Arun, Mudassir Mukrram Ali, Adrija Rajesh, Ann Susan George, Fathimath Zahra, Nisrin Sajin, Hameem Saheer, Mohamed Nouman, Shaun Louis Dcosta, Azra Muskaan, Naziya Abdul Jaleel.The top scorers in various subjects are: Fanhal Fathima Yaseer – English (99); Sehla Theruvath Kallungal Kabeer, Edwin Siby, Huda Afreen, Yousuf Ghouse Mohiuddin, Aye-sha Erum, Kolala ManjannaYashaswini, Fathima Ubaid and Safura Arif Kasu – Science (98); Sehla Theruvath Kallungal Kabeer, Edwin Siby and Ramsha – Mathematics (100); and Danny Johny, Yousuf Ghouse Mohiuddin, Gayathri Greenid, Safura Arif Kasu and Ramsha – Social Science (100); Athulya Chathambally Arunis – Malayalam (99); Kevin Samuraj, and Janisha Meshak James – Tamil (99); Haleema Abdul Fathah – Arabic (100); Aysha Hesham Mahmoud Hussein – French (95); Syed Mahmoud Pasha – Urdu (99), and Sehla Theruvath Kallungal Kabeer – Hindi (97).The school management and the principal Hameeda Kadar congratulated the students and teachers for their hard work and parents for their support.

4 Gulf TimesFriday, August 6, 2021

COMMUNITY

India’s Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared it 2021 grade X results on August 3. This year’s result were declared based on an evaluation criteria prepared by the CBSE board after exams were cancelled due to the pandemic. Students of the many Indian schools in Qatar fared extremely well in the exams.

The programme will be compered by reputed Pakistani poetess Dr Ambareen Haseeb Amber

Shaeqee Ne Fun Doha, one of the leading literary and cultural organisations of

the Pakistani community in Qatar, will hold an online Jas-hne Azadi programme at 7pm in Doha on August 14, to celebrate Pakistan’s 75th Independence Day.

Syed Ahsan Raza Shah, Pa-kistan’s ambassador to Qa-tar, will be the chief guest. Mohamed Atiq, chairman, Shaeqee Ne Fun, will preside over the event. The programme will be compered by reputed Pakistani poetess Dr Ambareen Haseeb Amber.

Shaeqee Ne Fun, Doha was established by Malik Museeb ur Rehman, in 1993 with the sole objective to promote Pakistan’s art and culture. The founder passed away in 2006.

“In order to celebrate the occasion in a befitting man-ner, we have invited two spe-cial guests from Pakistan. Prof Anwar Masood is a renowned poet known for his comic po-etry. His works include other genres as well. He speaks and writes in Urdu, Punjabi and Persian languages. The other guest is Dr Zahid Munir Amir, a renowned scholar, poet,

critic, researcher and me-dia expert. He will deliver a lecture on Pakistan Studies. He is currently professor of Urdu Language and Pakistan Studies at Oriental College of University of the Punjab, Lahore,’’ Mohamed Atiq told Community.

Masood’s poetry is known for the unique use of every-day, commonplace phrases and wording that is instantly relatable for masses in the re-gion. Numerous of his Punjabi lines and phrases have actu-ally become a figure of speech in everyday conversations. The most prominent feature of his expression is the poignancy buried deep in humour, making his poetry one of its kind. The nuance of tragedy in his poems

is a reflection of social injus-tice, discriminations and per-sonal misfortunes of his char-acters. This is why he, himself commented: “Real laughter is one that sheds tears when squeezed”.

Dr Zahid Munir Amir, on the other hand, has worked as professor and chairperson of Urdu and Pakistan Studies Chair, Faculty of Languages and Translations at Al-Azhar University Cairo, Egypt. He is the founder of Zafar Ali Khan Chair in the Institute of Com-munications Studies at the University of the Punjab. Pres-ently, he is working as pro-fessor of Urdu language and literature at University Orien-tal College, University of the Punjab, Lahore.

Shaeqee Ne Fun to celebrate PakistanIndependence Day with online event

Anwar Masood Zahid Munir Amir

India @75 short video contestAs part of India @75 Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), which functions under the aegis of the Indian embassy in Qatar, is host-ing a short video contest titled ‘Tribute to Our Freedom Fight-ers.’ The contest is open to all Indians in Qatar. The theme is to depict a freedom fighter with ap-propriate costumes, action and dialogues. The language should be Hindi or English. There are four age categories: four to eight, nine to 12, 13 to 18 and 19 and above. The video should have a duration of minimum

one minute and maximum of two minutes. Only solo per-formance will be accepted. The contestants can film at a location of their choice. Last date to submit the video in mp4 format to the ICC off ice is August 10 along with the performer’s ID copy.The prize winners will be awarded by Indian ambas-sador Dr Deepak Mittal on August 15. More information could be had by e-mailing iccqatar@gmail.com, calling 55641025 or from www.iccqatar.com

The Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines, Inc (IIEE) Qatar Chapter hosted a blood donation drive in collaboration with Hamad Medical Corporation in response to the IIEE National Campaign ‘Give the Gift of Life, Donate Blood’. The 35 volunteers were led by chapter president Rudilyn Reyes, adviser Robert U Mabulay, and overall activity chairman engineer Alex Alvior.

IIEE-SQC holds blood donation drive

The Centre for Teaching and Learning at Texas A&M University at Qatar

(Tamuq), a Qatar Foundation partner, recently held its fi rst ever industry-led Future Lead-ers Academy for aspiring lead-ers from Education City.

The Future Leaders Academy was designed to help aspiring leaders unleash their potential and introduce them to essen-tial leadership and manage-ment skills. The programme was opened to students from other Education City campuses to support Tamuq’s multiver-sity initiative. More than 100 students from across Education City registered for the event and 57 were accepted into the pro-gramme.

The Future Leaders Academy included four professional de-velopment courses: Principles of Strategy, Innovation and En-trepreneurship, Managing Fi-nancial Resources, and Project Management. Leaders from

top-notch industry partners such as Qatargas, EY and Tafa-woq-Qatar Shell facilitated the courses. The modules were dis-tributed throughout the week.

James Badjie, a Hamad Bin Khalifa University student who participated in the programme, said, “This programme pro-vided a unique opportunity for me to learn from fi rst-hand experiences and case studies designed by industry experts ranging from entrepreneurship to project management and consulting.”

Tamuq student, Vishmi Singhapura, said, “Through this workshop I was exposed to many topics surrounding

commerce and field work. It was a brilliant opportunity to share my ideas with others and to meet students of vari-ous majors. I hope to carry the knowledge I have obtained through this academy with me.”

Beena Debnath, another Ta-muq student participant, said, “It was really new to me as I did not know many things about fi nancing or investments. It gave me an idea of how to deal with problems while working in a team of unknown people, preparing us for the future. It was an amazing opportunity to connect with the diff erent Education City university stu-dents and of course the instruc-tors from diff erent professional backgrounds.”

The week concluded with a networking session, during which the facilitators expressed their appreciation for the active participation of all students.

Even though it was held vir-

tually, the industry presenters said that the students demon-strated their interest and com-mitment through their attend-ance and participation in all tasks and activities that were provided to ensure student en-gagement and productive learn-ing experience.

Tamuq dean Dr Cesar Octav-io Malave said, “The Center for Teaching and Learning aspires to continuously engage with our industry partners by off er-ing similar programmes in the future that will enrich our Ag-gies’ technical and leadership skills beyond the core engineer-ing curriculum and allow them to experience multidisciplinary environment thanks to students participating from other Edu-cation City campuses. It is our university’s strategic vision that multiversity programmes such as the Future Leaders Academy will help build the human capi-tal that will serve Qatar in the long run.”

Tamuq plays host to Future Leaders Academy programme

The Future Leaders Academy was designed to help aspiring leaders unleash their potential and introduce them to essential leadership and management skills.

“This programme provided a unique opportunity for me to learn from fi rst-hand experiences and case studies designed by industry experts”

COMMUNITY5Gulf Times

Friday, August 6, 2021

Arsan Cafe – a place to visitArsan Cafe – a place to visit

Arsan Café, the former Al Ruwais Old Police Station, is turning out to be an increasingly popular destination for residents and travellers seeking to visit the north of Qatar. Located 110km from Msheireb Downtown Doha and in front of the Ruwais beach area, the café, also listed as a heritage site under Qatar Museums, off ers a respite for those who want to spend the weekend with friends and families. Pictures by Gulf Times news editor Bonnie James.

Codeword

Wordsearch

Every letter of the alphabet is used at least once. Squares with the same number in have the same letter in. Work out which number represents which letter.

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Dilbert

F Minus

Garfield

Big Nate

Sudoku

Sudoku is a puzzle based grid. The grid ٩x٩ on a

is also divided into nine boxes. You are given (٣x٣)

a selection of values and to complete the puzzle, you must fill the grid so

that every column, every.anone is repeated

ANTONIOFALSTAFFOLIVIAARIELHAMLETOPHELIABANQUOHERMIONEOTHELLO

BARDOLPHHORATIOPERDITABEATRICEHOTSPURPORTIABIANCAIAGOPROSPERO

BRUTUSJULIETROMEOCAESARLEONTESROSALINDCALIBANMACBETHTHESEUS

CLEOPATRAMALVOLIOTITANIACORDELIAMIRANDATROILUSOBERON

ARIESMarch 21 — April 19

CANCERJune 21 — July 22

LIBRASeptember 23 — October 22

CAPRICORNDecember 22 — January 19

TAURUSApril 20 — May 20

LEOJuly 23 — August 22

SCORPIOOctober 23 — November 21

AQUARIUSJanuary 20 — February 18

GEMINIMay 21 — June 20

VIRGOAugust 23 — September 22

SAGITTARIUSNovember 22 — December 21

PISCESFebruary 19 — March 20

You may feel a bit short on inspiration today, Aries. Don’t be discouraged! Start whatever project is in question, even if your thoughts are elsewhere. During the course of the “bad” work you may churn out at first, your muse gently alights on your shoulder. It sometimes takes a little discipline to lead to delicious rewards!

Today’s energy has you rethinking all areas of your life, Cancer. If you aren’t as challenged by your job as you think you should be, perhaps it’s time for a change. The trick for you will be figuring out what it is that you want to do. You have a tremendous amount of creative ability. If you aren’t using these talents, why not explore a career that would let you develop them further?

You’ve been on a wild ride for several months, Libra – all that excitement in your personal life and career! If major changes for the better haven’t yet occurred, know that they will. A promotion is in order, most likely accompanied by a raise. Don’t act so surprised – you’ve had this coming for a long time. Celebrate tonight with someone dear to your heart.

