Day: July 16, 2021

Oliver Daemen, 18, received exciting news Thursday from the Blue Origin flight team: He will be flying into space on July 20.

Daemen, who will attend Utrecht University in the Netherlands this fall, will be the youngest person to reach space when he departs on Blue Origin’s New Shepard flight. A press release from his family said that Daemen has “been dreaming about this all [his] life.”

Blue Origin announced Thursday that an originally scheduled passenger would be unable to take the flight to the edge of space because of scheduling conflicts. The anonymous winner of the company’s public auction spent $28 million for the seat next to Bezos. Until then, Daemen was scheduled to travel on Blue Origin’s second flight after unsuccessfully bidding on the auction.

Daemen’s father, Joes Daemen, is the CEO of an investment firm in the Netherlands, and Blue Origin declined to disclose what he paid for the flight. The person who purchased the $28 million ticket remains anonymous.

Donations to nonprofits

The company stated that $19 million of the auction’s proceeds would be donated to 19 space-specific nonprofit organizations, each receiving $1 million. The chosen associations include AstraFemina, a group of women in science and technology dedicated to providing young girls with role models, and the Brook Owens Fellowship, a mentorship program for undergraduate female students interested in space exploration.

Also making history is Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk, 82, who will become the oldest person to fly into space. Bezos announced on Instagram that Funk would be an “honored guest” for the first Blue Origin flight.

Funk participated in the privately funded Mercury 13 program in 1961 that trained women to go to space. The 13 women received the same preparation as NASA astronauts but were ultimately refused employment because of their gender. Funk was the youngest to graduate from the course and reportedly was told that she “completed the work faster than any of the guys.”

The three passengers will be joined by Bezos’ brother, Mark, on Blue Origin’s inaugural flight.

Source: Voice Of America

WASHINGTON – World leaders said in a statement issued after a virtual meeting of the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC that extensive COVID-19 immunization is a global public good and accelerating access to vaccines is essential to overcoming the health emergency.

In a statement posted Friday on the APEC website after a virtual meeting hosted by New Zealand, the leaders of the 21-member group vowed to redouble efforts to expand vaccine manufacture and supply and said they would continue to support economies for as long as necessary.

U.S. President Joe Biden, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and other world leaders took part in the meeting seeking collective actions to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts.

Source: Voice Of America

Luanda – Angolan Foreign Minister, Téte António, said Friday that concerted political actions by the Member States of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) were necessary to tackle the negative effects of Covid-19.

Speaking at the opening of the 26th Ordinary Meeting of the CPLP Council of Ministers, Téte António said that the actions should also be inclusive, with technical and financial support to the poorest and most vulnerable countries.

The head of Angolan diplomacy considered the effects of the pandemic to be “disastrous” for the organisation’s member countries, with the loss of human lives, the rise in unemployment and poverty.

In the minister’s opinion, the difficulties imposed by the pandemic should be seen as a real opportunity for cooperation between member states, for the benefit of economic and social development.

At the meeting in which Angola takes over the presidency of the Council of Ministers of the CPLP, Téte António addressed a word of appreciation to the associated observers of the community, so that government plans with identical objectives to those of the CPLP are pursued.

He underlined the work done by Cape Verde’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Communities and Regional Integration, Rui Alberto de Figueiredo Soares, at the head of the Community’s Council of Ministers since 2018.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angola and Portugal Friday in Luanda signed a Protocol to Facilitate National Visas and an Agreement on Reciprocal Protection of Investments.

The signatories on the Angolan side were Foreign Minister, Téte António, and his Portuguese counterpart, Augusto Santos Silva.

On the occasion, the head of Angolan diplomacy also witnessed the signing of a partnership agreement between the Ministry of Education and the Portuguese Institute of Cooperation and Language, called “Saber Mais”.

Speaking to the press, Téte António said that the protocol will make “life easier” for people who intend to travel for health, work and study reasons, for a short duration.

Considering that the same happens, precisely, at a time when the two countries are discussing the increase of the economic and social cooperation.

Regarding the agreement signed in the area of education, he said that this will provide young people with quality knowledge, so that they may face life in a more efficient way.

Augusto Santos Silva highlighted the fact that the protocol signed is related to procedures that allow the reduction of the necessary documents and, consequently, the facilitation in obtaining short term visas.

He explained that, in this specific case, the European Union legislation prevails and the agreement was authorised by the European Commission.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The President of Cabo Verde, Carlos Fonseca, this Friday in Luanda, expressed his country’s intention to create a “solid” partnership with Angola in the air transport sector.

