Various issues occupied the press this week including President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi's visit to Russia, the disappearance of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and holding the first Water Week in Cairo. The editorial of the official daily Al-Ahram noted that diversity in relations was one of the features of the post-30 June foreign policy. In that context, the edit said, Egyptian-Russian relations have acquired great importance given that they are based on a strategic partnership in security, political, military and economic fields. “Thus, President Al-Sisi's visit to Russia and his meeting with Putin will enhance that partnership in various fields. Russia is an influential state that has major economic and military abilities. And Egypt is also an influential regional state that has political, economic and military capabilities. Both states can contribute to resolving the conflicts in the Middle East, especially in Syria, Libya and Yemen,” the edit said. Amr Shobki wrote that the worst thing that the Arab world has witnessed in the last few years is the clear ethnic, political and social polarisation that has killed humanity in many people. Perhaps, Shobki said, that was shown in the disappearance of Khashoggi. Some shed light on the role played by Qatar and Turkey while others focused on settling accounts with Saudi Arabia. In both cases, the issue of the absent human being was ignored. “The core and crux of Khashoggi's case is the disappearance of a human being, not the agreements or differences with his viewpoints or with Saudi Arabia. It is not about supporting or opposing Turkey or Qatar. The core of the issue is revealing the truth, a matter that has been nearly forgotten amid political polarisation and inter-Arab battles,” he wrote in the daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. Khashoggi's case is not the only one, Shobki added. There are various terrorist and violent incidences like his. However, some dealt with them in a rather selective manner according to their political and ethnic beliefs or their interests. Thus, he concluded, we should free ourselves from the polarisation that is dominant in the Arab world and refuse to allow restrictions to encroach on our humanity. In short, Shobki wrote, we should not ignore that a person has disappeared. It is our right to question his whereabouts away from any political Arab conflicts. Karim Abdel-Salam wrote that the first Cairo Water Week (CWW) launched under the title Water Conservation for Sustainable Development was a very important event because it presents a human Egyptian vision in facing two very dangerous matters: transforming water into an international commodity like oil on the pretext that upstream countries have the right to monopolise water, something that contradicts international law. Second, Abdel-Salam wrote, sounding the alarm bells of wars for the sake of water via supporting the aggression of some countries on the water rights of their neighbouring countries. The writer also pointed to the fact that most of the Arab world's water resources are being robbed by neighbouring countries under the very eyes of the international community. On the other hand, the writer added, there is a world water crisis due to various reasons, including global warming, together with world aridity and the decrease in the amount of rain with the possibility of the drying up of a few major rivers in the coming years. 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By Ahmed Kaoud, Al-Youm Al-Sabei
