Cabinet was back to its usual Wednesday meeting schedule, where ministers were preoccupied with a basket of legislative and regulatory changes and the perennial challenge of cheating on exams in state-run schools, AMAY reported. Among the decisions made by cabinet yesterday:

• Approving amendments to article 10 of the contentious protest law that would have the Interior Ministry seek court approval and present proof that a planned protest in fact threatens national security before it can disperse it or change its location;
• Extending the deadlines for national projects by three months for all general works and six months for any electromechanical projects;
• Approving the establishment of a new authority under Trade Ministry to govern SME activities in Egypt, under which the Social Fund for Development would be moved and renamed;
• Sanctioning regulatory amendments that give the National Council for Human Rights vaster rights and authorities in political life, including inspecting detention facilities and reporting human rights violations and advising on legislation pertaining to human rights issues;
• Establishing a committee to battle the “Shou Ming phenomenon” and find solutions to the increasingly widespread problem of cheating on final exams at Egyptian schools;
• Postponing labor union elections for six months, pending the issuance of a new law to regulate the process or until the grace period expires.