The first batch of the locally-produced Sinovac vaccine will be ready within two weeks, Minister of Health Hala Zayed said on Thursday evening. Zayed added, in statements to Extra News Channel, Red Sea and South Sinai tourism workers have all been fully vaccinated, paving the way for a major tourism boost. The ministry is now working to vaccinate everyone living in the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates, pointing out that stabilizing the area is a major milestone in Egypt’s ongoing tourism revival. Earlier on Thursday, Zayed, along with Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Anani, Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar, and Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafy, held a press conference marking the end of their visit to vaccination centers. Zayed said that 179 vaccination centers in Egypt have been provided with coronavirus vaccines for travelers coming from outside of Egypt.

CAIRO – 4 June 2021: Chairman of the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) Hassan Abdel-Shafy reiterated Egypt’s commitment to fully implement all obligations stemming from the UN Convention against Corruption. This comes as he has participated in the UN General Assembly Special Session against Corruption held to discuss preventing and combating corruption as well as boosting international cooperation in this regard. said that Egypt adopts anti-corruption strict policies taking into consideration the principles of the rule of law, accountability and transparency. In December, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi affirmed that Egypt with its political leadership and people abide by the rule of law and reject all forms of corruption practices. Also, President Sisi praised efforts that are being exerted by the governmental institutions to fight corruption.

Recently, Mohamed Ramadan has stirred controversy on social media platforms with a series of provocative and shameful incidents. The actor, who has started his career humbly, is now building his fame and popularity on show-off, false claims, and exploitation of public opinion to reach top trends on twitter and other social media platforms, as well as the news. The insensitive and inhumane act from Ramadan’s side with the late pilot Ashraf Abou El Yousr has inflicted grave psychological, physical, and emotional harm to the late pilot which all were a natural consequence to Ramadan ending Ashraf’s reputable career. Stirring more anger, Mohamed Ramadan posted a provocative video throwing money around after the judicial ruling that came out in favor of the late pilot. Though his songs have grown viral, Mohamed Ramadan is only a phenomenon and is never a presentation of the art Egypt prides itself on.

Egyptian engineering equipment and staff has crossed to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing - Extra News/screenshotCAIRO – 4 June 2021: As per Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s directives, Egyptian engineering equipment and staff has crossed to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, Extra News reported. It is also part of the Egyptian commitment announced by Sisi to quickly improve the living conditions of the Gaza dwellers. On Tuesday, President Sisi directed, with the rapid sending and entry of equipment into Gaza Strip. Head of Egypt’s GIS Abbas Kamel has conveyed, president Sisi messages during his visit to the Palestinian and Israeli lands. His visit aimed to solidify the Egypt-brokered ceasefire that stopped Israeli hostilities against the Gaza Strip.

CAIRO - 4 June 2021: Eric Carle, author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, dies recently at 91. Eric Carle, the beloved children’s author and illustrator whose classic “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and other works gave millions of children some of their earliest and most cherished literary memories, has died at age 91. His career as a children’s book author only flourished when he was in his late thirties, and he said he was inspired by things he had seen as a young boy. “Loving thoughts with his family and very much gratitude for Mr Carle.”In addition to his work as a children’s author, Carle was a noted artist and designer. In 2002, Carle and his late wife, Barbara Carle, founded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

CAIRO - 4 June 2021:The late veteran actor Mahmoud Abdel Aziz is one of a kind actor who has a unique style. For his audience, Abdel Aziz is “the delectation maker” whose performance always spreads cheerfulness no matter what role he plays. Abdel Aziz was born in Wardeyan neighborhood in Alexandria on June 4, 1946, to a middle class family. Through his performance in this series, Abdel Aziz captured millions of TV viewers’ attention and hearts in Egypt and the Arab World. These veteran directors managed to discover new areas in Abdel Aziz's performance; thus were able to shine his talent.

The head of the Russian Aeroflot company is confident that charter flights to resume to Egyptian resorts in Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada within days, Interfax news agency reported. Flights to the Red Sea resort towns have been suspended since a Russian airliner was hijacked and crashed over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, killing 224 Russian tourists. Russian and Egyptian officials have met multiple times in recent months to discuss the resumption of flights, and Russian safety inspectors have visited the airports in question to conduct safety evaluations. Red Sea tourism experts said in May that resorts in Hurghada saw a mere five percent uptick in occupancy from domestic tourism during the spring holidays. Some hotels and tourist villages in Hurghada have witnessed a boom in tourists coming from Eastern European countries, with Ukrainian tourists topping the list coming to the Red Sea.

