El Sisi approves expanded emergency powers: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has ratified amendments to the country’s emergency laws granting the presidency new powers over economic, health and security policy, as published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday. The president will now have authority to ban public and private gatherings, suspend schools and universities, and direct the responses of public and private medical organizations to the covid-19 pandemic. The amendments confer power to ban exports of goods, regulate the price of goods and services, and make changes to tax policy, such as extending the deadline for submitting tax returns and allowing taxpayers to pay in installments. The House of Representatives had approved the amendments last month.

The story made headlines in the international press over the weekend: AFP | AP | Human Rights Watch.