MADRID (Reuters) -Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi will leave Barcelona despite both parties having reached an agreement over a new contract, the La Liga club said on Thursday, citing economic and structural obstacles to the renewal of the deal. Messi, who has spent his whole career at Barcelona, had been expected to sign a new five-year deal with the Catalan club, which would have included a salary reduction of 50%. "Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish La Liga regulations)," Barca said in a statement. The Argentine, who helped Barcelona claim 10 league titles, four Champions Leagues and three Club World Cups among his haul of 35 trophies, remains without a club ahead of the 2021-22 season. La Liga introduced financial control measures in 2013 establishing a maximum amount of money each club can spend on its playing squad and coaching staff each season, conditioned by their income.

CAIRO - 6 August 2021: The Cabinet mourned with deep sorrow the death of former housing minister Hasaballah el Kafrawy, who passed away earlier in the day. “Today we lost one of the civil engineering symbols in Egypt, who had been considered of great stature in the sector of building and construction,” the Cabinet said, noting that Kafrawy had offered great services to the country in all the posts he assumed. The Cabinet also extended heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased. Kafrawy served as the housing minister between 1977 and 1993 during the tenures of late presidents Anwar El Sadat and Hosni Mubarak.

CAIRO – 5 August 2021: The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El-Molla, stated Thursday that 5 major refining and petrochemical projects are being implemented, with investments of about $14 billion. El-Molla confirmed that the petroleum sector is currently implementing an integrated work program to develop and modernize the refining and petrochemical system in Egypt by raising the operating efficiency of the already existing refineries and adding new production units. He stated, in a statement that new petrochemical projects are being established with the aim of sustaining the provision of petroleum and petrochemical products to the local market and the state's economic sectors, as well as reducing the import bill, maximizing the added value and achieving the maximum economic benefit from Egypt's oil wealth. Head of the Red Sea Petrochemical Company reviewed the progress of the project’s preparation work and the target timetables for completing the implementation of the production units, noting that the investment cost of the project amounts to about $7.5 billion to produce high-quality petrochemical products to meet local needs and export the surplus. The head of ANPEC also reviewed the implementation position of the project, which aims to convert diesel of low economic value, with a feeding capacity of 2.5 million tons annually, into high-quality petroleum products, especially diesel, with investments of about $2.9 billion.

Sisi’s remarks came as he took part via video in the international conference to raise funds to support Lebanon's humanitarian needs, co-hosted by France and the United Nations. “This support is complementary to the efforts of the Egyptian field hospital in Beirut, which provides daily medical services to the Lebanese,” Sisi said. “Egypt's hands are extended to the international community to unite and harness all the capabilities to support Lebanon and build a better future for its people,” Sisi added. In his opening remarks, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country will provide 100 million euros during the upcoming months to Lebanon. Sisi, US President Joe Bidem, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, King Abdullah II of Jordan and European Council President Charles Michel are among the attendees.

Chairman of Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Clinical Center, Csaba Lengyel shows a vial of the Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the University in Szeged, Hungary, February 24, 2021. via ReutersCAIRO – 5 August 2021: The Health Ministry said 57 new coronavirus cases were detected on Wednesday, upping the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak in the country began to 284,472. In a statement, Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said 10 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 16,550. As many as 119 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 232,179 so far, the spokesman said. Egypt will receive 148.2 million doses of coronavirus vaccine between August and the year end, Health Minister Hala Zayed said last month. The doses will be sufficient to inoculate 83.7 million citizens, the minister said during the weekly cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli at the cabinet headquarters in new Alamein city.

To commemorate the majestic April 3 procession of royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, the Ministry of Finance issued a commemorative silver coin of LE100 bearing the ceremonial logo in both Arabic and English, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced. The Ministry also issued denominations of one pound and fifty piasters, bearing the same design as the silver coin, in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 20 of 2021. Twenty-two royal mummies from the 17th to 22nd Dynasties, including the mummy of the kings of Seqenenre, Amenhotep II, Thutmose II, Thutmose III, Seti I and Queen Hatshepsut, were transferred in the procession.

On June 21, social networking sites published that the Egyptian Consulate contacted the Illegal Immigration Gathering Center and registered the workers’ numbers in preparation for their deportation. Omda added that the Foreign Ministry has failed to give an explicit answer as to their whereabouts. Back in April, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the signing of an MoU between Egypt and Libya to facilitate the return of Egyptian workers to Libya. Madbouly said that workers will be able to work in the fields specified and requested by Libya. __IMAGE: Migrants wait to be transported to an immigration centre in the coastal city of Misrata, Libya, May 9, 2015.

