Egypt s Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik underlined Saturday the need to activate bilateral and multilateral security coordination mechanisms among Arab security services in light of growing security challenges facing Arab countries. The minister explained that cooperation is needed to confront threats associated with the spread of extremist ideologies. Tawfik s statement came upon his arrival in Tunisia late Saturday to participate in the 37th session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, which kicks off 1 March in Tunis. The session will be attended by Arab interior ministers, high-level security delegations, as well as representatives from the European Union, Arab League, International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, among others. The session is set to discuss a number of issues, including the criteria for listing and delisting on the Arab blacklist of terrorist perpetrators, masterminds and funders, and establishing a working force to monitor terrorist threats and analyse terrorist acts. The Egyptian interior minister was received at Tunis airport by his Tunisian counterpart. Minister Tawfik praised "the tireless efforts made by the Tunisian Ministry of Interior and the General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers for the success of the annual ministerial session."

The Chinese Embassy in Egypt held on Wednesday the first Chinese-Arab Diplomatic Salon on Coronavirus Crisis. The symposium, organised at Cairo s Conrad Hotel, was chaired by Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Cairo Xiao Junzheng, with the participation of the Director of Early Warning Unit at the Egyptian Cabinet s Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) Samaa Suleiman, political science professor at Cairo University Mohamed Kamal, professor of risk management at Cairo University Ghada Ali, and head of the Asian Studies Programme at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies Mohamed Fayez Farahat. Xiao initially reviewed China s measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. "China has mobilised its full efforts throughout all its provinces, and turned the fight into a popular war to prevent the spread of the virus and to eliminate it," Xiao said. The virus is believed to have originated in a market selling wildlife in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. China s National Health Commission (NHC) reported on Wednesday 406 new infections, down from 508 a day earlier, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 78,064. The death toll rose to 2,715. "A state of emergency has been declared in all Chinese provinces, and state resources are distributed across all the sectors where the virus has spread," Xiao said. He added that some people believe that because China has a strong economic foundation, it has successfully harnessed its capabilities and implemented all the measures to combat the virus; and that it is difficult for countries suffering economic challenges to do the same. "I personally disagree with this", Xiao continued, citing the Egyptian experience in eradicating bird flu (Avian influenza H5N1) in 2008-2009. "Egypt enforced a host of preventive measures, including isolation in schools and hospitals," in addition to raising the people s awareness at mosques, and urging patients to seek treatment, he said. Because coronavirus has become a global crisis, China is taking the opportunity to learn from successful experiences in this field, Xiao stated. Suleiman reviewed Egypt s efforts to fight the virus, in addition to the preventive and precautionary measures at airports and educational institutions. "Egypt was one of the first countries to send back, for free, its expats in Wuhan, and designated El-Negelah Central Hospital in Marsa Matrouh as a quarantine hospital to house the returnees," she said. Egypt hosts the first Chinese-Arab diplomatic salon on coronavirus http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/364265.aspx via @ahramonlineLast week, Health Minister Hala Zayed announced that Egypt has ended a 14-day quarantine for hundreds of Egyptians who had returned Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus. Last week Egypt s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) released a joint statement that said that the foreigner who was rumoured to be a carrier of the coronavirus in Egyp tested negative. Globalisation vs coronavirus "From the very beginning, China has taken a responsible attitude towards international cooperation. It has also balanced between the preventive and precautionary measures on one hand and international cooperation on the other," said Xiao. On Tuesday, China s foreign ministry said that Beijing is working closely with the governments of Japan and South Korea, which recorded the highest number of people infected with the virus in Asia outside China, to strengthen the countries joint response to the outbreak. Kamal said that globalisation is believed to have an important role in the fight against coronavirus. "Being a global crisis, there must be international cooperation to jointly combat the virus in addition to sharing and benefiting from other experiences," Kamal said. Earlier this month, Egypt s health ministry announced that Egypt provided China with 10 tons of preventive medical items, such as masks and alcoholic antiseptics, to help deal with the epidemic.

