A spate of negative coverage and opinion pieces on Egypt emerged inthe foreign press over the Sinai liberation break. We begin with Foreign Policy, which takes note of the testimony of three experts — including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Michele Dunne — at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday. The three cast a shadow on the merits of continuing to provide aid to Egypt without pushing it on human rights, a factor which one of them says is shifting sympathies at home towards the militants and away from the military (clearly he hasn’t been here in awhile). Dunne (Twitter) calls for more investment in education rather than aid, a message which is resonating among lawmakers including Sen. Lindsey Graham. “We need to reshape the relationship in a way that’s sustainable,” he said, adding that the military cannot be the strongest player in the economy. Negative coverage is being driven in part by videos that have gotten wide attention in the international press, including in the Guardian and The Hill.

Aya Hijazi is still on the radar after Trump hailed her release as one of the successes of his administration during his first 100 days. The Washington Post’s editorial board could not miss the opportunity to pick at that statement and Egypt as a whole. They cite the release of Mohamed Soltan in 2015 as an example of how the Obama administration pressured Egypt to release an American citizen without the need to invite President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to the White House. In another petty partisan article, WaPo is noting the irony of Trump declaring that one of his successes was saving a Muslim woman.

Meanwhile, Irish detainee Ibrahim Halawa wrote “an impassioned plea” to Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to secure his release, saying he “feels abandoned” after seeing Aya Hijazi released last week, The Sun reports.

Egypt’s regional role has been eroding over the past few years due to its adoption of a conservative foreign policy, Maged Mandour writes in Open Democracy. This is causing tensions with regional allies, Mandour says, “most notably Saudi Arabia.” He suggests that Egypt’s inclination to oppose intervention would raise concerns regarding its “willingness to play an effective role in any proposed conservative Sunni Arab alliance aimed at containing Iran.” Mandour says, eventually, “a choice will have to be made between a domestic crisis, loss of valuable allies and international support.”

Other coverage of Egypt in the international media worth a skim:

• Egypt is considering tax reforms that could include potential rebates as high as 40% “offered to foreign companies working in food, education, electricity, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing,” Taxation News Info says.
• Quartz is claiming that Egypt is blocking VOIP calls, picking up on a thread we noted earlier this week. We spoke with family abroad via FaceTime (on mobile and wifi) Sunday night with no problems.
• If planned properly, reservoir management at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam could be beneficial to Sudan and Egypt “by providing for additional upstream storage, a more reliable flow from the Blue Nile, and protection from extended drought conditions,” experts tell The National’s Gavin du Venage.
• The Cairo Criminal Court upheld death sentences handed down to 20 Islamists for their alleged involvement in an attack on a police station in Kerdasa in 2013 that killed 15, the Associated Press reports.
• Egyptian authorities denied entry to, and deported, Sudanese journalist Al-Tahir Satti, who has recently penned columns critical of Egypt’s stance on the disputed Halayeb and Shalateen triangle, the Sudan Tribune reports.
• Eman Abdel Aty, who was once dubbed the world’s heaviest woman, is in delicate health and may have suffered a stroke after undergoing surgery in India, Abdel Aty’s sister tells BBC. She also says Eman’s surgeon has exaggerated her weight loss from the surgery.
• A four-year-old British boy passed away while on vacation with his family in Hurghada following an unspecified accident, The Sun reports.