Billboard crackdown at last?
Plus: EAEF acquires Orchidia Pharma stake — and happy float-a-versary

Happy Float-a-versary: We’d like to take a moment to remind everyone that tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the EGP float — or the turning point in Egypt’s economic recovery. On the morning of 3 November last year, the Central Bank of Egypt moved “with immediate effect, to a liberalised exchange rate regime to quell any distortions in the domestic foreign currency market … [to] allow market demand and supply dynamics to work effectively in order to create an environment of reliable and sustainable provision of foreign currency.” In a stroke, the EGP went from being the fourth most-expensive currency in global emerging markets to the third cheapest. The move was critical to securing Egypt’s USD 12 bn IMF loan. From the rally in the carry trade to improving tourism and spiraling inflation, 2017 has been the post-float year. We’ll leave you with last year’s special issue on the EGP float and our extensive interview shortly after with CBE Governor Tarek Amer, our Newsmaker of the Year for 2016.

As we noted yesterday, CBE Governor Tarek Amer marked the occasion by giving his take on how the float has helped the economy. A move to a complete float of the EGP will help the economy withstand future shocks, said Amer at a gathering organized by the Canadian-Egyptian Business Council. He expects that the EGP will appreciate and continue to do so as foreign direct investment increases. The banking sector had managed to draw in some USD 80 bn as a result of the move, he added.

Tunisia is one year behind Egypt: Tunisia has asked banks to stop giving credit to importers of non-essential goods, Jihen Laghmari and Lin Noueihed write for Bloomberg. The limits are designed to curb a growing budget deficit and a decline in FX reserves. “The move mirrors import restrictions imposed in nearby Egypt as it struggled with acute foreign-currency shortages that virtually paralyzed trade and investment before the central bank floated the pound in November. Foreign reserves in Egypt have recovered since most capital restrictions were removed last year,” despite the drop in the EGP’s value and the rise in inflation. The Tunisian dinar is loosely pegged to a basket of currencies.

Fed leaves interest rates on hold: The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday on the back of a solid US economic growth and a strengthening labor market. “The labor market has continued to strengthen and … economic activity has been rising at a solid rate despite hurricane-related disruptions,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement after its unanimous policy decision. The Fed did acknowledge, however, that inflation remained soft but did not downgrade their assessment of pricing expectations.

(Closer to home: The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meets two weeks from today on 16 November. We don’t expect an interest rate cut until its 28 December meeting at the earliest.)

This comes as US President Donald Trump plans to nominate Jerome Powell, a sitting Fed governor since 2012, as chair of the US Federal Reserve, replacing Janet Yellen. The former Carlyle Group managing director and ex-Treasury undersecretary reportedly favors a gradual increase in interest rates while supporting Trump’s move towards deregulation. Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times are all out with pieces claiming Powell will be The Donald’s nominee.

And speaking of Amreeka, could expanded US sanctions on Russia impact Egypt’s oil and gas industry? The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) published yesterday “an amendment to sanctions against exploration or production for deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale projects implemented by Russian companies, including abroad,” Reuters reports. Among the triggers is a Russian oil company breaking the 33% ownership barrier, the newswire notes. Where is Russia involved in deep water work? Look no further than Egypt, where Rosneft recently closed its acquisition of a 30% stake in the Zohr supergiant field and is believed to be in the market for an additional 5% share. Russia has recently been accused of using Rosneft as a foreign policy tool. (Shocking that any nation state would do so, no?) The OFAC regs are here (pdf) for those who want to have a look.

Egypt is on track to issue its first electronic visa in December as part of the rollout of a number of e-government services at the Cairo ICT expo running from 3-6 December, Al Mal reports. The long-talked about e-visa system, which was expected to be implemented in May, had been a cornerstone strategy of the Tourism Ministry to help stimulate tourism industry. It has met stiff resistance from many in industry who see it as another barrier to the return of tourism.

EFG Hermes will hold its 7th Annual London Conference next week. The conference, which runs 6-9 November, will see C-suite execs from top listed companies in MENA as well as frontier markets (among them Pakistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) meet face-to-face with top global investors with mandates to invest in emerging and frontier markets. The event will take place at Emirates Arsenal Stadium in London.

It was yet another bland night on the airwaves last night, with not one talking head discussing econ or business-relevant topics.

