Newsletter: FutureVerse LEAP’s comeback The fifth edition of the gathering offers a temperature check for the Gulf’s AI ambitions amid fallout from the US-Israel-Iran war. By Samuel Wendel In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech
Xi makes first Egypt visit in decade as Cairo gets caught in US-China AI row China's Huawei last month submitted a bid to build advanced AI data centers and supply more than 2,000 AI chips for Egyptian government systems. Egypt
Analysis How Ethiopia’s new dams test Egypt’s ability to defend its Nile red lines Ethiopia’s water minister has emphasized the country’s plans to move forward with new Blue Nile dam construction, leaving Egypt to contend with the potential fallout. By Eli Siegel-Bernstein
Newsletter: Business & Tech Iran keeps Hormuz reopening on hold Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remained low, with only five commodity vessels transiting the waterway on Tuesday, according to data from maritime tracking firm Kpler. By Jack Dutton In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech
Egypt says IS militants killed in Sinai following attack Egypt said Sunday that it killed the IS militants in a gunfight in Sinai following an IS-claimed attack there last week. Egypt
China ramps up COVID-19 diplomacy in Mideast As the Trump administration tries to link the coronavirus to a Chinese laboratory, Beijing is using the pandemic to strengthen ties in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia
Death of Egyptian director whose video mocked Sisi prompts calls for investigation Filmmaker Shady Habash, who was arrested after directing a controversial music video, died at the age of 24 in a Cairo prison. Egypt
Is Egypt trying to provoke Turkey in eastern Mediterranean? Although Egypt has stopped liquefying and exporting liquefied natural gas due to the global collapse of prices as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it is still expanding its gas production in the eastern Mediterranean. Egypt
Islamic State claims responsibility for army attack in Egypt’s Sinai The attack in Egypt's northern Sinai region left as many as 10 soldiers dead. Egypt
Erdogan's cold war with Saudi Arabia and UAE Turkey's patience with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is running low, sources tell Al-Monitor. Saudi Arabia
Egypt forcibly disappears two women amid coronavirus crackdown: Rights group Marwa Arafa, 27, and Kholoud Said, 35, disappeared last week at the hands of Egyptian security services, Human Rights Watch said. Egypt
Egypt extends its state of emergency for three more months amid coronavirus In his announcement, Egypt's president cited “dangerous” conditions in the health and security sectors. Egypt
Intel: US watchdog calls on State Department to add Syria to list of religious freedom violators Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should designate Syria as one of the world’s worst religious freedom offenders and put Iraq, Turkey and Egypt on a special watch list, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended in its annual report. Egypt
Can anyone stop Netanyahu’s annexation plans? A formidable array of figures is working in public and behind the scenes to block Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex West Bank lands. Saudi Arabia
Egypt tightens sanctions for those who refuse to wear protective masks Egypt’s parliament approved a new bill that punishes citizens with imprisonment or a fine if they refuse to bury coronavirus victims or wear protective masks. Egypt
Egypt kicks off more Sinai development projects Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has inaugurated a series of major development projects in the Sinai Peninsula, long a hotbed for terrorism. Egypt
