Shield & Alert
- Sahel: Inside Chad’s Risky Alliance in Sudan’s Conflict
- Book: Lafarge Group and the Islamic State
- Sahel: Foreign Mining Firms Face Growing Risks as Juntas Assert Control Over Resources
- Is Morocco Quietly Preparing for Royal Succession?
- Algeria boosts defense budget to tackle cross-border threats
- Libya’s fragmented military and competition for its control
- Algeria: Diphtheria and Malaria outbreak in southern border regions claims at least 40 lives
- Algeria: Former head of police in custody for allegedly conspiring with foreign officials
- Mali: Wagner and Junta leaders in tough spot with series of embarrassing defeats and decisions to make
- Morocco: First Mpox case reported in Marrakech, health authorities activate emergency protocols
Algeria boosts defense budget to tackle cross-border threats
Algeria’s draft Finance Law for the year 2025 earmarks record spending for its military and defense. The Ministry of Defense, which oversees the country’s armed forces, will receive more than US$25 billion, an increase of over 10% compared to 2024. The move is...
Algeria boosts defense budget to tackle cross-border threats
Algeria’s draft Finance Law for the year 2025 earmarks record spending for its military and defense. The Ministry of Defense, which oversees the country’s armed forces, will receive more than US$25 billion, an increase of over 10% compared to 2024. The move is...
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ANALYSES & MAJOR EVENTS
MAGHREB
Drought Disrupts Wheat Sector in Morocco, Uncertainty with French and Russian Supplies
By Arezki Daoud | LinkedIn | An analysis from Bloomberg suggests that Morocco’s wheat harvest this year is likely to fall below 2.5 million tons due...
How to MEGA or ‘Make Europe Great Again’
By Arezki Daoud | LinkedIn | “Make France Great Again” -MFGA- that does not sound as an effective slogan as MAGA. How about “MEGA”, or “Make Europe...
Algeria’s strengthening EU gas market pushes Morocco to look for its own gas
By Olivier Vallée | MondAfrique: Algeria was in the spotlight at the G7 summit in Bari in Italy in mid-June. New agreements have been signed with...
North Africa Confronted with New Security Concerns
Security issues in North Africa have been in the news recently. There is news coverage in Spain about Morocco stepping up its military presence near...
Tunisia’s weak economic performance compounded by late data releases
Tunisia’s political system is still compromised, but the economy is showing some signs of minimal recovery. However, one area that is contributing...
Algeria-Morocco: The Dividing Kaftan
The Kaftan or Caftan, is now source of new tension between Morocco and Algeria. The two countries have been monitoring each other’s moves to...
More on the Maghreb
SAHEL
Burkina Faso Junta Faces Governance Challenges Amid Controversies and Rumors
Recently, there were shooting incidents in Ouagadougou and the absence of junta chief Captain Traore was interpreted as the end of his reign, only...
Sahel: French company Orano loses operating license of key uranium site in Niger
This followed months of demands for the project’s resumption, which had been stalled. Orano plans to contest this decision legally. Despite Orano's...
Niger: More Russian Weapons and Military Instructors Land in Niamey
The departure of the French and American troops from Niger created an opportunity for the Russians to replace them. The Russians’ objective is to...
Senegal at the Center of Another Geopolitical Fight
By Arezki Daoud: France is experiencing an unprecedented backlash in the Sahel and in West Africa. Disastrous post-colonial policies forced the...
Mali: Al Qaeda attacks rebel convoy in the Ouagadou forest
By MondAfrique: A column of armed vehicles from the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), the Touareg rebel coalition driven out of Kidal, was...
Niger and Algeria recall their ambassadors over undocumented migrants
The authorities in Niger summoned the Algerian ambassador Bekhadda Mehdi on 2 April, over Algeria’s treatment of undocumented migrants originating...
More on the Sahel
EGYPT
Egypt: Backers of opposition candidate for the presidential election arrested
Egyptian presidential hopeful Ahmed al-Tantawi on Monday said eight of his supporters had been arrested, bringing the total number of his backers in...
Egypt: US Senator Ben Cardin withholds $235 mil. in US aid to Egypt over human rights issues
The new top US senator on foreign relations on Tuesday blocked some $235 million in military aid to Egypt over human rights concerns, after his...
