The TV BRICS International Symphony Orchestra, a new ensemble established to promote cultural exchange among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), held its premiere concert in Moscow on Friday. As Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation, noted in his opening remarks, the TV BRICS orchestra represents a vital step towards strengthening dialogue and understanding between the BRICS countries. “The emergence of the multinational TV BRICS musical group will have a significant impact on the development and strengthening of dialogue between the BRICS countries,” Shvydkoy stated. Congratulations to TV BRICS for such an achievement. The Future of the TV BRICS OrchestraThe TV BRICS International Symphony Orchestra’s journey has just begun.

CAIRO - 27 January 2024: Head of the Climate Information Center at the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Dr. Muhammad Ali Fahim, said that there is a significant drop in temperatures throughout the week. The forecast center said that very low temperatures will be witnessed on Wednesday and Thursday, declining by 4-5 degrees, with frost expected to form for the first time in the winter of this year. Fahim added that there is an expectation of intermittent moderate to heavy rains, concentrated in the northern Delta and reaching all areas of the Delta. He explained that there is wind activity in areas of Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt, the northern coasts, and South Sinai at intermittent periods, which increases the feeling of cold weather, and wind speeds intensify in the second half of the week, reaching the point of dust storms.

CAIRO - 27 January 2024: Egyptian and Saudi Foreign Ministers are set to hold discussion meetings on Sunday at Tahrir Palace in Cairo, after which they will hold a press conference. Both ministers will hold the discussions to discuss the developments in the regional and international situation, especially in Gaza Strip and the escalation that the region is witnessing.

CAIRO – 26 January 2024: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al Sisi received a phone call from US President Joe Biden. The Spokesman for the Presidency, Counselor Ahmed Fahmy, said the two presidents discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations and confirmed the strategic partnership between the two countries. The call also touched on the situation in the Middle East, mainly the war in the Gaza Strip. US President Biden lauded the key role played by Egypt and its positive efforts on all tracks related to the current crisis and stressed the US’ appreciation for the Egyptian positions in support of stability in the region. He affirmed the support of the United States for Egypt’s tireless efforts to provide access to humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip.

CAIRO – 26 January 2024: Arish International Airport in Egypt’s North Sinai has received eight planes carrying a combined 162.5 tons of humanitarian and relief aid destined for the Gaza Strip. Additionally, two planes arrived from Jordan, belonging to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, carrying medications, medical equipment, and food amounting to around 23 tons. Furthermore, five planes from the UAE, affiliated with the UAE Red Crescent Society and the World Health Organization (WHO), brought food, medical supplies, and 32 barrels of fuel, totaling approximately 110 tons. Egypt has received a total of 528 aircraft and 34 ships carrying humanitarian aid from dozens of countries and organizations until January 19, as reported by the ERC. In total, 111,490 tons of aid have been delivered to Gaza through 7,179 trucks.

(Reuters) - Manager Juergen Klopp has decided to leave Liverpool at the end of the season, the Premier League club said on Friday. Klopp, who led Liverpool into the final of the League Cup on Wednesday, had informed the club's hierarchy that he would end his eight-and-a-half years at Anfield at the end of the current campaign. The German joined Liverpool in October 2015 and has won the Champions League, Premier League, Club World Cup, FA Cup, League Cup and Super Cup, as well as the Community Shield during his time in charge. In the 2019-20 season, Klopp led Liverpool to their first league title since 1990, and their first of the Premier League era. The previous season, Liverpool lifted the Champions League, defeating Tottenham Hotspur in the final.

(Reuters) - Egypt will turn to striker Mostafa Mohamed for much-needed firepower in the absence of talisman Mohamed Salah as they continue their quest for a record-breaking eighth Africa Cup of Nations title in a last-16 meeting against Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday. That made Mohamed the first Egyptian to score in three pool stage matches since all-time leading scorer Hossam Hassan did it in 2000. "Egypt needed a striker like Mostafa Mohamed," former captain Ahmed Hassan, who won an Egypt record 184 international caps, told Reuters. "We've missed this kind of a physical, goal-scoring striker for a long time, particularly since the days of Hossam Hassan, Amr Zaki and Emad Moteab." Hassan, now a television pundit, said Mohamed can get even better if he is not assigned defensive duties.

Israeli Channel 13 revealed on Wednesday that the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently attempted to schedule a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, but was turned down. The last call between Netanyahu and Sisi took place in June, following the attack on the Egyptian border. This comes amid major disagreements with Egypt regarding Israel’s operations along the Philadelphia axis, according to the channel. The channel added that a senior official in Netanyahu’s office confirmed these details, but no official comment was issued. It said that the crisis is likely to continue until the disagreement over the Philadelphia axis is resolved.

