The figures circulated by international media regarding the war in Sudan reflect the sheer magnitude of the catastrophe. Any breach of these lines constitutes a direct threat to Egypt’s national security, which is inextricably linked to Sudan’s own national security. Several lines must be firmly drawn beneath this phrase, for it encompasses the full spectrum of Egypt’s capabilities in safeguarding its national security. Regional conditions in the Nile Basin, extending to the Red Sea coast and the Horn of Africa, are far from stable. Within this context, Cairo also shares a common vision with the countries of the Horn of Africa regarding national security priorities.

Egypt’s Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, Kamel Al-Wazir, alongside Oman’s Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, visited Sohar Port and Freezone to review the area’s industrial and logistics capabilities. Officials also highlighted the investment opportunities and incentives available within the freezone, as well as the strategic role of Sohar Port as Oman’s primary gateway for imports and exports, handling more than 80% of the Sultanate’s trade flows. They noted that the integrated logistics, metals, petrochemicals and food ecosystem at Sohar Port and Freezone has attracted investments exceeding $30bn. Al-Wazir stressed the importance of the Sohar Freezone and its existing industries as a potential platform for deeper industrial integration between Egypt and Oman. Following the briefing, the Deputy Prime Minister conducted a field tour of Sohar Port and the freezone, including visits to several berths and logistics facilities.

In line with its commitment to strengthening cooperation with African central banks, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) hosted a delegation from the Bank of Tanzania to review best practices in business continuity, as part of an expertise-exchange programme. Naglaa Nozahie, the Governor’s Adviser for African Affairs at the CBE, said that hosting the Bank of Tanzania delegation reflects the CBE’s strong commitment to expanding expertise-exchange programmes with African central banks, particularly in strategic areas such as business continuity and crisis management. He said this ensures a timely and effective response to crises and emergencies, and reaffirmed the CBE’s readiness to share its expertise in business continuity and risk management with specialists from African central banks. The Tanzanian delegation also took part in discussion sessions featuring presentations on the challenges facing institutions and the strategies used to address them through effective BCM. The sessions further covered approaches to building business continuity capabilities to ensure preparedness for potential challenges or operational disruptions, while underscoring the critical role of senior management support in the success of business continuity programmes.

Mahmoud Esmat, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, met with Cheng Defang, Chairperson of China North Industries Group Corporation (NORINCO), at the outset of his visit to Beijing to discuss prospects for cooperation in exploration, mining and advanced manufacturing. NORINCO operates across several strategic sectors, including defence industries, oil and minerals, international engineering, specialised civil products and investment in emerging industries. The talks covered potential areas of cooperation within the remit of the Nuclear Materials Authority, including exploration, extraction, separation and manufacturing studies. Both sides stressed the importance of identifying appropriate mechanisms for cooperation and expediting the necessary technical and feasibility studies. The discussions further extended to cooperation in renewable energy, particularly solar and wind power, energy storage systems and the expansion of clean energy solutions.

Egypt and Armenia signed a cooperation protocol on Tuesday to expand bilateral ties across trade, investment, industry, and energy, marking a new phase in economic relations between the two nations. The protocol establishes a framework for increasing bilateral trade, leveraging competitive advantages, and encouraging private-sector alliances. It specifically invites Armenian investment into the Suez Canal Economic Zone, with a focus on logistics and manufacturing, while targeting further cooperation in pharmaceuticals, textiles, renewable energy, and information technology. Minister Papoyan stated that the Joint Committee plays a “pivotal role in organising and developing economic relations,” providing an institutional framework to coordinate entities and monitor progress. During the session, Papoyan extended an invitation to Al-Mashat to attend an investment summit scheduled to be held in Armenia in May 2026.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly affirmed that his tour of projects under the presidential initiative “Decent Life” in the villages of Al-Saff Center comes within the framework of reviewing the implementation rates of ongoing projects included in the first phase of the initiative in these villages, particularly those related to the establishment of water and sanitation stations and networks in the targeted villages. He reiterated that the presidential initiative “Decent Life” represents the greatest project of the 21st century for the Egyptian state, serving more than 60 million citizens in the targeted villages. This came during Madbouly’s tour on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, of a number of villages in Al-Saff Center in Giza Governorate to follow up on the current executive status of projects under the presidential initiative “Decent Life,” as part of the ongoing monitoring of the initiative’s projects across the various governorates of the Republic. Madbouly said: “There was a previous visit to the villages of Al-Saff Center, during which a number of service projects under the ‘Decent Life’ initiative were inspected. In turn, the Governor of Giza affirmed that the “Decent Life” projects have brought about a qualitative transformation in the villages of Al-Saff Center, especially in the field of sanitation, through extending networks to deprived areas, contributing to improving quality of life and providing civilized services befitting citizens.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stressed that the state deals with the subsidy file as one of the vital issues that directly affect citizens’ lives. He stressed that developing the system aims to achieve the highest levels of social justice and enhance the efficiency of public spending while taking into account the various economic and social dimensions. The prime minister’s remarks came at a meeting, which was held at the government’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) with Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Sherif Farouk to follow up on the latest developments in the subsidy system. During the meeting, the minister of supply reviewed the executive status of the “Unified Card” system in the Port Said governorate, as a pioneering governorate in implementing the system, in addition to the progress achieved in the beneficiary data update form, in preparation for gradual nationwide expansion. This will contribute to unifying databases and strengthening the governance of the subsidy system.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly confirmed his keenness to follow up on the implementation of projects across various sectors, including infrastructure development, upgrading road and transportation networks, and modernizing wastewater and drinking water systems, in addition to housing projects and the development of slums, in a manner that contributes to improving the quality of life for citizens in the governorate. The premier’s remarks came at a meeting, which was held at the government’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) on Monday, December 22, 2025, to review the implementation status of developmental and investment projects in Alexandria Governorate. The meeting was attended by Minister of Local Development and Acting Minister of Environment Manal Awad and Governor of Alexandria Ahmed Khaled. He added that this vision seeks to make optimal use of assets owned by the governorate, protect natural resources to ensure sustainability, and achieve sustainable financial returns that can be used to develop infrastructure and smart services, with the aim of making Alexandria the leading smart city in Egypt. He added that the governorate has taken several measures to improve the quality of services in the education sector, including upgrading and maintaining schools.

