Former Egyptian prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, who returned to Egypt on Saturday after a five-year absence, said on Sunday that being in the country allows him to assess whether he should run in Egypt s 2018 presidential election Shafiq made the comment in a phone call with TV presenter Wael El-Ebrashy on the privately owned Dream channel, adding that he has enjoyed full freedom of movement since arriving in Cairo.

The Egyptian Bedouin tribe of Sawarka said on Saturday that it will place its men at the disposal of the armed forces as they seek to establish security and stability in North Sinai following last month s terrorist massacre in Bir El-Abd, where the tribe is mostly located. A statement from the Freemen of Sawarka obtained by Ahram Online declared the tribe s "absolute trust" in the ability of the armed forces to accomplish the security mission in the three-month timeframe set by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

Incoming tourists and visitors to Egypt can now apply for an online visa from the comfort of their home without the need for embassy appointments after Egypt officially launched its electronic visa services at the Cairo ICT Expo on Sunday aiming to lure tourists back into the country. “The Egypt eVisa aims to simplify the process for visitors to Egypt to obtain the correct travel authorization. The online visa program will not only accelerate the process for visa applications prior to traveling but also improve the system of customs and border control upon arrival in Egypt,” Egypt’s eVisa website said.

Egypt has expressed "grave concern" over a recent ballistic missile firing by North Korea, warning that the move will heighten tensions with neighbouring countries, the foreign ministry said late on Wednesday. North Korea said it successfully tested a powerful new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Wednesday that put the entire US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Egypt s foreign ministry warned that the development "would escalate the tension in the Korean Peninsula and neighbouring areas in an unprecedented manner." It urged North Korea to respect the United Nation Security Council s resolutions in this regard, which impose sanctions over the country s ballistic missile and nuclear programmes. The launch is the latest in a series of missile tests by North Korea defying world pressure to end its nuclear programme. The United States warned Pyongyang Wednesday it would be “utterly destroyed” if war were to break out after the missile was fired.

The Head of General Security for Dubai, Dhahi Khalfan, disputed the statement made by former Egyptian Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq, who claimed he had been banned from leaving the UAE by Emirati authorities, just hours after announcing his bid for the 2018 Egyptian presidency. Khalfan stressed that Shafiq’s name was not on the UAE travel ban, and posted on his Twitter account a strong verbal attack aimed at Shafiq.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday commanded the Egyptian army and police forces to restore stability and security in the Sinai Peninsula within three months using "utmost force." The president s orders came as part of his speech on Wednesday at an event marking the celebration of Prophet Muhammad s birth (Moulid El-Nabi), which was also attended by Egypt s Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayyeb.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Cairo Wednesday for talks with his Egyptian counterpart Sedki Sobhi and other Egyptian officials, state-run MENA news agency reported. The officials will discuss boosting military cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) lifted on Tuesday the monthly cap on foreign currency deposits and withdrawals imposed on importers of non-essential goods, state-run news agency MENA reported. In October 2016, Egypt s Chamber of Commerce banned the import of more than 50 types of nonessential goods before the CBE introduced caps on importers in November 2016. Deposits were capped at $50,000 and withdrawals at $30,000 per month, with a $10,000 a day limit, in an attempt to eradicate the foreign currency black market and tackle the country s foreign exchange crisis.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry explained to CNN on Monday the reasons for the current restrictions on media access to North Sinai, telling anchor Christiane Amanpour that foreign journalists traveling in the area might be targeted by terrorist groups. In a video interview with Amanpour published on the CNN website, Shoukry said that, while press freedom is "very important", North Sinai is an area of ongoing military conflict, where terrorists target foreign nationals as well as locals.

The US dollar exchange rate against the Egyptian pound witnessed a slight increase in several banks in Egypt on Monday. According to the latest price updates, the dollar exchange rate increased by two piaster, recording LE 17.63 for buying and LE 176.73 for sale in the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Bank Misr, The Arab African International Bank (AAIB), The Commercial International Bank (CIB), the National Bank of Greece (NBG), and Bank of Alexandria.

