The United States (US) is angry over the Egyptian army’s interference into the local business activity across various sectors, diplomatic sources reported yesterday.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi vowed to hold those responsible for the deadly Cairo Railway Station accident, which killed 22 people and injured 40 others, adding that the armed forces as well as other state institutions will cooperate in order to develop the railway system in Egypt.

Mohamed El-Assar, the minister of military production, said that the ministry is seeking to meet the needs of the armed forces in some projects, as the threats currently present in the region and instability surrounding Egypt at the regional and international levels may continue.

House Democrats sharply rebuked Egypt over its human rights record on Thursday, putting Cairo on a path to lose $300 million in military assistance this year.

The head of the Minister of Military Production’s office, Mohammed Shereen, stated on Tuesday that the Ministry of Military Production has produced various arms, including tanks, mortars, ammunition, pistols and machines, that can be exported to the neighboring countries.

Egyptian social media users have expressed their outrage at the government’s announcement that the UAE-owned Dubai Ports World will acquire a 49 per cent stake in the Suez Canal industrial zone.

Egypt’s new administrative capital, currently under construction—and tentatively named Wedian, which means “desert valleys”— represents concretely where President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been trying to take his country during his five years of authoritarian rule.

On November 7, in response to ballooning public debt, the Egyptian government announced a new package of austerity measures, including liberalizing the price of bread flour as of January 1, 2019 and raising the price of Cairo metro tickets as of December 2019 following a similar fare hike in May. …

The Democratic Party chalked up victories across the United States in the midterm elections on November 6, gaining control of the House of Representatives for the first time in eight years.

Since seizing power in July 2013, the Egyptian military has upended the public sector by squeezing salaries and slowing recruitment, and marginalised much of the business elite by subordinating it to Military, Inc.