[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 rights group condemns house arrest of Egyptian-Italian labour activist
The Egyptian Coalition for Human Rights and Development (ECHD) denounced on Thursday the measures taken by Italian authorities against Egyptian-Italian Union activist Mohamed Arafat.
Egypt’s Elections and Parliament: Old Habits Never Die
The article analyzes the results of Egypt's 2020 parliamentary elections and their aftermath.
Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate to hold mid-term election at Teachers Association
The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate announced on Sunday it will hold its mid-term elections at the headquarters of the Teachers Association in Cairo’s Al-Gezira district on 2 April.
The new vanguard? A security-certified youth
Since taking office, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been keen to note how “youthful” his government is. And more importantly, he has made it clear that this is no accident. The state has cultivated a group of young political figures it can trust.
While any intervention in Tahrir Square is bound to be a political gesture, our architect chose the NDP plot for different reasons. The history of the site is like a theater of dialectics: The building was originally supposed to be the site of Cairo’s municipal offices but shortly before employees were transferred there, Nasser’s Arab Socialist Union occupied the site and it became a house for the political elite, contrary to its original intention.
Anatomy of an Incarceration: The Welcome Party
In the 1st article in a series focusing on different aspects of prison in Egypt, Abdelrahman ElGendy, who spent over six years behind bars, writes about the “welcome party” that prisoners are commonly subjected to when they first arrive at a detention site.
Foreign Policy
Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia to hold GERD meeting in Abu Dhabi: Asharq
Saudi Arabia’s Asharq News said on Wednesday that Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia's foreign ministers would meet next week in Abu Dhabi to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to an unnamed source.
Egypt's Deputy Foreign Minister for African Affairs Hamdy Loza has stressed on the importance of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) negotiations to be effective and serious in order to maximize chances of their success, a statement by the ministry said on Saturday.
Egypt does not get lion share of Nile Water: irrigation minister refuting Ethiopian claims
Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Aty stated in a TV interview Saturday that Egypt does not acquire the lion share of Nile River water as propagated by Ethiopia.
Sisi reiterates Egypt's unwavering support to Libya's new executive authority
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi reiterated Thursday Egypt's unwavering support to the new executive authority in Libya on all international, regional and bilateral levels toward rendering the management of the current historical phase in Libya a success and setting the scene for holding elections by the end of the year.
Egypt’s PM heads to Amman to participate in 29th joint committee meetings
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and a ministerial delegation left Cairo on Tuesday for the Jordanian capital of Amman to take part in the 29th session of the Joint Egyptian-Jordanian Higher Committee.
Economy
Traffic in Suez Canal resumes after stranded ship re-floated
Shipping traffic through Egypt's Suez Canal resumed on Monday after a giant container ship which had been blocking the busy waterway for almost a week was refloated, the canal authority said.
Sisi orders preparations for offloading Ever Given in case initial attempts to free it fail
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has ordered preparations for lightening the giant container ship Ever Given, which is stuck sideways in the Suez Canal, Osama Rabie, the waterway chairman, told Extra News TV channel on Sunday.
LIVE UPDATES: Two additional tugs reach Egypt's Red Sea to help re-float Ever Given ship
The country's Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on Sunday that three veterinary teams have been sent, in cooperation with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), to examine the animals and provide needed fodders.
Egypt temporarily suspends navigation in Suez Canal, efforts to dislodge giant ship continue
Egypt temporarily suspended navigation in its strategic Suez Canal on Thursday as efforts continued for the third consecutive day to dislodge the giant Ever Given cargo ship blocking the waterway.
Egypt’s central bank offers EGP 12.5 bn T-bonds to fill budget deficit
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will offer two types of treasury bonds (T-bonds) in an auction on Monday, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, with a total investment target of 12.5 billion Egyptian pounds.
Egypt targets decreasing overall deficit to 6.6%, achieving 1.5% initial surplus in FY2021/22
Egypt’s FY2021/2022 budget plan targets decreasing the overall deficit to GDP ratio to 6.6 percent as well as reaching a 1.5 percent initial surplus, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said.
A recent tender for a license to manufacture cigarettes for the first time in Egypt came under heavy criticism for imposing conditions that essentially preserve the monopoly of the state-controlled manufacturer Eastern Tobacco, according to an industry figure and a former competition regulator.
Domestic Security
Death toll from Cairo building collapse up to 23; search underway for two missing people
The death toll from a building collapse Cairo’s Gesr El-Suez district has risen from sixteen to twenty-three after five more bodies were retrieved from the rubble, a security source said on Sunday.
Egypt’s prosecutor-general orders testing train drivers in Sohag's deadly collision for drugs
Egypt's Prosecutor-General Hamada El-Sawy ordered on late Friday a set of measures to investigate the train collision in Upper Egypt’s Sohag that rendered at least thirty-two people dead and 165 injured.
Egypt's health minister alters reported number of deaths in Sohag train collision to at least 19
Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed on Saturday altered the number of deaths in the Sohag train collision that occurred yesterday from thirty-two to at least nineteen, saying some of the victims were mistakenly reported dead after they had gone into a coma.
32 Killed and 108 Injured in Sohag Train Collision
Thirty-two people were killed and 108 were injured in a railway collision that took place earlier today in the city of Sohag in Upper Egypt, according to a statement by the country’s Ministry of Health and Population, local media reports.
Transport minister says Egypt to install automatic train control system after Sohag collision
The minister of transportation extends an official apology over the deadly Sohag train collision, voicing his keenness in that similar incidents do not take place in the future.
Egypt's parliament to open investigation on Sohag train accident on Sunday
Egypt's parliament – the House of Representatives – will resume plenary meetings on Sunday, with MPs asking to open an investigation into the deadly train collision, which took place near the city of Tahta in the upper Egypt governorate of Sohag on Friday morning, leaving at least 19 people killed and 185 injured.
30,000 Egyptians received coronavirus vaccine: Health official
The Egyptian health ministry has provided a coronavirus vaccine to nearly 30,000 citizens, said head of the Preventive Medicine Department at the ministry Alaa Eid on Monday.
Egypt’s vaccination program under scrutiny as later registrants receive doses quicker
Egypt’s coronavirus vaccination program is under scrutiny as many who were among the first to register, including those in more vulnerable categories, report waiting far longer to receive their initial dose than members of the general public in recent days.
Arabic
دليلك المختصر لفهم آثار توقف المجرى الملاحي لقناة السويس
The article analyzes the economic impact of the Ever Given’s blocking of the Suez Canal.
مركز دعم يرصد: القبض على أكثر 8800 مصري خلال 2020 في قضايا سياسية.. وحبس 2518 في ثلاثة قضايا فقط
More than 8800 people were arrested over political charges during 2020, according to Democratic Transition and Humain Rights Support – Daam.
Cairo Criminal Court reviewed Sunday Kamal El-Balshy detention in Case No.880 of 2020.
إخلاء سبيل أشرف الحفني وأشرف أيوب.. ومصادر لـ”درب”: وصلا قسم العريش.. ومدحت الزاهد: مبروك لسيناء
Popular Coalition Party activists Ashraf Al-Hanafi and Ashraf Ayoub were conditionally ordered released after being held in pretrial detention over “spreading false news” and “joining terrorist group” charges.
Workers of LEONI Wiring Systems ended their strike, protesting the company’s unfair annual pay raise.
بعد التقارب المصري التركي: ما مصير قنوات الإخوان والعاملين بها؟
The article discusses how Egypt-Turkey rapprochement would affect TV channels affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
The article discusses the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on consumption in Egypt.