Cairo is a city conflicted as it grapples with these early months of the global covid-19 outbreak. Not entirely on lockdown, it’s not far from approaching it either. Hamza Hendawi captures in the National this teeming metropolis as it tries to go about business as usual while contending with unfamiliar safety measures and a gut punch to the economy.

Also making the rounds of the international press was the release of 14 critics of the government on Thursday, including political activist Shady el-Ghazaly Harb, amid calls by activists and rights groups for action including release of those in pre-trial detention for non-violent offenses before covid-19 spreads in the nation’s jails.