Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said his country s 2019 chairmanship of the African Union underlined Cairo s close ties with African countries. Speaking to Extra News TV channel on Sunday, the minister hailed June 30 uprising and efforts exerted by the Egyptian people to preserve security, stability and economic progress.

Egypt s annual urban consumer price inflation increased to 12.7 percent in January from 12.0 percent in December, the CAPMAS statistics agency said on Sunday, though the data was unlikely to quell speculation the central bank may soon cut rates. Inflation had cooled in December after an increase in fuel, electricity and transportation prices last year had sent the rate up to a high of 17.7 percent in October.

The secretary-general of Egypt s parliament Ahmed Saadeddin announced Sunday that plenary meetings will be held on Wednesday morning to take a provisional vote on a report prepared by the general assembly on proposed constitutional amendments. The amendments aim to increase the length of presidential term from four to six years, appoint a vice president, amend regulations on the judiciary and recreate a second upper house by the name of the Senate.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi participated on Sunday in a tripartite summit with Ethiopia s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir in Addis Ababa to discuss the issue of Ethiopia s Renaissance Dam, a statement by Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady read. The tripartite summit was an extension of meetings that took place between the three leaders after the African Summit in January 2018. The aim of the meetings is to support the technical negotiations on Ethiopia s Renaissance Dam and overcome any obstacles in this regard.

Egypt s Congress Party – founded by former foreign minister Amr Moussa and currently led by Omar Simida – announced on Thursday that they support new amendments to the constitution proposed by 155 MPs. The proposed amendments were approved in principle by parliament s general committee in a meeting on Tuesday morning and are expected to be voted on in principle on 17 February in a plenary meeting.

Sudan has implemented a decision made in October 2018 to lift a near two-year ban on Egyptian agricultural products, Sudanese media reported Wednesday. In press statements carried by the Sudan Media Centre (SMC), the undersecretary of the Sudanese Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Abdel-Rahman Agab Ahmed, said the decision to lift the ban on Egyptian products has been implemented officially.

In an official statement Wednesday, Egypt s Conservatives Party said it has decided to reject the constitutional amendments proposed by 155 MPs, or a fifth of parliament s deputies. The party, led by oil tycoon and MP Akmal Qortam, said the proposed amendments reflect the wish of a handful of MPs, not popular will or a mass demand.

Egypt s Parliament approved by majority vote in a general session on Tuesday amendments to some provisions of the Income Tax Law no. 95 of 2005. The bill includes amending the last paragraph of Article 58 by separating the treasury bills and bonds in a separate revenue pot, without imposing new taxes on these treasury bills and bonds and maintaining the same rate tax rate of 32 percent mentioned in the amended article.

Egypt s Meteorological Authority (EMA) predicts thunderstorms, rains and dusty winds on Wednesday. This unstable weather comes following hot temperatures on Tuesday that reached nearly 30 degrees Celsuis throughout the country. Meteorologists also forecast a significant drop in temperature starting Wednesday in the northern parts of the country.

Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry travelled on Monday to Addis Ababa to take part in preliminary meetings of the African Union (AU) summit. The minister will lead the Egyptian delegation in meetings of the African ministerial committees on Wednesday and the AU executive council at the level of foreign ministers on Feb. 7-8 in preparation for the 32nd African summit to be held on Feb. 10-11.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Sunday that Egypt is keen on implementing the highest international standards of nuclear security and safety at the under-construction El-Dabaa power plant. The president made the remarks during a meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano, in the presence of Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker.

The general committee of the Egyptian parliament issued a statement on Sunday evening detailing several main issues discussed in its first meeting to discuss proposed amendments to the country s constitution. Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal had announced in a morning plenary session on Sunday that he had received a written petition, signed by more than fifth of MPs, asking that some articles of Egypt s 2014 constitution be amended. “No fair person would deny that the test of reality shows some of the 2014 constitution s articles need some revision; there is nothing wrong in doing this; the experiences of other countries testify to this,” Abdel-Aal said.

Egypt s foreign ministry said on Sunday that it has secured the released of five Egyptian fishermen who had been detained by Iran since December for illegally entering the country s waters. "As part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs keenness on the safety and welfare of Egyptian citizens abroad, the ministry s efforts were successful in releasing five Egyptian sailors detained by the Iranian authorities, after all legal procedures were completed," a statement by ministry spokesperson Ahmed Hafez read.

Egypt parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal announced in a morning plenary session Sunday that he had received a written petition, signed by more than fifth of the total number of MPs, asking that “some articles of Egypt s 2014 Constitution be amended.” “In line with Article 141 of parliament s internal by-laws, I decided to refer the petition to the general committee to discuss it in a meeting today after the end of the plenary session,” said Abdel-Aal, adding that, “In line with Article 133 of internal by-laws, the committee should prepare a report on the petition, recommending whether it be approved or rejected.”

French President Emmanuel Macron s three-day visit to Egypt included the signing of a plethora of business deals as well as visits to cultural sites. But what grasped the attention of the international as well as local media was talk about the human rights situation in Egypt. The subject surfaced during a joint press conference held by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and Macron during which the French president expressed his hopes that Egypt would handle human rights differently.

The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Soad al-Khouly, the former deputy governor of Alexandria, to 12 years in prison and a fine of LE 5,000, and dismissed her from her job over charges of receiving bribes. The court confiscated LE 520,000 and a gold necklace that were in her possession as well. The court also sentenced Akram Abdel Moaty al-Dakkak, director of the environmental affairs department of Alexandria governorate, to one year in prison and a suspension for three years.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly says that recent statements by the IMF s managing director praising the state of Egypt s economy indicate that the country is on the right track with its ongoing economic reform programme. Last week, the International Monetary Fund s (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde said that Egypt has made substantial progress as evident in the success achieved in macroeconomic stabilisation.

During a visit to Egypt s Al-Azhar Sheikhdom headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron told Al-Azhar s Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb that France appreciates the institution s role in combating extremist ideas. Macron s visit to Al-Azhar wraps up his first official trip to Egypt, which started on Sunday with a stop at Aswan, where he visited Abu Simbel Temple.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi says that Egyptian authorities do not use force against unarmed demonstrators, stressing that protesting is a right guaranteed by law and the constitution. The president made the comments during a joint press conference with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, where the two leaders exchanged viewpoints on the issue of human rights.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his wife Entissar El-Sisi received French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron at Cairo s Ittihadiya presidential palace on Monday, before the two presidents started a closed session of talks. The French head of state began a three-day trip to Egypt on Sunday with a first stop at Aswan, where he visited Abu Simbel Temple.

Egypt will issue new green bonds and Asian currency-denominated bonds for the first time in addition to dollar and Eurobonds in the fiscal year 2018/19, the finance ministry said on Monday. Four international investment banks — Goldman Sachs, Citibank, JP Morgan and HSBC — have been selected by Egypt to issue the dollar-denominated bonds.