Russian passenger flights to Egypt could resume within one month once the two-year-old Russia s ban on flights to Egypt is lifted, Russian transport minister Maxim Sokolov said on Thursday, though he did not specify when flights may resume. "[Russian airlines] are already gearing up for this. I don t expect this period to last long," Sokolov said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, according to Sputnik News agency.

More than 14 million people above the age of 10 are illiterate in Egypt, the country s official statistics agency announced on Thursday. In an official statement, the Central Agency for Public ‎Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that 14.3 million Egyptians could not read and write in the year 2016, with 9.1 million being females.

The Egyptian Parliament is considering a discussion of a suggested draft bill by the National Council for Women that puts punitive sanctions, reaching one year imprisonment, for fathers, brothers and husbands who are proven guilty of physically or verbally assaulting women in their family. MP Heba Hagras, a member of the parliamentary solidarity committee, told Egypt Independent that Egyptian women face one of the worst phenomena of verbal and physical violence, within and outside the family, pointing to the urgent need to activate constitutional text to criminalize violence against women by issuing a draft that includes deterrent sanctions.

Egypt has signed nine memorandums of understanding with Vietnam in various economic fields, a statement by the Egyptian presidency read. Presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said the memos were signed during President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi s visit to Vietnam on Wednesday, where he met with Vietnam s President Tran Dai Quang.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that he plans to visit Egypt soon, responding to an invitation from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to attend the ground-breaking ceremony for the Dabaa nuclear power plant on Egypt s Mediterranean coast. Putin made his comments at the close of the BRICS summit in the Chinese city of Xiamen on Tuesday, according to Russia Today, which quoted the Russian leader.

Egypt is set to host the joint military exercise Operation Bright Star 2017 with US forces in western Alexandria s Mohamed Naguib military base, a statement by the Egyptian armed forces read on Tuesday. The joint exercise, set to take place from 10 to 20 September, is described by the Egyptian army as one of the most important joint military drills between the two countries.

Italy s Minister of Foreign Affairs Angelino Alfano announced on Monday that the Italian ambassador to Egypt, Giampaolo Cantini, will take up his position in Cairo on 14 September, state-run news agency MENA reported. Egypt s ambassador to Italy, Hesham Badr, will resume his role in Rome on the same date, said MENA. Alfano made the announcement during a session of the foreign affairs committee at the Italian parliament, according to Italy s AGI new agency.

Egypts president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Chinese city of Xiamen, state-run news agency MENA reported. The meeting included talks on several bilateral and international topics of a common interest, said MENA. According to the presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef, Putin praised the increase in trade between the two countries, as well as the bilateral coordination on regional and international issues.

Security services in Cairo uncovered the details behind a discovered dead child’s body on Sunday, found in front of a mosque in Madinaty. Investigations revealed that his mother and her husband got rid of the body after fatality beating the boy, as a punishment. The child hit the wall and caused severe injuries resulting in death.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived in China on Sunday to participate in the BRICS summit, state-run news agency MENA reported. El-Sisi is expected to meet with a number of large Chinese companies investing in Egypt, as well as holding bilateral meetings with Chinese, Russian and Indian counterparts, while he is attending the three-day summit. El-Sisi s participation comes upon the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Egyptian officials delivered a number of supplies to a province in south Burundi on Sunday, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported. The Egyptian ambassador to Burundi and the deputy governor of Bururi province took part in a ceremony marking the delivery of Egyptian medical supplies to the local Egyptian hospital that was established in the province in 2007.

The US dollar to the Egyptian pound exchange rate has kept within the lower price trend within the banking dealings on Wednesday, indicating a quite recovery of the Egyptian economy, according to banking experts. Prices have gone down for many reasons, including the rising settlement of Egyptian expatriates and higher flows of investments in oil sector, stock exchange and government debt, experts said.

Cairo Airport announced in a statement that it has received the best 2017 air safety award in Africa by Airports Council International (ACI) for its continuous efforts to heighten the airport’s safety procedures. The statement conveyed the ACI council’s praise along with a report, carried out by the Airport Excellence (APEX) in Safety Program, which provides assistance for ACI members to improve their level of safety and compliance with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices.

Egypt is pushing to educate people in rural areas on birth control and family planning in a bid to slow a population growth rate that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said poses a threat to national development. The country is already the most populous in the Arab world with 93 million citizens and is set to grow to 128 million by 2030 if fertility rates of 4.0 births per thousand women continue, according to government figures.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) called on the government to review its decision to block certain websites. The group believes the ban should be made only after proving the activity of the blocked sites indeed points to terroristic activity, and the judiciary should be the body that issues such a verdict as it is responsible for protecting the basic rights and freedoms of the citizens. EOHR said in a report on Tuesday that the authorities had to distinguish between websites that promote violence and terrorism and the news websites that transmit news to citizens. They pointed out there is a differentiation between governmental opposition and support of terrorism, as not all websites opposed to government policies incite acts of terror.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has issued a decree ordering the formation of the National Academy to Train and Qualify Youth, state-news agency MENA reported on Monday. The academy, which is scheduled to start operating in October, will aim to train young people for public service, as well as improve their abilities and skills, MENA added.

Misdemeanor Court in Cairo has put Deputy Governor of Alexandria, Soad al- Kholy, and four others for 15 days in custody pending investigations, on charges of offering and receiving bribes, causing damage to the public money. Administrative Control Authority (ACA) officers recorded calls between the deputy governor and the other defendants, providing evidence of corruption crime, the state public prosecution announced.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi plans to visit Belarus in the near future, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Monday. The dates of the visit are still to be defined, Egypt s top deplomat told the media after a meeting with Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei in Minsk, where they discussed bilateral relations and regional developments in the Middle East.

Egyptian security forces are attempting to trace two detainees who escaped from a prisoner transport vehicle on Sunday evening. The men were being transferred from the Police Academy in New Cairo to Tora prison in Maadi following a court session, Al-Arabic Ahram website reported.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received on Sunday the new head of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, expressing Egypt s keenness to finalise contracts and start work on the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant as soon as possible. The meeting, which was attended by Egypt s Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker, saw a final review of the contract to execute the project, according presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef.

Deputy Governor of Alexandria, Soad al Kholy, was arrested Sunday morning by the Administrative Control Authority ‘ACA’ on charges of bribery from five different businessmen, state-run newspaper of Al-Ahram reported. Kholy was arrested with the businessmen, accused of doling out bribes that exceeded one million EGP. The arrest took place inside the headquarters of the Alexandria government.