CAIRO – 4 August 2021: On August 4, many important events took place. Important world events:2017 - Brazilian player Neymar moved to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in a record deal amounting to €222 million. 2020 - A huge explosion in the port of Beirut causes extensive damage throughout Beirut. The explosion was so powerful it was heard in countries neighboring Lebanon, leaving dozens dead and missing, thousands wounded, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

CAIRO, 4 August 2021: Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed "Kisho" won the bronze medal in wrestling in 67kg category at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. That medal became the eighth for Egypt in Roman wrestling, with two golds, 3 silvers, and the same in bronze. Egypt's last Olympic medal in Roman wrestling was the silver from Karam Gaber in London 2012. Roman wrestling is the second most Olympic Games in which Egypt has won Olympic medals, after weightlifting, which has 14 medals. That bronze also became the first Arab in Roman wrestling at the Olympics.

In the update, the CDC added 16 destinations to its “extremely high” COVID-19 risk level (four) on Monday, including Libya. Destinations in the “extremely high risk” category have reportedly had more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. The third level, which indicates a high risk of coronavirus included Jordan, Qatar, Morocco, and Palestine. The second level, which indicates a medium risk, included Egypt and Mauritania. Finally, level one or low risk includes Djibouti, Sudan, and Comoros.

CAIRO – 4 August 2021: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday said Lebanon is still capable of rising from the current setback and returning as prosperous and unique as we like to see, according to presidential spokesman Bassam Radi. Sisi’s remarks came as he took part via video in the international conference to raise funds to support Lebanon's humanitarian needs, co-hosted by France and the United Nations. “Egypt's hands are extended to the international community to unite and harness all the capabilities to support Lebanon and build a better future for its people,” Sisi added. In his opening remarks, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country will provide 100 million euros during the upcoming months to Lebanon. Sisi, US President Joe Bidem, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, King Abdullah II of Jordan and European Council President Charles Michel are among the attendees.

CAIRO – 4 August 2021: Egypt and Japan signed an agreement to increase the value of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) grant to become $19 million. The agreement aims to construct the new outpatient clinic of the Abu al-Rish Japanese Hospital, which comes within the framework of the distinguished Egyptian-Japanese relations that promote the development of the health sector. The signing ceremony was attended by Minister of International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat, and Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who signed the agreement. Ambassador Noki Masaki, the Ambassador of Japan in Cairo, and Yoshifumi Omura, the main representative of the JICA office in Cairo, were present. For his part, Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and International Research, praised the Japanese government and JICA for the support they provided to the hospital.

Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has conducted a survey on mobile phone users’ satisfaction with services provided by local operators in the Egyptian market during the first half (H1) of 2021. • Waiting time inside branches: WE topped the list by 76%, followed by Orange 71%, Etisalat 67%, and Vodafone 62%. • Quality of voice service: Etisalat recorded 80%, followed by Vodafone 77%, WE 76%, and Orange 74%. • Internet service quality: WE recorded 76%, followed by Etisalat 72%, Vodafone 71%, and Orange 67%. • Customer Service: Vodafone and WE recorded 74%, followed by Etisalat 70% and Orange 61%.

The Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE) will offer soft loans with a 5% diminishing interest rate to small milk producers, as part of the country’s efforts to increase and support milk collection centres nationwide, according to ABE Vice Chairperson Samy Abdel Sadik. Mohamed Ahmed Morsy, Minister of State for Military Production, held a meeting, on Tuesday, with the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, to follow up on the progress of the milk collection centres project. For his part, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Elsayed Elkosayer, confirmed that 205 milk collection centres are currently being prepared, whether being established or developed according to international standards. Mohamed Bakr, the Ministry of State for Military Production spokesperson, said the ministry’s affiliated entities are working to meet the needs of milk collection centres of devices and equipment. He noted that the new project to establish and develop milk collection centres will have a positive impact on the whole sector.

Medical and administrative teams are stationed for facilitating the passage of humanitarian cases and their companions to hospitals for treatment, said sources at the crossing. Egypt has exceptionally opened the crossing since May 16 to enable people stranded on both sides to cross and to deliver aid to Gaza residents.