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.

Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak said on Wednesday that the former Chief of the General Intelligence Service (GIS), Omar Soliman, informed him that around 800 Hamas and Hezbollah militants infiltrated into Sinai through the tunnels from Gaza and used cars in the events of January 2011. During the trial of former President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo Criminal Court, Mubarak added that the militants climbed up buildings and fired shots at the demonstrators in Tahrir Square. They also broke into Wadi al-Natron prison and released prisoners belong to Hezbollah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt s defence ministry announced the launch of an online portal for conscription services on Wednesday which it said will save time, money and effort. The website now allows young Egyptian males to apply for travel authorisations and exemption certificates online using online payments.

Egypt s exports to East Asian countries hit EGP 41.8 billion in 2017 compared to EGP 18.5 billion in 2016, a 126 percent increase, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said on Wednesday. In its annual bulletin, the agency said imports from East Asian countries (China, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, Singapore, and Bangladesh) stood at EGP 300.7 billion in 2017 compared to EGP 182.8 billion in 2016, a 64.5 percent increase.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry warned Egyptian students studying abroad of the increase in cases of fraud by students’ intermediaries or persons claiming to be representatives of the Egyptian community abroad. Citizens wishing to study abroad should be cautious when dealing with intermediaries and verify the data of foreign universities where they are to be enrolled, the ministry urged in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Egypt s Ministry of Petroleum says that the country achieved self sufficiency in natural gas consumption in September 2018 due to the gradual increase in local production and the plan to develop major gas fields in the Mediterranean. The discovery of the large offshore fields has resulted in the halting of natural gas imports for the first time in three years.

Egypt s Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly issued on Monday the executive bylaws regulating the recently issued Law of Persons with Disabilities. Madbouly s announcement comes as the country celebrates the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is attending an event titled Differently Abled in celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The event is attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Social Solidarity Minister Ghada Wali, as well as a number of other ministers and officials.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed late on Sunday with Minister of Education Tarek Shawky the national project to develop education, the country s new Japanese schools, the high school evaluation system, and technical education, a statement by El-Sisi s spokesperson Bassam Rady read. During the meeting, El-Sisi expressed his support for developing the education system within the framework of the state s strategy to build the Egyptian character and invest in human beings.

Egypt s Army Chief-of-Staff Mohamed Farid met on Sunday with the US Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer and an accompanying delegation in Cairo, where the two parties discussed ways of enhancing military cooperation, exchanging expertise and joint naval exercises to enhance and upgrade the combat capabilities of both militaries. The meeting discussed a number of issues of interest to the Egyptian and US militaries.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that Egypt is looking to enter the list of the best countries in the world in the field of agriculture. During the inauguration of a national development project on greenhouses at the 10th of Ramadan city, Sisi added that the largest farm for the production of dates in the world is currently being established, and is set to include 2.5 million palm trees.

Egyptian Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghafar and his Austrian counterpart Hans Viessmann met on Wednesday, to sign a five-year-protocol encouraging scientists and experts to participate in joint projects, particularly in higher education and scientific research. The two ministers agreed to establish a joint committee containing six members, to carry out the terms of the protocol.