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October 26, 2026

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Analysis

What's at stake as Libya's eastern parliament approves Turkey maritime deal

Libya's eastern-based parliament's approval of a long-disputed maritime deal with Turkey marks a strategic win for Ankara as Saddam Hifter seeks Turkish backing for his presidential ambitions, according to analysts.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a joint statements and agreements during the EU and Egypt summit in Brussels, on Oct. 22, 2025.

Sisi says Egypt has no ‘territorial ambitions’ after Israel’s Smotrich threatens Sinai

The Egyptian president’s remarks follow a warning from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that Israel would seize the Sinai Peninsula if Egypt attacks.

China's President Xi Jinping (center L) walks along with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi followed by their wives Peng Liyuan and Entissar Amer (R) upon their arrival at the Cairo International Airport on September 1, 2026. President Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt on September 1, making a rare trip to the Middle East as both countries face the threat of US sanctions over financial links to Iran. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Why renewed Egypt-Ethiopia tensions are a problem for China

For Beijing, the renewed Egypt-Ethiopia standoff is a zero-sum bind that threatens vital strategic interests on both sides of the Nile.

Joyce Karam

A quadrilateral summit was held on Oct. 4, 2026, attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al‑Sisi, Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki, President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan Gen. Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan, in New El Alamein City, Egypt.

Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan hold summit amid Ethiopia tensions

All four countries have increasingly tense relations with Ethiopia, driven by disputes over the Nile, Red Sea access and security.

Latest News

Explainer

Why are Egypt and Ethiopia clashing over Tigray, Somalia and the Nile?

This general view shows the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 19, 2022. - Ethiopia's massive hydro-electric dam project on a tributary of the Nile has raised regional tensions notably with Egypt, which depends on the huge river for 97 percent of its water supply. Government officials said the dam would begin producing electricity on Sunday, more than a decade since work first started. (Photo by Amanuel SILESHI / AFP) (Photo by AMANUEL SILESHI/AFP via Getty Ima

Ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to sue Netanyahu over Oct. 7 accusations: What to know

Ronen Bar, former chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency

On secret UAE visit, Netanyahu asked MBZ to deny pre-Oct. 7 warnings

Israeli PM

20 Israelis stranded in Ethiopia seek evacuation as fighting resumes: What to know

A general view of the damaged building housing Tigray TV, the state broadcaster of the Tigray region, following a drone strike in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sept. 27, 2026.

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

Abdulrahman Al-Banyan (2nd R), Saudi Arabia's Chief of Staff, arrives to the Arab League headquarters to attend an Arab defence ministers meeting in Cairo April 22, 2015. The talks are expected to focus on the war in Yemen, Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East and security threats from Islamic State. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih

Should Saudi Arabia test Iran’s offer of diplomacy on Yemen?

Iranian officials offer diplomatic initiative and warnings on Yemen; book burning in Giza; Kremlin ignored Israeli objections on missile system sale to Iran; Russian "soft power" in the Middle East.

The Egyptian Exchange bell is seen at the stock exchange in Cairo, March 12, 2015. After four years of political turmoil, Egypt is staking its economic revival on an investment summit in Sharm el-Sheikh it hopes will burnish its image and attract billions of dollars. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTR4T2G3

Egyptian businessmen rattled by new regulations

The Egyptian government has upset the local business community with the issuance of regulations for laws imposing a 10% tax on stock market profits and restricting dollar deposits.

Volunteers from an anti-harassment group called "Harassing the Harasser" detain a young man, after a girl claimed that he was sexually harassing her, during Eid al-Fitr celebrations in central Cairo July 28, 2014. Police and volunteers of anti-harassment groups have been more active since last month's incident of a woman who was sexually assaulted by a mob during celebrations marking the inauguration of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, according to local authorities. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (EGYPT - Tags: CI

Egyptians confront cyber sexual harassment

Sexual harassment in Egypt has moved from the streets to the Internet, as more women and men are being harassed online.

A protester, opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, holds a book titled "President Mursi Building a New Egypt" in front of the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo's Moqattam district July 1, 2013. The Brotherhood said on Monday that armed men who ransacked its national headquarters had crossed a red line of violence, and the movement was considering action to defend itself. Hundreds of people threw petrol bombs and rocks at the building, which caught fire as guards and Brotherhood members in

Egypt's religious book burning backfires

The Ministry of Education official responsible for burning several books in the yard of a Giza school defended herself to Al-Monitor and asserted that she operated under the direction of the ministry and security agencies.

Egyptian residents and emergency personnel gather at the site of a car bomb explosion that targeted a police station in North Sinai's provincial capital of El-Arish on April 12, 2015. The bombing came hours after a roadside blast targeted an army vehicle killing at least six soldiers and wounding two in the peninsula, where security forces are battling an Islamist insurgency. AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)

Sinai security stymied by continued terrorist attacks

Security forces in Egypt seem to be ineffective in defending the peninsula against terrorist attacks, and may be investing too little in their military defense.

A baker works at a bakery shop in Cairo March 2, 2014. Egypt's new supplies minister Khaled Hanafi said he would reconsider a decision to halt rice exports and look into French wheat imports which were excluded after Egypt changed its specification concerning wheat moisture levels, state media reported on Sunday. REUTERS/Al Youm Al Saabi Newspaper (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS COMMODITIES FOOD) - RTR3FWPK

Tainted Russian wheat resurfaces in Egypt

The dangerously low-quality wheat imported from Russia that plagued Egypt during the Mubarak era has returned to the country, which recently identified 25,000 tons destined for Egyptian bread.

Israel-US tensions on Iran prompt Palestinian strategy

Palestinians are adapting their strategy to the Iranian deal, proposing to use the same P5+1 model for negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and also an international supervision mechanism on the borders.

Smoke rises after a house is blown up during a military operation by Egyptian security forces in the Egyptian city of Rafah, near the border with southern Gaza Strip November 6, 2014. At Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip, families are emptying their homes - lugging mattresses and furniture onto waiting vans as soldiers look on from armoured cars. In nine villages along the frontier, 680 houses - homes to 1,165 families - are being razed to seal off smugglers' tunnels and try to crush a militant insurgency

Egypt discovers record-length smuggling tunnel

The recent discovery of a 2.8 kilometer-long tunnel linking the Sinai to Gaza raised questions about the parties supporting digging operations, as such work requires expensive and advanced equipment, as well as an extensive labor force.

Saudi army artillery fire shells towards Houthi movement positions at the Saudi border with Yemen April 15, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTR4XHTX

Qaradaghi: We support action against Houthis

In this interview with Al-Monitor, the secretary-general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Ali Mohiuddin Al Qaradaghi, shares the union’s relations to Hamas, views on Operation Decisive Storm and other Muslim affairs.

Students attend a class on the first day of their new school year at a government school in Giza, south of Cairo September 22, 2013. Students resumed their studies at the beginning of the new academic year this weekend amid parental concerns of a possible lack of security after the summer vacation ends. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTX13UK0

Egypt strikes Islamic texts from schools, angering Salafists

The Egyptian Ministry of Education has decided to remove some Islamic texts that it says incite violence and extremism from school curricula in a move Salafists decry as an attempt to distort history.

Egyptian army soldiers on a tank are positioned outside Cairo's Tora prison, where the trial of Al Jazeera journalists and other foreign media is due to take place, February 20, 2014. Egypt put three Al Jazeera journalists on trial on Thursday on charges of aiding Egyptians belonging to a "terrorist organisation", in a case criticised by human rights groups who say the authorities are stamping out freedom of expression. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTX196JB

US relations with Egypt: one problem at a time

American-Egyptian relations are structured in a piecemeal fashion, lacking strategic thinking and planning for long-term stability.

Khamenei: Nuclear deal could allow talks 'on other issues'

Iran’s supreme leader hints at engagement with the West beyond the nuclear talks; al-Qaeda winning in Yemen; Turkey backs Iran framework agreement; questions about Morocco’s contribution to Clinton Foundation; lobbying series updates.