Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt is being represented by its foreign minister at a summit of Gulf Arab leaders on Tuesday expected to produce a formal agreement towards ending a regional dispute with Qatar, an official source said.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry flew to the summit in al-Ula in Saudi Arabia after an announcement that Riyadh would reopen its airspace and sea and land border to Qatar, the source and Egyptian state media said.

CAIRO, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed on Sunday to hold a week-long round of negotiations to discuss the substantive aspects and controversial points over the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Agreement for the new round of talks came after the ministers from the three countries held a virtual meeting over the filling and operation of the GERD under the patronage of the African Union (AU).

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s prime minister on Saturday said that a missile attack on the airport in Aden was meant “to eliminate” the country’s new government as it arrived in the key southern city — a daring assault which he blamed on Iran-backed rebels.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed spoke to The Associated Press in an interview conducted at his office in the Mashiq Palace in Aden. It was the leader’s first interview with international media after he survived Wednesday’s attack that killed at least 25 people and wounded 110 others.

CAIRO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- China and Egypt signed on Thursday a letter of intent for mutual cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines.

Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang signed the letter, on behalf of the National Health Commission of China, with Mohamed Hassani, Egyptian assistant minister of health for public health initiatives, said the Chinese embassy in Cairo in a statement.

The signing ceremony was also attended by Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed, the statement said.

CAIRO, December 30. /TASS/: Three mortar shells exploded Wednesday in Yemen’s Aden International Airport simultaneously with the arrival of the new government, Al Arabiya TV channel reported.

30 Dec 2020; MEMO: A new campaign has been launched in Egypt for the release of elderly and sick prisoners, The New Khaleej reported on Tuesday. The latest campaign by Batel, a campaigning group created by Egyptian opposition figures in 2018, was announced on Facebook in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

"Thousands of elderly prisoners are in prison but no one talks about their situation," explained Batel. "It is as if staying in prison until they die has become normal."

29 Dec 2020; MEMO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II have agreed to revive the peace process and to resume Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, Rai Al-Youm news site reported yesterday.

In a statement, the Egyptian presidency said that Al-Sisi had received a phone call from King Abdullah and discussed the latest updates about regional issues, "especially the Palestinian cause."

CAIRO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people were killed and five wounded on Sunday in a microbus-lorry crash in the south of Egypt, a medical source told Xinhua.

"The accident took place at Aswan-Cairo desert road at the entrance of Farous village," said Ihab Hanfy, deputy to the health minister in Aswan Province.

The microbus carrying 14 people was rear-ended by a lorry carrying construction materials because of the high speed of the lorry's driver in foggy weather, he added.

The ministry of social solidarity ordered urgent aid to the families of the victims.

26 Dec 2020; MEMO: Egyptian rights groups and activists on Friday launched a campaign calling for Egyptian authorities to release student Khaled Sahloub, who has been in jail since 2014 over possessing a camera, Anadolu Agency reported.

Sahloub was a university media student who worked as a freelance photographer and sold his work to several news outlets, including Al Jazeera.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as part of a national COVID-19 vaccination plan being implemented by the ministry of health, state news agency SPA reported on Friday.