Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry confirmed on Monday his country’s commitment to the peace agreement with Israel and said Egypt is working hard to reach a truce in Gaza. He spoke at a joint press conference with Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in response to a question about the impact of the Gaza crisis on peace with Israel. “There is already a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, and it has been in force for the past forty years, and we will continue this. He declined to comment on any unofficial sources that suggested the possibility of suspending the peace agreement with Israel. Fajon praised Egypt’s pivotal role at the regional and international levels, especially regarding the Gaza crisis.

Riding the wave of its recent success at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, where it won the National Special Jury Prize, Wissam Charaf’s IF THE SUN DROWNED INTO AN OCEAN OF CLOUDS is now set to feature in the 30th edition of European Film Weeks, which will run from February 14th to March 2nd. IF THE SUN DROWNED INTO AN OCEAN OF CLOUDS has garnered international recognition and acclaim since its world premiere at the Orizzonti Section of the Venice International Film Festival, going on to win awards from prestigious film festivals around the world, including the Unifrance International Award at the Festival International de Courts Métrages d'Aix-en-Provence and the Best Short Film and the Emile Chahine Award for Cinematic Excellence at the Beirut Shorts International Film Festival. Born in Beirut in 1973, Wissam Charaf is a French-Lebanese director who has directed seven short films, including UNFORGETTABLE MEMORY OF A FRIEND, which received an award at the 2019 Clermont-Ferrand Festival. Before that, Charaf’s first fiction feature film, HEAVEN SENT, was selected for the ACID Section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and his second fiction feature, DIRTY DIFFICULT DANGEROUS, opened the Giornate degli Autori Section of the 2022 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Europa Cinemas Award before being awarded at the 2023 Palm Springs Film Festival. IF THE SUN DROWNED INTO AN OCEAN OF CLOUDS is the third collaboration between Charaf and MAD Solutions.

In the 11th century, in northern Persia, Hassan El Sabagh founded a group from the most loyal to the Ismaili community. The group members were ready to sacrifice their lives to achieve their goal, they struck terror into the hearts of their enemies from the rulers and princes. They were able to assassinate a number of influential figures at that time forming the first secret terrorist group that was later called “El Hashashin”. The highly anticipated series is directed by famed director Peter Mimi and scripted by veteran writer Abdel Rahim Kamal. The series houses an ensemble cast including Karim Abdelaziz, Fathy Abdelwahab, Nicolas Mouwad, Suzan Najemeldin, Ahmed Eid, Mirna Nour El-Din among others.

Egypt’s Finance Minister, Mohamed Maait, has affirmed that the state is mobilising all its capabilities to flexibly and deal with the exceptional global economic circumstances. A legislative amendment to the Unified Public Finance Law will be implemented to incorporate these economic entities. The required return on Egyptian bonds in international markets has decreased by 50%, and the cost of insuring these bonds has also decreased. The Minister of Finance explained that the economic and structural reforms implemented by the government have achieved positive indicators over the past years. The Finance Minister also confirmed that the Egyptian government has adopted a strategy to diversify financing sources and reduce their cost by entering new global financial markets and offering facilitated financing instruments.

Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are nearing completion of the first and second reviews of the country’s $3 billion loan program, with the possibility of a “mega-sized” increase in funding. Egypt’s initial agreement with the IMF involved a $3bn loan, but only a first instalment of $350m was disbursed. The IMF stipulated reforms including exchange rate flexibility and divestment program progress before further disbursements. However, she stressed the need for addressing inflation and achieving a flexible Egyptian pound exchange rate to absorb shocks. In a separate interview with Al Arabiya Business, Georgieva declared the multiple Egyptian pound exchange rates as “disastrous,” advocating for a unified rate determined by the official market.

The memorandum was signed by Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Saeed and UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi. The MOU included extending the period of implementation of the provisions of the memorandum concluded between Egypt and the UAE in the field of government development for two years until February 28, 2026. Later during with UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan al Jaber, Madbouli hailed historical relations binding Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). For his part, the UAE minister hailed Egypt's support for his country during COP28 conference in Dubai. The summit, held under the theme of “Shaping Future Governments,” will host more than 25 government and state heads.

CAIRO – 12 February 2024: UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum conveyed the appreciation of UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. Bin Rashed hailed the brotherly relations linking the leaderships of both countries, asserting his country's keenness on boosting cooperation with Egypt in all fields. Bin Rashed offered a warm welcome to the Egyptian premier and his accompanying delegation, underscoring the depth and strength of relations between Egypt and the UAE. Madbouli hailed the UAE continued support to Egypt, highlighting the depth of bilateral relations and historic ties between the two peoples and leaderships of both countries. UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohamed Qarqawi, for his part, praised current cooperation between Egypt and the UAE in several domains, most notably the Egypt Government Excellence Award that is supported by president Sisi.

