WASHINGTON, July 29 (MENA) - The U.S. announced $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, in what is the Joe Biden administration's first major package drawing on America's own stockpiles to help Taiwan counter China. The White House's announcement said the package would include defense, education and training for the Taiwanese, Bay News 9 reported. Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters ahead of the announcement. U.S. lawmakers have been pressuring the Pentagon and White House to speed weapons to Taiwan. The goals are to help it counter China and to deter China from considering attacking, by providing Taipei enough weaponry that it would make the price of invasion too high.

The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) has extended a new loan to Egypt, with the amount of AAD153.475m, the equivalent of approximately $615.8m, within the framework of the Structural Adjustment Facility in the Financial and Banking Sector. The agreement was signed by Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, on behalf of Egypt, and Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General of the AMF, on behalf of the AMF. The loan supports a reform program aiming at enhancing the efficiency of the financial and banking sector in Egypt. On this occasion, the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt expressed his appreciation for the AMF’s continued support and the important role it plays in strengthening the ability of Arab countries to maintain economic and financial stability and face different challenges. The programme supported by the aforementioned loan includes a number of pillars enhancing the soundness and raising the efficiency of the payment systems infrastructure, enhancing financial inclusion and sustainability, strengthening the supervisory and regulatory framework in the financial and banking sector, expanding the scope of financial technologies and strengthening the protection of financial services consumers.

CAIRO - 29 July 2023: Egyptian Ambassador in Tashkent Amira Fahmi participated in a celebration held by the Uzbek side upon Egypt's delivery of eleven medical aid shipments to eliminate hepatitis C (HCV) in the country. The Foreign Ministry said on "Facebook" on Saturday that officials in Uzbekistan commended the medical humanitarian assistance, offered by Egypt. Fahmi said she is pleased to celebrate offering more medical humanitarian aid to Uzbekistan for the second year in a row to treat patients with hepatitis C.The ambassador said Egypt is committed to standing by Uzbekistan in its efforts to secure a better health of the Uzbek people. She pointed out to the greater progress made by Egypt in combating the virus. The Egyptian diplomat highlighted Egypt's successful experiment in developing healthcare and pharmaceutical industries to produce high-quality products with competitive prices.

More than 10,000 people have died and almost 24,000 have been injured since the pro-Russian insurgency broke out in eastern Ukraine in April 2014 - AFP/FileKIEV/ MOSCOW, July 29 (MENA) – The Armed Forces of Ukraine have eliminated about 245,220 Russian military personnel since February 24, 2022, including 390 soldiers over the past 24 days, Ukrinform quoted the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as saying. Moreover, the Ukrainian troops destroyed 4,191 Russian tanks, 8,167 armored combat vehicles, 4,786 artillery systems, 698 MLRS, 458 air defense systems, 315 aircraft, 311 helicopters, 4,007 operational-tactical UAVs, 1,347 cruise missiles, 18 ships/boats, 7,247 vehicles and fuel tanks, 710 special equipment units. As reported, missile and artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit eight Russian artillery pieces on firing positions, two EW systems, an ammunition depot, and a fuel depot over the past day.

Sisi made the remarks while addressing the second Russia-Africa summit in Russia’s St. Petersburg, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement. The two-day summit started Thursday with the participation of 49 African countries, with topics covering cooperation opportunities in food, energy, space, information technology, education and sports, among others. African economies have been challenged by severe repercussions of ongoing conflicts, especially those in food security, supply chains and high energy prices, he noted. “I look forward to reaching a consensual solution with regard to the grain deal, that would take into consideration the demands and interests of all parties and curb rising grain prices,” Sisi noted. The first Russia-Africa summit was held in Sochi, Russia in 2019 co-hosted by Russia and Egypt when the latter was chair of the African Union.

CAIRO - 28 July 2023: The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population announced the official launch of the "1000 Golden Days" Initiative for the development of the Egyptian family, which is concerned with the pregnancy period (270 days), and the first two years of the child's life (730 days). Dr. Abla Al-Alfi, a member of the Health Committee in Parliament and the founder of the initiative, revealed the importance of the initiative, as it is responsible for forming 85% of the children’s physical, mental and psychological capabilities, and therefore it was named the 1000 Golden Days. She said that the rates of autism are increasing and breastfeeding is still shameful, which in Egypt reaches 13%. "The initiative seeks to provide childbirth assistance in hospitals, by developing family and parental awareness, and doing medical and psychological examinations," she added. She said mother-and-child-friendly nursery mechanisms will be applied in order to provide absolute breastfeeding in the nursery and warm embrace care, which helps reduce deaths and complications by 50%.

CAIRO - 28 July 2023: Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said thatadding 30 new locomotives to the Suez Canal fleet is part of a future plan to develop the fleet. He explained that the largest cranes in the Middle East with a capacity of 3,600 cubic meters per hour have been inaugurated in the southern sector, during his meeting on Sada Al-Balad channel. He also confirmed that the canal achieved the highest daily crossing rate with 107 ships, noting that the revenues that were achieved thanks to the support of the political leadership represented by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Admiral Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said that the canal has 3 arsenals, 2 in Suez and one in Port Said, adding that dredging is being built from the canal's budget. The head of the Suez Canal Authority pointed out that the canal has 15 dredgers, including two new dredgers that were obtained recently, pointing out that the dredgers are built from the investment budget of the canal and not the state budget.

Everyone notices the great influence of social media on various aspects of social, sports, commercial, intellectual, and cultural life. As for the film industry, social media has a very big impact. Currently, trailers of any new film go viral on social media as soon as they are released. But I see that the positives of social media outweigh its negatives, especially for the film industry. But in general, social media is currently being used to mislead, falsify awareness, and deceive the masses.

