[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 renews detention of 700 in single ‘unprecedented’ session
A Cairo terrorism circuit court renewed the remand detention orders of around 750 people, whose charges were spread across more than fifty cases, in a single, twelve-hour court session on Sunday.
Egyptian authorities arrest Muslim Brotherhood-era Minister of Transportation
Egyptian security forces arrested Hatem Abdel-Latif, former Minister of Transportation during the one-year era of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group, a security source told Youm7.
Cairo court sentences 9 policemen to 3 years in prison for torturing fish vendor to death
A Cairo criminal court sentenced nine policemen to three years in prison over torturing a fish vendor to death while in police custody at Cairo’s Al-Amiriya police station late in 2016.
Hundreds of workers go on strike in Daqahlia to protest selling of factory
Hundreds of workers at the Delta Company for Fertilizers and Chemical Industries (Talkha Fertilizer), a state-owned company in Egypt, staged a sit-in on Friday to protest the Daqahliya governor’s decision to sell off the factory land to become a residential compound.
Foreign Policy
Sisi in Paris: Visit Shows Unwavering Relationship Between Egypt and France
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi landed in Paris on Sunday on an official two-day visit to France that saw him hold discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron and other leading government and business leaders. The visit saw the French roll out the red carpet for President Sisi, with the Egyptian leader welcomed with a cavalry parade through Paris.
Rome prosecutors to charge four members of Egypt's security apparatus for Regeni's murder: ANSA
Rome prosecutors are ready to charge four members of Egypt's security apparatus who were allegedly involved in the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016.
Planned talks in Cairo with French, German foreign ministers to address Israel-Palestine conflict
Plans are underway for foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany to convene with their counterparts from Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Cairo this December to discuss moving forward on stalled negotiations for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, Egyptian and European diplomatic sources have told Mada Masr.
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Thursday that he valued the Morocco-Israel normalisation agreement, describing it as an “important step” for achieving “more stability and regional cooperation.”
Egypt to chair two meetings on future of Libyan economy
Egypt, in partnership with the EU and the US, will chair two meetings on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the Libyan economy’s future.
Egypt, Iraq follow up on cooperation agreements in power, development, healthcare
A high-level ministerial Iraqi delegation has arrived in Egypt to follow up, with a number of Egyptian officials, on the recently-signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between Cairo and Baghdad two months ago.
Economy
Egyptian cabinet publishes first issue of ‘Economic Prospects’ magazine
The Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) has published its debut issue of the Economic Prospects magazine – the first specialized economic magazine issued by the IDSC in over six years.
Egypt to receive last Russian train vehicles batch by end of 2023
Chairman of the Railways Authority Engineer Ashraf Raslan assured that the delivery of all the new Russian train vehicles will be completed by the end of 2023.
Egypt's Minister of Health Hala Zayed said that there was a new production line in Vacsera factories to produce Sinopharm's Chinese vaccine in Egypt, in addition to ongoing negotiations with the company producing the vaccine to manufacture it inside the country.
Egypt, Jordan, Iraq discuss unified ticketing system for road transportation
The Cairo-based Arab Bridge Maritime Company has discussed a proposal of establishing a unified ticketing system to facilitate road transportation between Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan, according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Transportation on Saturday.
Egypt places 3rd in start-up investments in MENA in November: Wamda report
Egypt has been placed third in the value of investments poured into start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in November, recording 6.6 million US dollars (twenty percent of total investments invested in MENA start-ups in the month), according to Wamda.
Egypt-France trade exchange increased over 9 months: CAPMAS
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has announced an increase in trade volume between Egypt and France, which recorded 1.6 billion US dollars from January to September 2020.
Egypt’s NIRs stood at $39.2 bln by end of November: CBE
Egypt’s net international reserves (NIRs) stood at 39.2 billion US dollars at the end of November, the same level it reached in October, the Central Bank of Egypt announced on Sunday.
Egypt to offer army-owned Safi, Wataniya Petroleum in stake sales: Planning minister
Egypt will soon offer the National Company for Producing and Bottling Water (Safi) and Wataniya Petroleum for private sector investment, said Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said on Wednesday.
A total of thirty-seven developmental projects have been implemented in the petroleum and mineral resources sector in Egypt in both FY2018/2019 and FY2019/2020 with an overall investment cost of 431.3 billion Egyptian pounds, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said announced on Tuesday.
Domestic Security
Egyptian Pharmacists Syndicate demands isolation hospital for its members
The Pharmacists Syndicate in Cairo demanded Saturday that the state provide an isolation hospital exclusively for pharmacists, as the coronavirus continues its spread across the country.
Egypt receives first batch of Chinese coronavirus vaccine, to provide it free for citizens
Egypt has received on Thursday the first batches of the Chinese coronavirus vaccine at Cairo Airport later in the day, the Egyptian Ministry of Health said.
On the evening of November 25, some 450,000 residents of North Sinai were thrown into total darkness until the early hours of the following morning, after three high voltage electrical towers collapsed near the city of Bir al-Abd in the west of the governorate. Residents from North Sinai’s six main cities found themselves cut off from the world as telephone networks and internet services went down.
Egypt’s armed forces wipe out 40 terrorists in Sinai: Military Official
Egypt’s Armed Forces on Tuesday killed fifteen takfiri insurgents in Sinai, Military Spokesperson Tamer al-Refai announced, adding to the twenty-five eliminated in strikes on 437 terrorist hotbeds since September 1 until December 8 for a total of forty wiped out.
Arabic
أول تجديد حبس للمحامي إسلام سلامة بعد 40 يوما من الاختفاء والتدوير على قضية جديدة باتهامات إرهاب
Zefta Prosecution ordered the renewal of lawyer Islam Salama’s detention in case No. 7869 of 2020 over ‘belonging to a terrorist organization’ charges.
Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution the release of ninety-five detainees under three different cases.
تقرير تحليلي عن الانتهاكات ضد السجناء داخل سجن برج العرب
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms issued a report on the continuing human rights violations in Borg al-Arab prison.
قانون "ازدراء الأديان": نصوص غير دستورية لحماية الإسلام وحده
The article discusses how the Blasphemy law has been used by authorities to target anti-Islam critics.