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Egypt to Launch NExSat-1 from China by End of Year

 Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting with the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency on Tuesday (Egyptian government)
 Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting with the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency on Tuesday (Egyptian government)
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Egypt to Launch NExSat-1 from China by End of Year

 Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting with the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency on Tuesday (Egyptian government)
 Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting with the CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency on Tuesday (Egyptian government)

As part of the Egyptian government’s efforts to promote satellite technology in Africa, Egypt is preparing to launch the NExSat-1 satellite from China at the end of this year.

CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) Sherif Sedky said that the NExSat-1 will be launched from China by the end of 2023 after successfully completing all tests in Germany.

In statements to the Egyptian Middle East News Agency (MENA) on Friday, Sedky said that the agency’s current plan aims at acquiring satellite technology and establishing a “satellite constellation”, a group of artificial satellites working together as a system, with the aim to contribute to strengthening Egypt’s leading role in Africa in the space science and technology domain.

The plan also “serves the goals of African Development Agenda 2063, and activates the role of the Egyptian Space Agency as an economic body, by providing specialized services in the field of design, assembly, integration and testing of satellites and high-resolution imaging services,” according to a government statement.

Sedky noted that NexSat-1 will be launched from a station in China during the coming months of November or December, following EgyptSat-2 satellite, which is set to be launched in October.

Earlier this month, Sedky met with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to discuss the launching of the MisrSat 2 satellite, which Egypt received in March.

The remote sensing satellite was subject to tests at the agency’s assembly and integration center, which is based in the New Administrative Capital. Those included electrical tests, dynamic loading simulation of the satellite’s space model, electromagnetic harmony test, simulation of space environment, and communication tests.

Sedky has said that the agency’s plan to launch many satellites aims at reinforcing Egypt’s pioneering role in the field of space technology and sciences in Africa.

The parliament approved last month a decision by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, which he signed on Jan. 24, to host the headquarters of the African Space Agency in Egypt.

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Arab World

Talks Begin in Cairo on Advancing Gaza Ceasefire

A boy sits on an armchair amid the rubble of a building near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
A boy sits on an armchair amid the rubble of a building near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
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Talks Begin in Cairo on Advancing Gaza Ceasefire

A boy sits on an armchair amid the rubble of a building near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
A boy sits on an armchair amid the rubble of a building near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)

Talks on advancing the fragile Gaza ceasefire have begun in Cairo between mediators and Palestinian factions, a Palestinian source familiar with the meeting told AFP.

The discussions, which started Sunday and are set to resume Monday, come as violence continues to plague the territory despite the truce in place since October.

The talks bring together mediators Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, along with representatives of several Palestinian factions, as efforts continue to push forward negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

According to the source, mediators were due to meet a Hamas delegation before midday on Monday, followed by a wider meeting including all participating factions.

Egypt's state-linked Al-Qahera News channel said Sunday's talks focused on "the proposed roadmap for completing the implementation of the agreement.”

"It was held in a positive atmosphere," the channel reported, adding that there was agreement on the need to continue implementing US President Donald Trump's plan.

The talks come amid rising regional tensions, after Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday, in a serious test of another fragile truce and a potential threat to hopes for a deal to end the wider Middle East war.

Despite the Gaza truce technically in effect since October, daily violence has rocked the territory, over half of which is under Israeli military control in defiance of the ceasefire's terms.

Israel has killed at least 936 people since the ceasefire began, according to Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.

Both Hamas and Israel accuse each other of violating the truce.

The first phase of the ceasefire involved the release of the last Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

A transition to the second phase, which was supposed to involve Hamas's disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli military, has been stalled for months.

The question of Gaza's post-war governance also remains one of the main sticking points in negotiations on implementing the provisions of phase two.

Israel rejects any return of Hamas to power, but also rejects a direct takeover by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority at this stage.

Hamas, meanwhile, demands the establishment of a Palestinian administration before considering handing over part of its arsenal -- a key stipulation for the second phase, along with Israel's withdrawal.

Arab World

Houthis Attack Israel, Declare Ban on Israeli Shipping in Red Sea

A Houthi soldier mans a machine gun mounted on a vehicle while on patrol in Sanaa, Yemen, 04 June 2026. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi soldier mans a machine gun mounted on a vehicle while on patrol in Sanaa, Yemen, 04 June 2026. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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Houthis Attack Israel, Declare Ban on Israeli Shipping in Red Sea

A Houthi soldier mans a machine gun mounted on a vehicle while on patrol in Sanaa, Yemen, 04 June 2026. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi soldier mans a machine gun mounted on a vehicle while on patrol in Sanaa, Yemen, 04 June 2026. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

Yemen's Houthi militias announced a missile attack on Israel on Monday and declared a ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, raising the specter of a return to major disruption on the key route.

"We declare a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea," said a statement from the Houthis' armed forces, which also confirmed the first missile attack on Israel since early April.

The announcement was made after Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday.

The new attacks, including a strike on an Iranian petrochemical complex, came hours after US President Donald Trump called on Israel to refrain from retaliating against Tehran's missiles.

Arab World

At Least 21 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded in Bus Crash and Fire Near Nassiriya

Vehicles enter and exit an underpass road during rainfall in Baghdad on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Vehicles enter and exit an underpass road during rainfall in Baghdad on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
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At Least 21 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded in Bus Crash and Fire Near Nassiriya

Vehicles enter and exit an underpass road during rainfall in Baghdad on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Vehicles enter and exit an underpass road during rainfall in Baghdad on March 15, 2026. (AFP)

At ‌least 21 Iraqis were killed and 19 others injured when a passenger bus crashed and caught fire near the southern city of Nassiriya on Sunday, police and health officials said.

The accident occurred after the driver lost control of ‌the bus on ‌a highway near ‌Nassiriya, ⁠causing the vehicle ⁠to overturn and burst into flames, the officials said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into the causes of the crash and ⁠directed authorities to submit a ‌report ‌on the circumstances surrounding the accident, ‌his office said.

Police and medical ‌officials said 21 people were confirmed dead at the scene and in hospital, while 19 others ‌were wounded.

Most of the injured were in critical ⁠condition ⁠and suffering from severe burns, health officials said.

The cause of the crash was under investigation, police said.

Road accidents are common in Iraq, where speeding, poor road conditions and inadequate enforcement of traffic regulations contribute to a high number of fatalities each year.