Abdul Fattah al-Sisi

Press freedom in Egypt?

Mada Masr journalists to stand trial

Reporters from one of Egypt's last remaining independent media outlets are preparing for what activists criticise is a politically motivated trial. The international community should be doing more to help, they say. By Cathrin Schaer
Sufism in Egypt

Cairo's mystic revival

Egyptian Sufis have been on the defensive against the country's Islamists for decades. Meanwhile, interest in mysticism is growing among the young members of Cairo’s middle and upper classes. By Marian Brehmer
Detention in Egypt

Cairo's model Badr prison rife with abuse

A new prison, touted by Egypt as a model for reform, that holds some of its most prominent prisoners denies inmates healthcare and subjects them to punitive treatment including isolation, relatives of those inside and rights groups say.
Economic crisis on the Nile

Is Egypt the 'new Lebanon'?

Food prices doubled, salaries halved, banks restricting withdrawals: Egyptians now have the same problems as the Lebanese. But if things get worse here, the fallout will be far more damaging. By Cathrin Schaer
Cairo's crisis

Egypt needs democracy to fix its economy

Sisi’s mismanagement has plunged the country into crisis. Both political and economic reform is needed to save it, writes Abdelrahman Mansour
Women's rights in Egypt

We need to talk about abortion

Abortions are illegal in Egypt unless they are necessary to save a married woman's life. But that doesn't stop local women from having one. Egyptian society needs to acknowledge this, activists say. By Diana Hodali
Egypt’s economic crisis

Egyptians in dire straits

The devaluation of the Egyptian pound combined with rising food prices is taking its toll on Egypt. More and more people are slipping into poverty. Karim El-Gawhary reports from Cairo
Cairo Conspiracy a.k.a. Boy From Heaven

Al-Azhar, a Catholic monastery...and the Dalai Lama

Palme d’Or winner "Boy from Heaven" is a classic crossover film in which cultural elements are mixed together in haphazard and random fashion. Shady Lewis Botros bemoans the director’s use of various formulaic and cliche-ridden templates dominant in global mass culture
UN climate summit in Egypt

Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's greenwashing fail

COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh is turning into a PR disaster for Egypt’s military regime. Instead of praise for the host, the news is full of solidarity for imprisoned activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and criticism of the event’s grotesque surveillance measures. By Sofian Philip Naceur
COP27 and the Middle East

Sinking Alexandria faces up to coming catastrophe

Alexandria, Egypt's fabled second city and its biggest port, is in danger of disappearing below the waves within decades.
Egypt's real estate frenzy

An "iron curtain" between rich and poor

Egypt’s military regime is tirelessly modernising roads, public transport and industry across the country and erecting a luxurious administrative capital for the upper class. But the construction boom is primarily financed on credit – Cairo is racing headlong into a debt crisis. By Sofian Philip Naceur
"I’m very worried": Mother of hunger striker Alaa Abdel Fattah wants action

Detained Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah’s decision to escalate a hunger strike in prison to a refusal to drink water has raised the stakes and shone a spotlight on human rights violations as Egypt hosts the COP27 climate summit