This will be an interesting day provided you keep your eyes and ears open to the opportunities that arise. Don’t be afraid to take on new challenges. Even if you feel unsure about your abilities, embrace the chance to test them. If others think you’re up to the challenge, you should give yourself the same benefit of the doubt! New friends are indicated – make a point to smile.

Taurus, you may feel like you’re running in several directions at once. You’re so scattered that you don’t feel like you’re accomplishing anything important. That’s just the nature of the day. You have many loose ends to tie up. It’s hard to concentrate on the big picture when you’re out of groceries. Do whatever maintenance needs doing so you can move on to bigger things.

You’re ready for dramatic change in your life, Leo. It isn’t that you’re dissatisfied with your career or personal life. Rather, you feel like you’re missing out on something great, if you only knew what. Be receptive to whatever opportunities arise and explore them all. You may find the answers you seek through travel or more education. Bring a friend if you’re afraid to explore on your own.

Foreign lands and new opportunities beckon today, Scorpio! Keep your eyes and ears open as these opportunities may come to you from an unusual or unexpected source. You’re ready for a change of some kind in your personal or professional life. It’s up to you to take steps in whatever new direction you decide to go. Don’t rule out a few classes as a way to further your career.

Aquarius, you finally begin to feel like you’re making progress. You’re intent on completing some projects that have long been in the works. After many hours of concentration and focus, you make the last adjustments and proclaim it finished. You can expect to be rewarded for your eff orts. Your skills are extraordinary. You can enjoy a real sense of satisfaction. Celebrate a little!

Today you may be inspired to have a little fun with your looks, Gemini. You may wish to change your haircut or experiment with diff erent colours or styles of clothing. It would be fun to get out of your routine, even if it just means donning funky sunglasses or bright Hawaiian patterns. You will feel lighter.

Virgo, expect to meet someone new who will be a tremendous influence in your life – probably in your career. If you’ve been frustrated by your lack of progress up the corporate ladder, take heart. This new person may be able to show you another way up. In spite of your frustration, you should continue to work in your usual manner. You’re on the right path, even though you may doubt it now.

The astral energy indicates that you may have extra money in your pocket, Sagittarius. Take care to invest this money wisely rather than spend it all. You will be happier sacrificing short-term gratification for future financial gain. Positive relationships and socialising are indicated this evening. Make a point to get together with close friends and loved ones.

Today you’re likely to feel like the powerful creature you are, Pisces. Your physical energy is high, and you look and feel great. Your intellect is sharp, so if you indulge in any kind of learning process, you will benefit greatly. Your creative energy is also high, so it’s a good day to work on artistic projects.

Across1 Greek island containing black swans (4)3 Tom’s mare could be a beast (8)10 Tears as leading character dies (5)11 Plant trees, reportedly (5)12 Put out vessel for recovery (6)14 A sort of meteor? Far from it! (6)16 Successful move by the French pair (6)19 Run after penniless middle-man (6)21 Garden feature held back by scaremonger (5)24 Straight line, we hear, in Cornish city (5)25 Nought’s amiss in report (7)26 Are Europeans allowed to dance round them? (8)27 Erosion caused by Sunder-land’s river (4)

Super Cryptic Clues

Solution

Down1 What scouts might have to sing about? (8)2 World War II hero ordered to join resistance (5)4 A vehicle carrying a hundred? You can count on it! (6)5 Revolutionary leader in Mar-seilles with a deserter (5)6 Hot spot shocking puritans — one to be avoided (7)7 Undertaking quest as knight? Not entirely (4)8 Straightforward board mem-ber has no alternative (6)13 Tower guard loses fine bird (3-5)15 Happy to admit copper is a metal (7)17 Musical instruments vital to life (6)18 A shoe, in a manner of speak-ing (6)20 Tokyo, strangely, is a city in Japan (5)22 Scot’s exclamation about colour (5)23 A piece from your favourite magazine? (4)

Answers

Co

dew

ord

Word

search

Colouring Horoscope

6 Gulf TimesFriday, August 6, 2021

COMMUNITY LEISURE/HOROSCOPE

DESDEMONA VALENTINE

India ‘dances’with joy after hockey team’sOlympic winAFPNew Delhi

India yesterday celebrated over a bronze medal, after the most successful nation in

men’s Olympic hockey claimed their fi rst podium fi nish in 41 years.

A comeback 5-4 win over Ger-many in Tokyo snared third place in the tournament and ended decades of agonising over repeat failures since they won the last of their eight Olympic titles in Moscow in 1980.

Families of the Indian team danced in the streets in Punjab state, waving hockey sticks in the air after the win.

Other fans waved the Indian fl ag as they rushed out of their houses.

Ten of the 18-man squad — in-cluding double goalscorer Sim-ranjeet Singh — come from Pun-jab, where the state government said each would get a $135,000 bonus.

“The whole nation is dancing,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told captain Manpreet Singh and coach Graham Reid in a celebra-tory call to the team.

He hailed the win as “historic”.Hockey has fallen behind

cricket in the popularity and glamour stakes in India.

Despite the country’s pedigree in the sport, none of the team were born the last time India won a medal.

Even cricket legends such as Gautam Gambhir were quick to

praise the team. And goalkeeper Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh echoed Modi’s hopes that the re-sult would inspire a new genera-tion to take up hockey.

“It’s a rebirth. That’s it. It’s been 41 years,” he said.

“In 1980 we won the last med-al and after that, nothing. This gives a boost and gives energy to the youngsters to pick up hock-ey and play this game. This is a beautiful game.”

India came back from 3-1 down and went into the fi nal quarter leading 5-3, before a fourth Ger-man goal set up a tense fi nale.

Sreejesh pulled off a crucial save in the dying seconds as Ger-many threw everything at India, sinking to his knees when the match fi nished.

Sreejesh said before the Games that India would be playing in memory of medal-winning hockey heroes who lost their lives in the coronavirus pan-demic.

Two members of India’s 1980 gold medal team, Ravindra Pal Singh and Maharaj Krishan Kaushik, died from Covid-19 on the same day in May.

Keshav Datt, who was in win-ning teams in 1948 and 1952, died in July from natural causes.

India’s women’s team has en-joyed their best ever Olympics and will play Britain for bronze today after eliminating title fa-vourites Australia in the quarter-fi nals.

But their success has been tainted by abuse targeting the family of player Vandana Ka-tariya, who is from the lower-caste Dalit community that has faced generations of discrimi-nation.

The Times of India news-paper said that hours after the women’s team lost to Argentina in Wednesday’s semi-fi nal, up-per-caste men abused Katariya’s family in Uttarakhand state.

Katariaya’s brother said the men shouted that the defeat was because “there were too many Dalits” in the team, according to the report.

Uneasy calm in Kashmir onanniversary of losing autonomyReuters/AFPSrinagar

Troops yesterday patrolled the streets in Srinagar, the main city of Kashmir,

where many shops were shut to mark the second year since the region was stripped of its au-tonomy.

In 2019, in an eff ort to bind the restive region closer to the rest of India, Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi’s government with-drew long-standing constitu-tional privileges accorded to the country’s only Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The measure also split the state into two federal territories including the remote Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region, which further angered Kash-miris.

Troops manned checkpoints in parts of Srinagar, which has been a hotbed of separatist ac-tivity, carrying out security checks on people and vehicles, witnesses said.

However, Kashmir’s police chief, Vijay Kumar, told Reuters that no extra security measures had been levied, adding that conditions were normal, includ-ing Internet links, often severed in the past to forestall protests.

“But our surveillance system has been increased,” he added, without giving details.

Suspected rebels fi red live shots in the air in the heart of the congested old town Srinagar where a low intensity explosive device also went off , witnesses said.

In the Sopore area unknown rebels fi red at police as authori-ties tried to force shopkeepers observing the shutdown to open their doors, an offi cer said.

District police denied the in-cident took place however in a post on Twitter.

Top separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, 90, had called for a gen-

eral shutdown to mark a “black day” in protest at “India’s naked aggression”, in a Twitter state-ment. The call was supported by several smaller separatist groups.

A grouping of political parties in Kashmir, the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, said it would keep up its struggle for restoration of partial autonomy.

However, a minister in Mo-di’s offi ce, Jitendra Singh, said Kashmir was better off fully in-tegrated with India, where its special laws had resulted in an unhealthy divide.

“Today such distinctions are history,” he wrote in the Indian

Express newspaper. Kashmir was now moving toward “deep-ening democracy, fulfi lling peo-ple’s aspirations, (and) increas-ing economic growth”, he added.

Former Kashmir chief minis-ter Mehbooba Mufti, who along with dozens of other local poli-ticians spent months incarcer-ated after being arrested in the 2019 clampdown, led a protest in Srinagar that police stopped from marching to the city cen-tre.

“When unbridled oppression is unleashed & gross injustice heaped there is no other choice but to resist to exist,” she tweet-ed.

Thousands rush for jabs ahead of Manila lockdownReutersManila

Chaos overtook several Covid-19 vaccination sites in Manila yesterday

as thousands showed up hoping to receive a shot before the Phil-ippines capital heads back into lockdown for two weeks.

Movement restrictions were reimposed across greater Manila, an urban sprawl of 16 cities that is home to 13mn people, from midnight to try slow the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant.

The nearby province of La-guna, and the cities of Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro in the central and southern Philippines, respec-tively, were also placed on lock-down, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement, as health facilities were over-whelmed.

Maricel Bacay, a 59-year-old homemaker, had been queueing

outside a mall in Antipolo city in Rizal, one of those neighbouring provinces, at 3am yesterday to try beat anticipated crowds.

“There was news that you can’t get inside the malls or su-permarket if you’re not vacci-nated,” Bacay said.

Photos on social media showed people jostling each other to be the fi rst in line at vaccination centres, prompting police in-tervention to enforce social dis-tancing rules.

Ofelia Gonzales, 36, a Manila food vendor, missed the cut-off for a vaccine despite queuing since Wednesday night.

“If they keep extending the lockdown, who will provide meals if we can’t get out,” she said.

With around 1.6mn Covid-19

cases and more than 28,000 deaths, the Philippines has the second-worst coronavirus out-break in Southeast Asia after In-donesia.

Just 10.3mn people, or 9.3% of the Philippines’ 110mn popula-tion, have been fully vaccinated.

The government target is to immunise up to 70mn people this year.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to arrest people who do not get a vaccine.

Last month, he ordered village chiefs to prevent those in their communities who refuse to be vaccinated from leaving home.

Roque said authorised people, including those buying essen-tial goods, travelling for medical reasons and frontline workers, would be allowed unrestricted movement under the lockdown, even if unvaccinated.

“Let us not make vaccination a superspreader,” Roque told a me-dia briefi ng. “It should save lives, not endanger lives.”

