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 condemns Orlando attack, yet continues crackdown on LGBT citizens Egypt's LGBT activists, who once had high hopes that the January 25 Revolution would bring about a greater openness for gays in Egypt, have been sorely disappointed by the actions against them under the Sisi administration. Egypt
How Egypt plans to address its growing water crisis As Egypt faces its worst water crisis in 100 years, farmers are stuck between their need to cultivate cash-generating crops that require a lot of water and the Egyptian state's ban on water-thirsty crops. Egypt
Former Egypt FM says US election outcome won't dictate US-Arab ties In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy says that "the future of Arab-American affairs is 70% controlled by the Arab world and 30% in the hands of the United States," and hence does not depend on the next US president. Saudi Arabia
Will Egypt stop listing religion on official IDs? The draft bill to remove the religion field from national IDs and official documents sparked a debate among Egyptians, with some supporting the decision as it would eliminate discrimination and others arguing that it would further entrench sectarian tension. Egypt
Egypt launches new initiative to control goods prices during Ramadan In light of the difficult economic situation in Egypt, the Ministry of Supply announced May 20 the implementation of the initiative known as “Ahlan Ramadan,” offering goods at low prices. Egypt
Will this mobile library drive Egyptian kids to read? An Egyptian teacher has been roaming the villages of Egypt in his vehicle, distributing books and telling stories, in a bid to bridge the cultural gap between the villages and cities. Egypt
Will Arab-American voters rally around Clinton? Arab-Americans tend to vote Democratic in presidential elections, but will the community coalesce around Hillary Clinton despite the attraction of Bernie Sanders’ views on the Middle East? Palestine
Will Egypt's Copts get to build more churches? Egypt finalizes the long overdue law governing the construction of churches, while some still hope for a unified law for mosques and churches. Egypt
From Cairo to California: Meet the Arab world’s super-agent By establishing talent agency CAT, Egyptian producer and film director Amr Koura hopes to bridge the cultural gap between the Arab world and the West. Near East
New legislation to bolster services for Egypt's disabled The Egyptian parliament is discussing a groundbreaking bill to guarantee the rights of Egypt's disabled population, addressing some but not all of the obstacles that have impeded the constitutional provisions in this matter so far. Egypt
Is it Eid or not? Muslims take step toward resolving calendar dispute Religious representatives from Islamic countries agree to embrace a common calendar to overcome a long-standing conflict on the start of Ramadan, but their past record inspires little optimism for a genuine compromise. Saudi Arabia
Will Egypt's cybercrime law overstep boundaries? As the Egyptian government nears adoption of a new cybercrime law, human rights organizations and observers decried the move, considering it the latest government tool to crack down on dissent. Egypt