One person has died and six were wounded as a result of “intensified” shelling in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv, according to the city’s Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych. “In recent days, shelling has intensified. They shoot all sorts: mostly cluster munitions, which are aimed at killing people,” Sienkevych said Friday. Speaking on national television, Sienkevych urged residents to stay indoors during the curfew and hide between two walls to try to protect themselves. The city has organized water distribution with trucks as well as additional well drilling in busy areas, Sienkevych added.

CAIRO – 22 April 2022: Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said Egypt has been the only country in the Middle East and Africa to retain the confidence of the three international assessment institutions of Fitch Ratings, S&P Global Ratings, and Moody’s. Fitch Ratings affirmed Thursday Egypt's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'B+' with a Stable Outlook. In February, Moody's credit rating agency maintained its rating for the Egyptian banking sector at B2, with a stable outlook. The B2 rating is the 14th rating out of Moody's 18 ratings, from highest to lowest. The agency said that continued investments in infrastructure and spending will support economic growth in Egypt, and financial inclusion initiatives will provide good opportunities for banks.

Ukrainian officials described heavy fighting throughout the Donetsk and Luhansk regions amid a Russian offensive in the Donbas. Olena Symonenko, an adviser to the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, said in televised remarks late Thursday that over the last 24-hour period, 42 more settlements had come under Russian control in the Donetsk region. “This happened today, so it may well happen that our armed forces will return them under our control tomorrow. And people who stayed there are staying in the shelters or basements.”Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said that Russian forces had been advancing in three directions toward the towns of Rubizhne, Popasna and Novotoshkivske. Russian forces have made a greater effort in the last few weeks to direct their invasion toward taking parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

No evacuation corridors in Ukraine have been agreed with the Russians due to “danger on the routes,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Friday. Ukrainian officials have appealed for the Russians to guarantee safe passage for civilians, particularly those trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk regional military administrator, said 79 residents of the besieged city of Mariupol were safely evacuated to Zaproizhzhia on Thursday, adding that almost 100,000 residents of Mariupol have already arrived in Zaporizhzhia. Evacuations of Mariupol have been fraught with danger, however, as corridors for safe passage have failed on numerous occasions due to Russian forces’ attacks in the area.

CAIRO – 21 April 2022: Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Thursday former Parliamentarian Alaa Hassanein to 10 years in prison, and Businessman Hassan Rateb to five years in prison in the case known as the "Massive Artifact Looting." The Public Prosecution's arraignment charged Hassanein with illegally excavating artifacts, and committing the crimes of trafficking and smuggling them through a gang he had formed. As for Rateb, he is convicted of funding Hassanein and his gang to commit such crimes. The prosecution said it seized four deep digging sites, noting that the antiquities committee confirmed that the digging work was made to excavate antiquities. After hearing the witnesses and the attorney's pleading in February and March, the court designated April 21 to issue the verdict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has on Thursday scrapped plans to storm the Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. All they have to do is just keep that last piece cordoned off and virtually the city is already theirs.”The plant is currently sheltering hundreds of soldiers and civilians. After numerous failed attempts to establish safe corridors, four evacuation buses managed to leave Mariupol on Wednesday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. “Even though the Russians don’t go after them [the Ukrainian troops inside the plant], because they have them surrounded, they can’t get even food or water, much less ammunition,” Davis added. Ukrainian officials have denied that the southeastern city has fallen to Russia.

Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv was under heavy shelling overnight, its mayor said on Thursday. “The situation is stressful, because overnight there was very massive shelling,” said Ihor Terekhov. There was a direct hit in another residential building.”Terekhov said that those left homeless by Russian bombardment have been moved to kindergartens, schools and boarding schools, adding that the situation was “tense but under control.”There are no evacuation planned, he said. According to Terekhov, around a million people remain in Kharkiv today. He said that about 30% of the pre-war population had left, primarily elderly people and women with children.

The Egyptian Public Prosecution referred a man to the criminal court over killing Father Arsanios Wadeed Rizkallah, a priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Muharram Bey, Alexandria. The Public Prosecution established evidence against the suspect from the testimony of 17 witnesses, and what was proven by the report of the Regional Council for Mental Health that the suspect at the time of committing the crime had full awareness and choice, and that he did not suffer from any symptoms of mental or psychological disorder at the time of the crime, which makes him accountable for it. It also established evidence against him according to what was proven by the reports of the Forensic Medicine Authority regarding the anatomical procedure on the body of the victim. The genetic fingerprints of DNA extracted from blood contaminations found with the knife seized in the possession of the suspect matched with the genetic fingerprints extracted from the blood of the victim. This is in addition to what the Public Prosecution has seen from its examination to the crime scene, and what it saw with CCTV overlooking it, as well as other evidences.

