Greater Middle East

Egypt: officials arrest prominent rights activist

Egyptian authorities arrested prominent human rights activist Hossam Bahgat after military officials questioned him concerning a report he wrote on the use of secret trials.

Greater Middle East

Egypt: court acquits al-Qaeda leader’s brother

A Cairo court found the brother of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri innocent of terrorism charges in a case stemming from the 2013 repression of Muslim Brotherhood protests.

Greater Middle East

HRW: Egypt violated international law in Sinai

Human Rights Watch charges that Egypt violated international law in the creation of a "buffer zone" on the border with the Gaza Strip, evicting thousands of local residents.

Greater Middle East

Egypt passes draconian anti-terror law

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi approved a counter-terrorism law assailed by rights groups as making permanent powers usually reserved for a state of emergency. 

Greater Middle East

Suez Canal expansion amid regional war

Egypt formally opened an expansion to the Suez Canal amid pomp, spectacle—and a massive troop presence. The new trade hub opens as a jihadist insurgency mounts in the Sinai.

Greater Middle East

Israel Lobby schmoozes Sisi —Assad next?

Egypt's dictatorial President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a delegation from the American Jewish Committee to discuss ways to "defeat terrorism" in the region.

Greater Middle East

Egypt: clashes in Cairo; ‘war’ in Sinai

A protester was killed at a Cairo rally in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, as Egypt's military luanched air-strikes on ISIS-aligned militant forces in the Sinai Peninsula.

Greater Middle East

Egypt: ISIS claims deadly Sinai attacks

ISIS-affiliated militants launched near-simultaneous raids on military checkpoints in the north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, with at least 100 killed in the resultant clashes.

Greater Middle East

Egypt: top prosecutor killed in car bomb attack

Egypt's chief prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, was killed  by a car-bomb attack on his motorcade in Cairo.  A group calling itself "Popular Resistance in Giza" claimed responsibility.