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Sunday, 17 October 2021

Court suspends trial of Regeni murder suspects

Making headlines globally was the suspension of the trial of four Egyptian security officials accused by Italian prosecutors of killing Italian student Giulio Regeni on Thursday. Judges at the trial ruled that prosecutors would have to again try and locate the defendants to notify them of the charges before the case could proceed. Another judge had in May ruled that the four men could be tried in absentia, marking the first attempt to prosecute Egyptian officials abroad for alleged human rights abuses. (Wall Street Journal | BBC | The Guardian)

Also making headlines:

  • Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah will appear in a state security court tomorrow, facing undisclosed charges after over two years in pre-trial detention. (AFP)
  • Egypt’s 3k% whiskey tax is nothing short of “perplexing,” Marc Busch writes for The Hill, noting that the exceedingly high levy is neither “growing a domestic industry” nor “filling the government’s tax coffers.”
  • The Pharaohs sure loved to imbibe: A 5,000-year-old brewery — one of the largest in ancient Egypt — was discovered, giving us direct evidence of the “kind of power wielded by Egyptian kings.” The facility apparently produced over a mn liters every year. (The Harvard Gazette)
  • Egyptian modeling agency UNN is getting some kudos for “decolonizing beauty standards.” Founded by model Iman Eldeeb, the agency aims to help Egyptian and Arab models break into the global fashion industry. (AFP)
  • Egyptian Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy is facing accusations of running a propaganda outlet for the UAE and Egypt — despite being convicted in Egypt in 2014 after being arrested as part of the so-called “Marriott cell” of journalists working for Al Jazeera. (National Post)
  • El Gouna Film Festival’s fifth edition received international attention after the event’s opening night went according to schedule despite a fire that broke out in a section of the festival plaza hours before. (Euronews)

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