On Masaa’ DMC, Osama Kamal on the Ismail cabinet’s decision to stop issuing licenses for new billboards with the head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ advertising division, Ashraf Khairy. Khairy told Kamal that Cabinet’s decision came in response to a request his division had presented, and is the fruit of a committee Prime Minister Sherif Ismail had established in March to look into the issue (watch, runtime 6:57). In the grand scheme of things, this is a sideshow, but we’re not complaining — billboards are overpriced blights that nobody can read while doing 120 km/h down the Mehwar anyway — and that folks stuck in gridlock are too frustrated to look up and read. But they sure as [redacted] are ugly.

Kol Youm’s Amr Adib said that the decision is grossly overdue and needs to be complemented with a new system to re-price the billboards and their licensing (watch, runtime: 1:58).

The father of Mohamed El Hayes also phoned in to tell Adib that his son, a police captain rescued after being captured by terrorists during the Wahat attack, is preparing for a second surgery. The captain apparently has significant intel to share with security forces once his health recovers (watch, runtime 4:52).

Over on Yahduth fi Masr, Sherif Amer noted that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had visited El Hayes yesterday following surgery.

Amer spent the rest of his episode having his weekly chat with political analyst Mostafa El Fekki, this time about the prospects for next year’s presidential elections. El Fekki called on political parties to present nominees to run in the elections, saying that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi would not accept re-election without any competition.

Hona Al Asema’s Lamees Al Hadidi spent the entirety of her episode paying tribute to composer and singer Mohamed Fawzy (watch, runtime 2:00:18).

Egyptian eurobond yields continued to decline on overweight investor demand, according to the most recent Africa DCM Market Update by BNP Paribas (pdf). Our friends at the bank tell us they are seeing strong buying activity from US and UK real-money funds in the secondary market. Yields on Egyptian eurobonds declined to their lowest level since issuance with five-year bonds trading at 4.98%,10-year at 5.99%, and 30-year ones at 7.43%. Also, the USD cost of funding declined by 125-150 bps in 2017 y-t-d driven by improved credit perception and favourable Emerging Markets sentiment, the report notes.

M&A WATCH- Our friends at the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund (EAEF) have acquired a significant minority stake in ophthalmic meds maker Orchidia Pharma Industries on Wednesday, EAEF announced in a statement (pdf). The transaction, executed through EAEF’s investment manager Lorax Capital Partners, will see the EAEF subscribe in an upcoming capital increase along with Orchidia founder Ossama Abbass. EAEF will also be acquiring Orchidia shares held by SPE Capital (formerly Swicorp Private Equity) “as well as a stake owned by other minority shareholders.” The size of the transaction was not disclosed. We had noted in July that Jordan’s Hikma had offered c. EGP 400 mn against a demand of EGP 450 mn from shareholders for a stake of undisclosed size. SPE Capital reportedly owned 38% of the company through its Intaj Capital II fund. It had been previously reported that EAEF was looking to for a majority stake of at least 55%. “EAEF intends to provide all necessary resources to fully support the company’s future growth plans to cater to the growing Egyptian market as well as develop Egypt’s export potential,” said EAEF Chairman James A. Harmon. “We hope that our investment would encourage and demonstrate to new foreign investors the significant potential in the Egyptian market,” he added. Arqaam Capital was financial advisor on the transaction, while TMS Law Firm and DLA Piper were legal advisors to EAEF and Abbass, respectively.

EFG Hermes topped the EGX’s brokerage league table for October with a 17.7% market share. CI Capital placed second with a market share of 6.8%, followed by Beltone Financial (6.1%), Pioneer Holdings (5.5%), and Pharos Holding (4.1%).

We got more government reaction yesterday to the disappointing news that Egypt fell six places to 128 on the World Bank Group’s Doing Business Report 2018. The reax ranged from frustration to outright shade. Vice Minister of Finance Amr El Monayer said that the criteria the report uses to measure taxation cannot accurately assess the success of tax policy. Senior officials from the Electricity Ministry took it a few steps further, saying that the WBG relies on “law firms” unsuited for the task to write its reports. An unnamed senior official tells AMAY that the WBG’s CEO had called Egypt’s electricity sector among the best in the world.

