عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Head of Wafd Party Completes Medical Exam in Preparation for Egypt's Presidential Race

Head of Wafd Party Al-Sayyid Al-Badawi
Head of Wafd Party Al-Sayyid Al-Badawi
TT
TT

Head of Wafd Party Completes Medical Exam in Preparation for Egypt's Presidential Race

Head of Wafd Party Al-Sayyid Al-Badawi
Head of Wafd Party Al-Sayyid Al-Badawi

Chairman of the liberal Wafd Party, El-Sayed El-Badawi, underwent on Friday the medical examination required for those who are seeking to run in the March presidential elections.

According to press reports, the examination took place at the state medical council in Sheikh Zayed.

Badawi has not yet officially announced his intention to run for president in the March elections.

Until now, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is the only potential candidate who has submitted the required endorsement forms and has undergone the required medical exam for candidacy. He is expected to achieve an enormous victory. Yasser Hassan, a leading member of the Wafd Party, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the final decision regarding Badawi's nomination will be issued on Saturday at the meeting of the supreme council.

Meanwhile, the party issued a statement to reveal that consultations are ongoing regarding the presidential elections, but the final decision awaits the supreme council's standpoint. The council consists of 57 members, and once an accord is reached, Badawi would be considered the party’s candidate.

Senior party member Yasser Qoura stated that Badawi underwent the medical examination on Friday before announcing his candidacy in front of the party supreme council. Friday was the last day for carrying out the medical check-up, which is required to run for the presidential elections. The final list of candidates will be announced on Feb. 20.

If Badawi's nomination is finalized, the two presidential candidates will be Sisi and Badawi. Yet some doubt that Badawi will be able to complete the nomination procedures, as the nomination period ends in three days.

The Wafd Party held discussions to suggest candidates to run for the presidential elections, but the agreement was made over Chairman Badawi because some party members refused to play that role.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Alliance, composed of 18 political parties, commended the Wafd party's announcement that it would participate in the coming presidential elections. The alliance considered this an enrichment for the Egyptian political life.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Report: Colombian Mercenaries in Sudan ‘Recruited by UK-registered Firms’

(COMBO) This combination of satellite images released by Planet Labs PBC on December 19, 2025, shows from top left to bottom right:- the graves near the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) headquarters in El-Fasher, taken on the following dates: on October 8, 2025, on October 27, 2025, on January 15, 2025, and on December 14, 2025. (Photo by Handout / Planet Labs / AFP)
(COMBO) This combination of satellite images released by Planet Labs PBC on December 19, 2025, shows from top left to bottom right:- the graves near the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) headquarters in El-Fasher, taken on the following dates: on October 8, 2025, on October 27, 2025, on January 15, 2025, and on December 14, 2025. (Photo by Handout / Planet Labs / AFP)
TT
TT

Report: Colombian Mercenaries in Sudan ‘Recruited by UK-registered Firms’

(COMBO) This combination of satellite images released by Planet Labs PBC on December 19, 2025, shows from top left to bottom right:- the graves near the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) headquarters in El-Fasher, taken on the following dates: on October 8, 2025, on October 27, 2025, on January 15, 2025, and on December 14, 2025. (Photo by Handout / Planet Labs / AFP)
(COMBO) This combination of satellite images released by Planet Labs PBC on December 19, 2025, shows from top left to bottom right:- the graves near the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) headquarters in El-Fasher, taken on the following dates: on October 8, 2025, on October 27, 2025, on January 15, 2025, and on December 14, 2025. (Photo by Handout / Planet Labs / AFP)

An exclusive investigation by UK’s The Guardian has found companies hiring hundreds of Colombian fighters for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces.

A one-bedroom flat off north London’s Creighton Road in Tottenham is, according to UK government records, tied to a transnational network of companies involved in the mass recruitment of mercenaries to fight in Sudan alongside the RSF, said the report.

Colombian mercenaries were directly involved in the RSF’s seizure of the southwestern Sudanese city of El Fasher in late October, which prompted a killing frenzy that analysts say has cost at least 60,000 lives.

“The flat in Tottenham is registered to a company called Zeuz Global, set up by two individuals named and sanctioned last week by the US treasury for hiring Colombian mercenaries to fight for the RSF,” said The Guardian.

