Building collapse in Cairo kills 9 – Arab News

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CAIRO: At least nine people died on Monday when a five-story residential building in the Egyptian capital collapsed, the Cairo Security Directorate said. Rescue workers were continuing to search the rubble for survivors.
It happened in the Makkawi area of Hadayek El-Kobba neighborhood, north of central Cairo, a densely built area of informal housing.
Residents awoke on Monday to the sound of screams from passersby following the collapse. Civil Protection and police officers were dispatched to the site, along with ambulance crews and equipment to help search and remove the rubble.
Citing initial inspections of the site, representatives of Cairo governorate said illegal expansion work taking place on the first floor of the building, without a permit, had contributed to the tragedy. A load-bearing internal wall had reportedly been demolished, resulting in the collapse.
The governor of Cairo, Khaled Abdel Aal, said an engineering committee has been set up to investigate the incident. Adjacent buildings were evacuated, and the gas and electricity supplies to them were cut as a precaution until the search and rescue operation is complete and the rubble is removed. The Public Prosecution was taking statements from eyewitnesses.
Social Solidarity Minister Nivine El-Kabbag, in coordination with the governor, authorized the payment of 60,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,940) to the families those killed in the collapse, along with urgent aid for the injured.
Minister of Local Development Hisham Amna was said to be monitoring the response by the governorate, in coordination with executive agencies, facilities and the ambulance service, and efforts to clear the rubble and search for survivors.
The incident happened just a day after a 10-month-old baby and a 38-year-old man died and 13 people were injured when an eight-story building collapsed in the city of Rashid (also known as Rosetta) in Beheira governorate, northern Egypt.
In June, at least three people were killed when a 14-story apartment building collapsed in the northern coastal city of Alexandria, and three passersby were injured when two balconies failed in an old building in eastern Alexandria.
In February, two people were killed and 25 injured when a gas cylinder explosion demolished two houses. And in June 2022, at least six people died when a five-story building collapsed in Cairo, causing the partial collapse of two neighboring buildings.
JEDDAH: The secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Kishida Fumio following the Japanese leader’s meeting on Sunday with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In a statement, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted OIC chief Hissein Brahim Taha as saying that Japan was a friend that played an important role in the international community.
Kishida thanked the organization for the key work it carried out in several areas, including the development and prosperity of the Islamic world and its efforts to combat violent extremism.
The PM said that the appointment of the Japanese Consul General Shinmura to the OIC in May last year would further help strengthen Japan’s relations with the body.
Acknowledging the appointment, Taha said he would like to increase cooperation on poverty control, development, education, the status of women, Afghanistan, and violent extremism.
Kishida and Taha agreed to develop “long-standing friendly relations” between Islamic countries through various links.
At the end of their meeting, Kishida presented works by Honda Koichi, one of Japan’s leading Arabic calligraphers.
• This originally appeared on Arab News Japan
ABU DHABI: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio arrived in the UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi on Monday on an official visit. 
According to the Emirates News Agency, Kishida and the Japanese delegation visiting were received at the Presidential Airport in Abu Dhabi by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.
Kishida started his Middle East tour in Jeddah on July 16, where he reaffirmed close bilateral ties with Saudi Arabia. The Japanese PM will spend a day in the UAE and then continue to Qatar on July 18.
• This article originally appeared on Arab News Japan
DUBAI: Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s visit to the UAE will highlight strengthened bilateral bonds between the two countries, including in space.
From Mars to the moon, Japan and the UAE have worked together to explore space and conduct numerous scientific tests that will contribute to qualitative developments in the fields of science, communication technologies and robotics.
This year, Japan’s ispace Inc. worked with the Gulf country to land the UAE’s Rashid rover on the moon. Despite its failed landing, the Hakuto-R Mission 1 spacecraft, which carried the rover, managed to launch into space in December 2022.
Keeping up their strong space partnership, the UAE sent Emirati astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi to train in Japan before his current mission.
Last year, Al-Neyadi spent a week training at Tsukuba with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in preparation for his mission.
Al-Neyadi is a member of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6, and embarked on a six-month mission to the International Space Station this spring.
However, the biggest space achievement of Japan and the UAE in space dates back to July 2020, when Mars Hope Probe lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center, mounted on a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H-IIA launch vehicle F42.
The vehicle is Japan’s flagship launch vehicle and one of the most reliable in the world. Hope’s liftoff in July was the 45th consecutive successful H-IIA/H-IIB launch, with an accumulative success rate of 98 percent.
Preparation for the Emirates Mars Mission began six years prior to 2020, and the probe, along with the first team of Emirati engineers, spent one year in Japan to collaborate on the operation.
The collaboration between the UAE and Japan “exemplifies the distinctive strategic partnership,” according to UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
Japan’s former foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, also praised the launch of the UAE’s Hope Probe to Mars as a “very important project” symbolizing the “strong relationship” between the two countries.
Vice President of JAXA Yasuo Ishii at the time said it was an “honor for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to be part of the historical launch of the Hope mission from our Tanegashima Space Centre by the H-IIA launch vehicle.”
Ishii praised the UAE’s efforts in making the first Arab mission to Mars a reality, and said he looked forward to “promoting further cooperation with the UAE in space activities.”
Japan’s former ambassador to the UAE, Akihiko Nakajima, also pointed out the “daunting task” the UAE took on but managed to complete with success.
“Integrating all the related technologies, both mature and emerging, into a single mission architecture requires excellent talents, guts and skills,” he said.
Akihiko said that the space mission yielded more opportunities for further bilateral cooperation between the UAE and Japan.
Naohiko Abe, senior vice president and head of integrated defense and space systems at MHI, said on the day of the launch: “I greatly appreciate the continuous support and cooperation of UAE’s Space Agency and MBRSC with us over the four years since MHI received the contract in March 2016.
“I sincerely hope that the successful completion of the Mars mission by the spacecraft will bring hope and delight to people all around the world in the midst of this global crisis due to COVID-19. MHI values its relationships of trust we have built over the years with the UAE government.”
In April this year, the Hope Probe released its seventh batch of data, totaling 2.1 terabytes over the course of its mission. The updates include high-cadence observations of dust movement and the first observation of stellar occultation in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths to study the Martian upper atmosphere.
The data also contained stellar occultation observations, where the instrument detects stellar light as it passes through the atmosphere of Mars, allowing for the retrieval of densities of CO2.
ABU DHABI: The influential Japanese International Cooperation Center are providing Emirati students, through the UAE’s 12-month Young Ambassador Program, the opportunity to prepare for study in the Asian nation.
Previous YAP programs have taken place between the UAE and other countries, including China, South Korea and Germany. This is the first one planned with Japan, in collaboration with the JICE, and provides participants with knowledge of Japanese culture, history and language.
The graduates of YAP are expected to become leaders in government, industry, and academia and play critical roles in fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries. Twenty-one students were chosen out of 250 applicants for the program.
Last September, Japan’s embassy in the UAE hosted an orientation session on YAP for the young Emirati students, who also met with Ambassador to the UAE Akio Isomata. Also present was Alanood Al-Kaabi, program manager of the YAP.
The orientation also allowed participants to experience a traditional Japanese tea ceremony workshop with the Urasenke Abu Dhabi Study Group.
In June, several Emirati students participated in a basic Japanese-language course, which included learning how to speak about tsuyu, or the Japanese rainy season.
The program was launched to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the UAE and Japan.
The UAE launched the YAP in 2012 to equip young Emiratis to take up prominent roles in society and industry. More than 200 students have graduated from the program.
DUBAI: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s upcoming trip to the UAE and his planned meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed is expected to see the two nations forge stronger ties.
Kishida’s Gulf tour, which includes Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is also set to strengthen cooperation in various fields between the GCC and Japan. The Asian nation relies on the GCC for oil. The UAE was the top supplier in May with approximately 33 million barrels, or 43.4 percent of Japan’s total oil imports.
The UAE and Japan have been developing a strategic partnership to achieve sustainable economic growth.
In June, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE’s minister of foreign affairs, visited Japan and met with the prime minister. It was their first meeting in six years.
During the meeting, Kishida stated that Japan wanted to strengthen cooperation with the UAE under the two nations’ Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Initiative.
Sheikh Abdullah stated that the UAE attaches great importance to the rule of law and wanted to work with Japan on various matters including cooperation in the UN Security Council.
The foreign minister also met with his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi during his trip and exchanged views on the principles of the UN Charter, cooperation in defense, Ukraine, and various challenges in the Middle East, East Asia and North Korea.
The two countries’ strategic partnership was also discussed in June, when Sheikh Abdullah met with Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry.
During the meeting in Tokyo, they reviewed opportunities for cooperation in the investment and trade sectors.
They also discussed bilateral cooperation in energy and ways to tackle climate change, in the context of the UAE’s preparations to host COP28 this year at Dubai Expo City.
The minister of foreign affairs also met with several Emirati students studying in Japan and said the government would continue to support them to achieve academic excellence.
Sheikh Abdullah told the students that they were ambassadors for the UAE, which required them to reflect the nation’s values, customs and traditions.
Four panel discussions were held with the students as part of the meeting, on diverse topics including strategic relations and the UAE’s future economic plans and initiatives.
Among those who addressed the students were Saeed Mubarak Al-Hajri, assistant minister for economic and trade affairs; Omran Sharaf, assistant minister for advanced sciences and technology affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Maha Barakat, assistant minister of foreign affairs for health; and Shehab Ahmed Al-Fahim, the UAE’s ambassador in Japan.The students said they were grateful for receiving support that would enable them to complete their studies and help develop the nation.
• This article originally appeared on Arab News Japan
 

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