The Central Bank of Egypt has set a maximum daily limit for cash withdrawals or deposits through ATMs, that the customer shall not exceed it. The decision came with the aim of motivating citizens in their daily transactions to use electronic payment through merchant outlets, in addition to paying their bills through the smart wallet. CBE decided earlier that the maximum limit for a customer in depositing or withdrawing cash from ATMs does not exceed LE 20,000 per day. At the same time, the customer was granted the option for payment of purchases in the electronic payment process without a maximum daily limit, and justified this with the aim of achieving financial inclusion in the purchases. The CBE also decided to cancel all commissions and fees for transfers between mobile phone accounts and transfers between any mobile phone account as well as any bank account.

The Playlist website listed Egyptian star Amir al-Masry on the best acting performance list 2021 for his role in “Limbo” the movie. Famous British critic Peter Bradshaw chose Masry in his list of the best actors this year, in an article he published by The Guardian. Recently, Masry won the Best Actor award at the British Academy Film Awards, Scotland, for his role in “Limbo”. Masry joined the jury for the best Arab film in the 43rd session of the Cairo International Film Festival. Netflix platform currently shows his latest British works “The One” series, in which he plays Benjamin “Ben” who works in a pharmaceutical company.

Abdel Ghaffar said, through the official page of the Ministry of Health on Facebook, that the symptoms of Omicron are similar to a cold, which is the most common among those infected with COVID-19 in London, where the mutated Omicron predominates. He pointed out that the most prominent symptoms of Omicron are a runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing and sore throat. Half of people with colds may have the Omicron variant:A British study warned that half of those who show symptoms of colds are infected with COVID-19. The Zoe COVID Study team, specialized in studying COVID-19, advised those who show symptoms similar to cold symptoms, to undergo a coronavirus examination. For most people, those infected with the Omicron have very similar symptoms to the common cold, like sore throat, runny nose and headaches, the BBC quoted Professor Tim Spector, chief scientist on the ZOE app as saying.

LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Turkey’s radical new plan to support the lira and discourage dollarisation comes with obvious potential costs, one of Fitch’s top sovereign analysts said on Wednesday, adding time would be needed to see if it worked or not. Fitch put Turkey’s BB- rating on a downgrade warning earlier this month as a slump in the lira threatened to run out of control. read more“Clearly there is a new potential liability for the sovereign balance sheet,” he added. The average for BB- countries is 57%, South Africa’s is 71% and Brazil’s is 81%. “We really need to take stock and understand the effect of this new interest rate tool,” Gamble said.

CAIRO – 24 December 2021: Egypt extended condolences on Thursday to Madagascar as dozens were killed in a cargo boat sinking in northeastern the country. At least 83 people have been killed and several others are still missing in the boat sinking that took place on Wednesday off the coast of northeastern Madagascar. “The Arab Republic of Egypt expresses … its sincere condolences and sympathies to the sisterly Republic of Madagascar over the victims of the sinking of a cargo boat in the northeastern part of the country,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Egypt also extends its sincere condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery to all the injured.”Egypt also affirmed solidarity with the government and people of Madagascar in this painful accident, the statement added.

On Friday, Egypt announced it concluded an agreement with the Italian company Eni to explore for oil in the Gulf of Suez and Nile Delta, with a total investment of not less than one billion dollars. The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources stated, in a press release, that the agreement concluded between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and the Italian company is for “the search, development and exploitation of petroleum in the areas of the Gulf of Suez and the Nile Delta.”Under the agreement, the Italian company is obligated to spend at least one billion dollars in investments in this field, in addition to its commitment to spending no less than an additional US$20 million dollars to drill four wells. The agreement was signed between the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek al-Molla, the CEO of the General Petroleum Corporation Abed Ezz al-Regal, and Chief Operating Officer Natural Resources of Eni Alessandro Politi. The statement pointed out that the new agreement aims to increase production rates and face the natural decline of wells by using the latest technologies in some currently producing areas, and working to confirm the likely reserves shown by seismic studies and the various evaluations carried out by international companies operating in Egypt.

Women’s ownership of agricultural land would increase through clear policies – CC via Pixabay/vuesducielCAIRO - 24 December 2021: The Egyptian government is working on reclamation of one million feddans (one feddan is equal to 1.03 acres) in Upper Egypt, said spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture Mohamed Al-Qarsh on Thursday evening. The new project would be developed and quipped with modernize irrigation systems to increase the agricultural area and land productivity, he told Kalemat Ser (A Secret Word) talk show on Sada El-Balad T.V. The government targets reclamation more than 4 million feddans nationwide, he said. On December 15, 2021, Governor of South Sinai Khaled Fouda stated that the total area of cultivated land in the desert governorate has reached 31,000 feddans. The project aims to develop 2.2 million acres, which represents 30 percent of the old Delta, and is a major leap for the new republic.

