Sisi in Beijing to Attend 'Belt and Road Forum'

China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C) walk during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, on September 1. (AFP)
China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C) walk during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, on September 1. (AFP)
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Sisi in Beijing to Attend 'Belt and Road Forum'

China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C) walk during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, on September 1. (AFP)
China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (C) walk during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, on September 1. (AFP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has started an official visit to the Chinese capital to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which is held on April 25-27, with the participation of 37 heads of state and government.

Ambassador Bassam Radi, spokesman for the Egyptian presidency, said that Sisi’s participation in the summit “comes within the framework of Egypt’s keenness to participate in the Belt and Road initiative, as one of the pivotal partners of China, in light of the strategic importance of the Suez Canal, the key maritime corridor of world trade.”

Sisi’s visit to China is the sixth since he took office in 2014. According to a statement issued by Radi, the president will hold a summit with his Chinese counterpart to discuss ways to strengthen strategic partnership.

The Egyptian president is also scheduled to hold meetings with a number of officials and the Chinese business community to discuss ways of boosting economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two sides.

On the sidelines of the summit, the president will meet with a number of heads of state and government to discuss ways of boosting bilateral cooperation on various regional and international issues.



Israel Says it Killed a Hezbollah Member in Drone Strike in South Lebanon

A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
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Israel Says it Killed a Hezbollah Member in Drone Strike in South Lebanon

A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)

An Israeli drone strike hit a car in south Lebanon on Saturday, killing one person who the Israeli military said was a member of Hezbollah.

State-run National News Agency did not give further details about the strike in the village of Bourj el-Mlouk.

The airstrike was the latest in a wave of such attacks since a US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November ending the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

The Israeli military said the Hezbollah member who was killed was active in the border village of Kfar Kila.

The strike came a day after Lebanon’s military court sentenced two people to prison terms for giving digital information to Israel.

Four judicial officials told The Associated Press Saturday that one of those sentenced received a 15-year prison term while the other was sentenced to 10 years in jail. A third was set free for lack of evidence against him, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share information with the media.

The officials said the two scanned the cellular telephones network in wide areas of Beirut and its southern suburbs that is home to Hezbollah’s headquarters using sophisticated equipment.

The officials said the two, who were detained last year, also supplied Israel with about 1,500 photographs from Beirut’s southern suburbs.