CAIRO - 24 December 2022: Transport Minister Kamel Wazir stressed the Egyptian National Railways will finalize renewing all railway services by 2024, congratulating the Egyptian leadership and people on operating the first Talgo deluxe passenger train. Egypt received two trains out of total seven trains. One of the trains was piloted and went into service on Saturday between Cairo and Alexandria. The minister stressed that this falls within the framework of directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, noting that these trains operate under up-to-date technology. The first trips of the luxury Talgo trains started on Saturday from Ramses station Cairo to the stations of Sidi Gaber and Misr in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

CAIRO - 24 December 2022: The first trips of the luxury Talgo trains will start operating, on Saturday, from Ramses station Cairo to the stations of Sidi Gaber and Misr in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The train will move at 2 pm in the afternoon, heading to Alexandria. The operation of this luxury train constitutes a huge quantum leap in the history of Egyptian railways, as the luxury trains of Talgo resembles the trains operating in European countries, and will provide the highest levels of service to the Egyptian public. These trains are characterized by advanced modern technologies and a high operational speed of up to 160 km / h, in addition to the presence of pneumatic systems to absorb vibrations, which achieves complete comfort for passengers at high speeds. The Ministry of Transport had concluded a contract with the Spanish company Talgo to supply 7 new air-conditioned trains (6 trains + a train as a gift for the Egyptian people) with a total value of 157 million euros, including the maintenance contract and spare parts.

CAIRO - 24 December 2022: The electricity sector in Egypt is keen to support the transmission network in various efforts to improve network efficiency and reduce losses, revealed Spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Dr. Ayman Hamza. Hamza added that the sector aims to be able to transmit sustainable electric energy from all sources of production to all customers in accordance with international standards. Hamza explained that the plans implemented by the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company to develop the network aim to implement the energy strategy 2035 and to be able to reach the percentage of renewable energies participating in the network to 42%. He further highlighted that the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company succeeded during the year 2022 in implementing what it has planned at a rate of about 62%, as the investments spent during the year amounted to about 12.307 billion pounds. % compared to 3.83% during the previous fiscal year.

Hassan Ghanem, Chairperson and Managing Director of the Housing and Development Bank (HDB), has honoured the young winning bankers in the research competition that was held on the role of banks in supporting the state’s plan to transform into the green economy. The honouring ceremony took place during the participation of the HDB in the activities of the People and Banks Conference in its 16th edition, under the title “The role of the banking sector in supporting the national economy”, in the presence and participation of a large number of ministers and leaders of the banking sector and the finance and business sector. In this context, Hassan Ghanem praised the role of the Egyptian banking sector, led by CBE, and its efforts in promoting the transition towards a green economy and sustainable development, by increasing green investment, which contributes to mitigating the effects of climate change, in addition to establishing an independent department for sustainability and sustainable financing within banks. In addition to obliging it to include executive policies and procedures for sustainable financing within the bank’s credit and investment policies, with the help of an environmental consultant to evaluate major corporate projects to be funded from an environmental perspective. He pointed out that the issuance of such instructions is an effective step to enhance the role of the banking sector in achieving the state’s vision, advancing the transition towards a green economy and facing environmental and social risks.

A twelve-year old boy died by hanging after reportedly imitating a controversial challenge spread across TikTok, referred to as the ‘Charlie Challenge. During the investigations, the child’s mother said that she had found a video clip about how to use the “Devils Game” or the “Charlie Challenge” on the TikTok application. The mother concluded that her son was trying to imitate the game and hanged himself with a rope. Dangerous gamesThe controversial challenge involves placing one pencil on top of another on a piece of paper divided into “yes” and “no”. Then rules are issued through the game include cutting arteries, committing suicide by hanging, or others.

A high-level Egyptian delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, left Wednesday for Dar Es Salaam to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Julius Nyerere Dam, which was implemented by an Egyptian alliance of Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric on the Rufiji River in Tanzania. Ahmed Abu Zeid, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Foreign Minister will participate on Thursday in the ceremony to launch the filling of the Julius Nyerere Dam in the presence of a large number of officials, representatives of the implementing coalition, and figures of the Tanzanian society, media, and citizens. The gate of the transfer tunnel will be closed to announce the start of filling water in the dam. Abuzaid added that President of the United Republic of Tanzania Samia Hassan is scheduled to participate in the ceremony, given the great importance of the project to the Tanzanian people for power generation and flood control in the Rufiji River,This is in addition to regulating the sustainability of water flows needed for the cultivation of surrounding areas and for fishing activities. It is worth mentioning that the Julius Nyerere dam project is one of the most important development projects implemented on the African continent at a cost of 3 billion dollars,It embodies the capabilities and potential of Egyptian companies in the implementation of major infrastructure projects in a number of African countries, and is a model for constructive regional cooperation among brotherly African countries to support development efforts and realize the interests of their peoples.

