Egyptian and US naval forces carried out maritime training on Thursday in the Red Sea, with the participation of the Egyptian frigate “Taba”, 18 June Missiles, USS MAHAN Arlik Berg, the USCGC CHARLES MOULTHROPE and the USCGC ROBERT GOLDMAN. The exercises fall under the Egyptian naval force’s initiative to continue exercises with friendly countries to enhance the combat abilities of marine units and enhance security and stability in the region. The exercises included different maritime combat activities, including an exercise to protect cargo ships. The two forces also practiced various sailing formations. According to an official statement, the exercises are an affirmation of the capabilities of the Egyptian naval forces in working and coordinating with international navies to secure international navigation and transportation lines, as well as strengthening bilateral cooperation between Egypt and the US on maritime security efforts in the region.

On Friday, meteorologists expect hot weather to prevail in Cairo, the Delta region, and along the north coast. Temperatures will be very hot in South Sinai and Upper Egypt. Pleasant weather will prevail at night in Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt and the northern coasts, with moderate temperatures in South Sinai and Upper Egypt. Winds will be active in areas of Greater Cairo, the Delta, South Sinai and northern Upper Egypt. Maximum temperatures for the following cities are:Alexandria: 27CCairo: 34CSharm el-Sheikh: 36CHurghada: 37CMarsa Matrouh: 26CLuxor and Aswan: 39C

Tech powerhouse Taiwan started phased blackouts islandwide on Thursday after an outage at a coal- and gas-fired power plant hit six million homes, as the government worked to resume normal supply by evening. The world’s biggest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, said some of its facilities suffered a “brief power dip”, but power had been restored. In a text message, the government said its grid did not have sufficient electricity capacity after the outage at the power plant in the southern port city of Kaohsiung. Several cities reported blackouts, the official Central News Agency said, as a top official appealed for calm. Utility Taipower said more than six million homes were hit by the outage, which it blamed on a technical failure at the power plant.

The “Ehna Mesh Beto’ Hedad” (We Are Not Mourning) song, performed by the stars of “Al-Ikhtiyar” (The Choice) series in its first and second seasons, has recorded more than 3.5 million views within 12 hours of its broadcast on Facebook. The clip of the song includes all the stars from the first and second season of the show, including Amir Karara, Karim Abdel Aziz, Ahmed Mekki, Iyad Nassar, Bushra, Ahmed Wafik, Asmaa Aboul Yazid, Enjy al-Muqaddem, and others. The song begins with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s famous quote on unity, “Let you Egyptians be upon the heart of one man.”The song is written by Ahmed Raoul, composed by Ahmed Gamal, arranged by Yahya Youssef, and directed by Ahmed al-Morsy. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Biden wants Putin to stop trying to influence US elections, stop cyberattacks on US networks emanating from Russia, stop threatening Ukraine’s sovereignty and to release jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Putin views US pressure on Navalny and its support for pro-democracy activists in Russia and Belarus as tantamount to interfering in Russian domestic affairs. Biden long ago lost any illusions that Putin would be a cooperative ally. Putin joined Biden’s virtual climate summit last month and the two leaders quickly extended the New START nuclear arms treaty after Biden took office. The official said Biden and his team expect a complex relationship with Russia, one full of strife over many issues.

On Thursday, Egypt received 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine through the COVAX initiative and 500,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, the Health Ministry reported. The AstraZeneca doses are the second batch of their kind under the COVAX agreement, which stipulates a total of 40 million doses overall, Health Minister Hala Zayed said. The materials are enough to make 2.25 million vaccine doses, Ministry Spokesperson Khaled Megahed said, adding that the ministry expects that VACSERA will produce roughly 40 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year. Hassany said that Egypt received recently five million doses of the vaccine, including 2.5 million from AstraZeneca. He also noted a higher demand for the jab among citizens, with 2.7 million registering fir the doses on the ministry’s website.

Muslims around the world are keen to perform the Eid mass prayers at mosques before coming together to celebrate the holy Muslim occasion by exchanging gifts or sharing meals. We all deserve to celebrate Eid al-Fitr safely this year. In these trying times, let us use opportunities like Eid al-Fitr to spread love, gratitude and hope. We can do this by performing our Eid al-Fitr prayers alone or with the family at home, as announced last year by Al Azhar and Dar Al Iftaa,” the statement continued. The WHO stressed the importance of adhering to physical social distancing, by avoiding congratulations through physical contact and avoiding banquets and other social gatherings.

Russia has recorded its first cases of the variant of COVID-19 first found in India, Kommersant newspaper reported on Thursday, citing authorities in the Ulyanovsk region. The regional branch of consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said it had recorded 16 cases of the variant among Indian students at Ulyanovsk State University, some 700 kilometers (435 miles) east of Moscow. Dilyar Khakimov, an official at the watchdog, told Kommersant that the students had been put in self-isolation and were under medical observation. Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova had previously said the country had not recorded any cases of the variant. India is in deep crisis in the current wave of COVID-19 infections with around 350,000 cases and 4,000 deaths being reported daily.

