Egypt Ratchets Up Restrictions in Stations, Schools, Mosques

Second from the left Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting (photo courtesy of the cabinet official Facebook page)
Second from the left Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting (photo courtesy of the cabinet official Facebook page)
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Egypt Ratchets Up Restrictions in Stations, Schools, Mosques

Second from the left Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting (photo courtesy of the cabinet official Facebook page)
Second from the left Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during a meeting (photo courtesy of the cabinet official Facebook page)

Egypt has tightened anti-virus restrictions in stations, schools, and mosques and threatened to punish violators.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly affirmed the necessity of adhering to the precautionary measures against the novel coronavirus, warning that the second wave of the pandemic is harder than the previous one.

During a virtual cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Madbouly stressed that all concerned bodies should apply all these measures strictly at all work and production sites amid the rise in infection rates witnessed these days. He ordered tightening campaigns on places that violate the precautionary measures, and impose penalties stipulated in the law and in the cabinet’s decisions in this regard.

Moreover, the minister called for reducing crowding at public workplaces, giving governmental entities and ministries discretion and flexibility to determine, upon work conditions, the needed number of employees.

Egyptian National Railways emphasized that passengers can’t access stations without facemasks.

In an effort to prevent the spread of the virus among school students, Education Minister Tarek Shawki ordered teachers and students to follow strict precautionary measures, including the wearing of facemasks throughout the school day.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that 275 new coronavirus cases were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases in Egypt since the beginning of the outbreak to 111,284.

The Ministry said 16 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 6,481. Meanwhile, the number of recovered cases reached 101,288 so far.



Israel Is Ramping up Annexation of West Bank, UN Rights Chief Says 

Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
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Israel Is Ramping up Annexation of West Bank, UN Rights Chief Says 

Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)
Israeli army vehicles block a road during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 14 March 2025. (EPA)

Israel has significantly expanded and consolidated settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the State of Israel, in breach of international law, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.

The report to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council later this month comes amid growing fears of annexation amid US policy shifts under President Donald Trump and new settler outposts in areas of the West Bank seen as part of a future Palestinian state.

"The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime," UN High Commissioner Volker Turk said in a statement accompanying the report, urging the international community to take meaningful action on Israel’s advancing settlement.

"Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers," he said.

Israel disengaged from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year, alleging a chronic anti-Israeli bias. Its military says it is conducting counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants.