EU-Arab relations is topping coverage of Egypt in the foreign press this morning, with Bloomberg urging a revision of bilateral trade agreements to ensure that EU countries offer more concrete support to their Arab partners in terms of job creation, technology transfer and resource diversification. The Guardian, meanwhile, asks why the EU and the UK failed to provide “moral leadership” on human rights issues during last month’s EU-Arab League summit. A more pertinent question to ask perhaps — after looking through the history books — is whether European countries have the right to give lectures on morality. But we digress.

Other stories worth noting in brief:

• Higher ed plans: Doubts remain as to whether the government will be able to achieve its goal of opening eight branches of international universities in the new capital by 2020, the Times Higher Education reports.
• Two Egyptians and seven Emiratis have been freed in Iran, the UAE has announced, reports the AP. They had been detained since January.
• Egypt “is sliding towards authoritarianism,” laments Australian-based publication The Conversation, noting that the proposed constitutional amendments would effectively end the separation of powers.