India fl exes muscles with new aircraft carrier

Filipinos waiting to be vaccinated against Covid-19 gather outside a mall in Manila yesterday.

AFPNew Delhi

India is fl exing its maritime muscles to counter growing Chinese infl uence, conduct-

ing sea trials on its fi rst indigenous aircraft carrier and dispatching a task force for joint exercises with the US and other allies.

The INS Vikrant, which be-gan trials off the southern state of Kerala on Wednesday, will be India’s second aircraft carrier in operation.

The Indian Navy said the country can now “join a select group of nations with the capa-bility to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier, which will be a real testimony to the ‘Make in India’ thrust of the In-dian government.”

The new 860-foot carrier joins the INS Vikramaditya, the Soviet-made Admiral Gorshkov that India bought in 2004.

The navy said 44 other ships and submarines were being built indigenously.

It is also pressing the govern-ment for a third carrier, with Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh saying the force could not remain “tethered”.

China, vying for infl uence in the Indian Ocean where New Delhi has traditionally held sway, is currently building its third air-craft carrier. The Indian Navy said separately on Monday that it was sending a task force of four ships to South East Asia, the South China Sea and Western Pacifi c for two months of exer-cises including with Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Ja-pan, Australia and the US.

The deployment “seeks to un-derscore the operational reach, peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly countries towards ensuring good order in the mari-time domain and to strengthen existing bonds between India and countries of the Indo Pacif-ic,” it said.

India, Japan, Australia and the US together form the “Quad” al-liance seen as a bulwark against China.

Forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region have taken control of the town of Lalibela, whose famed rock-hewn churches are a United Nations World Heritage Site, and residents were fleeing, two eye-witnesses said yesterday. Lalibela is in the North Wollo Zone of the Amhara region in Ethiopia’s north. In recent weeks fighting has spread from Tigray into two neighbouring regions, Amhara and Afar, forcing around 250,000 people to flee. Seyfu, a resident of Lalibela, said he saw hundreds of armed men speaking Tigrinya, the language of ethnic Tigrayans, walking through the town yester-day. He said they were not speaking Amharic, the language of the people of Lalibela.

Three children were killed by lions near Tanzania’s Ngorongoro wildlife reserve as they went to look for lost cattle, police said. The youngsters aged between nine and 11 had arrived home from school on Monday and gone into a forest near the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to search for the missing animals, Arusha police chief Justine Masejo said. “That is when the lions attacked and killed three children while injuring one,” he added. Ngorongoro in northern Tanzania is a World Heritage Site that is home to wildlife including big cats such as lions, cheetahs and leopards. Tanzania allows some communities such as the Maasai, who graze their livestock alongside wild animals, to live within national parks.

Tanzanian riot police yesterday detained a number of protesting supporters of arrested opposition leader Freedom Mbowe, as a terrorism case against him was postponed. Mbowe and other off icials from the main opposition party Chadema were arrested last month ahead of a planned conference to demand constitutional reform. The 59-year-old has been charged with terrorism financing and conspiracy in a case that has triggered concern among rights groups and some Western nations about the state of democracy under Tanzania’s new leader. Mbowe had been due to appear in court in Dar es Salaam yesterday via a video link from prison but the case was postponed because of connection problems.

A Myanmar militia force fighting the army in a central part of the country and residents have found at least 40 bodies in jungle areas in recent weeks, including some showing signs of torture, said a militia member and Myanmar’s UN envoy. Since the military over-threw the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, hundreds of people have been killed as the army violently quelled protests, and in clashes between soldiers and often hastily assembled, lightly armed local militias. The bodies were found in several diff erent locations around Kani, a town in the Sagaing area, which has seen fierce fighting in recent months between the army and the militia groups set up by opponents of military rule.

Almost two-thirds of Australia’s 25mn people were in lockdown yesterday, as the country’s faltering bid to bring a virulent Delta outbreak to heel prompted a new wave of restrictions. The country’s two largest cities received a double blow in their eff orts to retain “Covid Zero” status, with authorities reporting a record number of new coronavirus infections in Syd-ney and imposing a sixth lockdown for virus-weary Melbourne. In total, about 60% of the population — in cities from Brisbane to Ballarat — are now being told to stay at home. Until now, Australia has dodged the worst ravages of the pandemic through a strategy of closing borders, lockdowns, mandatory travel quarantine, and aggressive testing and tracing.

Tigrayan forces ‘take control of Lalibela’

Lions kill three childrennear national park

Tanzania police arrestopposition protesters

At least 40 bodies foundin Myanmar jungle

Australia expands Covidlockdowns as cases rise

CONFLICT WILDLIFECRACKDOWN CRIME PANDEMIC

Anti-government protest

Police use water cannon to disperse supporters of the Congress party during a protest against inflation, farm laws, unemployment and Pegasus snooping, in New Delhi yesterday.

Father Baldev Singh along with his wife Sukhjinder Singh and relatives of hockey player Gurjant Singh celebrate at Klehara village, Amritsar, India.

“If they keep extending the lockdown, who will provide meals if we can’t get out”

WORLD7Gulf Times

Friday, August 6, 2021

WORLDGulf Times Friday, August 6, 20218

US President Joe Biden is setting a goal for half of all new US vehicle sales

to be electric by 2030, while also tightening pollution standards for cars and trucks, in a barrage of action aimed at reducing the largest source of planet-heating gases in America.

The White House outlined its plan yesterday to tackle the cli-mate crisis by cutting emissions from vehicles, with Biden set to sign an executive order demand-ing that 50% of all new cars and trucks sold by the end of the dec-ade be powered by electric bat-teries.

“The president will sign an executive order that sets an am-bitious new target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030

zero-emissions vehicles, includ-ing battery electric, plug-in hy-brid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles,” a White House state-ment said.

The order will position “Amer-ica to drive the electric vehicle future forward, out-compete China and tackle the climate cri-sis”, it added.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and US Depart-ment of Transport, meanwhile, are unveiling new fuel effi ciency standards for vehicles to bolster pollution rules that were weak-ened under Donald Trump’s presidency.

From 2023, new cars will be required to emit 10% less green-house gas emissions compared to the previous year, with further reductions of 5% a year mandat-ed until 2026.

The crafting of this strategy follows months of talks between

the Biden administration and major car manufacturers and, the White House hopes, be paired with a new infrastructure bill that will fund a major upgrade in electric charging points across the US.

The administration said the move will reduce CO2 (carbon di-oxide) emissions by 2bn tonnes, save 200bn gallons of gasoline, and save drivers several hundred of dollars in fuel savings.

“The importance of these new vehicle emission standards is hard to overstate,” said Dan Lashof, director of the World Resources Institute. “Along with the infrastructure investments currently under consideration in Congress, these standards will be among the most impactful measures that the Biden admin-istration can take to address the climate crisis.”

Trump’s rollback of clean car

standards were initially wel-comed by the auto industry but many car makers have since indi-cated a willingness to focus more on electric vehicles.

Senior executives from Ford, GM, Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler), as well as the United Auto Workers (UAW) union were due to appear with Biden at a White House event to back the changes.

The White House made no mention of Tesla, Elon Musk’s company that has been credited with disrupting the US market towards EVs and leads the US market in their sales.

The UAW, one of America’s largest unions, rallied behind the move.

“The members of the UAW, current and future, are ready to build these electric cars and trucks and the batteries that go in them,” president Ray Curry said

in a statement released by the Bi-den administration.

Electric vehicles comprised less than 2% of all car sales in the US last year, with many Ameri-cans still preferring large, car-bon-intensive SUVs.

However, electric vehicle sales are rising quickly and manufac-turers have started to bring out an array of new models – in May, Ford, which has said 40% of its sales will be electric by 2030, un-veiled a battery-driven version of its F-150 model, which has been America’s best-selling vehicle since the 1980s.

A joint statement by Ford, GM and Stellantis said that the com-panies were aiming for 40% to 50% of electric sales by 2030.

“This represents a dramatic shift from the US market today,” the statement read, adding that this could only be achieved if the federal government is able to

provide incentives to buy electric cars, invest new charging infra-structure and bolster research and development funding.

Some climate advocates argue that the US president’s meas-ures do not go far enough, as the fuel effi ciency standards refl ect those of California, which struck a compromise deal with car mak-ers in the Trump era, rather than impose a major upgrade on the previous standards.

“We already lost out on four years of climate progress under Donald Trump, and we can’t af-ford to lose any more time,” Becca Ellison, deputy policy director at Evergreen Action. “In order to meet our climate goals and build a future with more good jobs and less toxic pollution, President Biden should be championing a much faster transition to electric vehicles.”

The Sierra Club’s Katherine

Garcia called the move a “mean-ingful signal to manufacturers”, but said the target should be raised to 60% and be supple-mented with “the strongest clean car standards possible”.

Biden has set a goal for the US to hit net zero emissions by 2050, a target that experts say will only be reached if America phases out sales of gasoline and diesel cars by around 2035.

Campaigners want the presi-dent to quickly call time on the internal combustion engine.

“Biden cannot think of him-self as the climate president with a 50% electric vehicles goal,” said Varshini Prakash, executive director of Sunrise Movement. “FDR (president Franklin Delano Roosevelt) didn’t set a goal to half win the war, and JFK (president John Fitzgerald Kennedy) didn’t set a goal to get halfway to the moon.”

White House outlines US climate crisis planGuardian/AFPWashington

The largest wildfi re in Cali-fornia has razed a small town in the state’s parched

northeast, warping street lights and destroying historic build-ings hours after residents were ordered to fl ee.

Greenville, an Indian Val-ley settlement of a few hundred people dating back to the mid-1800s Gold Rush, was engulfed by fl ames as winds whipped the inferno towards the community, turning the sky orange.

“I’d say the majority of down-town Greenville is completely destroyed,” tweeted wildfi re photographer Stuart Palley, sharing images of the devasta-tion. “My heart is broken for this beautiful little town.”

The Dixie Fire has been raging in the forests of northern Cali-fornia since mid-July, part of a climate crisis that has brought sweltering heat and an alarming drought.

Authorities had earlier issued evacuation alerts to residents, as high winds fanned the fi re which, at 500sq miles (1,300sq km), has grown to more than seven times the size of the US capital, Wash-ington.

The blaze is so big that it has been generating its own weather system.

“We did everything we could,” California Fire spokesman Mitch Matlow told reporters. “Some-times it’s just not enough.”

Images taken by an AFP pho-tographer showed the fi re’s heat had bent street lights to the ground, with only a few struc-tures still standing.

A gas station, a hotel and a bar were destroyed, as well as many buildings that were more than a century old.

The fi re entered the town at roughly 4pm on Wednesday (2300 GMT), according to Jake Cagle, incident management team operations section chief.