The body of former president Hosni Mubarak was airlifted on Wednesday to a mosque complex in the eastern New Cairo suburb where a military funeral service will be held in the afternoon. Mubarak, who ruled the country for 30 years until he was toppled in a popular revolt in 2011, died in hospital on Tuesday at the age of 91. Dozens of Mubarak s supporters, wearing black and carrying posters of the former leader, had gathered at the mosque in the early morning before funeral rituals started. Mubarak s body will be airlifted from the Mosheer Tantawy mosque to be buried at burial grounds in Cairo s Heliopolis district.

Egypt s former president Hosni Mubarak died in hospital at the age of 91 on Tuesday, sources told Ahram Online. Mubarak had entered the intensive care unit after undergoing surgery two weeks ago, his son Alaa and lawyer Farid El-Deeb announced earlier this month. The former president was ousted by a popular uprising that started in January 2011. The autocrat ruled Egypt from 1981 until 11 February 2011. Alaa Mubarak tweeted on 24 January that his 91-year-old father had undergone an operation and that his condition was “stable.” He provided no details about the surgery. Since his downfall, Mubarak stood trial in a number of criminal cases on various charges, but received only one final conviction on corruption charges in 2016, alongside his sons Alaa and Gamal. Mubarak had already served his sentence in detention while awaiting trial in other cases.

Egypt has welcomed the announcement of the formation of a coalition government in South Sudan, the foreign ministry said on Sunday. Rival South Sudanese leaders formed a coalition government on Sunday, and South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar was sworn in as first vice president to his rival President Salva Kiir. In its statement, the foreign affairs ministry said that Egypt hopes this step will prompt more efforts towards fully implementing the country’s peace agreement, in order to achieve lasting and comprehensive peace. The statement emphasised Egypt’s keenness on achieving stability in South Sudan and stressed that Egypt will continue supporting all conflict resolution efforts, in coordination with its regional and international partners. Civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 due to conflict between Kiir and Machar. By August 2018, a final cease-fire and power-sharing agreement, followed by a peace agreement to end the civil war called the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, was signed by the government, the opposition party, and other rebel factions, following peace negotiations mediated by Uganda and Sudan. It is estimated that almost 400,000 people lost their lives during the war.

Egypt s former president, Hosni Mubarak, is still hospitalised in an intensive care unit after undergoing surgery two weeks ago, his eldest son Alaa tweeted Sunday. Alaa Mubarak tweeted 24 January that his 91-year-old father was operated on and that his condition was “stable.” He provided no details on the surgery. Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising that started in January 2011. Mubarak ruled Egypt autocratically from 1981 until 11 February 2011. Since his downfall, Mubarak stood trial in a number of criminal cases on various charges, but received a final conviction only on corruption charges in 2016, alongside his sons Alaa and Gamal. Mubarak had already served his sentence in detention awaiting trial in other cases. On Saturday, Cairo Criminal Court acquitted Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, and others, in the case known in the media as "manipulating the stock exchange".

Egypt will resume flights to and from China starting next Thursday, flagship airliner EgyptAir said, three weeks after it announced it was suspending flights to China over the coronavirus outbreak. The national airliner will operate only one trip a week "due to demand on travel in both directions," it said in a statement on Thursday. The flight will run from Cairo to Beijing and Guangzhou, and back from Guangzhou and Beijing to Cairo. The company will continue to assess the situation to "take the necessary decisions as to increasing trips to the Chinese cities based on demand," it added. EgyptAir announced on 30 January it was suspending all flights to and from China, with the last Chinese tourist group in Egypt leaving on 4 February. The Egyptian airliner joined a number of airlines from around the world that grounded flights in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 2,000 people, including eight outside China, and infected more than 75,000 globally. On Wednesday, Egypt s health ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a joint statement that the foreigner who was announced to be carrying the virus tested negative two days after he was quarantined in a hospital. Earlier this week, Egypt ended a 14-day quarantine for 302 Egyptian citizens who had returned home from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus, after they tested negative for the virus.