Inevitably, these will be “Trump Class” vessels, extending his spree of naming things after himself. The “Trump class” ships are projected to take their place in the “Golden Fleet” as a maritime complement to the “Golden Dome” anti-missile shield that Trump also envisages to protect the denizens of the new “Golden Age” he says the country is enjoying. President Donald Trump unveiling a new class of warships at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday. The type of ships that the Trump class will presumably help replace, the Arleigh Burke class, were named for a courageous admiral who led packs of US destroyers in the Pacific war, revolutionizing naval tactics. The second Trump administration had previously been more about taking names off ships.

Egypt signed contracts for three industrial projects in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) worth $1.15bn, bringing total investment in the zone to $5.1bn for the first half of the 2025/26 fiscal year(FY). The contracts were signed between Teda-Egypt and three Chinese firms for projects within the Sokhna Industrial Zone. Spanning 400,000 square metres, the project will be implemented in three phases with a total annual production capacity of 1.08 million tonnes, creating 3,000 jobs. The project involves an expected investment of $190m on a 200,000 square metre site, providing 1,400 jobs. The company aims for an annual production capacity of 10 billion wet wipes, 2 billion baby diapers, and 100,000 tonnes of nonwoven fabrics using water-jet and hot-air technologies.

Egyptian officials are in engaged in high-level talks with their counterparts in Libya to ascertain the status of missing Egyptian citizens and assess their situation. An Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement said this reflects Egypt’s commitment to ensuring the safety of all its citizens abroad. The statement explained that the Foreign Ministry continues to hold regular and intensive meetings with the families of missing citizens, as part of its commitment to keeping them informed of all relevant developments. The Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs, Haddad al-Gohary met on Monday with more than 200 families of missing persons. The meeting reviewed the efforts being made, the ongoing communications with relevant authorities, and addressed their inquiries.

Despite this harsh language, a comprehensive CNN review of court records, photographs, interviews, and other public documents undertaken earlier this year paints a portrait of an enduring relationship between the two men until the mid-2000s, when Trump says he cut ties with Epstein. The president has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein. In an October 2002 New York Magazine profile of Epstein, Trump describes him as “a terrific guy,” saying he’s known Epstein for 15 years. By 2004, Trump and Epstein had a well-known falling out, reportedly tied to a dispute over a Palm Beach mansion both men wanted to buy at auction. Years later, in February 2015, Trump said that Epstein had “a problem,” adding: “that Island was really a cesspool, there’s no question about it,” referring to a private island in the US Virgin Islands owned by Epstein.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday that an Italian tourist died after being hospitalized following a collision between two cruise ships on Sunday evening in the Nile River, south of Luxor, Egypt. “The Egyptian judiciary is currently conducting an investigation to determine who is responsible, and at this time, we can only mourn the loss of this woman,” the minister added. Cruise ship collisionThe General Authority for River Transport announced on Sunday that the accident occurred while the cruise ship “Opera” was traveling from Aswan to Luxor. After passing through the Esna Lock by two kilometers, it was blindsided by a sharp maneuver from the ship “Beau Rivage,” which was traveling in the opposite direction from Luxor to Aswan. The River Transport Authority statement indicated that the license of the “Beau Rivage” driver was withdrawn and suspended, with the incident being referred to the competent prosecution for investigation.

The global price of gold surged to a level not seen in 46 years, particularly since 1979, with an ounce reaching US$ 4,413. In the local market, the price of a gram of 21-karat gold jumped by LE 80 to reach LE 5,865, while 24-karat gold reached LE 6,702, 18-karat gold at LE 5,027, and a gold sovereign coin is at LE 46,920. Gold broke the $4,000 per ounce barrier for the first time in its history, amid expectations of its largest annual gains since 1979. Gold jewelry expert, Amir Rizk, explained that the local market is currently unstable and advised citizens to refrain from buying or selling until after the New Year’s holiday to restore stability. The Vice President of the General Division for Gold and Jewelry, Lotfy Mounib said that the global gold price index witnessed a significant increase on Monday, coinciding with the opening of gold markets, reaching a new record high.

The head of the Communications and Mobile Division at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce Mohamed Talaat, announced Monday that there is now a greater global demand for RAM used in mobile phones, leading to a shortage in supply. This shortage is driving up RAM prices and consequently increasing phone prices at the start of the year, Talaat added during a phone interview with the talk show “Hadith al-Qahira” (Cairo Talk). He explained that there is a shortage of RAM worldwide, and confirmed that one of the mobile companies informed the division that it would increase prices at the beginning of the new year by five percent. Talaat pointed out that this is a global increase in RAM prices. “All phones with low prices will increase by five percent, and phones with high prices will increase by 10 percent,” he explained.