The Russian ambassador to Cairo Georgy Borisenko denied Moscow had any bias towards Ethiopia in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute. Strong relations have bound Russia and Egypt for decades, he added, while pointing out that these relations have especially flourished during President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s reign. Moscow endeavors to develop further relations with Cairo in the coming years, noting that a strategic partnership agreement between the two countries was signed. He added the two countries are also cooperating in settling the Libyan conflict, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, cybersecurity issues and the fight against terrorism. Russia and Egypt agree on many international issues, he stated, describing the two as “countries that have the same views in the UN.”

Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has allowed hotel establishments to receive guests at full capacity, while strictly maintaining precautionary measures against coronavirus, according to a letter issued on Thursday by Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Hotel Affair Abdel Fattah al-Asy addressed to the head of the Steering Committee of the Hotel Establishments Chamber Alaa Aqel. The decision comes to support the tourism and hotel sector in overcoming the pandemic crisis. The occupancy rate set by the government was only 70 percent of the capacity. Al-Masry Al-Youm published a report on Tuesday regarding demands from workers in the tourism sector to operate hotels at 100 percent of the capacity. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

CAIRO – 21 October 2021: The New Administrative Capital will host the La Vista International Sculpture Symposium, with the participation of 20 of the most skilled sculptors and first class plastic artists in the world. Participating artists are from Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, Kosovo, Georgia, Ukraine, Serbia, New Zealand, Kosovo, Spain, Costa Rica and Macedonia, in addition to Egyptian artists. The symposium kicked off on October 15 and will run until November 3 in La Vista City, the New Administrative Capital. Plastic artist Mohamed Hemida, founder of Ostraka Arts, and organizer of the La Vista International Sculpture Symposium, said that the symposium embraces different schools of sculpture of marble, huge stone blocks, scrap iron and stainless steel. According to Hemida, many of the participating artists have completed their works in various capitals and cities of the world.

Duke of Cambridge Prince William on Sunday invited Liverpool striker and Egyptian football superstar Mohamed Salah to attend the Earthshot Prize ceremony in London on October 17 alongside other celebrities – the only footballer to do so. The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental award to deal with climate change, and provides innovative solutions to repair the planet. This year sees the launch of its first edition, to be awarded annually until 2030. It aims to pick five winners each year whose solutions greatly help the environment. According to its official website, “Earthshot is the most ambitious and prestigious [ceremony] of its kind – designed to incentivize change and help to repair our planet over the next ten years.”“Taking inspiration from President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot which united millions of people around an organizing goal to put man on the moon and catalyzed the development of new technology in the 1960s, The Earthshot Prize is centered around five ‘Earthshots’ – simple but ambitious goals for our planet which, if achieved by 2030, will improve life for us all, for generations to come,” it read.

A microbus loaded with passengers fell from al-Sahel Bridge to the bottom of the Nile River on Sunday afternoon, and a search is underway for survivors. The Civil Protection Operations Room at the Interior Ministry received a signal from the police that the microbus overturned and fell from the top of the Bridge into the Nile waters. The security services moved to the scene of the accident, accompanied by river rescuers. “The microbus banged on the iron fence of the bridge, went off with the passengers, and no one came out again,” an eyewitness said. Security services from the Interior Ministry continue to search for victims, as Civil Protection forces have deployed seven boats to search.

CAIRO - 11 October 2021: For Egyptian and Arab cinema, Mousa represents the dawn of a completely new era. He decides to avenge his father’s death by inventing Mousa, a robot who can challenge evil. Nassar adds another feather in his cap, shining from role to role and providing an effortless performance in this film. The Underdogs is a new cinematic series similar to Marvel and DC films, in which it is based on integrating separate characters in common worlds. It is obvious that Mimi is taking the Egyptian industry to the next level creating his own Egyptian Marvel and the Underdogs will spawn more and more promising films in the future.

The continuing standoff means the two nations will keep troops in the forward areas of Ladakh for a second consecutive winter in dangerously freezing temperatures. Sunday’s talks came amid frustration expressed by the Indian army chief at what he called the massive deployment of troops and weaponry by the Chinese side. Both countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets along the de facto border called the Line of Actual Control. Last year, 20 Indian troops were killed in a clash with Chinese soldiers involving clubs, stones and fists along the disputed border. New helipads, widening of airstrips, new barracks, new surface-to-air missile sites and radar locations have also been reported by Indian media.