File- Egyptian security forces were deployed in vital places nationwide to secure the Egyptians’ celebration of Eid al-Adha- Press photoCAIRO – 13 May 2021: Egyptian security forces intensively were deployed in the streets and main squares to secure the celebrations of Eid Al Fitr, according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Interior. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims after fasting in the month of Ramadan as a matter of thanks and gratitude to God. Usually, Eid al-Fitr is a three-day holiday. The word Eid is an Arabic word that means a festivity, a celebration, recurring happiness, and a feast. In Islam, there are two major Eids, namely Eid al-Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast) celebrating the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) which coincides with the Hajj and commemorates Prophet Abraham’s sacrifice of a sheep in place of his son Ishmael.

CAIRO – 13 May 2021: The restoration of king Tutankhamun's third shrine, which was recently received by the Grand Egyptian Museum in preparation for its display at its designated location, has been completed with the rest of king's mats. General Supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum and the surrounding area Atef Miftah explained that the installation of the shrine took about 14 hours of precise work. Assistant Minister for Archaeological Affairs at the Grand Egyptian Museum Tayeb Abbas noted that the museum's staff removed the protective layers from the walls of the shrine, which were used for protection during the transfer, and cleaned all gilded surfaces. Tutankhamun's 3rd shrine installed in Egypt's Grand Museum - Min. The first shrine is the largest artifact of King Tutankhamun's holdings, which is 20'5m-40'3m-70'2m long and weighs 2,600kg.

CAIRO – 12 May 2021: The Meteorological Authority expects a nice weather on Thursday; the first day of Eid al-Fitr. According to the authority, the temperature will continue to drop after a hot weather hit the country over the past days. As for the weather at night, nice weather prevails on Cairo, the northern coasts, and moderate in southern Sinai and the south of the country. Mahmoud Shaheen, the director of the Weather Forecast Department at the General Authority of Meteorology, revealed that the country will be witnessing wind activity in areas of Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt and South Sinai intermittently. As for temperatures on Thursday:Cairo records highs of 33 and Lows of 18Alexandria records highs of 27 and Lows of 18Matrouh records highs of 25 and Lows of 15Sohag records highs of 35 and Lows of 23Qena records highs of 36 and Lows of 24Aswan records highs of 37 and Lows of 25

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority on Wednesday announced that temperatures will continue to decrease across the country during Thursday, the first day of Eid al-Fitr. Hot weather will prevail over Greater Cairo and Delta governorates, with moderately hot weather in the northern coasts and very hot weather in South Sinai and the southern Upper Egypt. The weather will grow moderate by night across the country. Maximum temperatures:Matrouh: 25CAlexandria: 27CCairo: 33CSohag: 35CQena: 36CAswan: 37CThe Director of the Weather Forecast Department at the General Authority of Meteorology Mahmoud Shaheen said that active winds will blow in Greater Cairo, the Delta governorates and South Sinai.

The Archaeological Mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities has uncovered around 250 several rock tombs at the al-Hamdiya necropolis in the mountains east of the Sohag governorate, as part of documentation and restoration work being done in the area. The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri explained that the tombs were carved at various levels into the mountain, and some were found with burial wells or ramps ending in a burial chamber. They date back from the end of the Old Kingdom to the end of the Ptolemaic period. Waziri explained that the tomb also featured a false door covered in Hieroglyphic inscriptions, alongside depictions of sacrifices and offerings to the dead. As part of the project, more than 300 tombs in the area, which extend from The Sheikhs Nag in the North, have been registered and documented.

The United States will keep “speaking out until China’s government stops its crimes against humanity and the genocide of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Wednesday. Speaking at a virtual event at the U.N. on Xinjiang, Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward described the situation as “one of the worst human rights crises of our time,” while Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen said countries who sponsored the event faced “massive Chinese threat.”Image: New US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield holds a news conference to mark the start of the US presidency of the U.N. Security Council for March, at U.N. headquarters in New York, US, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar

The North Sinai health directorate announced a state of emergency in all hospitals across the governorate as it readies to receive and treat wounded civilians from Gaza Strip. The health directorate said in a statement that al-Arish Hospital was ready to receive cases coming from the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli attacks. Emergency has also been announced in the Bir al-Abd Central Hospital, with doctors and medical staff working even during Eid al-Fitr to prepare for the injured coming in. Other doctors from the Cairo, Mansoura, Zagazig and al-Azhar universities will be present in Al-Arish General Hospital, to help treat the patients, while various ambulances have been deployed in the cities of Rafah, Sheikh Zuweid, Al-Arish and Bir al-Abd. The governor of North Sinai Major General Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha confirmed that the governorate’s hospitals are ready to wounded people from the Gaza Strip, and other hospital departments will be opened after the state of emergency was announced.