Will reconciliation deal end rift between Egypt and Qatar?

by Mahmoud Fouly, Abdel-Meguid Kamal

CAIRO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The recent reconciliation agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by Qatar and the boycotting states is a "positive step" through which Egypt and Qatar showed good faith to resume bilateral relations, said Egyptian and Qatari experts.

While Qatari analysts expect the deal to ease differences between Cairo and Doha and mark a new beginning for their ties based on mutual understanding and respect, Egyptian counterparts see that complete resumption of ties may take some time in light of "outstanding issues" to be addressed.

Last week, Qatar and the Arab quartet comprising Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt signed a Kuwaiti-sponsored reconciliation deal in Al-Ula city in northwestern Saudi Arabia during the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit. The four states jointly cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and interfering in their internal affairs, which Qatar has repeatedly denied.

But tension between Cairo and Doha specifically soared following the removal in 2013 of former President Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Qatar who belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood group, which is currently blacklisted in Egypt as a terrorist organization.

"I believe that what happened at Al-Ula summit is a positive step," said Egyptian political science professor Tarek Fahmy, yet adding that complete reconciliation will need "some time" dependent on Qatari response to Egyptian political and security requirements.

He continued that the improvement of the Egyptian-Qatari relations requires Qatar to halt the alleged campaigns launched by Doha-based Muslim Brotherhood media against Egypt, "as well as giving up support for the Brotherhood terrorist group."

Fahmy said that Egypt signed the reconciliation deal to maintain a united position of the quartet and its commitment to the Arab national security, ruling out the possibility that Egypt was pressured to sign the agreement.

The same day when the deal was signed, Qatari finance minister flew to Cairo where he, along with his Egyptian and U.S. counterparts, inaugurated a hotel owned by a Qatari company.

"The Qatari finance minister's visit to Cairo has a symbolic indication of good faith," the Egyptian professor told Xinhua, adding that everyone surely aspires for the achievement of Arab unity.

For his part, Atef Saadawi, an expert at Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS), said that Egypt proved good intention and support for Arab unity through signing the reconciliation deal.

He argued that it's a matter of commitment rather than signature.

"The improvement of the Egyptian-Qatari relations certainly depends on Qatar's response to the Egyptian demands," the ACPSS expert told Xinhua, noting that the demands include stopping Doha's alleged interference in the Egyptian domestic affairs and support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera TV following the Gulf summit, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that Al-Ula agreement was an initial document with stated principles, while relations will be dealt with bilaterally.

"Egypt is a party in the crisis ... there will be bilateral discussions between concerned states and bilateral committees to deal with the differences ... we have the will to resolve these differences," said the Qatari top diplomat.

Meanwhile, Qatari experts expected Al-Ula agreement to open "a new page" in bilateral relations between Doha and Cairo and put an end to their disagreements.

Besides the governments of the states engaged in the reconciliation, the agreement was hailed by international and regional organizations including the United Nations and the Arab League.

"The statements made after Al-Ula summit confirm that there is a real will to heal the rift," Qatari journalist and blogger Hamad Al-Buainain told Xinhua, emphasizing that relations have to be based on solid foundations and their difference in viewpoints is possible.

"Qatar has demonstrated its good intentions, and I expect Al-Ula agreement to mark a new beginning for relations based on mutual understanding and respect," he added.

With regards to full resumption of ties between Doha and Cairo, Al-Buainain quoted the Qatari foreign minister as saying that there will be mutual visits and meetings to discuss future solutions, and joint committees to address issues in detail on the basis of respect for the international law. 

Indonesia says located black box recorders from crashed plane

JAKARTA, Jan 10, 2021 (AFP) - Authorities have pinpointed the location of two black boxes from a crashed Indonesian jet, they said Sunday, referring to cockpit voice and flight data recorders that could help explain why the aircraft went down with 62 people aboard.

The announcement came as divers pulled body parts, wreckage and clothing from waters off Indonesia's capital Jakarta.

"We have located the position of the black boxes, both of them," said Soerjanto Tjahjanto, head of Indonesia's transport safety agency.

"Divers will start looking for them now and hopefully it won't be long before we get them."

The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 went into a steep dive about four minutes after it left Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta on Saturday afternoon.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo expressed his "deep condolences", and called on citizens to "pray together so that victims can be found".

