REUTERS/StringerCAIRO – 9 May 2021: Egypt condemned Saturday the terror attack that targeted schoolchildren western the Afghan capital, Kabul, incurring dozens of casualties, extending condolences to the government and people of Afghanistan and wishing the injured a speedy recovery. Egypt also expressed solidarity with the country in combating all types and forms of terrorism, violence, and extremism. The bombing carried out on the same day by Taliban, according to official statements, resulted in 58 deaths and 150 injuries. Egypt also condemned on May 1 the terror attack that targeted Pul-e-Alam city in Afghanistan near the capital incurring dozens of casualties, expressing solidarity and condolences. On April 24, a professor at Kabul University was fatally shot while dozens of Afghan security forces personnel were killed over the past weeks.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday will meet the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi in Cairo to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Feltman arrived in Sudan on a two-day official visit, during which he will hold talks with a number of Sudanese officials on GERD and border tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia. This follows his trip to Cairo where he held a meeting with Sisi and Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Irrigation. His tour to the Horn of Africa will also include a visit to Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and Eritrean capital, Asmara. The construction of the dam, which began in 2011, is considered to be one of Egypt’s most serious water issues.

CAIRO – 9 May 2021: The Egyptian government recorded on Saturday 1,132 cases, 435 recoveries, and 66 deaths. The Ministry of Health and Population announced Saturday that 900,000 people have got vaccinated, and that more than 45 percent of hospitals' capacity is ready to receive COVID-19 patients. In another context, the ministry's Spokesperson Khaled Megahed noted that 45 percent of hospitals' beds have been allocated to receive COVID-19 patients. The agreement to produce the world’s first registered vaccine against the novel virus also includes Minapharm’s Berlin-based subsidiary ProBioGen AG. Egypt has a deal with China for the latter to supply 20 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine in addition to others to be acquired through COVAX.

CAIRO - 9 May 2021: In a move that enhances confidence in the Egyptian economy, Standard & Poor's credit rating agency has kept the sovereign rating of the Egyptian economy at the level of B / B in the long-term and short-term, while maintaining a stable outlook. This stabilization was supported by Egypt's record in economic and financial reforms and macroeconomic stability, which led to the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves and high growth rates in the two years preceding the Corona pandemic, as well as Egypt's positive growth rates despite the global pandemic. El-Said added that fixing Egypt's sovereign rating confirms the merit of the Egyptian economy and its ability to emerge from the global crisis and restore high growth rates. The sovereign credit rating carried out by international credit rating agencies, the most important of which is the Standard and Poor's Corporation, is an assessment of the ability of governments to service their debts within the time frame of the maturity dates specified for these debts, taking into account the nature of the conditions agreed upon between the government and its lenders when contracting the loan. Through the use of a set of macro indicators, this evaluation is converted in the form of a specific classification for the state.

According to the Islamic belief, Laylat Al-Qadr, or the Night of Decree, is the night when the Quran was first sent down from Heaven. Almost all Islamic scholars understand from Prophet Muhammad’s sayings (hadith) that Laylat Al-Qadr takes place in the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan. According to the hadith, Allah (God) revealed to Prophet Muhammad the information about the exact date of the night. Muslims pray to God, perform Salah and spend money to the poor people throughout Ramadan and especially on the last 10 days so that they do not miss Laylat Al-Qadr. It is translated by Saheeh International as follows:“Indeed, We sent it [i.e., the Qur’ān] down during the Night of Decree.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the north London club needed changes in the squad to turn their fortunes around after a disappointing season, and added that he was confident the club owners would back him. "The squad needs changing," the Spaniard was quoted as saying in British media before Sunday's home game against West Bromwich Albion. "There were already a lot of changes in December, something that has not been done in years, but it tells us where we were. Things are going to have to change and the owners are going to back it up." If the distance and the margins with the rest become too big, then it's almost impossible to do it."

LIVERPOOL: Sadio Mane's first-half header and a late effort by Thiago earned Liverpool an unconvincing 2-0 win at home to Southampton on Saturday to keep Juergen Klopp's side in the hunt for a top-four finish in the Premier League. Liverpool were far from their best, and keeper Alisson saved them on several occasions. But the win moved them into sixth spot with 57 points from 34 games, six points behind fourth-placed Leicester City with a game in hand. The three points looked far from safe until Thiago buried a low shot into the corner in the 90th minute. Southampton remain in 16th place and, while they are not mathematically safe from relegation, they look like hanging onto their top-flight status.

