Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said changes are imminent at the club as they approach the end of a disappointing season. They won the Copa del Rey but were knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16 by Paris St-Germain. Speaking at a Catalan Sports Festival, Laporta, who returned for a second spell in charge at the Camp Nou in March, said that decisions on the future will be made shortly. "From next week, you'll see a series of decisions taken that need to be made and we'll announce them. "When I talk about it being the end of a cycle or renewals that are needed it's because I think that's what we need to do."

ANKARA, May 18 (Reuters) - Besiktas claimed a domestic double on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Antalyaspor to lift the Turkish Cup after securing their 16th Super Lig title at the weekend. Besiktas on Saturday edged out bitter rivals Galatasaray on goal difference in the title race, while third-placed Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce finished two points behind. Brazilian midfielder Josef de Souza put Besiktas ahead against Antalyaspor after three minutes before French defender Valentin Rosier doubled the lead on the half-hour. The final was in an empty stadium in the Aegean coastal province of Izmir due to coronavirus-related restrictions. Besiktas last won the Turkish Cup in the 2010-11 season but their fortunes have been revived this season under coach Sergen Yalcin, a former leading player at the club.

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry said on Tuesday that vaccination will be required to enter any governmental, private, or educational establishments and to use public transportation as of August, 1, state news agency (SPA) reported. Vaccination will also be required to enter any economic, commercial, cultural, scientific, or social events and activities, as well as to any entertainment or sports activities. ___IMAGE: A Saudi man gets a dose of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri

Frank A. Naboulsi, Vice President, Operations – Accor Egypt & General Manager, Fairmont Nile City proudly announces the promotion of Magdi Gamil as Hotel Manager. In his new role as Hotel Manager, Magdi will be help lead the hotel teams and report to Frank Naboulsi, in his capacity as the GM of the Hotel Fairmont Nile City. In 2007, Magdi joined FRHI with the company’s first Fairmont in Egypt – Fairmont Heliopolis and the opening of the Fairmont Towers– in a series of progressive roles leading up to Cluster Director, Sales for both Fairmont Heliopolis and Fairmont Towers. Later, he had another successful opening and positioning of the Fairmont Nile City. Magdi holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with Cum Laude Honors from the American University of Cairo, Egypt.

CAIRO – 18 May 2021: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) is expected to witness an initial public offering (IPO) of two or three companies before the end of 2021, according to Chairman of EGX Mohamed Farid. This statement came on the sidelines of the signing of a cooperation protocol with Nabila Makram, Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptian Affairs Abroad. Farid said that it is expected that the new proposals will vary between the sectors of medicine, agriculture and technology. In statements to Al-Sharq, he pointed out that the Stock Exchange will receive at the end of this week the newcomer number 2 of this year, which is the Integrated Diagnostics Company that will make a double listing of its shares to become traded on the Egyptian Stock Exchange alongside the London Stock Exchange. Earlier on Tuesday, Nabila Makram, Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptian Affairs Abroad, and Mohamed Farid, Chairman of the Egyptian Stock Exchange, signed a cooperation protocol to work on drafting action plans aimed at spreading the culture of saving and investment in the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Minister of Defense and Military Production, and General Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces Mohamed Zaki – Press PhotoCAIRO – 18 May 2021: Minister of Defense and Military Production, and General Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces Mohamed Zaki departed Tuesday for Cyprus. The minister is heading a high-profile delegation in a several-day visit to hold tripartite talks with the Cypriot and Greek counterparts on joint military cooperation and a number of matters of mutual interest. In October, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi held a state visit to Cyprus to meet Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades. Both presidents congrued upon going forward with the accomplishment of joint projects agreed upon in relation to the trilateral cooperation mechanism so as it becomes a model for Mediterranean states in terms of coordination and consultation. The two heads of state also conferred over regional developments, efforts made to assist states going through crises in the region, and the support that can be granted to the national institutions of those states in order to reach a political settlement, reinstate security and stability, and preserve territorial integrity.

REUTERS: Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has not spoken to Ryan Mason about his desire to leave the Premier League club and is fully focused on Wednesday's game against Aston Villa, the interim manager has said. "No, not that I'm aware of," Mason told a news conference on Tuesday when asked if Kane wanted to leave Spurs. Mason added that there was nothing unusual about speculation over the future of the world's top players. "I don't think anything is awkward," Mason added, while denying that Spurs' fans would give Kane a send-off against Villa, Tottenham's last home game of the season. Spurs, who are sixth in the standings on 59 points, end their season with a trip to Leicester City on Sunday.

