[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
Egyptian activist Sanaa Seif sentenced for 18 months over ‘spreading false news’
A Cairo criminal court sentenced renowned Egyptian activist Sanaa Seif on Wednesday for a year and a half in prison over spreading false news, a statement said.
Infographic showing Death Penalty Verdicts in Egypt during January and February 2021
These alarming figures only represent what EIPR researchers were able to document through family members, defense lawyers, case files and the news media.
Residents forcibly disappeared after protest against government demolitions
Five residents of a Giza neighborhood have been forcibly disappeared after they were arrested during a Friday demonstration against expropriation and home demolitions in the area for which residents fear they won’t receive proper compensation.
From dislocation to return: A Tal al-Aqarib story
For over four years, Mada Masr followed the story of Fares Gomaa, whose family was abruptly relocated from their informal neighborhood in 2015 into remote temporary housing amid the government’s broader plan to “eliminate” informal areas.
Mubarak family vows to sue after court reverses EU sanctions on assets
In a press release by the UK-based law firm representing the family, Gamal Mubarak stated on Saturday that the family will continue to pursue legal action against the EU Council and “will pursue all available avenues to claim damages from the EU Council.” The withdrawal of sanctions on the Mubaraks’ EU-based assets is the latest in a retreat from efforts to sanction Egypt’s former ruling family.
The syndicate has lobbied for doctors who died after contracting COVID-19, who now number over 400, to be added to the state fund compensating and honoring deceased military and police officers throughout the duration of the pandemic.
Egypt's Journalists Syndicate puts off mid-term elections owing to coronavirus concerns
The syndicate's Committee for Supervising Elections said the syndicate board decided to postpone the elections following nine hours of deliberations after the government had rejected the syndicate's proposal to hold the elections on 19 March in tents erected outside the syndicate's headquarters in Downtown Cairo due to coronavirus concerns.
Egyptian MP Submits Draft Law to Regulate and Protect Domestic Workers
Egypt’s House of Trade Union and Worker’s Services announced that MP Nashwa Al-Deeb, along with other sixty parliamentarians, submitted to the Egyptian Parliament last Tuesday a proposal for a bill to regulate domestic work, which will be discussed by the Parliament during its next session on 28 March, local media reports.
50 female judges to be appointed within 3 months, decision excludes female law school graduates
Female law school graduates remain barred from applying to entry-level positions, a barrier that the three sources and Omnia Gadallah, an advocate for women’s admission to judicial positions, all told Mada Masr was the real marker of equal access to employment.
#Guardianshipismyright: Women call for greater legal rights over their children and themselves
An online campaign criticizing the personal status bill over provisions that are set to further limit women’s rights to guardianship over their children and themselves spread on social media in recent days.
Egypt prepares to start move to new administrative capital
Egypt is racing to prepare a grandiose new capital city in the desert east of Cairo before the first civil servants move in this summer and ahead of the delayed official opening of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's flagship project.
Foreign Policy
Egypt expresses worry over GERD deadlock to UN General Assembly
Egypt has expressed its “worry” to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) over the latest deadlock in the near decade-long dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Egypt’s PM visits Amman Tuesday to attend 29th session of joint Higher Committee
Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madboulli will head to the Jordanian capital, Amman, to attend the 29th session of the joint Higher Jordanian-Egyptian Committee, according to a statement from Jordanian State Minister for Media Affairs Sakher Dudin on Saturday.
A high-level Egyptian delegation, led by Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Sherif Eissa, has visited Djibouti to discuss boosting bilateral ties and hold political consultations with officials there.
Delegations from Palestinian factions participating in the two-day Cairo-based Palestinian National Dialogue affirmed on Wednesday the need to hold the awaited general elections in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Sisi, Johnson discuss developments in GERD dispute, Libya
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson exchanged views in a phone call on Thursday evening on the developments in the dispute caused by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in addition to a number of regional issues of mutual concern.
