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Egypt assumed the rotating presidency of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) at its 21st summit.
In his speech, El-Sisi said Egypt will work with COMESA member states to achieve their aspirations and encourage trade, including by seeking to complete a project linking the Mediterranean Sea and Lake Victoria.
During a meeting with COMESA Secretary-General Chileshe Kapwepwe, El-Sisi said Egypt’s presidency of the bloc will strive toward economic and regional integration.
About COMESA
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a free trade area with 21 member states stretching from Tunisia to Eswatini.
source/content: arabnews.com
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Egypt takes over Tuesday the chair of the COMESA – TV Screenshot / pix: egypttoday.com
UNESCO announced Damietta city is among the ten cities to receive cities the UNESCO Learning Cities Award 2021
“Whether they are megacities or smaller urban areas, all of the awardees have shown how learning opportunities empower citizens of all ages when suitable policies and programmes are put in place,” said the UNESCO on the official website of the United Nations in Egypt.
UNESCO added that Damietta seeks to promote sustainable development, advance basic skills among adults, and improve public health for a population of over 330,000.
source/content: egypttoday.com
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A bridge in Damietta city, Egypt – Photo via Wikimediacommons / pix: egypttoday.com
It is commemorated every year on the anniversary, which is, however, not a public holiday.
The day is marked by schools, government offices, businesses, and individuals hanging the national flag outside their homes and workplaces.
The veteran Emirati diplomat, Abdullah Mohammed Al Maainah, had designed the symbol of the country’s unity, pride and dignity when he was only a teenager 19 years old.
Al Maainah’s design was chosen among more than 1,030 entries submitted as part of a nationwide contest.
Later, the winning flag was raised on December 2, 1971 — the Foundation Day of the UAE.
On December 2, it will be exactly 50 years since the UAE flag was first hoisted to mark the country’s union.
Curiously, he did not know his design had been selected until he saw the flag fluttering at Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi with his own eyes.
“It was an overwhelming feeling. All of us were happy because we had unified as one country. However, I was overjoyed the most,” said the veteran diplomat, as he recalled how he found out about the contest and prepared for it with barely any time or resources.
“One of the arrangements related to declaring the establishment of the UAE at that time was to design a flag for it. A committee was formed to look into the matter and an advertisement was put out in the Al Ittihad newspaper inviting submissions from various artists,” he reminisced.
Al Maainah said he stumbled upon the advertisement just three days before the deadline was to expire.
“It was a race against time, as I didn’t have any drawing tools or colouring pencils. I rushed out to get them and worked all night to come up with the design. It was a happy feeling staying awake for the sake of designing the flag for my beloved country,” he added.
Only two flags were raised on December 2, 1971, to mark the formation of the nation – one in Abu Dhabi, the other at Union House in Dubai.
Al Maainah said the colours of the UAE flag were not chosen randomly.
“Every colour has an innate meaning. White symbolises peace, goodness and purity, black represents solidarity, green stands for hope, prosperity and development while red denotes bravery and courage,” he added.
Later, he was awarded 4,000 riyals as prize money, as the UAE dirham was yet to be introduced as the legal tender.
Al Maainah, who has travelled around the world as the UAE’s ambassador to several foreign missions, cherishes the honour bestowed on him by the country’s wise and visionary leadership for his design of the flag.
The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC), an affiliate of Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), announced Thursday the winning teams of the first hackathon for women in Egypt “She Hackathon”, organized in collaboration with Intel, and Digital Egypt Innovation Hubs (Creativa).
“She Hackathon” is the first hackathon for women entrepreneurs in Egypt that aims to empower women by addressing the challenges they face in establishing their companies and businesses.
The first prize was awarded to a team of three young women from Aswan governorate, for a mobile application developed to aid in combating harassment and violence against women, through features of voice distress calls and messages, sharing location, classification of places, according to the degree of safety, in addition to providing psychological support.
The second prize was awarded to “Trisomy” from Ismailia governorate, for a free mobile application to achieve effective communication between parents of children with Down syndrome and help them connect with doctors, nurses, and psychologists in their vicinity.
The third prize was awarded to “Fem Scan” from Mansoura governorate, for presenting an idea and a prototype of an application and a system that helps reduce misdiagnosis and the time it takes to perform X-rays, especially in women’s breast cancer screening cases.
Big Ramy (aka) Mamdouh Mohammed Hassan Elssbiay (aka) Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elssbiay
For the second year in row Egyptian bodybuilding star Ramy Elssbiay ‘Big Ramy’, has claimed the 2021 Mr. Olympia title that took place in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, United States.
The 37-year-old, Big Ramy defeated the 2019 Mr. Olympia champion Brandon Curry of America and Hadi Choopan of Iran to snatch the 2021 title.
