Egypt is looking to reverse a series of bans on its agricultural products that has hit one of its most promising export sectors, Abdel Hamid al-Demerdash, the head of Egypt s Agriculture Export Council told Reuters. Egyptian crops from strawberries to peppers have been hit by temporary bans in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on concerns over pesticides residues. Sudan introduced a blanket ban in May on agricultural products from Egypt.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified a law on Monday for the creation of a National Electoral Commission (NEC) to supervise the nation s elections and referendums, state-run news agency MENA reported. According to the 37-article law, which was passed on 21 June, the NEC will be an independent authority with sole responsibility for the holding of general elections and referendums in Egypt.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday ratified a law which stipulates that the National Electoral Commission (NEC) is an independent authority, located in Cairo, and can be moved to any place according to its staff’s desire.

Egyptian air forces began on Sunday joint military exercises with their Kuwaiti counterparts in Egyptian airspace, Egypts army said on Sunday.

President Abdel Fattah Sisi delivered a speech on Sunday for ‘Science Day’, which included praise for scholars and the promise that the Egyptian constitution has guaranteed educational rights and scientific research to every citizen.

Egypt is preparing to receive its second modern German submarine, which will enhance the Egyptian Navy’s ability to protect the marine borders and economic interests in the Red and Mediterranean seas along with the Suez Canal, an international trade waterway, amid threats and challenges in the region.

Egypt and Russia have managed to broker a truce between Syrian regime forces and moderate opposition forces in the northern part of Homs province in Syria, starting from Thursday, Egyptian state news agency MENA declared. According to MENA, this is the second time in less than two weeks that Egypt and Russia have managed to broker a truce.

Egypt’s general intelligence signed a new $1.2 million deal with US-based public relations firm APCO, just days after Weber Shandwick terminated its contract with Egypt, US magazine PR Week reported on Tuesday. According to PR Week, APCO will handle media relations, stakeholder engagement, social media, and utilize other communication tools to promote Egypt’s strategic partnership with the United States.

Egypt has plans to issue between $2 billion and $4 billion in eurobonds in the first quarter of 2018, the country s finance minister Amr El-Garhy told state owned MENA agency. In statements to the agency, El-Garhy added that there were no more plans to issue more in the ongoing year 2017. Earlier this year, Egypt sold $7 billion in five, 10- and 30-year bonds, making a comeback to the international market for the first time since the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Egypt s giant gas field Zohr, recently discovered by Italian oil company Eni, is expected to produce some 500 million square feet (46.5 million cubic meters) of gas by the end of this year, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said on Tuesday. Descalzi s remarks came at a meeting with Egypt s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail in Cairo. The pair discussed work by Eni to develop the gas field as part of the company s Shorouk concession off Egypt s Mediterranean coast, including setting up infrastructure and deep and shallow water networks in cooperation with US-based oilfield services giant Schlumberger and Egypt s petrojet, state news agency MENA reported.

Egypt s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail witnessed on Tuesday the signing of six contracts with investment companies to execute industrial projects covering 16.2 million square metres in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. The projects include an agreement between businessman Ahmed Abu-Hashima and the head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish to establish a $5.5 billion iron factory in the region.

Egypt is set to chair during August the United Nations Security Council for the second time since its non-permanent membership in 2016, where it will work towards the elimination of weapon supplies to terrorists, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement. Foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said the initiative, which aims to follow up on the 2015 UN resolution 2253, comes in conjunction with Egypt heading the UN counter-terrorism committee in June 2017.

Egypt s trade deficit dropped by 43.8 percent in May compared to the same month last year, the state-run statistical body CAPMAS revealed on Monday. The trade deficit reached approximately $2.32 billion in May 2017 versus $4.14 billion a year earlier. Exports saw an 8.8 percent increase in May 2017 compared to May 2016, rising to $2.28 billion from $2.09 billion.

The issue of Egyptian news websites blocked by the government will be "resolved" in the coming week, the head of Egypt s journalists syndicate said on Sunday. In comments carried by state-run news agency MENA, Abdel-Mohsen Salama said the issue would be fixed within a week at the most, although he didn t say whether this meant those websites currently blocked would be unblocked.

The foreign ministers of four Arab nations – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE – said on Sunday that they will continue their boycott of Qatar and will not retreat on their demands, while stressing they would be ready for dialogue with the Gulf country if their demands are met. At a joint press conference in the Bahraini capital of Manama on Sunday, Bahrain s Foreign Minister Khaled bin Khalifa read out a joint statement asserting that the four nations will not backtrack on their 13 demands.

The UAE will back Egypt s candidate for the post of the director-general of UNESCO, Egypt s state-run agency MENA reported on Sunday. A statement by the UAE foreign ministry cited the "historical and brotherly relations between Egypt and the UAE, as well as Egypt s contribution to human civilisation and role in cultural and scientific progress."

Euromoney s annual gathering, the Euromoney Egypt Conference, will return to Cairo on 18-19 September for its 22nd edition to discuss growing opportunities for investment and partnership in Egypt. Victoria Behn, director of the Middle East and Africa at the Euromoney Conference, said that the conference is delighted to be working with the government of Egypt on an agenda that gives a comprehensive and compelling overview of Egypt s finance and investment outlook.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Thursday at a meeting of a high-level Egyptian-Jordanian commission in Amman that his country aims to bolster its investment and economic ties with Jordan. Ismail during his speech at the 27th round of the commission said that Cairo aims to “push forward trade and investment relations with Amman,” adding that the Egyptian government seeks to amend investment legislation to streamline doing business in Egypt.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree on Tuesday formally establishing the National Council to Combat Terrorism and Extremism, which will be tasked with "mobilising institutions and the public" to counter terrorism and its causes, state news agency MENA reported. The council, which is chaired by the presidency, will include the parliament speaker, the prime minister, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the Coptic Orthodox pope, as well as a number of ministers, including the defence, religious endowments, justice, interior and foreign ministers.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with Libya s Prime Minister Fayez Al-Serraj and the United Nations envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame in Paris on Tuesday, a foreign affairs ministry statement released early Wednesday read. According to the statement, Shoukry hailed the meeting that took place, also in Paris on Tuesday, between Al-Serraj and the divided country s eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, during which they both committed to a conditional ceasefire and and to work towards holding elections next spring, in talks chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Cairo has the second largest number of high net-worth individuals (HNWI) in Africa, coming in right after South Africa’s Johannesburg, which is home to the largest number with 18,200 HNWIs, according to AfrAsia Bank’s 2017 Africa Wealth Report. Home to 8,900 millionaires, 480 of whom are multi-millionaires, Cairo has almost 8 times more HNWIs than Egypt’s port city of Alexandria — where 1,800 millionaires reside.