International cooperation with strategic partners is a top priority, to achieve aspired common goals," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told the seventh preparatory ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing Sunday. Shoukry said the FOCAC 2018 meeting is being held at a critical time as the world is witnessing growing political challenges negatively affecting international cooperation, pointing out that poverty and poor rates of development continue to be the most salient challenges facing developing nations, especially in the African continent.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi flew to Bahrain on Thursday on the first leg of a three-nation tour that includes China and Uzbekistan, El-Sisi s office said in a statement. El-Sisi is due to hold talks with Bahrain s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and top Bahraini government officials about mutual ties and regional issues of mutual interest, presdiential spokesman Bassam Rady said.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) topped the priorities of both Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri s visit to Addis Ababa and his Sudanese counterpart s visit to Cairo this week. On Monday, Shoukri and Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel headed to Addis Ababa carrying a verbal message from President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced on Wednesday though the state-owned MENA news agency that, for the first time since 2010, the unemployment rate in the country has declined. According to PM Madbouly, the unemployment rate in 2018 is less than 10 percent for the first time since 2010.

Egypt s foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said on Wednesday that his country and Ethiopia must press ahead with diplomatic efforts and maintain regular communication to protect their mutual interests, seemingly referring to Addis Ababa s disputed dam project on the Nile river. The statement came a day after Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel met with Ethiopia s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa to follow up on talks over the Grand Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia s $4 billion hydroelectric mega project.

Egypt s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting on Tuesday with Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi on the future of oil and gas discoveries in Egypt, state agency MENA reported. During the meeting, Madbouly expressed his appreciation for the existing cooperation with Eni, citing the Zohr offshore field, the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.

Egypt s education ministry has started the second phase of its project to build 100 Japanese-style state schools, the website of the country s state television channel reported on Tuesday. Education Minister Tarek Shawky said in June that 45 of a total of 100 of the schools will open their doors to students in September, after registration opened in July.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed his keenness to develop brotherly relations between Egypt and Vietnam following a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang in Cairo. Speaking at a press conference, El-Sisi said Quang s visit was of special importance as it was the first visit by a Vietnamese president to Egypt since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries 55 years ago.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said on Sunday that it will not allow third parties to access bank account data belonging to companies or individuals, referring to a proposal by the country s Tax Authority to amend the law to allow access to account data by the finance ministry. In an official statement, CBE governor Tarek Amer said that the bank will not accept amendments to the income tax act that would allow the finance ministry access to company accounts.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said on Sunday that it will not allow third parties to access bank account data belonging to companies or individuals, referring to a proposal by the country s Tax Authority to amend the law to allow access to account data by the finance ministry. In an official statement, CBE governor Tarek Amer said that the bank will not accept amendments to the income tax act that would allow the finance ministry access to company accounts. The statements by Amer came a few hours after the head of the country s Tax Authority Emad Samy told Enterprise on Sunday that the finance ministry is seeking access to corporate bank data under proposed amendments to the income tax act to help combat tax evasion.

Former vice president of the Egyptian Petroleum Authority Medhat Youssef told Ahram Online that Egypt has nothing to fear over the ongoing renegotiations of the Cyprus natural gas deal, noting that it is a normal procedure that should be undertaken if there is a change in the market, including oil prices. Youssef added that the changes in the agreement that may happen will only guarantee benefits for every side involved including Egypt, Cyprus, and foreign investors.

Egypt s Minister of Planning Hala El-Saeed said on Thursday that a specialised committee of legal and economic experts has been formed to create the statutes of the newly introduced EGP 200 billion sovereign wealth fund known as the Egypt Fund. On Monday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified Law 177 of 2018 for the establishment of the Egypt Fund, which involves funding for utilising natural sources and attracting investments.

Egypt s Defence Minister Mohamed Zaki has concluded a two-day visit to Russia following high-level military meetings, according to a statement by Armed Forces spokesperson Tamer El-Refai. General Zaki and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu held a meeting to discuss several issues of mutual interest as well as the development of military relations and technical cooperation and exchanging expertise between the armed forces of both countries.

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla held on Wednesday talks with president of the US Apex International Energy company Thomas Maher over the West Badr El-Din and South East Meleiha concessions in Egypt s Western Desert. APEX won a seismic exploration tender at the West Badr El-Din (4,180 sq km) and South East Meleiha (2,535 sq km) concessions as part of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) 2016 bidding round. The company will drill nine exploratory wells at investments of $51.1 million.

Investors are looking forward to the announcement of the winning company for the tender to construct a 250 MW wind-power plant in the Gulf of Suez. The company that will execute the project will be selected from a short list of three including the German energy giant Siemens, the Danish Vestas Wind Systems Company, and Senvion, a wind-turbine manufacturer founded in Germany in 2001.

Egypt released 2,376 prisoners, including 627 debt defaulters, by a presidential pardon decree on Tuesday, the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, according to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior. The decree comes weeks after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi launched the initiative "Prisons Without Debt Defaulters", which aims to help some of the many people - disproportianetly women - who have been imprisoned because they failed to repay loans borrowed for family expenses.

Egyptian Muslims celebrated the first day of the annual four-day Eid Al-Adha holiday on Tuesday with prayers and animal sacrifices. Muslims across the country crowded mosques and prayer grounds in the early morning to recite prayers for the religious holiday, which runs from 21 August to 24 August this year, after which the sacrifice of goats and cows took place.

The Egyptian navy has carried out training exercises with their Italian, South Korean, and Greek counterparts in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, a statement by the Egyptian military said on Monday. In an official statement, Egyptian armed forces spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said a number of Egyptian naval vessels participated in training with Italian and Greek vessels, carrying out joint exercises in the Mediterranean.

Egyptian Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki and a high-level military delegation left Cairo on Sunday, commencing an official visit to Russia. The delegation is scheduled to attend the fifth meeting of the joint Egyptian-Russian Military Committee and the International Military-Technical Forum “ARMY-2018”, which the regional power will host from August 21 to 26.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ratified on Saturday a 45-article law combating extremist and terrorist organisations using the internet to carry out terrorist attacks. ADVERTISING inRead invented by Teads Law 175 in the year 2018, titled "Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes," was published on Saturday by the official Egyptian Gazette. It prohibits "the dissemination of information on the movements of the army or police, the promotion of the ideas of terrorist organisations." The law s first chapter on penalties, from article 14 to 22, covers crimes of hacking information systems. Article 20 imposes a fine ranging from EGP 50,000 to EGP 200,000 and a two-year prison sentence on individuals convicted of hacking state information systems. The second chapter, from article 24 to 25, tackles crimes committed via information systems and technologies, and crimes related to emails. Those found guilty of creating an email, a private account or a website using the name of another person or institution can be sentenced to three months in prison and fined between EGP 10,000 and EGP 30,000. According to artical 7 of the new law, websites that publish material posing a threat to the country s security or economy can be blocked through a judicial process. The newly passed law was originally approved by the Egyptian parliament in May 2018.