CAIRO: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday approved a document outlining 62 economic activities the state will withdraw from and turn over the private sector, a cabinet statement said.
The document’s approval was required by the International Monetary Fund, which this month approved a 46-month, $3 billion financial support package for Egypt.
The policy aims to give the private sector a greater role in helping to grow the economy, create jobs and increase investment and exports, the statement said.

LONDON: An Iranian chess player is moving to Spain while fearing for her life after playing in a tournament without a hijab, the Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.

During the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Kazakhstan earlier this week, Sara Khadem appeared without a hijab, in an apparent show of support for women and anti-regime protesters in her home country.

However, sources close to the player said the 25-year-old has decided to move to Spain with her husband and young child following the events as a result of safety fears.

TEHRAN: Iran’s army begins Thursday military exercises in strategic southern regions east of the Strait of Hormuz, state news agency IRNA reported.
Joint drills involving air, land and naval forces — including both drones and submarines — will take place around the southeastern port of Jask “east of the Strait of Hormuz,” deputy coordinator of the armed forces Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said.
The Strait of Hormuz is the strategic chokepoint at the head of the Gulf through which a fifth of world oil output passes.

WASHINGTON: The Navy’s next amphibious assault ship will be named after the city of Fallujah, which saw some of the bloodiest battles in the Iraq war when US Marines fought Al-Qaeda extremists in deadly house-to-house combat.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said the USS Fallujah will commemorate what have become known as the “First and Second Battles of Fallujah,” following the tradition of naming the assault ships after Marine Corps battles or other early sailing ships and aircraft carriers.

TUNIS: Tunisian prosecutors asked the top judicial body to strip 13 judges of immunity so they can be tried on terror charges, their lawyer said Wednesday, describing the case as “purely political.”

The move comes nearly seven months after President Kais Saied sacked 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and blocking enquiries into two left-wing political figures in 2013, among other purported transgressions.

Defense lawyer Ayachi Hammami said the 13 were among 49 judges reinstated in August.