July 5 (Reuters) - The Asian Football Confederation said on Monday that matches in its elite club tournament, the Asian Champions League, would be played on a single-leg format from the quarter-final stage onwards due to COVID-19 related issues. The quarter- and semi-finals would be played at centralised venues for the East and West regions, while the AFC will open the bidding process to countries in the West region for hosting the Nov. 23 final. Knockout matches in the second-tier AFC Cup will also be played as single-legged ties. Matches in next season's Asian Champions League and AFC Cup would continue to be held in centralised venues, with both competitions featuring the single-leg format in the knockout rounds, AFC added. The continent's governing body also said that next year's Under-17 Women's Asian Cup in Indonesia and the Under-20 Women's Asian Cup in Uzbekistan have been cancelled due to the pandemic, but both countries have retained hosting rights for the next editions in 2024.

(Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur want captain Harry Kane to stay at the club, their new managing director of football Fabio Paratici said, as speculation about the striker’s future continues. The 27-year-old has a contract with Spurs until 2024, but British media said he is keen to leave in order to win major trophies and there are no shortage of interested parties. “Keeping him is not just my goal, it’s our goal as a club,” Paratici, who joined Tottenham last month, told Sky Sports. Right now, he’s one of the best strikers in the world. Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy said last month that while he shared Kane’s frustration over the lack of trophies he would do what is right for the club in the transfer market.

CAIRO – 4 July 2021: Trade exchange between Egypt and Iraq increased 36 percent during 2020, Minister of Industry, Nevine Gamea, announced Sunday. The minister stated, in a statement, that the total volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Iraq amounted to about $747.6 million in 2020, compared to $551.3 million in 2019. This came during the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, Nevin Jameh, held an extensive meeting with Alaa Al-Jubouri, the Iraqi Minister of Trade, to discuss ways to enhance the rates of trade exchange and the possibilities of facilitating the movement of intra-trade and logistical transport between the two countries during the next stage. The minister said that the value of Egyptian exports to Iraq in 2020 amounted to $421.7 million, compared to $411.4 million in 2019, marking an increase of 3 percent.

The book was praised by many international institutions and development partners as it sheds light on the pioneering experience of Egypt in launching a government-led framework for economic diplomacy with the aim to advance international cooperation mechanisms to help achieve sustainable development goals. It also sheds light on different methodologies that could very well be shared with developing and emerging countries. Berglöf said the book makes it clear how international cooperation and development financing could help countries address their top priority files. He said the Egyptian model of development cooperation is sure effective and influential, believing it would be used by many other parties. The Ministry of International Cooperation launched Egypt’s principles of economic diplomacy in order to harness the socio-economic outcomes of development financing, as well as to ensure that development projects are in line with national priorities and the UN sustainable development goals, and finally to improve the mechanisms of development cooperation to effectively implement projects.

The Governor of North Sinai Mohammed Abd al-Fadel Shousha announced Sunday that the state is paying close attention to agricultural development in North Sinai, and assured that Egypt has full capabilities to turn the governorate into a food producer for the entire nation. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is interested in development North Sinai, through the implementation of various projects. Shousha said that the governorate has cultivated 271,000 feddans in central Sinai using treated water, adding that concerned authorities have started a project to connect water in the Bahr al-Baqar station to the central Sinai region, thereby establishing new communities. The water access project to the Central Sinai region will take three years, he explained, and also announced the establishment of three new cities and 35 residential communities to accommodate the new expansions in the Central Sinai region.

A report issued by the Central Plant Quarantine Administration on total agricultural exports recently said that agricultural exports amounted to 4.0179 million tons, rising by 15 percent over the same period of last year. A statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation said that the total agricultural exports of citrus reached 1,722,115 tons, in addition to the export of 619,762 tons of potatoes, ranking second in agricultural exports after citrus. Peach ranked tenth in agricultural exports, with a total of 10,185 tons, and guava ranked eleventh with a total of 8,935 tons. Watermelon ranked twelfth with a total of 7,310 tons, while pomegranate ranked thirteenth in agricultural exports with a total of 6,538 tons. Pepper ranked fourteenth in agricultural exports, with a total of 5,186 tons, and mango ranked last with a total of 768 tons.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced Sunday that four Egyptian citizens working in Cyprus died in a massive fire that broke out on Saturday across several Cypriot villages. A statement by the Foreign Ministry explained that the Egyptian embassy in Nicosia had learned from the concerned Cypriot authorities about the deaths. Upon receiving this information the embassy formed an operations room to communicate with Cypriot officials who, on their part showed full cooperation. The Foreign Ministry offered its sincere condolences to the families of the deceased. The European Union has sent air assistance to help Cyprus contain a huge forest fire north of the cities of Limassol and Larnaca.

