Flights from Russia to Egypt s popular Red Sea resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada may be fully resumed soon, a Russian Federation Council official said on Tuesday. Russia suspended air traffic with Egypt in October 2015 after the crash of a Russian passenger flight from Egypt s popular tourist resort of Sharm El-Sheikh killed all 224 people on board. However, flights were resumed from and to the capital Cairo in April 2018, ending a more than two-and-a-half-year suspension.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry announced that during the sidelines of the EU-Arab League summit, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday to discuss the latest updates in the Giulio Regeni murder case, alongside reviewing economic and diplomatic relations between the two countries. He added that the meeting was a good opportunity to enhance ties between Italy and Egypt, especially after controversy brought on by the murder case.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called on Arab and European nations to “overcome what could divide us” at the closing session of the first-ever EU-Arab League summit, which has been taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh. "We have successfully convened; yet our successful cooperation is pending your work, because you will be the ones who will reap the benefits of this mutual cooperation," El-Sisi said in his speech to the summit on Sunday, as he praised the Arab-European partnership.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced on Sunday that Egyptian cotton exports in the period between September and November 2018 reached 128,300 metric quintals compared to the same period last year, representing around 45.1 percent increase. The Agency said in its quarterly newsletter for the first quarter of the 2018-2019 agricultural year that total consumption rates of domestic cotton reached 25,700 metric quintals, compared to 5,440 metric quintals during the same period of the previous year, recording a decrease of 42.2 percent due to the production suspension by some textile factories.

Egypt’s government will construct eight international universities in the New Administrative Capital by 2020, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar announced during his visit to the University of Canada in Egypt (UCE) on Sunday. President of the UCE, Debbie MacLellan, and Chief of the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces Kamel Waziri accompanied Abdel Ghafar during his inspection of the university’s course of study, which will serve as a likely model for the future universities.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will inaugurate Sunday the first ever European Union-Arab League Summit scheduled 24-25 February in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Shiekh. The summit will be chaired jointly by European Council President Donald Tusk and El-Sisi. With the participation of more than 50 European Union and Arab League (AL) member states, the EU-AL Summit is the first ever to bring together heads of states and government from both sides.

EU Delegate to Egypt Ivan Surkos said that 24 presidents and prime ministers out of 28 European Union member states will come to Sharm El-Sheikh this week to attend first ever EU-Arab League Summit scheduled 24-25 February. The summit will be chaired jointly by European Council President Donald Tusk and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The left-leaning 25-30 parliamentary bloc was the most vociferous opposition group opposed to proposed changes to the constitution and its ire was directed mainly at amendments increasing the presidential term from four to six years Ahmed Al-Tantawi, a member of the bloc, said the proposals were “a setback, and clearly tailored to benefit a figure whose name we all know”.

The daughter of Egypt s late chief prosecutor Hisham Barakat, who was killed in a 2015 bomb attack, has denied claiming that those executed over the killing were innocent. Barakat s daughter, Marwa, said on Wednesday afternoon that her official Facebook account had been hacked, hours after a post shared from her account said that those executed earlier on Wednesday had been unfairly convicted.

Egypt has issued $4 billion in dollar denominated bonds with maturities of five, 10 and 30 years in a sale that was five times oversubscribed, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. The issue included $750 million in five-year bonds with a return of 6.2 percent, $1.75 billion in 10-year bonds with a return of 7.6 percent and 1.5 billion in 30-year bonds, with a return of 8.7 percent, the ministry said.

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.