Egypt

06 June 2023; MEMO: Egypt's population growth has significantly declined, reaching 105 million on Saturday, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).

Despite the significant decline, Egypt remains the most populous Arab country and the third in Africa after Nigeria and Ethiopia and 14th in the world.

Egyptian authorities have been working to reduce the population size in a bid to adjust to the government's development plans.

05 June 2023; MEMO: A huge sandstorm hit Egypt last week, killing four people and injuring five others when a billboard fell onto the 6th October Bridge.

During the spring, Egypt is regularly hit by the khamisin – 50 – hot, dry windstorms which carry sand from the desert and can last for up to 50 days.

The storm can cause severe headaches, blocked and runny noses and red, irritated eyes.

Citizens are advised to stay at home whereever possible until the storm has passed.

CAIRO (AP) — A tanker transporting curd oil broke down in a single-lane part of Egypt’s Suez Canal on Sunday, disrupting traffic in the global waterway, Egyptian authorities said.

The Malta-flagged Seavigour suffered a mechanical malfunction at the 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) mark of the canal, said George Safwat, a spokesperson for Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority. The tanker was part of the north convoy, which transits the canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, he said.

01 June 2023; MEMO: The League of Arab States has welcomed the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)'s decision to boycott products made in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Arab League also welcomed the ETUC's call for "regulatory measures" to prevent EU legal entities from importing or exporting products manufactured in illegal Israeli settlements in accordance with EU treaties and international law.

30 May 2023; MEMO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday agreed on "the immediate start of upgrading diplomatic relations, exchanging ambassadors."

Egypt's presidency said in a statement that Al-Sisi spoke to Erdogan on the phone to congratulate him on his victory in the presidential elections and his re-election as president of Turkiye, while the Turkish president expressed appreciation for the kind gesture.

29 May 2023; MEMO: Arab League called on Sunday for the international community to "take serious action and stop Israeli violations on Palestinian children, protect them and guarantee their safety."

This came in the remarks of Arab League's Assistant Secretary General and Head of Social Affairs Sector, Haifa abu Ghazaleh, made during the inauguration of a virtual conference on the flagrant violations on children during armed conflicts held on Sunday.

CAIRO (AP) — A Libyan court Monday sentenced 23 suspected Islamic State group militants to death for launching deadly attacks that killed dozens of people, including Egyptian Coptic Christians.

The appeals court in the western city of Misrata also sentenced 14 other militants to life in prison who were convicted on the same charges, which include destruction of police facilities and public property.

The court sentenced nine defendants to between three and 12 years in prison. It acquitted five suspects.

The court did not elaborate further details.

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s military ruler demanded in a letter to the U.N. secretary general that the U.N. envoy to his country be removed, officials said Saturday. The U.N. chief was “shocked” by the letter, a spokesman said.

The envoy, Volker Perthes, has been a key mediator in Sudan, first during the country’s fitful attempts to transition to democracy and then after worsening tensions between military rivals exploded into open fighting last month.

CAIRO (AP) — The United States and Saudi Arabia called on warring sides in Sudan to extend a fragile cease-fire due to expire Monday, as weeks of fighting reached a stalemate in the capital and elsewhere in the African country.

The Sudanese army and a rival paramilitary force, battling for control of Sudan since mid-April, had agreed last week to the weeklong truce, brokered by the U.S. and the Saudis. However, the cease-fire, like others before it, did not stop the fighting in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.

27 May 2023; MEMO: Reporters Without Borders has called on the Egyptian authorities to release Tawfik Ghanem, the former bureau chief of the Anadolu Agency office in Cairo, noting that he had begun his third year in detention without being brought to trial.