[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Egypt and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Egypt Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to egypt@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]
Political Rights
Egyptians take to social media to declare they participated in the January 25 revolution Social media users have been sharing their memories of the 25 January 2011 revolution since Saturday using the hashtag, “I participated in the January revolution,” and challenging authorities to arrest them if they want to detain people for their involvement in the revolution.
Police arrest 3 admins of Facebook pages allegedly promoting protests on January 25 Police arrested three administrators of Facebook pages allegedly promoting anti-government protests on the anniversary of the 25 January uprising.
Journalist Hesham Gaafar`s detention renewed by 15 days for 7th time State Security prosecutors renewed the detention of journalist Hesham Gaafar on Sunday for another fifteen days, making this the seventh time his detention has been renewed since he was arrested in October 2015.
Egyptian journalist Ismail Alexandrani`s detention extended for another 15 days Cairo State Security Prosecution renewed on Monday the detention of journalist and researcher Ismail Alexandrani for another fifteen days pending investigations in to allegations that he joined the Muslim Brotherhood and "spread false news."
Taher Mokhtar and housemates` detention renewed for 15 days Abdeen Court renewed the detention of doctor and activist Taher Mokhtar and his two roommates, Ahmed Hassan and Ahmed Hossam, for fifteen days pending investigation into charges of the possession of printed material allegedly calling for the overthrow of the government.
Update: Masr al-Arabia managing editor released, activists charged with calling for overthrow of regime Ahmed Abdel Gawad, managing editor of privately owned news site Masr al-Arabia, was released from detention on Friday, one day after his arrest during a raid by the Office of Artistic Products Police Department.
4 journalists sentenced to 3 years for disseminating false news, belonging to banned group In what appears to be an ongoing security crackdown on media personnel, four journalists were sentenced to three years in prison by the Sayeda Zeinab Criminal Court.
Parliament sessions to resume live broadcasting Parliamentary sessions will soon be back on the airwaves.
Rights groups demand reforms from parliament Following the Egyptian parliament’s first session in four years, international and local rights organizations have released a list of demands for the new parliament.
Parliament starts reviewing laws passed in its absence Parliament begins the process of reviewing over 300 laws that were passed since the constitution was approved in January 2014.
Laws parliament may not review, including the protest law It is now up to the current parliament to determine whether it will review the laws passed between 3 July 2013 and 18 January 2014, which include the controversial protest law, issued in November 2013, which has since been used to jail large numbers of oppositional protesters.
Parliament selects temporary committee heads to hasten law-reviewing process Members of parliament were allocated to nineteen different committees on Tuesday and elected temporary committee heads to speed up the first task of reviewing laws issued by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his predecessor interim President Adly Mansour.
Egypt parliament`s committees to be increased from 19 to 30 The number of Egypt`s new parliament`s committees will be increased from nineteen to thirty to accommodate the large number of deputies and to ensure that an adequate and proper discussion of laws and national issues takes place.
Egypt`s parliament ratifies two controversial laws issued by President Sisi Egypt`s new parliament approved two controversial laws on Sunday as it started reviewing legislation passed by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi since June 2014, including the so-called "terrorist entities" law.
Egypt parliament approves extension of troop deployment abroad Egypt`s parliament approved on Sunday the National Defence Council decision to extend the deployment of the country`s Armed Forces units in the Gulf area, the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait for an additional year, or until the end of their mission.
Parliament approves law on president’s salary amid brief controversy The House of Representatives passed a 2014 law on Sunday that set the annual salary and rewards of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at 63,000 USD or around 500,000 LE per year.
The little bureaucracies behind lawmaking The first day of parliament saw the murky process of gathering votes for the position of parliamentary speaker.
Committee finds head of auditing body guilty of manipulating facts on state corruption A presidential investigative committee found head of the Central Auditing Authority Hesham Geneina guilty of misrepresenting and manipulating facts about state corruption.
