Egypt

07 October 2023; MEMO: The National Election Authority (NEA) yesterday opened the door for candidates who fulfil the candidacy requirements for the upcoming presidential election, however, none of the presidential hopefuls submitted their papers, Egypt’s State Information Service reported.

CAIRO (AP) — A huge fire broke out early Monday at a police facility in northeastern Egypt, injuring at least 38 people before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze several hours later, authorities said.

The cause of the fire, which ripped through the multistory police headquarters in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, was not immediately clear.

CAIRO (AP) — Italy and war-torn Libya on Saturday resumed commercial flights for the first time in a decade, authorities in the Libyan capital said.

Flight MT522, operated by the Libyan carrier Medsky Airways, departed Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli for Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, according to Libyan airport authorities.

CAIRO, Sept 29 (NNN-MENA) – The central banks of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), signed yesterday, a currency swap deal, agreeing to exchange up to 42 billion Egyptian pounds (about 1.36 billion U.S. dollars) and five billion UAE dirhams at nominal value.

The agreement comes within the framework of strengthening relations between Egypt and the UAE at all levels, and contributes to increasing their trade volume, a statement from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) quoted the bank’s governor, Hassan Abdallah, as saying.

CAIRO, Sept 27 (NNN-MENA) – A joint Egyptian-German archaeological mission, discovered eight storage rooms in the Pyramid of Sahure, in Egypt’s Giza province, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement yesterday.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, described the discovery as “very significant because it sheds light on the interior design of the Pyramid Complex of King Sahure, the second ruler of the fifth dynasty (of Egypt) that dates back to 2400 BC.”

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt will hold a presidential election over three days in December, officials announced Monday, with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi highly likely to remain in power until 2030.

Waleed Hamza, the chairman of the National Election Authority, said the vote will take place on Dec. 10-12, with a runoff on Jan. 8-10 if no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote. Egyptian expatriates will vote on Dec. 1-3, and in the runoff on Jan. 5-7, he added.

CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s chief prosecutor said Monday he ordered the detention of eight current and former officials pending his investigation into the collapse of two dams earlier this month, a disaster that sent a wall of water several meters high through the center of a coastal city and left thousands of people dead.

21 September 2023; MEMO: Egypt is in talks with an Abu Dhabi-based bank for a loan facility that would finance wheat purchases from Kazakhstan, three traders told Reuters.

The move could give Egypt a cheap alternative to grain from Russia, which has supplied an increasing share of Egypt’s wheat since last year but recently blocked a deal for a purchase below an unofficial price floor for wheat purchases, traders say.

CAIRO, Sept 21 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt condemned yesterday, the deadly Israeli raids on occupied Palestinian territories, the latest of which was in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said, “Such attacks against the Palestinians and their properties, violate the rules of international law and Israel’s obligations as the occupying force.”

15 September 2023; MEMO: The Biden administration has allowed much of US foreign military aid to Egypt to go ahead, saying the country was vital for US national security interests, despite what critics have said about widespread human rights abuses, Reuters reports.

Washington has only withheld $85 million of the aid which, under US law, was contingent on Egypt making “clear and consistent progress” in releasing political prisoners, which the United States said Cairo did not fulfil.