An Egyptian woman who made headlines during a controversial 2018 interview with the BBC, where she claimed that her daughter had been tortured and disappeared by security services, has been released under probationary measures On Tuesday, a criminal court ordered the release on Mona Mahmoud – Um Zubaida – after nearly one year in detention on charges including "publishing and broadcasting false news that could harm the country s national interests" and joining an illegal group, in reference to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs Nabila Makram told MPs on Monday that the number of Egyptians living in African states reached 46,000 in 2018, with 40,000 of those in South Africa. In a meeting with members of parliament s African affairs committee, Makram said that “it was previously believed that the number of Egyptians working and living in different African states reached one million in 2018, but this is not correct, as the official figures of the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) show that the number does not exceed 46,000.”

Egypt s Deputy Foreign Minister for African Affairs Hamdi Sanad Loza says that Egypt treats all refugees equally regardless of nationality, adding that the Egyptian government is also keen on providing international protection for them from an ethical point of view. Loza made the comments at a meeting with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi, who is currently on a three-day visit to Egypt.

Egypts parliament – the House of Representatives – approved on Sunday a three-month extension of a nationwide state of emergency. Parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal told MPs that President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi issued a presidential decree (no.17/2019) extending the state of emergency for three months, starting 1am on 15 January 2019. "The decree, which goes in line with Article 154 of the constitution, requires the approval of a two-thirds majority of MPs," said Abdel-Aal.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held bilateral talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II arriving in Amman on Sunday, followed by a session of extended talks between delegations of the two countries. Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency, Bassam Rady, said that the talks reviewed the latest regional and international developments. The two sides exchanged views on the Palestinian cause and prospects for the Middle East peace process.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Thursday in Cairo with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, where he stressed Egypt s keenness to enhance bilateral and strategic relations with the US on all levels. The meeting was attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and the chief of Egypt s General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel.

Egypt s Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly attended on Wednesday the signing of an agreement to purify the country s Kitchener Drain at a cost of €148.3 million. The agreement was signed by Minister of Water Resources Mohamed Abdel-Ati and Katrina Hansen, deputy director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the presence of Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr.

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Egypt “in the coming weeks,” French ambassador to Cairo Stephane Roumtier said on Tuesday. The upcoming visit is expected to boost the number of French tourists in the country, Egypt s state news agency MENA quoted Roumtier as saying.

Egypt s criminal court sentenced on Wednesday activist Ahmed Douma to 15 years in prison in addition to a fine of EGP 6 million in a retrial on violence charges dating back to 2011. Douma and 268 other defendants were accused of possessing bladed weapons and Molotov cocktails, assaulting personnel from the armed forces and the police, torching the Scientific Complex in downtown Cairo and damaging other government buildings, including that of the cabinet and the parliament, during the 2011 uprising.

Egypt s Ministry of Petroleum said a new automatic price indexation mechanism on fuel - set to start in April - will only apply to 95 octane gasoline , and that 92 octane and 80 octane gasoline will not be affected, Egyptian, the ministry s spokesman Hamdy Abdel-Aziz told Al-Ahram Arabic news website. Abdel-Aziz said 95 octane gasoline will see a 10 percent increase or decrease depending on its cost, the exchange rate against foreign currencies, and the costs of circulation and transfer.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed bilateral ties and developments in the Arab world with his visiting Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita in Cairo on Tuesday. The two top diplomats underscored the importance of bolstering mutual cooperation on all levels including economic and trade ties, the foreign ministry said in a statement published on Facebook.

Egypt s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has hailed an initiative launched by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to improve the living conditions of the neediest in Egyptian society in 2019. On Wednesday, President El-Sisi announced the launch of the Decent Life initiative in a small statement released on his social media accounts, where he praised "the Egyptian citizen" as the hero of 2018.

The year is expected to see significant political developments in Egypt. Several politicians and analysts have argued in recent weeks that a number of long-awaited reforms need to be passed in 2019. These, they argue, should come ahead of parliamentary elections in 2020 and presidential polls in 2022. Amr Hashem Rabie, an Al-Ahram political analyst, told Al-Ahram Weekly that there are “strong signals that Egypt s 2014 constitution will be amended in 2019”. First, Rabie said, the Cairo Court of Urgent Matters is currently deliberating a case filed by a number of lawyers asking that parliament move to amend the constitution to allow the president to assume office for an unlimited period of time. Article 140 of the current constitution states that the president cannot run for more than two terms or eight years in office. They want to change this to be open-ended so that the president can be re-elected several times, Rabie explained.

Environment Minister Yasmin Fouad announced a plan for the development of the Sinai and Red Sea natural reserves, implemented in accordance to the main objectives of the “Egypt 2030” sustainable development strategy. The Environment Ministry has prepared specifications for a number of investment portfolios in many reserves, and will put these portfolios up in public bidding in accordance with the law, she said.

Egypt’s customs authorities on Tuesday began applying the last tranche of tariff reductions on cars from the European Union and Turkey, in accordance with the Egyptian-European Partnership Agreement to reach customs zero value. Cars will be subject to other types of duties, namely VAT of 14 percent, 0.5 percent industrial and commercial profit tax, 3 percent resources development fee, and 1 percent table tax for a total of 18.5 percent.

Egypt has said it plans to auction treasury bills and bonds with a total value of EGP 181.5 billion in January, the finance ministry announced on Tuesday. In an official statement, the ministry said treasury bills will be offered with maturities of 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, with total values of EGP 42.5 billion, EGP 43.75 billion, EGP 42.5 billion, and EGP 46 billion respectively.

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education in Qalyoubia governorate Taha Ajlan decided on Tuesday to set up a committee to investigate an incident in which a ninth grade female student was the recipient of a strip-search in the bathroom at Namoul Preparatory School in the city of Toukh for a missing mobile phone. Ajlan decided to listen to the testimony of the student in her grievance against the school’s social worker for the strip-search. The committee will also listen to the school administration’s statements and then submit a final report on the matter the the Qalyoubia Education Directorate.

A magnitude four earthquake shook Egypt at 11:35 am on Monday, according to Chairman of the National Seismic Network Ahmed Badawi. Badawi added that the earthquake hit strongly in Cairo, Giza and Delta governorates. The earthquake’s center point was located in the al-Katameya area of Cairo, Badawi pointed out, adding that it did not result in any causalities.

Terror attacks in Egypt have fallen in 2018 to reach just eight, the lowest number since 2013, the country s State Information Service (SIS) said on Monday. In an official report titled "2018: Terrorism is dying in Egypt", the SIS said 2018 saw a reduction in terror activities and number of attacks from a high point of 222 attacks in 2014.

The head of the Central Bank of Egypt Tarek Amer says that the fifth tranche of a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to be received in January 2019, Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said in a statement. Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Sunday with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and central bank governor Tarek Amer, where the president stressed the necessity of continuing the implementation of the country s economic reform programme and periodically evaluating the measures taken to ensure the achievement of targeted financial and economic goals.

A Cairo appeals court upheld on Sunday a two-year prison term for prominent Egyptian activist Amal Fathy, who was arrested after posting a video online about being sexually harassed earlier this year. The court rejected an appeal by Fathy against a two-year prison sentence in September and a fine of EGP 10,000 over charges of spreading false news that threatened national security in a video that went viral where she spoke about her experience with sexual harassment at a local bank.