Egypt Participates in Ghanaian President’s Inauguration Ceremony

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, new chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), speaks to journalists after a consultative meeting in Accra, Ghana September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko//File Photo
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, new chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), speaks to journalists after a consultative meeting in Accra, Ghana September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko//File Photo
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Egypt Participates in Ghanaian President’s Inauguration Ceremony

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, new chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), speaks to journalists after a consultative meeting in Accra, Ghana September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko//File Photo
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, new chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), speaks to journalists after a consultative meeting in Accra, Ghana September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko//File Photo

Egyptian ambassador to Accra Emad Hanna has attended the swearing-in ceremony of Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo for the second term on Thursday, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The ministry stated that Hanna attended the event upon the request of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to convey his greetings to his Ghanaian counterpart.

Egypt’s invitation to participate in the presidential inauguration ceremony reflects the deep-rooted friendship and cooperation between the Egyptian and Ghanaian peoples and presidents, as well as the appreciation of the significance of Egypt’s role at the continental and international levels, the statement read.

The ministry also pointed out that this participation indicates a similar vision of both political leaderships regarding many African issues of mutual concern.

These include achieving continental integration through the optimal benefit from African energies and resources and supporting efforts to launch the continental free trade area with the permanent headquarters in Accra.

It is noteworthy that Egypt had played an active role during its African Union presidency to push forward the implementation of the trade area, being certain of the pivotal turning point such an agreement could bring about in line with the 2063 Agenda.



Israeli Airstrikes Destroy Ottoman-Era Market in Lebanon

A picture shows the damage a day after an Israeli airstrike targeted the marketplace of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on October 13, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows the damage a day after an Israeli airstrike targeted the marketplace of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on October 13, 2024. (AFP)
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Israeli Airstrikes Destroy Ottoman-Era Market in Lebanon

A picture shows the damage a day after an Israeli airstrike targeted the marketplace of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on October 13, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows the damage a day after an Israeli airstrike targeted the marketplace of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on October 13, 2024. (AFP)

Israeli airstrikes destroyed an Ottoman-era market in the southern city of Nabatiyeh overnight, killing at least one person and wounding four more. Lebanon's Civil Defense said it battled fires in 12 residential buildings and 40 shops in the market, which dates back to 1910.

“Our livelihoods have all been leveled to the ground,” said Ahmad Fakih, whose corner shop was destroyed.

Rescuers were searching for survivors and remains in the pancaked buildings early Sunday as Israeli drones buzzed overhead.

Nabatiyeh was one of dozens of communities across southern Lebanon that Israel has warned people to evacuate, even as the city hosts people who have already fled.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is allied with Hamas, began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, drawing retaliatory airstrikes.

The conflict dramatically escalated in September with a wave of Israeli strikes that killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his senior commanders. Israel launched a ground operation into southern Lebanon earlier this month.

In a separate incident, the Lebanese Red Cross said paramedics were searching for casualties in the wreckage of a house destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Sunday when a second strike left four paramedics with concussions and damaged two ambulances.

It said the rescue operation had been coordinated with UN peacekeepers, who informed the Israeli side. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israeli forces have repeatedly fired upon first responders and UN peacekeepers since the start of the ground operation. The military has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances to ferry fighters and weapons and says Hezbollah operates in the vicinity of the peacekeepers, without providing evidence.

At least 2,255 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the conflict, including more than 1,400 people since September, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were Hezbollah fighters. At least 54 people have been killed in the rocket attacks on Israel, nearly half of them soldiers.

Iran, which supports Hezbollah and Hamas, launched around 180 ballistic missiles at Israel to avenge the killing of Nasrallah; an Iranian general who was with him; and Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, who died in an explosion in Iran's capital in July that was widely blamed on Israel.