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Egypt Opens Mosques for Friday Prayers

FILE PHOTO: Men are seen walking at Al Moez street in al-Hussein and al-Azhar district as mosques are closed in old Islamic Cairo, as Egypt ramps up efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cairo, Egypt, April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Men are seen walking at Al Moez street in al-Hussein and al-Azhar district as mosques are closed in old Islamic Cairo, as Egypt ramps up efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cairo, Egypt, April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
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Egypt Opens Mosques for Friday Prayers

FILE PHOTO: Men are seen walking at Al Moez street in al-Hussein and al-Azhar district as mosques are closed in old Islamic Cairo, as Egypt ramps up efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cairo, Egypt, April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Men are seen walking at Al Moez street in al-Hussein and al-Azhar district as mosques are closed in old Islamic Cairo, as Egypt ramps up efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cairo, Egypt, April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo

Egypt has on said that worshipers will soon be able to attend mosque for Friday prayers after a suspension that lasted for nearly five months.

The decision came as the daily tally of confirmed new COVID-19 cases fell below 200.

Egypt’s Minister of Religious Endowment Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said that weekly congregational prayers may be held starting Aug. 28.

Worshipers are expected to observe social distancing and wear face masks to prevent another viral outbreak, Gomaa said in a statement.

He said the Friday sermon, which usually lasts for nearly an hour, will also be reduced to 10 minutes.

Starting in August, the number of new cases in Egypt has dropped significantly to less than 200 new cases a day.

Overall, Egypt has reported nearly 97,000 confirmed cases, including 5,197 deaths, The Associated Press reported.

On Wednesday, Egypt reported 163 confirmed cases and 13 fatalities.

Meanwhile, Egypt will require all visitors to the country to present Polymerase Chain Reaction test results for the virus on arrival from Sept. 1, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced in televised address on Wednesday.

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Arab World

Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank

Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank
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Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank

Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank

Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian hurling a rock at them in the occupied West Bank, the military said on Friday, and the Palestinian health ministry said the person killed was a 14-year-old boy.

There was no further comment from Palestinian officials about the fatal incident in the village of ⁠Al-Mughayyir. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the teen was killed during an Israeli military raid that led to confrontations, Reuters reported.

The Israeli military said its forces were called to the area after ⁠receiving reports that Palestinians were throwing stones at Israelis and blocking a road with burning tires.

The soldiers fired warning shots in an attempt to repel a person who was running at them with a rock, the military said, and then shot and killed him to eliminate the ⁠danger.

Violence has surged over the past year in the West Bank. Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have risen sharply, while the military has tightened movement restrictions and carried out sweeping raids in several cities.

Palestinians have also carried out attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians, some of them deadly.

Arab World

Israeli Strikes in South Lebanon Kill Two

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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Israeli Strikes in South Lebanon Kill Two

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one person on Friday, the health ministry in Beirut said a day after raids that Israel said had targeted Hezbollah.

Israel has kept up regular strikes in Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, usually saying it is targeting members of the group or its infrastructure.

In a statement, the health ministry said an "Israeli enemy strike" on a vehicle in Mansuri in south Lebanon killed one person.

According to AFP, it also said that a strike on Mayfadun in south Lebanon the previous night killed one person.

Israel said Thursday's attack killed a Hezbollah member it alleged "took part in attempts to reestablish Hezbollah's infrastructure in the Zawtar al-Sharqiyah area.”

The attacks come a week after Lebanon's military said it had completed disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani River, the first phase of a nationwide plan, although Israel has called those efforts insufficient.

On Thursday, Israel carried out several strikes against eastern Lebanon's Bekaa region, north of the Litani, after issuing warnings to evacuate.

United Nations peacekeepers, deployed in the south to separate Lebanon from Israel, said on Friday that an Israeli drone "dropped a grenade" on its troops.

On Monday, the peacekeeping force said an Israeli tank fired near its troops, and warned that such incidents were becoming "disturbingly common".

Arab World

Syria's Leader Sharaa in Berlin on Tuesday, Says German Presidency

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
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Syria's Leader Sharaa in Berlin on Tuesday, Says German Presidency

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be visiting Berlin next Tuesday and meet his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German presidency said.

The office of Chancellor Friedrich Merz has yet to announce whether they would also hold talks during the visit, which comes at a time when the German government is seeking to step up repatriations of Syrians to their homeland.