GLOBAL TODAY

Tag: Egypt

  • Death toll from Egypt’s building collapse rises to 9

    CAIRO – The death toll from a building collapse in central Egypt’s Asyut province rose to nine on Wednesday.

    “Eight of the victims were females, including a six-month-old baby girl, in addition to an elderly man,” a source at the province’s emergency monitoring center told Xinhua.

    Rescue teams continued to remove the rubble in search of survivors or additional victims.

    A security cordon has been imposed around the site, and four neighboring buildings have been evacuated as a precaution, according to the source.

    Asyut Governor Hisham Abu Al-Nasr, along with local officials, is overseeing the response. The governor has vowed to hold those responsible accountable if negligence or violations are found during the investigation.

    XINHUA

  • 4 people die in Egypt building collapse

    CAIRO – At least four people died on Wednesday in a building collapse in central Egypt’s Asyut province.

    Among the victims were a mother and her child, a local source told Xinhua. The collapse of the four-story building happened in the early hours of the day, sparking panic among residents.

    Rescue teams used heavy machinery to remove the debris as crowds gathered nearby, hoping for signs of life among their relatives.

    An investigation into the collapse is under way.

    XINHUA

  • At least 6 killed, 9 injured as tourist submarine sinks in Egypt’s Red Sea: source

    CAIRO – At least six people were killed and nine others injured on Thursday when a tourist submarine sank in Egypt’s Red Sea during a trip in the resort city of Hurghada, an official source at the Red Sea Governorate told Xinhua.

    XINHUA

  • UNHCR suspends aid to refugees in Egypt over lack of funding

    CAIRO – The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday a lack of funding was forcing it to suspend vital aid to refugees in Egypt, including medical care for many fleeing war-torn Sudan.

    “The lack of available funds and deep uncertainty over the level of donor contributions this year has forced UNHCR to suspend all medical treatment for refugees in Egypt except emergency life-saving procedures, affecting around 20,000 patients,” the UN agency said in a statement.

    This includes cancer treatment, heart surgeries, and medication for high blood pressure and diabetes.

    UNHCR public health officer Jakob Arhem said that without the agency’s services, some patients “will not be able to find the means to pay for health care themselves and they will get sicker, weaker and many will die”.

    The agency last year received less than half of the $135 million needed to assist more than 939,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers from Sudan and 60 other countries currently residing in Egypt.

    “The drastic reduction in humanitarian funding since the start of this year has led to critical shortages, forcing UNHCR to make impossible choices over which life-saving programmes to suspend or maintain,” the statement said, noting that Sudanese refugees will be the hardest hit.

    Egypt has hosted more than 1.5 million Sudanese, some 670,000 of whom are registered with UNHCR, as war rages in the neighbouring country since April 2023 between the army and paramilitaries.

    “The Sudanese health system was one of the first things that collapsed after the onset of fighting, and many of the families who fled did so with sick members who could no longer find treatment in Sudan,” Arhem said.

    UNHCR has supported some the most vulnerable, including unaccompanied children and survivors of sexual violence and torture, but these programmes are at risk without urgent funding.

    AN-AFP, 25.3.2025

  • Egypt condemns Israel’s establishment of “agency” to displace Gaza population

    CAIRO – Egypt strongly condemned on Monday Israel’s establishment of an agency aimed at displacing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and its approval of 13 new settlements in the West Bank.

    In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry, Egypt said that the so-called “voluntary departure,” which Israel claims this agency targets, lacks any basis.

    “The departure occurring under bombardment and war, and under policies that prevent humanitarian aid and use starvation as a weapon, constitutes forced displacement, a crime, and a violation under international law and international humanitarian law,” read the statement.

    Egypt called on the international community and the UN Security Council to adopt a firm stance against these ongoing Israeli violations and provocations.

    It highlighted the Palestinian right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

    On Sunday, the Israeli Defense Ministry said that Israel’s Security Cabinet has approved the establishment of a new directorate to coordinate the “voluntary relocation” of Palestinians from Gaza to third countries.

    The directorate, which will operate under the Defense Ministry, will oversee the “voluntary departure” of Gaza residents who “express interest” in relocating, according to the Defense Ministry.

    The ministry did not name any third countries or confirm whether any have agreed to accept potential refugees.

    In February, U.S. President Donald Trump presented a plan to transfer Gaza’s Palestinian population to neighboring countries, as part of a broader vision to rebuild the war-torn enclave as a “Riviera.” He later backtracked on the plan following international condemnations.

    The establishment of the new agency came as Israeli forces resumed air and ground offensive across Gaza, effectively ending a two-month ceasefire. Thousands of Palestinians have been displaced again as bombardments intensify.

    XINHUA