The Guardian: Egypt's top businessman Naguib Sawiris testifies at al-Jazeera trial The Egyptian telecom tycoon Naguib Sawiris has testified in court as a character witness on behalf of a journalist with al-Jazeera English who is on trial in Cairo. Sawiris, Egypt's third richest person and a towering figure in the country's media and politics, told the court on Wednesday that journalist Mohamed Fahmy had no connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. The billionaire is a staunch opponent of the Brotherhood and was an outspoken supporter of the military's removal of the former president, Mohamed Morsi, in July 2013. Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/22/egypt-sawiris-al-jazeera-journalists-trial CBC News: Canadian Mohammed el-Attar still jailed in Egypt Even if Canadian journalist Mohammed Fahmy comes home soon, there will be another Canadian left behind, still in Egypt's prisons. Mohammed el-Attar is halfway through a 15-year sentence. El-Attar was arrested after arriving Cairo in January 2007 for what he said was a vacation. He was charged with spying for Israel while in Canada and swiftly sentenced. Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/canadian-mohammed-el-attar-still-jailed-in-egypt-1.3044385 The Wall Street Journal: Egypt's Investment Minister Vows to Tackle Country's Bureaucracy Having secured close to $60 billion in investment pledges at last month's investment conference to help revive its economy, Egypt now faces an even more daunting task: reducing the country's bloated bureaucracy. "The main concern, we all know, is bureaucracy," says Ashraf Salman, Egypt's investment minister, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "If you remove bureaucracy...then you will have private investments, you will have job creation ," says Salman. Egypt is in the middle of an economic comeback after having struggled since political turmoil engulfed the country in 2011. Its government has introduced a series of reforms that, coupled with support from friendly Gulf States, have allowed the economy to post stronger growth again. For decades, Egypt's development has been held back by an oversized civil service and an unpredictable justice system, in addition to rampant corruption, which discouraged many would-be investors. Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/frontiers/2015/04/22/egypts-investment-minister-vows-to-tackle-countrys-bureaucracy/ Voice of America: Egypt Reforms School Textbooks to Counter Extremism Egypt's Ministry of Education is removing from primary and secondary school curricula some religious texts and passages on historical Islamic figures including Saladin, the 12th century Muslim ruler who confronted the Crusaders and is widely viewed as an iconic hero in the Arab world. The changes to primary and secondary school curricula are provoking the ire of Islamists in the country. Salafists say the deletions recommended by a curriculum development panel set up in March amount to the government declaring war on Islam. But the Prime Minister, Ibrahim Mehleb, who has endorsed the recommendations made after a brief review of textbooks says jihadists are exploiting outdated ideas to incite youngsters to violence. Read more: http://www.voanews.com/content/egypt-reforms-school-textbooks-to-counter-extremism/2730247.html Turkey say Mursi sentencing increases concern about Egypt's democracy (Reuters) - Turkey is very concerned by the sentencing of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to 20 years in prison, the country's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. "The judicial ruling concerning former President Mursi ... increases the concerns regarding the future of democracy in Egypt," the ministry statement said. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/22/us-egypt-mursi-turkey-idUSKBN0ND0GM20150422