More policy announcements following the report: In the wake of Egypt ranking 170th globally for cross-border trade, Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil announced that the government was streamlining procedures at Egypt’s ports, Ahram Gate reports. This would include setting up a (wait for it) “one stop shop” in all Egyptian port to obtain shipping, and import and export licenses. Kabil added that a committee had been formed to study reducing paperwork to obtain licenses. His statements come a day after El Monayer announced that the government will work on procedural amendments to cut down the number of hours it takes to pay taxes to improve Egypt’s ranking in that area.

LEGISLATION WATCH- The House Economic Committee signed off yesterday on the proposed text of Article 30 of the Consumer Protection Act following “heated debate,” Al Shorouk reports. The proposal would require vendors to print a receipt for consumers who pay for purchased goods in installments, clearly indicating the price of the goods, the interest rate being imposed, and the value of the down payment. The purpose of the article is to make clear the vendors’ profit margins, according to committee members. The committee should complete its debate and amendments of the Act within two weeks, after which the proposed changes to the Consumer Act will be discussed in the House’s general assembly, committee head Amr Ghallab said, according to Ahram Gate.

The committee will begin discussing the Capital Markets Act once it completes its review of the Consumer Protection Act, according to Ghallab.

Elsewhere in parliament: The House Manpower Committee is “putting the final touches” on the Labor Unions Act, and has begun putting up the legislation for community dialogue, Al Shorouk reports. It remains unclear when the committee expects to complete its review of the legislation.

The House Health Committee is also preparing to discuss draft laws on medical liability and regulating the practice of speech therapy next week, according to Al Mal.

The Ismail Cabinet agreed yesterday to extend the Tax Dispute Resolution Act’s mandate for an additional two years, according to a statement. The law, which had passed the House in September 2016, removed tax dispute cases from the courts and handed them over to newly-established committees to seek amicable settlements. Its mandate had originally been limited to one year, but the Finance Ministry had signaled in August that it would be looking to extend its application until all tax disputes are settled, particularly as it helped the ministry exceed its tax revenue targets for FY2016-17. Unless there’s a provision buried in the law making an extension a cabinet-level decision (and we’ve seen no evidence of that), expect this will now go back to the House for approval.

Cabinet also reportedly approved the purchase of wind-generate power from three stations that Lekela Power, Italgen, and Marubeni plan to construct, head of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company’s (EETC) tariff unit Lamiaa Youssef tells Al Borsa. The EETC will purchase the power at USD 0.036-0.038 per kWh for 25 years, government sources tell the newspaper. The stations will produce a combined 1.170 GW of power.

The ministers also agreed to suspend issuing licenses for billboards, and form a committee to set new regulations for the issuance of further licenses, Al Mal reports. The decision is meant to tackle the haphazard placement of billboards, according to Cabinet spokesperson Ashraf Sultan. This makes us very happy. Other decisions taken during the weekly meeting include:

• Issuing a decision to establish the information database for the state budget as a prelude to canceling cash payments by the end of this month;
• Approving a presidential decree ordering the restructuring of the Egyptian Survey Authority.

EFSA planning changes to regs on treasury shares, mortgage finance: The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) is apparently still planning on making further changes to EGX regulations, this time with treasury stocks. EFSA is reportedly considering obliging shareholders who have acquired a stake north of 33% in a company through buybacks and eliminations of treasury stocks to make a mandatory tender offer, according to Al Borsa. The move is hoped would curb stock fraud via treasury shares, the newspaper said. EFSA is also drafting new amendments to the Mortgage Finance Act in cooperation with the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association, Al Ahram reports. The amendments will allow homebuyers to get a mortgage before construction on a property begins, in a bid to facilitate access to financing, said EFSA head Mohamed Omran. These changes just after EFSA shortened the IPO window to one month from the initial green light and eased restriction on investments funds.

Net oil importers in the MENA region, including Egypt, can expect to see their growth rise to 4.3% this year from 3.6% in 2016, the IMF said in its Regional Economic Outlook October 2017 report. The upswing is expected to persist in 2018, supported by increasing domestic demand, supportive reforms, and the global uptick in growth. Egypt was particularly noted for efforts to address fiscal imbalances despite growth remaining largely unchanged. External imbalances among net oil importers in the region will also see improvement on the back international bond issuances (as is the case with Egypt) and an uptick in commodity prices.

