UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United Nations chief said Wednesday it was time for “meaningful action” on the issue of compensation for damage wrought by the climate crisis, especially in developing countries. Ahead of the forthcoming COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi — the latter appearing by video link — co-hosted a meeting of world leaders for “frank exchanges” on climate action. “My messages […]
Tag: Egypt
Nile islanders face eviction to make way for Egypt’s latest grand plan
by Sofiane ALSAAR Agence France-Presse CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Residents of a Nile island in greater Cairo woke up in recent weeks to find officials taking measurements of their houses — a final step before enforcing demolition orders. Since then, people from Warraq — some of whom have been on the working-class, agricultural island for generations — have renewed efforts to oppose a mega development project that would see the island’s character and their homes […]
Egyptians mourn 41 killed in Cairo Coptic church fire
by Khaled DESOUKI Agence France-Presse CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Funerals were held in two Cairo churches Sunday evening for 41 victims of a fire that ripped through a Coptic Christian church during mass, forcing worshippers to jump out of windows. The blaze, blamed on an electrical fault, hit the Abu Sifin church in densely populated Imbaba, a working class district west of the Nile River, part of Giza governorate in greater Cairo. Hundreds gathered to […]
The Red Sea islands caught between Egypt, Saudi and Israel
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — As US President Joe Biden visits the Middle East this week, one issue on the table will be the status of two small Red Sea islands that are uninhabited but of key strategic value. Resolving the tricky status that stems from their location and turbulent history would help build trust between Israel and Saudi Arabia, two US allies now taking gradual steps that Washington hopes could one day lead to diplomatic […]
Israel has ‘no objection’ to Red Sea island transfer to Saudi Arabia: officials
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel has “no objection” to two strategic Red Sea islands being transferred to Saudi Arabia as a step towards any normalisation of ties between both countries, high-ranking officials said Thursday. The Jewish state hopes US President Joe Biden’s Middle East tour will hail the start of diplomatic ties between it and Saudi Arabia. After meeting Israeli officials on Wednesday and Thursday, Biden is on Friday to travel on to Saudi Arabia […]
US climate envoy Kerry in Egypt to discuss COP27 summit
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) – The United States and Egypt on Monday launched a working group to prepare for the COP27 climate summit this year, with US envoy John Kerry urging more countries to come on board. The meeting will take place in November in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, seeking to build on gains made at the previous conference in Glasgow last year. “In Glasgow, we made significant progress… we now need […]
US approves $2.56 billion in military sales to Egypt
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US State Department approved Tuesday two major military equipment sales to Egypt of transport aircraft and radar systems, despite ongoing concerns in Washington over Cairo’s human rights record. The sale of 12 C-130 J Super Hercules transports and accompanying equipment is worth $2.2 billion. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the sale, still not finalized, “will improve Egypt’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing airlift […]
Egypt arrests 3 over thousands of dumped Covid jabs
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Egyptian authorities arrested three people accused of dumping thousands of unused Covid-19 vaccine jabs found last week in a water drain in a southern city, the public prosecution said. “An investigative committee… found a shortage of 18,400 vaccine doses in the Minya health directorate storage inventory worth 5,023,200 pounds ($319,000),” the prosecution said late Sunday in a statement posted on its social media accounts. The statement said 13,412 doses had been […]
Egypt plans to make 1 billion Sinovac vaccines a year
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Egypt said Wednesday it plans to manufacture one billion doses a year of China’s Sinovac vaccine, claiming it would become the Middle East and Africa’s “biggest vaccine producer”. Under the deal with the Chinese pharmaceutical company, a factory in Cairo will produce more than 200 million doses per year to cover “national needs”, Health Minister Hala Zayed told a press conference. A second factory will produce three million doses per day, […]
Egypt prioritizing vaccination of tourism workers
by Aziz EL Massassi DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Egypt is prioritizing the vaccination of tourism workers to support the sector’s recovery and is on track to announce full inoculation of two resort areas this month, its tourism minister said Monday. While Egypt’s tourism industry is still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector has picked up in recent months, with more visitors heading to resorts along the Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts. “We […]
11 dead, almost 100 hurt in Egypt train accident: health ministry
by Farid Farid CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — A train accident north of Cairo on Sunday left 11 people dead and 98 others injured, Egypt’s health ministry said, in the latest rail calamity to hit the North African country. The ministry, in an updated toll, said that “11 people were killed and 98 others injured in a train accident in Toukh”, a small farming town in the fertile Nile Delta about 40 kilometres (25 miles) outside […]
Egypt gets hundreds of thousands of vaccines via Covax
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Egypt has received over 854,000 coronavirus vaccines through the Covax facility for lower and middle income countries, the World Health Organization said Thursday. The AstraZeneca vaccines, the first to be provided through COVAX to Egypt, were delivered by plane to Cairo late Wednesday, WHO said in a statement. Egypt has registered more than 200,000 cases of coronavirus, including some 12,000 deaths. The health ministry has said frontline health workers, the […]





