CAIRO – 1 July 2021: Egypt recorded new 251 coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and 21 deaths in the past 24 hours, announced the Egyptian Ministry on Wednesday evening. The ministry stated that the total number of infections that was registered in Egypt thus far is 281,282 cases, including 211,384 cases that have been cured, and 16,169 deaths. Egypt plans to manufacture 40 million doses of vaccines by the end of this year, added the ministry. The vaccines will be produced at Egypt’s Vacsera factory. “This achievement comes in light of the political leadership’s directives to secure Egypt’s needs for the Coronavirus vaccine,” the ministry said.

Al-Ahram online has published exchange rate for foreign currencies such as the sterling pound and others at the National Bank of Egypt as of Monday:The sterling pound recorded LE21.57 for purchase and LE21.77 for sale in Bank Misr and the National Bank of Egypt. The Canadian Dollar recorded LE12.58 for purchase and LE12.68 for sale. The Chinese yuan is LE2.41 for purchase and LE2.43 for sale

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the allocation of LE200 billion for each phase of the “Decent Life” national project to develop the Egyptian countryside, with priority given to the national industry in implementing the project. This came during President Sisi’s inspection on Wednesday,of equipment, vehicles and engineering machinery for the various state authorities participating in the “Decent Life” initiative. “Today is another real change in the lives of more than half of Egypt’s population,” President Sisi said. President Sisi announced in January that his government is launching a national project to develop the Egyptian rural countryside, set to conclude within three years. “The Egyptian people will see the Egyptian countryside differently after three years,” he said.

Egyptian actress Mona Zaki joined the “Stand Up” program in cooperation with the Hollaback organization to confront sexual harassment in public places. The program aims to change the prevailing culture to combat harassment and protect women. World stars Céline Marie Claudette, Soo Joo Park, Yseult Onguenet, Nikolaj Coster and Katherine Langford joined the program, encouraging both women and youth to confront harassment. The Stand Up program aims to launch several training campaigns and reach many people in society. Harassment is the biggest problem faced by women and girls worldwide.

The Egyptian cabinet is set to implement 12 new measures beneficial to society with the start of the new fiscal year 2021/2022, which begins on July 1. These measures are part of the state’s “2030 Vision” which various state agencies are working on. The government measures that are scheduled to be implemented are:

The Director of the Al-Azhar International Center for e-Fatwa Osama al-Hadidy criticized the Kaaba’s appearance in the multiplayer video-game Fortnite, slamming it as insulting and inappropriateIn a telephone interview with the “90 Minutes” program on Al-Mehwar channel, Hadidy warned people to avoid the game as it contains a destructive image of the Kaaba holy site, especially inappropriate with the coming of the Hajj pilgrimage season. He said that the center warns against games of this nature that serve only to trap and distract youth from more important aspects of life while encouraging violent behavior. Al-Azhar issued a warning last year against the harm electronic games such as PUBG can cause to children following the death of a child who played the game for hours on end. The center warned of the danger posed by games of this type and called upon scholars, preachers and teachers to spread public awareness on this issue. Al-Azhar’s advice to parents included monitoring children around the clock, checking the apps they use, limiting the time they spend with their forms and encouraging other activities such as sports and studying.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced that Egypt’s revenues from tourism in the first nine months of the 2020-2021 fiscal year by fell 67.4 percent to about US$3.1 billion. The tourism industry has been hit badly over the past year due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic. Egypt’s tourism sector lost upwards of $7.7 billion due to the pandemic in 2020. Earlier this month, the German non-profit organization enpact and the TUI Care Foundation have launched the Tourism Recovery Programme in Egypt, which aims to empower businesses in the tourism industry to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic’s challenges. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, revenues in 2020 fell by about 70 percent to US$4 billion, with just 3.5 million tourist entering the country.

As of 2021, the number of Egyptian villages reached 4,740 followed by 30,000 smaller areas, housing 57 percent of the population of Egypt. But, the 2015 study showed that residents of 4,655 villages nationwide lacked good education, sanitation services, and had no public transportations. Moreover, the villages suffered from a lack of means of communication, as 49 percent of Egyptian villages had no post offices, and 75 percent did not have a government central communication headquarters. Up to 4.46 million people benefited from Hayaa Karema in its first phase, with LE 13.5 billion worth of projects and services. Last February, The United Nations praised Egypt’s “Decent Life” initiative for contributing in mitigating the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through improving the standards of living conditions of the neediest groups.