He said fi refi ghters were struggling with those not obey-ing evacuation orders, leading to them having to divert time and resources to rescue people in the path of the fl ames.

“It’s just intense fi re behav-iour, and it’s not what we’re used to,” he said.

“Firefi ghters are fi ghting for the town of Greenville,” US For-est Service spokeswoman Pan-dora Valle told the San Francisco Chronicle late Wednesday, but was unable to give further details.

The Plumas County Sheriff ’s Department issued an evacua-

tion order late on Tuesday for the 2,000 or so residents of Chester to fl ee the area.

“If you remained you should evacuate to the EAST, IMME-DIATELY!” the sheriff ’s depart-ment posted on their offi cial Facebook page on Wednesday. “If you cannot evacuate and you are threatened by fi re and can safely get there, take refuge at the Chester High School baseball fi eld!”

In a second warning on social media, the department added: “If you are still in the Greenville area, you are in imminent danger and you MUST leave now!!” “If

you remain, emergency respond-ers may not be able to assist you.”

By late July, the number of acres burned in California was up more than 250% from 2020 – it-self the worst year of wildfi res in the state’s modern history.

The Dixie Fire has evoked painful memories of the Paradise Fire, the deadliest blaze in Cali-fornia’s recent history.

Faulty power lines sparked the inferno, which swept through the northern town of Paradise in 2018, killing 86 people.

Pacifi c Gas and Electric (PG&E), California’s largest energy utility company, was

deemed responsible.PG&E equipment is again be-

ing blamed for the Dixie Fire, af-ter a tree fell on a power conduc-tor the day the blaze began.

The utility announced in late July it will bury 10,000 miles (16,000km) of power lines in a massive bid to prevent its equip-ment from igniting more deadly wildfi res.

Greenville itself is no stranger to fi re disasters.

A catastrophic blaze destroyed much of the town in 1881 and several major infernos have threatened residents in the inter-vening 140 years.

Wildfi re levels historic Gold Rush town as residents fl ee blazeAFPGreenville, US

A burned-out car and commercial building are seen in the town of Greenville.

Pakistan’s national security ad-viser has said that Afghanistan’s government and the Taliban must

both compromise and reach a peace settlement as the insurgents make rap-id gains amid a US troop withdrawal.

Wrapping up a week of talks in Wash-ington, Moeed Yusuf played down the level of infl uence on the Taliban played by Pakistan, which was one of only three nations to recognise the hardline regime that was toppled in a US inva-sion after the September 11, 2001 at-tacks.

“We have made it absolutely clear – we will not accept a forceful takeover,” he told reporters. “But the world also needs to be clear that the US is invested in a political settlement.”

Yusuf said that the internationally-recognised government in Kabul, which has strained ties with Pakistan, needs to stop looking for a military victory and needs to include a broader range of Afghans in any future talks.

“There will have to be some compro-mise given the ground reality. But the violence will have to stop,” he said.

Yusuf said that his US counterpart,

Jake Sullivan, and others in President Joe Biden’s administration did not make specifi c requests of Pakistan but discussed “how quickly we can get all these actors in one room to have a sin-cere conversation”.

He dismissed talk of Islamabad ex-erting leverage over the Taliban.

“Whatever limited leverage we had, we used,” he said, pointing to Pakistan encouraging the Taliban to enter talks with the Afghan government in Doha. “Now with the troop withdrawal, that leverage has logically gone down fur-ther.”

He pointed to the burden of Afghani-stan’s long-running war on Pakistan, home to some 3.5mn Afghan refugees.

“We under no circumstances are prepared to see protracted instabil-ity that in the past has caused spillover into Pakistan,” he said.

Taliban militants have meanwhile switched strategy from targeting rural areas of Afghanistan to attacking pro-vincial cities, in response to increased US air strikes after the United States said it was ending its longest war, three militant commanders said.

A regional US commander said late last month that the United States had increased air strikes to counter growing Taliban attacks, a move condemned by

the religious militant group.Fighting has been particularly heavy

inside the city of Herat, near the west-ern border with Iran, Lashkar Gah, cap-ital of Helmand province in the south-west, and Kandahar in the south.

The three Taliban commanders, who spoke on condition of anonym-ity, told Reuters that they are focused on capturing Herat and Kandahar, with Lashkar Gah in their sights.

“Mullah Yaqoob argued that when US didn’t fulfi l their commitment why should Taliban be made to follow the

accord?” said one of the command-ers, based in Kandahar, referring to the group’s military chief.

“Mullah Yaqoob has decided to cap-ture Kandahar and Herat, and now Helmand, and then it could be Kunduz, Khost or any other province,” said the commander, saying that the military leader’s arguments had won over the group’s political offi ce.

A Taliban spokesman did not re-spond to a request for comment.

Taliban negotiator Suhail Shaheen told Reuters that the group is continu-

ing its policy of seizing control of rural areas, rather than focusing on cities.

The Taliban, who ruled from 1996 until 2001, had said previously they would focus on lucrative border cross-ings and large rural areas, though they have encircled and at times entered provincial capitals.

In recent weeks, there have been sus-tained attacks on Herat, Kandahar and Lashkar Gar, stretching Afghan special forces thin and killing dozens of civil-ians.

“The operations in Kandahar and Herat are very much important to us and our priority is to capture the two crucial airports or airbases in Kandahar and Herat,” the Taliban commander in Kandahar said.

Offi cials and experts said they saw signs of a change in strategy last month.

“Taliban are pushing against the provincial capitals ... not just to exert pressure but to capture them,” said As-fandyar Mir, a South Asia analyst from Stanford University.

“The main evidence is the extent of their breach of these cities. Fighting is not limited to the peripheries any more. This switch in Taliban strategy has been formalised after Eid (al-Adha), though Taliban forces were putting serious pressure on Kandahar even before Eid.”

Kandahar and Herat are the second- and third-largest cities of Afghanistan by population.

Experts said their loss would be a major political blow to the government and could potentially trigger major rea-lignments in favour of the Taliban.

“Capture of Kandahar means a lot to the Taliban. It was their capital and oc-cupying the city is great morale boost for the Taliban ... this is something they cherish and for Kandahar, Taliban can risk international ire,” said an Asian diplomatic source closely following the Taliban.

A Western security offi cial said: “The fact they are attacking (cities) is a sharp reaction to air support off ered by the US ... the Taliban have proven that now they will not just stop with controlling trading points.”

It is not clear whether US airstrikes would continue after foreign forces complete their withdrawal.

A spokesperson for US forces in Af-ghanistan and the US embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Experts and offi cials say that for now a military takeover of Kabul would be much more diffi cult for the Taliban than provincial capitals, but that the group could increase bombings and at-tacks to undermine security and public morale.

The Taliban claimed responsibil-ity for an attack at the acting defence minister’s residence on Tuesday and warned of further violence.

Afghan government, Taliban must compromise for peace settlement: PakistanTaliban forces changed their strategy to target provincial Afghan cities in response to US air strikes, commanders say

AFP/ReutersWashington/Kabul/Peshawar

First resettled Afghan refugees and families arrive in Canada

The first group of Afghan interpreters, embassy staff and families that Canada is resettling amid threats of Taliban reprisals have arrived, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said yesterday.Many Afghans who worked with Canada and other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) countries fear Taliban violence as US forces depart.Canada announced last month that it would resettle the Afghans amid what it called a dynamic and deteriorating situation.“Today brings with it a sense of hope, optimism and a sigh of relief for those first Afghan refugees who touched down last night,” Mendicino told a news conference.Canada will not announce the names of the people involved or where they will be reset-tled, he said.Ottawa says several thousand people will be eligible.Washington announced this week a programme that may allow thousands more Afghans, who may be Taliban targets due to their US aff iliations, to have the opportunity to resettle as refugees.Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan ended a decade ago, after which the country resettled about 800 Afghans who had worked for the country as interpreters or in other roles. – Reuters

Venezuela will slash six zeroes off its infl ation-battered currency the

bolivar to make it easier to use, the central bank said yesterday.

The change will take eff ect on October 1 with the issuance of new currency notes, called the digital bolivar.

“All monetary amounts expressed in national cur-rency will be divided by 1mn,” the central bank of President Nicolas Maduro’s beleaguered leftist government said.

It said the goal of the change is to “facilitate” the use of the bolivar.

It is the third time in 13 years that Venezuela – suff ering the worst economic crisis in its modern era – has used such a measure.

In August 2018, the govern-ment lopped fi ve zeros off its bank notes, having taken off three in 2008.

In 2018, the government re-placed the ironically named strong bolivar with the sover-eign bolivar.

The once-wealthy oil pro-ducer is enduring its fourth year of hyperinfl ation and its eighth year of recession.

From January through to May prices rose 265%.

Infl ation was almost 3,000% in 2020 and more than 9,500% the year before, according to central bank fi gures.

“It was an expected deci-sion,” economist Cesar Aris-timuno, director of Aristimuno Herrera & Associates, told AFP, adding: “By itself it was necessary ... the billing and accounting processes for com-panies were already practically impossible.”

People had even resorted to using a shorthand for prices, saying “thousands” instead of “millions”.

There is such a shortage of bolivars that long queues are a regular sight outside banks.

Transactions made in the local currency are usually done by card payment or bank transfer rather than in cash.

Infl ation is so bad that the everyday economy now works mainly in dollars, with many stores listing prices in the US currency.

Back in May the government tripled the minimum monthly wage but the new amount was still not even enough to buy a kilogram of meat.

With the currency overhaul, the central bank will issue new notes with face values of fi ve, 10, 20, 50 and 100 bolivars and a one-bolivar coin, Communi-cations Minister Freddy Nanez said on Twitter.

Venezuela to slash six zeroes from currency

AFPCaracas

Brazil’s apex court orders Bolsonaro investigated for ‘vote fraud’ claims

A Supreme Court justice ruled on Wednesday that President Jair Bolsonaro should be investigated for unproven claims that Brazil’s voting system is riddled with fraud, adding the far-right leader to an ongoing probe on the spread of fake news by his government.The ruling by Justice Alexandre de Moraes came after Bolsonaro stepped up his attacks on Brazil’s electronic voting system, claiming – without evidence – that it is fraud-plagued and insisting there will be no elections next year as scheduled if it is not overhauled.

