Egyptian MPs approved on Sunday a new 23-article law aimed at regulating the National Council of Women (NCW), bringing it in line with the 2014 constitution and international conventions signed by Egypt, according to a report prepared by parliament s social solidarity committee. “The law was primarily drafted to go in line with Articles 11 and 53 of the constitution, which state that men and women are equal in terms of civilian, political, economic, social and cultural rights, that citizens are equal before the law regardless of religion, gender, colour, and language, and that the state will take all measures necessary to eliminate all forms of discrimination in society,” the report said.

Cairo International Airport authorities denied an American diplomat entry to Egypt on Saturday as he did not have an Egyptian visa. The US diplomat arrived from Dubai carrying a diplomatic passport, but it did not have an Egyptian visa. So, in conformity with the equal treatment principles, airport authorities could not let him in.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi praised on Thursday growing cooperation between Cairo and Lisbon as he received his Portuguese counterpart in the Egyptian capital, in the first such visit by a Portuguese president in more than two decades. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and El-Sisi held "constructive talks" in which they discussed cooperation between the two countries over the past two years, El-Sisi told a press conference broadcast live on state television.

The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy denied news reports claiming new hikes in electricity prices, dismissing them as mere speculation. The ministry said in a statement that it is keen to adhere to the policy of transparency in dealing with the public, adding that the Electricity Minister will hold a press conference after the adoption of new prices by the Cabinet.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Cypriot foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides have agreed to bolster energy cooperation as well as economic and trade ties during talks in Cairo on Wednesday, Egyptian and Cypriot officials have said. El-Sisi highlighted Cairo s "keenness to bolster ties with Cyprus in all fields and praised ongoing tripartite cooperation with Greece, namely in energy in the Eastern Mediterranean," Egypt s presidency spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will inaugurate within days the Middle East’s largest cement pant, opening in the Beni Suef governorate on the Eastern Desert Road. The Armed Forces Engineering Authority began to make the finishing touches to the opening of the plant in April, and the factory was inspected by the head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Kamel al-Wazir to follow-up the final touches, in preparation for its opening.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan arrived in Cairo on Tuesday ahead of a scheduled meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt s state TV said. The state TV website quoted El-Sisi s office spokesman Bassam Rady as saying Al-Nahyan would meet El-Sisi at the start of a two-day visit to Egypt, but he gave no further details.

Egypt’s General Authority for Free Zone and Investment (GAFI) was selected on Tuesday the regional director of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) for the Middle East and North Africa. GAFI had been selected for the same post in 2006 when Ziad Bahaa al-Din presided over the authority. Members of the steering committee of WAIPA voted for Egypt after it competed with the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority, the Palestinian Investment Promotion Agency, the Lebanese Investment Development Authority, and the Tunisian Investment Promotion Agency.

Egypt s Minister of Transport Hisham Arafat has announced a project to revamp the national railway network, with EGP 55 billion to be invested up to 2022. During a surprise visit to Giza railway station on the Sham El-Neseem holiday, Arafat told reporters that Egypt has “a clear and comprehensive plan to develop all aspects of the railway system, whether in infrastructure, tractors, train carriages and signals,” Al-Ahram Arabic news website.

Egypt will raise up to 2 billion euro with its planned dual-tranche bond, which is expected to price later on Monday, a document from one of the banks arranging the debt offering showed. The debt sale - Egypt s first public bond denominated in euro - received orders in excess of 7.2 billion euro, split evenly across the proposed eight-year and 12-year tranches.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed on Friday in the wake of a meeting held in Sudan to reach a compromise between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), that consultations had not produced significant results that could be announced. All outstanding issues were discussed, Shoukry said in a press statement after the 16-hour meeting, including ways to implement the instructions issued by the leaders of the three countries regarding a path out of the stalemate in negotiations regarding technical impacts

The economic reforms in Egypt are starting to bear fruit, with the domestic deficit shrinking by 67 percent in the current fiscal year, Bloomberg said. The victory of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the election is expected to pave the way for further economic reforms, Bloomberg added.

Yemeni President Abd-Rabo Mansour Hadi congratulated his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on his re-election in a phone call on Wednesday, Egypt s presidential spokesperson Bassem Rady said in a statement. During the phone call, Hadi reaffirmed Yemen s intention to further develop the two countries mutually beneficial cooperation in many areas.

Egypt s acting General Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Tuesday to discuss the latest Egyptian efforts to secure Palestinian reconciliation as well as cooperation between Egypt and Palestine, Palestinian news agency Maan reported. Abbas said during the meeting that he values Egypt s support of the Palestinian cause.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is due to fly to Khartoum on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, for talks with Sudanese and Ethiopian officials aimed at resolving an impasse over the hydroelectric dam Addis Ababa is building on a Nile tributary. The gathering will include foreign and water ministers as well as intelligence officials from the three countries, in a fresh bid to end a standoff in negotiations over the $4 billion Grand Renaissance Dam over the Blue Nile, which Egypt fears could greatly diminish its share of Nile water.

Egypt’s parliament approved unanimously on Monday a law to set up a Supreme Council to confront terrorism and extremism. The new council replaces the National Council for Counter Terrorism and Extremism, which was established by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in July.

Egypt s National Elections Authority (NEA) has declared Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi the winner of the nation s 2018 presidential elections, securing a second four-year term after winning 21,835,378 votes or 97.08 percent of valid votes. At a press conference in Cairo on Monday, the NEA said that 24,254,152 citizens voted in the elections at home and abroad, out of near 59 million eligible voters, representing a turnout of 41.5 percent.

Egypt s foreign reserves reached $42.611 billion at the end of March, a rise of nearly $87 million from $42.524 billion at the end of February, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said on Monday. The nation s foreign reserves have been climbing since it secured a $12 billion three-year loan from the International Monetary Fund in 2016, as part of efforts to woo foreign investors and revive Egypt s economy.

North Cairo Court ordered on Saturday two anonymous companies to pay compensation worth of US$7.7 million to the Egyptian government due to carrying out work damaging to the environment, which violated provisions of the environmental law.

Egypt s National Elections Authority said late on Saturday that it would announce the final and official presidential election results on Monday, holding a press conference for the purpose at 3pm Cairo time. According to preliminary results leaked to the media last week, the incumbent, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, has achieved a landslide victory, securing over 90 percent of the vote, confidently beating his only opponent Moussa Mostafa Moussa.

Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Sunday with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman El-Safadi for discussions on the escalation of tensions along the Israel-Gaza border that saw the Israeli military kill 16 Palestinian protesters at the weekend. On Friday, Israeli military snipers opened fire on Palestinians protesting along the border as part of the annual "Land Day" demonstrations against Israeli settlements.