CAIRO - 30 June 2021: Egyptian businessman Hassan Rateb was ordered detained on Tuesday for four days pending investigations into funding illegal excavation for antiquities. Rateb was arrested Monday over accusations of funding a former parliamentarian in efforts of illegal excavations for antiquities. The prosecution’s investigations uncovered operations of funding worth millions of Egyptian pounds secured by Rateb for the Hassanins, his son and his gang members to dig for antiquities. Hassanin’s confessions confirmed that Rateb paid millions of Egyptian pounds in search for antiquities. The prosecution said it also detained 17 members of the gang he led for four days after they were caught red-handed while possessing 201 artifacts.

CAIRO - 30 June 2020: The Health Ministry said on Wednesday that 261 new coronavirus cases were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country to 281,031. In a statement, Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said 23 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 16,148. As many as 323 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 210,805 so far, the spokesman said. Egypt aims at becoming a regional hub for COVID-19 vaccines’ manufacturing whether for the African continent or for any other countries per president Abdel Fattah al Sisi directives. “It is important to have medical companies with international specifications capable of providing the necessary vaccines, in order not to face any crises in providing vaccines for citizens” Tag El Din added.

(Reuters) – England’s remaining rivals at the European Championship will consider them a “dangerous” side after they beat Germany 2-0 to reach the quarter-finals, captain Harry Kane said. Kane and Raheem Sterling struck late goals in Tuesday’s last-16 match to guide England to their first knockout victory over Germany since the 1966 World Cup final. “Any team will look at us and know that we’re dangerous,” Kane said. Defensive midfielder Declan Rice said critics had written off England but Tuesday’s victory had proved them wrong. “It is history, all the players were asked about the past games but we created history,” Rice said.

REUTERS: Everton are expected to unveil former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez as their new boss with the Spaniard having agreed a three-year deal, British media reported on Tuesday. They have lived in the area since he took charge of Liverpool in 2004. William Edward Barclay, who was in charge of the original foundation of Everton in the 1890s and later the breakaway Liverpool club, is the only person to have managed both Merseyside teams. Benitez was in charge at Liverpool for six years until 2010, leading them to Champions League glory in 2005 and the FA Cup the following season. Benitez moved to the Chinese Super League where he managed Dalian Professional, but left in January citing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, and Mrs. Randa Hamza, Assistant Minister of International Cooperation for Planning and Monitoring, is a one-of-a-kind publication documenting Egypt's experience in international cooperation and development financing. The book further details different methodologies for mapping the allocation of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Al-Mashat pointed out that global economic references and literature - including Lee & Hocking, 2010; and Pigman, 2005 - highlighted the importance of economic diplomacy mechanisms in fostering economic, social and political relations. She further reiterated that “Egypt’s economic diplomacy rests on three principles: Multi Stakeholder Platforms, ODA-SDG Mapping, and Global Partnerships Narrative”. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, presented to H.E.

CAIRO – 29 June 2021: As the Islamic State (ISIS) group is defeated in Syria and Iraq, it is gaining a foothold in Africa, threatening regional stability, a study by Future for Advanced Research and Studies. In the analysis by Future think tank, author s, Dr. Hamdy Abdel Rahman said Both militant organizations seek to follow the ideology and system of ISIS. This is most apparent in the propaganda and media discourse of the so-called Wilayat Central Africa, which is based in DRC and Mozambique. The ISIS expansion in Africa complicates transnational efforts against terrorism as it recruits more foreign fighters from the region and beyond, relying on the allure of violent jihadist rhetoric amid unstable security conditions. Further, the death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau at the hands of a rival ISIS element led by Abu Musab al-Barnawy could establish ISIS dominance on the violent jihadist scene in west and central Africa, the analysis concluded.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry and Secretary-General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Khairat Saribay in Cairo, Egypt on June 29, 2021. Press PhotoCAIRO – 29 June 2021: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry received Tuesday Secretary-General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Khairat Saribay in Cairo. The minister expressed appreciation for Kazakhstan for founding the conference and for deploying efforts aimed at developing its mechanisms and frameworks. On his side, Saribay expressed eagerness on Egypt's involvement in the conference's mechanisms given its status on the regional and global scales. In that context, the Kazakhstani official invited Minister Shokry to attend CICA's foreign ministers' meeting convening in October 2021.