Egypt had more than 1,000 cases of violent crimes against women in 2022, latest case in Matrouh
An employee of Cairo University has been shot to death on campus by a former co-worker, the interior ministry said, in the latest case of femicide...
Egypt: Sisi wants to be reelected ASAP, before switch to flexible exchange rate that could exacerbate social tensions
Egypt will hold a presidential vote on December 10-12, the election authority said Monday, with the winner to be announced by December 18. President...
France in shock after security agency arrested journalists who reported on military cooperation with Egypt
By Guillaume Daudin, Aurelie Carabin and Stuart Williams: It was just after six in the morning on Tuesday when the agents came to the home of French...
Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan resume Nile dam talks
Ethiopia said Saturday it had begun a second round of talks with Egypt and Sudan over a controversial mega-dam built by Addis Ababa on the Nile,...
More on Egypt
MORE ANALYSES & MAJOR EVENTS
War in Gaza forces former Middle East foes to seek reconciliation
By Mondafrique: The war in Gaza is forcing feuding States in the Middle East and in the Gulf to seek the path of reconciliations. Faced with President Biden’s inability to impose a red line on Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the four most influential countries in the region – namely Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey – are forced to draw a new geopolitical map to deal with the Gaza...
Mali junta ends Algiers Agreement
The ruling junta in Mali announced, on Thursday 25 January, the "end, with immediate effect", of the Algiers agreement signed in 2015 with the pro-autonomy and independence groups based in the north of the country. Long considered essential for stabilizing the country, the agreement was primarily engineered by Algeria, but with such announcement, the basics elements of peace in the region have...
This Week’s Premium Podcast
Libya’s Abnormal New Normal
By Arezki Daoud: Since 2011, Libya has been engulfed in a bloody civil war after the death of Muammar Gaddafi. Over the years, it was easy to identify the problem: too many foreign regional players and global powers meddling in Libya’s affairs, explicitly or...
FOCAL POINTS
Egypt: Archaeologists find human and animal embalming workshops in ancient Egyptian capital city Memphis
Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed two human and animal embalming workshops, as well as two tombs, discovered in the Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo, the government said on Saturday. The vast burial site, at the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis, is a UNESCO...
Egyptians struggle with Cleoptra’s skin color
An Egyptian archaeologist on Wednesday released a documentary on the life of Cleopatra, the same day Netflix began streaming a controversial production depicting the ancient queen as black. For weeks, pundits and officials in Egypt have reacted angrily to streaming...
Podcast: South Africa today: achievements and challenges
In this podcast, Arezki Daoud of MEA Risk and of The North Africa Journal, reports on his thoughts on South Africa, after a 10-day visit in April 2023. Audio only podcast: Youtube video presentation:
Tunisia: Profile of jailed opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi
Islamist-inspired Ennahdha opposition party arrested on Monday, once towered over Tunisia's politics but many now blame him for the country's ills. The reputation of the 81-year-old veteran politician, once seen as a kingmaker following the 2011 Arab Spring revolt...
LATEST ISSUE
POLITICAL AFFAIRS
Libya: The Haftar family seeks to impose dynastic rule on Libya
By Arezki Daoud: If you were born in 1990, you are now 34 years old. This means in 2011 you just turned 21 and unless you were born interested in global politics, you probably don’t even know who Muamar Gaddafi is. Let me give you a two-to three-minute background. Muamar Gaddafi was Libya’s top leader. With his comrades of the military, he toppled King Idriss, the ruler of Libya, in 1969 and...
MORE ON POLITICS
Burkina Faso Junta Faces Governance Challenges Amid Controversies and Rumors
Recently, there were shooting incidents in Ouagadougou and the absence of junta chief Captain Traore was interpreted as the end of his reign, only...
Algeria-Morocco: The Dividing Kaftan
The Kaftan or Caftan, is now source of new tension between Morocco and Algeria. The two countries have been monitoring each other’s moves to...
Libya’s Abnormal New Normal
By Arezki Daoud: Since 2011, Libya has been engulfed in a bloody civil war after the death of Muammar Gaddafi. Over the years, it was easy to...
Senegal at the Center of Another Geopolitical Fight
By Arezki Daoud: France is experiencing an unprecedented backlash in the Sahel and in West Africa. Disastrous post-colonial policies forced the...
Senegal: Disgraced President leaves office to find shelter in Marrakesh
By MondAfrique: A short video circulating on social media shows outgoing Senegalese President Macky Sall's departure for Morocco on April 2, the...
Algeria: President announces early election, no one knows why
Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, ordered the holding of an early presidential election on 7 September 2024, instead of the scheduled...
US-Niger relations face uncertainty, with Niamey’s pivot to Russia
Audio version: The news: The visit a few days ago of a US government delegation to Niamey, the capital of Niger, did not go down well with the...
Brief: Tunisia: The Lazy Governors
Funny news this week from Tunisia where the Presidency of the Republic announced the dismissal of two governors. They are Mondher Sik-Ali of...
Algeria: Opposition leader Zoubida Assoul announces presidential bid
Algerian opposition and pro-democracy lawyer Zoubida Assoul has announced that she will run for the presidential election scheduled in December...
Niger and Mali up their anti-Western positions, lash out at France and US
Backlash against France continues in Niger, with several local media reporting that security and intelligence services in Niamey discovered this...
Brief: Tunisia: The Lazy Governors
Funny news this week from Tunisia where the Presidency of the Republic announced the dismissal of two governors. They are Mondher Sik-Ali of...
Algeria: Opposition leader Zoubida Assoul announces presidential bid
Algerian opposition and pro-democracy lawyer Zoubida Assoul has announced that she will run for the presidential election scheduled in December...
Niger and Mali up their anti-Western positions, lash out at France and US
Backlash against France continues in Niger, with several local media reporting that security and intelligence services in Niamey discovered this...
Senegal’s outgoing president prepares for disgraced exit
By Francis Sahel, Mondafrique: In the absence of any other alternative, Senegalese President Mack Sall announced last Friday his intention to...
PODCASTS
Libya’s Abnormal New Normal
By Arezki Daoud: Since 2011, Libya has been engulfed in a bloody civil war after the death of Muammar Gaddafi. Over the years, it was easy to identify the problem: too many foreign regional players and global powers meddling in Libya’s affairs, explicitly or...
COVID-19: The Latest
Covid-19: Libya announces night curfew to stem rise of coronavirus, but not in Haftar’s controlled territories
Libya's government Monday announced a two-week overnight curfew in the areas it controls in the centre and west of the North African country, as it battles a rise in Covid-19 cases. A government statement said the 12-hour curfew would start at 6:00 pm and end at 6:00...
Covid-19: Rush to vaccinate in Libya as pandemic continues to spread
Libyan authorities on Saturday stepped up their vaccination campaign around the capital Tripoli, as coronavirus cases rise across the country. The health ministry has set up temporary centres in six districts of the capital, and AFP journalists saw long queues outside...
Covid-19: Tunisia gets global support to combat crippling pandemic
The exhausting fight against Covid in Tunisia By Cecilia Sanchez In Tunisia's Mediterranean resort of Sousse, exhausted medics struggle to stem surging coronavirus deaths, desperately monitoring oxygen supplies beside patients' beds, while on the beach tourists relax...
SECURITY, DEFENSE & TERRORISM
Mali: Wagner and Junta leaders in tough spot with series of embarrassing defeats and decisions to make
(Photo from unconfirmed video showing an insurgent burning the presidential plane in Bamako. The person filming the attack speaks in Peul or Fulani language) By Arezki Daoud: This week’s attacks on the Malian capital of Bamako highlight the junta's difficulty in providing basic security for the country and its inability to degrade terror groups. They also signal further challenges the junta may...
Mali: Al Qaeda attacks rebel convoy in the Ouagadou forest
By MondAfrique: A column of armed vehicles from the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), the Touareg rebel coalition driven out of Kidal, was...
US-Niger relations face uncertainty, with Niamey’s pivot to Russia
Audio version: The news: The visit a few days ago of a US government delegation to Niamey, the capital of Niger, did not go down well with the...
Bloody Sunday: The indiscriminate killing of Muslim and Catholic worshipers in Burkina Faso
Sunday, 25 February was a bloody day for religious groups in Burkina Faso. Two attacks against a church and a mosque confirm the utter instability...
