This morning in the foreign press: Reuters is raising the alarm on the country’s ability to service its high external debt. With levels of foreign borrowing having risen fourfold over the last eight years, higher global interest rates and an FX crunch are raising concerns about the government’s ability to meet repayments. Reform is needed to help right the external imbalance, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s Monica Malik told the newswire: “Egypt is waiting for capital flows, and no one I speak to is ready to put that in again until they see the reform.”

Also making headlines:

  • Birdwatching: Detailed images of kingfishers, pigeons, turtle doves and wagtails in a 3.3k-year-old ancient Egyptian palace were recently identified by British researchers. (New York Times).
  • Tattooed mummies: We’ve been inking our skin for over 5k years but Ancient Egyptians may have been the earliest to do so in Africa, potentially using the images as a mark of status and in ritual practices. (National Geographic)
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