TOKYO (AP) — More than 20 people were feared dead after a fire broke out Friday in a building in Osaka in western Japan, officials said, and police were investigating arson as a possible cause. The fire started on the fourth floor of an eight-story building in the major business, shopping and entertainment area of Kitashinchi, Osaka fire department official Akira Kishimoto said. Many of the victims are believed to be visitors at the clinic on the fourth floor, fire department officials said. People on other floors of the building were believed to have been safely evacuated, Kishimoto said. NHK quoted a witness as saying she heard a woman’s voice coming from the fourth floor calling for help.

The agreement was inked with HSBC, UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse. The guarantee contract was signed with UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse. The step comes as part of the government's plan for developing the textile sector, through doubling the production capacity of gins and factories affiliated to Misr Spinning and Weaving Company. The plan is also aimed at establishing seven new gins to manufacture clean and traceable cotton, with a view to providing quality inputs to the garment industry, as well as implementing a project to produce cottonseed oil in cooperation with the private sector. Under this agreement, the Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV) would offer credit facility to Misr Spinning and Weaving Company to purchase European machinery and equipment for its factories.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in a meeting with Minister of Justice Omar Marwan at Al Itihadiyah presidential palace on December 16, 2021. Press PhotoCAIRO – 16 December 2021: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi urged Minister of Justice Omar Marwan Thursday to automate Registry offices nationwide. The president held a meeting with the minister to follow up on the development plans of the litigation system, including the introduction of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology so it would turn spoken words into text. On his side, the minister stated that verdicts in cases that have been in courts since the 1990s were issued within the efforts deployed to accelerate litigation and prosecution processes.

CAIRO – 16 December 2021: The law by which public officers who use drugs shall be fired came into effect on Wednesday after six months of its announcement. Employees who will voluntarily seek help from the Fund for Drug Control and Treatment of Addiction (FDCTA) who will continue to abuse without seeking help, will be fired. Six months were allowed before enforcing the law to give abusing employees to be treated. Surprise visits by committees from the fund will test random employees for drug abuse. Earlier in December, Chairman of FDCTA Amr Othman said the prevalence rate of drug use among public employees declined from eight percent in 2017 to 1.7 percent at present.

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CAIRO – 16 December 2021: In the following lines, ET sheds light on the most important world events that took place on December 16. 1899 - Italian club AC Milan was founded by Englishman Herbert Kilpin. 1971 - Bahrain declares its independence from the United Kingdom, after one hundred and ten years of British occupation. 2017 - Real Madrid wins the 2017 Club World Cup after defeating Grêmio with a clean goal in the final.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.N. humanitarian aid delivery from Turkey to rebel-held northwestern Syria is tightly monitored and remains critical, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a report that could be key to keeping the effort going. Syria, which isn’t a council member, called the cross-border convoys politicized and unnecessary. U.N. officials, the United States, Europeans and others said the cross-border deliveries remained crucial, warning that stopping them could bring devastating consequences for a million or more Syrians. Hence the new report, in which Guterres details how cross-border shipments are checked and tracked. “The cross-border operation remains an essential part of the humanitarian response and will continue to do so as long as needs cannot be addressed at the same scope and scale through any other modality,” he wrote.

But there has been a surge in serious cases among people in their 60s or older, including those whose immunities have waned after getting inoculated early in the vaccine rollout that began in February. More than 81% of the population of over 51 million has been fully vaccinated, but only 17% of people have received booster shots. She said that would push the number of serious cases to between 1,600 and 1,900, possibly beyond what hospitals could handle without sacrificing their non-COVID-19 care. Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said the four-person gatherings limit will only be applied to fully vaccinated adults. Those who aren’t fully vaccinated will be required to eat alone at restaurants, Kwon said.

SEOUL, Dec 15 (Reuters) – North Korea has changed the way it carries out capital punishment in response to greater international scrutiny of its human rights, holding executions away from prying eyes to stop information filtering out, a rights group said on Wednesday. North Korea has denied the existence of prison camps and accused the United States and its allies of using criticism of human rights as part of a hostile policy towards it. In the past, North Korea held executions in villages and prison camps where crowds could gather, as a public warning, the group said. But North Korea had not given up public executions – 23 of the 26 documented in the report were public – but it was more determined to ensure it could control who attended, the group said. “Assembled audiences at public killing events are strictly monitored and controlled by state officials to prevent information on public executions from leaking,” it said.