War in Gaza forces former Middle East foes to seek reconciliation
By Mondafrique: The war in Gaza is forcing feuding States in the Middle East and in the Gulf to seek the path of reconciliations. Faced with...
Western Sahara: Escalating Tensions Between Morocco and the SPLA
The North Africa Journal: With global attention focused on the Middle East and the Ukrainian crises, the Western Sahara feud has been evolving from...
Russia’s first African military base in a highly unstable nation
By Arezki Daoud: Since Russia started its war on Ukraine, we have been told that Moscow was headed towards disaster. Echoing the views of Western...
Mali junta ends Algiers Agreement
The ruling junta in Mali announced, on Thursday 25 January, the "end, with immediate effect", of the Algiers agreement signed in 2015 with the...
22 Islamist militant suspects arrested in Tunisia ($)
Defense: Morocco orders armored vehicles from Turkey ($)
Russia-Africa: From weapon sales to economic ties
By Arezki Daoud: Has the war in Ukraine deter Russia from engagement in Africa? Certainly not! We know on the security front, a growing number of...
22 Islamist militant suspects arrested in Tunisia ($)
Defense: Morocco orders armored vehicles from Turkey ($)
Russia-Africa: From weapon sales to economic ties
By Arezki Daoud: Has the war in Ukraine deter Russia from engagement in Africa? Certainly not! We know on the security front, a growing number of...
Sahel: Russia to experience boost of its influence in the Sahel
By Arezki Daoud: Russia’s influence in the Sahel is about to expand further with more cooperation deals announced by Niger and Russia during the...
SOCIAL, LABOR & THE ENVIRONMENT
Egypt opens Rafah Border, to allow safe passage to foreign nationals
Egypt will help evacuate "about 7,000" foreigners and dual nationals from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, the foreign ministry said, with officials saying some 400 people were expected to cross Thursday. For the first time after weeks of deadly fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, the Rafah border crossing opened on Wednesday to let people out of Gaza. In a meeting with foreign...
Morocco’s water woes deepen as rationing takes hold
By The North Africa Journal: The entire sub-region of North Africa is the hardest hit by a drought that is causing disruptions to millions of...
Algeria: Six members of the same family die of carbon monoxide in MSila
Six members of the same family died on Sunday, 14 January 2024, at their home in the municipality of Ain El Melh in the wilaya of M'Sila, after...
Mauritania: Christian group released from detention, expelled from Mauritania
Media sources report that 15 Christians leaders and their families who were arrested by Mauritania at the end of November 2023, were released on 18...
Tunisia: Journalist Zied El-Heni released from jail, gets six-month suspended sentence
Tunisian journalist El-Heni was released from prison on Wednesday, 10 January 2024, but he was given a six-month suspended sentence. He was arrested...
Libya: Protesters force closure of El Sharara oil field over local economics
The North Africa Journal - Protestors seeking social and economic development for the Fezzan region, located in the southwestern Libya, forced the...
Egypt: After wishing each other a happy new year, Egyptians see price hikes that will make 2024 not such a happy year
Bread has always been a source of concern for rulers and leaders. When their prices increase, watch out for the public reaction. In history, bread...
Sahel: Kidnapped in Libya in 2017, South African medic released this week in Mali
A South African paramedic who had been held by jihadists in Mali for over six years has been released, security and humanitarian sources told AFP on...
Tunisia: Three workers assigned to historic World Heritage wall in Kairouan killed after wall collapsed
A section of the historic walls around the Old City of Kairouan collapsed on Saturday, killing three masons carrying out repairs on the UNESCO World...
UN rapporteur on human rights pressures Algeria to release jailed activists
The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights defenders on Tuesday urged Algeria to release all jailed human rights activists, citing...
North Africa’s use of drones in the agricultural sector
By Aymen Jamli: A drone buzzed back and forth above rows of verdant orange trees planted near Nabeul, eastern Tunisia. The black unmanned aircraft,...
Sahel: Kidnapped in Libya in 2017, South African medic released this week in Mali
A South African paramedic who had been held by jihadists in Mali for over six years has been released, security and humanitarian sources told AFP on...
