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Exclusive: Abdellatif released to join family after years of struggling to overturn denial of visa as a result of being convicted in Egyptian trial that used evidence obtained under tortureFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe Egyptian refugee Sayed Abdellatif has been freed after almost 12 years in Australia’s immigration...

Around 9,500 tonnes of track will be provided for north African country’s first fully electrified mainlineBritish Steel has won a multimillion-pound contract to supply rail for a new route in north Africa, the company has announced.Approximately 9,500 tonnes of track, produced in Scunthorpe, will be provided for Egypt’s first fully electrified mainline and freight network which stretches from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean....

Six of bloc’s leaders sign agreement in Cairo aimed at boosting economy and bringing stability to regionEU leaders have sealed a €7.4bn (£6.3bn) deal with Egypt to help boost the country’s faltering economy, in an attempt to bring stability to the “troubled” region and avert another migration crisis in Europe.The three-year EU-Egypt strategic partnership involves €5bn in soft loans to support economic changes, €1.8bn...

Two days of negotiations in Cairo break up with Hamas accusing Israeli PM of not wanting to a dealNegotiations aimed at brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war appear to have stalled, days before an unofficial deadline of the beginning of Ramadan.Two days of talks between Hamas and international mediators in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, have not yielded any significant breakthroughs, Palestinian officials said,...

Officials at Cairo talks say list is first step in truce deal as militant group demands aid into Gaza Egyptian and Qatari officials are putting pressure on Hamas negotiators in Cairo to produce a list of hostages to be released as the first step in a phased ceasefire agreement with Israel, according to officials familiar with the talks.Israel has not sent a delegation to...

Defendants are being tried in absentia over kidnapping and murder of Italian student in 2016Italy will again attempt to secure justice for an Italian student kidnapped and murdered in Cairo with the opening on Tuesday of a second trial of four Egyptian security officers accused over the killing.Giulio Regeni, 28, had been conducting research when he was abducted in January 2016. His body was...

Move comes as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas make little progress, according to key Qatar negotiatorMiddle East crisis – live updatesEgypt is preparing safe areas for Gaza refugees, Cairo has said, as the key Qatar negotiator in the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas admitted they have made no progress in recent days.Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, said at a security conference in...

Amid biting austerity and rising inflation, the al-Sisi government is off-loading assets – some to a convicted murderer with Emirati cashAs dusk fell over the verdant grounds of the Marriott Mena House hotel, the reflection of the Great Pyramid of Giza grew darker in a pool built to reflect the last of the seven wonders of the world.A band played a smooth jazz rendition...

Antiquities authority drops proposal for Menkaure pyramid after review prompted by international outcryEgypt has scuttled a controversial plan to reinstall ancient granite cladding on the pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three great pyramids of Giza, a committee formed by the country’s tourism minister said in a statement.Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of the supreme council of antiquities, announced the plan last month,...

Monitoring group releases evidence of work that appears intended to house Palestinians in event of Israeli assault on cityMiddle East crisis – live updatesEgypt has begun building an enclosed area ringed with high concrete walls along its border with Gaza that appears intended to house Palestinians fleeing a threatened Israeli assault on the southern city of Rafah.Photos and videos released by the Sinai Foundation...

Staff say one person killed and eight injured in attack as UN aid chief warns Rafah offensive could cause refugee exodus into EgyptIsraeli forces have raided the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip that is still functioning, amid warnings from the UN aid chief that a threatened ground offensive in Rafah, the area’s last remaining place of relative safety, could trigger an exodus of...

US national security spokesperson says talks in Cairo ‘constructive and moving in right direction’ Middle East crisis – live updatesIsrael and Hamas are making progress towards a deal that would bring about a ceasefire and free hostages held in the Gaza Strip, officials with knowledge of the talks have said.The US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, speaking as negotiations were held in the...

Refugees crammed into the border city face a terrifying choice: stay for the expected attack, or flee back north through a war zoneMiddle East crisis – live updatesHundreds of thousands of Palestinians crammed into the small southern Gaza border city of Rafah are being forced to contemplate being displaced once more as an Israeli offensive looms.Those who fled to the border city, almost half...

Fixers with alleged links to Egyptian intelligence are making a fortune in ‘fees’ from people hoping to exit through the Rafah crossingIsrael-Gaza war – live updatesPalestinians desperate to leave Gaza are paying bribes to brokers of up to $10,000 (£7,850) to help them exit the territory through Egypt, according to a Guardian investigation.Very few Palestinians have been able to leave Gaza through the Rafah...

Rishi Sunak told activist’s sister in 2022 that government was ‘totally committed’ to resolving the case The family of the imprisoned British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah have said the British government has failed to act to free him, a year after the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, told his sister the government was “totally committed to resolving your brother’s case”.A figurehead in Egypt’s...

UN says about 100,000 people have arrived in Rafah after intense attacks on Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis• Israel-Gaza war – live updatesA delegation of high-level Hamas leaders is visiting Egypt for talks aimed at bringing the devastating war in Gaza to an end, even as the Israeli military pushes deeper into the centre and south of the strip, displacing tens of thousands of...