Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been urgently admitted to hospital in Monaco because of heart problems, his personal doctor told Reuters on Thursday.Alberto Zangrillo said he saw Berlusconi on Monday and decided to transfer him to a nearby hospital because he did not think it prudent to bring him to Italy, which is some 15 km (10 miles) from the small city-state.
Italy’s ANSA news agency first reported the news. It was not immediately clear if the health emergency had been overcome.
The 84-year-old media tycoon underwent major heart surgery in 2016 and has also survived prostate cancer.
Last September he was hospitalised after contracting coronavirus. He later told reporters that the virus had posed “the most dangerous challenge” of his life.
Berlusconi has spent much of his time recuperating at his daughter Marina’s house in Provence, southeast France.
Shares in Mediaset, the broadcaster controlled by the Berlusconi family, jumped as much as 2.9% on Thursday after initial reports of his latest health scare.
Traders cited speculation about potential ownership changes at the group if Berlusconi’s condition worsened.
Mediaset has been at the centre of a legal battle between Berlusconi’s family holding Fininvest and its second-largest shareholder, French media giant Vivendi, over the past five years.
Berlusconi also remains head of the opposition Forza Italia party. His illness comes as Italy has been hit by political chaos after a junior coalition party quit the government, depriving it of a majority in parliament.
Newspapers have speculated that some Forza Italia lawmakers might agree to desert party ranks and help prop up Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to prevent early elections.

The 84-year-old media tycoon underwent major heart surgery in 2016 and has also survived prostate cancer

Former Italian Prime Minister and leader of the Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party Silvio Berlusconi attends a rally ahead of a regional election in Emilia-Romagna, in Ravenna, Italy, January 24, 2020.

Italy's former PM Berlusconi in hospital with heart problems - doctor

More than 2,000 Rohingya refugees in a camp in Bangladesh were left homeless Thursday after a blaze ripped through over 500 shacks in the early hours, an official said.
There were no deaths but at least 10 people were injured as they escaped the fire at around 2:00 am (2000 GMT Wednesday) at the Nayapara camp, Bangladesh's refugee commissioner Rezwan Hayat said.
-The houses were made of tin and bamboo. We have immediately supplied hot food and bamboo and tarpaulins to the affected people to reconstruct their homes- he said.
He added that a cooking gas cylinder -- used widely in the camp -- was the suspected cause.
Nayapara in southeast Bangladesh is home to tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees originally from Myanmar, including many who have been living there since the 1990s.
Other squalid and congested camps in the area are home to nearly 900,000 Rohingya, most of whom fled a brutal military offensive by Myanmar's military in 2017.
Save the Children's Bangladesh director Onno van Manen said the fire was "another devastating blow for the Rohingya people who have endured unspeakable hardship for years".
-It stands as another ghastly reminder that children stuck in the camps... face a bleak future with little freedom of movement, inadequate access to education, poverty, serious protection risks and abuse including child marriage.-

There were no deaths but at least 10 people were injured

Rohingya refugees search for their belongings after a fire broke out at Nayapara refugee camp in Bangladesh Thursday

Blaze razes 500 houses in Bangladesh Rohingya camp

Donald Trump became the first US president in history to be impeached twice when the House of Representatives voted to charge him with inciting last week's mob attack on Congress.
-Today, in a bipartisan way, the House demonstrated that no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States- Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after Wednesday's vote.
The Senate will not hold a trial before January 20, when Democrat Joe Biden assumes the presidency, meaning the real estate tycoon will escape the ignominy of being forced to leave early.
He is set, however, to face a Senate trial later, and if convicted he might be barred in a follow-up vote from seeking the presidency again in 2024.
-Donald Trump has deservedly become the first president in American history to bear the stain of impeachment twice over- said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who in a week's time will become Senate leader. 
-The Senate is required to act and will proceed with his trial.-
In the House of Representatives, the only question was how many Republicans would join the lockstep Democratic majority in the 232-197 vote. Ten Republicans broke ranks, including the party's number three in the House, Liz Cheney.
-I am in total peace today that my vote was the right thing and I actually think history will judge it that way- said Adam Kinzinger, a vocal Trump critic and one of the Republicans who crossed the aisle.
Holed up in the White House, Trump issued a videotaped address in which he made no mention of impeachment.
Instead, the comments focused on an appeal for Americans to be "united," avoid violence and "overcome the passions of the moment."
Biden, who inherits the pandemic and an ailing economy amid many other woes, welcomed Wednesday's decision but urged the Senate to address his priorities such as approving cabinet nominations while also dealing with Trump's trial.
-I hope that the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation- Biden said in a statement. 
Despite Trump's denunciation of violence following the mayhem inflicted by his followers when they invaded Congress, fears of unrest are high.
Armed National Guards deployed across the capital, and downtown Washington streets were blocked to traffic.
In the Capitol building, guards in military fatigues and carrying assault rifles assembled, some of them grabbing naps early Wednesday under the ornate statues and historical paintings.
Pelosi also announced fines of up to $10,000 for lawmakers who refuse to go through newly installed metal detectors after several Republican lawmakers pushed past police even after setting them off.
-It is tragic that this step is necessary, but the Chamber of the People's House must and will be safe- she said.

