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Egypt Parliament to Vote on Granting Govt. Confidence

Egypt’s parliament meets on Tuesday to grant the government a vote of confidence. (AP)
Egypt’s parliament meets on Tuesday to grant the government a vote of confidence. (AP)
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Egypt Parliament to Vote on Granting Govt. Confidence

Egypt’s parliament meets on Tuesday to grant the government a vote of confidence. (AP)
Egypt’s parliament meets on Tuesday to grant the government a vote of confidence. (AP)

All eyes will turn to Egypt’s parliament on Tuesday as lawmakers are expected to grant a vote of confidence to the cabinet of Prime Minister-designate Moustafa Madbouli.

Parliament is also set to vote on revoking the membership of a group of opposition deputies, who are accused of violating the legislature’s code of ethics and the internal regulations.

An ad hoc committee was in charge of preparing a report on the government policy statement delivered by Madbouli to parliament ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

Madbouli was sworn in as prime minister on June 14.

Article 146 of the Constitution stipulates that the President of the Republic shall appoint a prime minister to form the cabinet and present his policy statement to lawmakers. If his government does not obtain the confidence vote within 30 days at most the government will be dissolved.

According to the mandate of the president, the new cabinet’s priorities are to “protect Egypt's national security, complete development plans on various levels and support strategies for eradicating terrorism.”

Madbouli’s cabinet will also undertake reform efforts at all levels, development and the completion of major national projects.

Meanwhile, deputies from the “25-30” opposition bloc are awaiting Tuesday’s parliament session after Speaker Ali Abdel Aal threatened to strip them of their membership.

Some of the bloc’s MPs had spoken against amendments to certain laws during a session last week. This provoked the speaker, who accused them of hindering parliament’s work.

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Arab World

Israeli Airstrikes on Southern Lebanon Kill 10, Including Paramedics and a Child

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the Nabatieh village in southern Lebanon on May 22, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the Nabatieh village in southern Lebanon on May 22, 2026. (AFP)
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Israeli Airstrikes on Southern Lebanon Kill 10, Including Paramedics and a Child

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the Nabatieh village in southern Lebanon on May 22, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the Nabatieh village in southern Lebanon on May 22, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon Friday killed 10 people, including six paramedics and a Syrian girl, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said, the latest in near-daily attacks from both sides that have not stopped despite the fragile, US-brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

The first strike hit the village of Hanouiyeh, killing four paramedics working for Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Association and wounding two others including one paramedic, the ministry said.

Another strike Friday morning on the village of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr in the coastal Tyre province killed six people, including a Syrian child and two paramedics from the Al-Rissala Scouts Association, a paramedic group affiliated with Hezbollah’s ally, the Amal movement, the ministry said. An additional six people were injured, including three paramedics and a Syrian woman.

The Health Ministry said the two attacks “violated” international law.

On Thursday, the UN World Health Organization, WHO, reported 169 confirmed attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Lebanon, resulting in 116 deaths, since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began.

The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. It has previously accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah group of using ambulances as cover for militant activities, without offering evidence.

The attacks by Israel and Hezbollah have continued despite a US-brokered ceasefire.

Earlier this week, Lebanon's Health Ministry said that the death toll in the latest round of fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon surpassed 3,000.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the US and Israel started their attacks on Iran.

Also Friday, the Lebanese army and the General Security Directorate issued statements declaring that their officers are disciplined, professional and loyal solely to their institutions and the nation.

The statements came a day after the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on a group of Hezbollah-affiliated legislators, state security officials and allies of the group for allegedly seeking to preserve the Iran-backed group’s influence over Lebanese state institutions and obstruct disarmament efforts.

It was the first time Washington has sanctioned sitting Lebanese state security officials, one from the country’s General Security Directorate and the other from the military intelligence, both of them accused of providing Hezbollah with “illicit support” and intelligence during the ongoing conflict.