The Superior Electoral Court had asked the Supreme Court to issue the ruling, after itself putting the president under investigation for his campaign against Brazil’s voting system.The Supreme Court agreed, finding Bolsonaro should face investigation for slander and inciting criminal acts for his undocumented claims of massive vote fraud.The electoral court’s own probe will investigate the president for charges including abuse of off ice, and fraud.Bolsonaro has long criticised electronic

voting, introduced in Brazil in 1996.Bolsonaro has lashed out at the electoral court’s investigation.“I refuse to be intimidated,” he fired back.On Wednesday Bolsonaro threatened to respond outside the limits of the constitution.“This investigation is not within the bounds of the constitution, so the antidote to this is also not within the bounds of the constitution,” he said on social media, without specifying further the nature of the threat. – AFP/Reuters

Trump blasts women’s Olympic soccer team members

It is unlikely he knows his Maradonas from his Mar-a-Lagos, but Donald Trump set his stall out yesterday as a soccer expert, tearing into the “leftist maniacs” of the national women’s team for missing out on Olympic gold because they are too “woke”.The former president, who encouraged his supporters at a rally ahead of the Tokyo Games to boo the side, suggested falsely in a statement that the women had refused to stand for the national anthem during the tournament.“If our soccer team, headed by a radical group of Leftist Maniacs, wasn’t woke, they would have won

the Gold Medal instead of the Bronze,” the 75-year-old said. “Woke means you lose, everything that is woke goes bad, and our soccer team certainly has.” The world champions had just beaten Australia 4-3 to secure third place, propelled to victory by Megan Rapinoe – a touchstone for gender activism known for her brightly-dyed, choppy hairstyle.“They should replace the ‘wokesters’ with patriots and start winning again,” Trump fumed. “The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job!” – AFP

WORLD9Gulf Times

Friday, August 6, 2021

Spanish police said yesterday that they have arrested one of the leaders of Italy’s most powerful organised crime syndicate, the ‘Ndrangheta, which controls much of Europe’s cocaine trade.Off icers detained Domenico Paviglianiti, “one of Italy’s most wanted fugitives”, on the streets of Madrid’s working-class Cuatro Caminos neighbourhood on Monday in a joint operation carried out with Italian police, Spain’s National Police said in a statement.Paviglianiti helped control mafia operations in Italy’s north and in South America.Called “the boss of the bosses” by Italian media for his role in crimes committed in the 1980s and 1990s, including murder and drug traff icking, Paviglianiti was arrested in Spain in 1996.He was extradited three years later to Italy, where he began serving a life sentence, one typically given for top mafia criminals.However, his lawyers argued that Spain’s extradition conditions did not recognise life imprisonment, a technicality that allowed his early release after serving over 20 years.Italian prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for him followed a ruling by a high court that found that he had been erroneously released in 2019. Police regularly detain members of Italian mafia in Spain, the main entryway into Europe for cocaine from Latin America and hashish from north Africa.The ‘Ndrangheta is based in the region of Calabria. – AFP

Top Italian crime boss arrested

Turkish coastguards evacu-ated hundreds of villagers away from a smouldering

power plant yesterday, and Greek fi refi ghters battled a major blaze near an ancient Olympic site as a historic heatwave wreaked havoc across Europe’s southeast.

The two regional rivals have been united this week in their fi ght against disasters that top offi cials and experts link climate change.

Eight people have died and dozens have been hospitalised

across the southern coasts of Turkey since the wildfi res erupt-ed last week.

High winds rekindled wild-fi res north of Athens yesterday as emergency crews battled for a third day to control blazes across Greece in searing, tinder-dry conditions.

A wall of dark smoke rose high above the Greek capital, residents fl ed suburbs, asylum-seekers were evacuated and authorities warned of more blazes today as temperatures hovered around 40° Celsius (107 Fahrenheit).

“If there are even few peo-ple who have reservations about whether climate change is real,

I call on them to come here and see,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said from Ilia, where the fl ames had threatened An-cient Olympia.

He visited an area in the west-ern Peloponnese near the site of the ancient Olympic Games where fi refi ghters fought all night to save one of Greece’s best known archaeological sites.

Firefi ghters, backed by water-bombing fi xed wing aircraft and helicopters, had managed to con-trol some of the blazes near Ath-ens earlier in the day.

However, the winds fanned them back into life, with fl ames burning close to the motorway

connecting Athens to northern Greece.

Yesterday afternoon authori-ties ordered the evacuation of the suburbs of Afi dnes, Kryoneri, Kokkinovrahos and Ippokratei-os Politeia north of Athens, as well as asylum-seekers from the nearby Malakasa migrant recep-tion centre.

The Civil Protection Author-ity issued an “extreme fi re warn-ing” for half the country amid the heatwave.

The fi nance ministry an-nounced emergency payments of up to €6,000 ($7,100) for people who had lost possessions.

Local utilities said there could

be rolling power cuts in some parts of the Attica region around the capital due to the fi re.

The governor of Attica also or-dered the closure of all parks and open spaces across Athens and the region.

On the island of Evia, off the coast of mainland Attica, church bells rang to warn residents of the fi res.

More than a dozen villages on the island have already been evacuated.

The blazes forced also the gov-ernment of North Macedonia to declare a 30-day state of emer-gency and the defence ministry in its Balkan neighbour Albania

to declare the situation “critical” because of the threat to village homes.

The fi res killed one person in Albania this week.

However, perhaps the biggest shock came when winds whipped up a fl ash fi re that subsumed the grounds of an Aegean coast pow-er plant in Turkey storing thou-sands of tonnes of coal.

An AFP team saw fl eeing vil-lagers – some clutching pets they managed to grab from their homes – piling onto coastguard speedboats at the nearby port as roaring fl ames lapped the 35-year-old plant in the dark of night.

A few older locals refused to leave the disaster-hit region even while thousands of others were shuttled out by car or boats rac-ing along the Aegean Sea.

“Where do you want us to go at our age?” asked 79-year-old Hulusi Kinic. “We live here. This is our home. Our last solution was to throw ourselves in the sea (if there was an explosion), but thank God that did not happen.”

Turkish President Recep Tayy-ip Erdogan’s offi ce said an initial inspection conducted after the fl ames had been doused by the morning showed “no serious damage to the main units in the plant”.

Turkey and Greece reeling from wildfi resAFP/ReutersOren, Turkey/Athens

Taking timeAn off icer calls out to residents with their registration numbers, who are waiting to receive a dose of coronavirus vaccine, outside a vaccination facility in Karachi (see report above).

Left: An elderly demonstrator holds up a placard, which reads ‘I don’t wear a mask, I go out when I want, I kiss my loved ones, I don’t get tested, I’m not afraid’, during a protest yesterday in Paris (see report below).

Firefighters use water cannon to douse a fire near the Kemerkoy Thermal Power Plant, at Oren in Milas, Turkey (see lead report).

A wildfire approaches the Olympic Academy in ancient Olympia, western Greece (see lead report).

Tens of thousands of Pa-kistanis are thronging coronavirus (Covid-19)

vaccination centres daily after offi cials announced penalties for the unvaccinated, including blocked cellphones and barred access to offi ces, restaurants, shopping malls and transport.

Queues for inoculations stretched more than 1km in some locations this week, in re-sponse to measures designed to help slow a Delta variant-fuelled surge in infections that has put

pressure on Pakistan’s poor health infrastructure.

In a country that has a long anti-vaccination history, health workers said many in line were more afraid of the restrictions – some started on August 1 while others kick in on August 30 – than the health threat of Covid-19.

That perception was support-ed by people queuing who spoke to Reuters.

“I’m personally not scared of corona,” said banker Abdul Rauf as he stood in a queue at a vacci-nation centre in southern Kara-chi, with his mask down to chin. “Our salaries will be stopped,

our SIMs will be blocked, so all these things are out there, so that’s why I got my second dose done.”

Pakistan has a long anti-vac-cination history – Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio is still an endemic disease – and Covid-19 hesitan-cy has been high.

Out of a population of 220mn, only 6.7mn people have been fully vaccinated, according to the National Command and Op-erations Centre (NCOC), a body that oversees the Covid-19 op-erations.

Pakistan’s federal govern-

ment announced late last month it would ban staff from entering public offi ces, schools, restau-rants, transport, shopping malls and air travel without vaccina-tion certifi cates.

The announcement prompted a rise in vaccination rates.

“I came here and obtained this card after getting the vac-cination, merely because I have to travel abroad, and I will not be able to travel without do-ing this,” said Mohamed Atiq Qureshi, a lawyer in Karachi.

The local government in the province of Sindh went even fur-ther, warning that it could with-hold the salaries of government

servants and block people’s cell-phone SIM cards unless they had the required certifi cates.

“There is a small percentage who are coming to get a shot for fear of the disease or for their safety, but majority of the peo-ple are coming for fear of hav-ing their business closed ... or the youngsters who want a shot for fear that their SIMs will be blocked,” said Dr Jamila said, a health worker at one of the vac-cination centres.

Yesterday Pakistan reported 5,661 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day number in more than three months, and 60 deaths.

The country has recorded more than 1mn infections and around 23,600 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

The health minister, Faisal Sultan, said the requirement of a vaccination certifi cate had “helped to encourage vaccina-tion”.

Anecdotal reports suggested some businesses had already be-gun restrictions on service.

“We were denied McDonald’s at a rest area on a motorway if we couldn’t show a text message to prove that we are vaccinated,” said Moiz Raja, who travelled from Islamabad to eastern La-hore city last week.

Threats of cellphone blocks and work bans boost vaccination rateBy Asif Shahzad, ReutersIslamabad

France’s top constitutional authority has approved a Covid-19 pass that lim-

its access to cafes, restaurants and inter-city trains and planes to people who have been vacci-nated or tested negative for the coronavirus.

The legislation, drawn up as France tackles infections driven by the Delta variant, goes further than most European nations in conditioning daily-life activities on either a vaccine certifi cate or recent negative Covid-19 test.

France had already required since July 21 a health pass to access museums, cinemas and swimming pools.

The controversial pass, which will become ubiquitous from Monday, drew protesters outside the Council of State in Paris.

“All this undermines funda-mental freedoms ... freedom is, fi rst of all, the choice to be vac-cinated or not,” said Marie Jose Libeiro, 48. “We are falling into an authoritarian state.”

“It’s depressing. I sensed it was coming but it’s still a blow,” hospital administration worker Nathalie Juyot said at a low-key protest yesterday.

Juyot said she did not want the Covid-19 vaccine but ques-tioned what options she had.

“I can’t aff ord not to have a salary,” she continued.

However, the Constitutional Court said the restrictions put forward by President Emmanuel

Macron and approved by parlia-ment last month represented a “balanced trade-off ” between public health concerns and per-sonal freedom.

Prime Minister Jean Castex welcomed the court ruling, say-ing that it “will allow the full de-ployment of our battle strategy against Covid-19”.

The biggest change concerns restaurants which will now have to turn away patrons who fail to produce the health pass.

“There will be a cost, in terms of time spent checking the pass, and in terms of sales because we will lose customers,” Herve Becam, vice-president of the UMIH hotels and restaurants association, told AFP.

Cyril Wafi k, manager of the Indiana Cafe in central Paris,

said the pass presented yet an-other challenge for many res-taurant owners who were al-ready having trouble getting customers to wear masks.

“We’re not police, that’s not our job,” he told AFP.

Visitors to some shopping centres and department stores will also need the pass, as will visitors to hospitals or care homes and people seeking non-urgent medical care.

However, the absence of a health pass must not be an ob-stacle to patients receiving treatment, the court ruled.

Health workers and others whose job requires them to be in contact with people at risk of Covid-19 must now get vacci-nated by law.

The court rejected as “dispro-

portionate” the government’s wish to force people with Covid infections into isolation for 10 days.

The court’s judges also struck down another provision in-cluded in the health law that brought in the Covid-19 pass, which would allow employers to dismiss people on fi xed-term or temporary contracts if they don’t have a pass.

The court said this was un-fair treatment as employees on open-ended contracts could not be sacked for the same reason.

Staff can, however, be sus-pended from work without pay if they lack a pass if the nature of their job demands it because, for instance, it brings them into contact with the public.

The health pass will come into

force for children aged 12-17 on September 30.

Protests against the health pass assembled around 200,000 people across France on Satur-day, and organisers have called for rallies this weekend.

According to a Montaigne poll this week, 37% of French people sympathise with the demon-strations and 48% are against.

Some 60% approve manda-tory vaccinations.

Macron has spoken of what he says is the irresponsibility and selfi shness of those refusing the vaccine.

“A few tens of thousands of people have lost their minds to such an extent that they say we live in a dictatorship,” Macron told Paris Match in an interview published on Wednesday.

Top French court approves Macron’s Covid pass legislationAFP/ReutersParis

Pakistan deploys troops after attack on temple

Pakistan deployed paramilitary forces in a central town yesterday to check communal unrest after a mob ransacked and set fire to a temple.Ahmad Nawaz, a spokesperson for the Rahimyar Khan district police, told Reuters that the mob attacked the temple in the town of Bhong following reports involving a Hindu boy.The temple was attacked after someone posted details of the incident allegedly involving the boy on social media on Wednesday, Ramesh Vankwani, a parliament member and head of the Pakistan Hindu Council, said on Twitter.Police had the post deleted, Vankwani said, but a crowd gathered near the temple and attacked it.“Some 70 to 80 protesters then attacked and smashed the windows of the temple,” Nawaz told AFP.“The damage isn’t too extensive. The building has been partially damaged,” said Riasat Ali, a local administration off icial. – Reuters/AFP

Russia-led military drills start on Afghan borderRussia boosts arms supplies to former Soviet countries in Central Asia

AFP/ReutersDushanbe/Moscow

The Russian military’s chief of staff arrived in Central Asia yesterday as Rus-

sia held military drills in two ex-Soviet countries border-ing Afghanistan, where Kabul is struggling to contain a ferocious Taliban off ensive.

Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian military’s General Staff fl ew into Uzbekistan – Central Asia’s most populous country – to observe joint Russian-Uzbek military drills.

Both armies also took part in separate exercises with neigh-bouring Tajikistan yesterday.

During a meeting with Uz-bek counterpart Shukhrat Kha-lmukhamedov, Gerasimov said the drills took place amid a worsening situation in the re-gion and “to practise actions to repel terrorist threats”.

Gerasimov also said Mos-cow was increasing supplies of weapons to the region amid a deterioration in Afghanistan that he blamed on the “hasty” withdrawal of US-led forces.

He provided no details such as what arms were being supplied.

“The main threat to the Cen-tral Asian region today comes from the Afghan direction,” said Gerasimov, who was expected to meet with other top Uzbek offi -cials, according to a Russian de-fence ministry statement.

The joint exercises at the Kharb-Maidon training ground just 20km (12 miles) from the Tajik border with Afghanistan involve 2,500 troops from Rus-sia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

A further 1,500 troops are in-volved in the drills that began at the end of July at Uzbekistan’s Termez training ground.

Uzbekistan, which maintains Central Asia’s largest standing army, quit the Russia-led Col-lective Security Treaty Organi-sation (CSTO) military bloc for the second time in 2012.

Tashkent has not rejoined the group that consists of six former Soviet states but has increased its military co-operation with Moscow.

Every year, 400mn tons of heavy metal, toxic sludge, and industrial waste are dumped into our waterways. At least

eight million tons of plastic end up in our oceans. Some 1.3bn tons of food – about one-third of all that is produced – is lost or wasted, while hundreds of millions of people go hungry. Our oceans are being overfi shed, our lands degraded, and biodiversity rapidly eroded. Meanwhile, devastating natural disasters – fl ash fl oods in Europe and China, forest fi res in the United States, and locust infestations in Africa and the Middle East – are becoming more frequent.

The unsustainability of our linear “take-make-waste” pattern of global production and consumption has never been more obvious. In fact, if we do not abandon it by 2050, we will need the equivalent of almost three Earths to provide enough natural resources to sustain current lifestyles, and annual waste generation will increase by 70%. But there is a better way: we can embrace the circular economy.

The circular economy would decouple growth from the consumption of fi nite resources, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems. The European Union is already embracing this approach. Its Circular Economy Action Plan – a pillar of the European Green Deal – introduces legislative and non-legislative measures that would aff ect the entire life cycle of products, with a view not only to saving on materials, but also to creating jobs, improving human well-being, and protecting nature.

The manufacturing sector is a case in point. As the plan notes, up to 80%

of a product’s environmental impact is determined at the design phase, yet manufacturers do not have sufficient incentives to design sustainable (or circular) products. The EU plans to strengthen these incentives through legislation.

Ultimately, this will help manufacturers. Given that raw materials currently account for about 40% of manufacturers’ costs, on average, closed-loop models can signifi cantly increase their profi tability and protect them from resource-price fl uctuations. This latter point highlights the circular economy’s geopolitical dimension: As the Dutch plan for developing a circular economy by 2050 notes, “of the 54 materials that are critical for Europe, 90% must be imported, primarily from China.”

The EU estimates that applying circular-economy principles comprehensively could increase its total GDP by an additional 0.5% by 2030, and create around 700,000 new jobs. Crucially, measures aimed at implementing the circular economy in the EU would be introduced in a broad-based manner, including initiatives by communities and local and regional governments.

Given that the EU is a manufacturing powerhouse, it can help to set global standards for product sustainability and infl uence product design and value-chain management worldwide. But Europe is also taking a more direct approach to driving forward global progress toward a circular economy. This past February, it launched the Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Effi ciency. It is also pushing circular-economy principles through global trade negotiations and in its partnerships with African countries.

But, if this eff ort is to succeed, we must fi rst understand why it has taken

so long for the circular-economy concept to take root. Part of the answer lies in how mainstream economic ideology regards nature.

As John Ramsay McCulloch put it in his introduction to the 1828 edition of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, “water, leaves, skin, and other spontaneous productions of nature, have no value, except what they owe to the labour they required for their appropriations.” More broadly, the prevailing economic models since Smith have been linear and mechanical – an approach that is out of step with cyclical natural systems.

In a recent report, Partha Dasgupta was diplomatic in excusing mainstream economics for ignoring nature (defi ned interchangeably as natural capital, the natural environment, the biosphere, and the natural world). In the immediate post-World War II period, he noted, absolute poverty was endemic in much of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and much of Europe lay in ruins. It was therefore “natural” to focus on the accumulation of physical capital (infrastructure and goods) and human capital (health and education). “To introduce Nature, or natural capital, into economic models would have been to add unnecessary luggage to the exercise.”

The unwillingness to carry the “luggage” of nature has meant that economic accounting has focused almost exclusively on GDP growth – the more, the better – for over 70 years, without any regard for the impact of economic activity on the natural environment. No surprise, then, that the situation has gotten so desperate.

But there are promising developments. In March, the United Nations Statistical Commission adopted the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting, a framework for organising data about habitats and

landscapes, measuring ecosystem services, tracking changes in ecosystem assets, and linking this information to economic and other human activity. And both the Japanese G20 Presidency in 2019 and the current Italian Presidency have pushed for global action on the circular economy.

China has also taken important steps in this direction. In August 2008, it became one of the fi rst countries to pass a law aimed at promoting the circular economy. As Dasgupta noted in his report, China also enshrined the concept of an “ecological civilisation” in its constitution in 2018. And China’s dual-circulation strategy – a feature of its 14th Five-Year Plan (covering the 2021-25 period) aimed at cushioning the blow from economic decoupling – evolved from the circular economy model.

While the EU and China might disagree about the circular economy’s technical, economic, and political uses, their shared commitment to moving toward such a system is good news. More economies should follow suit, with targeted multilateral aid and technical assistance provided to emerging economies.

The circular economy is our only hope of achieving the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring humanity’s long-term survival. If great powers must compete, it is here that they should be doing it. — Project Syndicate

Andrew Sheng is Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong and a member of the UNEP Advisory Council on Sustainable Finance. Xiao Geng, Chairman of the Hong Kong Institution for International Finance, is a professor and Director of the Institute of Policy and Practice at the Shenzhen Finance Institute at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.

Infl ation readings in the United States have shot up in recent months. Labour markets are extremely tight. In one recent survey, 46% of small-business owners said they could not fi nd workers to fi ll open jobs, and a net 39% reported having increased their employees’ compensation. Yet, at the time of this writing, the yield on ten-year Treasury bonds is 1.24%, well below the ten-year breakeven infl ation rate of 2.4%. At the same time, stock markets are fl irting with all-time highs.

Something in all this does not add up. Perhaps the bond markets believe the US Federal Reserve when it suggests that current infl ationary pressures are transitory and that the Fed can hold policy interest rates down for an extended period. If so, growth – bolstered by pent-up savings and the additional government spending currently being negotiated in Congress – should be reasonable, and infl ation should remain around the Fed’s target. The breakeven infl ation rate also seems to be pointing to this scenario.

But that doesn’t explain why the ten-year Treasury rate is so low, suggesting negative real rates over the next decade. What if it is right? Perhaps the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant will prompt fresh lockdowns in developed countries and damage emerging markets even more. Perhaps more nasty variants will emerge. And perhaps the negotiations in Congress will break down, with even the bipartisan infrastructure bill failing to pass. In this scenario, however, it would be hard to justify the stock-market buoyancy and breakeven infl ation rate.

One common factor driving up both stock and bond prices (thus lowering bond yields) could be asset managers’ search for yield, owing to the conditions created by extremely accommodative monetary policies. This would explain why the prices of stocks (including “meme stocks”), bonds, cryptocurrencies, and housing are all a little frothy at the same time.

To those who care about sound asset prices, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s announcement last week that the economy had made progress toward the point where the Fed might end its $120bn monthly bond-buying programme was good news. Phasing out quantitative easing (QE) is the fi rst step toward monetary-policy normalisation, which itself is necessary to alleviate the pressure on asset managers to produce impossible returns in a low-yield environment.

