CAIRO - 11 June 2022: The Ministry of Transport confirmed that all the 22 trains of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project have arrived and are being tried along the project path at the first and second phase stations. The pilot operation of the new trains will take place from Adly Mansour station to the City of Arts and Culture station in the Administrative Capital, and from Adly Mansour station to the City of Knowledge. Scheduled to open to the public soon, each train of the new trains includes 6 vehicles. The LRT project's stations intersect with different transportation means and projects, including the Cairo-Suez railway line at Badr station, the East Nile Monorail, and the fast electric train. The electric train is implemented in 4 stages and starts from Adly Mansour station and then runs parallel to the Cairo-Ismailia desert road, then Badr City.

CAIRO – 11 June 2022: An English tourist was thought to be missing in Luxor for four days; however, he returned and said he decided to enjoy a trip in the mountains west of Luxor. The British tourist, Benjamin, disappeared last Sunday after completing his balloon flight trip, which landed in mountains of Qurna. Police forces of Qurna launched a search campaign to find him and return him safely. Sheikh Mahmoud el-Dabaawy, one of the residents of the Dabya Village, said that the tourist returned safely and was offered a tour inside the fields by residents of Dabya Village. He said that during his lone trip, he walked 40 kilometers, and that he enjoyed the sight of the mountains and the tour.

According to AdColony, the campaign, named “Follow the Sun”, was awarded the title of best tourism advertisement for May 2022 for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The ad was promoted on TV and social media channels, with the goal of attracting more international visitors to Egypt. “Follow the Sun” was launched by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities as part of the media strategy promoting Egypt and targeted travellers in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy. Amr Al-Kady, CEO of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board (ETPB), declared that the ad reached over 6.5 million users of the AdColony app and almost 5.2 million full views, about 80% of the total number of views. 68.6 million views on social media were reported and almost 495.3 million users reached.

Egyptian authorities in the Fayoum Governorate announced that thousands of decomposed bodies of donkeys had been found in an area of about 20 acres, between Western Assiut road and the Regional road, in the outskirts of the governorate. The veterinary doctors and the Tamiya city council were instructed to inspect the location of the donkey carcasses, Fayoum Governor Ahmed al-Ansary, said. Ansary explained, during a telephone interview in TV, that donkey skin is used in some industries and is smuggled outside the country. He also added that two years ago there was a similar incident that was uncovered after being reported to authorities. On Thursday, activists in Egypt circulated pictures on social media showing the skeletons of thousands of donkeys dumped in the desert region far northeast of Fayoum Governorate.

CAIRO – 10 June 2022: Egypt submitted on Thursday a draft resolution to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on enhancing the regulatory organization’s response to the food security challenges in net food-importing developing states and the least developed countries. The draft resolution will be discussed during the 12th ministerial meeting of the WTO scheduled to be held in Geneva on 12-15 June, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. This comes after rounds of intensive consultations with various member states to mobilize the necessary support to sponsor the draft resolution, he added. This move comes within the framework of efforts to deal with the global food crisis and its repercussions on the least developed countries and net food-importing developing countries, such as Egypt, Gamal El-Din stressed. The global food crisis is part of the major crisis facing the global economy since the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying slowdown in economic growth, production and investment, as well as high inflation rates, disruption of global supply chains and high debts, Gamal El-Din said.

CAIRO – 10 June 2022: Egypt’s Former Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar has passed away aged 61, according to media reports. Nassar served as the trade minister in Egypt from 2018 until December 2019 under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli. Nassar served as the secretary-general of the Engineering Export Council of Egypt, and the executive adviser to the projects of the MCV Group for manufacturing vehicles. Since January 2012, he served as vice-president of the engineering goods export council, the advisory board of the Egyptian minister of foreign trade and industry that aims to develop Egyptian exports in the engineering products sector. Nassar holds a university degree in engineering and also in law.

A new initiative has been launched in Egypt worth 3 million euros by the Italian Agency for Development to support the leather and furniture industries, Martino Melli, Director of the Italian Agency for Development, announced. The results of the Robbiki Leather City Project supported the economy and the environment and provided 25,000 direct and indirect job opportunities and led to reforms in downtown Cairo, he added. This came during his speech on the second day of the regional conference, which was launched Wednesday in coordination between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Egypt, in the presence of the Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad, Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt and ambassador of Italy in Cairo, with the aim of boosting the sustainable clothing and footwear industry and minimizing environmental impact, ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) scheduled in Egypt. “We support value chains for businesses and we have a partnership with UNIDO to support cotton cultivation, consisting of two phases,” Melli said, adding that the partnership aims to put Egypt among the world’s cotton industry leaders, while involving the private sector.

Egypt Education Platform (EEP), owned by EFG Hermes, aims to close at least two investment rounds in 2022. Sources told Daily news Egypt that the platform explores potential growth opportunities in the market through future acquisitions or development of new schools. They added the EEP has a diversified portfolio of education assets comprising 10 schools spreading across Cairo and Alexandra, with a combined capacity approaching c.20k students. They added that the Rx Healthcare platform, also owned by EFG Hermes, has progressed on a number of promising acquisition opportunities in the B2B & B2C pharma segments. It is currently at advanced stages of negotiation and execution, with potential aggregate deal values exceeding EGP 1bn, supporting EFG Hermes’s healthcare platform strategy of expanding its investments in the pharmaceuticals sector.

