Saudi Team Wins 6 Awards at 2024 International Mathematical Olympiad in UK

Saudi Team Wins 6 Awards at 2024 International Mathematical Olympiad in UK
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Saudi Team Wins 6 Awards at 2024 International Mathematical Olympiad in UK

Saudi Team Wins 6 Awards at 2024 International Mathematical Olympiad in UK

Under the auspices of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity "Mawhiba" and the Ministry of Education, the Saudi mathematics team won six awards at the 65th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2024 held in the UK from July 15 to 21.

The event featured 603 talented students from 104 countries, with the Saudi team securing 1 silver medal, 4 bronze medals, and 1 certificate of appreciation.

Hadi Al-Aithan from the Al-Ahsa education department won the silver medal, while Youssef Bakheet (Yanbu education department), Mohammed Rabie (Madinah education department), Muath Al-Qahtani (Al-Sharqiyah education department), and Ahmed Al-Shehri (Riyadh education department) received bronze medals.

Mohammad Al-Ghamdi from the Al-Sharqiyah education department was honored with a certificate of appreciation.

Secretary-General of Mawhiba Amal Al-Hazzaa extended her congratulations to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, for this remarkable national achievement.

She also congratulated the students, their families, schools, teachers, and education departments for their outstanding accomplishment and wished them continued success.

Al-Hazzaa described this triumph in such a prestigious competition as a moment of immense pride for the entire nation.

Furthermore, she underlined her gratitude to Minister of Education Youssef Al-Benyan for his unwavering support of Mawhiba and the exceptionally talented students in public education.

She commended the minister's dedication in providing necessary resources and opportunities, which have contributed to the fruitful partnership between the ministry and Mawhiba.

Furthermore, she highlighted Al-Benyan’s efforts to empower Saudi talents and propel them to greater heights of achievement through this collaboration.

Saudi Arabia's participation in the IMO 2024 is part of the Mawhiba International Olympiad program, which operates under a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Education. The program is one of 20 different initiatives offered annually by Mawhiba and the ministry, providing advanced curricula and enriching programs.

The initiatives offer a multi-phase journey for gifted students, exploring, boosting, and empowering their ambitions, in collaboration with local and international partners.

Students enrolled in the Mawhiba International Olympiad program undergo rigorous training, over 1,000 hours a year, in cooperation with the ministry. The training, focused on their chosen scientific track, is delivered under the guidance of local trainers and international Olympiad experts.

With this latest achievement, Saudi Arabia's tally of IMO awards has risen to 77, including 12 silver medals, 46 bronze medals, and 19 certificates of appreciation.



China Marks Muted 5th Anniversary of First Covid Death

This photo taken on February 18, 2020 shows medical personnel walking among patients with mild symptoms of the Covid-19 coronavirus resting at night in the temporary Hospital set up in a sports stadium in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province. (AFP)
This photo taken on February 18, 2020 shows medical personnel walking among patients with mild symptoms of the Covid-19 coronavirus resting at night in the temporary Hospital set up in a sports stadium in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province. (AFP)
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China Marks Muted 5th Anniversary of First Covid Death

This photo taken on February 18, 2020 shows medical personnel walking among patients with mild symptoms of the Covid-19 coronavirus resting at night in the temporary Hospital set up in a sports stadium in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province. (AFP)
This photo taken on February 18, 2020 shows medical personnel walking among patients with mild symptoms of the Covid-19 coronavirus resting at night in the temporary Hospital set up in a sports stadium in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province. (AFP)

The fifth anniversary of the first known death from Covid-19 passed seemingly unnoticed in China Saturday, with no official remembrances in a country where the pandemic is a taboo subject.

On January 11, 2020, health officials in the central Chinese city of Wuhan announced that a 61-year-old man had died from complications of pneumonia caused by a previously unknown virus.

The disclosure came after authorities had reported dozens of infections over several weeks by the pathogen later named SARS-CoV-2 and understood as the cause of Covid-19.

It went on to spark a global pandemic that has so far killed over seven million people and profoundly altered ways of life around the world, including in China.

On Saturday, however, there appeared to be no official memorials in Beijing's tightly controlled official media.

The ruling Communist Party kept a tight leash on public discussion throughout its zero-Covid policy, and has eschewed reflections on the hardline curbs since dramatically ditching them at the end of 2022.

On social media, too, many users seemed unaware of the anniversary.

A few videos circulating on Douyin -- the Chinese version of TikTok -- noted the date but repeated the official version of events.

- 'Time passes' -

And on the popular Weibo platform, users who gravitated to the former account of Li Wenliang -- the whistleblower doctor who was investigated by police for spreading early information about the virus -- did not directly reference the anniversary.

"Dr. Li, another year has gone by," read one comment on Saturday. "How quickly time passes."

There was also little online commemoration in Hong Kong, where Beijing largely snuffed out opposition voices when it imposed a sweeping national security law on the semi-autonomous city in 2020.

Little is known about the identity of the first Covid casualty except that he was a frequent visitor to a Wuhan seafood market where the virus is thought to have circulated during the initial outbreak.

Within days of his death, other countries reported their first cases of the disease.

China was later criticized by Western governments for allegedly covering up the early transmission of the virus and effacing evidence of its origins, though Beijing has vehemently maintained it acted decisively and with full transparency.

According to the WHO, China has officially reported nearly 100 million Covid cases and 122,000 deaths to date, although the true number will likely never be known.

In 2023, Beijing declared a "decisive victory" over Covid, calling its response a "miracle in human history".