Cabinet signs off on deal with company previously convicted of bribing Egyptian officials In its 13 January meeting, the cabinet approved a request from the state-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Company to ink an energy deal with French power and rail transport firm Alstom to develop Egypt`s electrical grid.
Cabinet approves Sisi’s draft law criminalizing ‘terrorist’ symbols The cabinet has approved a decree issued by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to criminalize the use of “terrorist” symbols with penalties of imprisonment and fines of up to 30,000 LE.
Court rules police officers not Interior Ministry responsible for compensating torture victims Alexandria Administrative Court ruled that individual police officers are responsible for compensating victims of torture rather than the Interior Ministry.
Studio Emad Eddin inspected by authorities, operations continue as normal A surprise inspection by the Censorship Board at performance arts center Studio Emad Eddin`s downtown Cairo premises on Tuesday was confirmed in a statement released by the studio Thursday.
Economy
1,117 labor protests across Egypt in 2015: Democracy Meter report The NGO Democracy Meter issued its annual report on Egyptian industrial actions on Saturday, citing 1,117 labor protests throughout 2015.
Consumer prices creep up in December Egypt’s annual headline consumer price index inched up in December to 11.9 percent, according to the state statistics agency.
Egypt`s tourism sector losing LE2.2 bln per month: Minister Egyptian Tourism Minister claims that the sector`s losses are the largest in twenty years.
Cairo-Damietta Nile cargo line reopens The Nile River shipping line between Cairo and the Delta province of Damietta was reopened on Saturday.
Foreign Relations
British delegation discuss Muslim Brotherhood report with Egyptian MPs A delegation from the British House of Commons paid the first visit of its kind to Egypt`s newly-elected parliament, discussing issues around terrorism and the Muslim Brotherhood.
British parliament members recommend resumption of flights to Sharm El-Sheikh During their visit to Cairo on Sunday, a delegation of members of the British House of Commons and the House of Lords affirmed they would recommend the resumption of British air flights to Sharm al-Sheikh upon their return to the UK.
Egypt’s Sisi and head of CIA discuss regional, domestic affairs Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met Sunday with the US director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan in Cairo, discussing topics of interest including combating terrorism.
Egypt receives $1.6 bn loan from China in budget support: source The Central Bank of Egypt will allegedly receive a 1.5 billion USD loan from China during a visit by China’s President Xi Jinping next week.
Egypt does not view Ethiopian dam as threat, says minister Egypt`s irrigation minister Hossam Moghazi said on Wednesday that although Egypt is “worried” about Ethiopia`s Grand Renaissance Dam, it does not view it as a “threat.”
Egypt elected president of 2016 International Renewable Energy Agency’s 6th session The International Renewable Energy Agency`s General Assembly elected Egypt on Saturday to be president for its sixth session, held in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday and Sunday.
Egypt strongly condemns Burkina Faso militant attack The Egyptian foreign ministry said that it stands by Burkina Faso in its fight against terrorism.
Egypt condemns Jakarta terror attacks Egypt`s foreign ministry condemned on Friday the terrorist attacks in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta which left at least seven people dead on Thursday.
Egypt condemns blast in Turkey`s Istanbul Egypt has condemned ``in the strongest terms`` a terrorist bombing that rocked Turkey`s Istanbul, killing ten people and wounding fifteen others in the city`s main tourist hub Sultanahmet.
Domestic Security
Some missing Egyptian youth `have joined terrorist organisations`: Interior ministry Some of the young Egyptian activists reported by their families to have disappeared have in fact joined terror groups, a high level Egyptian interior ministry official said on Friday.
4 army personnel, 30 militants killed in North Sinai: Egypt`s army spokesperson An attack on a security checkpoint in North Sinai resulted in the death of four army personnel and the destruction of three army vehicles by IEDs.
Egypt extends state of emergency in North Sinai until April The state of emergency has been extended for three months at a time in January, April, July and October of 2015.
Egypt`s civil protection authority puts out limited fire at Cairo International Airport No significant injuries or damage were caused as a result of the fire.