A large convoy of aid trucks has lined up on the Egyptian side of the the Rafah border crossing between between Egypt and Gaza, on standby for when a truce between Israel and Hamas begins.

Today The Egyptian Government press said that it’s not yet clear what type of aid, or how much aid, will be allowed into the Gaza Strip. 

On Wednesday, Egyptian Government press office director Ayman Walash said a total of 2,222 tons of medical aid had been delivered via the Rafah crossing since the war began, in addition to 6,063 tons of food, 4,625 tons of water, and 1,407 tons of other aid.

The release of hostages under a temporary truce between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants will not happen before Friday, Israel’s national security adviser and the US said, dashing hopes of relatives that some would be freed on Thursday.

Israel and Hamas reached a deal for a four day pause in fighting and the release of at least 50 hostages held in Gaza – but none will be freed before Friday.

On Monday 13th Novermber 2023 in Cairo, the African project was launched, which will enable to begin the journey of Using vast arable land and water resources to feed africans while openning multibillion US dollar business opportunities in food and agribusiness on the continent.

It was a ceremony that was attended by the heads of states including the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa and Malawi’s Lazarus Chakwera, H.E. Wamkele Mene Secretary General of AfCFTA Secretariat, Olusegun Obasanjo who once lead Nigeria and is currently an advisor on intra-Africa trade,  and other representatives of their respective countries. Rwanda was represented by the Minister of Trade and Industry Dr. Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze.

On 1st November 2023 The AfCFTA secretariat and Corporate Council for Africa has signed an MoU with the objective to promote partnerships between U.S. and African companies that build on provisions of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to achieve the shared goal of increasing private sector support for and involvement in realizing the goals of the AfCFTA.

The MoU signed is articulated around different sectors such as transportation and logistics, vaccine manufacturing, health sector productive capacity, trade and investment, the automotive sector, agriculture and agroprocessing and women and youth in Trade.

Burundi has become the 100th country to implement FIFA’s Football for schools programme in a ceremony held in a celebratory atmosphere at the Urunani Stadium in Buganda, outside Bujumbura, and attended by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The ceremony took place in the presence of the Burundi Minister of East African Community Affairs, Youth, Sports and Culture, Gervais Abayeho, and the President of the Football Federation of Burundi, Alexandre Muyenge.

“Thanks to this wonderful Football for Schools project, FIFA and Burundi are uniting the world. We’re uniting the world with a football project, with an education project, with a project that gives chances and opportunities to the youth, to the boys and girls of this wonderful country, Burundi,” the FIFA President told the crowd.

A transgender woman has won the Miss Portugal beauty pageant for the first time and will compete with another transgender woman for the Miss Universe title in El Salvador, Portuguese media reported.

Marina Machete, a 28-year-old trans woman  has won the Miss Portugal beauty pageant in Évora and will now compete with another trans woman for the title Miss Universe, to be held in El Salvador in November.

“Proud to be the first trans woman to compete for the title of Miss Universe Portugal,” she wrote on social media before winning the title.

Gabon’s transitional president, received a show of support from Republic of Congo after he met his counterpart Sunday, aiming to improve relations and ease Gabon’s isolation.

General Brice Oligui Nguema transitional president of Gabon met President Denis Sassou Nguesso in a work visit on this Sunday which was aimed at improving the ties and easing Gabon’s international isolation following the coup.

“I have come to consult, to discuss, to exchange with (the president), who for us is a key in the region, who can relay to global authorities what we have done,” Oligui said after holding talks with Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso.

At least 113 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in a fire that ripped through a wedding celebration in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, local officials said.

Nineveh Deputy Governor Hassan al-Allaq confirmed the death toll, which may yet rise. The fire was reported to have started at approximately 10:45pm local time (19:45 GMT) on Tuesday night.

The fire engulfed a wedding hall in Nineveh’s Hamdaniya district, where the celebration was taking place. Hamdaniya, also known as Qaraqosh, is a majority Christian town, and is located outside of the northern city of Mosul, some 400km (about 250 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad.

Egypt’s presidential election will take place in December, rather than in the spring of 2024 as the Constitution allows, a deadline shortened by economic considerations in the country caught between inflation and devaluation, according to observers.

“Egyptian voters will cast their ballots throughout the country on December 10, 11 and 12,” announced the head of the Electoral Commission, Judge Walid Hassan Hamza, on Monday. And “the final results with the name of the elected president will be published in the official gazette on December 18”, he added.

The 63rd  Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group /CMAG met in New York this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss developments in member states.

Held on Monday 18 September 2023, the meeting was chaired by the Hon Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Tourism, of Samoa. Ministers from Barbados, Canada, Ghana, Mauritius, and Rwanda, and representatives of Belize, Malaysia and Malta, were in attendance.