[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

Court acquits Mubarak of ordering 2011 protester killings The Court of Cassation has ordered the final acquittal of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, clearing him of ordering the killing of protesters during the 25 January revolution in 2011.

Mubarak’s trial comes to an underwhelming end: He is free In a courtroom holding about fifty people, including Hosni Mubarak, the Cassation Court declared the ousted president, one last time, not guilty of ordering the killing of protesters during the demonstrations of the 2011 revolution.

Egypt detains 25 Port Said residents, including 6 minors, for protesting stadium tragedy death sentences The prosecution ordered the detention of twenty-five Port Said residents, including six minors, who were arrested during protests against the upholding of death sentences for defendants over the Port Said Stadium tragedy in 2012.

Province of Sinai intercepts bus carrying Rafah teachers twice demanding they wear niqab “Welcome to the Province of Sinai.” This is what members of the local Islamic State affiliate told a group of female teachers traveling to their jobs in Rafah after intercepting their bus last Wednesday. The militant group stopped another bus carrying teachers three days later.

No safe routes to schools: Sinai teachers intercepted by Islamic State loyalists A teacher from Rafah, who was in a bus intercepted by Islamic State loyalists in Sinai last week, said the government has not provided access to any safe alternative routes to schools as promised.

‘We did not ask families to flee Arish,’ says interior minister as Copts flee violence in North Sinai As dozens of Coptic families flee the city of Arish in North Sinai following a slew of deadly attacks by Islamist militants, the Interior Ministry has responded by reaffirming its commitment to fighting terrorism, stressing that it did not ask the families to leave.

Test for Egypt as Christian families flee Islamic State hit lists When Islamic State militants began circulating names of Christians who must leave their Egyptian hometown of Arish or die, Munir Munir`s father Adel, a civil servant, brought home a hit list that had his own name as number two.

Minya Copts claim they were banned from prayers by security Copts in Nazlet al-Nakhl village in Minya claim to have been banned from performing the mass by security on Sunday over alleged fears of attacks by extremists against them.

Parliament refers critical journalist Ibrahim Eissa to prosecution, speaker comes under fire for comments Egypt’s parliament referred journalist Ibrahim Eissa to prosecution on Tuesday, as several members of parliament and the speaker of the house also came under fire from the country’s main state-owned media institution for attacks on journalists that criticize the state.

Failing to meet quorum, Journalists Syndicate elections postponed for 2 weeks Midterm elections at the Journalists Syndicate, set to take place on Friday, were postponed for two weeks because the necessary quorum was not met.

Administrative Court rejects lawsuit against Interior Ministry’s social media surveillance project On Tuesday the Administrative Court rejected a lawsuit filed by a group of concerned citizens and human rights organizations contesting the Interior Ministry’s proposed project to monitor social networking sites for what it deems to be security threats. The lawsuit was dismissed on the basis that the plaintiffs had no standing in the case.

State confirms arrest of 9 Muslim Brotherhood members after secretly detaining them for days Egypt’s State Security Agency officially confirmed the arrest of several prominent Muslim Brotherhood members on Sunday, after quietly detaining and interrogating them for a few days.

Preacher begins hunger strike in protest of 5-year prison sentence for contempt of religion Muslim preacher Mohamed Abdullah al-Nasr was sentenced to five years in prison by a North Cairo misdemeanor court on Sunday for contempt of religion.

Parliament expels outspoken government critic Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat Member of Parliament Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat was expelled from his seat in the House of Representatives on Monday night, following sustained criticism from other members of parliament after the outspoken critic of the current government allegedly leaked a copy of the contentious NGO law to foreign ambassadors.  

Government agency suspends ad campaign deemed offensive to women Egypt’s Consumer Protection Authority suspended an advertising campaign by cooking oil company Sunny that has been criticized for being offensive to women, according to agency head Atef Yaacoub.

Social Solidarity Minister celebrates Women’s Day at EGX, says optimistic about 2017 Social Solidarity Minister Ghada Wali opened the stock market session on Sunday, which marks International Women’s Day, in a ceremony organized by the Egyptian Exchange for the third year in row. Several female members of parliament and businesswomen attended.

