Cairo: US President Joe Biden called Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi on Monday and they discussed strengthening the Gaza ceasefire, urgent humanitarian aid to the strip and international reconstruction efforts, the Egyptian presidency said.
The two leaders also discussed ways to revive the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians after the latest wave of violence between the two sides, the presidency said in a statement.
Egypt brokered the ceasefire, now in its fourth day after 11 days of hostilities. Cairo will be a stop during the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region later on Monday.
Dubai: 16 people were killed and dozens injured after a train derailed in Qalubiyyah, north of Cairo, local media said on Sunday.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi issued instructions to set up a committee to investigate the cause of the accident.
The train was coming from Al Mansoura on its way to Cairo.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Kamel Al Wazir, inspected the accident site where he supervised the process of removing carriages. According to local media, the train was speeding when it derailed near Toukh metro station in Qalubiyyah Governorate.
Heavy vehicles were sent to the crash site to remove the carriages while 58 ambulances were dispatched immediately to take the injured to hospitals.
Cairo: Head of the Egyptian parliament’s Defence and National Security Committee Kamal Amer, an ex-army commander, has died due to COVID-19, state media reported. He was 78.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi mourned Amer and ordered his promotion to the rank of honorary lieutenant General in appreciation of his national role.
“Egypt today lost one of its dearest men my teacher and my commander Maj. Gen. Kamal Amer,” Al Sissi said in a Facebook post. “He was sincere and devoted to this homeland until the last minute in his life.”
Military positions
Al Sissi also conferred the prestigious medal, the Sash of the Nile, on Amer, who had held several military and civil positions. He also ordered a major square in Egypt be named after Amer in a gesture of honour, local media said.
Cairo: A stroll in central Cairo is not complete without a visit to Tahrir, an iconic square that for long months grabbed headlines in Egypt and elsewhere.
Tahrir was the epicentre of a 2011 popular uprising that forced longtime president Hosni Mubarak to resign. The plaza, home to the Arab League, the Egyptian Museum and luxury hotels, was a site of the unrest that gripped the nation after Mubarak’s ouster.
In the lead-up to the 10th anniversary, the square was refurbished and re-emerged as an allure to local and foreign visitors.
The Dh35 million renovation project signals Egypt’s development-orientated drive that has picked momentum against all the odds since 2014 when incumbent President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi took office.