(Reuters) - As much as Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard may protest that his mind is focused purely on his team beating Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday, there can be no denying the emotions his return to Anfield will stir up. He played his final game for Liverpool at Anfield in 2015 and had a spell as a youth coach in the academy before taking on the manager's job at Scottish club Rangers. Gerrard's success in winning the Scottish Premiership last season earned him the chance to take over at Villa following the dismissal of Dean Smith last month. The 41-year-old has made a swift impact at the Midlands club, winning three of his opening four games in charge, with the only loss coming to league leaders Manchester City. Liverpool are second in the table, a point behind Pep Guardiola's City and one ahead of European champions Chelsea.

Airbus officials confirmed the statement referred to Qatar Airways. A spokesman for the airline said it would not comment on the Airbus statement before reviewing it. BRAND DAMAGEMhun said Airbus had offered solutions to Qatar Airways from patches, to repairs of the anti-lightning material or repainting of entire aircraft, but Qatar Airways had declined the offer. Industry sources say Qatar Airways is reluctant to implement short-term fixes without a full breakdown of the root cause. It is not only a problem between Airbus and Qatar Airways but it is also designed to prevent further damage to the A350’s reputation with all operators,” said aviation adviser Bertrand Grabowski.

CAIRO – 10 December 2021: Egypt received a shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines from Spain comprising 1,273,600 doses, said local reports on Thursday. The shipment is part of a donation worth more than 4.4 million doses announced by Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during his official visit to Egypt earlier in December. Of this shipment, Egypt has received 204,000 AstraZeneca doses on 24 November, as well as more than 3 million Johnson & Johnson doses on 28 November. Earlier this week, Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar revealed that Egypt has received about 98.4 million doses of coronavirus vaccines since the beginning of the pandemic in Egypt early this year. He added that the ministry has already used 48 million doses in vaccination so far, with about 51 million doses remaining ready for use.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is looking to close his two-day virtual Summit for Democracy on Friday by shining a spotlight on the importance of election integrity, countering authoritarian regimes and bolstering independent media. Biden didn’t mention either China or Russia by name as he opened the summit. Biden underscored that even long-established democracies, like the United States, haven’t been immune to the strains. “Here in the United States we know as well as anyone that renewing our democracy and strengthening our democratic institutions requires constant effort,” Biden said. Thursday’s video gathering drew backlash from the United States’ chief adversaries and other nations that were not invited.

ANKARA, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Moscow will host an inaugural meeting of a six-way South Caucasus peace platform on Friday, an idea proposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan following last year’s Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The peace platform – including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Iran, and Turkey – was proposed by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan after the ceasefire. It said Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Iran and Turkey will be represented at the deputy foreign ministers level, but did not elaborate on Georgia’s participation. Turkey has said it will reciprocate positive steps taken by Armenia to mend ties and has invited Yerevan to join the peace platform since the end of the conflict. Russia and Turkey jointly operate an observation center in Nagorno-Karabakh to ensure the ceasefire is maintained.

Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala al-Said posing with other officials in front of civil service vehicles on December 9, 2021. Press PhotoCAIRO – 9 December 2021: The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development delivered Thursday 13 civil service vehicles to the Ministry of Interior's Civil Affairs Department, Industrial Development Authority, Egyptian Drug Authority, and the National Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructure. Minister Hala al-Said told press that the vehicles were designed by engineers working for the ministry, and implemented by a number of Egyptian national companies. Said noted that this batch raises the total number of civil service vehicles delivered to 95 as 62 were supplied in FY2020/2021, while 20 others were handed over on November 8. The minister added that the plan includes finishing 87 vehicles by the end of FY2021/2022.

The US issued several calls to the parties of the conflict to end the clashes immediately. But fighting continues between the Ethiopian central government and rebel groups, led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Abiy Ahmed authorized Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen to manage the affairs of the government as he headed to the battlefield to lead the army against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Tigary region has witnessed a large-scale armed confrontation since November 4 2020 between the Ethiopian army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Egypt and Sudan are in conflict with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

DUBAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Bahrain’s parliament has approved the doubling of value-added tax to 10%, a member of parliament said, a reform that is part of plans to fix the Gulf state’s heavily indebted finances. That money was linked to a set of fiscal reforms, but after the coronavirus crisis strained its finances, Bahrain in September postponed plans to balance its budget by two years and announced plans to increase a value-added tax. Parliament recognized the measure was “a critical pillar of the kingdom’s fiscal balance program”, Ahmed Al Salloom, member of parliament and chairman of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, said in a statement on Wednesday. read moreBahrain’s public debt climbed to 133% of gross domestic product last year from 102% in 2019, the International Monetary Fund has said. “The successful approval of the VAT increase by parliament is a critical milestone within our economic recovery plans and our aim of achieving a balanced budget by 2024,” the ministry of finance said.