The beginning of the end of QE would not please everyone, though. Some economists see

a signifi cant downside to withdrawing monetary accommodation before it is clear that infl ation has taken off . Gone is the old received wisdom that if you are staring infl ation in the eyeballs, it is already too late to beat it down without a costly fi ght. Two decades of persistently low infl ation have convinced many central bankers that they can wait.

And yet, even if monetary policymakers are not overly concerned about high asset prices or infl ation, they should be worried about another risk that prolonged QE intensifi es: the government’s fi scal exposure to future interest-rate hikes.

While government debt has soared, government interest payments remain low, and have even shrunk as a share of GDP in some countries over the last two decades. As such, many economists are not worried that government debt in advanced economies is approaching its post-World War II high. But what if interest rates start moving up as infl ation takes hold? If government debt is around 125% of GDP, every percentage-point increase in interest rates translates into a 1.25 percentage-point increase in the annual fi scal defi cit as a share of GDP. That is nothing to shrug at. With interest rates normally rising by a few percentage points over the course of a business cycle, government debt can quickly become stressful.

To this, thoughtful economists might respond, “Wait a minute! Not all the debt has to be rolled over quickly. But that is no reason for complacency. The average maturity for government debt is much lower in other countries, not least the US, where it is only 5.8 years. Moreover, what matters is not the average debt maturity (which can be skewed by a few long-dated bonds), but rather the amount of debt that will mature quickly and must be rolled over at a higher rate. — Project Syndicate

Gulf Times Friday, August 6, 2021

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CHAIRMANAbdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFaisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka

Deputy Managing Editor

K T Chacko

Dangers of endless quantitative easing

Policymakers should be worried about the US government’s fi scal exposure to future interest-rate hikes

Circular economy grows upBy Andrew Sheng and Xiao GengHong Kong

Given that the EU is a manufacturing powerhouse, it can help to set global standards for product sustainability and infl uence product design and value-chain management worldwide. But Europe is also taking a more direct approach to driving forward global progress toward a circular economy.

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH11Gulf Times

Friday, August 6, 2021

Prominent women in the Qur’anBy Fatima Gailani

In this article I would like to focus on women mentioned in the Qur’an. My intention is not to prove either the superiority

or equality of men and women. I will simply try to highlight those women who are included in the Divine verses. The Qur’an is not a history book, rather a book to provide guidance. We can fi nd stories in which women are mentioned either positively or negatively according to the role they played, and above all what is expected from a woman according to the Book.

In the Muslim world millions of newborn girls are named after the noble ladies who are mentioned in the Qur’an. Mothers and wives of the Prophets are the ones who are best known to us. Some of these women are mentioned to illustrate certain qualities. In most cases they are examples of goodness; nevertheless the Prophets’ houses sometimes accommodated such women who were among the fi rst to betray and disobey the Divine Message.

Whenever the Qur’an states these women, it simply narrates the story without mentioning their names. The Book of Allah is not interested in actors, it is the action itself which counts. One could say that Maryam, mother of Jesus, is the only woman who was named in the Qur’an. The names of other women are given to us by commentators of the Qur’an. The stories below are as mentioned in the Qur’an.

SARAH: A Dream Fulfi lledThe story of Ibrahim’s wife Sarah

occurs several times in the Qur’an although she herself is mentioned only twice in Surah al-Dhariyat (51:24-32) and in Surah Hud (11:69-76).

Angels in human form were going to Lut and his people; on the way they called on Ibrahim and his wife. He took them for human beings and off ered them the customary hospitality. He was surprised when the guests did not eat, from which he found out they were Angels. Ibrahim was scared and wondered what was the reason for their visit. Sarah was amused at her husband’s worried face and laughed at him. The Angels turned to her and gave her the good news that she would have a son (Is’haq). She could not believe it and exclaimed:

“Oh, woe to me! Shall I bear a child now that I am an old woman and this husband of mine is an old man? Verily that would be a strange thing indeed.” (11:72)

The Angels told her that nothing was impossible for Allah. In the story Sarah is depicted to have the reaction of an ordinary woman who longed for a child. In spite of being the wife of a Prophet she reacted to the good news very naturally without pretence.

ZULEKHA: Forbidden Love

The story of Yusuf and the wife of the Egyptian noble man is indeed a story of forbidden love. It is about the life of an extraordinarily handsome man who was to become a Prophet. But Allah wanted him to pass the test of temptation. He got through it with such success that it became a lesson to Zulekha and her friends. The story is narrated in Surah Yusuf (12:21-34) in detail.

After Yusuf was dropped in an empty well by his jealous brothers, he was found by some merchants who sold him to a wealthy Egyptian couple. His looks caused the wife, Zulekha, to be attracted to him. She tried to seduce him and he resisted her. He remembered Allah and the kindness of his master. When the noble man entered and saw Yusuf’s tunic torn from his back, he knew whom to blame.

The story shows that the Egyptian society was very permissive, as when women of Zulekha’s society gossiped about the matter she invited them all. She put them into a situation where they themselves were unable to resist temptation.

The story continues with Yusuf in prison for years. At the end Yusuf’s innocence and Zulekha’s love for him reformed her deeply. She confessed her guilt and Yusuf was released.

Five women in a Prophet’s lifeIn Surah al-Qasas (28:7-13) three

women are mentioned in Musa’s story: Musa’s mother, his sister and the wife of Pharaoh, and in Surah Taha (20:38-40) his mother and sister are

mentioned. The wife of Pharaoh as an example to believers appears in Surah al-Tahrim (66:11).

For obvious reasons, Musa’s mother was scared for her son’s life; that the Pharaoh who was ruling at that time hated the Israelites and tried to exterminate them. Allah put in her mind to place Musa in a wooden box and let it float on the Nile. It was the will of Allah that the child was rescued by the people of the Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s wife liked the child and asked Pharaoh to spare his life. That is how Musa’s life started as a future Prophet, in the palace of his enemy. The Qur’an says:

“Musa’s mother felt empty-hearted...” She sent her daughter to ‘keep track of him.’ It was also Allah’s design that Musa should not suckle at any woman’s breast. Miriam, Musa’s sister, who had followed her brother to the palace, came in and suggested:

“Shall I lead you to a family who will look after him for you? They will take good care of him.” (28:12). Musa thus was reunited with his mother when others had no knowledge of their relationship.

After growing up Musa does not feel safe in Egypt, so he goes to Midian. He meets two young girls looking after their fl ock. They were waiting for others to fi nish giving water to their animals. The girls looked so helpless that Musa off ered them assistance and watered their fl ock. They returned home and after a while one of them came back walking shyly and said to Musa:

“My father invites you in order to

reward you with some sort of payment since you have done the watering (our fl ocks) for us.” (28:25).

Musa went with the girl to her house and told their father his story. The old man said:

“Do not fear, you have escaped from an evil people.” (28:25).

One of the girls suggested to their father to hire Musa as he was a hardworking and honest man. Musa was thus hired on condition that he would work for eight years and in return one of the girls would be married to him. After the completion of the agreed period, Musa married Safura. (Safura’s name is not mentioned in the Qur’an. It appears in other sources.) Musa then returns with his wife to Egypt.

This story shows that Safura and her sister were hardworking girls and a great help to their old father. Allah wanted Musa not only to stay with them but also to marry one of these remarkable girls. Musa was attracted by the modesty and good manners of the girls. Musa’s loyalty and dedication complemented the family.

BILQIS: A Wise QueenBilqis, the Queen of Sheeba, is

portrayed in the Qur’an (Surah al-Naml 27:20-44) as a wise and infl uential and above all a real leader. She ruled her people in a democratic way. She made every decision after consulting her counsellors.

Prophet Soloman (Sulaiman) was told about her power, kingdom and magnifi cent throne. Yet she and her people were not believers in God and

they worshipped the sun. Soloman sent a message to invite her to his kingdom and to the faith. The message was:

“In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Mercy-giving! Do not act haughtily towards me and come to me committed to (live in) peace.” (27:30-31).

She called her advisers and offi cers and told them about the message. The offi cers suggested a military action and said:

“We possess strength and can be extremely violent, while command rests with you; so consider whatever you will command.” (27:33).

Bilqis’s reply was very wise. She said that if Soloman was just a king we would satisfy him with gifts. But if he was a Prophet, as he claims, then we would have to deal with him with great caution. Soloman categorically refused her gifts and Bilqis realised that she had to go to his kingdom.

They met, and she entered the faith. The story of the Qur’an ends here, but the traditions tell us that she married Soloman. The image of the Queen of Sheeba in the Qur’an is one of a woman whose talented personality and diplomacy do not let her underestimate reality, and a leader who is cautious and will not put her people in a helpless situation.

MARYAM: The Virgin MotherMaryam is the only woman who

has been mentioned by name in the Qur’an. Her mother’s story before her birth (Surah al-Imran - 3:35-37) and indeed her own story (Surah al-Imran - 3:37-50; Surah Maryam - 19:16-33) are among the most moving ones in the Qur’an. Maryam was very special and chosen child from the very beginning. Her mother was the wife of a person called Imran. She made a vow that her fi rst born child would be devoted to God and His service. When Maryam was born her mother was disappointed and said to Allah:

“O my Sustainer! Behold, I have given birth to a female.” (3:36)

Allah said to her:“Allah had been fully aware of what

she should give birth to, and that the male is not as the female.” (3:36)

So Maryam was brought up under Allah’s care and protection. She grew up into one of the most important personality devoted to Allah. It was she who was chosen to be the mother of the Spirit from God. When she reached maturity an angel came to her to give her the following news:

“I am only your God’s messenger sent to bestow a pure son to you.”

She said:“How can I have a son when no

man has ever touched me, nor am I unchaste?” (19:20)

He replied:“Thus your Lord has said: It is a

simple matter for Me (Allah) to do. We will make him a sign for mankind and a mercy from Us (Allah). It is a matter which has been decreed.” (19:21)

When she gave birth to her son she

took him to her people. They rejected her till Jesus talked to them from the cradle:

“I am a slave of Allah. He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet.” (19:30)

Maryam is not only the one whose name is mentioned in the Qur’an but also the only woman to whom Allah sent Angels. She was declared as a woman above all the women in the world. She is a symbol of innocence, purity, devotion and total submission.

Traitors in the HouseWomen who are mentioned in the

Qur’an as examples of treachery and evil doings are only three: Nuh’s wife, Lut’s wife and the wife of Abu Lahab.