Carlos Fonseca, who is in the Angolan capital to take part in the 13th Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), was speaking to the press at the end of a meeting with the speaker o the National Assembly, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos.

“We spoke about cooperation relations between Angola and Cape Verde and the prospects in several areas, particularly air transport,” he said, noting that the partnership in this area benefited both countries, mainly the business sector.

In his turn, the leader of the Angolan parliament noted the importance of cooperation between the two states.

In June of this year, after an audience with Angolan President, João Lourenço, on Sal Island, Cape Verdean Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, said that Angola and Cape Verde intended to resume economic cooperation, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in air and sea transport.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Credit granted to the real economy, by commercial banks, is now in the order of 528.83 billion kwanzas (equivalent to USD 818.62 million), since the National Bank of Angola’s (BNA) Notice 10/20 came into effect.

In June of this year, a total of 17 new loans were disbursed to the real sector of the economy, totalling 247 loans granted, of which 181 with effective disbursements.

The note from the National Bank of Angola, to which Angop had access, noted that the amount disbursed by commercial banks, until June, totalled Kz 295.98 billion, representing a rise of 21.43 billion kwanzas (7.8 percent), versus May of the same year.

The beneficiaries of the loans disbursed are large companies with 62.25% (184.10 billion Kwanzas), followed by medium sized companies with 35.54% (105.11 billion Kwanzas) and small and micro companies with 2.02% (5.98 billion Kwanzas) and 0.18% (535.74 billion Kwanzas), respectively.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The speaker of Guinea-Bissau’s National People’s Assembly, Cipriano Cassamá, Friday denied the existence of any climate of tension between his country and Angola.

Speaking to the press at the end of a meeting with the speaker of the Angolan National Assembly, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, Cassamá said that Angola has always been and will continue to be an unquestionable partner for Guinea-Bissau.

“Political and diplomatic relations are good, our relations are those of friendship, brotherhood and, above all, historical,” he said, adding that he had discussed institutional relations with the Speaker of the Angolan National Assembly, particularly between the parliaments of both countries.

Cipriano Cassamá is representing Guinea-Bissau at the 13th Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), to be held Saturday in Luanda.

At the meeting with his Angolan counterpart, he conveyed the recommendations and conclusions of the meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), held recently in Bissau (capital of Guinea-Bissau).

The installation of the Executive Secretariat of the PA-CPLP in the Angolan capital, Luanda, was also hinted at by the two parliamentary leaders. The organ will operate in one of the wings of the National Assembly Palace.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angola and Portugal on Friday signed a bilateral agreement in the area of education, as part of the programme called “Saber Mais” (Knowing More), worth 3.85 million euros.

The programme is in its third phase covering the provinces of Luanda and Bié, with 3.1 million euros provided by Portuguese cooperation and 750,000 euros from Angola.

The programme aims to train teachers, as part of the training of trainers, in Portuguese language, maths, special education, as well as boosting the teaching staff of the “Mutu Ya Kevela” high school, and support for revitalising inspection and pedagogical supervision and in the area of learning

According to the Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, who was speaking after the close of the Council of Ministers of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), it will start from next school year and is aimed at training trainers.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, held a separate meeting Friday afternoon with his counterparts from Guinea Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and Namibia, Hage Heingob.

The Guinean and Namibian presidents are in the Angolan capital, Luanda, to attend the 13th Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), scheduled for Saturday.

Also today, João Lourenço received a message from his Mozambican counterpart, Felipe Niussi, delivered by the Prime Minister of Mozambique, Carlos Rosário, and another from the Prime Minister of East Timor, Taur Ruak, delivered by the deputy Prime Minister, José Morais dos Reis.

The Angolan president also received the president of the National People’s Assembly of Guinea-Bissau, Cipriano Cassamá, who holds the rotating presidency of the CPLP Parliamentary Forum.

The Angolan leader’s agenda also included audiences with the head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa, François Louenceny, and the executive secretary of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Angolan Georges Rebelo Chikoty.

At the Luanda summit, during which Angola will take over the rotating presidency of the community for two years, replacing Cape Verde, the Convention on Mobility in the CPLP will be initialled.

The event is being held under the slogan, “Building and Strengthening a Common and Sustainable Future.

The member states of the CPLP, which on Saturday 17, completes 25 years since it was founded, are Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor and Portugal.

Source: Angola Press News Agency