As much as we are big fans of Nelly Karim, Yousra, Mohamed Ramadan, Dina El Sherbiny, Zeina, Riham Hagag, Ahmed El Saka and Amir Karara but they all need to take a break next Ramadan. And the same applies to the writer Amr Yassin and director Mohamed Sami who both were a let down this season. 2 Quality Not QuantityMore than 25 drama series were produced this year yet it has to be said that this has been one of the least memorable drama season, par two or three series. This has been an on going feature for the past few years; an overload of series’ yet few are of good quality. The series that were successful were the ones that seemed to have a happy team or ones that didn’t reveal details of any internal strifes.

Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed announced Monday that her country is seeking to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine locally in the near future at VACSERA’s factories in 6th of October City. The Health Ministry is coordinating with various concerned officials in this regard, the minister said. Zayed added that she phoned the head of the World Health Organization on Sunday where she confirmed the organization’s approval of the process Egypt has taken to provide its citizens with vaccines. Thus far, the government has allocated about two billion LE to the fund for this purpose, he added. Zayed also assured during the meeting that all stocks of medical supplies including oxygen and medicine are readily available.

Chinese language classes for school students will be optional and not compulsory, announced Egypt’s Education Minister Tarek Shawky, adding that he was keen to clarify the topic to avoid ongoing confusion about it on social media. Shawky stressed that the ministry is keen to clarify all information about teaching the language to first-grade preparatory school students. Shawky added, in exclusive statements to Al-Watan news website, that teaching Chinese as a second language will take place in just ten experimental schools. The Education Ministry is keen to train teachers on the new curricula that will be taught to students before the start of the next academic year, he added. Teaching the Chinese language does not constitute any burden on the student or the guardian, and teachers will be trained on the style of teaching that helps students to enjoy learning it, Shawky said.

CAIRO – 18 May 2021: On May 16, many important events took place. Important world events:756 - Taking the pledge of allegiance to Abd al-Rahman bin Mu’awiyah bin Hisham bin Abd al-Malik, founder of the Umayyad Caliphate in Andalusia. 1291 - The Mamelukes take control of the city of Acre after expelling the Crusaders from it. 1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor of France. 1965 - Syria carries out the death sentence for spy Eli Cohen after being convicted of spying for Israel.

Egypt has not detected the COVID-19 variant found in India, Advisor to the Egyptian President for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag Eddin said, stressing that measures have been taken to reduce the possibility of this strain reaching Egypt. Over the Eid al-Fitr holiday, the country witnessed an increase in the number of infections, however, these are being dealt with, he said. Many of those testing positive are receiving treatment at home, Tag Eddin added. Egypt’s Health Ministry on Monday confirmed 1,188 new coronavirus cases, 61 deaths, and 546 recovered cases. The country has now reported a total of 246,909 cases, 14,388 deaths, and 182,024 recovered cases.

CAIRO – 18 May 2021: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met Tuesday in Paris with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who is also chairing the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2021. The president lauded the care given by the EU to African affairs under the leadership of Portugal, and valued the close coordination between both countries over regional and international matters of mutual interest. In that context, President Sisi asserted the necessity of continuous and periodic consultation between Egypt and Portugal. On his side, the Portuguese prime minister hailed his country's ties and cooperation with Egypt expressing Portugal's keenness on reinforcing relations with Egypt in various fields and supporting its endeavors to achieve comprehensive development. Egypt houses five million refugees.

Biden will sign a memorandum directing the Department of Justice to restore key functions of the shuttered Access to Justice Office and to reestablish the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable. The pandemic “has further exposed and exacerbated inequities in our justice system” as legal services were curtailed, Biden wrote. His proposed budget seeks $1.5 billion to strengthen state and local criminal justice systems, including public defenders. Civil rights organizations and leaders have been pressing the Biden administration to reestablish the Access to Justice Office and its work. The announcement comes as the Biden Justice Department has been refocusing the agency around civil rights, prioritizing policing reform measures and combating racial discrimination.

Egyptian citizens who received all two doses of the coronavirus vaccinations will obtain a certificate to use when traveling proving they are vaccinated, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health Khaled Megahed said. Megahed explained that Egypt possesses five million doses of multiple coronavirus vaccines, and assured that 10 million doses of the Russian Sputnik vaccine have been contracted on and will be supplied soon. An official at Egypt’s Health and Population Ministry said on Monday that the number of people in the country vaccinated against COVID-19 so far is currently 1.3 million. The privately-owned al-Watan newspaper also reported an unnamed official source as saying that none of the vaccinated had so far suffered from any serious side effects. The official called on citizens to speed up registration on the coronavirus vaccine website to book, especially as the coming period will witness large flows of coronavirus vaccine shipments.