A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrive in Cairo Sunday to follow up on the progress in the country's economic reform programme ahead of delivering the $1.25 billion second tranche of an IMF loan, according to a finance ministry statement Saturday.

Egypt has slammed a US Senate hearing held earlier this week – which suggested that Washington reconsider its relationship with Cairo given Egypt's poor human rights record – as deliberately aiming to present a negative image of the situation in the country.

The Egyptian State Council's Judges Club announced it would not supervise the upcoming parliamentary elections in objection to the new Judicial Authority Law, which was approved by the Parliament on Wednesday.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail presented the president on Wednesday with the latest updates on the ongoing economic reform measures, stating that the cabinet is targeting a 22.6 percent inflation rate by the end of the year, down from 32.5 percent registered in March.

A General Assembly for the State Council will be held next month to elect a new council head to succeed the current president, Mohamed Masoud, whose tenure ends on June 30, senior judicial sources told al-Masry al-Youm. This election comes while the House of Representatives is still trying to sort out the dilemma of the new Judicial Authority Law, which would have set a different criteria for appointing a new head of the State Council.

Sheikh Sabry Abada, Adviser to the Minister of Endowments, appealed to the House of Representatives to pass a law that attributes children of illegal marriage to their fathers so the children can have their legitimate rights in case the mother proves the child's lineage to his father.

The United Group law firm announced Monday that the Justice and Development Commission of the Justice Ministry convened upon the request of the justice minister to discuss legal action that may amount to dismissal from the judicial corps against judge Assem Abdel Gabbar, Vice-President of the Court of Cassation, and judge Hisham Raouf, President of the Court of Appeal, because of their participation in the development of a law against torture prepared by the United Group.

The official Facebook page for Egypt’s National Youth Conference just announced a new initiative called “Esaal al-Ra'ees” (Ask the President) to allow Egyptians to freely submit questions to President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, which he will personally answer during the next National Youth Conference from April 25-27 in Ismailia. Now you can ask the president and have your voice reach him without any restrictions. Mr President is waiting for your questions. Submit your questions via the link.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz held an Egyptian-Saudi summit at the Royal Court in Al-Yamamah Palace in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. The summit was attended by a large number of princes, ministers and senior officials in the Kingdom. Ambassador Alaa Youssef, Spokesperson for the Presidency, said that the two leaders held a session of talks in the presence of delegations from the two countries.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Saudi King Salman stressed during talks in Riyadh on Sunday the need to preserve the security and stability of Arab states and to combat attempts to drive a wedge between Arab allies, Egypt's state news agency MENA said.

Lawyer Tareq Mahmoud has filed a lawsuit at the Administrative Court demanding that activist Aya Hegazy, who holds a US citizenship, be stripped of her Egyptian nationality.

The Sudanese government deposited with the UN Security Council the coordinates of the baselines from which its maritime areas are measured, including the Halayeb and Shalateen triangle, Sudanese newspaper Sudan Tribune reported on Saturday.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that an agreement must be reached on the regulations governing the filling of the Renaissance Dam with Nile water, in accordance with the Declation of Principles signed in Khartoum. He also stressed the need for continuing cooperation between Egypt and Ethiopia to ensure the optimum utilization of the shared water resources between the Nile Basin countries in a way that achieves development.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received US Defense Secretary James Mattis in Cairo on Thursday to discuss boosting military cooperation between Washington and Cairo. Mattis arrived in Cairo for a one day visit coming from Saudi Arabia, on a tour of the region that also includes Israel, Qatar and Djibiouti.

Egypt's navy raised the national flag Wednesday aboard a Type-209/1400 submarine newly-arrived from Germany at a ceremony in Alexandria, celebrating the country's latest arms addition intended to protect regional waters and bolster national security.

Egypt’s Administrative Court set June 6 as the date to rule on the controversial legal jurisdiction dispute regarding the Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation agreement on the two Red Sea islands, Tiran and Sanafir. Egyptian rights lawyer, Khaled Ali, had recently filed a lawsuit demanding the suspension of the verdict from the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters, which had ruled earlier this month to revoke the High Administrative Court's final decision to uphold Egypt’s sovereignty over the two islands.

An Egyptian administrative court has set a date of 6 June to rule on a legal jurisdiction dispute in relation to a controversial Egyptian-Saudi Arabian maritime border demarcation agreement. Egyptian rights lawyer Khaled Ali asked the court to rule that the Court for Urgent Matters, which ruled earlier this month to revoke the High Administrative Court's January decision to uphold Egypt's sovereignty over the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir, has no jurisdiction over the matter.

The Ministry of Health has decided to issue a "drug monitoring" system which aims to control the pharmaceutical market, eliminate drug fraud and prevent the spread of illegal and unknown medicines in Egypt.

Egypt's Army Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hegazy held talks on Monday with his Kuwaiti counterpart Lieutenant-General Mohamed Ahmed al-Khader as part of his official visit to Cairo, state-run news agency MENA reported.

The State Council on Saturday rejected a new draft law on the Judicial Authority, which includes amendments to some articles regulating the State Council, the State Lawsuits Authority (SLA) and the Administrative Prosecution Authority (SIS). The Parliament on Monday approved amendments to the Judicial Authority Law on the same day it was put up for discussion; some MPs complained they hadn't had enough time to read it.

Aya Hegazy, founder of the Beladi Foundation to help street children, and her husband, Mohamed Hussanein, were acquitted from charges on Sunday, along with five other NGO members. Spending nearly three years in prison without official charges but accusations of using street children in political protests, Hegazy’s case sparked local and international controversy, to which her US citizenship added attention.