Trump survived a first impeachment almost a year ago when the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him of abusing his office to try and get dirt on Biden's family before the election.
This time, his downfall was triggered by a speech he delivered to a crowd on the National Mall on January 6, telling them that Biden had stolen the presidential election and that they needed to march on Congress and show "strength."
The mob then stormed into the Capitol, fatally wounded one police officer, wrecked furniture and forced terrified lawmakers to hide, interrupting a ceremony to put the legal stamp on Biden's victory. 
One protester was shot dead, and three other people died of "medical emergencies," bringing the toll to five.
Pelosi told the chamber before the vote that Trump "must go."
-He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love- she said.
The top Republican in the House, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, said that while Trump deserves censure, hurriedly impeaching will "further divide this nation."

Trump, who has been stripped of his accounts by Twitter and Facebook and finds himself increasingly ostracized in the business world, is struggling to impose his message -- let alone any kind of resistance.
His refusal to accept any responsibility for the horrifying scenes on January 6 has infuriated allies and opponents alike.
The main question now is to what extent former Republican allies in the Senate will turn on their party's figurehead once the Democrats take over control of the chamber.
Current Senate leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, says he will not call for an impeachment trial before Trump's January 20 exit.
However, he said he is open to the possibility of voting to convict Trump in a later trial after Biden becomes president.
-I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate- McConnell said.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that McConnell is signaling privately that he believes Trump did commit impeachable offenses.
This presents a potentially fatal shift in the ground under Trump's feet, because it could lead other Republican senators to join in convicting him.

He is set, however, to face a Senate trial later, and if convicted he might be barred in a follow-up vote from seeking the presidency again in 2024

Holed up in the White House, Trump issued a videotaped address in which he made no mention of impeachment

Trump impeached for unprecedented second time

Khalid al-Qahtani stood in the arrivals hall at Riyadh’s main airport on Monday, waiting to see his sister almost four years after a diplomatic rift with neighbouring Qatar split his family apart.
Other relatives from other families clustered around him waiting for the passengers to get off the first flight from Doha allowed into Saudi Arabia since a U.S-backed deal reopened travel routes.
-My sister has been (in Qatar) for about four years. We communicate on WhatsApp ... My feelings - me and every Gulf citizen - are indescribable- he said.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a diplomatic, trade and travel boycott on Qatar in 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism - a charge dismissed by Qatar which said the move was meant to curtail its sovereignty.
As the states argued, relatives and friends separated by the dispute had to fly to a neutral third country to meet.
Then Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister announced a breakthrough in ending the dispute at a summit on Tuesday and the air, land and sea links started to re-open.
-Thank God ... thank God- said grinning schoolboy Khalid al-Harji at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, soon after arriving from Doha and meeting his uncle and cousin.
-Qatar and us, we share many things: politically, economically, socially, geographically. There are relations, blood between us- said Bandar al-Qahtani waiting to greet his aunt.

As the states argued, relatives and friends separated by the dispute had to fly to a neutral third country to meet

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a diplomatic, trade and travel boycott on Qatar in 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism

Families reunite as Qatar-Saudi flights resume after rift

Billionaire casino magnate and Republican donor Sheldon Adelson has died, according to a statement released on Tuesday from the Las Vegas Sands company.
-Our founder and visionary leader, Sheldon G. Adelson, passed away last night at the age of 87 from complications related to treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma- the statement said. 
A supporter of outgoing US President Donald Trump as well as Israel's Prime Minister Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Adelson rose to become one of the richest men on the planet thanks to his sprawling chain of casinos.
Forbes estimated his net worth as $35 billion as of Tuesday, a fortune he often used to weigh in on American politics.
He fiercely opposed former Democratic president Barack Obama and was a major donor to his successor Trump, giving nearly $220 million to the president and his fellow Republicans in Congress during the 2020 election cycle.
In a statement, former president George W. Bush, a Republican called Adelson an "American patriot, a generous benefactor of charitable causes, and a strong supporter of Israel."
-Sheldon battled his way out of a tough Boston neighborhood to build a successful enterprise that loyally employed tens of thousands -- and entertained millions- Bush said.