Tunisia: Three workers assigned to historic World Heritage wall in Kairouan killed after wall collapsed
A section of the historic walls around the Old City of Kairouan collapsed on Saturday, killing three masons carrying out repairs on the UNESCO World...
UN rapporteur on human rights pressures Algeria to release jailed activists
The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights defenders on Tuesday urged Algeria to release all jailed human rights activists, citing...
North Africa’s use of drones in the agricultural sector
By Aymen Jamli: A drone buzzed back and forth above rows of verdant orange trees planted near Nabeul, eastern Tunisia. The black unmanned aircraft,...
BUSINESS & THE ECONOMY
Business: Morocco’s attraction to Chinese tea makes it its biggest customer
Moroccans love a good cup of tea. Mint tea is their favorite, and it is often prepared by first brewing green tea and then soaking mint leaves in it and adding sugar. Where does the green tea come from? China. This year, Morocco has become China's biggest destination of tea, with the kingdom's importers spending more than $123 million on the green stuff during the first seven months of 2024,...
Algeria: Beware of forgery. New law seeks to reduce fraud and white collar crime
(Photo: Magistrates at the Court of Auditors) - Algeria must have some serious problems with official document forgery. Analysts say the practice is...
Morocco: Price of butane gas to increase by 25% in April
(Photo: Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch) Morocco will stop subsidizing butane gas in 2026, but prices will begin to increase next month, April 2024....
Agriculture: Spanish farmers say Moroccan strawberries carry virus, as Morocco surpasses Spain as tomato supplier to EU
Agriculture is the theater of another kind of war where there are winners and losers. Worth billions of dollars, the EU agricultural market is...
Algeria-Morocco Competition for Regional Influence Shifts to Economic Affairs
Opinion By Arezki Daoud: Up until now, enemy brothers, Algeria and Morocco have been trying to impress and disrupt one another to ascertain their...
Morocco: Consumers to pay more for Netflix, Airbnb and other online services courtesy 2024 state budget
Morocco is overhauling its taxation system to generate more revenue from online services, in particular the ones focused on foreign-operated...
Germany to get Algerian gas for first time
Germany is to get Algerian gas with the signing on 8 February of a contract tying gas producer Sonatrach to Leipzig-based gas trader VNG Handel...
Trade: Israel-Morocco trade takes a hit amid extreme instability in the Middle East
Last year, Morocco and Israel have had a strong run on their bilateral trade, as the two countries put into effect the Abraham Accords. Almost all...
Energy: US oil companies explore opportunities in Algeria but no deal yet after months of talks
Junior executives of Oxy and Chevron, affiliated with the US-Algerian Business Council (USABC) traveled to Algiers on 21 January 2024 as part of a...
Morocco-Israel trade figures collapsing
Russia-Africa: From weapon sales to economic ties
By Arezki Daoud: Has the war in Ukraine deter Russia from engagement in Africa? Certainly not! We know on the security front, a growing number of...
Trade: Israel-Morocco trade takes a hit amid extreme instability in the Middle East
Last year, Morocco and Israel have had a strong run on their bilateral trade, as the two countries put into effect the Abraham Accords. Almost all...
Energy: US oil companies explore opportunities in Algeria but no deal yet after months of talks
Junior executives of Oxy and Chevron, affiliated with the US-Algerian Business Council (USABC) traveled to Algiers on 21 January 2024 as part of a...
Morocco-Israel trade figures collapsing
Russia-Africa: From weapon sales to economic ties
By Arezki Daoud: Has the war in Ukraine deter Russia from engagement in Africa? Certainly not! We know on the security front, a growing number of...
INTERNATIONAL
Mozambique: Corruption trial for ex-Mozambican leader’s son set for August
Nineteen defendants including a former president's son linked to a massive debt scandal that plunged Mozambique into its worst financial crisis are to go on trial next month, according to a court document seen Wednesday. The scandal saw the government secretly take out loans totalling around $2.0 billion in 2013 and 2014 from global investors to finance a tuna-fishing fleet and a maritime...
NIGERIA
Nigerian town caught between jihadist war and peace
By Camille Malpat: Once a symbol of the jihadist war in northeast Nigeria, the town of Bama today betrays the grinding nature of a 13-year conflict,...