Net oil exporters are not expected to fare as well, with overall growth expected to bottom out at 1.7% in 2017, driven by lower oil output under the OPEC-led agreement. “Low oil prices have kept the fiscal deficits large in many oil exporters, highlighting the need for a continued focus on deficit reduction. Budget deficits of oil exporters jumped to 10.6 percent of GDP in 2016 from 1.1 percent of GDP in 2014,” the IMF said.

Have we reached peak emerging market debt? Emerging market debt is starting to fall as a proportion of economic output for the first time since 2011, potentially helping assuage some of the concerns over ballooning borrowing, writes Steven Johnson for the Financial Times. Total EM debt (including that of governments, nonfinancial companies and households) is believed will fall to 167.2% of GDP by December, down from a record 167.8% at the end of 2016, according to data from JPMorgan. The decline in debt ratios has been driven both by a decline in the rate of growth of private sector bank credit and an increase in nominal GDP growth, says Johnson. Doubts remain as to whether the improvement will continue. The Institute of International Finance has apparently raised a red flag over the rising tide of “stressed” emerging market companies that may struggle to repay their debts.

Archaeologists have reopened a “cursed” tomb that housed laborers that worked on the Pyramids for the first time since it was discovered some 30 years ago, according to Newsweek. The reopening comes as part of efforts to boost tourism and restore more sites for public display. Two other tombs in the area have been opened up with similar plans of restoration, one of which belonged to Khufu Khaf, son of King Khufu.

Lawyer promoting rape, harassment leads coverage of Egypt: It is with great shame that we confirm that the lawyer who claimed that the rape and harassment of women who don ripped jeans to be a “national” and “patriotic” duty is leading coverage of Egypt in the western press this morning. The National Council for Women announced it will file a legal complaint against lawyer Nabih Al Wahsh and Al Asema, the television channel on which he made his claims, Express reports. According to Western Journalism, this isn’t the first time lawyer Nabih Al Wahsh’s television presence has been less than composed; last year, he reportedly used his shoe to hit an imam who claimed that wearing a hijab is not compulsory for Egyptian women.

The highest-level North Korean defector in two decades says America should bring change peacefully by challenging the totalitarian regime’s grip on information rather than resorting to military action, the Associated Press reports. The defector, Thae Yong Ho, was North Korea’s ambassador to Egypt when he fled and resettled in the US in 1997 and now lives in South Korea. “You can’t change the reign of terror policy of the internal regime, but we can do the dissemination of outside information inside North Korea,” Thae says.

Sudan’s planned agricultural expansion has been a cause for concern in Egypt, as Cairo is worried Khartoum will increase its use of Nile River water, thereby reducing Egypt’s water supply, Al Monitor’s Ayah Ayman says. “Sudan now has a hostile position toward Egypt when it comes to water. There are talks within Sudanese political circles and among the public that Egypt ‘owes’ Sudan water,” according to Sudanese affairs expert Hani Raslan. Under a 1959 agreement, Egypt’s allotment of Nile water is threefold that of Sudan, but the latter had not been consuming its entire share prior to its agricultural expansion.

Also worth a quick skim this morning:

• German police have apparently cancelled a planned training course with Interior Ministry officials that would have included sessions on monitoring the internet, in a move which is receiving much praise from Human Rights Watch. The cancellation was prompted by fears that the skills may be “used to pursue other groups,” the German government reportedly told MPs.
• Ibrahim Halawa will “reveal all on his four-year imprisonment in Egypt” on Ireland’s Late Late Show on Friday, The Irish Independent reports.
• Egyptian-Italian footballer Mohamed El Shaarawy “has transformed himself into one of Italy’s most in-form strikers,” and will likely play for Italy’s national team in its World Cup playoff against Sweden thanks to his recent performance, the Associated Press says.

Will the World Youth Forum tackle sensitive issues that are important to the youth? So far, it seems more likely that the forum will focus on topics that everyone — including the government — can agree are important, such as giving the youth a chance to contribute their thoughts and ideas to the development of their countries, Al Shorouk’s Abdullah El Sennawy writes. However, there are other important issues that would give the forum its true value if tackled, including the youth’s disillusionment with the democratic process and the lack of public freedoms, El Sennawy says. As it currently stands, he says, the forum seems to be an attempt to paint a rosy picture of life for Egypt’s youth with an added bonus of stimulating tourism.