The alternative-housing project is also earthquake-resistant, given it lies 11 meters above the surface of the rest of the area. Chairman of the Civil Development Fund Khaled Sediq told Al Watan newspaper in April that five areas are being renovated within the first phase of the Historic Cairo rehabilitation plan. Sediq noted that Historic Cairo, also known as Islamic Cairo and Medieval Cairo, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The five areas are the surroundings of Al Hakem Bi Amr Allah Mosque, Bab Zoweila, Darb Al Labana, Haret Al Rom, and Hussein Mosque. The other slums that were removed from Old Cairo, and whose residents were also granted fully-furnished flats are Ezbet Abou Qarn, Batn Al Baqara, and Tal Al Aqareb.

The World Bank on Tuesday raised its forecast for the growth of the Egyptian economy during 2022 to 6.1 percent, compared to 5.9 percent in its previous forecast during the spring meetings in April. In an update to the World Economic Outlook report for June issued on Tuesday, the World Bank expected that the Egyptian gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 would grow by 4.8 percent, and by 2024 would grow by five percent. The bank raised its forecast in April by 0.3 percent to reach 5.6 percent in January. The report indicated that the Egyptian economy witnessed stronger activity than expected during the first half of the fiscal year, which contributed to adjusting growth to 6.1 percent during the 2021/22 fiscal year. Gopinath noted that Egypt is the only oil-importing country that has achieved positive growth thanks to proper management of the post-COVID-19 repercussions and the release of positive economic data.

(CNN) – At least 17 people were killed and 50 more injured after a passenger train derailed in eastern Iran early Wednesday morning, the Iranian Red Crescent said on Twitter. Twenty-two rescue teams, 10 ambulances and three helicopters were deployed after five train cars derailed at 5.30 a.m. local time near the city of Tabas. The injured were transported to nearby cities for treatment, according to state media. The death toll is expected to rise due to the severity of the injuries, Iranian state media outlet IRNA quoted south Khorasan governorate official Seyyed Abolhassan Mirjalili as saying. Aerial footage published on the Iranian Red Crescent’s social media showed the cars on their side in the desert.

"There were negative effects on everyone and different sectors suffered from power interruptions, where loads before the year 2014 reached 3-4 thousand megawatts," he explained. In a telephone interview with TV program on “CBC” channel, he said that Egypt has reached 34,000 megawatts, in addition to a reserve of more than 11,000 megawatts, "meaning we moved from a severe deficit representing 20 percent, to a surplus of 20 percent." He also refered to major power projects that were established, including three giant stations, with a total of 14,400 megawatts. He commented saying, "what happened in the electricity sector during the previous years is considered a miracle." He further explained that the energy projects helped to promote and attract investment, adding that electrical interconnection projects are being implemented with neighboring countries due to the superiority of the electricity sector.

BRUSSELS, June 7 (Reuters) - Belgium coach Roberto Martinez will not implement drastic changes to his side for Wednesday’s Nations League game against Poland, even after his side were handed a 4-1 thumping by the Netherlands last Friday. It was the first home defeat in almost six years for the Belgians, ranked second by FIFA and one of the fancied teams for the World Cup later this year. We have to improve straight away, not for the World Cup but for Poland," he said. BRUSSELS, June 7 (Reuters) - Belgium coach Roberto Martinez will not implement drastic changes to his side for Wednesday’s Nations League game against Poland, even after his side were handed a 4-1 thumping by the Netherlands last Friday. It was the first home defeat in almost six years for the Belgians, ranked second by FIFA and one of the fancied teams for the World Cup later this year.

CAIRO – 7 June 2022: Egypt will be affected by India’s seasonal depression, which will lead to a scorching heat wave. The Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) warned citizens to avoid exposure to direct sunlight for long periods, especially during noon. EMA also advised them to wear head covering, drink a lot of fluids and to follow up on the daily weather forecast. Cairo witnesses hot weather on Tuesday, with temperature degrees recorded highs of 35 degrees and lows of 24 degrees. It is expected the temperature degrees will increase by three degrees starting from Wednesday, where it will record 37:38 during the day, while southern Upper Egypt will exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

The French champions paid Barcelona 222 million euros for his signature in 2017. The top five was rounded off by Barca youngster Pedri (135.1 million euros) and Borussia Dortmund's English midfielder Jude Bellingham (133.7 million euros). The CIES Football Observatory uses such indicators as player age, performance, career progression and contract duration to arrive at a transfer value. City's Ruben Dias (109.6 million euros) had the highest transfer value for a defender while PSG's Gianluigi Donnarumma (73.7 million euros) led among goalkeepers. City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, 30, was the oldest player on the list, with a value of 57.3 million euros.