FILE | Mauricio Mendez | UNO Agency
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At least five armed subjects tried to carry out a “lock-in”, for which the officials fired with their service weapons.
The bad luck persists on parents of Quebec, who following the loss of their first baby, died suddenly, are devastated to learn that their little boy of four years is suffering from an incurable cancer.
“It feels like it’s impossible what’s happening to us. When we go to bed at night, we hope that the nightmare will be over the next day, but it does not end,” says the father, Louis-Philippe Dubé, his eyes full of water.
The misunderstanding is total. The pain is immense for the Dubé family.
Photo provided by the Dubé family
Without radiotherapy, doctors estimate that William will be able to live for another month at most. However, treatments might offer him a few more.
“I’ve always wanted to have children and life takes two away from me,” adds the 31-year-old father.
Sudden death
On July 2, 2018, around 8:45 a.m., they discovered their seven-month-old baby, lifeless in her bed. “Barely twenty minutes before, I heard him make sounds,” says the mother, Jany Lizotte.
A nursing assistant by trade, she immediately undertook resuscitation maneuvers on her baby, before he was rushed to hospital. Their little James-William thus remained “plugged in” for one night, waiting for a miracle that never came. Nothing might save their baby.
Mme Lizotte, who at the time was pregnant with William, now four years old, says her pregnancy was particularly difficult. “We had trouble seeing other children, because we were parents, but we no longer had a baby,” she said, her voice choked with emotion.
But, to make matters worse, the family learned last week that the “worst of the worst” was happening to their big boy (see text below).
William is suffering from incurable brain cancer; diffuse brainstem glioma (see box).
“I tell myself that I will not be able to survive this, but at the same time, I have to be there. I’m in survival mode,” says his mother, very emotional.
Over the past few days, the parents have had to broach the subject with their other son, three-year-old Samuel. According to them, William’s little brother is gradually beginning to understand the sad reality.
Photo provided by the Dubé family
“I tell him that Wali [surnom de son frère] going to take a long nap soon. It’s very hard. I will no longer see them giving each other kisses, saying “I love you”, hugging each other. In no long time, the joie de vivre that there is between these two will disappear. Who is he going to play outside with? his father said, before bursting into tears.
Radiotherapy
Stressed, the parents headed Wednesday to the first radiotherapy treatment for William. He must receive it daily, for a period of six weeks. However, the boy will have to remain still to receive his treatment or he will have to be anesthetized, says his mother.
“If it gets too hard, we’ll let it go. […] I also don’t want to hurt him and hurt us more,” she said. Radiotherapy should allow him more comfort, while reducing his symptoms.
Bad news rolls in
The bad news “tumbled” very quickly for the parents of little William, who learned barely a week ago that nothing might save their son from his cancer.
It was last Thursday evening, at the Laval University Hospital Center (CHUL), following William had undergone a magnetic resonance imaging test of his brain (MRI), that the impossible was pronounced: cancer.
“At the time, I said OK. We are going to start chemotherapy or something like that to cure my boy, ”says the father, Louis-Philippe Dubé.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for William’s type of cancer, they were told.
A diagnosis which they were far from suspecting, while William had only presented a few symptoms since last November.
Fatigue and headaches
Towards the end of the fall, the usually energetic little boy said he was more tired and complained of occasional headaches. Then, in December, her parents noticed some loss of balance. They thus consulted a doctor, who carried out a battery of tests. All turned out to be negative.
But last Wednesday, when William’s educator contacted Mme Lizotte to tell her that her son was “cross-eyed”, the mother went directly to the emergency room. “I felt something was wrong, I knew it might be neurological, but I had no idea regarding it [du diagnostic de cancer]”, she says.
The next day, he underwent an MRI, which detected the aggressive tumor lodged in his brain.
Even before her son came back from the recovery room, the doctors came to his room, to talk to his mother. “Seeing them arrive, I knew it was serious,” she says.
“I was saying, he’s going to die huh, he’s going to die? And they told me that yes, that it might not be cured”, she relates, with emotion.
Fundraiser
To take advantage of the few weeks, or even a few months, at most, that their son William has left, his aunt, Marie-Pier Dubé, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help the family “get through the insurmountable”.
The money will be used in particular to reduce the “financial stress” of the parents, who wish to stay with their son as long as possible.
Mr. Dubé also mentions that the amount raised will allow them to pay the costs related to numerous radiotherapy treatments, medications, in addition to activities to be able to “spoil” their boy.
“We do everything that makes him happy in everyday life,” adds his mother.
By the end of Wednesday, more than $37,000 had been raised.
Diffuse brainstem glioma:
- Often spreads throughout the brainstem and other parts of the brain
- Often very aggressive
- No curative treatment possible at the moment
- May affect vital functions including balance, breathing, hearing, speaking and swallowing
Source: Canadian Cancer Society
Kostutis Navicas, Minister of Agriculture of Lithuania, confirmed that the Gulfood 2023 exhibition enhances Dubai’s reputation as a global center for food and beverages, and also supports the UAE’s position in pioneering the process of transforming the sector and efforts to address the crises it faces globally. The pavilion of the Republic of Lithuania at the exhibition is witnessing a great turnout from visitors, businessmen, heads of companies and government and private agencies to see the advanced food products.
