[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
Cairo appeal court drops charges against 20 NGOs in 2011 'foreign funding case'
The Cairo Appeal Court issued a ruling on Tuesday, dropping charges against twenty NGOs in the 2011 foreign funding case, a judicial statement read, a few months after twenty others were also acquitted of charges.
The questioning request, submitted by Nader Mostafa, the deputy chairman of the House’s Media and Culture Committee, is based on a report prepared by the committee directing scathing attacks against Heikal and accusing him of poor performance and financial and administrative wrongdoing.
Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) has demanded that Reuters “correct and clearly retract the incorrect news report” published on Monday afternoon citing unknown sources that the Ever Green ship blocking the Suez Canal “swung back across channel amid high wind”
Egyptian Journalists Syndicate holds mid-term election Friday amid tight security
The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate is holding its mid-term elections this afternoon to select a new head and half of the board members amid security boost. Turnout, however, is reportedly too low to complete the quorum so far.
Diaa Rashwan reelected to Journalists Syndicate amid accusations of rigged vote
The incumbent head of Journalist Syndicate Diaa Raswhan was reelected on Friday for a second term in an election that a rival candidate told Mada Masr was engineered to ensure Rashwan’s victory.
Egypt's Senate to toughen penalties on bullying crimes
The Senate – Egypt's consultative upper house – will reconvene on Sunday to discuss three new legislative amendments, the most important of which is a one aimed at fighting bullying crimes against physically-challenged individuals.
Egypt's parliament approves new law imposing fees on irrigation water
Article 38, as originally drafted by the government, states that farmers are allowed to use and operate water pumping machines on the River Nile, main water currents, canals, irrigation networks and reservoirs only under a prior license from the ministry of irrigation. Farmers will have to obtain a renewable five-year license against a payment of 10,000 Egyptian pounds in order to be able to use the machines.
Former Egyptian PM Kamal El-Ganzoury dies at age 88
Former Egyptian prime minister Kamal El-Ganzoury passed away on Wednesday morning in Cairo after a long struggle with illness in hospital, his family said.
Public Prosecution to Appeal Court Ruling to Release 4 Accused Fairmont Rapists
Egypt’s Public Prosecution issued a statement earlier tonight saying it is appealing a court ruling to release four accused Fairmont rapists.
Crumbling city: Why does Alexandria account for over half of all building collapses in Egypt?
According to urban experts and local officials, weather conditions on the coast, combined with a pattern of lax municipal oversight of older buildings as well as profit incentives to construct apartment blocks that do not adhere to building codes have left Alexandria particularly prone to building collapses.
Foreign Policy
Meetings between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan to re-launch negotiations over GERD resume Monday
Meetings between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan aiming to re-launch deadlocked negotiations over the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) resumed for a second day on Monday.
GERD talks continue in Kinshasa
Negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to solve the decade long dispute caused by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) continue on Sunday in Kinshasa amid expectations of concluding the new round with a summit grouping the three countries' leaders on Tuesday.
Egypt reiterated on Sunday the importance of joint work with Sudan to face common challenges in the security and safety of their borders as a joint aerial exercise, held in a Sudanese air base, between both countries’ air forces concluded.
'No one can take a drop of water from Egypt,' Sisi says on GERD dispute
“No one can take a drop of water from Egypt,” President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Tuesday in remarks over the continued deadlock in the negotiations with Ethiopia over the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Egypt voices support for Jordan's King Abdullah
Egypt has expressed "full" solidarity and support for Jordan and its leadership represented in King Abdullah II in preserving the security and stability of the Kingdom against any attempts to threaten it.
Economy
Shipping delays of this magnitude wreak havoc on supply chains and commodity prices. The revelation that some of the stranded containers held urgently needed medical supplies for combatting COVID-19 only heightened the urgency for those struggling to free the ship. The drama that unfolded around the Ever Given, like the pandemic that preceded it, confirms the basic fact that distant regions of the globe are more intertwined than ever before.
Last group of vessels stranded due to grounded Ever Given passed Suez Canal Saturday
Egypt said it will seek over one billion US dollars in compensation for the losses incurred from the blocking of the Suez Canal as well as the costs of re-floating the vessel.
