[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's top appeals court jails policeman for seven years for killing activist in 2015
Egypt's top appeals court issued on Wednesday a final seven-year prison sentence against a police officer who killed activist Shaimaa al-Sabbagh during a 2015 protest in downtown Cairo on the fourth anniversary of the January 25 Revolution.
Egypt releases editor Nora Younis on EGP 10,000 bail
Egyptian prosecutors on Thursday ordered the release on bail of Nora Younis, editor-in-chief of al-Manassa news website, pending investigation on charges of running a website without a permit.
Rights defender Ahmed Amasha arrested and forcibly disappeared for second time
The undersigned human rights organizations denounce the arrest and disappearance by Egyptian authorities of trade unionist and human rights defender Ahmed Amasha, after his family announced that they had lost contact with him on 17 June, 2020.
Egypt: In solidarity with Gamal Eid
Human rights organizations condemned the escalating security and media campaign against lawyer Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). Led by Egypt's state security forces, the sustained harassment of Eid comes as part of a wider government crackdown on Egyptian human rights defenders and organizations, which began in earnest with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's takeover of the presidency in 2014, and has intensified at an unprecedented rate over the last year.
Patrick Zaki’s detention renewal was postponed until July 1
Once again the prison administration failed to transfer Patrick Zaki citing a force majeure event. Patrick was scheduled for a detention renewal session on Sunday 28 June that was meant to take place for the first time before a Criminal Court panel from a counter-terrorism circuit, which sits at the Tora Subofficers Training Institute.
The Economic Misdemeanour Appeals Court of Alexandria rejected the appeal submitted by the lawyer of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) to the ruling issued on 27 February 2020, and upheld the imprisonment of the activist and blogger Anas Hassan for a period of three years and a fine of 300,000 Egyptian pounds for "insulting religion and misusing social media."
Egypt's top appeals court upheld on Wednesday a death sentence against one monk and decided to commute a sentence against another to life imprisonment over the killing of a bishop at a monastery in 2018, a judicial source said.
Egypt's Sisi restructures media entities, including top media regulator
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has issued a decree reshuffling the members of a number of the country’s media bodies, including the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR).
Egypt executes Libyan militant Al-Mesmari after conviction over 2017 deadly attack on police
Libyan militant Abdel-Rehim al-Mesmari was executed on Saturday following his conviction of carrying out a deadly attack on security forces in Bahariya Oasis in 2017, a video statement by the Egyptian armed forces said.
Police arrest Egyptian TikTok star Renad Emad for inappropriate videos
Dokki prosecutors arrested social media influencer Renad Emad for four days over charges of publishing indecent content and videos on the TikTok video platform.
Foreign Policy
A decade of dispute: The battle over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have agreed to finalize a deal to fill and operate the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in two weeks following an emergency summit of leaders of the three countries brokered by the African Union on Friday.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Tuesday that Ethiopia had withheld updates on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its security systems from the technical committees during the trilateral negotiations between the two countries and Sudan.
In another chapter of political attempts to settle the regional dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) convened on Monday for a special discussion on the decade-long issue.
Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed on Thursday the importance of reaching a comprehensive agreement among all the parties on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Egypt ready to resume negotiations over Nile dam if Ethiopia has intention to reach deal
Egyptian Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Atti said Egypt has not yet reached a full agreement about technical aspects of a giant hydroelectric dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, stressing that Cairo is ready to resume negotiations if Addis Ababa is willing to reach a deal.
Egypt's FM Shoukry, US Secretary of State Pompeo exchange viewpoints on Libya, GERD
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo exchanged viewpoints on developments in the region, mainly in Libya, as well as the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Egyptian, Spanish navies carry out exercise in Red Sea
The Egyptian frigate "Suez" and the Spanish frigate "Numancia" conducted on Thursday a joint naval exercise in the Red Sea at Berenice Military Base in the Southern Fleet’s zone.
Economy
Eni announces gas discovery off Egyptian coast in the Mediterranean
Italian oil company Eni announced on Wednesday that it has made a new gas discovery off the coast of the Egyptian Nile Delta.
Egypt’s trade balance deficit declines by 45%, reaching $2.36 bln in April: CAPMAS
Egypt’s trade balance deficit declined to 2.36 billion US dollars in April, down from 4.28 billion US dollars in the same month in 2019, a drop of forty-five percent, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced on Monday.
Egypt's bourse gains EGP 55.6 bn in 3 months; all indexes up
The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) posted gains worth 55.6 billion Egyptian pounds during the second quarter of 2020 (April-June), where the market capital registered 590 billion Egyptian pounds, against 534.4 billion Egyptian pounds in the previous quarter, marking an increase of 10.4 percent.
Everything you need to know about Egypt’s new $5.2 bln loan from the IMF
On Friday, the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board approved Egypt’s request for a 5.2 billion US dollars loan under the Stand-By Agreement (SBA) instrument. Below is everything you need to know about the conditions of the new loan.
Egypt’s Electricity Ministry institutes new pricing structure
Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy said that the new electricity prices that were recently announced have been put into effect as of Wednesday 1 July.
Domestic Security
Two 'extremely dangerous' terrorists killed in North Sinai shootout: Ministry
Two “extremely dangerous” terrorists have been killed by Egyptian security forces in a shootout in North Sinai, Egypt’s interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Egypt reopens airports after three-month closure over coronavirus
Egypt on Wednesday reopened its airports for international flights for the first time in more than three months since suspension over the coronavirus.
Egypt eases coronavirus lockdown to gradually return life to normal
Egypt began easing off multiple coronavirus restrictions on Saturday while continuing to apply certain precautionary measures, gradually returning life to normal following almost three months of a nationwide curfew.
Egypt's first quarantine hospital closed to coronavirus patients
Egypt has announced that al-Negelah isolation hospital, the country’s first makeshift quarantine facility designated for coronavirus patients, will stop receiving patients infected with the virus and will instead return to normal operation by receiving other patients.
Arabic
إدارة موقع نت: باب خلفي جديد للتضييق على الصحفيين
The article discusses the government’s escalating crackdown on journalists.
Solafa Magdy’s mother reveals four-month loss of contact with her daughter, calling on authorities to allow them to receive a letter from her.
Hisham Foaud’s wife talks about her family hardship since the detention of her husband who is facing charges of financing terrorist groups in the case known as the “Hope Coalition Case.”
"المبادرة المصرية": الموازنة خالية من حسابات كورونا ومخصصات الصحة أقل من الحد الدستوري
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights examines Egypt’s COVID-19 budget policy.