Australian citizen’s release tops coverage of Egypt in the foreign press

Topping coverage of Egypt in the foreign press is the release of Australian-Egyptian Hazem Hamouda after more than 400 days in Tora Prison. Hamouda was escorted to Cairo Airport by the Australian ambassador in Egypt. The Guardian, SBS News, and the Australian Associated Press all have the story.

The state is pushing television producers to ensure Ramadan soaps toe the government’s line, Declan Walsh writes for the New York Times. An unnamed senior director told NYT that scriptwriters were recently given instructions to “glorify the military, to attack the Muslim Brotherhood and to promote conservative family values that encourage young Egyptians to obey their elders and presumably avoid the kind of questioning that led to the 2011 Arab Spring,” the Times reports.