CAIRO – 8 May 2021: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi reiterated that Egypt would not accept any harm to its water security as he met on Saturday with DR Congo’s President and African Union chair Felix Tshisekedi. The Egyptian president affirmed the necessity that a legally-binding agreement is reached on the dam to preserve the Egyptian water rights and spare the region further tensions and instability. The Congolese president also hailed the great efforts Egypt has made to reach a fair and balanced GERD agreement that takes into account the interests of the three countries. Tshisekedi hailed the bilateral relations with Egypt, especially in light of the pivotal role Egypt has played in the region to preserve security and stability. Ethiopia says it will complete the dam filling in the next rainy season with or without an agreement.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A bomb exploded near a girls’ school in a majority Shiite district of west Kabul on Saturday, killing at least 30 people, many of them young pupils between 11 and 15 years old. Rahimi said the explosion went off as the girls were streaming out of the school at around 4:30 p.m. local time. The Taliban and the Afghan government have traded accusations over a series of targeted killings of civil society workers, journalists and Afghan professionals. Image: An Afghan school student is treated at a hospital after a bomb explosion near a school west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, May 8, 2021. A bomb exploded near a school in west Kabul on Saturday, killing several people, many them young students, an Afghan government spokesmen said.

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said he would not watch Real Madrid's La Liga game with Sevilla on Sunday after his side's 0-0 draw with Barcelona on Saturday put the title back within their local rivals' grasp. It would be the first time Atletico are not top of La Liga since Nov. 7 - and with just three games to go. I don't enjoy it so I'd prefer not to watch," he told a post-match news conference. "It's true, we don't have things in our own hands, but Real and Sevilla have to play four games, whereas we have three. There's a lot of games with a lot to play for, all tough matches, and whoever comes through this period strongest will win La Liga."

The special US envoy to the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman stressed the importance of leading the negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) under the umbrella of the African Union, while also involving the international community. This came during meeting between Feltman and the Sudanese Foreign Minister Maryam al-Sadiq in Khartoum. The meeting discussed the strategic directions of Sudan in the region, the GERD, border tensions with Ethiopia, and ways to reduce tension in the Horn of Africa. The minister welcomed the US envoy and provided a detailed explanation of Sudan’s position on GERD, especially the latest round held last April in Congo. She also reviewed Sudan’s vision of engaging the international community under the leadership of the African Union for negotiations, due to the lack of political will from Ethiopia.

India has bought 300,000 doses of the Remdesivir drug from Egypt’s Eva Pharma company for drugs and medical supplies, as it grapples with its surging coronavirus pandemic. The Indian Embassy in Cairo said on Saturday that it would purchase the doses on behalf of the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Egypt’s Eva Pharma began last year producing Remdesivir, used in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Remdesivir is indicated for moderate to severe cases of COVID-19 for patients in intensive care who require oxygen. Eva Pharma, a generic drugmaker established in 1997, said last year it had received a license from Gilead Sciences Inc to make Remdesivir in Egypt and distribute it in 127 countries.

Egypt’s Health and Population Ministry announced that additional precautionary measures have been taken against the spread of the coronavirus at all quarantine entry points to the country, as new strains of the virus have been reported around the world. The meeting reviewed the preventive and precautionary measures applied in quarantine at all entry points to the country. According to Zayed, this rapid DNA testing is capable of diagnosing and infection in no more than 15 minutes. Zayed stressed that all epidemiological surveillance measures will continue among all entry points to the country, as well as the continuation of all laboratory and clinical examinations for arrivals to Egypt from all countries of the world. Over 5.41 million people coming from abroad to quarantine have been examined at all entry points since the beginning of the pandemic, she added.

CAIRO-8 May 2021: Luis Suarez will face his former club Barcelona on Saturday afternoon for the first time since his move away from the Catalan giants last summer after spending six seasons defending the Azulgrana jersey. The Uruguayan striker returns to Barcelona cathedral, Camp Nou, as Barcelona host Atletico Madrid in La Liga title showdown. Suarez knows the pressure of facing Barcelona at Camp Nou in a decisive game and he hopes to lead his team to victory and hand his current manager his first win over Barcelona at LaLiga at Camp Nou after 10 years of unsuccessful attempts. Barcelona are planning to pay tribute to Suarez after the game and they wish to honor the third all-time top goalscorer in the club's history while also celebrating an important win over their rivals. Atletico Madrid are leading the Spanish League table with 76 points, two points ahead of Barcelona and Real Madrid, with four games remaining in the season.

CAIRO – 8 May 2021: Egypt decided to conduct ID Now COVID-19 Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test for all arrivals [Egyptians and foreigners] from countries where the coronavirus has mutated. The Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test is one of the modern accurate and speed technologies in detecting the coronavirus infections in less than 15 minutes, the Minister said. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, Egypt has checked more than 4.4 million passengers coming from abroad at all the country’s quarantines. The World Health Organization announced on April 27 that the Double mutant' Covid variant (aka B1617), which was detected first in India, has been found in 17 countries including the United Kingdom, the US, and Singapore. “This virus variant is a variant of interest, the B1617 lineage.