Egypt, US naval forces conduct joint exercise in Red Sea
Egyptian naval forces carried out a joint exercise with US naval forces in the Red Sea on Thursday, with the participation of the Egyptian frigate Sharm El-Sheikh and the American amphibious ship USS SOMERSET-LPD 25.
Economy
Egypt’s real GDP growth projected to slowdown to 3% in 2021, rebound to 4.9% in 2022: AfDB
Egypt is expected to see a slowdown in its real GDP growth of three percent in 2021, down from the 3.6 percent in 2020, before rebounding to 4.9 percent in 2022, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Egyptian expats remittances grew to $29.6 bln in 2020: CBE
The CBE said that the remittances increased to 7.5 billion US dollars from October to December 2020, up from seven billion US dollars in the same period of 2019.
Egypt’s state-employees' wages increase costs FY2021/22 budget EGP 37 bln: Finance minister
State-employees’ wages in the state’s FY2021/2022 budget plan have been increased by thirty-seven billion Egyptian pounds in implementation of the recent presidential directives, Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait announced on Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is expected to review the key interest rates on Thursday for the second time in 2021.
Egypt invites bids for cigarette production, but companies complain about terms
Egypt has invited tobacco companies to bid for a license to manufacture cigarettes in the country, according to the bid document, a move that could end a decades-old monopoly by the state-controlled Eastern Company.
Egypt's parliament approves amendments to bankruptcy law
Egypt's House of Representatives approved on Monday government-drafted amendments to the bankruptcy law, which are set to be referred to the State Council for revision before being put up for a final vote, according to parliament speaker Hanafy Gebaly.
President Sisi orders increasing salaries, minimum wage, pensions for state employees
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has issued directives to increase the salaries of all state employees and raise the monthly minimum wage, according to a statement by presidential spokesman Bassam Rady.
Domestic Security
Egypt to receive second batch of Sinopharm vaccines from China on Thursday
Egypt will receive a second batch, composed of 300,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine on Thursday, raising the total number of doses that the country has received to 700,000 doses, an informed source from the health ministry told Al-Ahram.
From Jadaliyya
Shana Minkin, Imperial Bodies: Empire and Death in Alexandria, Egypt (New Texts Out Now)
“This book is thus a part of multiple academic discussions. It is a part of the growing field of death studies, works that center death as the primary actor in their narratives. It is a part of the literature of European empire, especially that which looks at the day-to-day building of imperial power on the ground”, Shana Minkin writes.
Egypt’s Political Prisoners of Conscience: The Case of Ramy Shaath (Video)
Ramy is among dozens of political prisoners in Egypt who have been targeted by the Abdel Fatah al Sisi government. This segment explores Shaath’s case and the broader Egyptian and regional context of political prisoners.
Arabic
وداعًا نوال السعداوي.. الموت يُغيب الكاتبة والمفكرة الكبيرة عن 90 عامًا بعد صراع مع المرض
Author and feminist icon, Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, passed away on Sunday at the age of eighty-nine.
تجديد الحبس ورقيًا.. حقوق ضائعة وحرمان من الدفاع عن النفس
Authorities held detention renewal hearings without transporting detainees to hearings or allowing their lawyers to attend.
قضى نصف مدة الحبس.. أيمن موسى ينتظر الأمل الأخير
The family of detained student Aymen Moussa called on the authorities to release their son. Moussa was arrested in 2013, when he was only nineteen years old, serving a fifteen-year-sentence over "demonstrating and belonging to a banned group” charges.
Detained journalist Khaled Ghonim who reported on coronavirus cases among doctors has been in pretrial detention for eleven months, according to his wife.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of master’s student Ahmad Samir Santawy to fifteen days in case No. 65 of 2021.
The family of political prisoner Mohamed Salah demanded the authorities to investigate into violations against their son and other prisoners in Dar Al-Salam police station.
The Socialist Popular Alliance Party expressed its rejection of the new draft personal status law that would rob women of all their rights.