Yesterday, the minister received many senior officials, specialists and businessmen at his country’s national pavilion at Gulfood 2023.
He said: We had many positive meetings at the exhibition, which is the largest event of its kind in the world for the supply of food, stressing that his country’s participation will open more horizons and opportunities for Lithuanian food products to the markets of the Gulf region, the Arab world and the world.
He praised the efforts of the organizers of the Gulfood exhibition for its importance in enhancing cooperation between food and beverage communities in the world, adopting the slogan Creativity and Change, to represent a center for sector trends and a global force in the field of supply.
The pavilion includes the leading products of dozens of Lithuanian companies in the field of food industries that employ the latest technologies in agriculture, production, packaging and export to the Gulf and international markets.
On the other hand, the Lithuanian delegation participated yesterday followingnoon in the “Inspire” conference accompanying the Gulfood 2023 exhibition, in the presence of Kostutis Navicas and Dr. Antanas Finkus, Head of the International Affairs and Export Promotion Unit at the Ministry of Agriculture of Lithuania. and Chroni Sablevicine, Agricultural and Commercial Attaché of the Republic of Lithuania in the UAE.
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) — Egypt issued, for the first time in its history, sovereign Islamic sukuk worth $1.5 billion, with a return of 11%, to finance investment and development projects included in the public budget.
Economists stressed the importance of issuing sukuk to cover the gap in demand for foreign exchange, and to enhance investor confidence in the Egyptian economy, noting that the return rate on sukuk reached 11% as a result of the increase in the interest rate on the dollar and the reduction of Egypt’s credit rating, but it is considered a return. Not high under these conditions.
This issuance is part of an international program for issuing sovereign sukuk for Egypt for the next several years, at a value of $5 billion. This program was registered on the London Stock Exchange on February 14.
Banking expert Tarek Metwally, former vice president of Blom Bank, said that Egypt tended to issue sovereign Islamic sukuk for the first time in its history to cover the gap in demand for foreign exchange, which appeared as a result of the exit of indirect foreign investments and the rise in global commodity prices in the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian war. He pointed out that Egypt chose to issue sukuk as a result of the remarkable growth in this market of debt instruments, in which the issuance volume reaches $2 trillion, with total bonds ranging between $80-100 billion.
Prior to the issuance of sovereign sukuk, Egypt approved a law for sovereign sukuk and its executive regulations. To provide the necessary legislative umbrella for creating a new type of government securities that is compatible with the principles of Islamic Sharia, according to an official statement.
Metwally believes that the price of issuing Egyptian sovereign sukuk with a return of 11% is not high because Egypt’s last offering in the global debt instruments market 3 years ago reached the rate of return at that time at 5.8%, except that following the interest rate on the dollar increased from 1% to 4.5%, and the rating was lowered. The credit rating of Egypt by Moody’s for credit rating from B2 to B3 level, the return rate on sukuk is good, especially since it was reduced from the level of 11.675% in the opening prices, to close the issue pricing at 11%, as a result of the high demand for subscription.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the cost of issuing Islamic sovereign sukuk was less than the required return on bonds in the international secondary markets by more than seventy points.
Tarek Metwally noted that reducing the return rate on sovereign sukuk from the level of 11.675% at the opening prices, to close the issuance pricing at 11%, is a positive matter and confirms investors’ confidence in Egypt’s ability to pay its debts.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Finance, the issuance of Islamic sovereign sukuk attracted more than 250 investors from the United States of America, Europe, the Gulf states and East Asia, and the diversification of investors between asset managers, pension funds, insurance and investment funds, and banks.
Regarding the continued reluctance of indirect foreign investments, the banking expert said that the state is trying hard to approve incentives and facilities to attract indirect foreign investments, but bureaucracy still hinders attracting foreign investments, despite the uniqueness of the Egyptian economy of many competitive advantages that make it capable of attracting huge investments annually. .
According to the latest official data, foreign direct investment flows into Egypt during the past fiscal year 2021/2022 grew by 71.4% to reach $8.9 billion, which is the highest growth rate in the last 10 years.
Banking expert Mohamed Badra said that Egypt’s issuance of sovereign Islamic sukuk comes within the framework of the new economic reform program agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund, which includes provisions for extending debt maturity, and this is the first issuance within an international program for issuing sovereign sukuk at a value of $5 billion. Pointing out that the subscription coverage is more than 4 times a good indication of the confidence of investors in the Egyptian economy and its ability to pay its obligations.
Badra added, in exclusive statements to CNN in Arabic, that the increase in the interest rate on Egyptian debt securities from 7% to 11% in sovereign Islamic sukuk came as a result of the increase in the interest rate on the dollar and the decrease in Egypt’s credit rating, expecting that Egypt will offer new Islamic sukuk with terms of more than 3 years.
For the first time in 10 years, Moody’s downgraded Egypt’s credit rating from B2 to B3, with a stable outlook, as a result of its fear of a decline in Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves.