It was a relatively busy weekend for Egypt in the Western press, though it has since slowed enough that the lead story is that we’re apparently sending helicopters to Israel to help fight a rash of fires (Jordan is too, report the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post). On the business front, Eni’s sale of a 10% stake in Zohr to BP for USD 375 mn is the biggest business news of the past week, so far as the international press is concerned, earning coverage in the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, among others. Meanwhile, the murder of ADIB Egypt CEO Nevine Loutfy is making headlines in the GCC.

The Washington Post’s editorial board can barely keep the crazy contained in its latest screed on President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, this time around criticizing the IMF and the Obama administration for its “far-fetched bet [on a USD 12 bn bailout package] given Mr. Sissi’s economic illiteracy, the vast corruption embedded in his regime and the military, and Egypt’s history of popular uprisings against austerity measures.”

The Economist, by comparison, keeps the snark largely in check as it takes note of our deteriorating relationship with Saudi Arabia.

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, is showing Egypt a bit of extra love, noting in its weekly frontier markets column that, “Egypt continues to impress frontier-focused analysts. In a note this week, Renaissance Capital’s chief economist Charlie Robertson listed the country as one of his top picks for next year because, among other things, US President-elect Donald Trump “likes the country’s president,” Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Robertson also pointed out that Egypt’s currency is currently undervalued, the IMF is supporting its reform efforts and it could well get a credit rating upgrade sometime in 2017. RenCap also expects Romania and Estonia to be upgraded next year, and Kuwait to suffer a downgrade.”

The NGO bill in parliament currently “is so restrictive, it effectively bans human rights work and makes it harder for charities to operate,” Ahmed Aboul Enein writes for Reuters, citing activists. "It is just easier for the government and for us to issue a law banning NGOs instead of beating around the bush with this bill," said Mohamed Zaree, Egypt program director at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.

Also getting wide pickup over the weekend is a piece by the Associated Press’ always-on-point Hamza Hendawi headlined “For an Egyptian author, examining torture is her mission,” profiling psychiatrist-turned-author Basma Abdel-Aziz.

Enough with the Daily Mail. We’ll quote the headline only: “Revealed: Egypt, Mexico and the Dominican Republic are the top three destinations for winter holiday illness claims; More than a quarter of all winter holiday illness cases originate in Egypt.”