Big Ramy made eight appearances in the Mr. Olympia competition as he finished in the runner-up place four years ago.
After winning last year’s title, the Egyptian bodybuilding star became the first non-American to win the title since British champion Dorian Yates in 1997 to prove himself as the best bodybuilder in the world.
The 2021 Mr. Olympia top five:
1. Big Ramy (Egypt) $400,000 2. Brandon Curry (USA) $150,000 3. Hadi Choopan (Iran) $10,000 4. Hunter Labrada (USA) $40,000 5. Nick Walker (USA) $35,000
Osama Ahmed Abdullah Al Shafar (UAE). Dr Mohamed Wagih Azzam (Egypt).
Osama Al Shafar, President of the Asian Cycling Confederation, Member of the Executive Office of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCE), has been elected Vice-President of UCI in Leuven, Belgium.
In line with a modification to the UCI Constitution approved earlier in the day by its Congress, the UCI now counts at least one Vice-President of each gender, for a total of four Vice-Presidents-compared with three previously. The Vice-Presidents elected are: -Osama Ahmed Abdullah Al Shafar (UAE), President of the Asian Cycling Confederation.
Dr Mohamed Wagih Azzam / pix: cac-africa.com
–Dr Mohamed Wagih AZZAM (EGY), President of the Confédération Africaine de Cyclisme.
-Katerina NASH (CZE), President of the UCI Athletes’ Commission.
-Enrico DELLA CASA (ITA), President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme (UEC).
Their term begins immediately and will finish after the 2025 UCI Congress.
Al Shafar -now the first president of the Asian Confederation to hold the position- after a successful sporting career spanning over 20 years.
Egyptian president launches charity caravan that earned 3 Guinness Records titles.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi launched Sunday Long Live Egypt Fund’s charity caravan targeted at the most one million low-income families, and that garnered three Guinness Records titles.
Those are the world’s largest food donation,largest medical equipment donation, and largest home appliance donation.
A ceremony dubbed “Charity Doors” was held in the New Administrative Capital on the occasion. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli stated that the caravan – prepared in collaboration with civil society – is worth LE650 million.
The prime minister added that the caravan is mainly intended to deliver one million food boxes for the most low-income families benefiting a total of five million citizens. A Long Live Egypt Fund official also noted that the caravan offers 6,298 medical equipment, and home appliances.
The fund has already been providing food boxes, clothes, and medical equipment, and partnered up with Orman Charity Association to build hundreds of houses at 556 rural villages and carry out thousands of cataract surgeries.
Later, President Sisi checked on the components of the world’s largest charity caravan.
Speaking of medical equipment, there are devices measuring insulin level in blood, neonatal intensive care units, laparoscopy devices, and eye survey equipment. There are also medicines and clothes.
As for the food boxes, they contain two kilos of each of sugar and pasta as well as two packs of tea among others.
Further, the president checked the furniture and home appliances used in the furnishing of residential units distributed among low-income families in return for a symbolic monthly rent.
Ain Shams University in Egypt is awarded the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy 2021 for its project ‘Ain Shams University experience in organizing online literacy classes for rural areas in Egypt’.
The Cairo university is one of six international recipients recognised for outstanding inclusive distance and digital learning projects in Covid times.
Egypt’s Ain Shams University has won the Unesco Confucius Prize for Literacy for its project that uses digital technology to teach literacy in rural areas of the country.
The annual Unesco international literacy prizes were awarded to six programmes from Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Mexico and South Africa, on International Literacy Day.
Ain Shams University president Prof Mahmoud El Meteini spoke in an online event held to recognise the award recipients on Thursday.
The Unesco Confucius Prize for Literacy was established in 2005 with the support of the Chinese government. Each of the three prizewinners will receive a medal, a diploma and a cash prize of $30,000.
The Unesco King Sejong Literacy Prize, sponsored by the Korean government and established in 1989, gives special consideration to language-based literacy development. The three winners will receive a medal, a diploma and a cash prize of $20,000.
The honored writers are the poet Darwish El-Asyouty and the writers Said Noah, Samir El-Manzalawi, and Mustafa Nasr.
The Department of Culture in the Emirate of Al-Sharjah honored four Egyptians, in the presence of Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Dayem, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Culture Hisham Azmy and Abdullah Mohammad Al Owais, head of the Department of Culture in Al-Sharjah, on September 2 at the headquarters of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Culture.
Abdel Dayem praised the decision of the Al-Sharjah Forum for Cultural Honors in Egypt, which is sponsored by Sultan bin Mohammad Al-Qasimi, to honor the aforementioned Egyptian writers.