He passed away last night at the age of 87 from complications related to treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Sheldon Adelson, who died at 87, was a supporter of Republican causes, including outgoing US President Donald Trump

Billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson dies

Indonesian authorities have retrieved one of the black boxes from a Sriwijaya Air plane that crashed into the Java Sea at the weekend, a navy spokesman said on Tuesday.

The recording device was being transported to Jakarta’s port, spokesman Fajar Tri Rohadi told Reuters.
Local television footage had earlier showed a white plastic box holding the device aboard a speed boat.
It was not immediately clear if it was the plane’s flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder that had been recovered.
Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi and other officials were due to hold a news conference later on Tuesday.
The Boeing 737-500 plane with 62 people on board plunged into the Java Sea on Saturday, four minutes after taking off from Jakarta’s main airport.
Earlier on Tuesday, more human remains were found at the crash site, as well as personal effects such as wallets containing identification cards.The plane was headed on a domestic flight to Pontianak on Borneo island, about 740 km (460 miles) from Jakarta, before it disappeared from radar screens.
It was the second major air crash in Indonesia since 189 passengers and crew were killed in 2018 when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX also plunged into the Java Sea soon after taking off from Jakarta.
The jet that crashed on Saturday is a largely different design.
Once the flight data and cockpit voice recorders are recovered, Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has said it expects to be able to read the information in three days.
With few immediate clues on what caused a catastrophic loss of control after take-off, investigators will rely heavily on the flight recorders to determine what went wrong.
The Sriwijaya Air plane was nearly 27 years old, much older than Boeing’s problem-plagued 737 MAX model. Older 737 models are widely flown and do not have the stall-prevention system implicated in the MAX safety crisis.

The recording device was being transported to Jakarta’s port

A National Transportation Safety Committee official (L) and a search and rescue agency member on board the navy ship KRI Rigel inspect debris retrieved from the sea floor during the search and rescue operation for Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182 off the Jakarta coast, Indonesia, January 12, 2021.

Indonesia retrieves 'black box' from crashed Sriwijaya Air plane -official

Twitter announced Monday it has suspended "more than 70,000 accounts" linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory following the attack on the US Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters.
The social network began its purge Friday, shortly after it had permanently suspended Trump's account for language that could incite violence.
-Since Friday, more than 70,000 accounts have been suspended as a result of our efforts, with many instances of a single individual operating numerous accounts- Twitter said in a blog post.
-These accounts were engaged in sharing harmful QAnon-associated content at scale and were primarily dedicated to the propagation of this conspiracy theory across the service.-
The far-right QAnon conspiracy theory claims Trump is waging a secret war against a global liberal cult of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.
Most major social media platforms have taken unprecedented action since Trump's supporters invaded the Capitol Wednesday to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's presidential win, shocking the US and tarnishing its international image.
Facebook and Twitter have both indefinitely suspended the accounts for Trump, who has refused to accept the result of the November 3 election and spread baseless theories that the vote was rigged.
Both platforms referred to the risk of future violence, particularly before Biden's inauguration on January 20.
Twitter said it also factored in that plans for more armed protests have been proliferating on and off the service, including a proposed second attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17.
The social network was Trump's preferred megaphone, and his account had 88 million subscribers when it was suspended.

The social network began its purge Friday, shortly after it had permanently suspended Trump's account for language that could incite violence

After booting President Donald Trump off Twitter, the social media app has suspended another 70,000 accounts linked to the harmful QAnon conspiracy theories that helped spur on the mob that attacked the US Capitol

Twitter suspends 70,000 accounts linked to pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy

Dozens of students staged a sit-in protest outside their school in central Rome on Monday, urging the government to re-open the education sector across the country after most of its 20 regions extended closures to contain rising COVID-19 infections.

