Egypt

WASHINGTON, June 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The IMF board on Friday approved a one-year, $5.2 billion financing package for Egypt to help the country alleviate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new funding under a standby arrangement comes on top of $2.8 billion in emergency aid the IMF board approved a month ago, although at the time officials acknowledged that more help would be needed.

CAIRO, June 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have agreed that Addis Ababa will delay filling a mega-dam as part of a comprehensive deal on the project that has raised tensions between the three countries, the Egyptian presidency said.

Ethiopia had previously pushed to start filling the gigantic Nile River dam next month despite vehement opposition from downstream Egypt and Sudan, and the dispute was raised with the UN last week.

CAIRO (AP) — The leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed late Friday to return to talks aimed at reaching an accord over the filling of Ethiopia’s new hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile, according to statements from the three nations.

Early Saturday, Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia’s water and energy minister, confirmed that the countries had decided during an African Union summit to restart stalled negotiations and finalize an agreement over the contentious mega-project within two to three weeks, with support from the AU.

26 June 2020; MEMO: Amnesty yesterday called on the Egyptian authorities to protect a detained journalist from “torture and ill-treatment”.

On Wednesday, authorities in Egypt arrested Nora Younis, editor-in-chief of Al-Manassa, from her workplace south of Cairo, according to journalists and lawyers.

The international organisation called on authorities to “allow Younis to contact her family and lawyer immediately and protect her from torture or other ill-treatment.”

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations said an abandoned oil tanker moored off the coast of Yemen loaded with more than 1 million barrels of crude oil is at risk of rupture or exploding, causing massive environmental damage to Red Sea marine life, desalination factories and international shipping routes.

CAIRO, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday spoke over the phone, discussing Ethiopia's hydropower dam being built on the Nile River as well as other regional issues, Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.

"Minister Shoukry touched on the latest developments regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue in light of the stalled negotiations due to intransigent Ethiopian stances," said Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez in a statement.

23 June 2020; MEMO: Italian flights to and from Egypt are set to resume on 15 July, according to Egypt’s tourism federation.

Chairperson of the federation Ahmed Al-Wasef said that several Egyptian hotels have already received bookings from Italian tourist companies, reports the state-run Al-Ahram.

23 June 2020; MEMO: Sanaa Seif, the sister of political prisoner Alaa Abdelfattah, has been kidnapped outside the attorney general’s office in a van by state security officers.

Alaa’s relatives were at the attorney general’s office to file a complaint after they were beaten outside Tora Prison.

CAIRO, June 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Egypt’s president warned that advances by Turkey-backed Libyan forces on the Libyan city of Sirte could prompt an Egyptian military intervention in the neighbouring country in support of Cairo’s ally Khalifa Haftar.

Meanwhile, Ankara has urged forces led by the eastern-based Haftar to withdraw from the strategic city for a ceasefire agreement to be reached.

20 June 2020; MEMO: Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Hossam Zaki revealed that the general secretariat received a request from the Egyptian delegation to hold an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers, to discuss developments in Libya.