Egypt

CAIRO, Apr 29 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian Health Minister, Hala Zayed, said yesterday, the current weekly COVID-19 infections in Egypt are five times higher than that of the same week last year.

The current weekly infections reached 5,845 cases, compared to 1,248 cases in 2020, said the minister at a cabinet meeting.

On Tuesday, the daily COVID-19 cases in Egypt exceeded 1,000 cases for the first time since Jan 14, pushing the tally of confirmed cases in the country to 224,517.

(Reuters) --- Three crew members aboard the cargo vessel that blocked global shipping in the Suez Canal last month will be allowed to return home, the ship's manager said on Thursday.

The Ever Given has been anchored in a lake between two sections of the canal since being dislodged on March 29 and is caught in a legal dispute linked to a $916 compensation claim made by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) against the ship's Japanese owner.

29 Apr 2021; MEMO: Egypt's state budget incurred losses of 370 billion Egyptian pounds ($23.6 billion) in 2020 due to the repercussions of the coronavirus outbreak, the finance minister announced yesterday.

Mohamed Maait told Al-Arabiya that the most affected sectors had included "civil aviation, tourism and construction."

27 Apr 2021; MEMO: British Petroleum (BP) yesterday announced that it had started gas production from Raven field, the third stage of its major West Nile Delta (WND) development off the Mediterranean coast in Egypt, a press release posted on the company's website said.

27 Apr 2021; MEMO: Egypt's Prison Authority yesterday released 2,674 prisoners from jail after a presidential pardon was issued on the occasion of Sinai Liberation Day, Egypt Today reported.

According to local media, this is the second presidential pardon within a week as 1,686 prisoners were released on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.

CAIRO, Apr 26 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukry, stressed Egypt’s support for a political solution to the Yemeni crisis, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said, in a statement.

During a meeting in Cairo, with the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, Shoukry affirmed Egypt’s firm position, in supporting all efforts aiming at reaching a comprehensive political solution that meets the aspirations of the Yemeni people and end the country’s protracted humanitarian crisis.

26 Apr 2021; MEMO: Egypt's Information Minister Osama Heikal resigned yesterday, Al-Ahram newspaper reported spokesman of the Cabinet, Nader Saad, saying.

In press statements carried by state-run MENA Agency, Saad said Heikal submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, citing personal reasons. According to Al-Ahram, no details were given for the move.

24 Apr 2021; MEMO: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is preparing to carry out general elections abroad to choose a new leadership, Arabi21 revealed on Friday.

24 Apr 2021; MEMO: The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources on Friday announced the rise in price of all three types of fuel by 4 per cent, while fixing diesel prices for the period between April and June.

The ministry announced in a statement that the new prices went into effect as of 10 a.m. on Friday morning (8:00 GMT).

CAIRO, Apr 23 (NNN-XINHUA) – Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA), and Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac, signed an agreement on Wednesday, to manufacture Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, Health Minister, Hala Zayed and Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Liao Liqiang, who later held talks together and lauded the two countries’ cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.