Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

The death toll from Egypt's latest train disaster rose to 41 as cranes worked on Aug. 12 to clear the stricken railway line between Cairo and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

Under floodlights, rescue teams had combed wrecked carriages all night for casualties, also using torches on their mobile phones.

Egypt has created a "national council" to combat the rise of Islamist "terrorism" which has targeted its security forces and Coptic Christian minority, in a presidential decree issued on Wednesday.

The decree, published in Egypt's official gazette, sets up a "national council to combat terrorism and extremism" by adopting a "global national strategy."

Arab states that have cut ties with Qatar have vowed to maintain their boycott of the emirate, criticizing its "negative" response to their list of demands to end the diplomatic crisis.

Qatar appealed for "dialogue" to resolve the row while U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to urge all parties "to negotiate constructively."

The Egyptian president has called on allies in the Gulf to escalate the diplomatic row with Qatar to include Turkey, the New Arab reported.

Following U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet on June 6, in which he took credit for the Saudi-Egyptian move on Qatar for himself, it can be said that the options before Emir of Qatar Thamim al-Thani are more limited than the day before.

Diplomatic action against Qatar by Saudi Arabia did not come as a total surprise, following a number of indications over the last few months. But the June 5 move was beyond expectations: Firstly it was not only from Saudi Arabia, but it also looks to be aiming for the economic as well as diplomatic isolation of the Gulf country.

Egypt referred 48 people to the country's military judiciary on May 21 for suspected involvement in three deadly church bombings and accused them of joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

U.S. President Donald Trump said on May 21 he hoped to visit Cairo soon, praising President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after a meeting in Saudi Arabia and declaring that "safety seems to be very strong" in Egypt.

Speaking through a translator, Sisi described Trump as "a unique personality that is capable of doing the impossible."

Pope Francis landed in the Egyptian capital on April 28 to promote "unity and fraternity" with Muslims and Christians, who have suffered a series of jihadist attacks.

The visit is a "voyage of unity and fraternity," the pontiff told reporters before he disembarked in Cairo airport to be greeted by Catholic priests and Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on April 10 extended his condolences to Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, over two Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) church attacks in the country in a phone call, marking a rare diplomatic interaction between the two countries since relations soured after the ouster of Mohamad Morsi in 2013.