Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, accompanied by Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir on Saturday attended the start of pilot operations for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project. The Prime Minister prior said that there are orders from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to quickly complete the components of the new mass transit system. The Prime Minister and Transport Minister took one of the trains, which is running experimentally from al-Shorouk Station to Badr Station; to check on the progress of the trial operations. The project line guarantees speedy transportation between Cairo and the new cities (Obour – Mostakbal – Shorouk – New Heliopolis – Badr – Industrial Zone and the 10th of Ramadan – the New Administrative Capital). President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping signed an agreement in September 2017 to construct a $739 million electric train linking 10th of Ramadan City and New Cairo with the New Administrative Capital.

CAIRO - 29 January 2022: Egypt has received 3.9 million doses of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine which were delivered at Cairo International Airport through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) in cooperation with GAVI Alliance, the health ministry announced. The shipment will be tested at the Egyptian Drug Authority laboratories before distribution to vaccination centres across the country, he further said. For his part, British Ambassador to Egypt Gareth Bayley voiced happiness for the delivery of about 4 million doses of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Egypt. "The move is considered another turning point with our partnership with Egypt," he added. "The UK is committed to ensuring equitable vaccine access to all,” he affirmed.

Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population on Friday reported 2,007 new coronavirus cases, 26 deaths, and 1991 recoveries. The Ministry of Health and Population issued an urgent publication on January 26, due to surging coronavirus cases in Egypt. An official report from the Health Ministry stated by the end of December that Egypt has so far received 119.3 million doses of various coronavirus vaccines. Egypt was able in a short time to provide all coronavirus vaccines, including Sinovac, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Sputnik, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna, as part of the state’s plan to diversify and expand the provision of coronavirus vaccines. Egypt was able in a short time to provide all coronavirus vaccines, including Sinovac, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Sputnik, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna, as part of the state’s plan to diversify and expand the provision of coronavirus vaccines.

AFP - Iran became the first team from Asia to qualify for the 2022 World Cup finals on Thursday with a 1-0 victory over Iraq as Japan and South Korea moved a step closer to Qatar. Porto forward Medhi Taremi scored the winner after 48 minutes in Tehran to send his country through to a World Cup finals for the sixth time, and third in a row. Only the top two are guaranteed a place at the World Cup that kicks off in Qatar in November. Iran extended their impressive unbeaten run under Croatian head coach Dragan Skocic with 11 wins and one draw, with their second win over Iraq on the road to Qatar. China, who were playing their first game under new manager Li Xiaopeng, saw their slim hopes of reaching the World Cup all but ended.

Cairo – 28 January 2022: The Foreign Ministry deeply condemned Friday's missile shelling of Baghdad International Airport, which resulted in material damage. In a statement, the ministry said such attacks constitute a direct threat to Iraq's stability and undermine the freedom of air navigation. It also asserted Egypt's full solidarity with Iraq in all measures taken by the country to preserve its security and stability, the statement added. At least six rockets landed in the Baghdad International Airport compound and near an adjacent US air base, damaging one disused civilian airplane, Iraqi police sources said on Friday. Iraq’s state news agency reported, citing the country’s aviation authority, that there was no disruption to travel.

“The language school is a projection of Chinese soft power, to familiarize the region with China. Chinese companies dominate Iraq’s key economic sector, oil, and Beijing consumes 40% of Iraq’s crude exports. In 2017, the Chinese consulate approached Salahaddin University’s College of Languages with the idea of a Chinese language department. Other oil companies, including Russia’s Lukoil, are demanding amendments to contract terms as a condition to remain. Chinese companies dominate oil contracts, from operating fields to providing downstream services, and they continue to win more.

CAIRO (AP) — A leading environmental group warned Thursday of a potential major oil leak or explosion on an aging oil tanker moored off of Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Greenpeace released a report listing the environmental, humanitarian and economic impacts of a potential oil spill from the FSO Safer on conflict-riddled Yemen and the Red Sea region in general. Last month, a Yemeni official with the U.N.-recognized government said there was an oil leak from the tanker. Undersecretary of Hodeida province Waleed al-Qudaimi blamed the situation on the U.N. Security Council and called on countries bordering the Red Sea to act urgently. Booms are interconnected floating barriers that are usually spread across the water to stop a major oil spill.

CAIRO - 28 January 2022: Egypt’s Foreign Ministry held consultations with a number of states and parties to learn about their visions on different topics regarding climate change, as part of ongoing preparations for hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27). Egypt is scheduled to host the annual conference in November this year in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh. On Thursdsay, Foreign Minister and President-designate of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) Sameh Shoukry said that funding allocated for international climate action is still insufficient. During the meeting, Shoukry said Egypt is now witnessing the implementation of commitments concerning facing the climate change consequences via implementing the recommendations of the Paris and Glasgow summits on climate change. This comes within the framework of preparations of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) expected to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh city in 2022.

