Egypt's president says the need for a joint Arab military force is growing every day as the region is faced with the threat of Islamic militancy.

Mohamed Hamouda, steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz's lawyer told Aswat Masriya that he will appeal his elimination from the parliamentary elections before the Administrative Court.

Egypt has raised sales taxes on cigarettes for the third time in a year, according to a presidential decree published in the country's official gazette on Saturday.

The upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled to begin on 22 March, is facing a new judicial challenge, judicial sources confirmed Sunday.

The Higher Election Committee announced on Sunday that as many as 7,416 candidates had successfully ‎registered to contest Egypt's upcoming parliamentary ‎elections.

Egypt's Court of Cassation sentenced on Thursday four defendants convicted of rape to death in an incident which dates back to 2006.

An Egyptian delegation, headed by Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Hossam Moghazy, is scheduled to travel to Khartoum Saturday to participate in the Nile Basin Initiative’s (NBI) conference, after a five-year hiatus, Youm7 reported.

Qatar recalled late Wednesday its ambassador in Cairo for "consultations" over a statement by Egypt's envoy to the Arab League, its Foreign Ministry said.

Until Thursday morning, up to 1,770 Egyptians had returned home from Lybia, the head of the security directorate in Egypt's western governorate of Marsa Matrouh, near the Libyan border, has told Egyptian state news agency MENA.

Minster of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim dismissed the security director of the Port Said governorate following surprise inspection to the check security measures of checkpoints and the new Suez Canal, Youm7 reported Thursday.

Egypt's stock exchange said on Wednesday it had approved a request by Commercial International Bank (CIB) to raise its capital by 2.294 billion Egyptian pounds ($300 million).

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has discussed with a number of fellow diplomats in New York the possibility of lifting an ongoing arms embargo on the Libyan government.

Egypt's general prosecutor Hisham Barakat referred 80 Egyptians arrested near Tahrir Square on the fourth anniversary of the 25 January revolution to the court of misdemeanours.

The United States Department of State stressed late Tuesday that it respects countries' desire to defend themselves, commenting on airstrikes carried out by the Egyptian air force targeting militants in Libya.

Six were arrested for allegedly being complicit in torching the Emirates National Bank of Dubai and American fast-food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken in Haram, Giza Feb. 2 and Jan. 27, respectively, according to a Tuesday police statement.

The Islamic State extremist group will likely attempt to assassinate President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a counter-retaliation to the airstrikes his forces made on the group’s camps in Libya, said prominent journalist Robert Fisk.

A number of opposition movements, and some Libyan official entities, rejected Egypt’s air strikes on Libyan territories, considering it a “violation against Libyan sovereignty”.

A Libyan commercial plane bound for Istanbul was forced to return to Tripoli on Tuesday after Egypt banned overflying its airspace, airport and airline sources said.

Half the projects Egypt will propose at a March investment summit will be in the energy sector, the minister of international cooperation said on Tuesday.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry called on the international community to prevent the practices of the terrorist organizations in Libya and lift the arms embargo on Libya's legitimate government, which enjoys international recognition for its efforts to eradicate terrorism.

The Egyptian army announced in a statement on Monday morning it has conducted air strikes against Islamic State militants' targets in Libya, including training camps and arms depots.