[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.]
Anti-Terrorism Law
Egypt arrests three under terror law for spreading IS ideology
The three had two laptops containing IS videos, according to police officials.
Sisi ratifies controversial anti-terrorism law
Ostensibly billed to fight Islamist militants, the law gives the courts and security forces new powers to use against suspects implicated in terrorism-related crimes, as well as against journalists reporting on terrorist attacks.
Rights groups condemn `Orwellian` anti-terror law
The new anti-terrorism law was met with harsh criticism from international rights groups after being ratified by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Sunday night.
HRW: Egypt’s counterterrorism law erodes basic rights
In a statement released on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch warned that the “broadly worded” definition of terrorism in Egypt’s newly imposed anti-terrorism law could lead to its use to curb civil disobedience.
In first application of terrorism law, alleged terror cell members arrested
Mada Masr reports.
License to kill?
Mada Masr examines the broad protections the new anti-terrorism law gives to the police
Egypt hits back at western criticism of its new counter-terrorism law
Foreign Ministry spokesman says law is appropriate and matches western laws
Civil Service Law
Civil Service Law protesters object to Sisi’s remarks
Protesters of the Civil Service Law objected to the statement of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that the law will be enacted.
Tax workers say meeting with PM on civil service law unfruitful
Workers at the Finance Ministry said that their Tuesday meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb to discuss their objections to the civil service law was “unfruitful”, vowing to continue their protests against the controversial law.
Thursday meeting to discuss escalation against civil service law
The protesting workers said they will discuss efforts to form “a unified front” against the law after their recent meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb yielded no positive results.
Labor unions prepare massive September protests over controversial law
Independent labor unions are preparing for massive protests on 12 September, demanding the Civil Service law be abandoned.
Political Rights
Wasat leader denies mediating for reconciliation with Brotherhood
The centrist Islamist Wasat Party has dismissed reports saying its recently released leader was mediating a reconciliation agreement between the Egyptian government and the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
Photojournalist Ahmed Ramadan released after arrest for alleged Brotherhood ties
A Youm7 videographer reported Ramadan’s alleged ties to the group to the police, thus prompting his arrest, according to Ramadan’s lawyer.
Interior Ministry denies NCHR permit to investigate prison
The Interior Ministry refused to issue permits to the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) to inspect conditions in the notorious maximum security prison Al-Aqrab, which houses scores of political prisoners.
Mubarak-era textile mogul referred to prosecution for monopolization
The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) referred Oriental Weavers Carpet Company (OW), owned by Mubarak-era businessman Mohamed Farid Khamis, to the prosecution on Tuesday with charges of monopolization.
125 prisoners released amid mounting criticism of poor jail conditions
The released were detained for questioning under the controversial Protest Law, reported privately owned newspaper Youm7.
Two more belly dancers awaiting final verdict on immorality charges
Two belly dancers are facing charges of debauchery and promoting immorality in their music video clips, the latest in a string of cases against performers in Egypt.
Brotherhood Supreme Guide Badie, eighteen others sentenced to life in prison
The Port Said Criminal Court sentenced Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and eighteen others to life imprisonment for storming the Arab Police Station in Port Said.
Ten-year sentence upheld in Port Said stadium massacre retrial
The Port Said Criminal Court upheld a ten-year sentence against one defendant and acquitted five others in a retrial, after they were sentenced in absentia in the Port Said stadium massacre case, reported state-owned Al-Ahram.
Dozens injured in attempted dispersal of police sit-in
Hundreds of low-ranking police officers began their strike on Saturday in front of the Sharqiya security directorate over disputes concerning pay, healthcare, pensions and officers sacked without charge.
Policemen`s associations express solidarity with Sharqiya protest
Mada Masr reports.
Egyptian rights organization files lawsuit to expel Human Rights Watch from country
The case was filed by President Naguib Gobrael of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights (EUHR) on the basis that HRW has sided with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood against the Egyptian state, following their ouster in 2013.
The disgrace we should not embrace
Khaled Mansour writes, “State institutions including the NCHR, whose members are appointed by the president, are becoming islands of varying sizes of power all of which fend for themselves, lacking unity of purpose and devoid of accountability mechanisms in the absence of a parliament or critical mass media.”
Dar al-Ifta aims to control fatwas worldwide
Egypt`s official religious institution tasked with drafting edicts, held an international conference to confront the “chaos of fatwas” which, according to the institution have become a major source of religious extremism and terrorism, and to consolidate the power to issue fatwas into its own hands.
Imprisoned activist Alaa Abd El Fattah speaks from Tora
Alaa Abd El Fattah speaks to the media for the first time since he began serving his latest sentence at Tora Prison.
TV host Tawfik Okasha released on bail pending appeal
Ahram Online reports.
Elections
Dostour Party president: My resignation is final
Dostour Party President Hala Shukrallah said in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm that she resigned on Sunday due to ongoing internal differences, adding that her resignation is final.