The Cabinet Media Center published an infographic report highlighting expectations from the International Monetary Fund that the Egyptian economy will become the second largest Arab and African economy during 2022. Through its economic and structural reform program, the Egyptian state has been able to transform challenges into development opportunities, and establish a strong, coherent, diversified and flexible national economy that is able to achieve goals and positive growth rates, face crises and overcome their repercussions internally and externally, becoming a productive economy and enjoy competitive capabilities in the global economy, the report said. The IMF expectations of the most prominent economic indicators in the coming years indicate an increase in total revenues as a percentage of GDP, to 18.6 percent in 2021/2022, 18.7 percent in 2022/23, 18.9 percent in 2023/2024, and 19.1 percent in 2024/2025, the report added. The IMF also expected a decline in the total deficit as a percentage of GDP to seven percent in 2021/2022, 6.2 percent in 2022/2023, 5.7 percent in 2023/2024, and 5.3 percent in 2024/2025. It predicts that the Egyptian economy will continue achieving primary surplus as a percentage of GDP to reach 1.5 percent in 2021/22, and two percent in 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025.

Reuters) - Juventus progressed to the Champions League knockout stages as group winners after their comfortable 1-0 victory over Malmo on Wednesday, coupled with Chelsea's draw at Zenit St Petersburg. A much-changed Juventus, already assured of their place in the knockout stages, raced into an 18th-minute lead when Moise Kean headed his first Champions League goal from an inch-perfect Federico Bernardeschi cross. With Malmo guaranteed to finish bottom of the group, the Swedes had little incentive to push for a leveller and Juve closed out the win without ever being seriously troubled. The Italian side's fifth win from six group games looked to be in vain as England's Chelsea led 3-2 in Russia in stoppage time, but a last-gasp Zenit equaliser meant Juve finished two points clear at the top of the group.

Concerning the impact of technological changes and developments on the labor market and the required skills, El-Said explained that the rapid technological developments have greatly affected the production process, the structure of the labor market itself, and the specializations required in the labor market. "So the main issue is to reduce the gap between the requirements of the labor market, which has become highly developed, and the skills offered," El-Said explained. On the Egyptian state’s efforts to confront developments and challenges that affect the labor market, El-Said explained that the state’s efforts are divided into five main pillars. El-Said also referred to the second pillar, which is technical education, explaining that this system has suffered in Egypt over the years. On the fourth axis related to enhancing digital skills, El-Said explained that future jobs require a very high number of digital and technological skills, which requires the state to invest in this type of program.

ANKARA, Dec 8 (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will reduce inflation and exchange rate volatility through low interest rates, broadcaster NTV said, after the lira plunged to record lows over the central bank’s aggressive easing policy demanded by the president. Speaking to reporters on a return flight from Doha, Erdogan repeated his opposition to high interest rates, adding that Turkey’s forex reserves were not an issue despite the central bank’s market interventions last week. He also blamed stockpiling for the surge in prices and threatened to impose more severe punishments. As I always say, God willing this will also pass us by. Let everyone know this,” NTV cited Erdogan as saying.

BANGKOK (AP) — In sentencing Myanmar’s iconic democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to prison, the country’s generals have effectively exiled her from electoral politics. A de facto coup on Feb. 1 pushed Suu Kyi’s elected government from power, throwing the country into turmoil. Suu Kyi, whose pro-democracy efforts won her the Nobel Peace Prize, and her allies have played important roles in the past, even when sidelined or jailed by the generals. An icon of resistance during her 15 years under house arrest, Suu Kyi agreed to work alongside the generals after she was freed. Despite the risks, the verdict against Suu Kyi, who remains popular, provoked more spirited protests.

The agreement was signed by Manal Abdel Aziz, the Operation Manager in Almokhtbar and Amin Elhemaily, the CEO and Founder of Estshara. With this new partnership, ALMOKHTABAR patients will have instant access to obtain recommendation and detailed medical support around the clock, seven days a week. In addition to providing a secure and centralised medical record database that allows physicians to understand the patients’ medical history and the level of care they need. “Estshara is a one-stop-shop and gateway for patients to reach medical providers and obtain necessary medical services, advices, diagnosis and referrals. Not only that we support the patients throughout their medical journey, but also aim to provide a complete ecosystem to all stakeholders in digital healthcare,” said Amin Elhemaily.

The Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry issued a decision to impose final anti-dumping duties on Egyptian imports of PVC, originated or exported from the US which fall under item (3904100090) of the harmonized customs tariff. The Assistant Minister for Economic Affairs and Head of the Commercial Processing Sector at the Ministry of Trade Ibrahim al-Sigini added that the decision comes following the recommendation of the specialized advisory committee and recommendations reached by the sector after studying the complaints from the local industry. He noted the approval of the Minister of Trade and Industry during December 2020 to start investigation procedures against the dumping imports of these items from the US. Sigini said that after studying and analyzing all the data, the sector concluded that the imports of the product under investigation are received at dumping prices and with a dumping margin of nine percent of the CIF value. He explained that this confirms the existence of a causal relationship between the dumping imports from this country and the damage caused to the local industry.