CAIRO – 25 January 2024: CIA Director William J. Burns is preparing to meet with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials to help reach an exchange deal regarding detainees, according to Washington Post Thursday. The American newspaper quoted ‘officials familiar with the matter’ saying that President Biden is planning to dispatch the CIA Director in the coming days to help broker an ambitious deal between Hamas and Israel. Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Egypt is persistently working towards reaching a ceasefire in Gaza. Abu Zeid described the Israeli accusations as “efforts to create confusion and distort the truth,” stressing that Egypt has no interest in obstructing the entry of aid. “Obstructing aid would lead to further exacerbation of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, something that Egypt absolutely does not want,” stated Abu Zeid.

CNN —The Turkish parliament voted Tuesday to approve Sweden’s NATO membership bid, bringing the Nordic country one step closer to joining the military alliance after months of delays. Of the 346 members of parliament who voted, 287 were in favor of Sweden’s accession and 55 voted to reject it. But Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban on Wednesday told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that Hungary’s government supports Sweden’s bid for accession. “I reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO membership of Sweden,” Orban wrote on X. Stoltenberg also posted on X, saying he welcomed Orban’s “clear support” for Sweden’s membership bid. Erdogan initially objected to Sweden’s membership bid, accusing Swedish officials of being too lenient on militant groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

CAIRO - January 25, 2024: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Egypt is persistently working towards reaching a ceasefire in Gaza. However, the ministry has highlighted that Israel's imposition of "unreasonable conditions" has made it currently unattainable. “Obstructing aid would lead to further exacerbation of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, something that Egypt absolutely does not want,” stated Abu Zeid. ‘Achieving political gain’The spokesman emphasized that the Israeli side is attempting to exploit the daily suffering of the Palestinian people for political gain, aiming to achieve its objectives in Gaza. Abu Zeid reiterated Egypt's stance on the necessity of achieving a ceasefire, expediting the delivery of humanitarian aid, and firmly rejecting the displacement of Palestinians from their lands.

International tourism on track to recover by 2024Following a strong performance in 2023, international tourism is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, according to the first UNWTO World Tourism Barometer of the year. International tourism ended 2023 at 88% of 2019 levels, with an estimated 1.3 billion international arrivals. The UNWTO Tourism Recovery Tracker showed that both international air capacity and passenger demand recovered about 90% of pre-pandemic levels by October 2023 (IATA). Looking Ahead to 2024The UNWTO expects that international tourism will fully recover pre-pandemic levels in 2024, with initial estimates indicating 2% growth above 2019 levels. The latest UNWTO Tourism Confidence Index survey reveals an optimistic outlook for the tourism industry in 2024.

Emigration Minister Soha Gendi said promoting investment of Egyptian expats is a top priority for the ministry in 2024. She noted that more saving incentives will be offered for Egyptian expats in addition to encouraging more investments in hard currency. During a meeting with social responsibility director general of the Housing & Development Bank Gihan Hafez, Gendi said the talks tackled means of cooperating vis-a-vis the ministry’s initiatives. Gendi reviewed the ministry’s initiatives that contributed to luring more investments of Egyptian expats in homeland, referring also to presidential initiatives, including Survival Boats for eliminating illegal emigration. The bank is deeply interested in social responsibility and sustainable development, she said.

CAIRO - 25 January 2024: Mediterranean city of Alexandria is currently witnessing volatile winter weather, coinciding with the second day of the “Al-Karam” Storm, with heavy rain at intermittent intervals. The storm is accompanied by a drop in temperatures, and active wind movement with a feeling of frost, in addition to rising waves in the Mediterranean Sea. During the storm, fishing stops due to the strong rainy westerly winds that continue for seven days. Light to moderate rain is expected Thursday in the evening in areas of southern Lower Egypt, Greater Cairo, the Canal cities, and the Western Desert. There is wind activity on areas of the northern coasts, South Sinai, and North Upper Egypt, causing sand and dust in areas of South Upper Egypt.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Egypt (ADCB) has joined the Inclusive Green Growth in Egypt (IGGE) program, a collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) that aims to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in shifting towards a green economy. The program focuses on economic sectors such as renewable energy, resource efficiency, sustainable agriculture and food production, and waste management. Ihab ElSewerky, CEO and Managing Director of ADCB Egypt, commented: “Since we launched the sustainability plan in line with Abu Dhabi Commercial Group’s strategy, we have taken unprecedented steps to support our customers in their journey towards green transformation. We are happy with this cooperation with UNIDO, as we are keen to activate international partnerships to expand our sustainable financing portfolio and enable us to support our SME clients. Annachiara Scandone, UNIDO Industrial Development Expert and IGGE Project Manager, added “through the Swiss-funded Inclusive Green Growth in Egypt project, UNIDO together with its partners from Government and private sector foster the creation and growth of 150 green MSMEs.