Buenos Aires (Reuters) – Two goals a few minutes before half-time, one of which was Lionel Messi’s very lucky counter, helping Argentina beat Uruguay 3-0 in Sunday’s World Cup qualifying. Martinez made up for the mistake when he changed the low cross from DePaul in the second half in the 17th minute. Uruguay, who finished the fourth day at the table of 10 teams, was undefeated in eight games entering the match on Sunday. They brought the game to their rivals, with Luis Suarez approaching three times in the first 30 minutes. Edinson Cavani played in the second half of Uruguay, but it was Argentina that had a chance in an interesting match with 15 fouls and no warning.

Sydney planned to reopen on the Monday after 70% of the New South Wales state population aged 16 and older were fully vaccinated. By Monday, 73.5% of the target population was fully vaccinated and more than 90% have received at least one dose. New South Wales reported 496 new infections in the latest 24-hour period and eight COVID-19 deaths. More than 95% of the target population has had at least one dose and 72.8% are fully vaccinated. In Victoria, 85.5% has had a least one vaccine dose and 58.6% are fully vaccinated.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The US has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, while refusing to give political recognition to the country’s new Taliban rulers, the Taliban said Sunday. On Saturday, however, the Taliban ruled out cooperation with Washington on containing the increasingly active Islamic State group in Afghanistan. However, he warned that the Taliban’s longtime support for al-Qaida make them unreliable as counterterrorism partners with the United States. That prompted the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan that drove the Taliban from power. During the meeting, US officials were expected to press the Taliban to allow Americans and others to leave Afghanistan.

BARRANQUILLA, Colombia (Reuters) -Colombia held Brazil to a 0-0 draw in an engrossing game at home on Sunday, ending Brazil’s nine-match winning run in the South American qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup Finals. Brazil had never lost to Colombia in 12 previous World Cup qualifiers but Colombia came into the game unbeaten in six qualifiers under coach Reinaldo Rueda, their longest such run since 2008. After an uneventful first 45 minutes the game burst into life as the second half went on. Bolivia's victory, only their second of the qualifiers, came thanks to a late goal by Ramiro Vaca in La Paz. Vaca scored with eight minutes remaining just minutes after the home side were reduced to 10 men following the sending off of Henry Vaca.

CAIRO – 11 October 2021: President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi received the Speaker of the South Korean National Assembly Park Byeong-seug on Sunday, where they discussed trade and tech industries. Speaker of the Egyptian House of Representatives Hanafy al-Gebaly and South Korean Ambassador to Cairo Hong Jin-wook attended the meeting. Other than the economy and politics, the meeting also tackled means to counter the ramifications of coronavirus pandemic as well as Egypt’s full support for all mechanism that guarantee the stability of the Korean peninsula. For his part, Park said South Korea is keen on expanding investments in Egypt, given its strategic location that allows access to the European market, Africa, and the Middle East. The country is also wiling to transfer the development experience to Egypt, especially as Egypt goes through wide-scale development in recent years, Park added.

MILAN, Oct 10 (Reuters) - World champions France won the Nations League final with goals from Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe earning them a 2-1 win over Spain at the San Siro stadium on Sunday. With Paul Pogba excellent in midfield, Mbappe's speed and movement stretching Spain and Benzema a constant threat, the French were good value for their victory. Mbappe then grabbed the winner, 10 minutes from the end, racing on to a through ball from Hernandez and keeping his cool to slot past Unai Simon. Spain protested that Mbappe was offside when he received the ball but the VAR check found a slight touch from defender Eric Garcia had played the France striker onside. Earlier on Sunday, Italy had claimed third-place in the Final Four tournament by beating Belgium 2-1 in Turin.

The program provides insurance against accidents that might involve Egyptians working abroad, said acting chairman of the FRA Mohamed Omran during a conference on expat remittances that kicked off here earlier Sunday. He added that the program is based on work permits issued for the expats. All necessary measures should be taken to guarantee Egyptian workers abroad get deserved compensations for any harms from accidents, Omran said. Worth LE 100, an annual insurance document is issued and it also covers expenses of ferrying back home bodies of Egyptian workers who die in accidents while outside Egypt, he added.

This helped sustain improvement of economic indexes and enabled the, now-resilient, national economy to face challenges, as well as internal and external shocks, the report said. The IDSC report focused on the outcome of seven years of reform, highlighting an International Monetary Fund (IMF) positive forecast for economic growth in Egypt, which it expected to reach 5.2 percent, thanks to reforms that have been applied since 2016. In 2014, the IMF had expected slow economic growth in Egypt - estimated at 2.2 percent back then. The IDSC report also pointed to a revised Egypt rating by the World Bank, which expected economic growth to revive and hit 5 percent in 2021-2022, outperforming an average global growth rate of 4.3 percent. In 2014, the World Bank had a slow forecast for Egyptian economic growth, which it put at 2.4 percent back then, the IDSC reminded.