Italian schools reopened in mid-September after a six-month stop - the longest in Europe - but face-to-face lessons in high schools across the country were gradually suspended again a month later due to a new surge in cases.
-School is crucial. We are asking for a safe return to face-to-face activities- student Emanuele Santori said during a demonstration in Rome outside his Cavour school under the shadow of the Colosseum.
Fellow pupil Ilaria Rinattieri added: -It is true we are young, but it is also true we will be the next electoral voters, workers and the citizens of tomorrow.”-Last week the government said high schools could restart at 50% capacity as of Jan. 11 but only 4 regions have re-opened. Most regional heads said it was too early and ordered that the return to classes be postponed by several weeks.
Italy’s powerful regional heads can overturn the central government’s orders on certain issues, including education.
-I have done everything I could do, the schools are ready to start but the regions have the ability to reopen them or not,” Education Minister Lucia Azzolina told state broadcaster RAI. “Distance learning is not working any more.-
Italy, the first Western country to be hit by COVID-19, has reported over 78,700 coronavirus-related fatalities since discovering the pandemic in February, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the sixth-highest in the world.
After the Christmas holidays, Italy returned to a three-tier system which allows for different measures to be applied to different regions according to infection levels.
“Linking schools reopening to the zones system or to the whim of regional governors makes every decision unstable,” parents committee ‘A Scuola!’ (To School!) wrote in a letter to newspaper Corriere della Sera. “As parents, teachers and citizens, we are tired.”

Last week the government said high schools could restart at 50% capacity as of Jan. 11 but only 4 regions have re-opened

Students protest over the decision to keep high schools closed as part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rome, Italy, January 11, 2021.

Students in Rome stage sit-in to demand schools be re-opened

The crew of an Indonesian passenger jet that crashed off Jakarta at the weekend with 62 people aboard did not declare an emergency or report technical problems before it suddenly plunged into the sea, an investigator said Monday.
Authorities have so far been unable to explain why the 26-year-old plane crashed just four minutes after takeoff, but say they've pinpointed the location of the black boxes.
A recording of conversations with air traffic control pointed to routine exchanges, and there was no communication as the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 plunged about 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) in less than a minute before slamming into the Java Sea, said National Transportation Safety Committee investigator Nurcahyo Utomo.
-It's like a normal conversation and nothing suspicious- he told AFP.
-There's no talk of an emergency or something like that.-
The preliminary data suggested it was "most likely" the plane was intact when it hit the water Saturday, he added.
-But we don't know at this stage- what caused the crash, Utomo said.

There were 62 Indonesian passengers and crew aboard the half-full flight, including 10 children.
The jet's captain, Afwan -- a 54-year-old father of three who like many Indonesians goes by one name -- was a former air force pilot with decades of flying under his belt, according to local media.
Some of the 2,600 personnel working in the recovery effort involving dozens of boats and helicopters are hauling body parts, twisted piece of wreckage and passengers' clothing from shallow waters about 23 metres (75 feet) deep.
Body bags filled with human remains were being taken to a police morgue where investigators hope to identify victims by matching fingerprints or DNA from their remains to living relatives.
Rapin Akbar, who gave a blood sample to the hospital, had five relatives on board including an older sister, a nephew and his wife and their seven-month-old baby.
They were flying back to Pontianak, the city on Indonesia's section of Borneo island, about 90 minutes away.
-(My nephew) had planned to go back to Pontianak on Sunday but changed his mind and decided to fly on Saturday instead- Akbar told AFP.
-He called me to say the flight was delayed and sent me a picture of their baby. It was (their) first.-
Late Monday, authorities identified flight attendant Okky Bisma, 29, as the first confirmed victim after matching fingerprints from a retrieved hand to those in a government identity database.

Divers searched waters off Jakarta for black boxes -- cockpit voice and flight data recorders -- that could be crucial to help explain why the plane went down.
Despite the name, black boxes are usually bright orange with reflective stripes, and all commercial planes are obliged to have them on board.
Built to survive at vast depths and in extreme heat, they are fitted with a beacon which can emit a signal for a month.
The devices record information about the speed, altitude and direction of the plane as well as flight crew conversations.
Black box data help explain nearly 90 percent of all crashes, according to aviation experts.
The probe into Saturday's crash is likely to take months.
Aviation analysts said flight-tracking data showed the plane sharply deviated from its intended course before it went into a steep dive, with bad weather, pilot error and mechanical malfunction among the potential factors.
-Something quite dramatic has happened after takeoff- said Stephen Wright, professor of aircraft systems at Finland's Tampere University.
-The airspeed is far too low. The aircraft didn't accelerate up to the correct speeds for continuous flight.-

