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Egypt Warns Against Serving Meals in Mosques

Men pray at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo (EPA)
Men pray at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo (EPA)
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Egypt Warns Against Serving Meals in Mosques

Men pray at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo (EPA)
Men pray at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo (EPA)

The Egyptian Ministry of Endowment has warned against serving meals in mosques during the holy month of Ramadan as part of measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ministry has stressed that any mosque employee who fails to guarantee the implementation of precautionary measures will be dismissed.

The Ministry had ordered certain regulations to be followed in mosques during Ramadan, including restricting Tarawih prayers to half an hour, abstaining from heaving meals there, bringing the prayer mat from home and respecting social distancing.

The Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church also said that it would ban any COVID-19 patient from entering its premises.

Pope Tawadros II urged any person who has coronavirus symptoms not to go to church.

The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population on Friday denied rumors that hospitals in Sohag province, south of Cairo, were unable to cope with a surge in coronavirus cases.

Health Ministry Spokesman Khalid Mujahid said that 17 hospitals are receiving COVID-19 patients in Sohag.

The total number of patients receiving treatment at hospitals there reached 414. There are 950 beds, 70 ICU beds, and 18 ventilators in the province, he reassured.

Egypt recorded Wednesday 872 new coronavirus cases, according to the Health Ministry. Another 48 patients died.

The total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases since the outbreak began in Egypt hit 219,774, according to the statement.

The number of recoveries reached 165,348.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.