HEC: Eighty-seven local, foreign NGOs to follow up parliamentary polls
The Higher Election Committee (HEC) announced.
Popular campaign advocates disbanding of religiously-oriented parties
Campaign official says they obtained a security clearance for its activities.
After its leader resigns what comes next for the Dostour Party?
The party`s announcement that it would refrain from taking part in the parliamentary elections served as a lightning rod for the conflicts leading to Shukrallah`s resignation.
We cannot stop Brotherhood from participating in elections: Egypt`s PM advisor
Major General Refaat Komsan, election affairs advisor to Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, said in an interview with Al-Shorouk that his committee cannot prevent certain factions, presumably including the Muslim Brotherhood, from joining this year’s parliamentary elections.
Egyptian Dostour Party spokesperson Khaled Dawoud resigns
Dawoud resigned late Saturday after the higher committee accepted party head Hala Shukrallah`s resignation.
Foreign Policy
Egypt`s Sisi is making a mockery of US diplomatic efforts
Washington Post editorial criticizes the Obama administration’s ambivalence toward the Egyptian government’s deteriorating human rights record.
The Questionable Legality of Military Aid to Egypt
The New York Times editorial slams Washington for continuing military aid to Egypt despite the worsening human rights situation under President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.
US denounces new Egyptian counterterrorism law
"We are concerned that some measures in Egypt`s new anti-terrorism law could have a significant detrimental impact on human rights and fundamental freedoms," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
US weighs more security, withdrawal option for Sinai forces
The Obama administration is quietly reviewing the future of America`s three-decade deployment to Egypt`s Sinai Peninsula, fearful the lightly equipped peacekeepers could be targets of escalating Islamic State-inspired violence.
Sisi in Russia visit on 25 August
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will visit Russia from August 25 to 27 to “reinforce bilateral ties”, presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef said Thursday.
Reports conflicting over Egypt-Russia Two Billion USD Mig-29 fighters deal
Russian press quoted a MIG corporation spokesperson as saying that such supply to Egypt was not in the company’s plans.
Egyptian army figures respond to reports that US is reconsidering its presence in Sinai
Sources from the Egyptian military voiced their anger and skepticism about the move.
A dispatch from Sanaa: Yemen`s ill-being, Saudi`s well-being; but what about Egypt?
Ambiguity continues to shroud the extent of Egypt’s involvement in the Saudi-led coalition’s fight against rebel forces in Yemen.
Q&A: Former Egyptian irrigation minister discusses Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
Ahram Hebdo interviews Mohamed Nasr Allam, former minister of water resources and irrigation, about the latest developments in the Ethiopian dam crisis and its impact on Egypt
Talks over Ethiopia`s dam should continue based on March deal: Egypt`s Sisi
Sisi`s remarks came during a meeting Saturday with Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukri and irrigation minister Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar to discuss the results of tripartite talks held between irrigation ministers of the three countries in Addis Ababa last week.
Economy
Report: 599 labor protests in first half of 2015
Labor protests occurred an average of 100 per month and three per day, according to the Democracy Index report prepared by Demo-meter, a research program launched in 2010 by a group of researchers, journalists and students.
POLL: Egypt`s economic growth accelerates, but less than government hopes
Egypt`s economic growth rate is set to accelerate to 4.5 percent in the current fiscal year, higher than in recent years but lower than the government projects, a Reuters poll forecast on Thursday.
Egypt lowers top tax rate and suspends capital gains tax
Egypt lowered the top tax rate and the threshold for companies and individuals in high income brackets on Sunday and suspended a ten percent tax on capital gains in an attempt to attract investors and boost the economy.
Egypt among five countries most likely to default on debt: Bank of America
Egypt has the fifth riskiest sovereign debt in the world, according to the Bank of America’s Transforming World Atlas released earlier this month.
Domestic Security
Cairo shop owners resist obligatory security cameras
A number of shop owners in Cairo have voiced discontent with the governorate’s decision to require businesses, as well as industrial and tourist facilities, to install monitoring cameras as a condition for licensing.
Three conscripts injured in Fayoum by unknown shooters
Al-Masry Al-Youm reports.
Islamic State claims responsibility for Shubra al-Kheima bombings
The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the bombings targeting a National Security Agency building in Shubra al-Kheima, a neighborhood in Qalyubiya district on the outskirts of Cairo, early Thursday.
From Jadaliyya Egypt
Hussein Sherbini: Electro Chaabi
Merdar TV interviews Sherbini about his debut album.
New Texts Out Now: Beth Baron, The Orphan Scandal: Christian Missionaries and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood
Baron talks to Jadaliyya about her new book.
المجاري في مائة عام: تتبع آثار شبكة الصرف الصحي التاريخية لمدينة القاهرة
Shehab Fakhry Ismail and Ahmed al Ghoneimy review the history of Cairo’s sewage system.