“Both figures – Colombian nationals in their 50s – are described in documents at Companies House, the government register of firms operating in the UK, as living in Britain,” it said.

“The day after the US treasury announced sanctions on those behind the Colombian mercenary operation –December 9 – Zeuz Global abruptly moved its operation to the very heart of London. On 10 December the firm shared “new address details” Its new postcode matches One Aldwych, a five-star hotel in Covent Garden,” the report added.

Yet the first line of Zeuz Global’s new address is, confusingly, “4dd Aldwych,” which corresponds to the Waldorf Hilton hotel 100 meters away, according to The Guardian.

Both hotels said they had no link to Zeuz Global and had no idea why the firm had used their postcodes.

“It is of major concern that the key individuals the US government claims are directing this mercenary supply have been able to set up a UK company operating from a flat in north London, and even to claim that they’re resident in the UK,” said Mike Lewis, a researcher and former member of the UN panel of experts on Sudan.

When Companies House was asked if it had any knowledge of what Zeuz Global actually did, or is doing, it did not respond. The government agency would also not confirm whether the sanctioned individuals were, in fact, resident in the UK.

Contacting Zeuz proved fruitless; its website, set up in May, was labelled as “under construction” with no contact details provided.

Arab World

Egyptian President Urges UN Security Council Reforms for Africa's Larger Role

In this photo, provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, front right, greets Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, before their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Egyptian Presidency Media Office via AP)
In this photo, provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, front right, greets Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, before their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Egyptian Presidency Media Office via AP)
TT
TT

Egyptian President Urges UN Security Council Reforms for Africa's Larger Role

In this photo, provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, front right, greets Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, before their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Egyptian Presidency Media Office via AP)
In this photo, provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, front right, greets Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, before their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Egyptian Presidency Media Office via AP)

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi on Saturday reiterated calls for structural changes in the UN Security Council to grant Africa a larger role in shaping global decisions.

El-Sisi made the plea for a “more pluralistic” world order at a conference of the Russia-Africa partnership held in Cairo, which was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and ministers from more than 50 African countries along with representatives from several African and regional organizations.

“The voice of Africa should be present and influential in making global decisions given the continent’s human, economic, political and demographic weight,” el-Sisi said in a statement read out by his foreign minister at the plenary session of the conference.

According to The Associated Press, he added that international financial institutions need to undergo similar reforms to ensure Africa an equitable representation.

Since 2005, the African Union has been demanding that Africa be granted two permanent seats with veto powers in the Security Council, arguing that such reforms would contribute to achieving peace and stability on the continent, which has been struggling with wars for decades.

The Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, has not changed from its 1945 configuration: 10 non-permanent members from all regions of the world elected for two-year terms without veto power, and five countries that were dominant powers at the end of World War II are permanent members with veto power: The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

In his statement, el-Sisi said that the Russia-Africa ministerial conference will develop a plan to consolidate the partnership ahead of next year’s summit of heads of state.

“We remain a reliable partner for African states in strengthening their national sovereignty, both politically and in matters of security, as well as in other dimensions,” Lavrov said at the plenary session. “We’re committed to further unlocking the existing enormous potential of our practical cooperation.”

Arab World

Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Reaching 2nd Phase of Gaza Peace Plan

Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Reaching 2nd Phase of Gaza Peace Plan

Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Türkiye's MIT intelligence agency chief met Hamas' ​negotiating team head Khalil Al-Hayya on Saturday and discussed necessary measures to be taken for proceeding to the ‌second phase ‌of the ‌Gaza ⁠peace ​plan, ‌Turkish security sources said.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said MIT chief Ibrahim Kalin met the ⁠Hamas delegation in Istanbul ‌within the scope ‍of the ‍Gaza ceasefire agreement, ‍and they discussed steps to be taken to prevent what they ​said were Israel's ceasefire violations.

They also discussed ⁠measures to be taken to resolve existing issues for proceeding to the second phase of the plan, the sources also told Reuters, without giving details.

Israel retained control of 53% of Gaza under the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan, which involved the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza and of Palestinians detained by Israel.

The final hostage remains to be handed over are those of an Israeli police officer killed on October 7, 2023 fighting Gazan militants who had invaded Israel.

According to the plan, Israel is to pull back further in the second phase as a transitional authority is established in Gaza and a multinational security force is deployed, Hamas is disarmed, and reconstruction begins.