Egypt’s Health Ministry on Thursday confirmed 932 new coronavirus cases, 44 deaths and 800 recovered cases. There have now been a total of 265,489 confirmed cases, 15,222 deaths, and 194,291 recovered cases reported in the country. A country-wide partial lockdown aimed at curbing cases that has been in place since May 6 ended on Tuesday. The ministry reported in mid-May that it has vaccinated 1.3 million people since its campaign began on January 24, and over five million have registered on the ministry’s website for the jab. 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.

Egyptian security services revealed on Wednesday details of a massacre that took place in the Upper Egypt village of Abu Hizam, Qena Governorate, where 17 victims were either killed or wounded. According to the announcement, a dispute over an irrigation machine had escalated between the Saadiya and al-Awamer families because of an irrigation machine, resulting in murder. The matter then turned into revenge killings between the two families. The main suspect in the case is still on the run, and security forces imposed a curfew in the village to control the situation. Security forces also arrested 15 people from the two families over the incident.

The United States has been one of the most popular places among Egyptian students to pursue higher education, with a remarkable 76 percent increase in the number of students throughout the last decade. The number of students from Egypt in the US has increased from 2,181 in the 2010/11 academic year to 3,859 students in 2019/20, Erudera.com reports. Back in the mid-50s, there were just 351 Egyptian students in the US. Since then, the number of Egyptian students in the US per year until 2012/13 increased by only 200. Despite the US hosting nearly 4,000 Egyptian students during 2019/20, the country has welcomed far fewer students from neighboring country Libya, with just 720 present during the same academic year.

In November, the reservation of a number of social housing units opened for a week. Citizens who wish to get units have to first purchase application forms from any nearby post office. Also, in middle-income housing project “Dar Misr”, 41,424 units have been established at LE 13 billion ($803.4 million) and 15,480 are being established at a cost of LE 4.6 billion ($284.3 million). In “Sakan Misr” project also for middle-income housing, 2,232 units have been established and 67,696 are being built, at a total cost of LE 20.97 billion ($1.3 billion). Concerning luxury-housing project “JANNA,” 4,032 housing projects has been established and 36,248 others are being constructed, at a cost of LE 1.6 billion ($98.9 million) and LE 14.5 billion ($896 million) respectively.

Egypt will release LE15 million worth of special pound and half pound coins on the market within two weeks, to document the state’s achievements in projects, Sherif Hazem, an advisor to the Egyptian Minister of Finance, announced. In an interview with Extra News, he added that among the most prominent achievements are the New Administrative Capital, the new city of Alamein, and numerous transportation projects. He pointed out that the projects come as part of a presidential directive to push for comprehensive and sustainable development in Egypt’s various governorates in order to improve the quality of life and standards of living for citizens.

CAIRO – 3 June 2021: The Heliopolis Association launches an initiative to preserve the environment in conjunction with the World Environment Day, which falls on June 5, by organizing an event under the title “Seketak Khadra” [Your Way Is Green]. It includes a marathon for bicycles which starts from the Heliopolis Library on June 4 at 8 a.m. It is a 10-km journey through the streets of Heliopolis held in cooperation with the "GO BIKE" team.

CAIRO - 3 June 2021: The Egyptian Health Ministry on Wednesday announced launching mobile clinics to provide coronavirus vaccine shots to the elderly and pensioners from 1 to 10 every month. The mobile clinics will be stationed in front of post offices and pension and insurance offices in all governorates, the ministry said. Thia aims to make it easier for the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases who are willing to receive the vaccine, the ministry added. Two ambulances will be equipped in each governorate to move the vaccination teams to these citizens’ homes. The ministry said 27 of the available vaccination centers will be allocated to send medical teams to the homebound citizens.

The Supreme Judicial Council has decided that it will appoint female judges within Egypt’s State Council and Public Prosecution, beginning in October. Other decisions made during the meeting included:– Announcing October 1 of each year as a day for the Egyptian judiciary. – Balancing the pay of judges in the Egypt’s four judicial bodies, namely the judiciary, the State Council, the administrative prosecution, and the State Law Suits Authority. “Thank you, Mr. President, for announcing the entry of women into the Public Prosecution and the State Council, starting from October, after a 72-year struggle for Egyptian women,” Morsy wrote on Twitter. She added, “The celebration of the Egyptian judiciary, on October 1 of each year, means a lot to Egyptian women.