Egypt Steps up Efforts to Move to Administrative Capital

This picture taken on March 13, 2020 shows an aerial view of ongoing construction development at Egypt's New Administrative Capital megaproject. AFP file photo
This picture taken on March 13, 2020 shows an aerial view of ongoing construction development at Egypt's New Administrative Capital megaproject. AFP file photo
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Egypt Steps up Efforts to Move to Administrative Capital

This picture taken on March 13, 2020 shows an aerial view of ongoing construction development at Egypt's New Administrative Capital megaproject. AFP file photo
This picture taken on March 13, 2020 shows an aerial view of ongoing construction development at Egypt's New Administrative Capital megaproject. AFP file photo

The Egyptian government has stepped up efforts to move its headquarters to the New Administrative Capital and start operating from there starting early next year.

While the Central Agency for Organization and Administration announced that it has trained more than 4,000 candidates to work at the new headquarters, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for “speeding up operational steps for the opening of the new diplomatic quarter in the new capital in an integrated manner with other neighborhoods.”

The New Administrative Capital, located 75 kilometers east of Cairo, is among the president's most ambitious projects, with a cost of about $300 billion.

Sisi held a meeting on Monday with a number of generals responsible for the project, including Major General Amir Sayed Ahmed, Adviser to the President for Urban Planning, and Major General Ehab El-Far, Chairman of the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces.

Presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said that Sisi followed up on the ongoing construction work in the New Administrative Capital and the city of Galala, as well as the Ramses Square development plan.

According to Rady, Sisi and the attendees reviewed the construction of some projects in the New Administrative Capital, especially the diplomatic quarter, which will include foreign missions and the headquarters of international and regional organizations located in Egypt.

The President called for accelerating the establishment of the diplomatic neighborhood in an integrated manner with other neighborhoods in the new capital.

The conferees also reviewed the development of a number of roads and bridges in Cairo governorate.



EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, as the group claimed attacks deep into Israel.  

The Israeli military said Iran-backed Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into Israel during the day. Some of them were intercepted but others caused damage to houses in central Israel, according to AFP images.  

A day after the health ministry said Israeli strikes on Beirut and across Lebanon killed 84 people, state media reported two strikes on Sunday on the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel's military said it had attacked "headquarters" of the group "hidden within civilian structures" in south Beirut.

War between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in late September, nearly a year after the group began launching strikes in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following that group's October 7 attack on Israel.

The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September.  

On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.  

Earlier this week, US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Lebanon that a truce deal was "within our grasp" and then headed to Israel for talks with officials there.  

In the Lebanese capital, Borrell held talks with parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of ally Hezbollah.

"We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," Borrell said.  

"Lebanon is on the brink of collapse", he warned.  

Under Resolution 1701, which ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006, Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces present in the southern border area.  

The resolution also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon, and reiterated earlier calls for "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon."