CAIRO – 29 December 2021: General Manager of Preventive Programs at the Addiction Treatment Fund Ibrahim Askar stated in a phone-in Wednesday that 6,000 former slum dwellers, who moved to alternative housing neighborhoods, Asmarat, Mahrousa, Bashayer Al Kheir, and Istabl Antar, sought in 2021 the free-of-charge treatment offered by the fund. Askar added that awareness campaigns targeting 40,000 families in those neighborhoods took place. He elaborated that workers at the fund had been concerned that the inhabitants may not be accepting of those campaigns but they made community members participate, so they were welcomed, particularly on the part of women. As for the type of drugs abused by the patients treated, they were hash, tramadol, strox, and Al Chapo. The official further noted, "Heroin was a surprise to us as it came on top among the drugs used by such people who belong to the low-income bracket, and who struggle to pay rent, given its high prices?"

JERUSALEM, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made a rare visit to Israel for talks on economic and security issues with Israel’s defence chief, but with few prospects for any resumption of long-stalled peace negotiations. Defence Minister Benny Gantz hosted Abbas in his home late on Tuesday, the Western-backed Palestinian leader’s first such visit to Israel in more than a decade. Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Palestinian rivalries remain strong, with Hamas Islamists, who have fought four wars with Israel, running the Gaza Strip. The meeting followed several Palestinian attacks on Israelis in recent weeks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

CAIRO – 29 December 2021: Egypt’s National Seismic Network recorded a 5.9 magnitude earthquake near the island of Crete, which was felt by citizens across some Egyptian cities at exactly 7:15 a.m. local time. A 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit the coasts of the Greek islands of Cassos and Crete on Monday, less than four hours after a 5.2-magnitude quake struck. The quake occurred 25 kilometers northwest of the epicenter of the first earthquake, at a depth of 6.3 kilometers, and was followed by a 4.2-magnitude aftershock two minutes later, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said in a statement carried by the Greek newspaper Kathimerini. It is noteworthy that the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said that an earthquake of magnitude 6 struck the Greek island of Crete on Sunday, Russia Today reported. The center added that the earthquake occurred at a depth of ten kilometers.

CAIRO – 29 December 2021: The ancient Egyptian culture was closely related to the Nile River. Their new year seems to correspond to its annual flood, according to the Roman writer Censorinus. Egyptians celebrated this new beginning with a special festival known as “Wepet Renpet” , which translates to "the opening of the year". The new year was seen as a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, and was honored with special religious feasts and rituals. To honor the salvation of mankind, the Egyptians celebrated with music and clamor.

Noemie Weill, the Swiss lawyer of the Egyptian equestrian Mohamed Talaat said that the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) decision to suspend Talaat is not final. Mohamed Talaat was subjected to many random sample tests in several European countries, all of them proved negative. “These international competitions, especially if it is an equestrian sport require high concentration, physical and psychological compatibility, which cannot be available to those who use a prohibited substance. The performance and results of Mohamed Talaat are impossible to achieve by someone who took a prohibited substance. Al-Sharbatly published on his official Facebook page many videos that show the results of the Mohamed Talaat in the last preparation tournaments before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and show his clear superiority over his competitors.

“Of course, nothing is over with this,” Maria Eismont, one of the lawyers that represented the group in court, said after the ruling. Memorial’s branch, the Memorial Human Rights Center, is up for closure as well, with a court hearing in the Moscow City Court scheduled for Wednesday morning. Russian authorities in recent months have mounted pressure on rights groups, media outlets and individual journalists, naming dozens as foreign agents. “Memorial is an institution of national memory about the times of the Great Terror and Soviet repressions,” the group said in a statement. One of the five detained activists detained on Tuesday, Ksenia Fadeyeva, is reportedly facing charges of forming an extremist group.

During the ceremony, the president urged carrying out good pricing, management, and governance of revamped public enterprise factories so they would not deteriorate again. He underscored that one of the repercussions of the mismanagement of state-owned factories is overstaffing due to nepotism. In that regard, President Sisi stressed that to ensure that such practice would be eradicated is partnering up with the private sector. Minister of Public Enterprise Hisham Tawfik stated that the new factory saves 150 megawatts compared to the old one. Discussing the textile industry, the public enterprise minister revealed that Egyptian cotton will be traded through an exchange starting 2022.

CAIRO - 28 December 2021: Egypt produces 7.8 million tons of nitrogen fertilizers, according to the Egyptian Minister of Public Enterprise Sector Hisham Tawfik, explaining that this country is the sixth in the world in urea production with 6.7 million tons. Egypt Today reviews Tawfik’s statements during the inauguration of Kima 2 plant in Aswan in the coming listicles:- Egypt produces nitrogen fertilizers with a total of 7.8 million tons. - Egypt is the sixth largest urea producer in the world with 6.7 million tons. - The investment cost of the Kima plant is LE 11.6 billion. - Production volume of the Kima plant is 2,200 tons of ammonia.

