Egypt Eases COVID-19 Restrictions

A tourist wears a protective mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, during his visit to Luxor Temple in Egypt, March 9, 2020. (Reuters)
A tourist wears a protective mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, during his visit to Luxor Temple in Egypt, March 9, 2020. (Reuters)
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Egypt Eases COVID-19 Restrictions

A tourist wears a protective mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, during his visit to Luxor Temple in Egypt, March 9, 2020. (Reuters)
A tourist wears a protective mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, during his visit to Luxor Temple in Egypt, March 9, 2020. (Reuters)

The Egyptian government has started easing restrictions that were imposed to fight COVID-19 three months ago.

The new measures allow receiving customers at cafes, restaurants, and similar facilities until midnight. They also include shutting down the stores and shopping malls at 10 pm, and increasing the occupancy of cafes, and restaurants to 50 percent up from 25 percent.

Further, holding conferences and meetings is now allowed but with a maximum of 50 participants and with a limit of 100 people.

However, the government insisted on keeping occupancy at cinemas 25 percent and banning prayer of Eid al-Adha in squares.

Egypt has recorded 511 new COVID-19 infections, leaving the total of cases registered in the country since mid-February at 91,583, said the Egyptian Health Ministry.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said 40 patients died from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 4,558. Also, 933 patients were cured and discharged from hospitals, raising the total number of recoveries in the country to 32,903.

Meanwhile, Manpower Minister Mohamed Saafan said that 1,285 Egyptian workers in Kuwait are returning through eight flights that kicked off Sunday.



G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
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G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

Foreign ministers from the world’s industrialized countries said Tuesday they strongly supported an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and insisted that Israel comply with international law in its ongoing military operations in the region.

At the end of their two-day summit, the ministers didn’t refer directly to the International Criminal Court and its recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over crimes against humanity.

Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official meeting agenda, even though the G7 was split on the issue. The US, Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a signatory to the court and has called the warrants “outrageous.”

However, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said all the other G7 countries were signatories and therefore obliged to respect the warrants.

In the end, the final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel, in exercising its right to defend itself, “must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including international humanitarian law.”

And it said all G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.” It stressed that “there can be no equivalence between the terrorist group Hamas and the State of Israel.”

The ICC warrants say there's reason to believe Netanyahu used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.