CAIRO – 28 January 2022: United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that the US is committed to fostering partnership with Egypt to “bolster regional stability and respect for human rights”. Blinken’s remarks came after a phone call with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Thursday, during which they discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. “Spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Ukraine, Libya, and regional developments,” Blinken said in a tweet. The United States is committed to strengthening our partnership with Egypt to bolster regional stability and respect for human rights. The phone call also discussed a number of regional issues with the aim of exchanging views and coordination in a way that ensures resolving the different crises and achieving stability and security in the region.

NEW DELHI, Jan 28 (Reuters) – India’s capital Delhi lifted a weekend curfew and allowed restaurants and marketplaces to reopen on Friday, following a sharp drop in new infections of COVID-19. Under new orders, however, the city will remain under night time curfew, and schools will be closed, Delhi’s lieutenant governor said. Restaurants, bars and cinemas will be allowed to operate with up to 50% capacity and the number of people at weddings will be restricted to 200. The number of new cases in Delhi fell to 4,291 on Jan. 27 from a peak of 28,867 on Jan. 13. India reported 251,209 new COVID-19 infections over the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally to 40.62 million, the health ministry said.

CAIRO – 27 January 2022: According to the PUNCH website, the Egyptian Government has offered to assist Nigeria in the preservation of the 1,130 looted Benin bronzes being expected in the country from Germany. Egypt Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Khaled el-Enani, made the offer in Cairo, Egypt when the Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, paid him a visit. Mohammed had led some private sector stakeholders involved in Digital Switch Over, to Afreximbank to assist them on how they can source funds to complete the wholly private sector financially driven project. The Egyptian minister said they were willing to deploy their wealth of experiences in antiquity preservation management to assist Nigeria in preserving the treasure being expected from Germany. The Egyptian Minister of Tourism & Antiquities Khaled el-Enani also offered to help Nigeria in the areas of capacity building, museum management and tourism statistics.

CAIRO – 28 January 2022: Foreign Minister and President-designate of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) Sameh Shoukry said Thursday that funding allocated for international climate action is still insufficient. In a virtual Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) meeting at the ministerial level, Shoukry said providing more funding to face climate change consequences is highly required, Foreign Ministry Spokesman ambassador Ahmed Hafez said. The meeting was hosted by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and attended by ministers and other high-ranking officials from the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the office of the UN Secretary-General. During the meeting, Shoukry said Egypt is now witnessing the implementation of commitments concerning facing the climate change consequences via implementing the recommendations of the Paris and Glasgow summits on climate change. This comes within the framework of preparations of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) expected to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh city in 2022

During the meeting, the Talgo delegation announced that the first train would be shipped to Egypt in the first half of February, according to a statement released by the Transport Ministry on Thursday. The transport minister asked the Talgo delegation to dispatch the seven trains in 2022 to bolster the Egyptian railway fleet, the statement added. The Spanish delegation also offered to manufacture seven luxury sleeper trains under a soft loan from the Spanish government. The two sides agreed on holding intensive meetings in the coming period to consider all details of this Spanish offer, especially as the transport ministry seeks to localize the manufacturing of sleeper trains in the country under presidential directives.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that the security of the Gulf countries is an extension to the Egyptian national security. He stressed not to allow it to be transgressed, to effectively confront the threats faced by the Gulf countries and to reject any practices that seek to destabilize them. Sisi affirmed Egypt’s condemnation of any terrorist act committed by the Houthi militia to target the security, stability and safety of the sisterly UAE and its citizens. Egypt’s support for all measures taken by the UAE to deal with any terrorist act targeting it, within the framework of Egypt’s firm position on supporting the security and stability of the UAE and the close link between Egyptian national security and security of UAE. The Egyptian President stressed that solidarity, unity of Arab countries and consistency of positions are among the most effective ways to ward off external dangers from the Arab world as a whole.

The Egyptian Interior Ministry, on Wednesday responded to leaked videos that went viral on social media about the torture of a person in police detention. It said that the video confirms the extent to which officers appear able to inflict violence on civilians with near total impunity, according to human rights groups. The report said that the video, covertly recorded by a detainee through a cell door, appears to show two inmates hung in stress positions. The detainees are naked from the waist up and suspended from a metal grate by their arms, which are fastened behind their backs, the Guardian reported. The report added that the video is one of two believed to have been recorded in November last year inside a police station in the working-class el-Salam neighbourhood of northern Cairo.