(Reuters) - Italy defender Leonardo Spinazzola will be out of action "for a few months" after suffering a serious injury in their Euro 2020 quarter-final win over Belgium on Friday, his club AS Roma's new manager Jose Mourinho has said. "We all feel sorry about the loss of Spinazzola for a few months, but that's football and we have to be ready to start the next week," Mourinho said on Instagram during Roma's pre-season preparations. Spinazzola said on Instagram that he hoped to be back soon, without providing details of his injury. "Unfortunately we all know what happened, but our Italian dream continues and with this amazing group of ours nothing is impossible," Spinazzola said. "I can only say that I will be back soon - you can be sure of that."

(Reuters) -Crystal Palace have appointed former Nice boss Patrick Vieira as their new manager on a three-year deal to replace Roy Hodgson, the Premier League club said on Sunday. Hodgson left boyhood club Palace at the end of last season after four seasons in charge, guiding them to a 14th-placed finish in his final season. The 45-year-old also led Arsenal's 'Invincibles' side who went a full Premier League season unbeaten in 2003-04, and won the 1998 World Cup and the European Championship in 2000 with France. Vieira previously also managed Major League Soccer club New York City from 2016-18, where he guided them to two playoff appearances. Palace begin their Premier League campaign with a trip to Chelsea on Aug. 14.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that negotiations with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) should not continue indefinitely. The president assured that Egypt is seeking a binding legal agreement in line with international norms. Sisi stressed that his state both appreciates and understands the development requirements in Ethiopia, but asks that this development does not come at the expense of others. President Sisi concluded his speech by thanking friendly countries and those nations making efforts to mediate in the issue of GERD, because of the importance of the issue to the Egyptian people. Shoukry on Saturday stated that in the absence of an appropriate Security Council resolution regarding GERD crisis, Egypt will continue to work through international contacts and communicate with the African Union.

Egyptian Ministry of Health on Saturday said that vaccination centers will start vaccinating with locally produced doses of the Chinese “Sinovac” drug in August, with the total aim to vaccinate 40 percent of citizens with 80 million doses. Chinese experts have approved Egypt’s locally made Sinovac vaccine, having passed 11 tests. The ministry added that it produced 650,000 doses of the vaccine during the past 48 hours. The ministry will have produced 10 million doses of the vaccine by the end of July, it said. Egypt will also receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, used for travel, study or work purposes as it is only one dose and will be available in 179 vaccine centers.

CAIRO – 4 July 2021: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, is set to issue LE 21 billion in treasury bills (T-bills) on Sunday, July 4. The T-bills were offered in two installments, with the first valued at LE 6 billion with a 182-day term, and the second worth LE 15 billion with a 364-day term. For the current fiscal year, the budget deficit is estimated to record 6.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), planned by the ministry to be financed through treasury bills and bonds and through international and Arab loans. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided Thursday, June 17, to keep the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the main operation unchanged at 8.25 percent, 9.25 percent, and 8.75 percent, respectively. The discount rate was also kept unchanged at 8.75 percent.

(Reuters) - Wolverhampton Wanderers have signed Portugal international forward Francisco Trincao on a season-long loan from Spanish La Liga side Barcelona with the option to make the deal permanent in future, the Premier League club said on Sunday. The 21-year-old featured 42 times and scored three goals in all competitions for Barcelona in the 2020-21 campaign, helping Ronald Koeman's side win the Copa del Rey. Trincao joined Barcelona in 2020 after a successful campaign at Portuguese club Braga, where he scored nine goals and set up a further 13 in all competitions, which earned him a switch to the Camp Nou. He is new Wolves manager Bruno Lage's second signing of the close season following the arrival of Colombian defender Yerson Mosquera last month. The West Midlands club, who finished 13th under former manager Nuno Espirito Santo last season, begin their Premier League campaign at Leicester City on Aug. 14.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Saturday said that after 10 years of negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Ethiopia continues to show no political will to reach an agreement. During a phone call with “Masaa DMC” TV program, Shoukry criticized Ethiopia’s unilateral filling of the GERD which violates the agreement of principles. He noted that the the Security Council will hold a session in June 8 on the GERD. “We look forward to the Security Council showing a specific position that enhances the chances of reaching a binding legal agreement,” he stated. Egypt presented an official document of what was undertaken over the past years on GERD issue to the security council, he said, and touched on the flexibility of Egypt to reach an agreement.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) confirmed the validity of any and all banknote denominations without exception, in response to social media rumors that one pound banknote were no longer accepted. In a statement, CBE stressed that dealing will continue with all categories of paper currencies, and urged all media and social media users to investigate the accuracy of the news they circulate and verify its reliable sources.