An Israeli official said on Thursday that Israeli senior representatives at talks in Cairo had accepted an Egyptian proposal for a comprehensive Gaza ceasefire starting on Friday, but Israel’s leaders still had to approve the deal.

POLITICS

Mahlab says Egypt looks into building new “administrative capital”
Egypt’s cabinet is considering the construction of a new “administrative capital” where ministries are transferred to a location on the Suez road, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab said after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. He added that this new capital will only be for administration and not a substitute for the main capital. Mahlab said the meeting tackled several planning projects including those related to Cairo’s underground, building tunnels in the canal city of Port Said, and land reclamation projects across the country. [Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya, Ahram Gateway (Arabic), 7/16/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • Minister of Local Development announces investment in governorates | AMAY (Arabic)
  • Political parties: Palestine is an issue of national security and should not be linked to differences with Hamas | Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • Tamarod warns Brotherhood of interference in Egyptian internal affairs | Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • June 30 fact finding committee sends report to Sisi | Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • High Elections Committee holds first meeting | Ahram Gateway (Arabic)

COURTS

Prosecutor sends 163 to court for committing ‘massacre’
Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat referred 163 defendants involved in the Sidi Gaber clashes in Alexandria to criminal court on Wednesday. The defendants are charged with committing a “massacre” by killing 29 people and attempting to murder 30 after the dispersal of sit-ins in support of former president Mohamed Morsi in August 2013. Investigations indicated that the defendants, who are allegedly members of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, reacted to the death of one of its members by carrying different melee and automatic weapons, gathering at Ibrahim Square, and violently clashing with local residents. “Investigations have been taking place to confirm the causes of death of the victims, as well as inspecting the corpses and questioning 43 eyewitnesses,” according to a Wednesday statement from the prosecution. [DNE, Ahram Online, Egypt Independent, 7/16/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • Egypt to pardon prisoners on anniversary of 1952 revolution | Ahram Online
  • Minya court gives death sentence to child rapist | Ahram Online, Egypt Independent, Aswat Masriya
  • Hisham Qandil: Egypt needs justice | Egypt Independent
  • Defense of suspects involved in Raba’a torture trial withdraws | Egypt Independent
  • Nine Brotherhood supporters sentenced to three year in prison, seven released over illegal protest | Egypt Independent
  • Prisoner in Alexandria: From detention to death | Mada Masr
  • Administrative court postpones decision on second constituent assembly | Shorouk (Arabic)
  • Twenty students arrested for provoking riots during trial | Shorouk (Arabic)
  • Committee seizes funds of 66 Brotherhood affiliated companies | AMAY (Arabic), Ahram Gateway (Arabic)

ECONOMY

Egypt Ministry of Investment proposes new economic stimulus package
The Ministry of Investment sent a proposal for the government to pump new economic stimulus package. Al-Mal reported on June 26 that the government is studying pumping new economic stimulus package to promote the Egyptian economy similar to the first two that the ministry declared during 2013/2014 with EGP 30 billion and EGP 34 billion. [Cairo Post, 7/6/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • Egypt stocks down on profit-taking Wednesday | Ahram Online
  • Egypt tourist numbers decline 20.5 percent in June year-on-year | Ahram Online
  • Mahlab meets Nassef Sawiris to settle tax dispute | DNE
  • Petroleum ministry proposes petrochemical projects worth $540 million to UAE | DNE
  • 800 percent increase in capital of bourse’s traded companies: EGX Chairman | DNE, Mada Masr
  • Tourism buses to offer public transportation services in Greater Cairo within weeks | DNE
  • Minister: Government will not go back on raw materials export ban | Egypt Independent
  • Export tariff imposed on marble, granite, sands | SIS
  • Government considering new cement licenses to stimulate economy: Investment minister | DNE
  • Sisi stresses importance of price control | SIS
  • Egyptian pound stable at central bank sale and black market | Reuters
  • ’Long Live Egypt’ fund to receive EGP 300 million bank donations | SIS, Al-Ahram (Arabic)
  • Government announces official cigarette prices | Mada Masr
  • Egypt hasn’t ruled out importing gas from Israel | Al Monitor
  • Cabinet approves loan from European bank for railway development | Shorouk (Arabic)
  • Government considers raising prices of fertilizers | AMAY (Arabic)