Insurgencies: Boko Haram fighters pouring into Niger’s side of Lake Chad
Hundreds of Boko Haram jihadists have fled a forest enclave in northeast Nigeria, escaping air strikes by the military and floods from torrential...
Nigeria: Gunmen kill five, including Indian national in Ajaokuta, Kogi state
Gunmen have killed five people, including one Indian, in Nigeria's Kogi state, police said Saturday, with the region wracked by jihadist and gang...
Jihadists kill six Nigerian fishermen in Cameroon
Suspected jihadists have killed six Nigerian fishermen in Cameroon's Far North region, close to the Lake Chad hideouts of insurgents, a local...
Libya: Violent clashes in west Tripoli
Violent clashes rocked a western area of the Libyan capital overnight and until Sunday morning, an interior ministry source said, as local media...
TURKEY
Turkey arrests founder of cryptocurrency exchange Thodex
Thodex, suspected of having fled Turkey with the assets of his clients, arrived in Istanbul on Thursday after his extradition from Albania and was...
French cement giant Lafarge accused of supporting “terror groups”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday he warned France about the cement company Lafarge's ties to terror groups in northern Syria....
Turkey experiences out-of-control inflation, soaring prices
By Fulya Ozerkan Turkish inflation jumped to a new 24-year high exceeding 83 percent in September, official data showed Monday, as President Recep...
Turkish banks abandon use of Russia’s card payment system Mir
By Fulya Ozerkan: Turkey's booming wartime trade with Moscow took a giant step back on Wednesday with confirmation that the last three banks still...
Turkey cuts interest rate for second month despite soaring inflation
Turkey's central bank on Thursday cut its policy rate for the second straight month despite an annual inflation rate that has reached 80 percent and...
MOZAMBIQUE
Mozambique to get 1,000 Rwandan combat troops to confront militancy in Cabo Delgado
Rwanda said on Friday it will send 1,000 troops to Mozambique to help the country battle extremist militants wreaking havoc in the north of the...
Mozambique: Europeans getting drawn into Mozambique crisis, starting with “military training”
EU ambassadors on Wednesday gave the green light to setting up a military mission in Mozambique to help train its armed forces battling jihadists in...
Armed conflict in Mozambique likely to intensify
Mozambique jihadists attack as bloc approves force deployment Islamist militants clashed with Mozambican government forces in a new bout of attacks...
Tanzania turns back Mozambican refugees, exposes them to more killings
The United Nations raised the alarm on Monday over reports that Tanzania forcibly returned hundreds of Mozambicans fleeing jihadist raids last...
Mozambique: Setback for Mozambique as insurgents take control of Palma near Tanzania and oil sites
Islamist militants have seized control of the northern Mozambique town of Palma, near a huge gas project involving French oil major Total and other...
DISCOVERY NORTH AFRICA: VIDEOS
In Morocco hills, cannabis farmers bet on budding industry •
By France24: In the hills of northern Morocco, vast cannabis fields are ready for harvest, but farmers complain that a government plan to market the crop legally is yet to deliver them any benefits. The marginalised Rif region has long been a major source of illicit hashish smuggled to Europe while Moroccan authorities, wary of social unrest, have often turned a blind eye.
Video: Tourism season in Tunisia winds down
Tourism sector in Tunisia
Video: Tunisia’s Ex-PM Ali Laarayedh detained by police
Tunisia's anti-terrorism police detained for one day Ali Laarayedh, a former prime minister and senior official in the Islamist opposition Ennahda party, after an investigation into suspicions of sending jihadists to Syria, lawyers said on Tuesday. (France 24)
Video: Europe’s growing energy crisis
The Rio-Antirio bridge in Greece, one of the longest of its kind in the world, has turned off its eye-catching decorative lights as the country scrambles to save energy with winter looming. Government buildings including the Greek parliament and mayor's office in...
Egypt: After giving the world an unparalleled civilization, Egypt now offers us a grotesque and cartoonish depiction of its power
When you think that Egypt has reached the bottom of the surreal, hold your breath for a minute and see what happens next. Even North Korea's Kim Jong Un could not have gone so low. To please Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian police academy put up a show on Thursday,...