However, inflation, in some ways, and currency fluctuation created opportunities for international investors to invest in Egypt’s residential, commercial, and industrial properties, said Alexander Edwards, the Exhibition Director of Cityscape Egypt. Daily News Egypt sat down with Edwards to learn more about the upcoming edition of Cityscape Egypt. How many companies will participate or sponsor the Cityscape Egypt exhibition? What is new in the Cityscape Egypt 2022 exhibition? That’s the question everyone wants to ask; we have got some really exciting things planned for Cityscape Egypt 2022 in September.

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Monday that it has begun working to restore the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo. The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, said that the synagogue is located inside the Babylon Fortress, and is of great importance as it is the oldest synagogue in Egypt and the Middle East. He added that a joint committee had been formed in cooperation with the projects sector of the Supreme Council of Antiquities to start the project to restore the synagogue, as the last restoration work was done in 1991. The head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Osama Talaat, said the temple was named after religious scholar and Jewish philosopher Ezra. The Assistant Secretary-General for the Restoration of Antiquities and Museums and Chairman of the Committee, Mostafa Abdel-Fattah, explained that the restoration work began in the Holy of Holies area.

CAIRO – 20 April 2022: Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Aty asserted Tuesday, in a meeting with the Japanese ambassador, that Egypt showed much lenience throughout the decade-long negotiations on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) built on the Nile River. That is why it would not forfeit its demand for a legally binding agreement on the operation and filling of the hydropower project. The dispute among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia dates back to May 2011 when Ethiopia started building the dam; Egypt voiced concern over its water share [55.5 billion cubic meters]. Constructions in the Grand Renaissance Dam started on April 2, 2011 at a cost of $4.8 billion. The first and second fillings were carried out in 2020 and 2021, respectively, making the total 8 billion cubic meters.

This benefit has been shown to be further enhanced when the diet includes a reduced amount of Omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are involved in regulating pain and inflammation. There are three main types of Omega-3 fatty acids: Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These essential fatty acids are not processed in the body and we have to get them through food and supplements. Migraine Again website stated that Omega-6 fatty acids are also essential but tend to be found in more processed foods.

The Information and Decision-Making Support Center, affiliated with the cabinet, monitored a report on the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, during which it tracks Egyptians’ use of the Internet during 24 hours in Ramadan 2022, and compared it to the same period in Ramadan 2021. It was found that there was an increase in the use of mobile Internet services by 68% in light of the increase in the number of mobile Internet users by 11 million users, and an increase in the use of fixed Internet services by 39% in light of the increase in the number of fixed Internet users by 980 thousand users. The highest average daily used activities were as follows:3.5 million hours per day short entertainment videos posted, recorded an increase of 158%. 12.9 million hours of entertainment content, recorded an increase of 76%. 181 million online shopping visits, recorded an increase of 47%.

CAIRO – 19 April 2022: Egyptian Ambassador to Canada Ahmed Abu Zeid said that Egypt keeps in close contact with all international partners, the private sector and civil society to ensure the success of the next UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, to be hosted in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh in November. His remarks came during his participation Tuesday in a panel discussion on the occasion of launching the second edition of a climate dialogue held by a number of Canadian civil society organizations working in international climate action. Abu Zeid stressed that Egypt seeks to maintain the momentum generated at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, in Glasgow last year to remind countries of their pledges to cut carbon emissions and provide the necessary funding for developing countries to fulfil their national commitments . The Egyptian diplomat shed light on the importance of assisting developing and African states to achieve development, in parallel with the efforts to address climate change. Abu Zeid called for coordinating efforts among different world countries to develop new initiatives in the fields of green economy, renewable energy and green hydrogen, noting that Egypt recently launched a new initiative that focuses on improving and supporting women's capacity to participate in discussions and shape environmental policy and action at all levels, preserving the environment and combating climate change.

The "Safe Woman Clinic" is planned to be replicated in 21 other neighborhoods as a first phase in 2022, and nationwide in coming years. The ministry announced earlier in April that 23,906,809 females were screened for breast cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity since the launching of the Women Health Initiative in July 2019. The Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies (ECSS) published in 2021 data on women empowerment in Egypt focusing on political, economic, and social aspects as well as security. It ranks 102nd in terms of education among women; 103rd in women political empowerment; 140th in women economic empowerment; and, 85th in women health. As for the House of Representatives, women are allocated by the constitution a minimum of 162 seats (28.5%) out of 568 seats.