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Egypt: Violent military operation in North Sinai with army saying it killed 73 insurgents
Cairo, Aug 30, 2020 - Egypt's army announced Sunday that more than 70 alleged jihadists have been killed in recent military operations in North Sinai, the location of an insurrection affiliated to the Islamic State group. A statement by the Egyptian army said that the...
Egypt: Police arrest suspected rapist as #MeToo movement reignites
Cairo, Aug 27, 2020 - Egypt has arrested a suspect in the alleged gang rape of a woman in a luxury Cairo hotel, the prosecution said Thursday, in a case that has fuelled a resurgent #MeToo movement. The rape allegedly took place six years ago but the allegations only...
Egypt: Sisi strengthens his powers with loyalists winning upper house seats
Cairo, Aug 19, 2020 - Egypt's electoral commission said Wednesday that candidates on an electoral list loyal to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won overwhelmingly in party elections held to a newly-restored upper house last week. But the polling, on August 11 and...
Libya: Patchwork of divided tribes complicate the Libyan crisis
As Egypt flexes its muscle with threats to intervene in Libya's civil war, its President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has sought to join forces with some of the neighbouring country's powerful tribes. Cairo hopes the alliances would boost its legitimacy if it were to wade...
Egypt: Another building collapses in Cairo
Cairo, Egypt - A listed building in the centre of Egypt's capital partially collapsed injuring five people Saturday, in the latest such incident, a security source said. Authorities who rushed to the building on Kasr al-Nile street, near the iconic Tahrir Square,...
Egypt: Another senior opposition figure dies in Egyptian prison
Cairo, Aug 13, 2020 - A senior leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood died Thursday in an Egyptian prison where he was serving multiple sentences including on terror-related charges, his lawyer said. Essam al-Erian, 66, was arrested in 2013 following the army's...
As tensions escalate in the east Med Sea, Egypt and Greece announce joint economic zone
Cairo, Aug 6, 2020 - Egypt and Greece signed an agreement Thursday to set up an exclusive economic zone in the eastern Mediterranean amid regional tensions over energy resources in the area. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry announced the deal, which delineates...
Egypt: Impasse in talks over Nile dam. Sudan threatens to withdraw
Egypt on Tuesday called for a suspension of meetings with Ethiopia on Addis Ababa's massive dam construction project on the Nile. Sudan threatened to withdraw from the talks saying Ethiopia insisted on linking them to renegotiating a deal on sharing the waters of the...
Generalized repression in the Arab world
Repressive Arab regimes are taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to crack down on the opposition, freedom of speech, independent media, and anything they consider a threat to their control of power. Almost no country in the region is spared by the other virus,...
Egypt: #MeToo movement in Egypt
Cairo, July 30, 2020 (By Farid Farid) - A gang rape allegation at a luxury hotel in Egypt stemming from a prominent social media account has triggered a new #MeToo wave in the deeply conservative country. The alleged assault took place at the five-star Fairmont Nile...
Egypt: New election law prevents anyone from competing against Sisi in future elections
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday ratified a law banning active and former military personnel from running for the presidency or parliament without the army's approval. The legislative changes come after Egyptians voted overwhelmingly last year in...
Egypt carries out death sentence on people accused of killing police officer
Cairo, July 28, 2020 - Egypt has executed seven people over the killing of a police officer in the northeastern city of Ismailiya in 2013, a security official said Tuesday. "The prison service on Tuesday carried out the sentence of death by hanging against seven...
More than 143,000 cumulative Covid-19 infections in North Africa, at least 6,000 deaths so far, Egypt worst hit
The cumulative confirmed infections of Covid-19 in the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt reached 143,258 over the weekend ending 26 July 2020. The combined death toll since the outbreak of the pandemic reached 6,144. Egypt, which...
Egypt attacks female online media personalities, five of them sentenced to prison
An Egyptian court Monday sentenced five female social media influencers to two years in jail each on charges of violating public morals, a judicial source said. The verdict against Haneen Hossam, Mowada al-Adham and three others came after they had posted footage on...
Egypt: Two soldiers and 18 alleged insurgents killed in Sinai’s Bir al-Abd
Egypt's military said it killed 18 suspected Islamist militants in aerial and ground operations in the restive North Sinai region on Tuesday, as part of its battle to quell a long-running insurgency. The army said in a statement that its forces succeeded in foiling...
Egypt wants Spain to extradite vocal political opponent Mohamed Ali
Barcelona, July 21, 2020 - Cairo is seeking the extradition from Spain of an Egyptian businessman and dissident, the justice ministry said Tuesday, on grounds of fraud and money-laundering that he claims are politically motivated. The Egyptian embassy had in 2019...
Egypt: At least 14 inmates died from Covid-19 in Egyptian prisons
Beirut, July 20, 2020 - At least 14 prisoners have died from likely COVID-19 complications in scantly-monitored outbreaks of the disease at Egyptian detention centres, Human Rights Watch said Monday. "At least 14 prisoners and detainees have died, most likely from...
The seeds of future crises: More troubles for Egypt’s poor
Wandering Cairo's bustling streets, Zeinab was struggling to survive by selling tissues when the coronavirus left her even more vulnerable, along with thousands of other homeless people and street children. The only good news was that, amid the pandemic fears,...
Libya: Egypt’s Sisi doubles down on threat to send troops to Libya
Cairo, July 16, 2020 - Egypt's president said Thursday that his country "will not stand idle" against threats to the national security of Egypt and Arab countries, in a meeting with tribal leaders from eastern Libya. His comments came days after the eastern-based...
Egypt: You are considered a criminal if you fly a kite in Egypt
Cairo, July 11, 2020 - [Photo: Rene Vincit] Egyptian police have seized kites from people flying them after a ban by a northern governorate for "safety" reasons and a lawmaker's warning they posed a "national security threat". Police seized 369 kites in Cairo on...
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