Successful lobbying from Egypt and Saudi Arabia is behind Washington’s recent decision to throw support behind Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar, reports The Wall Street Journal. The US for years had supported the UN-backed government in Tripoli, but reversed that decision after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman voiced concerns to Trump that the Libyan government is allied with Islamic extremists, according to statements from unidentified Washington and Saudi officials.

Other headlines worth a moment of your time include:

• One-star reviews for Egypt’s first streaming app: Egypt’s recently-launched video-streaming app Watch iT has attracted widespread criticism for technical difficulties and being too expensive, AFP reports.
• Human rights: Human Rights Watch and other organizations haveissued a statement condemning a “defamation campaign” against DC-based Egyptian advocacy worker Mohamed Soltan.
• An Egyptian court sentenced two men to death and eight others to between three years and life in prison over an attack on a church and Christian-owned shop in Cairo that killed 10 people, which Daesh claimed responsibility for, reports Reuters.
• Egyptian actress comes under fire for blackface: Shaimaa Seif appeared on a comedy show attempting to imitate a Sudanese woman by speaking in the Sudanese dialect and wearing blackface, sparking backlash over the racist undertones, reports the Associated Press.