Top Headlines

• Bomb attack kills four security personnel in North Sinai. Tuesday
• Formation of pro-Sisi majority bloc underway in the Egyptian parliament. Wednesday
• Israeli imprisoned as spy in Egypt freed is freed after 15 years in prison. Thursday
• A court in Egypt has given five-year jail terms to two policemen convicted of torturing lawyer to death. Saturday
• Egyptian judge postpones trial of 739 as the courtroom cage is too small. Saturday
• Egypt’s best-selling author says government trying to silence him. Sunday

Alaa al-Aswany: ‘Freedom of expression is at its lowest point, worse than in the days of Mubarak.’

Photograph: Eamonn McCabe for the Guardian

Main Headlines

 Monday

• Egypt prosecutors investigate claims of torture in death of man in Alexandria police station
• German flight heads to Egypt’s Hurghada from Budapest after terror threat is cleared
• 20 smuggling tunnels were destroyed by the Egyptian military in Sinai
• Death toll of arson attack at Cairo’s nightclub increases to 17
• Egypt to seal $1 billion Bank loan deal
• Egypt to appeal ruling awarding fine to Israel after gas halt

Tuesday

• UK defence advisor briefs Egypt on anti-ISIS strikes
• Bomb attack kills four security personnel in North Sinai
• Endowment Ministry uses Friday sermon to warn against January 25 protests
• Sisi warns of Libya chaos, talks terrorism and economic ties with Greek’s Tsipras
• Egypt imposes LE50 000 payment on foreigners who marry Egyptian women “if age difference exceeds 25 years”
• Israel to send special envoy to Cairo seeking solution over gas row

Wednesday

• Egypt’s military spokesperson urges police to treat people well to combat terrorism
• Formation of pro-Sisi majority bloc underway in the Egyptian parliament
• Greek president promises greater cooperation with Egypt with Egypt Journalists Syndicate protests in renewed call for the release of jailed journalists
• Anti-corruption activist sentenced to four years in bribery case
• BP enlarges its stake in major gas project in Nile Delta
• Al-Azhar: We’re truly concerned about US smear campaigns against Muslims
• Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated exchange companies have been confiscated

Thursday

• Israeli imprisoned as spy in Egypt freed was freed after 15 years
• Egypt’s Mubarak features on Transparency International’s grand corruption voting list
• New wave of labor strikes across Suez Canal, Nile Delta, Assiut
• Journalist Ismail Alexandrani’s pretrial detention renewed for another 15 days
• 90 cases of government corruption in November: report
• in November
• Egypt’s mufti condemns Catholic church blast in Yemen

Friday

• Egyptian authorities plan to hold talks with Gulf allies for more aid
• Free Egyptians Party refuses to join ‪to join pro-Sisi parliamentary bloc
• Russian air safety audit team prepare recommendations for Egyptian airports
• Civil society organizations document 625 torture cases between January and November 2015
• Greece, Cyprus, Egypt to speed up talks over sea boundaries
• Rising food prices push up Egypt’s inflation
• Halayeb is neither Sudanese nor Egyptian: Sudanese official

Saturday

• A court in Egypt has given five-year jail terms to two policemen convicted of torturing a lawyer to death
• Egyptian judge postpones trial of 739 as the courtroom cage is too small
• Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shokri pushed away a microphone belonging to Qatari satellite TV channel al-Jazeera during a conference
• Egypt terminates four state lawyers for joining pro-Brotherhood movement
• Egyptian ‪journalist Ahmed Naje on trial for writing “obscene sexual content”
• Trial opens of Egypt’s former agriculture minister accused of taking bribes
• Russian military delegation in Cairo to discuss cooperation

 Sunday

• Egypt’s stocks tumble Sunday as oil prices keep falling
• 5 people sentenced to 2 years in prison for commemorating 4th anniversary of Mohamed Mahmoud with silent protest
• Egyptian lawyer challenges law that says writers can be jailed
• Egypt’s best-selling author says government is trying to silence him
• Talkshow host Entisar and owner of TV channel stand trial for promoting pornography

 Good Reports

• Families demand warm clothes, better conditions for Aqrab prison detainees. Mai Shams El-Din
• Egypt shuts down novelist Alaa al-Aswany’s public event and media work. Marcia Lynx Qualey
• Egypt to build one million homes for poor to help ease shortage. Lin Noueihed and Michael Georgy
• Egypt’s revolutionary women get their own online museum. Khalid Hassan
• Egypt: Child ‘raped with wooden stick by police officers’ must be released. Amnesty
• Egypt’s second Twitter revolution. Nancy Youssef
• Egypt takes charge of building new capital. Lin Noueihed and Michael Georgy
• Egypt is intensifying its crackdown on journalists, right groups warn. Amina Ismail and Declan Walsh

Good Read

• The politics behind Egypt’s quest for nuclear energy. Sigurd Neubauer and Yoel Guzansky

From Twitter

https://twitter.com/Hayder_alKhoei/status/675940250028539905

https://twitter.com/evanchill/status/675701990219993088

https://twitter.com/eldahshan/status/675653115480248320

https://twitter.com/History_Pics/status/675638844553850880

Plus:

• Queen Nazli‘s historic diamond necklace is auctioned in New York

Finally here are Jayson Casper’s prayers for Egypt