The measures come as Egypt faces a severe power cuts and electricity shortage due to high temperatures and increased demand. Egypt’s Prime Minister also announced that the government will be working to reduce electricity consumption in public facilities, such as street lighting and government buildings. Madbouly said that these measures are necessary to address the current power cuts problem, which is directly related to the unprecedented high temperatures. He also said that power cuts will not be cut off in coastal or tourist areas. The Prime Minister said that the load shedding is necessary due to the unprecedented high temperatures that Egypt is currently experiencing.

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) decided Wednesday to stop the EGX50 EWI index, as of 1 August. Within the framework of the Egyptian Exchange’s direction towards permanent updating and continuous development of market indicators to ensure the diversification of tools for measuring market performance in front of different categories of investors, and within the framework of continuous review of current market indicators and studying the components of each of them and the extent of its uniqueness and uniqueness of its methodology from other indicators and studying the extent to which all elements of the market benefit out of every index, the Egyptian Exchange saw that the EGX50 EWI index is the least used. The Egyptian Exchange – desiring to know the opinion of all market elements – conducted an opinion poll for a group of 17 investment research centers, asset management companies and investment funds. It was clear from the results of the survey that the EGX50 EWI index is one of the least used indicators The survey revealed that they rarely use the index data or do not use it at all, at a rate of 94%, and most of them saw that it is the most appropriate index that the Egyptian Exchange can stop working with.

CAIRO - 27 July 2023: Egypt's Mental Health Act specifies guarantees to protect the mentally-ill patients if he is subjected to insult or ill-treatment. Anyone who prevents the inspection authorized by the National Council for Mental Health or the Regional Council for Mental Health, or whoever is delegated to do so, in accordance with the provisions of this law. Anyone who refuses to give information needed by the National Council for Mental Health or the Regional Council for Mental Health or its inspectors in the performance of their mission or gives information that is contrary to the truth while knowing that. The law also defines the rights of the mental patient, and stipulates that the mental patient shall enjoy the following rights, like:- Protecting his privacy, personal belongings, and place of residence in the facility. - Obtaining internal and external communication services, in accordance with the prescribed treatment plan in cases of voluntary treatment:

CAIRO - 26 July 2023: According to Osama El Gohary, the Assistant Prime Minister of Egypt and Head of the Information and Decision Support Center in the Council of Ministers, Egypt's population has doubled over the past few decades, propelling the country to the 14th position globally in terms of population size. "Today's world is grappling with the struggle of demographic changes due to rapid population growth, imposing formidable challenges that threaten economic growth," El Gohary stated. "The population in Egypt has risen by 25.3% to reach 104.9 million people in May 2023, compared to 83.7 million in 2012. This increase is disproportionate to the available economic resources and services provided," El Gohary continued. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt previously stated in June that the population increase had significantly impacted the country's development efforts.

CAIRO - 26 July 2023: Within its plan to develop the nature protection sector, the Egyptian Ministry of Environment has adopted the importance of expanding ecotourism as an important and new type of tourism in Egypt that works to create a mutually beneficial relationship between the environment and tourism sectors. The Ministry of Environment launched the first national campaign to promote natural reserves and ecotourism in Egypt under the title “ECO EGYPT”, which aims to promote 13 protected areas in Egypt that are suitable for the eco-tourism experience, to encourage its pioneers to try a unique experience of tourism and activities based on enjoying and preserving natural resources. A report issued by the Ministry of Environment confirmed that there are a number of measures taken by the ministry to support sustainable tourism and tourism of natural reserves, including merging environmental standards in the hotel sector and updating the “Green Star” sign. The measures include launching the initiative “Towards Green Development for the Tourism Sector” in 2020, in coordination between the Ministries of Environment and Tourism. The Ministry of Environment has also sought to support diving centers to obtain the “Green Fins” mark, which is the first environmental mark in the world in the diving sector.

Minister of Public Enterprise Sector Mahmoud Esmat has received Head of the Egyptian Unified Procurement Authority (UPA), Bahaa El Din Zeidan, and his accompanying delegation, to discuss the establishment of a factory, the first of its kind in Egypt, to produce blood bags, anticoagulants, and supplies used in blood transfusions for patients. The project would be implemented in cooperation with a Japanese company – with the aim of transferring technology and localising the industry – and in partnership between Holdipharma, UPA and two private sector companies to meet local market needs, which amounts to 2.5 million blood bags annually. In addition, export to neighboring markets in Africa and Arab countries. He highlighted the importance of the blood bags manufacturing project within the integrated project of the UPA to secure the needs of blood and its various derivatives within the framework of the state’s general policy to support manufacturing, technology transfer, and the localisation of various industries. Esmat emphasized the importance of integration between public and private sectors to advance the pharmaceutical industry in Egypt and deepen local manufacturing, especially in light of what the local and foreign private sector possesses of modern technology and accumulated experience in management.

The official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Abu Zeid, stated that the Chargé d’Affaires of Sweden in Cairo was summoned to inform him of Egypt’s strong condemnation and complete rejection of the unfortunate and repeated incidents of burning and abuse of copies of the Holy Quran in Sweden. Ehab Nasr, Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs, summoned on Tuesday morning at the ministry’s headquarters the Chargé d’Affaires of the Swedish Embassy in Cairo. Nasr stressed during the meeting that Egypt has already warned of the dangerous and negative repercussions of the repetition of these rejected events. This is as expressed in the relevant statements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the latest of which was issued on 21 July 2023, as demonstrated by the negative repercussions currently in place resulting from these unfortunate incidents. The Assistant Foreign Minister also stressed the need for the Swedish authorities and other countries that have experienced similar incidents, to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such unfortunate incidents and hold the perpetrators accountable.