[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
Egypt court upholds order to release blogger Wael Abbas, turns down prosecution's appeal
An Egyptian criminal court upheld on Monday an earlier court order to release well-known activist and blogger Wael Abbas and two others, turning down an appeal by the prosecution against the release order.
Egypt prosecutor-general refers 11 to criminal court over 2017 terror attack on Helwan Church
Egypt’s Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadek referred on Saturday eleven individuals to criminal court for carrying out an attack on a church in south Cairo in December 2017, which killed nine Copts and a policeman ahead of Coptic Christian Christmas celebrations.
Egypt's runaway population growth: Stemming the tide
On Sunday and Monday two parliamentary committees held meetings to discuss ways to curb Egypt’s runaway population growth as Egypt’s population increases by 2.5 million each year.
A Cairo misdemeanor court has set 12 January to start the trial of well-known Egyptian actress Rania Youssef on accusations of committing acts that incite debauchery and lechery.
Egypt court sentences 99 people to one year for violently protesting detainee's death
An Egyptian misdemeanor court sentenced on Wednesday ninety-nine people to one year in prison for participating in violent protests that erupted over the death of a man in police custody in January.
Master, PhD thesis proposals in the service of the state
The article questions the restrictions imposed on academic research, following the announcement of the head of Alexandria University’s Council for Postgraduate Studies and Research last week that all master and PhD thesis proposals must conform to Egypt’s Vision 2030.
Egypt's parliament expresses regret over Italian chamber's unilateral action in Regeni's case
Egypt's parliament–the House of Representatives–said in a statement Friday afternoon that it expresses regret that Roberto Fico, speaker of the Italian parliament (chamber of deputies) announced that it has decided to suspend parliamentary relations with the Egyptian parliament until the on-going investigation into the death of the Italian student Guilio Regeni reaches a conclusive result.
Reform of religious discourse: Much talk, no action
The article discusses why Egypt failed to reform religious discourse.
Egypt prosecutors detain teacher for 'bullying' student over her dark skin colour
Prosecutors in the Nile Delta governorate of Damietta ordered on Tuesday the detention of a teacher for four days on accusations of bullying pending further investigations, after he reportedly made degrading references to a student's dark skin color during class.
‘Nobody is leaving their homes’: Government decision to reclaim land fuels anger in Warraq Island
The cabinet decision to expropriate al-Warraq land for public use was met with continued defiance from a number of the island’s residents, who consider it “unfair” and have expressed their refusal to comply with it.
Series: Community accountability — how does it really work?
Mada Masr publishes a series exploring experiences of addressing sexual violence through community accountability.
In our hands: Community accountability as pedagogical strategy
The article recounts a classroom process of pursuing community accountability
Man handed 7-year prison sentence for beating South Sudanese teacher to death nearly 2 years ago
An Egyptian man charged with beating a South Sudanese teacher to death last year was sentenced on Monday to seven years in prison by the Ain Shams Criminal Court, according to lawyer Huda Nasrallah.
Military court to hear appeal of former auditing chief Hesham Geneina’s 5-year sentence on Wednesday
A military appeals court will hold a hearing on Wednesday to review an ongoing appeal by former Central Auditing Authority head Hesham Geneina against a five-year prison sentence he was handed on 24 April on charges of spreading false news.
Military court accepts to review appeal for 2 civilians sentenced to death
On Tuesday, a Cairo military appellate court accepted to review appeals submitted by two men to overturn death sentences issued against them in 2016, in the latest development of an ongoing case that has sparked controversy in Egypt and overseas.
Foreign Policy
Special passport gate set up at Cairo airport for passengers from African countries
Egyptian authorities have set up a special passport gate at Cairo International Airport for passengers from African Union countries.
Egypt, S. Arabia discuss strengthening cooperation in defence industries
Egypt's Minister of Military Production Mohamed al-Assar discussed mutual cooperation in defense manufacturing with Saudi Arabian officials in Cairo, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Source: Italian FM warns Egypt of ‘escalation,’ demands trial in Regeni case within 6 months
The Italian Foreign Ministry has warned Egypt that Italy will “consider escalation” unless judicial proceedings against a list of Egyptian security officials suspected of involvement in the 2016 torture and murder of Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni take place before the end of this year, an Egyptian official said on Sunday.
Egyptian mediation brought tensions between Hamas and Israel down to a suspicious simmer after Gaza was nearly plunged into war at the beginning of November. Now, Cairo has turned its focus toward internal Palestinian reconciliation, hosting Fatah and Hamas delegations in Cairo over the last week to iron out the details of a new deal that could pave the way for elections to form a new national government.
Economy
Egypt’s total public investments record EGP 72 bln in Q1: Planning minister
Egypt’s total public investments during the first quarter of the 2018/2019 fiscal year have registered seventy-two billion Egyptian pounds, with government investments of about 27.4 billion Egyptian pounds, the minister of planning, monitoring and administrative reform said on Saturday.
Egypt achieved initial surplus of EGP 2 bln in fiscal year 2017/18: Finance minister
Egypt's Finance Minister Mohamed Mait has said that the government has managed to achieve an initial surplus of two billion Egyptian pounds in the fiscal year 2017/18, adding that the state is targeting an initial surplus of two percent during the current fiscal year.
Egypt increases price of the customs dollar for non-essential goods
The Egyptian Finance Ministry announced on Friday that it would raise the customs dollar price for non-essential and entertainment goods, linking it to the exchange rate of the dollar in the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for a month starting from the first of December.
IMF to discuss 5th installment of Egypt’s loan in December
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet in late December, to discuss disbursing the fifth installment of the IMF loan to Egypt.
Domestic Security
Ending Hepatitis: Egypt shares its experience in combating the disease with African countries
Egypt has set out to end the scourge of the Hepatitis C virus, and it is sharing its experiences with the rest of Africa
Investing in the military field: Egypt launches the first edition of its military and defence expo
Egypt launched the first ever edition of the International Exhibition for Defence and Military Industries, EXPO 2018, this week.
Arabic
إصلاح الجهاز الحكومي على طريقة «انسف حمامك القديم»
The article discusses the government’s institutional reform and its impacts on the public sector wage.
دليلك لفهم تحرير سعر الدولار الجمركي في مصر
The article explains the direct repercussions of Egypt’s decision to free the price of the customs dollars.
لا يمشون بجوار السادة ولا يتزوجون دون إذنهم.. هكذا يعيش «العبيد» في صعيد مصر
Sasapost sheds light on the racial discrimination against black Egyptians in Aswan in Upper Egypt.
مع خالد فهمي: عن خوف ما قبل الانقلابات وفشل أرشفة الثورة ونظرة أخرى على عبد الناصر
Almanassa interviews the historian Khaled Fahmy about the issues in archiving the Egyptian revolution.
إجراءات اقتصادية أقسى: «ما لجرح بمَيّت إيلامُ»
The article analyzes the state approach to addressing the economic difficulties in Egypt while imposing harsh measures on citizens, offering nothing but more social instability.
The article discusses how religious discourse reform in Egypt should be addressed.