Their stories are the opposite of the story of Pharaoh’s wife. Esia, Pharaoh’s wife, was a believer under an arrogant and unjust husband. His power did not infl uence her, nor could his tyranny cut her off from good actions. On the other hand, the wives of Nuh and Lut remained in darkness despite living with Allah’s Prophets. They could not see the light of faith and missed the right path. They betrayed their husbands and they shall be doomed:

“For those who are bent on denying the truth God has propounded a parable in (the stories of) Nuh’s wife and Lut’s wife; they were wedded to two of our righteous servants and each one betrayed her husband, and neither of the two (husbands) will be of any avail to these two women when they are told (on the Day of Judgment): ‘Enter the fi re with all those who enter it’.” (66:10)

As far as Abu Lahab’s wife is concerned she would just match her devious husband. We know about her story in much more detail as she lived in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). In the Qur’an she has been described hammalat al-hatab or the carrier of the thorny wood. Whatever her title was she is one of the most troublesome person mentioned in the Qur’an.

Other women of the time of the Prophet are not mentioned directly but they have been referred to in few places. They are: ‘Aisha (Surah al-Nur 24:11-26); Zaynab (Surah al-Ahzab 33:37-39); Hafsa (Surah al-Tahrim 66:1-5) all three wives of the Prophet; and Khawla bint Tha’laba whose prayer was answered by Allah (Surah al-Mujadila 58:1-5).

Detailed stories of these women can be found in books of Hadith and Tafseer. These stories represent certain values and characteristics, which should be emulated and some bad which should be avoided. These characters whether men or women are there as a lesson to be learnt and examples to be followed or avoided.

“And out of all the accounts relating to the apostles We convey unto thee that wherewith We make fi rm thy heart. For through these accounts comes the truth unto thee as well as admonition and a reminder unto all believers.” (11:120)

Knowledge is the foundation of true fear

How do you face good and bad times?

Fear is the sensation that results from the anticipation of an expected harm; it is also felt when a person loses, or expects to lose something he cherishes. It is the exact opposite of security

and can be applied to worldly matters as well as those of the Hereafter. Fear is a state of disturbance of the heart from an evil or harm that may befall a person, or, it can be the sensation it feels when missing out on something that is beloved to it.

Imam Ibn Qudamah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Fear is no more than the pain and burning that one fi nds in his heart due to an expected harm; it is like the example of one who committed a crime and was subsequently caught; such a person will fear being sentenced to death, and the pain which his heart will suff er is dependent on how certain he is that he will (or will not) be sentenced, depending on the severity of his crime … sometimes one fears the ruler due to the power of the latter. Thus, when one realises the power of Allah and knows that if Allah wished to destroy all His creation it would not aff ect Him, nor could anyone stop Him from doing so, and therefore, one would fear Allah to the extent of the sins that he has committed. This is the fear of warning.”

There is a certain type of fear that is experienced only by the knowledgeable, and it is called Khashyah in Arabic, as Allah The Almighty Says (which means): “…Only those among His servants fear Allah who have knowledge…” (Qur’an, 35:28)

This is fear that is based on knowledge. Ordinary believers experience a general fear of Allah The Almighty whilst Khashyah is only experienced by the devout believers and the scholars from among them; the more knowledge one has regarding Allah The Almighty, the more he will fear Him. When one fears a person who may or may not apprehend him then this is an ordinary fear, whereas if he is absolutely sure that this person can seize him and infl ict harm upon him, then it is Khashyah.

Fear, with its various diff erent meanings, is mentioned in many places in the Qur’an, and its causes are varied:

Fear of being killed or defeated; Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “And when there comes to them something [i.e., information] about [public] security or fear…” (Qur’an, 4:83)

Fear during war and hostility; Allah The Almighty

Says (what means): “… And when fear comes, you see them looking at you, their eyes revolving like one being overcome by death. But when fear departs, they lash you with sharp tongues…” (Qur’an, 33: 19) ‘Fear’ in this verse refers to war.

Fear resulting from knowledge, as Allah The Almighty Says (which means): {“But if one fears from the bequeather [some] error…”} (Qur’an, 2 :182)

Allah The Almighty also Says (what means): “…Unless both fear that they will not be able to keep [within] the limits of Allah…” (Qur’an, 2: 229) ‘Fear’ in this verse is due to one’s knowledge.

Fear due to decrease in numbers, as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “Or that He would not seize them gradually [in a state of dread].” (Qur’an, 16: 47) This is the fear that people feel regarding a decrease in their numbers, which would be the result of them being killed, or facing death in any other way.

Fear of punishment, as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “…They [i.e., the believers] supplicate their Lord in fear…” (Qur’an, 32:16)

Imam Ibn Qudamah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Know that fear is the whip by which Allah controls His slaves so that they may continue exerting eff ort in order to come close to their Lord; fear is the light which illuminates the heart and enables it to distinguish good from evil.” When a person fears another, he will attempt to fl ee from him, and this is the case for everyone except Allah; one escapes from Him by fl eeing to Him.

Fear does not depart from one’s heart except that it causes its ruin, because when fear is present in one’s heart, it burns all desires and expels the pleasures of this life from it. Fear causes a person to wake up from his heedlessness and puts him back on the right path after he has diverted from it. Being fearful is not an objective in itself, meaning, we do not feel fear due to any contentment that comes with being afraid, but rather, it should be a means to rectify our condition.

Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/

The more one ponders over the apparent and hidden favours from Allah The Almighty upon him, the more he will realise that his Lord has granted him abundant blessings and protected him from a

number of evils; this will certainly remove grief and anxiety and bring happiness and contentment. Thus, take heed of the advice of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, when he said: “Look to those who are lower than you (i.e., those who possess less than you) and do not look to those higher than you; this will make you appreciate the bounties of Allah upon you.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Such people get the support and assistance of Allah The Almighty which makes fear vanish, as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {“Be patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are the patient.”} [Qur’an 8: 46]

The virtuous and the sinful, and the believer and the disbeliever are the same when it comes to conditioning oneself to becoming brave, which is the natural ability to calm oneself during moments of terror. Due to the believer’s strong faith, perseverance and reliance on Allah The Almighty, he emerges stronger than others in diffi cult situations and this reduces his fear and anxiety and ultimately makes matters easy for him. As Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {“And don’t be weak in the pursuit of the enemy; if you are suff ering (hardships) then surely, they (too) are suff ering (hardships) as you are suff ering, but you have a hope from Allah (for the reward, i.e. Paradise) that for which they hope not}.” [Qur’an, 4: 104]

However, the one who is devoid of strong faith will be the opposite; he becomes anxious, nervous, confused and full of fear; indeed his anxiety and paranoia team up against him. If this type of person does not possess the worldly means to tackle his fear and affl iction, then he will collapse because he does not possess the faith which would enable him to persevere during tough times.

Another example of this is when certain frightening or disturbing events occur, such as emergencies or accidents. One fi nds that a person with sound faith is calm, steadfast, and able to cope with the situation and handle the hardship he is going through; such a person has conditioned himself to receiving such affl ictions and this makes his heart stronger and more steadfast, which

gives him tranquillity.These examples show the great diff erence between

a person who has strong belief and acts accordingly, and another who is not at this level of faith. Due to the strong belief of the true believer and his contentment with whatever Allah The Almighty has decreed, if he is affl icted with sickness, poverty or any other affl iction, he is tranquil and content and has no desire for anything which has not been decreed for him. Instead, he looks at those less fortunate than him rather than those who are more fortunate and by doing so he becomes happier, even more than one who is discontent despite possessing all the riches of this world.

Many people receive affl iction with fear, discontent, sorrow and despair; their life becomes miserable, they panic and become short tempered. Such a person fails to think about the reward that he should be hoping for, nor does he exercise patience that would bring about contentment and thus make life easier for him.

There can be several reasons for this state of mind: the fear of losing the things one desires and cherishes or the greed to acquire more of the same, because man will never reach a point where he is fully satisfi ed in life.

Diff erent people can have completely diff erent reactions when something good or bad befalls them, and their reactions depend on the strength of their belief and the extent of their righteous actions. One person may receive goodness with gratitude and evil with perseverance, which brings him peace of mind and happiness, causing his grief, anxiety and misery to disappear. Thus, this becomes a cause of positivity in his life. The second person receives goodness with arrogance and transgression; his manners degenerate and become evil; he receives this goodness and utilises it in an unthinking manner; it does not give him any peace of mind and his mind is always restless and agitated.

The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “How wonderful is the aff air of the believer! All of his aff airs are good and this is the case for nobody except a believer. If he is blessed with prosperity he thanks (Allah) and that is good for him; and if he is affl icted with adversity he perseveres and that is also good for him.” [Muslim]

Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/

A view of tents in Mina, near the holy city of Makkah, during this year’s Haj.

QATARGulf Times Friday, August 6, 202112

Qatar Airways grounds 13 Airbus A350s over surface issue on regulator’s direction

Qatar Airways said it has grounded 13 of its Airbus A350 jets at the instruction of the country’s avia-

tion regulator due to the surface below the paint deteriorating faster than ex-pected.

In a statement issued yesterday, the national carrier said, “In addition to its regular checks to ensure the continued safety and security of its passengers and aircraft, Qatar Airways continues to closely monitor the signifi cant condition across its Airbus A350 fl eet in which the fuselage surface below the paint is de-grading at an accelerated rate.

“The airline is working with its regu-lator to ensure the continued safety of all passengers and on this basis, and fol-lowing the explicit written instruction of its regulator, 13 aircraft have now been grounded, eff ectively removing them

from service until such time as the root cause can be established and a satisfac-tory solution made available to perma-nently correct the underlying condition.”

Qatar Airways said, “The safety and security of its passengers remains Qatar Airways’ primary concern. The airline will do all it can to also ensure that its passengers are not inconvenienced by the mandated removal of these aircraft from service and will endeavour to fi nd alternative solutions to off er the usual high standard of service to all passen-gers. Qatar Airways has already taken ac-tion to return its A330 fl eet into service with immediate eff ect to off set some of the impact of the grounded A350 aircraft and is presently looking at other solu-tions too.

“In addition to the airline’s focus on protecting its reputation for off ering the

highest levels of customer experience, Qatar Airways is co-operating with all the leasing companies aff ected by this A350 grounding who have started to in-spect their impacted aircraft.”

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, HE Akbar al-Baker said, “With this latest development, we sincerely expect that Airbus treats this matter with the proper attention that it requires.

Qatar Airways will not accept any-thing other than aircraft that continue to off er its customers the highest possible standard of safety and the best travel ex-perience that they deserve.

“Qatar Airways expects Airbus to have established the root cause and perma-nently corrected the underlying condi-tion to the satisfaction of Qatar Airways and our regulator before we take delivery of any further A350 aircraft.”A Qatar Airways A350.

Covid-19 curbs eased in various categories Traffic closure on Corniche