Human rights abuses in Egypt were at the center of a conversation with executive director Ken Roth as the international Human Rights Watch NGO delivered its annual report on developments around the world. Roth stressed that it’s time for the global community to stop viewing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and…
The Human Rights Watch organization is sounding the alarm over Egypt’s COVID-related emergency powers legislation, which would expand the power of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi regardless of any public health link to a stated emergency. “President al-Sisi’s government is using the pandemic to expand, not reform, Egypt’s abusive Emergency Law,”…
Ethiopia’s withdrawal from United States-led negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project have led to much speculation over what happens next if a deal falls through, and some are fearing the worst now that talks appear to have completely collapsed. “Ethiopia has a general election later this year, which…
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he’s invited South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to help mediate talks in the stalemate over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project. Abiy made the announcement during an official visit to South Africa at the weekend, where he and Ramaphosa discussed how the latter might…
Journalists with the independent media outlet Mada Masr said Monday that they were all “safe and sound,” but their thanks for international support following staff detentions by an increasingly authoritarian Egypt was overshadowed by calls to pressure President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his government on human rights and free speech….
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Russian host and counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, delivered their keynote addresses as the Russia-Africa Forum concluded in the Black Sea city of Sochi. The two co-chairs of the summit issued a joint statement following the two-day meeting, with African government officials and delegations…
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met Thursday to discuss their relationship, which has been marked by tensions over the countries’ dispute over the future of the Nile River and Ethiopia’s dam construction. The two discussed their mutual issues while attending the Russia-Africa Forum in Sochi,…
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Russian host and counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, will speak Wednesday as the Russia-Africa Forum formally gets under way in the Black Sea city of Sochi. About four dozen African leaders and high-level government officials are attending the summit and forum, from Nigerian President…
Egyptians were experiencing some Internet disruptions on Sunday as protests against President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi continued into the weekend, with service interruptions that appeared to target news sites and social media messaging. NetBlocks.org, an organization that tracks shutdowns and disruptions across the globe, reported that BBC News and other news…
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo targeted Iran in a speech delivered Thursday at the American University in Cairo, but he was equally forceful in describing the U.S. role and the failings of former U.S. President Barack Obama to confront the threats in the Middle East and North Africa….
Egyptian security officials have cracked down on dozens of political activists and human rights workers in recent weeks, the latest round in what Human Rights Watch says may be violations of international law. “They are arresting us all,” said a lawyer who told HRW that the lawyers and activists have…
At least 305 people have died in an attack on a mosque in Bir al-Abd, a village in the northern Sinai west of Arish. Another 128 people were believed injured, although the death toll continues to mount. The mosque attack came during Friday prayers at El Arish Al Rawda Mosque,…
Fayez Al-Sarraj, head of the Presidency Council for Libya’s internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), begins a two-day state visit Sunday to Sudan. Sarraj visits Khartoum at the invitation of President Omar Al-Bashir, and will be accompanied by a delegation of ministers and Libyan officials to discuss issues shared by…
Egyptian officials have again denied any plan to cede part of the Sinai Peninsula to resettle Palestinians there, reaffirming their commitment to a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians in the troubled Middle East. Alaa Youssef, a spokesman for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said in a statement Thursday that…
It has been almost six years since the New Year’s Eve attack on a Coptic Christian cathedral in Alexandria, Egypt, that claimed 21 lives – in a bombing for which no one has ever been held accountable. On Sunday, in a new attack on Cairo’s main cathedral and the heart…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times