Young Egyptian student develops new technique to treat cancer Nancy Karem, a senior biotechnology student at the University of October Modern Sciences and Arts, developed a new medical technique involving nanotechnology which targets only cancerous or mutated cells and leave normal cells undamaged.

Economy

Investment between 2 IMF loans: An unchanged philosophy and challenges to governance Immediately after Egypt’s current investment law was ratified in March 2015, the government began drafting a new piece of legislation, with former Investment Minister Dalia Khorshid leading the charge.

Egypt`s non-oil business activity shrinks for 17th month -PMI Business activity in Egypt shrank for the seventeenth consecutive month in February although the pace of decline slowed from a month before, a survey showed on Sunday.

Foreign Relations

Egypt plans to abstain from voting on UN Security Council resolution to introduce new Syria sanctions Egypt intends to abstain from voting on a Security Council draft resolution that would ban the supply of helicopters to the Syrian government and impose sanctions on Syrian military and security officials and entities within President Bashar al-Assad’s government over accusations that they were involved in the use of chemical weapons on civilians.

Foreign minister champions human rights progress at UN rights council meeting Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry promoted Egypt’s alleged human rights progress during a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. This followed an earlier meeting with representatives of American Jewish organizations at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington DC focusing on regional conflicts and Egypt-US relations.

Merkel under fire for downplaying concerns about Egyptian rights A Christian cleric on Thursday criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel for kowtowing to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and downplaying human rights concerns as she headed to north Africa to expand trade and investment ties

Germany offers Egypt $500 million to support economy Germany has offered Egypt 500 million USD to support its economic program and medium-sized and small businesses, according to the Egyptian ministry of investment and international cooperation.

3 Palestinians killed, 5 injured after Armed Forces destroys Egypt-Gaza tunnel Egypt has faced criticism from Gaza authorities after three Palestinians died and five were injured on Friday while carrying out repair work on a Gaza-Egypt smuggling tunnel demolished by the Armed Forces days earlier.

Domestic Security

Egyptian police kill four in shootout in Cairo outskirts Egypt`s interior ministry said on Friday its forces killed four people it said were fugitive terrorists plotting to carry out hostile operations.

From Jadaliyya Egypt

New Texts Out Now: Marwan M. Kraidy, The Naked Blogger of Cairo: Creative Insurgency in the Arab World An interview with Marwan M. Kraidy, author of The Naked Blogger of Cairo: Creative Insurgency in the Arab World.

Arabic

«النقض» تقضي ببراءة مبارك من «قتل متظاهري يناير» Egypt’s Cassation Court on Thursday acquitted former president Hosni Mubarak of the accusation of killing protesters during the 2011 eighteen-day uprising.

مبارك لـ"صوت الأمة": "هاقعد فى بيتى بعد البراءة ولن أذهب لشرم الشيخ" In an exclusive interview following the final acquittal verdict, Mubarak avoids commenting on politics and says he plans to return to his residence.

مجلس النواب المصري: برلمان الأجهزة Egypt’s parliament has been targeting dissenting voices, raising concerns over the ongoing state crackdown on freedom of expression.

مصر | البرلمان يُسقط عضوية السادات: مشادات وانسحابات خلال الجلسة Egypt’s parliament expelled MP Anwar Sadat, one of the few dissenting voices in parliament, in a vote on Monday over allegedly leaking confidential information to foreign embassies. 

الكنيسة المصرية في أزمة تهجير الأقباط: الولاء للسلطة Testimonies of displaced Copts report slow reaction from security forces to the attacks against Copts in Al-Arish.

الجنيه المصري يعاود الهبوط أمام الدولار The Egyptian pound dipped against US dollar on Wednesday amid an increase of imports demand in preparation for the holy month of Ramadan and regress in US dollar inflows.

شرطة شبرا في ورطة: تجارة سلاح ومخدرات وتلفيق تهم Shubra police officers accused of trading in guns and drugs, abusing power, and fabricating charges.

منى مينا: الصحة بعد التعويم.. اختيار بين الموت خنقًا أو شنقًا Prescription drug prices rise due to currency floatation, exacerbating the suffering many Egyptians.

حبس الإعلامي المصري أسامة جاويش 5 سنوات Cairo’s Misdemeanor Court hands journalist Osama Gawish a five-year prison sentence for allegedly “disseminating false news aimed at disturbing Egypt national interest.”