In the following lines, ET highlights some of the most important facts that are not sufficiently known about the Pharaonic civilization, which were reported by the History Hit website. The pharaohs were religious and political leaders:It was the responsibility of the pharaoh to lead Egypt in both religious and political affairs. The Great Pyramid of Cheops is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World:The Great Pyramid of Cheops in Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and it is the only one surviving today. It was designed as a tomb for the Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu [Cheops]. The Great Pyramid of Cheops remains one of the largest structures ever built and an amazing testament to the architectural ambition and creativity of the ancient Egyptians.

Hours earlier, the chief of Iran’s civilian nuclear program insisted his country would refuse the agency access to a sensitive centrifuge assembly plant. Tehran has offered no evidence to support the claim, though it’s another sign of the friction between inspectors and Iran. “There’s no other country other than those making nuclear weapons reaching those high levels” of uranium enrichment, Grossi said of Iran. Grossi said Iran has informed the IAEA about the ongoing construction and his inspectors “are following” progress at the sites. Iran often points to Israel’s weapons program as an international double-standard given the scrutiny of Tehran’s civilian program.

CAIRO, 15 December 2021: The Egyptian national team will play a very strong and important match, at 05:00 PM on Wednesday, against its Tunisian counterpart at Stadium 974, in the semi-finals of the Arab Cup, which is currently being held in Doha. Egypt qualified for the semi-finals after defeating Jordan counterpart 3-1, in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Carlos Queiroz, coach of the Egyptian national team, held more than one session with the players during the past two days to explain the mistakes of the Jordan match. Al Ahly player Mohamed Magdy Afsha returns to participate in today's match after recovering from a recent injury, as he was suffering from a tension in the front muscle, before he recovered and was ready to play the match, according to Queiroz's vision. The closest formation to the match between Egypt and Tunisia is: GK: Mohamed El-ShennawyDefense: Akram Tawfiq, Ahmed Yassin, Mahmoud El Wensh and Ahmed FattouhMidfielder: Amr El-Soulia and Muhannad Lashin, Mustafa Fathi, Afsha, Mohamed SherifAttacker: Marwan Hamdy

GENEVA, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Preliminary evidence indicates that COVID-19 vaccines may be less effective against infection and transmission linked to the Omicron coronavirus variant, which also carries a higher risk of reinfection, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. The WHO, in its weekly epidemiological update, said that more data was needed to better understand the extent to which Omicron may evade immunity derived from either vaccines or previous infection. “As a result of this, the overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains very high,” it said, echoing comments made by WHO officials at an online briefing on Tuesday. But the trend is declining in the proportion of Alpha, Beta and Gamma, and with the emergence of Omicron variant. Out of the total, some 3,755 – or 0.4 percent – were Omicron and the other three variants of concern together numbered 401, less than 0.1 percent each.

The European Commission has provided 80,000 euros in humanitarian funding to assist families in Egypt most impacted by flooding in Aswan on November. These funds will help the Red Crescent in Egypt deliver critical aid such as money, blankets and mattresses, health services, and more. Devastating torrents fell in Aswan caused the destruction of homes, flooded streets, and disturbed enough scorpions to sting over 500 people. The EU is a major source of humanitarian aid to those impacted by war, epidemics, food shortages and natural disasters. In 2021 alone, the EU has allocated over six million euros in humanitarian aid to help people in need in Egypt.

CAIRO - 14 December 2021: The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip remained open on both sides Tuesday upon directives by the political leadership. The measure is meant to facilitate the crossing of stranded people and the entry of aid and construction materials into the Gaza Strip. The authorities responsible for managing the terminal said administrative and technical staff is on hand to speed up the completion of transit procedures and the entry of relief aid and reconstruction materials into the Palestinian enclave. The crossing has been operating exceptionally since May 16 to receive wounded Palestinians and humanitarian cases and allow the delivery of aid to the Strip, in addition to the movement of people on both sides.