The head of Egypt s State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan has dismissed rumours that he was handpicked by the state to run for head of the country s Journalists Syndicate. Rashwan, who headed the syndicate from 2013 to 2015, has said that he will be running for the post of syndicate head in the upcoming elections, set to be held in March.

Egypt s interior ministry said on Tuesday that the suicide bomber who blew himself up behind Al-Azhar Mosque on Monday had been planning further attacks. Upon searching the 37-year-old man s apartment in Cairo s Darb Al-Ahmar, police found a number of explosive devices and raw materials used in making explosives.

Minister of Communications Amr Talaat and top judge of the Supreme Constitutional Court Hanafi Ali al-Gebali on Sunday launched the first online judicial platform in Africa, during African Higher and Constitutional Courts’ Top Judges conference in Cairo. The platform will publish court verdicts of African courts and share experiences between the African judges. Gebali said that the platform would also present explanation on contents of the African constitutional court’s verdicts.

Three people are dead and one injured in the Monday collapse of a residential building in Ibn Masoud alley at Youssef al-Hakem street in Alexandria, Ahram’s Arabic online gate reported. Civil Protection Forces (CPF) has recovered the dead bodies and transferred them to the al-Issaf morgue in Kom al-Deka at Beheira governorate, while the injured person was transferred into the Public al-Gomhorya Hospital.

Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi held a meeting on Sunday with the Supreme Council of Armed Forces following his return from Germany.

Mohamed ELBaradei, former Egyptian vice president for foreign affairs and former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency has criticized the recent constitutional amendments passed by Egypt’s House of Representatives, describing them as “null”, CNN reported. “The constitutional amendments are null, whether it is rejected as it should be or approved, because it undermines the most important principles of constitutional legitimacy, such as the separation of powers and the transfer of power,” he said in a tweet on his official Twitter account.

Egypt s parliament has overwhelmingly approved constitutional amendments that would extend the length of presidential terms and allow President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to run for two more terms after his second term expires in 2022. The amendments could potentially allow President El-Sisi to remain in power until 2034. Some 485 members of the 596-seat assembly approved the changes, parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal said after a general voting session on Thursday. This makes up more than the two-thirds majority required to pass any changes to the country s national charter. The approval is a major step towards moving forward with the constitutional changes, which are now expected to be referred to parliament s legislative and constitutional committee to prepare a report in no more than 60 days.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi flew to Germany early Thursday for a major global security forum in the city of Munich, a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency said. El-Sisi will be one of 35 heads of states and government to take part in the Munich Security Conference 2019, focused on international security policy. Experts from across the globe will tackle the future of arms control and cooperation in defence policy, the connection between trade and international security, as well as the effects of climate change and technological innovation on international security.

Newly appointed Minister of Housing and Urban Utilties Asem El-Gazzar was sworn-in before President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to assume office Wednesday, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Utilities portfolio was previously maintained by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who served this role since 2014.

Egyptian MPs started discussing on Wednesday a 26-page report prepared by a parliamentary sub-committee on proposed constitutional amendments, and are expected to vote in principle on Thursday in favour of the proposed changes. The report will then be referred to parliament s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee to be discussed in detail in a series of hearing sessions.

Petroleum Minister Tarek el Mulla announced on Tuesday the winners of a tender of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) which was launched in May 2018 and a 2018 tender of EGAS. During a press conference on the fringe of EGYPS 2019, Mulla said investments of the two tenders are expected to hit about dlrs 800 million.

The US embassy in Cairo said on Tuesday that it will host its annual job fair Sha3 lna on 23 February from 10am to 6pm at the Pyramisa Hotel in Giza. "This fair will provide Egyptian job-seekers with access to thousands of verified job vacancies in over a dozen different industries, offered by over 75 American, Egyptian, and multi-national companies," the embassy said in a statement.

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.