The government plans to launch a company to export Egyptian real estate abroad, which is a positive step to diversify and increase the foreign exchange revenues of the Egyptian economy, said Mohamed Rashid, a member of the Real Estate Development Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries. He said that this would allow the state to benefit from the urban renaissance that it has experienced over the past years and that it has created a competitive and exportable real estate product for the global markets. Rashid noted that exporting Egyptian real estate aligns with the aspiration of many real estate development companies in Egypt to generate foreign currency, from Egyptians abroad or foreigners in Egypt or abroad. This initiative would also create opportunities for investment partnerships in the field of real estate investment and development, as well as new real estate projects in Egypt with foreign investors. He further anticipated that this percentage would rise with the implementation of the real estate export initiative, which is expected to offer major facilities and incentives.

MILAN (Reuters) – A first-half goal from Theo Hernandez was enough to seal a 1-0 victory for AC Milan over visiting champions Napoli in Serie A on Sunday. The France defender controlled a brilliant pass from Rafael Leao on the edge of the box and sent it low past Napoli goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini to give Milan the lead in the 25th minute.

When we are dictating the game, after I think we are dropping a little bit too much," Ten Hag told reporters on Sunday. I think it was really high intensity and you could see how many players were so, so fatigued by the end. But then finally, I think we found the mentality, the character to win this game. United were dealt an injury scare during the win with defender Luke Shaw, who has missed a large portion of the season due to injury, being substituted at half-time. Ten Hag said the England left back's substitution was precautionary, adding: "He mentioned some complaints and we can't take a risk with, especially Luke Shaw, because he has had so many injuries in the past.

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip during the past 96 hours have killed two Israeli hostages and seriously injured eight others, said the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, in a statement on Sunday. The conditions of the injured “are becoming more dangerous in light of the inability to provide them with appropriate treatment, and the enemy (Israel) bears full responsibility for the lives of these injured in light of the continued bombings and aggression,” the statement read. Meanwhile, Hamas on Sunday warned of any Israeli ground operation in the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, saying that it would “blow up” the hostage exchange negotiations, the Hamas-run al-Aqsa TV quoted an unnamed senior Hamas leader as saying. Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate the movement’s surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people in Israel were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage. So far, the death toll of Palestinians from Israeli attacks has risen to 28,176, with 67,784 others being injured, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

CAIRO – 11 February 2024: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed, in a statement Sunday, condolences to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on the victims of the terror attack that occurred in the General Gordon military base in Mogadishu on Saturday. The three Emirati soldiers and the Bahraini officer, who were training counterparts from the Somali Armed Forces, were shot dead – while praying - by a defector from Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab terrorist group who had joined the Somali army. Further, two others were injured, as reported by the CNN. Egypt also affirmed its full support and solidarity with Somalia in the face of terrorism and in combating all forms of extremism, calling for concerting international efforts to uproot terrorism and wipe out sources of funding and harboring.

Egyptian sources said a delegation from Egypt visited Tel Aviv on Friday to discuss the situation in Rafah with Israeli officials. They said Egyptian officials opposed Israeli attempts to persuade them to cooperate in some way with the ground invasion. The Qatari Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli threats to storm Rafah in the strongest terms, and warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah, which had become a haven for hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said the Israeli aggression on the Strip had killed 28,64 people and injured 67,611 since 7 Octobet. It held the US administration, the international community, and the Israeli occupation fully responsible.

CAIRO – 11 February 2024: The Ministry of Health and Population indicated in a press statement Sunday that Egypt had received 2,200 injured Palestinians from Gaza Strip, and that 1,300 surgeries had been carried out. The statement - released on the occasion of a visit paid by the Qatari health minister to coordinate the delivery of medical aid to Gazans - clarified that the injured Palestinians are transferred to 47 hospitals located across eight governorates. Egypt has been the supplier of 70-80 percent of aid to Gaza, while the rest was granted by other countries and international organizations. The shipments were delivered to Arish International Airport on 461 jets, and handled by the Egyptian Red Crescent.

A week after the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) raised its basic interest rates by 2%, only a few banks have followed suit, according to Daily News Egypt. The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr were the first to increase their interest rates, followed by some private banks. As a result, the interest rates on variable-return certificates and some loan products that are linked to CBE’s basic interest rates automatically rose by 2%. Banque du CaireBanque du Caire decided to raise the return on the “Mega Savings” savings account to 25%. The monthly return is 21%, the quarterly return is 22%, the semi-annual is 23%, and the annual return is 25%.