Egyptians turned out in low numbers on Sunday to vote in the first phase of an election hailed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a milestone on the road to democracy but shunned by critics who say the new chamber will rubber stamp his decisions.

When Egyptians head to the polls today and tomorrow to choose their representatives in the 2015 legislature, they will probably find very few women's names on the ballots, even though women account for almost half of the electorate.

Egyptian renowned novelist Gamal al-Ghitany, best-known for his esteemed Zeeni Barakat, died Sunday at the age of 70, Youm7 reported.

Egypt will launch the planned new administrative capital project and the new north coast city project during an international conference at the end of October, state-owned news agency MENA quoted Housing Minister Moustafa Madbouly as saying.

Egypt's central bank allowed the Egyptian pound to weaken to LE7.83 per dollar from LE7.73, the first official depreciation since July and which economists say is needed to ease a foreign currency crisis and support dwindling FX reserves.

Gamal Mubarak arrived at Cairo International Airport late Wednesday, coming from London with his wife, Khadiga al-Gammal, and his newborn baby, Mahmoud.

Over 70,000 people have visited “Osiris, Egypt’s Sunken Mysteries” exhibit since it was inaugurated early September at the Arab World Institute in Paris, according to Youm7.

Thursday is the last day set by the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) for electoral campaigns. Observatory missions, the media and the SEC have reported numerous violations committed as parliamentary candidates advertised for themselves, including prospects that crossed the legal expenditure limits.

Egypt will receive a $3 billion loan from the World Bank in instalments over the next three years to support the state's budget, the finance minister said on the sidelines of an economic conference on Wednesday.

The Justice Ministry’s Illicit Gain Authority has already received 10 requests for financial settlement since it opened the door to returning illegally obtained assets in exchange for dropping legal procedures.

The High Elections Commission has said that approximately 25 million voters were registered for the first stage of elections for the House of Representatives which kick off next Saturday for expatriates and on Sunday for home-based voters.

Russia’ state-owned Rosatom has reached final stages of negotiating the construction of Egypt’s Dabaa nuclear power plant contract, Reuters reported Rosatom vice-president Anton Moskvin Wednesday.

Sixty-two patients who have been suffering from fever and nausea have not received a medical explanation for their cases at Assiut Fevers Hospital. Tests run by the Ministry of Health and Population showed that drinking water in the Dirout area in Assiut meets the safety standards.

Egyptian Justice Minister Ahmed El-Zend has called on defendants in illicit gains cases to seek reconciliation with the government in exchange for paying back illegally acquired funds, according to a statement issued Monday.

The attempt of 20 persons to illegally travel to Libya was foiled in Matrouh, and 31 Egyptians were deported by Italy Monday for illegal immigration, Youm7 reported.

The Socialist Popular Alliance Party has launched the "If you elect them" campaign to warn against voting for the Muslim Brotherhood and the former National Democratic Party members in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

A woman died in the Dashlout village of Assiut from the same mysterious virus that killed two others two weeks ago.

Egypt’s Defence Minister Sedki Sobhi left on Tuesday to the Spanish capital Madrid heading a military delegation for an official visit following an invitation by the Spanish Defence Minister Pedro de Morenés, state owned agency MENA reported.

At an election rally last week in a Nazlt El-Batran, a working-class Giza neighbourhood, Mohsen El-Batran, general coordinator of the National Council of Egyptian Tribes, stood in front of hundreds of residents and spoke about his family's history of providing MPs.

Workers from the Religious Endowments Ministry (MRE) protested outside Abdin Palace on Sunday, demanding permanent contracts and delayed dues dating back to 2011, but security dispersed the group during the night.

Twelve school bus driverss tested positive for hashish and Tramadol in the fourth and fifth days of a campaign by the Education Ministry, Youm7 reported Monday.