McDonald’s Egypt pulled off a staggeringly successful viral campaign by tricking people into making fun of them, according to Think Marketing. The premise is as follows: Put a donation box for education and literacy by cashiers with an “accidental” spelling mistake on it. Would satire-loving Egyptians be able to ignore the irony? McDonald’s thought they wouldn’t, and they were right: Mns of views for the reveal, tens of thousands of shares and posts by influential accounts. The con job plays on humor but delivers a powerful message (watch, runtime 2:18)

House delegation in DC addresses human rights concerns: The parliamentary delegation visiting the US led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Ali Abdel Aal attempted to tell Egypt’s side of the new NGO law, according to Ahram Online. Speaking at a meeting hosted by the Middle East Institute, Abdel Aal sought to clarify that the NGO law was aimed at transparency when it comes to funding and not part of a crackdown as some view it. It is still widely believed in some circles in Washington that the US had suspended USD 290 mn in aid to Egypt ostensibly over human rights criticisms and specifically the NGO Law. He also addressed the Church’s Construction Act as an example of the protective measures being extended to the country’s minority. The US State Department had also levied criticisms on Egypt for the treatment of minorities.

This comes as President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with a delegation from the Anglican Church in the US, according to an official statement. The president expressed his condolences for the events that took place in Manhattan and discussed ways of combating and eradicating terrorism. US Vice President Mike Pence is expected in Egypt in December to address the issue of Christian rights in the Middle East.

US Press Secretary stops short of addressing Egypt’s anti-LGBT bill: US Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said she would “have to look into” the specifics of Egypt’s proposed bill to criminalize homosexuality before condemning the measure, according to a press briefing transcript. “I’m not aware of the specifics … but we’ll certainly be happy to check into it,” Sanders said earlier this week. The bill would impose a 15-year prison sentence on those found guilty of homosexuality. This comes as Human Rights Watch praised South African diplomats at the Africa Group in the UN for stating that Egypt does not speak for them on the matter of rejecting testimony of LGBT rights experts.

A Danish business delegation will visit Egypt to explore possible avenues for investment by the end of the year, according to an Investment Ministry statement. This came from Investment Minister Sahar Nasr’s meeting with the Danish ambassador where the two also discussed an MoU for a Danish grant for a wind power project..

The Higher Education Ministry signed the Partnership on Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) with the EU in Brussels earlier this week, reports Al Mal. PRIMA promotes cooperation research and innovation with the EU. Among its areas of focus are Egyptian hot button issues such as water management and food security.

Hamas began handing control of Gaza’s border crossings with Egypt and Israel to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, following the agreement brokered by Egypt recently. “Palestinian Authority employees moved into Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings on the Israeli border and Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border, as their Hamas counterparts packed up equipment and departed on trucks,” Reuters reports.

… separately, Amos Harel says Israel has Egypt to thank for Hamas not retaliating after Israel blew up a tunnel that was being built into Israeli territories, in a piece for Haaretz. “Egypt is the main reason for Palestinian restraint at the moment. If the quiet continues, it will help show that Egypt, which has been shepherding a reconciliation agreement between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, has been able to reign in the sides.” Harel says it was important for Egypt to ensure that the transfer of control of the border crossings was completed successfully.

Cyprus Hydrocarbon Company is working “intensively” towards making gas exports to Egypt possible, General Manager Panos Kelamis told Cyprus Mail. “We want to clinch an agreement, because this would be an agreement for 15-20 years that will offer Cyprus the maximum … We definitely want to go to Egypt, but we have certainly looked at the scenarios of a great discovery and the synergies that will exist,” he says. Kelamis noted that negotiations are tough because “prices are currently low.”

Starting drilling in Shell’s Phase 9B wells is a matter of time, a source at EGAS told Al Mal. The source says preparations for drilling are underway, but that they have not begun yet. The project, which involves the drilling of eight new wells to add capacity of 387 mcf/d. BG Egypt, before being acquired by Shell, had suspended work on Phase 9A+ and 9B in March 2016 after the government rejected paying USD 7.00 per mmBtu for Phase 9B.