CAIRO - 24 December 2021: Egypt’s census increases by 1.7 million people annually, affecting all aspects of development negatively, said Tarek Tawfiq, Deputy Minister of Health and Population for Population Affairs on Friday. “Reasonable population growth is required, otherwise it will be difficult to control the population increase,” he said in comments to Al-Muwajaha talk show on Extra news channel. He said that population increase hinders any development projects in Egypt, where resources are limited. It is noted that the Egypt population became 102 million on June 5. In several events, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi warned of the repercussions of overpopulation noting that people may not feel the impact of economic growth, if the pace of population growth continues like that.

CAIRO – 24 December 2021: First Emirati Astronaut Hazza Al-Mansouri delivered the Egyptian flag that he took during his mission to the International Space Station to the Egyptian pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai. Mansouri is the first Arab astronaut to reach the International Space Station. During his visit to the Egyptian pavilion, Mansouri expressed his appreciation of carrying the flags of many countries including the Egyptian flag to the station, a statement by the Egyptian industry ministry said. He also praised the Egyptian pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai as its components reflect the ancient past and the prosperous future, expressing his wish that he accompanies an Egyptian astronaut during his next mission to the space. Trade and Industry Minister Nevin Gamea said the Egyptian pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai received more than 500,000 visitors since its inauguration in early October, putting it among the list of the most visited pavilions.

In the next few months, all those infected with the coronavirus are expected to become infected with the new variant Omicron, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said, stressing the readiness of the Egyptian health system to address the situation. Madbouly added, during a press conference that followed the end of the government meeting at its headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, on Thursday, that Omicron’s symptoms are milder and less severe than other variations. The Cabinet held its first weekly meeting in the new administrative capital, Thursday, to discuss a number of political, economic and social files, and the latest developments related to the coronavirus and the availability of vaccines. The meeting comes to implement the directives of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to start the gradual transition of the government work to the new administrative capital by the end of this month. A number of ministries have already been handed over its buildings in the new administrative capital, and a number of ministers are present in the headquarters of their ministries, as the trial operation of these buildings will take place over the next six months, said Madbouly.

Four Egyptians from one family were killed in a terrible accident in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while they were going to Mecca to perform Umrah. The family consisted of a father, a mother and five sons. Two sons are still in the intensive care unit at al-Quwaya General Hospital, and the fifth son was transferred to King Salman Hospital in Riyadh due to the seriousness of his condition. The Egyptian Minister of Manpower, Mohamed Saafan, received a report on the incident from the Egyptian labor attaché Ahmed Ragaei, at the Egyptian consulate in Riyadh. The company’s management was contacted and confirmed the presence of the deceased engineer on the job, and pledged to pay the financial dues to the deceased’s family, Ragaei said.

An Egyptian court has issued a decision to close a hospital that trades human organs and imprisoned its owner to sentences of six and ten years. The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced a doctor at Al-Ganzouri Hospital between six and ten years. A doctor and three others were sentenced to ten years in prison, and another female accused in the case was sentenced to six years in prison. The transplants were carried out without following the medical rules and principles licensed to carry out human organ transplants, and in violation of the provisions of the law in this regard. The referral order clarified that all of the defendants agreed with the victims to sell their kidney, taking advantage of their need to money.

That’s one of the many ways the COVID-19 pandemic carved away at the “old normal” in 2021, a year in which sports came back from the total shutdown the coronavirus triggered in 2020 — but not quite in the way we remembered. After being scrubbed in 2020, the college hoops extravaganza returned. Not every change or gain or loss in the 2021 return to sports had to do with COVID-19. After a jumbled year in horse racing, the calendar returned to normal in 2021, but the sport did not. That gave fans another way to engage in the games they love, while giving the leagues a new source of revenue and a new way to capture eyeballs.

___HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:BERLIN — Germany’s health minister expects a surge in coronavirus cases around New Year’s. The agency reported 6,919 new coronavirus cases, the vast majority of them involving the delta variant. California was the first state to require health care workers to be vaccinated, a rule that took effect in September. Now, California joins New Mexico as at least the second state to require a booster shot for its health care workers. California also requires other groups to either be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing, including state workers and, eventually, teachers and students.

CAIRO – 23 December 2021: In the following lines, ET sheds light on the most important world events that took place on December 23. 1847 - The surrender of Prince Abdul Qadir al-Jazairi to the French. 1881 - Calling the first Egyptian parliament to convene. 1912 - Inauguration of the Aswan Dam in Egypt. 1921 - The British authorities arrest Saad Zaghloul and his companions and deport them to the island of Seychelles.