Sriwijaya Air, which flies to destinations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has said little about the plane, which was previously flown by US-based Continental Airlines and United Airlines.
The Indonesian carrier has not recorded a fatal crash since it started operations in 2003.
But the nation's fast-growing aviation sector has long been plagued by safety concerns, and its airlines were once banned from entering US and European airspace.
In October 2018, 189 people were killed when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet crashed near Jakarta.
That accident -- and another in Ethiopia -- saw Boeing hit with $2.5 billion in fines over claims it defrauded regulators overseeing the 737 MAX model, which was grounded worldwide following the accidents. 
The 737 model that went down Saturday was first produced decades ago and was not a MAX variant.
In 2014, an AirAsia plane headed from Surabaya to Singapore crashed with the loss of 162 lives. 
A year later more than 140 people, including scores on the ground, were killed when a military plane crashed shortly after take-off in Medan on Sumatra island.

Authorities have so far been unable to explain why the 26-year-old plane crashed just four minutes after takeoff, but say they've pinpointed the location of the black boxes

Divers team of Indonesian Navy find parts of plane wreckage of Sriwijaya Air in Thousand Islands waters

Crew on crashed Indonesian passenger jet did not declare emergency

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday will nominate William Burns as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, CNN has learned, tapping a respected veteran American diplomat who has served in posts around the world from the Reagan to the Obama administrations.
-The American people will sleep soundly with him as our next CIA Director- Biden said in a statement.
If confirmed, Burns would become the first leader in the CIA's history whose lifelong experience comes from the State Department.
-Bill Burns is an exemplary diplomat with decades of experience on the world stage keeping our people and our country safe and secure- Biden said. -He shares my profound belief that intelligence must be apolitical and that the dedicated intelligence professionals serving our nation deserve our gratitude and respect.-
Biden was drawn to Burns because of his diplomatic experience and his perceived ability to restore credibility to the intelligence agency in the post-Trump era, people familiar with the matter said, along with his expertise on Russia. His selection would bypass other contenders with more formal experience in the intelligence field.Burns, who is known as Bill, is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a respected international affairs think tank in Washington. He served as deputy secretary of State in the Obama administration after working for more than three decades in positions across the foreign service, which he joined in 1982.
He also served under five American presidents, both Democrats and Republicans, and 10 secretaries of state in a variety of posts, including as ambassador to Jordan in the Clinton administration and to Russia under George W. Bush.
Burns has talked extensively about the damage he believes the Trump administration has inflicted on the United States' foreign policy. He warned of the dangerous consequences of President Donald Trump not accepting election defeat in a prescient essay last August in the Atlantic.
-If he loses, I doubt that he will suddenly embrace the traditional bipartisan commitment to effective transitions. At best, he'll be consumed by efforts to rationalize his defeat and paint the election as rigged; at worst, he'll seek to contest or undermine the result," Burns wrote. "Like so many other features of the Trump era, the transition would bear little resemblance to any before, or any of the many I served through as a career diplomat. The costs of confusion, mixed signals, and bureaucratic turmoil could be very high.-
Burns also has a long history at the center of Middle East peace negotiations and worked closely in the Obama administration on the Iran nuclear deal. He has limited experience with China, but otherwise has a extensive portfolio of work in key regions around the globe.
While all Biden nominees face an easier path to confirmation in a Democratic-controlled Senate, Burns' role in the Benghazi investigation could also be revisited. He testified at a House hearing in 2012 after then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was unable to because of a concussion.
-We learned some very hard and painful lessons in Benghazi- Burns said. -We are already acting on them. We have to do better. We owe it to our colleagues who lost their lives in Benghazi.-
The decision to select Burns to lead the CIA comes after other top contenders faced criticism for their previous support of torture programs. Former acting CIA director Michael Morell, who had been under consideration by Biden, was assailed as unacceptable by top Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a member of the Intelligence Committee, had criticized Morell as a "torture apologist" for his previous suggestions that "enhanced interrogation" of terrorists was effective and moral.Burns, who is respected by Democrats and Republicans alike in the foreign policy arena, is expected to receive far easier confirmation. The CIA director position is not expected to be a formal member of Biden's Cabinet, which represents a change from the Trump administration, but a return to the status it had in the Obama administration.
Avril Haines, whom Biden nominated as director of national intelligence, will represent the intelligence community on the Cabinet. Haines and Burns have a long-standing relationship and during an appearance last year at Columbia University, she praised Burns for being well known for providing thoughtful feedback during his time in government.
-Everyone always wanted to send their memos to Bill- Haines told the audience.
While Burns was initially mentioned as a secretary of state nominee for Biden, one longtime CIA analyst made the case for his selection to lead the CIA in a blog post late last year.
-The appointment of Burns would send an important signal about the revival of public service, which has been demeaned for the past four years, and for the importance of the entire intelligence community, not simply the CIA- Melvin Goodman, who served as a CIA analyst for three decades, wrote in a blog post for Counterpunch, arguing for the selection of Burns.
-Much of CIA's difficulty over the past 40 years can be attributed to mediocre leadership. The CIA would be the major beneficiary of such an exemplary appointment to an institution that has become too insular and parochial.-

