MOVES- President Abdel Fattah El Sisi appointed Gen. Mohamed Farid as new chief of staff of the Armed Forces yesterday, replacing Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy, who was made the president’s adviser on strategic planning and crisis management.

The Interior Ministry also announced a shakeup in its ranks yesterday, replacing “the head of national security, a handful of generals, and a dozen senior leaders.” While the statement doesn’t give a reason for the shakeup, news reports point out it comes one week after a deadly shootout on the outskirts of Cairo killed at least 16 policemen. The officials being replaced had been in charge of security in the area where the attack took place, the AP says, noting that “the move was not unexpected after officials publicly evoked potential intelligence failures, lack of coordination, or incompetence as playing a factor in the losses.” The story appears to be on the foreign press’ radar, with coverage on Reuters and the WSJ (paywall), and the Associated Press.

On a related note, the Supreme Media Council is considering placing certain restrictions on media coverage of terror-related events in an effort to contain the flow of ‘false’ and non-official news, council member Gamal Shawky said on Saturday, according to AMAY. New regulations would make it mandatory for the concerned government authorities and the council to sign off on news reports before they are published or broadcast to confirm their authenticity, Shawky explained. This comes a week after State Information Services criticized Reuters and the BBC for citing anonymous sources claiming that more than 50 policemen had been killed in the Wahat attack.