Arab World

Syria Signs Deal with CMA CGM to Operate Two Dry Ports, State Media Says

A shipping container belonging to CMA CGM passes through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A shipping container belonging to CMA CGM passes through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Syria Signs Deal with CMA CGM to Operate Two Dry Ports, State Media Says

A shipping container belonging to CMA CGM passes through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A shipping container belonging to CMA CGM passes through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Syria's General Authority for Borders and Customs has signed an agreement with French shipping and logistics group CMA CGM to operate two dry ports within the free zones of Adra, in Damascus' outskirts, and Aleppo, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.

The deal covers the management and operation of the dry ports to support logistics and trade. It coincided with the launch of a trial freight train linking Latakia port, which is Syria’s principal maritime access point, to Adra after a 14-year halt due to the Syrian civil war.

CMA CGM was not immediately available for comment.

The agreement follows a separate deal signed in May 2025 under which CMA CGM secured a 30-year contract to modernise and operate Latakia port. Chief Executive Rodolphe Saadé, a Franco-Lebanese of Syrian origin, has family roots in the country.

On May 11, the European Union restored the full application of its 1977 cooperation agreement with Syria, ending a partial suspension imposed in 2011 over human rights violations under Bashar al-Assad.

The move follows Assad's fall in December 2024 and the lifting of most EU economic sanctions in 2025, and is intended to support Syria's economic recovery and signal renewed EU engagement with the country.

Arab World

Israel Orders UN Food Agency to Cut Ties with Turkish NGO in Gaza

A Palestinian girl walks past a toddler playing among makeshift shelters in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 21, 2026. Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
A Palestinian girl walks past a toddler playing among makeshift shelters in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 21, 2026. Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
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Israel Orders UN Food Agency to Cut Ties with Turkish NGO in Gaza

A Palestinian girl walks past a toddler playing among makeshift shelters in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 21, 2026. Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
A Palestinian girl walks past a toddler playing among makeshift shelters in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 21, 2026. Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)

Israel has ordered the UN's World Food Program to suspend its work in Gaza with a Turkish NGO it designated a terrorist organization, the UN agency told AFP on Friday.

"WFP has been instructed by the Israeli authorities to immediately suspend fuel provision and all activities with its partner IHH, cutting off assistance to more than 166,000 people who rely on daily hot meals, bread, and nutrition support to survive," an agency spokesperson told AFP in a statement.

IHH, or the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, is a Turkish NGO that provides humanitarian assistance and search and rescue operations around the world.

WFP began working with IHH in Gaza in January 2024.

Israel designated it a terrorist organization in May 2008 over accusations of supporting Hamas.

"WFP's partnership with IHH was established at a time of extreme need, particularly to reach under-served areas," WFP said, adding that IHH had been rigorously vetted before the start of the partnership.

Israel's defense ministry body in charge of civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, COGAT, announced on Thursday that it had ordered WFP to stop all coordination with IHH after learning "that the UN agency transferred fuel within the Gaza Strip to the IHH organization".

In a letter to WFP's leadership, COGAT's chief demanded the "immediate suspension of fuel distribution and all other support by WFP to IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation".

In a statement, COGAT accused IHH of promoting flotillas that have attempted to breach its blockade of Gaza.

Israel "will not permit the transfer of resources to entities linked to Hamas under humanitarian cover," the statement added.

WFP lamented the impact the order would have on its activities in war-ravaged Gaza.

"The imposed suspension halts around 111,000 meals per day and critical support to approximately 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children at risk of malnutrition," its spokesperson told AFP.

More than six months after the UN endorsed US President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza, the humanitarian situation in the territory remains catastrophic, three international NGOs said Thursday, calling on Israel to respect its obligations.

"Israel continues to deny most experienced aid groups from bringing in essential supplies, like pipes to fix water systems, shelters, materials and medical supplies at the levels needed," Oxfam America President Abby Maxman said.

Despite the ceasefire meant to halt the war that started with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, violence has continued, with Israeli airstrikes pounding the coastal territory several times a week.

"With 1.7 million people facing highly fragile food security conditions, it is critical that humanitarian operations are allowed to continue without disruption so life-saving assistance can reach civilians in need," WFP's spokesperson said.