After Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in July 1956, a joint British-French armada of six aircraft carriers destroyed Egypt's air force, while Israeli troops smashed Egyptian tanks in the sands of the Sinai Peninsula. Within less than a week of war, Nasser had lost his strategic forces and Egypt seemed helpless before the overwhelming might of that massive imperial juggernaut.
We were really looking forward to it, and then when the news came out on February 28, it was an 'oh crap' moment. There's a lot of uncertainty over the status of the Middle East. We're seeing strikes in Dubai, the US embassy being struck in Saudi Arabia, so you feel like it's a domino effect. When is the domino going to fall, and will that domino be in Egypt?
Meeting in Munich over the weekend, officials on both sides said they wanted to continue to work together. In the world of geopolitics all eyes were on Southern Germany over the weekend where the Munich Security Conference (MSC) served as the latest make or break moment for Germany-US relations. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered the event's opening speech in which he acknowledged that a rift has opened up with the US, and urged trans-Atlantic partners to repair and revive trust.
Taking centre stage is Josh Paul, former director of congressional and public affairs at the US Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. In 2023, Paul resigned in protest over the US's role in enabling Israel's war on Gaza. Since then, he has co-founded A New Policy, a political organisation pushing for change in US policy towards Palestine and Israel.
Bilateral ties between Egypt and Somalia continue to deepen. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi assured his Somali counterpart, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Sunday in Cairothat Egypt stands firmly behind "Somalia's unity and territorial integrity." On Wednesday, Cairo then followed up on an agreement from January 2025 and deployed 1,091 troops to Somalia's capital Mogadishu. The deployment of Egyptian forces to Somalia the first such deployment in their decades-old bilateral history marks a significant shift.
Rafah is the only crossing that connects Gaza to the outside world without passing through Israel, and it has been a vital passage for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of patients and the wounded.
Emirates: The airline has suspended flights to and from Dubai until 11:59 p.m. UAE time on March 4, due to airspace closures across the region. Limited repatriation flights and freighter flights are departing from Dubai airspace.
Egypt's House of Representatives approved a cabinet reshuffle put forward by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, reshaping key economic posts as the country grapples with a floundering economy. The shake-up announced on Tuesday brings 13 new ministers to the government, including those overseeing housing, higher education, planning, investment, and foreign trade. It also creates the position of deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs, according to Egyptian media.