Cairo: Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have agreed on the full resumption of flights between the two countries, an Egyptian presidential official said Friday.
In October 2015, a Russian passenger plane crashed in Egypt’s Sinai shortly after take-off from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm Al Shaikh, killing all 224 on board.
The downing, claimed by the Daesh terrorist group, prompted Russia to halt direct flights to Egypt. Egypt’s key resorts of Hurghada and Sharm Al Shaikh have been hard hit by the Russian ban.
Al Sissi Friday received a phone call from Putin and agreed on the full resumption of air traffic between airports of both countries including Hurghada and Sharm Al Shaikh, spokesman for Egyptian presidency, Bassam Radi, said in a statement.
Dubai: 16 people were killed and dozens injured after a train derailed in Qalubiyyah, north of Cairo, local media said on Sunday.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi issued instructions to set up a committee to investigate the cause of the accident.
The train was coming from Al Mansoura on its way to Cairo.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Kamel Al Wazir, inspected the accident site where he supervised the process of removing carriages. According to local media, the train was speeding when it derailed near Toukh metro station in Qalubiyyah Governorate.
Heavy vehicles were sent to the crash site to remove the carriages while 58 ambulances were dispatched immediately to take the injured to hospitals.
Cairo: Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi and Qatar’s Emir Tamim Bin Hamad have exchanged congratulations on the start of the holy month of Ramadan, according to Egyptian media, marking their first joint talk since a regional dispute ended earlier this year.
The Egyptian presidency said that Al Sissi received a phone call from the Qatari emir congratulating him on the beginning of Ramadan.
“The president expressed during the contact his tanks to the Emir of State of Qatar for his congratulation on this blessed occasion, praying to Almighty God to render it an occasion full of bounty, prosperity and blessings for people of the two brotherly countries and all Arab and Islamic countries,” spokesman for the Egyptian presidency Bassam Radi said, according to local media.
Cairo: Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi has led a military funeral for former prime minister Kamal Al Ganzouri who died Wednesday at a Cairo hospital at the age of 88 years.
Al Ganzouri was prime minister for three years starting from January 1996 under late president Hosni Mubarak. Al Ganzouri also served as a prime minister in November 2011 for eight months in the wake of an uprising that forced Mubarak to resign.
He had earlier served as a planning minister.
Devoted to Egypt
Al Ganzouri’s death triggered an outpouring of tributes. “Egypt has lost a statesman of a unique calibre,” Al Sissi said on his Facebook account, mourning Al Ganzouri.