EgyptAir received on Wednesday the second of 15 Airbus A320neo planes scheduled to join the national carrier s fleet, it said in a statement The 142-seat aircraft arrived at Cairo International Airport in the morning from Airbus s factory in Toulouse, France, the statement added. The first of the Airbus A320Neo planes was received by Egypt earlier this week; the airplane made its first passenger flight this morning to Abu Dhabi. The advanced and fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft family delivers per seat fuel improvements of 20%. The A320neo also offers significant eco-friendly performance with around 50% reduction in noise footprint compared to previous generation aircraft. The civil aviation ministry had said the delivery makes EgyptAir the first company in the Middle East and Africa to operate both the Airbus A320Neo and Airbus A220 modern aircraft in its fleet . EgyptAir has a fleet of 70 long, medium and short haul aircrafts, according to the company s website.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi attended the inauguration of Military Factory 300 operating under Abu Zaabal Industries Company, specialising in small and medium-size ammunition. The president visited a number of production lines and talked with the engineers supervising the operations, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement on Monday. The inauguration was attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Mohamed Zaki, Minister of Military Production Mohamed Al-Assar, Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff Mohamed Farid, and other ministers. According to the statement, the president also inaugurated, via video conference, a number of new military production projects in other military factories including Factory 144 in Banha, Factory 270 in Qaha, and Factory 999 in Helwan. Minister El-Assar said at the opening that his ministry s main goal is to secure the army s needs of ammunition and equipment. The approach adopted by El-Sisi is to acquire the latest techniques in armament, El-Assar said, adding that "our target now is to manufacture arms locally despite looming challenges." El-Assar reviewed his ministry s achievements since 2014, saying that it is regarded as the primary source of armament for the Egyptian Armed Forces that seeks to serve the economy and support development projects within the framework of Egypt s Vision 2030.

Egypt has ended a 14-day quarantine for hundreds of Egyptian citizens who had returned home from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus, Health Minister Hala Zayed announced in a press conference. Zayed said that all tests conducted on the 302 Egyptian citizens during the 14-day period, which is how long it takes for the disease to incubate, have shown that they are free of the virus or any other infectious diseases. The Egyptian government had designated El-Negelah Central Hospital in Marsa Matrouh as a quarantine hospital to house the returnees. The ministry has already taken the citizens back to their residences in Cairo and Alexandria on buses. The announcement comes two weeks after Egypt sent a special jet to bring back hundreds of Egyptian nationals from Wuhan as the epidemic caused a global scare. Last Friday, Egypt confirmed its first coronavirus case in the country, adding that the ill person was a foreigner, without giving further details. The person tested positive for the quick-spreading virus but had no symptoms, health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said over the weekend, adding that he had been quarantined in a hospital. This is the first reported case in Africa amid the outbreak of the epidemic which killed 1,770 since December, with over 70,000 infected globally, with the vast majority in mainland China.

The American University in Cairo (AUC) is celebrating the beginning of its second century by ‎organising a vibrant programme of events at its New Cairo campus from 15 to 19 February.‎ The president of the university, Francis Joseph Ricciardone told Ahram ‎Online: “AUC’s message from the centennial celebrations is that we are deeply rooted in this ‎country. We are committed to this country for the next 100 years.” ‎ Ricciardone added: “Egypt is great place. It is worthy to invest in its people. We hope other investors will ‎follow in our footsteps in education in particular.”‎ Riccardone appointed the 12th AUC president 1 July 2016. The AUC Board of Trustees ‎unanimously voted to renew its tenure for a second four-year term starting July 2020. ‎ ‎“We have the freedom to do what we think is right and get support from people who share that ‎vision. AUC has many donors, from individuals and some foundations, and pursues diverse cooperations,” Riccardone ‎continued. He added that AUC stays out of politics and supports the programmes of the ‎Egyptian government in improving the quality of higher education.‎ Through this year, AUC is focusing on the future and its plans for the next 100 ‎years, under the slogan "Be the Future." Riccardone stated that AUC s mission is to bring together great minds, and break down the barriers of ‎culture, religion, history and politics that separate people and cause distrust of one another. ‎‎ “People together from different disciplines and experiences can solve great problems of the ‎world,” he said‎. AUC moved 12 years ago from Tahrir Square to its new campus in New Cairo. “We have enough space (in New Cairo) to build for the future. ‎AUC completed phase one, focusing on the architecture of the campus. Now, we are going to tackle ‎phase two.”‎ Ricciardone will meet Monday with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to discuss ‎government priorities in education. Ricciardone concluded: ‎“We cannot predict what the future will bring. We must invest in our people and in ‎education. The future is full of opportunities beyond our dreams and full of threats and ‎challenges that lie under our deepest fears.”‎