The quantity of gasoline consumed domestically dropped by 4.2% y-o-y in 3Q2017 to 1.87 mn tonnes from 1.96 mn tonnes, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said, according to Reuters. Diesel consumption also dropped, falling by 7.1% y-o-y to 3.42 mn tonnes from 3.68 mn tonnes. The drop in consumption followed imposed price increases by the government.

The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) signed a USD 93.8 mn loan agreement with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to fund the purchase of control systems for the Alexandria, North Delta, and North Cairo electricity distribution companies, EEHC sources tell Al Borsa. The first installment of the 30-year loan will be disbursed next week.

The government is planning to increase the area of urban development in Egypt to 14% of its total land by 2030 from 7% currently, Planning Minister Hala El Saeed told Al Mal. The plan will require extensive infrastructure investment with participation from the private sector, she says.

Egypt has purchased 3.665 mn tonnes of wheat between 1 July and 20 October, a Supply Ministry source tells Al Borsa. Russian wheat accounted for 73.94% of these imports, supplying Egypt with 2.71 mn tonnes during the first four months of the fiscal year. Romanian and Ukrainian wheat accounted for 16% and 8% of Egypt’s imports, respectively. Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy had said in July that Egypt is looking to import a total of 7 mn tonnes during FY2017-18.

The Supply Ministry is looking into digitizing records of the goods subsidized commodity vendors receive from the government to match them with sales to subsidy benefactors through their smartcards, a ministry source tells Al Masry Al Youm. The system would help ensure there are no discrepancies between what vendors receive and disburse, according to the source.

Australia has approved importing citrus fruits from Egypt, Agriculture Minister Abdel Moneim Elbanna announced, according to Al Shorouk. The decision came after Egypt outlined the improvement in the quality of the citrus, which was accepted by Australia. The ministry had said that citrus exports increased in the first half of the year as part of the 12.1% y-o-y increase in agriculture exports.

Johnson & Johnson’s pharma arm Janssen Pharmaceuticals Egypt called on Health Minister Ahmed Rady to raise medication prices in accordance with an agreement Rady had reached with pharma companies in January to hike prices in August, Al Borsa reports. Pharma companies have been lobbying for several months to increase prices following fuel price hikes, particularly as Rady had promised to look into a second hike following the January increase.

The great auto industry slump continues, with sales in September falling 30% y-o-y, with 12,300 vehicles sold during the month, according to an AMIC report picked up by Al Borsa. 9M2017 sales dropped 38% y-o-y with around 96,200 vehicles sold. Passenger car sales dropped 25% to 9,600 cars, while bus sales took a huge hit of 53.5% to sell a measly 964 buses. Chevrolet was the top selling car in the month, with a 22.3% market share, followed by Nissan (16.5%), Hyundai (14.1%) and Toyota (8.2%).

The Transportation Ministry has set a timeline with GE for it to deliver 100 locomotives and repair 81 for Egyptian National Railways, Al Shorouk reports. Minister Hisham Arafat says the priority for now is to refurbish and repair existing locomotives.

The Saudi Egyptian Industrial Investment Company (SEIIC) is closing in on two acquisitions in the food and pharma sectors, General Manager Ahmed Attallah told Al Borsa. SEIIC hopes to acquire a 40-50% stake in each company, Attallah said.

The Prosecutor General charged Ikhwani businessman Hassan Malik with belonging to a terrorist organization and financing the group on Wednesday,according to the Associated Press. Malik has been in prison since October 2015.

ON THIS DAY- The Balfour Declaration was made 100 years ago today. The declaration was a public statement issued by the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Walter Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, during World War I announcing support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. It said “His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” Britain flew up to 6,000 troops to Fayed on this day in 1951 as the last phase of what has been described as the biggest airlift of troops since World War II, “in an effort to try to quell anti-British disturbances in the region.” The Arab League suspended Egypt’s membership on this day in 1978 for signing the Camp David Peace Accords with Israel. In 1976, Jimmy Carter was elected US President. In 2000, the first resident crew—including one American and two Russians—arrived at the International Space Station. Two years ago, we reported on President Abdel Fattah El Sisi outlining economic policy domestically and last year he gave a nod to new tax breaks and investment incentives, a day before Egypt moved its currency regime to a free float.