US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered a mixed take on Washington’s relations with Egypt during talks in Cairo on Monday, emphasising the strategic ties binding the two nations but also calling on Cairo to do more on human rights.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Mr Blinken and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had “reaffirmed their strong commitment to the US-Egypt strategic partnership and co-operation on a range of regional and international challenges”.
He added: “The Secretary commended President El Sisi for Egypt’s important role in promoting stability in the region.”
During a joint news conference with Sameh Shoukry, his Egyptian counterpart, Mr Blinken said the US intended to contribute $600 million to the construction of an underwater telecom cable that would serve Egypt and the Horn of Africa region.
Another $50 million will be given to Egypt to support agriculture in the most populous Arab nation. The countries have also decided to form a joint economic committee to promote co-operation between the two allies.
Egypt has received billions of dollars' worth of US economic and military aid over the past 40-plus years, chiefly as a reward for Cairo’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel, Washington’s historically close ally in the region.
Annual US military aid to Egypt currently runs at $1.3 billion.
The two nations also closely co-ordinate counterterrorism efforts and regularly hold joint war games. US warships receive priority in transit through the Suez Canal and Egyptian airspace is routinely accessed by US military aircraft.
Mr Price said Mr Blinken also affirmed Washington’s “solidarity” with Egypt as it grapples with the devastating fallout on its economy from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He also expressed US support for Egypt’s economic reforms.
“The Secretary and the President discussed efforts to enhance co-operation on economic prosperity for the benefit of the Egyptian and American people. The Secretary also emphasised that the bilateral relationship is strengthened by progress on human rights,” said Mr Price.
On human rights, the senior US official said Egypt had taken “important strides” in the protection of religious freedoms, empowering women and releasing political detainees. Washington, however, will continue to encourage Cairo to do more, including freeing more political detainees and guaranteeing freedom of expression, Mr Blinken said.
At a joint news conference with Mr Shoukry, he said "the concerns that we have remain and in the spirit of candour and the spirit of the partnership we have, we expressed those very clearly".
Mr Blinken arrived in Cairo on Sunday at the start of a three-day regional tour that took him on Monday to Jerusalem. He will later visit the West Bank.
On Sunday he met a group of Egyptian rights activists in Cairo.
Egypt has in recent months released dozens of prominent political prisoners amid steps to address international criticism. However, many others are believed to be still held in pre-trial detention that in some cases lasts for two years or longer.
A national dialogue called by Mr El Sisi in April to chart the country’s political future is in its final preparation stages. A small margin of freedom has also been allowed in recent months, prompting articles by commentators and economists criticising Mr El Sisi’s economic policies.
The Egyptian leader, in office since 2014, has argued that the security situation in the country in the years that followed his ascension to power had left his government no choice but to restrict freedom.
He has repeatedly argued that restricting rights to the freedom of expression and assembly ignores what he says are the important rights to decent housing, education and health care.
The distance learning plan
Spring break will be from March 8 - 19
Public school pupils will undergo distance learning from March 22 - April 2. School hours will be 8.30am to 1.30pm
Staff will be trained in distance learning programmes from March 15 - 19
Teaching hours will be 8am to 2pm during distance learning
Pupils will return to school for normal lessons from April 5
Dunki
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RESULT
Uruguay 3 Russia 0
Uruguay: Suárez (10'), Cheryshev (23' og), Cavani (90')
Russia: Smolnikov (Red card: 36')
Man of the match: Diego Godin (Uruguay)
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
