[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
Your guide to surviving downtown during the revolution anniversary crackdown
In the lead-up to each anniversary of the January 25 revolution, the authorities launch widespread security campaigns in downtown Cairo and its surrounding areas. These include apartment raids, arbitrary arrests, and the stopping and searching of cars, motorbikes, and pedestrians throughout December, January, and early February.
There has been little movement on licensing requests since the Law Regulating the Press, Media, and the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (Law 180/2018) was issued on 27 August 2018. The holdup is due to a long delay in the cabinet’s issuance of the law’s executive regulations. Executive regulations clarify articles and lay out the implementation processes of laws.
Egypt's top prosecutor orders release of two Turkish citizens, three Egyptians in Anadolu case
Egypt's prosecutor general ordered, on Thursday, the release of two Turkish citizens arrested a day earlier during a raid by security forces on an office where Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu was illegally running its operation in Cairo.
Turkey's Anadolu news agency has no legal presence in Egypt: SIS
Egypt's State Information service (SIS) issued a statement on Thursday saying that the Cairo office of Turkish state news agency Anadolu was raided by police because the agency had no legal presence in the country.
Egypt's top prosecutor forms new team to investigate Regeni killing
Egypt's top prosecutor Hamada El-Sawy has ordered the formation of a new investigative team to solve the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, who was tortured and killed in Cairo in 2016.
On the sidelines of a visit to a factory farm in Fayoum on 25 December, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was asked whether it was possible to hold long-delayed elections for local council seats in the same year as elections to the house of representatives and the recently reinstated senate, both expected in late 2020.
Foreign Policy
Egypt's Sisi says comprehensive political reconciliation is only solution to Libya crisis
A comprehensive political reconciliation is the only solution to Libya's conflict, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said during a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ahead of the awaited Berlin conference on Libya, a statement by the presidency read.
US Congressmen aides visit Egypt's North Sinai: Military
A delegation of US Congressional aides visited North Sinai to follow up on economic development efforts in the border region, the Egyptian military said in a statement on Wednesday.
Egypt's Sisi discusses cooperation with DR Congo and Mauritius leaders
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Fattah al-Sisi discussed on Monday in London means to boost cooperation with leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mauritius.
Egypt warns against any violations of Cypriot rights: FM spokesperson
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez warned in statement on Sunday of the consequences of any unilateral measures that “violate Cypriot rights and threaten the security and stability of the Eastern Mediterranean region.”
Draft deal on Ethiopia's GERD to take shape this week
The Sudanese capital of Khartoum is set to host a meeting attended by legal and technical committees from Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia later this week to provide a draft agreement on Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam's (GERD) filling and operation, nearly a week after the three countries agreed to finalize an agreement on the disputed dam later this month.
Egypt's Sisi in Germany to participate in Berlin conference on Libya
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi headed for Germany on Saturday to participate in an international conference on Libya which will kick off on Sunday.
Sisi, Johnson hold talks on relations, Libyan crisis in London
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the prime minister’s residence in London.
Pompeo expresses ‘outrage’ over prisoner death, rights groups call for Red Cross oversight
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed outrage over the death of Egyptian American dual national Mustafa Kassem while imprisoned in Egypt, calling the death “pointless and tragic.” His comment came during a sidebar meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the Berlin conference on Libya on Sunday, according to a statement by the US State Department.
Egyptian official: Ethiopia dam negotiations in Washington ‘a disaster’
Three days of negotiations in Washington between the foreign and irrigation ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan ended on Wednesday without an agreement over the filling schedule for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, according to a joint statement by the three countries and the World Bank that was released by the US Treasury Department, which hosted the meeting.
Economy
Egypt signs nine energy exploration agreements in Mediterranean and Western Desert
The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum has signed nine agreements to search for and produce oil and natural gas in the Mediterranean and Western Desert regions.
Income tax changes reduce tax burden for most without increased taxes on the rich
The Planning and Budget Committee in parliament on Monday approved changes proposed by parliamentarian Mervat Alexan to income tax brackets.
Egypt’s markets, industrial sectors to witness recovery in June: expert
Matti Beshay, an expert with the General Division of Importers, said on Wednesday that the market is suffering stagnation despite the fact that prices have decreased following the decline in the US dollar exchange rates against the Egyptian pound, adding that commercial markets and the industrial sector will witness a significant recovery in June.
Domestic Security
Egypt foils plot by fugitive Brotherhood leaders to disrupt national security: Interior ministry
Egyptian authorities foiled a plot orchestrated by fugitive leaders of the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey with the aid of accomplices in Egypt that was designed to destabilize the country on the ninth anniversary of the January 25 revolution, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.
Egypt's Sisi extends state of emergency for 3 months
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has issued a decree extending the state of emergency nationwide for three months as of Monday 27 January.
Number of Minya Microbus Crash Victims Soars to 5, 16 Injured
The incident sparked public anger on social media, with many denouncing the ministry’s poor management and lack of road safety, as well as the struggle for worker’s rights.
From Jadaliyya
The Lived Nile explores the transformation of the Nile River, which began in the second decade of the nineteenth century and stretched through to the middle of the twentieth. This history includes the construction of the first modern dam on the Nile River, as well as that of other pieces of irrigation infrastructure. The book engages in the history of civil engineering, within the framework of the British Empire in particular.
Arabic
مسؤولون: مفيش اعتقالات.. فيه حبس احتياطي.. وعندنا أفضل سجون على مر التاريخ
Abuse of political prisoners has become widespread amid authorities' denial.
بالمخالفة للدستور.. تعويضات للنوبيين بدلًا من «العودة»
The Egyptian government provided financial compensations to Nubians affected by the construction of the Aswan reservoir and the Aswan High Dam instead of granting them the right to return to their lands.
رسائل من خلف القضبان: بماذا تخبرنا قصاصات أوراق المعتقلين؟
The article discusses how writing letters from prison is an act of resistance for prisoners in Egypt.
مقتل 3 مواطنين بعد اختطافهم على يد "ولاية سيناء"
Three citizens were killed after being kidnapped by ISIS-affiliated group in the Sinai province.