On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inspected a project that is restoring the Pharaonic Kebash (Rams) Road, which links the Karnak and Luxor temples at a length of 2,700 meters. The PM was accompanied by Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anany, Luxor Governor Mostafa Alham, and Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa al-Waziry. The road is lined with 1,200 statues of rams next to a group of ancient shrines, and was used for ancient Egyptian processions. The visit comes as part of ongoing preparations to open the road to tourists soon. A procession and a huge celebration will take place once the work is finished.

The Egyptian Stock Exchange tumbled on Tuesday after Ethiopia announced the start of the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)’s reservoir, according to Reuters. The main Egyptian index fell in the first hour of trading on Tuesday by about two percent, amid weak trading values, after Ethiopia last night informed Egypt and Sudan of the start of the second filling of GERD reservoir. By 08:47 GMT, the main index of the market fell by 1.88 percent to 10,153.3 points, with a value of trading of LE 236.3 million, Reuters reported. The stock of Commercial International Bank fell by 1.3 percent, Talaat Moustafa Group fell by 4.6 percent, Fawry fell by 1.8 percent, El Sewedy Electric fell by 2.6 percent, Pioneers Holding stock lost 4.7 percent, and Beltone stock lost 2.6 percent. Egyptian Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Mohamed Abdel-Ati, issued a statement Monday in which he said that he had received an official letter from his Ethiopian counterpart stating that Ethiopia has begun the process of filling the second filling of the GERD reservoir.

The US dollar to Egyptian pound exchange rate on Tuesday recorded LE15.61 for purchase and LE15.71 for sale at the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque (Bank) Misr. The dollar recorded LE15.63 for purchase and LE15.73 for sale at Commercial International Bank (CIB). The dollar recorded LE15.62 for purchase and LE15.72 for sale at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). Meanwhile, the Euro recorded LE18.48 for purchase and LE18.69 for sale at the NBE and Banque (Bank) Misr. The Euro recorded LE18.53 for purchase and LE18.66 for sale at the CBE.

CAIRO – 6 July 2021: IHS Markit Egypt Purchasing Managers’ IndexTM (PMI) recorded 49.9 in June, slightly below the neutral level at 50, up from 48.6 in May. "A second successive rise brought the Egypt PMI almost to the 50.0 growth mark in June, posting 49.9 to record its highest reading in seven months. According to the data, concerns surrounding inflationary pressures were again marked in June, as input prices rose at the quickest pace since August 2019. This was almost solely led by a sharp uptick in raw material prices, with iron, copper and plastics among those reported up in price. This was often linked to hopes of an improvement in market conditions as COVID-19 restrictions are ended,” it added.

CAIRO – 6 July 2021: The Egyptian-Japanese archaeological mission, headed by President of Japan's Higashi Nippon International University and Honorary Professor at Waseda University Sakuji Yoshimura, has completed the exhumation of all the artifacts of the Second Khufu Ship from the pit discovered next to the Pyramid of Khufu [Cheops] in the Giza pyramids area, thus ending the largest operation to discover and extract the Second Khufu Ship. Fruitful cooperation between Egypt, Japan in restoring Second Khufu Solar Ship, transfer of antiquities - Min. Fruitful cooperation between Egypt, Japan in restoring Second Khufu Solar Ship, transfer of antiquities - Min. For his part, Yoshifumi further expressed his appreciation of the strong leadership of the Egyptian government and the efforts made by the Egyptian state to achieve such great progress in the establishment of the Grand Egyptian Museum. He stressed his pride in JICA's participation in preserving the treasures of Egypt for future generations through the Grand Egyptian Museum project.

CAIRO – 6 July 2021: On July 6, many important events took place. 1609 - A law is passed in Bohemia guaranteeing the freedom to practice religion and belief on its territory. 1785 - The dollar is unanimously chosen as the currency of the United States Of America. 1799 – The march of 25,000 Sikhs led by Ranjit Singh begins towards Lahore. 1885 - Louis Pasteur successfully tested his rabies vaccine on a child with the disease.

Assoumi called on Rivière to act to reach a binding and just agreement about the filling and operation of Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam. The Arab Parliament speaker requested that "this collective Arab stance be conveyed to the UNSC, expecting it to act to maintain world peace and security." Ethiopia has reiterated its plans to implement the second phase of filling in July and through the rainy season whether a deal is reached or not. Rounds of African Union-sponsored talks have collapsed with Egypt and Sudan blaming the collapse of negotiations on Ethiopia’s intransigence. Egypt’s and Sudan’s rejectionEgyptian and Sudanese foreign ministers expressed their rejection to Ethiopia’s announcement of starting the filling process for the second year.

