The United States, with the support of Qatar and Egypt, presented on Friday a proposal that narrows the gaps between them and aligns with the principles set out by President Biden
The European leaders also endorsed the latest push by mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war
The three countries acting as mediators said that they are prepared to present a final bridging proposal
Mass protests led Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign and flee in 2022 like Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina, while Egypt also saw mass protests and overthrow of the government in 2011
Mahmoud Qassem, a member of Egypt's Parliament, said the travel companies "left the pilgrims stranded and turned off their mobile phones" so they could not hear the travellers' calls for help
Three Indians, four Egyptians and a Kuwaiti national have been detained in connection with the devastating fire that killed 50 people, including 46 Indians, in the southern Ahmadi Governorate in the Gulf Kingdom, a media report said on Wednesday. The massive fire which occurred at a six-storey building in the city of Mangaf on July 12 was caused by an electrical short circuit in the guard's room on the ground floor. The building was home to 196 migrant workers, mostly Indians. "The Public Prosecution has ordered the detention of a Kuwaiti national, three Indian nationals, and four Egyptian nationals for two weeks in connection with the Al-Mangaf building fire case," English language daily Arab Times reported without identifying their names. The defendants have been charged with manslaughter and negligence, it said. On the orders of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the victims' families will receive compensation amounting to USD 15,000 each (Rs 12.5 lakh
The Egyptian Space Agency, Bahrain's National Space Science Agency, and Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics signed an agreement for the joint development of hyperspectral camera
Indian singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya has become a sensation in Egypt as his face resembles late President Hosni Mubarak. Egyptian people are requesting him to visit the country
A Palestinian security official and an Egyptian official say Israeli tanks entered the southern Gaza town of Rafah, reaching as close as 200 metres from its crossing with neighbouring Egypt. The Egyptian official said the operation appeared to be limited in scope. He and Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV said Israeli officials informed the Egyptians that the troops would withdraw after completing the operation. The Israeli military declined to comment. On Sunday, Hamas fighters near the Rafah crossing fired mortars into southern Israel, killing four Israeli soldiers. The Egyptian official, located on the Egyptian side of Rafah, and the Palestinian security official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. The Associated Press could not independently verify the scope of the operation. Earlier Monday, Israel's War Cabinet decided to push ahead with a military operation in Rafah, after Hamas announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a .
The Hamas militant group says it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal to halt seven-month war with Israel. It issued a statement Monday saying its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had delivered the news in a phone call with Qatar's prime minister and Egypt's intelligence minister. The two Middle Eastern nations have been mediating months of talks between Israel and Hamas. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Egypt sent a high-level delegation to Israel on Friday with the hope of brokering a cease-fire agreement with Hamas in Gaza, two officials said. At the same time, it warned that a possible Israeli offensive focused on Gaza's city of Rafah on the border with Egypt could have catastrophic consequences to regional stability. Egypt's top intelligence official, Abbas Kamel, is leading the delegation and plans to discuss with Israel a new vision for a prolonged cease-fire in Gaza, an Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the mission freely. As the war drags on and casualties mount, there has been growing international pressure for Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement on a cease fire. Friday's talks will focus at first on a limited exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners, and the return of a significant number of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza with minimum restrictions, the Egyptian official said. The hope is t
More and more Indians are looking for solo travelling to countries like the UAE, Egypt, Singapore and Vietnam, a report said on Tuesday. Solo travellers represented about 65 per cent of visa applications for the UAE, 60 per cent for Egypt, 40 per cent for Singapore and 45 per cent for Vietnam, according to a report by online platform for visa applications Atlys. The report is based on visa applications submitted for processing for travelling during summer this year on Atlys platform. Atlys is a mobile visa application app that has e-visa mandate for over 133 countries. When it came to group tours, around 20 per cent of visa applications for such trips were for the UAE, 30 per cent for Egypt, 25 per cent for Singapore, and 20 per cent for Vietnam, it added. The report further found that men dominated the visa application scene, with 77 per cent applying for the UAE, and 71 per cent for Singapore. Meanwhile, 30 per cent of women travellers applied for Singapore visas and 25 per cen
US President Joe Biden on Friday wrote to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, calling on them to press Hamas for hostage deal with Israel, according to a senior administration official, one day after Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to redouble efforts to reach a cease-fire in the six-month-old war in Gaza. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private letters, said Biden's national security adviser will meet Monday with family members of some of the estimated 100 hostages who are believed to still be in Gaza. The letters come as Biden has deployed CIA Director Bill Burns to Cairo for talks this weekend about the hostage crisis.
