[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
Mother of the World, against the world and outside of it Mohamad Naeem examines how the current political strife in Egypt can be located in the conditions of the elite, the dominant temperaments within this group, and the core inclinations and historical choices of the Egyptian intelligentsia, all of which culminate into the political reality that, perhaps for the first time in its modern history, Egypt seems to be purposefully isolating itself from the world.
Sisi says `stability` one of the achievements of the past two years Egypt`s president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said that "stability and security" are the main "achievements" that the country has seen over the past two years, at an iftar dinner on Saturday.
7 detainees sentenced to 8 years in prison for Red Sea island transfer protests A court sentenced seven detainees to eight years in prison and a 500 LE fine on Saturday for protesting in Kerdasa without a permit against the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia.
How was almost LE5 million in prisoner fines collected in 10 days? Defendants accused of protesting against Egypt’s island deal with Saudi Arabia were ordered released pending fines of 100,000 LE each.
State Council panel recommends formation of committee to determine sovereignty of Tiran and Sanafir A State Council panel recommended the formation of a committee of experts to determine whether the islands of Tiran and Sanafir fall within Egyptian territory.
Journalist Mohamed Fahmy regains Egyptian citizenship The Interior Ministry announced that former Al Jazeera English bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy, who was detained in Egypt for over 400 days, has regained his Egyptian citizenship. Fahmy had renounced it while serving a three-year prison sentence in order to meet deportation requirements and secure his release.
Police raid Cairo cafes in first week of Ramadan A video released by Al-Watan news portal documents a raid conducted by plainclothed police officers on a Cairo cafe in the first week of Ramadan.
Court sentences one to life, another to 10 years for photographing police facilities The Cairo criminal court handed on Monday a life sentence and a ten-year prison sentence to two people on charges on photographing police facilities.
26 sentenced to death, 21 to life in prison for Aswan violence Twenty-six people were sentenced to death and twenty-one to life in prison for involvement in tribal violence in Aswan two years ago.
Court postpones trial of policeman accused of killing tea vendor to July 9 The Cairo Criminal court postponed on Saturday the trial of low-ranking policeman accused of killing a tea vendor and injuring two more people last April, to 9 July.
Court adjourns retrial of 155 Kerdasa case defendants The Cairo criminal court adjourned on Thursday the trial of 155 defendants in the case dubbed by the media as “Kerdasa massacre” to 13 June upon the request of the defense lawyers to hear the testimonies of the witnesses.
HRW calls for dropping of charges against rights lawyer for proposing anti-torture bill Human Rights Watch called on Tuesday on Egyptian authorities to drop charges leveled against rights lawyer Negad al-Borai and at least two judges over their role in proposing an anti-torture bill in March 2015.
Egypt arrests 13 persons in Alexandria for alleged Brotherhood ties Egypt’s Homeland Security police have arrested thirteen people in the coastal city of Alexandria for “carrying out terrorist operations,” the interior ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Egyptian navy finds 31 alive, 9 dead from boat attempting to cross Mediterranean The Egyptian Navy recovered the bodies of nine people and rescued thirty-one from a sunken boat attempting to cross the Mediterranean on Monday, with hundreds of people reportedly still unaccounted for.
Faraeen TV channel to resume broadcasting, Tawfik Okasha still banned The al-Faraeen TV channel, owned by ex-lawmaker and controversial media figure Tawfik Okasha, will resume broadcasting after three months of suspension within days.
Egypt`s National Council for Women to choose series best portraying women during Ramadan Egypt`s National Council for Women will monitor and analyze the way Ramadan series, programs and advertisements portray women, according to a statement on its Facebook page.
Egypt’s Consumer Protection Agency to ban ‘immoral’ Ramadan commercials The Consumer Protection Agency announced Sunday that it would ban several Ramadan television commercials for “violating dignity, and disrespecting social customs, traditions and general morals.”
Eating in public during Ramadan is an attack on Islam, declares Dar al-Ifta Eating and drinking in public during Ramadan is not a matter of personal freedom, Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta said in a new edict published on its official Facebook page Monday.
Egypt`s parliament approves appointment of new top auditor, Hisham Badawi Egypt’s House of Representatives approved on Sunday the appointment of Hisham Abdel Salam Badawi to replace Hisham Geneina as the new head for the Central Auditing Agency.
Egypt`s protest law to be amended to go in line with constitution: Parliament minister A government committee will soon meet to amend Egypt`s controversial protest law to go in line with the constitution, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Magdi al-Agati announced on Wednesday.
Water outages spark anger in Egyptian governorates during Islamic fasting month Several Egyptian governorates have been struck with water outages during Ramadan, sparking anger and dissent in the first week of the holy fasting month.
How will Egypt rein in its explosive population growth? Egypt’s population is growing at a rate five times higher than that of developed countries, and twice as high as developing countries, according to the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.
Prosecution detains student for `leaking` exam papers Prosecution decided on Monday to detain a university student for four days, pending investigations, on charges of running a Facebook page that leaks high school exam questions.
Three more arrested for leaking high school exams via Facebook Egypt’s interior ministry announced the arrest of an administrator of a Facebook page that leaks high school exam questions one day after the detention of a university student and twelve officials for the same reason.
Economy
New gas find discovered in Egyptian waters A new gas field has been discovered in Baltim, ten kilometers north of the Nooros field discovered in July 2015, the Italian energy firm Eni and British Petroleum announced on Thursday.
Egypt`s strategic stock of sugar enough for a year -supplies minister Egypt`s strategic stocks of sugar are enough to cover the country`s needs for the next year, Supplies Minister Khaled Hanafi said on Sunday.
Foreign Relations
Egypt, U.S discuss regional developments, cooperation methods Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri spoke on Saturday with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry on the developments in the region and methods of cooperation.
Egypt Minister of Defence Sobhi holds talks with head of US military intelligence Egypt`s Minister of Defense Sedqi Sobhi held talks Sunday with Vincent Stewart, head of the US military`s Defense Intelligence Authority in Cairo, discussing military cooperation between the two countries.
Behind the photo ops, an increasingly tense Egypt-US relationship Egypt`s government has developed a reputation as a `nightmare` to work with, according to United States analysts.
A `spirit of positivity` should prevail over Renaissance Dam negotiations: Egypt’s Sisi Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Saturday his country supports the Ethiopian peoples’ right to development through the Renaissance Dam but also stressed that the Nile River is the Egyptian peoples’ only source of potable water.
Portugal FM in Egypt to bolster political ties, increase trade Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva is heading a delegation on a two-day visit to Cairo that started Sunday which aims to strengthen political and economic ties between Egypt and Portugal.
Incident involving alleged racial slurs against Sub-Saharans is over: Egypt foreign ministry The foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the incident involving allegations that an Egyptian diplomat called Sub-Saharan Africans "dogs" and "slaves" was over.
Domestic Security
Islamic State posts video threatening to blow up Giza Pyramids, Sphinx The Islamic State posted a new video threatening to destroy Egypt`s Giza Pyramids, the last remaining wonder of the ancient world, along with the Sphinx. The video also revealed footage of the militant group`s alleged destruction of the ancient Assyrian temple of Nabu in Iraq.
Two militants dead, four policemen injured in Damietta shootout: Security official Two alleged militants were killed and four policemen were seriously injured in a shootout in Damietta, East of Nile Delta, on Monday, according to the head of the Damietta Security Directorate Faisal Doweidar.