If confirmed, Burns would become the first leader in the CIA's history whose lifelong experience comes from the State Department

Biden to nominate William Burns as CIA director, turning to a longtime diplomat to lead agency in post-Trump era

Qatar-Saudi flights resumed on Monday as the neighbours normalise ties under a landmark agreement that ended a bitter three-year rift and allows families to reunite.
Saudi Arabia and its allies the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in June 2017 slapped a blockade on Qatar that included closing airspace to the country over claims it backed Islamist groups and was too close to Iran.
Qatar has always denied the charges.
The quartet agreed to lift the restrictions at a Gulf Cooperation Council summit last week in the Saudi desert city of Al-Ula, after a flurry of diplomatic activity by outgoing US President Donald Trump's administration.
The first commercial flight between Qatar and Saudi Arabia in three and a half years, a Qatar Airways service to Riyadh, took off from windswept Doha airport around 1100 GMT and was due to touch down at 1210 GMT.
Airport staff filmed aircraft taxiing on the runway in anticipation of the departure, according to an AFP correspondent on the ground.
Economy tickets for flight QR1164 aboard an Airbus A350 were on sale for around $650 one way to cover the roughly 600 kilometres (370 miles) between the neighbours' capitals.

A Saudia Airlines plane will also fly Monday from Riyadh to Doha, departing the kingdom at 1340 GMT according to its online schedule, with services from Jeddah expected to start at a later date.
Just as the first flight to Riyadh was preparing to take off, Qatar Airways tweeted that services to Jeddah and Dammam would resume later in the week.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have both opened their airspace to Qatari aviation under the deal but there has been no word on when the first direct flights will take off.
Saudi Arabia's closure of its airspace has forced Qatar Airways aircraft to fly over Iran, Riyadh's arch-rival and long-time adversary of Washington, paying significant overflight fees to Tehran in the process.
The New York Times has reported that Qatar pays $100 million annually to fly over the Islamic republic, citing diplomatic sources.
US national security adviser Robert O'Brien said in November that allowing Qatari planes to fly over Saudi Arabia via an "air bridge" was a priority for the outgoing Trump administration.
The economic hit of the crisis, coinciding with low oil prices and the coronavirus downturn, was felt across the region.
Well-heeled Saudis were unable to visit Doha for holidays and long weekends while expats living in Qatar were unable to visit popular destinations like Dubai without tedious detours via Kuwait or Oman.

Saudi Arabia and its allies the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in June 2017 slapped a blockade on Qatar that included closing airspace to the country over claims it backed Islamist groups and was too close to Iran

A Qatar Airways airplane takes off from Hamad International Airport near the Qatari capital Doha, on the first commercial flight to Saudi Arabia in three and a half years following a Gulf diplomatic thaw