The Egyptian study revealed for the first time the pharaoh’s age and health, in addition to many secrets of the mummy’s mummification and reburial. After their transfer to Cairo, all the royal mummies were unwrapped between 1881 and 1896, except for the mummy of King Amenhotep I. Hawass and Selim examined the mummy of King Amenhotep I using a computerized tomography (CT) machine located in the garden of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The two Egyptian scientists used modern techniques of CT scans to remove the scrolls from the mummy of King Amenhotep I, by default, safely by computer programs and without affecting the mummy. The study revealed exciting information about the distinctive embalming method of King Amenhotep I, as it became clear that the position of the crossed forearms on the body of the mummy of kings (which is called the Osiris position) began with the mummy of King Amenhotep I.

Cairo University announced the laying of the foundations for the largest pediatric medical complex in the Middle East, on Monday, at Cairo International University in 6th of October City. Cairo University President Mohamed Othman el-khosht said that the pediatric medical complex is the largest medical complex for children in the Middle East, with a total project cost of about LE 3.4 billion for construction, electromechanical, networks, roads and landscaping. He added that the new medical edifice is added to the Egyptian health map. He explained that the medical complex for the treatment of children is the largest project that provides health care to children in the Middle East, and is being established at Cairo International University in 6th of October city. He pointed out that the inauguration is scheduled to take place after three years, in 2024.

DUBAI, Dec 28 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has approved emergency use of Sinopharm’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine and it will be available to the public as a booster dose starting January 2022, the health ministry said. The vaccine will be produced and distributed by a joint venture between the UAE’s Group 42 and China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a unit of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), the ministry said in a statement on state media on Monday. The approval came following a UAE-based study that included individuals who were previously vaccinated with two doses of Sinopharm CNBG’s inactivated vaccine, the ministry added. The UAE, a federation of seven emirates, on Monday reported 1,732 new coronavirus cases and one death. Authorities, who do not give a breakdown for each emirate, said around 91% of the population of some 10 million had been fully vaccinated.

Yet as New Year celebrations approach, the omicron variant is casting more gloom. Several countries are considering more restrictions to add to the patchwork of lockdowns and other measures already in place around Europe. It is the unpredictability that is keeping governments second-guessing and picking widely varying strategies to beat back the pandemic. Communal celebrations like New Year’s fireworks, which usually draw crowds of thousands in Brussels, are off. Even that staple of British holiday celebrations, the stream of English Premier League soccer games, is under threat.

CAIRO - 27 December 2021: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi inspected, on Monday, Gharb Seheil village in Aswan governorate, Upper Egypt, to follow up on the recently-developed services for its residents in light of the Presidential initiative “Decent Life” for the Egyptian Countryside Development. The president visited the tourist market in the village where he met with some handicraftsmen, encouraging its youth to keep working on promoting tourism. The government is implementing development projects in 52 centers in 20 governorates nationwide, within the framework of the “Decent Life” initiative, said President Sisi. Aswan center was the latest area listed in the Decent Life initiative, the statement saidThe villagers warmly welcomed President Sisi, presenting Nubian shows. He had lunch with some villagers, eating the Nubian dishes of Feteer meshaltet (cushioned pies) and honey.

CAIRO - 27 December 2021: Egypt’s electricity sector succeeded in transforming the electrical capacity deficit from 6,000 megawatts in 2014 to a surplus of 13,000 megawatts in 2020, after adding about 28,000 megawatts of electrical capacity, equivalent to 13 times the capacity of the High Dam. As a result, Egypt advanced 44 places in the electricity supply quality index in the Global Competitiveness Report in 2019. The Ministry of Electricity has also paid great attention to projects to produce electricity from renewable sources, and the number of projects that have been and are being implemented is 17 projects at a cost of LE 51.8 billion to add 5,303 megawatts of renewable energy (wind/solar energy/hydro energy). Among the most important projects are electricity production plants from winds in Gabal el-Zayt at a cost of LE 9.8 billion, the Benban solar energy production complex with a total investment of LE 35.2 billion, and a hydroelectric power plant at Assiut Barrages at a cost of LE 1.7 billion. Egypt is also carrying out electrical connection projects with neighboring countries, including Sudan, Libya, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and is studying projects to connect with Cyprus and Greece.

"After amendments to the law of organizing partnership with the private sector in the projects of infrastructure, services and public utilities, the state realizes the importance of partnership with the private sector and that was clear in the presidential directives to encourage the private sector in the sustainable development process and the projects inaugurated recently by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi," said the minister in a statement on Monday. The minister added that the new amendments included control on choosing projects carried out in cooperation with the private sector to promote good governance and grant investors an investment map for projects with the private sector. For his part, Eng. Ater Hannoura, head of the central unit for partnership with the private sector at the Ministry of Finance, said partnership projects will be studied in the fields of transport, housing, electricity, health, education, local development. solid waste recycling, and strategic stocks of the Ministry of Supply to promote partnership between the two sides.