Who will foot the bill for last week’s Suez Canal blockage?
Investigations led by Egyptian authorities and insurance companies into what caused a massive cargo ship to run aground and block traffic in the Suez Canal for six days began on Wednesday.
Egypt’s real GDP growth expected to decline to 2.3% in FY2020/21: World Bank
Egypt’s real GDP growth is forecast to decline to 2.3 percent in the current FY2020/2021 — which ends in June — down from 3.6 percent in FY2019/20, according to the World Bank’s (WB) updated report on Egypt’s economic outlook, issued on the occasion of the WB and the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings.
3×3: How will Egypt fare as US Treasury bonds spike in yield?
Yields in US Treasuries have been rising in recent months, as investors look on at the American government’s major stimulus efforts to lift the world’s leading economies out of a harsh recession.
'Egypt keen to continue encouraging US investments,' Sisi tells heads of US companies
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed on Thursday to the heads of leading US corporations Cairo’s keenness to continue to create an investment climate that is attractive to American investments.
Trade balance deficit down 17.9% in January 2021: CAPMAS
The trade balance deficit has retreated by 17.9 percent to reach 3.15 billion dollars during January 2021, compared with 3.85 billion dollars during the same month in 2020, said the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) on Sunday.
Egypt’s net international reserves (NIRs) rose for the tenth month in a row to reach 40.3 billion dollars by the end of March, up from 40.2 billion dollars in February, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced on Sunday.
Egyptian Pound vs US dollar: High performance stands on non-firm ground
Although the US dollar has lost about eighteen percent of its value before the Egyptian pound since 2017, experts believe the gains that the Egyptian Pound claimed are unsustainable and expect they will fade by the end of 2021.
Domestic Security
Close to 150,000 Egyptians injected with coronavirus vaccines so far: Health Minister
A total of 148,987 Egyptian citizens have been so far vaccinated against coronavirus, the Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed said, almost a month after the country began vaccinating priority groups in March.
Cairo roads to be shut down Saturday evening along royal mummy parade route
Egypt said it will temporarily shut down on Saturday evening a number of major roads and bridges in Cairo for the anticipated royal Egyptian mummy parade.
Egypt allows mass prayers in Ramadan; upholds ban on banquets, public ceremonies
Egypt’s government announced on Tuesday that it was allowing in-mosque daily prayers and mass night prayers "Taraweeh" during Ramadan with the adoption of all the precautionary measures against COVID-19.
Arabic
The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed a fifteen-day detention order for Ahmed Samir pending investigations in case No. 65 of 2021 on charges of “publishing false news”.
Al-Mansoura Prosecution renewed the pre-trial detention of political activist Mohamed Adel for fifteen days pending investigations in case No. 4118 of 2018.
الجنايات تجدد حبس العليمي وبربري وفؤاد ومؤنس 45 يوما.. وإكرام يوسف: تاني رمضان يقضوه بعيد عن أسرهم
Cairo Criminal Court renewed the detention of several Coalition for Hope defendants for forty-five days in Case No. 930 of 2019.
تكمل عام في السجن.. الجنايات تجدد حبس المترجمة مروة عرفة 45 يوما في اتهامها بـ”نشر أخبار كاذبة
Cairo Criminal Court ordered forty-five-day detention renewal for Marwa Arafa, pending investigations into charges of “publishing false news”.
Residents of Ezbet Makhioun field a suit against al-Buhaira governor over the demolition decision of their households as part of a development plan.
كواليس «الشَقا المضاعف»: عن تعويم «إيفر جيفن» وما بعده
Mada Masr reports on the Suez Canal crisis and the refloating process.
محكمة جنايات القاهرة تدرج 51 إرهابيًا على قائمة الإرهابيين
Cairo Criminal Court added fifty-one defendants to the terrorists list published on Egypt’s official gazette.
احتفالية نقل المومياوات الملكية إلى المتحف القومي للحضارة
Egypt held the Pharaohs Golden Parade through Cairo on Saturday, where twenty-two mummies were transferred to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
