This was the hardest week this year to collect and summarize Egypt’s news. It is hard to compile conflicting and often confusing news. I hope you find it useful. 

Top Headlines

• UK holidaymakers stranded in Egypt as Downing Street cancels flight amid terror fears. Wednesday
• Bomb may have caused the Russian plane crash in Egypt. Thursday/ Friday
• Tension in Sharm El-Sheikh as tourists stranded amid flight cancellation. Saturday
• 11,000 Russian tourists have flown home from Egypt. Sunday
• Egypt arrests rights activist over report of military trial. Sunday

Tourists stranded at Sharm el-Sheikh airport – via Ahram

Main Headlines

 Monday

• Flight recorders show crashed Russian jet not struck from outside
• Tourists fail to let disaster put them off the charms of Sharm-el-Sheikh
• Sisi in London Thursday amid mounting objections
• Egyptian student Israa al-Taweel’s detention extended 45 more days
• Egypt’s Journalists union defends media’s right to criticism following Sisi’s complaints
• Egyptian killed in Kuwait over PlayStation brawl
• Campaigning begins Monday for the second stage of Egypt’s parliamentary elections
• Egypt is concerned about Renaissance Dam, seeks “meaningful dialogue”

Tuesday

• 8 Turkish citizens detained in Egypt return home after being acquitted by an Egyptian court
• Interior Ministry: Esraa al-Taweel has been receiving medical treatment
• Appeal to be issued for Esraa El-Taweel’s release
• Egypt, EU to enhance relations
• Moody’s investors service: Egyptian economy is improving amid challenges
• Egyptian FM announced the arrest of the driver who ran over & killed an Egyptian citizen in Kuwait
• Endowments Ministry to translate Friday sermons into English
• 1,411 forced disappearances in the first 10 months of 2015: Human rights entities

Wednesday

• Britain says significant possibility explosive device caused Russian plane crash in Egypt
• UK holidaymakers stranded in Egypt as Downing Street cancels flight amid terror fears
• Al-Sisi arrives in London amid anti-and-pro-demonstrations
• Labour leader condemns Egypt president’s visit
• Car bomb targeting police kills six people in Al-Arish
• ‘State of Sinai’ claims deadly suicide attack in Al-Arish
• Islamic State affiliate in Egypt insists it brought down the Russian plane
• Egyptian court reduces jail terms for Brotherhood leaders Beltagy and Hegazy in torture case
• Alexandria declares Thursday day off in face of heavy rain and face floods

 Thursday

• Bomb may have caused Russian plane crash in Egypt, say US and UK officials
• Egypt and Russia are denying claims that a bomb caused Metrojet plane to crash
• Sisi: Egypt is ‘ready to co-operate’ to ensure tourists’ security
• 2,000+ candidates will be competing in the second phase of parliamentary election
• Boeing 737 licenses temporary is temporary suspended in Russia
• Cairo metro near Helwan reopens after rainfall

 Friday

• British PM says it was increasingly likely a bomb brought down the Russian airliner over Egypt
• Britain, U.S. intercepted chatter from suspected militants suggesting that a bomb downed the Russian plane
• Russia‪ suspends flights to Egypt as Western intelligence backs bomb theory
• Egypt denies halting British flights
• Russia’s Putin, Egypt’s Sisi agree to continue cooperation on flight safety
• US to step up screening of some US-bound flights after Egypt crash
• Three killed in car bomb explosion in Egypt’s Sharqiya

 Saturday

• Egypt says no theory yet in Russian plane crash probe
• Egypt checking camera footage at Sharm airport
• British Sharm el-Sheikh flight in “missile” incident
• Tension in Sharm El-Sheikh as tourists stranded amid flight cancellations
• 2,000 more UK travellers stuck in Egypt fly home
• Russia sending 44 planes to Egypt to repatriate tourists
• 80,000 Russian tourists still in Egypt to travel home separately from their luggage
• Egyptian court sentences a man to life in retrial for Kerdasa violence
• Sisi allocates LE1 billion from Tahya Misr fund for sewage system in Alexandria

 Sunday

• Russian plane broke up in mid-air after noise
• 11,000 Russian tourists have flown home from Egypt
• Sharm el-Sheikh airport chief has been replaced
• UK refutes Daily Mail’s report that British plane came under fire over Egypt’s Sinai
• Egypt arrests rights activist over report of military trial
• Prosecutor General orders to seize assets of business Salah Diab
• Sisi visits Alexandria following heavy rains
• Heavy rains death toll reaches 18 in Beheira
• Brotherhood members arrested for blocking sewage pipes in Alexandria
• Cairo court sentences ‘mall harasser’ to one month in prison

 Good Report

• Terror attack or not, jet crash is a Disaster for Egypt Tourism is a disaster for Egypt’s tourism. Salma El Wardany and Caroline Alexander
• Spotty intelligence prompts U.S. caution in assessing jet crash in Egypt. Mark Mazzetti
• Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh is not dead, yet. Sherif Tarek
• Russian plane crash points to Egypt’s counter-insurgency flaws. Ahmed Aboulenein
• Gaps in Egyptian airport security face scrutiny after crash. Kareem Fahim, David Kirkpatrick, Nicola Clark
• Allies of Egypt’s leader fear he’s in jihadis crosshairs. Eli Lake and Josh Rogin
• Esraa al-Taweel begs for medical care as judge extends her detention for 45 days. Mada Masr
• The death of politics in in Egypt’s Sisi. Bel Trew
• Online campaigns call for renewal of January uprising. Toqa Ezzidin
• Egypt finds way to make salt water drinkable with half the energy. Lucy Schouten.

Good Read

• America’s least-known Middle East’s military force. David Schenker
• The long revolution. Khaled Fahmy
• The idiot state. Maged Atiya
• Metrojet 9268: Why this rhetoric about a bomb? Samir Kohli

From Twitter

Interview

• Egypt’s President Sisi defends sweeping security laws. BBC’s Lyse Doucet
• Parliament is not my ambition, I seek to become prime minister: Leader of Mostaqbal Watan Party

Video

• Death toll rises to 12 as rain storms in Egypt cause havoc

 Photo Gallery

• British and Russian tourists queue in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh airport

Plus

• Alexandria’s Villa Cicurel is threatened again, and again
• Tutankhamun’s tomb opens after restoration

Finally, here are Jayson Casper’s prayers for Egypt