SOCIETY & MEDIA

Egypt’s NGO draft law needs to be reviewed by new parliament, says NCHR head
The state-affiliated National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) called Tuesday for postponing the issuance of a draft legislation regulating the activities of civil society organizations within Egypt. The NCHR met with representatives from a group of civil society organizations on Tuesday to discuss the controversial NGO draft law, which presented the council with a research paper detailing their criticism to the law. In a meeting with a delegation of NGOs in Egypt on Wednesday, Mohamed Fayek, the head of the NCHR, said that it was important for the next parliament to have time to discuss the law due to the vital role it will play in governing volunteer and NGO work as well as international contributions to social development in Egypt. [Ahram Online, DNE, 7/16/2014]

Egypt deteriorates to thirty-first on Fragile State Index
The Fund For Peace recently released its 2014 Fragile States Index, in which Egypt’s position worsened year on year from 34th to 31st out of a total of 178 listed countries. Top problem areas cited included “human rights, legitimacy of state, factionalized elites and group grievances”. Egypt was placed into the “Alert” category, the third worst of eleven possible tiers ranging from “Very High Alert” for the most fragile states, to “Warning” for those in the middle, to “Very Sustainable” at strongest. Egypt’s total score came in at 91 out of a possible 120, while its individual indicators averaged at a score of 7.6 out of 10. The country’s greatest challenges, the report indicates, are political, as three of Egypt’s four main sub-indicator scores fall under this category. [DNE, 7/16/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • Rights group calls for investigation into death of detainee | DNE
  • From Cairo to Gaza: Political groups support Palestinian resistance Ahram Online
  • Medical convoy to deliver aid to Rafah crossing | AMAY (Arabic), Ahram Gateway (Arabic)
  • April 6 movement condemns violations in prisons | Ahram Gateway (Arabic)

SECURITY

Military gendarmerie service to patrol Cairo streets
Essam Saad, deputy director of the Cairo Investigation Department, said a gendarmerie service, a military force with police duties, will be deployed in the streets of Cairo as of Wednesday to restore security and respond to citizens calling for help. He said they would be stationed around police stations, embassies, the Egyptian Museum, clubs, banks, the TV building and other vital places. [Egypt Independent, 7/17/2014]

Two soldiers injured in the northern Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid
Two soldiers were injured early Thursday when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a security post in Egypt’s North Sinai, a security source told Reuters affiliated Aswat Masryia. The source added that the incident occurred in the town of Sheikh Zuweid. [Ahram Online, EGYNews (Arabic), 7/17/2014]

INTERNATIONAL

Israeli official says leadership still examining Egyptian Gaza truce proposal
An Israeli official said on Thursday that Israeli senior representatives at talks in Cairo had accepted an Egyptian proposal for a comprehensive Gaza ceasefire starting on Friday, but Israel’s leaders still had to approve the deal. In Gaza, there was no immediate comment from Hamas or other Palestinian groups on whether they had accepted a permanent ceasefire to end warfare now in its tenth day.  Egypt’s foreign minister has also said in an interview with AP its proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is gaining momentum. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Hamas political official Moussa Abu Marzouk on Wednesday in Cairo to discuss a ceasefire, and is set to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday. Following a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Italian Foreign Minister Frederica Mogherini is in Cairo for talks with Egyptian and Palestinian leaders. Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry received Thursday a phone call from US Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the current situation in the Gaza Strip. Spokesman to the presidency Badr Abdel Atty said in a statement issued Thursday that Kerry underlines US support for an Egyptian initiative aimed at reaching a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he supports Egypt’s attempt to reach a ceasefire. The United States is joined by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and Greece in its support for the Egyptian initiative. [Reuters, Ahram Online, 7/17/2014]

Egypt Caucus gets off to rough start
The launch of a new Congressional Egypt Caucus was disrupted by anti-war protesters on July 16, highlighting the intensifying opposition to America’s $1.5 billion a year in military and economic support to the country. The bipartisan group of four conservative Republicans and California Democrat Loretta Sanchez launches just as Senate appropriators voted to cut aid by $400 million and the Obama administration is holding up weapons deliveries, including Apache attack helicopters. The Republican members made clear that their goal in forming the Caucus was to push back against criticism of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, repeatedly praising him as a key ally in America’s fight against Islamist militants. [Al Monitor, 7/16/2014]

Also of Interest:

  • UK PM receives Brotherhood review results | Ahram Online
  • Foreign, irrigation ministers discuss Nile Basin coordination | SIS
  • UAE likely to support Egypt for the long haul | Al Monitor
  • Mahlab meets with UAE minister to discuss implementation of joint projects | AMAY (Arabic)