Elsewedy Electric plans to build two 500 MW wind farms in cooperation with Marubeni Corporation of Japan, with investments of up to €500m. Sources at the company told Daily News Egypt that there are negotiations underway with the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) to allocate land for the two power plants. The company is choosing between a plot in the Gulf of Suez and another west of the Nile.

General Tawhed Tawfik, the head of the Egyptian delegation at the first Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) meeting in Riyadh, affirmed his country s determination to fight terrorism, which he said is a cross-border threat that requires organised and comprehensive measures to counter.

The secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Abul-Gheit, said Sunday that the pan-Arab organisation was following "with extreme concern" talks between the River Nile s downstream Arab countries Egypt and Sudan, and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). In an address to the Fourth Arabic Forum for Water in Cairo, Abul-Gheit stated that the water security of the most populous Arab country, in reference to Egypt, was a matter of Arab national security.

Ethiopia’s Water, Irrigation and Electricity Minister Sileshi Bekele said Saturday that his country will not stop constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) despite Egypt’s protestations, the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported. During a press briefing on Saturday, the minister responded to a question on whether Ethiopia would stop building the dam due to Egypt’s current stance on its impact on downstream countries, saying, “the dam is 63 percent completed and it is being constructed around-the-clock”.

Egyptian officials have welcomed France s support for the country s plan towards urbanisation and sustainable cities during a conference Thursday that kicked off the French-Egyptian Urban Week in Cairo. A delegation of France s main employers federation MEDEF is attending the week-long forum. The body s International Africa committee president Gerard Wolf told audience Thursday that Egypt can set a model of suitable cities for the rest of Africa. He said his country will provide necessary support to Egypt s plans while urging to swiftly move towards putting them in effect.

Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri on Wednesday expressed astonishment at comments made by his Sudanese counterpart Ibrahim Ghandour earlier in the week in which he suggested that Egypt is eating into its share of Nile water since the two countries signed a 1959 water treaty. Shukri explained that Sudan uses its share of Nile water, estimated at 18,5 billion cubic meters per year, but that its capacity for absorbing that share has been lacking, leading some of that water to unintentionally sip into Egypt.

Egypt s Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadek ordered on Wednesday 29 suspects detained for 15 days pending investigation into charges of engaging in espionage with Turkey, state-run news agency MENA reported. The 29 suspects, along with others who are fugitives abroad, are accused of joining a terrorist organisation, circumventing the country s phone networks for international communication, money laundering, and illegal currency trading, according to a statement by the prosecutor-general.

EgyptAir will swing to a profit this year, buoyed by an increase in passengers and cost-cutting, the chairman of the state-owned airline’s holding company said on Tuesday. EgyptAir has struggled to rebound from the 2008 global financial crisis and two revolutions that have hobbled Egypt’s economy since.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras commenced their tripartite summit at Cyprus presidential palace in Nicosia on Tuesday. The summit is the fifth to gather the leaders of the three countries since 2014. The Egyptian president arrived on his two-day visit to the Cypriot capital on Monday, accompanied by a delegation which includes the ministers of foreign affairs, trade and industry, communication and petroleum.

In a surprising step, Egypt s parliament gave quick approval on Tuesday of a new law stating that judges cannot stand in the election of board members of sporting clubs. The law, an amendment of the sports law (law no.71/2017), was submitted by MP and Secretary-General of parliament s Sports and Youth Committee Fawzi Fatta.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi spoke of his support for Cyprian reunification and of growing bilateral cooperation in Nicosia on Monday, at the start of a two-day visit to the Mediterranean island. El-Sisi and Cyprus s President Nicos Anastasiades signed several MOUs in the fields of security, communication, medicine and business, and in subsequent addresses to reporters, Anastasiades welcomed his Egyptian counterpart and said the two countries are bound by strong historic ties.