TEHRAN (IQNA) – The chief of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Islamic Center has urged the Taliban to remove the ban on higher education of women in Afghanistan. Egypt’s Al-Azhar deeply regrets the Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan women from university studies, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb said. In a statement on Thursday, Tayeb said the ban imposed by the Taliban on women’s university studies contradicts with the Islamic Sharia’s call for men and women to seek education “from cradle to grave”. “This shocking decision to the consciences of Muslims and non-Muslims should not have been issued by any Muslim,” the grand imam said. Earlier this week, the Taliban announced a ban on women’s attendance at universities in Afghanistan, triggering global condemnation and disappointment.

On how can we have sustainable economy with the use of solar energy Selena explained that renewable energy as a technology is a tool, it is not the solution for climate change. Selena further explained that within climate activism as a movement, youth are leading really radical things. So when we think about the climate movement in the past few years, I think there has been more conversations around that. “ Selena added that low income communities of color are impacted first and worst by climate change so they're the ones who know what needs to happen. Recently we have a big influx of profit driven initiatives to fight climate change.

Former referee Howard Webb is pictured in the stands Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs(Reuters) - Howard Webb, the new Chief Refereeing Officer of match officials body PGMOL, says former professional players should consider moving into refereeing. The 51-year-old did not expect top footballers to become referees but he said it could prove to be a viable career option for ex-players. "We need to look at how we can entice people in. We've always struggled to get ex-players involved," Webb told reporters on Thursday. The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), the Football Association and PGMOL are running a joint initiative named 'Player To Referee Pathway'.

CAIRO – 23 December 2022: Egypt will start the operation of the first luxurious train (Talgo train) round trips on Saturday. The train will take off at 2:00 PM from Ramses Railway station in downtown Cairo for Alexandria’s Sidi Gaber station. On August 9, 2022, Egypt and Spain's Talgo signed a contract for the latter to supply seven luxurious sleeper trains, which will be a total of 126 railcars, and provide maintenance and spare parts for 15 years. Every train will consist of 10 second-class passenger railcars, five first-class passenger railcars, two dining cars, and a power car. The contract also provides that Talgo and Egypt's Semaf Locomotives join forces on localizing sleeper train production.

Ramadan told Daily News Egypt that the mobile market is suffering from a complete stagnation due to the doubling of the price of mobile phones, in addition to the lack of supply of mobile devices. Mobile phone sales in Egypt recorded more than 15 million phones in 2021, according to the research institution GFK, compared to 13.3 million phones in 2020. In September, the Chinese company, OPPO, announced its intention to establish a mobile factory in Egypt, with investments of $30m and a production capacity of 4.5 million phones annually. Samsung manufactures some of its mobile devices in its factory in Beni Suef for a trial period. For his part, a source in the mobile market said that the market is suffering because of the inability to provide mobile devices due to the suspension of imports.

Courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of HealthCAIRO – 23 December 2022: Egypt’s Ministry of Health announced on Friday that more than 3.9 million babies have been examined under the presidential initiative to examine and treat hearing impairment in newborns. Of the babies examined, 466,234 have been redirected to conduct another test a week apart from the first test, the ministry said in a statement. Early detection of hearing impairment facilitates treatment opportunities and spares children communication problems that could cause psychological issues for them. The ministry receives citizens’ inquiries regarding the presidential initiative on the hotline 15335 for the “100 Million Healthy Lives” initiatives. The hearing impairment initiative was launched in September 2019 to detect hearing problems in newborns from day one to day 28.

The UN General Assembly approved on Wednesday Egypt’s re-election to the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) for two years from 2023 to 2024, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the same day. Osama Abdel Khaliq — Egypt’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York — said that Egypt’s re-election comes after it received support from the African bloc in New York. He said that this election reflects Egypt’s long-standing contributions to peace-building efforts in Africa, including during Egypt’s chairing of the Peacebuilding Commission in 2021, when it represented the continent. He also noted President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s leadership on the issue of reconstruction and development in the aftermath of conflicts in the African Union (AU). Furthermore, Al-Khaleq pointed out Egypt’s commitment to continue working with all parties concerned to support efforts to enhance the effectiveness of the UN peacebuilding architecture, in particular through the provision of adequate, sustainable, and predictable funding for peacebuilding activities.

In recent decades, food systems have delivered major human development benefits through massive increases in productivity. At this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, we saw the first ever Food Systems Pavilion. It is a positive recognition of the need to relook at how our current global food systems operate, and an opportunity to develop actions and solutions to create more sustainable and resilient food value chains. Biodiversity in our soil, crops and animals must increase to improve the food system’s resilience to external shocks and enhance long- term food security. We need to take a holistic environmental approach, one encompassing all steps between food sourcing and end of life.

CAIRO – 22 December 2022: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed that Egypt will continue to support development efforts in Tanzania as he participated in a celebration to mark the start of the first filling of Julius Nyerere Hydropower Dam on Thursday. The dam project implemented by an Egyptian consortium affirms Egypt’s commitment toward its brothers in Africa, Shoukry said during the celebration. The project aims at providing Tanzania with required power and controlling the Rufiji River flood. This month, Tanzania will start filling the dam’s reservoir, the ministry said. The project also includes a hydropower station with a capacity of 2,115 MW beside the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve west of Dar Es-Salam City.