Cairo, Jan. 16 (Aswat Masriya) - Parliamentary sessions are to remain off-air for 15 days until representatives review the laws and presidential decrees made in the parliament’s absence. After this, live broadcast will resume normally, parliamentary president Ali Abdel Aal said. Egypt has been without a legislature since the Islamist …

BBC Monitoring Text of commentary by Sadeq Zibakalam headlined "Who closed down Sharq newspaper" published by Iranian newspaper E'temad website on 15 August On the face of it, it seems like a meaningless question, as it is clear who closed down Sharq daily - the Press Supervision Committee - but …

CAIRO, Jan 19 (Aswat Masriya) – On Tuesday, a Cairo misdemeanor appeals court reversed a six-month prison sentence previously handed down to an Egyptian journalist who had reported “a gay bathhouse orgy” to the police in late 2014. The court acquitted journalist Mona Iraqi of charges of defamation and “publishing …

CAIRO, Jan 22 (Aswat Masriya) – A photo of activist Shaimaa al-Sabbagh held by her colleague on a sidewalk near Talaat Harb Square after being shot by security forces on Jan. 24, 2015 won the first place in the Shawkan Photo Awards ceremony. The ceremony, held at the Press Syndicate …

BBC Monitoring The European Parliament (EP) convened as scheduled on 17 January and passed a resolution criticizing the human rights situation in Egypt. From the start, Cairo's reaction was sharp, including the cancellation of political talks with senior EU officials and criticism of "the situation of minorities in Europe". Egyptian …

CAIRO, Jan. 23 (Aswat Masriya) – An Egyptian lawyer filed a lawsuit before the administrative court on Saturday calling for the lifting of the media gag imposed on the case of Central Auditing Organisation (CAO) head Hesham Geneina. Last month, Geneina told Egyptian media services that the size of governmental …

Leah Caldwell looks at the symbolism of attacks on statues and posters of the Asad family during the recent protests in Syria – attacks which would have been unthinkable before the unrest began.

CAIRO, Jan 26 (Aswat Masriya) - A Cairo court sentenced writer and poet Fatma Naoot to three years in prison and fined her EGP 20,000 (around $2,550) for "contempt of Islam". Naoot responded to the court's decision with, "thanks to the judiciary of kind Egypt," also thanking those who "accuse us …

Novelist and writer Hassan Daoud was awarded Saturday the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature for his novel “La Tariq ila al-janna,” (No Road to Paradise). The Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature was established by the American University in Cairo Press in 1996. It was created to support contemporary Arabic literature. (Aswat Masriya)