First Qatar to Saudi flight takes off after thaw

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he won't attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20.
If he follows through, he'll become only the fourth president to boycott his successor's regularly scheduled inauguration and the first in more than 150 years to do so.Two other presidents missed their successors' regularly scheduled swearings-in, Martin Van Buren and Woodrow Wilson. The reason for Van Buren's absence is unknown but not seen as malicious by historians, while Wilson's was for health reasons.
Richard Nixon did not attend Gerald Ford's inauguration at the White House after Nixon resigned in the middle of his second term in August 1974.
CNN has reached out to multiple presidential historians to give context to this unusual occurrence.
Three presidents are known to have boycotted their successors' regularly scheduled inaugurations, as Thomas Balcerski, associate professor of history at Eastern Connecticut State University, wrote for CNN.com:
- John Adams didn't attend Thomas Jefferson's inauguration in 1801.
- John Quincy Adams didn't attend Andrew Jackson's inauguration in 1829.
- Andrew Johnson didn't attend Ulysses S. Grant's inauguration in 1869.
Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, told CNN the refusal to attend a successor's inauguration was an "unfortunate precedent set by Adams, not copied again until his son did it in 1829."
For both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Johnson, the political landscape was defined by an "unusual amount of enmity" between the parties, according to Elaine Kamarck, senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution.
Other outgoing presidents have been known to miss part or all their successors' inaugurations.
Van Buren didn't attend William Henry Harrison's inauguration in 1841. Balcerski told CNN that he's aware of an account that has Van Buren riding in a separate carriage behind Harrison to the Capitol but, after further research, Balcerski said that account doesn't appear to be substantiated. Historians don't know precisely why Van Buren skipped the event -- and it's possible he was simply never invited. Richard Mentor Johnson, Van Buren's vice president, did attend.
In 1921, outgoing President Wilson, who was suffering the effects of a stroke, rode with his successor, Warren G. Harding, but did not stay for the event.
Andrew Phillips, the curator and director of museum operations at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, told CNN that Wilson informed his successor that he would not attend because the stairs to the platform were too steep for him. "He made a joke about it, saying, 'The Senate threw me down before, and I don't want to fall down myself now,'" Phillips told CNN, a reference to the Senate defeat of the League of Nations plan and the Treaty of Versailles.
Phillips added that the Washington Herald reported at the time that "for the first time in a century the outgoing President did not witness the installation of the incoming executive."
After Nixon resigned, he left Washington about an hour before Ford took the oath of office at the White House.
Perry told CNN that although Nixon wasn't at the swearing-in ceremony, Ford's farewell to him illustrated the "symbolism of a peaceful transfer of power, even under the direst of circumstances," the resignation of a president.

This will be the first boycott  in more than 150 years

Trump would be only the 4th president to boycott his successor's inauguration

Schools, courts and museums were closed throughout central Spain on Monday two days after the region was hit with a massive snowstorm. 
Officials have asked people to stay at home if possible after Storm Filomena brought the heaviest snowfall in the region for 50 years, killing three people. 
Emergency services and army snowploughs worked round the clock on Friday and Saturday to free some 2,500 drivers trapped in their vehicles. 
The army also had to clear the snow from Madrid airport, with some flights resuming on Sunday.
However, by Monday morning in Madrid, only main roads had been cleared of snow, with most pavements, smaller roads and residential areas still covered.
Residents heeded the government's call to stay at home, with the capital's streets all but deserted.
Throughout the weekend, people had been responding to calls to help clear vital paths in their neighbourhoods to allow access to hospitals.
-All of our friends agreed to come this morning just to clear the way from the bus stop to the psychiatry building of the Gregorio Maranon Hospital- said 22-year-old Rocio Sedano.
-We want people to be able to walk safely.-
The Madrid region, among the worst hit areas with levels of snowfall not seen since 1971, announced all educational and cultural institutions would be closed on Monday and Tuesday. 
Courts would remain closed until Wednesday, officials said. 
The government has insisted the travel chaos will not affect the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, with 350,000 doses due to be doled out nationwide on Monday.

Emergency services and army snowploughs worked round the clock on Friday and Saturday to free some 2,500 drivers trapped in their vehicles

The Madrid region was among the worst hit areas with levels of snowfall not seen since 1971.

Snow keeps schools closed in icy central Spain

A new draft constitution for Belarus, which President Alexander Lukashenko has touted as a solution to a political crisis but the opposition rejects as a sham, will be drawn up this year, Lukashenko said in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday.
Belarus has seen protests since an Aug. 9 presidential election which Lukashenko says he won but the opposition says was stolen. Thousands of protesters have been rounded up and nearly all opposition political figures have been driven into exile or jailed.
Though demonstrations have ebbed over the past five months, social media videos showed hundreds of protesters on Sunday carrying red and white opposition flags at small rallies in Minsk, chanting for Lukashenko to resign.
From early in the crisis, Lukashenko has promised unspecified constitutional reforms. At one point he even suggested he would step down once a new constitution is adopted. The opposition has consistently rejected the proposal as a stunt to keep him in power.
In excerpts from an interview with Russian television taped in December but not previously broadcast, RIA news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying he believed the new draft constitution would be finished by the end of 2021.
-And then the people will determine at a referendum if there should be a new constitution or not- he said. It was his firmest statement so far about the timing of the reform.
The date of the referendum would be announced when parliament convenes on Feb. 11-12, he was quoted as saying.
Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said a new election should be held this year, and a new constitution drawn up with no input from Lukashenko.
-A person who has lowered themselves to using terror against Belarusians has nothing to do with the main law of the country- she said in a social media statement. “He will continue to promote his manipulative (plan) to deceive us once again and to buy time for himself.-

Belarus has seen protests since an Aug. 9 presidential election which Lukashenko says he won but the opposition says was stolen

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meets with medical workers as he visits a local hospital in the town of Stolbtsy in Minsk Region, Belarus December 8, 2020.

