[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
Labour protests increased 25 pct since January - report Over the past four months, the pace of workers` protests has increased by twenty-five percent compared to the same period last year.
HRW urges Egypt to legalise independent trade unions Human Rights Watch has called on Egyptian authorities to legalize independent trade unions in the country and end the single official union system.
Labor Day 2016: Sisi addresses nation from hotel, workers air grievances Over the past three years parades and street rallies for Labor Day have not been permitted in Egypt, and this year too the events have been subdued and held indoors.
Sisi allocates EGP 100m to `emergency manpower fund` on Labor Day The Egyptian president announced on Thursday in a speech celebrating Labor Day the allocation of 100 million LE to an emergency fund affiliated with the ministry of manpower.
11 sentenced to 3-12 years in prison for homosexuality The Agouza Criminal Court has sentenced 11 people to prison terms ranging between three and twelve years for “practicing, inciting and publicizing immoral practices.”
Egypt`s Interior ministry refers police officer to prosecution for shooting driver Egypt’s interior minister, Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar, decided early Thursday to suspend and refer a police officer to prosecution for shooting a microbus driver in Cairo’s Al-Nozha neighborhood.
Trial of Egyptian policeman who killed street vendor over `cup of tea` starts 14 May Cairo Criminal Court will start the first session of the trial of the lower-ranking policeman who shot dead a street vendor over the price of a cup of tea on 14 May.
April 25: A crack in the wall of fear? Mohammad Naeem examines the 25 April protest in relation to the goal of Egypt’s defeated democratic movement to secure a space for movement, and minimize the cost of repression.
Egypt`s 25 April protests: The two islands and beyond Several opposition political parties and movements in Egypt are calling for another day of protests on 25 April over the recent Egypt-Saudi agreement of redrawing maritime borders which places the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir within Saudi territorial waters.
What’s in an island? Tiran and Sanafir transfer to Saudi is of little concern to their actual neighbors
Egypt court imposes gag order on island protesters case An Egyptian court imposed a media gag order on Saturday on the case of protesters arrested during demonstrations against a recent Egyptian-Saudi islands deal.
Egyptian campaigners say around 240 arrested over Monday protests An Egyptian activist group tracking protester arrests said that 239 people were arrested around Egypt on Monday, a day that saw anti-government protests in the capital and several other cities.
Cairo prosecution refers 102 to court over Monday protests Cairo`s Qasr El-Nil prosecution has referred 102 people to misdemeanor court over their participation in 25 April protests against the government`s recent agreement acknowledging Saudi sovereignty over two Red Sea islands under Egyptian control.
Egypt press syndicate accuses `regime supporters` of attempting to storm headquarters Egypt`s press syndicate condemned on Monday what it described as "harassment attempts" by "regime supporters" to storm its headquarters in downtown Cairo.
Seven Egyptian journalists remain in detention after Monday protest arrests: Syndicate Seven journalists remain in detention on Tuesday after being arrested the previous day while covering anti-government protests, according to the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate.
Egyptian syndicates condemn arrests of Red Sea island deal protesters A number of Egyptian syndicates released statements on Tuesday condemning the arrests of protesters on 25 April during demonstrations against a recent decision by Egypt to acknowledge Saudi Arabia`s sovereignty over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir.
Egypt`s Lawyers Syndicate to represent protesters detained during Tiran and Sanafir demos The Egyptian lawyers syndicate announced in a statement on Friday that it will set up defense committees to track those arrested during recent protests and to defend the accused during prosecution proceedings.
Egyptian journalists march in Cairo to file complaint against interior minister Dozens of Egyptian journalists staged a march from the press syndicate in downtown Cairo to the nearby prosecutor-general’s office to file a complaint against the interior minister and the head of the capital`s security directorate.
`Violations against journalists will not be tolerated,` says head of Egypt`s press syndicate The head of Egypt`s press syndicate Yehia Qalash said on Thursday that violations by police against journalists while covering protests will not be tolerated, calling for those responsible to be held accountable.
Businessmen MPs could form lobby in Egypt`s new parliament After they were elected chairmen of at least five parliamentary committees, many wonder if businessmen will move to form a new lobby in Egypt`s new parliament.
The Armed Forces and Egypt`s land Laila Sawaf examines how the military’s aim to harness its power over the state bureaucracy and its drive for greater access to investment opportunities in the Egyptian market will have long term repercussions on the country’s economic and social development.
Economy
Egypt tourism revenue down 66 pct in Q1 2016 Egypt netted just 500 million USD in tourism revenue in the first quarter of 2016, down from 1.5 billion USD a year earlier.
Egypt central bank seen holding interest rates steady on Thursday - poll The Egyptian central bank`s monetary policy committee is expected to hold interest rates steady on Thursday as it continues to assess the impact of last month`s rate hike of 150 basis points.
Foreign Relations
Normalisation of Rome-Cairo relations depends on `serious Egypt collaboration on Regeni case: Italian FM Italy`s Foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni on Friday urged Egypt to "collaborate seriously" in Giulio Regeni`s murder probe so relations between the two states can normalize.
Bahraini king received by Egypt`s Sisi at Cairo airport Egypt`s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi received on Tuesday Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifah at Cairo International Airport as part of an official two-day visit by the king aimed at bolstering ties.
Egypt, Bahrain bolster intelligence cooperation to fight terrorism: Minister Egypt`s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said that Egypt and Bahrain are bolstering intelligence cooperation to combat terrorism, while urging international collaboration to confront the phenomenon.
Egypt, Kuwait conclude joint air force training The Egyptian air force concluded Monday a joint training exercise with Kuwaiti forces.
UK `working with Egyptian government` to determine circumstances of Egyptian citizen’s death in London The British Embassy in Cairo said on Wednesday it is "closely following" the case related to the death of a twenty-one year-old Egyptian Sherif Adel Habib in London.
UN condemns killing of 12 Egyptians, 3 others in Libya The United Nations` Libya envoy on Wednesday condemned the killing of twelve Egyptians and three Libyan nationals in a string of incidents in the central town of Bani Walid.
Egypt `following closely` murder of 30 Egyptians in Libya Egypt`s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail told journalists on Thursday that the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was following closely the murder of up to thirty Egyptian migrants in Libya.
Egypt and UAE conclude naval exercises in Arabian Gulf Egypt and the United Arab Emirates concluded on Friday their two-week long joint military drill in the Gulf country`s waters.
Egypt to head Security Council in May, will promote interests of African countries, Palestine Egypt is poised to head the UN Security Council’s meetings during the month of May where it will promote issues and interests of African and developing countries as well as the Palestinian cause, a foreign affairs ministry statement released on Saturday read.
Domestic Security
In Sinai’s Rafah, the war continues Despite ongoing military campaigns in Rafah, militants continue to maintain their stronghold.
3 conscripts dead, 8 policemen injured in North Sinai roadside bombing Three conscripts were killed and eight policemen injured on Wednesday when an improvised explosives device exploded in North Sinai’s al-Arish.
From Jadaliyya Egypt
Five Years After the Arab Uprisings: An Interview with Asef Bayat An interview conducted on the occasion of the publication of the Turkish editions of Asef Bayat’s Making Islam Democratic and Life as Politics.
الحضارة بين عقل الأفندي والأكاديمي Ahmad Alwasel reviews Makoto Mizutani’s book entitled, Liberalism in Twentieth Century Egyptian Thought, examining its discussion of the ideologies of Ahmad Amin and Husayn Amin.