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.

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir has said that Sudan shares a “joint destiny” with Egypt, asserting that Egyptian-Sudanese relations have improved since President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi assumed power. In a joint press conference with El-Sisi during a one-day visit to Cairo, Al-Bashir praised Egypt s role in the “security and stability” of Sudan, adding that there are parties "exaggerating what is happening in Sudan through the press and social media.”

The Energy and Environment Committee of the House of Representatives on Sunday approved a presidential decree on an agreement between Egypt and Cyprus to build a direct natural gas pipeline, which was signed in Nicosia on September 19, 2018. The agreement aims to facilitate the export of natural gas from Cyprus to Egypt through the establishment and operation of a direct sea pipeline from the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus, to natural gas liquefaction plants in Edku or Damietta in Egypt.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has said that the upcoming economic reform measures will not be as harsh as those that have already been implemented in the country. The president made the comments in a speech during a celebration of National Police Day on Wednesday, where he praised and saluted the Egyptian people for enduring the hardships brought about by the country s austerity measures.

Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Soukry said on Wednesday that an agreement has been reached with his Lithuanian counterpart Linas Antanas to establish an Egyptian-Lithuanian business council to give a push to economic relations between the two countries. Speaking at a joint press conference following his meeting with Antanas, Shoukry stressed that the exchange of visits between the Egyptian and Lithuanian officials reflects the two countries keenness on boosting bilateral relations.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has arrived at the Police Academy in New Cairo to attend a ceremony held by the Interior Ministry to celebrate National Police Day, which falls on 25 January. A number of senior officials and public figures, including Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik, attended the ceremony.

Egypt expects to receive the fifth tranche of its $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in late January or very early February, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Tarek Amer told Bloomberg Tuesday. The $2-billion installment had been due in December.

Egypt has discussed with the World Bank the possibility of financial support for priority sectors in development and infrastructure projects in Sinai, a statement by the Ministry of International Cooperation and Investment said on Tuesday. Minister Sahar Nasr met with the World Bank s Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgiev during the World Economic Forum in Davos, where they reviewed the bank s support for other projects in transportation and agriculture.

Around 50,000 state employees will be reassigned from their Cairo offices to their new offices in Egypt s New Administrative Capital in 2020, the country s planning ministry said on Monday. In press statements, the planning minister s spokesman Ramy Galal said that those selected for the transfer are currently undergoing training and aptitude tests, with the criteria including proficiency in Arabic, a foreign language, and computer skills.

A group of Egyptian naval and air troops have arrived in Bahrain to take part in the Hamad 3 exercise with Bahraini troops, the Egyptian armed forces have said. The armed forces said in a statement that the exercise would take place at the Issa Air Base in southern Bahrain.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi spoke with his French counterpart President Emmanuel Macron by phone on Sunday, his spokesman Bassam Radi said. According to the spokesman s statement, the two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation and the latest developments in regional issues of mutual interest.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire in Cairo on Sunday to discuss economic ties and bilateral relations. The meeting was attended by Egypts Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr and the French ambassador in Cairo. Egypts presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said that the French official conveyed greetings from French President Emmanuel Macron to his Egyptian counterpart, stressing his countrys interest in strengthening the strong and distinguished relations it has with Egypt as a cornerstone of stability in the Middle East. The French minister also affirmed Frances appreciation for President El-Sisis leadership, which has guided Egypt from difficult times to its current state of stability, praising the wise decisions that have led to positive economic development.

Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry participated in a tripartite meeting with his Iraqi and Jordanian counterparts on Sunday on the sidelines of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Beirut. The meeting discussed ways of enhancing economic, development and technical cooperation between the three countries.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has ratified the approval of a $500 million World Bank investment in Egypt s education reforms, to support increasing access to quality Kindergarten education, improve the quality of learning and adopt technology. The decision was published in Egypt s official gazette on Thursday. The project will expand access to quality Kindergarten education for around 500,000 children, train 500,000 teachers and education officials, while providing 1.5 million students and teachers with digital learning resources, according to the World Bank s press release on the loan in April 2018.

Egypt s foreign ministry says it is following up on investigations into the murder of an Egyptian national in Jordan, adding that his body was flown back to Cairo on Wednesday. Abdel-Gawad Ali, 30, died on Tuesday after a Jordanian stabbed him in the neck and head during a quarrel earlier this week in the northern city of Irbid. Local media reported that the knife s blade broke off in the victim s head, publishing images of an x-ray and the blood-stained blade.