But the frantic search involving helicopters and a flotilla of warships appeared to offer no hope of finding any survivors.

The search and rescue agency said it had so far collected five body bags with human remains as well as debris from the crash site in the Java Sea.

A piece of child's clothing, a broken tyre and wheel, life jackets and wreckage from the plane's body were found, according to authorities and AFP reporters on the scene.

Among the passengers was Beben Sofian, 59, and her husband Dan Razanah, 58.

"They took a selfie and sent it to their kids before taking off," the couple's nephew Hendra told AFP.

All 62 people on board, passengers and crew, were Indonesian, authorities said. The count included 10 children.

- 'Torn into pieces' -

Distraught relatives waited nervously for news at the airport in Pontianak, the city on Indonesia's section of Borneo island which had been flight SJ182's destination, about 90 minutes flying time over the Java Sea.

"I have four family members on the flight -- my wife and three children," Yaman Zai said on Saturday evening as he sobbed.

"(My wife) sent me a picture of the baby today... How could my heart not be torn into pieces?"

Data from FlightRadar24 indicated that the airliner reached an altitude of nearly 11,000 feet (3,350 metres) before dropping suddenly to 250 feet. It then lost contact with air traffic control.

The transport minister said Saturday that the jet appeared to deviate from its intended course just before it disappeared from radar.

Poor weather, pilot error or a technical problem with the plane were potential factors, said Jakarta-based aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman.

"But it's way too early to conclude anything," he added.

"After the black box is found we can start putting the puzzle together."

Sriwijaya Air, which operates flights to destinations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has said only that it was investigating the loss of contact.

It did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP again on Sunday.

- Reputation for poor safety -

In October 2018, 189 people were killed when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet crashed near Jakarta.

That crash -- 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 two deadly crashes.

The 26-year-old 737 that went down Saturday was not a MAX variant.

"Our thoughts are with the crew, passengers, and their families," Boeing said in a statement, adding that it was in contact with the airline.

Indonesia's aviation sector has long had a reputation for poor safety, and its airlines were once banned from entering US and European airspace.

In 2014, an AirAsia plane headed from Surabaya to Singapore crashed with the loss of 162 lives.

Domestic investigators' final report on that crash said major factors included a chronically faulty component in a rudder control system, poor maintenance, and the pilots' inadequate response.

A year later, in 2015, 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. 

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German virus deaths top 40,000 as Merkel warns of 'hardest weeks'

BERLIN, Jan 10, 2021 (AFP) - The total number of Germany's coronavirus deaths crossed 40,000 on Sunday, as Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the coming weeks would be "the hardest" yet.

Germany recorded 465 deaths over the past 24 hours, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said, raising the toll since the start of the pandemic to 40,343.

More than 1.9 million people have been infected so far, with almost 17,000 new cases added since Saturday.

In her weekly video message on Saturday, Merkel said the full impact of socialising over the Christmas and New Year's period was yet to show up in the statistics.

She warned Germans that "these next winter weeks will be the hardest phase of the pandemic" so far, with many doctors and medical staff working at their limits.

Germany fared better than many other European countries during the first Covid-19 wave in the spring but it has been hit hard by the second wave.

The nation of 83 million people, the bloc's most populous, has imposed another round of restrictions to limit social contacts and help hospitals cope with a surge in patients.

More than 5,000 Covid-19 patients are currently in intensive care nationwide, with over 80 percent of intensive care beds occupied.

Germany has closed schools and non-essential shops, culture and leisure facilities until at least January 31 in hope of slowing the outbreak.

Like other EU nations, it started vaccinating citizens against Covid-19 in late December using the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

More than half a million people have received the jab so far. 

A second vaccine, developed by US firm Moderna, will join the rollout in the coming days.

- 'Absolutely necessary' -

Merkel acknowledged the vaccine campaign had got off to a slow start, "but the tempo will pick up", she said.

"What's important is that we can say: we will have enough of the vaccine available for everyone in Germany," she added.

"Month after month we will inoculate more people and eventually we will be able to offer the vaccine to anyone who wants it."

Merkel said the vaccines allowed for "justified hope" that the world could conquer the pandemic.

