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Egyptian Government Provides Masks With Ration Cards

A man wearing a protective face mask covers his head during a hot weather in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
A man wearing a protective face mask covers his head during a hot weather in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
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Egyptian Government Provides Masks With Ration Cards

A man wearing a protective face mask covers his head during a hot weather in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
A man wearing a protective face mask covers his head during a hot weather in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)

The Egyptian government will begin supplying about 64 million citizens with protective masks to help limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an official statement.

Supply Minister Ali Mosseilhi said the masks will be offered at two per ration card, adding that 250,000 masks will be offered on 1 July and that this number will reach 19 million masks by the end of the month.

Mosseilhi explained that the set price of the masks was determined after careful consideration of several offers. The government negotiated with the supplier and they agreed on providing masks at the price of EGP8.5 for the end consumer.

However, the Egyptian minister indicated that other types of face masks will be supplied at a price range between EGP6 and EGP10, while ensuring quality is maintained.

He stressed that all masks meet the technical specifications as approved by the Egyptian Organization for Standardization and Quality, which falls under the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Meanwhile, Minister of Local Development, Major General Mahmoud Shaarawy met with Minister of Health Hala Zayed and the two discussed a plan to boost the efficiency of local health facilities.

Shaarawy announced that the ministry has compiled a list of needed medical devices and supplies for the health facilities to help them combat the pandemic.

He confirmed that the Upper Egypt Local Development Program (UELDP) has received $500 million in funding from the World Bank and a $457 million contribution from the Egyptian government.

He detailed that EGP120 million will be provided to support health facilities in Sohag and Qena, which will be used to help both governorates combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Zayed announced, in turn, that a technical committee has been formed to manage donations received by the Ministry of Health. She explained that this committee will determine expenses based on actual needs and will provide the best medical service for all patients.

She pointed out that the ministry provided hospitals that treat suspected coronavirus cases with 31 new CT scans and 700 artificial respirators.

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Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
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Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)

thGermany’s foreign minister said Sunday that sanctions against Syrian officials responsible for war crimes must remain in place but called for a “smart approach” to provide relief to the Syrian population after last month's overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Annalena Baerbock spoke to reporters after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a conference on Syria's future attended by top European and Middle Eastern diplomats.

Germany is one of several countries that imposed sanctions on the Assad government over its brutal crackdown on dissent. Those penalties could hinder Syria's recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced half the prewar population of 23 million, according to The AP.

“Sanctions against Assad’s henchmen who committed serious crimes during the civil war must remain in place,” Baerbock said. “But Germany proposes to take a smart approach to sanctions, providing rapid relief for the Syrian population. Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power.”

Baerbock announced an additional 50 million euros ($51.2 million) in German aid for food, emergency shelters and medical care, highlighting the ongoing struggles of millions of Syrians displaced by the war.

The sanctions imposed target not only senior government officials, but also the country's oil industry, international money transfers and hundreds of entities and individuals linked to the Assad government, crippling the wider economy.

There are exemptions when it comes to humanitarian aid, but relief organizations have said that overcompliance by financial institutions hinders their operations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country, which was a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition to Assad, would try to aid Syria in normalizing ties with the international community.

He said it was important to establish “a balance between the expectations of the international community and the realities faced by the new administration in Syria.”

He pledged Turkish support to the new government, especially in combating threats from the ISIS group. “As Türkiye, we are ready to do our part to ease the difficult path ahead for the Syrian people,” he said in comments carried by state-run Anadolu Agency.

The United States has eased some restrictions Last week, the United States eased some of its restrictions on Syria, with the US Treasury issuing a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The US has also dropped a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a Syrian opposition leader formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month. Al-Sharaa was a former senior al-Qaeda militant who broke with the group years ago and has pledged an inclusive Syria that respects the rights of religious minorities.

The opposition factions led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule.

Much of the world severed ties with Assad and imposed sanctions on his government — and its Russian and Iranian allies — over alleged war crimes and the manufacturing of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, which reportedly generated billions of dollars as packages of the little white pills were smuggled across Syria’s porous borders.

With Assad out of the picture, Syria’s new authorities hope that the international community will pour money into the country to rebuild its battered infrastructure and make its economy viable again.