Egypt - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Egypt cover image

Egypt

January 15, 2026

Cairo 3:14 am

10°C

Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra speaks to the press with US Secretary of State John Kerry (unseen) during a press conference as part of the US/ Algeria Strategic Dialogue at the State Department in Washington, on April 8, 2015.

UN envoy in Cairo for talks as Sudan war tops 1,000 days: What to know

UN-led efforts to end Sudan’s war have stalled, with fighting continuing and negotiations making little headway.

Egyptians hold a plaque of the Muslim Brotherhood emblem which was removed from the party's burnt headquarters in the Moqattam district of Cairo on July 1, 2013 after it was set ablaze by opposition demonstrators overnight. Egypt's opposition gave Islamist Mohamed Morsi a day to quit or face civil disobedience after deadly protests demanded the country's first democratically elected president step down after just a year in office. AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via G

US designates Muslim Brotherhood chapters as terrorist organizations: What to know

The designations of the Brotherhood's branches in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan follow President Donald Trump's executive order in November targeting the pan-Islamist movement.

Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen gives a press conference in Larnaca on December 20, 2023 talking about a humanitarian aid corridor from the Mediterranean island to war-torn Gaza. (Photo by Elisa AMOURET / AFP) (Photo by ELISA AMOURET/AFP via Getty Images)

Interview

Gaza calm could revive East Med Forum, Israel-Jordan projects: Cohen

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Israeli Energy Minister Cohen estimated that the mega gas deal between Israel and Egypt would reinforce the peace treaty and pave the way for stronger security cooperation in combating Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups and Hamas.

Eli Cohen

Eli Cohen

Israeli Energy Minister

This photograph taken on April 26, 2023 shows the construction of the Russian-built Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Mersin Province. - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will try to offset his absence from the campaign trail weeks before crucial elections by unveiling the nuclear plant by video link. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Mideast nuclear energy goals tested as Turkey, Saudi Arabia eye breakthroughs

Though the region’s nuclear energy boom was supposed to be in full swing by 2025, key projects have all fallen behind schedule or fizzled entirely — but new momentum could be emerging.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Interview

Youth, strong AI adoption make MENA leading region for smartphones: OPPO

Lay Ren

Lay Ren

Lay Ren

President of OPPO MENA

Gulf accounted for 43% of global sovereign wealth fund investment in 2025

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, head of the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's influential sovereign wealth fund, addresses the opening ceremony of the Future Investment Initiative, in Riyadh, on Oct. 28, 2025.

Analysis

From Sputnik to satellites: How China is pulling Egypt and Gulf into its space orbit

A platform for the satellite launcher is seen ahead of the Shenzhou-19 mission to the Tiangong space station at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in China's northwestern Gansu province, on Oct. 29, 2024.

Dale Aluf

In Amsterdam, reporting on China in the Middle East

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

In London, reporting on North Africa and Gulf politics

Mohammed Magdy

In Berlin, reporting on Egyptian politics

Ayah Aman

In Cairo, reporting on politics and culture

Salwa Samir

In Giza, reporting on politics

Nada Shaker

In Cairo, reporting on culture

The minesweeper Akcay of the Naval Forces of Turkey enters the harbour of the Russian port of Novorossiysk on March 6, 2019. - Two Turkish warships minesweeper Akcay and corvette Burgazada participate in "The Blue Motherland - 2019" military exercises in the Black sea. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Are Egypt-Russia naval drills in Black Sea message to Ankara?

For the first time, the Egyptian navy holds joint exercises in the Black Sea with Russia, at a time of escalating tensions with Turkey.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 06: Gal Gadot attends The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)

'Cleopatra' casting of Israeli actress draws backlash in Egypt

Many Egyptians are dismayed over Israeli actress Gal Gadot's casting in a new biographical drama depicting Cleopatra's life.

A picture taken on March 25, 2017 shows people standing by a lake in the Egyptian desert oasis of Siwa, some 560 kms west of Cairo and 55 kms to the Libyan border. / AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

How Egypt is growing forests in middle of the desert

Amid the success of the Serapium Forest, a massive plantation in Egypt, the country is now looking to plant more desert lands with trees as part of plans to fight climate change.

This picture taken on April 6, 2019 shows a view of a courtyard in the Coptic Orthodox "White Monastery" of St Shenouda (Schenute) the Archimandrite in Egypt's southern Sohag province, about 500 kilometres south of the capital Cairo. - Dating back to the second half of the 5th century AD, the monastery is named name for the colour of its white limestone outside walls. It is architecturally similar to the nearby "Red Monastery". (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/

Coptic art adorns Cairo’s historic mosques

Coptic and Islamic art have long shared space in Egypt, where the decoration and architecture of mosques are vibrant examples of their mutual influence.

attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 4, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California.

Moviegoers split as Gal Gadot to play Cleopatra

The news that Israeli "Wonder Woman" actress Gal Gadot will play Cleopatra in an upcoming film has the internet in a tangle of excitement and outrage.

Fighters loyal to the UN-recognised Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) secure the area of Abu Qurain, half-way between the capital Tripoli and Libya's second city Benghazi, against forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, who is based in eastern Benghazi, on July 20, 2020. - Since 2015, a power struggle has pitted the (GNA) against forces loyal to Haftar. The strongman is mainly supported by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, while Turkey backs the GNA. (Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP) (Photo by MAHMU

Cairo pushes for military agreements in Libya

Following talks in the Egyptian city of Hurghada, Egypt is supporting Libya’s warring sides as they discuss how to dismantle the militias and unify Libya’s military institutions.

A man drives a canoe on the Congo River near Makotimpoko, Republic of Congo, on January 25, 2019. - In Makotimpoko, nearly 16,000 people found refuge as they fled the ethnically motivated mass killings across the river in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Between December 16 and 17, 2018, at least 535 people were killed in Yumbi Territory, according to the United Nations Joint Office for Human Rights. (Photo by ALEXIS HUGUET / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALEXIS HUGUET/AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt embarks on new project in Congo amid faltering Nile dam talks

Congolese media announced that Egypt’s Armed Forces Engineering Authority is in the process of implementing a project to make the Congo River navigable, while the negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam falter.

Egypt, Russia to hold joint naval drills in Black Sea, Moscow says

Exercise Friendship Bridge 2020 will involve aircraft and ship-based artillery, Russia's Defense Ministry said

This picture taken on March 9, 2020 shows a view of the "A Sara" Nile cruise ship moored off the river bank of Egypt's southern city of Luxor, where 45 suspected COVID-19 coronavirus disease cases were detected and evacuated two days prior. - Egypt on March 8 reported the country's -- and Africa's -- first fatality from the virus, a 60-year-old German tourist who died in a Red Sea resort in eastern Egypt. The following day, Egypt's health ministry said the total number of known cases had risen to 55. Scores

Nile cruises navigate river of challenges

Following a monthslong hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, cruises on the Nile River have resumed, despite some challenges to the tourism sector in Egypt.

Christians make strong showing in Egyptian Parliament

More Christian candidates are running in this year’s parliamentary elections in Egypt.

How Egypt perceives Ethiopia’s ban of flights over Nile dam

Ethiopia has decided to ban flying over the Renaissance Dam that it is building on the Blue Nile in a move thought to deepen the years-old conflict.

Why Nile Renaissance Dam talks are on hold for now

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have been in a state of calm since the last session that was held under the auspices of the African Union and completely failed to reach a binding agreement between all parties.