Egypt

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) - Egypt on Tuesday opened its Rafah border crossing with the Gaza strip until further notice, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said, a move described as an incentive for reconciliation between the main Palestinian factions, meeting in Cairo.

Leaders of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction, which controls the West Bank, and of Hamas, the armed Islamist movement that opposes any negotiations with Israel, began Egyptian-brokered talks on Monday to address long-standing divisions ahead of elections planned for later this year.

08 Feb 2021; MEMO: Top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq met today for talks on developments in the region, Egypt's official news agency reported.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry welcomed his Jordanian and Iraqi counterparts Ayman Safadi and Fouad Hussein in Cairo to discuss ways of "pushing forward the frameworks of tripartite cooperation and promoting joint Arab action."

CAIRO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- China will provide a batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Egypt and the Arab League, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang announced on Sunday.

China has recently decided to provide Egypt and the Arab League with a batch of COVID-19 vaccines, and is willing to facilitate Egypt's procurement of COVID-19 vaccines produced by Chinese companies, said Liao at an online press conference.

CAIRO (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister affirmed his country’s commitment to working closely with the Biden administration to reduce regional tensions during a phone call with the United States’ special envoy for Iran, state news agency WAM reported on Saturday.

In the phone call with special envoy Rob Malley, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan affirmed “the UAE’s commitment to strengthening relations and working closely with the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to reduce regional tensions, (and) start a new dialogue,” WAM reported.

06 Feb 2021; MEMO: Egyptian authorities have released Al Jazeera News Network journalist Mahmoud Hussein after more than four years in prisons, news agencies reported on Friday.

Hussein was arrested in December 2016 in Cairo Airport while he was back to Cairo from Doha. He was remanded in custody over claims of broadcasting false news about the internal situation in the country.

05 Feb 2021; MEMO: The Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) has today condemned the Egyptian regime of General turned President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's denial of adequate medical treatment for detainees in its prisons.

05 Feb 2021; MEMO: Scores of political prisoners detained in Egypt have urged US President Joe Biden to look into human rights violations in Egypt and end their suffering in prison.

04 Feb 2021; MEMO: There are indications that deaths are rising again in detention centres due to coronavirus, reports We Record, after three detainees died within 24 hours of each other.

Mahmoud Al-Ajami was arrested and detained in Talkha Police Station where he asked to be referred to hospital after suffering covid symptoms, but the request was refused until his situation had deteriorated.

He died in hospital yesterday, 39 days after his arrest.

04 Feb 2021; MEMO: Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo yesterday on an official visit during which he will meet President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and a number of Egyptian officials.

Hariri and his accompanying delegation are also scheduled to meet Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, as well as Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, to discuss the latest regional developments and the formation of a new Lebanese government.

04 Feb 2021; MEMO: A UK military delegation has just finished a three-day official visit to Egypt to reinforce bilateral cooperation, enhance joint training and enforce the armament partnership.

UK Chief of Defence Staff's Senior Adviser to the MENA region Lieutenant General Sir John Lorimer and Air Marshal Martin Sampson met with top Egyptian defence officials from the Navy, Air Force and armament authority.