The British Army’s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sir Nick Carter announced the UK’s readiness to support its partners in the Gulf to address common threats, following a meeting with the chief of staffs of nine Arab armies. The UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office tweeted that General Carter said during a military meeting held in the UK with the participation of the chiefs of staff of nine Arab countries, that the “The UK is ready to stand by its partners in the Gulf to address common threats to the security of the region and global security.”The ministry added that “the countries that participated in the meeting are Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Photo credit: UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Twitter page in Arabic

(Reuters) - Leeds United have signed versatile defender Junior Firpo on a four-year contract from Spanish side Barcelona for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League club said on Tuesday. He played 41 times for the Catalan side in the last two campaigns, helping them win the Copa Del Rey last season. Firpo, who is Leeds's third signing of the close season, will wear the number three shirt. Leeds are looking to strengthen their options at left back after Ezgjan Alioski left the club on Monday at the end of his contract following a four-year spell. The West Yorkshire club finished ninth in the Premier League last season.

The Egyptian Ministry of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs urged its citizens stranded in the UAE due to their inability to travel to Saudi Arabia and those wishing to return to Egypt to fill out a registration form with the ministry to count their numbers. This came in the wake of the Saudi Arabia’s decision to stop receiving non-citizens and its lack of announcements on reopening and travel there. In a statement, the Ministry of Immigration stressed “respect for the sovereignty of each country within the framework of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.”It appealed to Egyptian citizens stranded in the UAE “to abide by the laws of the host country, in order to protect the stranded Egyptian citizens and to ensure that they are not subjected to legal accountability on the territory of the host country.”The Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs Nabila Makram, stated “as soon as the numbers of Egyptians stranded in the UA, wishing to return are registered, coordination will be made with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, to negotiate with tourism companies to discuss the possibility of returning citizens via the same travel agents through which they traveled and to discuss their application.”She urged stranded citizens to “register their details in comprehensively, especially the name of the country they are currently in and the name of the tourism company through which they traveled.”

Egypt’s Ministry of Interior on Monday filed 12,193 police reports against unmasked people for violating state regulations against the coronavirus. Around 12,135 people made paid the identified fine. Police took the legal measures against 58 people whom are presented to the public prosecution for not paying the identified fine. And police filed 904 violations against shops which did not adhere to the closure decision, and 262 cases who violated the ban on hookah circulation.

The Heritage Committee of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) approved at its latest meeting in Rabat, Morocco The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, the city of Shali in Siwa Oasis, and the Baron Palace in Heliopolis district in the ISESCO heritage list. This came after the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities submitted integrated files regarding the archaeological and cultural aspects of these sites, alongside their architectural elements and state of preservation. The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, said that the registration of these sites comes within the strategy and plan of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to highlight priority archaeological sites and register them on international heritage lists to improve their tourist attractions. He added that the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir was registered on the preliminary list of UNESCO in February, and that the comprehensive restoration operations were implemented in both the city of Shali and the Baron Palace and its recent opening to the public contributed to its adoption on the ISESCO list. He noted that ISESCO’s list includes the Red Monastery in Sohag and the Nilometer in Al-Rawda.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Sudanese counterpart Mariam al-Sadiq on Monday to coordinate and prepare for the UN Security Council session on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). This was followed by a meeting with the Arab Committee concerned with following up the developments of GERD issue and coordinating with the Security Council, consisting of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Morocco and the Arab League. Shoukry also met with the group of African countries in the Security Council, which includes Niger and Kenya, to explain Egypt’s position towards the Renaissance Dam. Abdel-Ati addressed an official letter to the Ethiopian minister to inform him of Egypt’s flat refusal of this unilateral measure, which is a clear and dangerous breach of the Declaration of Principles Agreement. It will create a situation that threatens peace and security at regional and international levels, the statement said.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi dispatched a cable of congratulations to US President Joseph Biden, on the occasion of the American Independence Day on the Fourth of July. The Secretary of the Presidency in Egypt Abdel Aziz al-Sherif was also dispatched to the US embassy in Cairo to congratulate embassy officials on the occasion. Sisi touched on strategic Egyptian-US relations and said his nation will continue to work towards strengthening ties between both nations, amid a firm framework of mutual respect. Biden praised the strenuous Egyptian efforts towards the Libyan crisis, which strengthened the political process in Libya. He also agreed to strengthen joint efforts to reintegrate Iraq into the region.

Egypt’s Health Ministry on Monday confirmed 175 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total number of confirmed cases up to 282,257. The total number of COVID-19-related deaths has now reached 16,284 nationwide, after the ministry announced 20 deaths. And 765 patients were discharged from quarantine at isolation hospitals, raising Egypt’s total number of fully-recovered cases to 214,852. A country-wide partial lockdown aimed at curbing cases that has been in place since May 6 ended on Tuesday. Egypt is currently using China’s Sinopharm vaccine and the UK’s AstraOxford vaccine, and it has plans to soon begin locally manufacturing China’s Sinovac vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik-V.