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Egypt: COVID Cases Continue to Decline

Students sit for university exams in Cairo. EPA file photo
Students sit for university exams in Cairo. EPA file photo
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Egypt: COVID Cases Continue to Decline

Students sit for university exams in Cairo. EPA file photo
Students sit for university exams in Cairo. EPA file photo

Egypt’s students will sit for their high school exams on Saturday amid high precautionary measures, as the number of COVID-19 fatalities continues to decline.

The Health Ministry urged the population on Friday to get vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab.

“The eligible categories are being expanded and the number of vaccine recipients is increasing as the Ministry obtains more batches of the vaccine,” the statement said, adding that Egypt is one of the first countries in the African continent to start manufacturing the vaccine.

The Ministry confirmed that in the past few weeks, Egypt obtained more than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and that 610,000 doses will be sent to vaccine centers early next week, after completing their analysis.

The Ministry also expects to receive quantities of raw materials for the Sinovac vaccine by the end of next week, sufficient to manufacture 3 million doses, in addition to obtaining raw materials sufficient to produce 4.6 million doses by the end of this month.

The Ministry is scheduled to receive more AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines in the coming days, with plans to allocate them for travel purposes.

The statement noted that 2.4 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine are being manufactured locally and will be distributed to vaccination centers by the end of July.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said Friday that in the past 24 hours, 155 new coronavirus infections were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 282,737.

Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said 19 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 16,351.

Also, 765 patients were discharged from hospitals after receiving medical care, taking the number of recoveries to 216,982, the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education said that exams for the secondary certificate will kick off on Saturday in all Egyptian governorates.

The Ministry stressed the importance of preparing isolation rooms for each exam committee to isolate those suspected of being infected with the virus.

It added that people in charge of the exams must wear medical masks and must keep them throughout the exams.

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Arab World

Production Suspended at Iraq’s Khor Mor Gas Field After Drone Attack

The Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah province, Iraq, November 27, 2025. (Reuters)
The Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah province, Iraq, November 27, 2025. (Reuters)
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Production Suspended at Iraq’s Khor Mor Gas Field After Drone Attack

The Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah province, Iraq, November 27, 2025. (Reuters)
The Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah province, Iraq, November 27, 2025. (Reuters)

Production ‌was halted on Sunday at Iraq's Khor Mor gas field, one of the largest in the Kurdistan region, after a drone attack hit the field, sources said.

Two sources in the region's electricity ministry said production at the field was suspended after a single drone strike hit the LPG storage tank, causing a fire that was still raging. Two security sources said smoke was seen rising from the field.

Employees at the field were evacuated ‌to shelters ‌inside the facility following the attack, the ‌two ⁠ministry sources said.

Iraq's ⁠prime minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Ali al-Zaidi, said the attack did not result in casualties, based on an initial assessment.

A joint statement by the region's natural resources and electricity ministries described the attack on the field as a "terrorist attack," saying they ⁠are working on minimizing its impact.

There was no ‌claim of responsibility for ‌the attack.

The gas field provides supplies for regional power generation.

Some ‌2.8 gigawatts of power generation in the Kurdistan region ‌was lost following the attack, the region's electricity ministry said in a statement.

Joint field operator Dana Gas had previously shut down the main production facilities at the field in July ‌due to credible security threats and regional tensions before restarting production later in the ⁠same month.

Iraq ⁠has been among the countries most affected by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic in the strait remains disrupted as ships continue to face attacks in the area.

Baghdad has been striving to balance its ties with neighboring Iran and the US amid the military escalation between the two countries.

However, Tehran has launched attacks against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq, while Iran-backed armed factions in Iraq launched attacks against Gulf neighbors earlier in the conflict.

Arab World

US Asks Iraq to Shut Most Iran Border Crossings, Iraqi Foreign Minister Says

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks as he attends a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (not pictured), in Baghdad, Iraq June 4, 2023. (Reuters)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks as he attends a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (not pictured), in Baghdad, Iraq June 4, 2023. (Reuters)
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US Asks Iraq to Shut Most Iran Border Crossings, Iraqi Foreign Minister Says

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks as he attends a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (not pictured), in Baghdad, Iraq June 4, 2023. (Reuters)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks as he attends a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (not pictured), in Baghdad, Iraq June 4, 2023. (Reuters)

The US Treasury has asked Iraq to close all border crossings with Iran except for two as part of Washington's policy of ‌increasing economic ‌pressure on Tehran, Iraqi ‌Foreign ⁠Minister Fuad Hussein ⁠said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

One of the exceptions is in the Kurdistan region.

"There ⁠are many official ‌and ‌unofficial border crossings with Iran, ‌and closing all ‌of them would be difficult and would affect our economy. The Americans ‌are still demanding the closure of the crossings, ⁠and ⁠we are currently in discussions with them," Hussein said.

Last month, Iraq closed the busy Sheeb border crossing with Iran to review security and install detection equipment to stop smuggling.

Arab World

Yemen Army Makes New Gains on Battlefronts

A Yemeni soldier in battle in Taiz. (AFP)
A Yemeni soldier in battle in Taiz. (AFP)
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Yemen Army Makes New Gains on Battlefronts

A Yemeni soldier in battle in Taiz. (AFP)
A Yemeni soldier in battle in Taiz. (AFP)

The Yemeni arena has witnessed a coordinated military escalation across multiple fronts over the past few hours, stretching from the southwestern governorates of Lahj and Taiz to Marib and Al-Jawf in the north.

The flare-up coincided with a wave of Houthi missile and drone strikes targeting Saudi Arabia, including the capital, Riyadh, alongside the Eastern and Southern Regions, as ongoing Yemeni government military operations point toward a broadening confrontation.

Yemeni military sources said that the air force executed a precision airstrike targeting a meeting of prominent Houthi field commanders in the Al-Maqatirah district of northern Lahj. The strike was launched after intelligence assets tracked the commanders' movements and pinpointed the meeting location.

The final toll of human casualties resulting from the strike, as well as the identities of the commanders present at the targeted site, remain unclear.

The strike took place amidst escalating military operations across the Lahj fronts, particularly in areas intersecting the Al-Maqatirah, Al-Mudharabah, and Tur Al-Baha districts.

Over recent days, these zones have witnessed intense clashes and retaliatory attacks, driven by Houthi attempts to advance toward strategic positions and supply routes linking the Lahj and Taiz governorates.

Government forces had previously announced the recapture of strategic positions on the Al-Mudharabah front following fierce clashes with the Houthis. The fighting involved intensive attacks launched by members of the militia against military sites before government forces managed to repel them and force the attackers to retreat.

On Saturday, the Yemeni army carried out 875 military operations against the Houthis, encompassing artillery strikes, ambushes, and targeted attacks on positions, gatherings, and reinforcements.

The campaign resulted in the neutralization of 130 Houthi members and the destruction or damage of some 50 military vehicles and equipment, including rocket launchers.

The attacks were executed across multiple fronts, focusing on the group's positions, reinforcements, and combat capabilities with the participation of ground units supported by air and artillery assets.

Meanwhile, government forces continued their maneuvers in Al-Jawf and other areas as part of ongoing confrontations to recapture military sites and secure liberated zones.

The escalation extended to the Marib fronts, where government forces announced the downing of a Houthi reconnaissance drone, coinciding with the thwarting of simultaneous ground attacks launched by the group against military positions in the Taiz and Lahj governorates.

Yemeni army artillery targeted Houthi military vehicles and barracks on the northern front of Marib following the downing of a drone on the Mas front. Military sources stated the operations are intended to curb the group's surveillance, reconnaissance, and troop-monitoring capabilities.