[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
Egypt arrests 16 members of banned Muslim Brotherhood The interior ministry released a statement on Monday saying that a number of the arrests made were part of a “preemptive security campaign.”
Egypt seizes several Freedom and Justice Party offices A hospital, a school and two foreign exchange companies affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood have also been seized.
Egypt's state security prosecution renews detention for Mada media foundation director Egypt's supreme state security prosecution renewed on Monday fifteen days of detention, pending probe, for journalist and director of Mada Foundation for Media Development Hisham Jafar, according to a statement by the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI).
Businessman and founder of Al-Masry Al-Youm Salah Diab referred to criminal court Egypt's Giza prosecution referred business tycoon Salah Diab on Thursday to criminal court after being accused of possessing unlicensed firearms.
Journalists at Egyptian daily Al-Shorouk launch strike over delayed salaries Egyptian privately owned newspaper Al-Shorouk did not release its first edition on Friday and instead released only a truncated version of its second Friday edition, after the majority of its staff began a strike over delayed salaries, a source within the paper told Ahram Online.
Fugitive tycoon Hussein Salem may have struck reconciliation deal Fugitive businessman Hussein Salem, an ally of former President Hosni Mubarak, is reportedly close to reaching a deal with the Egyptian government to drop corruption charges in exchange for a multi-billion-pound financial settlement.
Journalists Syndicate decries arrest of 2 reporters in dawn raids Two journalists were arrested in a dawn raid of their homes on Saturday, the Journalists Syndicate said in a statement that lambasted security authorities for aggressively targeting media workers and violating their basic rights.
5 arrested for protesting in memory of Mohamed Mahmoud clashes Five people were arrested for demonstrating on the 6th of October Bridge on Thursday afternoon to mark the deadly clashes between protesters and security forces that broke out on Mohamed Mahmoud Street on this day four years ago.
Scholars worry free expression under threat in Sisi's Egypt A group of North America-based academics decried the “deterioration of the right to freedom of expression in Egypt” in a statement released Wednesday.
Court extends detention of teen who wore anti-torture t-shirt A teenager arrested nearly two years ago faces another forty-five days in prison after the Cairo Criminal Court ordered the renewal of his detention, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) reported.
Sudan enraged by reports of Sudanese citizens arrested, tortured, killed in Egypt Sudan was outraged by the arrest, abuse and killing of Sudanese nationals in Egypt over the past few weeks, with a slew of social media campaigns, diplomatic statements and newspaper articles castigating the Egyptian authorities for what they say is a systematic campaign against them.
Early presidential elections is solution to regime failure: Aboul Fotouh Early presidential elections is the solution to the failure of any regime, said former presidential candidate and Strong Egypt Party Chairperson Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh in a Thursday interview with the Cairo Time program on BBC Arabic.
Prosecution refuses to release 13 protesters jailed on Mohamed Mahmoud anniversary Prosecutors refused to release 13 protesters detained Thursday during the fourth anniversary of Mohamed Mahmoud, despite a judicial order for their release on Sunday.
Surrealist Visions Three contemporary Egyptian artists take the self as subject in exploring post-revolution politics, writes Surti Singh.
Elections
Unknown assailant stabs Nour Party candidate in Egypt's Sharqiya This incident marks the third attack on a candidate from the sole Islamist party running in the parliamentary elections.
Egyptian women in parliament polls: Hopes and hurdles Though women voters participated heavily in Egypt's parliamentary elections with high hopes, there were fewer women candidates to vote for and they still face the same old obstacles.
160,000 army personnel to secure polling stations in 2nd phase of Egypt's parliament elections The army will aid the police in securing the polls in the thirteen governorates casting their ballots Sunday and Monday.
Independents brace for tough electoral competition in Cairo, Nile Delta The second stage of Egypt's parliamentary elections is expected to be fierce among independent candidates.
Little interest as polls reopen for parliamentary elections Sunday Parliamentary polls open for the remaining thirteen governorates to little public interest following the first stage of elections, which were characterized by low turnout and clear winners.
HEC bans 3 TV channels from covering elections for 3 days The High Elections Council (HEC) banned the privately owned Sada al-Balad, Al-Faraeen and CBC TV stations from broadcasting any news pertaining to the elections for three days for electoral violations.
Electoral alliance criticizes financial influence, state bias in elections An electoral list competing in the ongoing elections for Egypt’s House of Representatives has decried what its leaders suggest is a dominance of money and state bias during the first round of polls, which ended late October.
