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Egypt: Sisi Inaugurates Huge Transportation Projects

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the new station (Egyptian presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the new station (Egyptian presidency)
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Egypt: Sisi Inaugurates Huge Transportation Projects

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the new station (Egyptian presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the new station (Egyptian presidency)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated Adly Mansour Central Interchange Station, the largest such station in the Middle East and Africa.

The inauguration of the new projects coincided with the country's celebration of the ninth anniversary of ousting the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

In 2013, Sisi, Minister of Defense at the time, announced the suspension of the constitution and early presidential elections. The head of the Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, was assigned as interim president.

Widespread protests erupted in the country against president Mohammed Morsi who was affiliated with the Brotherhood.

Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir explained that the Adly Mansour station was implemented within the transport sector development plan approved by Sisi.

Wazir explained that the plan mainly incorporated turning public transport means in Greater Cairo into echo-friendly electro-green transportation as applied in Adly Mansour interchange station as the station includes seven various means of transport, four of which are electric.

He said that it includes the Cairo-Suez railway line, the third line of the underground metro, the light electric train, the Super Jet bus station, the electric bus, and bus rapid transit (BRT).

Each carriage is equipped with Wi-Fi service and screens, offering passengers an even greater choice of content on board, the Transport Minister told Sisi.

There are also seven surveillance cameras in each train carriage, added the Minister.

The Minister noted that Egypt is the only country in Africa and the Middle East to have electric mass transportation lines of 500 kilometers long and eco-friendly.

Later, a documentary was displayed on the "Egyptian Railways," one of the oldest railways in Africa and the Middle East and the second worldwide after Britain.

The documentary showed that the first railway line in Egypt was established between Cairo and Alexandria with a length of 208 kilometers in 1851.

Sisi, accompanied by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and several officials, inspected the train carriages, while the Minister of Transport stated that about 100 Egyptians were trained in the first stage.

At the end of the tour, the president took the train from Adly Mansour station to Badr City Station, marking the start of its operation, accompanied by Madbouly and the Transport Minister.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.