LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could help to calm volatile oil markets if they pumped more crude, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the two oil producers with the most spare production capacity and could help to relieve dwindling global oil inventories that have been among factors pushing prices towards $100 a barrel, deepening inflation worldwide. The IEA said that effective spare capacity could fall to 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year, held up almost entirely by Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser extent, the UAE. The need to refill depleted oil stocks, which in OECD countries have slumped to seven-year lows, means immediate oversupply is unlikely. “We don’t see it as a huge surplus looming over the market,” she told reporters.

CAIRO – 10 February 2022: More than 672,000 citizens have been vaccinated with the third booster dose of the Corona vaccine, announced the Egyptian Ministry of Health. The Ministry confirmed that vaccinating citizens with the third dose of the Corona virus vaccine enables them to strengthen their immunity against the Corona virus. The Ministry of Health and Population said that more than 672,000 citizens have received the third booster dose now, highlighting its great importance in protecting against infection. This comes a day after the World Health Organization held a press conference in Cairo, providing the latest developments in confronting Coronavirus, ensuring the importance of a third dose “booster” to protect against the infection. Including the hotline “105”, “15335” and the WhatsApp number “01553105105”, in addition to the “Health Egypt” application available on phones.

CAIRO – 10 February 2022: The Ministry of Health and Population announced Thursday that 1.6 million citizens have been screened for kidney disease since September until present. Executive Director of the "Early Diagnosis of Nephropathy" initiative Emad Abdel Satar had told press Tuesday that 4,500 screening devices have been made available at healthcare units nationwide providing 30-second tests. Abdel Satar noted that once a kidney disease case is identified, the patient is offered free treatment at the closest hospital. In that context, the official urged citizens suffering from diabetes and/or hypertension to hit the nearest healthcare unit to have a free check-up.

The Legal Affairs Department of Al-Hadath Al-Youm channel, headed by Mahmoud al-Assal, stopped the “Al-Hayah Ahla” (Life is Better) program permanently after fabricating a fake phone call by a person who impersonated Egyptian heart surgeon Magdi Yacoub. The program violated media professional standards, the policy of the channel and the media honor charter. Al-Hayat Al-Youm program has been permanently suspended on the Al-Hadath Al-Youm channel. Presenters Sherif Adel Mostafa and Nouran Mahmoud al-Sayed have been banned from appearing on Al-Hadath Al-Youm screen permanently, and legal measures have been taken against them. The management of Al-Hadath Al-Youm channel is fully committed to the standards and codes of media ethics.

CAIRO – 10 February 2022: The Grand Egyptian Museum is the largest museum in the world to be dedicated to one civilization. The Grand Egyptian Museum will house over 50,000 antiquities. The museum will also specialize an area to exhibit all the belongings of King Tutankhamun, all in one place for the first time in history. Furthermore, Al-Tayeb Abbas announced that King Tutankhamun Hall is 99 percent completed, and more than 4,700 artifacts from King Tutankhamun’s treasures have been placed and inside 86 show-cases out of 107. Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered on November 4, 1922, by British scientist Howard Carter.

CAIRO - 10 February 2022: In an effort to prevent building encroachment on agricultural land, the Ministry of Justice has been tasked to draft a law confiscating illegal building and imposing fines on the violators. In a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli tasked the Minister of Justice Omar Marwan to draft a law aims at confiscating the illegal buildings on the agricultural areas, besides imposing huge fines on the violators, said the Cabinet in a statement on Thursday. This new draft law also would include a punishment against the contractor who would be in charge of illegal buildings on the arable land, Madbouli said. The government, via the concerned ministries, would form monitoring committees against the violators, in implementation of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s orders, the Prime Minister added. The Prime Minister continued that the violators would be deprived of all forms of subsides on basic commodities, bread, fertilizers, and etc.

Feb 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and King Salman of Saudi Arabia discussed energy supplies in the face of soaring fuel prices and developments in the Middle East, including Iran and Yemen, in a telephone call on Wednesday. “The two leaders committed to ensuring the stability of global energy supplies,” the White House said in a statement. A U.S. source familiar with the call said, “Saudi Arabia has historically played a vital role in ensuring global energy markets are well supplied to support strong and resilient economies. The conflict in Yemen is largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Salman told Biden that Saudi Arabia wanted there to be a “political resolution” in Yemen, SPA said.

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CAIRO - 9 February2022: Business Insider, the American online platform, nominated Egypt in its list of the top 10 investment destinations in the African continent, as the list included Egypt, along with the countries of Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Morocco, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Angola, and Cote d'Ivoire . It stressed that these statistics also show that Egypt is one of the richest countries. Africa in terms of GDP for the year 2021, as it has the second highest gross domestic product (GDP) in the African continent with a value of $394 billion. The World Investment Report for the year 2020, issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), confirmed that Egypt maintained its position as the first destination for foreign direct investment in Africa for the third year in a row, thanks to economic reforms that contributed to macroeconomic stability and enhanced investor confidence in country. It should be noted that foreign direct investment flows to Egypt doubled from $4.6 billion in 2014, to about $1 billion in 2019, before the pandemic spread.

CAIRO – 9 February 2022: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Maltese counterpart, Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo, have welcomed efforts to intensify political consultation mechanisms between the two countries. The ministers discussed means of boosting bilateral relations, especially in light of the special pace of progress these relations witness in all fields and the mutual support in the international forums. Shoukry and Bartolo discussed a number of regional issues of mutual concern and agreed on the need to continue coordination and consultations on boosting relations between Egypt and Malta, the statement said. In July, Shokry discussed with his Maltese counterpart aspects of bilateral cooperation, and continuous consultation over regional issues of mutual interest, such as the Libyan crisis, illegal migrations, and combating terrorism. The minister also held meetings with the foreign ministers of EU countries and senior officials at the European Commission to confer over bilateral relations and regional affairs of mutual interest.

Western nations say they will impose their toughest-ever sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals if Moscow invades Ukraine. “Russia should be in no doubt about the strength of our response,” said Truss, who will meet Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the two-day visit. French President Emmanuel Macron held over five hours of talks Monday with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow before meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv the next day. On Wednesday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares visited Kyiv to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, Christoph Noelting in Vilseck, Germany, and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed.

(Reuters) - Al Hilal coach Leonardo Jardim has criticised the format of FIFA's Club World Cup on the eve of his side's semi-final clash with Chelsea, saying it is too weighted in favour of Europe's heavyweights. The Saudi Arabian club beat Al Jazira 6-1 to set up the clash with the Champions League winners, whereas Chelsea were exempt to that stage, as is the case with all European representatives. Only a handful of clubs outside of Europe and South America have reached the final of the competition. Every final so far has featured a team from Europe or South America with the majority being contested between teams from those continents. Chelsea will be huge favourites to beat Al Hilal while in the other semi-final it would be a major surprise if Brazil's Libertadores champions Palmeiras do not beat Egypt's Al Ahly.

ROME, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Zlatan Ibrahimovic is like a caged lion as he fights to regain fitness, but the Swede will be unavailable for AC Milan's Italian Cup quarter-final against Lazio, coach Stefano Pioli said on Tuesday. He is doing everything to recover, he won’t be ready for tomorrow but we will see about the next games,” Pioli told Sport Mediaset. "The concrete objective is to eliminate Lazio tomorrow. That will be a difficult obstacle, they are in good form and won a great match against Fiorentina on Saturday. We will focus on tomorrow’s match and then go one step at a time," Pioli said.

Minister of International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat met with International Consultant and the former Resident Coordinator in Egypt for the UN and the UNDP Antonio Vigilante and UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt Elena Panova to discuss the UN’s support for the Egyptian presidential initiative “Hayah Karima”. Mashat confirmed that the “Hayah Karima” initiate will be a major part of the strategic framework for cooperation for sustainable development between Egypt and the UN from 2023-2027. The Ministry of International Cooperation is working to include it in all future strategies with development partners. Panova presented the proposed dimensions for the UN’s contribution to the initiative, saying the UN is currently implementing 400 activities in villages where the Hayah Karima initiative is also implemented, benefiting up to 1.4 million citizens. Panova added that the UN will align the goals of the Hayah Karima initiative to strengthen monitoring and evaluation, as well as to expand the initiative to combat poverty and implement sustainable development goals.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a phone call on Wednesday afternoon from Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The spokesperson for Egypt’s presidency Bassam Rady said the talks discussed the developments of some regional issues of common interest, especially the situation in Libya. Rady explained that the Algerian president expressed his sincere appreciation for the warm reception and hospitality during his recent visit to Egypt, which involved many activities and fruitful discussions between the two sides. President Sisi meanwhile expressed his joy in the Algerian president’s last visit, calling him a dear guest to his country. Sisi referred to preparations for holding the next session of the joint higher committee with the two prime ministers as soon as possible, as well as strengthening security and military cooperation between both nations.