But she urged Germans to stay patient and said she was "firmly convinced" the current tough curbs on public life are "absolutely necessary".

A survey by the Kantar research group for Bild am Sonntag newspaper found that 56 percent of Germans agreed with the latest measures to stem the virus spread.

Another 25 percent of respondents said the restrictions did not go far enough. 

Just 16 percent said the rules were too strict. 

Swiss school closures cut Covid spread: study

GENEVA, Jan 10, 2021 (AFP) - Switzerland's decision in the spring to shutter schools was one of the most effective measures in reducing mobility and thus also transmission of Covid-19, a study showed Sunday.

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, ETH, determined that the closure of Swiss schools last March was responsible for cutting mobility by more than a fifth. 

"School closures reduced mobility by 21.6 percent," Stefan Feuerriegel, an ETH professor of management information systems who headed the study, told AFP in an email.

"School closures reduce mobility, (which) then reduces new cases" of Covid-19, he said.

His team analysed some 1.5 billion movements in Swiss telecommunication data between February 10 and April 26 last year to evaluate the impact on mobility as various anti-Covid measures were introduced.

In decentralised Switzerland, its 26 cantons introduced measures at different paces before a country-wide partial lockdown, including school closures, was ordered on March 16.

Schools across the country remained closed for about two months before gradually opening up again.

The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, found school closures ranked third in terms of reducing mobility.

At the top of the list was a ban on gatherings of more than five people, which was seen slashing mobility by 24.9 percent, and the closure of restaurants, bars and non-essential shops, which caused people to move about 22.3 percent less, the study shows.

Feuerriegel said it was not surprising that school closures had such a big impact on people's movements.

"If schools are closed, we can expect a large change in behaviour," he said, pointing out that "not only will kids stay home, but sometimes it also requires their parents to change their mobility as well."

School closures have been among the most controversial measures introduced around the world to help rein in the pandemic.

Children are far less likely to develop severe illness from Covid-19 than older people, but it remains unclear how much they transmit the virus.

The ETH study does not address that, but indicates that school closures can significantly reduce transmission by prompting people to move about and mingle less.

"Our analysis confirms school closure as a measure to slow the spread, through reduced mobility," Feuerriegel said. 

Pakistan hit by nationwide power blackout

ISLAMABAD, Jan 10, 2021 (AFP) - Power was gradually being restored to major cities across Pakistan Sunday after it was hit by a massive electricity blackout, officials said.

The electricity distribution system in the nation of more than 210 million people is a complex and delicate web, and a problem in one section of the grid can lead to cascading breakdowns countrywide.

The latest blackout was caused by "an engineering fault" in southern Pakistan at 11:41 pm local time on Saturday (1841 GMT), which tripped the system and caused power plants to shut down, power minister Omar Ayub Khan told a press conference in Islamabad. "Our experts are trying to determine the exact location of the fault."

Khan said that will take "another few hours as the area is still covered in dense fog", but that power had been partially restored in most areas of Punjab, the most populous province, as well as the economic hub Karachi in the south.

"We hope to bring the system back to its full capacity by this evening, but it will take some time for nuclear and thermal power plants to get operational," Khan tweeted.

People were cracking jokes and exchanging memes on Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp, mostly ridiculing Prime Minister Imran Khan's government and its performance after the breakdown.

"Power breakdown in Pakistan is blackmailing Imran Khan," tweeted Musarrat Ahmedzeb in reference to the premier's recent statement accusing Shiite protesters of blackmailing him after killing of 10 miners.

"What a start for the new year... let us seek Allah the Almighty's mercy," read another tweet, while a message on WhatsApp said: "new Pakistan sleeps in a night mode".

There were no immediate reports of disruption at hospitals, which often rely on back-up generators.

Netblocks, which monitors internet outages, said web connectivity in the country "collapsed" as a result of the blackout.

Connectivity was at "62 percent of ordinary levels", it said in a tweet.

This was Pakistan's second major power breakdown in less than three years. In May 2018, power was partially disrupted for more than nine hours.

In 2015, an apparent rebel attack on a key power line plunged around 80 percent of Pakistan into darkness.

That blackout, one of the worst in Pakistan's history, caused electricity to be cut in major cities nationwide, including Islamabad, and even affected one of the country's international airports.