Lukashenko promises new Belarus draft constitution by end of this year

The Philippines has secured 30 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by US drug maker Novavax, officials said Sunday, as the country braces for a surge in infections after a huge religious event.
This is only the second vaccine deal signed by the national government, which has faced growing criticism for its slowness in procuring jabs for the archipelago where nearly half a million infections have been recorded.
It hopes to secure 148 million doses this year from seven companies -- enough for around 70 percent of its population. But the government has warned it will depend on global supply. 
In an agreement with the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker, the Philippines will buy 30 million doses of the jab developed by Novavax, the government's vaccine task force said in a statement. 
The price has not been finalised but the vaccine will be available from the third quarter. 
The Novavax vaccine is in late-stage human trials in the United States, Mexico and Britain and is "expected to be approved for use by international regulators", the statement said. 
Previously, the Philippines signed a deal with AstraZeneca for 2.6 million doses of its vaccine developed with Oxford University. The government hopes to secure another 30 million from the company using public and private funding.
No vaccine has been approved by the country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is required before it can be rolled out across the country of 110 million people.
Three drug makers -- Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Russia's Gamaleya -- have applied for emergency use authorisation.
Duterte sparked outcry last month after he revealed that members of his security team had been given a vaccine made by China's Sinopharm. 
Health authorities are warning of a surge in infections in the coming weeks after the Christmas holidays and a massive religious gathering on Saturday.
Several hundred thousand Catholics ignored official pleas to stay home and instead flocked to a church for a glimpse of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ believed to have miraculous healing powers.
Authorities said it could be a super-spreader event and urged participants to self-isolate.&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is only the second vaccine deal signed by the national government

The Philippine government hopes to secure 148 million vaccine doses this year from seven companies - enough for around 70 per cent of its population

Philippines secures 30 million Novavax vaccine doses

At least 61 suspects were detained across Turkey for selling counterfeit gold in the market, according to security sources on Friday.
The financial crimes police branch in Istanbul uncovered a network producing fake and low quality gold bars in eight different workshops in the city's Fatih district. They were gaining unfair profit by putting it on the market in Anatolian cities.
As a result of the six-month technical and physical follow-up carried out as part of the investigation, the identities and addresses of 103 suspects were determined, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Police are on the lookout for 42 other suspects.

Police on lookout for 42 other suspects involved in production, sales of fake, low quality gold

The financial crimes police branch in Istanbul uncovered a network producing fake and low quality gold bars in eight different workshops in the city's Fatih district

Italy's former PM Berlusconi in hospital with heart problems - doctor

Blaze razes 500 houses in Bangladesh Rohingya camp

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Indonesia retrieves 'black box' from crashed Sriwijaya Air plane -official

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First Qatar to Saudi flight takes off after thaw

Trump would be only the 4th president to boycott his successor's inauguration

Snow keeps schools closed in icy central Spain

Lukashenko promises new Belarus draft constitution by end of this year

Philippines secures 30 million Novavax vaccine doses

Turkey: 61 detained over fake gold production

World

Italy's former PM Berlusconi in hospital with heart problems - doctor

Blaze razes 500 houses in Bangladesh Rohingya camp

Trump impeached for unprecedented second time

Families reunite as Qatar-Saudi flights resume after rift

Billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson dies

Indonesia retrieves 'black box' from crashed Sriwijaya Air plane -official

Twitter suspends 70,000 accounts linked to pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy

Students in Rome stage sit-in to demand schools be re-opened

Crew on crashed Indonesian passenger jet did not declare emergency

Biden to nominate William Burns as CIA director, turning to a longtime diplomat to lead agency in post-Trump era

First Qatar to Saudi flight takes off after thaw

Trump would be only the 4th president to boycott his successor's inauguration

Snow keeps schools closed in icy central Spain

Lukashenko promises new Belarus draft constitution by end of this year

Philippines secures 30 million Novavax vaccine doses

Turkey: 61 detained over fake gold production