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.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain have issued a joint statement on Monday designating nine entities and nine people as involved in terrorist activities and linked to the Arab gulf state of Qatar, state-run news agency MENA reported. In a joint statement, nine charity entities were listed as linked to “terrorism" supported by Qatar, with three based in Yemen and six in Libya.

Egypt s foreign reserves are now close to $35 billion, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced during a question-and-answer forum at the Fourth National Youth conference in Alexandria on Monday. “I am doing my best, Egyptians. Are you fulfilling your duties?” El-Sisi said, addressing the attendees and television audience.

Egypt s Fourth National Youth Conference started on Monday in the coastal city of Alexandria, with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in attendance. The two-day conference is scheduled to address the Egypt 2030 Development Plan – the ambitious development programme formulated by the government, the private sector and NGOs, which has been two years in the making. The conference is the most recent in a series of events in Sharm El-Sheikh, Aswan and Ismailia aimed at tackling issues of direct relevance to Egypt s young people, including enhancing their political participation and preparing them for future leadership roles.

The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation received correspondence from Russian authorities stating security delegates from the Russian Ministry of Transport, specialized in airport security, would be sent to Cairo Monday evening to review the latest security developments at Egyptian airports, specifically Terminal 2 at Cairo Airport, the airports of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada. Sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm, Monday, that this step was “positive from the Russian side, especially after talks of suspension in this regard for more than 3 months.

The Arab League will hold an emergency ministerial meeting on Wednesday to discuss recent Israeli escalations against Palestinians, according to an Arab League statement on Sunday. "At the request of the Kingdom of Jordan, supported by a number of the member states, it was decided to hold an emergency meeting of the Council of the League of Arab States Foreign Ministers on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the latest attacks and Israeli actions in the city of Jerusalem and on the compound of Al- Aqsa Mosque," the Arab League spokesman said in a statement reported by state-run news agency MENA. On Friday, Israel closed the Al-Aqsa compound for Friday prayers after it installed metal detectors at its entrances, citing security concerns.

Naval forces rescued a tourist boat from drowning off the coast of Hurghada, the military spokesperson announced on Sunday.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi asserted on Saturday that Egypt is going two main struggles which are countering terrorism and achieving social and economic development during his speech in the inauguration ceremony of the newly established Mohamed Naguib military base West of Alexandria in the Matrouh governorate. Al-Sisi greeted the Egyptian people for enduring the difficulties of economic developments, adding that he feels proud in front of the international community that the Egyptian have supported the economic policies. He also talked about the phenomenon of terrorism adding that it is a complicated issue with several problems, the most important of which is the support of countries and foreign entities. He asserted that the fight against terrorism should not be limited to the field but should expand to counter its financial, logistical sources.

Egypt s agricultural exports rose 12.1 percent during the first half of 2017, reaching 3.5 million tonnes compared to 3.1 million last year, agriculture ministry spokesman Hamid Abdel Dayim said on Wednesday. Egypt s agricultural exporters have seen a surge in demand since the country floated its currency last November, allowing it to roughly halve in value as part of reforms tied to a three-year $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan agreement.

The US Department of State issued a message on Wednesday warning citizens to consider the risks of traveling to Egypt due to the presence of IS and other militant groups in the country’s northern region. The cautionary statement highlighted the heavy security measures undertaken by the Egyptian government at major tourist sites such as Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada. However, it noted that terrorist groups have executed multiple attacks in Egypt, targeting government officials and security forces, public venues, tourist sites, civil aviation and other modes of public transportation and diplomatic facilities. The message also shed light on recent attacks on religious sites, namely, local Coptic churches and people associated with them.

Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is set to visit Baghdad on Wednesday to congratulate the Iraqi government on its victory over Daesh forces in Mosul, Egypt s foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu-Zeid said on Tuesday. Iraq declared victory in Mosul this week after a nearly nine-month battle that ravaged the city and took a heavy toll on residents and security forces.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that projected time frame for establishing the electric train between Salam City and the New Administrative Capital should be reduced to be completed within two years only. He said that the project will provide a safe and modern means of transportation for commuters between Greater Cairo, and the New Administrative Capital, as well as facilitate the transport of goods and production materials to and from the cities and industrial areas located along the railway line.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has received the final instalment of the first $4 billion tranche of a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), state-run news agency MENA reported on Tuesday. The deposit follows the IMF executive board s approval of the first review of the loan, said MENA. According to an informed source at the CBE, the bank received the instalment on Tuesday. On Friday, the IMF s executive board approved the first review of a $12 billion loan to Egypt and has disbursed $1.25 billion, the final instalment of the first $4 billion tranche of the loan, the IMF said in a statement.

North Giza prosecutors ordered the detention of 10 residents of Warraq island, Giza, for 15 days pending investigation into clashes that broke out between residents and police who were demolishing illegally built houses on the island on Sunday. The clashes led to the death of one resident and injury of 25. Thirty-one police officers were also injured.

Three recent major gas-field discoveries will make Egypt self-sufficient in natural gas by 2020, Egypt s petroleum minister Tarek El-Molla said on Monday. In statements reported by state-run news agency MENA, El-Molla said the discoveries will help raise natural-gas output to 50 percent of the nation s needs in 2018 and 100 percent in 2020.

Egypt expects to receive a third loan instalment worth $2 billion from the International Monetary Fund between December and January following a next review between November and December, Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy told Reuters on Monday.

Tourism minister Yehia Rashed said on Saturday that there have been no reports of foreign tourists cancelling trips to Egypt following Friday s deadly knife attack in Hurghada that left two German tourists dead. Rashed made the comments to TV talk-show host Amr Adib on his programme Kol Youm late on Saturday. The minister said that his ministry had been in touch with tour operators abroad, including in Germany, and that no cancellations had been reported. The ministry would continue to monitor the situation, he said.

Egypt s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Sunday that it is necessary for the state to reclaim its land, following clashes that erupted between the police and residents of Warraq Island in Cairo when police attempted to remove illegal encroachments on state property. One civilian was killed in the clashes and 19 were injured, while 31 police personnel were also injured. State-news agency reported Ismail as saying that the state s efforts to reclaim state lands started in May, and that the state began this campaign “to restore the people s rights.” Ismail also said that over 700 judicial decrees have been issued ordering illegal properties on Greater Cairo s Warraq Island be removed, and that property owners can still legalise their illegally-build properties. He also said that no agricultural land will be evacuated or destroyed.

The US dollar exchange rate witnessed a relatively high increase against the Egyptian pound, and a slight fluctuation among banks at the beginning of Saturday morning trading, where it exceeded the limit of LE18 in private banks, and remained relatively stable in government banks.