The executive board's assent increases the Extended Fund Facility arrangement from the $3 billion originally approved in December 2022 to $8 billion
The executive board of the International Monetary Fund confirmed a deal with Egypt to increase its bailout loan from USD 3 billion to USD 8 billion, in a move that is meant to shore up the Arab country's economy which is hit by a staggering shortage of foreign currency and soaring inflation. In a statement late Friday, the board said its decision would enable Egypt to immediately receive about USD 820 million as part of the deal which was announced earlier this month. The deal was achieved after Egypt agreed with the IMF on a reform plan that is centred on floating the local currency, reducing public investment and allowing the private sector to become the engine of growth, the statement said. Egypt has already floated the pound and sharply increased the main interest rate. Commercial banks are now trading the US currency at more than 47 pounds, up from about 31 pounds. The measures are meant to combat ballooning inflation and attract foreign investment. The Egyptian economy has be
Egypt is building a wall and is leveling land near its border with the Gaza Strip ahead of a planned Israeli offensive targeting the border city of Rafah, satellite images analyzed Friday by The Associated Press show. Egypt, which has not publicly acknowledged the construction, repeatedly has warned Israel not to forcibly expel the over 1 million Palestinians now displaced in Rafah across the border into its territory while it battles the militant group Hamas for a fifth month. However, the preparations on the Egyptian side of the border in the Sinai Peninsula suggest Cairo is preparing for just that scenario, something that could threatened its 1979 peace deal with Israel that's been a linchpin for regional security. The Egyptian government did not respond to requests for comment Friday from the AP. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Feb. 11 issued a statement warning Israel over its possible Rafah offensive and its displacement of the Palestinian people. The satellite images, taken
One of the sources said Egypt was optimistic talks to clinch a ceasefire can avoid any such scenario, but is establishing the area at the border as a temporary and precautionary measure
It was a warm handshake between the unlikeliest of statesmen, conducted under the beaming gaze of President Jimmy Carter. Sunlight streamed through the trees at Camp David, Maryland, as Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin solidified a landmark agreement that has allowed over 40 years of peace between Israel and Egypt. It has served as an important source of stability in a volatile region. That peace has held through two Palestinian uprisings and a series of wars between Israel and Hamas. But now, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to send Israeli troops into Rafah, a city in Gaza on the border with Egypt, the Egyptian government is threatening to void the agreement. Here's a look at the history of the treaty and what could happen if it is nullified. HOW DID THE TREATY ORIGINATE? It was 1977, and Begin, Israel's new prime minister, opposed ceding any of the land Israel had conquered a decade earlier in the 1967 Mideast war. Those lands
Egypt is threatening to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if Israeli troops are sent into the densely populated Gaza border town of Rafah, and says fighting there could force the closure of the territory's main aid supply route, two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat said on Sunday. The threat to suspend the Camp David Accords, a cornerstone of regional stability for nearly a half-century, came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said sending troops into Rafah was necessary to win the four-month-old war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Over half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled to Rafah to escape fighting in other areas, and are packed into sprawling tent camps and UN-run shelters near the border. Egypt fears a mass influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who may never be allowed to return. The stand-off between Israel and Egypt, two close US allies, comes as aid groups warn that an offensive in Rafah would worsen the already .
Israel's neighbours and key mediators warned on Saturday of disaster and repercussions if its military launches a ground invasion in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where Israel says remaining Hamas strongholds are located -- along with over half the besieged territory's population. Israeli airstrikes killed at least 44 Palestinians -- including more than a dozen children -- in Rafah, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he asked the military to plan for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people ahead of an invasion. He gave no details or timeline. The announcement set off panic. More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are packed into Rafah, which borders Egypt. Many fled there after Israeli evacuation orders that now cover two-thirds of the territory following the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war. It's not clear where they could go next. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said any Israeli ground offensive on Rafah would have "disastrous ...