A bomb exploded on Sunday morning, between 9.30 am and 10.00 am near Mar Girgis Church in Tanta, Al-Gharbeya, leaving 13 killed and 42 injured so far, local media reported.
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said he will impose a state of emergency countrywide for three months, following attacks on churches in Tanta and Alexandria on Sunday.
Suicide attacks on two churches in Tanta and Alexandria triggered sharp reactions in Egypt's parliament – the House of Representatives.
Following the deadly attacks on Egyptian Churches in Tanta and Alexandria, which left 45 dead and 118 injured, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ordered the deployment of army forces to secure state institutions all over the country.
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi told Fox News on Wednesday that he may use his authority in the case of imprisoned Egyptian-American activist Aya Hegazi, once the court has reached a verdict. Fox News' Bret Baier asked the president if her name had come up in discussions with the US administration. "We always act with respect for the law and the judiciary," the Egyptian president told Baier, speaking in Arabic.
As part of the bilateral military co-operation between Egypt and France, Dassault Aviation, a multinational Rafale fighter manufacturing company named based in France, delivered three Rafale fighters to Egypt on Wednesday which represents the third batch of the total deal of 24 fighters, according to a statement released by the official army spokesperson on Facebook. This Egypt-France deal is the first of its kind. For France to sell Rafale fighters to any country, as was the case in February 2015, was unprecedented.
Egypt has strongly condemned what it described as the "indiscriminate bombardment" of Khan Sheikhoun town in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, which resulted in the death and injury of hundreds on Tuesday. In a statement the Egyptian foreign ministry said that the "painful and unacceptable" images of the massacre reaffirm the necessity of reaching a political solution to end the crisis in Syria, in light of the international community decisions and UN Security Council Resolution 2254, as well as the Geneva Conventions.
Privately-run newspaper El-Watan sent out a controversial SMS on Tuesday night containing the news that a number of high-ranking army officials affiliated to former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq are planning for carry out a military coup. A screenshot of the SMS was quickly circulated via social media outlets so that the message could be seen by those not subscribed to the newspaper's SMS news service.
A delegation of 15 Egyptian MPs flew to Moscow on Monday for talks with Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom, which is due to construct Egypt's first nuclear power station at El-Dabaa, 130 northwest of Cairo.
Daqahlia prosecutors started investigation into a claim filed by a young man accusing an illegal currency trader of abducting and of torturing him using a whip and hot coals to force him to confess to stealing $3 million from a property owned by the defendant in Gamsa area. The family of the young man named Mohamed Gamal al-Bakry, 30, filed a claim with Belqas Police Station accusing a currency trader and others of abducting the victim and torturing him. The victim was transferred to Belqas General Hospital to receive medical treatment for his injuries.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with US President Donald Trump on Monday, where the two announced they would be cooperating in the fight against terrorism. El-Sisi praised Trump's "unique personality" and stressed Egypt's support of the US in the fight against terrorism, to which Trump said, "we will do that together."
Lawyer Khaled Ali filed a lawsuit at the Administrative Court against a ruling by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters that had overturned a verdict that included annulling the Egyptian-Saudi maritime demarcation agreement. The court ruling was issued on Sunday, thereby continuing the activation of the agreement seeking the transfer of the Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia.
At least 16 people, including 13 police conscripts, were injured in a bomb blast in the Egyptian Nile Delta city of Tanta in the vicinity of a police training centre, the interior ministry said on Saturday. "The bomb was planted in a motorcycle parked near the centre and the area has been cordoned off and is being combed by security forces," the ministry said in a statement. A health ministry official in Tanta said all the injured are receiving treatment in hospital, including three civilians.
Egypt has received the second $500 million tranche of a $1.5 billion loan package from the African Development Bank (AfDB), Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said in a statement late Friday. The AfDB loan is intended to support government programmes that aim to achieve social and economic development by creating new jobs and improving the business environment.
Suez Criminal Court on Saturday handed down a lifetime jail sentence against a judge arrested in possession of dozens of kilograms of cannabis in November 2016. The court found the defendant guilty of possessing and trafficking in 71 kg of cannabis, forming a gang for that purpose, taking drugs, and possessing an automatic weapon. The court also indicted the Egyptian-Polish woman who was accompanying the judge and the driver. The court found them both guilty in drug trafficking, with each handed 10 years in prison and a fine of LE50,000.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, King Abdullah of Jordan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas affirmed their commitment to a two-state solution to the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict in a tripartite gathering in Jordan on Wednesday. The talks between the three leaders, held on the sidelines of the Arab League Summit by the Dead Sea, emphasised "Egypt's and Jordan's backing for the legitimate rights of Palestinians, in addition to setting up an independent Palestinian state," according to a statement by Egypt's presidency late on Wednesday.
The opening session of the 28th Ordinary Session of the Arab Summit, held Wednesday, turned over a new leaf for relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and 15 Arab leaders, presidents, kings and princes attended the session. The seat for Syria remained vacant, even though its flag was lifted, as its membership has been frozen since 2012 due to a previous decision by the Arab League.
The CEO of Rosneft, the majority state-owned Russian oil company, said on Monday that the first gas production from Egypt's super giant Zohr gas field is scheduled by the end of 2017, according to state-run news agency MENA.
A source with the Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency announced that the agency has finalized proposals on a new increase in electricity rates, expected to be applied starting July 2017, al-Shorouk news website reported on Tuesday.
The Nile Basin Initiative's council of ministers commenced on Monday a meeting in Uganda's Entebbe with the participation of Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Ati to discuss concerns over the Cooperative Framework Agreement, state news agency MENA reported.
In a meeting of the Egyptian parliament's human rights committee, Deputy Foreign Minister for Human Rights Laila Bahaaeddin accused the Obama administration of painting a "bleak view" of the human rights situation in Egypt.
Mina M. Azer
The Coptic Christians are used to eat taro and reeds at the feast of Epiphany, which commemorates the baptizing of Jesus Christ in Jordan River.