Egypt will set up a 210 million euro ($228 million) facility north of Cairo that will convert rice straw into wood, the oil ministry said in a statement on Thursday, in a bid limit air pollution resulting from its burning. The plant, in the Nile Delta s Beheira, will produce 205,000 square meters a year of medium-density fiberboards (MDF), using technologies by Germany s plant engineering firm Siempelkamp, which will help carry out the project. Burning agricultural waste, mostly rice straw, has for years posed a major environmental challenge and caused severe air pollution in the already highly-polluted country. Experts have said rice straw has plenty of potential uses. A deal for the project was signed on Thursday between newly-established state wood technology company WOTECH and state-owned oil firm Petrojet during an international energy conference in Cairo. Another agreement was signed with the German firm. The project will help support government s efforts "to transform rice straw from an environmental challenge into an economic opportunity," the ministry said. It is part of the ministry s plans to expand in the petrochemical industry and set up new projects to provide main production materials for many local industries, the ministry said. The project was first announced in October. The ministry said at the time it is the first of its kind in Africa and the Middle East and the second globally after the United States. The plant will produce high-quality local products that will be used in various sectors like furniture, construction, and decoration, the ministry added. The project s shareholders include the Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, SEDPC company, and Petrojet.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and US President Donald Trump s national security adviser Robert O Brien agreed to strengthen Egyptian-US coordination on Middle East issues, mainly in Syria and Libya . Shoukry and O Brien s met Tuesday in Washington, which Shoukry is visiting for a final round of talks on a massive hydropower dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile river. The two leaders agreed to bolster cooperation on regional issues, namely in war-torn Syria and Libya, including combating terrorism and curbing the movement of terrorist fighters to Libya and further into other African countries, Egypt s foreign ministry said in a statement early on Wednesday. The pair stressed on the need to "intensify discussions and cooperation to reinforce security and stability across the African continent and completely eliminate terrorism," the statement added. Shoukry and O Brien also tackled means to enhance bilateral relations, and discussed recent developments in negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and efforts by the US administration to hammer out an agreement between Ethiopia and downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan. Egypt fears the mega project would diminish its water supplies from the Nile.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will travel to the US on Monday to participate in talks with the foreign and irrigation ministers of Ethiopia and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in a final bid to resolve months of stalemates between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the operation of the mega dam. Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement early on Monday that the meetings, scheduled for 12 and 13 February, come under an agreement by the parties involved in the most recent round of talks, on 28-31 January, to reconvene in Washington this month to ratify a final version of a comprehensive agreement over the filling and operation of the GERD. Last month, the ministers of foreign affairs and water resources of the three countries agreed on a schedule for the filling plan and a mitigation mechanism for filling the dam during times of drought and prolonged drought. The last round of negotiations, which began on 28 and 29 January and saw an extension of two additional days, was sponsored by the US and the World Bank, who are acting as observers in the talks. The signing of a final comprehensive agreement is scheduled for late February, and the ministers have instructed their technical and legal teams to prepare the points for the final agreement. Tensions have been building between Egypt and Ethiopia in recent months after talks on the technical details governing the operation of the dam had failed to make progress. Ethiopia hopes that the massive $4.8 billion project on the Blue Nile, which has been under construction since 2011, will allow it to become Africa’s largest power exporter.

Egypt hosted political consultations with Sweden on Sunday at headquarters of the Foreign Ministry, where they discussed further cooperation between the two countries. The consultations were held under the joint chairmanship of Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs Badr Abdel Aati and Director of the Office for Middle East and North Africa at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ann Dismore. Abdel Aati commended the recent positive developments in relations between both countries, especially after exchanging top-level visits and conducting regular consultations on various bilateral as well as multilateral issues of mutual interest. He welcomed the Sweden’s willingness to promote economic cooperation by capitalizing on ongoing economic developments and mega national projects in Egypt, including the New Administrative Capital where many Swedish companies are involved. Egypt is Sweden’s largest trade partner in Africa and the Middle East, he noted. Abdel Aati said that Egypt eyes further cooperation with Sweden in various domains, such as capacity-building, new and renewable energy, startups, communication and information technology, medical services, waste recycling and offering scholarships for Egyptian students to study at Swedish universities Egypt is also looking for establishing trilateral cooperation in Africa involving the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development and and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Abdel Aati added.

Egypt s President President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met on Sunday with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Addis Ababa, Egypt s Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi said in a statement. El-Sisi also chaired the African the 33rd African Union (AU) Summit closed session, which is currently held in the Ethiopian capital. Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi said Sisi asserted that Egypt is keen on maintaining cooperation with the UN institutions in the different domains to boost international peace and security. During the meeting, El- Sisi reviewed the priorities of Egypt during its presidency of the African Union in 2019, which included continuing progress as regards the implementation of UN Development Agenda in Africa, boosting inter-Africa integration projects and regional merging in addition to achieving tangible steps on the track of settling disputes. Meanwhile, Guterres lauded Egypt s distinguished position at the international arena, expressing appreciation for continued cooperation between Egypt and the UN. Guterres also praised the strenuous efforts of President El- Sisi during Egypt s presidency of the AU. The UN chief asserted keenness on promoting cooperation with Egypt to lay down basis of stability, security and development at the regional level especially in light of Egypt s pivotal role in Africa and the Middle East and its continuous support of the UN reform initiatives in the different domains in addition to Egypt s major contribution to the UN peace-keeping operations. The meeting also tackled the latest developments of many regional issues, especially the situation in Libya, Syria and the peace process in the Middle East, Radi said.

Egypt s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attended on Wednesday the signing ceremony of an EGP 2 billion agreement between the ministries of transport and local development to improve the efficiency of roads in 12 governorates. The signing of the agreement was attended by Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Saeed, Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Shaarawy and Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir. Prime Minister Madbouly also chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the progress achieved in top priority issues in order to upgrade services offered to citizens. Following the meeting, Minister El-Saeed said the deal comes as part of the state s keenness on improving services provided for citizens in line with the directives of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Minister Shaarawy said that upgrading the efficiency of roads is necessary for achieving economic development and providing better services for citizens. Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir said the agreement comes within the framework of the state’s development plan to keep pace with the latest developments in the field of roads and bridges. He added that President El-Sisi has agreed to allocate EGP 10 billion to maintain and raise the efficiency of roads in the governorates. Meanwhile, President El-Sisi issued a decree establishing a private university in Cairo s Heliopolis district. As per the presidential decree, the university, to be known as Al-Madina (City University), will include faculties of engineering, information, economics and business administration, art and design, and physiotherapy. More faculties, specialised higher education institutes and research units may also be established. The non-profit university will be established in Cairo s New Heliopolis City.

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) said a new wave of unstable weather will hit the country from Wednesday to Sunday. The authority said that dusty and sandy winds will be active in most parts of the country, forming dust storms in some areas and causing turbulence in navigation in the Mediterranean Sea, especially on Wednesday and Thursday. The EMA added that there will be a rise in temperatures in most parts of Egypt of three to four degrees Celsius on Wednesday and Thursday before temperatures recede in most parts of the country by five to six degrees Celsius starting from Friday. The authority hinted there is an chance for a light to medium rainfall in Cairo from Friday to Sunday. Lows in Cairo and the Nile Delta cities are forecast at 12 degrees on Wednesday, and will go up to 13 on Thursday before dropping again to 12 on Friday, the EMA reported. Highs are expected to stand at an average of 22 degrees Celsius in Cairo and the Nile Delta on Wednesday and Thursday, dropping to an average of 16 degrees Celsius in Cairo and the Nile Delta on Friday. The coastal city of Alexandria will see almost the same highs as Cairo on Wednesday and temperatures will drop to 19 degrees Celsius on Thursday and 17 degrees the following four days. Lows in Alexandria will be slightly lower on Wednesday, hovering around 11 degrees. The popular winter Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh will see average highs of 23 to 25 from Wednesday till Friday, and lows of 13 to 14 in the same period. The southern cities of Luxor and Aswan will witness highs of 23-25 and lows of 10 from Wednesday till Friday.

Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt could be close to reaching solutions over the issues related to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) after the involvement of the US and the World Bank as observers in the dam negotiations, Ethiopia s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the country s parliament, according to Ethiopian news outlet ENA. During a question-and-answer session held in parliament on Monday, the prime minister said that the negotiations between the three countries over the dam had been "tiresome, long and fruitless," which led to the involvement of the World Bank and the US as observers. Ahmed stressed that Ethiopia will not enter into any agreement that harms "its national interest" nor causes significant harm to the downstream countries. He reiterated his country’s commitment to "the principle-based stance of win-win solutions." During the session in parliament, which addressed various other economic and political topics, the Ethiopian prime minister underscored that “our support of Somalia is visible evidence that we never intend to cause harm to our neighbours.” The ministers of foreign affairs and water resources of Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan had agreed on a detailed schedule for the filling and operating of the dam during the latest round of negotiations in Washington held in late January. A final and comprehensive agreement with the detailed schedule is set to be formulated by technical and legal teams from the three countries over the next two weeks, but it will subject to a final look during a ministerial-level meeting in the US capital on 12-13 February prior to the signing by the end of the month. The US stepped up to host negotiations in November after the three countries announced that talks had reached a dead-end, and after Egypt asked for an international mediator. Tensions had been building between Egypt and Ethiopia over some technical details regarding the operation and filing of the dam. Ethiopia hopes that the massive $4.8 billion project on the Blue Nile, which has been under construction since 2011, will allow it to become Africa’s largest power exporter. Egypt, which is downstream from the dam, fears that the project will diminish its share of Nile water, on which it is almost entirely reliant for its fresh water.

Egypt has sent a special jet to bring hundreds of Egyptian nationals back home from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus epidemic began, the aviation ministry said in a statement on Sunday. An Airbus A330-200 aircraft took off from Cairo International Airport on Sunday morning bound for Wuhan with a special health ministry medical team on board. The flight has 297 seats. Cabinet spokesperson Nader Saad said late on Saturday that 306 out of a total 345 Egyptian nationals in Wuhan have requested to return home. The aviation ministry was not immediately available to explain how the remaining Egyptians will return. Earlier on Sunday, Egypt s foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez told satellite TV channel CBC Extra that the jet is set to take off from Wuhan on Sunday evening, adding that all the returning Egyptians do not show any signs of the coronavirus. Chinese authorities are screening all travellers leaving Wuhan and have banned anyone who has symptoms of the deadly virus from leaving the city, he added. Egypt first announced on Thursday that it had allocated a special jet to evacuate Egyptian expatriates from Wuhan, the epicentre of the growing epidemic, which has killed over 300 people in China. All Egyptian travellers brought from the Chinese city will be screened and suspected cases will be quarantined, officials said. The virus has spread to other countries including the US, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, and others. More than 130 cases have been reported in around two dozen countries. Egypt s national airline EgyptAir announced last week that it was suspending all flights to and from Chinese cities, with Hangzhou flights suspended starting 1 February, and Beijing and Guangzhou flights starting 4 February. The flagship carrier added that it would resume flights to the Chinese cities according to incoming reservations and demand.

Egypt s population will hit 100 million people next week, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said on Saturday. The country s population reached 99.945 million at 10 a.m. (local time) on Saturday, CAPMAS added. The number excludes Egyptians abroad, which are estimated at over 9 million people. Cairo is ranked Egypt s most populated governorate with 9.924 million persons, followed by Giza with 9.75 million people then Sharqia with 7.536 million, CAPMAS pointed out. South Sinai governorate got the last place in terms of Egypt s population with about 108,742 persons, followed by North Sinai with 450,528 people and then Matrouh with 477,172, it noted. Since 2017, Egyptian officials have described the country s rapid population growth as an "actual catastrophe" that threatens national development plans and demands immediate attention, just like the country s war against terrorism. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi repeatedly said that the current rate of population growth poses a threat to the nation and restricts Egypt s progress. Last year, Egypt launched a two year initiative dubbed, "Two Is Enough", to encourage people to have fewer children. It is mainly financed locally, with the Social Solidarity Ministry spending EGP 75 million Egyptian pounds ($4.7 million) and the UN providing EGP 10 million.