Voting and preaching: State officials call on youth to vote Documenting celebrities as they cast their ballots seems to be the highlight of this round of elections coverage, with local media reporting on several high-profile figures voting in the second stage of parliamentary polls in Egypt on Sunday.
Lions, donkeys and liars: Social media on election day Some users have been claiming polling stations are full, despite media claims to the contrary, while others say nobody went.
PM announces half workday Monday for state employees to vote Amid low turnout rates on the first day of the second round of Egypt’s parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail decreed the second day of voting a half day of work for public sector employees.
Domestic Security
ISIS is sending a message with Russian plane crash in Sinai, experts say Experts believe that the Russian plane that crashed over Sinai last month, now believed by the Kremlin to have been a terrorist attack, represents a message by ISIS regarding its capability to commit terrorist acts all over the world.
Russia not coordinating with Egypt on plane crash details reflects political gap: Expert Russia's unilateral announcement that the Russian airbus A321 was downed by a bomb without coordinating with Egypt in advance reflects a political gap between Cairo and Moscow, a military expert told Ahram Online.
Egypt says reason for plane crash unconfirmed; to take Russian bomb findings into consideration Egyptian authorities reiterated on Tuesday it was still early to unequivocally determine the reason for the Russian airliner crash, despite Russia's announcement earlier in the day that the flight that crashed in Sinai last month was definitively downed by a bomb.
Bomb that downed Russian plane in Egypt placed in main cabin: Report A bomb that downed a Russian plane in Egypt last month had been placed in the aircraft's main cabin not in the cargo compartment as reported earlier, the daily Kommersant said on Wednesday citing an unnamed source.
ISIS claims its bomb downed Russian plane over Egypt's Sinai ISIS has said it smuggled a bomb on board a Russian airliner that went down last month, after discovering a "way to compromise the security" at an Egyptian airport.
Families of Russian plane victims may take legal action against airport if poor security proven, expert says The Egyptian government, which said it would consider Russian findings that a bomb killed all 224 on Airbus A-321, maintains talk of compensation before final conclusions on causes is premature.
Egypt: Investigations yet to confirm that Russian plane crash was caused by 'terrorist act' Following the Russian announcement on Tuesday that the Metrojet plane crash in Sinai last month was the result of a "terrorist act," Egyptian officials have asserted that investigations are still ongoing and that evidence of foul play or terrorism has yet to be confirmed.
Sisi talks terrorism with SCAF day after Russia says bomb brought down plane in Sinai The meeting comes a day after Russian officials said a bomb caused a Metrojet passenger plane to crash shortly after departing Sharm el-Sheikh on October 31, killing all 224 people on board.
Update: 141 violations on first day of second round of parliamentary elections At least 141 complaints were officially registered on the first day of the second phase of Egypt's parliamentary elections, according to the High Elections Commission (HEC).
Foreign Policy
Egypt says US annual human trafficking report on government efforts lacks credibility Egypt's justice ministry denounced in a statement on Wednesday the annual report issued by the US Department of State on "Trafficking in Persons," describing it as lacking credible sources on actual efforts taken by the government to combat the problem.
Egypt to sign deal with Russia for first nuclear power plant President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will witness the signing between Egypt's Nuclear Power Plants Authority and Russia's Rosatom company.
Egypt's Sisi talks counter-terrorism efforts, military relations with US congressional delegation The US delegation was headed by Congressman Rob Wittman, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness.
Economy
World Bank expects to pay $1 billion loan to Egypt in Dec The World Bank expects to make a one billion USD development policy loan available to Egypt in December if all goes to plan after completing negotiations in Cairo last weekend, a senior World Bank official said.
$1.5bn worth of int’l loans to be channeled to State coffers before end of 2015: minister International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr has said that the World Bank and African Development Bank have initialed two loans worth 4.5 billion dollars to be given to Egypt in three years. Some 1.5 billion dollars will be channeled to State coffers before the end of this year.
From Jadaliyya Egypt
Filming Revolution: An Interview with Alisa Lebow Anthony Alessandrini interviews Alisa Lebow, a filmmaker and film scholar who teaches at the University of Sussex, about Filming Revolution, an interactive data-base documentary archive about independent and documentary filmmaking in Egypt since the revolution, which was launched in October 2015.
The Absence of Contemporary Literature in Egypt’s Education System Mahmoud Mostafa examines the tenuous position of contemporary literature in Egyptian education.
كُلفة العنف: المُكوّن الاجتماعيّ للحركات الإسلامية في مصر Mostafa Abdelzaher examines the social base of violent Islamist movements in Egypt.