[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 of Cassation commutes death penalty against six in 2016 terrorist attack near Pyramids
Egypt’s Court of Cassation commuted the death penalty against six defendants charged with being involved in a terrorist attack on the Three Pyramids Hotel in Giza in 2016.
Egypt General Prosecution releases Ola El-Qaradawi pending investigations: MENA
The General Prosecution released on Friday Ola El-Qaradawi pending investigation on Friday, an informed source told the state-owned MENA.
Egyptian activist Sanaa Seif released after serving 18-month sentence in prison
Renowned Egyptian activist Sanaa Seif was released from prison on Thursday after completely serving her eighteen-month-long prison sentence after being convicted with spreading false news, her lawyer Khaled Ali announced.
Imprisoned former Muslim Brotherhood leader speaks out on harsh prison conditions
Mahmoud Ezzat, former acting supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, appeared in court on Monday last week for sessions in two of the multiple indictments for which he continues to stand trial.
Court ruling says local authorities need not provide cemeteries for those not of ‘the 3 faiths’
A court ruling this week exempted local authorities in Alexandria of the responsibility to provide people of the Baha’i faith the space to bury their dead. The ruling also affects anyone in Egypt who has a dash mark (“-”) in the “religion” field of their national identity card, which officially denotes that they are not adherents of Islam, Christianity or Judaism.
After homes confiscated, Giza residents take legal action against prime minister
Forty-one residents of Nazlet al-Semman, a neighborhood adjacent to the Giza pyramids complex, are trying to take the government to court for ordering the expropriation of their houses, lawyer Mohamed Abu Saleeb told Mada Masr.
Egypt's Senate gives preliminary approval to new labour law
The Senate – Egypt's consultative upper house – provisionally approved Sunday a new government-drafted labour law aiming to regulate the relationship between employers and workers in a market economy.
Sisi announces cuts to subsidy ration card program
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared on Wednesday that the government might stop issuing new subsidy ration cards to newborns and limit the number of beneficiaries to two family members per card, saying expenditures on the system have held the country back.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s announcement in August that the government plans to raise the price of subsidized bread was not all that surprising. The move comes in the midst of a broader economic policy put in place over the past several years to introduce harsh austerity measures that have been lauded by government experts and international lending institutions while doing little to alleviate growing levels of poverty.
Foreign Policy
Egypt, Jordan, Palestine ministers review proposals to break stalemate in Middle East peace process
A trilateral ministerial meeting was held in Cairo on Monday between Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine in Cairo to discuss proposals to break the current stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Egypt, Rwanda FMs discuss cooperation, regional and int'l affairs in Kigali
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Rwandan counterpart Vincent Biruta tackled means of boosting bilateral cooperation as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern in a meeting in the Rwandan capital on Wednesday.
Sisi, Putin agree on intensifying efforts, coordination to settle Libya crisis
Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on Saturday on the importance of intensifying efforts and mutual coordination to settle the Libyan crisis and help the Libyan people achieve a better future.
Foreign ministry says it is 'inappropriate' for US to comment on judicial rulings in Egypt
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez said on Monday that it was “inappropriate to comment on judicial rulings” in response to statements made by the US State Department’s Spokesman criticizing a verdict handed earlier on the same day to activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah and two others.
Egypt 'fully' supports Libya, its people's free will, Sisi tells Menfi at Cairo meeting
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has reaffirmed Egypt's full support for "everything that could achieve the higher interests of Libya, activate the free will of its people, and preserve the country’s unity and sovereignty."
Economy
CBE’s assets increase to EGP 2.412trn in November 2021
According to the CBE’s financial position report for November, the bank’s balances increased to 312.8 billion Egyptian pounds in November, up from 289.574 billion Egyptian pounds recorded in June.
Egypt invested EGP 16 bln in water rationalisation, management projects in 2021: Report
Egypt's Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources invested sixteen billion Egyptian pounds in 2021 in water projects across the country, which is deemed one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, to rationalise water use and create water additional resources.
Trade exchange between Egypt, Russia hits $3.3 bln in 2021's first nine months: Ambassador
Russian Ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko said on Sunday the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Russia hit 3.3 billion US dollars from January to September 2021.
Egypt’s garment exports rise by 38% in 11 months
Egypt’s garment exports rose by thirty-eight percent during the period from January to November 2021.
Domestic Security
2 more Province of Sinai militants killed in December according to tribes union, sources
The Union of Sinai Tribes said that in mid-December it led a campaign against militants in areas to the south of Rafah, North Sinai that led to the injury of three of the union’s fighters in an explosive attack.
From Jadaliyya
Anterior Futurisms: Haunted Hegemonies and the Ghostly Chants of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution
“The calls for equity at the apex of the 2011 Revolution do not exist in an ahistorical vacuum. Indeed, the hegemonic ambitions of the Nasserite era haunt the Egyptian imaginary, the ghosts of an unfulfilled postcolonial futurism reverberate in the contemporary demands for equity and national pride.”
Arabic
New Cairo Court ordered a compensation of one million Egyptian pounds to the family of the late Egyptian youth Khaled Saeed, known as the icon of the January 2011 revolution, according to the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights.
Daarb sheds light on the major 2021 rulings on political cases by the Emergency State Security Court.
Thirteen Ezbet Nadi el-Seid defendants were acquitted of charges over protesting and destroying public and private property, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
Human rights activists and public figures launched a campaign addressed to the President of the Republic to put an end to emergency court rulings against prisoners of conscience, and to release them.
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression submitted a request to release fifty-six prisoners held in pretrial detention, calling for their immediate release.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information tracked seven social and labor protests during the second half of December 2021.
تحذير: الأرباح ضارة جدًا بـ«الصحة»
The article examines how investments in private hospitals through the Sovereign Fund have impacted access to high-quality health services between the poor and rich and between Cairo and the rest of governorates.
آلة الإعدام الشرهة.. كيف تحولت فلسفة العقوبة من الردع إلى الانتقام؟
The number of executions carried out in the last decade alone represents almost half of the death sentences handed down by the Egyptian judiciary during the last century, according to statistics.
