FGM in Egypt is in the spotlight once again following the arrest of the doctor responsible for a botched procedure that led to the death of a 12-year-old in Assiut. The Guardian and Sputnik look at the persistence of the practice in Egypt and the difficulties of enforcing a ban on the outlawed procedure.

Other stories doing the rounds in the foreign press this morning:

• Even as the GERD dispute fades, the Nile River is still in trouble, Peter Schwartzstein writes for World Politics Review, citing farmers who can’t use polluted water to tend to irrigate their crops or wash their clothes.
• Egyptian tie-in to street vendor project in NYC: Mohamed Attia, new director of the Street Vendor Project in New York, is working tirelessly to improve working conditions for the city’s street vendors and safeguard their rights. This New York Times piece gives an overview of his trajectory, from his 2008 emigration from Alexandria to his assuming the role of advocate for street vending as a legitimate entrepreneurial activity.
• A 3,400-year-old stone anchor covered in hieroglyphic writing, found off the coast of Israel last year, almost certainly originally formed part of a larger decorative relief on a temple in ancient Egypt, Haaretz reports.